Bible Study Method: Law and Gospel Pt 1

0:02 Looking at our world from a theological perspective. This is the Theology Central podcast making Theology Central. Good afternoon everyone. It is Wednesday, April the ninth, twenty twenty five. It is currently five point fifty one pm Central Time, and I'm coming to you live from the Theology Central studio located right here in Abilene, Texas. And it was right here in Abilene, Texas in the nineteen eighties as a teenager that I drove into Abilene, Texas because I didn't live in Abilene at that time. I lived in Buffalo Gap, Texas.

0:43 That's where I lived. And I got in a car and I left Buffalo Gap and I came to Abilene, Texas. And I arrived at Butternut Street in Abilene, Texas, and I pulled up in the parking lot of the Bible Bookstore. I walked into the Bible Bookstore and there I was looking around, looking around. What am I going to buy today here in the Bible Bookstore. I'm a relatively new Christian and I'm walking around, walking around, and what do I see? I see the bargain bin. Well, that's a good idea. When you're a teenager, you don't have a lot of money. I'm going through the bargain bin and I see a book Dynamic Bible Study Methods, Dynamic Bible Study Methods, twelve of them to be exact, and I'm like, this is what I need. This will give me twelve methods of Bible study. And I just thought, I mean, I'll be able to use this for the rest of my life. I was. I was so excited. It was only like fifty cents. It was like, basically they were giving it away. Nobody wanted it. Now. The book was written by a man by the name of Rick Warren.

1:47 At that time, you know, nobody knew anything about him. He had obviously had not become the you know, purpose driven life, purpose driven church, you know guru. He was just someone had written a book on how to study the Bible by giving you twelve specific methods, methods you could use, and you could use them all the time. And from that moment on, I have used that book, taught that book, reference that book over and over. Those twelve Methods of Bible Study are still a part of my life to this very day. I mean, when I open up the text, there's still a tendency the chapter summary method I start running the chapter summary method almost without even thinking. So many of the methods I still utilize today. And the foundation to every method, the foundation to every single method was what was known as space pets.

2:44 This taught you how to apply the scriptures. That was the foundational method because you use that method. At the end of every other method, every other method, you had to do application. And you would basically run space pets and that's an acronym and ask this for sins to confess, pre promises, to claim, actions, actions to avoid you know, C commands E for examples to follow that type of thing. And so I knew that method, use that method, use that method, use that method, taught that method, defended that method. Now also though at that time a lot of the thing now most I would say ninety percent of what's in that book and how to study the Bible, those dynamic Bible study methods by Rick Warren, I would still to this day defend. They're awesome. Most of them are giving you basically steps to do observation. And the key in Bible study. I say it all the time. Everyone thinks Bible studies interpretive. It's primarily observational. It's giving you the steps to help you observe to see what's actually in the text, what the text actually says, because you shouldn't even be worrying about interpreting the text until you have observed the text. So I would still strongly defend, promote, teach what is in that book. But on this April the ninth, twenty twenty five, I'm going to completely reject the whole space pets idea and how to do application

4:19 because I'm going to try to completely change your mind about how you should approach scripture. And our last broadcast, we talked about looking at the subject of fear from a proper law Gospel perspective Law and Gospel. I have talked about it and talked about it again. I have a series on law and Gospel. I said, is still the most important series I've ever done. And all of my years of teaching, every failure I've ever made, every success I've ever made, none of that matters. The only thing that matters is if I leave at least one person out there saying I now know how to understand scripture from a proper law gospel perspective. If only one person gains that perspective, then every other failure, every other success, none of it matters because law and gospel. Without that, I think the Bible just becomes a philological mess. It just becomes a moral handbook that's just going to leave you to the pit of despair, frustration, and possibly even renouncing your faith if you're even remotely honest with what the book actually says, other than playing the little church game where you convince yourself of a reality that doesn't exist.

5:32 So I'm going to try to not only am I going to completely reject the host space pets idea that I have taught basically since the nineteen eighties anywhere and everywhere I could. Not only am I rejecting what I have taught, I'm going to try to put an alternative in place. I'm going to try to teach you a Bible study method that is all about law and gospel. I'm going to try to teach this and to try to hopefully helpful. Hopefully it will be helpful. But we have to take a step back and we just have to look at Christianity at large, Christianity in general, the Church at large, because I think when it comes to the church, it comes to Christianity, and it comes to all the materials they put forth, I think all of them are seriously in error because they reject a law gospel perspective. Most Bible study methods, I think this is fair to say most Bible study methods, most devotionals, most sermons, most Sunday school curriculum, most small group studies. They either ignore, they distort, or they directly contradict a law gospel approach.

6:52 Let me state that again, most Bible study methods. Whenever you listen to these sermons or you see it online, you know, here's a here's some videos and how to study the Bible, here's a book on how to study the Bible. Almost all of that material and how to study the Bible, it's going to either it's going to ignore, distort, or contradict a law gospel perspective. If you look at devotionals, I don't care which devotional you pick up, they're going to either ignore, distort, or contradict a law gospel approach. If you look at sermons, just you can just you can get on the sermon audio app or the sermons by sermonadio app, whatever it's called. In twenty twenty five Sermons two point oh sermons, three point oh sermons, three point one sermons by sermonadio. It feels like it's gone through fifty names. Wherever it is today, whatever it is today.

7:42 If you just look up all of those sermons, I remember they add about six thousand sermons a week, ninety nine point nine percent of them, and I think that's probably being generous. They're either going to ignore, They're going to distort, are they going to directly contradict a law gospel perspective. If you go to Sunday school Sunday school classes, it doesn't matter if it's kids, doesn't matter, if it's teenagers, doesn't matter if it's adult, if it's adults, they're going to ignore, they're going to distort, or they're going to directly contradict a law gospel perspective. If you go to small groups, the food may be good, you may have a great time with your friends, but guess what they're going to ultimately do in that small group. They're going to ignore, they're going to distort, and they're going to completely contradict a law gospel approach. It is a disease in the American Church, and they're going to do all of this even though law and gospel is at the very heart of Biblical theology and especially the Protestant Reformation. Now, if you're not a Protestant, and if you are a Catholic, then by all means you should ignore a law gospel perspective.

8:58 If you are a Catholic, not only should you you ignore it, not only should you contradict it, you should distort it because you are a Catholic. But for all the rest of you who claim not to be Catholic, you're more a Catholic than Catholics because you constantly ignore and distort it and contradict a low Gospel understanding of scripture. And you do it in your church Sunday after Sunday, week after week after week after week. So we're going to try to look at a kind of an analysis to begin with on how and why this happens across various teaching platforms. So let's start with Bible study methods. He over and A. You can get on sermon audio right now and look how to study your Bible. You'll get series after series after series how to study your Bible.

9:43 I love those series, I really do because I always want to hear. Oh they're going to give me some new methods. They they're going to offer me something, And for most of them, they don't really offer you a method. It's always kind of read highlight, ask a couple of questions. They're so generic and vague that they really don't help anyone. To me, a lot of them are a waste of time if I'm being kind, Because if you're really gonna help someone study the Bible, you've got to give them specific methods. Right, here's the steps you take, here's what you do, here's your assignment. Now some will, but most of them are so vaguely it really is. But most of the Bible study methods they fail. And here's the problem.

10:28 They are obsessed with life application. These Bible study methods should just be referred to as life application obsession. That's why they They are obsessed with life application. Most Bible study methods center around the question what does this mean to me? What does this mean for me? What does this mean for us? How can I apply this to my life? So the commands and scripture that become a task list. The goal of Bible study becomes behavioral modification or life improvement, not true repentance or faith. It becomes about modifying your behavior, changing your behavior, and proving your life, doing better, getting better, doing better, stop doing wrong, get better.

11:22 So it's just all that what does this text means to you and what can you do with it? It's all about life application. That's what most churches teach. So the common features this is kind of the common features of this life application. Obsession and peratives or commands are seen as things to do, not holy standards that condemn When people. When you go to most churches and you're doing any kind of Bible study or you're taught how to study the Bible, hey, there's a command there. That's a command for you to obey. Work on that command, write that command down, about the ways you can do something. What can you do, what can you change? How can you begin to obey that? How can you stop disobeying it?

12:06 What can you do? What can you do? What can you do? So the commands are seeing as something you can do, something you should do. They're not seen as no no, no, no no no. That command is a holy standard that condemns you. It's not something that you can do, it's something that condemns you because you cannot do it. No, churches teach it that way, and I think that that's a failure. No distinction is ever made between law demand and gospel promise. They don't even try to draw that distinction. Is this law or is this gospel? No? No, no, no, that's not even spoken of. The reader is left with this.

12:49 This is most Bible study methods are this life application obsession, and basically you're left with this, do better, try harder, trust more, do better, try harder, trust more, do better, try harder, trust more. So the scriptures ultimately become about you, not Christ. The gospel is assumed, not proclaimed, and the burden is increased, not lifted. That's what Bible study methods give you in the modern church. It's about life application. It all becomes about you, and you are just burdened down with do this, do this, do better, do better, do better, do better, try harder, do better, try harder, trust more. Come on, come on, come on, come on, come on. So that's the Bible study methods is basically being taught in most churches. How about their devotional materials?

13:39 How do they fail? Well? The problem with devotional materials they become sentimental encouragement without philological clarity. They're there in a sentimental way to encourage you, pick yourself up. You can do it, you can do it. Devotionals will often present versus like do not fear, be still and know as positive thoughts, reassuring slogans a spiritual boost, but they ignore the law what is actually being commanded, and they fail to preach the gospel how christ fulfills that command for us. The common traits of these kind of devotional method approach they give comfort without any true clarity, They offer peace without pointing to the cross, and they often treat Jesus like a motivational speaker, not as a redeemer.

14:35 So what is the result. The commands of scripture are softened. We don't really lift up those in a devotional material. We don't say, look at how high and lofty this command is, how impossible it is? No, no, no, no, no, no no no. It's like, hey, you can do it, you can do it. The gospel is replaced by inspirationalism. It's there to inspire you. You are my inspiration. To quote the famous this is what lyric by Chicago is at the seventeen album. I think at seventeen, isn't it Chicago seventeen. You're the inspiration. Come on, everybody seeing it with me. Come on, get your lighters up, hold them in the air. You're the inspiration. Right, how do the lyrics go? Okay, you get it? Chicago seventeen. It's got the little brown cover. Go listen to it. All right, you're the inspiration. Come on. They played it a prom if you're old. Okay, all right, do you get it? Okay?

15:24 All right? That it becomes about inspiring you. The reader is told, you've got this instead of Christ did this for you. No, no, no, no, no, no, you got this. You can do it. Come on, here's here's a nice little devotional story that will encourage you. That's what the devotionals do. How about sermons, how do they fail? Well, sermons become moralistic therapeutic preaching. That's what sermons are today. They just are moralistic therapeutic. Moralistic therapeutic, that's what they are. They basically sermons boil down to this formula. And I've thought about doing this. I think I need to do an entire episode. I can basically give you the template and the formula of almost every sermon you're going to hear.

16:13 They all follow the same template. They all follow the same formula. They just kind of dress it up differently. But when you strip away all of the showmanship and you strip away all of the public speaking tricks, they almost all would just kind of boil down to the same template. Here's what the passage says, here's what you're doing wrong. Here's how to fix it. Hey, here's what the passage says. Hey, we're not doing this. We fall short of this. We're not doing this. But here's how you fix it. Three points, A nice little story at the end. Go do it. There's no law gospel distinction. There's no Christ for you, just you trying to be like Christ. Jesus is typically almost used as a moral example.

17:00 Not your substitute. Application is disconnected from the gospel, and the message ends with a to do list. Not it is finished. You don't hear it is finish. Christ has done it for you. It is now go do this, and go do this, and go do this. And I used to preach that way constantly. Right, here's three points of application, do this, do this. I learned that from Chucks Wendall or Charles Wendall, depending what name we want to go with. Insight for a living I always used to tell you the way I learned to preach was three preachers. First I had Chuck's. I had a notebook for each one. El I listen to them on the radio. First was Chuck Smith from Calvary Chapel. I learned absolutely nothing. My notebook was empty. MacArthur. I learned expositional preaching, ex expounding the scriptures. Except I mean I was also learning lordship salvation, but from preaching expound the scriptures, go verse by verse. Gott it Swindall was application application, application, application, application, application application. Not hey in the sermon with it is finished, Christ has done it for you. Notice like, hey, get off the couch, put the dorados down, get up and do something. You lazy, sinful Christians do better, do more, try more. You should be convicted. So sermons become self help lectures with scripture attached. Listeners are left feeling either guilty or prideful, not humbled and comforted. So that's what's going on. So that's what's happening. When they do teach you how to study the Bible, they give you this application obsession. Then when you start you get your devotional material.

18:33 It's basically this sentimental encouragement with no philological clarity. Then you go to the sanctuary, you get sermons that are nothing more than moralistic or therapeutic. That's all you get. And then you go to the Sunday school classroom and guess what I should have put these probably in a different order. I didn't think about trying to create, like we's start here as a Christian. Then you go to this. Okay, but all right, now we're in the Sunday school class And this is why. This is how they fail. Bible stories become morality lessons. Hey, look at Noah. Be obedient like him and build an arc. David, be brave and kill your giant esther. Be courageous, Daniel, be faithful, Jesus be loving. Bible stories are morality lessons, and this is ingrained in the brains of every kid raised in church.

19:20 Every Bible story is just a moral lesson do better, or it's a moral lesson about don't do this. It's do this, don't do this, do this, don't do this, do this, don't do this, with the implication is you can do it. You can do it. Stop being bad little boys and girls, Be good little boys and girls. Stop do this, don't do this, do this, Come on, be like this, be like this, be like this. This basically turns the entire story of redemption into nothing more than a moral fable. That's all it becomes. It's moralism. The law. What is missing in most cases in Sunday School the law law as exposing sin and need. It doesn't show you. That law is not put forth as just as there to condemn you and show your inability.

20:08 The law is there telling you to do better, and you have to try to do better. The Gospel is missing, as God's intervention and rescue and Christ as the true and better fulfillment of every story is not usually pointed to. Kids and adults usually walk away from Sunday School thinking that the Bible is about good people doing good things, not about a gracious God's saving sinful people through his son. So now we go to the small groups. What happens in small groups well becomes discussion based sharing without doctrinal framework. Small groups often become therapy circles or opinion exchanges. What does this verse mean to you? Everyone affirms one another, but no one preaches law or gospel. The focus is often how can we grow? How can we do better as Christians? What is missing a clear proclamation of God's demands law, a clear proclamation of christ fulfillment gospel, and a humble confession and rest in Christ. Small groups reinforce subjectivity over truth and behavioral goals over the finished work of Christ. It's about doing better. It's about doing better.

21:19 It's never no matter where you turn and Christianity, it's about here's a to do list. Here's a to do list. Here's a to do list. Here's a to do list. Do this, do this, don't do this, do this. Okay, I'm gonna do this. I'm gonna read my bible, marm, I'm not gonna watch so much TV. I'm gonna do this. I'm gonna try harder. I'm gonna be a better wife. I'm gonna be a better this I'm gonna be At some point you just like I'm just going to the liquor store and give up. So what, Why does this all happen this way? Why is evangelical fundamentalism just preoccupy with this approach and ignoring long Gospel because long Gospel distinction is almost absent in the church. It's rarely taught in any clarity or any explanation. Even pastors and leaders typically lack training in a proper law gospel distinction in their hermanutic. Most of them lack the training because they don't go to schools that have a law gospel hermeneutic, so they don't have a law gospel hermeneutic. They just teach the hermautic that they've been taught. They don't do hermanutics.

22:22 They simply repeat the hermanutical method that they were given. They don't ever challenge it or question it. Seminaries typically treat that was see that law and gospel stuff, that's Lutheranism, that's Luther. We don't we don't have to follow that. Now, what's funny they'll say, we don't need to follow Luther. But then you just follow some other tradition and some other person and their hermeneutical approach. So it's just ridiculous, like, well, we're not going to follow Luther, but you're still following someone because you're just repeating what you've been taught about hermautics based on someone's hermeneutical system. You're not doing hermeneutics. You just learn it and parrot it back. You just regurgitate the same hermeneutical template because you can't ever do hermeneutics.

23:05 The church is not The church is where hermoneutics comes to die. The church is where theology comes to die because they don't do theology. You don't do hermonutics, you don't even actually do Bible study. You just regurgitate whatever the answer is given by your theological team. And I think in the evangelical church it prefers utility over theology. What works is more than important, is more important than what is true. I think in the evangelical church they prefer utility over theology. What works is more important than what's true. The pressure is to be relevant, encouraging, practical, And I think another reason this happens is we default of self righteousness. It's easier to try harder than admit helplessness.

24:02 The law appeals to our pride. The Gospel offends it. Try harder, look at me, I'm doing it. The Gospel offends your pride because it says you can't do it, you never will be able to do it. You're a complete and total and utter failure. You are a train wreck, You're a dumpster fire. But Christ did it for you. But but, but, but bye, I've got to do something. I've got to do it. You can try all day long, you're just gonna fail fail fail fell fell fell fell. Now all of that brings me to what I stumbled upon in the Bible bookstore in the nineteen eighties as a teenager with just a little bit of money in my pocket. I buy the book Dynamic Bible Study Methods from Rick Warren. I go home, I open it up, and what is the first method toudd in the book the application or the devotional method. And the devotional method teaches you how to do application, and so it gives you this acronym known as space pets space pe t s.

25:10 The space Pets method is a popular Bible application tool designed to help individuals reflect on and apply scripture and practical ways. Each letter of the acronym represents a different question aimed at drawing out personal spiritual lessons from a passage. Now, let me make it very clear. If we just use space pets simply to do application, we don't do anything with it. It can still be useful, but what it's used, it's used to do application, which turns into this moralistic therapeutic self help. Come on, you can do it type thing. So let me break it down. This is how space pets work. The letter S for space or the letter S and space pets. It's not for space. The letter S stands for Is there a sin to confection or sins to confess? Hey, look, look for when you see in the Bible? Is there a sin for you to confess? There?

26:08 Now that's a good thing. Now that's a good thing because at least it's starting with you seeing your sin. That's a good thing. Right, that's a good thing. P Is there a promise to claim? So? Look, is there a promise? Now when you look for a promise, you got to determine if the promise is conditional unconditional, and whether it's applicable, because some promises are not for you. So is there a sin to confess? That's actually a good thing to start and find. Does anything in the Bible show you your sin? Right? Is there a promise to claim? A Is there an attitude to change? Oh? Wait, this talks about this attitude. Tells me this attitude is bad or this attitude is good. I need to change that attitude. Now that's good if you will just acknowledge sin and attitude, but it's all about what are you going to do to make it better? Because ultimately what you have to do is you've got to write out an application in this method that is personal, practical, and provable.

27:01 What steps are you going to do to fix this and to make these changes? So it becomes very law based. But just pointing these things out and in and of themselves is not necessarily bad. So for is there a sin to confess? P? Is for promises? A? Is there an attitude to change? C? Is there a command to obey? Well, got no problem looking for the commands, but see the idea is there's a command to obey. Now I got to come up with a way on which I'm going to obey it. The whole premise is that you can obey all of the commands, which is just built into the minds of almost every evangelical Christian. E. Is there Okay, well I think I did you. I think I did these incorrectly, So let me do this again. S. Is there a sin to confess? P? Is there a promise to claim? A? Is there an attitude to change? C?

27:49 Is there a command to obey? E? Is there an example to follow. I don't. I don't think I'd mentioned that one earlier. But just to make sure, is there an example to follow or an example not to follow? Could be a good example or a bad example. P Is there something to pray? Is there a prayer to pray? E? Is there an error to avoid? Right? So space is space, sends to confess, promises, attitudes, commands, examples, pets, p E, T S prayers, there something to pray or prayer to pray? E? Is there an error to avoid? T? Is there a truth to believe? S? Is there something to praise God for? Now? Again, it can be effective if you just use it purely as an observational tool. Well, there's that talks about a promise, or that talks about a truth, or that talks about an error. That gives me an example if you just use it just for observational But what what you do is you turn this into Okay, now that I've identified these things, what are you going to do to make the change? What are you going to do to put these things into practice? You need a plan. You've got to be you've got to be practical, you've got to be proved. It's got to be something it's got to be personal, it has to be about you, and I taught that a million times. But I think that entire approach leads us to all the problems we just discussed that it's going to lead you away from a law

29:20 Gospel perspective. So here's what I want to do. I'm going to take the next few minutes and I'm going to teach you a Bible study method. We'll call it the law Gospel Bible study method. Right, the law Gospel Bible study method. You will not be taught this method, I don't think anywhere else. Okay, there may be a book out there somewhere about the Law Gospel Bible study method. I haven't done a lot of research to find the book, but I'm assuming that some Lutheran somewhere has put this out. The sad part, it shouldn't just be within Lutheranism, it should be within all non Catholic Christianity, because we hold to the Protestant Reformation, which this law Gospel distinction is essential to the entire Protestant Reformation. So the law Gospel Bible study method. Let's start with the purpose I want the purpose of this method is to try to train you and to try to train myself and remind myself to read the scriptures through the essential distinction of law and gospel. It is to try to train you, train me, train everyone else to recognize what God commands law, confessing how we fail, and then seeing how Christ fulfilled it Gospel, and then resting in His finished work the core theological So that's the purpose to try to train you, all of us, so that we will read scriptures through the

30:51 essential distinction of law and gospel, that we will recognize what God commands law, confess how we fail, and then see how Christ fulfilled it Gospel, and then we simply rest in His finished work. The core theological foundation. The law reveals God's perfect will and demands perfect obedience. That's still logical foundation number one. The law reveals God's perfect will, and it demands perfect obedience. It demands that obedience internally, externally and thought word, disease, deeds, and desire. So the law reveals God's perfect will and demands perfect obedience and thought word, deed, and desire, and it demands it internally and externally Like that's a foundational truth for Christians. The law reveals God's perfect will, his perfect standard, and it demands absolute perfection internally, externally and thought, word, deed, and desire.

32:00 The second theological foundation. The Gospel reveals what God has done in Christ to fulfill that law and our behalf. The Law reveals his perfect will and demands perfect obedience. The Gospel reveals what God has done in Christ to fulfill the law and our behalf. Let me hear that. I want you to hear that again. The Gospel shows you what God has done in Christ to fulfill the Law on your behalf. Christ fulfilled the law for you. The Law says you need to do this perfectly. You can't. The Gospel says, hey, Christ did it for you. The Christian life, then here's the third foundational principle. The Christian life begins and it continues with repentance and faith, not self improvement or behavioral modification. The Christian life begins and continues with changing my mind about right and wrong and then putting my faith in Jesus Christ. That's what it is, and it's every day I have to constantly change, make sure I'm agreeing with God and that my mind is in line with what God says is about right and wrong, and put my faith in Christ because Christ keeps all of the law, which shows me my sin. The three philological foundations. Number one, the law reveals God's perfect will and demands perfect obedience. Number two, the Gospel reveals what God has done in Christ to fulfill the law on

33:32 our behalf. Number three, the Christian life begins and continues with repentance and faith, not self improvement or behavioral modification. Now, let's get to the method itself. Basically, it's four steps. It's the easiest method I will ever taught you. Number one, recognize the law whenever you're reading the Bible. Whenever you're reading the Bible. I will even go so far to say, whenever you're listening to a sermon or you're reading a devotional material, recognize law. What is being commanded of you in this passage of scripture? What is being commanded? Or are you being told you must do or what you shouldn't do? Is there an imperative something I must do, be or feel? Are you being told you must do this, you must be this, you must feel this, or you must avoid this. You must not do that, you must not feel that, you must not be that. And what is the full weight of what God requires. You need to recognize the law. What is being commanded? Is there an imperative telling me do this, don't do this, be this, don't be this, and what is the full weight? Well, you really need to embrace what is really being told of you. You're not to water it down, you're not to twist it, you're not to change. You're like, man, that scripture literally tells me to be perfect, then I need to be perfect. There's no watering it down. You don't soften the commands, you don't excuse your way out of it. You let the law speak. So whenever you're

35:03 reading the Bible, you're like, WHOA, that's telling me something I need to do? Right, I just happened to have my Bible here open to some one nineteen. All right, turn away mine eyes from beholding vanity and quicken thou me in thy way. Right, So the idea seems to be telling me I need to Well, there is a prayer. It's a prayer, but we would sometimes go and that seems to say I need to turn my eyes away from beholding vanity. What does they even mean? How do I even do that? Ken? Is it even possible? What is being commanded. Is it an imperative? What is the full weight of what God is telling me to do? So? Number one, recognize the law. Number two, confess your failure.

35:45 This is simple. How have I broken? You just simply write down? How have I broken this command? Where is my Where in my life do I fall short of this? Do I see this failure in my thoughts or in my actions or in my emotions? See, you've seen the law, You've seen the command, You've seen the imperative. You've seen all of this. You've seen the full weight of what's being asked of you to do. Okay, well now hm, now step two. I just got to write out my confession. I have broken this command in this way here in my life. This is how where I fell short. I see this failure not only externally but internally. I see it in my thoughts. I see it in my desires.

36:34 You just write. All you do is just get brutally honest. You just write it all down. I know nobody wants to write this part down, but you just got to be brutal. You got to be honest. You can burn it if you need to after you write it down, because you don't want anyone to see it. Just be brutally honest. No, you don't have to dress up and pretend, because you're not playing the little church game. The church game just dresses as everyone up in a robe of self righteousness. You don't need one. I do this, and I think this, and I look at this, and I watch this, and I think this, and I desire this, and I do this, and I hate this person, I don't forgive this person, and I get angry about this, and I want this, and I'm filled with lust desire. Okay, man, whoo, okay, I need a new notebook. Basically, the law. The law reveals sin, weakness, and dependency. Let it do its work.

37:26 You recognize the law, and then really step two it's confessor failure. You could almost say step two it's just let the law do its work. Let it make you expose you, humble you, shame you. And then step three, how does Christ fulfill the law? You just saw all the commands, the imperatives want to do whatnot? Now you need to ask yourself how did Christ fulfill that? How did Jesus perfectly obey this command? Look for some scripture that may show you how Jesus perfectly obeyed it. How Jesus did not do that? Now, sometimes you may not have a specific example, but you always have that he was tempted in all points without as we are yet without sin. Or you can always go back to that right, You can always go back to the fact that he did not sin. But sometimes you want to try to find what is a specific example where Jesus followed this command, he did not do that particular thing. Where in his life ministry, death, or resurrection? Do you see him living this out? Do I see him living out this command?

38:30 Do I see him living out this command not to do something? And then just remind yourself that his obedience is credited to you. So step three is used to think about how Christ has fulfilled it for you. How did he perfectly obey the command? Where in his life did he live it out? And just remind yourself that his obedience is accredited to you. The key insight in step three is Christ did not come to remove the law, but to fulfill it for us. His righteousness is imputed to us. He came to fulfill the law. He fulfilled every jot and tittle of the law. Everything has been fulfilled.

39:15 Step four rest in the gospel. Then respond in freedom what does it? Then you can say something in this step four, what does it mean that I'm fully accepted in Christ even in my failure? You just may want to have to write down. Look, I've seen the law. I seen that my failure in step one step two, I've confessed about how messed up I am and all the ways I've broken. At step three, I've found a scripture that shows Christ fulfilling it for me. So now what does it mean to me that I'm fully accepted in Christ even in my failure? You already acknowledged your failure. Now you say, what does it mean to you that you're accepted in Christ? You're still in Christ even though you just pointed out all the things you've done wrong?

39:57 How can I? How can I? How can and I now at least move in the direction of obedience, not to earn God's favor, but because I already have it? Now, how could I try to put some steps in action to walk in the right direction, not because I'm going to be obedience or even I'm ever going to fulfill it, just because this is what Christ calls me to do. And then how does this? And you may want to write down, how does this give me freedom and not fear? How don't you feel free? You shouldn't be filled with fear and guilt and shame because you now know Christ has done it for you. Let me give you some examples. Do not be anxious or give no thought in Philippians four six. I think if we go from the King James, how does it read specifically in the King James, it reads be careful for nothing, be anxious for nothing? Right?

40:54 That's Philippians four six, Number one the law, do not be anxious about anything. This is a command to feel no anxiety about anything, total peace always. It's a command, do not be anxious about literally anything. Step two failure. I worry constantly, money, health, family, the future. I don't just fail to trust. I fear I fail the command. Step one the law is easy to see in Philippians four to six, do not be anxious about anything. And I really stress what that means, to feel no anxiety about anything, total peace always. Step two my failure. I worry constantly, money, hell, family. I don't just fail to trust.

41:38 I fear I fail the command. You write down specifically how you fail. Step three christ fulfillment Jesus never distrusted the Father. He slept in the storm Matthew four thirty eight. He walked calmly to his crucifixion Luke nine fifty one. Even in Gethsemine he trusted and submitted Luke twenty two forty two. His peace is credited to me. Step four Gospel response. I'm not condemned for my anxiety. Christ bore that burden. I can now rest in His perfect trust and learn to trust, and learn to trust not out of guilt, but by grace. There's the four parts. There's the four parts. What are the four parts again? Step one, Recognize the law. See the law in the passage, See the command, see the imperative. See what it is telling you to do, not do what to feel, not feel what to be. See the law. Confess your failure in graphic detail, right out, exactly how messed up it is.

42:40 You're not excusing it, you're not seeing, you're trying to do better. Just look I fall short. Then look for scriptures that show you how christ fulfilled it. Four. Then just rest in the gospel. Rest in the gospel. And we see this in Philippians four six. We see the law. Do not being. We see what it really means that I'm not to be anxious about anything. I'm to feel no anxiety about anything. My failure. I worry constantly. You write down your failure Christ's fulfillment. He never distrusted the Father. I'll give you all those cross references for how he fulfilled it. Step four. I am not condemned for my anxiety. I am not condemned because Christ bore that burden. And Christ's perfect fulfillment of don't be anxious about anything is accredited to my account. So you can. I'll give you some scriptures to do your own work on. These are all simple. One Peter one sixteen Be holy, for I am holy. That's simple. Matthew five forty four. I love your enemies, Matthew five point forty eight. Be perfect as your heavenly Father is perfect. Philippians two fourteen. Do everything without grumbling or complaining. First Thessalonians five seventeen. Pray without ceasing.

43:59 There there's five verses to work on, and you just go through those four steps the law. What is actually being demanded? Your failure? How have you broken it? Christ? Fulfillment? Where in scripture do we see Jesus obeying this command and your gospel response, what does it mean to be counted righteous in Him? Again? What are the five verses on one Peter one sixteen, Be holy for I am holy, Matthew five forty four. Love your enemy Matthew five forty eight. Be perfect as your Father is perfect Philippians two fourteen. Do everything without grumbling or complaining, Pray without ceasing, and first Thessalonians five seventeen. Those are just five verses you can start working this method on. You. Make sure you put out in detail what is being demanded in that rose verses. Don't water it down. What is it demanding?

44:49 Write out exactly what the demand is, don't water it down, speak of what the law is stating there specifically, be very clear. Then, specifically and in grave detail, write out your failure number three. Then go find scripture that shows Christ fulfilling it. And then what is your gospel response to knowing that Christ has now fulfilled this for you and you're free? What do you How are you going? How are you going? How does it impact you? Now? You could you could make a chart if you wanted to, right, you could make a chart that goes something like this.

45:34 The command my failure, Christ's fulfillment. Maybe my response your gospel response, not your law based response, but your gospel response. So you can go through the passages and make you a chart command failure fulfillment response. You could do it that way if you wanted. You could create your own law gospel devotional. I'm giving you some ideas here. Choose a passage with a strong command and write a one page devotional that follows the four steps right so, and then you could give it a title. You could write down the scripture, You could explain the law. You could write down about your own personal failure and confess it.

46:19 Then you could show how Christ obeyed it and celebrate that, and then you can say what your gospel reaction is to it. You can write this out if you want to, almost like your own devotional. What's the title? You've got the scripture? Now? What what are we going to call this? All right? What is the scripture? Write down? How is it explained? What the law is? Write down how you fail mess up, maybe a very good example of how you've recently messed up. Then show how Christ completely obeyed this, and then you're kind of your gospel response to it.

47:02 Reading the Bible with a law gospel lens is not just still logical, it's pastoral. It's healing and it's freeing. It will help you stop pretending and start repenting. It replaces moral pressure with Christ's finished work. This is not the easy way. It's the honest, biblical and Christ centered way. Now, I'll just stop right there. I'll just stop right there, because I'm gonna get I want to get into how this law gospel thing works for a narrative, for a narrative, right, for a historical narrative, because some what Now, Oh, I've given you so far as you just read, and when you see a passage, it gives you an imperative. A command tells you what to do, what not to do, what to be, what to feel, what not to feel?

47:53 Those are easy to find. You're like, okay, well it tells me to do this, don't do that. Okay, there's the law. Okay, the law is saying this, all right, and I got to fulfill this perfectly, all right. I don't do this. I mess up in every single way, all right. Go find the scriptures that show Christ's fulfilling this, obeying this all right? Now? Man, how do I respond now with this wonderful gospel news that Christ has done this for me, that's what. So I'll just leave it there. But when it comes to you, we'll wait a minute. This is like a historical narrative here, how do I do it? We'll have to see how this applies to a gospel narrative. And then I want I want to replace space pets, but I won't do any of that now because we're right at forty eight minutes. I even start that, we would have to go an hour and a half easy, So I'll stop right there. That's the law gospel method. Will anyone actually use it? Probably not? Well.

48:48 Most of you just shrug your shoulders and like, yeah, I don't care. I don't care. Well, you keep reading it the other way. You're denying literally the Protestant Reformation, and I think all the problems I've point it out at the beginning of this, it's just either just have to start pretending or lying, or you start watering down the text. But if you really are confronted with those commands, you'd be like, oh man, what am I going to do here? Because I'm in trouble. All right, We'll stop there. I want to say more. But I'll just leave it right there. I almost want to go. Do I need to go back over it one more time? Just give you the steps one more time? Do I need to give you the steps one more time? And you can make a chart, you can write out the little devotional I've given you a lot of different things you could do here, right, but step one, recognize the law. Explain exactly what's being commanded here, the full weight of it.

49:45 No watering it down. Confess all the different ways you mess up, don't minimize it. Okay, Now again, I understand you can't always do that. You don't want to always have it written down everywhere, But write it and then tear it up and burn it if you need to, But at least write it down. Then write down exactly how Christ fulfilled it for you, and then kind of you're kind of your gospel reaction to it. This one is much a little bit more vague. But okay, man, Christ did this for me. I'm gonna rest in that my guilt. I feel better, I feel free. But at the same time, I do want to, you know, try to pursue doing the right thing, not because I have tune up to prove that I'm saved because Christ has done it for me. All Right, there we go, Thanks for listening, have a great evening. God bless