Main Point: Merely knowing and teaching the truth, or participating in ceremonies is not sufficient to satisfy God’s righteous requirements.

Outline:

1. Profession Without Possession (2:17-24)

2. Ritualism Without Regeneration (2:25-29)

Outline:

1: The Sovereign Shepherd: Hoping in God (Psalm 80:1-7)

2: Humiliation and Exaltation: A History of Hope (Psalm 80:8-13)

3: The Face That Shines: Hope of Coming Deliverance (Psalm 80:14-19)

Main Point: One of the hardest individuals to convince of their need of the Gospel is the deceived moralist who believes that he/she is good, and that it is really only others who need the Gospel.

Outline:

1. The Hypocrisy of the Moralist (2:1-5)

2. The Honesty of God’s Judgment (2:6-11)

3. The Certainty of God’s Judgment (2:12-16)

Main Point: All sin grows out of our hearts the way fruit from a tree is corrupted by poisoned ground. In this, sin resists God, and shows itself in fractured relationships between us and fellow image bearers.

Outline:

1. Sin Sets the Self Up as Arbiter of the Good (1:29)

2. Sin Obsesses Over and Serves the Self (1:29)

3. Sin Destroys ReputaPons (1:29b-30a)

4. Sin Opposes Accountability and Authority (1:30)

Main Point: Christians must reject the modern Freudian tendency to equate a person’s desires with who they are. This is not only incoherent, but involves a completely unbiblical view of human nature.

Outline:

1. Power of Desire

2. Perception of Identity

3. Purposeful Design