Ben Brinkerhoff - Class 1: Set Thy Mind on the Things of the Spirit (Romans 1-5)

Automatically transcribed. Accuracy is good but not perfect, and words are sometimes wrong. Trust the audio over the text.

1. 0:13

   Well, good morning, good evening. Whatever this is, is it? Is it evening this side of the world, How are you all Now that wasn’t, you know, I guess it’s maybe just an American thing, but when we say good evening, people often say good evening in return. So maybe we should practice this as a group.

2. 0:30

   So I’m going to say good evening, then I’m going to pause and that’s your cue than to say good evening back. Are you ready to try this? All right. Good evening. Wow. Hey, audience participation. Who knew in a Chris Adelphian hall, even? Well, it’s really a pleasure to to be with you all this weekend and to share with you in fellowship. You know, I, I, I come from Christchurch. That’s in New Zealand.

3. 0:56

   I guess I was told that I was supposed to comment on your accents and on your sports. Neither of which I think are a problem. You know, I just hope that my American accent and my American sports we wear pads is not a problem for you. We can we. Can we can move past the New Zealand Australian connections is actually quite a quite a pleasure to be with you all and to and to visit with family and and friends of family as well.

4. 1:20

   So thank you for having me and my wife Alyssa and our daughter Petra this this weekend, so Romans 7:00 and 8:00. Hopefully you kind of think that that’s a little bit odd. I mean 2 chapters in the in the middle of a book. This book has has multiple chapters and these two chapters actually right in the middle of of this book.

5. 1:46

   And maybe you’re thinking to yourself, well, well why would why would we study two chapters right in the middle of a book, you know, why not? Why not the whole book? Why not start at the beginning of the argument, you know, and we. Follow through there or something on those lines. Why these two chapters in the middle of the book And the answer that we’re going to study these two chapters this weekend. The reason why is because for me personally, and that’s this is a personal thing I guess is that these two chapters really changed my life.

6. 2:14

   And I want to describe that a little bit to you. Not so long ago I find found myself doing mission work in the Middle East. In fact I met many of you back in 2006 when Daniel and Joey. Were married. And actually that stop in Australia was the first stop on our my wife and I, our trip to the Middle East do mission work in United Arab Emirates, Dubai, Abu Dhabi and in Doha, Qatar.

7. 2:46

   And as we worked in the Middle East, in the Persian Gulf, things began to go a little bit difficult. The work was hard. I guess that’s not unusual for mission work. The brethren in Dubai especially were not very cooperative to our work. I think they felt quite threatened by the preaching as maybe is is is a valid thing to be threatened by.

8. 3:08

   But we thought they were progressive countries but nevertheless they they were felt threatened by that and expenses started to add up and then some some local people in Qatar. I borrowed money from my grandmother, quite a large sum of money and and they had stolen that from us. And we didn’t know if we’re going to get that money back.

9. 3:30

   And then Alyssa got pregnant and we lived in this apartment. We didn’t have any working stove or any hot water and have any way to cook hot food. And I began to lose weight and the work was was really challenging and I I felt within my my heart this rebellion start to grow inside.

10. 3:54

    You guys familiar with that feeling? Maybe you can call it resentment, perhaps felt like, I don’t, I didn’t know if I want to do this mission work anymore. And in every hour, you know, you either spend preparing classes or giving classes or working, you know, there’s no, there’s not a lot of this free time to do whatever.

11. 4:16

    You know, people have these mission trips sometimes where they they go off and do all these adventurous things. Well, that wasn’t this trip. This was this is really, it was really pure work the whole time we were there. And I felt tired and I was aggravated. And I was kind of angry. I I felt like things had really kind of turned on us a little bit.

12. 4:34

    And maybe I know God owed me some breaks or I was making some sacrifices for him. Maybe he could, he could help out a little bit. And I felt a lot of strong feelings inside and and feelings which I had a a hard time coming to grips with and a hard time trying to understand and understand how how I should think about those feelings, what I should do about them. And so at that time that I was, I felt spiritually vulnerable. I guess I I picked up, picked up the Bible, and I was really attracted to Romans 7, where Paul really describes the challenges he was facing inside these this internal struggle he was facing.

13. 5:18

    And then for Romans 7, I would move on to Romans chapter 8. And in reading Romans chapter 8 my eyes were open to A to a few spirit guided words, and I read those words originally out of the RSV and so I want to read them out of the RSV now and then friend of Romans 8IN verse five we read for those who live according to the flesh, set their minds on the things of the flesh, but those who live according to the spirit.

14. 5:53

    Set their minds on the things of the Spirit. Maybe at this point, those words don’t mean a lot to you. My goal is that by the end of this weekend, those words mean a lot to you. That’s what I’m going to try to accomplish. And perhaps, as God wills, I’ll be able to impart to use some of the incredible spiritual lessons that God brought forth to me. But I really doubt it.

15. 6:20

    I think I’m going to have struggle to do this and there’s a reason I’m very pessimistic. Experience. No, it’s that it’s that I learned these these lessons in sort of a spiritual vice when things were very difficult for me and I was spiritually in crisis and thus I was open to learning new things. I was open to saying my way wasn’t working. My attitude wasn’t working.

16. 6:51

    My life wasn’t working. So I’m ready for God to teach me something. And if you’re at that place, then you might be open to let the word of God instruct you and teach you. But if you’re not at that place, I just want to remind you that when you get there, that you turn here to Romans 7:00 and 8:00, because you won’t remember my words, but you’ll remember to look here.

17. 7:19

    In Romans 7 and eight, and you’ll find there at that time of crisis, which you will inevitably find at some point, you’ll find some help. So my goals for this weekend are a little bit humbler. I just want to introduce you to these chapters so that when you go through whatever it is, hardship or pain or anxiety or struggle, you’ll kind of know that you weren’t the only one. And others have gone before you, and God has written down for you in the book words to strengthen you. And if you’re even willing at that time, they can change you. So even though in the course of our studies we want to concentrate on Roman 7:00 and 8:00, I sort of think that starting in Romans 7 and eight is like me introducing arithmetic to my 5 year old, starting with algebra. I just can’t start there.

18. 8:15

    I can’t, as much as I as I had originally intended to dive right into Roman Seven. I find that the first question that Roman Seven really brings out for us to consider is found in Roman 7 verse seven. And that question is this. What shall we say then is the lost sin? Now that’s the first question I would I would otherwise be asked or or or be supposed to explain to you.

19. 8:42

    What is what should we say then? Is the law sin? But I, as I begin to even think about trying to explain that question, I can’t even start to explain that question unless you know what’s going on in Romans 1234 and five. And if you don’t have that in your mind, I can’t.

20. 8:57

    I can’t address that question. And so I find, as I want to start in Romans 7, that actually we have to start at Romans 1. And so in this class what we’re going to do is you’re going to retrace Paul’s argument. Romans 1234 and five a little bit in chapter 6, and then we’re going to dive into Romans 7.

21. 9:16

    And then with all that information in your mind, this Romans 7 material is going to make a lot more sense. I think You know Romans is an interesting book because Paul wrote the book before he went to Rome. Now he wrote Corinthians after visiting Corn, the wrote Galatians after visiting Galatia. And so on and so forth. But he writes, rewrites Rome, Romans in prospect of visiting Rome.

22. 9:39

    And the reason he does that is because in Rome there were these people that as Chris, elephants, we call Judaizers. You can call them what you want, but that’s kind of describes who they were. But they’re they’re trying to defeat Paul’s gospel, the gospel of Jesus Christ. And they’re trying to say that there was this really important difference between Jews and Gentiles.

23. 10:03

    Now, who here is a Jew naturally by birth. So here here is a gentile naturally by birth. Who here hasn’t isn’t raising their hands. There’s someone in the middle there. I know you didn’t raise your hand. I’ll take it that you’re a Gentile, right. OK, great. So actually this, this, this discussion has some relevance for us because if if you’re Jew naturally by birth and there’s some advantages to that, well.

24. 10:32

    Well, we’re we’re Plumb out of luck because we’re none of us are Jews naturally by birth. And so Paul is actually trying to explain what’s going on. And if you want to study Romans and young people and I wrote these talks for young people and now some of you aren’t so young in this, you know, I don’t don’t be embarrassed. You know who you are now.

25. 10:55

    Now, but I’m not going to be shy about the fact that I’m going to explain some things you probably already heard before and I’m going to talk and some of the points I’m going to make and some of the expectation I’m going to bring out may be particularly relevant to young people. But but I think all of us can gain some lesson from this.

26. 11:13

    Now, if you’re studying Romans and yet you come across a verse in Romans and you don’t quite know what Paul’s talking about, what do you do? I tell you what you do. You trace Romans backwards until you find the last question Paul asked. Because invariably in Romans what Paul does is he asks a question that he answers it or he must ask several questions and he answers them.

27. 11:40

    So if you ever had a point where you say, what’s Paul talking about? Well, just go back up to the last question that Paul asked and say, oh, that’s what he’s talking about and there’s a lot of questions in Romans. I’ll, I’ll bring out four questions. Early in the chapters of Romans chapters 3 and four that really describe the controversy that Paul’s sort of addressing here the verses in Roman chapter 3. In verse one and two where we have the question what advantage then has the Jew or what prophet is circumcision skip the verse nine?

28. 12:12

    Another question what then? Are we better than they? Or how about chapter 3 and verse 29? Or is he God of the Jews only? Is he not also the God of the Gentiles or chapter 4 and verse 9? Does this blessedness then come upon the circumcised only, or upon the uncircumcised also? So this is just four of many many questions in Romans, but you get a flavor of what Paul’s really addressing the controversy that he’s addressing here in Romans. It’s really the basis of whether the Jews have some advantage over the Gentiles.

29. 12:54

    Now to address that question, Paul is forced to discuss the law because the law to the Jews was that thing which set them apart. It was that national heritage they felt God had specifically given to them as a people that made them holy in some way, and everyone else who wasn’t following the law profane. And so when we read in Chapter 7, what shall we say then is the lost sin.

30. 13:20

    You know we we really. It’s not just in brings up in chapter seven he has to address that that issue of the law all throughout his argument because that is the fundamental issue of what a Jew felt made them special made everyone else not.

31. 13:34

    So how does Paul deal with the question what advantage does the Jew have or are we the Jews better than they the Gentiles? Well in chapter one of Romans after his introduction, Paul makes two really important points. Now if you don’t. Look carefully. You’re going to miss them because they’re kind of closely LinkedIn the you know, he only puts them in one or two verses.

32. 13:56

    Now, who here has a pencil They can write, they can mark in their Bible. Raise your hands if you have a pencil. Now raise your hands if you don’t have a pencil. While there’s some people not raising their hands. Now I would. I’m those people who will have pencils. Very responsible. People, and I saw many of the young people raise their hands, by the way.

33. 14:21

    So very good job. We’re going to underline a couple things, because there’s a couple things in Romans where if you underline that you say succinctly, that’s Paul putting a little bit of a rapper on his argument. I can just look at that verse and say that right there is fundamentally what Paul’s talking about.

34. 14:37

    Now in chapter one, the first point that Paul makes is very profound. Can you even see that? No. You see that? You can’t see that, can you? Okay. The first point is that God is read Romans chapter one, verses 19 through 20, because that which may be known of God is manifest in them. For God has showed it unto them.

35. 15:07

    For the invisible things of him from the creation of the world are clearly seen, being understood by the things that are made. OK, pause for a moment. He’s saying, listen, the evidence that there is a God is clear, because God made everything, and everything can’t come from nothing. Everything must come from something. And that something is God, because it’s not just chaos, but it’s created into an order.

36. 15:34

    And because there is an order, there’s evidence that God does exist. And so his first point is simply that God is. But. He says it’s not just something that it’s not just enough that God is. It’s that because God is knowable, because he’s created everything, and in fact we’re creating his image such that we can think about the fact that we can, we can create things ourselves.

37. 16:01

    And we can think about the fact that that we can have knowledge and we can know things that we can in some ways understand and have the ability under, like under, like any other animal to understand what God is like. And God has revealed himself to us in in, in ourselves. And so the Paul’s point is not something that God exists. His point is this in Romans one verse 20. So that they are without excuse and you have a pencil. What you want to underline in your Bible in chapter one is those words.

38. 16:34

    So they are without excuse. That is the point. That is the point of Romans. Chapter one is that. The Gentiles are accountable to God because one is knowable, and so because he is knowable and because he’s revealed himself and his creation that no one is without excuse.

39. 16:59

    And so when Paul goes on to say all the things that that the Gentiles have done to corrupt themselves and they’ve taken the glory of the invisible God. And they’ve and they’ve corrupted it to go after four footed beasts and animals and creeping things. And they’ve they’ve they’ve burned in their lust for one another, seeking things which aren’t natural, which are against God’s natural way of things. And it goes through this list of horrible things that the Gentiles are doing.

40. 17:27

    But the point is not the horrible things, necessarily. The point is that the Gentiles themselves are without excuse. And you know what, the Judaizer. Amongst Paul and Paul’s famous at this Paul’s famous at at making his first point to appeal to the side he’s ultimately trying to win over. They thinks it’s wrong, but the first point he makes is to make them feel like he’s on their side.

41. 17:56

    It’s very clever. He does it in Corinthians as well. And so he makes this point that Judaizer would have been all over this. They would have loved the fact that Paul was going right after these wicked Gentiles. Yes, they’re without excuse. And yes, they’re guilty. And yes, you know, they’re doing all these horrible things. And he turned the the glory of the invisible God into that something like an animal.

42. 18:17

    And then they burn in their lust for each other. And Joe, they would have been very happy that Paul was, was really attacking these, these sinful, worldly Gentiles. And so in Chapter 2, what Paul does is he turns the turret. You know, turret is is, is is a thing on which you hold a gun that you’re going to blow people up with, right?

43. 18:39

    And you you point at one thing and and you know, you get them. And then you turn the turret and he turns the turret from the Gentiles to the Jews. And so Roman Chapter 2 is. Is oh, you Judaizers, you Jews. You think that, oh, you know, these Gentiles are horrible. Really. Well, what about you? Are you without sin?

44. 19:06

    And so after first describing in an early part of Romans 2 that there is no national advantage, it isn’t. It doesn’t help you that that that you’re a Jew by birth, That doesn’t do you any good. After dis dismantling that logic, he basically says to the Jews that you’re guilty. Now he does that by using the law in Roman chapter 2 and verse 17. And then we’re going to skip from verse 17 down to verse 23. We read this in the new King James. Indeed, you are called at you and rest on the law and make your boast in God, which they did. Verse 23.

45. 19:44

    You who make your boast in the law, do you dishonor God by breaking the law. So yeah, your pencil out. What do you underline in chapter 2? You underline this Do you dishonor God through breaking the law That’s found in verse 23? So chapter 2 then concludes that the Jews are also guilty, and

46. 20:11

    perhaps even more so because they had the law of God and even greater revelation of God’s will in his ways, and they have not kept that law perfectly. So they have dishonored God by breaking the law. So now that Paul is in chapter one, he’s so the Gentiles are not just. In chapter two he shows the Jews are not just and chapter 3 sort of brings it together. So in chapter 3 which has many verses worth underlying, maybe what you want to underline is in chapter 3 and verse 23 for all of sinned and fallen short of the glory of God. All, and that’s an important word. They’re all all have sinned, all meaning Jew and Gentile. He’s shown chapter one, the Gentiles, chapter 2, the Jews and chapter three.

47. 20:59

    He concludes this. He says, I’ve shown you all have sinned and by sinning have fallen short of the glory of God. So really our next point from Romans chapter one, verse 21, through chapter 3, verse 20, or even through three verse 23. What Paul is really doing is he’s showing that God alone is righteous.

48. 21:24

    That’s what he’s establishing now. He’s not just establishing the fact that God’s righteous, He’s establishing the fact that we’re not. He hasn’t really spoken to God’s righteousness until that section of readings that we had read for us this morning in which God’s righteous has mentioned three or four times. But he hasn’t mentioned God’s righteousness up into that point, has he? Up until that point, he’s really kind of described the fact that we’re not righteous and we can’t, we can’t rest on our righteousness.

49. 21:58

    You see, what does the law do? The law does something very important. It does it today in our society as well, is it defines from a societal point of view, what’s right. And what’s wrong? And it kind of draws this line in the sand which lawyers job is to to mess up that line. But the law’s intention is to draw a line and say that listen, on one side of the law you’re you’re right. On the other side of the law you’re wrong and you can be you can be condemned in a Court of Justice. The judge uses the law to determine guilt versus innocence.

50. 22:33

    Now according to the law we’re guilty. We’re not just and in fact. This word guilty is kind of a it’s a it’s a it’s a big word. It’s one of those words that’s kind of difficult to to throw out there. You know because you know I don’t I don’t really want to make you feel guilty. But I I don’t.

51. 22:52

    I had no other I I can’t. I can’t but use the word because the words right here in front of the scripture I can’t deny is I’m I’m saying that we’re staring at it. Look at chapter 3 in verse 19 and 20 you find it for yourself here in the new King James. It says this in verse 19 for we know. That whatever the law says, it says to those who are under the law, that every mouth may be stopped, that all the world may become guilty before God.

52. 23:20

    Therefore by the deeds of the Law no flesh we justified in His sight. For by the law is the knowledge of sin. So we’re in just now can the law save us? No. Do you know why? Now imagine someone committed murder. Jack Lawson. I’ll pick on you. Imagine Jack Lawson committed murder. What if he never ran a red white? What if he was the best driver in the world? What if Jack’s driving is absolutely and completely exemplary so that if you want to know how to drive. You would.

53. 24:07

    But look at how Jack does things and emulate his every action because his driving was so perfect. Now would that change the fact that Jack has killed someone? With the judge saying since you’re such a good driver, we’ll just brush that killing thing right underneath the carpet? No, this is exactly the dilemma David finds himself in.

54. 24:27

    Because David kills Uriah the wife, the husband of Bathshava. And he says in Psalm 51 and verse 16, for thou desires not sacrifice, or else I would give it that a lie is not important offering. And David could have offered sacrifice at a sacrifice after sacrifice after sacrifice.

55. 24:46

    But he killed still killed Uriah didn’t change a thing and so the law could not justify David. And the law cannot justify any of you. And the law cannot justify me. If I break one part of it, following other parts of it, don’t make what I broke right. You know, when I reflect back on my own situation when I was in the Middle East, I was asking God to reward me a bit for my righteousness, whatever that was. I thought maybe.

56. 25:26

    God owed me something because I was making sacrifices, and I think I was angry that in the midst of making those sacrifices that it was difficult, that I found life difficult, like a challenge. I remember looking at this verse in Isaac 64, verse six, which I’m sure you’re familiar with, and the verse says, but we are all as an unclean thing.

57. 25:57

    And all our righteousnesses are filthy rags. But you know, that wasn’t my attitude, because my attitude is more like, you know, God, look at the lamb I brought you yesterday, and the and the and the ox I slaughtered last week and the turtle doves the week before that. You know, look at all the sacrifices I brought you, and it’s almost as if. You know when the high priest would have brought these sacrifices, you know, and he would have weighed them on the altar?

58. 26:27

    You think this wasn’t messy work? Imagine those, those Immaculate, clean clothes after slaughtering a few animals, day after day slaughtering those animals. How long till your clothes were just covered in animal blood and your righteousness is? They just become filthy rags because it’s not your righteousness. At all. Now if it’s not works through the law that make us right, what is it?

59. 27:09

    What does God surely want? What is the basis of this blessing on Israel and making Abraham and his seed the air of a special inheritance? So chapter 4 then picks up from this and says if we’re all truly unrighteous, on what basis this God, then count righteousness to those who are guilty. Because it’s undeniable that we’re guilty.

60. 27:37

    We’ve sinned. Can I have anyone who wants to volunteer and stand up and talk to me about the fact that they haven’t sinned? So can I can I reasonably assume that everyone in this room has sinned? Is that a safe assumption? Okay. So we’re all on the same basis then? We’re not just we’re not righteous.

61. 27:59

    So why? And on what basis Is God going to count righteousness for you? Why is God going to look at you and find righteousness when it’s not from your moral perfection, Perfection? And Paul explains that it’s faith and faith was the basis on which God counts righteousness for those who aren’t righteous. Now the verse we want to underline is found in Roman Shepherd 4 verse 16, again reading on the new King James. Therefore it is a faith that it might be according to grace, so that the promise might be sure to all the seed. Not only to those who are of the law, but also to those who are of the faith of Abraham, who is the father of us all. So you might want to underline, therefore it is a faith that might be according to grace.

62. 29:00

    So that is the basis on which God is going to count righteousness to those who aren’t of themselves righteous. So then chapter 5, then Paul addresses this important question. If we’re guilty and the law can’t say this, but the law condemns us. And truly, God counts righteousness based on faith. What do you have to have faith in?

63. 29:23

    And the answer is God’s willingness to forgive through Jesus Christ. That’s what you have to faith in. That he’s willing to forgive through Jesus Christ, that he’s willing to forgive. That’s what you have to have faith. In. And he goes on to this explanation. I’m not going to spend much time on it all, really. But he says, listen, if if death and mortality and sinfulness and willfulness can all come through one man, which is Adam, then surely they can all be reversed through one man, which is Jesus. If all those things can enter the world through one man, and that you’ve inherited all those things through one man, surely through another man, they can all be taken away. And that man is Jesus Christ.

64. 30:09

    So in chapter 5 then our Verses, chapter 5, verse 19, Chapter 5 is kind of hard to find a single verse, but this would be the best one. Chapter 5, verse 19. By 1 man’s obedience many will be made righteous so God saves through his righteousness. We’re actually going to get into that subject in much more detail in a later study because I realized by the way, I haven’t really covered the why God saves through his righteousness bit yet.

65. 30:43

    But that’s so important. I just need to give it more time and in a later study. So then chapter 6 begins, Well, great God. God is going to save through his righteousness gets great. You know, God is going to impute righteousness by faith. Well then I guess I don’t have to worry too much about sinning. I can just sort of sin that grace may have bound. Now that is a very relevant question for our day and age. Taking sin lightly doesn’t really matter. Just have faith.

66. 31:12

    In fact, not trying to sin is just too hard. So I’m just going to basically, I’m just going to not try and just kind of count on the fact that I can be forgiven anyway. So repentance really is not that important.

67. 31:28

    That attitude is not going to get you very far. Not going to get me very far either, but we’ll take that up another class too. So Chapter 6, actually, I’m going to kind of skip over for the moment just because we’re going to take up Chapter 6 and maybe our next two studies going to spread across those two studies.

68. 31:42

    In explaining Chapter 7. So, so now we find ourselves back in Chapter 7 and Paul is still in the midst of really in Chapter 7, defending the gospel against this clever attack. Oh by the way, I should do my last slide, chapter 6, because he saves be righteous. So now we find ourselves in Chapter 7 and Paul, I think in Chapter 7 is still really addressing this issue. Shall we?

69. 32:11

    Sin that grace may have been. It’s very clever attack. It’s a it’s a it’s a question which is still very relevant to our own attitudes. And in the midst of this we find ourselves in Romans Chapter 7, verse 7, which is where we started. What shall we say then is the lost sin? Now why is this such an important argument for us today? You know, Paul’s made very clear that no flesh, not Jews or Gentiles, is just before God in almost every context. Paul’s even mentioned the law.

70. 32:47

    It’s been to say what that a law really defines right from wrong, and by doing just that, by defining right from wrong, it condemns us. But now the arguments being made Is the law sinful? Is the law sinful? Why? Because every time that God makes the law. Every time. God makes a law. Sin is the inevitable consequence for man, at least for yes, you and I see the law really shows that man is sinful. That’s the purpose of the law.

71. 33:27

    The law is there, like a flashlight in a dark place, shining light on what is sin. So every time that God makes a law, it really what does that law do? It shines this light on us. And so now, through the light of what God has shined on us, we understand what sin is because as in God’s law, we really be confused about it.

72. 33:54

    We wouldn’t think sin is sin, I’m sure of it, but let’s step back for a moment. Why does that matter to you? And you follow along with the text. We see the argument. Hopefully now you have some things underlined. You know, if you didn’t bring a pencil to this class tomorrow, bring a pencil.

73. 34:16

    You know, make some notes so that you don’t get confused. By this, I mean when I ask young people if they understand Romans, which is the best exhibition of the gospel and all the Bible, inevitably the answer is no. And I think it’s sadly the case that that that it’s true also of some of us older Christadelphians.

74. 34:39

    But this is this is, this is important. But why is it important? What is behind this argument that’s important for us? Paul responds to this question of is the law sin by saying On the contrary, I would not have known sin except through the law.

75. 35:01

    So I ask you. Especially for young people. But I guess it’s relevant for all of us. Do you know sin? Do you understand your sin?

76. 35:17

    You know it’s hard enough when you’re young, but I think that society today makes this almost impossible. But unless you learn the lesson of the law. How can you ever appreciate the grace of Christ? And I really want to say this emphatically.

77. 35:40

    What I want to say is the fact that you’re guilty. I don’t want to say it because I get anything out of it. I want to say because I have to be true to what Paul’s written down here. I had no choice. It’s in the text. You’re guilty. You know, I can’t even talk to you about grace in Christ.

78. 36:01

    About the righteousness of faith until you appreciate that point. In fact, if you’re not at the point where you ready to understand that when Paul says in Romans chapter 3 and verse 23 that all are under sin, that all are unjust, that none is righteous, you’re not ready to acknowledge that, then why bother with chapter four and five?

79. 36:26

    In fact, just close your Bible and go home. Because the rest of this weekend is not going to do you any good. Because the rest of this weekend rests on the premise that you believe Paul what he said in chapters 1-2 and three. Because until you’re ready to understand that you’re not ready to need Jesus. Why would you need Jesus?

80. 36:53

    If you’re righteous without Jesus? Go ahead and be righteous. Good for you. But if you’re not righteous, then maybe you do need him. You know, outside the introduction to Romans. Oops. That’s a shame. Outside of the introduction for Romans chapter, Paul doesn’t even mention Jesus. Again, until chapter 5. Here we have this this brilliant exposition of the Gospel.

81. 37:32

    And outside of introducing the subject and Romans one those early verses, he doesn’t even mention Jesus again until chapter 5. Because you know what, unless chapter 2-3 and four makes sense to you, especially chapters 2 and three, why do you need Jesus? He’s not even relevant until chapter 5.

82. 37:56

    But I believe this message is slowly losing force a day. Because the day we’re bombarded by messages about a God that has no right and wrong, a God that doesn’t have a truth, but he has truths, doesn’t have wrong, but he has tolerance. There’s no path but paths. And according to the wise of our age, they all lead to the same place, but we know where that place leads. It does all lead to the same place. Fortunately, that place is death, you know. But today’s spiritual thinking, you know, spiritual practice, it’s just it’s a matter of choice. You see, no one can decide for someone else what their path should be, or or or judge that one path is superior to another path.

83. 38:54

    We can’t even judge morals. I mean, is getting drunk okay? I don’t know. Did I hurt anyone? Our same sex unions? OK, I don’t know. Are they in love? Is mouthing off your parents and elders OK? I don’t know. Did they say something that they deserved it? Is it OK to listen to music with shoddy lyrics?

84. 39:15

    I don’t know. That’s just what they think you know. The answer to each and every question today is based off this idea of personal righteousness. And every answer is, is I don’t know, It depends. Maybe. Or maybe not, or some wishy washy answer that turns anything God has said into some sickly Gray soup. We all exercise our own personal wisdom and our own personal righteousness, and my decision is right for me, and your decision is right for you, and no one can tell you otherwise. But what says the Lord with certain some level of ambiguity under the law?

85. 39:55

    So the law is so desperately confused. Right from wrong or good from bad or holy from profane. I’ll tell you who confused, right from wrong, good from bad. And that’s a serpent. And that serpents in you and serpents in me. And it must be crushed. And it will not be crushed based on your version of righteousness and not based on my version. Because the serpent is our own version of righteousness. The serpent is our own version of righteousness. So that version will never take it away. It only strengthens it.

86. 40:45

    And the Law stood there as an announcement of God’s decision on a matter. And through it you’re guilty, deserving of death, and actually with no prospect of relief in its pages. So are you guilty?

87. 41:00

    Yes. But you don’t believe that, do you? You see, you think you still have some choice. You think you still have some wiggle room here. You.

88. 41:15

    Still sort of think that you’re right, but where do you find wiggle room in the law? There’s none. That’s the point. How many sacrifices can you bring, God, once you murdered Uriah to make that better, How many good deeds are you going to do to make it better that you’ve sinned? There’s no wiggle room.

89. 41:51

    And I guess if we don’t accept young people that there is right and wrong and that God has laid it down and through it each of us, both believer and unbeliever, has fallen short, then we have no basis on which to continue these studies. Because in that world, you don’t need Christ, you don’t need baptism, you don’t need truth, certainly someone else’s version of truth. And you don’t need each other either, because why would you need one another?

90. 42:16

    Their version of truth is right for them. It’s different than your version. Why do you need to hear about theirs? What is the source of righteousness? What is the gauge of right and wrong? Is it our Heavenly Father, or is it your feelings?

91. 42:34

    What if God’s truth gets in the way of your feelings? What then? And if it’s our Heavenly Father who’s right, then we need Christ, because we’re not just, but he is. And So what Paul really does is he proves the point in chapter seven with his own experience. He proves the point of whether the law is sin, whether he himself is sinful with his own experience.

92. 43:12

    And so we read in Chapter 7 about Paul discussing this experience, Chapter 7, verses 7 through 9. What should we say then? Is the law sin? Certainly not. On the contrary, I wouldn’t have not known sin except through the law, for I would not have known covetousness, unless the law had said You shall not covet but sin, taking opportunity by the commandment produced in me all manner of evil desire. For apart from the law, sin was dead. I was alive once without the law, But when the commandment came, sin revived, and I died, and the commandment which was to bring life.

93. 43:51

    I found to bring death for sin, taking occasion by the commandment, deceived me and by it killed me. Therefore the law is holy and the commandment is holy and just. And good.

94. 44:05

    So we. See in Chapter 7 that Paul proves us the law is good, it’s holy and just, but it’s that we aren’t. That’s my only point for this class. We’ll get into the rest of. There’s a lot of details there. They’re important my my point for this class. Is the basis on which we can discuss Chapter 7, and that basis is our need of Christ.

95. 44:29

    So we live in this world which continually challenges God’s definition of right and wrong. The God of our times has no right and wrong, no path, no truth, but shades of Gray. Sufficient that you can actually live your life on your terms without any guilt at all. I don’t want to make you feel guilty, by the way. That’s not the point of this class. It’s really kind of a struggle that we have this class. But you have to wait till tomorrow for the rest because I’m not going to leave you there. But I have no other choice but to take you there because that’s what Paul does.

96. 45:10

    The danger. We have young people and everyone else. Who’s everyone else. Raise your hand if you’re not young, but you’re everyone else. Not enough hands. You’re definitely more. Everyone else is out there. But the the trouble everyone else and young people is that we want to believe in that God that has truths and paths because it satisfies our own desires.

97. 45:38

    We want to believe in a God that we can challenge because of our righteousness. A God that maybe owes us something. But you know what? That is not Yahweh, and that is not what he’s going to become.

98. 45:57

    He’s not going to become. That he’s not going to put his name on that. And we look back to the original temptation in the Garden and Genesis Chapter 3 and verse 5, and we find that original temptation, that the first part of the temptation was doubt. Did God really say this? You know, and that’s how temptation works with us.

99. 46:24

    So it’s not that someone is going to tell you that your version of God is wrong because it’s right for you. They’re just going to cast doubt on Did God really say this? Does God really want to be this mean bully that just judges everyone? Is God just this this judge?

100. 46:46

     And so they make God out to not want what’s in your best interest. They make God out to not want your salvation. They make God out to not want you to be everything that he has for you to be.

101. 47:07

     They make out God to be less than what he is. And that’s what the serpent did. God doesn’t really want what’s best for you. He’s trying to hold you back. So he knows that when you eat of the fruit, you’re going to be like gods and So what? You know what? God is trying to keep something of himself back from you.

102. 47:29

     He doesn’t really want what’s in your best interest. And So what what the temptation is, is it’s it’s first a casting of doubt isn’t how the world works within you isn’t the first thing the world does. To weaken your faith is to cast. Doubt and then it. Lies to you see, first it cast doubt. And then it lies.

103. 47:57

     And the lie was found in Genesis chapter 3, verse 5. For God knows that a day of it you you eat of it, your eyes will be open and you will. Be like God. Knowing good and evil. Actually, that’s not the lie. The lie comes before that. In Genesis chapter 3. And the serpent said unto the woman, he shall not surely die.

104. 48:27

     So first it cast doubt, then it lies. And what would you call the temptation? That your eyes will be opened and that you will be like God, knowing good and evil? What would you call that temptation? You might you might call that covetousness. So the first sin was covetousness. Knowing good and evil is any different today. Or doesn’t man want to step into the position of God to say, well, this is good and evil for me? This is.

105. 49:09

     My definition of good and evil. This is what I think good and evil are. God, this is good and you for you. That’s fine for the people that want to follow you. But this is what I think good and evil really is. And they want to step into the place of God, and they want to challenge God’s place and his authority. And Paul says that any thought of this is completely inconsistent with the gospel.

106. 49:38

     And I ask you the question, It’s very simple. Or Adam and Eve, just through Adam all die, and through Christ all shall be made alive. And really, that’s the focus of our studies in a sense, this weekend together. How is it that in Christ all will be made alive? Why in Christ are all made alive?

107. 50:07

     What does it even mean to be in Christ? What is that life? Those are big questions and I believe that our studies as we can try to address those questions together. So I believe that Paul in Roman 7 uses covetousness for a reason. Covetousness is a very appropriate choice to illustrate sin because it was covetousness in the Garden of Eden and it’s covetous Now. I believe that can keep us from the mercies of Christ, but it’s a humble decoration through baptism that God is righteous. And that we need Christ that really set you and I apart as being chosen not for our sake, but for God’s. That God would have all the glory. But now that you’ve been set apart and chosen, what do you do after that?

108. 51:04

     We’ll take that up in our next study.