announcement: 0:01

Hello and welcome to the Waking Up to Grace podcast, where we celebrate and explore the finished work of our Lord Jesus Christ. Tune in to the Waking Up to Grace podcast on every major platform. You can also listen to our episodes and read our full transcripts at wakinguptogracecom. And now here's Lenny.

Lenny: 0:22

I've heard it said that what keeps people from reading their Bibles and what keeps people from taking interest in the Lord is their sin. I think that that's true. It has to be true. The solution to this problem in our society seems to be religion, a system of getting right with God. When you enter into religion, you're taught a hyper-awareness of sin and then presented with the measures you must take in order to keep that from affecting your relationship with your Heavenly Father. Confession and asking for forgiveness is a driving force in this system of maintaining your fellowship and rightness with God.

Lenny: 0:58

Welcome to the Small Fringe Minority Podcast, where we hold the views that are unacceptable to today's systematic religion, but seriously welcome to the Waking Up to Grace podcast, you guys. Does a sinner need legalism in their lives to become Christian? Do Christians who struggle with sin in their lives need more legalism? Have you ever considered that, if sin is the real problem keeping people from taking interest in Yahweh, that rules and regulations are not the solution? I think a lot of people can see the bait and switch that goes on in religion, where you get the gospel message like a carrot on a stick while you're plugged into the system. Does this religious system change our lives? Or was it that carrot on the stick that motivates? What is the real driving force that causes the transformation of our inner being? Is it the number of sins we ask for forgiveness for per day? Is it the impressively low number of sins we commit now that we have been born again? I would argue that it is the love of Christ, yeshua and the love of Yahweh that drives us. It is the Spirit of God living in us that changes our lives. Understanding sin from God's view is essential, yes, but we don't need religion to keep us in line. We need to be set free. We're alive in Christ and we need to learn to live in that freedom. We need to leave that broken system of religion and stop making our Lord out to be a double talker. Our journey of waking up to grace begins when we understand the gospel of grace.

Lenny: 2:30

Paul wrote, for the love of Christ controls us, having concluded this, that one died for all, therefore all died, and he died for all so that they who live might no longer live for themselves, but for him, who died and rose again on their behalf. Therefore, from now on, we recognize no one according to the flesh, even though we have known Christ according to the flesh, yet now we know him in this way no longer. Therefore, if anyone is in Christ, he is a new creature. The old things passed away. Behold, new things have come Now. All these things are from God, who reconciled us to himself through Christ and gave us the ministry of reconciliation. 2 Corinthians 5, 14-18.

Lenny: 3:14

Paul really lays things out in this passage to the Corinthians. Paul says the love of Christ controls us. And how is that so? He died for all, so that those who lived through Christ might no longer live for themselves, but for him, who died and rose to life on their behalf. We have someone else we live for now.

Lenny: 3:34

Did you notice that Paul said they might no longer live for themselves? I think this is an important detail in the writing. It seems that, according to Paul, those who did not live for Christ lived for themselves. Now, what was going on at that time that would cause people who were zealous for God to live for themselves? Paul said that his Jewish brothers were zealous for God, but not based on knowledge. In context, it was the knowledge of Christ Yeshua that was missing, and, in turn, they could not be controlled by the love of Christ. They had no love.

Lenny: 4:07

According to the writings of John in his gospel account and his epistle, which was truly like a shortened version of his gospel account, it is after Paul tells us those without Christ were living for themselves that he reveals exactly why this was the case. Therefore, from now on, we recognize no one according to the flesh, even though we have known Christ according to the flesh. Yet now we know him in this way no longer. Paul clearly tells us here that we no longer recognize each other according to the flesh. We no longer recognize Christ in this way either. The age of Christ, the law teacher, has been fulfilled. We need to abide in Christ, the Savior, christ our brother, christ our Lord, christ our friend. We have a love relationship with Yahweh now, and nothing can separate us from this in any way, shape or form. Not positionally, not relationally, not literally, not figuratively, not when we sin, not ever. Therefore, if anyone is in Christ, he is a new creature. The old things passed away. Behold, new things have come Now. All these things are from God, who reconciled us to himself through Christ and gave us the ministry of reconciliation. You are a new creation, according to Paul. That's not a position. That's who you are According to what, according to his ministry, the ministry of reconciliation, paul called the law, a ministry of condemnation. Here he calls grace. The ministry of reconciliation Paul's ministry made people right with God. It made people holy. It sanctified people. It purified them from all sin. It transformed them into a holy creature that's pleasing to God. It brought the faithful into a perfect union with the Heavenly Father. No self-effort required. Gentile, which is everyone who is not born of original Jewish origin, you were never under law. You were not born under law. Even those who claim to be following Judaism today are not under law law. Even those who claim to be following Judaism today are not under law, nor do they observe the law. They are born dead in unbelief, and you were born dead in unbelief. Without Christ, we are still an atom. Original sin keeps us from life. That didn't change. Show me one passage telling us differently. I've heard teachers say that we are automatically in Christ now, unless we actually reject him. This makes people all happy, but it's nothing more than universalism disguised as grace. It's not taught in our scriptures. Therefore, we must stretch the truth to come to a conclusion like this and what good does it? Do you go around thinking the whole faithless world is safe and sound, and they're not. They're miserable and in need of Christ Yeshua if they are to have peace and life. But on the other side of the spectrum we have people teaching that the laws are sort of carried into the new covenant. We're not bound to them as laws, they will say, but they are spiritual rules that keep us holy. The Sabbath is generally excluded here, as most, but not all. All realize. Christ is the Sabbath. Rest for the faithful. This stance would say that these laws are now in our hearts. This view ties in perfectly to the doctrine of positional forgiveness and positional grace. Rather than proclaiming the freedom of the gospel of full grace, as Paul would teach, they go right into dividing up grace into two categories fellowship and salvation. Eternal life is separate from our relationship with the Father. We are fully saved for heaven but can be made unholy by our sin. This teaching has cleverly brought the law right back into its front position, while proclaiming that it has been fulfilled by Christ. It is truly nothing more than what Paul had to call out Peter on in Galatians, chapter 2. It's just a deeper deception. It takes discernment to pull out of the bondage of this mindset as it has become part of our Christian culture. In our day, it is what we consider normal and perfectly acceptable, but what has happened is most of what is considered. The church today has turned away from grace and back to the flesh. The funny thing about it is that we were never partakers of the law to begin with, but we have brought this ministry of condemnation, as Paul calls it, back to life. We have watered down the blood of Christ and begun to spread condemnation as if it's some kind of good news. There are several passages in our scripture that describe Yahweh putting his law on the hearts and minds of his people. What we want to do is find out exactly what he means by this. Are we talking about the 613 commandments of the law of Moses? Are we talking about the nine commandments quoted in the New Testament of our Bibles, or is it something different altogether? Let's take a look at some of these passages and see if we can make some sense out of them. Our first passage says Behold, days are coming, declares the Lord, when I will make a new covenant with the house of Israel and with the house of Judah, not like the covenant which I made with their fathers in the day I took them by the hand to bring them out of the land of Egypt. My covenant, which they broke, although I was a husband to them, declares the Lord. But this is the covenant that I will make with the house of Israel. After those days, declares the Lord, I will put my law within them and on their heart. I will write it and I will be their God and they shall be my people. They will not teach again each man, his neighbor and each man his brother saying Know the Lord, for they will all know me, from the least of them to the greatest of them, declares the Lord, for I will forgive their iniquity and their sin. I will remember no more. Jeremiah 31, 31-34. And I should note that these passages are taken out of the NASB translation. This Old Covenant passage is clearly a prophecy of the New Covenant to come. There are a couple of things we need to take into account here. One I will forgive their iniquity and their sin. I will remember no more. Under the New Covenant, sid would no longer be an issue between Yahweh and his people. He was going to give them full forgiveness and no longer remember their sin. And because of this, they will not teach again each man, his neighbor, and each man, his brother, saying Know the Lord, for they will all know me, from the least of them to the greatest of them, declares the Lord In scripture. Knowing is a very intimate thing. It would mean being very close with, very familiar with. This type of relationship was not possible under the old covenant because of sin. So that brings us to. But this is the covenant which I make with the house of Israel. After those days, declares the Lord, I will put my law within them, on their heart, I will write it and I will be their God and they shall be my people. The first thing we need to recognize here is that this new covenant includes us, the Gentiles. The Israel here refers to Christ. This wasn't going to be for nation Israel alone. It would be for those who believe in the Messiah, jew and Gentile. But what laws will be on our heart? Are we to have the Torah or the 613 old covenant commandments in our hearts, just the nine commandments in our New Testament scripture, or something else entirely? Hold that thought as we look at our next passage. Then I will sprinkle clean water on you and you will be clean. I will cleanse you from all your filthiness and from all your idols. Moreover, I will give you a new heart and put a new spirit within you, and I will remove the heart of stone from your flesh and give you a heart of flesh. I will put my spirit within you and cause you to walk in my statutes, and you will be careful to observe my ordinances. Ezekiel 36, 25-27. There are several things to consider about this prophecy of the new covenant that was to come. The first thing we should understand is that this prophecy was to the people of nation Israel, but the prophecy was about New Covenant Israel. New Covenant Israel is Christ. Those in Christ are now partakers of this everlasting covenant and in this way, could be considered part of this passage. But us Gentiles never observed the law. Judaism fully ended in AD 70. There has been no observance of the Mosaic law for almost 2,000 years. So how could we walk in his statutes and be careful to observe his ordinances? Well, we again see an interesting occurrence here, where his laws in our hearts is mentioned, along with being made pure. This time we read Then I will sprinkle clean water on you and you will be clean. I will cleanse you from all your filthiness. Israel had issues with idols. If you've read the Old Testament you know what I mean. Filthiness here must relate to all things. Unfaithful Idol worship was probably the ultimate insult to Yahweh. But all sin was filth to him. He's pure and holy salt to Yahweh, but all sin was filth to him. He's pure and holy. But to sprinkle clean water on them and cleanse them from all filthiness would be unheard of under the old covenant laws and regulations. To those under the old covenant, this was an ongoing thing. There was no water clean enough to do such a thing. Their ritual purity would only last until the next sin. Ritual washings were something that was done according to the Mosaic law, and there was a few reasons to do so. For national Israel, before God spoke to the Israelites from Sinai, he commanded them to consecrate themselves, wash their clothes and be ready by the third day when he would appear to them For the priesthood. At the consecration of the priests, moses brought Aaron and his sons forward and washed them with water In an individual basis. A person who had recovered from an unclean skin disease had to wash his clothes, shave off all of his hair and bathe with water to be ceremonially clean. And then, the centuries after the last books of the Hebrew scriptures were written up into the era of the development of rabbinic Judaism, is recorded that baptism was used as a symbolic ritual activity by various Jewish communities. And then we have some examples of the Qumran community, along with some ancient rabbinic sources following these practices From the Qumran, the Jewish community at Qumran, probably an Essene group around the 2nd century BC to 1st century AD that produced the Dead Sea Scrolls they used washings as a rite of cleansing and from the Damascus Rule, which is a translation from the Dead Sea Scrolls in English, by Giza Worms no man shall bathe in dirty water or in an amount too shallow to cover a man. He shall not purify himself with water contained in a vessel. That was chapter 10. And then no man entering the house of worship shall come unclean and in need of washing, and that's chapter 11. And then, in rabbinic and earlier forms of Judaism, baptism, along with male circumcision and sacrificial offerings, was a requirement for full conversion. This was a baptism of initiation. The date in this practice is somewhat obscure, but it postdates the Hebrew scriptures and predates the Mishnah. The Babylonian Talmud states as your fathers entered into the covenant only by circumcision, immersion and the sprinkling of the blood. So shall they. The proselytes, enter the covenant only by circumcision, immersion and the sprinkling of the blood. That's Keratot 9a. So, as we can see, ritual cleansings and ritual purification were part of Jewish thought, but this was a ritual, it was an ongoing process. It was not eternal. What we read from the prophet Ezekiel is much bigger than this. He said then I will sprinkle clean water on you and you will be clean. I will cleanse you from all your filthiness and from all your idols. Ezekiel speaks of a total cleansing of Israel, the cleansing that new covenant Israel, those in Christ receive. But he doesn't stop there. That's just the way our Lord is. Moreover, I will give you a new heart and put a new spirit within you, and I will remove the heart of stone from your flesh and give you a heart of flesh. I will put my spirit within you and cause you to walk in my statutes, and you will be careful to observe my ordinances Ezekiel 36, 26, and 27. So we get a new spirit and a heart transplant. Wow, that is no small operation, is it Seriously? That is really cool to think about, isn't it? Then he puts his spirit within us. So we have a new spirit, a new heart and his spirit within us, making us in perfect union with our Lord. But then we have the statutes and ordinances. I will put my spirit within you and cause you to walk in my statutes and you will be careful to observe my ordinances. What do we do with that passage? That sounds very legalistic, doesn't it? Does our spiritual transformation make us law-abiding superheroes? Is this what Peter means when he says Seeing that his divine power has granted to us everything pertaining to life and godliness through the true knowledge of him who calls us by his own glory and excellence? 2 Peter 1.3. Did scripture just tell us that we'll become like law-abiding super robots that put old covenant Israel to shame with our flawless law-keeping that comes right from our very heart that God gave us at regeneration? Do you see this happening in your Christian circles? Am I missing something? Where do you go to church? I'm just messing with you guys and you know that, but this is a serious thing. I think a lot of bad doctrine comes from not knowing what to do with these passages. We figure we have to apply it to ourselves somehow and end up going down the wrong path. We figure we have to apply it to ourselves somehow and end up going down the wrong path. We don't want that wide path when it comes to our faith, do we? So what is this passage talking about then? What do we do with this text? How do we apply it? What does it mean to have God's laws written on our hearts? I think we should first consider what the true function of the law was. According to Paul the Apostle, the law came in so that the transgression would increase. Romans 5.20. The law teaches us how utterly sinful humanity is and how holy Yahweh is. That's what we should take from the law. And then Paul writes why the law? Then? It was added because of transgressions having been ordained through angels, by the agency of a mediator, until the seed would come, to whom the promise has been made? Galatians 3.19. Paul then says therefore, the law has become our tutor to lead us to Christ, so that we may be justified by faith. But now that faith has come, we're no longer under a tutor, for you are all sons of God through faith in mind. Here, the Galatian church was being put under law by the circumcision party. There were Gentiles being persuaded to follow the Jewish custom of circumcision for salvation. This mindset was certainly setting their sights on a works-based righteousness. Gentiles were never under the law. They were never under a tutor. Paul simply explained the function of the law in order for the Galatians to understand grace and set their minds free from the bondage they were being put under. If the function of the law was to lead people to Christ, do we need it written on our hearts? For some reason Is the law written on our hearts? What do we do with those passages? In the New Testament of our Bible, christ is referred to as the Sabbath rest. He also fulfilled the law. Some point out that nine of the ten commandments are cited in our New Testament and that those are now in our hearts. If we love God, we will be obedient to those. Obedience to those keeps us in fellowship. It is our way of staying holy. I even heard it said that, since Christ is the Sabbath, we don't need to only worship one day a week. We get to be holy every day, and being holy would mean obedience to those nine commandments. This was supposed to be good news. I'm eternally grateful to have a clearer picture of Christ Yeshua than this. I'm overjoyed that I'm not living under the bondage of a doctrine like this. It makes me deeply sad that so many are led down a path like that, but that's what makes waking up to grace so good, isn't it? How can we know light if we've never been in the dark? We still need to dig in the details, though we can't be believing this just because I said so, can we? One indication to me that our prophetic passages were not talking about the actual 613 commandments of the Mosaic Law or any of the related laws is that in our Jeremiah 31 passage, law did not have a capital L, at least in my NASB translation. It seems that these scholars made the correct discernment here and understood that this was not the law and only used a capital L in other passages pertaining to the law of Moses. Another indication is that in our Jeremiah passage it states I will put my law within them. It doesn't say the law, but rather my law. It is much more stated in the scripture as the law when referring to the Mosaic law or law of Moses. And then in Ezekiel it was I will put my spirit within you and cause you to walk in my statutes and you will be careful to observe my ordinances when it comes to righteousness. Who knew what Yahweh was looking for better than anyone. Yes, christ, yeshua. Did you know that Christ Yeshua at times referred to scripture as the law? Yeah, sometimes the term was used to refer to scripture, not just specifically the scriptures containing the law, and essentially all of scripture points to Christ, our Messiah. Just some food for thought. We already know that. Paul taught that we don't know Christ in the flesh any longer. We are not brought into fellowship by following any part of the law, not even the nine laws in the New Testament. We're not saved by grace and brought into fellowship by the law. We're not saved by grace and maintain holiness by the law. Christ taught the law in a way that should open our eyes to this reality. This was not to teach Christians how to be obedient to the big nine commandments and follow them from the heart. He had better commands. A new and better covenant needs new and better commands. As we went over in my last episode, yeshua summed up the whole law in two commandments before the Pharisees. In response to them trying to trick him, yeshua said the whole law could be summed up in these two commands. One you shall love the Lord, your God, with all your heart and with all your soul and with all your mind. Two you shall love your neighbor as yourself. These two commandments focused on love. Love was what the Pharisees lacked. They had a clean cup and dish mentality, but according to Christ, we're full of hypocrisy. This statement brought their error out into the light before all who heard. Those statements were not made to be a Christian guide to holiness. So if we can't use these passages to guide our behavior, how are we supposed to act? I thought you'd never ask Christ. Yeshua gave us two new and better commandments to guide us under the new and better covenant. Those commands were one believe in him, who he has sent and is written. Therefore, they said to him what shall we do so that we may do the works of God? Jesus answered and said to them this is the work of God, that you believe in him, who he has sent. That's John 6, 28. And number two love one another. As I have loved you, as it is written, little children, I am with you. A little while longer you will seek me. And as I have loved you, as it is written, little children, I am with you. A little while longer you will seek me. And as I said to the Jews, now I also say to you where I am going, you cannot come. A new commandment I give to you that you love one another, even as I have loved you, that you also love one another. By this, all men will know that you are my disciples if you have love for one another. John 13, 33. Our Lord fulfilled the law for us and on top of that, wiped out the law forever in AD 70. We live in the new covenant age now and forever. It is finished. We are now free in Christ and have two rules to live by that have been fulfilled in us at salvation. We believe in our Savior and through our knowledge of him we become filled with his love in our new hearts. Legalism does not produce love. Love can only come from the heart. Okay, guys, we have one last passage. I saved the best for last. This one can be quite confusing and has been interpreted in all kinds of ways, but there's only one way that I can see it, in light of grace. Are you ready? Here we go, but glory and honor and peace to everyone who does good, to the Jew first, and also to the Greek, for there is no partiality with God, for all who have sinned without the law will also perish without the law and all who have sinned under the law will be judged by the law. For it is not the hearers of the law who are just before God, but the doers of the law will be justified. For when Gentiles do not have the law, doing instinctively the things of the law, these not having the law are a law to themselves, and that they show the work of the law is on the hearts of the Gentiles. The most common view on this passage would be that all people have the law written on their hearts. In a sense, we are all born with a sense of law on our conscience. I can see how they come up with that, but I don't think that lines up. In that same passage we read about the Gentiles, for all who have sinned without the law will also perish without the law. In another place we read Therefore, remember that formerly you, the Gentiles in the flesh, who are called uncircumcision by the so-called circumcision which is performed in the flesh by human hands, remember that you were at that time separate from Christ, excluded from the commonwealth of Israel and strangers to the covenants of promise, having no hope and without God in the world. But now, in Christ Jesus. You who formerly were far off, have been brought near by the blood of Christ, for he himself is our peace, who made both groups into one and broke down the barrier of the dividing wall Ephesians 2, 11-14. So it seems clear to me that the Gentiles never had the law. They were never under the law. They would perish without the law. How then could a Gentile have the law in their heart and how could their conscience be guided by something that their mind was not being trained in? Our conscience can only guide us based on knowledge that we have. Our conscience cannot be trusted unless it's operating on truth. So what's going on here? This is truly a challenging passage, isn't it? I think so. Another view is that Paul was speaking hypothetically. This view would say Paul was simply pointing out to the Jews that just because they had the law didn't mean they were doers of the law. They weren't justified by the law like they thought they were. In other words, earlier Paul told them they have no right to judge others because they themselves do the same things. Paul isn't literally saying the Gentiles have the work of the law written in their hearts. He's saying that if a Gentile who does not have the law was to do instinctively what is written in the law, he would be justified as a doer of the law. And the Jew who has the law but doesn't do what is written in the law would not be justified. As I mentioned before, we can often come to a similar conclusion following a different train of thought. I have no problem with the implication of this view. It doesn't promote legalism. It lines up with the gospel, it lines up with grace. It even lines up with what we have gone over so far. I think whenever we can be sure about a passage, we can gain the most insight. Though Something about this view seems to be dismissive to me. It seems like too powerful of a statement made to be hypothetical. It just doesn't read right. So I have to pray and explore further to be sure I'm not missing something. And yet another view is that the doers of the law are Gentile Christians. They have the law written on their hearts. This also fits the context, but it doesn't seem to line up with what we've talked about so far. It would seem to say that Gentile Christians have Torah, or law, written on their hearts and have a conscience now guided by that. Clearly that's not in line with grace. This view could be very dangerous if not understood correctly, but then again, what isn't? Let's see if we can make some sense out of this view and come to a conclusion that is fruitful. First, let's look back at a passage we discussed a couple weeks ago or so regarding prophecy. I will raise up a prophet from among their countrymen, like you and I will put my words in his mouth and he shall speak to them all that I command him. It shall come about that whoever will not listen to my words, which he shall speak in my name, I myself will require it of him. Deuteronomy 18, 18. A couple of episodes ago, we looked at this passage in regards to prophets, applying this passage to prophets in general, from Moses to Christ. It does contain this context, but there is another context running parallel here. The prophet in this part of the passage is Christ. That is why it is not plural in this instance. It goes on to describe prophecy in general and how to know. It is true, and there were many prophets sent under this context. But what did all prophecy rely on? The Christ. He was the prophet that would fulfill all prophecy. When we read it shall come about that whoever will not listen to my words, which he shall speak in my name. I myself will require it of him. This was about Christ and the new covenant. So, along with all the laws and commandments from Moses, we have a commandment of faith in the Messiah. The letter to the Hebrews tells us that faith was salvation all along. This new righteousness was not in direct connection with the law, according to Paul we read. Now we know that whatever the law says, it speaks to those who are under the law, so that every mouth may be closed and all the world may become accountable to God, because by the works of the law no flesh will be justified in his sight, for through the law comes the knowledge of sin. But now, apart from the law, the righteousness of God has been manifested, being witnessed by the law and the prophets. Romans 3.19. It was witnessed by the law and prophets. That is the connection. But it is not by the law that we are saved or justified. Paul clearly states apart from the law, the righteousness of God has been manifested. And remember what Paul said in our earlier passages. Why the law then? It was added because of transgressions having been ordained through angels, by the agency of a mediator until the seed would come to whom the promise has been made? Galatians 3.19. And then, therefore, the law has become our tutor to lead us to Christ, so that we may be justified by faith. But now that faith has come, we areiles never had this tutor. They were never under the law. They never had to die to the law in the way that the Jews did. Dying to the law was for Jews to be regenerated, not Gentiles. This is easy to miss and easy to forget, at least for me. I may have even spoken this incorrectly at some point due to the major shift of paradigm. It doesn't change grace, but it does deepen our understanding of it In an effort to find true context. We'll find ourselves off here and there if we're truly seeking that's growth. I think the important thing is to build on the foundation of grace. We can misinterpret in light of grace and be off a bit, but we must take care not to go down the road of legalism and build poorly on our foundation of grace. On that note, I'm excited to be working on my homepage at wakinguptogracecom soon in order to lay out the foundation that we hold to in our ministry. I think that is extremely important as we explore the depths of scriptural context. I'll keep you guys posted on progress so you can check it out. So, getting back to our passage, the context of our Romans passage is definitely the law. We can't get around that. But it must be referring to what the law declared about faith in Messiah. It must be referring to what the law declared about faith in Messiah. It must be referring to the laws declared by the one whom was sent by Yahweh. I suppose, in this sense, you could say that Christ, yeshua, was the law. I wouldn't go around talking that way without explaining myself, though. So if the law was really leading to Christ and Christ fulfilled the law, we are saved and justified. Apart from the law, we were never under the law. The law is not in effect today and is obsolete. The law is no longer our tutor or instructor in any way. Then what law is in our heart? What laws guide the Christian? If Christ is the law that is in our heart, what guides our conscience now? How are we supposed to please Yahweh if we don't know how to act? Most will guide you to the two laws that Christ used to expose the hypocrisy of the Pharisees One. You shall love the Lord, your God, with all your heart, all your soul, all your mind. And two, you shall love your neighbor as yourself. Christ was not teaching us what would be written on our hearts in this passage. Torah or law was not to be written on the heart of the Christian. Those are not the words of the prophet we read about in Deuteronomy. When you try and place this on your heart as a Christian, you open the door to the same legalism that the Galatian church was put under. The Pharisees had no love, and these two commandments pointed out what the Pharisees were lacking in their rule-keeping had no love, and these two commandments pointed out what the Pharisees were lacking in their rule keeping, the clean cup and dish mentality. That had no love. So what did the Messiah, who fulfilled the law for all people, tell us on how to live, moving forward, as we discussed earlier? One believe in him, who he has sent. Therefore, they said to him what shall we do so that we may work the works of God? Jesus answered and said to them this is the work of God, that you believe in him, who he has sent. And then, number two love one another. As I have loved you, little children, I am with you a little while longer, you will seek me and, as I said to the Jews, now I will also say to you when I am going. You cannot come A new commandment I give to you that you love one another even as I have loved you, that you also love one another. By this, all men will know that you are my disciples if you have love for one another. This is the law of the new covenant and comes with no burden or self-effort. It is all the work of our Lord Christ Yeshua, and a gift given to us from our father, yahweh. Yahweh regenerates us and fills us with his love through his son. We now have that love within us and Yeshua lives his life in and through us, thus fulfilling his own commands and those who are guided by his amazing grace. So let's read that passage once more and break it down a bit Romans 2, 10 through 16. But glory and honor and peace to everyone who does good, to the Jew first, and also to the Greek who does good according to this passage, those who believe in Messiah. That was the true requirement of the law. True Israel believed in Messiah all along by faith. Paul continues For there is no partiality with God for all who have sinned without the law will also perish without the law, and all who have sinned under the law will be judged by the law. The Gentiles did not have Torah or law. The first covenant was not with them. They would perish apart from the law, while those under the law would be judged by the law. But truly that would mean being judged by their faith in Messiah or what was in their heart. Then Paul says For it is not the hearers of the law who are just before God, but the doers of the law will be justified. I think the biggest hang-up I had with this passage was how it sounds so much like James' letter. I know some who hold to grace will try and say James taught grace. For me, making James sound like grace was equal to beating my head against the wall. I don't see the same context when James refers to doers of the word. At the end of the day, I don't need James to teach me grace and I don't think that was the purpose of his letter. But I do see this passage referring to doers of the law being those who had faith in Messiah. In this case it is referring to Gentile Christians. Faith in Messiah was the true requirement for salvation, the law itself. Or Torah did not bring life as is written, but Paul goes on to say. Or Torah did not bring life as is written, but Paul goes on to say For when Gentiles who do not have the law do instinctively the things of the law, these, not having the law, are a law to themselves. Notice law uses a lowercase l here. They are not the law to themselves. Paul continues In that they show the work of the law written in their hearts, their conscience bearing witness and their thoughts, alternately accusing or else defending. Paul continues the secrets of men to be judged is as simple as this Do you have Christ in your heart? So, is the law, the Torah or any of the 613 commandments, written on our heart? No. Are the nine commandments quoted in the New Testament of our Bible written on our hearts? No. Are the two commandments that summed up the whole law written on our hearts? No. Positional grace is not grace, it is legalism. Another word for partial preterism and post-millennialism is dispensationalism. Free will doctrine is in opposition to the sovereignty of Yahweh and makes light of the power of prophecy. Yahweh controls history. My friends, I have to reject what falls short of the finished work of Christ Yeshua. It only opens the door to bondage and legalism. When we trust in Messiah, christ is in our hearts. Period. That's all we need, my friends, now. Let's abide in that, shall we See you on the next episode, you guys.

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