The Law vs. Grace

My First Sermon!

Tony got my names transposed. All three of my names can be first or last names, so after 51 years, I’m used to it. 🙂

Note that if you download it, it registers as being about 44 minutes long, but it is only 27. I used the RealPlayer trimmer. Tried it twice. It is just mis-marked on the file. I may try to trim it with another piece of software.

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Exodus 20

Rabbi Simlai 3rd century AD says there are 613 laws in the Torah, the first five books of the Bible.

A bunch of rabbis over the centuries had put together an enormous library of
interpretations of these laws. There were laws telling you how far you could
walk on a Sabbath day, and how much weight you could carry without breaking the
Sabbath, and numerous others. These are the kinds of things that the Pharisees
went by that Jesus complained about.

Law is necessary for an eternal society

a luxurious French villa lay in the path of the oncoming armies. Although
deserted, it was shelled and left with great gaping holes in its stone sides. A
few swine, which had somehow escaped extermination, rooted their way into the
magnificently furnished drawing room. Over the rich, velvet carpet they tracked
their muddy feet, overturned the upholstered furniture, tore the expensive
draperies and chewed whatever gave any promise of satisfying their hunger. The
beauty, the elegance, the cultural characteristics of the place meant nothing to
the beast nature. They were not partakers of the intellectual or spiritual
qualities of the owner.

To the unregenerated millions of earth, the glories of Heaven would be like
the French villa was to the swine. They are not partakers of the Divine nature
and would have no capacity for enjoying the holy atmosphere of the Glory Land.

I’m sure the pigs were “good” as far as pigs go. But they did not belong in a
French villa.

“For my thoughts are not your thoughts, neither are your ways my ways,”
declares the LORD.

“As the heavens are higher than the earth, so are my ways higher than your
ways and my thoughts than your thoughts.

A lot of people try to entice people into the Kingdom: “Jesus loves you! He
will make your life better” Which is true, but not true from a fleshly
standpoint. Jesus promised tribulation (John 16:33). He did not promise a bed of
roses. People who are told, “Seek Jesus, he will make your life better” will be
disillusioned when life happens. “I thought you told me…!”

the law was put in charge to lead us to Christ that we might be justified by
faith.

How should Christians deal with the law?

Thank you for doing so much to educate people regarding God’s Law. ……I
have learned a great deal from your show, and try to share that knowledge with
as many people as I can. When someone tries to defend the homosexual lifestyle,
for example, I simply remind them that Leviticus 18:22 clearly states it to be
an abomination. End of debate. I do need some advice from you, however,
regarding some other elements of God’s Laws and how to follow them.

1. When I burn a bull on the altar as a sacrifice, I know it creates a
   pleasing odor for the Lord as written in Leviticus.1:9. The problem is my
   neighbors. They claim the odor is not pleasing to them. Should I smite
   them?


2. I have a neighbor who insists on working on the Sabbath. Exodus 35:2
   clearly states he should be put to death. Am I morally obligated to kill him
   myself, or should I ask the police to do it?


3. A friend of mine feels that even though eating shellfish is an
   abomination, Leviticus. 11:10, it is a lesser abomination than homosexuality?
   I don’t agree. Can you settle this? Are there ‘degrees’ of abomination?


4. Leviticus. 21:20 states that I may not approach the altar of God if I have
   a defect in my sight. I have to admit that I wear reading glasses. Does my
   vision have to be 20/20, or is there some wiggle-room here?


5. Most of my male friends get their hair trimmed, including the hair around
   their temples, even though this is expressly forbidden by Leviticus. 19:27.
   How should they die?


6. I know from Leviticus. 11:6-8 that touching the skin of a dead pig makes
   me unclean, but may I still play football if I wear gloves?


7. My uncle has a farm. He violates Leviticus.19:19 by planting two different
   crops in the same field, as does his wife by wearing garments made of two
   different kinds of thread (cotton/polyester blend). He also tends to curse and
   blaspheme a lot. Is it really necessary that we go to all the trouble of
   getting the whole town together to stone them? Leviticus.24:10-16. Couldn’t we
   just burn them to death at a private family affair, like we do with people who
   sleep with their in-laws? (Leviticus. 20:14)

We’ll see if we can go back and answer these later.

Try saying that to a judge.

know that a man is not justified by observing the law, but by faith in Jesus
Christ. So we, too, have put our faith in Christ Jesus that we may be justified
by faith in Christ and not by observing the law, because by observing the law no
one will be justified.

Torah emphasizes immediate, concrete, physical rewards and punishments rather
than abstract future ones…

See how successful the Hebrews were

“For whosoever shall keep the whole law, and yet offend in one point, he is
guilty of all.”

Therefore no one will be declared righteous in his sight by observing the
law; rather, through the law we become conscious of sin.

Grace has superceded Law

“Do not think that I have come to abolish the Law or the Prophets; I have not
come to abolish them but to fulfill them.”

(except the ones that are future)

… visiting the iniquity of the fathers upon the children unto the third and
fourth generation…

‘The fathers have eaten sour grapes, and the children’s teeth are set on
edge.’ Instead, everyone will die for his own sin; whoever eats sour grapes–his
own teeth will be set on edge.

Circumcision on the 8th day

All who rely on observing the law are under a curse

Christ is the end of the law so that there may be righteousness for everyone
who believes.

The sting of death is sin, and the power of sin is the law. But thanks
be to God! He gives us the victory through our Lord Jesus Christ.

God made you alive with Christ. He forgave us all our sins, having canceled
the written code, with its regulations, that was against us and that stood
opposed to us; he took it away, nailing it to the cross.

Therefore do not let anyone judge you by what you eat or drink, or with
regard to a religious festival, a New Moon celebration or a Sabbath day. These
are a shadow of the things that were to come; the reality, however, is found in
Christ.

the gifts and sacrifices being offered were not able to clear the conscience
of the worshiper.

(Which were divided in two: Love the Lord thy God 1-4 and Love they neighbor
5-10)

The law won’t save you, but we are expected to act like the
King’s kids

Because you are sons, God sent the Spirit of his Son into our hearts, the
Spirit who calls out, “Abba, Father.”

(These things do not save us, they keep us from being unproductive.)

Answer the Leviticus questions.

Get on the Ark

• By Concepcion Duke, December 18, 2013 @ 1:10 am

  Why then sacrifice animals? It was a reminder of the consequences of sin (Hebrews 10:3) and foreshadowed the coming Savior (Hebrews 10:1). That is why the animal had to be without blemish—a symbol of the sinless Christ (Ezekiel 46:13, Deuteronomy 17:1, Hebrews 9:14). Scripture implies that God Himself initiated animal sacrifice when Adam and Eve fell into sin; the Lord provided (animal) skins of clothing. (Genesis 3:21). This action did not remove the shame from Adam and Eve—it simply “covered” it. It was not the solution to sin. Rather it indicated that the solution to sin would come in the future. Ceremonial laws also showed the separation of God’s redeemed people from the Gentiles in the Old Testament. But in the New Testament, salvation is extended to the Gentiles as well (Romans 11:11, Acts 28:28, 11:18, 13:46–48, Matthew 21:43, 8:11, 12:21).

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