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Friends, ladies and gentlemen, how are we?

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First of all, welcome back to The Way UK podcast.

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My name is Solomon and I'm joined today by a friend of The Way UK.

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Hi, I'm Ben.

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There it is.

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There he is.

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He's here.

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He's back.

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Right, so today we are going to carry on with our dive into 1st John.

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We're in Chapter 3 today, Ben, but we've done two others before this.

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They are available.

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I would recommend you go check them out before we get into Chapter 3.

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You know, check out 1 and 2.

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Start on Episode 3.

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That would be silly.

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That would be ludicrous.

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Right, as many of you guys know, our mission here at The Way is to share the gospel online with as many young people as possible.

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And one way you guys can really help with that is by, you know, leaving us a review, a little five star preferably on Spotify or Apple Music or, you know, subscribe to us on YouTube.

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And yeah, with that said, let's roll the credits.

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Usually with these Bible studies, we usually read the full chapter first.

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The thing about 1 John 3 is it's quite long.

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So we're going to do it a little different on this one.

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What we're going to do is we're kind of breaking it down into separate sections of the chapter, and we're going to read them.

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But feel free to pause the video and all the podcast, as it were, and read it yourself and come back and join us again for the little sections.

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But with that said, I'm going to read... Should we do a little frame they can pause on?

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Right.

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Three, two, one.

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Frame.

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Okay.

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There it is.

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Put it there.

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All right.

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I can read the, we're going to do 1 John 3 versus 1 to 3.

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That's the first section we're going to kind of focus on and take some time on.

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So I'm happy to read that unless Ben, would you like to read it?

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No, you go for it, man.

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I got it.

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I can take it.

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I'm dyslexic.

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That wouldn't go very well.

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I will take it.

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I'll do it.

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See what great love the Father has lavished on us, that we should be called children of God.

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And that is what we are.

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The reason the world does not know us is that it did not know him.

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Dear friends, now we are children of God, and what we will be has not yet been made known.

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But we know that when Christ appears, we shall be like him, for we shall see him as he is.

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All who have this hope in him purify themselves, just as he is pure.

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Wow.

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meaty bro special so much in there already tingles is what i've got what do you make of that little section there then what sticks out to you there where would i even start that word lavished is quite something like the thought that god's love isn't just sparingly given but it's totally and completely given which is christ on the cross isn't it it's and

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absolute and total statement of you the value of your life that you're worth dying for and i think it's remarkable yeah what about you dude what do you think i think i think uh john's voice really comes out in this little section it there's a there's a certain sort of astonishment i don't know if you see there's like an excitement to it yeah yeah i feel that

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You know, I really, I really, uh, I enjoy when you can hear the, hear the author through the words.

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I like that a lot.

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Um, and it also tells you a bit of, I like what you mentioned, the word lavish.

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I think it tells us a lot about the character of God and his nature.

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You know, he is a loving God and it kind of adds to that great picture of, of this, of this, uh, God, God of love, I suppose.

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Yeah.

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You know?

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Yeah.

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Yeah.

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That's what sticks out to me in that little section.

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I, I, there are, there are questions that emerge from that section though, isn't there?

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Yeah, so there's a verse that comes to mind from Romans that whilst we were still sinners, Christ died for us.

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So it sets up this idea that we were something.

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And then here it says, now we are called children of God.

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So it's setting up a before and an after that we had this identity of sin.

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Now this identity of sonship being a child of God.

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And I think that that is very important to hold...

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key in the mind as we continue for the rest of the chapter because it it's challenging and if i think if we don't see it from the perspective of being sat in the right seat as it were yeah then we will really misread this so yeah should keep going well actually i want to i want to say it yeah i want to i want to dwell here for a little bit more i quite like yeah yeah uh i i like the uh

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There's something really interesting of this in verse two here.

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I'm just going to, I've got my notes here on my phone.

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That's why I'm looking at my leg.

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If anyone's watching, there's my phone here with my notes.

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But something that I picked up on, and I'd be interested to hear what you have to say about this.

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But it's the sort of tension of, yeah, now we are children of God.

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What we will be has not yet been made known.

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It's like a weird tension of, okay.

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Mysterious, isn't it?

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I mean, it's this sense of, yeah,

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becoming, you know, is that it's a constant thing.

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Yes, we have this identity of children of God, but we are constantly trying to be more like Christ.

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It's not a one and done, you know?

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It's a way of life, a mode of being.

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And I like that that's recognized.

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yeah and then it's not oh yeah i'm done well it's all this is that biblical idea of holding two truths in tension that feel like they are opposing but they're not like how could christ be fully man and fully god how could we be saved whilst being saved it's those two tensions that we hold

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I like that a lot.

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I like what you mentioned about tensions and stuff.

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I think one thing that really sticks out to me generally about the chapter is about its identity.

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Who are we?

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What is it to be like Christ?

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What is it to be a child of God?

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What does that actually change about us?

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You know, that's a question for another podcast because we do have to keep going with this.

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But I don't know.

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That's something I think about.

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OK, how does that look?

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You know?

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Anyway, let's move on.

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Let us know what you think that looks like in the comments.

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In the comments.

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Tell us what that means.

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There we go.

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let's go to the next one i'm happy to read it again if i can give it a crack if you want to see if i can read give it a shot so it's three two so we're going to go from four to six verses four to six now six great so everyone who sins breaks the law in fact sin is lawlessness but you know that he appeared so that he might take away our sins and in him is no sin

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No one who lives in him keeps on sinning.

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No one who continues to sin has either seen him or known him.

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I, I, I found verse six, a little bit of verse six, pretty, uh,

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shocking i suppose it makes you you stop and read it twice don't you and let me let me read the bit i'm talking about where it says uh no one who lives in him keeps on sinning yeah and i think that very much can sound like john is saying that if if i believe in jesus christ i don't that there is no sin i don't sin yeah there is no longer and if i do sin that means i can't believe in jesus what do you think of that

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Yeah, absolutely.

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I think now we're getting into really interesting theological ideas.

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And again, it's holding multiple ideas in tension, isn't it?

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So in an earlier book, Paul writes something so beautiful.

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And he says that if your life is full of sin and it's just terrible, then where sin abounds, grace abounds much more.

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And then he goes on to say, but shall we continue then sinning if we have this free grace?

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And the answer is by no means.

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So if we have the grace of God, then we know that we still live in the time in between the fallen and broken world where we still face temptation and pain and challenges.

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And yes, we may sin sometimes, but...

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It's that heart posture of, but I know I'm a child of God.

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So if my heart is repentant and I move forwards trying to do better to follow Christ, then that's what he's asking you.

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The weight of perfection and sinlessness is only on the shoulders of one man.

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And it's not us.

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It's not you.

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It's not me.

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Praise God.

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It's only on Christ.

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And our job is to freely sit in that grace, but have a genuine humble heart of repentance in that and say, look, I don't want to just continue to keep sinning regularly.

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I may do that sometimes, but I, my heart is postured to this new creation identity being a child of God and

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moving towards in sanctification, becoming more like Christ.

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And that's a process and a journey.

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And when it goes wrong, there is grace for that.

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As Christians, we get to live in grace, not under the law.

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And that is a celebration of the gospel, isn't it?

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Great answer.

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That was a good answer.

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I tell you what, we do need to keep moving.

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It's a pretty big chapter.

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I'm looking at the clock.

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I'm going, gosh, we got to keep going.

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I'm going to, now guys, I'm going to read verses 7 to 10.

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I'll read this one out.

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It goes like this.

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Dear children, do not let anyone lead you astray.

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The one who does what is right is righteous, just as he is righteous.

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The one who does what is sinful is of the devil, because the devil has been sinning from the beginning.

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The reason the Son of God appeared was to destroy the devil's work.

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No one who is born of God will continue to sin, because God's seed remains in them.

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They cannot go on sinning, because they have been born of God.

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This is how we know who the children of God are and who the children of the devil are.

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Anyone who does not know what is right is not God's child, nor is anyone who does not love their brother and sister.

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This is so good, bro.

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Yeah.

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Wow.

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Okay.

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Yeah.

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What stands out to you initially from that passage?

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It's incredibly intense wording, but I see you've got your finger on a line.

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I do.

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I see you've got something to say.

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Mate, good spot, good spot.

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Yeah, so it's this specific couple of words from verse 9.

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They cannot go on sinning.

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Now that is so interesting because when talking about...

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new identity as a child of god it's not just that i am a sinner who loves jesus but then i'm a child of god who loves jesus and my life looks the same either way it's that there's actually a spiritual transformation within when we're born again receive a new inheritance so we started with our inheritance from the man who fell into sin from adam

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The second Adam comes, give us a new inheritance, which is one of righteousness.

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And so there's a spiritual transformation within the Christian through receiving of the Holy Spirit and receiving a new nature.

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And so that part, we can no longer go on sinning.

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is so interesting to me because it speaks to not just who I am, but then what I do as well.

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And so that my actions come out of this new identity I've received and that I actually have personally experienced that.

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As I've grown closer to Christ, I have new convictions that arise and growing stronger in purity and just closer to what it looks like to be someone that looks like Jesus more so than Jesus.

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years ago and so i think that it's a miraculous spiritual transformation the outworking of the inward identity through yeah um freedom from sin yeah it's remarkable would you say you have experienced something along those lines as well like

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Yeah, there has been.

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I have noticed things, mainly the way I treat others and the time that I intentionally have for other people that maybe I didn't do before, I think, is probably the biggest change I've noticed in myself.

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And sort of the position in which I see the world has definitely shifted for the better.

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But I would say the thing that's kind of really interesting me about this chapter is once again dragging us back to this idea of family resemblance and an identity that comes with that family.

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And with that identity comes a direction.

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And who are we becoming?

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What are we becoming?

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What does that look like in our lives practically?

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You know, and John keeps reiterating that Christ, right?

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That's the goal.

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Actually, he makes it very explicit later on.

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He just outright pretty much says it.

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But yeah, I think that's what probably sticks out to me most here.

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Nice.

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Love that.

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yeah that's awesome man shall we move on to the next next few verses it's uh we're going from we're going from verse 11 to 15 here great for this is the message you heard from the beginning we should love one another do not be like cain who belongs to the evil one and murdered his brother

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And why did he murder him?

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Because his own actions were evil and his brothers were righteous.

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Do not be surprised, my brothers and sisters, if the world hates you.

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We know that we have passed from death to life because we love each other.

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Anyone who does not love remains in death.

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Anyone who hates a brother or sister is a murderer.

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And you know that no murderer has eternal life residing in him.

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It's a lot, isn't it?

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Do you know what sticks out to me here?

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Well, listen.

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I think.

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this let's let's let's bring it back down to earth very quickly yeah i think what this says to me the question it raises that i think is practical question we can ask ourselves that we should be asking ourselves is have i allowed bitterness to take hold in myself somewhere and what does that look like and it asks it asks of us to examine our relationships with those around us um and to to look into that of actually how do i feel about this person you know what what what's am i jealous am i am i

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upset, angry, and do I hold that against them?

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You know, because these things are contradictory to our nature and our identity as children of God, right?

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Because we should be moving in love rather than Cain-like.

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But that's what sticks out to me first.

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What about you?

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Mm-hmm.

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Yeah, I mean, so interesting.

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I think that part of this, to me, I think is about justice.

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And what I think is so interesting is that if we ask anyone watching and ourselves, do we want or hope for eternal justice?

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We'd say yes.

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So then if someone has committed murder, do they deserve eternal life in heaven?

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Well, no.

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So then the question, anyone who hates a brother or sister is a murderer.

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Okay, so...

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Now that's fascinating because I think that there is a, not just literal, but a spiritual take on that.

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So if you wrong me and I hate you and I think I'm going to hold on to this anger because you don't deserve my forgiveness.

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What is my hatred for you going to breed in me?

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Where is that going to take me in my life?

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And what's that going to look like for me?

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You know, I've heard it said that unforgiveness is like drinking poison and hoping the other person dies.

218
00:15:47.200 --> 00:15:48.402
And I think that...

219
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If I give in to hatred, eventually the fruit of that just becomes so bad and so dark that I just end up living in a place mentally that's like hell on earth.

220
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And that is where the murderers go.

221
00:16:06.133 --> 00:16:11.975
And I think that the message here is strong and it's very, very convicting.

222
00:16:12.655 --> 00:16:17.916
And it's a message of there is potential for great suffering and great evil.

223
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God doesn't want that for you, is the message here.

224
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He doesn't want you to be someone who holds hatred, bitterness, resentment.

225
00:16:27.038 --> 00:16:29.159
He wants you to be someone who walks in unrighteousness.

226
00:16:29.419 --> 00:16:43.666
love and forgiveness that's really the the message of this entire chapter is that you are god's child and therefore you are called to walk in love and the fruit of that is the best fruit you can come out in your life anyway

227
00:16:44.866 --> 00:16:52.831
I love verse 14 here where, I mean, it says that, we know that we have passed from death to life because we love each other, right?

228
00:16:53.032 --> 00:16:53.392
Yeah.

229
00:16:53.472 --> 00:16:54.192
That's the evidence.

230
00:16:54.472 --> 00:16:55.653
Yeah.

231
00:16:55.993 --> 00:17:01.177
That's how we know God is taking root in our lives is the way in which we see the world and walk through it.

232
00:17:02.518 --> 00:17:07.841
The question I think, because that's what a rather abstract thing is, what does that love look like?

233
00:17:08.121 --> 00:17:09.883
And that's where John gets real explicit.

234
00:17:10.943 --> 00:17:13.524
very intentional of what that looks like, you know?

235
00:17:14.244 --> 00:17:19.145
So there's no room for guessing because he goes straight into it with this next bit here, doesn't he?

236
00:17:19.225 --> 00:17:20.025
I can read this bit.

237
00:17:20.125 --> 00:17:22.666
We're going from verse 16 to 18 here.

238
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He goes, this is what we know.

239
00:17:25.907 --> 00:17:27.247
This is how we know what love is.

240
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Jesus Christ laid down his life for us.

241
00:17:30.418 --> 00:17:33.021
And we ought to lay our lives down for our brothers and sisters.

242
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If anyone has material possessions and sees a brother or sister in need, but has no pity on them, how can the love of God be in that person?

243
00:17:40.910 --> 00:17:46.015
Dear children, let us not love with words or speech, but with actions and in truth.

244
00:17:46.696 --> 00:17:48.438
Right, so he answers that question.

245
00:17:49.499 --> 00:17:50.420
That's what it should look like.

246
00:17:50.870 --> 00:17:54.753
Not just words and speech, but in actions and in truth.

247
00:17:55.734 --> 00:17:55.994
Yeah.

248
00:17:56.474 --> 00:17:58.316
And what do you think that looks like?

249
00:17:58.536 --> 00:17:59.456
Love in action.

250
00:17:59.537 --> 00:18:00.437
What does that look like?

251
00:18:00.477 --> 00:18:03.940
I think that it's a pretty enormous statement at first.

252
00:18:04.260 --> 00:18:05.401
Lay your life down, right?

253
00:18:05.661 --> 00:18:07.863
But I think there's very, very small ways to do that.

254
00:18:08.143 --> 00:18:08.683
Good answer.

255
00:18:08.763 --> 00:18:09.024
Right?

256
00:18:09.124 --> 00:18:10.405
I think it does look like...

257
00:18:10.985 --> 00:18:21.697
giving time and energy to people that are struggling in your, in, in their world, you should be there, be a friend, be a, be a, uh, a post to lean on as people learn to lean on Jesus.

258
00:18:21.757 --> 00:18:26.001
That's what I would say is a great thing to do as a, as a believer is just to, to,

259
00:18:27.002 --> 00:18:32.165
have the time and resources, time and the resources to give to others.

260
00:18:33.626 --> 00:18:36.807
Simple, small laying downs of your life, I guess.

261
00:18:37.148 --> 00:18:38.909
Laying downs, is that a phrase?

262
00:18:38.929 --> 00:18:40.329
I don't know, laying downs of your life.

263
00:18:42.190 --> 00:18:44.412
I think are great examples of that practically.

264
00:18:44.892 --> 00:18:49.114
I actually have a story from last year I can share from my own life.

265
00:18:49.134 --> 00:18:49.675
Take us there.

266
00:18:49.995 --> 00:18:50.455
About this.

267
00:18:50.515 --> 00:18:51.756
It's kind of a funny one, but...

268
00:18:52.396 --> 00:18:57.081
I lived previously with a house of four guys that are not Christians.

269
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None of them were.

270
00:18:58.002 --> 00:18:59.503
And we all trained jujitsu together.

271
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We were like, we are still like real brothers.

272
00:19:03.067 --> 00:19:12.416
And they would often, if they watch this, they'll think this is really funny, but they would often leave the kitchen in a state, like really bad.

273
00:19:12.456 --> 00:19:16.420
Grease everywhere, pans, plates, everything.

274
00:19:17.000 --> 00:19:25.025
And when I say like it brought me to a point of anger and rage, it was so bad.

275
00:19:25.205 --> 00:19:32.110
I had to hide myself in my room because I was so furious at the amount of times I'd be like, boys, this isn't all right.

276
00:19:32.290 --> 00:19:34.332
And they'd be like, yeah, yeah, yeah, we'll sort it, we'll sort it.

277
00:19:34.652 --> 00:19:36.954
And then the next week it was exactly the same.

278
00:19:36.974 --> 00:19:39.916
I was like, I'm going to explode.

279
00:19:40.276 --> 00:19:48.502
And so I was like, right, Lord, this kitchen is having way too much authority and lordship over my mind and emotions.

280
00:19:48.943 --> 00:19:53.946
That, the throne of my mind, will and emotions, belongs only to you.

281
00:19:54.106 --> 00:19:55.488
I need to come back to you.

282
00:19:56.408 --> 00:20:00.735
And what I recognized is that anger and that resentment that was building.

283
00:20:01.376 --> 00:20:10.851
I looked at the word here and said, does these thoughts, feelings and emotions reflect who I am, who this says I am?

284
00:20:10.871 --> 00:20:11.232
Yeah.

285
00:20:11.572 --> 00:20:11.932
No.

286
00:20:12.453 --> 00:20:18.357
So therefore, is it something that is a part of my true nature and identity?

287
00:20:18.697 --> 00:20:19.037
No.

288
00:20:19.197 --> 00:20:21.259
So therefore, should it stay?

289
00:20:21.799 --> 00:20:22.099
No.

290
00:20:22.319 --> 00:20:25.141
It doesn't align with the fruits of the spirit.

291
00:20:25.201 --> 00:20:27.983
It doesn't align with what the scripture says about me.

292
00:20:28.083 --> 00:20:33.347
Even if I see it in myself and I feel it in myself, it's a difference between...

293
00:20:34.047 --> 00:20:41.970
All right, what am I going to believe about who I am based on what I feel and experience here or what the word says about me?

294
00:20:42.110 --> 00:20:44.351
What am I going to hold as a greater truth?

295
00:20:45.011 --> 00:20:47.332
And the truth sets you free.

296
00:20:47.913 --> 00:20:48.773
And I believe that.

297
00:20:48.793 --> 00:20:50.354
And the truth is the word of God.

298
00:20:50.514 --> 00:20:56.256
And so I was like, Lord, in my time of prayer, I was like, Lord, I'm really struggling with this.

299
00:20:56.356 --> 00:20:58.937
I'm feeling angry and I'm feeling angry.

300
00:20:59.658 --> 00:21:16.935
I'm bitter about this and it's a small thing in reality it's not something that's really worth being so annoyed about but I'm really annoyed like God I recognize this is not who you've made me to be yeah I'm a child of God you called me to walk in love Lord I speak forgiveness I pray your blessing over them and

301
00:21:17.475 --> 00:21:18.616
And I would pray like this.

302
00:21:18.696 --> 00:21:20.538
I'd pray not from the place of anger.

303
00:21:20.598 --> 00:21:21.539
God, I'm so angry.

304
00:21:21.599 --> 00:21:22.580
Take this anger away.

305
00:21:22.640 --> 00:21:24.882
I'd pray, no, God, I am a child of God.

306
00:21:24.922 --> 00:21:27.204
I might feel this, but I know who I am.

307
00:21:27.244 --> 00:21:29.806
And I pray from that new place.

308
00:21:30.546 --> 00:21:35.531
And what would happen is I felt gradually a change.

309
00:21:35.631 --> 00:21:39.994
I'd walk into the kitchen, see it in a state, and I'd be like, oh, that's okay.

310
00:21:40.014 --> 00:21:40.855
I can just clean it up.

311
00:21:41.015 --> 00:21:41.676
And I'd be like, no way.

312
00:21:41.696 --> 00:21:42.677
I'm not angry.

313
00:21:43.137 --> 00:21:43.818
I'm not angry.

314
00:21:44.318 --> 00:21:46.179
I didn't try and not be angry then.

315
00:21:46.219 --> 00:21:51.001
That was just a natural outworking of the place of identity and prayer I'd sat in before.

316
00:21:51.061 --> 00:21:51.801
And I was like, yes.

317
00:21:52.161 --> 00:21:55.803
Then my housemate Ollie came to me a couple months later and he was like, bro, what's happened to you?

318
00:21:56.103 --> 00:21:58.864
You don't get annoyed at all about the kitchen anymore.

319
00:21:58.904 --> 00:22:01.385
And I was like, I am a new creation.

320
00:22:01.405 --> 00:22:03.366
Tell you what I really like about that story.

321
00:22:03.386 --> 00:22:04.826
And I just told him about Jesus.

322
00:22:04.906 --> 00:22:05.727
It was opportunity.

323
00:22:05.767 --> 00:22:08.868
I'll tell you what I really like about that story is you...

324
00:22:10.542 --> 00:22:11.743
were incredibly self-aware.

325
00:22:12.103 --> 00:22:15.966
And I think that's what, you know, you took yourself out of the situation.

326
00:22:15.986 --> 00:22:17.187
You didn't move out of emotion.

327
00:22:17.207 --> 00:22:20.330
You took yourself out of it and you looked inwardly and said, okay, what is this?

328
00:22:20.350 --> 00:22:20.990
What am I feeling?

329
00:22:21.030 --> 00:22:22.071
How am I feeling and why?

330
00:22:22.952 --> 00:22:25.574
And I think that's what John is trying to do here, really.

331
00:22:25.594 --> 00:22:29.457
He's asking us to look inward and see these things within us, right?

332
00:22:29.697 --> 00:22:33.560
And I think that's cool that you removed yourself before...

333
00:22:33.840 --> 00:22:58.555
freaking out which i mean i will probably freak out if the kitchen wasn't that bad i did i'm losing it i texted some things into the boys group chat that i had to delete afterwards initially like i'm gonna kill all of you and i thought actually they're so good at they're so good at jujitsu they'd actually like kill me but um oh bless i apologize as well but yeah out your housemates yeah shout out the boys there it is

334
00:22:59.375 --> 00:23:01.257
We are nearly running out of time.

335
00:23:01.277 --> 00:23:04.040
So we're going to, unfortunately, have to quickly go through this last bit.

336
00:23:04.060 --> 00:23:05.621
We're going from 19 to 24.

337
00:23:05.641 --> 00:23:08.984
This is the sort of final section of this chapter.

338
00:23:09.385 --> 00:23:10.305
So I'm happy to read it.

339
00:23:10.806 --> 00:23:11.226
I'll read it.

340
00:23:11.507 --> 00:23:12.187
I'll take us there.

341
00:23:12.207 --> 00:23:12.808
You have a think.

342
00:23:13.148 --> 00:23:13.368
Ready?

343
00:23:13.929 --> 00:23:18.133
This is how we know that we belong to the truth and how we set our hearts at rest in his presence.

344
00:23:19.417 --> 00:23:23.500
If our hearts condemn us, we know that God is greater than our hearts and he knows everything.

345
00:23:24.161 --> 00:23:32.927
Dear friends, if our hearts do not condemn us, we have confidence before God and receive from him anything we ask because we keep his commands and do what pleases him.

346
00:23:33.848 --> 00:23:39.752
And this is his command, to believe in the name of his son, Jesus Christ, and to love one another as he commanded us.

347
00:23:40.513 --> 00:23:44.435
The one who keeps God's commands lives in him and he in them.

348
00:23:44.896 --> 00:23:47.057
And this is how we know that he lives in us.

349
00:23:49.339 --> 00:23:51.260
We know it by the spirit he gave us.

350
00:23:52.681 --> 00:23:53.181
I like that.

351
00:23:53.221 --> 00:23:57.704
I like that he spent the whole chapter kind of making you question yourself.

352
00:23:57.944 --> 00:23:59.325
Give you a bit of an internal crisis.

353
00:23:59.345 --> 00:24:01.927
But then he moves into a place of reassurance.

354
00:24:02.227 --> 00:24:02.847
Yeah.

355
00:24:02.927 --> 00:24:03.788
Yes, all of this stuff.

356
00:24:03.888 --> 00:24:07.250
We're walking somewhere, but be reminded this and be encouraged by this.

357
00:24:08.130 --> 00:24:08.751
I like that a lot.

358
00:24:09.231 --> 00:24:09.511
Yeah.

359
00:24:09.611 --> 00:24:11.552
So what are you thinking?

360
00:24:11.593 --> 00:24:12.613
I see your cogs turning.

361
00:24:12.633 --> 00:24:12.893
Yeah.

362
00:24:12.913 --> 00:24:14.194
I love this 23.

363
00:24:14.434 --> 00:24:16.215
And this is his command.

364
00:24:16.375 --> 00:24:16.475
Yeah.

365
00:24:16.495 --> 00:24:16.636
Yeah.

366
00:24:17.736 --> 00:24:24.720
to believe in the name of his son, Jesus Christ, and to love one another as he commanded us.

367
00:24:25.200 --> 00:24:31.864
It's so beautiful because it's the same two instructions that Christ said were the most important.

368
00:24:32.224 --> 00:24:38.048
To love God with all your heart, mind, soul, and strength, and to love your neighbor as you love yourself.

369
00:24:38.768 --> 00:24:44.671
And here it's just being reaffirmed and it's, oh yeah, this is such a challenging passage.

370
00:24:44.731 --> 00:24:59.498
There is so much pain and so much sin and so much suffering in the world and in us and so much tension, but so much freedom, so much peace and so much comfort we can take.

371
00:25:00.078 --> 00:25:22.750
knowing that we all we have to do is believe in the name of jesus christ that he saves us from our sin and that we have an eternal reason for hope optimism and a reason to look outward and forward in a way that makes me think no matter what i face in this life i have a reason to be glad and to be joyful and um

372
00:25:23.230 --> 00:25:24.191
I know who I am.

373
00:25:24.371 --> 00:25:25.092
It's secure.

374
00:25:25.232 --> 00:25:27.954
And I have that in my life as a firm foundation.

375
00:25:28.434 --> 00:25:29.255
And here it is.

376
00:25:29.275 --> 00:25:30.316
And it's so beautiful.

377
00:25:30.396 --> 00:25:31.737
And I'm so grateful for it.

378
00:25:31.837 --> 00:25:34.018
And yeah, what about you, man?

379
00:25:34.179 --> 00:25:35.279
What stands out for you?

380
00:25:35.379 --> 00:25:41.344
Well, I think the chapter on a whole, generally, it's a pretty intense thing, isn't it?

381
00:25:41.504 --> 00:25:42.685
It's pretty black and white.

382
00:25:43.125 --> 00:25:47.088
It demands of you to look inward, like I said.

383
00:25:47.189 --> 00:25:47.709
And I

384
00:25:49.219 --> 00:25:52.823
it's, it's ethics and it's, and it's, this is what the, this is what the faith is.

385
00:25:52.883 --> 00:25:56.226
It's Christian ethics and the moral code of what it is, what it looks like.

386
00:25:56.246 --> 00:25:57.847
And then some practical stuff in there as well.

387
00:25:58.208 --> 00:26:10.720
But I would actually encourage people who are listening to this and, and, uh, reading this script, this passage along with us, um, to, if you're kind of struggling in these tensions or, or you're finding yourself a little bit like, I don't know what to make of this bit or that bit.

388
00:26:10.960 --> 00:26:11.821
Go and talk to somebody.

389
00:26:12.381 --> 00:26:13.561
Go and talk to somebody about it.

390
00:26:13.641 --> 00:26:19.803
Go and, you know, read it with someone in your world and discuss it and be open about it.

391
00:26:20.163 --> 00:26:20.803
Yeah, I love it.

392
00:26:20.943 --> 00:26:29.045
I mean, I think what's so interesting about pastors like these that are really challenging is looking at kind of the surrounding context is really helpful.

393
00:26:29.125 --> 00:26:39.867
And so I'd say if you're really challenged by what you've read in chapter three, go and read chapter four because it's so remarkable and just talks about the love of God the whole time.

394
00:26:43.008 --> 00:26:51.310
Yeah, but also, also, also, also, also, I would say you aren't the only one to find this hard if you do find it hard.

395
00:26:51.590 --> 00:26:52.471
I found it pretty hard.

396
00:26:52.711 --> 00:26:52.911
Yeah.

397
00:26:52.931 --> 00:26:53.871
I don't know if you did as well.

398
00:26:54.291 --> 00:26:55.291
Yeah, me too.

399
00:26:55.371 --> 00:27:05.834
I mean, I just think that if I wasn't really, really strong and certain on my identity as being a child of God, I'd feel so condemned by what I've just read.

400
00:27:06.074 --> 00:27:09.895
Like, I'd be like, yes, I've sinned loads in the past.

401
00:27:09.915 --> 00:27:10.115
Yeah.

402
00:27:10.615 --> 00:27:13.177
I'm probably well in the future at some point.

403
00:27:13.257 --> 00:27:16.841
So it just makes me feel like, how can I possibly live up to this?

404
00:27:16.901 --> 00:27:21.364
I feel so like, almost like I'm trying to as a Christian trying to fight a losing battle.

405
00:27:21.425 --> 00:27:21.565
But

406
00:27:22.658 --> 00:27:27.281
Once again, coming back to that identity question, it's like, who's fighting that battle?

407
00:27:28.181 --> 00:27:29.462
It's already been won.

408
00:27:29.602 --> 00:27:32.864
There's a man who hung on the cross and said, it is finished.

409
00:27:32.984 --> 00:27:40.609
And the statement of all of the scripture overall and this passage here is that,

410
00:27:41.329 --> 00:27:43.891
Again, the weight of perfection, it just isn't on you.

411
00:27:44.051 --> 00:27:45.212
It was on another man.

412
00:27:45.353 --> 00:27:46.414
It was on Jesus.

413
00:27:46.554 --> 00:27:52.339
And he took that and he paid the price, took all the sin so that you could receive the righteousness.

414
00:27:52.459 --> 00:27:54.781
And that is what this passage is calling us to.

415
00:27:54.821 --> 00:27:57.103
It's saying Jesus took all the sin away on the cross.

416
00:27:57.663 --> 00:27:59.224
And he's given us his righteousness.

417
00:27:59.284 --> 00:28:04.246
This is what it looks like to be someone who walks not in sin, but in righteousness.

418
00:28:04.286 --> 00:28:06.767
And so it's an invitation and a call.

419
00:28:07.007 --> 00:28:07.827
And it's hard.

420
00:28:08.307 --> 00:28:09.428
It's really hard.

421
00:28:09.908 --> 00:28:12.289
But it's the most worth it call there is.

422
00:28:12.629 --> 00:28:15.690
But what other option is there than to aim for the best?

423
00:28:15.750 --> 00:28:21.052
Yeah, it's definitely not asking you to walk towards moral perfection.

424
00:28:21.292 --> 00:28:23.693
And it's not condemning you because you're not perfect.

425
00:28:23.993 --> 00:28:25.374
You know, it's actually, it's inviting.

426
00:28:25.434 --> 00:28:28.015
It's actually a signpost towards the cross.

427
00:28:28.135 --> 00:28:30.376
Like you kind of said there.

428
00:28:31.056 --> 00:28:39.740
And I think it's worth, as we close, to sort of look inward a little bit and just ask ourselves the question, what identity are we living out of?

429
00:28:39.800 --> 00:28:45.103
What do we sort of align with or see ourselves really how we're living?

430
00:28:45.143 --> 00:28:46.503
Because that's really what John's asking here.

431
00:28:46.863 --> 00:28:47.163
I would...

432
00:28:48.544 --> 00:29:02.695
uh argue um but uh yeah on that note guys it has been a pleasure thank you for being here with us thank you for joining us and uh we look forward to doing john four with you soon yeah um yeah see you later peace