Faith Lesson 13
Courtney Hemenway · Jul 5, 2015
Faith, No. 26
Holly Hills Bible Church
https://www.hollyhillsbiblechurch.org/teaching/messages/492658495132

Transcribed from the recording by SermonAudio, so expect the occasional misheard word.

Alright, we are on Lesson 13. So, Lesson 13 of the Faith Class. I just wanted to go over one thing. I talked to Mike this week. It was this week, I think, 7-2. There's one in the Hungry Heart. The more I've looked at the faith class and everything, and just as I've been reading, I just see more and more about how much faith is involved in our Christian walk and our life. One of those, and I've kind of really been hit, the Lord's been working on my heart, I think, a lot, just to see the intimacy with Christ and what that means with our faith.

Talk about, if you have faith in somebody, Is that immediate when you walk up to somebody on the street? You immediately have faith in that person? No. No. It isn't. And it's only as you spend time with that person you learn to either trust them or not trust them, in an earthly sense. But it's just time. As you get to know somebody, you know them and you can begin to trust them.

And it's with the Lord. as we get to know Him, which He's called us to do, grow in the grace and knowledge of the Lord Jesus, 2 Peter 3.18, those things are the things that will give us that trust in all these truths that we have, the things of God that we've talked about in this faith class, that we can trust Him because we know Him.

And one of the things, chatted with Michael a little bit about it, that I think that you can love somebody, but not have intimacy with them. You can love them and you'll know if they disappear, you'll miss them. But there's a different aspect of it, which is intimacy. And I think you can love the Lord, you love Him, but you just don't have that intimacy with Him. You just don't have that knowledge, that intimate knowledge with the Lord. And I think that somewhat curtails our faith and our walk. So there's a difference between love and intimacy.

And I think that's really what the Lord has called us, is the intimacy with Him. In John 17, that's the most intimate prayer between the Father and the Son. And you see, we are thrown into that union, that bond. All that, that's what he wants, is that union with us, that intimacy with us. And as we have that intimacy, when he tells us those truths, we can trust him.

And as I brought up several times, it really hit me hard a couple weeks ago when I was announcing, we did the verse at Luke 8, and it ended up the people, when the synagogue official and his daughter was dying, and then when he came, she was dead. And he says, no. The Lord shows up and he goes, no, she's not dead. She's just asleep. And that verse, it says, the people laughed. And I think, you know, I look at that and I throw stones at them. Then I look in the mirror and I go, well, that idiot, that idiot laughs all the time when he says some of these truths. And I go, yeah, that, nah, that's just too far out there.

But I laugh at him, or I don't trust him. And I just really got hit by that. Part of our faith is really not laughing at him. It's really trusting him on the things of God. I just want to read The Hungry Heart. It was on 7.2. And I thought this really brought out a lot of those truths. We appreciate his benefits toward us, but are we appreciative? do we express to Him our appreciation.

Let us be very watchful that the inner life communion with the Lord Jesus be the true source of our activities. The Lord Jesus longs for fellowship with us. He does not want patronage. It does not meet the desire of His heart to be followed or admired or gazed at because of what He can do or give.

He delights in a heart taught of the Spirit to appreciate His person. For this glorifies and gratifies the Father. He retires from the gaze of an excited and tumultuous throng who would fain make him king because they have eaten of loaves and were filled. But he could turn with touching earnestness to the little band of disciples who still remained and challenge their hearts with the question, will ye also go away?

Love could never be too near to its object. Nearest to the Lord Jesus is the instinct of divine life. As we see in the first question of the two disciples who followed him, Where dwellest thou? Why is not this the first question now? Because there is not simple devotedness of heart to the Lord Jesus Christ. There is nothing in all the world so precious to the Father as a heart that in any measure appreciates his Son.

I just thought that was really good. Focusing on, you know, we can look at, you know, Lord give me a million dollars. And we look at the gifts and all that. Do we look at the giver or the gift? And I think it's important for us to look at the giver and who that is, not the gift. He'd much rather have us appreciate him than we appreciate the gift that he gave us of whatever.

And I just thought, again, that relates to our intimacy with Him. And with all of our faith class, that's really important. That we look at Him and know Him. Because that's where our faith will come from. The things of God. Anyway, it was just a lot of thoughts in the last few weeks, and the Lord's been working on me a lot. So, let's go. Lesson 13. Question 1.

When we walk by biblical faith, Christ is our object. What is our object when we walk by non-biblical faith? First, let's consider the first premise of the question. How do we know when we walk by biblical faith that Christ is the object? Well, if you're a Christian, He is always the object.

Just because? Because you have faith, because you believe. I can believe in sitting in a chair that it will support me. I know, but you can't compare your chair that you're going to sit in to Christ. Why? Because Christ is the ultimate... He's Christ. You don't know how else to say it. Okay, Mike. Is it possible for a Christian to walk and not have Christ as his object? Question? What do you mean by walk? Walk as a Christian? Yes, it's possible. I think so. You know, to me also, this comes back to what I was saying, love versus intimacy.

You know, do we love him because of the things he gives us? Or do we love him because of who he is? You know, that was one of those things I heard that hit me. I was on a radio station, oddly enough, where it said, is it better to know the word, or is it better to know the author of the word? The author. That's the important part, you know, is to know Him. And we're called out several times to know Him. Eternal life is to what? Know Him. So, again, I think the object has to be Christ.

If we're going to be walking by faith, because what would, well, we get it, you know, The answer is what I was looking for is our verse that we've looked at many times, Hebrew 11-1. Now, faith is the assurance of things hoped for, the conviction of things not seen. So what did we get from this verse pertaining to biblical faith? We redefined this or expanded the words here to what they mean.

Biblically, I guess. So, first we saw that the essence of biblical faith has nothing to do with us, correct? The essence is what? The things of God. Does that have anything to do with us? No. Faith is the assurance of things being hoped for, or the conviction or evidence of things not seen, or faith is the reality of the things of God and the proof of things not seen. That was where biblical faith is. It's the things of God and the proof of things that are not seen. So, from this verse and others, biblical faith is focused on the things of God. What are the things of God?

God's essence, His ways, thoughts, wisdom, knowledge, mind, glory. Everything about Him. I'm reading off the list here. Yeah, those are all the things. It's everything about God which entails the Father, Son, and the Holy Spirit. We get that also from Colossians 3, 1 and 2.

Therefore, if you've been raised up with Christ, keep seeking what? The things above. What is that? Where Christ is seated at the right hand of God. The things of God are God-related Christ and God with Christ seated at the right hand. Those are the things of God. Set your mind on things above, not things that are on the earth.

The other was we looked at Hebrews 2.2, which I think is a very important one too. I think 11.1 and 12.2 are very important as far as our faith class. Fixing our eyes on Jesus, who is what?

The author and perfecter of faith. who for the joy set before him endured the cross, despising the shame, and has sat down at the right hand of the throne of God." Again, correlation between them. Where does he say he's seated? At the right hand of God. But he is the author and perfecter of our faith. Self and anything that is not of God, okay? So since this is true, what is the object of non-biblical faith? So what is the object of non-biblical faith? Everything else. Everything else.

I guess, when I look at this, and maybe, I don't know if I'm going in the right direction here, but we've talked a lot about the Holy Spirit and what His work is, and pointing us to Christ. And I guess what I'm thinking when I see this is that it kind of reminds me that we always get drug off on a rabbit trail. We always get drug off on focusing on something else. Squirrel. Well, you know what I mean.

And sometimes it's really painful in the things we go through, just in the Holy Spirit leading us back to to Christ. Our focus back on Him. Yeah. I think along the same line of what you're tracking is that with that sin nature in us, you say, I need to have more of an intimacy with Christ, right? Yeah. So you're totally off base there too. Right. You're totally dependent. Yeah, you believe what the Lord tells you, but you're totally dependent on the Spirit. Can you be forced to love somebody and have intimacy? No. I don't think so. I don't think so. And that goes to the I. I will have intimacy. I don't think you can force that.

I think you'll be drawn by the Holy Spirit, by the beauty of who the Lord is. It's not because I want to do it. It's because, I mean, because of a selfish motive. It's because of the beauty of who the Lord is. And the Holy Spirit pointing us to that.

So John, how would you say that the right way? I don't understand exactly what you're saying. How it's off base. Well, I'm kind of thinking that through, just thinking out loud. I was thinking more along the line that, you know, as Kourtney is saying, the Spirit is ruling you. My faith is in his completed work that I know that I can rest in the fact that that's where he's bringing me. I just trust him to do it.

When it comes to mine, for me, I just want to clarify, this is what you're talking about? Is in the Song of Solomon, when the Shulamite starts out, she says, I am my beloved and he is mine. She starts out focused on herself. And then as she grows a little bit in the relationship, she says, I am his and he is mine.

Is that kind of what you're saying? Yeah, that's great. I thought that's what you were saying, but I wasn't sure. And again, as I said, it goes to motive. I've always said before, one of the things that's a spiritual push-up is, I saw people in an old church who just knew the scriptures inside and out. And I said, man, I have got to memorize scripture to be like those guys. Because the Lord will just look on me a little better if I know those scriptures. Because, I mean, that's a biblical thing. You know that you memorize scripture. It's an awesome thing.

But the motive was totally wrong. It was self-motivated. It was to be accepted or to be looked at by other people like, oh, I got those verses. Totally wrong. Couldn't memorize a verse if you paid me. Because the motive was wrong. And it frustrated me for the longest time until I realized, actually, years ago, me and Mike, and it was like, read the Bible.

Just read it. And it's to know Him. That's the purpose. Not that I can spout off verses to people or do it. And as I said, I know more verses now than I ever have because it's because I love Him and it's not an effort. It's not a selfish thing. And like I said, it goes, I think with Donna, it goes to the motive. If it's because I'm looking at, you know, I, I, I, and that was actually the question, since this isn't true, what is the object of non-biblical faith?

Right here. Yeah, there's either Christ-focused or self-focused. I think there are two options. And so, yeah. Does that come into play where it says I've been crucified with Christ and I no longer live? Does that fit into this conversation? Yeah, I think for that is the understanding of the separation and identification. That you understand that.

You know, we were talking actually, Ingrid, her brother is teaching at another church, I won't name it, but it was funny because he came up while they were sitting with my father and I rehabbed from the surgery, and he asked, what do you think about this verse?

They want me to teach on this. And it was about, it wasn't from the Sermon on the Mount, but it was another one about if we don't forgive, God won't forgive us or something. I don't think it was from the Sermon on the Mount. And he says, they want me to teach on this, what do you think about that?

And it was one of those, well, is that for us or the Jews? Number one, it was for the Jews. It wasn't anything, and then we kind of got into this where, you know, we are crucified. We're identified with Him. Once we're identified with Him, can God ever not look favorably upon us? No. Because we're in Christ. We can suffer consequences if we're doing sin. I mean, there's consequences to things. But He can never see us any other way but in Christ. So when you read these verses about forgiveness or blessings or this or that, you've got to understand that that is not to us as far as a cause and effect. Because again, I was saying, she was great. It really made him think about all this stuff. It was a law-based cause and effect. If you do this, this will happen. Once you know that, is that grace-based?

No. So right there you understand that that is not where we operate. So it was just that the crucified and the identification, once we're placed into him, can God look at us in an unfavorable way? He never can. He can only see us in Christ. Right. I don't think he can look at anything that's bad.

Is that what the Bible said? Well, he can't be in the presence of sin and that, you know. But what he looks at, when we get all bent out of shape about all the things, the sins we've done, You know, oh, woe is me, I have to go and do this, that, and the other. Is that biblical? No. No, it is not.

He is forgiven everything. The guy across the street, every sin, every sin you've done, have done, will do, is paid for, done with. And you basically shortchange the Lord's work on the cross if you think there's more that needs to be done. So again, there's just the I focus, it's motive. He wants us to be focused on him.

That's the direction, not I. So the non-biblical faith, self in anything that's not of God, they said, how will I put it this way? I like it. Non-biblical faith is the subjective trust or faith in the ways and wisdom of man, which is assumed reality and is uncertainty, resulting in man's unrest. The object of faith is self." So non-biblical faith is self-based and uncertain, all those different things.

So ask, what are some of the things or wisdom of man? We know some of the things of God, the essence, all those different things. What are the wisdom of man? What are some of those things of man? Because we should know that if we're looking at that. What are some of those things? Our belief. Once we're in the Bible, our belief... Wisdom of man. How about religion? Yeah, process. Not a life, but a process. Organization, not a life. Putting a man on the moon?

I mean, it's secular science that involves understanding the math part. So what did I say that was wrong? Well, you said in the Bible, which I'm looking for the wisdom of man. We don't find the wisdom of man in the Bible. We see examples of the wisdom of man, but I guess we don't. But we get to have the wisdom by being in it, by reading it. But I'm saying for the wisdom of man, not the wisdom of God.

Okay, so is it sin? Well, just what are things that we get from man? Any company that you go to work for, especially larger companies, you're put on this path of what success is and define success. And Christa mentioned there, and a lot of people get their whole life just focused on... We've talked about this a lot. When you go out and I meet you for the first time...

Hi, how are you doing? Claire, right? What do you do? What is all your worth in everything to find you? About what you do in your work and all the things. That's what we as man, you know, I don't first say Christ is my, you know, the first thing I say is, well, I'm on my company, I've done this, I've done that, I work for a fee, work, work, work, work. But it's not, our identification is with Christ. But our earthly man always identifies with all the things we do. That's always the first thing you say. What's your worth? Or who are you? You always identify with the earthly things. How about conservative principles?

Great. Wisdom of hand. There's levels of wisdom of hand. Some are just awful. How about liberal principles? Really down low. With all that, we've had discussions about all that, with all these crazy decisions and all this thing. Two things. One, he's in control. He's the one who establishes all the governments and our citizenships in heaven. He knows what's going on. He didn't say, oops, those fine nine people in robes. Did he know about that? He knew exactly what was going on. And you rest in that fact.

I work at a library, so I see The shelves filled with the wisdom of men. If you want to be in an environment that does that, there's two things. People come in the front door and they're looking for something to solve a question or a need or to identify with. They take that out with them out the front door. In the back door, people come and donate books that they're not using anymore so we can read them. don't so we can sell them at a reduced price to fund a different project.

So you see it coming in the bag. I'll go even more. Go into 99%, 100% of the Christian bookstores. What is the same thing? How do I fix up the old man? What's the new program? The Prayer of Jabez. Do we have the purpose-driven life? What is the next program? J.I. Packer, Knowing God. I looked at that for a while before really identifying the identification truths.

Christian bookstores are filled with man's wisdom on how to fix things up, how to fix up the old man. They don't ever touch on our identification in Christ that we have been separated positionally from the old man. Most Christian bookstores, how do I fix up the old man so it looks really pretty to the Lord? So it's mostly self-help books? Self-help books, man's wisdom.

Therefore, the object of earthly wisdom is self. And that's what I was getting at. Things are wisdom of man. Self-esteem, self-image, self-worth, self-confidence, self-reliance, self-control. There's man's wisdom for you. Focus on family. Well, I'm not getting close. Don't get me started on politics and things.

That's a Christian way. Yeah. But how about like Mother Earth? The environmental movement is a religion. It has all the tenets of religion too. It's really fascinating. If you really compare environmentalism and established religion. They have all the tenets, all the beliefs, all the high priests, Al Gore, some of these others, that are of this ilk. But it's a religion.

And that's why it's so hard to get them off this. You can bring them facts and they will not change anything because it's a religion. It's not a fact. It's not a fact-based. It's a religion. It's because they live by faith. That's why you can't get them off. Exactly. Man-centered faith. That's their faith. That's their religion. I can show you all the data, but it doesn't matter. Because their faith is in Mother Earth and that. And it's the same thing with Reformed theology. Yeah. If your faith is in the Ten Commandments or the Sermon on the Mount, it's very difficult to be talked out of that and change the object of your faith.

The thing about that, how is that possible? How does that happen? Who's the one who loves that? The old man. Because what is it? Can I do something? Yeah. He's the first one, the old nature is the first one to try and do something. When we go back to what is grace, our definition of grace, what is it? Unmerited? We can't do anything to receive the unlimited blessings. But the old man is the first one that, you know, spiritual worships?

You want me to do it? You'll look better in front of the Lord. You can look a little better. First one to do it is self-based. Always thinking something to do. Always goes back to a law, cause and effect. If you do this, you get this. Grace is not based that way. So, is there certainty in non-biblical faith? A lot of quiet? No. Certainty? No. No, not at all.

But why do people do that? Why do we choose that occasionally? Very often a lot of times. Why do we do that? It's totally uncertain. Is there rest in non-biblical faith? No. But we choose it a lot. When the old man hears the music, we're right there. And yet we choose it, and there's no rest, and there's no certainty in it. Back to biblical faith and the focus on things of God. Alright. So, question two. Open you, Bibles. open your Bibles to Romans chapter 7 verses 7 through 11. I'll read that and then we'll do the question. Romans 7 verses 7 through 11. What shall we say then?

Is the law sin? May it never be. On the contrary, I would not have come to know sin except through the law, for I would not have known about covening if the law had not said, You shall not covet. But sin, taking an opportunity through the commandment, produced in me coveting of every kind. For apart from the law, sin is dead. I was once alive apart from the law, but when the commandment came, sin became alive and I died. And this commandment, which is to result in life, proved to result in death for me. For sin, taking an opportunity through the commandment, deceived me, and through it killed me. The question is, is the law sin? I'll speak up at once. No. Does it? So, it is not? Yes? No? No. No. It's right clear as day.

Is the law sin? May it never be. The hardest terms you can say. Are you kidding? No. It is not sin. So, what does the law do? It shows our need for a savior. What? Defines sin. Defines sin. Okay. But it does a lot more. It wakes up the sin nature. Wakes up the sin nature. It shows us our need. Yeah, indirectly shows us the need. We can't ever through law be justified. Others? It condemns us. It condemns us. Yeah. from verse 7, I would not have come to know sin except through the law.

So, when we are arguing vehemently to have the Ten Commandments put everywhere, good thing, we're Christians, Ten Commandments, yeah, right? Silent. If that's your purpose, it's fine. Can you explain Yes, I will get to that. Because a lot of people use that. You know, what does that mean?

Yeah. So, should we be arguing for the Ten Commandments? No! No! You know, we see a lot of good Christian organizations just are, you know, championing this and these, you know, recent court opinions. You know, we've got to have the Ten Commandments in every courthouse. Why? If you're a believer, are you under the Ten Commandments?

No. I think it was Cal Thomas, the commentator. I saw him at the prayer breakfast and I heard him later. He actually went there when Judge Roy Brown or Roy whatever in Alabama who was fighting to get the Ten Commandments. It was right about that time and I saw a publication from Cal. Everybody else was screaming and ranting and raving, oh we should be behind him. Cal said, we should be running as far away from that as possible.

Boy did he probably suffer a lot of slings and arrows from Christians who goes, huh? Because a lot of people, the books, All Our Self Helps and Put Us Back Under That Law and What We Can Do, And so a lot of Christians just don't understand when we are not under the law, we're under grace. And I look, just as I said at the beginning with those verses and other stuff, I look in the mirror and I say, how could I have read through Romans and Galatians and not see that we're not under law but under grace?

For years, 20 years. Until the identification and looking and it's like, well yeah, duh. You know, the law is for flesh and the world. Not for me as a Christian believer in Christ. Yeah. I think Satan has kept grace and education trees away from churches, from the world in general. Because every atheist I talk to, But you just have to follow all these rules and regulations, and it has nothing to do with true Christianity under grace. And that's why people aren't flocking to it.

Once you really break the code, and God helps you understand that, it's like, this is so loving, it's so kind, it's such a courageous, wonderful thing. But again, we've talked in a grace class, you have to be taught grace. The Holy Spirit will begin working that, but it's through the Word that you're taught grace. Because it's not something that a lot of people teach. Grace is just one of those good Christian words a lot of times. Grace, that means you're a nice person.

No, it is an operating system which we are under. A reigning principle right now. There's one that grace is the reigning principle. 521. 521, yeah. But that's the operating system we work under now. It's not a good word that you're gracious. You're just a really nice, kind person.

That's how a lot of Christendom, I think, looks at it. But when you look at the law, there are a lot of good principles there. I think it defines the character and also sets up Well, it's this one. Law was... and there's another one that basically says the sin was there to... It's just to bring out. The law is only for the flesh and only to show that we are woefully off target, off mark, sin. There's a lot of sense in it. But it's not a ruling principle. I didn't say that it was. But it can show the character and all that.

In Christ would you covet? In Christ would you murder? In Christ would you whatever the Ten Commandments? So yeah, there are principles that are, I think, inherent in a righteous I don't know how to put that. It shows the character of a righteous person. A righteous non-believer. Yeah, a righteous non-believer.

That's the thing about the law is that we as a believer look at the law We can say, well, the principles are fine, but they're not for me. Yeah, they're not for me. That's, I guess, the thing. I have nothing to do with the law because I was separated from it at the cross. Are the principles okay? Yeah, they're fine, but they're not for me. The law in and of itself, though, is wholly just. It says it. May it never be. It's not a sin. It's wholly right. It sets up these characteristics that we in ourself, or man, can never achieve. Can never achieve. Has anyone been justified by the law? Never. So, yeah, it's the standard, but that's not for us anymore.

Do you think the majority of the people will look at the Ten Commandments and say, oh yeah, that's a good guide? You know, a lot of... A guide for the old man. Go to the Psalms. A lot of people go to the Psalms. and derive a lot of peace and comfort from that.

But most of that is not for us. But Courtney, is it for the Jews? Do they have to live by that? I think it's for man. It's for man to show that you can never meet that standard. It is to enliven the sin nature, is what the law does. Enrage it, build it up. And so most people think it's just the opposite. It's to make me a good person. Okay, but was it said to the Jews, the Ten Commandments, which they couldn't keep then? Yes, and in the Millennial Kingdom, what's going to happen? You're going to live by the law.

Where is it? It's right here, in the Jews' hearts. They'll have it in their heart. There won't be need for a rabbi. Or a school, or anything. It's going to be in their heart. So the law will be in there. Earthly based. Fleshly based. Not spiritually based at all. We can get character.

He beats me up all the time routinely for my scuba diving or anything like that. Although he cracks me up because he says some things. Anyway. I look at it as you see the character. When I dive, I just see God's character in here. These beautiful things that he's created. It shows me the character, but does that save me? Can I look at a sunset or that beautiful Colorado sky in the middle of the mountains with stars that are just amazing? Can I be saved by that? Not a chance. Makes you feel good though. I'm all about feelings. Yeah, all about feelings. Yeah.

You know, I think something that really helped me clarify and might help you clarify too, something that Waymore Newell said, we all love him, right? that the law prescribes a holy walk, but it doesn't give any power to achieve it. And I thought that was... because I do... don't you think that the law sort of... does sort of represent God's holiness? So we can't say... and that's why it condemns us, right? Right.

But I like the way that Noah played, because that really kind of... sort of clarified it for me. Because there's always a question, why is he asking people to do this? Let me ask you this, is Christ under the law now? Is he under the law? So, where are we? In Him. So, are we under the law? No. Not at all.

Again, character all that, and it's good, and you can read the Psalms and get some peace from it, but we should be focusing on Him. Growing the grace and knowledge of Him. Eternal life is to know Him. John 17, it's the union. It's all about intimacy. It's all that stuff I was starting with. It's all about that. It's not about the feel goods. You get amazing peace and rest and joy and all those things he said that you will get. All those things because what? You're looking at Him. Not because I'm doing things.

Or realizing his, you know, like I said when I look at a starry night or scuba diving and a wonderful, beautiful, colorful fish. Awesome, God has created that. And I realize God created that. But that just shows me he's got a really creative, beautiful character. One part of his essence. But I can't be saved by it. It just gives me an understanding. I always say, he could have made this all black and white. But he didn't.

He made this with colors and different things, which I think reveals his character. When you realize in the stars, he controls every one of those. That's why the in him all things hold together. That's the micro and the macro, from every cell to every star. He holds it all together.

Alright, um, yeah, oh, here we go. So, the law is going to be in the hearts of the Jews. What's going to be the operating principle? Yeah, I think it's just, it's a... The operating principle? Yeah, it's the law. It's referred to as the Kingdom Law. Yeah, yeah, Kingdom Law. The Sermon on the Mount.

So is it going to be grace? No. No. No. No. I mean it will be gracious in the fact that the condemnation isn't permanent, maybe is the way to say it, but the king will be ruling from Jerusalem and it will be a kingdom. It won't be a democracy. It won't be a do as you want kind of a thing.

It will be laid down in terms of what conduct and behavior is acceptable to the king and what isn't and it's based on what is known as kingdom law, an expansion of the mosaic system best described in the Sermon on the Mount. Let's see that. How does having it written on their heart make them be able to do it? The Jews are going to be able to live under and perform the mosaic law because it's written in their hearts.

But nobody else is going to have, no Gentile is going to have a law written in their hearts. So they don't need to be taught that. The earth will be released from its vanity or its being. put under God's thumb in terms of, you know, everything's dying, nothing grows, and you know, all of that kind of thing. And there won't be any prey or predator and all kinds of stuff like that.

It'll be a utopian paradise, but there'll still be sin. And there will be instant dealing with sin. Instant. There won't be a trial, there won't be, it'll be instant. Just finishing up question two, those things. So what does the law do? I did have those verses, actually. In verse seven, I would not have come to know sin except through the law. I want the law. Why? So I can know sin.

And then also looking at Romans 5.20, and this is the one I was looking at. The law came in so that the transgression would decrease? No. The law came in so that the transgression would increase, but where sin increased, grace abounded all the more. Again, we should be away from the law. We're a grace-based life.

Did you say it was Romans 5.10? 5.20. Thank you. There is a definite article before the word sin. What does that mean? So Romans 7 and 8. What shall we say then? Is the law sin?

May it never be. On the contrary, I would not have come to know the sin except through the law. For I would not have known about coveting if the law had not said, You shall not covet. But the sin, taking opportunity through the commandment, produced in me coveting of every kind. For apart from the law, sin is dead."

So, I did look at that because most translations don't put in the And yet, when you look at the Greek, there is a, it's Strong's Word 3588, ho, including feminine, neutered, and all inflections, it's the definite article. So it is there, it's just most translations don't put it in, which is kind of odd. Because I saw that, you know, the question, wait a minute, it's not in there. I looked at the translations, but then when I went to the Greek, it's actually there, this word, this definite article. So what does the definite article in front of the word sin mean?

Sin nature. Sin nature versus? Sins. Sins. Sin or sins. So it specifically is pointing to the sin nature, not the sins that we do. It's the actual sin nature. So, basically in this one it's talking about, I would have not come to know the sin nature except through the law. But the sin nature taking opportunity through the commandment produced in me coveting of every kind. For apart from the law, sin is dead.

So again, I didn't look at that last one, if that the sin is dead. Did you know that one, Mike? Yeah, but is it the sin on that last one? I should look at that, yeah. Again, so the sin nature. Okay? So these are talking about the sin nature. So I would not have come to know the sin nature or the sin nature taking opportunity. So this isn't just the quote bad things we've done. This is the sin nature. The flesh, the old man. Okay? Why don't we maybe start... I think what's great about that concept is in one sense, and in another sense, I'm at a loss.

If Reformed theology or Covenant people live under a lost system, is that what their experiences are always discovering their sin nature? Is that what's really happening? I mean, if this word is true, and if that is the case, then why do they stay there? There is something about this Zen nature that is overwhelming. Why do I dance when the music plays? We point at those people who do that. Look in the mirror and why do I do these things? Same thing, same nature, same music playing, same person dragging me over going, huh, what?

Take my focus off him. But that thin nature is always, but we're getting better. Oh, we're getting better. Yeah, yep. Well, and to see the deceptive part of all this, and this goes back to the books and things, it sounds really good. You know, that you can be a better person, you can be a better believer, a better Christian, if you do this. And once you do this, what are you going? Are you under law or grace? Law. Do. If you don't do this. The do's and don'ts. Get back under a law system. And who's the first person to agree with that?

The sin nature. Because it gives it value. It gives it something to do. Otherwise, it should be reckoned dead. But we listen to the voice over here, huh? And we go do this. Yeah. When you were mentioning that sin will be banished from heaven, the body of Christ isn't connected to sin nature anymore, so they don't fall in that category. Right. And we're going to be here brewing and raining. Yeah.

That's my opinion. Only my opinion. I think that the implementation of of the millennial kingdom law, which is what we'll be doing. We'll be involved in that. Isn't our judgment the judgment of how much God will reward us? No, it's based on, this is after all of that. Because here we are as servants, we'll be here with resurrected glorified bodies. There's going to be six or seven of us around.

And what are we going to do? Are we just going to float around? No, we're going to be involved in the administration of the kingdom. And I think sin is still the issue. And that's the administration of the law is what we'll be doing, I think. So you'll be like a judge? I think we'll be all, we'll be, you know. Judge, jury, everything. And the restoration process, we'll be involved in all of that. But it'll be instant. Because we'll all have the mind of Christ. We'll all know what's going on. all over the place instantly. We won't have to get a text about it. There'll be a Facebook post on it. Alright, let's close. Heavenly Father, we thank you again. We just thank you again just for your word. And as we thank you, as we study faith, we realize again the essence of it is not based on us.

It's based on the things of God, the reality of who you are, and again, the trust in you. As we look to man's wisdom, all we have is uncertainty and no rest. We just pray that we will focus and keep our eyes on you. Again, to come to a knowledge of the Lord Jesus Christ, that is where the peace, rest, and all the things that you promised us in your word come from. It is nothing from man, nothing from our self-efforts, nothing self-centered. It is Christ-centered that we receive all those promises that you have in your word. We just get a rest and a peace knowing that.

And again, it's just that we realize that the author and perfecter of faith is the Lord Jesus. And we just, again, thank you for this time to be able to look into your Word and just to see how faith is based on the Lord Jesus Christ. We thank you again for this time. We do pray for Vern in the next meeting just to be able to give us the Word accurately and again, just to prepare our hearts to receive it. We do all these things in Jesus' name. Amen.