Oct. 6, 2024

Christianity and the Law Pt 1

Christianity and the Law Pt 1

We look at the history of how Christianity has understood the law of God and how it relates to Christians.

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We look at the history of how Christianity has understood the law of God and how it relates to Christians.

WEBVTT

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All right, if you have a Bible, you can go

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ahead and open up to James will be there just

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for a couple of minutes. Then we're going to be

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looking at a lot of scriptures in the first hour,

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a lot of scripture in the first hour. So for

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the last I'd have to go back and look at

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the beginning date. For the last few weeks, it's been

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definitely been a few weeks. We have not only here

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it behind the pulpit, but also behind the microphone. For

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the podcast, I've been doing a lot of discussion about

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sin in the life of a believer and how the

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church tries to respond to it, and how it fails

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to respond to it, and how it almost creates a

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fraudulent narrative about sin and the life of a believer.

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So we've been talking a lot about that.

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We really started by kind of looking at how lordship

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would address the issue, and it doesn't do a very

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good job in addressing the issue and basically just throws

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people out of the Kingdom of God. And if you fail,

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then they just disassociate themselves with you because you're just

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an unbeliever. So we looked a little bit about that,

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and we started looking at a lot of other different

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things in relation to this. So and then also I

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came across the book Six Secrets of the Christian Life

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and started working through that and looking at their theory.

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We also spent some time looking at kind of throughout

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church history how different theological systems have kind of understood,

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you know, how to deal with the reality of sin.

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We've talked about those. So we're going to go back

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to some of the things that we've established. Some of

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this I've repeated countless times on the podcast. I think

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I repeated some of this for the first time last

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week here at the church. But according to the book

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Six Secrets of the Christian Life, they try to put

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forth an idea to try to explain sin and the

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life of a believer. And remember they started with this

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Number one. I've got a bunch of things written down here.

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Number one, the Christian body is dead. All right, So

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the physical body is dead. Now what did they mean

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by that, Well, well you'll find out in a minute.

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So number one, the Christian body is dead. Number two,

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the nature and heart of a believer is completely changed.

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It is transformed. You basically have a sinless nature, a

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sinless heart. There is no sin left inside of you, basically,

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at least in your heart or nature. Okay. Number three,

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the body, because it is dead, cannot respond to that

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new nature or that new heart, or you can use

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those synonymous. We'll get into that discussion here in a minute.

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So what was Number one? Body is dead. Number two,

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everything on the inside is great. Okay, so there's no

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problem on the inside of you.

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But number three respond to all of.

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That wonderful stuff on the inside. So number four, a

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resurrection of the body must happen. Now this is not

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referring to a resurrection in eschatology, but a resurrection must

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happen in our life because and then logically, what should

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that mean. Well, once my body is resurrected and I

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have everything is perfect on the inside, at least theoretically,

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what should be the end result should be no sin? Okay.

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I haven't gotten far enough in the book to know

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if they ever acknowledge that. I don't think they're ever

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going to acknowledge that. But okay, However, once you move

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from that chapter that kind of explains that problem or

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explains it that way, it's really weird because they immediately

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backtrack on the resurrection talk and then they kind of

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talk about a progressive transformation. Well that's not a resurrection,

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that's something other. So then they said, remember what do

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we need? We need a mirror. So what we need

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is we supposedly if we look into our Bibles, then

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will slowly, surely be transformed. But that's different than the resurrection,

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they said, which is kind of confusing.

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So we looked at that.

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Then on the podcast, I said, Okay, here's what we

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need to do. We need to get a knife and

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we need to open up one of these dead bodies

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and see if we can figure out exactly what's going on.

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So then it started a long discussion on the podcast

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about how Christians understand the internal makeup of a believer,

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and it gets so confounding and confusing. Right, so do

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we have as a believer? Do we have a new

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heart and an old heart? Or does a new heart

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replace the old heart? So do we have two hearts? Right?

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Not only that?

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Is heart and nature the same? Or are they separate?

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So do we have a new heart but old nature?

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Or we have new heart and new nature? Right? Or

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is heart, nature and mind? Are they all the same?

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Are they different? And it's just confounding and confusing because

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Christians put it this way, nobody has a clue, right,

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It's just it's completely confusing. If you go back to

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Hebrew thought, then well they kind of group all of

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this together. So it didn't just we couldn't come up

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with a good answer. We couldn't come up with a

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good answer. So we looked at the Christian body is dead.

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The nature and heart is changed. If again separating them

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that way, the body can't respond to the new nature.

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Our resurrection must have happened. We need a mirror, I said,

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get a knife. We opened up the body. Nobody can

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really explain how the makeup works. Then it got really weird.

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Then they said to go to James chapter one, verse

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twenty two and twenty three. James Chapter one, verse twenty

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two and twenty three. And we read these words, but

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be doers of the word and not hearers, only deceiving

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your own selves. For if any man be a hearer

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of the word and not a doer, he is like

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unto a man beholding his natural face and a glass,

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For he beholdeth himself, goeth his way and straightway, forgetteth

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what manner of man. He was? All right now when

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you read James one twenty two through twenty three. Now,

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I don't have time to go back through all of this.

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I spent over an hour in the podcast dealing with this,

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and this is the most confounding, confusing thing I may

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have ever read in my life. But okay, when you

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read James one, twenty two and twenty three and it

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says as a man beholds his natural face, how do

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y'all interpret what's being said there? Okay? Is this giving

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us some kind of spirit siritual insight or how do

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you understand this?

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Just just giving an illustration?

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Okay, just an illustration, and the point is what's the

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point of the illustration? So okay, all right, So it's

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not trying to give us some great spiritual insight, right, okay? Well,

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according to six Secrets of the Christian Life, secret number

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three is that what that text is saying is the

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way to kind of fix your Christian life is that

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when it says you behold your natural face, what that

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actually means is that you open the Bible and what

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you see is not your sin, but what you see see, well,

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you see your new nature. And that when you see

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your new nature, the whole secret of the Christian life

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is seeing your new nature and then attempting to live

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consistent with your new nature, so that the answer to

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the problem is you just need to see how you've

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been created in the image of God and now you

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have a sinless heart and a sinless nature. You just

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need to see that reality because if you see that reality,

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then maybe that reality will slowly become more of a

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reality in your life. Why, I don't know why. Well,

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I mean, there's a million problems with that because it's

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based on the presupposition of what that everything inside of

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us has been completely changed, right, meaning then where does

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sin come from?

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What comes from?

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Of course, according to their theory, because the body is dead.

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So the way to wake up the body, according to

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them is look into the mirror. I guess once again,

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then go back to the mirror concept. And now what

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you need to see is not only do we see

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God when we look at the scriptures, we see ourselves.

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Now typically when we say that, we think of that

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in a negative way, right, when we see ourselves, what

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do we see sin?

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But they're like no, no, no, no no.

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If you really look into the word, what you see

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is you see God. And when you see God. You

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know that you have been created in a sense, recreated

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in His image. You have a sinless nature, you have

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a sinless heart. So now you can get your dead body,

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hopefully to become more responsive because now it sees what

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it really is. So the problem is you just don't

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see what you really are. You're beholding the wrong concept.

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You just need to see how perfect you are and

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then that perfection can start becoming a reality. No, no,

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this comes from free grace movement, the opposite of lordship.

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Right, but no matter.

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The point is whether your lordship, whether your free grace,

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whether your holiness, It doesn't matter the movement. Everyone has

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to deal with what reality that we still sin. But

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nobody will.

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Just accept that.

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Nobody wants to acce Christianity is unwilling to accept it.

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Now we talked about we talked a little bit about

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this last week when we went through all the philological

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systems and how they deal with sin. Right and Lutherans

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and Luther and Augustine with but the only two who

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really acknowledge what we still sin.

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We still sin.

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Almost everyone else tries to say, oh, you've been transformed.

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So this is a bizarre way of looking at it,

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and I don't even know what to do with that.

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So then from there we ended up in Psalm one eight.

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If you want to go to one O eight.

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This is again Weich spent about an hour and something

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on the Podcas asked about this as well, someone Owait.

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Now, the only reason we.

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Ended up in someone o Wait is because I was

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getting so frustrated with the book and so frustrated with

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all of this.

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I went to someone await to try to find.

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Something else to talk about because I was losing my mind.

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So I went to someone Oh wait, this got bizarre

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because I was reviewing a sermon. I only made it

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five minutes into the sermon because it was the most

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ridiculous thing I've ever heard in my entire life. But

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someone o Wait, Oh God, my heart is fixed. Okay.

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What we found out here is that David's heart was immutable.

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David's heart was immutable, unchangeable, and which was bizarre beyond me.

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But you see where it says my heart is someone

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await verse one. Well, so then what we decided to

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do is we spent in over an hour trying to

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understand the Hebrew understanding of heart, which sounds like if

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if you really look at their understanding of heart. That

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would involve everything. It would heart and nature would have

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to be used synonymous. So we thought we were going

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to get somewhat better with that, but then it gets

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confusing because in Hebrew thought, heart and mind are basically

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the same thing.

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But then that becomes very confusing because.

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Paul and Roman seven seems to separate the mind from

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the rest of the person. So we still and some argue, well,

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Paul was no longer using Hebrew thought, he was using

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Roman thought, so we don't have an answer to that either.

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But we started again still trying to figure out what

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is the makeup of a Christian? Do have a new mind?

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Do you have a new heart?

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What's new? What's old?

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And again nobody can even articulate it. Let's just remember this,

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going through all of this, what do we end up

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with after looking at all of those things? And I

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still got Secret four, five and six to work through.

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But what do we what's the end result after all

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of that?

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We still sin.

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And nobody can just admit that fact. All right, So

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here's what we're going to do for the next Saturn't

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and how long we've got Now? All right, we've got

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about forty five minutes.

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Here's what we're gonna do.

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We took a journey through Christian theology looking at how

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they understood Christians and sin, right, and we saw some

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just bizarre, well almost all of them. No matter how

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hard they tried, the end result, they still had to

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acknowledge what we still they didn't. They were had a

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hard time admitting it, but they couldn't because Christians just

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don't know what to do with that fact. Right, So

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now we're gonna do this. All right, We're going to

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start with this. We're gonna go through a bunch of

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scriptures here and you'll start figuring out what they are

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about here in a minute or all right, you're ready,

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got a Leviticus chapter eleven, Leviticus chapter eleven. Leviticus chapter eleven.

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All right, everybody there, Leviticus chapter eleven. Start in verse

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forty four. For I am the Lord your God, you

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shall there ye shall therefore sanctify yourselves, and you shall

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be holy, for I am holy. Neither shaw you defollow

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yourself with any manner of creeping things that creepeth upon

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the earth. All right, So just may you may write

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down the scripture reference and let's just write down what

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are the people being called to do here?

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Two things.

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Sanctify themselves, which is an interesting concept, right. Why is

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that an interesting concept?

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Well?

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Because yeah, tip the Christian Church says we don't do it,

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God does it for us, which, then you see always

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the problem that leads to like this is what's maddening

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to me listening to sermons. Right if you say God

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is the one who doesn't what's the problem with that? Right? Well,

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if if God is the one sanctifying me, any lack

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of sanctification in my life, it's God's fault.

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Nobody wants to admit that, but it is.

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You say, well, no, no, no, no, no no no

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no no no, we do it. Well if we do it,

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well then it's not God doing it. So how much

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how this is a how sanctified can a sinner make

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themselves if the sin is inside of them? Well we

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know this, we know we can't get what we can't

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get the perfect so meaning I don't even know what

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that even means at the point, right, it becomes ridiculous.

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What's the second thing that said, so sanctify ourselves? Okay?

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Does that come next? Or is there something before after? Right? After, Yeah,

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you shall be holy? How holy? For I am holy?

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What's the holiness standard here? Yeah? I need to be

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holy because God is holy. So the holiness being called

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for is God's holiness? And how holy is God? Now?

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Immanally?

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When you read that, when you read that in twenty

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twenty four, in this church, we should all read that

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and do what we should be what unable? Now? Most

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of your Christian life, when you heard sermons that read this,

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you were given the impression.

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What that you can?

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Does? Everybody understand that that is preached in church after

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church after church after church as if you can do

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it now, they'll say, but God is the one who

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does it for us. But again, if God is the

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one who does it for us, then what should be

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the end result? We should be able to make it? Right?

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All right?

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So just see that?

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And what's is there another thing here? Someone just mentioned it?

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Don't defil yourself with any manner of creeping things that

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creep it upon the earth. Now, this obviously is connecting

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this to mosaic laws, right, okay, But the point is

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sanctify yourself, be holy as God is holy, and do

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not defile yourself.

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All right?

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That's that sounds pretty pretty straightforward. Does it not. Go

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to Leviticus chapter nineteen. Yes, what does he say at

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the end? Yeah? All right, so once again it's just stressed.

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It's distressed. There's no where, there's no question about this.

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You can't modify this. The holiness being called for is

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the holiness of God. Look at Leviticus nineteen two. What

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does it say, speak unto all the congregation of the

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children of Israel, and say unto them, you should be holy,

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for I the Lord your God, am holy. Once again,

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what holiness is he calling for?

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His holiness?

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All right? That's that's pretty concerning, is it not. Go

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to Leviticus chapter twenty. Leviticus chapter twenty, everybody there, look

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at verse seven. What do we read? Sanctify yourselves therefore.

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And be holy?

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For I am the Lord your God, and you shall

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keep my statutes and do them. I am the Lord

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which sanctify you. Oh, there is as interesting. We got

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to sanctify yourself and God doing the sanctifying. All right, already,

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that creates kind of a riddle. But the bottom line

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is what should we be holy? As God is holy?

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How about Deuteronomy chapter eighteen. Deuteronomy chapter eighteen, verse thirteen.

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What does it read? How does it read thou should

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be perfect with the Lord that God. Some translations, guess

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how they translate it blameless. Now that's interesting blameless because

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a lot of people know blameless from one Timothy where

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it gives the requirements of a pastor to be blameless.

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Everyone is called to be the exact same way. Everyone

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will put that response that standar on the pastor that

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that's a responsibility for everyone. Everyone should be held to

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the same standard. Now, how we typically try to say

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blameless and so a lot of times, well they'll say, well,

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the pastors to be blameless, and then they kind of

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modify exactly what that means. Well, the word blameless here

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means uh, some translations perfect are wholehearted? Immediately, what should

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everyone doll say? Oh, to be wholehearted? That would mean

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your entire heart is consecrated and dedicated to whom God. Okay, yeah,

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it does that work behind the pulpit or in the view. Okay,

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come on, is anyone blameless? Now? If you say blameless?

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Now you can do a lot of modifying. Everyone loves

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to play games with this stuff, right, But here's the thing.

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What's God's standard perfection, any lack of perfection? Am I blameless?

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If you'll just be like remotely honest with yourself? Right? Okay? Yeah? Yeah?

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How about Exodus chapter nineteen. Well, that's going to be

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the issue because ninety nine percent of churches would argue

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that you're wrong. Exodus nineteen, starting verse five, nineteen five.

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What do we have here? If you will obey my voice? Indeed,

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you can keep my covenant, and you shall be a

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peculiar treasure unto me above all the people, for all

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the earth is mining. You should be unto me, a

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kingdom of priests and a holy nation. These are the

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words which thou shalt speak until the children of Israel.

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All right, So once again there's this call to be

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something to obey. Go to Psalm fifteen. Now I remember

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struggling with this psalm greatly as a young believer. Countless times.

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There were countless times if I had an opportunity to preach,

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I thought about trying to preach this psalm, right, and

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Lordship taught me how to interpret it. Which, yeah, I

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regret to this day that I ever bought MacArthur's book.

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All right, but here we go, Psalm fifteen, Verse one,

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our Lord, who shall abide in thy tabernacle, who should

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dwell in thy holy hill. Now, this immediately basically is that,

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how could we translate a paraphrase Psalm fifteen to one

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who gets into heaven? And then what does it say here?

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That walketh up brightly, worketh righteousness, speaks truth in the heart,

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back biteth not with his tongue, nor doeth evil to

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his neighbor, nor take up a reproach against his neighbor.

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And whose eyes of all person is contemned. But he

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honorth them that fear the Lord. He that swearth to

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his own hurt, and changeth not, He that putteth not

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his money to usury, or taketh reward against the innocent.

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He that do with those things.

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Shall never be moved. Now, how does lordship interpret that? Yeah,

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this is the proof of your salvation. You've got to

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do these things to prove that you're saved right now. Amazingly, though,

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there's a lot of things not mentioned there, okay, but

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that we typically focus on. Right It focuses on maybe

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sins that people wouldn't even think about. But that's a

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lordship handles in what But anyone who's lordship what should

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they immediately do when they start reading through that right?

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And you should be like, ok, what what does it

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mean to walk up rightly?

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Right?

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Right? But it's still giving the same moral requirement to

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be basically in the presence of God right, So same

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concept is still there. Right. So the end result is,

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if you look at that list and you're honest with yourself,

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can you see yourself there at some in some way,

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shape or form being guilty of something? I mean to

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walk up rightly? What does that mean? Well, guess what

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immediately the study Bible I'm looking at. Guess what immediately

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it says to walk up rightly and work with righteous,

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be holy? So walk up right and work with righteous

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and speak at the truth in his heart. Now, well,

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that means your heart would be right and your actions

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would be right. That's basically saying you'll be perfect. How

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can any lordship person tell everyone that's a proof of salvation?

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Because if that's the proof of salvation, what should everyone

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say or not say? Because no one pulls that off.

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MacArthur may think he pulls it off, but he doesn't

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pull that off. Nobody does. Is everybody getting an idea?

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Go to Psalm twenty four. Well, that's what should be

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happening here. Okay, Psal, I'm twenty four verse three.

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Everybody there.

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Who shall ascend into the hill of the Lord, who

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shall stand in his holy place, he that hath Oh,

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look at the next one, and a pure heart, who

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hath not lifted up his soul unto vanity, nor sworn deceitfully.

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Now just look at that. Come on, a pure heart,

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A pure heart would be free from what all sin?

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If there's no sin in the heart, there should be

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no sin where in the action?

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Right, okay?

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Right? That that should be the way it works. Okay,

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I mean, are you getting an idea? Go to Matthew

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chapter five. I mean, I mean, if we need more scriptures,

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I can give us more. But I'm gonna drive this

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point home as much as i can. Matthew five, verse

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forty eight. This is right there in the Sermon on

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the Mouth, that is one of the most misunderstood sermons

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in the entire Bible.

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Matthew five forty eight.

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What does it say, be ye perfect now immediately when

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you read that, what should you do?

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I can't do this right?

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How about one Peter chapter one? Everyone should know which

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I'm getting ready to read first Peter chapter one. Now

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you know exactly what I'm going to quote here, First

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Peter chapter one, verse fifteen. But as he has called

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you is holy, be holy, and all manner of conversation

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are all manner of life, because it is written quoting

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from Lemnicus, be holy, for I am holy. Go to

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Ephesians chapter one, Fesians chapter one, verse four.

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Fusians one four.

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According as he has chosen us in him before the

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foundation of the world, that we should be what's the

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word before blameless? We should be holy and without blame. Right,

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That's how it is in the King James, how it

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is in the NIV. Right, we should be holy without blame.

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How about Philippians chapter two.

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Told you we're going to look at a lot of scriptures.

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Philippians chapter two, verse fourteen through fifteen. Do all things

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without murmuring and disputing? Already, are you in trouble? Yeah?

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I mean, can we all agree we're in trouble that

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you may be? So? In other words, how can I

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be blameless? I gotta do all things without murmuring and disputing. So,

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in other words, to be blameless, I can't even murmur

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and dispute. Does everyone understand like these standard here, and

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guess who's to be blameless? Not only the pastors to blameless?

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Who else is to be blameless? Everyone's sitting in the pew,

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the people in the pew judging the pastor whether he's

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blameless or not blameless. They're not blameless, so who can

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judge anybody? Well? Wait, that was the Romans two to

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one thing that we spent time on.

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Right, everybody see that?

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All right? How about Hebrews chapter twelve, verse fourteen. Hebrews

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twelve fourteen, without which no one shall see the Lord. Now,

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we went to Kansas City for a Sovereign Grace conference

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and that was the theme. Verse without holiness, no one

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will see the Lord. Without holiness, no one will see

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the Lord. Guess what the concept was, Unless you're holy,

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you're not saved. Well, now, at that time, I was

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sitting there going amen, Amen. I was saying amen. Well,

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I was not holy, but everyone there obviously thought that

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they were sure. It's ridiculous. If we say without holiness,

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no one will see the Lord, then obviously we have

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to find how am I going to see God? Which

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would that would fit perfectly with those psalms? Right? All right,

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so then immediately the question is, well, then, how am

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I ever going to see God? Amen?

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Right?

468
00:30:22.200 --> 00:30:33.599
How about Second Peter, Second Peter, Chapter three, Second Peter,

469
00:30:33.720 --> 00:30:45.839
Chapter three, Verse eleven. Yeah, seeing then that all these

470
00:30:45.880 --> 00:30:48.160
things shall be dissolved? What manner of person's ought you

471
00:30:48.200 --> 00:30:52.079
to be? In? All holy conversation and.

472
00:30:53.640 --> 00:30:54.599
Godliness?

473
00:30:55.319 --> 00:30:58.920
Now here's how here's a summary of everything we just

474
00:30:58.960 --> 00:31:01.279
looked at. According to the Bill narrative, the command for

475
00:31:01.319 --> 00:31:04.319
holiness and perfection stems from God's desire for his people

476
00:31:04.480 --> 00:31:07.319
to reflect his character. The call to holy is central

477
00:31:07.359 --> 00:31:10.519
both to the Old and New Testament, linking God's nature

478
00:31:10.519 --> 00:31:13.119
with the ethical and moral lives of his people. The

479
00:31:13.200 --> 00:31:16.240
commands to be perfect and to strive for holiness set

480
00:31:16.279 --> 00:31:19.200
a high standard that believers are encouraged to pursue not

481
00:31:19.319 --> 00:31:22.119
by their own strength, but through the grace and empowerment

482
00:31:22.160 --> 00:31:25.319
of God. Now that's a typical Christian answer, right, Hey,

483
00:31:25.720 --> 00:31:30.119
how do we get there? God helps us? I am

484
00:31:30.559 --> 00:31:35.000
so sick of that, Like, I am so done with that?

485
00:31:36.279 --> 00:31:41.720
Like how can Christians continue to think that God empower

486
00:31:41.759 --> 00:31:43.880
is may to be as holy as He is holy? Well?

487
00:31:43.920 --> 00:31:48.880
Guess what? In two thousand years of church history, God

488
00:31:48.880 --> 00:31:53.559
has never empowered anyone to do it? Well, no, but God. See,

489
00:31:53.640 --> 00:31:55.920
God wants you to get there. Now, just think how

490
00:31:56.000 --> 00:31:59.440
ridiculous is God wants you to be holy. God is

491
00:31:59.480 --> 00:32:02.640
empowered bring you to be holy, but nobody can be holy?

492
00:32:04.000 --> 00:32:05.440
Does everyone see the problem with that?

493
00:32:06.079 --> 00:32:10.359
Where's the because immediately where's the problem. Then it's either

494
00:32:10.400 --> 00:32:14.839
the problem is with whom God's power? Oh that's problematic,

495
00:32:15.440 --> 00:32:17.720
or somehow you say the problem is with me. But

496
00:32:17.759 --> 00:32:19.680
how can the problem be with me? If God is

497
00:32:19.680 --> 00:32:24.759
the one doing it, and if I can stop God

498
00:32:24.799 --> 00:32:28.720
from doing it, then I'm more powerful than God. You see,

499
00:32:28.759 --> 00:32:31.720
the whole thing falls completely and utterlyop This is like,

500
00:32:32.319 --> 00:32:36.200
this is why atheists mock Christianity all day.

501
00:32:37.400 --> 00:32:38.200
The God who.

502
00:32:38.079 --> 00:32:40.160
Wants you to be holy, who'll sing you to hell

503
00:32:40.240 --> 00:32:43.079
for not being holy, is the same God who doesn't

504
00:32:43.079 --> 00:32:52.200
make you holy. And Christians walk right into the trap.

505
00:32:53.559 --> 00:32:55.839
We should never fall. We should be like, oh, no,

506
00:32:56.160 --> 00:33:01.559
he does make me holy. But I can't say that

507
00:33:02.279 --> 00:33:06.599
because Christians today are so Catholic they can't even understand that.

508
00:33:06.599 --> 00:33:12.079
They've denied the very thing Luther fought for. Because what's

509
00:33:12.119 --> 00:33:17.880
the answer. He did make us holy, but Christians don't

510
00:33:17.880 --> 00:33:19.720
seem to understand this concept.

511
00:33:19.960 --> 00:33:21.519
They've abandoned it completely.

512
00:33:23.359 --> 00:33:27.599
So this all when we read all of those scriptures,

513
00:33:27.720 --> 00:33:30.559
we would classify them as what kind of scripture.

514
00:33:32.519 --> 00:33:35.559
Law they tell us what to do?

515
00:33:36.319 --> 00:33:38.440
So this what we're going to do is we're going

516
00:33:38.480 --> 00:33:41.240
to go through church history and we're going to look

517
00:33:41.640 --> 00:33:45.880
at are how Christians have understood the christians relationship to

518
00:33:45.960 --> 00:33:49.079
the law? Are you ready? Now? We're going to start

519
00:33:49.119 --> 00:33:50.920
in more modern times. I was going to save this

520
00:33:51.000 --> 00:33:55.680
to the end. This is a modern catechism. It's called

521
00:33:56.119 --> 00:34:01.359
the New City Catechism, the New City Catechism. They have

522
00:34:01.480 --> 00:34:05.400
the catechism, they have it, they have curriculum for kids

523
00:34:05.480 --> 00:34:07.480
and for churches.

524
00:34:07.640 --> 00:34:09.199
It's called the New City Catechism.

525
00:34:09.280 --> 00:34:11.559
I've talked about it on the podcast of bazillion times.

526
00:34:12.800 --> 00:34:13.519
I've promoted it.

527
00:34:13.559 --> 00:34:15.320
There's an app for it. You can get an app

528
00:34:15.320 --> 00:34:17.519
for it. It's called the New City Catechism, all right.

529
00:34:18.119 --> 00:34:21.840
The New City Catechism includes several questions related to God's Law,

530
00:34:22.079 --> 00:34:26.960
which are drawn from historic Christian teaching and often feature

531
00:34:27.000 --> 00:34:30.199
a scripture reference to support the answer. Below are the

532
00:34:30.360 --> 00:34:34.960
relevant question and answers related to the law. Now, I'm

533
00:34:34.960 --> 00:34:36.880
not going to go through the entire Catechism and what

534
00:34:36.920 --> 00:34:38.800
it says about the law. But here we go. You

535
00:34:38.880 --> 00:34:44.440
ready question number seven? What does the law of God require?

536
00:34:47.079 --> 00:34:51.519
Come on, everyone, tell me, okay, yes, that Here's how

537
00:34:51.559 --> 00:34:53.840
it's described. This is how the Catechism answers that we

538
00:34:53.880 --> 00:34:56.800
love God with all of our heart, so mind, and strength,

539
00:34:56.960 --> 00:35:00.599
and love our neighbor as ourselves Matthew twenty two thirty

540
00:35:00.639 --> 00:35:04.079
seven through forty. Now I would add there that we

541
00:35:04.159 --> 00:35:06.880
are holy as God is holy, and that we love

542
00:35:06.920 --> 00:35:08.559
God with all of our heart, mind, body, and soul,

543
00:35:08.719 --> 00:35:11.400
and love our neighbors ourselfs Now, the reason they just

544
00:35:11.480 --> 00:35:13.920
quote that is they're quoting Matthew twenty two thirty seven

545
00:35:13.960 --> 00:35:17.400
through forty, where Jesus basically summarized the entire law and

546
00:35:17.440 --> 00:35:22.159
those two commands. Right. Well, if the entire law, now listen,

547
00:35:22.360 --> 00:35:26.440
if the entire law is reduced to those two commands, well,

548
00:35:26.440 --> 00:35:28.400
then either you believe we can do that or we

549
00:35:28.480 --> 00:35:30.760
can't do that. So what is the Catechism going to say? Well,

550
00:35:30.800 --> 00:35:34.039
you're ready for question eight? What is the law of

551
00:35:34.079 --> 00:35:36.920
God stated in the ten Commandments? Well, it goes through

552
00:35:37.079 --> 00:35:39.119
all the ten commandments. You shall have no other God

553
00:35:39.159 --> 00:35:41.719
before him. You shall not make for yourself an idol.

554
00:35:41.880 --> 00:35:44.079
You shall not misuse the name of the Lord your God.

555
00:35:44.280 --> 00:35:46.360
You should remember the Sabbath, keep it holy. You should

556
00:35:46.360 --> 00:35:48.119
honor your father and mother. You should not murder. You

557
00:35:48.159 --> 00:35:50.519
should not commit adultery. You shall not steal. You should

558
00:35:50.519 --> 00:35:54.519
not give false testimony. You shall not cove it. Right,

559
00:35:55.519 --> 00:36:00.239
here we go, question thirteen. I'm skipping down Question thirteen.

560
00:36:00.840 --> 00:36:05.159
You ready? Can anyone keep the law of God perfectly?

561
00:36:08.159 --> 00:36:10.400
You're ready answer?

562
00:36:11.840 --> 00:36:18.840
Since the fall, no human has been able to keep

563
00:36:18.880 --> 00:36:28.280
the law of God perfectly? Okay, all right? Now look

564
00:36:28.400 --> 00:36:32.039
at Romans three ten through twelve. Go to Romans three

565
00:36:32.079 --> 00:36:49.519
ten through twelve. Now you know these scriptures. What do

566
00:36:49.599 --> 00:36:53.119
they say?

567
00:36:54.880 --> 00:36:58.719
No one, it keeps it going, it continues.

568
00:36:58.800 --> 00:37:03.960
No one does what seek God. All have turned aside.

569
00:37:04.280 --> 00:37:08.239
They've all become worthless. No one does good, not even one.

570
00:37:08.639 --> 00:37:11.519
Now in your entire Christian life, how have you always

571
00:37:11.679 --> 00:37:21.119
interpreted that passage the unbelievers? Yes, this is what you

572
00:37:21.239 --> 00:37:24.920
do to because what you now? I know. I know

573
00:37:24.960 --> 00:37:26.719
people get mad when I say this, But you know,

574
00:37:27.079 --> 00:37:29.440
whether Christians like it or not, we think we're better

575
00:37:29.480 --> 00:37:31.679
than everyone else. I mean, we do. We think we're

576
00:37:31.679 --> 00:37:33.920
better than everyone else. That's why church after church, you

577
00:37:33.920 --> 00:37:37.920
hear sermon after sermon, them, they them, they, it's always

578
00:37:38.039 --> 00:37:40.519
us against them because we're the good guys in the

579
00:37:40.559 --> 00:37:43.239
story and they're all the bad guys. Well, how the

580
00:37:43.280 --> 00:37:50.119
Catechism just apply that. They just applied that to everyone,

581
00:37:50.199 --> 00:37:55.599
including a believer. Now you do that in almost any church,

582
00:37:55.639 --> 00:37:57.079
you're gonna be You're gonna be thrown out.

583
00:37:57.079 --> 00:37:57.880
They're gonna say no.

584
00:37:59.039 --> 00:38:03.480
Yes, that us, ladies and gentlemen, that's us, even after

585
00:38:03.519 --> 00:38:06.239
we are a believe. People saying no, we understand, we

586
00:38:06.519 --> 00:38:12.400
are is our understanding perfect? No, clearly not the New

587
00:38:12.440 --> 00:38:16.760
City Catechism, New City Catechism. All right, So then question fourteen.

588
00:38:17.760 --> 00:38:20.960
Did God create us unable to keep his law? No,

589
00:38:21.480 --> 00:38:24.400
but because of the disobedience of Adam and Eve, we

590
00:38:24.480 --> 00:38:27.639
are all born in sin and guilt. Are you ready

591
00:38:27.639 --> 00:38:36.760
for this? Unable to keep God's law? Unable to keep

592
00:38:37.079 --> 00:38:43.039
God's law? The Catechism states, we are unable. Now listen,

593
00:38:43.400 --> 00:38:47.480
if we're unable, If we are unable, then what does

594
00:38:47.519 --> 00:38:53.400
that mean? If we're unable to keep the law, what

595
00:38:53.440 --> 00:39:02.320
does that mean? Logically, that ever great moral standard in

596
00:39:02.519 --> 00:39:04.960
this book, we're unable to keep.

597
00:39:08.840 --> 00:39:15.639
Now why are we unable to keep it? Well?

598
00:39:15.679 --> 00:39:17.840
First, there I'm not now inside, but because I think

599
00:39:17.880 --> 00:39:20.079
this is very important to make sure we understand, because

600
00:39:20.119 --> 00:39:21.679
some people could look at it and say, well, I

601
00:39:21.719 --> 00:39:24.199
can keep that. Remember that was the Pharisees and the

602
00:39:24.239 --> 00:39:26.719
Sadducees thinking they could keep it. And why did Jesus

603
00:39:26.800 --> 00:39:30.000
have to come and demonstrate to them the external keeping

604
00:39:30.079 --> 00:39:32.400
of it.

605
00:39:31.360 --> 00:39:32.559
Is not the keeping of it.

606
00:39:33.079 --> 00:39:37.239
To keep it requires you to keep it internally and externally.

607
00:39:37.559 --> 00:39:42.920
So no one keeps it. No one, meaning everyone in

608
00:39:43.159 --> 00:39:47.679
every church is in a perpetual state of sin. While

609
00:39:47.719 --> 00:39:51.239
we turn around and then kick out people do this

610
00:39:51.280 --> 00:39:58.480
to people, why we're all in sin? Nobody seems to

611
00:39:58.519 --> 00:40:03.800
want to acknowledge this within Christianity. Since no one can

612
00:40:03.880 --> 00:40:05.920
keep the law, then what is its purpose?

613
00:40:06.320 --> 00:40:10.480
That's question fifteen? Since no one can keep the law,

614
00:40:10.519 --> 00:40:11.360
what is its purpose?

615
00:40:11.400 --> 00:40:14.159
Are you ready? That we may know the holy nature

616
00:40:14.199 --> 00:40:16.880
and will of God and the sinful nature and disobedience

617
00:40:16.880 --> 00:40:19.079
of our hearts and thus in need of a savior?

618
00:40:19.280 --> 00:40:21.559
The law teaches and exhorts us to live a life

619
00:40:21.639 --> 00:40:24.880
worthy of our savior. Basically, what does it tell us?

620
00:40:27.599 --> 00:40:30.440
The law just shows us that we're a sinner and

621
00:40:30.519 --> 00:40:38.400
we have to look for an answer where outside of ourselves. Now,

622
00:40:38.559 --> 00:40:41.159
this is where the rest of Christianity comes into play,

623
00:40:41.880 --> 00:40:46.679
because your theology is going to that answer is going

624
00:40:46.679 --> 00:40:51.599
to look different depending on the church you attend. So

625
00:40:51.719 --> 00:40:54.440
let's go throughout church history to kind of just see

626
00:40:54.599 --> 00:40:59.039
how church history handles this. Throughout church history, there have

627
00:40:59.119 --> 00:41:01.159
been a variety of las about the Christian and the

628
00:41:01.199 --> 00:41:03.960
Law of God. Some believe a Christian is incapable of

629
00:41:04.079 --> 00:41:06.599
keeping God's law even after salvation and.

630
00:41:06.639 --> 00:41:08.039
Neither can keep it in this life.

631
00:41:08.119 --> 00:41:10.760
Others believe Christians can keep the law in this life,

632
00:41:11.119 --> 00:41:13.679
all right, So we're going to look.

633
00:41:13.519 --> 00:41:15.000
An outline here, all right.

634
00:41:15.280 --> 00:41:18.280
The relationship between the Christian and the Law of God

635
00:41:18.559 --> 00:41:21.519
has been a topic of interest and theological debate throughout

636
00:41:21.679 --> 00:41:27.280
church history, with diverse views e merging regarding whether and

637
00:41:27.320 --> 00:41:30.119
how Christians should can, or should.

638
00:41:29.840 --> 00:41:30.480
Obey the Law.

639
00:41:30.800 --> 00:41:33.400
The development of these systems and views can be traced

640
00:41:33.400 --> 00:41:38.320
throughout a throughout major theological shifts and key figures and

641
00:41:38.519 --> 00:41:41.440
church history. Are you ready, We're going to go through

642
00:41:41.519 --> 00:41:43.599
this and we're going to just see where we end up.

643
00:41:43.760 --> 00:41:44.559
We're going to start.

644
00:41:44.440 --> 00:41:50.440
Number one, the early Church first to third century, first

645
00:41:50.559 --> 00:41:55.039
to third century? What did the early Church think about

646
00:41:55.079 --> 00:41:59.880
the Christian and the law? Right?

647
00:42:00.159 --> 00:42:04.480
You ready, the early Church first to third century.

648
00:42:04.480 --> 00:42:07.239
We're going to start first with the Jewish Christian context,

649
00:42:07.360 --> 00:42:10.719
because we know where does Christianity arise in what context

650
00:42:11.639 --> 00:42:16.480
Jewish system? Right? Okay? So in the earliest phase of Christianity,

651
00:42:16.800 --> 00:42:19.239
there was a debate about the role of the Mosaic

652
00:42:19.320 --> 00:42:22.880
law and the life of believers, particularly according to the

653
00:42:22.960 --> 00:42:26.039
gentile converts, and what did they hold To try to

654
00:42:26.039 --> 00:42:32.199
figure this out, the council. What council is that, the

655
00:42:32.280 --> 00:42:34.679
Jerusalem Council, and where do we read about that? Council

656
00:42:35.960 --> 00:42:39.480
Acts fifteen, all right, So this is the first attempt

657
00:42:39.519 --> 00:42:43.280
trying to figure this out. The Jerusalem Council dealt with

658
00:42:43.320 --> 00:42:46.239
whether gentile Christians were obliged to keep the Mosaic law,

659
00:42:46.440 --> 00:42:51.440
such as circumcision and dietary laws. The Apostles, led by Paul,

660
00:42:51.760 --> 00:42:55.039
concluded that salvation is by grace through faith, not by

661
00:42:55.079 --> 00:42:58.039
keeping the law, and that gentiles were not bound to

662
00:42:58.400 --> 00:43:01.679
the Mosaic law. So the main at the may at

663
00:43:01.679 --> 00:43:04.880
the at this early stage, it was mainly just trying

664
00:43:04.880 --> 00:43:09.079
to figure out, Hey, how much of the Mosaic law applies?

665
00:43:10.039 --> 00:43:12.480
That was a big concept for them. And when they

666
00:43:12.480 --> 00:43:14.800
were referring to the Mosaic law, they were referring to

667
00:43:14.840 --> 00:43:35.440
which aspects of it? Dietary? What else? Okay? Circumcision? Right, okay, right,

668
00:43:35.599 --> 00:43:38.239
a lot. So so so you can remember, we usually

669
00:43:38.280 --> 00:43:43.679
break the law down into different kinds. Ceremonial Okay, what what?

670
00:43:43.679 --> 00:43:51.800
What would that include? Ceremonial laws would include what? Sacrifice? Okay?

671
00:43:51.840 --> 00:43:55.079
Those things? All right? All right, Obviously they don't believe

672
00:43:55.119 --> 00:43:57.199
the Gentiles have to continue to do that, right because

673
00:43:57.199 --> 00:43:59.360
the new early Christians are going to say Christ was

674
00:43:59.400 --> 00:44:02.119
the sacrifice. Okay, so they don't have to keep all

675
00:44:02.159 --> 00:44:06.079
of the ceremonial laws the feast days sacrificial system. There

676
00:44:06.159 --> 00:44:09.159
was other kind of laws, which was the civil laws,

677
00:44:09.199 --> 00:44:11.239
which are no longer going to be applicable. Right they

678
00:44:11.239 --> 00:44:13.000
were living in the Rome system, and they're no longer

679
00:44:13.039 --> 00:44:19.719
living under a theocracy or even a monarch and a

680
00:44:19.840 --> 00:44:21.920
kind of a theocratic monarchy. I guess we could see

681
00:44:21.960 --> 00:44:24.400
it that way. They weren't living under that system anymore.

682
00:44:24.559 --> 00:44:26.800
So those laws are not even called for right now.

683
00:44:26.840 --> 00:44:30.280
Some people will say, well, the moral law still applies.

684
00:44:30.519 --> 00:44:33.880
Right now, the moral law may still apply, and that's

685
00:44:33.920 --> 00:44:35.760
where the issues are going to come in about the

686
00:44:35.760 --> 00:44:36.280
moral law.

687
00:44:36.360 --> 00:44:38.360
But at this early stage, they're just.

688
00:44:38.280 --> 00:44:40.280
Trying to figure out what part of the Mosaic law

689
00:44:40.480 --> 00:44:44.400
still was applicable. Right, could Christians, especially Gentile Christians, be

690
00:44:44.440 --> 00:44:47.800
obligated to keep the Jewish law? The consensus was no,

691
00:44:48.239 --> 00:44:52.079
but there were variations and practices among Jewish and Gentile Christians,

692
00:44:52.239 --> 00:44:55.280
so there was the basic answer was no, but there

693
00:44:55.320 --> 00:44:57.800
was still going to be some dispute, right, and we

694
00:44:57.880 --> 00:45:02.199
know that dispute even lasts today. Correct. There's a group

695
00:45:02.239 --> 00:45:04.559
called the Seventh day Adventist.

696
00:45:06.079 --> 00:45:06.760
They believe what.

697
00:45:12.360 --> 00:45:14.639
Well, they're called the Seventh day Adventists for a reason.

698
00:45:15.800 --> 00:45:19.079
They worship on Saturday. They believe that the Sabbath was

699
00:45:19.119 --> 00:45:23.239
on Saturday, and the Sabbath is still binding. There are

700
00:45:23.239 --> 00:45:27.599
some believers who say, well, the Sabbath is still binding,

701
00:45:27.880 --> 00:45:31.719
but it's on Sunday. It's not Saturday, and so what

702
00:45:31.760 --> 00:45:35.079
do those churches call for that on Sunday You're not

703
00:45:35.199 --> 00:45:39.519
to do anything other than worship, rest, You're not to

704
00:45:39.559 --> 00:45:41.920
go no entertainment, you're not to go out to eat,

705
00:45:42.199 --> 00:45:46.679
you're not to do anything now, and they would make

706
00:45:46.679 --> 00:45:49.679
an argument for that. So these concepts still are with

707
00:45:49.800 --> 00:45:52.719
us today, meaning that after two thousand years there's still

708
00:45:52.719 --> 00:45:56.360
not even agreement on this, all right, everyone understand that,

709
00:45:56.920 --> 00:46:00.719
all right. So there's the that's basically the early Church

710
00:46:00.800 --> 00:46:04.199
first to third century, that's what they're trying to figure out. Also,

711
00:46:04.320 --> 00:46:07.519
during this time we have this Jewish situation, we have

712
00:46:07.559 --> 00:46:12.400
the Church Fathers who kind of get involved, all right. Now,

713
00:46:12.480 --> 00:46:16.239
the early Church fathers emphasized that the law was fulfilled

714
00:46:16.320 --> 00:46:20.119
and christ and that Christians are no longer under the

715
00:46:20.199 --> 00:46:23.199
law in the sense of following the Jewish ceremonial law

716
00:46:23.280 --> 00:46:28.440
and civil aspects. However, they affirm the moral law summed

717
00:46:28.480 --> 00:46:33.400
up in the Ten Commandments as binding for Christians. So

718
00:46:33.519 --> 00:46:36.079
the early Church fathers move away from the civil and

719
00:46:36.119 --> 00:46:40.519
the ceremonial but they emphasized this idea of the moral law.

720
00:46:40.800 --> 00:46:43.559
The moral law is still binding. Now what do you

721
00:46:43.599 --> 00:46:44.440
mean by binding?

722
00:46:44.480 --> 00:46:45.840
What does it do? What does it not do?

723
00:46:46.639 --> 00:46:50.199
Now? So just right, make sure when you go back

724
00:46:50.199 --> 00:46:53.280
in church history, in many cases they were only trying

725
00:46:53.320 --> 00:46:56.519
to deal with one aspect of this controversy, right, They

726
00:46:56.519 --> 00:46:58.559
weren't necessarily trying to answer all of it. They were

727
00:46:58.599 --> 00:47:02.559
only focused on certain parts because what was happening in

728
00:47:02.599 --> 00:47:10.280
the early Church, well, there was the writing of what

729
00:47:10.079 --> 00:47:12.119
was what was being written during some of the early

730
00:47:12.159 --> 00:47:15.559
stages the New Testament, So there was a lot that

731
00:47:15.719 --> 00:47:18.320
was trying to figure out, right, because the New Testament

732
00:47:18.400 --> 00:47:22.639
writers may be saying things that weren't necessarily maybe sounded

733
00:47:22.639 --> 00:47:24.960
different than the Old Testament. So wait, how do we

734
00:47:25.039 --> 00:47:28.199
fit in? Like there was a lot of transitional stuff

735
00:47:28.280 --> 00:47:30.880
going on. Does that make sense? Right? There was a

736
00:47:30.920 --> 00:47:35.360
lot of stuff like that going on. By the time

737
00:47:35.360 --> 00:47:39.960
you get into the second century, you have the idea

738
00:47:40.039 --> 00:47:44.039
that Christ fulfilled the law and believes and believers that

739
00:47:44.119 --> 00:47:47.679
Christ fulfilled the law and believers through the Holy Spirit

740
00:47:47.760 --> 00:47:50.880
or empowered to live according to God's will, though not perfectly.

741
00:47:51.119 --> 00:47:53.480
So by the time you get to the second century,

742
00:47:53.679 --> 00:48:02.280
this idea begins to emerge, which is what that believers

743
00:48:02.360 --> 00:48:05.000
are to keep the law right, Christ fulfilled it, but

744
00:48:05.079 --> 00:48:06.840
we are to start trying to keep the law, but

745
00:48:06.920 --> 00:48:10.760
we are empowered by God to keep it. There we go,

746
00:48:10.880 --> 00:48:13.239
We're empowered by God to keep it. But what did

747
00:48:13.280 --> 00:48:13.760
they have to.

748
00:48:13.679 --> 00:48:16.280
Throw in there at the end? Not perfectly?

749
00:48:19.960 --> 00:48:25.559
Oh that is so maddening. That is so maddening, right

750
00:48:26.159 --> 00:48:32.719
like it just from a logical standpoint, how can you

751
00:48:32.880 --> 00:48:35.159
how do you then even define that we have power?

752
00:48:35.239 --> 00:48:38.280
Do you see how ridiculous this is? This is claiming

753
00:48:38.320 --> 00:48:42.119
a power that can't even do what the power is

754
00:48:42.119 --> 00:48:45.400
supposedly trying to do. So then what's the proof that

755
00:48:45.440 --> 00:48:51.880
there's power? Hey, you've got power. I mean they can't

756
00:48:51.880 --> 00:48:54.119
get you the whole, can't get you to perfection, but

757
00:48:54.400 --> 00:48:57.639
you've got power. So then you're judging the power by

758
00:48:57.679 --> 00:49:01.719
what it's gonna be based off external things that you

759
00:49:01.800 --> 00:49:04.079
do or don't do. But let me make it very clear,

760
00:49:04.400 --> 00:49:07.599
get away from Christianity. You can go to Mormonism, you

761
00:49:07.639 --> 00:49:10.039
can go to Islam, you can go to Buddhism, you

762
00:49:10.039 --> 00:49:12.800
can go to any religious idea. And what will you

763
00:49:12.880 --> 00:49:16.639
hear stories of amongst the people I used to be this.

764
00:49:16.519 --> 00:49:19.320
Way, Now I am transformed.

765
00:49:19.960 --> 00:49:24.599
Okay, Well, obviously people can be transferred. You can go

766
00:49:24.639 --> 00:49:28.360
to alcoholics anonymous, you can go to narcotics anonymous. People

767
00:49:28.559 --> 00:49:32.920
can make dramatic changes and their external behaviors through what

768
00:49:36.199 --> 00:49:42.559
self discipline and just deciding to do things. That's not

769
00:49:43.800 --> 00:49:47.159
so that don't say we have some power. That's so

770
00:49:47.360 --> 00:49:49.639
ridiculous to claim we have a power that other people

771
00:49:49.719 --> 00:49:52.360
don't when other people can do In many cases, other

772
00:49:52.440 --> 00:49:57.079
people outside of Christianity do better than we do. Remember,

773
00:49:57.079 --> 00:50:00.360
I've always struggled with that, right. I've always said, I

774
00:50:00.480 --> 00:50:03.199
just don't understand. Like you have a seventeen year old girl,

775
00:50:03.280 --> 00:50:05.480
sixteen year old girl decides she wants to be a

776
00:50:05.559 --> 00:50:12.719
nun and she gives her entire life to the Catholic Church. Now,

777
00:50:12.800 --> 00:50:16.079
whenever I say that, I usually you people, yeah, so wide,

778
00:50:16.079 --> 00:50:18.119
who cares? They just do it out of It's like

779
00:50:18.320 --> 00:50:19.119
they just do it.

780
00:50:19.039 --> 00:50:20.639
Out of you know, legalism.

781
00:50:21.079 --> 00:50:23.119
Okay, well, if they can do it out of legalism,

782
00:50:23.159 --> 00:50:25.119
then what should we be able to do when God

783
00:50:25.320 --> 00:50:28.159
himself is supposedly empowering us to do it? Shouldn't we

784
00:50:28.199 --> 00:50:36.440
blow away a nun or a monk. You say that,

785
00:50:36.679 --> 00:50:38.440
and nobody in the church will be like, well, that

786
00:50:38.559 --> 00:50:42.559
is that's kind of true, right if they can dedicate

787
00:50:42.599 --> 00:50:46.000
give up everything for the church. I can't even read

788
00:50:46.039 --> 00:50:49.760
my Bible Monday through Friday in a meaningful, consistent way.

789
00:50:50.280 --> 00:50:51.480
I can't even show up to church.

790
00:50:51.480 --> 00:50:54.639
I mean all the things you think we'd be like, Well,

791
00:50:54.719 --> 00:50:56.000
if God is empowering me.

792
00:50:57.679 --> 00:50:58.880
There should be nobody on.

793
00:50:58.800 --> 00:51:02.280
Earth who could compare. Right, the power of God in

794
00:51:02.360 --> 00:51:07.119
me should put me at a level if I mean,

795
00:51:07.159 --> 00:51:10.719
there should be like I've got God in me. They don't.

796
00:51:10.840 --> 00:51:13.239
They shouldn't even be. They should be flocking to the

797
00:51:13.320 --> 00:51:17.079
church to go How do you guys do it? You

798
00:51:17.079 --> 00:51:25.159
know why they don't flock to the church. They know us, right,

799
00:51:26.000 --> 00:51:29.159
we can try to convince them we're so different, but

800
00:51:29.199 --> 00:51:35.639
we're not that different. Does that make sense? So so

801
00:51:35.719 --> 00:51:41.199
it's already started. Now, there was some debate, some distinguished

802
00:51:41.199 --> 00:51:44.159
between the ceremonial law, which believers were you know, no

803
00:51:44.199 --> 00:51:46.440
longer had to do, and the moral law, which was

804
00:51:46.440 --> 00:51:49.039
still binding for Christians. So there was that making a

805
00:51:49.119 --> 00:51:52.920
major By the second century, there was this idea, Hey,

806
00:51:53.320 --> 00:51:55.760
it's the moral law, all that other law we don't

807
00:51:55.760 --> 00:51:58.960
have to worry about, and God is empowering us to

808
00:51:59.000 --> 00:52:03.519
do it. Yet they that had to admit, what could

809
00:52:03.599 --> 00:52:07.760
we can't do it perfectly? Just that how can logical

810
00:52:07.920 --> 00:52:12.320
minds process such a ridiculous concept that God, who can

811
00:52:12.360 --> 00:52:14.719
create the world in six days, can't get me to

812
00:52:14.800 --> 00:52:18.960
Holiness's This.

813
00:52:19.000 --> 00:52:21.280
Is the most ridiculous thing I've ever heard in my life.

814
00:52:21.400 --> 00:52:23.679
And look, if you want to go with that, well,

815
00:52:23.840 --> 00:52:25.960
God just designs it to be progressive.

816
00:52:26.119 --> 00:52:27.239
Well then back.

817
00:52:27.000 --> 00:52:28.719
Off when I don't do it the way you want

818
00:52:28.719 --> 00:52:34.159
me to do it, right, because it's God's fault. But

819
00:52:34.199 --> 00:52:37.159
I'm not allowed to say that. Well, then whose fault

820
00:52:37.280 --> 00:52:39.920
is it? It's mine? Well, then it's not God empowering me,

821
00:52:40.119 --> 00:52:44.480
all right, So then it goes all just gets so frustrating.

822
00:52:44.559 --> 00:52:51.599
Now we're going to go to the fourth to fifth century.

823
00:52:52.880 --> 00:52:55.039
Who's going to show up in the fourth and fifth century.

824
00:52:55.440 --> 00:53:00.440
I haven't mentioned any names before Aeronaeus and Justin Martyrs,

825
00:53:00.599 --> 00:53:02.800
or some of the people in the second and third century.

826
00:53:02.840 --> 00:53:04.559
But now we get to the fourth fifth century, we

827
00:53:04.639 --> 00:53:08.559
got to mention these two people. Come on, oh, there

828
00:53:08.599 --> 00:53:12.280
we go. And if we have Augustin, who's going to

829
00:53:12.320 --> 00:53:15.519
be the other one starts with a P? I mean,

830
00:53:15.599 --> 00:53:17.599
come on, Augustine's I'm going to forever be attached to

831
00:53:17.639 --> 00:53:22.840
this guy, Pelagius. Right, we get to the Augustinian or

832
00:53:22.840 --> 00:53:27.400
the Augustine and Pelagian controversy. All right, The debate about

833
00:53:27.480 --> 00:53:30.840
human ability to keep the law became more pronounced in

834
00:53:30.880 --> 00:53:34.559
the context of the Pelagian controversy. The key figures were

835
00:53:34.559 --> 00:53:39.800
Pelagius and Augustine. What was Pelagius's view, Well, you should

836
00:53:39.840 --> 00:53:42.239
know his view by now, I've covered it countless times

837
00:53:42.239 --> 00:53:45.519
in this church. Pelagius was a British monk. There was

838
00:53:45.559 --> 00:53:48.880
this first problem. He was a monk. Right, why because

839
00:53:48.920 --> 00:53:52.039
you're here locked away, you can probably have a flawed idea, right,

840
00:53:52.519 --> 00:53:56.639
But he believed that humans are capable of keeping God's law.

841
00:54:00.360 --> 00:54:03.960
Pelagius was the one who introduced that you can keep

842
00:54:04.000 --> 00:54:09.400
God's law. And what is the absolute foundational truth to

843
00:54:09.559 --> 00:54:13.679
his belief that you can keep the law. What is

844
00:54:13.719 --> 00:54:19.760
the foundational basis of his entire system? That we do

845
00:54:19.880 --> 00:54:25.159
not have a sinful nature. That's the foundational belief. So

846
00:54:25.239 --> 00:54:27.480
when I hear Christians say that we can keep the law,

847
00:54:28.519 --> 00:54:30.519
I just want to Oh, I just want to start

848
00:54:30.519 --> 00:54:35.960
breaking things. Okay, But here we go. We can keep

849
00:54:36.000 --> 00:54:39.880
the law through their natural ability without the necessity of

850
00:54:39.920 --> 00:54:42.960
divine grace. He argued that if God commands something, humans

851
00:54:43.000 --> 00:54:46.119
must have the natural capacity to fulfill it. Therefore, it

852
00:54:46.159 --> 00:54:48.039
was possible to live a sinless life and keep the

853
00:54:48.119 --> 00:54:52.679
law perfectly without the aid of grace. He denied original

854
00:54:52.760 --> 00:54:58.079
sin and emphasized free will Pelagianism. Humans can obey God's

855
00:54:58.119 --> 00:55:01.199
law perfectly. Salvation is by following God's commandments. Grace is

856
00:55:01.239 --> 00:55:07.880
merely an external aid or guide, but not essential for obedience. Now,

857
00:55:07.960 --> 00:55:12.920
Augustine's going to come along. Augustine obviously opposed Pallagius. He

858
00:55:13.119 --> 00:55:16.639
argued that, due to original sin, human beings are incapable

859
00:55:16.880 --> 00:55:20.679
of keeping God's law apart from the grace of God.

860
00:55:21.239 --> 00:55:24.320
He believed that because of the fall, human nature is

861
00:55:24.360 --> 00:55:29.079
thoroughly corrupted, and while grace enables believers to follow God's will,

862
00:55:29.360 --> 00:55:36.760
they will never perfectly keep the law in this life. Now,

863
00:55:36.920 --> 00:55:39.280
the only thing I would get upset with Augustine is is,

864
00:55:39.320 --> 00:55:45.360
once again, what did he say? God's grace enables us

865
00:55:45.360 --> 00:55:50.840
to follow God's will? No, Augustin No. If it enables

866
00:55:50.920 --> 00:55:53.119
us to keep God's will, then that would mean that

867
00:55:53.199 --> 00:55:53.760
we can.

868
00:55:53.599 --> 00:55:57.039
What we can keep it.

869
00:55:57.719 --> 00:56:02.400
See, even as far back as the second century, we

870
00:56:02.440 --> 00:56:07.159
see a problem. It's what was the problem Christians were

871
00:56:07.199 --> 00:56:08.159
So we're gonna have to stop here.

872
00:56:08.199 --> 00:56:09.159
Well, we'll go back through this.

873
00:56:09.199 --> 00:56:11.440
We're just gonna cut I wanted to get to Romans

874
00:56:11.440 --> 00:56:14.360
four sixteen in the next hour and do the next therefore,

875
00:56:14.639 --> 00:56:17.039
But we can't get to that therefore yet because we

876
00:56:17.079 --> 00:56:20.159
had to finish this. But what do you see what

877
00:56:20.199 --> 00:56:22.559
was happening Going all the way back to the second

878
00:56:22.599 --> 00:56:28.519
century Christians struggled with the They struggled with this idea

879
00:56:28.880 --> 00:56:32.400
that we kept sinning. So to make themselves feel better,

880
00:56:32.639 --> 00:56:36.519
what did they say? Well, God is empowering us to

881
00:56:36.599 --> 00:56:40.920
do what to obey, But they knew they couldn't say

882
00:56:41.800 --> 00:56:45.199
to do it perfectly, that somehow was select ease their conscience.

883
00:56:47.199 --> 00:56:54.719
I don't know. I just I don't understand. Like I

884
00:56:54.760 --> 00:56:57.039
think the problem is is when we read the book,

885
00:56:57.079 --> 00:56:59.519
we spent like a what thirty minutes reading all their

886
00:56:59.519 --> 00:57:01.920
scriptures about do this, do this? Do that? I think

887
00:57:01.920 --> 00:57:04.400
there's something in our brain that says, well, if God

888
00:57:04.440 --> 00:57:09.800
tells me to do all of this, what's our art

889
00:57:10.000 --> 00:57:12.519
natural response to reading all those verses at telling us

890
00:57:12.519 --> 00:57:15.599
to do something that I've got to be able to

891
00:57:15.599 --> 00:57:21.320
do it to some level, right, So we so we

892
00:57:22.280 --> 00:57:26.320
do what. I know it's Pelagian, I know, but so

893
00:57:26.519 --> 00:57:28.719
that like, well, we can't be a Pelagian, but we

894
00:57:28.880 --> 00:57:31.360
just got to believe somehow that we can do it. Well,

895
00:57:31.480 --> 00:57:33.920
We'll say God is the one who's doing it. But

896
00:57:33.960 --> 00:57:36.440
that that only creates a different problem, right, you just

897
00:57:36.440 --> 00:57:39.760
flip the problem around. If if Pelagian says I can

898
00:57:39.920 --> 00:57:44.079
without God, they're basically say we can with God. But

899
00:57:44.199 --> 00:57:48.360
both are claiming we can, but at the same time,

900
00:57:49.920 --> 00:57:56.199
well we can't. That makes new sense, Ladies and gentlemen.

901
00:57:56.480 --> 00:57:59.559
This just shows you that the early Church could not

902
00:58:00.119 --> 00:58:02.360
says this. Who could not figure this out? And I

903
00:58:02.360 --> 00:58:06.599
think the only person who an entire history of Christianity,

904
00:58:07.000 --> 00:58:10.480
I think the only person who started realizing this entire

905
00:58:10.559 --> 00:58:13.719
system was broke was Luther. I think Luther was the

906
00:58:13.719 --> 00:58:17.480
one who started going this is ridiculous.

907
00:58:17.719 --> 00:58:18.719
And why was Luther?

908
00:58:19.079 --> 00:58:22.199
What led Luther to realizing the system that wasn't working

909
00:58:23.000 --> 00:58:26.400
his own He was so sensitive to his own sin.

910
00:58:27.159 --> 00:58:29.599
If we could get everyone to be as sensitive as

911
00:58:29.679 --> 00:58:33.800
Luther was to his sin, I think we could have

912
00:58:33.840 --> 00:58:38.119
a massive transformation in Christian theology. But the problem is

913
00:58:38.920 --> 00:58:40.840
he seemed to be the only person in church history

914
00:58:40.840 --> 00:58:44.239
you ever cared that much. Now, some people say cared

915
00:58:44.239 --> 00:58:47.440
that much because he had psychological problems, But his psychological

916
00:58:47.480 --> 00:58:50.480
problems deals with the reality that nobody wants to deal

917
00:58:50.519 --> 00:58:52.920
with every week, Christians around the world just seemed to

918
00:58:52.920 --> 00:58:57.119
think that they can pull it off and yet judge

919
00:58:57.159 --> 00:59:01.480
everyone else. And what did we read in Romans two

920
00:59:01.480 --> 00:59:04.800
to one? How can we judge when we do the

921
00:59:04.840 --> 00:59:08.800
same things? Paul understood, we shouldn't be going around judging.

922
00:59:09.000 --> 00:59:16.280
But Christianity is what is Christianity known for? We condemn everyone.

923
00:59:18.519 --> 00:59:20.599
There's gotta be an answer somewhere in all of this.

924
00:59:20.639 --> 00:59:22.679
I don't know if we're gonna find an answer, but well,

925
00:59:22.719 --> 00:59:24.880
we're gonna go through. We made it up to the

926
00:59:24.920 --> 00:59:27.679
third and fourth century, right or fourth and fifth? Okay,

927
00:59:27.679 --> 00:59:30.119
you're right, fourth and fifth. I don't where have third

928
00:59:30.159 --> 00:59:33.880
come from, but all right, fourth and fifth. So we'll

929
00:59:33.920 --> 00:59:35.480
just go from fourth and fifth and we'll see if

930
00:59:35.480 --> 00:59:37.679
we can get to twenty twenty four and see where

931
00:59:37.719 --> 00:59:41.519
we have. I'm still trying to come up with an answer, right,

932
00:59:42.559 --> 00:59:46.480
I've argued and argued with Ai. AI doesn't know what

933
00:59:46.519 --> 00:59:51.079
to do with this. AI is like, AI is like, hey, look,

934
00:59:51.119 --> 00:59:55.840
here's the deal. If I stay with Christianity and what

935
00:59:56.079 --> 00:59:58.760
Christians have taught, I gotta say I gotta be able

936
00:59:58.800 --> 01:00:02.280
to tell you that you can do it. But then

937
01:00:02.320 --> 01:00:04.119
at the same time, AI is willing to admit, if

938
01:00:04.159 --> 01:00:06.400
you look at it from a logical standpoint, it makes

939
01:00:06.440 --> 01:00:09.679
absolutely no sense. That Christianity just makes no sense. But

940
01:00:10.079 --> 01:00:13.960
if I give you an answer from Christianity, but it

941
01:00:14.119 --> 01:00:17.039
logically it doesn't logically it makes no sense.

942
01:00:17.079 --> 01:00:19.719
And I'm like, I know it doesn't make any sense logically, but.

943
01:00:19.719 --> 01:00:21.639
I'm not allowed to say that, right because if I

944
01:00:21.679 --> 01:00:23.599
say that, people are like, oh, you was no mean

945
01:00:23.639 --> 01:00:26.480
to Christianity. Now you should be by I shouldn't be

946
01:00:26.519 --> 01:00:28.559
the one bothered by it. You should be bothered by it.

947
01:00:28.599 --> 01:00:30.840
Because what is the reality that's been in your life

948
01:00:30.840 --> 01:00:35.679
since you became saved that you sin? Well, if you're

949
01:00:35.679 --> 01:00:38.320
in a perpetual state of sin, should that not bother you?

950
01:00:39.280 --> 01:00:43.880
What should the answer be? And if it doesn't bother you,

951
01:00:43.920 --> 01:00:48.280
don't get mad at me. That's for you to figure out.

952
01:00:49.039 --> 01:00:52.920
And I guess so there will be a change. You're

953
01:00:53.599 --> 01:00:56.639
you are just making up something, right, because I can

954
01:00:56.679 --> 01:01:05.280
find change where everywhere, right, I can find change everywhere.

955
01:01:05.280 --> 01:01:07.559
I can find people who used to do these things

956
01:01:07.599 --> 01:01:09.599
and they stop doing this. They used to struggle with

957
01:01:09.639 --> 01:01:11.760
this and they stopped it and they and they can

958
01:01:12.039 --> 01:01:20.079
credit that change from everything. Counseling religion self discipline, martial arts.

959
01:01:19.880 --> 01:01:20.440
You name it.

960
01:01:20.519 --> 01:01:26.400
They find that thing that transform them. In fact, testimonials

961
01:01:26.920 --> 01:01:32.639
are not unique to Christianity. People from all backgrounds have

962
01:01:32.679 --> 01:01:38.519
their little testimonials. It doesn't prove anything. Christians are deluded

963
01:01:38.599 --> 01:01:43.159
into creating a fantasy world, and that fantasy world needs

964
01:01:43.199 --> 01:01:45.840
to be burnt to the ground so there's none of

965
01:01:45.880 --> 01:01:48.920
it left and then we can try to figure out

966
01:01:48.920 --> 01:01:52.440
what's the right way. Now. I still hold out hope

967
01:01:52.599 --> 01:02:00.599
that what God demands he provides. He just finds it

968
01:02:00.639 --> 01:02:04.199
in a way that no one wants to admit, and

969
01:02:04.199 --> 01:02:09.760
he provides it in an imputed way. And nobody likes

970
01:02:09.800 --> 01:02:20.039
imputed because imputed means that I am what I am not,

971
01:02:22.280 --> 01:02:26.440
I am what I am not. That is hard for

972
01:02:26.519 --> 01:02:29.880
Christians to process. All right, well, got we come before

973
01:02:29.920 --> 01:02:31.960
you this morning, or as we go through the rest

974
01:02:32.000 --> 01:02:34.679
of this history, help us try to understand our own

975
01:02:34.679 --> 01:02:38.239
flaws and failures and trying to understand this. Forgive us

976
01:02:38.280 --> 01:02:41.639
for where we have misrepresented your word and what you

977
01:02:41.719 --> 01:02:45.440
have wanted us to understand, and forgive us for probably

978
01:02:45.480 --> 01:02:48.280
the condemnation that we've heaped upon others. And we asked

979
01:02:48.280 --> 01:02:51.239
this in Jesus name and gos people said