Christianity and the Law Pt 2

0:00 All right, our number two, we'll see if we can finish this up. Sometimes and well, it's not I think it's it's true. I think most Christians never encounter this. But within theology, within the world of Christianity, there is a there's like a there's like a line you cannot cross because if you cross said line, you get yourself in trouble. And can it can be a lot of little things, right like when we were when I was on Christian radio and I got kicked off Christian radios because I crossed the line, right, and that line that got me in trouble. It's what's always gotten me in trouble. Within Christian Christian Christianity is if you are within Christianity and you criticize everything outside of Christianity, you are wide.

0:49 You're good, You're golden right, you're good. If you are within Christianity, and whichever philological team you find yourself, whichever jersey you are wearing, as long as you criticize everyone outside of your team, you are good. At any point you begin to criticize our question inside your team, you're done, you're finished, you are out. And so that's always been the way, because we don't like, we don't like criticism and spotlight to be turned on us, We like it to be turned on everyone else, which is just weird as Christianity being known for being so condemning and judging that we don't like to be condemned or to judge, which is kind of ironic, right. But when it comes to theology, there's just some things you're not supposed to question, and if you question it, you get yourself in trouble.

1:43 And I know that a lot of the things that I well, a lot of things that I have worked on and struggled with, has God caused me more trouble than it's probably from a human perspective been worth. Has probably been detrimental to the church, been detrimental because I just won't leave things alone, right, If I would just it's like, okay, hey, guys, this is what we believe. Never question it and never challenge it. Probably the most detrimental thing that ever happened to this church is when I said, hey, guys, we're not going to be a church that simply learns theology. We're going to be a church that does theology. That was the dumbest thing I've ever done from a human perspective, right, because nobody likes that. Everyone says they want to be where we're going to really study and we're really going to dig in, but they just play lip service. They don't really want to dig in because when you dig in, you're going to find yourself struggling with things. And over the last few weeks, what we've been dealing with, not only behind the pulpit but on the podcast is this ongoing issue of sin in the life of believers. Right. We've been talking about it and talking about it. I've been working through a book called Six Secrets of the Christian Life. It's read and saying that's trying to answer. But so what we're going to do today, I'm not going to go back and cover everything we just covered in the first hour.

3:00 It was a lot. Obviously it will be uploaded, but in the second hour we are going to continue and try to finish. We'll back up and at least look at this part. We are looking at the history throughout church history, how Christianity has dealt with the Christian and the law. We spent thirty minutes in the first hour going through a list of scriptures telling us how what God demands of us. I'm just going to read some of these quickly. Leviticus eleven forty four through forty five. For I'm the Lord your God. Consecrate yourself therefore, and be holy, for I am holy. Leviticus nineteen two. Speak to all the congregation of the people and say, you shall be holy, for I the Lord your God, am holy.

3:47 Leviticus chapter twenty, verse seven through eight. Be holy, for I am the Lord your God. Keep my statutes. Deuteronomy chapter eighteen, verse thirteen. You shall be blameless before the Lord, or some will define that as you shall be perfect before the Lord. Exodus nineteen five through six. Now, therefore, if you will indeed obey my voice and keep my covenant Psalm fifteen one through two. O Lord, who shall sojourn in your tent, who shall dwell on your holy hill, He who walks blamelessly and doud does what is right and speaks truth in his heart, I can go on. Matthew five, p. Forty eight. You shall be perfect as your heavenly Father is perfect. One Peter one, fifteen through sixteen.

4:32 Be holy as he is holy. Without holiness, no one will see the Lord. I think you get the idea there are verse after verse after verse after verse after verse that basically tells us to be what perfect dan be perfect, And throughout church history, the idea is in almost every church, even in this local area, is that somehow we can and there's a major problem with that. So what we're gonna do is we're going through church history and whenever we have verses that tell us to do things, we classify those verses as what law they tell us what to do? They tell us what to do, so can we actually do it? All? Right? So we're going to go through church history really quick, and we're going to see how Christians have handled this entire subject with the law skipping. I mean, that's the quickest review I've ever done in the history of reviews. Okay, so you missed out a lot, but here we go. Are you ready? All right? We first started, Now this part I will review in a little bit more detail. We start with the Early Church first to third century. Early Church first to third century. Now, the early Church found itself where in a Jewish context. So at the beginning, the issue was what not so much can we keep the law as far as the moral law, They really hadn't even distinguished between the moral law ceremonial law. Really

6:04 at this point, the issue basically was, if you were a gentile and you came a believer, how much of the Old Testament did you have to keep and obey? Did you have to get circumcised, did you have to offer this, did you have to keep this ceremonial law. And there was a lot of discussion. In fact, it got so bad that they had to have a council called the Jerusalem Council, and that is in Acts chapter fifteen. And basically what was the conclusion of that council. Yeah, salvation is by grace, you don't have to keep the law, and that gentiles were not bound to the Mosaic law. That was the big issue, right, everybody got that. Okay, that was pretty simple, pretty straightforward. Now. Also right after that, the early Church fathers begin to emerge, right, you have justin Martyr Arenaeus, and they emphasized that the law was fulfilled in Christ and that Christians are no longer under the law in the sense of following Jewish ceremonial aspects. However, they affirmed the moral law as binding for Christians. So after the Council, that as the Church fathers aeron As and Justin Martin began to emerge. They start drawing a distinction really between the civil law that's the law for Israel as far as the governmental aspect and the civil aspect.

7:27 And then you had the ceremonial law sacrifice his feast, and then you had the moral law. And so what they said is, well, the moral law that's still binding. So they emphasized that the moral law was still binding. There really wasn't an issue can we keep it, what should we do with it? It was just simply that it's applicable. Right. There was a lot of questions who would probably not answered yet, all right, everybody got that. Now. It was the second century. Aas Iron, however you pronounce his name. He wrote a book called Against Heresies, and this is what he emphasizes. This is this what I'm about to give you really defines everything that comes after it. All right, this defines most Christians, that all the Christians you know, and probably every church in Abeley, right as really is the he's the one to be blamed for this. Are you ready? Here's what he taught and a book called against Heresies? Are you ready? That Christ fulfilled the law everyone should say amen to that, and that believers through the Holy Spirit are empowered to live according to God's will.

8:50 And this is where all the problems start. All right, now, let's logically consider this, all right, If God is empowering me will live according to his will? How well should I live according to his will perfectly? Because it's God's power? Right? How powerful is God? What's the theological term omnipotent? Right? Omnipotent? If the and God is so powerful he created the world in six days, If he can create the entire world, the entire universe, everything in six days, I think he should be able to get me to obedience to his will.

9:38 Correct and even say, well, God's empowering you, but you have to be willing. Well, wouldn't God's power be able to overcome my unwillingness to make it willing? This becomes really confusing, right, but guess what Aaron AA said? Well, God is empower powering you. Are you ready when he throws in at the end? No, he throws this in at the end. You can't do it perfectly? How to any rational person, it makes no sense. If God is empowering me to do it, then it would be perfect because it's God's power. Not only would it be God's power, it would be what we all believe. It's God's will for us to be what holy. So if it's his will and it's his power, you're telling me what he wills and what he powers can't get to what he wants.

10:38 It makes no sense, ladies and gentlemen, none. And I'm not allowed to criticize this within Christianity. This is what will get you thrown out. If I was in any church today in Abilene, even hinting at this, I would not have a job come Monday. And that's a problem because guess what, they could fire me. But guess what they would all still be doing sinning because guess what, that's what we do. And Christians have a hard time acknowledging this. But there was that started everything wrong right there? Right, So everything goes wrong where second century? Now, justin Martyr he came along. He distinguished between the ceremonial and the moral.

11:24 He tried to make that distinction more prominent. But okay, that doesn't give us much help, right all right? So then that gets us to the fourth and fifth century. This is where we stopped. The fourth and fifth century two people show up in the fourth and fifth century, all right, Augustine and Pelagius. Augustine and Pelagius. Oh boy, this is one of the most important controversies in the entire history of the church, right, at least in the top two or three. Right, Okay? This debate was about human ability and their ability to do what to keep the law? All right? This became more pronounced during the Pelagian Controversy, sometimes referred to as the Pelagian controversy or the Pelagian Augustinian debate. However you want to define it.

12:24 Who are the key figures Pelagius and Augustine. So here's Pelagius. Pelagius. Was he monk, a British monk? Right? And what did he believe that humans are capable of keeping God's law? Oh? Boy? That is where everything begins to go wrong. Now, what is the foundational belief? What's the key factor in him believing that we can keep the law? Is that we do not have a sinful nature. To never forget this.

13:05 This is key, right, this is so key all right, that, hey, you don't have a sinful nature, so you can keep the law. He says that we could do this through natural ability without the necessity of divine grace. He argued that if God's commands something, humans must have the natural ability to fulfill it. Now, keep that in mind. He brings forth the idea, Well, if God says do it, you can do it. That you go talk to some of your Christian friends. They will save those exact same words. Well, if God says repent, then anyone can repent. If God says be holy, for he is holy, you can do it.

13:47 If God gives the Ten Commandments, you can do it. I mean, that is the whole reason many Christians want the Ten Commandments posted everywhere, because they believe the idea is if everyone sees the law, they may be motivated to the law, and therefore the world will be a better place. What's the whole problem with that? It's not well, I believe it's not true. But this is where it comes from. It comes from Pelagius, who was a heretic. The heretic shouldn't be the thing influencing Christianity. And almost every case, heretics always win, and he wins this. He wins this outright right, even though he's condemned, he still wins it all right. Therefore, it was possible. This is according to Palyagias. Now, this is where Christians will back up a little bit. Here from Peleegius, it was possible to live a sinless life and keep the law even without God. You don't need grace, you don't need God.

14:52 Now Christians modified it, right, Well, okay, we can't be perfect, but with God we can be something. Right, So Christians have modified it. But a lot of the ideas originate from whom Pelagius. Well, Augustine obviously had some issues with this. Now Augustine doesn't help. But Augustine is gonna be following a tradition, right, He's gonna go back to Erinaeus. Right, he's gonna follow this right, and he's gonna kind of modify. But at least he does take a stand on one some very smart things. So there's Pelagius right. Now here comes Augustine. Augustine opposes Pelagius, all right, and he argued that due to our original sin, human beings are incapable of keeping God's law. But here's the phrase he throws in. Oh, this is where I get so mad. We are incapable of keeping God's law? What do you think Augustin's gonna throw in now apart from God's grace, We're incapable of keeping the law apart from God's grace. Now immediately, what does that imply that we can see? At this point I would already get thrown out of Christianity because I'm

16:24 like you all all of you are nuts. You're all nuts at this point. Okay, but let's see what happens. All right, let's be fair. He believed that because of the fall, human nature is thoroughly corrupted. And while grace enables believers to follow God's will. Did you hear that while what grace enables the believer to follow God's will? If grace enables me to follow God's will, what's God's will? Be holy as He is holy. If I am able to do that, then I can be holy as God is holy. You can't say that I'm able to follow God's will when God God's will we spent thirty minutes in the last hour is be holy, be holy, be holy? Behore? Okay, well, then I should be able to be holy. So what is he gonna say here? While grace enables believers to follow God's will, they will never perfectly keep the law in this life. If I'm enabled to keep his will, then I would have to be I don't understand. Oh man, this is where Christianity makes no sense. This is it's mindless.

17:39 It's just yeah, yeah, yeah this, Oh this, this just drives me crazy, all right. So he goes on to say, Augustine held that sanctification is an ongoing process which believers grow in holiness, but complete sinlessness is unobtainable in this life. See, this is like just saying words without anyone's thought. Like if I say that in church, everybody will just say what amen, But someone should be like, well, wait a minute. This makes no sense. So let me just try to help you understand. If I can never get to perfection, then I'm in a perpetual state of disobedience, or as Bobby said, I'm in a perpetual state of sin. If I'm in a perpetual state of sin. But then you say that sanctification is an ongoing process where I become more and more obedient, or more and more you know, I'm sinning less. How do you how do you measure something?

18:41 When I'm in a perpetual state of disobedience? How can I become more more obedient. If I'm in a perpetual state of disobedience? Am I again? I can make it clear. Are we in a perpetual state of disobedience? Let me just give you the scriptures? Be holy as God is holy. Are you in a perpetual state of disobedience to that? Yeah? Love God with all your heart, mind, body and soul. Love your neighbor as yourself, Love your enemy, turn the other cheek, resist not evil, Bless those of persecute. I can keep going right, do all things without mumbling and complaining. Anybody getting guilty yet? Husbands? Love your wives as Christ love the church. Wives, submit to your husbands as unto the Lord. Is anybody feeling guilty yet? Well, if we're in a perpetual state of disobedience, how do I become moral obedient? I can't become more obedient in the category of perpetual disobedience. Now we're just measuring in the most subjective way possible, and it comes down to, well, I used to loosen the rock and roll, and now I don't. Okay, I don't watch Netflix. I mean, oh wow, congratulations, what does that even mean? Do all things while murmuring and complain pride. God hates pride. I mean, I can go, you're sinning a million different ways while we spend our time pointing at everyone else. That's just that's the most

20:15 nonsensical thing. But you say that to any Christian they'll be like, hey man, that sounds like good theology. It's ridiculous, is what it is. So Augustine Christians are unable to keep God's law perfectly because of the corrupted human nature, but they can grow in obedience. However, perfection will not be untained until the life to come. Do you just see how the circular reasoning is? You can't, but you're kind of but you really can't. What is that? Even when I get when I've had conversations with Ai about this, and AI is like, look, Christianity says this is the way it works. If you look at it logically, it doesn't work. AI doesn't know what to say. AI's like, yeah, if you asked me to look at this logically, it makes no sense. If you ask me to tell me what Christians think, well, I can only give you this answer.

21:12 I can't give you any other answer because I have to pull from Christianity to talk about Christianity. But if you want me to step outside of Christianity. This thing is wucky. I don't know. I don't and I'm like, well I need help, all right, No, some would help me. Nobody has any help, all right. So now Augustine's view becomes dominant in Western Christianity. His theology emphasizes human dependence on divine grace for any obedience, forms the basis for much of later mid Evil and Reformation theology regarding the Christian and the law. So ieron Aus starts it, and then Augustine really drives it home. Now I'm on team Augustine against Pelagius, absolutely, But I just don't agree with Austin that I'm giving some kind of ability or power, because that's where everything begins to fall apart, right, I mean, it makes just no sense. All right. So this brings us to the Medievil period, the sixth to fifteenth century.

22:21 All right, sixth to fifteenth century. Who's going to come on the scene. Okay, well, well before we get to Luther, before we get to Luther. Nope, first name Thomas Aquinas. There we go. Don't read him, okay, no, no, I'm trying to understand it. Man. That was one of the hardest papers I had to write in the Catholic University. I'm like, I don't know, Okay, I needed ai back then. Ok here we go. During the medieval period, views about the law were influenced by Augustin's theology of grace. Theologians like Thomas Aquinas continue to affirm that Christians were called to obey the moral law, but require divine grace to do so. Did you hear that we're called to do it, but we need God's grace in order to do it?

23:24 Now this you know what this is going to start sounding like? Now, remember what we sometimes say about Augustine. What's kind of the little joke we say about Augustin and some theological circles. He was the father of Calvinism and Catholicism, right, okay, because this idea that we can keep the law to some level we even though we can't do it perfectly, but with the assistance of divine grace. Wow, now let's see here, Now what could be a means of grace? Sacraments are visible means of grace. Now, what's the whole purpose of the sacrament? Why do you need the sacraments? Because they empower you? They help you, They help give you what you need to be able to obey.

24:28 So now you see where and how, and guess where this is gonna start going. You see where infused idea, infused righteousness is gonna start. You start seeing it starting to formulate, right, just and what do I always say when we go back and try to break church history up? It's easy because it's easy to put this person in this camp and this person in this camp. Well, what you sometimes see is how things begin to what what do I always say? Church history is a big ball of yarn, right, it's all wrapped together. We always think we can just separate it. You can separate it to some degree, but immediately we start seeing how this all gets mixed together. Right, So Thomas Aquanus is going to be like, you're right, we can't keep the law, but we can with divine grace. Now we may not be able to do it perfectly. So they're going to say, well, then how do I get this grace right? Because if I can with divine grace, what can I do right?

25:22 And almost inevitably it's going to come down to what can I do right? Even though though say, well it's not we do it God does it tru I understand the game that's gonna get played here. But let's see how Thomas Aquanus does this. Right. Aquantas distinguished between the ceremonial law and the moral law of the Old Testament and emphasize that the moral law encapsulated natural law was binding on all people. Right, so the moral law becomes natural law. This becomes very Catholic. Catholicism loves the idea of natural law. Natural law. Right, it's talked about a lot. If you could look up an entire section on it in the Catholic Catechism, right, so we could entire there's entire classes in Catholic schools about natural law. But just understand moral law and that this is binding on everybody everybody.

26:11 Now you see where this can lead to in twenty twenty four. If you if you're hearing this, I if there's an if there's a law that's binding on everyone, well, then the argument will be, then we need our government to make it binding on everyone. This is where the rise of Christian nationalism and a lot of these concepts originate from. Right, because Catholicism always wanted control of what the government. They wanted to member that they wanted church and state to be what one right, that's where and so a lot. What's so weird? Did you have the most anti Catholic Christians running around? Who? It's like, dude, you're you're bringing in crown. It's like, well, everything reverts back to Catholicism. I'm telling you, the evangelicalism has never been more Catholic than it is in twenty twenty four.

27:06 I don't know, we should just all go back to Roman Catholis. I've been saying that now for how many years? Ever? Right, just stop playing games. Everybody just go back to the Catholic Church. But nobody wants to go to the Catholic Church because they want to be in charge, right, I mean, that's what it comes down to. Aquanus argue that Christians empowered by infused grace. Ooh did you just hear it? I told you us where we're headed, right. Aquanus argued that Christians empowered by infused grace could grow in their ability to follow God's law, but not achieve perfection. There's okay, but the bases all of this started all the way back with Aaronaeus. Right, Hey, with God's grace we can, but we can't. We can, but we can't. Augustine made it even more Hey, with God's grace, we can, but we can't. Now Thomas Aquanas just now makes it a little bit more sophisticated. Right, Well, if we can, what is the thing giving us the can? Infused grace? Infused grace.

28:17 Now that may be different than infused righteousness, but it's still the very, very similar concept. Right, So how do we get infused with this? Right? Well, they're not going to go in there, but we all know where it's gonna end up. Just the sacraments. The sacraments we can look up. If you look up in the Catholic Catechism and read about each sacrament, inevitably they're gonna tell you what the sacrament does for you. So you'll hear Catholic say, I have to go to Eu christ. I have to go to Mass because that's where I get my strength, That's where I get my power. Like I got to it's like, you know, I gotta get this because it's my boost, it's my I need this. But I've known Catholics who take all the sacraments and they're no better than me. Now, the same concept shows up where it shows up later in the charismatic movement with the idea of what you need the baptism of the Holy Spirit, and that will give you power. Everybody's looking for it.

29:24 Why does everyone keep looking for where the power comes from? Because we all know we keep sinning. And so I've no Charismatics who've spoken in tongues, fallen on the floor, barked like a dog, whatever the case may be. And guess what, they still sin. And Catholics who supposed to get power from the sacraments, they still sin. So what power do you have that I don't have? None? Zelch it's made up. You're delusional. I know, I'm not supposed to say any of that, but it's okay, it's just true. Oh well, especially with the sacraments. Very good point. I mean, I know it sounds conspiratorial, but there's a little bit of truth to that. Right If the Church is the one who controls the sacraments, and the sacraments are the things that will give you the infused grace in order for you to be able to somehow keep the law and not end up in you know, committing a mortal sin where you go to hell. Well, then guess who you have to go to You gotta go to the church because they got control of the sacraments. You want the sacraments, you come to us. Yeah, it definitely becames whether that was the intent, it definitely becomes the reality.

30:39 Does that make sense? I think it ultimately a structure because of theology, but then it clearly it becomes a reality. Right. The medieval Church largely followed Augustine and affirming that humans could not keep the law perfectly, but could grow in obedience through grace. The distinction between the ceremonial and moral law was solidified. So that's really where that distinction becomes, all right, Now, so that gets us from the medieval period sixth to fifteenth century. Now we get to the sixteenth century. Oh, someone's going to show up. Someone's going to show up with some people would say, some serious psychological issues. Okay, he's German, he's a monk, and he's got problems, lots and lots of problems. Sixteenth century, Yeah, Luther, Right, Luther shows up. The Reformation brought renewed debate about the role of the law in the Christian life, particularly between guess where the fights are going to begin? Right, you're ready here? Becomes the fights on. In one corner we have what will we called the Protestants, and the other corner Catholics. Also the Anabaptists are going to show up in here, right, and then you've got key figures like Luther, John Calvin, and of course the na Baptist show up here as well. All right, here's Martin Luther. All right,

32:09 here's good old Luther. We're in October right fast approaching Reformation Day, which as we just look at the life of Christianity Reformation days now, it's been lost, right, and even within reformed churches who make a big deal about Reformation Day, they don't really believe in the Reformation in my viewpoint, because you have the churches who are so lordship who believes in and call it Reformation Day. If your lordship you're not, you don't belong to the Reformation d end. All right, you know what day you should be celebrating, Pope Day? Okay, because you went back to the Catholic Church. I know, not allowed to say that, but it's just true. Right here we go. Luther held that Christians at the very same time are justified and sinful.

33:04 He believed that the law served two purposes to reveal sin, because it was a mirror and the guide believers in their sanctification. All right, However, Luther was clear that believers could never fully keep the law in this life due to their sinful nature. That's where he really went at He really doubled down on that. Oh there's acknowledged. Well, you can't do it perfectly. Luther was like, you never can, you never can keep the law ever, Luther? And why?

33:45 And guess here's what's crazy. You know what led Luther and really in many cases to this revelation, it was his own sin. Everyone talks about what we need in Christianity. We need a or we need a reformation. You know what we need. We don't need a revival. We don't need a reformation. We don't need a new church method. You know what we need. We just need Christians sitting in the pew to go, Man, I'm a sinner, and I sin and thought word. Indeed, by what I do and by what I leave undone, I cannot do this.

34:25 I cannot do this. I am messed up. If we could get everything, but in some cases, the only people who ever come to that realization, sadly are sometimes people who are caught in some big scandal, then they realize it. But it shouldn't take a scandal to realize that do all things without murmuring and complaining, pray without seizing, be thankful in everything I can, go on and on, like immediately you should be like, I can't, I can't. I can't. I can't, I can't, I can't. If everyone would be rebroken and realize they can't, it would be that the transformation that Christianity has so desperately needed since Luther. But somehow Luther kind of really emphasized this and everyone abandoned what Luther thought because it all became about what how, what we can and can't can't or what we can do? Now? Listen, this is this is I want you to make sure.

35:27 This is very important. What Luther says believers could never fully keep the law in this life due to their sinful nature. Due to their sinful nature. Why is that so important? Because Luther is acknowledging that what do we still have after salvation a sinful nature? Why is that important? Because after Luther, there's going to be basically Christianity is going to start teaching that we no longer have a nature. Luther wanted to know, why do you sin? We have a sin nature? Where do sin originate from? The call is coming from inside the house. I remember that book six Secrets of the Christian Life. They argue that we that inside were perfect, perfect nature, perfect heart. What is sermon?

36:24 After sermon? They go to Ezekiel thirty six and claim that we have a new heart, even though that passage has nothing to do with that. Over and over and now you have a new heart, a new nature. You've been transformed if anyone is on crisis, a new creature. Old things about the way all things have become new. And Luther is like, what are you talking about. You're still a sinner and you cannot keep the law. And if you can. If you're still a sinner and you can't keep the law, you're not a new creature practically speaking. So Luther had the idea that at the same time I'm what, I'm a sinner and a saint. Because he begins to un understand, not the infused idea. He rejects the infused idea, and he emphasizes the imputed idea. All right, Christ alone, this is Luther perfectly kept the law on behalf of believers and Christians while called to strive for holiness, well, we will always fall short. So what is our hope?

37:26 And Christ, who's perfect, and his perfection is accredited to me, not put in me, accredited to me, not infused in me. Do you understand the difference there? That means I'm declared to be something that I'm not in any way, shape or form. I'm absolutely the opposite of Now, if we emphasize that the world would not be referring to us as hypocrites because we have been telling we would have been telling the world for two thousand years. What hey before God, I'm right and practice, I'm just like you.

38:11 So I can't say that. If I wish to say we're just like lost people, I would be kicked out of every I wouldn't. In fact, in some churches, I don't even think I could be a member. But I'm sorry, you're just like them and they're just like us, except for something's been accredited to my account that's not been accredited to your account, and that's all by grace through faith. That's what we say we believe, but that's not what we communicate to the world, is that we're better we're better, we're better, we're better. And how many scandals have to come out? I mean, the scandal in Dallas with Morrison has gotten even worse now now there there's lawsuits against the church. They embezzled, like all this tithe money into the thousands upon thousands of dollars. The whole thing's just getting it's so bad. The whole church is just gonna collapse and fall apart. And who knows what's gonna happen.

39:10 And there's just I mean, there's I mean, I could go all the scandals just in twenty twenty four. It would take me probably who knows how long to go through. And people, well, well we just need to find godly people. Well, you can't find any godly people because there aren't any, all right, There's only sinners. And guess what sinners do sin? Are we excusing it? No, we're not excusing it. Okay, we're not excusing it, but we have to acknowledge it. Right. So Luther's view is this, Christians are incapable of keeping the law in this life. All right. Now, we'll see if we can get see if we can go through.

40:03 I'm gonna mention these quickly I wanted to finish this. But all right, here's Calvin's view. Calvin shares much of Luther's view, but guess what he placed a stronger emphasis on. He placed a stronger emphasis on believers becoming more godly or becoming more holy. He believed that the moral law serves as a guide for Christian living, not as a means of salvation, but as a response to grace. Oh there we have it. Did you just hear that the moral law? Are you ready? Is not a means of salvation but a response to grace? Oh boy, do you know what that creates. We're not saved by keeping the law, but we prove saved by keeping the law. Well, wait a minute, ladies and gentlemen, can we keep them? See now this is going to raise the question can I keep the law and not keep the law. If I can't keep the law, then it cannot serve as a test to prove whether I'm saved because I can't do it.

41:16 So now I've got to find some subjective tests that says, well, remember what we saw with the MacArthur test. You will do this and this and this and every single point what was the key word? But you're not going to do it, well, then how is it a test? Calvin is the one who begins to create this monster, which he's going really back to Aaron Asin Augustin, Luther was the only one that's like, whoa whoa, whoa whoa whoa. Nobody can christ did, and you're like, and Luther understood no matter how hard he tried, he couldn't. So Luther was much more emphasizing our inability, where everybody else is like, well, yeah, I know you're right, Luther, I know we can't do it perfectly. Bah, we can do it this much and this much and again. Even do you see what the problem is, Calvin? It's a response to grace. Now, wait, are you had a response to grace inside of me?

42:16 Because that seems like Calvin's almost borrowing a little bit more from the infused idea. If it's imputed it's outside of me. Correct, Calvin believed by the power here we go, by the power of the Holy Spirit, Christian will make real progress and keeping the law. So we can never do it perfectly. It's the same Calvin goes right back to the same nonsense, you can't, but then you got saved, so now you can by God's power, but you really can't.

43:00 But there's going to be real progress. Now again, God's standard is are you ever perfect? That means you're in a perpetual state of s How can you measure progress when you're perpetually guilty? And if I'm guilty of one point of the law, so that means I'm perpetually guilty of every single law. How can I measure success or progress if I'm guilty of every single law? That's the dumbest h I do you understand how maddening this is, or maybe not maddening to you. It makes me want to just start drinking heavily. Okay, all right. Colvin's view is that by the Holy Spirit, we can progress and keeping the law, but perfection is impossible. It's just we can, but we can't. All right, So now the Anabaptists show up.

44:02 All right, here we go, here's the Anabaptist. Oh boybody, what does the Anabaptist say? Okay? Do what what do we think? Well? I think the Anabaptists are gonna say, all right, well you should know, but here we go. They take a radical approach. True Christians note, true Christians can live sinless through the Holy Spirit. Now, on one hand, I respect them. Okay, why do I respect them? Well?

44:55 Because if they're saying, if the Holy spirit's empowering, then there should be perfection. It's better than this garbage where you can but you can't. I got power, but I don't, like, I don't even know what that is. It's just stupid talk. Right. At least they commit. If you're a true Christian, you got the power of God, so stop sinning. And if you sin, you're not a true Christian. Yeah, you can say where a lot of this. You can say where we get how we get to MacArthur? Can you not? You can see where this comes from. I mean you can see now MacArthur may not. Now MacArthur though it's not willing to commit, he does the butt. They're more committed, like no sinless. Right. They emphasize holiness and obedience to the teachings of the Sermon on the Mound. The Anna Baptist gets blamed for a lot of how the Sermon on the Mount is interpreted today because you go to any church the Sermon on the Mount when they we're gonna go preach on the Sermon on the Mount and it'll be like, do this, do this, do this, do this, do this, do this, do this, do this, and if you don't do this, you prove you were never saved, almost demanding that you'll do it perfectly now. And the church is today they will, they will, they will at some point they can't stay committed us. But no one will do it perfectly. The Sermon on the Mount is not given so that you can do it. The Sermon on the Mount is given to show that you can't.

46:27 Who's the only one who can obey the Sermon on the Mount? The one who preached it, That's why. And Jesus what didn't make it complicated for us? Because in Matthew five he says, be ye, perfect as are heavily fun He tells you the demands of the sermon itself. Anyone reading it you'd be like, but no, we convince ourselves that we can. And if you preach the Sermon on the Mount like it's actually written, you'll immediately someone in church will come up and go, well, I don't think it actually meant that. Why what they want to water it down because they'll be like, what turn the other cheeck? Well? I think that just means if someone insults you, Right, I don't think it means to resist, not even why No, I gotta be able to defend myself, right, Like, we immediately start making all the exceptions, right, love my enemy? Well, I mean that doesn't mean I can't. That mean, that doesn't mean I just let people run over me. We gotta start making all the exceptions. Why don't we got to start making all the exceptions because we can't keep it. Well, if we're gonna make exceptions, I want my exceptions. I want my exceptions. Right. Hey, I can't lost unless she's really hot? Right? Is that? Is that a good exception? No, y'all don't like that. Hey, don't committ adulty? Well, unless I'm in Vegas? Can I make exceptions? See if you

48:00 hear a pastor making those exceptions, everybody gets nervous, right, everybody's like, oh no, how dairy? Right? But we all make everyone? Does it with the Bible? Do they not? Well, I mean I'm not saying those cuss words. Well, it says let no corrupt communication proceed out of your mouth none. And that goes beyond just cuss words, all right, And it says and they believe that it was possible for believers to keep God's law at least in the moral sense through the dwelling of the Holy Spirit. All right, and then well we'll stop there, because now we're going to go to the seventeenth century all the way to the present. What's the end result of all of this, after all of these is what is the absolute? Again?

49:03 This is not even debatable, right, This is what drives me crazy when I deal with lordship people, because here's what everyone has to admit. God's law demands perfection internally and externally, and no one can achieve it, even believers. And any so called measurement of becoming more obedient is just a game. You're just playing a little game because you're in a perpetual state of sin. So then what is our only hope that all we everybody wants to focus on what God will give me strength to do.

49:48 We've got to stop focusing on what we supposedly have power to do and admit what we cannot do, even supposedly with God's power. And every single crier other than the Anabaptist everyone's admitted we can't do it. So then maybe the only answer to any of this is Jesus came to do what we cannot do and saves us not by making us able to do it, but saving us by imputing his obedience to us. So my hope is in what he did, not in what I do. Now, I know this leads to then, well then what do I do about my sin? Look, I'm not going to justify it, but I just know this, no matter how much you clean up yourself, you're still going to be a sinner. And that's a reality. How that's where the struggle has to be. How do we process that? Now?

50:41 Some can just be like, well, just do whatever you want. I understand why you could come to that conclusion, right, But weather whatever we do after that fact, here's what I know. Sarah may be more holy than the rest of us, but I know she's still a sinner, so she can judge me because I'm not as that I'm more center sinful than she is. But the bottom line is it's a sinner judging a sinner, just by a standard of what she doesn't commit. And that's why we typically are allowed about the sins we don't commit. Right. That's why it's so easy for inside the church to condemn homosexuality because most of us don't struggle with that.

51:28 But just because I don't struggle with homosexuality, so and what blows my mind is that Christians will literally say you cannot be saved and be a homosexual. How is that that would be like saying I can't be saved and be a sinner, a glutton, a murmurer, a complainer, prideful. Okay, right, The point is you give me a Christian and still be a sin because that's the only Christians there are. That's it. There's just sinful Christians and a holy God who says sinful Christians by his holiness being imputed to me but not making me holy. Now I see the fact I just said he doesn't make me holy in practice, I can't look. I just want to make sure when you just know this, and I'll end with this, we're outside.

52:32 What we're talking about puts us outside of basically all of Christianity. These views would not be accepted in any church. Just know that. But whatever church says that we're wrong, guess what, they still have to admit they're still dinners unless they're Anabaptist. Okay, and there's not a lot of them, right, but those concepts still show up. They just model it a little bit. You will, you'll be sin you'll sin less. How do you sin less if you're in a perpetual state of sin? That's ridiculous, right exactly. And if I break one law, I'm guilty of all of it. Then I'm in a perpetual state of being guilty of the entire law. So how do I measure that? Becomes just such a We just create a human system. We've abandoned God's system so far along ago. But I just want to make sure you know I'm not No one is required to believe what I'm teaching here. I'm not telling anyone to believe what I'm teaching here. I'm telling you that if you go to another church, you will have to abandon everything I'm teaching you become. You will not be accepted, you will not be In fact, you probably may not even be able to be a member. That's how far we're off the beaten path here, ladies. I don't I feel like I can historically prove that, no, we're right with Luther right. I guess you could go

54:03 to a Lutheran church. That you could go to a Lutheran church that would put you much more in line with it. So you know our savior Lutheran Church off South seventh right, that's the Lutheran Church I was a part of. You could go there. Hopefully they still believe this, hopefully don't know anymore. But that's about it. So I'm not going to tell you to agree with me in any way, shape or form. I'm just telling you my view is we can't do it. We cannot do it. We still have a sinful nature, we have a stinful heart. We cannot do it. And that my hope, is an imputed righteousness. He has not infused me with anything. And I do not have any power because if I have power to keep it. And all the people who claim to have said power, I've known them. They talk a big game. Some of them. I know what they did maybe before they got married. Talk to big game. I know you what the sins you were committing then, right, and so now maybe you're married, maybe you're not committing those sins. But you're still a sinner no matter how big a game you talk. I know you're a sinner.

55:11 The more you know people who believe this stuff, you know them now. If you don't know them, they can look what really good? Sooner or later, what happens the curtain comes down and all you have to do if you can't get past them, just asked to talk to their kids, are their spouse and then sooner or lad you know, let's pray. Lord God, we come before you this afternoon. Forgive us for our sins, because that's what we are, sinners. And we're grateful for one thing, your son and his obedience. And we asked this in Jesus name. And God's people said