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Law of God: I know the word law has become a dirty word in grace circles but I want to sanctify the word law in our hearts by looking at what the law of God really is. Understanding the law of God for what it actually is has been a great blessing in my life. It wasn't until I saw the law of God according to the Spirit that the veil was removed from my eyes and I began to really see God's heart and what He has said and done in Jesus. When I look at my own life. I first started in the message of grace in 1996. And for the first several years even though I had a revelation that I was no longer under the law of Moses I was still under it in my understanding of God and I didn't even know it. I would preach boldly that we are no longer under the law we are under grace. But, my idea of what it meant to no longer be under the law was that I did not need to do the works of the law in order to be righteous. I didn't see that the law represented a mindset. I didn't see that it represented a certain way of understanding things. What I didn't understand back then was that I was still interpreting everything about God and what He has said and done in Jesus through a works/performance based mentality. Maybe I was no longer judging myself by my works, but I was still looking on God and what He did through Jesus through the foundation of works. I was still using the law of Moses to interpret the heart of God and what He did through Jesus. If we are truly no longer under the law what happens is we no longer interpret the gospel from a works mindset. We will no longer judge the heart of God and what He has said and done in Jesus through our works. We will no longer determine things like what God believes we deserve from our works. We will no longer judge what God has done in Christ through a works mindset. But, we will judge these things from the word that has been from the beginning. Use example of Hebrews coming out of Egypt but never entering promised land because even though they came out they continued in the same way of thinking. They saw they were free from Egypt but they continued in the same mindset they had while they were in Egypt. Traditionally we have thought of the law of God carnally as if it is were some kind of an order we must follow or perform. Or we have thought of it as some sort of an external ordinance that tells us we must perform a certain action. Explain what can happen when thoughts about law of God are shaped by the carnal mind. If our thoughts about the law of God are shaped by the carnal mind.. When we think of the work of Jesus we will think of it as him performing the works of the law. We will see the work of Jesus as if he approached God through Mt. Sinai; through the law of Moses instead of through the Spirit. This leaves us always knowing the work of Jesus according to the flesh; according to the works of the law. Instead of knowing it according to the Spirit. Our fellowship will not be with the mind of Christ but it will be with the carnal mind. And it can be difficult for our hearts to be established in the truth that was established in the heart of Jesus. Will leave us all the time fellowshipping with the carnal mind when we think about God and what He has done in Christ instead of fellowshipping with the mind of Christ. When we think of the work of Jesus our minds will be filled with Him doing the works of the law instead of our minds being filled with what He believed about the Father & the Father's thoughts & intentions towards him. If every time I think of the work of Jesus I think he was righteous because he performed the works of the law. Or I think he was raised from the dead because he performed the works of the law. Or I think the righteousness I have from him is a righteousness that is of him performing the works of the law. I am not fellowshipping with the truth that was in his heart. I am not fellowshipping with the Spirit of Truth. I am fellowshipping with the carnal mind. I am fellowshipping with the law given from mt. Sinai. leaves us defining God and everything He has done through a performance based system; from a slave mentality. Instead of the mentality of a Son. Explain what Jesus thought of the law of God When Jesus thought of the law of God his heart was not filled with a list of thou shalts & thou shalt nots. His heart was filled with the beauty of the Father's thoughts and intentions towards towards him. His heart was filled with the Father's promise that He would not suffer Jesus to see corruption or be held down by death but He would raise him up; cloth upon him with glory & immortality, and seat him at the Father's right hand. Explain heart designed with intent that our meditation would be same as Jesus We were created with the intent that the meditation of our heart would be The truth that was revealed in Christ. If our thoughts of Jesus are about him doing the works of the law instead of our thoughts being on what it is that Jesus believed in His heart. Our hearts will continue to be established in the carnal mind instead of being established in the mind of Christ. Our imaginations will be filled with a works mindset instead of our imaginations being filled with the beauty of the Word the Father spoke over us in Jesus. Even in grace we continue to think about the law of God as if it were something that God comes and gives us an order to perform. We say we are no longer under the law of Moses but we are under the law of love and we say God has now commanded us to love. But, if our definition of the law of love is that God has come and now commanded us to love. It is still in the likeness of the law of Moses. And just as the law of Moses does not possess the power to bring forth life in us. An external order telling us we must perform love does not possess the power to give birth to the love of God in our hearts. Explain what the law of love is. The law of love is not that Jesus has commanded us to love. It is that there is a law that if it dwells in the heart of a human being it will give birth to love in them. Law of love is not there is a law that says we must love. The law of love is that there is a truth that when it can dwell in the heart of a human being it will animate that human being with God is love. Jesus had this law dwelling in his heart & it gave birth to God is love in him. Joh 15:12 This is my commandment, That ye love one another, as I have loved you. The context of this verse is not Jesus telling us we must love. The context is that Jesus is teaching us how it is we can find the same love animating our lives that animated his life. The commandment Jesus speaks of here is not pertaining to what we should do. The commandment is pertaining to what gives birth to love in the hearts of people. Jesus is not teaching us that we should love. He is teaching us what gave birth to love in him and what will give birth to love in us. Earlier in the chapter Jesus said apart from him we can do nothing. Then he says abide in him and he will abide in us. The commandment Jesus gave is to abide in the truth that He came to reveal about God and man. Jesus is teaching that there is a truth in him concerning who we are; who the Father is; and the beauty of the Father's thoughts and intentions towards us. As we hear this truth, this truth abides in our hearts more and more, and this truth is full of power to give birth to God is love in us in the same way that it gave birth to the fullness of the Godhead in Jesus. Explain how author of Hebrews taught law minded people. When the author of Hebrews came upon a people who were brought up to know the law according to the letter; according to the flesh. He didn't come and say to them you are no longer under the law. What the author of Hebrews did was they came and revealed the Spirit of the law in Jesus. They came and revealed Jesus as the manifestation of what the law of God actually is. They came and revealed the faith that was made flesh in Jesus in everything the law of Moses spoke of in order to teach the people that the law of God is contained & revealed in Jesus not a list of carnal ordinances to perform or a list of thou shalts & thou shalt nots. Talk about how everything in the OT is a shadow of a truth that was revealed in Jesus. Everything was pointing to some truth that would be revealed in Jesus. The law given from mt. Sinai is no different . It was a shadow of what the real law of God is and has been from the beginning. Even the stones that the law was written on were pointing to Jesus as the law of God. The stones the law of Moses were written on was made up of Sapphire stone which is the blue color that speaks of the grace of God. The bible says the throne of God is made of sapphire stone & it says the throne of God is the throne of grace. Prophesying to us that the law of God is full of grace. But, man was carnal sold under sin so they could not see what the law of God really was. And because of this they tried to relate to the law of God through the letter; through the carnal mind; through their own works. Explain John comes in his gospel and reveals Jesus as the law of God made flesh. In the gospel of John he reveals that Jesus is the law of God made flesh. He reveals that the Torah of God has been made flesh in Jesus. He reveals Jesus to be the teaching & instruction of God to the hearts of people not the law of Moses. Example of woman caught in adultery: Set the stage for what was happening when this occurred Joh 7:37 In the last day, that great day of the feast, Jesus stood and cried, saying, If any man thirst, let him come unto me, and drink. Pharisees and Jewish people thought the law of Moses was the law of God. They knew the law of God according to the letter and not according to the Spirit. Because of this they were blinded to what the law of God actually is. They threw the woman caught in adultery before Jesus because in their minds he had been transgressing the law and they wanted to reveal him to the people as being lawless. Now they are in the temple when this happens and they throw the woman down in front of Jesus and they say she has been caught in act of adultery. The law of Moses says she must be stoned. What say you. And then Jesus kneels down and begins to write with his finger on the stones. I have heard many things about this but none I felt peace about til this Exo 31:18 And he gave unto Moses, when he had made an end of communing with him upon mount Sinai, two tables of testimony, tables of stone, written with the finger of God. Jesus is God in the flesh and he gets down and writes on the stones with his finger in the midst of the temple silently declaring himself to be the law of God in the flesh. Explain what were celebrating during feast of tabernacles feast was originally 7 days long & then they added a day to the feast & celebrated the Torah on this day. The word Torah means law. So they were celebrating the letter of the law on this day. They were celebrating the law of Moses on this very day. So in the temple where this thing happened with the woman caught in the act of adultery the Jewish people would have set up huge torches as lights to celebrate the Torah as the light unto their feet and lamp unto their way to eternal life. Celebrating God with them to be a light unto their feet & a lamp unto their way to the Godlife through the Torah or the law of Moses or the letter of the law. Celebrating the end of the previous years Torah cycle & the beginning of a new Torah cycle. After Jesus silently declares himself to be the law of God in the flesh by writing with his finger on the stone. If you keep reading he stands up and declares himself to be the light of the world. Now on the day that Jesus wrote on the stones & stood up & declared himself to be the light of the world. It was the same day that The Jewish people were celebrating these things. One of things celebrated was the end of one Torah & cycle & the beginning of a new Torah cycle. When Jesus stood up and declared himself to be the light of the world. In the Jewish mind he was declaring himself to be the law of God; he was declaring himself to be the Torah in the flesh. Jesus was declaring the end of man looking on the law of God according to the letter as if it were some order to perform & the beginning of us looking on the law of God according to the Spirit. Jesus was signifying the end of the time where we would think on the law of God as a list of do's & we would look on the law of God as a list of truths. Remember Pharisees came with law of Moses as if it was the law of God. after Jesus gets down and writes on the stones silently declaring himself to be the law of God; not the law of Moses. He stands up and declares Himself to be the light of the world. In the midst of the temple on the last day of the great feast when the Jewish people were celebrating God with them to be a light unto their feet and a lamp unto their way through the Written Torah. Jesus declares Himself to be the manifestation of God with them to be a light unto their feet and a lamp unto their way. Jesus came as the Torah of God to circumcise our hearts from knowing the law of God according to the law of Moses. He came to circumcise our hearts from knowing the law of God according to the letter. He came to circumcise our hearts from knowing the law of God according to the carnal mind. So that in him we could die to the understanding of God that is born from the carnal mind. So that in seeing the law of God the way He saw it; for what it actually is we could find the same truth written on our hearts that was written on his heart! Glory to God. Explain law of God is not something that came into existence after man sinned. The law of God is that which has been from the beginning. The law of God has always been the logic that was made flesh in Jesus. It's not that the law was one thing & then became something else. It has never changed. Psa 19:7 The law of the LORD is perfect, converting the soul: the testimony of the LORD is sure, making wise the simple. gives parameter by which we can know what the law of God is.... & is not. Converting is translated restoring Says whatever the law of the lord is it must be perfect. Then defines perfection not as holy actions we must do but as being able to restore the souls of people. Explain what causes a persons soul to be subverted & then what can restore. Explain what subverts the soul of a human being. The bible says we were in bondage all our days through the fear of death. It is the fear of death that subverts the soul of a human being. It is the fear that we are lacking in something we need in order to have a good life that subverts the souls of people. Whether it be we think we lack acceptance before God. Whether we think we lack a good report before God. It could be that we see our mortal bodies perishing through aging or some sickness that is in the world. It could be we see the tribulation in the world and we believe that our life can be threatened & harmed by the death that is in the world. So what would restore a persons soul is for them to be persuaded that they are dead to death and they are the possessors of a life that is incorruptible and that can never end. What would restore a persons soul is to see the substance of their life is not hid in the world but it is hid in Christ seated far above the system in the world. Explain why God found fault with law of moses Heb 8:7 For if that first covenant had been faultless, then should no place have been sought for the second. Heb 8:8 For finding fault with them, he saith, Behold, the days come, saith the Lord, when I will make a new covenant with the house of Israel and with the house of Judah: Hebrews 8 says God found fault with the law of Moses Found fault with the law of Moses because it could not restore the souls of mankind. Could not fill them with confidence and cause them to feel love in the presence of God. From foundation of cannot bring a person into holiest place Cannot purge conscience from sin and death could not bring forth innocence in our hearts in presence of God. Could not cloth with glory & immortality Law of Moses could never restore the soul. In fact in acts 15 James says that the preaching of the law of Moses subverted the souls of people. Why because the law of Moses was the ministration of death. In this we know the law of Moses is not the law of God. Psa 23:3 Says the Lord is our Shepherd and one of the things He does as our shepherd is He restores our souls. Psalm 19 says law restores our souls and psalm 23 now says the Lord restores our souls equating the law with the Lord. Jesus is the Shepherd in psalm 23 & in Him is a truth; a law that leads us to a place where our souls are restored. In him is a law; a truth that establishes our hearts in the beauty of the Father's thoughts & intentions towards us. In him is a truth concerning the integrity of the Father's intentions towards us. In him is a truth concerning the Father's ability to do that which He has promised us from before the fall of man. And this truth leads us to a place where our souls are restored. You might say what does it mean that Jesus is the law of God? The Hebrew word for law is Torah & it means teaching & instruction. Since Jesus is the Torah made flesh. It means Jesus is the teaching & instruction of God made flesh. Not in the sense..... not in the sense of I tell you to do something and you do it. To teach & instruct someone of something means to come and persuade them of something. Or to come and write a certain belief on their heart. Example of law of gravity it comes and writes on my heart the belief that what goes up must come down...... The purpose of the law of God is to come and create the same belief in the hearts of people that dwells in the heart of God. The purpose of the law of God is to come and teach and instruct the hearts of people concerning the Spirit of Truth in order for that Spirit of Truth to be written on our hearts and fill us with the fullness of God. Teaching and instruction of God=God comes to write on our hearts the truth that was made flesh in Jesus. The same truth that was in the heart of Jesus. Not a list of do's it is a list of truths In Jesus God comes to write on your hearts the beauty He beholds in you. In Jesus He teaches & instructs your hearts that He has never been ashamed to call you His own even while you were dead in your sin. How does he teach and instruct us never ashamed of us? We see Jesus take our sin and our death into himself in order that we can see our sin and our death manifest in him to the degree we can see ourselves in him. And when we can see ourselves in him and we can see that God came and claimed Jesus as His own even while he was in our death and our sin. It teaches our hearts that God has come and claimed us as His own even while we were dead in our sin. And this teaches us He has never been ashamed of us because of our sin In Jesus offering himself as the once for all time sacrifice for sin, and in him being raised up from the dead completely free from our sin and our death God comes to write on our hearts that He has removed our sin as far as the east is from the west. In Jesus He persuades your hearts that He has never confused who you are with what you have done. He Teaches and instructs your hearts that He has never been angry with you because of your sin but His anger has always been directed at that which is killing you. He persuades your hearts that He has never known you according to the flesh; He has never known you according to your works. But, has only ever known you as His people; as His kind. He has only ever known you according to the beauty you see in the resurrection of Jesus. He comes in Jesus to persuade your hearts that you are not orphans in this world. That you are not without a family or heritage. That He is your family and your heritage is His life. That He has never abandoned you. But, He has always been with you working to bring forth His life in you, and to save you from the death that was reigning over you. He teaches and instructs your hearts that you are His offspring and your ability to appear as His Sons & Daughters is not of you or your ability to produce the right fruit, but it is of Him and His doing alone. Teaches and instructs your hearts that you are not the kind of people who can be justified by disciplining yourselves to do the fruit of the Spirit and not do the works of the flesh. But, you are the kind that can only be justified by the Word the Father has spoken over your lives in Christ. Teaches and instructs your hearts that you are not the kind of being that can find life or be defined by what you do; by what you get; by what happens to you in this world. In Jesus He persuades your hearts that the substance of your life is not contained in the things that happen in this world; in the flesh. But, the substance of your life is contained in the Spirit; in Christ seated at His right hand having conquered your death in his body; never to die again. He persuades your hearts that His only intention towards you has always been to be good to you; to save you from the death that is in the world; to preserve your life eternally in Him so you can live with Him in love and never die. He comes to persuade our hearts that trusting in the strength of the flesh for life can never give us life but causes death to reign over us. He comes in Jesus to write on your hearts The promise of glory and immortality He made to man from before the fall of the world Explain how He persuades our hearts that is able to do that which He has promised in Jesus. He comes to persuade your hearts that the life He has in Himself and has promised you can never be swallowed up by the death and the tribulation in the world. But, the life He has promised you swallows up the death and tribulation in the world. In Jesus He comes to write on your hearts that the life He has promised you cannot be held down by sin and death. He comes to write on your hearts that the life He has promised you is not at the mercy of the tribulation that is in the world. But, the tribulation that is in the world is subject to the life He has promised you. Explain how He has taught us this in Jesus. Jesus took your sin and your death into himself so you could see your sin and your death conquered by His life in the resurrection. So through this you can be persuaded that His life is incorruptible and is not subject to the death and decay that is in the world. Comes to persuade your hearts of the integrity of His thoughts and intentions towards you by taking your sin and your death and placing it on Jesus so you can see yourselves in Jesus and then showing you His intentions towards you when he finds you in sin and death by raising Jesus up from your sin and your death and clothing him with glory and immortality and seating Jesus at His right hand. Comes to persuade your hearts that the life He has in Himself & has promised you is incorruptible; that it is not subject to the death & decay in this world; that it cannot be held down by tribulation, etc... Persuades your hearts that He is able to do what He has promised by taking all your sin & the death that was reigning over you & absorbing it into Jesus on the cross. & then conquering your sin & your death in the body of Jesus with His life in the resurrection. So that in this you can see He is able to do that which He has promised. Persuades your hearts that He will never allow your bodies to be overcome by death but that He will swallow up the death that found a way to manifest in your bodies through sin with His life through the resurrection of Jesus. In Jesus He comes to persuade your hearts that you are dead to death, and alive to an incorruptible, eternal life. At end of this: And this teaching and instruction restores our souls. It casts out the fear of death. what is it then to follow the law of God? It is to allow yourself to be persuaded of His goodness to you. It is to allow yourself to be persuaded that you are beautiful to Him; that should He find Himself apart from you He misses you. He longs to be with you. He feels as if something just isn't right when your not there. It is to believe on the Father's promise that He will not allow sin and death to conquer you but He will swallow up the death that has come against you with His life. It is to believe on the Father's promise that He will not suffer you to see corruption but that He will cloth upon you with His glory and immortality and seat you at His right hand instead of believing on the strength of the flesh. See this in Jesus with woman caught in adultery Taught her of her innocence by removing accusations Taught her him is salvation from sin and death. At the end: glory to God! I find when I think about things from the mind of Christ instead of the mind of Adam you can even find that hearing about the law of God will make you happy. I was talking telling the guys at one of our home groups after I preached about what it is that can make God angry. I said the news the gospel comes with is so good we can even rejoice in the goodness of God when we hear of His anger. Because there isnt any aspect of God that can be truthfully defined outside of His goodness. *********************************************************************** Scraps Use what mom said about meaning of commandment. Explain commandment Jesus abided in. Explain law that was written on Jesus' heart. Heb 8:7 For if that first covenant had been faultless, then should no place have been sought for the second. If we think that the law of God is the law of Moses & we think this is what God wanted us to do but we couldn't do it so then He moved it out of the way it will leave our hearts connected to what we must do or striving to do it because after all this is what God originally wanted. Want to talk about what the law of God is because even in grace if we sit in the place where we think the law of God is the law of Moses. We will find ourselves still with a works mentality about the gospel & our lives with God. Where we think the end goal is that we can be strengthened to do the law of Moses. You know the message of grace is not the message of rebellion from the law of God. It is the revelation of Jesus as what the law of God has always been. Want to talk about the law God writes on our hearts and really what the law of God is. We can go into our lives in grace thinking that grace is now the strength of God to enable us to perform the law of Moses. Or we can even reject the message of grace because we see the message of grace as rebellion against the law of God. You know people can just love God and have zeal for The law of God. You know I actually think the human heart was created to be captivated by the law of God and to have a zeal for it. Joshua said in 1:8 he who meditates on the law of God day and night shall find good success When the author of Hebrews came upon a people that was immersed in the law of Moses & thinking this was the law of God. They did not tell the people to rebel against the law. They revealed Jesus as the law of God. They revealed the faith that was made flesh in Jesus as the law of God. When you find a people full of zeal for the law you cannot tell them to rebel against the law of God & think they will hear what we say. But, if we can come and reveal Jesus as the manifestation of the law of God there hearts can be filled with a zeal for the truth that was made flesh in Jesus. Account of guy picking up sticks on the sabbath. Died because trusted in the strength of the flesh; works of his own hands for life instead of trusting in the grace of God. Moses tells them to blue string in Tashit to remind them of the law of God. You know that blue is the color of grace. It is the same color as the blue sapphire stone the law of Moses was written on. What law? The teaching and instruction that says our ability to ha be life is not found in what we do; what we get; what we have. It is found in the grace of God. Part about psalm 119 Alev taph. Known as the psalm that speaks of the law of God. Acrostic psalm that Speaks of Jesus as the alpha and omega. The beginning and the end. Psalm 119 is the well known psalm that speaks of the word of God; the teaching of God; the law of God; the instruction of God. Speaks of being a light and lamp unto our feet. After teaching and instruction part: Then go into Romans 3 where Paul said we establish the law through the preaching of faith. Rom 3:31 Do we then make void the law through faith? God forbid: yea, we establish the law. Not saying that faith helps us to live under the law of Moses. Not saying that faith helps us to now get the law of Moses right. Word faith here talking about the word that was made flesh in Jesus. It is talking about the truth that was revealed in Jesus. Paul not saying that faith helps us to live under the law of Moses. Paul not saying that faith helps us to establish the law of Moses. Paul is not saying that faith helps us to do the law of Moses. He is not saying we establish the law of Moses through faith. In 2nd Corinthians 3 Paul said in the new covenant we are not ministers of the letter of the law. But, we are ministers of the spirit of the law. And then he says that Jesus is the Spirit of the law that we preach. Jesus is the vital principle, or the truth that we preach. Then in chapter 4 Paul equates the Spirit of the law to the Spirit of faith. In this verse in Romans Paul is saying that through the preaching of the faith that was made flesh in Jesus we are establishing what the law of God actually is. Romans Paul said do we make void the law through the preaching of faith. Nay we are establishing the law. Something else is that this great feast is talking about the feast of tabernacles. And it says it was the last day or the eighth day of the feast of tabernacles. There was really only supposed to be seven but they had 8?research? Many people believe Jesus was born on the first day of the feast of tabernacles. Which means as a Jewish male baby he would have had to be circumcised on the eighth day of the feast of tabernacles. Part after explain what law of God is: part about law being teaching & instruction for our hearts. Use law of Liberty as part of explanation of what He teaches & instructs our hearts through Jesus. *****Psalm 119 is the famous psalm about the law of the Lord. Because man has thought about the law of God from the carnal mind for so long we read that psalm and think it is talking about the Ten Commandments or the law of Moses. Or we think it is talking about God giving us a list of carnal ordinances to obey that will give us life if we can get them right. But, if you look at the structure of psalm 119 it reveals that it is talking about the truth that was made manifest in Jesus and not some list of carnal ordinances. If you look at the first section of verses it is listed under the first letter in the Hebrew alphabet which is aleph. If you look at the last section of verses it is listed under the last letter of the Hebrew alphabet which is tav. What this is saying is that the whole of the law of God is contained in aleph tav. For those of us who are Gentiles we might not know the significance of psalm 119 beginning with aleph and ending with tav. So let's take the first letter of the Greek alphabet which is alpha and let's take the last letter of the Greek alphabet which is omega. So psalm 119 which is about the law of the Lord begins with the alpha and ends with the omega. Now who is the alpha and the omega? What is the Holy Spirit teaching us about the law of God in this? He is teaching us that the law of God is the alpha and the omega. He is teaching us that the beginning and end of the law of God is found in the truth that was made manifest in the birth; the death; the resurrection; the Ascension of Jesus. What happened is that man was carnal & sold under sin so they could not see the Spirit of the law.***** If we continue to judge God and what He has said and done through the eyes of the law of Moses we are still under the law. And we have not seen that we have been crucified with Christ to the carnal mind.