Sept. 25, 2024

The Mirror is the Answer

The Mirror is the Answer

We look at secret number 2 of the Six Secrets of the Christian life

We look at secret number 2 of the Six Secrets of the Christian life

WEBVTT

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Looking at our world from a theological perspective. This is

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the Theology Central podcast, making Theology Central. This is Patrol one.

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Come in Headquarters, Headquarters. This is Patrol one. Please come in,

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Patrol one. This is headquarters. Go ahead. Yes, I'm at

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the First Baptist Church and we have made a horrible discovery.

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We have found three hundred dead bodies. Patrol one. This

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is headquarters. Can you repeat that one more time. Yes,

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I'm at First Baptist Church and we have made a

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horrible discovery. We have found three hundred dead bodies. Patrol one.

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Please stand by. Okay, Patrol one, this is headquarters. We

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have talked to some experts. Here's what you need to do.

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Find a mirror somewhere in the building. Find a mirror.

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Bring the mirror back to where you found the bodies.

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Do you copy, Headquarters. This is Patrol one. Did you

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say mirror like you want me to find a mirror?

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I mean I have dead bodies. You're telling me to

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find a mirror. Yes, Patrol one, find a mirror. It

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is imperative that you find a mirror. Headquarters. This is

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Patrol one. I copy looking for a mirror now, Headquarters.

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This is Patrol one. We have found a mirror. What

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are we to do, Patrol one, this is headquarters. Here's

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what you need to do. Take the mirror and put

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it in front of the face of each dead body.

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This will solve the problem. The dead bodies will come

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a lot, and then well you can well go get

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some donuts or something. Okay, okay, waits, that's probably not nice. Okay,

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I'm making a joke. But I'm also trying to give

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a very important illustration because we've been talking about dead

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bodies a lot, not actual dead bodies. This is being

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somewhat used as an illustration as a metaphor. If you

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haven't been with us, you're way, way, way behind. But

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we've been talking about this concept that as a Christian,

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our bodies are dead. And while we think we have

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found the solution, ladies and gentlemen, the solution is a mirror.

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I know it may not make any sense. I will

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explain everything right after I do this. Welcome everyone. It

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is Wednesday, September the twenty fifth, twenty twenty four. It

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is currently ten twenty eight am Central time, and I

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am coming to you live from the Theology Central Studio

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located right here. In Albilene, Texas. Now, if you just

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tuned in, you probably have no idea what's going on? Wait,

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who's patrol one? Who's headquarters? It sounds like the same person. Yeah,

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it's all me. I'm playing all the parts. I wasn't

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gonna sit there and try to change my voice or anything. Okay,

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I'm sorry, I'm not that committed to the acting role.

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But you get the idea. The idea is someone is

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at a church and they find all of these dead bodies.

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And the reason we're using this illustration is because we've

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been looking at a book entitled Six Secrets of the

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Christian Life, and they put forth a hypotheses. They put

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forth kind of an idea to try to help us

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understand the Christian life because we can all agree. Well,

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Christians kind of talk out of both sides of their

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mouth here, they're not very consistent. But Christians should be

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able to agree that the one thing that is true

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of your life in my life is that we continue

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to sin, and we sin, and we sin, and we

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sin and we sin, and we struggle with certain sins,

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and we struggle with big sins and small sins, but

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we sin. Nobody can be perfect we live in sin

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and this can be discouraging, This can be frustration, frustrating.

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You can feel defeated, you can feel discouraged, you can

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feel depressed. So what is the answer. Well, someone wrote

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a book called Six Secrets of the Christian Life, and

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they put forth a hypothesis to help us understand this problem.

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And here I'm going to break down their hypotheses. Are

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you ready? Number one to their hypotheses, the Christian body,

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you as a Christian, as a believer, your physical body,

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your body is dead to any spiritual stimulus, any any

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any anything coming from the spirit. Your body is dead.

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Your body is just dead. Nothing from the spirit, nothing

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from God. Your body can't react to it. It's just incapable.

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It's unable. It it locks. It's there's an inability to

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the body to respond to anything spiritual because your body

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is still dead. All right. So that's their first kind

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of major point in the hypotheses is that the Christian

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body is dead. Number two, the nature internally inside of you,

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your nature, your heart has been completely transformed. Internally, you

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are a new creature in a very real way. The

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old is gone. Everything is new internally, you are a

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new person, new heart new. Everything internally right. Your body

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is dead, but inside everything is different, everything is changed.

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Number three, the body can't respond to the new nature.

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So you have the new nature, you have everything is

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right on the inside, on the inside. Remember a lot

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of times I will put forth that, hey, the call

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is coming inside of the house, that the problem is

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inside of you. Well their argument is no, no, no, no,

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there's no problem inside of you. Inside of you is

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good to go. The problem is your body can't respond

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to that new nature. You may have the spirit inside

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of you. You may have a new nature and new heart,

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but your body just it's incapable. It's it can't do

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anything right. So the issue is this dead body. So

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then what is the answer. Well, the answer is a

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resurrection of the body. Now must happen. You need to

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experience a resurrection of the body now here on earth.

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Because once you experience the resurrection of the body, then

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the body can respond to the new nature, and then

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therefore you can live a victorious Christian life. That was

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their hypothesis. But we were left with a very troubling problem. Well,

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how do we get this resurrection to occur? What do

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we do to cause the resurrection? So now that my

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body can respond to my new nature. Well, we were

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told you can't do anything. You can't do anything. You

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cannot bring this about. It's not by works, it's not

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by effort. God has to bring about the spiritual resurrection

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of the body, and then the body can respond to

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the new nature, and then therefore you'll have a victorious

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Christian life. I mean, basically, to me, what they're making

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an ultimate what they're going to lead to is if

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you just logically follow this, if my body has been

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completely resurrected, my nature is completely transformed, well then perfection

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should be the next stop. Now that I haven't said

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that yet, but that would be the logical inference that

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you would you would get to. So we've been left with, well,

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then how do we get the body? How do we

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get the body to be resurrected? What? What? What if

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God does it? Is there something that will activate it?

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Is there a passcode? I mean, what can I do?

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Because without the body being resurrected, well then I've got

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a new nature. But the body can't respond to the

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new nature. The body is just literally incapable. There's an inability,

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it's unable. Whatever words you want to use, so then

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you're like, well, you're you're stuck. Like inside, you're like

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I want to do good, I want to live for God,

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but the body, just the body just will not respond

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to anything. So this leads to a very defeated, discouraged

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Christian life where one way you want to and the

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other way you can't. I mean, that's nobody wants to

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live that way. So how do we get this resurrection? Well,

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yesterday we reviewed a sermon on Romans eight ten through eleven.

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Remember this is the verse that they are using. It

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seems like a lot of Christians go with this ideaman,

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but the book Six Secrets of the Christian Life, they

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are very much using this verse Romans eight ten And

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if Christ be in you, the body is dead because

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of sin, but the spirit is life because of righteousness.

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The body is dead, but inside there's life. There is

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the spirit, there's a new heart, there's a new nature.

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So there's this duality, this conflict. The body can't do

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it anything, but inside you've got all of this life,

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this power, this newness. So we got to get the

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body to be changed so that we can then have

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a perfect harmony between body and the internal part. All right,

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So but how do we get this to happen? Well,

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yesterday we listened to a sermon that the sermon we

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reviewed was of not of any help. It also quoted

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Romans eight ten through eleven. Remember I've given you a

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challenge to listen to as many random sermons as you

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can on Romans eight ten through eleven. All right, so

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what do we do? What do we do? How do

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we get this to work? Well, again, go back to

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my poor acting skills. This is Patrol one. Come in headquarters.

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Patrol one. This is headquarters. Go ahead, Yes, I'm at

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the first Baptist Church. We have made a terrible, horrible discovery.

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We have found three hundred dead bodies. Patrol one. This

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is headquarters. What you need to do is find a mirror.

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The solution is a mirror, all right. That is what

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the book offers, as at least I guess the beginning

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of the solution is, we need a mirror. If we

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find a mirror, then everything is good to go. But

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it just got to be the right mirror, and we

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need to see the right things within that mirror, and

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then everything will be I don't know. This is where

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it's gonna get kind of confusing. But we're gonna try

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to figure this out. So we're gonna go to the

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book Six Secrets of the Christian Life, and we're gonna

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go to chapter two. And chapter two is entitled God's

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Marvelous Mirror. God's Marvelous Mirror. The mirror seems to be

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being put forth as a solution to the dead body.

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Now is it a solution to the dead body? Is

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this going to be consistent or is about to get

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very convoluted, confusing, frustrating. We're about to find out now again,

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I told everyone to go purchase the book Six Secrets

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of the Christian Life by Zaine Hodges. It's only three

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dollars for a for the kindle app or for a

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kindle four dollars for a physical copy. It's only like

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fifty five pages. You can read it in probably a

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very short amount of time. And I'm not saying we

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agree with this, obviously, you're already hearing me challenge this dramatically.

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But if we're left in chapter one kind of like

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you know, a cliffhanger, right, Oh, what's going to happen?

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We've got dead bodies. Tune in next week, same bad time,

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same bad channel, and we'll see what will happen with

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these dead bodies? Right, like, what's going to happen? Well,

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here we go? Are you ready? Again? I'm only I'm

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going to be skipping around a lot in this in

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this chapter. Again, my goal here is not for we

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the whole chapter. Well, my goals to get you to

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read the book, but it's the goals to really just

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try to pull from the book their basic argument and

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then we take the argument apart. So are you ready?

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Here we go? Here is their first sentence in chapter two.

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The Christian life is lived by the supernatural power of God.

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The Christian life is lived by the supernatural power of God.

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Now that sounds good, But in chapter one they made

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the argument that even though we have the supernatural power

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of God inside of us, it's of no value until

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the body is resurrected because the supernatural power in us

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can't do anything because the body can't respond to it,

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which again is somewhat confusing, because you would think the

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supernatural power within us would be able to then animate,

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bring the body to life, and get the body to

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do what it wants to do. So it's already somewhat

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confusing even from their own hypotheses. But if we forget

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their own hypotheses, that statement preaches good. If I stand

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behind the pulpit, the Christian life is lived by the

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supernatural power of God, everyone in the pew will say amen.

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But if I would stand in the parking lot and

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to wait a minute, I heard you saying amen, let

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me talk to you. You live your Christian life by

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the by the supernatural power of God. Well, yes, well,

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then you're perfect. Right. Well no, wait, I'm confused. If

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the life is lived by the supernatural power of God,

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why are you not perfect? Why? Why are you why

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can't you obey to some of some of the simple laws?

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Be e holy as God is holy, you should be

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perfectly holy, because that's a law. And if you're living

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your life by the supernatural power of God, you should

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be able to obey that. In fact, yesterday we heard

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in the sermon that we can all keep the law,

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even though oh he then admitted that nobody's keeping the law,

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which was really confusing. So if I'm living my life

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by the supernatural power of God, then perfection should be expected, right,

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they say, Well, we live our life by the supernatural

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power of God, but we can resist the supernatural power

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of God. But why wouldn't the supernatural power of God

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overcome my resistance? It's supernatural. When we speak of the

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power of God, we're speaking of an omnipotent power, right,

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So I'm a little bit confused here, all right. It

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says according to Romans eight ten through thirteen, which we

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just read a little bit of. As we have seen,

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living this life requires the resurrection of a spiritually dead body.

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God's spirit alone can perform this miracle. Okay, So, hey,

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the only way for us to have this life, right,

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to live this life, If we're going to live this life,

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it requires a resurrection of a spiritually dead body. My

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body is dead spiritually. God has to resurrect my body.

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And the only way this can happen is that it

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is performed by the Spirit of God. God spirit is

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the one that performs this resurrection of your spiritually dead body.

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All right, So at least they're acknowledging. Hey, the Christian

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life is lived by a supernatural power of God. But

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the only way this happens is for a resurrection of

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your dead body, and the spirit is the one who

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does it. Right now, If the spirit is the one

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who does it, and every Christian is un dwelt by

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the Holy Spirit, Then why wouldn't the Holy Spirit then

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resurrect everyone, every Christian spiritually dead body, and so then

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the spiritually dead body would now be spiritually alive, and

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you would have a perfect new nature, a perfect heart,

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and so then you should just be perfect right, all right?

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So what's the question question? So we've got questions there?

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But how does this happen? Are you ready? Here's the

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next part? But how does the spirit of God do this?

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All right? Okay, that's what we want to know. How

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does the Spirit of God do this? How again? Let

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me just put forth their entire hypotheses. Is the reason

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we struggle is because we have a new nature, but

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a body that is dead spiritually. So the body cannot

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respond to the new nature. So we're trapped. We have this,

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I want to but we can't. So the answer is

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the body has to be resurrected. And how does this happen?

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The Spirit of God does this? All right? How does

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he do this naturally? There's one answer? By his power?

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So how do we get this resurrection? We need? The resurrection?

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The resurrection is as accomplished by the Spirit, not by

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our work. And he does it by his power. But

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how does he bring this power to bear upon a

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Christian individual? This question leads us to another vital secret

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of the Christian experience. All right, so the way the

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body is resurrected is by the power of the spirit.

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But how does the spirit bring this upon the Christian individual?

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How does he bring this power to bear upon you

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and upon me? All right, here we go. Here is

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the supposed secret. Are you ready? Here is the supposed secret.

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Here is the second secret. So the first secret is

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your body is dead. The second secret is this. Are

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you ready? I'm going to read it? All right, go

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to Second Corinthians. Well, we'll all read it. I was

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just gonna read it, but to be more dramatic. But

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instead of being dramatic, let's just dig in. All right,

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we're done with a little bit of the you know,

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doing a little bit of the acting, trying to set aside,

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set up this metaphor and this hypothesis. Now we're going

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to dig in. So go to Second Corinthians, Chapter three,

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verse eighteen. Here's the second secret. So secret number one,

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we have a dead body. That's the simple idea. Now

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there's all those different parts to it, but you have

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a dead body, and this is all of your problem.

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So here is the second secret, are you ready Second

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Corinthians three eighteen. But we all with open face beholding

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as in a glass, the glory of the Lord are

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changed into the same image, from glory to glory, even

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as by the spirit of the Lord. Now they quote

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it from a different translation. But we all with unveiled

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face beholding as in a mirror. Now the King James

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uses the word glass. This is where the word mirror

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shows up. So let me read it again. But we

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all with unveiled face beholding as in a mirror. The

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glory of the Lord are being transformed into the same image,

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from glory to glory, just as by the spirit of

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the Lord. So they're saying that the answer, the way

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we get this bodily, our dead body, to be resurrected,

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is by looking into a mirror. See if you'll look

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into the mirror, bavoom resurrection. Now your body can respond

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to your spiritual nature. So now therefore again going to

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just walk into the inevitable logical conclusion where you should

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be able to be perfect. I mean, what would be

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keeping you from perfection? Then you have a new nature.

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You have a new heart, you have the spirit in

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dwelling you, empowering you, and you have a resurrected body.

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Ladies and gentlemen, there's no way to get out of

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the argument that perfection would be forget possible or even probable.

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It would be reality. So how do we look into

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this mirror? This is where it's going to get really confusing.

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All right, are you ready? I mean, this whole concept everything,

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When Christians talk about all of this, it's maddening. It's

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just insentive looks to go. Listen to the review we

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did yesterday. That was one of the most convoluted, complicated

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mess I have ever heard in my life. And this,

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I think is about to go there. But are you ready?

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Here we go. Here we encounter the rich truth of

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spiritual transformation. Okay, so wait, now, here we go. This

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is how transformation occurs. I gotta follow this, all right.

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So my body is dead. I'm completely changed on the inside.

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My body can't respond to the inside change because the

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body is dead. So what I need is a resurrection

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of the body now. And the way the resurrection of

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the body now occurs is by looking into a mirror.

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Now back to the book. Here we encounter the truth

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of our spiritual transformation. Now this is where I'm confused.

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When they say spiritual transformation, they can't be referring to

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spiritual transformation of the inside because you already said that occurred.

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So this is if I look into the mirror, then

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my body begins to transform. Now, wait a minute, you

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said I needed a resurrection, not a transformation. A resurrection

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would be an instantaneous change transformation. Are you saying that

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this is somehow a process. Well, that's not a resurrection.

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A resurrection you go from your body is dead spiritually

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to now it's alive spiritually. It's instantaneous. You don't have

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a progressive resurrection. Now they go, obviously this truth, the

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truth that we that we encounter. That okay, Well, obviously

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this truth is implied in the statement of Romans eight

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ten through eleven. If our frail, mortal bodies are to

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come alive as vehicles for God's life within us, spiritual

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transformation will have to occur, and if it does, the

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process involved will be the one in Second Corinthians three eighteen.

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All right, now I am so confused. All right, so

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we're already transformed on the inside. So this transformation would

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simply be the transformation of the body. But you said

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I need a resurrection. Now you're seeing the transform transformation

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of the body is progressive, it's a process. This is

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now all convoluted. Again once again, whenever I don't understand

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why Christians cannot understand that we make literally no sense

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on these subjects. We speak complete, total nonsense. We speak

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circular reasoning. We just throw out words that sound all spiritual.

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Everyone in the peuse says, amen, nobody has a clue

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how any of this works. So I'm I'm completely baffled

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by this. So what I need to do is I

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look into the mirror and then then I'm slowly being transformed.

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So now this is not a resurrection. This is a

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slow transformation. But it's not the transformation of the inside,

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because the inside's already good to go. This is transforming

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the physical body. So does when you say, and so

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we're gonna transform the body from spiritually dead to slowly

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becoming spiritually alive. How does a body slowly become spiritually alive?

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Does it become like, so, now you're spiritually alive by

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five percent, ten percent. So it says we need to

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look at this process closely. So they start with this

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idea right go back to sewo Corinthians three eighteen. But

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we all with open face beholding as in a glass.

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There's this idea of the glass. Again, they say, this

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is looking into the mirror. So I think, I think

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I know where this is going. Let's see. Are you

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ready for this? Orright here we go possible Apostle Paul

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speaks and second Corinthians three eighteen of seeing the glory

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of the Lord, and of doing so as in a mirror.

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This is a remarkable figure of speech that invites careful attention.

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The context of this statement makes it clear that the

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mirror here is the scriptures, specifically the Old Testament. And

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they say to look at Second Corinthians three twelve through sixteen.

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Second Corinthians three, starting in verse twelve. Seeing then that

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we have such hope, we use great plainness of speech,

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as not as Moses, which put a veil over his face,

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that the children of Israel could not steadfastly look to

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the end of that which is abolish, but their minds

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were blinded, for until this day remaineth the same veil

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untaken away. And the reading of the Old Testament, which

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a veil is done away with in Christ. So they're like, hey,

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this is this this mirror in verse sixteen. But we

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all with open face beholding as in a glass that

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this is looking into the scriptures. All right, we gotta

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follow this, all right, So again you may want to

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write this down. We gotta, we gotta, we gotta, we

397
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gotta really follow this. Okay, I'm gonna go back and

398
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read all of that carefully. Right, So let's put their

399
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hypotheses together, right, So, the Christian body is dead. The

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nature and heart of a Christian is completely transformed. The

401
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body cannot respond to the new nature. Our resurrection of

402
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the body must happen. This resurrection of the body is

403
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actually a transformation that happens puggres yessively, and the way

404
00:27:02.920 --> 00:27:08.960
it is achieved is by you and I looking to

405
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the scriptures. I don't know how this is a secret.

406
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You know what this is turning into. It's turning into

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the standard thing. You gotta read your Bible, you gotta

408
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study your Bible. You've got to memorize your Bible. It's

409
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going to just turn into I mean, we've heard that

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a million times. I don't know why this is being

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marketed as a secret. Now I'm going to read it

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and then all together the apostle Paul speaks in two

413
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Corinthians three eighteen of seeing the glory of the Lord,

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and of doing so as in the mirror, in a mirror.

415
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This is a remarkable figure of speech that invites our

416
00:27:44.039 --> 00:27:47.160
careful attention. The context of this statement makes it clear

417
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that the mirror here is the Scripture, specifically the Old Testament.

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Of course, the New Testament was still being completed as

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Paul wrote these words, But the New Testament is also scripture,

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and the fullness sense of the term, the spiritual dynamic

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that the Old Testament possesses is possessed as well by

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the New Testament. It follows that the Bible as a

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whole is the instrument that the Holy Spirit uses to

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change us. So to speak, God's word is his marvelous mirror.

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So it says we need a resurrection. So here's the thing.

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The more I look into the Bible, then I guess,

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slowly but surely, it transforms my body. The inside's already transformed.

428
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So this is where it's confused. I'm confused. It's just

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transforming my body into what from death to life? And

430
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as it transforms my body, then I can respond to

431
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the spiritual stimulus of the internal nature more and more

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and more, and I can become better. I guess at

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least this tries to see the problem they made. Their

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mistake was they should have said. They should have said,

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we have a dead body, and what we need is

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a transformative process to bring that body back to life.

437
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That's what how they should have described it. But they

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said it we need a resurrection. What they're saying is

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we need a slow reviving of the body. Right, it's

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to revive the body as a process. Is basically now

441
00:29:16.559 --> 00:29:19.079
what they're putting forth. And guess what, but they said

442
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it it's not anything we do. They say, it's something

443
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God does. But it's the If it's me looking into

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the Bible that produces it, then it's going to require

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me to do the reading and the study. But wait

446
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a minute, what's going to motivate me to do the

447
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reading and the studying. You say, well, the spirit will

448
00:29:38.440 --> 00:29:40.440
motivate you to do the reading and the study. But

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my dead body does not respond to that spiritual stimuli.

450
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So then what's getting me to read and study the Bible?

451
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According to their own hypotheses, this makes no sense. If

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my body is dead to any of the spiritual prompt

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any of the spiritual pushing and prodding and motivation. If

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my body cannot respond to it at all, well, then

455
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what's gonna get me to look into the mirror? What's

456
00:30:11.000 --> 00:30:13.400
gonna get me to read my Bible? What's gonna get

457
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me to study my Bible? Something is going to have

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to motivate me to do it. You've already said my

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body is dead to all of the spiritual motivation. So

460
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then what is getting me to read and study the Bible?

461
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Something is nih all got to get my because this

462
00:30:30.359 --> 00:30:34.119
requires my body to take this in, right, my body's

463
00:30:34.119 --> 00:30:38.960
going to be motivated to do something spiritually right, read, study, meditate.

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So this whole thing is confusing, all right. So they

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talk all about the scriptures and you know, looking to

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the scriptures and what the scriptures can do. Okay, I'm

467
00:30:59.599 --> 00:31:04.880
gonna go. I'm just going to skip down here comprehending

468
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the scripture. Okay. So these are the words which I

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speak to you while I was with you. All things

470
00:31:10.440 --> 00:31:13.200
now must be fulfilled written by the Moses and the prophets.

471
00:31:13.240 --> 00:31:16.400
Okay uh. He opened the understandings that they might comprehend

472
00:31:16.440 --> 00:31:20.559
the scriptures. Comprehending the scripture therefore requires seeing them as

473
00:31:20.599 --> 00:31:23.680
a reflection of Jesus Christ. They are like a mirror

474
00:31:23.839 --> 00:31:26.640
that the Holy Spirit holds up to the person and

475
00:31:26.720 --> 00:31:30.119
works and the work of God's Son with a perfection

476
00:31:30.240 --> 00:31:32.799
of divine inspiration. The scriptures capture the glory of our

477
00:31:32.839 --> 00:31:35.599
Lord and Savior with all its countless facets, and they

478
00:31:35.640 --> 00:31:38.720
reflect that glory back to those who have eyes to

479
00:31:38.759 --> 00:31:43.359
see it. When this process occurs, spiritual trans transformation takes place.

480
00:31:43.920 --> 00:31:46.960
So basically, the Bible is wonderful. The Bible is awesome.

481
00:31:47.559 --> 00:31:49.799
If you'll just open the Bible, read the Bible, look

482
00:31:49.799 --> 00:31:52.880
to the Bible, comprehend the Bible, study the Bible. Boom,

483
00:31:53.279 --> 00:32:00.680
you will be transformed. But they've said now less times,

484
00:32:01.440 --> 00:32:03.599
it's not what we do. Now I know how they

485
00:32:03.640 --> 00:32:06.079
would argue, what, it's not what you do. The spirit's

486
00:32:06.119 --> 00:32:08.680
doing it. But yeah, but I have to be the

487
00:32:08.680 --> 00:32:11.440
one to read and study. What's going to get me

488
00:32:11.480 --> 00:32:14.319
to read and study? Would that not be a spiritual

489
00:32:14.440 --> 00:32:19.319
prompting to read and study? Would be would be my

490
00:32:19.720 --> 00:32:23.559
would be the spiritual part prompting me hungering for God's

491
00:32:23.599 --> 00:32:26.440
word and then my body is responding to that prompting.

492
00:32:26.720 --> 00:32:29.720
You're saying that the body is to respond to the

493
00:32:29.759 --> 00:32:32.799
body can't respond, But the body on its own is

494
00:32:32.880 --> 00:32:34.440
just going to say, I'm going to read and study

495
00:32:34.440 --> 00:32:38.960
my Bible today. I mean, you're you're utilizing all of

496
00:32:39.000 --> 00:32:42.599
your body. You're you're disciplining yourself to do that. What's more,

497
00:32:43.119 --> 00:32:46.279
there's no explanation to exactly how that happens, because your

498
00:32:46.559 --> 00:32:53.400
Their argument is the body is completely dead spiritually. All right,

499
00:32:53.480 --> 00:32:55.799
So then they break this down a little bit part

500
00:32:56.480 --> 00:33:01.359
They say some more here. Uh so let's skip down

501
00:33:01.400 --> 00:33:03.599
to this. They kind of go through the idea of

502
00:33:03.799 --> 00:33:06.039
they spend a lot of time looking at the phrase

503
00:33:06.160 --> 00:33:09.119
our unveiled faces, and they go back to the Old Testament.

504
00:33:09.119 --> 00:33:12.119
All right, but let's jump down to this because we're

505
00:33:12.160 --> 00:33:17.799
just trying to follow this kind of understanding. I think

506
00:33:17.839 --> 00:33:19.799
we're just going to get very frustrated before this ends,

507
00:33:19.880 --> 00:33:22.240
or I'm going to get very frustrated. So they say

508
00:33:22.279 --> 00:33:25.880
this a couple of pages later. It seems evident therefore,

509
00:33:25.920 --> 00:33:29.880
that Paul understood the Christian the Christians transforming encounter with

510
00:33:30.000 --> 00:33:33.039
God's mirror as an encounter with God with the God

511
00:33:33.039 --> 00:33:36.519
of scripture. Going to the Word should be like going

512
00:33:37.119 --> 00:33:40.119
into the presence of the author of the Word though

513
00:33:40.160 --> 00:33:43.720
the scriptures. Through the scriptures, so to speak, we see

514
00:33:43.720 --> 00:33:45.839
face to face with the Lord, as Moses did on

515
00:33:45.920 --> 00:33:49.440
Mount Sinai. So that talks about the unveled face. So hey,

516
00:33:49.599 --> 00:33:52.119
we're when we look into the scriptures, we're looking into

517
00:33:52.160 --> 00:33:54.960
basically the face of God. And this should be transformative,

518
00:33:54.960 --> 00:33:58.440
all right, and utilizing the Well then they talk about

519
00:33:58.480 --> 00:34:08.440
the believing heart. Uh, okay, they go here, Okay, here

520
00:34:08.480 --> 00:34:15.519
we go. Uh all right, so here we go. Faith

521
00:34:15.559 --> 00:34:17.920
in the Lord Jesus Christ, therefore, is a prerequisite for

522
00:34:17.960 --> 00:34:20.199
beholding the glory of the Lord. As a result, is

523
00:34:20.239 --> 00:34:24.639
also a precondition for experiencing the spirit's transforming power. The

524
00:34:24.679 --> 00:34:26.920
point is a crucial one. It only takes a moment

525
00:34:27.039 --> 00:34:29.880
of faith to be to believe in Christ and be

526
00:34:29.920 --> 00:34:32.719
eternally saved, but we need to continue to believe in

527
00:34:32.840 --> 00:34:35.679
Him to experience the process of growth and change. This

528
00:34:35.719 --> 00:34:38.159
is why Paul tells us in another passage that the

529
00:34:38.199 --> 00:34:39.960
life which I now live in the flesh, I live

530
00:34:40.000 --> 00:34:42.599
by the faith and the Son of God. Our faith

531
00:34:42.880 --> 00:34:45.679
is our faith in Jesus Christ is fundamental to God's

532
00:34:45.719 --> 00:34:50.079
transforming work in us. Very simply stated, we must always

533
00:34:50.079 --> 00:34:53.159
approach God's mirror with faith in Jesus. Now Here they

534
00:34:53.159 --> 00:34:56.000
talk about the transforming work in us. This is what

535
00:34:56.239 --> 00:35:00.000
it's now just got even more confusing. They're a basic hypothesis.

536
00:35:00.039 --> 00:35:03.000
He says, We've already been changed on the inside. There's

537
00:35:03.159 --> 00:35:06.679
nothing to change on the inside. If I have a

538
00:35:06.760 --> 00:35:09.079
new heart, new nature, and the spirit of God has

539
00:35:09.119 --> 00:35:12.360
taken up resident and inside, I'm a new creature. If

540
00:35:12.400 --> 00:35:15.280
all of that is true, inside, there is nothing to

541
00:35:15.400 --> 00:35:19.519
be transformed on the inside. You can't say we're already

542
00:35:19.519 --> 00:35:22.039
transformed on the inside and then come back and say

543
00:35:22.039 --> 00:35:24.400
I need to be transformed on the inside. There's no

544
00:35:24.440 --> 00:35:28.000
transformation required on the inside. You've told me that the

545
00:35:28.159 --> 00:35:34.000
entire problem is my dead body, not my not anything internally.

546
00:35:34.440 --> 00:35:37.719
So what you're saying is I need a transformed body

547
00:35:38.000 --> 00:35:42.599
that then can respond to the transformed nature. All right,

548
00:35:42.920 --> 00:35:46.119
So now you're kind of backtracking on that. They go

549
00:35:46.199 --> 00:35:49.920
on to say this all right, or already this is

550
00:35:49.920 --> 00:35:51.800
a little bit confusing, But then they go on to

551
00:35:51.840 --> 00:35:55.440
see this we must learn one further truth from Paul's

552
00:35:55.519 --> 00:36:00.400
rich teaching, Christian transformation does not take place all at once,

553
00:36:01.199 --> 00:36:03.920
all right, So here we go. All right. Remember the

554
00:36:03.960 --> 00:36:07.800
whole argument was you're completely transformed on the inside. That

555
00:36:07.960 --> 00:36:12.480
happened instantaneously. But yet they're saying the transformation does not

556
00:36:12.559 --> 00:36:19.039
all take place at once. This Christianity, I'm telling you,

557
00:36:19.320 --> 00:36:22.559
it's it's like a ball of yarn. It's just all

558
00:36:22.679 --> 00:36:25.880
tangled together. And Christians look at it and think, oh,

559
00:36:25.920 --> 00:36:29.000
that makes perfect sense. It's a tangled mess, all right.

560
00:36:29.360 --> 00:36:32.880
So on one hand, Christians teach if anyone's in Christ,

561
00:36:33.039 --> 00:36:35.840
he's a new creature. Old things passed away, all things

562
00:36:35.880 --> 00:36:38.880
have become new, and they teach that as being true practically.

563
00:36:39.840 --> 00:36:45.639
At the same time, Christians will say we're being transformed progressively. Wait,

564
00:36:45.920 --> 00:36:50.400
there would be no progressive transformation if I've already been transformed.

565
00:36:50.519 --> 00:36:52.840
I am I eyeing a new creature, the oldest gone,

566
00:36:52.840 --> 00:36:55.679
and everything is new. You can't tell me, on one hand,

567
00:36:56.039 --> 00:36:58.639
everything is changed. On the other hand, you're telling me

568
00:36:58.679 --> 00:37:03.239
things are progressively changed. Either I'm changed or I'm not changed.

569
00:37:03.320 --> 00:37:06.199
Either I'm transformed or I'm not transformed. Can you make

570
00:37:06.280 --> 00:37:17.239
up your mind? And remember the entire argument in chapter

571
00:37:17.280 --> 00:37:21.239
one was you're dead, your body is dead inside everything

572
00:37:21.280 --> 00:37:23.960
is good, and so you just need a resurrection of

573
00:37:23.960 --> 00:37:25.440
the body. Now they're saying, no, you don't need a

574
00:37:25.480 --> 00:37:29.280
resur Now they've thrown out the term resurrection. You notice

575
00:37:29.320 --> 00:37:33.519
that they're not using the word resurrection anymore. So now

576
00:37:33.519 --> 00:37:35.760
it's a complete change of language. And now it's like, no,

577
00:37:36.000 --> 00:37:40.639
you don't need a resurrection, you need a transformation. The

578
00:37:40.719 --> 00:37:46.239
transformation is progressive and it happens based on how much

579
00:37:46.280 --> 00:37:50.719
you read and study your Bible. But wait a minute,

580
00:37:51.159 --> 00:37:53.400
what's going to motivate me to read and study the Bible.

581
00:37:53.920 --> 00:37:56.039
You can't tell me. What's going to motivate me to

582
00:37:56.039 --> 00:37:59.079
read and study the Bible is my internal nature because

583
00:37:59.079 --> 00:38:02.320
you've already argued that the body is dead to any

584
00:38:02.440 --> 00:38:05.840
of the promptings of the spiritual nature, So then why

585
00:38:05.880 --> 00:38:14.199
am I going to read and study the Bible. They

586
00:38:14.239 --> 00:38:16.960
go on to try to explain this to some level.

587
00:38:17.239 --> 00:38:21.800
Unlike the experience of eternal salvation that is settled foreverment

588
00:38:22.119 --> 00:38:25.119
any moment of time, the Christian's involvement with the mirror

589
00:38:25.159 --> 00:38:28.800
of God's word is lifelong. As other scriptures also teach,

590
00:38:29.239 --> 00:38:32.440
Christian living is a process of growth. The goal, of

591
00:38:32.519 --> 00:38:35.519
course of spiritual maturity. Let it be said, however, that

592
00:38:35.559 --> 00:38:39.559
the process of Christian growth is not automatic. Peter's command

593
00:38:39.599 --> 00:38:44.440
to grow is accompanied by a warning against basically retrogression

594
00:38:44.800 --> 00:38:48.639
by regressing. From the perspective of Tewod Corinthians three eighteen,

595
00:38:48.679 --> 00:38:51.679
the goal is nothing less than increasing conformity to the

596
00:38:51.800 --> 00:38:54.679
likeness of Jesus Christ. Beholding as in a mirror. The

597
00:38:54.679 --> 00:38:58.519
glory of the Lord has precisely this effect. Paul describes

598
00:38:58.519 --> 00:39:01.079
it this way. We are being transformed in the same image,

599
00:39:01.079 --> 00:39:04.840
from glory to glory. Now again, what is being transformed?

600
00:39:05.679 --> 00:39:08.599
According to their own hypothesis, the only thing that needs

601
00:39:08.599 --> 00:39:12.440
to be transformed is my physical body. Are you telling

602
00:39:12.480 --> 00:39:15.679
me if I read and study my Bible, my physical

603
00:39:15.840 --> 00:39:19.559
body is going to go from spiritual death to spiritual life?

604
00:39:19.679 --> 00:39:25.199
That I don't understand this weird dichotomy that they have created,

605
00:39:25.239 --> 00:39:28.719
that inside everything is good. Everything is my body's fault.

606
00:39:28.840 --> 00:39:30.840
But if I just read my Bible, the Bible is

607
00:39:30.840 --> 00:39:36.079
really not changing me internally. It's changing my physical body

608
00:39:36.480 --> 00:39:40.880
from being spiritually dead to being spiritually alive. Wouldn't it

609
00:39:40.880 --> 00:39:43.960
be transforming my mind? Wouldn't it be transforming my We

610
00:39:44.119 --> 00:39:48.760
usually say that the Bible transforms us internally. Right that

611
00:39:48.760 --> 00:39:52.880
the Bible transforms me internally, which then has an impact

612
00:39:52.880 --> 00:39:59.239
on me externally. They've flipped the script. I'm already transformed internally,

613
00:39:59.679 --> 00:40:12.000
the Bible transforms my body. This makes no sense. I

614
00:40:12.639 --> 00:40:16.800
don't get it. This is truly This is a truly

615
00:40:16.880 --> 00:40:19.760
inspiring concept of the Christian life. As we move towards

616
00:40:19.800 --> 00:40:22.840
our ultimate goal of full likeness to God's Son, God's

617
00:40:22.840 --> 00:40:26.760
Spirit moves us onward towards that final glorification, from one

618
00:40:26.760 --> 00:40:30.000
stage of transformation to another, from glory to glory. This

619
00:40:30.119 --> 00:40:33.400
developing likeness in our Lord and Savior is precisely what

620
00:40:33.519 --> 00:40:40.239
Christian growth means. I will never understand the contradiction in Christianity.

621
00:40:40.800 --> 00:40:44.320
Sermon after sermon, you are a new creature, the oldest God.

622
00:40:44.480 --> 00:40:47.599
Everything is new. You have been transformed, you have been changed.

623
00:40:47.639 --> 00:40:49.239
You have a new heart, you have a new nature.

624
00:40:49.320 --> 00:40:51.559
You can keep the law, you can say no to sin,

625
00:40:51.760 --> 00:40:54.199
you can say yes to God. You have been changed,

626
00:40:54.320 --> 00:40:56.760
and there will be a change. And if there's not

627
00:40:56.840 --> 00:40:59.880
a change, then you were never saved. And then, sir,

628
00:41:00.199 --> 00:41:03.840
after sermon is however we have to it's a progressive change.

629
00:41:03.840 --> 00:41:08.400
Wait a minute, was I changed or was I not changed? Now,

630
00:41:08.440 --> 00:41:13.599
if you state it positionally completely changed and transformed in

631
00:41:13.679 --> 00:41:16.719
my position, that has no bearing on me at all,

632
00:41:16.880 --> 00:41:21.719
internally or externally. Now in the Christian life is trying

633
00:41:21.760 --> 00:41:26.400
to progressively live out practically what is true positionally, and

634
00:41:26.440 --> 00:41:28.719
it will never be perfect, and it will always be messy,

635
00:41:28.800 --> 00:41:31.400
and there will always be sin. Well, that's a completely

636
00:41:31.440 --> 00:41:36.360
different concept than what they're selling. What they're selling is

637
00:41:36.400 --> 00:41:38.960
your body is completely dead and it needs a resurrection,

638
00:41:39.239 --> 00:41:41.639
and then magically we get to the next chapter. Well, no,

639
00:41:41.840 --> 00:41:45.800
it doesn't actually need a resurrection. It needs a slow,

640
00:41:46.480 --> 00:41:53.679
progressive transformation that may or may not happen. Yet it's

641
00:41:53.719 --> 00:41:56.920
the spirit that's driving it. If it's the spirit driving

642
00:41:56.960 --> 00:42:07.440
the progressive transformation, then you would think it would be perfect.

643
00:42:08.920 --> 00:42:12.159
The transformation Paul is describing is not our work, but

644
00:42:12.199 --> 00:42:14.039
the work of the spirit. When steed by, it's not

645
00:42:14.360 --> 00:42:16.960
there's nothing you do. Well wait a minute, it would

646
00:42:16.960 --> 00:42:20.599
be something I do. If the spirit's doing it. It's

647
00:42:20.840 --> 00:42:24.320
the It requires me to open and read and study

648
00:42:24.320 --> 00:42:28.599
the book. That the entire transformation is dependent on how

649
00:42:28.639 --> 00:42:32.800
much time I am looking into the mirror. The more

650
00:42:32.840 --> 00:42:37.719
I look into the mirror argument would be the more

651
00:42:37.760 --> 00:42:40.840
I transform, the more I'm transformed, the more I'm transformed.

652
00:42:40.880 --> 00:42:44.119
Now we know this is not true just from a

653
00:42:44.159 --> 00:42:47.320
practical standpoint. There are people who read and study the

654
00:42:47.320 --> 00:42:50.840
Bible all the time who fall into great sin, who

655
00:42:50.880 --> 00:42:53.960
show a lack of transformation. So then what's the problem there?

656
00:42:54.000 --> 00:42:56.400
Now again some Christics, well they were never saved. Well

657
00:42:56.400 --> 00:42:58.960
that's the answer to everything. Anytime someone doesn't do anything

658
00:42:59.000 --> 00:43:00.199
we don't like, we just throw them out of the

659
00:43:00.239 --> 00:43:10.639
Kingdom of God. It says only the spirit of the

660
00:43:10.679 --> 00:43:14.920
Lord can create resurrection life and our spiritually dead bodies

661
00:43:15.199 --> 00:43:17.679
before we are physically raised or changed at the coming

662
00:43:17.719 --> 00:43:20.519
of Christ. So now they go back to the resurrection concept.

663
00:43:23.079 --> 00:43:27.119
So God is the So are they separating the transformation

664
00:43:27.199 --> 00:43:32.760
from the resurrection? Are they saying that we can experience

665
00:43:32.800 --> 00:43:37.599
a transformation by looking into the Word even before we

666
00:43:37.719 --> 00:43:46.920
experience the resurrection? But they say the resurrection is needed

667
00:43:46.960 --> 00:43:49.920
in this life. This gets really confused. How can I

668
00:43:50.000 --> 00:44:01.199
be transformed if I haven't been resurrected. The experience of

669
00:44:01.280 --> 00:44:03.880
the two disciples on the Amais Road provides us with

670
00:44:03.920 --> 00:44:08.559
a prototype of the Christians experience with God's Word. All right,

671
00:44:08.639 --> 00:44:11.599
that doesn't really help me at all. And it says

672
00:44:11.719 --> 00:44:15.880
we let it be repeated, we do not change ourselves.

673
00:44:16.079 --> 00:44:24.639
He changes us. We do not change ourselves. He changes us.

674
00:44:29.679 --> 00:44:31.840
So if God is the one who changes me, and

675
00:44:31.920 --> 00:44:39.880
I don't change myself, any lack of change would be

676
00:44:39.960 --> 00:44:45.559
on God, not on me. If God is the one

677
00:44:45.599 --> 00:44:50.679
who does the change, it's completely his work. Then any

678
00:44:50.760 --> 00:44:55.360
lack of change is because God hasn't bothered to change me.

679
00:44:56.519 --> 00:44:59.880
So if any lack of change leads me to commit

680
00:45:00.000 --> 00:45:03.559
a great sin, then it's God who didn't change me

681
00:45:03.679 --> 00:45:14.760
to prevent that great sin. Now, remember in chapter one,

682
00:45:15.039 --> 00:45:21.800
dead Body, we need resurrection. In chapter two, this is

683
00:45:21.800 --> 00:45:24.920
how they summarize it. I'm calling the second secret is

684
00:45:25.800 --> 00:45:29.639
the mirror. They're referring to it. It's the miracle of transformation.

685
00:45:30.480 --> 00:45:33.159
We need a miracle of transformation. Well, I thought we

686
00:45:33.199 --> 00:45:38.239
needed a miracle of resurrection. That is, God does more

687
00:45:38.280 --> 00:45:41.159
than just enable us to live a resurrected life. He

688
00:45:41.199 --> 00:45:45.239
also miraculously changes us. So God enables us to live

689
00:45:45.280 --> 00:45:49.039
a resurrected life. You haven't really demonstrated. And when this happens,

690
00:45:49.239 --> 00:45:52.840
when do I get the resurrected life? And then he

691
00:45:53.400 --> 00:45:58.000
miraculously changes us. As a result, our words and actions

692
00:45:58.000 --> 00:46:04.480
increasingly reflect Jesus Christ as are reflect Jesus, our Savior.

693
00:46:04.519 --> 00:46:10.280
I I don't know what to do with chapter two,

694
00:46:10.320 --> 00:46:12.440
ladies and gentlemen, I don't know what to do with

695
00:46:12.559 --> 00:46:17.159
chapter two. All right, So let's break this down. I'm

696
00:46:17.199 --> 00:46:20.880
going to go back to my notes. All right, So

697
00:46:20.920 --> 00:46:24.440
here we go. I know that's all confusing. I know

698
00:46:24.559 --> 00:46:27.400
it really is. And you say, well, you're not really

699
00:46:27.519 --> 00:46:31.400
articulating it very very clearly, because I'm trying to articulate

700
00:46:31.639 --> 00:46:33.960
that which is unclear, and I'm trying to clarify that

701
00:46:34.000 --> 00:46:37.280
which is unclear. But it's inherently unclear because it inherently

702
00:46:37.280 --> 00:46:40.000
seems to be contradictory and it makes no sense from

703
00:46:40.039 --> 00:46:43.960
our practical standpoint. So their position is this, the Christian

704
00:46:44.000 --> 00:46:49.280
body is dead spiritually boom the end, number two. But

705
00:46:49.360 --> 00:46:55.559
the Christian's nature, their heart, has been completely transformed. They

706
00:46:55.559 --> 00:46:59.239
are a new creature. Internally, the old is gone. Everything

707
00:46:59.320 --> 00:47:02.239
is new, and the call coming from inside the house

708
00:47:02.360 --> 00:47:05.599
is a perfect call. They went in, took the serial killer,

709
00:47:05.760 --> 00:47:08.559
drug him out of the house. Everything's good on the inside.

710
00:47:08.599 --> 00:47:10.960
Everything on the inside is good. So the only thing

711
00:47:11.039 --> 00:47:13.280
coming out of you from the inside is all good.

712
00:47:13.440 --> 00:47:16.119
But the problem is all of that good can't get

713
00:47:16.159 --> 00:47:19.079
to the outside because your dead body, this is number three,

714
00:47:19.360 --> 00:47:23.960
can't respond to the new nature. So what do you need?

715
00:47:24.159 --> 00:47:27.039
You need a resurrection of the body. That's when it

716
00:47:27.119 --> 00:47:29.239
needs to happen. Now, if you'll get the resurrection of

717
00:47:29.280 --> 00:47:31.400
the body, the body then can respond to the new

718
00:47:31.480 --> 00:47:35.039
nature and then boom. Logically they haven't said this, but

719
00:47:35.159 --> 00:47:37.840
logically then you should be perfect because you'd have a

720
00:47:37.880 --> 00:47:43.199
resurrected body and a new nature. So they said that

721
00:47:43.199 --> 00:47:46.920
that's what we need. So then they kind of reworded

722
00:47:46.960 --> 00:47:50.320
this and said, so how this takes place is you

723
00:47:50.400 --> 00:47:53.639
need a transformation, and the way you get the transformation

724
00:47:54.039 --> 00:47:55.960
is by looking into the word of God. Now that

725
00:47:55.960 --> 00:47:58.800
don't really articulate how much I have to look into it?

726
00:47:58.840 --> 00:48:02.639
Is it reading? Is it studying? Is it memorizing? Is

727
00:48:02.679 --> 00:48:05.599
it meditating? Is it all of this? How much do

728
00:48:05.639 --> 00:48:07.960
I have to read? How much do I have to study?

729
00:48:08.239 --> 00:48:11.079
But the more I read, the more I study, then boom, boom,

730
00:48:11.079 --> 00:48:16.000
boom transformation occurs. Now again, let me ask, according to

731
00:48:16.039 --> 00:48:22.239
their own hypotheses, my body doesn't respond to the internal nature.

732
00:48:23.320 --> 00:48:27.159
So what is going to motivate my body to engage

733
00:48:27.199 --> 00:48:32.400
in Bible memory, Bible study, Bible reading, Bible listening. What

734
00:48:32.559 --> 00:48:35.480
is going to get you say, well, the new nature

735
00:48:35.599 --> 00:48:38.760
desires the word of God. But yes, it desires, but

736
00:48:38.800 --> 00:48:42.800
their argument is that the body is dead spiritually, so

737
00:48:42.840 --> 00:48:46.880
it's not going to respond to that desire. So already

738
00:48:46.920 --> 00:48:51.760
there we have a problem. And then the next issue

739
00:48:51.800 --> 00:48:53.360
is wait a minute, you said I need a resurrection.

740
00:48:53.440 --> 00:48:59.320
Now you see it's a progressive transformation. But wait a minute,

741
00:48:59.440 --> 00:49:02.280
what is being transformed? Because you've already made the argument

742
00:49:02.400 --> 00:49:06.159
that I'm already transformed on the inside. So now you're

743
00:49:06.159 --> 00:49:11.639
saying transformation amounts to making my body that is dead spiritually,

744
00:49:12.119 --> 00:49:17.599
slowly but surely come alive. How is my physical body?

745
00:49:17.440 --> 00:49:21.719
So this gets all confusing. How is my fleshly body

746
00:49:22.119 --> 00:49:25.440
now going to come alive spiritually? Because don't we would

747
00:49:25.519 --> 00:49:28.719
say that my fleshly body is driven by my mind

748
00:49:29.079 --> 00:49:33.519
and my heart and my desires. So all of a sudden,

749
00:49:33.559 --> 00:49:37.320
my fleshly body is like, I want to I want

750
00:49:37.360 --> 00:49:39.760
to do what the New nature says because I've been

751
00:49:39.800 --> 00:49:43.000
reading and studying the Bible. Now my body says yes,

752
00:49:43.079 --> 00:50:02.599
to the nature. This gets really it just like it doesn't.

753
00:50:02.639 --> 00:50:04.360
You can't even wrap your mind around it from a

754
00:50:04.400 --> 00:50:08.400
practical level, right, You're so separating the body from your

755
00:50:08.480 --> 00:50:12.559
own nature. You're almost like this has got this has

756
00:50:12.599 --> 00:50:17.239
got some problems here, right, almost becomes like a gnostic thing, right,

757
00:50:17.320 --> 00:50:19.800
almost maybe a little bit of gnosticism. Maybe there's some

758
00:50:19.880 --> 00:50:22.679
other concepts being thrown in here that I may not

759
00:50:22.760 --> 00:50:25.000
be able to clearly do identify at this very moment

760
00:50:25.000 --> 00:50:27.960
because my mind is so trying to process this. I

761
00:50:28.039 --> 00:50:30.960
don't want to make it. I don't want to sit

762
00:50:31.000 --> 00:50:33.960
there and say, hey, this problem is so impossible just

763
00:50:34.000 --> 00:50:38.119
because I just trying to do that, just because I'm exaggerating.

764
00:50:38.159 --> 00:50:41.280
I'm not trying to exaggerate it. This is a confounding

765
00:50:41.840 --> 00:50:46.519
and convoluted issue within the christiandom, and nobody really wants

766
00:50:46.599 --> 00:50:49.280
to articulate this. So I don't know what to do.

767
00:50:49.400 --> 00:50:51.960
Here's what I will say, All right, well we try

768
00:50:52.000 --> 00:50:54.039
to figure out all of this. I'm going to just

769
00:50:54.119 --> 00:50:57.519
one hundred percent be dogmatic on this, right, And part

770
00:50:57.559 --> 00:50:59.760
of this is to correct the sermon, the sermon that

771
00:50:59.800 --> 00:51:02.760
we reviewing yesterday. So let's just be dogmatic about it.

772
00:51:02.920 --> 00:51:05.079
Here are some things I think we can be dogmatic about.

773
00:51:05.480 --> 00:51:12.400
Number one, no one, no Christian can keep God's law.

774
00:51:13.039 --> 00:51:17.280
No one can. We're in a perpetual state of sin

775
00:51:17.519 --> 00:51:21.519
against God's law. How do I know? Just give you

776
00:51:21.559 --> 00:51:25.159
a simple law. Be holy as God is holy. That

777
00:51:25.280 --> 00:51:28.719
is commanded. It's commanded in the Old Testament, It's commanded

778
00:51:28.760 --> 00:51:31.360
in the New Testament. Jesus adds to that in the

779
00:51:31.480 --> 00:51:34.000
Sermon on the Mount by saying, be perfect as your

780
00:51:34.000 --> 00:51:37.239
heavenly Father is perfect. You can You'll never be perfect,

781
00:51:37.400 --> 00:51:39.719
You'll never be holy as God is holy. Therefore you

782
00:51:39.760 --> 00:51:42.400
are in a perpetual state of disobedience to the law

783
00:51:42.400 --> 00:51:44.760
of God. The end that, I don't care what other

784
00:51:44.840 --> 00:51:47.079
games you want to play. You can talk all this

785
00:51:48.199 --> 00:51:50.960
trash you want to talk in your sermons about because

786
00:51:51.039 --> 00:51:54.079
yesterday double I think he said it three times. You

787
00:51:54.119 --> 00:51:56.519
can keep the law of God. You can keep the

788
00:51:56.639 --> 00:51:58.679
law of God, you can keep the But then he

789
00:51:58.719 --> 00:52:04.480
went around and said, what we all sin we're all sinners? Well,

790
00:52:04.760 --> 00:52:07.280
why are you sinners? If you can all keep the law,

791
00:52:09.000 --> 00:52:10.920
So we can keep the law. And it seems that

792
00:52:10.960 --> 00:52:13.519
most Christians put forth this argument, and we can keep

793
00:52:13.519 --> 00:52:18.039
the law instantaneously after solvage. As soon as we're saved,

794
00:52:18.159 --> 00:52:22.000
we can keep the law. But then and they'll say instantaneously.

795
00:52:22.320 --> 00:52:24.760
So the number one point, there's a lot more I

796
00:52:24.760 --> 00:52:27.280
could go there. Let's just get this down. You cannot

797
00:52:27.360 --> 00:52:30.039
keep the law. You cannot keep the law. You cannot

798
00:52:30.119 --> 00:52:34.639
keep the law. You cannot keep the law. So that

799
00:52:34.639 --> 00:52:38.320
would be number two. You are in a perpetual state

800
00:52:38.519 --> 00:52:41.880
of sin. Those are realities. You cannot keep the law.

801
00:52:42.079 --> 00:52:46.440
You are in a perpetual state of sin. So then

802
00:52:46.480 --> 00:52:49.840
this would lead to number three. What is keeping you

803
00:52:50.239 --> 00:52:53.280
from keeping the law? What is keeping you from being perfect?

804
00:52:53.440 --> 00:52:56.239
What is keeping you from not being in a perpetual

805
00:52:56.280 --> 00:52:58.920
state of sin? Whatever? What is it that's keeping you

806
00:52:59.039 --> 00:53:06.679
from it? Is it your body or is it your nature? Well,

807
00:53:06.719 --> 00:53:10.440
what we're hearing is it's the body's fault. The body inside.

808
00:53:10.440 --> 00:53:13.159
You're perfect inside. You can keep the law inside, you

809
00:53:13.199 --> 00:53:15.960
can do it all. But the reason you can't do

810
00:53:16.079 --> 00:53:19.800
it is because your body is holding you back. It's

811
00:53:19.840 --> 00:53:25.440
your body's fault. So I'm going to put forth again.

812
00:53:25.519 --> 00:53:28.440
You cannot keep the law. You cannot keep the law.

813
00:53:28.760 --> 00:53:33.840
You cannot keep the law, you cannot be perfect. You

814
00:53:33.880 --> 00:53:36.400
are in a perpetual state of sin. So you cannot

815
00:53:36.480 --> 00:53:38.920
keep the law. We'll just summarize that you cannot keep

816
00:53:38.920 --> 00:53:42.039
the law, you cannot be perfect. That's number one. Number two,

817
00:53:42.039 --> 00:53:45.280
you're in a perpetual state of sin. And so number three,

818
00:53:45.519 --> 00:53:47.840
what is it? And I'll put number three as a question,

819
00:53:48.119 --> 00:53:50.960
or I'll state number three more as a statement. Something

820
00:53:51.400 --> 00:53:55.280
is keeping you from keeping the law and being perfect.

821
00:53:55.599 --> 00:54:04.360
Something is keeping you from it. What is it? Now?

822
00:54:04.400 --> 00:54:07.920
I'm to whether it's your body, whether it's your nature.

823
00:54:08.639 --> 00:54:12.079
Clearly we're not completely a new creature and old things

824
00:54:12.079 --> 00:54:14.519
are passed away and all things have become new because

825
00:54:14.559 --> 00:54:18.400
something is keeping us from keeping the law. Something is

826
00:54:18.480 --> 00:54:21.119
keeping us from not being in a perpetual state of sin.

827
00:54:21.400 --> 00:54:31.360
What is it that's keeping us? What is it? Is

828
00:54:31.360 --> 00:54:33.559
it the nature? If it's the body. If it's the body,

829
00:54:33.760 --> 00:54:36.079
then how do we fix the body? Well, according to

830
00:54:36.119 --> 00:54:38.440
the book, we need a resurrection. But now, no, no, no, no,

831
00:54:38.440 --> 00:54:41.800
no no no. You need a transformation. And that's progressive.

832
00:54:42.000 --> 00:54:45.239
But again, what do we transform? Like, I don't understand

833
00:54:45.280 --> 00:54:49.599
what it means to transform the body. The best they

834
00:54:49.599 --> 00:54:52.400
can are the best. They didn't even try to explain it.

835
00:54:52.480 --> 00:54:54.800
I only think I can offer as well. The body

836
00:54:54.880 --> 00:54:58.639
is dead spiritually, so transformation means making the body a

837
00:54:58.719 --> 00:55:03.159
little bit more alive to God or alive to the spirit,

838
00:55:03.400 --> 00:55:07.480
so then the body can actually respond to the transformed nature.

839
00:55:12.039 --> 00:55:14.280
I just don't know how you measure. So my body

840
00:55:14.360 --> 00:55:17.199
is now five percent more alive to the things of God,

841
00:55:17.280 --> 00:55:20.840
Like I don't even know how. And does that body

842
00:55:20.880 --> 00:55:23.880
mean my mind? Does the body not mean my desires?

843
00:55:24.119 --> 00:55:26.719
How does my body just say I'm now willing to

844
00:55:26.760 --> 00:55:30.880
respond to five percent of the new nature? Like that

845
00:55:30.960 --> 00:55:34.320
sounds like desire? That sounds like thinking what you said

846
00:55:34.360 --> 00:55:42.039
has already been transformed. I don't care. You can come

847
00:55:42.119 --> 00:55:44.400
up with all the systems in the world, whatever systems

848
00:55:44.440 --> 00:55:46.960
you come up with. If you deny the fact, if

849
00:55:46.960 --> 00:55:49.199
you claim that we can keep the law, if you

850
00:55:49.280 --> 00:55:51.960
claim that we can be perfect, if you claim that

851
00:55:51.960 --> 00:55:54.440
we're no longer in a perpetual state of sin, your

852
00:55:54.519 --> 00:55:59.119
system is flawed right out the gate. We cannot keep

853
00:55:59.119 --> 00:56:02.199
the law. I've already articulated it, because the law would

854
00:56:02.199 --> 00:56:06.000
include a command to be holy as God is holy,

855
00:56:06.039 --> 00:56:08.199
which would be perfect. You can't do that. If you

856
00:56:08.199 --> 00:56:09.960
can't do that, you're in a perpetual state of sin.

857
00:56:10.360 --> 00:56:13.320
So I can clearly prove you cannot keep the law

858
00:56:13.559 --> 00:56:16.360
and you are in a perpetual state of sin. Whatever

859
00:56:16.480 --> 00:56:18.840
system you come up with, and all of this nonsense

860
00:56:18.840 --> 00:56:23.440
that Christians say, you're just denying those very fundamental realities

861
00:56:23.599 --> 00:56:28.960
that I can prove in everyone's life. Meaning then the

862
00:56:29.039 --> 00:56:31.360
Christian life is going to be a life of perpetual,

863
00:56:31.480 --> 00:56:42.000
continual sin. I don't know. Chapter two just leaves me

864
00:56:42.079 --> 00:56:53.079
completely perplexed and confused. This is Patrol one. Come in headquarters,

865
00:56:53.800 --> 00:56:57.119
Patrol one. This is headquarters. Go ahead. Yes, I'm at

866
00:56:57.159 --> 00:57:00.000
First Baptist Church, and we have made a horrible discus.

867
00:57:00.960 --> 00:57:05.639
We have found three hundred dead bodies. Patrol one. This

868
00:57:05.719 --> 00:57:08.519
is headquarters. What you need to do is find a mirror.

869
00:57:09.239 --> 00:57:16.079
The solution is a mirror. Headquarters. This is Patrol one.

870
00:57:16.920 --> 00:57:19.039
We've been here now for like eight months, and I

871
00:57:19.079 --> 00:57:20.880
would like to go home and see my family, and

872
00:57:21.199 --> 00:57:24.800
I'd like to get some food. What's supposed to be

873
00:57:24.840 --> 00:57:28.000
happening here? Because I keep holding up this mirror to

874
00:57:28.079 --> 00:57:32.880
these dead bodies and I I'm not really seeing much

875
00:57:32.920 --> 00:57:38.280
going on here, Like, well, it's a slow, slow process.

876
00:57:39.519 --> 00:57:51.599
Slowly they'll go from dead to live. Well, I I

877
00:57:51.639 --> 00:57:56.719
thought you said I need a resurrection. Wouldn't a resurrection

878
00:57:56.840 --> 00:58:00.000
being it would that not be defined as an instantaneous transfer.

879
00:58:01.079 --> 00:58:03.519
If I'm dead and then I'm resurrected, I go from

880
00:58:03.559 --> 00:58:07.960
dead to a life that's instantaneous. You've now said I

881
00:58:07.960 --> 00:58:10.800
need a resurrection, But now the next chapter you're saying

882
00:58:10.800 --> 00:58:14.920
the best I can hope for is a transformation depending

883
00:58:14.960 --> 00:58:25.440
on how much I read and study my Bible. Well,

884
00:58:25.480 --> 00:58:30.639
if you know what that should mean. Everyone who's said

885
00:58:30.679 --> 00:58:34.559
gone to Bible college, your seminary should be far more

886
00:58:34.639 --> 00:58:37.719
transformed than those who haven't, because they've read and studied

887
00:58:37.719 --> 00:58:40.280
the Bible, obviously more than anybody else. That's what they've

888
00:58:40.280 --> 00:58:42.480
been doing for four years or eight years, or demitting

889
00:58:42.519 --> 00:58:45.519
how many years they went to school. Well, I have

890
00:58:45.679 --> 00:58:49.000
gone to I have lost count. I would have to

891
00:58:49.000 --> 00:58:51.119
go open up the box with all of my diplomas

892
00:58:51.159 --> 00:58:55.119
and degrees, and I'll and I've graduated from this school

893
00:58:55.119 --> 00:58:57.320
and this school and this school. I've got degrees in

894
00:58:57.559 --> 00:59:00.880
religious education, I've got degrees in biblic studies, I've got

895
00:59:00.880 --> 00:59:06.239
degrees in theological studies. I've got and church history, philosophy.

896
00:59:06.239 --> 00:59:11.920
I go all the different things that I have, so

897
00:59:12.000 --> 00:59:15.519
I should be like the most transformed person on the

898
00:59:15.519 --> 00:59:19.000
face of the planet. Now I will argue that all

899
00:59:19.079 --> 00:59:22.480
of that reading and all of that study did not

900
00:59:22.639 --> 00:59:26.039
change my nature, because I am arguing that the nature

901
00:59:26.119 --> 00:59:31.519
is still not right. Where they're arguing it's my body,

902
00:59:31.599 --> 00:59:36.079
and that the reading supposedly fixes my body. But it's

903
00:59:36.119 --> 00:59:42.800
not my body, it's my nature. Right. Didn't Jesus identify

904
00:59:42.880 --> 00:59:48.480
that the source of the problem is inside. It's from

905
00:59:48.519 --> 00:59:54.239
the heart that comes fornication, lust, conveteousness. It's coming from

906
00:59:54.280 --> 00:59:56.920
inside the house. They're saying. The inside the house has

907
00:59:56.960 --> 01:00:00.760
been completely cleared out, and it's just the body. I

908
01:00:00.840 --> 01:00:07.559
don't I am, I don't get it. I don't get it.

909
01:00:08.679 --> 01:00:12.159
And the sermon yesterday did not help. So there's an

910
01:00:12.199 --> 01:00:14.320
hour of working on chapter two again. The name of

911
01:00:14.320 --> 01:00:17.000
the book is Six Secrets of the Christian Life as

912
01:00:17.000 --> 01:00:19.440
Ain and Hodges. Please get a copy so that you

913
01:00:19.440 --> 01:00:22.039
can read it for yourself. It may make more sense. Again,

914
01:00:22.079 --> 01:00:24.800
I keep challenging people, you don't have to like what

915
01:00:24.920 --> 01:00:28.239
I'm trying to do here. Write it, you write it out,

916
01:00:28.239 --> 01:00:32.079
how it works, Send me your explanation and how it

917
01:00:32.119 --> 01:00:34.840
all works. But let me state it again, if your

918
01:00:35.119 --> 01:00:40.440
explanation denies the reality that we cannot keep the law

919
01:00:40.880 --> 01:00:43.000
and that we are in a perpetual state of sin.

920
01:00:43.199 --> 01:00:46.599
If you deny either one of those realities, your system

921
01:00:46.719 --> 01:00:51.119
is flawed. Because I can prove emphatically that we cannot

922
01:00:51.159 --> 01:00:53.599
keep the law. Therefore we're in a perpetual state of

923
01:00:53.639 --> 01:01:00.639
sin by just pointing to one or two commandments. But

924
01:01:00.760 --> 01:01:04.639
Christians somehow acts like we're not in a perpetual state

925
01:01:04.639 --> 01:01:07.199
of sin. And because they think we're not in a

926
01:01:07.239 --> 01:01:10.760
perpetual state of sin, then they can crucify and burn

927
01:01:10.840 --> 01:01:13.599
someone at the stake who commits supposedly a big sin

928
01:01:13.800 --> 01:01:16.000
because hey, we can keep the law, so you didn't

929
01:01:16.000 --> 01:01:18.679
have to commit that sin. But we're all in a

930
01:01:18.679 --> 01:01:21.960
perpetual state of sin. So now it's just the degree

931
01:01:22.000 --> 01:01:27.320
of sin in which you committed. Well, now we're going

932
01:01:27.360 --> 01:01:36.119
to mortal venial sin. I mean we're already starting off

933
01:01:36.159 --> 01:01:38.599
where wait, God tells you to be holy and you're not.

934
01:01:38.719 --> 01:01:40.440
God tells me to be holy or not, so you're

935
01:01:40.480 --> 01:01:42.519
in a perpetual status sin. I'm in a perpetual state

936
01:01:42.559 --> 01:01:44.440
of sin. But even though I'm in a perpetual stat

937
01:01:44.440 --> 01:01:46.599
of sin. I'm not going to judge that you committed

938
01:01:46.599 --> 01:01:49.039
that sin, even though you're already in a perpetual status sin.

939
01:01:49.199 --> 01:01:52.199
But that sin is so bad, even though I don't

940
01:01:52.239 --> 01:01:55.320
know how much worse can you be than literally violating

941
01:01:55.360 --> 01:01:57.760
a direct command from God be holy, and you're not

942
01:01:57.880 --> 01:02:01.400
doing it. You're already in a direct of God's very

943
01:02:01.440 --> 01:02:05.360
specific commandment. But hey, you broke that commandment. And breaking

944
01:02:05.400 --> 01:02:08.719
that commandment is far more serious than breaking that commandment.

945
01:02:08.880 --> 01:02:11.760
So because you broke that commandment, now we crucify you,

946
01:02:11.880 --> 01:02:14.079
We burn you at the stake, we burn the body,

947
01:02:14.159 --> 01:02:16.199
and we spread your ashes somewhere that no one will

948
01:02:16.199 --> 01:02:21.880
ever find them. But I've been breaking this commandment. Well,

949
01:02:21.960 --> 01:02:24.719
that's okay, you can break that commandment twenty four to seven.

950
01:02:24.920 --> 01:02:27.960
Nobody cares. Nobody is ever going to be excommunicated from

951
01:02:27.960 --> 01:02:30.119
a church for not being holy as God is holy.

952
01:02:30.480 --> 01:02:33.800
Why it's an actual command Well, that's okay, you can

953
01:02:33.880 --> 01:02:37.119
break that commandment. Just don't break that commandment. Well why

954
01:02:37.239 --> 01:02:39.159
is that commandment the one that gets me kicked out?

955
01:02:39.239 --> 01:02:42.599
But that commandment doesn't? Well, because nobody can keep that commandment.

956
01:02:42.639 --> 01:02:44.639
But you can keep that commandment. But even if I

957
01:02:44.719 --> 01:02:47.800
keep that commandment, I'm already breaking this commandment. Can someone

958
01:02:47.880 --> 01:03:00.719
make any sense of it? I don't understand now. I've

959
01:03:00.760 --> 01:03:03.440
tried to be fair with this hypothesis. We've even looked

960
01:03:03.480 --> 01:03:05.679
to the hypotheses put forth yesterday, and I can't even

961
01:03:05.760 --> 01:03:09.519
articulate what the hypothesis was yesterday. The one yesterday was

962
01:03:09.639 --> 01:03:11.840
you can keep the law, but you don't keep the law.

963
01:03:11.920 --> 01:03:14.760
But you can keep the law. Hey, but you can't

964
01:03:14.760 --> 01:03:16.920
be carnal or Fleshley, because there's no such thing as

965
01:03:16.960 --> 01:03:19.599
a cardinal and fleshley Christian. However, you can be wretched,

966
01:03:21.239 --> 01:03:24.679
even though the Bible talks about being Carla. Well, if

967
01:03:24.679 --> 01:03:26.599
I'm in a perpetual state of sin, is that not

968
01:03:26.679 --> 01:03:29.559
fleshley and carnal? So I can sin all the time,

969
01:03:29.559 --> 01:03:31.400
but not be carnal and Fleshley. So is that the

970
01:03:31.519 --> 01:03:35.679
level of sin that I commit? How many? Ugh, yesterday's

971
01:03:35.760 --> 01:03:39.239
was just as confounding and confusing. And I'm afraid that

972
01:03:39.280 --> 01:03:42.400
if I review another one today, I may find myself

973
01:03:42.559 --> 01:03:45.280
forget going to the liquor store. I'm just gonna go

974
01:03:45.320 --> 01:03:56.519
straight to rehab. So we've got their hypotheses, I'm just

975
01:03:56.519 --> 01:04:00.880
gonna remind you two basic facts. No one can keep

976
01:04:00.920 --> 01:04:05.159
the law. Therefore, we are all in a perpetual state

977
01:04:05.199 --> 01:04:11.800
of sin. Now you go ahead and pat yourself on

978
01:04:11.840 --> 01:04:14.239
the back, thinking you're better than those, are better than him,

979
01:04:14.519 --> 01:04:17.400
and better than them. Go ahead and convince yourself how

980
01:04:17.400 --> 01:04:19.920
good you are. You're in a perpetual state of sin,

981
01:04:20.360 --> 01:04:22.519
no matter how much you want to deny it. And

982
01:04:22.599 --> 01:04:25.639
Church history seems to indicate that the Church understood that.

983
01:04:25.639 --> 01:04:30.159
That's why worship services began, and especially in a liturgical world,

984
01:04:30.599 --> 01:04:34.920
with a general confession of sin. Lord, we have sinned

985
01:04:34.920 --> 01:04:39.079
against you and our thoughts, and our words and and

986
01:04:39.159 --> 01:04:42.000
our deeds, by what we have done and by what

987
01:04:42.039 --> 01:04:46.440
we have left undone. I have committed these grievous sins.

988
01:04:46.639 --> 01:04:50.920
I have done them, I have I have chosen them,

989
01:04:51.039 --> 01:04:55.199
I have willed to do. It's on me. The Church

990
01:04:55.280 --> 01:04:58.400
knew that we show up to worship service every single time,

991
01:04:58.440 --> 01:05:04.440
we show up as sin, and that includes everyone in

992
01:05:04.480 --> 01:05:07.159
the church, from the behind the pulpit to in front

993
01:05:07.199 --> 01:05:13.000
of the pulpit. Christianity seems to have a hard time

994
01:05:13.039 --> 01:05:15.159
processing that reality because we spend most of the time

995
01:05:15.280 --> 01:05:17.119
saying no, no, no, no no. When you become a Christian.

996
01:05:17.159 --> 01:05:18.679
You become a new creature. Old things to pass away,

997
01:05:18.679 --> 01:05:22.039
all things have become new. You're completely transformed. You're completely changed. However,

998
01:05:22.719 --> 01:05:24.840
here are the five steps you need to do in

999
01:05:24.960 --> 01:05:27.320
order to be transformed. Here's the things you need to

1000
01:05:27.360 --> 01:05:29.440
do to actually fight against sin. Well, what am I

1001
01:05:29.480 --> 01:05:31.639
fighting against? And what am I being transformed from? Because

1002
01:05:31.639 --> 01:05:34.280
you just preached five minutes ago that I've already been transformed.

1003
01:05:37.360 --> 01:05:46.239
It's it is maddening, all right. Secret two, Secret one,

1004
01:05:46.280 --> 01:05:49.400
as you have a dead body. Secret two is you

1005
01:05:49.480 --> 01:05:54.760
need to be transformed by looking into a mirror. You

1006
01:05:54.800 --> 01:05:57.840
go read both chapters together and tell me what I'm missing.

1007
01:05:57.920 --> 01:06:02.559
Thanks for listening everyone, of a great day, God bless