Only God can change a life, but He never chooses
to change it alone. There's a God part, and there's
a your part. The question is, how do those fit
together? What's your part? What's His part?
That's today. Welcome to this edition of Living
on the Edge with Chip Ingram. We are an international
discipleship ministry devoted to helping Christians
worldwide live out their faith for the glory
of God and the benefit of all people. Thanks
for joining us today as we're a little over halfway
through our series, I Choose Love, How to Build
Lasting Relationships. For the past handful of
programs, Chip's been teaching from Philippians
chapter two, unpacking the foundational behaviors
of love and how we can apply these principles
to our relationships. So if you want to go back
and listen to the messages you missed. Catch
up anytime through livingontheedge .org or the
Chip Ingram app. Well, today, Chip dives into
the complex subject of obedience, free will,
and God's authority, and what these ideas have
to do with love. And to help you better understand
where Chip's going, let me encourage you to download
his message notes. They contain his outline,
scripture references, and much more. They're
free under the broadcasts tab at livingontheedge
.org. App listeners tap fill in notes. Okay,
if you have a Bible handy, open now to Philippians
chapter 2 for Chip's message, Love Obeys. I want
to share a leadership lesson that I learned many,
many years ago that really reshaped my life,
and it's one that I have to keep on learning.
On the very front of your notes, you'll notice
I've written, our expectations powerfully shape
our relationships and our responses. Circle the
word expectations. Our expectations, they're
so subtle. We have them often we don't even know
what they are. I grew up in a home, and no ladies
feel guilty, but my mom was really into breakfast.
At about 6 .15 or 6 .30, I could smell bacon
and eggs every single morning, and our whole
family ate breakfast together. It was really
wonderful. Well, I got married, and I don't know
why, but I just expected that we would have breakfast
every morning. Early in our marriage, after our
honeymoon, I came home and said, breakfast. And
she goes, well, the cereal's up there. I think
there's some milk in the refrigerator. Go to
it. And I was like, what? I mean, you don't understand.
It was just like, no, we never talked about,
now when we get married, you've got to fix breakfast.
Safe to say, we don't do breakfast in our house
quite like my mom. By contrast, my wife had a
father who was very handy. He could fix just
about anything. The car, the gas, the motor.
And so she actually had this expectation that
me being a man and her father being a man, that
the car would be filled with gas. If it didn't
work, I could fix it. And so there's a carburetor
in here somewhere. You know, I knew nothing.
And she was like, now I could give you. a hundred
other expectations that aren't trivial, that
have caused really painful issues. But here's
what I want you to get. Notice in your notes.
Our personal history is paramount in forming
our expectations. She thinks every husband can
fix cars because her dad did. I thought every
woman cooks breakfast because my mom did. Your
personal history. It just loads you up with a
set of expectations. Now, if we do that in our
relationships with people, imagine how we do
that in our relationships with God. Two critical
questions emerge when we think about God and
expectations. The first is, what can we expect
of God? And the second, what does God expect
of us? I mean, what can we expect of God? Some
people come from backgrounds that we can expect
that God will make life happy and wonderful,
will be healthy, wealthy, wise, if we just believe,
that just love Jesus, and your life is going
to be great and trouble -free. And so when trouble
comes, they really wonder, where's God? There's
another group of people that are really super
sober, and it's going to be hard, and it's all
about suffering, and like God brings blessing
into their life, and it's like they feel guilty
when good things happen. So the question I want
to ask you is, what's your expectations of God?
What do you expect of him? And are you ready
to flip it over? Have you ever thought seriously
about what God expects of you? And just like
our personal history shapes our expectations
with one another. history itself shapes our expectations,
depending on our backgrounds, of how we think
God's going to respond. What does he want? What
does he give? How do we receive it? How do you
know when you're okay with God? What's God's
part in this relationship, and what's my part?
And then notice on the bottom of your notes,
I want you to write this word in. Remember, our
history always shapes our expectations. And historically,
people have answered those two questions very,
very differently. With that, open your notes
if you would, and I'm going to give you a very
brief history lesson that if you are strong in
either one of these camps, you'll be frustrated.
I'm purposely going to sort of push or polarize
to the extremes of two historical positions.
In the 16th century, John Calvin was a great,
great theologian. In Geneva, he began to teach
and there was a whole goal of what would be like
for a Christian city. And he had a very strong
view of God and about his sovereignty and his
power. But it was pushed to extremes by some
of his followers. And so about 80 or 90 years
later, a fellow named Jacob Arminius came along
and he said, Boy, you know, we've strayed beyond
the Bible. And so he began to teach some things.
And so what you have is two basic camps. And
I'm going to push the extremes. So if you are
a Calvinist, you'll say, he's not representing
us well. I understand that. If you're more Arminian,
you're going to say, he's not representing us
well either. Good. Both will be unhappy with
me. What I want to do is show you the extremes
because you have been impacted historically.
You have certain expectations about what God
is asking of you. If you come from a, let me
just call it a hyper -Calvinistic background,
you believe God is sovereign and in control.
You believe that he's predestined and predetermined
just about everything in life. You focus on verse
13 of Philippians 2. It is God who is at work.
In extreme Calvinism, God not only chooses people
for heaven, he chooses people for hell. So it's
called double predestination. And so you actually
had people in churches going, I believe I've
been chosen by God to honor his name to hell.
I mean, it was crazy. But it was this idea that
since we can have no part in our salvation, it
is all of God with no sense of our responsibility.
It was this extreme that turned into fatalism.
You were eternally secure and a hyper, hyper
Calvinist would say in terms of our responsibility,
just let go and let God. In essence, whatever's
going to happen is going to happen. The joke
when you tease hyper Calvinists is when they
trip, they get up and say, I'm glad that's over.
Think about it. It'll come to you. Arminius,
by contrast, said, no, no, no, no. Yeah, God
is sovereign, but we're responsible. We have
a free will. We make choices. He emphasizes the
verse 12. Work out your salvation. Our choices
have consequences. Therefore, as a result of
it, if you came from this side, eternity's not
certain. You know, you might be a good Christian
for a while, but if you mess up, you're out.
Finally, the idea is let's go and let's get with
it. I jotted down a couple thoughts. If you're
a Presbyterian, Anglican, mini -Baptist, a lot
of Bible churches are reformed in your tradition,
strong Calvinistic roots. If you are Methodist,
Wesleyan, Nazarene, charismatic, four -square,
assembly of God, church of Christ, strong Arminian.
roots. Notice in your notes, here's what I want
to get. God's Word rejects both extremes and
holds God's sovereignty and man's responsibility
in biblical tension and balance. In other words,
if you read through the Scriptures, what you
find is the Bible's really clear. God is sovereign.
God is in control. The Bible's really clear.
You are absolutely responsible and will be held
accountable for your choices. And you say, well,
how can that be? The answer is, I don't know.
But what I'm going to go on record and say is,
no one else knows either. But what happens is
people tend to go one direction or another. And
so if you're reading through the book of Acts,
if you're a strong Calvinist, it says, and as
many as were appointed to eternal life believed.
And you say, see, they were appointed, except
if you read the next chapter, it says, and Paul
spoke so persuasively, a great number believed.
Which is true, both. Here's the tension I want
you to get. You can develop systems that can
remove one or the other, but both are true. Imagine,
if you will, a telephone pole, and imagine guide
wires into those cables, pulling on each end,
and there's deep stakes. And this is the sovereignty
of God, and this is the responsibility of man.
And if there's slack or you remove one of those
cords, you go to extremes and push to its practical
end. You become passive, let go, let God. Whatever
it's going to be, it's going to be. Or the other
way, you get guilt -ridden, and no matter how
much you do, God's not in control. If I forgot
one time to share my faith, that person may go
to hell because I didn't do my part. The whole
world is on me. What I want you to know is the
Apostle Paul, interestingly, he did this in chapter
1, remember? He said, I'm confident he's going
to be executed. I'm confident of this. This is
what's going to turn out for my deliverance.
Your prayers. Oh, man's responsibility. And the
provision of the Spirit of God. God's sovereignty.
He now in verse 12 says, so then, my beloved,
just as you always circle the word obeyed. The
word obeyed in the New Testament, sometimes we
feel like, I think our English and our background,
obey is like ought, should, gotta. And it certainly
has that thrust. But the word is hupo, to be
under, akuo, to hear. Like you have an acoustic
guitar, that's where we get our word. To obey
is to be under the hearing of God. Lord, what
would you have me to do? It's a relationship
I want to follow. And when you speak about any
area, I want to listen in order not to just know,
but to obey. So he says to them, my beloved,
just as you always obeyed, not just in my presence,
but now much more in my absence, work out your
salvation. Would you circle that phrase with
fear and trembling? You're listening to Living
on the Edge. We'll get back to our series, I
Choose Love, in just a minute. But quickly, I
want to remind you that we're in the middle of
our mid -year match. Thanks to a few close ministry
friends, every gift we receive until June 30th
will be matched dollar for dollar. For more information
about how to partner with us, go to livingontheedge
.org or call 888 -333 -6003. Thanks for doing
whatever God leads you to do. Well, let's rejoin
Chip now for the remainder of his message. Work
out is a mining term. It's literally like if
you owned a gold mine, it's work your claim.
Continue mining the riches of what God has done.
When the Spirit of God came into your life, when
you turned from your sin and received Christ,
all the spiritual blessings in heaven were deposited
in you. You were sealed with the Spirit. You
have an inheritance. He's saying, okay, now what
I want you to do is I want you to work out what
God has worked in. Notice it doesn't say work
for your salvation. You can't earn it. Work out.
In other words, I want you to cooperate. And
just like if you owned a gold mine, that gold
does nothing under the ground. And he says, you
cooperate with God, work out your salvation.
And notice with the sense of reverential awe,
this is a precious, amazing gift, your salvation.
Don't let it sit there. Don't be passive. Sometimes
when people talk about grace, they think of grace.
is the opposite of effort. The Bible says we
make every effort to walk with God. The Bible
talks about the grace of God teaches us to say
no to all ungodliness and live sober, disciplined
lives. It takes great effort. The opposite of
grace is not effort. The opposite of grace is
merit. Merit is earning something. And Paul is
saying to these people that are having some disunity
issues, people that are being persecuted, he
says, you know, I don't know if I'm going to
live or not. But whether I get to see you and
live or I die, I want you to keep on obeying.
I want you to love one another. I want you to
choose to look up when circumstances are bad.
I want you to care for one another. I want you
to be generous. In persecution, I want you to
be faithful. So work out. Your salvation, God's
worked in. That's your responsibility. Notice
verse 13. The little word for, it means the reason.
Why should you work this out? For God who is
at work in you, both to will and to work for
his good pleasure. Would you circle the word
to work and then underline will and good pleasure?
Word for work is a very interesting word. I did
a word study on it. We get our word energy. It's
never used in the New Testament to describe human
power. 100 % of the time, it is the power of
God. It's a word that means effective action.
It describes action that always achieves its
desired end results or purpose. In ancient Greece,
it was a demonstration of inner character that
always led to an outward virtue. And in summary,
he's saying for God who is at work, he is energizing
by his power working in you in spirit, both to
will, his purpose to create both the desire and
the power. So God's sovereign, I'm responsible.
God has gifted me sheerly by his grace, this
new life in his spirit. It is a riches that I
now live out and I mine my claim. And so to work
out, Grace has been given. And I could say, all
the truth of life is in this book. And I could
hand you this book. And you could take this book,
and you could set it on your desk, and you could
never open it. And you could say, I just don't
know what to do. I don't have any truth. I don't
know what to do about marriage. I don't know
what to do about parenting. I don't know what
to do about my money. I wonder what's going to
happen to the end of the world. And all the while,
all the riches and all the truth is on your desk.
God will not read this for you, okay? But you
have it, and it's the same. In other words, work
out. So the disciplines of being in God's word,
the discipline of praying, the discipline of
being in community and doing life and being honest
and supportive and accountability, the disciplines
of suffering, the disciplines of some things
take time, and the disciplines of serving one
another, when you, are you ready? when you practice
those things, it's like, imagine tubes coming
from this great lake of heaven. You're accessing
the grace of God. And as you practice those things,
the apostle Paul says, Christ is being formed
in you. It's a metaphor of a baby growing to
a toddler, to a teenager, to a mature adult.
And he says, our part is to utilize the truth,
the word. Prayer, the Lord's Supper, relationships,
to access the grace to mine this new life that's
been a free gift. Does that make sense? History
lesson is over. But I do want you to know that
it seeps in everywhere because what happens is
that I came up around a group, you came up around
a group, and these groups have thoughts about
the sovereignty of God. And the responsibility
of men. And I will just say, you know, some of
you struggle with guilt. Because no matter how
much you do, it's never enough. Because you live
with this, you know, there's never enough. God's
down on you. Now, that's extreme. That's not
what should be taught. Some of you are like laid
back to the point of you're not doing what you
need to. But you have this subtle of God's in
control. He really is in control. But that doesn't
excuse you. And so what you want to do is you
want to say, I don't want what Calvin taught,
and I don't want what Jacob Arminius taught.
I want what Jesus taught. I want what the New
Testament says. I want what the Word of God says.
And there's going to be certain times and certain
passages. I've been doing this for quite a while.
I don't fully understand. I don't think anyone
fully understands. But I've got plenty of truth
to know this. I will stand before God as a follower
of Jesus and give an account for my time, my
energy, my money, and my decisions. And I've
been around long enough to know this. is that
despite my mistakes, my difficulties, the times
even that I've sinned, the times when I knew
what was right and I didn't even do it, there's
this patient, kind, loving, sovereign God that's
working even those difficulties and things that
people have done to me and circumstance I can't
understand because he's such a, are you ready?
Good, good father. This is Living on the Edge
with Chip Ingram, and you've been listening to
part one of his message, Love Obeys, from our
series, I Choose Love. Chip will be back shortly
to share some helpful application for us to think
about. One of the greatest delights of God's
heart is to witness His children, those of us
who call Him Lord, loving one another. Yet, we
all know this isn't always easy and often doesn't
come naturally to us. In this short study, Chip
walks through the four characteristics of love
laid out for us in Philippians chapter 2. Discover
how to apply these truths to your relationships
with others and God so you can love more and
love better. To listen to this entire series,
visit livingontheedge .org or the Chip Ingram
app. Well, Chip's back in studio with me now.
And Chip, we're about halfway through our mid
-year match. And for the next few weeks, we'll
continue hearing how our ministry is impacting
lives all over the world and what our listeners
can do to partner with us in these efforts. Well,
that is absolutely right, Dave. And this study
that we're going to do, the entire... month of
June and part of July is through the book of
Philippians. We're going to learn from this book
that we can choose joy. We can choose hope. We
can choose love. We can choose peace. And with
all the anxiety and uncertainty and mental health
issues and division and the things that are going
on in the world and people's personal world,
Dave, we felt like of all times, we really wanted
to minister to people, to their heart and to
their life. Another thing that we're going to
do is we're going to share some personal testimonies
as we start this match. We want people to hear
as they have prayed with us, as they're a part
of the team, and as they have given. We really
want them to hear actual stories. And so let
me share one we just got recently. It's from
Carly. She goes, I just wanted to let you know
how God used your message this morning. Just
last night, I was ready to throw in the towel
in my marriage. I've been married to my husband
for eight years. He's a veteran with PTSD, and
he has lots of anger problems. Being his wife
is one of the hardest things emotionally ever.
I feel so alone and so depressed, and I was crying
and just talking to the Lord. And then this morning,
I listened to your podcast, and it was just what
I needed. God is with me. even in the hardest
times. That's what I heard him say through your
broadcast. I need to keep going and not give
up. He's in control, and he knows. I know his
ways are better than mine. God is good. I just
want those of you who support the ministry to
know that you're a part of that marriage being
saved, and this happens over and over and over
again. Join me this month as we learn how to
choose joy and love and hope and peace. And let's
keep pressing ahead. Thanks, Chip. Well, if you
feel like God is moving you to partner with us,
now's a great time. Thanks to a handful of close
ministry friends, every gift we receive between
now and June 30th will be doubled dollar for
dollar. To support us, call 888 -333 -6003 or
visit livingontheedge .org. That's livingontheedge
.org or call 888 -333 -6003. App listeners, tap
donate. We'll hear again as Chip. As we wrap
up today's program, let me ask you, which of
those historical experiences or perspectives
would you honestly say has kind of influenced
the way that you see God the most? I mean, what's
impacted you? We've all grown up around, you
know, people and a view of God and Christian
groups. And what I find honestly is that there's
great strengths in all these different camps
and really good godly people. So here's the issue.
If in fact God is sovereign, And we are responsible.
What does it look like to be a follower of Christ
that's relational, that's grace -oriented, but
where we're responding? And I would suggest that
the Apostle Paul, who talked more about the sovereignty
of God than anyone else, especially in Romans,
he actually tells us this is who God is and this
is all he's done. And then he flips the script
because he's perfectly divinely balanced and
says, okay. Chapter 12 through the end of the
book is, this is what your life looks like when
you're responding in faith and obedience. And
in verse 1 of chapter 12, he says, it means that
you're fully, completely surrendered to God.
In verse 2, he's going to tell you they're separate
from the world's values. And then in verse 3
through 8, he'll talk about having an honest
or sober self -assessment about who you are,
your strengths, your weaknesses, and how God's
made you to serve him in love. And so the whole
chapter is a snapshot or a picture of what does
it look like to be a mature believer? What is
God's part and what is our part? Could I encourage
you to just as a matter of balance to today,
open Romans chapter 12 and in your heart of hearts
say, Lord, I know that I'm responsible. And I
know that you're absolutely sovereign. And as
I read this chapter, would you help me become
more and more the man or the woman that you want
me to become? I want to reflect the very love
and the character of Jesus. And I think you'll
experience the special grace of God that allows
you not to get too hung up on all that you do
and not be too laid back about all he does. Thanks
for that direction, Chip. And to help you develop
a more authentic relationship with Jesus, check
out Chip's broadcast series, True Spirituality,
Becoming a Romans 12 Christian. Through this
teaching, you'll discover a clear blueprint to
become a genuine follower of Christ. Visit livingontheedge
.org and search for True Spirituality. You'll
be glad you did. Well, be sure to join us next
time as Chip continues his series, I Choose Love.
Until then, I'm Dave Drewy saying thanks for
listening to this edition of Living on the Edge.