Monday, January 9, 2023

Sermon Video: We have "died to the law...that we might bear fruit for God." - Romans 7:1-6

Recently I was challenged by a follower of the Hebrew Roots Movement (Torah Clubs from First Fruits of Zion) that as a minister, if I wanted to speak against this theological movement, I could do so to my congregation in a sermon, but not publicly to the community.  While I categorically reject the notion that a minister of the Gospel is responsible for his/her congregation only and not the larger Christian community, the next sermon in my series on Romans was this one with its powerful phrase, "you also have died to the law through the body of Christ...in order that we might bear fruit for God."

The Law of Moses ended as the guardian of the people of God with the death and resurrection of Jesus Christ.  Fulfilled by Jesus, it offers insight but no longer blessings or curses for God himself has given us a new and a better way, the way of the Spirit.  After Pentecost, the people of God do not need a written code, for God is at work in the hearts of us all, and our calling is higher and more demanding than the Law of Moses ever was as Jesus demands that we night only do the right thing, but for the right reason, and not only refrain from sinning, but wrestle with the truth that sinful attitudes are themselves sin even without the follow-up actions associated with them.

In the end, the Church has proclaimed the New Covenant throughout its history, from the generation of the Apostles and the writers of the New Testament, to this day, and we're not about to walk away from the Kingdom of God.

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