 Hi everyone, welcome back to our second session on the course of Holiness. In the first session, we covered Chapter 1-3 on repentance, recovery and restoration. We looked at three chapters which basically spoke about the importance of repentance without repentance or lack of repentance keeps us from believing. We saw that lack of repentance keeps us from receiving from Matthew 4.17. And we also saw that in the New Testament, the message begins with the call to repentance for sinners. But at the end of the New Testament, it concludes with the call to repentance for the churches as well. And so we can conclude very safely that the repentance or the message of repentance and repentance in itself is for the unbelievers and for believers to continue living a righteous life. And then we saw what it literally means, the word repentance, metanoia in Greek means to think differently. It's a verb that means we also act on how we think. And God is welcoming and He's forgiving. He's abounding in love for those who repent and come back to Him and who return to Him. In Chapter 3, we saw that there is no negotiating with sin. It says to pluck it and to cast it out. And when things are hard, God is willing to help us for His good pleasure that we might live a holy life, a life according to the word of God. So that is what was covered in the first session of the three chapters. We will continue with chapter 4, which will be in the part 2 of the PDF document that was shared with you. Yeah, Ravali, you have a question? Yeah, I have a question. So when we're talking about this repentance, so sometimes when we repent, is it all this needs to be that you feel convicted? You know, in the sense of some, I mean, sometimes you repent, but you don't really feel anything about it. But you know, you have to repent. That is the way that you go back to God and maybe you say, I'm sorry, but you don't really feel. So how does it exactly have needs to be? What is repentance? In the sense, do it does only shown with actions? Or even when you're having a word conversation with God, is that something that you really feel convicted and do it? Or not just for the sake of it? Yeah, see when we first become a believer, right? When we say the salvation prayer, whenever we give our lives to Jesus, we receive, it says by faith, we receive salvation. Romans, we see that in Ephesians chapter 2, we see that it's a gift, right? We don't necessarily feel anything. And so it's, we receive the gift of grace by faith. And even here when we repent, we receiving forgiveness by faith. I'm not expecting to feel anything, but now I believe that I have forgiven because the word of God says so, right? If you repent, he forgives, he's abounding. And now I need to express that in the way that I live. Do you have a follow up question to that? No, I don't have a follow up question. Okay, thank you. So as we can continue with chapter 4, and that's partly what we will also be discussing in this chapter with regards to what Raveli just asked. It's chapter 4 titled Repentance, Grace and Forgiveness. And so also probably I hope that this is more added to my answer and there's something that you can take away more from this chapter. Okay, so do believers need to repent? Do we need to repent? Do believers believe that? Does the blood of Jesus automatically cover sin? Is forgiveness for sin automatic? Does living in grace imply that a believer is already forgiven? Because we are the new covenant and because we are under grace, I can do whatever I want to do because God is all loving. He's good. He's a father, you know, so my father understands, so I don't need to repent because he's a good, good, good, good, good, good father. You can add some then goods to it. But that's what we'll probably look at a little bit more in this chapter. So repentance, righteousness and transformation. I think in the next semester, in your final year, you will have a course on Romans on the Book of Romans. It's a wonderful course. I would encourage if you're not continuing your final year, at least to do that course, it's wonderful. But we see from the Book of Romans from chapter 5 to chapter 12, it gives a very clear pathway for a believer. And actually, the foundations to this pathway starts in Romans chapter 3, where Paul is such an amazing apologist, or an apologist, or an apologist, or an apologist, or an apologist, or an apologist, or an apologist, or an apologist, or an apologist, or an apologist, or an apologist. The foundation of this pathway, it starts in Romans chapter 3, where Paul is such an amazing apologist, or an apologist, or an apologist, or an apologist, or an apologist. It begins to build this case. You know, he's building this case, is building his argument, and Romans chapter 12 is like that release, unleashes this whole thing. And so in Romans chapter 5, we see the wonderful truth is that we are justified by faith. In fact, in the last verse of Romans chapter 4, Romans chapter 4 was 25, it says that after we were justified, Jesus was risen from the dead. And then that message continues in Romans chapter 5, because that we are justified, we are set free. It is an important topic to study about justification itself. And so I would encourage you to do that. What is justification? Why is it important? How are we justified? So in Romans chapter 5, we see that we are set free, we are justified. It simply means that our legal status in God is changed. Romans 3, 23, Paul says that all have sinned and fallen short of his glory. And in Romans 6, we see that he, 623 again, he says that the wages of sin is death. So building the case, we see now, we were all legally in the eyes of God, we were in a state of sin, condemned to death. But now that we are justified because of what Jesus did on the cross, I am no longer in the state of sin, I am legally, my position is changed before him. I am now declared not guilty. But however, although I'm saved from the state of sin, and because I continue to exist in this body, I do have the capacity to commit acts of sin. As we are Romans 6, emphatically states that we cannot continue in sin just because of abounding grace. We cannot continue in sin. And it talks about the power of sin over our lives. The sin can have over our lives, but which has been broken on the cross of Jesus Christ. So Romans 5, he says that we are justified, Romans 6, we say that we cannot continue to live in sin and the power of sin has been broken on the cross by Jesus. And then Romans 7 teaches that the unregenerate man cannot keep the law of God by his own power. In his flesh, we cannot try in our own strength, we cannot try to keep the law of God because sin that dominates the flesh. And Romans 8 teaches that we must walk in the spirit to put an end to the sinful deeds of the flesh. And then finally in Romans 12, we see that we must be transformed in the way we live. Not be conformed to the world, but be transformed by the renewing of our mind. So from Romans chapter 3, actually from Romans chapter 1 all the way to Romans 12, 11 actually, Paul in very different ways. He's talking about the mercies of God. That's what he's talking from Romans chapter 1 to Romans 11. He's just talking about the mercy of God by sharing all of these things. And that's why Romans 12, he starts off by saying therefore. So therefore Romans 11, he goes on to say, offer yourselves as living sacrifice. So we are transformed by the renewing of our mind as it says in Romans 12 verse 2. And that's the call for every believer. A believer's transformation into Christ likeness means that there is a continual change in thinking. When we talk about sanctification, sanctification has two parts to it, which is the positional sanctification and the progressive sanctification. Now justification and positional sanctification goes hand in hand. And when we talk about progressive sanctification is what the life of a transformed life of a believer looks like. It is an important part of every believer's life that we continue to thrive and work towards looking like Jesus, being Christ like in the way we think and in the way we act and do lives. Okay. In the New Testament, in Titus chapter 2 verse 11 to 14, I just want to quickly check my computer is saying that my internet is unstable. I just want to make sure that if you are all able to hear me well, if there's any disconnect, please let me know. We are able to hear you well. Okay. All right. Thank you. So thanks, Chira. Thank you. Okay. So, you know, we are encouraged in scriptures to not live in us in full ways. And we saw that extensively in the last section is that we cannot live like the old man. We are a new creation. So therefore, everything has to change. We can't be conformed to the world, but we transformed by the renewing of our mind. Okay. And in Titus 2 verse 11 to 14, it says, for the grace of God that brings salvation has appeared to all men. Okay. So there's the grace of God that brings salvation. And what does this grace of God do? In verse 12, we see that teaching us that denying ungodliness and worldly lusts, we should live soberly, righteously and godly in the present age. Right? We should live soberly, righteously and godly in the present age by denying all ungodliness and worldly lust. This is what the grace of God teaches. It emphasizes. And so if there is a message out there about the grace of God that says, okay, because of the grace of God, we now have a license to do whatever we want to do, to live in the sinful ways that we... That is not talking about the biblical grace of God, something else. And so when we allow the grace of God to teach us and when we learn from it in verse 14, it says, who gave himself for us that he might redeem us from every lawless deed and purify for himself his own special people zealous for good works. Okay. We are called to practice right living, righteous living. We are called to live a life of holiness, therefore seeking and denying all ungodliness. And then we see that fellowship, repentance and forgiveness, they are interconnected or interrelated. Fellowship, repentance and forgiveness. So John in his epistles, he writes saying that if we have fellowship with him and continue to walk in darkness, or if we claim and if we say that we have fellowship with him. If you say that Jesus is your Lord and Savior, that you are a Christian, that you are born again and continue to walk in sin in darkness, what is happening is that we are lying and we do not practice the truth. But if we walk in the light as he is in the light, we have fellowship with one another. If you're saying the truth and if we live according to the word of God, according to his command, if we live a righteous and holy life, we have fellowship with one another, is him and us. And the blood of Jesus Christ, his Son, cleanses us from all sin. So we say I'm born again, have this fellowship with him and if he's the one and we are the branches and if we are in him and he is in us, the result is that we are being cleansed from all our sins and we've made whole and righteous. In verse 8 he says if we say that we have no sin, we deceive ourselves and the truth is not in us. Something like the world says nowadays, isn't it? How am I sinful? What is sin? Why am I a sinner? I didn't do anything wrong for me to be sinner. I do good things. I care for the poor. I do all the right things. How am I a sinner? If we say that we do not sin, we deceive ourselves and the truth is not in us. In verse 9 he says if we confess our sins, if we confess, if we repent, if we are willing to repent, he is faithful. If we return to him, he is faithful and just to forgive us our sins and cleanse us from all unrighteousness. I am aware that these are all familiar passages that as Christians you would have heard this verses so many times in messages, in teachings, etc. But I pray that we don't lose the wonder of these verses as we go through them over and over. We can't say we have fellowship with him and continue to walk in sinful ways or live in habitual or sinful lifestyle. But instead if we repent, he is faithful and just to forgive. And again sins are forgiven because of the price Jesus paid on the cross. And so when we repent and confess, just again in a way is still answering to Ravalli's questions, is that how do we know that we are forgiven? The sins are forgiven because the price Jesus paid on the cross. He paid the price on the cross. And so we do not practice unrighteousness as believers. We are not encouraged to live in continual sin. We do not hold bitterness or hate or anger or unforgiveness in our hearts. We do not lie. We do not give room for pride in our hearts. So if we do sin and we do not say that we have not sinned, we do not say we have no sin. If we do sin, we do not say we have not sinned. If we confess, I have committed this. And we go back to him and we ask for forgiveness. Yes Ravalli, I see your hands. Sorry if I am not interrupting. So based on what I have heard right now, I have a question. If somebody is in a continual sin, for example, a person who is in ministry and they are in a continual sin, even though they might be repainting every day, but still they are not able to get back to their original state or whatever. So how does it work? Because I have always heard that giftings and calling is irrevocable. So the people who are in ministry or they are only serving God and they are in a continual sin and they are not able to repent, maybe turn their ways around. So how does it work not having a relationship with God? I mean, I am definitely assuming that there is a gap between them and God because of this sin. But there are still in ministry, there are doing things in the name of God or for God. So how does that work? Not having a relationship with God or they just running on the gifting that has been given to them because if they are in continual sin at that some point God will not allow them to do what they are doing. So how does the dynamics work? So do we say there is a, okay, I know there is no time limit or there is no frame that, okay, still, you know, till this point of time it will work. But how do they really work? I have wanted to know your thoughts on it. Yeah. So I'll share my thoughts because I do not have a definite answer because it's mysterious in the way that God works. For example, I'm not going to take the place of God and say, you know, this is how many times God will forgive and that will be like me insulting the price that Jesus paid for us on the cross. So I'm not going to take the place. However, what I will say is, for example, if you take a life of Saul, King Saul, he was God's chosen, the first king of Israel. He was anointed to be the king. But everything what he did was by his own choice, even till the point of him taking his own life was his own choice. But there was always opportunity for him to repent and change his ways. And that is why David is such a big contrast. And so that's a perfect example of two men of God who were chosen by God, anointed by God, you know, who realized that they committed sin. But one was just too arrogant to ask for forgiveness, but the other was broken in repentance. And I believe that a person's life, the way God honors of repentance will be so different in a person's life. And we see that in the life of David, what happens after he depends. It's never the same after he depends. And so with ministers who are in ministry, we don't know their secret life. I might be your teacher right now and you don't really know what I'm thinking. I might be talking about holiness, but my mind could be something else. I might do something else after the class. There's no telling, isn't it? But God sees everything. And so the opportunity remains the same. Like we read in Isaiah 55, seek the Lord while he is still available. And so when we seek him, we go back to him, repent and say, you know, as we read from the scripture, that he is willing to do for his good pleasure that, okay, you know, I did something wrong. I'm going back to him, ask for forgiveness. And I believe that I have been forgiven. And, you know, I love the Holy Spirit to help me live a holy life. But if I continue to live in the arrogance saying that, okay, you know, I can do whatever I want to do. And then later I'll go for a give. I'll sit on the fence. You know, it's like Christians say, I'll sit on the fence. When the end is really near, I will jump on to the other side. So what my observation roughly, what I would say is that it's the posture of your heart is that a person might truly be struggling to overcome a certain sin. It could be a pastor or a teacher or a believer, right? They are willing, right? They are addicted to drugs. They know it is wrong, but they don't have, they're just not able to overcome. And that's when it is always advisable for anybody, in believer, pastor, more so with the leaders, I would say, is to reach out for professional help. Or reach out to your friends for help or to other leaders, elders for help and say, I am struggling with this. And I think that's the huge problem that we, this Christian ecosystem, if I may say, is created is that we have not given enough liberty for believers to say, just accept that this is my weakness. I need help because somehow it's been portrayed as weakness. Oh, he's pastor's daughter. He's going for counseling. She's going for counseling. How insulting is that? And sometimes pastors even stop their children from receiving professional help because of the fear of what the congregation or people might speak about. And I think in situations like that, there are individuals who are genuinely struggling to overcome and they keep forgiving. They keep asking, repenting and asking for forgiveness when they come into certain acts of sin, but they are finding it so difficult to overcome. And scenarios like that, we encourage them to receive help, speak to their leaders, their friends, and see how they can journey together, disciple them together out of it. And I believe it's possible. And then there are those individuals who are ignorant and arrogant, thinking that, okay, I can just take this for granted. The price that Jesus paid next Sunday is communion. I'll just ask for give. And if it does not do anything to you in your heart, it does not cause you to live a different life than those are just vain words in my point of view. Thank you for that, Roshan. It makes sense in many ways. You're most welcome. I was genuinely the person who was struggling with a certain habits that I had in terms of alcohol and whatnot as a teenager, though I gave my life to Jesus at the age of 17. I was born in a Christian family. And so Sunday school and all that was there, but 17, I gave my life to him. I was baptized and water in 2001, January 11th, all of that happened. But I was still had my own challenges as a teenager in my adolescent years and whatnot. But I think I would like to think that I was one of those individuals who really long to come out of it. But eventually here I am. And so praise God for that. So I believe that there are individuals who are willing, but they're unable to just like the strictest. And then there are those who are not willing at all. And so we can't help them much. And Saul was one of those cases who was just not willing. He wanted to pretend and that's why he was a man of the position while David was a man of the presence. So if any individual, any minister of God is after a position, then the presence, they're treading on dangerous waters. I hope that made sense. Thank you. So just continuing on and maybe pause is in 1 John chapter 3 verse 4 again says, Whoever commits sin also commits lawlessness. Now the Greek word used there for commits is living in sin, habitual sin. And this epistle of 1 John is wonderful because he talks about sin, the power of forgiveness, the power of repentance and shows how Jesus is faithful to forgive. He continues talking about that. And by chapter 5 you see he's talking about a believer who's living in habitual sin. This is this wonderful epistle, this 1 John, not all his epistles, but yeah. So what the word commits there is referring to is living in habitual sin. So they're constantly, you know, whatever, any example, negative example that you want to think, that you can think of, you can think of, but that's the lifestyle that they are living in. And they're not encouraged to do that, to come out of it, to seek repentance, to ask for forgiveness and they will be forgiven. And we'll continue to see some more examples of believers in a believer's life and repentance. For example, in Simon, the former sorcerer in Acts chapter 8, we read that this person called Simon who was a sorcerer, he hears Philip preach and then he goes to him and he gives his life, he hears the gospel and he even gets baptized in the water. And then much later we see that, you know, when he sees Peter, he says he offers him money to gain what Peter is carrying. It's like, hey, I'll give you so much, what can I give to have what you have? And Peter rebukes him saying, you need to think differently. Simon to repent because of the thought of his heart. And so although he was baptized, you know, he knew believer, he was rebuked and asked to repent from the way he, because of the way he fought. And in this famous episode in Corinthian church, in 1 Corinthians chapter 5 verse 11 to 13, Paul writes and says, be careful of a person who's living in habitual sin, who's constantly living in sin. He says, not to keep company with anyone named a brother who is sexually immoral or Covichris or an idolater. It's just saying that who's constantly living in all this, living in all this immorality is not to say that you hate the person is you love the person but you cannot condone, you know, what the person is doing or be an evangelist or promote and agree with their lifestyle. He says, you know, you let them know, you know, this is what your stance is on how they are living their lives. Okay, so that's 1 Corinthians chapter 5 verse 11 to 13. And then goes on to say, what about leaders in the church? 1 Corinthians chapter 5 verse 19 to 22, how do we correct church leaders who are living in continual sin? If it comes to light, though, because so many times it remains a secret in the dark, right? But eventually when it does come to light, how do we correct that? Because we remember we're talking about repentance and recovery, right? And the heart here is, you know, we don't kind of crucify the person who is living in sin. We let them know there's an opportunity for them to repent. And then they also had the opportunity to be restored. So how do we do that? That's the heart behind this topic, right? So how do we correct the church leaders who are constantly living in continual sin? Timothy chapter 5 verse 19, he says, do not receive an accusation against an elder except from two or three witnesses. So, you know, don't just take a person's word for anything that's been done, any harm that's been done. But are there more witnesses? Is there more to this accusation and then correct? And he goes on to say in verse 20, those who are sinning rebuke in the presence of all that the rest also may fear. And in verse 21, he says, do this without prejudice, doing nothing with partiality. That means don't give any preference to anybody, be it a church leader or a member of the congregation. Correct them and don't give any preference. Do it without prejudice. Do it without any partiality. Okay. And then once a person has repented, how do we help them in the journey of restoration? We see in Galatians 6 verse 1 and 2, it says, Brethren, if a man is overtaken in any trespass, any sin, you who are spiritual restore such a one in a spirit of gentleness. It says, okay, if there's a person who's, you know, struggling in sin, who's been overtaken is just a language that's saying, okay, who's overcome by sin, who's living, who's overwhelmed, who's living in continual sin. You who are spiritual restore, offer such one in a spirit of gentleness. Okay, not with an attitude of condemnation, saying you go to them and say, okay, you condemned, and this is your fate, blah, blah, blah, etc. But in a spirit of gentleness, considering yourself less, you also be tempted knowing, realizing that, okay, you know, what's happening to them can also happen to me because I'm still living in flesh. And so by doing so, in verse 2, it says, bear one another's burden and so fulfill the law of Christ. And so by doing this, we fulfill God's command. In Matthew 22, I think he says, when Pharisees asked Jesus, Master, what's the greatest commandment? He says, the first one is, I love the Lord your God with all your soul, heart, mind and strength. And then I love your neighbor as yourself. And all of the commandments of the prophets hangs on these two. It's about loving one another. And when we move in love in gentleness and patience and in kindness towards each other, and when we recognize a person, a friend of yours, a member of the congregation that you know is struggling, you offer and you walk with them and disciple them and say, how can I be of any help? Right. And so the restoring a fallen believer is your demonstrating the love of Jesus to them. And then once again, we saw that God's message was also to the seven churches. So it's not just for unbelievers, but it's also to the believers. And what we discussed in the last session about the New Testament concluding with the message of repentance to the five out of the seven churches is kind of elaborated in this ending session of this chapter to the church in Ephesus. They had to repent because they had forgotten their first love and their first works. And what is interesting is, you know, sure, we're not studying about end times, but all of these, the letters to the seven churches, it starts off by saying that I see you. I see what you're doing. That means God's eyes are on us. He's constantly watching what we're doing. And he says, I see you. I see you. I see you. I have seen. I have seen. Right. We go through those letters. And so through the church in Ephesus, you were saying that repent because you've forgotten your first love. And to the church in Parganos says false because of false doctrine leading to immorality, repent. And same thing with the church in Thyatira is false doctrine leading to immorality, imperfect works and self deception to the church in Laudatia. Right. So yes, as a conclusion that believers need to repent. Right. And I thought we'd end with this today. But I think as a concluding, we can just look at chapter five as just a conclusion for today's session. And so having spoken about all these, the importance of repentance and having spoken about a living, a life of sin, habitual sin. So are there any partiality among sins of the acts of sin? Does God view it a certain way? Right. Are all sins great? Or is there some hierarchy? You know, does he differentiate between sins or all these equally detestable in God's eyes? Right. For example, a lust or adultery. Now we can read about it in Matthew chapter five verse 21 and 28. In the Old Testament, the act mattered, the act of adultery mattered. It was condemned. But in the New Testament, we know that Jesus says if you look at a woman with lust, you have committed adultery. He holds the standard really high. And in 1 John 3.15, he says again in the Old Testament, an act of murder was condemned. But in 1 John 3.15 says that if you hate your brother, it's murder. Just a thought. And Proverbs chapter six verse 16 to 19, you know, you can look at, there are seven things that the Lord detests. Six that are, he just doesn't tolerate that. And the first thing on the list is pride, haughty eyes. Right. So you say, Lord, I have not looked at anyone with lust. I don't hate anyone, but you have this pride about yourself or a condescending attitude towards the others, or if you have a bitterness. And all of that we see in Revelation 21 verse eight, all of them, it leads to the same place. They all receive the same judgment, all of it. No matter the thought or the act, they all lead to the same place. And so we must treat all sin with equal disdain because all of it is hated by God. Right. And so we will continue on this topic in the next week on, I thought we too much of content has been observed today. And so, yeah, just continue to think about everything that we've learned today, pray about it, and we'll continue next week. All right. Thank you everyone for joining in and continue to pray for the BC team, BC students who've gone to Mangalore on Mission Strip pray that they would have a fruitful time of ministry in Mangalore as they serve. All right. Thank you so much for joining. God bless you. Have a good remaining day.