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Faith or Sin?

Rom 14:22-23

C:\DATA\JAM-OLD But Good\NEW YEAR99.JAM..wp December 27, 1998

22 The faith which you have, have as your own conviction before God. Happy is he who does not condemn himself in what he approves.

23 But he who doubts is condemned if he eats, because {his eating is} not from faith; and whatever is not from faith is sin. (NAS)

22Hast thou faith? have it to thyself before God. Happy is he that condemneth not himself in that thing which he alloweth.

23And he that doubteth is damned if he eat, because he eateth not of faith: for whatsoever is not of faith is sin.

(KJV)

22So whatever you believe about these things keep between yourself and God. Blessed is the man who does not condemn himself by what he approves.

23But the man who has doubts is condemned if he eats, because his eating is not from faith; and everything that does not come from faith is sin.

(NIV)

Introduction The verses before this text talk about eating

meat that had been offered on the altars of pagan gods. Paul says we know these so called gods are not gods so they could have no effect upon the meat. He further states if someone is offended we should abstain for eating that kind of meat.

Look at verse 21 It is good not to eat meat or to drink wine, or {to do anything} by which your brother stumbles. So causing a brother to stumble is not an act of faith. We are to live by faith.

We ate told 3 times in the New Testament the Just shall live by Faith. As a means of personal inventory did you live by faith this past year? What did you really do that required faith? Many times what we call faith is little more that a calculated risk. As we approach 1999 I challenge you to make some definite commitment to walk by faith. Our text tells us if we do not walk by faith we sin. It says “. . . whatever is not from faith is Sin.”

1. It Is Sin If Circumstances

Rule Rather than Biblical Convictions.

22 The faith which you have, have as your own conviction before God. Happy is he who does not condemn himself in what he approves.

Intro: Difference between a conviction and a preference, according to the U.S. Supreme Court.

A preference is a very strong belief, held with great strength. You can give your entire life in a full-time way to the service of the preference, and can also give your entire material wealth in the name of the belief. You can also energetically proselytize others to your preference. You can also want to teach this belief to your children, and the Supreme court may still rule that it is a preference. A preference is a strong belief, but a belief that you will change under the right circumstances. Circumstances such as: 1) peer pressure; if your beliefs are such that other people stand with you before you will stand, your beliefs are preferences, not convictions, 2) family pressure, 3) lawsuits, 4) jail, 5) threat of death; would you die for your beliefs?

A conviction is a belief that you will not change. Why? A man believes that his God requires it of him. Preferences aren't protected by the constitution. Convictions are. A conviction is not something that you discover, it is something that you purpose in your heart (cf. Daniel 1, 2-3). Convictions on the inside will always show up on the outside, in a person's lifestyle. To violate a conviction would be a sin. David C. Gibbs, Jr. Christian Law Association, P.O. Box 30290, Cleveland, Ohio 44130

A. We are to have Personal Convictions. v 22 a

“. . . The faith which you have . . . “

B. We are to have Penetrating Convictions. v 22 b

“. . . have as your own conviction before God . . . “

C. We are to have Preventing Convictions. v 22 c

“. . . Happy is he who does not condemn himself in what he approves.”

D. Some of My Personal Convictions. Non-Negotiable

1) Bible is the Word of God.

a. Inerrant,

b. Infallible,

c. Inspired.

d. I vote for all of the above

Illustration Billy Graham (1918- )

A compass is narrow-minded-it always points to the magnetic north. It seems that is a very narrow view, but a compass is not broad-minded. If it were, all the ships at sea and all the planes in the air would be in danger. We must discipline ourselves, personally, to fight any deviation from the course Jesus set for us. We cannot be tolerant of any other course. To deviate is to sin.

2) I have a Conviction about the Triune God.

a. Father

b. Son.

c. Holy Spirit.

3) I have a Conviction about Salvation.

a. Is In Jesus Christ Alone.

b. No Plan “B”

c. My description of my Salvation,

1) From the Song Book.

2) “Amazing Grace”

3) My God Is Real

d. All the way with Jesus or you won’t go.

e. Man without Christ they are going to Hell.

4) I have a Conviction about Church

a. Gathered and Scattered.

b. Local Body of Baptized Believers.

5) I have a Conviction about The Holy Spirit

a. Baptizes (immerses all believers)

b. Fills all believers

c. Continues to fill all who seek to walk with Him.

d. Empowers the tongue.

e. If you can’t or won’t witness you are not filled with the Spirit.

6) I have a Conviction about Baptism.

a. By Immersion into a local fellowship of believers.

b. It is important because Jesus commanded it.

7) I have a Conviction about Marriage.

a. Do all to advance the cause of marriage.

Illustrations

Chuck Windowsill will not marry a couple who are intimately involved sexually unless the stop that involvement until after their marriage. I say Amen.

Jim Cymbala in his book “Fresh Wind Fresh Fire tell the story of a couple coming forward in the church service wanting prayer for their relationship. Jim asked them at the invitation time are you living together? After their shock the woman said yes. Jim said not much sense in me praying for you if your not going to stop that relationship and live in different homes. The man wanted to leave but she said okay I do want you to pray. They now have a fine marriage.

8) I have a Conviction about the Definition of Family.

a. Two professors at Southwestern Seminary resigned rather than sign the amended SBC articles of faith. See Conclusion.

Ball Player’s girl friend would not live with him.

Illustration BreakPoint Commentary - December 23, 1998 Adam and Steve -

A new play has just opened in New York, just in time for Christmas and Hanukkah. Appropriately enough, it has a biblical theme. In fact, it's a retelling of the entire Bible.

The only problem is that it's a retelling from a homosexual perspective. The name of this blasphemous spoof is "The Most Fabulous Story Ever Told," and it's a sad illustration of one of the great paradoxes of our society: Those who falsely accuse Christians of intolerance themselves promote bigotry.

The story opens in the Garden of Eden, naturally--or perhaps I should say unnaturally; instead of Adam and Eve we get Adam and Steve. The two men meet and, according to the New York Times, "begin naming everything in the garden, including their own body parts"--a scene complete with full frontal nudity.

The story staggers forward to a gay Noah and a gay Moses. In the second act, there is a lesbian Virgin Mary, pregnant by artificial insemination. It all appears calculated to mock Jewish and Christian belief.

Application

Christians are the minority to look down on today. We are the dirty white trash or the Nigers, or the dirty Mexicans of yesterday. That is even more true today if you identify with those who hold the Fundamentals of scripture.

We better stand for what we believe.

2. It Is Sin If Circumstances

Cause Doubt Rather than Faith. v 22- 23

A. Circumstances can Cause Doubt.

1. God is not the Author of Doubt.

2. What is God the author of?

3. Heb 5:9

9 And having been made perfect, He became to all those who obey Him the source (or author) of eternal salvation, (NAS)

, and has sat down at the right hand of the throne of God.

Illustration Mans Hut burned down

B. God is the Author of Faith. Heb 12:2

Heb 12:2 (NAS)

2 fixing our eyes on Jesus, the author and perfecter of faith, who for the joy set before Him endured the cross, despising the shame

1. Most of our expressions we call faith are calculated risk at best.

Illustration A man with no doubts.

Athanasius, early bishop of Alexandria, stoutly opposed the teachings of Arius, who declared that Christ was not the eternal Son of God, but a subordinate being. Hounded through five exiles, he was finally summoned before emperor Theodosius, who demanded he cease his opposition to Arius. The emperor reproved him and asked, "Do you not realize that all the world is against you?" Athanasius quickly answered, "Then I am against all the world."

Conclusion

Many years ago A.J. Gordon went to the World's Fair. From a distance he saw a man pumping water with one of those old hand pumps. The water was pouring out and he said as he looked, "That man is really pumping water." But when he got closer, he discovered that it was a wooden man connected to a pump powered by electricity. The man was not pumping the water, the water was pumping him.

Article XVIII. The Family. Part of the Baptist Faith and Message.

God has ordained the family as the foundational institution of human society. It is composed of persons related to one another by marriage, blood or adoption.

Marriage is the uniting of one man and one woman in covenant commitment for a lifetime. It is God's unique gift to reveal the union between Christ and His church, and to provide for

the man and the woman in marriage the framework for intimate companionship, the channel for sexual expression according to

biblical standards, and the means for procreation of the human race.

The husband and wife are of equal worth before God, since both are created in God's image. The marriage relationship models the way God relates to His people. A husband is to love his wife as Christ loved the church. He has the God-given responsibility to provide for, to protect, and to lead his family. A wife is to submit herself graciously to the servant leadership of her husband even as

the church willingly submits to the headship of Christ. She, being in the image of God as is her husband and thus equal to him,

has the God-given responsibility to respect her husband and to serve as his helper in managing the household and nurturing the next generation.

Children, from the moment of conception, are a blessing and heritage from the Lord. Parents are to demonstrate to their children God's pattern for marriage. Parents are to teach their

children spiritual and moral values and to lead them, through consistent lifestyle example and loving discipline, to make choices

based on biblical truth. Children are to honor and obey their parents.

Gen. 1:26-28; 2:18-25; 3:1-20; Ex. 20:12; Deut 6:4-9; Josh 24:15; 1 Sam. 1:26-28; Ps. 51:5; 78:1-8; 127; 128; 139:13-16; Prov. 1:8; 5:15-20; 6:20-22; 12:4; 13:24; 14:1; 17:6; 18:22; 22:6,

15; 23:13-14; 24:3; 29:15, 17; 31:10-31; Eccl. 4:9-12; 9:9; Mal. 2:14-16; Matt. 5:31-32; 18:2-5; 19:3-9; Mark 10:6-12; Rom.

1:18-32; 1 Cor. 7:1-16; Eph. 5:21-33; 6:1-4; Col. 3:18-21; 1 Tim. 5:8, 14; 2 Tim. 1:3-5; Titus 2:3-5; Heb. 13:4; 1 Pet. 3:1-7.

Reprinted from the "Southern Baptist Convention Bulletin, First Day, Part II." See also the "Report of the Baptist Faith and Message Study Committee to the Southern Baptist Convention," June 9, 1998.