"The Controversy, (Romans)" - Pastor Doug Batchelor

on the book of romans today we're in the second uh section second lesson it's called the controversy and we have a memory verse and the memory verse comes from john the gospel of john 1 17. john 1 17. and we invite you to say this together you ready the law was given by moses but grace and truth came by jesus christ now and that's not a hard verse to memorize is it this lesson today is not going to be delving deeply into the book of romans what we're going to be talking about is why was the book of romans written and who is it written to you really need to understand that because then as you go through the various chapters in the book of romans you'll say ah now i know why he said that turned with me to the book of hebrews hebrews chapter 11 and if you go to hebrews 11 and oh let's see you can start in verse 37. paul here is talking about the great heroes of the faith all through hebrews 11 he itemizes these great heroes of faith and then he sort of summarizes that discourse and he says they were stoned they were sawn into they were tempted they were slain with the sword they wandered about in sheepskins and goatskins being destitute afflicted tormented of whom the world was not worthy they wandered in deserts and mountains and dens and caves of the earth all these having obtained a good testimony through faith did not receive the promise all these great heroes of faith and he itemizes he talks about gideon and he talks about elijah and he talks about sarah and abraham he said they had a great testimony but they did not receive the promise god having provided something better for us now he says they and us who is that they in the us that he's talking about the people who live before christ sacrifice and us who have now seen the sacrifice there is a something of a rift that happens in the bible in that everything you read before the new testament they are looking forward in faith to the coming of the messiah then in the new testament rift is not the right word there's a division i should say in the new testament word testament covenant same word you see the reality it talks about the advent or the first coming of jesus his birth very first things you read in the new testament it says this is the genealogy of jesus christ tells about his heritage and how he came in his birth and you get the details on his birth and matthew and luke mark and john don't really talk about that uh they talk about his ministry but you see that some this is something that happens now what's going on now go to the book of romans we will read just a little bit of romans today romans chapter 1 and it says paul introduces the author a bond servant of jesus christ called to be an apostle separated to the gospel of god and he talks a little about the gospel which he promised before through his prophets before the advent of jesus in the holy scriptures concerning his son jesus christ our lord who is born of the seed of david that's there in matthew according to the flesh and declared to be the son of god with power according to the spirit that's how you begin the gospel of john of holiness by the resurrection from the dead all the gospels end with that through him we have received grace and apostleship for obedience to to the faith among all nations now catch that phrase there for his name because some of the early christians that were all jews believed that the gospel was really for the jews and so when they went to rome the early christians we learned went to rome and they began to tell the other jews in rome about jesus gradually the gospel then seeped into the gentiles and the jews were saying well you need to keep all of the jewish laws or you are second-class christians because if we are a jewish christian we really have sort of superior privileges to the gospel now can you understand that i mean even paul said to the jew first jesus said to the woman at the well she said should we worship on mount gerism and you say it's in jerusalem and jesus said to her salvation is of the jews that's what he said and so there was this big dispute that was happening in rome among the believers there that paul needed to settle and the way he settles it he writes the book of romans and in the book of romans he lays out the gospel and that the gospel is for everybody he explains the differences between the old covenant and the new covenant and he talks at length about the jew and the gentile and he explains that all of us are related to adam jesus being the second adam all that's in romans and so when you understand the background the book of romans really comes alive and so it's very helpful and so if you go to uh the first section under sunday and we're going to talk about a better covenant and as you're finding that you know i thought i'd just read something to you from martin luther's commentary on romans we're as i mentioned last week we are really delving into holy ground all of the bible is holy but when you get into the book of romans you've really got the the gospel is consolidated here it's concentrated it is the cream of the milk of the word when you get into romans here's what martin luther said about it in his introduction to his commentary on romans of course this is the english translation because he wrote it in german the epistle is really the chief part of the new testament and the very purest gospel and is worthy not only that every christian should know it word for word do you know the book of romans word for word every christian should know it word for word by heart but occupy himself with it every day as the daily bread of the soul so how did martin luther feel about the book of romans it's the purest gospel you ought to know it word by word i'm trying to remember whether it was polycarp or clement but one of the early church fathers had the book of romans read to him every week the entire book they thought it was that important and so i bet i made you all sit up a little more right now with that introduction right wow i better pay attention to this they believe that it was the essence of the gospel was found in this book now he's writing the book because there's a misunderstanding of the covenant and who the gospel is for under the section of better covenant i'm going to read you a few statements go to hebrews chapter 8 verse 6. hebrews 8 verse 6. but now he has obtained a more excellent ministry in as much as he is a mediator of a better covenant all right so what covenants do we have your bible's divided in two principle sections what are they called old and new what testament the word testament the word covenant same thing so you've got the old and the new covenant you usually don't say it that way if i tell you we're going to turn to the old covenant now you probably think we're going to like you know exodus if i said now let's go to the new covenant you wouldn't know whether or not to go to jeremiah or hebrews but the new covenant the old covenant new testament old testament those really mean the same thing and so when it says he's a mediator of a better covenant better than what than the old who is the he jesus mediator of a better covenant because it's he is the high priest he is the sacrifice and it's his blood it's not a marble building that was torn down it's not the blood of a calf or a goat or a sheep and it's not the sons of levi who are often flawed people and so that's why it's a better covenant and it's based on the bible says better promises we'll get to that in just a minute if you look now if i were to ask you okay let me just take my bible here and see if i could illustrate this be somewhat all right that's close enough new testament old testament do you see a difference now my bible's got some you know notes and commentary in the beginning it's got some in the end so it sort of evens out but if you take a bible without any commentary notes in concordance you're going to see about three quarters of the bible is old testament one quarter is new testament so where do you read the new covenant you find it first in the old testament that kind of surprises people let me read it to you jeremiah 31 31 you actually find it a few places in the old testament jeremiah you can remember that jeremiah 31 31 it's like the days in a month okay behold the days are coming says the lord when i'll make a new covenant with the house of israel with the house of judah a couple things i want you to notice first of all he says a new covenant says these aren't the days yet but they're coming he's prophesying when the messiah would come okay who does he make the new covenant with you know a lot of people out there that are dispensationalists believe that the new covenant is made with gentiles and i met people they say well you know the the old covenant was for the jews the new covenant is for the gentiles i mean it seems intuitive you would think that but it's not true because when we just read the new covenant is not made with gentiles it's made with jews in fact i challenge you to show me where in the bible it says god has made a covenant with the gentiles now there are promises to the gentiles but you don't see a covenant and so in order for any gentile to be saved he is grafted in paul says in romans he is grafted into the covenant that god made with the jews so you can understand why the jews would go to the gentiles in rome and say look only way you're getting to heaven is through the jewish bible and through the jewish covenant and so you've got to keep the jewish feasts and so there was a great deal of confusion paul had to clarify all that and we're we're getting into that now so don't miss that who does he make the covenant with i will make a covenant with the house of israel in the house of judah go to verse 33 but this is the covenant i will make with the house of israel after those days he said not yet but it's coming says the lord i'll put my law in their minds and i'll write them in their hearts i will be their god and they will be my people all right typically when you make a covenant with people i'm involved in doing a contract with somebody right now i'm not going to tell you about it but and this is how the contract works this person emailed me and they said first let's get a verbal agreement between both parties so no sense writing it all up it's a lot of work if you don't have at least a verbal agreement of what we're going to write up and you might even start with what they call an mou a memorandum of understanding that means here's the covenant terms here's the terms you agree to the terms then you get the lawyer they're expensive so you don't get them to the last thing then they write up the contract and if it's two parties involved you have at least two parties sign it now if for some reason i said look this is not working out i don't want to go by this covenant anymore and they say you're right it isn't working out i don't want to go by it anymore either i said okay look if i'm going to tear up mine you need to tear up yours because if i tear up mine you've still got yours i'm still accountable because you've got a written document that proves i made an agreement but i'll tear up mine you tear up yours that's gone okay when was the old covenant torn up do you see any tearing happening around the time of the cross what gets torn when jesus dies the veil is torn is it torn by man or by god my god it's in the temple it's in god's house and during the trial the high priest tore his garments those were the robes that man wore and it was done by man so you have a new priesthood and a new temple the oldest horn it is passed away hebrew said we are not under the old covenant we do not sacrifice lambs we do not keep the ceremonial parts of the law the ten commandment part of the law is eternal in nature it's in the new in the old testament the ceremonial parts of the law began with the covenant god made with abraham with circumcision it was expanded with the exodus with the jewish feasts those things were nailed to the cross we're going to get to that in just a minute here so he said i'll put my law in their minds so is the new covenant a different law same law different place same law better promises the old promise god gave the ten commandments and the people said all that the lord has said we promise we will do they said we will do it based on their promises bad promises new covenant god says i will old covenant the people said we will new covenant god says it's my promise which is better than a human promise i will write my law in your heart so it's based on his promise the law is the same see the problem is we've sinned and broken god's law so god doesn't say i'll make a new covenant i'm going to throw out the law that doesn't solve our problem we still got sin the new covenant is i'm going to help you keep the law by putting it in your heart and so you keep it through love i'll put my law in their minds and write them in their hearts i will be their god and they will be my people here's the other place where you find the new covenant in the old testament go to ezekiel 36 25. this is all just really important foundation to understand romans ezekiel 36 25 and in a minute someone's going to read from your revelation 14 12 okay it says then i will sprinkle clean water on you and you will be clean and i will cleanse you from all of your filthiness and from your idols and i will give you and by the way is idolatry is one of the ten commandments i'll give you a new heart and i'll put a new spirit within you i will take the heart of stone out of your flesh and give you a heart of flesh i will put my spirit within you and cause you i will cause you to walk in my statutes this is the commandments and you will keep my judgments and do them you see this new covenant there same principle now i'm going to hopefully not confuse you but i probably will so when did people start getting saved under the new covenant in the new testament or the old testament you would think well they start getting saved under the new covenant in the new testament no everybody is saved under the new covenant and it starts in the old testament because you are not saved on your promises and your works you are saved on faith of his putting the law in your heart did abraham keep the law of god to save himself or because of love didn't moses say in the old covenant i command you today to love the lord your god isn't that the new covenant written in the heart in fact in the ten commandments do you find the words showing mercy unto thousands of them that love me and keep my commandments isn't that right in the ten commandments the key is right there love me and keep my commandments and so when the love of god is shed abroad in our hearts jesus said if you love me keep my commandments the bible says herein is the love of god that we keep his commandments and they are not a burden and so you do find the old covenant where the people said we'll be your people but no one was really saved under their promises to obey were saved based on god's promise to write his law in her heart the sacrifice of jesus does not happen until the new testament right it becomes a reality there just look at it this way the people in the old testament were saved by the new covenant looking forward in faith to when the messiah would come the people in the new testament were saved by the new covenant seeing the reality but they're saved by faith too you and i are saved by faith looking back at the cross but everyone's saved by the cross nobody got to heaven by their works so is it still important since we're under the new covenant to keep the ten commandments let's look at a few examples go ahead dan why don't you read yours for us here is the patience of the saints here are those who keep the commandments of god and the faith of jesus now would you agree revelation 14 is talking about the last days if you read the next few verses in revelation 14 it said and i saw one like the son of man coming in the clouds of heaven just a few verses later so it's obviously in the context of just before the second coming he says here you've got one group keeps the laws of the beast got the mark of the beast you've got another person keeps the commandments of god they've got the seal of god and they're saved it's really clear in revelation let me give you another one revelation 12 17 the dragon who is that was enraged with the woman who's the woman it must be the true church because she's clothed with light and he goes to make war you've heard of the battle of armageddon with the remnant of her offspring the remainder of her seed the remainder is the remnant of the last days two great characteristics keeps the commandments of god and has the testimony of jesus so the very fact the devil is angry with those who keep the commandments means it's a good thing obviously the devil's not going to encourage you to obey but um two things she's got the law and the prophets commandments of god the testimony of jesus and if you look in first john 2 first letter of john chapter 2 verse 3 now by this we know that we know him if we keep his commandments he who says i know him and does not keep his commandments as a liar and the truth is not in him i was doing a bible study with someone once and they said i'm under the new covenant i don't need to keep the law he says i love the lord and i'm saved but i'm not under that old jewish law i'm under the new covenant just love the lord and love your neighbor i said well if you love the lord you keep the commandment he says no you don't need to keep the ten anymore just need the love i said well what does that mean i said does that mean you say well i love but i can now steal i can lie oh no no no he really had no problem with the ten commandments except one you know which one it was the sabbath and while i was talking to him i read him this verse by this we know that we know him if we keep his commandments he who says i know him and does not keep his commandments as a liar and the truth is not in him he had no answer for that so continuing with talking about oh let me give you one more verse here go to the book of james this is in your lesson i just didn't have it in my notes james of course is just before revelation i'm saying that for my benefit because i'm having trouble finding it all right here we go it's just before well it's not just for revelations before after ii peter for first john james i want to go to james chapter 2 what did i say it's before hebrews why'd you do that to me i i wasn't right here we go all right james chapter 2 go to verse 10 for whoever shall keep the whole law and yet stumble in one point he's guilty of all now what was he talking about for he who said do not commit adultery said also do not murder now if you do not commit adultery but you murder you're a transgressor of the law so speak and so do as those who will be judged by the law of liberty and so the ten commandments is even called the law of liberty so does he want us to just hear it or do it so ten commandments are still in in effect for bible christians all right now i want to go to the section it says jewish laws and regulations and and and you really need to key in on what i'm going to be sharing with you here go in your bible to exodus um let's just take exodus 21 these are the judgments that you shall set before them if you buy a hebrew servant he'll serve you six years and he'll go out free if you go to chapter 22 of exodus if a man steals an ox or a sheep and slaughters it or sells it he'll restore five oxen for an ox here you've got just some statutes and then they had some ceremonial laws you go to leviticus 23 it talks about all the different sabbaths everything from passover to the day of atonement and so in the bible the law was sort of an all-encompassing word it is all um blended together i'd love to tell you the ten commandments are clear and they do stand alone it's in one segment altogether a lot of the other statutes and judgments ceremonial law health law uh civil law it's kind of all co-mingled and so it's not a clear delineation but the health law is true all the time is it always a good idea to wash after you've touched something dead is it a good idea if you find one of your pots it's a clay pot and there's a rat in it it made his nest you might throw that pot away because it's hard to clean it out of the porous clay but if it's a steel pot you can go clean cleanse it and boil it and maybe reuse it i think that's in the bible they had a lot of really practical health laws that are still true today the laws of sanitation things you're supposed to eat not supposed to eat is still true today if you look at the blood type in the stomach of a jew it's not going to be any different than the blood type and stomach of a gentile matter of fact there's a lot of jews their blood types are going to be interchangeable with all kinds of different gentile blood types and so the idea that well god had health laws for jews and yeah they'll live longer because they follow them and it doesn't apply to gentiles that's absurd so the law is that word and civil law now it depends on what government you're in a lot of the civil law around the world is based on the law of moses the difference between first second third degree murder you first find in the bible if there was not murder with intent you could flee to the city of refuge if it was accidental manslaughter there was hope and so they had different laws that were some civil laws but let me give you an example here go to colossians chapter 2. i want to read something to you this is often used when people learn the sabbath truth and they quote it back to seventh-day adventists colossians 2 14 having wiped out the handwriting of requirements that was against us now there's two things i want you to remember handwriting can you please say that handwriting of requirements that was against us can you please say against us i want it to stand out in your mind because we're going to read it it's very important because he's talking about something was wiped out taking it out of the way nailing it to the cross the terms are pretty clear wiped out out of the way nailed to the cross something's going away what is going away well he said it's handwriting against us let's find out what he's talking about here having nailed it to the cross if you look in nehemiah now here's what i'm going to here's my hypothesis i'm going to give you on that he's not talking about the ten commandments as some have suggested he's talking about the ceremonial laws there's a difference between the ten commandments and the ceremonial laws if you look for instance in deuteronomy 4 i'm going to go to deuteronomy 4 first so he declared to you his covenant that he commanded you to perform the ten commandments and he wrote them on two tables of stone and three-letter word i'm stretching out there the lord commanded me moses is speaking at that time to teach you statutes and judgments so you've got the ten commandments and the lord told me to write down for you statutes and judgments they're written by moses who wrote the ten commandments god looking yeah by hand handwriting there you have it nehemiah 9 13 and 14. you came down also on mount sinai and you spoke with them from heaven and you gave them just ordinances and true laws good statutes and commandments you made known to them your holy sabbath okay so that's all part of the ten commandments and commanded them precepts and statutes and laws by the hand by the what hand is what you use for handwriting of moses your servant so you got the law written by god's finger on stone and you got the things by the hand of moses let me give you one more second christ now someone's going to read from me deuteronomy 31 26 in a minute okay second chronicles this is very important second chronicles 33 8 and i will not again remove the foot of israel from the land that i have appointed for your fathers only if they're careful to do all that i commanded them according to the whole law and the statutes and ordinances by the hand of moses now i've given you three verses the bible says in the mouth of three witnesses at least that these things should be established where he makes a distinction ten commandments and by the hand of moses i just read that so what about the word against us please read from me deuteronomy 31 26 take this book of the law and put it beside the ark of the covenant of the lord your god that it may be there as a witness against you a witness what against you so what was the witness against them the ten commandments in the ark or the book of ceremonial laws that were put in a pocket or compartment outside the ark so there's a distinction god made one is handwriting of moses outside the ark ten commandments written by god inside the ark what's inside the ark is holy it is eternal it's stone the other was paper written by the hand of man taking it out of the way wiping it out nailing it to the cross there's a difference between the ceremonial law and the ten commandments this difference the romans did not understand paul needed to explain to them what they needed to keep and what they no longer needed to keep now with that lengthy introduction i want to read the rest of colossians 2. go back to colossians please you'll be glad you did go to colossians 2 verse 15. i'm gonna re-read verse 14. having wiped out the handwriting of requirements that was against us which was contrary to us notice against and contrary to us what does that mean i'll tell you later taking it out of the way nailing it to the cross and then you keep reading in colossians 15 2 15 having disarmed principalities and powers he made a public spectacle of them triumphing over them in it so let no one judge you in food or in drink or in regard to festivals now when he says food or drink he's talking about ceremonial food and drink offerings not talking about you could eat anything because paul was pretty clear you can't eat anything let no one judge you in food and drink or regard to a festival they had food and drink offerings with the festivals or new moons or sabbaths any sabbath sabbaths which are shadows ten commandment sabbath was not a shadow it came at creation ceremonial sabbaths were shadows of the gospel they were part of the feast days which are shadows of things to come they were shadows forward looking forward to something that was going to come jesus you still with me but the substances of christ christ is not the shadow he is the substance that creates the shadow so paul is saying don't let anyone judge you about keeping now do some people still go around so you've got to keep this the feast days i mean they have the same problem then we still have today and he says those things were taken out of the way they're hand riding nailed to the cross that's why paul says in romans 14 one man regards one day above another another man regards every day alike if you're going to regard the day to the lord you regard it he never mentions sabbath in romans 14. he's talking about the ceremonial disputes look in leviticus 23 there's like six or seven seven ceremonies of sabbath and he specifies the seventh or the uh seventh day of the week commandment separately all right uh and here we're going to now delve into the custom of moses under this next section this would be tuesday in acts 15 you read and certain men came down from judea and taught the brethren unless you are circumcised according to the custom of moses you cannot be saved now we've touched on this just friends i know those of you who just went through 13 weeks of galatians with me you're thinking didn't we just talk about this yes we did and so i know some of this is reviewing some of the of what we covered when we went through galatians uh some of the very same verses but it was a problem also in romans we need to understand so there was a dispute in the early church and it goes all the way into acts 15 and they're saying unless you keep these ceremonial laws things like circumcision you cannot be saved well that's heavy stuff i mean you and i might argue about the seven trumpets 144 000 last week i taught a class on daniel 11. a lot of disputes about some of the details in daniel 11 you and i might disagree but i'm never going to tell you unless you agree with me on daniel 11 you cannot be saved there are some people out there not too many but there are a few people out there that are saying that the lost truth the church needs to rediscover before jesus comes back is the feast days and unless you keep them you cannot be saved there are some people out there that are saying the trinity is not biblical and unless you understand the new truth about the holy spirit and that jesus was created you cannot be saved they're making it a salvation doctrine well that's gets pretty serious you have to deal with it when people start saying you cannot be saved unless you agree with me right i mean you and i might disagree on a lot of minor points but it's pretty heavy when they said you can't be saved well that became a big issue why did they say that go to genesis 17 10 this is my covenant god told abraham which you shall keep between you and me and your descendants after you every male child among you shall be circumcised and he later says this is an eternal covenant and you're going wow why did he say it was eternal because it is in the sense that unless you are born again and you experience the new birth which is circumcision of the heart do you know even moses said that circumcision was a symbol of the heart way back in his day that's repeated several times in the new testament the passover is called an eternal covenant why would he say that if you don't need to always keep the passover can we still sacrifice lambs and bring them to the temple but whenever you celebrate the lord's supper isn't that a passover when jesus had the first lord's supper didn't he say with longing i've longed to eat this passover with you now we don't call it a passover he's changed it he made jesus made a very clear change he said as long as you drink this cup and eat this bread you do show my death until it comes and so there's spiritual value in the other feast but we don't need to keep those dates it says as often as you do it he didn't say once a year just whenever you do it and so god made it pretty clear that the reality was here and what the spiritual significance was um john chapter 7 verse 21 jesus answered and said to them moses therefore gave you circumcision not that it was from moses because god gave it to abraham but from the fathers and if you circumcise a man on the sabbath day if a man receives circumcision on the sabbath so the law of moses should not be broken are you angry with me because i made a man completely well on the sabbath jesus was telling the religious leaders you break the sabbath in order you might keep the law of moses and where are your priorities acts chapter oh actually i'm sorry this is a quote from the book acts of the apostles page 200. while looking to god for direct guidance he paul was ever ready to recognize the authority vested in the body of believers united in church fellowship he felt the need of counsel and when matters of importance arose he was glad to lay these before the church and unite with the brethren in seeking god for wisdom and making right decisions so i shouldn't have read that yet i should have read acts 15 first and then read that quote go with me to acts chapter 15. and i'm going to start with verse 2 because i think i read verse 1 the book of acts 15. this is important to understand therefore when paul and barnabas had no small dispute with them no small dissension in dispute what does luke i like when luke says that like when peter disappeared from the roman jail it says there was no small stir among the soldiers what had happened to peter when he says no small that means a very big right and says when there is no small dissension that means they're all standing up on the table they're yelling at each other there's blood on the walls not quite but they had a big dispute about whether or not you had to be circumcised to be saved they finally determined that paul and barnabas and certain others with them they're going to send a delegation because they don't want one person coming back they want to know what the official word is they'll go to jerusalem to the apostles and the elders about this question they got the apostles that were there and elders like james who was the brother of jesus so being sent on their way by the church they passed through phoenicia and samaria describing the conversion of the gentiles and they caused great joy to all the brethren so this a lot of gentiles are being converted and when they come to jerusalem they were received by the church and the apostles and the elders and they reported all things that god had done with them but some of the sect of the pharisees who believed you know what that means they were pharisees that had accepted jesus right not only does it say an act some priests accepted jesus some pharisees accepted jesus by the way paul was a former pharisee who had accepted jesus some of the sect of the pharisees who believed they rose up and they said it's necessary to circumcise them and command them to keep the law of moses now they talk about the ten commandments or the ceremonial law isn't that clear now the apostles and the elders came together to consider this matter and when there had been much dispute and not only was there a dispute up in asia there's dispute in jerusalem peter rose up and he said to them men and brethren you know that a good while ago god shows among us that by my mouth the gentiles should hear the word he's talking about when he went to cornelia's house and believe so god who knows the heart acknowledged them by giving them the holy spirit just as he did to us and made no distinction between them and us purifying their hearts by faith it's by faith not by works now therefore why do you test god by putting a yoke on the neck of the disciples speaking of the gentiles which neither our fathers nor we were able to bear okay that's very important peter an apostle is saying you're putting a yoke on them that we weren't even able to bear what does jesus mean by that look in matthew 23 verse 1. now someone's going to read galatians 5 1 for me you'll have that man g i want to read matthew 23 verse 1. then jesus spoke to the multitude and he said to the disciples the scribes and the pharisees sit in moses seat therefore whatever they tell you do and observe observe that and do it but do not do according to their works for they say and they do not for they bind heavy burdens hard to bear and they lay them on men's shoulders but they themselves will not move them with one of their fingers they create all these laws and these ceremonies and they put it on people and so were there laws that were a burden that's why peter says our fathers could not bear it that's why it said in colossians that was contrary to us taking it out of the way nailing it to the cross all right please read for us galatians 5 1. stand fast therefore in the liberty by which christ has made us free and do not be entangled again with the yoke of bondage so there were so many laws that they had attached to the laws of god you not only had the ceremonial law you had all the man-made laws they had laws about the sabbath they'd measured off how far you could walk on the sabbath they had a ball of string there was your sabbath ball of yarn you tied at one location and you'd unroll it to the other location and you'd measure how far you could go they they said you can't carry a burden and so they spent hours and days discussing what is a burden and they finally said anything not your clothing is a burden so if you had a handkerchief it was considered carrying a burden on the sabbath day so if you had a cold on the sabbath you had to sow your hanky to your clothes so it was actually part of your garment then you could blow your nose in your clothes and you'd be okay they did they really had laws like this and so yeah they had all these burdens that they wouldn't lift with one of their fingers let me continue reading in acts 15 go back there for me and so peter said i'm finishing verse 7 god chose among us that by my mouth the gentiles should hear the word of the gospel and believe so god who knows the heart acknowledged them by giving them the holy spirit as he did to us and he made no distinction between us and them purifying their hearts by faith how our hearts purified by faith now therefore why do you test god by putting a yoke on the neck of the disciples that neither we are our fathers were able to bear but we believe that through the grace of our lord jesus christ we will be saved in the same manner as they nope paul is saying we jews believe we'll be saved the same way they're safe we're saved by faith then all the multitude kept silent the dispute finally ended peter sort of had the last word and they listened to barnabas and paul declaring how many miracles and wonders god had worked through them among the gentiles god was working and after they had become silent james answered and said men and brethren listen to me simon has declared how god at the first visit of the gentiles to take out of them a people so who was the first one peter simon same same one through peter the gospel came to the gentiles in cornelius and with this with the words of the prophets with this the words of the prophets agree as it is written after this i'll return and rebuild the tabernacle of david which has fallen down i'll rebuild its ruins and i will set it up so the rest of mankind meaning the gentiles may seek the lord come to jesus and i will build it destroy my body and i'll raise a tabernacle to david christ's own body even all the gentiles who are called by my name says the lord who does all these things no let me see known to god from eternity are all his works therefore i judge now here's what they finally come up with that we should not trouble those from among the gentiles who are turning to god to jesus but that we write to them to abstain from things polluted by idols from sexual immorality from things strangled in blood so then they specify that they write it in a letter they send it back by paul and barnabas they send it with witnesses they said now were they saying the gentiles they don't need to keep the sabbath it's okay for them to to to steal and lie because they don't mention the ten commandments specifically what they talked about was the things that the gentiles were having issues with for one thing they do mention the health laws because they say don't eat blood so why would you say you can eat pork just don't eat the blood so of course and you know i never hear a good answer when i talk to my charismatic friends or friends from evangelical churches i say why does it say that gentiles can't eat blood i mean obviously that's part of the health law and most of the i mean you know you go buy your beef it's there at the market and pick it up in a styrofoam container it's often swimming in blood but it's not kosher butchering that goes on there and so you don't hear them say that so obviously it included the health laws certainly it included the ten commandments they were having problems with multiple marriages that's why paul said husband of one wife and they also had problems with idolatry and so they specify the issues but they didn't say you had to keep the feasts they didn't say you had to be circumcised and that's why they wrote those things to romans 14 and colossians chapter 2. all right i'm running out of time here so let me let me jump ahead here so then they send that message to them um acts 15 21 something else i want you to notice right after he gives this these laws did they understand the sabbath should still be kept in the same chapter look at acts 15 21 for moses had throughout many generations those who preach him in every city speaking of the gentile world being read in the synagogue's every sabbath so we're the gentiles acquainted with the sabbath right after they talk about the things the gentiles should remember they mention every sabbath in the synagogues and why did paul go looking in the synagogues to arrest the jews because that's where they were preaching on the sabbath day so it was pretty clear anyway i've run out of time i think i pretty well covered what the issue was that paul is dealing with in rome he's then giving the gospel the pure gospel in this letter to the romans in a way that jew and gentile can understand and you'll hear him often reference the jews and reference the gentiles in the letter as he then goes through the book of romans because he's wanting them to be one church he still wants that today amen all right i want to remind our friends just before we sign off we do have a book you really enjoy it's called feast days and sabbaths by joe cruz it is a classic we'll send it to you for free ask for offer number 179 when you call the number again 866-788-3966 read it and share it with a friend god bless you we will study his word together with you again next week

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Length: 45min 7sec (2707 seconds)

Published: Sun Sep 27 2020