Grace and Law II: 3 Responses to Our Portion

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Welcome to the Whole Council Podcast, I'm Jon Snyder, and we are in the second of the episodes in a new series on the law and the gospel, or how does the law relate to the gospel in the life of a

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New Covenant believer? Is it fundamentally different than the Old Covenant? If it is, how is it different?

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How are we to understand all of those statements that Paul makes about salvation being the free gift of God through the obedience, the law -keeping of Jesus of Nazareth, and that is freely given through his work and received by faith, justification in Christ by faith, not by the works of the law.

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And there's many places where Paul seems to put the law in a pretty bleak light, almost as if the law is an enemy, or at least it is an outdated friend that has no place in the life of the

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Christian. Well, a quick reading of many of those texts certainly leaves that impression, but is that an accurate picture of what the

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New Testament teaches? Is it an accurate picture of what the Old Testament taught us to expect in the coming of Christ?

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It prepared us for that, and I think that that is not an accurate picture. And we will be looking at the wonderful role that the law plays, if we can say it this way, handed to us, not from Moses under the

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Old Economy and the Old Covenant, but in the New Covenant, handed to us, satisfied through the mediatorial work of Christ, sent to me now from my

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King and Savior. How do I think of the law, and how do

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I understand that in light of grace? And we're going to be looking at that, and Steve Crampton will be joining me, and we will be hitting some of the really good, you know, high points of a book called

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The Law and the Gospel by Ernie Reisinger, a contemporary. He's passed away some years back,

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I believe, but he is a modern author who is a Reformed Southern Baptist man, and worked with the

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Banner of Truth on their board of directors, so, or as a trustee, and so it's a really helpful book, and you can see information about where you can find that from Founders Ministries in the show notes.

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Well, last week we talked about, primarily, before we get to the book, it is a significant help in approaching a topic where there is some confusion among genuine believers, to instead of jumping in by listening to our favorite podcast, or reading our favorite old writers, or modern writers,

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I find it to be infinitely more beneficial to ask myself, do

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I have the right approach to the doctrine? Am I walking up to this great mountain of truth from the right angle?

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Because how I approach this will significantly affect how I view it, and if I can get the approach correct, if I can get my perspective, you know, my attitude toward this great doctrine, if I can get it right before I really delve into the specific questions,

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I find that about 90 % of my work is done for me. Well, you know, the problem is, where do

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I get the right perspective? And you hear a lot of different voices, and I think, of course, that you would agree with me, and so would all

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Christians, that the right perspective would be gained from Scripture itself. The problem is that saying that isn't enough.

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We need to go to the Bible and get the right perspective. I have started us looking at a passage in Psalm 119, that longest chapter in the

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Bible, which is all about the believer, the commands of God, the Word of God, and the believer responding to God through those words, and it is a chapter that is immensely beneficial because it shows the balance of grace and God's commands, or law, or His rule,

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His testimonies, His statutes and principles, and then the interplay between dependence and dedication is just so balanced.

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The passage we started to look at last week to help set our focus correct, to get us the right angle on this doctrine of law and gospel, is found in Psalm 119, verse 57 through 60.

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Let me read it again. The Lord is my portion. I have promised to keep Your words.

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I sought Your favor with all my heart. Be gracious to me according to Your word.

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I considered my ways and turned my feet to Your testimonies. I hastened and did not delay to keep

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Your commandments. Wonderful, short chunk of the Bible, but I think just perfectly balanced.

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It has a number of elements in it that I believe if we can hold together, we can have the right approach to the doctrine and to the study of the doctrine of God's word.

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So last week we looked at the opening statement. Here's a fact, gracious and astonishing, but it's a fact.

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Because of the work of God, every believer can say that God Himself has pledged in the covenant to be my portion, to be my supply, to be my food, to be my life in this life.

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That's true of every Christian. Now what follows then are three great responses, and that's where the

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Christian's response to God's law is so wonderfully seen. Let's be very clear about this.

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The reality seen, believed, and in some measure, again today, tasted, experienced, grabbed hold of, lived upon, the reality that God is your portion in Christ is the fuel for the three great responses.

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It cannot be any other way. If you think that these responses are in some way an attempt to pay

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God back, and so that you know, here's a gift from God, God will be my portion, and so we say, well thank you for that over there, and I really do appreciate it, let me go over here, and I'm going to work really hard for the rest of my life, and I'm going to try to go ahead and pay you back for that, then you completely misunderstand the gospel.

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God has given himself to us. God has brought us to himself through the finished work of his son, the perfect obedience, the sacrificial and substitutionary death, the mediatorial work of Christ, everything he did, being done as what the old writers called a public person, as a representative, so that every person who turns their back on the lie of sin, on the false hope of my own righteousness, my best religion, throws it in the dust, and runs to Christ, and grabs hold of Christ for life.

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Every person that does that finds that that great transaction, conversion or the new birth, in that transaction,

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God has become theirs, and they have become his, and what then happens is that the sheer magnitude of God's kindness, the indescribable depths and heights and length and breadth of the love of God, the shocking nature, the amazing nature of grace, rolls over our lives, and when we finally are helped by God to believe the gospel, and to taste his kindness, then what flows from that is love and gratitude, and the scripture could not be clearer that it is the love of God to us that makes us love him.

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The love of God to us, Paul said, constrains him, it constrains us, it holds us to a path of obedience, it makes me want to, or as the

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Old Testament said, the law will be written on the new heart, a soft heart, a receptive heart, in other words, the law for the

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Christian is not an exoskeleton suit, it is not a straitjacket that holds my limbs where they're supposed to be, so I don't, like a little child,

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I don't reach out and touch things that God says, quit touching, but rather, from within, the law written on the inside,

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I desire to obey God, and so the restraint which is there by the law, fundamentally, is a restraint that comes from love,

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I love my king, I want to do what would please the one

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I love, I am grateful, Christ said, that those who are given much, love much, gratitude, those who feel that they've only been forgiven a little, love very little, and that shows up in the way they live.

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In John chapter 14, we read that Christ gives a basic principle to his disciples that is important when we come to this issue of obedience, and then we find that he gives himself as an example.

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In John 14, verse 15, we read, if you love me, you will keep my commandments, so there's the great principle.

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Love makes a person want to do what pleases the one they love.

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Then the example is found toward the end of that chapter, in verse 31, where Christ is teaching in the upper room, and then he's going to go out to the

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Mount of Olives and Garden of Gethsemane, and as he's heading out, this is the night when he's going to be crucified, and he's having, in John chapters 13, 14, 15, 16, and 17, we have that wonderful sanctuary, that holy place where Christ meets just with his disciples, and he says so much that's necessary.

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But at the end of chapter 14, listen to how Christ exemplifies what he stated.

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If you love me, you will keep my commandments. That's the rule. But what about Christ? We see that in Christ. He writes this, so that the world may know that I love the

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Father, I do exactly as the Father commanded me. Get up, let us go from here.

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What we find there is the principle stated and then exampled. Love makes a man want to obey.

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Christ says that the world may know, once and for all, I love my

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Father. I will do exactly what he tells me to do.

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It's the same principle. It's the God -man perfectly following that principle, where the

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Christian imperfectly follows, but that's the path for us. And what Christ is talking about, of course, is the cross.

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Yes, the cross was a payment for his people's sins, to remove the shame and the guilt and the anger of the law.

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But greater, bigger, beneath, deeper than all that is the timeless, eternal delight the

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Son has in the Father. And it is a delight that constantly shows itself by preferring the pleasure of the

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Father. Whatever the Father wants is my delight, if we might put it in those very human terms.

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And we see this, of course, in John chapter 14. Now, where do we see it for us?

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Well, we see it here in Psalm 119. The Lord is my portion. There's what grips us.

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Love to the King that gave me himself. Gratitude. And the first response, I have promised to keep your words.

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It isn't just that I want to obey so I can be the right kind of person, have the right kind of marriage, have the right kind of children, be in the right kind of church, or as a pastor, lead the right kind of church.

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It is I have been given an infinitely good portion. And the response of my heart is this,

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I promise, I will keep your word. Now, if you think that's an old covenant concept and not a

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New Testament concept, then I think that we've misunderstood. Do we not find in the words of Jesus Christ and all through the epistles that explain what we see in the

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Gospels, do we not find there to be a continual restatement that in coming to Christ, we die?

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We die to our own rights. We die to the old way of living for me as the

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King and, you know, the old me, me, what's in it for me, to quote a modern author, that's the self -life.

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We die to that because we see in Him someone infinitely superior to us and infinitely kind, and we have been conquered by the goodness or the kindness of God.

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And having tasted that, we would rather live for Him than us. So, we say to Him, when

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He says, follow me, we say, I will follow you, or to put it in the words of Psalm 119,

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I have promised, I will keep your word, I will follow your path, I will obey.

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And that's where the law comes in. The law to the

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Christian is the specificity of the path of Christ. I want to know how to express love to my

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King, or I want to live as near to my King in sweet friendship as humanly possible to do.

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And for that, we have a path. Now, this is not describing how you become a

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Christian, how God becomes your portion. This is describing what results from God becoming my portion.

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And that is, I now delight to set my feet on a path of obedience.

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I have determined to keep His word. Do you not find that in every area of life where we love someone, that we are happy to do things, even if they're sacrificial, even if they require a lot of planning and work, we're happy to do things that please the loved one?

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Not long ago, in fact, just last week as I'm speaking, my wife and I were able to go away for our 30th wedding anniversary.

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Well, I had been planning that for some time, and I had to pay a lot of money, and there were a lot of sacrifices, and we have a lot of people in our lives, and we had to think about how they would be taken care of.

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And so there was a lot of intricacies, and a lot of time, and thought, and money into planning a really nice trip where I could just do something that she would like.

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So instead of thinking of what's my favorite place on the planet, we joke back and forth.

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My wife likes warm places, I like cold places. I want to go to Switzerland and go live on top of a snow -capped mountain.

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She wants to go down to a beach and enjoy just listening to the ocean roll in.

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So I plan something warm. Love naturally delights, finds happiness in working toward pleasing the loved one.

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So when the Christian sees the law, not as a ladder to climb or a burden to carry or some debt to pay off, but as a friend, because the law comes alongside me in Christ to show me now that I am justified or right with God's law because of Christ.

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Now the law says, I want to show you the path where you will meet Him, enjoy

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His nearness, where you can express your love to Him. And we're happy to do that.

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Do you ever say to a loved one, you know, I would like to do something, a birthday. And the person, you know, as an adult, because kids never say this, the adult says, no, look, really, you don't have to do anything.

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And you say, well, I know I don't have to do anything, but I want to do something. So I want to do something you would enjoy.

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You know, I want to take you out to eat or give you a gift certificate, you know. But what do you like?

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I don't want to get you something that you don't like. I'm not just doing this so I can feel good about myself. I did something.

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I'm doing this to please a person. If religion is still you doing something so that you can feel that you did what you're supposed to do, and you appear to be what you hope to be, and that is a good religious person, then you have totally missed it.

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But if your religion, if your prayers in Bible studies, and you're talking to the neighbor about Christ, and you're singing out in the service and worshiping, if it's because I want to do what pleases

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Him, if your obedience in secret, if how you deal with your thought life, if how you give when no one's looking, or what you watch on television when no one's awake, what you do behind closed doors, as well as what you do in public, if it is guided by God's Word, because I want to know what pleases

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Him, because I want to do what pleases Him for love, that's Christianity. And that's the right approach to the law.

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But that's not all that the writer says. If that's your response, then you have a second response, and the second response is found in the next verse.

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I sought your favor with all my heart. Be gracious to me according to your word. That must be there.

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That cannot be an optional prayer. If I've been saved by grace, and God has become my portion,

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I want to obey my King. But I still live with the trappings of the old nature kind of clinging to me.

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I have a lot of those old habits still. Wrong ways of thinking, wrong ways of desiring, wrong ways of responding.

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And I need God to continue daily to give me His favor, that I might live out the

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Christian life without His continual favor, without coming to Him frequently, without cultivating the habit of depending upon God moment by moment.

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You will never obey His Son. You'll never follow Christ. It's just a pipe dream.

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It's just talk that only works in a church building. How are we to deny ourselves to trust

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God, to risk everything, to risk friendships, money, to risk what we think we need to be happy and obey, if it is not by the constant giving of favor from our

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King? What does he mean here? Well, I think the New Testament word clearly would be grace. God, give me all that you promised to give me because of the work of Christ, because your name is on my life.

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And give it to me, He says, according to your word. So the Bible guides my expectations.

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The Bible guides my pleading. You are my portion. I have promised to follow you, my

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Savior. Now, help. How? Well, I mean, just think of all the ways that the

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New Testament talks about. You know, Philippians chapter 2, I need you to work within me both to desire and to do your goodwill.

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Or in 1 John chapter 1, I need you to wash me again today like Christ washed

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Peter's feet. I don't need to be born again, again, but I need the application of the cross to my own conscience.

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I need to know that as God sees my failures and my driftings, even as His child, that there is constant supply of favor.

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There is constant restoration. I need Him to guide me, to protect me, to satisfy my soul so the world and sin and self have very little opportunity to tempt.

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I need Him to comfort me, but comfort me in a way that the Bible describes strengthens me.

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I need Him to continue to work in me until the very end when I see

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Christ face to face and the transformation is complete and I bear the image of my

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Savior. Morally, I am perfected. You have a right to ask for all of these, and you must ask for all of these.

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If He's your portion, and because He's your portion, you have promised to follow, to obey

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His voice, then you will need to pray, God, give me your favor according to your word.

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Now that leads me to the last response, and I'm going to put two verses together, 59 and 60.

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I considered my ways and turned my feet to your testimonies. I hastened and did not delay to keep your commandments.

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Here is the wonderful heart of the believer in the law, seeing

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God as my portion. I am amazed and grateful, and I love

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Him. And even with my childlike weak love, I come to Him and I say,

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God, I have promised to follow your Son, to obey His voice, to obey

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His word, to walk on that path of His law. And that means

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I'm going to need you to give me your favor, your help, as you promised specifically in the scriptures, and I'm going to need that each moment of the day.

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And then what? Christianity does not stop there. Do not let yourself stop with good intentions and prayer for help.

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But look what follows. I consider my ways, the psalmist says, I look at my path, where my feet are going,

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I carefully look, and I do not delay, I hasten,

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I run to set my feet on a path of obedience.

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I hasten to do your commandments. The picture is so simple. Grateful love for all that God is, determination to follow

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Him, to keep His words, pleading for moment -by -moment favor, help from my

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God. And as I depend upon God, I look at my feet and I say, they're off the course.

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They need to get back. I need to obey right now the word of my

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King for love of my King by the help or favor of my King.

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It's my job to do this, and love wants to do this. And so I immediately put my feet back on.

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I rush to apply the scripture. Good time to stop and give ourselves some tests.

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Do you stop with the good intentions in the prayer? You're my portion.

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I promise to follow you. I need your help, God. I'm saved by grace. True. Now what?

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Well, that's kind of the end of it. That's not Christianity. Christianity then takes the next step.

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The good intentions are made into action. And we say,

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God, for love of you, by your help, in order to follow you,

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I'm going to have to look at my feet, the little choices I'm making today, and I am going to hasten, to rush, to apply what you taught me.

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So you're having a quiet time. You're reading through a passage. You look at these verses in Psalm 119, and then perhaps you're reading through Romans or Ephesians.

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And so you look at this, and then you read that other passage, and Psalm 119 becomes the doorway through which you walk into that passage.

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And it's so helpful, because then you say, oh, God, my portion, my help, my determination to obey you,

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I want to look at my feet. And here in Romans, you mention this, or in Ephesians, and I want to hasten to do what you say, to make sure my feet are actually making steps that are in harmony with your law.

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One of the dangers, of course, is to end with good intentions, or another one is just to delay.

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So the psalmist saying, I hasten, is a big help. So genuine conviction from God ought to produce a very careful look at our feet.

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What path am I walking? The word of God or kind of a sentimental, cultural idea of the

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Christian life, pleasing him or pleasing the people around me. And then when

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I see my feet are not obeying, when they don't match the scripture I'm reading right now,

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I hasten, I run. I don't delay obedience, whatever the cost.

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I say to God, help me, and I will run back to the biblical path. So many helpful things there.

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Let me just give you two quotes from Bridges, and then we'll be finished. He says this, a man may maintain a fruitless struggle to return to God for many years.

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He describes him as sincere and earnest. But, he says, the simple act of faith in the power and love of Jesus will at once bring him back.

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In other words, you can struggle with personal sin your whole life, hate the sin, grieve over the sin, go to God, but if you don't grab hold of God being your portion, you have very little fuel for obedience.

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But taste again, Christian, or taste for the first time, unbeliever, taste the kindness of God reaching you in Christ.

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Let it roll over your soul that God is your portion, and you're seeing him through the work of redemption, and you will so quickly find yourself walking again, happily, a path of obedience.

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Bridges goes on to say this, he says, guard the resolutions with unceasing watchfulness, nourish them with believing prayer, exercise them in practical godliness.

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Very good, isn't it? As God stirs the heart with his love, you remember your vow to follow his son, so you take seriously his word, his law, you look at your feet, they're off the path of commands, you study your

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Bibles, you see where the path is, you're not just imagining, you hasten to come back, as God is stirring your heart, guard those resolutions, nourish them with real prayer, talk to God about them, and apply them with daily obedience.

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It is the path of the believer, and I believe in these four verses, we have just one of the most helpful descriptions of the right perspective of law, and grace, and the

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Christian. Next week, Steve will be joining us, and we'll start our look at the specifics of the law and the gospel in the