March 28, 2025

Galatians 5:16 and Reality

Galatians 5:16 and Reality

A discussion about how reality should impact our bible interpretation

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A discussion about how reality should impact our bible interpretation

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Looking at our world from a theological perspective. This is

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the Theology Central podcast making Theology Central. Good afternoon, everyone.

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I have a question for you, and this is an

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honest question. I'm not trying to be sarcastic. I'm being

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very sincere. Do you feel that there are certain ministries,

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certain churches, certain pastors that are so well respected, have

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so much influence that no one should be no one

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should be criticizing them, no one should be trying to

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offer an alternative interpretation than the one they give. They're

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almost viewed as, look, these guys are these are well respected,

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this pastor, this church, this ministry. They've written this many books,

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they've written this many commentaries. They've been teaching the Bible

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for thirty years. Nobody should be challenging, questioning, or even

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off bring an alternative interpretation to the one they have given.

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Do you think that is the way it should be? Now?

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I think some of you will immediately push back and say,

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oh no, no, no, no, no, no no no. You

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definitely can criticize it. You can't. There's no ministry that's

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untouchable there no, no, no, no, no, you can't. You

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you absolutely can criticize I think many will push back

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at the idea that you can't support the idea that

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you can. I just think many of the people who

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say that you can only say that until you offer

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criticism or an alternative interpretation to their favorite minister, their

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favorite favorite ministry, the one that, whether they like it

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or not, they've exalted above all the others. They believe

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it's correct, they believe it's it's truthful, and they don't

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they don't want to hear any criticism of it all

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of a sudden. Even though they would say, hey, yeah,

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you can, you can criticize, all of a sudden, they

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will be like, well, who are you, Who are you

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to criticize them? That's a that's a that's a world

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famous church, that's a that's a well respected pastor, that's

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a well respected theologian. Who are you? You can't criticize?

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So I think there's many who say you can, but

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they tend to retreat relatively quick if their favorite minister

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is criticized. Then there are others who will almost immediately

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be like, whoaa, no, no, no, no, no, no, no, you can't

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criticize them. Look at all their credentials, look at what

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schools they graduated from. Look at all the books they've written,

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Look at the how many years this ministry has been

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going on, Look at what all all the things this

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ministry has accomplished. And who are you? You're no one.

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You can't criticize them, you can't offer an alternative interpretation.

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You're meaningless, You're you're irrelevant, you have no influence, you

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have no power, You're nobody. So I think you'll have

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some of those who will initially say, yes, you can criticize,

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but then immediately draw the line when you criticize their

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favorite one or the one they've exalted, And you will

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have others will say, oh no, no, no, no, no,

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no no. Some ministries just cannot be criticized. Some ministries

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cannot be challenged that way in any way, shape or form,

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because they are so influential. Now I don't know which

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camp you fall in, or you may even be in

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a third maybe we can even have a third classification.

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But the reason I asked that question is because what

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I'm about to do is do something that many of

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you would say, who are you? You have no right

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to do that because I'm going to offer a critique.

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I'm going to offer a different opinion. I'm going to

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attempt to offer a different interpretation than the one that

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came from the pulpit at Metropolitan Tabernacle. Yeah, the Metropolitan Tabernacle,

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the very world famous church, the Metropolitan Tabernacle, and the

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pastor is doctor Peter's Masters. Please note Doctor Peter's Masters,

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who is very well respected. So the fact that I'm

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going to offer a challenge or a critique and a

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different interpretation than one that comes from Metropolitan Tabernacle, one

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that comes from Doctor Peter's Masters is immediately going to

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put me, well, not in a good position, because a

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lot of people are going to be like, who are you?

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And you know what, They have every right to say that,

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because I'm a nobody compared to Doctor Peter's Masters and

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to Metropolitan Tabernacle. I am no one. I am nothing.

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But I still believe, at least within the non Catholic system,

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because we don't have a magisterium as Protestants, right, we

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don't have churches that hold to a magisterial authority. Right,

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we don't have a church that supposedly is above all

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the others. So according to our system, I can take

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the word of God and challenge and critique and that

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I have the right and the power and the authority

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to study it and to interpret it. I mean, that's

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our system, right, So I'm going to exercise that, and

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I'm going to do that right after I say good

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afternoon everyone. It is Friday, March twenty eighth, twenty twenty five.

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It is currently four forty nine pm Central time, and

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I'm coming to you live from the Theology Central Studio

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located right here in Abilene, Texas. Now, within this studio,

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there are times we kind of find ourselves walking into

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philological controversy, right, philological difficulty, And that's kind of where

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we are right now. I am sitting in this studio

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because here's what's happened. We started talking about the storms

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of life metaphor. I declared war on that metaphor and

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that it doesn't come from the Bible's being imposed on

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the Bible. We've been looking at this study guide how

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to weather the storms of life, and I started challenging

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this idea of Christians, how they talk about the storms

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of life and God brings these storms of life, and well,

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I got us into some really philosophical difficulties. Then earlier

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today at the Christian Post on the Christian Post website.

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They're released kind of a small segment of a book

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by Max Locato dealing with the trials in our lives.

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And it takes this concept that God, any bad thing

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that happens to you, God sent that to test your

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faith as a trial, all right, And I think that

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concept has to be challenged. And once you start challenging it,

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it gets very difficult in how to then where do

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we end up? So I was going to go there today.

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I haven't gotten there yet, but we're going to get there.

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So we have this storms of life, trials of life,

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testing of our faith concept that we're kinda when maybe

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we're still in the outskirts of but we're going to

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have to address it, all right. So while all of

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that was going on and I'm just trying to think

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about that and how to process that, I looked at

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the sermons two point oh app. Well it's no longer

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the sermon's two point oh app the sermons by Sermonadio

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app the sermonadio app, and I noticed the featured sermon

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for today. Now, whenever a sermon is the featured sermon,

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they always get more downloads, more streams, more attention because

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it's the first thing you see when you go to

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the sermonadio website or you open up the sermonadio app.

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It's going to be the first sermon you see. So

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a lot of times people are not going to sit

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there and be looking at They're just going to see

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the first sermon in hit play, right, And the name

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of the sermon is the believers Victory over Sin, The

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Believer's Victory over Sin, Doctor Peter Peter Masters. I think

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I said doctor Peter's Masters earlier, Doctor Peter Masters from

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the Metropolitan Tabernacle. Oh boy, oh boy boy. Now, as

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soon as soon as I saw the title the Believer's

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Victory over Sin, I'm like, oh, we've got to address this.

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We've got to talk about this, because immediately I already

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I already have a problem if you tell me I

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have victory over sin, unless you're going to point me

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to the fact I only have victory over sin in

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my positional standing in Christ. That's the only way I

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have truly have victory. Because if you claim that I

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have victory in a practical way, I'm just gonna call

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you a liar. Why well, it only takes five minutes to.

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It doesn't even take five minutes for me to disprove

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this idea that as Christians we have victory over sin

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in a practical way. Let me start. The Bible says,

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be holy as God is holy. You have never accomplished that,

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not for one second, not for one minute, not for

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one hour, not for one day, not for one month,

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not for one year. You have never done it. So

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that means you are in a perpetual state of sin

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because you're not as holy as God as holy. And

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that is a direct command for you to be holy

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as He is holy. You cannot do it, You will

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not do it, You never can do it. So then

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what's your only hope that reality should condemn you should

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lead you to go directly to the cross. Then you

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put your faith in Christ, and then his holiness, his

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righteousness is imputed to your account. So you stand before

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God as holy as He is holy, because the rights

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the holiness of Christ has been imputed to your account.

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That's the only way it's accomplished. In a practical way.

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You never have. So if you're perpetually in a state

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of sin because you're not holy as God as holy,

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then that means you have never experienced victory over sin

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for one second. You say, well, that sin will congratulate

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you have victory over that sin. But you're in a

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perpetual state of sin. So how do you even measure that?

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Because the Bible says if you're guilty of one point

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of the law, you're guilty of all of it. Where

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you're guilty of all of it because you're in a

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perpetual state of guilt against the law of being holy

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as God is holy. Not only that, love God with

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all your heart, mind, body, and soul. You have never

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done that for one second, one minute, one hour, one day,

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one week, one year, because you love yourself more than

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anything else, And whether you want to deny it or not,

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you do not love God with all your heart, mind, body,

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and soul. So you're in a perpetual state of sin.

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Love your neighbor as yourself. You never do that. You're

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in a perpetual state of sin. Do all things without

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complaining and grumbling. Be you perfect as your heavenly Father

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is perfect. Love the Word of God more than gold

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and silver than food. I can just go on and

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on and on and add a pray without seizing. Rejoice

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ever more. Love your enemy turned the other cheek, resists

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not evil. I mean, how many scriptures do I need

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to give you? You are in a perpetual state of sin,

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meaning you have never experienced victory over sin. Considering you're

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in a perpetual state of sin. You can't say you're

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having victory over sin when you're in a perpetual state

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of sin. So immediately I see the title, I'm like, well,

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unless this points me to my positional standing before God,

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I'm going to disagree with this sermon completely. Now wait,

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I'm going to disagree with a sermon from Metropolitan Tabernacle,

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doctor Peter Masters. This message has already had over three

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hundred downloads and streams, and it was simply it was

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featured today, So that means I don't know when it

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was first uploaded, but if it was featured today, it

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may have just been uploaded today. Already over three hundred downloads.

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What are we going to do? What are we going

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to do? We're going to have to address this now.

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If you look at the discussion here or the description,

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I should say, this is the description, you tell me

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which direction you think it's going to go, and so

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it's about to point me to my positional, my positional

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standing in Christ, where I do have complete victory over

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sin because in Christ, I never sin, I don't do

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anything wrong. I'm perfect, I'm holy, I'm righteous, I'm obedient,

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and my practice, I'm in a perpetual state of sin.

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Which direction is this going to go? Well, let me

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read the description. It is a magnificent promise that if

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we walk in the spirit, we will not succumb to

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the lust of fallen nature. So if I will simply

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walk in the spirit, I will never succumb to the

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lust of the flesh or to the fallen nature. Meaning

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if I will simply walk in the spirit, this seems

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to imply that I can be perfect. All I have

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to do is walk in the spirit and I will

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never sin. Now, ninety nine percent of Christians who hear

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me are going to be like, yeah, that's true. Okay, Yeah,

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that's two thousand years of church history. No one has

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ever been able to stop sinning. But okay, you keep

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telling yourselves that it's possible. It goes on to say,

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here's the definition. Here's the Bible's definition of walking in

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the spirit with five points of special attention required by

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the spirit. So we're going to learn how to walk

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in the spirit. And we're going to learn about these

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five points because once we learn them, ladies and gentlemen,

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we will no longer sin. You can stop sinning. So

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what do we do here, Well, here's what we're going

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to attempt to do. I don't know how long it's

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going to take. In some ways, I want to just

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kind of just work through this and try to finish

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everything in one episode. But I don't really think I'm

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going to take that approach today. Here's the approach I

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think I'm going to take. I'm going to first talk

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about the importance of reality when it comes to hermanutics.

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All right, I'm going to talk about the reality are

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beut the importance of reality when it comes to hermanutics.

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Then I'm going to challenge you to go listen to

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that sermon. It's right there. It's the featured sermon on

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the Sermonadio app or the Sermonadio website. You can go

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find it right now, Go download it, right now, Go

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download it right now. Right. I'm going to want you

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to listen to it. I want you to consider everything

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he has to say. At some point, then we will

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review it and then we will offer an alternative interpretation

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to the text for the sermon. So let's let's so

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that's what we're gonna do. So let's consider. So we're

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gonna consider reality and a herminutic. I'm going to challenge

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you to listen to the sermon. Then we're going to

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review the sermon, and then I will offer an alternative

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interpretation of the text used for the sermon. Now, we're

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not going to do all of this today, right, I mean,

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it's already fourteen minutes in. If I have an attempt

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just reviewing the sermon, the sermon is thirty six minutes.

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Now reviewing the sermon, you know that's going to go

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an hour an hour and a half long. So yeah,

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and if I do anything else, then we know there's

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no way I could even come close to reviewing the sermon.

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But let's do this. I'm going to play the beginning

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of the sermon because he's going to read the text,

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all right, So here is the text. He's going to

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start the sermon with it. Here we go.

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I'm turning today to Paul's Letters to the Galicians, chapter

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five and verse fifteen. Galatians Chapter five, verse fifteen. But

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if you bite and devour one another. Take heed that

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you be not consumed one of another. This I say,

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then walk in the spirits, and you shall not fulfill

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the lust of the flesh. And our subject is very

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sick the believer's yptory over sin.

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Okay, there you have it, all right. The main text

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is this, I say, then walk in the spirit and

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you and ye shall not fulfill the lust of the flesh.

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It seems simple, It seems straightforward, right, walk in the

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spirit and basically you will not sin. All right, congratulations,

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We've got the solution. So now all we need to

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do is find out how we walk in the spirit,

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because the minute I figured that out, I will stop sinning.

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So hey, every to everyone in Christianity, just walk in

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the spirit and we can all stop sinning. Now. The

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only problem is two thousand years of church history says otherwise.

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So this raises the question when you see a verse

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like that, do you ignore reality, do you deny reality?

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Or do you have to go wait a minute. Reality

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would raise some serious questions about how to interpret this text.

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So this the significance of reality when it comes to hermonutics.

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And so my question would go something like this, if

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we were in a hermautics class and you were sitting there,

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I would ask you, should we approach scripture from the

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perspective of reality? And how should reality and packed our

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hermeneutical approach. I would walk into class and say, all right, class,

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get out your notebooks. Here we go. Should we approach

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scripture from the perspective of reality? How should reality and

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pact our hermonutical approach? You've got forty five minutes start

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writing your essays? All right, I will be back and

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then I would go get something from the vending machine,

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come back in and see how everyone's doing on their essay, right,

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And then I would have you stand up and read

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your essay, or at least explain to me your essay,

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defend it, and then turn it in. And then I

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could give everyone an f because everyone would probably go

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against my very concept that I'm thinking about. My answer

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is absolutely yes, Yes, reality matters. I believe you cannot

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ignore reality. Look, it depends on how I describe this,

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because some of you will be like, well, yeah, we

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can't ignore reality, but some of you will almost take

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a very spiritual, pious like no, the Word of God

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is reality. It doesn't matter what I see. We walk

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by faith and not by sight, and I almost kind

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of look at it from a very mystical, spiritual perspective.

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That sounds so good, but I think it ends up

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to a hermonutical disaster, right, a hermonutical disaster. Let me

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give you an example. Charismatics love to teach that when

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Christ died on the cross, by his stripes, we are

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healed not just of our the spiritual disease of sin,

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but by his stripes we were healed of all physical

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disease and pain and suffering, and basically or all physical disease.

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I guess that's the right way. I gotta be fair.

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They wouldn't say of all pain or suffering, but basically

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they would say, oh it's not you don't pray if

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it's God's will to heal you. It is God's will

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to heal you because He already paid for that healing

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on the cross. So you have to do is just

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have faith and claim it, and you will be healed.

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So that what Christ did on the cross guarantees physical

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healing here and now, not eternity, I mean ultimately eternity,

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but ultimately they will say it's available here right now. Now.

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They say that, well, then look at reality, pain suffering, death, disease,

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pain suffering, death, disease. Charismatics die all the time. They

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get cancer, This happens, this happens, this happens, this happens,

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this happens. So what do they have to do? Well,

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ultimately their theology will blame the person you just don't

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have enough faith. So I guess no charismatic has ever

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had faith, because they all get sick and they ultimately die.

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One doesn't God heal them if by his stripes were healed. Well,

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then when it gets to that point, then they push

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it over to eternity. But in the meantime, the whole time,

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I guess you're supposed to be just healed of everything

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if you just have enough faith. Well, reality contradicts every

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one of their claims, all right, so most of you

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will be like, Okay, you're right. Reality contradicts charismatics, so

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therefore charismatic theology is wrong. But it also contradicts so

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many things that us non charismatics say, like saying, hey,

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if you'll simply walk into spirit, you can stop sinning. Well,

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clearly that's not true. So reality matters. Now the question

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is how does it matter? And we have to be. Obviously,

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some would say, we have to be very careful how

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we explain this, because we don't want to undermine the

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authority of scripture. But at the same time, we don't

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want to undermine or deny the real, honest condition of

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the human heart. See, we want to be We don't

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want to deny the authority of scripture, but we don't

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want to deny reality. So let's go with a couple

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of possible ways to approach this. I believe reality is

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essential to a good hermeneutic, So what are some ways

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we could approach this. Scripture must be interpreted in light

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of reality, but some would say it should never be

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judged by it. So scripture must be interpreted in light

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of reality, but it should never be judged by it.

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I don't I struggle with this. I do agree scripture

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must be interpreted in light of reality. Do we judge

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scripture by reality? It does reality and scripture ever contradict?

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Does reality contradict scripture? In other words, if reality and

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scripture is always in agreement, then you could never It

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wouldn't matter if you use reality to judge scripture, because

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they're gonna always come into agreement, right is reality and scripture.

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Ever in disagreement, we don't script we don't judge scripture

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by reality, but we must interpret it with reality in view.

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And some may say something along these lines. Scripture, Now,

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I think I think we can all agree on this.

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Scripture addresses real people in real history, with real sin

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and real suffering. That is a fact. So I think

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we can all agree we have to at least acknowledge

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the reality the Bible actually speaks of, because it speaks

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of real people, real history, real sin, real suffering. It

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speaks to humans, not abstractions or ideas, not just symbols,

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but to real people. And Jesus took on flesh not

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just to save us, but to speak and live in

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our reality. So maybe we should say a faithful hermeneutic

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would ask these questions, does this interpretation make sense with

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the lived reality of sin, suffering, weakness, and perfection and

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the reality of this positional and practical understanding. I'm kind

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of rewriting some of my own notes, So I think

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it's a question we can always write. If someone reads

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Galatians five point sixteen and says this, I say, then

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walk in the spirit. You shall not fulfill the lust

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of the flesh, and they teach that this means in

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this life in a practical way, if you will simply

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walk in the spirit, basically you will stop sinning. You

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should be able to ask the question, does this interpretation

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make sense with the lived reality of sin, suffering and weakness.

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That we all see the lived reality of sin, suffering, weakness,

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and in perfection, because that's that's the reality. Sin, sin, sin, sin,

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be holy as God is holy. You've never done that.

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So I can't take Galatians five sixteen and basically say

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I can stop sinning. I have to interpret it in

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a lot of the reality that we never stop sinning

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because we're always in a perpetual state of sin. And

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at the same time, I have to also understand and

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interpret scripture in light of my positional standing of what

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I am in Christ and what I am in practice.

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So whether we whether we could get into we can

401
00:24:41.519 --> 00:24:44.279
leave it as a philosophical discussion about should we judge

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scripture by reality? We can get into that argument, but

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we can say this, we must interpret scripture in light

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of reality. Everyone should be able to agree with that.

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When I interpret this, I'm like, wait a minute, If

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I say this means we can stop sinning. We got

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a problem because reality says no one does right. So

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that means immediately I've got to I've got to come

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up with something correct. Same thing when I look around,

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If I'm going to tell everyone healing is guaranteed, well

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then why why why? I mean everything around me screams, well,

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that can't be true. And that means, well, physical healing

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is guaranteed in the atonement when I get a new

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body and there'll be no more pain and suffering and death.

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That's called glorification. Now, if we if we do have

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a herminudic so I think number one, we I think

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we interpret scripture and in light of reality. I think

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that's a good way to put it. We we we

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we must interpret scripture and light of reality. I think

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we can at least agree on that part. I think

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another thing is, if we have a hermeneutic without reality,

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well then guess what it's our hermautic is going to become. Basically,

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our interpretation is going to become an abstraction, or it's

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going to become legalism. If you interpret a passage of

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saying you can overcome sin, if you walk in the spirit,

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and then you observe that every Christian you've ever met,

427
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including yourself, still sins constantly. You're only left with two options.

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Number one, condemnation, I'm not walking in the spirit. I'm

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a failure. Maybe I'm not even saved, and everyone would

430
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have to come to that conclusion. We're all failures when

431
00:26:22.480 --> 00:26:24.839
nobody walks into spirit, so maybe nobody is saved. Or

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number two, you got to live and denial or hypocrisy.

433
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You have to pretend you're doing better than you actually

434
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are to keep your system intact. You got to keep

435
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pretending that you're actually have reached the level where you're

436
00:26:37.200 --> 00:26:41.240
holy as God is holy. That's delusional. Both of those

437
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options are disconnect scripture from reality and creates a false religion.

438
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Even if the text was interpreted grammatically and historically correct,

439
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Even if you interpret the text historically and grammatically correct,

440
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even if my interpretation is grammatically in his historically correct

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00:27:01.000 --> 00:27:03.240
that if I walk in the spirit, I can stop sinning.

442
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Even if you say that's correct historically and grammatically, the

443
00:27:06.559 --> 00:27:10.039
only problem is it completely denies reality. So then your

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options are nobody is saved, including me, or we all

445
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have to pretend that we're pulling this off, even though

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anyone looking at you, anyone who lives with you, knows

447
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that's not true. Come on, anyone who knows you. And

448
00:27:23.240 --> 00:27:26.480
even if everyone outside of you thinks you're pulling it off,

449
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you know inside you're not pulling it off, because you

450
00:27:29.920 --> 00:27:31.960
know you're not holy as God is holy in your

451
00:27:32.000 --> 00:27:36.319
thoughts and your desires. You know you don't love your

452
00:27:36.440 --> 00:27:40.000
enemy and your heart and desire. You know, come on,

453
00:27:40.920 --> 00:27:44.039
you know the luss, the doubt, the anger, the bitterness,

454
00:27:44.079 --> 00:27:47.720
the unforgiveness, the complaining, all the stuff going on inside

455
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of you. So a hermeneutic without reality just becomes abstraction

456
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or legalism. It just becomes it's going to break down.

457
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I think another thing, Reality is the very thing that

458
00:28:05.400 --> 00:28:08.160
should drive us deeper into the Gospel. The more we see,

459
00:28:09.000 --> 00:28:12.160
the clearer you see reality, the clearer you should see

460
00:28:12.160 --> 00:28:15.440
the Gospel. The better you see reality, the more honest

461
00:28:15.480 --> 00:28:18.359
you are with reality, the clearer you see the Gospel

462
00:28:18.400 --> 00:28:22.119
in your need for the Gospel. When we come to

463
00:28:22.200 --> 00:28:25.720
a text that seems to promise a kind of moral

464
00:28:25.839 --> 00:28:32.759
success that our lives clearly contradict, that gap should should

465
00:28:32.799 --> 00:28:36.240
not make us twist a scripture to fit the experience,

466
00:28:36.440 --> 00:28:38.880
but it should force us to ask, is there a

467
00:28:38.920 --> 00:28:44.319
deeper gospel reality here? Is this talking about something positional?

468
00:28:44.839 --> 00:28:49.480
Is it talking about something from an estological perspective, eschatology

469
00:28:49.480 --> 00:28:52.119
about the end times? Is it referring to something that's

470
00:28:52.160 --> 00:28:58.079
covenantal dealing with Israel that is true of Is this

471
00:28:58.240 --> 00:29:01.680
true of me in Christ? Even if it's not true

472
00:29:01.920 --> 00:29:04.240
in my behavior? So let me state that again. When

473
00:29:04.279 --> 00:29:07.799
you come to a scripture that seems to promise right

474
00:29:08.240 --> 00:29:13.279
some kind of moral success that you know your life contradicts,

475
00:29:13.720 --> 00:29:16.759
then you don't. You don't simply twist the scripture to

476
00:29:16.799 --> 00:29:19.079
fit your experience. You don't. You don't fit your You

477
00:29:19.119 --> 00:29:22.559
don't twist your experience to try to fit the scriptures either. No, no, no,

478
00:29:22.599 --> 00:29:25.200
you got to stop and go wait, here's reality. So

479
00:29:25.240 --> 00:29:27.559
then you have to ask yourself, Wait a minute, is

480
00:29:27.599 --> 00:29:31.519
this possibly pointing to a deeper gospel reality? Maybe this

481
00:29:31.680 --> 00:29:34.559
talking about something positional. Maybe this is referring to my

482
00:29:34.640 --> 00:29:38.000
positional standing. I wonder if this deals with eschatology and

483
00:29:38.039 --> 00:29:41.279
it's promising what is to come, maybe a new millennium

484
00:29:41.359 --> 00:29:43.519
or the new Heaven and the new Earth, or maybe

485
00:29:43.559 --> 00:29:47.920
it's dealing with maybe in glorification or is it covenental?

486
00:29:47.960 --> 00:29:50.400
Is this a promise specifically given to the nation of

487
00:29:50.440 --> 00:29:53.880
Israel that hasn't been fulfilled yet? Or do I ask,

488
00:29:54.160 --> 00:29:58.839
maybe this is true of me in Christ even if

489
00:29:58.839 --> 00:30:03.079
my behavior is completely contradictory to it. Those are the

490
00:30:03.160 --> 00:30:07.559
kind of questions you have to ask. See, this protects

491
00:30:07.559 --> 00:30:10.640
the authority of the text, but it also grounds it

492
00:30:11.759 --> 00:30:19.920
and truth and experience. It's not so well, that's what

493
00:30:19.960 --> 00:30:21.960
the scripture says. I know, it's what the scripture says.

494
00:30:22.039 --> 00:30:25.440
But everything you know contradicts that what they're saying. So

495
00:30:25.480 --> 00:30:27.319
we have to ask ourselves, well, wait a minute, is

496
00:30:27.319 --> 00:30:30.119
there is there a deeper gospel reality here? Maybe this

497
00:30:30.200 --> 00:30:32.759
is referring to something positionally, Maybe it's referring to something

498
00:30:32.759 --> 00:30:35.559
in eschatology. Maybe it's referring to something covenant. Maybe it's

499
00:30:35.599 --> 00:30:38.000
referring to what is true of me in Christ even

500
00:30:38.039 --> 00:30:41.119
though my behavior contradicts it. That Those are the questions

501
00:30:41.119 --> 00:30:48.680
you have to ask. For example, Galatians five p. Sixteen

502
00:30:49.920 --> 00:30:52.359
doesn't need to be watered down. It needs to be

503
00:30:52.440 --> 00:30:59.079
rightly located in Christ. Right in Christ. If I understand

504
00:30:59.119 --> 00:31:03.559
this to be in Christ, does that not change everything?

505
00:31:04.039 --> 00:31:09.039
We'll do that when we offer my you know, alternative interpretation,

506
00:31:11.839 --> 00:31:15.079
because if I understand Galicians five point sixteen in Christ,

507
00:31:15.079 --> 00:31:17.240
then it makes perfect sense. I don't fulfill the luss

508
00:31:17.279 --> 00:31:20.000
of the flesh because Christ bore that fulfillment for me.

509
00:31:20.319 --> 00:31:23.359
Even though I still sin. In Christ, I do not

510
00:31:23.400 --> 00:31:26.279
fulfill the loss of the flesh and practice I do.

511
00:31:26.359 --> 00:31:29.920
Now some people don't like that interpretation, but that fits reality.

512
00:31:30.440 --> 00:31:33.440
I sin, you sin, you fulfill the loss of the

513
00:31:33.440 --> 00:31:38.559
flesh and thought, word, deed, desire all the time. So

514
00:31:38.680 --> 00:31:40.839
then there's got to be a different way to understand it.

515
00:31:44.519 --> 00:31:48.440
Another thing is just consider the psalms. The psalms is

516
00:31:48.480 --> 00:31:52.880
a model of hermoneutics grounded in reality. I want you

517
00:31:52.920 --> 00:31:56.359
to think of the psalms gives you a model of

518
00:31:56.720 --> 00:32:01.799
hermonutics grounded in reality. The psalms are emotional, they're honest,

519
00:32:02.039 --> 00:32:06.240
they're philologically accurate. At the same time, Daniel says, David

520
00:32:06.240 --> 00:32:09.480
says things like why have you forsaken me? He also

521
00:32:09.519 --> 00:32:15.359
says you're steadfast love endoors forever. That seems contradictory. They're

522
00:32:15.440 --> 00:32:20.039
both real. Scriptures doesn't always add Scriptures never ask you

523
00:32:20.119 --> 00:32:22.839
to deny your reality. It meets you in it and

524
00:32:22.960 --> 00:32:26.240
interprets it through God's redemptive plan. Scripture doesn't tell you

525
00:32:26.279 --> 00:32:29.119
to deny reality. It doesn't tell you to play pretend.

526
00:32:29.359 --> 00:32:31.880
It doesn't tell you to play dress up. You can

527
00:32:31.920 --> 00:32:35.279
be honest with the reality. I am a sinner, and

528
00:32:35.319 --> 00:32:39.359
I sin all the time. At the same time, in Christ,

529
00:32:39.680 --> 00:32:41.480
I'm a new creature. All things are passed away, all

530
00:32:41.519 --> 00:32:43.240
things have become new. Wait a minute, how can that

531
00:32:43.279 --> 00:32:45.920
be true? Because one is speaking of my reality in Christ,

532
00:32:46.000 --> 00:32:51.720
the other one speaks of the truth of my practical life.

533
00:32:52.960 --> 00:32:59.640
A good hermeneutical approach will embrace the tension. If you

534
00:32:59.720 --> 00:33:03.240
read Paul closely, he lives in this tension. I am

535
00:33:03.279 --> 00:33:07.720
crucified with Christ Galatians two twenty, who will deliver me

536
00:33:07.759 --> 00:33:10.200
from this body of death. The things I want to

537
00:33:10.200 --> 00:33:11.640
do I don't do. In the things I don't want

538
00:33:11.680 --> 00:33:13.799
to do, I do. How can n wait? Wait, wait,

539
00:33:13.839 --> 00:33:16.039
wait wait. Paul is also the one who says, if

540
00:33:16.079 --> 00:33:17.839
I walk in the spirit, I won't fulfill the luss

541
00:33:17.839 --> 00:33:19.599
of the flesh. But he's the same one who says,

542
00:33:19.640 --> 00:33:21.079
wait a minute, the things I want to do I

543
00:33:21.079 --> 00:33:26.160
don't do. There's a contradiction here. He never really he

544
00:33:26.240 --> 00:33:29.319
never resolves this tension by saying I figured it out,

545
00:33:29.400 --> 00:33:34.039
I've stopped sinning. Instead, his hermeneutic is shaped by this reality.

546
00:33:34.359 --> 00:33:39.920
Christ is my righteousness, not my lawkeeping, not my moral performance,

547
00:33:40.079 --> 00:33:44.039
and not my spiritual growth. Christ is my righteousness. Nothing

548
00:33:44.160 --> 00:33:47.839
I do Christ is my righteousness. Christ is my righteousness.

549
00:33:53.000 --> 00:33:55.799
I think we could see it this way. Reality doesn't

550
00:33:55.839 --> 00:34:02.920
rewrite scripture, but it should refine how we understand scripture.

551
00:34:04.799 --> 00:34:09.800
Reality should keep us humble. Reality every day you, every

552
00:34:09.880 --> 00:34:13.119
day you consider your life, You consider your thoughts, your desires,

553
00:34:13.280 --> 00:34:16.079
your wants, your When you really look at your life,

554
00:34:16.159 --> 00:34:18.960
it's like boom, It's a slap in the face. And

555
00:34:19.000 --> 00:34:21.480
it should humble you. Humble you, humble you, humble you,

556
00:34:21.519 --> 00:34:25.679
humble you, humble you. It should. Then the second thing

557
00:34:25.760 --> 00:34:28.760
reality should do. It should drive you deeper into the Gospel.

558
00:34:28.920 --> 00:34:32.239
It should drive you directly to the foot of the cross, going, Lord, look,

559
00:34:32.559 --> 00:34:34.920
I'm a mess, I'm a sinner. I can't I'm never

560
00:34:34.960 --> 00:34:37.039
gonna be holy as God is holy. I'm never gonna

561
00:34:37.039 --> 00:34:38.639
love God with all my heart, mind, body, and so

562
00:34:38.880 --> 00:34:40.920
I'm never gonna love my neighbor. I'm never gonna love

563
00:34:40.920 --> 00:34:43.920
my enemy. I'm gonna love myself, serve self, and I've

564
00:34:43.960 --> 00:34:47.599
got all kinds of desires. I should drive you directly

565
00:34:47.679 --> 00:34:55.280
to the gospel. Reality should guard you from dangerous over

566
00:34:55.400 --> 00:35:01.519
promises and hidden legalism. Reality should keep you from you know,

567
00:35:01.800 --> 00:35:05.320
oh look everyone, if you just do this, you get this.

568
00:35:06.119 --> 00:35:08.599
Reality would say, you know, you don't get that because

569
00:35:08.599 --> 00:35:22.880
nobody gets it. A good herminutic honor scripture as infallible,

570
00:35:24.920 --> 00:35:34.239
but never pretends we are. A good hermeneutic interprets God's

571
00:35:34.360 --> 00:35:38.760
word through the lens of our union with Christ, not

572
00:35:39.039 --> 00:35:44.599
through an illusion of human ability or some type of

573
00:35:44.719 --> 00:35:50.400
moral perfection or some kind of transformation. It views it

574
00:35:50.440 --> 00:35:54.760
through the union with Christ. There I'm transformed in my position.

575
00:35:55.480 --> 00:36:08.400
I know every daysh bone, blood sinner. That's what I am.

576
00:36:08.800 --> 00:36:16.760
That's what you are. Now that reality can't be ignored.

577
00:36:16.800 --> 00:36:20.519
When I read walk in the Spirit and you shall

578
00:36:20.559 --> 00:36:25.800
not fulfill the lust of the flesh, well, that seems

579
00:36:25.800 --> 00:36:32.559
to imply I can be absolutely perfect. M What do

580
00:36:33.280 --> 00:36:40.880
we do now? The sermon? Let me pull the sermon

581
00:36:40.960 --> 00:36:44.760
back up. The believer's victory over sin. It's the It's

582
00:36:44.800 --> 00:36:49.280
the featured sermon today on sermonadio dot com. The Sermonadio app.

583
00:36:49.639 --> 00:36:51.719
Please go download it right now, have it saved in

584
00:36:51.760 --> 00:36:54.719
your library, save it to your computer where just save

585
00:36:54.760 --> 00:36:58.000
it today. Save it right now, Go download it. It's

586
00:36:58.079 --> 00:37:03.880
thirty five minutes. About that long, thirty six minutes. Download it,

587
00:37:04.039 --> 00:37:07.280
listen to it, take good notes. Now when you come away,

588
00:37:07.360 --> 00:37:08.920
you know what you're gonna probably say. You're gonna be

589
00:37:08.920 --> 00:37:11.880
like doctor Peter Masters is right, and I can understand.

590
00:37:12.199 --> 00:37:16.239
He's the respected doctor Peter Master. He preaches at Metropolitan Tabernacle.

591
00:37:16.400 --> 00:37:19.639
Who can question, who can challenge, who can offer an

592
00:37:19.639 --> 00:37:23.559
alternative to them? That they are influential and powerful? Who

593
00:37:23.599 --> 00:37:27.480
am I? Well, I'm nobody, and I will willingly admit that.

594
00:37:27.760 --> 00:37:31.000
But don't worry about what I think, don't worry about

595
00:37:31.039 --> 00:37:34.679
what I feel. Forget me, forget the theology Central podcast.

596
00:37:35.159 --> 00:37:39.400
Put that sermon against reality, the reality you know, the

597
00:37:39.440 --> 00:37:42.719
reality you live, the reality you see in Christians all

598
00:37:42.760 --> 00:37:46.800
around you, and you're going to find yourself something's wrong

599
00:37:46.960 --> 00:37:54.639
unless doctor Peter Masters says this only occurs in our position,

600
00:37:55.119 --> 00:37:58.800
not in our practice. But he's not going I'm pretty

601
00:37:58.840 --> 00:38:00.480
sure he's not going to say that. In fact, what

602
00:38:00.519 --> 00:38:02.960
I think he's going to do, he's gonna say, hey,

603
00:38:03.000 --> 00:38:06.000
if you walk in the spirit, then you'll stop basically sinning.

604
00:38:06.119 --> 00:38:08.159
But to walk in the spirit you have to do

605
00:38:08.800 --> 00:38:14.000
a b CD E, F G h I, JK, eleman O,

606
00:38:14.039 --> 00:38:16.320
pq R S, TUV, W, X, Y, and Z. He's

607
00:38:16.320 --> 00:38:18.920
gonna give you a list of things you do which

608
00:38:19.000 --> 00:38:22.920
then brings back Christianity to nothing more than a law based,

609
00:38:23.000 --> 00:38:26.840
works based system. If you do this, this, this, so,

610
00:38:27.000 --> 00:38:31.440
how then do you overcome sin by lawkeeping. Israel was

611
00:38:31.480 --> 00:38:34.519
never able to overcome sin by law keeping. No one

612
00:38:34.559 --> 00:38:37.239
in the New Testament was ever able to overcome sin

613
00:38:37.320 --> 00:38:40.159
by the law keeping. No one can overcome sin by

614
00:38:40.239 --> 00:38:44.440
lawkeeping because the law we can't keep it. We can't

615
00:38:44.440 --> 00:38:46.400
do it. So he can give me thirty seven things

616
00:38:46.440 --> 00:38:48.039
to do. He can tell me to read the Bible.

617
00:38:48.119 --> 00:38:49.840
He can tell me to memorize. He can tell me

618
00:38:49.880 --> 00:38:52.280
to go to church, join a small group, run around

619
00:38:52.320 --> 00:38:54.880
the church thirty seven times, do four hundred and fifty

620
00:38:54.880 --> 00:38:57.639
two pushups. Do this, hit myself in the head with

621
00:38:57.719 --> 00:38:59.760
a large King James Bible. He can tell me to

622
00:38:59.800 --> 00:39:03.199
get crucifix and burn it into the have set it

623
00:39:03.239 --> 00:39:05.199
on fire, and then put it to my forehead and

624
00:39:05.320 --> 00:39:07.880
burn the image of the cross on my forehead. He

625
00:39:07.920 --> 00:39:10.360
can tell me to do a fifty thousand things, it

626
00:39:10.440 --> 00:39:13.639
will not do anything, because guess what. None of that

627
00:39:13.679 --> 00:39:16.119
fixes the problem which is inside you and me, which

628
00:39:16.159 --> 00:39:18.119
is our sinful nature, which you have and I have

629
00:39:18.519 --> 00:39:21.079
all the way to glorification. Meaning if we still have

630
00:39:21.119 --> 00:39:23.760
a sinful nature, we are still going to sind because

631
00:39:23.880 --> 00:39:26.559
ladies and gentlemen, we were born that way. It's what

632
00:39:26.599 --> 00:39:37.679
we naturally do. In fact, he's gonna give you in

633
00:39:37.760 --> 00:39:43.360
the sermon five five things you have to do to

634
00:39:43.400 --> 00:39:46.079
walk in the spirit. Five things. I told you He's

635
00:39:46.119 --> 00:39:49.800
gonna do that five things. I just looked at the transcript.

636
00:39:49.800 --> 00:39:54.440
It just looked at the transcript. Five things. Does anybody

637
00:39:54.480 --> 00:39:56.559
know what number one is? Oh? I bet you can. Guess.

638
00:39:56.880 --> 00:39:58.000
What do you think number two is?

639
00:39:59.159 --> 00:39:59.320
Oh?

640
00:39:59.360 --> 00:40:01.920
I bet you can. What do you think number three is?

641
00:40:04.400 --> 00:40:07.079
What do you think number four is? What do you

642
00:40:07.119 --> 00:40:12.039
think number five is? And it's funny because I've got

643
00:40:12.079 --> 00:40:14.320
to do these five things in order to be walking

644
00:40:14.320 --> 00:40:17.599
in the spirit. So and this is weird. I don't

645
00:40:17.639 --> 00:40:20.079
do these things because I'm walking in the spirit. I've

646
00:40:20.119 --> 00:40:22.039
got to do these things in order to walk in

647
00:40:22.079 --> 00:40:23.920
the spirit. So that means I can do these things

648
00:40:23.960 --> 00:40:26.199
without even walking in the spirit. But if I can

649
00:40:26.239 --> 00:40:28.800
do these five things without walking in the spirit, then

650
00:40:28.800 --> 00:40:30.519
why do I need to walk in the spirit in

651
00:40:30.599 --> 00:40:33.000
order to stop sinning? Because I can do these other

652
00:40:33.039 --> 00:40:35.320
things without walking in the spirit. So I mean, I

653
00:40:35.320 --> 00:40:37.239
don't know, So do I do the things to walk

654
00:40:37.280 --> 00:40:38.719
in the spirit. But if I can do the things

655
00:40:38.719 --> 00:40:40.360
without walking in the spirit, then why do I need

656
00:40:40.400 --> 00:40:46.199
to walk in the spirit? But I gotta And basically

657
00:40:46.239 --> 00:40:48.639
it amounts to you got to keep. You gotta do

658
00:40:48.960 --> 00:40:51.599
lawkeeping in order to walk in the spirit, and then

659
00:40:51.639 --> 00:40:54.679
if I do lawkeeping, well then I'll stop sinning. But

660
00:40:54.719 --> 00:40:57.320
if I can do law keeping without walking in the spirit,

661
00:40:57.440 --> 00:40:59.039
then why do I need to do walk in the

662
00:40:59.039 --> 00:41:01.559
spirit in order to stop Because if I can already

663
00:41:01.559 --> 00:41:03.760
do these things without walking in the spirit, well then

664
00:41:03.800 --> 00:41:05.440
I don't need to walk in the spirit to do

665
00:41:05.559 --> 00:41:08.679
these It just makes it's just a never ending contradiction.

666
00:41:08.760 --> 00:41:10.519
It's like being on a hamster well and you're just

667
00:41:10.599 --> 00:41:13.480
running in circles. But see, I'm not supposed to question it.

668
00:41:13.719 --> 00:41:18.519
I'm not supposed to challenge it because I'm nobody. Now

669
00:41:18.559 --> 00:41:22.800
I'm being a little bit more sarcastic. But see, I

670
00:41:22.840 --> 00:41:25.119
want to make this very clear. This is not about

671
00:41:25.159 --> 00:41:30.760
theology Central challenging doctor Peter Masters. This is not about

672
00:41:31.000 --> 00:41:36.119
theology Central challenging the Metropolitan Tabernacle. And I will be

673
00:41:36.199 --> 00:41:39.400
and this is not sarcastic. I am way, way way

674
00:41:39.440 --> 00:41:44.159
below them. I am no one, nobody, with no influence.

675
00:41:44.280 --> 00:41:47.920
I understand that. So don't make this about me versus

676
00:41:47.960 --> 00:41:52.000
their interpretation. Don't make this about my interpretation versus their interpretation.

677
00:41:52.559 --> 00:42:00.639
Make this about reality versus their interpretation. And I will say,

678
00:42:01.239 --> 00:42:09.440
reality proves that no matter what you do, no matter

679
00:42:09.519 --> 00:42:13.440
how hard you try, you're going to live your life

680
00:42:14.000 --> 00:42:19.719
in a perpetual state of sin. Until you accept that reality,

681
00:42:20.239 --> 00:42:25.320
then you're living in a fraudulent reality. You are in

682
00:42:25.360 --> 00:42:30.880
a perpetual state of sin. You sin in thought, you

683
00:42:31.000 --> 00:42:35.480
sin in word, You sin, Indeed, you sin and desire.

684
00:42:36.159 --> 00:42:39.960
God says, be holy as he is holy. You're constantly

685
00:42:40.159 --> 00:42:42.559
you will never be that. You're in a perpetual state

686
00:42:42.599 --> 00:42:44.519
of sin. The Bible tells you to love God with

687
00:42:44.559 --> 00:42:46.719
all your heart, mind, body, and soul. You're never going

688
00:42:46.760 --> 00:42:48.679
to do that. You're in a perpetual state of sin.

689
00:42:48.800 --> 00:42:50.960
You're to love your neighbor as yourself. I can go

690
00:42:51.039 --> 00:42:54.960
on and on and on and on. You're supposed to

691
00:42:54.960 --> 00:42:58.599
be meditating on God's word day and night. You can

692
00:42:58.599 --> 00:43:00.800
try to, you can try to water these down into

693
00:43:00.880 --> 00:43:02.880
way ways that you can pull it off. But you

694
00:43:03.039 --> 00:43:05.440
don't pull these off. You're supposed to love your enemy.

695
00:43:05.519 --> 00:43:07.840
You're supposed to turn the other cheek. You're supposed to

696
00:43:07.880 --> 00:43:10.239
do good than those who would use you, and despitefully

697
00:43:10.360 --> 00:43:13.360
persecute you, you're supposed to forgive, as Christ Jesus hath

698
00:43:13.400 --> 00:43:15.199
forgiven you. I can go on and on and on

699
00:43:15.280 --> 00:43:20.800
and on. You are in a perpetual status. In so

700
00:43:20.920 --> 00:43:23.400
as the solution is or do I'm not going to

701
00:43:23.519 --> 00:43:25.840
name the five things. Almost almost started giving them away,

702
00:43:26.079 --> 00:43:31.360
But you listen to the sermon, and in the next

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00:43:31.760 --> 00:43:35.119
episode what we will do. We will review the sermon,

704
00:43:35.599 --> 00:43:38.880
then we'll analyze and critique the sermon, and then we're

705
00:43:38.880 --> 00:43:41.679
going to work to try to come up with a

706
00:43:41.760 --> 00:43:47.960
different way of interpreting Galatians five point sixteen in light

707
00:43:50.320 --> 00:43:59.559
of reality. So what do I want you to understand?

708
00:44:00.760 --> 00:44:08.360
Scripture must be interpreted in light of reality. Scripture must

709
00:44:08.440 --> 00:44:14.159
be interpreted and light of reality. Reality keeps us humble

710
00:44:14.400 --> 00:44:17.840
reality drives us to the Gospel. Reality should guard us

711
00:44:17.840 --> 00:44:22.639
from dangerous over promises and hidden legalism. And remember. A

712
00:44:22.800 --> 00:44:27.559
good hermanutic honor Scripture as infallible, but never pretends we are.

713
00:44:27.880 --> 00:44:30.320
It interprets God's word through the lens of our union

714
00:44:30.360 --> 00:44:40.079
with Christ, not through an illusion of human ability. How

715
00:44:40.119 --> 00:44:48.679
does reality impact your hermanutic? There we go next time,

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00:44:48.920 --> 00:44:55.719
the review, then my attempt to reinterpret the passage and

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00:44:55.800 --> 00:45:00.000
light of reality. Thanks for listening everyone, Have a great Friday.

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God bless