Exodus 21:28-36 Control Your OX (if you don’t control your ox, you’re in trouble)
- Years ago, guy down the street had a dog that would sit outside my car when got home
- Told him to hold up his dog, or get rid of it bc he could get sued. Was rescue- got rid of
- In America and in this scripture- you are held responsible for your actions.
- Last week we talked about the punishment of the wicked- you cheered. Lets talk about you
- None of you have oxen, some dogs, but you all have a responsibility before God for your actions
- Some people believe that they wont be held accountable and they have no free will
- I’d like to show you this week why you do have free will and you’ll be held accountable.
- Here’s the crux- God cannot cause sin while also holding individuals accountable for it,
- God’s Nature: holy, righteous, and cannot be associated with sin (Ha 1:13; 1 Jn 1:5; Psalm 5:4).
- Humans: have free will and are responsible for their choices (Dt 30:19; Jos 24:15; Gal 6:7).
- Source of Temptation: Temptation comes from human desires, not from God (James 1:13-14).
- Accountability: Individuals will be judged for their actions (Ro 14:12; 2 Co 5:10; Ecc 12:14).
- God’s Holiness and Righteousness
- The Bible consistently teaches that God is holy and cannot be associated with sin or evil.
- Habakkuk 1:13: “You are of purer eyes than to behold evil, and cannot look on wickedness.”
- 1 John 1:5: “God is light and in Him is no darkness at all.”
- Psa 5:4: “For You are not a God who takes pleasure in wickedness, nor shall evil dwell with You.”
- God’s nature is pure and separate from sin. it is incompatible with His character to cause individuals to sin. He cannot be the ultimate source of love and Good and the author of evil
- John Chrysostom (347-407 AD): “Let us not therefore blame God, nor fate, nor necessity, nor others, but ourselves, for if we are willing, He will make us upright.” (I share bc historical christ)
- Theophilus of Antioch (2nd C AD): “Neither, then, let us lay the blame on God, nor the law, nor on our own creation; but, if we do anything evil, let us impute it to our own voluntary choice.”
- 1 John 1:5: “This is the message which we have heard from Him and declare to you, that God is light and in Him is no darkness at all.”Deut 32:4: ” a God of truth and without injustice; righteous and upright is He.”Psalm 92:15: ” there is no unrighteousness in Him.”1 Cor 14:33: “For God is not the author of confusion but of peace, 2 Peter 3:9: ” is longsuffering toward us, not willing that any should perish but that all should come to repentance.”
- There is nothing about God that is evil. There is no sin in him. It is impossible for him to sin or to be the source of sin. JC Said- House divided will fall- same God blessing, not cursing
- If this were not so, there would be no reason for spiritual warfare, prayers for protection, asking God to heal, fix a situation. It would be like a gov releasing a virus and then selling you the cure.
- “you’re doing this to me and then punishing me for it?” Entrapment. Handing your own kid drug
- God Does Not Tempt or Cause Sin The Bible explicitly states that God does not tempt anyone to sin. It is very clear. It does not need to be interpreted or explained.
- James 1:13-14: “Let no one say when he is tempted, ‘I am tempted by God’; for God cannot be tempted by evil, nor does He Himself tempt anyone. But each one is tempted when he is drawn away by his own desires and enticed.”
- James clarifies that temptation and sin originate from human desires, not from God.
- St Augustine (354-430 AD): “God gave us free will, not that we might forsake Him, but that we might follow Him.” Cyril of Jerusalem (313-386 AD): “If you will, you can keep the commandments and they will bring you life. If you will not, they will bring you nothing.”Lactantius (250-325 AD): “But because God did not wish to impose necessity on man in regard to his conduct, and because there is in man voluntary choice and his own power, God has placed good and evil in man’s power to choose.”
- Why do I Share you thoughts from early theologians? Those that were closest in time and distance to the earliest disciples, reiterate Clearly what the Bible teaches.
- These guys weren’t creating new theologies and directions for Christianity- just living
- Human Free Will and Moral Responsibility WHY RESP. FOR OX but NOT Ourselves?
- Scripture clearly that humans have been given free will to make choices, and they are held accountable for those choices. To not believe this, you must rip pages out of the Bible
- Many people do not like this idea of free will and moral responsibility, scares them.
- I cannot be perfect, that’s why I must rest in Jesus as my perfection. But the perfection of Jesus covers my sins and mistakes, not my ongoing disobedience and disregard to the clear edicts of Scripture. Like this- (Dangerous). One night you get drunk. Forgiven. Live as a drunkard and state God’s ok? Ongoing sexually immoral relationship, porn, lying, thieving etc and say God approves
- Genesis 2:16-17: “And the Lord God commanded the man, saying, ‘Of every tree of the garden you may freely eat; but of the tree of the knowledge of good and evil you shall not eat, for in the day that you eat of it you shall surely die.'” Deut 30:19: “I have set before you life and death, blessing and cursing; therefore choose life, that both you and your descendants may live.”Joshua 24:15: “Choose for yourselves this day whom you will serve.” Galatians 6:7: “Do not be deceived, God is not mocked; for whatever a man sows, that he will also reap.” Job 4:8 (NKJV): “Even as I have seen, those who plow iniquity and sow trouble reap the same.”
- What these verses describe is the human will choosing to perform an action for a result
- You have all experienced this in your life. You are placed with a choice- will I or wont I
- I like to use easy examples- Last week- eating too much. Swam for one hour. Both my choice
- No one was making me do it. I dressed myself. I moved my arms. I would inherit the outcome of my choices by my lack of other choices. You experience free will every day. (we have sinned)
- If God is controlling it all, he’s not doing a very good job of controlling you and your actions
- He would cause all to attend, serve, give, fellowship, control their mouths hands and feet
- You choose what you will wear, live, listen to, read, hang out with, eat, work, spend, think
- And you can testify to the fact that you have made choices that you knew were wrong and did not care. You just gave in- Ask for forgiveness later, make amends, fix it. (get a new job w alarm)
- This is Bible- Isaiah 1:19-20: “If you are willing and obedient, you shall eat the good of the land; but if you refuse and rebel, you shall be devoured by the sword”; Revelation 22:17: “And the Spirit and the bride say, ‘Come!’ And let him who hears say, ‘Come!’ And let him who thirsts come. Whoever desires, let him take the water of life freely.” Romans 10:9 “That if you confess with your mouth the Lord Jesus and believe in your heart that God has raised Him from the dead, you will be saved. Galatians 5:13: “For you, brethren, have been called to liberty; only do not use liberty as an opportunity for the flesh, but through love serve one another.”
- Free will is abundantly an observable fact. If not- Holocaust, Slavery, Abortion, all from God
- You want others to be held accountable for their actions? If you don’t believe this, don’t come against God and your disobedient Kids. Give them matches and stay out of God’s way
- YOU SAY THIS- “where are the parents” “where’s a cop” BC you know actions come from MAN
- Justin Martyr (100-165 AD): “We have learned from the prophets, and we hold it to be true, that punishments, chastisements, and rewards are rendered according to the merit of each man’s actions. Otherwise, if all things happen by fate, then nothing is in our power. For if it is predestined that one man be good and another evil, then neither is the one meritorious nor the other to be blamed.”
- Irenaeus of Lyons (130-202 AD): “Man is endowed with the faculty of distinguishing good and evil, and he has the power to choose the one or the other. Otherwise, he would not be a free agent.”
- Tertullian (160-225 AD): “I find, then, that man was constituted free by God. He was master of his own will and power…Man is free, with a will either to yield to his impulse or to resist it.”
- Origen (184-253 AD): “This also is clearly defined in the teaching of the Church, that every rational soul has free will and choice…There is nothing that is deprived of freedom of will.
- Accountability and Judgment
- Scripture teaches that individuals will be judged based on their own actions. They are free will moral agents and are held accountable for their moral choices. People go to Hell or Heaven.
- Ro 14:12: “So then each of us shall give account of himself to God.” 2 Cor 5:10: “For we must all appear before the judgment seat of Christ, that each one may receive the things done in the body, according to what he has done, whether good or bad.” Eccl 12:14: “For God will bring every work into judgment, including every secret thing, whether good or evil.”
- The honus isn’t on me to over explain simple commands of scripture. “give an account to God” “According to what he has done” “Bring every work into Judgment” it on them to discount them
- People used to say “The Devil made me do it”, but you were involved.
- What kind of diabolical God creates an angel that rebels, infests his creation, causes them to sin, God gives people no escape from their actions, sends them to Hell on the actions they can’t overcome? Let’s all just give up. Why did Jesus want them to “teach them to obey” if God was the only one controlling all the inputs? WHY ACCOUNT FOR OX BUT NOT OURSELVES???
- Matt 12:36: ” they will give account of it 1 Pe 4:5: “They will give an account to Him” Heb 4:13: ” to whom we must give account.” Rev 20:12: ” the dead were judged according to their works,.” Gal 6:7: ” a man sows, that he will also reap.” Pr 24:12: ” will He not render to each man according to his deeds?” Jer 17:10: ” to give every man according to his ways, according to the fruit of his doings.” Ro 2:6: “Who ‘will render to each one according to his deeds’:” Gal 6:5: “For each one shall bear his own load.” Ezekiel 18:20: “The soul who sins shall die. The son shall not bear the guilt of the father, nor the father bear the guilt of the son. The righteousness of the righteous shall be upon himself, and the wickedness of the wicked shall be upon himself.” Galatians 6:4: “But let each one examine his own work” Pro 4:23: “Keep your heart with all diligence, for out of it spring the issues of life.” 1 Cor 3:8: ” each one will receive his own reward according to his own labor.”
- Do you know why I read these lists of scriptures? I do it all the time in my preaching
- One– I want you to see that it is multiple times that a thought is clear in the Bible. To come against a clear repetitive theme and teaching in the Bible you have to do some big hermeneutical gymnastics. I want you to see that God is consistent throughout time
- Two- These sermons go online. Notes are online. I want to show I’m not taking one scripture out of context and making it say what I want it to say “in the mouth of 2-3 witnesses”
- there is a Necessity for Taking Control of Your Own Spiritual Life and Practice
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- Jesus has saved you and set you free from the law of sin and death. And if you’ve been set free you know it. And you take control of the controllables in your spiritual life.
- In Church- Different types of people- 1. The saved- If you’re saved, people hear preaching like this, and they say “I’m with you, I’m doing that” no resistance. 2. The Saved but struggling “I need to get more involved in my walk w Jesus. I need this preaching 3. The saved but walking in disobedience “I don’t need to do anything 4. The unsaved and wondering “JC Does it for you”
- Because that’s the thing- Taking control of your own life is holding on tightly to the throne
- Its not you doing it in your own strength, you’re doing it in the strength of the Holy Spirit
- Philippians 2:12: ” work out your own salvation with fear and trembling.” 2 Peter 1:5-7: “But also for this very reason, giving all diligence, add to your faith virtue, to virtue knowledge, to knowledge self-control, to self-control perseverance, to perseverance godliness, to godliness brotherly kindness, and to brotherly kindness love.” 1 Timothy 4:16: “Take heed to yourself and to the doctrine..” James 1:22: “But be doers of the word, and not hearers only, deceiving yourselves.” Colossians 3:23-24: “And whatever you do, do it heartily, as to the Lord.” Matthew 6:33: “But seek first the kingdom of God and His righteousness, and all these things shall be added to you.” 1 Cor 9:24 “Do you not know that those who run in a race all run, but one receives the prize? Run in such a way that you may obtain it.” Heb 12:1-2: ” let us lay aside every weight, and the sin which so easily ensnares us, and let us run with endurance the race that is set before us, looking unto Jesus, the author and finisher of our faith.”
- THAT’S IT RIGHT THERE- We receive the power of the HS in our lives, we look to Jesus and through this power to make sound moral choices that please him because he changes us
- The fact you struggle is the greatest indication that you’ve been redeemed. You’re getting there.
- Ephesians 5:15-16: “See then that you walk circumspectly Col 3:1 ” seek those things which are above” 2 Timothy 2:15: “Be diligent to present yourself approved to God James 4:8: “Draw near to God and He will draw near to you. “
- Get involved in your spiritual life. Walk in the spirit and you will not satisfy the lusts of the flesh
- 1 Pe 1:13-16: “Therefore gird up the loins of your mind, be sober, and rest your hope fully upon the grace that is to be brought to you at the revelation of Jesus Christ; as obedient children, not conforming yourselves to the former lusts, as in your ignorance; but as He who called you is holy, you also be holy in all your conduct, because it is written, ‘Be holy, for I am holy.'”
- Stories of Failure
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- Adam and Eve (Ge 3) Not to eat from the tree Failure: ate the forbidden fruit,
- Cain (Ge 4) To master sin and not let it control him. Failure: Killed his brother
- King Saul (1 Samuel 15) completely destroy the Amalekites Failure: Saul spared King Agag
- Jonah (Jonah 1-4) go to Nineveh and preach against its wickedness Failure (initially): Jonah tried to flee but He eventually obeyed
- Ananias and Sapphira (Acts 5:1-11) be honest about money-They lied and had sudden deaths
- Stories of Success
- Joseph (Genesis 37-50) remain faithful and responsible in all circumstances. Success: Despite being sold into slavery and imprisoned, Joseph remained faithful to God. He rose to become the second most powerful man in Egypt, saving many lives during a famine.
- Moses (Exodus 3-4, Numbers 12) lead the Israelites out of Egypt and follow God’s commands.
- Success: Moses successfully led the Israelites out of Egypt and received the Ten Commandments from God,
- Daniel (Daniel 1-6) remain faithful to God while in exile in Babylon. Success: Daniel consistently demonstrated integrity and faithfulness, whether interpreting dreams, surviving the lion’s den, or adhering to dietary laws, and he was repeatedly honored by the kings he served.
- Ruth (Ruth 1-4) remain loyal and responsible to her mother-in-law, Naomi. Success: Ruth’s loyalty and diligence led her to be redeemed by Boaz, Esther (Esther 1-10) risk her life by approaching the king to save her people. Success: Esther’s courage and sense of responsibility led to the salvation of the Jewish people from Haman’s plot to destroy them.
- God has given you instructions and you must run your race. Grace abounds, but get involved
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