By thy merits we find favor. Life is given through thy name.
That's a good hymn. Excellent. Well, Brother Nyberg, you come
preach for us now. Well, I just want to thank you
all for making me feel so comfortable. I've enjoyed being here with
you. I love this church. Love the
gospel you preach, the gospel of God's grace, and I'm just
thankful to be with you. The Lord's blessing is evidently
upon you, and I'm thankful for that. It's been a real privilege
to be with you. Spend some time with your pastor,
my dear friend. Turn to Hebrews chapter 8 passage
Paul just read. Verse 10. Hebrews chapter 8 verse 10. Now the apostle had made reference
to the fact that there was fault with the first covenant. God
found fault with the first covenant. Finding fault with it. God found
fault with it. The problems in us, but God found fault with it.
He talks about this new covenant that he made. It wasn't enough
to leave the children of Israel by the hand You see, we can be
led by the hand, but when God saves somebody, he puts his hand
in their heart. It's a big difference. And we
read in verse 10 of Hebrews chapter 8, for this is the covenant that
I will make with the house of Israel after those days, saith
the Lord. I will put my laws into their
mind and write them in their hearts. Now this is a verse that in the
past I personally have had mixed emotions about due to a lack
of understanding as to what it meant. I find the thought of
God putting His laws in my mind and in my heart very attractive. I never will forget one time
hearing your pastor make this statement, and it's always stuck
with me. You might not even remember it,
but you've heard people make the
comment after hearing what we believe about the gospel of God's
grace, they say, well, that makes you a robot. You ever heard that? You know, if I believe that,
I believe everybody's just robots. And I remember hearing Paul saying,
well, I'm not so sure that's such a bad thing. In the sense
that I would like to be programmed by God to just do what he says
to do. I will put my laws in their minds
and write them in their hearts. I find that very attractive,
but I always have felt uneasy with that statement. It's troubled
me because I thought, does that mean that when God saves you,
he will enable you to keep the law? Does that mean that? Because he says, I'll put my
laws in their minds and write them in their hearts. He said
that's what he's going to do. Does that mean that if you truly
are saved, you will be enabled to keep God's holy law. Do you? Do you? Well, doesn't the Bible say you're
not under law but under grace? What does God mean when he says,
I'll put my laws into their minds and write them in their hearts?
It's my prayer that by the end of this message, you and I will
know what it means. And it's also my prayer that
we'll know whether or not God has indeed written his laws in
our minds and in our hearts. Don't you want to know if he's
done that for you? Well, may God give us grace to consider
this very thoughtfully and prayerfully. And notice the author, God says,
I will write them in their minds and in their hearts. This is
something God does. This is the work of God and the
work of God alone. Only God can write something
on the heart. And notice the place of writing.
He says, I'll put my laws into their mind and write them in
their hearts. You know, he wrote his laws in
stone once, and man broke the stone and he broke the laws.
But here he says, I'll write my laws in their heart. Now this is the place for writing,
and you know and I know that there's a big difference between
knowing something in your head and having it written in your
heart. Doesn't the scripture say, with the heart, man believeth
unto righteousness? Now that doesn't mean the head
is bypassed. We know what we believe. We understand what we
believe. As much as a human being can understand divine truth,
actually, when it comes right down to it, we don't understand
anything that we believe, do we? I mean, fully. I don't have
a grasp of one single thing I believe. I believe it because it's in
the Word of God. But as far as grasping it, I don't think so. There's a big difference, though,
between just having a head knowledge and a heart faith in Christ.
Head knowledge has to do with the intellect. Heart faith has
to do with the affections. Have you received the love of
the truth? Do you love him? Do you love
the way he's saved? Do you love the truth of salvation
by grace? Is that good news to you? Is
it good news coming from a far country? We receive the love
of the truth. Head faith has to do with information. Heart faith has to do with experience. Have you experienced the truth?
You know, you can say something Or two different people can say
something and they can say the exact same thing. And it can
be offensive in one person saying it. It can be a blessing in somebody
else saying it. Even if they say the exact same thing. Let
me give you an example. I was talking to your sister,
Becky, and it was the night before she was going to take chemotherapy.
And we were in there in the hospital room with her the first time
she was going to take chemotherapy. And I was kind of cracking jokes
about it in a way. That doesn't sound good. Well,
maybe I should, but we were both laughing about it. I was kind
of cracking jokes about it. But I could do that because I've
experienced chemotherapy. If anybody that had never had
chemotherapy would have done that, it would have been extremely
expensive. Wouldn't it? I mean, it would
be insulting, but having experienced it, I could say kind of, like
things about it without it being offensive. We were both. I thought
it was helpful to us. You see, you can say the same
things, but if you've experienced it, it's a whole lot different
than if you haven't experienced it. Now, I have experienced what
I believe. If I've got hard faith, I think
we talk about grace. I talk about election. I've experienced
my need of God choosing me. I've experienced my need of Christ
dying for me. I've experienced my need of his
irresistible grace. You see, there's Information,
and there's experience. Head faith has to do with information
received. Heart faith has to do with experience.
Head faith has to do with personal gain. That's what most religion's
all about, what God can do for me. You know, the main emphasis
of false religion is man and the help God gives him. The emphasis
of the truth is the glory of God in the face of Jesus Christ. And a believer can only hear
that which glorifies God. So we see there's a big difference
between head knowledge and God writing in the heart. Oh, I want God to write in my
heart. I want him to take the pen of
invincible grace and right in my heart." Now the big question
is, what is meant by that? What is meant by God writing
in the heart? Like I said, this is a verse
that has troubled me in the past for two reasons. First, because
if God writes His laws in the heart, what does the Bible mean
when it says the believer is not under law? Now, the Bible
makes some emphatic statements about that. Let me turn to Romans
6. Would you turn there with me,
please? Romans 6. Paul says in verse 14, For sin
shall not have dominion over you, for you are not under the
law. But under grace. Turn to Galatians chapter 3. Verse 10. For as many as are
of the works of the law are under the curse. Now, if
you want to have anything to do with God's holy law and be
under it in any way, this passage tells me all it says to you is
you're under the curse. Curse. Look in verse 12. And the law, God's law, God's
holy law, which we love, the law is not a faith, but the man
that doeth them shall live in them. Look in chapter 5 of Galatians. Look at verse 18. But if you be led of the Spirit,
and isn't that what every child of God is, led of the Spirit
of God, taught by the Spirit of God, influenced by the Spirit
of God? If you be led of the Spirit,
you're not under the law. You know, people talk about Spirit-led
believers. Well, here's what a Spirit-led
believer is. He's somebody who's not under the law. Thank God. I love God's holy law, but I'm
not under it in any way. That's what the Bible says. Do
you want to have anything to do with God's holy laws? Only in Christ. Only in Christ. So, what does
it mean that God's laws are written in our heart if we're not under
the law? Now, here's the second question, or the second thing
that troubled me, and it was from a misunderstanding of what
the laws, what he meant by the laws written in the heart. If
the law is written in my heart, Which means, which if it means
the Ten Commandments, why can't I keep them? If the Ten Commandments, if that's
what he's talking about, if God's holy law is written in my heart,
why can't I keep them? Because just to be quite frank,
I have not kept one commandment one time. And neither have you, my dear
friend. You haven't kept one commandment. one time. Somebody says, well, that's just
not so. Yeah, it is. Yeah, it is. You haven't told
the truth one time. Even when you've told the truth,
even when I've told the truth, I put a slant on it, maybe in
the inflection of my voice, to where we haven't told the truth
and the whole truth, as far as us presenting it, never have
told the truth one time. The closest we'll ever come to
telling the truth is just reading God's Holy Word. That's it. This is the truth. But we haven't. We've lied. Every one of the
Ten Commandments, you name any one of them, we've broken them,
haven't kept one. I remember one time a fellow said, well,
I partially keep them. Now, when I was young and my
dad went with me for partial obedience, I mean, he didn't
say, well, you know, it's OK because you're partially kept.
No, partial obedience is disobedience. And that's all it is. There's
no such thing as partial obedience. haven't kept one commandment
one time. So if, when God says, I'll write my laws in their heart,
if he means the ten commandments, why can't I keep them? Does this mean that if God has
saved me, I'll be enabled to keep the law? Well, if it does
mean that, I'm in trouble. Now, this is a very important
issue, and here's why. I want you to stay with me. Most religious people, their
Christianity is made up of trying to live the Christian life. Isn't
that so? Most religious people, their
Christianity is made up of trying to live the Christian life as
they understand it. And they see that they can't
do it. whatever it is on their own.
I guess they have some kind of ideal that they think would be
living the Christian life, and they see that they can't do it
on their own, so they look to Christ to help them to do it.
And they look to Him to make up for their defects. Nobody's
perfect, they say, so they think that God will accept their honest
and sincere endeavors to keep His holy law and will overlook
where they failed because of Christ. They look to Christ,
not as their righteousness, but as somebody who will help them
out with the defects in their own, and to empower them to obey
God's holy law. Now, that's what most people's
religion is made of. I mean, the average church member
looks at it that way. And that sounds pretty good,
I reckon, but it's not faith. It's not faith. That's like a
villain who used new cloth to patch up the holes in his old
cloth, isn't it? You know, that fellow with that
old cloth, you know, the Lord said, you don't take a piece
of new cloth and use it to patch up holes in an old piece of garment. I tried that once. I remember
I had an old rotten chambray shirt when I was in high school.
I liked that thing so much, an old work shirt. That's the way
kids dressed back then. And I remember one time I walked
in the house and my dad grab it ripped it off of me boy was
dry rotted anyway and it just you know it was my shirt you
know I mean he didn't want me going out like that I wouldn't
let me either if I was an adult you know going out looking like
a fool but um my mom I'm a real mama's boy and she'd do anything
I asked her to and uh I asked her to sew that thing up you
know I mean it was ripped and she sewed it up you know new
thread strong thread and all I'd have to do is move and it
ripped moving it to rip. And I thought, well, I'd throw
it away anyway. You see, you don't take new cloth and put
it on old. And that's what most folks look
at Christ's righteousness. They look at it as something
to patch up the holes in their own. No, throw it away. Throw it away. Just like Bartimaeus
did. He took that old smelly rag that
was his security blanket and he threw it away. And he rose
and came to Christ. You see, Christ doesn't Help
me to be saved. He is my salvation. He is my
salvation. So when God says, I'll write
my laws in their hearts, he doesn't mean I'm going to enable them
to keep the Ten Commandments and empower them to do that.
As a matter of fact, turn to Romans chapter 2, and this will
settle this issue. I don't know why I've never noticed
this before, but look in Romans chapter 2. Verse 14, Romans 2, 14, for when
the Gentiles, unbelievers, for when the Gentiles which have
not the law, they've never even heard the Ten Commandments, they
do by nature the things contained in the law. They know the difference
between right and wrong. Every society knows that it's
wrong to murder. Every society knows that it's
wrong to lie and to steal and to commit adultery and all the
Ten Commandments. They all know that. having not
the law or law unto themselves, which now look at verse 15, which
show the work of the law written in their hearts. You see, God
has written the Ten Commandments even in an unbeliever's heart.
Everybody knows the difference between right and wrong, don't they?
They know that by nature. God has shown the work of the
law written in their hearts, their conscience also bearing
witness in their thoughts. But meanwhile, here's what they
do. They either accuse, make you feel guilty, or else excuse
one another. That's what the law does for
us. It accuses us, it shows us how we failed, or in seeing that
we failed, we'll start trying to make excuses. Well, you know,
I was weak at the time, or I was tired. You ever heard somebody,
they do something terrible and they say, well, I was tired then?
That's the way we always excuse our kids. Well, they're tired,
you know. The excuses get a little bit more complicated than that,
don't they? When he says, I'll write my laws
in their hearts, we see he does not mean the Ten Commandments.
Every son of Adam born into this world is born with those written
on their heart and on their conscience. Every son of Adam knows the difference
between right and wrong. So obviously the Lord means something
more, or not really more, but actually different from the Ten
Commandments when he says, I'll write my laws in their hearts. Did you see that? Now, this word,
law, or laws in the Bible, means much more than the Ten Commandments. The word law means a principle. It's a principle. It's a force or an influence
which impels to action, and it's a force even if it's not written
down. For instance, the law of gravity
was in force before any man knew what it was. It never was written
down. Nobody knew anything about it,
but it was still in force. It was a principle. And just
because men are ignorant of it, that doesn't mean it's not so.
You ever had somebody say to you, if a tree falls in the woods
and nobody's there to hear it, does it make a noise? Boy, I
used to think of that, but man, that's deep. I don't know. Of
course it does. It's a law. That's a physical
law. When a train falls, it crashes.
That's a law of... Ice is cold. That's a law. Fire
is hot. That's a law. Water is wet. I
mean, these are physical laws. It's a principle. And that's
the way the Scripture uses the word, generally, in the New Testament. It's a law. Now, let me give
you an example of this. Turn with me to Romans 7. Look in verse 21. The Apostle Paul says in Romans
7, 21, I find in a law that when I would do good, evil is present
with me. What Paul is saying is, I find
a principle that I can't escape no matter how hard I try. This
is a principle that's in me. When I would do good, when I
would be holy, when I would look only to Christ, evil is present
with me. And I can't get rid of this.
It's a law. It's a governing principle. So when God says, I'll put my
laws in their minds and in their hearts while I write them, He's
saying, I'm going to put my principles my laws in them that will govern
them, and they will become laws of nature to them, just like
it's the nature of a lion to eat meat. It will be the nature
of a child of God to be governed by these principles that I'm
going to put in their hearts. These laws will be natural to
my people. Now, I say this dogmatically. Every child of God is governed
by certain laws and principles that the Word of God gives us
that he places in their hearts. Every child of God is governed
by these laws. Now, we're going to get into
what they are in just a minute, but I want you to understand that
every child of God, without exception, is governed by these laws and
principles that the Word of God gives us. So let's consider these. I found six different laws mentioned
in the Bible that govern the believer, that are natural to
the believer. They become nature to him. But before we look at them, let
me look at one other passage in Romans 8. You're already there
in Romans 7. Look at Romans 8, and this will
give an illustration of this. Verse 1. There is therefore now
no condemnation to them which are in Christ Jesus, who walk
not after the flesh. Do you know no child of God walks
after the flesh? Now they don't. A lot of people
they look at that passage and they say well if you're being
real spiritual and you're being real heavenly minded you're up
here or you're walking down in the flesh. Well there's a God
forbid, by His grace, that we walk in a debased way and so
on. I don't want that, and I'm not
excusing it in any way, but that's not what that passage is talking
about. And look at, go on reading to see. Look, verse 2, for the
law of the Spirit of life in Christ Jesus. Here is a law,
a governing principle that works in the heart of the believer.
For the law of the Spirit of life in Christ Jesus hath made
me free from the law of sin and death. You see that? It's a principle that works in
the heart and it governs us. Now, look once again, one other
scripture in Romans 7. Look what Paul says in verses
22 and 23. He says, For I delight in the
law of God. Now there he's talking about
God's commandments. Verse 22, For I delight in the law of God
after the inward man. And I do. Do you? You take the
holy law of God as ten commandments. I delight in that law. It's holy. I prove of it. I mean, I'm glad
it's that way. And I have no reason to fear
it now because I have a righteousness before that law. I delight in
the law of God after the inward man. But, verse 23, I see another
law, another principle in my members, warring against the
law of my mind. See, he's talking about two principles
there, isn't he? Two things in the believer that
he's dealing with. He talks about that, well, there
it is. I see another law in my members,
warring against the law of my mind and bringing me into captivity
to the law of sin. which is in my members." Notice
the phrase, the law of my mind. That means the nature of my mind.
This is caused by the spirit of life in Christ Jesus, and
it's a principle that governs the new nature. Now, OK, let
me give you these six different principles that govern every
child of God. And the first one is found there
in Romans 7. We've been reading it. Look in
verse 22. For I delight in the law of God after the inward man,
But I see another law in my members, warring against the law of my
mind, and bringing me into captivity the law of sin which is in my
members. O wretched man that I am! Who shall deliver me from
the body of this death? I thank God through Jesus Christ
our Lord. So then, with the mind I myself
serve the law of God, but with the flesh the law of sin." The law. Now, the first principle
that a believer knows something about is the law of sin. A principle of sin. You see, a dead person doesn't
know they're dead, do they? But when God gives you life,
you start knowing something about the corruption, the old nature,
the law of sin. Now, what does Paul mean? When
he says in verse 25, I thank God through Jesus Christ our
Lord, serving with the mind, I myself, I myself serve the
law of God, but with the flesh, the law of sin. Paul means this,
all my flesh does is sin. Now, a lot of folks won't admit
to that, but a believer knows it's the truth. All my flesh
does is sin. If you're a person that God's
given life to, you know that's the truth concerning you. You
are sin. You're a sinner. And according
to the Bible, a sinner is somebody who all they do is sin. That's
what a sinner is. Look in 1 John chapter Verse 8, 1 John chapter 1, if
we say that we have no sin, and I believe right here he's talking
about a nature. He's not talking about sins in the plural or an
act. He's talking about a nature. If we say that we have no sin,
we deceive ourselves and the truth is not in us. You know, one of the things that
is proof to me of the depravity of nature is that a man can lie
to himself and make himself believe that lie. Isn't that amazing? He says, we deceive ourselves,
and the truth is not this. Look down at verse 10. If we
say that we've not sinned, and he's talking about an act that
he's talking about right now. He's talking about right now.
If we say we've not sinned, we make him a liar, and his word
is not in us. Now a believer knows something
about this law of sin, even right now. Would you want your best
thought to appear before God in judgment? Your best prayer? Your most generous gift? Of course
you wouldn't if you're a believer, because you know in and of yourself
all that is a sin. And that's what Paul was talking
about when he said, with my flesh I serve the law of sin. Now, you don't use this as an
excuse for sin. You don't use this as an encouragement
in your sin, but you acknowledge it as the truth. I am sin. Somebody says, I really don't
believe that about myself. Well, OK, but that's because
you don't have spiritual life if you don't believe that about
yourself. Because if you had spiritual life, you'd know it's
so. This is what God teaches somebody. He teaches them that
they're a sinner. And let me also say this. If you believe
this about yourself, God taught you this. And if you believe
this about yourself, if you're not a believer right
now, you will be soon. There's never been one person
in all the world who ever really believed there were a sinner
that didn't look to Christ as the Savior. Did you know that?
If God's taught you that you're a sinner, He's going to save
you. Do you think he'd teach you that
you're a sinner and then just leave you alone? No. This is
the work of God the Holy Spirit in a man when he teaches you're
a sinner and he's going to bring you to the Savior in every instance. I had somebody come to my study
a couple of weeks ago or two or three weeks. It's been recently
and he's a fellow that I know is not converted. I feel quite
sure he's not converted. And he was talking to me, saying,
oh, I just feel I'm so sinful. I'm so bad. And he started all
this poor-mouthing and whining. And the reason I'm speaking critically
of it in that sense is if he really believed that, he'd look
to Christ. There's no such thing as a sinner who doesn't look
to the Savior. He was kind of like saying, well, I'm just so
bad. I know I'm not saved, but I can't
help it because I'm so bad and I'll never be anything. He was
using that as an excuse. You see what I'm saying? To keep
him from coming to Christ. You can't do that. If God has taught
you that you're a sinner, you will look to the Savior. I'm
sure of that. But do you feel this is true
of you? Can you identify with Paul when
he says, I find in a law that when I would do good, I'm going to zip through these,
Romans chapter three. Verse twenty-seven, Paul says,
Where is boasting then? It's excluded by what law of
works? Nay, but by the law of faith. Now here's the second law that
every believer has governing him, the law of Now first, what's
faith? What's faith? Well, Hebrews 11-1
says, Now faith is the substance of things hoped for, the evidence
of things not seen. That word substance simply means
the ground of things hoped for. Now what do you hope for? Well,
I have a hope that when I stand before the thrice-holy God on
Judgment Day, I'm going to be accepted. I have a hope that
all my sins are forgiven. I have a hope that they're all
covered in the blood of the Lord Jesus Christ. I have a hope that
I'm going to spend eternity with him. I have a hope that one of
these days I'm going to be just like Christ. I'm talking about
a hope. Can you imagine that, being just
like Christ? Somebody says, well, what's the
ground of that hope? The merits of Christ. What He did for me,
that's the ground of my hope. The ground of my hope is that
I'm in Christ. And God doesn't look on me, but He looks on Him.
Therefore, I'll be accepted. Faith is the substance of things
hoped for. It's the ground of things hoped
for. The ground of what I hope for is what Christ did for me.
Somebody says, well, how do you know He did it for you? Faith.
Faith. I trust Him. I really trust Christ
Jesus is my only hope. I don't have any other hope.
I really don't. I wouldn't plead one other thing
but the Lord Jesus himself. Now that's how I know he did
what he did for me. I'd never do that if he didn't
do it for me. Everybody that looks to him alone
has this law of faith. And it's a law, it's the nature
of a believer to believe. They can't help it. I mean, it's
in nature. Do you know? Faith is not a decision. That's a lie of the devil, where
preachers are always talking about a decision. You know, you
need to make this decision for Christ. You've never trusted
Christ until you've been driven to Him because you had no choice.
You don't decide to believe. I mean, 2 plus 2 equals 4. I don't decide, well, am I going
to believe that or not? No, you believe because you don't
have a choice. It's just the truth. And a believer is driven to Christ.
The Lord said, well, He watched those people leaving Him there
in John chapter 6, 5,000 people. He looked at His disciples and
He said, will you also go away? I mean, if you want to, you can. He said, Lord, to whom shall
we go? Thou hast the words of eternal
life, and we believe and are sure that Thou art that Christ,
the Son of the living God." I believe because I have no choice. I'm
driven to Christ. I've got no other option. Do
you have another option? No. Lazarus, come forth! Did Lazarus have a choice? Could
he say, I don't believe I'm going to? No. He comes. That's the call of God's grace. And you believe because you have
no choice. Now this law of faith, if you
look at that passage again, where is boasting then? It is excluded. By what law of works? Nay, but
by the law of faith. This law excludes all human boasting,
and that is why I know I know that the child of God,
all children of God, will believe what we call the doctrine of
grace. Every single one of them, because that's the only thing
that excludes human boasting. And somebody that rejects grace,
they reject God. It's as simple as that. And I
know that's the truth. I don't have any doubt about
it. Somebody says, well, they're Christians, they just don't believe
grace. Oh, how you go about doing that? That's a strange creature,
isn't it? A child of God will receive, and joyfully receive,
when taught by the Holy Spirit, and when it's given in a scriptural
context of what it really means. They're going to bow to what
we call great, not only bow, willingly do it, and rejoice
in it, because the law of faith excludes boasting. I like the way that sounds, the
law of faith. That's God's writing on the heart.
Do you look to Christ because you have no other option? That's
God's writing on your heart. Thank God for that. That's a
mighty work of God the Holy Spirit in you. Now, Romans 9. Stay there. Romans 9, verse 31. But Israel, which followed after
the law of righteousness, hath not attained to the law
of righteousness. How come? Wherefore, because
they sought it not by faith, but as it were, by the works
of the law." Now here, Paul talks about the law of righteousness. Now, what he's talking about
here is he's talking about God's holy law, the Ten Commandments
being honored and kept. Now that's the only law he's
talking about here, the law of righteousness, and this law of
righteousness can only be sought by faith. Now, if you had asked
me what is the key word in the kingdom of heaven other than
the name of Christ himself, you know what word I'd come up with?
Righteousness. Righteousness. Paul said in Romans
1, 16 and 17, I'm not ashamed of the gospel of Christ, for
it's the power of God unto salvation to everyone that believes it.
to the Jew first and also to the Greek. For therein, in the
gospel, is the what? The righteousness of God revealed. Paul said the kingdom of heaven
is not meat and drink, but righteousness and joy and peace in the Holy
Ghost. And a true child of God can't
be satisfied with a hope that's not based upon perfect righteousness. Now can you? The only hope that
I can have some peace with is a hope that's based upon God's
holy law being honored and fulfilled. The law of righteousness. Now
that's what the gospel reveals. It reveals how God can be just
and justify the ungodly and honor that holy law of righteousness.
That's what Christ was doing on the cross. showed how God can't accept anybody
without a perfect righteousness. Because when sin was placed upon
even his own dear beloved son, he wouldn't accept him. Now,
we would let our kids go, wouldn't we? But God wouldn't because
God is righteous. It shows a righteousness God
requires, a righteousness needed, and it shows a righteousness
provided. Christ kept the law and Christ suffered the wrath
of God and now that righteousness is counted to the believer and
you don't know anything about the law of righteousness until
you trust Christ for righteousness. Look what Romans chapter 10 verse
4 says, For Christ is the end of the law for righteousness
to everyone that believeth. Now there's my righteousness.
the law of righteousness. Christ is the end of the law
for righteousness. You know that person who talks
about being under the law? They have no respect for the
law of God. I respect a tiger. I respect a tiger so much I don't
want to have anything to do with it. I just stay away from it.
And you show that you respect the law when you look to Christ
only for righteousness. Now, a child of God has got a
law in them that will not allow them to trust something where
God's righteousness is not totally honored. There's just a principle
in a child of God. He can't have any confidence
in anything but that which honors the righteousness of God, and
it's Christ who honors the righteousness of God. Christ is the end of
the law for righteousness. That's a spiritual law for the
believer. Somebody says, does every believer believe that way?
Of course they do. That's what believing is all
about. It's trusting Christ as your acceptance before God. Trusting
Him. The law of righteousness. Now,
the next one is in James 1. If you'll turn there. Now, the way I came up with this
outline was just looking up how this word law is used in the
Bible. James 1. Verse 25, "...but whoso looketh
into the perfect law of liberty." The perfect law of liberty. As a matter of fact, that same
word is also spoken of in James 2.12, the law of liberty. Now,
here's another law that the believer has in them, governing them. God's writing in their hearts.
It's called the law of liberty. Now, what's liberty? Freedom. Freedom. The dictionary gives
us this, the meaning of this word unrestrained, exempt. If you're at liberty, you are
free and a child of God has a spiritual law in them that causes them
to serve God because they want to. Freely. Not because they're afraid of
what will happen if they don't. But they do it because it really
is what they want to do. Now let me ask you a question.
Do you want to be under the sand of the gospel? Is it something
you delight in? Now that's what a child of God
is here because they want to be. There's a freedom. 2 Corinthians 3.17 says where
the Spirit of the Lord is, there's liberty. Now most religious people
know nothing of the joys of liberty. Their religion is made up of
fear. They do what they do because they're afraid of what will happen
if they don't. It's a religion of bondage and
a religion of guilt manipulation. And that just cuts against the
grain of the nature of the child of God. Don't you hate the thought
of being in bondage? of being afraid to move, and
so there's no joy in that. There's no freedom in that. The
believer must have liberty, and in Christ I'm free. I'm free
from God's law. I'm free from the demands of
it. I'm free from a slavish fear and dread of God, scared of what's
going to happen to me if I don't line up here or there, free from
trying to earn His acceptance. I serve God not because I have
to but because I want to. And listen to me, this thing
of free grace, I've had people on numerous occasions say to
me, if I believe that way, I'd sin all I want. As God is my witness, what I
want is holiness. I want to be like Him. That's
what freedom is. Freedom, Christian liberty is
not free to do things that are questionable.
I know that that's the way a lot of people look at it, but that
don't have anything to do with what Christian liberty is. It's freedom
to know God loves me. Freedom to know I have His favor. It's the joy of serving Him,
not because I'm afraid that He'll make me sick or kill some of
my family if I don't. You know, if you don't give,
God will take it out of the coffin. Well, better give a lot then, you know.
That ain't the way it works. Freedom. There's nothing as liberating
as having Christ pay all your debts and you don't owe a thing. And if you put a child of God
in bondage, the bondage of the law, he is miserable. He's like
a caged animal. His nature is freedom. And that's
God's writing on his heart. He loves freedom. Don't you hate
bondage? Love freedom. And then also in James 2.8, there's
the royal law of love. James chapter 2 verse 8, he says,
If you fulfill the royal law according to the scripture, thou
shalt love thy neighbor as thyself, you do well. This royal law of
love. Now, it's the nature of the child
of God to love God. It's the nature of the child
of God to love Christ. It's the nature of the children
of God to love each other. It comes natural to them. Do you know you can't force love?
It's impossible. You can't make yourself love
somebody. There's no way. With a child of God, he doesn't
make himself love Christ. He just does it. It's his nature.
And he loves him for who he is, as he's revealed in his word.
It's the royal law of love. And this is God's writing in
our heart. And then in closing, Turn to Galatians chapter 6.
I like this one. I like them all. This was a sweet
thing to think about. Verse 2. Paul says, "...bear ye one another's
burdens, and so fulfill the law of Christ." Think of this law. Look up in verse 1. If a man
be overtaken in a fault, you which are spiritual, restore
such an one in the spirit of meekness, considering yourself,
lest thou also be tempted. Bear ye one another's burdens,
and so fulfill the law of Christ. For if a man thinketh himself
to be something when he is nothing, he deceiveth himself. Now, let
me ask you a question. Have you ever been speaking critically,
or even thinking critically? of a brother or sister in Christ.
And there's something in you that just condemns you even while
you're doing it. And you know that if God took
his hand off of you, you would be worse than they are. And you
know how you're condemned even in the action. That's the writing
of God on your heart. You see, a believer knows by
the grace of God that they're weak and that they're sinful.
And this law of Christ is a law of being merciful and gracious. If I'm not gracious, I don't
know anything about the grace of God. If I'm unforgiving, if
I'm unbending, if I hold a grudge, if I just have this vile way
about me where I just won't let go of something, I prove I don't
know anything about the grace of God. That's what the Lord
meant when he said, blessed are the merciful, for they shall
obtain mercy. If you know anything about the
grace of Christ, it's going to make you a merciful person and
a gracious person. This is the law of Christ. It's
his law written in your heart. It's there. You can't look at
someone. You can't. You're unable to look
at someone in a judgmental and critical fashion. Now, you do
it. But your heart smites you for doing it. And you know that
if God took his hand off of you, you'd be worse. And a child of
God will seek to, what? Restore such a one. Not hold
him off. Not put him on trial. But restore
such a one. How? In the spirit of meekness. Considering yourself But you
also be tempted to bear one another's burdens. You know, what that
means more than anything else is put up with each other. Put
up with each other. Bear them. I mean, you know,
bear with me. Please bear with me. Bear with
me. That's what that means. Bear
one another's burdens. You know, I've had a lot of people
come up and they say, well, believers ought to bear one another's burdens.
And what they mean is everybody ought to bear mine. Well, no,
you need to bear somebody else's. I need to bear somebody's. Bear
he one another's. But don't be so concerned about
them bearing yours. You bear theirs. And so fulfill
the law of Christ. This is a law that governs the
believer. They must be gracious. They must
be merciful because they know something about the principle
of grace. What if God gave you what you
deserved? Oh, he'd send you to hell quick,
wouldn't he? Even right now. What's been going on during this
service? The thoughts that have passed through your mind. If
God gave you what you deserve, if he gave me what I deserve,
he'd send us quick to hell. But thank God he doesn't. And
that's the law of Christ. What is the law of God written
on the heart? Well, it's a principle in me
and in every believer. Notice it said laws. It didn't
say law. It said God's laws written in the heart. It's a principle
that shows me that I'm a sinner. It's a law of faith that drives
me to Christ as my only hope. It's a law that causes me to
look to Christ as my only righteousness. Isn't that what David said? He
said, I've made mention of thy righteousness even thine only.
Christ is the end of the law for righteousness to everyone
that believes it. It's a law that sets me free. It's a law
that causes me to love, and it's a law that causes me to be gracious
and merciful. Now that's what God writes on
the fleshy tables of the heart. Not written with pen and ink,
but by the Spirit of the living God. Amen. And I'll dismiss this in prayer.
Thank you, Brother Todd. Heavenly Father, we thank you
for your Word. We thank you for what we've heard
tonight and this morning. And we pray that you might truly
write these things upon our hearts. We feel like you have. We feel
like you have. We thank thee, O Lord, through
Christ Jesus our Lord. And with the mind, we do serve
the law of God. We feel these principles at work
by your grace, by your power. And we ask that you would protect
them in us, cause them to grow, cause us to grow in grace and
knowledge of Christ Jesus, our Lord, and in Christ's likeness.
Lord, thank you. Thank you for everything. In
Christ's name we pray. Amen.