The Bible tells us... 00:00:01.33\00:00:02.66 Join us now for the 3ABN Sabbath School Panel. 00:00:20.88\00:00:24.49 Our study today is, The Gospel of Galatians. 00:00:25.35\00:00:29.36 Hello and welcome once again to, 3ABN Sabbath School Panel. 00:00:33.03\00:00:36.40 I'm Shelley Quinn, and I can tell you that 00:00:36.43\00:00:38.93 all of us are excited to be here with you today. 00:00:38.97\00:00:41.54 Please grab your Bible, a pen, and join in. 00:00:41.57\00:00:44.71 If you do not have the Sabbath School study quarterly, 00:00:44.74\00:00:48.51 you can go to ABSG.Adventist.org 00:00:48.54\00:00:55.92 And download that. 00:00:59.55\00:01:01.02 We are studying the gospel in Galatians. 00:01:01.06\00:01:04.56 And let me introduce our illustrious panel 00:01:04.59\00:01:08.23 of my brothers and sisters. 00:01:08.26\00:01:09.76 We have with us Brother C.A. Murray, 00:01:09.80\00:01:11.80 Pastor Kenny, whoops, Pastor Ronnie Shelton. 00:01:11.83\00:01:16.84 Pastor John Dinzey, and Jill Morikone. 00:01:16.94\00:01:19.54 And just so glad each and every one of you 00:01:19.57\00:01:22.04 could make it with us. 00:01:22.08\00:01:23.41 Now C.A., would you like to open in prayer, please? 00:01:23.68\00:01:26.01 Glad to. 00:01:26.05\00:01:27.38 Gracious Father, we do praise You and thank You 00:01:27.45\00:01:28.88 for this opportunity to open up and study the Word of God again. 00:01:28.92\00:01:32.69 We thank You for the book of Galatians and the 00:01:32.72\00:01:34.62 truths that are there in. 00:01:34.66\00:01:35.99 Help us now to know and understand. 00:01:36.06\00:01:38.46 And once understanding, help us to do. 00:01:38.49\00:01:41.43 And we thank You and praise You. 00:01:41.46\00:01:42.80 In Jesus' name, amen. 00:01:42.83\00:01:44.87 This is such a wonderful study. 00:01:45.20\00:01:48.17 And we are on lesson six, which is, The Priority of the Promise. 00:01:48.20\00:01:54.28 Let's read our memory text together. 00:01:54.31\00:01:56.51 And this is Galatians 3:18. 00:01:56.61\00:01:59.41 We're looking at the English Standard Version, 00:01:59.45\00:02:02.08 which is essentially a literal translation. 00:02:02.18\00:02:05.39 "For if the inheritance comes by the law, 00:02:05.59\00:02:09.19 it no longer comes by promise; 00:02:09.22\00:02:12.56 but God gave it to Abraham by a promise." 00:02:12.59\00:02:16.90 So what I thought I would do, and this is probably 00:02:17.00\00:02:20.44 ill advised, but I have several pages of thoughts here 00:02:20.47\00:02:25.04 on God's covenants, and what I want to do 00:02:25.07\00:02:28.11 is just paint a broad picture of God's covenants for you 00:02:28.21\00:02:31.88 before I get into Sunday's lesson. 00:02:31.91\00:02:33.95 So I'm just going to kind of run through this rather quickly. 00:02:34.05\00:02:38.42 And there's going to be a lot of information in here. 00:02:38.79\00:02:40.86 But hopefully it will help you understand 00:02:40.89\00:02:44.23 what is all of this about covenants. 00:02:44.49\00:02:47.50 So essentially what happened is, before time began 00:02:47.76\00:02:50.53 God determined that He wanted to have a bond of intimacy 00:02:50.57\00:02:55.17 with His people. 00:02:55.20\00:02:56.54 And He wanted it, not only here on earth, 00:02:56.57\00:03:01.01 but throughout eternity. 00:03:01.08\00:03:02.61 So what covenants do is they contain the promises of God. 00:03:03.01\00:03:07.52 And they are oath bound promises for people who are 00:03:07.55\00:03:10.42 willing to enter into covenant relationship, 00:03:10.49\00:03:13.69 which is an intimate relationship with Him. 00:03:13.76\00:03:15.96 Human beings are so used to people breaking their promises 00:03:16.59\00:03:21.96 to them that it is hard for us to believe that God and 00:03:22.00\00:03:25.07 Jesus Christ are completely faithful to their promises. 00:03:25.10\00:03:29.80 But God authored this concept of covenant making, 00:03:29.84\00:03:35.11 and He is the one who confirms it by His faithfulness 00:03:35.58\00:03:41.12 and His power to fulfill His promises. 00:03:41.15\00:03:44.15 So He began this promise keeping, the source of the 00:03:44.45\00:03:48.66 first covenant began in the Garden of Eden. 00:03:48.69\00:03:51.79 In Isaiah 46:11, He shows us that His word is unchanging 00:03:52.39\00:03:59.30 and it is sure. 00:03:59.33\00:04:00.74 He says, "Indeed I have spoken it; 00:04:00.77\00:04:03.67 I will also bring it to pass. 00:04:03.71\00:04:05.41 I have purposed it; I will also do it." 00:04:05.44\00:04:08.51 So during the Old Testament times, there wasn't just the 00:04:09.11\00:04:12.38 covenants that God made with people. 00:04:12.41\00:04:14.58 People made covenants with each other. 00:04:15.05\00:04:17.05 I mean, they followed this concept. 00:04:17.09\00:04:18.99 And what we find, that covenants are either bilateral, 00:04:19.02\00:04:22.76 meaning there is more than one party involved 00:04:22.79\00:04:25.29 that are making the promises. 00:04:25.33\00:04:27.13 So you have this relationship between parties where 00:04:27.56\00:04:31.57 each one binds themselves to the other 00:04:31.60\00:04:34.40 to perform a certain service or duty. 00:04:34.60\00:04:36.94 But God's covenants are always unilateral. 00:04:37.24\00:04:40.84 He's the only one doing the promising. 00:04:40.91\00:04:42.74 I know people are going to say, "Wait a minute." 00:04:42.78\00:04:45.45 But we're going to prove this in just a moment. 00:04:45.48\00:04:47.28 So He's the one that makes the promises. 00:04:47.85\00:04:50.52 And people enter into covenant with Him 00:04:50.55\00:04:54.52 accepting His offer. 00:04:54.56\00:04:56.79 And they keep the covenant as commanded, 00:04:56.89\00:04:59.49 then they receive His oath bound promises. 00:04:59.69\00:05:02.36 Now the unifying theme of Scripture is this: 00:05:02.66\00:05:05.63 God is a covenant making, covenant keeping God. 00:05:05.67\00:05:09.34 And we ought to be so excited about that. 00:05:09.37\00:05:12.51 What happens, we see His covenants, they actually 00:05:12.94\00:05:16.85 all build one upon the next. 00:05:16.88\00:05:19.98 It is a progressive unfolding of His plan of salvation 00:05:20.02\00:05:25.32 through Jesus Christ who is promised before time began. 00:05:25.35\00:05:29.32 And again, His ultimate purpose of these covenants 00:05:29.72\00:05:32.59 is that He can have an intimate relationship with you 00:05:32.63\00:05:36.10 and with me. 00:05:36.13\00:05:37.67 So the original meaning for, "covenant," 00:05:38.00\00:05:40.64 in the Hebrew the word was, berith. 00:05:40.67\00:05:44.44 And it's used 280 times. 00:05:44.51\00:05:46.61 Sometimes that references between two parties; 00:05:46.91\00:05:49.58 sometimes between God and His people. 00:05:49.61\00:05:52.51 It means, to obligate, to fetter, to bind yourself. 00:05:52.75\00:05:59.32 Now in God's covenant, He initiates the bond 00:05:59.52\00:06:03.46 between us and Him. 00:06:03.49\00:06:04.83 His covenants are either unconditional 00:06:05.63\00:06:08.23 or they are conditional promises. 00:06:08.43\00:06:11.83 And He guarantees to fulfill the unconditional, I mean, 00:06:12.30\00:06:15.84 the parts of His promises. 00:06:15.87\00:06:17.54 If it's a conditional, we then fulfill ours. 00:06:17.74\00:06:22.78 So what covenants do, is they contain statements 00:06:23.11\00:06:26.78 of God's responsibility. 00:06:27.22\00:06:28.68 Because He's the one that's doing the binding. 00:06:28.72\00:06:30.89 And as I said, the parts of His covenant 00:06:30.92\00:06:33.69 which are conditional on human response, 00:06:33.76\00:06:36.86 He commands to be accepted. 00:06:36.89\00:06:39.76 But humans enter into this covenant. 00:06:40.40\00:06:43.40 In the 39 books of the Old Testament, 00:06:43.50\00:06:46.87 from Genesis to Malachi, God made many covenants. 00:06:46.90\00:06:50.14 And I want to run through them very briefly for you. 00:06:50.17\00:06:52.57 There was the covenant at creation which included 00:06:53.34\00:06:55.48 marriage, the Sabbath, and work; six days of physical labor, 00:06:55.51\00:06:59.65 one day of rest. 00:06:59.68\00:07:01.08 Possibly a covenant between God and Adam before the fall. 00:07:01.15\00:07:04.69 We see that in Genesis 2 where He commanded Him 00:07:04.72\00:07:06.72 not to eat of the tree of the knowledge of good and evil. 00:07:06.76\00:07:10.53 There's the covenant of Genesis 3:15. 00:07:10.63\00:07:13.53 That's the everlasting covenant God introduces 00:07:13.56\00:07:16.93 when He talks about the promised Seed. 00:07:17.03\00:07:20.70 And this is an unconditional promise that Christ is 00:07:20.74\00:07:23.54 going to come as our redeemer, He's going to pay our penalty, 00:07:23.57\00:07:27.01 He is going to destroy evil and recreate paradise. 00:07:27.04\00:07:31.55 Then there's a covenant with Noah. 00:07:31.65\00:07:33.38 Conditional or unconditional? 00:07:33.42\00:07:35.12 - Unconditional. - Unconditional. 00:07:35.15\00:07:36.48 He says, "I'll never again flood the earth with water." 00:07:36.52\00:07:39.95 The next time it's going to be with fire. 00:07:39.99\00:07:41.86 God's covenant with Abraham, conditional or unconditional? 00:07:42.32\00:07:48.36 It was conditioned on faith. 00:07:48.86\00:07:52.33 Justification was conditioned on faith. 00:07:52.37\00:07:55.30 Then He renewed the covenant with Abraham, 00:07:55.40\00:07:59.44 Genesis 26:5, when He's renewing it with Isaac, 00:07:59.54\00:08:03.31 what does he say? 00:08:03.35\00:08:04.71 He says, "I'm going to renew this covenant." 00:08:04.75\00:08:07.32 He repeats all of the covenant terms to Isaac, 00:08:07.38\00:08:10.05 and then He says, "Because your father Abraham 00:08:10.09\00:08:13.82 obeyed My commandments and My ordinances." 00:08:14.02\00:08:17.43 So when He gets to the Mosaic covenant, 00:08:17.79\00:08:21.46 this was, He is bringing a people out of bondage, 00:08:21.73\00:08:26.63 a people who don't even read, out of bondage. 00:08:26.67\00:08:30.01 And what He gives them was the constitution 00:08:30.31\00:08:37.28 for Israel as a nation, as a theocracy. 00:08:37.41\00:08:40.78 He gives them civil laws, 00:08:40.98\00:08:42.52 He gives them the ceremonial laws, 00:08:42.55\00:08:45.45 which is His remedy for sin, and He gives them... 00:08:45.49\00:08:49.19 The heart of the covenant was the Ten Commandments. 00:08:49.89\00:08:52.79 - Right? - Amen. 00:08:52.83\00:08:54.13 So now God's covenant then with David, 00:08:54.20\00:08:57.17 conditional or unconditional? 00:08:57.20\00:08:59.23 Unconditional. 00:08:59.63\00:09:01.47 He said that Christ would eternally 00:09:01.50\00:09:05.21 reign on David's throne. 00:09:05.24\00:09:06.78 So the Davidic covenant is one that's 00:09:06.81\00:09:09.24 going to be on the throne. 00:09:09.28\00:09:10.68 And then there's a few more minor covenants. 00:09:11.08\00:09:13.42 But in Hebrews 9:15, I'm going to skip over some of this 00:09:13.58\00:09:17.72 because my time is going away, Hebrews 9:15 shows us that the 00:09:17.75\00:09:22.12 foundation for the new covenant was Jesus' death. 00:09:22.16\00:09:26.43 It says, "For this reason He," Jesus, "is the Mediator 00:09:26.83\00:09:31.70 of the new covenant, by means of death..." 00:09:31.73\00:09:35.97 Now sometimes people get confused when it's talking about 00:09:36.27\00:09:38.91 Hebrews 8 and Hebrews 9, talking about the first covenant. 00:09:38.94\00:09:41.91 And it's in context of comparing the old covenant 00:09:42.54\00:09:48.98 to the new covenant. 00:09:49.02\00:09:50.35 So it was first... 00:09:50.39\00:09:51.72 The old covenant was first before the new, 00:09:51.75\00:09:53.39 but it was not first of God's covenants. 00:09:53.42\00:09:58.33 But now here's the question. 00:09:58.53\00:10:00.13 Is the new covenant, salvation by grace through 00:10:00.60\00:10:04.63 faith in Christ Jesus, is this conditional or unconditional? 00:10:04.67\00:10:09.17 It's conditional. 00:10:10.71\00:10:12.04 - Conditional. - It's conditional. 00:10:12.07\00:10:13.41 Just as Abraham's was conditioned on faith, 00:10:13.44\00:10:16.98 the new covenant is conditioned upon receiving 00:10:17.21\00:10:20.62 Jesus Christ as your Savior, living in faith with Him. 00:10:20.68\00:10:26.12 Does it also, like God blessed Abraham because of 00:10:26.22\00:10:29.99 his obedience, does the new covenant 00:10:30.03\00:10:32.23 bless us because of obedience? 00:10:32.26\00:10:33.76 Absolutely, Hebrews 5:9 says that once Christ was perfected, 00:10:33.80\00:10:38.23 He became the author of eternal salvation 00:10:38.43\00:10:42.84 to all those who obey. 00:10:42.87\00:10:45.07 And Jesus said in John 14:15, 00:10:45.11\00:10:47.11 "If you love Me, obey My commandments." 00:10:47.14\00:10:49.88 And we know 1 John 2:3-4 says that if anybody says 00:10:49.91\00:10:54.55 he knows Him, but doesn't keep the commandments, 00:10:54.58\00:10:56.75 hey, "he's a liar, and the truth is not in him." 00:10:56.95\00:10:59.55 So that takes us quickly to Sunday. 00:10:59.69\00:11:02.56 And we're going to be talking about the law and the faith. 00:11:02.59\00:11:06.16 The interesting thing here, which helps prove 00:11:06.39\00:11:10.13 that God's covenants were all unilateral... 00:11:10.30\00:11:13.97 We have a tendency, and until I really started researching this, 00:11:14.00\00:11:17.74 I had a tendency to believe that the old covenant, 00:11:17.84\00:11:22.04 the Mosaic law, was bilateral. 00:11:22.08\00:11:24.61 Rather than seeing it as there were conditions, 00:11:25.91\00:11:28.82 I saw it as... 00:11:29.18\00:11:30.62 Because the people come right out and say, 00:11:30.65\00:11:33.25 "All that the Lord has said, we will do." 00:11:33.29\00:11:35.09 So it was kind of like... 00:11:35.12\00:11:36.52 And He said, "If you obey Me, you're going to be 00:11:36.56\00:11:39.76 My kingdom of priests, a holy nation." 00:11:39.79\00:11:42.73 Right? 00:11:42.76\00:11:44.10 But in the New Testament, and in our Sunday's lesson, 00:11:44.17\00:11:47.47 it brings out an interesting... 00:11:47.84\00:11:50.11 There's two words in the Greek for, "covenant." 00:11:50.14\00:11:52.91 One was, diatheke. 00:11:53.14\00:11:56.08 And diatheke is a will. 00:11:56.38\00:11:58.55 It is always unilateral. 00:11:58.95\00:12:00.98 Only one person is making the promise. 00:12:01.02\00:12:03.45 So "diatheke" was used in the New Testament 00:12:03.55\00:12:08.09 of God's covenants, any covenant, 00:12:08.12\00:12:10.43 even of the old covenant, "diatheke" is the word 00:12:10.46\00:12:13.96 that was used in the New Testament, always, 00:12:14.00\00:12:16.63 thirty-three times, when it's referring to the covenants. 00:12:16.67\00:12:19.33 It's unilateral. There's only one person. 00:12:19.60\00:12:22.37 It's only God that's making the promises 00:12:22.47\00:12:25.37 to bind people to themselves. 00:12:25.47\00:12:27.68 And "diatheke" means that it's going to distribute the property 00:12:27.88\00:12:32.88 either after the death of someone, according to 00:12:32.91\00:12:35.18 the owner's stated desires. 00:12:35.22\00:12:36.92 But it's an irrevocable decision. 00:12:37.02\00:12:39.65 Can't be canceled, can't be annulled. 00:12:39.69\00:12:41.86 And here's the interesting thing. 00:12:42.42\00:12:44.53 When the Septuagint was written... 00:12:44.96\00:12:47.96 The Septuagint is the Greek translation 00:12:48.16\00:12:51.17 of the Old Testament. 00:12:51.23\00:12:52.57 It was written by seventy rabbinical scholars. 00:12:52.60\00:12:55.94 You know what word they used? 00:12:56.44\00:12:58.51 There's another word in Greek for a covenant, 00:12:58.54\00:13:02.94 like a mutual agreement or a contract. 00:13:02.98\00:13:06.15 And that word is, syntheke. 00:13:06.61\00:13:08.72 They never once, none of these rabbinical scholars, 00:13:09.08\00:13:13.36 ever used the Greek word, syntheke. 00:13:13.56\00:13:16.29 They always used, diatheke. 00:13:16.42\00:13:19.26 So in the Old Testament, as they translated this, 00:13:19.29\00:13:24.93 they used, diatheke, 270 times for God's covenants. 00:13:25.37\00:13:32.47 Meaning that these rabbinical scholars saw 00:13:32.71\00:13:39.75 that this was only a unilateral covenant. 00:13:39.95\00:13:45.22 And, I mean, I think that is so exciting to me. 00:13:45.25\00:13:47.72 Let me, really quickly, we're going to run through 00:13:47.76\00:13:50.13 Galatians 3:15-18. 00:13:50.16\00:13:52.33 He says, "Brethren, I speak in the manner of men: 00:13:52.69\00:13:54.86 Though it is only a man's covenant," diatheke, 00:13:54.93\00:13:57.43 yet if it were confirmed, no one annuls it or adds to it." 00:13:57.50\00:14:01.04 So once it's formally accepted, it can't be changed. 00:14:01.24\00:14:03.94 "Now to Abraham and his Seed were the promises made." 00:14:03.97\00:14:07.28 He does not say, 'And to seeds,' as of many, but as of one, 00:14:07.31\00:14:12.25 'To your Seed,'" capital S, because Paul says, 00:14:12.28\00:14:16.79 "who is Christ." 00:14:16.82\00:14:18.35 So the objective of God's covenants have always been 00:14:18.45\00:14:22.06 pointing to Jesus Christ and that the coming of the Messiah 00:14:22.26\00:14:26.80 would bring the salvation of men and great blessings. 00:14:26.83\00:14:30.00 Then he says, "This I say, that the law, which was 00:14:30.23\00:14:33.54 four hundred and thirty years later..." 00:14:33.57\00:14:35.20 That's the date given for the sojourn out of Egypt 00:14:35.30\00:14:38.17 in Exodus 12:40. 00:14:38.57\00:14:41.61 He said, "...it cannot annul the covenant..." 00:14:41.74\00:14:44.58 See, this was the everlasting covenant of grace that was 00:14:44.61\00:14:47.32 given in Genesis 3:15 and repeated to Abraham 00:14:47.35\00:14:51.12 that you're going to be saved by grace through faith. 00:14:51.32\00:14:53.32 And he's saying, "Hey, this didn't annul the covenant 00:14:53.52\00:14:56.56 that was confirmed before by God in Christ, 00:14:56.59\00:14:59.26 that it should make the promise of no effect." 00:14:59.46\00:15:03.53 He goes on and says... 00:15:03.73\00:15:05.53 Uh, I think that's it. That was it. 00:15:06.03\00:15:08.87 Yeah, that's through number 18. 00:15:08.97\00:15:11.17 Oh no, here's number 18. 00:15:11.24\00:15:12.77 And so he says, "For if the inheritance is of the law, 00:15:13.14\00:15:19.18 it is no longer of promise; 00:15:19.21\00:15:21.28 but God gave it to Abraham by promise." 00:15:21.35\00:15:24.85 So all of God's blessings in God's covenant 00:15:25.25\00:15:29.26 is diatheke. 00:15:29.72\00:15:31.19 Means that the covenant obligations have been 00:15:31.36\00:15:34.36 undertaken by a single person. 00:15:34.40\00:15:36.93 And the Bible tells us in Isaiah that Jesus Christ 00:15:37.03\00:15:41.54 is the covenant. 00:15:41.84\00:15:43.77 He is God's covenant. 00:15:43.87\00:15:46.24 And He tells us in Jeremiah, He says, 00:15:46.41\00:15:50.18 "This is His name: the Lord our righteousness." 00:15:50.51\00:15:54.32 So looking at the whole picture, every one of God's covenants 00:15:54.52\00:15:57.99 builds on the next. 00:15:58.09\00:15:59.65 Did I butcher that or what? 00:16:00.36\00:16:02.09 Ha, ha, ha, ha, ha... 00:16:02.12\00:16:03.49 - Go. - Thank you, Shelley. 00:16:03.53\00:16:06.49 Monday deals with, Faith and Law. 00:16:07.93\00:16:11.87 And I want to read Romans 3:31, but 00:16:12.07\00:16:14.44 we do well to read verses, really actually 00:16:14.67\00:16:19.97 beginning at verse 28 to the end of the chapter, 00:16:20.01\00:16:23.71 which is verse 31. 00:16:23.75\00:16:25.08 The Bible says, "Therefore we conclude that a man 00:16:26.11\00:16:29.02 is justified by faith apart from the deeds of the law. 00:16:29.05\00:16:31.99 Or is He the God of the Jews only? 00:16:32.59\00:16:36.52 Is He not also the God of the Gentiles?" 00:16:36.79\00:16:38.89 That's important because it leads us 00:16:38.93\00:16:41.06 to this idea of inclusion. 00:16:41.10\00:16:43.63 And that whatever is for the Jews is also for the Gentiles. 00:16:43.67\00:16:48.20 So that gets you and me, Shelley. 00:16:48.97\00:16:50.74 You know, we get in there, Pastor Ronnie, also. 00:16:50.97\00:16:53.81 I want to pick it up now in verse 30. 00:16:55.18\00:16:56.91 "...since there is one God who will justify the circumcised 00:16:57.28\00:17:00.92 by faith and the uncircumcised through faith." 00:17:00.95\00:17:04.12 Again, Jew and Gentile. 00:17:04.15\00:17:06.19 "Do we make void the law through faith? 00:17:06.42\00:17:09.52 Certainly not!" 00:17:09.72\00:17:11.06 That's about as strong as Paul can get in this context. 00:17:11.13\00:17:15.60 "On the contrary, we establish the law." 00:17:15.63\00:17:18.97 So Paul is pushing back against this, 00:17:19.30\00:17:22.64 "baby out with the bath water," kind of idea 00:17:22.74\00:17:25.97 that it's all faith and the law is done away with, 00:17:26.41\00:17:30.65 or of no effect, or of no consequence to us. 00:17:30.68\00:17:35.08 One of the things that we will see, if you have 00:17:35.75\00:17:39.12 a hammer and a spoon, even a large hammer 00:17:39.15\00:17:45.59 and a large spoon, if you want to drive a nail, 00:17:45.63\00:17:51.20 that spoon will probably not do you too good. 00:17:51.50\00:17:55.77 But if you want to serve soup to your guests, 00:17:56.74\00:18:00.64 that hammer is not going to help you too much. 00:18:00.91\00:18:02.78 Because they each have a function. 00:18:03.71\00:18:05.78 And Paul is telling us through these preceding chapters, 00:18:06.58\00:18:10.19 it is not the function of the law to bring us righteousness. 00:18:10.39\00:18:14.62 It is not the junction of the law to justify us. 00:18:15.02\00:18:18.59 Now we will get to what the function is 00:18:18.86\00:18:20.96 as we move through this. 00:18:21.00\00:18:22.33 But if you think because he's saying it's not good 00:18:22.36\00:18:25.10 for serving soup that it's not good at all, 00:18:25.40\00:18:28.37 then you've misconstrued what Paul is trying to say. 00:18:28.57\00:18:31.04 It does have a function. 00:18:31.07\00:18:32.41 It's just not good for soup. 00:18:32.44\00:18:33.78 The law does have a function. 00:18:34.44\00:18:36.38 It's just not good for righteousness. 00:18:36.61\00:18:38.28 It's not good for justification. 00:18:38.31\00:18:39.81 It's got a very vital function, and we'll take a look at that 00:18:39.85\00:18:43.02 in just a moment. 00:18:43.05\00:18:44.39 The word there in the Greek for... 00:18:44.65\00:18:46.86 And I'm so glad that we have Greek study, because 00:18:46.89\00:18:50.53 the English language is so impoverished 00:18:50.63\00:18:52.73 and the Greek language is so well inflected 00:18:52.76\00:18:55.00 and gives us such good meaning. 00:18:55.03\00:18:56.60 It's, katargeo. 00:18:56.70\00:18:58.27 And that word is for what? 00:18:59.37\00:19:00.77 - For, to make void. - Okay. 00:19:00.80\00:19:03.24 Or to establish. 00:19:03.27\00:19:04.64 Paul talks about the works of the law. 00:19:05.87\00:19:08.21 And here is where we run into that tension 00:19:08.24\00:19:10.91 that has always existed between the moral law 00:19:10.95\00:19:13.62 and the Mosaic law. 00:19:13.78\00:19:15.55 Because sometimes it looks like it's very much 00:19:15.58\00:19:17.42 talking about Mosaic law. 00:19:17.45\00:19:18.82 Other times it's looking like it's very much talking about 00:19:18.85\00:19:21.29 the moral law or the Ten Commandments. 00:19:22.76\00:19:24.46 And I tend to think that he moves kind of back and forth. 00:19:24.56\00:19:27.76 I really do. 00:19:28.60\00:19:29.93 And in the early days of Adventism the struggle was, 00:19:29.96\00:19:33.44 is it all this or all that? 00:19:33.54\00:19:35.80 And I think there are times when he moves back and forth. 00:19:35.90\00:19:37.77 Because when you're talking about circumcision 00:19:37.81\00:19:39.74 and some of those other things, you're actually 00:19:39.77\00:19:41.11 dealing with Mosaic kinds of things. 00:19:41.14\00:19:43.35 And that did not, per se, come to an end. 00:19:44.58\00:19:47.92 They were just fulfilled and were no longer necessary. 00:19:48.02\00:19:51.29 They could not bring the kind of righteousness 00:19:51.32\00:19:53.46 that the death of Christ offered to us. 00:19:53.49\00:19:55.36 These rituals, these typical things, could not fulfill 00:19:55.39\00:20:00.46 what the type could fulfill. 00:20:01.06\00:20:02.86 Then of course, when you're talking about the moral law, 00:20:02.90\00:20:05.23 it goes on forever, for it is an unchangeable transcript of 00:20:05.27\00:20:08.20 the character of God. 00:20:08.24\00:20:09.97 So we're talking about the correct place of the law 00:20:10.64\00:20:15.44 in our lives of faith and law. 00:20:15.48\00:20:18.95 So we need to now examine just a little bit 00:20:20.78\00:20:24.19 what Paul is talking about when he talks about 00:20:24.22\00:20:26.65 the works of the law. 00:20:26.69\00:20:28.02 Going back to Romans 3:31, "Do we make the law void 00:20:28.52\00:20:31.93 through faith? 00:20:31.99\00:20:33.33 No, we establish it." 00:20:33.36\00:20:35.26 So he's beginning to draw a line, 00:20:35.33\00:20:37.37 that it's not faith over against law. 00:20:37.40\00:20:39.80 They really work to buttress each other, 00:20:39.83\00:20:41.77 they really work to make each other strong. 00:20:41.80\00:20:43.87 In Romans 7:7... 00:20:44.27\00:20:45.97 And it's interesting that so much of the justification 00:20:46.01\00:20:49.38 for Galatians comes in the book of Romans. 00:20:49.68\00:20:51.88 He's talking to the church of Rome, but they're suffering 00:20:52.58\00:20:55.25 the same kind of things. 00:20:55.28\00:20:57.65 There was this tendency of the early church to sort of 00:20:58.22\00:21:02.56 move back into Judaism, because at least in the Roman economy 00:21:02.59\00:21:08.83 Judaism was a recognized religion. 00:21:09.40\00:21:13.37 It was recognized. 00:21:13.40\00:21:15.10 Christianity was religio illicita. 00:21:15.50\00:21:17.71 It was illegal, it was underground, 00:21:17.74\00:21:20.51 it was under attack. 00:21:20.54\00:21:21.91 So there was this tendency to move back into 00:21:21.94\00:21:25.51 something that was comfortable, 00:21:25.95\00:21:27.42 something that had worked before, 00:21:27.68\00:21:29.68 and something that they were culturally and experientally 00:21:29.72\00:21:32.72 accustomed to. 00:21:32.75\00:21:34.09 But Paul is really turning everything on its head now, 00:21:34.12\00:21:37.13 because he is saying that those things that are very 00:21:37.16\00:21:41.06 comfortable for you, which are very known to you, 00:21:41.10\00:21:43.43 just don't work anymore. 00:21:43.47\00:21:45.27 And Christ is not just trying to put 00:21:45.30\00:21:48.27 shoe polish on this pair of shoes. 00:21:49.84\00:21:51.91 He's giving you a brand new pair of shoes. 00:21:51.94\00:21:53.58 He's throwing out the old and bringing you something 00:21:53.61\00:21:56.01 brand new to walk in. 00:21:56.04\00:21:57.38 And just polish is not going to work here. 00:21:57.41\00:21:59.71 This is total replacement. 00:21:59.75\00:22:01.28 You've gone to the store, you've got a brand new pair of shoes. 00:22:01.32\00:22:04.19 And they may squeak a little bit, may hurt your toes, 00:22:04.22\00:22:06.59 but wear them, you'll get use to it and you'll be fine. 00:22:06.62\00:22:10.49 Because Christ is bringing in something very, very new. 00:22:10.53\00:22:14.36 So do we make the law void through faith? 00:22:14.40\00:22:17.83 No, no, not at all. We establish the law. 00:22:17.87\00:22:20.40 We make it stronger. 00:22:20.44\00:22:21.77 And we make it much more applicable to you 00:22:21.84\00:22:25.21 as men and children of God. 00:22:25.24\00:22:27.74 Back in the lesson. 00:22:28.58\00:22:30.95 "The plan of justification by faith reveals God's regard 00:22:30.98\00:22:33.95 for His law in demanding and providing the atoning sacrifice. 00:22:33.98\00:22:38.19 If justification by faith abolishes the law, 00:22:38.22\00:22:42.06 then there was no need for the atoning death of Christ 00:22:42.09\00:22:46.49 to release the sinner from his sins, 00:22:46.53\00:22:48.36 and thus restore him to peace with God." 00:22:48.40\00:22:52.13 If we could just work it through or change it that way, 00:22:52.17\00:22:59.07 then the death of Christ is unnecessary 00:22:59.11\00:23:01.74 and does no good for us. 00:23:01.81\00:23:04.31 If you could get into right relationship with God 00:23:04.35\00:23:08.45 by any other way than the death of Christ 00:23:08.52\00:23:11.69 then you render the death of Christ unnecessary. 00:23:11.92\00:23:14.96 And if Christ has indeed died to bring you righteousness, 00:23:15.06\00:23:18.63 and you attempt to work your way into favor with God 00:23:18.66\00:23:21.96 by any other way than the death of Christ, you are saying, 00:23:22.00\00:23:25.23 "For me, the death of Christ is not sufficient. 00:23:25.27\00:23:27.94 It must be the death of Christ, plus a little help from me." 00:23:28.10\00:23:32.07 And back in the early days of our church, 00:23:32.21\00:23:34.41 people would actually preach that. 00:23:34.44\00:23:35.78 It's grace and faith, plus a little effort. 00:23:35.88\00:23:39.71 You know, you need a little jump start. 00:23:39.98\00:23:41.38 Just hook up the battery charger, 00:23:41.42\00:23:43.02 and then we'll get this thing running. 00:23:43.05\00:23:44.75 And we had to wrestle our way to the fact 00:23:44.79\00:23:48.22 that it is grace and faith alone in Jesus. 00:23:48.36\00:23:52.59 The work has already been done. 00:23:52.63\00:23:54.76 You just need to decide whose side you're going to be on. 00:23:54.86\00:23:57.57 And once having made that decision, all of the benefits of 00:23:57.60\00:24:00.90 that grace, all of the benefits of the faith 00:24:00.94\00:24:03.84 given to you to be exercised in behalf of your love of Christ, 00:24:03.87\00:24:07.41 now apply to you. 00:24:07.51\00:24:09.31 Having said all that, now what's the place for the works then? 00:24:09.34\00:24:12.41 The works come once the faith and grace are... 00:24:12.88\00:24:17.05 See, the Bible says that Christ will live out His life in you. 00:24:17.09\00:24:21.29 So if it's in you, He's working, but He's working through you 00:24:21.52\00:24:25.89 to get it done. 00:24:25.93\00:24:27.23 So it's not like you say, "Okay, I've got to get up today 00:24:27.30\00:24:29.20 and I've got to be kind to Shelley, 00:24:29.56\00:24:31.27 and I've got to be kind to Ronnie, 00:24:31.30\00:24:32.87 and I've got to be kind to Johnny, 00:24:32.90\00:24:34.97 and I've got to be kind to Jill." 00:24:35.00\00:24:36.44 Hope I don't leave somebody out. 00:24:36.47\00:24:37.81 Yeah, right, right. 00:24:37.84\00:24:39.17 See, then you put yourself under bondage 00:24:39.21\00:24:40.98 because what if I forget, I'm looking this way, 00:24:41.01\00:24:42.74 what if I forget that Shelley is back over here... 00:24:42.78\00:24:44.68 ...and I wound her, you know? 00:24:46.28\00:24:48.25 And then I, "Oh Shelley, I am so sorry." 00:24:48.28\00:24:50.02 Ha, ha, ha, ha... 00:24:50.05\00:24:51.39 That kind of thing. 00:24:51.42\00:24:52.75 But no, what happens is, once Christ is living in me, 00:24:52.79\00:24:56.73 it's not something I'm trying to do or trying not to do, 00:24:56.99\00:24:59.96 it's a natural consequence of my relationship with Him. 00:25:00.06\00:25:02.73 So someone would say, C.A., someone would ask the question, 00:25:02.76\00:25:04.47 "Then aren't we saved by our works? 00:25:04.50\00:25:06.37 If we aren't saved by our works, are we judged by our works?" 00:25:06.57\00:25:10.07 "Faith without works is dead." 00:25:10.11\00:25:11.87 So, you know, this is the thing that so many people are worried. 00:25:12.57\00:25:16.04 When you talk about grace, it's like, "What are you going to 00:25:16.08\00:25:17.91 do about the Ten Commandments?" 00:25:17.95\00:25:19.28 They are the heart of the new covenant. 00:25:19.31\00:25:22.25 He puts them in our, writes them in our minds and in our heart. 00:25:22.28\00:25:26.62 But as you said, it is Christ who is working in us. 00:25:26.82\00:25:30.96 And you know, if the law could have been done away with, 00:25:30.99\00:25:35.83 then Christ died in vain. 00:25:35.86\00:25:37.30 He didn't have to die for our transgressions. 00:25:37.33\00:25:39.60 And if we think about the law, the Ten Commandment law 00:25:39.73\00:25:44.54 is what defines sin. 00:25:44.57\00:25:46.88 It is also a transcript of Christ's character. 00:25:46.91\00:25:51.95 So when we keep the Ten Commandment law 00:25:51.98\00:25:55.22 by His power, what are we doing? 00:25:55.25\00:25:57.65 We're reflecting His character. 00:25:57.99\00:25:59.92 The key is, the connecting link between Jeremiah 00:26:00.16\00:26:04.69 and Hebrews is the fact that the language of the law 00:26:04.73\00:26:09.83 does not change. 00:26:09.86\00:26:11.27 It's just the material upon which the law has been written. 00:26:11.77\00:26:15.44 The language is the same. 00:26:15.84\00:26:17.27 One, it's on tables of stone. 00:26:17.31\00:26:19.91 The other, it's on the tables of the heart. 00:26:20.08\00:26:22.08 But the language has not changed. 00:26:22.11\00:26:23.85 It's much better to live it than to read it. 00:26:23.88\00:26:27.55 And so now since the law is written in my heart, 00:26:27.65\00:26:31.12 I don't have to work at it. 00:26:31.22\00:26:33.02 I surrender to Christ, and He lives out His life 00:26:33.05\00:26:35.59 in me and through me. 00:26:35.66\00:26:37.16 - Amen. - Well said, well said. 00:26:37.36\00:26:40.20 Let's look at Tuesday's part, The Purpose of the Law. 00:26:40.53\00:26:42.96 We've talked about the law, pros and cons. 00:26:43.00\00:26:46.87 Let's find out the purpose of the law. 00:26:47.47\00:26:49.10 "In Galatians 3:19-29 Paul makes multiple 00:26:49.14\00:26:53.54 references to 'the law.' 00:26:53.58\00:26:55.14 Now what law is Paul primarily referring to in this 00:26:56.04\00:26:59.71 section of Galatians?" 00:26:59.75\00:27:01.28 Let's look just a little bit at that. 00:27:02.88\00:27:04.49 Galatians 3:19-20, especially verse 19. 00:27:04.52\00:27:09.79 Let's take a good look at that. 00:27:09.82\00:27:11.19 I have here Galatians 3:19-20. 00:27:12.13\00:27:14.56 "Wherefore then serveth the law? 00:27:14.56\00:27:16.63 It was added because of transgressions, 00:27:16.67\00:27:19.53 till the seed should come to whom the promise was made; 00:27:19.57\00:27:23.37 and it was ordained by angels in the hand of a mediator. 00:27:23.41\00:27:27.08 Now a mediator is not a mediator of one, but God is one." 00:27:27.11\00:27:30.88 Thank you, Johnny. 00:27:31.71\00:27:33.05 "Some, believing that the word, 'until,' in verse 19..." 00:27:34.75\00:27:39.32 I want the panel to take a look at that 00:27:39.99\00:27:41.42 word, "until," in verse 19. 00:27:41.46\00:27:44.76 Some indicate that the law was only temporary. 00:27:44.79\00:27:48.73 Some have thought the passage must refer 00:27:49.40\00:27:51.13 to the ceremonial law because it must have come to an end 00:27:51.17\00:27:56.10 when Christ fulfilled the law. 00:27:56.50\00:27:58.47 "Though this makes sense by itself, it does not appear 00:27:59.04\00:28:01.91 to be Paul's point in Galatians. 00:28:01.98\00:28:03.88 While both the ceremonial and the moral law were 'added' 00:28:03.91\00:28:07.85 at Sinai because of transgressions..." 00:28:07.88\00:28:10.25 So I want somebody to help me with that. 00:28:10.72\00:28:12.59 Does Paul say that the law was added? 00:28:12.65\00:28:16.39 Well I have here a dictionary that helps with that. 00:28:17.56\00:28:20.06 "Added," can mean also added, as you find 00:28:20.10\00:28:25.00 in the King James and maybe other Bibles. 00:28:25.03\00:28:27.57 But it also means, to place additionally, 00:28:27.60\00:28:30.01 also to repeat, and to again, and to proceed further. 00:28:30.37\00:28:37.45 So these words, I think, will help us understand this text. 00:28:38.01\00:28:41.85 That it could mean then, repeated again. 00:28:41.95\00:28:46.96 Repeated, because they already knew it. 00:28:46.99\00:28:48.32 They already knew it. 00:28:48.36\00:28:49.69 And of course, you know, they had been 00:28:49.72\00:28:53.90 in bondage for 430 years. 00:28:53.93\00:28:56.77 God had to bring them again the Sabbath. 00:28:57.00\00:29:00.04 God had to teach them all over again. 00:29:00.37\00:29:04.21 And I think we can discuss that further. 00:29:05.04\00:29:08.28 So the law was not really an afterthought. 00:29:08.31\00:29:10.91 You know, I love this because that just proves the point, 00:29:11.01\00:29:14.28 all of His covenants are a progressive revelation. 00:29:14.68\00:29:18.82 He repeated this, He added a little more. 00:29:18.85\00:29:22.39 He repeats this, He adds a little more. 00:29:22.42\00:29:24.53 And it's just a beautiful thought that it's all about 00:29:24.73\00:29:29.20 salvation through Christ. 00:29:29.23\00:29:30.97 And you know, I'm glad you said it that way, because 00:29:31.00\00:29:34.00 when you go to Daniel and you see him in Daniel 2 00:29:34.04\00:29:41.08 talk about four kingdoms, and it just mentions metals. 00:29:41.11\00:29:44.91 Babylon is the head of gold, and etc, etc. 00:29:45.45\00:29:47.95 But then you keep going and it gives you more information 00:29:48.18\00:29:51.05 about the kingdoms and what they actually do. 00:29:51.09\00:29:53.89 So it's beautiful how the Bible does that. 00:29:54.19\00:29:56.66 It repeats and then enlarges, 00:29:56.69\00:29:59.16 and says it again, because I didn't get it the first time. 00:29:59.66\00:30:01.96 So it says it to me again, and then enlarges some more. 00:30:02.00\00:30:05.53 So let me ask the panel then, what is sin? 00:30:05.57\00:30:07.87 How do we know what sin is? 00:30:07.90\00:30:09.44 I think sin is the transgression of the law. 00:30:09.87\00:30:11.97 You see that in 1 John 3. 00:30:12.01\00:30:13.54 There you go. And the wages of sin is death. 00:30:13.58\00:30:16.64 So if we don't want to die, we've got to have something 00:30:16.68\00:30:19.21 then that tells us when we're going wrong. 00:30:19.25\00:30:21.65 I always think about the law, and maybe some of you do too, 00:30:22.08\00:30:24.92 that it's like, if I've been out working in something 00:30:24.95\00:30:27.62 in the garden and I've rubbed my head, you know. 00:30:27.66\00:30:29.62 When I go in the house and the wife says, 00:30:29.66\00:30:31.16 "Boy, your face is dirty," 00:30:31.19\00:30:32.53 I say, "I don't think so." 00:30:32.59\00:30:33.93 "Well here's a mirror." 00:30:33.96\00:30:35.26 And I look in it and I say, "You're right, I am dirty." 00:30:35.30\00:30:38.17 This is what the law is. 00:30:38.50\00:30:39.97 The law is a mirror that shows me when I'm dirty. 00:30:40.00\00:30:43.14 Now can the mirror fix me? 00:30:43.57\00:30:45.64 It can't clean me up. 00:30:45.67\00:30:47.01 But it leads me to the one who can clean me up, 00:30:47.34\00:30:50.38 which is Jesus Christ. 00:30:50.41\00:30:51.98 So therefore, the law then being the tutor 00:30:52.18\00:30:55.02 that takes us to Christ. 00:30:55.05\00:30:57.15 The law is still there, right? 00:30:57.45\00:30:59.05 It's not gone once it took me to Christ. 00:30:59.12\00:31:00.76 The law still stands, right? 00:31:00.79\00:31:02.26 It's eternal. 00:31:02.32\00:31:03.66 I'm talking about the Ten Commandment law. 00:31:03.69\00:31:05.03 It's eternal. 00:31:05.06\00:31:06.39 And therefore, it takes me to Christ because it shows me 00:31:06.73\00:31:09.86 that I'm dirty. 00:31:09.90\00:31:11.23 And I go to Him then to be cleaned. 00:31:11.27\00:31:13.30 Does that make sense? 00:31:13.34\00:31:14.74 You know, and we're just looking at things. 00:31:14.94\00:31:16.97 I was looking at 1 John 2:7-8. 00:31:17.01\00:31:21.14 And just to sort of give a summary, seven says, 00:31:21.18\00:31:25.91 "Brethren, I write no new commandment to you, 00:31:25.98\00:31:28.12 but an old commandment, 00:31:28.15\00:31:29.48 which you have heard from the beginning." 00:31:29.52\00:31:31.42 Then in eight he says, "Again, a new commandment..." 00:31:31.59\00:31:34.42 Now if you're just reading literally, 00:31:34.62\00:31:36.16 you're getting a little confused. 00:31:36.19\00:31:37.53 Because, "Okay, you told me I don't get a new commandment, 00:31:37.56\00:31:39.69 now you're telling me it is a new commandment." 00:31:39.73\00:31:41.03 The two words there... 00:31:42.00\00:31:43.90 And I don't remember what they are, 00:31:44.57\00:31:45.90 but I do remember what they mean. 00:31:45.97\00:31:47.30 One is, "new," as in brand new, 00:31:47.34\00:31:51.11 the other is, "new to you." 00:31:51.14\00:31:53.31 Like, I bought a car a couple of years ago. 00:31:53.41\00:31:55.98 It wasn't brand new, but it was new to me. 00:31:56.01\00:31:59.28 You know, it was new for me. 00:31:59.35\00:32:01.35 So at one time it was new, but it was just new to me. 00:32:01.58\00:32:05.45 And so the children of Israel had forgotten so much 00:32:05.52\00:32:07.56 it was new to them because, I mean, 00:32:07.59\00:32:09.39 the law had always been there, but it was new to them because 00:32:09.42\00:32:12.26 they had been in bondage, they were out from under 00:32:12.29\00:32:14.83 connection with God. 00:32:15.33\00:32:16.67 So now they get it again and it's new to them, 00:32:16.70\00:32:18.57 but it's old in the sense that it's always been. 00:32:18.60\00:32:21.00 But it's new to them because it's a new understanding. 00:32:21.04\00:32:23.04 And to help us with this, Galatians 3:19 that we read 00:32:23.07\00:32:27.08 where we have the word, "added," maybe Sister Jill, 00:32:27.11\00:32:30.08 if you could read Luke 20:12. 00:32:30.11\00:32:33.58 This same word is there. 00:32:33.88\00:32:35.92 But it doesn't say, "added." 00:32:36.28\00:32:37.65 It says something else, which runs along with the 00:32:38.12\00:32:41.79 same line of thought that we read in the definition 00:32:41.82\00:32:44.23 for this Greek word. 00:32:44.26\00:32:45.63 Sister Jill, if you have it. 00:32:45.66\00:32:47.30 Sure, this is the parable of the vine dressers. 00:32:47.30\00:32:49.86 Luke 20:12 says, "And again he sent a third; 00:32:49.90\00:32:54.94 and they wounded him also and cast him out." 00:32:54.97\00:32:57.44 So the Greek word here is translated, "And again." 00:32:57.47\00:33:00.04 - Is that correct? - Yes. 00:33:00.08\00:33:01.41 So that's the same word for, "added," is, "again." 00:33:01.44\00:33:03.58 It just means, to be repeated again. 00:33:03.61\00:33:05.85 I love this. 00:33:05.88\00:33:07.22 That's what it said; when God brought 00:33:08.95\00:33:10.65 the commandments actually to be written on stone, 00:33:10.69\00:33:14.02 He started out with the fourth commandment, "Remember." 00:33:14.22\00:33:17.09 In other words, "He's told me before about this, 00:33:17.13\00:33:19.43 but I'm forgetting it." 00:33:19.46\00:33:20.80 So He says, "I'm reminding My people now. 00:33:20.83\00:33:22.76 Because I told you hundreds of years before, 00:33:22.80\00:33:25.53 but now you've gotten away from it." 00:33:25.57\00:33:26.90 So as a reminder, we say, "Remember." 00:33:26.94\00:33:29.14 - Can I say one thing? - Yeah, go ahead. 00:33:29.24\00:33:31.31 And I say this often, but I just have to. 00:33:31.34\00:33:33.91 Do we realize, the Bible tells us that the Sabbath 00:33:33.94\00:33:39.11 is the sign of the everlasting covenant. 00:33:39.15\00:33:42.38 In Exodus 31:13, God says that the Sabbath is a sign 00:33:42.42\00:33:47.96 that He is the one who sanctifies us. 00:33:47.99\00:33:51.49 So the Sabbath is a sign, just like the rainbow 00:33:51.73\00:33:58.10 was a sign for Noah's covenant. 00:33:58.13\00:34:00.80 The Sabbath is a sign of the covenant of grace. 00:34:01.00\00:34:04.67 That's why it's so interesting, sometimes people will say, 00:34:04.71\00:34:08.48 "You're a Sabbath keeper. You're legalistic." 00:34:08.88\00:34:11.11 And I'll say, "No." 00:34:11.15\00:34:12.91 The Sabbath is a sign that I'm remembering 00:34:12.95\00:34:17.45 that God saves me by grace. 00:34:17.69\00:34:19.85 And I know that you said you were brought up 00:34:19.89\00:34:22.42 in a kind of legalistic environment. 00:34:22.46\00:34:24.49 As was I. Not a Seventh-day Adventist. 00:34:24.53\00:34:26.90 There's many people who try to... 00:34:26.93\00:34:29.23 I think it's pride that makes us think that 00:34:29.43\00:34:32.03 we can do something to help save ourselves. 00:34:32.10\00:34:34.37 But when I learned that Sabbath truth... 00:34:34.40\00:34:36.37 And this whole study here is what brought me, 00:34:36.40\00:34:39.91 as God was teaching me on the Sanctuary 00:34:40.98\00:34:43.14 and going through this to understand His covenants, 00:34:43.18\00:34:45.71 when I understood the Sabbath truth, that was so liberating. 00:34:46.01\00:34:49.45 And still from week to week, 00:34:49.48\00:34:52.02 from Friday night to Friday night, 00:34:52.12\00:34:53.79 sometimes I can get into a performance mentality. 00:34:53.82\00:34:57.13 Like, oh I haven't been praying enough, or whatever. 00:34:57.16\00:34:59.79 The Sabbath rolls in and it's just like... 00:34:59.89\00:35:01.80 "Oh Lord, thank You that it's all about You. 00:35:02.46\00:35:04.63 It's nothing about me." 00:35:04.67\00:35:06.00 We've done a lot of talk now, we've talk a lot about 00:35:06.03\00:35:07.94 the ceremonial laws and the moral law. 00:35:07.97\00:35:10.57 Somebody just give me a quick wrap-up. 00:35:10.61\00:35:12.44 What is the ceremonial law? What are we talking about here? 00:35:12.47\00:35:14.91 Drink offerings, meal offerings, it's the sacrificial offerings. 00:35:15.94\00:35:22.25 - Sabbath days, small "s." - The annual sabbath days. 00:35:22.28\00:35:25.62 So there's more than one sabbath. 00:35:25.65\00:35:26.99 Yes, all these annual sabbath days. 00:35:27.02\00:35:29.09 THE Sabbath is the Sabbath of the Lord thy God. 00:35:29.12\00:35:30.46 Always identified as such. Always. 00:35:30.49\00:35:32.36 There are other sabbath days 00:35:32.39\00:35:33.73 that don't carry that designation. 00:35:33.76\00:35:35.26 - The feast days. - Yeah, the feast days. 00:35:35.30\00:35:37.47 You know, the ceremonial law was called, ordinances. 00:35:37.50\00:35:40.57 And those were nailed to the cross. 00:35:41.37\00:35:43.07 That's right. Colossians 2:14. 00:35:43.10\00:35:45.64 Yeah, yeah. Okay. 00:35:45.71\00:35:47.04 And then real quickly, the moral law then is...? 00:35:47.08\00:35:49.68 - The Ten Commandments. - The Ten Commandments. 00:35:50.51\00:35:52.58 And the difference between the two, in our quarterly, 00:35:52.65\00:35:56.72 it says, "While the ceremonial laws points to the Messiah 00:35:57.02\00:36:00.22 and emphasizes holiness and the need of a Savior, 00:36:00.26\00:36:04.13 is the moral law, with its, 'Thou shall nots,' 00:36:04.16\00:36:08.23 that reveals sin, that shows us that sin is not just 00:36:08.33\00:36:12.70 a part of our nature..." 00:36:12.77\00:36:14.37 You know, "Well that's just who I am. 00:36:15.04\00:36:16.57 I'm born with that. I can't help that." 00:36:16.60\00:36:18.61 It's not part of the nature. 00:36:19.64\00:36:21.28 The Ten Commandments point out it is a violation 00:36:21.48\00:36:24.71 of God's law. 00:36:24.75\00:36:26.08 A violation. 00:36:27.45\00:36:28.78 And let me sum up my time with this. 00:36:28.82\00:36:30.35 Some say the law is against the covenant promise. 00:36:30.39\00:36:33.86 Paul says, "Certainly not." 00:36:34.32\00:36:36.16 Law and promise have complimentary functions. 00:36:36.62\00:36:40.33 We touched on that a little bit. 00:36:40.36\00:36:42.10 They work together. 00:36:42.16\00:36:43.70 The law points out sin and drives the sinners 00:36:44.07\00:36:47.37 to the promise of Christ. 00:36:47.40\00:36:49.04 And He is the one that gives us forgiveness of that sin. 00:36:50.07\00:36:53.64 And He frees us then from the curse of the broken law. 00:36:54.01\00:36:57.71 Because the wages of sin is death, 00:36:57.85\00:36:59.31 and it's time for me to die, but He takes that. 00:36:59.35\00:37:02.18 So it is impossible for the law to be against the promise. 00:37:02.28\00:37:05.82 Because the two work hand in hand together. 00:37:06.32\00:37:08.92 Well thank you. Praise the Lord. 00:37:09.86\00:37:11.79 I'm sorry. 00:37:12.56\00:37:13.90 Ha, ha, ha, ha... 00:37:14.36\00:37:15.90 - Just hallelujah, amen. - There you go. 00:37:15.96\00:37:18.07 Well going into Wednesday's part really quick. 00:37:18.80\00:37:21.40 This brings us into the title, The Duration of God's Law. 00:37:22.14\00:37:26.07 How long has it existed? 00:37:26.11\00:37:27.44 When did it start? 00:37:27.48\00:37:29.18 And this is a very interesting question, because 00:37:29.44\00:37:31.81 some people think it was at Sinai that God gave the 00:37:33.21\00:37:36.18 the Ten Commandments. 00:37:36.22\00:37:37.55 And that's because that's when it was written by His finger 00:37:37.59\00:37:42.66 and given to the people. 00:37:43.02\00:37:44.53 However, we know it existed before because we have 00:37:44.56\00:37:47.93 wonderful evidence in the Scriptures for it. 00:37:47.96\00:37:49.96 One of the scriptures that we'd like to bring out, 00:37:50.63\00:37:52.90 and if someone will help me reading, Genesis 26:5. 00:37:52.93\00:37:58.87 Genesis 26:5, if anyone finds it, will you help me to read it? 00:37:58.94\00:38:04.01 And then if someone else will look up Genesis 39:7-9. 00:38:04.05\00:38:09.68 - I'll do 39. - I've got Genesis 26:5. 00:38:09.72\00:38:12.69 "...because Abraham obeyed My voice and kept My charge, 00:38:12.79\00:38:16.76 My commandments, My statutes, and My laws." 00:38:16.79\00:38:19.89 Praise the Lord. 00:38:20.10\00:38:21.40 Now this scripture is way before Sinai. 00:38:21.43\00:38:24.40 And God declares that, "Abraham has kept My laws, 00:38:24.80\00:38:29.70 My commandments, My statutes." 00:38:29.77\00:38:31.71 And so, a very clear scripture that I don't think anyone 00:38:31.81\00:38:35.58 can say, "Well the law didn't exist." 00:38:36.95\00:38:38.58 Well according to... 00:38:38.65\00:38:39.98 And we can actually, Johnny, go back to before Abraham 00:38:40.02\00:38:42.35 because you can go back to the Garden. 00:38:42.38\00:38:43.72 How did Cain know that he had sinned 00:38:43.75\00:38:45.55 when he killed his brother? 00:38:45.59\00:38:46.92 That's the next scripture that we're going to look at. 00:38:46.96\00:38:48.39 - Alright. - Ha, ha, ha, ha, ha... 00:38:48.42\00:38:50.13 We're thinking along the same lines here. 00:38:50.16\00:38:51.86 Well actually, we're going to go to another one. 00:38:51.89\00:38:53.36 You mentioned that one. 00:38:53.40\00:38:54.73 I guess most people will know about that one. 00:38:54.73\00:38:56.40 But Genesis 39:7-9, I think somebody said they had that. 00:38:56.60\00:39:02.14 Genesis 39:7, "And it came to pass after these things 00:39:02.17\00:39:05.27 that his master's wife cast longing eyes on Joseph, 00:39:05.37\00:39:08.81 and she said, 'Lie with me.' 00:39:08.98\00:39:10.55 But he refused and said to his master's wife, 00:39:10.58\00:39:13.65 'Look, my master does not know what is with me in the house, 00:39:13.68\00:39:18.05 and he has committed all that he has to my hand. 00:39:18.09\00:39:20.92 There is no one greater in this house than I, 00:39:20.96\00:39:23.83 nor has he kept back anything from me but you, 00:39:23.86\00:39:27.56 because you are his wife. 00:39:27.60\00:39:29.10 How then can I do this great wickedness, 00:39:29.13\00:39:32.80 and sin against God?" 00:39:32.87\00:39:34.87 Wow, another powerful scripture. 00:39:34.90\00:39:37.14 Joseph understands that it is a sin. 00:39:37.17\00:39:39.91 He calls it a great wickedness. 00:39:39.94\00:39:41.51 And he says, against God. 00:39:41.54\00:39:42.88 Now how did he know that? 00:39:43.08\00:39:44.65 Well, we can see evidence here that it was handed down 00:39:44.88\00:39:49.82 from Adam down to his children, 00:39:49.85\00:39:52.49 and from his children down to their children, 00:39:52.52\00:39:54.36 and their children down, and so on. 00:39:54.39\00:39:55.76 This is how things were kept alive, if you want to say. 00:39:56.06\00:40:00.63 And of course people will say, "Well, writing didn't exist," 00:40:00.96\00:40:03.90 and these type of things. 00:40:03.93\00:40:05.27 You know, I am so glad that God wrote the Ten Commandments 00:40:05.30\00:40:09.44 with His finger on stone so that nobody could mess with it. 00:40:09.50\00:40:17.35 And He wrote it with His own finger. 00:40:17.38\00:40:19.11 And not only did He write it with His own finger, 00:40:19.35\00:40:21.98 but He thought it was important enough that when 00:40:22.02\00:40:24.92 Moses, in a moment of quick temper, broke the stones, 00:40:25.02\00:40:31.36 He said, "Bring me some stones again, 00:40:31.79\00:40:33.19 and I will write them again." 00:40:33.23\00:40:35.83 He didn't say to Moses, "Okay, you broke the first ones. 00:40:36.26\00:40:38.73 Why don't you put them together? 00:40:38.77\00:40:40.34 You have it already. I already wrote it once." 00:40:41.24\00:40:42.70 No, He said, "I will write them again." 00:40:42.77\00:40:44.84 And so I praise the Lord He gave it that importance. 00:40:45.27\00:40:47.48 Let's look at some other ones really quick that this... 00:40:47.54\00:40:49.81 Oh, you mentioned all the way to the Garden of Eden. 00:40:49.84\00:40:56.65 You mentioned Cain. 00:40:56.72\00:40:58.05 But in Romans 5:12, we see an interesting scripture 00:40:58.19\00:41:02.96 there, because it brings the existence of the law 00:41:03.26\00:41:07.13 all the way to Adam and Eve. 00:41:07.20\00:41:09.43 And this is Romans 5:12. 00:41:09.93\00:41:12.27 It says, "Wherefore, as by one man sin entered into the world, 00:41:12.30\00:41:17.71 and death by sin; and so death passed upon all men, 00:41:17.74\00:41:20.64 for that all have sinned." 00:41:20.94\00:41:23.01 So what is this man? 00:41:23.11\00:41:26.38 This man, it must be talking about Adam. 00:41:26.41\00:41:28.78 And as sin entered through Adam, then that means the law existed. 00:41:28.82\00:41:32.32 So how do we know when the law came into being? 00:41:32.35\00:41:36.59 And I think sister Jill mentioned at one point 00:41:36.89\00:41:38.69 or another that it has existed throughout eternity. 00:41:38.73\00:41:42.40 But we can say that it was adapted to meet man 00:41:43.00\00:41:46.67 in his fallen condition. 00:41:46.70\00:41:48.40 And that's why some of the things you see there 00:41:48.80\00:41:51.41 perhaps was not, well I can say, not perhaps, 00:41:51.44\00:41:54.14 but it was not there before. 00:41:54.18\00:41:57.25 Like, for example, "Thou shalt not make any graven images." 00:41:57.28\00:42:01.68 When you look at that scripture, you must understand that it 00:42:03.52\00:42:06.02 was not perhaps that way. 00:42:06.05\00:42:08.12 Now let's go to a scripture that it brings us even 00:42:08.76\00:42:13.36 before the earth was created. 00:42:13.40\00:42:14.73 And for this we have to go to the book of Ezekiel. 00:42:14.73\00:42:18.07 And in the book of Ezekiel, we need to read two scriptures. 00:42:18.90\00:42:23.04 And I will ask for help. 00:42:23.07\00:42:24.71 Ezekiel 28:14-15 00:42:24.91\00:42:27.91 If someone has that, would you please read it? 00:42:27.94\00:42:30.28 Ezekiel 28:14-15 00:42:30.58\00:42:33.58 "You were the anointed cherub who covers; I established you; 00:42:34.38\00:42:38.85 you were on the holy mountain of God; 00:42:38.89\00:42:40.36 you walked back and forth in the midst of fiery stones. 00:42:40.39\00:42:44.06 You were perfect in your ways from the day you were created, 00:42:44.26\00:42:47.83 till iniquity was found in you." 00:42:48.43\00:42:51.67 Amen, amen. 00:42:51.70\00:42:53.03 So what do we understand iniquity to be? 00:42:53.07\00:42:55.50 - Sin. - That's sin, rebellious sin. 00:42:55.90\00:42:58.84 And so here, talking to us about Lucifer that sinned in heaven, 00:42:58.87\00:43:04.61 we understand then the law existed before even 00:43:05.41\00:43:09.08 the creation of the earth. 00:43:09.12\00:43:10.89 So praise the Lord for that. 00:43:10.92\00:43:12.25 So how long does it last then? 00:43:12.45\00:43:13.96 How long does that last? 00:43:15.12\00:43:17.53 In Matthew 5:17-18, Jesus tells us something that is familiar 00:43:17.63\00:43:25.23 to many as we read it. 00:43:25.27\00:43:26.63 Matthew 5:17-18 00:43:27.04\00:43:29.70 "Think not that I am come to destroy the law or the prophets: 00:43:30.04\00:43:34.38 I am not come to destroy, but to fulfill. 00:43:34.41\00:43:37.45 For verily I say unto you, till heaven and earth pass, 00:43:37.75\00:43:41.15 one jot or one tittle shall in no wise pass from the law, 00:43:41.25\00:43:45.32 till all be fulfilled." 00:43:45.35\00:43:48.22 So we see here that Jesus is saying, "Not one jot." 00:43:48.59\00:43:52.99 And so we understand a jot to be what, and a tittle to be what? 00:43:53.03\00:43:55.93 The smallest little grammatical points of the Greek language. 00:43:55.96\00:44:00.70 It's like the dotting of an "i" or the crossing of a "t". 00:44:00.74\00:44:03.67 And so we see then that the law is not 00:44:03.94\00:44:06.27 going to be done away with, 00:44:06.31\00:44:07.64 it's not going to be made void, until all is fulfilled. 00:44:07.68\00:44:11.08 Question, is all fulfilled? 00:44:11.11\00:44:12.61 No, we are still here in this world of sin. 00:44:12.71\00:44:15.72 So, I would like to read a scripture here in Revelation 12. 00:44:15.88\00:44:21.32 And there are many scriptures we could point out. 00:44:21.86\00:44:24.93 But this one in Revelation 12, I like this one. 00:44:25.46\00:44:29.20 Because it tells us about a time that is close to our time. 00:44:29.23\00:44:36.87 So Revelation 12, there in verse 17. 00:44:36.91\00:44:42.08 If you read Revelation 12 you will understand 00:44:42.94\00:44:45.01 that this is talking about, this dragon mentioned in verse 17, 00:44:45.05\00:44:47.92 is the devil and Satan. 00:44:47.95\00:44:49.28 "And the dragon was wroth with the woman..." 00:44:49.35\00:44:52.09 That's a terrible word, wroth. 00:44:52.12\00:44:53.92 "And the dragon was wroth with the woman, 00:44:54.29\00:44:55.86 and went to make war with the remnant of her seed, 00:44:55.89\00:44:59.36 which keep the commandments of God, 00:44:59.69\00:45:02.36 and have the testimony of Jesus Christ." 00:45:02.40\00:45:05.20 So how long does the law last? 00:45:05.33\00:45:07.04 Well Satan knows it's beyond Christ dying on the cross, 00:45:07.07\00:45:11.81 because he is persecuting those that keep the commandments 00:45:11.84\00:45:14.98 of God and have the testimony of Jesus. 00:45:15.01\00:45:17.65 And when does this take place? 00:45:17.91\00:45:20.08 If you read Revelation 12, you will notice that it is 00:45:20.12\00:45:22.85 after the 42 months, after the 1260 days, 00:45:22.88\00:45:27.56 that this takes place. 00:45:27.82\00:45:30.43 And so way after the time of the crucifixion 00:45:30.66\00:45:33.29 we see Satan pursuing, going after those that 00:45:33.36\00:45:35.70 keep the commandments of God. 00:45:35.73\00:45:37.07 And for those that say we cannot keep the commandments of God, 00:45:37.13\00:45:40.54 what does Revelation 12:17 say? 00:45:40.94\00:45:43.14 These people are keeping the commandments of God. 00:45:43.24\00:45:46.11 And we understand they're not doing it on their own power 00:45:46.21\00:45:48.74 because Jesus Himself said to us in John 15:5, 00:45:48.78\00:45:51.95 "Without Me, you can do nothing." 00:45:51.98\00:45:54.35 But praise the Lord, with Him all things are possible. 00:45:54.48\00:45:58.35 So I praise the Lord for this. 00:45:58.75\00:46:00.46 And I think we see the duration of God's law, 00:46:00.49\00:46:04.16 that we need God's law. 00:46:04.19\00:46:05.93 Why? Because it is a transcript of God's character. 00:46:05.96\00:46:11.27 It tells us, the first four commandments, about 00:46:11.30\00:46:14.17 love God with all of your heart. 00:46:14.30\00:46:15.74 The last six commandments, as we've heard many times on 3ABN, 00:46:16.24\00:46:19.51 it talks about our relationship with our fellow man. 00:46:20.04\00:46:23.08 And so praise the Lord the duration of God's law, 00:46:23.48\00:46:26.28 God's law continues. 00:46:26.35\00:46:27.68 On Thursday we look at, The Superiority... 00:46:27.72\00:46:30.99 It's kind of a hard word for me to say, I don't know why. 00:46:31.19\00:46:33.39 The Superiority of the Promise. 00:46:33.62\00:46:37.13 And before we jump into that, let's look at Galatians 3. 00:46:37.26\00:46:42.33 I know we've spent quite a bit of time in Galatians 3:19-20. 00:46:42.36\00:46:46.23 But let's look at that just for a quick moment. 00:46:47.64\00:46:50.31 Galatians 3:19, "What purpose then does the law serve? 00:46:51.21\00:46:54.81 It was added..." 00:46:54.84\00:46:56.18 Or we just said, added again or repeated. 00:46:56.24\00:46:59.18 "...because of transgressions, till the Seed should come..." 00:46:59.21\00:47:03.35 Meaning Jesus. 00:47:03.42\00:47:04.75 Only Jesus can really solve the sin problem. 00:47:04.79\00:47:07.72 "... to whom the promise was made; and it was appointed 00:47:08.02\00:47:10.83 through angels by the hand of a mediator." 00:47:10.86\00:47:14.10 If we look at Deuteronomy 5:5, it talks about Moses, 00:47:14.46\00:47:18.37 saying, "I stood between the Lord and you at that time 00:47:18.40\00:47:22.30 to declare to you the word of the Lord; 00:47:22.34\00:47:24.31 for you were afraid because of the fire..." 00:47:24.34\00:47:26.21 Remember when the law was given at Mount Sinai. 00:47:26.27\00:47:28.54 And the people, they had their time of cleansing, 00:47:28.64\00:47:31.51 and then they stood there before the mountain. 00:47:31.55\00:47:33.62 Moses was up on the mount, and there was lightning 00:47:33.65\00:47:35.98 and thundering. 00:47:36.02\00:47:37.39 And I just think, a regular thunderstorm kind of 00:47:37.62\00:47:41.86 terrifies me a little bit. 00:47:41.89\00:47:43.32 Greg, my husband, loves thunderstorms. 00:47:43.36\00:47:45.26 He'll go out and sit on the front porch and say, 00:47:45.29\00:47:47.66 "Oh Jilly, come out and enjoy the thunderstorm." 00:47:47.66\00:47:50.53 And I always think, what if I get struck by lightning 00:47:50.57\00:47:53.87 or something, you know. 00:47:53.90\00:47:55.24 I can enjoy it from inside. 00:47:55.27\00:47:56.97 But my grandmother had lightning run through her house. 00:47:57.34\00:48:00.64 The window was open and it came in the front 00:48:00.91\00:48:02.84 and went out the back. 00:48:02.88\00:48:04.28 And ever since that time, I just have this thought of, 00:48:04.31\00:48:06.92 maybe I don't want to be out. 00:48:06.95\00:48:08.28 But you think, when the law was given at Sinai, 00:48:08.32\00:48:10.62 I think that would be the most terrific 00:48:10.82\00:48:12.72 of thunderstorms you can imagine. 00:48:12.75\00:48:14.49 The majesty, the greatness of God. 00:48:14.52\00:48:18.13 And He gave the law through a mediator. 00:48:18.89\00:48:21.36 We know the Ten Commandment law was written 00:48:21.40\00:48:23.33 with His own finger on the tablets of stone. 00:48:23.37\00:48:26.17 But the other laws, we could say the law of Moses 00:48:26.40\00:48:29.10 given at that time, Moses wrote down and then came down 00:48:29.14\00:48:31.57 from the mountain with that. 00:48:31.61\00:48:32.94 And Pastor Ronnie, you brought out the purpose of the law 00:48:32.97\00:48:35.61 being a mirror. 00:48:35.64\00:48:37.05 In James it talks about looking into the law of liberty. 00:48:37.15\00:48:40.88 I remember being at a school board meeting, 00:48:40.92\00:48:43.05 and coming out, this was some years ago, 00:48:43.08\00:48:45.59 coming out from the board meeting and using the 00:48:45.62\00:48:47.99 restroom before I went home. 00:48:48.02\00:48:49.49 And I walked into the restroom, and there's the 00:48:49.52\00:48:51.49 mirror above the sink. 00:48:51.53\00:48:52.86 And I had a piece of broccoli in my teeth. 00:48:52.89\00:48:55.33 And I thought, I sat for two hours at this board meeting 00:48:55.60\00:49:00.90 and discussed with people, and no one said, 00:49:00.94\00:49:03.74 "You know, Jill, you have broccoli from dinner 00:49:03.81\00:49:05.74 sitting in your teeth." 00:49:05.77\00:49:07.14 Because I wasn't there. 00:49:07.18\00:49:08.51 Shelley would have told me, okay. 00:49:08.54\00:49:10.41 So the law does not save. 00:49:10.45\00:49:14.75 The law does not redeem or make righteous. 00:49:14.98\00:49:18.12 But the law reveals my sin. 00:49:18.22\00:49:21.16 It reveals my need of a Savior. 00:49:21.52\00:49:24.16 The law points me to Christ. 00:49:24.19\00:49:27.10 It turns me to Christ. 00:49:27.13\00:49:29.03 Just like the analogy of a tutor. 00:49:29.06\00:49:31.23 We'll study this in a future lesson. 00:49:31.27\00:49:33.57 Verse 24, the law was our tutor to bring us to Christ. 00:49:33.60\00:49:37.51 And the word in the Greek there is not just a teacher, per se. 00:49:37.54\00:49:41.21 But it would be someone who had charge of the life and morals 00:49:41.41\00:49:44.91 of the boys in a family. 00:49:45.01\00:49:46.88 They had power to punish. 00:49:47.95\00:49:49.92 The law arouses the consciousness of sin. 00:49:49.95\00:49:52.25 Also power to instruct. 00:49:52.39\00:49:53.89 One of my friends... I have a ruler sitting here. 00:49:53.92\00:49:56.76 I don't know if you can see this. 00:49:56.79\00:49:58.13 When she was a young mom, her son was three years old, 00:49:58.16\00:50:03.26 and he had done something wrong. 00:50:03.77\00:50:06.37 And what do you do when you do something wrong? 00:50:06.84\00:50:08.77 You get a little whipping with this. 00:50:09.50\00:50:11.01 I had it with a wooden spoon when I was a kid. 00:50:11.04\00:50:13.07 But what she did was she took the ruler. 00:50:13.11\00:50:15.98 So her son was three years old, and you know what he did? 00:50:16.01\00:50:18.48 He took it and he snapped it. 00:50:18.75\00:50:21.65 Three years old, snapped it. 00:50:22.12\00:50:23.99 So she decided, "Okay this is not a good method 00:50:24.02\00:50:26.76 of discipline," right? 00:50:26.79\00:50:28.42 "It's not working with him at three years old. 00:50:28.46\00:50:30.53 I need to do something else." 00:50:30.56\00:50:32.26 The law does have the power to arouse in us the consciousness 00:50:32.29\00:50:35.83 of sin, power to instruct, but it cannot change or redeem us. 00:50:35.86\00:50:39.73 The promise was not given, the lesson brought this out, 00:50:40.04\00:50:43.87 through a mediator. 00:50:43.91\00:50:45.24 The promise was given directly. 00:50:45.27\00:50:46.98 You think about Abraham back in Genesis 15 00:50:47.04\00:50:50.98 when He, God, first made the covenant, verses 1 through 6. 00:50:51.01\00:50:54.38 He came directly and made the promise directly 00:50:54.42\00:50:58.65 to Abraham, the covenant. 00:50:58.69\00:51:00.39 You think about the other direct encounters with God 00:51:00.59\00:51:03.86 that took place. 00:51:04.23\00:51:05.56 I think of Adam and Eve walking in the cool of the garden 00:51:05.59\00:51:08.70 each evening with God directly. 00:51:08.73\00:51:11.10 No need of a mediator. 00:51:11.13\00:51:12.77 Now we know when sin was introduced, 00:51:12.80\00:51:14.77 sin brings fear and guilt. 00:51:14.80\00:51:17.71 And they hid from the presence of God. 00:51:17.87\00:51:20.14 They were afraid. 00:51:20.18\00:51:21.51 I think of Jacob's ladder connecting earth with heaven. 00:51:21.98\00:51:26.88 Jacob when he ran away from home. 00:51:26.92\00:51:30.05 I think of Jesus appearing to Paul directly 00:51:30.29\00:51:33.66 on the road to Damascus. 00:51:33.72\00:51:35.82 But I don't not believe that the promise is superior for the law. 00:51:36.02\00:51:40.36 I believe it's just different. 00:51:40.56\00:51:42.06 It has a different role, different function. 00:51:42.16\00:51:45.17 The law does not save us. 00:51:45.20\00:51:49.20 The law points us to our need of a Savior. 00:51:49.30\00:51:51.97 Jesus Christ is the one who saves us. 00:51:52.27\00:51:54.78 But if we didn't have the law, we wouldn't even know 00:51:54.81\00:51:57.98 our need of a Savior. 00:51:58.01\00:51:59.51 And if we didn't have the Holy Spirit 00:51:59.55\00:52:01.22 to draw us and woo us to Jesus. 00:52:01.32\00:52:03.82 Salvation by grace through faith is a central part 00:52:03.92\00:52:06.96 of the covenant from the very beginning. 00:52:07.02\00:52:08.69 From Adam forward, they were looking forward 00:52:08.79\00:52:11.33 with the sacrificial system, as we've discussed, 00:52:11.36\00:52:13.60 to faith in the coming Messiah and the coming sacrifice. 00:52:13.86\00:52:17.67 For us today, we have faith looking back, 00:52:17.70\00:52:20.67 in Christ's death on the cross and His mediatorial work for us 00:52:20.70\00:52:25.17 right now in the heavenly Sanctuary. 00:52:25.21\00:52:27.21 But the law was still a central part of the old covenant 00:52:27.24\00:52:30.91 in the Old Testament... 00:52:30.95\00:52:32.38 Because without knowledge of sin, 00:52:33.15\00:52:35.05 there's no knowledge of sin without the law. 00:52:35.08\00:52:37.32 There would be no need of a Savior. 00:52:37.35\00:52:38.79 And part of the new covenant in the New Testament 00:52:38.82\00:52:42.62 the law is central. 00:52:42.66\00:52:43.99 I want to look at Hebrews chapter 8. 00:52:44.06\00:52:46.63 We'll take a look at the law being written in our hearts. 00:52:46.83\00:52:50.07 And you mentioned this, Pastor C.A. 00:52:50.10\00:52:51.57 You referenced Jeremiah, and how the law was written 00:52:51.60\00:52:55.34 on tables of stone. 00:52:55.37\00:52:56.71 And we see in Hebrews 8 how it's written on our hearts. 00:52:56.74\00:53:00.14 So let's look at Hebrews chapter 8. 00:53:00.38\00:53:02.84 This is one of my favorite passages. 00:53:03.85\00:53:06.18 Hebrews 8:8-12 00:53:06.48\00:53:12.15 "'Behold, the days are coming,' says the LORD, 00:53:14.22\00:53:17.09 'when I will make a new covenant with the house of Israel 00:53:17.16\00:53:21.03 and with the house of Judah; 00:53:21.06\00:53:22.96 not according to the covenant that I made with their fathers 00:53:23.57\00:53:25.87 in the day when I took them by the hand to lead them out of 00:53:25.90\00:53:28.50 the land of Egypt; because they did not continue in My covenant, 00:53:28.54\00:53:31.97 and I disregarded them,' says the LORD. 00:53:32.01\00:53:34.18 'For this is the covenant that I will make with the 00:53:34.38\00:53:37.05 house of Israel after those days,' says the LORD." 00:53:37.08\00:53:39.48 I want to pause a moment. 00:53:39.51\00:53:40.85 If you read the other covenant in Jeremiah 31, 00:53:40.88\00:53:43.39 it's almost identical. 00:53:43.59\00:53:45.19 The covenant of grace in the Old Testament is still 00:53:45.22\00:53:47.89 the covenant of grace in the New Testament. 00:53:47.92\00:53:50.33 But we see, He writes His law in our hearts. 00:53:50.36\00:53:52.76 "I will put My law in their mind and write them on their hearts; 00:53:53.06\00:53:58.60 I will be their God, and they shall be My people." 00:53:58.63\00:54:03.97 What a beautiful picture of the love and grace of our Father. 00:54:04.34\00:54:07.91 We've talked about the perpetuity of the law, 00:54:07.94\00:54:10.35 how it continues. 00:54:10.38\00:54:11.71 But God's grace is what works in our hearts and lives, 00:54:11.78\00:54:17.65 in us and through us, to write in us the law. 00:54:17.69\00:54:22.19 Write in us His law. 00:54:22.22\00:54:23.83 Write in us the transcript of His character. 00:54:23.86\00:54:27.00 Because that's all the law is, 00:54:27.03\00:54:28.33 is a revelation of who God is and what He is. 00:54:28.50\00:54:31.90 Verse 11, "None of them shall teach his neighbor, 00:54:31.93\00:54:34.34 and none his brother, saying, 'Know the LORD,' 00:54:34.37\00:54:36.20 for all shall know Me, from the least of them 00:54:36.40\00:54:40.08 to the greatest of them. 00:54:40.14\00:54:41.48 For I will be merciful to their unrighteousness, 00:54:41.51\00:54:43.75 and their sins and their lawless deeds I will remember no more." 00:54:43.81\00:54:48.28 God wants to write His new covenant, His law, 00:54:49.15\00:54:53.32 in our hearts and in our minds. 00:54:53.42\00:54:55.16 So I would say the superiority of the promise, 00:54:55.19\00:54:57.69 to me they're both important and they're both needed. 00:54:57.89\00:55:02.73 Praise the Lord. 00:55:03.73\00:55:05.07 You know, this is such a beautiful study. 00:55:05.10\00:55:06.90 And as I said, I know I started of.. 00:55:06.94\00:55:09.24 But our God is a covenant making, covenant keeping God. 00:55:10.17\00:55:15.68 And over 279 times, I believe, in the Old Testament 00:55:16.01\00:55:19.75 the word that is used for God's covenant with us... 00:55:19.78\00:55:24.55 He talks about His "hesed." 00:55:24.89\00:55:26.82 And that is, it's an equivalent to the word for grace 00:55:26.86\00:55:31.19 in the New Testament. 00:55:31.23\00:55:32.56 So we see that from the very beginning 00:55:32.59\00:55:35.66 salvation has been by grace. 00:55:35.83\00:55:37.60 When Adam and Eve sinned, He put the sacrificial 00:55:37.63\00:55:41.04 system into place, pointing to Jesus Christ. 00:55:41.07\00:55:44.04 He started explaining it there, we see in Genesis 3:15. 00:55:44.07\00:55:48.38 Then as He goes forward with the covenant with Abraham. 00:55:48.41\00:55:51.61 But God is progressively unfolding. 00:55:51.78\00:55:55.15 When He gets to the old covenant, it had its place. 00:55:55.25\00:55:58.59 But Jesus is the Mediator of the new covenant. 00:55:58.79\00:56:02.92 Jesus is the surety of the new covenant. 00:56:03.12\00:56:07.10 He is the guarantor that God's promises 00:56:07.13\00:56:10.20 to us will be fulfilled. 00:56:10.23\00:56:11.70 But He's also the guarantor of us to God that 00:56:11.73\00:56:16.40 He will work in us to follow all of God's commandments 00:56:16.44\00:56:22.14 to do God's perfect will. 00:56:22.18\00:56:24.51 To me, this is, we do not obey to be saved. 00:56:24.71\00:56:29.85 There's nothing we can do to add to salvation. 00:56:30.12\00:56:32.72 Zero, zilch. 00:56:32.75\00:56:34.29 But when God works in us by His Holy Spirit, 00:56:34.66\00:56:38.99 and Christ and the Father live in us by faith, 00:56:39.29\00:56:42.73 then we're going to follow God's will. 00:56:43.26\00:56:46.00 Thank you each and every one. 00:56:46.20\00:56:48.00 Jill and Johnny, thank you for the Greek on that word, added. 00:56:48.04\00:56:53.78 That surely helped clarify things. 00:56:53.81\00:56:55.98 Pastor Ronnie, thank you for joining us. 00:56:56.31\00:56:58.45 And Pastor C.A. 00:56:58.48\00:56:59.81 I just love this study. 00:56:59.85\00:57:03.15 I think we're barely scratching the surface. 00:57:03.18\00:57:05.62 But we hope that you're enjoying this study as well. 00:57:05.79\00:57:08.69 And remember, you can go to... 00:57:08.72\00:57:10.06 Download that study so that you can join us. 00:57:13.73\00:57:16.87 For next week, and I'm not sure, let me look here, 00:57:16.90\00:57:19.73 we're going to be talking about, The Road to Faith, next week. 00:57:19.77\00:57:22.84 Our prayer for you is that the grace of our Lord and Savior 00:57:22.94\00:57:25.74 Jesus Christ, the love of the Father, 00:57:25.77\00:57:28.18 and the fellowship of the Holy Spirit 00:57:28.21\00:57:30.08 will be with you always. 00:57:30.28\00:57:32.71 Join us next time. 00:57:32.75\00:57:34.12