In this episode, Scott continues the study of Romans by starting in Romans 3:1-20. He begins by discussing the advantages of being Jewish, emphasizing that the true benefit lies not in outward practices but in being entrusted with the oracles of God. He also examines the inherent righteousness of God and the sinfulness of humanity, underscoring that no one is righteous by their deeds but rather through faith. He engages with the difficult questions regarding God's sovereignty over human unrighteousness and man's responsibility, affirming that God's character remains untainted by human disbelief or sinfulness.

Scott also talks about the purpose of the law, explaining how it unveils God's holiness, brings awareness of sin, and points us toward the need for a Savior. He stresses that while the law reveals human shortcomings, it ultimately guides believers to salvation through Jesus Christ. The episode concludes with a reminder of God’s unchanging promise to Abraham and His sovereign freedom to choose, assuring listeners that God’s grace and righteousness are central to faith and understanding.

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Key Topics:

• Jewish Advantage and Responsibility
• God's Sovereignty and Human Unbelief
• Human Sinfulness and Accountability
• Understanding the Purpose of the Law
• God's Promises to Abraham and the Coming of Christ
• Holiness of God and Human Shortcomings

Hi. If you're looking for greater hope, assurance, and confidence through the shifting sands of life, then join me on today's episode as we dig deep into the Bible to discover rock solid truth for life and living from the God of the bible. I'm your host, Scott Keffer. Hi, and welcome to today's episode. As always, for a deeper experience, you can go to the show notes and download the blank insight sheet. Fill in the blanks along with the group. Depending on how you're listening to this, there'll be a link to the episode website at beholdingbibletruth.com, and a sheet with the answers is included as well. Enjoy today's episode.

Okay. Stand with me. Let's read the, scripture together, if you would. We're in Romans three one through 20. Then what advantage has the Jews, Or what is the benefit of circumcision? Great in every respect. First of all, that they were entrusted with the oracles of God. What then? If some did not believe, their unbelief will not nullify the faithfulness of God, will it? May it never be. Rather, let God be found true, though every man be found a liar.

As it is written, that you may be justified in your words and prevail when you are judged. But if our unrighteousness demonstrates the righteousness of God, what shall we say? The God who inflicts wrath is not unrighteous, is he? I am speaking in human terms. May it never be. Or otherwise, how will god judge the world? But if through my lie, the truth of god bound into his glory, why am I also still being judged as a sinner? And why not say, as we are slanderously reported and as some claim that we say, let us do evil that good may come. Their condemnation is just. But then, are we better than they? Not at all. For we have already charged that both Jews and Greeks are all under sin. As it is written, there is none righteous, not even one.

There is none who understands. There is none who seeks for God. All have turned aside. Together, they have become useless. There is none who does good. There is not even one. Their throat is an open grave, but their tongues, they keep deceiving. The poison of asps is under their lips, whose mouth is full of cursing and bitterness.

Their feet are swift to shed blood. Destruction and misery are in their past, and the path of peace, they have not known. There is no fear of God before their eyes. Now we know that whatever the law says, it speaks to those who are under the law so that every mouth may be closed and all the world may become accountable to God. Because by the works of the law, no flesh will be justified in his sight, for through the law comes the knowledge of sin. The word of the Lord. Thanks be to God. Well, as I said before, when you go through the books of the bible line upon line, precept upon precept, you run into things you like, and then you run into things you don't like.

You run into things you understand, and then you run into things that you don't understand. And as, the apostle Peter said about the apostle Paul, he writes in scripture things that are often hard to understand. And so you go through some passages and you read it and you think, what? What? So you gotta kinda break it down and say, what does it say, and why does he keep pounding this home? What's the issue here? Is he essentially said, Jews, Greeks, there is no difference between the two. But he's continuing. Right? He's saying, right, if we looked at last week, that circumcision doesn't buy you anything. Right? Having the law doesn't buy you anything. So what's the benefit of being born Jewish? What's the benefit of having a Jewish heritage? And that's what he said. What advantage has the Jew? Of which, of course, he is one as well.

So I put possessing the law and circumcision don't doesn't make you a true Jew. Remember, we said the true Jew is the one who is a Jew from the inside. Remember we said the true Jew is the one who is a Jew from the inside, has had their heart and their their their inside circumcised unto God. Right? It's an internal, right, relationship. So so he says, well, what's the benefit? If they're reading this, right, what's the benefit? So he's writing, of course, to to Greeks fundamentally in the book of Romans, but he's saying, what's the benefit? And then he answers that by saying great in every respect. Great in every respect. To which if you were a Jew, right, you'd say, wait a minute. I thought we were but the fact that we I'm Jewish by birth.

I can find myself in a physical descendant relationship, right, to Abraham, doesn't that get me in? And he's saying, no. It doesn't. So what's the benefit of that? Well, the Lord reminds us this is why he chose the nation of Israel. He says in Deuteronomy, Yahweh did not set his love on you. So Yahweh did what? Set his love. It says so underline that. Set his love on you. So it says, the lord did not set his love on you.

So this has to do with why did he set his love upon the Jewish nation, right, the nation of Israel. He says he did not set his love on you nor what's the other one? Choose you. So this had to do with those two things. Set his love upon you and choose you. And he's saying the the chosen the chosen come right? He said so first, he sent his love upon you, and he chose you. Right? He sent his love upon you. And he's gonna say, this is why he did it because. Right? He's saying, first of all, it's not because you were more in number.

It's not because you were a great nation. The the lord didn't look and say, let's pick the greatest nation nor, right, of any of the all the people. For you were fewest of all the peoples. Who would have picked the greatest nation? You and me. If if you pick the team, you pick the team that's going to the Super Bowl. You you don't pick the last place team. You don't pick the team, right, who's the least. You pick the most.

That's the nature of the world system, isn't it? That's what you and I do. I'm gonna pick. Right? I'm gonna pick the winner. I always pick the winner. Right? We're for the winner. We're with the winner. We're on the winner's team. Now everybody's an Eagles fan.

Right? So if you're in Pittsburgh, you hate the Eagles. But, again, right, you get it. We pick winners. Right? The lord did not send his love on you nor choose you because you're a winner, because you were the greatest nation, because you were more than number, because you were the least. Here's why he did it. Because the lord loved you. Oh, wait a minute. You said he set his love on you, and he chose you because he loved you.

Wait a minute. Why did you set your love upon? Because I loved you. But what was the basis for setting your love upon us? Because I loved you. Because god chose to love that. God chose to love them. Right? Because he chose to love them. And he says, he chose to love them and to keep the oath. Right? The oath, the promise which he made to Abraham.

Right? So he chose to love them and to keep the oath. Right? To keep the promise. So why did you love the Lord? Because I love them. So God is free to choose. God is free to choose. Well, explain to me why you love them because I love them. Well, no. You have to have a better reason than that.

You chose them why. Not because they were the greatest nation, not because they were the most, not because they were the best. I love them because I love them, which by its nature speaks to the nature of god that he is free to choose. He can set his love upon whom he wants to set his love, and he doesn't have to explain to anyone, not you or me or anyone throughout history. In fact, no one. God is not accountable to anyone. He is free. He is free to do as he wishes.

He doesn't have to explain it. I don't have to understand it. He's just really clear. I chose you, and I kept a promise, a promise which he swore to their fathers. Well, he says, because I loved you and to keep the promise. So he chose to love them as his choice, and he made a promise. So great in every respect. And he says, particularly, you were entrusted with what? The oracles of god, which is what? Scriptures.

Yeah. You were entrusted with the law of god. Right? You were entrusted with the law of God. And, of course, much more. Later in the book of Romans, he's gonna say, who are the Israelites? Right? Who who are those who are born this is those who are born Jewish, Whom belongs, what, the adoption of sons, the glory, the covenants, the giving of the law, the temple services, and the promises. Whom are the fathers? And from whom is Christ. Christ, the the Messiah would come according to the flesh who is overall god blessed forever. Amen.

But he's saying to be Jewish, right, be Jewish, there is a great benefit great benefit. Why? Because of who they are now. Because he chose them and to keep a promise. What's the basis of a promise? He made the promise not because they were great. They didn't deserve the promise. But, Jack, he's free, and he makes the promise to whomever he will make the promise. Make sense? So then he says, well, wait a minute. If we are living in a time when most Jews are not acknowledging the savior, then explain that to me, god.

I thought you chose them to be yours. Why do not more of them believe? So he asked. Right? Does their unbelief does their unbelief, the mere fact that they don't believe, nullify the faithfulness of God? I mean, what's up? Right? Why isn't why aren't they as a as a nation, right, embracing the the savior? He said, no. Never. In fact, the the Greek is very emphatic. No way no way ever ever. No. So their unbelief does not nullify the faithfulness of God.

In fact, he says, it is as it was prophesied. How do I know that? Because he says, as it is written because I'm surprised by this. This is not unusual. So you see what's going on? He's saying, look. So what's the benefit of being a Jew? Jew reads it. Well, you have the oracles of God and many other things. God sent his love upon you, made promises to Abraham, your father. Alright? Well, wait a minute.

How come more Jews don't believe? Does this reflect upon the unrighteousness of God? So you can see the nature of what we as human beings will do. We always bring this back and put God on trial, don't we? Oh, what what does this mean? What does this say about the nature of God? Must be something must be wrong with God. If you chose them, you set your love upon him. You made promises. How come more of them don't believe you? How come more of them haven't come to faith? He says, as it is written, as it is written, which means God remains sovereign over. So it is as it is written, what does it mean? I'm sovereign over it. I know it's coming to pass. Jesus said, I told you before it comes to pass so that when it comes to pass, you may believe.

You may know. This is not a surprise for god as it was prophesied. Then he makes a a strange seemingly strange statement. Let god be found true, though. Every man be found a liar. He said, let god be found truth. So he's saying, look. Man's response does not make God guilty.

Man's faith or lack of faith does not reflect back upon the character and nature of God. And it is our normal to take what is and reflect it back and put God on trial and call God guilty. This must say something about who you are, some problem you. And he says, no. Let god be found true because god is true. It doesn't man it doesn't matter if every man is a liar, which, you know, he does show us every man is a liar, but, right, we here we're just saying, let god be found true. Then he's saying, well, some are saying, okay. Well, if god is sovereign over the unrighteousness, because that's what they're saying.

Right? God is sovereign over the end, then he must be unrighteous. If god is sovereign over evil, then he must be evil. What's he say? May it never be. Right? So he's saying, if my unrighteousness demonstrates god's righteousness, then what right does he have to call me to justice? Why is his wrath justice? Everybody get what he's saying? So people are coming and saying, look, God, if you're sovereign over the unrighteousness of your these people, then you what right do you have to hold them accountable? If god is sovereign over their unrighteousness, then you don't you can't hold them accountable. That's not fair. It's gonna come up again in in Romans nine where where he's gonna say, god is sovereign. God hardens some people and softens others. And then they're gonna say the same thing.

Well, if you if god hardens some people, then how can he hold them accountable? Have we get the what they're saying here? If you don't, raise your hand. Yes. Understand. Okay. So people are saying to him, okay. Wait a minute. So god knew that his people were gonna be unrighteous, and he sits sovereign over that. Therefore, you can't call these people to account because you're sovereign over their unrighteousness.

So they're he's saying they're not accountable. How can you have wrath against people if you sit sovereign over it? It's the same way. Either god is responsible for evil or you can't call the people into account for being evil. If god sits sovereign over this, then how can you hold people accountable? How can you hold people responsible? So it's saying, how do you come to grips with the fact that people make their choices to be unrighteous and yet god sits sovereign over their choices? Either god isn't sovereign over their choices or you have no right to hold them accountable. Gotta put that in your pipe and smoke that for a while. Yes. It's okay. It's okay because here's what you have.

Right? God's sovereignty Over man's choices. That's what he's saying. Right? God's sovereignty over man's choices. What did he say to what Joseph say? You meant it for evil. God meant it for good. Well, how's that? That's not what are you talking about? God purposed it for good, but you purposed it for evil. Therefore, maybe I shouldn't hold the people who purposed it for evil accountable. Maybe they're not responsible if god is sovereign over their choices or man's choices are sovereign over god.

Well, that's scarier than god's sovereignty over man's choices. I don't know what day you're saying. I got one. That makes That's why I record things. I'm pretty lost. That's why I wanna hear it. Okay. So here I am.

Right? I make my choices. Right? I rebel against God. I'm disobedient. And and scripture says, god is sovereign over my unrighteousness. Well, then I would say, well, you can't hold me accountable then. Maybe it's your fault. If you sit sovereign over my choices, then I'm not responsible. Maybe you are.

See, it's the inevitable. How do I deal with man's responsibility and god's sovereignty? How do I deal with it? Well, we deal with it with well, god must be responsible. You have no right to hold me an account. How can you say god is sovereign over evil, but he isn't evil? Because that doesn't make sense to it. That's right. We don't get it. So you just have to say it and say it's true. I don't get it.

Because what we do then is change his sovereignty. Well, god allows it. Okay? Well, that means he does purposely doesn't do something. That's equally god is equally accountable, if you will. Right? So what I wanna do if you understand, what man wants to do is blame god and say god has no right to judge me. And that's in the end. That's what we're saying. If it if it's putting your brain into apoplexy, it's okay.

It just is. We have to deal because at the core, I want to blame God. Right? I want to blame God or say, God either God isn't sovereign. Maybe man's just in charge of the world, and whatever people do is bigger than god. So god can't or god is sovereign over it. Well, then he must be responsible. So then then some were saying to Paul, well, you must be lying about this. You must be lying about this.

That's so they're hold now they're holding Paul accountable. Right? So they're saying so Paul says, if my lie brings glory god's brings god glory, then how can I be judged? Same issue. Right? So it's saying the unrighteousness of man proves the sovereignty of god. That actually bring brings god glory. What? What? So Paul's saying, if I'm lying and my lies bring God's glory, then how can I be judged? It's the same question. Isn't God responsible? Yeah. Yeah. Yeah.

You'll go home, and you'll be thinking about this one, which is why most people stay away from this book because they're gonna, like, what? Now it's interesting to me that this letter is read to the church. New believer, old believer, not believer, children, adult. So Paul didn't have a problem dumbing it down. Paul didn't make things simple so that everybody could understand. He didn't he didn't he didn't dance around that weedy issues of scripture. Forget that? You read you just read this. Right? And you read it from beginning 10, and you're saying, like, what is Paul saying? What? Okay. So then they were saying, well, if if grace this is grace, then maybe we should do more evil and glorify god even more.

That's something to say. Right? And he says, let let god be found true, but then he says some slanderously, say Paul is saying. Right? He's saying it's slander. Well, you get that today. Right? Regrace. Hey. Looks like do more evil. If god is glorified, God's glorified by my disobedience.

Let's be more disobedient. Bring god more glory. So he's saying, right, twisting the gospel of grace into a license to sin. Twisting the gospel of grace into a license to sin. Hey. Let's come together, bring god more glory. Seems weird that some would say that, but he's gonna go on and say in Romans five, where sin increased, what abounded? Thank you. Grace.

So then what's your all says, what shall we say then? Hey. Let's let's send more. So some were saying, hey. Let's send more so that the grace of God, right, the glory of God would abound. What's the answer? May it never be. May it never be. So we get back to how many have been into, like, twisted arguments with people who don't believe. Yeah.

At the end oh my gosh. You're just round and round. Right? You can just round and round and round. At the end of the day, what I wanna do is nullify God's sovereignty and, more importantly, my accountability. I don't wanna be accountable to God, and I don't wanna be guilty before God. So I can come up with a whole range of right? Whole range. So he reminds them, God will judge the world. All of the arguments aside, all of the machinations that go on in in not the mind of man as much as the heart of man to make God responsible.

God will judge the world. And so even today, the lord is not slow about his promise as some counsel on this, but he is patient toward you, not wishing for any to perish, but for all to come. So god is slow because even today, they say, oh, yeah. Okay. Right. Where is God? Yeah. God's coming back again. Okay.

I'm waiting. I'm waiting. It's been two thousand years. Where is he? Right? I don't see him. Right? That's the art of man. I don't see him. Let him prove himself. He did.

He rose from the dead. Oh, he haven't. Who believes that? Well, here's what's interesting. Oh, yeah. But Yeah. That. Yeah. This be us.

Even now as believers, right, we go back to the same issue. Here's CJ going through immense health things. Oh, lord. What's up with that? I don't understand. That doesn't seem fair. That doesn't seem right. What are you doing? What's up with that? Is it her fault? Oh, it must be her fault. No.

Is it her fault? Is it your fault? Right? When we do all that, where's the blame? What's going on? Is god really sovereign in all of this? And yet is he he must be. Is he still good? Yeah. But I don't understand it. You don't understand much. That's what he's saying. He says my understanding is inscrutable beyond scrutiny. That's what I said in the book there. Do do you put god under a microscope, or do you view God through a telescope? Telescopes thing brings gloriously big things so I can see them.

A microscope takes little things, make them bigger so I can inspect them. So do we look at the the nature of God, and do we put it under a microscope, or am I viewing it through a telescope and being just awed by it? Or do I need to explain it? So then he says, okay. Well, isn't the Jew better than the Greek at the end of the day? Aren't Jews better? He says, no. He says, all are under sin. All are under sin. And then he starts quoting from the Old Testament. In case you missed it, he's saying all are under sin. And in Isaiah 53, he says, all of us are like what? We're like, wait a minute.

I'm a Jew, and you just called me a sheep. That's not a particularly favorable picture like a sheep who is stupid, right, wandering, smelly. Right? All of all of those, like, sheep have gone astray. Each of this turned to his own way, but Yahweh has caused the iniquity of his all to fall on him. So he's saying we're all under sin. Under sin, what does that mean? Sin is sovereign over me. I'm under its authority. I'm under its government.

In fact, scripture says we are a slave of sin. We are a slave of sin. Well, I'm not a man's slave. I'm the captain of my own destiny. I make my own choices. He's saying, wait a minute. No. No.

Actually, there is a sovereignty. There's a sin that sits sovereign over you. You're not sovereign over your own life. There's sin. But thanks be to god that though you were slaves of sin, right, in Christ, he replaces sin with Christ, right, in Christ. And the three from sin mean you become slaves of righteousness. So at the end, he's saying, look. You don't make your own choices anyway.

You're either a slave of sin or you're a slave of Christ. And you're only a slave of Christ if you get freed from sin. Well, I don't like that. I don't like that. I remember talking to this was a leader, well known leader in Christ. He said, I I don't like that guy. Like, I don't like that idea that God has chosen me because, you know, I'm an athlete. I like to earn.

That's what I do. We earn the prize. I get it. I get it. No. I didn't know we're a slave of anything. So he goes on to quote, and he says, there is none righteous. No.

Not one. There is none righteous. No. Not one. Oh, come on. There's not one? He says that two ways. There's none righteous. Oh, no.

Not because I know there's gotta be one. There's gotta be one in all of history. Psychology says you can't ignore evidence of actual evil in the world, but that does not compel us to see human beings as naturally depraved. Yeah. I know there's evil in the world, but that doesn't mean man is naturally depraved. I think we're naturally good. Then he ends they end the article with humans may be inherently good, but we have a symbol of horrifyingly long rap sheet over the past five thousand years, and it's not getting any shorter. We don't know what to do with it.

Man's inherently good, but the evidence kinda well, the lord says none are righteous. In fact, he says no one seeks after God. No one seeks after God. Well, that's what? No one? Come on. I know so and so. I know so and so. Well, Jesus said very clearly, no one comes to me unless unless the father who sent me draws him. Well, that's hard to come to grips with, didn't it? So man doesn't really make choice.

He's a slave of sin or a slave of Christ, and he says nobody comes to god unless god draws him. This is kinda that thing I know where you go on with all that. Like, the chosen thing, predestined thing. Alright. I don't buy all that. I don't buy all that. So hang on. Just hang on.

We have a long journey through Romans. Paul is saying, is this is in the old testament. So what he's saying to the Jew, this is not new. Paul is not saying, this isn't new for me. Just check out the old testament. He starts quoting. They've all become useless. It literally means spoiled, rotten fruit.

It's the picture in Isaiah. It says the righteous deeds are like filthy rags. Not that they are filthy rags, but they're like filthy rags. Then he says, in case you missed it, man is sinful head to toe. Head to toe. So the scripture said, your mouth is an open grave. Oh, that's kind of descriptive. Show your mouth.

It's an open grave. It's full of poison, cursing, and bitterness. And your feet, by the way, shed blood, destruction, and misery. Well, Proverbs let says no that god loves certain things and he hates certain things. There are six things which the lord hates. Well, that's really strong. The sovereign god, the lord of all, who spoke all things into being and holds all accountable, hates six things. Alright? What are they? Seven.

Oh, there's more. Yeah. Seven is the complete. Right? Which means it's not all of them, but here's the range of them. What's the first thing? Paughty eyes. Oh, you mean, like, pride? Sure. Sure. Who's not guilty of that? Not me.

Paughty eyes. A lying tongue. Hands that shed innocent blood. A heart that devises wicked plans. That's not me. Feet that run rapidly evil. I'm good with that. A fault false false witness to others lies.

Oh, and one who spreads. What's that? A strife spreader. I was good on the other ones. I mean, you start with the pride thing. Alright. You got me. You know, I'm not running rapidly to evil. I don't divide wicked play.

Okay. I spread strife spreader. Oh, jeez. So what's the problem? There's no fear of God before their eyes. No fear of God before their eyes. Fact, that's even a moniker today. Put it on our truck. No fear.

We live with fear. No fear. No fear. Something we embrace. No fear. Of course, we know that the fear of God is the beginning of wisdom. Knowledge of the holy one is understanding. So what about the law? What about the law? So he says the law shuts every mouth.

The law shuts every mouth. So there are 613 commandments, mitzvah in the Old Testament. 613. I thought there were 10. I thought there were three. I thought there were one. I thought, wait a minute. Hold on.

There are 248 positive, 365 negative. I thought I was doing pretty good. 613 commandments. And James said if you break one, you've broken them all. Well, dang. Thought I was pretty good at keeping the law. Thought I was pretty good at keeping the law. He says all of sin.

Right? So all are accountable to god, and all are guilty before god. All are accountable to god, and all are guilty or yeah. What they just say. All are guilty. All are guilty before god. All are accounted. We're sinful head to toe. We're bad.

What's that? We're pretty bad. And in case you you were missing that, right, just go ahead and check the law. Go ahead and read the 613 commandments how they do today. So 248 positive things I should do. Right? And 365 things I shouldn't do. I was just working on love the lord your god with all your heart, soul, mind, and strength. Love your neighbor as yourself. So he says, by the works of the law, underline the works of the law, no flesh will be justified.

This is the key phrase in god's sight in god's sight. So I don't need 613, so I kinda boil them down to the seven that I can keep. Then I can justify myself, and I can also judge whether you're in or not. See, I got the seven I can keep. I'm doing these things today. Right? I don't go over the speed limit. I can't believe. I can remember when I first came to Christ.

I was walking downtown, and, you know, it said don't walk, and I thought, don't walk. Yeah. Keep all of that. You know? And you get two streets over, and you're thinking, I'm gonna not walk. Don't walk. I'm I'm walking when I wanna walk. You think, yeah. I'm keeping the law.

I'm doing great. He says, by the works of the law. So why the law? Why the law? Three things. The law reveals God's holiness. The law reveals God's holiness, his righteousness, and his justice. There's no way that you can appreciate the gift of grace and salvation unless you understand the utter holiness of God. For Isaiah cried out, holy, holy, holy to seraphim, each having six wings. With two, he covered his face, two, he covered his feet, with two, he flew, and one called out to another.

Holy, holy, holy is the lord of hosts. The whole earth is full of your glory. Revelation tells us day and night, they do not cease to say holy. Holy. Holy. It's the lord god, the almighty, who was, who is, and who is to come all day long without time because there is no time. It's just incessantly, eternally confirming the holiness of God. So first of all, we do not understand the holiness of God.

It is other holiness. It is other holiness. It is impossible for us to comprehend. We just think, oh, he's a little bit better than me. He's a little bit less sinful than me. He must be just a little bit better than mother Teresa. No. He's utterly and utterly holy.

So we don't even comprehend. Just like I can't comprehend his understanding, I don't comprehend his holiness until I look and see. If you understand God's holiness and you think, oh, I can get close to that. Really? You shall be holy for Yahweh your god am holy. The second thing is the law brings knowledge of sin. The law brings knowledge of sin. But Paul says right? He's gonna say this later in Romans. For while we're in the flesh, the sinful passions and the sinful passions were underlined aroused by the law.

What does that mean? When the law came and said don't, I said, do. When god says, you shall not eat of that tree, then they're saying, why not? In fact, before you said that, I didn't wanna eat of the tree. But now that you said that, I won't eat of the tree. It must be your fault. Let's use reverse psychology with kids. Don't tell them they can't do it because the problem is if you tell them they can't do it, they wanna do it. So the problem is you shouldn't say don't do it, really. So we put the blame on the law.

We put the blame back on god. So he says, no. Actually, the law aroused. They were at work to bear fruit for what? Death. What should we say then? Oh, the law must be bad. Is the law sin? I think the law is sinful. And he says, absolutely not. This is, like, imperative.

No. No. No. Never let it be said. He says, on the contrary, I would not have come to no sin except through the law, where I would not have known about coveting if the law had not said, you shall not covet. Then the law comes along and says, well, maybe I wanna covet. Maybe I want my neighbor's house. Maybe I want my neighbor's wife.

Maybe I want my neighbor's car. They got better donkeys. The grass is always greener over there. That's sin. We'll see if the law if the lord hadn't said don't do that, I wouldn't have done it. He must be fault. Everybody get it? You know what's going on inside of us? It's back to the same way. Well, the lord's fault.

God's fault. What did Adam say? Wouldn't mean, lord. It was The one who gave us. Alright. It wasn't me. She did it, and we've been doing it ever since. Not me, lord. Maybe the law is the problem.

So we don't know sin until the law comes and says this is sin. It arouses in us the desire to sin To which I say, is the law sin? No. The law is righteous. The law is good. So then he says, if the law which is righteous and good creates death in you, who's the problem? The law? Is the commandment the problem? Is God the problem? If only you would have said, be in the garden and do whatever you want. Because there, there was only one commandment. Oh, we're good at this, aren't we? We can bring it all back to God. So the law reveals God's holiness.

We see his righteousness and justice. The law brings the knowledge of sin and, in fact, not just the temporal knowledge, but the experiential knowledge because sin just wakens in me when I can't do something. Just awakens in me when I can't do something. And lastly, gloriously, the law reveals the promises and points to the savior. The law reveals the promises and points to the savior. So he said before faith came in Galatians, we were kept in custody. So we're under custody under the law, being shut up to the faith, which was later to be revealed. Therefore, the law has become our tutor.

It's a it's a it's a mask. It's a teacher, and the law appoints. What's the law pointing to? You can't do this. There is one coming. There is one coming. The leaders to Christ so that we become justified by faith, not by the law. But now the faith has come, we are no longer under a tutor. So when they were under the law, it was wait.

Right? You try did did you try and do this law? All 613 commandments? How are you doing? It's impossible. Right? That's the answer. It's impossible to be as holy as God because God is other holy. Right? So if you wanna be in relationship with God, how do you do that? Well, we sacrifice. No. We continue to sacrifice. Why do we continue? Because we're pointing to one who would come and be our sacrifice. So he says, now the promises.

Here we are back here. He says to keep the promises. Right? So what God says, I chose to love you and to keep the who were the promises made to? Abraham. Abraham and his you think Abraham and his seeds? But he says here watch. And his seed, singular, not plural. So he says he does not say and to seeds as referring to many, but rather to ones. Really? It's one. And to your seed, that is Christ.

The promise is to Abraham and his seed who is Christ. Promises are to his seeds. So he says, what am I saying is this? The law, which came four hundred years and thirty years later does not invalidate a covenant previously ratified by God so as to nullify the promise. For if the inheritance is based on law, it's no longer based on a promise, but God has granted it to Abraham by means of a promise. Abraham didn't earn it. It was a promise. Why the law then? Good questions. Right? It was added because of transgressions having been ordained through angels by the agency of a mediator until the seed would come to whom the promise had been made.

Now a mediator is not for one party only, whereas god is only one. Is the law then contrary to the promise of god? No. No. Never. For if a law had been given, which was able to impart life, then righteousness would indeed have been based on the law. But the scripture has shut up everyone under sin. You're stuck. Why? So that.

What's the so that? The promise by faith in Jesus Christ might be given to those who believe. It's a promise. It's a promise and an inheritance, which is in Christ. So the law shows us the holiness of God. The law brings us knowledge of sin. The law keeps us, right, and reveals the promise of God and points to the savior. Points to the savior. So the law is good, righteous, and true, and it shows us our only hope is in the lord Jesus Christ.

Our only hope is in the lord Jesus Christ, whether you're Jew or Gentile, male, female in Christ, there is none of that. Alright. Put down your insight. Put down your insight. What'd you get? Insights. And may the god of unfathomable grace and mercy and love and kindness. May he bless you. May he keep you.

May he cause his face to shine upon you. May he lift up his countenance and grant you his shalom, his peace, soul deep within you. May he bless you and keep you these days and all days till he comes again or calls you home. Amen. Thanks for listening. I hope you have greater hope, assurance, and confidence in your life and a deeper trust in the God of the Bible and his son, Jesus Christ. Until next time, may the Lord bless you and keep you. May the Lord make his face to shine upon you and be gracious to you, and may the Lord lift up his countenance on you and give you his peace, his shalom in your soul and in your life.

Until next time, may God bless you and keep you.