Jan. 6, 2025

A New Year, A New Interpretation

A New Year, A New Interpretation

A discussion about Romans 12:1-2

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A discussion about Romans 12:1-2

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Looking at our world from a theological perspective.

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This is the Theology Central podcast making Theology Central.

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Good morning everyone. It is Monday, January sixth, twenty twenty five.

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It is currently ten forty six am Central Time, and

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I am coming to you live from the Theology Central

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studio located right here in Abilene, Texas. Well, it's a

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brand new year, and you know what that means, right?

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You know what that what? I guess it could actually

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mean a number of things, right, I guess the options

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there are really unlimited. It can mean millions of different things.

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But when it comes to Christianity, when it comes to

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the church, you know what a new year means, right.

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We get those new year sermons. Right, Hey, it's a

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new year. Let's do this. Let's do this, Let's do this,

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Let's do this. You need to make a goal for this,

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and you need to do this. And you need a

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Bible reading plan, and you need a devotional plan, and

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you need to this, and you need to join a

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small group, and you need to go to church, and

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you need to do this, and you need to give

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and you need to do this, and you need to

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do this and this and this and this and this

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and this and this and this and this and this

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and this, and at the beginning of the year, there's

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a little bit of excitement. Oh yeah, I'm gonna read

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my Bible, I'm going to do a devotional, and everybody

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gets excited until what, I don't know, January the fifteenth,

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January the twentieth, and then everyone kind of forgets all

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of that. I mean, maybe the church will keep trying

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to get people excited, but everyone kind of moves on

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by February and it's the end. It's kind of the

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same thing happens in the world, right Oh, it's January.

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I'm going to join Planet Fitness, So I'm going to

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join a gym. And then everyone goes and the gyms

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are packed and everyone's in there, and oh, there's excitement

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in the air. Everyone's got their fitness goals. And then

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by February, you know, sixty percent of those people are

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long gone. I saw the same thing in martial arts.

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At the beginning of the year. People would join, Oh,

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I'm going to join martial arts, and then you know,

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within a month or two, they they basically are no

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longer to be found. I mean that happens in every

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because a new year gives us a sense of oh,

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something new, a new beginning, a new opportunity. But we

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always tend to revert back to who we are, I

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mean who we are. We can get into a lengthy

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discussion and how much do we actually change now? I know,

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within Christianity we love to teach the idea that when

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we became a Christian, you know, we were a new

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anyone in christ is a new creature. Old things are

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passed away, all things have become new. We try to

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preach that as if that's a practical reality. Anyone's been

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a Christian for I know, no longer than ten minutes.

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Go wait a minute, Clearly not everything is new. Clearly

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I'm not a new creature because I still sin I

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still have the same sinful desires that I had ten

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minutes ago. So we know that that's a positional reality,

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not a practical reality. But yet Christianity persist in teaching

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that concept. But when we get to a new year,

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everything just cranks up and it's like new do it.

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But and Christianity it's always turns into do this, do this,

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do this, do this, do this, do this? And I

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understand because you it's it is a time to think

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about what where you have been, where you are going.

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Maybe this year I've just I'm not in that frame

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of I don't have that mindset. I don't have that

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framework really over me this year. I don't know why

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this year it's completely different. A lot of times I've

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fallen into the same mindset, right, that same framework, because

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especially being a Christian and going to church for all

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the years that I have, I've I've relived that cycle

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so many times, and I always have you know, in

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many cases really good you know ideas, really good you know,

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desires and and and and maybe you know, some really

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good things I want to accomplish. Maybe my motivation is right,

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but in many cases I kind of see what it

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turns into. So this year, and typically I've done it

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a lot with the podcast, right, even with the church.

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I used to be like, Okay, in this new year,

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we're going to do this, and we're going to do this,

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and we're going to do this, and there was always

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that excitement at the beginning. But then I noticed, I

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don't know how many years I went through that as

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a pastor, and finally I'm like, you know what, this

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is a waste of time. We spend all of this

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money getting people Bible study guides or devotional books or

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this book, and nobody who ultimately uses it. Three four

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months in, we're wasting money, We're wasting time. I used

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to do the same thing with the podcasts. Hey let's

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get everyone excited. Everyone's excited. Three four months in, you

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look at the numbers. You've lost half of your audience.

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They're no longer participating, they're no longer contacting you, And

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you're like, what am I doing? Why? So maybe maybe

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it's just pure cynicism. Maybe I'm jaded. But now my approaches,

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and I mentioned this briefly yesterday, my approach really is

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I have in front of me, well, I have a

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pencil in my hand, and right here, I have a

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notebook that's completely empty. There is completely empty. There's nothing written,

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and in this sense, this notebook represents twenty twenty five.

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It's empty. I'm not going to put any goals, any

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any desire, anything like that. It's just going to leave

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it and I'm just going to kind of let the

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year right itself. Maybe that's a crazy approach, I don't know,

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but that's that's what I'm going to do. Now, we

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did I did say, I guess if we've set any

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kind of if we set a course, if we've really

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kind of decide what we're going to do, any resolutions

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and anything like that, we are going to do a

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lot of talking about artificial intelligence in twenty twenty five.

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We do have that series, which will be kind of

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a kind of artificial intelligence is really going to touch

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every single thing we will be doing in twenty twenty five,

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and I'm just going to try to be very open

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with when AI is what when AI has contributed to

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a situation and what we're about to do AI has

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contributed to the situation, and we'll talk about that. So

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it will be connected. Everything's going to be connected to

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that series in some way, shape or form. All right,

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But we're going to continue doing many of the things

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we have been doing. Right, I'm going to continue to

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listen to sermons, and as I listen to sermons, I'll

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be reviewing sermons. I'm going to be challenging you to

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be listening to sermons on the sermons two point oh

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app just like I did in twenty twenty four. And

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the reason I'm going to do that is because this

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is an amazing resource. So just because it's a new year.

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Do we just throw that resource away and try to

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go find another one? I mean, we're getting we have

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an app right there in our mobile devices that where

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thousands upon thousands of sermons are being added every week.

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They're all right there for you, free of charge. Why

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why would we waste that resource? So I'm definitely going

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to continue doing that, and we'll just see where things

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take us. I know that's kind of a.

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Well.

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It's like we have no map, no GPS. We were

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getting in a car. We're going on a road trip.

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Where are we going? I don't know what direction are

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we going? I don't know. I'm just going to go, Oh,

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that road looks good and I'm just going to take it. Well,

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why are you turning? I don't know. I feel like turning.

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Where does it go? I don't know where are we

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going to end up? I don't know how are we

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going to get there? I don't know. I'm like, just

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hop in the car, let's just drive where we go.

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I don't have a clue how are we going to

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get I don't know. I have no plans, I have

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nothing mapped out, I have no GPS, I have nothing.

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I have no destination in mind. So that's where we're

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how we're going to do twenty twenty five. So for today,

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because it is January the sixth, and I've already noticing

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on the sermon's two point Oh app I've been noticing

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now for over a week. New Year's sermon after New

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Year's sermon, after New Year's sermon, And well, I saw

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one about a well new year, a new year, new

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year dedication, a new Year reset, and I was like, okay,

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let's grab it. I saw it was thirty nine minutes.

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I'm like, okay, that looks good. I believe the audio

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was loud enough. I should have probably done more checking

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of it. But the main thing that caught my attention

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was that the sermon was utilizing Romans Chapter twelve versus

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one through two as its text. Romans twelve one through two. Oh,

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come on, how many sermons have you heard in your

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Christian life on Romans twelve one through two? Are you ready?

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Let's read it. I beseech you, therefore, brethren, by the

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mercies of God, that you present your bodies a living

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sacrifice wholly acceptable to God, which is your reasonable service,

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And do not be conformed to this world, but be

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transformed by the renewing of your mind that you may

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prove what is that good and acceptable and perfect will

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of God. Present yourself as a living sacrifice in twenty

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twenty five. You need to make yourself a living sacrifice.

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And that's typically presented in one way. Oh, you need

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to be a living You need to sacrifice your mind,

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your speech, your heart, your desires, your feelings, your actions,

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all to God. You must be a complete living sacrifice

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to God. And that's not a one time thing. You

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have to wake up each day saying, today I present

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to you Lord, all of me is a living sacrifice.

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And those sermons have been preached and been preached and

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been preached and been preached and been preached, and they're

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preached and sermons where everybody's like, amen, I'm gonna be

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a living sacrifice. And then what happens The church people

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are bickering, fighting, gossiping, slandering, sinning, and the church splits

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and you're like, well, so much for being a living sacrifice.

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It's almost like the living sacrifice is this, you know,

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It's like Mount Everest. We're all at the bottom of it,

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looking up, going we want to go to the top

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of that, and nobody, nobody's gonna get there. But yet

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the sermons on Romans twelve one through two persist. So

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it looks like this is a new year sermon on

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Romans twelve one through two. Is it going to go

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that direction? I don't know. You can hear that. I

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think it's gonna go that direction. I could be very wrong.

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But the main thing, we're gonna use this to get

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into a discussion about Romans twelve one through two, because

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I believe that just maybe all the sermons on Romans

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twelve one through two, I think maybe they've all been wrong.

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I think maybe we need a new interpretation of Romans

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twelve went through two. And guess what I've been doing

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off and on this morning while I was doing other things,

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I've been working on a new interpretation of Romans twelve

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one through two. So just maybe we'll get to it.

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Maybe we will not, because this year twenty twenty five,

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we're in a We're in a car with no GPS,

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no direction, we have no goals, we have no destination.

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We're just going to see where we go. So we're

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gonna just see where this goes. Are you ready? Here

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we go? Hop in the car. You always have to

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bring a Bible, a notebook, and a pencil, right, you

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always have to have those, and we're just gonna drive.

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I don't know what's about to happen. We're gonna find out.

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So here we go.

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Okay, let's take our bibles. Please, Let's go to Romans

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twelve and we'll look at verse one and two. We're

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continuing our lesson on dedication Romans twelve, Verses one and two.

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Verse one. I beseech you, therefore, brethren, by the mercies

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of God, that you present your bodies a living sacrifice,

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holy acceptable unto God, which is your reasonable service, And

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be not conformed to this world, but be transformed by

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the renewing of your mind, that you may prove what

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is that good and acceptable and perfect will of God.

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Let's pray, Father, thank you for this opportunity to teach

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your word. Encourage us now as we look into the

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passages concerning dedication. Please help me as I speak. I

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pray that you would help us to reset our minds

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as we come into this new year, and as we

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consider the different challenges we may have in life, the

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different relationships and Lord, I pray that you would help

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us as we seek to encourage one another today as well.

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Jesus name, I pray Amen. So if you have your

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notebooks or if you're taking notes today, dedication Dedication is

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the same word as consecrated, or it's similar as consecrated.

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Consecrated means it's made sacred by ceremonies or solemn rites,

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separated from a common to a sacred use, devoted or

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dedicated to the service and worship of God. And we

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know our verse in James one and verse number eight

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very specifically talks about the spirit of dedication, the mind,

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the attitude, the heart that we need to have in

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being dedicated to God. James one and verse number eight says,

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a double minded man is unstable in all his ways,

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or it means a man or a person of divided allegiance. Okay,

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So according to Romans twelve, what would the two things

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be that we could have a divided allegiance to what

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would be the two things? Well, it says in in

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chapter Romans twelve and verse one it says, beseech you

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therefore by the mercies of God. Okay, So the first

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the first party would be we can be either dedicated

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to God or he says in verse number two, and

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be not conformed to this world. Listen, some people's lives

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are dedicated to being conformed to this world. Their whole

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life is dedicated to it.

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Okay, this is interesting. He connected James one eight to

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Romans twelve one to two, taking the two things. All right,

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I've beseech you, therefore, brethren, by the mercies of God.

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He kind of skipped mercies and he just went to

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so you can be dedicated to God. Or then he

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goes down to verse two and do not be conformed

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to this world, or you can be dedicated to the world.

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And then he uses James one eight to try to

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connect that. That is an odd that's a weird cross

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referencing thing. I again this year we're gonna be utilizing AI,

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just to show you how quick AI is. So I

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asked AI about this approach to James one eight. AI said,

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James one eight. This verse about about being double minded.

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And the context of this sermon, the way it is

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being applied, is being applied broadly to dedication versus worldliness,

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but the original context focuses on instability and faith due

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to doubt. Although you may want to argue it's somewhat applicable.

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A deeper explanation of the context could prevent a misapplication.

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So he's taking James one eight making it about being

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double minded. You can be caught between God and worldliness,

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but James one eight is really about being instability that

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comes from it's being caught between faith and doubt. So

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I don't know is it applicable? Is that because look

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at James one, if you look at five, if any

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one of you lack wisdom, let him ask of God,

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who gives to all liberally and without reproach, and it

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will give, and it will be given to him. But

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let him ask in faith with no doubt. For he

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who doubts is like a wave of the seed, driven

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and tossed by the win. For let not that man

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suppose that he will receive anything from the Lord. He

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is a double minded man, unstable in all his ways.

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So that the context there is about faith and doubt,

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not about God and worldliness. Now, I guess you could

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take the concept of being double minded and apply it

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to Romans twelve one through two. But as Romans twelve went,

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I oh, that's I'm a little I'm a little hesitant

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to go there. But that's okay, that's okay. Well, we'll

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see how he's going to use Romans twelve. I just

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immediately AI picked up like, wait, well, we'll wait. That's

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not the context of James. So you're taking a verse

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that's about faith and doubt, ripping it out of its

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context to apply it to the context of Romans twelve

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one through two and say that we can be double

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minded between God and the world. But the Romans twelve

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is not a distinction between God and the world. It's

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about I beseech you therefore by the mercies of God.

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It's about the mercies of God and Romans twelve ones.

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I oh, okay, I don't know. I'm not gonna say.

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I'm not gonna offer really any meaningful critique there. I'm

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just gonna point out there's some at least a little

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bit of concern. But let's see where they go with

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Romans twelve. Here we go.

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We just came back from a trip to New York City,

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which was a wonderful, wonderful thing. Occasionally, and of course

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you can see the same thing here. You can see

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it in almost any town in the world, essentially, but

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occasionally you want to see somebody walk down the street

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and you're just thinking, I'm not sure what they're wearing,

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but the way they walk and the attitude they walk

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with is like, that's gotta be high fashion. But you

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look at it and you think it doesn't really make

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a whole lot of practical sense in what they're wearing. Right,

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that doesn't look very warm, for example, or the shoes

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look way too big to be comfortable, or way too

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thin or whatever it is. So you just.

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It's none of your business what anybody else wears. Okay,

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I'm not a fan of this. Okay, I'm not a

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fan of this illustration. You know, I Why are you

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looking at what anybody wears? What difference does it make?

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How about you let them wear what they want to wear,

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You wear what you want to wear, and you just

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keep Why do you have to look and judge? Why? Why?

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I'm I'm I guess I'm always sensitive if I ever

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hear someone pointing out someone else's clothes, I'm always like, whoa, whoa,

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whoa whoa whoa whoa whoa. Let them wear what they

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Let them be them, and you be you and just

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keep your opinion to yourself. They didn't wake up this morning,

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worried about what some preacher may think about what they're wearing.

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It's not I mean, like, I don't. I'm not a

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fan of that.

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I'm not.

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I know that. I know he's trying to use it

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as an illustration, but just my that's just one of

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my own. That's kind of one of my little pet

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peeves is when people critique what other people are wearing.

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It's none of your business.

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Let them wear what they want. When they bought it,

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it's in their closet, and they if they feel good

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about it and they're wearing it because they want to

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wear it, then it's none of my business. Right, They

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should not worry about what other people think. Okay. I

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was so bothered by that, even in high school, when

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I would watch that happen, I would always purposely do

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things to just try to blow up that entire template.

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If people like you shouldn't wear theirs, I would go

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wear exactly what they said you shouldn't wear, and I

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would do crazy things, like some days I would show

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up to school and a full suit, and then some

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days I would show up and I showed up to

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school at a bathroom. Okay, because I would I would

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try to destroy all of those societal expectations because I

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didn't like I didn't like that. Well, oh today, and

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if the school today we're wearing this, I would wear

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the opposite just because I was Yeah, maybe it's my

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anti conformity, maybe it's my rebellious spirit, but I don't

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like that. So yeah, I mean, okay, great, you get

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to walk around and you look at people and you

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get to determine that the shoes are too big or this,

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or it's no practical value. Why are you sitting? It

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just seems like you're wasting a lot of time judging

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what people are wearing. It's my own personal feeling. But

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I know he's simply saying all of that foreign illustration.

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So I guess what we need to do. What I'm

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doing wrong here is I need to figure out what

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the illustration is pointing to. Not you see, I'm missing

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the point, right? You see what I just did. I

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allowed my own personal feeling to allow me to miss

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the point. People do the same thing with me. They'll

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I'll say something and then their email will be all

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about them, like you miss the entire point. I'm missing

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the entire points. So see how easy it is to

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fall into that trap because I just did.

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It, look at it and just think that doesn't seem

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like what everyone else typically would wear. But maybe they

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spent their money and they got that, or they're of

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the they're of the mindset of whatever the latest absolutely

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cutting edge fashion is, That's what I'm gonna wear, right. Whatever.

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The thing is is that when we talk about being dedicated,

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we're talking about being dedicated to God. Okay, we're dedicated

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to a.

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Person, Okay, So I think the point of the illustration

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is those people are dedicated to fashion. We're supposed to

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be dedicated to God. Now what I would rather do

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is okay, So you're using an illustration to show that

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these people because he's pointing to people that would be

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radically different than the people he's preaching to. Right, So

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he's gonna use an illustration where he, in a sense,

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can say, see how those people are dedicated to fashion,

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but we are dedicated to God. Wouldn't make more sense

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to use an illustration about how we claim to be

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dedicated to God, but we tend to be dedicated to

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other things. Maybe we aren't dedicated to fashion, but we

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are dedicated to a lot of other things. Maybe make

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an illustration that would hit closer to home. But it's

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easier to use an illustration about people walking in New

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York City. I don't know where this church is located

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when you're not in New York City, and then you

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can say they were all dedicated to fashion, but we

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are dedicated to God. I know that that's very common

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in preaching because then you don't offend anybody you're preaching to,

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because I doubt there's anyone sitting in that church that's

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dedicated to high fashion, so you're not going to offend them.

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But if you used a different illustration may hit closer

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to home. All right, But okay, let's see where this goes.

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We're dedicated to Jesus Christ. We need to understand that

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most people are dedicated to the world. Now they may

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not necessarily be dedicated to fashion. But when we're talking

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about the world, what are we talking about? When we

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look at this word world, be not conformed to this world?

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What does that mean? Anything goes? When we talk about

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the word world, how would we define that? What it mean?

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The globe? Like terra firma, the way of thinking, the

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way of doing things? Anybody else? When we're talking about

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being not conformed to this world? What are we talking

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about earthly desires, mister deep beliefs, the way that people believe.

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That's right. Yeah, so we can see here that we're

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talking about two two totally different systems. Right. We're talking

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about God and the Kingdom of God and the way

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he thinks and the way he does things, and then

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we're talking about the way that the unsaved world thinks

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and does things. They're two totally separate systems, right, So

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we're talking about a system of thinking, a system of belief.

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We're talking about the way that the way that the

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world does things. And that's why it says be not

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conformed to this world, to be transformed by the renewing

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of your mind. So we're really talking about a way

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of thinking here.

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Okay, so we're talking about a way of thinking. Now.

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I know churches love to put all of them or

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over there, but we are over here as if we

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are somehow better and we're somehow more godly and we're

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somehow more spiritual. But I think the reason even Paul

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would have to tell believers, you know, do not be

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conformed to this world, is because our natural inclination, our

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natural way of thinking. Our natural desires, our natural feelings

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are just as worldly as the world. I know. We

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like to make ourselves like them. They but us, we

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are dedicated to God. It's not that way. We we

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have the same sinful desires, and we have the same

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sinful nature as they. We are not and we say

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we're dedicated to God. Yeah, I have problems with this.

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Let's see if he fleshes it out a little more.

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I do like the fact that he's identified that the

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world is more of a way of thinking. It's not

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necessarily action, it's thinking. But I think the Church is

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just as worldly and it's thinking as the world is,

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and it manifests itself countless ways. But okay, let's see

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what happens.

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We're talking about dedication. We need to say I am

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willing for God to make me think differently about everything

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in my life. Now.

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I do like the way he said that as a Christian,

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I need to say, I am willing for God to

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change all of my thinking about every area of life. Now.

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I like that that is something good, that all I

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am willing for God to change my thinking about everything.

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I like to say, I am willing for the truth

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of God's word to change my thinking about everything I need.

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My mind should always be willing. I should always be

463
00:26:19.920 --> 00:26:24.000
willing to change my mind about literally anything and everything,

464
00:26:24.279 --> 00:26:28.119
not holding on to preconceived ideas, unwilling to have my

465
00:26:28.240 --> 00:26:31.880
thinking challenge, unwilling to have my thoughts challenge. I should

466
00:26:31.920 --> 00:26:34.079
be willing to be challenged. I should be willing to

467
00:26:34.160 --> 00:26:38.359
change my thinking. I do like that approach. I do

468
00:26:38.480 --> 00:26:41.240
like that that's really good, and that's an awesome thing

469
00:26:41.240 --> 00:26:43.119
to just write down to the beginning of a new year.

470
00:26:43.240 --> 00:26:45.880
This year, I am willing to have my mind change

471
00:26:46.160 --> 00:26:50.160
about literally everything because I want to continue to grow.

472
00:26:50.319 --> 00:26:52.400
I want to continue to learn, and I want to

473
00:26:52.440 --> 00:26:55.880
continue to pursue truth at all costs. I want truth

474
00:26:55.920 --> 00:26:58.279
more than I want friends. I want truth more than

475
00:26:58.279 --> 00:27:01.400
I want popularity. I want truth more than anything else

476
00:27:01.559 --> 00:27:04.480
that I do like that mindset. I do like that.

477
00:27:07.559 --> 00:27:11.880
I'm willing for God to teach me and change me

478
00:27:13.400 --> 00:27:17.279
so that whatever it is that is happening in my life,

479
00:27:17.880 --> 00:27:23.720
I want it to be acceptable to him. That's why

480
00:27:23.759 --> 00:27:26.759
it says in verse number one, a living sacrifice polly

481
00:27:27.880 --> 00:27:33.920
acceptable unto God. My friends, if we're gonna be dedicated,

482
00:27:33.960 --> 00:27:36.160
we have to realize, first of all, we have to

483
00:27:36.200 --> 00:27:41.799
be dedicated to him, what is pleasing to him. Most

484
00:27:41.799 --> 00:27:44.599
people don't think that way. That is not the world's system.

485
00:27:44.599 --> 00:27:49.759
A matter of fact, you could take every phrase in

486
00:27:49.880 --> 00:27:52.039
verses one and two and kind of just give the

487
00:27:52.079 --> 00:27:54.680
reverse and say, well, this is the way God's kingdom works,

488
00:27:54.680 --> 00:27:56.680
and the opposite of that would be this is what

489
00:27:56.720 --> 00:27:59.880
the way the world thinks. Right, So in God's kingdom,

490
00:28:00.200 --> 00:28:03.720
first of all, what's acceptable to God. In the world system,

491
00:28:03.759 --> 00:28:08.839
it's what is acceptable to everybody else. Does the world

492
00:28:09.000 --> 00:28:15.440
care if it's acceptable to God? They don't care. They

493
00:28:15.440 --> 00:28:19.000
would rather God not even be a part of the situation. Rather,

494
00:28:19.079 --> 00:28:21.640
God not even be a part of their mindset. They

495
00:28:21.680 --> 00:28:22.640
would rather.

496
00:28:24.400 --> 00:28:27.319
I just have such a hard time with this. They

497
00:28:27.480 --> 00:28:31.319
they they they they they they they they they, because

498
00:28:31.359 --> 00:28:34.079
the implication is they are all messed up, but we

499
00:28:35.599 --> 00:28:38.880
and it's not that way. Two thousand years of church

500
00:28:38.960 --> 00:28:42.440
history shows that the Bible shows that God. The Bible

501
00:28:42.480 --> 00:28:46.400
is filled with stories of God's people, God's chosen people,

502
00:28:46.519 --> 00:28:50.200
God's the characters that are supposedly faithful to God. Over

503
00:28:50.240 --> 00:28:52.759
and over and over. They care about what they want.

504
00:28:52.839 --> 00:28:57.359
They're selfish, self seeking, sinful, ungodly people, because that is

505
00:28:57.400 --> 00:28:59.799
what we are. I know, we want to say they

506
00:28:59.799 --> 00:29:03.079
are that way and we aren't. I'm not a fan

507
00:29:03.160 --> 00:29:08.960
of the US versus them mentality. It's uh. We love

508
00:29:09.079 --> 00:29:12.920
to paint ourselves as we are the heroes of every narrative,

509
00:29:13.000 --> 00:29:16.480
but we are the sinners and every narrative.

510
00:29:19.000 --> 00:29:26.039
Brother not even have God in their mind to push past.

511
00:29:27.240 --> 00:29:30.799
We were standing in line in New York City. We

512
00:29:30.839 --> 00:29:33.039
were trying to do one of those ice skating things.

513
00:29:33.039 --> 00:29:35.839
We ice skate all the time here for free, but

514
00:29:35.920 --> 00:29:37.279
when you go to New York City, you have to

515
00:29:37.319 --> 00:29:39.359
ice skate with the beautiful views. You can have an

516
00:29:39.359 --> 00:29:43.519
amazing picture. Right, We're all waiting in line and you

517
00:29:43.519 --> 00:29:46.559
have to book online. And actually skating was free, which

518
00:29:46.599 --> 00:29:52.640
was pretty cool. The skate rental was not. And there

519
00:29:52.720 --> 00:29:56.960
is this guy that was just like pushing past everybody.

520
00:29:57.480 --> 00:30:00.640
Excuse me, excuse me, excuse me, excuse me? WHOA? And

521
00:30:00.680 --> 00:30:08.160
I put my arm down. What's going on? Oh pastor

522
00:30:09.000 --> 00:30:11.599
you shouldn't do that. It's like, hey, whoa, is there

523
00:30:11.640 --> 00:30:16.200
a system here? Is there not a system? Yeah? Uh?

524
00:30:16.319 --> 00:30:18.359
In Nepal they would call it a queue, which on

525
00:30:18.359 --> 00:30:20.599
another you know, many other cultures and languages call it

526
00:30:20.599 --> 00:30:23.119
a que as well a line, and then you would

527
00:30:23.119 --> 00:30:27.240
say chas and yes or no, like hello, cute cha China.

528
00:30:27.400 --> 00:30:29.599
That's what you would say, is this a line? Yes

529
00:30:29.720 --> 00:30:31.400
or no? Are we doing the que? Are we doing

530
00:30:31.400 --> 00:30:35.759
the line system? That essentially what I asked this guy, right,

531
00:30:35.759 --> 00:30:38.400
it's like, hey, he's like, oh, that girl said, I'm

532
00:30:38.400 --> 00:30:41.400
like one girl. Look, if you're gonna go to New

533
00:30:41.480 --> 00:30:43.079
York City, you got to get in at least one fight.

534
00:30:44.359 --> 00:30:47.680
I mean that's on every tourist bucket list, right. And

535
00:30:47.759 --> 00:30:50.559
then so I got it stamped that for sure. I

536
00:30:50.599 --> 00:30:54.200
got it. I got it done. No, he wasn't going

537
00:30:54.200 --> 00:30:55.799
to meet the girl in the front. He was skipping

538
00:30:55.839 --> 00:30:59.039
past everybody because he said, oh, this employee, this girl

539
00:30:59.079 --> 00:31:00.960
over here said we can skip ahead. I'm like, which

540
00:31:00.960 --> 00:31:08.319
one show me? Right? We have to understand that as believers,

541
00:31:10.279 --> 00:31:15.480
if we're going to grow and we're gonna be dedicated,

542
00:31:16.519 --> 00:31:22.200
we are living according to a very different system. Now,

543
00:31:22.240 --> 00:31:24.160
if the employee would have said, yeah, sure, no, that

544
00:31:24.200 --> 00:31:26.240
guy can come ahead, It's fine. I don't care, Like

545
00:31:26.400 --> 00:31:29.200
who am I I'm just another customer. But if you're

546
00:31:29.240 --> 00:31:31.119
just making up the rules, I can make up rules,

547
00:31:31.160 --> 00:31:33.119
you go to the back. I mean, we can all

548
00:31:33.160 --> 00:31:34.720
make up rules.

549
00:31:39.319 --> 00:31:42.559
So is the point of the story that the world

550
00:31:42.720 --> 00:31:46.279
makes up their own rules but we don't. Christians have

551
00:31:46.359 --> 00:31:52.680
been making up their own rules for two thousand stinking years. Okay,

552
00:31:53.160 --> 00:31:54.960
I mean come on now, I mean.

553
00:31:54.799 --> 00:31:54.960
Like.

554
00:31:56.960 --> 00:32:00.799
I okay, it's just we're all all the negative is

555
00:32:00.799 --> 00:32:05.319
pointed towards them, but he's now no criticism or critique

556
00:32:05.480 --> 00:32:11.440
or judgment is pointed towards us. The judgment begins with us. Right,

557
00:32:11.559 --> 00:32:13.599
let's see where this goes. I want to get more.

558
00:32:14.000 --> 00:32:15.759
I was hoping he was going to do more work

559
00:32:15.759 --> 00:32:19.160
in Romans twelve. He's not really doing any actual exogetical

560
00:32:19.200 --> 00:32:20.920
work in Romans twelve one through two. I think you're

561
00:32:20.960 --> 00:32:23.640
kind of getting the idea, right, I mean, he's playing

562
00:32:23.680 --> 00:32:26.480
loose and fast with Romans twelve one through two, just

563
00:32:26.559 --> 00:32:29.920
kind of taking phrases. I was hoping for a more

564
00:32:30.319 --> 00:32:33.599
exegetical work on it. Well, I'll let it go a

565
00:32:33.680 --> 00:32:35.240
little further and then I'm going to kind of put

566
00:32:35.279 --> 00:32:38.400
forth my own I kind of challenge how Romans twelve

567
00:32:38.440 --> 00:32:39.759
one through two is typically handled.

568
00:32:41.119 --> 00:32:43.000
The problem with Christian growth is when they try to

569
00:32:43.039 --> 00:32:54.000
be equally dedicated to both, equally dedicated to both. You guys,

570
00:32:54.039 --> 00:32:56.680
ever seen those people on TV that do the eating contests.

571
00:32:58.359 --> 00:33:02.200
I could not do that. They raise each other with

572
00:33:02.240 --> 00:33:06.039
whatever it is, hot dogs, pies. I'm sure Tim Hortons

573
00:33:06.039 --> 00:33:08.599
has probably got an amaze. I don't know, but they

574
00:33:08.680 --> 00:33:15.359
just but you know what, they're also not Olympic athletes,

575
00:33:15.400 --> 00:33:19.559
are they? You're not gonna win a hot dog getting

576
00:33:19.559 --> 00:33:23.880
contest and then also win one hundred meters friend, And

577
00:33:23.960 --> 00:33:26.880
you know, you gotta pick your dedication. And the problem

578
00:33:26.920 --> 00:33:30.759
is that there's so many believers who they never really grow,

579
00:33:30.880 --> 00:33:40.559
They never really come into maturity, strength, power, faith, helping others,

580
00:33:41.279 --> 00:33:46.480
truth fulfillment, a really solid relationship between them and Christ

581
00:33:48.279 --> 00:33:53.240
because there is a tug on their heart.

582
00:33:55.759 --> 00:34:01.480
Okay, now we're getting somewhere. Okay, many Christians, like you,

583
00:34:01.640 --> 00:34:05.359
are dedicated to two separate and opposite things, and you

584
00:34:05.400 --> 00:34:08.079
cannot grow as a Christian. So they never truly grow

585
00:34:08.239 --> 00:34:11.000
because there's a tug on their heart. Okay, let me

586
00:34:11.039 --> 00:34:14.760
make this very clear. Okay, this is so weird when

587
00:34:14.800 --> 00:34:17.639
I listen to Christians talk about things, because it just

588
00:34:17.719 --> 00:34:22.000
seems sometimes that they speak about things and theology just

589
00:34:22.119 --> 00:34:24.039
kind of gets I mean, this is why it's called

590
00:34:24.039 --> 00:34:28.719
theology central, right, the philological approach is just abandoned. And

591
00:34:28.800 --> 00:34:31.519
I don't know what this is. Okay, let me help you.

592
00:34:32.000 --> 00:34:36.679
The reason Christians struggle in all the areas you just outlined,

593
00:34:36.719 --> 00:34:39.920
it's not because there's a tug on their heart from

594
00:34:39.960 --> 00:34:45.000
an external source, is because they are a center. The

595
00:34:45.159 --> 00:34:49.800
issue is inside of them, not outside of them. The

596
00:34:49.920 --> 00:34:52.320
issue is coming I know, I say it all the time.

597
00:34:52.360 --> 00:34:56.199
The call is coming from inside the house. All right,

598
00:34:56.639 --> 00:35:02.039
you are a center. You have a sinful nature. Your conflict,

599
00:35:03.079 --> 00:35:10.519
the disconnect, the being dedicated to multiple things, all of

600
00:35:10.519 --> 00:35:14.960
it is arising because inside of yourself is a sinful

601
00:35:15.039 --> 00:35:20.119
nature that says, serve self, worship self, do what self wants,

602
00:35:20.320 --> 00:35:23.559
get your own way, do things your own way, do this,

603
00:35:23.760 --> 00:35:26.639
want this, feel this, think this. Because you have a

604
00:35:26.679 --> 00:35:31.320
sinful nature that is sending out conflicting messages and contradictory

605
00:35:31.360 --> 00:35:34.239
messages to the way of God, and that those calls

606
00:35:34.239 --> 00:35:39.360
as messages, those that input is coming from inside your

607
00:35:39.840 --> 00:35:51.320
You are messed up from the inside.

608
00:35:52.360 --> 00:36:13.880
First John fir John two. We know these verses, many

609
00:36:13.880 --> 00:36:20.599
of us can quote them. First John two, and look

610
00:36:20.599 --> 00:36:34.880
at verse number fifteen, Verse John two and verse fifteen,

611
00:36:35.559 --> 00:36:42.639
Love not the world. The world is the Greek word

612
00:36:42.719 --> 00:36:44.880
is according to my study Bible, which knows all things,

613
00:36:46.679 --> 00:36:49.320
it's the Greek word of cosmos, that is the organized

614
00:36:49.360 --> 00:36:53.440
system headed by Satan that leaves God out and has

615
00:36:53.480 --> 00:36:56.960
a rival to him.

616
00:36:57.239 --> 00:36:59.599
Okay, okay, wait a minute, Wait a minute, Wait a minute.

617
00:37:00.039 --> 00:37:05.840
When you claim the cosmos exclusively refers to an organized

618
00:37:05.880 --> 00:37:12.480
system headed by Satan, that is a massive, massive oversimplification

619
00:37:13.400 --> 00:37:17.320
of the Greek word. I mean, that is a massive oversimplification.

620
00:37:17.719 --> 00:37:22.039
And Greek cosmos can refer to the physical world, right,

621
00:37:22.039 --> 00:37:25.760
it can refer to the physical world. I believe, you know.

622
00:37:25.840 --> 00:37:31.440
Let me look here. I believe I'm going from memory here.

623
00:37:31.559 --> 00:37:32.079
Let me look.

624
00:37:32.920 --> 00:37:41.519
I believe in John one he was in the world

625
00:37:41.639 --> 00:37:44.480
and the world was made through him, and the world

626
00:37:44.519 --> 00:37:47.280
did not know him. I believe the word world there

627
00:37:47.440 --> 00:37:50.880
is cosmos, and that refers to the physical.

628
00:37:50.440 --> 00:37:55.360
World for God, So love the world John three point

629
00:37:55.360 --> 00:37:59.679
sixteen is cosmos, all right? Or it can or it

630
00:37:59.760 --> 00:38:02.280
can refer to a system opposed to God in one

631
00:38:02.440 --> 00:38:07.679
John two fifteen through seventeen. So a more nuanced explanation

632
00:38:07.760 --> 00:38:10.559
would avoid implying that all aspects of the world are evil.

633
00:38:10.559 --> 00:38:14.039
When you say, hey, the cosmos refers to a an

634
00:38:14.159 --> 00:38:17.840
organized system headed by Satan, that is not accurate. That

635
00:38:18.360 --> 00:38:24.719
is an oversimplification. That is oh, that's an that leaves

636
00:38:24.800 --> 00:38:28.079
people with a misunderstanding of that Greek word. You can't

637
00:38:28.119 --> 00:38:30.679
say that Greek word just means that you have to

638
00:38:30.719 --> 00:38:33.320
look at where and what did he use? He just

639
00:38:33.400 --> 00:38:36.559
used a note in his study Bible. He didn't bother,

640
00:38:36.880 --> 00:38:39.519
He didn't even bother to look up an into linear.

641
00:38:39.719 --> 00:38:42.360
I mean like nothing, he oh my note in my

642
00:38:42.440 --> 00:38:44.960
study Bible. Well, your study Bible is simply referring to

643
00:38:45.039 --> 00:38:48.000
how cosmos is being used in first John two, not

644
00:38:48.119 --> 00:38:51.440
how cosmos. You can't say cosmos always means that that's

645
00:38:51.480 --> 00:38:58.440
a completely Oh man, Oh that drives me crazy. Okay,

646
00:38:58.440 --> 00:39:01.920
all right, all right, that's okay. I look, it's all right,

647
00:39:01.960 --> 00:39:07.280
it's listen. Not all I am by no means that's

648
00:39:07.880 --> 00:39:12.079
well versed and that educated in the original languages. Yes,

649
00:39:12.360 --> 00:39:15.320
I had to take Latin, Yes, I took Greek. Yes

650
00:39:15.440 --> 00:39:18.360
I took Hebrew and different schools that I attended. Right,

651
00:39:18.719 --> 00:39:21.880
By no, I mean I am not I'm not even

652
00:39:21.920 --> 00:39:24.519
I wouldn't even say that I know anything about Latin,

653
00:39:24.559 --> 00:39:27.199
Greek or Hebrew, but I had to take it. But

654
00:39:27.360 --> 00:39:33.400
here's the thing. Any pastor without any schooling, anyone sitting

655
00:39:33.480 --> 00:39:37.880
in the pew, without any schooling, you have the tools

656
00:39:37.960 --> 00:39:41.480
available to you on your phone. You can download the

657
00:39:41.480 --> 00:39:44.159
Blue Letter Bible app, you can download lots of other

658
00:39:44.199 --> 00:39:46.440
apps where you can look up the Greek word. It'll

659
00:39:46.440 --> 00:39:49.559
show you every place that it's used. You can read

660
00:39:49.599 --> 00:39:51.840
all of those passages to see how it's being used,

661
00:39:51.880 --> 00:39:54.920
and you can figure out for yourself. Cosmos doesn't simply

662
00:39:54.960 --> 00:39:58.639
refer to that one thing. That's a misunderstanding of the

663
00:39:58.639 --> 00:40:01.639
Greek word. And you don't need no Greek, Hebrew or

664
00:40:02.039 --> 00:40:04.519
Latin or any other language. You could all you need

665
00:40:04.519 --> 00:40:06.119
to well, you need to be able to read. You

666
00:40:06.159 --> 00:40:08.519
could just simply be able to read, and you can

667
00:40:08.559 --> 00:40:14.000
figure it out so that it's it's not about criticizing

668
00:40:14.039 --> 00:40:18.400
someone's education. It's just about well dedicate. I mean the

669
00:40:18.480 --> 00:40:23.480
sermons about dedication. Dedicate yourself to knowing what a Greek

670
00:40:23.480 --> 00:40:25.960
word means and how a Greek word used. It's perfectly

671
00:40:26.000 --> 00:40:30.239
okay to say in that particular passage, that's okay, but

672
00:40:30.400 --> 00:40:34.519
just saying cosmos in general means that that's an oversimplification,

673
00:40:34.719 --> 00:40:37.199
and it leads to people in the pews to whenever

674
00:40:37.239 --> 00:40:39.320
they if they ever hear the word cosmos, they will

675
00:40:39.360 --> 00:40:42.800
just meet like, oh, that's a system, I think he said,

676
00:40:42.800 --> 00:40:47.639
And I'm trying to quote an organized system headed by Satan. Well,

677
00:40:47.679 --> 00:40:51.960
it doesn't always refer to that, doesn't always refer to that.

678
00:40:52.119 --> 00:40:56.239
Now we could argue and those other places Cosmos is used,

679
00:40:57.519 --> 00:41:00.960
does Satan? Is it under the control? Is it headed

680
00:41:00.960 --> 00:41:03.840
by Satan? We could get it. Now we could maybe

681
00:41:04.039 --> 00:41:09.880
challenge the interpretation of Cosmos and those other passages and say, wait,

682
00:41:09.960 --> 00:41:12.519
do they refer to that? So we could possibly go there,

683
00:41:12.599 --> 00:41:15.800
But that all that would require a lengthy discussion to

684
00:41:15.880 --> 00:41:18.199
try to figure it out. And I know in sermons

685
00:41:18.239 --> 00:41:21.199
when you're that's not your point, you can't always go

686
00:41:21.239 --> 00:41:24.000
and make it all clear. So I don't know is

687
00:41:24.039 --> 00:41:26.519
it even should I even point that out? I don't know.

688
00:41:26.559 --> 00:41:27.880
You can draw your own conclusion.

689
00:41:31.760 --> 00:41:34.800
Okay, Love, not the world, neither the things that are

690
00:41:34.840 --> 00:41:39.719
in the world. Is God against the world in general?

691
00:41:40.159 --> 00:41:40.440
Course?

692
00:41:40.480 --> 00:41:44.199
Not? Is God against things as in believers owning things.

693
00:41:44.320 --> 00:41:50.559
He's not God is against us. Loving these things. When

694
00:41:50.559 --> 00:41:55.519
we talk about dedication, we're primarily talking about our love.

695
00:41:57.239 --> 00:42:03.920
Your love defines who you are. Love, not the world,

696
00:42:04.960 --> 00:42:07.320
neither of the things that are in the world. God

697
00:42:07.559 --> 00:42:10.920
knows if you love the system and you want to listen,

698
00:42:11.159 --> 00:42:13.159
there are people out there who basically say when they

699
00:42:13.199 --> 00:42:14.760
get to the teenagers, they get to be of a

700
00:42:14.760 --> 00:42:16.920
certain age, or they get to they finally get out

701
00:42:16.920 --> 00:42:19.599
of the house, and they're just like I just I

702
00:42:19.679 --> 00:42:24.039
wanted to get everything out of this life and everything

703
00:42:24.079 --> 00:42:27.840
this world has to offer. I'm not letting anybody stop me.

704
00:42:28.159 --> 00:42:32.920
I'm not letting anything hold me back. I am getting mine.

705
00:42:33.480 --> 00:42:38.719
You guys, ever heard things like that before? I'm getting mine.

706
00:42:40.599 --> 00:42:45.840
Again this sermon just will not leave this this approach

707
00:42:46.280 --> 00:42:49.880
them them then? Have you heard them them them them

708
00:42:50.039 --> 00:42:55.800
them them them them them? How about us? You think

709
00:42:55.880 --> 00:42:58.880
Christians just love God? That's the most ridiculous thing I've

710
00:42:58.920 --> 00:43:02.760
ever heard in my life. Christians love the world. Christians

711
00:43:02.800 --> 00:43:04.880
have want to get as much out of this life

712
00:43:04.880 --> 00:43:07.440
as possible. Christians want this and we want to enjoy this,

713
00:43:07.519 --> 00:43:09.400
and we desire this, and we want to come on,

714
00:43:09.719 --> 00:43:12.800
can we not talk about ourselves even for a second.

715
00:43:12.920 --> 00:43:19.679
Here are they saying, I am gonna love this world

716
00:43:19.719 --> 00:43:23.960
with every fiber of my being because they actually have

717
00:43:26.559 --> 00:43:30.480
a firm belief that the world will love them back

718
00:43:32.079 --> 00:43:34.840
if I sacrifice and give it all it will give me.

719
00:43:37.519 --> 00:43:39.519
Do people in the world believe the world is gonna

720
00:43:39.559 --> 00:43:42.440
love them back? I don't think I've ever heard anyone

721
00:43:42.559 --> 00:43:44.679
say I'm gonna love the world because the world is

722
00:43:44.719 --> 00:43:46.840
gonna love me back. I don't think I've ever heard

723
00:43:46.880 --> 00:43:51.039
anyone say that. Is that a common approach? Hey, I'm

724
00:43:51.039 --> 00:43:52.960
gonna go find some lost people. You love the world

725
00:43:53.000 --> 00:43:54.480
because you think the world's gonna love you back. They

726
00:43:54.480 --> 00:43:56.599
probably say, get out of my face, you idiot, What

727
00:43:56.599 --> 00:44:00.280
are you talking about. I don't know. I don't know

728
00:44:00.880 --> 00:44:03.400
if that is a common approach. I don't I don't

729
00:44:03.400 --> 00:44:05.480
know if that's a I mean, you're making a major

730
00:44:05.519 --> 00:44:07.199
assumption about a whole lot of people.

731
00:44:11.000 --> 00:44:15.840
But my friends, is that not a lie? But the

732
00:44:15.880 --> 00:44:18.400
opposite is true. And we say I'm gonna love God

733
00:44:19.400 --> 00:44:23.559
when we love him because He first loved us. The

734
00:44:23.599 --> 00:44:26.840
world has not loved us first. The world is looking

735
00:44:26.880 --> 00:44:32.239
to take from us. It will listen, It will take

736
00:44:32.400 --> 00:44:35.320
all that we will give, and it will give us nothing.

737
00:44:36.199 --> 00:44:40.760
It will leave us hollow empty. What does it profit

738
00:44:40.800 --> 00:44:45.760
a man if he gained the whole world and lose

739
00:44:45.880 --> 00:44:51.000
his own soul? What will a man give in exchange?

740
00:44:53.159 --> 00:44:54.679
And Yet, when we come to God and we say,

741
00:44:54.719 --> 00:44:57.800
I'm gonna be dedicated to you, I'm going to love

742
00:44:58.320 --> 00:45:02.320
the Lord by God with all that heart, with all

743
00:45:02.320 --> 00:45:06.119
they mind, all they will, and so on and so forth.

744
00:45:08.159 --> 00:45:11.599
No one in your church is ever going to love

745
00:45:11.679 --> 00:45:15.719
God with all their heart, mind, body and soul. And

746
00:45:15.840 --> 00:45:20.639
neither are you. Nobody is going to accomplish that.

747
00:45:21.000 --> 00:45:24.719
We can't do that. That is law that shows us

748
00:45:24.719 --> 00:45:27.760
our inability to love God the way we are supposed to.

749
00:45:28.079 --> 00:45:30.760
So we, by faith put our faith in Jesus Christ,

750
00:45:30.880 --> 00:45:34.599
who does love the Father the exact way he's supposed to,

751
00:45:34.880 --> 00:45:38.159
And his obedience is imputed to me. And now his

752
00:45:38.239 --> 00:45:40.760
love for God is now given to me as my

753
00:45:40.880 --> 00:45:44.480
love for God in an imputed way, as accredited to

754
00:45:44.559 --> 00:45:47.920
my account. So positionally I stand before God as if

755
00:45:47.920 --> 00:45:49.679
I love Him with all my heart, my body, and soul.

756
00:45:49.840 --> 00:45:54.320
But practically I love myself more than I love God

757
00:45:54.519 --> 00:45:57.679
because I have a sinful nature. That's the reality. I

758
00:45:57.679 --> 00:45:59.960
don't care how many times the church wants to deny.

759
00:46:00.519 --> 00:46:02.920
I don't care how many times Christians want to create

760
00:46:02.960 --> 00:46:08.639
some fake story of life. You can live in your

761
00:46:08.719 --> 00:46:12.920
fantasy world. The reality is we love ourselves.

762
00:46:17.639 --> 00:46:22.679
You see that. You see you see the competition between

763
00:46:22.719 --> 00:46:27.719
God and the world. It's a competition for what for

764
00:46:27.800 --> 00:46:32.480
your love? For your heart. So we're talking about dedication.

765
00:46:32.960 --> 00:46:35.519
We're not saying, how can I how can I find

766
00:46:35.559 --> 00:46:39.480
a balance between my dedication between everything that's promised out

767
00:46:39.480 --> 00:46:43.159
there and everything that's promised with God. It doesn't work.

768
00:46:44.159 --> 00:46:51.079
A double minded man's unstable all his ways, all his ways.

769
00:46:54.559 --> 00:47:00.159
The world will not let you live a double life.

770
00:47:01.400 --> 00:47:03.920
The world will make it so that, oh, you're trying

771
00:47:03.960 --> 00:47:06.400
to be dedicated to Christ and dedicated to the world.

772
00:47:07.039 --> 00:47:09.800
They don't put up with that. You know what, God

773
00:47:09.840 --> 00:47:18.960
doesn't either. The most frustrated person is a cardinal Christian

774
00:47:19.880 --> 00:47:24.239
trying to live in both worldsmen trying to.

775
00:47:26.199 --> 00:47:29.599
See. When you hear all those amens, it's almost as if, yeah,

776
00:47:29.639 --> 00:47:31.840
you're right, Cardinal Christians are never going to be that way.

777
00:47:31.960 --> 00:47:34.280
It's all I know. In some ways, the amen just

778
00:47:34.280 --> 00:47:37.840
simply says this is true, But it comes across as

779
00:47:37.880 --> 00:47:41.239
you're right. Those people were not the cardinal ones. But

780
00:47:41.280 --> 00:47:45.400
those cardinal ones get it all wrong. I, oh, can

781
00:47:45.440 --> 00:47:52.840
we not? Ever? I don't like this. It comes across

782
00:47:52.840 --> 00:47:54.840
as like we've got it all good, We've got it

783
00:47:54.880 --> 00:47:58.639
all together, but they don't. Maybe I'm just maybe I'm

784
00:47:58.679 --> 00:48:01.880
hearing that more than I should, But it comes across

785
00:48:01.920 --> 00:48:05.639
that way. They they, they, they, How about the carnality

786
00:48:05.719 --> 00:48:09.079
within the people who are listening to that live. I

787
00:48:09.159 --> 00:48:13.039
guarantee you it's there. I guarantee you it's there. It

788
00:48:13.280 --> 00:48:18.559
manifested itself countless ways. It probably will manage I bet you.

789
00:48:18.679 --> 00:48:23.599
Carnality and selfishness and love for self manifested itself by

790
00:48:23.639 --> 00:48:26.039
the time many of those people got in their car,

791
00:48:26.320 --> 00:48:29.719
and before they even made it back to their house,

792
00:48:30.159 --> 00:48:33.280
and arguing or fighting or issues going on even in

793
00:48:33.320 --> 00:48:36.000
the car, even within the family before they got home.

794
00:48:36.199 --> 00:48:39.480
And stop pretending that's not the case. We sometimes feel

795
00:48:39.480 --> 00:48:42.199
like Christians strugger and we got a little halo above

796
00:48:42.239 --> 00:48:44.920
all of our heads and we're all little angels. That's

797
00:48:44.960 --> 00:48:47.079
not the way it works. We know that if you've

798
00:48:47.079 --> 00:48:49.239
been around Christians for any length of time.

799
00:48:52.000 --> 00:48:55.239
I live in both worlds. I want all I want,

800
00:48:55.280 --> 00:48:57.760
I want all the promises of the world and all

801
00:48:57.800 --> 00:49:02.000
of the promises of God, my friend, the Kingdom of God.

802
00:49:02.039 --> 00:49:04.840
You have to put your hand to the plow and

803
00:49:04.840 --> 00:49:08.320
not look back in order to get all that God

804
00:49:08.360 --> 00:49:16.360
has for you. You can't have both. You can't number one,

805
00:49:16.480 --> 00:49:21.760
understand the importance of dedication to God. Understand the importance

806
00:49:21.760 --> 00:49:23.760
of dedication to God.

807
00:49:25.519 --> 00:49:28.639
All right, so I can't. I'm not quite completely following

808
00:49:28.639 --> 00:49:31.039
his outline there, but that's okay. I did yesterday. If

809
00:49:31.039 --> 00:49:33.239
you tried to follow my outline, it was a total disaster.

810
00:49:33.400 --> 00:49:37.079
So we won't get into the outline part. But I

811
00:49:37.079 --> 00:49:39.559
am gonna I'm gonna spend the last what ten minutes here,

812
00:49:39.760 --> 00:49:41.239
I'm trying to I'm trying to end at the top

813
00:49:41.280 --> 00:49:45.719
of the hour about Romans twelve, right, because I just

814
00:49:45.760 --> 00:49:48.360
believe I've heard sermon after sermon on Romans twelve one

815
00:49:48.360 --> 00:49:51.559
through two, and it all basically turns into, hey, present

816
00:49:51.639 --> 00:49:57.000
yourself as a living sacrifice, sacrifice your mind dedicated completely

817
00:49:57.039 --> 00:49:59.719
to God. You're tongue. I mean, I've heard sermon you're

818
00:50:01.559 --> 00:50:05.360
your desires, and these sermons just turn into do this,

819
00:50:05.480 --> 00:50:07.679
do this, do this, do this, do this, do this,

820
00:50:08.000 --> 00:50:11.000
And it's always preached as if it's achievable, like you

821
00:50:11.039 --> 00:50:14.199
can actually be a living sacrifice where all of yourself

822
00:50:14.239 --> 00:50:16.800
is dedicated to God. You can actually love God with

823
00:50:16.840 --> 00:50:18.880
all your heart, mind, body, and soul. That is the

824
00:50:19.360 --> 00:50:23.199
operating perspective by most churches and Christians is that we

825
00:50:23.320 --> 00:50:29.159
can accomplish this, and I will argue we cannot. We can't,

826
00:50:30.280 --> 00:50:33.119
and so I want to challenge this. So one of

827
00:50:33.119 --> 00:50:37.159
the things about artificial intelligence that I have loved from

828
00:50:37.199 --> 00:50:42.039
a hermeneutical, exegetical, and theological perspective is I can create

829
00:50:42.119 --> 00:50:48.039
on hypotheses. I can create a concept, a theory of thesis,

830
00:50:48.760 --> 00:50:51.159
and then me and AI can go back and forth.

831
00:50:51.199 --> 00:50:53.880
I can go back and forth with artificial intelligence, with

832
00:50:54.840 --> 00:51:04.119
it challenging my hypotheses, challenging me you're philologically, textually, logically,

833
00:51:04.360 --> 00:51:06.559
and then I can kind of don't work and work

834
00:51:06.599 --> 00:51:09.840
and work and work to try to formulate a interpretation

835
00:51:10.159 --> 00:51:13.440
or a concept that AI says, okay, that will work

836
00:51:13.559 --> 00:51:16.079
within this framework or it will not work. I love

837
00:51:16.159 --> 00:51:19.239
that part of artificial intelligence. I will just go back

838
00:51:19.280 --> 00:51:21.480
and forth and back and forth and back and forth.

839
00:51:21.480 --> 00:51:25.079
Where with people it typically they get defensive or they

840
00:51:25.079 --> 00:51:27.800
want to begin to argue for their perspective, or you

841
00:51:27.840 --> 00:51:30.119
feel like you have to now defense that you don't

842
00:51:30.159 --> 00:51:34.440
have any of the emotions. It's just artificial intelligence saying okay,

843
00:51:34.480 --> 00:51:36.320
well what about this? What about this? And you don't

844
00:51:36.360 --> 00:51:40.559
feel like they're attacking you. They don't feel AI doesn't

845
00:51:40.559 --> 00:51:43.719
feel like I'm attacking it. So all the emotions are

846
00:51:43.719 --> 00:51:48.199
out of way, and it's just a pure joy to

847
00:51:48.440 --> 00:51:52.280
engage it when trying to formulate it. So I so

848
00:51:52.320 --> 00:51:54.480
when I was considering Romans twelve one through two and

849
00:51:54.599 --> 00:51:56.320
just well, it's a new year, everyone's going to be

850
00:51:56.320 --> 00:51:59.119
preaching these sermons. Is there a different way to approach it?

851
00:52:00.440 --> 00:52:07.239
So I offered Ai a counter an alternative interpretation of

852
00:52:07.320 --> 00:52:09.800
Romans twelve one through two, because the way it gave

853
00:52:09.880 --> 00:52:12.880
me the basic Christian interpretation of Romans twelve one through two.

854
00:52:12.880 --> 00:52:14.159
And I was like, I don't know if I agree

855
00:52:14.199 --> 00:52:16.559
with the basic interpretation of Romans twelve one through two.

856
00:52:17.239 --> 00:52:21.559
So I gave AI my counter proposal, and AI said,

857
00:52:22.039 --> 00:52:27.840
you've raised an important philological and hermoneutical question that has

858
00:52:27.880 --> 00:52:34.119
been discussed throughout church history. WHOA, that's wow, that's the

859
00:52:34.159 --> 00:52:35.800
one thing I do think I do well. I do

860
00:52:35.920 --> 00:52:39.760
raise lots of questions and hermoneutical questions. Typically my questions

861
00:52:39.800 --> 00:52:43.559
tick everyone else off, but that's okay. Ai goes on

862
00:52:43.639 --> 00:52:47.440
to say the idea of offering ourselves as a living

863
00:52:47.480 --> 00:52:50.840
sacrifice from Romans twelve one through one through two has

864
00:52:50.920 --> 00:52:55.800
often been viewed as the Christian's total surrender to God. However,

865
00:52:56.239 --> 00:52:59.599
when considering the reality of the sinful nature, it's essential

866
00:52:59.599 --> 00:53:03.440
to exp or whether this is even attainable or a

867
00:53:03.679 --> 00:53:08.400
just an aspirational command. Let's break this down. And I

868
00:53:08.440 --> 00:53:11.199
was like, okay, good that I wanted to challenge. Is

869
00:53:11.239 --> 00:53:14.199
this even attainable? Is it just an aspiration? Is it

870
00:53:14.360 --> 00:53:17.719
just a goal something we want? Can we ever even get?

871
00:53:18.039 --> 00:53:20.760
It's great to tell everyone love God with all your heart, mind, body,

872
00:53:20.800 --> 00:53:23.960
and soul. It's not going to happen, ladies and gentlemen.

873
00:53:24.159 --> 00:53:28.800
It's never going to happen because you have a sinful nature,

874
00:53:31.199 --> 00:53:34.559
all right. So, and even if you say you love God,

875
00:53:34.639 --> 00:53:36.480
many cases you only love God because of what God

876
00:53:36.519 --> 00:53:38.639
can give you. Therefore, your love is not even true love.

877
00:53:38.760 --> 00:53:41.239
It's very selfish in its nature. It's a very fleshly

878
00:53:41.360 --> 00:53:47.719
kind of love. So Ai gave me the contextual understanding

879
00:53:47.760 --> 00:53:49.880
of Rome's twelve one to two two, because it was

880
00:53:49.920 --> 00:53:52.639
going to challenge me on or at least not challenge me,

881
00:53:52.760 --> 00:53:57.280
at least test my interpretation that I gave that maybe

882
00:53:57.280 --> 00:54:00.519
this is not actually maybe we've misunderstood this based within

883
00:54:00.559 --> 00:54:03.039
its context. So first it quotes Romans twelve one through

884
00:54:03.079 --> 00:54:06.280
two from the ESV. I appeal to you, therefore, brothers,

885
00:54:06.320 --> 00:54:08.079
by the mercies of God, to present your bodies a

886
00:54:08.079 --> 00:54:10.880
living sacrifice wholly and acceptable to God, which is your

887
00:54:10.920 --> 00:54:13.519
spiritual worship. Do not be conformed to this world, but

888
00:54:13.599 --> 00:54:16.880
be transformed by the renewing of your mind, that by that,

889
00:54:16.960 --> 00:54:20.440
by testing, you may discern what is the will of God,

890
00:54:20.599 --> 00:54:24.639
which is good and acceptable and perfect. Paul's exhortation follows

891
00:54:24.719 --> 00:54:28.400
Romans one through eleven, which establishes the theological foundation of

892
00:54:28.440 --> 00:54:32.599
salvation by grace through faith. I cannot stress that enough.

893
00:54:33.760 --> 00:54:36.280
Romans one through eleven is all about that we are

894
00:54:36.360 --> 00:54:43.480
justified by faith apart from works. That's what it's all about.

895
00:54:44.119 --> 00:54:46.280
Just keep that in mind, because that is so key

896
00:54:46.599 --> 00:54:53.559
to my interpretation, right. So it establishes the thiological foundation

897
00:54:53.639 --> 00:54:56.119
that we're saved by grace alone through faith alone. Chapters

898
00:54:56.159 --> 00:55:00.880
one through Life Chapters one through eleven described humanities, sinfulness,

899
00:55:01.159 --> 00:55:06.559
God's mercy, and christ atonement. Romans twelve one transitions from

900
00:55:06.599 --> 00:55:10.159
theology to ethics. Paul is calling for a life shaped

901
00:55:10.280 --> 00:55:15.719
by the Gospel. All right, So I do agree Romans

902
00:55:15.719 --> 00:55:19.360
twelve one is a transition. It goes from the philological

903
00:55:19.360 --> 00:55:21.920
to the practical. I got no problems with that, but

904
00:55:22.039 --> 00:55:24.880
I think it has to be the practical here has

905
00:55:24.960 --> 00:55:28.199
to be somehow related to the fact that we are

906
00:55:28.280 --> 00:55:32.880
justified by faith. We are justified by an imputed righteousness,

907
00:55:32.920 --> 00:55:36.360
not an infused righteousness. That's all Romans one through eleven

908
00:55:36.360 --> 00:55:42.000
has been about. So then this raises the question based

909
00:55:42.000 --> 00:55:44.519
on the fact that Romans one through eleven has clearly

910
00:55:44.639 --> 00:55:48.519
identified the fact that we are sinners by nature, that

911
00:55:48.559 --> 00:55:51.920
we have all fallen short, that we are sinner center sinners,

912
00:55:51.960 --> 00:55:54.239
and that even Paul, the things I want to do

913
00:55:54.280 --> 00:55:55.519
I don't do, and the things I don't want to

914
00:55:55.559 --> 00:55:58.760
do I do. Even Paul acknowledges even as a saved person,

915
00:55:59.039 --> 00:56:02.880
we are still struggling with sin. Well, then this racis

916
00:56:02.920 --> 00:56:06.960
the question. Is total surrender possible given our sinful nature?

917
00:56:09.840 --> 00:56:13.880
Romans seven fifteen through twenty five Paul himself acknowledges the

918
00:56:13.920 --> 00:56:16.880
tension between the desire to obey God and the reality

919
00:56:16.960 --> 00:56:19.199
of sin. For I do not do the good I want,

920
00:56:19.400 --> 00:56:20.960
but the evil I do not want is what I

921
00:56:21.039 --> 00:56:24.159
keep on doing. The internal struggle shows that even the

922
00:56:24.199 --> 00:56:26.880
apostle Paul experienced the pull of the flesh. Given this,

923
00:56:26.960 --> 00:56:29.280
it is unlikely that Paul is commanding something I can

924
00:56:29.360 --> 00:56:32.960
to sinless perfection or an absolute ability to surrender in

925
00:56:33.000 --> 00:56:36.119
every aspect of life perfectly. I agree if Paul and

926
00:56:36.199 --> 00:56:37.920
Roman seven is like, Hey, the things I want to

927
00:56:37.920 --> 00:56:39.440
do I don't do, and the things I don't want

928
00:56:39.440 --> 00:56:41.159
to do I do, then you don't turn around in

929
00:56:41.199 --> 00:56:44.719
Roman twelve and say, all right, everyone, perfectly surrender. Make

930
00:56:44.760 --> 00:56:47.000
yourself a living sacrifice. Because if I can be a

931
00:56:47.039 --> 00:56:50.239
living sacrifice and totally surrender to God, well then ladies

932
00:56:50.239 --> 00:56:53.920
and gentlemen, if it's not sinless perfection, it's pretty close.

933
00:56:54.280 --> 00:57:00.880
So there's just no way that makes any sense. The

934
00:57:00.960 --> 00:57:06.800
phrase living sacrifice implies an ongoing daily process rather than

935
00:57:06.800 --> 00:57:09.239
a one time perfect surrender. I do agree with that.

936
00:57:09.920 --> 00:57:13.320
Unlike Old Testament sacrifices, which were dead and final, a

937
00:57:13.360 --> 00:57:17.039
living sacrifice continues in a dynamic state. Of devotion, acknowledging

938
00:57:17.039 --> 00:57:20.320
the struggle against sin but striving to live in obedience.

939
00:57:21.639 --> 00:57:26.679
I am to be a living sacrifice. I'm alive, So

940
00:57:26.719 --> 00:57:31.079
it's got to be something that's ongoing. Okay, but even

941
00:57:31.199 --> 00:57:36.280
that can how how do you even quantify it? If

942
00:57:36.320 --> 00:57:38.719
I have a sinful nature and I'm still going to sin,

943
00:57:39.079 --> 00:57:41.280
but yet at the beginning of the year, like, all right, everyone,

944
00:57:41.360 --> 00:57:44.920
let's be denegrated to God. Let's offer ourselves a living sacrifice.

945
00:57:45.000 --> 00:57:47.199
How are you going to quantify well, how you're doing?

946
00:57:47.519 --> 00:57:50.400
Because you may well, I've offered myself a living sacrifice

947
00:57:50.400 --> 00:57:52.119
in this area, but you've sinned in this area and

948
00:57:52.159 --> 00:57:54.119
this ayrea in this area, and if you've broken one

949
00:57:54.119 --> 00:57:55.800
point of the law, you're guilty of all the law.

950
00:57:55.960 --> 00:57:57.880
So how can you measure if you're a living sacrifice

951
00:57:57.920 --> 00:58:12.480
when you're still sinning? So how should we handle this?

952
00:58:13.920 --> 00:58:16.639
So how should we handle that? Is it even possible?

953
00:58:16.679 --> 00:58:18.400
And well, I'm going to call into question if it's

954
00:58:18.400 --> 00:58:26.079
even possible. So AI at least acknowledged there's some problems

955
00:58:26.079 --> 00:58:29.199
there seeing it as even possible. Considering Paul himself said

956
00:58:29.519 --> 00:58:32.559
he obviously if he could just make himself a living sacrifice.

957
00:58:32.559 --> 00:58:34.119
Then the things he want to do he would do,

958
00:58:34.159 --> 00:58:36.280
and the things he didn't want to do he wouldn't do. Right,

959
00:58:37.239 --> 00:58:39.679
you see that even within the framework of the book,

960
00:58:39.719 --> 00:58:45.480
there's some problems. So Ai said this to me. The

961
00:58:45.599 --> 00:58:50.400
key idea and your proposal is that the living sacrifice

962
00:58:50.840 --> 00:58:54.480
is not about personal achievement and holiness but a shift

963
00:58:54.760 --> 00:58:58.480
and identity. And I was like, yes, that's exactly what

964
00:58:58.559 --> 00:59:01.599
I meant. Ai. Right, I did frame that pretty good.

965
00:59:02.360 --> 00:59:05.559
So are you ready? Here we go, dying to law

966
00:59:05.679 --> 00:59:11.679
based performance and resting fully in Christ's imputed righteousness. I

967
00:59:11.760 --> 00:59:15.320
believe when I offer myself as a living sacrifice, I

968
00:59:15.360 --> 00:59:19.239
am dying to a law based performance and I am

969
00:59:19.280 --> 00:59:22.360
resting fully on christ imputed righteousness. That's what it means

970
00:59:22.360 --> 00:59:26.400
to be a living sacrifice. Because of God's mercy, I

971
00:59:26.519 --> 00:59:31.280
now sacrifice. I die to the law based mentality, to

972
00:59:31.400 --> 00:59:36.239
a performance based mentality, and I rest completely in Christ's

973
00:59:36.320 --> 00:59:42.239
imputed righteousness. So Ai said, your interpretation fits with N.

974
00:59:42.360 --> 00:59:47.960
Paul's theology in several ways. So Ai is at least

975
00:59:48.039 --> 00:59:54.800
acknowledging my approach has plausibility. It's plausible, it's it may

976
00:59:54.800 --> 00:59:58.000
be possible. Now you can tell me if you agree. So.

977
00:59:58.280 --> 01:00:00.840
It first quotes Roman's three twenty, for we hold that

978
01:00:00.920 --> 01:00:03.559
one is justified by faith apart from the works of

979
01:00:03.599 --> 01:00:06.960
the law. Romans six ' eleven. Consider yourselves dead, descin

980
01:00:07.039 --> 01:00:09.599
and alive to God and Christ Jesus. Well, I can

981
01:00:09.639 --> 01:00:14.000
consider myself dead descind, How can I consider myself dead descin? Positionally?

982
01:00:14.159 --> 01:00:17.719
I am dead desin. I can't consider myself dead dessin

983
01:00:17.840 --> 01:00:22.000
practically because I still sin. So there is a positional

984
01:00:22.079 --> 01:00:27.440
practical framework being articulated throughout the book of Romans Galatians

985
01:00:27.480 --> 01:00:31.079
two twenty. I have been crucified with Christ. It is

986
01:00:31.159 --> 01:00:33.679
no longer I who live, but Christ, who lives in me,

987
01:00:33.960 --> 01:00:35.440
and the life I now live in the flesh. I

988
01:00:35.519 --> 01:00:37.320
live by faith in the son of God, who loved

989
01:00:37.320 --> 01:00:40.119
me and gave himself for me. I am crucified. I

990
01:00:40.159 --> 01:00:43.639
am dead positionally. Practically, I'm living a life, and I've

991
01:00:43.639 --> 01:00:46.920
got to rely on my positional standing as I live

992
01:00:46.960 --> 01:00:51.280
this life. In this view, being a living sacrifice is

993
01:00:51.320 --> 01:00:54.000
an acknowledgment that we no longer live under the burden

994
01:00:54.039 --> 01:00:56.960
of self righteous striving, but in a complete dependence on

995
01:00:57.039 --> 01:00:59.679
Christ's completed work. That's what I think being a living

996
01:00:59.719 --> 01:01:03.480
sacrifice is present yourself as a living sacrifice that I

997
01:01:03.559 --> 01:01:08.000
am no longer living under the burden of self righteous striving,

998
01:01:08.199 --> 01:01:11.639
but I'm living a life now in complete dependence on

999
01:01:11.800 --> 01:01:22.360
Christ's completed work. So does this interpretation work? Well, let's

1000
01:01:22.440 --> 01:01:27.840
look here. Living sacrifice. Traditional interpretation, this means devoting every

1001
01:01:27.880 --> 01:01:33.000
aspect of one's life to practical holiness and service. Alternative interpretation,

1002
01:01:33.719 --> 01:01:37.400
this could mean presenting yourself, presenting ourselves as a live

1003
01:01:37.519 --> 01:01:41.360
in Christ, abandoning self reliance and trusting in Christ's righteousness.

1004
01:01:41.400 --> 01:01:44.880
Instead of offering works of righteousness as the Jews under

1005
01:01:44.920 --> 01:01:48.960
the law, we offer our dependence on His imputed righteousness.

1006
01:01:49.280 --> 01:01:52.360
So most people will say, a living sacrifice, you're dedicating

1007
01:01:52.400 --> 01:01:56.480
yourself to God. You're surrendering everything. And I say that

1008
01:01:57.320 --> 01:02:01.639
this would mean that we present ourselves to God as

1009
01:02:01.679 --> 01:02:06.679
alive in Christ. I'm in Christ, I'm alive. I'm a

1010
01:02:06.719 --> 01:02:10.280
living sacrifice, but I have been crucified with Him. I

1011
01:02:11.000 --> 01:02:15.519
am a living sacrifice. I'm alive in Christ, but I

1012
01:02:15.559 --> 01:02:19.039
have been crucified with Him. So I am a sacrifice

1013
01:02:19.320 --> 01:02:22.119
that has been given up to Christ because of what

1014
01:02:22.239 --> 01:02:27.039
Christ has done for me. So I'm abandoning any self reliance.

1015
01:02:27.519 --> 01:02:30.239
I'm trusting our christ righteousness. I am not offering up

1016
01:02:30.280 --> 01:02:34.159
works of righteousness. I am I am. I'm showing my

1017
01:02:34.320 --> 01:02:39.239
dependence on His imputed righteousness by the mercies of God.

1018
01:02:39.719 --> 01:02:42.880
The basis of offering ourselves is God's mercy, not human effort.

1019
01:02:43.039 --> 01:02:46.079
Paul's just been eleven chapters explaining the Gospel of Grace

1020
01:02:46.280 --> 01:02:49.360
that righteousness is not earned, but received through Christ. Therefore,

1021
01:02:49.360 --> 01:02:52.559
the sacrifice can be understood as a rejection of self

1022
01:02:52.639 --> 01:02:57.480
righteous works. I am a living sacrifice. I am sacrificing

1023
01:02:57.760 --> 01:03:02.920
eh myself, surrendering myself to Christ and his imputed righteousness.

1024
01:03:02.960 --> 01:03:06.320
And I am not focusing on works of righteousness and

1025
01:03:06.400 --> 01:03:09.840
trying to do good because it would never be enough anyway,

1026
01:03:12.679 --> 01:03:15.400
being conformed to this world. Instead of seeing this as

1027
01:03:15.440 --> 01:03:18.760
avoiding worldly behaviors, it would be seen as avoiding worldly

1028
01:03:18.880 --> 01:03:23.480
law based thinking, performance based mindset. The world's way may

1029
01:03:23.519 --> 01:03:27.559
include striving for self glorification, lawkeeping for approval, and a

1030
01:03:27.599 --> 01:03:31.320
transactional relationship with God. So I'm not to be conformed

1031
01:03:31.320 --> 01:03:33.760
to that way of thinking. That's how the world sees everything,

1032
01:03:33.800 --> 01:03:37.840
in a transactional way. I think that's a fair assumption right,

1033
01:03:38.639 --> 01:03:41.320
we are no longer conformed to that way of thinking.

1034
01:03:41.480 --> 01:03:45.719
We're not about performance based or a transaction. I am

1035
01:03:45.760 --> 01:03:50.280
now a sacrifice, laying myself down, trusting fully in the

1036
01:03:50.280 --> 01:03:54.760
imputed righteousness of Christ. Be transformed by the renewing of

1037
01:03:54.800 --> 01:03:57.159
your mind. This renewal could be understood as replacing a

1038
01:03:57.199 --> 01:04:01.000
mindset of do to be righteous. The mindset of Christ

1039
01:04:01.000 --> 01:04:03.880
has done it all. This mind is renewed as we

1040
01:04:03.920 --> 01:04:06.800
remember that our righteousness is fully secure in Christ, not

1041
01:04:06.960 --> 01:04:10.320
in our ability to perform for God. Now is there

1042
01:04:10.360 --> 01:04:14.199
any biblical and theological support for my interpretation? Well, Romans ten,

1043
01:04:14.679 --> 01:04:17.079
for being ignorant of the righteousness of God and seeking

1044
01:04:17.079 --> 01:04:19.480
to establish their own, they did not submit to Christ

1045
01:04:19.599 --> 01:04:22.719
righteousness for Christ as the end of the law for righteousness,

1046
01:04:23.440 --> 01:04:26.840
of the law for righteousness to everyone who believes. That's

1047
01:04:26.920 --> 01:04:30.519
Romans ten three through four. Well Paul criticizes Israel in

1048
01:04:30.559 --> 01:04:33.639
that passage for pursuing a righteousness through the law. A

1049
01:04:33.679 --> 01:04:36.280
living sacrifice could be understood as the opposite of this

1050
01:04:36.639 --> 01:04:39.920
surrendering to the righteousness that comes through faith in Christ alone.

1051
01:04:40.519 --> 01:04:43.679
Hebrews four nine through ten. So then there remains a

1052
01:04:43.719 --> 01:04:46.320
sabbath rest for the people of God. For whoever has

1053
01:04:46.480 --> 01:04:50.760
entered God's rest has also rested from His works. From

1054
01:04:50.760 --> 01:04:54.440
his works, as God did from his offering. Ourself as

1055
01:04:54.440 --> 01:04:56.800
a living sacrifice can be seen as entering into the

1056
01:04:56.840 --> 01:05:00.159
rest of christ finished work. We're striving for personal holiness

1057
01:05:00.199 --> 01:05:04.400
no longer defines our relationship with God Romans Philippians three

1058
01:05:04.519 --> 01:05:07.280
eight through nine. I count everything as lost because of

1059
01:05:07.320 --> 01:05:10.280
the surpassing worth of knowing Christ Jesus my Lord. Not

1060
01:05:10.440 --> 01:05:12.880
having a righteousness of my own that comes from the law,

1061
01:05:13.119 --> 01:05:16.639
but that which comes to faith in Christ. Paul's view

1062
01:05:16.679 --> 01:05:20.239
of sacrifice here is not about achieving more holiness through effort,

1063
01:05:20.480 --> 01:05:25.400
but about abandoning every attempt at self righteousness to rest

1064
01:05:25.639 --> 01:05:33.039
in Christ's righteousness. This perspective that I have offered a

1065
01:05:33.159 --> 01:05:37.559
lion aligns well with some important theological streams in church history.

1066
01:05:37.639 --> 01:05:41.239
Oh are you ready for this? Are you ready? Martin

1067
01:05:41.360 --> 01:05:44.079
Luther's Law and Gospel distinction? Isn't it amazing that I

1068
01:05:44.159 --> 01:05:47.039
always go back to law and Gospel and every passage

1069
01:05:47.039 --> 01:05:51.199
of Scripture I look at? Luther emphasized that Christian life

1070
01:05:51.199 --> 01:05:54.840
begins and continues with resting in the imputed righteousness of Christ,

1071
01:05:55.199 --> 01:06:02.119
rather than trying to achieve holiness by works. Now there's

1072
01:06:02.159 --> 01:06:05.239
some other places in church history, but we'll just go

1073
01:06:05.360 --> 01:06:07.920
with that one for now. Now, what would be the

1074
01:06:07.920 --> 01:06:11.239
implications of this, Well, my interpretation would free a believer

1075
01:06:11.320 --> 01:06:13.440
from the burden of feeling as though they must constantly

1076
01:06:13.480 --> 01:06:17.039
strive to maintain their standing before God through good works

1077
01:06:17.079 --> 01:06:20.000
and making themselves a living sacrifice. In fact, it would

1078
01:06:20.039 --> 01:06:24.079
reinforce the idea that christ righteousness is sufficient. It would

1079
01:06:24.079 --> 01:06:27.119
give us humility and rest. Rather than approaching the Christian

1080
01:06:27.119 --> 01:06:30.199
life with anxiety over one's performance, this approach calls for

1081
01:06:30.280 --> 01:06:33.920
resting in Christ's grace and humbling, acknowledging it is finished

1082
01:06:34.199 --> 01:06:37.559
not because of me, but because of Him. And then

1083
01:06:37.840 --> 01:06:41.639
guess what should flow from this? True worship becomes an

1084
01:06:41.840 --> 01:06:44.760
because we would have an outpouring of gratitude for what

1085
01:06:44.920 --> 01:06:47.440
Christ has done. It wouldn't be about, oh, it's a

1086
01:06:47.440 --> 01:06:50.800
new year, let me work to be a living sacrifice

1087
01:06:50.840 --> 01:06:53.719
so that I can be approved by God. No, it's

1088
01:06:53.800 --> 01:06:57.039
by being a living sacrifice, resting in Christ. Because the

1089
01:06:57.039 --> 01:06:59.480
only way to be approved by God is to be

1090
01:06:59.559 --> 01:07:03.679
found in Christ and be found with His righteousness imputed

1091
01:07:03.760 --> 01:07:15.760
to my account, So AI's conclusion was it is possible

1092
01:07:16.679 --> 01:07:19.719
to interpret living sacrifice in Romans twelve one through two

1093
01:07:19.800 --> 01:07:22.639
is dying to a law based thinking and resting fooling

1094
01:07:22.679 --> 01:07:26.039
in christ righteousness. Instead of viewing this passage primarily as

1095
01:07:26.079 --> 01:07:29.199
a call to practical holiness through human effort, it can

1096
01:07:29.239 --> 01:07:32.199
be understood as an invitation to live out the finished

1097
01:07:32.239 --> 01:07:36.039
work of Christ. This interpretation focuses on worshiping God through

1098
01:07:36.079 --> 01:07:41.599
trust and faith rather than performance and striving. So then

1099
01:07:41.760 --> 01:07:45.119
AI wants to continues to ask me questions to see

1100
01:07:45.119 --> 01:07:47.639
if we can flush this out and make it better.

1101
01:07:47.760 --> 01:07:50.440
But I'll stop right there because we're at sixty seven minutes.

1102
01:07:52.440 --> 01:07:54.159
So as we start a new year, you're going to

1103
01:07:54.199 --> 01:07:56.360
hear sermon after sermon after sermon on Romans twelve one

1104
01:07:56.360 --> 01:07:59.719
through two. It's going to be like, in twenty twenty five,

1105
01:08:00.039 --> 01:08:02.360
you need to make yourself a living sacrifice, you need

1106
01:08:02.400 --> 01:08:06.000
to dedicate. I will argue you're never gonna pull that off.

1107
01:08:06.000 --> 01:08:07.760
So at the end of twenty twenty five, you're going

1108
01:08:07.800 --> 01:08:11.039
to be just as discouraged and desponded and frustrated and

1109
01:08:11.159 --> 01:08:14.119
depressed as you were going into twenty twenty five, or

1110
01:08:14.159 --> 01:08:16.359
has twenty twenty four ended, Because if you look back

1111
01:08:16.399 --> 01:08:18.800
over twenty twenty four, how did you really do spiritually?

1112
01:08:18.880 --> 01:08:20.600
Did you love God with all your heart, mind, body,

1113
01:08:20.640 --> 01:08:23.039
and soul. Did you love your neighbor as yourself? Did

1114
01:08:23.079 --> 01:08:25.680
you do all things without complaining and grumbling? Where you

1115
01:08:26.000 --> 01:08:29.439
self less, where you humble, where you not filled with

1116
01:08:29.479 --> 01:08:32.560
any bitterness, wrath and unforgiveness. Come on, how did you do?

1117
01:08:32.600 --> 01:08:33.800
You know what you're going to find out by the

1118
01:08:33.880 --> 01:08:35.960
end of twenty twenty four. If you haven't looked yet,

1119
01:08:36.119 --> 01:08:39.239
look back. You were a center throughout the whole year.

1120
01:08:39.399 --> 01:08:41.239
You know what you can start twenty twenty five say

1121
01:08:41.239 --> 01:08:43.640
I'm gonna do this, I'm gonna make I'm gonna love God.

1122
01:08:43.760 --> 01:08:45.640
I'm gonna be a living sacrifice. You know where you're

1123
01:08:45.640 --> 01:08:47.359
gonna end up at the end of twenty twenty five,

1124
01:08:47.640 --> 01:08:51.359
still a center, still falling short, because that is what

1125
01:08:51.479 --> 01:08:54.359
you are, your hope. If you want to, if you

1126
01:08:54.399 --> 01:08:58.079
want to do this, look at God's mercy, Look at

1127
01:08:58.079 --> 01:09:02.319
his mercy, because because of that mercy, present yourself to

1128
01:09:02.439 --> 01:09:09.000
God a living sacrifice, saying God, I die to law

1129
01:09:09.039 --> 01:09:13.239
based thinking, I die to self righteousness, I die to try,

1130
01:09:13.479 --> 01:09:16.119
and I rest in what you have given me, which

1131
01:09:16.159 --> 01:09:20.239
is Christ Jesus, his perfect work, his finished work, his

1132
01:09:20.439 --> 01:09:26.439
imputed righteousness, and that is wholly acceptable to God, because

1133
01:09:26.439 --> 01:09:30.159
when God looks upon his son, it is wholly acceptable

1134
01:09:30.239 --> 01:09:38.439
to him. And this is my spiritual act of worship,

1135
01:09:38.680 --> 01:09:42.159
my reasonable service. My spiritual act of worship is saying, God,

1136
01:09:42.479 --> 01:09:46.359
I have been crucified in Christ. I am a living sacrifice.

1137
01:09:46.399 --> 01:09:50.399
I am dying to all of this law based works, works, works,

1138
01:09:50.439 --> 01:09:52.520
works worse, and I'm resting in the finished work of

1139
01:09:52.520 --> 01:09:57.199
your son. And that is an act of worship because

1140
01:09:57.239 --> 01:10:01.000
I'm declaring Christ as worthy. I'm showing that his righteousness

1141
01:10:01.079 --> 01:10:03.479
is what matters. And then I'm gonna be I'm no

1142
01:10:03.520 --> 01:10:07.399
longer gonna be conformed to this worldly law, base, fleshy

1143
01:10:07.479 --> 01:10:11.079
way of thinking. I'm gonna be transformed so that I

1144
01:10:11.079 --> 01:10:22.640
can look at things from a gospel minded position. There

1145
01:10:22.680 --> 01:10:25.640
you have it. Now we did not finish the sermon

1146
01:10:25.640 --> 01:10:28.720
that that sermon is actually called. Let me see if

1147
01:10:28.720 --> 01:10:30.520
I can pull it up, so if you want to

1148
01:10:30.560 --> 01:10:32.880
go listen to the rest of it. And I know

1149
01:10:32.960 --> 01:10:35.960
that's a completely yeah, you know, nobody's going to agree

1150
01:10:35.960 --> 01:10:39.279
with my interpretation there, but that's okay. That sermon that

1151
01:10:39.279 --> 01:10:41.239
we were just listening to. I don't know if I

1152
01:10:41.239 --> 01:10:51.720
can even find it. Let me see here. Yeah, that's

1153
01:10:51.760 --> 01:10:54.159
not gonna work. Let me see here. I got fifty

1154
01:10:54.199 --> 01:11:00.880
windows open here. I don't think here. No, that's not it. Yeah,

1155
01:11:00.920 --> 01:11:03.880
I can't currently find it. But it's a it's a

1156
01:11:03.960 --> 01:11:07.840
brand new sermons. It shows up as new Year reset,

1157
01:11:07.880 --> 01:11:09.760
but it's not called a new year reset. It's something

1158
01:11:09.760 --> 01:11:17.600
about new Year dedication, something along that line. Corey mctag. Yeah, tag,

1159
01:11:18.079 --> 01:11:20.279
Maybe it's how you would say it, Corey mc t

1160
01:11:20.399 --> 01:11:25.119
a g u E. I guess, tag, I guess how

1161
01:11:25.159 --> 01:11:28.279
you would pronounce it. You can look up his sermon,

1162
01:11:28.479 --> 01:11:30.399
or look up him Corey McTague. You can find the

1163
01:11:30.439 --> 01:11:34.159
rest of it. We reviewed about half. I was hoping

1164
01:11:34.159 --> 01:11:36.760
for more of an exegetical work on Romans twelve where

1165
01:11:36.760 --> 01:11:41.439
I could then weave in my counter interpretation. But it

1166
01:11:41.560 --> 01:11:43.600
really wasn't looking at Romans. I mean, it was just

1167
01:11:43.720 --> 01:11:47.600
using phrases from Romans twelve one through two to basically say, hey, guys,

1168
01:11:47.760 --> 01:11:51.359
dedicate yourself, do better, be more committed, do this, do this,

1169
01:11:51.439 --> 01:11:53.840
do this, do this, do this, And I just think

1170
01:11:53.880 --> 01:12:00.279
that that doesn't work philologically, so I've offered a counter interpretation.

1171
01:12:00.920 --> 01:12:03.640
So we're off a new year offering new interpretations, which

1172
01:12:03.680 --> 01:12:06.840
is what I constantly do. But once again I demonstrated

1173
01:12:06.840 --> 01:12:07.560
the use of AI.

1174
01:12:07.680 --> 01:12:07.920
There.

1175
01:12:08.199 --> 01:12:10.800
AI helped me flesh that out. We went back and

1176
01:12:10.840 --> 01:12:14.159
forth for probably an hour trying to work it out,

1177
01:12:15.600 --> 01:12:20.079
and so AI was able to confirm that scripturally, my

1178
01:12:21.000 --> 01:12:25.079
interpretation seems to be plausible. Historically it fits right in

1179
01:12:25.119 --> 01:12:31.560
with Luther. That's good to know, all right. So textually, historically,

1180
01:12:32.199 --> 01:12:35.600
philologically it's at least plausible. I'm not saying it's right.

1181
01:12:36.920 --> 01:12:39.800
I'm not saying it's right, but I've heard I'm not

1182
01:12:39.840 --> 01:12:42.079
even trying to exaggerate. I probably have heard a thousand

1183
01:12:42.159 --> 01:12:44.319
sermons on Romans twelve one through two in my Christian

1184
01:12:44.319 --> 01:12:46.880
life do this, do this, do this, do this, do this,

1185
01:12:46.920 --> 01:12:50.079
and I've yet to see it ever work in any

1186
01:12:50.239 --> 01:12:53.800
reasonable way. I've been in church with all these people

1187
01:12:53.840 --> 01:12:59.319
who heard those sermons, and then they still don't demonstrate well, sinfulness, selfishness,

1188
01:13:00.039 --> 01:13:01.640
on and on and on and see seeing many of

1189
01:13:01.680 --> 01:13:08.720
this cases, seeing churches completely split and fall apart. All right,

1190
01:13:08.840 --> 01:13:12.520
I'll stop there, Thank you very much for listening. Oh

1191
01:13:12.600 --> 01:13:14.159
let's see if we have an update. Hang on, let

1192
01:13:14.159 --> 01:13:16.439
me look here, let me look at my email. Did

1193
01:13:16.520 --> 01:13:20.920
we get an update about our Oh wait wait wait

1194
01:13:20.960 --> 01:13:27.239
here we go. Okay, so I just received an email.

1195
01:13:27.319 --> 01:13:29.000
Thank you for your email, and I'm sorry for any

1196
01:13:28.960 --> 01:13:32.600
any inconvenience. Our programmers has looked into this and figured

1197
01:13:32.640 --> 01:13:34.319
out what happened when you signed up for the Church

1198
01:13:34.319 --> 01:13:37.479
Specific Bible. One of the payments has been refunded. Please

1199
01:13:37.520 --> 01:13:39.760
allow a few days for the refund to go through.

1200
01:13:39.960 --> 01:13:42.760
Your Church Specific Study Bible should be active as well. Now,

1201
01:13:42.920 --> 01:13:45.520
please let me know if you have any questions. Oh

1202
01:13:45.560 --> 01:13:49.319
that's awesome. Hang on, let's look here is it? Oh wait,

1203
01:13:49.359 --> 01:13:56.199
wait wait wait, hang on. Theology ladies and gentlemen, it

1204
01:13:56.279 --> 01:14:01.600
is there. The Theology Central Study Bible is live and active.

1205
01:14:01.840 --> 01:14:03.680
Go check it out now. Okay, hang on, let me

1206
01:14:03.720 --> 01:14:06.880
go here. All right, go if everyone everyone do this

1207
01:14:07.000 --> 01:14:09.720
right now. Stop what you're doing. Tell everyone you have to.

1208
01:14:09.760 --> 01:14:12.319
I don't care. If you're at work, tell everyone stop stop.

1209
01:14:12.640 --> 01:14:15.880
If you're driving your car, pull over, everyone grab their phones.

1210
01:14:16.720 --> 01:14:20.880
Go to Bible Arc b I, B L E A

1211
01:14:21.359 --> 01:14:29.399
R C, Bible Arc dot com forward slash church forward

1212
01:14:29.479 --> 01:14:34.640
slash Theology Central and tell me what you see. You

1213
01:14:34.640 --> 01:14:39.399
should see the Theology Central Study Bible, the Theology Central

1214
01:14:39.479 --> 01:14:43.840
Study Bible, Bible, Arc dot Com b I, B L

1215
01:14:43.920 --> 01:14:46.960
E A r C dot Com, Forward slash Church, Forward

1216
01:14:47.000 --> 01:14:50.079
slash Theology Central. There it is, Ladies and gentlemen. You

1217
01:14:50.119 --> 01:14:51.920
can add that. You can make it an app and

1218
01:14:51.920 --> 01:14:54.960
put it on your mobile device. It's live, it's there.

1219
01:14:55.079 --> 01:14:57.319
It's awesome. Now I'm not going to say he's gonna

1220
01:14:57.319 --> 01:14:58.960
spend all the time going back through all everything it does.

1221
01:14:59.000 --> 01:15:02.000
We did a product broadcast on it, but the problem

1222
01:15:02.039 --> 01:15:05.239
has been fixed. We have been refunded. That's good. So

1223
01:15:05.319 --> 01:15:07.840
I think we were able to do this. Now up

1224
01:15:08.199 --> 01:15:11.720
to one hundred people can access it right now. If

1225
01:15:11.760 --> 01:15:14.359
we go over one hundred, then I'll have to ask.

1226
01:15:14.439 --> 01:15:16.279
I will have to ask for some money to be

1227
01:15:16.279 --> 01:15:19.119
able to upgrade. But we paid. It was going to

1228
01:15:19.159 --> 01:15:21.279
cost us one hundred dollars, but they did a big

1229
01:15:21.319 --> 01:15:24.399
special this the other day, so we were able to

1230
01:15:24.439 --> 01:15:27.079
do it for twenty five dollars, so that you know

1231
01:15:27.119 --> 01:15:29.960
that I can afford twenty five. So that's great.

1232
01:15:29.960 --> 01:15:30.119
Now.

1233
01:15:30.199 --> 01:15:32.880
Of course, anybody wants to offer any wants to give

1234
01:15:32.920 --> 01:15:34.800
anything to help cover any of the cost that for

1235
01:15:34.840 --> 01:15:36.520
all the things we try to offer then buy me.

1236
01:15:37.039 --> 01:15:39.720
I'm not going to turn it down. But yeah, we

1237
01:15:39.760 --> 01:15:41.880
could not do one hundred. We couldn't do one hundred.

1238
01:15:41.920 --> 01:15:44.560
So I'm grateful that they gave us this discount. I'm

1239
01:15:44.600 --> 01:15:47.319
grateful they refunded the money because we got charged twice.

1240
01:15:47.880 --> 01:15:49.960
And so I think it's good to go. So please

1241
01:15:50.079 --> 01:15:52.840
access it, use it, Let me know what you think. Everyone,

1242
01:15:52.880 --> 01:15:57.439
have a great, wonderful beginning of twenty twenty five. We're

1243
01:15:57.520 --> 01:15:59.359
just going to be driving around in twenty twenty five

1244
01:15:59.359 --> 01:16:01.840
in a car, not knowing where we're going. That's going

1245
01:16:01.880 --> 01:16:03.720
to be the illustration. I'm going to drive into the ground.

1246
01:16:03.720 --> 01:16:05.399
We're just gonna all of twenty twenty five, we're just

1247
01:16:05.359 --> 01:16:08.399
gonna be driving around. So we drove around for seventy

1248
01:16:08.439 --> 01:16:11.119
six minutes. We didn't end up anywhere. We're now pulled

1249
01:16:11.159 --> 01:16:13.039
over the side of the road having an argument about

1250
01:16:13.039 --> 01:16:16.000
how to actually interpret Romans twelve one through two. So

1251
01:16:16.319 --> 01:16:17.960
now you can just stay there at the rest stop

1252
01:16:17.960 --> 01:16:20.319
and maybe we'll go find a restaurant and sit there

1253
01:16:20.359 --> 01:16:22.439
and eat and talk about Romans twelve one through two.

1254
01:16:22.520 --> 01:16:24.359
I think that's a good place to a good thing

1255
01:16:24.359 --> 01:16:26.439
to have a mill over all right, sounds good, all right,

1256
01:16:26.439 --> 01:16:30.439
great everyone, have a great day. God bless