WEBVTT 00:00:11.439 --> 00:00:14.179 Today on Living on the Edge with Chip Ingram. 00:00:14.300 --> 00:00:19.039 Only God can change a life, but he never chooses 00:00:19.039 --> 00:00:23.100 to change it alone. There's a God part and there's 00:00:23.100 --> 00:00:26.120 a your part. The question is, how do those fit 00:00:26.120 --> 00:00:28.760 together? What's your part? What's his part? 00:00:28.960 --> 00:00:33.960 That's today. What can you expect from God? And 00:00:33.960 --> 00:00:36.780 what does God expect from you? These aren't just 00:00:36.780 --> 00:00:39.420 theological questions. They powerfully shape 00:00:39.420 --> 00:00:42.820 how we live and love. I'm Dave Drewy, and today 00:00:42.820 --> 00:00:45.340 on Living on the Edge, Chip Ingram tackles one 00:00:45.340 --> 00:00:47.659 of the most misunderstood tensions in Christianity, 00:00:48.380 --> 00:00:51.060 God's sovereignty versus human responsibility. 00:00:51.679 --> 00:00:54.060 In our series, Choosing Love, we're learning 00:00:54.060 --> 00:00:57.280 that love requires both God's grace and our obedience 00:00:57.280 --> 00:01:00.579 working together, and why being a grateful servant 00:01:00.579 --> 00:01:03.679 is the key to transformation. So if you've got 00:01:03.679 --> 00:01:05.920 your Bible handy, open to Philippians chapter 00:01:05.920 --> 00:01:09.200 2, starting in verse 12. Here's Chip Ingram with 00:01:09.200 --> 00:01:13.099 his message, Love Obeys. I want to share a leadership 00:01:13.099 --> 00:01:15.400 lesson that I learned many, many years ago that 00:01:15.400 --> 00:01:18.659 really reshaped my life, and it's one that I 00:01:18.659 --> 00:01:21.000 have to keep on learning. On the very front of 00:01:21.000 --> 00:01:23.780 your notes, you'll notice I've written, our expectations 00:01:23.780 --> 00:01:29.040 powerfully shape our relationships and our responses. 00:01:29.599 --> 00:01:32.840 Circle the word expectations. Our expectations, 00:01:33.159 --> 00:01:35.879 they're so subtle. We have them often we don't 00:01:35.879 --> 00:01:38.730 even know what they are. I grew up in a home, 00:01:38.810 --> 00:01:42.590 and no ladies feel guilty, but my mom was really 00:01:42.590 --> 00:01:46.209 into breakfast. At about 6 .15 or 6 .30, I could 00:01:46.209 --> 00:01:49.250 smell bacon and eggs every single morning, and 00:01:49.250 --> 00:01:51.329 our whole family ate breakfast together. It was 00:01:51.329 --> 00:01:54.250 really wonderful. Well, I got married, and I 00:01:54.250 --> 00:01:56.450 don't know why, but I just expected that we would 00:01:56.450 --> 00:02:00.250 have breakfast every morning. And I, early in 00:02:00.250 --> 00:02:01.870 our marriage, after our honeymoon, I came home 00:02:01.870 --> 00:02:03.909 and said, breakfast. And she goes, well, the 00:02:03.909 --> 00:02:05.569 cereal's up there. I think there's some milk 00:02:05.569 --> 00:02:09.449 in the refrigerator. Go to it. It was like, what? 00:02:11.789 --> 00:02:14.650 I mean, you don't understand. It was just like, 00:02:14.710 --> 00:02:17.129 no, we never talked about, now when we get married, 00:02:17.250 --> 00:02:21.990 you got to fix breakfast. Safe to say, we don't 00:02:21.990 --> 00:02:24.889 do breakfast in our house quite like my mom. 00:02:25.669 --> 00:02:30.169 By contrast, my wife had a father who was very 00:02:30.169 --> 00:02:35.719 handy. He could fix just about anything. the 00:02:35.719 --> 00:02:39.400 car, the gas, the motor. And so she actually 00:02:39.400 --> 00:02:42.400 had this expectation that me being a man and 00:02:42.400 --> 00:02:44.900 her father being a man, that the car would be 00:02:44.900 --> 00:02:47.360 filled with gas. If it didn't work, I could fix 00:02:47.360 --> 00:02:50.639 it. And so there's a carburetor in here somewhere. 00:02:50.819 --> 00:02:54.439 You know, I knew nothing. And she was like, now 00:02:54.439 --> 00:02:57.300 I could give you a hundred other expectations 00:02:57.300 --> 00:02:59.979 that aren't trivial, that have caused really 00:02:59.979 --> 00:03:02.479 painful issues. But here's what I want you to 00:03:02.479 --> 00:03:07.229 get. Notice in your notes. Our personal history 00:03:07.229 --> 00:03:12.150 is paramount in forming our expectations. She 00:03:12.150 --> 00:03:15.030 thinks every husband can fix cars because her 00:03:15.030 --> 00:03:17.370 dad did. I thought every woman cooks breakfast 00:03:17.370 --> 00:03:21.030 because my mom did. Your personal history, it 00:03:21.030 --> 00:03:24.009 just loads you up with a set of expectations. 00:03:24.090 --> 00:03:26.949 Now, if we do that in our relationships with 00:03:26.949 --> 00:03:31.110 people, imagine how we do that in our relationships 00:03:31.110 --> 00:03:36.520 with God. Two critical questions emerge when 00:03:36.520 --> 00:03:39.199 we think about God and expectations. The first 00:03:39.199 --> 00:03:41.639 is, what can we expect of God? And the second, 00:03:41.759 --> 00:03:44.900 what does God expect of us? I mean, what can 00:03:44.900 --> 00:03:47.879 we expect of God? Some people come from backgrounds 00:03:47.879 --> 00:03:50.039 that we can expect that God will make life happy 00:03:50.039 --> 00:03:53.039 and wonderful, will be healthy, wealthy, wise, 00:03:53.099 --> 00:03:55.620 if we just believe, that just love Jesus, and 00:03:55.620 --> 00:03:58.379 your life is going to be great and trouble -free. 00:03:58.919 --> 00:04:01.139 And so, when trouble comes, they really wonder, 00:04:01.219 --> 00:04:03.590 where's God? There's another group of people 00:04:03.590 --> 00:04:05.509 that are really super sober and it's going to 00:04:05.509 --> 00:04:08.009 be hard and it's all about suffering and like 00:04:08.009 --> 00:04:09.990 God brings blessing into their life and it's 00:04:09.990 --> 00:04:11.810 like they feel guilty when good things happen. 00:04:12.810 --> 00:04:15.509 So the question I want to ask you is, what's 00:04:15.509 --> 00:04:20.449 your expectations of God? What do you expect 00:04:20.449 --> 00:04:22.850 of Him? And are you ready to flip it over? Have 00:04:22.850 --> 00:04:26.129 you ever thought seriously about what God expects 00:04:26.129 --> 00:04:30.589 of you? And just like our personal history shapes 00:04:30.589 --> 00:04:34.569 our expectations with one another, history itself 00:04:34.569 --> 00:04:38.250 shapes our expectations, depending on our backgrounds, 00:04:38.470 --> 00:04:40.670 of how we think God's going to respond. What 00:04:40.670 --> 00:04:43.310 does he want? What does he give? How do we receive 00:04:43.310 --> 00:04:45.769 it? How do you know when you're okay with God? 00:04:46.750 --> 00:04:49.129 What's God's part in this relationship and what's 00:04:49.129 --> 00:04:51.470 my part? And then notice on the bottom of your 00:04:51.470 --> 00:04:53.310 notes, I want you to write this word in. Remember, 00:04:53.350 --> 00:04:57.370 our history always shapes. our expectations, 00:04:57.569 --> 00:05:01.230 and historically, people have answered those 00:05:01.230 --> 00:05:05.009 two questions very, very differently. With that, 00:05:05.050 --> 00:05:07.930 open your notes if you would, and I'm going to 00:05:07.930 --> 00:05:12.230 give you a very brief history lesson that if 00:05:12.230 --> 00:05:14.329 you are strong in either one of these camps, 00:05:14.389 --> 00:05:17.009 you'll be frustrated. I'm purposely going to 00:05:17.009 --> 00:05:20.550 sort of push or polarize to the extremes of two 00:05:20.550 --> 00:05:24.550 historical positions. In the 16th century, John 00:05:24.550 --> 00:05:28.750 Calvin was a great, great theologian. In Geneva, 00:05:28.829 --> 00:05:30.949 he began to teach and there was a whole goal 00:05:30.949 --> 00:05:33.550 of what would be like for a Christian city. And 00:05:33.550 --> 00:05:37.529 he had a very strong view of God and about his 00:05:37.529 --> 00:05:41.410 sovereignty and his power. But it was pushed 00:05:41.410 --> 00:05:43.470 to extremes by some of his followers. And so 00:05:43.470 --> 00:05:46.870 about 80 or 90 years later, a fellow named Jacob 00:05:46.870 --> 00:05:49.639 Arminius came along and he said, Boy, you know, 00:05:49.660 --> 00:05:53.540 we've strayed beyond the Bible. And so he began 00:05:53.540 --> 00:05:55.819 to teach some things. And so what you have is 00:05:55.819 --> 00:05:59.259 two basic camps. And I'm going to push the extremes. 00:05:59.259 --> 00:06:02.160 So if you are a Calvinist, you'll say he's not 00:06:02.160 --> 00:06:04.839 representing us well. I understand that. If you're 00:06:04.839 --> 00:06:07.019 more Arminian, you're going to say he's not representing 00:06:07.019 --> 00:06:09.959 us well either. Good. Both will be unhappy with 00:06:09.959 --> 00:06:13.000 me. What I want to do is show you the extremes 00:06:13.000 --> 00:06:15.720 because you have been impacted historically. 00:06:16.660 --> 00:06:20.720 You have certain expectations about what God 00:06:20.720 --> 00:06:23.579 is asking of you. If you come from a, let me 00:06:23.579 --> 00:06:25.959 just call it a hyper -Calvinistic background, 00:06:26.240 --> 00:06:28.439 you believe God is sovereign and in control. 00:06:29.040 --> 00:06:32.500 You believe that he's predestined and predetermined 00:06:32.500 --> 00:06:35.560 just about everything in life. You focus on verse 00:06:35.560 --> 00:06:38.920 13 of Philippians 2. It is God who is at work. 00:06:39.420 --> 00:06:43.759 In extreme Calvinism, God not only chooses people 00:06:43.759 --> 00:06:46.579 for heaven, he chooses people for hell. So, it's 00:06:46.579 --> 00:06:49.000 called double predestination. And so, you actually 00:06:49.000 --> 00:06:51.540 had people in churches going, I believe I've 00:06:51.540 --> 00:06:54.240 been chosen by God to honor his name to hell. 00:06:54.399 --> 00:06:58.389 I mean, it was crazy. But it was this idea that 00:06:58.389 --> 00:07:01.230 since we can have no part in our salvation, it 00:07:01.230 --> 00:07:04.149 is all of God with no sense of our responsibility. 00:07:04.350 --> 00:07:07.990 It was this extreme that turned into fatalism. 00:07:08.209 --> 00:07:12.029 You were eternally secure and a hyper, hyper 00:07:12.029 --> 00:07:14.089 Calvinist would say in terms of our responsibility, 00:07:14.329 --> 00:07:17.949 just let go and let God. In essence, whatever's 00:07:17.949 --> 00:07:20.310 going to happen is going to happen. The joke 00:07:20.310 --> 00:07:22.550 when you tease hyper Calvinists is when they 00:07:22.550 --> 00:07:24.850 trip, they get up and say, I'm glad that's over. 00:07:26.509 --> 00:07:30.529 Think about it. It'll come to you. Arminius, 00:07:30.569 --> 00:07:34.250 by contrast, said, no, no, no, no. Yeah, God 00:07:34.250 --> 00:07:36.730 is sovereign, but we're responsible. We have 00:07:36.730 --> 00:07:40.230 a free will. We make choices. He emphasizes the 00:07:40.230 --> 00:07:44.050 verse 12. Work out your salvation. Our choices 00:07:44.050 --> 00:07:47.089 have consequences. Therefore, as a result of 00:07:47.089 --> 00:07:51.050 it, if you came from this side, eternity's not 00:07:51.050 --> 00:07:53.589 certain. You know, you might be a good Christian 00:07:53.589 --> 00:07:55.709 for a while, but if you mess up, you're out. 00:07:58.329 --> 00:08:01.910 Finally, the idea is let's go and let's get with 00:08:01.910 --> 00:08:07.910 it. I jotted down a couple thoughts. If you're 00:08:07.910 --> 00:08:11.209 a Presbyterian, Anglican, mini -Baptist, a lot 00:08:11.209 --> 00:08:13.170 of Bible churches are reformed in your tradition, 00:08:13.389 --> 00:08:19.189 strong Calvinistic roots. If you are Methodist, 00:08:19.209 --> 00:08:22.350 Wesleyan, Nazarene, charismatic, four -square, 00:08:22.370 --> 00:08:25.730 assembly of God, church of Christ, strong Arminian. 00:08:26.120 --> 00:08:29.319 roots. Notice in your notes, here's what I want 00:08:29.319 --> 00:08:32.799 to get. God's Word rejects both extremes and 00:08:32.799 --> 00:08:35.659 holds God's sovereignty and man's responsibility 00:08:35.659 --> 00:08:40.980 in biblical tension and balance. In other words, 00:08:41.000 --> 00:08:42.759 if you read through the Scriptures, what you 00:08:42.759 --> 00:08:45.360 find is the Bible's really clear. God is sovereign. 00:08:45.500 --> 00:08:47.820 God is in control. The Bible's really clear. 00:08:47.960 --> 00:08:50.500 You are absolutely responsible and will be held 00:08:50.500 --> 00:08:54.960 accountable for your choices. And you say, well, 00:08:54.960 --> 00:08:56.980 how can that be? The answer is, I don't know. 00:08:58.600 --> 00:09:00.279 But what I'm going to go on record and say is, 00:09:00.320 --> 00:09:03.720 no one else knows either. But what happens is 00:09:03.720 --> 00:09:06.799 people tend to go one direction or another. And 00:09:06.799 --> 00:09:08.519 so, if you're reading through the book of Acts, 00:09:08.659 --> 00:09:11.059 if you're a strong Calvinist, it says, and as 00:09:11.059 --> 00:09:13.600 many as were appointed to eternal life believed. 00:09:13.779 --> 00:09:15.460 And you say, see, they were appointed. Except 00:09:15.460 --> 00:09:17.779 if you read the next chapter, it says, and Paul 00:09:17.779 --> 00:09:20.500 spoke so persuasively, a great number believed. 00:09:21.700 --> 00:09:25.850 Which is true, both. Here's the tension I want 00:09:25.850 --> 00:09:31.409 you to get. You can develop systems that can 00:09:31.409 --> 00:09:35.669 remove one or the other, but both are true. Imagine, 00:09:35.950 --> 00:09:39.710 if you will, a telephone pole, and imagine guide 00:09:39.710 --> 00:09:42.789 wires into those cables, pulling on each end, 00:09:42.889 --> 00:09:47.629 and there's deep stakes. And this is the sovereignty 00:09:47.629 --> 00:09:50.710 of God, and this is the responsibility of man. 00:09:51.440 --> 00:09:54.820 And if there's slack or you move one of those 00:09:54.820 --> 00:09:58.960 cords, you go to extremes. And push to its practical 00:09:58.960 --> 00:10:02.759 end, you become passive, let go, let God. Whatever 00:10:02.759 --> 00:10:05.360 it's going to be, it's going to be. Or the other 00:10:05.360 --> 00:10:07.759 way, you get guilt ridden and no matter how much 00:10:07.759 --> 00:10:11.440 you do, God's not in control. If I forgot one 00:10:11.440 --> 00:10:13.799 time to share my faith, that person may go to 00:10:13.799 --> 00:10:16.039 hell because I didn't do my part. The whole world 00:10:16.039 --> 00:10:19.769 is on me. What I want you to know is the Apostle 00:10:19.769 --> 00:10:22.950 Paul, interestingly, he did this in chapter 1, 00:10:23.009 --> 00:10:25.649 remember? He said, I'm confident. He's going 00:10:25.649 --> 00:10:29.330 to be executed. I'm confident of this. This is 00:10:29.330 --> 00:10:30.970 what's going to turn out for my deliverance. 00:10:31.049 --> 00:10:34.990 Your prayers. Oh, man's responsibility. And the 00:10:34.990 --> 00:10:37.909 provision of the Spirit of God. God's sovereignty. 00:10:38.330 --> 00:10:42.529 He now in verse 12 says, so then, my beloved, 00:10:42.710 --> 00:10:46.769 just as you always circle the word obeyed. The 00:10:46.769 --> 00:10:49.210 word obeyed in the New Testament, sometimes we 00:10:49.210 --> 00:10:51.450 feel like, I think our English and our background, 00:10:51.669 --> 00:10:55.710 obey is like ought, should, gotta. And it certainly 00:10:55.710 --> 00:10:59.230 has that thrust, but the word is hupo, to be 00:10:59.230 --> 00:11:02.450 under, akuo, to hear. Like you have an acoustic 00:11:02.450 --> 00:11:05.309 guitar, that's where we get our word. To obey 00:11:05.309 --> 00:11:10.210 is... To be under the hearing of God. Lord, what 00:11:10.210 --> 00:11:12.409 would you have me to do? It's a relationship 00:11:12.409 --> 00:11:16.009 I want to follow. And when you speak about any 00:11:16.009 --> 00:11:19.750 area, I want to listen in order not to just know, 00:11:19.850 --> 00:11:23.269 but to obey. So he says to them, my beloved, 00:11:23.330 --> 00:11:26.169 just as you always obeyed, not just in my presence, 00:11:26.269 --> 00:11:28.789 but now much more in my absence, work out your 00:11:28.789 --> 00:11:31.350 salvation. Would you circle that phrase with 00:11:31.350 --> 00:11:36.679 fear and trembling? Work out is a mining term. 00:11:37.539 --> 00:11:40.240 It's literally like if you owned a gold mine, 00:11:40.340 --> 00:11:43.559 it's work your claim. Continue mining the riches 00:11:43.559 --> 00:11:46.120 of what God has done. When the Spirit of God 00:11:46.120 --> 00:11:49.320 came into your life, when you turned from your 00:11:49.320 --> 00:11:52.259 sin and received Christ, all the spiritual blessings 00:11:52.259 --> 00:11:55.360 in heaven were deposited in you. You were sealed 00:11:55.360 --> 00:11:57.659 with the Spirit. You have an inheritance. He's 00:11:57.659 --> 00:11:59.039 saying, okay, now what I want you to do is I 00:11:59.039 --> 00:12:01.259 want you to work out what God has worked in. 00:12:01.720 --> 00:12:03.899 Notice it doesn't say work for your salvation. 00:12:04.679 --> 00:12:07.480 You can't earn it. Work out. In other words, 00:12:07.519 --> 00:12:09.960 I want you to cooperate. And just like if you 00:12:09.960 --> 00:12:12.460 owned a gold mine, that gold does nothing under 00:12:12.460 --> 00:12:14.940 the ground. And he says, you cooperate with God, 00:12:15.100 --> 00:12:17.139 work out your salvation. And notice with the 00:12:17.139 --> 00:12:19.799 sense of reverential awe, this is a precious, 00:12:19.899 --> 00:12:22.919 amazing gift, your salvation. Don't let it sit 00:12:22.919 --> 00:12:27.120 there. Don't be passive. You're listening to 00:12:27.120 --> 00:12:29.960 Living on the Edge with Chip Ingram. We'll hear 00:12:29.960 --> 00:12:32.700 more from Chip in just a moment. If today's message 00:12:32.700 --> 00:12:35.059 is speaking to your heart, Don't keep it to yourself. 00:12:35.299 --> 00:12:37.539 Share this teaching with someone who needs to 00:12:37.539 --> 00:12:41.740 hear it by visiting livingontheedge .org. While 00:12:41.740 --> 00:12:43.600 you're there, be sure to check out all of the 00:12:43.600 --> 00:12:46.059 other faith -building resources we have available, 00:12:46.299 --> 00:12:49.440 including teaching videos, blogs, and devotionals 00:12:49.440 --> 00:12:53.080 from Chip. It's all waiting for you at livingontheedge 00:12:53.080 --> 00:12:57.480 .org. Let's continue with Chip's message. Sometimes 00:12:57.480 --> 00:13:00.700 when people talk about grace, they think of grace. 00:13:01.610 --> 00:13:04.509 is the opposite of effort. The Bible says we 00:13:04.509 --> 00:13:07.470 make every effort to walk with God. The Bible 00:13:07.470 --> 00:13:10.450 talks about the grace of God teaches us to say 00:13:10.450 --> 00:13:13.509 no to all ungodliness and live sober, disciplined 00:13:13.509 --> 00:13:17.450 lives. It takes great effort. The opposite of 00:13:17.450 --> 00:13:20.190 grace is not effort. The opposite of grace is 00:13:20.190 --> 00:13:24.779 merit. Merit is earning something. And Paul is 00:13:24.779 --> 00:13:27.220 saying to these people that are having some disunity 00:13:27.220 --> 00:13:29.919 issues, people that are being persecuted, he 00:13:29.919 --> 00:13:31.019 says, you know, I don't know if I'm going to 00:13:31.019 --> 00:13:33.779 live or not. But whether I get to see you and 00:13:33.779 --> 00:13:37.620 live or I die, I want you to keep on obeying. 00:13:37.960 --> 00:13:40.779 I want you to love one another. I want you to 00:13:40.779 --> 00:13:43.080 choose to look up when circumstances are bad. 00:13:43.240 --> 00:13:45.379 I want you to care for one another. I want you 00:13:45.379 --> 00:13:47.600 to be generous. In persecution, I want you to 00:13:47.600 --> 00:13:52.480 be faithful. So work out. Your salvation, God's 00:13:52.480 --> 00:13:54.879 worked in. That's your responsibility. Notice 00:13:54.879 --> 00:14:00.840 verse 13. The little word for, it means the reason. 00:14:01.639 --> 00:14:04.340 Why should you work this out? For God who is 00:14:04.340 --> 00:14:08.320 at work in you, both to will and to work for 00:14:08.320 --> 00:14:11.100 his good pleasure. Would you circle the word 00:14:11.100 --> 00:14:16.080 to work and then underline will and good pleasure? 00:14:17.000 --> 00:14:19.379 This word for work is a very interesting word. 00:14:19.419 --> 00:14:22.620 I did a word study on it. We get our word energy. 00:14:23.779 --> 00:14:26.659 It's never used in the New Testament to describe 00:14:26.659 --> 00:14:30.799 human power. 100 % of the time, it is the power 00:14:30.799 --> 00:14:34.340 of God. It's a word that means effective action. 00:14:34.399 --> 00:14:36.740 It describes action that always achieves its 00:14:36.740 --> 00:14:40.200 desired end results or purpose. In ancient Greece, 00:14:40.419 --> 00:14:42.860 it was a demonstration of inner character that 00:14:42.860 --> 00:14:46.360 always led to an outward virtue. And in summary, 00:14:46.580 --> 00:14:51.039 he's saying for God who is at work, he is energizing 00:14:51.039 --> 00:14:54.120 by his power working in you in spirit, both to 00:14:54.120 --> 00:14:57.500 will, his purpose to create both the desire and 00:14:57.500 --> 00:15:02.360 the power. So God's sovereign, I'm responsible. 00:15:03.370 --> 00:15:06.250 God has gifted me sheerly by his grace, this 00:15:06.250 --> 00:15:09.570 new life in his spirit. It is a riches that I 00:15:09.570 --> 00:15:14.169 now live out and I mind my claim. And so to work 00:15:14.169 --> 00:15:18.909 out, grace has been given. And I could say, all 00:15:18.909 --> 00:15:21.529 the truth of life is in this book. And I could 00:15:21.529 --> 00:15:23.870 hand you this book. And you could take this book 00:15:23.870 --> 00:15:26.269 and you could set it on your desk and you could 00:15:26.269 --> 00:15:28.259 never open it. And you could say, I just don't 00:15:28.259 --> 00:15:30.360 know what to do. I don't have any truth. I don't 00:15:30.360 --> 00:15:31.580 know what to do about marriage. I don't know 00:15:31.580 --> 00:15:32.879 what to do about parenting. I don't know what 00:15:32.879 --> 00:15:34.919 to do about my money. I wonder what's going to 00:15:34.919 --> 00:15:37.279 happen to the end of the world. And all the while, 00:15:37.419 --> 00:15:39.720 all the riches and all the truth is on your desk. 00:15:40.059 --> 00:15:44.299 God will not read this for you. Okay? But you 00:15:44.299 --> 00:15:46.799 have it. And it's the same. In other words, work 00:15:46.799 --> 00:15:50.840 out. So the disciplines of being in God's word, 00:15:51.019 --> 00:15:54.480 the discipline of praying, The discipline of 00:15:54.480 --> 00:15:56.919 being in community and doing life and being honest 00:15:56.919 --> 00:15:59.320 and supportive and accountability. The disciplines 00:15:59.320 --> 00:16:02.159 of suffering. The disciplines of some things 00:16:02.159 --> 00:16:04.899 take time. And the disciplines of serving one 00:16:04.899 --> 00:16:08.200 another. When you, are you ready? When you practice 00:16:08.200 --> 00:16:11.740 those things, it's like, imagine tubes coming 00:16:11.740 --> 00:16:14.940 from this great lake of heaven. You're accessing 00:16:14.940 --> 00:16:18.159 the grace of God. And as you practice those things, 00:16:18.320 --> 00:16:22.220 the Apostle Paul says, Christ is being formed 00:16:22.220 --> 00:16:26.620 in you. It's a metaphor of a baby growing to 00:16:26.620 --> 00:16:29.740 a toddler, to a teenager, to a mature adult. 00:16:30.200 --> 00:16:33.659 And he says our part is to utilize the truth, 00:16:33.879 --> 00:16:39.159 the word, prayer, the Lord's Supper, relationships 00:16:39.159 --> 00:16:44.019 to access the grace to mine this new life that's 00:16:44.019 --> 00:16:46.820 been a free gift. Does that make sense? History 00:16:46.820 --> 00:16:50.549 lesson is over. But I do want you to know that 00:16:50.549 --> 00:16:55.049 it seeps in everywhere because what happens is, 00:16:55.110 --> 00:16:58.710 is that I came up around a group, you came up 00:16:58.710 --> 00:17:02.509 around a group, and these groups have thoughts 00:17:02.509 --> 00:17:04.930 about the sovereignty of God and the responsibility 00:17:04.930 --> 00:17:09.829 of men. And I will just say, you know, some of 00:17:09.829 --> 00:17:12.829 you struggle with guilt because no matter how 00:17:12.829 --> 00:17:15.309 much you do, it's never enough. Because you live 00:17:15.309 --> 00:17:17.670 with this, you know, there's never enough, God's 00:17:17.670 --> 00:17:21.140 down on you. Now, that's extreme. That's not 00:17:21.140 --> 00:17:23.539 what should be taught. Some of you are like laid 00:17:23.539 --> 00:17:25.900 back to the point of you're not doing what you 00:17:25.900 --> 00:17:28.660 need to, but you have this subtle of God's in 00:17:28.660 --> 00:17:31.420 control. He really is in control, but that doesn't 00:17:31.420 --> 00:17:34.920 excuse you. And so what you want to do is you 00:17:34.920 --> 00:17:37.819 want to say, I don't want what Calvin taught 00:17:37.819 --> 00:17:39.900 and I don't want what Jacob Arminius taught. 00:17:40.119 --> 00:17:42.940 I want what Jesus taught. I want what the New 00:17:42.940 --> 00:17:45.700 Testament says. I want what the Word of God says. 00:17:45.900 --> 00:17:47.799 And there's going to be certain times and certain 00:17:47.799 --> 00:17:49.819 passages. I've been doing this for quite a while. 00:17:49.940 --> 00:17:52.400 I don't fully understand. I don't think anyone 00:17:52.400 --> 00:17:54.619 fully understands. But I've got plenty of truth 00:17:54.619 --> 00:17:57.400 to know this. I will stand before God as a follower 00:17:57.400 --> 00:18:00.410 of Jesus and give an account. for my time, my 00:18:00.410 --> 00:18:03.430 energy, my money, and my decisions. And I've 00:18:03.430 --> 00:18:05.509 been around long enough to know this, is that 00:18:05.509 --> 00:18:09.529 despite my mistakes, my difficulties, the times 00:18:09.529 --> 00:18:11.230 even that I've sinned, the times when I knew 00:18:11.230 --> 00:18:13.809 what was right and I didn't even do it, there's 00:18:13.809 --> 00:18:17.269 this patient, kind, loving, sovereign God that's 00:18:17.269 --> 00:18:19.730 working even those difficulties and things that 00:18:19.730 --> 00:18:21.930 people have done to me and circumstance I can't 00:18:21.930 --> 00:18:24.289 understand because he's such a, are you ready? 00:18:24.390 --> 00:18:28.339 Good, good father. And so, becoming like Jesus 00:18:28.339 --> 00:18:32.279 and following him is a cooperative effort. Your 00:18:32.279 --> 00:18:35.539 effort and discipline to mine, not earn, but 00:18:35.539 --> 00:18:39.059 to mine out the grace that God's given you. Well, 00:18:39.220 --> 00:18:43.319 the question then becomes is, how do you work 00:18:43.319 --> 00:18:46.259 out what God worked in? I mean, it's nice to 00:18:46.259 --> 00:18:47.880 hear that. I kind of gave you the theory and 00:18:47.880 --> 00:18:50.079 the history. Well, it practically, how do you 00:18:50.079 --> 00:18:52.440 do it? Well, Paul, this is a really amazing thing. 00:18:56.089 --> 00:19:01.150 Verse 13, guess what comes? Verse 14 and 15 and 00:19:01.150 --> 00:19:03.789 16 and 17. So guess what Paul's going to do? 00:19:03.950 --> 00:19:07.289 He says, I want you to obey, to be the kind of 00:19:07.289 --> 00:19:11.069 follower of Jesus fully by his grace, even if 00:19:11.069 --> 00:19:13.490 I come or I don't come. But the goal is I want 00:19:13.490 --> 00:19:15.609 you to be under the hearing. So I'm going to 00:19:15.609 --> 00:19:19.589 give you very specific things to obey so that 00:19:19.589 --> 00:19:22.740 you have unity. and that God uses you in this 00:19:22.740 --> 00:19:25.259 perverse generation. So are you ready? Get your 00:19:25.259 --> 00:19:28.460 pen out. Keep your Bible open. Here's command 00:19:28.460 --> 00:19:31.880 number one. He says, do everything without complaining 00:19:31.880 --> 00:19:36.500 or arguing. So the command is, be a grateful 00:19:36.500 --> 00:19:44.019 servant. Be a grateful servant. Not to be overly 00:19:44.019 --> 00:19:46.839 technical, but if you had the Greek text in your 00:19:46.839 --> 00:19:48.900 hand, you would read it and you would go, oh, 00:19:48.920 --> 00:19:50.680 wait, the word order. It's completely out of 00:19:50.680 --> 00:19:54.240 order. They took the word everything and do everything 00:19:54.240 --> 00:19:56.579 and it belongs in the back of the sentence and 00:19:56.579 --> 00:19:58.359 they put it all the way in the front of the sentence 00:19:58.359 --> 00:20:04.960 for what? Emphasis. Drive your car. Pay your 00:20:04.960 --> 00:20:09.299 bills. Live with your mate. Respond to the government 00:20:09.299 --> 00:20:13.430 and pay your taxes. How? Do everything without 00:20:13.430 --> 00:20:18.690 complaining or arguing. Word for complaining 00:20:18.690 --> 00:20:22.470 here is basically grumbling. It's that infectious 00:20:22.470 --> 00:20:27.890 negative attitude. It's really about be a grateful 00:20:27.890 --> 00:20:31.569 servant in your speech and your attitude. Don't 00:20:31.569 --> 00:20:34.809 whine. Don't complain. Don't talk about your 00:20:34.809 --> 00:20:37.990 boss or your supervisor behind their back. Don't 00:20:37.990 --> 00:20:40.910 be negative. Don't be critical. Don't be sarcastic. 00:20:41.420 --> 00:20:43.240 Don't put people down. This is getting pretty 00:20:43.240 --> 00:20:47.420 convicting, just me saying this to myself. This 00:20:47.420 --> 00:20:50.240 is Living on the Edge with Chip Ingram. Today, 00:20:50.319 --> 00:20:52.660 Chip revealed the biblical balance between God's 00:20:52.660 --> 00:20:55.579 work and our work, how we cooperate with God's 00:20:55.579 --> 00:20:58.420 grace through obedience. If you want to hear 00:20:58.420 --> 00:21:00.359 more from Chip, stick around. He'll be right 00:21:00.359 --> 00:21:03.319 back. And did you know Chip has written a powerful 00:21:03.319 --> 00:21:05.579 book that complements our series? It's called 00:21:05.579 --> 00:21:08.759 I Choose Love. In this special new resource, 00:21:09.039 --> 00:21:11.839 Chip shows you how to work out what God has worked 00:21:11.839 --> 00:21:14.779 in, accessing the riches of salvation through 00:21:14.779 --> 00:21:17.299 spiritual disciplines like reading God's Word, 00:21:17.539 --> 00:21:20.660 prayer, authentic community, and serving others. 00:21:21.279 --> 00:21:24.279 I Choose Love gives you practical tools to mine 00:21:24.279 --> 00:21:27.279 the grace God has deposited in you, showing you 00:21:27.279 --> 00:21:29.599 how Christ is formed in you through consistent 00:21:29.599 --> 00:21:33.000 obedience. If you're tired of the extremes of 00:21:33.000 --> 00:21:35.779 passivity or performance and want to experience 00:21:35.779 --> 00:21:39.279 the freedom of biblical obedience, get I Choose 00:21:39.279 --> 00:21:43.160 Love today by going to our website, livingontheedge 00:21:43.160 --> 00:21:47.140 .org. And you know, these daily teachings exist 00:21:47.140 --> 00:21:49.920 because partners like you believe in this ministry. 00:21:50.019 --> 00:21:52.539 When you give to Living on the Edge, you're helping 00:21:52.539 --> 00:21:54.900 people discover how to walk in grace -filled 00:21:54.900 --> 00:21:58.259 obedience. Will you join us? Support this ministry 00:21:58.259 --> 00:22:02.039 at livingontheedge .org or mail your gift to 00:22:02.039 --> 00:22:06.160 Living on the Edge, P .O. Box 3007, Atlanta, 00:22:06.420 --> 00:22:12.160 Georgia 30024. You can also call us at 888 -333 00:22:12.160 --> 00:22:16.619 -6003. And we've added something new to the Living 00:22:16.619 --> 00:22:19.740 on the Edge podcast, the Chip Ingram Sermon Podcast. 00:22:20.240 --> 00:22:23.299 Now you can hear Chip's complete, unedited sermons 00:22:23.299 --> 00:22:26.390 as they were originally preached. Just subscribe 00:22:26.390 --> 00:22:29.390 to the Living on the Edge podcast on your favorite 00:22:29.390 --> 00:22:33.279 podcast app. Well, now here's Chip. As we wrap 00:22:33.279 --> 00:22:36.380 up today's program, let me ask you, which of 00:22:36.380 --> 00:22:39.059 those historical experiences or perspectives 00:22:39.059 --> 00:22:42.559 would you honestly say has kind of influenced 00:22:42.559 --> 00:22:45.680 the way that you see God the most? I mean, what's 00:22:45.680 --> 00:22:48.079 impacted you? We've all grown up around, you 00:22:48.079 --> 00:22:50.440 know, people and a view of God and Christian 00:22:50.440 --> 00:22:53.980 groups. And what I find honestly is that there's 00:22:53.980 --> 00:22:56.140 great strengths in all these different camps 00:22:56.140 --> 00:22:59.619 and really good godly people. So here's the issue. 00:23:00.170 --> 00:23:03.250 If, in fact, God is sovereign and we are responsible, 00:23:03.750 --> 00:23:06.970 what does it look like to be a follower of Christ 00:23:06.970 --> 00:23:10.650 that's relational, that's grace -oriented, but 00:23:10.650 --> 00:23:13.509 where we're responding? And I would suggest that 00:23:13.509 --> 00:23:16.289 the Apostle Paul, who talked more about the sovereignty 00:23:16.289 --> 00:23:18.829 of God than anyone else, especially in Romans, 00:23:18.970 --> 00:23:22.809 he actually tells us this is who God is and this 00:23:22.809 --> 00:23:25.690 is all he's done. And then he flips the script 00:23:25.690 --> 00:23:28.369 because he's perfectly divinely balanced and 00:23:28.369 --> 00:23:30.660 says, okay, Chapter 12 through the end of the 00:23:30.660 --> 00:23:33.400 book is, this is what your life looks like when 00:23:33.400 --> 00:23:35.740 you're responding in faith and obedience. And 00:23:35.740 --> 00:23:38.359 in verse 1 of chapter 12, he says, it means that 00:23:38.359 --> 00:23:40.680 you're fully, completely surrendered to God. 00:23:40.859 --> 00:23:43.319 In verse 2, he's going to tell you they're separate 00:23:43.319 --> 00:23:45.859 from the world's values. And then in verse 3 00:23:45.859 --> 00:23:47.960 through 8, he'll talk about having an honest 00:23:47.960 --> 00:23:50.599 or sober self -assessment about who you are, 00:23:50.640 --> 00:23:53.019 your strengths, your weaknesses, and how God's 00:23:53.019 --> 00:23:55.630 made you to serve him in love. And so the whole 00:23:55.630 --> 00:23:59.130 chapter is a snapshot or a picture of what does 00:23:59.130 --> 00:24:01.950 it look like to be a mature believer? What is 00:24:01.950 --> 00:24:05.490 God's part and what is our part? Could I encourage 00:24:05.490 --> 00:24:10.890 you to just as a matter of balance to today, 00:24:10.990 --> 00:24:15.329 open Romans chapter 12 and in your heart of hearts 00:24:15.329 --> 00:24:19.500 say, Lord, I know that I'm responsible. And I 00:24:19.500 --> 00:24:22.059 know that you're absolutely sovereign. And as 00:24:22.059 --> 00:24:24.259 I read this chapter, would you help me become 00:24:24.259 --> 00:24:28.119 more and more the man or the woman that you want 00:24:28.119 --> 00:24:31.640 me to become? I want to reflect the very love 00:24:31.640 --> 00:24:35.779 and the character of Jesus. And I think you'll 00:24:35.779 --> 00:24:39.859 experience the special grace of God that allows 00:24:39.859 --> 00:24:42.359 you not to get too hung up on all that you do 00:24:42.359 --> 00:24:46.519 and not be too laid back about all he does. I'm 00:24:46.519 --> 00:24:48.559 Dave Drewy, and we'll continue today's lesson 00:24:48.559 --> 00:24:52.240 titled Love Obeys Monday on Living on the Edge. 00:24:54.880 --> 00:24:57.519 Today's program is produced and sponsored by 00:24:57.519 --> 00:24:58.680 Living on the Edge.