Sermon
The Law and the New Testament Christian
Publisher transcript
Transcript
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So we're going to turn to Romans Chapter 3.
Romans 3 chapter mention
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Does anybody need a copy of the lesson for tonight?
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We have a few of them. Anybody raise your hand and
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Charlie will take them around and give them out.
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And just a couple other things to mention.
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Number one, I failed to mention earlier that the Belize bylaws
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and all of that stuff that we're adding in, we've had, we've had
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we've we've been working together with a lawyer.
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Christian Law Association, or it's actually the National
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Center for Life and Liberty. But you know, so they wrote
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those bylaws for us. They're very well aware of the
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situation and we've done as much of the due diligence as we can
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to make sure that everything is covered and that we're doing
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everything is legally above board as possible.
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And so they were very satisfied. I actually had a lot more in it
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that I had written out and they condensed it way down and said
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you don't need all that. So anyway, look, read through
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that. If you have any questions, then
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then let me know. I want to mention this too.
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If we have some men that can help out with this after the
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service, we're going to set up the baptism, the the baptistry.
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We, we're going to do a baptism this Sunday.
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I think we have 3 or 4 that are planning to be baptized.
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And so if we can, if you can help out with that, that would
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be a big help. And I just let me mention this
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too. Obviously Brian mentioned that I
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was working or that I was there at the graduation for the police
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and I had to slip out. It wasn't done yet, but it's a
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tremendous opportunity. And, and I know, you know, it's,
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it's, it's a ministry that most of you don't see anything of.
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You see some police officers come in and out and, you know,
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we've, we've been able to really do a lot on a, on a side that
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most people don't see, but especially for the, for the
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graduation, which is, you know, Brian mentioned that, you know,
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they don't, they don't change the schedule for our church
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service and they, they take the facilities when they can get
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them. And, and this was a very big
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graduation. And so I do the, I, I open this,
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the graduation in prayer. But they, the bigger opportunity
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is that, you know, I, I go into the police Academy at least once
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a month, sometimes more, depending on the, the situation.
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But I spend some time with the officers, just just me and the
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officers and, and have some. Kind of good.
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Heart to heart talks with them, give them great opportunity to,
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to get to know me, me to get to know them before they get out on
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the road and, and have an impact.
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And so tonight, as I usually do, I, I talk to them and I get to
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present all of them with a Bible.
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And you know, I put a note in the front of it for all of them,
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put a, put a gospel track in there and everything as well.
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So, you know, there's, there's going to come a point for a lot
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of them where they hit a rough spot because they always do.
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And that's where that influence comes in.
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And, and what you don't see as many of the, the times of
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sitting down at breakfast, you know, early in the morning or,
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you know, many different opportunities that I've had to
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share the gospel with somebody for two hours.
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And, you know, those are just doors that God's opening up.
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And, you know, we've seen some fruit from it.
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I believe we're going to see a lot more from that.
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But at the very least the seeds are being planted.
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And you know, those are, like I said, it's a, it's a ministry
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that it's a ministry that most of you don't see, but it's a
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ministry and it's a very, very needed ministry.
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You know, you just no telling what what God can do with, with
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some of these, you know, officers and how God will use
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it. And we have a few coming right
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now that that we're praying for. So just just keep praying for
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them. And, and I keep praying for that
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ministry, but. I want to try.
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To get all the way through this tonight, I know it's there's,
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it's kind of long, but some of it's a little bit redundant,
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basically saying the same things.
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And so it's, it's just making the point over and over again.
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So we'll kind of cover it a little bit closer at the
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beginning and then, you know, just just kind of touch on a
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couple different things as we make our way through next
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Wednesday. We have an evangelist, Eric
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Ramos, that's going to be coming through.
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He's, I've been a friend of mine for a long, long time and he's
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going to be down in this area. And so he, he mentioned
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something about coming to church and I said, man, you need to
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preach for us. So he's going to.
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And so, so that's another reason why I want to try to get through
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this tonight as well. I don't, I don't like to take
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two weeks with a, with a week in between to try to finish
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something up. So.
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Turn over to Romans chapter 3 and we're going to jump into
Romans 3 chapter mention
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this. But I think so.
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So this is the law and the New Testament Christian.
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And and as he mentions here at the beginning, there's a lot of
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confusion about the law of Moses and what place it has in a
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Christian life. And you know, there's a lot of
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people. So, so to finish the statement,
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it is essential for every believer to settle this issue on
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a solid scriptural footing. The following major New
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Testament passages. Passages clarify this matter.
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And that's what we're going to look at tonight is those
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passages. But the idea here is this, well,
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the Old Testament is the Old Testament.
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We don't have to follow any of that anymore.
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The New Testament is the New Testament and that's the only
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thing that we have. We're not under the law.
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We're under grace. So everything that was written
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in the Old Testament doesn't, doesn't apply to us today.
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Only the things that are in the New Old Testament apply to us.
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That's, that's kind of the thinking.
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OK, not not to mention that most of the world still follows the
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10 commandments and the 10 commandments are in the Old
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Testament. Why do we follow the 10
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commandments? Why were those not done away
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with when Christ came and established the new covenant and
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got rid of the old covenant? He got rid of the law and now
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we're under grace. Why do we still follow the 10
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commandments, Right? That's kind of the question.
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Why, why do we, how do we pick and choose which ones we follow
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and which ones we don't? Because very clearly we don't
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sacrifice animals anymore, right?
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Very clearly we don't follow the feasts and all the special holy
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days and all of those things, right?
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So why don't we do that? But we, but we still follow the
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10 commandments. What, what is the difference
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here? And that's, that's kind of what
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we're talking about here. Now there's another side of this
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too, another aspect of this, which is basically, you know,
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the, IT explains the reason why most of the other religions in
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the world are not the way to Christ, right or not, not, not
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the way to heaven, I should say, because they're not going
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through Christ or going through works.
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And when I say most of the other religions, I'm saying that you
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don't have to be a Baptist to go to heaven right now, Why not go
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first class? But at the same time, you don't
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have to be a Baptist to go to heaven.
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There are others who are preaching the truth who are
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different in other doctrines from us, but they are preaching
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the truth. Most of them, though, are not
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preaching the truth because it's a works based salvation.
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The Catholics, the Mormons, the, the Methodists, the
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Presbyterians, many of them are, it's, it's all based on your
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works and what you can do to earn your way to heaven.
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Even if they don't say that, but many of them are, you know,
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they, they include that you have to be baptized or that you have
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to be baptized as a baby or that your baptism as a baby is enough
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to save you. And all of those things are
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works, right? Even if it's even if it's only
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baptism even. And there are there are groups
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out there, religions, if you want to call them that, out
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there who say you have to be saved and baptized to go to
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heaven, right? Baptism is necessary for
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salvation. Well, even if you don't include
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anything else, it's still a work, right?
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It's still something that you have to do to earn your way to
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heaven. And it's not just Christ, it's
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Christ plus baptism. It's Christ plus baptism and
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communion. It's Christ plus baptism and,
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and you know, praying the rosary, Christ plus baptism and,
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and communion and praying the rosary and confessing your sins
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to the priests and, and, you know, doing all of these
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different things. And most of the religions that
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that that wrap themselves around works are an offshoot of
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Catholicism, right? It's not the only one, but
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Catholicism was started all the way back in the three hundreds
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under Constantine. So everything that has come
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since then has pretty much come as part of an offshoot of the
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Catholic Church, right? The Baptist, And this is not
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what our point is tonight. But the Baptist Church was never
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part of the Catholic Church. That's why we don't consider
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ourselves to be Protestants. I'm not a Protestant.
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I was never inside the Catholic Church protesting anything,
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right? I was always on the outside of
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it protesting the Catholic Church.
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And I say I am talking about Baptists.
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Baptists are not Protestants, right?
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The the Methodists came out of that.
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The Presbyterians came out of that.
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The Lutheran's came out of that. You know, obviously you have
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Martin Luther who was, who was part of the Protestant
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Reformation. He was protesting what was going
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on in the Catholic Church. But Martin Luther did not want
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to get rid of all of the doctrine of the Catholic Church.
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He wanted to change some of the things about the Catholic
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Church. Now, what he did was very bold
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and he took a very strong stand in a in a day and age when it
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was nothing for them to bump you off, right.
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And he, you know, very easily could have.
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The thing is with a lot of those guys that we consider to be the
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reformers, they were, they were just as bad as the Catholics
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when it came to persecuting the people that didn't agree with
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them. So here they are protesting the
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Catholic Church, they establish their religion and then they
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start killing the Baptist and the Waldensians and everybody
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else who didn't agree, the Anabaptist, the people who
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didn't agree with them, right? So how are you any different?
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You're not right. And it's, it's because all of
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that was based on works, right? They called them Anabaptist
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rebaptizers. Well, basically what they're
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saying is no, I got baptized as a baby in the Catholic Church.
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I don't need to get baptized again.
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You're doing it wrong. You're rebaptizing everybody
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when what they're saying is you need to be baptized after
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salvation, right? And a Baptist and, and a lot of
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other things that go along with that.
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But that will kind of explain some of these things here.
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So Romans chapter 3, if you've ever, and I hope, hope you have,
Romans 3 chapter mention
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if you've ever taken somebody through the gospel, you've come
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to Romans chapter 3. And Romans 323 is where most of
Romans 3 chapter mention
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us would start. Now you could start in a couple
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other places and, and lead them to Romans 323.
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But verse #19 is where we'll start with this.
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And this is kind of the first step in soul winning.
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But verse #19 Now we know that what things so ever the law
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saith, it saith to them who are under the law, that every mouth
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may be stopped, and all the world may become guilty before
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God. Therefore by the deeds of the
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law, there shall no flesh be justified in His sight.
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For by the law is the knowledge of sin.
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And we could stop right there, and that would pretty much sum
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everything up. The law was given to help us
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understand that we are sinners. That's why the law was there,
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because you know what? You can't do?
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It can't keep the whole law. Nobody can.
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There's two ways to heaven, right?
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Everybody says there's only one way to heaven, Jesus Christ.
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There's two ways to heaven. You could be perfect.
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You could be perfect and you would go to heaven, right?
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But since nobody fits in that category, then the only option
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that we have is through Jesus Christ, right?
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But that's what the law is there for.
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The law is there to tell you that you're not perfect and that
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you can't get to heaven be on your own because you're not
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right. So verse #2021.
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But now the righteousness of God without the law is manifested,
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being witnessed by the law and the prophets, even the
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righteousness of God, which is by faith of Jesus Christ unto
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all and upon all of them that believe.
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For there is no difference, for all have sinned and come short
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of the glory of God, being justified freely by His grace
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through the redemption that is in Christ Jesus.
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So three things that we want to look at here under this passage.
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And here we go #1 the law of Moses or the old covenant was
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given to show men that God is holy and that they are sinners.
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And we looked at verse #19 Now we know that what things soever
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the law saith, it saith to them who are under the law, that
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every mouth may be stopped and all the world may become guilty
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before God. Men naturally think that they're
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righteous, right? I've, I've talked to people who
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when I've said the Bible says that all is sinned and comes
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short of the glory of God. Now, I think you, you could
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admit that you're a Sinner, right?
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Well, I wouldn't say that, but how can you not admit that
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you're a Sinner? But there's people, many people
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who don't believe that they're that they're sinners.
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You know, maybe I've, you know, told a little white lie before
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or something like that. But I'm not, I'm not a bad
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person. I'm not, you know, so they
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compare themselves to the human standards of righteousness.
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Well, compare compared to the guy that's sitting down there on
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death row in jail, I'm a pretty good person, right?
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Even if they admit that. Well, yeah, maybe I've told a
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lie here and there, or maybe I've done, you know, some things
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that I shouldn't have done, but overall, I'm a pretty good
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person. I think God will probably let me
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into heaven, right? What are they comparing that to?
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They're comparing their righteousness to somebody else's
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righteousness. Not God's, for sure, and
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certainly not to the word of God, but they're comparing it to
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the human standards of righteousness and with each
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other rather than with God's perfect law.
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What God's perfect law helps us to understand is when you
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compare yourself to that, you fall way short.
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And that's why we have Romans 323 for all have sinned and come
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short of the glory of God because of that sin.
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Take the 10 commandments for example.
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And again, they're all listed here.
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I'm not going to take the time to turn over to Exodus chapter
Exodus 20 chapter mention
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20, but we've broken every one of them.
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We put other gods before the one true God.
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We've made idols and worshiped Him.
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We worship and serve ourselves more than God, and we make our
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own selves into idols. We've taken the name of the Lord
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in vain. We've broken the Sabbath and
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treated all days the same, neglecting to set apart even one
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day for the worship of God. We've dishonored and disobeyed
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our parents. We've killed, we've committed
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adultery, we've stolen, we've lied, we've coveted, right?
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Well, there's a few of those that I've never done.
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All right, let's go to Matthew, right?
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Matthew chapter 5. You don't have, you can turn
Matthew 5 chapter mention
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over there. In fact, let's turn over there
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for a second. Matthew chapter 5.
Matthew 5 chapter mention
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OK, we're coming back to Romans chapter 3.
Romans 3 chapter mention
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But look at look at Matthew chapter 5.
Matthew 5 chapter mention
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Because Jesus changed everything about the whole intent of the
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those 10 commandments, right? And you could say, well, I've
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never committed adultery. Well, I've never murdered
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somebody. Well, I've never done this.
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But Christ thought that not only is perfect external obedience
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required, but perfect internal obedience is required, right?
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And he, he turns all of that on his head.
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Verse 21. Matthew chapter 5.
Matthew 5 chapter mention
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Verse 21. You've heard that it was said by
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them of old time, Thou shalt not kill.
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Oh, there you go. I've never killed.
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I've never killed anybody. And whosoever shall kill shall
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be in danger of judgment. Verse 22 But I say unto you that
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whosoever is angry with his brother without a cause shall be
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in danger of the judgment. And whosoever shall say to his
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brother, Raqqa shall be in danger of the council.
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But whosoever shall shall say, thou fool shall be in danger of
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Hellfire. You get angry at somebody that's
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that's that's a hard issue and that's God sees it as murder,
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right. So you may never have actually
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taken out a knife and stabbed somebody or, you know, shot
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somebody or something like that, but you get angry at a brother
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without a cause. That's the same as murder in
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God's eyes. How about this one verse, verse
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27. You've heard that it have that
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it was said by them of old time. Thou shalt not commit adultery.
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Oh, I've never committed adultery.
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I would never right, but I say unto you, that whosoever looketh
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on a woman to lust after her hath committed adultery with her
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already in his heart. So you have perfect external
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obedience. And Jesus took it a step
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further. Now you need perfect internal
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obedience if you're going to live up to God's law, right?
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So the law of Moses requires perfect obedience.
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And James chapter 2 and verse 10 tells us that whosoever shall
James 2 chapter mention
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keep the whole law and yet offended one point, he's guilty
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of all, right? That means 11 sin, one sin is
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enough. So Christ is teaching that not
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only does God require that perfect external obedience, but
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he quite requires that perfect internal obedience, right?
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Which changes everything. Well, I'm not under the law
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anymore. I'm under grace.
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So those things don't matter to me, OK, Take them out.
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Take those things out. Jesus made it a lot more
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difficult than what the law did, right?
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Right. I almost take the law because I
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can, I cannot commit adultery. I could not murder somebody.
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But when you, when you put it into a heart aspect and that
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changes it up, that that changes it a lot, right?
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Have you ever been angry? Have you ever looked at a woman
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with lust? Have you ever done these other
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things in your heart? That's what that's the standard
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that we have to live up to. So the Law of Moses or the Old
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covenant was given to show men that God is holy and that
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they're sinners #2 the law of Moses cannot bring salvation.
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chapter 3 and verse #20. Therefore, by the deeds of the
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law there shall no flesh be justified in his sight.
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For by the law is the knowledge of sin.
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The law can't do anything to get us to heaven, right?
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The law only brings the knowledge of sin.
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The Old Testament cannot bring salvation because it requires
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perfect holiness, whereas man is a fallen Sinner and cannot live
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up to the requirements. So the law of God can only curse
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us that we're justified, that we're justified.
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No flesh shall be justified in His sight.
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That means to declared righteous by God.
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The law can't do that. The law can't declare us
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righteous. The only thing that the law can
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do is condemn us, right? Only God can declare us
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righteous. And I've used this several
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times, even recently. Justified, it means I'm standing
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before God just as if I'd never sinned, right?
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That's what justified is when God sees me, He sees me as
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somebody with the righteousness of Jesus Christ.
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God cannot declare A Sinner righteous on the basis of the
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law of Moses because that requires perfect obedience.
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So the law of Moses can't bring salvation and, and, and
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basically then as we read, that leaves no one righteous verse.
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Actually Romans chapter 3 and verse #10 as it is written,
Romans 3 chapter mention
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there is none righteous, no, not one, because there's nobody who
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can live up to the perfect standard of the law of Moses.
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Nobody can do that. So #3 then salvation is through
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faith in Jesus Christ. And we read the rest of those
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verses already, but it's but, but it concludes in verse #24
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being justified freely by His grace through the redemption
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that is in Christ Jesus. So the way of salvation is not
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through the law of Moses, it's through the blood of Jesus
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Christ. The law demanded that the Sinner
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died. Jesus then died in our place,
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and that's where you would take somebody to Romans chapter 6 and
Romans 6 chapter mention
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verse 23. For the wages of sin is death,
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but the gift of God is eternal life through Jesus Christ our
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Lord. The law demanded that blood be
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shed, and Jesus shed His righteous blood in payment for
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our sin. Hebrews 922 the without the
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shedding of blood, there is no remission of sins right, because
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of what Jesus Christ did on the cross.
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Somebody who as a Sinner can believe on Jesus Christ and we
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can be saved because of the righteousness of God through
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faith doesn't have anything to do with how we keep the law or
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don't keep the law. The believers justified freely
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and that means that salvation is a gift of God that was purchased
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by Jesus Christ and the Bible says that it became the becomes
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the propitiation for our sin. What does that word propitiation
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mean? Well, propitiation means a
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satisfaction of a debt. He became the satisfaction of
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the debt we had a debt that we could not pay.
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He paid a debt that he did not owe, but he became the
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satisfaction of that debt for us.
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And, and I know that you, you understand that.
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I mean, if you are, you know, I, I, I saw a, a YouTube video,
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just a compilation of, of this guy who, he's got some kind of
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channel or something. And he goes around and, and
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there's people, you know, and he and, and it's, you know,
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typically they look a little bit less, you know, wealthy.
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And they're, they're checking out at a grocery store and they,
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they check all their, you know, they scan all their items.
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And then he comes walking up and he says, excuse me real quick.
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And the people are just kind of like, OK, what are you know,
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what are you doing? And he sticks his card up there.
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Card reads it beep And he walks away And they they go back up
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there and they start fumbling through their wallet to pay and
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they and the cashier says it's already been paid.
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He said, what do you mean it's already been paid?
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Yeah, that guy just paid it for you.
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And he's like, what is that what he was doing?
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I was wondering what he was doing.
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Where, where did he go? You know, but that that's
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exactly what the propitiation is.
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You had a debt that you owed and somebody else came in and paid
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that debt for you, Right. And that's exactly what Jesus
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Christ is to us. We had a debt that was so great
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we could never pay it right now. Obviously, those people probably
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could pay it at the cashier because they were getting ready
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to. It's just, I mean, how nice it
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is to have somebody come up and pay that for you, right?
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But Jesus Christ paid a debt that there was no way that we
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could pay. It was greater than anything
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that we could ever pay back. It was greater than anything
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that we could ever do to earn anything that would be anywhere
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close to enough. But Jesus Christ did that for
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us, and that's what that word propitiation means.
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Now we're close. Let's go over to Romans Chapter
Romans 7 chapter mention
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7. Romans Chapter 7, verse one
Romans 7 chapter mention
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through 4. No, you not, brethren, for I
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speak to them that know the law, how that the law hath dominion
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over a man as long as he liveth. For the woman which hath an
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husband is bound by the law to her husband so long as he
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liveth. But if the husband would be
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dead, she's loosed from the law of her husband.
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So then if while her husband liveth, she be married to
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another man, she shall be called an adulteress.
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But if her husband be dead, she's free from that law so that
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she's no adulteress, though she be married to another man.
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So Paul is using an example here.
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He's he's basically saying, all right, if if you're married and
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while you're married, you go marry somebody else, you're
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living in adultery, right? That's what adultery is.
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But if the husband dies, you're loose from that.
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You can go marry somebody else if you want to, because you're
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not under that law anymore. And then he brings it to the
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conclusion verse #4 Wherefore, my brethren, ye also are become
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dead to the law by the body of Christ, that you should be
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married to another, even to him who is raised from the dead,
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that we should bring forth fruit unto God.
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So we have a couple points underneath this passage #1 the
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law is not the Christian's rule in life.
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Christ is our new husband or a new Lord, and he rules our lives
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through the new covenant. We we're freed from that old
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covenant, right? I'm not, I'm not living in
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adultery. And I mean, I'm just using this
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example because I'm trying to live with the law and with
-
Christ at the same time. No, I died, the law died to me
-
because of what Christ did for me.
-
So I'm free from all the law. I'm not free.
-
I'm not, I'm not bound by any of those things because of what
-
Christ did. And he and he uses an example
-
you're trying to serve. God under the old law is like a
-
woman who serves a husband only out of fear.
-
She cooks and cleans the house because she's afraid not to.
-
Serving God under the new law is like a woman who serves a
-
husband out of love. She cooks and cleans house for
-
her Master, but not because she's afraid of what he's going
-
to do to her, but simply because he loves her and treats her so
-
well that she in turn loves him. That's exactly how it is with
-
God, right? I don't, I don't serve God.
-
I don't live for God because I'm afraid that he's going to send
-
me to hell. Because if he's my, if Jesus
-
Christ is my Savior, and I know for sure that I'm on my way to
-
heaven, as we've talked about extensively, you can't lose that
-
salvation. So I don't serve him because I'm
-
afraid that he's going to take away what I have.
-
I serve him because I'm so thankful that he gave me what I
-
do have and he loves me and I love him and I just want to
-
serve him because of what He's done for me.
-
I'm not, I'm not under the law. I'm not obligated to, to serve
-
him. I'm not obligated to live for
-
him. I'm not obligated to do things
-
that are pleasing to him, right? Because he's not I, I'm saved.
-
I, I'm not, I don't have to do those things.
-
I get to do those things. That's the difference #2 The Law
-
of Moses cannot condemn the believer.
-
The believer says dead to the law as a wife is to a deceased
-
husband. The Lord Jesus Christ took our
-
condemnation upon Himself on the cross, and we're safe in Him
-
from all fear of eternal judgment #3 The Christian has a
-
new power, which is the indwelling Holy Spirit.
-
Verse #6 But now we are delivered from the law, that
-
being dead, wherein we were held, that we should serve in
-
newness of spirit, and not in the oldness of the letter.
-
Chapter 8 and verse #1 There is therefore now no condemnation
-
which are in Christ Jesus who walk not after the flesh, but
-
after the capital S Spirit. We're not under the law anymore.
-
I'm not in that flesh. I, I can live in the Spirit now.
-
And so I have when you get saved, the Holy Spirit comes and
-
indwells you. It comes in and lives inside of
-
you. And now I'm not doing this on my
-
own. Now I'm not now I don't have to
-
try so hard to please Christ. Now obviously we're fighting the
-
flesh every day. We have things that we battle
-
every day, but I have the Holy Spirit helping me do those
-
things. Now let's go over to 2nd
-
Corinthians chapter 3. Second Corinthians chapter 3,
2 Corinthians 3 chapter mention
-
and this is a long passage, so I'm not going to read the entire
-
thing right here. I'm going to jump around in this
-
as we go through this. So there's a few things, four
-
things in under this passage that gives us some more insight
-
into the law and the New Testament Christian.
-
And these things are is this contrasting the Old Testament,
-
the Old Covenant with the New covenant #1 the Old Covenant was
-
the law of Moses. And we have Second Corinthians
2 Corinthians 3 chapter mention
-
chapter 3 and verse #7 But if the ministration or the
-
dispensation of death written in engraving in stones was
-
glorious, so that the children of Israel could not steadfastly
-
behold the face of Moses for the glory of his countenance, which
-
glory was to be done away. Verse 13.
-
And not as Moses, which put a veil over his face, that the
-
children of Israel could not steadfastly look to the end of
-
that which is abolished. What he's saying is, OK, Moses
-
was dealing with the old law and even that was so glorious that
-
Moses had to cover his face with with a veil because it was it
-
was shown so brightly. Now obviously had been in the
-
presence of God, but what he's saying is if you think that's
-
glorious, imagine what the new covenant is like.
-
If you think the old law is is glorious, imagine what it's like
-
living under Christ instead of under the law.
-
It was written in engraving in stones that that specifically
-
refers to the 10 commandments #2 the old covenant was
-
administration of death as we just read and administration of
-
condemnation verse #9 for if the ministration of condemnation be
-
glory, much more death, the ministration of righteousness
-
exceeding glory. He's, he's given us a contrast
-
here, comparing contrast, right? If, if you thought that was
-
good, you can't even imagine how good this is, right?
-
That's what he's doing. He's comparing all these
-
different things. This is because it required, it
-
required perfect obedience from the heart.
-
And we being sinners are incapable of providing that
-
level of obedience. But now we can live in the power
-
of the Holy Spirit and how we can live righteous before God
-
because of what Jesus Christ did for us.
-
If you thought it was good to have some of those, you know, I
-
mean, look, God, God blessed Israel, right?
-
God, God bless them for following him.
-
Was was he blessing them because they were following him
-
perfectly? No, in fact, the opposite of
-
that was true, right? But he still blessed them
-
because they followed him. And if you thought that those
-
blessings of God were good because you followed him here
-
and there, imagine how much better the blessing is of
-
knowing Jesus Christ as your Savior, knowing that those sins
-
are under the blood of Jesus Christ, knowing that everything
-
is already taken care of. You thought that was good.
-
You thought those were blessings.
-
Look at this. That's a real blessing.
-
That's what he's saying here. That's what he's comparing in
-
contrast. So #3 the old covenant has been
-
done away in Christ. Verse #11 For if that which is
-
done away was glorious, much more that which remaineth is
-
glorious #4 the believer has a new law.
-
Verse 17. Now the Lord is that spirit, and
-
where the Spirit of the Lord is, there is liberty.
-
But we all with open face, beholding as in a glass the
-
glory of the Lord, are changed into the same image from glory
-
to glory, even as by the Spirit of the Lord.
-
So the fact that the believer is not under the law of Moses does
-
not mean that he doesn't have a law.
-
In fact, we're held to a much higher law, the law of Christ.
-
We're not, we're not looking at the holiness of the law anymore
-
that we have to live up to. We're looking at the holiness of
-
Christ that we have to live up to so far from, oh, well, we're
-
not under the law anymore. So I don't have to do those
-
things because I'm not under the law.
-
I can live my life how I want to because I'm under grace.
-
That's the way a lot of Christians live.
-
And I can go do whatever I want to, right?
-
If I want to, if I want to do this, I can do it because I'm
-
under grace. There's no law to condemn me
-
anymore. I'm a I'm, I'm saved.
-
I'm on my way to heaven. I can.
-
I can do what I want to do. And what Paul is saying is no,
-
not necessarily. Yeah, you can.
-
You're not going to lose your salvation, but you're not living
-
up to the holiness of the. Law.
-
Anymore you're living up to the holiness of Christ, and that's a
-
much higher standard. Romans chapter 8, verse 29.
-
Let's go back over there real quick because this is kind of
-
what it all comes down to. Of course, you know, verse 28.
-
We know that all things work together for good to them that
-
love God to them who are they called according to his purpose.
-
But verse 29 says for whom he did foreknow.
-
He also did predestinate to be conformed to the image of his
-
son that he might be the first born among many brethren.
-
That is not Calvinism. That is not saying that he's
-
predestining some people to be saved and others not to be
-
saved. That's not what he's saying
-
here. He's saying the ones that that
-
that are saved. He's already predetermined.
-
He's already predestined us to be conformed to the image of his
-
son. That's what we're supposed to
-
be. So as we see him in the
-
Scriptures, we are to change to his image and we are changed to
-
his image. Let's go over to Galatians
Galatians 3 chapter mention
-
chapter 3. Galatians, chapter 3.
Galatians 3 chapter mention
-
Another passage here that discusses the Law and our
-
standing as New Testament Christians.
-
Verse #10 For as many as are of the works of the law are under
-
the curse, for it is written cursed is everyone that continue
-
with not in all things which are written in the book of the law
-
to do them, but that no man is justified by the law in the
-
sight of God. It is evident.
-
For the just shall live by faith, and the law is not a
-
faith, but the man that doeth them shall live in them.
-
Christ hath redeemed us from the curse of the law, being made a
-
curse for us. For it is written cursed is
-
everyone that handeth on a tree that the blessing of Abraham
-
might come on the Gentiles through Jesus Christ, that we
-
might receive the promise of the spirit capital S through faith.
-
Boy, what a what a tremendous passage if you just sit there
-
and try to absorb everything that he's saying in there.
-
But a few things about this. Number one, the Law of Moses or
-
the Old Covenant required perfect obedience in all things.
-
Men, therefore cannot be saved by it.
-
We've already talked about that, and that's what I'm saying.
-
Some of these things are redundant, but it's just a
-
confirmation passage. It's a passage that's saying
-
exactly the same thing in a different way.
-
But because it requires that perfect holiness, it can only
-
bring a curse upon us. We cannot live up to the holy
-
requirements of the law. But Christ took the punishment
-
that was demanded by the law. And we read in verse #13 Christ
-
hath redeemed us from the curse of the law.
-
Being made a curse, curse for us.
-
How was He made a curse for us? Well, because cursed is everyone
-
that angles on a tree. He hung on that tree.
-
He died in our place in order to provide us with that eternal
-
salvation. And only Christ could do that
-
because He was perfect and He had lived up perfectly to the
-
law. He was the only one that could
-
have redeemed us back to God. Because of that #3 the Law of
-
Moses is our schoolmaster to lead us to Christ.
-
Let's go. Let's go to verse 23 of
-
Galatians chapter 3. But before faith came, we were
Galatians 3 chapter mention
-
kept under the law, shut up unto the faith, which should
-
afterward be revealed. Wherefore the law was our
-
schoolmaster to bring us unto Christ, that we might be
-
justified by faith. What does a schoolmaster do?
-
It's a teacher, right? They teach you the things that
-
you need to know. And that's exactly what the law
-
was doing. The law was teaching us.
-
You cannot live up to this standard.
-
You cannot be perfect. That's all the law was there
-
for. It was to be the schoolmaster,
-
to appoint us to Christ and to teach us that we needed Christ
-
because we couldn't. We couldn't live up to that
-
standard on our own. And so that's the major purpose
-
of the law. It was designed by God to show
-
this Sinner has fallen and lost condition and to lead him to
-
faith in Christ. And then #4 is that the believer
-
is not under the law of Moses as a rule of life.
-
Galatians chapter 3 and verse 25.
Galatians 3 chapter mention
-
But after that faith has come, we are no longer under a
-
schoolmaster, right? So the believer's law is not the
-
law of Moses. The believer's law is the new
-
law. It's the law of Christ, a means
-
to be conformed to his image. The believers new law is also
-
called the law of the Spirit as we well we can read that in
-
verse #16 now to Abraham and his seed, where the promise is made.
-
He saith not and to and to seeds as of many, but as of 1 and to
-
thy seed, which is Christ. And this I say, that the
-
covenant that was confirmed before of God in Christ, the law
-
which was 430 years after, cannot dis annul that it should
-
be made that that that it should make the promise of none effect.
-
For if the inheritance be of the law, it is no more a prom of
-
promise, but God gave it to Abraham by promise.
-
So by walking in the Spirit, which means obeying the Spirit
-
and yielding to the Holy Spirit, a believer is not fulfilling the
-
law of the flesh. We're fulfilling the law of
-
Christ and the law of the Spirit.
-
Let's go to Colossians chapter 2.
Colossians 2 chapter mention
-
Colossians chapter 2. I hope this is painting a
Colossians 2 chapter mention
-
picture for you. A lot of these, as I said, a lot
-
of these things are saying the same thing, they're just saying
-
it in a little bit different way.
-
But it's all saying the law cannot be kept perfectly.
-
And because you can't keep the law perfectly, you are a Sinner
-
and you are condemned because of the law.
-
Therefore, you need something besides the law to redeem you
-
back to Christ. Christ died on the cross to pay
-
for that sin that we could not and to pay for that unholiness
-
that we could never live up to that standard.
-
And because of that, we can be saved, not by the law, by
-
Christ. Colossians chapter 2 and verse
Colossians 2 chapter mention
-
#13 And you being dead in your sins, and the uncircumcision of
-
your flesh, hath He quickened together, quickened means made
-
alive. You were dead, He made you
-
alive, having forgiven you all trespasses, blotting out the
-
handwriting of ordinances. That was against us, which was
-
contrary to us. I love this and took it out of
-
the way, nailing it to His cross, and having spoiled
-
principalities and powers, He made a show of them, openly
-
triumphing over them in it. Let no man therefore judge you
-
in meat, or in drink, or in respective and holy day, or of
-
the new moon of the Sabbath days which are a shadow of things to
-
come, but the bodies of Christ. Now what we're, what the Bible
-
is saying here is, well, a couple things.
-
Number one, I've used this illustration many times, but you
-
have all of your sins written out and you, you go to stand
-
before God and God says, why should I let you into heaven?
-
And you present your list and he says, there's whosoever shall
-
keep the whole law and yet offended at one point you're
-
guilty of all of it. If you had one thing written
-
down against your name, I can't let you into heaven, but you
-
have thousands, thousands over your lifetime.
-
I can't let you into heaven, right?
-
But when you accept Christ as your Savior, he takes all of
-
those sins and he covers them under his blood.
-
So when you stand before God, God no longer sees the list of
-
all your sins. There is no law to condemn you
-
because there's no sin that goes against your account because
-
it's all been covered under the blood of Jesus Christ.
-
So the law can't condemn you. Only the blood of Jesus Christ
-
can justify you when you stand before God so he doesn't see all
-
of your sins. All he sees when he looks at you
-
is the blood of Jesus Christ covering your sins, right?
-
That's what faith is. That's what repentance is.
-
It's all, it's all of those things that we've been talking
-
about that are all tied up in that.
-
But Christ took away the old covenant or the law of Moses.
-
He did that by fulfilling the demands of the law and paying
-
the price that we owed for breaking the law, right?
-
Whether that be a fine or whether that be jail time or
-
whatever it happens to be, He paid the penalty that we deserve
-
to pay. And of course, then the believer
-
doesn't follow the old covenant. The law contains types and
-
shadows that point to Christ, but the believer has Christ
-
himself, right? Why are we under grace instead
-
of under the law? Because the law was just a
-
picture. It was just a, it was just a
-
picture to point us to Christ, right?
-
All the things that they did with the sacrifices, why don't
-
we do those anymore? Because those sacrifices were
-
just pointing to Christ and he's here.
-
We don't need that anymore. All the you look at all of the
-
things that they did in the in the Tabernacle boy, and there's
-
so many of them. Why don't we do those anymore?
-
Isn't that part of the law? Isn't that part of the Bible?
-
No, we have Christ. He fulfilled all of those
-
things. All of those things were just
-
pictures and types pointing to the real thing and the real
-
thing came. He's already here.
-
So we don't have to live under those things anymore.
-
We're freed from all of those things because we have Christ.
-
All of those things were there to teach them about the the
-
Messiah that was coming. Although those things were there
-
to teach them who was coming and what was going to happen when he
-
did come. But he came.
-
So I don't have to live under those things anymore.
-
I don't need the shadows and types.
-
I have the real thing, right. Well, if you're, if you are,
-
let's say a husband and wife and you're separated for a while
-
because, you know, you're on a business trip or something,
-
you're right. Or maybe just say that the the
-
husband's in the military and he went away and he's been gone for
-
a year, right? And you're standing there at the
-
airport and you know what direction he's coming from and
-
you see his shadow on the wall. Are you going to be so excited
-
to run over there and hug the shadow?
-
Right. Oh, I'm so glad to have you
-
back. Oh, you want the real thing,
-
right? Forget the shadow.
-
That's just telling you, hey, he's right around the corner.
-
He's almost here, right? And that's exactly what the law
-
was. There's nothing to embrace about
-
the law. There's nothing great about
-
that. It's just, it's just a type.
-
It's just a picture to show you that the real thing is coming.
-
And then he came. Why would I want the shadow?
-
I don't need that anymore. I don't need the types and the
-
pictures and all of those things.
-
I have the real thing, right? And there's no reason to embrace
-
all of that. He's here.
-
And that's exactly what this the Bible is talking about.
-
We don't follow the old covenant anymore because we have the real
-
thing. He's here, right?
-
All right, now let's go to 1st Corinthians chapter 10.
-
And we'll end with this because this is kind of where we bring
-
all of this together. So we don't need the law
-
anymore. The law was just to point us to
-
Christ, right? Everything that we see was just
-
a type A shadow. We cannot live up to the perfect
-
holiness of the law. And so Christ comes, He redeems
-
us back to himself. We're justified by faith in
-
Christ. We've repented and asked Christ
-
to forgive us of our sins and come into our heart and to save
-
us, and he does. But what about the rest of the
-
law? What about, what about the 10
-
commandments, right? What about the other things that
-
we find in God's word? Which ones do we follow?
-
Which ones do we not follow right.
-
So this is this is kind of where all of this comes together.
-
So let's let's look at First Corinthians chapter 10 and we'll
1 Corinthians 10 chapter mention
-
just read the first 11 verses there.
-
Moreover, brethren, I would not that you should be ignorant how
-
that all of our fathers were under the cloud and all passed
-
through the sea and we're all baptized unto Moses in the cloud
-
and in the sea and did all eat the same spiritual meat and did
-
all drink the same spiritual drink for the drank of that
-
spiritual rock that followed them.
-
And that rock was Christ. But with many of them, God was
-
not well pleased. For they were overthrown in the
-
wilderness. Now these things were our
-
examples to the intent. We should not lust after evil
-
things, as they also lusted, neither be idolaters, as were
-
some of them as it is written. The people sat down to eat and
-
drink, and rose up to play. Neither let us commit
-
fornication, as some of them committed and fell in one day
-
three and 20,000 Neither let us tempt Christ, as some of them
-
also tempted and were destroyed of serpents.
-
Neither murmur ye, as some of them also murmured and were
-
destroyed of the destroyer. Now all these things happen unto
-
them for in samples, and they are written for our admonition
-
upon whom the ends of the world are come.
-
So pretty clearly then, some of the sins in the Old Testament
-
are still condemned today, right?
-
Just because we're not under the law anymore doesn't mean that we
-
can be idolaters, doesn't mean that we can commit fornication,
-
doesn't mean that we can tempt Christ, doesn't mean that we can
-
murmur, doesn't mean that we can do all of those things right
-
just because we're not under the law anymore.
-
He said they did it and they were punished.
-
And if you do it, you're going to be punished, right?
-
So though the law of Moses is not the believer's rule of life,
-
it is an important source of instruction for the Christian
-
life. We learn from its examples.
-
And that's exactly what the Bible says there in verse #11
-
Now all these things happened unto them for in samples.
-
And they are written for our admonition, our instruction.
-
That's what they're there for. And so we draw the spiritual
-
lessons from the things that we read in the law.
-
In first Corinthians chapter 10, Paul draws lessons from Israel's
1 Corinthians 10 chapter mention
-
wilderness wanderings. That's exactly what he's talking
-
about. They, they got water from the
-
rock. They followed those things, but
-
God wasn't pleased with them. And a lot of things they did
-
this and this and this and this and this.
-
And God had to punish him for it, right?
-
So we learned the lessons about Christ as the rock and the
-
living water. And we are warned not to go by
-
idolatry and fornication or to murmur against God.
-
The New Testament is filled with such lessons from the law of
-
Moses. First Corinthians 5.
-
Paul draws lessons from the Passover.
-
Let's go over to Hebrews chapter 3.
Hebrews 3 chapter mention
-
Hebrews chapter 3 and verse #7. The writer of Hebrews who I
Hebrews 3 chapter mention
-
believe is the apostle Paul is no guarantee, but I believe it
-
was Paul that wrote the book of Hebrews.
-
He's drawing lessons from Israel's unbelief in the
-
hardness of their hearts in the wilderness.
-
Hebrews chapter 3 and verse #7 I was in Chapter 7, sorry.
Hebrews 3 chapter mention
-
Hebrews chapter 3 and verse #7 Wherefore as the Holy Ghost
Hebrews 3 chapter mention
-
saith today, if you will hear his voice, this is coming from
-
Psalm 95. Harden not your hearts, as in
-
the provocation in the day of temptation in the wilderness,
-
when your Father's tempted me, proved me, and saw my works 40
-
years. Wherefore I was grieved with
-
that generation, and said, They do all way air in their heart,
-
and they have not known My ways, so I swear in my wrath they
-
shall not enter into my rest. Take heed brethren, lest there
-
be in any of you an evil heart of unbelief and departing from
-
the living God. But exhort one another daily
-
while it is called today, lest any of you be hardened through
-
the deceitfulness of sin. Those first 5-6 verses were
-
taken directly from the Old Testament and he's saying these
-
warnings to them in the Old Testament are the same warnings
-
to you today. Better take heed to him, better
-
follow him, right? So the New Testament is filled
-
with with those lessons from the Law of Moses.
-
So we interpret lessons from the Law of Moses by comparing
-
Scripture with Scripture to see if the lessons are supported by
-
the rest of Scripture. In other words, the laws that we
-
follow from the Old Testament are restated in the New
-
Testament, maybe not in the exact same way, but the same
-
sins that were sins in the Old Testament, that are sins in this
-
dispensation and in this new covenant era are listed again,
-
right? And that is the moral laws.
-
The moral laws are laws that that don't change.
-
They're God's, they're God's laws, right?
-
You can have your dietary laws and your civil laws.
-
And that's why if you get a spot on your head, you don't have to
-
go to a priest and get him to look at it and say, OK, it's
-
going away, you're fine, you're cleansed, go dip, you know, go
-
do this, go do that and you're fine, right?
-
Why don't we do any of those things?
-
Well, those are all civil laws. They're ceremonial laws as well.
-
None of those things are restated for us to do in the New
-
Testament. But the moral laws, we see them
-
restated in many places in the New Testament, right?
-
So here's a couple passages to consider.
-
All right, let's look at Deuteronomy 22.
-
Five, Let's go back there. Old Testament, Old Testament
-
Deuteronomy 22 five. In fact, it's actually written
-
there. You know, if you don't want to
-
go all the way back to Deuteronomy 22 five, you don't
-
have to. The woman shall not wear that
-
which pertaineth unto a man, neither shall a man put on a
-
woman's garment, for all that do so are abomination unto the Lord
-
thy God. Well, that contains A moral
-
principle that there should be a distinction between the sexes
-
even in how they dress, right? Which gets rid of all of your
-
transgender everything, right? Cross dressing and all of that
-
kind of stuff. I mean, a man should wear a
-
man's garment, a woman should wear a woman's garment.
-
That's what the Bible is saying. And that's a principle that
-
remains valid in the New Testament dispensation.
-
It's very clear by comparing Scripture with Scripture.
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The teaching of Deuteronomy 22 is confirmed in Genesis, where
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we find that God made man male and female.
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I don't think there's anybody that's going to argue with that.
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Well, that's Old Testament God. Didn't he only made male and
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female in the Old Testament or did he Right.
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We find that all again in the New Testament, right.
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And so if, if you made them male and female, it's, it's confirmed
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in First Corinthians 11/13 or three through 15, where we find
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that the sexes are to be distinguished by their hair
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length. There, there are to be
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differences in the sexes, right? You ought to be able to look at
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somebody and say, this is a man, this is a woman, right?
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By the way that they look, by the way that they dress, by the
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way that they act, you ought to be able to see those things,
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right? Well, Deuteronomy 22, five
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woman, they can wear whatever they want to.
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Man, you can wear whatever they want to.
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That's Old Testament. Well, yeah, that's in the Old
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Testament, but we see it restated in the new and we see
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the moral law that goes along with that in Genesis and really
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in a lot of other places throughout the Old Testament as
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well. Let's look at Leviticus chapter
Leviticus 19 chapter mention
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19 because here's another one that a lot of people like to to
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use today when it comes to especially tattoos and
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piercings. Right now you have a tattoo from
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before you were saved or something like that.
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It's not you get all rip your flesh off and you know, get rid
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of it. But at the same time, OK, you
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shall not make any cuttings in your flesh for the dead nor
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print any marks upon you. I am the Lord.
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Well, what's a cutting in your flesh?
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It would be body modification, right?
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That's what they call it today, scarification, if you want to
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call it that, right? Piercing everything you can find
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to Pierce on your body, right. And then what is print any marks
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upon you? What would that be?
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Pretty obviously a tattoo, right?
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They used to do that all the time in Pagan cultures.
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Those that was that was what they did, right?
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That was part of who they were. Now, the moral lesson of
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avoiding Pagan customs such as tattoos that are associated with
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idolatry and moral reprobation is confirmed again in the New
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Testament in a lot of other passages, and there's several of
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them that we could look at. But because we're close, let's
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just do 1st Corinthians 10 and 2nd Corinthians 6.
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So go there and you'll see this basically restated exactly,
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again, a different way, but exactly the whole purpose behind
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why God was telling them those things in the Old Testament,
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right? Why did God tell them in the Old
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Testament? Don't make a cutting in your
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flesh for the dead and don't print anything on you.
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I am the Lord. Why was He telling them that?
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That's what the pagans do, right?
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There ought to be something different between the people of
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God. I am the Lord.
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There ought to be something different between the people of
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God and the pagans, right? You don't do what they do.
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Well, God used those two examples about making cutting in
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your flesh for the dead. Who did that?
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The Pagan cultures, right? Who?
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Who printed marks upon you? The Pagan cultures did that,
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right? So does the Bible say in the New
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Testament, thou shalt not get a tattoo?
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Doesn't say that, but the same moral principle that God used to
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establish this in the Old Testament is exactly what is
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used again in the New Testament, right?
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First Corinthians chapter 10 and verse #20 But I say that the
1 Corinthians 10 chapter mention
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things which the Gentiles sacrifice, they sacrifice the
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devils and not to God. And I would not that you should
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have fellowship with devils. You cannot drink the cup of the
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Lord and the cup of devils. You cannot be partakers of the
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Lord's table and of the table of devils.
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Do we not provoke the Lord to jealousy?
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Are we stronger than he? Right.
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What is he saying? We don't do what the, what the
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world does. We don't do what the pagans do.
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We're different. You're, you're different.
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I'm your father, not the world. You can't have it both ways.
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You can't have the world and the flesh.
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You can't have God and the devil.
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You can't, you can't have both of those.
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Let's look at 2nd Corinthians chapter 6, in fact.
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Yeah, well, let's, let's look at it.
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We're close. Second Corinthians chapter 6 and
2 Corinthians 6 chapter mention
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verse #16 I mean, this is about as clear as you can get.
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And he's quoting, he is quoting directly from Isaiah 52.
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What agreement hath the temple of God with idols?
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For ye are the temple of the living God, as God hath said, I
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will dwell in them and walk in them, and I will be their God,
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and they shall be my people. Wherefore come out from among
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them, and be ye separate, saith the Lord, and touch not the
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unclean thing, and I will receive you, and will be a
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father unto you, and you shall be my sons and daughters, saith
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the Lord Almighty. What's he saying?
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This is the things that they do in their temples.
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OK, And we don't have temples today, but you're the temple.
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Your body is the temple. So if you're not going to do
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those things that the Gentiles and the and the pagans did in
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their temples, then the principle for us today is don't
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do it to your body. Your body should be separate.
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You should look different from the rest of the world because
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you are different. All right, let's look at one
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more. Let's go to Ephesians chapter 5
Ephesians 5 chapter mention
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and we'll be done. That's where the law comes in,
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OK? The law can't.
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The law can't condemn me because I'm not under the law anymore.
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I'm under grace. I'm under I've accepted Christ
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as my Savior. I know that my sins are forgiven
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and I'm on my way to heaven. And because I know that the law
-
can't condemn me anymore. But now I'm not under the law,
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I'm under Christ. I'm not under the holiness of
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the law. I'm under the holiness of
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Christ, and the holiness of Christ is a much higher standard
-
than just the holiness of the law.
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So do I have to do all of those things?
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No. I can, I can go to heaven and
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drink, drink my way there, right?
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I could, because if I'm saved and I know it, I'm not going to
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lose my salvation, right? I could, I could smoke my way to
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heaven sucking on cancer sticks, right?
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I could get there that way. And I'm not going to lose my
-
salvation because I'm not under the law.
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I'm under grace, I've, I've got the freedom to live my life the
-
way that I want to live my life. But I don't do those things, not
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because I can't, but because I don't want to.
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Because I'm not just trying to live this holiness of the law
-
anymore. I'm trying to live the holiness
-
of Christ. And that's a much, much higher
-
standard, right? Ephesians chapter 5 and verse
Ephesians 5 chapter mention
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#11 and have no fellowship with the unfruitful works of
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darkness, but rather reprove them.
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So if I can't have fellowship with the unfruitful works of
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darkness, then I shouldn't be looking like them, shouldn't be
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acting like them. I shouldn't be doing the things
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that the world does right. And, and make no mistake, look
-
tattoos. It's rebellion, right?
-
That's why. That's why when somebody gets a
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tattoo and they're like, I'm just afraid to go home and tell
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my mom that I got a tattoo because I don't know what she's
-
going to say. Well, why does it matter, right?
-
If you're not ashamed of it, then why does it matter what
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she's going to say? Why does she even care if you
-
get a tattoo, right? Because people inherently know
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that's what the, that's what rebels do, right?
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That's what people who are in rebellion do.
-
Same thing with body modification and all of that
-
kind of stuff. I mean, you know, you see these
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people that have their entire body tattooed, right?
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They're living in rebellion against culture, against God,
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against everything, right? Why?
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Why? That's why we don't do it.
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Because that's not who we are. We're not living in rebellion.
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We're living in obedience, right?
-
And and so all of these things that he says don't have
-
fellowship with the unfruitful works of darkness separate from
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them. You're people of God.
-
You shouldn't look like the people of the world.
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You can't have that. And this at the same time be
-
different, right? Well, that's exactly what he was
-
saying in the Old Testament too. Don't mark your body, don't cut
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your body up. That's what the pagans do.
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And you're not a Pagan. You're of the Lord.
-
I'm the Lord do what? Do what people who who are of
-
the Lord do, right? It's the same exact principle
-
that God was given them in an in the Old Testament and he gave it
-
to us again in the New Testament.
-
All right? So those same moral laws that
-
applied in the Old Testament are the same moral laws that applied
-
today, which is why we should still follow the 10
-
commandments, right? Thou shalt not take the name of
-
the Lord thy God in vain. Oh, and yet people say that all
-
the time. OMG, you're taking the name of
-
the Lord in vain, right? You're taking God's name in
-
vain. Well, that's an Old Testament
-
law. No, no, he said it again in the
-
New Testament. It's a moral law that should be
-
followed today, right? All of those things.
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That's why we do it. So that's why we go all the way
-
back to that first statement. There's a lot of confusion about
-
the law of Moses in what place it has in the Christian life,
-
and it's essential for every believer to settle this issue on
-
a solid scriptural footing. So am I under the law anymore?
-
No, the law can't condemn me anymore.
-
I'm under Christ. But the holiness of the law is
-
sure a whole lot easier than the holiness of Christ.
-
But that's not our standard anymore.
-
This is. So can the law condemn me?
-
Can I go to hell for taking a drink of alcohol?
-
No, not necessarily. No, because if you're saved,
-
then that thing can't condemn you anymore, right?
-
But you're sure living far under the holiness of Christ that you
-
should be living up to, right? Are we going to be perfect?
-
No, but we should be trying to be.
-
We should be trying to live in the holiness of Christ because
-
I'm not under the law anymore, right.
-
It's the same way that that the same illustration that he used
-
with, with a, a wife wanting to do things for her husband,
-
right? Wanting to serve her husband.
-
Why would she want to do that? Because she's afraid of what
-
happens if she doesn't. No, because He loves her so much
-
and He treats her so well, and she can't do anything but serve
-
Him and love Him. That's the way it is with
-
Christ, right? Do I serve Him because I'm
-
afraid that I'm going to lose my salvation?
-
No, I serve Him because He's a good God and I serve Him because
-
of everything that He's done for me.
-
And I serve Him because He's given me eternal life and I
-
don't have to spend one second in hell because of what He's
-
done for me. I want to serve Him because I
-
get to and because I love Him and because he loves me.
-
I don't serve him because I have to.
-
I serve Him because I want to. That's the life that a believer
-
is under when it comes to the new Covenant, right?
-
No, I'm not under the law anymore.
-
I'm under grace. But grace brings with it a whole
-
lot higher standard. And that's the standard that we
-
should be trying to live to. Hope it makes sense.
-
Let's pray. Father, again, we thank you so
-
much for your goodness to us. Thank you for the opportunity
-
that we've had to spend some time here together this this
-
evening. I pray that it would be a help
-
to us and God, I pray that you'd help us to, to do everything we
-
can with your power to live in the holiness of Christ.
-
God, may you help us to, to do everything we can to live up to
-
that standard. I do pray that if there is
-
anybody in here that doesn't know for sure that they're
-
saved, that they get that settled for sure.
-
God, for those who know that they are, may you help us to not
-
live as if we are under the law, but live as if we are under the
-
holiness of Christ. And may you help us to be
-
examples and testimonies for you to a lost and dying world who
-
need Christ. I pray that you just send us
-
away from here this evening with your blessing.
-
Thank you again for all you do for us in Jesus name, Amen.