Matthew 5:17-20 - Part 2

Please take out your copy of God's Word and turn with me to Matthew's Gospel, chapter 5 and verse 17.

! I have to tell you I was really nervous about doing that without dropping everything.

! This morning will be our second consideration of verses 17 through 20 of chapter 5 of Matthew's Gospel.

Last week I focused our attention on the first half of verse 17 predominantly where Jesus says,

Do not think that I have come to abolish the law or the prophets.

And we established together that Jesus has a high view of the Scripture and that the Scripture has a high view of Him.

We learned that the Jews of Jesus' day referred to the law in four different ways.

Let me remind you of those quickly.

First, they referred to the law as the Ten Commandments.

It was the law of Moses found in Exodus 20.

They also used this term to refer to the Pentateuch.

The first five books of the Old Testament said to have been authored by Moses.

Thirdly, they used this term to refer to the entirety of the Old Testament.

And then fourth, to refer to the rabbinical traditions.

Those laws that had been added to on top of God's Word revealed in the Old Testament.

This is the teaching that Jesus is referring to in Matthew 15 and verse 6 when He says,

For the sake of your tradition, you have made void the Word of God.

And so there was one erroneous use of this term, right?

Referring to the rabbinical traditions.

And then there are three that we pay attention to and need to understand as we read through the New Testament.

Jesus says,

Do not think that I have come to abolish the law or the prophets.

And this phrase in its variance, the law or the prophets here, found in most places, the law and the prophets,

is used 15 times in the New Testament, always to refer to the entirety of the Old Testament.

So as Jesus says this,

Do not think that I have come to abolish the law or the prophets.

This is what He's referring to, right?

All of the teaching of the Old Testament.

This is the Scripture that Jesus had a high view of.

His Bible in His day, which we now consider the Old Testament.

And it is this that Jesus says He did not come to abolish.

Now in verse 17, Jesus goes on to say,

I have not come to abolish them, but to fulfill them.

Which presses the question,

What is the place of the law in the life of the Christian?

What do we, the New Testament church, do with the commands and precepts of the Old Testament?

Join me in reading today's text,

and I'm going to make every effort this morning to answer that question for our benefit to the glory of God.

So Matthew 5, verse 17 through 20.

Matthew 5:17–20

It reminds you, beloved, that this is God's Word to us.

It was written for His glory and our good,

and we would all do well to listen to it in order to believe its promises and obey its commands.

Jesus said,

Do not think that I have come to abolish the law or the prophets.

I have not come to abolish them, but to fulfill them.

For truly I say to you, until heaven and earth pass away,

not an iota, not a dot will pass from the law until all is accomplished.

Therefore, whoever relaxes one of the least of these commandments and teaches others to do the same

will be called least in the kingdom of heaven.

But whoever does them and teaches them will be called great in the kingdom of heaven.

For I tell you, unless your righteousness exceeds that of the scribes and Pharisees,

you will never enter the kingdom of heaven.

Now then, if you have been with us for some time,

you will remember that we have found ourselves studying the Sermon on the Mount

because I set out to begin a study through Exodus chapter 20,

Exodus 20 · chapter mention

where we read of the law of Moses, most commonly called the Ten Commandments.

In my preparation, I was surprised to find a broad disagreement

concerning the place of the Ten Commandments in the life of the Christian.

And today's text was referenced often by every author I read,

no matter what position they held.

The crux of the disagreement concerns really what Jesus meant by,

I have not come to abolish, but to fulfill.

So we made a very last-minute change to our preaching schedule on a Friday before that Sunday,

which bought me ten weeks to sort through the complexity of the issue.

We went to the beginning of Matthew chapter 5,

Matthew 5 · chapter mention

and knowing full well we would arrive at Matthew chapter 5, verses 17 through 20.

Matthew 5:17–20

Here we are today.

I'm sure that you have been patiently waiting to know why in the world I brought this stack of a dozen or so,

I think it's a baker's dozen of books,

and placed them to my left on a stool.

I promised that I did not do so to reference each of them this morning.

I'm not reading any quotations from any of these books this morning,

but rather to show you the level of work it has taken

to arrive at the position I will present to you today.

Now, to be clear, just because I've used these books doesn't necessarily make me right.

None of the authors of these books are infallible.

I am certainly not infallible.

And we all, like Jesus, ought to have a high view of the Scripture

to carefully weigh out what it says and give it careful application to our living.

I hope I've navigated that well and will continue to do so in the coming weeks.

So this is the complexity of the issue stack, right?

So when you're scratching your head, look here and go,

yeah, there's a lot, a lot happening here.

We may not always agree on all of the Bible's teaching or its application,

but make no mistake, beloved,

this church agrees that God's Word is the infallible,

inerrant, authoritative guide for our lives.

I've spent the last decade hanging all that I am on this book.

I would be nothing without it,

and to be more accurate, without the God of it.

It is by this Word that God has established and built this church,

and it will be only by neglect of it

or uncharitable disagreements about it

that this church will be torn apart.

So as we pick up matters on which many disagree,

let's agree that we will do so as partners.

People who love the Bible and the God of it.

Let us agree to work together through difficult doctrine and hard matters

as God is glorified in our unity in the truth.

So, to begin, and to give you a place to start your thinking and mine

for what I believe about the place of the law and the gospel,

I want to read to you from our statement of faith.

So if you're a member of this church, you've agreed to this.

This is what our church believes,

of the harmony of the law and the gospel.

And this is from our statement of faith that is largely based on the New Hampshire Confession of 1833.

And it reads as follows.

We believe that the law of God is the eternal and unchangeable rule of His moral government.

That it is holy, just, and good.

And that the inability which the Scriptures ascribe to fallen men to fulfill its precepts

arise entirely from their love of sin.

To deliver them from which and to restore them through a mediator to unfeigned obedience to the holy law

is one great end of the gospel

and of the means of grace connected with the establishment of the visible church.

I'm going to give that to you in my translation so you understand.

We believe that God's word is the eternal, unchangeable rule of His moral government.

So we believe in a moral law, and we'll talk more about that later.

And that is unchanging.

It's holy.

It's just.

It's good.

It's given to us for our good.

That our inability to keep it, that the Scriptures say we're unable to keep it as fallen men,

comes from our love of sin.

And that the gospel of Jesus Christ seeks to deliver us from that, right?

From our love of sin to a love of this moral law.

And that it is one great end, one of the great ends of the gospel and the grace of the church,

that we would do that very thing.

Keep this law.

This is what the New Hampshire Confession and our statement of faith says about the harmony of the law and the gospel.

So that gives us a starting point.

As people who believe that we are saved by grace alone, through faith alone, in Jesus Christ alone,

I assert to you that we have to be so careful to not become antinomians.

So there's your big word for today.

Antinomians.

We believe that the gospel is offered freely to mankind.

That there is no work that will ever gain us God's satisfaction.

We must be found in Christ's perfect work.

And being people who believe this, this is the gospel of Jesus Christ,

we must be careful that we don't become antinomians.

Antinomians.

Antinomians.

Antinomian.

Antinomian.

Antinomian.

Antinomian.

which is law, so without the law,

is one who takes the principle of salvation

by faith and divine grace

to the point of asserting

that the saved are not bound

to follow the Ten Commandments.

This seems to me to be inconsistent

with what Jesus is saying

in verses 17 and following.

He says,

I have not come to abolish them,

but rather, but to fulfill them.

Now to understand a bit more

about this word fulfill,

we must take a careful look

at what Matthew has done

with this word so far.

He's established a theme of fulfillment

in his gospel account

to this point in chapter 5.

Now as we begun our study

at the beginning of chapter 5,

we need to be sure not to miss this.

Maybe you picked it up

from your Bible reading

from this past week

as we were at the beginning of Matthew.

So to give you an example,

Matthew chapter 1, verses 22 and 23.

Matthew 1:22

Matthew speaking of the birth of Christ says,

All this took place

to fulfill what the Lord

had spoken by the prophet.

Behold, the virgin shall conceive

and bear a son,

and they shall call his name Emmanuel,

which means God with us.

So this happened,

the way in which Christ was born

happened to fulfill,

to make God's promise complete

that had been spoken by the prophet.

We see this also

in chapter 2 and verse 15.

Chapter 2 and verse 17.

Chapter 2 and verse 23.

And chapter 4 and verse 14.

We see this repetition

leading to where we are.

And this theme carries throughout

the Gospel of Matthew

as well beyond today's text.

Jesus fulfilled,

didn't abolish,

but fulfilled the Old Testament

by being its fulfillment.

The promise kept.

All of the Old Testament

points to the person

and work of Jesus Christ.

All of the roads

of the Old Testament

lead to Him.

Jesus also points back

to the obedience

required by God.

So I skipped over one of them

as I was reading you

these fulfillment verses

in Matthew.

Matthew 3, verse 14 and 15.

Matthew 3:14

When Jesus requests

that John the Baptist baptize Him,

Matthew records for us,

John would have prevented Him saying,

so John says to Him,

I need to be baptized by You.

And do You come to Me?

But Jesus answered Him,

Let it be so now,

for thus it is fitting

for us to fulfill

all righteousness.

Then He, being John,

consented.

So Jesus kept the law perfectly

and He is our perfect righteousness.

He also means this

when He talks about

fulfilling the Old Testament.

However,

Jesus intends for us

to grow in righteousness.

Isn't that the here and not yet

of the Christian faith?

We are found righteous in Christ

and yet we are growing in righteousness.

This is the doctrine of sanctification.

God's law

is the train tracks

on which our life in Christ

is meant to run.

Jesus,

having been raised from the dead

and ascended

to be seated

at the right hand of the Father,

gave to us

the Holy Spirit

who works as the engine

that drives us

down those tracks.

In Ezekiel 36,

Ezekiel 36:27

verse 27,

Ezekiel says,

on behalf of God,

and I will put My Spirit within you

and cause you to walk in My statutes

and be careful to obey My rules.

The prophet Ezekiel does not say,

God says,

I will put My Spirit within you

and you may follow the whim

that you feel the Spirit is leading you to.

No.

He says there will be tracks

and I will drive you down those tracks.

My statutes

and My rules.

Further in today's text,

Jesus goes on to say,

and this will be a sweeping summary

of the rest of it,

for truly I say to you

until heaven and earth pass away,

so this apocryphic language

when all things are brought to an end,

not an iota,

not a dot,

the smallest letter

in the Hebrew alphabet,

the smallest mark

in the Hebrew alphabet,

none of that will pass

from the law

until it's all accomplished.

All things will be accomplished.

And then He goes on in verse 19,

and this is the most stark case for me.

Therefore, whoever relaxes

one of the least of these commandments

and teaches others to do the same

will be called least

in the kingdom of heaven.

Whoever does them and teaches them

will be called great

in the kingdom of heaven.

We are meant to pay attention to,

to obey,

and to teach others

to do the same,

these commandments of God.

And then, as Jesus is doing

all throughout the Sermon on the Mount,

verse 20,

for I tell you,

unless your righteousness exceeds

that of the scribes and Pharisees,

you will never enter

the kingdom of heaven.

The scribes and the Pharisees

were those who were viewed

as most holy in this day.

We're very good at keeping

the outward appearance

of holiness,

of keeping all of those laws

just so-so.

But Jesus declares woes upon them,

calls them whitewashed tombs,

right?

Pretty on the outside,

but full of dead people's bones.

These men were not righteous

before God,

but they gave the appearance of it.

And Jesus,

thematically throughout the Sermon on the Mount,

is calling us to a greater understanding

of the law of God of their day,

and hopefully for us as well,

that we would see

that what God requires of us

is whole person righteousness,

and that we see

that we need the righteousness of Christ

for this demand to be met.

At the end of Matthew chapter 5,

Matthew 5 · chapter mention

Jesus says,

you therefore must be perfect

as your heavenly Father

is perfect.

So we find our righteousness in Christ,

and then because we are righteous in Christ,

we pursue righteousness

by the law.

So,

I am anti-antinomian.

I am anti-antinomian.

As an interesting aside,

many of you are aware

of the Great Awakening,

the First Great Awakening

in North America

was sparked off from a church

that a man named Jonathan Edwards

pastored,

and it began with two sermons

which were preached back to back,

and they were both anti-sermons.

The first was an anti-Arminianism sermon.

He made big the God of our salvation,

and the second was an anti-antinomianism sermon.

And what happened as a work of the Spirit

through Jonathan Edwards' preaching

is that young people

got a big picture of their salvation,

this God that has saved them,

their wretched self saved in God,

and they saw their need for obedience

to the law,

and they went out from these church meetings,

and they continued to meet together

and to consider the text of the sermon

and the sermon itself,

to talk about it,

and to pursue holiness together.

And people in their town said,

what is the weirdness that's happening

with these young people?

They have a huge God,

and they are devoting their lives to Him,

and they wanted to know about this God.

And the Great Awakening was kicked off

by young people

who had a high view of God

and of His law.

Now, Sinclair Ferguson once said,

words that end in IST and ISM

can be dangerous

because they pigeonhole people,

and people are not pigeons.

So, and if you want,

sometime I'll actually show you

the place that he said it

because he says it with a Scottish accent,

and it's much more wonderful than that.

But they pigeonhole people,

and people are not pigeons.

So we have to be careful, right,

when we set labels on belief systems

in this way.

Antinomianism comes in different varieties

and shapes.

I want to share at least three.

I'm going to share three.

There's at least three with you quickly

before we get back to the Scripture.

First, there's theological antinomianism.

Most every one that I read

that took an antinomian stance

seemed to fall into this category,

this theological or doctrinal category.

These antinomians are lovers

of the gospel of grace.

As they should be.

As they absolutely should be.

That we are saved by grace alone,

through faith alone,

in Christ alone.

They rightly have seen and experienced

the law of God

as the thing that drove them to Christ.

And the law is used in this way, right?

To expose our sinfulness.

To show us how far we've fallen short

of the holy standard of God.

Paul writes about this

in Galatians 3,

Galatians 3:24–26

verses 24-26,

when he says,

So then,

the law was our guardian

until Christ came,

in order that we might be justified

by faith.

But now that faith has come,

we are no longer under a guardian,

for in Christ Jesus,

you are all sons of God

through faith.

When Paul talks of this guardian,

and the guardian would have been

like a tutor.

Somebody that the father would have hired

to keep their son in line.

And typically this man

was given the privilege,

the ability to discipline the son.

So, you can imagine

a young man being taken to school

who doesn't want to go to school.

And the guardian walks along

behind him with a stick

and smacks him every time

he tries to divert off the road.

This is the picture of a guardian,

right?

That we would be brought to Christ.

So the theological antinomian says,

look, it's accomplished this task.

Now that we're in Christ,

we're no longer,

as Paul says here,

under the law.

We've been set free from the law.

And they desire to be consistent

in that way.

I can appreciate that.

I can appreciate that they're saying,

wait, wait, wait.

Right?

We want to be very clear

not to lay any burden on anybody

except to give them

the free offer of the gospel.

This can be found also

in Bunyan's writing

in Hogan's Progress.

And I don't think Bunyan

was an antinomian,

but he expresses this.

If you stick around here long enough,

I'm going to read this entire book to you

in little bits and pieces.

He expresses this

in the story of Faithful.

As Faithful has joined Christian

on his journey,

and they have both gone up

this hill called Difficult.

This hill called Difficult.

He's recounting what happened to him

when he went up this hill.

And Faithful says,

but good brother, hear me out.

So soon as the man overtook me,

he was but a word and a blow,

for down he knocked me

and laid me for dead.

But when I was a little come

to myself again,

I asked him wherefore he served me so.

Why?

Why did he serve me so?

He said,

because of my secret inclining

to Adam the first.

Because I think

that I can be justified by work.

Because of my secret inclining

to Adam the first.

And with that he struck me

another deadly blow on the breast

and beat me down backward.

So I lay at his feet

as dead as before.

So when I came to myself again,

I cried him mercy.

But he said,

I know not how to show mercy.

And with that,

he knocked me down again.

He had doubtless made me,

made an end of me.

But that one came by

and bid him forbear,

bid him to stop.

Christian says,

who was that

that bid him forbear?

And Faithful says,

I did not know him at first,

but as he went by,

I perceived the holes

in his hands and his side.

Then I concluded

that he was our Lord.

So I went up the hill.

Christian says,

that man that overtook you

was Moses.

He spareth none,

neither knoweth he how

to show mercy

to those that transgress

the law.

So these antinomians

rightly celebrate the fact

that those who are in Christ Jesus

have his righteousness

and are no longer slaves

to the law.

No longer under the oppression

of the law

that only condemns.

The great preacher,

Dr. Martin Lloyd-Jones,

once said,

if your presentation

of the gospel

does not expose it

to the charge

of antinomianism,

you are probably

not putting it correctly.

And he's saying,

there must be this

free offer.

There must be this

come with your wretchedness

and receive the righteousness

of Christ

by faith in Him.

But,

these antinomians fail to see

that having brought us

to Christ,

the law becomes

our friend.

Having once served

as our enemy

to show us our great need

of Christ,

once found in Him,

it becomes

our friend.

Listen to the way that Paul

does this very thing

with the law

in Ephesians 6,

Ephesians 6:1

verse 1 and 2,

where he instructs

children in the church

to obey your parents

and the Lord,

for this is right.

He says,

honor,

citing Exodus 20,

honor your father

and mother.

This is the first commandment

with a promise.

So,

he employs it

to help us

know how it is

we should walk

in the light

of the gospel

and that the two

are harmonious

together.

So,

that's the first type

of antinomian

that I would encourage

you not to be.

Secondly,

there's an exegetical

antinomian.

These antinomians

make the law

a single page.

They want to simplify

the law

as the law

that must be dealt

with all together.

Right?

So,

if we are no longer

under the law,

if the law

has been fulfilled,

then it is altogether

done away with.

They fail,

I assert humbly

to you,

to make distinctions

in types of law.

Civil,

ceremonial,

and moral.

We'll talk about

a bit more soon.

They fail to do this

and they take the law

collectively

and they sweep it away

now that we're found

in Christ.

And thirdly,

there is the

experimental

antinomian

or experiential.

I don't know

if that's really

a word though.

Experimental

antinomian.

This is the one

I am most

concerned about.

This is why

we wanted to pick up

and preach through

Exodus 20

to be sure

that we don't

err in this way.

This antinomian

says,

I have the grace

of God,

therefore,

I can live

however I please.

Romans 6,

Romans 6:1

verse 1 and 2,

Paul says,

what shall we say

then?

Having been set free

from the law,

are we to continue

in sin

that grace

may abound?

And then he says,

in a Greek expletive,

by no means.

May it never be.

This is a response

to that.

How can we

who died

to sin

still live in it?

And how

did Paul

and the Roman church

know

whether or not

they were living

in sin?

The law.

God's moral law

contained in

their

Scripture.

The problem

with

both

antinomianism

and on the other

side of the coin

legalism

is that they

both

divorce

the law

of God

from the

character

of God.

The one

fails to see

the law

as a means

to bring us

to the loving

kindness of God.

That'd be the

legalist.

The other

fails to see

the law

as God's

loving

instruction

for His

people.

We very

quickly

could play

a game

and I

won't

but if

I were

to

throw

a word

out

to you

you

could

quickly

come up

with the

opposite

of the

word

up

down

inside

outside

many

who

understand

this

word

if I

were to

say

antinomian

they would

say

legalist

but the

truth of

it is

that the

opposite

of

antinomianism

is

gospel

and the

opposite

of legalism

is

gospel

so we

work

as God's

people

to walk

very

carefully

down

the

middle

now

you turn

over

your

bulletin

this is

Isaiah 19 · chapter mention

chapter 19

this text

of the

London

Baptist

Confession

of

1689

for the

sake of

time I'm

going to

spare you

the history

of the

London

Baptist

Confession

but I

want you

to be

aware

I read

to you

previously

the

New

Hampshire

Confession

statement

this is

much

longer

statement

the

Westminster

Confession

also

chapter 19

speaks

on this

the

Westminster

Divines

spent

more

pages

and

more

time

working

through

the

harmony

of the

law

and the

gospel

than

any

other

part

of

their

work

this

isn't

quite

the

longest

chapter

in the

London

Baptist

Confession

but it's

very

close

to it

because

these

divines

wanted to

be very

careful

now just

because

something is

old doesn't

make it

right

amen

but it

can be

helpful

it can

be helpful

that when

we look

back across

history

and see

see the

way that

churches

and councils

have

ordered

themselves

looked at

the scriptures

and arrived

at things

it can

inform

us

if

we're

way

off

it

could

be

that

we've

wandered

away

from

orthodoxy

altogether

so let me

run through

these statements

with a few

comments

and some

scripture

referencing

for them

and this

is kind

of the

outline

for the

case

the case

against

antinomianism

so number

one

God gave

to Adam

a law

of

universal

obedience

written

in his

heart

they

base

this

off

Genesis

127

so God

created

man

in his

own

image

so God

himself

being

holy

in the

image

of God

he created

him

male and

female

he created

them

God

himself

obedient

to

himself

right

so

Adam's

created

in that

very

same

image

and

a

particular

precept

of not

eating

the fruit

of the

tree

of knowledge

of good

and evil

Genesis

Genesis 2:16

chapter 2

verse 16

and 17

by which

he bound

him in

all his

posterity

to personal

entire

exact

and perpetual

obedience

promised life

upon the

fulfilling

and threatened

death upon

the breach

of it

and endued

him

with power

and ability

to keep

it

so this is the place

we find Adam

and Eve

coming in

chapter 2

into the beginning

of chapter 3

the command

not to eat

of this

particular

and

Satan

comes along

brings

deception

they give

into it

want to be

like

gods

and transgress

this particular

command

given to

them

point number

two

the same

law that was

first written

in the heart

of man

continued

to be a

perfect rule

of righteousness

after the

fall

and was

delivered

by God

upon

Mount

Sinai

in

ten

commandments

and

written

in

two

tablets

the

four

first

containing

our

duty

towards

God

and

the

other

six

our

duty

to

man

in the

coming

weeks

we'll

look at

those

and we'll

look at

them

categorically

in

that

way

so

this

second

point

in

chapter

19

of

London

Baptist

confession

is

saying

this

very

same

law

has

been

written

on

the

hearts

of

man

we

have

been

given

this

knowledge

of

how

it

is

we

are

meant

to

go

and

God

in

his

mercy

wrote

it

down

etched

it

in

stone

his

people

did

still

not

quite

get

it

and

he

said

here

I'll

write

it

down

for

you

that

you

might

take

it

up

and

read

it

and

obey

it

Paul

speaks

!

of

the

Gentiles

those

who

would

have

been

outside

of

this

law

in

Romans

Romans 2:14

chapter

2

verse

14

and

into

the

first

half

of

15

for

when

Gentiles

who

do

not

have

the

law

by

nature

do

what

the

law

requires

they

are

a

law

to

themselves

they

are

giving

us

evidencing

that

they

have

it

in

them

even

though

they

do

not

have

the

law

they

show

that

the

work

of

the

law

besides

this

law

commonly

called

moral

so

here

you

get

the

distinction

the

ten

commandments

work

for us

as a

framework

and we're

going to

look at

these

at

length

in the

coming

weeks

right

for

God's

moral

law

besides

this

law

commonly

called

moral

God

was

pleased

to

give

to

the

people

of

Israel

ceremonial

laws

containing

several

typical

ordinances

partly

of

worship

prefiguring

Christ

his

graces

actions

sufferings

and

benefits

and

partly

holding

forth

diverse

instructions

of

moral

duties

all

which

ceremonial

laws

being

appointed

only

to

the

time

of

reformation

talking

about

the

time

of

Christ

are

by

Jesus

Christ

the

true

Messiah

and

only

law

giver

who

was

furnished

with

power

from

the

father

for

that

end

abrogated

which

means

cancelled

and

taken

away

so

what

that

statement

is

saying

that

all

of

these

ceremonial

laws

the

sacrificial

system

was

meant

to

point

us

to

the

greater

requirement

of

the

perfect

sacrifice

that

is

Christ

so

that

sacrifice

having

been

made

those

ceremonial

laws

are

no

longer

necessary

so

when

we

read

the

old

testament

and

we

read

the

ceremonial

laws

it

should

cause

us

to

praise

God

for

Christ

we

don't

have

to

continually

offer

sacrifice

we

have

that

final

and

completed

sacrifice

in

our

Lord

and

Savior

Jesus

Christ

the

writer

of

Hebrews

says

in

Hebrews

Hebrews 10 · chapter mention

chapter

10

and

verse

1

for

since

the

law

has

but

a

shadow

of

the

good

things

to

come

instead

of

the

true

form

of

these

realities

it

can

never

by

the

same

sacrifices

that

are

continually

offered

every

year

make

perfect

those

who

draw

near

and

the

case

he's

making

is

that

Christ

can

accomplish

what

the

law

could

not

okay

fourth

to

them

also

he

gave

sundry

various

judicial

or

civil

laws

which

expire

together

with

the

state

of

that

people

not

obliging

any

now

by

virtue

of

that

institution

their

general

equity

only

being

of

moral

use

so

what's

he

saying

right

these

these

people

living

in a

theocracy

were

given

these

civil

laws

and

now

that

that

theocracy

does

not

exist

anymore

those

laws

also

are

not

of

use

other

than

to

point

us

to

some

moral

guideline

to

help

us

to

think

and

to

be

careful

and

to

look

at

the

way

God

would

have

us

proceed

in

particular

matters

let me

show you

an

example

of how

Paul

does

this

in

1st

Corinthians

chapter

9

verses

8

through

10

Paul

says

do I

say

these

things

on

human

authority

what's

he been

talking

about

he's been

talking

about

the fact

that he

deserves

he could

be paid

for the

work he's

doing

but he's

decided

not to

be

so

but he's

making

the case

that he

could be

paid

for the

work

that he's

doing

so he

says

do I

say

these

things

on

human

authority

does

not

the

law

say

the

same

right

so here's

one of

those

uses

of law

what's

he

talking

you

shall

not

muzzle

an

ox

when

it

treads

out

the

grain

so he

references

what we

believe

is a

civil

law

and they

would

have

obeyed

this

law

they

wouldn't

muzzle

the ox

as it

treads

out

the

grain

they

let

the

ox

eat

grain

as it

treaded

it

out

but then

he

says

and this

is

verse

9

is

it

for

oxen

that

God

is

concerned

does

he

not

certainly

speak

!

for

our

sake

it

was

written

for

our

sake

because

the

plowman

should

plow

in

hope

and

the

thresher

thresh

in

hope

of

sharing

in

the

crop

you

see how

Paul

does

that

very

thing

he

takes

this

sundry

judicial

law

he

says

we're

not

really

too

concerned

actually

about

the

ox

being

able

to

eat

when

it

wants

to

eat

as

it

treading

out

the

grain

God

speaking

this

so

that

we

would

have

some

example

and

be

concerned

about

those

who

serve

in

gospel

efforts

okay

fifth

here's

where that

language

gets so

fun

the

moral

law

dof

forever

bind

all

does

forever

bind

all

as

well

justified

persons

as

others

to

the

obedience

thereof

and

that

not

only

in

regard

of

the

matter

contained

in

it

but

also

in

respect

of

the

authority

of

God

the

creator

who

gave

it

neither

doth

Christ

in

the

gospel

any

way

dissolve

but

much

strengthen

this

obligation

this

is

what

I've

been