Guided by God's Glory

In Jeffrey Johnson's sermon "Guided by God's Glory," he expounds on 1 Corinthians 10:33 through 11:1, discussing the principles Christians should use to guide their decision-making. Johnson highlights Paul's advice to the Corinthians on eating meat offered to idols, emphasizing the importance of considering the impact of one's actions on others and doing everything for God's glory. He outlines eight questions Christians should ask when making decisions:

1. **Is it lawful?** - Determine if the action is permissible and not sinful.
2. **Is it helpful to others?** - Consider if the action benefits others and builds them up.
3. **Is it unselfish?** - Ensure the decision is not driven by selfish motives but seeks the good of neighbors.
4. **Does it violate my conscience?** - Avoid actions that go against personal convictions.
5. **Does it offend others' consciences?** - Refrain from actions that could lead others to sin or stumble.
6. **Does it bring glory to God?** - Aim to glorify God in all actions, ensuring motives align with His glory.
7. **Is it evangelistic?** - Consider if the action enhances or hinders the witness to non-believers.
8. **Would Paul do it?** - Follow Paul's example as he imitates Christ, living a life of service and selflessness.

Johnson stresses that every decision is a moral one, influenced by the overarching principle of glorifying God and serving others. By asking these questions, Christians can navigate their choices in a way that honors God and benefits their community.

Transcript

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1 Corinthians chapter 10 we'll be looking at verses 33 all the way into verse 1 of chapter 11. All things are lawful, but not all things are helpful. All things are lawful, but not all things build up. Let no one seek his own good, but the good of his neighbor. Eat whatever sold in the meat market without raising any question on the ground of conscience. For the earth is the Lord's, and the fullness thereof. If one of the unbelievers invite you to dinner and you are disposed to go, eat whatever set before you without raising any questions on the ground of conscience. But if someone says to you, "This has been offered in sacrifice," then do not eat it for the sake of the one who informed you, and for the sake of conscience. I do not mean your conscience, but his. For why should my liberty be determined by someone else's conscience? If I partake with thankfulness, why am I denounced because of that for which I give thanks? So whether you eat or drink or whatever you do, do all to the glory of God. Give no offense to the Jews or to Greeks or to the Church of God. Just as I try to please everyone in everything I do, not seeking my own advantage, but that of many, that they may be saved. And then he concludes this in chapter 11, verse 1,"Be imitators of me as I am of Christ." Now, in this exposition of Paul giving counsel to the Corinthians as they struggle what to do with meats offered to idols to eat, not to eat, very difficult for them. Imagine being in that setting that you've been redeemed out of idolatry, and there's still a lot of your friends and family as the whole culture around you is integrated into idolatry. And even so much, much of the food that you would buy at the meat market would be offered to idols. We saw how last week they were not to participate in idol worship, but we have freedom, or they had freedom to go ahead and buy meats that was sold at the meat market that may have been offered to idols, and they could eat it, give thanks, and eat it with a clean conscience. But there's occasions and circumstances where it wasn't profitable for them to eat such meats, and though it might have been lawful, technically lawful, and one of their Christian liberties to eat, not necessarily meant it was profitable or helpful. But as Paul explains this, he gives us some principles to make our own decisions on various things that we may have to make in our own lives. And I submit to you that every decision you and I make is a moral decision. Then you say, well, this is all moral or amoral. It doesn't matter what you do one way or the other. And there's cases where you might think that if you went and bought the red car or the blue car and make some cases like that, does it really matter? Is God really concerned? You just choose the one you like. And in that case, you can say, well, it doesn't really matter. Unless you examine your motivations, unless you realize that everything you do in word, indeed, and thought needs to be done for the glory of God. And if you recognize that God needs to be behind the motives of every action that you choose to do, then you realize if God's glory should be the chief motivating factor, then every decision, comes underneath that. Every decision is meant and designed to be done for God's glory. And if that's the case, every decision is a moral decision. God is concerned about the decisions we make. And some decisions we have to face, and many of you are facing, should I move here, take this job? Should I marry this person? Or should I don't do this or do this? And we have decisions all the time and we wonder, how should we make decisions? There are various things that would lead us to do this or do that. And some people, you know, you meet some people that want to be led by the Spirit, which is such a wonderful thing to be led by the Spirit. And they make the decisions completely subjective, where they become frozen. They can't move and do make any decisions because they're frozen because they don't want to be out of the will of God. And they're making the will of God so fine-tuned that they freeze up and can't make any decisions. I've met people like that. But other people are so careless in their decisions and they are not evaluating what they're doing. They just kind of blaze ahead without considering what Scriptures may or may not have to say about such decisions. And I do believe we need to be led by the Spirit, but the Spirit leads us through His Word. And there's a lot of principles in the Word in which we should bring to bear on our decision-making process. For instance, in this explanation telling the Christians, these young Christians that were immature, He's giving them some principles. And in one way He's telling them what to do. He's like a father telling the children, "Now this is what you need to be doing." And He lays it out there for them. But He doesn't lay out every decision we have to make. There are a lot of other decisions that the Scriptures doesn't address. And wouldn't it be neat to have an apostle alive today that we could call up and say,"Now how does the Word of God apply to me in this scenario? I need your wisdom on this." And then Paul could apply the principles and then get back with us, send us an email, and then we would know what to do. But Paul, by answering the Corinthians in this particular circumstances, gives us the wisdom, the principles in which he used to evaluate whether to eat meat offered to idols. And sometimes it's okay, sometimes it's not okay. And how do we know when to do this and when not to do this? Well, he gives us eight principles. And in some sense when you make a decision, when you go to make decisions in your life, and you want to be in the will of God and led by the Spirit, here's eight questions you should ask yourself. So if you're, especially right now, you're in a decision-making state. Some of us are, some of us are not. Some of us are just running through the normal life and we're just doing things that we're called to do and we don't have any major decisions on the table. But some of you may have some major decisions you're looking at. And as you're looking at these decisions, here's eight questions to ask yourself, eight questions to evaluate as you try to know what God's will is for your life. The first question you should ask, we see in verse 23, this is a no-brainer and we do this intuitively, is it lawful? Is it permissible? Is it sin if I do it? All things are lawful. Now, Paul's not saying there's no such thing as sin, that God has eliminated sin. And there's no more commandments. We talk about within the arena of things that the Ten Commandments doesn't directly address. We have some freedom. We have some Christian liberty here. But we need to recognize when we make a decision, is it lawful for me to do this? We know it's never lawful to lie or steal or cheat. There's a lot of things we can say this I cannot do. I will not do that. We need to ask ourselves, am I being tempted to sin? Or is this just more a Christian liberty? Am I free to purchase the car or not purchase the car, depending upon my finances? What should I do? Well, it's not a sin to eat meat offered to idols. Technically speaking, you're free to do that. We know that idols are nothing and it's just meat and it's not what goes into it. It's not what goes into your body that defowls a person, Jesus says. So you're free to do that and not be condemned by that. You're not under this legalistic regulations saying you can't do that. So you have freedom in Christ. But this is not the only question. It's not just a matter of is this freedom or liberty. Is it just sin or not sin? That shouldn't be the only question we ask ourselves. That should be the first question, but not the only question. We shouldn't be ruled by our Christian liberties. It's my right. I'm going to do it. It's my freedom. I'm going to do it. I'm not going to be under the yoke of bondage anymore. I'm going to stand fast in my liberties. We do stand faster liberties when it comes to people trying to add works to our salvation or adding circumcision. You have to be circumcised to be right for God. That's another gospel. We're going to stand fast in the liberties that Christ has given us. He set us free from the bondage of the law. And we don't even we're not even saved by the Ten Commandments. We don't need to even add more commandments to the Ten. We're not saved by the law. So we're going to stand free when it comes to the gospel and salvation. And we may need to stand strong in our liberties when you have a legalistic preacher. Telling you that you have to do this and do that and as adding to your conscience trying to rule over your conscience. And I'll say this as a precursor. Only God himself and his word rules your conscience. Your husband doesn't rule your conscience. Your pastors don't rule your conscience. The state doesn't rule your conscience. Christ alone and the word of God alone rules your conscience. So we want to stand free when it comes to legalism. And adding regulations to your conscience that you have to submit to. However. It's not that Christian disposition. We shouldn't have the disposition. I'm going to stand fast with my liberties and all I have to wonder if if it's not sin and I want to do it. I'm going to do it no matter what else. No there's seven other questions that needs to govern your liberties. Things that you need to evaluate seven other things. The second question you should ask yourself as you make a decision is. Is this helpful to others. Look at verse 23. All things are lawful but not all things are helpful. All things are lawful but not all things build up. He put it this way in 1 Corinthians 6 12. Everything is permissible for me but not everything is beneficial. Everything is permissible for me but I will not be mastered by anything. And just because you're free to do something or free to enjoy a liberty. Free to buy this or do this or go here and. Do that doesn't mean you should necessarily. You should ask yourself. Is this going to be helpful. Not to yourself. But is it going to be helpful. To my family to my friends my loved ones my church family. Is it going to be helpful. All things are lawful but not all things are helpful. We don't want to be a self focus in our decision making process. We need to rather think what is going to be most beneficial. To others. What is going to be most edifying to others. He says all things are lawful but not all things build up. Not all things edify. We're told in Romans 14 19. Let us pursue what leads to peace and to mutual edification. So one of our motivations in choosing to do this or choosing to do that is what is going to be most edifying. To others. And this rules out out selfishness. This rules out just hey this is good for me and I'm free to do it. I'm going to do it. No. We're never called just be self centered self focused in our decision making processes especially. Husbands and fathers there to put themselves last when they consider what's best for the family. If you're going to move here or take this job what's going to be most beneficial for my wife and my children. I'm here to serve them and sacrifice my own interests for the betterment of others. In fact that leads me to the third question we should ask ourselves when making decisions. Verse 24 we should ask yourself is this selfish of me. What is the most unselfish thing I should I could do. Look at verse 24. Let no one seek his own good. But the good of his neighbors. This is a heart disposition. This is something where it's not like what's in it for me. I'm going to do this because I'm going to get paid more. I'm going to do this because I'm going to get promoted. I'm going to do this because it's going to advance my career and it might advance your career might take you to the next level but it might put you in a position that you're away from your family. You're working too hard. You're not with your children. You're not actually being the father or husband that you're called to be. And yes it feeds your ego or it helps you out in many ways but it's a detriment to the ones you love most. It's never wise to make decisions based upon that. We should never seek our own good or at least our own good should not be our chief motive. We should rather seek the good of others. Philippians 2 tells us in verse 3. Let nothing be done through selfish ambition or conceit but in lowliness of mind let each esteem others better than himself. Let each of you look not only for his own interest but also for the interest of others. So don't be self ambitious. Don't be one who promotes yourself in the things that you do. Paul put it this way in 1 Corinthians 9 19. For though I am free from all men yet I have made myself a servant of all. Paul could have said listen I have Christian liberty I'm free and I'm an apostle. I'm going to use my authority and my power for my advantage. But he didn't think that way. He says I'm free from all but I've become a servant of all. Yes I'm free but I'm a slave. I'm a willful slave. I put myself in subjection to others. I'm a servant not a master. I've come to help not to exploit. The Lord taught us this in Matthew 20 says you shall not be among it shall not be among you but whoever desires to be great among you let him be your servant. And whoever desires to be first among you let him be your slave. Just as the son of man did not come to be served but to serve and to give his life as a ransom for many. So as you think about this principle think about the Lord Jesus Christ. Christ did not come to gain the world. I mean he had the power and the authority to be the richest man ever. He had the authority to have everybody serve him. He could have been born in a castle and fed with a golden spoon in his mouth. He could have had the world at his fingertips but he didn't come for that reason. He said no to the promotions if you would of the world and for selfish reasons he did not mean he didn't have selfish motivations but he rather he sought to serve others. He poured himself out and everything he did he gave himself up not only to die for you and I he served you and I and not just a little bit but every action and ever motive. He had forever action that he did was done out of service. This was his heart and this is what ruled his decision making process and were to be like Christ when we make our decisions. So we need to think what is most beneficial to others. It says that in 24 let no one seek his own good but the good of his neighbors. Paul said in 1 Corinthians 10 33 I try to please everyone and everything I do not seeking my own advantage but that of many. I mean is this kind of is this what's governing our decisions. Is this what is leading us to to choose to do what we choose to do. Romans 12 10 says be kindly affectionate to one another with brotherly love in honor giving preference to one another. It goes to say in chapter 15 verse 2 of Romans each of us should please his neighbor for his good to build him up. That is we need to be other focused. We're to be servants and so as we come to decisions that should kind of rule us that should be the governing principle to help us to know what is pleasing to the Lord and what is in the will of the Lord for our lives. It is God's will for your life that you and I be servants. Fourth question we should ask ourselves. What is in agreement with my conscience. We see this in verse 25 through 27 and some of us are going to have different conclusions because we have different consciences based upon our own personal convictions and our personal liberties. We don't all share the same liberties and convictions but one thing is for sure if it goes against our own personal conviction we shouldn't do it. Verse 25 tells us eat whatever sold in the meat market without raising any question on the ground of conscience for the earth is the Lord's in the fullness thereof. If anyone on of the unbelievers invites you to dinner and you are to dispose dispose ago eat whatever set before you without raising any questions on the ground of conscience. We have two scenarios. One is the meat market the other is an invitation to your friend's house at the meat market you're by yourself and the whole earth belongs to him. The fullness of it belongs to him. He's quoting the Psalmist. Everything belongs the Lord so with the givings of things the Bible says your meat and your food is sanctified so we give God glory in the things we eat and we enjoy that and you have the privilege and the freedom to buy meat at the meat market if you would and enjoy it at home enjoy it to yourself and you're in your if your conscious is clean if it's you're not under any conviction. But if your heart can fix you right if you're under conviction I shouldn't drink this or I shouldn't do that I shouldn't go here if your heart can fix you it may be a liberty for someone else. It may be you shouldn't impose your convictions on others but if you're convicted for it then don't do it because you're sitting against your conscience and if you sin against your conscience according to Romans 14 you're sitting against God because you're saying I don't care what God thinks but you think God thinks you shouldn't do this because you're convicted by it. So you should never violate your conscience in anything that you allow. Paul says I strive always to remain maintain a clean conscious before God and man. Romans 14 says one person is steams one day is better than another while another is steams all days alike. Each one should be fully convinced of his own mind that is in the things that you allow the things that you do the things that you're enjoy and participate in you need to make sure that you're you have a clean conscience before you enjoy these things. So as you think about making decisions think to yourself am I free to do this is my conscious clear. And if your consciousness not clear if you're under some conviction listen to your conscience or inform your conscience your conscience may change but it needs to be guided by the word of God and don't just blaze ahead with guilt. So that's important principle in making decisions. The fifth question that we should ask ourselves in the decision making process. What about the conscience of others. Is what I'm about to do offensive. Our conscious is not all that we need to be worried about. We also need to be worried about the conscience of our neighbors the conscience of our friends our family our children. Look at verse 28. But if someone says to you this has been offered in a sacrifice then do not eat it for the sake of the one who informed you and for the sake of conscience. I do not mean your conscience but his. Now that seems radical. That seems like wait I got Christian liberty. I don't care what other people think. This is where Paul says hold on a little bit. It is important what other people think. You don't want to be offensive. You don't want to cause a little one to stumble. Jesus warns and gives a strong warning to anyone who would lead a little one a believer to sin. He says it would be better for us to have a meal zone wrapped around our head and thrown into the sea than it is for us to lead others into sin. He said well I'm free to do it. Well if someone's not free to do it they may see your actions and in in the act of peer pressure or not wanting to be not knowing what to do they may end up sitting against their own conscience and we don't want to be guilty of tempting others and leading others to violate their conscience. Romans 14 20 says do not destroy the work of God for the sake of food. All things indeed are pure but it is evil for the man who eats with offense. It is good neither to eat meat nor drink wine nor do anything by which your brother stumbles or is offended or is to be made weak. We need to be others centered. And Romans says hey life is not about eating and drinking life is not about your liberties life is not about just us having fun and doing this and that it's about building up one another's about serving others. Now here's the question that we all have is in verse 29. This doesn't seem fair. Why should I be an enslaved to someone else's conscience? I want liberty. I'm free. Why should my conscience be restricted and my freedoms be restricted by my brother's weak conscience? This is what he asked in verse 29 for why should my liberty be determined by someone else's conscience? Verse 30 if I partake with thankfulness why am I denounced because of that which I give thanks if I if I'm doing it for the glory of God and I have a freedom to do it why should I be denounced? Why should I be looked down upon just because someone else around me has a weak conscience? Well, first Corinthians 8 13 tells us therefore if what I eat causes my brother to stumble I will never eat meat again. That should be our heart. That should be our attitude. I'd rather go without. I would rather do without than cause a little one or weak brother or sister to stumble. That's more important for me to build them up and administer to them than it is to minister to myself. I would rather go without and help someone than to have and hurt someone. That should be a harsh disposition that definitely the hardest disposition of the apostle Paul. We're not to destroy the work of God for the sake of our liberties. Paul said in first in Philippians chapter 1 verse 9 and this I pray that your love may abound still more and more in knowledge and all discernment that you may approve the things that are excellent that you may be sincere and without offense. Till the day of Christ. So the question is why should my liberty be judged by another? Why should my conscience be bound to someone else's conscience if you would? The answer is found in verse 31. Therefore whether you eat or drink whatever you do do all for the glory of God and that leads me to the sixth question we need to ask ourselves when we make decisions. Will this bring glory to God? Can I do this for the glory of God? And maybe a more precise way of asking the question is am I motivated by God's glory? Am I seeking His kingdom, His cause, His glory, His praise or am I seeking my own glory, my own praise, my own exaltation, my own benefit? What is behind the answer to my question? What is the motivation behind what I'm doing? Whether we eat or drink, whatever we do, we're to do all to the glory of God. Everything, everything, this is why I say every decision is a moral decision. There's no decisions that's not benign. We're going to be held accountable for every thought. And every deed, every thought, every action, every decision. Why? Why is God so particular and precise as He evaluates us? It's because He's jealous of His own glory. The Son loves the Father and He's seeking to glorify the Father and everything and He's seeking a people who's seeking the glory of God. If He didn't care about God's glory, He wouldn't care about our actions. But because God does care about His own glory, He cares about our thinking, our motivations and our actions. And that comes down to eating and drinking. And we do a lot of things so thoughtlessly. I mean, how many times have you dug in? I mean, I've done this. And I pray all the time for before the meals. It's just routine to pray before you eat. And I assume that's true of all of us. But we just dig in sometimes so quick and so flippantly. We're not even given thanks to the goodness that God has given us and the food. I mean, I think that's the way dogs act. They just dig in. They just start eating. You know, they just start gobbling down and we're not to be like that. Everything we do needs to be done with thanksgiving in our heart to the Lord. And we can enjoy all the riches that God has given us to richly enjoy. He's given us life. He's given us wonderful food. I'm hoping to get some Mexican afterwards and I'm going to give thanks for that. I mean, I can eat for the glory of God and I can enjoy this morning. I took a walk outside because the sun come up. It was the most gorgeous morning this morning. It was unbelievable. So I want to walk this morning. I was like, thank the Lord for the weather. Thank the Lord for this beautiful scenery. Thank the Lord for all creation. We're to enjoy the creation for the glory of God. But God needs to be in our thoughts. God needs to be in our motivations. He's called us to live for His glory, even from eating and drinking. And all things can be done for God's glory. But what is not done for God's glory we need to refrain from. We should definitely seek not to bring shame or dishonor upon the name of God. And that's why our conduct and our behavior is important to God. Romans 14 tells us in verse 5, "He who observes the day observes it to the Lord." That is, if you have a conscience about these things, you say, "I'm doing it unto the Lord." It goes on to say, "He who does not observe the day, to the Lord he does not observe it. He who eats eats to the Lord, for he gives God things, and he who does not eat does it for the Lord." Now you have people with different convictions. And we can say, "Oh, you're a legalist or you're a libertarian." And we can get upset with one another for our different convictions and think we have the perfect way. The Paul says, "Don't judge another man's servant. Don't look down on your mind because someone is a little more strict in their behavior and have a little more convictions than you do." They're doing that unto the Lord. They're trying to serve the Lord more precisely in their conscience. Praise God for your convictions because you're doing unto the Lord. But if you don't have these convictions, don't judge people that have a little more freedom than you do. They're having their freedom and they're able to have their freedom as unto the Lord. But if you can't do it unto the Lord, don't do it."Whatever you do," it says, "whatever you do, do all, do all for the glory of God. He is worthy of it. He is worthy of giving your life to. He is worthy of surrendering every decision to." And I know there are some decisions that you can't possibly know, like is this A or B or C, which one? And sometimes we just, "Lord, you know my heart. I'm seeking to please you. I have liberty in all three options. I'm choosing this because I see that there's nothing that hinders my conscience. I don't see how it offends my brother or sister, and I believe I can give you glory in it." And we have freedom. We don't have to be stalled out in every little decision and paranoid about failing God in some little particular way. But we do need to evaluate. Is my motive for Him? The Bible tells us whatever we do, do hardly as to the Lord. I do unto the Lord. If you're sweeping a floor, you're doing laundry, if you're going to work, if you're curing cancer, or just changing a diaper, they all is an elevated purpose. And you understand this gives your decision making purpose. It gives your life purpose. It means that in the kingdom of God, it's not what we may think, "You're a great person because you do great things. You're not a great person because you do mundane things." If you understand this principle, you understand there's no mundane things, that your calling is a high calling, that your purpose and for living is a great purpose. There's no higher calling and no higher purpose in life, no matter what your state or status is, if you're a child or you're a president of some major corporation. It doesn't matter because you're called to live for God's glory, and you're to live with every decision aimed to bring praise and honor to His name. So we must decrease so that God will increase. We must seek to go, "This is not for me, but this is for God." The seventh thing we should ask ourselves is, "Am what I'm doing going to be more evangelistic or less evangelistic?" Look at verse 32 through 33. Paul says, "Give no offense to Jews or to Greeks or to the church of God, just as I try to please everyone and everything, I am not seeking my own advantage, but that many that they may be saved." So Paul's motivated by this desire, "I'm not trying to get my liberties here. I'm forgoing marriage. I'm forgoing a salary. I'm working with my own hands. I'm denying myself of many privileges and liberties because I don't want to be offensive in my ministry. I don't want to be a stumbling block to the Greeks or to the Jews or to the church of God. So I'm motivated after what would be most beneficial for God's people and ultimately what would bring potentially greater evangelistic opportunities. I want to be able to witness, and I don't want people to be offended by me, and they won't hear me because they're offended by me. I want to be heard, and I want to make sure that my decisions are not getting in the way of that. I told you the story of my friend, a pastor friend of mine who had enough money to buy a car lot, and he was telling my father that I could drive any car I want, but I know it would be offensive and it would be a stumbling block to some, and it would hinder my pastoral ministry. And so I choose not to drive the Lamborghini if you would. I'm choosing to make sure I'm not offensive or stumbling block to the people I serve. And I said, "Well, go ahead, enjoy yourself. Get what you want." Well, I think that he had the right heart. He had the right mindset. We have that mindset and what we do. Paul said, "Though I'm free from all men, I've made myself a servant to all, that I might win the more. To the Jews, I become a Jew, and that I might win Jews to those who are under the law as under the law, that I might win those under the law, to those who are without law as without law, not being without the law towards God, but under the law towards Christ, that I might win those who are without the law, to the weak I become as weak, that I might win the weak, I become all things to all men, that I might by all means save some. Now this I do for the gospel's sake." You see, he said in this passage, "I try to please everyone in all that I do. I'm not seeking my own good, but the good of many that they may be saved." Fathers, as you think about decisions of your life, think about where your kids are going to go to church when you make decisions that take a promotion in another state. Think about that. What's going to be most beneficial for their souls? I think it is wisdom to think, "Hey, is this a barren place with no gospel witness? Is it going to be beneficial to my wife and her soul to move to this desert location without friends, without Christian friends, or my children to not have Christian influences upon their lives? Is it going to be a good church body there?" I mean, this is not the way the world thinks. They think, "Well, here, I'm going to make $200,000 more in this promotion." And off they go, and they make decisions, and they don't see the consequences on their children's life immediately. But five, six years, seven years, it starts to wear upon their children. We need to think through these things. We need to think, "What is best not for me, but what's best for my wife, my children, my loved ones?" The last thing is found in verse 1 of chapter 11. The last question, we've all heard of what would Jesus do, W.W.J.D. But this one is, what would Paul do? W.W.P.D. What would Paul do? We see that he says, "Be imitators of me as I am of Christ." You see, Paul set himself as an example of this. I love this about Paul. He didn't just preach and tell other people how to live. He lived it as an example. His life become a sermon, just like the Lord Jesus Christ. Jesus Christ lived out his teaching. You can look at what he did and see how you should behave. The apostle Paul lived an exemplary life when it comes to serving others and denying himself. He lived that life for us to emulate. We should become like Christ by seeking to imitate the apostle Paul. He says, "By the inspiration of the Holy Spirit, be imitators of me." Now, I'm afraid to say that. Don't be like me. I've got a lot of pride still in my life. But Paul could say it with a clean conscience under the inspiration of the Holy Spirit."Be imitators of me. Follow my example. Be willing to deny yourself. Be willing to think of others as I have thought of others." 2 Corinthians 12, he tells us in verse 19, "Again, do you think that we excuse ourselves to you? We speak before God in Christ, but we do all things beloved for your edification." Paul gave his life to serve people. He gave his life to serve God's people. He is concerned about the kingdom of God. He was concerned about the children of God. And so think about your life decisions. Think about how that's impacting, not just yourself, but impacting God's glory and the good of others around you. Now, in conclusion, the answer to all eight of these questions can be summarized in the very purpose of the law. Now, it's interesting. The law gives us broad commands. It doesn't give us detailed commands for every decision. Right? The law, there's 10 commandments, and I would say we don't need 11 or 12. That's sufficient. We have the commandments that we need, but the commandments are not designed to be broken down to give us precise explanation of everything, because what would happen if God gave us such precise explanation, there would need to be a billion commandments. And when you get into the particulars of the commandments, it might apply to you in this particular circumstance, but it would be misunderstood in other circumstances and it'd be legalistic to apply it in every other circumstance. And so rather, the spirit of the law is to love God with all your heart, mind and soul, and to love your neighbor as yourself. This is the essence of the law. It can be summarized in love and see love is not self-focused. Love is not self-ambitious. Love is other-centered. Love is thinking about God principally and neighbors seconded. This is the heart of the commandments. This is the heart of the Christian life. God has saved us to be like his son Jesus, and Christ demonstrated perfect love by becoming a servant to all of us, by giving himself, pouring himself out and not living for himself or self-gory, but living for his Father's glory and for our good. Though God does not give us a billion laws for us to read and memorize, he has given us enough to make decisions. The Scriptures are sufficient. We're to be led by the Spirit, but we don't need the Spirit to give us more instruction. We don't need new laws. We don't need more Scriptures. We're to be led by the Holy Spirit, but the Spirit speaks through his word, and the word is sufficient. We have all that we need to live a godly life and to make decisions in this world. So we can filter them through these eight questions. Is it lawful? Is it helpful to others? Is it unselfish? Does it violate my own conscience? Does it violate my neighbor's conscience, or will it be offensive to him or her? Does it bring glory to God? Is it evangelistic? And would Paul do it? Let's pray. Dear Lord, we are thankful for your servant Paul, who showed us what it looks like to be others centered. Lord, we want our lives to mirror the life of Christ, and we want others to be able to follow our example. We want to be unselfish. We want to be God-focused. We want to be others-focused. We want to be God-focused. We want to be God-focused. We want to be God-focused. We want to be God-focused. We want to be God-focused. We want to be God-focused. We want to be God-focused. We want to be God-focused. We want to be God-focused. We want to be God-focused.[BLANK_AUDIO]