WEBVTT 00:00:03.600 --> 00:00:06.660 Hey all, Pastor John here. Thanks for tuning 00:00:06.660 --> 00:00:09.759 in to the weekly sermon podcast. We pray this 00:00:09.759 --> 00:00:12.519 message encourages you, strengthens your faith, 00:00:12.660 --> 00:00:15.080 and helps you to take your next step with Jesus. 00:00:15.599 --> 00:00:18.239 If this content blesses you and you'd like to 00:00:18.239 --> 00:00:20.339 be a part of helping us continue to bring the 00:00:20.339 --> 00:00:22.760 gospel to life, we'd love for you to consider 00:00:22.760 --> 00:00:25.739 supporting the ministry of Village. Your generosity 00:00:25.739 --> 00:00:28.339 makes it possible for us to keep creating and 00:00:28.339 --> 00:00:31.510 sharing resources like this podcast. You can 00:00:31.510 --> 00:00:35.250 give safely and easily by visiting sacvillage 00:00:35.250 --> 00:00:39.090 .org slash give or by heading to our website 00:00:39.090 --> 00:00:43.130 at sacvillage .org. Thanks again for listening. 00:00:43.310 --> 00:00:54.350 Now let's dive into this week's message. Well, 00:00:54.469 --> 00:00:58.899 last week we introduced our 2026 theme. as well 00:00:58.899 --> 00:01:00.899 as the sermon series that's launching it, and 00:01:00.899 --> 00:01:05.819 that is True and Better, a Gospel Identity. And 00:01:05.819 --> 00:01:08.859 we said that identity is not something you invent 00:01:08.859 --> 00:01:11.420 or discover within yourself or inside yourself, 00:01:11.700 --> 00:01:13.920 but it is something that you receive in Christ. 00:01:14.939 --> 00:01:17.620 But I think if we're honest, that does raise 00:01:17.620 --> 00:01:20.420 a question, a very practical question, and that 00:01:20.420 --> 00:01:23.540 is if my identity is new in Christ, why do I 00:01:23.540 --> 00:01:28.650 still war with sin? If I'm a new creation created 00:01:28.650 --> 00:01:31.890 in Christ Jesus, why do the same familiar struggles 00:01:31.890 --> 00:01:36.810 keep showing up in my life? And that gap, the 00:01:36.810 --> 00:01:39.989 space between who you are in Christ and how you 00:01:39.989 --> 00:01:43.609 actually live, that gap can be confusing, can't 00:01:43.609 --> 00:01:49.230 it? I think for some people, it's downright discouraging. 00:01:49.950 --> 00:01:55.219 We'll wonder, am I doing it wrong? Or maybe this 00:01:55.219 --> 00:01:58.120 salvation thing, this redemption thing, it didn't 00:01:58.120 --> 00:02:01.700 take in my life. And we'll question the very 00:02:01.700 --> 00:02:06.700 foundation of our faith. Or others might respond, 00:02:06.959 --> 00:02:09.879 well, they hear the idea of grace and they think, 00:02:09.919 --> 00:02:11.900 you know what? Well, if my identity is secure, 00:02:12.180 --> 00:02:16.659 why fight so hard against sin? I'm good with 00:02:16.659 --> 00:02:20.879 God. I'm secure. Let's go. Let's party, right? 00:02:22.569 --> 00:02:26.849 And so we can swing between two ditches. On one 00:02:26.849 --> 00:02:30.050 side, passivity, grace means it doesn't matter 00:02:30.050 --> 00:02:32.810 how I live. And on the other side, pressure to 00:02:32.810 --> 00:02:36.409 produce. If I were really changed, I'd be further 00:02:36.409 --> 00:02:40.250 along in my walk. And I think, friends, that 00:02:40.250 --> 00:02:44.969 misses the point. The Christian life is not about 00:02:44.969 --> 00:02:48.030 pretending the gap between the new life and the 00:02:48.030 --> 00:02:52.449 old habits of sin doesn't exist. The New Testament 00:02:52.449 --> 00:02:58.289 teaches again and again that in Christ, identity 00:02:58.289 --> 00:03:03.169 is given instantly but is lived into gradually. 00:03:05.629 --> 00:03:09.509 You are not working toward an identity. You are 00:03:09.509 --> 00:03:12.569 being formed by the identity you've already received. 00:03:14.509 --> 00:03:17.509 And formation is not mere self -improvement. 00:03:17.509 --> 00:03:20.710 It's not behavior modification or white -knuckling 00:03:20.710 --> 00:03:25.449 your way into holiness. Formation is the slow, 00:03:25.469 --> 00:03:30.710 faithful work of God shaping your life to match 00:03:30.710 --> 00:03:36.430 what is already true of you in Christ. Think 00:03:36.430 --> 00:03:38.150 about it this way. Becoming a Christian is not 00:03:38.150 --> 00:03:41.050 like flipping on a switch. It's more like becoming 00:03:41.050 --> 00:03:45.319 an adult. Tomorrow, is my youngest son's 18th 00:03:45.319 --> 00:03:48.400 birthday. He'll be 18 years old. Nate, give it 00:03:48.400 --> 00:03:52.699 up for Nate. He didn't do anything, just grew 00:03:52.699 --> 00:03:54.080 up. That's all he did, and we're giving him a 00:03:54.080 --> 00:03:56.780 applaud over that. Good job doing that thing 00:03:56.780 --> 00:04:04.900 that we all do. He turns 18 tomorrow. And in 00:04:04.900 --> 00:04:07.759 the eyes of the law, his status will change instantly. 00:04:10.479 --> 00:04:14.270 He'll become an adult tomorrow. But as I think 00:04:14.270 --> 00:04:18.209 all of us know, adulting, it's hard, isn't it? 00:04:19.389 --> 00:04:22.370 Forming adult habits takes time to develop and 00:04:22.370 --> 00:04:25.069 they grow with knowledge and more responsibility. 00:04:26.689 --> 00:04:30.269 You know, choosing a healthcare plan and do I 00:04:30.269 --> 00:04:34.670 go HMO or PPO? I don't know, right? Getting a 00:04:34.670 --> 00:04:40.470 mortgage payment, raising kids, picking a retirement 00:04:40.470 --> 00:04:44.810 plan. You are fully an adult in the eyes of the 00:04:44.810 --> 00:04:47.449 law when you turn 18 but learning how to live 00:04:47.449 --> 00:04:50.709 like one happens over years and years and years 00:04:50.709 --> 00:04:54.610 doesn't it for some of you it never happens huh 00:04:54.610 --> 00:05:01.230 the goal of the christian's life is not becoming 00:05:01.230 --> 00:05:05.990 someone else altogether it's becoming who you 00:05:05.990 --> 00:05:10.089 already are in christ and so if you feel that 00:05:10.089 --> 00:05:13.050 tension if if you feel the pressure of the gap 00:05:13.050 --> 00:05:15.709 between, if you feel like you're not there yet, 00:05:15.769 --> 00:05:19.930 don't worry because you're not failing, you're 00:05:19.930 --> 00:05:24.209 being formed. And today we're going to look at 00:05:24.209 --> 00:05:27.709 what the Apostle Paul says about identity as 00:05:27.709 --> 00:05:31.670 formation in two places, Romans chapter 6 and 00:05:31.670 --> 00:05:33.670 Ephesians chapter 4. If you're taking notes, 00:05:33.689 --> 00:05:36.670 I have four points. The first point is formation 00:05:36.670 --> 00:05:42.040 is not self -improvement. Romans chapter six 00:05:42.040 --> 00:05:45.699 and beginning in verse one reads, what should 00:05:45.699 --> 00:05:49.500 we say then? Should we continue in sin so that 00:05:49.500 --> 00:05:54.100 grace may multiply? Absolutely not. How can we 00:05:54.100 --> 00:05:57.639 who died to sin still live in it? Or are you 00:05:57.639 --> 00:06:00.819 unaware that all of us who were baptized into 00:06:00.819 --> 00:06:03.910 Christ Jesus were baptized into his death? Therefore, 00:06:03.990 --> 00:06:06.550 we were buried with him by baptism into death 00:06:06.550 --> 00:06:09.310 in order that just as Christ was raised from 00:06:09.310 --> 00:06:12.610 the dead by the glory of the Father, so we too 00:06:12.610 --> 00:06:17.670 may walk in newness of life. See, Paul knows 00:06:17.670 --> 00:06:20.670 exactly how people are tempted to respond to 00:06:20.670 --> 00:06:24.759 grace. And so in Romans chapter six, he doesn't 00:06:24.759 --> 00:06:27.779 wait. He just lays it out there. He jumps right 00:06:27.779 --> 00:06:29.720 to it. He says, what should we say? Should we 00:06:29.720 --> 00:06:32.680 just go on sinning? Because grace is so abundant. 00:06:32.740 --> 00:06:35.199 God's grace covered over our sins. So let's just 00:06:35.199 --> 00:06:38.199 keep going and multiply that grace by sinning 00:06:38.199 --> 00:06:42.439 more. And I think that question also tells us 00:06:42.439 --> 00:06:45.139 something about the gospel and its understanding. 00:06:45.160 --> 00:06:47.839 People are already accusing the gospel of being 00:06:47.839 --> 00:06:52.639 too free. If grace really forgives completely, 00:06:52.779 --> 00:06:55.899 if identity really is received and not earned, 00:06:55.980 --> 00:07:00.100 well, what's the motivation to change? And Paul's 00:07:00.100 --> 00:07:04.019 response is, should we go on sinning? Well, absolutely 00:07:04.019 --> 00:07:10.680 not. How can we who died to sin still live in 00:07:10.680 --> 00:07:14.639 it? And notice what Paul does not say. He does 00:07:14.639 --> 00:07:19.480 not say, because sin is bad. He doesn't say because 00:07:19.480 --> 00:07:23.139 God will be disappointed with you. He doesn't 00:07:23.139 --> 00:07:27.720 say because you'll lose your salvation. He says 00:07:27.720 --> 00:07:30.000 because something has already happened to you. 00:07:31.939 --> 00:07:36.459 Paul grounds formation of identity and from identity, 00:07:36.560 --> 00:07:40.939 not in fear. but in the identity we received 00:07:40.939 --> 00:07:43.779 in Christ Jesus. And he reminds them what happened 00:07:43.779 --> 00:07:46.939 at baptism. Are you unaware that all of us who 00:07:46.939 --> 00:07:49.339 were baptized into Christ, Jesus were baptized 00:07:49.339 --> 00:07:53.500 into his death? And the word into matters there. 00:07:54.540 --> 00:07:57.959 Baptism is not merely a symbol of your commitment 00:07:57.959 --> 00:08:03.560 to Christ. It's a declaration of your union with 00:08:03.560 --> 00:08:08.189 Christ. Paul is saying you didn't just believe 00:08:08.189 --> 00:08:13.329 in Christ, you were joined to Christ. His death 00:08:13.329 --> 00:08:17.329 counts as your death. His resurrection counts 00:08:17.329 --> 00:08:22.949 as your resurrection. And then he says, therefore 00:08:22.949 --> 00:08:25.250 we were buried with him by baptism into death 00:08:25.250 --> 00:08:27.810 in order that just as Christ was raised from 00:08:27.810 --> 00:08:30.230 the dead by the glory of the Father, so we too 00:08:30.230 --> 00:08:34.200 could walk in the newness of life. And this is 00:08:34.200 --> 00:08:39.279 the logic of formation. New life does not come 00:08:39.279 --> 00:08:42.460 from trying harder. New life flows from participating 00:08:42.460 --> 00:08:47.600 in Christ's life. And what that means is formation 00:08:47.600 --> 00:08:53.539 is not self -improvement. Self -improvement says 00:08:53.539 --> 00:08:58.080 change so you can belong. And the gospel says 00:08:58.080 --> 00:09:03.620 you belong and now learn to live like it. And 00:09:03.620 --> 00:09:05.980 that's completely different fuel and motivation, 00:09:06.259 --> 00:09:11.340 isn't it? Why does that distinction matter? Well, 00:09:11.379 --> 00:09:14.100 because some of us approach formation with a 00:09:14.100 --> 00:09:18.779 sort of pressure to perform. Man, if it really 00:09:18.779 --> 00:09:21.179 took, if I'm really being changed, if I'm really 00:09:21.179 --> 00:09:23.480 being formed, I wouldn't struggle like this. 00:09:25.100 --> 00:09:27.960 And others of us approach it passively. Man, 00:09:28.000 --> 00:09:30.379 if grace is real, then effort doesn't matter. 00:09:30.460 --> 00:09:35.240 And Paul rejects both of them. Paul does not 00:09:35.240 --> 00:09:38.940 excuse the need for transformation. And grace 00:09:38.940 --> 00:09:41.080 doesn't come in and replace transformation or 00:09:41.080 --> 00:09:42.919 the need for transformation. What grace does 00:09:42.919 --> 00:09:49.139 is grace empowers transformation. Struggle doesn't 00:09:49.139 --> 00:09:51.500 mean that grace is failing in your life. It means 00:09:51.500 --> 00:09:54.259 that grace is active in your life. And formation 00:09:54.259 --> 00:09:57.700 is not about proving yourself to God. It's about 00:09:57.700 --> 00:10:00.600 participating in what God has already done for 00:10:00.600 --> 00:10:08.159 you in Christ Jesus. It's not about self -improvement. 00:10:08.179 --> 00:10:13.100 Number two, you are united before you are changed. 00:10:15.539 --> 00:10:17.799 We'll read just a little bit further in Romans 00:10:17.799 --> 00:10:20.440 6, Romans 6 beginning in verse five. For if we 00:10:20.440 --> 00:10:22.399 have been united with him in the likeness of 00:10:22.399 --> 00:10:25.379 his death, we will certainly also be in the likeness 00:10:25.379 --> 00:10:28.980 of his resurrection. For we know that our old 00:10:28.980 --> 00:10:31.940 self was crucified with him so that the body 00:10:31.940 --> 00:10:35.159 ruled by sin might be rendered powerless. so 00:10:35.159 --> 00:10:38.240 that we may no longer be enslaved to sin, since 00:10:38.240 --> 00:10:42.240 a person who has died is freed from sin. Now, 00:10:42.240 --> 00:10:44.620 if we died with Christ, we believe that we will 00:10:44.620 --> 00:10:47.259 also live with him, because we know that Christ, 00:10:47.440 --> 00:10:49.720 having been raised from the dead, will not die 00:10:49.720 --> 00:10:54.549 again. Death no longer rules over him. For the 00:10:54.549 --> 00:10:58.029 death he died, he died to sin once for all, but 00:10:58.029 --> 00:11:00.850 the life he lives, he lives to God. So you too 00:11:00.850 --> 00:11:03.690 consider yourself dead to sin and alive to God 00:11:03.690 --> 00:11:11.690 in Christ Jesus. Paul is pressing the logic deeper 00:11:11.690 --> 00:11:15.669 and he's saying, if we've been united with him 00:11:15.669 --> 00:11:17.710 in the likeness of his death, we're certainly 00:11:17.710 --> 00:11:19.649 united with him in the likeness of his resurrection. 00:11:19.690 --> 00:11:22.129 And that word united is doing a whole lot of 00:11:22.129 --> 00:11:25.019 work there, isn't it? notice what Paul is not 00:11:25.019 --> 00:11:28.700 saying Paul is not saying this is about mere 00:11:28.700 --> 00:11:32.700 imitation that formation is just about imitation 00:11:32.700 --> 00:11:37.139 he's not saying try to be like Jesus he doesn't 00:11:37.139 --> 00:11:41.740 say that And this is a point where the concept 00:11:41.740 --> 00:11:44.960 that is kind of a popular Christian concept in 00:11:44.960 --> 00:11:48.840 works today about discipleship, and folks will 00:11:48.840 --> 00:11:51.039 kind of equate discipleship as being kind of 00:11:51.039 --> 00:11:53.580 an incomplete word, and instead we need to adopt 00:11:53.580 --> 00:11:57.059 more of a word of like apprenticeship. But I 00:11:57.059 --> 00:11:58.960 think that fails to capture all that's going 00:11:58.960 --> 00:12:03.240 on in true discipleship. Because he's not talking 00:12:03.240 --> 00:12:06.299 about be like Jesus. He says, he's talking about 00:12:06.299 --> 00:12:08.139 participation. He's talking about union. He's 00:12:08.139 --> 00:12:10.139 talking about connection. The life of Christ 00:12:10.139 --> 00:12:13.059 flowing into your life. What happened to Christ 00:12:13.059 --> 00:12:15.320 has happened to you. It's like in marriage, right? 00:12:16.220 --> 00:12:21.899 If I win the lottery, so does my wife. And if 00:12:21.899 --> 00:12:24.440 someone comes to repossess our house or my house, 00:12:24.559 --> 00:12:27.080 they repossess my wife's house as well, right? 00:12:28.519 --> 00:12:34.190 Why? Because of our union. Our union. And this 00:12:34.190 --> 00:12:36.009 is one of the most important truths, I think, 00:12:36.009 --> 00:12:40.029 in the gospel that many Christians just never 00:12:40.029 --> 00:12:42.870 fully get. And that is Christian formation does 00:12:42.870 --> 00:12:47.710 not begin with behavior. It begins with union. 00:12:47.889 --> 00:12:52.169 It's not forming an identity. You are living 00:12:52.169 --> 00:12:57.669 from one. Paul keeps going. He says, we know 00:12:57.669 --> 00:13:00.220 that our old self was crucified with him. so 00:13:00.220 --> 00:13:02.299 that the body ruled by sin might be rendered 00:13:02.299 --> 00:13:05.080 powerless, so that we may no longer be enslaved 00:13:05.080 --> 00:13:08.379 to sin. Notice the tense in that. Was crucified. 00:13:10.059 --> 00:13:13.580 Not will be, not might be, not needs to be again. 00:13:13.779 --> 00:13:17.679 Was crucified. The body was crucified. The self. 00:13:21.179 --> 00:13:24.379 Paul is not describing a goal. He's describing 00:13:24.379 --> 00:13:29.309 a fact. Your old self, the self that was defined 00:13:29.309 --> 00:13:32.649 by sin and guilt and condemnation has already 00:13:32.649 --> 00:13:36.330 been dealt with at the cross. I'll say that again, 00:13:36.429 --> 00:13:39.570 Christian. Your old self defined by sin, guilt 00:13:39.570 --> 00:13:43.610 and condemnation has already been dealt with. 00:13:44.350 --> 00:13:47.330 If you are in Christ, that doesn't mean that 00:13:47.330 --> 00:13:50.590 temptation disappears, but it means the authority 00:13:50.590 --> 00:13:55.779 over your life has changed. Sin still has a voice. 00:13:55.799 --> 00:14:00.799 It still speaks, but it no longer reigns. Jonathan 00:14:00.799 --> 00:14:02.740 Lehman once wrote a book called Authority. And 00:14:02.740 --> 00:14:06.240 in this book, he talks about two kinds of authority 00:14:06.240 --> 00:14:09.200 that are at work. There's the command authority 00:14:09.200 --> 00:14:12.620 and there's counsel authority. And with command 00:14:12.620 --> 00:14:14.980 authority, command authority is the kind of authority 00:14:14.980 --> 00:14:20.019 that has a mechanism of enforcement. You punch 00:14:20.019 --> 00:14:22.950 a police officer in the face, They have a mechanism 00:14:22.950 --> 00:14:26.190 of enforcement to either punch you back or shoot 00:14:26.190 --> 00:14:27.909 you or put you in handcuffs to do something, 00:14:28.070 --> 00:14:31.490 right? They have the legal rights, the authority, 00:14:31.669 --> 00:14:34.269 the command authority to do something in kind. 00:14:35.590 --> 00:14:39.009 Same with the judge who will prosecute you and 00:14:39.009 --> 00:14:41.169 the jailer who will keep you contained. They 00:14:41.169 --> 00:14:43.309 have command authority because they have a way 00:14:43.309 --> 00:14:46.850 of enforcing the authority that they have. But 00:14:46.850 --> 00:14:49.029 there's also another kind of authority that's 00:14:49.029 --> 00:14:53.070 called counsel authority. And when you think 00:14:53.070 --> 00:14:55.230 of council authority, council authority does 00:14:55.230 --> 00:14:58.769 not have any mechanism for enforcement. And yet 00:14:58.769 --> 00:15:00.730 it still has a weight of authority. I think of 00:15:00.730 --> 00:15:04.250 it in relation to my kids, right? For a while, 00:15:04.309 --> 00:15:09.669 I had command authority. For a while. Not all 00:15:09.669 --> 00:15:12.110 the way till 18, just for a while earlier on. 00:15:12.590 --> 00:15:16.230 And slowly that morphed into a sort of council 00:15:16.230 --> 00:15:18.870 authority. And with the council authority, you 00:15:18.870 --> 00:15:20.750 know what my kids can say to my council authority? 00:15:22.279 --> 00:15:26.539 I don't want to. Thanks for the tip. Yeah. Thanks 00:15:26.539 --> 00:15:28.960 for the tip. But I'm going to go a different 00:15:28.960 --> 00:15:31.659 direction. Maybe my counsel is wise and it comes 00:15:31.659 --> 00:15:33.820 from a place of authority. Having lived it out, 00:15:33.899 --> 00:15:36.100 I know what I'm talking about. And they can reject 00:15:36.100 --> 00:15:39.720 it. Maybe my counsel is not wise. And it's unhelpful 00:15:39.720 --> 00:15:42.629 and they can reject that too. It's a counsel 00:15:42.629 --> 00:15:44.490 that doesn't have a mechanism of enforcement. 00:15:44.870 --> 00:15:47.690 And I'm using that as an example to compare it 00:15:47.690 --> 00:15:51.210 to sin because sin still speaks. Sin still may 00:15:51.210 --> 00:15:53.830 feel like it has a counsel authority in your 00:15:53.830 --> 00:15:56.009 life. It's telling you to do something. It's 00:15:56.009 --> 00:15:58.789 calling you, wooing you back to an old life, 00:15:58.850 --> 00:16:01.429 an old habit, an old way, an old way of thinking. 00:16:02.509 --> 00:16:05.090 But it only has counsel authority in your life 00:16:05.090 --> 00:16:08.009 now if you're in Christ. It no longer has command 00:16:08.009 --> 00:16:11.419 authority. It used to. It used to hold you in 00:16:11.419 --> 00:16:14.019 your sin and had the ultimate command authority 00:16:14.019 --> 00:16:17.240 to bring you to death and ultimately separation 00:16:17.240 --> 00:16:19.740 from God. It had that authority. If you're in 00:16:19.740 --> 00:16:22.480 Christ, it no longer has that authority. It no 00:16:22.480 --> 00:16:26.220 longer has that authority. You are freed from 00:16:26.220 --> 00:16:30.700 the command authority of sin. It no longer reigns 00:16:30.700 --> 00:16:33.919 in your life. It can still speak. It can still 00:16:33.919 --> 00:16:38.820 try to steer, but you can say, no, thank you. 00:16:40.110 --> 00:16:43.570 Why? Because Paul says in verse 7, a person who 00:16:43.570 --> 00:16:50.710 has died is free from sin. Right? If sin is the 00:16:50.710 --> 00:16:53.090 condition that we live in, in the body, outside 00:16:53.090 --> 00:16:57.110 of Christ, and we have died, sin no longer reigns 00:16:57.110 --> 00:17:01.090 in us. And here's the implication. You don't 00:17:01.090 --> 00:17:03.809 fight sin in order to become free. You fight 00:17:03.809 --> 00:17:10.750 sin because you died and are already free. that 00:17:10.750 --> 00:17:13.529 changes the entire posture of formation in our 00:17:13.529 --> 00:17:16.990 lives. Because you're not struggling toward freedom, 00:17:17.130 --> 00:17:20.789 you're struggling from freedom, which means failure 00:17:20.789 --> 00:17:25.470 no longer disqualifies you. And hear this too, 00:17:25.529 --> 00:17:27.869 friends, because some of us think this as well. 00:17:27.950 --> 00:17:30.329 Failure no longer disqualifies us and obedience 00:17:30.329 --> 00:17:36.529 no longer earns you anything. Failure no longer 00:17:36.529 --> 00:17:38.609 disqualifies you and obedience can't get you 00:17:38.609 --> 00:17:41.529 anything. Because that's not the point of obedience. 00:17:42.289 --> 00:17:43.950 Don't hear me wrong, we're gonna get to the point 00:17:43.950 --> 00:17:46.529 about the life change that formation brings. 00:17:47.390 --> 00:17:52.089 But at the base level, at the root, if your life 00:17:52.089 --> 00:17:54.990 has changed, you've died to sin and you now are 00:17:54.990 --> 00:17:58.950 in Christ, then failure no longer disqualifies. 00:18:00.750 --> 00:18:05.650 Obedience no longer qualifies. Verse eight says, 00:18:05.769 --> 00:18:07.750 now if you died with Christ, we believe that 00:18:07.750 --> 00:18:10.910 we will also live with him. The death he died, 00:18:11.009 --> 00:18:13.869 he died to sin once for all, but the life he 00:18:13.869 --> 00:18:18.230 lives, he lives to God. Once for all, no repeats, 00:18:18.430 --> 00:18:21.369 no probation, no second crucifixion required. 00:18:24.130 --> 00:18:26.910 And then Paul says, so you too consider yourself 00:18:26.910 --> 00:18:30.750 dead to sin and alive to God in Jesus Christ. 00:18:31.569 --> 00:18:34.910 And think about that word, consider. Paul is 00:18:34.910 --> 00:18:38.559 not asking you to feel something. Paul's not 00:18:38.559 --> 00:18:41.079 asking you to feel something. He's asking you 00:18:41.079 --> 00:18:47.960 to think truthfully. Formation involves learning 00:18:47.960 --> 00:18:53.079 to reckon reality correctly. To think truthfully. 00:18:53.859 --> 00:18:59.460 To say, this is who I am now even when my sinful 00:18:59.460 --> 00:19:04.440 habits lag behind. Formation is about learning 00:19:04.440 --> 00:19:08.289 to live in alignment. With what is already true. 00:19:10.670 --> 00:19:15.410 Which explains why formation feels slow. Because 00:19:15.410 --> 00:19:17.930 your identity has changed instantly. But your 00:19:17.930 --> 00:19:22.109 patterns have not changed. And that gap. The 00:19:22.109 --> 00:19:25.130 gap between union and maturity. Is the normal 00:19:25.130 --> 00:19:30.630 space where formation happens. And so you. When 00:19:30.630 --> 00:19:34.150 you struggle with. With sin. The question should 00:19:34.150 --> 00:19:36.289 not be. What's wrong with me? as a believer. 00:19:37.470 --> 00:19:40.890 A better question is, what does union with Christ 00:19:40.890 --> 00:19:46.769 mean here? What does union with, in other words, 00:19:46.789 --> 00:19:49.710 begin to live out of the identity you have in 00:19:49.710 --> 00:19:54.670 Christ? Because the Christian life is not powered 00:19:54.670 --> 00:19:59.269 by shame. It's powered by resurrection life. 00:20:01.390 --> 00:20:04.849 And Paul wants you to know that You are not pretending 00:20:04.849 --> 00:20:08.809 to be someone you're not. Some of you have taken 00:20:08.809 --> 00:20:11.829 that approach in your Christian life. It's pretend 00:20:11.829 --> 00:20:15.009 to be someone you're not. Pretend to have it 00:20:15.009 --> 00:20:17.529 all together. Pretend to have all of your sin 00:20:17.529 --> 00:20:21.750 under wraps. And Paul is not inviting us to pretend 00:20:21.750 --> 00:20:26.329 to be someone we're not. He's saying you are 00:20:26.329 --> 00:20:29.049 learning how to live as someone who is already 00:20:29.049 --> 00:20:33.680 alive in Christ. Number three, formation requires 00:20:33.680 --> 00:20:37.279 renunciation. Because at this point, you might 00:20:37.279 --> 00:20:38.779 be thinking, well, if my identity is secure, 00:20:39.019 --> 00:20:41.700 if I'm united to Christ, if I'm already new, 00:20:41.859 --> 00:20:45.180 then what am I supposed to do? And Paul's answer 00:20:45.180 --> 00:20:49.900 is in Ephesians chapter four. Ephesians 4, 20, 00:20:50.019 --> 00:20:52.759 he says, but that is not how you came to know 00:20:52.759 --> 00:20:55.220 Christ, assuming you heard about him and were 00:20:55.220 --> 00:20:59.039 taught by him as the truth is in Jesus to take 00:20:59.039 --> 00:21:02.069 off your former way of life, the old self that 00:21:02.069 --> 00:21:05.069 is corrupted by deceitful desires, to be renewed 00:21:05.069 --> 00:21:07.630 in the spirit of your minds and to put on the 00:21:07.630 --> 00:21:10.490 new self, the one created according to God's 00:21:10.490 --> 00:21:13.970 likeness in righteousness and purity of the truth. 00:21:15.230 --> 00:21:19.250 Let me read that one more time. Verse 22, you 00:21:19.250 --> 00:21:21.869 were taught to take off your former way of life, 00:21:21.950 --> 00:21:24.809 the old self that is corrupted by deceitful desires 00:21:24.809 --> 00:21:27.289 and to be renewed in the spirit of your minds 00:21:27.289 --> 00:21:30.430 and to put on the new self, the one created according 00:21:30.430 --> 00:21:33.190 to God's likeness in righteousness and purity 00:21:33.190 --> 00:21:38.069 of the truth. In Ephesians 4, Paul gives three 00:21:38.069 --> 00:21:42.150 movements of formation. And these are not ladders 00:21:42.150 --> 00:21:44.950 to get to the top. These are not steps to earn 00:21:44.950 --> 00:21:47.730 anything. But these are the repeated pattern 00:21:47.730 --> 00:21:50.990 of growth for people who are already in Christ. 00:21:52.170 --> 00:21:54.690 And the first one is to put off the old self. 00:21:57.009 --> 00:22:00.049 Paul says, you took off your former way of life. 00:22:01.930 --> 00:22:04.690 He's not saying the old self is still who you 00:22:04.690 --> 00:22:08.970 are. He's saying it's who you were. The old self 00:22:08.970 --> 00:22:12.210 is the pattern of living that was shaped by sin, 00:22:12.309 --> 00:22:15.849 habits and reflexes and assumptions and coping 00:22:15.849 --> 00:22:19.309 mechanisms that no longer fit who you are in 00:22:19.309 --> 00:22:25.549 Christ Jesus. Pornography and sexual sins, drunkenness, 00:22:25.549 --> 00:22:29.150 sinful anger and impatience, lying and dishonest 00:22:29.150 --> 00:22:32.329 gain, unwholesome speech, bitterness, malice 00:22:32.329 --> 00:22:35.779 and unforgiveness, these are all shapes of of 00:22:35.779 --> 00:22:39.220 life that belong to the old self, that no longer 00:22:39.220 --> 00:22:42.660 fit who you are in Christ. And he says, take 00:22:42.660 --> 00:22:47.460 those off. Formation begins with renunciation, 00:22:47.539 --> 00:22:53.960 naming what no longer belongs. And a lot of folks 00:22:53.960 --> 00:22:57.099 get stuck here. We want renewal without renunciation, 00:22:57.460 --> 00:23:01.839 right? We want resurrection without a tomb. We 00:23:01.839 --> 00:23:06.490 want change without surrender. But you cannot 00:23:06.490 --> 00:23:09.950 cling to an old identity and grow into a new 00:23:09.950 --> 00:23:15.269 one at the same time. Putting off the old self 00:23:15.269 --> 00:23:21.769 means telling the truth. This no longer is me. 00:23:23.170 --> 00:23:26.589 Even if it still tempts me. This no longer is 00:23:26.589 --> 00:23:30.289 me. So the first one is put off the old self. 00:23:30.329 --> 00:23:32.369 The second movement that he gives in formation 00:23:32.369 --> 00:23:36.170 is be renewed in the mind. And you notice two 00:23:36.170 --> 00:23:38.789 things when Paul says you are being renewed in 00:23:38.789 --> 00:23:41.890 the spirit of your mind. First, he said it's 00:23:41.890 --> 00:23:44.650 ongoing, right? You are being. It's ongoing. 00:23:44.730 --> 00:23:47.809 It's an ongoing work in the life of the Christian. 00:23:48.089 --> 00:23:51.230 But not only that, it's passive. It's in the 00:23:51.230 --> 00:23:54.750 passive. In other words, it's an ongoing work 00:23:54.750 --> 00:23:59.470 that is being done to you. It's an ongoing work 00:23:59.470 --> 00:24:01.529 that's being done to you, not an ongoing work 00:24:01.529 --> 00:24:03.490 that you're doing. that you're earning, that 00:24:03.490 --> 00:24:05.670 you're producing, but a work that is being done 00:24:05.670 --> 00:24:11.710 to you. Well, how? Well, formation happens as 00:24:11.710 --> 00:24:18.069 your thinking changes. Your assumptions, your 00:24:18.069 --> 00:24:23.009 reflexes, the internal narratives that have governed 00:24:23.009 --> 00:24:26.190 your life, as those things begin to shift and 00:24:26.190 --> 00:24:32.039 change, formation happens. How do they shift 00:24:32.039 --> 00:24:33.819 and change? How does our thinking change? Well, 00:24:33.839 --> 00:24:36.500 that's where scripture comes in. Scripture as 00:24:36.500 --> 00:24:40.880 the supreme means of God shaping his people. 00:24:42.539 --> 00:24:46.180 Scripture and prayer, the songs that we sing, 00:24:46.299 --> 00:24:49.980 the songs that we sing reinforce truths. They 00:24:49.980 --> 00:24:54.180 help us to think truthfully. Or not, if it's 00:24:54.180 --> 00:24:58.420 a bad song, right? But the good ones, the ones 00:24:58.420 --> 00:25:00.720 that are scripturally formed, help us to think 00:25:00.720 --> 00:25:05.440 truthfully, right? The songs, the worship, the 00:25:05.440 --> 00:25:08.579 prayers we pray, our disciple groups that get 00:25:08.579 --> 00:25:12.779 together and talk about truth, village recovery, 00:25:13.079 --> 00:25:16.319 where they work through truth and try to find 00:25:16.319 --> 00:25:19.400 freedom, a new growth track that's coming later 00:25:19.400 --> 00:25:22.779 this year. Same purpose is to help us to think 00:25:22.779 --> 00:25:28.200 truthfully. Help us to think truthfully. And 00:25:28.200 --> 00:25:35.160 we do that well in community. You cannot live 00:25:35.160 --> 00:25:40.500 differently until you think truthfully. Most 00:25:40.500 --> 00:25:43.619 sinful patterns are sustained by lies that we 00:25:43.619 --> 00:25:48.559 believe. This will satisfy me. This will fulfill 00:25:48.559 --> 00:25:52.700 me. I need this to be okay. This is just who 00:25:52.700 --> 00:25:56.299 I am. A baby, I was born this way, in the words 00:25:56.299 --> 00:26:03.460 of Lady Gaga, right? Lies we believe that feed 00:26:03.460 --> 00:26:08.700 our sinful patterns. Renewal is learning to let 00:26:08.700 --> 00:26:13.119 God interrupt those lies with truth. And this 00:26:13.119 --> 00:26:16.799 takes time. And friends, God is patient with 00:26:16.799 --> 00:26:23.339 the process. And the third, Movement of formation 00:26:23.339 --> 00:26:25.960 Paul gives in Ephesians 4 is put on the new self. 00:26:27.000 --> 00:26:30.279 Take off the old. Be renewed in the spirit of 00:26:30.279 --> 00:26:33.759 your mind. Put on the new. And this is not about 00:26:33.759 --> 00:26:36.900 creating a new self. It's not about imagining 00:26:36.900 --> 00:26:40.519 a new self. It's putting on the self that already 00:26:40.519 --> 00:26:43.160 exists. The new self is not some future version 00:26:43.160 --> 00:26:48.200 of you. It's the real you in Christ. Created 00:26:48.200 --> 00:26:50.940 in God's likeness. Formation is learning to live 00:26:50.940 --> 00:26:53.579 in outward alignment with the inward reality. 00:26:55.779 --> 00:26:59.259 Choosing practices and habits and obedience that 00:26:59.259 --> 00:27:04.279 fit who you already are. And this is why formation 00:27:04.279 --> 00:27:09.000 feels both active and like we're very dependent 00:27:09.000 --> 00:27:11.660 because you renounce what you no longer fits, 00:27:11.799 --> 00:27:15.329 but your mind is renewed, ongoing. passively 00:27:15.329 --> 00:27:18.049 through the word as your mind is renewed in truth 00:27:18.049 --> 00:27:20.470 and you practice living as the new person God 00:27:20.470 --> 00:27:27.430 says you already are. This is aligning your life 00:27:27.430 --> 00:27:30.589 with who you already are. And because of that, 00:27:30.650 --> 00:27:33.950 it means that growth does not require pretending, 00:27:34.170 --> 00:27:39.589 friends. It is grievous as brothers and sisters 00:27:39.589 --> 00:27:44.799 when we pretend. When we put on the life we think 00:27:44.799 --> 00:27:48.220 we're supposed to look like in Christ Jesus so 00:27:48.220 --> 00:27:53.160 that other people will be okay with us. God sees. 00:27:54.200 --> 00:27:56.539 God knows the depths of our heart. He knows the 00:27:56.539 --> 00:28:00.119 thoughts of our minds. He sees it's okay to be 00:28:00.119 --> 00:28:04.480 who we are and to begin to live into the identity 00:28:04.480 --> 00:28:13.519 that he's already given us. Formation is not 00:28:13.519 --> 00:28:19.480 about speed, but it's about trajectory. And number 00:28:19.480 --> 00:28:24.799 four, formation happens in real time. It can 00:28:24.799 --> 00:28:27.039 be tempting to think about formation as something 00:28:27.039 --> 00:28:29.720 that happens later, like when life slows down 00:28:29.720 --> 00:28:32.539 or when schedules clear up or when this particular 00:28:32.539 --> 00:28:35.180 situation is dealt with or when this relationship 00:28:35.180 --> 00:28:37.319 gets easier, I'll get back to formation. I'll 00:28:37.319 --> 00:28:40.640 get back to growing in my identity in the Lord. 00:28:40.680 --> 00:28:42.619 But the New Testament doesn't talk about formation 00:28:42.619 --> 00:28:47.440 that way. Formation doesn't happen in ideal conditions. 00:28:47.559 --> 00:28:52.279 It happens in real life. Formation happens in 00:28:52.279 --> 00:28:55.339 the ordinary places where your identity is tested. 00:28:56.279 --> 00:28:59.579 It happens in your habits in what you reach for 00:28:59.579 --> 00:29:03.579 when you're tired or when you're anxious. And 00:29:03.579 --> 00:29:06.079 what you turn to when you're disappointed or 00:29:06.079 --> 00:29:09.140 lonely. It happens in relationships, in conflict, 00:29:09.200 --> 00:29:12.180 in forgiveness, in patience, in learning to love 00:29:12.180 --> 00:29:15.980 people who don't make it easy. It happens in 00:29:15.980 --> 00:29:18.500 suffering and in seasons that you didn't choose. 00:29:18.619 --> 00:29:21.599 It happens in pain that you can't fix, in waiting 00:29:21.599 --> 00:29:25.420 when you'd rather just move on. It happens in 00:29:25.420 --> 00:29:29.019 obedience, in small daily acts of faithfulness, 00:29:29.039 --> 00:29:32.670 in choosing what aligns with truth. Again and 00:29:32.670 --> 00:29:35.150 again, day after day, choosing what aligns with 00:29:35.150 --> 00:29:41.009 truth rather than what feels right. We think 00:29:41.009 --> 00:29:44.549 formation is about dramatic breakthroughs, but 00:29:44.549 --> 00:29:46.730 more often than not, formation looks like the 00:29:46.730 --> 00:29:52.730 slow reshaping of our reflexes, the slow reshaping 00:29:52.730 --> 00:29:55.890 of those inner dialogues and narratives that 00:29:55.890 --> 00:29:58.130 we've believed and we've anchored our lives to. 00:30:03.309 --> 00:30:05.589 And this connects back to week one. Genesis three 00:30:05.589 --> 00:30:08.250 shows us how formation was distorted in the fall, 00:30:08.410 --> 00:30:13.910 how desire turned inward, how trust was replaced 00:30:13.910 --> 00:30:17.150 by control. And then we looked at Philippians 00:30:17.150 --> 00:30:19.289 chapter three and it showed us how formation 00:30:19.289 --> 00:30:23.009 is re -centered in Christ Jesus, how knowing 00:30:23.009 --> 00:30:25.829 him reorders what we love and what we pursue. 00:30:28.279 --> 00:30:31.200 Formation is about becoming faithful and that 00:30:31.200 --> 00:30:33.880 means God uses the very things that we want to 00:30:33.880 --> 00:30:40.440 escape as tools to form us. The conflict you 00:30:40.440 --> 00:30:42.559 wish would go away, the habit that you wish would 00:30:42.559 --> 00:30:45.440 disappear, the season that you want to just skip 00:30:45.440 --> 00:30:52.299 over, none of those are wasted. It doesn't mean 00:30:52.299 --> 00:30:55.700 your circumstances change suddenly. It doesn't 00:30:55.700 --> 00:30:58.059 mean your circumstances change at all. What it 00:30:58.059 --> 00:31:03.720 means is you are being changed within them. And 00:31:03.720 --> 00:31:08.339 here's a word of encouragement that God is not 00:31:08.339 --> 00:31:13.279 waiting for ideal conditions to form you. He 00:31:13.279 --> 00:31:17.859 is forming you right now. In the life that you 00:31:17.859 --> 00:31:22.000 have, in the relationships that you have, in 00:31:22.000 --> 00:31:25.210 the body that you have, God is forming you. Right 00:31:25.210 --> 00:31:30.309 now. It's not postponed until you get it all 00:31:30.309 --> 00:31:35.289 together. But it does happen as you show up trusting. 00:31:36.450 --> 00:31:39.390 As things are brought to the surface. You renounce. 00:31:39.390 --> 00:31:43.849 You repent. You turn away. You obey. As you read 00:31:43.849 --> 00:31:46.069 truth and your thinking changes. And you begin 00:31:46.069 --> 00:31:50.150 to think truthfully. You begin to live out of 00:31:50.150 --> 00:31:53.339 this identity that you're. You're walking in 00:31:53.339 --> 00:31:56.259 that you've already received and leaning into 00:31:56.259 --> 00:31:59.099 grace. And over time, something real begins to 00:31:59.099 --> 00:32:02.700 take shape. Not a perfected version of you, but 00:32:02.700 --> 00:32:07.559 one that is truer and better. And so in conclusion, 00:32:07.799 --> 00:32:13.400 God is not surprised by the gap that you feel, 00:32:13.519 --> 00:32:16.420 the distance between who you are in Christ and 00:32:16.420 --> 00:32:20.890 how fully your life reflects that reality. Because 00:32:20.890 --> 00:32:23.029 in that space, it's the space where formation 00:32:23.029 --> 00:32:27.309 happens. The Christian life is not pretending 00:32:27.309 --> 00:32:29.910 to be someone that you're not. It's patiently 00:32:29.910 --> 00:32:34.910 becoming who you already are. Formation is not 00:32:34.910 --> 00:32:38.650 God standing over you with a measuring tape and 00:32:38.650 --> 00:32:42.490 measuring your progress either. Formation is 00:32:42.490 --> 00:32:48.240 God walking with you, reshaping your loves. reshaping 00:32:48.240 --> 00:32:52.259 your desires, retraining your reflexes, rewriting 00:32:52.259 --> 00:32:54.519 the narratives you've based your life on and 00:32:54.519 --> 00:32:59.279 renewing your mind over time. Think about back 00:32:59.279 --> 00:33:01.140 to the garden. We were there last week in the 00:33:01.140 --> 00:33:03.599 Garden of Eden. At the beginning, humanity walked 00:33:03.599 --> 00:33:06.619 with God, learning and growing in wisdom and 00:33:06.619 --> 00:33:11.910 knowledge at the pace God intended. But when 00:33:11.910 --> 00:33:14.670 sin was introduced, what was the circumstances 00:33:14.670 --> 00:33:17.349 surrounding sin? It was the promise, it was the 00:33:17.349 --> 00:33:19.529 temptation that I could take and have it all 00:33:19.529 --> 00:33:24.109 right now. I could have all knowledge now, not 00:33:24.109 --> 00:33:27.109 at the pace that God wants to introduce it into 00:33:27.109 --> 00:33:31.869 my life, not in the way that he intends. I can 00:33:31.869 --> 00:33:35.849 have it now for myself instead of having it in 00:33:35.849 --> 00:33:45.920 relationship with my creator. And so maybe don't 00:33:45.920 --> 00:33:51.400 ask, why am I still like this? Instead, in every 00:33:51.400 --> 00:33:55.799 circumstance, ask, what does living from my union 00:33:55.799 --> 00:34:02.819 with Christ look like right now? Practice alignment 00:34:02.819 --> 00:34:06.920 with reality. And the promise of scripture is 00:34:06.920 --> 00:34:10.820 this, the God who gave you a new identity in 00:34:10.820 --> 00:34:14.849 Christ, is faithful to form your life to match 00:34:14.849 --> 00:34:15.010 it.