back to index2017-05-28 Jesus is the end of the law
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If you can turn your Bibles with me to Romans chapter 10, I'm going to be reading the first 00:00:09.380 |
four verses of chapter 10, but again, the main focus would be on the last verse, verse 00:00:20.760 |
"Brothers, my heart's desire and prayer to God for them is that they may be saved. 00:00:27.360 |
For I bear them witness that they have a zeal for God, but not according to knowledge. 00:00:32.320 |
For being ignorant of the righteousness of God and seeking to establish their own, they 00:00:36.760 |
did not submit to God's righteousness, for Christ is the end of the law for righteousness 00:00:46.600 |
Gracious and loving Father, we thank you for an opportunity for the corporate body to come 00:00:50.360 |
together to worship, to meet with you, to express our love. 00:00:56.040 |
We pray, Father God, that your word would truly go forth and that it is your voice that 00:01:00.880 |
we are able to hear, that you would allow us to bear fruit as we hear, apply, and eager, 00:01:18.120 |
As you guys know, we've been studying through the book of Romans. 00:01:21.920 |
This is I think the third or fourth sermon on just these four verses. 00:01:26.080 |
The reason why I've been going really slow, every part of scripture is important, but 00:01:32.040 |
there are certain things that Paul says in these four verses that if you miss what he 00:01:36.280 |
says or you get a superficial understanding, you might miss the whole backbone or the foundation 00:01:44.120 |
It's that important that you can attend church all your life, singing the songs, memorizing 00:01:49.000 |
scripture, doing Bible study, maybe even serving as a Sunday school teacher, and at the end 00:01:53.160 |
of the day you completely miss the whole point. 00:01:56.800 |
That's exactly what the Pharisees were guilty of. 00:02:00.040 |
They spent all their life paying attention to scripture. 00:02:02.880 |
Nobody paid more attention to scripture than the Pharisees. 00:02:06.560 |
And yet when Christ came, they completely missed him. 00:02:11.400 |
It wasn't just they missed a certain aspect of him, they completely missed him. 00:02:16.700 |
So it's important for us that we understand thoroughly what Paul is saying in Romans chapter 00:02:23.520 |
10, and in particular this morning, looking at verse four, the emphasis that's there before 00:02:30.880 |
As you guys know, I'm Korean American, as if you didn't know, but I'm a Korean American, 00:02:37.360 |
and I remember when I first got saved, I got saved in a ministry where they were primarily 00:02:43.800 |
And so my Korean is decent enough to get along, but not completely. 00:02:48.720 |
So they would sing songs and do Bible study in Korean, and I had to learn. 00:02:54.560 |
And in that group, and again, this ministry was in K-town, and in that group I was the 00:03:00.680 |
And so all my friends would say, "Oh, he's yellow on the outside, but he's white in the 00:03:04.880 |
At this church, I'm the fop, complete opposite. 00:03:10.100 |
Sometimes people ask me, "Do you think in Korean? 00:03:13.560 |
I would say majority of the time I think in English, but then sometimes I think in Korean. 00:03:18.280 |
And then when I'm thinking in Korean and speaking in English, that's when it comes up all jumbled 00:03:24.640 |
Years ago, typically I feel very comfortable in the English setting, because most of my 00:03:32.920 |
But when I first started as a youth pastor at a Korean church, there was a lot of things 00:03:38.980 |
about the culture that I just assumed and understood, but I was getting into some issues. 00:03:45.520 |
And I remember asking my father at that time, "There's just certain things about the Korean 00:03:52.080 |
Well, one of the most practical advice that my dad gave me, serving as a youth pastor 00:03:58.000 |
under a first-generation Korean church, he said, "If an elder in the church asks you 00:04:02.400 |
to do something and you disagree, or you don't think you can do it, don't tell them no. 00:04:08.960 |
Tell them you'll think about it, and then don't get back to him." 00:04:14.120 |
So somebody being raised in the Western culture, I said, "That seems kind of disrespectful 00:04:24.280 |
And he said, "Trust me, that's how it works." 00:04:32.800 |
But a few months down the line, one of the elders came up to me. 00:04:37.400 |
Again, at that time, I was probably no more than 21 or 22 years old. 00:04:41.240 |
One of the elders came up to me and said, "He's taking a seminary class, and he's studying 00:04:46.920 |
First Timothy, and he had to read it in English, but he had a hard time understanding." 00:04:51.880 |
So he came to me and he said, "Peter, can you translate this in Korean for me?" 00:04:59.040 |
I said, "That would take me a whole year to do this." 00:05:03.040 |
So obviously, my gut reaction is like, "Oh, no, of course I can't do that." 00:05:07.800 |
And I remember what my dad told me, so I said, "Let me think about this." 00:05:13.200 |
And then I didn't get back to him, just like my dad told me to. 00:05:17.400 |
And then obviously, a few weeks would go by, and then he would come back and he'd say, 00:05:28.120 |
And then after a while, he would just walk by and look at me. 00:05:39.120 |
And I said, "The communication is not very clear." 00:05:44.000 |
And I remember talking to my dad about that, and he said, "It may not be clear to you, 00:05:52.400 |
In the Korean culture, instead of disobeying and saying, "No, I'm not going to do it," 00:05:57.160 |
you kind of have a submissive attitude, and it's a way to save face, and he gets the message. 00:06:04.480 |
You didn't embarrass him, but you didn't listen to him either, but just kind of way of just 00:06:10.080 |
Again, the reason why I share this is, anytime you try to function or communicate or do something 00:06:16.280 |
in a different culture, you have to put in that culture's lens. 00:06:20.120 |
If you go to China, there are certain things about that culture that if you try to apply 00:06:24.320 |
what you learned here and then try to apply it in the culture in China, you're going to 00:06:31.040 |
Everything over there runs on guanxi, in relationship. 00:06:36.480 |
You agree, like how much is your part and how much is my part, and then we based upon 00:06:40.960 |
contract, we agree, and then we move forward. 00:06:42.820 |
Over there, those contracts, they're still contract, but it's not as serious as the relationship. 00:06:47.760 |
As long as you have a great relationship, you can kind of go forward and get things 00:06:52.080 |
It's the same things in India, that you kind of have to put on the cultural lens there 00:06:58.200 |
You can't just take from where I am and then just apply it to over there. 00:07:01.120 |
That's how a lot of missionaries make mistakes when they go overseas to do mission work. 00:07:06.400 |
The reason why I say all of this is because when we study the scripture, if we don't put 00:07:12.080 |
on the lens of Christ, you can read the Bible and completely miss the whole point. 00:07:19.400 |
The whole of scripture, Old Testament, New Testament, all that has been written in the 00:07:29.640 |
So if you read the Old Testament and it doesn't lead you to Christ, you've missed the whole 00:07:36.480 |
If you read the New Testament and you're studying and that doesn't lead you to Christ, then 00:07:41.680 |
If we don't put on the lens of Christ in understanding and interpretation, and again, we're not trying 00:07:47.000 |
to milk it, we're not trying to find Christ under every rock, but the more you study the 00:07:51.840 |
word of God, you will see the connection that everything that has been written was about 00:07:57.720 |
The section that we're looking at this morning in verse 4, Paul says, "For Christ is the 00:08:02.860 |
end of the law, for righteousness to everyone who believes." 00:08:06.920 |
Those of you who were on the Facebook page last night, I usually try to give a couple 00:08:11.520 |
questions for you to read before you come so that you can understand and know what's 00:08:16.160 |
I only had one question yesterday, and that question was, when he says Christ is the end 00:08:21.880 |
of the law, because the word "end" could mean various things in the English, does it mean 00:08:31.240 |
Or does it mean He is the fulfillment of the law? 00:08:33.600 |
Or does it mean that He is the termination of the law? 00:08:37.160 |
Because in English, the word "end" could be interpreted or understood or applied in all 00:08:43.160 |
Well, I don't think we need to dissect and say, well, that's what He means, because based 00:08:49.600 |
upon the word and the context of what Paul is saying, He actually means all three. 00:08:55.680 |
So this morning, what we're going to do is we're going to look at all three different 00:08:58.600 |
aspects of how Jesus Christ brought an end to the law. 00:09:03.400 |
So the first thing that we're going to look at, it says, "Christ is the end or intended 00:09:10.560 |
So I guess the way that we can understand it is in English when we say, to what end 00:09:18.440 |
So when we say that, when I ask that, what do I mean by that? 00:09:23.560 |
Well, I want to become a scientist, or I want to become a doctor or a lawyer. 00:09:32.600 |
Or maybe I would ask, for what end are you working so hard? 00:09:46.560 |
The word that is translated for end is telos. 00:09:52.800 |
And again, one of the meanings behind that, it's the end purpose. 00:09:59.420 |
So Paul uses that same word in 1 Timothy 1.5, where he says, "The aim of our charge is love." 00:10:07.480 |
Paul is giving instruction to this young pastor, saying that this is how you ought to pastor 00:10:13.360 |
You need to focus on the word, how to establish elders and deacons in the church. 00:10:16.280 |
And he's giving instructions how to be a good pastor at the Church of Ephesus. 00:10:20.720 |
But he begins by reminding him that all the commandments that I'm giving you, the end 00:10:24.880 |
goal of all of the commands and all of your ministry is love. 00:10:30.120 |
In fact, in NIV, the word is translated goal. 00:10:37.960 |
And again, that word for goal or aim in that passage is the same word that we're using 00:10:42.200 |
here when it says, "Christ is the end, telos of the law." 00:10:50.760 |
Everything that you have been studying up to this point was to bring you to Christ. 00:10:54.480 |
And that's what it says in John 5.39, "You search the scriptures because you think that 00:10:58.320 |
in them you have eternal life, and it is they that bear witness about me." 00:11:04.840 |
Jews studied the Old Testament much more diligently than an average Christian in our generation. 00:11:13.840 |
They could quote you certain passages in the Old Testament by the time they were 80 years 00:11:19.280 |
They knew the scriptures and they applied the scriptures. 00:11:24.860 |
But Jesus says, "You're looking into them thinking that somehow if you study it and 00:11:31.720 |
And Jesus says, "No, all of that was about me." 00:11:36.880 |
All of that, everything that you studied, you completely missed the point because all 00:11:42.880 |
Again, he says in Luke 24.27, "And beginning with Moses and all the prophets, he interpreted 00:11:48.820 |
to them in all the scriptures the things concerning himself." 00:11:53.380 |
When Jesus says scripture here, clearly he's speaking about the Old Testament because the 00:11:57.720 |
New Testament canon has not been put together yet. 00:12:04.020 |
So you remember last week, Pastor Aaron went through a list of all the different Old Testament 00:12:08.060 |
books and how all of that relates to and points to Christ because that's exactly what it was 00:12:14.560 |
All the prophets ultimately was to bring us to Christ. 00:12:27.460 |
In Galatians 3.24, Paul says, "So then the law was our guardian until Christ came in 00:12:37.860 |
The word for guardian in Greek literally means a teacher of children. 00:12:43.480 |
Someone who guides and leads children for a particular purpose. 00:12:48.700 |
So if you're an elementary school teacher, maybe you're teaching them to pass the standardized 00:12:54.660 |
If you're a junior high school student, your end goal is to prepare them for college maybe. 00:12:59.000 |
If you're a college professor, your end goal is to help them find a job or maybe get to 00:13:05.740 |
And as a teacher, he said that the law was given to teach and to guide, to take you to 00:13:12.720 |
And that point, Paul clearly says, was Christ. 00:13:17.380 |
In Romans 7.7, again he iterates, "What then shall we say? 00:13:25.420 |
Yet if it had not been for the law, I would not have known sin. 00:13:29.520 |
I would not have known what it is to covet if the law had not said, 'You shall not covet.'" 00:13:37.200 |
Charles Spurgeon, speaking of this particular passage and on this subject of the law being 00:13:43.280 |
And I think the quote is going to be up here. 00:13:45.960 |
"The law is a sheriff's officer to shut men up in prison for their sin, concluding them 00:13:51.880 |
all under condemnation, in order that they may look to the free grace of God alone for 00:13:59.580 |
It empties that grace may fill and wounds that mercy may heal." 00:14:06.260 |
Everything that we have been studying, all of it was to bring us closer to Christ. 00:14:11.900 |
Hebrews chapter 10 verse 1, he says all of the Old Testament was simply a shadow of the 00:14:17.860 |
good things to come and the reality is found in Christ. 00:14:23.980 |
Everything that we know of the Old Testament, all of Israel's history, the sacrificial system, 00:14:29.820 |
the kings, the prophets, poetry, all of them, narratives, wisdom literature, he says all 00:14:38.900 |
of it was simply a shadow of what was to come. 00:14:43.100 |
It was to prepare us to cause this longing for this person to come. 00:14:47.900 |
And that's why it says in 1 Peter that when the angels, or 2 Peter, when the angels were 00:14:52.460 |
prophesying about these things, they longed to look into it to see who is going to fulfill 00:14:57.940 |
You know, I remember years ago in college, they used to play this game where they would 00:15:02.940 |
take a picture of a student and they would just show the outline or the shadow. 00:15:07.460 |
And the game was to try to guess who this person is. 00:15:11.540 |
So they would put it up and then they would say, "Oh, I think it's this person," or, 00:15:17.460 |
A shadow is whenever you see it, you don't look at that and say, "Oh, I met that person." 00:15:22.500 |
The shadow, immediately you see it, the first question that you have is, "Who is this a 00:15:29.100 |
So if you're standing somewhere in the middle of nowhere and you see a shadow of somebody 00:15:32.060 |
behind you, your first instinct is to turn around to see who it is. 00:15:36.500 |
And you look at the shadow and the shadow is massive, right? 00:15:41.300 |
And so depending on the kind of shadow you have, you say, "Wow, who is this person?" 00:15:46.340 |
See, that was the whole purpose of the law, is to cast a shadow so that when we looked 00:15:52.500 |
upon the shadow, it would cause us to say, "Who is this? 00:16:01.440 |
Who's going to be the king of kings, an everlasting king, where his throne is going to last forever 00:16:07.480 |
Who's going to restore the remnant of Israel for eternity? 00:16:15.780 |
All of that was a shadow to cause us to long for the coming of Christ. 00:16:25.620 |
For Christ to be the end of the law means that sacrifices ultimately was to bring us 00:16:33.820 |
In and of itself, there is no forgiveness of sins. 00:16:37.040 |
It was an act of obedience to prepare them, to teach them that there was a need for blood 00:16:44.320 |
sacrifice which ultimately Christ was going to fulfill. 00:16:48.180 |
The sacrifices were given to them as a shadow to cause them to long for the coming of Christ. 00:16:57.080 |
God creates six cities, not a building, not an altar, whole cities. 00:17:05.320 |
Simply so that somebody who killed somebody by accident and their family members would 00:17:10.160 |
be angry and then they would chafe acid and kill them just to give them a place to go 00:17:22.280 |
And he created this city of refuge as a shadow to point that Christ ultimately is our refuge. 00:17:29.760 |
He went through all of that drama so that there would be a longing to see who's going 00:17:36.800 |
The promise of the promised land ultimately was about Christ. 00:17:42.880 |
In Hebrews chapter 11 it says, "If the promised land was a physical land, all these people 00:17:46.880 |
who suffered to get there could have easily just turned around and gone home. 00:17:51.240 |
But the promise that God made to them was not about here. 00:17:54.120 |
And that's why these people by faith were able to reach the promised land and that promised 00:18:01.640 |
Even the idea of rewards and inheritances that we see in the book of Numbers. 00:18:06.840 |
That all of this was to be fulfilled in Christ. 00:18:13.480 |
Imagine how significant the Sabbath is in the Old Testament. 00:18:24.120 |
I think there's a reason why the Pharisees took this law so seriously. 00:18:27.680 |
Because it is so emphasized in the Old Testament. 00:18:31.240 |
But remember what Jesus says to the Pharisees when they accuse him, "Why are you breaking 00:18:41.400 |
You think that the Sabbath was made for us to obey." 00:18:50.760 |
The whole purpose of the Sabbath was to teach about rest that was going to be fulfilled 00:18:56.520 |
That only in Christ that we will ultimately find Sabbath. 00:19:01.120 |
That's why Jesus says, "Come to me all who are weary and heavy and laden and I will give 00:19:09.120 |
All of the Old Testament was to bring us to Christ. 00:19:13.480 |
And all of the New Testament is to keep us in Christ. 00:19:18.040 |
That's why out of the seven "I am" statements, the last "I am" statement in the book of John 00:19:26.080 |
If you want to bear fruit, if you want to live, you have to remain in me. 00:19:32.120 |
That's why all of the Old Testament is preparation for the coming of Christ. 00:19:36.280 |
And all of the New Testament is to teach us and point us so that we do not drift away 00:19:43.320 |
If you remember when Jesus was going to the cross, Satan did everything in his power to 00:19:50.800 |
Whether it was through the leaders of Israel or people rejecting him. 00:19:54.680 |
And then he used Peter by influencing him saying, "You can't go." 00:20:00.760 |
And he actually enters into Judas and betrays him. 00:20:06.160 |
And yet now on this side of the cross, the primary work of Satan is to keep us from drifting 00:20:23.200 |
You can have people gather together in large numbers with all the resources and commitment. 00:20:30.520 |
The reason why the gathering of the church, there's power, is because Christ is in the 00:20:37.760 |
When we are fixated on Christ, when people who are in love with Christ are gathered 00:20:42.960 |
together, whether it's two or three, there's power. 00:20:47.360 |
You can have a church, a mega church, and yet busy doing God's work. 00:20:58.200 |
We attach the word fellowship to anything that Christians gather to do. 00:21:03.040 |
Christians play basketball, it's basketball fellowship. 00:21:08.000 |
We go rock climbing, it's rock climbing fellowship. 00:21:14.360 |
We just attach fellowship to anything that the Christians gather to do. 00:21:18.400 |
All that we have been called to do is to point to Christ. 00:21:22.760 |
So if our fellowship doesn't point to Christ, that's not fellowship. 00:21:26.100 |
If our Bible study doesn't point to Christ, then that's not Bible study. 00:21:30.280 |
If our prayer meeting doesn't push us toward Christ, then that's not a prayer meeting. 00:21:37.040 |
Everything that we are to do, everything that God has done and everything we are to do is 00:21:41.120 |
to bring us to Christ because the end goal is Christ. 00:21:47.920 |
The end goal of our gathering is to stimulate us toward Christ. 00:21:53.680 |
That's what he means when he says Christ is the end of the law. 00:21:56.840 |
All that striving and working and sacrificing, the end goal is Christ. 00:22:07.600 |
Second thing that he says, that Christ is the fulfillment of the law. 00:22:11.680 |
Matthew 5.17 says, "Do not think that I have come to abolish the law or the prophets. 00:22:15.680 |
I have not come to abolish them, but to fulfill them." 00:22:19.080 |
The word for fulfill is the same word that we find in Ephesians, the word pleru, to be 00:22:29.400 |
Not just partially, but to its maximum end, to fulfill. 00:22:34.280 |
And that's why in Matthew 3.15, when Jesus comes to get baptized by John the Baptist, 00:22:40.320 |
obviously John's whole purpose was to prepare the way for Christ. 00:22:44.800 |
So here's his master coming who says, "Sandals, I'm unworthy to even tie." 00:22:55.400 |
He says, "I need to be baptized now to fulfill all righteousness." 00:23:01.120 |
In other words, even Christ, he submitted himself to obey all of God's commands. 00:23:11.600 |
In Romans 8.3-4, it says, "For God has done what the law weakened by the flesh could not 00:23:15.520 |
do by sending his own Son in the likeness of sinful flesh, and for sin he condemned 00:23:22.260 |
"In order that the righteous requirement of the law might be fulfilled in us, who walk 00:23:27.920 |
not according to the flesh, but according to the Spirit." 00:23:33.540 |
We could not fulfill the law, to its fullest. 00:23:37.980 |
Again, we have a tendency that if we're righteous about some area, we tend to highlight our 00:23:42.460 |
righteousness and we minimize our unrighteousness. 00:23:46.780 |
You might be a compassionate person who's feeding the homeless, but you don't pray 00:23:53.460 |
You might have great friends and you're very hospitable, but you can't tolerate 00:24:03.300 |
We have unrighteousness in some areas and unrighteousness in some areas, but it is not 00:24:09.500 |
And as Jesus says, if you break one commandment, you're a breaker of commandment of all of 00:24:19.260 |
And the reason why he filled the law, the scripture says, "In order that the righteous 00:24:22.260 |
requirement of the law that needed to be filled, he filled, so that we may gain his righteousness." 00:24:30.940 |
That's why in John chapter 19, 30, the last words of Jesus on the cross where he says, 00:24:42.820 |
That's the same word where he says, "The end," telos. 00:24:52.460 |
Everything that the law required of me, I have fulfilled. 00:24:55.940 |
And everything that is required in order to atone for your sins," he says, "It is 00:25:00.820 |
That's what he meant when he says, "It is finished." 00:25:03.500 |
He wasn't simply saying that his life is done and that it's over. 00:25:07.500 |
He said, "Everything that was required for salvation has been done." 00:25:12.380 |
That's why he says in Hebrews 10, 14, "For by a single offering he has perfected for 00:25:28.180 |
There is nothing more that needs to be done to be declared righteous. 00:25:33.940 |
There is nothing more that needs to be done for salvation of mankind. 00:25:39.180 |
And all the requirement that was needed to reconcile mankind to God was fulfilled in 00:25:48.140 |
There is nothing more that's going to happen in history. 00:25:53.860 |
Everything that we need for life of Godliness has been fulfilled in Christ. 00:25:57.620 |
That's what that means when he says, "Christ is the end of the law." 00:26:01.380 |
And third and finally, "Christ is the termination of the law." 00:26:15.980 |
Because whenever we talk about justification by faith and Christ is the end of the law, 00:26:19.380 |
a lot of people take that and then misapply it to mean that therefore there is no law. 00:26:26.500 |
And any law that says, "Hey, you should do this and you should come to church and 00:26:29.860 |
you should do this," and all of a sudden you're all legalists because Christ is the 00:26:37.620 |
And Romans 3.31 says, "Do we then overthrow the law by this faith?" 00:26:49.380 |
Salvation by faith and justification by faith alone does not mean, therefore, what God commands, 00:27:07.980 |
He broke their tradition, but they were accusing him of breaking the commandments. 00:27:12.180 |
And Jesus answered in Matthew 5.17.19, "Do not think that I have come to abolish the 00:27:18.660 |
I have not come to abolish them, but to fulfill them. 00:27:22.540 |
For truly I say to you, until heaven and earth pass away, not an iota, not a dot, will pass 00:27:30.180 |
Therefore, whoever relaxes one of the least of these commandments and teaches others to 00:27:34.460 |
do the same will be called least in the kingdom of heaven, but whoever does them and teaches 00:27:38.660 |
them will be called great in the kingdom of heaven." 00:27:43.540 |
There is a temptation that when we talk about justification by faith alone, for whatever 00:27:49.460 |
the reason, people begin to embrace antinomianism, meaning like, "Okay, you know, we want to 00:27:54.180 |
minimize the imperatives in the Bible, the commands in the Bible, because it's all been 00:28:00.020 |
J.I. Packer actually writes a concise theology about this particular issue. 00:28:05.980 |
Antinomianism is basically antinomos, meaning no law or against the law. 00:28:11.780 |
That's a false heresy or heresy in the Christian community where there is no commandment. 00:28:18.580 |
As long as I love Jesus, as long as I have this belief in Jesus, all this stuff doesn't 00:28:25.180 |
He lists five different ways that people embrace antinomianism. 00:28:31.660 |
So number one, dualistic antinomianism is associated with a Gnosticism which treats 00:28:41.860 |
Now we've been talking about how the Christian Gnostics and how they perverted the gospel 00:28:45.740 |
and the whole book of 1 John is written about this. 00:28:50.260 |
If you think that because we're saved by grace and what we do in the flesh doesn't 00:28:55.740 |
matter and he says he who is not living in light, you fool yourself because God is light 00:29:00.380 |
and there is no fellowship with darkness and in light. 00:29:03.180 |
So whole 1 John is written to combat this Gnostic antinomianism. 00:29:09.260 |
And a lot of people, again, in our generation embrace this because it justifies an antinomian 00:29:19.060 |
It frees us to do whatever we want and anybody who says you shouldn't do this or you should 00:29:22.900 |
do this, you say, oh, that's against the gospel. 00:29:27.300 |
Second thing he mentions is spirit-centered antinomianism which views the inner promptings 00:29:32.300 |
of the spirit as sufficient apart from external word. 00:29:37.220 |
Spirit-centered antinomianism, again, according to J.I. 00:29:40.220 |
Packer, is where, again, this typically happens in some of the charismatic circles, not all, 00:29:45.100 |
but some of the charismatic circles where the inward impression of God has a higher 00:29:52.900 |
I remember years ago I was doing Bible study and we were talking about how God calls us 00:29:57.200 |
to the great commission and disciple making and sharing the gospel and she just flat out 00:30:01.820 |
told me, I don't think that's what God wants from me. 00:30:07.180 |
She said, yeah, I know, but the scripture says, it's like I know what the scripture 00:30:09.980 |
says but God understands where I am, who I am, and I don't think God really wants that 00:30:25.840 |
What he means by a spirit-centered antinomianism is we nullify all the commandments of God 00:30:34.140 |
So we can just kind of live our life willy-nilly based upon however we feel at that moment. 00:30:38.820 |
We can nullify any kind of commandment, because I feel different toward that. 00:30:44.100 |
Third, and I'm not going to linger too long on it, but third one is the most deceptive. 00:30:53.580 |
J. I. Packer says there's a Christ-centered antinomianism which argues that God sees no 00:30:58.980 |
sin in believers because they are in Christ who kept the law for them and therefore what 00:31:03.460 |
they actually do makes no difference provided that they keep believing. 00:31:08.260 |
This is the most confusing of them because it is Christ-centered. 00:31:13.940 |
As long as I believe Christ in my heart that we emphasize what he has done and what we 00:31:21.900 |
No one could become righteous by their own merit so our righteousness doesn't matter. 00:31:26.340 |
And in essence it leads to antinomianism because it doesn't matter. 00:31:31.260 |
Well if it doesn't matter how do we choose elders? 00:31:37.580 |
How do we determine if somebody is righteous or not? 00:31:40.660 |
How do we even practice church discipline if it doesn't matter as long as somebody says 00:31:47.700 |
Christ-centered antinomianism is embraced because it justifies our sins. 00:31:55.420 |
Not Christ, but this false sense of security. 00:31:59.540 |
Fourth, dispensational antinomianism which denies that in the church age believers are 00:32:04.140 |
obligated to, or not obligated to the moral law. 00:32:06.820 |
I'm not going to get too deep into that because it requires too much explanation. 00:32:10.460 |
Fifthly, situationist antinomianism which teaches that love is the only rule that duties, 00:32:18.500 |
not just their application, will therefore vary according to circumstance. 00:32:25.940 |
So all this other stuff really doesn't matter. 00:32:28.060 |
Again I'm not going to go too deep into that. 00:32:30.240 |
But each one of these things are false ways that we embrace a life that chases after the 00:32:35.100 |
world and says, you know what, all these imperatives don't matter. 00:32:41.700 |
When there is a guilt in the life of a Christian, the purpose of that guilt is to bring us to 00:32:50.460 |
Because the only resolution to that guilt is repentance and receive mercy and forgiveness 00:32:54.980 |
from this faithful God who sent his only begotten son. 00:32:59.760 |
But if we don't deal with that guilt in repentance, the only other way to deal with that guilt 00:33:05.060 |
is to change our theology so that we no longer feel guilty. 00:33:10.220 |
And we have various ways, again, I don't think it's limited to these five, but we have various 00:33:14.340 |
ways to change our theology so that it is acceptable to live a life that does not look 00:33:24.200 |
That is not what he means when he says Christ is the end of the law. 00:33:30.020 |
First Timothy 1.8, it says, now we know that the law is good if one uses it lawfully. 00:33:35.940 |
The unlawful use of the law is to use it to justify your sins or justify yourself before 00:33:43.300 |
The lawful use of the law is an individual who uses it for profit, for training in righteousness, 00:33:51.540 |
for reproof, for correction, for teaching that the man of God may be thoroughly equipped 00:33:57.620 |
I just quoted 2 Timothy 3.16-17 where Paul tells Timothy to stick to his word, to preach 00:34:04.000 |
his word in season and out of season, whether people want to listen or don't listen, because 00:34:11.600 |
And when he says all scripture, is he talking about the New Testament or Old Testament? 00:34:17.540 |
The New Testament canon hasn't been written yet when he was writing 2 Timothy. 00:34:21.600 |
He's talking about Old Testament scripture, that all of it is profitable. 00:34:25.780 |
He's talking as a man on this side of the covenant with Christ crucified and resurrected. 00:34:31.560 |
So when he says that all scripture is profitable for teaching, for training, for reproof, he's 00:34:41.700 |
There's no need for us to worry about pursuing Christ and pursuing holiness. 00:34:52.780 |
The law, as it pertains to our need to be justified for our sins, has been made complete 00:35:04.320 |
In the Old Testament, God commanded these sacrifices. 00:35:08.700 |
And they were absolutely necessary to approach God. 00:35:13.220 |
There was burnt offering, whole offering, grain offering. 00:35:19.180 |
They had these major offerings and every single individual who wanted to come to God had to 00:35:24.880 |
make these sacrifices in order to atone for their sins. 00:35:29.100 |
So they were mandatory sacrifices in the Old Testament to get to God. 00:35:33.340 |
Well that mandatory sacrifice has been complete, has been terminated in Christ because he fulfilled 00:35:40.880 |
There is no more thing that needs to be done in order for us to get to God. 00:35:48.180 |
Romans 7, 6, "But now we are released from the law, having died to that which held us 00:35:53.420 |
captive so that we serve not under the old written code, but in the new life of the Spirit. 00:35:59.780 |
Sin no longer," in Romans 6, 14, "has dominion over you, since you are not under law, but 00:36:11.340 |
And the reason why there is no barrier between us and God is because that mediation that 00:36:16.180 |
we needed, the sacrifice and the priesthood and the temple, all of that has been terminated 00:36:23.580 |
And that's why he invites us to enter the throne of grace with confidence. 00:36:28.660 |
Not because you prayed, not because you read the Bible, not because you're serving or giving, 00:36:34.220 |
but because Christ has completed what is necessary for us to come to him. 00:36:40.460 |
Even when you are deep in sin, there is no barrier between you and God. 00:36:46.860 |
Even when you are filled with guilt, there is no barrier, there is no other mediator 00:36:53.900 |
And all of that that was necessary before has been terminated in Christ. 00:36:59.220 |
And that's why Christ can call us to come to him. 00:37:04.420 |
Those of you who were righteous this week, come to him. 00:37:08.940 |
Those of you who are struggling in purity, come to him. 00:37:22.940 |
Everything that we are doing, everything that we are studying, every song that we sing is 00:37:38.700 |
We often evaluate the church and we say, in order for missions to happen, we need more 00:37:51.420 |
We need people who have money in the church who are going to fund these mission work. 00:37:56.040 |
We need a better strategy because the strategy of the past generation did not work. 00:38:05.060 |
Anything that I see that Christ reminds us over and over again, that if you want to bear 00:38:11.580 |
fruit, if you want to live, he says, remain in me. 00:38:25.740 |
If you want to be effective in fellowship, remain in me. 00:38:30.560 |
If you want to understand Scripture, remain in me. 00:38:34.120 |
If you want to bear fruit, it says, remain in me. 00:38:36.860 |
All of the Old Testament pointed us to Christ. 00:38:38.780 |
All of the New Testament is to keep us in Christ. 00:38:44.220 |
You know, oftentimes the burden that I have, I've been a pastor at this church 20 years, 00:38:55.020 |
And sometimes I think, they must be sick of me by now. 00:39:00.620 |
There's nothing I can say that they haven't heard. 00:39:02.980 |
And those of you who are new don't know what I'm talking about, right? 00:39:05.300 |
Because you haven't heard my jokes before, so they're new to you. 00:39:08.340 |
There's a group of people here that has been hearing me speak for the last 15 years, 00:39:16.960 |
And I think humanly speaking, what could I possibly say? 00:39:19.260 |
I've studied through Romans and quoted the passages, studied through the Old Testament, 00:39:24.800 |
What could I possibly say that's going to sound anything new? 00:39:29.860 |
So usually when I go to another church to speak, I have 20-some years of sermons I can 00:39:39.340 |
But a church, there's nothing, humanly speaking, that I can say that's going to get you excited 00:39:55.900 |
We used to do Friday prayer meeting all the time. 00:40:03.740 |
Human effort, organization, programs, even the stuff coming out of my mouth, you know, 00:40:15.460 |
I've been preaching regularly since I was 19. 00:40:18.580 |
I shouldn't have been, but I did, since I was 19. 00:40:22.140 |
My former youth pastor kind of pushed me into ministry, and I said, "Okay," and then that's 00:40:28.700 |
I can say, in all honesty, it's been 30 years that I've been preaching and doing ministry 00:40:40.900 |
This is one quality of a person that kind of is an indicator that that person will persevere. 00:40:52.740 |
And that indicator always, to me, was the love for the Word. 00:40:58.160 |
But ultimately, it's not even the love for the Word. 00:41:03.780 |
Somebody could love the Word for all different reasons. 00:41:06.140 |
Somebody could love the Word because they love theology or they're trying to just gain 00:41:12.540 |
There is a genuine love for the Word because there's an affection for Christ, and they're 00:41:16.700 |
looking into the Word because they want to connect with Christ. 00:41:21.380 |
That's one thing that I have seen in the 30 years, people coming and going. 00:41:24.540 |
It's not passion for missions or social justice or learning all these theological terms or 00:41:33.100 |
There's one thing that was universally true of every person that I saw that matured and 00:41:39.380 |
persevered and bore fruit, one season of their life to the next season and to the next season. 00:41:46.300 |
I know a lot of people who are passionate when they're in college, and they fizzle out 00:41:51.020 |
A lot of people are passionate young adults, as soon as they get married, they fizzle out. 00:41:54.660 |
A lot of people who are passionate when they're newly married, and they fizzle out after they 00:42:00.060 |
Some of them are passionate in their 20s, but not in their 30s, or 30s, and not in their 00:42:05.580 |
But there's one quality over and over and over and over again that is consistent. 00:42:17.020 |
There's an affection for Christ that causes them to want to study the Bible. 00:42:21.420 |
There's an affection for Christ that causes them to want to serve the church. 00:42:25.460 |
And it doesn't matter if anybody else loves them or not, because they do. 00:42:37.060 |
If I want to have a conversation with you that's not going to end, I just say, "Lakers," 00:42:57.820 |
And all of this comes together because we're Lakers fans. 00:43:01.260 |
Some of you guys like traveling, so we talk about traveling. 00:43:05.660 |
There's a different energy about it when we talk about things that you love. 00:43:11.340 |
I see this one quality that brings a person through in-season and out-of-season is their 00:43:34.440 |
And we came to a point where we realized that we can't make it without Him. 00:43:56.400 |
So there's a lot of people I can talk about theology, church, mission. 00:44:02.900 |
But those who love Christ, there's a different tone when we talk about Jesus. 00:44:10.680 |
There's a different energy when we mention His name. 00:44:15.240 |
Because just the mention of His name brings you hope. 00:44:19.680 |
Just the mention of His name gives you comfort. 00:44:28.720 |
When He says Christ is the end of the law, that's what He means. 00:44:37.360 |
Everything about you, everything about me, everything about the Old Testament, everything 00:44:46.100 |
So if we can come to church year after year, decade after decade, and your love for Christ 00:44:53.200 |
is never increasing, then you have missed the whole point. 00:45:00.700 |
I pray whatever distraction there is in our life, that we would be able to say with confidence, 00:45:07.740 |
and that this is not just some theological statement, but our testimony, Christ is the 00:45:12.980 |
end of the law for my righteousness, for those who believe. 00:45:18.060 |
Before we take some time to pray, let's sing this song in Christ alone. 00:45:22.220 |
And as we sing this song, look at the lyrics, and make that our confession before God. 00:45:26.140 |
And after that, our praise team will ask us to take some time to pray. 00:45:30.140 |
But before we do that, let's take some time to meditate as we sing this song in Christ