and to the Acts of the Apostles
the Acts chapter 15 we've been working through the Acts of the
Apostles for several weeks now we come to chapter 15 now as
you look around the world around what's called the Christian world
some call it Christendom one thing you'll notice there's many
interpretations of what true faith is, there's many variants
there are many different practices Some people emphasize one thing.
Other groups emphasize other things. There are disagreements.
There are splits. All sorts of things like that.
You know what they say about a political party? If a political
party is going to be successful, it must be united. And there's
nothing worse than disunity for breaking up a political party.
Well, why can't Christians unite? This is what so many people say,
isn't it? Why can't Christians unite? Well,
I'll tell you why. I'll tell you why. Because many
who call themselves Christians, many so-called Christians, disagree
so fundamentally about how a person is justified with God. And isn't
that the question, I keep coming back to it, the question that
Job asked, right? Not the first book in the order
in our Bible, but the oldest one we believe that was written.
How can a man be just with God? For it's appointed to man to
die once, and then the judgment and how am I going to stand before
the holy God who is the creator of the universe is he going to
accept me or is he going to condemn me for my sins he's holy and
I know that I'm a sinner Peter reminded me of something that
Todd said Todd and I but our friend in America recently you
think about it the things that have gone through your mind let's
say in the last hour Just imagine that it was projected up on the
wall for everybody to see. Wouldn't that be a horrific prospect? You know, however good the outside
might appear, if what's gone on in there in the last hour
could be projected on a wall, I'd be horrified, and I know
you all would yourselves, because of the thoughts that go through
our minds. How am I going to stand before a holy God? Isn't
this the crucial thing? How can a man be just with God?
How can we be justified? Now in verse 1 of chapter 15
of Acts, these certain men come down from Judea and they are
teaching the brethren in the church in Antioch which has been
prospering and thriving as Paul the Apostle and Barnabas have
been teaching them and they add something. They say this, except
you be circumcised after the manner of Moses, you cannot be
saved. You hear that? Not you'll be
lacking some special blessing, You'll stand before the judgment
seat of Christ and you'll be condemned unless you've been
circumcised after the manner of Moses. This is what these
people were teaching. Imagine a disease. Imagine some
really serious disease. And in my opinion, the cure for
that serious disease is take an aspirin. My opinion is this. Aspirin's good. Take an aspirin.
But the truth is that radical surgery is what's needed. You
need to be in hospital. You need some radical surgery.
Do you see the difference? Would you want to listen to me
if I was telling you that all you needed was just to take an
aspirin when what you really needed was radical surgery? The
truth is important. This is a matter of life and
death in eternity. The true church constantly is
subject to attack. Where does it come from? Well,
we know what its origin is because Paul tells us in Ephesians, we
wrestle not with flesh and blood It's not the men and women we
see around us that oppose the truth of the gospel, it's principalities
and powers. It's satanic in its origin. Opposition to the gospel of Christ.
All seeking to undermine the truth, which is that salvation
is by grace. Free, free sovereign grace. In the Lord Jesus Christ, who
did everything on my behalf to deal with all of my sin, to deal
with all of my lack of righteousness, that I might be accepted with
God. You know Paul warned, this same Paul warned the Ephesians. We see it in a few chapters in
Acts chapter 20. When he was leaving the Ephesian
church, he warned them of grievous wolves. He's not talking about
the furry animals you see when you go to the zoo. He's talking
about false teachers who'll come in and tell you that you get
right with God in another way. Jude in his little epistle, there's
only one chapter, just a few verses, 18 verses or so. In verse
3 he says this, He talks about contending for the faith once
delivered to the saints. There is one faith that saves. Peter has already told the people
preaching earlier on in the Acts of the Apostles, chapter 4, that
there is none other name under heaven given among men whereby
we must be saved. How do I get right with God?
Peter's answer, there's no other name than Jesus Christ. Him and
Him alone, by grace alone, through Him alone. when Paul and Barnabas
heard these men come down from Judea and and you know I said
when we were looking at Galatians they came down from Judea oh
these were guys from head office as it were these were guys who
you would think came with apostolic authority from Jerusalem and
they came down and they're saying well it's alright what you're
hearing what Paul and Barnabas are preaching is fine but you
must add all of the Jewish rites and ceremonies otherwise you
won't be saved and in verse 2 What is Paul and Barnabas's reaction
to it? No small dissension and disputation with them. That's language which hides the
fact that I imagine there was a serious disagreement here.
No small dissension and disputation. Paul and Barnabas were adamant
that was wrong. Salvation is by grace alone,
by faith alone, in Christ alone. And there was such a strong dissension
and disputation that Paul determined, we're going to sort this out.
We're going to make this absolutely clear. We're going to be absolutely
certain that the message from head office, as it were, that
there isn't a head office in the church. Christ is the head
of his church. But you know the way people think, the Catholics
think that Rome is the head of the church and so on and so forth.
There isn't. On earth, This group has just
as much ecclesiastical authority and relevance as any other group
of believing people. You don't need a denomination.
You don't need popes and bishops and all the rest of it. Absolutely
not. But because of what was being said and where these people
had come from, Paul said, we're going to Jerusalem and we're
going to sort this out with the apostles. We're not going to
debate it. This isn't a subject for a synod like the Church of
England has its synod where Well, what's your opinion of this?
Oh, well, my opinion's this, and somehow they finally come
and they find a compromise in the middle. Compromise works
in the world of politics and business. Compromising the things
of God is completely unacceptable. There is no other name under
heaven given among men whereby we must be saved. So they go
up to determine, to get the Apostle's seal of approval that the true
message of the gospel is that message which Paul and Barnabas
have been preaching. So I have these points. What
is the issue? What is the Apostle's Declaration?
And then there's a point of scriptural confirmation of this. Scriptural
confirmation. So the issue, first of all, well
I've already alluded to it. How is a man made right with
God? How is a person made fit for
heaven? How is it so that God will look
upon you and I when we die and we face Him, when we pass from
this life? You know that feeling at a funeral. I was telling you I was at a
funeral a couple of weeks ago and an aunt of mine, she was
very old and it was not at all surprising, but nevertheless
there is that feeling that that somebody that was loved by so
many people has gone. Where have they gone? And there's
this feeling, as much as the skeptics try to tell you that's
just the end of it, the light was just switched off and they
are no more, you have a sense of immortality in you that you
do not just stop You leave the body, but you do not just stop.
So how is a man made right with God? How is that person made
right with God? Well, these false teachers were
saying, yes, it's by the substitutionary work of Christ. I need to be
righteous before God. And the substitutionary work
of Christ says this, Christ was righteous in the place of all
of his people, of all of those who come to believe him. Christ
was righteous in their place. Where they couldn't be righteous,
He was. And just as a man and a woman joined together in matrimony
become one flesh, Christ's people are joined to Him. They are one
flesh with Him. And when He kept the law perfectly,
His people in the reckoning of God kept the law perfectly in
Him. But what about the sin that I have? What about the sin? Ah,
every sin has to be dealt with. God is holy. He cannot turn His
eyes He cannot look upon sin. He cannot excuse the guilty.
He will in no wise clear the guilty. Every sin must be paid
for. And Christ bore the sins of His
people. He made Him who knew no sin,
the Lord Jesus Christ, to be made sin for us that we might
be made the righteousness of God in Him. That you might be
declared righteous. He loaded all of your sin onto
Christ. And He bore the sins of all of
His people and paid for it. under the justice, the strict
justice of God, that it might be dealt with. They said, okay,
that's all right as far as it goes, but you must add keeping
of the law. You must add keeping of the Mosaic
law, because when you get to heaven, the judgment's going
to say, are you in Christ? Tick, right, very good. Now,
what about your life? What about your life since you
believed? How good a person have you been? How many good things
have you done? How well have you obeyed this
law and that law? And based on that, you'll be
either punished, deprived, or rewarded. Well, I'm telling you,
that's not what the Scriptures teach, even though it's taught
so much. This is what they were saying.
Verse 1, unless you be circumcised after the manner of Moses, you
cannot be saved. Verse 5, there arose up certain
of the sect of the Pharisees which believed, saying, It was
needful to circumcise them and to command them to keep the law
of Moses. All of the parts of the law of
Moses, the moral law, the ceremonial law, the civil law, it's necessary
to keep them. Well, didn't Israel have laws
to keep? Wasn't it true that Israel, the
Jews, had laws to keep? Yes, the Scriptures are full
of them. And is it not true that these laws came with threats
and promises? Yes, absolutely. threats of punishment
if they didn't obey, and promises of reward if they did obey. Well,
doesn't it still matter then how we behave? Doesn't it matter
anymore? Is this what I'm saying? It doesn't
matter in the slightest. If you're a believer in Christ,
it doesn't matter how you behave. Well, no. Paul himself writes
to the Corinthians. In 1 Corinthians chapter 6 and
verse 9, he says this, Know ye not that the unrighteous shall
not inherit the kingdom of God? Be not deceived Neither fornicators,
nor idolaters, nor adulterers, nor effeminate, nor abusers of
themselves with mankind, nor thieves, nor covetous, nor drunkards,
nor revilers, nor extortioners shall inherit the kingdom of
God." It clearly does matter. It clearly does matter. So is
it not true that today Christians are under an obligation to keep
the law to add to their salvation? Is that not absolutely true?
It's what many, many people teach. Many today who preach what sounds
like an evangelical gospel say this, that the law of Moses,
the law, the Ten Commandments and all the other aspects of
the law, that that is the believer's rule of life. The believer's
rule of life. And they illustrate it like this.
I mean, I once remember talking to a man who is eminently respected
in this country in Reformed Baptist circles. And talking about this,
he said to me, How else do I know what to do apart from the law
tell me? He says, I want to give something
to God's work, but how do I know how much to give unless the law
tells me that I must give a tenth? He says, how do I know not to
commit adultery unless the law constrains me not to commit adultery? How do I know not to kill that
man that I've just had an argument with unless the law tells me
not to kill? How do I know not to steal somebody
else's goods unless the law tells me not to steal? You see, constrained
by the law. You know, take the constraint
of the law away and you do exactly what you want. Now then, let's
not be in any doubt, Paul the Apostle says elsewhere in the
book of Romans, the law is good. The law is good. But the law
is fulfilled. Jesus in the Sermon on the Mount
said this, not one jot nor one tittle of the law not the tiniest
little stroke you know when you're writing the dots you put on the
eye and the you know I suppose it's better in French because
there's accents all over the place there's lots of jots and tittles
in French not one of those is going to pass not one of those
is going to be removed until all be fulfilled but here's the
thing it is fulfilled Christ has fulfilled the law Romans
chapter 10 verse 4 For Christ is the end of the law for righteousness
to everyone who believes. Christ has fulfilled it. Christ
is the end of the law for righteousness to everyone who believes. So
is the law of God, the law of Moses, the believer's rule of
life? I'll tell you what Paul writes
in 2 Corinthians chapter 3 and verse 7. Rather than calling
it the rule of life, he calls it the ministration of death. because by the law is the knowledge
of sin. It's that the law was given that
we might know what sin is. The law was given that we might
see how we really stand before a holy God. There are others
who say you must preach the law. In your preaching you must tell
people how to behave and how not to behave because then you
will promote holiness. 1 Corinthians chapter 15 and
verse 56 says this, the strength of sin is the law. It's the law
that gives that principle of sin within our mortal bodies
its strength. You see, people are naturally
self-righteous. We're all, somebody said, we're
all born Pharisees by nature. We all think in terms of we're
good enough as we are. We all think in terms of punishment
and reward. We all think in terms of I've
got much to recommend me. But is it the law that keeps
us in check? You know what 2 Corinthians chapter 5 and verse 14 says.
It's not the law that keeps a believer in check. It's Christ. The love
of Christ constrains us. Why do I want to give to the
work of God? The love of Christ constrains
me. Why do I not have a desire to kill that person? The love
of Christ constrains me. Why do I not have a desire to
go and commit adultery? Love of Christ, yes, but love
for my wife. Think of that illustration. It's that that keeps people together. Rather than a constraint of law,
it's a constraint of love. Of love that keeps a true marriage
together. By the works of the law, no flesh
is justified or sanctified or made any more or less acceptable
to God at all. And you know from when we went
through the book of Galatians, Paul's letter to the Galatians,
That was exactly what we saw. In Galatians 2 and verse 21,
Paul says this, if righteousness come by the law, if you get right
with God by obeying to whatever extent the law of God, then Christ
is dead in vain. Christ's death was pointless.
Christ's death didn't make any difference. If righteousness
comes by what you do and what I do and what I think and the
way we interact, If that's how righteousness comes, then Christ's
work was in vain. But of course it isn't in vain,
because true righteousness only comes through the Lord Jesus
Christ. That was the issue. What is the truth of the gospel
concerning how a person gets right with God? Well, what do
the apostles declare? They come up and they have this
conference, this council in Jerusalem. And we see in verses 7 to 12,
what the Apostles declared. Now this is the Apostles declaration. The Apostles were once only at
the beginning of the church, after Christ had ascended on
high into heaven, these were his mouthpieces. Apostle means
messenger. These were his messengers on
earth. These were the ones who formulated the doctrine in the
early church. They continued in breaking of
bread and prayers and in the Apostles doctrine. So what the
apostles say formulates what we believe. It's our creed. Our
creed isn't written down in some book. I'm not saying there's
no value in these creeds, the Westminster Confession and the
Savoy Confession and the Baptist 1689 and so on and so forth.
I'm not saying there's no value in them, but what I am saying
is this, their value pales into insignificance compared with
the scriptures. the Scriptures to the law and
to the testimony if they speak not according to this word there
is no light and no truth in them so what the Apostles say is important
it's the absolute definitive declaration on this issue because
it's a relevant thing today you will go to churches not far from
here where you will struggle to see the difference between
what these Pharisees from Judea were teaching and what's being
preached in the pulpit they preach salvation in Christ But at the
same time, they say you must do this and you mustn't do that,
and there's all sorts of laws and regulations that are added
to it. This is the Apostles' Declaration. Look at verse 7.
When there had been much disputing, Peter rose up, Peter, the main
spokesman, the man who preached on the day of Pentecost, and
said, Men and brethren, ye know that how that a good while ago
God made choice among us that the Gentiles by my mouth should
hear the word of the gospel and believe. That's when Peter went
to Cornelius. and was told you don't just give the gospel to
Jews the gospel is for people from all nations from every tribe
and kindred and on the planet on this earth without distinction
at all the gospel is for everyone he says and God which knows the
hearts bore them witness giving them the Holy Ghost even as he
did unto us these people were saved and the gifts of the Holy
Spirit were evidenced among them and put no difference between
us and them, purifying their hearts by faith. We weren't better
Christians than them because we were Jews and they weren't.
He's saying we're exactly the same. Now therefore, why tempt
ye God? Why are you tempting God to put
a yoke upon the neck of the disciple? You know what a yoke is? If you've
ever seen a picture of oxen plowing in a field, the thing that keeps
them together so that they march in step is the yoke. It's a big
lump of wood that goes across the shoulders. And that keeps
them together. And it's a heavy burden. He says,
why put a yoke on the neck of the disciples which neither our
fathers nor we were able to bear? Hey, come on, he's saying, be
honest. Be honest, you who are saying you must obey all these
laws. Have you ever obeyed these laws? Have you ever done it?
Of course you haven't. This is what Peter's saying.
But we believe that through the grace of the Lord Jesus Christ
we shall be saved even as they. He declares this, that salvation
is God's choice. God's choice. That's sovereign
grace. It's by God's means, because
he gave Peter the message to go and preach, and it's by the
foolishness of preaching that he pleased God to save those
whom he will. It's God's evidence in that it's
his Holy Spirit who comes on those whom he has saved. It's
God's purification by faith. What is it that saves? It's the
faithful work of the Lord Jesus Christ. And how do you know you're
saved? You have faith in it. You believe
it. You trust it. How do I know that
I'm saved? I believe the gospel of God's
grace. I believe that Christ paid for
my sins. I believe that Christ's righteousness
is my righteousness. When I stand before that judgment
seat of Christ, it's His righteousness that will be credited to me.
It's His dealing with my sin that will have paid my sin debt
so that I have nothing to answer there. It's salvation through
Him. So why tempt God by putting a
burden on them that God hasn't put upon them? In Christ He's
lifted that burden for Christ is the end of the law for righteousness
to everyone that believes. It's salvation by grace alone. Great riches at Christ's expense. It's the free gift of God. That's salvation. It's not what
you earn. That's wages. The wages of sin
is death, but the gift of God is salvation, eternal life through
Jesus Christ our Lord. And what are we talking about?
What Romans 3.22 says, Even the righteousness of God which is
by faith of Jesus Christ, the faithfulness of Jesus Christ,
unto all and upon all them that believe. Couldn't be clearer,
could it? Couldn't be clearer. people of
the sect of the Pharisees are wrong salvation for Jews Gentiles
everyone is on exactly the same basis it's the work of the Lord
Jesus Christ and so in verse 12 they then keep silence and
Paul stands up and Barnabas and tells them well that's true because
we went here and there in Turkey and no Jews there and we preach
the gospel to them and the people believed, and it was clear that
God had saved them. The evidence, the miracles and
wonders God had wrought among the Gentiles by them. You see,
the evidence spoke for itself. And so, they then decide, and
it's later on in the chapter, but after James has spoken, they
then decide they're going to send a letter to them. And the
letter that they're going to send says this. You can read
it down here. In verse 19, James says this,
Wherefore my sentence is, that we trouble them not, which from
among the Gentiles are turned to God, but that we write unto
them, they send them a letter, that they abstain from pollutions
of idols, and from fornication, and from things strangled, and
from blood. For Moses of old time hath in every city them
that preach him, being read in the synagogues every Sabbath
day. And it pleased the apostles and elders, and they all agreed.
So they sent a letter. And the letter said this, you
carry on believing just as you are and you take no notice of
these Judaizers coming, telling you you've got to do this, that
and the other. We won't put any other burden of law on you at
all. Absolutely not. That is our doctrine. That is what we believe. To this
law and this testimony, this is what we say. This is our doctrine. We don't put any other burden.
We are not subject to any other burden and we will not put others
under any other burden. The only caveat they put on it
was this. There are Jews everywhere, synagogues throughout the world
where this letter was going, who've got very tender consciences
in some cases. So it's, don't cause them unnecessary
offense by provoking them, by things offered to idols and from
things strangled and from things blood. You see, people get all
sorts of weird doctrines. on that, like not having blood
transfusions. It doesn't mean that at all. In that context
it's quite clear. Just don't do things that will
offend your immediate neighbors without a cause, without a just
cause. And keep from fornication because
being a Gentile culture it wasn't viewed in the way in which it
was in a Jewish culture. It was regarded as the normal
course of life as it has more or less become in the society
in which we live today. It was just abstained from it
because it's not fitting for saints. So that's what they said
Now many today need to listen to this and take heed of this
and examine what they're preaching and proclaiming in the name of
reformed true Christianity, of the gospel of God's grace, and
stop adding to it burdens that the apostles said they would
not place on believers. This is what we say. Now, what
about the rest of the scriptures then? You see, James gives a
scriptural confirmation of this. Here's a question. Has the gospel
of Christ and Gentiles being saved by grace alone, which is
what clearly was being proclaimed, has that rendered the Old Testament
and its law redundant? I mean, can we get our scissors
and great, you know, Exodus 20, snip, snip, snip, get rid of
all of those laws because we're not subject to law anymore. Has
it rendered all of those things redundant? Well, James, here
in verse 13. After they had held
their peace, James answered, saying, Men and brethren, hearken
unto me. Now who was James? He was the half-brother of Jesus. You know, after Jesus was born,
Mary was his mother. He was conceived of the Holy
Spirit. He had no human father. But then
after that, Joseph and Mary continued to have many children. We read
in other places about his brothers and his sisters. And many of
them did not believe. Well, this was one of them. James
was one of them. And he became the pastor of the
church in Jerusalem. And he is there in Jerusalem and
he quotes scripture to say, well look, what we're observing is
exactly what the scriptures have been saying. He quotes Amos. He quotes what we read earlier.
Amos chapter 9 verses 11 and 12. He says in verse 15, and
to this what we've been talking about agree the words of the
prophets as it is written. After this I will return and
will build again the tabernacle of David which is fallen down
and I will build again the ruins thereof and I will set it up
that the residue of men might seek after the Lord and all the
Gentiles upon whom my name is called saith the Lord who doeth
all these things known unto God are all his works from the beginning
of the world he quotes the Old Testament saying what we're seeing
with the Gentiles coming into the church and not being burdened
with the laws that used to be not being burdened with those
things it's what the prophets have been talking about the tabernacle
of David what's the tabernacle of David you see so many interpreted
as the Jews going back to physical Jerusalem in 2009, and possessing
Jerusalem, and the Messiah coming and reigning from Jerusalem,
and the temple being rebuilt, and temple worship being set
up again. No. The Tabernacle of David is the
Church of Jesus Christ. The Church of Jesus Christ. It's
Christ saving his church out of the world. It's not Jews in
a temple in Jerusalem. It's Christ saving his church
out of the world. Let's have a look at some scriptures. Ezekiel, the book of Ezekiel.
We read some of these words earlier. Ezekiel, you don't have to keep
up with this, you can just listen. Ezekiel 34, 23 and 24. And I will set up one shepherd
over them, and he shall feed them, even my servant David.
And he shall feed them, and shall be their shepherd. And I, the
Lord, will be their God. and my servant David, a prince
among them. I, the Lord, have spoken it."
He's speaking of Christ. It's a prophecy concerning Christ.
The temple is the church of the living God. Over the page in
chapter 37. Chapter 37 and verses 24 and
25. And David, my servant, shall
be king over them. And they shall have one shepherd.
And shall all... Who said he was the good shepherd?
John chapter 10, I am the good shepherd. The good shepherd lays
down his life for the sheep. They shall have one shepherd
and shall also walk in my judgments and observe my statutes and do
them and they shall dwell in the land that I have given unto
Jacob my servant wherein your fathers have dwelt and they shall
dwell therein even they and their children and their children's
children forever and my servant David shall be their prince forever. It couldn't physically be David.
He's dead. He's long since gone, we're told.
in the Acts of the Apostles. You can go to David's tomb and
his bones are there to this day. It couldn't be him. It's the
one of whom it's speaking. It's the Lord Jesus Christ. Isaiah. Isaiah chapter 33. Isaiah 33. I'll wrap this up in a minute
or two. Verse 20. Look upon Zion the city of our
solemnities, and I shall see Jerusalem a quiet habitation,
a tabernacle that shall not be taken down, not one of the stakes
thereof shall ever be removed, neither shall any of the cords
thereof be broken." Tabernacle, temple, it's talking of the Church
of God. Isaiah 54, after that great chapter
53, on who has believed our report and him being led as a lamb to
the slaughter. You know the chapter that the
Ethiopian eunuch asked Philip about. And then in chapter 54
verses 2 and 3, "...enlarge the place of thy tent, thy tabernacle,
and let them stretch forth the curtains of thy inhabitations."
We need a bigger tent, is what he's saying. Why do we need a
bigger tent? Why do we need a bigger tent? Because God is going to
save people from all over the world, not just Jews in Jerusalem. "...Spare not, lengthen thy cords,
and strengthen thy stakes." for thou shalt break forth on thy
right hand and on the left and thy seed shall inherit the Gentiles
and make the desolate cities to be inhabited." Hosea. Hosea. After Daniel. Hosea chapter 3
and verse 5. Afterwards shall the children
of Israel return and seek the Lord their God and David their
king and shall fear the Lord and His goodness in the latter
days." You see, we could go on and on and on, but I won't, for
the sake of time. How is the law fulfilled? In
Christ. Who is the Israel of God? It's
the Church of Christ. As Paul says in Galatians 6,
towards the end of it, that the Israel of God is the Church of
Christ. If you're a believer in the Lord Jesus Christ, you're
a member of the Israel of God. How are Zionist prophecies fulfilled
in our day. There's a lot of talk about this,
especially we've got the flare up in the Middle East again and
it goes on and on and on, doesn't it? The children of Abraham,
Ishmael and Isaac, it just goes on and on and on. Here we are
all those thousands of years later and exactly the same things
are the major trouble points in the world. How are Zionist
prophecies fulfilled in our day? We have to take what James with
apostolic authority stood up and said at this council in Jerusalem.
Those prophecies do not speak of Jews going back into Jerusalem
and of being a dominant race. What those prophecies speak about
is this, Christ saving his church out of the world. That's the
truth. The Old Testament and the New Testament are in perfect
harmony. We know that the Old Testament
and all its types and shadows and pictures speak of Christ
and he has fulfilled them all. Salvation is only by the atoning
work of Christ. What is your trust resting in?
What is it resting in? Is it in Christ alone? Or is
it in Christ plus your own works, your own goodness? If you add
anything to the work of Christ, Paul tells the Galatians, Christ
will profit you nothing. If you're circumcised, I tell
you, he says, if you're circumcised, if you try and submit yourself
to any of these laws, Christ will profit you nothing. He says,
you'll become a debtor, a debtor to fulfill the whole law. Once
you start going down that route of trying to earn goodness with
God by the things you do, you'll become a debtor to the whole
law. And what does the scripture say? Cursed. Cursed is everyone
who does not continue in all things that are written in the
book of the law to do them. But in the Lord Jesus Christ,
I have done all those things that are written in the book
of the law for he has fulfilled them for me what a glorious savior
well let's sing about him