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GOD’S LAW

Our Schoolmaster unto Salvation


As preached by Paul Brake

God gave us a law. We find that law written throughout the pages of
the Old Testament. That law condemned us all to die because none of
us were able to follow it. And we should also remember that the bible
says in James that if we break one word of the law we are guilty of the
whole law. The penalty for breaking the law is death. God, however,
did not want us all to die, he wanted us to live. Then God came veiled
in the flesh in the man of Jesus Christ and fulfilled the entire law and
took all of our sins upon himself and gave his life in place of ours.

It was you and I that were condemned to die on that cross, for you
and I committed the sins that put Jesus there. But Jesus Christ, the
great redeemer, the King of Kings, the Lord of Lords, the bright
morning star, the rose of Sharron, the lily of the valley, the prince of
peace, took your sins and my sins and all of our iniquities and bled and
died there for you and I so that we might live with him forever.

This is a very well known doctrine to church going folks. If the Lord
will, I would like to look a little deeper into it, to see exactly what the
law was, why it was given and exactly what the Bible is telling us when
it says that Jesus “fulfilled” the law. We also like to say that we are no
longer under the law. We will by the grace of God look a little deeper
into that statement and root out in the scriptures exactly what this
means. Some will be very surprised indeed by what we will find.

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; and it was ordained by angels in the hand of a
mediator.

So the Bible says that the law is there to deal with transgressions and
the law exists because of those transgressions. This is an interesting
and important point. Most would naturally think that the
transgressions must come as a result of the law, but we find it written
here in the opposite order. The law was added because of
transgressions. First the transgressions existed, then the law was
added because of them. The law is God’s answer to transgressions.

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And the Word says that the law will continue UNTIL the seed should
come to whom the promise was made. Who was that promised seed of
Abraham, the promised seed of the woman back in the Garden of
Eden? God said unto the serpent in Genesis chapter three that “I will
put enmity between you and the woman, and between your seed and
the woman’s seed, and you shall bruise his heal, but he shall bruise
your head”. The seed of the woman, the promised seed, was none
other than Jesus Christ.

Now notice that the law actually existed before Moses. Moses did not
write the law, he merely penned it as God spoke it to him. And in fact
the famous Ten Commandments were even penned by God as he
wrote them in stone with his own finger as the prophet Moses stood by
and watched. The law actually started way back in Eden. I used to
think that it started with Moses myself but the word explicitly says
otherwise.

The first law was “eat not of the fruit for the day you eat thereof you
will die”. That was the law in Eden. That was the only law they had at
that time. Don’t eat and if you eat you die. It was short, it was simple
and it was the law.

Notice now the two components of a law. Every law must have these
two components or it is not a law. The first essential component is the
thing that you are not supposed to do, and the second is the
consequences for doing it. “Do not eat”: was the thing you aren’t
supposed to do. And, “IF you eat you die”: was the unconditional
Consequences. And every law has these two components.

Without both components it is not a law. Without a commandment it


has no direction and every law must be enforceable. Therefore if there
is no consequence for breaking the law then the law is no longer
enforceable and of no effect. That is the problem with the law today in
the courts. They have taken away the consequences and made the
laws unenforceable and of no effect. Adam and Eve did not know much
of the law back then but what they did know they were more than able
to transgress.

The Bible said the Law was “added” because of transgressions. It was
“added”, not just given in one shot but added, which in the Greek is
prostithemi which is a verb meaning to increase or to proceed further
in giving. So the law was given, but not at once, not in one place or at
one specific time but rather it was given and increased over the

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passage of time, and proceeded further in its giving because of
transgressions. The law unfolded with time.

So is that it or is there a deeper reason? Nothing happens without


reason and there is no coincidence in life. Is there something more
here, another layer? Why would God give the law out in a piecemeal
fashion, a little here and a little there, and not in one big lump right at
the beginning?

What is the underlying purpose of the law? We know it was given


because of transgressions, but how was the law supposed to deal with
those transgressions? What was the law doing with those
transgressions and with the people it was given to? What is the
relationship between us, the law, and the transgressions, and God the
law giver and judge? The Bible gives us those answers.

Galatians 3:24 Wherefore the law was our schoolmaster to bring us


unto Christ, that we might be justified by faith.

The law was our Schoolmaster. It is our teacher. The Bibles says that
it was brought in and added because of transgressions AND its
purpose was to bring us unto Christ by teaching us as a schoolmaster.
Then after the law brings us to Christ we might be justified by faith.
That is a mouthful.

It doesn’t say that we can be justified by the law. The law does not
and cannot justify anyone for every word of the law that we transgress
condemns us to death, but the law brings us to a place where we can
be justified. And it brings us there by teaching us something. So if the
law brings us to a place where we can be justified by faith through
teaching us, then we need to know exactly what the law is supposed to
be teaching us?

Romans 4:15 Because the law worketh wrath: for where no law is,
there is no transgression.

This ties in nicely with our central theme and opens the door a little
more for us. It goes back a couple of scriptures and weaves itself in.
So putting it together so far we see that the law was added because of
transgressions and without the law there are transgressions, but we do
not know of them and are left guiltless of the law. Why is there no
guilt of transgressions without the law? The law alone determines what
is, and what is not a transgression. So if there is no law, there is no

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crime. The act still exists, and the act can be against the perfect will of
God, but there can be no crime assigned.

Look at the internet today. It is very new so there are almost no laws
in place to govern what goes on with it. And when people are using it
wrongly or for some evil purpose, nobody can hold them accountable
in this world for their actions because there is no law on the books to
charge them with. There is no commandment, and there are no
consequences. So until someone writes a law, the police and the
courts have no justification in arresting the people. They have nothing
to charge them with. There might be horrible acts going on but there
is no crime.

But once the law is in place you cannot do those same things
anymore. You could do them before but the law is written but once the
law is written, then the act becomes a crime. This is a very important
and interesting point to note. The law is not retroactive. God created
time for a purpose and uses time and has given us definite timelines
within the plan of salvation.

So if you commit an offense yesterday and they bring in a law against


it today you are free. But if you commit that same thing tomorrow,
you go to jail, even if you have been doing it for years before without
fault.

Here is an earthly example. The road from your house to work is not
very busy and the speed limit is 50 mph. You drive it every day at 50
mph for 15 years. Then as the city develops the area and the road
gets busier and someone decides that 50 mph is too fast and one
Tuesday morning the speed limit is reduced to 30 mph. It does not
matter that you have been driving at 50 for all those years. If you
drive at 31 mph today you will get a ticket for speeding. You will not
be ticketed for driving 50 mph on Monday, but Tuesday driving that
very same road, in that very same car, at that very same speed will
earn you a fine. On Monday it is an act with impunity, but on Tuesday
that very same act becomes a crime with a punishment.

Here is a spiritual example from the scriptures. Abraham married his


sister Sarah. She was his half sister and he took her for his wife. God
blessed the union such that he gave them a miracle baby and made
that baby the promised seed through whom God would bless the entire
planet and every living soul on it. Keeping that fact in mind let us look
at what the law of Moses clearly says about the act of a man marrying
his sister.

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Leviticus 18:9 The nakedness of thy sister, the daughter of they
father OR the daughter of thy mother, whether she be born at home,
or born abroad, even their nakedness thou shalt not uncover.

It is needful to note the word “or” in this passage. The word or is in


there for a reason. Some will say “but Sarah was his Half sister”. The
law doesn’t say the daughter of thy father AND mother, it says the
daughter of thy father OR mother. So according to the law of Moses,
Abraham committed sin punishable by death. Abraham clearly violated
the laws of Moses. How could God bless a union that was in clear
violation of his law that he gave us through his prophet?

Abraham married his sister, an act which is condemned by God’s law.


That we have established. Did Abraham sin? Absolutely not! Why? The
law clearly shows that what Abraham did with Sarah in marrying her
was a direct contravention of the law of God as written by his prophet
Moses. So if Abraham transgressed the direct commandment of God,
then how is there no sin?

The law concerning that transgression had not yet been added.
Without law there is no guilt of transgression. And it wasn’t just
Abraham that married his sister. Abel. Seth. Enos. The first few men
had no choice, they either had to marry a sister or not marry at all for
there were no other women on the planet. But it was not sin because
there was no law concerning it yet and where there is no law there is
no guilt of transgression. But don’t you do it today. If you do it today
you will be found guilty.

Now does that mean that if we don’t know the law we are saved? No
don’t go getting that idea. Even in the laws of man, the ignorance of
the law is not a valid excuse. The Bible covers that too:

Romans 2: 12 For as many as have sinned without law shall also


perish without law: and as many as have sinned in the law shall be
judged by the law.

They did not know any better so they are not judged by the law. They
however still do not have Christ because it is the law that is the
schoolmaster that leads us to Christ. So without the law they are not
judged by the law, yet they still do not, and cannot, have Christ. So
since the law leads us to Christ we cannot find salvation outside of the
law, and since the law cannot justify us we cannot find salvation IN the

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law either. But the law leads us to Jesus Christ, who is the salvation,
the resurrection and the life. Jesus said:

Luke 12: 47 And that servant, which knew his lord’s will, and prepared
not himself, neither did according to his will, shall be beaten with
many stripes. 48 But he that knew not, and did commit things worthy
of stripes, shall be beaten with few stripes. For unto whomsoever
much is given, of him shall be much required: and to whom men have
committed much, of him they will ask the more.

See, the law teaches us to come to Christ but if we do not come the
punishment is most severe. Ignorance is no excuse. The one who did
not know of the law was still beaten with stripes. But the one who
knew it was doubly guilty, first for transgressing the law and then also
for disregarding the law which he knew. The Bible goes on to say in
Hebrews that if we sin willfully after we come to the knowledge of the
truth there is no more sacrifice for sin but a certain fearful looking for
judgment.

Matthew 7:21 Not everyone that saith unto me, Lord, Lord shall enter
into the kingdom of heaven; but he that doeth the will of my Father
which is in heaven.

Jesus tells us here that we must do the will of the Father if we are to
have any hope of entering the kingdom of Heaven. Then in order to be
saved we need to know exactly what is the will of the Father? How can
we know what the will of the Father is?

We need someone to teach us what the Will of the Father is or we


could never know it. Without a teacher we are lost. God provided a
teacher and not just any old teacher but a schoolmaster. The law is
our schoolmaster. The law tells us what sin is, and what is not sin. It is
the law that teaches us what the perfect will of God is. The law was
added because of transgressions against God’s perfect will. It was
added to teach us what those transgressions are and to show us what
our reward is if we do them. Without the law how would we know?
How would you know what God required of you unless He told you?
You could try guessing. Lots of churches do that and look where it got
them. We have over a thousand “Christian” churches today all
preaching different, all preaching a different “perfect will of God”. God
can only have ONE perfect will.

So the Law is our schoolmaster. Unfortunately that leaves us with a


peculiar little paradox. We are told conclusively that we need the law,

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and that it is the law that teaches us the perfect will of God and leads
us to Christ that we might be justified. But the Bible also says:

Galatians 5:18 But if ye be led of the spirit, ye are not under the law.

How can we resolve this apparent contradiction? Like I said many


times in the past, every line has to run true or it isn’t Bible. The Bible
is incapable of contradicting itself, so if we find a contradiction then we
must be off the scriptures somewhere.

If our doctrine gets stuck somewhere in scripture then that is a sign


that our doctrine is wrong and we have to start over. Always
remember that. If we have to explain away a single line of scripture,
then our Urim Thummim, the Holy Bible, the Word of God, is telling us
that we are wrong. Every doctrine of God lines up perfectly with every
single word in the Bible. There are no mistakes.

But are we stuck with a contradiction or do we just need a couple of


scriptures to bridge the gap in our understanding? There isn’t any gap
in the Word, it’s complete and perfect. The gap is in our understanding
of the Word, or rather our lack of understanding of the Word of God.

So let’s find the bridge that ties the two thoughts perfectly together.

The law is our schoolmaster, which the Bible says in Galatians, has two
purposes. It first brings us to Christ. Second, in bringing us to Christ it
brings us to a place where we can be justified by faith.

Lets start with the first thought. The law is our schoolmaster which
brings us to Christ. So the law teaches us something, and what we
learn from the law somehow brings us to Christ. Is that right? What
does the law teach us?

We’ve already seen that it teaches us what is and what is not sin by
showing us and defining what transgressions are. It clearly
demonstrates to us what the perfect will of God is and thus shows us
when we are not in the perfect will of God.

If we know what the crimes are, then we know what God wants us to
avoid doing. And if we know what God wants us to NOT do, then by
default does it not also tell us what God wants us to do? And if we
know what God wants us to do, and we know what God wants us to
not do, doesn’t that mean that we know the will of God? It makes
sense doesn’t it? This brings us back to what Jesus said about who

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gets into the kingdom, those who do the will of my Father. And now by
the teaching of the schoolmaster, we can know what the will is.

How can you do the will if you don’t know what the will is? We’ve come
full circle. So the schoolmaster teaches us the Will of God. Is that all it
teaches? Is that all we need, to know what the transgressions are? Will
that in and of itself bring us to Christ and to justification by faith? The
Bible says no. The Bible says it is not enough to know the law. It is not
enough to know the will of the father. Jesus didn’t say those who know
the will of the Father get into heaven, but only those who DO the will
of the Father. Remember it also says in James chapter two “you
believe in one God, you have done well, the devil also believes and
trembles”. (Most churches today don’t even believe in one God, they
believe in three Gods. They are not even as spiritual as the devil.)

James 1:22 But be ye doers of the word, and not hearers only,
deceiving your own selves. 23 For if any be a hearer of the word, and
not a doer, he is like unto a man beholding his natural face in a glass:
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For he beholdeth himself, and goeth his way, and straightway
forgetteth what manner of man he was. 25 But whoso looketh into the
perfect law of liberty, and continueth therein, he being not a forgetful
hearer, but a doer of the work, this man shall be blessed in his deed.

Knowing right from wrong is not enough, we must be doers of the


word and not hearers only. And James pointed out that it is the law
that teaches us as well.

St. John 9:41 Jesus said unto them, If ye were blind, ye should have
no sin: but now ye say, We see; therefore your sin remaineth.

Jesus said if you didn’t know better then there was no sin, but since
you do know better, and you claim to know better, your sin remains.
They knew the will of the Father, they had the schoolmaster of the
law, but they did not obey and they did not receive its teaching. They
had been under its teaching their whole lives. But still it wasn’t
enough. Was it just because they did not obey the law?

Lets take an example:

Mark 10:17 And when he was gone forth into the way, there came one
running, and kneeled to him, and asked him , Good Master, what shall
I do that I may inherit eternal life? 18 And Jesus said unto him, Why
callest thou me good? There is none good but one, that is God. 19 Thou
knowest the commandments, Do not commit adultery, Do not kill, Do

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not steal, Do not bear false witness, Defraud not, Honour thy father
and mother. 20 And he answered and said unto him, Master, all these
have I observed from my youth. 21 Then Jesus beholding him loved
him, and said unto him, One thing thou lackest: go thy way, sell
whatsoever thou hast, and give to the poor, and thou shalt have
treasure in heaven: and come, take up the cross and follow me.

So here we have someone who knows the law, and who keeps the law
and has kept it his whole life, yet that wasn’t enough because he could
see that he did not possess eternal life. He still was not justified.
Knowing and keeping the law did not justify him. The law cannot
justify us.

The law is our schoolmaster, and it teaches us what the transgressions


are. And in teaching us it is supposed to bring us to Christ but the law
itself cannot justify us. We can have the whole law and yet be
unjustified as the rich ruler was. He had the law and the Bible says he
even kept it from his youth, but he did not have eternal life. He was
not justified. He was lost.

But it is not the law that justifies us. It was never intended to justify
us but to bring us to the One that would justify us. That man is Jesus
Christ. And he justified us through the law by fulfilling the law.
Remember earlier we said the law has two components. One told us
what not to do. And the other told us of the penalty for transgression.
The first part was accomplished to John the Baptist time. That is what
Jesus said. The law and the prophets were unto John. So the Old
Testament is the schoolmaster that shows us what not to do and what
to do. Where does Jesus come in?

Jesus Christ fulfilled the entire law. The law was added until John then
Jesus, the great capstone, fulfilled the law. He fulfilled the law first by
taking the commandment part of the law and changing it from an
external law to an internal law. In the old testament it was a physical
do or do not. But Jesus tells us that it is not enough to maintain a
physical outer law. We must have the law internally.

Matthew 5: 21 Ye have heard that it was said by them of old time,


thou shalt not kill; and whosoever shall kill shall be in danger of the
judgment. BUT I SAY unto you that whosoever is angry with his
brother without cause shall be in danger of the judgment.

Just stop there for a moment. If we are angry at a brother without


cause we are guilty of murder? Is that what Jesus is saying. He said in

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old days you had to actually take the life but today it is sufficient to
hate without cause. The External law is transformed to an Internal law
today. God said in our day he would write his word upon our hearts
and minds. So if it is written on our hearts and minds then it can also
be also transgressed in our hearts and minds. This is an essential
concept. I hope you are catching that.

Matthew 5:27 Ye have heard that it was said by them of old time,
thou shalt not commit adultery: 28 BUT I SAY unto you, that
whosoever looketh on a woman to lust after her hath committed
adultery with her already in his heart.

Jesus said that the person has “Committed it in his heart”. The law is
written on our hearts so it is also transgressed in our hearts. So then
what chance do we have? At least at one time it was a matter of
subjugating the urges you felt and just not going out and doing them.
Now to simply willfully entertain those things in our thoughts makes us
guilty of sin. Is there any hope for any of us? Certainly not in the law,
it condemns us to death. It condemns us internally.

1 John 3: 20 for if our heart condemn us, God is greater than our
heart, and knoweth all things. 21 Beloved, if our heart condemn us not,
then have we confidence towards God. 22 And whatsoever we ask we
receive of him, because we keep his commandments, and do those
things that are pleasing in his sight.

The law is now an internal law and will condemn us internally if we


even desire to commit a transgression of the law.

But Jesus fulfilled the whole law. He fulfilled the first part. He fulfilled
the law by completing the second part as well. He took the entire
penalty for all transgressions upon himself. He took All the
transgressions both external and internal. He paid the price in his flesh
for every sin committed, past, present and future.

That is our only hope, our only salvation, our only reason to live, our
only way to live. He alone is the truth the life and the way. He is all in
all. Oh what miserable creatures we were without him. And when we
receive Him we are set free from the law of sin. Here we get to a very
crucial point. This is a point that will surprise most who read this. It is
perfectly scriptural but little known. It is absolutely the Bible,
absolutely the truth but hidden from most. Remember the paradox we
just reviewed.

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Galatians 5:18 But if ye be led of the spirit, ye are not under the law.

And also:

Galatians 3: 25 But AFTER that faith is come, we are no longer under


a schoolmaster.

So the schoolmaster, the law, teaches us and bring us to Christ and


then WHEN we receive Christ in faith, He justifies us through that faith
because he fulfilled the law. At THIS POINT we are set free from the
law. It is the very moment we receive Jesus Christ as our Lord and
savior that we are set free from the law. We were not set free 2000
years ago. He fulfilled his part back then, but we are not personally set
free from the Law until the moment we accept Jesus Christ.

So what of those who have not received Christ? So what of those not
led by the spirit? The term If always goes with then. If, then. IF, IF ye
are led of the spirit THEN, ye are not under the law. We have to slow
down here a little. This is going to be a chunk of meat for some I
think.

So then are those who are not led by the spirit, those who refuse the
spirit, those who refuse Christ still under the law? Absolutely!

They will have to stand before the judgment seat of Christ and give an
answer for every word in the law. You are either under the law or
under grace, there is no third position. You are either in or out. You
are either saved or lost. With law comes the judgment and if there
were no law then there could not be judgment. And the Bible says he
who offends the law in one word is guilty of all. Is that Bible? We
mentioned it earlier.

James 2:10 For whosoever shall keep the whole law, and yet offend
in one point, he is guilty of all.

He is “guilty of all”. If we do not receive Jesus Christ as our saviour, if


we are not justified by faith in Him, we will be held accountable for
every letter of the law and we will be found Guilty of ALL.

Galatians 3:10 for as many as are of the works of the law are under
the curse: for it is written, Cursed is every one that continueth not in
ALL things which are written in the book of the law to do them.

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All the things, not some of them, not most of them, not all but one
thing, A-L-L, ALL of them. If we are not in Christ Jesus then we are
still under the entire written law. The New Testament is of absolutely
none effect to us without the blood of Jesus Christ.

So then what do we do? Receive Christ! Sound good but how? Men
and brethren what shall we do?

Acts 2: 37 Now when they heard this, they were pricked in their heart,
and said unto Peter and to the rest of the apostles, men and brethren,
what shall we do? 38 Then Peter said unto them, Repent, and be
baptized every one of you in the name of Jesus Christ for the
remission of sins, and ye shall receive the gift of the Holy Ghost. 39 For
the promise is unto you, and to your children, and to all that are afar
off, even as many as the Lord our God shall call.

See, at this point Jesus had already died for our sins some 50 days
ago and risen and ascended on high, but those men who witnessed the
pouring out of the Holy Spirit were pricked in their hearts. They were
internally condemned by the internal law of the Spirit of God. They
were guilty of the law and condemned by it and they knew it. They
realized they needed to be justified.

Peter said to them to repent and be baptized in the name of Jesus


Christ for the remission of sins. Do you see it? By receiving Jesus
Christ we are set free from the law. Without law is no sin. We still
committed the acts, but we are set free from the guilt of it. When we
repent and are baptized in the name of Jesus Christ, it is at that
moment that we are set free from the law. It is at that moment in time
that we are justified. Until that very second we were completely under
the law and guilty of the whole law and condemned to death and hell.

And we must follow exactly for there is a way that seems right unto
man the end thereof is death. The Bible gives us a very detailed
description of how to receive Jesus Christ. First we must repent, get
the inward law and acknowledge our transgressions and make right
those things we had made wrong. Then we must be baptized in the
name of Jesus Christ. No other baptism, no baptism in titles, but
specifically in the name of Jesus Christ. That is why in Acts chapter 19
a group of repentant believing Christians needed to be rebaptized in
the name of Jesus Christ; their original baptism was in error.

Another place where people get lost here is they forget the repent
part. Miss that and you go in a dry sinner and come out a wet one.

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Repent. Make the wrong into a right. Live according to His
commandments. Die unto yourselves. Baptism is a burial. And today I
think we bury to many live people.

St. John 14:23 Jesus answered and said unto him. If a man love me,
he will keep my words: and my father will love him, and we will come
unto him, and make our abode with him. 24 He that loveth me not
keepeth not my sayings: and the word which ye hear is not mine, but
the Father’s which sent me.

What does it mean to “keep” his words? Does it just mean to know
them? Does it maybe mean to not change them in any way? The
Greek word used here is tereo which means to guard, obey and
observe. The Greek word for prison has the same root. So how do we
keep His words? It is more than to just know them or to maintain
them. To keep the word of God is to imprison them in our hearts and
minds. Don’t let them go. Guard them with our lives.

We guard them, we observe them, we obey them, we live them. But


what of the law, we are free from the law. So how can we be free from
law and yet still have commandments to obey? Are they not the same,
commandments and law?

We saw how the law has two facets, a do or do not do, and a
punishment for transgression. And we have seen that it is no more an
external law but an internal law of the desires of the heart. But here
we have commandments. Here we have a way of life laid out in print.
And there is not a punishment for not transgressing his
commandments.

If we do not keep his commandments then we are still under the law
and the law contains the punishment. Do you see it? Jesus said if we
keep his commandments, his words, then He will make his abode with
us and justify us and free us from the law. So when we keep his words
we are free from the law. Then, conversely, when we reject his words,
any of his words, we are guilty under the law.

So then we need to receive Him. Have we received him? How do we


know we have received him? How do we know we are justified?

Jesus said by their fruits ye shall know them. So what are the fruits?
What was the sign of the spirit, the sign that the 120 were told by
Jesus to watch for at Pentecost? The sign was Power. How does that
power manifest? What is the fruit of that vine?

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Galatians 5:19 Now the works of the flesh are manifest, which are
these; Adultery, fornication, uncleanness, lasciviousness 20 Idolatry,
witchcraft, hatred, variance, emulations, wrath, strife, seditions
heresies 21 envyings, murders, drunkenness, reveling, and such like:
of which I tell you before, as I have also told you in time past, that
they with do such things shall not inherit the kingdom of God. 22 But
the fruit of the Spirit is love, joy, peace, longsuffering, gentleness,
goodness, faith 23 meekness, temperance: against which there is not
law.

See, the law is brought in because of transgressions, because of the


work of the flesh, and the law condemns those works and assigns a
punishment to them. But the fruit of the spirit aren’t transgressions so
there is no law concerning them. So when we receive the spirit of God
then we are free from works of the flesh and thus the law concerning
those works, being justified by faith in Jesus Christ.

A little note here that I hope doesn’t concern anyone reading here. The
word witchcraft doesn’t mean black magic here, it is from the Greek
word pharmakeia which means drug user. It means a Drug user of
any kind. We are not talking medicines we are talking recreational or
addicted drug user. We are talking about cigarette smokers. It refers
to marijuana smokers. It is pointing out heroin, MMDA, Cocaine, etc
etc users. They are different words but all the same meaning. Paul
says if you smoke you will NOT inherit the kingdom of God because
you are still under the law as a transgressor of the law and will be
judged by the law.

So get free from the works of the flesh today. Jesus Christ bled and
died to set you free from those things. Accept him and his sacrifice
today. Throw those things out of your life and be saved in Christ.
Throw them in the garbage and go to your knees in prayer for strength
to overcome, for faith to be delivered and he will give it to you
because he promised it. God cannot lie. God cannot fail.

Why can we not live in the works of the flesh and be saved? Because
the sprit and the flesh are contrary to each other and the works of the
flesh are the very transgressions that the law was added for. We
cannot serve God and mammon.

Romans 6:11 Likewise reckon ye also yourselves to be dead indeed


unto sin, but alive unto God through Jesus Christ our Lord. 12 Let not
sin therefore reign in your mortal body, that ye should obey it in the

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lusts thereof. 13 Neither yield ye your members as instruments of
unrighteousness unto sin: but yield yourselves unto God, as those that
are alive from the dead, and you members as instruments of
righteousness unto God. 14 For sin shall not have dominion over you:
for ye are not under the law, but under grace. 15 What then? Shall we
sin, because we are not under the law, but under grace? God forbid. 16
Know ye not, that to whom ye yield yourselves servants to obey, his
servants ye are to whom ye obey; whether of sin unto death, or of
obedience unto righteousness.

It says here to whom (personal pronoun) we yield ourselves to obey


Him (personal pronoun) we serve. If we obey the spirit of God, THEN
we are justified by faith and free from the law. But if we yield to sin
and the spirit of the world, to the flesh, then we are not justified and
still under the law and will be judged accordingly.

And it is not just a matter of doing the acts anymore. We saw earlier
that it is a matter of WANTING to do them, of consciously desiring
them. Now we are all tempted, that is for sure, and tempted in our
weakness and in our flesh. The difference is in what we DECIDE to do
about it. A battle rages in the mind of every Christian, the greatest
battle ever fought. And the thoughts in our minds during this battle
are not sin, they are temptations TO sin. They arise out of our flesh,
and out of our weakness.

So what is the difference? When does our fleshly lusts, which we all
have and will have until the rapture changes our bodies, when does it
become sin? When is it a transgression? When is it the fruit of the
flesh? The thoughts are the seed and a seed must germinate and grow
to bear fruit. So then when does the seed of sin that the devil is trying
to plant become the fruit of the flesh and sin?

James 1:12 Blessed is the man that endureth temptation: for when he
is tried, he shall receive the crown of life, which the Lord hath
promised to them that love him. 13 Let no man way when he is
tempted, I am tempted of God: for God cannot be temped with evil,
neither tempted he any man: 14 But every man is tempted, when he is
drawn away of his own lust, and enticed. 15 Then when lust hath
conceived, it bringeth forth sin: and sin, when it is finished, bringeth
forth death.

So the temptation is not sin but a blessing! That is hard to believe and
I think most will reread that line because they will think they read it

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wrong the first time. The temptations are a blessing. The Bible says
so. We are blessed when we endure temptation.

The fight in our minds, the evil thoughts that come up, the war we
have with the devil on a daily basis, is a blessing to us IF we are
overcomers. For when we are tried we receive a crown of life. But
when do these trials become a sin, a transgression? When we let them
conceive, when we make the decision that we want consciously to do
them. It is not just having the desire in our flesh, that is the battle,
but when we decide that yes I want to do that. That is when we
become wilfull sinners. When we decide that even though we know the
Word says not to do it, even though our schoolmaster says it is a
transgression, we decide that we want to do it anyway. Then we let
the thoughts enter our hearts.

It is at this point that sin conceives in us and bears the fruit in time.
Remember Jesus said if a man looks at a woman to lust after her. A
healthy man cannot look at a beautiful naked woman without being
affected. But that isn’t sin. It is when he decides that he wants to keep
looking and lusting, when the spirit says turn away and he thinks in his
mind, NO, I like it and I am going to do it, that is when the sin
conceives in his heart.

The devil will tell you that “oh you got tempted by this or that and you
sinned and are lost”. That is a lie! The temptations are there to prove
us, to try us, so that we may receive a crown. We just read that when
we are tempted it is a BLESSING to us. The temptations are a blessing
to us. It is when we yield to the temptation that we are doing wrong.
And pay close attention here. This is a very important point. The devil
will only tell you that you are wrong when you are right. And he will
only tell you that you are right when you are wrong.

Did you get that? The devil will only tell you that you are lost when
you are saved. If you are saved he will never point out your fault to
you, he’ll point it out to everyone else, but never to you because he
knows once you see your fault that you will repent and be free from it
being justified by Jesus Christ. Do you see it?

He will try to get you to compromise on the word. He will try to get
you to believe his interpretation where he explains away scripture. He
will play with your pride by praising you to try to get you to be proud
and steal God’s glory. And he will use your pride by insulting and
attacking you to try to get you to step out from the word and defend
yourself. And the big one here, he will try and convince you that you

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sinned a sin beyond salvation, that you are serpent’s seed, that you
have gone too far. He will only tell you that when it is a lie because he
is a liar. And he will only tell you that when it is not true because he is
ONLY AT WAR WITH THE SAINTS!

Did you get that? The devil is only at war with the saints. His battle is
with the predestinated children of God. He will never say those things
to the lost. He is trying to convince you of his lie by telling you that
you are lost. But the Bible says that “all those who cry out in the name
of the Lord shall be saved”. The Bible says that “he will never leave us
or forsake us”. Is that Bible? Then what the devil says must be a lie.

He will also tell you that you are saved when you are not. He will tell
you that what I have said up here today is bunk and not worth the
effort to listen to. He is looking to destroy you. If he can’t destroy you
completely he at least wants to make you a foolish virgin. He will tell
you that you are fine when you are not. And he will tell you that you
are lost and unsavable when you are already saved and justified by
Jesus Christ.

That devil is cagey and sly but the Bible shows us his colours.
Remember the spirit of God shows you your wrongs AND the way to
repentance. The law, the schoolmaster is there to lead us the Christ. Is
that what we read? The law shows us what transgressions are, and
leads us to Christ that we might be justified by faith. Amen? So when
your mind and thoughts show you that you are wrong and going into
judgment with no hope, then that is not God doing it. God shows you
your wrongs and leads you to repentance and takes the guilt away.

God doesn’t tell you that you are hopelessly lost, he tells you that he
has saved you and that he wants you to repent and come back to him.
The one telling you that you are lost and beyond hope is the devil. And
he is a liar. He always was a liar and always will be a liar. Don’t believe
a word of it. There certainly will be a time when it will be too late to
repent, but don’t think the devil will remind you of that. He wants to
convince you to give up, to believe that you are too bad, too evil, too
weak, too sinful to be saved. DON”T BELIEVE IT!

The law is our schoolmaster which shows us what transgressions are


that we may come repenting to Christ and receive Jesus and be
justified by Christ in faith. The law, the Bible, shows us that we are
wrong so that we might have cause to repent and come to Christ. The
Law shows us our faults so that we might make them right. The law
shows us our weakness so that we may seek the strength of Jesus

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Christ. The law shows us our unrighteousness so that we may seek to
be covered in the robes of His righteousness. The law shows us our sin
so that we may wash it in the blood of the lamb. The law shows us
judgment that we may find grace.

Fight the fight. Put on the whole armour of God. Give NO place to the
devil. Make not provision for the flesh to fulfill the lusts thereof. Don’t
allow your fleshly lusts to conceive sin. Get into Christ. Repent and be
baptized in the name of Jesus Christ for the remission of sins and
receive the Holy Spirit. It is for you. It is God’s promise to you. Get out
from under the law and under the all sufficient umbrella of grace of our
Lord Jesus Christ.

The door is still open, He is still on the mercy seat, the fountain is
open deep and wide to wash away all your sin, all your iniquity and
make you a new creation in Christ Jesus the Lord. Get everything
under the blood Jesus Christ. Let the schoolmaster show you what is
wrong that you might make it right. Examine the rule of the
schoolmaster that you might be led to Christ and justified by faith in
him.

There is no other salvation, nor any other name given where we can
find salvation. Jesus Christ alone, in him dwells the fullness of the
godhead bodily.

The Bible goes on to say that in the beginning was the word and the
word was with God and the word was God and the word was made
flesh and dwelt amongst men. Jesus Christ is the word of God made
flesh. The Bible is Jesus Christ, the word of God, in print. Paul says to
change a word, even if you were an angel from heaven, you get you
cursed. We must accept the whole word of God, the entire Bible,
exactly as it is written with no interpretations or changes. Our doctrine
must hold true from Genesis to Revelation. Jesus Christ is the same
yesterday today and forever. His word will never change.

Look into the perfect law of liberty today and let it lead you to the one
salvation, the one true God and eternal life, the Lord Jesus Christ, King
of Kings and Lord of Lords. He is the healer of all of our diseases. He
forgives all of your transgressions. Accept him as your Lord and savior.
Repent and be baptized in his name and come out from under the
bondage of the law today.

In Jesus Christ’s blessed and Holy Name. AMEN.

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