What Should I Do When I Don't Want To Obey

And as I was thinking on what we should talk about today, I decided on a topic that is really close to my heart, which is typically what you do when you have little notice.

And this topic has to do with a simple question that I think many of us may not have the best answer to, or maybe the most well thought out answer to.

And that question is, what should I do when I don't want to obey? When I don't desire righteousness, when I don't desire the things of God, what do I do?

Do I simply will myself into obedience? What actions or what does the word say about a lack of obedience?

Should I pretend like it's not there and just try to do better the next day, or is there something deeper that can be addressed in our hearts?

So before we open our text, the way that I'd like to frame this message is around a statement in answering that question, and then we'll kind of go through and unpack this statement as we go.

So in response to the question, what should I do when I don't want to obey?

Response.

Worldly desires, whether habitual or momentary, can only be remedied by the work of the Holy Spirit as He renews our minds, changing our beliefs, values, and therefore actions,

as He fills believers with His presence through the receiving of God's Word with faith.

So again, it can only be done by the work of the Spirit as He renews our mind, changing our beliefs, values, and therefore actions,

as He fills believers with His presence through the receiving of God's Word with faith.

And we'll go through a couple of those points, and I'll be sure to repeat them as we go.

So let's read our text for today and see what the Lord has to say on this topic.

So Colossians chapter 3, I'm going to be reading verses 1 through 17.

Colossians 3 · chapter mention

Before we do that, I'd like to go to the Lord in prayer.

So y'all join me.

Dear God, I thank You for this day.

I thank You for Your Word, which is sufficient to accomplish everything that we need for life and for godliness.

God, I pray that we would put our trust in it and in You.

That we wouldn't trust in worldly philosophy, pop psychology, or even our own wisdom,

but that we would seek Your will by looking at Your Word.

God, I pray that You would renew our minds even in this moment.

That You would orient our hearts away from ourself,

and that You would help us to seek after righteousness the way that You would have us seek after righteousness.

God, let us lay aside any weak excuses.

Let us lay aside any justification of ourselves,

and let us come to You humbly and ready to receive what You would have us to hear today.

Would You work effectively through me, Your servant.

God, and would You accomplish the purpose that You intend for this congregation today.

So God, we love You. In your name we pray. Amen.

Alright, so Colossians chapter 3, verses 1 through 17.

Colossians 3:1–17

And this is the Word of God.

And it says,

If then you have been raised with Christ, seek the things that are above, where Christ is, seated at the right hand of God.

Set your minds on the things that are above, not on the things that are on earth.

For you have died, and your life is hidden with Christ in God.

When Christ, who is your life, appears, then you also will appear with Him in glory.

Put to death, therefore, what is earthly in you,

sexual immorality, impurity, passion, evil desire, and covetousness, which is idolatry.

On account of these, the wrath of God is coming.

In these, you too once walked, when you were living in them.

But now you must put them all away.

Anger, wrath, malice, slander, and obscene talk from your mouth.

Do not lie to one another, seeing that you have put off the old self with its practices,

and have put on the new self, which is being renewed in knowledge after the image of its creator.

Here there is not Greek or Jew, circumcised or uncircumcised, barbarian, Scythian, slave, free,

but Christ is all and in all.

Put on, then, as God's chosen ones, holy and beloved,

compassion, kindness, humility, meekness, and patience,

bearing with one another, and if one has a complaint against another,

forgiving each other.

As the Lord has forgiven you, so you also must forgive.

And above all these, put on love, which binds everything together in perfect harmony.

And let the peace of Christ rule in your hearts,

to which you were indeed called in one body, and be thankful.

Let the word of Christ dwell in you richly,

teaching and admonishing one another in all wisdom,

singing psalms and hymns and spiritual songs,

with thankfulness in your hearts to God.

And whatever you do, in word or deed,

do everything in the name of our Lord Jesus,

giving thanks to God the Father through Him.

Okay, so our first point in the first part of this statement,

the Spirit works to renew our minds.

The Spirit works to renew our minds.

He does this in three specific ways that I see,

as I read this text in others.

He changes our beliefs,

He changes our values,

and therefore He changes our actions.

Now to understand this idea,

we have to understand where our actions and desires actually come from.

Actions are a result of values,

which come from our beliefs.

And so, when I'm using the word beliefs today,

I'm primarily talking about little b belief.

So, things that we believe to be true in a given period of time,

not necessarily like saving belief or saving faith.

And this concept is found throughout the Scriptures.

One example of this is in Luke 6, 43 through 45,

and it reads,

So, based off of what we treasure,

that's what we produce,

or that's what we do.

Each action we take is an expression of what we think is best for us,

most valuable,

and worth treasuring in any given moment in time.

So, every action that we take

always can be traced back to a belief.

And now, we're not always conscious of this going on

as we take actions no matter what it is,

but each action that we take

is a result of us thinking about

and doing what we believe is the best thing for us to do

in that given time.

Therefore, each time that we sin,

we're communicating to God

that our definition and understanding

of what will be best for us

is superior to His.

So, this was the original temptation

and sin in the garden.

And if we think about our own sin,

we'll find this to be true of us as well.

That ultimately, each sin that we commit

is a statement to God saying,

in this moment,

I believe that me sinning

was better than your plan for my life,

which you've commanded to us.

Right?

So, in this way,

every sin is an act of rebellion

and also an act of unbelief,

even if we don't recognize it in the moment.

So, how does the Spirit renew our minds?

Firstly, the Spirit helps us

to change our actions.

And so, I'm kind of working backward

from the outside,

and the Spirit helps to change our actions.

And the prophet Ezekiel is talking about

the new covenant that will come

as a result of the Spirit

indwelling God's people after Christ.

He says in Ezekiel 36,

So, as a result of the indwelling Spirit,

we are caused, in one way or another,

to walk in God's statutes.

Jesus speaks similarly

in John chapter 14, verses 15 through 16.

John 14:15–16

He says,

If you love me,

you will keep my commandments.

And I'll ask the Father,

I'll ask the Father,

and He will give you another helper

to be with you forever,

even the Spirit of truth.

Okay?

If you love me,

you'll keep my commandments.

I'll ask the Father,

and He will give you another helper

to be with you forever,

even the Spirit of truth.

Now, obviously,

I hope it's obvious to you.

We don't do this in a perfect sense.

Just because we have the Spirit of God

doesn't mean we now obey perfectly.

But, in some way or another,

the Spirit being inside of us

causes us and helps us to walk

in the way that God wants us to walk.

When reading these passages,

you may wonder

how we can both maintain our free will

and also be caused to walk

in God's statutes.

So, the way that this works,

I'm not going to pretend like I know

all of the inner workings

of this idea,

but it is clear that

somehow it does work.

So, we always have the free will

to choose what we want to do.

It's simply that

what we want to do

will change

as God removes our heart of stone

and replaces it with a heart of flesh.

So, again,

we always have free will

to choose what we want.

It's just that

what we want changes

as we're given a new heart.

So, this brings us

to our second point.

The Spirit works...

Our second sub-point.

The Spirit works to change

our values and desires.

How does the Spirit renew the mind?

He works to cause us to obey.

And the Spirit works to change

our values and desires.

So, David ties this idea

of God helping us obey

with our values and desires

in Psalm 37.

So, let's turn there.

Psalm 37,

starting in verse 3.

This is a psalm

that's often misconstrued.

I hope that we can shed

some light on its true meaning today.

Psalm 37,

Psalms 37:3–7

verses 3 through 7.

Trust in the Lord

and do good.

Dwell in the land

and befriend faithfulness.

Delight yourself in the Lord

and He will give you

the desires of your heart.

Commit your way to the Lord.

Trust in Him

and your justice as the noonday.

Be still before the Lord

and wait patiently for Him.

Okay, so many take

verse 4 by itself

and use it to mean

all types of things.

Like, if you want a Ferrari,

then delight yourself in the Lord

and then God will give you

the desires of your heart.

A Ferrari.

But I don't think

that's quite what

this passage is saying.

As we believe

the Lord is trustworthy,

as we saw in verse 3,

is who He says He is

and therefore value Him,

delighting ourselves in Him.

Once we believe

what He says

over what our flesh

tempts us to believe,

He will give us

what we now desire.

So once our delight

is in Him,

our desires change.

He goes on to say,

commit your way to the Lord,

trust in Him,

and He will act.

To do what?

To bring forth

your righteousness

as the light

and your justice

as the noonday.

So He gives us

now what we desire

with a new heart

delighted in the Lord,

righteousness,

faithfulness,

and justice.

Third sub-point,

how does the Spirit

renew our minds?

The Spirit helps us

to change our thoughts

or our little-be beliefs.

So we're going to flip over

to the parallel passage

to ours from Colossians

this morning

as we look in Ephesians

Ephesians 4 · chapter mention

chapter 4,

starting in verse 17.

So flip back forward,

Ephesians chapter 4,

Ephesians 4 · chapter mention

starting in verse 17.

We'll see this

a little bit more later on,

but Paul, in many ways,

is writing similar things

to the church at Colossae

and the church at Ephesus

in these two letters.

And the more that you dig in

to these two passages,

the more you see

how they line up together

and the way that they line up

has real significance

for understanding this concept

of what do we do

when we don't want to obey.

Alright, so Ephesians 4,

starting in verse 17.

It says,

Now this I say

and testify in the Lord,

that you must no longer walk

as the Gentiles do

in the futility

of their minds.

They are darkened

in their understanding,

alienated from the life of God

because of the ignorance

that is in them

due to their hardness of heart.

They have become callous

and have given themselves up

to sensuality,

greedy to practice

every kind of impurity.

But that is not the way

that you learn Christ.

Assuming that you have heard

about Him

and were taught in Him

as the truth is in Jesus,

to put off the old self

which belongs

to your former manner of life

and is corrupt

through deceitful desires,

and to be renewed

in the spirit of your minds,

and to put on the new self

created after the likeness of God

in true righteousness

and holiness.

Okay, so this text shows us

that futile, ignorant,

godless, and callous minds

produce sensuality,

doing that which pleases the senses,

impure practice,

corrupt desires,

and so forth.

So based off of what is in the mind,

the thoughts,

they produce actions.

So futile, ignorant, godless minds

produce futile, ignorant, godless actions.

So notice the solution though

in this passage

and others that we'll read.

The solution is not simply

to try harder,

or the solution is not simply

to change the behavior

that that will come,

but the solution is to be renewed

in the spirit of your minds.

Then from our text this morning,

Paul encourages us

to set our mind

on the things of above

where Christ is seated.

Having finished the work

of destroying the power of sin

by taking its consequences on himself,

nailing our record of debt

to the cross,

and allowing us now

to draw near to God

as we've been studying in Hebrews.

So as we think about,

as we set our mind,

as we focus on Christ's finished work,

then that produces

a type of obedience in us.

Paul believes

as we shift our focus

off of the things of this world,

we'll then be able to put to death

what is evil in us,

as it says in verse 5,

by putting on the new self,

which is being renewed in knowledge.

So again,

Paul believes

as we shift our focus

off of the things of this world,

we'll then be able to put to death

what is evil in us,

by putting on the new self,

which is being renewed in knowledge.

Lastly,

Paul tells us

in the Roman believers,

sorry,

in the letter to the Roman believers,

chapter 12,

verse 2,

do not be conformed to this world,

but be transformed

by the renewal of your mind,

that by testing

you may discern

what is the will of God,

what is good,

acceptable,

and perfect.

So again,

we are transformed

in our outward action

by the renewal of the mind,

so that we can aptly decide

what is good,

acceptable,

and perfect.

Notice something

in all three cases

that the renewal of the mind

is always spoken of

in the passive tense.

So Paul is not saying here,

renew your mind,

he is saying,

allow your mind

to be renewed.

And that begs the question,

anytime you are using

the passive voice

in English,

it takes away

the agency.

So the question is,

by whom?

Who is doing?

Or what is doing

the renewing?

And we will see

that it is the Spirit

of God.

How does he do that?

He fills us

with his presence.

So that brings us

to our next point

in our statement,

the Spirit works

by filling us

with his presence.

So let's skip down

in Ephesians

to chapter 5,

verses 18 through 21.

As we are going,

notice the similarities

between this passage

in Ephesians

and Paul's letter

from our original text

in Colossians 3.

So Ephesians 5,

18 through 21.

Again,

another commonly

misconstrued text.

And it says,

Do not get drunk

with wine,

for that is debauchery,

but be filled

with the Spirit,

addressing one another

in psalms and hymns

and spiritual songs,

singing and making

melodies to the Lord

with all your heart,

giving thanks always

and for everything

to God the Father

in the name

of our Lord Jesus Christ,

submitting to one another

out of reverence

for Christ.

So if I asked everyone,

50 people maybe,

in this room

what it meant

to be filled

with the Spirit,

I would get a bunch

of different answers.

What our idea behind,

what is this filling

of the Spirit?

And if I went outside

of this church,

I would get

an even greater diversity

of answers.

What does it mean

to be filled

with the Spirit?

Many have an idea

that's primarily mystical,

emotional in nature,

and extraordinary.

Maybe the best word

would be,

we think of it

as a spectacle

that we put on

a performance.

But I believe

there's a definitive answer

to this question,

what does it mean

to be filled

with the Spirit?

But to understand it,

we're going to have

to do some work

to reach a decent conclusion.

In short,

to be filled

with the Spirit

is to allow

the Word of God

to dwell in us

richly.

Now,

I know that those

two themes

may not seem

like they're related,

but we'll see

as we look

at our two passages

together

how this is

indeed the case.

So,

if you prefer

the next part

of our statement,

God fills us

with the Spirit

as we receive

His Word

through faith.

So,

looking at this passage

in Ephesians,

we can see

that in Paul's mind,

being filled

with the Spirit

looks like

at least a couple

of things.

Seeing to

and with other

believers

and to God

looks like

gratitude

and it looks

like submission

to authority.

Now,

you may have

read this

unintentionally

as Paul's

giving a list

because he kind

of is in the

middle of a list

and so we have

a tendency

to keep going

on that list.

But notice

when he says

be filled

with the Spirit

and then it's

followed by

three participles

and these participles

in English

they're adverbial

phrases

which means

that it's

modifying

how we should

be filled

with the Spirit.

The three words

be filled

with the Spirit

how addressing

one another

giving thanks

and submitting

to one another

out of reverence

for Christ.

So they are

connected

and it's

answering the

question

what does

it look like

or how

should we

be filled

with the Spirit.

So as I've

pointed out

you've probably

noticed

several similarities

between Paul's

writing in Ephesians

and in Colossians

and these are

not by accident.

So let's

flip back to

our passage

I know we're

doing a lot

of flipping

but it is

important for

you to see.

So back

to Colossians

3

in verse

16

it says

let the

word of

Christ

dwell in

you richly

teaching

and admonishing

one another

in all wisdom

singing

psalms

and hymns

and spiritual

songs

with thankfulness

in your heart

to God

and whatever

you do

in a word

or deed

do everything

in the name

of our Lord

Jesus

giving thanks

to God

the Father

through him

and just like

in Ephesians

he goes on

to talk

about submission

in various

areas

in family

in our

employment

and then

masters

and slaves

okay

so in both

cases

we have

these

three

indicators

of what

it looks

like

on the

one

hand

to be

filled

with

the

spirit

and on

the

other

hand

what

it

looks

like

to have

the

word

of

Christ

dwell

in us

richly

those

three

things

singing

gratitude

and

submission

to

authority

so in

Paul's

mind

being

filled

with

the

spirit

produces

the

same

exact

things

as

allowing

the

word

of

God

to

dwell

in

us

richly

if

you're

not

quite

convinced

that

these

passages

are

truly

so the

deeper

you

dive

the

more

similarities

stick

out

these

two

passages

mirror

one

another

all the

way

back

from

Colossians

2

16

forward

to

chapter

4

verse

1

which

mirrors

Ephesians

4

14

all the

way

through

6

9

both

passages

are

describing

what

the

new

life

should

look

like

in

comparison

with

the

old

both

begin

by

warning

against

false

doctrine

and

a

command

to

hold

fast

to

Christ

as

the

head

of

the

body

they

go

on

to

encourage

readers

to

put

off

the

old

self

characterized

by

callous

minds

and

hard

hearts

producing

anger

sensuality

greed

and

impure

talk

and

to

put

on

the

new

self

which

is

being

renewed

in

the

likeness

or

in

the

knowledge

of

God

both

passages

as

we've

seen

emphasize

the

role

of

the

renewed

mind

in

producing

new

action

and

they

both

lead

to

on

us

richly

and

to

be

filled

with

the

Holy

Spirit

there's

a lot

more

similarities

than that

just a

quick

few

for

notes

John

Piper

writes

of

these

two

passages

together

and I'll

try to

read this

well

it's

kind of

a lengthy

quote

if we

want

more

of

the

Spirit

of

God

we

must

hear

more

of

the

Word

of

God

with

faith

we

must

hear

its

promises

see

their

blood

bought

certainty

value

their

goodness

and

bank

on

them

that

is

why

sorry

that

is

the

way

God

supplies

more

of

the

Spirit

the

command

in

Ephesians

be

filled

with

the

Spirit

is

parallel

with

the

command

in

Colossians

let

the

word

of

!

richly

with

faith

in

other

words

not

only

does

the

first

act

of

faith

come

by

hearing

but

all

subsequent

acts

of

faith

come

by

hearing

the

fullness

of

the

Spirit

comes

by

an

ongoing

hearing

of

the

word

of

God

so

Paul's

writing

in

Galatians

Galatians 3 · chapter mention

chapter

3

supports

this

perspective

I

think

this is

the last

place

we'll

turn

today

just

a

couple

of

pages

Galatians

Galatians 3:2

3

verse

2

!

And I

have to

admit

before

studying

this

passage

I've

read

this

one

in

particular

a

bunch

of

times

but

I've

never

thought

about

Galatians

3

in

this

way

it's

a

joy

to

be

enlightened

by

it

Galatians

3

2

through

5

says

let me

ask

you

only

this

did

you

receive

the

spirit

by

works

of

the

law

or

by

hearing

with

faith

are

you

so

foolish

having

begun

by

the

spirit

are

you

now

being

perfected

by

the

flesh

did

you

suffer

so

many

things

in

vain

if

indeed

it

was

in

vain

does

he

who

supplies

the

spirit

to

you

and

works

of

miracles

among

you

do

so

by

works

of

the

law

or

by

hearing

with

faith

so

I

think

the

reason

why

I've

missed

it

missed

this

particular

point

is

because

a

it's

a

series

of

questions

and

b

because

it

doesn't

explicitly

say

hearing

the

word

of

God

with

faith

but

if

you

look

back

on

it

that's

exactly

what

the

implication

is

we

hear

the

word

of

God

with

faith

and

we're

saved

and

then

again

he's

saying

we

hear

the

word

statements

it

becomes

a

little

bit

more

clear

we

are

perfected

and

sanctified

by

God

supplying

the

spirit

which

comes

to

us

through

hearing

the

word

of

God

with

faith

in

the

same

block

of

Jesus'

teaching

we read

earlier

which

said

those

who

love

me

will

obey

my

commandments

and

I

will

send

my

helper

describes

the

spirit's

role

in

this

way

in

John

John 16 · chapter mention

chapter

16

in

verse

13

he

says

when

the

spirit

of

truth

comes

he

will

take

what

is

mine

and

declare

it

to

you

so

the

spirit's

role

is

using

the

word

to

exalt

Christ

by

declaring

it

to

us

as

we

receive

it

through

faith

so

we

saw

earlier

that

the

renewal

of

the

mind

was

passive

in

some

ways

that

it's

something

that

we

are

renewed

as

we're

doing

some

type

of

activity

and

while

God

is

the

one

renewing

and

transforming

we

are

the

ones

who

draw

near

to

him

through

his

word

and

actively

seek

to

believe

it

with

faith

James

reminds

us

in

chapter

four

of

his

letter

that

if

we

draw

near

to

God

he

will

draw

near

to

us

the

writer

of

Hebrews

thoughts

and

intentions

of

our

heart

so

as

we

approach

the

word

of

God

through

personal

study

through

song

lyrics

through

preaching

or as

it is

brought

to

our

memory

by

the

spirit

and

we

believe

it

and

allow

it

to

soak

into

us

the

lies

we

were

believing

beforehand

are

replaced

with

the

truth

we

no

longer

value

the

temporary

pleasure

of

sin

over

the

abiding

satisfaction

of

obedience

we

will

no

longer

see

God

as

he

shows

us

what

will

lead

to

joy

and

flourishing

in

our

lives

the

anxieties

of

everyday

life

are

overshadowed

with

a

bigger

perspective

where

God

is

in

control

and

not

us

he's

working

for

the

purity

of

his

people

for

the

sake

of

his

name

which

isn't

always

convenient

or

easy

for

us

now

there

are

not

many

things

in

the

Christian

life

that

are

formulaic

in

nature

but

in

some

ways

genuine

heartfelt

obedience

is

doesn't

mean

it's

easy

but

it

tells

us

what

we

need

to

do

we

know

God

always

empowers

what

he

commands

and

I

believe

that

what

we

have

spoken

of

today

is

largely

the

methodology

he

expects

for

us

to

utilize

so

let's

look

at

some

simple

points

of

application

to

help

us

to

know

what

to

do

so

that

we

can

desire

obedience

so

first

point

of

application

see

your

sin

as

a

belief

value

and

a

thought

problem

not

simply

a

behavior

problem

this

means

when

we

find

ourselves

in

sin

or

even

in

temptation

we

should

identify

the

faulty

or

the

tempting

belief

we

should

write

it

down

or

tell

someone

that

we're

struggling

to

believe

what

God

says

in

his

word

about

a

particular

issue

we

should

memorize

specific

passages

!

that

you

can

go

to

and

reflect

on

in

the

midst

of

this

temptation

so

again

if

sin

is

a

belief

problem

then

we

need

to

address

our

unbelief

secondly

we

should

receive

his

word

with

faith

an

assumption

built

into

all

of

this

is

that

we'll

be

going

to

the

word

often

many

of

us

wonder

why

we

continue

to

fight

and

struggle

with

the

same

sins

whether

it

be

anxiety

lust

or

pride

and

yet

aren't

taking

up

the

means

that

God

has

given

us

to

fight

these

battles

thirdly

we

should

seek

to

be

renewed

the

assumption

should

be

that

we

are

usually

in

a

state

of

drifting

away

from

the

truth

back

towards

selfishness

towards

simple

orientation

which

is

why

we

are

in

need

of

renewal

in

the

first

place

so

to

do

this

we

must

approach

the

scripture

with

a

desire

to

grow

more

and

more

into

the

image

of

God

this

comes

by

removing

our

sinful

areas

which

hurts

and

which

many

of

us

are

not

prepared

for

this

kind

of

encounter

when

we

approach

the

word

this

type

of

approach

to

be

changed

and

to

be

renewed

it

takes

hard

work

it

takes

time

it

takes

consistency

it

takes

intentionality

just

like

everything

else

that

satisfying

!

life

but

it

will

indeed

bear

much

fruit

and

lastly

fourthly

we need

to have

an

attitude

of

preparation

and

not

an

attitude

of

reaction

so

have

an

attitude