The Jerusalem Counsel

So let's have it with a prayer, and let's pray.

Dear Father God, we are grateful for Jesus. We're grateful

for salvation. We're grateful that we are saved, and that

we are being saved, and that we will be saved.

Help us now to focus on what it means to

be Christians and not governed by legalism, and yet to

be faithful Christians in Jesus' name.

Amen.

The title of the message today is the Jerusalem Council.

The Scottish theologians sin Claire Ferguson described legalism as a

ration as a relational disconnect between the law of God

and the person of God.

He wrote that.

Legalism is simply separating the law of God from the

person of God. Now, I mean those of you have

come to reaching hearts, you know that the Bluestone Study

and the Blue Stone Study we learn that God sapphire

stone throne law. At the heart of it is Jesus Christ.

The rock that followed them in the wilderness was Christ.

Blue is the color of Jesus, true blue to God's law.

So when you separate God's law from God's person, you

move toward legalism. He also wrote that The essence of

legalism is a heart distortion of the graciousness of God.

It's been said that truth without grace breeds self righteous legalism.

Have you ever met a Christian who wanted to prove

their points all the time, was so sure they had

it all figured out. They come to you and then

but they're harsh, they're rude, they're overbearing. They want to

prove it so that you can do what they're doing.

You ever had that in your life, Maybe you've done

it well. Dear heart, God would have us have corrected lives.

We are to be kind, gracious, good people, And that's

a good indicator that something's wrong with their theology.

Where the focus becomes I me.

Instead of God's love, Jesus, victory, the Cross of Christ.

Something's wrong.

So don't give up, friends on God's grace, because God's

grace will not give up on you. Legalism is an

attack upon the grace of God. When you give up

on God's grace, you really give up on God. The

church planter Jean Edwards put it this way. Legalism is

nothing but a leader's way of avoiding suffering. Why because

grace is not the easy path. If grace is in

your life. The devil goes after grace. He goes after

the person who responds to God because of the kindness

of God. Grace is the hard road to heaven because

Satan always attacks grace. So if you've been moved by

the love of God and you're coming to Jesus Christ,

and you feel the grace of God and attacks come

into your life, that's part of the program. Satan persecutes

grace that brings joy. He scandalizes grace that brings peace.

Why because Paul says, we are strong by the grace

of God. So how many of you want to be strong?

Then you need the grace of God in your life

or strengthened by the grace of God. Legalism destroys grace, strength,

and faith in Jesus. So legalism is not a part

of God's plan for us as Christians. Now, by definition,

legalism is a performance based religious experience. Now let me

stop right there. Have you ever tried to do things

so God would accept you? Come on, have you we

all have? That's legalism. When we perform so that God

will love us. We perform so that we feel like

God will accept us. The focus is on us, not

God's grace. You see what I'm saying. By definition, legalism

is a performance based religious experience that separates the law

of God from God's grace and God's character of love

in a joyant joyless no joy, a joyless reliance on

rules or tradition. That's the conservative side of legalism. Now,

let's move to the liberal side of legalism on social

justice causes action. It could be either way, so that

the focus is on us, that we do something that

brings God to accept us because we're right now, dear heart,

the last time I looked in the mirror, I'm not

right with God all the time. I have to get

right and stay right because I'm a sinner. I'm a

broken human being. Are some of you in that camp

with the preacher here?

Okay?

So if we're looking to those things, we cannot find

peace in our hearts. Legalism masquerades as obedience, but it

is really disobedience and rebellion.

Now.

Paul describes the bankrupt nature of legalism in Romans ten

one to four. He says, brother, in my heart's desire

and prayer to God for it Israel is that they

might be saved. Now, I can remember once when I

actually said, you know, this church member got saved and

a pastor went after me. Don't use the word saved. Now,

look real hard in verse one, and what does the

Bible say that they may be what.

Saved?

Just a little more on that mic, just a hair

that they might be what saved? Is that a bad

thank you? Is that a bad thing or a good thing?

How many of you want to be lost? Anybody here

want to be lost?

No?

Okay, so listen, Paul says, I am praying that my

Jewish brethren will be saved. We should pray that our

children should be saved. We should pray that we can

be saved. We should be praying for the salvation of others,

no matter what it takes. Verse two for I bear

witness that they have a zeal for God, but not

according to knowledge. Legalism is fundamentally gospel ignorance in action

design to destroy your soul, And yet people go to it.

I mean it draws people.

It makes you feel religious, it makes you feel like

you're doing good, It makes you feel like you have

a relationship God sometimes, but it's bankrupt religion. Verse three,

for they being ignorant of God's righteousness and seeking to

establish what kind of righteousness? Does it say their own righteousness?

Here's the problem. Have not submitted to the righteousness of God.

You see, your righteousness isn't worth two sins in the

judgment day. We need a right now righteousness that's good

for every day of our life, that's also good for

the judgment day. And when you try to seek your

own righteousness to somehow demonstrate by your efforts, your tradition,

your social justice activities, whatever it is, that you're a

good person, it's bankrupt before God. Now Verse four gets

to the point. For Christ is the end of the

law for righteousness to everyone who believes Paul's paraphrasing Isaiah

fifty three that describes Jesus as the lamb of God

who was led to the spot or to save us

from our sins by bearing our iniquities. Look at Isaiah

fifty three, verse eleven. He shall bear the labor of

He shall see the labor of his soul and be satisfied.

What does the text say, by his knowledge, my righteous

servant shall justify many. Does it say by your knowledge

to say because you're smart? Does it say because you

came up with something new out of the Bible. Come on,

help me know whose knowledge? Whose knowledge does God use

to make us righteous? It's his knowledge. It's what Jesus

went through. It's his knowledge of God. It's his knowledge

of our sins, how he bore them in his body.

It's how he went through all of that. His knowledge.

By his knowledge, my righteous servant shall justify many, for

he shall bear their iniquities. Now, Paul gets his theology

of justification by faith from Isaiah, the Gospel prophet in

Isaiah fifty three, verse eleven. So Christ is the end

of the law, Paul says, for righteousness, agreeing with Isaiah,

for all who believe in Jesus, that's an amazing statement.

We can't produce a righteousness good enough for the judgment day.

Christ's got it done for us at the cross in

that he produced an everlasting righteousness. That's good now, that's

good tomorrow, that's good every day of your life. That's

good on the last day when you stand before the

judgment bar of God, and anything other than God's righteousness

does not work.

Jesus got it done. Now.

Some people say Pastor Mike in a way to say,

aren't you kind of diminishing obedience here, not at all.

If you'll be honest with yourself, lying, is that disobedience

tall you lie to yourself when you claim that you're righteous,

because the Bible says none is righteous.

No, not one.

Paul makes that point Romans three, and so he says,

But now in Romans three, a righteousness has been manifested

apart from the law, although the law and the prophets

bear witness to it. And he tells you what it is.

It's the righteousness that comes through faith in Jesus Christ.

It's the righteousness of God. It's God's gospel. It's God's

way of saving us. We cannot save ourselves. God saves

us with God's righteousness. Christ is the focal point of

God's righteousness. In Manuscript Release, Volume four, number two forty one,

Sister White defines justification by faith along biblical lines in

a simple sentence. Now, the Greek word justification means legal acquittal.

Here's what she says. To be justified means to be pardoned.

So what is justification by faith? It's being pardoned by faith.

You're a guilt How many of you, all of sin

and fall inshort the glory of God? So how many

of you in that camp. We've all been there, all right.

So what's the solution? Pardon?

And the pardon comes by.

Faith in Jesus Christ as our savior and testimonies the

Minister's page four fifty six. What is justification by faith?

She expands, It is the work of God and laying

the glory of man in the dust, and doing for

man that which is it is not in his power

to do.

For him self.

Friend, Jesus is not the end of the law as

a moral standard, Paul says, nay, do we make void

the law through faith? We establish it. Christ never did

away at the law as a moral standard. It's the

standard of the judgment day. According to James two, that

will be judged by the royal law of liberty, and

he outlines the Ten Commandments.

Is that law?

But friends, as we look into the mirror, every one

of us has to admit that we have fallen short,

and we continue to fall short of the glory of God,

as Paul says in Romans three. And so what is

the solution. The solution is that we are continually justified

by His grace, Paul says, as a gift through the

redemption that is in Christ, Jesus, God's righteousness. Where is

it in Christ? Jesus justification by faith? Pardon comes because

Christ died for my sins. He was buried to take

my sins away. He was raised, Paul says in Romans

four twenty five, for my justification. And what does the

word justification mean?

Again?

Help me pardon? So when Christ was resurrected, what does

it represent in my life? Pardon not guilty, forgiven, saved

by grace, and being saved because of grace, held in

an everlasting righteousness. Not mine but his. Christ is the

end of the law for working your way to heaven.

Christ is the end of the law for trying to

produce your own righteousness. Christ is the end of the

law for you trying to show God how good you are.

But Christ is not the end of the law as

a moral standard. Friends, Christ is the end of the

law for self righteousness. God's righteousness is Jesus. I mean,

no one's gonna say in the last day when Jesus comes, Boy,

we're good people. We just pulled it off. We're the

last generation. We just saved the universe. You ever hear

that kind of nonsense talk out there not in the Bible,

not in the spirit of prophecy. It is demonic theology

created by people who are not submitting to God's righteousness,

and it produces an arrogance that is totally unfit for

the investigative judgment and the final judgment of the last Day,

because we come before the judgment of God intrinsically guilty,

and the only way to stand before God Almighty is

to humbly submit to Him, to get rid of this

self righteous mindset, and to let him establish his righteousness

in our lives that.

Was forged at the Cross of Calvary.

And I guarantee you in the judgment day, God will

not turn away any person who, in brokenness, clings to

the Cross of Calvary as their rights of righteousness. God

will not let that person be lost. So this whole

issue of trying to prove something to the universe proves

something to God is another form of the old problem

of legalism. Christ is the end of the law for

self righteousness. The Apostolic Gospel was very simple yet profound.

Since one Corinthians fifteen, Paul says, I give you a

first importance that Christ died for our sins and don't

let any smart theologian tell you that's nonsense. Christ died

for my sins because sins bring death. Christ died for

my sins because sins produce a moral offense against the

character and the law of God. Christ died for my

sins because the law all giver loved me more than

his own justice. Therefore he suffered in my place as

my substitute. And then so Christ died for my sins.

Number two, he was buried. When you bury someone, what

do you do? You put them away?

Right?

He put our sins away. He separated us from our sins.

We are not defined by our sins anymore. Our psycho

personalities with a sinful human nature are not condemned, and

we will be remade on the last day by the

righteousness of God. But we live looking for that day

and then the resurrection Romans four twenty five. He says

he was raised on the third day in accordance with

the scriptures. Why, Paul says, for our justification, for our pardon,

the proof that we are accepted because of the Cross,

the life, the perfect righteousness of Jesus. Now, friends, I'll

be frank with you. I want to rely on amazing

grace in my life?

Are you with me?

I don't want nonsense stuff. I want the stuff that

will get me out of the ground. And Resurrection Morning

will save my children, will save the church, will save

us from self righteousness and disobedience too. So I think

it highly appropriate that we take out our hymnals. Let's

turn to song number one, oweight, and let's sing amazing

Grace before we finish the sermon here? Is that okay?

And instead of sitting, let's stand and sing this hymn

and let's thank God for amazing grace in our lives. Now,

there's one stanza that I've added from the old poetry

of John Newton that's not here in our hymnals. So

your hymnals won't work as well as the slides.

And let's just begin singing.

To see.

But the small small.

Man said to lot, my snare didn't it bend you? S?

Just s tease exosa.

Shas spirit of auditional.

Topetions some more.

And you may be seated, but you are not allowed

to leave God's grace.

Is that okay? Okay?

Yeah, Sometimes we can we can talk about things. Other

times we need to sing and praise God about the

truth the great Gospel prophet, the prophet Isaiah.

And sync with Daniel.

Daniel, actually in sync with Isaiah, predicted that God would

bring in at the end of the seventy weeks the

four and nine of year time prophecy and ever lasting

righteousness that's good enough for the judgment day, a right

now righteousness that passes the scrutiny of a perfect God,

a good enough righteousness so the worst of sinners can

stand before the God of the universe and not be ashamed.

And let's look at that. It's in Daniel chapter nine.

As soon as I get there, on second verse twenty four,

seventy weeks are cut off for decreed for your people

in your holy city. Now, it says, to finish the

transgression of God's people, to make an end of sins,

our sins, to make reconciliation for iniquity, and the Hebrews

kafar to atone for iniquity. The only time the word

atonement is used in the book of Daniel is right

here in Dane nine twenty four.

To bring in everlasting.

Righteousness, it takes a machaizadek, a king of righteousness, a

high priest King of Righteousness, to bring in an everlasting righteousness,

to seal up vision Hodzone, the longest time prophecy of

the Bible, the twenty three years prophecy, and to anoint

the Kodesh Kodashim, the holy of holies, both the Messiah

who is holy of holies and the New Sanctuary, which

is most holy in consideration of the old one on

earth that's only your holy city. In other words, to

get us to God, to bring in an acceptance that

works today in our life. This is the basis of

Paul's theology that now a righteousness has been manifested apart from.

The law, although the law and the prophets.

Bear witness to it, it's Jesus he died in according

to this prophecy. In the midst of the last week

of the seventy weeks, the first official attack on the

Gospel in the New Testament came from within in the church.

In fact, it often comes within the church. Well meaning

Christians will go after some aspect of that apostolic gospel.

Like I've heard this said, they said, Pastor, we finally

now have figured out the gospel. The Christians of the last

two thousand years didn't know it, but we do. You know,

we've studied it. Now, this is it nonsense. The gospel

was there in the first century. The gospel has died

for in the Middle Ages, the Reformers discovered it, affirmed

it correctly, and in the Great Advent movement, the Great

Messenger of God to this movement affirmed everything I just

told you. Friends. It's not a new gospel we have.

It's the everlasting Gospel. It's the amazing Grace. It's the

old rugged cross story that works forever and ever and

ever in our lives. So Acts fifteen one, here's the challenge.

And certain men came down from Judea, and they taught

the brethren, unless you are circumcised, according to the custom

of Moses, you cannot be saved. Therefore, when Paul and

Barnabas had no small dissension and dispute with them, they

determined that Paul and Barnabas and certain others of them

should go up to Jerusalem to the apostles and elders.

About this question. Now, some people say, well, doesn't matter

if we have church organization. If you ever asked that question, oh,

I don't need to be a part of a world church.

Just give me a little congregation worshiping in a house,

doing its own thing, and I'm fine now here. That's

not how it worked in the early Church. When they

had a question, there was a huge magnitude. They went

up to Jerusalem where the apostles were, because they were

a world church and they had an organization that had

a head to it. The apostles would interact with those

questions and working with Christ, they would then communicate the

congregations all over the world how to answer the question

if it was a huge question. Now they're a philosopher, kings,

they're self made theologians, self made important pastors who say, oh,

we don't need to do that. Friends, no conference, no church,

no pastor has a right to defy the world Church

if it is operated on biblical principles by gathering in

world session, submitting to the Holy Spirit and the Word

of God. When the church speaks, it's authority subject to

the Bible. And so we need to realize that. And

the same is true in the local church. When the

church meets in business session, we pray, we ask for

God's guidance. Now that's not papal that's ecclesiology. It's the

doctrine of the church, and we see it mapped out

right here in Acts fifteen. Now, after it was baptized,

Paul himself claimed to be a pharisee. How many of

you knew that, Paul? In fact, he says it. He

says in Acts three twenty three six, when he's arraigned

before the Jews. Later in the book, I am a

pharisee and a son of a pharisee. How many of

you liked to be a pharisee today? Raise your hands

high now, I'd like to be a pharisee. I'm raising

my hands. I want to be the right kind of pharisee.

The word pharisee means set apart, set apart. In the

Book of Romans, Paul asserts that he is a pharisee

for God's Gospel. He uses the verb for pharisee in

Romans one, set apart for the Gospel of God, a

pharisee for the Gospel of God. And so if you're

set apart for the Gospel, it's a good thing.

Now. The argumentative Judaizers.

The faction of the Pharisees that were saying you can't

be saved unless you're circumcised. They were not set us

apart for the Gospel. They were set apart for the law.

They were set apart for proving that they had some

particular in the law that was not being obeyed by

these new baptized believers and none of their baptisms worked.

That's what they were saying.

In Acts fifteen to one, Luke records that these Judaizers

claim that unless you are circumcised, you cannot be saved. Now,

based on one verse in Genesis seventeen fourteen, out of context,

they appeared to have good Bible evidence for their assertion.

Let's look at it. By the way, go back to

the picture, go back to the slide. I picked this

for a pharisee. These pharisees are soldiers, special operatives. They're

out to save the church. They got all the strength,

but they're really not true soldiers of Christ. Let's move on,

all right, Here's the verse that the judaiz was went

for and the uncircumcised male child who is not circumcised

in the flesh of his foreskin, that person shall be

cut off from his people.

He has broken my covenant.

So a text out of context is a pretext, all right.

We know from the context that this is a prophecy

circumcision pointed forward to the death, the burial, and the

resurrection of Jesus.

Based on Collautions.

Too sees the seed circumcision represents life like resurrection, but

the knife represents death like the cross, and so is

a prophetic symbol pointing forward to the male child who'd

be cut off out of the land of the living

and come to life again. And Paul says this, and

baptism summarizes it on the other side, And so to

insist on circumcision not represent recognizing that it points forward

to the Cross of Christ like Calautions two brings out,

is to fail to realize what's happening. It's out of context.

In Romans four, Paul spends a lot of time demonstrating

that Abraham, our common father of faith in the Gospel,

was justified by faith in Genesis fifteen, six before Genesis seventeen,

before circumcision was given in Genesis seventeen, and centuries before

the law was given him out Sinai. Therefore, faith trump's circumcision.

Faith is the foundation of justification and pardon for jew

and gentile Abraham was justified by faith, Paul says, before

he was circumcised. That means faith is the victory that

gives us the law of God. In time, the law

came after the faith of Abraham and not the other

way around. Paul calls faith in Jesus justification by faith,

just like Abraham was saved and pardoned and justified by faith.

Though no one will get to the kingdom.

Pardon because they were a good lawkeeper, whoever saved will

be pardoned because Jesus died for them, and they will

be saved by faith in Christ alone, which creates the

obedient life Genesis fifteen five.

Then he and this is the pre existent Christ. It's capital.

He he the word of the Lord that appeared Abrahm vision

and brought Abram out and said, look toward heaven and

count the stars if you able to number them.

And he said to him, so shall your seed or

your descendants be.

Now he isn't even talking about resurrection, he's not talking

about the cross. He's just talking about trusting God's word.

I say this, I promise this. What's your response. Go

to the next verse. And he believed the Lord, and

he the Lord, which is the pre existent Christ accounted, literally,

thought it to him, reckoned it to him as righteousness. Look,

when God shows you his word and you believe in Christ,

you believe the word the death, burial, and resurrection of

Christ with your heart. God accounts it to you as righteousness.

That's good enough for every day of your life and

the judgment day. That's the Bible truth. I'm not inventing

something up here. Romans Now. Romans four twenty five. He says,

Christ was raised for our justification. What does the word

justification mean? I'm quizzing you pardon? Therefore, having been justified

by faith, we have peace with God through our Lord

Jesus Christ. By faith in Christ, we are pardoned. And

what happens the moment after pardon? We have peace with

God because of Jesus, through whom we have access by

faith into this grace in which we stand and rejoice

in hope of the glory of God. Now here's what

it does to the life Licobirse three. And not only that,

but we also glory in tribulations. I may have you

had trouble this week? Can you say praise the Lord?

Come on, come on, I want to hear it. Pray,

come on, praise the Lord. Okay for tribulations. What about

knowing that tribulation produces perseverance. It helps your character, so

you can endure praise the Lord. A perseverance produces character,

and character hope and hope does not disappoint because the

love of God has been poured out into our hearts

by the Holy Spirit, who has.

Been given to us.

Not what has been given to us, but who has

been given to us, the person of the Holy Spirit.

When a man or woman receives Jesus Christ by faith

as their personal savior, as God's gift to them, their

heart is strangely warmed by the grace of God, as

John Wesley said, and the Holy Spirit is poured out

into their hearts, and their lives are changed. They can

obey for the right reasons now, not to produce a

self righteous righteousness that's rags, but to live for Christ,

because that man or woman loves Jesus, because God in

Christ loved them first. When a man or woman receives

Jesus Christ by faith as their personal savior, as God's

gifts to them, God's righteousness, their heart is strangely warmed

by the grace of God. They are saved. John the

Apostle says, faith is the victory that overcomes the world.

First Sean five four. Now here he's talking about baptism.

He says, for whatever is born of God overcomes the world.

And this is the victory that has overcome the world.

What does it say, how do you overcome our faith?

We know it's faith in Jesus is our savior. Who

is he who overcomes the world. But he who believes

that Jesus is what the son of God.

Look, if Christ.

Doesn't have divine credentials to the Son of God, there's

no getting it done in your life. Look at verse

the next verse. This is he who came by water

and blood, Jesus Christ. Not only by water, but by

water and blood. That's when the spear went in his side.

It is it's the Spirit who bears witness, because the

Spirit is truth. You see, God is truth, the Father's truth.

Jesus is the Way and the truth. The Spirit is

also truth. And look at verse seven, for these are

the For there are three that bear witness in heaven,

the Father of the Word and the Holy Spirit. And

these three are one. Now this verse is not in

some of your modern translations. Have you noticed that, yes

or no. You're looking, you'll notice it's not there the

new American standards in the margin revised standard, it's not there.

It's in the King James New King James version. People

say why, Well, the modern textual critic came along. He said, well,

this shouldn't belong there. We don't have old manuscripts with

this verse. We have manuscripts ninth tenth centuries. Now, the

assumption is that the oldest manuscripts are the most accurate manuscripts.

In verse eight, we have a participle that's masculine, it

requires verse seven, or it's bad Greek. So we have

evidence this verse was taken out and put back in.

It was taken out by Constantine and his workers when

they produce the great Codexes Sinacticus and Codex Vaticanus, and

it was deleted. But there's a new lot, a little

marker in the margin of Codex Vaticanus showing that something

was missing. Now, this verse is quoted in principle by

Athenagoras of Athens second century AD. It's paraphrased, but it's

directly quoted by Sippering of Carthage before the Council of

Nicea at scripture. It's in the Waldensian Bible, which reflects

the Old Latin Bible, which they were the first of

the people's receive a copy of the scriptures. According to

Spirit of Prophecy, this verse needs to stay in your Bible,

and I've heard scholars, even in our own denomination argue otherwise.

It's really bad thinking and it doesn't stack up to

the actual his history of the struggle of the text

in the fourth century. You can't have sound Greek in

verse eight without verse seven, where there are three that

bear witness in heaven, the Father, the Word that's Christ,

and the Holy Spirit. In these three are one. This

is hugely important. Your baptism in the Christ friends, has

everything to do with the faith of the victory that

overcomes the world.

When a man or woman receives Jesus Christ, they receive

power in the life.

We are justified by faith, and baptism represents that the death,

the burial, and the resurrection of Jesus Christ the Gospel.

In their life.

All three members of the God had personally pledged themselves

to us as one as the one true God Yahweh

for victory that we need in our lives. Ellen White,

Manuscript one eighty three, page nineteen oh seven, paragraph twenty seven.

I love this quote. Here is your eternal life insurance policy.

How many of you need some life insurance?

You know?

I we had a twenty year life insurance policy, my

wife and I did and I got old enough to

worry it. It's over in about two weeks.

Okay.

I went to reapply and they wouldn't let me do

it because I'm too old to get good life insurance.

So I don't have life insurance in this world.

I like this.

Here is your eternal life insurance policy if you will

work on the plan of addition. She's not talking about

legalism here, She's talking about letting God add things in

your life. As the Lord designs that you shall, then

help will be furnished you. The Father, the Son, and

the Holy Spirit have pledged themselves at your baptism. See

there are three persons in the Godhead, and when you

rise up out of the water, you pledged yourself to

go under their jurisdiction that you would watch and pray

and would be grateful every day for the power that

was given you to keep you in the right path.

So that you should not fallant your baptism. Come on huge,

because we were placed in Christ at baptism, and you

are safe every day of your life with an everlasting

righteousness in Christ.

So when these.

Judaizers scandaled faith in Jesus, scandalized it the new birth.

The person's baptism doesn't work unless you're baptisted, unless you're you're.

Circumcised.

Trying to negate all the work of the apostles for good.

Forget about love and joy and peace. Just get this

right and then they can be saved. They weren't rejoicing

about conversions and baptism. They weren't rejoicing about the work

of the Holy Spirit new believers' lives. Judaizers and I

did our day do exactly the same thing with perfectionism

and legalism, and I'm gonna go to the left.

The left does the same.

The left does the same by trying to say that

we have to have some kind of of woke social

justice is achievement in life in the church France, Christ

suffered in justice in the church. He was crucified by

church leaders. We will never get justice in this world.

The only righteousness that we need is Christ righteousness. So

the right and the left have their own form of

legalism that's bankrupt in the judgment day, modern deceivers don't

rejoice in a person's conversion of baptism. They rejoice in

a person's submission to their narrow ideas, their false assumptions,

their evil impositions on scripture, just like in Paul's day.

So in that sense, these manipulative false teachers took the

place of Jesus Christ and God as Father as they

became Antichrist in the believer's life. The judaizers, dear heart,

flee from legalism in your life. You hear me flee

from it, and feel and flee from those who teach it.

But dear heart, don't flee from God's transfer forming grace

in your life. Remember that what your baptism means in

your life. How many of you liked to keep the

law of God. I'm in that camp. I want to

keep the law of God. I want to be found

without spot or wrinkle. You focus on the Law, you'll fail.

You focus on Jesus, You'll make it. So where is

the focus? Where does it have to be Jesus? And

you know the Bible doesn't give us this right to

just disobey because we are under grace. That's nonsense theology.

How can we drive one more nail into Jesus' hands

and feet as believers? How can we treat the law

of God, that is ultimately the lawgiver, as if he

doesn't matter in our lives when He suffered for our sins.

We're told by the pen of Inspiration, the apostles came

to a point in their life where they were more

where they would die rather than do any single wrong

act against Jesus who had died for them. So let

Jesus pour the Holy Spirit into your heart so you

can have a change life, empowered to obey because you

were baptized into Jesus, your savior. Dear heart, let grace

show the way. Let grace strengthen your heart. Let faith

be the victory that overcomes the world in your life.

In Jesus experience through your baptizism to Jesus, and never

forget the power of your baptism to keep you in faith,

to keep you growing, to keep you from falling.

That God has.

Pledged the power of the Trinity for you, the Father,

the Son, and the Holy Spirit, the Three great persons

of the Godhead. Under their jurisdiction. You are safe. There's

a holy hedge put around you. If you don't walk out,

they won't push you out. Grace and faith and love

are yours, because you were baptized into Jesus Acts fifteen three. So,

being sent on their way by the Church, they passed

through Phoenicia and Samaria, describing the conversion of the Gentiles,

and they cause great joy to all the brethren verse four.

And when they had come to Jerusalem, they were received

by the Church and the apostles and the elders, and

they reported all things that God had done with them.

Let's pray, Father, we are grateful that we are saved

by Jesus. We are grateful that we are changed by Christ.

There is no righteousness in us that's good enough without Christ.

And we stand broken and bankrupt before the judgment bar

of God. Yet, Father, when we come to the cross,

we see the judgment bar of God Christ dying for

our sins, and we see what he said to a thief,

you will be.

With me in paradise.

And so Father, may you grant your dear people the

benefits of justification by faith, pardon, and help us to

live for you, to love you, to serve the Church

with a joyful mind and heart because of the Cross

in Jesus name, Amen.