Nov 30, 2016

Jesus Did Not Insist on His Rights

1 Min Read

In this excerpt from the series Sermon on the Mount, Sinclair Ferguson examines how the gospel teaches us to be countercultural in exercising our rights.

Transcript

We have actually become a society driven by rights, have we not? The notion that we are driven by the privilege of service, the privilege of community life, that we experience many privileges, that has all been swept out the window, and the big thing now is "I have my rights."

And here particularly again, the gospel teaches us to be very countercultural. And of course it is just in areas like this when we live in a society that is almost neurotic about the exercise of individual rights, to meet an individual or a group of individuals who have this enormous poise in life, who know who they are in Christ, and have offered up all their rights to Jesus Christ, and therefore do not insist on their rights—does lead people to say, "Why are you so different? Why are you not like us? Why do you not insist on your rights?" And of course, it is a perfect opportunity to bear witness is it not? Because we are able to say, "My Lord did not insist on His rights."