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[0:00] So, I certainly see wisdom on the part of the framers of the 1689 Baptist Confession.! In the 19th chapter on the law of God, they speak of God's moral law in paragraph 2, and then in paragraphs 3 and 4 they deal with both the ceremonial and judicial law, and in both cases they teach that those aspects of the law have either been fulfilled or essentially nullified.

[0:29] The ceremonial law was fulfilled in Christ, and the judicial law ceased to be binding after old covenant Israel ceased to exist. But after all of this talk about the law being no longer binding on Christians, we might mistakenly draw the conclusion that the moral law is no longer binding on Christians. And this is where I see wisdom on the part of the framers, because in paragraph 5, they return to the moral law to stress the fact that it is binding. So, let me read this paragraph for you.

[1:05] The moral law forever requires obedience of everyone, both those who are justified as well as others. This obligation arises not only because of its content, but also because of the authority of God the Creator who gave it. Nor does Christ in any way dissolve this obligation in the gospel.

[1:28] Instead, He greatly strengthens it. Now, I don't know of anyone who would come right out and say that God's moral law is no longer binding. However, there are many, and I'm talking about Christians here, who indirectly teach or practically live as though the moral law is not binding. And there are many versions of this. On the progressive side of so-called Christianity, we might hear someone attempt to justify sinful behavior by saying something like, God just wants me to be happy.

[2:08] I've heard this from married people attempting to excuse their decision to divorce their spouse and pursue a romantic relationship with someone else. I've heard it used by professing Christians who fell into the sin of homosexuality. And when they really want to give their behavior an air of biblical authority, they might even cite the Apostle Paul who said, we are not under the law, but under grace.

[2:38] We can find a similar kind of thinking among even conservative Christian circles. So let's say someone makes a profession of faith and then wanders away from the church and away from Christ. And then one day, maybe they're admitting their guilt to a friend and the friend, thinking he's being helpful, doesn't encourage this person to repent, but instead urges him to focus on forgiveness.

[3:11] Maybe he says something like, don't dwell on your sin. That's legalism. Just remember that you're forgiven. And I could give you several more examples, but all of it really amounts to the same thing. This is what we call antinomianism, which is a big word that simply means against the law. It is this sad and destructive idea that God's law doesn't ultimately matter.

[3:40] Now, before we scoff at the idea that someone would ever believe that the law doesn't matter or assume that it belongs exclusively to, you know, this idea belongs exclusively to people out there somewhere, this kind of thinking does creep into otherwise sound reformed churches.

[4:01] In fact, I originally come from one of them. In the early 20th century, my former denomination held to the 1689 Baptist Confession of Faith, the same as us, but over the course of that century, they fell into a form of antinomianism.

[4:18] They believe strongly that we are saved by the sovereign grace of God, and if we are saved by grace, and if no one can be cast out, as the Bible teaches, then obedience to the moral law doesn't ultimately matter.

[4:33] Sure, they would say the law is still good, and they would say that we should obey it, but if we don't, nothing ultimately changes. For them, sanctification is a bonus. It's not necessary or inevitable.

[4:52] You see, as I talked about at the very beginning of this study, we have to be very careful because the New Testament contains statements that can seem contradictory when taken out of context.

[5:05] For example, in Romans 6.14, Paul says that Christians are not under the law, but under grace. In Romans 3.28, he says that a person is justified by faith apart from works of the law.

[5:21] And yet, the same apostle commands Christians not to commit adultery, to murder, to steal, to covet, to covet, and that's in Romans chapter 13, so in the same letter.

[5:33] He continues to describe God's law as holy and good in that letter. So, how do we reconcile these statements? If we are no longer under the law, why does Paul insist that Christians must obey it?

[5:47] Well, I believe the answer begins with making a clear distinction between the law as a means of obtaining righteousness before God and the law as the revelation of the righteousness that God requires.

[6:09] Now, maybe hearing that, you think, what's the difference? Well, I hope to make this clear as we continue. First of all, let's turn to Matthew chapter 5. In Matthew 5, Jesus is delivering His Sermon on the Mount.

[6:29] And I want to begin reading at verse 17. Here's what He says. Do not think that I have come to abolish the law or the prophets.

[6:42] I have not come to abolish them but to fulfill them. For truly I say to you, until heaven and earth pass away, not an iota, not a dot will pass from the law until all is accomplished.

[6:57] Therefore, whoever relaxes one of the least of these commandments and teaches others to do the same will be called least in the kingdom of heaven. But whoever does them and teaches them will be called great in the kingdom of heaven.

[7:11] For I tell you, unless your righteousness exceeds that of the scribes and Pharisees, you will never enter the kingdom of heaven. So evidently, Jesus is correcting some potential misunderstandings among the people at the time.

[7:28] You'll notice how He begins by saying, do not think as though He expects some people are going to be prone to think this way. And that's not too surprising because over and over again throughout the Gospels, we see Jesus coming into conflict with the spiritual leaders of the people, namely the Pharisees.

[7:49] And most of those conflicts were over the Pharisees' misunderstanding of God's law. Just to give you one example, in Matthew 15, Jesus confronts their extra-biblical traditions, and He does so very directly, asking them, why do you break the commandment of God for the sake of your tradition?

[8:12] And that's a very revealing question. In the minds of the Pharisees, and in the minds of most people, the Pharisees held God's law in high regard.

[8:24] No one was more careful to follow God's law than the Pharisees, right? And yet, Jesus, He does not accuse them of being too concerned about God's law. It's actually the opposite of that.

[8:37] He accuses them of violating God's law in order to preserve their own traditions. So here in Matthew 5, Jesus makes it clear to everyone that He has not come to abolish the law or the prophets.

[8:52] No, He has come to fulfill them. However, in this case, we need to recognize that Jesus is referring not just to the law, but to the law and the prophets, which is really an expression encompassing the entirety of Old Testament scriptures.

[9:08] So He's not speaking exclusively about the Ten Commandments. Yes, as we've discussed, He fulfilled the ceremonial aspects of the law, but He also fulfilled the prophecies that spoke of Him.

[9:21] And there's a sense in which He fulfilled God's moral law, those righteous demands of God, through His perfect obedience. That's also true.

[9:33] Romans 5, 19 says, For as by the one man's disobedience, the many were made sinners, so by the one man's obedience, the many will be made righteous. So, all of these things belong to this fulfillment of the law and the prophets that Christ speaks of here, but He's particularly concerned with something else.

[9:54] righteousness, and that is the true meaning and the real demands of righteousness. How do we know that? Well, we know because what He says next, after the passage I've read, He goes on to explain how God's commandments, namely the Ten Commandments, reach beyond outward behavior and even into our thoughts and our desires and our motives.

[10:22] but before we get there, look again at verse 18. For truly I say to you, until heaven and earth pass away, not an iota, not a dot, not a jot, not a tittle, will pass from the law until all is accomplished.

[10:38] So, an iota and a dot are extremely small elements of the written language. Think of a small period or a punctuation mark. So, everything written in the Old Testament will be accomplished.

[10:51] Not even the smallest part of it will fail. And more than that, all of it will find its fulfillment in Jesus Christ. So, let me stop here and ask, what is Jesus not teaching here?

[11:09] And I think this is worth addressing because of the various ways I've heard this passage interpreted or misinterpreted, perhaps. Well, first of all, Jesus is not teaching the the perfect preservation of a perfect line of Bible manuscripts throughout all time.

[11:25] Those who hold a King James only or sometimes a textus, receptus position will use this passage to teach the perfect preservation of Bible manuscripts. Well, even if you could stretch it to mean the perfect preservation of the Old Testament, Jesus says nothing here of the New Testament, but in context, I think it's rather clear that Jesus is not speaking about the preservation of written Bible manuscripts.

[11:55] Second, Jesus is not teaching that every Old Testament command should be practiced precisely the same way today. Clearly, something changes here.

[12:09] On the one hand, he does say that he did not come to abolish the law, but on the other hand, he says he came to fulfill that law. Well, what does that mean? Well, consider what Paul writes in 1 Corinthians 7.19.

[12:25] He says, For neither circumcision counts for anything, nor uncircumcision, but keeping the commandments of God.

[12:37] So, according to Paul, the Old Testament commands have changed. Circumcision is no longer required of Christians. Christians. And at the same time, notice what he says in the latter part of that statement, what does matter is keeping God's commands.

[12:56] And that leads us to the third thing Jesus is not teaching here. He is not teaching that the moral law has been fulfilled so that Christians are no longer obligated to obey it.

[13:08] What does he say here? therefore, whoever relaxes one of the least of these commandments and teaches others to do the same will be called least in the kingdom of heaven.

[13:19] But whoever does them and teaches them will be called great in the kingdom of heaven. So, even the Old Testament has something to say to Christians today.

[13:31] It has something to be taught and it has something to obey. And then comes verse 20. Jesus says, for I tell you, unless your righteousness exceeds that of the scribes and Pharisees, you will never enter the kingdom of heaven.

[13:49] Now, keep in mind that when Jesus or Jesus' first century Jewish audience would have heard this, they would have immediately thought, how can anyone possibly be more righteous than the scribes and Pharisees?

[14:05] The scribes, they carefully studied and interpreted scripture. The Pharisees were known for their religious discipline. How could anyone possibly surpass their righteousness?

[14:20] Well, let's continue reading here. Let's see where Jesus goes with this. Verse 21. You have heard that it was said to those of old, you shall not murder and whoever murders will be liable to judgment.

[14:33] judgment. But I say to you that everyone who is angry with his brother will be liable to judgment. Whoever insults his brother will be liable to the council and whoever says, you fool, will be liable to the hell of fire.

[14:50] So if you are offering your gift at the altar and there remember that your brother has something against you, leave your gift there before the altar and go. first be reconciled to your brother and then come and offer your gift.

[15:04] Come to terms quickly with your accuser while you are going with him to court lest your accuser hand you over to the judge and the judge to the guard and you be put in prison. Truly I say to you, you will never get out until you have paid the last penny.

[15:20] So the first thing Jesus does is take us back to the Ten Commandments. You shall not murder. But then he takes this moral command, this moral obligation a bit deeper.

[15:34] He says, a person who has never murdered anyone may nevertheless harbor hatred toward his brother. He may speak about another person with deliberate contempt or perhaps cultivate resentment that grows stronger with each passing day.

[15:50] And he says that these attitudes are not morally harmless simply because no one has been physically injured. And then he goes even further. Suppose you are bringing your gift to the altar and you remember that your brother has something against you.

[16:07] There's a rift between you. Jesus tells us to go and seek reconciliation. And notice this progression. First, he forbids murder.

[16:17] murder. Then he exposes the anger and contempt from which murder could arise. And then he goes even further.

[16:28] He directs our minds toward the positive duty of seeking peace and reconciliation. So what is he doing here? Is he adding to God's law? No, he's expounding upon God's law.

[16:42] He's showing us the true meaning of God's law. We might say that he's explaining the spirit of the law. Not just the letter of the law. But the spirit of the law. And he goes on to do this as well with other commandments.

[16:56] So when he says your righteousness must exceed that of the scribes and Pharisees, well he's essentially calling the scribes and Pharisees hypocrites. A person may appear to be obedient to the law while remaining inwardly proud or bitter or lustful or selfish.

[17:18] Jesus teaches that true righteousness includes both conduct and character. Both outward obedience and those inward motivations.

[17:28] Not to mention love. Now with that in mind let's step back and ask what does Jesus say about the moral law here?

[17:38] What is he really saying? When we take everything he says in context is he suggesting God's moral commands have become irrelevant? No.

[17:49] It's actually far from it. He is insisting upon their authority over us and he reveals the depth of the obedience they really require. He's not loosening the standard of righteousness here.

[18:03] Not at all. If anything he's making it more difficult for us to hide behind the outward appearances of obedience. In other words he exposes how thoroughly God's moral demands concern the whole person.

[18:19] Now someone might be tempted to think that this is Jesus. He's speaking before his death and resurrection. So maybe things have changed since then. Okay. Well let's turn over to Romans chapter 13.

[18:33] And let's see what the apostle Paul has to say about it. Now just as a reminder throughout this letter Paul has explained that all have sinned and justification comes through faith in Jesus Christ apart from works of the law.

[18:55] And then he described the believers union with Christ our freedom from condemnation and our life in the spirit. Then in Romans 12 he begins applying those truths to the Christian life.

[19:07] He appeals to believers by the mercy of God to present themselves as living sacrifices. Holy and acceptable to God. So he makes it very clear that we do not obtain God's mercy by obeying him.

[19:26] Instead he appeals to believers on the basis of the mercy they have already received. In other words their obedience is a response to God's grace not some kind of merit for God's grace.

[19:40] And then beginning in Romans 12 9 he describes what genuine love looks like. It abhors evil and holds fast to what is good.

[19:52] It shows brotherly affection, contributes to the needs of others, blesses persecutors, and refuses personal vengeance. Then in Romans 13 starting at verse 8 here's what he says.

[20:08] Oh no one anything except to love each other for the one who loves has fulfilled the law. For the commandments you shall not commit adultery, you shall not murder, you shall not steal, you shall not covet, and any other commandment are summed up in this word, you shall love your neighbor as yourself.

[20:30] Love does no wrong to a neighbor, therefore love is the fulfilling of the law. So here we have one of Christ's apostles writing to presumably justified believers after the Lord's death and resurrection, and he's telling them that there is a debt they still owe.

[20:54] In fact, they will always owe this debt, and what is that debt? It is to love one another. And notice how quickly Paul runs right back to the Decalogue and cites several of the Ten Commandments.

[21:10] If you want to know what it looks like to love your neighbor, look no further than the Ten Commandments, God's moral law. So the same apostle who taught justification by faith apart from works of the law, the same apostle who said there is now no condemnation for those in Christ, is the same apostle who teaches Christians to keep the Ten Commandments.

[21:38] And much like Jesus, Paul argues that the commandments require not merely avoiding negative action, like murder or theft, but also doing positive action.

[21:51] Look back at Romans 12, verses 9 through 21. Paul describes love as patient and generous and hospitable, humble, sympathetic, peaceable.

[22:02] So both Jesus and Paul expect us not only to avoid murdering another person or stealing from another person and so on, but also going out of our way to care about our neighbor's welfare or help someone when there's a need or seek reconciliation when a relationship has been damaged.

[22:23] So Paul even retains Jesus' deeper understanding of what it means to keep God's moral law than perhaps many of the Jews recognized at the time.

[22:35] In other words, the gospel does not eliminate the Christian's obligation to keep the moral law, not in the least. Yes, we could rationalize our antinomianism by taking a handful of verses out of context, but the whole of Scripture, and specifically the New Testament, does not support that doctrine.

[22:59] And there's one very simple, clear reason that the moral law continues to be binding, and that is because the lawgiver from whom the moral law emanates and reflects does not change.

[23:21] Now let me show you this in James chapter 2. So if you want to turn over there, you're welcome to. James chapter 2, James is addressing a very practical problem within the church where wealthy visitors were receiving special attention while poor visitors were treated dishonorably.

[23:40] And James condemns this kind of partiality because it reveals that the church is judging people according to outward appearances rather than loving them as God commands.

[23:52] So here's what he says, starting at verse 8. If you really fulfill the royal law according to the Scripture, you shall love your neighbor as yourself, you are doing well.

[24:05] But if you show partiality, you are committing sin and are convicted by the law as transgressors. For whoever keeps the whole law but fails in one point has become guilty of all of it.

[24:18] For he who said, do not commit adultery, also said, do not murder. If you do not commit adultery but do murder, you have become a transgressor of the law.

[24:32] So here we have yet another author of the New Testament appealing to the Ten Commandments, God's moral law. Now at first glance, it may seem that James is arguing that every sin is exactly the same.

[24:47] They all have equal consequences. But there's actually another issue here. And that is the unity of God's law and the authority behind it.

[25:00] Look carefully at verse 11. James doesn't merely appeal to the commandments themselves. He says, he who said the one commandment also said the other commandment.

[25:17] The reason the law carries any weight at all is because of the one who gave the law. God is the lawgiver.

[25:29] And all of his commandments possess authority because they come from him. And if the lawgiver does not change and his will for us does not change, then it stands to reason that our moral obligations to obey that law do not change.

[25:49] In fact, that's essentially what James says in verse 12. So speak and so act as those who are to be judged under the law of liberty. And I love how James refers to the moral law as the law of liberty.

[26:05] Most would not associate laws with freedom. But following God's moral law truly is freedom. This is how we were made to live by our creator, right?

[26:16] This is how we thrive. You might think of someone who has spent years enslaved to dishonesty, constantly lying, trying to protect himself or to conceal his failures or manipulate others.

[26:30] Now he may believe that lying gives him freedom because it allows him to escape the possible uncomfortable consequences of his lies. But in reality, he has become trapped by his own deception.

[26:45] He has to remember all of the lies that he has told people. He has to invent new lies, new explanations. He has to live in constant fear of being found out.

[26:57] So truthfulness would not be bondage for that man. It would be a form of freedom. Freedom from the sin that currently controls him. Now James, writing to believers, said we should speak and act as those who are to be judged by this law.

[27:18] And this raises a fundamental question. If everyone must obey God's moral law, how are Christians different from unbelievers? What does our justification by faith actually change?

[27:34] Well for that, we're going to turn again. I want to go back to Romans, this time chapter 3. It's in Romans 3 that Paul, in verse 28, says that a person is justified by faith apart from works of the law.

[27:52] But I want to consider that statement in context because Paul is making a crucial distinction between what God's law requires and what the gospel provides.

[28:06] So in verse 19, Paul says that the law speaks so that every mouth may be stopped and the whole world may be held accountable to God. And then he says, for by works of the law, no human being will be justified in God's sight, since through the law comes knowledge of sin.

[28:25] Now, here we see the problem. And it's not that there's something wrong with God's law. Even here in this epistle, in Romans 7, 12, Paul explicitly says that the law is holy and good and righteous.

[28:43] The problem is not the law. The problem is with us. The problem is that the law reveals what our holy God requires but we've all failed to obey.

[28:57] We've all failed to keep it. Because we've broken God's law, that same law exposes our guilt. Paul says that it stops every mouth. There's absolutely nothing we can say in our defense.

[29:09] We cannot stand before God and argue that we've earned His acceptance through keeping the law or through our obedience because we have all fallen short.

[29:20] But then in verse 21, he turns to the good news of the gospel. And here's what he says. But now, the righteousness of God has been manifested apart from the law.

[29:35] Although the law and the prophets bear witness to it, the righteousness of God through faith in Jesus Christ for all who believe. For there is no distinction for all have sinned and fall short of the glory of God and are justified by His grace as a gift through the redemption that is in Christ Jesus.

[29:57] So the law certainly requires righteousness from us. But we cannot produce the righteousness necessary to justify ourselves before God.

[30:09] Yet, through Jesus Christ, God provides the righteousness we lack. faith. As Paul says in Philippians 3, 9, his desire is to be found in Christ.

[30:22] He says, not having a righteousness of my own that comes from works of the law, but that which comes through faith in Christ. So the only way for us to be justified, to be declared not guilty by God the judge is for our standing to rest upon Christ and His perfect obedience, His perfect righteousness, not our personal record of obedience.

[30:55] Now, here's what's crucial in this. You'll notice that even though God has provided a way of salvation, He does not lower His moral standards, not in the least.

[31:06] He does not decide that sin no longer matters. He does not simply ignore the fact that we have all broken His law. His law still stands just as it always has.

[31:19] Verse 25, God put forward Christ 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.

[31:33] 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.

[31:45] So God doesn't forgive sinners by pretending their sins weren't evil or by lessening His standards. Instead, He still holds us accountable to the law, but the good news of the gospel is that He allows His Son to suffer our punishment and satisfy those terms of justice.

[32:08] And that's why Paul can say though He is the justifier of the one who has faith in Jesus, He also remains just. Now, having said that, let's think about what this means regarding our relationship to the moral law.

[32:28] Obviously, justification changes our standing before God, but it does not change God's standard of righteousness. Even in the gospel, God's law is still enforced.

[32:43] what this means is that even though we may be justified, what was sinful before our justification remains sinful after our justification.

[32:55] what changes is that the believer is no longer condemned by his transgressions because Christ has borne his condemnation. Right? Now, here's the challenge for many people.

[33:08] Hearing all of this, it would be very easy to draw the wrong conclusion. We might think that if Christ has borne the curse of the law and if our justification rests entirely upon his righteousness rather than our obedience, then why do we need to worry about obedience at all?

[33:31] If our sins are forgiven, why not live as we please? In fact, I've heard this argued before. Wouldn't that magnify God's grace all the more?

[33:43] The more we sin, the more grace God shows us, right? Well, in Romans 6, Paul anticipates that very argument. And in verses 1 and 2, here's what he says.

[33:57] What shall we say then? Are we to continue in sin that grace may abound? By no means. How can we who died to sin still live in it?

[34:13] Now, a lesser man than Paul might have been tempted to retreat from the doctrine of justification he has just so clearly taught. he might be tempted to say, well, maybe I overstated the extent of God's grace.

[34:29] But he doesn't do that. Instead, he points to another vital aspect of our salvation, and that is our union with Jesus Christ. He goes on to write, we were buried, therefore, with him by baptism into death in order that just as Christ was raised from the dead by the glory of the Father, we too might walk in newness of life.

[34:57] You see, the antinomian has to keep reading. When God saves us, he does not stop at declaring us not guilty. We are also united to Christ in his death and in his resurrection, and that union changes our relationship to sin itself.

[35:17] We're no longer the same people we once were. We've died to sin in Christ, and we've been raised with him to walk in newness of life, to have a new life.

[35:31] Now, we could continue reading in this chapter, but for the sake of time, let me skip down to verse 14. I'm still in Romans chapter 6. Verse 14 is a verse that the antinomian loves to quote, at least in part.

[35:46] Paul says, what then? Are we to sin because we are not under the law but under grace? In other words, we cannot be condemned by the law because Christ was condemned on our behalf, but does that give us freedom to sin?

[36:01] And Paul's answer is, the most emphatic no he could reach for, by no means. Or as the old King James says, God forbid. Now, as Paul continues, he explains that we are no longer slaves of sin, but we've actually become slaves of righteousness.

[36:24] In verses 17 and 18, he says, but thanks be to God that you who were once slaves of sin have become obedient from the heart to the standard of teaching to which you were committed and having been set free from sin, have become slaves of righteousness.

[36:43] righteousness. So, to be very clear, Paul describes the Christian's freedom as freedom from sin, not freedom to sin.

[36:58] He would have never used such language. And the second thing to notice here is that Paul says believers have become obedient from the heart. So, Christians who are following the moral law are not like the Pharisees who are trying to make a good show for other people.

[37:17] They are sincere. When the Lord saved them, He actually reoriented their hearts, their minds, and their will toward righteousness. In Romans 8, Paul writes, for God has done what the law, weakened by the flesh, could not do.

[37:35] By sending His own Son in the likeness of sinful flesh and for sin, He condemned sin in the flesh. In order that the righteous requirement of the law might be fulfilled in us who walk not according to the flesh, but according to the Spirit.

[37:55] And this is precisely what God promised to do long ago. For instance, through the prophet Ezekiel, he said, I will give you a new heart, and a new spirit will I put within you, and I will remove the heart of stone from your flesh, and give you a heart of flesh, and I will put my spirit within you, and cause you, listen to this part, and cause you to walk in my statutes, and be careful to obey my rules.

[38:28] Aha! So, when the antinomian argues that we are not under law, but under grace, as though God no longer holds us accountable to His moral law, or seems to care, we see the opposite is true.

[38:44] The very opposite. God continues to care so much about our obedience to the moral law that He required the death of His Son to forgive us for breaking that law.

[38:56] Let's start there. And then He went even as far as to change us from the inside so that we could and would be willing to keep His law.

[39:10] And this really helps us understand what the confession means when at the end of the paragraph it says, nor does Christ in any way dissolve this obligation, that is the obligation to keep the moral law in the gospel, instead He greatly strengthens it.

[39:30] Now this happens in a couple of ways. We've seen one of those ways in Matthew 5, didn't we? When Jesus explains the fullness of the moral law. But the other is that, well it's in what He actually does in redemption.

[39:48] God the Father holds Christ accountable for our breaking of the law. He doesn't simply forgive without any penalties. And then He gives us His Spirit so that we can finally walk according to His commands.

[40:04] forgiveness. So even after He forgives, His purpose doesn't stop there. More than forgiveness, He wants to change us. He wants to bring us back into line with His moral will as expressed in the Ten Commandments.

[40:22] In 1 Corinthians 6, Paul reminds us that our bodies are temples of the Holy Spirit. And then he says, you are not your own for you were bought with a price.

[40:33] So glorify God in your body. How do we glorify God? Well, we glorify Him by keeping His commandments. But you'll notice how Paul expresses a connection between our redemption and our obedience.

[40:49] Because Christ has purchased us through His blood, we belong to Him, and because we belong to Him, we are obligated to glorify Him in our bodies.

[41:04] And I think Paul brings this together rather well in Titus chapter 2. Listen to what he writes starting at verse 11. For the grace of God has appeared, bringing salvation for all people, training us to renounce ungodliness and worldly passions, and to live self-controlled, upright, and godly lives in the present age, waiting for our blessed hope, the appearing of the glory of our great God and Savior Jesus Christ, who gave Himself for us to redeem us from all lawlessness, and to purify for Himself a people for His own possession who are zealous for good works.

[41:46] Well, that pretty well sums it up. The grace of God that brings salvation also trains us to renounce ungodliness. Christ, who gave Himself for us to redeem us, well, redeem us from what?

[42:03] All lawlessness. He redeemed us to purify for Himself of people who are zealous for good works. So He didn't merely save us from hell.

[42:16] He saved us from sin. and He saved us, we might say, to keep God's moral law, or if you prefer, to be conformed to the image of Jesus Christ who kept the law perfectly.

[42:34] So one thing we see is that our temptation to think in terms of law, Old Testament, grace, New Testament, as though there is this perfect separation between the two and in the gospel and in the New Testament and in grace we leave the law completely behind, it's actually the opposite of that in many respects.

[42:57] It is not that the law is abandoned, but that God's moral law is greatly strengthened, it's elevated. Look what the breaking of that law did to Christ.

[43:12] And then consider the reason God has saved us. Again, not merely to save us from hell, but to save us from sin and to save us so that we could finally, finally be a people who obey His moral law.

[43:32] Let's pray. Lord, thank you for being our help during this Sunday school hour. Help us now to take what we've seen in your word and to meditate on it.

[43:44] Again, I'll ask that you would help us to see more clearly what the Bible has to say about your law and all of the things that we should learn from it for our growth and ultimately for your glory.

[43:57]  In Jesus' name, amen. Amen.