1 00:00:00,400 --> 00:00:03,360 In the name of the glorious Trinity, Father and Son and Holy 2 00:00:03,360 --> 00:00:07,040 Spirit, forever Amen. Glory be to the everlasting 3 00:00:07,040 --> 00:00:10,960 mercies which sent you to us, O Christ, the Light of the world 4 00:00:11,000 --> 00:00:14,720 and the life of all. Give us wisdom by your law and 5 00:00:14,720 --> 00:00:16,720 enlighten our impulses by Your knowledge. 6 00:00:17,760 --> 00:00:20,800 Sanctify our souls by Your truth, and grant that we may be 7 00:00:20,800 --> 00:00:24,240 obedient to Your words and may fulfil Your commandments at 8 00:00:24,240 --> 00:00:27,560 every hour. O You who enlightens the 9 00:00:27,560 --> 00:00:29,320 rational with the knowledge of Your. 10 00:00:29,320 --> 00:00:32,280 Greatness do. Enlight, O my Lord, our 11 00:00:32,280 --> 00:00:35,880 thoughts, that we may meditate upon your holy and divine 12 00:00:35,880 --> 00:00:40,600 Scriptures at all times, O Lord of all, Father and Son and Holy 13 00:00:40,600 --> 00:01:02,840 Spirit, forever. We're going to be in a new 14 00:01:02,840 --> 00:01:11,400 series listening or studying the the epistle of Saint Paul to the 15 00:01:11,400 --> 00:01:15,120 Romans. Now this may be I think it's the 16 00:01:15,120 --> 00:01:20,040 first time we're doing this on the double edged podcasts 17 00:01:20,240 --> 00:01:24,000 episodes. We've already looked at chapters 18 00:01:24,000 --> 00:01:28,080 123. We've studied those and these 19 00:01:28,080 --> 00:01:34,360 were pre pre podcast, but we're going to pick it up from chapter 20 00:01:34,360 --> 00:01:39,000 4 and those would like the background for chapter chapters 21 00:01:39,000 --> 00:01:42,240 one to three. If you sign into, obviously if 22 00:01:42,240 --> 00:01:47,440 you get on YouTube and you search for syrianchurch.tv, 23 00:01:47,760 --> 00:01:54,360 you'll find all the video programs, sermons and programs 24 00:01:54,360 --> 00:01:57,360 of Bible studies on this channel. 25 00:01:57,360 --> 00:02:01,280 And then you'll find, if you search, you'll find the book of 26 00:02:01,280 --> 00:02:03,760 Romans, the studies on the book of Romans, chapters one to 27 00:02:03,760 --> 00:02:05,680 three. But what I'm going to do, I'm 28 00:02:05,680 --> 00:02:11,880 going to just give an outline of what we studied in chapter 3 29 00:02:11,880 --> 00:02:15,760 last time we were looking at the book of Romans, chapter 3. 30 00:02:15,760 --> 00:02:20,800 Romans chapter 3. Saint Paul teaches that God's 31 00:02:20,800 --> 00:02:26,680 faithfulness despite human unfaithfulness is remaining and 32 00:02:26,680 --> 00:02:30,480 forever. God's faithfulness is not 33 00:02:30,840 --> 00:02:35,440 affected altered by man's unfaithfulness. 34 00:02:35,760 --> 00:02:38,240 St. Paul addresses the question of 35 00:02:38,600 --> 00:02:44,160 he begins whether the Jews still had an advantage on the Gentiles 36 00:02:44,160 --> 00:02:49,520 when it came to salvation and he came to the salvific plan of 37 00:02:49,520 --> 00:02:51,720 God. And he explains that yes, they 38 00:02:51,720 --> 00:02:54,080 did because they had an advantage. 39 00:02:54,400 --> 00:02:57,680 They were entrusted with God's revelation. 40 00:02:57,920 --> 00:03:01,720 However, they disobeyed. They didn't accept, they were 41 00:03:01,720 --> 00:03:06,120 not faithful. Their unfaithfulness didn't 42 00:03:06,120 --> 00:03:10,840 cancel God's faithfulness just because the Jews who had the 43 00:03:10,840 --> 00:03:14,720 oracles, who had the law, who had the revelation were 44 00:03:14,720 --> 00:03:16,880 unfaithful and did not believe in God. 45 00:03:16,880 --> 00:03:21,640 This is pre Jesus Christ, praise be his name, but that still 46 00:03:21,640 --> 00:03:26,960 didn't alter God's faithfulness. In verse four he writes let God 47 00:03:26,960 --> 00:03:31,480 be true, but every man a liar. So you know, an example is just 48 00:03:31,480 --> 00:03:38,920 because Christians are not good, obeying God, fearing God, loving 49 00:03:38,920 --> 00:03:44,040 God, obeying people, that doesn't make Christianity a bad 50 00:03:44,040 --> 00:03:48,280 faith, that doesn't make the righteousness of God through his 51 00:03:48,280 --> 00:03:53,400 only begotten Son, Jesus Christ and his Holy Spirit unfaithful. 52 00:03:53,400 --> 00:03:58,040 No, no, no. It's those people, individuals 53 00:03:58,240 --> 00:04:03,200 who label themselves Christians, who claim that they are 54 00:04:03,200 --> 00:04:05,640 Christians. They've believed in God, they've 55 00:04:05,640 --> 00:04:08,800 been baptized, they wear their crosses and their tattoos, but 56 00:04:08,800 --> 00:04:14,000 they live contrary to God's oracles and God's commandments. 57 00:04:14,240 --> 00:04:16,519 That doesn't make Christianity a bad thing. 58 00:04:16,519 --> 00:04:20,120 If a, if a Christian goes around and murders people, Christ does 59 00:04:20,120 --> 00:04:24,800 not command that Christ doesn't, does not ask that of his 60 00:04:24,800 --> 00:04:27,200 followers and we see an other face. 61 00:04:27,200 --> 00:04:31,640 It's, it's the opposite that yes, yes, the leader of the 62 00:04:31,640 --> 00:04:35,360 faith, the ruler of the faith, the author of the faith, the 63 00:04:35,360 --> 00:04:41,040 book of the faith is claiming and asking and commanding that 64 00:04:41,120 --> 00:04:46,080 this be done. So just because Christians are 65 00:04:46,080 --> 00:04:53,360 not living a Christian life, it does not make Christ unfaithful 66 00:04:53,640 --> 00:04:56,760 or unholy. So that was the message from 67 00:04:56,760 --> 00:04:59,040 Saint Paul. Then he teaches us that the 68 00:04:59,040 --> 00:05:01,760 heart of the chapter, chapter 3, when you read it, is that 69 00:05:01,760 --> 00:05:05,920 righteousness is through faith in Jesus Christ and Jesus Christ 70 00:05:05,960 --> 00:05:08,640 alone. No one else, just Jesus Christ, 71 00:05:08,640 --> 00:05:12,040 praise be to his name. Righteousness is through faith 72 00:05:12,120 --> 00:05:17,520 in Jesus Christ and that God's righteousness is now revealed, 73 00:05:17,800 --> 00:05:20,960 that righteousness of God. And you know what righteousness 74 00:05:20,960 --> 00:05:24,840 means? It's not another person. 75 00:05:25,760 --> 00:05:34,400 It's not an an act of something that that is within you. 76 00:05:34,400 --> 00:05:38,440 No, no, no. God created the heavens and an 77 00:05:38,440 --> 00:05:41,960 earth and the earth, everything he saw that was good, it was 78 00:05:42,400 --> 00:05:50,520 right, it was in order, it was indented correctly, it was 79 00:05:50,520 --> 00:05:56,040 correct, it was right. Man disobeyed God and then chaos 80 00:05:56,320 --> 00:06:03,600 and error and corruption came into the world and man continued 81 00:06:03,640 --> 00:06:10,080 in that era and unrighteousness. God through the history of man, 82 00:06:10,200 --> 00:06:14,240 we call the salvific plant, through His plan and through His 83 00:06:14,640 --> 00:06:21,080 grace and love and mercy began to make things right. 84 00:06:21,560 --> 00:06:26,760 But then he saw that man still couldn't be right because the 85 00:06:26,760 --> 00:06:31,960 laws, the laws that God gave, the written law, the law of the 86 00:06:31,960 --> 00:06:35,960 flesh couldn't do anything, couldn't make man right because 87 00:06:35,960 --> 00:06:38,520 man was weak. It didn't happen. 88 00:06:38,680 --> 00:06:41,400 So what did God do? Praise be to his name to come. 89 00:06:41,400 --> 00:06:45,400 Flesh came down, we say, sent his Son, our Lord Jesus Christ, 90 00:06:45,760 --> 00:06:50,960 God the Son and God made it and Jesus made God made it right 91 00:06:51,120 --> 00:06:54,400 through his son. He made everything right. 92 00:06:54,400 --> 00:06:56,640 He corrected everything. He put everything into 93 00:06:56,640 --> 00:07:00,680 perspective. And from that point to now, 94 00:07:01,000 --> 00:07:06,320 things are gone even worse and truly out of whack and chaos 95 00:07:06,800 --> 00:07:10,240 because of the laws and the legislations and all, the, all 96 00:07:10,240 --> 00:07:15,120 the, and the freedom of choice and speech and I do what I want. 97 00:07:15,120 --> 00:07:18,360 I am my own God. It's a mess out there. 98 00:07:19,040 --> 00:07:22,520 The Lord Jesus Christ one more time will come back and he will 99 00:07:22,520 --> 00:07:26,280 make it right again. He will correct it again, but 100 00:07:26,280 --> 00:07:29,840 this time he will not correct and leave another Oracle or 101 00:07:29,840 --> 00:07:31,680 another covenant. No, no, no. 102 00:07:31,680 --> 00:07:37,320 He will then make it right for eternity with him in his 103 00:07:37,320 --> 00:07:42,040 Kingdom. So that righteousness of God, 104 00:07:42,600 --> 00:07:46,800 Paul writes, was revealed through Jesus Christ and was 105 00:07:46,920 --> 00:07:52,120 available to all who would believe in the Lord Jesus 106 00:07:52,120 --> 00:07:54,880 Christ, all who would believe in him. 107 00:07:55,480 --> 00:08:00,480 In verse 23 we read for all have sinned all, not just the Jews, 108 00:08:00,720 --> 00:08:06,160 for all have sinned and fall short of the glory of God. 109 00:08:07,440 --> 00:08:14,680 In chapter 5 of the book of Romans verse 12 he will state 110 00:08:14,680 --> 00:08:21,240 that for just as just as by the agency of one man sin entered 111 00:08:21,240 --> 00:08:24,920 the universe, so all sinned. Every person coming into this 112 00:08:24,920 --> 00:08:30,760 world have have the repercussion of that act which is sin. 113 00:08:31,480 --> 00:08:37,840 And yet believers in verse 24 of chapter 3 are justified freely. 114 00:08:38,320 --> 00:08:41,400 Freely. There's liberty, beloved, 115 00:08:41,600 --> 00:08:44,600 liberty, liberty, liberty. And this is not insurance. 116 00:08:45,000 --> 00:08:47,480 This is assurance. It's not insurance. 117 00:08:47,520 --> 00:08:55,120 It is assurance justified freely, not by force, not to pay 118 00:08:55,120 --> 00:08:57,040 anything. You don't have to pay a jizya, 119 00:08:57,440 --> 00:09:01,160 you don't have to say a few words and and otherwise your, 120 00:09:01,360 --> 00:09:03,320 your, your life will be in danger. 121 00:09:03,320 --> 00:09:08,640 No, no, no, God justified and I'll tell you who soon justified 122 00:09:08,640 --> 00:09:12,480 freely by his grace. So there's nothing you need to 123 00:09:12,480 --> 00:09:17,240 pay, nothing you need to do to be justified. 124 00:09:17,560 --> 00:09:20,800 Don't jump the gun. This is not a contradiction, yet 125 00:09:21,240 --> 00:09:25,520 justified freely by His grace through the redemption that is 126 00:09:25,520 --> 00:09:30,560 in Jesus Christ verse 24. In other words, Christ 127 00:09:30,720 --> 00:09:34,920 sacrificed himself to reconcile humanity to God. 128 00:09:35,280 --> 00:09:40,080 And lastly then Paul writes boasting then is excluded since 129 00:09:40,080 --> 00:09:45,320 salvation. Since salvation is a gift of 130 00:09:45,320 --> 00:09:49,840 grace, salvation doesn't necessarily mean eternal life 131 00:09:49,840 --> 00:09:54,480 with Jesus Christ. Since salvation is a gift of 132 00:09:54,480 --> 00:09:59,000 grace received through faith, no one can boast before God is what 133 00:09:59,000 --> 00:10:02,200 the the message Jesus is Saint Paul is giving us. 134 00:10:02,400 --> 00:10:07,960 Both the Jews and the Gentiles are saved in the same way, by 135 00:10:07,960 --> 00:10:13,680 believing you want to be saved. And we talked about salvation in 136 00:10:13,680 --> 00:10:16,080 our last episode, so I'm not going to repeat it. 137 00:10:16,600 --> 00:10:20,760 When I say you want to be saved, it does not mean instant eternal 138 00:10:20,760 --> 00:10:24,320 life in the Kingdom of heaven. Listen to last episode. 139 00:10:24,600 --> 00:10:28,160 Saint Paul concludes that faith does not abolish the law. 140 00:10:28,160 --> 00:10:31,040 No, no, no. The law wasn't abolished. 141 00:10:31,040 --> 00:10:34,400 It was fulfilled and its purpose was fulfilled. 142 00:10:34,640 --> 00:10:39,440 Why was the law not abolished? Because he who gave the law 143 00:10:39,640 --> 00:10:43,840 fulfilled it in his own body. He took on our flesh. 144 00:10:43,960 --> 00:10:46,760 That means He was our representative. 145 00:10:46,760 --> 00:10:49,400 When I, when we say in his own body, that means he did it for 146 00:10:49,400 --> 00:10:52,480 you and I. He fulfilled the law in his body 147 00:10:52,480 --> 00:10:56,640 and made it clear that he didn't come to abolish the law. 148 00:10:56,640 --> 00:10:59,480 Matthew chapter 5, five verse 17. 149 00:10:59,920 --> 00:11:04,200 If the law is abolished, you can covet your neighbour's wife or 150 00:11:04,200 --> 00:11:07,840 his donkey. You can murder if the law is 151 00:11:07,840 --> 00:11:08,920 abolished. No, no, no. 152 00:11:09,280 --> 00:11:11,120 The laws are still there. The commandments are still 153 00:11:11,120 --> 00:11:12,520 there. You know, the law of the 154 00:11:12,520 --> 00:11:16,960 village, the kosher's that don't walk and not walking three miles 155 00:11:16,960 --> 00:11:19,480 on a Sabbath. And if you walk 3.1, then you 156 00:11:19,480 --> 00:11:20,760 know, I'm just giving you an example. 157 00:11:21,040 --> 00:11:24,440 Those were fulfilled. They could not bring 158 00:11:24,440 --> 00:11:27,480 righteousness because man was weak. 159 00:11:28,480 --> 00:11:33,560 Christ came fulfilled them and now he gave he he added, you 160 00:11:33,560 --> 00:11:37,680 know, it is being said an eye for an eye and a tooth for a 161 00:11:37,680 --> 00:11:40,760 tooth. But I say to you don't that's 162 00:11:40,760 --> 00:11:43,400 abolish that was evil. No, he didn't say that because 163 00:11:43,400 --> 00:11:46,600 he gave the law, but he fulfilled them and gave us a law 164 00:11:46,600 --> 00:11:50,320 of the spirit. So chapter 3 basically calls us 165 00:11:50,320 --> 00:11:53,560 to humility. It reminds us that salvation we 166 00:11:53,560 --> 00:11:58,240 spoke about, salvation is not earned by our merits. 167 00:11:58,720 --> 00:12:04,040 Salvation is not earned by our merits, but through God's mercy, 168 00:12:04,040 --> 00:12:07,040 beloved. And that mercy and that 169 00:12:07,040 --> 00:12:13,480 salvation leads us to a a life of gratitude of faith, a life of 170 00:12:13,720 --> 00:12:20,480 transformation transformed by his grace and the power of the 171 00:12:20,480 --> 00:12:24,600 Holy Spirit. So let's continue chapter 4 and 172 00:12:24,600 --> 00:12:27,600 I'll read verses 1:00 to 5:00 and we'll discuss what then, 173 00:12:27,600 --> 00:12:30,000 shall we say? Now he's going to bring examples 174 00:12:30,160 --> 00:12:31,720 and he's going to bring the forefathers. 175 00:12:31,720 --> 00:12:34,000 Now listen to these very, very carefully. 176 00:12:35,280 --> 00:12:37,920 This just supports last week's episode. 177 00:12:38,040 --> 00:12:42,520 What then shall we say concerning Abraham, the chief of 178 00:12:42,520 --> 00:12:45,560 the forefathers, who lived according to the flesh before 179 00:12:45,560 --> 00:12:49,480 God called him? For if Abraham was justified by 180 00:12:49,480 --> 00:12:56,760 works, had he had he reason to be proud, but not before God? 181 00:12:57,240 --> 00:12:59,600 So he had reason to be, but not before God. 182 00:13:00,120 --> 00:13:02,960 For what's? For what the script? 183 00:13:03,080 --> 00:13:07,600 What said the scriptures? Abraham believed in God, and it 184 00:13:07,600 --> 00:13:10,120 was counted to him for righteousness. 185 00:13:10,560 --> 00:13:15,440 But to him who works, wages are not considered as a favour, but 186 00:13:15,520 --> 00:13:21,080 as that which is due to him, and to him who works not, but only 187 00:13:21,080 --> 00:13:26,760 believes in him who justifies sinners justifies sinners, his 188 00:13:26,760 --> 00:13:30,120 faith is counted for righteousness. 189 00:13:31,400 --> 00:13:35,000 So why does he bring Abraham? What's the Why is the first 190 00:13:35,000 --> 00:13:40,600 example our forefather Abraham? Well, it was because the Jews 191 00:13:40,600 --> 00:13:43,960 kept repeating, reiterating, harping on the feather. 192 00:13:43,960 --> 00:13:46,480 Abraham, Abraham, he is our father. 193 00:13:46,480 --> 00:13:50,280 Abraham is the friend of God. Abraham is the righteous. 1 194 00:13:50,320 --> 00:13:53,800 Abraham was the first to be circumcised. 195 00:13:54,080 --> 00:13:58,840 Abraham, our father is Abraham. Paul wants to show that he was 196 00:13:58,840 --> 00:14:02,000 justified by faith, not because he was circumcised. 197 00:14:02,080 --> 00:14:04,240 No, but he still had to be circumcised, right? 198 00:14:05,400 --> 00:14:07,400 He had to, otherwise he would be put out. 199 00:14:07,400 --> 00:14:11,080 He would be put to death. So but the justification, the 200 00:14:11,080 --> 00:14:16,200 made right listen to made right to now be justified. 201 00:14:16,200 --> 00:14:20,480 He was made righteous to be justified to be made right 202 00:14:20,480 --> 00:14:24,640 again, to be made just so that then he could receive all the, 203 00:14:24,920 --> 00:14:29,840 the, the, the continuing gifts of the, the grace of, of, of the 204 00:14:29,840 --> 00:14:32,760 Holy Spirit. Back then. 205 00:14:32,760 --> 00:14:35,040 Obviously it wasn't of the Holy Spirit, it was of the flesh, but 206 00:14:35,040 --> 00:14:37,040 it was God's commandment, circumcision. 207 00:14:37,640 --> 00:14:40,400 So he wasn't justified by that. He was justified by faith. 208 00:14:40,400 --> 00:14:44,920 He was obedient to God. The Jews were boastful about 209 00:14:44,920 --> 00:14:49,240 Abraham because he was circumcised, because God spoke 210 00:14:49,240 --> 00:14:51,880 to him, because God worked for him. 211 00:14:52,000 --> 00:14:55,800 God gave the promise to him and his children. 212 00:14:56,760 --> 00:15:00,400 The very boastful John chapter 8 verse 39, they said to Jesus, 213 00:15:00,600 --> 00:15:04,680 Abraham is our father. But in Matthew chapter 8 verse 214 00:15:04,680 --> 00:15:07,880 9, John the Baptist rebukes them and says, and do not think and 215 00:15:07,880 --> 00:15:11,440 say in yourselves or to yourselves, Abraham is our 216 00:15:11,440 --> 00:15:14,240 father. For I say to you, God can raise 217 00:15:14,240 --> 00:15:18,080 up from these stones children to Abraham. 218 00:15:18,320 --> 00:15:23,600 So don't boast about Abraham. Abraham was found righteous 219 00:15:23,600 --> 00:15:26,240 because he believed you don't believe. 220 00:15:26,680 --> 00:15:31,200 That's why he says, if you knew who Abraham was, you truly 221 00:15:31,200 --> 00:15:34,240 believed in Abraham, you would believe in me, and you would 222 00:15:34,240 --> 00:15:37,280 know who I am and where I have come from. 223 00:15:38,800 --> 00:15:44,280 Mari Shudad, one of the Church fathers circa 808 fifty, writes 224 00:15:44,280 --> 00:15:47,080 this very nicely. Listen intently. 225 00:15:47,520 --> 00:15:51,880 Righteousness is not a mere legal fiction or fabrication. 226 00:15:52,160 --> 00:15:54,920 It's not. It's by God's favourable 227 00:15:54,920 --> 00:15:57,560 acceptance of Abraham, because why? 228 00:15:57,680 --> 00:16:03,160 Why did God accept Abraham? Why did Abraham find favour in 229 00:16:03,160 --> 00:16:06,400 eyes God? In the eyes of God, just like 230 00:16:06,400 --> 00:16:10,000 Mary, the blessed Mary found favour in the eyes of God. 231 00:16:10,600 --> 00:16:15,400 God's favourable acceptance of Abraham because of his trust, 232 00:16:16,480 --> 00:16:21,640 which is a tentacle, is an extension of faith because if 233 00:16:21,640 --> 00:16:23,280 you don't believe, how can you trust? 234 00:16:24,120 --> 00:16:29,360 So it was because of his trust and obedience and obedience. 235 00:16:30,400 --> 00:16:32,320 So first and foremost it was trust. 236 00:16:32,840 --> 00:16:35,560 But then he obeyed Abraham's faith. 237 00:16:35,560 --> 00:16:38,920 He continues to write Abraham's faith was living faith. 238 00:16:39,160 --> 00:16:42,160 It was a living faith demonstrated. 239 00:16:43,360 --> 00:16:49,800 This is now confirming our last episode of Faith and Deeds. 240 00:16:50,600 --> 00:16:53,440 Abraham's faith was living. It was a living faith 241 00:16:53,560 --> 00:16:58,280 demonstrated through his response to God's promises. 242 00:16:59,320 --> 00:17:01,920 You believe that Jesus died for you. 243 00:17:02,120 --> 00:17:06,440 You believe that Jesus took on our flesh and took on our sin 244 00:17:06,640 --> 00:17:10,000 and took it on the cross and nailed it to the cross, and then 245 00:17:10,000 --> 00:17:15,280 he was buried and then he took out our dead state, our 246 00:17:16,119 --> 00:17:20,640 mortality, and he resurrected and gave us immortality. 247 00:17:20,640 --> 00:17:22,920 Great. But what is your response to 248 00:17:22,920 --> 00:17:26,440 that? Obedience, Of course, obedience 249 00:17:26,440 --> 00:17:30,840 to what he commands. If you love me, fulfill my 250 00:17:30,840 --> 00:17:32,680 commandments. Not just believe that I've done 251 00:17:32,680 --> 00:17:35,680 this, fulfill my commandments. And there are commandments. 252 00:17:35,960 --> 00:17:39,280 He who does not, for example, he who does not eat the body of the 253 00:17:39,440 --> 00:17:42,040 of the flesh or the body of the Son of man and drink his blood 254 00:17:42,240 --> 00:17:43,760 has no life in him. There's a commandment. 255 00:17:44,760 --> 00:17:48,480 Obedience, Adam said. Yes, in the Garden of Eden. 256 00:17:48,840 --> 00:17:52,920 Not audibly, not audibly, but possibly through his silence. 257 00:17:53,800 --> 00:17:56,320 Right. He would have accepted. 258 00:17:56,400 --> 00:17:58,440 We don't read that, Adam said. Why? 259 00:17:58,480 --> 00:18:01,000 I'm going to try and eat. I want to taste it. 260 00:18:01,000 --> 00:18:04,560 No, no, no. We presume that he would have 261 00:18:04,560 --> 00:18:08,080 agreed because he had fear. But when Satan came, he 262 00:18:08,080 --> 00:18:10,080 disobeyed. He disobeyed. 263 00:18:10,240 --> 00:18:13,880 So Adam said yes. And and the reason why I say yes 264 00:18:13,880 --> 00:18:15,280 is I'm going to give you another example. 265 00:18:15,280 --> 00:18:17,960 Adam would have possibly said yes because he, he believed in 266 00:18:17,960 --> 00:18:21,240 God, he loved God. He would walk with God in the, 267 00:18:21,480 --> 00:18:24,360 in the coolness of the afternoon, he would walk with 268 00:18:24,360 --> 00:18:25,480 God. That means he would talk, he 269 00:18:25,480 --> 00:18:27,960 would live with God, right? What a beautiful relationship. 270 00:18:28,080 --> 00:18:32,600 But then he disobeyed just as the first son in Matthew chapter 271 00:18:32,600 --> 00:18:35,880 21 verse 30. He said yes to his father. 272 00:18:36,000 --> 00:18:39,280 I will go, Father, you know that I'm always obedient to. 273 00:18:39,280 --> 00:18:43,200 Oh, of course, my father. Yes, Sir, but he didn't go to 274 00:18:43,200 --> 00:18:47,240 work in the field. You, the listeners and those who 275 00:18:47,240 --> 00:18:55,080 are watching you agree, you command, you acknowledge the 276 00:18:55,080 --> 00:18:58,920 contents of these podcast series. 277 00:18:58,920 --> 00:19:00,560 Maybe you even disagree, which is great. 278 00:19:00,680 --> 00:19:03,520 You know, let's open a dialogue. Let's let's talk to one another. 279 00:19:03,920 --> 00:19:06,160 Let's let's end this tit for tat. 280 00:19:06,680 --> 00:19:10,640 Let's talk to one another. And I, you know, I, I, I, I, I 281 00:19:10,640 --> 00:19:13,920 claim that on myself first, let's talk to one another, 282 00:19:14,320 --> 00:19:15,840 right? We're preaching Jesus Christ, 283 00:19:15,840 --> 00:19:18,960 praise me to his name, but we got to preach it righteously. 284 00:19:19,040 --> 00:19:21,440 We have to preach the truth, the truth. 285 00:19:22,000 --> 00:19:25,720 So you acknowledge the contents of this podcast, but I pray and 286 00:19:25,720 --> 00:19:29,000 hope that you obey them. You obey them. 287 00:19:31,640 --> 00:19:33,880 I pray and hope that you've begun you. 288 00:19:33,880 --> 00:19:38,800 You know there is a, a, a, a, a slight or a, what do they call 289 00:19:38,800 --> 00:19:41,760 it? A, a beginning of a change of 290 00:19:41,760 --> 00:19:45,400 life. When you hear these words, there 291 00:19:45,400 --> 00:19:48,800 is a move, there is a change in your life, in your mind, how you 292 00:19:48,800 --> 00:19:51,720 think, how you perceive how you live. 293 00:19:52,400 --> 00:19:56,200 Because sending me messages and telling me all your podcasts, 294 00:19:56,200 --> 00:19:57,840 they're not my podcasts. And I'll tell you why. 295 00:19:57,840 --> 00:20:02,800 I'll tell you why. Just wait, Linda, wait, wait. 296 00:20:03,320 --> 00:20:04,800 I'll tell you. Right. 297 00:20:06,040 --> 00:20:07,920 Yes. Obeying them, acknowledging them 298 00:20:07,920 --> 00:20:11,000 and commanding them. Oh, awesome, awesome, awesome, 299 00:20:11,000 --> 00:20:13,440 great. But what good is that if it's 300 00:20:13,440 --> 00:20:16,520 not affected in your life? That's not righteousness. 301 00:20:17,320 --> 00:20:22,240 That's not righteousness. You believe, yes, but then you 302 00:20:22,240 --> 00:20:24,680 have you believe. That means you're being made 303 00:20:24,680 --> 00:20:26,840 right. That means your thoughts, your 304 00:20:26,840 --> 00:20:28,920 perception is now being corrected. 305 00:20:28,920 --> 00:20:34,520 Oh, so I can't claim to be a Christian yet live a life of 306 00:20:34,520 --> 00:20:38,440 debauchery and and you know, immorality. 307 00:20:38,680 --> 00:20:42,240 I can't live a Christian life and praise the Lord Jesus Christ 308 00:20:42,240 --> 00:20:45,320 with one mouth and cuss everyone else with another mouth. 309 00:20:45,560 --> 00:20:47,480 You see, you're now being made, right? 310 00:20:47,520 --> 00:20:48,920 But what do you got to do about that? 311 00:20:49,120 --> 00:20:51,400 These are commandments. There is a promise that if you 312 00:20:51,400 --> 00:20:55,480 change, there is eternal life. OK, Do you adhere to that? 313 00:20:55,480 --> 00:20:56,760 But do you believe in that promise? 314 00:20:56,760 --> 00:21:00,000 If so, great. If you do, don't boast. 315 00:21:00,200 --> 00:21:02,160 Don't boast. If not, pray about it. 316 00:21:02,360 --> 00:21:06,320 If not, maybe today. Today is the day of salvation. 317 00:21:06,520 --> 00:21:10,440 Today is the day to be saved from that era, though you're a 318 00:21:10,440 --> 00:21:14,800 Christian to be saved from that era today when you when you 319 00:21:14,800 --> 00:21:18,320 switch off this and and this program concludes to go on, get 320 00:21:18,320 --> 00:21:21,680 on your knees and say, Lord, help me to change, but don't 321 00:21:21,680 --> 00:21:24,200 boast. If you are you're continuing and 322 00:21:24,200 --> 00:21:26,960 you are your life has changed. Don't boast. 323 00:21:27,440 --> 00:21:34,360 Don't boast, but boast in continued prayer, asking the 324 00:21:34,360 --> 00:21:40,160 Lord Jesus Christ continually instead of boasting, boasting 325 00:21:40,160 --> 00:21:43,560 the Lord, and ask the Lord Jesus Christ to have mercy on you, a 326 00:21:43,560 --> 00:21:46,800 Sinner. You see, when we boast in our 327 00:21:46,800 --> 00:21:51,280 works, we boast. We are boasting about ourselves, 328 00:21:51,320 --> 00:21:58,080 what I did, what I do, how I conduct my conduct, my life. 329 00:21:58,480 --> 00:22:04,760 But when we find our honour and pride in having faith in God, we 330 00:22:04,760 --> 00:22:09,080 then have a much better reason for boasting, because we are 331 00:22:09,080 --> 00:22:13,120 then boasting about God and not about our souls. 332 00:22:14,000 --> 00:22:16,320 Now I'm not saying boast that you have more faith than 333 00:22:16,320 --> 00:22:18,800 everyone. No, no, no, boast that you 334 00:22:18,800 --> 00:22:21,920 believe in the Lord Jesus Christ and through that you've been 335 00:22:22,360 --> 00:22:24,640 justified and you've been made right. 336 00:22:24,960 --> 00:22:28,520 When you boast in that, you're automatically boasting in what 337 00:22:28,680 --> 00:22:31,880 God has done for you. So John Chrysostom writes, So 338 00:22:31,960 --> 00:22:37,200 boasting is excluded by faith because God makes righteous, 339 00:22:37,280 --> 00:22:41,080 justifies and saves by faith. It's God. 340 00:22:41,240 --> 00:22:44,240 So don't boast in yourself, boast in the faith that is 341 00:22:44,240 --> 00:22:48,160 because you're saying that is my faith in God, whom God has now 342 00:22:48,160 --> 00:22:51,080 moved me. So at the end of the day, you're 343 00:22:51,080 --> 00:22:53,960 not saying that it's me, you're saying it's God because who's 344 00:22:53,960 --> 00:22:57,120 your faith in in God, praise and glory be to his name and his 345 00:22:57,120 --> 00:23:01,240 Son, our Lord Jesus Christ, and he's he's holy and sanctifying 346 00:23:01,240 --> 00:23:05,680 spirit. Faith disallows boasting because 347 00:23:05,800 --> 00:23:11,800 though we contribute faith, yet in what God has done, 348 00:23:15,040 --> 00:23:19,760 disallowing boasting in our souls, when we when we are in 349 00:23:19,760 --> 00:23:23,880 faith, we are boasting again for what God has done for us, and 350 00:23:23,880 --> 00:23:29,280 that is through his grace. Psalm 34 Two, my soul makes its 351 00:23:29,280 --> 00:23:35,320 boast in the Lord God. Jeremiah 924 But whosoever 352 00:23:35,320 --> 00:23:39,480 boasts shall boast in this, whosoever understands and knows 353 00:23:39,480 --> 00:23:44,800 me that I am the Lord God performing grace, it's my grace. 354 00:23:44,800 --> 00:23:49,520 It's not you and judgment I make, righteous judgment I make 355 00:23:49,520 --> 00:23:53,480 righteous in the earth, and in these things I have delighted, 356 00:23:53,480 --> 00:23:57,800 says the Lord God. Second Corinthians 10/17/18 But 357 00:23:57,800 --> 00:24:01,960 he who boasts, let him boast in the Lord God, for it is not he 358 00:24:01,960 --> 00:24:06,040 here, it is, it is not he who praises himself who is approved, 359 00:24:06,160 --> 00:24:10,880 but the he whom the Lord God shall praise. 360 00:24:10,880 --> 00:24:16,360 Luke 17 Our praise should be I am an unworthy servant of God. 361 00:24:16,480 --> 00:24:21,200 It is God working through me. Then he goes on about rewards, 362 00:24:21,200 --> 00:24:25,480 about a you know, someone who is rewarded for something that he's 363 00:24:25,480 --> 00:24:28,320 doing, then it's his reward. Rightly so. 364 00:24:30,240 --> 00:24:38,080 If I'm working for an employer and I receive my wage, it's 365 00:24:38,080 --> 00:24:40,720 because I've worked, I've done something. 366 00:24:42,040 --> 00:24:45,400 But if I don't work, I just show up. 367 00:24:48,280 --> 00:24:52,720 I remember I forgot which I was working for. 368 00:24:52,720 --> 00:24:57,120 The manager of the supposed to say, please don't just turn up, 369 00:24:57,120 --> 00:25:01,360 do some work as well, right? If I not just show up, but I do 370 00:25:01,360 --> 00:25:04,920 work. I mean, if I just show up and do 371 00:25:04,920 --> 00:25:08,840 not work and I'm still rewarded, I can't boast about what I did. 372 00:25:08,840 --> 00:25:12,000 I did nothing. I will then have to give glory 373 00:25:12,240 --> 00:25:16,080 to that person or thank, be thankful to that person who has 374 00:25:16,240 --> 00:25:19,960 rewarded me for something I didn't do out of the kindness of 375 00:25:19,960 --> 00:25:22,680 the heart. And even with a maybe a bonus as 376 00:25:22,680 --> 00:25:24,960 well or a pay rise, I can't boast. 377 00:25:25,240 --> 00:25:28,480 I can't say I got a pay rise. Yeah, but you didn't do 378 00:25:28,480 --> 00:25:30,760 anything. It was the kindness of the 379 00:25:30,760 --> 00:25:35,560 person that gave you that. So the master proclaimed in 380 00:25:35,560 --> 00:25:41,000 verse four that Abraham was just because he leaves behind he he 381 00:25:41,000 --> 00:25:43,400 let go of the weakness of human nature. 382 00:25:44,360 --> 00:25:46,720 He knew that he's nothing with God. 383 00:25:47,840 --> 00:25:53,960 He knew that when God called him and God promised him, promised 384 00:25:54,720 --> 00:25:59,120 what he would give him and his children and all his 385 00:25:59,120 --> 00:26:04,720 generations, he let go of his human nature and he let God do 386 00:26:04,720 --> 00:26:09,320 what he promised to do. He let go of his weak nature and 387 00:26:09,640 --> 00:26:14,160 leaned and stressed so much to go towards the power of God who 388 00:26:14,160 --> 00:26:17,480 called him to the promise. And that's why he was called 389 00:26:17,480 --> 00:26:20,800 righteous. When we, when we let go of our 390 00:26:20,800 --> 00:26:25,000 own thinking and understanding and perception and, and 391 00:26:25,360 --> 00:26:29,800 philosophy and knowledge and understanding, and we totally 392 00:26:29,800 --> 00:26:33,760 rely on the power of God and what he has promised us, and we 393 00:26:33,800 --> 00:26:36,000 then be obedient. There's the word again, 394 00:26:36,000 --> 00:26:38,640 obedient. That's when God sees us as 395 00:26:38,720 --> 00:26:40,640 righteous. That's God making us right. 396 00:26:41,080 --> 00:26:45,400 It's simple, isn't it? As I said, how are wages earned? 397 00:26:45,760 --> 00:26:47,360 How are wages? How do you earn wages? 398 00:26:47,360 --> 00:26:51,200 By working right? But God gives by grace, because 399 00:26:51,200 --> 00:26:54,720 you know why God gave grace? To who? 400 00:26:54,960 --> 00:26:59,480 Just to those who were of his household or His, His chosen 401 00:26:59,480 --> 00:27:01,000 people. To the Jews alone. 402 00:27:01,000 --> 00:27:06,640 No, no, no, the Jews and the Gentiles and the pagans and even 403 00:27:06,640 --> 00:27:12,120 the sinful Jews, right? So He gave His grace to sinners 404 00:27:12,560 --> 00:27:19,280 so that when they believed in Him, they were made right, they 405 00:27:19,280 --> 00:27:25,000 were justified, they were made right and justified to do good 406 00:27:25,000 --> 00:27:28,120 works according to Ephesians chapter 2, verse 10. 407 00:27:28,840 --> 00:27:33,240 So it always begins by faith. You know the, the Sinner who 408 00:27:33,240 --> 00:27:37,680 came to Jesus when Jesus was was invited by a Pharisee and the 409 00:27:37,680 --> 00:27:41,080 Sinner the, the, the sinful, that woman that came to him and 410 00:27:41,080 --> 00:27:44,520 stood behind him by the way, stood behind him and did what 411 00:27:44,520 --> 00:27:47,480 she did. The first thing Jesus, the first 412 00:27:47,480 --> 00:27:50,960 thing Jesus acknowledges what what she did because he knew 413 00:27:50,960 --> 00:27:55,560 that was a projection of a faith that was a reflection of her 414 00:27:55,560 --> 00:28:00,520 faith, her trust and her perseverance and her love and 415 00:28:00,600 --> 00:28:04,760 her obedience to Jesus Christ. She wiped washed his feet with 416 00:28:04,760 --> 00:28:08,440 tears, wiped them with her head and she kissed them, continued 417 00:28:08,440 --> 00:28:12,320 to kiss them and she put oil or incense on them first. 418 00:28:12,360 --> 00:28:18,440 What does he do? He acknowledges that, Simon, she 419 00:28:18,440 --> 00:28:20,000 did this. You didn't do that. 420 00:28:20,600 --> 00:28:22,640 From the time I've come, she's been kissing my feet. 421 00:28:22,640 --> 00:28:24,840 You didn't even give me a kiss. You didn't even greet me with a 422 00:28:24,840 --> 00:28:28,040 kiss. But I tell you, Simon, her sins 423 00:28:28,040 --> 00:28:31,040 are forgiven. That means she was made right. 424 00:28:31,200 --> 00:28:32,800 She was righteous. She was justified. 425 00:28:33,160 --> 00:28:39,480 And then he turns and says, your faith has saved you or given you 426 00:28:39,480 --> 00:28:41,760 life. That means new life, right? 427 00:28:41,760 --> 00:28:44,080 Because without faith, she wouldn't be there. 428 00:28:44,320 --> 00:28:49,240 So it's, it works together, but at the end of the day, it not, 429 00:28:49,240 --> 00:28:52,920 it's not because what she did Christ forgave her and gave her 430 00:28:52,920 --> 00:28:55,240 new life. No, no, no, he turns around and 431 00:28:55,240 --> 00:28:58,040 said it's because of your faith that your sins have been 432 00:28:58,040 --> 00:29:00,880 forgiven and now you have new life. 433 00:29:02,440 --> 00:29:06,200 So the good works that the when, when God gives us grace and 434 00:29:06,200 --> 00:29:09,800 makes us right and makes, justifies us and gives us a new 435 00:29:09,800 --> 00:29:16,040 life in Jesus Christ, a new life in new life and new deeds and 436 00:29:16,040 --> 00:29:20,280 new walk with Jesus Christ. But the good works which we do 437 00:29:20,280 --> 00:29:24,320 now, not to boast about them, see they all go hand in hand. 438 00:29:24,640 --> 00:29:27,120 It's so confirming our last episode. 439 00:29:27,120 --> 00:29:30,960 They all go hand in hand. But the good works which we do 440 00:29:31,040 --> 00:29:36,120 after we have received the grace of God are not attributed to us, 441 00:29:36,120 --> 00:29:40,280 but rather to Jesus Christ, or to God who has justified us by 442 00:29:40,280 --> 00:29:42,160 grace. So when a Sinner believes in the 443 00:29:42,160 --> 00:29:47,480 Lord Jesus Christ and has been made right has been justified 444 00:29:47,480 --> 00:29:52,440 meaning made right. The life has been all put in 445 00:29:52,440 --> 00:29:56,400 order according to what God's plan was for mankind and then 446 00:29:56,400 --> 00:29:59,280 that person, what does he do? What did we read in the book of 447 00:29:59,320 --> 00:30:03,760 Acts after the jailer when he believed they become baptized 448 00:30:03,760 --> 00:30:07,320 being put to death so that you can do away with the law, the 449 00:30:07,320 --> 00:30:11,360 written law do you can pay the repercussion of sin. 450 00:30:11,360 --> 00:30:13,400 You can have a part. These are all biblical. 451 00:30:13,400 --> 00:30:16,160 I'm not just quoting them that you can have a part, you can 452 00:30:16,160 --> 00:30:20,040 have a a participate, a participant in the crucifixion 453 00:30:20,040 --> 00:30:23,840 of the Lord Jesus Christ in baptism, put to death, born in 454 00:30:23,840 --> 00:30:27,680 you, justified, made righteous and saved. 455 00:30:28,400 --> 00:30:32,520 What do you do next? You obey just as Abraham obeyed. 456 00:30:32,920 --> 00:30:37,160 But when you start obeying, when you start doing the works that 457 00:30:37,160 --> 00:30:41,320 God has said before the beginning of time, from the 458 00:30:41,320 --> 00:30:43,880 beginning of time, you still cannot boast. 459 00:30:43,880 --> 00:30:47,920 And I always say when we enter the Kingdom of heaven, when we 460 00:30:47,960 --> 00:30:50,880 enter the Kingdom of heaven, having believed in the Lord 461 00:30:50,880 --> 00:30:54,000 Jesus Christ, having been made righteous, being justified, 462 00:30:54,080 --> 00:30:58,240 having been put to death with him, you know, born a new in a 463 00:30:58,240 --> 00:31:02,480 new life with Jesus Christ. And when continue, strive, 464 00:31:02,800 --> 00:31:07,560 strive with the good deeds that God has given us and we do and 465 00:31:07,560 --> 00:31:11,240 graciously again and graciously have been granted the Kingdom of 466 00:31:11,240 --> 00:31:14,560 heaven. Even then we say not to me, O 467 00:31:14,560 --> 00:31:17,200 Lord, but to you. What does the psalmist says not 468 00:31:17,200 --> 00:31:22,320 to US, not not to us be glory, but to you alone because I am 469 00:31:22,320 --> 00:31:27,160 now entering by your grace. And if someone would say, well, 470 00:31:27,160 --> 00:31:28,200 hang on. Why? 471 00:31:28,200 --> 00:31:32,600 I mean, I strived, I did everything and God will turn and 472 00:31:32,600 --> 00:31:36,800 say, yeah, but I taught you, these are the gifts of my grace. 473 00:31:36,920 --> 00:31:42,200 I had set these boundaries or I had set these deeds that you 474 00:31:42,200 --> 00:31:45,240 need to work on. So even then you cannot boast 475 00:31:45,400 --> 00:31:54,440 because if God had wanted to give mankind everyone the reward 476 00:31:54,440 --> 00:31:59,200 that is due to us, he would have given us the punishment due to 477 00:31:59,200 --> 00:32:01,520 sinners. Beloved, we're all sinners. 478 00:32:01,520 --> 00:32:07,080 We sin, but God graciously, graciously makes us right. 479 00:32:07,080 --> 00:32:11,400 You know, righteousness is, is a, a part of life on a Sunday. 480 00:32:11,400 --> 00:32:15,280 And I'll conclude with this. We come to church all out of 481 00:32:15,280 --> 00:32:18,320 place, all out of whack. Our thoughts, our minds, our 482 00:32:18,320 --> 00:32:20,600 deeds, what we've said, what we've what we've done, the 483 00:32:20,600 --> 00:32:23,640 decisions we've made, the walk that we've walked, all out of 484 00:32:23,640 --> 00:32:30,880 place, unjustified. God clicks the justification and 485 00:32:30,880 --> 00:32:35,080 puts it all and thence it puts it all and makes it right after 486 00:32:35,080 --> 00:32:38,320 we have concluded our worship service, have been forgiven, 487 00:32:38,320 --> 00:32:41,320 cleansed by the body of Christ, and then we leave again and we 488 00:32:41,320 --> 00:32:43,680 one more time mess it all up again. 489 00:32:43,920 --> 00:32:47,920 We come back and we ask God, God make us write one more time. 490 00:32:48,840 --> 00:32:52,600 Forgive us one more time. Help me to repent one more time. 491 00:32:52,960 --> 00:32:55,480 It's a living experience. It's 100. 492 00:32:55,520 --> 00:32:59,080 It's not 100 meter dash. It is a marathon, beloved, but 493 00:32:59,080 --> 00:33:04,040 God's gracious love and mercy are always ready to justify, to 494 00:33:04,040 --> 00:33:08,840 make right, to forgive, and to bring you to that walk of 495 00:33:08,840 --> 00:33:11,760 repentance one more time until He returns. 496 00:33:11,760 --> 00:33:13,920 Praise and glory be to His name now and all the times and 497 00:33:13,920 --> 00:33:14,800 forever. Amen. 498 00:33:43,110 --> 00:33:45,110 We hope you enjoyed this week's message. 499 00:33:45,190 --> 00:33:48,350 Please don't forget to rate and review this podcast and share 500 00:33:48,350 --> 00:33:51,830 with your friends and family for any future topic suggestions are 501 00:33:51,830 --> 00:33:55,150 to give us detailed feedback, please visit our link in the 502 00:33:55,150 --> 00:34:00,590 show notes linktr dot EE forward slash double edged sword. 503 00:34:01,070 --> 00:34:01,950 Until next time.