Mars Hill Fellowship

MESSAGE |

Living According to God's Code

SERIES |

One Another

SCRIPTURE |

Luke 6:27-36

SPEAKER |

Pastor Joseph Ardayfio

KEY THEME |

All of us are taught various codes of living from our parents, culture, friends, and experiences, but when we give our lives to Christ, we walk according to a different code that supersedes everything – Doing to others as we would have them do to us (Golden Rule).

1 - Christians are called to live according to a different code.

1. The first part of the code is that we are called to love God with all of our heart, soul, mind and strength and the second is likewise, to love our neighbors as ourselves.
2. This second command can be paraphrased by verse 31 of Luke 6, “Do to others as you would have them do to you.” (Golden Rule – THE CODE)
3. God mandates that Christians act with a higher level of regard for everyone because, through Christ, we are called to live differently than those who are without Christ.
4. If our only desire is for people to please us or to make us feel good, then our application of the Golden Rule will always be skewed. Rather, we should want people to give us what is best for us, so that, in all things, we can become what God has called us to be.

2 - We cannot control what others do to us but we CAN control what we do to them.

1. Four things that we can add to our arsenal of tools in dealing with others. (v27-28)

              Love them / Do good to them / Bless them / and Pray for them

   2.  God expects that our Christianity encompasses how we deal with those who are difficult to get along with, even our enemies.

3 - The strength to abide by God’s code can only come from Him.

1. When dealing with those who seem unloveable, we can’t ignore them, walk away from them, or destroy them. We have to deal with them according to who we are in Christ – the redeemed of the Lord! (v32-34)
2. We are not excused from walking in Godly behavior just because we encounter ungodly behavior in others.
3. Jesus operated according to this code by being kind to the ungrateful and wicked (v35). As disciples of Christ, Jesus expects us to do the same.

4 - The reward for living according to God’s code may not be immediately apparent but living by God’s code will always bear fruit in the long run

1. You reap what you sow. If you sow worldliness, you will reap worldliness. If you sow godliness, you will reap godliness. This happens because God is at work ensuring that justice prevails even though we are living in a world filled with injustice. 

Scripture Index:

Romans 14:7-8
Luke 6:27-36 

thoughts for further study

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