Romans Review 13-14 (#55.2026.10.25)

Scott Keffer [: 00:00:02

Hi, if you're looking for greater hope, assurance, and confidence through the shifting sands of life, then join me on today's episode as we dig deep into the Bible to discover rock-solid truth for life and living from the God of the Bible. I'm your host, Scott Keffer. Hi, and welcome to today's episode. As always, for a deeper experience, you can go to the show notes and download the blank insight sheet Fill in the blanks along with the group. Depending on how you're listening to this, there will be a link to the episode website at beholdingbibeltruth.com, and a sheet with the answers is included as well. Enjoy today's episode. So up to this point, I have endeavored to take the sections of Romans that we've been through and summarize them.

Scott Keffer [: 00:00:54

Many of you have said that's been really helpful to do the chapter summary, so we're going to continue through the balance of Romans. So we're gonna go this week and next week finishing up Romans, going through the summary. So this week 13 and 14, then next week 15 and 16. And so we'll have an entire summary of Romans chapter by chapter. Okay. So today we're gonna walk through 13 and 14, Romans 13 and 14.

Scott Keffer [: 00:01:23

So Romans 13 talks about submission. Talks about love and talks about the time, the season that we are in, that the time is now. And so it tells us to be subject to governing authorities, to be subject to governing authorities. I hate that word because I like freedom. You know, I grew up on to be the Marlboro Man, you know, riding free on the range, right? You're the captain of your own ship. You're the, you're the, uh, uh, the commander of your own destiny. You know, it's kind of wired in us. And if you live in America, America was founded on people that wanted to be free.

Scott Keffer [: 00:02:10

We have it in our DNA. Uh, there, there's— it's not unusual that, you know, we're called Protestants because we protested, right? Uh, we want freedom. That's how we're wired to do. So these sections are going to talk about that freedom. And then what do we do with it? What does freedom look like? And what, what's appropriate? So it says to be subject to governing authorities. And as we came out of Romans 12, it's a reminder that personal vengeance is forbidden. Personal vengeance is forbidden. Dang, I like personal vengeance.

Scott Keffer [: 00:02:49

Cut me off, I'm gonna get you, right? Right. You cut my legs out at work, I'm gonna get you, right? I'm gonna get you. I love movies where they get them, right? Where they get even, right? That starts out, somebody does something wrong to you, and the movie's about get even, like get even, get vengeance. You love The Count of Monte Cristo, he gets even, you know.

Scott Keffer [: 00:03:12

There's that sense in us that we want that, right? Which is, right, God's justice gone wrong, because I don't have the righteous justice in me. So he says personal vengeance is forbidden, an underlying governmental Justice is ordained. Governmental justice is ordained. In other words, God has put in place government. Submit yourself for the Lord's sake to every human institution. What's it for? For the punishment of evildoers. That's what it's here for. No, no authority is here except from God.

Scott Keffer [: 00:03:49

No authority is here except from God. They are ministers of God to maintain order and justice, which of course is a laugh because filled with sin. Now the very, the very authorities in government are filled with sin, and there's very little justice. It's funny that they're called justices because there's very little justice even in our court system. So he says, fear God above all. Fear God above all. Fear God. You think about what does it mean to fear God? I don't want to fear God.

Scott Keffer [: 00:04:27

I always think about one of the things that I love in the summer is we go to the shore, go to the Jersey Shore.

Scott Keffer [: 00:04:34

I love to sit on the beach and just watch the waves. They just keep rolling in, rolling in, rolling in. And I'm reminded about that because you think they just stop. Why do they just stop? Because the Lord says, stop. The Lord said to the water, stop here. You can't, you can't come up on land.

Scott Keffer [: 00:04:54

And I remember back, we've been going there for 40 years.

Scott Keffer [: 00:04:58

I remember back being caught in a riptide. And if you've ever been caught in a riptide, it's a scary thing. Because if you try and swim back to the shore, you'll die. And if you, if you just float out to the sea, you'll die either way.

Scott Keffer [: 00:05:11

So you have to use the force in the riptide to kind of swim diagonally out of the riptide. But it reminds you to be— to look at the ocean with both awe. That's amazing. And fear the ocean. You have to have a healthy respect of the ocean because it will take you if you don't have a respect of the ocean. And the fear of God is that way. It's a sense of awe, and at the same— it's a reverential sense that God is almighty. Our God is in the heavens, and he does as he pleases.

Scott Keffer [: 00:05:44

He isn't manipulated or, or mastered or pushed into a corner, and he is above all and through all and in all. And this flows out of— for from him and through him and to him are all things. So fear God, right? And render proper respect. So he says, render to all what is due. Render to all what is due. What's due? Do good, pay taxes, pray for leaders, honor those who serve. It's giving us kind of a general sense of what, what should our feeling be. Well, when you have unjust rulers, you think about how do you deal with that, right? We have unjust rulers.

Scott Keffer [: 00:06:23

How do we think about that? Well, he says he's put them in place for us, so we have to fear God and render to all what is due, which is honor. Whether I agree with them or not, I still honor them. And it's easy because we live in a world now where if you don't agree with somebody, you should you should tear them apart, right? You should tear them apart, tear them down. You should want them removed and eliminated. That's sort of the political world in which we live. In the old days, argument was a good word. You state your point, I state my point, and we can still exist with the idea that we don't agree. We don't agree.

Scott Keffer [: 00:07:04

So honor. And then he says, in the midst of that, understand, wrap this all, this submission, with the idea that You render to all what is due. So he says, what's due? Well, owe nothing except love.

Scott Keffer [: 00:07:18

Owe nothing except love.

Scott Keffer [: 00:07:20

So that, that should weave its way through all that we do. Scripture says the one debt that's never fully paid. On the right there, the agape, agapan, is a continuous action. In other words, the Greek is such what This is what should continue to drive you. We love our neighbor as ourself, right? We love our neighbor as ourself. Well, you don't know my neighbor. But he says, love your neighbor as yourself, because love is the fulfillment of the law. Love is the fulfillment of the law.

Scott Keffer [: 00:07:59

The attorney said to Jesus, okay, what's the greatest commandment? Just leave it to those attorneys, right? What's the greatest commandment? He says, to love the Lord your God with all your heart, with all your soul, and with all your mind, and love your neighbor as yourself. On these 2 commandments depend the whole law and the prophets. So, oh, nothing except to love. So this idea of submission and love, and then he, he, he puts this alert. He puts this alert for us because the scripture says there will be people who will say, the Lord's coming back again? Yeah, when? Come on, it's been forever. Is he coming back tomorrow? Is he coming back next week? Is he coming back next year? Is he coming back in 2,000 years? The answer is even the Son does not know. But I can tell you this for certain. I can guarantee you I can guarantee you this, that the time at which he's going to come back is less today than it was yesterday.

Scott Keffer [: 00:09:09

And tomorrow will be one day sooner. So he says, he says, understand that the season is now. And because the season is now, you need to awake from sleep. It's easy to just get in the rut, isn't it? To let the days go by, let the days fade. It's a reminder. I say, if you're still here, God has more for you. Otherwise, he'd bring you home. If you're still here, God has more for you.

Scott Keffer [: 00:09:45

And there, there's a sense woven inside of us to just fade through the day, right? Just get through the day. Let's get through the day. Let's get through the day. And he says, don't do that, right? Don't do that. The season is now. He says the night is almost gone and the day is near. The night is almost gone. We live in the night.

Scott Keffer [: 00:10:10

We live in the night. It's not supposed to be like this, and it won't be like this eternally. Right, the night, the night is almost gone, the day is near. What day? Our final salvation. Our final salvation. The day is nearer than it was when we first believed. How many came to Christ under 10? Under 10 years old? Ground. How many teenage? Raise your hand.

Scott Keffer [: 00:10:38

How many in their 20s? How many in their 20s? 30s? Beyond. So, yeah, a number of years, a few years since you came to Christ. So he says the day which we look forward to is either 2 days that are most important, right? Today and that day. And that day is either the day he's calling you home or he's calling us all home, right? Where he brings— where he brings it about. The final salvation is near. So what do we do? Which is our glorification. What do we do? He says in the midst of this Remember, the night is almost gone. So what do you need to do? You need to lay aside the deeds of darkness.

Scott Keffer [: 00:11:21

We know what those are. I don't need help with those. I don't need to go to a seminar on the 7 deeds of darkness. I know how to live the deeds of darkness. So he's saying you've got to lay those aside. That's what you were rescued from. That's what we came out of. We're called out of darkness.

Scott Keffer [: 00:11:38

into the kingdom of his beloved Son. He says, so lay aside the deeds of darkness and put on the armor of light. The armor of light. That's right. Think about that. When 9/11 hit, Rudy Giuliani was in the midst of reading, uh, about Churchill and what Churchill did during World War II to keep the spirits of of Britain up, the Londoners, from falling into despair. He stayed up all night and read the balance of that, and he used his strategy to keep, right, New Yorkers encouraged in the midst of 9/11. So the question is, what do we do in the midst of this? And I think about it spiritually.

Scott Keffer [: 00:12:27

How would you live when bombs are going off all around you, when your city is being bombed? Well, you'd live— you'd walk out with a sense of Gratitude for the day, of course, and a sense of armor, right? Protecting yourself same way. So he's saying live with the armor of light, which is a military term, right? A military term. So we are to make sure that we're putting on the armor. And he says, put on the Lord Jesus Christ. Put on the Lord Jesus Christ. So I was thinking about practically, what does that mean, put on the Lord Jesus Christ? Well, first of all, he reminds us that Jesus isn't just Jesus. Jesus is his humanity. Christ is his divinity.

Scott Keffer [: 00:13:18

He is the Lord Jesus Christ. He's not your buddy Jesus. He's the Lord Jesus Christ. He is the Son of God, the Son in whom I'm well pleased. The one who has glory, who sits at the right hand of the Father, and he rules. So he reminds us, he is— we are put on the Lord Jesus Christ. He is the Lord Jesus Christ. And he says, if you've been baptized into Christ, you've already clothed yourself with Christ.

Scott Keffer [: 00:13:45

You're already in Christ. You're already clothed with him. It's in the sense of walk in it, right? Walk in the sense that you are his, chosen out of darkness, called out of darkness by the Father. Placed into the kingdom of his beloved Son, the Lord Jesus Christ. We put on the Lord. He is our identity, if you will, right? He is our identity. He's also our protection. He's also our protection.

Scott Keffer [: 00:14:10

You know, when I was praying for Beth, I prayed to the Father, right? Why do I, why do I pray to the Father? Jesus said, this is how you pray. Our Father who art in heaven, right? This is how you pray. But the Lord Jesus Christ sits at his right hand. Sits at his right hand. So do I want him interceding for me? Yes. He said he always intercedes for me. So I pray to the Father and I ask the Son to intercede for me. Lord Jesus, intercede for me.

Scott Keffer [: 00:14:37

Lord Jesus, pray for us. Pray for Beth. Pray for me. Pray for us. The Lord Jesus Christ. The Lord Jesus Christ. Aren't you glad he's the Lord Jesus Christ? Yes. Aren't you glad you're in Christ? Therefore, there is therefore now no condemnation for those who are in Christ, right? That's where I stand, right? When I put on his— when I put on the Lord Jesus Christ, I stand not with condemnation.

Scott Keffer [: 00:15:04

I stand with peace before the Father. I stand with favor before the Father. I can trust his compassion to come upon me. Put on the Lord Jesus Christ and make no provision For the flesh. I like the flesh. The passing pleasures of sin, they're pleasures, they're just passing. So he says, make no provision. If you by the— underline that— by the Spirit— you can't do this, you can't, you can't checklist your way.

Scott Keffer [: 00:15:45

Against the flesh. You just can't. The flesh will win every time. Right? But by the Spirit you put to death. By the Spirit you put to death. So Romans 13 says, as a result of who we are, we submit. As a result of who we are, flowing out of that, we love. And we are well aware of the fact that the time is short.

Scott Keffer [: 00:16:13

And if the time is short for the Lord Jesus to come back, our time is short. If anything, right, anything, illness or events in life like this, reminds you your time's short. You don't know what it is. Your days are ordained when as yet there were— there was none, and your time is short. So he says, wake up. Then he flows into 14 because he's saying submission. To authorities, what does it look like to each other? So here he's talking about Christian liberty. Christian liberty.

Scott Keffer [: 00:16:46

And remember, it flows out of submission and love to authorities, ultimately submission to God. What does that look like with each other? He says Christian liberty is governed by 2 things: love and conscience. Love and conscience. This one's a tough chapter because we like to have our checklist. This is my conviction about this and the way things are done, right? And this is about the things that aren't strictly spoken about in scripture. Love and conscience. So he says, he starts out by saying, except the one who is weak in faith Except the one who is weak in faith. Well, what does that mean? It means to receive, to welcome.

Scott Keffer [: 00:17:40

And underline, not weak in saving faith, weak in understanding and confidence concerning Christian liberty. Hmm. And he says to receive them not for the purpose of passing judgment. Not for the purpose of passing judgment. Well, that's always hard because I have convictions about things, and so do others. So he's talking about here about matters of conscience. And then he illustrates them with food and special days. Food and special days.

Scott Keffer [: 00:18:21

Special days, the way we should treat special days. Should it be Saturday? Should it be Friday? Should it be Sunday? Should it be special days? The way we should worship, the way we should work, right? The way— so these, these are— this— the issue is disputed underlying practices. These are practices, not permission to disobey God's revealed moral commands. One believes they can eat all things. Other believes, no, you can only eat vegetables. No, you can only eat this. Other believes you can only do this for certain days, other days, right? So he says in Colossians, I love this. Therefore, no one is to act as your judge in regard to food and drink, food and drink, or in respect to a festival or a new moon.

Scott Keffer [: 00:19:17

Or a Sabbath day. How many have seen Chariots of Fire? The movie Chariots of Fire, where he says, right, I will not run on Sunday. And he— I mean, he grew up Scottish, right? Presbyterian. You didn't play ball on Sunday. Do you remember the time when the kids are running by and playing ball? He says, you don't do that on the Sabbath. You don't play ball on the Sabbath. That was a conviction. That was a conviction they had.

Scott Keffer [: 00:19:43

The Lord Jesus Christ says, the Sabbath, I'm the Sabbath. I'm the Sabbath rest. I am the Sabbath rest. But they had a conviction about that. It's— he reminds us, these are things which are a mere shadow of what is to come. They're a shadow. What does a shadow mean? There's light. There's blocking.

Scott Keffer [: 00:20:10

and you're seeing the shadow. The shadow is not the reality. The shadow is what? It's a, it's a mere shadow of things to come. The substance belongs to Christ. What does that mean? I don't know. Totally, I don't know. But all these things that we think, right, these kind of, those kind of things He's saying the, the, the substance belongs to Christ. Substance belongs to Christ.

Scott Keffer [: 00:20:46

These are pictures, shadows. So he's saying the stronger believer may have a more accurate understanding of their freedom, of their freedom.

Speaker C [: 00:21:03

Scott?

Scott Keffer [: 00:21:03

Yes.

Speaker C [: 00:21:04

Let me interrupt, but that Colossians 2:17 in the Amplified says, such things are only the shadow of things that are to come, and they have only a symbolic value. But the reality, the substance, the solid fact of what is foreshadowed, the body of it belongs to Christ.

Scott Keffer [: 00:21:22

To Christ. To Christ. It's a great reminder. So We have a more accurate— if you're stronger, strong in the Lord— understanding of their freedom. He says, Paul says, I know and I am convinced in the Lord Jesus. Underline that: convinced in the Lord Jesus. Not, not just having his own conviction, an own convincing, but convinced in the Lord Jesus that nothing is unclean. He's saying it's nothing is unclean in and of itself, but some believed, oh, these— this was food that was offered to idols.

Scott Keffer [: 00:22:01

Um, so we flip over. So essentially, what's he saying? So the strong must not despise the weak, and the weak must not judge the strong. Because the Lord has accepted them. The strong can become arrogant In their liberty, and the weak have become judgmental in their restrictions. Shortly after I came to Christ, 28 years old, I was still working downtown. I had an office downtown, and I would come up to the walkway and it was red, so I wouldn't walk. I thought, um, that's exactly right, you know why? And I wait till it was green, and I walk, and I get up, and I think, whoa, yeah, like, I'm following the rules. I'm following the rules, right? Lord said, you're missing it.

Scott Keffer [: 00:23:05

Hello. Hello. Knock knock. Pavement fly. Pavement fly. But we love to have the rules that we can follow, don't we? We love to have the rules that we can follow. So the question is, which one are we prone to? Well, I like to do both, be arrogant and judge other people. It's true, isn't it? But you have to watch.

Scott Keffer [: 00:23:32

How am I wired? What do I tend to do? What do I tend to do? So he says, who are you to judge the servant of another, right? Which means literally to try them, to judge them, to try them, put them upon your scales. And judge them and then confer a guilty. Oh, they're doing it wrong. They're not doing it right. And of course today, when you have— you're convinced of certain things, and many times this kind of stuff, then you get up and you leave. Leave and you start your own congregation. And then those people get up and leave, and then they get up and leave. And then what do they call it? Church hopping? Or just start my— and in, in the US you can do that.

Scott Keffer [: 00:24:16

So we have 42,000, right? So the big knock against evangelicals is there's 12,000 different denominations, right? All— a lot of them built around not just nuances, not just theology, but really just sometimes nuances of how I like things, how I conviction about things. So he reminds us every believer belongs to the Lord and underlined answers to the Lord. Answers to the Lord, not to another believer. Now they answer to the to the pastor in the sense of moral conduct, but not to these. And he said he reminds us the Lord the Lord is able to make him stand. The Lord is able to make him stand. So then he says each person must be fully convinced. Fully convinced in his own mind.

Scott Keffer [: 00:25:14

Well, that leads us to a place to say, oh, wait a minute, conscience before God can be sincere and still be mistaken, still be sincere and mistaken. So therefore, it must be informed by God's word. Must be informed by God's word. And as evangelicals, that's what we'd say would— that would be the difference for us. The things not spoken to, we don't rely strictly on church history, if you will, around practices that aren't spoken about in the word, right? We would say we look to the word, right? Solo, solo, God's word. God's word. Yep. Sola Scriptura.

Scott Keffer [: 00:26:06

So he says, the faith which you have, have as your own conviction before God. Before God. I can tell you that these days, um, one of the big— how do you say this— one of the big temptations— we may talk about AI sometime here soon. big temptations with AI is you will surrender your thinking to AI. People already surrender their thinking to Google search. So AI is just, it's just souped-up Google search, if you will. You think about, right, how should I think about this? How should I think about this? Not that it shouldn't be led by those who thought longer, right? That's exactly sure. But the idea is don't surrender your thinking to AI.

Scott Keffer [: 00:27:00

Number one, right? Don't surrender your thinking. In other words, go to God's word and let God speak out of it. Doesn't mean you can't look, and definitely don't surrender your decisions. What should I do? What should I do? What should I do? Do not do that. Do not do that. So this is, this is, uh, uh, informed by God's word, informed by God's word. And you have a conviction before God.

Speaker D [: 00:27:25

Huge things with AI too. It lies. Check results against scripture.

Scott Keffer [: 00:27:33

Well, it lies. Not only lies, it lies confidently. It's— no, no, you gotta understand, it's designed to lie confidently. And that's why you gotta think if you use it, and you should, you just have to use it with parameters. You don't surrender your thinking when you say, oh, that's not right. It'll say, oh, yeah. Sorry, my bad.

Speaker D [: 00:27:54

It's what you make up references.

Scott Keffer [: 00:27:57

Oh, of course.

Speaker D [: 00:27:58

Of course.

Scott Keffer [: 00:27:59

Of course. But without a— see, without a soul, there is no consequence for it to be wrong. So it'll, it'll use language like, oh, I'm sorry. It's not sorry. It has no— it has no soul. It has no soul. So yeah, be cautious. But same way, the same way that convictions— that's right.

Scott Keffer [: 00:28:18

That's why each of us and all of us together, that— and that's why you don't have a conviction that's out of the main flow. That's why we, we can check it against historical understandings, and we check it against our local, right, those who are, who are more senior in the faith. And I don't mean chronologically, but I mean practically. But have a conscience before God. So he says, whether eating or abstaining, both should seek to honor the Lord. Both should seek to honor the Lord. And, you know, again, you can go to music and you can go to all— I mean, there's a whole bunch of areas where this rolls to, you know. I know people have left the chapel because of music.

Scott Keffer [: 00:29:06

Right. We need to have so many hymns. No, we need 11 hymns, more hymns, right? Now, volume is definitely another thing. Turn down the volume. Yeah. Right? So, so he says, not one of us lives for himself or dies for himself. And that's probably it. And I think, you know, as, as Americans, we are strongly self-centered.

Scott Keffer [: 00:29:32

We are. It, it's, it's in our culture. It's in our nature. It's our history. You got to understand that, right? It's part of our DNA. We are about ourselves. So you got— we have to be cautious about that. So he reminds us we don't— whether we live or die, we belong to the Lord Jesus Christ.

Scott Keffer [: 00:29:52

Which means we also belong to the body, his body. He's the Lord of the living and the dead. For me to live is Christ. So he reminds us to live is Christ, to die is gain. So we have freedom in Christ. Isn't that great? We have freedom in Christ. He has set us free. But he says, reminds us, our liberty is under the lordship.

Scott Keffer [: 00:30:18

We have liberty under the lordship of Christ. Liberty is under the lordship. So he says we were called. What were we called to? Freedom. We're called to freedom. Only do not turn your freedom into an opportunity of the flesh, but through love serve one another. Mhm. And then it reminds us— this is important— you're not here to judge other people, because we will all stand before the judgment seat of God.

Scott Keffer [: 00:30:57

We will all stand before the judgment Seat of God. So, which reminds me, when he says we'll all stand before the judgment seat of God, of 2 Corinthians where he talks about the seat of Christ, the Bema seat. Excuse me. He says in 2 Corinthians, we must all before, uh, appear before the judgment, the Bema seat of Christ. That each one may be recompensed for his deeds in the body according to what he's done, whether good or bad. Scary verse, right? Not to be judged. This is not a salvation judgment. Your salvation is taken care of at the cross.

Scott Keffer [: 00:31:46

Your salvation is taken care of. What this means, there are rewards. Hmm. Right? Wreaths that are given. How does that all work? I do not know. I just do not know. Right? What does this exactly mean? I think at the end of the day, I mean, I'm gonna tell you my thought. If, if what I had to do had to be done out of pure motives, I'm showing up in heaven with nothing.

Scott Keffer [: 00:32:11

I'm showing up with nothing, and I'm gonna point to the Son and say, here's what I have. I have your Son.

Speaker C [: 00:32:16

Yes.

Scott Keffer [: 00:32:17

No, I don't have your son. He has me. He has me. So to me, at the end of the day, right, and how God— I'll judge how this is going to work. I just don't know. But it means there are rewards in heaven. Paul says there are wreaths laid up for me in heaven. And what he reminds us is, do not grow weary in doing good.

Scott Keffer [: 00:32:41

God will reward. He will reward. Amen. He will reward. And again, it's not just doing the spiritual things. In, in Scripture, everything is spiritual. That's why Brother Lawrence used to say, I glorify God when I wash the dishes. Isn't that cool? Yeah.

Scott Keffer [: 00:33:00

When you sweep the house, when you mow the lawn, when you, you know, you're not— you don't have to just be teaching or encouraging or doing something here at the chapel. Do more here? Well, maybe be calling you to do that, but I can do that and glorify God without getting up in the morning. Well, I bring in my grumbling and my sin to him. That glorifies him, right? That honors him. Those things honor him. Being needy honors the Lord. Beth said, you know, I feel like I just call upon the Lord when I need him. I feel like I just call upon the Lord when I need him.

Scott Keffer [: 00:33:38

How many feel like that? Yeah. So here's the thing. Don't stop calling upon him when you need him. Just call upon him more. The more you need him, the more you honor him. The more you need him, the more you honor him. So he says, you know, this is in the context of don't worry about your brothers, what they're doing. Don't worry about your brothers.

Scott Keffer [: 00:33:59

But he says, do not put a stumbling block in your brother's way. Stumbling block. Conduct that contributes to another believer's spiritual harm, encouraging that against conscience. So the idea is, don't injure one for whom Christ died merely to exercise your personal freedom. Because he says Christ died for your brother. Are you willing to lay aside, willing to surrender your freedom for him? Willing to surrender your freedom to him. So the— going— this is the context of doing right life together with, with others. And this— if you're, you know, if you're, if, if you're doing anything with believers who are, uh, growing along the way, it's just being sensitive to the fact that you're at a different place than they are.

Scott Keffer [: 00:34:57

That's all. You may have a freedom that they don't have yet. And so it's just be discerning about how you exercise your freedom and, um, who you do that with and when. Well, what's the rule? There isn't one. Well, there is one. It's love. It's love. Love is the rule.

Scott Keffer [: 00:35:18

That's what he says. Well, give me some specifics. Lay it out. Well, there's— you could probably go to a lot of places where they have the rules. Right, he's just saying, right? Because he says the kingdom of God is not eating or drinking. We love to strain the gnat. Yeah. And miss the camel.

Scott Keffer [: 00:35:47

Kingdom of God is not eating and drinking. Kingdom of God is not it, but righteousness And shalom and joy in the Holy Spirit. Joy in the Holy Spirit. So he says, pursue the things which make for peace, peace among you, and the building up, the building up of one another. So we're saying in, in the body, you don't live to yourself. You don't live to yourself. And if you're interacting and should and helping other believers along. Just, just understand where your freedom is and how, when, and how to exercise it.

Scott Keffer [: 00:36:26

Does that make sense? Christian freedom must serve another spiritual good. I put on there. Lastly, he says whatever is not from faith is sin. Whatever is not from faith is sin. Sin. Whatever is not from faith is sin. Whatever is not faith is sin. Which has a— has— well, I'm not going

Speaker C [: 00:37:03

to go there. Um,

Scott Keffer [: 00:37:05

a believer must not act against conscience. Conscience does not determine God's objective moral law, but violating one's conscience Is itself spiritually serious. Otherwise, whatever is not flowing from faith— so again, if they're convinced, again, not against God's moral law, but they have convictions about worship, they have conviction about eating, conviction about certain things, right? It should be from— Clearly. Recognizing that as they grow, they'll have more freedom. Just understand that, right? Not merely am I free to do this, but can I do this before the Lord in faith with love? That's all. So love, love is woven through this. So, so he starts by saying we submit, right, to honor the Lord, right? We submit to governmental authorities, and we submit to one another, if you will. We submit our freedom in Christ to one another.

Scott Keffer [: 00:38:06

Out of love for the Lord himself as well as to others. So 13, the submission, love, and the time. The time is now. 14 is Christian liberty, which is governed by love and conscience before God. All right, write down application, insight, and aha reminder, something that Came out of this time. Creates an inside question. Aha, reminder, very important. And be with others who are doing the same, right? Because we do this as, as a body.

Scott Keffer [: 00:38:55

It's a good one. Who else? He's a spring. He's honored when we drink. He's honored when we drink. May the God who called you out of darkness and placed you into the kingdom of his beloved Son in Christ, may he bless you, may he keep you, may he cause his face to shine upon you, may he lift up his countenance and grant you his shalom, his peace deep into your soul, that you know who you are and know whose you are. And may you walk in it every minute of every day. May he bless you and keep you.

Scott Keffer [: 00:39:34

Amen. Thanks for listening. I hope you have greater hope, assurance, and confidence in your life, and a deeper trust in the God of the Bible and his Son Jesus Christ. Until next time, may the Lord bless you and keep you. May the Lord make his face to shine upon you and be gracious to you. And may the Lord lift up His countenance on you and give you His peace, His shalom, in your soul and in your life. Until next time, may God bless you and keep you. Amen.