Sin, the Gospel, and the Law - 260209

Hello, I'm Lazio Crescentini. Welcome to Let God Speak. There are people who wish that there were no speed limits on our roads. For them, people should be able to have the freedom to drive as fast as they feel they can safely drive. Imagine how chaotic, frightening, and dangerous driving on the roads would be if that was allowed. Just like there is a need for road traffic rules to keep order, safety, and the joy of driving, God has laws that govern his creation. Sadly, all of us have broken God's rules and face a penalty. Stay with us as we discuss God's laws and the good news of who can restore our relationship with God. Joining me on the panel today, we have Aaron Brown and Kasey Vokurka. Welcome to you both. SPEAKER B 00:01:25 - 00:01:26 Thank you. SPEAKER A 00:01:26 - 00:01:42 No worries. Let's start with a prayer. I invite you to pray. Our Father who is in heaven, thank you that we can come together and we can open your word. As we study and look at your law, we ask that you guide us in this study. It's my prayer in Jesus' name. Amen. SPEAKER C 00:01:42 - 00:01:42 Amen. SPEAKER A 00:01:44 - 00:03:00 For most people who don't believe in God and don't adhere to the moral standards of religion, There is no such thing as sin. They speak of mistakes, crimes, ethical or social misbehaviors, but not of sins. From their perspective, a discussion of sin is irrelevant. It's perceived as an attack on their liberties. In Clifford Goldstein's masterpiece book, 1844 Made Simple, he writes that we should consider sin as being like atomic waste. If that atomic waste is in our system, it will slowly and silently kill us. We do all we can to prevent atomic waste getting into our system. For most Christians, sin has a straightforward definition. I invite you to look at 1 John 3:4. And John says here, whoever commits sin also commits lawlessness, and sin is lawlessness. So Kaysie, isn't just a matter of breaking certain laws? SPEAKER B 00:03:01 - 00:04:29 Well, it's not quite that simple. It goes far deeper than that, and we can have a look at Romans 14, verse 23. 3, and it says, "But he who doubts is condemned if he eats, because he does not eat from faith. For whatever is not from faith is sin." Now, if you were to understand the story behind this text, you would realize that this is talking about situations where we have a choice to make, and it might be a little bit of a gray area. But basically what this is saying is we need to make a choice based on our convictions. We need to act according to our conscience. Even if some other people are making decisions that are different, we still need to act according to our conscience. So that applies in an even deeper area of our life, but then there's, um, there's other aspects as well. So let's have a look at James 4:17. James 4:17 says something very interesting. It says, therefore, to him who knows to do good and does not do it, to him it is sin. So there's another aspect, you know, even we can sin by doing nothing when an action is actually required or would be of good and benefit. And then there's other aspects you can look at in Matthew 5. Jesus talks all about how sin applies to our motives. You know, if we have the wrong motives, that's sin. So it, it's so, so deep, this aspect of sin. SPEAKER A 00:04:30 - 00:04:58 Yeah, thank you, Kaysie. And I totally agree, it's far more complex, right? Yeah, so Aaron, let's move to our next question. So do we make light of sin because society has become so comfortable with being viewed as fun and pleasure? Is sin breaking God's laws? Do we need to keep His law? Is that right? Or what is the problem? What's the problem with that? SPEAKER C 00:04:59 - 00:05:21 Ah, Lazio, if only it was that easy just to brush it off and not worry about it. But Paul actually has a lot to say about that in Romans 3:23. He says, "For all have sinned and all come short of the glory of God." Now that little word "all" means all of us, all-inclusive. You know, we have all fallen short of that standard. SPEAKER A 00:05:22 - 00:05:22 No exceptions, right? SPEAKER C 00:05:23 - 00:05:24 Yeah, no exceptions. SPEAKER B 00:05:24 - 00:05:25 None. SPEAKER C 00:05:25 - 00:06:04 And so now let's go to Romans 7:24-25, and he says there, "O wretched man that I am! Who shall deliver me from the body of this death? I thank God through Jesus Christ our Lord. So then with the mind I myself serve the law of God, but with the law—" sorry, "but with the flesh the law of sin." Now by ourselves, We are lost. Our only hope for life is to have a Savior. Praise God, we have that Savior in Jesus Christ. Amen! SPEAKER A 00:06:04 - 00:06:35 I agree 100% with that, and praise God for being our Savior, Aaron. That's so good. So, Kaysie, let's go back to chapter 3, and I want to look at Romans. I've got Romans 3:20 here. It says, Therefore, by the deeds of the law, no flesh will be justified in His sight. 'For by the law is the knowledge of sin.' So if we do not know about God's law, do we have an excuse then to, to sin? SPEAKER B 00:06:35 - 00:08:03 That's a very good question, because if you don't know about the law, many people probably don't even think sin is something that exists. And so it's a, yeah, it's a good question. We find a little idea about this in an earlier chapter in Romans, Romans chapter 1 and verse 18 to 20. It says, 'For the wrath The wrath of God is revealed from heaven against all ungodliness and unrighteousness of men, who suppress the truth in unrighteousness, because what may be known of God is manifest in them, for God has shown it to them. For since the creation of the world His invisible attributes are clearly seen, being understood by the things that are made, even His eternal power and Godhead, so that they are without excuse. and so basically I guess you can say we are still accountable because it's almost like inbuilt in us all is a sense of, some sense of what's right and wrong. Now there might be degrees of that depending on how much you know, but we are accountable and God has given evidence of His principles even in creation. And at the end of the day when God is looking at us He wants to see to see that we are responding to the good principles that are there and obeying them. So there's a sense of accountability, although God is just and fair in judging people according to their knowledge. SPEAKER A 00:08:03 - 00:08:50 Yeah, and it's so true. And it's like every one of us knows it's wrong to steal or murder. That's right. Exactly. Yeah, that's so true. We do. Yeah. No, thanks for that, Aaron. Let's look at how vital it is for us to know God and to know His Word. I want us to go look at Psalm. So Psalm 119, and we'll look at verse 93 and 94. It says, "I will never forget your precepts, for by them you have given me life. I am yours; save me, for I have sought your precepts." So what is the author trying to say here in Psalm that you know, it's given him life. What would you say? What does that mean? SPEAKER C 00:08:50 - 00:09:33 Yeah, well, it talks about the joy and the happiness that God's law brings to his life. You know, obviously if we're living contrary to God's law, we're going to live a life of issue with the law of the land and with sickness and death ultimately. So the man who takes the law of God as his counsel will have a blessed life. Now it also teaches us that His commandments, His ways, His statutes, testimonies, and judgments are God's divine revelation to us. Now the author is also saying that he will never forget God's laws or precepts. It is just like as if God is talking to him and giving him life. SPEAKER A 00:09:34 - 00:09:44 Okay, yeah, so God's precepts is giving him life. So Kaysie, how would you, how would How do you know what is the precepts? How does it give life? Like, how do we know, Doug? SPEAKER B 00:09:44 - 00:10:39 Yeah, well, the law, it helps us to see where we are out of harmony with the principles of life. So it's basically saying, if you want to live, this is how. This is how you can live and thrive. That's what the law is telling us. And so as we read the law, it exposes where we are out of harmony. And we can see that expressed in Galatians 3, 3, verse 24 and 25. It says, therefore the law was our tutor to bring us to Christ, that we might be justified by faith. But after faith has come, we are no longer under a tutor. So basically it's saying— it's revealing our need, it's revealing where we are not in line, and then it's basically helping us to see our true moral condition and how much we need a savior. And that way we can turn to Christ and receive his grace, and then we can learn to live in harmony with His law. SPEAKER A 00:10:40 - 00:10:58 Yeah, thank you so much, Kaysie. And I do like how James compares the law to a mirror. Yeah, hey, we're looking at mirror. So God's law give us life. Aaron, what would you say is the other side of— I can say the coin, right— if we choose not to know what God's precepts are? SPEAKER C 00:10:58 - 00:11:30 Yes, obviously we have the principle here that if we with God and follow His principles, that's where we find life. But if we make the choice, the free choice that God has given us to make, we can choose to go away from God, and ultimately that is a dead end. Yeah. Unfortunately. And we could read Isaiah 59:2. It says, "But your iniquities have separated between you and your God, and your sins have hid His face from you, that He will not hear." Yeah, and that's so true, right? SPEAKER A 00:11:30 - 00:11:53 It's like we have that free choice. It's our choice. Yeah, absolutely. Yeah, it's good. So, Kaysie, many people look at these laws negatively. They say, "Oh no, no, that's just a list of things you shouldn't do, right? It's— that takes the fun out of life," and all these things. So, is that the case? Is that a case where if we follow God's law that we'll have a miserable life? SPEAKER B 00:11:54 - 00:13:13 Well, the law is actually a transcript of God's character. It's an expression of the principles of His character. And in 1 John 4:8, it says that God is love. Yes. So if we were to have those principles in our life, we would experience a lot of love, which doesn't sound so negative, does it? Um, so everything that God does and requires is actually framed around that, those principles of love, and they're actually for our protection and happiness. And we can see an expression about that in John 10:10, where Jesus talks and here and says, the thief does not come except to He said, "The thief comes to steal and to kill and to destroy. I have come that they may have life." We mentioned that before. Yes. And that they may have it more abundantly. So this is— the principles will help us to have abundant life. And then a few chapters over in John 14:9, we can read something else here. It says, "Jesus said to him, 'Have I been with you so long, and yet you have not known me, Philip?'" He who has seen me has seen the Father. And so basically what Jesus is saying there is, you know, I've come to give you life and this is what God wants for you, because he is representing God. So it really gives us a picture of God's purpose. SPEAKER A 00:13:13 - 00:13:25 Yeah, so God is love. Yeah. And the good news is that Jesus is our Savior. Now Aaron, how are we then saved from our sins through Jesus? SPEAKER C 00:13:26 - 00:14:13 Well, we could go to John 3:15-17. Yeah. And it says, that whosoever believeth in him shall not perish but have eternal life. For God so loved the world that he gave his only begotten Son, that whosoever believes in him should not perish but have everlasting life. For God sent not his Son into the world to condemn the world but that the world through him might be saved. Now Jesus is God, yet also he became fully human and he lived a life without sinning. He then became our substitute and paid with his life the cost and the wages of our sins. We can also go to Ephesians 2:8. SPEAKER A 00:14:14 - 00:14:15 Yeah, that's a good verse as well. SPEAKER C 00:14:15 - 00:14:33 Yeah, and, um, And we have in Ephesians 2:8, it says, "For by grace are you saved through faith, and not of yourselves: it is the gift of God." So by faith in what Jesus has done for us, we are saved. SPEAKER A 00:14:34 - 00:14:45 Okay, so what then happens when we do break God's, God's law? Kaysie, what do we do of that sin, if I can say, like I said earlier, that atomic waste. What do we do with it? SPEAKER B 00:14:46 - 00:15:10 Yeah, well, it's, the Bible says very clearly what we can do when we sin. We immediately go to God, we pray, we confess to Jesus the sin, and we can receive forgiveness. And we can see this expressed in 1 John 1:9, which says, if we confess our sins, He is faithful and just to forgive us our sins and to cleanse us from all unrighteousness, which means help us to to live so we don't do those sins again. SPEAKER A 00:15:10 - 00:15:56 Yeah, isn't that wonderful? It's like all unrighteousness, like there's nothing that's been left out. That's so wonderful. Yeah. So Aaron, back to you. Most of people, most people know Samson in the Bible, right? That's strong, the strong guy. But there are things in his life that we can apply to our discussion here today. And he was set aside to do God's work. From birth to deliver Israel from that, from the 40 years of oppression by the Philistines. God's called him up. The angel came to his parents before he was conceived, and he was to be a Nazarite, correct? Right. So firstly, if you can explain, what is a Nazarite? SPEAKER C 00:15:57 - 00:17:10 Ah, a Nazarite in the Hebrew, it meant separated, devoted, consecrated, and dedicated. A Nazarite was a person who took a vow, a vow to God, and dedicated themselves for a specific period. Now, this in particular, he could either mean: A) did not cut his hair, or B) no product of the grape, and/or C) did not approach any dead bodies. To avoid defilement. Samson and John the Baptist were special. They were Nazarites for life. Now let's read Judges 13:6-7. And it says, Then the woman came and told her husband, saying, A man of God came unto me, and his countenance was like the countenance of an angel of God, very terrible: but I asked him not, when he was, neither told me his name. So he didn't ask where he was going or what his name was. But he said to me, behold, you shall— sorry, behold, thou shalt conceive and bear a son. And now drink no wine nor strong drink, neither eat any unclean thing. SPEAKER A 00:17:11 - 00:17:21 All right, thanks for providing that background for us, Kaysie. Would Samson have had any doubt that he was being called by God? SPEAKER B 00:17:22 - 00:18:06 No, well, we just read about how his life started, well, it started just before he was conceived with an angel coming, so he would have heard those stories for sure. His parents were faithful believers and they would have taught him diligently about God because they were very dedicated. Yeah, that's true. And of course he had his Nazarite vow, so his lifestyle reminded him constantly about his commitment to God. And as an adult, he, he was aware as well. We can read in Judges 13, verse 25, it says, "And the Spirit of the Lord began to move upon him," that is Samson, "at Mahaneh Dan between Zorah and Eshtaol." And so yeah, he, he was being led by the Holy Spirit in his, in his work. SPEAKER A 00:18:07 - 00:18:20 Yeah, so thanks, thanks for that, Kaysie. That does raise another question, like What was the failing of Samson? And Aaron, do you mind expanding a bit on that? What was his failing? SPEAKER C 00:18:22 - 00:19:04 Yes, Latio, he said he gave in to temptation, you see. Yeah, he presumptuously took God's blessing for granted, and he kept sin in his life, and he abused his Nazarite vows and was immoral. Now despite this, God still used Samson to deliver the Israelites from the Philistines, and he served as judge for 20 years. Finally, he allowed his hair to be cut because of his immorality, and that severed the last part of his vow to God. Now God left him and he lost his strength. We don't see a record of repentance. Until the end of his life. SPEAKER A 00:19:05 - 00:19:19 Thank you, thank you, Aaron, for sharing that. And there's so much we can learn from his mistakes, from his life. Kaysie, what is the lesson for us for today in Samson's story, right? It's got— we can apply it, surely. SPEAKER B 00:19:19 - 00:19:56 Oh, of course. Yeah, well, there's a parallel, you know. We are called as Christians to live a consecrated life and to be God's witnesses and to help other people escape from the sin's captivity. And so in that process of living that way, if we, if we sin, then as we read earlier, we need to confess and make it right and keep striving to live righteously, as opposed to presumptuously keep on sinning, which is what Samson did. So we have to remember that and keep focused and not take sin, like we need to take sin seriously. SPEAKER A 00:19:57 - 00:20:37 Absolutely, that's a really good point. It's like we cannot expect God to continually bless us if we presumptuously keep sinning. Yeah, that's it. Yeah, that's, that's so true. So the next question I want to look at, Aaron, what— we have an example of Jesus who lived among us He was not a sinner, and yet He was sinless, right? So He experienced trials, tribulations of everyday living. Aaron, how do you think He coped with the pressures of life then? SPEAKER C 00:20:39 - 00:21:37 Well, even though Jesus is God, He still struggled like we do, you know, with hunger, temptation, pain, tiredness. Now, to cope, he often went and prayed. He knew he needed to pray to regain his strength. Now, we can read in Luke 5:16, it says, "And he withdrew himself into the wilderness and prayed." Now, furthermore, he said in Luke 6:12, he says, "And it came to pass in those days that he went out into the mountain to pray." and continued all night in prayer to God. So obviously Jesus really valued and knew the importance of prayer in his life. So if he, if Jesus knew the importance of praying, and ultimately he's Jesus and we are— we follow that. Yeah, we need to follow his example, you know, and we should also pray to get strength, yeah, to face temptation and sin. Yeah, that's so very true. SPEAKER A 00:21:37 - 00:21:57 And how much more today do we need to pray? Yeah, absolutely. So Kaysie, has anyone ever called you a legalist? It's like, how do you answer someone coming calling you a legalist for following God's precepts? SPEAKER B 00:21:57 - 00:22:54 Good question. I haven't had someone call me that, but I have struggled before with a legalist mindset, and that means that basically I had the idea that I need to keep doing, I need to do the right thing in order to gain God's favor. Favor and feel approved of God. But that's not true, because in 1 John 4:19 it says that we love him because he first loved us. So he's the one who loved us first. We don't have to try to, to win his love. He's already loved us, right? And so when we have that in mind, then we can respond to that love. And that's where we read in John 14:15 where it says Jesus says, "If you love me, keep my commandments." And so naturally, in response to Jesus' love, we will want to keep his love. We want to please him and keep his law. We want to please him. And we can see the fairness and the goodness of his law. And yeah, we will want to honor him. SPEAKER A 00:22:55 - 00:23:33 Thank you, Kaysie, for sharing that. I would like us to look at Matthew 22:36-40. It says there, "Teacher, which is the great commandment in the Law?" Jesus said to him, "You shall love the Lord your God with all your heart, with all your soul, and with all your mind." This is the first and great commandment. And the second is like it, "You shall love your neighbor as yourself." On these two commandments hang all the Law and the Prophets. Aaron, is Jesus introducing two new laws to the Ten Commandments? What's happening? SPEAKER C 00:23:33 - 00:24:14 No, Lads, you know, as He said there, He said, "These laws, all these laws hang." Yeah, yeah. So He's referring back to the Ten Commandments there, and you see that the first four are to do with our relationship between us and God, and the last six are to do with our relationship between one another. So It's also, Jesus focused 4 direct ties to the Ten Commandments. One was murder, adultery, and misuse of God's name, and coveting. Jesus shifted the emphasis from eternal acts to an internal desire to do His will. Yeah, now that fulfills the law's deeper purpose. SPEAKER A 00:24:14 - 00:24:18 Yeah, and it's so, yeah, like a summary in that sense, right? SPEAKER C 00:24:18 - 00:24:22 As we said earlier, yeah. 'If you love Me, you'll keep My commandments.' Yeah, that's so true. SPEAKER A 00:24:22 - 00:25:14 So on the Sermon on the Mount, Jesus talks about our relationships, relationships with Him and with one another. In Matthew 7, Matthew 7:20, and I will read to verse 23, it says, 'Therefore by their fruits you will know them. Not everyone who says to Me, Lord, Lord, shall enter the kingdom of heaven, 'But he who does the will of My Father in Heaven. Many will say to Me in that day, Lord, Lord, have we not prophesied in Your name, cast out demons in Your name, and done many wonders in Your name? And then I will declare to them, I never knew you. Depart from Me, you who practice lawlessness.' So, Kaysie, they're not doing godly things here. What's happening? Like, can you explain what's What is this? SPEAKER B 00:25:14 - 00:25:57 Yeah, it's— well, it's basically the lesson here is that doing Christian things doesn't necessarily make us a Christian. So it's not about outward acts, but as it says in verse 21 there, it's about doing the will of the Father. So doing the will of God, that's what's really important. And Jesus said there that he didn't know— like, well, in this case he says, I never knew you, right? That's what He said in the parable. And so, we need to know the will of God and we need to know God. And that's what it says in, in John 17:3. It says, "This is eternal life, that they may know You, the only true God, and Jesus Christ whom You have sent." All right. SPEAKER A 00:25:57 - 00:26:10 Thank you so much, Kaysie, for that. And it brings us to an end to our study. Aaron, how would you sum up and describe the relationship of the Lord of God in the gospel? SPEAKER C 00:26:11 - 00:26:47 Look, Lazio, from what I understand from this study, the law only condemns us. It's— the law never forgives us. It never atones. The law is— that's not the law's job, you know. It's to point us to someone, and that's Jesus. And Jesus is the one that can cover our sin. He's the one that atones for us. He's the one that has By through His blood we are justified, you know. Yeah. Now the law drives us to Him, so it gives us that realization that we need Him. So we go to the foot of the cross and He washes us. SPEAKER A 00:26:47 - 00:27:59 Absolutely. Now thank you so much for that. And it's like, like Psalm says, Thy word is a lamp unto my feet. Absolutely. No worries. God invites us to know and love Him. With all our mind, heart, soul, and strength. When we do this, we will naturally have more love for others. Such love for God and others is captured in God's Law, which was given to protect and preserve our relationship with Him and those around us. God's Law is a beautiful reflection of His character, and when we understand His Law Our relationship with him will grow stronger. We are glad you joined us today on Let God Speak. Remember, all past programs plus teacher's notes are available on our website freeabnaustralia.org.au. Email us on [email protected]. We would love to hear from you. Tell your friends about the program and join us again next time. SPEAKER B 00:28:05 - 00:28:07 God bless. SPEAKER B You have been listening to let God speak, a production of 3ABN Australia television. To catch up on past programmes, please visit 3abnaustralia.org.au. Call us in Australia on 02 4973 3456. Or email [email protected]. we'd love to hear from you.