Participants:
Series Code: TDY
Program Code: TDY018064A
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00:01 I want to spend my life
00:07 Mending broken people 00:12 I want to spend my life 00:18 Removing pain 00:23 Lord, let my words 00:29 Heal a heart that hurts 00:34 I want to spend my life 00:40 Mending broken people 00:45 I want to spend my life 00:51 Mending broken people 01:10 Hello and welcome to 3ABN Today. 01:12 My name is CA Murray, 01:14 and allow me once again to thank you 01:16 for spending just a little of your, 01:17 no doubt, busy day with us, to thank you for your love, 01:20 your prayers, your financial support 01:22 of Three Angels Broadcasting Network, 01:25 as for just shy of 34 years, 01:28 we have been together in the greatest enterprise 01:32 ever given to the human hands of men and women, 01:34 that is lifting up the mighty and matches name of Jesus. 01:36 So when we say thank you, 01:38 we mean it from the bottom of our hearts 01:39 because we know and we are convicted 01:41 that we could not do what we are called to do 01:43 without your assistance, without your partnership, 01:45 without your love and your prayers. 01:47 So we do say thank you. 01:49 Today is a very special program, 01:50 and you will forgive me if I'm excited, yay, giddy 01:53 because of our subject manner and because of the worthies 01:57 who share this panel with me on this very day. 02:00 We are excited to talk about the anatomy of legalism, 02:03 and we're going to walk through that, 02:05 unpackage that in just a little bit. 02:07 But to assist in that task, we've got Ryan Day. 02:11 Ryan, good to have you here man. 02:12 It's good to be here. 02:13 Ryan is the assistant to the General Manager 02:15 for the Praise Him Channel. 02:17 I like to call him associate. 02:18 I like associate better. Yes, I do too. 02:19 Associate carries a little more panache, 02:21 a little more elan, a little more cachet. 02:23 I just like associate better. 02:25 So I'm changing your title, Ryan, 02:26 you are now the associate. Sounds great. 02:28 Yeah, no more money, but you get... 02:29 That's okay. That's okay. But you get another title. 02:31 And, of course, 02:33 we have our student of the Word and fellow traveler, 02:35 this is our friend, Shelley Quinn. 02:37 Who does so many, many things and hosts so many programs, 02:40 and she is an author and a speaker of some note, 02:43 and, Shelley, always good to have you here. 02:44 Oh, it's always good to be here. 02:46 Yeah. 02:47 I have to say before I introduce John Dinzey. 02:49 Someone asked me some time ago, 02:50 when we do these Bible programs, 02:52 do we get in a room and kind of go over our stuff together. 02:54 And the answer is... 02:55 No! 02:57 No, we don't do that. 02:58 Shelley just got the subject several hours ago. 03:01 So we know that we don't get... 03:02 Actually, 30 minutes ago. 03:04 Isn't that recent? 03:06 John Dinzey is our General Manager 03:07 at 3ABN Latino Channel. 03:10 Johnny, good to have you here, man. 03:11 It's a pleasure to be here once again to study God's Word. 03:13 Praise the Lord. 03:15 We don't. 03:16 And the one of the reasons we don't do that... 03:18 We don't need to do that 03:19 is because truth, I think you all agree, 03:22 is an objective thing. 03:23 It is not subjective. Truth is objective. 03:25 Amen. 03:26 And when you're all studying truth, 03:29 as you come closer to that fixed mark that is truth, 03:33 you also come closer one to the other. 03:36 You know, as you're coming closer to the cross, 03:37 you're drawing closer to each other. 03:39 As you're drawing closer to truth, 03:40 you're always drawing closer to each other. 03:43 And so we have never had to do that 03:46 because the Holy Spirit works through us and with us, 03:51 and as we draw closer to the truth, 03:52 there is a natural sort of symbiosis that takes place, 03:56 and everybody's on the same page. 03:58 So in the 14 years that I've been here and changed. 04:01 And, Shelley, we came about the same time. 04:03 Although you had done some work before, 04:05 we've never had to get into a room 04:06 and make sure we don't step on each other, 04:08 say the wrong thing because we're all studying truth, 04:10 and truth has a way of galvanizing your thoughts 04:12 and bringing everything together. 04:14 So I'm excited as we talk about legalism. 04:18 And I need to say in setting this up, 04:20 you know, there are certain sins, 04:22 certain problems that tend to afflict 04:24 the believer more than other things. 04:28 Pride, we find out, 04:30 it can be resonant in the church. 04:32 Legalism is something that affects the believer. 04:35 You almost have to be a believer to be a legalist. 04:38 You know, if you're not a believer, 04:40 you can't be a legalist 04:41 because it's not important to you. 04:43 But this thing that we call legalism, 04:46 we're going to unpackage that in just a little bit, 04:48 is something that afflicts the church, 04:49 that affects believers in the church, 04:51 affects believers in the church. 04:52 Of all denominations. 04:54 Of all denominations. Yeah, of all denominations. 04:57 Perhaps some more than other, but certainly it is. 05:00 For those who want to be reformers, 05:02 who want to try to live as close to the Lord 05:06 as it possibly can, 05:07 it is a danger that they can step into 05:12 that needs to be guarded against very, very carefully. 05:14 So that's what we're going to talk about. 05:16 And I want to pray on air. 05:17 Shelley, if you would take us to the song 05:19 for just a few moments 05:20 because this is a very important subject. 05:22 Absolutely. 05:23 And we want to spend a little time just talking to the Lord 05:24 before we launch out and sort of wade out into it. 05:27 Heavenly Father, we come in the name of Jesus thanking You, 05:30 O Lord, that You loved us enough 05:32 to send Him to die for us 05:34 while we were yet sinners, 05:35 thanking You for the gift of salvation through Jesus Christ, 05:39 for Your Holy Spirit and Your Word, 05:41 and we ask just now, Father, 05:44 that for each one of us here, 05:47 O Father, fill us with Your afresh, with Your Spirit, 05:51 and, Lord, for all who are hearing our voice, 05:55 we ask in Jesus' name that 05:58 You would give each one of us ears to hear 06:00 what the Holy Spirit would have to say, 06:01 and we pray, Father, 06:05 that this program will help guard our hearts 06:09 against legalism, Lord. 06:11 And so we give You all the praise, all the glory. 06:16 And we thank You, Father, for You know You are with us. 06:19 And we just want to also thank You 06:21 for bringing Ryan in with us today. 06:24 And, Lord, may You be glorified, 06:28 help us to lift Christ high 06:30 that He may draw all unto Himself. 06:33 In Jesus' holy name we pray, thanking You, Father, 06:36 for the answer to the prayer of faith. 06:38 Amen. Amen. 06:39 Amen. 06:41 We do want to mention... 06:42 You know, you hate to keep calling him 06:43 new, new, new, new, new, he is new still. 06:45 There's still just some gloss on him, 06:47 but Ryan Day is an evangelist, a preacher, a teacher, 06:51 a world-class singer, and we're finding out a pretty nice guy 06:55 and a Christian. 06:56 So soon and very soon, we will drop the moniker new, 07:00 he'll just be Ryan Day or Pastor Ryan Day. 07:03 For now, new but not much longer will he be. 07:08 When we define legalism, lords and lady, 07:12 I went to the dictionary and found it actually woefully 07:15 lacking in the depth of definition. 07:21 The dictionary said it's an excessive adherence 07:25 to a law or a formula. 07:28 It is dependence on moral law 07:30 rather than personal religious faith, which is nice, 07:34 but it lacks the depth of what legalism really is, 07:38 and I want to sort of wade into that 07:39 and allow you each to give a definition 07:42 from your heart as to what it is 07:44 because that will sort of begin to set the platform 07:46 for what we're talking about. 07:48 Because legalism, more than a philosophy, is a practice. 07:51 Yes. 07:53 And when you're dealing with a term like that, 07:57 you've got to go a little deeper than the what, 07:59 and you've got to go into the why 08:01 because the what exists because of the why and... 08:06 So we want to sort of wade into that. 08:07 Ryan, I think I'll start with you. 08:09 If you're defining legalism, 08:11 your mind, from your study, what do you have? 08:13 Well, I mean, you know, legalism, 08:15 traveling on the road, meeting lots of different people, 08:18 you meet all kinds of different personalities, 08:20 people with different ideas, perspectives of the gospel. 08:25 And so I see that to a certain extent. 08:27 I see legalism as being someone battling or struggling 08:31 with the concept of a gospel, what the gospel means to them. 08:35 And so in this case, I think a person who is legalistic-minded 08:39 is someone who is, you know, for lack of a better term, 08:44 kind of unsettled or unsatisfied 08:46 with their faith, with the idea that Christ has literally 08:53 become the full substitute for them, 08:55 that there is a sense of I always have to do more, 08:59 you know, there's not enough that I can do, 09:01 I'm not good enough, I'm not perfect enough. 09:03 And so there's always that that idea that 09:07 I must keep working, working, working to please God 09:10 or to bring myself in favor with God, 09:12 that He can give me grace but not until then. 09:16 And there's different variations. 09:18 You're going to run into a lot of people. 09:19 I have personally who, you know, 09:21 don't necessarily consider themselves a legalist, 09:23 but they are. 09:24 But some people are very open. 09:25 They might consider themselves a legalist, 09:27 but there are so many different perspectives or ideologies out 09:30 there concerning the legalistic mindset. 09:33 So that would be kind of a broad, 09:36 a very broad perspective of what legalism or what a person 09:40 with a legalistic mindset might be. 09:41 Well said. Shelley? 09:43 I guess if I were to define it, I would say 09:45 it's a doctrinal position of rules and regulations 09:50 to achieve salvation and spiritual growth. 09:56 This is people who think, you know, one thing 09:59 we know is both the Old and the New Testament 10:02 are very clear that salvation belongs to the Lord. 10:06 And I think that it is a pride issue. 10:13 Let me put it this way. 10:15 To me, the definition of humility is to be absolutely, 10:19 totally dependent upon the Lord. 10:21 That's humility. That was Christ. 10:24 But I think for some people, it's like, 10:28 "I've got to do something to, you know, 10:31 contribute to my salvation, to my spiritual growth." 10:35 And I think that this is something that 10:37 we can be legalistic about 10:40 following these systems of rules and regulations, 10:42 and often they are man-made, 10:44 sometimes it's going back to the Old Covenant. 10:47 There are people who think that 10:49 we still have to follow the Law of Moses 10:52 and the Book of Deuteronomy that was nailed to the cross. 10:56 But, you know, we can be legalistic. 10:58 Let me put it this way. 10:59 Let's say that there is a non-essential doctrine. 11:03 We've got to be careful about heresy. 11:05 But if there is a non-essential doctrine 11:08 that we disagree with someone, 11:11 you can actually get legalistic about it. 11:13 It's kind of like, you know, 11:14 it's got to be according to my interpretation, 11:16 and we're ready to run you out of the church 11:19 if you're not agreeing with everything. 11:21 That's legalistic is too. 11:23 It is. Well said. Well said. Johnny? 11:26 You know, there are extremes even in legalism, 11:30 if you want to call it that, 11:31 because you have the people on one side 11:34 that they don't want to do anything. 11:37 They want to do whatever they want. 11:38 So you have this extreme over here, 11:41 then there are the legalistic people that are... 11:45 You have legalism and then legalistic people 11:48 that they have lost sight of Christ, 11:50 and they work not only to... 11:54 Like Paul, like Paul was without blame, without thought, 12:01 he was a legalist. 12:04 Paul was the perfect legalistic, 12:06 if you want to call it that, concerning the law, 12:09 blameless he would say. 12:11 So a legalist has lost sight of Christ. 12:14 Amen. That's a good way to say it. 12:17 The law or the rules and regulations 12:20 have become his or her God, this object is that. 12:24 Whereas the Christian, you know, Paul says, 12:27 "Be imitators of me as I am of Christ." 12:30 They're not seeking to imitate Christ, 12:31 but they're seeking to have purity in such a way 12:34 that they lose sight of the beauty of holiness. 12:37 Amen. 12:39 And, you know, all false religions 12:41 are work-based religions. 12:43 Very true. 12:45 So what you find that 12:46 not only are people who are legalistic, 12:49 and you always will find this that 12:51 they're very prideful that... 12:52 and I'll just give you an example of a woman that I met, 12:56 "I'm a vegan. I'm this, I'm that. 12:59 I'm ready to be translated." 13:01 And she had no real love in her heart, 13:04 that's being very legalistic. 13:06 But what you'll find is that 13:09 most legalistic people are very judgmental. 13:13 You know, they're very judgmental of others. 13:15 And they kind of take it upon themselves 13:19 to be judge and jury and to... 13:22 Jesus called us to be fishers of men, 13:25 but He didn't call us to be the cleaners of the fish. 13:29 And so I think that we've got to be careful 13:32 that we always show love and mercy to people 13:35 who may not have made it as far along as we have. 13:39 Amen. Well said. 13:40 You know, the thing about most legalists 13:42 is legalists don't have fun. 13:45 You know, it's hard to have fun 13:46 when you're trying to work your way into heaven, 13:48 when you're trying to do something to please a Lord 13:50 who already says, "I love you." 13:52 You know. 13:53 You can't earn that love, that love exists. 13:56 You simply accept and walk into that. 13:58 And if you're trying to earn it, 13:59 you're kind of a miserable person 14:00 'cause you can never be quite good enough. 14:02 And I see legalism as an attempt 14:04 to earn righteousness through, 14:06 and I use this term, stuff that you do. 14:09 And you can't do enough stuff, you know, 14:12 to earn that love which is already there. 14:14 Berkouwer, Dutch reformed theologian, 14:17 wrote a book called Sin, 750 pages, 14:19 I've read it once, once is enough. 14:22 But in that, he talked about, and you know this, 14:26 the four New Testament definitions of sin, 14:28 hamartia, which is missing the mark, 14:29 anomia, which is lawlessness or anarchy, 14:33 malosmus, which is wandering in the dark, 14:38 blind leading the blind, 14:39 and the last one is paraptoma, 14:42 which means intent got parry, 14:43 you've got walking alongside. 14:44 So the one that I see 14:47 that is closest to legalism is paraptoma. 14:50 It's a parallel path, 14:51 but it's not going in the same place. 14:52 It looks like it's right, but it's a parallel path. 14:56 Walking in the in the footsteps of Jesus is the correct path. 15:00 Paraptoma is walking alongside on a parallel path 15:03 but it's not the right path. 15:05 So you're trying to get 15:07 a righteous standing with the Lord 15:09 because you know you have to. 15:10 You need to be righteous. 15:11 But rather than surrendering to a righteousness 15:14 that is provided for you, 15:16 you're trying by your own efforts to please Him 15:19 and to be righteous, and, of course, 15:20 that which is not of faith is sin. 15:23 And without faith it is impossible to please Him. 15:26 So it's got to start with a pre-existing condition. 15:29 I like to say a love relationship 15:30 with the Lord and out of that love relationship 15:32 there comes obedience as a natural consequence. 15:35 So if you're trying to obey without that, 15:39 you are defeated before you begin. 15:43 You really can't go too far. 15:46 Having said that, let's ask this question, 15:48 why then is legalism wrong? 15:53 What makes it wrong? 15:55 Vis-A-vis, and Ryan and I were talking 15:57 about this just a little bit ago, 15:58 what Christ has done on the cross? 16:00 You got the substitutionary death of Christ on the cross, 16:03 then you got me trying to make myself good enough, 16:04 what's wrong with that? 16:06 Yeah. 16:07 I found a quote. 16:10 This comes from the Bible Echo, July 2nd 1894. 16:15 When I found this quote, 16:16 I think it, in a general sense summed up 16:19 the wrongfulness of legalism. 16:21 I'm just going to read it here, it's not very long. 16:23 It says, "All legalism, 16:26 all the sorrow and woe by which you may encompass yourself 16:31 will not give you one moment of relief. 16:34 You cannot rightly estimate sin. 16:38 You must accept God's estimate. And it is heavy indeed. 16:44 If you bore the guilt of your sin, 16:47 it would crush you." 16:49 "But the sinless one has taken your place, 16:53 and though undeserving, 16:55 he has become your guilt. 16:57 By accepting the provision God has made," that's the key, 17:01 "by accepting the provision that God has made, 17:04 you may stand free before Him in the merit 17:08 and virtue of your substitute." 17:10 And we know that substitute to be Christ. 17:12 And so I think, Shelley alluded to it very clearly, legalism, 17:17 I think the ultimate wrongfulness about it 17:20 is that there's a sense of strong pride there. 17:23 I can't accept Christ as my ultimate substitute. 17:27 Even though legalist will verbally say that, 17:29 obviously no one's going to march around and say, 17:31 "You know, I can't really accept 17:33 fully the sacrifice of Jesus." 17:35 But literally, when you get down to the, 17:37 you know, to the brass tacks of this issue, 17:40 you're dealing with someone 17:41 who ultimately is so prideful that it's like, 17:44 you know, "Christ, I know He did this for me 17:47 but I've got to add to that." 17:49 Yes. 17:50 "I've got to do more to make sure 17:51 that that He's fully satisfied with me 17:55 as His child and as a servant." 17:56 And so it really is a legalistic issue of pride 18:01 on the part of the individual. 18:02 Yes. 18:04 Shelley, you touched on that, what you're saying basically, 18:06 Jesus ain't enough. 18:08 That sacrifice was not enough, 18:10 I got to add to that. 18:11 And you've touched on that before, 18:13 Shelley, this idea of pride. 18:15 I got to have a part in my salvation, 18:17 I got to put some bean in a pot. 18:18 It's not enough to just serve me the soup, 18:20 I want to add something to that. 18:21 You know, it's interesting because in Galatians 5, 18:25 Paul's talking to the Galatians who were being agitated 18:29 and stirred up by the Judaizers 18:32 and trying to get them to go back to... 18:35 Or saying, "You got to follow the Law of Moses, 18:38 you've got to be circumcised, you've got to do this, 18:40 you've got to do that." 18:41 And Paul comes out and tells them, 18:43 "Hey, you know, if you're circumcised, 18:46 then Christ is of no prophety." 18:48 But he goes on in verse 4. 18:51 He says that, you know, 18:52 "If you're going to be circumcised, 18:53 you've got to keep the whole Law of Moses." 18:56 And in verse 4, he says, 18:58 "You have become estranged from grace, 19:04 you who attempt to be justified," 19:07 Yes. 19:08 "By law, you have fallen, you're estranged from Christ, 19:13 you have fallen from grace." 19:16 And see, this is something that the pride of man 19:20 and, you know, 19:22 it's interesting what you were saying 19:23 was legalism 'cause I grew up 19:26 caught up on this little windmill type thing 19:32 or what do you call it with a little hamster 19:34 runs on the running wheel? 19:35 Yeah. 19:37 Anyway, that I was taught I had to be perfect 19:40 to be loved by God. 19:41 Now I did grow up a Seventh-day Adventist, 19:43 but I was taught I had to be perfect 19:46 to be loved by God. 19:47 And although, I mean I didn't know what grace was, 19:51 but even when I learned about grace, 19:54 I had a case of the do mores, 19:56 I call it the performance type mentality where 20:00 "Oh, Lord, if I'd only read my Bible more. 20:03 Oh, I need to, you know, make sure..." 20:05 I had a man say recently, 20:07 he was brought up to believe if you didn't spend four hours 20:10 in church on Sabbath 20:11 that you hadn't celebrated Sabbath. 20:14 That's a man, you know, 20:15 you're not going to find a thus saith the Lord on that. 20:17 Right. 20:18 So but it was like, if only I read more, 20:22 if only I prayed more, if only... 20:25 and when I wasn't, 20:26 then I always start to feel guilty. 20:29 To this day, I have to stop and say, 20:31 "Lord, thank You for who You are, 20:33 thank You for grace." 20:34 Because you can get... 20:37 And I didn't think of myself as legalistic 20:40 'cause I felt like I was it 20:41 but I did still feel like 20:44 I needed to do something to earn His favor. 20:46 Yeah. 20:47 You know, and it's of the worldly mind 20:49 but it's logical and it's sequitur. 20:52 The idea that if I do a little Bible reading, 20:54 I feel pretty good, I'm okay, more ought to be better, 20:57 you know. Yeah, yeah. 20:59 If I give up this, that ought to make me better. 21:01 If I pray a little more, that ought to make me better. 21:05 There is something in the back of our minds that says to us, 21:08 "If you do this just do a little more 21:10 and God will love you more. 21:12 There'll be a closer relationship, 21:13 you can maybe get more blessings 21:15 or get more stuff from the Lord, 21:16 just do a little more." 21:18 And the default setting is that's anti-God. 21:22 Amen. 21:23 That's saying to God, "You're not sufficient for me. 21:26 I've got to do something to add." 21:28 And, of course, the moment you do that, 21:29 you're actually walking away from the Lord 21:31 and not walking closer to Him. 21:32 And I think what legalism, the bottom line, 21:36 it opposes salvation by grace. 21:39 Yes. 21:40 It is opposing the grace of our Lord and Savior, 21:44 Jesus Christ, and we know Ephesians 2: 8-10 says, 21:47 "We were saved by grace, 21:48 not by works so that no man could have any boast." 21:54 But we were saved, the Bible says, 21:57 "For the good works He prepared in advance for us to do." 22:00 But it's all to His glory. 22:02 And I think we have a hard time 22:04 giving it all to the glory of God. 22:05 And I agree with you, and it's very interesting 22:07 that Ephesians 2 juxtaposes 10, says, 22:11 "Created for good works 22:12 right behind by grace", as you say. 22:14 So there is a fusion, there is a connection, 22:16 but the connection comes 22:18 when the pre-existing condition 22:20 of relationship with Jesus is in place. 22:22 Amen. 22:23 Then the good works flow out of and not instead of. 22:25 Right. Johnny? 22:27 You know, most people... 22:34 have either this "I'm not good enough to be saved, 22:38 even though Christ died for me on the cross, 22:40 He took my place. 22:42 I'm not good enough to be saved." 22:45 It's a works oriented in their mind 22:48 because you're saying, "I have to do more, 22:50 I have to do more, 22:52 I'm not good enough to be saved." 22:53 And, of course, in all this, 22:55 of legalism and these extremes 22:57 that people go to that that was working in people's minds. 22:59 Amen. 23:00 That was working in people's minds. 23:01 Even though some people have asked for forgiveness, 23:04 and wept before the Lord, 23:07 and they don't commit the same sin again, 23:09 but they're asking the Lord, 23:11 "Lord, forgive me for that sin." 23:12 Because it comes back to their mind 23:13 because it's there, 23:15 the mind keeps a record of it. 23:16 And then devil, of course, 23:18 tries to bring it back to your mind. 23:20 I like to read the Scripture 23:22 because I think it helps illustrate 23:24 a little bit about legalistic mindset. 23:27 And this is Luke 18, 23:29 Jesus says in starting verse 10, 23:31 "Two men went up into the temple to pray, 23:33 the one a Pharisee and the other Republican. 23:35 The Pharisee stood and prayed thus with himself, 23:38 'God, I thank Thee that I am not as other men are, 23:42 extortioners, unjust, adulterers, 23:44 or even as this publican. 23:46 I fast twice in the week, 23:47 I give tithes of all that I possess.' 23:50 And the publican standing afar off would not even lift up 23:53 so much as his eyes unto heaven but smote upon his breast 23:56 saying God be merciful to me, a sinner.' 24:01 And Jesus, as I tell you, 24:03 this man went down to his house justified 24:05 rather than the other for everyone 24:06 that exalts himself shall be abased 24:09 and he that humbleth himself shall be exalted." 24:13 So this is the problem with the legalistic mind. 24:16 He is not going to be justified, 24:18 he's trying and trying and trying, 24:21 but he's never going to feel good enough. 24:24 You see, there's that never going to feel good enough 24:26 and always got to keep trying more. 24:29 And then, of course, we need to find Jesus. 24:33 When you keep your eyes on Jesus and if I be lifted up, 24:35 will draw all men unto me. Amen. 24:37 And Jesus has to be our focus. 24:39 The grace, you know, 24:40 when you understand that Jesus came to save me, 24:45 I am a sinner, He came to save me, 24:48 and there's really... 24:52 nothing I can add to what Christ has done for me, 24:55 you know, I can't add anything that will say okay, 24:59 Christ did all this but because 25:01 you fed a 100 people, or you, 25:06 you know, you went to church every week, 25:09 or, you know, whatever works you want to pile onto that, 25:13 he says, the focus is... 25:15 "By grace you are saved through faith." 25:17 And that not of yourselves, it is the gift of God. 25:19 But then there's the other part, 25:21 "We were created for..." 25:23 Good works. "Good works." 25:24 And, see, that has to come in there 25:26 but there has to be a balance 25:27 because the focus always has to be Christ. 25:29 Now someone is sitting home, 25:30 and either of you can sort of grab onto this, 25:33 and they're saying, 25:35 "It sounds like they're saying that there is no place 25:37 for commandment keeping in the life 25:39 of the safest person." 25:40 And this is attention that the Adventist Church... 25:43 I've just got to say, oh, wait, 25:44 'cause you asked about the relationship with the cross, 25:47 before we go back to the commandment... 25:49 Okay, you want to weigh in on that? 25:50 Can I weigh in on that? 25:51 Because to me there is something 25:53 very special about this. 25:54 What people seem to not understand often, 25:58 especially the legalist is that salvation 26:02 has always been by grace through faith. 26:04 There is an eternal gospel 26:06 and when God announced this covenant 26:11 in Genesis 3:15 and then, 26:13 you know, He's saying, 26:15 "Hey, I'm going to send one who... 26:16 I'm going to send you the deliverer", 26:17 He will bruise the head of the serpent, 26:21 you know, the serpent will bruise his heel 26:22 but he'll bruise his head. 26:24 Then comes Abraham, 26:26 he gets into this everlasting gospel, 26:29 the covenant that he was justified by faith. 26:33 Now people almost go, "Whoops, 26:36 let's cut the record off here and add the Law of Moses." 26:40 But when you read in Exodus, 26:43 the Bible says that when the Hebrew children 26:45 were in captivity, 26:49 God heard their cry 26:51 and He remembered the covenant with Abraham, 26:56 and Isaac, and Jacob. 26:58 So actually, it is a continuation of the... 27:02 even the law was a continuation of salvation by grace, 27:07 and it all was a shadow. 27:10 You know, when He created this sanctuary for them, 27:14 this was a shadow of things that were to come. 27:17 Christ was the body that cast the shadow. 27:21 So when Christ died on the cross, 27:23 what had transpired was the Jews 27:27 had taken the promises of God. 27:30 And they had made them into this system of rules 27:34 and regulations to which they added, what? 27:36 Nine hundred and thirty more, is that what it is? 27:38 And Christ died to set us free from that. 27:43 He was... 27:45 So to me, legalism, when we find people that, 27:48 you know, they got to wear the blue fringe on their coats 27:52 or something, 27:54 you find people that are going back 27:55 trying to earn their way, it is like to me, 27:59 you are saying, Christ didn't do... 28:03 I mean that didn't point to Christ 28:05 and He didn't achieve that. 28:07 And Paul says in Colossians 2:14, 28:09 when he's talking about that old law, 28:12 that curse that was, 28:14 you know, the law brought a curse and it was against us, 28:17 it got nailed to the cross, well, 28:19 let me read what he goes on to say. 28:22 He says in... 28:24 He says after that, of course, 28:28 "Don't let any man judge you in food, 28:29 or drink, or regarding a festival, 28:31 or a new moon, or Sabbath." 28:33 He's referring back now 28:34 to the special annual Sabbath's, the celebrations. 28:39 And then he says, "They were a shadow of things to come, 28:41 Christ is the substance." 28:44 But then listen, he says, 28:45 "Let no one cheat you out of your reward, 28:47 taking delight in false humility, 28:50 worship of angels, 28:52 intruding into those things which he has not seen vainly 28:55 puffed up by his fleshly mind." 28:58 He's talking about the legalist here. 29:00 "Not holding fast to the head 29:02 from whom all of the body nourished 29:03 and knit together by joints and ligaments 29:06 grows with the increase that is from God. 29:09 Therefore, if you died with Christ 29:12 from the basic principles of the world, 29:14 why is though living in the world 29:17 do you subject yourself to regulations, do not touch, 29:21 do not taste, do not handle, 29:23 which are all concerned things 29:27 which perish with the using according to the commandments 29:31 and doctrines of men. " 29:33 Of men. 29:35 And he said, "These things indeed have an appearance 29:38 of wisdom in self-imposed religion," 29:42 so here we go, that's legalist, an appearance, 29:46 it's the cleaning out up the outside 29:49 but there's no inward change. 29:51 Yes. 29:52 And Christ called them whitewashed tombs, and he said, 29:56 "These things have an appearance of wisdom 29:58 in self-imposed religion, false humility, 30:01 and neglect of the body 30:04 but there have no value 30:05 against the indulgence of the flesh." 30:08 So all of these rules and regulations 30:10 that people come up with, 30:13 if you can't find a thus saith the Lord, 30:17 all you're doing is... 30:19 we do this, we do that, and it's not... 30:23 we are taking away from what Christ accomplished 30:26 on the cross for us because it all pointed to Him. 30:29 Yes, well said, well said. 30:31 That's true. The only thing... 30:33 Go ahead. I'm sorry. 30:34 I was looking a little bit at this earlier today. 30:36 And I had to smile and at the same time 30:39 is it was sad because the devil is so sneaky 30:45 that he gets you going in one direction 30:50 and you lose sight of Christ, 30:52 and it was giving some examples 30:55 of some of those little things that were added on, 30:58 for example about the Sabbath itself. 31:00 And one was that 31:03 some of the Jews refused to eat an egg 31:05 because maybe somebody saw 31:08 when the egg was being laid and "Oh, 31:11 that egg was laid on the Sabbath, 31:13 the chicken broke the commandment, 31:14 therefore you cannot eat that egg." 31:16 And I was like, "What?" 31:18 And then the other one, 31:19 "If you were standing up and you took some food, 31:23 if you took two steps and you didn't swallow it 31:27 you were carrying something, 31:28 therefore you were working on the Sabbath." 31:30 You see? So there were extremes to these things 31:33 that took you away from the Lord 31:35 and focused your mind on the works, the works. 31:40 "And so by the works of the law shall no man be," 31:45 Yes. 31:46 "Justified." 31:48 You see. 31:49 And so but again, 31:50 we have to find what does God want us to understand 31:55 because when you read Romans chapter 7, I think, 31:59 it's verse 12 or 2, I don't remember, He says, 32:02 "Therefore the commandment is holy..." 32:05 "Therefore the law is holy, 32:07 the commandment holy and just and good." 32:09 So if the commandment is holy, just and good, 32:12 what is the balance in here? 32:14 Amen. 32:15 Where does the law fit into grace and the law? 32:20 Where does it fit in God's perfect Christian life? 32:25 Where does the law fit? That's what we got to address. 32:28 Yes, and may I say this? 32:29 Yes, say it. Permission has been granted. 32:31 You know, because I grew up 32:34 being taught the commandments were nailed to the cross, 32:36 and then as I studied that sanctuary, 32:38 and you're looking, 32:40 and this was theology in physical form. 32:43 So you find out the commandments 32:47 that God wrote with His own finger 32:49 and whose finger was that? 32:50 The finger that got nailed to the cross 32:52 because the Bible says, 32:53 "Nothing was created, except by Him", right? 32:57 So the commandment, the finger that... 33:00 the commandments that were written 33:01 by the finger of Christ, 33:03 where were they put? 33:04 Under the mercy seat, inside. 33:05 Inside the ark and that is under the mercy seat, 33:09 I mean, mercy always triumphs law, right? 33:13 Yeah. But that... 33:14 what does the ark represent? 33:17 The judgment of the... 33:18 The throne of God. The throne of God, right. 33:20 So that is the foundation of His government 33:22 with the Ten Commandments. 33:23 Now the Law of Moses, 33:25 which is the book of Deuteronomy, 33:27 is basically what they called The Book of the Law, 33:30 it was rolled up and put in a pocket. 33:34 Yes, the Ten Commandments 33:35 were in it as the heart of the covenant 33:37 but the Ten Commandments 33:39 are the heart of the everlasting... 33:40 I mean, the moral law is part of the everlasting covenant, 33:46 the everlasting gospel 'cause you get to Hebrews 33:49 and what does He say in Hebrews 8:10? 33:52 That God is going to write His law on our hearts 33:57 and put Him in our minds 33:58 and then He's going to work in us to will and 34:01 to do His good pleasure. 34:03 And what is interesting is that 34:04 when you go to Deuteronomy 29 and 31, 34:07 you'll find that the part of the law 34:09 that was put on a side was put there 34:12 for a witness against it. 34:14 Against the... 34:15 If you use that language, and then you go to Colossians, 34:17 what's there? One see the cross? 34:18 That part, well, that was a witness against you. 34:21 So there was never any dictum 34:23 made about the Ten Commandments. 34:25 There'll always be a transcript of the character of God 34:28 and as such as eternal as God is Himself. 34:31 You know, this idea of trying to do right, 34:35 you can with a lot of effort for short periods of time... 34:41 accomplish certain things. Very short. 34:43 You know, say, you are a smoker, you can with will, 34:48 some days you get up and you got the will. 34:49 "You know, today, I will not smoke." 34:51 And you don't, you don't. 34:52 So you've done a nice deed. 34:56 But you haven't gotten the victory over smoking 34:59 because you haven't asked for forgiveness, 35:02 that sin can rise up and condemn you. 35:05 So only those things that are done 35:07 through the power of Jesus Christ 35:09 are really washed away, which is why you have this... 35:13 What seems like a confusing thing 35:15 in the 1, 2, and 3 John, three times, he says, 35:17 "Those who are in Christ, do not sin." 35:20 Then in 1 John 2:1, you got "And if you do sin, 35:24 you got an advocate with the Father." 35:25 "So what is up with that? 35:27 You know, where is this truth? Do I not sin? 35:30 Or do I have an advocate with the Father?" 35:31 Of course, Shelley, as you well know, 35:33 that's in the... 35:35 Imperfect tense, which means you do not continue to sin. 35:38 As a pattern of life. Precisely. 35:40 But if somebody trips you up or if you stumble yourself, 35:44 God has taken care of that. 35:46 He's giving you an advocate with the Father, 35:47 you're in Christ the righteous to take care of those things. 35:52 That is something done forensicly outside of you. 35:55 That's a provision that God has made for you 35:59 so that you can be justified and remain justified 36:03 while the sanctification process is taking place 36:06 in your life. 36:07 He's looking at you as better 36:09 while He is actually making you better. 36:12 So those are provisions that He has given for you, 36:14 so you need not try to be sinless. 36:19 What you need to try to do 36:20 is stay on Jesus' side, you know. 36:23 Apply Christ, I say, at the point of attack. 36:26 You know, if he's attacking heart, 36:27 put Christ here. 36:29 If he's messing with your head, put Christ here. 36:30 If he's going through your ears, 36:31 put Christ here. 36:33 But put Christ at the point of attack. 36:34 Amen. 36:36 So when temptation comes, I don't say, 36:37 "How am I not going to not be mad at Ryan?" 36:39 I say, "How am I going to serve Jesus?" 36:40 Amen. 36:41 And then Jesus takes care of that mad thing. 36:43 Amen. That's right. 36:44 But, Ryan, you didn't grow up being taught 36:45 that you to obey the Ten Commandments, 36:48 what convinced you that it was necessary 36:51 to keep the commandments? 36:53 Well, you know, it's interesting 36:54 because I remember in, 36:57 what we call, Sabbath school 36:59 for Sunday keepers at Sunday school. 37:01 So I remember, you know, 37:02 attending Sunday school as a child, you know, 37:05 and every single year was like a cyclical thing, 37:08 and I think probably still in most churches today, 37:11 people do this, and it's quite ironic 37:13 that in Sunday school we teach the children 37:15 the Ten Commandments. 37:16 You know, there's this ongoing, 37:18 you know, there's several lessons, 37:20 and you quote the commandments, 37:21 and, you know have your memory verse 37:23 is on the commandments. 37:24 And so it's taught to you to learn and memorize 37:27 the Ten Commandments as a child. 37:29 But what always confused me as I got older, 37:31 as I started getting up into, you know, the teenage classes 37:35 and then the early adult classes, 37:37 then what was taught to me and told for me to remember 37:40 was then it was quiet reversed when I got older, 37:43 you know what it's... 37:44 Those are done away with, we don't have to keep those. 37:46 Yes. 37:47 And so while there wasn't maybe full sermons delivered 37:51 or any type of entire messages that, 37:53 you know, where pastors, 37:54 you know, secluded or isolated the Ten Commandments 37:56 and were taught us not to keep them. 37:59 It was certainly not something that was taught to keep. 38:01 Yes. 38:03 And so I think the gaping question, 38:05 we've kind of all suddenly brought the commandments 38:08 into this conversation, 38:10 and I think when you're dealing 38:11 with the concept of legalism, 38:12 that's usually where the focus comes down to 38:16 is the Ten Commandments. 38:17 "Do I have to obey the law? 38:19 Do I have to keep the law to be saved? 38:21 Is it necessary for me to perfectly keep 38:25 and obey all the Ten Commandments?" 38:27 And, you know, 38:29 I like to usually tell people in Bible study 38:31 if we're discussing the Ten Commandments is that, 38:33 you know, the Ten Commandments or keeping of the law 38:36 is not the means by which we are saved. 38:37 Amen. 38:39 We do not obtain, for those of you at home, 38:40 obviously we know this, we don't... 38:42 The Bible makes it very clear, 38:43 we do not gain salvation or eternal life 38:46 by the perfect adherence to or keeping 38:49 of the Ten Commandments. 38:50 Amen. 38:52 But I will say that keeping of the law, 38:55 the keeping of the Ten Commandments 38:56 is a natural response of someone 39:00 who is in a saving relationship with Jesus Christ. 39:03 And so I made a note here because someone, 39:06 you know, had this down through the years travelling, 39:08 and going into homes, and visiting people, 39:10 which is a major part of evangelistic ministry, 39:13 you're going to have those questions. 39:14 And so, you know, people try to use personal logic to say, 39:17 "Well, if we're not saved 39:19 by the keeping of the commandments? 39:21 Well, then that must mean also that I cannot miss out 39:24 on the kingdom of God if I break the commandments 39:28 or if I do not keep the commandments." 39:31 And so it's interesting to me that, 39:34 you know, I put a note here, 39:36 can disobedience to God's law cost us our salvation? 39:41 I want to read this text here, 39:42 and I think we'll probably all head in this direction, 39:45 but I think Matthew 7 39:47 is one of the most interesting... 39:49 There's a passage, and, of course, as you know, 39:51 Matthew 7 is the continuation and ultimately the ending 39:55 of Jesus' sermon on the mountain. 39:58 And Jesus says this in Matthew 7:21, 40:01 "Not everyone who says to Me, 40:04 'Lord, Lord,' shall enter the kingdom of heaven." 40:06 Amen. Okay? 40:08 "But he who does the will of My Father in heaven." 40:12 And so the question, 40:13 I think, many people need to be asking is, 40:15 "What is the will of God biblically?" 40:17 Now I think there's many scriptures 40:19 that clearly communicate this, you know, 40:21 across the spectrum of the Bible. 40:23 But one text that comes to my mind 40:25 is when you're reading Psalms 40:8, 40:27 this is what the psalmist wrote, he says, 40:28 "I delight to do Your will, O my God, 40:32 and Your law is within my heart." 40:34 So there's kind of a correlation there, 40:36 doing the will of God, your law is within me. 40:39 So continue reading, He says, 40:41 "But those who do the will of My Father in heaven, 40:43 many will say to Me on that day, 40:45 'Lord, Lord, have we not prophesied in Your name? 40:48 Cast out demons in Your name? 40:49 Done many wonders in Your name,'" 40:50 and I like to pause here and mention that, 40:53 who does these things? 40:56 First of all, who calls the Lord Lord? 40:57 Yeah. Believers. 40:59 Okay, so Jesus is addressing professed believers, 41:03 people who would call out on the name of God. 41:05 And then He says down here, notice, it says, "And then..." 41:07 This is verse 23, "And then I will declare to them 41:11 I never knew you, depart from Me 41:14 you who practice..." 41:16 And this is the New King James Version, "Lawlessness." 41:18 King James Version will say "iniquity", same thing. 41:21 "I never knew you," when I read this passage as a young man, 41:24 this is what really got me, and to answer your question, 41:26 as a young man, I read this passage, 41:28 and I remember thinking to myself, 41:29 "Lord, is it possible that I could be going 41:33 through this entire life telling everyone, 41:35 "Yeah, I'm saved, I'm saved, I know Jesus," 41:38 but get down to the end of time 41:40 only to hear those most haunting words 41:42 come from my Savior, "I don't know you.'" 41:44 Amen. 41:46 And I remember God led me on a very short 41:48 but very profound study of the Word. 41:52 We all know the text where Jesus says in John 17: 3, 41:55 "And this is eternal life that they may," 41:58 there's the word, "know you." 42:00 Remember when Jesus said, "Depart from Me, 42:02 I do not know you." 42:03 So here it is, John 17:3, 42:06 "And this is eternal life that they may know you, 42:08 the only true God and Jesus Christ 42:11 whom You have sent." 42:12 So it's eternal life to know God, 42:15 and the Greek word I found there for the word "know", 42:17 it's an interesting word, you pronounce it ginosko. 42:20 And it literally means, in the original Greek, 42:22 to know very close, to know in a deep, intimate way. 42:26 So not just, you know, "Oh, yeah, that's John, 42:29 I've heard of him," but to really truly know him. 42:33 I was reading 1 John 2:3, one day. 42:38 Again, that question in my mind, 42:39 "Lord, how can I truly know You?" 42:41 Again, with this idea in my mind that, you know what, 42:44 "I want to be saved, I want to truly know God, 42:46 but, Lord, I've been told 42:48 that I don't have to be obedient to Your law 42:50 as long as I just love Jesus and continue on with, 42:53 you know, my relationship." 42:55 But right here, 1 John 2:3, he says, 42:57 "Now by this, we know," same word, ginosko, 43:02 "that we know Him," ginosko, "if we keep His commandments." 43:07 And then in verse 6, he says, "He who says he abides in Him 43:10 ought himself also to walk just as He walked." 43:15 And you mentioned that earlier. Yeah. 43:17 Well, I deliberately stopped before 3 43:18 because I figured someone's going to hit it. 43:20 Amen. It's too strong not to... 43:22 Absolutely. 43:24 Yeah. I have to... 43:26 He is sitting here punching me because he was... 43:28 I did not punch you, I'm sorry. 43:31 Anyway, he translated my sermon this past Sabbath, 43:36 and my sermon this past Sabbath was "Know That You Know". 43:39 And so a lot of this was in here. 43:41 But I have to just say this 'cause it's so important. 43:45 Every now and then, someone will say, 43:47 "Oh, you're a legalist," 43:48 'cause you believe in keeping the Ten Commandments. 43:52 Let me read to you why I keep God's commandments. 43:57 1 John 5:3, I mean, you can just go to 1 John, 44:00 and you're going to have the whole thing here. 44:03 He says, "This is the love of God 44:07 that we keep His commandments, 44:10 and His commandments are not burdensome." 44:12 Amen. 44:13 See, when you look at the Ten Commandments, 44:15 number one, they were written in the past tense. 44:19 You know what that means? I mean, in the future tense. 44:22 In future tense. Yes. 44:23 No! Past tense. 44:25 No, they were written in the past tense, yes. 44:27 Yes, past tense. Because... 44:29 And what that means is it's promised. 44:31 God was saying, "Hey, when you're 44:33 in covenant relationship with Me, 44:35 you're not going to have any other gods before Me. 44:38 You're not going to bow down to idols. 44:41 You are not going to take My name in vain. 44:44 You can't wait to celebrate the Sabbath with Me. 44:47 You won't... 44:49 You'll honor your father and mother, 44:50 you won't commit murder, adultery, or you won't steal, 44:52 you won't bear false testimony, 44:54 you won't covet because that's what living 44:57 in covenant relationship with Me is all about. 45:01 I'm going to do this for you 45:02 as I work in you to willing to do your good pleasure." 45:05 And I guarantee you, if I say, 45:07 "Well, I don't serve any other gods." 45:09 Nobody says, "Oh, you're legalistic, 45:11 but you're keeping that commandment." 45:14 It is obedience is, to me, the highest form of worship. 45:20 That is true. 45:22 It is an expression of loyalty and love to God. 45:28 And He says right here, this is love for God 45:32 that you obey His commandments. 45:34 So it's as we are walking in obedience, 45:41 this is where it is, and, you know, 45:42 Hebrews 5:9, nobody ever uses that scripture. 45:45 You know what the Hebrews 5:9 says? 45:48 It says that, "He, Christ, once He was perfect, 45:51 He became the author of eternal salvation 45:55 for all who obey Him." 45:58 Obey Him, yes, yes. 45:59 Obedience, you cannot get around it. 46:02 And even in our early church, 46:05 there was this tension between obedience and grace 46:09 and thank goodness, grace won out. 46:11 But not to the neglect of obedience, 46:14 it's just where does the obedience come from. 46:16 Yeah. Truth be told, when... 46:19 Everybody here is married, if someone said, 46:23 "Shelley, you're not allowed to cheat on JD." 46:26 You've been married how many years, couple? 46:27 Thirty something plus, yeah. 46:28 Yeah, more or less. Yeah, who's counting? 46:30 You're not allowed to hear... Is that legalism? 46:33 No. Yeah. Ryan, is it... 46:35 You have a cute little wife, is that legalism? 46:37 Absolutely not. Yeah. 46:38 And it's funny because I know where you're going with this. 46:40 When you go through those Ten Commandments... 46:42 Precisely. 46:43 No one ever considers it legalism 46:45 to not worship other gods 46:46 or to, you know, bear false witness, or... 46:49 But there is one. There is one. 46:50 There is one of the ten 46:52 that people tend to automatically associate 46:55 with a legalistic mindset. 46:58 And, of course, we know 46:59 that's the keeping of the fourth commandment, 47:00 the Sabbath. 47:02 Yeah. Amen. 47:03 Which is why in John 14:15, He says, "If you love me," 47:05 preexisting condition, "keep My commandments." 47:07 And if you don't love Him, 47:09 you really can't do that anyway. 47:10 It has to be a response of love. 47:13 I teach people because my wife has cold feet, 47:15 and, you know, 47:18 just when you're in that embryo, 47:19 getting ready to go to sleep, you're just about there, 47:24 and here comes the cold feet, it's like, "Ooh, I'm awake." 47:26 Yeah, that's right. But it's... 47:29 You've been married X number of years, 47:31 that's you signed on for, you know 47:33 and there are other kind of things you sign up for, 47:35 and it's not burdensome. 47:37 You know, it's part of the relationship. 47:39 Well, that's exactly what you've been saying. 47:42 You see, when the focus is 47:44 I love God, I want to please Him, 47:47 I want to serve Him, I want to honor Him, 47:51 then keeping the commandments is a delight, not a burden, 47:55 not a way to salvation. 47:57 But you do it because you love God. 48:00 And that's what it is. 48:01 He says, the first thing in Great Commandment, 48:03 "Love the Lord, your God with all your heart, 48:05 all your mind, all your soul." 48:08 This is the reason for keeping the commandments 48:10 and your neighbor as yourself. 48:12 And so this love of God leads us to seek to please Him 48:18 in all points, in all things. 48:22 And we have to remember, we don't obey by our own power, 48:26 even obedience is by grace. 48:27 Yes, it is. 48:29 It is as, "God works in us 48:30 to will and to do His good pleasures," 48:31 is what He says in Philippians 2:12. 48:33 Let me throw in two... 48:35 I know you're running out of time, 48:36 I want to throw these two in. Romans 6:16. 48:39 "Do you not know that to whom you present yourself 48:43 slaves to obey, you are that one slaves 48:46 whom you obey, whether of sin," 48:49 and we're going to either be on one side or the other, 48:51 "you can either be a slave to sin 48:55 which leads to death 48:57 or of obedience leading to righteousness." 49:00 Christ came to destroy the works of the devil, 49:03 and He wants to work in us 49:05 to will and to do His good pleasure, 49:07 to lead us on obedience so that we are... 49:10 It's righteousness by faith, 49:13 but listen to what 1 John 3:7 says, 49:18 "Little children, let no one deceive you, 49:20 he who practices righteousness is righteous, 49:23 just as he is righteous. 49:24 He who sins is of the devil, 49:26 for the devil has sinned from the beginning. 49:28 For this purpose, the Son of God was manifested 49:30 that He might destroy the works of the devil." 49:33 Yes. So faith without works is dead. 49:36 When we come to the Lord and believe, 49:38 we yield, we surrender, control to Him, 49:41 then He works in us to will and to do. 49:44 He is not going to lead us down the path of lawlessness 49:47 which is sin. 49:50 I like to say this because... 49:53 In a way, for me, it's an easy way to look at it, you know. 49:56 Do we have to keep the commandments? 49:58 And there are those that say, 49:59 "Oh, no. We don't have to keep the commandments." 50:02 Well, when you go to heaven, 50:03 is it going to be okay to steal, to kill, 50:07 to commit adultery, to covet, to have other gods? 50:11 Of course, you're going to say no. 50:13 And if it's not going to be okay in heaven, 50:15 it should not be okay on this earth. 50:17 And so I like to read here in James 2 50:21 and because of time, read only verse 11. 50:25 No, no, verse 12. 50:26 "So speak ye and so do, as they that will be judged 50:30 by the law of liberty." 50:33 Wow, look at that James, also the law of liberty. 50:36 That's right. 50:37 Because if you don't, you're going to sin 50:39 and you're going to be a slave to sin, 50:41 you don't have liberty, you don't have Christ. 50:42 Amen. 50:44 You need Christ, Christ is liberty, 50:46 loving Him is seeking to please Him. 50:49 All right, love it, love it, love it. 50:51 That's right. 50:52 Let's do this because we're running out... 50:53 I want you to prepare your minds and hearts 50:55 for a short summary statement 50:57 after we come back from our news break 50:59 'cause this hour has gone so incredibly fast. 51:01 I want to just touch on a text very, very quickly. 51:04 We're in 1 John, and we could really 51:05 just sort of park the car and pull over to the curb 51:07 at 1 John and stay there. 51:08 It's very good. And exhaust this whole thing. 51:11 But 1 John 2:7, 51:13 you know, someone ran up to me, and they said, 51:15 "Bible's talking out of both sides of its mouth." 51:17 "Brethren, I write no new commandment to you 51:19 but an old commandment, 51:20 which you have heard from the beginning. 51:22 The old commandment is the word 51:23 which you've heard from the beginning." 51:25 Then next verse, verse 8, 51:26 "Again, a new commandment I write to you, 51:29 which thing is true in him and in you." 51:32 And they were saying, "Well, the Bible is speaking 51:33 out of both sided of its mouth." 51:35 It is not. 51:36 I don't remember the Greek words, 51:37 one sounds like mayonnaise, just that's in my mind. 51:40 But what Christ is saying, "It's not a new thing, 51:42 it's a new thing to you." 51:44 Yes. 51:45 Because you're thinking that you're free 51:47 from keeping commandments 51:48 because of what I did, that's the "in Him" part. 51:49 It's not new. 51:51 It's the same commandment from the very beginning. 51:53 It is not brand new. 51:54 It's new to you because you haven't heard it before. 51:56 It's like buying a new car, a second-hand car, 51:58 it's new to you, but it's not a new car, you know. 52:01 Same old car, just new to you. 52:03 And Christ is saying that, "It's not..." 52:04 "It's the same old gospel, the same truth that 52:07 that we are saved by grace, 52:09 not through our labors or through our efforts." 52:13 We're going to go to our news break now, 52:14 and then I want you to prepare, each of you, 52:16 for a closing statement, a little bow tied on this 52:19 very, very interesting subject. 52:21 Let's go to the news break just now. |
Revised 2018-09-13