WEBVTT 00:00:01.900 --> 00:00:04.759 Welcome to Life Group. We invite you to join 00:00:04.759 --> 00:00:07.400 us in this verse -by -verse study through the 00:00:07.400 --> 00:00:11.000 Word of God. In this session, we're going to 00:00:11.000 --> 00:00:15.660 be looking at Romans 13, verse 8 through Romans 00:00:15.660 --> 00:00:21.899 14. Romans 12 answered a question for us. And 00:00:21.899 --> 00:00:24.379 this is the question. What does a transformed 00:00:24.379 --> 00:00:30.510 life look like? Now, in Romans 13 and 14, We'll 00:00:30.510 --> 00:00:34.109 answer another question. How does that transformed 00:00:34.109 --> 00:00:38.689 life treat other people? Paul is going to show 00:00:38.689 --> 00:00:42.890 us what Christianity looks like in everyday relationships. 00:00:43.649 --> 00:00:47.770 We could easily title this session, Love, Liberty, 00:00:48.049 --> 00:00:51.670 and Living for the Lord. We'll be discussing 00:00:51.670 --> 00:00:57.270 three big themes. The first is loving other people 00:00:57.270 --> 00:01:01.869 well. Next, we'll look at waking up. And we'll 00:01:01.869 --> 00:01:05.329 conclude with talking about not judging other 00:01:05.329 --> 00:01:09.950 people. So let's pick up Romans 13, verse 8. 00:01:10.629 --> 00:01:15.469 Owe nothing to anyone except for your obligation 00:01:15.469 --> 00:01:19.390 to love one another. If you love your neighbor, 00:01:19.609 --> 00:01:23.370 you will fulfill the requirements of God's law. 00:01:24.469 --> 00:01:28.540 When Paul says, owe nothing, He's not talking 00:01:28.540 --> 00:01:32.640 about finances or financial borrowing. He's talking 00:01:32.640 --> 00:01:36.840 about an ongoing obligation. There is one debt 00:01:36.840 --> 00:01:41.099 that you and I will never pay off. The debt to 00:01:41.099 --> 00:01:44.659 love other people. We will never reach a point 00:01:44.659 --> 00:01:47.620 where we'll say, All right, I've loved enough. 00:01:47.900 --> 00:01:53.680 I'm done now. Love is a permanent calling. Verse 00:01:53.680 --> 00:01:57.780 9. For the commandments say, You must not commit 00:01:57.780 --> 00:02:01.659 adultery. You must not murder. You must not steal. 00:02:01.939 --> 00:02:06.379 You must not covet. These and other such commandments 00:02:06.379 --> 00:02:10.819 are summed up in this one commandment. Love your 00:02:10.819 --> 00:02:15.759 neighbor as yourself. So here's the challenge. 00:02:16.300 --> 00:02:21.020 It's easy to love quote -unquote humanity. It's 00:02:21.020 --> 00:02:24.879 easy to say we love everybody. But it's often 00:02:24.879 --> 00:02:29.909 harder. To love your neighbor. You see, your 00:02:29.909 --> 00:02:34.090 neighbor, that statement includes your co -worker, 00:02:34.310 --> 00:02:39.689 a difficult family member, the slow driver in 00:02:39.689 --> 00:02:44.129 traffic, the person who offended you, and even 00:02:44.129 --> 00:02:48.250 the person who disagrees with you. See, real 00:02:48.250 --> 00:02:54.909 love only shows up in real connections. Verse 00:02:54.909 --> 00:03:02.030 10. Love does no wrong to others. So love fulfills 00:03:02.030 --> 00:03:08.509 the requirements of God's law. Here Paul connects 00:03:08.509 --> 00:03:13.210 love directly to obedience. Think about the commandments 00:03:13.210 --> 00:03:17.289 he listed. Don't murder, don't steal, don't commit 00:03:17.289 --> 00:03:21.909 adultery, don't covet. If you genuinely love 00:03:21.909 --> 00:03:26.870 someone, you won't do those things. Love naturally 00:03:26.870 --> 00:03:33.030 fulfills what rules try to enforce. Verse 11. 00:03:33.650 --> 00:03:37.590 This is all the more urgent, for you know how 00:03:37.590 --> 00:03:42.469 late it is. Time is running out. Wake up, for 00:03:42.469 --> 00:03:46.310 our salvation is nearer now than when we first 00:03:46.310 --> 00:03:51.069 believed. The night is almost gone. The day of 00:03:51.069 --> 00:03:55.000 salvation will soon be here. So remove your dark 00:03:55.000 --> 00:03:58.740 deeds like dirty clothes and put on the shining 00:03:58.740 --> 00:04:03.280 armor of right living. We see here that Paul 00:04:03.280 --> 00:04:07.199 shifts tone. He basically says, church, it's 00:04:07.199 --> 00:04:11.400 time to wake up because it's possible to be religious 00:04:11.400 --> 00:04:16.500 and spiritually asleep at the same time. Be dull 00:04:16.500 --> 00:04:21.329 to the spirit. People can talk Christian talk, 00:04:21.550 --> 00:04:24.689 they can sing Christian songs, attend church 00:04:24.689 --> 00:04:27.670 services, you know, even on Wednesday night, 00:04:27.790 --> 00:04:31.009 they can serve even on the volunteer teams, but 00:04:31.009 --> 00:04:34.529 still be asleep, you could say, towards God and 00:04:34.529 --> 00:04:39.230 the things of God. Verse 13, because we belong 00:04:39.230 --> 00:04:42.889 to the day, we must live decent lives for all 00:04:42.889 --> 00:04:46.319 to see. Don't participate in the darkness of 00:04:46.319 --> 00:04:50.399 wild parties and drunkenness or in sexual promiscuity 00:04:50.399 --> 00:04:54.399 and immoral living or in quarreling and jealousy. 00:04:55.120 --> 00:04:59.160 Instead, clothe yourself with the presence of 00:04:59.160 --> 00:05:01.959 the Lord Jesus Christ and don't let yourself 00:05:01.959 --> 00:05:05.300 think about ways to indulge your evil desires. 00:05:06.680 --> 00:05:11.699 Here Paul uses clothing language. Before you 00:05:11.699 --> 00:05:15.899 put on, he's saying, we must take off the world. 00:05:15.959 --> 00:05:19.339 Before we can put on Christ and the things of 00:05:19.339 --> 00:05:22.519 God, we must lay aside the things of the world. 00:05:23.180 --> 00:05:27.540 Now, that doesn't mean to like layer Jesus on 00:05:27.540 --> 00:05:30.839 top of our old sinful patterns and cover our 00:05:30.839 --> 00:05:33.639 sinful patterns that way. But he's just saying 00:05:33.639 --> 00:05:37.300 you have to let go of the world in order to put 00:05:37.300 --> 00:05:41.449 on Christ. Some things have to go for the believer. 00:05:41.649 --> 00:05:46.509 You can't do both. Put on the Lord Jesus Christ 00:05:46.509 --> 00:05:50.129 means that we don't just admire him. We need 00:05:50.129 --> 00:05:54.209 to wear him, meaning like let his character cover 00:05:54.209 --> 00:05:58.910 us, let his presence guard us, and let his life 00:05:58.910 --> 00:06:04.589 shape our lives. It's important to not feed what 00:06:04.589 --> 00:06:08.709 you're trying to starve. We don't set up conditions 00:06:08.709 --> 00:06:14.550 that make sin easy. Spiritual maturity then often 00:06:14.550 --> 00:06:19.310 looks like wise avoidance. I've heard this story 00:06:19.310 --> 00:06:22.810 one time about a person trying to avoid, had 00:06:22.810 --> 00:06:25.269 the conviction of like trying to avoid donuts. 00:06:25.430 --> 00:06:27.970 They were just addicted to go into Krispy Kreme. 00:06:28.089 --> 00:06:31.649 And so instead of just driving by on their way 00:06:31.649 --> 00:06:35.060 home from work, They would circle the parking 00:06:35.060 --> 00:06:38.019 lot over and over again, just waiting for the 00:06:38.019 --> 00:06:40.720 hot now sign to be on. They would say, well, 00:06:40.759 --> 00:06:43.019 God, if you don't want me to do that, don't let 00:06:43.019 --> 00:06:44.819 the hot now sign to be on. But then they would 00:06:44.819 --> 00:06:47.420 just continue to circle the parking lot until 00:06:47.420 --> 00:06:50.620 that sign lit up. And it's kind of that same 00:06:50.620 --> 00:06:53.639 thing, right? If you're convicted in an area, 00:06:53.759 --> 00:06:57.180 you don't set yourself up to fail. Don't put 00:06:57.180 --> 00:07:00.360 yourself in those old environments where you 00:07:00.360 --> 00:07:02.899 know that you would be tempted. Right. You just 00:07:02.899 --> 00:07:06.740 need to pass on by, keep driving by and keep 00:07:06.740 --> 00:07:10.639 doing what you know to do is right. Now we're 00:07:10.639 --> 00:07:14.160 going to move to chapter 14, and that could be 00:07:14.160 --> 00:07:18.740 titled Don't Fight Over Secondary Things. Here, 00:07:18.819 --> 00:07:20.860 Paul is going to address some of the biggest 00:07:20.860 --> 00:07:26.180 sources of church tension. We could call it disputable 00:07:26.180 --> 00:07:31.589 matters or gray areas, preference issues. So 00:07:31.589 --> 00:07:46.389 let's look at Romans 14 verse 1. The weak referred 00:07:46.389 --> 00:07:50.410 to here were believers with sensitive consciences. 00:07:50.750 --> 00:07:56.589 In this case, some refused to eat meat. Why? 00:08:01.079 --> 00:08:03.800 it was offered to idols or had been offered to 00:08:03.800 --> 00:08:08.220 idols. Maybe it was about their Jewish dietary 00:08:08.220 --> 00:08:13.819 background or some personal conviction. Picking 00:08:13.819 --> 00:08:18.220 up with verse 2. For instance, one person believes 00:08:18.220 --> 00:08:22.240 it's alright to eat anything, but another believer 00:08:22.240 --> 00:08:26.199 with a sensitive conscience will eat only vegetables. 00:08:26.860 --> 00:08:45.590 Those who feel free to eat anything The stricter 00:08:45.590 --> 00:08:48.350 believer is not always the stronger believer. 00:08:49.029 --> 00:08:52.830 You see, legalism can sometimes present itself 00:08:52.830 --> 00:08:57.100 like strength or even spiritual strength. But 00:08:57.100 --> 00:09:01.500 love is the true indicator of spiritual power. 00:09:02.620 --> 00:09:07.259 Picking up with verse 4. Who are you to condemn 00:09:07.259 --> 00:09:10.679 someone else's servant? Their own master will 00:09:10.679 --> 00:09:15.100 judge whether they stand or fall. And with the 00:09:15.100 --> 00:09:18.440 Lord's help, they will stand and receive his 00:09:18.440 --> 00:09:23.879 approval. Here Paul asks a very piercing question. 00:09:24.379 --> 00:09:28.340 Who are you to judge another's servant? They 00:09:28.340 --> 00:09:33.100 don't answer to you. They answer to God. And 00:09:33.100 --> 00:09:37.200 God is the one who is able to make them stand. 00:09:38.320 --> 00:09:43.960 Verse 5. In the same way, some think one day 00:09:43.960 --> 00:09:48.559 is more holy than another day, while others think 00:09:48.559 --> 00:09:53.200 every day is alike. You should each be fully 00:09:53.200 --> 00:09:58.080 convinced that whichever day you choose is acceptable. 00:09:59.639 --> 00:10:02.480 Those who worship the Lord on a special day, 00:10:02.600 --> 00:10:07.399 do it to honor Him. Those who eat any kind of 00:10:07.399 --> 00:10:12.159 food, do so to honor the Lord, since they give 00:10:12.159 --> 00:10:16.179 thanks to God before eating it. And those who 00:10:16.179 --> 00:10:20.000 refuse to eat certain foods, also want to please 00:10:20.000 --> 00:10:24.659 the Lord and give thanks to God. In these verses, 00:10:24.700 --> 00:10:28.840 Paul is reminding us to let our conscience have 00:10:28.840 --> 00:10:33.200 its place. Some believers honored certain holy 00:10:33.200 --> 00:10:38.559 days. Others treated every day the same. Here, 00:10:38.580 --> 00:10:43.679 Paul doesn't force uniformity. Instead, he says, 00:10:43.879 --> 00:10:48.190 let each be fully convinced. in his own mind. 00:10:48.750 --> 00:10:54.450 The key is, whatever you do, do it unto the Lord. 00:10:55.350 --> 00:11:01.649 Not unto culture, not unto pressure, not unto 00:11:01.649 --> 00:11:08.389 appearance, but unto the Lord. Verse 7. For we 00:11:08.389 --> 00:11:12.070 don't live for ourselves or die for ourselves. 00:11:12.629 --> 00:11:16.779 If we live, it's to honor the Lord. And if we 00:11:16.779 --> 00:11:20.480 die, it's to honor the Lord. So whether we live 00:11:20.480 --> 00:11:24.759 or die, we belong to the Lord. Christ died and 00:11:24.759 --> 00:11:28.120 rose again for this very purpose, to be Lord 00:11:28.120 --> 00:11:33.200 both of the living and of the dead. These verses 00:11:33.200 --> 00:11:38.639 teach us that our life is not our own. Christianity 00:11:38.639 --> 00:11:41.679 is never intended to be practiced apart from 00:11:41.679 --> 00:11:46.710 others, despite what people say. Your life affects 00:11:46.710 --> 00:11:50.409 those around you. Your choices have a ripple 00:11:50.409 --> 00:11:54.269 effect outward. And Jesus didn't just save you. 00:11:54.370 --> 00:11:59.669 He owned you. He purchased you. He is Lord of 00:11:59.669 --> 00:12:04.909 the living and the dead. Verse 10. So why do 00:12:04.909 --> 00:12:08.149 you condemn another believer? Why do you look 00:12:08.149 --> 00:12:12.840 down on another believer? Remember, we will all 00:12:12.840 --> 00:12:16.700 stand before the judgment seat of God. For the 00:12:16.700 --> 00:12:20.360 scriptures say, As surely as I live, says the 00:12:20.360 --> 00:12:23.960 Lord, every knee will bend to me, and every tongue 00:12:23.960 --> 00:12:27.940 will declare allegiance to God. Yes, each of 00:12:27.940 --> 00:12:32.580 us will give a personal account to God. Here, 00:12:32.720 --> 00:12:36.059 Paul commands us to stop acting like we are the 00:12:36.059 --> 00:12:40.350 judge. We each have our own God -given assignments 00:12:40.350 --> 00:12:44.490 to fulfill in his kingdom. And it's important 00:12:44.490 --> 00:12:49.570 to remember not to try to fix our brothers and 00:12:49.570 --> 00:12:52.350 sisters in Christ. Like Paul here is not saying 00:12:52.350 --> 00:12:55.490 you need to fix the people around you. He's saying 00:12:55.490 --> 00:12:58.710 that we need to focus on ourselves and our mission 00:12:58.710 --> 00:13:01.669 that God has called us to. He says for us to 00:13:01.669 --> 00:13:07.110 prepare ourselves. Every believer will give an 00:13:07.110 --> 00:13:10.350 account, and this is not talking for salvation, 00:13:10.549 --> 00:13:14.669 because salvation was settled at the cross. But 00:13:14.669 --> 00:13:18.409 every believer will give an account for how we 00:13:18.409 --> 00:13:22.009 lived. This is called the judgment seat of Christ, 00:13:22.230 --> 00:13:25.970 and this is where believers are rewarded. All 00:13:25.970 --> 00:13:28.789 of our works will be judged by fire, and only 00:13:28.789 --> 00:13:31.730 the things we did for Christ that were directed 00:13:31.730 --> 00:13:35.179 by the Holy Spirit. will last and be rewarded. 00:13:36.980 --> 00:13:39.679 It's important for us to keep in mind that God 00:13:39.679 --> 00:13:42.679 is the only one capable of judging the intentions 00:13:42.679 --> 00:13:45.960 and the motives of the heart. He's the only one 00:13:45.960 --> 00:13:50.279 who knows what he directed you to do or not to 00:13:50.279 --> 00:13:53.740 do concerning the things not specifically directed 00:13:53.740 --> 00:13:58.259 by his word. And when we remember that, criticism 00:13:58.259 --> 00:14:03.200 loses all its appeal. Picking up in verse 13. 00:14:03.639 --> 00:14:07.720 So let's stop condemning each other. Decide instead 00:14:07.720 --> 00:14:10.279 to live in such a way that you will not cause 00:14:10.279 --> 00:14:14.539 another believer to stumble and fall. So here 00:14:14.539 --> 00:14:20.460 we see that two dangers exist. Legalism can crush 00:14:20.460 --> 00:14:24.980 someone, and also careless liberty can trip people 00:14:24.980 --> 00:14:31.460 up. But love towards others asks, Before doing, 00:14:31.919 --> 00:14:35.960 will this help them? Will my actions help someone 00:14:35.960 --> 00:14:44.519 or will they harm someone? Verse 14. I know and 00:14:44.519 --> 00:14:48.059 am convinced on the authority of the Lord Jesus 00:14:48.059 --> 00:14:51.779 that no food in and of itself is wrong to eat. 00:14:52.419 --> 00:14:56.679 But if someone believes it is wrong, then for 00:14:56.679 --> 00:15:00.960 that person it is wrong. And if another believer 00:15:00.960 --> 00:15:04.799 is distressed by what you eat, you are not acting 00:15:04.799 --> 00:15:08.399 in love if you eat it. Don't let your eating 00:15:08.399 --> 00:15:13.419 ruin someone for whom Christ died. Then you will 00:15:13.419 --> 00:15:16.220 not be criticized for doing something you believe 00:15:16.220 --> 00:15:21.519 is good. Paul says plainly here that love is 00:15:21.519 --> 00:15:26.879 more important than being right. Nothing is unclean 00:15:26.879 --> 00:15:31.480 in itself. But if exercising your freedom knowingly 00:15:31.480 --> 00:15:35.100 troubles someone, then that is when we step out 00:15:35.100 --> 00:15:38.700 from walking in love. And if Jesus gave his life 00:15:38.700 --> 00:15:42.879 for them, surely we can give up our preference. 00:15:43.440 --> 00:15:47.720 Picking up with verse 17. For the kingdom of 00:15:47.720 --> 00:15:50.940 God is not a matter of what we eat or drink, 00:15:51.179 --> 00:15:55.500 but of living a life of goodness and peace and 00:15:55.500 --> 00:15:59.580 joy in the Holy Spirit. Now, if you've been around 00:15:59.580 --> 00:16:02.299 the Galatian church much, you've heard this verse, 00:16:02.320 --> 00:16:05.779 and normally I read it out of the New King James 00:16:05.779 --> 00:16:09.379 Version, which says the kingdom of God is about 00:16:09.379 --> 00:16:13.600 righteousness and peace and joy in the Holy Spirit. 00:16:14.399 --> 00:16:18.679 Moving on to verse 18. If you serve Christ with 00:16:18.679 --> 00:16:23.340 this attitude, you will please God, and others 00:16:23.340 --> 00:16:29.440 will approve of you too. Paul calls us to remember 00:16:29.440 --> 00:16:33.840 what God's kingdom is really all about. It's 00:16:33.840 --> 00:16:36.639 not about rules. It's not about preferences. 00:16:37.279 --> 00:16:42.860 It's about righteousness, peace, and joy in the 00:16:42.860 --> 00:16:49.320 Holy Spirit. Now, if you drive a car, it's very 00:16:49.320 --> 00:16:54.220 important to regularly check the gauges in your 00:16:54.220 --> 00:16:58.169 car. How often do you look at the fuel gauge 00:16:58.169 --> 00:17:01.529 or the temperature gauge to make sure your car 00:17:01.529 --> 00:17:04.829 is not running hot or to make sure that you're 00:17:04.829 --> 00:17:08.029 not about to run out of gas? We need to regularly 00:17:08.029 --> 00:17:12.569 check these gauges. And now we can look at these 00:17:12.569 --> 00:17:17.849 verses that we just read to be like our spiritual 00:17:17.849 --> 00:17:24.460 gauges. We need to keep our eye on. These two 00:17:24.460 --> 00:17:29.420 things on our level of peace and our level of 00:17:29.420 --> 00:17:34.619 joy, because those are the gauges of life in 00:17:34.619 --> 00:17:39.619 the kingdom of God. If our peace gauge is registering 00:17:39.619 --> 00:17:45.680 low or if our joy gauge is registering low, then 00:17:45.680 --> 00:17:50.339 we need some spiritual adjustment to our focus. 00:17:51.950 --> 00:17:56.609 Let's continue with verse 19. So then let us 00:17:56.609 --> 00:18:02.049 aim for harmony in the church and try to build 00:18:02.049 --> 00:18:07.009 each other up. Don't tear apart the work of God 00:18:07.009 --> 00:18:12.269 over what you eat. Remember, all foods are acceptable, 00:18:12.569 --> 00:18:16.029 but it is wrong to eat something if it makes 00:18:16.029 --> 00:18:20.559 another person stumble. It is better not to eat 00:18:20.559 --> 00:18:24.259 meat or drink wine or do anything else if it 00:18:24.259 --> 00:18:30.000 might cause another believer to stumble. In these 00:18:30.000 --> 00:18:33.400 verses, Paul, being led by the Holy Spirit, is 00:18:33.400 --> 00:18:39.420 telling us to use our freedom to build, not to 00:18:39.420 --> 00:18:45.519 tear down. A mature believer should always consider 00:18:45.519 --> 00:18:49.420 these questions. Does what I am doing or saying 00:18:49.420 --> 00:18:53.700 edify and build up another person? Does what 00:18:53.700 --> 00:18:57.440 I say or what I'm doing strengthen other people? 00:18:58.079 --> 00:19:02.259 See, just because something is permitted doesn't 00:19:02.259 --> 00:19:06.140 mean it's always beneficial in every setting. 00:19:07.259 --> 00:19:13.059 Sometimes, to walk in love, we limit ourselves 00:19:13.059 --> 00:19:18.190 when necessary. To walk in love, especially concerning 00:19:18.190 --> 00:19:21.930 what you could say is a gray area. All right. 00:19:22.430 --> 00:19:27.470 Verse 22. You may believe there's nothing wrong 00:19:27.470 --> 00:19:31.549 with what you are doing. But keep it between 00:19:31.549 --> 00:19:35.890 yourself and God. Blessed are those who don't 00:19:35.890 --> 00:19:39.529 feel guilty for doing something they have decided 00:19:39.529 --> 00:19:44.269 is right. But if you have doubts about whether 00:19:44.269 --> 00:19:48.240 or not. You should eat something. You're sinning 00:19:48.240 --> 00:19:52.200 if you go ahead and do it. For you aren't following 00:19:52.200 --> 00:19:56.420 your convictions. If you do anything you believe 00:19:56.420 --> 00:20:02.619 is not right, you are sinning. So as followers 00:20:02.619 --> 00:20:06.740 of Christ, we need to walk in faith and not walk 00:20:06.740 --> 00:20:11.740 in an inner conflict. See, this is one of the 00:20:11.740 --> 00:20:15.710 greatest tests for anything. that we would call 00:20:15.710 --> 00:20:20.130 a gray area. We need to ask ourselves, can I 00:20:20.130 --> 00:20:24.390 do this with a clear conscience? Can I thank 00:20:24.390 --> 00:20:30.970 God while doing it? Would I do it with my Christian 00:20:30.970 --> 00:20:36.269 friends? If not, then we don't need to do it. 00:20:37.950 --> 00:20:42.150 Ultimately, mature Christianity is not... proven 00:20:42.150 --> 00:20:48.369 by how free you are, but by how well you love 00:20:48.369 --> 00:20:52.269 other people. Thank you for joining us for Life 00:20:52.269 --> 00:20:55.650 Group. Allow God's Word to build your faith and 00:20:55.650 --> 00:20:56.789 transform your life.