Making The Application

Part ThreeDiscerning and Meditating upon

God’s word helps us to apply what we have learned.

Now we need a plan.

Introduction• Romans 10:17: faith comes by hearing, and hearing

by the word of Christ.• Galatians 5:6: all that matters is faith working

through love.• Thus we know we come to faith through hearing,

accepting the Word of God.• But how do we go from hearing and accepting the

Word of God in the Gospel to living the faith in love?

• That is what we need to figure out.

Applying The Message• The process by which we go from hearing and

acceptance to living the message is the application process.

• Seeking to apply the message to life is crucial.• Christianity as just a set of interesting or even good

ideas, or a nice philosophy, is woefully insufficient; • A merely academic faith is dead (James 2:14-26)

Applying The Message• The impetus has always been placed on living the

message:• Following Jesus (1 John 2:6), • Doing His commandments (1 John 2:3-5), • Displaying the fruit of the Spirit(Galatians 5:22-24), • Doing and not just hearing (James 1:22-25)• Yet application is often fraught with difficulty.

Applying The Message• The vast majority of variance in Christian faith and

practice is in terms of application!• The Bible was written to people thousands of years

ago to people in different cultures.• What do we directly absorb, what do we learn by

example, and what should we avoid?• These are serious questions we should consider.• We have considered Discernment and Meditation.• Let us consider the next step in applying these

things to our life.

Plan• Discernment and Meditation are necessary, • but there is also value in planning.• God is faithful, and gives us a way of escape from

every temptation(1 Corinthians 10:13), yet how well do we think in the heat of the moment?

• There's a reason the old adage says that if you fail to plan you plan to fail!

• “Leave yourself an out” is taught to people who drive for a living.

Plan• We are not ignorant of the Devil's schemes

(2 Corinthians 2:11);• We must be ready to stand firm against him

(Ephesians 6:10-18).• Thus there is value in considering how we would

apply God's standards of righteousness toward sin in various circumstances!

• In this light the frequent critique of "situation ethics" among Christians is misguided.

Plan• Unfortunately many well-meaning Christians condemn

situation ethics when they are really condemning some permutation of relativism:

• The idea that there really are not any moral absolutes, • And right and wrong are to be determined by the individual

based on what s/he feels is most expedient and best in a given circumstance;

• Scripture makes it clear that God has established the standard of righteousness and describes sin and we humanstoo often fail at it (Proverbs 3:3-7, Jeremiah 10:23).

• In reality all ethics are situational: our ethic is to inform howwe will act in a given circumstance

Plan• That is, if we find ourselves in situation x, what is the

righteous way to respond?• This we should always be playing in our mind.• Jesus in fact forces us to consider some situation

ethics!• Matthew 9:20-22: Jesus' healing authority

transcends purity concerns.• Mark 2:23-28: is it wrong to take care of bodily needs

even if that goes against the letter of the law, especially if done in sincerity and not rebellion?

Plan• Luke 10:25-37: what is more important,

maintaining one's personal cleanliness/holiness or proving to be a neighbor to someone in need?

• Luke 13:10-17: is Jesus' healing on the Sabbath day work or is it exemplifying rest by providing liberation from debilitating illness?

• In all these matters one could make an argument based on God's revelation,

• Yet in each circumstance the greater good can bediscerned over the lesser good.

Plan• That is part of what it demands to be a Christian: • Discerning not just what is authorized, but what is most

profitable and best in every circumstance (1 Corinthians 10:23)!

• Therefore we do well to consider both individually and collectively how to apply the Gospel in various circumstances in life,

• And thus plan how we should act when we find ourselves in various circumstances.

• Such will make it easier to do the best thing in each circumstance!

Summary• To apply God's word demands that we discern,

meditate, and plan.• We must discern our times, situation, circumstance

and God's message.• We must meditate upon what God has said and

how we can apply it to our circumstance.• We must plan our courses of action in our life

circumstances!

Conclusion• Then we can go and do what God has said as we have

discerned it, meditated on it, and planned to do it!• Ultimately, there's no substitute for action (James

2:14-26; 1 John 3:17-18), • But our action must be based on integrity and

righteousness in its preparation!• Let us discern, meditate upon, and plan for how we

will apply God's will to our lives, and then go and follow the Lord Jesus!

• Invitation