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

Welcome back to the podcast. Everyone. Good morning. Just wanted to the podcast. Everyone. Good morning. Just wanted to make a quick announcement. I'm not really going to be going over any of the details of the announcement, but I've made some changes to the website, some of our past episodes and various things that we're pretty excited about, and I just wanted to let you guys know that some changes have been made and you can check out those changes on our community page at WakingUpToGracecom. Just go on to WakingUpToGracecom, hit on the community page tab and you'll see my post with the various changes that I made. So if you want to check that out, please do. But today we're just going to get right into it. We're going to be continuing our Roman study with Romans, chapter 1, verses 16 and 17. So just two verses today, with a whole lot of studying to do.

Lenny: 1:17

Yeehaw, we're going to be digging in and it's going to be good.

Melissa: 1:21

So, starting with Romans 1.16, we read For I am not ashamed of the gospel, for it is the power of God for salvation to everyone who believes, to the Jew first, and also to the Greek.

Lenny: 1:37

So my first question is why do you think Paul might have declared that he was not ashamed of the gospel? Paul might have declared that he was not ashamed of the gospel. I'd like to look at a reference passage as an example of what Paul might be speaking of here, to give us a little something to talk about.

Melissa: 1:56

In 1 Corinthians 4, verses 11-14, we read and thirst. We are poorly dressed and buffeted, homeless and we labor, working with our hands. When reviled, we bless. When persecuted, we endure. When slandered, we entreat.

Lenny: 2:16

We have become and are still like the scum of being ashamed of the gospel to his audience.

Melissa: 2:37

Yeah, everything he was willing to go through because he knew the value of the truth, of the gospel message.

Lenny: 2:44

Right. Shows he was not ashamed, but they were being shamed everywhere they went. Imagine being considered the scum of the earth for your beliefs. The scum of the earth.

Melissa: 2:57

I don't think that's something we can really imagine here in America.

Lenny: 3:01

Absolutely. I mean, there's people out there that would consider you that. But as a whole our religion is pretty well accepted, socially accepted in a sense.

Melissa: 3:13

True.

Lenny: 3:18

People might not want to hear what Christians have to say, might not seem interested, but but we're not really viewed, at least at this time, as scum of the earth.

Melissa: 3:23

Exactly.

Lenny: 3:24

The next question would be would you say that Paul found it to be important to not be ashamed of the gospel, and why? Why would it be important not to be ashamed of the gospel? That's why I brought up that Corinthians passage. It was important for them to not be ashamed of the gospel, because the gospel was the power of God for salvation and they were being shamed for it.

Melissa: 3:51

Right, and if you're focusing on your shame, then you're not focusing on your identity as beloved children, amen.

Lenny: 3:55

So do you think it's just as important for Christians today as it was then to not be ashamed of the gospel? Even though we live in a society as we said, that is not gospel. Even though we live in a society as we said, that is not necessarily constantly shaming us when we come out with something, or just if you say you're a Christian, they're not shaming you. But is it just as important today as it was then?

Melissa: 4:17

It sure is.

Lenny: 4:18

I think it is Going into the next question. Do you see Christians being shamed today? And we absolutely do, but it's in a different way and I think most of the shame that we get is from other Christians.

Melissa: 4:34

There's a lot of that, yeah.

Lenny: 4:35

When you share the truth of Christ, when you oppose legalism, you start to get the idea that people think you're kind of the scum of the earth that you are giving people a license to sin.

Melissa: 4:54

The power of the cross offends people who call themselves Christians? Yes, it does, and a lot of that is that attitude of if we have to follow these rules and regulations, so do you.

Lenny: 5:02

But then we also have in other countries. Christians are being slaughtered for their beliefs and the media is not even sharing these things with us. When we turn on the news and when we talk to people in our country, the Holocaust in Germany was the event that comes to our mind. We're always like, oh, those poor people, and it was a very sad event. But why are people holding these other world leaders in high regards on the media who are killing Christians? And do you realize that these other leaders in the Olympics are killing Christians? And we're rejoicing and talking about how great they are and what they're doing for their culture? It's ridiculous. So there's Christians all around the world being shamed. We're just not seeing it, and I think that's intentional.

Melissa: 5:52

Definitely so. If we take an honest look at these other countries, we would find that the Christians there are poorly dressed, buffeted, homeless. They are seen as scum of the world and they're being killed for it.

Lenny: 6:06

Absolutely, and I even heard it said that there are more Christians around the world being killed right now in our days than ever in history. Yeah, I heard that too, and yet you don't hear it talked about. You don't hear our government talking about it. You don't hear the media talking about it. What's the deal with that? Who's running the media?

Melissa: 6:30

the media only seems to care about the temple being built in israel.

Lenny: 6:32

Something's very wrong with that didn't want to get too far down that tangent, but you can't help but be a little bit bothered by that, can you?

Melissa: 6:39

no, and I know something that we did in our life was turn off the TV and start opening our Bibles. I just want to extend that thought to people. Maybe we should be turning off our TV, maybe we should be paying attention to where we're at.

Lenny: 6:52

The real news is in the Bible.

Melissa: 6:53

Yes.

Lenny: 6:54

Our Bible is the truth. You're going to turn on the TV. You're going to listen to your favorite politician and look for the truth. You're not going to find it there, but when you open up your bible, you're going to find truth. You are. So if you want to fill your mind with truth, then start studying. Scripture protects us from the lies right. You find that the more you know about scripture, the more you can see through all of the lies that are going on in the world today all of them, and there are so many more than people realize.

Melissa: 7:24

I just wanted to say one more thing about Christians being shamed today. When we talk about in the other countries what these people are having to go through, it makes me feel pretty weak, because I know here in America you and I have mentioned that it seems like there's a we're not being shamed, but we're being silenced and we really need to stand up for that. That needs to stop. It's been going on a long time and it's getting much worse, and so if these people in other countries can risk their lives, it sure seems like we could risk our pride here of just having somebody get mad at you for trying to talk about the gospel or hurt your feelings. I think that we need to, uh, just be okay with that here to stand up for the gospel not being silenced in America.

Lenny: 8:09

Amen. So, looking back at verse 16, why did Paul say the gospel was the power of God for salvation, to the Jew first, then to the Greek?

Melissa: 8:20

Because the Jews were God's people first, and then he extended the gospel to the gentile exactly christ's ministry was to the jews.

Lenny: 8:29

He came to them first. He sent paul out to the gentiles, so the gospel came to the jews first and then to the gentiles. It's important to know it is because we actually believe in the God of Israel.

Melissa: 8:44

Yes.

Lenny: 8:45

So they would follow that we'd want to learn about the God of Israel. Our Old Testament of our Bible, is important.

Melissa: 8:52

It is important. And another important point is that the Jews needed the gospel too.

Lenny: 8:58

Exactly.

Melissa: 8:59

Just because they were God's people first doesn't mean they were good to go Right. They needed the gospel.

Lenny: 9:05

So what does Paul list as the requirement for salvation in this passage? It's the gospel. Exactly, it's Christ. Christ is the requirement for salvation, isn't he? Does this line up with what Yeshua declared to be the work of God in John 6, 29? Go ahead and read John 6, 29, melissa.

Melissa: 9:24

This is the work of God, that you believe in Him, whom he has sent.

Lenny: 9:28

Who did he send?

Melissa: 9:30

He sent.

Lenny: 9:30

Yeshua Alright, so the Messiah has come. To whom did Yeshua make the following statement?

Melissa: 9:38

I am the way and the truth, and the life. No one comes to the Father except through me.

Lenny: 9:45

That's in John, chapter 14, and that's Christ Yeshua speaking to a Jewish audience. He's telling the Jews directly I am the way, I am the truth, I am the life. No one comes to the Father except through me. Kind of a funny thing that there's actually Christian preachers in America here that say the Jews have a different covenant with.

Melissa: 10:09

God.

Lenny: 10:09

Yes, they say they don't need Jesus. They just need to rebuild the temple and keep their covenant with God. That doesn't sound like that jives with the gospel, does it?

Melissa: 10:18

Not at all. Somebody like John Hagee is a very dangerous person.

Lenny: 10:23

Yeah, and he's a warped political figure as well.

Melissa: 10:26

Exactly.

Lenny: 10:27

Loves his politics, just like the first century Jews did.

Melissa: 10:31

So stay away from him and anything he's spewing out.

Lenny: 10:35

So why would he declare this to a people who had the law and the prophets? Why would Christ declare that to them? Because it was true, yeah, and they didn't know it, and because some of them would be saved by that.

Melissa: 10:49

Yes, a remnant.

Lenny: 10:51

A remnant Continuing into Romans, verse 117, since we promised to go through 16 and 17.

Melissa: 11:00

For in it the righteousness of God is revealed, from faith for faith. As it is written, the righteous shall live by faith.

Lenny: 11:12

So the question is had the righteousness of God been revealed before Christ? No, and I would agree and I would disagree. It had not been revealed in a way that people could see it, seemingly because they had no clue what was going on. But the gospel was revealed since the beginning of time. It was actually given to them with Moses, and we're going to talk about that a little bit later.

Melissa: 11:39

So you're right and you're wrong.

Lenny: 11:42

What do you think Paul means by from faith for faith? What do you think he means by that, Melissa?

Melissa: 11:48

Well, I was thinking two things. You look at faith as Christ, then we receive the righteousness of God from Christ. For Christ, because we are his the Father gave us to him as a gift.

Lenny: 12:03

And that's really cool. That's something that a lot of people don't really put a lot of thought into.

Melissa: 12:07

Yeah.

Lenny: 12:08

We were his gift that he suffered for.

Melissa: 12:11

Yes.

Lenny: 12:12

I mean that makes him really pleased about us. We were a gift to him.

Melissa: 12:17

Yes.

Lenny: 12:18

That's pretty cool.

Melissa: 12:19

That is just.

Lenny: 12:20

He cherishes us.

Melissa: 12:22

Yes, I also think it means faith was given to us from Yahweh, from Yeshua, for faith, so that we could believe, for belief so that we could be saved.

Lenny: 12:34

In order that we could have faith. So it was kind of like from God's faith for our faith, in a sense.

Melissa: 12:41

Yeah.

Lenny: 12:42

So that we could have some of his faithfulness.

Melissa: 12:45

Because that's how we are faithful.

Lenny: 12:47

And we project that back to him.

Melissa: 12:51

Yes.

Lenny: 12:51

In worship and in honor.

Melissa: 12:53

Yes.

Lenny: 12:54

So it's kind of a two-way street in that way.

Melissa: 12:57

The only way we can believe and be saved and believe and have faith is if he gives it to us.

Lenny: 13:03

Yeah, and he has it for us, and that's why it's so stable, because his faith is actually what's carrying us and giving us ours.

Melissa: 13:10

Right.

Lenny: 13:11

And even if we run out, he's always got some left.

Melissa: 13:14

When we are not faithful, he remains faithful. Very comforting.

Lenny: 13:18

What would be the opposite of living by faith and what is the significance of that? The opposite of living by faith, in their days especially, would be living by the law.

Melissa: 13:29

Yes.

Lenny: 13:30

By living by the law, I mean not in a faithful sense, not following God's commands because you love him, but following them because you believe you're getting right with God through them. That was the flaw in the mindset of the first century Jews they thought they were being right with God because of the law, and they weren't even following it correctly. They were making up their own rules in order to allow themselves, in their minds, to be obedient to the law, because if you follow the law truthfully, it proves that you're a sinner. They followed it erroneously, proving to themselves, in their own minds, that they were righteous.

Melissa: 14:13

They made little loopholes.

Lenny: 14:15

And that's why Jesus called them hypocrites.

Melissa: 14:17

Yes.

Lenny: 14:18

When Paul says it is written, the righteous shall live by faith, he's actually quoting scripture, he's not just saying it. A lot of people don't catch these things. Paul quotes scripture. He's saying, as it is written, the righteous shall live by faith.

Melissa: 14:34

He gets that from Habakkuk 2.4, and it reads like this Behold, as for the proud one, his soul is not right within him, but the righteous will live by his faith.

Lenny: 14:48

So what do you say this Old Covenant passage refers to? What is he referring to? You said it earlier when you said by Christ for Christ, he's referring to Christ. The righteous shall live by his faith. It's the same thing Paul is talking about here in this passage by faith for faith. And it was quoted before Christ, one of many passages talking about Christ before he came. Who would be the proud one it's talking about? Well, those would be the Jews following it's talking about.

Melissa: 15:16

Well, those would be the Jews following the law, like you were just talking of.

Lenny: 15:20

Exactly. The proud ones here would be the Jews who believed in their own righteousness through the law, or it could even be the Jews who did not believe in the righteousness of the law and obeyed other gods. It could be one of any of those two things, but who would the righteous one be?

Melissa: 15:40

The righteous ones are those who believe in Yeshua.

Lenny: 15:44

Yeah, the righteous will live by his faith. He's again talking about the future believers in Christ. He's talking about the righteous will live by his faith.

Melissa: 15:54

So wasn't he kind of saying to the Jews at that time behold, keep in mind, listen up. As for the proud one, you who think you're following all these laws, your soul's not right within you. That would really make them think, like what does that mean? Because they didn't know about Christ at that time? Yeah, but the righteous will live by his faith. That probably left them scratching their heads, right, Because they didn't know at that time.

Lenny: 16:18

Yeah, and actually that brings me to my next question Whose faith will they live? By Yeshua and Yahweh. Yahweh's faithfulness, they'll live by his faith. They'll have faith in him. You know that return scenario that we were talking about. He gives you faith and we can project that back to him From faith for faith. So did obedience to the law give you faith? Not one bit, no, not at all. It would either make you proud or it would make you humble one or the other. The faithful would be humbled by the law, the proud would become self-righteous. And that self-righteousness, if you follow Scripture them always worshiping other gods it just kind of leads them astray.

Lenny: 17:01

Their own efforts always lead them away from God's faithfulness.

Melissa: 17:06

Sure, making them think I don't need anything else. I'm good I got this.

Lenny: 17:12

Religion does not bring us closer to Yahweh. Only closer to ourselves Religion does not bring us closer to Yahweh, Only closer to ourselves. This passage that we read in Habakkuk also is quoted in Galatians and Hebrews.

Melissa: 17:23

In Galatians 3.11 we read Now that no one is justified by the law before God is evident for the righteous man shall live by faith.

Lenny: 17:34

So, according to Paul, how many people were justified by the law here? No one. No one is justified by the law no one. I think there's certain people out there that don't realize that yet. For example, if you were going to build a temple in Israel or something and had an idea that that was going to justify anybody.

Melissa: 17:55

You'd have to be ignoring that passage.

Lenny: 17:57

It's kind of silly, and so many others.

Melissa: 17:59

It is.

Lenny: 18:00

Does this passage display a contrast between law and grace?

Melissa: 18:04

Yes, it does.

Lenny: 18:05

A strong contrast. There is no mixing those two things. Law and grace do not mix, and the covenant age of grace is upon us. Law is over, forever For everyone. That's right, first for the Jew, then for the Gentile. So was our Habakkuk 2.4 passage a prophecy about what was to come.

Melissa: 18:28

Absolutely.

Lenny: 18:29

Yeah, it was about Christ. If faith existed under the law, what was the difference in faith then and now? Because the righteous will live by faith would have also applied to the forefathers, would it not? They had faith. Abraham had faith. Moses had faith. They had faith.

Melissa: 18:49

But now the gospel has come.

Lenny: 18:51

So, from my vantage point, the difference is they had faith in what was coming. We have faith in what has come.

Melissa: 19:00

Yes, that's the way to say it.

Lenny: 19:01

They believe in what was going to happen. We believe in what has happened.

Melissa: 19:07

Yes.

Lenny: 19:08

Nothing more is going to happen in that way. It's all happened.

Melissa: 19:12

We see this passage quoted again in Hebrews Hebrews, 10.38 reads but my righteous one shall live by faith, and if he shrinks back, my soul has no pleasure in him.

Lenny: 19:25

So, being that the letter of Hebrews was written to Hebrews, which were Jews, what struggles do we see them facing? It takes some insight into Hebrews to understand this, but, knowing how the letter of Hebrews is written and the context, the struggles that they were facing was Judaism, the Judaizers, many of which were Christ-rejecting, some of which were promoting Jesus plus Judaism.

Melissa: 19:54

And the ones that were're calling Christian scum.

Lenny: 19:58

So would Yahweh have pleasure in those who rejected his son? Absolutely not. In a sense here it seems that the context of who he has no pleasure in is Christ rejecting Jewish people. The letter to the Hebrews is very much in its context directed, talking about christ rejecting jews, and he's talking a lot about christ rejecting jews because the christ rejecting jews were convincing jewish christians to go back to the law. They were trying to get them to reject christ. So the next question is did those who reject Christ, yeshua, try and convince Christians to go back to the law? Yes, that's what they were doing in the letter of the Hebrews. So who would be the ones who shrink back? It's those who rejected Messiah. They were the holy people. They rejected their Messiah. That's the whole theme of the letter of the Hebrews. It talks very much about Christ rejecting Jews and people often take those passages as to Christians and it's very dangerous. The Bible is like a weapon in that way. If you pull it out of context, it can be very dangerous.

Melissa: 21:10

That's again why we should all know Yahweh and Yeshua, our history and our identity by reading it.

Lenny: 21:17

It's not a scary thing. I think the biggest problem is what we could call what Yeshua called the leaven of the Pharisees. It's the influence of the institutions that makes our Bibles impossible to understand, because you're reading it in light of error. You're going in with an errant mindset as soon as you start reading because of what you've heard taught Some things not so wrong, almost everything completely wrong.

Melissa: 21:46

And if you're under the spell of thinking that you have to go to these institutions and you have to listen to people with credentials, well then, that's how you're always going to read your Bible.

Lenny: 21:56

And that's the leaven of the institutions. It produces that thinking. It guilts you for not having enough to do with the institution. They may teach some things that are good, but their influence causes you to take in all of their teaching, and when you put all of their teaching together, it just leaves you around in circles.

Melissa: 22:19

Getting back to the ones who shrink back, the author of Hebrews actually goes on to tell the faithful but we are not those who shrink back and are destroyed, but of those who have faith and preserve their souls.

Lenny: 22:33

So if the author knew the faithful were not those who shrink back, why does he seem to tell them this as if it pertains to them in some sense? That goes back to what I was just talking about. He was talking in depth to them about the Christ-rejecting Jews who were trying to deceive them. It was a lot like John's first epistle, 1 John, where he's talking to them about those who were deceiving them. And so if we take these passages as written to Christians, we just butcher our faith.

Lenny: 23:04

We just ruin our doctrine. The letter of the Hebrews is very similar and actually Romans. We're going to get into it and you're going to see the same thing. Paul talks about Christ rejecters in certain passages and you hear people just going crazy over you can lose your salvation. Paul says it right here. We have to be aware of this in our scripture, we have to be aware of these things, and so we're going to find these things as we study. But, getting back to our Romans passages for some more insight, we're going to read verses 16 and 17 together this time, for I am not ashamed of the gospel?

Melissa: 23:37

some more insight. We're going to read verses 16 and 17 together this time, for I am not ashamed of the gospel, for it is the power of God for salvation to everyone who believes, to the Jew first, and also to the Greek, for in it the righteousness of God is revealed from faith. For faith, as it is written, the righteous shall live by faith.

Lenny: 24:00

In Paul's letter to the Romans he directs his points at times to Jews and other times to Gentiles, but his letters to both, both Jew and Gentile, benefit from all of his teaching. But we need to discern the proper context to have the most spiritual gain. For example, it is helpful for those who were not Jews to understand that the righteousness of Christ Yeshua, which was considered by Paul to be apart from the law, was actually announced by Moses with the declaration of the law. That's right. The righteousness of Christ is actually found within the law. The promise of the new covenant was given with the old covenant.

Melissa: 24:39

Wow. In Deuteronomy we read, starting with chapter 18, verse 15, the Lord, your God, will raise up for you a prophet like me, from among you, from your brothers. It is him you shall listen to.

Lenny: 24:55

Did Christ Yeshua come from among their people, the people of Israel? He sure did. Did Moses make it clear who was more important between him and this prophet who is Yeshua?

Melissa: 25:07

Well, he said it's him you shall listen to.

Lenny: 25:10

Yeah, he didn't say me, did he? He did not Kind of interesting because Moses has a lot to say about the law, but he says you should listen to him.

Melissa: 25:20

Wow, that's a good catch.

Lenny: 25:23

And then in verse 18 he continues.

Melissa: 25:26

I will raise up for them a prophet like you, from among their brothers, and I will put my words in his mouth and he shall speak to them all that I command him.

Lenny: 25:37

Who put the words in the mouth of Christ Yeshua. According to this prophecy, Yahweh. Yahweh or the highway. Did he speak? Only some of what was commanded to him.

Melissa: 25:49

All that I commanded him.

Lenny: 25:50

He did everything. And then we read on in verse 19. So, going back to our passages in John's Gospel, we can observe this requirement. John 6.29 reads that's Yeshua speaking there. And then in chapter 14, verse 6, he says he says I am the way and the truth and the life. No one comes to the father except through me. So was this requirement from faith and for faith why it was did this require any special works or deeds on their part?

Melissa: 26:41

being that the work of god, is that we believe in Yeshua, I say no.

Lenny: 26:47

Yeah, and whose work was it that you believe? The work of Yeshua? It says it right there the work of God is this that you believe.

Melissa: 26:57

That's right. I love that. It's just so straightforward.

Lenny: 27:02

Is there peace in knowing that the work has been done?

Melissa: 27:05

There is endless peace in knowing the work has been done. That is the peace. That is the peace, that's the only peace.

Lenny: 27:12

Peace on earth that you hear about in that Christmas song Peace on earth.

Melissa: 27:17

That's how we have it. That's the only way to have it.

Lenny: 27:19

It's not literal peace on earth. People aren't just getting along out there are they?

Melissa: 27:23

They never were and never will. But those who have Yeshua will forever have peace.

Lenny: 27:30

Absolutely.

Melissa: 27:30

Here and once we're with him.

Lenny: 27:33

Yeah, heaven, and just like with faith, we can give that peace unto others. We've been given it and we can distribute that to others because we've been given it.

Melissa: 27:42

Yes, and because it's so wonderful and comforting and we know that it's the only way to live, we want to share it. That's why we want to share the gospel.

Lenny: 27:53

As we read further in Deuteronomy, we see that the rejection of Christ Yeshua would not be a surprise to Yahweh. In fact, he knew the outcome long before the events took place and even told the holy nation of Israel these things in detail through Moses.

Melissa: 28:18

Deuteronomy 31, 29. And in the days to come, evil will befall you because you will do what is evil in the sight of the Lord, provoking him to anger, through the work of your hands.

Lenny: 28:32

Kind of interesting that he declares this with the law, isn't it? And then he goes on in chapter 32, verses 4 through 5, to say something even more interesting.

Melissa: 28:42

The rock. His work is perfect, for all his ways are justice, a God of faithfulness and without iniquity. Just and upright is he. They have dealt corruptly with him. They are no longer his children because they are blemished. They are a crooked and twisted generation.

Lenny: 29:05

So who's the rock in this passage?

Melissa: 29:07

Yeshua.

Lenny: 29:08

He's mentioned again when Moses is distributing the law to everybody.

Melissa: 29:13

You're right, he's embedded in there. They just didn't realize.

Lenny: 29:19

I think most people realize Christ is the rock.

Melissa: 29:21

If you don't look it up, he's the rock.

Lenny: 29:23

What did Christ Yeshua and his apostles declare about the Jewish leaders in their generation? Christ Yeshua and his apostles declared almost the same exact thing about the Jewish leaders in their generation. It was almost like they were quoting this. They are a crooked and twisted generation, Perverted I mean all the words that they use. It sounds just like that, doesn't it? It does, Because it's about them. Was Christ just and upright and without iniquity?

Melissa: 29:52

You better believe it.

Lenny: 29:53

Like a rock. Did the first century Jews deal with him corruptly?

Melissa: 29:59

Well being that they crucified him.

Lenny: 30:01

I think the answer is a unanimous yes, what was? The result of their corrupt dealings with their Messiah Well being that they crucified him? I think the answer is a unanimous yes. What was the result of their corrupt dealings with their Messiah.

Melissa: 30:11

Separation from God.

Lenny: 30:12

Yes, god divorced the nation of Israel. They're no longer his children. The nation of Israel is no longer children of God, because they are blemished.

Melissa: 30:23

We read about that. God divorced them.

Lenny: 30:25

you literally divorce them the book of Malachi was all about that pretty fast. It was like his letter of dismissal because Christ was the bridegroom you know, to them, specifically to Israel, and he rejected them so an adulterous and corrupt generation and so they were blemished and they're no longer his children. That's something that people can't wrap their heads around today.

Melissa: 30:50

The ones who didn't believe were no longer. Those that did believe are the remnant, along with the Gentiles.

Lenny: 30:56

Yeah, there were Jewish Christians, Jewish brothers and sisters in Christ. That was the first century Jews. That was when the law was still in effect. That was when judaism was a real thing. We no longer have that today and we're no longer going to have that. The lineage is gone, temple's gone. God is not instructing anybody to build another one, so anybody that's supporting anything like that should reconsider the fact that they are actually possibly more Jewish than they are Christian. So true, and I don't mean Jewish in a real sense, because the true Jews accepted Messiah. Getting back to our Romans passage Romans 1, 16 through 17.

Melissa: 31:38

I love this, for I am not ashamed of the gospel, for it is the power of God for salvation to everyone who believes, to the Jew first, and also to the Greek, for it is the righteousness of God, for in it the righteousness of God is revealed from faith. For faith, as it is written, the righteous shall live by faith.

Lenny: 32:03

By law, by faith, by law by faith. We read of this very topic in Paul's letter to the Galatians. These passages written by Paul were directed toward Jewish Christians, but can teach all Christians much about our Lord and the new covenant he made, including all people, not only the Jews. Galatians 3, 22-23.

Melissa: 32:25

But the scripture imprisoned everything under sin so that the promise by faith in Jesus Christ might be given to those who believe. Now, before faith came, we were held captive under the law, imprisoned until the coming faith would be revealed.

Lenny: 32:45

What was the coming faith?

Melissa: 32:47

It was the gospel, the gift of Yeshua.

Lenny: 32:50

It was Yeshua, wasn't it? It was as you said. It was Christ. When would the coming faith be revealed? It was Christ. It was when Christ revealed himself. But actually he didn't really fully reveal himself until Pentecost, when the Spirit was given, because they really had no clue before then.

Melissa: 33:08

But he did say, when John the Baptist, when the dove landed on his shoulder and God said this is my son.

Lenny: 33:16

Yeah.

Melissa: 33:17

He was revealed. He said I'm the way, the truth and the light.

Lenny: 33:21

But, like we've talked about, there was the gospel before the cross and then the gospel and the light. But, like we've talked about, there was the gospel before the cross and then the gospel.

Lenny: 33:28

After the cross it increased in power because of perception and understanding. The gospel was there all along, but it was not fully revealed until the spirit was given. They didn't know exactly what christ was going to do and how he was going to do it, even though, if you really study prophecy, it was there all along, but the angels nor the human beings had it figured out. We continue in verses 24 and 26.

Melissa: 33:55

What does Paul say was the purpose of the law here.

Lenny: 34:17

To lead to Christ. So what makes us sons of God through faith? Christ Jesus? Exactly, it's Christ. When did the new covenant begin? Because christ yeshua taught under law, so it's not when christ came per se. It's when he completed a certain work that he came to do, and it was at pentecost when faith was revealed.

Melissa: 34:43

Yes, he had to die, rise again and then give us the Holy Spirit.

Lenny: 34:49

And then our eyes were opened. We realize that his blood was shed and cleanses us, as Hebrews says, made perfect forever by his sacrifice, and then he gave us his spirit. He gave the Christians then his spirit. He gives us his spirit now and christians then his spirit. He gives us his spirit now and it's the seal of our eternal life and it's that peace we were talking about absolutely, and we continue in verses 27 through 29 for as many of you were baptized into christ, have put on christ.

Melissa: 35:19

There is neither jew nor greek, there is neither slave nor free, there is neither male nor female. So are Jew and Gentile believers now one. From God's view, we are all one.

Lenny: 35:43

Yeah, it's a mystery that Paul fully reveals later in Romans. So are you, as a Christian, as holy as the ancient Jews of the first covenant?

Melissa: 35:56

Sure are.

Lenny: 35:57

Actually more holy.

Melissa: 35:58

That's what I was going to say.

Lenny: 36:00

Paul reveals that in the mystery of true Israel Was Abraham highly regarded among the Jews.

Melissa: 36:08

Abraham was not a Jew.

Lenny: 36:10

That's true.

Melissa: 36:11

There were no Jews.

Lenny: 36:13

But Israel came from Abraham.

Melissa: 36:15

That's right.

Lenny: 36:16

He was a patriarch to the. Jews. So was Abraham under the first covenant law when he was declared faithful by God.

Melissa: 36:24

No.

Lenny: 36:25

No, he wasn't. Was God's new covenant with the Jews the same as the new covenant with the Gentiles?

Melissa: 36:32

That it was.

Lenny: 36:33

It's the same. He says we're one in this new faith. Same covenant Jew and Gentile. We have the same covenant with God. You guys Anybody following Hageeie turn the tv off now. Is there another covenant coming that will change any of this?

Melissa: 36:53

prophecy has been fulfilled.

Lenny: 36:55

Book is closed it's an everlasting covenant, according to our scriptures, never to end like you said. The book is closed. Our bible isn't an open prophecy waiting for somebody to write some more stuff in. It's done, case closed, and christ is living in and through every one of us and again that gives us so much peace the heart of christ is still beating in the world today forever so that's what we got for this week, guys.

Lenny: 37:24

I hope you join us next week. I believe we'll be continuing to dive into our Roman study unless I get distracted by something really cool and bring that to you guys. We're starting to get into some meat here, so keep on joining us and don't forget, you can get these study guides at wakinguptogracecom. You can actually go to the description section of this podcast episode on your platform and click on the link to the episode and that will lead you to where the study guide is. And don't be afraid to leave us a review on your favorite podcast platform and spread the gospel through algorithms. Thanks a lot, you guys, and have a good day out there.

announcement: 38:02

Thank you for listening to the Waking Up to Grace podcast brought to you by the finished work of our Lord Jesus Christ. If you enjoyed today's episode, we would love to hear from you. You can send encouragement our way right from our episodes and transcripts page or reach Lenny privately from the contact form at wakinguptogracecom.