We’ve got to know how God designed the church to work. We’ve got to live with humility towards others and not try to jockey for position.
• Last week we saw that when God calls me to be a Christian, He calls me to community. We are not fully ourselves when we are by ourselves. You were made for
, fellowship, corporate purpose. God has designed for you to play a critical role in His church and the church will never be all that it could be unless we all seek out the calling and the roles He has designed us for.
• A healthy church family begins with a spiritually healthy
that is marked by transformation. What does that transformation look like in detail? Or to think of it another way, Paul gives us a fuller view of what living sacrifices look like.
• Unsurprisingly, the life transformed by the Spirit begins with
.
• Love = agape; unconditional love; rooted in the
to die to myself and live for the benefit of others each day; not based on how I feel at the moment; the kind of love that God’s Spirit enables in His people
// Agape love does not depend on the world’s criteria for love, such as attractiveness, emotions, or sentimentality. It is not impulsive, but decisive. It is not first passionate, but
.
// Agape love is God-like love that is motivated and
by looking at God’s love in Scripture.
• Genuine = without hypocrisy,
; it is not counterfeit or patronizing.
• The opposite of love is not hatred. The opposite of love is
and self-centeredness.
• Abhor >> hate, detest, separate from
• Evil >> morally reprehensible, or pernicious; destructive, having the quality of killing, destroying, or injuring
• Believers are to be continually
by all that is evil. What is your attitude towards that which God considers evil?
• What is evil? In context,
is evil. To abhor what is evil means that I being to genuinely hate and grieve the hypocrisy that is within me.
• The problem is that Christians mix up what they should be loving and hating. We love people. We hate no one. We hate hypocrisy within us. We hate sin. We hate injustice. We hate the ways that the world is broken. If Christians love the right things and hate the right things, we change the world. When we get them mixed up, we become a stumbling block to those around us.
• “Hold fast” = cling to; cleave; glue; join; fasten together
• When are you tempted to
? There is your idol.
• Spurgeon >> What fascinates the eye is very apt to gain admission into the heart!
• What is
? God is good. His will is good, pleasing, and perfect. To know His nature, His character, and His Word will help us know what is good. That is what we must cling to. More on this when we study verses 10-13.
• Hodge >> Hate and cling are particularly strong and express the highest degree of hatred on the one hand and of persevering devotion on the other.
Tolerance is a cheap, low-grade parody of love. Tolerance is not a great virtue to aspire to. Love is much tougher and harder. (NT Wright)
Tolerance says, “You must approve of what I do.” Love responds, “I must do something harder: I will love you, even when your behavior offends me.”
Tolerance says, “You must agree with me.” Love responds, “I must do something harder: I will tell you the truth, because I am convinced ‘the truth will set you free.’”
Tolerance says, “You must allow me to have my way.” Love responds, “I must do something harder: I will plead with you to follow the right way, because I believe you are worth the risk.”
Tolerance seeks to be inoffensive; love takes risks. Tolerance glorifies division; love seeks unity. Tolerance costs nothing; love costs everything. (Josh McDowell)
The main evidence that we are growing in Christ is not exhilarating prayer experiences, but steadily increasing, humble love for other people. (Frederica Mathewes-Green)
