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You're listening to Heed the Word with our pastor and teacher, Ken Davis. Pastor Ken is the senior pastor of Calvary Chapel, Southwest Metro, located in Burleson, Texas. Please join us as we study our series entitled the Foundations of Faith.

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Are you perfect? Are you exactly like Christ? Right now, no, you're not, but we have this promise that when we see him, we will be like him. That means there is a continuous work that is in progress in our lives that God is using to shape us and to mold us and to transform us into the image of his son, jesus Christ. And in that day, in that moment, when we stand before him and we see him, the word of God tells us we're going to be just like he is. We're going to be like him.

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Even if you're not handy, you know that when it's time to build a house, the foundation must be the first thing that's addressed, and it must be done right the first time.

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Our relationship with God is no different. We must have a firm foundation in the Word of God that's rooted in a deep and lasting faith in Jesus. That's why Pastor Ken chose to share with you our series entitled the Foundations of Faith. What should be the greatest goal of a Christian? To be perfect. Be perfect, you might ask. Yes, although there is no one on this earth or in this existence that will ever attain this goal, it should be our heart's desire. God's grace has been provided to each one of us, not only for forgiveness of sins, but also as the empowering element to live a holy life. Don't forget to stay with us after today's message to hear more information about he the Word, specifically how you can get a free copy of this teaching. But for now, please open your Bibles and let's join Pastor Ken with the conclusion of part two of our series entitled the Foundations of Faith.

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Therefore, you are no longer a slave, but a son, and if a son, then an heir of God through Christ. So when he says that the spirit of his son is in us, crying Abba, father, that word Abba, that literally means daddy, it's a term of endearment. What it is saying? That, as a child of God, as someone who is born again, you have entered into a relationship with the God of the universe and you are his child. And because you are his child, you are an heir in his kingdom, and that is an incredible and an awesome fact. That is something that you must not ever forget. But remember who you are and remember whose you are as members of God's family. There are many benefits that we receive, not the least of which is eternal life, and I think that's one that a lot of people have a pretty good grasp on, wouldn't you agree? They think, hey, when I become a Christian, it means I'm going to live forever, right. I mean, that's one of the first things we learn about. Jesus said hey, if you believe in me, even if you die, you're going to live right, and he who believes in me and lives will never die. That means the moment that I come to Jesus Christ, and the moment I receive him as my Lord and Savior and his spirit comes to dwell in my heart, death has no power over me. I need not fear death, because death will not hold us. Oh, will we die? Sure, should the Lord tarry, our physical bodies will die, but our spirit, which belongs to God, will be with God for all eternity. And in the resurrection we'll have a bodily resurrection and we will always be with God, forever and ever. So not the least of those benefits of being part of the family of God is that eternal life that we receive because of that. There's also the fellowship that we experience with God. But I want to take a closer look at some of the other results of salvation in the life of a believer.

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One of the first things that you'll notice when a couple adopts a child is that they give that child a new name, don't they? They take that child who was not theirs, who was born to someone else, and they receive that child into their family and they give that child a name. And the name that they give that child reflects their own nature. It reflects who they are, because for all the rest of that child's life, that child will be identified with that family that he has become a part of, won't he? It's the same with us. When we come to Christ, he gives us a new name, as we've studied. When we become part of the family through Jesus Christ, we're adopted into his family and, as adopted children, he gives us his name.

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Verse 12 of chapter three of Revelation. Jesus says this he who overcomes, I will make him a pillar in the temple of my God and he shall go out no more. I will write on him the name of my God and the name of the city of my God, the new Jerusalem which comes down out of heaven from my God, and I will write on him my new name. We'll see this fulfilled in Revelation 22, verses 1 through 5. The reason I make a big deal out of this fact is because I want you to recognize something God's name is on you.

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One of the Ten Commandments that we're very familiar with is Thou shalt not take the name of the Lord, thy God, in vain, for the Lord will not hold him guiltless. Who taketh his name in vain? Pardon me, but I memorized that in the old King James. You remember that commandment. We think of that commandment as saying that we should not misuse the name of God, meaning we shouldn't curse or swear in association with God's name. Right, and that is a true and a valid application of that commandment. But I want to broaden your understanding of that commandment.

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When I joined the army and they were getting ready to make my dog tags and all that, they asked me what religion I was, being very young in the faith and not knowing any better. I simply said I'm a Christian. And they said, yeah, but what religion are you? I said, well, I'm a Christian, right, we understand that. But what denomination? And I'm like, I don't know, I'm just a Christian. That was my whole thing. I didn't know any better, and now I know that I. I knew better than I thought, because the fact of the matter is that's what we are Christians like Jesus, people who are like Christ or or or who are little Jesus Christians, little little Christs, right? You know, sometimes they look at Elisha and they say, well, there goes, little Ken, right, because he looks. If you look at our baby pictures, man, he's the spitting image, only he's a little cuter. Oh, he's a lot cuter, but anyway, he looks like me and he's like a little Ken, right? Well, we're the same way we are to be like Christ.

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Now, what does it mean to take a name in vain? Let me give you an example. Let's say a young man and a young woman get married and as they're getting married she takes his name right. But right after the wedding, on the way down the steps after the wedding, on the way down the steps, someone dumps a big bowl of rice on their heads and he slips on the grains and breaks both his legs and he ends up in traction. And so his wife is with him there in the hospital and she says oh honey, I'm so sorry that you're in such pain and agony, but you know we've got these tickets to Hawaii and I really hate for them to go to waste. And I'll tell you what you stay here and get better. I'm going to go ahead and go on the honeymoon by myself.

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Is that okay with you, great thanks. And so off she goes right. Well, when she's in Hawaii, she meets a surfer dude and finds out that he's pretty cool and didn't really like the other guy anyway. So she decides to stay in Hawaii and shacks up with the surfer guy and they break up. And she goes on and decides to marry somebody else or to do something else.

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Well, she took her husband's name, didn't she? But was she really his wife? No, she wasn't. She said the right words, but they had no effect in her life. Nothing changed. She did not choose to live according to the commitment that she had made. So she took his name in vain.

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Now, I'm not saying that that's necessarily what the scripture means when it says that, but think about it this way If I say I'm a Christian, and yet I really am not, then is God going to hold me guiltless? No, he's not. And what did the commandment say? Thou shalt not take the name of the Lord, thy God, in vain, for the Lord will not hold him guiltless. Who taketh his name in vain?

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What I'm saying is I don't care if you call yourself a Christian. What I care about is are you a Christian? I don't care about whether or not you say the Lord lives in your heart. What I'm asking you is have you given yourself to him? Do you belong to him? Is he your Lord? Have you chosen to obey him?

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Now, you might say, but we don't have the power to obey him. You're right, we don't. But we do have the power to choose to obey him. That means the pattern and the manner and the goal of our lives is to be conformed to his image. Now, can we conform ourselves? No, we can't. He conforms us, but we do purpose in our hearts to obey him, don't we? Does that mean that we'll never sin? Of course we will sin, but it does mean that the aim of our life, the focus of our life, the goal and the desire of our heart is to be like Christ, to be like the one who paid the ultimate price for our sin. So we have a new name. We also, in Christ, have a new nature. Now, because we have a new nature, that does not mean that the old nature necessarily gives up and doesn't still struggle, but we do have a new nature that lives within us, and that's something that we need to recognize.

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Paul writes it this way when he says in 2 Corinthians 5.17,. If anyone is in Christ, he is a new creation. Old things have passed away. Behold, behold, all things have become new. Now you've done some pretty rotten stuff in your life, haven't you? You've done some stuff that if we knew about it, you wouldn't ever want to face one of us again because you'd be too ashamed. You know how. I know that about you Because I know that about me. I'm no different than you. Even since I've become a Christian, I've done and said and thought things that are shameful, are sinful, and if I spend my life looking back on those things, then I'm going to be worthless. What you need to understand is that in Christ you are a new creation. Old things they've passed away. Behold, all things have become new. You are a new creation in Christ Jesus.

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Outside of Christ Jesus you're really rotten and you stink really badly because you're dead and putrefying. Is that too vivid a picture to paint? Apart from Christ? You stink, you do, but in Christ you are righteous. You are righteous. What does it say in Isaiah 61.10? I will greatly rejoice in the Lord. My soul shall be joyful in my God, for he has clothed me with garments of salvation. He has covered me with the robe of righteousness, as a bridegroom decks himself with ornaments and as a bride adorns herself with jewels. For as the earth brings forth its bud, as the garden causes the things that are sown in it to spring forth, so the Lord, god, will cause righteousness and praise to spring forth before all the nations. What is that seed that has been planted in you as a believer in Christ Jesus that is going to bring forth fruit unto righteousness, just as a garden brings forth fruit from the seed that is planted in it, it's the Holy Spirit. The Holy Spirit has been sown in you as a seed that is planted in a garden and over time, according to God's will and purpose, that seed will bring forth the fruit of righteousness in your life. God will accomplish his purpose in you and we have his word on that. We have his assurance of that.

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Turn with me to 1 John 2. We're going to start in chapter 2, verse 24, and go on into chapter 3. Now there's a, therefore, here in verse 24, and I'm going to ask your indulgence and forgiveness because I'm not going to go back and see what it's there for for the sake of time. But in verse 24, we find this Therefore, let that abide in you, which you heard from the beginning. If what you heard from the beginning abides in you, you also will abide in the Son and in the Father. Now, what is it that you heard from the beginning? What do you think? That was the Word of God, right? The Word of God. So if the Word of God abides in you, the gospel message, if that abides in you, which you heard from the beginning, you also will abide in the son and the father. You remember?

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Last week we read the words of Jesus in the gospel of John, where Jesus has said that if you abide in me, you will bear much fruit. This is a continuation of that same thought and this is the promise that he has promised us eternal life. These things I have written to you concerning those who try to deceive you. But the anointing which you have received from him, what are we anointed with? The Holy Spirit of God? Right, but that anointing which you have received from him abides in you and you do not need that anyone teach you. But as the same anointing teaches you concerning all things and is true and is not a lie, and just as it is taught you, you will abide in him. When the spirit of God instructs us and the spirit of God teaches us, that spirit of God will keep us in.

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Christ and now little children abide in him, that, when he appears, we may have confidence and not be ashamed before him at his coming. If you know that he is righteous, you know that everyone who practices righteousness is born of him. Now I want you to think about the word practices. You to think about the word practices, because when we see this verse, we think that what John is saying, you know, is that everyone who is perfect and righteous all the time, that they're the ones who are abiding in him. And if you're not perfect and righteous all the time, well, hey, you're not abiding in him. Because we could, really could you see how you might perceive it that way, but how many of you play an instrument? How many of you recognize that you have to practice in order to improve on that instrument? When you practice, does it sound perfect? No, it doesn't. It sounds pretty bad, doesn't it? But as you practice, does it get better? Yeah, it does. But what do you have to do when you practice in order for it to get better? You have to keep practicing, don't you? So what he's saying is look, if you know that he is righteous, you know that everyone who practices righteousness is born of him. As Christians, we should be practicing righteousness. We should be saying look, I recognize that I'm not as righteous as I need to be Now. Of course, in Christ I'm perfectly righteous, but in my walk, in my flesh, I recognize that I'm not living to the standards that I've been called to live to, and I want to improve, I want to do better, I want to grow, and so I'm going to practice that. I'm going to do those things that are necessary and important for my growth. If you know that he is righteous, you know that everyone who practices righteousness is born of him. Behold what manner of love the Father has bestowed on us that we should be called the children of God. The children of God. What amazing love, what incredible love.

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Can you hear just the wonder in John's voice as he writes these words? Behold what manner of love the Father has bestowed on us. We should be called the children of God. Therefore, the world does not know us because it did not know him Beloved. Now we are children of God, and it has not yet been revealed what we shall be, but we know that when he is revealed, we shall be like him, for we shall see him as he is. What does that mean, yes, you have a new name, yes, you have a new nature, but are you perfected yet? No, are you perfect? Are you exactly like Christ right now? No, you're not, but we have this promise that when we see him, we will be like him. That means there is a continuous work that is in progress in our lives that God is using to shape us and to mold us and to transform us into the image of his son, jesus Christ. And in that day, in that moment, when we stand before him and we see him, the word of God tells us we're going to be just like he is. We're going to be like him.

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Verse three and everyone who has this hope in him purifies himself, just as he is pure. That says look, guys, we know we're not perfect, but you know what? We should want to be perfect. We know that we're not just like Jesus, but we should want to be just like Jesus. But we should want to be just like Jesus.

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So often, as Christians, we ask the wrong question. We ask ourselves you know, can I go, do this thing and still be a Christian? We're asking how far can I get from Christ without falling? See, that's the wrong question, because if I want to be pure as he is pure, then I'm going to press in to him and I'm not going to say how unholy can I be and still be a Christian. What I'm going to say is how holy can I be while still being in this body? That's going to be what I strive for. Everyone who has this hope in him, that hope that we will be like Christ, purifies himself just as he is pure.

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Now, verse 4, whoever commits sin also commits lawlessness, and sin is lawlessness. And you know that he has manifested, or that he was manifested to take away our sins, and in him there is no sin. Whoever abides in him does not sin. Whoever sins has neither seen him nor known him. Little children, let no one deceive you. He who practices righteousness is righteous, just as he is righteous, and he who sins is of the devil. For the devil has sinned from the beginning. For this purpose the Son of God was manifested that he might destroy the works of the devil. Whoever has been born of God does not sin, for his seed, that is, the Holy Spirit, remains in him and he cannot sin because he has been born of God.

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Now, the Greek here is problematic to translate into the English language and because of that this could really be misunderstood, because the way that is written in English, we think that means I better never sin. Because if I sin even one time, if I ever, we think that means I better never sin. Because if I sin even one time, if I ever blow it, if I sin, man, I'm of the devil. I'm not even of Christ, I'm not even saved. Oh, my goodness, what's wrong with me, right? I mean? Hey, you're headed on a long walk off a short pier if you start thinking that way.

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The idea in the Greek is not that if anyone sins, he. The idea in the Greek is not that if anyone sins, he is not of God. What it's saying is if anyone continues in sin, he is not of God. If you, as a Christian, can sin and not care that you're sinning, if you, as a Christian, can sin and acknowledge the fact that what you're doing is sin and not be grieved by it, if you, as a Christian, can walk in sin and practice sin and say I don't care if it's sin, I'm gonna do it anyway, and in spite of all that God does not chastise you and judgment and punishment and rebuking don't come upon your life, then guess what? You're not saved brother. You're not a Christian.

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Well, that's all the time we have for today. You've been listening to Heed the Word, the radio ministry of Calvary Chapel, Southwest Metro, located in Burleson, Texas. As you likely gathered, Pastor Ken Davis is currently sharing our series entitled the Foundations of the Faith. Pastor Ken will be covering many topics about how we can be founded in the fundamental truths of the Word of God. If you were with us at the beginning of today's broadcast, you know we mentioned that we'd be giving additional information about Heed the Word and how to get a free copy of this message. For more information about Heed the Word, log to get a free copy of this message.

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For more information about Heed the Word, log on to heedthewordorg. That's heedthewordorg. At the website, you'll find everything you need our contact information, podcast subscription link and a link to our online order form, which will allow you to place an order for a CD in today's message in its unedited form. Since all of our materials are free of charge, supplies are limited, so log on to heedthewordorg and place your order today. As we close today, we want to encourage you to not only be a listener of Heed the Word, but to truly apply what you're learning. Take the Word of God and begin applying it to your life every day. Well, that's all the time that we have for this edition of Heed the Word with Pastor Ken Davis. Place a marker in your Bibles and join us next time as Pastor Ken continues with our series entitled the Foundations of the Faith. Thank you,