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Stand for the Truth though no one else does
Fred R. Coulter—December 17, 2016
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[Transcript begins at 58 seconds of the audio]
Greetings, everyone! Welcome to Sabbath services.
First of all, I want to once again tell everyone to please order this booklet and read it. I'm going to give you some assignments. Is the Ministry God's Government and, what are the Nicolaitans? You need that. The reason being that there are a lot of difficulties between brethren, between ministers. We've been covering the love of God and loving each other in our sermon series: Christ and Our Calling: TROLS: Truth, Repentance, Obedience, Love.
There is a lot of trouble brewing with Messianic Jews. You need to read this book: Judaism: A Revelation of Moses or a Religion of Men? We have things in there that are really important for you to understand. If you think you've been in the church that has had hierarchical top/down government, the rabbis are as strong as the strongest church government you've ever had or stronger.
Phil Neal did a great job in writing this book, researching it and putting it together. You will read that they say some rabbis are so brilliant that they even teach God.
While it is true the Jews did preserve the Old Testament, that is the Levites and priests within the Jewish community, not the Jews, and they did preserve the Calculated Hebrew Calendar. Other than that, they are as far away from God as you can be.
The Messianic Jews are coming in to try and lead people into prayer shawls, tassels, and so forth. I'm going to read from this book some of the code of Jewish laws. You won't believe it. We've got enough in here; you ought to read it.
They take away all free choice from individuals. You must do this; you must do that; you must do the other thing. If you see this sight, you must give this blessing. If you see that sight, you must give that blessing. If you see a giant, you have to give that blessing. If you see a dwarf, you have to give that blessing. It's crazy. We just summarize them here, but I've got this book Code of Jewish Law. We all ought to be like General Patton: read the enemies' books. Thousands of laws!
God says through Paul writing in the book of Colossians, 'let the Word of Christ rule in your heart.' That's what it is to be.
Again, the 14th Passover has come up. I just got an e-mail from a man who says they're having a Bible study and 'when did Jesus keep the Passover, on the 14th or the 15th?' I e-mailed him back and said to 'give me your phone number, e-mail me as soon as you can, and we will send you, prior to your Wednesday Bible study, we will send you these books. We'll send you a box of books of The Christian Passover.
People do not realize how important the 14th Passover is. How do you answer that simple question that he did? Which day did Jesus keep the Passover? The 14th? Or the 15th? I answered in this book The Christian Passover.
What is the basic question and what is the basic answer? You answer it this way, Jesus kept it on the 14th because that's when God commanded it to be! If Jesus had kept it on the 15th, He would be sinning and He would not be our Savior.
What did Jesus say on the Passover night? What did He say of the foot-washing? 'You are duty-bound to do this, because I did it and you are to wash one another's feet, so that none of you get exalted over the other.' So, there has to be foot-washing.
What did Jesus say concerning the bread? 'Do this in the remembrance of Me.' And the wine, 'Do this in the remembrance of Me.' All of that was done on the night of the 14th. The day begins, not at sunrise, but at sunset.
Matt. 28 is the important thing that covers everything in the Gospels, everything that God inspired the apostles to write.
Matthew 28:18: "And Jesus came and spoke to them, saying, 'All authority in heaven and on earth has been given to Me.'"
What does that do to the religious authority of men? If it's not in accord with what Jesus said, it's null and void.
Verse 19: "'Therefore, go and make disciples in all nations, baptizing them into the name of the Father, and of the Son, and of the Holy Spirit; teaching them to observe… [whatever you think you need to teach them—NO] …all things… [each and every one] …that I have commanded you. And lo, I am with you always, even until the completion of the age.' Amen" (vs 19-20).
That's what you would call a framework. Everything in the New Testament, since He was Lord of the Old Testament, then hangs upon that. What He taught. Is He not the head of the Church? Yes!
We also get those who come in and say, it becomes more ridiculous the more you hear it, that Christ abolished the Law. He did no such thing! How could He abolish it, since it is perfect and He is Lawgiver. That's Satan's way of making people relieved of a guilty feeling when they transgress the Law.
It's like here in California. Instead of teaching people to say 'No, don't take drugs; don't smoke marijuana,' there are so many people smoking marijuana that 'let's legalize and collect the taxes.' How many years ago did I say that would happen? That wasn't because I'm a genius, that was because if you know human nature, that's how they're going to do it.
With the Passover it's same thing. People go to Deut. 16. What is the key in Deut. 16 that is mistranslated in the King James Version? It talks about the flock and the herd. You ever heard of a Passover calf? No!
They translate it roast and it means boil. What did God say about the Passover lamb in Exo. 12? Not to boil it! What are those sacrifices? Those sacrifices are the sacrifices on the day of the Passover at the temple for the redemption of their firstborn. They were to continually redeem their firstborn children and firstborn animals. It's called Passover offering, not Passover sacrifice.
One other thing, the Jews understood that you could not keep the Passover on the 14th outside of the geographical territory of Israel for the Passover of the Old Testament. Therefore, they kept a Seder meal on the Night Much to Be Observed, and called it the Passover. So, it is a counterfeit. That is worse that Sunday-keeping.
The 14th Passover is the covenant renewal. If you don't renew the covenant every year, you fall out of covenant with God. I'm going to send out an article on the Eucharist.
How does Satan work changing things? Incremental, bit-by-bit-by-bit! Jesus received His flesh from Mary. Therefore, the Catholics say Mary is an intrinsic part of the Eucharist, because it has her blood and her flesh in it. You've got to be the most credulous people in the world that you believe whatever you are told and you never check whether it's true or not. You're held in bondage.
Here in the various Churches of God, here comes someone, 'I'm a Messianic Jew.' Oh, you're a Jew, wonderful. And then start teaching all kinds of things.
The latest one is tassels, you have to have tassels, you have to have phylacteries. They go to Num. 15:38-39[transcriber's correction] and say that you're to put a blue border on the base of your garment with little tassels on it so you remember the commandments of God.
I just got an e-mail asking: 'should we keep that?' No! Where does God want His laws and commandments remembered? In your heart and mind! That's why.
God has made us so wonderful and so great, given us such fantastic things. Think about every system of just the human body, from the simplest to the most complex. Think about your mind, think about your eyes, think about your ears, think about your mouth, your teeth, your tongue, your digestive system, all of the muscles. Fantastic things that God has made! All of us come from just a speck of dust. The older I get, the more amazed I become concerning that. That is an amazing thing!
Finish this with the Messianics. If they come into your congregation, ask them why they wear those tassels? Then point them to Heb. 10:16, God wants to write them in your heart and in your mind! It's worthless to have the tassels to remind you of the commandments if you don't exercise your mind and God's Spirit in you to learn and study it, so they're in your heart and mind.
Then ask them the next question. Which day is the Passover? The 14th? Or the 15th? If they say the 15th, invite them out the door. If they come with those things, they are coming with another Gospel, are they not? Yes, indeed!
2-John needs to be read and re-read quite often because it's simple, direct to the point. It is foundational and that is the greatest summary of the foundation of the Gospel that Jesus Christ brought.
2-John 1: "The elder to the chosen lady and her children, whom I love in Truth…" How are you to love God? With all your heart, mind, soul and being! How are you to do it? In Truth!
- the Word of God is true
- the commandments of God are true
"…and not I alone, but also all those who have known the Truth; for the sake of the Truth…" (vs 1-2). Notice, three times in just a couple of sentences. How important is the Truth?
Sidebar: Everything concerning the Laws of the priesthood and sacrifices has been superseded by the sacrifice, death, and resurrection of Jesus Christ, Who is our High Priest in heaven right now. Raised from a physical level to a spiritual level. From an external practice to an internal way of living.
All of the various laws that are now in force by the governments, such as the death penalty, God has transferred those to all nations. Israel had them in the Old Testament because they were a nation. Just keep that in mind.
Verse 2: "For the sake of the Truth that is dwelling in us, and shall be with us forever: Grace, mercy and peace shall be with us from God the Father, and from the Lord Jesus Christ, the Son of the Father, in truth and love" (vs 2-3). This is an incredible little epistle.
Now if you have a died-in-the-wool Protestant come in and say, 'The Holy Spirit is a person and it's God.' What you do is say, 'Why then did the Apostle Paul never honor Holy Spirit as God? Why, if it is so important, that when Paul gives the introduction—just like John did here—why is the Holy Spirit not mentioned?' Because it's not a person, that's why!
Verse 4: "I rejoiced exceedingly that I have found among your children those who are walking in Truth, exactly as we received commandment from the Father."
How did we get the commandment from the Father? Through Jesus, 'I speak exactly what the Father has commanded Me' (John 12)!
Sidebar: When Jesus took three of the apostles to go up on the Mount of Transfiguration, who did He take with Him? Peter, James and John. The brother of John was James and he was beheaded in about 41A.D. What did they see in the vision? Jesus Christ and standing with Him Elijah and Moses. What do they represent? The Law and the Prophets! Who was standing in between them? The Lawgiver!
So, you confront them with that and say, 'Why didn't He say we're doing away with the Law and the Prophets?' Never did!
People come along and they really don't know the Word of God and they really don't study. If you really don't study, you can't learn the Word of God. If you study, but you don't obey God, you can only learn so much. If you study and obey and repent and are baptized and receive the Holy Spirit of God, God will grant you all Truth. Not at once. We constantly learn.
Verse 5: "And now I beseech you, lady, not as though I am writing a new commandment to you, but that which we have observed from the beginning, that we love one another."
That's another problem within the Churches of God. You've got this splinter group out there that hates this splinter group over here, and this group over there that hates that group over there. Nobody can get along.
Concerning the new commandment here in v 5; He says he's not writing it. What would have been the new commandment? 'I have come to abolish the Law and the Prophets.' Wouldn't that be a new commandment? Yes, indeed!
"…but that which we have observed from the beginning, that we love one another" (v 5).
As I mentioning concerning the churches. People think they can go from group to group and just carry the same thing they've always had. No, indeed! Remember Matt. 25 and the five wise virgins and the five foolish virgins.
What happened to the five foolish virgins? Christ didn't receive them, because they were the ones who coasted along and didn't have the Holy Spirit of God and thought they knew everything and they knew nothing. They didn't love the other brethren.
Sometimes with their reactions, and things like this, it's really tough to love them. But that's why God has scattered the Church. There's a reason and a purpose for it. Ask this of yourself: Will I stand for the Truth even though I know no one else who does? That's what God is getting answered with the scattering.
How many people went back into the world? I remember one woman who said, 'I'm so glad we can keep Christmas. I always missed that wonderful smell of the evergreen tree in the house in the winter.' You read the latest letter about what the Christmas tree stands for and you'll take another thought concerning that. Notice that this ties in with 1-John 5:3:
Verse 6: "And this is the love of God: that we walk according to His commandments. This is the commandment, exactly as you heard from the beginning, that you might walk in it."
From the beginning of the ministry of Jesus Christ, He always taught to keep the commandments. How can anyone say they are Christian, have a Bible, pretend that they are righteous, and not read what John has written in the Gospel and in these three epistles, and what Paul wrote.
Here's why these things have to be preached and understood, v 7: "Because many deceivers…" Do we have a lot of them? They're not all in the political party.
"…have entered into the world; those who do not confess that Jesus Christ has come in the flesh. This is the spirit of the deceiver and the antichrist" (v 7).
They were getting a lot of Messianic Jews back then. Like Paul said concerning the false apostles. But people put up with it. I get these things every once in a while, but the worse one of all are those who say they believe in lunar-Sabbath. That's where you go out and look for the new moon. Most people don't know how to look for it. That's why you need the calendar material.
Sidebar on the new moon: They ran an experiment. Here's a low hill, here's a high mountain. One group went up to the high mountain, looked for the new moon. The other group down here on the hill looked for the new moon. The group on the mountain saw the sliver of the new moon through binoculars or telescope at 14 hours and some minutes after the setting of the old moon.
That would be the first day of the month. But those down on the hill didn't see it until the next night. That's why it's calculated. So, you will keep the day, whether you're on a hill, or whether you're in a valley.
All the false prophets that are written about in the New Testament are Jewish false prophets. A good number of them came from the Holy Land but originated in Alexandria. Who was the great Jewish teacher in Alexandria at that time? Philo! This is important background for when we get into some more. What did they have? This is going to blow your mind. They had a paganized Egyptian-Judaism. How's that for being mixed up? Philo's purpose was to go through the whole Old Testament and allegorize it according to Greek philosophy.
This is just a little question in my mind. You've heard of Apollos who came from Alexandria? I wonder what happened to him? I don't know. Paul asked him to go to Corinth at one time and in Corinthians he said Apollos wasn't of the mind to come to you. So, I wonder what happened to Apollos?
Now with the coming temple that's going to be built and the activity of the Jews saying, 'If we build the temple Messiah is going to come, because Jesus wasn't the Messiah.' They've even appointed a high priest, the Orthodox Jews did, and he offered a sacrifice. I saw a picture of it. Someone sent it to me by e-mail.
Here he was, making an offering. I couldn't see what kind of offering, but it struck me what kind of wood was burning. I though: this is incredible! It was a pallet, a wooden shipping pallet. That was the wood he was using, supposedly, for a sacred sacrifice. I thought to myself, this is craziness.
You talk about men putting God's name on something saying this is God's will and then going about to do things that way is insane. That's why we have a High Priest no one can get to. He's in heaven above.
2-Corinthians 11:13: "For such are false apostles—deceitful workers who are transforming themselves into apostles of Christ. And it is no marvel, for Satan himself transforms himself into an angel of light" (vs 13-14).
Satan never comes and says, 'I'm going to convince you to give up your salvation.' He comes and says, 'Have you heard? Did you know this? Remember, the Jews have an advantage. They are really spiritual people.' Not so!
Verse 15: "Therefore, it is no great thing if his servants also transform themselves as ministers of righteousness—whose end shall be according to their works. Again I say, no one should consider me a fool; but if otherwise, receive me even as a fool, that I also may boast a little. What I am now saying, I do not speak according to the Lord…" (vs 15-17).
But 'you're so carnal, I have to answer you like a fool, v 19: "For since you are so intelligent, you gladly bear with fools." Isn't that something? A lot of these people think they're intelligent: new this, new that, new the other thing.
Here's something to remember. You're not going to learn something new until you really understand what you've already learned first. Then you can learn something new. It will always be based on the foundation of Christ, the Law, the Prophets, and the Bible.
Back to this lunar calendar: This is the most foolish thing in the world. You find the new moon and that's the first day of the week. Then you count seven days and that day is Sabbath. So you see the new moon on a Thursday, and you count seven days and Wednesday is the Sabbath. Then the next month you see the new moon and the new moon comes on a Monday. So, you count seven days and Sunday is the Sabbath. How are you going to explain that to your boss? That is the most foolish thing in the world.
Yet, people believe it. They send me the calendar and say, 'Look at this wonderful new thing.' It goes in the trash.
Verse 20: "For you bear it if anyone brings you into bondage, if anyone devours you, if anyone takes from you, if anyone exalts himself, if anyone beats you on the face." That's what's happened. So, that's got to stop. Look at all the things that are coming against the people of God today:
- world
- false prophets within the Church
- false doctrines within the Church
- Messianic Jews coming in
We have to know so we can stand. That's why we know. That's why we have The Christian Passover book. The 14th Passover is the key to salvation.
Like I told that man, I said, if he kept Passover on 15th [transcriber correction] he would be sinning and that would be just like saying that Sunday is the Sabbath. That falls into the category, and a lot of the Messianics believe in Jesus as a man, not the Son of God, much like the Muslims say Jesus was a prophet.
1-John 2:21: "I did not write to you because you do not know the Truth, but because you know it, and you understand that not one lie comes from the Truth."
One caveat: If you bring all the Truth then there is not a lie. Can you take partial Truth, make it sound authentic, but it is really a diversion from the Truth? Yes, you can!
Verse 22: "Who is the liar if it is not the one who denies that Jesus is the Christ? He is the antichrist—the one who denies the Father and the Son. Anyone who denies the Son does not have the Father either" (vs 22-23). There we go; that's what they were coming teaching
Verse 24: "Therefore, let what you have heard from the beginning dwell in you… [remember it; make it part of your very being] …if what you have heard from the beginning is dwelling in you, then you will be dwelling in the Son and in the Father." Notice again, no Holy Spirit. When we come to 1-John 5 in TROL series we'll cover that.
Verse 26: "These things I have written to you concerning those who are leading you astray."
Remember, they didn't have Bibles like we have today. That's important to really understand.
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We're going to get into a little doctrine and some of it is not easy to understand, but I'll try and make it as easy to understand as possible.
Romans 2:11: "Because there is no respect of persons with God."
What did Peter say to Cornelius when he went into Cornelius' house? 'There is no respect of persons with God.' How does that work? On a practical level, God provides for every human being, righteous or evil, food, air, water, everything. God to gives to everyone all the faculties of being a human being. He gives to everyone all the ability to reproduce. That's carte blanche for everyone. There may be an exception here or there because of different circumstances.
God is no respect of persons concerning His law whether you know it or not. Just like if you stumble and fall, you're going to get hurt, whether you're righteous or you're a sinner. All have sinned and come short of the glory of God. We're going to make this as clear as crystal, because we need this before we go to Galatians.
Sidebar on Galatians: Too many people, when they start reading the Bible or go to church, end up getting to Galatians before they even know Matthew, Mark, Luke and John, just the names of the Gospels. They know nothing. If you read Galatians, with knowing nothing, you're going to know even less. You're going to be greatly confused.
Just like I said, Alexandrian pagan Judaizers. That's a combination. Not many people realize that. Please understand this. There were incursions because of the Gentiles, that's true, but the biggest problems with false teachers came from Jews.
So, Paul is giving an overview here, v 12: "For as many as have sinned without law shall also perish without law… [God didn't give the Law to all the nations of the world. Israel failed to take it to them] …and as many as have sinned within the Law shall be judged by the Law, (because the hearers of the Law… [Greek is 'ho nomos,' the Law of God] …are not just before God…" (vs 12-13).
How many people know parts of the Law? know parts of the Bible? But don't believe it or follow it! They're not just before God.
Think of this. Catholics say Sunday is their doctrine and Protestants keep it. A lot of Protestants are against idolatry, but is not Sunday an idol for the Protestants? Yes, indeed!
Verse 3: "Because the hearers of the Law are not just before God, but the doers of the Law shall be justified"—which tells us you must have repentance first and start keeping the Law before you're justified.
What is justification? Justification is being put in right standing with God, having your sins forgiven! That's what justification is. But you have to quit sinning before you can be justified, because God is not going to keep forgiving if you're actively living in sin.
You can liken that to a drug addict, heroin addict. That's a big epidemic now. You can hear all the things, 'you've got to quit; you have to stop; don't do it.' Then they go out and do it. They even found some of the rehab teachers who are actually drug dealers.
What are we talking about? We're talking about hypocrisy! You must be a doer of the Law before you can be justified. You must repent when you find that you have sinned.
It's like this. If someone came to me and said, 'I want to be baptized.' I would talk to them about baptism and I ask, 'How is your life, this and that and the other thing?' Oh, I've repented of that. By the way I faithfully go to church every Sunday!
What do they have to do before they can be baptized? Keep the Sabbath and know why they need to keep the Sabbath, then be baptized. What's one of the first things you had to do when God was calling you, before you were baptized? Keep the Sabbath!
Sidebar: That's what happened to me. I was cook up in Redwood City, California, chef and cook. That's when God was calling me. So, I wanted to be baptized. I went down to Pasadena to be baptized. I was still eating my bacon and tomato sandwiches and I wasn't keeping the Sabbath. I was told that if I wanted to be baptized then I had to repent of those things, stop it, and then I could come back. If I were ready for baptism then I would be baptized.
I came back, stopped the bacon and tomato sandwiches and that quit my burping all night, so that was a good deal. God is no respecter of persons. I came to the manager and said, 'I can't work Friday night and Saturday.' He looked at me and said, 'Why?' I said, 'Because of my religion.' He said, 'When did you get religious?' I said, all right, 'if you can't accommodate me, I'll quit.' He said to hold on and he would look at the schedule. He went back and looked at the schedule, came back and said, 'I can't see how we can do it.' I said, 'Let me look at the schedule.' He said, 'Okay, look at the schedule,' because he didn't want to lose me.
I went back and looked at the schedule and I worked it this way, because it was open 24-hours. I worked from 4 to midnight. That was my regular shift, because I go to school in the daytime. I saw that the chef worked from 8 in the morning to 4 in the afternoon.
I came back and said, 'How about if you give the chef Friday off.' That was a good deal because you have to do all the weekend prep. 'And let me come in on Friday and I'll work 8 to 4. Then Saturday I'll come in at midnight and work the graveyard shift. I'll take Tuesday off.' He said, 'You got it.' So I was able to keep the Sabbath, but I had to do that first.
It's like everything else. I talked to a woman recently who said, 'When I took the four Sabbaths in a row that you said, 'You want to know about the Sabbath, take four Sabbaths in a row and keep them and study the Bible those four Sabbaths and study on the Sabbath and you'll understand the Sabbath.' She said, 'That did it for me.'
So likewise, whatever it is, "…the doers of the Law shall be justified." Here's something that blew the minds of the Jews:
Verse 14: "For when the Gentiles, which do not have the Law, practice by nature the things contained in the Law… ['ho nomos,' the Law; 'ho' in the Greek is the] …these who do not have the Law are a law unto themselves."
God even honors it for the Gentiles that He never dealt with. They discover that murder is not good; adultery is not good; stealing is not good; lying is not good. They never made it to the Sabbath and they never made it to idols, but at least within their societies they had that part of it.
This becomes important and we'll see it later, v 15: "Who show the work of the Law…" If there is the work of the Law referring to the commandments of God, is that a good thing or is that a bad thing? That's a good thing! Please note very carefully, this is the only place in the writings of Paul that he used the term the work of the Law—'to ergon, ho nomos.'
"…written in their own hearts, their consciences bearing witness, and their reasonings also as they accuse or defend one another" (v 15).
Sidebar on v 15: Did you know that Protestants say that from birth God has written His laws in our hearts, based on this verse. Why is there so much sin? It's only written on their hearts if they found out that's a good thing to do.
Verse 16: "In a day when God shall judge the secrets of men by Jesus Christ, according to my Gospel."
Paul castigates the Jews. Notice what he says of the Jews: You boast in the Law; you're circumcised; you think you're a teacher of other people, and yet, you're great sinners.' I'm telling you that your circumcision is uncircumcision because you don't obey God. The Gentiles who obey God have the circumcision of the heart, which is greater. That's another thing that we need to always remember. Circumcision is now of the heart, not just of the flesh.
We're going to find another term. This is also in Appendix Z: Understanding Paul's Difficult Scriptures. This is important.
In preparation for something else down the road, I'm going to mention this again. Every noun in Greek has a gender—male, female, neuter; every single noun. We'll see that's where the confusion comes in concerning the Holy Spirit. We'll get that later.
This becomes very important. Romans 3:19: "Now then, we know that whatever the Law says, it speaks to those who are under the Law…"
Who is under law? All human beings are under law—period! Protestants say if you're under grace and not under law, if you try and keep the commandments, you're trying to earn salvation. No such thing at all. This is important with doctrine.
If we're going to love God with all our heart, that means all our emotions. We're going to love God with all of our minds, that means we need to apply ourselves to understand His word and to know why it's written the way it's written, and to understand what God is doing.
"…so that every mouth may be stopped, and all the world may become guilty before God" (v 19). That's why everyone's under law. If you're keeping the commandments of God in the spirit, then you are within law. Is that not correct? Yes!
Verse 20 is the key verse, one of the hardest verses in the Bible to understand, especially in the King James Version. When you first read this, when you're coming to the knowledge of the Truth, and you have a King James Version of the Bible, or any other version of the Bible, it will throw you for a loop.
Let me read vs 20-21 in the King James: "Therefore by the deeds of the Law there shall no flesh be justified in his sight: for by the Law is the knowledge of sin. But now the righteousness of God without the Law is manifested, being witnessed by the Law and the Prophets" (vs 20-21).
That is reasoning in a circle. That is an incorrect translation in the King James Version. Remember what we read back in Rom 2: the work of the Law. Paul was talking about the Law of God. Here in the Greek it is not the work of the Law. There is no definite article before deed or before law. In the Greek it's not there and that's important. Furthermore, it is not work of law, it is works of law, 'ton ergon.'
Let's read the correct translation from the Faithful Version: Verse 20: "Therefore, by works of law…" What are works of law? There are two categories of works of law, having nothing to do with the Laws of God that we are to keep in the New Covenant. It does have to do with:
- the ritual laws at the temple
They were to offer sacrifices if they sinned, and they would be forgiven to the temple. They would be justified to the nation of Israel and justified through the priesthood. That's been elevated to a higher level, because now justification comes through Christ.
Let's understand this more. "Therefore, by works of law there shall no flesh be justified before Him…" (v 20).
- The other set of laws are a code of Jewish law, the traditions of the Jews
What did Jesus say in Mark 7 that 'keeping their traditions you reject the commandments of God and worship Him in vain.' In other words, works of law, whether sacrifice or traditions of the Jews, never justifies unto forgiveness of sin for salvation. That's important.
Works of law—'ton ergon nomu.' Here's another thing that becomes a little difficult here. Let me explain this. What is the sacrifice that forgives sin spiritually before God but the sacrifice of Christ. Is that not the greatest thing that God could do? Think of the justice of God in doing it that the One Who became Jesus Christ created Adam and Eve. In His judgment against human kind, they received the 'law of sin and death,' and He gave it to them.
Now then, to redeem, eventually as many as will repent through the plan of God, God since He did this came and took upon Himself human flesh, lived a perfect life, gave Himself over to the cruelty of men to be crucified and die. God raised Him from the dead and His blood is the sacrifice to cover our sins.
This is a work of God, an operation of God. Can any work of man forgive sin before God spiritually? No! The greatest work to do that was the sacrifice of Jesus Christ. When we have our sins forgiven then we are justified.
In the Greek the word for righteousness and justification are very similar. However, when you repent, your sins are forgiven, then God imputes or reckons you as righteous because your sins have been removed. You are not righteous in the sense that you're living a righteous life. Do you see the difference?
Therefore, what Paul was working against—Rom. 2 shows it with the Jews—the traditions of the Jews and their clinging to the temple. The temple was still up and running during this time.
These false prophets were coming around and saying, 'No, you have to have the traditions of the Jews and you have to have the sacrifices at the temple.'
Verse 21: "But now, the righteousness of God that is separate from law…" King James says 'without the Law.' What does without mean? It means the absence of! How can there be any righteousness in the absence of law? That's why it should be translated that is 'separate from law.' Keeping law, sinning, repenting, is over there. Sacrifice of Christ is over here. It's separate from the Law and the Prophets.
"…has been revealed, being witnessed by the Law and the Prophets" (v 21). Because it was foretold it was going to come. Nowhere does it say that the Laws of God have been eliminated, but the word without, I know when I first studied that, the first time I read that, I said, 'What on earth is this?' I didn't understand it.
I knew nothing of Greek. But I can tell you what, when I understood the Greek and read it, it was like 10,000 light bulbs going off all at once. Clear as can be.
That also was the thing that the Jews were requiring Gentiles to do before they came into the synagogue? A little circumcision party! That was a work of law.
Reading through here, if you put the word justification, because no man can be justified from sin before God without the shed blood of Jesus Christ upon repentance. Can't be done.
Even law today, you do a crime, especially a murder—you can watch this on Forensic Files—you can disappear, change your name and looks, do everything, but that dead-case file still sits there and waits and waits. There's no statute of limitations against murder.
They have found people who have gone out, changed their lives, moved to another state, got another occupation, were honest and trustworthy within the society, even going to church on Sunday, all of this sort of thing; upstanding man or woman in the community. Then lo and behold, the Scripture: God's no respecter of persons, the Scripture that says, 'Be sure your sin will find you out.' And they get caught.
Case of one man, he remarried, twenty years, was going to a church, leader in the church. Nobody believed it, but it was true.
The same way, you cannot have your sins forgiven through any ritual in the Catholic Church. You cannot have a sin forgiven by Sunday-keeping. The only forgiveness of sin before God the Father is through the blood of Jesus Christ and that sacrifice which He did, which is the work that Christ Himself finished. For all of us, when that happens with baptism, that's a new beginning.
Verse 22: "Even the righteousness… [justification] …of God that is through the faith of Jesus Christ, toward all and upon all those who believe…" That belief includes everything we are to believe:
- the Law
- the Prophets
- the Gospels
- Christ
- in His forgiveness
- in His sacrifice
- in His shed blood
- that we need to be baptized
Believe! That means everything about you being a Christian!
"…for there is no difference…. [no respecter of persons] …For all have sinned, and come short of the glory of God; but are being justified freely by His grace through the redemption that is in Christ Jesus" (vs 22-24).
Can anything replace or substitute for the sacrifice of Christ? Remember, the doers of the Law shall be justified, which means those who don't do the Law will not be justified. There has to be repentance and obedience. That's why we're doing the series on Christ and Our Calling—TROL: Truth, Repentance, Obedience and Love.
In fact, that's the way the book of Romans has been written. By the way, we have three in-depth studies on Grace:
- Grace of God in the Bible
- God's Grace and Commandment Keeping
- Grace Upon Grace
That's one that has never been explained, so you need those three.
Verse 25: "Whom God has openly manifested…" He did it for the whole world, so the whole world would know. He didn't do it just over in this little country over here and it was done in secret and you've got to come over and join this secret society in order to get an 'in' to have your sins forgiven. No!
"…to be a propitiation through faith in His blood…" (v 25). What does propitiation mean? It means a continuing source of mercy and forgiveness upon repentance! Think about repentance for a minute, because our whole lives, even after baptism, we've got a lot of repenting to do, because God is putting in us the mind of Christ. There's a lot of erasing and re-writing in our minds that needs to be.
How much is in your mind? There are a lot of things there. I bet if I said, 'Jingle Bells,' that's there. How about some advertising? 'Coke is the real thing.' What are some of the other advertisings that they have. How about some of the songs you know?
Tell one on me. This is not necessarily a bad thing to have in your mind, but I watched one of the Trump Thank You tours and they have the song Proud to be an American. That's been running around in my mind. We have a lot of things in our mind. That's not necessarily a bad thing, but it's really annoying, because I need something else in my mind other than that. That's why the daily prayer is, 'Forgive us our sins.' That's why He is the propitiation.
"…through faith in His blood, in order to demonstrate His righteousness, in respect to the remission of sins that are past" (v 25). God never forgives future sins. If you plan to sin, it's already done. You just haven't carried it out.
Verse 26: "Through the forbearance of God, yes, to publicly declare His righteousness in the present time…" That's why we have the Bible.
There are now about a billion digital Bibles on cell phones. How's that for getting a witness out to people, right in the palm of your hand. 'Lord, you never told me.' Did you have a cell phone? Did you have a Bible on it?
"…that He might be just, and the one Who justifies the one who is of the faith of Jesus? (v 26). A work of law will never justify you, only the work of God through Christ and His shed blood can justify you.
Verse 27: "Therefore, where is boasting? It is excluded. Through what law? The Law of works? By no means! Rather, it is through a law of faith. Consequently, we reckon that a man is justified by faith, separate from works of law. Is He the God of the Jews only? Is He not also the God of the Gentiles? YES! He is also God of the Gentiles" (vs 27-29).
That's what Jews especially back then, did not want to acknowledge. This was the big problem when we get to Galatians.
Verse 30: "Since it is indeed one God Who will justify the circumcision by faith, and the uncircumcision through faith." Same operation. Now there is not the divergence between the people of Israel and the other nations of the world.
Verse 31: "Are we, then, abolishing the Law through faith? MAY IT NEVER BE! Rather, we are establishing the Law."
How's the best way to establish the Law even in the society? Internalize it! Just think what it would be like if you lived in a town where everybody kept the Sabbath, everybody kept the Holy Days. You didn't need any police, nobody lied or stole or cheated. Everyone loved each other. You didn't have to worry about a thing. No locks on the doors or windows. You could trust everyone. Wouldn't that be something? That's what we're going to do in the Millennium. That's what we're going to do with the help and power of God's Spirit.
Now we are ready to tackle Galatians. We've got several studies on Galatians, especially the one on Circumcision Wars. That's what was happening in the New Testament.
There is so much in the Bible. It's the greatest book in the world, the most widely distributed in the world and covers everything concerning all aspects of human life. No other book can do that. The Bible tells you:
- how to run the government
- how to run a church
- how to run a family
- how to run your life
- what you need to do as husband and wife
- what you need to do with child rearing
- what's the history and how did we get here
- where are we going
- what is the plan of God
- how is He going to carry it out
- who is going to do it
- how is it going to be done
- when will Christ return
- how is He going to return
It's all in the Bible. Just think how many volumes of books that would have to be if men wrote it.
I remember the first time, and the only time, I went to Washington, D.C. I went back to Baltimore to visit some brethren. Gary Stazak gave me a tour around Washington, D.C. What struck me was how small. When you see Washington Monument you think that's really big. Lincoln's Memorial you think that's really big, but it's not, it's small.
Then he took me into the Library of Congress. That was quite an experience. They've got every published book that they could possibly get. Dolores used to be a librarian. They have card catalogues on it and they have a whole bunch of little desks with lights on them and you can check out a book and sit down and read it; all of those books.
I said to myself, isn't it amazing how much God has put in one book, the Bible and has made it so freely available to people. You may have to buy it, but it's still freely available.
All Scriptures from The Holy Bible in Its Original Order (except where noted)
Scriptural References:
- Matthew 28:18-20
- 2-John 1-7
- 2-Corinthians 11:13-17, 19-20
- 1-John 2:21-24, 26
- Romans 2:11-16
- Romans 3:19-31
Scriptures referenced, not quoted:
- Deuteronomy 16
- Exodus 12
- Numbers 15:38-39
- Hebrews 10:16
- John 12
- Matthew 25
- 1-John 5:3
- Mark 7
Also referenced:
Booklet: Is the Ministry God's Government?
Books:
- Judaism: A Revelation of Moses or a Religion of Men? by Philip Neal
- Code of Jewish Law by Ganzfried & Goldin
- The Christian Passover by Fred R. Coulter
From the Holy Bible in Its Original Order: Appendix Z: Understanding Paul's Difficult Scriptures Concerning The Law and the Commandments of God
Sermon Series:
- Christ and Our Calling: TROL: Truth, Repentance, Obedience, Love
- Grace of God in the Bible
- God's Grace and Commandment-Keeping
- Grace Upon Grace
- Circumcision Wars: Galatians
FRC:lp
Transcribed: 1-16-17
Formatted: bo—1/17/17
Copyright 2016—All rights reserved. Except for brief excerpts for review purposes, no part of this publication may be reproduced or used in any form or by any means without the written permission of the copyright owner. This includes electronic and mechanical photocopying or recording, as well as the use of information storage and retrieval systems.
