Dove Creek Bible Church's Podcast

Guest Speaker Superintendent of the EFCA West

The Son's humanity did not make Him inferior and, in fact, His humanity was necessary in order to fulfill His destiny.

There are five warnings in the book of Hebrews. This first warning is related to drifting or slipping past the safe harbor of God’s Word. The author now paused in his exposition to address the readers with his first warning.

Drawing heavily on the witness of Old Testament revelation, the author of Hebrews demonstrated the uniqueness of the Son. He insists the Son is greater in title and worshiped because of His greater title and nature. The Son also has a superior existence and destiny.

The superiority of Jesus is made clear by a quick presentation of five great truths about Him.

The author of Hebrews begins with his central thesis of that was then (Old Covenant), this is now (New Covenant). In introducing the New Covenant, the author of Hebrews wishes to make it clear that the New Covenant is not a renewed Old Covenant.

Here at the end of this great epistle Paul sums up what he has been saying with reference to the errors of legalism and the enlightenment of grace. What counts now is the new creation responding to grace by the empowerment of the Holy Spirit.

Gal 6:6-10 concerns the principle of sowing and reaping. What does where I sow reveal about my priorities? Why must I reap what I sow? These and other questions are addressed in this text.

In this text Paul gives us some counsel with reference to those caught up in sin. and the proper role of church discipline.

When the flesh is in charge it is obvious. The production of the flesh includes the sins listed here but this list is by no means exhaustive.It is also obvious when the Spirit is in charge for when the Spirit is in charge we will bear the fruit of the Spirit. Is each grace mentioned a separate fruit or are all nine graces part of the one fruit of the Spirit?

If I am a new creation in Christ then why do I still sin? Is my old sin nature fighting with my new creation nature? Do my old self and new self co-exist? Or is something else going on? Is there some other explanation? Today's text explains why you still struggle with sin.

In Galatians 5:13-15, Paul addresses those who might misunderstand and misuse their freedom in Christ under grace as an excuse to indulge the self. He asserts that the freedom we have been granted is not a freedom to serve self, but to serve others. From there we learn love is at the heart of Christian ethics not law, but when we do not love we will bite and devour one another.

The introduction to chapter 5 is a summary of chapter 4. Paul declared that Christ was the great emancipator who set believers free from bondage to the slave market. Note that Christ did not just set us free…He set us free for freedom! Therefore, the stated purpose of Christ’s redemptive work was to free us from the futile slavery of religious self-improvement.

This text seems like an allegorical interpretation…or is it? And if it is, then is Paul saying that allegory a good way to approach biblical interpretation? Or is he merely arguing with the Judaizers on their terms since they preferred allegorical interpretation? Is Paul using their weapon against them so to speak so he can defeat them on their own terms and if so, what is his point?

Have you ever noticed that often the people who are most passionately against something are people who used to be participants in that very thing? For example, an ex-smoker who is vehemently against smoking or person who used to be a member of some organization who is now as passionately against that organization as they were at one time for it? Paul as an ex-legalist finds it perplexing that anyone exposed to grace would have any interest in returning to being enslaved by the law. Today he switches his appeal to them from a rational one to an emotional one. If he can’t connect with their minds maybe he can connect to their hearts.

Thus far in our study of Galatians Paul has said that returning to the law was like a free man deciding he would return to prison and like a man insisting he be treated as a boy. Today Paul seeks to illustrate and apply this truth in yet another way by turning to a well-known practice in the ancient world, that of an heir coming of age, so as to enjoy all that he has legally possessed, but which has been beyond his personal control.

Psalm 5

Psalm 4