What About the Law?
Romans
3:27-31
Romans
3:27-31, "Where is boasting then? It is excluded. By what
law? Of what works? Nay: but by the law of faith. Therefore
we conclude that a man is justified by faith without the deeds
of the law. Is he the God of the Jews only? Is he not also
of the Gentiles? Yes, of the Gentiles also: Seeing it is
one God, which shall justify the circumcision by faith, and
the uncircumcision through faith. Do we then make void the
law through faith? God forbid: yea, we establish the law."
"Open our Bibles to the book of Romans the third chapter, again.
Romans chapter three. We'll be looking at verses 27 through
31, the rest of the chapter today. You know, pride is a real
problem of the human heart. We human beings are so obnoxiously
proud that it's sickening. We'll boast about anything, no
matter how sick it may be. The Duval County jail is having
trouble with prisoners. The deputies where finding that the
punishment that they were giving the trouble-making inmates
was not working. They were putting them on bread and water
in solitary confinement. In most facilities this kind of
punishment had been very effective. But now they were really
stumped, they could not understand why it wasn't working here.
Why wasn't there any improvement among the inmates? Why did
they come out more obnoxious than they were when they were
put in? Why wasn't the punishment working? Finally after
a lot of investigation and many interviews with the inmates,
Sheriff Dale Carson discovered why it wasn't working. He
discovered that especially the young offenders were glorying
in and boasting about they're having been put on bread and
water. 'You know, I'm really tough, man, you know. I was
so bad that I had to be put on bread and water.' They were
actually glorying in what was meant to shame them, boasting
about what they should have never ever done in the first place.
So, in what I think amounted to an absolute stroke of genius,
old Sheriff Carson came up with a plan. Instead of putting
the offending inmates on bread and water, which they boast
about, Carson had them put on baby food. They'd go to solitary,
and it was announced to everyone that now they would be eating
strained peas. Now that's enough to make anybody repent,
isn't it gang? Some of those things are so gross. I like
the whizzed meats the best, don't you? Aggh! Well, it worked.
Now offending inmates are given and they eat it because they're
hungry. But they don't brag about it anymore. 'I ate strained
peas!', you know. Now Sheriff Carson says that one day usually
gets the inmates on their best behavior. Only takes one day
on Gerber's to do it. People try to find the craziest reasons
to boast. Just about anything. So when I read verse 27 I
see that the Bible teaches that there is nothing that we can
boast about doing to earn our salvation. "Where
then is boasting? It is excluded. By what kind of law?
Of works? No: but by the law of faith. For we maintain that
a man is justified by faith"--and Luther added "alone" in his
translation into German [which is changing the Word of God,
isn't it?]--apart from the works of law". There's nothing
to boast about" (Romans 3:27-28) When you get to heaven you're not going to stand there full
of pride, singing 'Oh what glory for me.' When you think
about it, the sin of pride is the cause of the whole mess
this world is in. There's tremendous peril in pride. This
was Satan's undoing. As he was created an anointed cherub
that guarded the glory of God, as he was in the very presence
of God's throne, he was undone as pride began to grip his
heart, and he sinned the first sin. Keep your finger here
in Romans 3 and go back to the book of Isaiah and look at
the 14th chapter, you'll see that the very first
sin in all the universe was Lucifer's sin of pride. Isaiah
chapter 14, verses 13 and 14. There he was, beautiful being,
one of the most awesome creatures God ever has created. And
he began to see God on the throne and desired to be there
himself. 'I'm more beautiful than God, I'm more lovely, I'm
more powerful, I want to be in God's place.' Listen to what he said.
Verse 12, "How have you fallen from heaven O Star of the Morning,
son of the Dawn (or Lucifer, son of the Morning)? You have
been cut down to the earth [cf. Luke 10:18]. You have weakened
the nations. But you said in your heart 'I will ascend to
heaven, I will raise my throne above the stars of God, and
I will sit on the mount of the assembly in the recesses of
the north. I will ascend above the heights of the clouds.
I will make myself like the Most High.'" He's got a problem,
doesn't he? What's his big problem? "I, I will, I will,
I will, I will"--is our problem. What is in the very heart
of the word pride? P R what?--I--DE,
and that's the problem. Me, we live in a
ME generation. A generation where we subscribe to magazines
called SELF magazine. We will be proud about anything.
The radical nature about the gospel of Jesus Christ cuts out
boasting and pride. Why, because God is not saving us because
of our good moral lives, or because of our wonderful accomplishments,
or because of our intelligence, or even our Bible knowledge
[and Who is it through his Holy Spirit that gives us real
Bible understanding?--read John 14 and 16, it is God
through His Holy Spirit who indwells us who imparts to us
understanding of his Word]. We're not being saved because
of anything we do, we're being saved only by what he has done--by
grace through faith, the finished work of Jesus Christ [Yeshua
haMeshiach]. Someone has well said that the ground at the
foot of the cross is absolutely level. There are no doctorates
there, there are no degrees there, there are no bank statements
there, there are no pedigrees there. There are no genealogies
there. It's level. None of us deserved to be saved. And
all of us who are saved have been saved by shear unmerited
favor, we don't deserve God's kindness but he's given it to
us anyway. It's called grace, it's the only way I'm getting
to heaven [or for some, into the kingdom of heaven]. It's
the only way you're getting to heaven. And it's the only
way anybody else is getting to heaven, there is nothing in
us or about us to boast about. All the boasting should be
about Jesus and what Jesus has done for us. The Bible says
"For by grace you have been saved, through faith." 'Oh, it
was my faith, though. I
had
to believe.' See, there you are with your "I" in the way
again. The Lord headed you off at the pass, "For by grace"
Ephesians 2:8-9 says "you are saved through faith, and
that--that
what?--that faith--"not
of yourself, it is the gift of God." So you can't
boast about 'Well, yes, I put my faith in Christ. I
had such strong faith, I had a mountain moving of faith.'
Sorry, you didn't have anything that
wasn't given to you by God, your faith included. The
faith was given to you to believe. You
couldn't have believed if God didn't give you faith to believe,
so don't boast in your faith. That too is from God. "Not
of works" he goes on to say, "lest any man should boast."
'Don't you dare boast!' the Holy Spirit is saying, about anything
you've done. C.S. Lewis in his classic book "Mere Christianity", says that "the heart of pride is competition." He
says it is essentially competitive, competitive by its very
nature. "While the other vices are competitive only so to
speak by accident. Pride gets no pleasure out of having something,
only out of having more of it than the next man." You think about it. Pride doesn't
get a lot of joy of having a car in the parking lot. Pride
gets a joy out of having the only Lexus
in the parking lot, or the only Jaguar. I mean, if there are fifty Lexus or fifty Jaguars or fifty
Mercedes Benz's you couldn't walk out and say, "Ooh, yes,
that's my car, the only one
out there." Now if you brought that car, I apologize, I don't
know who you are, I didn't know you were driving it, and I
could care less, actually. The thing is, you see, it's not
having something, it's having something better. Talk about our kids. It's not enough that our kids,
all kids learn to talk and walk, don't they? But when did yours begin to take his first step? Oh, very early, right? Why, before any of the other kids. I mean, could you have a mediocre, boring kid that took a step with everyone
else, no, oh very advanced, very
intelligent.
Pride is so sickening. It's everywhere in everything we do,
it's sort of like a body odor you can't get rid of. Pride
gets no pleasure out of having something, only out of having
more of it than the next man. We say that people are proud
of being rich or clever or good looking. But they are not,
they are proud of being richer,
or cleverer, or better looking
than others. If everyone else became
equally rich or clever or good looking there would be nothing
to be proud about. It's the comparison that makes you proud.
The pleasure of being above the rest.
Don't you love to be above the rest? Yes. How sick we are.
1 Corinthians 1:30 says 'Look gang, there's only one thing
to boast about if you're going to boast.' 1 Corinthians 1,
verse 30, the apostle says, if you're going to be bragging
and walking around and glorying in something, you'd better
be careful about what you're glorying in, because there's
only one thing that you'd better be boasting about, especially
those of you who know the grace of Jesus and have been saved
by what he has done. Verse 30, let's read it together, verses
30 and 31. And I don't even care if you're reading some other
translation, that's ok, we'll sort of all begin and end at
the same time. Verse 30, just make sure you're in the right
chapter and verse. Chapter 1 of 1 Corinthians and verse 30.
"But by his doing you are in Christ Jesus, who became to us
wisdom from God and righteousness and sanctification and redemption,
that just as it is written, let him who boasts boast in the
Lord." Now where are you going to be boasting if you're a
Christian? In the Lord, right? Not in yourself. Not in
your accomplishments, and not in the things that you possess.
Paul said, "But may it never be that I should boast except
in the cross of our Lord Jesus Christ." God is totally satisfied
with what Jesus has done. God is absolutely thrilled with
what his Son has done. He loves his son's perfect life, he
couldn't keep quiet. Twice in the life of Jesus God could
not keep quiet. He broke silence and said, "This is my beloved
Son, in whom I'm well pleased!" He is so happy about his
Son's work. You show that you are happy with Jesus work by
trusting in that work that he's done for you, and trusting
that alone. There's no place to boast or glory, because God
is saving everybody the same way. There isn't an A plan,
and a few years later, oh, we came up with a B plan, and a
C plan, and 'Oh, I was saved with the gold plan' 'Oh, well,
I was saved on the Platinum plan.' 'I have more privileges than you do.
Why I can use the crystal sea on Mondays, Wednesdays and Fridays
all day long, but you saved with the bonds plan can only use
it on Tuesdays.' Sorry, the next verse, as you go back to
Romans chapter 3, and look at verse 29, you see that God is
saying, 'Look, you all are saved the same way, so why are
you trying to measure each other by each other, I saved you
all the same way. 'I don't save one kid differently than
I save another.' Or is God the God of Jews only, is he just
the Jewish God, or does he save Jews a little better? I mean,
if you have a little Jewish blood in you, you get a little
bit closer to God? Is he not the God of Gentiles also? Yeah,
of Gentiles also. "Since, indeed God, who will justify the
circumcised by faith and the uncircumcised through faith is
one." In other words, he doesn't save Jewish people differently
than non-Jewish people, Baptists different from Presbertyrians,
Calvary Chapel different from Methodists--hey there's one
way of salvation, one door into the kingdom of God, and that's
Jesus Christ, by believing in what he's done for you, by placing
your trust of eternal life in him, and what he's done for
you alone. That is what saves, and nothing else. One of
the things that sort of bugs me, and this just, there are
a lot things that really bug me. This sort of bugs me. And
that is, and I'm 100 percent behind, and I think they're great,
these organizations that are Jewish evangelism organizations--I
believe you really need to understand the culture, to be able
to witness to Jews, to be able to reach them, you know. I
love 'em, I love everything about them, except sometimes as
I listen to their radio broadcasts and I watch their TV programs
and I read their literature, sometimes a little bit of this
comes across, 'We're a little bit closer to God because we
can trace our lineage back to Abraham.' 'We're a little better
in the church, we're a little bit higher than the rest of
the ordinary Christians, because we're Messianic.' Sorry, you're no better than I am. You see, the blood that
saves us is not the blood flowing in your veins, it's the
blood that spilt out of Jesus' veins for you. And that blood
saves anybody of any race and any color and any status, just
as completely and just as wonderfully and gives us all the
very same
standing in Christ. There is neither Jew nor Greek, bond
nor free, male or female, we're all saved by the same precious
blood of Jesus Christ. God saves us all apart from what we
do. Look at Titus chapter 3. To the right, you'll hit a
bunch of books that begin with T, and Titus is the last of
those books. Titus chapter 3, verses 4-7, "But when the kindness
of God our Savior and his love for mankind appeared, he saved
us"--hallelujah, salvation is something you can have, and
say "I'm saved", not 'I hope to be saved, but "I am saved"--"he
saved us not on the basis of deeds which
we have done in righteousness, but according to his"--what?--"mercy
by the washing of regeneration and renewing by the Holy Spirit,
whom he poured out upon us richly through Jesus Christ our
Savior, that being declared not guilty or justified by his
grace, we might be made heirs according to the hope of eternal
life." It says he saved us, not on the
basis of deeds which we have done in righteousness. Please, underscore that, let it
sink into your heart. Why
are you doing what you're doing? Is it to be saved? Then
knock it off! You can't be saved by anything you do. The
Bible says that all our righteous deeds are as filthy rags
before God. [He's getting into an important point of doctrine
here. But don't think just because we're saved by faith apart
from works, that this now gives us an excuse to go out an
party, actively breaking all of God's law with impunity.
Wait and get the whole picture here.] And it's a very explicit term that
I won't tell you what it means, and you know me, I'm not afraid
to tell it like it is. It's a very gross thing that he's
talking about. All our righteous deeds are as filthy rags.
You're gonna present that mess to God? 'Oh, but that's why
I go and pray at the church every morning.' 'That's why I
give my tithe.' 'That's why I got baptized, the righteous
deed.' I'm sorry, he saved us not on the basis of deeds which
we have done in righteousness. 'Well, I've been to the temple.'
He saved us not on the basis of deeds which we have done in
righteousness. 'Well, I'm a vegetarian.' He saved us not
on the basis of deeds which we have done in righteousness.
'Well, I don't smoke, I don't drink, I don't dance.' He saved
us not on the basis of deeds which we have done in righteousness.
You cannot be saved by anything you do. The apostle Paul
tried. Chapter 3 of Philippians, go to the left. Philippians
chapter 3. He says, 'Man, I was so religious, I had so much
righteousness, so many good deeds, I was sickeningly good'
he said. That's my paraphrase, that's what he says, basically.
Verse 5 of chapter 3, 'Man, I was circumcised the eighth day,
I was of the right nation, I had the very best tribe, the
good family name of Benjamin [he actually was of the tribe
of Benjamin, not Judah, so if this was so, Paul could never
have been high priest], I was a Hebrew of Hebrews, as to the
law of the denomination I was, I was a Pharisee. Boy was
I zealous' vs. 6, he says, 'I was so zealous, I even persecuted
you Christians. As to the righteousness that was found in
the law I was blameless, I kept all the little rituals, I
kept the laws.' But look at what he says in verse 7, "Whatever
things were gain to me, those things I've counted as a loss
for the sake of knowing Christ. More than that, I count all
things to be lost in view of the surpassing value of knowing
Christ Jesus my Lord, for whom I've suffered the loss of all
things, and I count them as but"--the word in Greek is--"manure"--rubbish,
a pile of manure--"in order that I may gain Christ." Verse
9, read it, "and may be found in him not
having a righteousness of my own derived from law, but that
which is through faith in Christ, the righteousness which
comes from God on the basis of faith." [and I might add, that faith, not of our own, but coming into
us from God via his Holy Spirit, i.e. our obedience is faith-powered,
and not of our own efforts. It is God who in the terms of
the new covenant described by Paul in Hebrews (where he is
quoting from Jeremiah 31:31-33) 8, writes his law in our hearts
and minds. We cannot take credit for observing God's law
of love, or any commandment within that law, for it is God,
Christ, who is empowering our observance, it is God who is
actually keeping his law within us! That isn't legalism in
any way, or stretch of the imagination.] Paul said, 'I had
to throw it all away'. Going into the stadium for the crusades,
Friday nights, I saw people, they had their little pop-bottle
carrying, what are they?--help me out--cooler chests with
them, you know, full of their pop and all of their goodies.
They're not going to pay that $3 for a glass of pop, you know,
or a cup of pop at the stands, and so their coming up, and
they're stopped. You hear a voice from on high saying "There
are no containers allowed into the stadium, no glass containers,
no cooler chests, no food may be brought into the stadium."
And then there's a guard standing there--'Wrong, you're not
coming in here with this.' And they have to go all the way
back, five miles, to where they parked, and get rid of what
they were bringing in. It is safe to say that if you right
now, try to walk into heaven with your cooler-chest full of
righteousness, with all the cool things you've done, there
is a voice that will say, 'Wrong, we don't allow junk like
that in here. Trash it! Get a life!' You see, unless you
have Jesus' life covering you, you don't have a life. You
don't have what it takes to get into [the kingdom of] heaven.
There's a great big garbage can at the 'Pearly Gate', and
you're going to have to trash it all. 'Well, how can I get
in!? How can I get in!?' I've been telling you, by what
Jesus did for you. He paid the ticket. He paid the price.
He did it all. Accept it. Accept it. So awesome. I wasn't
going to tell you, but I will. 4th of July we
were invited to go to a very special fireworks, the downtown
Phoenix fireworks for the 4th of July. We were
invited to go, and we were given very special seats, right
on the Supreme Court steps. And the whole fireworks, after
we got there, we discovered, were aimed right at us. It was
like the whole thing was put on for the people that were sitting
on those steps, people like the attorney general, and you
know all these people that were sitting around us. But we
got there late, the gate wouldn't open for us the way it was
supposed to, so we had to fake out this gate to get it to
open. That took us a little while to figure out how to make
this automatic gate to open without a card, so we did it,
and we finally got in. And just as we were trying to get
in to where we were supposed to go and sit down, this guard
came and said, "I'm sorry, there are too many people in here
and you'll have to go." I said, "But, but I got the ticket
right here in my hand!" And then old Ed Barrens walks up
in his uniform, he swings the gate open and says "let them
in", and he looks at this guy like 'You pip-squeak, let 'em
in, they're with me.' The guy goes, 'oh, oh, oh, ok.' We
go walking in, pride, yes [laughter]. We sat down. Now I
could have said, 'Hey, look at my driving record.' 'Look
at my credit rating.' 'Look at how good a person I am, look
at this, look at that.' I could have argued with him all
night long. I could even have said, 'I got the ticket, I
got the ticket.' But you know what I had, I had someone on
the inside, in authority, who opened the gate to me. That's
who you have in heaven right now. You have Jesus Christ.
He's in authority, he's seated at the right hand of God [the
Father]. And he's going to open the gate for you, not because
of anything you've done, but by everything he's arranged and
done for you. Amen?
Now as we end the chapter, the last verse, look at
Romans chapter 3, that last verse says, "Do
we then nullify the law through faith? May it never be.
On the contrary, we establish
the law." Now
this verse has been so abused, I abused it myself for decades.
In the church I was growing up in, we used this verse to prove
that you were saved by faith plus works. 'Do
we nullify the whole Law? No we establish the Law.' And so we then drop the Law on them and say, you'd better keep
the law (Torah), we say, 'not to be saved, because you are
saved, but if you didn't keep it, you weren't saved.' So,
what does that amount to? Confusion, yes. And I just want
to look at this thought for a minute, and help you understand
that we are not under law, we are under grace. And you need
to understand these kind of verses. Because you're going
to become in contact with people who will use verses like
this to try to lay Law on you. His point is, 'Look, did I blow the law away, because the law
said 'you're a sinner', so did I just get out my grace-gun
and blow it way--Blam!--so the law evaporated? No.' He says, 'no, God's gospel actually
established the Law.' and at the same time, you can say to
me--'We'll how do you save me and establish the thing that
says 'You sinner!'? 'The soul that sins, it shall die.'
'The soul that sins, it shall die' [quoted from two separate
Proverbs]. How do you establish that thing and save me?'
Now if I were doing it, I would just have blown the Law away,
and said, accept me Lord. But God says 'No, I'm a righteous
God too. I'm a law-abiding God too, so what I have to do
is I have to satisfy the Law's commands and at the same time
figure out a way to save you. And that's what the cross was
all about. Jesus lived a perfect life, his life was more
valuable than all the people who have ever lived, because
his life was the very life of God. So Jesus not only lived
a perfect life for him, Jesus the man, but as Jesus-God, he
lived a perfect life for me and you, and everybody else who's
ever lived and would accept him. And so if I accept Christ,
his righteousness is credited to me, and now the Law when
it looks at me, it says, 'All right, you're cool, perfect.'
So God figured out a way to save us through the death of his
Son, that keeps us from having to die and go to hell [die
the 2nd death in the lake of fire, literally, cf.
Rev. 20:14-15.], and at the same time establishes his Law.
That's his point. But people will come and say, 'Yeah, but
Jesus said he didn't come to abolish the law [cf. Matthew
5:17-19]!' Exactly, yeah, who's arguing with you? I'm not.
Galatians 4 says "In the fulness of time God sent forth Son
born of a woman, born under the law, in order that he might
redeem those who are under the law, and
make us heirs." So yes, Jesus kept the law, Jesus kept the
Ten Commandments. Why? Because he was born under the law,
he had to, to fulfill the law. Look at Matthew 5 for a second,
I just want you to really understand what's going on here.
It's an important concept for new covenant Christians [and
Messianic believers as well]. Because sooner or later you're
going to have somebody coming to you, or inviting you to a
meeting. And they're going to come and tell you, they'll
show you this verse. They will show you this verse, I did
it many times. Matthew chapter 5, verse 17. I would try
to get Christians to keep the law, and they would say "We
are" and I would say, "No, you're not keeping that 4th
Commandment." The 4th Commandment says 'Remember
the Sabbath day, to keep it holy', you're not worshipping
on the 7th day of the week, look it up, Sunday,
Monday, Tuesday, Wednesday, Thursday, Friday, Saturday--what's
the 7th day of the week?--Saturday. If you're not worshipping on Saturday, you're not keeping the
law of God." And they would say, "Well, the law's been abolished."
And I would say, "I'm sorry, but well you go to Matthew 5:17
with me, and what does Jesus say?" "Do not think that I came
to"--what--"abolish the law or the prophets, I did not come
to abolish, but to fulfill." Gulp.and I had many a Christian
in my hands then, and many of them joined the cult I was part
of --because they didn't understand the law and the gospel.
[And here's were I say that Pastor Mark is not in proper accordance
with the teaching of Romans 14, in calling a Torah observant
Sabbatarian group a cult. But due to space constraints, just
go to the section on Romans 14 and read it to get the proper
balance of how we ought to be treating (which includes speaking
about) Sabbatarian groups (http://www.unityinchrist.com/romans/romans12-14_2.htm
). Most aren't cults, they have the Holy Spirit indwelling
them, but their understanding or take of what the Bible has
to say about law and grace is different. God
has not used this apparent lack of understanding on their part
to deny them the Holy Spirit--so says the apostle
Paul in Romans 14--so
we must not be calling them cults. Enough said. Read Romans
14 to learn more on this subject.] They didn't understand
what I'm going to share with you in the next minute or two.
So it's important to listen. OK? Jesus didn't come to break
any law or to destroy any law, no he didn't. It's true.
Obvious, I'm not going to say what he said wasn't true, what
an insult. Always what Jesus says is true. Amen? So take
it for what it means. Yes, he didn't come to abolish any
law at all. But he said, "I did come to"--what?--"fulfill the Law." What does fulfill mean?
The way you understand what a word means in the Bible, one
of the great ways, is to look up other places where this word
occurs. If there's a word you don't understand exactly what
it means, then look it up every other place it occurs in the
Bible, and you'll get a better understanding of what the word
means. It's called "doing a word study." Well let's just
look it up in a few other places and see what this word means.
Look at Luke 24, Luke 24. Now the interesting thing here
is that the Greek word for "fulfill" is translated by different
English words, but it's still the same Greek word. See if
you can find it, obviously this will be pretty easy, gang.
But they're getting harder. The next two verses are harder.
Verse 44, Luke 24:44, "And he said unto them, These are the
words which I spake unto you, while I was yet with you, that
all things must be fulfilled, which were written in the law of Moses, and in the prophets,
and in the psalms, concerning me." There's our word, fulfilled. Well, you said Mark that by looking
at other places we'd see what it means. It means fulfilled.
Yeah but this puts it in a different context, you can maybe
understand it even better here. He's saying 'Hey disciples,
the reason why I had to die and be buried and rise again was
because there were Old Testament prophecies that had to be
fulfilled.' Now
like the prophecy, where was Jesus going to be born? Where?
In Bethlehem, right? Now there was a prophecy that said he
had to be born in Bethlehem. Jesus fulfilled that prophecy,
yes. But does that mean we have to go to Bethlehem now?
No. Does it mean that prophecy is still in effect now for
us? No. But we look at that prophecy and we can say, 'Look,
this proves that he is whom he claims to be. He was born
in the right place.' And there's three hundred of those other
prophecies that we're not waiting and watching, and we're
not saying that you got to be born in Bethlehem and go to
Egypt, and you're father has to be of the tribe of Judah and
your mother has to be a virgin. We don't put you under any
of those prophecies, but they have been fulfilled,
completed in Christ. Look at Acts 19:21, see if you can find the word now.
We're in Acts 19. It's not going to say "fulfilled", it'll
be the same exact word in Greek, but a little different English
translation. See if you can find it in Acts 19, verse 21.
"And after these things were ended ["finished" in the version
Mark is reading], Paul also purposed in the spirit, when he
had passed through Macedonia and Achaia, to go to Jerusalem,
saying, After I have been there, I must also go to Rome."
Can you take a stab and guess what word you think is the word
"fulfilled". What do you think it is? "Finished" right,
or what does the NIV say? "Come to pass" is what it says
[or in the KJV, "ended"]. So, I like the word "finished",
because that's the word "fulfilled". Jesus says, "I didn't
come to destroy the law, but to"--what--"finish it" or "have
it come to pass", "fulfill it." That's beginning to have
more sense now, isn't it? Hey, one more verse. Acts 7, Acts
chapter 7, verse 30. Now this is really a toughie, Acts 7,
verse 30. See if you can find where the word "fulfilled"
is used, the Greek word is used. It will be translated differently
again in English. Hey, this is like "Wheel of Fortune".
"And after forty years had passed [KJV, "were expired"] an
angel appeared to him in the wilderness of Mount Sinai, in
the flame of a burning thorn-bush." Ooh, what do you think
it is? "Had passed" ["were expired"], that's right. The
word is translated "had passed", "finished", "fulfilled".
Jesus is saying, "I didn't come to abolish any law, but I
did come to "finish" it, "to fulfill it", to have it "come
to pass." Nowhere does the word "fulfill" means "to continue
on", "going." It means to fill up, to complete, to finish,
to end. Now maybe to help understand the illustration, over
two years ago it appeared to us that we needed to get out
of Tumbleweed Schools auditorium and find a bigger place to
meet. I don't know what our first clue was, maybe it was
people sitting on each other's laps, that we just decided,
you know, 'Lord, would you open up something else for us.'
And so the Lord led us to this old shopping center which has
really worked out perfectly for us thus far. And one of the
first things we had to do was enlist the services of a really
good architect who could draw up plans for us that would meet
all of the city code books, millions of requirements, I kid
you not. That city code book is like the Law. OK? And it
is bad news. There is so much that you have to, well we have
blueprints after blueprints after blueprints. Here's some
of them, this here is where you are sitting in the auditorium
right here, and all the classrooms, and the stairways into
the baptistery-we've got electrical drawings, plumbing drawings,
we have elevation drawings, we got everything. OK, this is
city demands, and so this sort of became the Law for us.
The next thing we had to do was we had to get a contractor.
That's where Vern Macht came in. He became our contractor,
to help build out this place. And he had to follow the "Law"
perfectly. The law had been put in terms that we could understand
now, no longer were we left to wonder what the book says,
it's been described on paper (the blueprints), sort of like
the Ten Commandments, easy to follow directions now. And
so Vern's job now as contractor was to make sure everybody
did this "according to spec.'s", according to the "Law".
About six months after we began the new place was done, and
it turned out pretty good. Now it's comfortable at least,
we fit for a little while, during the summer we fit all right,
I don't know what's going to happen this fall [i.e. Calvary
Chapel's are always growing in ministries like Pastor J. Mark
Martin's, where such good connective expository sermons "feed
the sheep".] But before we could actually move in we had
to go through one more final inspection, they called it--that's
when they're going to take these [blueprints], and they're
going to make sure we did everything. And so the guys came,
and they looked around, they never smile, they're paid by
the city not to smile [laughter]--you offer them a coke, they
snarl. Whew! We passed Judgment. Whew! We passed "inspection."
Hurray! We all began to glory in the finished work, Vern
you did it! Guys, you did it, everybody we did it! Praise
the Lord, we could move in. And we moved in, and we've been
enjoying it ever since. Now, what about these "blueprints"?
They fulfilled the purpose for which they were created, right?
Vern didn't come to abolish the blueprints, did he? But he
came to fulfill the blueprints. Right? And now these blueprints
have served their purpose. The contractor was not obtained
to destroy them, but to fulfill them. And now I don't have
to destroy these blueprints either. They're sort of interesting
to read and look at, but you know, I don't hang them on the
wall either. They're not front and center here so we can
all say 'Yes, we have met the requirements of the Law.' 'Yes,
we are under Law.' And every week you come up, and you guys--'Oh
I hope we met--it's got to be three feet tall,' you're measuring
all the time, you know, 'Oh, I wonder if it's enough.' 'I
wonder if they're going to come and close us down.' 'We'd
better keep checking to make sure that everything's complied
with.' No, you guys, you just walk in here and sit down.
You didn't have to do any of the work, most of you weren't
even around when we did all this work. Yeah, when we think
about it, that sort of gripes me--no just kidding [laughter].
I mean, some of you, you weren't even saved when we were doing
all the work. And you just move in here. And you just sit
down, and you enjoy it. And that's the way it should be.
The work was done by someone else. It's been finished, it's
met the requirements of the Law, and now we don't need the
Law anymore, it's been fulfilled. Do we throw it away? No!
In fact, having the law there just proves what was built was
right. Having the Law is great, because it just proves that
the Gospel can be the only way of salvation. And we should
rest in Christ's finished work. Just step into it. There
are some people today, they want you to live in these (commandments).
They say 'Come on, we got to live in the blueprints!' Why
would I want to live in these when I could walk in here and
sit down? Huh? And there are Christians today, and those
who claim to be Christians today, who want to take you back
to this, when you could be sitting in this. You see, don't
go back to law. Paul says, "I want to be in him not having
a righteousness of my own derived from law, but the righteousness
which is in Jesus Christ by faith. So, does this mean that
we can live any way we want to live? You don't have to live
in a life of obedience to God? You know, whenever that question
is raised to me, it's a question an unsaved person would ask.
It's not the question a person who's heart has been touched
by Jesus ever would think of asking. Because a person who's
been touched by God's grace wants to live for God. Look at Titus
2:11. This will be the last text we look at, by the way.
Titus 2:11. I'm going to read it to you out of the NIV.
It says, "For the grace of God that brings salvation has appeared
to all men. It"--what?, the grace of God--"It teaches us
to say 'No' to ungodliness and worldly passions, and to live
self-controlled, upright and godly lives in this present age
while we wait for the blessed hope and the glorious appearing
of our great God and Savior Jesus Christ" (Titus 2:11-13).
You see, the grace of God, when it dawns on your soul, it
teaches you things [I will get into this right after the sermon,
but the term "the grace of God" is another way of saying "the
entering in and indwelling of the Holy Spirit upon you", and
the effect that has upon you. God's indwelling Holy Spirit
is how God lives what in our lives?--what is the new covenant
anyway?--God writing his laws
in our hearts and minds
(cf. Jeremiah 31:31-33; Hebrews 8:6-10, esp. verse 10) editor.].
The grace of God teaches you, you don't need this anymore,
because the grace of God teaches you now. [I don't exactly
go for they way Pastor Mark is explaining this here, because
the law of God, now for Christians, in the New Testament,
is called the law
of Christ
(see http://www.unityinchrist.com/history2/Law%20of%20Christ.htm ).
It is basically all the Ten Commandments, brought to their
spiritual intent--and this "royal law" is something Christians
are told by James, Jesus Christ's own blood brother, to look
into and study (cf. James 1:22-25). This law
of Christ is spoken of and amplified even
by Paul throughout the New Testament in his letters to the
churches. Some pastors, who have come out of a Sabbatarian
and more legalistic background and into a new covenant church
tend to lean too far from teaching about the requirements
of the law of God--requirements, obviously which cannot be
met by humans except as God through his indwelling Holy Spirit,
makes possible. And as such, they can fall a little short
in properly explaining law and grace when they come to a set
of verses such as Romans 3:31. A further discussion of law
and grace will follow this sermon, since his explanation is
leaving out some important information about law and grace.
But let me tell you right now, Pastor Mark perfectly nails
the problem of those who use the law as a bondage trip or
as a pride trip. Read on.] Now for the amplified version
"For the grace, his unmerited favor and blessing, has come
forward, appeared, for the deliverance from sin and the eternal
salvation for all mankind. It trained us to reject and renounce
all ungodliness, irreligious and worldly passionate desires,
to live discrete, temperate, self-controlled, upright, devout,
spiritually whole lives in this present world." Grace teaches
in the new covenant, in the old covenant--the Law commanded--it
demanded--but grace [the indwelling Holy Spirit]
teaches.
Grace can do and pull out of your heart what the law with
all its commands and terrors could never do. M.R. Dehan,
who founded the Radio Bible Class wrote this following statement
in his book "Law and Grace", let me read it. I don't often
read long quotes, but listen. It's not too long either, but
it's so neat. He said "Service is not on the basis of law,
but of grace. We are not to serve the Lord in order to keep
saved, or to escape chastening and punishment, but instead
we are to serve God because we are saved, and kept, and secure. I pity those sincere people who live a life of bondage
because they hear that they will be lost again if they don't
live a perfect life. Let me repeat this truth, my heart goes
out to those who hold themselves in bondage and restraint
because they fear losing their salvation if they should fail.
That is a low, mean, and unworthy motive for serving the Lord.
God wants us to serve him through love, not fear--but from
a heart of gratitude, which rejoices in doing the things that
please him [and we will read later what pleases God, what
is the mind of God], who pleased not himself. But gave his
all to redeem us." [here is the crux of the matter, not whether
or not we should study the law--whether the Law as written
in the Old Testament, or it's spiritual intent, as written
in the New Testament [called by some the Law of Christ ], but with what motive we serve God. That is what
Pastor J. Mark Martin is getting at, and he is totally correct--this
is the crux--and where most of the misunderstanding about
law and grace seems to abound.] When I was in college a professor
who helped me to understand the gospel, repeated just a couple
lines of a poem that I've never forgotten, and really has
changed my life. And he told us, he said, "Men", he says,
"you must understand this--that nothing you can do can earn
your salvation, and that what you do after you're saved is
just your way of saying "thank you" to the Lord for what he
has done to you." And then he recited these lines, he said:
"I would not work my soul to save, for that the Lord has done.
But I would work like any slave for the love of God's dear
Son." You can't work to save your soul, that work's already
been done. But if you want to work, you can work because
you love him--not to get him to love you, but because he loves
you, and redeemed you, and saved you."
End
[of transcript]
This
subject of "Law and Grace" has been the crux of numerous inter-denominational
arguments and disagreements due to the often vague language
many denominations use to explain just what grace is, and
how the law of God relates to grace. I have chosen to give
the input from two major denominational groups, the Southern
Baptist's and an explanation from another pastor from the
same church group Pastor Martin is from, Calvary Chapel.
Both the Southern Baptist and Pastor Bob Coy of Calvary Chapel
of Fort Lauderdale say about the same thing, using different
language. But there is a sort of interdenominational consensus
of belief here showing a unity of interpretive spirit--a sign
the Holy Spirit is in on this interpretation. The Sabbatarian
groups would agree with this consensus view, but their interpretation
of what is to be included in God's law differs, in that they
believe the Old Covenant Ten Commandments are still in total
force, which would include the 7th day Sabbath,
which is Saturday, as the commanded day of worship. As the
apostle Paul very strongly pointed out in Romans 14, if that
is what you sincerely believe the Bible says, your actions
of obedience had better follow your beliefs. So, except for
disagreement between Sabbatarian and other Gentile Christian
groups on the 4th of the Ten Commandments, there
would appear to be a total agreement with the statements that
follow. First the Southern Baptist article, followed by a
quote from Pastor Bob Coy, of Calvary Chapel of Fort Lauderdale.
Law and Gospel
Ernest
Reisinger
Importance
Why
is the subject of "law and gospel" important? Let
me state six reasons:
1. Because there is no point of divine
truth upon which ministers and Christians make greater mistakes
than upon the proper relationship which exists between the
law and the gospel.
2. Because there can be no true evangelical
holiness, either in heart or life, except it proceed from
faith working by love; and no true faith, either of the law
or the gospel, unless the leading distinction between the
one and the other are spiritually discerned. The law and the
gospel are set before us in the Bible as one undivided system
of truth, yet an unchangeable line of distinction is drawn
between them. There is also an inseparable connection and
relationship. Unfortunately, some see the difference between
them but not the relationship; however, the man who knows
the relative position of the law and the gospel has the keys
of the situation in understanding the Bible and its doctrine.
3. Because a proper understanding between
the law and the gospel is the mark of a minister who rightly
divides the word of truth. Charles Bridges summed up this
mark of a true minister: "The mark of a minister `approved
unto God, a workman that needeth not to be ashamed', is, that
he `rightly divides the word of truth.' This implies a full
and direct application of the gospel to the mass of his unconverted
hearers, combines with a body of spiritual instruction to
the several classes of Christians. His system will be marked
by Scriptural symmetry and comprehensiveness. It will embrace
the whole revelation of God, in its doctrinal instructions,
experimental privileges and practical results. This revelation
is divided into two parts--the Law and the Gospel--essentially
distinct from each other; though so intimately connected,
that no accurate knowledge of either can be obtained without
the other...." (The Christian Ministry,
[London: Banner of Truth Trust, 1967], p. 222).
The
law, like Christ, has always been crucified between two thieves--Antinomianism
on the one side and Legalism on the other side. The antinomian
sees no relationship between the law and the gospel except
that of being free. The legalist fails to understand that
vital distinction between the two. Some preach the law instead
of the gospel. Some modify them and preach neither the law
nor the gospel. Some think the law is the gospel, and some
think the gospel is the law; those who hold these views are
not clear on either. But others ask, Has not the law been
fully abrogated by the coming of Christ into the world? Would
you bring us under that heavy yoke of bondage which none has
ever been able to bear? Does not the New Testament expressly
declare that we are not under the law but under grace? That
Christ was made under the law to free His people therefrom?
Is not an attempt to over-awe men's conscience by the authority
of the Decalogue a legalistic imposition, altogether at variance
with that Christian liberty which the Savior has brought in
by His obedience unto death? We answer: so far from the law
being abolished by the coming of Christ into this world, He
Himself emphatically stated "Do not think that I came
to destroy the Law or the Prophets [or the enforcers thereof].
I did not come to destroy, but to fulfill. For assuredly,
I say to you, till heaven and earth pass away, one jot or
one tittle will by no means pass from the law, till all is
fulfilled" (Matt. 5:17, 18). True, the Christian is
not under the law as a covenant of works nor as a ministration
of condemnation, but he is under it as a rule of life and an objective standard of righteousness for
all people for all times. This makes it
important.
4. Because the power of a holy life needs to be accompanied
by instruction in the pattern of it. In what does sanctified
behavior consist? It consists in pleasing God. What is it
that pleases God? The doing of His will. Where is His will
to be discerned? In His holy law. The law, then, is the Christian's
rule of life, and the believer finds that he delights in the
law of God after the inward man (Rom. 7:22). The Christian
is not lawless but "under the law to Christ", a
phrase from Paul which would be more accurately rendered "in
the law of Christ" (1 Cor. 9:21). Sin is lawlessness, and salvation
is the bringing of the lawless one into his true relation
to God, within the blessedness of His holy law. The law of
Moses is not other than the law of Christ; it is an objective
standard just as Christ is our pattern.
5. Because the Ten Commandments were
uniquely honored by God, founded in love, and are obeyed out
of affection for the One who provided redemption. A. W. Pink,
writing about the uniqueness of the Ten Commandments, said,
"Their uniqueness appears first in that this revelation
of God at Sinai--which was to serve for all coming ages as
the grand expression of his holiness and the summation of
man's duty--was attended with such awe-inspiring phenomena
that the very manner of their publication plainly showed that
God Himself assigned to the Decalogue peculiar importance.
The Ten Commandments were uttered by God in an audible voice,
with the fearful adjuncts of clouds and darkness, thunders
and lightning's and the sound of a trumpet, and they were
the only parts of Divine Revelation so spoken--none of the
ceremonial or civil precepts were thus distinguished. Those
Ten Words, and they alone, were written by the finger of God
upon tables of stone, and they alone were deposited in the
holy ark for safe keeping. Thus, in the unique honor conferred
upon the Decalogue itself we nay perceive its paramount importance
in the Divine government." (The Ten Commandments, ([Swengel Pennsylvania: Reiner Publications 1961],
p.5).
6.
Because
there is a need for a fixed, objective, moral standard. The
moral law carries permanent validity since it is an objective
standard uniquely sanctioned by God and goes straight to the
root of our moral problems. It lays its finger on the church's
deepest need in evangelism as well as in the Christian life:
sanctification. The Ten Commandments are desperately needed
not only in the church but also in society. We live in a lawless
age at the end of the twentieth century; lawlessness reigns
in the home, in the church, in the school, and in the land.
The Scriptures tell us that "righteousness exalts a nation,
but sin is a reproach to any people." The Ten Commandments
are the only true standard of righteousness.
Moral
Measure
Tragically, Christians have contributed to our society's moral
decline by removing the Ten Commandments from their instruction.
The law restrains sin. Without the moral law this world would
be a field of blood, as is evidenced in place where there
is no regard for God's commands. The puritan, Samuel Bolton,
in The True Bounds of Christian Freedom ([London: Banner of Truth Trust,
1964], p. 79), said:
Blessed
be God that there is this fear upon the spirits of wicked
men; otherwise we could not well live in the world. One man
would be a devil to another. Every man would be a Cain to
his brother, an Amon to his sister, an Absolom to his father,
a Saul to himself, a Judas to his master; for what one does,
all men would do, were it not for a restraint upon their spirits.
Not
only the wicked, but also followers of God need an objective,
fixed, yes, an absolute standard of right and wrong. A devotional
life cannot exist without regard to morality. We cannot separate
devotion from duty. After all, what constitutes a devout person?
Someone who is seeking to do the will of God, someone who
is instructed in sanctified behavior. And in what does sanctified
behavior consist? In doing the will of God. And where do we
find the will of God in respect to morality? In the only true
standard summarizing the moral law--the Ten Commandments.
This
subject, law and gospel, is in the highest degree, important
and edifying, both to saints and to sinners. To know it experimentally,
is to "be wise unto salvation;" and to live habitually
under the influence of it, is to be at once holy and happy.
To have spiritual and distinct views of it, is the way to
be kept from verging toward self-righteousness, on the one
hand, and licentiousness, on the other; and to be enabled
to assert, the absolute freeness of sovereign grace, and at
the same time, the sacred interests of true holiness. Without
an experimental knowledge, and an unfeigned faith, of the
law and the gospel, a man can neither venerate the authority
of the one, nor esteem the grace of the other.
The
law and the gospel, are the principal parts of Divine Revelation;
or rather, they are the center, the sum, and the substance,
of the whole. Every passage of sacred Scripture, is either
law or gospel; or is capable of being referred, either to
the one or to the other. Even the Histories of the Old and
New Testaments, so far as the agency of man is introduced,
are but narratives of facts, done in conformity, or in opposition,
to the moral law, and done in the belief, or disbelief, of
the gospel. The ordinances of the ceremonial law, given to
the ancient Israelites, were, for the most part, grafted on
the Second and Fourth Commandments of the moral law; and in
their typical reference, were an obscure revelation of the
gospel. The precepts of the judicial law, are all reducible
to commandments of the moral law, and especially, to those
of the second table. All threatenings, whether in the Old
or in the New Testament, are threatenings either of the law,
or of the gospel; and in every promise, is a promise either
of the one, or of the other. Every prophecy of Scripture,
is a declaration of things obscure, or future, connected either
with the law or the gospel, or with both. And there is not,
in the sacred Volume, one admonition, or reproof, or exhortation,
but what refers, either to the law or the gospel, or to both.
If then, a man cannot distinguish aright, between the law
and the gospel; he cannot rightly understand, so much as a
single article of Divine truth. If he does not have spiritual
and just apprehensions of the holy law, he cannot have spiritual
and transforming discoveries of the glorious gospel; and,
on the other hand, if his views of the gospel, be erroneous
or wrong, his notions of the law, cannot be right. Besides,
if the speculative knowledge, of the law and the gospel, be
superficial and indistinct, they will often be in danger of
mingling the one with the other and they will, in a greater
degree than can be conceived, retard their progress in holiness,
as well as in peace and comfort. But on the contrary, if they
can distinguish well, between the law and the gospel, they
will thereby, under the illuminating influences of the Holy
Spirit, be able, to discern the glory of the whole scheme
of redemption; to reconcile all passages of Scripture which
appear contrary to each other; to try doctrines whether they
are of God; to calm their own consciences in seasons of mental
trouble; and to advance resolutely in evangelical holiness
and spiritual consolation. It is important to consider the
difference between the law and the gospel as well as the agreement
between them. The establishment of the law by the gospel,
or the subservience of the gospel to the authority and honor
of the law must be addressed. The believer's privilege of
being dead to the law as a covenant of works, with a necessary
consequence of it is very important. To emphasize this importance
of the law (Ten Commandments) I will call three credible witnesses.
The
Testimony of Three Witnesses
Consider
the attitudes expressed by three of God's choice spokesmen
regarding His law:
1. David, a man after
God's own heart--the sweet singer of Israel.
"Make me to go in thy path of thy commandments; for therein
do I delight" (Ps. 119:35). "Indignation has taken
hold of me Because of the wicked, who forsake Your law."
(Ps. 119:53). "Oh, how I love Your law! It is my meditation
all the day" (Ps. 119:97). "I hate the double-minded,
But I love Your law" (Ps. 119:113). "It is time
for You to act, O LORD, For they have regarded Your law as
void" (Ps. 119:126).
2. Our Lord's chief apostle--Paul. "Do we then make void the law through faith? Certainly not! On
the contrary, we establish the law" (Rom. 3:31 ). "Therefore
the law is holy, and the commandment holy and just and good"
(Rom. 7:12). "For I delight in the law of God according
to the inward man" (Rom. 7:22). "Therefore the law
was our tutor to bring us to Christ, that we might be justified
by faith" (Gal. 3:24).
3. Our Lord Himself. "Do not think that I came
to destroy the Law or the Prophets. I did not come to destroy
but to fulfill. For assuredly, I say to you, till heaven and
earth pass away, one jot or one tittle will by no means pass
from the law till all is fulfilled" (Mt. 5:17, 18,).
We
often hear the expression, "Be like Jesus." What
was He like? He was perfect. How do we know? We must have
a perfect standard by which to judge and that perfect standard
is the perfect law of God (Ps. 19:7).
The
Testimony of the Whole Bible
The importance of this subject is seen in that the whole Bible
is either law or gospel--or law and gospel related. For example:
·
The
history of the Old and New Testaments, as far as man is concerned,
is nothing more than narratives of lives lived in conformity
or opposition to the moral law, or lived in belief or unbelief
of the gospel.
·
All
the threatenings of the Old and New Testaments are threatenings
either of the law or of the gospel. "He who believes
in Him is not condemned; but he who does not believe is condemned
already, because he has not believed in the name of the only
begotten Son of God" (John 3:18). "...when the Lord
Jesus is revealed from heaven with His mighty angels, in flaming
fire taking vengeance on those who do not know God, and on
those who do not obey the gospel of our Lord Jesus Christ.
These shall be punished with everlasting destruction from
the presence of the Lord and from the glory of His power"
(2 Thess. 1:7-9).
·
Every
prophecy of Scripture is a declaration of things obscure and
future and is connected with either law or gospel.
·
Every
promise is a promise related to either the law or the gospel,
or both.
·
Every
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