Are You Spelling It With Two E's
Notes
Transcript
Doxology:
This is my Bible. It is God’s Holy Word. It is a lamp unto my feet, a light unto my path, and I will hide its words within my heart, that I might not sin against God. Amen!
Scripture Reference: Galatians 5:1-6
Context
Context
Kids are hilarious! When they are little, they have no filter and simply say what is on their mind.
This has been several years ago now. Landry was 5 years old when this happened. In his Wed Night class at the time, his teacher had them memorizing Bible verses each week for the next class. This particular week, he was supposed to be memorizing this verse:
4 Thou shalt not make unto thee any graven image, or any likeness of any thing that is in heaven above, or that is in the earth beneath, or that is in the water under the earth:
We were sitting at the kitchen table, he was sitting on my knee, and we were reading this verse out of the Bible. Now notice that this verse I put up here is out of the KJV of the Bible. He began trying to sound out the words of this verse but when he came to the word “thee” he stopped. He didn’t know what that word was. He knew how to spell the with one e, but he had never seen it spelled with two e’s before.
At this point, Layne just so happens to be walking by, so he stops and reads the verse. Landry then looks up at me and says, “Daddy… is that right? Are you supposed to spell the word thee with two E’s?”
So I tried to explain to him that when the KJV Bible was written, they used what was called Old English, and that some of the words were spelled differently back then. He thought about it for a second and said, “So you mean that is how they spelled it when you were a kid.”
We all got a good laugh out of that.
But for some reason the rest of that week, I couldn’t get that off of my mind. I began thinking about how the old spelling was different from the new spelling and how the Old Covenant of the Law was different from the New Covenant of Grace. Both of them had the same purpose, which was to bring man closer to God, but they are spelled differently, if you will.
Today, I want to speak to you on this topic: Are you spelling it with two E’s?
1 Stand fast therefore in the liberty by which Christ has made us free, and do not be entangled again with a yoke of bondage.
2 Indeed I, Paul, say to you that if you become circumcised, Christ will profit you nothing.
3 And I testify again to every man who becomes circumcised that he is a debtor to keep the whole law.
4 You have become estranged from Christ, you who attempt to be justified by law; you have fallen from grace.
5 For we through the Spirit eagerly wait for the hope of righteousness by faith.
6 For in Christ Jesus neither circumcision nor uncircumcision avails anything, but faith working through love.
Content
Content
The Old Covenant
The Old Covenant
Meet
Meet
1 Stand fast therefore in the liberty by which Christ has made us free, and do not be entangled again with a yoke of bondage.
We have been discussing throughout the Sermon on the Mount how that the Law was being misinterpreted. The Law was given to show people their need for God. It was never meant to save anyone… It can’t save anyone. All it can do is condemn. That is what it is designed to do.
The Law is God’s standard of righteousness. If someone was able to keep every single one of the laws without transgression, they would be considered perfect, but it was impossible for mankind to do that.
Furthermore, we discussed how the law was given to govern the heart. It was a heart thing, but the religious leaders had made it about the work of their hands instead. In other words, they had set themselves up for failure. By making the law about rules and regulations, they were inadvertently placing their faith in themselves. I must do this. I must do that. To be quiet honest, not a single person who has ever lived is worthy of that much faith. We are just not that good. Any of us.
The Law was designed to strengthen their faith in God, not in themselves.
So it became about “Meeting” an expectation. They had to meet the standards of God.
Bleed
Bleed
4 You have become estranged from Christ, you who attempt to be justified by law; you have fallen from grace.
Knowing that this was an absolutely impossible task, God had built into the plan a fail-safe. When someone transgressed the law of God, they could take certain animals to the temple and offer them as sacrifices. The life’s blood of these animals would serve as an atonement for the sins that had been committed. God had determined that in order for sin to be forgiven, something had to die. A sacrifice had to be made.
22 And according to the law almost all things are purified with blood, and without shedding of blood there is no remission.
But here is the thing, this fail-safe was meant to be the exception, not the standard. God never wanted tons of innocent animals to be slaughtered upon an altar just so that men could keep on sinning. He gave the means of the sacrifice so that when someone made a mistake, atonement could be made.
But the people adopted this mentality regardless. They thought they could commit sin, turn around and offer up a sacrifice, and no harm would come of it.
God expressed his dissatisfaction towards this attitude though many times throughout the Old Testament.
11 “To what purpose is the multitude of your sacrifices to Me?” Says the Lord. “I have had enough of burnt offerings of rams And the fat of fed cattle. I do not delight in the blood of bulls, Or of lambs or goats.
12 “When you come to appear before Me, Who has required this from your hand, To trample My courts?
13 Bring no more futile sacrifices; Incense is an abomination to Me. The New Moons, the Sabbaths, and the calling of assemblies— I cannot endure iniquity and the sacred meeting.
14 Your New Moons and your appointed feasts My soul hates; They are a trouble to Me, I am weary of bearing them.
15 When you spread out your hands, I will hide My eyes from you; Even though you make many prayers, I will not hear. Your hands are full of blood.
16 “Wash yourselves, make yourselves clean; Put away the evil of your doings from before My eyes. Cease to do evil,
17 Learn to do good; Seek justice, Rebuke the oppressor; Defend the fatherless, Plead for the widow.
God made it clear that He wanted their love and obedience, not sacrifices. He wanted them to lean into His Holy Word, learn it, and live it.
This would stop the constant bleeding that was taking place.
Steep
Steep
2 Indeed I, Paul, say to you that if you become circumcised, Christ will profit you nothing.
3 And I testify again to every man who becomes circumcised that he is a debtor to keep the whole law.
All in all, this Old Covenant presented a very steep mountain to climb. Matter of fact, it was so steep, no man could climb it. It was impossible to keep all of the laws of God. If they would have turned to God in faith, as some of them did, they could have experienced this amazing relationship with God.
Do you realize that? Some of those in the OT got it right. There is a whole list of them in Hebrews 11. We call that chapter the “Hall of Faith” because it outlines those who walked with God by faith during Old Testament times. It has always been by faith. It was then, and it is now.
1 Now faith is the substance of things hoped for, the evidence of things not seen.
2 For by it the elders obtained a good testimony.
Unfortunately, instead of placing their faith in God, they chose to go it alone. They chose to trust in their own abilities, their own talents, their own resources, their own knowledge, their own power, instead of trusting in God.
Let me tell that nothing has changed. When you choose to go it alone, you know the odds you face. Without the aid of God in your spiritual life, you will never achieve the standard required to enter into glory. This mountain your trying to climb is simply to steep. You can’t make it.
That is why we are thankful for the New Covenant of Grace, Amen!
The New Covenant
The New Covenant
Since Christ came, we now get to remove one of those E’s from each of these words.
Meet => Met
Meet => Met
5 For we through the Spirit eagerly wait for the hope of righteousness by faith.
Jesus accomplished what you and I could not. He was sent by God to this earth to live a perfect life. The first Adam, who represented all of mankind, failed to live in perfect unity with God. So God sent another Adam, the last Adam, who also represents all of those who will submit unto Him, was able to live in perfect unity with God.
45 And so it is written, “The first man Adam became a living being.” The last Adam became a life-giving spirit.
46 However, the spiritual is not first, but the natural, and afterward the spiritual.
47 The first man was of the earth, made of dust; the second Man is the Lord from heaven.
48 As was the man of dust, so also are those who are made of dust; and as is the heavenly Man, so also are those who are heavenly.
49 And as we have borne the image of the man of dust, we shall also bear the image of the heavenly Man.
50 Now this I say, brethren, that flesh and blood cannot inherit the kingdom of God; nor does corruption inherit incorruption.
So in Christ, “Meet” becomes “Met”. As we submit ourselves unto Christ, His righteousness is attributed unto us. We now stand complete and perfect in the eyes of God, because we are in Christ.
And how was Christ able to accomplish this for us? Because He bled and died on the cross of Calvary.
Bleed => Bled
Bleed => Bled
1 Stand fast therefore in the liberty by which Christ has made us free, and do not be entangled again with a yoke of bondage.
There no longer remains a need for the offering up of continual sacrifices. Christ was the perfect sacrifice.
11 But Christ came as High Priest of the good things to come, with the greater and more perfect tabernacle not made with hands, that is, not of this creation.
12 Not with the blood of goats and calves, but with His own blood He entered the Most Holy Place once for all, having obtained eternal redemption.
13 For if the blood of bulls and goats and the ashes of a heifer, sprinkling the unclean, sanctifies for the purifying of the flesh,
14 how much more shall the blood of Christ, who through the eternal Spirit offered Himself without spot to God, cleanse your conscience from dead works to serve the living God?
15 And for this reason He is the Mediator of the new covenant, by means of death, for the redemption of the transgressions under the first covenant, that those who are called may receive the promise of the eternal inheritance.
Christ, with His own blood, entered the Most Holy Place once for all. That means He became the perfect sacrifice for all sin that is committed under the first covenant. The first covenant was the law, so that means all sin committed against the Law of God is covered by the blood of Christ.
The blood of bulls and goats could not make one perfect because they themselves were not perfect. But Christ was perfect, so the sacrifice of His blood has the power to do what their blood could not. It has the power to cleanse forever those who are covered by it. His blood is the atonement for all sin.
12 But this Man, after He had offered one sacrifice for sins forever, sat down at the right hand of God,
13 from that time waiting till His enemies are made His footstool.
14 For by one offering He has perfected forever those who are being sanctified.
In Christ, we are made perfect forever. We stand righteous before God in Christ.
But let me be clear. If the same mentality is adopted with Christ’s blood as was adopted for the blood of bulls and goats, then that belief is in vain. Let me explain.
1 Moreover, brethren, I declare to you the gospel which I preached to you, which also you received and in which you stand,
2 by which also you are saved, if you hold fast that word which I preached to you—unless you believed in vain.
As we discussed earlier, they thought they could commit whatever sin they wanted, bring a sacrifice to the altar, and all would be square. Some today think if they believe in Christ, it is a license to live however they want, simply because the blood has already been shed. This is believing in vain. That is not why Christ died.
Jesus did not die to provide a license for sin. He died to to provide a freedom from sin. We longer have to walk in darkness once we have stepped into the light. We no longer have to allow sin to control us once we have Jesus, the only one who has ever completely conquered sin, on our side.
To believe in Christ for salvation is not simply to have all of our past sins forgiven, but also to receive that which is needed to keep us from sin in the future.
If we continue in sin with a don’t-care attitude after we have supposedly given ourselves to Him, something isn’t right.
That is why Apostle Paul starts this Chapter with this verse:
1 Stand fast therefore in the liberty by which Christ has made us free, and do not be entangled again with a yoke of bondage.
Paul is urging them not to go back to the same mindset that they once had. Don’t go back to this idea of your good outweighing your bad. That was the very mentality that was going to send you to hell. Don’t go back to that. Stand in the freedom that you now have in Christ. Stand firm on the Gospel.
The Gospel says He died for me so that I might live through Him. Not just for Him, but through Him.
9 In this the love of God was manifested toward us, that God has sent His only begotten Son into the world, that we might live through Him.
To be a Christian is to realize that I need Jesus in every aspect of my life. I need Him for everything. Anything I do in my own power, in my own merit, in my own knowledge, I am bound to mess up. Jesus wants to help. He wants to be a part of every move in our lives.
28 Come to Me, all you who labor and are heavy laden, and I will give you rest.
29 Take My yoke upon you and learn from Me, for I am gentle and lowly in heart, and you will find rest for your souls.
30 For My yoke is easy and My burden is light.”
Steep => Step
Steep => Step
6 For in Christ Jesus neither circumcision nor uncircumcision avails anything, but faith working through love.
It has always been about faith. Paul says that you can try to accomplish the works of law on your own, but it comes to nothing without faith in Jesus.
6 But without faith it is impossible to please Him, for he who comes to God must believe that He is, and that He is a rewarder of those who diligently seek Him.
This steep mountain that used to stand in front of us is nothing more than a single step because of Christ. This step is not just any step… It is a step of faith. If you are willing to step out on faith, faith in Jesus, you will be secure in Him. You will find freedom in Him. You will find everything you need in Him.
The question is, are you willing to take the step? Are you willing to bet it all on Jesus?
If so, He will meet you where you are, cleanse you in the power of His blood, and set your feet on a new path. He will give you purpose in life and forever change you for the cause of God.
I can tell you that all you seek can be found in Christ, but you have to have the faith to believe it. He is but a step away.
Commitment
Commitment
So stop spelling it with two E’s. Stop living under the Old Covenant and step into the New Covenant under Christ our Savior.
