THE TRUTH ABOUT CHRISTIAN TRADITION

 

Chapter 23

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The Person God Saves and Works With

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Text

2 Cor. 4:15-18 For all things are for your sakes, that grace, having spread through the many, may cause thanksgiving to abound to the glory of God. Therefore we do not lose heart. Even though our outward man is perishing, yet the inward man is  being renewed day by day. For our light affliction, which is but for a moment, is working for us a far more exceeding and eternal weight of glory, while we do not look at the things which are seen, but at the things which are not seen. For the things which are seen are temporary, but the things which are not seen are eternal.

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Memory Verse

2 Cor. 4:16  Therefore we do not lose heart. Even though our outward man is perishing, yet the inward man is being renewed day by day. 

 

 

Introduction

God is not impressed by performance.

 

God gives commands for a reason. If you obey Him only on the outside but your heart is not in it, it is worthless to Him (1 Cor. 13:1-3).

 

Every person has two parts:

• The inward person: your spirit, the real you that God made new in Christ.

• The outward person: your body, flesh, the part that gets tired, ages, and wants comfort.

 

God is working with the inward person. The fruits of each person show who is in charge.

 

Objectives

To understand who God is actually saving and working with.

 

To recognize the fruits of the inward person vs the outward person.

 

To learn how to let the inward person lead.

 

Presentation

 

1. Fruits of the Inward Person

This is the “you” that is born again by the Spirit. Signs that it is active are as follows:

 

(1) Washed in Spirit: baptized in the Holy Spirit, conscience cleansed (Heb.10:22, 9:14, Acts 1:4-5).

 

(2) Worships in the spiritual temple: with Christ in heaven (Heb. 9:24).

 

(3) Wears spiritual clothes: Christ as your garment, the fruit of the Spirit as your style (Rom. 13:14, Gal. 5:22-23).

 

(4) Eats spiritual food: feeds on Christ’s teachings, not just physical food (John 6:35, 1 Pet. 2:2).

 

(5) Grows in knowing Christ: (2 Pet. 3:18).

 

(6) Offers yourself first: your life before your money (Rom. 12:1-2, Rev. 3:20).

 

(7) Wants the real Jesus: the righteous, Spirit-filled Jesus, not just a miracle worker (2 Cor. 5:16-17, Matt. 6:33).

 

(8) Compares yourself to Christ: not to other people (2 Cor. 10:12, Heb. 12:1-2).

 

(9) Lives by faith, not by sight: follows the Spirit of the Word (John 6:63, 1 John 3:17-20).

 

(10) Measures blessing spiritually: as in the Beatitudes (Matt. 5:3-12).

 

(11) Sees believers as God’s temple (1 Cor. 3:16-17).

 

(12) Sees God everywhere: worship is not limited to one place or time (John 4:23-24, Ps. 139:7).

 

(13) Believes in personal salvation: you stand before God yourself (Phil. 2:12, 2 Cor. 5:10).

 

(14) Lives permanently in the Church: because you are in Christ (Heb. 3:6, 1 Cor. 3:9).

 

2. Fruits of the Outward Person

This is the “flesh and blood” part that wants control:

 

(1) Physical water baptism only: ceremony without heart change (1 Pet. 3:21).

 

(2) Needs physical buildings to worship (Acts 17:24-25, Heb. 9:1).

 

(3) Obsessed with outward appearance: clothes, jewellery, looks (1 Pet. 3:1-3).

 

(4) Focused on physical food, comfort (Rom. 14:17).

 

(5) Grows in worldly knowledge: law, trends, but not in Christ (Heb. 10:1-4).

 

(6) Proud of material giving: tithes, offerings, but heart is far off (Eccl. 10:19).

 

(7) Wants Jesus for signs only: “show me a miracle and I will believe” (John 20:29, Matt. 16:4).

 

(8) Compares self to others: jealousy, pride, division (1 Cor. 3:6-7).

 

(9) Academic faith: knows the Bible but does not live it (2 Cor. 3:6).

 

(10) Measures God’s favour by money, status (Luke 16:13-15).

 

(11) Puts women down in service: gender bias (1 Tim. 2:11-15).

 

(12) Thinks that a building is God’s house (Acts 17:24-25).

 

(13) Limits worship to Sunday / church building (Gal. 4:9-11).

 

(14) Believes in group salvation: “my family / church will save me” (Gal. 6:3-4).

 

(15) Goes to ‘Church’ and leaves it: treats it like a place, not a life (Heb. 3:6).

 

Conclusion

Let the inward person win.

 

God only accepts worship from the inward person made righteous by Jesus’s blood. The outward person cannot serve God unless it is led by the Spirit through the inward person (Gal. 5:16-17).

 

By Christ’s grace, the inward person wins this battle.

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Evaluation Questions & Answers​

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1. If our worship does not help or hurt God, why does He correct us?

   • Because correction is for our good, not His. God corrects us to keep us from self-destruction, to make us holy, and to bring us into the life that He designed for us (Heb. 12:10-11, 2 Tim. 3:16-17). He is a Father training His children.

2. If the inward person is cleansed by Christ and functional, is the outward person cleansed automatically?

   • No. The inward person is made new instantly at salvation (2 Cor. 5:17). But the outward person - your body, habits and mind - gets renewed gradually as you walk with the Spirit (Rom. 12:2, 2 Cor. 4:16). You have to yield your body daily (Rom. 6:13).

3. Gal. 5:17 speaks of conflict between the inward and outward person. For what purpose?

   • To show you that you are in a battle for control. The Spirit wants to lead you into holiness and freedom. The flesh wants to pull you back into sin and self. The conflict proves that you are alive spiritually. God uses it to keep you depending on Him.

4. Before salvation, the inward person was dominated by the outward person. True or False?

   • True. Before Christ, we were ‘dead’ in trespasses and sins (Eph. 2:1). The flesh ruled because the Spirit was not alive in us. After salvation, the Spirit gives the inward person power to rule.

5. What is the difference between ‘the Church’ and ‘a Church Cathedral’?

   • 'The Church’ is the people who belong to Christ, His Body (Eph. 5:25).

   • ‘A Church Cathedral’ is a physical building where people meet. The building is not the Church, it is just a meeting place.

6. Between ‘the Church’ and ‘a Church Cathedral’, where is God permanently present?

   • In the Church, the people. God dwells in believers by His Spirit (1 Cor. 3:16, Eph. 2:22). He is not confined to a building.

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​​Prayer

Father, thank You for making my inward person alive in Christ. Help me not to live by the flesh but to walk by the Spirit every day. Teach me to worship You in spirit and truth, and to let the new me lead the old me. Make me the kind of person You can work with. In Jesus’s name, Amen.