We’re going to start today’s message with a little activity. I like to call it, “Binding or not?”
I’m going to give you a rule or command from the Bible, and then I’ll ask whether you think it is generally considered binding for Christians today or not. In other words, do most Christians consider this a biblical rule we have to follow? Ready?
1 Corinthians 11:7
A man should not wear anything on his head when worshiping.
Raise your hand if you think that is a binding rule for Christians today. Ok, raise your hand if you think it’s not binding.
Alright, let’s do another one.
Exodus 20:17
You must not covet your neighbor’s house.
Is that binding for Christians today?
Acts 15:29
You must abstain from… consuming blood.
Deuteronomy 14:22
You must set aside a tithe of your crops – one-tenth of all the crops you harvest each year.
Luke 6:35
Love your enemies! Do good to them. Lend to them without expecting to be repaid.
You get the idea. We could go on and on. We could look at biblical commands about marriage and money and sex and what to say and what to wear and what to do if your neighbor’s donkey falls into a hole that you dug.
And we’d have a bunch of different reasons why we do or do not consider those biblical rules binding today.
My point is this. As followers of Christ, we believe this book is our authority for all matters of faith and practice. God’s moral vision for us is within these pages.
But sometimes it’s harder than we like to admit to work out what that moral vision is.
Now I realize this can feel a little disconcerting. Especially coming from up front. Isn’t it my job to make the Bible more clear, not more confusing?
Well, yes it is. But don’t worry. Because today I want to help you understand how to make sense of God’s moral vision through Scripture and in the process discover what I believe is the key to your best possible life.
SERIES RECAP
Welcome to week 3 of our series, “Refocus,” all about the practice of moral integrity. Again, here’s how we describe this practice at Grace:
Moral Integrity
Disciples of Jesus reject the corruption of sin and reflect Christ to the world as image bearers of God.
Let’s start with a brief recap of where we’ve been so far.
Put simply, this series is about sin. However, we are taking a different approach to the topic than you might expect.
Rather than focusing on heavy-handed judgmentalism or shame or lists of rules you’re supposed to follow, we’re talking about identity. Specifically, the identity of the person you were created to be.
In the first two weeks of the series, we talked about the biblical idea of humans being created in The image of God.
In the ancient world a god or a king would have images (statues) set up which represented their rule or their power. Well, we were created to do just that for God.
When you look at humanity, you’re supposed to see God’s character and abundance and life at work. We are his image. However, we have rejected this identity.
Instead of trusting in God’s desires and doing what he says is best, we do what seems right in our own eyes. We curve in on ourselves. And that self-focused rebellion is sin.
God designed us to reflect his justice and peace and love to the world. But instead we spread injustice and violence and lust and hate.
A metaphor I find so helpful to imagine this is that of fine art restoration. We were created as God’s masterpiece. His image.
But through sin, we’ve added soot and grime and tears to the canvas. Colors have faded. God’s image has been disfigured in us by sin. Thankfully, through the sacrifice of Jesus and the work of the Holy Spirit, that image can be restored.
When we take the postures we talked about last week:
Fundamental postures of moral integrity:
1) Surrender to the will of God
2) Self-giving love
…we can once more live into who we were created to be. Our true identity as the image of God can be restored.
Today I want us to talk about living into that identity. So let’s pray, and then we’ll get into it.
LIVING INTO THE IMAGE
So, I started this message with an acknowledgment that “read the Bible and do what it says” can be a little bit more complicated than we like to admit.
There are tons of rules and commands in the Bible, but whether or not we follow them depends on a bunch of other factors.
So if moral integrity is all about rejecting the allure of sin, and we’re called to have moral integrity, then how do we know what sin is? Which biblical rules do we follow?
Well, let’s start with this. I think this might be the wrong question. I’ve said it several times in this series, but I don’t believe biblical moral integrity is about rules at all. It’s about identity.
Who were we created to be? Let’s start there. In other words, rather than focusing on all the bad things we’re supposed to avoid, let’s talk first about the good things we’re called to attain.
What are the primary moral characteristics of someone living into their identity as the image of God?
Now this is where it gets really fun for me. Because we don’t start with individual verses of Scripture (we already tried that at the beginning of the message and it’s difficult).
Instead we start by looking at the Bible as a whole.
We explore the grand story of Scripture and see what moral principles show up again and again from start to finish.
We look at the narratives of the Old Testament and see what types of behavior led our spiritual ancestors to life and abundance, and what behavior further broke our world.
We read the Psalms and wisdom literature to grasp what the biblical authors understood about a life lived in the trust of God.
We hear the prophets calling the people back to a place of justice and dependence on God instead of self-sufficiency.
We look at the life and character of Jesus (the perfect image of God) to see what moral principles he demonstrated.
And we learn from the experience of the early church in the New Testament and how they struggled and succeeded at living into the life and abundance of God’s Spirit.
What we see when we take it all in is that there are some obvious patterns of behavior which clearly reflect God’s image into the world. And we see that the rejection of these moral principles leads again and again to death, destruction, and brokenness.
So let’s talk about these biblical principles.
We’ve created a handout which summarizes them all. Ushers, will you please pass around the handouts we made?
In a few moments we will do an activity together to make this really personal.
MORAL PRINCIPLES
While they’re handing those out, let me begin by reminding us all that biblical moral integrity begins with the right posture. This is on the bottom left of the handout.
If we are not willing to surrender to the will of God - in other words, committing to actually listen to and act on what he says is best - then our moral integrity will never get off the ground.
In the same way, if we can’t commit to grow in self-giving love towards others - if we’re always self-focused and curved inward - these moral principles will fall flat.
But, if our posture is correct and we’re willing to trust the voice of God’s Spirit breathing through the whole narrative of Scripture, we can begin to grow and develop moral principles in our lives which help us recover the image of God.
The painting of God’s image in us can once more be restored.
Alright, so here’s the first biblical moral principle.
Compassion: Christ-followers are moved by others’ suffering and act toward them with tenderhearted mercy.
Now, we’re not going to do this with all of the principles for the sake of time, but let me show you why we would say this moral principle is a fundamental one to living in the image of God.
Again, it shows up all through the Bible. First of all, we see compassion as a core component of God’s character. In the story of Exodus, for example, God has compassion on his chosen people who are suffering in slavery. When he rescues them, they sing this:
Exodus 15:13
With your unfailing love you lead the people you have redeemed.
He’s a compassionate God. This same sentiment is echoed in the poetry of the Psalms:
Psalm 145:9
The LORD is good to everyone. He showers compassion on all his creation.
The point is, if compassion is a part of God’s character, and we were created in his image, then showing compassion is a part of what that means.
We obviously see that in the way Jesus lived.
Matthew 9:36
When he saw the crowds, he had compassion on them because they were confused and helpless, like sheep without a shepherd.
Jesus was moved by their suffering. And, when we read on in the New Testament, this is exactly the kind of behavior the apostles call us to model.
Colossians 3:12
Since God chose you to be the holy people he loves, you must clothe yourselves with tenderhearted mercy, kindness, humility, gentleness, and patience.
Put simply, if we want to live with morality like Jesus, we must learn how to have compassion towards the plight of others in our broken world.
And if we want to know what sin looks like in this case, it’s anything other than compassion. Ignoring the suffering of the poor. Gossiping about someone’s brokenness.
Now, there are plenty of biblical rules about this type of behavior, and they help us understand the wisdom of this principle, but you don’t need a list of rules to understand who you are called to be: The image of God who is compassionate because God is compassionate.
Again, we don’t have time to explore every one of these principles and how they show up throughout the grand narrative of Scripture. But you get the point. They all do.
Justice: Christ-followers seek to restore the poor, vulnerable, wronged, and marginalized of this world back to God’s wholeness.
Again, this is not just about avoiding doing the bad things that hurt people. It’s about living into your identity as an image of God who reflects his justice into a broken world.
Self-Control: Christ-followers master their impulses and act with discipline, patience, temperance, and sober-mindedness.
Last week I talked about the pattern that shows up in the Hebrew Bible a lot: See/Desire/Take. We just follow our urges (like animals) and do whatever seems right in our own eyes. And in Scripture this pattern always leads to more brokenness.
Well, self-control is the opposite of that. Choosing to reject See/Desire/Take. Instead saying, “Ok, I see this thing. Maybe I even want this thing. But God, what do you want?”
Getting right back to that fundamental posture of surrender to the will of God.
By the way, on the topic of self-control, just a quick aside. I know one of the most significant issues facing us today that the biblical authors couldn’t have even imagined is pornography.
It is exceedingly hard to be self-controlled in a world absolutely saturated with temptation. But, whether you realize it or not, porn has massive repercussions for our families.
So, men of Grace Church. If sexual integrity and self-control is something you want to grow in, if you feel a bit out of control with what you’re watching online, I want you to know that our volunteer men’s life group is hosting a
Men’s Life Sexual Integrity Roundtable
September 12, Room E171, 6:30-8:30pm
They’ve got a guest speaker and they’re doing a 5-week follow-up series. You should consider attending if self-control is an issue for you. Some of the men’s life guys are in the lobby today and I put the link to register in the app.
Alright, let’s keep moving. The next biblical moral principle is:
Truth: Christ-followers seek, speak, and defend truth.
I find this particularly interesting today. Of course, we’re still tempted to tell little white lies just like humans have always done, but we’re also living in a time the biblical authors would not have been able to comprehend.
A world filled with skepticism and misinformation. With increasingly lifelike artificial intelligence. What does it mean to be Christ-followers who don’t just avoid the sin of lying, but who stand for truth in this complicated time?
We are the image of God. It’s our job to figure this out.
Forgiveness: Christ-followers offer grace to those who have wronged them, no longer hold past wrongs against them, and seek reconciliation with them where possible.
This is a hard one. The 12 disciples struggled with this one too. But there is no getting away from the fact that our God is a God of grace and we are called to reflect that grace in our own lives
Reverence for Life: Christ-followers seek to defend and promote human life and care for God’s creation.
Our God is the Creator. There’s a biblical case to be made that His Spirit is the animating life-force of the universe. And we are His image. So we are called to be people of life.
Fostering life, nurturing life, protecting life… New Creation should be springing up around us everywhere we go.
Covenant Faithfulness: Christ-followers remain true to their promises, devoted in their relationships, and faithful in their marriages.
This posture of commitment to one another is a deeply important aspect of the kind of community Jesus established in his Church.
Just imagine if Christians were known as the ones who keep their word. Who are devoted to one another. God is faithful to us. Let us be faithful to one another.
Generosity: Christ-followers live with open palms, freely sharing of their time and resources.
This one is self-explanatory. If we’re the image of a God who gives so generously, and we live with a posture of self-giving love towards others, our lives should be overflowing with abundance.
REFLECTION
So there you have it. 8 moral principles which weave throughout the entire story of the Bible. Yes, they do show up in the many rules and commands that are scattered throughout Scripture.
But we are not called to live up to some legalistic pile of do’s and don’ts. We are called to reflect the character of our Maker to a broken world. To be his images.
In some ways that’s a much more difficult thing to do. Sometimes I wish I just had a moral checklist.
Why do you think Jesus’ sermon on the mount was so provocative? For example,
Matthew 5:21-22
“You have heard that our ancestors were told, ‘You must not murder…’ But I say, if you are even angry with someone, you are subject to judgment!”
Why would Jesus say that? Is it because he’s giving us a new list of rules to follow? No. It’s because he is calling us to something greater. A new identity defined by the character of God.
An identity where, sure, we don’t murder. We don’t break that rule. But it’s an identity where our focus is compassion, and forgiveness, and self-giving love. An identity where even anger is under our self-control.
These 8 biblical moral principles take us way beyond legalism and sin management. They take us to the very heart of our identity in the world.
So here’s what I want to do. I want to give you some time to reflect on your own life. We’re going to take 4-5 minutes right now, with some music in the background, for you to read again through these principles, and just do a heart check.
How are you doing at living into your true identity as the image of God? Let the Holy Spirit speak to you and perhaps identify some areas of growth.
Again, this is not about guilt or shame. It’s about possibility. This is who you were created to be. Thanks to Jesus this is who you already are in God’s eyes.
All we’re doing right now is asking God with a posture of surrender to his will, “Where do you want me to grow?”
Let’s take some time and reflect.
CONCLUSION
In his letter to the church in Rome, the Apostle Paul said this:
Romans 12:2
Don’t copy the behavior and customs of this world, but let God transform you into a new person by changing the way you think. Then you will learn to know God’s will for you, which is good and pleasing and perfect.
My hope and my prayer for you this week is that you would take whatever God just revealed to you, and you will let God transform you in it. Let him change the way you think.
Because you were created in His image. Called by Christ to reflect his vision of morality.
Yes, God’s image in you has been disfigured by sin, but that disfigurement is not who you are because our God is a master of restoration.
It’s time to learn and trust God’s will for you, and to become the person of life and love and abundance that you were created to be.