1 00:00:00,040 --> 00:00:03,200 That actually, from a new kind of perspective, it is not 2 00:00:03,200 --> 00:00:07,040 possible ever, ever, ever for a believer to backslide. 3 00:00:07,240 --> 00:00:10,000 Why? Because for you today, your 4 00:00:10,000 --> 00:00:14,760 standing with God doesn't depend on what you do or don't do. 5 00:00:14,880 --> 00:00:18,640 God totally has disregarded that, like he said, because 6 00:00:18,640 --> 00:00:21,680 there is no person who can ever be declared righteous in his 7 00:00:21,680 --> 00:00:25,160 sight by the works of the law, by by what they do. 8 00:00:25,280 --> 00:00:29,120 But thank God that through Jesus Christ, righteousness has been 9 00:00:29,120 --> 00:00:32,040 given. And then it says all have sinned 10 00:00:32,040 --> 00:00:34,440 and foreshots of the glory of God. 11 00:00:34,600 --> 00:00:38,400 And thank God, he continues to say that we are all justified 12 00:00:38,400 --> 00:00:50,280 freely. My gris and truth. 13 00:00:50,280 --> 00:00:56,080 Band all our family. We are back with Part 2 of 14 00:00:56,640 --> 00:01:00,200 backsliding. The topic of backsliding, you 15 00:01:00,200 --> 00:01:03,520 would recall in the previous episode, we're talking about how 16 00:01:03,520 --> 00:01:07,120 all of us have actually strayed away from God, as it says in 17 00:01:07,120 --> 00:01:09,960 Romans 3, right? It describes all of us as 18 00:01:09,960 --> 00:01:12,920 believers well before we became believers. 19 00:01:14,320 --> 00:01:17,320 All of us, every single human being, we've drifted from the 20 00:01:17,320 --> 00:01:21,840 Lord in one way or another, You know, so none of us can boast in 21 00:01:21,840 --> 00:01:24,800 our words to say this is how good I've been. 22 00:01:24,800 --> 00:01:26,560 This is how much I've kept the law. 23 00:01:26,880 --> 00:01:30,680 And each of why each of us have turned to our own ways, as the 24 00:01:30,680 --> 00:01:34,120 Bible says. And that set us free because we 25 00:01:34,120 --> 00:01:39,200 know that we cannot be justified before the Lord by our actions, 26 00:01:39,200 --> 00:01:42,960 because we spoke about how backsliding, it's basically 27 00:01:42,960 --> 00:01:45,920 measuring, I guess, your position. 28 00:01:46,200 --> 00:01:48,880 Towards. The Lord or your position in in 29 00:01:48,880 --> 00:01:52,480 God based on your actions, based on what you've done, based on 30 00:01:52,480 --> 00:01:56,760 what you have not done. And so when you just wrap it up, 31 00:01:57,000 --> 00:02:02,640 wrapping up the, the intro, wrapping up the recap, we 32 00:02:02,640 --> 00:02:06,720 basically just say that none of us can boast. 33 00:02:06,800 --> 00:02:10,280 You know, in our works, none of us have perfect standing before 34 00:02:10,280 --> 00:02:11,880 the Lord based on what we've done. 35 00:02:12,200 --> 00:02:15,920 Our standing comes from Christ. And because of that we are set. 36 00:02:15,920 --> 00:02:17,320 Free. Amen. 37 00:02:18,080 --> 00:02:20,200 Now I actually want to ask you a question. 38 00:02:20,200 --> 00:02:25,160 So we spoke about, you know, becoming saved. 39 00:02:25,280 --> 00:02:27,800 The things you do, the things you can't do, they don't change 40 00:02:27,800 --> 00:02:29,680 your standing before the Lord. Amen. 41 00:02:31,440 --> 00:02:37,920 I want us to chat a bit about the new covenant perspective of, 42 00:02:38,640 --> 00:02:45,360 you know, one person becomes saved and you know, they as 43 00:02:45,360 --> 00:02:48,160 people like to call it, their own fire or Jesus. 44 00:02:51,640 --> 00:02:57,160 Now what happens if that person starts to live? 45 00:02:57,800 --> 00:03:01,600 I guess I'm saying, still saying I'm a Christian. 46 00:03:01,600 --> 00:03:05,960 You're also believing in Jesus. Oh, but you know, from the 47 00:03:05,960 --> 00:03:09,800 outside perspective, it looks like that you're a hypocrite. 48 00:03:11,160 --> 00:03:14,960 Let's unpack that because that can also be seen as backsliding. 49 00:03:15,160 --> 00:03:19,040 You know, from the outside, someone can be like, but you 50 00:03:19,040 --> 00:03:21,440 gave your life to the Lord, but you are serving the Lord. 51 00:03:21,440 --> 00:03:24,600 OK, but you're serving the Lord, but you're living with someone 52 00:03:24,600 --> 00:03:28,440 you're not married to. You know, let's unpack that and 53 00:03:28,440 --> 00:03:32,040 and and and specifically in light of the new covenant. 54 00:03:32,440 --> 00:03:33,520 Amen. Yeah. 55 00:03:34,400 --> 00:03:42,040 So I think we'll, we'll continue in Romans 3 in terms of in terms 56 00:03:42,040 --> 00:03:46,520 of unpacking that. And you know, the last verse we 57 00:03:46,520 --> 00:03:50,520 read was verse 20 where it talks about how no one will be 58 00:03:50,520 --> 00:03:55,080 declared righteous in God's sight by the works of the law. 59 00:03:55,600 --> 00:04:03,040 Rather, through the law, we become conscious of our sin and 60 00:04:03,040 --> 00:04:08,200 the Bible making it very clear that the the law actually makes 61 00:04:08,200 --> 00:04:13,000 us conscious. It brings an awareness of the 62 00:04:13,000 --> 00:04:17,640 sin, right? And and it brings really an 63 00:04:17,640 --> 00:04:22,400 awareness of the sin that is in our heart through our, our 64 00:04:22,400 --> 00:04:28,320 actions, right. And so if we continue reading in 65 00:04:28,320 --> 00:04:36,560 verse number from verse #21 of Romans 3, then it says, But now 66 00:04:36,640 --> 00:04:41,800 apart from the law, the righteousness of God has been 67 00:04:41,800 --> 00:04:47,320 made known, to which the law and the prophets testify. 68 00:04:47,760 --> 00:04:53,560 This righteousness is given through faith in Jesus Christ to 69 00:04:53,560 --> 00:04:58,040 all who believe. There is no difference between 70 00:04:58,040 --> 00:05:03,200 Jew and Gentile, for all have sinned and fall short of the 71 00:05:03,200 --> 00:05:06,600 glory of God. I'm sure a lot of us have heard 72 00:05:06,600 --> 00:05:10,680 that verse writes faith, but it doesn't stop there. 73 00:05:11,120 --> 00:05:14,560 There's good news. Thank God there's good news 74 00:05:15,040 --> 00:05:22,240 because it says, and all are justified freely by His grace 75 00:05:22,600 --> 00:05:27,240 through the redemption that came by Jesus Christ. 76 00:05:29,160 --> 00:05:33,040 Hallelujah, Amen. And then it says God presented 77 00:05:33,040 --> 00:05:37,680 Christ as a sacrifice of atonement through the shedding 78 00:05:37,680 --> 00:05:40,880 of his blood to be received by faith. 79 00:05:40,880 --> 00:05:46,240 He did this to demonstrate his righteousness because in his 80 00:05:46,240 --> 00:05:52,640 forbearance He had left the sins committed beforehand unpunished. 81 00:05:52,640 --> 00:05:56,320 He did this to demonstrate his righteousness at the present 82 00:05:56,320 --> 00:06:04,280 time so as to be just and the one who justifies those who have 83 00:06:04,400 --> 00:06:10,960 faith in Jesus Christ. And so to go back to the 84 00:06:10,960 --> 00:06:19,120 question of now, what happens to you as a believer when you are 85 00:06:19,120 --> 00:06:24,480 saved? But you know, you, you are still 86 00:06:24,480 --> 00:06:29,040 In Sync, basically, you know, because obviously, you know, 87 00:06:29,040 --> 00:06:34,640 that's how we define backsliding is that, you know, you're, 88 00:06:34,640 --> 00:06:38,560 you're either you've gone back to do the things that you used 89 00:06:38,560 --> 00:06:44,600 to do before you got saved, or, you know, the things that you're 90 00:06:44,600 --> 00:06:47,480 supposed to be doing when you are saved, you are not doing 91 00:06:48,080 --> 00:06:53,360 right. You see, The thing is that thank 92 00:06:53,360 --> 00:06:58,720 God for Jesus Christ. Thank God for Jesus Christ in 93 00:06:58,720 --> 00:07:06,760 that when Jesus Christ released us from the law, he released, he 94 00:07:06,760 --> 00:07:14,480 released us basically from a covenant of it depends on you in 95 00:07:14,480 --> 00:07:20,200 terms of your relationship with God you've been released from. 96 00:07:20,480 --> 00:07:25,040 It depends on you. It depends on what you have done 97 00:07:25,440 --> 00:07:29,040 or what you have not done. And so it speaks about how the 98 00:07:29,040 --> 00:07:35,720 righteousness of God has been made known apart from the law. 99 00:07:36,440 --> 00:07:43,720 Apart from the law means apart from from from do's and don'ts, 100 00:07:43,720 --> 00:07:46,760 basically from commandments, right? 101 00:07:47,080 --> 00:07:52,080 And it talks about how this righteousness has been given and 102 00:07:52,080 --> 00:07:57,240 thank God for that, that it's not earned or anything like 103 00:07:57,240 --> 00:07:59,760 that. It says it's been given through 104 00:07:59,760 --> 00:08:04,080 faith in Jesus Christ to all who believe. 105 00:08:04,760 --> 00:08:07,880 And the question is simple, do you believe in Jesus? 106 00:08:08,000 --> 00:08:11,280 If the answer is yes, righteousness has been given. 107 00:08:11,280 --> 00:08:12,960 Hallelujah. To you the. 108 00:08:13,000 --> 00:08:15,000 Cross will be enough, yeah. Amen. 109 00:08:15,000 --> 00:08:22,120 And and righteousness is simply right standing with God and and 110 00:08:22,120 --> 00:08:24,840 what exactly is this righteousness that's been given? 111 00:08:25,040 --> 00:08:29,760 It is the very righteousness of Jesus Christ because the whole 112 00:08:29,760 --> 00:08:34,960 thing with backsliding right is that, you know, ultimately this 113 00:08:34,960 --> 00:08:38,440 has to do with you're standing before God. 114 00:08:39,000 --> 00:08:44,720 You know, we're not saying here that, you know, you can just go 115 00:08:44,720 --> 00:08:49,880 and live however you know, but you see, The thing is that when, 116 00:08:49,880 --> 00:08:54,600 when, because a lot of the time because we we don't know the 117 00:08:54,600 --> 00:08:58,360 real truth about our relationship with God and much 118 00:08:58,360 --> 00:09:04,000 Jesus has done. We still live in a in a posture 119 00:09:04,000 --> 00:09:07,840 of law where we still think that it depends on our works. 120 00:09:08,080 --> 00:09:10,920 Now ultimately what what this thing actually really is, is 121 00:09:10,920 --> 00:09:16,520 that what we believe is that my right doing puts me in right 122 00:09:16,520 --> 00:09:20,440 standing with God. That really, really is the 123 00:09:20,640 --> 00:09:25,280 essence of this thing, which is a law mentality that that's 124 00:09:25,280 --> 00:09:28,320 really is it because, you know, treat us as believers. 125 00:09:28,640 --> 00:09:31,120 We all actually have a desire to please God. 126 00:09:31,680 --> 00:09:37,880 The one thing that we do desire as Christians is to be a night 127 00:09:37,880 --> 00:09:42,560 standing with God. That's why we feel guilty when 128 00:09:42,560 --> 00:09:45,800 we think we've done things that are displeasing to him. 129 00:09:46,200 --> 00:09:49,200 It's because we, we, we believe that because I've done those 130 00:09:49,200 --> 00:09:53,160 things, now I'm actually separated from God because you 131 00:09:53,160 --> 00:09:57,960 know, what I've done is not pleasing to him and, and whatnot 132 00:09:57,960 --> 00:10:01,840 and whatnot. That is a law mentality where 133 00:10:01,840 --> 00:10:06,760 you are saying that my right doing basically or wrongdoing 134 00:10:06,960 --> 00:10:13,160 effects my standing with God. That that's in essence is what 135 00:10:13,160 --> 00:10:20,280 backsliding is like we saw in, in the previous episodes in the 136 00:10:21,120 --> 00:10:26,640 book of Jeremiah, when God clearly describes the, the, the, 137 00:10:26,640 --> 00:10:31,760 the fact that because of their actions, because of the actions 138 00:10:31,760 --> 00:10:35,720 of Israel, they turned from him, right? 139 00:10:36,040 --> 00:10:42,080 God's definition there of them turning from him is that it is 140 00:10:42,080 --> 00:10:45,920 based on their actions in Hosea, he says, you know, they began to 141 00:10:45,920 --> 00:10:48,720 sacrifice to other gods and all that. 142 00:10:48,720 --> 00:10:53,400 I mean, we saw in, in, in Exodus, you know, them building 143 00:10:53,400 --> 00:10:56,320 the golden calf and worshipping it. 144 00:10:56,760 --> 00:11:03,200 It is based on their actions. And the sad reality is that we 145 00:11:03,200 --> 00:11:08,400 read that and we think that, or it's the same for us also today, 146 00:11:08,920 --> 00:11:13,360 that if I am, you know, spending more time doing other things, if 147 00:11:13,400 --> 00:11:16,880 I'm not doing this and I'm not doing this, you know, then the 148 00:11:16,880 --> 00:11:19,600 same thing applies to me. I've basically turned my heart 149 00:11:19,600 --> 00:11:23,440 from the Lord, right? And the Lord is rebuking me. 150 00:11:23,440 --> 00:11:28,280 Or I can expect his judgement. Yo, that's crazy actually. 151 00:11:28,280 --> 00:11:32,480 But yeah, the and I think that's just showing the importance of 152 00:11:33,720 --> 00:11:40,000 as it says in the book of I think it's Timothy, we we pulled 153 00:11:40,000 --> 00:11:43,320 to rightly divide the word of truth. 154 00:11:43,600 --> 00:11:45,440 Amen. We need to understand the 155 00:11:45,440 --> 00:11:49,240 difference between the old covenant and the new covenant of 156 00:11:49,240 --> 00:11:52,600 grace. And you know, just the thought 157 00:11:52,600 --> 00:11:57,360 that popped in my mind as you were talking it, it sounds 158 00:11:57,360 --> 00:12:00,480 actually ridiculous what you say, because it almost sounds 159 00:12:00,480 --> 00:12:04,720 like we're like, just get saved and you however where you want, 160 00:12:05,200 --> 00:12:07,160 you're still in rise standing before the Lord. 161 00:12:07,520 --> 00:12:11,840 We're obviously not saying that, but the fact of the matter is 162 00:12:11,880 --> 00:12:16,480 even when we do wrong, you know, intentionally, unintentionally, 163 00:12:16,680 --> 00:12:18,920 it doesn't change our standing before the Lord. 164 00:12:19,480 --> 00:12:24,360 Now, I had a thought, it was about 2-3 years ago, I had a 165 00:12:24,360 --> 00:12:28,120 thought I was reading my Bible even before reading my Bible. 166 00:12:28,120 --> 00:12:31,000 It was just a conversation I had with the Lord and I'm asking 167 00:12:31,000 --> 00:12:34,760 him, Lord, I hear what you're saying about this grace thing. 168 00:12:34,760 --> 00:12:39,240 You know, you're saying that they, there's no list of do's 169 00:12:39,240 --> 00:12:41,960 and don'ts in the new covenant, right? 170 00:12:41,960 --> 00:12:45,680 It's we led by the Spirit. But I, I literally asked the 171 00:12:45,680 --> 00:12:47,760 Lord like, but how does that work? 172 00:12:47,760 --> 00:12:50,560 Like how people know what's wrong and what's right if 173 00:12:50,560 --> 00:12:54,280 there's not a 10 things to obey, You know, the 10 commandments. 174 00:12:54,280 --> 00:12:56,520 There's no such thing in the new covenant. 175 00:12:56,520 --> 00:13:01,240 So I was asking the Lord in my thoughts, like I, I, I, I hear 176 00:13:01,240 --> 00:13:05,880 you rude, but I don't know how. Like I'm supposed to live it out 177 00:13:05,880 --> 00:13:08,440 and not just me, but you know, at least me. 178 00:13:08,440 --> 00:13:11,560 I'm one person, but imagine the whole world. 179 00:13:12,080 --> 00:13:15,240 You know how we're going to know what's wrong and what's right. 180 00:13:15,720 --> 00:13:20,480 And I kid you not, that day the Lord was like open the book of 181 00:13:20,480 --> 00:13:23,480 Titus. I had no idea what is in the 182 00:13:23,480 --> 00:13:27,120 book of Titus and I'm just going to read it so that I don't 183 00:13:27,120 --> 00:13:30,400 paraphrase it. And so this is in Titus chapter 184 00:13:30,400 --> 00:13:36,680 2 and it says, and from verse 11 I'm just going to read verse 11 185 00:13:36,680 --> 00:13:39,760 and 12. It says the for the grace of God 186 00:13:39,760 --> 00:13:43,240 has appeared that offers salvation to all people. 187 00:13:43,920 --> 00:13:46,280 It teaches us it being the grace of God. 188 00:13:46,640 --> 00:13:51,480 It teaches us to say no to ungodliness and worldly passions 189 00:13:51,840 --> 00:13:56,240 and to live self controlled, upright and godly lives in this 190 00:13:56,240 --> 00:13:57,920 present age. Amen. 191 00:13:57,920 --> 00:14:02,400 I was blown away that day. I was actually blown away 192 00:14:02,400 --> 00:14:06,240 because I'm like grace can teach us these things. 193 00:14:06,440 --> 00:14:10,840 You know, we don't have to. It actually also reminds me of 194 00:14:11,440 --> 00:14:16,040 another scripture in Galatians. We're poorly saying the law is, 195 00:14:16,640 --> 00:14:21,160 let me just read it, Galatians 324. 196 00:14:21,400 --> 00:14:26,520 So the law was our guardian until Christ came that we might 197 00:14:26,520 --> 00:14:31,840 be justified by faith. So up until Christ, it has been 198 00:14:31,840 --> 00:14:35,000 the law, right? Keeping us in check, making sure 199 00:14:35,240 --> 00:14:37,800 the do's and the don'ts we follow correctly. 200 00:14:38,160 --> 00:14:41,560 But when Christ comes, he's fulfilled all of that. 201 00:14:41,560 --> 00:14:44,360 So we no longer need the guardian because the reality of 202 00:14:44,360 --> 00:14:48,000 Christ has come. And so after Christ, we have the 203 00:14:48,000 --> 00:14:51,480 grace of God, we have the Holy Spirit that teaches us. 204 00:14:51,480 --> 00:14:54,080 And you know what? The Holy Spirit is poured out 205 00:14:54,080 --> 00:14:58,240 into every believer. There is no condition you use. 206 00:14:58,440 --> 00:15:03,120 The minute you get saved, Holy Spirit is deposited in you and 207 00:15:03,120 --> 00:15:06,520 he's the one who teaches you. Say no to ungodliness. 208 00:15:06,520 --> 00:15:09,320 Say no to this type of lifestyle. 209 00:15:09,520 --> 00:15:12,840 It's the grace of God that teaches us and we've actually, 210 00:15:13,240 --> 00:15:16,960 not me, but like, I think societal Christians as a whole, 211 00:15:16,960 --> 00:15:21,640 we've exalted the law above Christ and we've exalted the 212 00:15:21,640 --> 00:15:23,520 do's and don'ts because we're scared. 213 00:15:23,520 --> 00:15:26,280 We're scared that people go off and look their own ways. 214 00:15:26,800 --> 00:15:29,480 But the the Bible says grace is there. 215 00:15:29,680 --> 00:15:31,720 Grace is the one that teaches us. 216 00:15:32,400 --> 00:15:33,920 Yeah. No, no, exactly. 217 00:15:34,240 --> 00:15:40,040 And that's why when it comes to backsliding in order to and you 218 00:15:40,040 --> 00:15:46,520 know what this comes from, I believe genuineness as leaders, 219 00:15:46,520 --> 00:15:51,120 for example, in the church, you know, either we are talking to 220 00:15:51,120 --> 00:15:54,840 new believers or, you know, people under us. 221 00:15:55,360 --> 00:16:01,280 And because we genuinely desire for people to to walk in step 222 00:16:01,280 --> 00:16:06,720 with the Lord and to not backslide, we teach them what 223 00:16:06,720 --> 00:16:09,080 they ought to do and what they ought not to do. 224 00:16:09,640 --> 00:16:11,480 You know, that's our perspective, right? 225 00:16:11,720 --> 00:16:14,680 And like I say, it comes from a good place. 226 00:16:15,000 --> 00:16:20,400 Unfortunately, because it is presented in that manner, which 227 00:16:20,400 --> 00:16:25,320 is law, it doesn't actually help at all. 228 00:16:25,320 --> 00:16:31,520 It actually perpetuates, you know, the situation in terms of 229 00:16:31,520 --> 00:16:34,720 people's behaviour, you know, whether you are talking to a new 230 00:16:34,720 --> 00:16:38,560 believer or you are talking to someone who's been saved for 231 00:16:38,560 --> 00:16:42,760 none, as long as you are teaching from the perspective of 232 00:16:43,000 --> 00:16:46,480 yeah, but you know, you, you shouldn't be, you know, as and 233 00:16:46,480 --> 00:16:49,600 now that you are saved, you know, you need to make sure that 234 00:16:49,800 --> 00:16:52,080 you are, you are reading a Bible. 235 00:16:52,080 --> 00:16:55,440 You are doing this. You know, the Bible says the the 236 00:16:55,440 --> 00:16:58,160 strength of sin is the law, right? 237 00:16:58,960 --> 00:17:07,200 And like my wife was saying is that we believe that we meet the 238 00:17:07,200 --> 00:17:12,040 law, right? It's like we, we, we take the 239 00:17:12,040 --> 00:17:18,760 natural how in the natural, you know, we have laws to keep 240 00:17:18,760 --> 00:17:22,560 order. Not for us as believers. 241 00:17:23,160 --> 00:17:29,640 You know, one example I can make is the laws that govern our 242 00:17:29,640 --> 00:17:31,640 road, for example. But. 243 00:17:32,080 --> 00:17:36,600 People love to bring in fact. But you see, that's The thing is 244 00:17:36,600 --> 00:17:42,560 that I'll be driving on the road and I'm driving at 140. 245 00:17:43,600 --> 00:17:48,080 Now when I see a sign that says you ought to be driving on 20, a 246 00:17:48,280 --> 00:17:52,240 lot of time, I'll still continue right until I see maybe that, 247 00:17:52,320 --> 00:17:53,880 oh, there's a camera actually there. 248 00:17:54,560 --> 00:17:57,320 Then I'll slow down, but The thing is that I haven't. 249 00:17:57,320 --> 00:17:58,560 Actually changed? No. 250 00:17:58,560 --> 00:18:02,920 Because what happens is as soon as I pass it, I pass that press 251 00:18:02,920 --> 00:18:05,840 that accelerates, of course, you know, And that's the thing about 252 00:18:05,840 --> 00:18:09,360 the law is that it doesn't change your heart. 253 00:18:09,960 --> 00:18:13,480 Your behavior may change for a certain period of time, yeah, 254 00:18:13,480 --> 00:18:15,400 but ultimately you always go back. 255 00:18:15,400 --> 00:18:20,240 You always default, yeah? Unfortunately, and so that's why 256 00:18:20,240 --> 00:18:25,240 we are talking about this backsliding thing from a new 257 00:18:25,240 --> 00:18:28,400 covenant perspective, that actually from a new covenant 258 00:18:28,400 --> 00:18:33,400 perspective, it is not possible ever, ever, ever fully believer 259 00:18:33,400 --> 00:18:35,160 to backslide. Why? 260 00:18:35,440 --> 00:18:40,000 Because for you today, you're standing with God doesn't depend 261 00:18:40,240 --> 00:18:45,360 on what you do or don't do. God totally has disregarded 262 00:18:45,360 --> 00:18:49,920 that, like he said, because there is no person who can ever 263 00:18:49,920 --> 00:18:53,760 be deterred, righteous in his side by the works of the law, by 264 00:18:53,800 --> 00:18:58,280 by what they do. But thank God that through Jesus 265 00:18:58,280 --> 00:19:01,120 Christ righteousness has been given. 266 00:19:01,480 --> 00:19:06,280 And then it says all have sinned and fall short of the glory of 267 00:19:06,280 --> 00:19:08,360 God. And thank God, he continues to 268 00:19:08,360 --> 00:19:12,720 say that we are all justified free. 269 00:19:13,600 --> 00:19:16,080 Now let's break this down. We're all justified. 270 00:19:17,120 --> 00:19:21,720 Justified meaning we are all declared righteous and, and it's 271 00:19:21,720 --> 00:19:24,240 a legal term. We are legally declared 272 00:19:24,240 --> 00:19:27,840 righteous for free. Wow. 273 00:19:27,840 --> 00:19:33,440 By his grace, by his unmerited favor through the redemption. 274 00:19:33,800 --> 00:19:39,400 Now the word redemption means a ransom payment through the 275 00:19:39,400 --> 00:19:43,720 ransom payment. You know, I believe we all 276 00:19:43,720 --> 00:19:46,880 understand, you know, from movies and shows, you know, 277 00:19:47,840 --> 00:19:52,400 payments being made in order to to be set free, you know, but we 278 00:19:52,400 --> 00:19:56,040 were obviously in captivity to sin and through the redemption 279 00:19:56,040 --> 00:19:59,880 that came by Jesus Christ, he paid the price for our freedom. 280 00:20:00,560 --> 00:20:05,440 Now interestingly, verse 25 says God presented Christ as a 281 00:20:05,440 --> 00:20:08,920 sacrifice. Of atonement through the 282 00:20:08,920 --> 00:20:11,400 shedding of his blood to be received by faith. 283 00:20:11,760 --> 00:20:16,520 And this is something that I was studying the other day that the 284 00:20:16,520 --> 00:20:21,480 Holy Spirit just highlighted this word atonement in the new 285 00:20:21,480 --> 00:20:23,800 King James. It says a sacrifice. 286 00:20:24,040 --> 00:20:29,280 It says he presented Christ as a propitiation for our sin. 287 00:20:29,840 --> 00:20:34,560 Now this word atonement or propitiation actually is the 288 00:20:34,560 --> 00:20:40,440 word mercy seat, right? And it is a word that you'll 289 00:20:40,440 --> 00:20:45,520 find in the Old Testament when the Bible speaks about the ark 290 00:20:45,520 --> 00:20:50,960 of the covenant, right? Now what you'll find in the Old 291 00:20:50,960 --> 00:20:55,240 Testament is that when they built the ark according to God's 292 00:20:55,240 --> 00:21:01,720 instructions, he instructed them that inside the ark they must 293 00:21:01,720 --> 00:21:07,600 put three items in it. The one is the 10 commandments. 294 00:21:07,600 --> 00:21:11,640 The tablets with the 10 commandments were put inside the 295 00:21:12,040 --> 00:21:14,960 parts of manna. The golden parts of manna was 296 00:21:14,960 --> 00:21:19,000 also put inside, as well as Aaron's rod. 297 00:21:19,080 --> 00:21:22,520 That budget was also put inside the ark. 298 00:21:23,160 --> 00:21:29,840 And then God said you put them the mercy seat on on top of 299 00:21:29,840 --> 00:21:34,040 that, because what God was saying is that you say those 300 00:21:34,280 --> 00:21:40,280 three items represent actually Israel sin or rebellion against 301 00:21:40,280 --> 00:21:42,640 God. They they rebelled and they 302 00:21:42,640 --> 00:21:46,160 broke God's commandments. They rebelled against God's 303 00:21:46,160 --> 00:21:49,280 provision. We know that in the, as as they 304 00:21:49,280 --> 00:21:52,480 were walking in, in, in the wilderness, you know, at some 305 00:21:52,480 --> 00:21:54,600 point they were complaining against the manner. 306 00:21:54,800 --> 00:21:57,600 So they rejected God's provisional rebelled against it. 307 00:21:57,920 --> 00:22:03,160 They they rejected God's leadership, which is why it, it 308 00:22:03,160 --> 00:22:07,640 speaks about Ellen's rot. But what God said is that all 309 00:22:07,640 --> 00:22:14,200 right, put the sin of Israel in the ark of the covenant and 310 00:22:14,200 --> 00:22:18,360 cover it with the mercy seat, right, Because what God is 311 00:22:18,360 --> 00:22:20,640 saying is that I don't want to see. 312 00:22:21,200 --> 00:22:24,640 I don't want to see because if if God sees their sin, he has to 313 00:22:24,640 --> 00:22:28,520 punish it. But you see, he puts what is a 314 00:22:28,520 --> 00:22:31,400 picture of their sin rebellion inside. 315 00:22:31,520 --> 00:22:36,000 And then he asked he he was trusting to put the mercy seat, 316 00:22:36,000 --> 00:22:39,160 which is where the the blood used to be shaped. 317 00:22:39,160 --> 00:22:42,600 In fact, on the Day of Atonement, when when the high 318 00:22:42,600 --> 00:22:47,640 priest does the sacrifices to cover their sins for a whole 319 00:22:47,640 --> 00:22:51,120 year, that blood was sprinkled on top of the mercy seat. 320 00:22:51,360 --> 00:22:57,800 But The thing is that it speaks about God covering in at that 321 00:22:57,800 --> 00:23:01,360 point in time. Yeah, all of their sin, right? 322 00:23:01,560 --> 00:23:05,920 And we know today our sins are not just covered, they've been 323 00:23:05,920 --> 00:23:10,520 taken away, Amen, from God. They've been removed from God's 324 00:23:10,520 --> 00:23:14,560 sight, right. And and this all speaks of the 325 00:23:14,560 --> 00:23:24,920 fact that God has dealt with the sin of men through the body of 326 00:23:24,920 --> 00:23:30,040 his Son, Jesus Christ. And so when we read Scripture 327 00:23:30,400 --> 00:23:34,240 and we emphasize so much the righteousness that we have today 328 00:23:34,240 --> 00:23:37,720 and the fact that it doesn't depend on your actions, you 329 00:23:37,720 --> 00:23:42,200 know, you may ask the question of, but then, you know, if God 330 00:23:42,200 --> 00:23:48,400 is holy, how can you come and tell me that I sin but nothing 331 00:23:48,400 --> 00:23:51,640 happens to me? You know what actually something 332 00:23:51,640 --> 00:23:52,840 has happened to you. Amen. 333 00:23:53,400 --> 00:23:58,880 You just didn't experience it. The Bible says I was crucified 334 00:23:58,960 --> 00:24:03,440 with Jesus Christ. So actually you have paid for 335 00:24:03,440 --> 00:24:06,080 your sins. So it was just paid in the body 336 00:24:06,080 --> 00:24:11,680 of Jesus, you know, but it is a wonderful revelation from the 337 00:24:11,680 --> 00:24:15,120 apostle point. And we know obviously it is the 338 00:24:15,120 --> 00:24:19,240 Holy Spirit who gives indeed this amazing revelation that 339 00:24:19,240 --> 00:24:24,720 actually you were crucified. So every time you fall into sin, 340 00:24:24,920 --> 00:24:27,360 you, you feel like I'm inconsistent, you know, and on 341 00:24:27,360 --> 00:24:30,240 all that and all that, and the devil comes to say, you know 342 00:24:30,240 --> 00:24:32,080 what? Because you've done this, you 343 00:24:32,080 --> 00:24:36,200 can expect nothing but bad things to happen to you or, you 344 00:24:36,200 --> 00:24:38,280 know, you've backslidden. And whatnotes and whatnotes 345 00:24:39,360 --> 00:24:43,040 remind him that you know what? I've already paid for the same. 346 00:24:43,040 --> 00:24:45,600 Hallelujah. It is not you, it's Jesus. 347 00:24:46,200 --> 00:24:48,960 You don't see that. Same on him. 348 00:24:49,480 --> 00:24:50,520 Yeah, on him. Amen. 349 00:24:51,240 --> 00:24:52,840 At the cross. Amen. 350 00:24:53,040 --> 00:24:55,000 Amen. You know he's outstanding. 351 00:24:55,000 --> 00:25:00,080 The Bible says even in Galatians 3, it says for you died and your 352 00:25:00,080 --> 00:25:03,800 life is now hidden with Christ in God. 353 00:25:04,400 --> 00:25:08,360 When Christ who is your life appears, then also you will 354 00:25:08,360 --> 00:25:09,760 appear. You don't need to read that 355 00:25:09,760 --> 00:25:16,200 part. Just you know your life is now 356 00:25:16,200 --> 00:25:19,240 hidden with Christ. Christ is your identity. 357 00:25:20,240 --> 00:25:22,120 You know where you lack patience. 358 00:25:22,520 --> 00:25:25,280 We you have to declare Christ as my patience. 359 00:25:25,640 --> 00:25:29,360 You don't look to yourself and assess yourself based on but 360 00:25:29,360 --> 00:25:33,080 this is what you know we love we all, all of every single 361 00:25:33,080 --> 00:25:35,040 Christian. We love Galatians by fruit of 362 00:25:35,040 --> 00:25:38,600 the Spirit and we love to say, but no, this is what your life 363 00:25:38,600 --> 00:25:40,480 must produce. But it's a fruit. 364 00:25:40,560 --> 00:25:43,280 You know, it takes time. Fruit takes time to be. 365 00:25:43,280 --> 00:25:46,200 Yeah, Amen. But in the same way where you 366 00:25:46,200 --> 00:25:49,480 lack the patience, you don't declare, oh, sharks, I need to 367 00:25:49,480 --> 00:25:51,560 be better at being patient. You know, I need to be more 368 00:25:51,560 --> 00:25:54,840 patient. OK, those are good. 369 00:25:54,840 --> 00:25:58,320 But those are still self effort, like you trying to be patient. 370 00:25:58,960 --> 00:26:02,400 But when you confess that Christ is my patience and you'll 371 00:26:02,400 --> 00:26:05,680 receive his patience, you want to blink now? 372 00:26:05,680 --> 00:26:09,680 OK, maybe not blink, but you as you just continue to declare it 373 00:26:09,680 --> 00:26:12,040 whenever you fail. You know when someone cuts you 374 00:26:12,040 --> 00:26:19,480 off in the traffic, when someone cuts you off in traffic, when 375 00:26:21,080 --> 00:26:24,640 you know a cashier is rude to you, when something like that, 376 00:26:24,640 --> 00:26:27,720 whatever happens, whatever the trigger is, Christ is your 377 00:26:27,720 --> 00:26:28,920 patience. Amen. 378 00:26:29,080 --> 00:26:35,520 When you lack forgiveness towards your spouse, towards 379 00:26:36,160 --> 00:26:39,280 your parents, towards your siblings, someone who hurt you, 380 00:26:39,680 --> 00:26:43,560 you, you don't try to find it inside and try to find the good 381 00:26:43,560 --> 00:26:46,120 that they've done so that in your heart you can be like, OK, 382 00:26:46,120 --> 00:26:47,640 but at least they've done this one thing. 383 00:26:47,920 --> 00:26:51,600 Let me at least try to forgive. No, you're like, I have been 384 00:26:51,600 --> 00:26:55,160 forgiven in Christ. I can forgive because because 385 00:26:55,160 --> 00:26:57,920 Christ is the one who helps me to forgive. 386 00:26:58,200 --> 00:27:03,200 It's not me trying my best so that one day I can hopefully 387 00:27:03,200 --> 00:27:07,920 say, you know, I've forgiven so and so and so it's you. 388 00:27:08,000 --> 00:27:10,360 You. We have to see it on Jesus. 389 00:27:10,360 --> 00:27:12,920 We have to see, like you said, our sin on Jesus. 390 00:27:12,920 --> 00:27:15,720 But we also have to see the things we are lacking. 391 00:27:15,920 --> 00:27:19,280 We have to see them in Christ because he is our life. 392 00:27:19,800 --> 00:27:23,760 And so we declare him and here we have. 393 00:27:23,840 --> 00:27:26,200 We move and we have our being. Amen. 394 00:27:26,720 --> 00:27:31,360 And that's exactly it. Is that truthfully we will 395 00:27:31,400 --> 00:27:37,640 always lack or see lack when we look to ourselves, I know we are 396 00:27:37,640 --> 00:27:43,520 always trying to find the wrong or when there is wrong, we see 397 00:27:43,520 --> 00:27:46,440 in ourselves. The first thing we want to do is 398 00:27:46,440 --> 00:27:50,720 you know, I need to change. I need to change, you know, now 399 00:27:50,720 --> 00:27:55,920 thank God for again, the Holy Spirit reported that I, that's 400 00:27:55,920 --> 00:28:03,320 exactly what was crucified, that I, you know, because the reality 401 00:28:03,320 --> 00:28:09,280 is that like my wife said, even in that point in time, you don't 402 00:28:09,280 --> 00:28:13,840 look to yourself and think, OK, how do I go about changing this 403 00:28:13,920 --> 00:28:16,400 trait, whatever it may be in myself? 404 00:28:16,880 --> 00:28:23,560 No, you take Christ as your perfection, He in that very 405 00:28:23,560 --> 00:28:28,120 moment, whether it's patience you are lacking, whatever 406 00:28:28,120 --> 00:28:34,320 struggle it may be, remember that He has become your new 407 00:28:34,320 --> 00:28:37,920 identity, Amen. He has become your new identity 408 00:28:37,920 --> 00:28:42,400 in that point in time. Remember that you are still the 409 00:28:42,400 --> 00:28:46,680 righteousness of God in Christ, Amen. 410 00:28:47,240 --> 00:28:53,760 And so to just conclude the the Bible in Romans 3 continues in 411 00:28:53,760 --> 00:28:58,560 verse 27 to say where then is boasting? 412 00:28:58,800 --> 00:29:01,520 It is excluded. Now what boasting is this? 413 00:29:01,760 --> 00:29:06,400 It is the boasting of the law, right? 414 00:29:06,720 --> 00:29:13,200 It is this boasting of because I have done this and this, that's 415 00:29:13,200 --> 00:29:16,120 why I have confidence before God, right? 416 00:29:16,280 --> 00:29:19,320 Because the Bible has made it clear that actually none of us 417 00:29:19,320 --> 00:29:23,840 can ever actually say that. You know, when when we have that 418 00:29:23,840 --> 00:29:27,840 confidence, you know, of we've done one or two things, right? 419 00:29:27,960 --> 00:29:29,920 I know in our eyes, we don't see it like that. 420 00:29:29,920 --> 00:29:33,280 We feel like we've done everything right, but it's not 421 00:29:33,280 --> 00:29:34,280 true. Yeah. 422 00:29:34,400 --> 00:29:38,880 If Jesus said to actually come and assess your life like the 423 00:29:38,880 --> 00:29:42,960 rich young ruler who thought he's done it all right, he's I, 424 00:29:43,040 --> 00:29:48,440 I, I have kept this thing since I was a young man or whatever, 425 00:29:48,440 --> 00:29:51,160 something like that. And Jesus says, you know, go 426 00:29:51,160 --> 00:29:55,400 sell all of your possessions and give to the poor and then come 427 00:29:55,400 --> 00:30:00,360 and follow me. And he exposes what the young 428 00:30:00,360 --> 00:30:07,320 man was not even away was in his heart, which is great idolatry 429 00:30:07,760 --> 00:30:11,040 because he can't let him go. And so it says because of what 430 00:30:11,040 --> 00:30:13,040 Lord the Lord that requires works. 431 00:30:13,360 --> 00:30:19,360 No, because of the Lord that requires faith and then one of 432 00:30:19,360 --> 00:30:25,520 my favorite verses in verse 28 for we maintain that a person is 433 00:30:25,520 --> 00:30:31,360 justified by faith apart from the works of the law. 434 00:30:31,800 --> 00:30:36,560 You know, in other words, truly this is what we keep standing on 435 00:30:36,960 --> 00:30:41,120 when, when he says, we maintained, because there are 436 00:30:41,120 --> 00:30:45,760 many people who obviously argue, especially in the context of 437 00:30:45,800 --> 00:30:50,880 Jewish people, because Paul was actually going completely 438 00:30:50,880 --> 00:30:54,800 against what Jewish people believe in terms of the law. 439 00:30:55,000 --> 00:30:57,360 Hence he would say in the beginning, because I'm not 440 00:30:57,360 --> 00:31:01,280 ashamed of, of, of this gospel, because for him especially there 441 00:31:01,280 --> 00:31:05,600 is reason to be ashamed because the man is literally saying, 442 00:31:05,600 --> 00:31:11,480 guys, actually it doesn't matter in terms of the law whether you 443 00:31:11,480 --> 00:31:14,000 break it or not, you are still righteous in Christ. 444 00:31:14,520 --> 00:31:17,000 He's going completely against the law. 445 00:31:17,000 --> 00:31:20,160 So and they'll come and you'll say to him, Paul, you are 446 00:31:20,160 --> 00:31:24,440 talking nonsense, brah, because go and read in the Old 447 00:31:24,440 --> 00:31:26,320 Testament. Now remember when Paul was 448 00:31:26,320 --> 00:31:28,280 writing this, he always didn't have this. 449 00:31:28,440 --> 00:31:29,960 All they had was the Old Testament. 450 00:31:29,960 --> 00:31:31,480 Yeah. And they can come and say to 451 00:31:31,480 --> 00:31:35,640 him, Paul, how can you say that a person is righteous in Christ, 452 00:31:35,760 --> 00:31:40,480 you know, apart from the law? How can you say that you saw our 453 00:31:40,920 --> 00:31:43,720 fellow brothers and sisters who lived in the Old Testament? 454 00:31:43,880 --> 00:31:45,120 You, You can't say. Clearly. 455 00:31:45,200 --> 00:31:47,360 Sure. Which is exactly what's 456 00:31:47,360 --> 00:31:53,640 happening today is that you people argue that no, but you, 457 00:31:53,720 --> 00:31:56,720 you can't, you can't just say that a person, whether they do 458 00:31:56,720 --> 00:31:59,360 right or they do wrong, they stand in right standing record. 459 00:31:59,360 --> 00:32:01,280 You know what? That's exactly actually what the 460 00:32:01,280 --> 00:32:05,280 Bible is saying. But the the the true reality and 461 00:32:05,280 --> 00:32:10,160 the amazing thing about this extent you see the moment and it 462 00:32:10,160 --> 00:32:13,040 takes really the power of the Holy Spirit to understand the 463 00:32:13,040 --> 00:32:19,520 grace of God because when you get the revelation that you're 464 00:32:19,520 --> 00:32:23,720 standing with God never changes you, you are as righteous as 465 00:32:23,760 --> 00:32:31,240 Jesus Christ forever more right. That is what produces righteous 466 00:32:31,240 --> 00:32:34,200 living. It doesn't cause you to actually 467 00:32:34,200 --> 00:32:38,600 think to yourself, I'm free to do whatever now you are free. 468 00:32:38,600 --> 00:32:41,720 That's the truth. And you can do actually whatever 469 00:32:41,720 --> 00:32:46,320 you want and you will still remain righteous, but you won't 470 00:32:47,680 --> 00:32:51,000 when, when it comes to addictions and things like that, 471 00:32:51,160 --> 00:32:53,920 right? You may continue. 472 00:32:53,920 --> 00:32:58,120 So when you get that revelation that you are righteous, yes, you 473 00:32:58,120 --> 00:33:02,560 may continue for a time to keep falling into that addiction. 474 00:33:02,840 --> 00:33:06,920 But you see the more you keep declaring as as you fall into 475 00:33:06,920 --> 00:33:11,560 that sin, you reject the guilt of it and you declare to 476 00:33:11,560 --> 00:33:14,320 yourself, I am still righteous, right. 477 00:33:14,600 --> 00:33:19,280 It sounds like the Paul says you know that you are giving people 478 00:33:19,280 --> 00:33:22,360 a license to sin basically because you are saying that the 479 00:33:22,360 --> 00:33:24,560 person may as well just continue forever. 480 00:33:25,280 --> 00:33:30,680 But you know the the the power of the grace of God is that the 481 00:33:30,680 --> 00:33:35,680 more you declare every time you fall into that sin that thank 482 00:33:35,680 --> 00:33:38,560 you. I am still righteous because of 483 00:33:38,560 --> 00:33:43,160 Christ. All of this power packed verses 484 00:33:43,160 --> 00:33:47,320 in Romans 3 that really really puts the focus on what Christ 485 00:33:47,320 --> 00:33:53,000 has done. It will not be long that that 486 00:33:53,000 --> 00:33:56,840 that that bondage on that addiction is just going to break 487 00:33:56,880 --> 00:34:00,840 in and fall off. And, you know, you are truly 488 00:34:01,160 --> 00:34:04,320 free when you don't have the desire. 489 00:34:04,360 --> 00:34:06,520 Yeah. It's not just the part. 490 00:34:07,040 --> 00:34:08,760 Outwardly, I'm no longer doing it. 491 00:34:08,800 --> 00:34:10,679 Oh, I've gone a whole year without smoking. 492 00:34:11,239 --> 00:34:13,639 I've gone a whole year without 1, two or three. 493 00:34:13,639 --> 00:34:15,960 You know it. But inside you're dying. 494 00:34:16,719 --> 00:34:17,520 You. That's not. 495 00:34:17,520 --> 00:34:18,800 Freedom. It's not. 496 00:34:18,800 --> 00:34:21,639 It's not. But when the Lord gives you and 497 00:34:21,639 --> 00:34:25,280 frees you from that desire, that's when you're free. 498 00:34:25,760 --> 00:34:27,880 Amen. And I think that's where we're 499 00:34:27,880 --> 00:34:30,159 going to leave it on this episode. 500 00:34:30,880 --> 00:34:33,159 Thank you. Thank you so much for watching, 501 00:34:33,159 --> 00:34:34,159 see you in the next one.