Welcome, friends, to another
broadcast of Morsels for Zion's Poor. Many of the early settlers
which came to the shores of what is now our great nation came
here as indentured servants. Since there were no bankruptcy
laws in England at the time, if a man incurred a debt that
he could not pay, he either had to go to a debtor's prison until
that debt was settled, or sell himself into slavery to someone
willing to pay off his debts. Since the need for laborers in
the colonies was great, there were many businessmen who would
pay off the debts of any who agreed to come to the New World
and work for them for a certain period of time. These indentured
servants were bound by the law to serve under the will and purpose
of those who were their masters. Their service to these masters,
though entered into according to their will, was nonetheless
a duty they were by law bound to fulfill. There was little
reason for them to rejoice in the fulfillment of these requirements,
because when they had done all that their master required of
them, they had still only done what was expected of them. Today's
bankruptcy laws have basically made it acceptable to owe large
sums of money to others without having to pay those debts. This
has encouraged fraud and irresponsibility among many, and is essentially
the same as legalized theft. A man's debts cannot be settled
by the decree of a judge, even though our law might allow it.
The only way for those debts to truly be settled is for someone
to pay the price that is owed. Many teach that God's people
are to serve him because they are duty-bound to do so. They
picture the redeemed as those who owed a debt which was paid
by the Redeemer, but they think that those for whom he died have
now been brought into an indenture where they must now continue
to labor out of a legal duty to do so. They reasoned that
the debt was paid, but it is still necessary to continue to
labor in order to fulfill a duty laid upon them by that same Redeemer.
Now, one would have to be ignorant of the Scriptures not to recognize
that the law requires of men certain duties. And a man cannot
argue that the law does not require these duties to be fulfilled
in their jot and tittle. But that man who stands in the
perfect righteousness of Christ has already had that law completely
fulfilled for him by that Redeemer. Christ hath redeemed us from
the curse of the law, being made the curse for us. So there is
left no duty to be performed which has not already been performed
for those for whom he shed his precious blood. We are not free
from the law simply because of a decree by the righteous judge.
Rather, he has fulfilled his own righteous law, and the children
of God stand before him as justified on the basis of the fact that
Jesus Christ paid the price for their debt of sins and canceled
any obligation which they have to fulfill the law in the future. He is both just and the justifier
of his elect, having imputed his perfect righteousness to
them at Calvary. Those who are certain that God's
people must still serve him out of duty fail to see that service
out of duty is no real service at all. It is but the fulfilling
of a requirement for the paying of a debt. Those whose debt is
settled have been made free to serve Him with a glad heart,
without the fear of the law's condemnation. Some erroneously
conclude that what we are now saying is that the people of
God are now free to do as their flesh dictates without any restriction. Nothing could be further from
the truth. Not only is our debt to the law canceled, but so is
the indebtedness of our flesh to serve sin. Brethren, we are
debtors not to the flesh to live after the flesh. For if ye live
after the flesh, ye shall die. But if ye through the Spirit
do mortify the deeds of the body, ye shall live. For as many as
are led by the Spirit of God, they are the sons of God. For
ye have not received the spirit of bondage again to fear, but
ye have received the spirit of adoption, whereby we cry, Abba,
Father. The sons of God are new creatures
who have not inherited a spirit of bondage, but the spirit of
adoption. The freeborn sons of God shall
continue to follow their master and Lord, not out of fear and
duty. For God has not given us a spirit
of fear, but of power and of love and of a sound mind. God's
children delight in the instruction of his word and the holy precepts
of his law. The spirit of God works in them
to look outside of themselves for this perfect obedience. and
to see that Jesus Christ is their righteousness and law keeper.
What can be added to it? How much more shall the blood
of Christ, who through the eternal spirit offered himself without
spot to God, purge your conscience from dead works to serve the
living God? Do you serve the Lord out of
duty or because you love him and his righteousness? For a
free CD containing 15 of these radio broadcasts, send an email
to forthepoor at windstream.net.