The Integrity of Christ
Exodus 34:6b-7a (NLT) “Yahweh! The Lord! The God of compassion and mercy! I am slow to anger and filled with unfailing love and faithfulness. I lavish unfailing love to a thousand generations. I forgive iniquity, rebellion, and sin. But I do not excuse the guilty."
5 Characteristics of God in Exodus 34:6-7
~ Compassion
~ Grace or Mercy
~ Unfailing / Loyal Love
~ Faithfulness
~ ForgivenessExodus 19:5 (NIV) “then out of all nations you will be my treasured possession.”
John 3:16-17 (NIV) For God so loved the world that he gave his one and only Son, that whoever believes in him shall not perish but have eternal life. For God did not send his Son into the world to condemn the world, but to save the world through him.
The ‘Integrity’ of Christ and How It Shapes Us
Who's your person of ‘Integrity’?
Genesis 6:9-10 (The Message) This is the story of Noah: Noah was a good man, a man of integrity in his community. Noah walked with God. Noah had three sons: Shem, Ham, and Japheth.”
Titus 2:7-8 (ESV) Show yourself in all respects to be a model of good works, and in your teaching show integrity, dignity, and sound speech that cannot be condemned, so that an opponent may be put to shame, having nothing evil to say about us.
Matthew 22:15-22 (NIV) Then the Pharisees went out and laid plans to trap him in his words. They sent their disciples to him along with the Herodians. “Teacher,” they said, “we know that you are a man of integrity and that you teach the way of God in accordance with the truth. You aren’t swayed by others, because you pay no attention to who they are. Tell us then, what is your opinion? Is it right to pay the imperial tax to Caesar or not?”
But Jesus, knowing their evil intent, said, “You hypocrites, why are you trying to trap me? Show me the coin used for paying the tax.” They brought him a denarius, and he asked them, “Whose image is this? And whose inscription?”
“Caesar’s,” they replied.
Then he said to them, “So give back to Caesar what is Caesar’s, and to God what is God’s.”
When they heard this, they were amazed. So they left him and went away.
Matthew 22:16b (NIV) “Teacher,” they said, “we know that you are a man of integrity and that you teach the way of God in accordance with the truth. You aren’t swayed by others, because you pay no attention to who they are."
Characteristics of Integrity:
#1 Character of Integrity
~ Jesus is True ~John 8:12 (NIV) “I am the light of the world. Whoever follows me will never walk in darkness, but will have the light of life.”
#2 Character of Integrity
~ Jesus is Genuine or Actual ~Ephesians 2:4-7 (ESV) But God, being rich in mercy, because of the great love with which he loved us, even when we were dead in our trespasses, made us alive together with Christ—by grace you have been saved— and raised us up with him and seated us with him in the heavenly places in Christ Jesus, so that in the coming ages he might show the immeasurable riches of his grace in kindness toward us in Christ Jesus.”
#3 & #4 Character of Integrity
~ Jesus is Reliable & Trustworthy ~John 8:12 (NIV) “I am the light of the world. Whoever follows me will never walk in darkness, but will have the light of life.”
John 8:23-24 (NIV) “You are from below; I am from above. You are of this world; I am not of this world. I told you that you would die in your sins; if you do not believe that I am he, you will indeed die in your sins.”
John 8:26-27 (NIV) “But he who sent me is trustworthy [Reliable / True], and what I have heard from him I tell the world.” They did not understand that he was telling them about his Father.
#5 Character of Integrity
~ Jesus is Valid ~John 1:1-5 (NIV) In the beginning was the Word, and the Word was with God, and the Word was God. He was with God in the beginning. Through him all things were made; without him nothing was made that has been made. In him was life, and that life was the light of all mankind. The light shines in the darkness, and the darkness has not overcome it.