What Does the Bible Say About Why Am I A Member of the Church of Christ #12?

In this episode, we continue or discussion of the division of the old law and the new law of Christ, in particular what Paul wrote in Galatians chapter 3, verses 5 through 29. The promise that God made to faithful Abraham is an important part of our discussion and we look at that in depth. We look at what was said about the purpose of Moses Law, how long it would last and how it was connected to the law of Christ. Two covenants are mentioned in our discussion of these two laws. We note what is said about them, how they relate to Christians today and what denominations have done relating to them. We move on to look at the separations or divisions in the Bible beginning with the Patriarchal period and then the Mosaic period and some of the important things that occurred in them. We return to Galatians chapter 3 for Paul's discussion of the seed promise that he tells us referred to Christ and was part of the covenant God had made with Abraham. We discuss this covenant and how it relates to the old law, the law of Moses. That old law was said to be a shadow of good things to come. In our next episode, we will look at what this means. Take about 30-minutes to listen in on our discussion. Have your Bible handy so you can verify what we are saying. There is a transcript of this Buzzsprout episode provided for your convenience.

Transcript

Fred Gosnell: 0:00

This is a presentation of the Woodland church of Christ meeting at 3370 Broad Street in Sumter, South Carolina. We meet for worship on Sunday at ten thirty am and five thirty pm. We meet for bible study at nine thirty am on Sunday and seven pm on Wednesday. If you have questions or comments on this lesson, you may email them to Arnie Granke at agranke440718@twc.com or to Glenn Landrum at scbamaboy2003@yahoo.com or to Eric McClam at ericmcclam50@outlook.com or to Fred Gosnell at fgosnell@ftc-i.net,

Arnie: 0:55

Good afternoon. This is what does the Bible say? Brought to you by the church of Christ at Woodland here in Sumter, South Carolina. I'm Arnie Granke, and with me are Fred and Glenn and and Eric, and we've been talking about biblical subjects. Last week, we concluded by talking about Galatians chapter three. And we have a little bit more that we want to say about that, but we hope that you'll that you'll benefit from the lessons that we provide. And if you happen to have a subject that you would like to, a Bible subject that you would like to have us review for you talk to talk to folks about, give us a call at at the church building. The number is listed on the on the sign out in our in our yard, and we'll certainly consider whether we can discuss that topic or not. We've been, we've been looking at some subjects with regard to regard to responsibilities as Christians. And Glenn, let's pass it to you. And can you bring us up to date?

Glenn: 2:15

Yeah, basically what we've been talking about in this this lesson is rightly dividing the word of God or the word of truth, and that we know we said means a couple of things. One is that it means using the word correctly and understanding it correctly. And the other thing is dividing it by the sections that that apply to the different people in the different times. And so we need to be able to do that. We read a passage, a rather long passage, at the end of last week, which was Galatians, three, five through 29. I'm not going to read that again, but I invite you to read through Galatians three or five, three through 29 I'm sorry, I think I said that wrong again. Galatians, three, five through 29, take a look at that. And this, this passage, I'm going to talk a little bit about that so that we understand a good portion of it. The passage, as I mentioned, is, is rather long, but it tells a lot about what we're discussing at this time. It helps to understand the division of the old law and the new law, or the law of Christ, Paul starts out asking the question, Does God offer or give the Spirit to them? He's talking about the the Gentiles who were in Galatia. And he asked, does he give it by the law or by faith? The law refers to the law of Moses, and the faith refers to the law or the time of Christ, it is the time of the church. He goes on to mention Abraham, a person who was greatly respected by the Jews at that time that Abraham had believed God, and because he believed God righteousness was accounted to him, and that's by Abraham, believing God credited him righteousness. Now you would need to go to to James 2, 14, through 26 and I'm only going to read one, one verse out of that, but you go to that and you'll understand that righteousness was credited to Abraham because he not only believed, but he followed with actions that proved his belief. Verse 24 of James two says, You see then, that a man is justified by works and not by faith only. Now we hear a lot of times people talking about that all you have to do is have faith, or all you have to do is believe. But that's not what James teaches in that passage, you read James 2, 14, through 26 and you'll you'll get a clear picture of what Abraham did in order to demonstrate or to prove his faith. I said that in that passage, verse seven that we just read in Galatia is interesting, and that Paul says that the only ones who are true sons of Abraham are the ones who are of faith. Now, Faith refers to the ones who believe in or have faith in Jesus Christ, as opposed to following the old law. Pay close attention to Verse eight, as it tells that the ones who would be justified by God would be the ones who were of faith, and that would be the Gentiles that he would be talking about, because Abraham obeyed God and demonstrated faith all people for all time would be blessed. Verse 10 compares those under the law to be cursed because they cannot continue in all the things written in the book of the law. They could not keep the commands. The point to be made here is that a person or people cannot be governed by two different laws at the same time. Verse 11 tells that noone could be justified by the law of Moses, because the law of faith, that's the that's the law that exists under Christ, is now ruling. We can only live by one law, not two. The Law of Moses was not of faith. It was of keeping all the points of the law, 623, separate laws. Verse 13 is key. It tells that Jesus Christ redeemed, or He bought back us, who are Christians, from the curse of the law, because he actually became the curse for us, that is, he went to the cross for our sins to sacrifice himself for us so our sins could be wiped out or forgiven. This was the as this was so the blessing of Abraham could be passed on to the Gentiles as well as the Jews. Verse 16 is very important, and it explains the thing of the seed of Abraham, through which the world would be blessed. This verse says directly that it was not seeds plural of God, that God was talking about with the covenant of Abraham. It was one seed, Jesus Christ, through whom the whole world would be blessed. Jesus was the one seed of Abraham that would bless all mankind. Skipping to verse 19, we learned the law of Moses served the purpose of identifying sin until Christ came. After Christ came, He became the mediator that's a go between of man and God. Verse 21 tells that the law of Moses did not have everyone of sin. Law of Moses, I'm sorry. Verse 21 tells that the law of Moses did not have the capability of forgiving sin or giving life. And verse 22 tells that the law of Moses convicted everyone of sin until Christ came. Until that time cry. Until that time came, the Jews were kept under the check of the law because it convicted them of their sin. For that reason, the law was the tutor to bring Jews to Christ so that they could be justified by faith. Once faith that's under Christ had come, the tutor or the Old Testament was not needed anymore. In other words, the law of Moses was kind of a stop gap measure for a specific period of time. It covered a period of time until the true giver of life could appear, and that was Jesus Christ.

Fred Gosnell: 9:31

So in a nutshell, this explains that the Old Law was given because the people who believed in God needed something that continually reminded them of their sins. Of course, there was we'll discuss. There was no forgiveness under the old law. But once Christ had come and had died, there was no need for the temporary Law of Moses. That law was always intended to be temporary, so it was phased out once the teachings and commands of Christ were in effect. For for a real good summary of this information, read the book of Hebrews. The book of Hebrews was solely about this subject Christ was superior to the angels, to the prophets, to the priest, to everything associated with the old law. It even says in Hebrews 7, 11, and 12, says there, Therefore, if perfection were through the Levitical priesthood, for under it, the people received the law, What further need was there that another priest should rise according to the order of Melchizedek and not be called according to the order of Aaron. For the priesthood being changed, of necessity, there is also a change of the law. So Christ had become the high priest under his law, the law of Christ, or His covenant. When, when you see covenant, that's that's translated testament sometimes. And this tells us that that would not have been needed if it were, there were no problem with the old law. Of course, the old law was designed to be temporary, and so Christ had become high priest of the New Covenant, because the old law could not forgive sin. Of course, Jesus lived under that law, and he kept the law. He's the only one that kept the law perfectly. And so then, once he did that, then he could replace it. So Hebrews 8, 7 says, For if that first covenant had been faultless, then no place would have been sought for a second, the first covenant, the law of Moses had faults, could not forgive sins. They offered the animal sacrifices, but those, that blppd could not have sins forgiven. So therefore God sought to replace it, and he replaced it with the New Covenant, the covenant of Christ, or the New Testament. So Hebrews 8, 13, says in, That he says a new covenant or a New Testament. He has made the first obsolete. Now what is becoming obsolete and growing old is ready to vanish away. So here again, we see that the Old Covenant has been made obsolete and the New Covenant has replaced it. So you might just think about everybody should have a last will and testament. Well, sometimes you write that up, and then you decide, well, I think I'm going to change that so, so they write up a new last will and testament. But when you pass away, you can only, only one testament, one last will and testament applies. So whichever is the most recent one, that's the one that the probate court will go by. So, so when Jesus died, and when he was being the testator, when he instituted his New Testament, then the Old Testament, the Old Covenant, was done away, so it was obsolete and was now replaced. So what so many people in denominations try to do is to make the New Covenant an amendment to the law of Moses. And again, if you think about your last will and testament, if you have two of them, you can't take one. Say, Well, let's see. He said this in the first one. He wrote down, and he said this in the second one, well, and the family that looks at that and they say, Well, I think we want to take this part of it in the first one, and we'll take this part of it in the second one. The probate judge won't allow you to do that. You only, you only get to go by the last will and testament, the most recent one. So So denominational people sometimes want to make the New Covenant an amendment to the law of Moses. Well, these two cannot be molded or weaved together. They are mutually exclusive to one another. The New Covenant, the law of Christ, it is not an amendment to the old law. It is a total replacement. So then notice what Paul says in Colossians 2, 14 and 15, he says Having wiped out the handwriting of requirements that was against us, which was contrary to us, he has taken it out of the way, having nailed it to the cross, Having disarmed principalities and powers, he made a public spectacle of them, triumphing over them in it. So this tells us the old law, the handwriting of requirements, was actually against and contrary to us Christians, therefore they the old law had been wiped out. No longer existed, as far as a law for us to follow.

Eric: 14:26

You know, Ephesians, chapter two, verses 14 and 15, says, For he himself is our peace, who has made both one and has broken down the middle wall of separation, Having abolished in his flesh the enmity that is the new law of commandments contained in ordinance, so as to create in himself a new man from the two thus make peace. This tells that Christ had made the two laws one. Him, he broke down the wall of separation and abolished the law of commandments that was contained in the ordinance. So you see, the Old Law no longer exist, not for anyone, even though somebody still they still try to use it, but it's not for anyone. We know many still claim to be Jews and try to continue to worship God under the old law. That cannot be done. The Old Law no longer exist. Therefore no one can continue to worship under such. The only way to worship and serve God today is through Christ. We have covered this to a great extent earlier, but we have to say also, and we have to also say that anyone not worshiping and serving God according to the New Testament is not serving and worshiping God in a correct and worthy manner. This is vain unless worship and service, what we have covered up to this point about the church is applicable to anyone or to everyone. We have mentioned in John 14 six, Jesus said to him, I am the Way, the Truth and the Life. No one comes to the Father except through me, it is a very simple, direct passage that carries a lot of weight. Jesus said that he and only he, can be the path to God. What he teaches is the true way to God, and anyone else teaching not that way or and not that way. He is the only way we can get to the father or get to heaven. If we add anything to what he teaches, or we take anything away, we are not going to be adequately worshiping or serving God. It is the Bible that gives us everything we need to live godly lives and to serve God. What we are saying about the 200 or the 2000 plus groups of denominations that claim that they have the truth is that for some reason or another they add or they take away from what God words really have to say. We have covered the church. It's builder, it's foundation, it's place of origin, it's type of worship. It's membership, etcetera. When anyone teaches anything other than what is in the Bible about the church its worship. It's scriptures. It's builder than what is taught in the New Testament, they are not referring to the church of Christ.

Arnie: 17:45

So we now have established that there are separations or divisions of the Bible that we need to be aware of, and each applies to different people at different times. Now we will look a little bit deeper into these dispensations or divisions. We spoke about, the patriarchal period during which God spoke to heads of families like he did with Noah and Abraham. Then Moses was, in a sense, commissioned by God to lead the Israelites out of slavery, out of bondage, in other words, in Egypt, to fulfill the promise or covenant that he'd made with Abraham to give him a land flowing with milk and honey. Of course, that was a reference to Canaan. It was during the period, during the journey, really from Egypt, that God gave Moses the 10 Commandments in the form of the law written on tablets of stone. And of course, we find that in Exodus 19 and 20. The 10 Commandments were the basis of the Law of Moses, and another 613 laws were added by God for the Israelites to follow. For the most part, the Israelites never consistently kept the Law of Moses. There were some that who did but mostly they strayed from God and did not honor or respect or worship Him as He commanded. This system was one that was begun in the wilderness between Egypt and and Canaan while the Israelites were wandering around in the wilderness. God had established a tabernacle, a tent like structure, in other words, that was moved around with people as they wandered. The tabernacle was a center of worship and sacrifice for the Israelites. It was very elaborate. It was an it was ordinary, ornate, very ornate. And it was also portable, so that they could take it down when they moved to a new location, and they could move it from place to place. Later on, during the reign of Solomon, as King of Israel, they would build the temple, which was a permanent structure that served the same purpose as the tabernacle. It was set up in a similar manner as the tabernacle was with the same room divisions. This was where the Israelites met with God. What we just described was the Jewish or Mosaic dispensation. One of the main purposes of this dispensation was to keep Abraham's posterity, his descendants, in other words, a separate and distinct race, until the promised seed who was Christ, and until he had come. Galatians, chapter three, beginning in verse 16, speaks of that and they continued until Christ had been resurrected and ascended to heaven. In fact, Christ lived under this law himself. Reading between 16 and 20 now, Abraham and his seed. To Abraham and his seed were the promises made, he does not say, and to seeds as of many but as of one. And to your seed, who is Christ. And this I say that the law, which was 430 years later cannot annul the covenant that was confirmed before by God in Christ that it should be made the promise that it should make, the promise of no effect. For if the inheritance is of the law, it's no longer a promise, but God gave it to Abraham by promise. What purpose does the law serve? It was added because of transgressions, till the seed should come to whom the promise was made, and it was appointed through angels by the hand of a mediator. Now, a mediator does not mediate for one only, but God is one.

Glenn: 22:40

Well, God had made the covenant with Abraham that he would bless all nations through his seed. And we mentioned who that seed was, that in Galatians, it's so specifically that that seed was Jesus, Christ. This passage explains the seed spoken of was Jesus. So it was a long time after the promise through the Abrahamic covenant that the seed of the promise would come. This passage tells that the law of Moses did not come until 430, years after the covenant had been made between God and Abraham and the Law of Moses could not annul the promise. The promise would continue on through the time of the Law of Moses existed until Christ came to the earth and died. This is a very good for us to understand, because what we so often think God's promises are going to be soon or immediate Abraham never actually saw the fulfillment of the covenants that God made with him. God was faithful to fulfill the promise he had made to Abraham. It took about 2000 years for the promise to be fulfilled, but it was fulfilled. The mosaic dispensation, the period of time that the law of Moses was in effect, which is from the time that God gave the 10 Commandments, until Jesus Christ was resurrected and ascended to heaven, has been called that middle wall of partition that Eric read about a few moments ago, because it separated the Jews from other nations, and and that would be in Ephesians, 2, 14, through 16. And I'll read that, For He himself is our peace, who has made both one and is broken down the middle wall of separation, Having abolished in his flesh the enmity that is the law of commandments contained in ordinance, so as to create in himself one new man from the two, thus making peace, and that he might reconcile them both to God in one body through the cross, thereby putting to death the enmity. I think it's very interesting that he calls this enmity. Enmity is something that's against something else. So he's saying that that the law was actually against the followers because they couldn't keep it was the it was the problem.

Fred Gosnell: 25:15

So this passage, let's just know that Christ fulfilled the old law and got rid of the middle law of separation, and abolished the old law, or the law of commandments. Of course, the middle wall of partition, there separation. The Law separated the Jews from the Gentiles, so Gentiles were not under the old law and the law of Moses kept the Jews away from the Gentiles to as we'll explain here shortly. So he created in himself one new law, and he made peace. Now there was a system for all people everywhere to serve and to worship God in the same way. So all have been reconciled through the cross, the cross which Jesus died in giving Himself as a sacrifice, he put to death the enmity, the law that was against us. And of course, that law, unless you kept the Law of Moses perfectly, then once you just violated one piece of it, one law, then you were guilty. And of course, man could not keep it. Jesus was the only one that kept perfectly. So then he could establish his new law. So we find that one of the primary purposes of the Old Testament, or the old law, was to bring the Israelite nation to Jesus Christ. And we've mentioned some of the prophecies that were in the old law concerning Christ. So by bringing the nation of Israel to Jesus Christ, it was bringing them to the same footing as those who would hear, believe and obey Christ and His doctrine. Even those who lived under the old law would be justified by Jesus Christ, once they obey the new law, therefore those who live faithful lives under the old law would be saved by the blood of Jesus. Just like those who came after Christ died, was buried, raised and ascended. So Christ is the Savior of all people for all time, not just those who lived after His death, burial and resurrection. Sometimes the older preachers would say that, Well, Jesus blood flowed on both sides of the cross, and that's what made it possible for people under the Patriarchal age and under the Law of Moses to be saved. They were saved. They were faithful under the law they lived under but the blood of Christ is is what made it possible for them to have their sins forgiven. So we can see why it was so important that the law of Moses, the old law, led its followers to Christ. It was through Christ that they had salvation, just like those who lived during and after Christ's death, burial and resurrection, the old law was also a shadow of good things to come. And Hebrews 10, one through 10 tells us that. And that's a very interesting and informative passage that Eric's going to go ahead and read it for us.

Eric: 28:13

And that passage says, For the law, having a shadow of good things to come and not the very image of the things can never with these same sacrifices which they offer continually, year by year, make those who approach the perfect for then, would they not have ceased to be offered for the worshiper once purified would have had no would have no more consciousness of sin. But in these sacrifices, or in those sacrifices, there is a reminder of sin every year, for it is not possible that the blood of bulls and goats could take away sins. Therefore, he came into this world. He said, sacrifice and offering you did not desire but a body you have prepared for me and burnt offering and sacrifices for sin, you have no pleasure. Then I said, Behold, I have come in the volume of the book. It is written to me to do your will, oh God. Previously saying sacrifice and offering, burnt offering and offerings of sin, you do not desire nor had pleasure in them which are offered according to the law. Then he said, Behold, I have come to you to do your will. Oh God. He takes away the first that he may establish the second. By this will we have been sanctified through the offering of the body of Jesus Christ, once and for all

Arnie: 29:59

This is a good stopping place. And we hope that we can continue discussing this thought next Lord's day, we hope that you'll be with us then. In the meantime, we hope that if you happen to be in in Sumter on, in our area of the of the of the town that you'll drop in and worship with us, or tell us some topics that you would like to discuss with regard to the Bible. Thank you for listening, and we look forward to being with you again next Lord's Day.