Lesson 13 - Three Ways to Live

Lesson 13 - Three Ways to Live

Hope you all aren’t too sore from yesterday - we had a good day at Tolleson Park.
This was our first big type of activity like that, and Rob did a great job putting it all together. If you have suggestions about what we do in the future, whether that’s what games we play, how long it lasts, what we can do in the future.
It was a good time of fellowship and we want to grow together as a group and as believers.

Introduction

Welcome back for the last week of our class on the gospel-centered life.
We’ve had quite the journey through a number of different topics, and I hope we’ve covered a lot of areas that have helped you think better about our key topics.
Remember, when we started this whole process, we were focused on the following process:

We recognized that sin had broken everything about the world around us. But most of all it, broke and distorted our view of God.

We don’t know whether God is there, and if he is there, whether he cares about us. We don’t know if he’s good, we don’t know if he even likes us.

So as a result of this broken view of God, we then get a broken view of ourselves.

So if we’re not sure if God is good or not or is interested in our well-being or not, we tend to structure our lives around what we think gives us value and worth - mostly God’s stuff, not God himself.
So we try to find value in the approval of others, or in the things we own, the car we drive, the house we live in, the family we’re part of, our stature in the church.
We try to find meaning and purpose in good things, but things that were given to us to draw us to God, not to have them be the goal.

But with a broken view of ourselves, we have a broken and distorted view of other people.

So because we’re not sure if we have value or not, we try to establish value by domineering over other people.
Or we let people walk all over us as we withdraw into our shells, unsure of how to function.

Sin has broken everything about this picture.

But the thrilling news - the gospel - is that in the middle of all of this brokenness, God sent Jesus into this world to teach us who he is.

So all of a sudden, we know how God will respond to the situations we face, because in Jesus, he faced those same situations.
If we get to know Jesus, we’re getting to know God.

And then the process of restoration can begin - when we know who God is, we learn that he does love us, he cares for us, he gives us meaning and purpose.

So then we start to get a right view of ourselves, because we realize we have value and worth to God.
And then we’re able to get a right view of other people, because we understand that they have value to God too.

This process of restoring our perspective is a life-long one.

So that’s why you’ll hear people talk about preaching the gospel to yourself after you’re saved - remembering where you came from, who God is, how he loves you, and what that means for how you live right now.

What we’ve been seeking to do in this class is learn how Jesus responded to all kinds of people to learn the gospel - to learn how he sees us when we’re broken.
Next semester, we’re going to begin working through more of the application side - what does the gospel mean for how I talk to other people, how I pray, how I consume media, how I view the world.
But first, I want us to take another look at the gospel-centered life by looking at two guys who show us the wrong ways to live.

Three Ways to Live

Tim Keller is a pastor in New York City and has written some fantastic books. But one thing he focuses on in one of his studies is this concept of three ways to live.
He proposes that basically we all have three ways we can structure our life: religion, irreligion, and the gospel.
I’ll define these terms for us.

First, irreligion is pretty easy to define. This is a system of life that basically says we don’t care what God says about this world, or that no God exists, so therefore I’m just going to live however I want to.

This is the Outback Steakhouse approach to life: “No rules, just right.”
An irreligious person says I’m going to do whatever I want to do to make myself feel good.
We all know people like that - pretty straight forward.

Second, religion is also relatively easy to define, but it may not be what you think. A religious person is someone who follows rules (unlike the irreligious) but with the goal of gaining the approval of some deity.

So this is a person who looks at the world and says, I’m afraid God will judge me if I don’t do this, so I’m going to follow God’s law.
It’s the Jewish individual who follows the minutiae of the Ten Commandments and the Law.
It’s the Muslim individual trying to earn favor with Allah by fasting and praying.
It’s the indigenous person trying to do the right dance to please the rain gods or the sun god.
And it’s the Christian who thinks that they can just get God to be happy with them if they follow all the Biblical principles they know.

A good name for this is moralistic deism - you know God is out there, but you just try to be as moral as you can.
You work hard to be good so that you feel God owes you.
Or you feel like you can’t feel forgiven for a sin until you’ve spent time in misery and pain, beating yourself up.
Or you feel like a failure, basing your acceptance before God on what you’re doing or not doing.

Third, is the gospel. This is the view of life that recognizes that our worth and value comes from the Lord, not from ourselves.

A gospel way of living life recognizes that we not only have to repent for our bad things, but also for the reasons why we did our good things.
It’s living remembering the cross - that the cross stands as that ultimate expression of God’s love to us even on our worst days.

When we’ve had a rough week, he knows that already.
When we’re struggling with the same thing we’ve been struggling with, he knows that already.
When we just keep messing up, he knows that already.

And knowing all of that, Jesus went to the cross for us and earned the approval from God that we could never achieve in our efforts.
We recognize that our righteousness doesn’t come from what we do, but rather from what Jesus has done for us, utterly depending on him for our salvation.

What’s interesting is that Jesus gives us a parable illustrating exactly these ways of living, and we want to look at that to unpack what we’re talking about here.
So turn with me to Luke 15.

The Prodigal

One of the earliest stories we learn in Sunday School growing up is the story of the prodigal son. We all know the story well. The son runs away from home, spends all his money, and yet his father is still willing to accept him back into the family. Yeah, yeah, we all know that one.
But have you ever looked at Jesus’ introduction do that story? Look in verse 11:

“And he said, A certain man had two sons:”

This isn’t just a story about the prodigal son, but rather this is a story about two sons, each of whom had a very different perspective on how to live life.

So let’s delve into son #1, the one we know well in verse 12:

“And the younger of them said to his father, Father, give me the portion of goods that falleth to me. And he divided unto them his living. And not many days after the younger son gathered all together, and took his journey into a far country, and there wasted his substance with riotous living [reckless living]. And when he had spent all, there arose a mighty [severe] famine in that land; and he began to be in want. And he went and joined himself to a citizen of that country; and he sent him into his fields to feed swine [pigs]. And he would fain have filled his belly with the husks that the swine did eat and no man gave unto him :[means, “And he was longing to be fed with the pods that the pigs ate, and no one gave him anything”]. And when he came to himself, he said, How many hired servants of my father's have bread enough and to spare [plenty of food], and I perish with hunger! I will arise and go to my father, and will say unto him, Father, I have sinned against heaven, and before thee, And am no more worthy to be called thy son: make me as one of thy hired servants.”

So what happened to this boy?

He decided he wanted to live his own way. He left with a lot of money in hand, and lived it up. He was at all the clubs, wearing the best-looking outfits, drinking it up, dancing, partying with a group of friends. He was the guy buying the drinks and food - “don’t worry guys, I’ve got this round.” And that worked great until he spent his entire fortune.
His friends abandoned him, and all of a sudden all the good times just disappeared. He was so desperate for food that he went to feed pigs out in a field - and for a Jewish man, pigs were unclean. This is like the ultimate “Dirty Job” on the show about disgusting jobs.
And he was still so hungry that he wanted to eat what the pigs were eating.
He comes to his senses - and realizes that every slave who works for his dad has plenty of food, and he’s starving to death.
So he hatches a plan - I’m going back to my dad, and going to apologize and ask if I can just be one of his dad’s hired servants.

So let’s pick up what happened when the father saw him in verse 20-24. This is one of the most beautiful pictures of God, and the only time God is in a hurry in the Bible - to welcome home the son that was lost:

And he [the son] arose, and came to his father. But when he was yet a great way off, his father saw him, and had compassion, and ran, and fell on his neck, and kissed him. And the son said unto him, Father, I have sinned against heaven, and in thy sight, and am no more worthy to be called thy son. [he can’t finish his speech before his father interrupts him] But the father said to his servants, Bring forth the best robe, and put it on him; and put a ring on his hand, and shoes on his feet: And bring hither the fatted calf, and kill it; and let us eat, and be merry: For this my son was dead, and is alive again; he was lost, and is found. And they began to be merry [old word that means they began to celebrate].

The father runs out to meet his son, doesn’t let him finish his speech before welcoming him back into the family, and this father, picturing God, throws the biggest party his family has ever seen, welcoming this son back - he was lost, and now he’s found.

Ok, so we all know about son #1. He was the bad kid. He obviously was living his life according to irreligion - he disregarded all the rules and did things his own way.

What did he need? This son needed to have his fellowship restored with the father.
And the father restored him - he ran out to him, and welcomed him back into fellowship.
We know that the Lord loves those who are living in irreligion and is ready to restore them back to fellowship.
So that’s those who live in irreligion.

The Elder Son

Now, what about son #2? The guy who always gets overlooked?

Let’s pick up the reading in verse 25:

Now his elder son was in the field: and as he came and drew nigh [got close to] to the house, he heard music and dancing. And he called one of the servants, and asked what these things meant. And he said unto him, Thy brother is come; and thy father hath killed the fatted calf, because he hath received him safe and sound. [So this servant shares the news of this big party]
And he was angry, and would not go in: therefore came his father out, and entreated him. And he answering said to his father, Lo, [the older son is saying, Look here,] these many years do I serve thee, neither transgressed I at any time thy commandment: and yet thou never gavest me a kid [not a child - a young goat], that I might make merry with my friends: But as soon as this thy son was come, which hath devoured thy living with harlots, thou hast killed for him the fatted calf. [So you just see this outpouring of anger from the older son about the way the father treated him and about his younger brother]
[What does the father do?] And he said unto him, Son, thou art ever with me, and all that I have is thine. It was meet that we should make merry, and be glad: for this thy brother was dead, and is alive again; and was lost, and is found.

And we don’t know what happens to the older brother - we don’t know what he decides.

I’m going to propose to you that this older brother represents the way of life of religion.
Let’s think about this. What do we learn about this older brother besides he couldn’t stand his younger brother? It tells us about the life of a religious person in their relationship with God.

The older son was still outside the house.

Just like the younger son, the older son was outside fellowship with the father. He wasn’t inside or part of what was happening, and actually refused to go inside the house to be part of what was happening with his family.
Just like the younger son, the father had to intervene to do something about the son, to reach out to him.
The father went out to him to try to reach him and talk to him.

The older son became angry.

First thing we’re told about the older son is that he was angry when he heard about the younger brother returning. He was filled with anger.
Why, though? Often anger can come when we have this feeling we’ve talked about here that God owes us something.
The idea is that we’ve done what God wants us to do, and so then he owes us something, whether that’s health, a car, money, a good family, or anything else.
Then when we don’t get it, we get angry. We get angry that God hasn’t given us what we want. We either get angry at him for not giving it to us, or we get angry at ourselves for not living up to whatever standard we envision we need to live up to in order to make God happy and have him give us what we want.
So the older brother was angry at the thought of working for years and never getting from God what he thought he deserved.

The next thing we learn is that the the older son says he’s been working for the father for years, doing exactly what he’s supposed to do.

The older son complains that he’s been working for the father for years, but what he’s been doing is mechanical obedience. I served you for years, and never even once transgressed your commandment - he’s saying I’ve always done exactly what I’ve supposed to do.
But you hear the spirit in which he’s saying this? It’s been mechanical obedience - I do exactly what I’m told. It’s joyless obedience.
Instead of feeling like a son, he feels like a slave because there’s no joy in obeying the father but instead it’s just going through the motions.
The older son is just bitter about the way he’s been living because he’s trying to please the father mechanically, without any real joy in how he’s living.

Next, the older son complains about the father never throwing him a party - that’s the basic translation. I’ve obeyed, but you’ve never given me a goat to kill and party with my friends.

What we see here is that there’s no joy and festiveness in the relationship between the older son and the father.
What the older son lacks is the assurance of the father’s love for him. He’s not sure if the father loves him, because he’s been working and working and working, and obeying and obeying and obeying, but still he’s not sure if the father loves him or not in spite of that.
He’s been working so hard to earn this approval, and he still doesn’t have it.
The older son just isn’t sure whether he’s “made it” in his relationship with the father. He’s still living in this relationship of trying to earn approval from the father.

Then the older son refers to the younger son as “this son of yours.” He’s his brother, but he calls him this son of yours.

The older son can’t even bring himself to admit that his younger brother was even part of the family.
He’s been doing so good in his obedience that he feels superior to his younger brother.
Remember, this is the guy who’s been working so hard compared with the son who has been partying it up. He feels he’s right to feel superior because he’s been living better all the way around.
Also, he’s not looking to his younger brother coming back with hope, but instead he’s seeing the whole situation with hatred - hatred for his younger brother.
Instead of welcoming him home, he’s furious at the younger brother, and refuses to welcome him into the family.

Finally, the older son accuses the younger son of squandering the father’s living with prostitutes.

The older son can’t even be happy that the younger son is back - all he can see is all the wrong the younger son has done.
The younger son obviously made a great decision by returning. But the older brother doesn’t see that. He’s just looking down on his younger brother with a judgmental, unforgiving spirit.
Instead of recognizing that he could be in the same position as his younger brother except for God’s grace, the older brother says I would never do that!
He has no humility to say I’m no different than my younger brother.
Now, the younger son spending the inheritance means that the older brother’s inheritance will be less, but again, he doesn’t know he’s loved by the father. So he can’t say I’m so loved, it doesn’t matter if I’m wronged by my younger brother.

So the older brother has been living for years trying to gain the approval of the father, and yet still isn’t sure he has it.
He’s living a “religious” life - he’s living trying to gain approval instead of resting in what has already been done.

Gospel Living

So if these are the two wrong ways of living, what is gospel living?

Gospel living recognizes that I can’t ever earn favor with God by what I do, just like I can never be free if I live without regard for what God wants.
That’s the centrality of the cross - Jesus loved us when we were his enemies - we hadn’t done anything to earn his favor and yet he died for us, to pay the penalty so that we could live in a relationship with God where we’re freed from this eternal attempt to try to earn God’s favor.
Gospel living recognizes that our approval by God is not based on what we do - we can never do enough to earn God’s approval.
But our approval before God is all about what Jesus has already done for us.

We stand in Jesus’ approval before God.
We don’t stand in our own works, because just as we’re saved by grace through faith plus nothing else, so we are made more like Jesus by grace through faith plus nothing else.

Now, it would be very easy to assume that based on this, we’re free to do whatever we want, because Jesus has already done everything we need.

But that would be a misunderstanding of grace - Paul tells us that it’s a misunderstanding of grace to assume we can live however we want.
When people learn about grace, they tend to go into the extremes of license or legalism - basically religion or irreligion.
Neither one reflects the grace of Jesus given to us.

So if neither of those are our motivation, what is motivation for obedience in this context?

We want to delight the Lord who saved us

The Lord who saved us delights in us. Unlike the older son who had no joy in his relationship with the father, we should have joy in our relationship.
We don’t obey because of mechanical obedience or joyless obedience, but instead we obey because we want to bring happiness to God.
God is so thrilled as we grow in obedience, just like parents are thrilled as their children begin to grow up and make right decisions.

Second, we want to honor and resemble the Lord

Jesus has set the ultimate example for us, he showed us how to live life on this earth as he designed for it to be lived.
We should want to honor and resemble the way he lived, so that’s another reason why we obey what he’s designed.

Third, we want to walk in fellowship with God

A rich and growing relationship with the Lord should be a priority for all of us.
We should want to walk closer and closer with him - that’s what real life is.
When we’re walking in fellowship with God, we’re walking in that fuller, richer life that God originally designed for all of us to have.
Sin hinders our fellowship with God, and then we’re unable to continue growing in our relationship with God.

When we’re living a gospel life, we’re going to be running to God with our problems, not running away from him.

One of the marks that we’re living in a religious or irreligious approach to life is that we’re running away from God to clean ourselves up first.
When we’re walking in a gospel life, we’re going to be like the prodigal son, heading to the father, and the father will come running to meet us.

This is a life-long process, because we’re always struggling with these things - our hearts tend to pull us back.

But as we learn to walk with Jesus, we’re going to be deeper and deeper in our individual walks and learn more and more about him.

I’m so grateful to have walked with all of you through this semester, and I’m looking forward to continuing the study next semester.

What we want to start to do next week as we move into the new semester by looking at some of the “how” of living as a Christian.
So, for example, prayer will be topic number one - we’ll learn some things about grace-driven effort that is apart from us trying to earn good performance in our prayer life.

Any thoughts or comments on this week and gospel living - this is a challenging topic for all of us for sure.