Would you turn back to 2 Peter
chapter 1 while you're turning there. Steve Sly has made it
through his surgery fine and he's at Central Baptist Hospital. Christina Carroll is having a
procedure tomorrow to fix a hole in her heart. They're going to
go through a catheter and she's at the University of Kentucky
right now. Everybody remember them. Now I'd like to read Verse
four, once again, whereby are given unto us exceeding
great and precious promises that by these, these precious promises,
you might be partakers of the divine nature. Now that is just beyond comprehension. It's impossible
to understand, but it must be believed. Every believer is said
here to be a partaker, a sharer in the divine nature. the very nature of God himself. Now we wouldn't believe that
if it didn't say that, would it? Every believer is said to
be a partaker, a sharer, having in common with the divine nature. Now, when God saves somebody,
they are said to be born of God, born of his spirit. That which is born of the spirit,
our Lord said, is spirit. It can't be anything but that.
So is everyone which is born of the spirit. John 1 and 12
and 13 says, but as many as received him, to them gave he the power
to become the sons of God, even to them which believe on his
name, which were born, which were born, not of blood, not
of the will of the flesh, Not of the will of man, but of God,
born of God. If any man be in Christ, he's
a new creation. Something that was not there
before, a creation of God. It's called the hidden man of
the heart, which is not corruptible. The inward man, the mind of Christ,
Christ in you, the hope of glory. a partaker of the divine nature.
That means if I am a believer, I am a partaker of the very nature
of God, the divine nature. Now that's mysterious, isn't
it? That's hard to get hold of, but it's what the Bible says. Every believer is a partaker
of the divine nature. Now this is not the old nature
changed, improved, or even influenced. but a new divine nature that
was not there before. Peter said, being born again,
not of corruptible seed, but of incorruptible by the word
of God, which liveth and abideth forever. Now, the old nature
is still there. It's not been eradicated. It
doesn't become better. That which is born of the flesh
is flesh, and it never rises above that flesh. And it cannot rise above that. But thank God, the new nature
is stronger than the old. Greater is he that's in you than
he that's in the world. Sin shall not have dominion over
you, for you're not under law, but under grace. Now, once again,
if I'm a believer, that means I possess the divine nature. I still have my old nature. But
if I'm a believer, I possess the divine nature. Now, how can
I know if I have this new nature? That's what I'm interested in.
I see what the Bible says concerning this, and it's mysterious. And
we wouldn't even believe this unless the Bible told us that
we're actually partakers of the divine nature. Now, what I want
to know is how can I know if I personally am a partaker of
the divine nature? How can I know if I've been born
of God? How can I know if I have this
new man created in Christ Jesus? It's one thing to say, I think
I have it because I fear the consequences of not having it.
And it is another thing to see from the scriptures what it is
and see that I do in fact possess this divine nature. Now, if the Lord blesses this
message to our hearts, we can leave here knowing whether or
not we have this divine nature. Isn't that something you want
to know? I mean, you fear, lest you don't, but you desire to
have this divine nature. Now would you turn to Hebrews
chapter 8. Hebrews chapter 8. I've entitled this message, The
Laws of the New Nature. The laws, it could be called
of the divine nature, but there are certain laws with this nature. Now look in Hebrews chapter 8,
beginning in verse 7. For if that first covenant had
been faultless, talking about the covenant of works, it had
fault because it couldn't save. There wasn't anything wrong with
it, the problems with us. It couldn't save us, we're too
bad. That's the first covenant, salvation by works. For if the
first covenant had been faultless, then should no place have been
sought for the second. For finding fault with him, he
saith, behold, the days come, saith the Lord, When I'll make
a new covenant with the house of Israel and with the house
of Judah, not according to the covenant that I made with their
fathers in the day when I took them by the hand to lead them
out of the land of Egypt, because they continued not in my covenant
and I regarded them, not sayeth the Lord now being taken by the
hand. Note the imagery being taken
by the hand has nothing to do with a new nature. Now, if there's
a two-year-old, and I'm stronger than that two-year-old, I can
take that two-year-old by the hand, and I can get that two-year-old
to go anywhere I want it to go. I've heard people say, I can't
control that child. Yeah, you can. You're stronger
than him. You can get him to do, you can get her to do what
you want them to do. So if I have the strength, I
can grab somebody by the hand, and I can bring them anywhere
I want. If I have a wild animal of some kind, I'm stronger than
him. It's a small one. It's a small
one without teeth. I love him. I can hold that by
the paws or hands. I can make that thing go anywhere
I want it to go as long as I have it's hands. But what if I let
go? What's gonna happen? It's gonna
run off. You see, the hand doesn't have
anything to do with the heart. God said they continued not,
so I regarded them not. Now, if the Lord takes you by
the hand, He can get you to go wherever he wants you to go.
But what happens if he lets go? Well, you know what happens if
he lets go. Now, if God would take me by
the hand all the way into heaven without giving me a new heart,
you know what? I'd be miserable there and I'd want out. Why? Because I would still have
this evil nature taking by the hand does not work. Verse 10, Hebrews chapter 8,
For this is the covenant that I'll make with the house of Israel
after those days, saith the Lord, I will put my laws I will give
my laws, I will put my laws into their mind and write them in
their hearts. Now God puts something there
that was not there before. He puts His laws in their minds
and He writes them in their heart. He gives them a new disposition. He gives them a new DNA. Now,
what do I mean by that? Now, when people are trying to
determine whose child somebody is, what do they do? They give
them a DNA test, don't they? And you can determine who your
mommy or daddy is by that DNA test. Everyone has a DNA and
that determines what they're going to be like. That determines
much of their personality, their characteristics. The DNA that
we're born with. Now, when God saves somebody,
he gives them a new nature. He gives them a new DNA, as it
were, and you can tell by that DNA whose child you are. Now,
that's what this is, this new law written in the heart. It's like writing a new DNA code. You have a new spiritual nature,
a nature that was not there before. Now, what is meant when He says
that He will write His laws in their heart. Put His laws in
their heart and mind. Is that talking about the Ten
Commandments? Well, turn with me to Romans chapter 2. Hold
your fingers there and turn to Romans chapter 2. Verse 14. For when the Gentiles
which have not the law, they never had a copy of the Bible,
they'd never seen the Ten Commandments. When the Gentiles, which have
not the law, do by nature the things contained in the law,
these, having not the law, are a law unto themselves, which
show the work of the law written in their hearts. The Ten Commandments. their conscience also bearing
witness and their thoughts the meanwhile accusing or else excusing
one another in the day when God should judge the secrets of men
by Jesus Christ according to my gospel." Now, God's law, the
Ten Commandments, is written in the heart of everybody that
was ever born. They may not have seen a copy of the law, but everybody
knows it's wrong to kill. Everybody knows it's wrong to
steal. Everybody knows it's wrong to commit adultery. These are
things that we know by nature. We're born with this knowledge
in our heart. That law is already in the heart
and here's what we do. We either feel guilty, and our
conscience condemns us, or else we try to find a way to excuse
ourselves. That's for what we've done. That's
the way the natural man deals with the holy law of God. So
when he says, I'll put my laws in their mind, and I'll write
them in their heart, he is not talking about the Ten Commandments.
Everybody already has that. Everybody already knows the difference
between right and wrong. And that's why I, you know, Preacher
said, well, we need to teach people how to live. People already
know how to live. Now, that's just so. People already
know how to live. They know what they ought to
do. They're born with that knowledge. And I don't want to teach people
how to live. I want to teach people how to die. And that's
the only way you can live is if you know how to die, resting
in the Lord Jesus Christ. Now, he says, I'll put my laws
in their mind and write them in their hearts, their understanding,
their will, and their affection so that that controls their nature. Now, the word law or laws in
the New Testament does not always refer to the written law of God.
Matter of fact, quite often it doesn't. What about Romans chapter
eight where it says, the law of the spirit of life in Christ
Jesus hath made me free from the law of sin and death. Paul said, I find a law that
when I would do good, evil is present with me. Romans 3.27
says, where is boasting then? It's excluded by what law? Works?
Nay, but by the law of faith. The law of the new nature. I'll put my laws in their heart. A law of nature is that which
must be obeyed. We obey our nature, don't we?
Everybody does. You think of the law of gravity.
Now, our Lord demonstrated how he was above that law of gravity
when he walked on the water. It's his law, and he can stay
above it if he wants, but me and you, we don't have any choice
but to obey the law of gravity. Now, if you fall off a skyscraper,
you can't say, I'm gonna choose to make the law of gravity not
in effect right now. No, you can't do that, can you?
You're gonna obey that law. You're gonna come down. You have
no choice. It's the nature of a cat to want
to be clean, isn't it? You throw a cat in a mud puddle,
it's going to be miserable, it's going to want to clean itself.
It's their nature. It's the nature of a pig to wallow
in the mire, isn't it? I mean, that's what they like.
It's their nature. It's what they enjoy. It's what comes natural
to them. A tiger, it's its nature to eat
meat. It's the nature of a cow to eat grass. And they're not
going to disobey their nature. He doesn't choose to eat meat. He does so because it's his nature.
That's what he wants to do. A cow doesn't choose to eat grass. That's his nature. And you obey
the laws of nature. And once again, there's something
significant with the fact that the word laws is in the plural. Now, sometimes in the New Testament,
the law means the Mosaic law or the Pentateuch, but here the
word refers to the laws of the new nature. Now, we have certain
laws in our nature that we must obey. And we find six laws in
the scripture, the laws of the new nature. We read of the law
of righteousness. We read of the law of sin. We read of the law of faith. We read of the law of love. We
read of the law of liberty. And we read of the law of Christ. And this is the spiritual DNA,
if you will, of the new nature. These are the laws of the spiritual
nature that a believer must obey. He doesn't choose to obey these. He obeys these because he has
no choice. This is his nature. You know,
God does not choose to be righteous. God is righteous. That's His nature. And if He
chose that, the implication would be that He could be something
else. And that's not at all the case. Now, the first law mentioned
in the scripture that we're going to talk about is the law of righteousness. Romans chapter 9 verses 30 and
31, the law of righteousness. You can look these up. I've got
six to give you so you can look this up on your own. But a believer
cannot be satisfied with anything short of perfect righteousness. Your conscience can't be appeased
by anything short of perfect righteousness, a righteousness
which the holy law of God looks upon and says, there's no fault.
There's no blemish. He is perfect. He's without guilt. He is righteous before me. Now
this is what the Bible calls the great truth of justification. This is the only thing a believer
can be satisfied with. If I am actually righteous before
God without guilt, without sin, it's not enough for me simply
to be forgiven. It's not enough for my sin to be covered where
it can come back out. I have to be perfectly righteous.
We were talking with Dave Edmondson when I was there this weekend,
and we were talking about this thing of justification. We talked
about justification. Justification is not, now listen
to me real carefully, Justification is not just as if I never seen
because if it's just as if I never seen, that means I did see it.
Justification is I never seen. Now that's what justification
is. And that's the only thing that will satisfy your conscience.
That's the only thing that you'll find any peace and rest in if
you're a believer, is if you are justified before God. And the only way I can be justified
is for my sins, which are most real. most real, most heinous,
most evil. My sin, which is most real, actually
is lifted off of me. So I bear it no more and place
on the Lord Jesus Christ, in the Lord Jesus Christ, so He
bear my sin. My sin becomes His sin. So that He says, my sin. Talking about my sin. He says,
my sin as a heavy burden is too heavy for me. My iniquities are
more than the hairs of my head. Therefore, my heart faileth me. That's what the Lord said. You
can read it in Psalm 40. Same passage where he said, I
delight to do thy will, O God. The volume of the book, it's
written of me. It was a Psalm of Christ. And he talked about
the sins of his elect as his sin. He became guilty of that
sin. God punished him and he died.
God is just, God is righteous. He will not let sin go unpunished. But just as truly, just as genuinely
as my sin actually became his sin, his perfect righteousness
is mine. So that I am righteous without
guilt before God. Now that's the only thing I can
find any satisfaction in. The new nature cannot find satisfaction
in anything but perfect righteousness, the law of righteousness. Romans 7.23. The next thing that
I want to talk about is the law of sin. Romans chapter seven. Paul says in verse 23, but I
see another law in my members, in my body, warring against the
law of my mind and bringing me into captivity to the law of
sin, which is in my members. The law of sin. which is in my
members." Now, a believer has two separate, distinct natures. A holy nature, given in the new
birth, partakers of the divine nature. But he also has an evil
nature, a sinful nature that Paul called the law of sin. Now it takes two natures to see
that there are two natures. It really is that simple. Somebody
says, I just can't see where a believer has two natures. Well,
that's because you've only got one. If you had two, you'd know
exactly what I'm saying. I know you would. I find in a
law that when I would do good, evil is present with me. And
at no time can I say in my experience that I'm without sin. At no time.
This is Paul speaking under the inspiration of the Holy Spirit.
He says in Romans 7 verse 14, he says, For we know that the
law is spiritual, but I am carnal, sold under sin, literally a slave,
a slave to sin. For that which I do, I allow
not what I would I would never sin again. I would
never sin again. That's what I would. What I would,
that do I not, but what I hate, hate, that I do. Now, someone would say, well,
Paul must not be saved. What's wrong with him? Why is
he talking this way? Verse 16, if then I do that which
I would not, I consented to the law, that it's good. God's law
is good. Now then it's no more I that do it, but sin that dwelleth
in me, for I know that in me, that is in my flesh, dwelleth
no good thing. For to will is present with me,
but how to perform that which is good I find not. For the good that I would, I
do not, but the evil which I would not, that I do. Now, if I do
that which I would not, it's no more I that do it, but the
sin that dwelleth in me, I find then a law. That when I would
do good, evil is present with me, for I delight in the law
of God after the inward man. I love God's holy law, but 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, O wretched man that I am, who shall deliver me from
this body of death? I thank God through Jesus Christ,
our Lord, so that with my mind I myself serve the law of God,
but with the flesh, the law of sin." Now, hear me. I feel sinful all the time. because I am sinful all the time. I always have this old nature.
Now, I realize, I hate that it's like this, but I realize some
use this doctrine to excuse or even justify sin. Well, I can't
help it. I've got an evil nature. That's
evil. to use your wicked nature as
an excuse for your wickedness and to go on in it, that is wrong. But just because some people
abuse this doctrine, it's still true, as David said, my sin is
ever before me. And the scripture says in Proverbs
24, 16, a just man falleth seven times, but riseth. but the wicked fall into mischief."
Now what is the significance of that seven times? A just man
falleth seven times. That means all the time. All
the time. There's no time when I can say,
I do not sin. 1 John 1. You're familiar with this, but
let's look at it. 1 John 1. Verse 8. If we say we have no
sin, And there it's a noun. We always have this sinful nature.
We deceive ourselves. And the truth is not in us. We've
lost all credibility. Verse 10, if we say we've not
sinned, they're the words of verb with regard to anything
we do. If we say we've not sinned, we
make him a liar. And his word is not in us. If
we confess our sins, verse 9, he's faithful and just to forgive
us of our sins and to cleanse us from all unrighteousness.
Now there's a law on a believer. And this is the new nature. The
new man owns the sins of the old man. I don't understand how
that is, but it's the new man who confesses the sin. It's the
new man who desires deliverance from the sin. But at all times,
there's a law of sin that's always there. And someone says, why
do you talk about sin so much? Well, I don't understand why
you'd ask a question like that if you have a new nature. A new
nature hates the sins of the old nature. It's always there.
David said, my sin is ever before me. The law of sin. But while you're there in Romans,
turn to Romans chapter three, verse 27. You know, it's this law of sin
that makes you rejoice in the law of righteousness. When you
really believe that in and of yourself you're nothing but sin,
aren't you happy to be saved by the righteousness of Christ?
Oh, you can't be satisfied with anything but His righteousness.
The law of sin is a blessing in that sense. It drives us to
the Lord Jesus Christ. It keeps us looking to Him. The
Lord makes it for me. The Lord makes it so I don't
have anywhere else to look but Christ. And I'm thankful for
that. Romans 3.27, where is boasting
then? It's excluded. By what law? Works?
Nay, but by the law of faith. Now this is the nature of the
believer. The law of faith, this is a nature
that he must obey. He must believe. Now, somebody
may be thinking about the fact that I'm saying these things
are natures, that you don't choose to do them, you do them because
it's your nature, and you think, well, where's their moral virtue in
that then? Where's their goodness in that? I mean, if you're just
obeying your nature, do you know that's the same line of reasoning
that Satan used with Eve in the garden? Same line of reasoning. There's no, you're just obeying
your nature and obeying God, there's no moral virtue to it.
But if you eat of this fruit, you'll know the difference between
good and evil, and you'll choose the good over the evil, and that's
what'll make it good. You see, I want to be controlled by this
nature that I'm speaking of. I want to be utterly dominated
by this nature to where it's my nature. It's the nature of
a believer to believe. The new nature cannot not believe. Now, I realize we're always saying,
Lord, I believe, help thou mine unbelief, but try to not believe
the Bible's word of God. Try it. You know it is. You know, it's
the holy word of God. You see, we believe, and then
we know. It's in believing we know. We
don't know, then believe. We believe, then we know. Try
to not believe in Christ's ability to save you. You think that he's
not able to save you? You know he is. You know with
the leper, you got the same thing going on the leper did. Lord,
if you will, you can. Sometimes we wonder about his
willingness, but we never wonder about his ability. He is the
mighty son of God, and he is able. We believe. Abraham staggered
not at the promise of God through unbelief, but was strong in faith,
giving glory to God, being fully persuaded that what he had promised,
he was able also to perform. We cannot not believe in his
ability. When Romans 4, 5 says to him
that worketh not, but believeth on him that justifies and godly,
his faith is counted for righteousness. We got to believe that. We got
to believe. I've said this many times. I
did not choose to believe. I found myself believing. For
many years, I tried to believe. I wanted to believe. I tried
to believe. Couldn't figure out what it meant.
Tried to, but couldn't figure out what it meant. And then one
day, I found myself believing the gospel. It became my nature
to believe the gospel. The law of faith. What do believers
do? They believe. They rely upon
the Lord Jesus Christ. The law of faith. And then in James chapter 2,
verse 8, here's a law of the new nature. We read of the royal
law of love. The royal law of love. Now, turn
with me to, you've already looked at James 2a, to the royal law,
thou shalt love thy neighbors thyself. Turn to 1st John chapter
four. 1st John chapter four. Verse seven. Beloved, let us love one another. For love is of God, and everyone
that loveth is born of God, and knoweth God. Now you see what
that says? Everybody, without any exceptions.
Now this is not talking about the love of a parent to a child.
I'm thankful for that, aren't you? What would this world be
without the love of a parent to a child? But that's not the
kind of love it's talking about. Not talking about the love between
a man and woman. This is talking about that love that is the fruit
of God, the Holy Spirit. The fruit of the Spirit is love. And it's the nature of a believer
to love God. I love Him. I love His Son. I love His Spirit. I love every
attribute of God. I love His holiness. I love His
justice. I love His sovereignty. I love
His power. I love His wisdom. Any attribute
of God, I love the fact that He doesn't change. All of His
glorious attributes we love. I love His word. I love this
book. I love his word. I love his gospel. I love the
way he saves. I love worship. I love to hear
the gospel preached in the power of the Holy Spirit. I love God. I love everything about him.
I really do. Lord knows whether I'm telling
the truth. If I could change anything about him, I wouldn't
do it because he's altogether perfect. I love, I love the Lord
Jesus Christ. I love his person. I love his work. I love his salvation. I love God. I love holiness. I love purity. I love His law. Paul said, I delight in the law
of God after the inward man. I love the Ten Commandments.
I don't have anything to fear because I stand perfect before
them. I'm righteous before God's holy law. I love His commandments. I love his people. Do you know
anyone that loves the Lord Jesus Christ? I love that person. I
do. I'm the biggest fan in that sense.
You love Christ, that makes me love you because he's all together
lovely. You know, if somebody loves Aubrey,
you know, I automatically like them. You know, somebody loves
the Lord Jesus Christ, you love that person. I love men, not
just believers. I love men. I want men to come
to a saving understanding and bow the knee to the Lord Jesus
Christ. I want men to hear and believe the gospel. Oh, I love
men. And the only thing that proves
that is whether I tell them the truth. But I love my enemies. I love my enemies. The Lord said,
love your enemies. Be like your Heavenly Father.
We love. It's the nature of a believer
to love. Only a believer loves in this
sense. This is that love which is the
fruit of God, the Holy Spirit. The fruit of the Spirit is love. Now, the next law we read of
is found in James 1.25 and James 2.12. It's called the law of
liberty. the law of liberty, the law of
freedom. Freedom, James 1.25 and 2.12,
the law of liberty, freedom. Now, two things that I know about
freedom. Number one, freedom is to owe
nothing. If I owe anything, I'm not free. Freedom is to be completely debt
free. I owe nothing. That is why I
love the suretyship of the Lord Jesus Christ. I love it, that
picture of it there in Genesis chapter 43, verse nine, when
Judah said regarding Benjamin, I'll be surety for him. Of my hand shalt thou require
him. Anything he owes, you look to
me for. If I bring him not back to thee,
let me bear the blame forever." Now, what was Benjamin responsible
for? Nothing. He was free. Judah took
all of his responsibilities. And the Lord Jesus Christ is
my surety. He said, everything you look
for out of Todd, you look to me for. Now that's freedom. Freedom. I owe nothing because
I know my Lord pays all. And freedom is doing what you
want to do. Somebody said, if I believed
what you believed, I'd sin all I want to. I'll assure you I
sin a whole lot more than I want to. The greatest freedom that
I have is being a bond slave to the Lord Jesus Christ. And
the greatest freedom I have is being in him and, oh, for grace
to simply obey him. That is the greatest of all freedom. Freedom isn't freedom to sin.
No. The law of liberty. I must not
owe anything. If you tell me that I owe anything
or there's something I need to do to make it better for myself,
I can't handle it. Stand fast in the liberty where with Christ
it made you free and be not entangled again in that yoke of bondage. The law of liberty. Getting to do what you want to
do, thy people should be willing. They'll be volunteers in the
day of your power. Now the last one is found in
Galatians chapter 6. Paul appeals to the brethren.
Galatians chapter 6 verse 1, brethren. Only brethren really
understand this. Brethren, if a man be overtaken,
in a fault. Can't you understand how easily
any man can be overtaken in a fault? Don't you know how easily you
can be overtaken in a fault? It's a sad, sad thing, isn't
it? You know, every man is so weak. Everybody. You take Solomon. I suppose Solomon
was the most wise man to ever live, and yet look at his death.
Look how he started worshiping idols and so on, and his heart
was turned by the women, and you can read about it in First
Kings, I think chapter seven, I can't remember what chapter
it is, but it's just, men are, if a man be overtaken in a fault,
everybody in here, very easily, very easily, you can be overtaken
in a fault. Know that, know that. Now he
says, brethren, if a man be overtaken in a fault, ye which are spiritual,
you're a partaker of the divine nature. You have a spiritual
nature. You've been born of God. That
which is born of the Spirit is spirit. Only believers are spiritual. You know, that's kind of a vogue
term in our day. Well, I'm spiritual. I may not
be a Christian or I may not practice it, but I'm a spiritual person.
No, only someone who has God, the Holy Spirit. Only someone
who's born of the Spirit is spiritual. Ye which are spiritual, restore
such a one. And the idea is a mending, and
it's a process, it's a process of restoration. Ye which are
spiritual, restore such a one in the spirit of meekness, considering
thyself, lest thou also be tempted. What'll happen to you if you're
tempted? You'll fall. Have you ever been tempted? And just, I'm not giving in. Did you? Did you? That's why we pray, lead us not
into temptation. Because I realize that if I'm
tempted, I'll fall. So I asked the Lord, Lord, don't
let me even be tempted. Put a hedge around me, build
a wall around me. Cause me simply to obey the new
nature. I don't want to be tempted. Lord,
the Lord taught us to pray that every day. Do you see how important
this is? Lead us not into temptation. Ye which are spiritual, restore
such a one in the spirit of meekness, considering thyself, lest thou
also be tempted. Bear ye one another's burdens. Now, does that mean tell everybody
about all your problems so you can bear it with me? If you want to do that, I suppose
you can, but that's not really what that means. What is your
burden? My burden is my sin. Your burden is your sin. And what do we do? We bear with
one another. We cover each other's faults. We love one another anyway. That's what we do. Love, the
scripture says, beareth all things. It covers with silence all things. Peter said, have fervent love
among yourselves. And that word fervent, I think
this is very interesting. He said, above all things have
fervent love among yourselves. And the word fervent there means
stretched out. It's going to take some stretching.
stretching, have fervent love among yourselves. Bear ye, bear
ye one another's burdens, and so fulfill the law of Christ. Now there's His law. There's
His law. That's called the law of Christ.
These others, the law of righteousness, the law of sin, the law of faith,
the law of love, the law of liberty, and the law of Christ, the one
he puts his name after, is where he says, bear ye one another's
burdens and so fulfill the law of Christ. For if a man thinks
himself to be something, I love this scripture, for if a man
thinks himself to be something when he is nothing, he deceives
himself. Now these are the laws of the
new nature. Remember God said, I'll put my
laws in their mind, plural, and I'll write them in their hearts. The law of righteousness can't
be satisfied with anything but the righteousness of Christ.
The law of sin, at no time can I see myself as free from sin.
The law of faith, I must believe. The law of love, I must love. I must love him, I must love
you. The law of liberty and the law of Christ. These are the
laws of the new nature. If you have the new nature, you
will be this way. Let's pray.