Sunday, May 7, 2017

Weekly Bible Study – May 8, 2017


The Dispensation Of The Mosaic Law – (Featuring Moses)


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Scripture References, Word & Phrase descriptions: the “Logos Reftagger” scripture links are hover pop-up active, meaning the scripture reference will just pop-up if you hover your cursor over it (don’t click on the link, just hover your cursor over it), when finished reading, hover your cursor off the scripture reference link. If the Reftagger pop-up doesn’t show all the verses, left click on the “More” button in the Reftagger pop-up window and it will take you to the online bible. If RefTagger pop-ups don’t work on your computer, that’s OK, try left clicking the link if it’s highlighted which should open a window with all the verses at the Biblia.com website; or if that doesn’t work, you can always use your Bible to look up the verses. Word or Phrase definition links may not have a website that opens. If you are running PCMatic, the pop-ups may not work; if that’s the case, email PC Matic Support to see if they can fix that problem for you.

Prepare yourself for learning the Word of God!

Before we begin, if you are a believer in the Lord Jesus Christ (that is; you have believed [trusted] in Him for His promised gift of eternal life), it is important to prepare yourself to learn God's Word so take a moment to name, cite or acknowledge (confess) your sins privately to God (i.e.; with your thoughts directed only to God the Father).

1 John 1:9 says: "If we confess our sins, He (God) is faithful and just to forgive us our sins (known sins) and to cleanse us from all unrighteousness [unknown or forgotten sins]." NKJV (New King James Version) [italics added]; we call this REBOUND, read the full doctrine as to “why” we need to use 1 John 1:9 to grow spiritually. REBOUND

If you have never personally believed in the Lord Jesus Christ as your Savior (that is, believed in Him for eternal life), the issue for you is not to name your sins; the issue for you is to have faith alone in Jesus Christ alone for eternal life: John 3:16, 5:24, 6:47, 20:30, 31.

John 6:47 says: "Most assuredly, I say to you, he who believes in Me (Jesus Christ) has everlasting life." NKJV [italics added]

Notice again what Jesus said in John 6:47: "…he who believes in Me (Jesus Christ) has everlasting life." It doesn't say, "will have"; it says, "has." Therefore, the very moment you believe in Jesus Christ for His promise of everlasting life, you have it (it's really just that simple; nothing more and nothing less), and it can never be taken away from you (John 10:28-29). Furthermore, the gift (Ephesians 2:8c) of everlasting life (also called eternal life in scripture) is available to every human being; there are absolutely no exceptions.

John 3:14-15, 16, 17, 18, says: "14 And as Moses lifted up the serpent in the wilderness, even so must the Son of Man be lifted up, 15 that whoever believes in Him should not perish but have eternal life. 16 For God so loved the world that He gave His only begotten Son, that whoever believes in Him should not perish but have everlasting life. 17 For God did not send His Son into the world to condemn the world, but that the world through Him might be saved. 18 He who believes in Him is not condemned; but he who does not believe is condemned already, because he has not believed in the name of the only begotten Son of God." NKJV

Let us now bow our hearts and take a moment to prepare for worship and learning God's Word. If there is any known sin in your life, this is the time to just cite it privately to God the Father with your thoughts directed towards Him. With your head bowed and your eyes closed, you have total privacy in your mind and soul:


Study to show yourself approved to God!

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Grace Bible Church
Robert McLaughlin Bible Ministries



The Tree of Life is a weekly teaching summary:
God’s Word is taught Wednesday, Friday, and Sunday


STUDY TITLE:

The Dispensation Of The Mosaic Law – (Featuring Moses)


John 1:14-17, And the Word became flesh, and dwelt among us, and we beheld His glory, glory as of the only begotten from the Father, full of grace and truth. John bore witness of Him, and cried out, saying, “This was He of whom I said, ‘He who comes after me has a higher rank than I, for He existed before me. For of His fulness we have all received, and grace upon grace. For the Law was given through Moses; grace and truth were realized through Jesus Christ.”

Notice that the Law was given through Moses whom we saw a brief profile of this past week. For example, Moses was one of the greatest born-again genius’ of the O.T., he was handsome in face and body, he was an extremely powerful man, a genius in the field of music, writing, engineering, a military genius, an administrative genius, and he was a Jew.

We will study many of the passages where Moses was used during the Dispensation of the Law. Eventually he led the Jews to freedom from slavery and that is when the Exodus began, a marvelous story of one of the greatest man who ever lived and the beginning of God’s first chosen people.

In fact, an entire book was dedicated to this great event called the book of Exodus. The patience of that man, the courage, the mental attitude, the marvelous spiritual life and the humility of that man is fantastic, which is why Num 12:3 calls him the most humble man in all the earth.

In fact, as we noted this past week, one verse in his eulogy which describes Moses when it says, Num 12:3, Now the man Moses was very humble, more than any man who was on the face of the earth.

At one time everyone turned against him, including his sister Miriam, and those other loser believers and unbelievers who were in emotional revolt.

The Mosaic Law was given to Israel as the first client nation to God in 1440 B.C. according to Exo 19:13; Lev 26:46; Rom 3:19, 9:4.

Exo 19:1, In the third month after the sons of Israel had gone out of the land of Egypt [that was their exodus or their mass departure from the place of slavery], on that very day they came into the wilderness of Sinai.

By the way, when it says that Israel had gone out of the land of Egypt, under the principle of typology it refers to the believer getting away from Egypt, a type of the cosmic system.

Exo 19:2-6, When they set out from Rephidim, they came to the wilderness of Sinai, and camped in the wilderness; and there Israel camped in front of the mountain. And Moses went up to God, and the Lord called to him from the mountain, saying, “Thus you shall say to the house of Jacob and tell the sons of Israel: ‘You yourselves have seen what I did to the Egyptians, and how I bore you on eagles’ wings, and brought you to Myself. ‘Now then, if you will indeed obey My voice and keep My covenant, then you shall be My own possession among all the peoples, for all the earth is Mine; and you shall be to Me a kingdom of priests and a holy nation. ‘These are the words that you shall speak to the sons of Israel.”

Notice it says that what Moses says should be said to the Jews only, or to the house of Jacob and the sons of Israel: And then as Moses goes on in the passage, he communicates to them, principles from what we call today is the Law or the Mosaic Law, if you will.

If you look at the book of Leviticus where the Mosaic Law is given and warns God’s people of the different cycles of discipline, you will see once again that the Mosaic Law was originally given to the Jewish people only.

For example, in Lev 26:1-13, “You shall not make for yourselves idols, nor shall you set up for yourselves an image or a sacred pillar, nor shall you place a figured stone in your land to bow down to it; for I am the Lord your God. You shall keep My sabbaths and reverence My sanctuary; I am the Lord or I am Jehovah.

If you walk in My statutes and keep My commandments so as to carry them out, then I shall give you rains in their season, so that the land will yield its produce and the trees of the field will bear their fruit. Indeed, your threshing will last for you until grape gathering, and grape gathering will last until sowing time.

You will thus eat your food to the full and live securely in your land. I shall also grant peace in the land, so that you may lie down with no one making you tremble. I shall also eliminate harmful beasts from the land, and no sword will pass through your land.

But you will chase your enemies, and they will fall before you by the sword; five of you will chase a hundred, and a hundred of you will chase ten thousand, and your enemies will fall before you by the sword. So, I will turn toward you and make you fruitful and multiply you, and I will confirm My covenant with you. And you will eat the old supply and clear out the old because of the new.

Moreover, I will make My dwelling among you, and My soul will not reject you. I will also walk among you and be your God, and you shall be My people. I am the Lord your God, who brought you out of the land of Egypt so that you should not be their slaves, and I broke the bars of your yoke and made you walk erect.

God promises blessings on the new people of God, or in context, the nation of God. And then, please notice if His people whom He has chosen do not do what they have been appointed to do, then all the negative consequences result; Lev 26:14-43.

The point is that the Mosaic law was never given to gentiles but only to the Jews. And, there is good news to these Jews as stated in Lev 26:44-46, “Yet in spite of this, when they are in the land of their enemies, I will not reject them, nor will I so abhor them as to destroy them, breaking My covenant with them; for I am the Lord their God. But I will remember for them the covenant with their ancestors, whom I brought out of the land of Egypt in the sight of the nations, that I might be their God. I am the Lord.” These are the statutes and ordinances and laws which the Lord established between Himself and the sons of Israel through Moses at Mount Sinai.

Now, another passage that is extremely important for us as God’s people concerning the fact that we are not under the Law is found in Rom 3 beginning with verse 19.

Rom 3:19, Now we know that whatever the law says, it speaks to those who are under the law [that would be the Jews not the gentiles], that every mouth may be closed, and all the world may become accountable to God;

Also, another passage we already studied in Rom 9.

The apostle Paul writes in Rom 9:1-3, I am telling the truth in Christ, I am not lying, my conscience bearing me witness in the Holy Spirit, that I have great sorrow and unceasing grief in my heart.

For I could wish that I myself were accursed, separated from Christ for the sake of my brethren, my kinsmen according to the flesh, who are Israelites, to whom belongs the adoption as sons and the glory and the covenants and [then what also belongs to the Israelites?] the giving of the Law and the temple service and the promises,

So, let me give some Scriptural references to why the Mosaic is not for us and that the law was never given to gentiles, Deut 4:8; Rom 2:12, 14; 1Pe 3:15.
Look at Deut 4:1-8, “And now, O Israel, listen to the statutes and the judgments which I am teaching you to perform, in order that you may live and go in and take possession of the land which the Lord, the God of your fathers, is giving you.

You shall not add to the word which I am commanding you, nor take away from it, that you may keep the commandments of the Lord your God which I command you.

Your eyes have seen what the Lord has done in the case of Baal of Peor (Num 25:1-18), for all the men who followed Baal of Peor, the Lord your God has destroyed them from among you. But you who held fast to the Lord your God are alive today, every one of you.

See, I have taught you statutes and judgments just as the Lord my God commanded me, that you should do thus in the land where you are entering to possess it. So, keep and do them, for that is your wisdom and your understanding in the sight of the peoples who will hear all these statutes and say, ‘Surely this great nation is a wise and understanding people.

For what great nation is there that has a god so near to it as is the Lord our God whenever we call on Him? Or what great nation is there that has statutes and judgments as righteous as this whole law which I am setting before you today?’”

Rom 2:12-14, for all who have sinned without the law will also perish without the law; and all who have sinned under the law will be judged by the law; For not the hearers of the law are just before God, but the doers of the law will be justified. For when gentiles who do not have the law do instinctively the things of the law, these, not having the law, are a law to themselves,

The Mosaic Law was never given to the church, Acts 15:5, 24; Rom 6:14; Gal 2:19.

Rom 6:14, For sin shall not be master over you, for you are not under law, but under grace.

Gal 2:19, “For through the Law I died to the Law, that I might live to God.
Now, the question arises is that if we are not under the Mosaic Law then what Law does God expect us to follow? This is the fallacy of what is known as covenant theology. We have a higher code in the royal family honor code. The Church has no animal sacrifices, no Saturday worship, no specialized priesthood, etc.

What Law are we under?

Gal 5:13, For you were called to freedom, brethren; only do not turn your freedom into an opportunity for the flesh, but through love serve one another. For the whole Law is fulfilled in one word, in the statement, “You shall love your neighbor as yourself.”

We are under a law, it is called the law of love or the royal law of love. In James 2:8, we are told about the Law we are under; If, however, you are fulfilling the royal law, according to the Scripture, “You shall love your neighbor as yourself,” you are doing well.
Notice we are under the Royal Law of love.

1Co 13:1-13, If I speak with the tongues of men and of angels, but do not have love, I have become a noisy gong or a clanging cymbal. And if I have the gift of prophecy, and know all mysteries and all knowledge; and if I have all faith, so as to remove mountains, but do not have love, I am nothing.

And if I give all my possessions to feed the poor, and if I deliver my body to be burned, but do not have love, it profits me nothing. Love is patient, love is kind, and is not jealous; love does not brag and is not arrogant, does not act unbecomingly; it does not seek its own, is not provoked, does not take into account a wrong suffered, does not rejoice in unrighteousness, but rejoices with the truth; bears all things, believes all things, hopes all things, endures all things. Love never fails; but if there are gifts of prophecy, they will be done away; if there are tongues, they will cease; if there is knowledge, it will be done away.

For we know in part, and we prophesy in part; but when the perfect comes, the partial will be done away. When I was a child, I used to speak as a child, think as a child, reason as a child; when I became a man, I did away with childish things. For now we see in a mirror dimly, but then face to face; now I know in part, but then I shall know fully just as I also have been fully known. But now abide faith, hope, love, these three; but the greatest of these is love.

So, we will close with what we tried to close with on Friday evening which is Why the believer is not under the Law? We already covered the first six points of the seventeen points as to why the believer is not under the Law?

1. A believer under the law makes Christ a minister of sin, Gal 2:17, “But if, while seeking to be justified in Christ, we ourselves have also been found sinners, is Christ then a minister of sin? May it never be! The law and faith in Christ are antithetical. Why isn’t the believer under the Law?

2. The believer has died to the Law, Gal 2:19.

3. A believer has received all the benefits of the Spirit through faith, Gal 3:1-5 not through the Law.

4. The law brings nothing but condemnation, Gal 3:10-14.

5. God’s promised blessings to Abraham came before the giving of the law, therefore, the law cannot be a prior claim, Gal 3:15-17.

6. The law has no power to give life or to sustain life, Gal 3:21.

7. The law is intended only for the immature, while positionally, believers are full-grown sons, Gal 3:23-4:7.

Gal 3:23-24:9, But before faith came, we were kept in custody under the law, being shut up to the faith which was later to be revealed. Therefore, the Law has become our tutor to lead us to Christ, that we may be justified by faith. But now that faith has come, we are no longer under a tutor. For you are all sons of God through faith in Christ Jesus. For all of you who were baptized into Christ have clothed yourselves with Christ. There is neither Jew nor Greek, there is neither slave nor free man, there is neither male nor female; for you are all one in Christ Jesus. And if you belong to Christ, then you are Abraham’s offspring, heirs according to promise. Now I say, as long as the heir is a child, he does not differ at all from a slave although he is owner of everything, but he is under guardians and managers until the date set by the father. So also, we, while we were children, were held in bondage under the elemental things of the world. But when the fulness of the time came, God sent forth His Son, born of a woman, born under the Law, in order that He might redeem those who were under the Law, that we might receive the adoption as sons. And because you are sons, God has sent forth the Spirit of His Son into our hearts, crying, “Abba! Father!” Therefore, you are no longer a slave, but a son; and if a son, then an heir through God.

8. The law is a bondage to the believer, Gal 4:9.

Gal 4:9, But now that you have come to know God, or rather to be known by God, how is it that you turn back again to the weak and worthless elemental things, to which you desire to be enslaved all over again?

9. Law and grace are mutually exclusive principles; therefore, choose one or the other, Gal 4:21-31.

Gal 4:21-31, Tell me, you who want to be under law, do you not listen to the law? For it is written that Abraham had two sons, one by the bondwoman and one by the free woman. But the son by the bondwoman was born according to the flesh, and the son by the free woman through the promise. This is allegorically speaking: for these women are two covenants, one proceeding from Mount Sinai bearing children who are to be slaves; she is Hagar. Now this Hagar is Mount Sinai in Arabia, and corresponds to the present Jerusalem, for she is in slavery with her children. But the Jerusalem above is free; she is our mother. For it is written, “Rejoice, barren woman who does not bear; Break forth and shout, you who are not in labor; For more are the children of the desolate Than of the one who has a husband.” And you brethren, like Isaac, are children of promise. But as at that time he who was born according to the flesh persecuted him who was born according to the Spirit, so it is now also. But what does the Scripture say? “Cast out the bondwoman and her son, For the son of the bondwoman shall not be an heir with the son of the free woman.” So then, brethren, we are not children of a bondwoman, but of the free woman.

10. The believer has an abiding freedom in Christ, Gal 5:1, It was for freedom that Christ set us free; therefore keep standing firm and do not be subject again to a yoke of slavery.

11. The believer must keep all the law, if he would attempt to keep even part of it, Gal 5:2-4.

Gal 5:2-4, Behold I, Paul, say to you that if you receive circumcision, Christ will be of no benefit to you. And I testify again to every man who receives circumcision, that he is under obligation to keep the whole law. You have been severed from Christ, you who are seeking to be justified by law; you have fallen from grace.

12. The persuasion to put the believer under the law is not from God, Gal 5:8, this persuasion {did} not {come} from Him who calls you.

13. Legalism of the believer does away with the offense of the Cross, Gal 5:11, but I, brethren, if I still preach circumcision, why am I still persecuted? Then the stumbling block of the Cross has been abolished.

14. All the law is fulfilled by the Holy Spirit, Gal 5:16-24, but i say, walk by the spirit, and you will not carry out the desire of the flesh. For the flesh sets its desire against the spirit, and the spirit against the flesh; for these are in opposition to one another, so that you may not do the things that you please. But if you are led by the Spirit, you are not under the law. Now the deeds of the flesh are evident, which are: immorality, impurity, sensuality, idolatry, sorcery, enmities, strife, jealousy, outbursts of anger, disputes, dissensions, factions, envying, drunkenness, carousing, and things like these, of which I forewarn you just as i have forewarned you that those who practice such things shall not inherit the kingdom of God. But the fruit of the spirit is love, joy, peace, patience, kindness, goodness, faithfulness, gentleness, self-control; against such things there is no law. Now those who belong to Christ Jesus have crucified the flesh with its passions and desires.

15. The life of the believer must be sustained on the same principle as his new birth or regeneration, Gal 5:25, if we live by the Spirit, let us also walk by the Spirit.

16. The believer’s proneness to sin calls for his dealing with grace, not dealing according to the law, Gal 6:1-5, brethren, even if a man is caught in any trespass, you who are spiritual, restore such a one in a spirit of gentleness; {each one} looking to yourself, lest you too be tempted. Bear one another’s burdens, and thus fulfill the law of Christ. For if anyone thinks he is something when he is nothing, he deceives himself. But let each one examine his own work, and then he will have {reason for} boasting in regard to himself alone, and not in regard to another. For each one shall bear his own load.

17. All who advocate the law for the believer cannot keep it themselves, and their intention is ultimate glory in the flesh, Gal 6:13, for those who are circumcised do not even keep the law themselves, but they desire to have you circumcised, that they may boast in your flesh.

The following link is to a good news message describing how one can receive eternal life: Ticket to Heaven, it was written for anyone not absolutely certain about their eternal future.

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