16 - "Is Obedience Legalism if You're Saved by Grace?" - Doug Batchelor - SCM 2017

[Music] [Music] welcome to 3abn spring campaigning 2017 exposing the counterfeits hello friends welcome to 3abn camp-meeting we have been so tremendously blessed can we all say amen to that and the blessing continues this has been this continues to be our spring camp meeting here in southern Illinois at the 3abn Worship Center if you are in the vicinity it is not too late to drive by we have another powerpack day coming up on tomorrow but tonight I'm so excited that my good friend longtime friend pastor Doug Batchelor we have known each other for a long time I knew him when my hair was black and he knew me when I I knew him when he had here and he knew me when my hair was black and praise the Lord in 1987 I began in pastoral ministry as his sing and evangelist and also Bible worker and we have been serving the Lord ever since so tonight is a very wonderful privilege to be able to have him here and whenever he comes he brings a couple of things with him one the Spirit of the Lord secondly the truth of God's Word amen someone and tonight's topic is one that I want you to hold on to your seats for I know that he has a lot of slides and he says they want me to make a plane I'm going to do that tonight's topic is is obedience legalism and the title is right there if you're saved by grace but before he comes I'm going to give him the privilege to pray but before he comes another good friend of ours Tim Parton man blessed a minister of music and he is going to set the tone tonight as he brings to us the wonderful message that God has placed on his heart after Tim the next voice that you will hear will be that a pastor Doug Batchelor you [Music] you you [Music] Wow [Music] Oh [Music] and good evening everyone good to see you it's a delight to be back with our three avian friends and family and especially to be able to open the Word of God with you during this important camp-meeting weekend when we're going to be talking about to see some of the most important themes in combating the counterfeit and the thank you Tim for that beautiful music as well now I'm just going to tell you right now I'm not going to have enough time to cover what I want to talk about but once we get that out of the way if it's down here and then I can see you better once we get that out of the way then I'll just relax and do as well as I can but before we begin I'd like to play something father in heaven we just thank you that you have preserved this opportunity for us to come together as your children to seek to know what is truth you pray that field is blessed every aspect of this presentation that you and your word will be glorified via the broadcast that is going on so that many around the world will hear and hearts will be transformed we pray in Jesus name Amen as Tom mentioned earlier the title of our presentation tonight well I guess they're having two microphones bombs switching like as John was sharing with you the title for our presentation tonight is dealing with the subject of is obedience legalism and if obedience is legalism are you so saved by grace now there's a lot of theological things you could talk about that might mean a change in your thinking but not understanding this subject can make the difference in whether or not you are saved and so there are a few things that really are more important than this issue you ever heard about compass in turf earrings years ago they used to take the the compasses of these ships you know for thousands of years they've had primitive compasses but they realized that iron would interfere with the reaction of the compass and so they put them up they case them in brass usually they put them up on the mast so that there wouldn't be any iron or worse thing of all a magnet interfering with the pointing of the compass or you just would never get to your destination now I fly I've had the same plane for about 24 years when I first get ready to take off I used to always calibrate all my instruments by the compass now everybody uses GPS and all of that hard work I did getting my license years ago where you had to calculate the wind variation and all these weight and balance measurements and so many things the GPS does it all now so your brains just sort of get weak but I remember hearing about a pilot up on Alaska that he went on a trip cross-country and he adjusted his attitude indicator by his compass and as they were flying cross-country he realized that his city he was going to did not appear below him and he couldn't figure it out and then he looked up on his dash and he had thrown a transistor radio upon his dash and the magnet in the speaker had thrown off his compass and when he moved the radio he saw the compass needle correct at this point he was didn't even know where he was there's no GPS back then he ended up crash landing he survived but he learned a very valuable lesson that just a little bit of compass interference can leave you completely disoriented there is a teaching that has become very prevalent within Christian churches that basically says that when you are saved by grace you no longer need law that is a lie it is not true there are some verses in the Bible when they take them out of context it could leave you with that under pressing that's only that's with a very elementary look at it matter of fact I'd like to begin by inviting you to go you can probably be surprised I want to talk to you about something Peter says second Peter chapter 3 verse 15 and I love to hear people wrestle their Bibles second Peter 3:15 and considered that the long-suffering of our Lord is salvation as also our beloved brother Paul according to the wisdom given Ham has written to you as in all of his epistles speaking in them of these things in which are some things hard to understand now this is the only time I know of in the Bible where one inspired Bible writer speaking about another inspired Bible writer says what he writes is inspired but some of it is difficult to understand listen in which are some things hard to understand our beloved brother Paul writes some things that are hard to understand can you say amen to that which the untaught and unstable people twist to their own destruction misunderstanding these things can destroy you as they do the rest of the scriptures you therefore beloved since you know this beforehand beware lest you also fall from your own steadfastness being led away with the error of the wicked and that word wicked there is the error of the lawless what was happening is they were taking some statements that Paul made and because they did not read it in context they were twisting it leaving people with the idea that it's okay to live a lawless life even Paul himself comments on this you look in Romans 3 verse 8 and why not say let us do evil that good may come as we are slanderously reported and as some affirm that we say their condemnation is just Paul says people are slandering what we say and interpreting my teachings to imply that somehow by continuing to sin grace will abound do evil the good may come and he said their condemnation is just Paul saying that's not what I'm saying it's a right way back in the beginning of the New Testament here they were misunderstanding some of these things let me read some of the verses that will give you an example of what I'm talking about for example if you read in 2nd Corinthians 3 verse 2 Paul said you are our epistle written in our hearts known and read by all men clearly you are an epistle of Christ ministered to by US written not with ink but the Spirit of the Living God not on tablets of stone but on the tablets of flesh that is of the heart and people say see we no longer need the tablets of stone because now we go by the spirit it's written in our hearts you don't need the law anymore because we're under the new covenant have you heard them before Galatians 2:19 for I through the law died to the law that I might live to God see we're dead to the law we don't keep the law anymore for they read Ephesians 2:15 having abolished the law in his flesh the enmity that is of the law of Commandments contained in ordinances so to creating himself one new man from the two thus making peace he's abolished in his flesh the law and over nor Christ fulfilled the law have you heard that or with that backdrop the conclusion people come to is that New Testament Christians are no longer under an obligation to keep the Ten Commandments and so my effort is going to be to try to explain to you why it is so important to understand the right relationship between law and grace and especially in the last days now first of all we should put the priority where God puts the priority you might give a greeting card to somebody on a piece of paper now people email cards but usually tombstones are not written on paper the written on stone because you want it to last things written in stallin are meant to be enduring God wrote the ordinances of Moses were written by the hand of Moses on paper Ten Commandments for spoken by God written by God's finger written on stone if God goes to those lengths to prioritize the law we ought to realize it's important to him now I want to go to revelation 14 and just talking about the two final groups in the last days you'll see why this can be an issue revelation 14:9 then a third angel followed them saying with a loud voice if anyone worships the Beast and His image and receives his mark on his forehead or on his hand he himself will also drink the wine of the wrath of God that is poured out in full strength into the cup of his indignation he will be tormented with fire and brimstone in the presence of the Holy Angels and in the presence of the land and so here we're being told that the most severe judgment that you find in the Bible is poured upon those who worship the Beast and His image and receive the mark of the beast now that's contrasted you read just down to verse 12 and listen what it says speaking of the saved here is the patience of the saints here are those who keep the commandments of God and the faith of Jesus on one hand it contrasts those who keep the commandments against those who worship the image now what's wrong with worshiping an image is there a commandment somewhere that says something about idolatry do you find this in the Old Testament being an important issue you read in Revelation 14 15 S is the New Testament still he was given power and he to give breath to the image of the beast this is idolatry that the image of the Beast should both speak and cause as many as would not worship the image of the Beast should be killed a death decree on those who do not bow down to the image this is drawn from a story you find in Daniel 3 where Nebuchadnezzar king of Babylon in a revelation 17 talks about Babylon compares it to the Beast revelation our Daniel chapter 3 those three Hebrew were these would not bow down to the image and they were going to be killed because of that but God stood up for them why couldn't they bow down because it was idolatry they had to choose between the commandments of God and the commandments of men go to Daniel 6 establish a royal statute and make a firm decree that whoever petitions any God or man for 30 days except you O king will be cast into the den of Liars Lions hear you've got a law that says unless you break the first command thou shalt not have other gods you're going to die Daniel stands up for God and God sends his angel you know Nebuchadnezzar said God has sent his angel to deliver them in the fiery furnace King Darius God sent his angel to save Daniel and the Lions then you go to Hebrews chapter 11 it says we are saved by faith and it says through faith the mouths of lions were stopped and through faith the violence of the fire was quenched what do you think Paul is talking about the faith of Daniel Shadrach Meshach and Abednego because they put the commandments of God first they had faith I'm not to obey now there's the point we all believe were saved by faith how did Daniel demonstrate his faith you know when they took Daniel out of the lions then it says no manner of hurt was found on him because he believed in his God so what does it mean to believe just to accept mentally that Jesus is real or doesn't believe me to be lived whoever believes in Him when Jesus has followed me you say I believe you Lord but you follow the devil you don't believe in him all right I'm going to go through a series of questions here first of all I want to just lay some groundwork comes God's moral law or the Ten Commandments ever be amended or repealed can you get rid of it No Psalm 89 34 my covenant I will not break nor alter nor change the thing that has gone out of my lips God keeps his covenants are the Ten Commandments part of a covenant they are they are part of the Old Covenant but they're part of the New Covenant follow me Psalm 111 verse seven and eight all of his Commandments are sure they stand fast for ever and ever for how long how many Commandments all of his Commandments it's talking about the Ten Commandments and you might say well there are some commandments that are passing if there are any laws that are not passing which ones would they be certainly the Ten Commandments right where God summarized those the two great commandments of love the Lord and love your neighbor are summarized in those and Malachi 3:6 he says for I am the Lord I don't change Jesus Christ the same yesterday today and forever that's Hebrews 13 now why is this so important to us because the law of God is a reflection of the character of God I want you to notice that those who are suggesting that we get rid of the law of God are really trying to get rid of God because I've got to some verses here that will show you the characteristics of God are not only the characteristics of God it's the characteristics edible law for example the Bible says in Luke 18 19 God is good Paul says the law is good isaiah 5-6 the law is holy Paul says Romans 7:12 the law is holy Deuteronomy 32:4 the law is just Romans 7:12 the law is just Matthew 5:48 God is perfect psalm 19:7 the law is perfect John first John 4:8 God is love it says in Romans 13:10 the law is love now I don't even have time to read you all the verses but the Bible says God is righteous says his laws righteous God is truth the law is truth God is pure the law is pure God is spiritual the law is spiritual God is unchangeable God is eternal and these are the same things it says about the law so when people are making an effort to get rid of the law of God they're really trying to get rid of God because the law of God is an expression of who he is he is love and Paul said all the commandment can be summarized in love not because it's done away with you love but love is the fulfilling our filling full of those Commandments all right according to the Bible let's get to the basics here what is sin we all got a problem I remember jocrisse used to say every good sermon ought to talk about two things the problem and the answer problem is sin answer salvation so what is sin Romans 3:20 by the law is the knowledge of sin and again first John three for sin is the transgression of the law so anybody that believes that we are saved by Jesus from our sin is really saying we are saved from our lawlessness so what is the devil accomplishing by trying to get rid of the law if you get rid of the law you get rid of sin you get rid of the definition of sin if people are not convicted of this and then who's going to need a Savior so his attack on the law of God is an attack on the whole plan of salvation the sad thing is many Christians are leading the attack they're saying we are now saved by grace we no longer need the law we'll get to that in a minute what law is the Apostle referring to in first John 3:4 well you can read in Romans 7:7 Paul said I had not known sin except by the law the law showed me sin for I had not known lust except the law had said thou shalt not covet what law says thou shalt not covet it's a set of ten and this is the last one and he's summarizing it because the law is more specific about what you're not supposed to covet do we have problems with a lawlessness in North America US News World Report and this is not a new survey they said every hundred hours more youth die in the u.s. streets than were killed in the Persian Gulf warfare it's still true today that you have far more fatalities in North America with you this nine in gang warfare than you do in the Middle East with soldiers deployed everywhere in the world the whole US military that's deployed around the world does not see as many casualties as the youth in the major cities of the United States that's because the lawlessness the average 18-year old is that I think a Kaiser survey study witnesses two hundred thousand violent acts by the time they're 18 including forty thousand murders on television but now it's not all on television it's on their phone on their iPad it's everywhere we're just surrounded with screens violence immorality what was the condition of the world before Jesus before the flood came Jesus said it would be like the days of Noah what was alike violence filled the land every thought of the imagination of man's heart was only evil continually now people may not be doing it but they're enjoying it by curiously and he said as it was in the days of Noah in 2015 I guess they had a website I promise I'd never seen it until I saw it on the news called Ashley Madison and their title is life is short have an affair and the people that were outraged what the purpose of this site was they somehow hacked it they got all the personal information of 37 million people there's only 300 million in North America 37 million people that had signed off at least curious about the possibilities of having an affair and they had entered their personal information I mentioned this to John earlier and he reminds me yeah one pastor when this stuff was released he committed suicide because his name was there in the in the list they say I've done some studies that when surveyed confidentially 21% of and after 20 years of marriage and 19 percent of women have admitted to extramarital affairs now I wonder if this is connected with what happened in North America like 1964 I remember and some of you may still remember when I went to public school in California we had the Ten Commandments on the wall in public school anyone else remember that I guess they figured separation of church and state that somehow that was an infringement and so they took it out of the public schools you know it was really sad is when they started taking it out of the churches the government didn't require that but pastors began to say well if we're teaching the Ten Commandments it's legalism and we don't want to be Pharisees and you know when these young people leave the church is because we talk so much about law they don't learn about love and there's some truth to that if we have this out of balance now we don't want them to feel guilty all the time we want to be more grace oriented and because we want to be more grace oriented let's not emphasize the law let's just look at Jesus have you heard this before a whole idea the law is to get us to see our need of Jesus and so you end up with a society that has a broken moral compass they've got some interference now a Christian is what a follower of Christ did Jesus believed in keeping the Ten Commandments I mean that's the bottom line John 15:10 he says I have kept my father's Commandments and again 1st Peter 2:22 it says he committed no sin nor was the seat found in his mouth Jesus believed in keeping the commandments matter of fact a rich young ruler came to Christ he said good master what good thing should I do that I might have eternal life and Christ said why do you call me good not as good but one and that is God but if you would enter into life keep the commandments and the young man said which because the Jews had many laws the word law was used in a very general sense Jesus then began to recite to him from the Ten Commandments and he began to quote to the young man from the second table of the ten commandments because this man didn't really love his brother he was hoarding his wealth and that's why Jesus said go share what you have with the poor and he went away sad because he had great possessions but Jesus began to quote the Ten Commandments he said if you would enter into life keep the law a lot of people when they hear that they get discouraged and they say well Jesus told them about keeping the commandments so that we would all know how impossible it is John and I did an interview on television it must be over 20 years ago we're in Northern California and this TV station for the bay area we went we did a debate with two other pastors and one of the subjects was the subject of long grace and these he was very friendly but these pastors were basically saying we're saved from the law by Christ we're no longer under the law that's the old letter we're now led by the Spirit we no longer need the Ten Commandments and I remember during the discussion I asked him I wanted to ask him well which ones are you breaking I thought that want to be polite but I said can you name a sin that God cannot help us overcome any credit except the course the unpardonable sin and I said you believe that devil can tempt is the sin or break God's law does everyone agree most of us are living proof of that now all of us are living proof of that do you believe that Jesus can keep us from sin see when you say that we can't keep the law you're basically saying the devil is greater than Christ because you're saying the devil is powerful enough to tempt you to sin but Jesus isn't powerful enough to keep you from sin now I'll tell you what it is a miracle of grace when we obey that same grace that covers you from your past empowers you to live a new life everyone talks about the covering part of grace and they don't talk about the empowering part of grace let me read some other verses to you here this is real grace Titus 2 verse 11 for the grace of God that brings salvation what kind of grace do you want I want that kind I want the grace of God that brings salvation I want to be safe friends the grace of God that brings salvation has appeared to all men teaching here's what the grace teaches us that denying ungodliness and worldly lusts we should live soberly righteously and godly in this present age would that be an exaggeration to say that grace will empower you to be obedient listen what he says teaching us that denying ungodliness of self-denial involve and worldly lusts that we should live soberly righteously what is lawlessness is the opposite of righteousness it's wrong justice right and godly in the present age looking for the Blessed hope and the glorious appearing of our great God and Savior Jesus Christ listen who gave himself for us that he might redeem us from every lawless deed and purify for himself his own special people zealous of good works Paul was a legalist listen to what he says here in Titus but he begins by saying it's the grace of God that brings salvation that helps accomplish those things in your life so people when they object to your preaching about the law because I said you have the law but I've got grace if they don't believe in obedience they've got the wrong kind of grace because biblical grace will help you to live a new kind of life Romans 3:31 do we then make void the law through faith god forbid certainly not on the contrary we establish the law we fulfill it in our lives we show the world what it's like I get passionate about this because not that I have arrived by any means but wow I've come a long way take my word for it I've just seen the grace of God in my life I mean some of you out there you know what I'm talking about and you may be struggle with drinking and you struggle with cursing and you struggle with drugs and you struggle with all kinds of immorality and lawlessness and Jesus came in your heart and he began to sanctify you and transform you and you know what it means when we talk about a new birth and you know what it means when we talk about old things are passed away all things are made new and that's why I get upset when I hear Christians making excuses for just stayin in captivity because the whole purpose of the gospel is Jesus came to set us free the truth will set you free and I'm surprised sometimes that Christians don't rise up in anger at this these doctrines of devils it is a doctrine of devils it tells people that Jesus wants you to just continue being a slave to lawlessness obedience is not legalism first Corinthians 15:10 by the grace of God I am what I am and His grace towards me was not in vain but I laboured more abundantly because of the grace he labors more abundantly than all yet not i but the grace of god in me grace doesn't take away effort that's the way that it's being taught now listen to the verse everybody knows but read the whole thing most of you know this part Ephesians 2:8 for by grace you have been saved through faith not of yourselves it is a gift of God praise God not of works lest any man should boast continue reading the next verse for we are his workmanship created in Christ Jesus for good works which God prepared beforehand that we should walk in them he saves us by His grace through faith for living a different kind of life isn't that what he's saying so how many people have sinned I don't want to leave you hopeless because you're going to think Oh pastor deficit resolved in the law and that makes me feel convicted because there's still things in my life well good if you have things that need addressing praise God who wants a doctor you go and you see the doctor and he looks at some irregularity on your skin and the kind of says well I want to worry about it it may just be poison ivy now he knows that skin cancer but he doesn't want upset you and there's a surgery that could deal with it and there's a treatment that can deal with it but he knows that's going to be expensive so he thinks for at least you know your ignorance you will be in bliss until you die you want that kind of doctor are you one of doctors is going to give you the hard truth you read the Bible and it's very clear that God tells us that turn you turn you why will you die unless we turn unless we repent unless we are transformed we will perish isn't that right and believing in Jesus means repenting first words out of Jesus mouth when he called people to follow him repent the kingdom of heaven is at first thing John the Baptist said it was an exact echo of that repent of what sin what is sin lawlessness for the kingdom of heaven is at hand how many of sin you know this Romans 3:23 all have sinned come short of the glory of God isaiah 53:6 all we like sheep have gone astray everyone has turned to his own way and what is the punishment for living a life of sin Romans 6:23 for the wages of sin is death I used to always think that should read for the wages of sin are death because it's plural wages would be many but I dropped out of school so don't pay any attention to me Genesis 2:17 she said for in the day that you eat of it you will surely die all through the Bible it's pretty clear the consequences for living a life of lawlessness and disobedience is a lethal it's deadly Jesus came to save us by His grace he wants to save us from our sins do the 10 commandments still apply to New Testament Christians some are saying well tested that was the old dispensation yeah it's true God had one way of saving Jews and he's got a different way of saving Gentiles I don't find the Bible teaching that everybody that is saved - saved by faith abraham believed God and it was counted to him for righteousness Abraham was saved by faith do the Ten Commandments till apply to New Testament Christians yes Matthew 19:17 if you will enter into life keep the commandments Jesus said Matthew chapter five think not that I have come to destroy the law on the prophets I've not come to destroy but to fulfill and some people say well that means to do away with it think about how ridiculous it would be for Jesus to say that if the word fulfil means to do away with or abolish that would be like Jesus saying I did not come to destroy the law but I came to do away with it I did not come to destroy the law but I came to abolish it if you want to know what a Bible word means read it somewhere else in its context Jesus comes to John the Baptist and says baptize me John protests he said Lord you ought to be baptizing me jesus said suffer it to be so now for thus it becomes us to fulfill all righteousness was Jesus telling John we're doing this to do away with all righteousness no fulfill means what it says to fill something full and Jesus came in his life he fulfilled the righteousness of the law and if you're Christian it says that that same righteousness can be fulfilled in us who walk not after the flesh but after the spirit Romans chapter 8 John 14:15 is anyone keeping count how many scriptures I'm giving you if you love me honk your horn y'all seen that bumper sticker I wish it was that easy we'd all go around honking all day long right it's as if you love me show me now probably one of the best illustrations of how salvation works is the story of the Exodus did God save the children of Israel from Egypt because of their obedience and works or did he save them because of grace had they done any good works when he led them out of Egypt he comes home and he says look the angel of judgment is going through the land and unless you have the blood of the Lamb over your door the firstborn in your house is going to die you needed the blood of the Lamb or you would die he saved him on the grace because of the blood of the Lamb and then after he saves him they run out of food in the wilderness God gives them manna from heaven they run out of water he gives him water they're attacked by the Amalekites he gives them victory through Joshua by the way you now you say Jesus in Hebrews Joshua Yeshua that's all a type of Christ after he does all these things to deliver them they get to Mount Sinai and what's the first of the ten commandments now most of you said what I thought you'd say sounded a little bit like babbling but I think I heard out there what you were saying you said thou shalt not have other gods before me that is technically the first but that's not where the writing begins it says in Exodus chapter 20 God spake all these words saying I am the Lord your God that brought you out of the land of Egypt out of the house of bondage thou shalt not have other gods before me the preamble the first thing God says in the Ten Commandments is I am the God who brought you out of slavery I am the God who saved you the implication is I've shown you I love you I'm save you by my grace now if you love me keep my Commandments don't miss this important point not everybody saved from Egypt made it to the promised land the Bible says they fell in the wilderness because of unbelief the ones who made it all the way believes that they could make it all the way not very many of them Joshua and Caleb don't despair doesn't need to be such bad statistics in the last days if we can learn from our mistakes but if we keep making excuses keep in mind who was it that brought back the evil report for the children of Israel they picked 12 of who they thought would be the best representatives and they sent them out and those messengers came back and gave a report two of them said let us go up at once we are well able to overcome ten of them said we can't overcome and the ones that did not believe they could overcome did not overcome they died in the wilderness the ones who believe that God could do what he said experienced all kinds of miracles and victories and they made it that's the whole story right there friends you've got messengers not only in the world but even in the church that are saying we can't obey and they got a thousand excuses and they can look at you and me in point to is they see Allah how many people fall and it's at a pointed at Christ who is our example they pointed at all the failures they love to preach about David's adultery and then they'll talk about the grace of God they don't talk a lot about David spending seven days on his face repenting a lot of people want to sin like David but not too many want to repent like David but they don't talk about Joel being a perfect in an upright man or Zechariah and Elizabeth it says there were two people that walked in all the commandments of the God of the Lord blameless are people like Joseph who was faithful to the Lord in the surrounded by temptation or Daniel or Shadrach Army Sequeira bending over Elijah well I just had his episodes but he went to heaven in a fiery chariot right the Bible is filled with examples of people who were overcomers and how does Jesus begin revelation to him that overcomes to him that overcomes seven times he says that would Christ say that if it wasn't possible for us to be overcomers if you love me now if we're struggling with our obedience the answer might be more love and God gives us grace free than that revelation 22:14 blessed are those that do His commandments that they might have a right to the Tree of Life and enter through the gates of the city the dragon is especially Roth with those who keep the commandments of God I'd like to illustrate something here and John will you come out and help me for a second he was going to bring me have you probably fell asleep during the sermon oh there is okay now I don't know how to do this you have to hold my microphone you have to do or that or I got to speak into your tie alright so if I would come out and continue preaching the sermon like this would you find this distracting he would do you see something wrong with my appearance would you ever go out of the house looking like this so if I tell you I don't see anything wrong with my appearance what would you recommend look in the mirror all right so I feel fine now I know went through all the normal regimen for dressing and hygiene and then oh man and whenever I see this I think it is probably some kid watching out there that's going ma Pastor Doug's got the mark so I look at this life feel okay but I'm ready to go out the door and then I look in this this device and I go oh wow something's very wrong and then I I should reason I felt fine until I looked in the mirror so obviously this grainier is the problem if I throw it away everything's okay what does the Bible say the law is a mirror getting rid of the mirror doesn't take care of the problem you need the mirror because it helps us see if this is sin and this is the law if it shows me my sin then it obviously ought to take it away right so do I use the mirror to try it I want to do that to you you know don't you like those people that like get a bright light and they shine something in your face I get bored on the airplane sometimes and I notice a little white bright spot the Sun shines it when it hits my watch and I just started looking for people okay so I just knew when I did that that the cameras were there the studios won't do that anyway so would this take it off no it's not going to work oh well there goes that illustration it's not supposed to take it off you know what I used to do is I used to mark something very subtly I'd put oh yeah I put a mark on my face and I used to use erasable marker and I'd wipe it off and everything once light someone hand me a permanent marker this one I can't keep it on that one I couldn't get it off so this is not meant to take it off so what do I need is assuming this is dirt you need her wash it right so this what do you think this represents you have a lot of the land so I look at this and then look at this and so it it takes you to problem I now have no problem with this assuming I think I look ok I have no problem with this now as long as I've got this to keep things corrected and you know I don't know about you but I use one of these almost every day now I don't want you to think I use them too often some do and that's also true with alone some people a little hypersensitive to the long they spend all the time looking at their faults and they don't look at Jesus you become like what you look at thank you very much Sean you did that very well so I think you're getting the point about the relationship between the law and grace now here's the question we really all need the answer to how is it possible to keep the commandments of God we know there's still an effect romans 8 3 and 4 God sending his own son Jesus condemned sin in the flesh first in his own flesh that the righteousness of the law might be fulfilled enough because he was victorious we can be victorious in our lives who do not walk after the flesh but walk after the spirit and again Philippians 1:6 he which has begun a good work in you will perform it it's a work that is ongoing until the day of Jesus Christ I don't see how you feel that is a very encouraging verse to me he has begun a work in you when you surrender to Jesus His grace continues to give you power it continues to help you walk in a newness of life Philippians 4:13 I can do all things through Christ that strengthens me Holy Spirit could probably show you in a moment what things you're struggling with in your life they're almost omnipresent you know what they are do you've got the Holy Spirit he convicts you take courage in that promise that through Christ all things are possible some Devils don't come out easy sometimes it requires a struggle sometimes you're wrestling not against flesh and blood with principalities and powers and workers of wickedness in high places Jesus says sometimes this kind does not come forth except through prayer and fasting this idea there's no effort involved in the Christian life I don't know where people get that Bible says we war we strive we run we fight we have to hang on and say I will not let thee go except you bless me but there is the sloppy agape version of Christianity out there that takes away the truth about what real grace is it's not just grace to cover the past it's grace to give you power to walk any newness of life what are the what is the old covenant want to explain this and why did it fail deuteronomy 4:13 he declared unto you his covenant which he commanded you to perform even 10 commandments and he wrote them on two tables of stone no question about it the Old Covenant was the Ten Commandments now where do you first find the New Covenant so when Jesus dies on the cross who is saved by the Old Covenant nobody the her old Kevin is found the New Covenant is found in the Old Testament you find it in Jeremiah 33 33 so the New Covenant I will make but everybody is saved by grace everybody is saved by faith nobody is saved by works nobody is going to be in heaven and looked at others in heaven and say I'm here because it works you got an easy you got in by faith they were all saved by faith because all of sand we almost depend on the mercy of God now with the Old Covenant just to give you the history about why it talks about only knew the word covenant means agreement God spoke the Ten Commandments to the children of Israel Exodus 20 the people said all the Lord has said we will do they made an agreement so here's my law obey and live is that all the Lord has said we will do why Moses goes up to get the written copy they make the golden calf and they break the commandments of the Lord and then that's why you can read repulses and Hebrews chapter 8 verse 8 finding fault with them that was the fault with the law with the people the law didn't break the Covenant the people broke the covenant finding fault with them he said I will make a new covenant with the house of Israel in the house of Judah is there anywhere in the Bible it says a new covenant is made with Gentiles no there's a lot of people that say we're saved by the new covenant we're New Testament Christians will say show me where there's a new covenant made with Gentiles the Old Covenant is made with the Jewish people that's why you have to be adopted in and you become spiritual Jews so they'll make a new covenant with the house of Israel in the house of Judah I'll write my law in their hearts I'll take the stony heart out of their flesh I'll give them a heart of flesh way back in the days of Moses he said circumcise therefore the foreskin of your hearts way back the first books of the Bible the under studio is a heart change that's how we're saved even in the Ten Commandments you know you find in the Ten Commandments showing mercy unto thousands of those that love me and keep my Commandments how do we keep his Commandments we love them that's not a New Testament concept it's an Old Testament concept before Moses dies he tells the children of Israel I command you this day to love the Lord your God it says in Hebrews chapter 10 upon what law is the New Covenant base Hebrews 8 verse 10 this is the covenant I will make so the Lord I'll put my laws in their minds and I'll write them in their hearts someone might think but doesn't living under grace make keeping God's law non-essential haven't you heard that Roman 615 what then shall we sin that because we're not under the law but under grace god forbid Romans 3:31 do we men make void the law through faith and God forbid we establish the law so this whole concept that God gives us permission to change his law Jesus says in Luke 16 17 it is easier for heaven and earth to pass away than for one tittle of the law to fail if you believe heaven is still there and earth is still there you read Revelation chapter 11 19 says I saw the temple of God open in heaven I saw the Ark of the Covenant he's got a copy of the original there in heaven it's still a place of honor it's the Word of God only part of the Word of God the Lord would not entrust the mortals but he wrote it with his own finger I remember hearing a story several years ago about this this man was driving back home from shopping center going through the suburbs he went zipping on through this stop sign without style he was going too fast and at an intersection policeman turned on his lights and started to follow him and he looked at the guys he got out of his he pulled over saw the guy as he got out of his car said oh it's Bob he goes to my church this doesn't look good not a very good example here I was speeding but he's a buddy he'll let me off the hook bob comes over and caps on the window Jack rolls down his window and he said you realize that you were doing 45 through a 25 mile an hour zone he said hey look you know I know I'm busy if it was just got some food we're going home to a barbecue haven't seen the family all week you understand Bob yeah does he smile kind of wink wink you know and and said I'll be right back and he goes back and he takes out his note and his pad he starts to write well at that point jack is just thinking oh come on I wasn't going that fast but to be he just got madder and madder he thought how this was ruining his day and you know worst thing about when you get pulled over for speeding is then you have to stop for the policeman then you're later than ever right it's really inconvenient I thought he's just getting madder and madder and finally a bob comes over to the car and Jack says rolled down the window that far and he said could you please do me a favor and slow down and he wouldn't even let him hand him the ticket he made him push it in the window and then Jack realized you know he never did ask for my license and as Bob was walking back to his car and he got in he looked and it wasn't a ticket at all it was a note and he said Jack he said I doesn't need to let you know about six years ago a speeding driver hit my three year old girl and killed her and he said and I've really had a hard time forgiving he said I'm going to try one more time to forgive would you please slow down he didn't give him a ticket he gave him grace now here's the question when Jack pulls away is he going to change his behavior you think at least for a while right what's going to make the change when he realizes how much speeding can cost what brings about the change in our lives what gives us the grace the Bible says it's the goodness of God that leads us to repentance why do we love him we love Him because He first loved us are you getting the point the key is when we really get a picture of how much God loves us when we understand how much he's paid for us how much our lawlessness cost him see when you see Jesus hanging on the cross he's there because of the sin so why would a Christian that says they love the Lord want to live a life that glorifies sin when we see that the Lord is hanging on a cross because of our our sinfulness and our lawlessness why would we want to continue going back why wouldn't we make every effort to turn away from that which made the father close his eyes to the son when Jesus was bearing your sin in mind the father turned away because sin is so absurd to God sin is ugly sin is deadly and there's a whole counterfeit gospel that is being spread around the world today it's even diluted some of its tentacles into our message this idea that God is and how tolerant of lawlessness that is tolerant to sin the Ten Commandments are still their friends the Ten Commandments did not need changing the reason for the gospel is to change our hearts we need changing this is what it's all about friends Jesus said it'd be easier for heaven and earth to pass away then for one little tittle of the law to fail and some people when I talk like this as he pens to Doug you're being a legalistic well you can have to take it up with the Lord because Jesus said whosoever shall break one of the least of these Commandments he will be called least in the kingdom of heaven didn't say he'll be there he'll be spoken of by those in the kingdom as the lowest kind of person but whoever will do and teach even the least of the commandments jesus said he will be called great in the kingdom of heaven and I know in the final and the final analysis I need to answer to Jesus I want to make sure he's pleased with what I do and what I say I don't want to have Christ come and find out that I followed a watered-down gospel that lost all its potency I want to know what the truth is because the truth will set you free Jesus will provide grace for you he will give you grace to cover all of your past sins and the Lord will give you grace to live in a newness of life every day that grace of God that brings salvation will invite us then to deny ungodliness and worldly lusts that we should live soberly righteously and godly in this present age and when Jesus has the people that are doing that he will come again would you like to have that experience can I pray for you and with you tonight you who are watching loving Lord we pray that we will know and experience in our lives what it means to have that saving grace we know it only comes through the power of Jesus and we pray for this in his name amen [Music] you

Channel: Three Angels Broadcasting Network (3ABN)

Views: 76,416

Rating: 4.7537746 out of 5

Keywords: 3ABN, Three Angels Broadcasting Network, yt:quality=high, Doug Batchelor, Amazing Facts Ministry, God's Character, God's Law, 3ABN Camp Meeting, legalism

Id: 75ob6RdrRX4

Length: 58min 0sec (3480 seconds)

Published: Fri Aug 18 2017