Episode 69 - Jesus Under the Old Covenant

Tim 00:00:23 Welcome or welcome back to the unveiling. This is episode 69. The title of this week's episode is Jesus Under the Old Covenant. And for those of you who were here last week, you'll notice I'm back. Sorry guys. Mark The Crowdy Rips and a Mighty Cheer <laugh>. Tim You know, we've been doing this for quite some time now, and, I'm my perfect, my perfect, record of attendance has been broken. So I'm, I'm brokenhearted over here, but you guys did an excellent job of wonderful episode last week. And I will say that, that my, one of my biggest surprises this year was in my position here. I, I kind of am the timekeeper usually, and it, there were days, it feels like a fight to keep it under an hour. So I was really expecting a couple of long, long recordings from you guys, but you kept it under 45 minutes. I was shocked and thrilled. So thanks for doing such a great job in my absence, guys. Mark: Our pleasure. Our pleasure. Ajai 00:01:22 Yeah, I Got tired of speaking with Mark, so I told him, let's send it. Mark 00:01:26 So <laugh>, that's how, it's very, it's very humbling for him <laugh>, to be talking with me, and it gets old up for a while. Tim Oh, oh, well, this week, as I said, the topic is Jesus under the Old Covenant. I wanna preface it a little bit with kind of putting Jesus in perspective. we've done a couple of episodes on Jesus being was born fully man and fully God. I think those are episodes 52 and 53. And the fully man portion of this is the important bit to this conversation, I think because he was born to marry. Now, the Jewish lineage comes through the mother to the children. It doesn't come through the Father. So it's important that you understand that Jesus was born a Jew to the woman who was a Jew. And so therefore, fully man, fully Jewish, he would be, have been born under the law and been, been taught it and expected to, adhere to it to the best of his ability. Now, his ability was better than anybody's, but, you know, there's been some convention out there on whether you know it's true or not, that he was born under the law despite those things. because everyone claims well, well, not every, because a certain amount of people claim though he was perfect in all things. So he was never under the law until he got crucified, at which time God put him all of our sins on him, which basically put him under the law. Now, this seems like a fairly theological argument to be having how many angels can dance on the head of a pin kind of argument. But why is it so important? and I'm gonna hazard a guess, and then I'm gonna pass this on to you, mark. So, batter up, hang on. I say it's because if Jesus wasn't born under the law and didn't keep the law, or as the word is used later fulfill the law, he wouldn't have been able to be that perfect sacrifice to allow for the forgiveness of all the sins of the world. That's, that's my 20,000 foot level Mark, why don't you take us into a nose dive as and, and bring us into this topic. Mark 00:03:43 I'll try to pull up before we crash too. well, the way this got, this got started in my mind, first of all, I want to just say there's a lot of people out there, and I recently gotten a, a, a debate on a social media theology platform. There's a lot of people that though, even sometimes kicking and screaming, you can get them to understand that we are no longer under the law. And we've spent episode after episode scripture after scripture proving that we are no longer under the law, but under grace. And that releases us from being slaves to sin. That's Roman six 14 in Galatians, I think at the end of chapter Paul four, Paul said, I do not set aside the grace for if righteousness could be gained under the law. Christ died for nothing. So that's the first thing. So there's a certain amount of believers that you can through scripture, hopefully we've done that on our podcast here. You can convince them that we are no longer under the law, but under grace, we are in Christ saved by faith alone from first to last. We don't add works of the law, dead works of the laws, Paul caused calls them. But that being said, there's a large number of people who believe now that we're Christians, in fact, we are called to fulfill the teachings of Jesus. That, especially the Sermon on the Mount they use. And so many pastors preach and preach and preach on the Sermon of the Mount, which admittedly was one of the great, probably the greatest moral teaching of all time. But this whole discussion today comes, to the point of what was Jesus doing as he walked to the, as he walked the earth, as Tim alluded to, and what was the purpose of the law? What was the purpose of Jesus teachings and the thing he said, things he said because, our, we're postulating that, Jesus was under the law. So everything he did, he did to perfectly fulfill that law. He himself said that, until heaven and earth disappear, not the smallest letter, not the least stroke of a pen, will by any means disappear from the law until everything is accomplished. And he said that he didn't come to abolish the law, but to fulfill the law. And that's what he was doing in this life. As Tim alluded to him being the lamb of God. He had to be a spotless, perfect, blameless lamb of God to be able to sacrifice his life for us and have it forgive our sin and give us that perfect righteousness that he earned under the law. So when you, when you take that into count, you see through that lens as you're watching his life unfold in the gospels, the things he did, his teachings, he was always fulfilling that law perfectly. Now, the first time I heard this was when all three of us, I think we've said in past episodes, and might have noticed in our, one of our bios on our new website that we all met in the same church, and that pastor there one Sunday, the first time I ever heard it, after already being a Christian for close to 30 years, he said that Jesus was under the law. We have to remember that the new covenant doesn't start when the New Testament starts. The new covenant starts at the cross. So until the cross, everything he said and did was perfectly fulfilling all requirements of the law of Moses. Tim 00:07:33 Is that at the Cross Mark or at the resurrection? Mark 00:07:36 Well, that's another whole episode there, Tim <laugh> <laugh>. So, well, we'll, we'll, we'll just skip that one for now. Tim 00:07:44 All Right. Well, listen, you did mention something about, we are, we are not under the law and, that we've spoken of it before. So if people wanna go back and look episodes 19 and 20, a two-parter on us not being under the law. Ajai your response here, <laugh>, Ajai 00:08:00 I would be able to help with that question, Tim. So Matthew 26, 28 says, but this is the blood of the new covenant, which was shed for the remission of our sins. And if you go to Hebrew, it says, right, even the old covenant was not inaugurated without the shedding of the blood. So the new covenant actually was, came into effect by the death of our Lord Jesus Christ. Tim 00:08:22 You know, you know, Paul says, I I I wanted to make sure I knew nothing but Christ and him crucified. He didn't say Christ and him crucified and resurrected, and he, so yeah, I, I think that falls in track with what I, but I, Mark 00:08:37 We may be splitting hairs, Tim, because Paul also says that what he received, he passed on as a, as a first importance that Christ was born, that he died, that he was raised, that he ascended. It was kind of that whole <laugh> that whole thing, you know, with, so, Ajai 00:08:54 But I think coming to the new covenant, though, it is fulfilled at the cross because it was fulfilled. I agree. God was able to raise Jesus from the dead because under the law, if you sin, you die only if you're righteous, you can live under the law. So because Jesus redeemed us from the curse of the law, and perfectly not only like Tim said, he fulfilled the law himself and he qualified himself as the perfect lamb of God so that he can die for us. So under the law, our party's death, right? So punishment, we broke the law. The way law is fulfilled in us is by Jesus becoming the sacrificial lamb for us. And before he could become that, he had to fulfill the law himself, because by fulfilling the law, you know, he proved beyond a shadow of doubt that he's righteous. 44 There's no sin on him. So what happened at the crosses when Jesus died and shed his sinless bed blood for us, our sin, we are washed away and there's no sin on us. And God is able to give us life to us because if there is sin on us, God cannot give us life. Because the wages of Sinh death, because Jesus arranged us in, Tim, you and I talked about it many times, the blood of law, Jesus does not just cover all sensitive resources. So therefore God is able to, give us life. You know, in fact, in Romans chapter four, verse 25, it says, in, new King James, version, he was delivered because of our offenses. And he was raised because of our justification at the cross. Jesus erased all our sins and justified us. He knew no sin became sin for us, that we might become the righteousness of God in him. Where did that happen? It happened at the cross. So all the sins are removed and therefore God raised him up from the dead. Mark 00:10:47 So until the cross happened, Jesus and the rest of all mankind was still under the law. Yep. Because the new covenant didn't happen till the cross. And as I mentioned earlier, the key to this all is, is that the gospel was God's plan from before the creation, before the beginning of time. And you need to understand what the purpose of the law was. The law was to show sin as utterly sinful and to make us conscious of sin, to see that we are in desperate need of a savior. So it only makes sense then when Christ came, he wouldn't change the purpose of the law. He, you know, he in fact elevated that law to work in concert to make us even more conscious of sin. I'm proposing here that if the law of Moses makes mankind conscious of their own sin, their umbi their inability to perfectly fulfill that law from birth to death, how much more impossible is it? Is it then to completely, perfectly fulfill the teachings of Jesus, which were an elevation of the law? He, he, he would say things to the Pharisees in the crowds, like you've heard it said, do not commit adultery. But I say, if you look at a woman with lust in your heart and there's seven or eight things, he goes, one after another saying, here's what the law said. Here's what I say. And what he said was way harder to do so. He was just working in concert with the law to fulfill the purposes for which the law was given. He was the gospel, he was the lamba God. And, and that, I just wanna, the sermon on the mound I mentioned is, is his ultimate teaching the hardest to keep? Turn your cheek when someone slaps you love your enemies, pray for him. But then at the very end, he summarizes by saying, be perfect. Therefore, as your heavenly Father is perfect, there's the ultimate and, elevation of the law, the ultimate making us conscious that we can't do it. And if unless someone does it for us, a perfect savior, then we're in really big trouble. Tim 00:13:02 Just to jump in here real quick with a definition, cuz I know a lot of times when we say the law, people think immediately of the 10 commandments, the law that Jesus, fulfilled perfectly included a lot more than that. It included the, you know, that the moral law, the mosaic law, the civil law, the governmental law, the ceremonial or Jewish or rabbinical laws, it's a lot, a lot of stuff. It wasn't just 10, 10 basic rules for, you know, living life. He, he right, he fulfilled all of it and all of it perfectly Mark 00:13:35 On our behalf is the key. Yep. Not to give us an example for us to work harder at doing it. And I, I, key key scripture, one of the great chapters in the Bible is Romans eight says, for what the law was powerless to do, because it was weakened by the flesh, God did by sending his own son in the likeness of sinful flesh to be a sin offering. And so he condemned sin in the flesh in order that the righteous requirement of the law might be fully met in us who do not live according to the flesh or the law. I'll paraphrase, but according to the spirit. So the law has been fully met in us, in Christ. He did that for Us. Ajai 00:14:21 Yeah. Mark, like, we just talked about Jesus fulfilled the law in two ways by keeping the law of Moses. In fact, you know, it's not that, he kept the law of Moses to become righteous, but because he is righteous and sinful, sinless, he kept the law. In other words, you know, whatever Jesus was, that is already in compliance with the law. So the law proves that Jesus is sinless lamb of God and he also fulfilled the law for us on our behalf under the law. The just, punishment under the law. You know, the just sentence for us is death. So he took our death and then he fulfilled the law for us. So I think it's important to understand, so people get a little confused here. They think law is given to us so that we can keep the law so that we can become righteous and we can, God can bless us, but it's the other way law is given to us to show that we cannot keep the law. And at the same time, the same law is proving that Jesus cannot break the law because he's a righteous son of God. Mark 00:15:30 That's a great point Ajai. One thing, the law, and I'll add, Jesus' teachings are really good at doing. They're good at bringing us to the end of ourselves. We can't do 'em. He's showing us over and over again by the things he's saying. The law first show us that shows us Jesus elevates it even higher and then even summarizes by saying, be as perfect as God. It takes us to the end of ourselves. That's why it was given. The apostle Paul said to show us that we can't do it and we need a savior. And that's a really, good context when we think about the story of the rich young ruler that many of us have read about and heard, from. It's in Matthew 19, it's also in Luke 18. But this rich young ruler approached Jesus and said to him, good teacher, what must I do to inherit eternal life? Jesus answered, there is none good but one that is God. But he says, if you will enter into life, keep the commandments. And his purpose here is to bring this young ruler to the end of himself. Cuz that young ruler then says, well, I have kept all the commandments since I was a child. And we know that's not true because nobody can keep those laws perfectly. and so instead of getting into a debate about that with him, Jesus then takes him further to get him to the end of his self. He says, okay then since you've kept those all, give away everything you own to the poor and follow me. And the rich young ruler went away sad because he couldn't do that. He was brought to the end of himself, by works. And then his disciples, when they saw that, said to him, you know, rabbi, how can anybody be saved then? And Jesus said that, I'll tell you the truth, it's easier for a camel to go through the eye of a needle than it is for a rich person to enter into heaven. And then they're like, what? And he said, with man, this is impossible with God. All things are possible because it, by our works, a camel can go through the, I have a needle easier than all of any of us can get into heaven. Eternal life, acceptance by God, by the things we do. You better off just buy yourself a camel and try to cram 'em through a needle cuz you're not getting in by works. That's by faith alone in Christ alone. And that's the whole point we're making here. That to be that righteous lamb of God, Christ fulfilled that righteous law on our behalf. And that was a great point you made, AJai, that I don't think I've heard made that succinctly before, that Jesus could have been resurrection, resurrected unless he had perfectly fulfilled the righteous requirement of the law. That's how you put it. Wasn't it Ajai? Ajai 00:18:25 Yeah, yeah. <unk> You know, what we could not do, he did, he took away all our sins. If there is one sin on us, he couldn't have been raised from the dead because he died to, on our behalf to take away our sins. And if there is sin on us, God couldn't give us life because the wages of Sinh death. So because the sins were taken away and we were made righteous at the cross, he's able to give us life. Tim 00:18:51 So guys, we've been talking about this for a little bit here, and I know for a fact that, two weeks ago at the end of, that particular episode, Ajai, you were saying something and, and it fits well into the topic tonight, and I thought maybe you'd like to expound on that. Ajai 00:19:07 Yeah. so Tim, what we talked about is in, we talked about forgiveness of sin and we said, unless we know we are forgiven, we cannot forgive others. Because inefficient chapter four, it says, be kind to one another and forgive one another even as God, for Christ's sake forgive you. So Ians four says, God forgive us first and therefore we forgive. But in Matthew chapter six, verse 14, Lord talking on the sermon on the Mount, he says, for if you forgive men that trespasses, your heavenly Father will forgive you. But if you do not forgive men that trespasses, neither will your father forgive your trespasses. So we see most <unk> in Christendom, they code the scripture in order to encourage, I think their intentions are good in order to encourage people, they code this verse, unless you forgive, God will not forgive you. But this plainly contradicts with efficiency. You know, if God forgives us first we forgive. That's what ion is. And then here it says, we forgive first and then God forgives us. Right? They're in contradiction or in conflict with each other. Both cannot be true at the same time. Because if I, if my forgiveness is based on God's forgiveness and God's forgiveness is based on my forgiveness, right, there's a deadlock. Both cannot be true at the same time, only one has to be true. Or basically, you know, they're being spoken to a different audience in a different context or in different times also. Yeah. You know, it goes back to, you know what Mark is sharing before the whole point of the sermon on the Mount is not about we become righteous by keeping what Jesus said. Jesus did not come to give us laws to keep, but he came to fulfill the law. That's what Mark said. And I want to read quickly this one, right? So the context that Jesus is setting is, if you go to Matthews chapter five, I think in order to understand this, we need to read the whole sermon on Mount. We can't just jump to one verse and then pick that out of there. So if you start with, Matthews chapter five, he begins with, blessed are the poor and spirit. What does it mean? Blessed are those who do not are spiritually bankrupt. That means we really do not have any righteousness of our own. That means that, you know, we cannot really fulfill the law. He's already saying that. And then he says, blessed are those who hunger and thirst for righteousness. If I'm already righteous and if I'm already able to fulfill the law, why would I hunger and thirst for righteousness? So he's setting the context. But you know, people in those days, they did not understand. They're thinking that, you know, we are keeping the law pretty good and by keeping the law become righteous. And then he goes on to say, in, Matthew chapter five, verse 20, far I say unto, unto you, unless your righteousness exceeds the righteousness of the scribes and the Pharisees, you will by no means enter the kingdom of heaven. So in those days, pharisees and scribes are the people who kept the law to the highest level. Even Paul says, you know, when it comes to keeping the law, he was blameless. So nobody could really, locking Pharisees like Nicodemus Paul, no one could point a finger external, Hey, you committed adultery, you stole. No one can say that. But here Lord is saying that, oh, that's not enough unless you exceed it. you cannot enter the kingdom of God. So in that context, he says many things, right? He says, you know, if you, you have heard, but I say to you, you have heard. But I say to you, you heard that, you know, if you, mother, you know that is a sin. But here it says, you know, whoever gets angry with his brother without a cause is in danger of judgment. And then he goes on and on and say, and then in this context she says, if you forgive, you are sin will be forgiven. So I think the thing that Lord Jesus Christ is pointing out is in those days, you know, people are full of self-righteousness and they think, you know, they're too good for others and they were not forgiving. So he is pointing out, you know, only if you forgive, father will forgive you. And it is impossible for us to forgive first, you know, try to forgive everybody that, offended you in your life. It's impossible because even if you want to, the true forgiveness does not come. So again, he's saying that again. He's elevating the law. Mark 00:23:27 Yeah, that's that's an awesome point Ajai and it just struck me as you're saying that the depth of that, because my thought was whenever I find like the sermon on the matter anywhere in the Bible, I find things that seem to contradict the gospel of grace and sound very legalistic. I've learned to ask myself, okay, how do I do that? I can't do that. How do I do that? And the answer is Jesus, Jesus is the gospel. Jesus is the good news. What was his main message? Repent for the kingdom of God as near repent means to change your mind. Jesus is the kingdom of God. Jesus is eternal life and we're stuck in a catch 22. Because if God won't forgive us until we first forgive everybody in our life, we don't have the power to do it. The only way we'll ever do that is to the power of the Holy Spirit, which we can't get cuz we're not gonna be forgiven until we for forgive everybody else. So we're stuck in this IPOs, this impossible conundrum if you take that at face value. But if you, when you realize what Jesus was doing, what the law was doing, what the purpose of the gospel is, then it becomes really clear. And I was very skeptical of this the first time I heard it. And then I got into scripture, started looking at it, and it just gets clearer and clearer and clearer. If we couldn't, if we don't have the power to forgive without the spirit of Christ in us, and we can't get the spirit of Christ in us until we first forgive, then we're stuck. We can't get out. You know. Ajai 00:25:04 That's a deadlock. Yeah. So it's it's like anything else, right? The whole, message is about, like we said, he's saying he is, he's bringing them to an end of themselves. He's saying so many things they cannot do so that they can see that, oh my God, I cannot really keep the law know that, you know, then they will ask the question. If I cannot keep the law, then I'm doomed. What do I do now? Amen. That's when, you know, we turn to the law. Jesus Christ. Yes, you do not keep the law, but I kept the law on your behalf. Not only kept the law, I shed my blood to redeem you from under the law so that you can be saved. Yeah. And that's how you know we become righteous. real quick on the purpose of the law, I think you mentioned before also, mark is in Romans chapter three. we see, I think it's mentioned very, very succinctly. I really like that. Romans chapter three in verse 19 and 20, now we know that whatever the lawes it says to those who are under the law that every mouth may be stopped and the whole world may become guilty before God. That's what the Lord Jesus Christ is doing on the surround of the is making everybody guilty and so that they can realize this. The next verse, therefore by the deeds of the law, no flesh will be justified in his sight because by the law, his knowledge of sin, then he doesn't stop there. Right? When there are some bots in the New Testament, that is such an awesome thing, right? It's, he goes on to say he doesn't stop there. But now the righteousness of God, apart from the law is revealed being witnessed by the law and the prophets, even the righteousness of God through faith in Jesus Christ to all and on all who believe, for there is no difference for all have sinned and fall short of the glory of God. So it's basically saying that, you know, there's no difference between Jews and Gentiles. Everybody could not keep the law. Everybody's sinned and therefore nobody can be justified by the deeds of the law. But that's not the end of the story. But now a righteousness from God, apart from the law that is this righteousness has nothing to do with the law. Whether you keep the law or whether you broke the law. It has nothing to do with because this is a different system altogether. And this is a new covenant. In the new covenant, we become righteous by faith, simply by believing in the Lord Jesus. Christed and becoming righteous means our sin are forgiven, right? God imputes righteousness to us, whatever righteousness that Jesus had, that is imputed to us. And in God's says we are as righteous as Jesus. And now he goes on to say, you know, because I have forgiven you, because I've imputed this righteousness to you, because I've made you righteous by the blood of Lord Jesus Christ. Now go and forgive one another. Be kind, tenderhearted, forgiving one another even as God for Christ's sake forgave you. So we are talking about two different systems. We cannot apply, we cannot take what applies under the law to grace. You know, that's what people are doing right? You know, that's mixing of old and the new. We should not do that now. We are come from the old to the new here. We are already forgiven and we forgive others because we are forgiven. Mark 00:28:16 One thing I'll just a little hair split with ya, Jay, you said, because we've been forgiven, now we forgive my first reaction before I knew the gospel would've been, now I gotta start working harder to forgive because God forgive me, forgave me. So now we have the power because we've come into a relationship with Christ and have a spirit that becomes a fruit of his spirit. It's still not by us trying harder, it's because his spirit is transforming us into the image of Christ. That that comes out as a fruit in us, that we are kind and gentle and forgiving. Ajai 00:28:52 That is, that is a good point. mark, you know, again, I think we should not take it as, you know, put our flesh to work to forgive. That's not what it is. But, the Bible says, you know, as the trust in Lord Jesus Christ, the Bible says it's no longer I but Christ can live in Christ lives in me. So as we rely on him, Jesus himself lives in us and he does a forgiveness in and through us. Yeah. If it depend on ourselves, there's nothing we can do. Mark 00:29:19 Ajai, can you read the scripture? You read a little bit early about Jesus telling that unless their righteousness surpassed that of the Pharisees. Can you read that scripture? Ajai 00:29:28 Yes sir. Matthew five 20. For I say to you that unless your righteousness exceeds the righteousness of the scribes and Pharisees, you will by no means enter the kingdom of heaven. Mark 00:29:39 So this right here is just another great example of Jesus elevating to take people to the end of their cells. Now, Jesus had a lot of problem with the Pharisees, hip, you know, being hypocrites, finding loopholes to get out of the law. But to the people him saying you need to b be more righteous according to the law than even the Pharisees. That's all they did was the law from the moment they woke up to the moment they went to bed, is wash their hands in a specific way. Keep my ceremonial cleans. Don't do this. That's all they did for him to say that to them, they would've been oi, impossible. How am I gonna be more righteous than a Pharisee? So that's just to re-look at the end of chapter four of Galatians, when Paul said, I do not set aside the grace of God for if righteousness could be gained through the law, Christ died for nothing. So right, that there, that tells you the purpose of the cross is that we can't, righteousness can't be gained by the law. That's why he had to die. He's Paul saying, if you could do that, if you could fulfill the law of Moses, if you could fulfill the teachings of Moses, if you could have greater righteousness than the Pharisees, if you could be perfect as God is perfect, then Christ didn't need to die, but he did die. Why? Because you can't do it and he's done it for you. Ajai 00:31:11 Yeah. The most comforting thing for me is we don't, it's not only we don't have to fulfill the law, we cannot fulfill the law. So there is no way that we can fulfill the law. God in his Gracie is actually showing us, Hey guys, you can't do it. Just simply trust me. So there's no point trying it. So it is comforting because, well, you know, Lord himself knows I can't keep it. So that means really he's not putting any conditions on me. The Bible clearly says, you know, if it is by grace, it cannot be by work. So we can freely and confidently come to our Lord Jesus Christ and receive everything from him, which starts with forgiveness of sin, receiving the forgiveness. And then after that, receiving all the blessings, Bible says, you know, he that sped not his son, how can he also not give us all things freely? What happens is most people think, you know, this whole idea of, justification by faith, he's only for salvation. But once they're saved, you know, they go back to the law to try to earn things from God. But that's not, we don't have to do that. The Bible clearly says, if he gave Jesus freely, how can he also not give all things freely in him? So we are done with the law. We don't have to go back to doing stuff or fulfilling any conditions, but simply we go to God and receive everything freely based on the finished Jesus Christ. Tim 00:32:30 Now, being the disclaimer guy, I'm gonna throw this out there like I do. Oftentimes when we talk about this, we don't sin anymore. We're not in law anymore, so we can't sin anymore. That doesn't mean we still can't do bad things and hurt people. There, there are still ramifications to our fallen nature will still come out. we still live in the flesh. It's not accountable to us spiritually. It doesn't come between our relationship with God, the Holy Spirit, Jesus. So, you know, that's an important distinction to make. But Jesus paid the price for all of those things so that we can have that relationship, with, with God. And, other than that, you know, we just have to kind of maintain living within that the best that we can. And when we mess up, we have to address that locally, more or less in the physical with our relationships. Mark 00:33:18 Tim, can I add to your disclaimer a little bit? Absolutely. Sure. And also, we're not saying the law is bad. We're not saying Jesus teaching is bad. We're not saying it's bad to be perfect as your fa as your fatherly father is perfect or having greater righteousness than the Pharisees. That's not what we're saying. Even though the Apostle Paul said the law is obsolete, he also said the law is good. And then here's the little caveat when used properly, okay, when we use the law to try to gain acceptance from God, gain our salvation, gain our, our growing as Christians or sanctification or gra or gain greater blessing, now we've made the law bad because it's that system, that old covenant that is a ministry of death. It's not the goodness, obviously the things Jesus said and the what the law says, those are all great things. Don't murder, you know, pray for your enemies. That's why it's considered the highest moral teaching ever. You know, bless your enemies and pray for them and turn the other cheek. These are all wonderful things. The only problem with them is they're too good, they're perfect. We can't do that. So they're meant to bring us to Jesus. That's the proper use of all those things. The law, the teachings of Christ. Ajai 00:34:45 Yeah. I also want to add, Christ is the only one, the only human being who fulfilled the sermon on the Mount is the Lord Jesus Christ himself. In fact, when it's a description of his nature and character, and by God's grace when we are born again, he lives in us and he's able to relive his life in and through us as we trust him. You know, as long as we live on this earth, we can manifest, we manifest both, the nature of the flesh. and we also have the opportunity now to let Christ live in us. So as we grow in his grace, you know, we are able to manifest more and more of Christ in us. Not by our own strength or power, but simply letting him live his life in and through us. Tim 00:35:30 Well guys, I mentioned earlier that I felt like some days I was the timekeeper. And this has been a great discussion, very full of a lot of great truths. I can't wait to actually listen to it again already, But, What I always try and do is give you an opportunity to summarize or add any last points you want to. And today we're gonna start with Mark. Mark 00:35:51 Well, you know, me and AJai in our last, duo episode without Tim there helping us, we, we made this point that no matter what topic we deal with all roads always when you, when you like a, a, a gold rush pan where you dipped it into the dirt and you shook it back and forth and got all the pieces out that don't belong there and you're just left with the gold, it always shakes out to Jesus. That's what it's all about. That's what the kingdom of heaven was Jesus. And as he taught and as the law was given, all things were to show man that they need Jesus, that they can't do it. So as he walked through this life, the things he said, the things he did, the things he taught, they're all perfect according to the law from birth to death, which that's the standard that the law sets for us as well. However, we can't do it like he did it. So he did it for us to save us. So once again, the road just leads back to Christ and him crucified as Paul vowed to He said, I know when he was with the Corinthians, he said, I've vowed to know nothing while I was among you, but Jesus Christ and him crucified, that he is the kingdom of God when he comes near the kingdom of God comes. Tim 00:37:15 Thank you Mark. Excellent as always, Ajai. Ajai 00:37:18 Yeah, I'm going to go to Romans chapter eight. we touched on it a little bit. I'm going to read a little bit here. Therefore now there is no condemnation, condemnation to those who are in Christ Jesus. For the law of spirit of life in Christ Jesus had made me free from the law of sin and death for what the law could not do. For it was weak. Through the flesh, God did. By sending his own son in the likeness of sinful flesh, on account of sin, he condemned sin in the flesh that the righteous requirement of the law might be fulfilled in us. So here, our law, Jesus Christ, he went to the cross, he condemns sin in the flesh and then he fulfilled the righteous requirement of the law. The righteous requirement of the law on us is that the wages of sin is death. The one who sin must be condemned. So he was condemned in our place. So therefore there is no condemnation for us. So this is our starting point when we walk in the new covenant. So there is no condemnation for us. The more we receive the gift of condemnation, the more we receive this forgiveness and let it wash us, we are able to forgive others. An efficient chapter four <inaudible>. It says, you know, as we receive the gift of no condemnation, right, we are are able to forgive others efficient. Chapter four, <inaudible> says, be kind to one another, tender hearted, forgive one another even as God in Christ forgave you. So receive the gift of condemn no condemnation and let it sink in. And as we, as we receive forgiveness, right as we let it washe us, we are able to forgive others. Tim 00:39:00 Amen. Amen. I'm gonna add, cuz I know someone read their quoted this earlier, don't be discouraged by the seeming command to be perfect as your father in heaven is perfect because it's not about you doing anything. If you are a Christian, you've received Jesus, you're washed by the blood and you have the Holy Spirit living in you, basically, whose spirit replaces your spirit. Think of that verse saying, walk in these things and you will be considered by God to be as perfect as he is. You know, I mean it's, that's not what it says, but that's how I interpret it. And guys, you can jump on me next week if I'm wrong, <laugh>. Well, you're right, you are. You are now the, we are now the perfect righteousness of God cuz he fully met it in us. So don't be discouraged by some of these where it says, do this, do that. And it's all really comes down to walking in the spirit and letting the spirit flow these things out of you. Well guys, like I said, that's gonna do it for this episode. Thanks everybody for listening. Guys, I look forward already the next week when we will talk to you again the next time.