Episode Transcript
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Let's turn our attention to glacians chapter
four. I'm going to be reading a
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lot from this book tonight, but
for now let's just look at glacians for
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versus one through seven. Let's her
God's Word Glaciers, for I mean that
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the heir, as long as he
is a child, is no different from
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a slave, though he is the
owner of everything, but he is under
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guardians and managers until the date set
by his father. In the same way,
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we also, when we were children, were enslaved to the elementary principles
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of the world. But when the
fullness of time had come, God sent
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forth his son, born of a
woman, born under the law, to
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redeem those who were under the law, so that we might receive adoption as
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sons. And because you are sons, God has sent the spirit of his
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son into our hearts, crying Abba
father. So you are no longer a
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slave but a son, and of
a son, than an heir through God.
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Well, for the time being,
this is my final sermon on this
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passage and glaciers four verse, for
where we hear the beginnings of the one
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who has no beginning, the beginnings
of the incarnation, that is, of
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our Lord and Savior, Jesus Christ. We've considered in turn these four phrases,
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or three phrases and then a fourth
one this evening. The first was
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in the fullness of time, the
second was that the Lord God, God
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the father, sent forth his son. The one we covered this morning was
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that he was born of a woman, and then to this evening, that
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he was born under the law.
Each of these things leads from one to
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the next to develop an and paint
a picture for us by which we understand
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the work of Christ. Paul gives
to us these four phrases so that we
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might know how it is and by
whom it is that we are redeemed from
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under the law, that we no
longer are under the law. Everything's been
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building to this point and it's important
to take a moment to reflect and what
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it means that Jesus was born under
the law to redeem us from under the
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law. Now, the Bible uses
the word law in a lot of different
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ways and to refer to different things
at different times. Sometimes it refers to
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a specific law, I'm sometimes it
refers to natural law, law that we
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are all obligated to fulfill. Sometimes
it refers to the Mosaic Law, the
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Law Moses or particular laws in Moses, and there are other we could add
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to this list as well. And
so the best way to determine what the
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word law means has this range of
possible meetings, is, of course,
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to look at the context. And
the context tells us that here Paul's referring
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directly to the law of Moses,
but has something bigger in mind as he
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speaks of it. So I want
to prove that to you and show you
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that from the scriptures here, from
Galatians. Begin with me in Glacians,
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Chapter Two, glaciers to Paul lays
down this principle in verse sixteen. He
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says, yet we know that a
person is not justified by the works of
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the law but through faith in Jesus
Christ. So we also have believed in
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Christ, Jesus, in order to
be justified by faith in Christ and not
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by the works of the law,
because by works of the law no one
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will be justified. Now the reason
the Paul lays down this principle here is
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that the people of Galatia were tempted
to put themselves back under the works of
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the law Christ had redeemed them out
as we read, and did glacians,
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for redeemed them out from under the
law, but they were trying to go
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back to it. He says,
Oh, foolish glacians, who has a
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bewitched you? In the beginning of
chapter three, this is a bad thing.
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He says of those who are trying
to do this that he wishes they
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would emasculate themselves. He says that
this is a contrary Gospel, a false
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gospel, a promise of good news
that is really terrible news, bad news.
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He says that even if an angel
should preach it from heaven, we
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should not believe it. So this
principle that we cannot be saved by the
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works of the law, by that
or even more specifically, by the works
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of the law, no one is
justified, is laid down here at the
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beginning, at the be in this
passage that we've read. So what does
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he want us to do instead of
live by works of the law? Well,
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he tells us he will calls us
to live by faith, and he
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points us to a very particular person. As we lead up to Galatians chapter
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four, he points us to Abraham. He says this is how we came
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to have life notice what he says. For example, in verse two of
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Chapter Three, he says, let
me ask you only this. Did you
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receive the spirit by the works of
the law or by hearing with faith?
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Are you so foolish? Having begun
by the spirit, are you now perfected
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by the flesh? Did you suffer
so many things in vain? If indeed
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it was in vain, does he
who supplies the spirit to you and works
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miracles among you do so by the
works of the law or by the hearing
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with faith, just as Abraham the
leaved, and it was counted to him
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as righteousness? This Abraham as an
example to us, as shows us how
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it is that we live. We
live by faith. Abraham was not justified
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by the works of the law,
he was justified by by faith counted to
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him as righteousness. And so when
we put our faith in God, we
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become like Abraham, even sons of
Abraham. So galatians three, verse seven
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says. Know, then, that
it is those of faith who are the
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sons of Abraham. Well, you
remember that back in Genesis, God made
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this Grand Promise to Abraham. He
promised him this, he made a covenant
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with him and promised that through him, all the people of the world,
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all nations, all the families of
the world would be blessed. In other
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words, Abraham would receive this inheritance
and all of his airs would receive that
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inheritance as well. So the question
is, how do we become sons of
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Abraham? Do we come sons of
Abraham by the works of the law,
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by being justified in God's say,
by the works of the law, or
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do we receive the righteousness of God
through faith? Well, the answer is
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the second. Abraham was justified by
faith, and so also his son's share
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in that inheritance through faith. Verse
Seven again. Know, then, that
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it is those of faith who are
the sons of Abraham. The nation's are
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blessed through him, him, and
we live by faith. Again Paul Repeats
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himself. In verse ten, he
says for all who rely on the works
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of the law are under a curse. Now this is a this is adding
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something in a way. Before he
has said that we only live, we
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come to life, we come to
have the spirit, not through the works
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of the law but through faith.
And now we add something else. He
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says that those who try to live
by the works of the law, those
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who say I will be justified before
God by doing the things that God requires.
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He says that that kind of person
is under a curse. Now that
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runs counter to what a lot of
times we are taught and what we are
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tempted to believe about God. We
believe that if we rely on our works
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of the law, that if we
go and do the things that are obedient,
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if we strive really hard and keep
trying and keep trying and keep trying,
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eventually God will be pleased with us
again. Eventually God will say,
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blessed are you. But what Paul
says is those who rely on the works
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of the law, which sounds like
a good thing, are under a curse.
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Here's why. Any quotes from Deuteronomy
Twenty six, twenty six, and
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saying this, he says, cursed
be everyone who does not abide by all
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the things written in the book of
the Law and do them. Deuteronomy Twenty
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six were he quotes from says curse
to be everyone who does not confirm the
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words of this law by doing them, and all the people shall say Amen.
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Of course this is similar to the
Covenant of Works that God made with
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Abraham in the garden. She broke, like the people of Israel did Jose
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is six seven, we are told
that, like Adam, they transgressed the
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covenant. They did not abide by
all the things written in the book of
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the law. They did not fulfill
the law, they did not do the
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things that were required and therefore cursed. Are they cursed? Are they?
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And this book of the law here
refers to specifically to the law of Moses,
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the law that God gave to his
people on Mount Sinai, maybe even
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especially, of the book of Deuteronomy, in which the Covenant is laid out
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a second time, right as the
people are about to enter the land?
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How do we know that it's the
law of Moses that he has in mind?
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Well, it's because he tells us
this. Notice in a chapter three.
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Again, as he continues, in
verse Seventeen, he speaks about the
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promises of Abraham and what comes after
it. Look at Verse Sixteen. Paul
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says, now promises were made to
Abraham and to his offspring. It does
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not say two offsp rings, referring
to many, but referring to one and
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to your offspring, who is Christ. This is what I mean. The
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law which came four hundred and thirty
years afterward, does not annull a covenant
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previously ratified by God so as to
make the promise void. So you see
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what he's saying here. He's saying
God has done these two things in history.
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He speaking about two things God has
done in history. The first one
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is God's promise to Abraham and to
his offspring Christ. The second thing is
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the adding of the law four hundred
and thirty years afterwards. This refers to
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the law of Moses, or the
book of the law. He draws from
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exodus twelve, verse forty, where
we read the time that the people of
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Israel lived in Egypt was four hundred
and thirty years. So Paul is talking
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about the law that God gave to
his people under Moses after they came out
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of Egypt. Abraham was promised these
things. His family grew, they multiplied
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and then they went into Egypt and
after four hundred and thirty years they came
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out of Egypt and God gave them
his law on Mount Sinai. He gave
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them this law and he commanded obedience. He commanded them to do the law
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and said, as we read in
Deuteronomy, is Paul quotes here in glacians,
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cursed be everyone who does not abide
by all the things of the law.
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And now ask yourself, is that
what happened to the people of God?
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Were they cursed by not abiding by
the things of law? Absolutely,
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over and over again, the prophets
warned and called them to obedience. Over
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and over again, God gave parables
and Miracles and symbols and all kinds of
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events to call them to obedience.
And over and over again they failed,
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and not in minor ways, as
we know from the sermons and is equal
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and other places. The people of
Israel failed on every account and did horrible
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things. They filled the land with
murder and bloodshed and justice. Those who
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are in power, who are called
to protect and keep the people, robbed
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the people. Instead of giving them
and key and keeping them in the law
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of God, they supplanted their they
they replaced God's law with their own law,
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God's priesthood with their own priesthood,
God's temple with their own temples,
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and on and on and on it
went. We read that they even sacrifice
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their own children to these idols.
Murder and justice, bloodshed, idolatry,
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all kinds of sexual immorality. It
built up a built up in God,
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in his kindness, kept calling down
the repentance and they did not obey and
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eventually they lost the blessings that that
were promised, the blessings of the land,
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the blessings of Cain and the blessings
of peace and prosperity. They broke
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the covenant and they were cursed.
This curse came about for them. But
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we and we also read, and
as we continue to read, this flows
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into our next section. God speaks
about those and the purpose of these this
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period of time, before getting to
our section about sons and heirs. What
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does he say? What was the
law for during this time? Then,
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if God gave this law to his
people, what does that do with the
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promise to Abraham and what does it
do? What was its purpose in history?
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Well, with regard to the promise
of Abraham, it doesn't annull it,
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right, remember that, Paul says. When the law came four hundred
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and thirty years afterward, it doesn't
annul the covenant that was made to Abraham.
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The promise is still there. Verse
Eighteen of Chapter Three. Four.
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If the inheritance comes by the law, it is no longer by promise.
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But God gave it to Abraham by
promise. So then this question. Well
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then, why then the law?
Well, that's exactly what verse Nineteen says.
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WHY THEM LAW? Here's the answer. It was added because of transgressions,
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until the offspring should come to whom
the promise had been made, and
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it was put in place through angels, by an intermediate hear He. Now
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an intermediary implies more than one,
but God is one. Is the law
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then, contrary to the promises of
God? Certainly not, for if a
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law had been given that could give
life and I could not on, then
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righteousness would indeed by be by the
law. But the scripture imprisoned everything under
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sin so that the promise by faith
in Jesus Christ might be given to those
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who believe. I'm going to keep
reading here now. Before faith came,
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we were held captive under the law, imprisoned until the coming of faith would
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be revealed, or coming faith would
be revealed. So then, the law
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was our guardian until Christ came,
in order that we might be justified by
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faith. Now that faith is come, we're no longer under a guardian,
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for in Christ Jesus you are sons
of God through faith. For as many
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of you who are baptized into Christ
have would put put on Christ. There
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is neither Jew nor Greek, nor
slave nor free, there is neither male
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or female, for you are all
one in Christ Jesus, and if you
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are Christ, then you are Abraham's
offspring airs, according to the promise.
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So you will see what he's saying
here. He's saying that there was a
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period of time when we were,
when God's people were under the law.
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But what was the purpose of that? It was to serve as a guardian.
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It was a temporary period of time, during what we might call childhood,
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under which the people of God would
match. Sure, as the plan
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of God mature, it is the
offspring of Abraham Jesus, Christ would be
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revealed. But when we come to
chapter four, what he says is while
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they're in this period of guardianship,
while they're under the tutelage of the law,
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this temporary time, they're kind of
like slaves. Notice what he says
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in Verse Four. Are Sorry chapter, for I mean that the air,
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as long as he is a child, is no different from a slave.
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Yes, he's a child, yes
he's an air, but he he does
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not the master of the House,
he doesn't enjoy all the privileges of the
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house, he's still won under control. He's still one who's being told what
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to do, he's still one who's
being directed, often because of lack of
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wisdom, hardheartedness, all these kinds
of things. He's no different than a
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slave, even though he is the
owner of everything, but he's under guardians
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and managers until the date set by
his father. In the same way,
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we also, when we were children, were enslaved the elementary principles of this
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world. So he says that there
was this slavery that we were under when
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we were under the law of God, under the Law of Moses, this
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law that he speaks of. He
continues to go on and compare it to
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hag ore and Sarah. He says
of Hag are that she is Mount Sinai,
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that Sarah is Jerusalem. The formerly
we were under HAG are, we
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were under signed, I under its
law, but now we are under Jerusalem
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and we are not to put ourselves
again under that yoke of slavery. Looking
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at chapter five, verse one,
for Freedom, Christ to set us free.
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Stand firm, therefore, and do
not submit again to a yoke of
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slavery. He says that we are
not to put ourselves back under the law.
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These Christians who are being tempted to
go back and be circumcised again,
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go back and submits the law of
Moses. Paul is saying no, no,
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no. That period of time,
that covenant, was for a particular
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purpose. It didn't annul the Covenant
Abraham, but it was to bring God's
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people under a period of teaching,
a time of learning. Paul is saying
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that the law of Moses played an
important part in the redemption of God,
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in the unfolding of grace that was
first promised after man fell, but the
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rule it played was a temporary one, a limited one, and we're not
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to put ourselves back under it.
It was a guardian, it was a
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manager until the date set by the
father, the date when the fullness of
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time would come, when we would
be made no longer children under tutelage,
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but heirs according to the promise of
Abraham. Any who put their faith in
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the promise where airs, and that's
a really amazing thing. Notice, remember
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what's Paul said. Either Jew nor
Greek, slave, nor free, male
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or female, these distinctions don't matter. It means that we who are gentiles
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can become sons of Abraham airs of
the inheritance, even though we were never
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formerly under the law of Moses.
Under the Law of Moses, the Jews
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were in some ways like slaves.
Their blessings were contingent upon the obedience to
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the law. They're entering into its
particular kind of life, this temporal life
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in the world. But the lesson
they learned, and the lesson that we
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is the watching world, can learn
even from a future point in history,
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is that they could not obey.
They did not obey. The blessings promised
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in Deuteronomy were never secured, much
less the eternal blessings that the temporal ones
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pointed to. But the law of
Moses, Paul says, was never intended
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to secure eternal blessings. That was
never the point, Remember Chapter Twenty One,
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for if a law had been given
that could give life, then righteousness
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would indeed be of the law.
But it wasn't. It never could.
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The righteousness could never come through the
law, it could only come through faith,
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only through faith. And so he
speaks to these Christians who attempted to
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come back under the law of Moses, and he says, did you begin
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by the Law of Moses? Did
you gain in the spirit by obedience to
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the works of the law. No, you, of course you didn't.
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You did it by hearing the faith. You heard the preaching of the Gospel.
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You Heard of Christ crucified before you. You are taught these things,
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as he says in Galatians three,
verse one, Oh Foolish Glacians, who
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is bewitched you? It was before
your eyes that Jesus Christ was publicly portrayed
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as crucified. They heard the preaching
of Christ, they heard the preaching of
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the Cross, and they believed and
they were given the spirit of God.
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And so he says. I if
you came to faith, if you were
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regenerated and if now received the spirit
of God dwelling in you by the hearing
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of faith, why do you think
now that, having the spirit, you
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are going to be perfected in the
flesh, which is to say you're going
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to be perfected in the striving after
obedience according to the natural man, that
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you're going to just go into yourself
and work out your salvation and and earn
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it out of Your Own Righteousness and
strength? It's not going to happen.
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Paul says, we live by faith. The righteous live by faith, not
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by the works of the law.
So when Paul says that Jesus was born
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under the law, he clearly means
the law of Moses, as he calls
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it, the book of the law, the requirements of which resulted in blessing
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for those who obey and curse for
those who disobey. And as our mediator,
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he suffered those curses. Not because
of his disobedience, though, but
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because of ours. Jesus, as
the was cursed and hung on a tree,
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not because he disobeyed the Law Deuteronomy
Two, one hundred and twenty three,
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cursed is everyone who is hanged on
a tree, but because he would
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take the curse for us. Being
cursed by hanging on a tree is not
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just. It was the was the
consequence, the demonstration of of the curse,
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the public shame and dishonor. There's
a reprehensibleness in our sin that was
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shown in the hanging of someone publicly
on a tree. Why did Jesus undergo
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that sort of thing? Why did
he undergo the shame and humiliation, the
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death, the cursed death? Death
is, after all, aspect apart the
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sum of the curse. He did
it to redeem us out from under the
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law. So to those who,
in error, thought that Christians must submit
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themselves to the law of Moses in
order to become Christians, Paul gives an
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emphatic no, absolutely not. Christ
was born under the law for the very
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purpose of redeeming those who were under
the law, who were essentially slaves and
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cursed to death because of disobedience.
But now, through faith, we are
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sons and heirs, having received the
promise of Abraham. What's amazing about this
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is that, whether you are born
under the Law of Moses as a Jew
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or not as a gentile, no
one should submit to those requirements. They
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have passed, they are over.
That covenant has been broken, but the
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first promise that was made to Abraham, the the promise that was made before
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the law. It still stands.
It still stands though the Covenant was broken,
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though Christ hung on a tree to
take on all of the curse of
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the law, the promise of Abraham
still stands. The covenant that was at
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four hundred and thirty years afterwards,
didn't annul it. It's still there,
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it's still strong, and that covenant
is not founded upon a principle of obedience
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to the law, but on the
promise of grace on the promise of grace
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to those who believed. The promise
still holds, and those who put their
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faith in the promise have life.
And this is so, so important to
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remember, because Christians, at various
times, going all the way back to
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the New Testament, have often been
tempted to go back and submit themselves again
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to the law of Moses, to
think that somehow our obedience to this good
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and holy law will give us the
spirit blessing favor. But what is Paul
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say? Is this the source of
even Jewish hope? No, is this
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the hope of gentile hope? Source
of Gentile Hope? Know again. What
307
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does he say in Chapter Three,
verse seven? Know, then, that
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is those of faith, or sons
of Abraham. And the scripture, foreseeing
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that God would justify the gentiles by
faith, preached the Gospel Beforehand. It
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to Abraham, saying in you shall
all the nations be blessed. So then,
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it is those who are faith who
are blessed. Along with Abraham,
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the man of faith, we see
in Chapter Three of sin, Chapter Three,
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verses thirteen and fourteen. Christ redeemed
us from the curse of the law
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by becoming a curse for us,
for it is written, cursed is everyone
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who hangs on a tree. And
then notice what he says. Christ in
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fulfilling the curse, in undergoing the
curse of the law. What's the reason?
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It's not just for the Jews,
it says, so that in Christ
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Jesus, the blessing of Abraham might
come to the gentiles. The blessing of
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Abraham might come to the gentiles so
that we might receive the promised spirit through
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faith. This is an amazing passage. Paul is telling us that the redemption
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that he talks about in chapter for
this promise of being airs and adopted,
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calling out to God, Ab a
father, that redemption from being under the
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law and it's curse comes even to
gentiles by Christ, who became a curse
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for us. He paid our debt. Now, if you have this question
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in your mind, how is it
that I have a debt when I wasn't
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under the Law of Moses in the
first place? There's a good question.
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How is it that Christ is born
under the law and fulfills the law for
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me, as a gentile, when
I was never really under the law,
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when I was not under the Law
of Moses? How can I break a
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covenant to which I'm not party to. The scriptures themselves say we were strangers
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from the Covenant, we were not
connected to it. Well, the answers
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two fold. Although not originally part
of the Party and therefore not able to
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break the Covenant, neither were we
able to fulfill it or receive its blessings.
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These it's temporal blessings. In other
words, gentiles were no better position,
335
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being cut off from the covenant,
than the Jews, who were does,
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who disobeyed and were therefore a cutoff
from the covenant. It's not as
337
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though being outside of the law of
Moses not brought us children of Abraham by
338
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the flesh, that were somehow in
a better position. However, by Jesus
339
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being cut off and bringing the law
of Moses to an end, what did
340
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he do? The scriptures tell us
that he broke down the dividing wall between
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us and the gentiles so that through
him, we might become sons of Abraham.
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In other words, Jesus doesn't say
in order to become a son of
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Abraham, in order to receive all
of these great promises, you got to
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kind of work your back way,
that backwards all the way through history.
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You need to first submit under the
Law of Moses, come and obey all
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of that, and then you'll be
counted as a son of Abraham. No,
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00:29:03.180 --> 00:29:07.779
he says, from the very beginning
the promise was always by faith.
348
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The second point is this. Although
his gentiles, we are not party to
349
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the Covenant and not formally under the
Law of Moses, the Law of Moses
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does function in a similar way to
the law under which we are all born,
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under of the law of Adam.
Notice what Paul says in Chapter Five,
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verse fourteen. He says the whole
law is fulfilled in one word.
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You shall love your neighbor as yourself. All of the law of Moses,
354
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and other words is grounded in the
law to which every single man, Jew
355
00:29:45.950 --> 00:29:52.710
and gentile, is called to obey. Love. What's the Law of Moses
356
00:29:52.750 --> 00:29:56.859
all about? What's it what's grounding
it? What's the thing that holds it
357
00:29:56.940 --> 00:30:00.940
all together? One of those things
that we could say one central point is
358
00:30:02.059 --> 00:30:06.500
Love, love of God and love
of neighbor. Jesus says this. It's
359
00:30:06.539 --> 00:30:08.609
all summed up in that. Paul
says. It's here, it's all some
360
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of them, and that the whole
law is fulfilled in one word love.
361
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The Law of Moses is grounded into
that law, which everyone is called to
362
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obey, whether we are formerly under
the mosaic law or not, as Jews
363
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or gentiles. In other words,
because the law of Moses was an expression
364
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of the law of love, which
we are all under a requirement to love.
365
00:30:37.390 --> 00:30:41.910
Even those who are outside of Moses, who are not Jews by birth,
366
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are condemned by the law. Why? Because we've failed to do the
367
00:30:45.910 --> 00:30:52.059
basic thing that God has called us
to do, to love. It's so
368
00:30:52.299 --> 00:30:56.859
simple in a way. Just love
each other. That's all you've got to
369
00:30:56.940 --> 00:31:02.660
do. Just apply that in every
way. But we don't do it,
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00:31:03.819 --> 00:31:07.009
we don't think it, we don't
will it, we don't desire it,
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we don't act on it. God
says, love me with all your heart,
372
00:31:11.490 --> 00:31:15.410
all your mind, all your soul, all your strength, love your
373
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neighbor as yourself. The law of
Moses in many ways is a is a
374
00:31:18.240 --> 00:31:22.559
playing out of this. And even
the law of Moses is not exhaustive.
375
00:31:23.400 --> 00:31:29.160
The scriptures tell us, and told
the people of Israel, to think about
376
00:31:29.160 --> 00:31:32.440
the law with wisdom, to look
at it, to study it, to
377
00:31:32.519 --> 00:31:37.589
figure out how the different pieces are
interrelated, to figure out the underlying principles
378
00:31:37.670 --> 00:31:41.589
to learn how to apply it in
situations which aren't mentioned. They were called
379
00:31:41.710 --> 00:31:49.059
to learn how to love, as
we are all called to do. Therefore,
380
00:31:49.180 --> 00:31:53.900
even those who are outside of Moses, US gentiles, are condemned by
381
00:31:53.940 --> 00:32:00.569
the law because we fail to love, we fail to obey. What does
382
00:32:00.769 --> 00:32:07.450
failure of obedience look like, even
for gentiles right? What is failure for
383
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Ab to obedience look like? Paul
gives us some examples if you need some,
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00:32:12.569 --> 00:32:20.160
verse Nineteen of Chapter Five Hundred Nineteen. Now the works of the flesh
385
00:32:20.200 --> 00:32:28.319
are evident. Sexual immorality, impurity, sensuality, idolatry, sorcery, enmity,
386
00:32:28.440 --> 00:32:32.670
strife, jealousy, fits of angry
anger, rivalries, dissensions, divisions
387
00:32:34.029 --> 00:32:39.349
and the drunkenness, orgies and things
like these. I warn you, I
388
00:32:39.470 --> 00:32:44.380
warned you before, that those who
do such things will not inherit the Kingdom
389
00:32:44.420 --> 00:32:51.940
of God. To draw this same
point from Paul's letter to the Romans,
390
00:32:51.980 --> 00:32:57.900
he says all are condemned under the
law, whether it be from the natural
391
00:32:57.980 --> 00:33:01.490
law that's written on our hearts and
expressed in the world, or it be
392
00:33:01.769 --> 00:33:08.369
written law written on tablets of Stone
under Moses, Jew and gentile. No
393
00:33:08.569 --> 00:33:14.400
one escapes. All are condemned,
all our slaves. None are free,
394
00:33:15.079 --> 00:33:20.720
and because of this we all need
to hear about the one who was born
395
00:33:20.880 --> 00:33:27.549
under the law to redeem us out
from under the law. It's not because
396
00:33:27.670 --> 00:33:32.509
the law is bad, the law
is good, but because our civil flesh
397
00:33:32.950 --> 00:33:39.069
is incited by it and disobeys it, we find ourselves, would we are
398
00:33:39.190 --> 00:33:44.019
under the law, in what Paul
Calls, in another place, a ministry
399
00:33:44.099 --> 00:33:47.660
of condemnation and death. It's not
that the law is bad, it's that
400
00:33:47.779 --> 00:33:52.460
we always buck against it, we
always fight against we don't love as we
401
00:33:52.500 --> 00:33:55.569
do, as we ought to,
and so it's condemnation, condemnation, condemnation,
402
00:33:55.650 --> 00:34:00.490
a place where we are constantly stuck. When we are under the law,
403
00:34:00.529 --> 00:34:05.690
there's no hope, there's no getting
out. You just try and you
404
00:34:05.930 --> 00:34:08.969
try and you try harder and you
strive more and you work harder and you
405
00:34:09.159 --> 00:34:14.280
try again and over and over again, the message comes back. Condemned,
406
00:34:14.480 --> 00:34:17.360
condemned, condemned, condemned. Death, death, death, you aren't going
407
00:34:17.559 --> 00:34:24.190
anywhere. That's the message of the
law. It speaks truly, if speaks
408
00:34:24.230 --> 00:34:30.030
justly, it speaks out of holiness, it speaks to our sin, to
409
00:34:30.150 --> 00:34:35.710
our foolish and selfishness, our idolatry
and these other sins that are mentioned here.
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We need to be reminded of this. It's funny that around Christmas time,
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this time where a lot of people
celebrate, you know, and the
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birth of Christ and remember his coming
into the world, that's often the time
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that were so busy and so full
of anxiety and striving and striving and striving
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and thinking about how we failed over
and over again all yearlong and how we're
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going to fail again next year.
And it's just this mass of works and
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anxiousness. We worry about the things
that haven't been done, the things that
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are yet to come, and we're
afraid and we're afraid and we're afraid.
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That's a word of condemnation. That's
the Ministry of the law. It's not
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freedom, that's not that's a freedom. That's not resting, that's not finding
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ourselves in Christ, but that's what
Christ gave us. He gives us freedom.
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He says you're no longer under slavery, you're no longer, as we
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read this morning from Hebrews, under
the fear of death, you're no longer
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under the curse. I took it
all for you. I took it all
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for you. When Paul says that
Jesus was born unto the law, his
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first reference is the law of Moses, but that law stands on the broader
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law of love which we all owe
to God and one another and which we
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all have disobeyed. The law of
Moses and his consequences is therefore for all
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of us to study and to know, even as gentiles, so that we
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might see how deeply our sin goes
and how much Christ has saved us from,
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00:36:14.599 --> 00:36:16.239
so that we might see that God, in the fullness of time,
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sent his son, born of an
of a woman, born under the law,
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to redeem us, which means when
we put our faith in him and
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become sons of Abraham, whether we
are Jews by birth or gentiles by birth,
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we have no reason to despair any
more. As Paul says, in
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Romans E, there is no condemnation
for those who are in Christ. Jesus,
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do you hear that word from the
Lord? There is no condemnation on
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you. You can stop beating yourself
up, you can let it go,
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00:37:01.320 --> 00:37:08.159
you can admit your sins and then
relax into the freedom of the forgiveness of
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sins. You can act as though, not as though as one. You
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can act your live your life as
one who is truly free, free to
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00:37:20.510 --> 00:37:24.989
love, free to obey, free
to serve, off and give and worship,
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free because of Jesus Christ. Neither
Jew nor gentile needs to despair,
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because this one, who is born
under law, became a curse for us.
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He took it all away, he
took the condemnation away and his Paul
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says, through his death he redeemed
us out from under the law so that
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we might receive the blessings of God, including life and obedience from the heart,
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and obedience that comes from faith,
from receiving the very life of Christ
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00:38:00.880 --> 00:38:05.880
into ourselves, from living in him, living in his strength, like a
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vine attached to a branch. We
live and bear forth fruit because of him,
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00:38:12.400 --> 00:38:16.110
not because we're squeezing ourselves on the
ground pushing fruit out. We live
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00:38:16.510 --> 00:38:22.550
because of him, if we have
been redeemed and rescued and brought forth by
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00:38:22.550 --> 00:38:28.219
the spirit in the hearing of faith. Let us continue, then, let
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us learn to see Christ, this
one who's come in the fullness of time,
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this one who is sent by God, and see his love and love
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00:38:37.099 --> 00:38:39.940
his love, to see the freedom
he gives us, the inheritance he gives
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00:38:39.980 --> 00:38:46.650
us, the promise he gives us
and believe, just believe, receive that
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promise by faith alone and walk by
faith alone in Him
