Galatians 5:16 and Reality

0:02 Looking at our world from a theological perspective. This is the Theology Central podcast making Theology Central. Good afternoon, everyone. I have a question for you, and this is an honest question. I'm not trying to be sarcastic. I'm being very sincere. Do you feel that there are certain ministries, certain churches, certain pastors that are so well respected, have so much influence that no one should be no one should be criticizing them, no one should be trying to offer an alternative interpretation than the one they give. They're almost viewed as, look, these guys are these are well respected, this pastor, this church, this ministry. They've written this many books, they've written this many commentaries. They've been teaching the Bible for thirty years. Nobody should be challenging, questioning, or even off bring an alternative interpretation to the one they have given.

1:03 Do you think that is the way it should be? Now? I think some of you will immediately push back and say, oh no, no, no, no, no, no no no. You definitely can criticize it. You can't. There's no ministry that's untouchable there no, no, no, no, no, you can't. You you absolutely can criticize I think many will push back at the idea that you can't support the idea that you can. I just think many of the people who say that you can only say that until you offer criticism or an alternative interpretation to their favorite minister, their favorite favorite ministry, the one that, whether they like it or not, they've exalted above all the others. They believe it's correct, they believe it's it's truthful, and they don't they don't want to hear any criticism of it all of a sudden. Even though they would say, hey, yeah, you can, you can criticize, all of a sudden, they will be like, well, who are you, Who are you to criticize them? That's a that's a that's a world famous church, that's a that's a well respected pastor, that's a well respected theologian. Who are you? You can't criticize?

2:17 So I think there's many who say you can, but they tend to retreat relatively quick if their favorite minister is criticized. Then there are others who will almost immediately be like, whoaa, no, no, no, no, no, no, no, you can't criticize them. Look at all their credentials, look at what schools they graduated from. Look at all the books they've written, Look at the how many years this ministry has been going on, Look at what all all the things this ministry has accomplished. And who are you? You're no one. You can't criticize them, you can't offer an alternative interpretation. You're meaningless, You're you're irrelevant, you have no influence, you have no power, You're nobody. So I think you'll have some of those who will initially say, yes, you can criticize, but then immediately draw the line when you criticize their favorite one or the one they've exalted, And you will have others will say, oh no, no, no, no, no, no no. Some ministries just cannot be criticized. Some ministries cannot be challenged that way in any way, shape or form, because they are so influential. Now I don't know which camp you fall in, or you may even be in a third maybe we can even have a third classification.

3:29 But the reason I asked that question is because what I'm about to do is do something that many of you would say, who are you? You have no right to do that because I'm going to offer a critique. I'm going to offer a different opinion. I'm going to attempt to offer a different interpretation than the one that came from the pulpit at Metropolitan Tabernacle. Yeah, the Metropolitan Tabernacle, the very world famous church, the Metropolitan Tabernacle, and the pastor is doctor Peter's Masters. Please note Doctor Peter's Masters, who is very well respected. So the fact that I'm going to offer a challenge or a critique and a different interpretation than one that comes from Metropolitan Tabernacle, one that comes from Doctor Peter's Masters is immediately going to put me, well, not in a good position, because a lot of people are going to be like, who are you?

4:36 And you know what, They have every right to say that, because I'm a nobody compared to Doctor Peter's Masters and to Metropolitan Tabernacle. I am no one. I am nothing. But I still believe, at least within the non Catholic system, because we don't have a magisterium as Protestants, right, we don't have churches that hold to a magisterial authority. Right, we don't have a church that supposedly is above all the others. So according to our system, I can take the word of God and challenge and critique and that I have the right and the power and the authority to study it and to interpret it. I mean, that's our system, right, So I'm going to exercise that, and I'm going to do that right after I say good afternoon everyone. It is Friday, March twenty eighth, twenty twenty five.

5:29 It is currently four forty nine pm Central time, and I'm coming to you live from the Theology Central Studio located right here in Abilene, Texas. Now, within this studio, there are times we kind of find ourselves walking into philological controversy, right, philological difficulty, And that's kind of where we are right now. I am sitting in this studio because here's what's happened. We started talking about the storms of life metaphor. I declared war on that metaphor and that it doesn't come from the Bible's being imposed on the Bible. We've been looking at this study guide how to weather the storms of life, and I started challenging this idea of Christians, how they talk about the storms of life and God brings these storms of life, and well, I got us into some really philosophical difficulties. Then earlier today at the Christian Post on the Christian Post website.

6:33 They're released kind of a small segment of a book by Max Locato dealing with the trials in our lives. And it takes this concept that God, any bad thing that happens to you, God sent that to test your faith as a trial, all right, And I think that concept has to be challenged. And once you start challenging it, it gets very difficult in how to then where do we end up? So I was going to go there today. I haven't gotten there yet, but we're going to get there. So we have this storms of life, trials of life, testing of our faith concept that we're kinda when maybe we're still in the outskirts of but we're going to have to address it, all right. So while all of that was going on and I'm just trying to think about that and how to process that, I looked at the sermons two point oh app. Well it's no longer the sermon's two point oh app the sermons by Sermonadio app the sermonadio app, and I noticed the featured sermon for today. Now, whenever a sermon is the featured sermon, they always get more downloads, more streams, more attention because it's the first thing you see when you go to the sermonadio website or you open up the sermonadio app.

7:48 It's going to be the first sermon you see. So a lot of times people are not going to sit there and be looking at They're just going to see the first sermon in hit play, right, And the name of the sermon is the believers Victory over Sin, The Believer's Victory over Sin, Doctor Peter Peter Masters. I think I said doctor Peter's Masters earlier, Doctor Peter Masters from the Metropolitan Tabernacle. Oh boy, oh boy boy. Now, as soon as soon as I saw the title the Believer's Victory over Sin, I'm like, oh, we've got to address this.

8:29 We've got to talk about this, because immediately I already I already have a problem if you tell me I have victory over sin, unless you're going to point me to the fact I only have victory over sin in my positional standing in Christ. That's the only way I have truly have victory. Because if you claim that I have victory in a practical way, I'm just gonna call you a liar. Why well, it only takes five minutes to. It doesn't even take five minutes for me to disprove this idea that as Christians we have victory over sin in a practical way. Let me start. The Bible says, be holy as God is holy. You have never accomplished that, not for one second, not for one minute, not for one hour, not for one day, not for one month, not for one year. You have never done it. So that means you are in a perpetual state of sin because you're not as holy as God as holy. And that is a direct command for you to be holy as He is holy. You cannot do it, You will not do it, You never can do it. So then what's your only hope that reality should condemn you should lead you to go directly to the cross. Then you put your faith in Christ, and then his holiness, his righteousness is imputed to your account. So you stand before God as holy as He is holy, because the rights the holiness of Christ has been imputed to your account.

9:46 That's the only way it's accomplished. In a practical way. You never have. So if you're perpetually in a state of sin because you're not holy as God as holy, then that means you have never experienced victory over sin for one second. You say, well, that sin will congratulate you have victory over that sin. But you're in a perpetual state of sin. So how do you even measure that? Because the Bible says if you're guilty of one point of the law, you're guilty of all of it. Where you're guilty of all of it because you're in a perpetual state of guilt against the law of being holy as God is holy. Not only that, love God with all your heart, mind, body, and soul. You have never done that for one second, one minute, one hour, one day, one week, one year, because you love yourself more than anything else, And whether you want to deny it or not, you do not love God with all your heart, mind, body, and soul. So you're in a perpetual state of sin.

10:32 Love your neighbor as yourself. You never do that. You're in a perpetual state of sin. Do all things without complaining and grumbling. Be you perfect as your heavenly Father is perfect. Love the Word of God more than gold and silver than food. I can just go on and on and on and add a pray without seizing. Rejoice ever more. Love your enemy turned the other cheek, resists not evil. I mean, how many scriptures do I need to give you? You are in a perpetual state of sin, meaning you have never experienced victory over sin. Considering you're in a perpetual state of sin. You can't say you're having victory over sin when you're in a perpetual state of sin. So immediately I see the title, I'm like, well, unless this points me to my positional standing before God, I'm going to disagree with this sermon completely. Now wait, I'm going to disagree with a sermon from Metropolitan Tabernacle, doctor Peter Masters. This message has already had over three hundred downloads and streams, and it was simply it was featured today, So that means I don't know when it was first uploaded, but if it was featured today, it may have just been uploaded today. Already over three hundred downloads.

11:44 What are we going to do? What are we going to do? We're going to have to address this now. If you look at the discussion here or the description, I should say, this is the description, you tell me which direction you think it's going to go, and so it's about to point me to my positional, my positional standing in Christ, where I do have complete victory over sin because in Christ, I never sin, I don't do anything wrong. I'm perfect, I'm holy, I'm righteous, I'm obedient, and my practice, I'm in a perpetual state of sin. Which direction is this going to go? Well, let me read the description. It is a magnificent promise that if we walk in the spirit, we will not succumb to the lust of fallen nature. So if I will simply walk in the spirit, I will never succumb to the lust of the flesh or to the fallen nature. Meaning if I will simply walk in the spirit, this seems to imply that I can be perfect. All I have to do is walk in the spirit and I will never sin. Now, ninety nine percent of Christians who hear me are going to be like, yeah, that's true. Okay, Yeah, that's two thousand years of church history. No one has ever been able to stop sinning. But okay, you keep telling yourselves that it's possible. It goes on to say, here's the definition. Here's the Bible's definition of walking in

13:14 the spirit with five points of special attention required by the spirit. So we're going to learn how to walk in the spirit. And we're going to learn about these five points because once we learn them, ladies and gentlemen, we will no longer sin. You can stop sinning. So what do we do here, Well, here's what we're going to attempt to do. I don't know how long it's going to take. In some ways, I want to just kind of just work through this and try to finish everything in one episode. But I don't really think I'm going to take that approach today. Here's the approach I think I'm going to take. I'm going to first talk about the importance of reality when it comes to hermanutics.

14:03 All right, I'm going to talk about the reality are beut the importance of reality when it comes to hermanutics. Then I'm going to challenge you to go listen to that sermon. It's right there. It's the featured sermon on the Sermonadio app or the Sermonadio website. You can go find it right now, Go download it, right now, Go download it right now. Right. I'm going to want you to listen to it. I want you to consider everything he has to say. At some point, then we will review it and then we will offer an alternative interpretation to the text for the sermon. So let's let's so that's what we're gonna do. So let's consider. So we're gonna consider reality and a herminutic. I'm going to challenge you to listen to the sermon. Then we're going to review the sermon, and then I will offer an alternative interpretation of the text used for the sermon. Now, we're not going to do all of this today, right, I mean, it's already fourteen minutes in. If I have an attempt just reviewing the sermon, the sermon is thirty six minutes.

15:02 Now reviewing the sermon, you know that's going to go an hour an hour and a half long. So yeah, and if I do anything else, then we know there's no way I could even come close to reviewing the sermon. But let's do this. I'm going to play the beginning of the sermon because he's going to read the text, all right, So here is the text. He's going to start the sermon with it. Here we go. I'm turning today to Paul's Letters to the Galicians, chapter five and verse fifteen. Galatians Chapter five, verse fifteen. But if you bite and devour one another. Take heed that you be not consumed one of another. This I say, then walk in the spirits, and you shall not fulfill the lust of the flesh. And our subject is very sick the believer's yptory over sin.

16:06 Okay, there you have it, all right. The main text is this, I say, then walk in the spirit and you and ye shall not fulfill the lust of the flesh. It seems simple, It seems straightforward, right, walk in the spirit and basically you will not sin. All right, congratulations, We've got the solution. So now all we need to do is find out how we walk in the spirit, because the minute I figured that out, I will stop sinning. So hey, every to everyone in Christianity, just walk in the spirit and we can all stop sinning. Now. The only problem is two thousand years of church history says otherwise. So this raises the question when you see a verse like that, do you ignore reality, do you deny reality?

16:53 Or do you have to go wait a minute. Reality would raise some serious questions about how to interpret this text. So this the significance of reality when it comes to hermonutics. And so my question would go something like this, if we were in a hermautics class and you were sitting there, I would ask you, should we approach scripture from the perspective of reality? And how should reality and packed our hermeneutical approach. I would walk into class and say, all right, class, get out your notebooks. Here we go. Should we approach scripture from the perspective of reality? How should reality and pact our hermonutical approach? You've got forty five minutes start writing your essays? All right, I will be back and then I would go get something from the vending machine, come back in and see how everyone's doing on their essay, right, And then I would have you stand up and read your essay, or at least explain to me your essay, defend it, and then turn it in. And then I could give everyone an f because everyone would probably go against my very concept that I'm thinking about. My answer is absolutely yes, Yes, reality matters. I believe you cannot ignore reality. Look, it depends on how I describe this, because some of you will be like, well, yeah, we can't ignore reality, but some of you will almost take a very spiritual, pious like no, the Word of God is reality. It doesn't matter what I see. We walk by faith and not by sight, and I almost kind of look at it from a very mystical, spiritual perspective.

18:25 That sounds so good, but I think it ends up to a hermonutical disaster, right, a hermonutical disaster. Let me give you an example. Charismatics love to teach that when Christ died on the cross, by his stripes, we are healed not just of our the spiritual disease of sin, but by his stripes we were healed of all physical disease and pain and suffering, and basically or all physical disease. I guess that's the right way. I gotta be fair. They wouldn't say of all pain or suffering, but basically they would say, oh it's not you don't pray if it's God's will to heal you. It is God's will to heal you because He already paid for that healing on the cross. So you have to do is just have faith and claim it, and you will be healed.

19:17 So that what Christ did on the cross guarantees physical healing here and now, not eternity, I mean ultimately eternity, but ultimately they will say it's available here right now. Now. They say that, well, then look at reality, pain suffering, death, disease, pain suffering, death, disease. Charismatics die all the time. They get cancer, This happens, this happens, this happens, this happens, this happens. So what do they have to do? Well, ultimately their theology will blame the person you just don't have enough faith. So I guess no charismatic has ever had faith, because they all get sick and they ultimately die. One doesn't God heal them if by his stripes were healed. Well, then when it gets to that point, then they push it over to eternity. But in the meantime, the whole time, I guess you're supposed to be just healed of everything if you just have enough faith. Well, reality contradicts every one of their claims, all right, so most of you will be like, Okay, you're right. Reality contradicts charismatics, so therefore charismatic theology is wrong. But it also contradicts so many things that us non charismatics say, like saying, hey, if you'll simply walk into spirit, you can stop sinning. Well, clearly that's not true. So reality matters. Now the question is how does it matter? And we have to be. Obviously, some would say, we have to be very careful how

20:47 we explain this, because we don't want to undermine the authority of scripture. But at the same time, we don't want to undermine or deny the real, honest condition of the human heart. See, we want to be We don't want to deny the authority of scripture, but we don't want to deny reality. So let's go with a couple of possible ways to approach this. I believe reality is essential to a good hermeneutic, So what are some ways we could approach this. Scripture must be interpreted in light of reality, but some would say it should never be judged by it. So scripture must be interpreted in light of reality, but it should never be judged by it.

21:36 I don't I struggle with this. I do agree scripture must be interpreted in light of reality. Do we judge scripture by reality? It does reality and scripture ever contradict? Does reality contradict scripture? In other words, if reality and scripture is always in agreement, then you could never It wouldn't matter if you use reality to judge scripture, because they're gonna always come into agreement, right is reality and scripture. Ever in disagreement, we don't script we don't judge scripture by reality, but we must interpret it with reality in view.

22:26 And some may say something along these lines. Scripture, Now, I think I think we can all agree on this. Scripture addresses real people in real history, with real sin and real suffering. That is a fact. So I think we can all agree we have to at least acknowledge the reality the Bible actually speaks of, because it speaks of real people, real history, real sin, real suffering. It speaks to humans, not abstractions or ideas, not just symbols, but to real people. And Jesus took on flesh not just to save us, but to speak and live in our reality. So maybe we should say a faithful hermeneutic would ask these questions, does this interpretation make sense with the lived reality of sin, suffering, weakness, and perfection and the reality of this positional and practical understanding. I'm kind of rewriting some of my own notes, So I think it's a question we can always write. If someone reads Galatians five point sixteen and says this, I say, then walk in the spirit. You shall not fulfill the lust of the flesh, and they teach that this means in this life in a practical way, if you will simply walk in the spirit, basically you will stop sinning. You should be able to ask the question, does this interpretation make sense with the lived reality of sin, suffering and weakness.

23:57 That we all see the lived reality of sin, suffering, weakness, and in perfection, because that's that's the reality. Sin, sin, sin, sin, be holy as God is holy. You've never done that. So I can't take Galatians five sixteen and basically say I can stop sinning. I have to interpret it in a lot of the reality that we never stop sinning because we're always in a perpetual state of sin. And at the same time, I have to also understand and interpret scripture in light of my positional standing of what I am in Christ and what I am in practice.

24:39 So whether we whether we could get into we can leave it as a philosophical discussion about should we judge scripture by reality? We can get into that argument, but we can say this, we must interpret scripture in light of reality. Everyone should be able to agree with that. When I interpret this, I'm like, wait a minute, If I say this means we can stop sinning. We got a problem because reality says no one does right. So that means immediately I've got to I've got to come up with something correct. Same thing when I look around, If I'm going to tell everyone healing is guaranteed, well then why why why? I mean everything around me screams, well, that can't be true. And that means, well, physical healing is guaranteed in the atonement when I get a new body and there'll be no more pain and suffering and death.

25:27 That's called glorification. Now, if we if we do have a herminudic so I think number one, we I think we interpret scripture and in light of reality. I think that's a good way to put it. We we we we must interpret scripture and light of reality. I think we can at least agree on that part. I think another thing is, if we have a hermeneutic without reality, well then guess what it's our hermautic is going to become. Basically, our interpretation is going to become an abstraction, or it's going to become legalism. If you interpret a passage of saying you can overcome sin, if you walk in the spirit, and then you observe that every Christian you've ever met, including yourself, still sins constantly. You're only left with two options.

26:13 Number one, condemnation, I'm not walking in the spirit. I'm a failure. Maybe I'm not even saved, and everyone would have to come to that conclusion. We're all failures when nobody walks into spirit, so maybe nobody is saved. Or number two, you got to live and denial or hypocrisy. You have to pretend you're doing better than you actually are to keep your system intact. You got to keep pretending that you're actually have reached the level where you're holy as God is holy. That's delusional. Both of those options are disconnect scripture from reality and creates a false religion. Even if the text was interpreted grammatically and historically correct, Even if you interpret the text historically and grammatically correct, even if my interpretation is grammatically in his historically correct that if I walk in the spirit, I can stop sinning.

27:03 Even if you say that's correct historically and grammatically, the only problem is it completely denies reality. So then your options are nobody is saved, including me, or we all have to pretend that we're pulling this off, even though anyone looking at you, anyone who lives with you, knows that's not true. Come on, anyone who knows you. And even if everyone outside of you thinks you're pulling it off, you know inside you're not pulling it off, because you know you're not holy as God is holy in your thoughts and your desires. You know you don't love your enemy and your heart and desire. You know, come on, you know the luss, the doubt, the anger, the bitterness, the unforgiveness, the complaining, all the stuff going on inside of you. So a hermeneutic without reality just becomes abstraction or legalism. It just becomes it's going to break down.

28:02 I think another thing, Reality is the very thing that should drive us deeper into the Gospel. The more we see, the clearer you see reality, the clearer you should see the Gospel. The better you see reality, the more honest you are with reality, the clearer you see the Gospel in your need for the Gospel. When we come to a text that seems to promise a kind of moral success that our lives clearly contradict, that gap should should not make us twist a scripture to fit the experience, but it should force us to ask, is there a deeper gospel reality here? Is this talking about something positional?

28:44 Is it talking about something from an estological perspective, eschatology about the end times? Is it referring to something that's covenantal dealing with Israel that is true of Is this true of me in Christ? Even if it's not true in my behavior? So let me state that again. When you come to a scripture that seems to promise right some kind of moral success that you know your life contradicts, then you don't. You don't simply twist the scripture to fit your experience. You don't. You don't fit your You don't twist your experience to try to fit the scriptures either. No, no, no, you got to stop and go wait, here's reality. So then you have to ask yourself, Wait a minute, is this possibly pointing to a deeper gospel reality? Maybe this talking about something positional. Maybe this is referring to my positional standing. I wonder if this deals with eschatology and it's promising what is to come, maybe a new millennium or the new Heaven and the new Earth, or maybe it's dealing with maybe in glorification or is it covenental?

29:47 Is this a promise specifically given to the nation of Israel that hasn't been fulfilled yet? Or do I ask, maybe this is true of me in Christ even if my behavior is completely contradictory to it. Those are the kind of questions you have to ask. See, this protects the authority of the text, but it also grounds it and truth and experience. It's not so well, that's what the scripture says. I know, it's what the scripture says. But everything you know contradicts that what they're saying. So we have to ask ourselves, well, wait a minute, is there is there a deeper gospel reality here? Maybe this is referring to something positionally, Maybe it's referring to something in eschatology. Maybe it's referring to something covenant. Maybe it's referring to what is true of me in Christ even though my behavior contradicts it. That Those are the questions you have to ask. For example, Galatians five p. Sixteen doesn't need to be watered down. It needs to be rightly located in Christ. Right in Christ. If I understand this to be in Christ, does that not change everything?

31:04 We'll do that when we offer my you know, alternative interpretation, because if I understand Galicians five point sixteen in Christ, then it makes perfect sense. I don't fulfill the luss of the flesh because Christ bore that fulfillment for me. Even though I still sin. In Christ, I do not fulfill the loss of the flesh and practice I do. Now some people don't like that interpretation, but that fits reality. I sin, you sin, you fulfill the loss of the flesh and thought, word, deed, desire all the time. So then there's got to be a different way to understand it.

31:44 Another thing is just consider the psalms. The psalms is a model of hermoneutics grounded in reality. I want you to think of the psalms gives you a model of hermonutics grounded in reality. The psalms are emotional, they're honest, they're philologically accurate. At the same time, Daniel says, David says things like why have you forsaken me? He also says you're steadfast love endoors forever. That seems contradictory. They're both real. Scriptures doesn't always add Scriptures never ask you to deny your reality. It meets you in it and interprets it through God's redemptive plan. Scripture doesn't tell you to deny reality. It doesn't tell you to play pretend.

32:29 It doesn't tell you to play dress up. You can be honest with the reality. I am a sinner, and I sin all the time. At the same time, in Christ, I'm a new creature. All things are passed away, all things have become new. Wait a minute, how can that be true? Because one is speaking of my reality in Christ, the other one speaks of the truth of my practical life. A good hermeneutical approach will embrace the tension. If you read Paul closely, he lives in this tension. I am crucified with Christ Galatians two twenty, who will deliver me from this body of death. The things I want to do I don't do. In the things I don't want to do, I do. How can n wait? Wait, wait, wait wait. Paul is also the one who says, if I walk in the spirit, I won't fulfill the luss of the flesh. But he's the same one who says, wait a minute, the things I want to do I don't do. There's a contradiction here. He never really he never resolves this tension by saying I figured it out, I've stopped sinning. Instead, his hermeneutic is shaped by this reality.

33:34 Christ is my righteousness, not my lawkeeping, not my moral performance, and not my spiritual growth. Christ is my righteousness. Nothing I do Christ is my righteousness. Christ is my righteousness. I think we could see it this way. Reality doesn't rewrite scripture, but it should refine how we understand scripture. Reality should keep us humble. Reality every day you, every day you consider your life, You consider your thoughts, your desires, your wants, your When you really look at your life, it's like boom, It's a slap in the face. And it should humble you. Humble you, humble you, humble you, humble you, humble you. It should. Then the second thing reality should do. It should drive you deeper into the Gospel.

34:28 It should drive you directly to the foot of the cross, going, Lord, look, I'm a mess, I'm a sinner. I can't I'm never gonna be holy as God is holy. I'm never gonna love God with all my heart, mind, body, and so I'm never gonna love my neighbor. I'm never gonna love my enemy. I'm gonna love myself, serve self, and I've got all kinds of desires. I should drive you directly to the gospel. Reality should guard you from dangerous over promises and hidden legalism. Reality should keep you from you know, oh look everyone, if you just do this, you get this. Reality would say, you know, you don't get that because nobody gets it. A good herminutic honor scripture as infallible, but never pretends we are. A good hermeneutic interprets God's word through the lens of our union with Christ, not through an illusion of human ability or some type of moral perfection or some kind of transformation. It views it through the union with Christ. There I'm transformed in my position.

35:55 I know every daysh bone, blood sinner. That's what I am. That's what you are. Now that reality can't be ignored. When I read walk in the Spirit and you shall not fulfill the lust of the flesh, well, that seems to imply I can be absolutely perfect. M What do we do now? The sermon? Let me pull the sermon back up. The believer's victory over sin. It's the It's the featured sermon today on sermonadio dot com. The Sermonadio app.

36:49 Please go download it right now, have it saved in your library, save it to your computer where just save it today. Save it right now, Go download it. It's thirty five minutes. About that long, thirty six minutes. Download it, listen to it, take good notes. Now when you come away, you know what you're gonna probably say. You're gonna be like doctor Peter Masters is right, and I can understand. He's the respected doctor Peter Master. He preaches at Metropolitan Tabernacle. Who can question, who can challenge, who can offer an alternative to them? That they are influential and powerful? Who am I? Well, I'm nobody, and I will willingly admit that. But don't worry about what I think, don't worry about what I feel. Forget me, forget the theology Central podcast.

37:35 Put that sermon against reality, the reality you know, the reality you live, the reality you see in Christians all around you, and you're going to find yourself something's wrong unless doctor Peter Masters says this only occurs in our position, not in our practice. But he's not going I'm pretty sure he's not going to say that. In fact, what I think he's going to do, he's gonna say, hey, if you walk in the spirit, then you'll stop basically sinning. But to walk in the spirit you have to do a b CD E, F G h I, JK, eleman O, pq R S, TUV, W, X, Y, and Z. He's gonna give you a list of things you do which then brings back Christianity to nothing more than a law based, works based system. If you do this, this, this, so, how then do you overcome sin by lawkeeping. Israel was never able to overcome sin by law keeping. No one in the New Testament was ever able to overcome sin by the law keeping. No one can overcome sin by lawkeeping because the law we can't keep it. We can't do it. So he can give me thirty seven things to do. He can tell me to read the Bible.

38:48 He can tell me to memorize. He can tell me to go to church, join a small group, run around the church thirty seven times, do four hundred and fifty two pushups. Do this, hit myself in the head with a large King James Bible. He can tell me to get crucifix and burn it into the have set it on fire, and then put it to my forehead and burn the image of the cross on my forehead. He can tell me to do a fifty thousand things, it will not do anything, because guess what. None of that fixes the problem which is inside you and me, which is our sinful nature, which you have and I have all the way to glorification. Meaning if we still have a sinful nature, we are still going to sind because ladies and gentlemen, we were born that way. It's what we naturally do. In fact, he's gonna give you in the sermon five five things you have to do to walk in the spirit. Five things. I told you He's gonna do that five things. I just looked at the transcript.

39:49 It just looked at the transcript. Five things. Does anybody know what number one is? Oh? I bet you can. Guess. What do you think number two is? Oh? I bet you can. What do you think number three is? What do you think number four is? What do you think number five is? And it's funny because I've got to do these five things in order to be walking in the spirit. So and this is weird. I don't do these things because I'm walking in the spirit. I've got to do these things in order to walk in the spirit. So that means I can do these things without even walking in the spirit. But if I can do these five things without walking in the spirit, then why do I need to walk in the spirit in order to stop sinning? Because I can do these other things without walking in the spirit. So I mean, I don't know, So do I do the things to walk in the spirit. But if I can do the things without walking in the spirit, then why do I need to walk in the spirit? But I gotta And basically it amounts to you got to keep. You gotta do lawkeeping in order to walk in the spirit, and then if I do lawkeeping, well then I'll stop sinning. But if I can do law keeping without walking in the spirit, then why do I need to do walk in the spirit in order to stop Because if I can already do these things without walking in the spirit, well then I don't need to walk in the spirit to do these It just makes it's just a never ending contradiction.

41:08 It's like being on a hamster well and you're just running in circles. But see, I'm not supposed to question it. I'm not supposed to challenge it because I'm nobody. Now I'm being a little bit more sarcastic. But see, I want to make this very clear. This is not about theology Central challenging doctor Peter Masters. This is not about theology Central challenging the Metropolitan Tabernacle. And I will be and this is not sarcastic. I am way, way way below them. I am no one, nobody, with no influence. I understand that. So don't make this about me versus their interpretation. Don't make this about my interpretation versus their interpretation.

41:52 Make this about reality versus their interpretation. And I will say, reality proves that no matter what you do, no matter how hard you try, you're going to live your life in a perpetual state of sin. Until you accept that reality, then you're living in a fraudulent reality. You are in a perpetual state of sin. You sin in thought, you sin in word, You sin, Indeed, you sin and desire.

42:36 God says, be holy as he is holy. You're constantly you will never be that. You're in a perpetual state of sin. The Bible tells you to love God with all your heart, mind, body, and soul. You're never going to do that. You're in a perpetual state of sin. You're to love your neighbor as yourself. I can go on and on and on and on. You're supposed to be meditating on God's word day and night. You can try to, you can try to water these down into way ways that you can pull it off. But you don't pull these off. You're supposed to love your enemy. You're supposed to turn the other cheek. You're supposed to do good than those who would use you, and despitefully persecute you, you're supposed to forgive, as Christ Jesus hath forgiven you. I can go on and on and on and on. You are in a perpetual status. In so as the solution is or do I'm not going to name the five things. Almost almost started giving them away, But you listen to the sermon, and in the next episode what we will do. We will review the sermon, then we'll analyze and critique the sermon, and then we're going to work to try to come up with a different way of interpreting Galatians five point sixteen in light of reality. So what do I want you to understand?

44:00 Scripture must be interpreted in light of reality. Scripture must be interpreted and light of reality. Reality keeps us humble reality drives us to the Gospel. Reality should guard us from dangerous over promises and hidden legalism. And remember. A good hermanutic honor Scripture as infallible, but never pretends we are. It interprets God's word through the lens of our union with Christ, not through an illusion of human ability. How does reality impact your hermanutic? There we go next time, the review, then my attempt to reinterpret the passage and light of reality. Thanks for listening everyone, Have a great Friday.

45:01 God bless