Reformed Theology

Well, it is indeed a great privilege to be here with you tonight. It is always a great privilege to be here at this conference. I'll never forget the first time I came to this conference back in two thousand and six, and I've only missed a few of them since two thousand and six. Today is the second anniversary of our move to Lusaka, So we've lived here now for two years today and are grateful to the Lord for all of that time. Tonight, as we think about this year in particular, and as we think about our reformed heritage, as we think about what happened October thirty first, fifteen seventeen, five hundred years ago and what it ignited, I want us to think about that in the context of what it meant and what it continues to mean for those in desperate need of the Gospel. And if you're a Christian, that's where you were. You stood in desperate need of the Gospel. Whether you knew it or not, you stood in desperate need of the Gospel. If you're here tonight and you're not a believer, you stand in desperate need of the Gospel. And I've often thought, especially recently about Martin Luther himself the man. There were many who contributed to our Reformed heritage, but again that particular moment that spark that ignited think about his context. Here is a man who wanted to know God, a man who wanted to serve God. He was a god fearing man. And when I say a god fearing man, oftentimes when we say you know fear, we're talking about reverence. No, Martin Luther was a god fearing man. He was afraid of God. He was brought up in a religion that taught him to be afraid of God. And he became a monk because again, maybe maybe that could bring him closer to God. You take special vows, a vow of poverty, because because again maybe that will make you closer to God. Doing away with the things of the world, living in isolation of our chastity, making a vow that that you will forego the love of a woman, that you will forego the privilege of fatherhood, maybe that will make you more godly. The things that he ate, that he ate, the prayers that he would attend, the clothes that he would wear, because of course, wearing these particular clothes would signify his godliness and would make him more godly. But none of it, none of it made him more godly. Studied the scriptures in Hebrew and Greek, he studied theology, he studied history. He read until his eyes hurt and his brain went numb, and it didn't make him more godly. It just made him more afraid. He was caught in this endless cycle, this endless circle, in this religion of fear, where there was no good news, and all of a sudden, because one man wanted to be a double bishop in Germany, wasn't enough for him to be the bishop of one territory, want to be the two territories. You can't be the bishop of two territories. However, Rome is building Saint Peter's at the time, and they need boat lane loads of money millions upon millions upon tens and hundreds of millions of dollars in order to build that facility. So they allow a man to break the rules if he will pay enough money. And John Tetzel comes to town, famous fundraiser, and what does he use to raise the money to buy the second territory that this bishop is not supposed to be able to buy. But he can only buy because Rome needs boatloads of money to build Saint Peter's. He uses fear, the same fear that characterized Martin Luther's religion. One of the tactics he would use as he went from town to town raising money, as he would put his hand over a flame, even burn himself. People would scream out he was selling indulgences, plenary indulgences. Now you could get indulgences for a variety of different activities. You could go and visit holy sites, and that could knock time off purgatory for you, because again, this religion of fear never ever allows you to rest in God's justifying grace. Righteousness has to be infused to you. Think about it as though you're you're filling up with righteousness, but you're never completely full. And then every time you do something wrong, you lose some of the righteousness that had filled you up, and you go to the priest. You perform the seven sact, working to fill yourself up with righteousness, but knowing that every time you think something wrong or do something wrong, that full that you have goes back down. And of course the most important of these sacraments is extreme function last rights, because when you die that's the priest's last opportunity to fill you up with as much righteousness as possible and cut off as much time of suffering and purgatory as possible. You see, because when you die, you have to finish paying for your sins, because Christ's payment was not enough. You could go visit the Holy Land and you could get an indulgence. You can knock off thousands of years off purgatory. You could go and visit famous relics, pieces of boom from John, the Baptist stones that David used to kill Goliath. He's only five, but by the time you visited all the relics that had his stones, that were hundreds, crawl up the steps of great cathedrals fear, fear, fear. But the ultimate indulgence was the plenary indulgence. This is an indulgence that absolves you of all your sin. But here's the problem with the plenary indulgence. If I get a plenary indulgence today and I'm full done with purgatory, finish with purgatory before I go to sleep tonight, I've added on a thousand years or so. But Tetzel wasn't selling plenary indulgences for you. Tetzel was selling plenary indulgences for your dead relatives. Do you love your grandmother, sir? Do you love your auntie man? Your brother died, your sister died. Do you love them? Do you love them? They're in agony right now, Hand over flame. They're in agony right now in purgatory. And you can release them because whenever a coin in the coffers ring a soul from purgatory springs. This is what Luther watched, his own religion of fear, and these people who were practicing this religion of fear, who constantly came to the men dressed in the holy clothes so that they could just be given a little bit more righteousness infused into them, so that they could alleviate some of their future punishment that they look forward to. And now this fear was being used so that they could raise money so a man could be a bishop twice, so that Rome could build Saint Peter's Cathedral. And that was it. That was enough, that was enough, And all of a sudden there is a transformation that takes place. We all know. He's reading the Book of Romans, and he reads the righteous, the just shall live by faith, and it's a radical idea. It was a radical idea then, but it's a radical idea now. But I want you to think about it in the context of the fear based religion that consumed not only Luther but everyone, everybody. He knew, even today. It was on a flight not long ago, coming back from the States on Ethiopian airways, and you know, this, this priest, this got on the plane, this Coptic priest got on the plane. And I mean it just you know, he walks on and the flight attendants see him, and they come and they're kissing his ring, and you know, he's taking out his little you know, crucifix and doing his little thing, you know, and just give me some of what you have because you wear the holy clothes, and the holy clothes means you're a holy man. And I can't get to God, but I can get to you, and maybe you can help me to get to God. Luther's holy clothes actually weren't holy at all, and they did nothing. He knew he was a ruined center. His vows did nothing. He knew he was a ruined ciner, His works did nothing. We would be embarrassed if you knew how long he spent in prayer. If you knew how often he went to vespers, if you knew, if you had any if you could just spend one day doing what he did, you couldn't. And yet he was ruined. He was ruined and to the Gospel center, Free ay Man. And that's the gospel that we're stewards of. And I want us to see that tonight and that context with that backdrop. If you have your Bibles with you, all want you to open to the Book of Titus, and I want you to see this radical departure from the religion of fear to the good news of the Gospel. We're gonna look at Titus one one all the way to Titus two one because I want you to see a pattern, and then I want to talk about what that pattern communicates. What we're going to see as we read this is a frame. Actually there's a two part frame here. There is a picture of faith, truth, and godliness on the one hand, and at the end of the frame there is a picture of a life that's not godly because it does not have faith and it does not have truth. And in the middle of it there is the call to appoint elders who exemplify the first and who confront the second. Look with me, if you will, beginning of verse one, Paul, a servant of God and an apostle of Jesus Christ, for the sake of the faith of God's elect and their knowledge of the truth which accords with Godliness, in hope of eternal life with God who never lies, promised before the ages began, and at the proper time manifested in his word through the preaching with which I have been entrusted by the command of God, our Savior. So there's movement number one. We see faith in this truth that leads to godliness. And then we see the proclamation. Paul's ministry was proclamation of this truth that leads to godliness, of the faith of God's elect. That's the first movement. Now look at the second movement to Titus, my true child in a common faith, that same faith that he spoke of earlier. Grace and peace from God, our Father and Christ, Jesus our Lord, our Savior. This is why the town, as I directed you, if anyone is above, reproach the husband of one wife. Now we're talking. This is a picture of godliness. We're talking about here the husband and one wife children are believers and not open to the charge of debauchery or insubordination. For an overseer, as God's steward, must be above reproach. He must not be arrogant or quick tempered, or drunkard, or violent or greedy for gain, but hospitable, a lover of good, se control, upright, holy and discipline. And now we end the second movement just like we ended the first movement, after a discussion of righteousness. He must hold firm the trustworthy word as taught, so that he may be able to give instruction in sound doctrine and also rebuke those who contradict it. The second movement closes with proclamation. Now the third movement, again, Paul opens up with his preaching of the faith that in the truth that leads to righteousness, that leads to godliness. With his commitment to the proclamation of this truth. This second movement, he says, you need to find men number one whose lives are marked by this truth, and secondly, who are committed to teaching this truth and also rebuking those who don't teach and live in accordance with this truth. Now we get to the third movement, beginning of verse ten. For there are many who are insubordinate, empty talkers, and especially those of the circumcision party. They must be silenced. You've got I'm going to preach. You need to find men who are going to preach. These men need to be silenced, since they're upsetting whole families by teaching for shameful gain what they ought not to teach. One of the Cretans, a prophet of their own, said, Cretans are always liars, evil beasts, lazy gluttons. This testimony is true. Therefore, rebuke them sharply that they may be sound in the faith. So we see faith in a minute. We ought to see what truth right, not devoting themselves to Jewish myths and the commands of people who turn away from the truth. We've seen faith, We've seen truth. Now we ought to see what godliness right. To the pure, all things are pure, But to the defiled and unbelieving, nothing is pure. But both their minds and their consciences are defiled. They profess to know God, but they deny him by their works. They are detestable, disobedient, unfit for any good works. That's their lack of godliness. They lack faith, they lack truth, and because of that, they lack godliness. And then we close the frame on the other end, Chapter two, verse one. But as for you, teach what accords with sound doctrine, I teach. Find elders who will teach you. Teach. I teach, find elders who will teach you. Teach. In the middle of these two we have the picture of what this teaching is designed to do. This is what we must juxtapose with Luther's religion of fear. It's easy for us to look at Rome then and now and argue that it's just for selfish gain, or it's just for power, it's just for whatever. The fact of the matter is he is a well meaning people for the most part, who want to know God, and they believe that the way to know God is through this religion of fear. The way to know God is by going to holy men who wear holy clothes, so that they can give you from God that which you need. But they're wrong, and they're lost, and they're afraid, and they're in bondage, and there is another way. Amen, Let's look at these three movements, if we will. First, let's look at the apostle Paul and the theological convictions upon which he builds his instructions to Titus Paul, a servant of God and an apostle Jesus Christ. For the sake of the faith of God's elect and their knowledge of the truth which accords with godliness. The goal here is godliness. This is a radical idea. Where does godliness come from? Well, godliness comes from wearing the holy clothes, or going to the ones who wear the holy clothes and doing what they tell you, and doing the religious rites that they put before you or perform on you. That's where godliness comes from. Godliness comes from the things that I do. But that's not the gospel. This is not the gospel that Paul preached. This is a radical idea for the sake of the faith of God's elect and their knowledge of the truth which accords with godliness. This gospel just shall live by faith. Our righteousness comes from the Gospel. Our righteousness is by faith. Our righteousness is an alien righteousness. It is not our own. I am not made righteous by the things that I do. I am made righteous by the declaration of God, who, looking at the things that Christ has done, imputes them to me actually righteous and perfect. And that's what's imputed to me. In his passive obedience. He received in himself the penalty that was due to me for my unrighteousness. So my sin was imputed to him in his passive obedience. And it is this double imputation, this imputation of my sin to Christ and Christ's righteousness to me, that makes me righteous. It doesn't infuse righteousness into me. It is a declaration from God himself, and it produced is righteousness in me. It makes me positionally righteous immediately and actually righteous progressively through sanctification. Amen, somebody let me bring some Pentecostals up in here and teach y'all. How huh. There is no better news in the world than that you live in fear. Men, live in fear. We want to be right with God. There's one who made you right with God. He took your sin to the cross. He lived the righteous life that you could never live. God has declared your righteous, positionally your righteous. You are actually being made righteous through sanctification. There is no better news. There is no better news. And for those who are not in Christ, there is no worse news, because what are you trying to do? What are you trying to do? What are you trying to do through your religion? What you're trying through your religion is you are trying to accomplish yourself what Christ has already accomplished. And you're trying to convince God of that which only He can declare upon you. And on your best day, your motives are impure. On your best day, it's not good enough. And so the Martin Luther in all of us comes to this with fear and trepidation. You know what's wrong with this? What's wrong with this is we spend our entire lives believing and desire that we can make ourselves righteous, that we can make ourselves acceptable to God. And the Gospel comes and says Jesus already did it. And our immediate thought is, Ah, that's going to lead me to lawlessness. What's going to keep me from lawlessness? How about the spirit that raised Christ from the dead. And you're attending to the ordinary means of grace on a regular basis, so that you can be reminded of this gospel again and again and again. Amen, He says, for the sake of the faith of God's elect and their knowledge of the truth which accords with godliness. Why is the Reformation important? Folks? If their knowledge of this truth is that which accords to godliness, with godliness, and there's some falsehood being sold to them in the name of making them godly, then they're actually working themselves in the opposite direction of God's righteousness. Which God who never lies? What a phrase, Which God who never lies? I mean, we know that, right, but sometimes you just need to say it. Which God who never lies promised before the ages begin and at the proper time, manifested in his word through the preaching with which I have been entrusted by the command of God, our Savior. That's what he preached. That's why he preached. That was his life, knowing, walking in and proclaiming faith in the truth which leads to godliness. Faith in the truth which leads to godliness. And this is the truth that was recovered in the Reformation. Now in this Second Movement, look in the Second Movement to Titus, my beloved child in a common faith? In what faith? That same faith he just talked about, faith in truth at least to godliness, faith in the Gospel that saves grace and peace from God, our Father and Christ Jesus, our Savior. This is why I left you in creed, so that you might put what remained in order and appoint elders in every town as I directed. Who are these men and why are they appointed? It has everything to do with the continuation of the work to which Paul was both called and committed. Look at what he says here. First, there is a godliness that's produced, right, this faith faith in the truth, which accords with godliness. So the first thing you want is men who have been who have embraced that, who have been embraced by this faith in the truth, which leads to godliness. So you ought to see godliness right If anyone is above reproach the husband and one wife's children are believers. That's actually a rather unfortunate translation of the word epistas or faith. The idea there is that he has children who are faithful children. And there are a number of reasons that that is the right way to interpret this or to translate it. This, not the least of which is the fact that Paul explains what he means in the next phrase not open to the charge of debauchery or insubordination. But more importantly, elders don't save their children. Amen. Somebody would that we could. Amen. Oh, how we all wish that we could, but we don't. But we don't. There are children who were saved in spite of us. Amen. How many of us don't. Don't don't raise your hands, don't raise your hands. But how many of us are born again believers walking in holiness and righteousness and serving the Lord in spite of the fact that we have parents who were leading in the opposite direction. So does our godliness now qualify them for eldership? You see? The idea here is about the elder who lives and leads in godliness. Amen. So he starts with his home. With his home, he leads it in godliness in his home. For an overseer, as God's stewart, must be above reproach. The repetition of this idea, which is the overarching idea, being above reproach is not being perfect. Amen. Perfect man can't teach you anything. Jesus can, but other than him, Right, can you imagine having a perfect pastor faster? I'm just really struggling lately. I have no idea what that's like. Faster, Can you give me some advice on how we can work through these marital problems. Marital problems, what are those faster? This one child? I just I don't even know that this one is really You have a child that you have to pray real hard for. Wonder what that could be like. No, that's not That's not what this text is about. Because faith in this truth that leads to godliness is about this declaration of righteousness that makes us positionally righteous immediately and actually righteous progressively over time through sanctification. Amen, we are being sanctified. We have not been perfected. We will be and we look forward to that. Amen. But it's not today better today than yesterday, better tomorrow than today. He must not be arrogant, quick tempered, or drunkard or violent, greedy for gain, but hospitable, a lover of good, self controlled, upright, holy and discipline. And so we had this picture of godliness being manifested in his home. Now we have this picture of godliness being manifested in his character. And finally is godliness that's manifested in his teaching. First, he must hold firm to the trustworthy word as taught. You won't teach what you don't believe. You won't teach what you don't believe. He must hold firmly to the trustworthy word as taught. Why is that important? Well, if you go back up, what does Paul say for the sake of the faith of God's elect and their knowledge of the truth which accords with godliness. If it's their knowledge of that truth which accords to Godliness that we are trying to build in our teaching, then we must be committed to familiar with, and not waiver from that truth which accords with godliness. He must hold firmly to the trustworthy word. He has to. He has to, because first of all, you won't teach what you don't believe. And second of all, that's what God's elect need, that's what the saints need, that's what we thrive on. That's where our life is, that's where our hope is. So he must turn hold firmly to that so that he may be able to give instruction in sound doctrine and also to rebuke those who contradict it. We don't like this. We don't like this. We don't like this, I mean, in general, we don't like this. I thought in America we didn't like this, exam. You really don't like this. Ooh, confrontation. Don't like that, you see, because there's an eleventh commandment, and the eleventh commandment is thou shalt be nice, and we don't really believe the other ten right, and this right here just doesn't sound nice that you would go around rebuking people for their errors. That doesn't sound godly. Look at the next part of the text, and he explains why the third and final movement of the text. For there are many who are insubordinate, empty talkers, deceivers, especially those of the circumcision party. It's the circumcision party. These are the Judaizers. These are the individuals who are adding to the gospel. These are the individuals who has Paul writing the Book of Galatians where he doesn't even use his ordinary greeting because he's so upset. These are the individuals who are saying, well, we were Jews and then the Gospel came to us. If you want in, you've got to become Jews first. You have to be circumcised first. These are the people who has Paul up in arms, who essentially says to these Judaizers and they're attempting to get those who are non Jews to be circumcised. I hope you miss wow. I thought he was a godly man. Yes he was. And you read the Book of Galatians, and you see how hot under the collar a godly man can. Yet, when the gospel is being profaned and it's being abused, and when people are being led away from the gospel, back toward the slavery of the law that Christ kept and fulfilled so that He might make us positionally righteous and then progressively actually righteous. And this was ceremonial. This wasn't don't commit adultery, don't murder, this wasn't the transcendent moral law. They must be silenced, since they are upsetting whole families, teaching for shameful gain what they ought not to teach. It's interesting when he starts with the elders and their qualifications, where does he start and their families? Now, when he starts with the opposition, where does he start families. One of the Cretans, a prophet of their own, said, Cretans are always liars, evil beasts, lazy gluttons. Again, contrast this with the character of the elder. This testimony is true. Therefore, rebuke them sharply that they may be sound in the faith. I love this. I love this. I don't know about you, but I need this. I need this rebuke them sharply so that they may be sound in the faith. When I was a new believer again, I've told you many times, I didn't grow up in the church. I didn't grow up around Christians or Christianity. Was raised by a single teenage Buddhist mother. First time I heard the Gospel, I was in university, and I'll never forget. There was some teammates of mine at university. These are guys who were discipling me. And somebody had come to my apartment and knocked on the door, and you know, wanted to talk about God and all this sort of stuff. Well, I went back and I told him about these guys that came and talked to me. I said, but something was just a little off. And they said, well, did they have name tags? What name tag? Yeah, a little black name tags, Elder so and so. Nope, he goes. They looked at each other at the same time, they went on Jehovah's witnesses. How do you know, trust me, we know if it wasn't the Mormons name tags, it was a Jehovah's witnesses. And so they told me a bunch stuff about Jhovah's witnesses. I went to the library. I spent more time in the library that week than I had spent in the library my whole time in college studying for anything else. I could not believe what I was reading. I couldn't believe that anybody believed this stuff. They came back and I was read, d oh, come on in. We sat down and away we went. You were talking about this. Actually, don't you believe this? You were talking about that. Actually, don't you believe that the Bible says this? How can you believe that? What you know? I mean, after a while, these people are well, you know, we gotta you know, we can ask about that for you, and you know, maybe we can bring you back some literature or something. Who look, at the time, we just and they were gone. So I go back the next day and I tell the guys they came back. He said, really what happened? Man? It was ugly. It was ugly. I wore them out, and one of them, Brett Napton. Brett Napton, looked at me and said, do you think they'll ever come back? And I said no way. He said, what a pity and walked away. Huh h that was that was Brent brother. Can we can we can we talk about this? He just left me alone to think about it. Later on that day I went and I sat with him, and I said, I get what you were saying. I was concerned about winning an argument, not a soul. I was concerned about being right and embarrassing somebody. Listen to this again. They must be silenced. They're upsetting whole families, teaching for shameful gain what they ought not to teach. Verse thirteen. This testimony is true. Therefore, rebuked them sharply that they may be humiliated and never come talk to you again. Rebuke them sharply that they may be sound in faith. That's your goal, that's your goal. That's always our goal. Rebuke them sharply that they may be sound in faith. I don't want people to just know that they're wrong. I want them to know what's right. Amen. Well, we saw faith now not devoting themselves to Jewish myths and the commands of people who turn away from the truth. He's not just pointing out that they don't have faith in the truth. That leads to godliness. He's going back to the first paragraph and essentially saying, my goal and desire for the elect includes those among this group of people who perhaps are part of that same number, but they're currently deceived to the pure. All things are pure, but the defiled and unbelieving. Nothing is pure, but both their minds and their consciences are defiled. They profess to know God, but they deny him by their works. They are detestable, disobedient, unfit for any good work. This is the exact opposite of the character of the elder. But notice the emphasis here. Why does the elder have the character he has faith in the truth that leads to godliness. Why do they lack the character a lack of faith, a lack of truth which always leads to a lack of lie godliness. So what's the summary? Chapter two, verse one. But as for you, teach what accords with sound doctrine? Teach appointment? Who will teach teach? Or in other words, I teach appointment to teach you teach? I teach Why faith in the truth that leads to godliness? Appoint men to teach? Who men with faith in the truth that leads to godliness and evidence in their life thereof and a need to rebuke those who don't have faith in the truth that leads to godliness, with you toward them having faith in the truth that leads to godliness. And as for you, why you're in the midst of this entire process, don't forget teach what accords with sound doctrine. Move down and look in chapter three, and I'll close with this because again, remember what I said earlier. We come from this place of fear and the religion of fear, and all of us want to God and be able to say I did it, I did it. I stayed away from this, I stayed away from that. I committed to this. I committed to that. I did it. And especially if you were rooted and grounded in a religion of fear, you hear the Gospel and you get scared because you're wondering, what's going to keep me fearful? What's going to keep me in line three beginning in verse four, But when the goodness and loving kindness of God, our Savior, appeared, he saved us not because of works done by us in righteousness, but according to his own mercy by the washing of regeneration and renewal of the Holy Spirit, whom He poured out on us richly through Jesus Christ, our Savior, so that, being justified by His grace, we might become heirs according to the hope of eternal life. The saying is trustworthy, and I want you to insist on these things, so that those who believe in God may be careful to devote themselves to good works. These things are excellent and profitable for people. No contradiction whatsoever in Paul's eyes. None none. There is this washing of renewal in the generation. There is this gospel, and we are saved. We are declared righteous. Christ died for sin, once for all, the just, for the unjust, in order that He might bring us back to God. This double imputation takes place. God looks at us, and we are righteous. And don't forget that the same spirit that raised Christ from the dead is the one who awakened you, who quickened you, who renewed you, who opened your eyes, who applied redemption to you, and who keeps you. It's interesting there is still diligence when you understand the gospel, but the diligence changes if you grow up in a religion of fear. Your diligence is I have to have my list of things that I do so that I can assuage my own guilt before God. You come to embrace the Gospel, you have a different diligence. You know what it is. I must remind myself again and again and again that my righteousness is in Christ. My righteousness is in Christ, My righteousness is in Christ. It will remind yourself of the Gospel. You have to be as diligent of reminding yourself of the Gospel as you were of reminding yourself of the things that kept you from your fear. You know the difference on Martin Luther's side. Put on holy close, he went and lived in the Holy Place, He took the holy vows, he studied the holy writ, he did the holy things. He didn't do the unholy things. And his entire life was a mess because none of it subdued the sin and wickedness in his heart. Ah. But when he became obsessed with the Gospel, he took off the holy clothes, he stopped living in the Holy Place, he gave up the holy vow, took a wife a man. Hallelujah, praised the Lord. And it was only then that he was free from his fear. Only then. Listen. Adultery was wrong over there. Adultery is wrong over here. Murder was wrong over there. Murder's wrong over here. Stealing was wrong over there, Stealing was wrong over here. We're not saying that as believers, somehow the Gospel gives us the freedom just to sort of run toward those things that we've always known were wrong. Here's what we're saying. Murder and adultery and theft abides in here. And religion of fear can keep me from putting my hands on another man's wife, but not my eyes in my heart. It can keep me from putting my hands in your pocket, but it won't keep me from coveting what you have. It'll keep me from killing you, but it won't keep me from hating you. And the religion of fear has me constantly, constantly worrying about these things because I'm not doing them, but I am them. And there's nothing that I can do or avoid to make me not be those things. But the Gospel, when we have faith in the truth that leads to godliness, the perfect righteous one imputes his righteousness to me, and I am declared righteous because of that, And the spirit that raised him from the dead applies that to me and grows me in that. He changes my want to. Huh, he changes my want to, He changes the inner man, He changes who I am, not just what I do. And the fear he's gone. Oh, we love it. Are you afraid today? Are you still walking and living in religion fear today? Are you still spending every waking moment trying to harness and gather enough strength to keep you from pursuing your wicked thoughts and desires? Are you fearful and frustrated because you keep the rules but they don't change your heart? Is that you There is a better way. In fact, your way is no way at all. It's the way of destruction. It's the way of death. There is good news, and the good news is all we like sheep and God astray. Each of us had turned to his own way. But God hath laid upon him the iniquity of us all. God made him, who knew no sin, to be sin for us, so that we might become the very righteousness of God. In him, just shall live my faith love it. Please do not leave here clinging to the religion of fear, but flee to Christ. Plead with God to change your heart. Plead with God to open your eyes. Plead with God to free you from the bondage that you're living in. And don't let him go. Don't let him go. Let's pray.