WWUTT 2276 Born Under the Law (Luke 2:21-24)

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In Luke chapter two, there are some laws that are mentioned there that Jesus, even in his infancy, kept and fulfilled for our sake so that in him, we could be forgiven our sins when we understand the text.

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Many of the Bible stories and verses we think we know, we don't. When we understand the text is committed to teaching sound doctrine and rebuking those who contradict it.

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Visit our website at www .wutt .com. Here once again is Pastor Gabe.

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Thank you, Becky. In our study of the gospel of Luke, we're still in chapter two, picking up where we left off last week.

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After reading about the shepherds who came and visited the Christ child just as the angel had told them,

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I'm gonna begin reading here in verse 21 and go through verse 32. Hear the word of the

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Lord. And at the end of eight days, when he was circumcised, he was called

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Jesus, the name given by the angel before he was conceived in the womb. And when the time came for their purification, according to the law of Moses, they brought him up to Jerusalem to present him to the

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Lord. As it is written in the law of the Lord, every male who first opens the womb shall be called holy to the

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Lord and to offer a sacrifice, according to what is said in the law of the Lord, a pair of turtle doves or two young pigeons.

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Now there was a man in Jerusalem whose name was Simeon. And this man was righteous and devout, waiting for the consolation of Israel.

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And the Holy Spirit was upon him. And it had been revealed to him by the Holy Spirit that he would not see death before he had seen the

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Lord's Christ. And he came in the spirit into the temple. And when the parents brought in the child

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Jesus to do for him according to the custom of the law, he took him up in his arms and blessed

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God and said, Lord, now you are letting your servant depart in peace according to your word.

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For my eyes have seen your salvation that you have prepared in the presence of all peoples, a light for revelation to the

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Gentiles and for glory to your people Israel. Now there is more that Simeon shares with Joseph and Mary.

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And then we also read about a prophetess named Anna, but we'll wait until later in the week to read that part of the narrative.

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So the way this is gonna break up over these three devotions, today we're gonna look at how

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Christ fulfills the law even in his infancy. Joseph and Mary bringing Jesus into the temple to do according to the custom of the law.

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And we'll look at some of those things. Tomorrow we'll consider who this man Simeon was and what he said.

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And then on Wednesday, we'll get to reading about the prophetess Anna. So that's how this will break up over these three days.

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Let's come back up to verse 21. And at the end of eight days, when he was circumcised, he was called

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Jesus, the name given by the angel before he was conceived in the womb.

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Now this is of course, according to the law that on the eighth day, the male child, any male child born in Israel was to be circumcised.

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And whether he was ethnically an Israelite, or even if he was the son of a slave or of some other nationality, a sojourner in the land, he was to be circumcised.

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This was the law, the sign of the covenant that God had made with Abraham in Genesis chapter 17.

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He said, you shall be circumcised in the flesh of your foreskins, and it shall be a sign of the covenant between me and you.

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In other words, the skin on the tip of the penis was to be cut off. That was what the

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Lord had instructed for Abraham, for his sons and for all males in his household.

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In verse 14, it says, any uncircumcised male who is not circumcised in the flesh of his foreskin shall be cut off from his people.

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He has broken my covenant. So if he is in the covenant of God, then he is to bear the sign of the covenant, and that was circumcision.

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So all males were to do this. There was no circumcision for females, even though there are some countries that practice that, but it was not instructed by God.

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This is a circumcision that was only for the males. And why male anatomy?

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Why would it be there? Well, that's where the seed comes from. And so anyone who was born in Israel is born of the seed of man.

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And so therefore the covenant is made with man, with the heads of the household, and therefore anyone who was under the head of the household would likewise be in the covenant.

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If it was a woman who was not married, then it would be according to her father, according to her lineage, or in whatever household she lived, whoever was the head of that household, she would be subject to that headship.

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Yes, it was a patriarchal system. That is what God designed. It is God ordained. This is not something that was invented for the purpose of subjugating and oppressing women.

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No, not at all. This was in fact for the care of God's people.

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It was not in any way meant to be oppressive to anyone else. After all, it's the male who has to do this.

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So you can't say that it's oppressive to the fairer or the weaker sex.

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And the man was to carry the sign of that covenant in front of him. And anyone who disobeyed the law of the

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Lord, this is said in other places, not just Genesis 17, 14, but also in Deuteronomy.

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If you keep the laws of God, you will be blessed by God. But if you do not keep his laws and his statutes, and you disobey, you go your own way, you worship the false gods of the pagans and the land that God was giving to the descendants of Abraham.

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If that's what you end up doing, then God would cut them off. And it's the sign of the covenant that would remind them of that.

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And so in fulfillment of the law that had been given, even Jesus himself is to be circumcised, as was said in the law, as was still being kept in that particular day.

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That's not a requirement anymore, but it was at this particular time when Israel is still under the law.

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In order to fulfill all things that had been instructed in God's law, it was necessary for Jesus to do this also.

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Remember that when Jesus went to be baptized by John the Baptist, we read about this in Matthew chapter three, he said to John the

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Baptist, permit it now for the sake of righteousness. Remember, John was not going to baptize him.

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He said, I should be baptized by you. And yet you wanna be baptized by me?

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And that's where Jesus says to him that this needed to be done for the sake of righteousness, that Jesus would fulfill all that the father required.

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Even for us, Jesus would fulfill it, though he was without sin, and it was not necessary for him to have his sins washed away, which is what is represented by baptism.

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Nonetheless, he did this to identify with his followers who would likewise be baptized into his name.

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And just as he dies and is raised again from the dead, so likewise, we also will die, and those who believe in the

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Lord Jesus Christ will be raised again. This is the way that we have been brought in to becoming fellow heirs of everything that the father has given to the son, so likewise, we receive also.

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And that the law might be fulfilled in us. The apostle Paul talks about we fulfill the law even when we love one another, when we do what the law requires, so that that might even be accomplished through us.

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Christ fulfills every aspect of the law. Now, some of those things that were particular to Israel, those things that were particular to ceremonial laws and things like that,

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Jesus fulfilled to a degree that it's all in him and it's not anything that we have to do anymore.

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We don't have to keep the Jewish feast days. We don't have to be circumcised.

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We don't have to keep the dietary laws. Those things that Christ fulfilled in him, we are no longer under that yoke of slavery.

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This is talked about in Galatians, talked about in Acts chapter 15 and other places. In fact, speaking of Galatians, in chapter four, verse four, it is said, when the fullness of time had come,

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God sent forth his son, born of woman, born under the law.

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So Christ is under the law by the will of the father. He has subjected himself to the law, to fulfill the law on our behalf.

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And so that begins with on the eighth day, he was circumcised. Now, the number eight, of course, has some significance in Jewish numerology.

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Eight is kind of a number of new beginnings. And so after being alive for seven days, then on the eighth, as a newness sort of a thing, that is granted upon the sons of Israel, the child is to be circumcised.

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Now, this was also coupled with the purification of the mother, because if she gave birth to a male child, she was to be unclean for seven days.

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Then the child would be circumcised on the eighth day, and then she was to continue for 33 more days in the blood of her purifying.

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I'm kind of working ahead a little bit here. Let's come back to Luke two, and I'll get to that particular passage.

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So in Luke two, 21, let's come back to verse 21 again. At the end of eight days, when he was circumcised, he was called

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Jesus. That was pretty common. So at the time of his circumcision, the name would be given, and it would be written into the record of the

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Jews. Now, that doesn't mean that he didn't have that name before him. We're not gonna call him anything for the first seven days of his life.

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We must wait until he's circumcised on the eighth day, and then we can give him a name. Now, that's just the name that would therefore be added to the census record of Israel, the name given by the angel before he was conceived in the womb.

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So remember, the angel had told Mary that his name would be Jesus. We also read in Matthew chapter one that the angel told

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Joseph that his name would be Jesus. By that point, at the time that the angel said that to Joseph Jesus had already been conceived in the womb of Mary.

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But this statement here, where it says that it was the name given by the angel before he was conceived in the womb, that would have been as the angel had said it to Mary.

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So then we go on into verse 22. And when the time for the purification, according to the law of Moses, when the time came for purification, they brought him up to the temple to present him to the

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Lord. Verse 23, as it is written in the law of the Lord, every male who first opens the womb shall be called holy to the

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Lord. Now, first of all, we have a reference to Leviticus, Leviticus chapter 12, with regard to the purification according to the law of Moses.

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And then the next one, a quote in verse 23, every male who first opens the womb shall be called holy to the

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Lord. That is from Exodus. That's in Exodus chapter 13. So let's go to Leviticus 12, first of all, and here is the law regarding purification.

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So Leviticus 12, starting in verse one, the Lord spoke to Moses saying, speak to the people of Israel saying, if a woman conceives and bears a male child, then she shall be unclean seven days.

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And at the time of her menstruation, she shall be unclean. And on the eighth day, the flesh of his foreskin shall be circumcised.

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Then she shall continue for 33 days in the blood of her purifying. She shall not touch anything holy nor come into the sanctuary until the days of her purifying are completed.

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But if she bears a female child, then she shall be unclean two weeks as in her menstruation, and she shall continue in the blood of her purifying for 66 days.

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So the blood of her purifying is twice as long if she has a female child, as opposed to the blood of her purifying if she has a male child.

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Now, what is the reason for that? I was actually asked this recently by a friend of mine. He texted me and said, why?

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I don't know if he was doing a study through Leviticus or not, but he said, why is it that during the, if a woman were to have a female child, she has to go through the blood of her purifying for twice as long as with a male?

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There is a great theological answer to that question, and I have no idea what it is.

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It could be, this is my theory, and I think this is what I said to him. It could be that because a woman gives birth to a girl, to a female child, who will likewise menstruate when she gets older.

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You know, there was purification regarding menstruation, what a woman was supposed to do in the time of her menstruation.

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So because of that, a woman of menstruation giving birth to a child who will eventually become a woman of menstruation, well, then the blood of the purifying is twice as long.

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That could be the reason. And with a boy, with a male child, since, of course, he doesn't menstruate, contrary to what popular culture will say today.

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That is just insane to even say that. But of course, the male child doesn't menstruate, so therefore, the blood of her purifying after she gives birth to a male is not as long.

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It could also be the case because of the law that was given that the child, the boy would be circumcised on the eighth day.

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Because of that, then she's only unclean for seven days. As opposed to with a girl where there's not going to be a circumcision, then she's unclean for 14 days.

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Again, the specificity here, I don't really understand the reason why, but this is just what was given in the law.

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So we know that at the time that Mary and Joseph come to the temple to present him to the

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Lord and also to sacrifice, that this would have been after the 40 days of the blood of her purifying.

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So she's unclean for seven days, he's circumcised on the eighth, then she continues for 33 more days in the blood of her purifying, so 40 days total.

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So what we read about in verse 22, when the time for their purification according to the law of Moses had come, then they brought him up to Jerusalem to present him to the

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Lord. As it is written in the law of the Lord, every male who first opens the womb shall be called holy to the

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Lord. And as I mentioned, that was from Exodus chapter 13. So in Exodus 13, one and two, the

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Lord said to Moses, consecrate to me all the firstborn, whatever is the first to open the womb among the people of Israel, both of man and of beast is mine.

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Then we get to Luke 2 verse 24, and to offer a sacrifice according to what is said in the law of the

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Lord, a pair of turtle doves or of two young pigeons. We go back to Leviticus chapter 12, where it says in Leviticus 12, six, when the days of her purifying are completed, whether for a son or for a daughter, she shall bring to the priest at the entrance of the tent of meeting, a lamb, a year old for a burnt offering and a pigeon or a turtle dove for a sin offering.

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And he shall offer it before the Lord and make atonement for her. Then she shall be clean from the flow of her blood.

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This is the law for her who bears a child, either male or female. And if she cannot afford a lamb, then she shall take two turtle doves or two pigeons.

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We know that's what Joseph and Mary brought so they could not afford a lamb. They were not a well -to -do couple.

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I saw somebody online just recently say that because Joseph was a carpenter, he was actually very well off because there was only one main carpenter per town and everybody had to rely upon him.

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And the way that Joseph is defined with the definite article as the carpenter. So therefore he was the carpenter for his whole town.

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And so he must've been making the bucks. But that's not true. And in fact, the way that we read here in Luke 2 of them having to come to the temple with the poorer of the sacrifices, that's how we know that Joseph and Mary did not have, they were not well off that they could provide the lamb.

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So they took the lesser offering because that was what they could afford, two turtle doves or two young pigeons.

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One for a burnt offering and the other for a sin offering. And the priest shall make atonement for her and she shall be clean.

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Now then, this is also how we have come to know that Mary was not immaculate, meaning that she was not without sin.

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You'll hear the Roman Catholics say that. I believe the Greek Orthodox say the same also that Mary was sinless from the time of her conception.

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The doctrine of the immaculate conception is not talking about Jesus being sinless from the womb.

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It's talking about Mary being sinless from the womb. That's a doctrine that exists in Roman Catholicism.

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It's extra biblical. You will not find it in scripture. How we know that doctrine is false is because of what is said right here with the offering that they gave in the temple.

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One of those offerings was to be a sin offering, one for a burnt offering and the other for a sin offering, according to Leviticus 12 too.

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Mary would not have had to offer that if she was sinless. Now, I said that to a

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Roman Catholic once and they tried to say to me, well, it was just for her to fulfill the requirements of the law as well.

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That was why she did it. But what Jesus fulfills as the requirements of the law, none of that is ever said to be a sin offering.

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He doesn't have to fulfill anything for sin because he's sinless. She, on the other hand, is not.

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So she offers up an offering for a burnt offering and one for a sin offering that she may be purified.

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There is only one who is sinless and that is Jesus Christ. Even the way that God had given the law so that Christ would fulfill it, all of that even demonstrates that Christ is sinless.

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Now in Matthew's gospel, it's at Jesus' baptism that he says to John, permit it now for the sake of righteousness.

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We don't see that in the gospel of Luke. Later on, when we get to Jesus' baptism in Luke 3, it doesn't say that of him.

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There's not that exchange between he and John the Baptist. But Luke is presenting this here in Luke 2 to show how

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Jesus fulfilled the law for the sake of righteousness, even from his very birth.

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These things were being done so that he might fulfill the law so that all of us who are in Christ Jesus were no longer under the law, but under grace, as said in Romans 6.

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That doesn't mean that the law is no longer important. That doesn't mean that we don't have to obey God. Of course we do, but we are not going to be judged by the law because Christ has fulfilled the requirements of the law on our behalf.

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What we get to enjoy in Christ is just simply the grace of God. And all of this he accomplished for us beginning from the time when he was even an infant.

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Praise God for his glorious grace to us in Jesus Christ, our

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Lord. Whoever believes in him will not perish, but have eternal life. We'll end right there, having gone through these aspects of the law in Luke 2, verses 21 to 24.

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And what we'll be looking at next is the man Simeon. We'll come back to that in our text tomorrow.

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Heavenly Father, we thank you for what we've read today and being reminded of the requirements of the law and some of those rules that we would have had to keep on keeping if it wasn't for Christ who fulfilled those things for us.

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We could not be saved by the law anyway. We could not even be saved by any sacrifices, as said in the book of Hebrews.

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The blood of bulls and goats were not enough to wash away our sins. It could only be accomplished by the precious blood of Jesus, which he shed on our behalf when he died on the cross for our sins.

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So that whoever believes in him, our sins are forgiven. We are clothed in his righteousness.

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We have the promise of the resurrection of the grave and life forevermore with God in glory.

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And so Lord, teach us to walk in your righteousness today and looking to Jesus, the author and the perfecter of our faith, looking toward that day when we will be with our

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King forever in his glorious kingdom. It's in Jesus' name we pray, amen. You've been listening to When We Understand the

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Text with Gabriel Hughes. Pastor Gabe is the author of 25 Christmas Myths and What the Bible Says, examining some of our most common

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Christmas beliefs and traditions and bringing them back to the truth of scripture. You can find this and other books at our website, www .tt