Playlist: The Covenants, Grace, and Law (sermon series)
John W. Ritenbaugh
The Covenants, Grace, and Law (Part One)
Defining Some IssuesThe doctrinal changes made by the Worldwide Church of God have devastating ramifications. Predictably, when the vision was changed, God's law was cast aside.
The Covenants, Grace, and Law (Part Two)
Christianity is a Way of LifeThe doctrinal changes made by the leaders in the Worldwide Church of God worked to destroy the vision of God's purpose through obscuring the real reason for works.
The Covenants, Grace, and Law (Part Three)
Defining Some TermsGod is doing more than merely saving people; He is producing children in His image. The difference between the covenants is in the quality of the faith.
The Covenants, Grace, and Law (Part Four)
JustificationJustification does not 'do away' with the law; it brings us into alignment with it, imputing the righteousness of Christ and giving access to God for sanctification.
The Covenants, Grace, and Law (Part Five)
Justification and ObligationUnder both the Old and New Covenants, refusal to keep to keep God's Law severs the relationship. God's law protects us and brings us quality life.
The Covenants, Grace, and Law (Part Six)
CircumcisionCircumcision is a token, sign, or seal that one was the heir of Abraham. No physical sign has the power to transfer righteousness to the doer.
The Covenants, Grace, and Law (Part Seven)
Circimcision of the HeartThe New Covenant was designed by God to circumcise the heart, making it possible for God's laws to be written in our hearts and reflected in our behavior.
The Covenants, Grace, and Law (Part Eight)
SanctificationJustification is not the end of the salvation process, but merely the opening to sanctification, where we bear fruit and give evidence of God's Spirit in us.
The Covenants, Grace, and Law (Part Nine)
Sanctification, conclusionSatan has attempted to obliterate the sanctification step from the conversion process. Sanctification is produced by doing works pleasing to God.
The Covenants, Grace, and Law (Part Ten)
A Testament and a CovenantThe term "covenant" describes an agreement made by two parties and "testament" to describe the one-sided commitment made by God to improve the promises.
The Covenants, Grace, and Law (Part Eleven)
New Covenant IsraelIt is not the physical nation, but the spiritual remnant with whom God is working, circumcising their hearts and writing His laws in their minds.
The Covenants, Grace, and Law (Part Twelve)
Why the New Covenant is BetterThe fault of the Old Covenant was with the hearts of the people. Christ took it upon Himself to amend the fault enabling us to keep the commandments.
The Covenants, Grace, and Law (Part Thirteen)
Benefits of Christ's SacrificeAs we participate in the New Covenant, we go through the stages of justification, sanctification, and ultimately glorification as part of Christ's body.
The Covenants, Grace, and Law (Part Fourteen)
Psalm 19: The Law Is Not Done AwayNo part of God's Law has been 'done away'. Jesus came to magnify the law, giving it a far more penetrating, spiritual application. Man flounders without law.
The Covenants, Grace, and Law (Part Fifteen)
The Spirit of the LawThings written in the Old Testament were written for us. The differences in the covenants focus on justification and access to God, not doing away with the law.
The Covenants, Grace, and Law (Part Sixteen)
Does Law Define Sin?Righteousness consists of applying the Law's letter and/or intent. Sin constitutes a failure of living up to the standards of what God defines as right.
The Covenants, Grace, and Law (Part Seventeen)
Does a Specific Verse Nullify a Law? (A)The Law (including the judgments, ordinances, and statutes), far from being done away, shows us our faults and outlines the way of mercy and love—how to live.
The Covenants, Grace, and Law (Part Eighteen)
Does a Specific Verse Nullify a Law? (B)Paul never taught any Jew to forsake the Law of Moses, but he did warn against Pharisaical additions for the expressed purpose of attaining justification.
The Covenants, Grace, and Law (Part Nineteen)
Christ's Example Verifies the LawThe spirit of the law does not do away with the letter of the law; without the letter, there is no spirit because there is no foundation. Examples show God's will.
The Covenants, Grace, and Law (Part Twenty)
Colossians (A)God has given us His Law, which shows us the way of sanctification and holiness. God is in the process of reproducing His kind — the God-kind.
The Covenants, Grace, and Law (Part Twenty-One)
Colossians (B)The Colossian Christians were criticized by ascetics for the way they were keeping the Sabbath and holy days. Paul argues against a philosophy, not the law of God.
The Covenants, Grace, and Law (Part Twenty-Two)
Colossians (C)The Gnostics criticized by Paul in Colossians 2:16-17 were guilty of bringing in ritualistic ascetic discipline to propitiate demons.
The Covenants, Grace, and Law (Part Twenty-Three)
Colossians (D)In Colossians 2:16 and Galatians 4:9-10, Paul was warning against mixing Gnostic asceticism and pagan customs with the keeping of God's Sabbath and Holy Days.
The Covenants, Grace, and Law (Part Twenty-Four)
Galatians (A)The days, months, and times of Galatians 4:10 do not refer to God's Holy Days (which are not weak or beggarly), but to pagan rites the Galatians came out of.
The Covenants, Grace, and Law (Part Twenty-Five)
Galatians (B)In Galatians, Paul took issue with the Halakhah, not God's word. Halakhah was a massive collection of human opinion that placed a yoke on its followers.
The Covenants, Grace, and Law (Part Twenty-Six)
Galatians (C)Christ will empower us, but will not live our lives for us. The marching orders for our pilgrimage derive from God's Word, containing His holy law.
The Covenants, Grace, and Law (Part Twenty-Seven)
Galatians (D)The New Covenant, which writes God's law onto the heart, in no way does away with any aspect of the law. Works do not justify us, they sanctify us.
The Covenants, Grace, and Law (Part Twenty-Eight)
Galatians (E)The yoke of bondage Paul refers to in Galatians was a combination of the code of regulations added by the Pharisees and Gnostic ritualism, not God's Law.
The Covenants, Grace, and Law (Part Twenty-Nine)
Summary of SeriesA summary of the Covenants, Grace, and Law series, reiterating the differences in the Covenants and the respective places of grace and law in God's purpose.