WEBVTT - Wired for Belonging 0:00:00.050 --> 0:00:02.489 Well, good morning. Thank you for tuning in as we 0:00:02.690 --> 0:00:07.130 introduce a brand new series of conversations today. We are 0:00:07.240 --> 0:00:11.459 kicking off a little series called Wired, and we're thinking 0:00:11.500 --> 0:00:14.660 about maybe how you got to be who you are. 0:00:14.680 --> 0:00:18.360 How did you get to be who you are? What 0:00:18.380 --> 0:00:21.240 do you think about it? Do you consider it? Do 0:00:21.260 --> 0:00:25.090 you think it over? As early as Aristotle, there was 0:00:25.120 --> 0:00:28.640 an idea that we are all just blank slates. When 0:00:28.680 --> 0:00:31.840 we're born, there's really nothing to us, but our environment, 0:00:31.900 --> 0:00:37.840 our upbringing, our circumstances will all write our personalities into existence. 0:00:38.729 --> 0:00:42.430 John Locke brought that concept and idea into the 17th 0:00:42.450 --> 0:00:46.790 century and B.F. Skinner brought it into the modern era 0:00:46.830 --> 0:00:50.010 in the 20th century. You've probably heard it discussed in 0:00:50.050 --> 0:00:54.770 these terms. Is it nature or nurture that causes people 0:00:55.250 --> 0:00:58.030 to be who they are? On the other hand, There's 0:00:58.050 --> 0:01:03.600 the ever-popular Popeye the Sailor Man approach, which clearly states, 0:01:03.800 --> 0:01:07.140 I am what I am, and that's all that I am. 0:01:08.520 --> 0:01:10.960 That idea stretches all the way back to Plato. I 0:01:11.880 --> 0:01:16.870 was born this way, and I'm not changing much. In 0:01:16.890 --> 0:01:20.970 the 19th century, the philosopher Schopenhauer gave us what is 0:01:21.090 --> 0:01:25.960 called essentialism as a way of understanding human character. Essentialism 0:01:26.000 --> 0:01:28.800 basically says, I am what I am and I don't change. 0:01:28.860 --> 0:01:33.240 It argues that objects and people have a fixed, unalterable 0:01:33.319 --> 0:01:38.040 core essence that defines them. And that perspective suggests that 0:01:38.459 --> 0:01:43.100 your fundamental nature is innate, permanent. It's immune to transformation. 0:01:43.160 --> 0:01:46.440 You were made this way. You were born this way. 0:01:47.400 --> 0:01:51.760 Somewhere between those extremes is probably a truer experience than 0:01:51.820 --> 0:01:55.510 most of us have of life. We can change. We 0:01:55.550 --> 0:01:59.110 do come with hardwiring. There are personalities. If you've had 0:01:59.160 --> 0:02:02.280 more than one child, you know this already, that they 0:02:02.380 --> 0:02:06.540 come with a distinct personality. And if you just have one, 0:02:06.600 --> 0:02:10.560 you may think that you're really shaping that personality. And 0:02:10.600 --> 0:02:14.040 you are. But when you have another one, then you go, oh, 0:02:14.660 --> 0:02:16.510 this is going to take a whole different kind of shaping. 0:02:17.050 --> 0:02:22.230 We can change. We are formed by our environment and experiences. 0:02:23.410 --> 0:02:27.460 Changing is hard work. And we may need help. And 0:02:27.560 --> 0:02:31.600 as we grow and as we mature, even that kind 0:02:31.639 --> 0:02:35.660 of help, it has to take into account how we're wired, 0:02:35.760 --> 0:02:40.880 how we came equipped with a personality and a core essence. 0:02:42.200 --> 0:02:46.679 And so that matters. That somewhere we understand, yes, we 0:02:46.820 --> 0:02:53.640 are born with a specific personality. And yes, we do 0:02:53.700 --> 0:02:57.239 grow and change. in the course of our lives and 0:02:57.280 --> 0:03:01.880 are impacted by the people around us. The Bible seems 0:03:01.919 --> 0:03:05.160 to acknowledge those two ideas. It suggests that we are 0:03:05.240 --> 0:03:08.710 indeed made for something, that we are specifically gifted to 0:03:08.750 --> 0:03:12.829 be who we are. 1 Corinthians 12 talks about the 0:03:12.889 --> 0:03:15.030 body and how God has arranged it just as He 0:03:15.110 --> 0:03:21.210 wants it, suggesting that God has given people personalities, abilities, talents, gifts, passions, 0:03:22.230 --> 0:03:27.149 And then puts them into relational situations where they are 0:03:27.370 --> 0:03:30.130 allowed to use. I say this often to couples who 0:03:30.169 --> 0:03:33.410 are in premarital. You are not compatible, but you are complementary. 0:03:34.150 --> 0:03:37.190 I'm not sure opposites attract, but I do think we 0:03:37.210 --> 0:03:40.410 have an innate sense and are drawn to people who 0:03:40.470 --> 0:03:43.880 have strengths that we know we lack. And that kind 0:03:43.900 --> 0:03:47.260 of connects us. So there is a hard wiring that 0:03:47.300 --> 0:03:50.510 goes with us. But then it also speaks of taking 0:03:50.610 --> 0:03:52.690 off the old life and putting on the new life. 0:03:53.980 --> 0:03:56.640 Paul discusses it in detail. In fact, if you just 0:03:56.660 --> 0:03:59.140 want to listen to how this book of Romans finally 0:03:59.220 --> 0:04:05.560 culminates with a big idea, chapter 12, therefore, brothers and sisters, 0:04:05.620 --> 0:04:09.540 in view of God's mercy, present your bodies as living sacrifices, 0:04:09.640 --> 0:04:12.369 holy and pleasing to God, which is your reasonable act 0:04:12.410 --> 0:04:15.730 of spiritual worship. And don't conform any longer to the 0:04:15.770 --> 0:04:18.990 pattern of this world, but be transformed by the renewing 0:04:19.050 --> 0:04:21.910 of your mind that you can prove what God's will is, 0:04:21.990 --> 0:04:25.839 is good and pleasing and perfect will. So there is 0:04:25.900 --> 0:04:29.660 this very clear idea that we are equipped and gifted, 0:04:30.120 --> 0:04:33.640 but we're also invited to grow and change and mature 0:04:34.320 --> 0:04:38.810 and be transformed and having our minds changed and renewed. 0:04:40.130 --> 0:04:42.779 So let's talk a little bit about the book of Romans, 0:04:42.860 --> 0:04:46.650 from which we'll talk over these next few weeks. The 0:04:46.670 --> 0:04:50.510 book of Romans is very unique. Some people say it's 0:04:50.529 --> 0:04:53.270 the very best writing of Paul in the New Testament. 0:04:53.450 --> 0:04:56.049 It would be hard to argue that. The language itself 0:04:56.170 --> 0:05:00.570 is very polished, and the ideas, the theology presented is 0:05:00.650 --> 0:05:04.620 deep and powerful. Some call it Paul's Summa Theologia, the 0:05:04.660 --> 0:05:09.159 summation of all of his theology. Paul, whose Jewish name 0:05:09.200 --> 0:05:15.710 was Saul... was a child of privilege, coming from evidently 0:05:15.750 --> 0:05:19.729 a wealthy family. He had quite the education. He was educated, 0:05:19.770 --> 0:05:22.610 we're told, from Gamaliel, who was one of the top 0:05:22.650 --> 0:05:26.000 teachers in the world at the time, and he could 0:05:26.040 --> 0:05:30.020 afford an education at that level. He became a member 0:05:30.080 --> 0:05:35.650 of the Pharisees, that ruling party in Judaism. The group 0:05:35.690 --> 0:05:39.730 that were legalistic wanted everything to be just right, to 0:05:39.770 --> 0:05:43.210 abide by every small element of the law. The belief 0:05:43.270 --> 0:05:46.100 was that if everyone would abide by the law, then 0:05:46.540 --> 0:05:51.779 God would come and deliver Israel from Roman rule. And 0:05:51.800 --> 0:05:53.620 Paul was a Pharisee. In fact, he said of himself, 0:05:53.660 --> 0:05:57.560 he was a Pharisee of the Pharisees. According to the law, 0:05:57.620 --> 0:05:59.700 he said he was faultless. He kept all the rules. 0:06:00.630 --> 0:06:04.430 And he saw Christianity as a very dangerous threat to Judaism. 0:06:04.970 --> 0:06:07.470 that it was a spinoff of Judaism. But those that 0:06:07.510 --> 0:06:10.950 believe that this Jesus of Nazareth was the promised Messiah 0:06:11.040 --> 0:06:15.039 were a danger. And he actively took place in persecuting 0:06:15.220 --> 0:06:19.600 and killing Christians in the early church. In fact, we're 0:06:19.640 --> 0:06:21.740 told in the book of Acts that he was on 0:06:21.880 --> 0:06:26.120 his way to Damascus, still breathing out threats against the church, 0:06:26.180 --> 0:06:28.040 that he was on his way there to deal with 0:06:28.080 --> 0:06:31.180 some people, to throw them in prison, to persecute them 0:06:31.460 --> 0:06:37.190 and prosecute them. When he saw a vision from heaven, 0:06:37.230 --> 0:06:38.969 a bright light that knocked him off his horse, and 0:06:38.990 --> 0:06:41.150 he had a conversation with Jesus. Now, he would claim 0:06:41.730 --> 0:06:45.150 that he was an apostle. By definition, apostles are those 0:06:45.190 --> 0:06:49.000 who were physically with Jesus, who knew Jesus in his 0:06:49.040 --> 0:06:51.840 time on earth. Paul would say he was an apostle 0:06:51.940 --> 0:06:55.600 born out of time, born unnaturally. He never saw Jesus 0:06:55.860 --> 0:06:58.900 alive on earth, but he saw him in this vision 0:06:59.320 --> 0:07:03.040 on the road to Damascus, and he changed. He converted. 0:07:03.770 --> 0:07:06.330 And what a dramatic change. He went from persecuting the 0:07:06.370 --> 0:07:10.590 church to being one of its strongest advocates. He became 0:07:10.630 --> 0:07:16.290 a missionary to the non-Jewish world. Over in Rome, there's 0:07:16.310 --> 0:07:19.090 been a Jewish community, a strong Jewish community since around 0:07:19.090 --> 0:07:24.470 63 BC. That's when Pompey annexed Israel and he took 0:07:24.510 --> 0:07:27.920 captive a number of Jewish slaves and took them back 0:07:27.950 --> 0:07:32.880 to Rome. And the Rome community of Jewish people began 0:07:32.900 --> 0:07:36.120 to By the writing of this letter, it's almost 100 0:07:36.120 --> 0:07:40.260 years old. And things have gone kind of interesting there. 0:07:41.190 --> 0:07:46.989 This group of Jews in Rome have established synagogues. They've 0:07:47.010 --> 0:07:50.590 gone about their Jewish life. You can still today visit 0:07:50.630 --> 0:07:53.880 the Jewish ghetto where the Jewish community lived for hundreds 0:07:53.890 --> 0:07:57.270 and hundreds of years. Still a Jewish community today. And 0:07:57.570 --> 0:08:00.840 so something begins to happen in the early part of 0:08:00.880 --> 0:08:04.060 the first century in that Jewish community in Rome. Nobody 0:08:04.100 --> 0:08:07.920 knows who founded the church in Rome, but historians speculate 0:08:08.140 --> 0:08:11.560 that there were some Jews in Israel, in Jerusalem, at 0:08:11.610 --> 0:08:15.510 the time of the Passover, when Jesus was crucified and 0:08:15.530 --> 0:08:18.910 then resurrected, and that on the day of Pentecost there 0:08:18.950 --> 0:08:23.330 were Jews present when The Holy Spirit was given and 0:08:23.350 --> 0:08:26.810 the apostles and believers spilled out of the upper room 0:08:26.930 --> 0:08:29.920 and began to teach everyone in their own language. And 0:08:29.960 --> 0:08:32.580 speculation is that some of those Jews who heard on 0:08:32.640 --> 0:08:36.320 that day made their way back to Rome and started 0:08:36.340 --> 0:08:40.110 the church. Some of that speculation is centered around what 0:08:40.150 --> 0:08:43.760 was happening historically in those Jewish communities in Rome. There 0:08:43.800 --> 0:08:48.760 was unrest. There were riots. There were civil uprisings going 0:08:48.900 --> 0:08:52.590 on in the Jewish community. So dramatic was this. One 0:08:53.150 --> 0:08:57.729 Roman historian wrote that the problem in the Jewish community 0:08:57.770 --> 0:09:01.010 was at the instigation of one named Crestus. We believe 0:09:01.050 --> 0:09:05.590 that's a corruption of Christ. That these Jews coming back 0:09:05.670 --> 0:09:10.590 from Israel were introducing this Christian cult, this Jewish cult 0:09:10.690 --> 0:09:14.930 called Christianity. into the synagogues in Rome, and some of 0:09:14.990 --> 0:09:18.150 the Jews believed and some of the Jews rebelled, fought 0:09:18.190 --> 0:09:21.890 against it just as they were doing in Israel. So 0:09:22.090 --> 0:09:26.580 dramatic did this conflict become that Claudius expelled the Jews 0:09:26.910 --> 0:09:30.640 from Rome. That story is held for us historically, but 0:09:30.679 --> 0:09:35.360 it's also recorded in Acts 18. And so the Jews 0:09:35.580 --> 0:09:37.880 who had been a part of the Christian church, they 0:09:37.900 --> 0:09:41.069 were expelled along with all the other Jews. And a 0:09:41.110 --> 0:09:43.610 church in Rome that had been some Gentile and some 0:09:43.670 --> 0:09:47.760 Jewish struggling to figure that all out as the entire 0:09:47.840 --> 0:09:50.760 world is doing in the New Testament. Paul being a 0:09:50.800 --> 0:09:54.520 great advocate for the Gentile world and sharing the gospel. 0:09:54.610 --> 0:09:57.490 Peter coming to believe in the gospel is not just 0:09:57.510 --> 0:10:00.930 for Jews, but it's also for the Gentiles. the early church, 0:10:00.990 --> 0:10:04.050 the Jerusalem Council, all in the New Testament, all recorded 0:10:04.120 --> 0:10:08.560 for us. Kind of the way of the evolution of 0:10:09.240 --> 0:10:12.120 coming to believe that it wasn't all about being a Jew, 0:10:12.200 --> 0:10:14.260 that in fact it was all about God's love for 0:10:14.320 --> 0:10:18.980 all people. And so once expelled, the church in Rome, 0:10:19.020 --> 0:10:24.720 which had been both Jewish and Gentile, got into some conflict. 0:10:25.860 --> 0:10:27.600 When we come back, we're going to continue to unpack 0:10:27.640 --> 0:10:30.830 this story. We'll be right back. Welcome back. You're listening 0:10:30.870 --> 0:10:35.790 to Healing Conversations on KABC 790. I'm Dave Roberts. So 0:10:36.230 --> 0:10:39.710 the church in Rome... Sounds like started from grassroots. We 0:10:39.750 --> 0:10:43.949 don't have a founding personality, a person named. But there's 0:10:43.990 --> 0:10:48.670 a thriving, growing church. Gentiles meeting with Jews in Christ. 0:10:48.720 --> 0:10:52.440 There's no slave or free Jew or Gentile, male or female, 0:10:53.280 --> 0:10:55.780 but all are one in Christ. It's happening in Rome. 0:10:55.820 --> 0:10:59.319 And then Claudius expels the Jews. And five years later, 0:10:59.360 --> 0:11:01.900 they return. And when they come back, they find a 0:11:01.920 --> 0:11:05.780 very different church, a church that's been largely operated and 0:11:05.900 --> 0:11:10.479 functioning today. with the Gentiles. So it's far more Gentile 0:11:10.540 --> 0:11:13.260 and Roman than it was when the Jews left. And 0:11:13.280 --> 0:11:15.800 so there's conflict between the Jews coming back into the 0:11:15.840 --> 0:11:19.250 Christian church in Rome and the Gentiles who have remained 0:11:19.330 --> 0:11:21.390 and kind of been running it and in charge for 0:11:21.410 --> 0:11:24.550 the last five years. And that is the occasion upon 0:11:24.610 --> 0:11:27.550 which Paul, who has longed to come to Rome, but 0:11:27.630 --> 0:11:31.790 never has, but is planning to, sits down in Corinth, 0:11:32.760 --> 0:11:37.050 that city just south of Athens and And he writes 0:11:37.070 --> 0:11:41.329 a long letter to the church at Rome, encouraging them 0:11:42.030 --> 0:11:46.380 to unity, to come back together, to end the divided 0:11:46.700 --> 0:11:50.900 way in which they are thinking and functioning. He has 0:11:50.980 --> 0:11:56.230 three purposes in writing the letter, probably written around 57 AD. 0:11:57.090 --> 0:11:59.550 And that is that he wants them to come together 0:11:59.650 --> 0:12:03.689 and put aside their differences. And he's articulating the power 0:12:03.730 --> 0:12:06.750 of the gospel to look up instead of around. but 0:12:06.809 --> 0:12:09.770 also because he wants to introduce himself and also because 0:12:09.790 --> 0:12:13.020 he wants to prepare them for a visit that's coming 0:12:13.059 --> 0:12:15.450 in the future. As he concludes a letter in Romans 15, 22, 0:12:15.440 --> 0:12:17.300 he says, Paul, in writing this letter, displays an incredible 0:12:17.320 --> 0:12:38.210 amount of transparency. No one's really better qualified to talk 0:12:38.270 --> 0:12:44.550 about bringing division together than Paul. He openly speaks in 0:12:44.850 --> 0:12:49.810 chapter 7 about his own inner life that's so divided. 0:12:49.830 --> 0:12:54.630 It's one of the most famous passages in all of Scripture. 0:12:54.720 --> 0:12:57.109 Here's how a piece of it reads, Romans 7, 15. 0:12:57.080 --> 0:13:02.980 I do not understand what I do. For what I 0:13:03.100 --> 0:13:06.030 want to do, I do not do, but what I hate, 0:13:06.410 --> 0:13:08.949 I do. And if I do what I do not 0:13:09.010 --> 0:13:11.270 want to do, I agree that the law is good. 0:13:12.070 --> 0:13:14.610 As it is, it's no longer I myself who do it, 0:13:14.650 --> 0:13:18.620 but it's sin living in me. For I know the 0:13:18.760 --> 0:13:21.260 good itself does not dwell in me that is in 0:13:21.300 --> 0:13:23.980 my sinful nature. For I have the desire to do 0:13:24.020 --> 0:13:27.100 what's good, but I can't carry it out. And if 0:13:27.360 --> 0:13:29.819 I do not do the good I want to do, 0:13:29.900 --> 0:13:32.040 but the evil which I do not want to do, 0:13:32.100 --> 0:13:35.939 this I keep on doing. Now, if I do what 0:13:35.980 --> 0:13:37.679 I don't want to do, it's no longer I who 0:13:37.740 --> 0:13:39.830 do it, but it's sin living in me that does 0:13:39.900 --> 0:13:42.750 it since I find this law at work. Although I 0:13:42.809 --> 0:13:44.810 want to do good, evil's right there with me. For 0:13:44.830 --> 0:13:47.690 in my inner being, I delight in God's law. But 0:13:47.710 --> 0:13:50.150 I see another law at work in me, waging war 0:13:50.190 --> 0:13:51.910 against the law of my mind and making me a 0:13:51.990 --> 0:13:54.620 prisoner of the law of sin that work within me. 0:13:55.400 --> 0:13:58.380 What a wretched man I am. Who will rescue me 0:13:58.520 --> 0:14:02.360 from this body that is subject to death? Thanks be 0:14:02.440 --> 0:14:05.339 to God who delivers me through Jesus Christ, our Lord. 0:14:05.380 --> 0:14:07.929 So then I myself, in my mind, am a slave 0:14:07.970 --> 0:14:10.650 to God's law, but in my sinful nature, a slave 0:14:10.710 --> 0:14:12.250 to the law of sin. 0:14:13.190 --> 0:14:13.410 Wow. 0:14:13.850 --> 0:14:18.350 That's some honest conversation there. To this divided church, people 0:14:18.390 --> 0:14:22.040 feeling this great passion, Paul writes and makes it very personal. Listen, 0:14:22.080 --> 0:14:24.840 it's not just a division among Jews and Gentiles is 0:14:25.020 --> 0:14:26.900 not just a division in the life of the church. 0:14:26.920 --> 0:14:29.530 There's a division in the world, in the community, but 0:14:29.590 --> 0:14:34.210 inside each one of us, we're wired in certain ways. 0:14:35.030 --> 0:14:38.950 That in us, there's a distinct imprint of God's divine personality, 0:14:38.990 --> 0:14:41.900 and it calls us to live better, to live higher, 0:14:42.040 --> 0:14:47.100 to live for higher purposes. But there's also some other 0:14:47.200 --> 0:14:52.200 forces at work. And so Paul has sought to speak 0:14:52.500 --> 0:14:57.470 clearly about how this all works and what it means. 0:14:58.390 --> 0:15:01.010 And so as he's now gone through seven chapters, let 0:15:01.050 --> 0:15:04.110 me highlight quickly what he's been teaching. Chapter one, Paul's 0:15:04.190 --> 0:15:07.930 introducing his mission. He's talking about the gospel that reveals 0:15:07.980 --> 0:15:12.580 God's righteousness, that it's available to everyone through faith. He 0:15:12.620 --> 0:15:17.020 explains that both Gentiles and the moral world are guilty 0:15:17.600 --> 0:15:21.300 of suppressing the truth of And turning to idolatry, whether 0:15:21.340 --> 0:15:25.840 that's money or sex or whatever it is, other gods, paganism, 0:15:26.260 --> 0:15:29.960 whatever it is. Chapter two. Now he speaks specifically to 0:15:29.980 --> 0:15:33.420 the Jewish believers, saying they possess the law, but that 0:15:33.470 --> 0:15:36.950 doesn't really mean much. That you're supposed to keep the law, 0:15:37.030 --> 0:15:41.030 not just have it. And that God judges all people impartially, 0:15:41.070 --> 0:15:44.170 doesn't care about where they come from or what their 0:15:44.190 --> 0:15:48.310 traditions are, their nationality. but he cares about their deeds, 0:15:48.370 --> 0:15:52.350 what they actually do. And then as he builds the 0:15:52.430 --> 0:15:54.510 argument in chapter three, he says, and so no one 0:15:54.570 --> 0:15:58.290 is righteous. Everyone's fallen short of the standard, but God 0:15:58.430 --> 0:16:01.530 solved the problem because he sent his son to pay 0:16:01.570 --> 0:16:04.600 the price that allows each of us to come into 0:16:04.740 --> 0:16:08.460 a relationship with God. So he doesn't compromise his holiness, 0:16:09.200 --> 0:16:12.700 but he also doesn't compromise his mercy and his love. 0:16:13.380 --> 0:16:18.490 So God remains just as he is. freely justifies broken, 0:16:18.570 --> 0:16:22.330 fallen people. Then in chapter four, he uses Abraham to 0:16:22.390 --> 0:16:26.010 remind them that it's always been about faith because Abraham, 0:16:26.100 --> 0:16:29.900 his righteousness was credited to him because of faith, not 0:16:29.920 --> 0:16:33.480 because of what he did, but because of his trust 0:16:33.820 --> 0:16:38.210 in God. Chapter five, he continues in that conversation about 0:16:38.270 --> 0:16:41.880 justification by faith. that there is peace with God through 0:16:41.920 --> 0:16:45.300 this process, that through Adam, sin came into the world, 0:16:45.340 --> 0:16:50.300 but through Christ came this new deliverance, grace, and abundant life. 0:16:51.390 --> 0:16:54.670 And then in chapter six, he talks about the idea 0:16:54.710 --> 0:16:58.989 of Christians who think, here's an idea because God's full 0:16:59.010 --> 0:17:01.770 of grace. If we sin, then that means God has 0:17:01.830 --> 0:17:04.330 grace for us. So if we sin more, there's more grace. 0:17:04.869 --> 0:17:07.679 And he talks about motive. that we're supposed to be 0:17:07.740 --> 0:17:11.630 growing and maturing. We're supposed to desire to get better, stronger, 0:17:11.690 --> 0:17:16.930 not play games around trying to satisfy both our sinful 0:17:16.990 --> 0:17:22.149 nature and then our higher calling to a spiritual nature. 0:17:22.190 --> 0:17:25.740 And then in chapter seven highlights the weakness that this causes, 0:17:25.780 --> 0:17:32.220 this divided human being. We're hardwired in certain ways and 0:17:32.240 --> 0:17:35.650 we're hardwired to belong. You and I long to love 0:17:35.690 --> 0:17:39.660 and be loved, to know and be known. And somehow 0:17:40.080 --> 0:17:42.440 in the life of the church, we got this message 0:17:42.720 --> 0:17:48.179 about faith shifted from belonging to believing. Most of you 0:17:48.200 --> 0:17:50.170 have been to church. You know how it works. You're 0:17:50.190 --> 0:17:52.649 supposed to believe some stuff. And if you believe enough stuff, 0:17:52.710 --> 0:17:55.070 you're in. And if you don't believe the right stuff, 0:17:55.109 --> 0:17:58.830 you're out. That if we believe, then we have a 0:17:58.850 --> 0:18:02.629 special place of belonging. When Jesus is asked what's the 0:18:02.670 --> 0:18:05.150 greatest commandment in the law, he says you love your 0:18:05.210 --> 0:18:07.190 God with all your heart and you love your neighbor 0:18:07.230 --> 0:18:11.340 as yourself. Well, that's pretty relational stuff. And yet somehow 0:18:11.380 --> 0:18:13.980 we turn that into an idea of just believing. But 0:18:14.020 --> 0:18:18.600 it's not just about believing. Believing matters. It's also about belonging. 0:18:19.400 --> 0:18:22.530 And that's a whole different thing. That's a relational thing. 0:18:23.010 --> 0:18:25.490 That's a different thing. That's a way of being scooped 0:18:25.770 --> 0:18:29.359 up and embraced and cared for. So based on all 0:18:29.380 --> 0:18:33.639 of this division and fighting and truth and Gentile belief 0:18:33.760 --> 0:18:38.159 and idolatry and Jewish belief and the law and feeling 0:18:38.200 --> 0:18:42.080 like favorites and finding ourselves in our inner world divided 0:18:42.140 --> 0:18:46.000 and kind of a mess, Romans 8, this is how 0:18:46.040 --> 0:18:50.220 Paul responds. Therefore, there is now no condemnation for those 0:18:50.240 --> 0:18:53.300 who are in Christ Jesus, because through Christ Jesus, the 0:18:53.380 --> 0:19:01.410 law For what the law was powerless to do because 0:19:01.430 --> 0:19:03.949 it was weakened by the flesh, God did by sending 0:19:03.990 --> 0:19:06.510 his own Son in the likeness of sinful flesh to 0:19:06.530 --> 0:19:09.230 be a sin offering. So he condemned sin in the 0:19:09.270 --> 0:19:11.580 flesh in order that the righteous requirement of the law 0:19:11.630 --> 0:19:13.880 might be fully met in us who do not live 0:19:13.920 --> 0:19:17.090 according to the flesh, but according to the Spirit. Those 0:19:17.109 --> 0:19:19.090 who live according to the flesh have their mind set 0:19:19.150 --> 0:19:21.210 on what the flesh desires, but those who live according 0:19:21.230 --> 0:19:23.050 to the spirit have their mind set on what the 0:19:23.290 --> 0:19:27.619 spirit desires. The mind governed by the flesh is death, 0:19:27.670 --> 0:19:30.580 but the mind governed by the spirit is life and peace. 0:19:31.560 --> 0:19:34.340 The mind governed by the flesh is hostile to God. 0:19:34.400 --> 0:19:36.720 It does not submit to God's law, nor can it 0:19:36.780 --> 0:19:38.760 do so. Those who are in the realm of the 0:19:38.800 --> 0:19:41.260 flesh cannot please God. You, however, are not in the 0:19:41.300 --> 0:19:43.460 realm of the flesh. You're in the realm of the spirit. 0:19:44.080 --> 0:19:47.310 If indeed God's spirit lives in you, And if anyone 0:19:47.330 --> 0:19:49.220 does not have the spirit of Christ, they don't belong 0:19:49.260 --> 0:19:52.780 to Christ. But if Christ is in you, then even 0:19:52.820 --> 0:19:55.180 though your body is subject to death because of sin, 0:19:55.280 --> 0:19:58.600 the spirit gives life because of righteousness. And if the 0:19:58.660 --> 0:20:01.179 spirit of him who raised Jesus from the dead is 0:20:01.220 --> 0:20:03.540 living in you, he who raised Christ from the dead 0:20:03.580 --> 0:20:06.800 will also give life to your mortal bodies because of 0:20:06.859 --> 0:20:10.990 his spirit who lives in you. Therefore, brothers and sisters, 0:20:11.970 --> 0:20:13.840 we have an obligation, but it's not to the flesh 0:20:13.880 --> 0:20:16.000 to live according to it. For you will live according 0:20:16.040 --> 0:20:18.260 to the flesh, you'll die. But if you live by 0:20:18.300 --> 0:20:20.760 the Spirit, you put to death the misdeeds of the body, 0:20:20.780 --> 0:20:23.940 you'll live. For those who are led by the Spirit 0:20:23.980 --> 0:20:25.699 of God are the children of God. The Spirit you 0:20:25.740 --> 0:20:28.869 received does not make you slaves so that you live 0:20:28.910 --> 0:20:32.649 in fear again. Rather, the Spirit you received brought about 0:20:32.710 --> 0:20:38.619 your adoption. And by Him we cry, Abba, Father. The 0:20:38.660 --> 0:20:44.330 Spirit Himself testifies with our spirit that we are God's children. Now, 0:20:44.369 --> 0:20:48.050 for children, then we are heirs, heirs of God, co-heirs 0:20:48.070 --> 0:20:50.590 with Christ, if indeed we share in His sufferings in 0:20:50.630 --> 0:20:55.360 order that we may also share in His glory. This 0:20:55.440 --> 0:20:59.320 is Paul's powerful proclamation of the depths of the gospel 0:20:59.380 --> 0:21:01.400 and why it's supposed to bring us together and how 0:21:01.420 --> 0:21:04.060 it addresses the reality that we're wired in a certain 0:21:04.119 --> 0:21:07.650 way But we're also called to change, to live for 0:21:07.670 --> 0:21:12.250 a higher priority, to reach completeness and maturity. And a 0:21:12.310 --> 0:21:15.170 part of that hardwiring is not just to believe a 0:21:15.210 --> 0:21:19.380 bunch of stuff and act out, but to belong to something. 0:21:20.560 --> 0:21:22.699 When we come back, we're going to unpack that idea. 0:21:22.840 --> 0:21:27.090 We'll be right back. Welcome back. You're listening to Healing Conversations. 0:21:27.160 --> 0:21:31.480 I'm Dave Roberts. We're continuing to think about belonging. So 0:21:31.520 --> 0:21:36.800 here's just four thoughts. Belonging invites us to unity. Paul knew, 0:21:37.060 --> 0:21:39.260 and most of us know, what it's like to feel 0:21:39.380 --> 0:21:42.300 like inside we are Dr. Jekyll and Mr. 0:21:42.359 --> 0:21:42.679 Hyde. 0:21:42.720 --> 0:21:44.820 That some days we want a lot of good things 0:21:44.900 --> 0:21:48.520 and high things and better things and compassion and forgiveness 0:21:48.580 --> 0:21:51.980 and grace and love and peace. And other days we don't. 0:21:52.680 --> 0:21:58.369 We want selfish satisfaction, pleasing ourselves, our side winning, the 0:21:58.420 --> 0:22:02.410 other side losing. But there's something in us that kind 0:22:02.490 --> 0:22:06.210 of divides us. We want to do the nice thing, 0:22:06.310 --> 0:22:09.530 but the temptation to retaliate seems overpowering. We want to 0:22:10.130 --> 0:22:12.970 say the right thing, but the wrong thing is much 0:22:13.030 --> 0:22:17.090 more fun. We fail. We feel shame. We live in 0:22:17.170 --> 0:22:20.270 conflict in our own inner world. And how does God 0:22:20.330 --> 0:22:23.630 respond to this conflicted double life? There is now no 0:22:23.930 --> 0:22:27.360 condemnation for those who are in Christ Jesus. That when 0:22:27.380 --> 0:22:30.600 we go, I don't like this and I confess it. 0:22:31.480 --> 0:22:35.479 We're forgiven and empowered and invited to grow out away 0:22:35.580 --> 0:22:40.240 from that divided life into something bigger. And as we 0:22:40.280 --> 0:22:45.129 become less divided inside of ourselves, less shame, less guilt, 0:22:45.230 --> 0:22:52.270 less fear, less anger, we become much better in belonging 0:22:52.410 --> 0:22:57.610 to each other. And that brings unity. Unity in our culture, 0:22:57.630 --> 0:23:01.010 in our world, in our home, in our family. Belonging 0:23:01.619 --> 0:23:08.120 brings unity. Number two, belonging invites us to perspective. Every day, 0:23:08.200 --> 0:23:10.699 our world is filled with a perspective that puts the 0:23:10.740 --> 0:23:21.550 pathway to happiness along the road of power, prestige, acquisition, winning, indulgence, wealth, pleasure, domination, satisfaction. 0:23:21.850 --> 0:23:25.530 We want to be satisfied. We want to be happy. 0:23:25.609 --> 0:23:28.780 We want to be indulged. And that's kind of the 0:23:28.820 --> 0:23:31.420 message we receive. And it starts unrest in us. We 0:23:31.500 --> 0:23:35.040 start to believe that we've got to go out and conquer. 0:23:35.060 --> 0:23:37.760 We've got to go out and acquire. We've got to 0:23:37.900 --> 0:23:40.419 spend the life of building and building and building and 0:23:40.460 --> 0:23:43.880 trying to get enough. And Paul says, listen, you don't 0:23:43.900 --> 0:23:48.550 have to live with that perspective. You can understand this. 0:23:49.430 --> 0:23:52.689 That mindset leads to death, not just physical death, but 0:23:52.730 --> 0:23:58.070 emotional death, relational death, death in your inner world. you know, 0:23:58.170 --> 0:24:02.619 psychological death. Some of us start to feel just utilitarian. 0:24:02.680 --> 0:24:04.700 All I do is go to work and come home 0:24:04.740 --> 0:24:08.520 and pay the bills. And so he's invited to something else, 0:24:09.660 --> 0:24:12.590 a perspective that sees life as a gift, that we 0:24:12.630 --> 0:24:16.370 do our best, that it's all about relationship, that we're 0:24:16.410 --> 0:24:20.890 supposed to live in the spirit where the natural outcome 0:24:20.970 --> 0:24:23.430 is love and joy and peace and patience and kindness 0:24:23.470 --> 0:24:26.219 and gentleness. And what's fascinating to me is we live 0:24:26.240 --> 0:24:29.540 in a world that promotes the idea. Man, we want peace. 0:24:29.600 --> 0:24:31.740 We want to get along. We want everybody to love 0:24:31.780 --> 0:24:35.920 each other. But the means is lacking. And Paul says 0:24:36.080 --> 0:24:39.540 you can live a life in which the perspective is 0:24:39.580 --> 0:24:41.760 that we are to love God and love others as 0:24:41.800 --> 0:24:46.220 we love ourselves. This belonging invites us to perspective. It 0:24:46.240 --> 0:24:49.960 also invites us to priority. So many of us, if 0:24:50.000 --> 0:24:52.560 we said, what is life about? We kind of live 0:24:52.619 --> 0:24:56.320 on a hamster wheel. We grow up, we decide we've 0:24:56.340 --> 0:24:59.080 got to choose this or that because we've got to 0:24:59.119 --> 0:25:01.520 make a certain amount of money. If we get the breaks, 0:25:02.400 --> 0:25:04.840