Jesus wants the Rose...

Why is it so much easier to tell people what they need to do or don't do?

1. Our natures are hardwired to believing that the way to get right with God is by obedience (witness every other religion in the known universe!)

2. We think if we just know what to do, we'll naturally do it (witness Greek philosophy)

3. We think if people are just made aware of the potential consequences of their actions, logic and reason will take over and they'll surely stop. Though this can happen outwardly, internally, their desires will remain the same. Usually, then they'll continue the behavior, believing that the consequences discussed won't really happen to them (witness Teenagers).

There are many other reasons I'm sure for preaching what Edmund Clowney called "Synagogue Sermons," but the only message that can truly change a person from the inside out (the only change that truly matters) comes from the preaching of the Gospel.

The good news is, though you are a sinner (Rebel by nature), have sinned, failed, will continue to fail and never fully in this life, "Love the Lord with all your heart, all your soul, all your mind and all your strength" as you should, Jesus, God's own Son has done it for you. He has lived perfectly in our place, bore the penalty of our sin on the cross, and rose again for our justification. He became sin for us, that we might become the righteousness of God (2 Cor. 5:21).

As I thought about this, I couldn't help but remember a short snippet of a sermon I watched not long ago. In it, Chandler describes sitting through a very typical Synagogue sermon, with a very sinful friend next to him. Here after all is why this matters: