Living by Faith: True Virtue and God's Glory
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Sermon Summary
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"Romans 14:23 says that whatever does not proceed from faith is sin. Now that's right, and it has huge implications. It shows that the deeds which externally conform to God's commands, like don't kill, don't steal, don't lie, be kind, don't return evil for evil, those external acts might conform to God's will but may be sinful because they may be done from a heart that is not trusting Jesus or the Father or the Holy Spirit." [00:20:07]
"Virtue is not external conformity to God's law. Virtue is conformity to God's law that comes from reliance upon God's love and forgiveness and wisdom and power. You see this not only in Romans 14:23 but also in Hebrews 11:6 where it says without faith it is impossible to please God." [00:166:05]
"So nothing we do, no matter how kind it is or how good it is or how it looks on the outside, none of it is pleasing to God if it's not coming from trust in God's forgiveness and guidance and power." [00:194:55]
"Daniel asks whether the reverse is true, that doing something from faith does please God and does glorify God, and the answer is a resounding yes because Paul says in Romans 4:20, he grew strong in his faith giving glory to God. My interpretation of that is it was precisely the strengthening of his faith and his acting in faith that drew attention to the glory of God's grace and power in his life." [00:298:36]
"First Peter says the same thing, 1st Peter 4:11, whoever serves, let him do it, let him serve as one who serves by the strength that God supplies in order that in everything God may be glorified. Now I take that to mean that in every kind of obedient service we perform in reliance, we trust God for the strength and the wisdom and the wherewithal to do what we're called to do." [00:332:26]
"If we rely upon God as we obey and serve, God gets the glory. He says the giver of the strength gets the glory for the service. That's what first Peter 4:11 says. We used to quote that over and over again in our prayer room just before we walked into preaching. The more we rely upon power and wisdom from God for our obedience, the more he will get the glory for our obedience." [00:369:52]
"Second Thessalonians chapter 1 verses 11 and 12: We always pray for you that our God may fulfill every resolve for good and every work of faith by his power so that the name of our Lord Jesus may be glorified in you and you in him, according to the grace of our God and the Lord Jesus." [00:444:63]
"A work of faith, a deed done in reliance upon God, will have these three elements: number one, it involves a resolve for good. In other words, our choices, our active mental volitional efforts to be involved in God's will, our choices are involved when we bring our decisions into conformity with the good that is in God's Word." [00:490:18]
"A work of faith involves trusting God's power to enable us to do it or, as he says at the end of those, trusting God's grace, and that's true whether it is a deed like faithfulness in martyrdom or brushing your teeth. We cannot do either of those if our eyes are open, we know we cannot do either of those apart from God's grace, God's power." [00:533:82]
"Third mark of a work of faith is that it aims at the glory of the name of the Lord Jesus. So to live my faith or to walk by faith or to do the works of faith means one, the thing we aim at is shaped by God's Word and it is good. Two, the strength to do it is the power of God and we trust in it." [00:568:05]
"Acting by faith means one, what we do is shaped by the Word of God, how we do it is in the power of God, and the aim in doing it is the glory of God. That's what changes a so-called good deed from being sinful and displeasing to God into an act that is truly virtuous and pleasing to God." [00:599:85]
"A resolve for good, trusting in God to enable us, all aimed at Christ's honor, the word of God, power of God, glory of God, that's a really helpful little triad, easy to remember." [00:632:07]
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"Virtue is not external conformity to God's law. Virtue is conformity to God's law that comes from reliance upon God's love and forgiveness and wisdom and power. You see this not only in Romans 14:23 but also in Hebrews 11:6 where it says without faith it is impossible to please God." [00:166:05]
"So nothing we do, no matter how kind it is or how good it is or how it looks on the outside, none of it is pleasing to God if it's not coming from trust in God's forgiveness and guidance and power." [00:194:55]
"Daniel asks whether the reverse is true, that doing something from faith does please God and does glorify God, and the answer is a resounding yes because Paul says in Romans 4:20, he grew strong in his faith giving glory to God. My interpretation of that is it was precisely the strengthening of his faith and his acting in faith that drew attention to the glory of God's grace and power in his life." [00:298:36]
"First Peter says the same thing, 1st Peter 4:11, whoever serves, let him do it, let him serve as one who serves by the strength that God supplies in order that in everything God may be glorified. Now I take that to mean that in every kind of obedient service we perform in reliance, we trust God for the strength and the wisdom and the wherewithal to do what we're called to do." [00:332:26]
"If we rely upon God as we obey and serve, God gets the glory. He says the giver of the strength gets the glory for the service. That's what first Peter 4:11 says. We used to quote that over and over again in our prayer room just before we walked into preaching. The more we rely upon power and wisdom from God for our obedience, the more he will get the glory for our obedience." [00:369:52]
"Second Thessalonians chapter 1 verses 11 and 12: We always pray for you that our God may fulfill every resolve for good and every work of faith by his power so that the name of our Lord Jesus may be glorified in you and you in him, according to the grace of our God and the Lord Jesus." [00:444:63]
"A work of faith, a deed done in reliance upon God, will have these three elements: number one, it involves a resolve for good. In other words, our choices, our active mental volitional efforts to be involved in God's will, our choices are involved when we bring our decisions into conformity with the good that is in God's Word." [00:490:18]
"A work of faith involves trusting God's power to enable us to do it or, as he says at the end of those, trusting God's grace, and that's true whether it is a deed like faithfulness in martyrdom or brushing your teeth. We cannot do either of those if our eyes are open, we know we cannot do either of those apart from God's grace, God's power." [00:533:82]
"Third mark of a work of faith is that it aims at the glory of the name of the Lord Jesus. So to live my faith or to walk by faith or to do the works of faith means one, the thing we aim at is shaped by God's Word and it is good. Two, the strength to do it is the power of God and we trust in it." [00:568:05]
"Acting by faith means one, what we do is shaped by the Word of God, how we do it is in the power of God, and the aim in doing it is the glory of God. That's what changes a so-called good deed from being sinful and displeasing to God into an act that is truly virtuous and pleasing to God." [00:599:85]
"A resolve for good, trusting in God to enable us, all aimed at Christ's honor, the word of God, power of God, glory of God, that's a really helpful little triad, easy to remember." [00:632:07]
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