Rooted & Unwithered

Sin is fundamentally not a behavioral issue; it is a being issue. We are not righteous people who occasionally sin. We sin because we are sinners. Our heart is corrupt, and since the heart is the core of our being, there is no aspect of ourselves that escapes corruption, behavior included. This problem of defilement, therefore, requires a solution far greater than behavior modification.

We focus upon three challenges to God's design for marriage. Of course, any married person can attest to there being far more challenges to marriage than these three things, but we will focus upon these because they challenge the very institution of marriage. An argument over finances may threaten a particular marriage, but money and finances do not inherently oppose God's good design for marriage as a creation ordinance. Adultery, divorce, and homosexuality do oppose His design.

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Because marriage and the family are the smallest and most basic units of society, they are the building blocks for everything else. Again, because our world is marred by sin, some of those blocks will inevitably be warped and broken, but if the majority are healthy, society will still be healthy overall. Yet, as we see today, marital and familial dysfunction is now the norm, and the broader society cannot help reflecting that dysfunction everywhere else. That is why the hard work of “fixing” the culture can only begin by forming the kind of culture that we want within our own homes.

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The point of all of this that the introduction of gender as a separate category from sex is not harmless but is the promotion of a satanic and destructive worldview.

If demonic powers can be pulling the strings behind earthly rulers, perhaps the most plausible conspiracy is that the spiritual forces of darkness are using all of the different conspiracies and fearful news headlines to distract us from wielding the sword of the Spirit.

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This sermon was preached February 16, 2020.

Read the manuscript ⁠⁠here⁠⁠.

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We are capable of faith but not saving faith.

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While we are speaking of man, we should remember that we are referring to mankind or humanity. Genesis 2 will describe to us the particular process by which God created man, both the first man and the first woman, but here in chapter 1 the Bible is speaking of mankind generally, both male and female. This is crucial to understand because it reveals that mankind can only properly image God through the two sexes that God designed for us: male and female.

This sermon was preached February 9, 2020.

Read the manuscript ⁠here⁠.

For more resources for knowing and loving God's Word, visit ⁠bcnewton.co⁠