Welcome to Books of the
Book, I'm Pastor Mark Howard
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of the Global Seventh-day
Adventist Church in Global
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Michigan and Director of the
Emmanuel Institute of Evangelism
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in the Michigan Conference
of Seventh-day Adventist.
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I'm here with my
co-host, my younger brother.
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Yes my name is Jim
Howard and I am Pastor of the
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Detroit Metropolitan
Seventh-day Adventist Church and
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the South Lyon
Seventh-day Adventists Church
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in Michigan as well.
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We are studying in
the book of Galatians.
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In our last time together
we were looking at what I
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believe is the key note,
Jim, of the book of Galatians
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and that is Galatians
2:16 were Paul three times is
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very emphatic that we are
not saved by the works of the
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law but by our
faith in Jesus Christ.
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We are actually going to
pick up there and I'm going to
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read verse 16, in fact
we will start in verse 15.
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Galatians 2:15 and we are
going to read on through the
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end of the chapter here
in key in on a key thought
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that he has here
towards the end of the chapter.
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Verse 15 says, "We who are
Jews by nature and not sinners
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"of the Gentiles,
knowing that a man is
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"not justified by the works
of the law; but by faith in
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The Jesus Christ, even we
who have believed in Christ
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"Jesus, that we might be
justified by faith in Christ
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"and not by the works of
the law; for by the works of
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"the law shall no flesh
be justified, but if while we
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"seek to be justified by
Christ we ourselves are found
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"sinners, is Christ
therefore a minister of sin?
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"Certainly not. For if
I begin those things which
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"I have destroyed, I
make myself a transgressor.
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"For I through the law
died to the law that I might
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"live to God. I have
been crucified with Christ;
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"it is no longer I who
live, but Christ lives in me;
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"and the life which I now
live in the flesh I live by
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"faith in the Son of God,
who loved me and gave himself
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"for me. I do not set
aside the grace of God; for if
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"righteousness
comes through the law,
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"then Christ died in vain. "
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This is what we are
going to be expounding on.
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What I want to do is
that I want to key in on this
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right here, this term, or
this phrase rather that I died
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to the law, I through
the law died to the law.
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You know Jim many people
read that as they are going
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through Galatians and
as we already mentioned,
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Galatians is used as the
book that people attempt to
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prove that the apostle
Paul is showing the moral law of
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God, the Ten Commandments
is something that Christians
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don't need to
concern themselves with.
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This is one of those key
passages where they say that it
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says very plainly that I
through the law died to the law.
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He died to the law he
didn't feel like he had a need
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to keep the law anymore.
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Paul realized he was free
from that burdensome old law.
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That is a concept that
people will read into this,
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but that is not at all
what the apostle was saying.
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No it isn't and I think that
if this was the only passage
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of Scripture we might be
able to conjecture one way or
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another, but the apostle
talks about being dead to the
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law in other places.
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Before even going there
though there is an important
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point that we can
find right in this verse.
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Verse 19 says, "for I through
the law died to the law. "
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Who died? Was it the law?
No he said I died to the law.
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This same point is brought
out in Romans chapter 7 and
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I'm wondering if we could
turn to that passage and read
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from Romans chapter 7.
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That is right and another
interesting point is that it
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was through the
law he died to law.
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So the law was employed in
this death, and we are going to
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talk more about that death.
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What did you say Romans 7.
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Chapter 7 yes and let's go
to verse 1 so beginning right
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there it says, "or do
you not know, brethren
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for I speak to those who
know the law ", that the law
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"has dominion over a
man as long as he lives?
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"For the woman who has a
husband is bound by the law to
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"her husband as
long as he lives.
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"But if the husband dies
she is released from the law of
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"her husband. So then if
while her husband lives and she
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"marries "another man she
will be called an adulterous;
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"for if her husband dies
she is free from that law so
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"that she is no
adulterous though
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"she has married another man. "
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This is simply just describing
that if you are married
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to someone you
can't marry someone else
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unless your spouse dies.
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You can't be married to
two people at the same time.
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So then picking up in
verse 4 he makes that parallel
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to the Christian
experience and he says,
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"therefore, my brethren,
you have also become dead to the
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"law through the body of
Christ, that you may be married
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"to another! - to him
who was raised from the dead,
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"that we should
bear fruit to God. "
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So he says, you as a Christian
have become dead to the
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law through the
sacrifice of Christ.
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It is not the law itself
that died, but my selfish will,
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my selfish
passion are what died.
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This is in verse 5, "for
when we were in the flesh,
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"the sinful passions which
were aroused by the law were
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"at work in our members
to bear fruit to death. "
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So my sinful passions had
to die through the sacrifice
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of Christ, that I might be
married to Christ resurrected
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and live a new life.
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Okay so the woman who is
joined to her husband and
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was joined by the law,
when the husband died she sought
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to marry another in the
same law testified to that
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marriage, so in other
words the law did not change,
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but the woman's relationship
to law changed and Paul
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applies that experience to
us through conversion really.
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That is exactly right.
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So this idea of a law being
that which we died to doesn't
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change the law at
all, it only changes us.
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I died, but then the law
is still is governing the
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situation, it's just that
now I am free to marry another.
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My relation to the law changed
and we see that in verse 6
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where it says, "but now we
have been delivered from the
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"law, having died to
what we were held by. "
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So it's like a man who is
sentenced to death, he has
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committed a terrible
crime and is sentenced to death
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and the law demands
the death of that criminal.
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But when he pays that
penalty, if he goes and dies the
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law and no longer has any
claim upon him because the
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penalty has been paid and
he is died to what he was held
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by, died in relation to the law.
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His relation to the law has
changed because of that death.
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But if somebody else
were to break the law,
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it is still valid.
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That is right, we
can term it another way.
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I could be a criminal or a
thief and he could have 15 to
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20 years in prison and after
he serves his 20 years he is
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free to go, and that
law that once condemned him,
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no longer condemns him
because he is died to the law
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in that sense.
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Paul is bring unity to the
debt that we experienced through
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Christ and we are
going to see it as we go on.
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Notice, because he says,
"now we have been delivered from
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"the law, having died to
what we were held by, so that
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"we should serve in the
newness of the Spirit and
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"not in the
oldness of the letter. "
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The whole idea is the
death brings the opportunity
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for service and
not for dis-service.
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And when we were in the
flesh, we can only serve God
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outwardly, we can only
serve Him in the letter because
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the heart attitude wasn't
really in harmony with God.
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That flesh, those sinful
ways had to die in order for the
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Spirit of God to create a
new person inside and we now
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serve God in a
totally different way.
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The flesh had to die in
order for the Spirit to really
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have its place in our life.
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That's right, it's interesting
here in Romans chapter 7
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that it is the same chapter
where someone would look in a
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superficial reading and
say wow we have become dead
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to the law and the
law is not important.
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But right on in chapter 7
we find evidence's of the law
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of God right there and
this is one of the important
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things that I think we need
to recognize and I think our
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viewers would appreciate this.
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In the New Testament,
the Ten Commandment law is
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validated as still the
will of God for Christians.
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I just want to look here in
Romans 7 mentioned in verse 12.
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Right there it says,
"therefore the law is holy,
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"and the commandment
holy and just and good. "
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Right there it is
clear he is talking about the
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Ten Commandments because
if you look back at verse 7
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he says, "what show we
say then? Is the law sin?
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"Certainly not! On the
contrary, I would not have
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"known sin except
through the law. For I would not
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"have known covetousness
unless the law had said,
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"you shall not covet. "
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Now which law says
you shall not covet?
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That is the Ten Commandments.
- are pretty plain.
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- that is the law he is
speaking of specifically
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in Romans when he says it
is holy and just and good.
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Then you look down in
verse 14 and he says, "for we
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"know that the law is
spiritual, but I am Carnal. "
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The law is being spoken
of as still valid for the
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Christian, it is still
good, it is still holy,
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and it is right.
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What is fascinating about
that Jim is that when it says
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the law is
spiritual but I am Carnal.
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It draws this distinction and
then the reality is if something
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was Carnal does a
change apply here?
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Is a change needed?
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If one thing is Carnal
at one thing is spiritual
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you will have to change one
or the other in which one are
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you going to change?
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Are you good change to
spiritual thing into Carnal?
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No, God for bid Paul says.
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You are going to change
the Carnal into spiritual and
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notice that the law is
spiritual so Paul is making
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a point in there is
nothing wrong with the law.
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- that's right and to
just be clear, our Carnal mind,
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the nature we were born
with, cannot be changed.
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Romans 8:7 says, that it
is opposed to God and it can't
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be changed, so we need a
new birth, we need the Spirit of
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God to come from outside
of us to bring us into harmony
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with this spiritual law.
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But that law is still
validated in the New Testament.
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I think of another example
that we might want to turn to.
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Ephesians, we have been
looking at Galatians but to the
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right of Galatians is
the book of Ephesians and in
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chapter 6 the apostle Paul
says something very affirming
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about the Ten Commandments,
he says in verse 1,
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"children, obey your
parents in the Lord, for this is
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"right. Honor your
father and mother,"
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now he is in quotes.
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"Which is the first commandment
with promise: that it
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may be well with you and you
may live long on the earth. "
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Here very clearly he is
encouraging the Ephesians to
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keep the fifth
commandment. - that is right!
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So to say that the law
is no longer valid and what
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Paul was saying in
Galatians was that the law is no
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longer needed would be
to contradict him in what
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he is telling
Ephesians here in chapter 6.
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That is right in fact he
would be guilty of putting them
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under the law, as some
claim, that the apostle Paul is
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fighting against, now
he is actually upholding it
00:11:04.99\00:11:06.96
like you have said.
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It makes me think of a
text in the book of James too.
00:11:08.33\00:11:10.43
If we can go to the book
of James which is further on
00:11:10.47\00:11:12.80
in the New Testament
after the book of Hebrews
00:11:12.83\00:11:14.57
you will come to
the book of James.
00:11:14.64\00:11:16.00
James talks and James 2,
and he makes this point in
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James 2:10, where he says,
"for whoever shall keep the
00:11:21.88\00:11:27.62
"whole law, and yet stumble in
one point, he is guilty of all.
00:11:27.65\00:11:31.82
"For he who said, do not
commit adultery, also said,
00:11:31.85\00:11:35.16
"do not murder. "
00:11:35.19\00:11:36.52
So here we have the law
he's talking about which is
00:11:36.56\00:11:39.79
the Ten Commandments, here
we have the law once again.
00:11:39.83\00:11:42.70
James is pointing out the
importance of observing the
00:11:42.73\00:11:45.27
Ten Commandments, but
notice what he says and this
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is very important here.
00:11:47.80\00:11:49.14
He says, whoever basically
stumbles in one point is
00:11:49.17\00:11:52.14
guilty of all and it
doesn't even seem fair.
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Like you mean if I
steal I have murdered?
00:11:54.44\00:11:56.91
But notice his
reasoning in verse 11.
00:11:56.95\00:11:59.31
Verse 11 starts with this
word for which means because
00:11:59.35\00:12:02.52
here is the explanation,
this is an explanatory text.
00:12:02.58\00:12:06.35
"Whoever breaks one,
breaks all because he who said
00:12:06.39\00:12:09.59
"do not commit adultery
also said do not murder. "
00:12:09.62\00:12:12.79
So the whole idea is,
is not about the particular
00:12:12.83\00:12:15.93
commandment as much
as it is the lawgiver.
00:12:15.96\00:12:18.60
If you break one commandment,
if you steal but you don't
00:12:18.63\00:12:21.40
lie you still have
disobeyed the lawgiver.
00:12:21.44\00:12:24.57
So the point is the law is
the product of the lawgiver and
00:12:24.61\00:12:28.84
if we serve the
lawgiver why would
00:12:28.88\00:12:30.71
we not be
obeying His commandments?
00:12:30.75\00:12:32.51
You know there is another
verse we might want to look
00:12:34.48\00:12:38.49
at and that is in Romans
2 and beginning in verse 21.
00:12:38.52\00:12:42.46
Here the apostle Paul says
and he is speaking to Jews.
00:12:46.73\00:12:49.70
He says, "you, therefore,
who teach another, do you not
00:12:49.73\00:12:52.73
"teach yourself? You who
preach that a man should not
00:12:52.77\00:12:55.77
"steal, do you steal?
You who say, do not commit
00:12:55.80\00:12:59.37
"adultery, do
you commit adultery?"
00:12:59.41\00:13:01.41
What law are we
talking about here?
00:13:01.44\00:13:03.28
The Ten Commandment law
again, "you who abhor idols,
00:13:03.31\00:13:07.05
"do you rob temples?"
00:13:07.08\00:13:08.68
Idols of course is
Commandment number two.
00:13:08.72\00:13:10.69
Then he says, "you make
your boast in the law, do you
00:13:10.72\00:13:14.82
"dishonor God
through breaking the law?"
00:13:14.86\00:13:17.23
It seems pretty clear
that he is saying if we break
00:13:17.26\00:13:20.13
the law, we are
dishonoring God. - that's right!
00:13:20.16\00:13:22.73
That's right and he goes
on to say, "for the name of
00:13:22.76\00:13:25.53
"God is blasphemed among
the Gentiles because of you. "
00:13:25.60\00:13:29.20
So here he is telling us
that we have dishonored God and
00:13:29.24\00:13:32.74
blasphemy His name among
nonbelievers when we resist the
00:13:32.81\00:13:36.24
law of God, fascinating and
New Testament theology here.
00:13:36.31\00:13:39.75
We could go to the core of
this and say it is not just
00:13:39.78\00:13:43.65
these statements that talk
about the law in a direct way,
00:13:43.69\00:13:47.52
but the statements
that talk about sin.
00:13:47.56\00:13:49.46
The Bible says in 1 John
3:4 that sin is transgression
00:13:49.49\00:13:55.23
of the law, or sin is lawless-
ness it says in the New King
00:13:55.30\00:13:59.00
James, but the idea there
is that sin still in the New
00:13:59.03\00:14:02.50
Testament times was being
spoken of as breaking the law.
00:14:02.57\00:14:05.77
That's right, and it is about
time for us to take a break,
00:14:05.81\00:14:08.98
but when we come back
from our break we will pick up
00:14:09.01\00:14:11.45
right there and really get
into a little more of the depth
00:14:11.48\00:14:14.72
of the point of this whole
idea of being dead to the law.
00:14:14.75\00:14:17.95
and how it points us to
Christ in the new birth.
00:14:17.99\00:14:22.52
So stay with us!
00:14:22.56\00:14:24.46