IF YOU PRACTICE RIGHTEOUSNESS/IF YOU PRACTICE UNRIGHTEOUSNESS (7 OF 8)
by Tony Nester
Scripture: ISAIAH 1:10-20, MARK 12:28-34
This content is part of a series.
If You Practice Righteousness/If You Practice
Unrighteousness
Spiritual Choices: 7 of 8
Text: Isaiah 1:10-20; Mark 12:28-34
Tony Nester
This series of messages has been about spiritual choices:
believing or not believing, worshipping God or worshipping
an idol, obeying or disobeying, forgiving or not forgiving,
loving or not loving. These are choices we each make for
ourselves. The Bible emphasizes the importance of the
individual:
Jesus said that not one sparrow falls to the ground without
God knowing about it. (Matthew 10:29). John's Gospel tells
us that any one who believes in Jesus will enter eternal
life (John 3:16). The Apostle Paul taught that each one us
must one day give to God an accounting of what we have made
of our individual lives (2 Corinthians 5:10). And yet the
Bible doesn't leave everything up to individuals. In fact,
much of the Bible isn't about individuals - great portions
of the Bible are about peoples, nations, communities. One
of the great turning points in Scripture is Genesis 12.
There we have the story of God calling Abraham to begin a
nation that would become God's own people:
(Genesis 12:1-3 NRSV) "Now the LORD said to Abram, "Go from
your country and your kindred and your father's house to
the land that I will show you. {2} I will make of you a
great nation, and I will bless you, and make your name
great, so that you will be a blessing. {3} I will bless
those who bless you, and the one who curses you I will
curse; and in you all the families of the earth shall be
blessed.""
Jesus often preached about the Kingdom of God. This God-
ruled realm is more than a collection of individual
believers - the Kingdom of God is a spiritual community -
the people or nation that fulfills the promise given to
Abraham.
And when the Bible says that God so loved the world it
means that God loves us as a world and not just as
individuals.
All this is to say that the Bible add ...
Unrighteousness
Spiritual Choices: 7 of 8
Text: Isaiah 1:10-20; Mark 12:28-34
Tony Nester
This series of messages has been about spiritual choices:
believing or not believing, worshipping God or worshipping
an idol, obeying or disobeying, forgiving or not forgiving,
loving or not loving. These are choices we each make for
ourselves. The Bible emphasizes the importance of the
individual:
Jesus said that not one sparrow falls to the ground without
God knowing about it. (Matthew 10:29). John's Gospel tells
us that any one who believes in Jesus will enter eternal
life (John 3:16). The Apostle Paul taught that each one us
must one day give to God an accounting of what we have made
of our individual lives (2 Corinthians 5:10). And yet the
Bible doesn't leave everything up to individuals. In fact,
much of the Bible isn't about individuals - great portions
of the Bible are about peoples, nations, communities. One
of the great turning points in Scripture is Genesis 12.
There we have the story of God calling Abraham to begin a
nation that would become God's own people:
(Genesis 12:1-3 NRSV) "Now the LORD said to Abram, "Go from
your country and your kindred and your father's house to
the land that I will show you. {2} I will make of you a
great nation, and I will bless you, and make your name
great, so that you will be a blessing. {3} I will bless
those who bless you, and the one who curses you I will
curse; and in you all the families of the earth shall be
blessed.""
Jesus often preached about the Kingdom of God. This God-
ruled realm is more than a collection of individual
believers - the Kingdom of God is a spiritual community -
the people or nation that fulfills the promise given to
Abraham.
And when the Bible says that God so loved the world it
means that God loves us as a world and not just as
individuals.
All this is to say that the Bible add ...
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