Or worse barracudas Sentinel is artificial intelligence for real time spearfishing and cyber fraud defense reclaim your e-mail in minutes with 0 impact on network performance visit Barracuda dot com slash Take a listen 100 with you wherever you go on our smartphone. San Francisco Oakland San Jose service of Salem Media Group. Sponsored by coming up our church of memo park. Welcome to another edition of so loved the radio ministry of Cummings part church in beautiful Menlo Park California Cummings part is a word based church that is family oriented God loving people loving For more visit their website and coming spark Church dot com now with today's message here is your teacher for so loved the senior pastor of Cummings Park Church Memphis watch you said. Over the past several weeks we've been talking about the subject of love and hope somebody say that with we say love. And hope. And we have to understand that there is a sense of hopelessness happening in the world today you look on the news you look on the media you can even hear it in songs and hip hop music in r. And b. Music in the generation that's happening today you hear a lot of hopelessness going on people are losing hope and systems in the government and people in their own selves and society in the world at large and some people even have lost hope in God. Have lost hope in the Bible have lost hope and goodness and trust of man in humanity there's a sense of hopelessness going on and if we don't pay attention to it and if we don't garner selves against it as the church it can be contagious. It is contagious. Start getting around demonstrate he is sponsored by Family Life Ministries am 1100 k. F. a X. It's often said that poverty and prison go hand in hand but the question is what kind of poverty. Here's a man his perspective on that is formed by 1st hand experience. Wilson been incarcerated for more than 20 years now. Say when I was growing up my dad he knew how to provide for his family he was good. He gave a stunning He never heard and did a good job. But my dad didn't know how to be a spiritual leader. And I never got to hear my dad prairie. And that's one thing I always wondered what would my dad a sound like they're about ever heard Emperor. Today we're going to talk about overcoming spiritual poverty in some unique in surprising ways Oh and get your coffee cup ready. On this edition of family life this week stay tuned. Welcome to family life this week I'm Michelle Hill President of family life is a Dennis rainy Have you ever stopped to consider the people that God is using to share his word with others you know some of these people have passed well actually everyone has a past I have a past and so do you but when God looks at us he sees what he's done and he sees what he's going to do through us and it's amazing when you stop and think about it right you remember my friend Tracy lane her little daughter Annie who has a heart condition Well Tracy shared with me earlier this. Take how thrilling it is to live the life that God has given her to live and it's been tough at times you know this got me to thinking about a man in the Bible that we all know who basically in some respects wrote half of the New Testament he was a man who built up the church but before that he did some other things he was a persecutor of the church and that made hand and accessory to murder and that's quite a past you know my boss Dennis Rainey He recently spoke to a group of men and he shared with them the story of this Heber of Hebrews from the line of Benjamin Saul of Tarsus. Your song Saul did for a living. He held. The jackets of the guys who stoned some of Christ's disciples. And one day saw Jesus Christ he invaded his life and Saul became Paul. He took a broken guy. Who had helped with the murder of Christians you know he could never erase that image from his life and Jesus Christ gave him a mission a purpose a reason to live i want tell you something guys there is nothing you have done nothing you have done. That can keep Almighty God from loving you from redeeming you and giving you not only a spiritual address but also a spiritual finish line for you to complete as you finish your life in here or as you thinnish your life out there. There's your spiritual address as a man. Paul said this this is the guy who was the accomplice. He said Brothers. I do not consider that I have made it my own but one thing I do. Forgetting what lies behind. Don't want you to hear me there is an accuser an accuser who wants to remind you of what you've done wrong and he wants to whisper in your ear that are being used by God That is a lie. Can you change what lies behind know. Can you learn from what lies behind of course you can Paul said for getting what lies behind and straining forward to what lies ahead. Listen to what he said he said I press on toward the goal for the prize of the upward call of God in Christ Jesus. Guys the game is not over it may be half time it may be the 3rd quarter you may feel like you're the 2 minute warning. But the question is will you redeem the opportunity to make a huge impact. You see guys I spent a long time trying to come to grips with my doubts. When suddenly I realized I had better come to grips with what I believe. And I have since moved from the agony of questions I still can't answer. To the reality of answers that I cannot escape. And it's a great relief. A man. That was Dennis sharing a message with the men at Wrightsville present and he gave them a charge to move forward to become true men of God to lead their families well but most importantly to not be defined by their past after all God doesn't define us by the past I want you to hear from some of the men who were influenced by Dennis and his passion for biblical manhood so we took the microphone into the prison to talk with these men and hear from some of their stories Mining's Corey I've been incarcerated for 3 and a half years it was nice to see that there are other man to struggle with the same exact things that I do on a daily basis we have a gentleman that was in our group that is that is not incarcerated and a lot of the things that he shared were things that that I struggle with on a daily basis and to see him. Out here with the family with children to see him going through the same struggles to see these men come in here and share with us and then also with the men in my group that are incarcerated begin to see these similar struggles but on top of that teaching us how to deal with these struggles how to how to cope with them how to how to get out of this bondage. It's nice to see that. That I'm not in this fight alone. My name is Daniel button and I've been here a little less than 5 years. I was really hard on my wife and my kids but I didn't realize until I got into this was I was expecting my wife and my children to fill a hole that only God could fill. And when they couldn't do it. I abandoned them and I went chasing other things to try to feel that emptiness with. So they were never meant to fill that hole but I expected them to because I didn't understand. Love and understand God I just understood that I was empty. And I needed something . Looking for something to make me feel better about myself. And I learned that only God can do that. And something else that I've noticed I tell people here at this unit a lot more about how much I miss and love my children and I told them when I was with them. And I need to fix that and that's what I'm going to work on and thank you all very much for giving me the opportunity to do this I appreciate. You know those men who gain freedom they may be incarcerated physically but there is for. In Christ and that's really good news Ok I think I smell some coffee you smell it. Well Ok so since I stole it you're going to have to give me 2 minutes so that I can go get a little bit of caffeine but when I come back I'm going to talk with a man who like Dennis Rainey is helping men realize their potential post incarceration Pete Leonard joins me in the studio next Stay tuned. Really didn't get to walk his daughter down the aisle but he did get to daddy daughter dance. For family life Monday here's Ron d.l. After nearly 20 years of being a step dad a friend of mine can see that his stepdaughter was struggling to decide who should walk her down the aisle at her wedding her dad who had been in and out of her life or her stepdad who had been there all along my friend solve the problem with a big sacrifice he let her know that he would be Ok with her father walking her down the aisle that brought a light to her eyes and smile to her face and then she insisted but nobody's going to take away or dance in the reception Oh yeah he enjoyed that daddy daughter dance he loved every minute of. Her family life blended time run deal to find out more visit family life blended dot com. Couples who say their marriage problems need to recognize it's not a marriage problem it's a tough problem we make it all of balance. And it's killing our marriages what would happen if marriages got it together and divorce was rare. Is there something bigger here are we here for marriage something big new American represent a far greater force here for a purpose when you look at what the Bible says about marriage marriage is about more than just you and make sure if you couple say Lord what you want instead they think this is what are there not about getting there for this thing is broken family life's weekend to remember our weekend to remember begins with the purpose of marriage as God intended it because ultimately your marriage is not about you it's about God. To find out more about the giveaway near you visit weekend to remember dot com. Welcome back to family life this week I'm Michelle Hill before the break we heard a couple of men share what God is doing in their lives and today I'm joined by Pete Leonard who has a soft spot for men and women who are and who have been in the prison system Pete when you heard a few of those stories what was going through your mind that very powerful. That was hearing from men who are still in and I get to hear stories from men and women who are now out. It's stunning to me what God can do regardless of our circumstances and regardless of our past and as you said we all have a past right some of us should be incarcerated for the things that we did we just weren't but it doesn't matter it's breaking God's Law That's the issue hearing stories like that of what God is doing in the hearts of men which is fantastic is so encouraging that that work is going on inside prison and I know it is b.s. I know people that are doing you know. And then to see what can happen when they get out and are given a chance to do something different to show that what happened to them in prison learning about Christ becoming a believer. Professing to follow him can be carried out in public that's a huge challenge life is different outside Oh I'm sure the struggle that they have doing that needs a lot of help from me from the church to make that happen well and you are providing some of that help people entered is the founder and roast manager. A 2nd chance coffee company or is it the 2nd chance company so it's a 2nd chance coffee company is how we're incorporated Ok our brand is I have a bean I have a b. I have a bean that sounds like a very unique name very funny if it is a funny name and it links right with Dr King's I Have a Dream speech Ok so your company is a little bit different than most coffee company and yeah probably why they're. Ok a lot different so setting up the business why hire men and women who have just come out of prison right other people asked this question this way are you crazy. Well I wasn't going to say that I know you and I know you're not crazy and so I was always I don't look. Ok so I used a phrase earlier where a way talked about Unfortunately society views people yeah I used to be one of those people in society viewing people who had a felony conviction of being in the bottom one percent of the away and forget about it a too bad so sad kind of guy you know you you did it year for responsible for the consequences and that doesn't affect me well that was until a relative of mine went to prison and I watched what happened to his life when he got out of prison and I listened to you it touched me and at 1st I was thinking that's that's really sad and it's wrong and somebody should do something about that somebody should do something about that and and that person for a few months and I started having practice with a friend of mine and it became clear that it wasn't somebody who should do something about that was me who should do something about that well tell me about one of your 1st employees like to hear that story. There are 2 that I want to talk about one my very 1st employee his name was James short Now if you use his nickname is Jim Short You know I didn't realize that just a few years ago. Great nickname. Anyway James was a a drug dealer in Chicago and not a stand on the corner drug dealer a. He calls himself a high priced drug dealer people would call him or page him and he would deliver personally deliver to high rises condos and things in Chicago as he's not one of the guy standing on the corner making big dollars. He got caught and I don't remember how he ended up in prison spent 9 or 10 years in prison and got out and when he realized he had was a passion and a talent for auto mechanics the leave it or not. It was tough for him to find work because of his conviction. When we 1st started we roasted a whopping 30 pounds of coffee month Ok. The slow start while slow so James would come in one day a week and we'd roast coffee in the morning on Friday and then Friday afternoon we'd hold coffee 101 class where I would try to teach James the little that I knew about coffee and coffee roasting we discover things together. Fast forward a year later James is working every day of the week with roasting coffee every day of the week and he has an opportunity to go work for a local energy company on their trucks so we sent him off with great fanfare and joy and enthusiasm he gets to do what he's been given talent to do by God who is the story is like this I'll give you the very condensed version Lewis grew up in a neighborhood that told young men you are not a man until you've been to prison you get no respect until you've been to prison and they made sure you didn't get it till you went to prison so Lewis's dream growing up was how do I get to prison and he did everything he could to make sure that happened. He was into drugs and drug dealing and gun stealing and shooting the thing that got him into prison finally. He ended up shooting a young man so many times that they couldn't even count the bullet holes in the kid that he shot now the kid did not die if he did Lewis would have been executed. But the kid did not die Louis went to prison. Louis was sentenced to 3 life terms plus 100 years. While he was there so he sat down he just he's like I wish I had a gun so I could kill myself because I don't I don't want to be here for the rest of my life. And then his 2nd thought was and I don't want to be beholden to anybody either well about that time somebody walked up in an orange jumpsuit and put a copy paper box at his feet on the floor didn't say a word he was covered just turned around and walked away with a smile on their face and looked out of that box and he watched that guy walk away and he says he used his toe and he kicked the lid off of that thing in that box was underwear clean new socks comb skittles I guess in prison Skittles sort of like gold I'm sure they were every day for a really high. I can't relate to that but. Toothbrushes toothpaste all of those things and Louis looked at that stuff in the box and what he said is when I saw that I knew I had to kill that guy. I looked at lose them. Because I would have been thinking thanks and he's thinking No because what I saw that box was a gift I could not repay. And what I knew he was trying to do to me is get me in debt to him so he determined in his heart that night he was going to kill that guy so he got his his hands ready in this kind of show home look and he turned and jumped through the the she pushed aside and was ready to lunge at this guy and he stopped halfway through because in the room wasn't just this guy was 2 other guys they were sitting around the little lamp reading the Bible. And they kept on reading they didn't even look up they just kept on reading as a passage in Matthew I think and when they stopped this guy that he was intending to kill this kind of looks up at him from you gives him a sideways glance he said Louis do you believe in Jesus and was like no man I believe in evolution that's what he told me he said and he is still standing there with his hands ready to strangle this guy but he didn't know what to do and the guy reached in the back of his Bible pulled out a tract and it had 4 Spiritual Laws that is I think was a 4 Spiritual Laws and it was at the back of a prayer of salvation and handed to us it read that let's talk tomorrow and loose as he took it with one hand with his other hand still in the I'm going to kill you clamp death clamp right he took that and he backed up out of the room ashamed of the fact that he couldn't carry through with what he had planned and he walked back to his bunk he sat down on it and he opened up that tract and read it from the back . And what he said is in that track was the phrase and I paraphrase us a little bit something to do with having a clean slate that's something that Christ could do for you give you a clean slate he said that's that's what I need is a clean slate and so he prayed the prayer in the back the prayer of salvation that was written there and then he added this at the end but God If you want real I follow in you you got to prove to me that you're real the the minute you prove to me you ain't real we're done I'm done with you and then he laid down on his bunk and went to sleep he woke up the warden walked over and said Ok I've got your cell assignment and he assigned him to a room he walked him into a cell and he said staring at me with the biggest baddest looking guy I have ever seen scared me to death I thought this guy's going to snap me in half like a twig. The warden introduced him the guy left and this guy and got this big smile on his face he stuck out his big ham of a hand and shook Louis' hand he said Louis welcome us cell and he opened up a drawer in a little nightstand that he had said Here's your Bible and handed him a good Ian New Testament they started. When I when I tell this story I just picture myself in that room with Lewis and. The care that somebody in prison who is incarcerated and who was there in a life sentence and Lewis 3 life sentences plus 100 years. And they start disciple ing each other. Lewis had such a life change in that prison because of what God did that. He was let go in 15 and a half years. The prole board came to the prison and said we're letting Louis out they told that to the warden the warden came to Louis and said Louis now this is how long this stuff takes in 3 and a half years you're getting out. Like don't mess with me don't mess with me he thought it was good a joke played on him or and said no it's real it's going to happen Ok we'll see. 3 and a half years later Lewis is released from prison and met him 4 months after that. So this is where Lewis is on his journey after coming to I have a bean and roasting for me for a year he came to me said Pete. I hate coffee. I love you I love this company can I be in sales Well Ok. And then we put Louis on the street selling coffee. So you came to me after doing this for 2 years maybe 2 and a half he said. Pete. I hate coffee I love you I love this company but God called me to the next thing so today Lewis is the head of set free prison ministries in Illinois Wow doing Bible studies back in the prison system he's married kids got a house all that stuff and he's just he has a great friend true man of God Just because somebody is in trouble right now does not mean that they are not going to be the next Paul from Saul Lewis is that person and I've got 40 more stories like that of people that we work with seem credible it's stunning and to hear Lewis is story this is a transformation and you just mentioned Paul and that's where my mind was go in the entire time that you were sharing that story was it was Paul and just how God grabbed him and just was like You're my man and this is what I'm going to do with you and I'm going to let my life sign through you I've got plans for you I've got plans for you that's incredible Yeah and what does it take it takes people it takes the church frankly. Letting God do that work and if we really believe in redemption. Then we need to make we need to be the ones being God's hands and feet making now. So that's why I do what I do I love coffee and I love seeing God transform his life is a thing I get to do that's exciting Well thank you so much for joining me today oh you're white Well this is a band of delight and I'm so excited to try some of this coffee in our it over there really really. So thank you very much you're welcome. Next week we're going to talk about suffering Well that's going to be a downer of the show isn't it actually it's not we're going to take a look at the hope and joy that comes from suffering and I'm going to chat with a woman whose last name rhymes with the joy Dina your way you can join us for that thanks for listening I want to thank the president of family life Dennis Rainey along with our station partners around the country and a big thank you to our production team today and especially to James Young blood for his extra engineering help. Our program as a production of family life today in our mission is to effectively develop godly families to change the world one home at a time I'm Michelle Hill inviting you to join us again next time for another edition of family life this week. If you've been following the news you know that the devastation to families life and property from the Napa and Sonoma fires has been overwhelming in the immediate aftermath of this disaster the Bay Area rescue mission has dispatched a team and truck filled with food and supplies to help those suffering your help for friends family neighbors hurt by this disaster is urgently needed donations of bedding blankets sleeping bags food coffee and water are all needed to meet the basic needs of thousands that have been left homeless but we can't replace the property lost we can show compassion to those that have been affected by the fires deadly pass additional emergency beds into made available in Richmond for families needing immediate shelter food and clothing as a result of the fires to make a special donation to help the for cost and support the Bay Area rescue mission to continue its work of caring for the homeless and hungry go to Bay Area Rescue dot au orangey that's Bay Area Rescue dot org or call AAA 343 food. Law liberty justice This is Law and Justice Jay Sekulow my wife works for a large corporation and they have a weekend overtime after pill recently it was done in your base and he was high enough where she was mandated to work on the weekend to the curb decided they think about that it is a huge shock that they were Change it to a point that are not working on Sundays she doesn't get the point she and that get mandated every time let me tell you what I'm going to do 1st and we get in touch with the lawyers here at the American Center for a long justice but the fact is the union can't override a federal statute title 7 says they're supposed to make a reasonable accommodation of the sincerely held religious practice which means in a situation like your wife if she wants to worship on Sunday there are other people that could work that one it sounds like there are big should be accommodating her sincerely held religious beliefs visit us at a c l j dot org That's a c l j done oh our G's. Graceful truth sponsored by Grace Bible Church in Redwood City on 1106. When it comes to the law of God Many Christians tend to be a bit confused is the law done away with did Christ to weigh with the law has it still how is it a play. About that next. From Grace Bible Church in Redwood City this is graceful truth with our teacher pastor Steve Connors Hi there welcome to our broadcast of Romans today in a message called released from the long chapter 7 specifically. Paul is seeking to help us understand where the law fits in our lives as Christ those who lived by grace. Those belong in our lives as Christians but how was the subject of our time today and then at the close of our broadcast I've got information about our upcoming equip conference we'll tell you all about it. Here's Pastor Steve converse with today's broadcast of graceful truth. When you look at Chapter. 7 of Romans you see over and over again certain statements that Paul makes in verse . Things down in verse 12 he says so the law is holy and the commandment is holy and righteous and good and then verse 14 he says something similar he says for we know that the law is spiritual and then down in verse 22 he brings it up again for I delight in the law 'd of God So the law isn't something that we should not delight in the law of God is not something that we should set aside now that we're Christians the law is holy the law is to be respected the law is to be exalted and when you violate the law we call that what. Sin and that's what the New Testament bears out since the transgression of God's law if there was no law there was no transgression of the law and so when we look at Romans the book of Romans remember the whole theme is justification by why by faith Ok you don't become justified by God by keeping the law or by doing anything you're justified by faith and so in chapter 3 verse 31 Paul asked this kind of rhetorical question says Do we then make void the law through faith since we're not saved by the law Paul's asking the question because he knew his hearers were asking the question well what good is the law then Paul can we just throw it out if you're saying it doesn't say this if you're saying we're justified not through the law but through fav what do we do with this law of God Can you come to God by faith and when you do that you don't have to worry about the law at all I mean thank God we're not saved by keeping the law right I think what a hassle that would be keeping every little jot and tittle And so when Paul answers that question back in chapter 3 he says no we don't void out the law we have stablished the law so we're at a point in the book of Romans Chapter 7 where Paul is interested in pointing out to us what the relationship is between the law of God and believers and Jews and whoever else Gentiles He wants us to know that we're not just to cast it aside because the law is good the law is holy the law is righteous the law is honorable the law reflects the mind in the heart of God That's what. It is but his holiness good is righteous of the law is it never will nor has it ever justified anybody by them keeping it and so when you look at the Book of Romans and you see this justification by faith as the the theme that you're saved not by keeping the law but by faith in Christ in the work of Christ we won all the way back to chapter 3 and we begin to unravel this justification by faith what does he mean by this in the 1st couple chapters showed us really how much we need to be justified by faith because we're so sinful and then he gets to chapter 3 and 4 and he has basically begins to establish this doctrine of Justification by Faith and then we begin to learn some of the results of justification and we had a couple messages on that in chapter 5 we learned that one of the results of our 'd being justified by God and not by the law is that we have security because it's God who justifies not us that should be a blessing we don't save ourselves we don't justify ourselves God saves us and then Chapter 6 we learned that one Another result of being saved by God's justification through faith is that not only are we secure but God starts a process of sanctification he makes this holy we're already made holy in our position before God but God makes this holy in our practice each and every day more and more we learn to live more like Christ and then by the time we get to Chapter 7 we begin to realize that there's more benefits of justification and the benefit he points out in Chapter 7 is that you know what for the 1st time in your life if you come to Christ if you've been justified by faith you've been saved by the blood of Christ you're free from the law. You're not held bondage to the law anymore and so that's a very important progression for Paul to to made that hey we're we're sinners we need we need to be saved God justifies us now that we're justified what happens do things go on just as normal no all things begin to change we begin to learn that we're we're secure and crys that allows us to live a holy life and here in chapter 7 he points out that we have liberty in Christ freedom from the law we've been released from the law of God. And so it's it's important that we remember that that salvation is a process that changes people it's not something you just do and come to church and raise a hand or go to a evangelistic meeting and raise your hand and say well that's 'd that's done that's no it's a process of transformation always remember salvation is not addition salvation is not you adding the church or the Bible or prayer or something else to your life that's not going to save you what will save you is when God has transformed your heart he's transformed your mind so we have peace with God because of our union with God And now we have freedom from the law because of our union with Christ and that's really what he's still kind of answering back in chapter 6 verse one he asked that question a similar question he says What shall we say then are we to continue in sin so that grace may abound legal listening people have a hard time with a gracious gospel they have a very difficult time with it there's people who are I'm not saying they're not Christians but their legal lists they think somehow by keeping certain rules and regulations that somehow that benefits your relationship with God and when they hear someone preach a gracious gospel it goes against everything that they believe because they need somebody to come along with a list of rules and say now now you're Christian you have to do this this isn't this and if you do this we're good I wish it was that easy it's not that easy and so you have certain churches that will preach about certain things that are just kind of ridiculous the length of your hair or you know whether you wear make up or not or what you wear what you dress I mean all those things should honor Christ in our law. Lives as Christians but see the legal a says no no no no you can't be a believer in and have that piercing in your nose or that color in your hair or this or that that's what the legal is and they can't point really to you know chapter verse a lot of times when they bring these things up so. For the most part it's it's legal to stick. To the legal the stick miss and what Paul is trying to get them to understand is that you know what you're free from all that in Christ you're free does that mean we can just go do whatever we want no and that's what we're going to find out today where we're free to do what Christ desires us to do last week we looked at the 1st. Thing their principle the principle we found in verse one of Romans Chapter 7. He says or do you not know brothers for I am speaking to those who know the law and here he's not using the law in in really even in a way that would relate to the Mosaic Law It does because that's what they figured but he could be talking to Gentiles I'm just talking about the laws in the town there's no real definite article there in front of law to make it but God so he may be referring to that he may just be referring to the law in general but what he says is understand any law whether it's God's law whatever it is it says the law is binding on a person was only as long as he is alive or as he lives. That's the principle the principle basically is this Paul wants us to understand that law any law only applies to living people if someone breaks the law and they die in the process of breaking the law a police officer isn't going to write him a ticket they'd be silly it doesn't apply to them anymore they're dead they've left left this realm and went into the next and so he wants us to understand that we we to gain victory in our Christian lives over sin we have to wrestle with this aspect of the law in our relationship to it and so he says 1st of all this principle is simple it's basically that you know what the law applies to only those who are alive and then he moved on and he gave us a picture he gave us an illustration he gave us an analogy of what he's trying to say and that's in verses 2 and 3 and we began to get into this last week so he says let me give you an example for a married woman is bound by law 'd to her husband while he lives. But if her husband dies she is released from the law of marriage it's kind of basic So you have a married woman you have somebody who is married to a man married by law to her husband they're both alive and they're married but if her husband dies she's released from the law of marriage verse 3 Accordingly she will be called in a doll tryst if she lives with another man while her husband is alive now any hearer of Paul when he's writing this or when he's reading this who when the reading this would understand what he's saying this doesn't this isn't a treatise on marriage and divorce and it doesn't bring any of that minutia into it he says using that as an example so don't go to this tax and say Oh here you know we can use this as a proof text for marriage no he that's not his point his point is simply you know what there's a law let's use the law of marriage. When a woman is married she's married to her husband as long as he's alive if she goes and marries another husband or sleeps with another man while he is still alive that's what you call an adulterous somebody who violates the law of marriage violates the covenant of marriage but then he goes on in verse 3 says but if her husband dies she is free from that law and if she marries another man she's not an adult. So he just points out this picture of marriage like hey you know it's the same thing with the law of God and that's what he's going to point out to us in a 2nd but he's just getting them warmed up to this. So you know if straights through the picture of marriage the point that the law is only binding on those who are alive then he gets to what we call the practical application in verses 4 to 5 he says Likewise my brother's and what he's saying there is basically because of what I just told you you know hence as a result of where or for whatever your version says but what he's saying is based on what I just explained to you in verses one through 3 here's what I want you to understand based on the principle that the law only applies to the people who are alive and I gave you a picture of marriage based on that he says Likewise my brothers and so he's kind of using that endearing term he wants them to know that he's sharing truth with them a lot of times we do that when when we have something hard to say to somebody what do we say brother you know I love you. Her sister you know we do that and Paul is doing just that and so he says likewise brothers look at what he says next you also have died to the wrong so member this this marriage of picture of that picture of marriage is in your in their mind and so then he brings up well remember you brothers have died to the law in the original language it's a little more graphic brothers you were put to death you could even say brothers you were put to death violently. Like you were dead dead dead it's in the arest tense which reminds us that there's there's something that happened at a point in time back here but it still has ongoing ramifications. That's the idea and so you're saying Ok I get the idea that you know a husband if he dies the woman is free from that law of marriage how does this relate to us he says you also have died to the law you might say Will. When you get that look at verse 3 of Chapter 6 we went through this but just to remind you Chapter 3 Chapter 6 verse theory's Chapter 6 verse 3 Paul says Do you not know that all of us who have been baptized into Jesus Christ so who is he speaking of. Christian's right he's talking to people who've had a transformation in their lives they've been saved by the glorious work of Christ on the cross he says Do you not know that all of us who have been baptized into Christ were baptized what into his death into his death and that we not only died with them he says but we were buried there for with him by baptize in baptism into death that's how dead we were you don't bury somebody who's not dead some people do but it's not a good thing to do doesn't have the best interest of those being buried at heart I guess you could say so he points out here that you know what as Christians we died with Christ positionally on the cross and what he wants us to understand Look at verse 4 he says We were buried therefore with him by baptism into death in order that or kind of for the reason of just as Christ was raised from the dead by the glory of the Father we too might walk in newness of life the question you ask yourself is this Could Jesus Christ have raised from the dead if he didn't die kind of a ridiculous question right now oh Ok so this is what Paul is saying here he's saying so we died with Christ but it doesn't end there we don't just you know lay in the dirt the rest of the time we're not dead now obviously we're talking spiritually not physically but the idea is that until we die we can't be raised and that's what he says that we might walk in the newness of life. So why did we have to die this violent death with Christ and we went into all this and you can look at the the mystical union that we have with Christ and His death and burial and resurrection we talked about all that we're not going to get into that the smarting but that's the reality that the Bible teaches we became one with Christ but where was that it was on Calvary and so we're united with Christ we die with Christ we're raised with Christ and now we live a new life in the newness of life just as Christ lived his life now the thing you have to understand about the law is that before you came to Christ could the law save you know Ok no there was no way that the law or you keeping the Law could save you it had no ability to save you and had no ability to redeem you is a matter of fact the Bible clearly says that by the deeds of the law no flesh will be was justified it doesn't start or doesn't stammer doesn't have a gray area says by the deeds of the law no flesh will be justified So if you're trying to justify yourself if you're trying to reach salvation by doing certain deeds of the law guess what is not going to work out not a good idea before you were saved the law had no ability to redeem you also as it points out our sinfulness it doesn't save us it actually condemns that's the reality that's the purpose of the law that's all it could do it condemns us that's why God gave the law to show us our inability to keep it but now stop and think now that you're saved now that you're in cries you're a new creature in Christ you're walking in this newness of life with cries. You need to understand the law not only cannot redeem you but now because you are in Christ it doesn't even condemn you it doesn't even condemn the Bible says there's no what condemnation for those that are in Christ Paul points out so you could literally you can take God's law and you could start reading it and you could become very depressed because a lot of things in there I'm sure you don't do there's a lot of things in there I don't do and boy you could just weigh heavy on heart boy but we could just be condemned that's why we need to be free from the law and that's what Christ did and because all of the law 'd could demand from us was death we looked at the wages of sin is was death he that sins the Bible says the soul shall die God told Adam in the garden you know what if you break this law you will die and all the law can demand of us is death and so it happen that we die now stop and think follow this with me technically if someone were to go out in society and murder 5 people they get caught and it's in another state I don't think we have the death penalty now in another state the practice for me to get the death penalty and they're going to put this man to death because he was found guilty through a court of law and they take him in they strap in the electric chair and they pump some voltage through his body till he's dead and that individual breathed his last and he's dead and on the way to the morgue he's declared dead by a doctor on the way to the morgue they put him in the morgue they go to get him out and he's alive guess what the law has no way of following up if he was raised from the dead. This is the key thing he paid apparently he died you can't bring him back into a court of law wait knowing Hey he got we live now numb we know he was declared dead this is where we're out this is who we are that's what we need to understand that the penalty was paid by Christ and so in Christ when we're joined with Christ we die the law cannot redeem us any longer and never could but now not only don't we have to worry about getting saved by the law now we're going to worry about being condemned by the law because it won't apply to us but before we came to Christ the law couldn't redeem you it could only condemn you and so you are under it's bondage and that's what Paul is pointing out here that were released from that now look at what he says here in verse 4 he says Likewise my brothers you also have died to the law or you are put to death interesting verb construction here just to let you know it's a it's a passive verb which means you didn't kill yourself this isn't something you did to yourself you couldn't do that God did it it was God's plan all along for your salvation it was God who carried it out it was God who redeemed you it was God who put you in Christ it's all the work of God when it comes to salvation and when you died the law no longer had authority over you because you died in Christ and so we're not under the laws condemnation anymore were released from that. And you say well how does this happen he goes on in verse 4 and tells this it's true the body of Christ through the body of Christ what does he mean he means by offering the body of Christ at the crucifixion by being crucified with Christ Jesus in death satisfied the law because he died the death that the law demanded he did it he died on that cross he paid the penalty for our sin in fall and as a result of that the freed us from the law that's why if you turn over the 2nd Corinthians Chapter 5 verse 21 you see very clearly there he says for our sake he made him God made him God made Christ to be sin who knew no sin why did he do that so that we might become the righteousness of God He read. From the law by. God. For. It is our prayer here a graceful truth that God would reveal His grace to your hearts through the teaching of his word each week and we trust you are currently involved in a Bible teaching church in your area if not we'd love to have you come and visit us here Grace Bible Church in Redwood City we meet each Sunday morning for our praise nor ship service at 10 am we offer nursery care and Sunday school classes for our children up to grade 5 if you'd like to encourage us here at graceful truth please give us a call at Grace Bible Church here in Redwood City this is our phone number 650-366-9923 again that's 650-366-9923 or you can visit us on the web at graceful true thought o. r G and we've got a lot of resource materials available there. More information about who we are and if you need a map to visit us a Grace Bible church that's there as well again graceful truth oh argy now would you please drop us an email let us know you paid us a visit when you stop by again graceful truth. 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And follow the prompts another note as we let you go today don't forget to sign up for our equipment Conference 2017 which will take place November 10th 11th and 12th now the sole focus of the quick conference is to expose you to biblical teaching and preaching for the purpose of growing you your leadership and your church members to do effective ministry along those lines our keynote speakers this year will be just in Peter's and cost to him and it's all based out of 2nd Timothy Chapter $3.00 verses $16.17 we would love to have you join us go to Grace Bible Online dot org forward slash equip for all of the details and to register again Grace Bible Online dot o.-r. G. Forward slash equip That's the quick conference 2017 November 10th 11th and 12th we thank you for joining us today and trust We'll see you again next week at the same time for another broadcast of graceful truth. And truly make a difference in your church or to. Unity consider the Dr of ministry program a gateway seminaries campus in Fremont formerly Golden Gate seminary the next cohort starts January 28th for more information go to the gateway seminary website at w w w dot g has studied e.u. And click on the locations link for the San Francisco campus in Fremont that's w w w dot g.s. Not d.d. You gateway seminary biblical mission 0 global and I impressed with the relief factor you know I am so many people are out of pain thanks to it well Pete and Seth Talbot the father son owners are fully factor of just told us that for the entire month of October they're going to send 5 dollars to Africa new life every time they sell a 3 week quick start for just 1995.