Children Of The Promise

Posted on September 15, 2025 by bibleteacherorg

Photo by Nguyen Ngoc Tu on Unsplash

Galatians 4:7-8 Wherefore thou art no more a SERVANT {doulos}, but a son; and if a son, then an heir of God through Christ. 8 Howbeit then, when ye knew not God, YE DID SERVICE {douleuō} unto them which by nature are no gods.

The Christian Is Happy In Loving God

We’ve been studying how God gave us the Law through Israel, not to save us, but to lead us to Christ Who then saves us. The Law is a wake up call. It is described as:

Schoolmaster or Teacher (paidagōgos)
Tutor (epitropos) or Administrator
Governor (oikonomos) or Household Manager

Before we knew God, He gave us the Law to mature our minds, to teach us that we are all sinners in need of the Savior. The purpose of the Law was to

Galatians 3:24-26 … bring us unto Christ, that we might be justified by faith. 25 But after that faith is come, we are no longer under a schoolmaster. 26 For ye are all the children of God by faith in Christ Jesus.

Before we were saved, we served as slaves false gods. The reason Galatians was written was to warn the Church to not follow the pathway of Israel. They created idols – like golden calves – and then worshiped these things. There are a number of golden calves in the Church today. God tells us:

1 John 4:1 (KJV) Beloved, believe not every spirit, but try the spirits whether they are of God: because many false prophets are gone out into the world.

We test what we have heard by the Word of God. Before we were saved by faith in Christ, born again, we …

Ephesians 2:2-3 (ESV) … walked, following the course of this world, following the prince of the power of the air, the spirit that is now at work in the sons of disobedience— 3 among whom we all once lived in the passions of our flesh, carrying out the desires of the flesh and the mind, and were by nature children of wrath, like the rest of mankind.

We followed the crowd and the darkness. We were slaves to sin and darkness. The devil wants the Church to be like the world. He creeps into the Church as he crept into the Garden of Eden, and brings a pseudo-truth, a twisted version of what God’s Word has actually said. Have you ever heard

God just wants you to be HAPPY.

That sounds nice to our flesh, but it is nowhere in the Bible. If you look up the word “HAPPY” in the King James, you will only find it 25 times. Do you know what God uses the word “HAPPY” in context with? “HAPPY is the people, whose God is the LORD” (Psalm 144:15). When Jesus washed the feet of the disciples, He said “HAPPY are you if you do these things”( John 13:17). God says “He that has mercy on the poor is HAPPY” (Proverbs 14:21). Or “HAPPY is the one who finds wisdom” (Proverbs 3:13). Or “HAPPY is the person who endures suffering” (James 5:11). If you are a child of God, your happiness comes from being the best child of God you can be. Children of God are not under the Law of God, but God indwells us. We can only be happy when we are walking in the light with Jesus. The Scripture says:

1 Timothy 6:8-12 (KJV) … having food and {clothing} let us be therewith content. 9 But they that will be rich fall into temptation and a snare, and into many foolish and hurtful lusts, which drown men in destruction and perdition. 10 For the love of money is the root of all evil … 11 But thou, O man of God, flee these things; and follow after righteousness, godliness, faith, love, patience, meekness. 12 Fight the good fight of faith, lay hold on eternal life, whereunto thou art also called, and hast professed a good profession before many witnesses.

You Must Do Thus To Retain Your Salvation

Galatians 4:9-11 But now, after that ye have known God, or rather are known of God, how turn ye again to the weak and beggarly elements, whereunto ye desire again to be in bondage? 10 Ye observe days, and months, and times, and years. 11 I am afraid of you, lest I have bestowed upon you labor in vain.

If you are a child of God, you are no longer a chattel slave – you are a son of God. You are “KNOWN OF GOD”. Why would you want to turn back to the rituals and feasts of the Law? These things were, as we are told in

Hebrews 10:1 (ESV) … a shadow of the good things to come instead of the true form of these realities, it can never, by the same sacrifices that are continually offered every year, make perfect those who draw near.

The Pharisees had taught the Galatians that they had to return to the Law of God. They had to follow the shadows. Paul said “Ye observe days, and months, and times, and years”. Under the Law, Israel observed weekly Sabbaths with all their restrictions. They observed these Sabbaths so they would not be cut off from Israel. The Law leads a person to do a thing – or else suffer the consequence. Under Grace, we observe a Sabbath, but do so because we love God our Father. For instance, should Christians worship God on Saturday or Sunday? The Apostle said:

Romans 14:5-6 (ESV) One person esteems one day as better than another, while another esteems all days alike. Each one should be fully convinced in his own mind. 6 The one who observes the day, observes it in honor of the Lord. The one who eats, eats in honor of the Lord, since he gives thanks to God, while the one who abstains, abstains in honor of the Lord and gives thanks to God.

What we do, we do not because we MUST do it. This is the heart of the slave. We do what we do because WE LOVE THE LORD. This is the heart of the son.

Galatians 4:12-16 Brethren, I beseech you, be as I am; for I am as ye are: ye have not injured me at all. 13 Ye know how through infirmity of the flesh I preached the gospel unto you at the first. 14 And my temptation which was in my flesh ye despised not, nor rejected; but received me as an angel of God, even as Christ Jesus. 15 Where is then the blessedness ye spake of? for I bear you record, that, if it had been possible, ye would have plucked out your own eyes, and have given them to me. 16 Am I therefore become your enemy, because I tell you the truth?

When Paul preached the Gospel of Christ to the Galatians, he preached “through infirmity of the flesh”. No preacher is perfect. Paul was not perfect. Paul had trouble with his eyesight – we don’t know exactly what. But we do know that Paul had other believers who wrote Scripture as he dictated to them. Though Paul was imperfect (as all God’s people are), the Galatians loved him for preaching the Gospel. They would have, if possible, “plucked out their own eyes” in love to Paul for sharing the Gospel with them. But once he left and the Pharisees came in with their lies about keeping the Law, now Paul was being regarded by suspicion.

Galatians 4:17-18 They zealously affect you, {zēloō} but not well; yea, they would exclude you, that ye might affect them. 18 But it is good to be zealously affected {zēloō} always in a good thing, and not only when I am present with you.

The Pharisees infected the Church at Galatia with “a burning desire, a zeal to pursue a thing” (zēloō). Paul says “it’s good to have a burning desire for a good thing – but they gave you a burning desire for the wrong thing”. Paul does not want the Church to go back to the Law.

He wants the Church – every Christian – to have Christ formed in them.

Galatians 4:19-20 My little children, of whom I travail in birth again until Christ be formed in you, 20 I desire to be present with you now, and to change my voice; for I stand in doubt of you.

This is what every Godly Pastor wants for the Church. Paul said – and this is almost comical – that he is like a pregnant woman in the throes of having a baby. Now, we know men can’t have babies. But Paul is using this to describe what the Galatians are putting him through. He preached Christ crucified to this Church. He preached the whole Gospel of salvation. Paul preached:

1 Corinthians 15:3-4 (ESV) that Christ died for our sins in accordance with the Scriptures, 4 that he was buried, that he was raised on the third day in accordance with the Scriptures …

Paul preached:

Romans 10:9-13 (ESV) … if you confess with your mouth that Jesus is Lord and believe in your heart that God raised him from the dead, you will be saved. 10 For with the heart one believes and is justified, and with the mouth one confesses and is saved. 11 For the Scripture says, “Everyone who believes in him will not be put to shame.” 12 For there is no distinction between Jew and Greek; for the same Lord is Lord of all, bestowing his riches on all who call on him. 13 For “everyone who calls on the name of the Lord will be saved.”

When a person REPENTS and RECEIVES the Gospel, God RECEIVES that person. The Spirit of Christ comes to us, and causes us to be born again. When the Galatians took a “U” turn and headed back toward the Law for salvation, it made Paul doubt they were ever born again. He pictures himself as a person in labor, straining that they would be delivered, that they would be born again of the Spirit of God. Paul says in verse 20, “ I desire to be present with you now, and to change my voice; for I stand in doubt of you.”

Which Son Are You?

Paul now describes the difference between the Law and Grace using the Law of God, a story that was written in the Torah, the Book of Genesis.

Galatians 4:21-23 Tell me, ye that desire to be under the law, do ye not hear the law? 22 For it is written, that Abraham had two sons, the one by a bondmaid, the other by a freewoman. 23 But he who was of the bondwoman was born after the flesh; but he of the freewoman was by promise.

This story is told in Genesis chapter 16. Abraham was 75 years old when God called him to salvation (Genesis 12:1-3). God promised Abraham a son, though God did not tell him when he would have the boy. After 10 years passed, and Abraham still had no son, his wife Sarai had Abraham go into Hagar, Sarai’s Egyptian slave, to get her pregnant. This was a bad idea, but Paul now uses the two sons of Abraham, Ishmael and Isaac, to describe the Law and Grace. “Abraham had two sons”. One was the son that Abraham worked for. He circumvented the will of God, for God told Abraham:

Genesis 12:2 … I will make of you a great nation

God would do the work. Abraham was passed child bearing age. Sarai was past child bearing age. What God promised was impossible. But “What is impossible with man is possible with God” (Luke 18:27, NIV). God would bless Abraham by Grace. Abraham neither earned nor deserved this. God just asked that Abraham follow Him, albeit imperfectly, no matter where the Lord led. But after ten years Sarai got impatient. Her slave, an Egyptian named Hagar, was of child bearing age. So Sarai talked Abraham into bedding Hagar – and she got pregnant!. We are told:

Genesis 16:16 (ESV) Abram was eighty-six years old when Hagar bore Ishmael to Abram.

He went in to Hagar at 85, and now at 86 he has a child. Or does he? Another 13 years pass, and still Sarai has no child. So Abraham goes to God in prayer. We read:

Genesis 17:17-19, 21 (ESV) Then Abraham fell on his face and laughed and said to himself, “Shall a child be born to a man who is a hundred years old? Shall Sarah, who is ninety years old, bear a child?” 18 And Abraham said to God, “Oh that Ishmael might live before you!” 19 God said, “No, but Sarah your wife shall bear you a son, and you shall call his name Isaac. I will establish my covenant with him as an everlasting covenant for his offspring after him. … 21 But I will establish my covenant with Isaac, whom Sarah shall bear to you at this time next year.”

Abraham offered Ishmael to be his heir, but God said NO! “Sarah your wife shall bear you a son, and you shall call his name Isaac”. God promised a child to Abraham by Sarah. He did not ask Abraham to help Him by going to Hagar. “He who was of the bondwoman was born after the flesh; but he of the freewoman was by promise”.

Galatians 4:24-26 Which things are an allegory: for these are the two covenants; the one from the mount Sinai, which gendereth to bondage, which is Agar. 25 For this Agar is mount Sinai in Arabia, and answereth to Jerusalem which now is, and is in bondage with her children. 26 But Jerusalem which is above is free, which is the mother of us all.

Though what Abraham, Hagar, and Sarah did were real events, Paul tells us that these things happened as an “ALLEGORY” {allēgoreō} or a figure of what was to come. There are two mountains where God addresses His people. There is Mount Sinai, the mother of the Law of God. Sinai answers to the “Jerusalem which is above”, the Heavens in which our Father now resides. Israel was only led to Mount Sinai or Hagar after God’s people repeatedly rejected His love and Grace. But …

Jerusalem WHICH IS ABOVE is free,
which is the mother of us all

All born under the Law are born to a slave woman, Hagar. Though God blessed Hagar (as He blesses everyone), Hagar was not the mother of Isaac, the child of promise. Her child was the child of the flesh. Hagar corresponds to the Jerusalem of Paul’s day. It is under Roman enslavement. It is under enslavement to the Law.

But the child of Promise, Isaac, came from Sarah and Abraham. This child is from not earthly power, but from the Jerusalem which is above, God’s Heaven. God lives in this Heavenly Jerusalem right now. The children of Hagar trust the earthly Jerusalem and the Law of God for their salvation. They are enslaved by that Law. When Israel came to Mount Sinai, they feared for their lives. We read about this contrast in:

Hebrews 12:12-24 Therefore lift your drooping hands and strengthen your weak knees, 13 and make straight paths for your feet, so that what is lame may not be put out of joint but rather be healed. 14 Strive for peace with everyone, and for the holiness without which no one will see the Lord. 15 See to it that no one fails to obtain the grace of God; that no “root of bitterness” springs up and causes trouble, and by it many become defiled; 16 that no one is sexually immoral or unholy like Esau, who sold his birthright for a single meal. 17 For you know that afterward, when he desired to inherit the blessing, he was rejected, for he found no chance to repent, though he sought it with tears. 18 For you have not come to what may be touched, a blazing fire and darkness and gloom and a tempest 19 and the sound of a trumpet and a voice whose words made the hearers beg that no further messages be spoken to them. 20 For they could not endure the order that was given, “If even a beast touches the mountain {Mount Sinai}, it shall be stoned.” 21 Indeed, so terrifying was the sight that Moses said, “I tremble with fear.” 22 But you have come to Mount Zion and to the city of the living God, the heavenly Jerusalem, and to innumerable angels in festal gathering, 23 and to the assembly of the firstborn who are enrolled in heaven, and to God, the judge of all, and to the spirits of the righteous made perfect, 24 and to Jesus, the mediator of a new covenant, and to the sprinkled blood that speaks a better word than the blood of Abel.

We who are saved are not saved by Mount Sinai, but by the Heavenly Jerusalem. Our Father lives in that place. At the end of time when God creates a new Heaven and a new earth, the Bible says that …

Revelation 21:2-3 (ESV) … I saw the holy city, new Jerusalem, coming down out of heaven from God, prepared as a bride adorned for her husband. 3 And I heard a loud voice from the throne saying, “Behold, the dwelling place of God is with man. He will dwell with them, and they will be his people, and God himself will be with them as their God.

Galatians 4:27 For it is written, Rejoice, thou barren that bearest not; break forth and cry, thou that travailest not: for the desolate hath many more children than she which hath an husband.

Hagar could have a child, but her child was not the child of the New Covenant. Sarah could not have a child – it was impossible – but God made it possible. Sarah is a picture of salvation by faith in Christ. Those who were “barren”, the lost, who believed on the Lord Jesus Christ were saved.

Galatians 4:28-31 Now we, brethren, as Isaac was, are the children of promise. 29 But as then he that was born after the flesh persecuted him that was born after the Spirit, even so it is now. 30 Nevertheless what saith the scripture? Cast out the bondwoman and her son: for the son of the bondwoman shall not be heir with the son of the freewoman. 31 So then, brethren, we are not children of the bondwoman, but of the free.

Those who are “self saved”, the children of Hagar, the children of the flesh will always persecute the children of promise. Right after Hagar had Ishmael, it wasn’t long before she mocked Sarah for her inability to have a child. Sarah had been trying for 25 years – but Hagar goes in to Abraham and has a child on her first encounter.

But her child was NOT the child of Promise,
and it did not count!

The self righteous, the Pharisees, the Sadducees, the Scribes will always hold themselves up as better than the Gentiles because they keep the Law perfectly. I’ve seen this in various places:

Church of Christ: If you don’t belong to a Church of Christ congregation, you’re not saved.
Catholic Church: If you’re not Catholic, you’re not saved.
Pentecostals: If you don’t speak in tongues, you’re not fully saved.

But this mentality goes all through the Church today, even in Baptist Churches. Beloved, salvation is not something YOU achieve. Salvation is something that Christ achieves for you. When you REPENT and RECEIVE Jesus Christ as Lord and Savior, God makes you a son or daughter of promise. Ishmael, the son of the flesh had no inheritance of Abraham. Isaac, however, was the inheritor to the Abrahamic promises.

If you are saved by Grace, you will lovingly serve your Heavenly Father. You want to magnify Him. You want to glorify Jesus. I have often said, “I will not chase you”. Why should I? If you are born again, you love Jesus. If you are a child of Promise, you love the Lord. You do not serve God because you fear you might not check a box somewhere, and end up in hell. I do not serve my God for fear of hell. I serve my God because I love my God. I hope you do, too.

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In Whom

Posted on September 14, 2025 by bibleteacherorg

Photo by Daniel Seßler on Unsplash

Ephesians 1:7-14 In whom we have redemption through His blood, the forgiveness of sins, according to the riches of His grace; 8 Wherein He hath abounded toward us in all wisdom and prudence; 9 Having made known unto us the mystery of His will, according to His good pleasure which He hath purposed in himself: 10 That in the dispensation of the fullness of times He might gather together in one all things in Christ, both which are in heaven, and which are on earth; even in Him: 11 In whom also we have obtained an inheritance, being predestinated according to the purpose of Him who worketh all things after the counsel of his own will: 12 That we should be to the praise of his glory, who first trusted in Christ. 13 In whom ye also trusted, after that ye heard the word of truth, the gospel of your salvation: in whom also after that ye believed, ye were sealed with that Holy Spirit of promise, 14 Which is the Earnest of our inheritance until the redemption of the purchased possession, unto the praise of His glory.

Last week we saw that God defines His Church as “SAINTS” and as “THE FAITHFUL IN CHRIST JESUS”. Every Christian is a “SAINT” because he or she is set apart from the lost world by the will of God, by the New Birth, and by the finished work of Jesus Christ on the Cross. I just heard the other day that the so called Catholic Church made Carlo Acutis, a 15 year old who died from Leukemia in 2006, the first “Millennial Saint”. The CNN Report stated:

“ The saint-making ceremony was the first presided over by Pope Leo XIV, the first American pontiff, with thousands of young people in St. Peter’s Square. Large crowds gathered Sunday at the Vatican city, waving signs and flags bearing Acutis’ photograph. Jubilant observers applauded following the teenager’s canonization by Pope Leo. The canonization of the youthful saints comes at a time when the Catholic Church, led by an all-male hierarchy where senior figures are usually over 60, is exploring new ways to engage younger generations.”

This has no foundation in Scripture, but is man made religion and idolatry. It is God Who makes saints. It is God Who saves. It is God Who “blesses us with all spiritual blessings in heavenly places in Christ Jesus” (Ephesians 1:3). It is God Who “makes us accepted in the Beloved” (Ephesians 1:6), in His Son Jesus, not a Pope or a Priest nor even a Pastor. True Christians gather not to “make a saint” or “canonize a person”.

True Christians are to be “to the praise of HIS GLORY” (Ephesians 1:12), not to our glory. We magnify Jesus!

We Magnify Jesus, Our Redeemer

Ephesians 1:7 In Whom we have redemption through his blood, the forgiveness of sins, according to the riches of his grace;

Word Study: Four times in this chapter the Apostle uses the phrase “In Whom” (en hos), or “in this Specific Person”. In Jesus Christ and in no other we have “REDEMPTION THROUGH HIS BLOOD”. This is the first thing mentioned because – though all parts of salvation are important – redemption is key.

The word translated “REDEMPTION” is the Greek apolytrōsis. The word means “to pay a ransom or a fee to liberate a slave or to free a kidnapped victim”. The Blood of Jesus Christ is the purchase price that REDEEMS or BUYS BACK a person from enslavement. You ask the question, “What do you mean by enslavement?” The Scripture explains. When our forefather Adam disobeyed God in the Garden of Eden, Adam was the Federal Representative of all mankind. What he did, or did not do, reflected on us all. The Bible says that when Adam heeded his wife and the serpent rather than God, that,

Romans 5:12 (KJV) Wherefore, as by one man sin entered into the world, and death by sin; and so death passed upon all men, for that all have sinned:

Adam brought spiritual death into the world. Adam brought a slave master into the world. His children – that’s us – were born physically alive into this earth but spiritually dead. The children of Adam – every one of us – are born enslaved to sin and desire. People ask the question, “Why does a good God – if there is a good God – allow evil into the world?” Our Good God did not do this. Adam did this. We did this. Sin is in the world because we are enslaved to sin. Our Lord Jesus said this:

John 8:34 (ESV) … Truly, truly, I say to you, everyone who PRACTICES {poieō, to make, serve as normal} sin is A SLAVE TO SIN.

From the cradle every person is enslaved to sin. You have all heard of the young Ukrainian girl Iryna Zarutska who was stabbed to death by 34 year old Decarlos Brown. She sat down in front of this man, a man arrested and charged some 14 times – but released without bail. Iryna had just gotten off work, and was going home. This horrible man stood up behind her, and stabbed her in the neck three times, then calmly walked off the train saying “I got that White girl”. Why did Brown stab this girl? The Bible says he is a slave of sin. Following the stabbing, rather than condemn the act and the actor as criminal, Mayor Vi Lyles offered sympathy to the poor homeless man who murdered another. Why did the Mayor do what he did? Mayor Vi Lyles is a slave to sin. God’s response to murder has been, since the Ark of Noah hit dry ground,

Genesis 9:6 (ESV) Whoever sheds the blood of man, by man shall his blood be shed, for God made man in his own image.

God made all life precious. When a man or woman chooses to murder another, according to God they forfeit their life. I am hearing news reporters trying to minimize what Brown did to this young lady. The news reporters are enslaved to sin. I hear that certain Governors of states do not want crime reduced in their cities, and threaten insurrection if ICE officials or National Guard enter their areas of power. Why would someone NOT want crime diminished. Because these Governors, flamboyant and vocal, are slaves of sin. Those without Christ, enslaved to sin, are described by the Apostle as:

2 Peter 2:17-19 (ESV) These are waterless springs and mists driven by a storm. For them the gloom of utter darkness has been reserved. 18 For, speaking loud boasts of folly, they entice by sensual passions of the flesh those who are barely escaping from those who live in error. 19 They promise them freedom, but they themselves are slaves of corruption. For whatever overcomes a person, to that he is enslaved.

People are born into this world physically alive, but slaves to sin and desire. The Lord Jesus Christ came to this earth to redeem us from slavery. When you realize that you are lost and without hope, bound in chains of darkness, and God lets you see the light of the Gospel, you come surrendered to Christ. You MUST REPENT, giving yourself to Jesus.

Romans 6:6-11 (ESV) We know that our old self was crucified with him in order that the body of sin might be brought to nothing, so that we would no longer be enslaved to sin. 7 For one who has died has been set free from sin. 8 Now if we have died with Christ, we believe that we will also live with him. 9 We know that Christ, being raised from the dead, will never die again; death no longer has dominion over him. 10 For the death he died he died to sin, once for all, but the life he lives he lives to God. 11 So you also must consider yourselves dead to sin and alive to God in Christ Jesus.

The Christian is not enslaved to sin, but is bound to Christ. When you come to Jesus your old self dies. You are now the possession of God, the Servant of the Lord Jesus Christ. When you were lost, you were a chattel slave, forced to serve your desires and the darkness. This is what is wrong with the world. But once saved by Grace, Jesus Christ by His Blood REDEEMS YOU from the slave market of sin. You are now to “consider yourselves dead to sin and alive to God in Christ Jesus”. Sin is not your Master. Christ is your Master.

Illustrate: The Cross of Calvary is a picture of slaves. The Chief Priests and Pharisees sought false witnesses against Jesus (Matthew 26:59-63) in order to have Him executed. Why? This was a very violation of the Ninth Commandment, the Law these people claimed to love. They sought false witnesses because they were slaves to sin. WhenPilate found Jesus innocent and sought to release Him, the crowd cried out “Release Barabbas the guilty, but crucify Jesus!” (Luke 23:18-25). Why did they do this? They were enslaved to sin. When Pilate washed his hands and rendered an unjust verdict(Matthew 27:24), he acted as so many of our Judges have done recently. He violated the Law of Rome because Pilate was enslaved to sin.

Beloved, you are either chattel enslaved to sin, or are a willing bondservant of the Lord Jesus Christ. Romans 6:16 tells us, “Do you not know that if you present yourselves to anyone as obedient slaves, you are slaves of the one whom you obey, either of sin, which leads to death, or of obedience, which leads to righteousness?”

Are you a Christian? Then you are not enslaved to sin, but are a servant of Jesus Christ. You love to serve Him Who saved you.

“You are not your own – you are bought with a price – His Blood (1 Corinthians 6:19-20).

Illustrate Two Slaves: Do you want to see a picture of a pretend Christian and a Real Christian? On the day that Jesus died on Calvary, two sinners hung next to Him. Simply called malefactors (kakourgos) or “evil doers”, the man to Christ’s left said:

Luke 23:39 (AP) IF you are the Messiah, save Yourself and us!

This is what passes for “Christian” in many churches today. God is no more than our Servant, and He our slave. That is not Christian – it is idolatry.

Though nailed to the Cross, this man cared nothing for Jesus. He just wanted Jesus to get him down off of that cross, to take away HIS suffering. Those who are enslaved to sin rarely care to serve others unless they are serving themselves. Everything they do is about satisfying their master Sin. But on Jesus’ right hand there was another criminal, a REPENTING criminal. He said to his companion:

Luke 23:40-41 (AP) … even now, don’t you fear God? We’re dying! We deserve this. But Jesus is dying with us, and He doesn’t deserve this!

That’s the very definition of REPENTANCE, the first step in salvation. When you REPENT, you don’t justify your actions. You are honest with yourself, and with God. Following REPENTANCE, this man looked to Jesus and said:

Luke 23:42 LORD, remember me when You come into Your kingdom

Though this man was bound to a cross with nails, his heart ran to the Redeemer. The Bible promises that “Jesus shall SAVE HIS PEOPLE FROM THEIR SINS” (Matthew 1:21). Jesus told this man, “Today you will be WITH ME IN PARADISE”.

Jesus Not Only Redeems Us From Our Slavery To Sin. He Redeems Us From The Wrath Of God.

Ephesians 1:7 In Whom we have redemption through his blood, the forgiveness of sins, according to the riches of his grace;

Jesus not only redeems us from the slave market of sin, but He redeems us from the wrath of God. People who are enslaved to sin think little of it. They minimize sin. But God hates sin. Sin has scarred His perfect creation. God watches His creation. The Bible says:

Psalm 7:11 (ESV) God is a righteous judge, and a God who feels indignation every day.

Sin makes us minimize God but maximize our desires. I wonder about the young girl who was stabbed in the neck. I hope she was a child of God. I hope as she struggled to breathe, and collapsed on that filthy train floor, that she was crying out to the Lord Who saved her. If she was a child of God, she left this life in misery, but entered eternity and glory and peace because of the Blood of Christ.

I pray she was a Child of God by faith in Christ.

In our minds, we think there are “good” people and there are “bad” people. It is true there are moral and immoral people. But are there any who are just “good” without Christ? No, absolutely not. All are born into this world enslaved to sin. All are born into this world NOT good. Only God is intrinsically good. We are not!

It is the Blood of Jesus Christ that brings the forgiveness of sins. Not the forgiveness of SIN, but of SINS. Even after salvation we err. But we are no longer enslaved to sin, but to Christ. And His Blood keeps on forgiving our sins.

Romans 5:8-10 (ESV) … God shows his love for us in that while we were still sinners, Christ died for us. 9 Since, therefore, we have now been justified by his blood, much more shall we be saved by him from the wrath of God. 10 For if while we were enemies we were reconciled to God by the death of his Son, much more, now that we are reconciled, shall we be saved by his life.

People are fond of saying, “God is love”. And God is love. He proved it by sending His Son to the Cross to make payment for our sins. But it is equally true that “God is wrath”. God despises sin. God despises those who dally with sin. The Psalmist wrote:

Psalm 5:5 (ESV) The boastful shall not stand before your eyes; you hate all evildoers.

Psalm 11:5 (ESV) The Lord tests the righteous, but his soul hates the wicked and the one who loves violence.

The Bible tells us that “the WICKED shall not stand in the Judgment” (Psalm 1:5). God’s wrath, like a sword, hangs over every sinner who rejects the ransomed Blood of Christ. Our Lord Jesus Christ told Nicodemus:

John 3:16-18 (KJV) For God so loved the world, that he gave his only begotten Son, that whosoever believeth in him should not perish, but have everlasting life. 17 For God sent not his Son into the world to condemn the world; but that the world through him might be saved. 18 He that believeth on him is not condemned: but he that believeth not is condemned already, because he hath not believed in the name of the only begotten Son of God.

Those who come to Christ and believe on Him are redeemed from the wrath of God. But to those who reject Christ. To those who “do evil because they hate the light, and will not come to the light lest they repent” (John 3:20), they are under condemnation right this moment. I am sure that that poor Ukrainian girl had no idea she was going to die on that train that day. She had no idea a slave to sin would come up behind her, and take her life so flippantly.

I pray she was a child of the King. I pray that she had given her life to Jesus. For if she did, then as she breathed her last the life that God gave her, she has still. Beloved, we have the riches of His Grace. RICHES. What a glorious thing it is to be in Christ, to be saved by Grace, to serve Him as Master and not sin. One of my favorite preachers C.H. Spurgeon wrote:

“Another man with unforgiven sin about him stands afar off and if he thinks of God at all it is as a consuming fire. But the forgiven Christian looking up to God, when he sees the mountains and the hills, and rolling streams and the roaring flood, he says “My Father made them all;” and he clasps hands with the Almighty across the infinite expanse that sunders man from his Maker. His heart flies up to God. He dwells near to Him, and he feels that he can talk to God as a man talketh with his Friend.”

We do not know when our final day on this earth is. Perhaps it will come suddenly. My dear sister Kathy Oliver died abruptly, on her kitchen floor. But Kathy now plays and sings with the choirs of Heaven. If you are in Christ, you are NOT CONDEMNED. NO CONDEMNATION. NO CONDEMNATION. God is your Father because Christ is your Redeemer. You are a Child of God headed toward Glory. The Riches of His Grace makes us right with God. Listen to what the Word of God has to say.

Micah 7:19 {God} will … cast all {our} sins into the depths of the sea.

Where did our sins go on the day of our redemption? They were cast into the depths of the sea. Not in the shallows, where they might be dredged up again, but in the great deeps. The Prophet says:

Isaiah 38:17 … for thou {o God} hast cast all my sins behind thy back.

God has thrown my sins behind His back! Can you tell me where God’s back is? God has cast our sins behind His back, so they are gone forever. If you are in Jesus Christ then because of the riches of His Grace you cannot be condemned.

Romans 8:1 There is therefore now no condemnation to them which are in Christ Jesus, who walk not after the flesh, but after the Spirit.

The slave of sin walks after the flesh. The bondservant of Christ walks after the Holy Spirit. We “walk in the Light, as He is in the Light” (1 John 1:7)

The Redeemed Have Obtained An Inheritance

Ephesians 1:11-12In whom also we have OBTAINED AN INHERITANCE {klēroō, Aorist Passive Indicative}, being predestinated according to the purpose of Him who worketh all things after the counsel of his own will: 12 That we should be to the praise of his glory, who first trusted in Christ.

The Bible tells us that every Christian who is truly born again of the Spirit has an inheritance that one day we will receive. Every Christian has a future inheritance:

1 Peter 1:3-5 (ESV) Blessed be the God and Father of our Lord Jesus Christ! According to his great mercy, He has caused us to be born again to a living hope through the resurrection of Jesus Christ from the dead, [4] to an inheritance {klēronomia} that is imperishable, undefiled, and unfading, kept in heaven for you, [5] who by God’s power are being guarded through faith for a salvation ready to be revealed in the last time.

We all have a place in Heaven, an INHERITANCE that Jesus guards for us. He gives it to us by promise. “I go to prepare a PLACE FOR YOU. And if I go to prepare a PLACE FOR YOU, I will come again, and receive you unto Myself; that where I am, there you will be also.” (John 14:2-3). That is a wonderful inheritance waiting for us. However, this is not what our text is talking about. We read:

In whom {I Jesus} also we have OBTAINED AN INHERITANCE {klēroō, Aorist Passive Indicative}

This is not looking toward a future inheritance. God tells us that we HAVE OBTAINED an INHERITANCE. We as Christians have it right now. We who are saved are part of the Kingdom of God on this earth. We will one day receive Heaven as our reward (Colossians 3:24; Hebrews 9:15), but God is in our midst RIGHT NOW. He is with His Church, with His people. As Kingdom people “we should be to the praise of his glory”. We are members of His Kingdom on this present earth. We live our lives to serve Jesus, to bring glory to God.

God gave Himself for us on the Cross. We gave ourselves to Jesus at the point of salvation. And God the Holy Spirit gave Himself to each born again believer.

Ephesians 1:13-14 In whom ye also trusted, after that ye heard the word of truth, the gospel of your salvation: in whom also after that ye believed, ye were sealed with that holy Spirit of promise, 14 Which is the earnest of our inheritance until the redemption of the purchased possession, unto the praise of his glory.

An “Earnest” {Greek arrabōn} is a downpayment made in promise of a future purchase. God “sealed us, and has given us the EARNEST OF THE SPIRIT in our hearts” (2 Corinthians 1:22; 2 Corinthians 5:5). We are not to live broken and in the darkness like this lost world. We are to live in the power of God’s Spirit, according to His Word. We are His people, not Satan’s. Shine for Him! Amen and Amen.

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Two Kingdoms

Posted on September 11, 2025 by bibleteacherorg

Photo by Katelyn Warner on Unsplash

Proverbs 21:8 The way of man is froward and strange: but as for the pure, his work is right.

Kingdom of God vs Kingdom of Man

Though a person is not saved by their works before God:

Ephesians 2:8-9 (ESV) For by grace you have been saved through faith. And this is not your own doing; it is the gift of God, not a result of works, so that no one may boast.

For “Salvation belongs to the LORD” (Psalm 3:8). We are all broken at physical birth. We are all sinners. But once God saves a person, He works in the heart of that person. The person who repents and comes to Jesus by faith in Him is “made alive together with Christ” (Ephesians 2:5). God Himself “gives you a new heart, and a new Spirit He puts in you. He removes the old heart of stone and gives a heart of flesh” (Ezekiel 36:26).

The lost person has a different heart, because he has not surrendered that heart to God. The Bible calls this person the “natural man”. Paul contrasted the “natural man” with the “spiritual man” in his letter to the Corinthians. He said:

1 Corinthians 2:11-16 (NKJV) For what man knows the things of a man except the spirit of the man which is in him? Even so no one knows the things of God except the Spirit of God. 12 Now we have received, not the spirit of the world, but the Spirit who is from God, that we might know the things that have been freely given to us by God. 13 These things we also speak, not in words which man’s wisdom teaches but which the Holy Spirit teaches, comparing spiritual things with spiritual. 14 But the natural man does not receive the things of the Spirit of God, for they are foolishness to him; nor can he know [them], because they are spiritually discerned. 15 But he who is spiritual judges all things, yet he himself is [rightly] judged by no one. 16 For “who has known the mind of the LORD that he may instruct Him?” But we have the mind of Christ.

The “ natural man does not receive the things of the Spirit of God”. The phrase “NATURAL MAN” is the Greek psychikos (pro. psoo-khee-kos’) which means “the man driven by senses, the fleshly person”. This is the person that Solomon is addressing in the first part of this proverb:

Proverbs 21:8 The way of MAN {‘îš} is FROWARD {hăp̄aḵpaḵ} and STRANGE {vāzār}

Word Study: The word “MAN” is the Hebrew ‘îš (pro. eesh), which is the common word for the created man (see Genesis 2:23). Here Solomon is not just talking about males, but mankind in general. Those who are “born of a woman”. The Prophet Job noted that:

Job 14:1 (KJV) Man {‘îš} [that is] born of a woman [is] of few days, and full of trouble.

Job 15:14 (KJV) What [is] man, that he should be clean? and [he which is] born of a woman, that he should be righteous?

Those who are without Christ are bound to their flesh, enslaved by sin. Though there are certainly some people who are moral, all who are without new birth are “FROWARD” {hăp̄aḵpaḵ, very perverse} and “STRANGE” {vāzār, very guilty or criminal}. The lost who are without Christ do what they do because their flesh compels them to do it. They chase after their desires, regardless as to how it effects others. God says that their ways, the ways of the lost, is both perverted as well as guilty. The Psalmist wrote:

Psalm 10:4 (NKJV) The wicked in his proud countenance does not seek God; God is in none of his thoughts.

The lost are self absorbed. They care nothing for God, unless they can use God to further their self absorption.

Proverbs 21:8 but as for the PURE {zāḵ}, his work is RIGHT.

Word Study: The word for “PURE” is the Hebrew zāḵ, which means “those who are righteous or clean in God’s sight”. The Prophet Job asked the question:

Job 25:4 (KJV) How then can man be justified with God? or how can he be clean [that is] born of a woman?

How is it possible? It is only by faith in the Lord Jesus Christ. When we receive Jesus as Lord and Savior, God re-writes our hearts. He changes us. The Apostle Paul who once believed that, as a Pharisee among Pharisees, he was “PURE” realized on the Damascus Road that he was not “PURE”. Paul later wrote:

Philippians 3:4-11 (NKJV) though I also might have confidence in the flesh. If anyone else thinks he may have confidence in the flesh, I more so: 5 circumcised the eighth day, of the stock of Israel, [of] the tribe of Benjamin, a Hebrew of the Hebrews; concerning the law, a Pharisee; 6 concerning zeal, persecuting the church; concerning the righteousness which is in the law, blameless. 7 But what things were gain to me, these I have counted loss for Christ. 8 Yet indeed I also count all things loss for the excellence of the knowledge of Christ Jesus my Lord, for whom I have suffered the loss of all things, and count them as rubbish, that I may gain Christ 9 and be found in Him, not having my own righteousness, which [is] from the law, but that which [is] through faith in Christ, the righteousness which is from God by faith; 10 that I may know Him and the power of His resurrection, and the fellowship of His sufferings, being conformed to His death, 11 if, by any means, I may attain to the resurrection from the dead.

Coming to Christ, the Christian is changed. We are given imputed righteousness, and a desire to follow our Lord. How can we see if a person is right with God? Because “his work is RIGHT”.

Proverbs 21:10 The soul of the wicked DESIRETH EVIL: his neighbor findeth no favor in his eyes.

That which drives the soul of the lost is “the flesh”, their own desires. Not all people are as bad as they can be, as some still respond to their conscience. But there are some who will be as bad al society allows them to be. I see a lot of this horror show in political theater now. When President Trump mobilized National Guard troops to curb crime in Washington, D.C. news channels all across America pictured him as a dictator akin to Adolf Hitler. The question in my mind is,

Why wouldn’t anyone want crime to be decreased, and murder eradicated? Because the “WICKED DESIRES EVIL”. Governors call for insurrection. A homeless criminal brutally murders a Ukrainian refugee in our country legally – and politicians stand up to protect and coddle the murderer. Where the wicked go unrestrained, civilization suffers.

Proverbs 21:11 When the SCORNER {lûṣ} is punished, the SIMPLE {pᵊṯî} is made wise: and when the wise is instructed, he receiveth knowledge.

Word Study: The only way to put out a fire is not to feed it, but to douse it, to rob it of that which feeds it. The “SCORNER”, the Hebrew lûṣ, is a reference to the person who “mocks or derides the Word of God, who falsely interprets that which is said in order to defeat the message given”. The “SCORNER” mocks the Word of God, mocks Law and Order, mocks civilization. We must stand up to the scorners, not in our own strength or opinion, but by standing firmly on the Word of God. Jesus our Lord did the same. When attacked by the scorners, the religious anarchists, Jesus replied “it is written”. If the scorner is not punished, then the simple minded will follow them. But when the scorner is corrected through God’s Word, the “SIMPLE IS MADE WISE”. The word “SIMPLE” is the Hebrew pᵊṯî, which means “the simple minded, open minded or foolish person”.

The Church is to be “WISE”, to be instructed from the Word of God. We need to learn to think Biblically, and to respond to the “SCORNERS” via the Word of God. The Light must not hide itself out of fear.

Our Lord Jesus said:

Matthew 5:13-16 (KJV) Ye are the salt of the earth: but if the salt have lost his savor, wherewith shall it be salted? it is thenceforth good for nothing, but to be cast out, and to be trodden under foot of men. 14 Ye are the light of the world. A city that is set on an hill cannot be hid. 15 Neither do men light a candle, and put it under a bushel, but on a candlestick; and it giveth light unto all that are in the house. 16 Let your light so shine before men, that they may see your good works, and glorify your Father which is in heaven.

God’s Church is not to hide from the fight. We are to be salt and light, standing up for the righteous way. Our righteousness “must exceed the righteousness of the scribes and Pharisees, or we will not enter into the Kingdom of Heaven” (Matthew 5:20). We cannot back down. We cannot compromise. We must follow God and glorify His Name.

Illustrate: A great example of this is found in the Book of Acts. The Bible tells us that:

Acts 13:7 (KJV) … Sergius Paulus, a prudent man; who called for Barnabas and Saul, and desired to hear the word of God.

But Satan had already sent one of his agents to keep Sergius Paulus from being saved. We are told that “a false prophet, a Jew named BarJesus” (Acts 13:6) hindered the Gospel, mocking and scorning the Gospel that Barnabas and Paul presented. Paul didn’t back down! We read:

Acts 13:8-12 (KJV) But Elymas the sorcerer (for so is {BarJesus’} name by interpretation) withstood them, seeking to turn away the deputy from the faith. 9 Then Saul, (who also [is called] Paul,) filled with the Holy Ghost, set his eyes on him, 10 And said, O full of all subtilty and all mischief, [thou] child of the devil, [thou] enemy of all righteousness, wilt thou not cease to pervert the right ways of the Lord? 11 And now, behold, the hand of the Lord [is] upon thee, and thou shalt be blind, not seeing the sun for a season. And immediately there fell on him a mist and a darkness; and he went about seeking some to lead him by the hand. 12 Then the deputy, when he saw what was done, believed, being astonished at the doctrine of the Lord.

If we do not speak up for Jesus, and quit worrying about offending the lost, we will lose this generation of simple minded people for all eternity. The simple minded need to be plainly told the truth – and the scoffers need to be rebuked in the name of Jesus!

Proverbs 21:12 The righteous man WISELY CONSIDERETH {śāḵal} the house of the wicked: but God overthroweth the wicked for their wickedness.

Sometimes we as believers will carefully look at the riches that the wicked have gained. Yet we do not fret. We know that, in time, God will “OVERTHROW THE WICKED FOR THEIR WICKEDNESS”. Case in point was when God sent a prophet to anoint Jehu as the replacement King of Israel. Ahab and Jezebel had led Israel into following idols rather than serving God. God had Elisha tell Jehu:

2 Kings 9:6-10 (KJV) {a son of the prophets} arose, and went into the house; and he poured the oil on {Jehu’s} head, and said unto him, Thus saith the LORD God of Israel, I have anointed thee king over the people of the LORD, [even] over Israel. 7 And thou shalt smite the house of Ahab thy master, that I may avenge the blood of my servants the prophets, and the blood of all the servants of the LORD, at the hand of Jezebel. 8 For the whole house of Ahab shall perish: and I will cut off from Ahab him that pisseth against the wall {no child will survive} and him that is shut up and left in Israel: 9 And I will make the house of Ahab like the house of Jeroboam the son of Nebat, and like the house of Baasha the son of Ahijah: 10 And the dogs shall eat Jezebel in the portion of Jezreel, and [there shall be] none to bury [her]. And he opened the door, and fled.

“Jeroboam the son of Nebat” led Israel into idolatry by establishing golden calves to worship in Samaria, rather than supporting Jerusalem as the place where God was honored. (2 Kings 17:21-23). His sin caused Israel to be carried away into exile into Assyria. “Baasha the son of Ahijah” was an evil king who followed idolatrous practices. Both of these kings lost everything, along with their families, for their wicked reigns.

The wicked may seem to prosper for a time. But evil leads to God’s wrath. The Bible says:

Proverbs 10:29 (ESV) The way of the Lord is a stronghold to the blameless, but destruction to evildoers.

There is safety in following God, as God is the Author of light and life. In time, God will overthrow the wicked. But “the meek shall INHERIT THE EARTH” (Matthew 5:5).

Proverbs 21:15 It is joy to the just {ṣadîq} to do judgment: but destruction shall be to the workers of iniquity.

Those who are “JUST” (Hebrew ṣadîq, lawful or righteous) find joy in serving the Lord. The lost love serving themselves, their desires, their wants. The children of God love serving God. Though we are not perfect by any means, we are perfectly saved, and we love the Lord Who saved us. The Apostle said, “I delight in the Law of God after the inward man” (Romans 7:22). The Psalmist wrote:

Psalm 1:1-6 (KJV) Blessed [is] the man that walketh not in the counsel of the ungodly, nor standeth in the way of sinners, nor sitteth in the seat of the scornful. 2 But his delight [is] in the law of the LORD; and in his law doth he meditate day and night. 3 And he shall be like a tree planted by the rivers of water, that bringeth forth his fruit in his season; his leaf also shall not wither; and whatsoever he doeth shall prosper. 4 The ungodly [are] not so: but [are] like the chaff which the wind driveth away. 5 Therefore the ungodly shall not stand in the judgment, nor sinners in the congregation of the righteous. 6 For the LORD knoweth the way of the righteous: but the way of the ungodly shall perish.

We who are saved love to do God’s Word, to love Him Who saved us. There is no salvation without obedience to the Savior. Our Lord Jesus said,

John 14:15 (KJV) If ye love me, keep my commandments.

John 15:10 (KJV) If ye keep my commandments, ye shall abide in my love; even as I have kept my Father’s commandments, and abide in his love.

Proverbs 21:16 The man that wandereth out of the way of understanding shall remain in the congregation of the dead.

The protection the Christian has is in obedience to the Word of God. When either Christian or Church wander away from “THE WAY OF UNDERSTANDING”, they put themselves in harm’s way. The “CONGREGATION OF THE DEAD” is a reference to the Kingdom of Man. Those without Christ are spiritually dead, and they walk in darkness rather than light. The Bible is clear that “the wages of sin is death” (Romans 6:23). This does not just mean for unbelievers, but for believers as well. Whether lost or saved, if you play with fire you will be burned. God said:

Hebrews 10:38 my righteous one shall live by faith, and if he shrinks back, my soul has no pleasure in him.

Death awaits those who cease living for Jesus, and begin to live in the flesh. As we were previously told in …

Proverbs 12:28 (ESV) In the path of righteousness is life, and in its pathway there is no death.

Proverbs 21:17-18 He that loveth pleasure shall be a poor man: he that loveth wine and oil shall not be rich. 18 The wicked shall be a ransom for the righteous, and the transgressor for the upright.

Unrestrained pleasure and self satisfaction will rob you of God’s best. Those who feed their flesh without taking time for God will find themselves robbed of ultimate joy. There is a payday coming for everyone. Those who love the Lord will find a joyous payday waiting for them beyond this life. Those who spend their lives loving themselves will find themselves in a place of absolute loss, a place of eternal burnings. Those who spent their lives living selfishly will find themselves separated from God in eternity. Jesus said:

Matthew 25:46 (KJV) And these shall go away into everlasting punishment: but the righteous into life eternal.

What is the ultimate destiny for those who love the Lord as opposed to those who love their flesh? Jesus explained self denial in the most exacting of ways:

Mark 9:43-48 (KJV) And if thy hand offend thee, cut it off: it is better for thee to enter into life maimed, than having two hands to go into hell, into the fire that never shall be quenched: 44 Where their worm dieth not, and the fire is not quenched. 45 And if thy foot offend thee, cut it off: it is better for thee to enter halt into life, than having two feet to be cast into hell, into the fire that never shall be quenched: 46 Where their worm dieth not, and the fire is not quenched. 47 And if thine eye offend thee, pluck it out: it is better for thee to enter into the kingdom of God with one eye, than having two eyes to be cast into hell fire: 48 Where their worm dieth not, and the fire is not quenched.

Those who are saved by Grace have hands that serve God. They have feet that want to follow Jesus. They have eyes that want to look on God’s glory, not on their own glory. Those saved by Grace – by faith in the Lord Jesus – are changed internally so that they love to serve God externally. I close with this:

1 John 5:2-5 (KJV) By this we know that we love the children of God, when we love God, and keep his commandments. 3 For this is the love of God, that we keep his commandments: and his commandments are not grievous. 4 For whatsoever is born of God overcometh the world: and this is the victory that overcometh the world, [even] our faith. 5 Who is he that overcometh the world, but he that believeth that Jesus is the Son of God?

Have you believed on Christ? Have you come to Him repentant, surrendered, calling on the Name of the Lord for salvation? If you have, you love Him and His Word. You want to live for Him. I pray that this is you. Amen.

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Sons Not Slaves

Posted on September 9, 2025 by bibleteacherorg

Photo by Robert Collins on Unsplash

Galatians 4:1-5 Now I say, That the heir, as long as he is a child, differeth nothing from a servant, though he be lord of all; 2 But is under tutors and governors until the time appointed of the father. 3 Even so we, when we were children, were in bondage under the elements of the world: 4 But when the fullness of the time was come, God sent forth his Son, made of a woman, made under the law, 5 To redeem them that were under the law, that we might receive the adoption of sons.

A Little Clarification

Before I can ever teach you this Scripture, I have to explain something that used to be normal and expected, but in America today has become as foreign as speaking Martian. In the ancient world great civilizations were built by pagan cultures. The longest lasting Empires were:

The Egyptian Empire lasted 3000 years (3100 BC – 30 BC)
The Assyrian Empire lasted 1300 years (2025 BC – 609 BC)
The Babylonian Empire lasted 1351 years (1890 BC – 539 BC)
The Roman Empire lasted 1480 years (27 BC – 1453 AD)

Though not classified as an “Empire”, the Spartan city-state Lacedaemon (pronounced lass-e-demon) lasted 1000 years. All of these empires – along with Lacedaemon – grew to greatness because children were trained to be good citizens – not entertained. We live in a day where children are coddled. When Paul was writing the Church at Galatia, he was speaking to what all parents and adults knew.

Galatians 4:1 Now I say, That the HEIR (klēronomos), as long as he is a child, differeth nothing from a SERVANT, though he be lord of all

Among the Gentiles of Paul’s day the “HEIR” (klēronomos), “the one who receives by allotment, the inheritor. A legal phrase to denote the child of the owner of the estate” did not automatically inherit the estate. In our day parents do not “parent” their children – they seek to spoil them, to cater to them, to kowtow to their desires. This was not acceptable among the great civilizations. This was not even acceptable in God’s Israel. God said in the Law:

Leviticus 20:9 (ESV) For anyone who curses his father or his mother shall surely be put to death; he has cursed his father or his mother; his blood is upon him.

This was further expanded in:

Deuteronomy 21:18-21 (ESV) If any man has a stubborn and rebellious son who will not obey his father or his mother, and when they chastise him, he will not even listen to them, then his father and mother shall seize him, and bring him out to the elders of his city at the gateway of his home town. And they shall say to the elders of his city, “This son of ours is stubborn and rebellious, he will not obey us, he is a glutton and a drunkard.” Then all the men of his city shall stone him to death; so you shall remove the evil from your midst, and all Israel shall hear of it and fear.

People have tried to dance around these verses, to twist them, to make them something that they are not. They do so at their own peril. A child is a citizen in training. Every time I see someone screaming on the Internet, having a tantrum and wishing the President dead, I think “poor parenting”. Every criminal, every disrespectful person, “poor parenting”. The fact that Congress has no decorum, but is filled with children that cannot work together to guide our nation, “poor parenting”. Some sad pitiful excuse for a mother wrote an article,

“My toddler came out as trans at age 4. He’s so much happier now.”

A little girl just 4 years old dictated to her anonymous mother that she was a boy. Just. Four. Years. Old. This was published in, of all places, Business Insider. And this is garbage.

Children do not have the ability to make complex decisions. This is why they are given PARENTS. Sadly, many children have children who refuse to guide them into adulthood. Schools are not supposed to parent children. Governments are not supposed to parent children. Adults who were themselves parented by adults that were parented MUST parent children. We must not cater to them, but treat them as servants until they come of age.

Children Are Servants Before They Are Masters

Galatians 4:1 Now I say, That the HEIR, as long as he is a CHILD, differeth nothing from a SERVANT, though he be lord of all;

Word Study: The word translated “CHILD” is the Greek nēpios, which means “a minor, infant, little child, one who is untaught or unskilled, one who is simple minded”. While your offspring are young and not adults, they are to be treated like the “SERVANT”, the Greek doulos or SLAVE. The parent is supposed to act to suppress the child’s free will. The child will want ice cream for supper, and cookies for lunch. The child will want to resist bedtime, to stay up all night long. The child will see someone smoke a cigarette and want to have one. The child will want to drive the car, not wear a seat belt. The child will get a bed sheet, turn it into a parachute, and want to jump off the roof or from a tree. The child will perhaps play with fire, or stick a knife into an electrical outlet, or play basketball on the highway. The child will see a stranger, and get into his car because he promised an ice cream cone. The child will want every breakfast cereal on the breakfast aisle. The child will want to hit his sister in the head with a metal trick. Or the child will strip naked, and run through the grocery store.

No!
Why?
Because I said so.
You’re mean.
I don’t care.
Behave or be punished.

You’re raising the child – who will be your heir and your successor – to be a good citizen. To pay taxes though you don’t want to. To obey laws though you don’t want to. I can’t tell you how many police body cam videos I’ve seen of people – now adults – who are pulled over by police for a valid reason. They immediate begin to shout, to raise Cain, and to act the fool. They end up, without fail, in handcuffs. Every single one “poor parenting”.

Galatians 4:2 But is under tutors and governors until the time appointed of the father.

The child is not the Master of the Estate until he passes muster of the father. This even applied to our Lord Jesus Christ!

Luke 3:23 (ESV) Jesus, when He began His ministry, was about thirty years of age, being the son (as was supposed) of Joseph, the son of Heli,

The Bible tells us that our Lord Jesus is very God of very God. Jesus said of Himself, “The Father and I ARE ONE” (John 10:30). We are told in …

John 1:18 (CSB) … No one has ever seen God. The one and only Son, who is himself God and is at the Father’s side ….

The Father said of Jesus in Hebrews 1:8, “Your throne, O God, is forever and ever; A scepter of righteousness is the scepter of Your kingdom.” (NKJV). When Joseph realized his bride to be Mary was pregnant and he was not the father, the Angel of God came to him and told him:

Matthew 1:21 {Mary} will bring forth a Son, and you shall call His name JESUS, for He will save His people from their sins.

Our Lord Jesus entered this earth through a miraculous, virgin birth. Yet Jesus’ ministry did not begin until He was 30 years old. Why? Though “in Him the whole fullness of deity dwells bodily … the Head over every power and authority” (Colossians 2:9-10), Jesus was not fully mature until He was 30 years old as a human. Jesus was

vs 2 under TUTORS and GOVERNORS until the
time appointed of the Father

When David was anointed King of Israel, he had to wait a long time until he assumed the throne. Why?

2 Samuel 5:4 (ESV) David was thirty years old when he began to reign, and he reigned forty years.

Until he was 30 years old, he was not considered to be at the age of full maturity and suitable for the great responsibility of being King. Joseph spent a great deal of time imprisoned before he was elevated to be the right hand to the King of Egypt. Why?

Genesis 41:46 (ESV) Joseph was thirty years old when he entered the service of Pharaoh king of Egypt. And Joseph went out from the presence of Pharaoh and went through all the land of Egypt.

When God established the Levitical Priesthood in Israel, no priest could serve, we are told:

Numbers 4:3 … from thirty years old up to fifty years old, all who can come on duty, to do the work in the tent of meeting.

Our Lord Jesus “learned obedience by the things which He suffered” (Hebrews 5:8). When He started His ministry, it was only after He was baptized by John the Baptist. Jesus told John, “I must be baptized … it is fitting for us to FULFILL ALL RIGHTEOUSNESS” (Matthew 3:15; NKJV). Following His baptism, the Father spoke saying “this is My Beloved Son, in Whom I am well pleased” (Matthew 3:17). My commentary notes:

“Thirty was also the age at which Jewish scribes and rabbis were regarded as mature enough to enter their office as teachers (van Oosterzee, J. J., The Gospel According to Luke: An Exegetical and Doctrinal Commentary, trans. by Lange, J. P., and Starbuck, C. C., Schaff, P., and Lange, J. P., ed., Wipf & Stock, 2007, p. 62). Jesus had to be at least thirty years old if the experts in Judaism were to view Him as an authentic rabbi.”

All children – even Jesus Christ – must be properly parented to maturity BEFORE they become heirs. Had Jesus been given responsibility before He was 30, the Pharisees, Sadducees, and Herodians would have had a valid reason to reject His ministry. Jesus did not declare Himself Messiah until the Father declared Him Messiah, the “Beloved Son in Whom I am WELL PLEASED”. This is why you see very little of the childhood of Christ mentioned in the Scripture. That which He did, He did after maturity and after the Father appointed.

The Law Is Our Tutor And Governor

Galatians 4:1-3 Now I say, That the heir, as long as he is a child, differeth nothing from a servant, though he be lord of all; 2 But is under TUTORS (epitropos) and GOVERNORS (oikonomos) until the time appointed of the father. 3 Even so we, when we were children, were in bondage under the elements of the world:

Word Study: The child who is not of age is under “TUTORS (epitropos) and GOVERNORS (oikonomos)”. The “TUTORS ” , the Greek (epitropos) is a reference to the slave or steward in charge of raising the child. We saw last week this is the “SCHOOLMASTER” (paidagōgos) that worked for the owner of the home (Galatians 3:24). The Law was the slave, the epitropos who would be held accountable for leading the child to full maturity. This same person was also called the “GOVERNOR”, the Greek oikonomos, which means “someone who is so trusted as to have oversight of the business of the owner”.

The Law of God is a slave that speaks to and trains slaves. The child, prior to maturity, is a slave that must obey the appointed slave. The Law of God is also likened to God’s right hand man. The Law trains. The Law corrects. The Law teaches truth. But the Law is only temporary, until the child becomes an adult.

Galatians 4:3 Even so we, when we were children, were in BONDAGE under the elements of the world:

We were previously told in

Galatians 3:22 (ESV) … the Scripture imprisoned everything under sin, so that the promise by faith in Jesus Christ might be given to those who believe.

The Law of God points out sin. It diagnoses sin. But it cannot correct sin. Sin enslaves people. Our Lord Jesus said,

John 8:34 (ESV) Truly, truly, I say to you, everyone who practices sin is a slave to sin.

The Law cannot free us from sin – but it points us to the One Who can free us from sin. That is the Lord Jesus Christ. Jesus said, “If the SON SETS YOU FREE, you are FREE INDEED” (John 8:36). When the Son of God reached maturity (at age 30), He was revealed at the only One Who could free us from sin and the Law of God. We read:

Galatians 4:4-5 But when the fulness of the time was come, God sent forth his Son, made of a woman, made under the law, 5 To redeem them that were under the law, that we might receive the adoption of sons.

No one could fulfill the Law. No one, that is, but God in the flesh. No one but Jesus.

God gave us the Law to teach us how much we need the Savior. In the Old Testament, Israel was in bondage to Egypt until they cried out for a Savior. God raised up Moses. But once Israel left Egypt, she still needed a Savior. No mortal man could do. So God sent His Son. We are told:

God SENT FORTH His Son

Word Study: The phrase “SENT FORTH” is the Greek exapostellō, which means “to send someone who is with you, out to represent you”. Our Lord Jesus was with the Father from eternity. He is the Everlasting Word of God. We are told in:

John 1:1-3 (KJV) In the beginning was the Word, and the Word was with God, and the Word was God. 2 The same was in the beginning with God. 3 All things were made by him; and without him was not any thing made that was made.

When the Father gave His Law through Moses and the Angels, He gave man a standard that he, enslaved to sin, could not keep. God left us with His Law throughout the Old Covenant. What we call the “Old Testament” is a picture of a people living under the Old Covenant.

The last word in the Old Testament – under the Old Covenant – is the word CURSE (Malachi 4:6). The last words in the New Testament – because of Jesus – are “the Grace of our Lord Jesus Christ be with you all. Amen. (Revelation 22:21)

God sent His Son forth. The Eternal Christ, ever with the Father, present at the creation of our earth and humanity, left the glory of Heaven. He left because the Father sent Him.

made of a woman, made under the law

The Eternal Christ was “made of a woman”. God could not become man – perfect Man – as other men had been made. Jesus was not made of a man and a woman. He was “made of a woman”. This was the fulfillment of the promise God made to the serpent Satan in Genesis 3:15. Jesus Christ is the “seed of the woman” that will crush the serpent’s head. But Jesus Himself will be wounded. His “heel shall be bruised” when He crushes the serpent’s head. Jesus is “made of a woman”. The Angel of God came to Mary, a virgin, and told her:

Luke 1:35 (NKJV) … [The] Holy Spirit will come upon you, and the power of the Highest will overshadow you; therefore, also, that Holy One who is to be born will be called the Son of God.

God would take the egg of Mary, and perfectly cause it to create a sinless Man – the Lord Jesus Christ. Jesus Christ “was in all points tempted like we are – and yet He is without sin” (Hebrews 4:15). Our Lord Jesus “knew no sin” (2 Corinthians 5:21). The Bible repeatedly says:

1 John 3:5 (ESV) You know that he appeared in order to take away sins, and in him there is no sin.

1 Peter 2:22 (ESV) You know that he appeared in order to take away sins, and in him there is no sin.

Hebrews 7:26 (ESV) For it was indeed fitting that we should have such a high priest, holy, innocent, unstained, separated from sinners, and exalted above the heavens.

God was Himself made of a woman. When Jesus came He was “made under the Law”. Jesus came as a Jew, one of the people to whom God gave His Law. Mary was a Jew of the lineage of King David. Joseph, Jesus’ stepfather, was a Jew of the lineage of King David. Jesus Christ is the fulfillment of the Davidic Promise (1 Chronicles 17:11-14; 2 Chronicles 6:16) where God said “I will establish His Throne forever”. Jesus is the one and only Messiah. He was made under the Law. Why?

Galatians 4:5 To redeem them that were under the law, that we might receive the adoption of sons.

God could not adopt us as sons, as His children, while we were enslaved to sin. The law showed our enslavement, but could not fix us. But Christ came and fulfilled the Law, just as He said. Jesus told those who would listen:

Matthew 5:17-18 (ESV) Do not think that I have come to abolish the Law or the Prophets; I have not come to abolish them but to fulfill them. 18 For truly, I say to you, until heaven and earth pass away, not an iota, not a dot, will pass from the Law until all is accomplished.

Jesus fulfilled the Law by living His life perfectly, above sin. He is the ONLY PERSON ever to fulfill the Law perfectly. Now, Jesus did not abolish the Law. The Law still has a purpose. To those still enslaved to sin, to those who reject the Presence of God, the Law acts as judge, jury, and executioner. God’s Law will fulfill its purpose.

Isaiah 55:10-11 (ESV) For as the rain and the snow come down from heaven and do not return there but water the earth,making it bring forth and sprout, giving seed to the sower and bread to the eater, 11 so shall my word be that goes out from my mouth; it shall not return to me empty, but it shall accomplish that which I purpose, and shall succeed in the thing for which I sent it.

The Law of God will either lead a person to REPENT and RECEIVE the Lord Jesus Christ – or it will damn that person forever. The “works” the unbeliever does will be examined in the light of God’s Law. The Law is still very valid for the unlawful. The Law is the spark that will ignite the Lake of Fire.

Romans 10:4 (ESV) For Christ is the end of the law for righteousness to everyone who believes.

When you REPENT and RECEIVE Jesus as Lord and Savior, in God’s eyes you are His adopted child. Jesus Christ perfectly lived out the Law FOR YOU. When you receive Jesus as Lord and Savior, what does God do?

Galatians 4:6-7 (KJV) And because ye are sons, God hath sent forth the Spirit of his Son into your hearts, crying, Abba, Father. 7 Wherefore thou art no more a servant, but a son; and if a son, then an heir of God through Christ.

Just as God “SENT FORTH” (exapostellō) His Son to fulfill the Law FOR us, once you are saved God “SENT FORTH” (exapostellō) His Spirit to fulfill the Law IN us.

Christians are adopted Children of God. God has written His Law in our hearts. Why do we not murder? Not because it is written on tablets of stone, but because God has written it in our hearts. I want to be very clear about this. If someone says, “I’m a Christian”, and yet lives in a lawless manner, contrary to the Word of God, then that person is NOT A CHRISTIAN but a charlatan, self deceived, still enslaved to sin and under the Law. The Christian is a fulfillment of what God promised:

Jeremiah 31:33 (KJV) After those days, saith the LORD, I will put my law in their inward parts, and write it in their hearts; and will be their God, and they shall be my people.

Christians are “a letter from Christ … written not with ink BUT WITH THE SPIRIT OF THE LIVING GOD, not on tablets of stone but on tablets of human hearts” (2 Corinthians 3:3, ESV). God “puts His Laws on our hearts, and on our minds” (Hebrews 8:10; 10:16). God “removes the heart of stone from our flesh, and gives us a heart of flesh, that we can walk in His statutes and keep His rules and obey Him. We are His people, and He is our God” (Ezekiel 11:19-20). Because you have given your life to Christ, “thou art no more a servant, but a son; and if a son, then an heir of God through Christ”.

We are children of God, saved by faith in Christ. We live for His glory. Amen!

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Do Lord

Posted on September 3, 2025 by bibleteacherorg

Photo by Martin Sanchez on Unsplash

Proverbs 21:1-2 The king’s heart is in the hand of the Lord, as the rivers of water: he turneth it whithersoever he will. 2 Every way of a man is right in his own eyes: but the Lord pondereth the hearts.

God Is In Control Of All

Over the past few years I’ve heard a lot of complaining about our Presidents from both sides, Democratic or Republican. I have to admit, I’ve done my fair share of complaining. But the Scripture reminds us that – rather than complaining – we should rely on prayer and on the sovereignty of God. God can and does control the human heart. God can control the heart of the King, whether the King is a believer or a non-believer. The Bible is full of examples of this.

When the cupbearer to King Artaxerxes, Nehemiah, heard that the walls of Jerusalem were destroyed and the city was in disarray, he was very upset. But rather that grieve and despair, Nehemiah went to God in prayer. Nehemiah’s prayer shows how a believer should pray to change the heart of a king.

Nehemiah 1:4-7 (ESV) {Nehemiah said} I continued fasting and praying before the God of heaven. 5 And I said, “O LORD God of heaven, the great and awesome God Who keeps covenant and steadfast love with those who love Him and keep His commandments, 6 let your ear be attentive and Your eyes open, to hear the prayer of your servant that I now pray before You day and night for the people of Israel Your servants, confessing the sins of the people of Israel, which we have sinned against You. Even I and my father’s house have sinned. 7 We have acted very corruptly against You and have not kept the commandments, the statutes, and the rules that You commanded Your servant Moses.

Nehemiah did not blame God nor the enemies of Israel for the state that Jerusalem was in. Nehemiah began with REPENTANCE. He confessed “the sins of the people of Israel, which we have sinned against You”, saying “Even I and my father’s house have sinned. We have acted very corruptly against You and have not kept the commandments, the statutes, and the rules that You commanded your servant Moses”. Nehemiah died not blame shift. He didn’t curse the Republicans or the Democrats. He didn’t look for fault elsewhere. Nehemiah acknowledged that the state of Jerusalem was the fault of the citizens of God’s Kingdom. They failed to love and honor God.

Nehemiah 1:8-10 (ESV) Remember the word that You commanded Your servant Moses, saying, ‘If you are unfaithful, I will scatter you among the peoples, 9 but if you return to Me and keep My commandments and do them, though your outcasts are in the uttermost parts of heaven, from there I will gather them and bring them to the place that I have chosen, to make My name dwell there.’ 10 They are Your servants and Your people, whom You have redeemed by Your great power and by Your strong hand.

Having REPENTED, Nehemiah then called on the PROMISES of God. Though Israel had failed to keep their promises, our God has never failed to be faithful. The Scripture says:

2 Timothy 2:13 (NLT) If we are unfaithful, He remains faithful, for He cannot deny Who He is.

Nehemiah was repenting for Israel, and asking God to hear His repentance and to restore Israel to the land. Nehemiah then asked God to move the heart of the unbelieving King Artaxerxes:

Nehemiah 1:11 (ESV) O Lord, let Your ear be attentive to the prayer of Your servant, and to the prayer of Your servants who delight to fear Your name, and give success to your servant today, and grant him mercy in the sight of this man.” Now I was cupbearer to the king.

What happened? God caused Artaxerxes to appoint Nehemiah as leader of a group to go back to Jerusalem and rebuild the walls of the city. The King even gave Nehemiah the materials necessary to rebuild the walls and the city. Our God is the:

1 Timothy 6:15 (ESV) … the blessed and only Sovereign, the King of kings and Lord of lords

Though God gives us free will, God can over ride free will when it suits His will. When King Nebuchadnezzar of Babylon exalted himself above God, The Lord spoke from Heaven:

Daniel 4:31-34 (ESV) {God spoke} from Heaven, “O King Nebuchadnezzar, to you it is spoken: The kingdom has departed from you, 32 and you shall be driven from among men, and your dwelling shall be with the beasts of the field. And you shall be made to eat grass like an ox, and seven periods of time shall pass over you, until you know that the Most High rules the kingdom of men and gives it to whom he will.” 33 Immediately the word was fulfilled against Nebuchadnezzar. He was driven from among men and ate grass like an ox, and his body was wet with the dew of heaven till his hair grew as long as eagles’ feathers, and his nails were like birds’ claws. 34 At the end of the days I, Nebuchadnezzar, lifted my eyes to heaven, and my reason returned to me, and I blessed the Most High, and praised and honored him who lives forever, for his dominion is an everlasting dominion, and his kingdom endures from generation to generation;

It is God Who sets up nations and establishes boundaries. It is God Who is ultimately in charge of all things. My commentary notes:

“In 538 BC the Lord moved King Cyrus of Persia to pass an edict allowing the Hebrew captives to return to Jerusalem to rebuild the temple. Cyrus said, “The LORD, the God of heaven, has given me all the kingdoms of the earth, and he has charged me to build him a house in Jerusalem. which is in Judah” (Ezra 1:2). Centuries later, God used Caesar Augustus to cause Joseph and Mary to go to Bethlehem, where Jesus was born in fulfillment of the prophecy of Micah 5:2. Luke records the fact that Caesar Augustus, Emperor of Rome, passed a decree that all the world should be registered. Therefore, everyone went to his own town to be registered (Luke 2:1–3). The decree caused Joseph to go to Bethlehem, his ancestral town, and to take Mary with him (Luke 2:4–5). While they were in Bethlehem, Jesus was born (Luke 2:6–7).”

Our God is in control!

God Wants Our Obedience

Proverbs 21:3 (KJV) To DO justice and judgment [is] more acceptable to the LORD than sacrifice.

The sacrifice in view here is the religious sacrifice of giving an animal without spot or blemish, or an item of value. Many people today believe that they can give money or goods to the Church, or make token visits to the meetings of the Church, and that these things are pleasing to God. But as we just read in Proverbs 21:2, “the Lord pondereth the hearts”. The Lord is not pleased with outward religion. Our Lord Jesus told the Pharisees:

Matthew 23:23-24 (KJV) Woe unto you, scribes and Pharisees, hypocrites! for ye pay tithe of mint and anise and cummin, and have omitted the weightier [matters] of the law, judgment, mercy, and faith: these ought ye to have done, and not to leave the other undone. 24 [Ye] blind guides, which strain at a gnat, and swallow a camel.

They paid the TITHE. Jesus told them, “Good, you should have done that”. But God is more concerned about “judgment, mercy, and faith”. It is easy to write a check. You can look at your income, compute 10% of that (which is what a tithe is), and write a check or drop cash in the plate. That’s fine. Nothing wrong with that. Father Abraham paid a tithe of all he received to Melchizedek King of Salem, priest of the Most High God (Genesis 14:20). Praise God for it. But the Tithe is not much. What does God want?

God wants us to DO justice and judgment – to treat others as we would be treated. To be fair and even handed with everyone. To not be racist or mean spirited, but to live as children of Light and Life.

Jesus told us that

John 13:34-35 (NKJV) A new commandment I give to you, that you love one another; as I have loved you, that you also love one another. 35 “By this all will know that you are My disciples, if you have love for one another.”

Those who love the Lord do not just do the religious things – they do the righteous things. What are the sacrifices that most please God?

Psalm 51:17 (NKJV) The sacrifices of God [are] a broken spirit, A broken and a contrite heart–These, O God, You will not despise.

A humble and repentant heart blesses the Lord. God loves those who admit their brokenness, and cast their lives upon His mercy. God also appreciates:

Hebrews 13:15 (ESV) Through {Jesus} then let us continually offer up a sacrifice of praise to God, that is, the fruit of lips that acknowledge His name.

To daily praise God for that which He has graciously given us. God is blessed when His children praise Him. “Offer to God a SACRIFICE OF THANKSGIVING, and perform your vows to the Most High” (Psalm 50:14). I believe God cherishes most of all when we as His children are obedient to His will. He can force our hand, but He would rather we obey Him because we love Him. When King Saul rebelled against God, puffing himself up because God had made him King of Israel, God told the Prophet Samuel:

1 Samuel 15:11 (NKJV) I greatly regret that I have set up Saul [as] king, for he has turned back from following Me, and has not performed My commandments.”

Samuel went to Saul and told him:

1 Samuel 15:22-23 (NKJV) Has the LORD [as great] delight in burnt offerings and sacrifices, As in obeying the voice of the LORD? Behold, to obey is better than sacrifice, [And] to heed than the fat of rams. 23 For rebellion [is as] the sin of witchcraft, And stubbornness [is as] iniquity and idolatry. Because you have rejected the word of the LORD, He also has rejected you from [being] king.”

God is pleased when His children obey Him, and appreciate Him, doing as He says. “Father knows best”. Always.

Proverbs 21:4 (KJV) An high look, and a proud heart, [and] the plowing of the wicked, [is] SIN.

Pride is actually confusion of the heart – it comes from a wicked heart. “AN HIGH LOOK”. There are those who believe themselves better than others. They are filled with vanity and a high self opinion. Some are self righteous, puffed up. They tend toward gossiping, tearing down others. God says:

Psalm 101:5 (ESV) Whoever slanders his neighbor secretly I will destroy. Whoever has a haughty {high} look and an arrogant heart I will not endure.

Those who are filled with pride, even their work is an abomination to God. The wicked plows, but never gives God credit for the plow or the field. If the wicked makes money, they never acknowledge that God caused “rain in due season” (Leviticus26:4; Deuteronomy 11:14) that caused the crop to grow. Pride cuts a person off from God, for in pride we become gods. It is as the Psalmist write:

Psalm 10:4 (ESV) In the pride of his face the wicked does not seek Him; all his thoughts are, “There is no God.”

Haste Makes Waste

Proverbs 21:5 The thoughts of the DILIGENT {ḥārûṣ} tend only to plenteousness; but of every one that is hasty only to want.

Word Study: The word translated “DILIGENT” is the Hebrew ḥārûṣ (pro. khaw-roots’). This is an interesting word, as it can be translated “sharp” (Job 41:30), “gold or golden” (Psalm 68:13; Proverbs 3:14; 8:10), or “diligent decision”. The intent of this proverb is to illustrate that old saying, “Haste makes Waste”.

If a decision is made too quickly, or you agree too suddenly, you may find yourself in a terrible trap. Jesus tells His disciples:

Luke 14:26-33 (NKJV) If anyone comes to Me and does not hate his father and mother, wife and children, brothers and sisters, yes, and his own life also, he cannot be My disciple. 27 “And whoever does not bear his cross and come after Me cannot be My disciple. 28 “For which of you, intending to build a tower, does not sit down first and count the cost, whether he has [enough] to finish [it]– 29 “lest, after he has laid the foundation, and is not able to finish, all who see [it] begin to mock him, 30 “saying, ‘This man began to build and was not able to finish.’ 31 “Or what king, going to make war against another king, does not sit down first and consider whether he is able with ten thousand to meet him who comes against him with twenty thousand? 32 “Or else, while the other is still a great way off, he sends a delegation and asks conditions of peace. 33 “So likewise, whoever of you does not forsake all that he has cannot be My disciple.

Though Christ calls all to salvation, He wants us to know that there is a cost in coming to Him. We must REPENT, forsaking our old way of life, and then FOLLOW HIM.

Those who are in Christ need to be ḥārûṣ. We need to carefully consider things before committing to them. All things must be weighed against the glory of God. All decisions must be supported by the Scripture.

I love how Jesus never made a statement without carefully considering His Words. His enemies could not force Him to say something foolish, nor to commit hastily.

There Is A Payday Someday

Proverbs 21:6-7 The getting of treasures by a lying tongue is a vanity tossed to and fro of them that seek death. 7 The robbery of the wicked shall destroy them; because they refuse to DO judgment.

You may gain a fortune by lying. There are many so called “Prosperity Preachers” who have gained vast fortunes by lying. T.D. Jakes has made $20 million, Jesse Duplantis $25 million, Joel Osteen $95 million, Pat Robertson $105 million. They have made their millions off of the back of their sheep. In the end, dear ones, they seek death. The Bible says of Heaven:

Revelation 21:27 (NKJV) But there shall by no means enter it anything that defiles, or causes an abomination or a lie, but only those who are written in the Lamb’s Book of Life.

The Apostle Peter spoke of these false prophets, saying:

2 Peter 2:1-6, 9 (KJV) But there were false prophets also among the people, even as there shall be false teachers among you, who privily shall bring in damnable heresies, even denying the Lord that bought them, and bring upon themselves swift destruction. 2 And many shall follow their pernicious ways; by reason of whom the way of truth shall be evil spoken of. 3 And through covetousness shall they with feigned words make merchandise of you: whose judgment now of a long time lingereth not, and their damnation slumbereth not. 4 For if God spared not the angels that sinned, but cast [them] down to hell, and delivered [them] into chains of darkness, to be reserved unto judgment; 5 And spared not the old world, but saved Noah the eighth [person], a preacher of righteousness, bringing in the flood upon the world of the ungodly; 6 And turning the cities of Sodom and Gomorrah into ashes condemned [them] with an overthrow, making [them] an ensample unto those that after should live ungodly; … 9 The Lord knoweth how to deliver the godly out of temptations, and to reserve the unjust unto the day of judgment to be punished:

These “Prosperity Preachers” sell lies and false gospels, and live in mansions and on rich estates. They will stand before the Lord one day to be judged. When Kenneth Copeland ($700 million) was questioned about his ministry, he simply replied “I’m a very wealthy man”. He is, and he’s proud of it. The Christian Tribune reported:

“Kenneth Copeland has a fortune in real estate as well. The Houston Chronicle found that he lives in a $7 million mega-mansion. Because his ministry owns the house, he’s never paid taxes on it. According to NY Post, since he claims it to be a ‘clergy residence’, he will never pay taxes on the house. … Copeland said that, when people drive by the mega-mansion, “they will know there is a God”. He also explained God told him to build a dream home his wife wanted. Copeland has also owned a number of exclusive cars from brands like Aston Martin, Porsche, and Rolls Royce. He said to reporters: “You may think that house is too big. You may think it’s too grand. I don’t care what you think. I heard from heaven. Glory to God, hallelujah!”

But there is a payday coming someday. Paul was a tent maker. Peter a fisherman. Though it is not a sin to be wealthy (for Abraham and Solomon were wealthy), those who are wealthy are to use their wealth not to buy more things, but to help others. The Apostle wrote:

1 Timothy 6:17-19 (NASB95) Instruct those who are rich in this present world not to be conceited or to fix their hope on the uncertainty of riches, but on God, who richly supplies us with all things to enjoy. 18 [Instruct them] to do good, to be rich in good works, to be generous and ready to share, 19 storing up for themselves the treasure of a good foundation for the future, so that they may take hold of that which is life indeed.

The God of Heaven does not make a man wealthy, then whisper to him “build a big mansion so you can show off. Buy jets and a 20 million dollar airport so you don’t have to fly with the lost”. The wealthy Christian seeks to bless others with their wealth. And Jesus must always be first.

The Bible tells us about a rich young Ruler who came to see Jesus (Matthew 19:16-26). The young man wanted to know “what good thing shall I do to inherit eternal life?”. Jesus told that young man:

Matthew 19:21-22 (NASB95) If you wish to be complete, go [and] sell your possessions and give to [the] poor, and you will have treasure in heaven; and come, follow Me.” 22 But when the young man heard this statement, he went away grieving; for he was one who owned much property.

God didn’t whisper to him, “Go build a mansion to impress the lost”. He said, “Put Me first”. Jesus told us:

Matthew 6:24 (NKJV) No one can serve two masters; for either he will hate the one and love the other, or else he will be loyal to the one and despise the other. You cannot serve God and mammon {money}.

One of the best movies I ever watched was called Schindler’s List. The movie was actually based on a true story. During World War 2 in German Occupied Poland an industrialist named Oskar Schindler hatched a plot to save as many Jews as possible from being murdered in the concentration camps. Though it bankrupted him, Schindler saved approximately 1,200 Jews from the Holocaust. His only regret was that he hadn’t saved more.

Whether the man is in Heaven or hell today, I don’t know. But I do know that God does not give us riches so that we can make more riches. He blesses us so that we might bless others. The Way of Christ is to DO mercy and judgment. To love others, and in so doing to show our love for God.

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To The Saints And To The Faithful

Posted on September 2, 2025 by bibleteacherorg

Photo by Nikita Pishchugin on Unsplash

Ephesians 1:1-3 Paul, an apostle of Jesus Christ by the will of God, to the saints which are at Ephesus, and to the faithful in Christ Jesus: 2 Grace be to you, and peace, from God our Father, and from the Lord Jesus Christ. 3 Blessed be the God and Father of our Lord Jesus Christ, who hath blessed us with all spiritual blessings in heavenly places in Christ

The Apostle Paul wrote the Book of Ephesians during his first Roman imprisonment (AD 62). Though Paul wasn’t chained at this time, he was under house arrest, with a Roman guard ever present. The reason God had Paul write Ephesians was to focus on the mystery and the power of the Church.

Throughout this Book the Church is presented as the living Body of Christ on the earth. The Church was in God’s mind before He ever created the earth. The power of the Church is only evident when it is in one accord, loving and glorifying God, and caring for one another.

The Church Described

Ephesians 1:1 Paul, an apostle of Jesus Christ by the will of God, to the SAINTS which are at Ephesus, and to the FAITHFUL in Christ Jesus

When the Apostle addresses the Church, he does not refer to the clerical roll. The early Church, persecuted for its faith, did not have a membership roll with names on it. The early Church did keep records of numbers of those baptized, such as in …

Acts 2:41 … they that gladly received his word were baptized: and the same day there were added unto them about three thousand souls.

The Church kept records of widows (1 Timothy 5:3-16), and cared for those who were unable to care for themselves. Though names were partially given (Romans 16), no specifics were written down lest authorities get hold of the rosters and do harm to the Church. So, how were Christians identified? Paul gives us two markers that shows us what a Christian is:

to the SAINTS {hagios} which are at Ephesus

The Catholic Church tells it’s faithful members to pray to the saints. Interestingly, when our Lord Jesus told us to pray, it was NOT to the saints, nor to the Holy Spirit or even to Himself. Jesus said:

Matthew 6:9-13 (KJV) After this manner therefore pray ye: Our Father which art in heaven, Hallowed be thy name. 10 Thy kingdom come. Thy will be done in earth, as [it is] in heaven. 11 Give us this day our daily bread. 12 And forgive us our debts, as we forgive our debtors. 13 And lead us not into temptation, but deliver us from evil: For thine is the kingdom, and the power, and the glory, for ever. Amen.

Word Study: Prayer is TO THE FATHER, in the Name or Authority of the Son, and in the power of the Holy Spirit. We do not pray to the “saints”. Beloved, WE ARE THE SAINTS. The word translated “SAINTS” is the Greek hagios, which means those who are blameless or consecrated, whose lives honor God. The Christian is a “saint”. The same Greek word hagios is used in the title of the Third Person of the Trinity, the Holy {hagios} Spirit. When a person becomes a Christian, it is not through OUR power that it occurs, but through the Holy {hagios} Spirit of God.

When a person hears the Gospel of Jesus Christ and is awakened to their sinful state by God:

John 16:8 (ESV) When [the Spirit] comes, He will convict the world concerning sin and righteousness and judgment

The person is left in a place of choice. Will they choose to do as God says,

Mark 1:15 (NKJV) The time is fulfilled, and the kingdom of God is at hand. Repent, and believe in the gospel.

Acts 2:38 (NKJV) Repent, and let every one of you be baptized in the name of Jesus Christ for the remission of sins; and you shall receive the gift of the Holy Spirit.

Repentance is not a human work, but a human anti-work. It is where you acknowledge YOU are a SINNER, and YOU need the Savior. Like Israel in Egypt, you cry out to God for salvation. You believe on Jesus. You cast your life down at His feet! When you do, you have the promise of God:

John 10:9 (KJV) {Jesus said} I am the door: by me if any man enter in, he shall be saved, and shall go in and out, and find pasture.

Acts 2:21 (KJV) And it shall come to pass, [that] whosoever shall call on the name of the Lord shall be saved.

When you are saved, God the Holy Spirit comes to you and changes your life.

The Holy Spirit makes you “spiritually born again” (John 3:1-21).
The Holy Spirit indwells you (John 14:17).
The Holy Spirit fills or empowers you (Ephesians 5:15-20).
The Holy Spirit changes you into a new creature (2 Corinthians 5:17)

You are different from what you were before. Because of God you are saints. Saints are different from the world. Saints walk with God, not in the flesh.

There are two type of people in every local Church meeting: The SAINTS and the AINTS.

I’m not talking about being self righteous. Do saints mess up? King David messed up. Elijah messed up. Peter messed up. The Apostles messed up. We all mess up. The Bible talks about saints in:

1 John 1:6-10 If we say that we have fellowship with Him, and walk in darkness, we lie, and do not the truth: 7 But if we WALK IN THE LIGHT, as He is in the light, we have fellowship one with another, and the blood of Jesus Christ his Son cleanseth us from all sin. 8 If we say that WE HAVE NO SIN, we deceive ourselves, and the truth is not in us. 9 If we CONFESS OUR SINS, He is faithful and just to forgive us our sins, and to cleanse us from all unrighteousness. 10 If we say that we have not sinned, we make Him a liar, and His word is not in us.

Are you a SAINT or an AINT? If you say “I HAVE FELLOWSHIP WITH JESUS, but WALK IN DARKNESS just like the world”, then you are lying to yourself. You are an AINT. The SAINT “WALKS IN THE LIGHT WITH GOD – AS HE IS IN THE LIGHT”. The SAINT lives to please the Lord Who save us. The SAINTS, if they sin (and you will, dear ones), will “CONFESS OUR SINS TO GOD”. When we confess our sins, HE IS FAITHFUL AND JUST TO FORGIVE US OUR SINS. Why? Because we who are SAINTS run to Jesus with our sins. Those who are AINTS make excuses, try to fix it themselves, but never go to God in Christ.

A good example of this is Judas Iscariot. Though called by Jesus to be an Apostle, Judas was an AINT, not a SAINT. Jesus called Judas a “son of perdition”, which means “a son of destruction”, a phrase used for the future coming Antichrist (2 Thessalonians 2:3-4). When Judas betrayed Jesus for thirty pieces of silver, what did he do?

Matthew 27:3-5 (NASB20) Then when Judas, who had betrayed Him, saw that He had been condemned, he felt remorse and returned the thirty pieces of silver to the chief priests and elders, 4 saying, “I have sinned by betraying innocent blood.” But they said, “What [is that] to us? You shall see [to it] yourself!” 5 And he threw the pieces of silver into the temple sanctuary and left; and he went away and hanged himself.

Judas did not go to God repenting, confessing his sin. He went back to those who bribed him, and tried to get them to take the money back. They refused, for it was blood money. So Judas “went away and hanged himself”. He punished himself. But he never sought the Cross of Christ. The AINT, when that person sins, will try and “make it better”, do good to somehow make it up to God. Beloved, the only thing you can do with sin is take it to God in Christ. Only then is it forgiven.

The second way the Christian is defined is:

to the SAINTS {hagios} which are at Ephesus, and to the FAITHFUL {pistos} in Christ Jesus

Word Study: The Christian is a SAINT because he or she is a work of the Holy Spirit. The Christian is also FAITHFUL. We are not perfect, but liked Abraham we cling to the God Who saved us:

Galatians 3:6-9 (KJV)Even as Abraham believed God, and it was accounted to him for righteousness. 7 Know ye therefore that they which are of faith, the same are the children of Abraham. 8 And the scripture, foreseeing that God would justify the heathen through faith, preached before the gospel unto Abraham, [saying], In thee shall all nations be blessed. 9 So then they which be of faith are blessed with faithful Abraham.

Our faith is not in ourselves, but “IN CHRIST JESUS”. We are saved by repenting, and turning to God through Christ Jesus. The AINTS believe in their ability, in their own inherent goodness to get peace with God.

The SAINTS believe in the Lord Jesus Christ – and the works of their life reflect that belief.

John 3:36 He that BELIEVETH {pisteuō, Present Active Participle} on the Son hath everlasting life: and he that BELIEVETH NOT {apeitheō, Present Active Participle} the Son shall not see life; but the wrath of God abideth on him.

Word Study: The word rendered “BELIEVETH NOT” is the Greek apeitheō, which means “to refuse faith AND OBEDIENCE”. The same word is used in:

Romans 2:8-9 (KJV)But unto them that are contentious, and DO NOT OBEY {apeitheō} the truth, but obey unrighteousness, indignation and wrath, 9 Tribulation and anguish, upon every soul of man that doeth evil, of the Jew first, and also of the Gentile;

The SAINT will cling to Jesus. The AINT will cling to unrighteousness, and self rule. Beloved, Christians are “New Creatures IN CHRIST: old things are passed away; behold, ALL THINGS are BECOME NEW.

Some people find their affirmation as a believer IN their denomination, or IN their works and human good, or IN the Church they attend. But the SAINTS find their affirmation as believers IN CHRIST JESUS. The Apostle Paul uses the phrase “IN CHRIST” nine times in verses 1-14 of this chapter, and 27 times throughout the Book of Ephesians.

Beloved, are you “IN CHRIST”?

The Church Assembled

Ephesians 1:2 Grace be to you, and peace, from God our Father, and from the Lord Jesus Christ.

The Christian becomes a Christ by Grace. Grace is not something that you work for, but it is a free gift from God. People think that Grace is just a New Testament concept. That’s not true. God has always saved people BY GRACE. When God looked at the earth and found sin to be out of control, He planned on punishing humanity by a Great Flood. And yet, the Bible says:

Genesis 6:8 (KJV) … Noah found GRACE {ḥēn} in the eyes of the LORD.

Sadly, only eight souls got on the Ark that God had Noah make. Had humanity repented and got on the Ark, more would have been saved. GRACE OBEYS GOD. Grace surrenders to God.

Psalm 84:11 (KJV) For the LORD God [is] a sun and shield: the LORD will give GRACE {ḥēn} and glory: no good [thing] will he withhold from them that walk uprightly.

Proverbs 3:34 (KJV)Surely He scorneth the scorners: but {God} giveth GRACE {ḥēn} unto the lowly.

To those who surrender to God, who will heed His Gospel and run to His arms, to these He will give Grace. God will not give Grace to the arrogant, the self righteous, the in your face person who thinks they are always right. God gives Grace as a free gift to those who humble themselves before Him. The Scripture says:

Romans 3:24-28 (KJV) Being justified freely by his grace through the redemption that is in Christ Jesus: 25 Whom God hath set forth [to be] a propitiation {hilastērion, a covering for sin} through faith in his blood, to declare his righteousness for the remission of sins that are past, through the forbearance of God; 26 To declare, [I say], at this time his righteousness: that He might be just, and the Justifier of him which believeth in Jesus. 27 Where [is] boasting then? It is excluded. By what law? of works? Nay: but by the law of faith. 28 Therefore we conclude that a man is justified by faith without the deeds of the law.

It is GOD Who JUSTIFIES us, Who declares us righteous IN HIS EYES when we come to Him in the name of Jesus. Repenting of our self sufficiency and our sins, we throw ourselves on the mercy of His Grace – and GOD does the work!

What does Grace bring you? What do you find in a Grace oriented Church?

Ephesians 1:2 Grace be to you, and PEACE (Greek eirēnē) , from God our Father, and from the Lord Jesus Christ.

Grace brings you PEACE (Greek eirēnē). Not peace with the world. When you become a Christian, you will walk at odds with the world. Jesus said:

Matthew 10:34-39 (KJV) Think not that I am come to send peace on earth: I came not to send peace, but a sword. 35 For I am come to set a man at variance against his father, and the daughter against her mother, and the daughter in law against her mother in law. 36 And a man’s foes [shall be] they of his own household. 37 He that loveth father or mother more than me is not worthy of me: and he that loveth son or daughter more than me is not worthy of me. 38 And he that taketh not his cross, and followeth after me, is not worthy of me. 39 He that findeth his life shall lose it: and he that loseth his life for my sake shall find it.

The lost follow the darkness. The lost serve themselves. The lost satisfy themselves. The lost care little or nothing about God and Christ. But the saved walk with Jesus. The saved love Jesus more than their own family. The saved embrace the Cross of Christ as their own. The saved follow Jesus. The lost waste their lives, trying to live their lives apart from God. But the saved realize that there is NO LIFE WITHOUT JESUS.

Saints are not worried about dying and going to hell. Saints are careful to maintain a daily walk with God in Christ, knowing that – as sheep – we are wolf fodder without our Lord. I want to be where my Good Shepherd is. Always. Period.

Ephesians 1:2 Grace be to you, and PEACE (Greek eirēnē) , from God our Father, and from the Lord Jesus Christ.

The Church is a family. God is our Father. One of the most heinous things I have ever heard is when people say, “God is the Father of everyone”. No, that’s not true. God is the Father of all Christians, saved by Grace through faith in Christ. The Bible says:

Ephesians 4:4-6 There is one Body, and one Spirit, even as ye are called in one hope of your calling; 5 One Lord, one faith, one baptism, 6 One God and Father of all, who is above all, and through all, and in you all.

God is equally the Father of every Christian saved by faith. If you are BORN AGAIN, then God is your Father. But God is NOT the Father of those who do not love Jesus. Our Lord Jesus said:

John 8:42-47 (ESV)Jesus said to them, “If God were your Father, you would love me, for I came from God and I am here. I came not of my own accord, but he sent me. 43 Why do you not understand what I say? It is because you cannot bear to hear my word. 44 You are of your father the devil, and your will is to do your father’s desires. He was a murderer from the beginning, and does not stand in the truth, because there is no truth in him. When he lies, he speaks out of his own character, for he is a liar and the father of lies. 45 But because I tell the truth, you do not believe me. 46 Which one of you convicts me of sin? If I tell the truth, why do you not believe me? 47 Whoever is of God hears the words of God. The reason why you do not hear them is that you are not of God.”

There are two categories of people in the world. There are the “children of God”, also called “the SAINTS and the FAITHFUL”, and there are the “children of the devil”, also called “the AINTS and the self seeking”. Those who are SAINTS have peace with God. Those who are SAINTS have God as their Father. Those who are SAINTS heed and love the LORD Jesus Christ.

Are You Under Grace? Are You Saved?

Ephesians 1:3-6 Blessed be the God and Father of our Lord Jesus Christ, who hath blessed us with all spiritual blessings in heavenly places in Christ: 4 According as he hath chosen us in him before the foundation of the world, that we should be holy and without blame before him in love: 5 Having predestinated us unto the adoption of children by Jesus Christ to himself, according to the good pleasure of his will, 6 To the praise of the glory of his grace, wherein he hath made us accepted in the beloved.

If you’re saved, you are blessed. God has given you “all spiritual blessings in heavenly places in Christ”. You are part of Christ’s Church. The Church is PREDESTINED to the adoption of Children. Jesus has prepared a place for you, dear Church, in glory. We are in a right relationship with God because “he hath made us accepted in the beloved”. We heard the Gospel of salvation, that Jesus died for our sins. We believe that He paid the penalty for our sins in full, and rose from the Grave to sit at the right hand of God the Father. We heed His Word. He is our Lord. We are “ACCEPTED IN THE BELOVED”, without blame in God’s eyes, because we love Jesus and follow Him.

My hope is built on nothing less
than Jesus’ blood and righteousness;
I dare not trust the sweetest frame,
but wholly lean on Jesus’ name.
On Christ, the solid Rock, I stand:
all other ground is sinking sand;
all other ground is sinking sand.

Where is your hope? Where is your life. Get to the Grace of God right now. Don’t delay. Repent, and turn to the Lord Jesus Christ right NOW. Amen!

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But, But, But

Posted on September 2, 2025 by bibleteacherorg

Photo by Mailchimp on Unsplash

Galatians 3:22-25 BUT the scripture hath concluded all under sin, that the promise by faith of Jesus Christ might be given to them that believe. 23 BUT before faith came, we were kept under the law, shut up unto the faith which should afterwards be revealed. 24 Wherefore the law was our schoolmaster to bring us unto Christ, that we might be justified by faith. 25 BUT after that faith is come, we are no longer under a schoolmaster.

Opening: Recently a history teacher who teaches children praised Incan child sacrifices, saying that most cultures practiced child sacrifice. She said that what the Incas did was receive “volunteers” from the upper class of society, and sacrificed these children after drugging them, and leaving them on mountain tops to freeze to death. This demon possessed moron from Littleton, Colorado, reprimanded “white education” for wrongly teaching that child sacrifice is bad. You can read about it here if you think I’m making this up. We have people like this teacher today who are defending child sacrifice on the basis that it was voluntary. When studying the Incas, you’ll find out that this was “voluntary”, but not for the child. Children as young as 4 years old were tied up and, exposed to the elements, sacrificed. And this woman – a teacher of children – believes that this is perfectly fine as long as the children are drugged beforehand.

This is what happens when there is no Law, and no Christ. This is what is happening in our civilization today!

Women are having abortions, posting videos of them online, and celebrating it. Teachers (not all, but yes, there are some) are advocating for assisted suicide, partial birth abortion, and the godless sacrifice of human life and dignity in the guise of “women’s reproductive rights”. What can turn the trend from this madness? Only Christ.

In an article “We Still Have Child Sacrifice” John Stonestreet and Glenn Sunshine of the Colson Center wrote:

“Believing that every human being is made in the image of God, Christians from the earliest centuries argued for the inherent dignity of the marginalized in society, especially women, slaves, and children. Christians in Rome opposed the practice of infanticide, rescuing unwanted infants who were left to die and raising them as full members of the Christian community. They also opposed abortion.

Thus, the defense of children became a feature of Christian witness throughout history. For example, in the nineteenth century, missionary Mary Slessor was known for rescuing twins who had been left to die. The tribal people of Nigeria believed one twin was always a child of a demon. Her actions ended that deadly practice.”

The only way that the darkness and evil are eradicated is when Christians cease to be nominal, and come to Jesus Christ empty handed and by faith to be born again. Is this schoolteacher particularly depraved? No. The Bible says:

Galatians 3:22 BUT the scripture hath concluded all under sin, that the promise by faith of Jesus Christ might be given to them that believe.

All people are born into this world under TWO things: (1) They are under SIN, and (2) They are under the LAW of God.

Whether they know it or not, every single person is born under the Law of God. There are portions of the Law of God that are written in our hearts, in our conscience. Take, for instance, murder, the taking of innocent life. Murder was written into the Noahic Code. When Noah got off the Ark, God told him:

Genesis 9:6 Whoever sheds man’s blood, By man his blood shall be shed; For in the image of God He made man.

God forbade child sacrifice. He forbade the taking of any life, unless that person took a life. The Inca who gave their 4 year old child up to die alone and under the elements on a mountaintop would be guilty of a capital offense under God’s Law. And we all know in our hearts that murder is wrong, just as we know that theft, lying, rape, sexual sins – these things are wrong. But the heart can be hardened by uncorrected sin. Paul warned us in:

1 Timothy 4:1-2 (ESV) Now the Spirit expressly says that in later times some will depart from the faith by devoting themselves to deceitful spirits and teachings of demons, 2 through the insincerity of liars whose consciences are seared

When people wallow in sin without repentance, the heart becomes hardened. This is what God said in Romans 1:18-24 that as they hardened their hearts:

Romans 1:24, 26-27 (NKJV) … God also gave them up to uncleanness, in the lusts of their hearts, to dishonor their bodies among themselves 26 For this reason God gave them up to vile passions. For even their women exchanged the natural use for what is against nature. 27 Likewise also the men, leaving the natural use of the woman, burned in their lust for one another, men with men committing what is shameful

This is where we are in America today. Christians must learn to speak up, to stand behind what God’s Law says, and to call whosoever will to Christ. If you are under the Law, you are under Sin, enslaved to sin. If you continue to be enslaved to sin, in time you will call “good evil, and evil good. Darkness is light, and light is darkness” (Isaiah 5:20). If we continue down this path as a nation, we will find the same thing the Incas found.

Total destruction.

God Gave Us The Law To Lead Us To Faith

Galatians 3:22-25 BUT the scripture hath concluded all under sin, that the promise by faith of Jesus Christ might be given to them that believe. 23 BUT before faith came, we were kept under the law, shut up unto the faith which should afterwards be revealed.

Everyone is either under the Law of God – or under Christ. The Law was given to show us that we are all sinners. Paul breaks this down in

Romans 7:7-8 What shall we say then? Is the law sin? Certainly not! On the contrary, I would not have known sin except through the law. For I would not have known covetousness unless the law had said, “You shall not covet.” 8 But sin, taking opportunity by the commandment, produced in me all manner of evil desire. For apart from the law sin was dead.

It is the Law of God that points out what is righteous, and what is unrighteous. When the 10th commandment says “You shall not covet or desire what your neighbor has” (Exodus 20:17) it was pointing out that just the desire was sinful.

Illustrate: How did King David end up murdering another man, and taking his wife? Because David, instead of walking with Christ as he had been doing, stopped walking with God and took a day off. Bathsheba had just finished her menstrual cycle and, according to the Law of God, was washing herself before going into their home (2 Samuel 11:2-4; Leviticus 20:18; 15:19-30; 15:24). King David, watching from his palace wall, coveted his neighbor’s wife. Sin starts in the heart, violating God’s Law. He sent men to take Bathsheba, to bring her to the palace, and then he committed adultery, a violation of the 7th Commandment (Exodus 20:14). Continuing down this chain, David eventually violated the 6th Commandment (Exodus 20:13), and murdered Uriah, Bathsheba’s husband.

The Law at each point addressed what sin was. It was proscriptive. But David did not repent, but instead covered up sin after sin. Hardening his heart, this “man after God’s own heart” (1 Samuel 13:14; Acts 13:22) walked far from God, and brought innocent blood on his household. When confronted with his sin by Nathan the Prophet, David simply replied:

2 Samuel 12:13 (KJV) I have sinned against the Lord.

The Law told David what sin was. But it was not the Law that saved David from death that day. It was faith in the Lord Jesus. “I HAVE SINNED AGAINST THE LORD”. Apart from the Law, we do not know what is and is not sin. The Law points out what sin is. But to point out sin to a sinner is to entice that person, for we are born enslaved to sin. The Apostle Paul wrote:

Romans 7:9-12 (NKJV) I was alive once without the law, but when the commandment came, sin revived and I died. 10 And the commandment, which was to bring life, I found to bring death. 11 For sin, taking occasion by the commandment, deceived me, and by it killed me. 12 Therefore the law is holy, and the commandment holy and just and good.

We think we are fine, that we are able to make good decisions and live out great lives. But the Law diagnoses the sin in our lives – but has no remedy. As Paul said,

Romans 7:14 (NKJV) … we know that the law is spiritual, but I am carnal, sold under sin.

Every person is born into this world, enslaved to sin. The Law shows us how badly we are enslaved. Paul went on to say:

Romans 7:18-20 (NKJV) For I know that in me (that is, in my flesh) nothing good dwells; for to will is present with me, but how to perform what is good I do not find. 19 For the good that I will to do, I do not do; but the evil I will not to do, that I practice. 20 Now if I do what I will not to do, it is no longer I who do it, but sin that dwells in me.

We are hopelessly, helplessly born into this world as sinners. We prove this by our deeds, by our actions. The Law points out our blemishes, but does nothing to fix them.

Only God can fix us. Only Jesus can make us right.

The Bible says “David was a man after God’s heart” because, when caught in his multiple sins, David didn’t go about trying to do penance. He didn’t tell Nathan, “How can I make this better? What can I do to right this wrong?” David confessed His sins to the Lord. No excuses. No fighting with Nathan or with God. He can’t bring Uriah back. He cannot restore the marriage he ruined. David knows this, and so he throws himself on the Grace of God. “I have sinned against the Lord”.

Galatians 3:23 BUT before faith came, we were kept {phroureō} under the law, shut up unto the faith which should afterwards be revealed.

Word Study: The Law of God is given to those who have no faith in God. “BEFORE FAITH CAME, we were KEPT UNDER THE LAW”. The word translated “KEPT” is the Greek phroureō, which means “to guard by armed soldiers, to besiege a city, to control it so that it will surrender”. In ancient times and in modern warfare, armies will surround a city, and cut off it’s supply lines so that the people would thirst or starve to death – unless they surrendered. The city would often go so hungry that people would kill their children and eat them (Deuteronomy 28:53). The intent of a siege is to rob you of your hope, to make the citizens of the city turn against themselves, and surrender to the besieging army.

The Law has 613 soldiers, commandments that surround every aspect of your life. The Law lays siege to your self righteousness, bringing you to the state where you realize your helplessness.

It is at this point that faith is revealed. As Paul said:

Romans 7:24-25 (KJV) O wretched man that I am! who shall deliver me from the body of this death? 25 I thank God through Jesus Christ our Lord. So then with the mind I myself serve the law of God; but with the flesh the law of sin.

When we are in the flesh, we cannot please God (Romans 8:8). The Law addresses the flesh. It says, “Do this, do that, and I am satisfied”. Those who are under the Law are not serving God by FAITH, but by the FLESH. It is not Christ honoring, but ME honoring. God is not glorified, but man is glorified. The truth is, no person can deliver themselves from sin. Only Jesus Christ our Lord can.

The Law Was Our Undepraved Schoolteacher

The schoolteacher I mentioned at the beginning of this sermon is a depraved and sin sick woman. She has no respect for the sacredness of life. It is sad that she is teaching children. The Law, however, is an Undepraved Schoolteacher. We read:

Galatians 3:24 Wherefore the law was our schoolmaster {paidagōgos} to bring us unto Christ, that we might be justified by faith. 25 BUT after that faith is come, we are no longer under a schoolmaster {paidagōgos}.

Word Study: In the ancient Gentile world, children were schooled differently than we are accustomed to today. The “SCHOOLMASTER” or paidagōgos was both guardian and guide to young people among the Greek and Roman society. The paidagōgos was often a well schooled slave, someone who was captured in battle. When King Nebuchadnezzar of Babylon conquered Judah, the King …

Daniel 1:3-4, 6 (ESV) … commanded Ashpenaz, his chief eunuch, to bring some of the people of Israel, both of the royal family and of the nobility, 4 youths without blemish, of good appearance and skillful in all wisdom, endowed with knowledge, understanding learning, and competent to stand in the king’s palace, and to teach them the literature and language of the Chaldeans. … 6 Among these were Daniel, Hananiah, Mishael, and Azariah of the tribe of Judah.

Daniel and his three friends (we usually refer to them by the Gentile names Shadrach, Meshach, Abednego – see Daniel 1:7) were enslaved by Babylon because of their high education. They would be placed in the palace to rule and teach the children of the King, though they themselves were but slaves. These were paidagōgos, or “SCHOOLMASTERS”. The Schoolmaster took over all aspects of the child’s learning, and had direct and absolute authority over the child until they came of age. Once the child came of age, the child – now a man – became the Master, and the paidagōgos served him and his children.

It is interesting that Paul describes the Law as the paidagōgos. The Law serves God as a slave. When the Gentiles began coming to Christ by faith, the Jewish Church considered placing the Gentiles under the Law of Circumcision and the Law of Moses. We read about this in …

Acts 15:5 (ESV) But some believers who belonged to the party of the Pharisees rose up and said, “It is necessary to circumcise them {the Gentiles who believe on Jesus} and to order them to keep the law of Moses.”

There were Pharisees in the early Church – there are Pharisees in the Church today. They teach that – even though you received Jesus as Lord and Savior – you MUST keep the Law of God as the Jews did. Pharisees do not understand that the Law was a slave paidagōgos, given only until a person comes to faith in Christ. The Apostle Peter stood up and said:

Acts 15:7-11 (ESV) … Brothers, you know that in the early days God made a choice among you, that by my mouth the Gentiles should hear the word of the gospel and believe. 8 And God, who knows the heart, bore witness to them, by giving them the Holy Spirit just as he did to us, 9 and he made no distinction between us and them, having cleansed their hearts by faith. 10 Now, therefore, why are you putting God to the test by placing a yoke on the neck of the disciples that neither our fathers nor we have been able to bear? 11 But we believe that we will be saved through the grace of the Lord Jesus, just as they will.”

A person is saved by faith in the Lord Jesus Christ. Salvation has always, ALWAYS been an act of Grace, not of our abilities. The Law was God’s Slave, God’s paidagōgos, a YOKE that was unbearable. The purpose of that yoke, the Law, is to bring us to Christ. Jesus Christ is the fulfillment of the Law.

after that faith is come, we are no longer under a schoolmaster {paidagōgos}

The purpose of God’s Law was to teach Israel and the Gentiles that we are sinners. To teach us that our first birth brought us, as sinners, into this world. To teach us that there is no good thing we can do to save ourselves. The Law did this through brutal honesty, showing every person that “there are none righteous, no, not one”. I love what Evangelist Paul Washer said:

“A Christian is not somebody who stays away from all the wicked things he loves and clings to all the righteous things he hates so that he can go to heaven. The fear of the Christian is not going to hell. The fear of the Christian is being separated from Christ.”

The Evangelist went on to say:

God saved you FOR Himself;
God saved you BY Himself;
God saved you FROM Himself.

I’m A Christian, And Not Under The Law.
So I Can Live Whatever Way I Want To Live.

I have heard this nonsense before, and it’s prevalent even in our Southern Baptist congregations. People say, “Well, I’m not under the Law. Since Jesus saved me and I believe that, then I can wallow in drunkenness and sexual sin. I can be a ‘Christian homosexual’, for it was the Law that forbade homosexuality. I can marry my horse if I want, for the Law has no hold on me.”

Beloved, you’re wrong.

If you’re not walking with Jesus, YOU ARE STILL UNDER THE LAW. We are told in:

1 Timothy 1:8-10 (ESV) Now we know that the law is good, if one uses it lawfully, 9 understanding this, that the law is not laid down for the just but for the lawless and disobedient, for the ungodly and sinners, for the unholy and profane, for those who strike their fathers and mothers, for murderers, 10 the sexually immoral, men who practice homosexuality, enslavers, liars, perjurers, and whatever else is contrary to sound doctrine

That’s very clear. The “LAW IS NOT LAID DOWN FOR THE JUST”, for those who are “justified by faith in Christ Jesus” (Romans 5:1; Galatians 3:24). BUT the Law is still in effect for those who are “lawless and disobedient, for the ungodly and sinners, for the unholy and profane”. What the Law said in the Old Testament under the Old Covenant, it still says today.

Gravity did not change from the Old Covenant to the New Covenant. Days did not change from the Old Covenant to the New Covenant. The sun in the sky, and the moon by night did not change from the Old Covenant to the New Covenant. The LAW did not change from the Old Covenant to the New Covenant.

What changed? WE changed.

Galatians 3:25-26 But after that faith is come, we are no longer under a schoolmaster. 26 For ye are all the children of God by faith in Christ Jesus.

Before we were saved, we were children of Adam, enslaved to sin. After the Law convicted us of our hopeless and helpless estate, we cast ourselves on the mercies of God’s Grace. We received Jesus as Lord and Savior, and because of this we are reconciled to God (Romans 5:11). We follow the commandment:

Colossians 2:6 (KJV) Therefore, as you received Christ Jesus the Lord, so walk in Him

The Christian is born again of the Spirit of God (John 3:3, 7), born again to a living hope (1 Peter 1:3), born again through the living and abiding Word of God (1 Peter 1:23). The Christ does not walk by the Law, nor by the flesh. The Christian, a Child of God, walks with God and for God. We who are saved do not avoid what the Law deems sinful because we are afraid of hell. We who are saved “walk in the Spirit”, led of God. We know that “if you are LED OF THE SPIRIT, you are NOT UNDER THE LAW” (Galatians 5:18).

We who are saved are not Lawless. Our Law is Christ. Our Leader is the Holy Spirit. We fulfill the Law by following Jesus Christ.

Romans 8:1 (KJV) [There is] therefore now no condemnation to them which are in Christ Jesus, who walk not after the flesh, but after the Spirit.

We are followers of not the Mosaic Law but of Jesus. We live our lives for Jesus. Jesus Christ died to save “whosoever will”. Have you given your life to Him? We close with this:

Galatians 3:27-29 For as many of you as have been baptized into Christ have put on Christ. 28 There is neither Jew nor Greek, there is neither bond nor free, there is neither male nor female: for ye are all one in Christ Jesus. 29 And if ye be Christ’s, then are ye Abraham’s seed, and heirs according to the promise.

If you have received Jesus Christ as your Lord and Savior, if you have recognized that without Him you are lost and undone – then you are Abraham’s seed, the children of promise. If you have not, you are under the Law of God. And dear one, no one will be saved by the Law.

I pray you make the right decision. Today. Amen.

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Order Of The Family

Posted on August 28, 2025 by bibleteacherorg

Photo by Brian McMahon` on Unsplash

Proverbs 20:20 Whoso CURSETH {qālal, Piel Active Participle} his father or his mother, his lamp shall be put out in obscure darkness.

Honor Your Parents

There has been an attack on the family through media in America for the last 40 years. Though it was a funny show, the Cosby Show (1984-1992) depicted a black family called the Huxtables. The mom, Claire, was level headed. The dad, Cliff Huxtable, an idiot that the mom bossed around. Home Improvement (1991-1999) showed again a father and husband who was an idiot, “Tim the Tool Man Taylor”. These shows are a far cry from “Father Knows Best” (1954-1960) or Ozzie and Harriet (1952-1966). In those shows, even when the father and husband messed up, he was always treated with respect.

There is a reason the Bible demands that parents – father and mother – be honored. God attached a promise to keeping the Fifth Commandment:

Exodus 20:12 (ESV) Honor your father and your mother, that your days may be long in the land that the LORD your God is giving you.

The Bibles doesn’t command that we like our parents, or even that we love our parents, but that we show them honor, respect because they are our parents. Our parents may make bad decisions. All are flawed by sin. But God tells us that long life is promised to those who honor their parents. The Apostle quotes this text in the New Testament:

Ephesians 6:1-3 (ESV) Children, OBEY your parents in the Lord, for this is right. 2 HONOR your father and mother” (this is the first commandment with a promise), 3 that it may go well with you and that you may live long in the land.

I came across this quote from a child psychology site:

“The family unit often acts as society in miniature. When families are strong and stable, they contribute to a thriving community. Conversely, when families struggle, the ripples can be felt throughout society, potentially leading towards breakdown and decline. Today, perhaps more than ever before, the family structure appears weakened, with a significant number of children growing up without a father present in their lives. … Children benefit immensely from exposure to both maternal and paternal approaches. As … research suggests, distinct contributions from both male and female parents seem fundamental to human development. The idea that parenting is gender-neutral doesn’t align with the evidence; fathers offer something unique and irreplaceable.”

Word Study: To honor our parents we are to obey them while in their households. The basis of good civilization begins in the family. Children who “CURSE” their parents – this is a Hebrew word which means “to make light of, to despise the authority of” – we are told “his lamp shall be put out in obscure darkness”. The phrase “His lamp shall be put out” is a metaphor for losing one’s life. The Bible says:

Job 18:5 (KJV) Yea, the light of the wicked shall be put out, and the spark of his fire shall not shine.

The next verse goes with the child that disrespects his parent:

Proverbs 20:21 An INHERITANCE may be gotten hastily at the beginning; but the end thereof shall not be blessed.

This is what happened in the parable of the “Prodigal Son”. This is actually miss-named by us, for Jesus called it:

Luke 15:11 (KJV) … A certain man had TWO SONS:

The parable is not about one son who disrespects his father, but two. Both abuse the father’s Grace.

The younger son received his inheritance hastily. He told his father, “Father, give me the portion of goods that falleth to me”. The child wanted “everything coming to him”, not when the father wanted to give it, but when HE wanted it. The Bible tells us that the father responded by giving to both sons:

Luke 15:12 (KJV) … And he (the father) divided unto THEM [his] living.

Both sons got their inheritance. The elder son received the doubled portion (Deuteronomy 21:17) as was customary, for the elder son would command his father’s estate. The younger son got his portion, then “wasted his substance with riotous living”. He got his inheritance too soon. He should have stayed under the teaching of his father, so he could learn how to handle the inheritance. You may get the inheritance hastily …. but in the end there is no blessing from it. The younger son found this out. Wasting all he had, starving to death, he decided to REPENT and return to his father. He planned to tell his father:

Luke 15:18-19 (KJV) I will arise and go to my father, and will say unto him, Father, I have sinned against heaven, and before thee, 19 And am no more worthy to be called thy son: make me as one of thy hired servants.

We all know the story. When he returned and honored his father, his father said:

Luke 15:22-24 (KJV) … Bring forth the best robe, and put [it] on him; and put a ring on his hand, and shoes on [his] feet: 23 And bring hither the fatted calf, and kill [it]; and let us eat, and be merry: 24 For this my son was dead, and is alive again; he was lost, and is found. And they began to be merry.

The father said nothing about restoring the lost inheritance. This represents New Covenant Grace.

He restored his son, because his son honored him. THEN THE OTHER SON DISHONORED HIM. He was upset because the father never celebrated or had a party for him, but the father did so for the younger son. The father corrected the older son, saying:

Luke 15:31-32 (KJV) … Son, thou art ever with me, and all that I have is thine. 32 It was {right} that we should make merry, and be glad: for this thy brother was dead, and is alive again; and was lost, and is found.

The father reminded his son that LIFE is much more than STUFF. The child who dishonored his father and went off would have died had he not returned to honor his father. Our Lord Jesus ALWAYS honored the Father. He said:

John 6:38 … I have come down from heaven not to do My will, but to do the will of Him who sent Me.

Honoring our parents reminds us that LIFE is the most important thing we have. A father and a mother create life. Both father and mother nurture life. The family is the training ground for future citizens. Quoting another article:

“Children growing up in broken families frequently face emotional and psychological difficulties. The absence of one or both parents can give rise to feelings of abandonment, insecurity, and confusion. These challenges can manifest in various ways, including low self-esteem, depression, anxiety, and behavioral problems.”

Our Heavenly Father Teaches Us To Rest In Him

Proverbs 20:22 (KJV) Say not thou, I will recompense evil; but wait on the Lord, and He shall save thee.

One of the hardest things to do is to not attack back or take vengeance when someone wrongs us. It is the human thing to repay in kind when someone does us bad. The Bible tells us that

Evil is liked poison ivy. To handle it, even lightly, is to infect yourself.

The Apostle wrote:

Romans 12:17-19 (ESV) Repay no one evil for evil, but give thought to do what is honorable in the sight of all. If possible, so far as it depends on you, live peaceably with all. Beloved, never avenge yourselves, but leave it to the wrath of God, for it is written, “Vengeance is mine, I will repay, says the Lord.”

and again,

Proverbs 24:29 (ESV) Do not say, “I will do to him as he has done to me; I will pay the man back for what he has done.”

We are to trust our lives to the Lord, no matter what others do to us. The Apostle Paul warned his student Timothy about a man who did evil to him, saying:

2 Timothy 4:14-18 (ESV)Alexander the coppersmith did me great harm; the Lord will repay him according to his deeds. 15 Beware of him yourself, for he strongly opposed our message. 16 At my first defense no one came to stand by me, but all deserted me. May it not be charged against them! 17 But the Lord stood by me and strengthened me, so that through me the message might be fully proclaimed and all the Gentiles might hear it. So I was rescued from the lion’s mouth. 18 The Lord will rescue me from every evil deed and bring me safely into his heavenly kingdom. To him be the glory forever and ever. Amen.

Paul warned others against Alexander and the evil that he did … but he trusted that God would repay the evil. When we take vengeance, contrary to what the Scripture says, then we stand in the place of God. Paul trusted every bruise, every beating, every lie to the hand of God Who loves us and will avenge us. The enemy only wins if we lower ourselves down to where the enemy lives. This is why we are told:

Proverbs 20:23 (KJV) Divers weights are an abomination unto the Lord; and a false balance is not good.

Though Solomon has talked about divers(e) weights and false weights before (Proverbs 20:10; 11:1), he brings it up again because we may take the attitude of “He cheated me. She slandered me. Why shouldn’t I do the same to them?” God tells us to not play that game, because this is the way of the wicked. We as Christians are called to BLESS others, even when they curse us. This is what our Lord Jesus did:

1 Peter 2:23 (ESV) When {Jesus} was reviled, He did not revile in return; when He suffered, He did not threaten, but continued entrusting Himself to Him {God the Father} who judges justly.

1 Peter 3:9 (ESV) Do not repay evil for evil or reviling for reviling, but on the contrary, bless, for to this you were called, that you may obtain a blessing.

God will punish the wicked, if they will not repent. Our super power is to love our enemies, even when we were hated and reviled.

Trust That God Is Always In Control

Proverbs 20:24 Man’s goings are of the Lord; how can a man then understand his own way?

Since God ultimately controls all things, we cannot ensure our own future. We were told earlier “the heart of man plans his way, but the Lord establishes his steps” (Proverbs 16:9). So many people plan their future without regard to the Lord. In hear people today talking about buying gold and silver to protect themselves if the economy falls, or to store long term food items as insurance against another Great Depression. Beloved, we don’t know what tomorrow may bring.

But God does.

Jesus warned us to do all things with God in mind. To be “rich toward God”. To please God first, and let God take care of the rest. He gave us this wonderful parable:

Luke 12:13-21 (ESV) Someone in the crowd said to him, “Teacher, tell my brother to divide the inheritance with me.” 14 But {Jesus} said to him, “Man, who made Me a judge or arbitrator over you?” 15 And He said to them, “Take care, and be on your guard against all covetousness, for one’s life does not consist in the abundance of his possessions.” 16 And He told them a parable, saying, “The land of a rich man produced plentifully, 17 and he thought to himself, ‘What shall I do, for I have nowhere to store my crops?’ 18 And he said, ‘I will do this: I will tear down my barns and build larger ones, and there I will store all my grain and my goods. 19 And I will say to my soul, “Soul, you have ample goods laid up for many years; relax, eat, drink, be merry.”‘ 20 But God said to him, ‘Fool! This night your soul is required of you, and the things you have prepared, whose will they be?’ 21 So is the one who lays up treasure for himself and is not rich toward God.”

Rather than worrying about the future, the political climate, or the economy, live your life so that you are “rich toward God”. God is ultimately in control. If you please God, He will care for you. Always!

Be Careful About Making Promises To God

Proverbs 20:25 (KJV) It is a snare to the man who devoureth that which is holy, and AFTER vows to make inquiry.

Since God controls all things, we need to be very careful before making a vow to God rashly. We should “MAKE INQUIRY” or carefully consider our vow BEFORE we make the vow, not afterward. There are several foolish vows found in the Bible as an example. In the Book of Judges we hear the story of the Judge Jephthah the Gileadite. Jephthah served Israel as judge for 6 years. Jephthah led the army of Israel against the Ammonites. Before going into battle, Jephthah made a hasty, foolish vow to God:

Judges 11:30-35 (ESV) Jephthah made a vow to the LORD and said, “If you will give the Ammonites into my hand, 31 then whatever comes out from the doors of my house to meet me when I return in peace from the Ammonites shall be the LORD’s, and I will offer it up for a burnt offering.” 32 So Jephthah crossed over to the Ammonites to fight against them, and the LORD gave them into his hand. 33 And he struck them from Aroer to the neighborhood of Minnith, twenty cities, and as far as Abel-keramim, with a great blow. So the Ammonites were subdued before the people of Israel. 34 Then Jephthah came to his home at Mizpah. And behold, his daughter came out to meet him with tambourines and with dances. She was his only child; besides her he had neither son nor daughter. 35 And as soon as he saw her, he tore his clothes and said, “Alas, my daughter! You have brought me very low, and you have become the cause of great trouble to me. For I have opened my mouth to the LORD, and I cannot take back my vow.”

Jephthah made a foolish and unwarranted vow to God – and it cost him his daughter. Did he have her sacrificed to fulfill his foolish vow, or did he dedicate her to God? I believe he dedicated her to God. My commentary notes:

“God had specifically forbidden offering human sacrifices, so it was absolutely not God’s desire for Jephthah to sacrifice his daughter (Leviticus 20:1-5). Jeremiah 7:31; 19:5; and 32:35 clearly indicate that the idea of human sacrifice has “never even entered God’s mind.” The account of Jephthah and his daughter serves as an example for us to not make foolish vows or oaths. It should also serve as a warning to make sure any vow we make is something that is not in violation of God’s Word.”

Another foolish vow made and found in Scripture was when the Jews decided to kill Paul.

Acts 23:12-14 (NIV) The next morning some Jews formed a conspiracy and bound themselves with an oath not to eat or drink until they had killed Paul. 13 More than forty men were involved in this plot. 14 They went to the chief priests and the elders and said, “We have taken a solemn oath not to eat anything until we have killed Paul.

These men made a “SOLEMN OATH” or a vow to God that they would not eat or drink until they killed Paul. Since Paul didn’t die for several years, and then only at the hand of Caesar, if they kept their vow they died of starvation! Be careful before making a promise to God.

A Wise Leader Will Not Yoke Themselves
With The Evil

Proverbs 20:26-28 A wise king scattereth the wicked, and bringeth the wheel over them. 27 The Spirit of man is the candle of the Lord, searching all the inward parts of the belly. 28 Mercy and truth preserve the king: and his throne is upholden by mercy.

When Israel prepared to go into the land of Canaan, God told them not to marry the women of Canaan. God told His people:

Deuteronomy 7:2-4 (ESV) You shall make no covenant with them and show no mercy to them. 3 You shall not intermarry with them, giving your daughters to their sons or taking their daughters for your sons, 4 for they would turn away your sons from following me, to serve other gods. Then the anger of the Lord would be kindled against you, and he would destroy you quickly.

God forbade His people from “yoking” themselves with unbelievers in an intimate, life changing way. Animals were “yoked” together to pull a plow in the same direction. God’s people are not to “yoke” themselves with godless people. This doesn’t mean we aren’t to associate with godless people, or people who are different from us. Even Jesus did not do this. The Bible says that:

Matthew 9:10-13 (NKJV) Now it happened, as Jesus sat at the table in the house, that behold, many tax collectors and sinners came and sat down with Him and His disciples. 11 And when the Pharisees saw it, they said to His disciples, “Why does your Teacher eat with tax collectors and sinners?” 12 When Jesus heard that, He said to them, “Those who are well have no need of a physician, but those who are sick. 13 But go and learn what this means: ‘I desire mercy and not sacrifice.’ For I did not come to call the righteous, but sinners, to repentance.”

Jesus does not expect His people to be monks or hermits who have no contact with the lost. When Jesus called Levi (or Matthew) from collecting taxes for the Romans to follow Him, the first thing Levi did was have a PARTY at his home and invite his lost friends there (Luke 5:29-31). He did this to introduce them to Jesus.

Christians are not to “unequally yoke” themselves with unbelievers (2 Corinthians 6:14). This does not mean that you cannot work for an unbeliever, or an unbelieving company. If that were true, then no Christian could work for any company other than Home Depot, Hobby Lobby or Chick Fil-a. The best way I’ve heard this described is:

“Unequally yoked” refers to any environment where we let the world influence our thinking to the point that we compromise our beliefs or syncretize with theirs. Paul is not saying is that we should never associate with unbelievers. The idea is to be in the world but not of the world. We’re not meant to be theological hermits in our religious echo chambers, only associating with people that agree with us. This isn’t biblical and doesn’t follow the biblical command to make disciples in Matthew 28 or to know what we believe and why we believe it, as it says in 1 Peter 3:15. We hide our light under a bush, and Jesus says not to do that, we need to let it shine.”

Proverbs 20:26 A wise king scattereth the wicked, and bringeth THE WHEEL {ôp̄ān} over them.

Word Study: Children of the King are not to let anything in their head that will bind them to wickedness. The reference to “THE WHEEL” is the Hebrew ôp̄ān or a threshing wheel. The wheat was separated from the tares or the waste by beating it, or rolling a large wheel over it. The wise king carefully examines those he allows in his life and in his entourage. When Nebuchadnezzar had a dream and wanted it interpreted (Daniel 2), he told his counselors “Tell me the dream and its interpretation, or I will have you destroyed”. The King knew that his counselors would make up an answer, rather than give him a true interpretation. Daniel, though he was in the King’s court, was able to give the interpretation because he went directly to the Lord our God.

Proverbs 20:27 The Spirit of man is the candle of the Lord, searching all the inward parts of the belly.

The Christian is not to be influenced by the world, but to be an influencer. We are called of God to:

Walk in the Spirit, not in the flesh (Galatians 5:16-17)
Walk in Light, not in darkness (Ephesians 5:8)
Walk by faith, not by sight (2 Corinthians 5:7)
Walk in love, not in hate (Ephesians 5:2)
Walk as Jesus walked, not like the world (1 John 2:6)
Walk as wise, not unwise (Ephesians 5:15-16)
Walk in a manner worthy of the Lord (Colossians 1:10-11)

We must not bind ourselves to anyone in an intimate manner that will influence us toward godlessness. Be careful what you watch on television. Be careful what movies you watch. Live your lives in union with the Lord Jesus Christ!

Proverbs 20:28 Mercy and truth preserve the king: and his throne is upholden by mercy.

We are not to feel ourselves superior to the lost. We cling to the truths that the Bible gives us, and refuse to compromise. We enter into NO CONTRACTS with the lost, and do not bind ourselves to darkness. But we do reach out to the lost, so that we might lead some to Christ.

Otherwise, we are no Church.

The Church MUST move forward, sharing the Gospel with all. We cannot afford to sit in our own little building, and shut ourselves off like the Amish do. But we must remember we are to be

Philippians 2:15-16 (KJV) That ye may be blameless and harmless, the sons of God, without rebuke, in the midst of a crooked and perverse nation, among whom ye shine as lights in the world; 16 Holding forth the word of life…

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The Law Was Added – Why?

Posted on August 25, 2025 by bibleteacherorg

Photo by Fred Moon on Unsplash

Galatians 3:19-22 (KJV) Wherefore then serveth the law? It was added because of transgressions, till the seed should come to whom the promise was made; and it was ordained by angels in the hand of a mediator. 20 Now a mediator is not a mediator of one, but God is one. 21 Is the law then against the promises of God? God forbid: for if there had been a law given which could have given life, verily righteousness should have been by the law. 22 But the scripture hath concluded all under sin, that the promise by faith of Jesus Christ might be given to them that believe.

God Gave Us The Law To Teach Us
The Depth Of His Love and Grace

“Wherefore then serveth the law?”. Paul asks the question in every person’s head: “Why did God give Israel the Law? Why Mount Sinai?”. When you look at the early history of Israel, in fact, of all mankind, you will see that salvation has always been by the Grace of God. We are told:

It was added because of transgressions

Word Study: The word translated “TRANSGRESSIONS” is the Greek parabasis, which means “an overlooking, a failure to acknowledge or give credence to”. The Law did not CREATE transgressions. It was “ADDED BECAUSE” of transgressions, because of will oversight of something. The Law was added because man repeatedly LOOKED OVER and DEVALUED the love of God for His creation. The first time this happened was in the Garden of Eden. God, in His love, gave Adam the world. And yet Adam doubted the love of God, and showed that doubt by partaking of the forbidden fruit.

Romans 5:14 (ESV) death reigned from Adam to Moses, even over those whose sinning was not like the transgression {parabasis} of Adam

God loved Adam, and proved it by what he did. But Adam doubted the love of God, and proved that by what HE did. He disobeyed God. He hid from God. He blamed God. This is THE Transgression (1 Timothy 2:14). And yet, God loved him anyway, and gave Adam life for death. Death reigned on the earth from Adam to Moses. Why? It wasn’t because people ate of the forbidden fruit as Adam did (for no one could get into Eden).

Death reigned because people rejected the love of God, choosing instead love of self and by extension love of sin. The wages of sin is death, and God is life. There was no law, and man embraced death while rejecting God.

When Jesus Christ came to this earth, He came to mediate a New Covenant, to bring us, through the Gospel, into a loving relationship with God. The Bible says:

Hebrews 9:12-15 (KJV) Neither by the blood of goats and calves, but by his own blood he entered in once into the holy place, having obtained eternal redemption [for us]. [13] For if the blood of bulls and of goats, and the ashes of an heifer sprinkling the unclean, sanctifieth to the purifying of the flesh: [14] How much more shall the blood of Christ, who through the eternal Spirit offered himself without spot to God, purge your conscience from dead works to serve the living God? [15] And for this cause he is the mediator of the new testament, that by means of death, for the redemption of the TRANSGRESSIONS {parabasis} [that were] under the first testament {the Old Covenant, the Mosaic Law}, they which are called might receive the promise of eternal inheritance.

The Mosaic Law given at Sinai was different than anything God had done up to this point. Because man would not believe that God called us to His side out of love, out of what was best for us, God gave the Law temporarily to Israel and to mankind. Again, read with me:

Galatians 3:19 Wherefore then serveth the law? It was added because of transgressions, TILL THE SEED SHOULD COME to whom the promise was made

When God promised Abraham in Genesis 12:7 “To your OFFSPRING {zeraʿ} I will give this land”, God was not speaking of the physical descendants of Abraham. God gave the earth to Adam, and Adam in love with God was to maintain the earth. God gave the land to Abraham and his “seed”, to those who love the Lord. When God made His promise to Abraham, the promise was not to ethnic Jews, but to those who were in Christ. Paul previously told us:

Galatians 3:16 (KJV) Now to Abraham and his seed were the promises made. {God} saith not, And to seeds, as of many; but as of one, And to thy seed, which is Christ.

There are four “seed” of Abraham mentioned in the Scripture. There are (1) The PHYSICAL descendants, those who can trace their bloodline back to Abraham. Then there are the (2) BELIEVING PHYSICAL descendants, those who have believed on the Lord Jesus Christ. There are (3) BELIEVERS who are the spiritual seed of Abraham. But the ultimate Seed is (4) Jesus Christ. Paul said that when God made His promise to Abraham, that He had Jesus Christ in view.

The Everlasting Covenant that God made through Abraham is to whosoever repents and receives THE SEED of Abraham, the Lord Jesus Christ.

The Law was temporarily given until those who were under it were convinced that God loved them, and that God knows best. Those who are saved by the Grace of God live their lives following the Lord because we know that this is where the blessing is. There is NO PARADISE outside of a surrendered life to the Lord Who loves us. He made the tree of the knowledge of good and evil, and He sets the parameters as to what is best for us!

The Law Is Different In It’s ‘Contract Formation’
Compared To The Other Covenants

The Law of God – the Mosaic Covenant, a.k.a. the Old Covenant – is entirely different in its composition than all of the other Covenants God made prior to it. We are told of the Law:

Galatians 3:19 (KJV) and it was ordained {diatassō, set in order or prescribed} by angels in the hand of a mediator.

Word Study: The word translated “MEDIATOR” is the Greek mesitēs, which means “a person who intervenes between two different parties so as to form a contract, restore peace, or to bring about unity”. God gave the Law of Moses through mediators, through a neutral party. Though God wrote the Ten Commandments (Exodus 31:18; Deuteronomy 9:10) on two tablets of stone that He gave to Moses, the fuller text of the Law came to Israel by angels. To be honest, I never knew this until I studied this section. Dr. Constable’s Notes on Galatians states:

“Angels, who stood between God and the Israelites, mediated the Mosaic Covenant to Moses and the Israelites. The N.T. refers three times to the interposition of angels in the promulgation of the Law: God’s intercourse with Moses through the Angel of His Presence {the Angel of the Lord} was evidently a common topic in Jewish schools of theology.”

Moses blessed Israel before he died, saying:

Deuteronomy 33:2 The LORD came from Sinai, and rose up from Seir unto them; he shined forth from mount Paran, and he came with ten thousands of saints: from his right hand went a fiery law for them.

God was the Source of the Law. He gave the Law from His right hand. When the Evangelist Stephen preached to the Pharisees just prior to his death, he said:

Acts 7:52-53 (KJV) Which of the prophets have not your fathers persecuted? and they have slain them which shewed before of the coming of the Just One; of whom ye have been now the betrayers and murderers: [53] Who have received the law by the disposition {diatagē, by the instrumentality or ministration} of angels, and have not kept [it].

In the Book of Hebrews, the Apostle speaking of the Law said:

Hebrews 2:1-2 (KJV) Therefore we ought to give the more earnest heed to the things which we have heard, lest at any time we should let [them] slip. [2] For if the word spoken by angels was stedfast, and every transgression and disobedience received a just recompense of reward;

The Mosaic Covenant (the Law) gave God AND the Jews responsibilities that had to be fulfilled. But what of the other Covenants?

1. When God established His covenant with Adam, He spoke to Adam face to face (Genesis 1:26-30; 2:16-17; 3:16-19).

2. When God established His covenant with Noah, He spoke to Noah face to face (Genesis 9:8-17).

3. When God established His covenant with Abraham, He spoke to Abraham face to face (Genesis 12:1-3; 15; 17:9-14).

4. When God called Moses to lead Israel out of Egypt, He spoke to Moses face to face (Exodus 3:1-4:23).

5. When God made His covenant with David, He spoke to David face to face. (2Samuel 7; 1 Chronicles 17:11-14; 2 Chronicles 6:16).

In each of these contracts or covenants God spoke without a mediator. But when He established the Mosaic Law, God used angels as mediators. Why? Because Israel had rejected the love of God. They overlooked His goodness, His Grace. They repeatedly tried to design their own gods and golden calves, rather than trust the love of God.

Israel Repeatedly Rejected Faith In God’s Love

When God led Israel to the Red Sea, rather than look to God’s love, the God Who saved them, the Israelites fussed:

Exodus 14:11-12 (KJV) {Israel} said unto Moses, Because [there were] no graves in Egypt, hast thou taken us away to die in the wilderness? wherefore hast thou dealt thus with us, to carry us forth out of Egypt? [12] [Is] not this the word that we did tell thee in Egypt, saying, Let us alone, that we may serve the Egyptians? For [it had been] better for us to serve the Egyptians, than that we should die in the wilderness.

How galling that had to be to God! As slaves, Israel cried out to God, and He raised up Moses to lead them out. Now they doubt God and His love. When God destroys the Egyptian Army but saves Israel, they should have glorified Him forever. But then Israel gets to a place called Marah:

Exodus 15:22-23 (KJV) So Moses brought Israel from the Red sea, and they went out into the wilderness of Shur; and they went three days in the wilderness, and found no water. [23]And when they came to Marah, they could not drink of the waters of Marah, for they were bitter: therefore the name of it was called Marah.

Did the people look to God for water? No! “The people murmured” (Exodus 15:24). They complained. They whined. And yet, God had Moses cast a tree (Exodus 15:25) into the waters of Marah, and the water was cleansed. God in His Grace blessed them, even though they doubted His love. Then Israel travels to

Exodus 17:1, 3 (KJV) And all the congregation of the children of Israel journeyed from the wilderness of Sin, after their journeys, according to the commandment of the LORD, and pitched in Rephidim: and [there was] no water for the people to drink. … [3] And the people thirsted there for water; and the people murmured against Moses, and said, Wherefore [is] this [that] thou hast brought us up out of Egypt, to kill us and our children and our cattle with thirst?

Again they failed to trust the love of God. They murmured, they complained. And yet God, once more, brought these ungrateful people water out of dry Rock.

Where God gave Israel water out of the rock was called Mount Horeb, which is another name for Mount Sinai.

Deuteronomy 5:2 (NASB 95) The Lord our God made a covenant with us at Horeb.

2 Chronicles 5:10 (NASB 95) There was nothing in the ark except the two tablets which Moses put there at Horeb, where the Lord made a covenant with the sons of Israel, when they came out of Egypt.

God only gave the Law through the mediation of Angels to Israel after they repeatedly rejected His Grace and love. When God prepared to remove the Law through the New Covenant, He used angels as mediators.

1. The Angel Gabriel came to Zacharias, the father of John the Baptist, to tell him that Elizabeth was going to have the Messiah’s Herald. This was a fulfillment of Bible prophecy (see Isaiah 40:3-5; Matthew 3:1, 3; John 1:22-23; Luke 1:76-77; Malachi 3:1; 4:5).

2. The Angel of the Lord told Joseph that Mary was carrying the Messiah (see Matthew 1:20-24)

3. The Angel Gabriel tells Mary that she is going to bear the Messiah, the Savior of the world (Luke 1:26-38).

4. On the night that Jesus was born in Bethlehem, God sent the Angel of the Lord to tell the shepherds about the birth of Christ the Lord (Luke 2:9-16).

Angels mediated the Old Covenant, the Law, because man rejected the love of God. As God prepared to bring in the New Covenant through His Son Jesus, He once more sent the Angels to those under the Law to announcing the coming change. The Law was only to last:

Galatians 3:19 … till the seed should come to whom the promise was made

When the Messiah came, God would no longer mediate through the Angels. He would mediate through Jesus Christ, His Only Son, our Lord.

Galatians 3:20 (KJV) Now a mediator is not [a mediator] of one, but God is one.

The Law was mediated through Angels, a Law which man completely fell down on. God kept His part, but man never ever kept his. Man broke the contract repeated. But we are told, “God is one”. Though man failed, God loved. He sent bus ANOTHER Mediator, One better than the Angels. God sent us His Son the Lord Jesus Christ.

1 Timothy 2:3-6 (KJV) For this [is] good and acceptable in the sight of God our Saviour; [4] Who will have all men to be saved, and to come unto the knowledge of the truth. [5] For [there is] one God, and one mediator between God and men, the man Christ Jesus; [6] Who gave himself a ransom for all, to be testified in due time.

God gave us the Law because He wants us to realize that we must REPENT, and come surrendered to Him Who loves us. He proved His love by sending His Only Begotten Son to die for us. The Father approaches us through the completed work of His Son Jesus. At this time there is only “one mediator between God and men, the man Christ Jesus”. You cannot come to God and His “New Covenant”, a Covenant of Grace, without coming through the Lord Jesus Christ (John 14:6). The reason that God established a priesthood in Israel was to “offer gifts to God according to the Law” (Hebrews 8:4). These gifts and sacrifices never pleased God, but were offered year after year because no person can make themselves right before God. The priesthood in Israel was a shadow of the better covenant that was coming. The Bible says of Jesus:

Hebrews 8:6-13 (KJV) But now hath He {Jesus Christ} obtained a more excellent ministry, by how much also He is the mediator of a better covenant, which was established upon better promises. [7] For if that first [covenant] had been faultless, then should no place have been sought for the second. [8] For finding fault with them, he saith, Behold, the days come, saith the Lord, when I will make a new covenant with the house of Israel and with the house of Judah: [9] Not according to the covenant that I made with their fathers in the day when I took them by the hand to lead them out of the land of Egypt; because they continued not in my covenant, and I regarded them not, saith the Lord. [10] For this [is] the covenant that I will make with the house of Israel after those days, saith the Lord; I will put my laws into their mind, and write them in their hearts: and I will be to them a God, and they shall be to me a people: [11] And they shall not teach every man his neighbor, and every man his brother, saying, Know the Lord: for all shall know me, from the least to the greatest. [12] For I will be merciful to their unrighteousness, and their sins and their iniquities will I remember no more. [13] In that he saith, A new [covenant], he hath made the first old. Now that which decayeth and waxeth old [is] ready to vanish away.

The Old Covenant was established through the mediation of angels because Israel rejected the grace and love of God. But God promised a NEW Covenant, one Mediated by His Son the Lord Jesus Christ. This New Covenant would be better because of Jesus. It would be better because God promised, “I will put my laws into their mind, and write them in their hearts: and I will be to them a God, and they shall be to me a people”. The Old Covenant relied on broken people to keep a perfect Law. The New Covenant – purchased with the Blood of Christ – brought with it the operation of the Holy Spirit in washing, regenerating, and indwelling the believer.

The New Covenant Christian follows the Lord because WE LOVE THE LORD. The Old Covenant adherent follows God because THEY FEAR PUNISHMENT.

The Law Diagnoses Our Problem,
Leading Us To Repentance

Galatians 3:21-22 Is the law then against the promises of God? God forbid: for if there had been a law given which could have given life, verily righteousness should have been by the law. 22 But the scripture hath concluded all under sin, that the promise by faith of Jesus Christ might be given to them that believe.

Righteousness cannot come by the Law. The Law requires that those under it DO or else. But we are one and all broken. We cannot fix ourselves. God must fix us. God did this through the Lord Jesus Christ. When Jesus became Incarnate, God become flesh, God become Perfect Man, He walked this earth sinlessly and perfectly. Jesus kept the Law that we could not keep. Keeping the Law, He proved Himself “the Lamb of God, without spot or blemish”. Then Jesus Christ went to the Cross, willingly sacrificing Himself for us. The Bible says:

Hebrews 9:12-15 (KJV) Neither by the blood of goats and calves, but by his own blood he entered in once into the holy place, having obtained eternal redemption [for us]. [13] For if the blood of bulls and of goats, and the ashes of an heifer sprinkling the unclean, sanctifieth to the purifying of the flesh: [14] How much more shall the blood of Christ, who through the eternal Spirit offered himself without spot to God, purge your conscience from dead works to serve the living God? [15] And for this cause he is the mediator of the new testament {Covenant}, that by means of death, for the redemption of the transgressions [that were] under the first testament, they which are called might receive the promise of eternal inheritance.

Whereas the Old Covenant required repeated animal sacrifices to pay for the sins of humanity, the New Covenant relies on the Blood of Christ, shed once and for all for our sins on Calvary. Jesus died for us so that WE CAN SERVE GOD, so that God through His Spirit can change our hearts to receive the love of God.

Beloved, we who are Christians serve the Lord our God not because we are afraid we’re going to go to hell. We serve the Lord our God because we LOVE Him, because He is good to us, and He is our Father. Our hearts are tender to Him, to His glory. We love Jesus!

The Old Covenant of Law was mediated by angels. The New Covenant of Grace is mediated by Jesus (Hebrews 12:24). Which covenant are YOU under? If you only work for God because you don’t want Him mad at you, you’re not under the New Covenant. If you come to Church or tithe or give or read your Bible or pray because you’ll go to hell if you don’t, you’re not under the New Covenant.

The Old Covenant addresses your actions. The New Covenant addresses your hearts. The Old Covenant requires circumcised flesh. The New Covenant circumcises the heart. The Old Covenant is everything YOU do to make yourself right with God. The New Covenant is everything GOD does to get your heart right with Him. The New Covenant was prophetically spoken of to Israel when God said:

Deuteronomy 30:6 (ESV) the Lord your God will circumcise your heart and the heart of your offspring, so that you will love the Lord your God with all your heart and with all your soul, that you may live.

Ezekiel 36:26-27 (ESV) I will give you a new heart, and a new spirit I will put within you. And I will remove the heart of stone from your flesh and give you a heart of flesh. And I will put my Spirit within you, and cause you to walk in my statutes and be careful to obey my rules.

Praise God for the Lord Jesus Christ! Next week we’ll see how God used the Old Covenant as a school teacher to lead us to Jesus. Amen.

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Bible Doctrine Matters

Posted on August 24, 2025 by bibleteacherorg

Photo by Pascal Debrunner on Unsplash

Romans 16:17-18 (KJV) Now I beseech you, brethren, mark them which cause divisions and offenses contrary to the doctrine which ye have learned; and avoid them. 18 For they that are such serve not our Lord Jesus Christ, but their own belly; and by good words and fair speeches deceive the hearts of the simple.

I read with interest and dismay how a group of teachers in Ontario, Canada said that if you believe 2+2=4 then you are racist. That is perhaps one of the stupidest things I’ve ever heard. Mathematics has nothing to do with racism. When I was in the military working Electronic Warfare Systems, I had to learn the different numbering systems. I never even thought about it till then – and you probably haven’t up to today. The numbering system we are all familiar with is the Decimal System, also called base 10. This is what we are taught in school. This is what our economy is based on. In the Decimal System you count your numbers 1 thru 9, and when you pass 9 you put a “0” in the “ones” column, and a “1” in the “tens” column. Let’s look at the numbers:

1 = “One” because it’s in the ones column
10 = “Ten” because a 1 is in the tens column, 0 in the ones column
100 = “One Hundred” because a 1 is in the hundreds column

That has nothing to do with racism. That’s counting. A dollar bill is 1.00, or one hundred pennies or ten dimes or twenty half dimes or nickles. Everybody learned this in school. Mathematics is the basis of our economy. Mathematics is the basis of what we do every day. The smart phone you are all so proud of is based on mathematics. Computers do not use the Decimal System, but Binary (base 2), Octal (base 8), or Hexadecimal (Base 16). Base 2 or Binary only has two numbers, 0 and 1, off or on. That’s how computers work. I don’t have time to teach you Binary, Octal or Hexadecimal (though I will if you come to me after Church), but I will say this.

Numbering systems are necessary for the stability of our economy and our day to day life. Numbering systems are fixed truths that cannot be manipulated. Those who say “2+2=4 is racist” are Satanic, seeking to destroy our society.

That’s what the devil is all about – destroying humanity. He will do whatever he can to disrupt and create anarchy, to push humans into self destruction, to destroy the human family. That’s what he’s doing. The devil loves to manipulate data, to twist truth.

Here’s a question: You’re a Christian without a Church. What should you look for in a Church? The National Association of Evangelicals asked that question, and people said that the most important things were:

1. Friendliness (19 %)
2. Children’s Programs (19 %)
3. Worship Music (16 %)
4. Sermons (14 %)
5. Likability of the Pastor (12 %)

How does this match up with the Church that Jesus, through the Apostles, formed? Let’s look at the beginning, the Book of Acts. We read:

Acts 2:40-47 (ESV) … {Peter} bore witness and continued to exhort them, saying, “Save yourselves from this crooked generation.” 41 So those who received his word were baptized, and there were added that day about three thousand souls. 42 And they devoted themselves to the apostles’ teaching and the fellowship, to the breaking of bread and the prayers. 43 And awe came upon every soul, and many wonders and signs were being done through the apostles. 44 And all who believed were together and had all things in common. 45 And they were selling their possessions and belongings and distributing the proceeds to all, as any had need. 46 And day by day, attending the temple together and breaking bread in their homes, they received their food with glad and generous hearts, 47 praising God and having favor with all the people. And the Lord added to their number day by day those who were being saved.

The Apostle Peter’s message was separation, not union with those who are lost. The Church is to be “NOT conformed to this world, but to be TRANSFORMED BY THE RENEWAL OF YOUR MIND” (Romans 12:2). We are to be in the world, not of the world. The number one thing that the Church did was:

Acts 2:42 (ESV) …. devoted themselves to the apostles’ teaching and the fellowship, to the breaking of bread and the prayers

The number one thing was DOCTRINE, what the Apostles’ taught. Number two was “the FELLOWSHIP”, the gathered unity of the Church following the DOCTRINE (see vs 44). The third thing was the “BREAKING OF BREAD” or hospitality (see vs 46), the willingness to share with one another. And the fourth thing was “PRAYERS”, seeking the will of God. Beloved,

The number one thing that drives a valid Church of the Lord Jesus is DOCTRINE, the teaching of God’s Holy Word.

Now I’m going to make some of you mad. I may make Jerry mad. I don’t see any of the top three things, 1. Friendliness (19 %), 2. Children’s Programs (19 %), or 3. Worship Music (16 %) mentioned at all in the early Church. Now before our Worship and Children’s leaders tackle me (or get up a Pulpit Committee), the Bible does talk about teaching children about Jesus and the music ministry. Paul wrote in:

Ephesians 5:19 (KJV) Speaking to yourselves in psalms and hymns and spiritual songs, singing and making melody in your heart to the Lord

Colossians 3:16 (KJV) Let the word of Christ dwell in you richly in all wisdom; teaching and admonishing one another in psalms and hymns and spiritual songs, singing with grace in your hearts to the Lord.

I think the Bible teaches that we should sing and celebrate Jesus. We should teach our children about Jesus. But Bible Doctrine is to be the driving force. One mega-church (life.church) in Oklahoma has created a sermon series based on Jurassic Park, Spiderman, Ghostbusters, and most recently a Moana themed sermon series. I grew up learning about God from the Bible. Parents today are trying to teach their children about God through Hollywood fiction. Churches are following suit.

Let’s Break Down Paul’s Final Words

Romans 16:17 (KJV) Now I beseech you, brethren, mark them which cause divisions and offenses contrary to the doctrine which ye have learned; and avoid them.

Word Study: The word translated “DOCTRINE” is the Greek didachē, which means “the instruction or direction of an authority”. When our Lord Jesus taught, the Bible says:

Matthew 7:28-29 (KJV) … the people WERE ASTONISHED AT HIS DOCTRINE {didachē}. For He taught them as [one] HAVING AUTHORITY, and NOT as the Scribes …

When Jesus taught, He did not teach as the Scribes did. The Scribes based their authority on other human teachers, on the opinions of other rabbis.

If your doctrine is based on human platitudes and opinion, then your faith is worthless!

In Jesus’ ministry, large crowds often gathered to hear Him teach because He did not teach human opinion, but as from God Himself. People wanted to hear that. When Jesus went to Bethsaida to teach, over 5000 followed Him to hear the doctrine, the teaching (Matthew 14:13-21). These were mostly Jews that Jesus taught. Then our Lord moved to the region of Decapolis, and over 4000 mostly Gentiles followed Him to hear His teaching (Matthew 15:32-39).

Jesus fed 5000 with five small loaves and two fish (Matthew 14:17)
Jesus fed 4000 with seven loaves and several fish (Matthew 15:34)

Jesus didn’t feed anybody till He taught them. They received the Bible truth, the Doctrine, before He filled their bellies. Doctrine was first. The Bible was first. You must feed your soul on the Word of God before the Word of God will feed your body. This is what we learn. Now, right after Jesus feeds the 4000, we read:

Matthew 16:1 (ESV) … the Pharisees and Sadducees came, and to test Him they asked him to show them a sign from heaven.

The Pharisees are the CONSERVATIVE religious people. The Sadducees are the LIBERAL religious people. And they are asking Jesus to “show us a sign from Heaven”. Jesus has fed 5000 with a tiny bit of food. Jesus fed 4000 with an tiny bit of food. Here are two great big miracles from Heaven. Jesus didn’t argue with either group. He walked away. But Jesus told His disciples:

Matthew 16:6 (ESV) … Watch and beware of the leaven of the Pharisees and Sadducees.

“LEAVEN” is yeast, something that causes bread to rise. The Bible uses leaven symbolically to represent SIN and SINFUL THOUGHT. During the Feast of the Passover, God told the Israelites to get all leaven out of their homes (Exodus 12:15, 19; 13:7). Anything brought to the Lord as a gift could not be made with leaven (Leviticus 2:11; 6:17). When Jesus was talking about the “leaven of the Pharisees and Sadducees”, He was talking about:

Matthew 16:12 (KJV) … the DOCTRINE {didachē} of the Pharisees and of the Sadducees.

They infused human teaching with God’s Word, making it into something else. Jesus told them “You made the Word of God void by your tradition” (Matthew 15:16). “You leave the commandment of God and hold to the tradition of men” (Mark 7:8).

When God’s people depart from the clear teachings of God’s Word, and begin to operate according to human traditions, the Church loses its power! It becomes part of the darkness.

The Bible says:

Colossians 2:8-10 (NKJV) Beware lest anyone cheat you through philosophy and empty deceit, according to the tradition of men, according to the basic principles of the world, and not according to Christ. 9 For in Him dwells all the fullness of the Godhead bodily; 10 and you are complete in Him, who is the head of all principality and power.

When the Church chooses human philosophy and empty deceit based on humanism, it loses the power of God. Those who depart from the Word of God for other things are not doing so because they love the Church. Paul says:

Romans 16:17-18 … mark them which cause divisions and offenses contrary to the doctrine which ye have learned; and avoid them. {18} For they that are such serve not our Lord Jesus Christ, but their own belly; and by good words and fair speeches deceive the hearts of the simple.

Word Study: Just as Jesus marked out the Pharisees and Sadducees as false, we as Christians together need to stand against anything contrary to the Word of God. The Pharisees and Sadducees were not acting out of love of God and love for other believers. They served their own bellies, the flesh not the Spirit. Oh, and they sound good. They use “GOOD WORDS” and “FAIR SPEECHES”. The phrase “GOOD WORDS” is the Greek chrēstologia, “smooth and plausible addresses that simulate goodness”. The phrase “FAIR SPEECHES” is the Greek eulogia, meaning “consecration, blessings or commendations”. Those who depart from God’s Word will follow the pattern of Satan in the Garden of Eden. Watch how Satan did it with Adam and Eve:

Genesis 3:1 (ESV) … Did God actually say, ‘You shall not eat of any tree in the garden’?

Satan asked the question, and then waited to see if Eve would add to the Word of God. She did. She said, “God said we may eat of the fruit of the trees in the Garden, BUT THE FRUIT OF THE TREE IN THE MIDST OF THE GARDEN you cannot eat of it NOR TOUCH IT or you will die” (Genesis 3:2-3). There were TWO trees in the MIDST of the Garden:

Genesis 2:9 (KJV) the tree of life also in the midst of the garden, and the tree of knowledge of good and evil.

Eve both ADDED TO and TOOK AWAY from God’s Word. They could eat of the Tree of Life which was also in the midst of the Garden. They could TOUCH both trees. But Eve, and by extension Adam (who was with her) corrupted the Word of God by adding their take to it.

And humanity fell into universal sin because of it.

Once the Devil heard Eve manipulate the Word of God, and saw Adam did not correct her, at this point he called God Himself a liar, and convinced them they could be “gods” if they would ignore what God said.

They weren’t. They lost Paradise. The devil wants to destroy the Church. He will destroy it, if you disregard the Word of God and magnify all else. Paul tells the Church at Rome:

Romans 16:19 (KJV) For your obedience is come abroad unto all men. I am glad therefore on your behalf: but yet I would have you wise unto that which is good, and simple concerning evil.

The Church is moving forward. It is standing together, following the DOCTRINE, the teaching of God’s Word. It is in good shape. But if it will stay there, it must be “wise unto that which is good, and simple concerning evil”. We as the Church are to be WISE in Grace:

Romans 16:24 The GRACE of our Lord Jesus Christ be with you all. Amen.

It is GRACE that saves us. We receive GRACE through the LORD JESUS CHRIST. He is Lord. He is the Savior of every Christian. He is my Boss, and your Boss. We live our lives to please Him, not ourselves. Jesus said:

John 14:15 (KJV) If ye love me, keep my commandments.

John 15:10 (KJV) If ye keep my commandments, ye shall abide in my love; even as I have kept My Father’s commandments, and abide in His love.

As long as we follow God’s Word, heed the DOCTRINE that we have been taught, God will take care of us. If we are “wise unto that which is GOOD, and simple concerning EVIL” we have the promise of God:

Romans 16:20 (KJV) And the God of peace shall bruise Satan under your feet shortly. The grace of our Lord Jesus Christ be with you. Amen.

How does God defeat the devil? Look how this text is written. When God’s people adhere to God’s Word, rejoice in the DOCTRINE, then “the God of PEACE shall (not might, but shall) BRUISE SATAN under OUR feet”.

A unified Church following the Word of God will be used by God to stomp Satan. I, for one, want to see that!

When Jesus came, He told us:

Luke 4:18 The Spirit of the Lord is upon me, because he hath anointed me to preach the gospel to the poor; he hath sent me to heal the brokenhearted, to preach deliverance to the captives, and recovering of sight to the blind, to set at liberty them that are bruised

Why are people impoverished? Why are they brokenhearted? Why are they captured and enslaved by sin? Why are people spiritually blind? Why are people bruised? Because people listened to the devil. People listen, not to God’s Word, but to humanity, man made words. And the devil laughs.

Jesus Christ died on Calvary and rose again to set us free. “If the Son makes you free, you are free indeed” (John 8:36). Are you impoverished? Are you brokenhearted? Are you enslaved by sin? Are you bruised by life? Come to Jesus. Give your life to Jesus. Repent. Receive Him as Lord and Savior. Feed on this Word of God. Live His Doctrine. Stop being victims, and become victors. We who are saved have been set at liberty from the bruising of sin so that we – as the Body of Christ – can bruise the head of Satan. You are called to bruise Satan, but to love God and His Word. You are called to – in one accord – crush Satan’s head while loving one another.

We need to get back to the Bible. The Church in love with God’s Word has power, power from God. I close with this benediction:

Romans 16:25-27 (KJV) Now to Him that is of power to establish you according to my Gospel, and the preaching of Jesus Christ, according to the revelation of the mystery, which was kept secret since the world began, 26 But now is made manifest, and by the scriptures of the prophets, according to the commandment of the everlasting God, made known to all nations for the obedience of faith: 27 To God only wise, be glory through Jesus Christ for ever. Amen.

To God be the glory. Amen.

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