Changing the Course of History

Oh, well, good afternoon, everyone. Mr. Welch sends his love. He was in Sherman this morning. But won't we hear this Sabbath? And thank you very much for that first message, Mr. Libby. Wazea speaks of a time in the future that is coming, in which many people will say, Come, let's go up to the mountain of the Lord, where He will teach us His ways, and we will walk in His paths. And then He says, For out of Zion shall go forth the law, and the word of the Lord from Jerusalem. So Isaiah speaks of a time that's completely different than the one we have now. It'll be a time in which people will actually go to seek God's law, to learn it. And society will have a completely different orientation. In fact, the very nature of man will change, due to this law being poured out upon them. And Isaiah goes on to describe a role that you and I are training for right now, a role in which we will teach those as well, and we will say, This is the way, walk in it.

And so with this incredibly future responsibility, incredibly important, of directing the steps of those who will be seeking to obtain life eternal, you and I must here today learn to internalize it, to learn it, to love it, to live it.

We sing about it. Oh, how love I thy law, it is ever with me. And in that song, it says, I have more understanding because I dwell upon it. And so today, that's what we're going to do. We're going to dwell upon this law, and hopefully in doing so, it will take us one step closer to that fulfillment of being teachers that Isaiah spoke about. And we'll also see that our very salvation rests upon our attitude and understanding and treatment of this holy law.

So let's get started. Let's go to the very beginning. Turn with me to Romans 5, in verse 12. Start off here in Romans 5, verse 12. This is the beginning here. This will show us the very purpose of the revelation of the law to mankind. As we begin this journey of understanding the fullness, this is the perfect place to start. Romans 5, and we'll read verse 12 through 14, where it says, Therefore, just as through one man sin entered the world, and death through sin, and thus death spread to all men, because all sinned.

Verse 13, For until the law sin was in the world, but sin is not imputed where there is no law. Nevertheless, death reigned from Adam to Moses, even over those who had not sinned according to the likeness of the transgression of Adam, who was a type of him who was to come. Well, what a set of scriptures! Within just a few scriptures here, Paul is able to explain why the law was revealed to man.

And what is he saying here? Well, he says, before we even knew it, before we even knew it, we needed to be saved, and we didn't even realize it. Death had spread to all men, and sin had done this. We were in this fatal condition, and through one man sin entered and brought with it what? Death. And death spread to all men. So Adam, from that point centuries ago, decided to reject the commands of God. Adam and Eve, they decided for themselves they could decide what was right or wrong, enact their own instruction, enact their own law, and deciding for themselves what was in or out, they decided to rely upon their own ways.

A law of the flesh, if you will, instead of the spiritual law of God. And so therefore, living outside of God's instructions, well, that's sin. And sin brought with it death, and Adam and Eve, and every man and woman since that time. And so God, one of the first and foremost things that He had to do in beginning this journey, to understand, help us understand the fullness here, was to allow man to see the condition that they were in.

And the means by which God would reveal this to mankind that we were in this fatal condition was through the revelation of His spiritual law. Verse 13 says here, verse 13 points out, For until the law sin was in the world. In other words, for even before the law was given, prior to, up to, until the law sin was in the world. So even before the law had been written down and given to Moses, to give to mankind, even before the tablets sin was in the world.

And that may seem like an easy statement, but this flies in the face of those that believe that the law only came into existence when it was given by Moses to the Israelites. But this is making clear that the law was also before, from the very beginning. How do we know? Well, because the charge had already been made. Sin had already made its charge. Death was charged to all men. If there hadn't been a spiritual law in place prior to those tablets, then death from sin would not have been imputed. It would not have been charged. It wouldn't have been accounted to men. But what do we just read here?

Death had been imputed because one man chose to live outside of the spiritual law. He decided to live by a fleshly law, outside of God's law and the commandments. And as it says here, death reigned. Verse 14, Even if you hadn't sinned like Adam, even if you didn't sin in like manner, it doesn't matter, death still reigned over you. But again, man wouldn't innately know this, this eternal death condition that we were in. God had to show us that sin existed and the damage had been done. And so this, that very small portion here of Scripture, what we're talking about here, this is foundational stuff. This is what we need to internalize as we go through this, because make no doubt, this very subject matter, we will be challenged upon this. To let no man think there was no sin before the written law forbid it, the same sinful acts that were forbidden after the written law was given were the same sinful acts before. God wanted us to be aware from the very beginning and have a complete understanding that the wages of sin is death, and each of us have earned a certain death eternal. And so through the law, God revealed what sin was and how that brought us death and living without his spiritual law, then brought this upon us. And so he said, here's the law. Now you know. And this is what Paul's speaking about here in verse 12 through 14, and this is the reason why you and I dearly love it. Because without it, how would we know?

You know, you've heard that the law is a mirror, and that's a decent analogy, because the mirror revealed to us that we were dead. We were goners. No hope. So we sing about our love for it. We thank God for it, because now I see my condition that I'm in. That certainly leads to the next question. Well, thank you, Father, for showing us our condition through the law, but I hope the story doesn't end there. And we say, well, let me ask, Father, is there anything then that I can do about this condition that I'm in? Is there any way out of it? I don't want to be presumptuous, but surely, Father, you didn't reveal this to us. And that's it. Well, of course not. No loving Father would allow his children to be in this condition without a remedy.

And at the end of verse 14 here, we just see the smallest mention of this remedy, the solution given by the Father. The smallest mention that holds the best news that you and I could ever hear. Verse 14 says that, nevertheless, your dead death reigned from Adam to Moses. But Adam, at the end of verse 14, being a type of someone who is to come.

It says Adam is a type of him who was to come. Ah! What is this? Who is this? Who is this one here with a capital H? This him. Well, it would turn out to be the cure. He would turn out to be the one who would have the answer, the remedy, the resolution, the fix to this condition, the response to this condition that we have found ourselves in. He, the him here, the great Savior now, would redeem us and recover us from that death, from the grips of death. And he will see would be the one that would actually give us life once again. I'll stop talking and let the Scripture tell us perfectly here about the one, this him, Jesus Christ, would do for us. And we'll come here in Romans 5, verse 6 through 11. Romans 5, 6 through 11. It says, For when we were still without strength, in due time Christ died for the ungodly. For scarcely for a righteous man will one die, yet perhaps a good man, someone might even dare to die. But God demonstrates his love toward us, in that while we were still sinners, Christ died for us. Before we even knew we were dead. Before we even knew. Verse 9. Much more then, having been justified by his blood, we should be saved from wrath through him. Saved from death through him. For if we were enemies, we were reconciled to God through the death of his Son. Much more, having been reconciled, we should be saved by his life. And not only that, but we also rejoice in God through our Lord Jesus Christ, through whom we now have received the reconciliation. We have been delivered, reconciled from death. Do we grasp this? You and I, future teachers, this is the way that you and I will teach them to walk in. By the time the law was held up to you and I, and we were able to see the wretchedness, this condition we were in, a solution had already been provided. We see here a Savior by the name of Jesus Christ who had already come. And he first saved us, ironically, through his death and then through his life as he was risen up. Let's read more about this rescue. Stay here in Romans 5, verses 18-21. It says, Therefore, as through one man's offense, judgment came to all men, resulting in condemnation, even so through one man's righteous act, the free gift came to all men, resulting in justification of life. As by one man's disobedience, many were made sinners, so also by one man's obedience, many will be made righteous. Let's stop there for a second. So through one man's obedience, many will be made righteous. Obedience to what? We're going to ask that question today. Obedience to what? Christ's obedience to God's spiritual law was the catalyst to bring many to life and to bring many to be righteous. Verse 20. Moreover, the law entered, it was revealed to us, that the offense may abound, that we may see it clearly and see it abounded in us in the wretchedness of this sin. But where sin abounded, grace abounded much more. So that as sin reigned in death, even so, grace might reign through righteousness, to eternal life, through Jesus Christ our Lord. So these are eternal life matters that we're speaking of today.

And so when that mirror, that law was held up, again it revealed the sin and it revealed clearly that this offense abounded in us. And that offense brought me death, brought you death. But a gift had already been in place.

A gift of grace, and that grace given by Jesus Christ would be applied to us and therefore give us access to life eternal. His death and his rising up once again would be the act that would make this gift available to you and I, this gift of grace. And it would result in the justification to be brought back to life. It was now justified for the Father to offer life eternal to you and I. It could be justified now. And grace, as it says, far outmatched sin, grace and life would abound in us much more than sin and death ever could.

No match, sin and death were no match. Grace, this undeserved favor that is shown to us. And it includes this gift of forgiveness and God's grace and forgiveness made possible through the blood of Jesus Christ. And then he rose up and that life would now have the power to extend to all men and all women. This is why the Father sent the Son, because Jesus Christ brought with him the solution to mankind's condition.

And so the law and grace together, both wonderful gifts of God, the law shows us our wretchedness and our evil ways of wretchedness caused by not living in accordance to God's spiritual law. And grace, this favor that is then applied to us to rescue us from that death condition. And we've been able to see all of that in just a handful of Scriptures here.

In verse 5, Paul had an amazing way to put words and put it into perspective. And so sin, and it's condemning us to death, no longer remains. A solution has been given. Life has conquered now death, life made possible through Jesus Christ. And there is, therefore, no more condemnation to death. But wait! We're about to continue to read here, and we're going to see that there's something that comes with having this condemnation to death lifted from us.

We're about to see, with regards to the lifting of this condemnation, that there's a requirement from the One who gives this gift. A requirement from the One who has the ability to lift this condemnation from us. As verse 18 says, it is a free gift to all men, resulting in the justification to life. And so Christ now has this gift to give. So another question, of course. How do we receive it? How do we receive this gift from Christ? We're about to see that the answer is profoundly simple. Profoundly simple. And you and I can read it for our own eyes. Romans 8, verse 1.

Let's see this. Romans 8, verse 1. How do we receive this gift of grace? This gift of no condemnation to death? Romans 8, verse 1. There is therefore no condemnation to death to those who are in Christ. And get ready for this next sentence here. Oh, I messed it up. Let me read it again so you get the full Scripture. This is so important. There is therefore no condemnation to those who are in Christ, who do not walk according to the flesh, but according to the Spirit. For the law of the Spirit of life in Christ Jesus has made me free from the law of sin and death.

These words, these two Scriptures here, these are not being directed to the world. These are being directed to those future teachers that God is preparing now, to those who have had their eyes opened, those who are truly Christian. And if you are not in Christ, these words mean nothing to you. You'll read them and they won't have any effect on you. But if you are, then these Scriptures mean everything. The condemnation to death is only lifted from those who walk a certain way. The gift of no condemnation comes with a condition.

The gift of no condemnation, the gift of grace, where you have favor shown to you, comes to you by one means. It comes and is given to those who are in Christ. And you are in Christ only when you walk a certain way. And that's the way of the Spirit and not the way of the flesh. Adam chose the law of the flesh. He said, that's the law I'm going to walk under.

That's the law I'm going to choose. And little did he know it. It was the law of sin and death. The world's pulpits, as Mr. Lively spoke about, teach him a belief in Jesus Christ. And they have no idea what it means to be in Christ. If they did, they wouldn't preach that the law was done away with God's spiritual law.

But what is the fullness that we're reading here? We've been a fool. There is therefore no condemnation to who? Thank you. No condemnation to who? To those who do not walk according to the flesh, but according to the Spirit. That spiritual law was revealed. It revealed to us who we were and how we had been living outside of that spiritual law. And that living outside of that law has brought us death. And so Christ came and he rescued us from that death.

And as we read then, to receive this gift of no condemnation, we are not to walk as we did. That started with Adam. Making up our own law. We're not to walk according to the law that Adam directed us on. We're to walk according to God's spiritual law that began this whole understanding. God has called you to change the course of history. The very course of history. Change the course that Adam and Eve set for us. That's not your course. God has called you to change history. A new course you now need to forge. Are you ready? This is your purpose. This is why you were chosen. And so let's go back to Romans 8, verse 2.

Romans 8, verse 2. For the law of the Spirit of life in Christ, Jesus, has made me free from the law of sin and death. That's such an interesting scripture here. Understandably, individuals look at Paul's writings and they can be a little convoluted. What he's trying to convey here, this solidifies Paul's understanding here. Paul speaks of two laws and how we can be free from one of them. Again, Romans 8, verse 2.

For the law of the Spirit of life in Christ, Jesus, has made me free from the law of sin and death. What exactly is he speaking of here when he refers to these two laws? Well, keep your finger here in Romans. We're going to come right back. Let's turn over to Galatians 5, verse 16-18.

Galatians 5, 16-18. Paul is writing to the Galatians and he speaks more of this law of the Spirit of life in Jesus Christ and the law of sin and death. Galatians 5, 16-18.

He says, I say then, walk in the Spirit and you shall not fulfill the lust of the flesh, for the flesh lusts against the Spirit, and the Spirit against flesh. And these are contrary to one another. So that you don't do the things that you wish, if you are led by the Spirit, you are not under the law. What law? What law are we not under? And as Romans 8, verse 2 said, what law are we free from? When we walk according to the law of the Spirit of life in Jesus Christ, what law are we not under? When we walk according to the law of the Spirit of Jesus Christ, what law are we then free from?

We are freed from and not under the law of sin and death. These two sets of scriptures here. Let's go back to Romans 8, verses 1-2. Romans 8, 1-2. It says again, there is therefore no condemnation to death to those who are in Christ, to those who don't walk according to the flesh, but according to the Spirit. And then he mentions these two laws. The law of the Spirit of life in Christ Jesus has made me free from the law of sin and death. And then we read in Galatians, he speaks about these are two contrary to one another, these two laws.

And again, Galatians said, but if you're led by the Spirit, you're not under the law. Again, what law are we not under when we walk according to the Spirit? Is it the law that Moses gave? Is that the law that we're not under? Don't believe it. What are you reading? When Paul speaks about not being under the law, he speaks about not being under the law of sin and death. We are no longer under that law that pulls at us, that pulls at our flesh.

We are no longer bondage to sin. We are no longer under its control. That law has no power over us. Why? Because we are under a far greater law. The law of the life and Spirit of Jesus Christ. Those commandments, that law that was written on our fleshly hearts, that law has made me free from and not under the law of sin and death. Sin and death no longer rule over us. That law is no longer a curse to me. Through Jesus Christ, the believer then is free from sin's bondage and power.

It no longer rules us. Go back up to Romans 6, verse 5. This is fascinating here. Romans 6, verse 5, we're going to read a little bit more how and why we are free from sin's power and death as it tries to put upon us. No more longer slaves to that law of sin and death. Romans 6, verse 5 through 7, it says, For if we've been united together in the likeness of his death, certainly we shall be in the likeness of his resurrection. Knowing this, that our old man was crucified with him, that the body of sin might be done away with, that we should no longer be slaves to sin, for he who has died has been freed from sin.

That's our old self is buried with Jesus Christ. Let's continue here, 8 through 14. Verse 8, Now if we died with Christ, we believe that we shall also live with him, knowing that Christ, having been raised from the dead, dies no more. Death no longer has dominion over him. For the death that he has died, he has died to sin once and for all, but the life that he lives, he lives to God.

Verse 11, Likewise, Likewise, you also reckon yourself to be dead indeed to sin, but alive to God in Christ Jesus our Lord. Therefore, do not let sin reign in your mortal bodies, that you should obey it in its lust. Do not present your members as instruments of unrighteousness to sin, but present yourselves to God as being alive from the dead, and your members as instruments of righteousness to God.

For sin shall not have dominion over you. For you are not under law, but under grace. What law? What law are you not under? What law no longer has dominion over you? We don't obey that law anymore, that law of the flesh. We don't let that law that Adam chose reign in us.

We have a different law, reigning in us, the law of the life of Jesus Christ. That's who we now obey. That's the law that's been since the beginning of time, the law that was and would be later written down on those tablets, thundered from Mount Sinai, from Jesus Christ Himself. That's the law that we live under and has dominion over us.

And did you see this understanding here in Romans 6, verse 11? It says, You also reckon yourselves to be dead indeed to sin. This is the position that you now hold, the method by which Jesus Christ solved this condition of us being slaves to the law of sin and death, the law of the flesh, is to actually bring us into the death with Him.

Verse 5 says, United together in the likeness of His death. That old man, that old woman is gone. Who you used to be? Reckon Him dead. Reckon Herm dead. They're crucified with Jesus Christ. Look upon yourselves today. Today is a new day. And reckon yourselves to be dead to the appeal and power of sin.

Resist it. It no longer has control over you. Know this. You don't have to give in to its lust. Because the law of the Spirit of life and Christ Jesus is living in you. And as long as that is there, you are no longer slave to that other law. Your old self has come to an end. When sin hits you, it's as if it's hitting a dead man or a dead woman. It has no appeal. You're unresponsive to it. It doesn't tie you up. It doesn't make you hopeless and confused. We have the life of Jesus Christ living in us, and we don't walk that way anymore. And so we will fight. We will fight to the better end. Look at Romans 21, excuse me, Romans 7, 21 through 25. Romans 7, 21 through 25. Paul sums up this battle between these two laws. Romans 7, 21 through 25, he says, I find then a law that is evil, is present with me, and the one who wills to do good. For I delight in the law of God according to the inward man, but I see another law in my members, warring against the law in my mind and bringing me back into captivity to the law of sin, which is in my members, O wretched man, who I am, that I am, who will deliver me from this body of death, that condemnation. Well, I thank God through Jesus Christ, our Lord. So then with my mind I serve the law of God, but with the flesh, the law of sin. So Paul is speaking about the law of sin and death and how it makes us want to walk according to it. But we don't. We fight because we know then that condemnation to death won't be lifted from us. We read that. Ah! But if we fight, if we fight, just as Paul did, to walk according to that other law, the spirit of life and Jesus Christ, well then there is no condemnation.

Let's continue here. Let's go back to Romans 8, verse 2 again, but look at verse 3. Verse 3 is going to give us an awareness here of this struggle. We're going to see this relationship between this imperfect flesh and when it comes up against this perfect spiritual law here. Romans 8, verse 2, For the law of the spirit of life and Christ Jesus has made me free from the law of sin and death, but for what the law could not do in that it was weak through the flesh, God did by sending His Son in the likeness of sinful flesh on account of sin.

He condemned sin in the flesh. So what is verse 3 saying here? The law is not weak. It was made weak through, and because of, the flesh. Paul had a complete understanding of this. He thought he was a pretty upstanding Jew prior to being called. Oh, but he had a different opinion now. Here in Romans, he's expressing the very depths of his understanding. When that law was held up to him, he knew. He saw the wretchedness abounding in him. And that's what you and I see as well. He saw the wretchedness and he knew there was only one who could save him. And so he gives this simple thank you. He was in this battle.

One party serves this law, and with the other party serves this law. The law that when that law was held up, he could see himself. But he knew Jesus Christ would bring him back into life as long as he kept fighting. So Paul wanted to get across this incredible understanding. He wanted to make it clear that there is value and there is power in God's spiritual law.

It's able to define and show us that the sin abounds in us. The law says, walk this way, walk in it. We can't determine for ourselves these things. In fact, that's the first mistake that man made. We don't have the discernment to decide from right or wrong. We don't eat from that fruit.

We reject that tree of the knowledge of good and evil for ourselves. And we look to God and his spiritual law for that direction. But when we come against God's law, again, the flesh weakens it. And because the holy law is written on our imperfected, fleshly heart, it actually stirs up and provokes us.

Did you know that the perfect law of God actually stirs up and creates this battle? And the abundance of sin is brought forth because now a light has been shown on it. Look at Romans 7, verse 5 through 6 here. Let's see this. Romans 7, 5 through 6. It says, For when we were in the flesh, the sinful passions which were aroused by the law, were at work in our members to bear fruit to death.

But now we have been delivered from the law, having died to what we were held by, so that we should serve in the newness of the Spirit and not the oldness of the letter.

So the spiritual law from God actually stirred up in our members this fruit to death. What does that mean? Well, God's spiritual law was held up innately. The flesh wants to do just the opposite of what we're told to walk, and just the opposite of what God's law has instructed us to do. And it actually then stirred up fruit to death. And that battle in us only intensified when Christ came. That inner battle in us intensified because He came and He expanded the oldness of the letter. Because now the oldness of the letter was amplified.

Now it's just, don't murder, don't hate. And Christ said, I'm not even done there. You have to love your enemies. And every one of the Ten Commandments was amplified, intensified. So then that law was exposed to us, and it provoked and it stirred up sin in me, Paul says. And I don't know. We could ask, is this a good thing? Is this somehow a bad thing for it to do to stir up this sin in me? We'll continue in here, chapter 7, in verse 7 through 12, chapter 7 verse 7.

Well, what should we say then? Is the law sin? Certainly not. On the contrary. I would not have known sin except through the law. For I would not have known covet in this unless the law had said, you shall not covet. But sin, taking opportunity by the commandment, produced in me all manner of evil desire, the fleshly desire to go against the law. For apart from the law, sin was dead. I was alive once without the law, but when the commandment came, sin revived and I died.

And the commandment which was to bring me life, I found, brought me death. For sin, taking occasion by the commandment, deceived me and it killed me. Therefore, though, the law is holy, God's law, and the commandment is holy, just and good. Our flesh has this desire to be sinners, to live outside of and not under God's spiritual law. The flesh innately has a desire to be transgressors of that which we're told to walk in. So what's happening here? Sin is taking advantage of the holy law through our flesh.

The law which is holy, just and good, sin takes it and twists it into something for its own purposes. Twist it to serve the flesh. Sin says, you decide what's right or wrong. Eat from that fruit. So the problem is not the holy, just and good law from God. The problem is where it lands and where it resides. Us, the flesh.

But what the law was powerless to do, not because it was unholy, not because it was unjust, but because it was weakened by a sinful nature of man. But what the law was powerless to do, God did through Jesus Christ. Again, Romans 8, verse 3, For what the law could not do in that it was weak through the flesh, God did.

By sending His own Son in the likeness of sinful flesh on account of sin, He condemned sin in the flesh. So we have this perfect Father and His perfect law, but in perfect flesh. He sent His own Son in the likeness of sinful flesh and brought Him to this closest manner, possible without the Son becoming sinful Himself. God made Him in the likeness of sinful man.

And He was man in every aspect, except He wasn't tarnished by sin, despite walking in the same way that you and I walk today. And because the sinless Savior died and rose again, God is able to look upon Him and forgive Me. How wonderful is that? He was under that curse that we might be granted forgiveness. It's incredible, but it even gets better. Something else occurs in this process when you and I, when we walk in this law, in the spirit of life, in Jesus Christ, something else occurs.

God has allowed you and I a privilege. He actually has allowed us to participate in something when we're walking in that law. And it's found here in Romans 8, verse 4. Let's see this something here that God has allowed us to participate in.

Romans 8, verse 4, He says, He condemned sin in the flesh, that the righteous requirement of the law might be fulfilled in us, who do not walk according to the flesh, but according to the spirit. Amazing! You see, every day that we overcome that law of sin and death, every day that we remove ourselves from being under it, every day that we demonstrate that we are freed from it, every day that we fight, those that members, when it's in our members, we fight it every day, every day of time we have victory, the righteous requirement of the law is being fulfilled in you.

Christ fulfilled everything that God demanded in His perfect life when He offered Himself up. Not in order that, then, we walk however we want to walk. We don't walk that way anymore. But in order that we become like Christ as a result of that spiritual law dwelling in us.

And again, turning back to it, turning back to it, never giving up, fighting, fighting, fighting. Every day. And when we do that, we begin to fulfill the righteous requirement of the law. Christ does this through us. Those righteous requirements. Wow! Can you believe it? Well, let's conclude. Let's turn over a few scriptures here to Romans 8, verse 12 through 16. But before we do, we're going to read about being obligated, being debtors. We're about to read that we are to be debtors to all that we just read about. And so every second of the day needs to be dedicated to fulfilling this righteous requirement. It's who you are. It's what you do. God has called you to change the course of history. Take a new course. That's what you're here for. Romans 8, verse 12 through 14, in conclusion. Therefore, brethren, we are debtors, not to the flesh, to live according to the flesh. For if you live according to the flesh, you will die. But if by the Spirit you put to death the deeds of the body, you will live. For as many as are led by the Spirit of God, these are the sons of God.