The NXR Podcast - QUESTIONS - Is Pastor Joel Legalistic？

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00:00:21.260 Glenn Ferris, can you explain 1 Corinthians 9, 20 and 21, where Paul states,

00:00:26.700 we are not under the law. What is Paul stating in these verses? To the Jews, I became a Jew in

00:00:31.360 order to win Jews. To those under the law, I became as one under the law, though not being myself 0.89

00:00:37.400 under the law, that I might win those under the law. To those outside of the law, I became as one

00:00:41.740 outside of the law, not being outside of the law of God, but under the law of Christ, that I might

00:00:46.780 win those outside the law. All right, leave this up for just a second because I need the scripture

00:00:51.860 and I want the audience to be able to see the scripture as I seek to execute it. All right,

00:00:55.660 The first thing that you need to understand, great question, by the way, Glenn Ferris,

00:00:58.540 fair question, good question, nothing wrong in asking questions. 1.00

00:01:02.600 I was about to say there's no such thing as a stupid question, but there are stupid questions. 0.99

00:01:05.580 This is not one. 0.98

00:01:06.740 Okay, so 1 Corinthians 9, verse 20 through 21, first thing we need to understand is the

00:01:10.720 divisions of the law, the divisions of the law, right?

00:01:13.800 So the reformers argued there was three uses of the law, right?

00:01:16.160 The law, it reveals our need for a savior.

00:01:18.900 None of the use of the law, there are three within the reformed perspective of understanding

00:01:23.740 the law of God.

00:01:24.380 none of these three uses is the law being used to save. The law is not saving. No man will be

00:01:30.160 saved by works as done unto the law is what the apostle Paul says elsewhere. But the law does

00:01:35.780 reveal our need for a savior, right? The law of God helps us to recognize and realize that God is

00:01:41.760 holy, right? Because the law is holy and therefore reflects the holiness of the law giver. And by way

00:01:47.740 of consequence, as we see God's holiness through his holy law, it reveals to us, it functions as

00:01:52.640 a mirror and reveals to us our lack of holiness and therefore our need for a savior. So the law

00:01:57.360 is not a savior, but it does reveal our need for a savior. The law also functions as, so that's

00:02:02.020 mirror, shows us our need for a savior. It functions as a shield. It has a common grace,

00:02:07.720 a common grace expression where it holds evil at bay. The law, again, it's powerless to change the

00:02:13.660 heart. So it doesn't hold evil at bay or mitigate evil at the level of the heart inwardly, but it

00:02:20.060 does suppress outward manifestations of evil, right? So even for the pagan who's unregenerate, 0.87

00:02:26.780 who hates God and is bent on doing evil, not just harboring evil in his heart, but doing evil 0.91

00:02:33.260 actions, he will be less inclined to murder if there are laws in his society against murder and

00:02:40.620 penalties for murderers, right? So the law has a common grace function, not just for the people

00:02:45.500 of God, but for all people to restrain outward manifestations of evil. So the law is a mirror,

00:02:50.940 reveals our need for a savior. It's a shield, restrains outward manifestations of evil.

00:02:54.720 And lastly, the law is a lamp unto our feet. I'll say it's a compass. It's a guide. It doesn't show

00:03:00.860 us the way to salvation. It shows us the way from salvation. David says, I delight in your law. It's

00:03:05.740 a lamp unto my feet, a light unto my path. Path to where? It's not a path to salvation, but it is

00:03:12.700 a path from salvation. So the law doesn't lead us to salvation. It does reveal our need for salvation,

00:03:18.220 which leads us to the gospel. But the law does, it shows us which way to go, not to salvation,

00:03:23.460 but from salvation, right? Because I've been freely saved as a gift by grace alone, through faith

00:03:28.640 alone, in Christ alone, I now want to love God as a response of gratitude. And if I love God,

00:03:35.300 what does Jesus say? If you love me, you'll obey me. And so, okay, obey what? The law, the law.

00:03:39.960 So those are the three uses of the law, but it's also important that we understand the

00:03:43.200 three divisions of the law.

00:03:44.500 The three divisions of the law is we take Old Testament law and chop it up, being careful 0.65

00:03:49.220 in our chopping.

00:03:50.980 But what we see is this, we see the moral law of God, which is eternal.

00:03:54.460 We see the ceremonial law that was unique to Israel as the nation state, God's chosen

00:04:00.280 priesthood, his people under the old covenant before the work of Christ.

00:04:05.200 And then we see a moral ceremonial and civil law.

00:04:09.680 And so I'll explain this as quickly as I can.

00:04:12.860 The moral law of God is the Ten Commandments.

00:04:14.940 It's the Decalogue.

00:04:16.100 So moral law, I believe, is synonymous with natural law and divine law.

00:04:22.520 I talked about this last week a little bit.

00:04:23.960 So the moral law of God is the Ten Commandments.

00:04:26.240 Love the Lord your God and love your neighbor as yourself.

00:04:28.740 The first table of the law of God, the first four of the Ten Commandments,

00:04:31.760 show us how to love the Lord our God.

00:04:33.280 Have no order of the gods before me.

00:04:34.740 Do not make any graven images.

00:04:36.320 Do not take the Lord's name in vain.

00:04:37.600 Remember the Sabbath and keep it holy.

00:04:38.900 That's how we love the Lord our God.

00:04:40.620 And then the next six of the Ten Commandments, honor your father and mother.

00:04:43.340 That's commandment number five.

00:04:44.400 Do not murder.

00:04:45.080 Do not commit adultery.

00:04:46.660 Do not steal.

00:04:47.420 Do not bear a false witness and do not covet.

00:04:50.080 That shows us how to love our neighbor.

00:04:51.840 This is the moral law of God and it is eternal, meaning it is without end, but it's also without

00:04:56.760 beginning, right?

00:04:57.860 There'll never be a time in heaven where it'll be okay to murder, right?

00:05:00.780 This is always the law of God and it always was the law of God.

00:05:04.700 it did not just, the Ten Commandments, the moral law of God, did not just come into play on tablets

00:05:10.580 of stone at Mount Sinai through Moses, but the law of God was written on tablets of human hearts

00:05:16.720 even before Moses. So the law of God was written on Adam's heart all the way back in the garden

00:05:21.680 before sin ever entered the world. The law of God is something that is instinctively known. And we

00:05:26.960 know this from Romans chapter one and Romans chapter two. Romans chapter one talks about

00:05:31.460 natural revelation, that by God's creation, he's revealing something about who he is and what he's

00:05:36.800 done. And that's Romans chapter 1. Romans chapter 2 talks about not just natural revelation, but

00:05:42.060 natural law, that even the Gentiles who have never received special revelation, meaning an evangelist,

00:05:47.440 a preacher, or the Torah, or scripture, they never received special revelation, but that the Gentiles

00:05:54.000 who have received natural revelation, right, they can see the truth about who God is by virtue of

00:05:58.720 what he has made, back to Romans chapter one, Paul says in Romans chapter two, that the Gentiles

00:06:05.580 are a law unto themselves, that they, their conscience bear witness against their lawless

00:06:12.040 deeds. So you can go into a lost tribe in South America, if any more exists that we've never

00:06:18.660 found, and let's say we discover them tomorrow, you will find that there are certain things that

00:06:23.640 that are not permissible in their culture, in their tribe, because they're deemed as being

00:06:29.740 wrong and sinful. And some of these things may be perverse because they're sinners, but many of them

00:06:34.560 will match, line up with the law of God because the law of God is written on people's hearts.

00:06:38.500 That's the moral law of the Ten Commandments. The ceremonial law is the priestly sacrificial

00:06:42.180 system, certain rituals and customs about hand washing and things like this. This has been

00:06:46.960 fulfilled by Christ. All the law, including the moral law, has been fulfilled by Christ. That's

00:06:50.620 the only reason we're saved, is because Christ, he didn't just die in our place, substitutionary

00:06:55.660 atonement. He didn't just die in our place for our sin, but he also lived in our place.

00:06:59.960 Jesus dying in our place, it removes the penalty of our sin. But Jesus living in our place

00:07:06.140 imputes to us his righteousness. If Jesus only died in our place, it could make us innocent,

00:07:11.320 but it wouldn't make us righteous. So Jesus, he didn't just die as our substitute, the Lamb of

00:07:15.440 God that takes away the sins of the world. Our sin imputed to him and the wrath of God poured

00:07:20.780 out on him, right? The wages of sin is death. So he received the death penalty of God because he

00:07:26.540 took our sin. And so he atoned for our sin by, as a substitute dying for us, but also as a

00:07:33.200 substitute, he lived for us. And in his life, he didn't just avoid sin, but the Bible says he

00:07:37.660 fulfilled all righteousness. He was perfectly obedient to his heavenly father. And he lived

00:07:42.540 also as a substitute. He lived in our place. So through faith in Jesus, our sin is imputed to him

00:07:47.660 and he takes our penalty, but also his righteousness is imputed to us. So we receive his reward,

00:07:54.740 not just the reward of an innocent person, but the reward of a fully righteous person,

00:07:59.620 which is amazing. This is double imputation. This is the great exchange. This is the heart

00:08:04.000 of the gospel. Jesus died in our place. He also lived in our place. So because that is a gospel

00:08:09.600 truth, we must say that Jesus fulfilled all the law of God, including the moral law. He fulfilled

00:08:14.420 the ceremonial, the civil, and the moral law of God. Jesus fulfilled it all, but he did not

00:08:19.600 abrogate it all. Jesus abrogated the ceremonial law. So he fulfilled the ceremonial law, but he

00:08:24.760 also abrogated this priestly animal sacrificial system, certain customs about hand washings and

00:08:30.780 cleansing rituals. A woman on her period has to go outside of the camp for seven days. That has

00:08:36.680 to do with cleansing. That's a part of the ceremonial law that was unique under the old

00:08:40.800 covenant given to Israel. Jesus not only fulfilled this, but Jesus also abrogated it. He ended it

00:08:46.480 because he is our forever high priest in the order of Melchizedek. He is also not only the priest,

00:08:52.240 but he is the sacrifice, the lamb of God that takes away the sins of the world. And he also

00:08:56.340 is the one who purifies and sanctifies his church by his blood. He makes us clean. So the ceremonial

00:09:01.840 law is not only fulfilled by Christ as the moral law is, but also abrogated by Christ. It's done

00:09:06.500 away with. That leaves us the civil law. The civil law, according to the Westminster Confession of

00:09:11.840 Faith, according to the 1689 Confession of Faith, the civil law is unique to Israel, but the general

00:09:17.340 equity still remains. What I mean by that is you take all these civil codes, right? You only have

00:09:22.380 10 commandments with the moral law, but then you have hundreds of civil codes in Israel, right? If

00:09:27.460 an ox gores somebody, it needs to be put to death, you know, or if it's accustomed to gore, then it

00:09:31.580 must be hemmed in. It must be kept in with a gate. If its owner isn't diligent to keep the ox in and 0.82

00:09:37.120 it gets out and it gores someone else, then the owner is actually now liable. He too would be put

00:09:41.500 to death, not just the ox, right? That's a civil code. That's a civil law, right? Borders on the

00:09:46.860 perimeter of your houses so people don't fall off. That's a civil code. And so there's a civil law

00:09:52.200 of Israel, which is a case law system. That is not a one-to-one ratio for us in America as Christians

00:09:58.520 today. However, the general equity still applies. The general equity would mean that you get to the

00:10:04.220 heart of each of these civil laws. What is the heart level, which would be one of the 10

00:10:10.980 commandments, always one of the 10 commandments. The general equity of hundreds of civil laws

00:10:15.520 is always one of the 10 moral laws. So the ox thing, well, what of the 10 commandments does

00:10:22.180 that come from? Well, the sixth commandment, thou shall not murder, stated in the positive sense

00:10:25.700 would be, thou must esteem and cherish and protect the sanctity of human life. And so certain things

00:10:31.100 that would be a threat and a danger destroy human life made in the image of God must be dealt with,

00:10:37.800 right? So the civil law of the ox or the civil law of the border along the roof, the general

00:10:43.140 equity is coming from the sixth commandment. And so we don't hang out on our roofs in our culture

00:10:47.960 today. So we shouldn't say, oh, well, that was a civil law for Israel. They should all be civil

00:10:53.820 laws for us in America. Well, no, let's get to the general equity of each of these civil laws,

00:10:58.320 which takes us right back to the 10 commandments. And then let's apply that in our time, in our

00:11:03.200 place, given our culture, our technology, all these kinds of things. If people aren't hanging

00:11:07.820 out on the roofs, then we don't need to have a board around it. If people don't have oxen,

00:11:11.720 well then, okay, we don't need to deal with that. So back to your question. Here's the point.

00:11:16.860 The point is when Paul says to the Jews, I became a Jew in order to win Jews to those under the law,

00:11:22.040 I became as one under the law. Paul is not talking about the 10 commandments.

00:11:28.120 That's the short answer. He's not talking about the moral law of God. The moral law of God,

00:11:33.340 according to Paul in Romans chapter two, applies to all people in all places. So there is no one,

00:11:39.200 there is no one who is not under the law. It's not just for Jews. It's not just for Christians. 0.97

00:11:44.660 All people in all places in all times are under the 10 commandments because they're written on

00:11:50.200 people's hearts. And that's precisely what Paul gets at in Romans chapter two. So when he says

00:11:55.300 to the Jews, I became a Jew in order to win Jews. To those under the law, I became, this is, and to

00:12:01.060 those under the law being again, Jews. So he's just saying the same thing a second time, but in a

00:12:05.260 different way. So I became like a Jew to win Jews. In other words, I became under the law so that I 0.95

00:12:11.160 might win those who are under the law. I behaved as though I'm under the law, even though I'm not,

00:12:16.700 I'm under grace, though I myself am not under the law, that I might win those under the law. 0.92

00:12:22.500 Again, speaking of Jews. So what Paul's saying is this. He's not saying, so I pretended that 0.66

00:12:26.220 the 10 commandments are binding for me, even though they're not. Because Jesus fulfilled the

00:12:30.920 law. No, no. Jesus fulfilled the moral law of God, the 10 commandments, but he did not abrogate

00:12:36.660 the 10 commandments. They came into existence before Mount Sinai with Moses, and they have

00:12:43.160 continued in existence today. The Ten Commandments are repeated in the New Testament, right? In the

00:12:48.320 New Testament, the Apostle Paul, specifically apostolic authors, after the life and death and

00:12:53.560 resurrection and ascension of Christ and the pouring out of the Spirit at Pentecost, under the

00:12:57.660 New Covenant, under the New Testament church, it's still wrong to commit adultery. It's still wrong

00:13:02.620 to covet. It's still wrong to murder. It's still wrong to steal. The only thing in question would

00:13:07.540 be the Fourth Commandment about the Sabbath, and I don't have time to go into that, but I think the

00:13:10.900 Sabbath continues as well. I think that that was not removed by Christ, but Jesus as the Lord of

00:13:15.720 the Sabbath renewed, did not remove the Sabbath, but renewed the Sabbath from the last day of the

00:13:20.460 week to the first day of the week by virtue of his resurrection being raised from the dead on

00:13:24.440 the first day of the week. And even that sets for us a gospel pattern. So instead of working for six

00:13:29.500 days and being rewarded for our work by a day of rest, rather we rest on the first day of the week

00:13:35.200 and then we work the next six days following that day of rest, meaning that our work is coming out.

00:13:41.300 It stems from our rest in Christ, who is our Sabbath rest. So anyways, people can push back

00:13:45.940 on that. That's fine. But I'm confessional and confessionally reformed. So I'm going to

00:13:50.100 hold to the Sabbath. But the point is all the 10 commandments with a debate about the Sabbath,

00:13:54.500 but they're reiterated in the New Testament, in the New Testament. So we know the moral law of

00:13:59.220 God didn't end. Jesus didn't fulfill it and abrogate it. He fulfilled it. He lived in our

00:14:04.160 place. That's why we're saved. That's why we have, we're clothed in righteous, the righteous robes

00:14:09.520 of Christ because he didn't just die in our place. He lived in our place, fulfilling all righteousness.

00:14:13.780 So he fulfilled the moral law, the 10 commandments, but he did not abrogate the 10 commandments. He

00:14:18.440 did not do away with them. They are still eternal. So when Paul says, you know, to the Jews, I became

00:14:23.360 as a Jew in order to win Jews. And what I mean by that is, you know, the Jews are under the law. So

00:14:27.440 I, you know, pretended to be under the law, under the 10 commandments, the moral law, even though

00:14:31.920 I'm not actually under the 10 commandments. It would be totally appropriate and totally

00:14:35.980 permissible for me to murder. I pretended that I was under that law, the sixth commandment,

00:14:41.540 thou shalt not murder, just in order to have common ground with the Jews in order that I

00:14:45.460 might win them to Christ. And then verse 21, right? That's a bad way to read it. Verse 21,

00:14:50.500 continuing that, this facetious hermeneutic, to those outside of the law, right? The Gentiles, 0.99

00:14:56.080 those who don't have the law of God, you know, I, I, uh, pretended to be, uh, someone who is 0.99

00:15:01.520 outside of law. So I actually murdered a bunch of people and I was committing adultery, uh, left and

00:15:05.680 right. And I was coveting everybody's stuff and I was stealing their stuff, you know, and, and

00:15:09.820 cause, cause, you know, those who are outside of the law, the Gentiles, you know, I wanted to, 1.00

00:15:13.940 uh, you know, when in Rome, right. Do as the Romans do. And so I wanted to be like the Gentiles. 1.00

00:15:19.080 And so I lived lawless, um, even though I technically am not outside of the law of God, 0.94

00:15:23.980 but under the law of Christ, right?

00:15:26.040 There's a distinction right there.

00:15:27.040 That's key between the law of God and the law of Christ,

00:15:29.100 that I might win those outside of the law.

00:15:31.340 So that doesn't make sense.

00:15:33.160 It makes sense when you read it like this,

00:15:34.720 the three divisions of the law,

00:15:36.160 moral 10 commandments, that's eternal.

00:15:37.980 That's not what he's talking about.

00:15:39.060 But there is the ceremonial and civil law,

00:15:42.500 ceremonial and civil law.

00:15:44.580 So what Paul is saying is this,

00:15:45.960 when I'm ministering as an evangelist among the Jews

00:15:49.480 who still hold to the ceremonial and civil law, 0.92

00:15:52.740 I do my best to keep to those customs, even though I know that these things have not only

00:15:58.280 been fulfilled by Christ, but abrogated. But to those who are outside the law, to Gentiles who 1.00

00:16:05.180 are not Jews and don't have certain rituals about cleansing and hand-washing and not being able to 0.98

00:16:11.220 eat pork or shellfish, if they serve me lobster, I eat the lobster. Because I know that in reality,

00:16:17.960 I'm not under that law, speaking of ceremonial law, because that's been not only fulfilled by

00:16:25.100 Christ, but also abrogated. However, I am still under the moral law, the 10 commandments.

00:16:30.360 And that's precisely what he says in that parenthetical statement, halfway in between

00:16:34.540 verse 21, not being outside the law of God, but under the law of Christ. Well, right here,

00:16:40.120 he's drawing a distinction. He's speaking of the Old Testament ceremonial portions of the law

00:16:44.680 unique to Israel that had been done away with because of Christ versus the law of Christ.

00:16:53.040 And if you ask, well, what is the law of Christ? Well, the law of Christ is the greatest and the

00:16:56.920 greatest and the second greatest commandment, Matthew 22, 37. Let's see if I can do it from

00:17:03.120 memory. Matthew chapter 22, verse 37, 38, 39, and 40. And he said to him, you shall love the Lord,

00:17:10.200 your God with all your heart, soul, mind. And this is the greatest commandment. And the second

00:17:16.220 is like it, that you should love your neighbor as yourself. All the law and the prophets depend

00:17:21.600 on these two commandments. So where's the law of Christ? Love the Lord your God with all your

00:17:25.540 heart, soul, mind, and strength, and love your neighbor as yourself. And again, what does that

00:17:30.640 look like? What does it mean? The 10 commandments. The first four dealing with how to love the Lord

00:17:34.380 your God with all your heart, soul, mind, and strength. And the next six of the 10 commandments,

00:17:37.440 the second table of the Decalogue, moral law, how to love your neighbor as yourself. So Paul is

00:17:42.760 saying, I'm no longer under this Jewish law, but I am still under the law of Christ. And what is

00:17:47.980 the law of Christ? It's the moral law of God, the Ten Commandments. The Ten Commandments are

00:17:51.980 eternal. They're always binding for everyone, every place, throughout every time. But the Ten

00:17:59.960 Commandments are not the only portion of Old Testament law. You have the moral law, Ten

00:18:05.620 Commandments, but it's helpful to have these dividers, different types of law, three divisions,

00:18:10.560 not just three uses of the law, but remember this, the three divisions of the law, the moral law,

00:18:15.060 that's the Ten Commandments, but then also the ceremonial and civil. I think Paul is maybe

00:18:19.800 talking about the civil a little bit, but primarily I think he's talking about the ceremonial law. 0.58

00:18:24.440 So when I'm with Jews who still think the ceremonial law is in effect, I'm not quibbling 0.83

00:18:28.580 about that. We'll get to that eventually because it is important that they recognize that Christ

00:18:32.280 fulfilled and abrogated the ceremonial law, but I'm not going to bicker about that right off the

00:18:37.420 bat. First, I just want to preach the gospel to them. And so I'll abide by some of these ceremonial

00:18:41.940 laws as much as I can in order to win the Jews. But when I'm with the Gentiles, I know that I'm 0.99

00:18:47.320 not actually under the ceremonial law because Christ is our high priest. He's our sacrifice.

00:18:50.880 He makes us clean by his blood. And so I'm eating shellfish and lobster, having a good time with the

00:18:56.660 Gentiles preaching the gospel because I'm never, I'm not really under that law to begin with, 0.98

00:19:02.040 because Christ has fulfilled and abrogated that law. However, that doesn't mean I'm murdering

00:19:07.560 because that law actually has been given to the Gentiles. Romans chapter two, their consciences,

00:19:12.580 that law was written on their heart. Their consciences bear witness of the moral law

00:19:16.280 of God. All right. So that's how we understand under law, not under law. That's what I think

00:19:21.480 Paul's talking about. Hope that that's helpful. Thanks so much for listening. But real quick,

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The NXR Podcast - July 30, 2022

QUESTIONS - Is Pastor Joel Legalistic？

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