No Heavenly Good!

This is a journal entry of mine from reading Philippians 3:19. The commentary is on Phil. 3:19d. Philippians 3:19-20 says, “Their end is destruction, their god is their belly, and they glory in their shame, with minds set on earthly things. But our citizenship is in heaven, and from it we await a Savior, the Lord Jesus Christ. . .”

“we are so earthly minded we are no heavenly good! Notice: Scripture never warns of being ‘too’ heavenly minded, for it is not the tendency of man to do so, but rather it is the tendency of man to set his mind (heart) on earthly things.

But, it is those who are most heavenly minded who are the most good for the world. Think of Abraham who lived in the land of promise, as though he were in a foreign land, because he was looking for a heavenly city, and was it not John, the apostle of love, who was given visions of things to come from heavens point of view, or the Apostle Paul, who set his mind on the heavenly mysteries and sought to reveal those things to the saints, was it not also Paul who was caught up to the third heaven, and finally look at our LORD Jesus Christ whose mind was only heavenly, and did only the will of His Father.

Did not the LORD Jesus accomplish all good things for all in His life, which was set only on the heavenly. I would submit to you that the saying, ‘he is so heavenly minded, that he is no heavenly good’ is what the Devil has whispered in our ears when we are walking in the flesh, and so, we accept it.

However, in a sense this statement is true. The earthly minded have never accepted the heavenly things. Look at: Cain, or Esau, or stiff-necked Israel to the heavenly oracles of God from the prophets, or finally the Pharisees. For it would seem that the most heavenly minded man (Jesus) was no earthly good to them. Perhaps the problem is not the heavenly minded, but rather, the earthly good.

And humbly I must accept, this is only a problem the Holy Spirit can solve and no man! This is what the Apostle Paul meant in I Corinthians 2:6-16″

which says,
“Yet among the mature we do impart wisdom, although it is not a wisdom of this age or of the rulers of this age, who are doomed to pass away. But we impart a secret hidden wisdom of God, which God decreed before the ages for our glory. None of the rulers of this age understood this, for if they had, they would not have crucified the Lord of glory. But as it is written, ‘What no eye has seen, nor ear heard, nor the heart of man imagined, what God has prepared for those who love him’ these things God has revealed to us through the Spirit. For the Spirit searches everything, even the depths of God. For who knows a person’s thoughts except the spirit of that person, which is in him? So also no one comprehends the thoughts of God except the Spirit of God. Now we have received not the spirit of the world, but the Spirit who is from God, that we might understand the things freely given us by God. And we impart this in words not taught by human wisdom but taught by the Spirit, interpreting spiritual truths to those who are spiritual. The natural person does not accept the things of the Spirit of God, for they are folly to him, and he is not able to understand them, because they are spiritually discerned. The spiritual person judges all things, but is himself to be judged by no one. ‘For who has understood the mind of the Lord so as to instruct him?’ But we have the mind of Christ.” (italics added for emphasis)

"Legalism or Liberalism that is the question. . ." (Part 3)

Due to the “Introduction” blog for this third part we will just dive right in. So first let us examine the question asked from part 1,

“(H)ow would you counsel the person who says, ‘I am not burdened by the law…but by the battle that my sin nature fights against the law. I love the love, but I hate the sin which is in me…essentially, breaking the law.’ I think about this sometimes and [my spouse] and I have discussed it at length as well. Being that we are new creatures with a new heart…why does it seem so difficult at times to keep the law. And I don’t mean burdensome, but truly difficult b/c as you’ve pointed out even when we ‘keep the law’ outwardly, sometimes our heart’s motives are wicked (as Jesus showed in the Pharisees). This is the burden for me at least…my own wicked heart. It’s the constant examination of motives, having sorrow over sin, and of course (first and foremost) REFLECTING on what Christ has done for us which brings peace.”

I believe the question here is, “Why do we still have this struggle? How are Christians to properly deal with the internal and external struggle to do what is right? How may I find victory and counsel others in this venue?”

Part 1 of the question

Let’s first examine “Why do we still have this struggle?” The question is a good one. “If I am in the New Covenant and therefore have a “new heart” that loves and knows God, why do I still struggle with sin and often fail?” Biblically speaking, if the heart is the center of man and from his heart flow all things, how can sin still come from a man whose heart is good? Shouldn’t only good flow from a man that possesses a good heart?

Yes and No. I will deal with the “yes” first and then with the “no”.

Jesus spoke that good trees only produce good fruit. And that bad trees can only produce bad fruit. When scripture speaks concerning categories of man, more often than not it speaks of only two types. For example: Those who hear and those who don’t hear, those who see and those who don’t see, those who believe and those who don’t believe, those who love and those who hate, those who produce good fruit and those who produce bad fruit, those who are in the light and those who are in the darkness, those who are alive and those who are dead, etc. (you get the point). What I mean to say is that the Bible does not leave a third category very often. So you are either saved or you are not. In this sense, yes, only good flows from a good heart!

Throughout Paul’s epistles he is having to rebuke genuine believers for sinning though they are regenerate and have new hearts! Why is this? Paul states that the reason a Christian does sin is not because he wants to, but rather, because while Christians remain here on the earth they are still in bodies that are corrupt and are being more and more corrupt as time goes on (II Cor. 5:2; Eph. 4:22). This is commonly called “indwelling sin.”

In other words, the reason for the struggle is due to your flesh waging war against you (or your new heart). However, scripture speaks of the flesh that fights against the believer so distinctly that it is almost seen as no longer part of the believer’s personhood.( I Peter 2:11; Romans 7:20). Think of this indwelling sin as an active evil that labors to keep the eyes of your heart off of the solution to your problem, and therefore brings forth death.

The closest example I can think of for this “indwelling sin” might be cancer. The person’s desire is to live a full life, but there is an active evil disease that is seeking and laboring without rest to produce death continually in the cancer patient, to the point of ultimate death!

Part 2 of the question

“How are Christians to properly deal with the internal and external struggle to do what is right?”

Christians are to deal with this time of struggle with unexplainable hope and joy. This is what is commanded of us! Because death has been destroyed and our victory is sure, we are to live in such a way with such hope and joy that the world will be attracted to us (I Peter 1:13, 3:15) . Do not confuse this with the world being attracted to our source of hope and joy. Rather they will be attracted to the simple and clear display of the Christians’ hope and joy in the midst of this suffering life. For when told that our source of joy and hope is in “a hated, despised, crucified Messiah, who has risen and is now King over all things including them” the world’s only response can be HATRED apart from the regenerating work of the Holy Spirit (Romans 8:7; Ephesians 2:1-2; John 3; I Cor. 2:6-16).

But nevertheless this is what we are to do in the midst of this waiting period. Take note as well that this is the only period in the Christian’s life where he/she can hope. For we are told in Romans 8:24-25 that when our Hope is met it is no longer hope for it will have come!

An Example

In the time of Jesus it was a common event for a king, conquering new lands, to send out town-criers to proclaim the news to all the citizens and people. These town-criers were not predicting what was going to happen but rather proclaiming the facts, declarative statements to inform the people of what had happened. They would go about the land and herald the good news that there was a new king of the land. Now, though the King had won the war, it would take time to remove all the rebels and establish the fullness of the extension of that king’s kingdom. But the establishing and reality of this new kingdom was as good as a done deal. Imagine yourself a steward of that king (that had won), but who was currently imprisoned in the opposing armies camp. What hope and joy you will have even in the prison camp when you get word of the good news through the heralding of the town-crier. Those who are on the outside of the prison will be hopeless and joyless while appearing free while you will be full of joy and hope though you appear to be in prison! This is like the sure hope and joy we should have to the world.

Part 3 of the question

But you may be asking, “how can I find victory in this struggle, and how should I counsel others?” Do you remember how I stated that our “indwelling sin” is an “active evil that labors to keep the eyes of your heart off of the solution to your problem”? The victory we are to find is linked to the very thing our flesh strives to keep our eyes off of!

Examine II Corinthians 3:18. It states that we are sanctified as we are “beholding the glory of the LORD” In the context Paul is attempting to argue that he is a minster of a greater covenant than that even of Moses (I encourage you to read II Cor. 3-7:1 sometime after you finish this post)! So throughout the chapters Paul compares the two covenants and how the power and glory of the new surpasses that of the old so much that there is no longer any glory in the old.

The New Covenant brings in not just a new standard for people and God to relate, but rather, with the establishing of a New Covenant comes a whole new creation (i.e. new heavens and heaven, New Earth, new heart, new bodies, new temple, new law, new priesthood, new people, NEW EVERYTHING!). This was God’s intention from the very beginning and He sought the fulfillment of it, the moment Adam (the head of all creation) sinned and so all of creation fell with him. Thus, the need for a covenant that would restore all things!

But how was this covenant fulfilled? In JESUS! But when was this covenant fulfilled? At the cross! So the GOSPEL is the most clear revelation of the glory of God! By reflecting, studying, and savoring the gospel (which is the glory of Jesus Christ, who is God), we are sanctified (II Corinthians 3:18; 4:3-4)! In other words, when we strive to see Jesus in all His splendor (which is revealed in the gospel), and believe the truths revealed therein, we are victorious over our sin and will see a gradual growth into the image of God’s beloved Son! John Piper puts it this way, “God is the gospel!”

What I am saying is, the Bible declares that we become most like that which we set our eyes most upon! For examples of this look to Isaiah and the Psalms where God tells Israel that they are blind and deaf because they have worshiped (set their eyes on) false gods who cannot see nor hear! But when we set our eyes upon the “finished” work of Christ and “rest” in Him, it is there that we find our hope and our joy. It will be there that we find our strength and our peace. It is there that we discover our victory and our life. And it is there that we find our salvation!

John, the apostle of love put it like this, “Beloved, we are God’s children now, and what we will be has not yet appeared; but we know that when he appears we shall be like him, because we shall see him as he is. And everyone who thus hopes in him purifies himself as he is pure.” (I John 3:2-3, bold italic was added for emphasis)

I remember my wife Ashley-Nicole relaying to me this account. “When I was a little girl I used to admire how my dad could walk so fast! So I would fix my eyes hard upon his steps and watch closely where his feet were stepping. As I intently looked at where my daddy had stepped I found that the natural inclination for me was to step where his feet had been stepping. And so, I learned to walk like my dad by fixing my eyes on him.”

This is what we are to do! Fix our eyes on Jesus! Treasure and admire the way Jesus walked! And as we behold the glory of Jesus, we will be transformed from one degree to the next. The end is sure for all those in Christ Jesus, for it depends solely on the accomplished work of Christ! And because He has fulfilled the law and lives, we know we have fulfilled the law and live in Him. He is the firstfruits and our victory is as sure as His resurrection. We may appear to be enslaved to the enemy but the true reality is we are free and the enemy is joyless and hopeless while we await sure victory!

“Therefore, my beloved brothers, be steadfast, immovable, always abounding in the work of the Lord, knowing that in the Lord your labor is not in vain.” -Paul in I Corinthians 15:58

An Introduction to "Legalism or Liberalism that is the question. . . " Part 3

I am now writing the third part to a blog that at its beginning was only intended to be solo. But as stated earlier, two very important questions were asked concerning the first blog. One of those questions was answered in part 2. It is now my objective in answering that second question. Before going any further I would caution the reader that if he/she has not read the first two entries this third will not be as helpful as it would, should the reader read the part 1 and 2 first.

At the on sight of working this blog I really wanted to title this “Living in realization of the reality of who we are in Christ for the victory accomplished by Him” However, there were two problems with this: first, this title is too reminiscent of the puritans (which really isn’t a bad thing) and second, most who have been following in this series would not recognize this title as being part 3 of the series at hand. That being said, I did want to title this blog that because it will be the main theme of the upcoming blog.

One of the objectives I set out in answering this question was reading through the N.T. and take notes on passages dealing with this question in mind. (For those of you in Bible school, I don’t think I was committing the sin of Isogesis, but rather seeing if the scriptures addressed this topic [a.k.a. Systematic Theology]) So I will not be dealing with one passage , but rather a plethora. This being the case I will not be putting the scripture passages in here but rather reference them in hope that you will have your Bible with you when reading this. Which I really encourage you to have one while reading this blog entry. However, when I do quote a passage I will be quoting from the [inspired ;-) ] ESV.

Before I begin I want the reader to know that my goal is to Glorify God by displaying the glory of the Son Jesus Christ. In doing this I hope to serve you (the reader). This being said, their are better articles and books written on this topic. So I would like to refer the readers to a book that I have found most helpful! You can find the book here. Now let us begin to answer this important question concerning the topic being discussed here.

"Legalism or Liberalism that is the question..." (PART 2)

In my last blog I wrote on the false notion of having to choose between Legalism or Liberalism( or better known as “Antinomianism”). This article will not serve you best unless you have read the first article. So I recommend to you to read that one first.

Since this last blog, I received much thanks and agreement upon my conclusion on how to properly view our lives and freedom in Christ. However, I have received two very important and good questions from two different people. So, I thought it be best to respond to those questions in two more blog entries (thus, this will end up being a three part series). I will answer the questions in an order that will best make sense to the readers. In other words part two should set the stage for part three as part one did for the other two. My goal is two-fold to glorify God by revealing Him to the reader through the teaching of His word, and therefore, administer grace to the reader of this blog.

The first question I received was, “how does the law relate to the believer under the New Covenant?” This is a crucial question to the discussion. So this question must be dealt with carefully and explained clearly. I pray that I may do that here.

In the first article I explained how the purpose of the Law was to act as a pointer. The law “revealed” or “pointed” to the righteousness of God (Romans 3). In doing this it pointed to two things; the problem (us), and the solution (Jesus). When we see our wickedness and how we fall short of the glory of God and then repent of our filthiness and turn to Jesus, He offers free and full forgiveness of sins and His righteousness to those who believe. When one does this, they are in a New Covenant with God. And in this covenant God gives His people a “new heart” and “His Spirit” to cause them to obey Him (Jeremiah 31:31; Ezekiel 36:22-27).

But herein lies the question, “Since Jesus has ‘fulfilled’ the Law and abolished the Old Covenant and brought in a New Covenant, how should we then view the Law and what is our relation to the Law?”

First, it should be stated that our view of the Law should not change! You see, because the Law was never the problem! WE WERE! We were the ones that needed to be changed. The Law accomplished what it was supposed to do, that is, reveal the “righteousness of God.” We should view the Law as a means for seeing the righteousness of God

However, even though we view the Law of God the same our “relation” to the Law is no longer the same! Our relation to the Law of God changes with the changing of the Covenant (Hebrew 7:12 will explain this later!) . In other words, the Old Covenant was to act as a shadow of greater things, yes, Heavenly things! The sacrifice systems and cleansing process and etc. were all to point God’s people to the coming Messiah, who would fulfill all those things (The whole book of Hebrews shows this best, extensively). So then, those who are in the New Covenant are dead to that Law (Romans7:1-6).

That being said God’s purpose for His people has never changed. Although God has used different means in different dispensations throughout history, His purpose for His people has been the same. So, what is that purpose that God has had for His people from the beginning? This is the $1,000,000 .00 question to the topic at hand.

God’s purpose has always been to: “set apart for Himself a people, who are holy and pure by seeing Jesus as their ALL-SATISFYING TREASURE!” Now this encompasses much more that what is possibly seen at first glance. For example, for one to truly treasure Jesus, one must know who Jesus is. What makes Jesus, Jesus? What does Jesus Love? These are the questions that one must know to LOVE Jesus or to see Jesus as their “ALL-SATISFYING TREASURE!”

Let us just take one aspect of Jesus, so as to know what I mean by all of this. Jesus was fully man, but He was also fully God. That is to say, He possessed all the attributes of God, and He was like us in every way only without sin (referring to His humanity). Jesus is as righteous as God yet manifested in a man. It is on this attribute that we want to spend some time on.

As stated earlier, the Law “reveals” the righteousness of God(Romans 3). However, when Jesus teaches on righteousness He raises the standard from what the Law says. So where the Law states, “Thou shall not murder” Jesus says, “you have heard that it was said to those of old (referring to the Law) but I say to you everyone who is angry with his brother will be liable to judgment…” ( Italics and bold added for emphasis) Jesus never lowers the standard but rather raises it! Jesus never lessened the importance of the law! He did otherwise, while increasing the standard by which to be held (Matthew 5:17).

In Romans 3:19-22a Paul states:

“Now we know that whatever the law says it speaks to those who are under the law, so that every mouth may be stopped, and the whole world may be held accountable to God. For by the works of the law no human being will be justified in his sight, since through the law comes knowledge of sin. But now the righteousness of God has been manifested apart from the law, although the Law and the prophets bear witness to it- the righteousness of God through faith in Jesus Christ for all who believe…”

Paul states that the righteousness of God (the standard by which He will judge) has been shown in two forms: revealed in the “Law and Prophets”, and “manifested apart from the law.” This two-fold revealing of the righteousness of God coincides with the Old and New Covenant of God.

But if the Law given by Moses is linked with the Old Covenant and revealing of the righteousness of God what is the new or greater revealing of the righteousness of God linked to? Paul goes on to say,

“For all have sinned and fall short of the glory of God, and are justified (declared righteous in the court of God) by his grace as a gift, through the redemption that is in Christ Jesus, whom God put forward as a propitiation by his blood, to be received by faith. This was to show God’s righteousness, because in his divine forbearance he had passed over former sins. It was to show his righteousness at the present time, so that he might be just and the justifier of the one who has faith in Jesus.” ( Romans 3:23-26, Parenthetical not scripture but brief commentary on the word justified, Italics and bold was added for emphasis)

This hardly needs any explanation! Did you see it?! Jesus is the greater revelation of the Righteousness of God! His incarnation, perfect lived life, death on the cross bearing the wrath of God for the sins of those who would have “faith” in Him, resurrection, and ascension is the greatest manifestation of the righteousness of God because it is the righteousness of God being acted out in real-time (now history but was “present time”).

Thus, when Jesus is in the upper room having “The Last Supper” with His disciples He tells them, “This cup that is poured out for you is the New Covenant in my blood.” (Luke 22:20b, Italic and bold added for emphasis) So just as the Old Covenant is linked to the Law given by Moses to reveal God’s righteousness so too The New Covenant brings in a new giver of the Law Jesus to reveal the righteousness of God more clearly.



The best way I can think of how to explain the difference between the Law in the Old Testament and Jesus as they relate to the righteousness of God is like this, imagine yourself looking up on a beautiful clear sunny day. And as you look up you see these glowing bright glorious rays coming out from the sun which are too bright for you to even look at. Those rays of light are similar to the Law. They reflect and come from the source which is the sun. But here lies within the difference. Where as light rays from the sun are the Law, the sun itself is Jesus. Jesus is the righteousness of God! Whereas the law is a reflection of God’s righteousness.

Jesus brings in a New Covenant which is His body, those who are in His body died to the Law with Him and were raised with Him to new life (Romans 6-7:6). Jesus is the Great High Priest with this coming in of a New Covenant. With this coming of a new age comes all new things! I cannot begin to touch on all those things, but what I will deal with is what is the new law or standard that comes with the New Covenant.

As stated earlier Jesus did not come to abolish the Law but to fulfill it! He came not to lower the standard so that we could get in to heaven but raised it so that all are judged. By doing this Jesus becomes the only way to salvation. Salvation can only come by the accomplished work of Christ and be received by faith in His work. In other words, our new law is to place our faith in Christ Jesus!

By finding our salvation in Jesus Christ by faith we fulfill the Law of God. This is what Paul means when he says, “the just shall live by faith.” Think with me for a moment, what was the first commandment? To have no other gods before the One true God. Here God states that He just delivered them from Egypt and that He will provide for them! So that, they would go to no other gods because He alone is their God and will provide for them. In other words, the first commandment God gives to Israel is that they are to trust (believe) and find their everything in YAHWEH!

Now if you are finding your everything (i.e. your life) in YAHWEH are you going to even covet someone else’s things? If find yourself absolutely full in all the joy, peace, and satisfaction of Christ Jesus there is no desire left to be found wanting!

Let me attempt to use an illustration though it has it weaknesses. Say you walk into a restaurant absolutely starving and you look at the counter and it is absolutely full of delicious dishes. Your mouth is going to be watering like crazy and the temptation to be found ungrateful and covet what is there will be undefeatable! Now if I walk up to you and tell you, “God says, ‘you shall not covet!’” That does not solve the problem that only reveals the sin that was already there to be sin or wrong. But if the owner comes to you while starving and says, “come follow me” and brings you into a banquet hall filled with the most exquisite and delicious dishes of the greatest variety and tells you to, “eat whatever and as much as your heart can be full of delight for as long as you wish!” Once you have eaten your full and you leave the banquet hall you stumble across the same counter that had your mouth watering and you realize that the dishes filled with delicious foods was actually the dishes that came off the used tables and the food was the defiled leftovers. Your temptation to lust for the leftovers will have been removed by finding your needs and desires met in the banquet given to you freely!

This is essentially what God was telling Israel! I command you to find me giver of every good gift and to go to no other to seek or find your wants and needs! The Old Covenant Law did reveal a great amount about who God is and how He is able to be our source of delight our “ALL-SATISFYING TREASURE.” But it did so dimly and it did not change the real problem but rather exposed it (which was it’s purpose)! So this brings about the need for a greater covenant! With the New Covenant God reveals himself fully so as to show the “ALL-SATISFYING TREASURE” clearly and removes the problem (our hearts) by changes those in the New Covenant so that the delight of their heart is to see and obey God!

In other words, our law that we are to conform to is the righteousness of God! We know what the righteousness of God is by reading the scriptures. We understand that though the Old Testament revealed the righteousness of God, that it did so dimly, and that we can see the righteousness of God most clearly in Jesus including: his life and accomplished work.

The means of how we do this is most important to the discussion! This is the second question that was asked and will be dealt with in Part 3 of this topic. I am praying and preparing for this and hope to have it done soon, hopefully no longer than a week! I apologize for the wait and want all to know that I am praying for you! God bless!

"Legalism or Liberalism that is the question".....

Monday morning I was meditating upon Psalm 119 Verses 1-8. However, as the morning progressed I was praying and pondering what pearls could be seen in these verses and I found my mind enlightened to particularly the first couple of verse in Psalm 119. Which says,

"Blessed are those whose way is blameless, who walk in the law of the LORD,
Blessed are those who keep His testimonies, who seek Him with their whole heart.
"Psalm 119:2(Italics added)

Did you catch it? You see, I titled my blog "Legalism or Liberalism that is the question." Because, although most astute Christians recognize that is not our only choices, we LIVE as though those were our only choices. At least that is what I seem to see in my own life, as well as, pick up on from others in their conversation.

So how do we look at this topic in light of Scripture? Does the Bible tell us we may live our lives free from these two extremes? I believe God has spoken on this topic! And it is our responsibility to know and live according to this revealed will of God. So allow me to take some of your time and I hope at the end of this blog, you will leave blessed because of what the Word of God says.

Lets start with the passage in Psalm 119:1-8 which says,

"Blessed are those whose way is blameless,
who walk in the law of the LORD!

Blessed are those who keep His testimonies,
who seek Him with their whole heart, who also do no wrong, but walk in His ways!

You have commanded Your precepts to be kept diligently.

Oh that my ways may be steadfast in keeping Your statutes!

Then I shall not be put to shame,
Having my eyes fixed on all Your commandments.

I will praise You with an upright heart,
when I learn Your righteous rules.

I will keep Your statutes;
do not utterly forsake me!" Psalm 119:1-8

Perhaps one of the most important eye openers to the text is when the reader recognizes the Hebrew poetic style being used by the psalmist. For instance if you look at the first three verses the Psalmist is using what is called Hebrew parallelism. So in the first verse the writer states that a particular person is blessed. The first stanza then states it is those who are "blameless", while the second stanza still dealing with the same person and even same attribute states it in another form, in this case "who walk in the Law of the LORD."

This is significant because of what the writer says in verse two using the same parallelism. In verse two we see that those who keep God's testimonies are those who are blessed. But notice with me how the writer defines those who "keep His testimonies". Who is the one who keeps God's testimonies? It is the one who is seeking God with his whole heart! Do you see the irony? Rules and laws are the very same thing that act as a stumbling block to some leading to legalism. And yet, it is the rules and laws that act as a means by which some are able to pursue and love the LORD with their whole heart!

It is with this foundation set that I would like to point out some obvious truths from what we have now established.

FIRST, rules and laws are not bad! What I mean is, we typically look at rules and laws as the problem to the dilemma at hand. But if rules and laws can act as a form of worship for one then the source of the problem cannot be the law! Indeed this is even what Paul states in Romans 7. The LAW (as all laws do) is to act as a pointer to the problem and to the solution. In other words rules and laws function in twofold. This leads us to the next point.

SECOND, the problem is OUR heart or indwelling sin. The "or" is dependent upon whether the individual is regenerate or not. But in either case the real problem to the legalism and liberalism is us! If the keeping of the law is a reflection of our heart, which is what verse two of this Psalm says, then this confirms my argument that the problem is us. This is further proved when we look upon verses 5-6.

The writer is broken and zealous to keep the laws of God, so that, he not be put to shame! What does the writer mean? I think the reason is clear in light of the second point. If keeping the law is a reflection of my heart towards God, then the reverse of it is true. In other words, when the writer does not keep the laws of God it reflects His lack of love in His heart towards God. The writer recognizes two things! First, the laws represent the giver of them. So how we treat the laws is how we are treating the LORD in our hearts. Second, because the true problem is us not the law it is he or "I" who is the one being put to shame and not the law!

THIRD, the law should NOT be removed! Because the function of the law is to point to the problem and to the solution. In other words, the law forever serves us in while we seek to keep the law we find we fail (the first pointer) and that we need One who has kept the law (the second pointer).

But you may say to me, "Stephen, you are making a major hermeneutical mistake because this book is written in the Old Testament, when the people of God were under a different Covenant AND under the Law. And Paul says, we are no longer under the Law but dead to it!"

This is a reasonable response. In fact, it is a situation that needs to be dealt with, so I am glad you asked ;-)! I will deal with this dilemma now.

I would like to state that though this is a legitimate question, it should be noted that if this response is right it would only disprove the third point made and half the second. In other words, if this statement is true it would not change the fact that the Law is not bad or that the real problem is us. It would only change our relation to the law. So it is only with this aspect I will deal with in my response.

Is this same relationship to the Law taught anew in the New Testament under the New Covenant of which we who are in Christ are under? "Yes" AND "No"! I will deal with the "no" first.

The New Testament never states that we are to keep the ceremonial laws of the Old. In fact, some of the books go so far as to exclude them, such as, Hebrews, Galatians, Acts, etc. So when we speak of the law we are not dealing with the sacrifices and cleanliness of the law, or the Ceremonial Law.

However, the principles of the laws in the Old should be continued over into the New. This is the pattern that we see continually throughout the whole New Testament, concerning this I do not have the time to refer to all of them.

But I will show in a brief sense what I mean by this. The Law of the Old dealt with, for the most part, outward conformity to God. So what happened is the people of God honored Him with their mouths (outward) but their hearts (inward) were far from Him. When Jesus comes upon the seen He exposes this. For a clear example of this go to Matthew 5-7. Jesus teaches that it is the principles of the Law that should be kept, because they deal with the heart. Let me give you an example of what I mean.

Lets say you are counseling a person who has committed murder. In this case the Law of God has been broken. But now that it has been broken, how do we deal with this person. Do we say, "the Bible clearly says 'thou shalt not murder' and you have so now you must be punished." To do so would not be dealing with it in its fullness. I say so because you have only dealt with the outward problem and not the heart of it. The person is not just a murderer with his hands, but he is a murderer in His heart! So we should deal with the principle of the law and the heart of the problem, that is, the heart of the man. Point the man to the problem, namely, his heart. And point him to the solution, namely, Jesus who fulfilled the Law.

In the first case, the person was dealt with like a legalist. If the person simply let the murderer off the hook that would be liberalism. This is more often than not our sin, only we do this with so-called "smaller sins". But if we deal with the person from the heart then we deal with it as Jesus would have. (see Matthew 5:17-26)

Secondly, we see in the New Testament that the Apostle John deals with our relation to the law in a similar manner as we have been speaking of in I John 5:2-3 which says,

"By this we know that we love the children of God, when we love God and obey His commandments. For this is the love of God, that we keep His commandments. AND His commandments are not burdensome." (Capitalization added for emphasis)

Did you see the parallelism between Psalm 119, Matthew 5-7, and now I John 5? John states that this is HOW we can KNOW we love God! Not that we JUST keep His commandments but that they are not burdensome! In other words, doing the law of God is the delight of those who love Him, of those who are His children!

If keeping the Law of God is a burden to you, then you love not God! That is what John is saying! But Stephen how can I be free from this hatred against God and His Law! How can I be set free?! How can I be saved?! Hear what Jesus has to say to you!

"Come to me, all who labor and are heavy laden, and I will give you rest. Take my yoke upon you, and learn from me, for I am gentle and lowly in heart, and you will find rest for your souls. For my yoke is easy, and my burden is light."
-"Jesus the Messiah" who takes away the sins of the World in Matthew 11:28-30

This is how Jesus saves us. Because the problem is us, our hearts, He gives us new ones and seals us with His Spirit so that we are freed from our hatred against the Law and Him, and are given a real and genuine love for Him and His revealed will for our lives with this "new heart" (See Jeremiah 31:31-34; Ezekiel 36:22-27). Because the problem is us, we can't solve the problem, because we have dug ourselves in a hole we cannot dig ourselves out of. And if we do not call upon the name of the LORD, who is Jesus, to save us; then we will continue to dig our own graves and make our bed in the Lake of Fire.

Look to Jesus who is the spotless and sinless lamb who fulfilled the Law of God, He is the blessed One. For He bore our sins on the cross for us! He suffered the wrath for the sins of His people! And He promises full forgiveness and eternal life to ALL those who turn away from their sins and to Him! For all find themselves recipients of all the blessings of God, in Him! Believe on the LORD Jesus Christ and you shall be saved!

Together 4 the Gospel Conference

Midway through the month of April I was blessed with the Birthday gift of going to a conference in Louisville, KY. This conference's purpose was to further equip men for the ministry (specifically as it relates to the GOSPEL). There speakers consisted of Mark Dever, Albert Mohler, C.J. Mahaney, Ligon Duncan, John MacArthur, John Piper, R.C. Sproul, and Thabiti Anyabwile.

Besides hearing world class teaching and preaching, the attendees also got to watch these speakers in a panel discussion on numerous occasions throughout the conference. But I must say that one of the most awesome things that took place in this conference was the generosity displayed through the publishing companies there. Upon arriving at each session all the conference attendees found a stack of free book on their chair. At the end of the conference I had received a grand total of 22 FREE books, which was a value of nearly $400. This is amazing when the conference only cost me $99.

Anyways, I wanted these men to administer to you as they have me, as is their desire as well. That is why they have offered the sermons from the conference to anyone for FREE! You can listen to anyone of these sermons by clicking on this link.

A sermon that has changed me forever

The following is an amazing sermon to guard those in the ministry from a man centered and encourage those to strive continuously for a God-centered ministry. click here to get the sermon. Blessings!!!!

-Stephen