I Can’t Do It On My Own– John 15:5
The Lies We Tell Ourselves and the World Tells Us:
-I Can Do It By Myself
-I Am Good Enough
-I Don’t Need Anyone Else
-I Can Do Enough On My Own
The Truth:
-I Can’t Do It By Myself, But That’s Okay…Jesus Does It For Us
Lie 1: I Am Good Enough
-At Least I’m Not as Bad As…
–Luke 18:9-14– Now He also told this parable to some people who trusted in themselves that they were righteous, and viewed others with contempt: 10 “Two men went up into the temple to pray, one a Pharisee and the other a tax collector. 11 The Pharisee stood and began praying this in regard to himself: ‘God, I thank You that I am not like other people: swindlers, crooked, adulterers, or even like this tax collector. 12 I fast twice a week; I pay tithes of all that I get.’ 13 But the tax collector, standing some distance away, was even unwilling to raise his eyes toward heaven, but was beating his chest, saying, ‘God, be merciful to me, the sinner!’ 14 I tell you, this man went to his house justified rather than the other one; for everyone who exalts himself will be humbled, but the one who humbles himself will be exalted.”
Comparison is Pride Talking. We are Called to Be Humble
-God Loves Me No Matter What
-True, but… then why did God send Jesus?
-John 3:16-18- “For God so loved the world, that He gave His only Son, so that everyone who believes in Him will not perish, but have eternal life. 17 For God did not send the Son into the world to judge the world, but so that the world might be saved through Him. 18 The one who believes in Him is not judged; the one who does not believe has been judged already, because he has not believed in the name of the only Son of God.
God loves us enough to let us choose to be with Him. It would be evil to be forced to be with someone we did not want.
Truth 1: Only Jesus Can Save Me
-Jesus Does It:
–Romans 5:6-10– 6 For while we were still helpless, at the right time Christ died for the ungodly. 7 For one will hardly die for a righteous person; though perhaps for the good person someone would even dare to die. 8 But God demonstrates His own love toward us, in that while we were still sinners, Christ died for us. 9 Much more then, having now been justified by His blood, we shall be saved from the wrath of God through Him. 10 For if while we were enemies we were reconciled to God through the death of His Son, much more, having been reconciled, we shall be saved by His life.
Jesus’ death pays the price for our sins, but his resurrection gives us a new life to live.
Lie 2: I Can Do Enough on My Own
-I Can Do More and Make It… (My Rights Outweigh My Wrongs)
-Ephesians 2:8-9– 8 For by grace you have been saved through faith; and this is not of yourselves, it is the gift of God; 9 not a result of works, so that no one may boast.
Truth: I Can Only Have Faith in Him and Obey
–Romans 3:23-26 – 23 for all have sinned and fall short of the glory of God, 24 being justified as a gift by His grace through the redemption which is in Christ Jesus, 25 whom God displayed publicly as a propitiation in His blood through faith to demonstrate His righteousness, because in God’s restraint He let the sins previously committed go unpunished; 26 for the demonstration of His righteousness at the present time, so that He would be just and the justifier of the one who has faith in Jesus.
-1 Peter 2:24– and He Himself brought our sins in His body up on the cross, so that we might die to sin and live for righteousness; by His wounds you were healed.
-Proverbs 3:5-6– 5 Trust in the LORD with all your heart And do not lean on your own understanding. 6 In all your ways acknowledge Him, And He will make your paths straight. 7 Do not be wise in your own eyes; Fear the LORD and turn away from evil.
-Ecclesiastes 12:13-14– 13 The conclusion, when everything has been heard, is: fear God and keep His commandments, because this applies to every person. 14 For God will bring every act to judgment, everything which is hidden, whether it is good or evil.
Lie 3: I Don’t Need Anyone Else…Especially the Church
-People are Hypocrital and Judgemental
–1 John 4:19-21– 19 We love, because He first loved us. 20 If someone says, “I love God,” and yet he hates his brother or sister, he is a liar; for the one who does not love his brother and sister whom he has seen, cannot love God, whom he has not seen. 21 And this commandment we have from Him, that the one who loves God must also love his brother and sister.
-James 4:11-12– 11 Do not speak against one another, brothers and sisters. The one who speaks against a brother or sister, or judges his brother or sister, speaks against the law and judges the law; but if you judge the law, you are not a doer of the law but a judge of it. 12 There is only one Lawgiver and Judge, the One who is able to save and to destroy; but who are you, judging your neighbor?
As God’s church, we are called to love each other.
Truth 2: Only the Church Can Encourage, Challenge, and Support Me
-I Can’t Be a Part of Christ without Being Part of the Body
–Proverbs 16:1– One who separates himself seeks his own desire; He quarrels against all sound wisdom.
-Romans 12:3-5- 3 For through the grace given to me I say to everyone among you not to think more highly of himself than he ought to think; but to think so as to have sound judgment, as God has allotted to each a measure of faith. 4 For just as we have many parts in one body and all the body’s parts do not have the same function, 5 so we, who are many, are one body in Christ, and individually parts of one another.
It comes back to pride.
-The Church Should Encourage, Challenge, and Support Each Other:
-Hebrews 10:23-25– 23 Let’s hold firmly to the confession of our hope without wavering, for He who promised is faithful; 24 and let’s consider how to encourage one another in love and good deeds, 25 not abandoning our own meeting together, as is the habit of some people, but encouraging one another; and all the more as you see the day drawing near.
-James 5:19-20– 19 My brothers and sisters, if anyone among you strays from the truth and someone turns him back, 20 let him know that the one who has turned a sinner from the error of his way will save his soul from death and cover a multitude of sins.
-Offer Grace, Forgiveness, and Correction when the Church Isn’t Perfect
Ephesians 4:1-3, 15-16, 25, 29-32 – 1 Therefore I, the prisoner of the Lord, urge you to walk in a manner worthy of the calling with which you have been called, 2 with all humility and gentleness, with patience, bearing with one another in love, 3 being diligent to keep the unity of the Spirit in the bond of peace.
15 but speaking the truth in love, we are to grow up in all aspects into Him who is the head, that is, Christ, 16 from whom the whole body, being fitted and held together by what every joint supplies, according to the proper working of each individual part, causes the growth of the body for the building up of itself in love.
25 Therefore, ridding yourselves of falsehood, SPEAK TRUTH EACH ONE OF YOU WITH HIS NEIGHBOR, because we are parts of one another.
29 Let no unwholesome word come out of your mouth, but if there is any good word for edification according to the need of the moment, say that, so that it will give grace to those who hear. 30 Do not grieve the Holy Spirit of God, by whom you were sealed for the day of redemption. 31 All bitterness, wrath, anger, clamor, and slander must be removed from you, along with all malice. 32 Be kind to one another, compassionate, forgiving each other, just as God in Christ also has forgiven you.
Summary: The Truth- “I Can’t Do It All By Myself… But With Jesus, All Things Are Possible”
-Mark 10:25-27– 25 It is easier for a camel to go through the eye of a needle than for a rich person to enter the kingdom of God.” 26 And they were even more astonished, and said to Him, “Then who can be saved?” 27 Looking at them, Jesus *said, “With people it is impossible, but not with God; for all things are possible with God.”
It doesn’t matter how much you have. Only God makes it possible.
We must be connected to the source of life.
-John 15:4-12– 4 Abide in me, and I in you. As the branch cannot bear fruit by itself, unless it abides in the vine, neither can you, unless you abide in me. 5 I am the vine; you are the branches. Whoever abides in me and I in him, he it is that bears much fruit, for apart from me you can do nothing. 6 If anyone does not abide in me he is thrown away like a branch and withers; and the branches are gathered, thrown into the fire, and burned. 7 If you abide in me, and my words abide in you, ask whatever you wish, and it will be done for you. 8 By this my Father is glorified, that you bear much fruit and so prove to be my disciples. 9 As the Father has loved me, so have I loved you. Abide in my love. 10 If you keep my commandments, you will abide in my love, just as I have kept my Father’s commandments and abide in his love. 11 These things I have spoken to you, that my joy may be in you, and that your joy may be full. 12 “This is my commandment, that you love one another as I have loved you.
As Christians, we must abide in Christ and let Him abide in us.
We must obey His command to love others as He has loved us.
