Lesson 55b & begin 14:1-6 Lesson 56a

Okay, so we are in Lesson 55, and we had gotten down to Question 8. And Question 7, we asked, what event allows a believer to lay aside the deeds of darkness and put on the armor of light? That event was the cross of Christ, and our inclusion in it, that we were co-crucified with and buried and resurrected. It leads to question eight.

What does, in the verse, behave, my versions, behave properly as in the day? What's that look like in reality? I'll give you a couple of insights. Your version may say walk. Some versions say behave. that that word is peripateo. It means to conduct oneself, order one's behavior. Wherever you're going, whatever you do, and you conduct your behavior in such a manner.

And the idea that we're looking for here is honesty is seen in the fact that Paul is exhorting the saints to give an honest impression of themselves to the world. In other words, show the world who you really are. In other words, we're to conduct ourselves in a manner befitting our high station in life as saints of the Most High God. I think a lot of times that we don't really think of ourselves walking around in this world that we live in, that we are really saints of the Most High God, and we are different. and we enjoy a status and a position much above, oh, I hate to use the term earthlings, but that's what I'm gonna use. So we should be aware of the fact that we live in the light. We are in the light and we can be seen in the light. So I'll give an example.

In Exodus 2.12 through 14 is the verses that talk about Moses is gonna be the deliverer.

And 12 says, and so he took his way, this way and that, and when he saw there was no one around, he struck down the Egyptian and hid him in the sand. So he was acting in a certain manner, but he was acting out of the flesh. And so what does he do? He kills an Egyptian and he hides him. the body and he went out the next day and behold two hebrews were fighting with each other and he's said to the offender why are you striking your companion the offender said back who made you the prince or a judge over us are you intending to kill me as you killed the egyptian then moses was afraid and said surely the matter has become known we are known people know about us i mean if you If you never told anybody you were a believer, I still love Jay Verdon McGee's challenge, which was, if you were arrested and charged with being a Christian, could they prove their case?

That's really true, it's really true. So, question is, what does behave properly in the day or walk properly in the day, what's it look like in reality? Your turn to answer. What's that really look like? Nobody knows, huh? I mean, Mike, I had a thought about that.

Just kind of the context, it really reminds me of the Old Testament concept of the day of darkness and the day of light. And if we kind of bring that context to this passage, it reminds me of the fact that we're not citizens of this day. We're citizens of another kingdom. We're citizens of the coming day kind of thing. you know still behave as a citizen of and also uh... and i think i would go as a believer if you take a a good objective look at what this is talking about and you bring in the next part of it, which is question nine, put on the Lord Jesus Christ.

Those have to go together. And actually seven, eight, and nine, those three questions have to go together and have to be operating in conjunction one with another. So let me ask you this. How do you put on the Lord Jesus Christ? There's a command, an imperative that says, put him on. So how do you put him on?

Because if you read this verse and you're serious, you look at the Lord and say, OK, I hear what you're saying. I see what you're saying. But right away, my old nature is going to say, well, I need to have an example. I need to have the rule book on how the behavior patterns are. And when I get the behavior patterns down, then I can begin to function and look like the Lord Jesus Christ. Is that an accurate way to look at it?

I think it's about walking in the Spirit where it's God living in and through us. Okay. How do you walk in the Spirit? The rest of the verse says, make no provision for the flesh. That's right. So you get to answer that one after you answer this one.

Well, I think the only thing I can figure out is I realized that I myself cannot really do this, and somehow the Holy Spirit changed me so that I don't run people off the road, and I don't know why I don't anymore. You don't do that anymore? Cut way down. It's a good thing you weren't in Aurora yesterday.

You know, I think, Mike, it's also just to know Him in the intimacy. As you know Him, you know yourself as in Christ. And I think it's all about the relationship, because you can't manifest Christ if you don't know who He is. And it's all by the Holy Spirit convicting us of His word and all the truths that He says, but it's putting Him on as to know Him, I think. I think, Courtney, you're touching on it. but I don't think we're completely there yet, because I won't tell you who, but I know a person who is a Christian, I believe they are a Christian, but they are definitely not living a Christian type of life.

They're a very loving person, but they have no problem with going out and socially drinking and drinking and getting drunk. and socializing that way. And I'm thinking, you know, the scripture says, don't get drunk with wine, which is debauchery, but be filled with the spirit. Yeah, but are they doing what this says, putting on the Lord? They're not. No, they're not. They don't even study to know the Lord.

That's my point. That's my point, is you need to study, you need to take time with Him to know Him. If you know Him, you're not going to do that. You'll be convicted of it because that's not who you are in Christ. So that's my exact point. The more time you spend in the Word to know Him, you manifest Him. You don't do the things that, following this verse, the sensuality, drunkenness, carousing, and all that. If you put on the Lord, you don't do that. Putting on the Lord is to know Him, and to know Him intimately, and to be convinced and convicted of the fact that you're in Christ. And that person is not putting on the Lord. They don't know him in a way that, an intimate way. Because if you don't, how do you do that when you know him or you put him on? Yeah, if you don't know him, you're not going to do what he wants. You're not going to obey him.

Right. That's the point. You need to know him. The more we know him, the more we manifest him because we know who we are in Christ. Yeah. I think you're leaving out a key factor here. And the key factor is A key factor is the reality and the totality of what happened to us on that cross. That a death really did take place.

Death meaning separation. We were, from God's perspective, judicially separated from Adam. Everything about him. And we were united to the resurrected Christ. I think you have to start with that fact. That that is true of me. So, if that fact is true, those two facts are true, then the next thing is I begin to learn about the differences between what the resurrected life of Christ looks like And what the Adam side looks like, and the big mistake Christians make is that they think that the good part of Adam is acceptable in Christian form, and it's not. There's nothing in Adam that's acceptable to God. It's the Lord Jesus Christ who's acceptable. The next step in that is a dependence on the spirit of God, one to show us the truth, two, to bring us to the point where we trust him and we rely on the information that we have.

We really do trust that we have been crucified, buried, and resurrected. We are new creatures in Christ. We have an entirely new life. It's not imitatable. It's manifested by the power of that spirit, the Holy Spirit himself. I can't say, well, I'm not going to run anybody off the road anymore. uh... and the first time somebody you know flips you off here you go the thing is is that the life of the resurrected christ is a life of total dependence on the spirit of god a complete or a completing body of information about who i am where i am and what i have are those things true Or is my experience, my reaction out of the flesh and all of that kind of stuff that I'm used to, is that true? And that's where the decision comes, the decision of faith. Am I trusting God about who he says I am? And am I letting the spirit of God do what he's gonna do? which is to manifest Christ in my life and to put the cross on Adam so he doesn't manifest itself. I think all of those elements have to come in play in order to put on the Lord Jesus Christ.

It's to recognize I already have him on. Put on is kind of like putting on a coat But when you put him on, you get all of him. You don't get one or two of his attributes. You get them all, because you get all of his life. You put on all of the weapons, so to speak. You put on all of the armor, and you rest in that fact, and the Spirit manifest that life through you.

There's a lot of doctrine, and I'm going to talk about that in the next lesson, chapter 14. There's a lot of doctrine. There are a lot of truths. You mentioned facts. There are a lot of facts about who we are. And Jim, you mentioned some of the observations you made about a particular person. There are facts. There are truths that maybe have not fully set in for each individual believer.

And I think that's what chapter 14 has to do with. So when we get there, we're going to really hit that point. But, you know, that putting on is a process. And Miles Stanford talks about the time it takes for that to take place, right? So just wanted to add that perspective. It's not a boom, you've read it, you can put it on and then snap. Everything is in place. The full armor of God is like you're ready to go. Sure.

That goes back to the growth truth. You grow. It's like growing up. You start as babies and you grow. It's not you're from one year to 50 years old in a day. And that's my getting back to yours. Yeah, the root of it all is the identification. If you don't understand that, I think your growth is muted. because you're always trying to fix up the old man.

So yeah, I agree that growth starts with the identification that the old man has been judicially taken care of. But then the putting on part is, I think, that growth, that over time, JD, as you say, growth or the putting on is spiritual maturity. As you grow, as you know him more, you manifest him more. I find it interesting that believers, when we first enter into the discussion about these truths, think that the life of the Lord Jesus means I'm going to be a good guy. In other words, I'm living in the tree of the knowledge of good and evil in the garden, and what I've done is left the evil branches and gone over to the good ones.

Well, that's not the Lord Jesus Christ. That's the flesh operating good. And in Christ Jesus, there isn't a contrast between good and evil. The contrast is between holiness and something other than holiness. And so the putting on of the Lord Jesus is to put all of him on, which means he's a suffering servant, which means that he's, I don't lack a single part of who he is. And then as Cheryl brought up, not to make any provision for the flesh. At first, in the growth process, I don't even know all of the aspects of the flesh.

I mean, I can certainly identify with drinking and smoking and running people off the highway or whatever happens to be the really blatant sins. But how about pride and arrogance and anger and then, oh, I really did some good things last week. I'm really proud of myself. How about that part of it? I think a lot of the hungry heart go to that. The hardest part for a Christian is to identify the old man. I agree. I think the hardest part in the Christian is to recognize is to deal with his own goodness.

Because we're not talking about your goodness, we're talking about the goodness of God in the Lord Jesus Christ. And that goodness allowed him to become a man and die. Die. And the fact that we are not anymore members of the planet. maybe a better way to say it, that we are now heavenly citizens recreated in Christ Jesus and we're here to serve him.

The whole idea of serving Christ is something that has to be manifested by the spirit of God, otherwise we do it whenever we think about it. Or, and we do it out of the flesh and it isn't Christ at all. It's me doing some good deed, you know, that will contribute to the fire at the beam of judgment.

So it's really interesting that this life is a totally new separate life. manifested to the believer, and I agree about spiritual growth. I certainly agree with JD that there are these, as you grow in Christ, there becomes an expectancy that he, the spirit of God, is going to manifest this kind of life in and through me, and all I have to do, my whole responsibility is to believe him.

Not to enact anything, just trust him. Well, what does that do? That leads me to be more of a student of his word, because I want to find out what he's like more and more all the time. And what I find out is, the more I spend time with him, the more I want to spend time with him, because he's attracted to me. I'm attracted to him because I have the same life.

J.B. Stoney said that with the resurrected life of Christ comes a taste for the things of God. Yeah, I have a taste for Him now. I never had that before. And even as a law-abiding Christian, I didn't have that taste. But now that I understand a little bit about grace, I'm beginning to be, and you're beginning to be, way more interested in the Lord Jesus, just him personally, than you ever were before. And so when these imperatives come along, they really get to be kind of exciting when he says, put on Christ.

And he's not asking us to do anything that he hasn't already made provision for. ahead of time, okay? And it's the same with putting off. It's exactly the same thing. I can put off the flesh because I know in the position I have in Christ, after the cross and after resurrection, that I am free. Philippians 3 says we are the circumcision who worship God in the spirit, rejoice in Christ Jesus, and have no confidence in the flesh. Big, big issue right there.

I have confidence in my flesh to do certain things. But as I grow in Christ, that confidence in my ability in the flesh to accomplish anything begins to diminish. Well, it's gotta be replaced with confidence where? It has to be Christ confidence. I trust him to do what he has said. He's already done positionally for me. He'll do it.

The putting off and the putting on is really recognizing, first of all, that it's already been done, and two, not to have confidence in the flesh is a trip to the spiritual dentist. It takes a while, and it's painful, you know? But at the end of the day, I rejoice in the Lord Jesus Christ. Why? Because he's done all of this. Okay, now. Mike, before you go on, I think there's also a distinction when we talk about putting on and putting off.

Which is more important? I think the putting on is way more important than the putting off. I don't know if it's in The Hungry Heart or one of the spiritual anthology or whatever, but it talks about monks who swear off everything. but they swear off all these earthly things. But they have no relationship or the growth or anything because they put off all these things. That doesn't mean anything. So I think that the putting on is much more important. Putting off then becomes I don't know, easier or you can put it off because of putting on Christ. So I think the putting on is much more important.

Jim, you said people who are, you know, he's a Christian but he gets drunk or whatever. I know a lot of Christians who act You know, like Christians. Pious. Yeah, very pious. But I don't think they have a very good relationship with the Lord. And so I think that they've put off things that they haven't put on. I agree. And I think that the distinction is putting on, I think.

You know, it's kind of going back to the Galatians 2.20. I've been crucified with Christ and it's no longer I that live. And I think it's really that part that, you know, getting back to the identification and then the new life. So I just, I think the distinction is putting on is much more important than the putting off. I think the putting on enables you to put off. Walking in the spirit comes ahead of not fulfilling the lust of the flesh. Yes. Yeah. I'm going to read a quote from Lewis Barry Chafer.

Any aspect of life or conduct which is undertaken in dependence upon the energy and ability of the flesh is, to that extent, purely legal in character, whether it be the whole revealed will of God, the actual written commandments contained in the law, the exhortations of grace, or any activity whatsoever in which the believer may engage Dependence upon the arm of the flesh is consistent with pure law. Dependence upon the power of the spirit is necessary under pure grace.

Since there is no provision for the flesh in the plan of God for a life under grace, the law is done away for the church. That's why the law isn't in the church, because there's no provision for the flesh. There's no provision for you and me to get better fleshly. There's no provision. God is done with the flesh.

He sees us in Christ only, and the operating principle is only, only grace. It's nothing else. And grace is God's unlimited blessing. unmerited blessing towards us based on what Christ did on the cross. And not only that, think about it, we got included in that cross, death, burial, and resurrected. That means that this unmerited and unlimited grace is coming at us full-on all the time. All the time. You know, so.

Mike, after the Galatians 2.20 is, I do not nullify the grace of God, for if righteousness comes through the law, then Christ died needlessly. Yeah, he did, that's exactly right. Okay, question 10. I did this on purpose just to, this is, oh, JD, you want to say something? Yeah, I was just going to say, I had a question around the idea of when you put on the Lord Jesus Christ, how do we do that?

That's a faith-based decision, right? That's what we're talking about. By faith, we put on the Lord Jesus Christ, meaning we trust Him to be our life for us. And as a result there is no provision for the flesh So it's not like we have to do something to make no provision for the flesh Because we've already done prior to that by faith putting on the Lord Jesus Christ So it's not it's not a putting on and putting off like they're the same. I I make no provision for the flesh by faith no, I put on Christ by faith and as a result I there is no provision for the flesh. And so I just was curious, do you guys agree with that concept? Because otherwise it's like I have to walk by faith and then I have to make no provision for the flesh. You've made a law out of it. Yeah, you can make a law out of it.

But really the focus is on the person or Jesus. And as a result of there is no provision for the flushing that's right yeah there's no room for so it'll really it's it's a singular focus it's not a put on and then put off it's a try put on as a result you know the provision for the flesh is is no longer you know it it's entirely the same principle which we all got saved under we got saved under what christ died for our sins he was buried in resurrected right that's the information It's personal to me. It's personal to you.

What does God say? Do you believe me or not? I do. I believe you. That's all I have to do. What have I believed in? That he did do that. That he did pay for my sins. That he did everything he said he did, and that if I believe it, he will save me. What do I do?

I just believe them. So I, you know, fast forward 40 years and I find out about identification and position and grace and all of these things. My response never changes. I find out, what do I do? I either believe them or I don't. If I do believe them, I have put on, to that extent, the fullness of Christ. I haven't changed, and God hasn't changed.

He did it all, and my job is to trust Him about it. I know that simplification, and in terms of the working out daily of the application of putting off and putting on is not that simple, but that's what it boils down to. Just believe Him. Just believe Him. Okay, last question that I put on the paper is a trick question, but everybody has to answer.

You ready? List five things where you make provision for the flesh. So just give me one. How would you make provision for the flesh? Want me to prime the pump a little bit? Prime it, Jan, prime it. Walk a little lady across the street and think you did something special. How about something like self-dependence? Or how about self-preservation? Or how about fear? Or how about demand for my rights? Or how about, I can do it, Give me another one.

Come on, you guys. Not recognizing that it was the Lord's work in your life, and you thought that you did it. Yeah. Okay. I'll just start calling some names. You ready? I'm in. I'm in. Okay, Jim, you're up. As a parent, anger, frustration, not depending on the Lord for the growth of your children or yourself even at certain times. Sure. There it is. It's so subtle. It's so subtle.

I'm just going to be loving today. I just made provision for the flesh. I'm going to put on my refrigerator, I'm going to walk in the spirit today. Guess what? I just made provision for the flesh. In your language and in your mindset, if you get I in it, you can bet it's the flesh. Anything you determine yourself to do is making provision for the flesh. Oh my goodness, I watched the news today and they're burning down the buildings and they're rioting and I'm fearful that they're going to come to my house. and that's the flesh. You can still get prepared. I still loaded my gun.

Yeah. Sorry, Miles. You can't have that. or uh gee, should I, should I go out and whatever the opposition is uh... well i'm not going to go to any more football games cuz i don't like the fact that players are kneeling that's all of the flesh that whole and if you look at the world system you look at what's happening in the world what are they designed to do they're designed to get you to react to them and when you react to them you're reacting in the flesh that's where the war is and I have one for you, Mike. Yeah. I'll pay next time for lunch, since you paid last time. Great. I'm in. Under grace, you're not supposed to. Right.

So the point is that if you just contemplate not that you want to, contemplate your navel very long, but you find out that there's an awful lot of things that I just instinctively do that really make provision for the flesh, that really do. And it's based on comfort, security, ability, because I'm me. I live in America, except for you, Miles, under the American Constitution, which means I can do anything I want. Oh, really? How about walking in the spirit? I can't find that in the Constitution.

It's interesting that this word for vision has to do with attention. So, if we read it, and make no attention for the flesh. Don't give attention to it. Don't have a mind for it. That's kind of an interesting perspective. How do I say this? So I'm sitting in this class and I'm thinking, oh wow, so this afternoon, something happens and right away I know I'm gonna respond in the flesh. How do I avoid that? How do I avoid that happening? The stimulus is gonna be there. How do I avoid responding? i go back to the james when you take it you you see whatever and then that starts to progression down if you're on christ is is how you avoid succumbing to the flesh i think it's you i think the key word is reckon you know and and uh... romans ten and a lot of six to ten reckon yourself indeed dead on the same but alive on the card I reckon, so. Okay, I'm done, JD. You're up. So we'll just switch, we'll switch over to him. Did everybody get 56? Questions for 56? Anybody not get them? Oh, I don't get any. Okay.

Oh, that says that she is not on that list anymore. So I need to connect with you on that one. miles had a question uh... i'd i'd just add one thought there are a lot of stuff i'm not go ahead i was just saying like i was gonna say something a lot like something along the lines of like uh... so this is the phrase that i think that comes to my mind is that you know you're talking about like how do you not respond sometimes it's just a in my mind is turning idle i don't have to because i'm not That's not who I am. If it was me, and if it was up to me, this is how I would respond, but I just kind of like, but I don't have to. I don't know. Yeah, I don't have to. That goes to the fact that you willingly choose.

That's the insanity is when I make the choice of doing that, why do I do that? I think it comes down to unbelief of who I am and, again, the intimacy, the time with the Lord. I think all of those things come up because I still respond to it. There are times, and why do I do that? and either take the focus off the Lord or something.

But you're absolutely right, Miles. I don't have to, but why do I sometimes? Yeah. Well, it's because you've got a sin nature. That's why. Right. Right. Exactly. Yeah. In Christ, I don't have to. So recognizing that, right? You know, that's really right. The Holy Spirit is there at the precise time to make you aware of what's happening. I think he is, and enable us to trust him, even though all of a sudden I got the hot water right in my face. Okay, JD.

I have four minutes, right? Yeah, four. Hey, I think you could do question one in four minutes. I have like a 30 minute intro. And I'm not even kidding. But what I'll do is I'll do intro. I had a lot of thoughts with regards to chapter 14. I kind of wanted to set that up properly. But the question that I actually don't want you to answer. Question number one, I don't want you to answer out loud per se.

But I want you to consider what makes a strong believer, a strong believer. And you can consider that yourself. Those are, you know, you can write down your own thoughts around where you fit in that regard. But What is strong? So, strong believer is not actually mentioned in chapter 14, verse 1. It's insinuated, because there's a weak believer, and it's mentioned at the beginning of chapter 15. So, I might steal from chapter 15 if I don't get the answer out in the next two minutes. But, what makes a strong believer? Someone who knows the Lord very closely. Very intimately. It's the Lord who makes us strong believers.

Mike, you had a thought? Well, if we were all sitting in a room here today, and you stood up to start this part of your lesson, and you asked this question of the class, I dare say every single one of us would think, well, I'm the strong believer and those guys over there aren't. Don't we all consider ourselves the strong believer?

We just go there naturally, I think. It doesn't matter how spiritually educated you are. It takes a conformity to the point where you realize, you know, I'm probably not the strongest one. But I think we instinctively go there because that's one of those things that, like Courtney was talking about, here comes the stimulus from the flesh, and here's the stimulus.

I'm the strong believer, you're not. That's really interesting, Mike, because I think it depends on the room of believers that I'm in, because I think sometimes I feel like I'm a really weak believer. I'm the really weak believer. But thinking about that, that's almost no more.

I don't know. Yeah, I actually agree with you, Miles. There's times where I feel like that as well. I've got one minute, is that right? So what I'm going to do is pray for us. I want you to consider this question, do you consider yourself a strong believer? And let's pick up with that next week. I'll do my 45, 30 minute intro and we'll get back to the question. Have a great week. Loved hanging out with you, and the class was great, Mike. Thank you.

So I'll pray for us. Lord, thank you for the truths of Romans, just the application that we are now dealing with and how we are to put on the Lord Jesus and yourself. And so, Lord, we just pray that we might, by faith, do that, and as a result, not pay attention and give mind to the flesh and all that it entails. We thank you for this group and for the rest of the believers at Holly Hills and the local body that we spend time with and pray that the next lesson will go well, that you would continue to illuminate us to the truths that you have in your word. It's in your name we pray. Amen.