Why Faith That Works by Love Fulfills the Law

Hello, and welcome to Through the Bible with Les Feldick, an Oklahoma rancher and farmer. Les Feldick has been teaching homestyle Bible classes for over 20 years in Iowa, Oklahoma, and Texas. Les Feldick's unique style of Bible teaching has made the books of the Bible come to life. When Les is teaching, it's so interesting that people say time just seems to fly by. And now, here is Les Feldick. Okay, it's good to see everybody once again, and I guess this is program number four for today already, isn't it? And we can be heading for home. Okay, for those of you in television land, again, we'd just like to welcome you and be a part of our study group, and just sort of sit on the back row as we say, and we always have to thank you for your letters. Oh, I wish I could just answer every one of them, almost every letter I read, but I haven't got time for all of them. So bear with me, and if you have asked a distinct question, I'll get to it by and by, although it sometimes takes longer than I like. But anyway, we just appreciate your letters, we appreciate your financial help, and your prayers. I guess I should emphasize that more than anything, how we appreciate the prayers of everyone on our behalf. We travel a lot of course, and with all of our other needs, we just realize that we can do nothing without the power of prayer behind us. Okay, now let's just get right back into where we left off in Galatians chapter 5, and that is now verse 6. Remember what we've just been saying, oh in fact I think I'll read them in case we have people who missed the last program. Let's just re-read it. I won't comment on it, but we'll read it. Galatians 5. "...Stand fast therefore in the liberty wherewith Christ hath made us free, and be not entangled again with the yoke of bondage. Behold I Paul say unto you, that if you be circumcised, Christ shall profit you nothing. For I testify again to every man that is circumcised, that he is a debtor to do the whole law. Christ is become of no effect unto you, whosoever of you are justified by the law, you are fallen from grace. For we through the Spirit wait for the hope of righteousness by faith." Now verse 6. Galatians 5. "...For in Jesus Christ neither circumcision availeth anything, nor uncircumcision. But faith, and it is a faith which worketh by love." Now of course what love are we first and foremost talking about? We're talking about the love of Christ as He poured out His love for us. Let's go ahead a few pages first to Philippians chapter 2, and remember what we're talking about. It's the love of Christ that sent Him to the cross. Philippians 2. Verse 5. "...Let this mind be in you, which was also in Christ Jesus, who being in the form of God, thought it not robbery to be equal with God, but as God, he made himself of no reputation, and took upon himself the form of a servant, or as I've said so often, a better term is a bond slave. He took upon himself the form of a bond slave, and was made in the likeness of men, and being found in fashion as a man, he humbled himself, and became obedient unto death." Well what was the engine that drove His obedience? Love. His love for mankind, His love for the Father, drove Him to be obedient to the work of the cross. So He humbled Himself, and became obedient unto death, even the death of the cross, which was the most horrible death a person could possibly experience. Now let's come all the way back to II Corinthians chapter 5, and verse 14. Now I purposely wait, because I feel if you've got time to find the verses, then folks out there in their living rooms can find it as well, and that's what they've told us. Just give us time, so that's why I wait. II Corinthians chapter 5, verse 14, "...for the love of Christ constraineth us, because we thus judge that if one died for all, then we're all dead." But why did He die for all? Because of the love that constrains. Let's go back to Romans chapter 13, and this is Paul writing to believers, and this is one of those areas of Scripture that is so practical, and there's nothing pie in the sky about any of these things that he writes. This is everyday practicality, "...but to what love one another? For he who loveth another, now under grace, when we have loved another, we have fulfilled the law." Isn't that amazing? We don't have to have temple worship, we don't have to have a priesthood, we don't have to have animal sacrifices, we don't have to have the Ten Commandments constantly drilled into us, because once we step under the light of grace, and the Holy Spirit empowers us, love becomes the whole motivating power behind everything we do, and then we automatically fulfill the Law. As I've said so often, can you steal from somebody that you love? I can't comprehend it. Can you bear false witness, or can you gossip about somebody that you love? No. Can you covet something that a loved one owns, and you wish it was yours instead of theirs? No. And so you go through the whole gamut of Ten Commandments, and when love is operating, they all automatically fall away. They no longer become something that we have to be taught and drilled. Now reading on, I don't have to stand up here and tell you not to commit adultery. If your Christian love is operating, you won't commit adultery. Thou shalt not kill, that's obvious. You certainly aren't going to kill somebody you love. Thou shalt not bear false witness, thou shalt not covet, and if there be any other commandment that's briefly comprehended in this saying, thou shalt love thy neighbor as thyself. Now here it is in a nutshell, verse 10, "...love worketh no ill to his neighbor, therefore since love is the key, love is the fulfilling of the Law." Isn't that simple and practical? Now let's come back to Galatians chapter 5 once again. "...but faith worketh by love, and love worketh by faith, and faith worketh by love." Now verse 7, now don't lose the concept of this letter. These Gentiles who had come out of paganism as a result of Paul's Gospel, and now they were being deluged, they were literally being undermined by the teaching of having to keep the Law, now he says, you did run well, in other words your past has shown that you have become believers, who did hinder you that you should not obey the truth. In other words, Paul says, what's happening to you people? Well he knew, but yet he's trying to put them on the defensive by asking the questions, you know, and that's what the Lord always did. He asked the question, not because He needed the answer, but because He wanted to put His subject on the stump. And so Paul is doing the same thing. He says, you have run well, you've believed, you've become recipients of God's grace, now who hindered you that you cannot obey the truth? You know I always have to remember, I think it was a gentleman I knew down in the French area of Louisiana, which of course I'm sure is probably 99% Catholic, and he made this statement, but it's so appropriate in so many places. He said, I knew somebody down there that was not a Catholic, and I said, who in the world fooled with you? Well you know that's just exactly the way it is in so many instances. We run into a group of people, and they've been so thoroughly programmed, that when you find one that's different, you wonder, well who in the world blew you away? Well that's what Paul is saying. Here I had you indoctrinated, I had you taught, now who came along and is blowing you away? Well again he knew who it was, it was the Judaizers. Now let's look at verse 8. Ephesians 1, verse 8, "...this persuasion," in other words to come away from Paul's Gospel of Grace, "...this persuasion cometh not of him who calleth you," oh wowee, who called them? The Holy Spirit. Well if the Holy Spirit did not lead them away, then what Spirit did? The evil spirit. We've only got two spirits in the world, it's either of the Holy Spirit, or it's of the satanic evil spirit. And that's what, well in fact, let's go back to John's little epistles. I don't like to say anything unless I can show it from the Book. Go back to the little epistles of John, chapter 4, and see this is what the world is up against tonight, just as much as it was when Paul wrote to the Galatians. The human race hasn't changed one iota, not one bit. First John chapter 4, look what he says, "...beloved," so again who is he writing to? Believers. He's not writing to the unsaved world, he's writing to believers, and he says, "...beloved, believe not every spirit, but try or test the spirits, whether they are of God. Because many false prophets are gone out into the world." And then you come on down to verse 3, "...every spirit that confesseth not that Jesus Christ is come in the flesh, is not of God." And this is that spirit of Antichrist, and even now it's already in the world. So what are we up against? The two spirits. It's either of the Holy Spirit, or it's of the evil spirit. Now of course Satan has his demons, but nevertheless it's going to originate in the satanic powers, and this is what the world is up against. I mean it's up against everything that Satan can throw at them. You know I always have to remind people, don't get the idea that all Satan can promote is what we would call skid row behavior. Oh hey, Satan will promote the most beautiful things, and that which we think is cultural and enlightening, as long as he can keep people from the truth, hey it's his bag, he doesn't care what he uses. With Satan you see the end always justifies the means, or the means always justifies the end. That's the way it goes isn't it? No, the end justifies the means. But anyway, you know what I'm talking about, that Satan doesn't care what he uses, as long as he can keep people from the truth, and he will use good things, and it can still be the evil spirit, rather than the Holy Spirit that is speaking. Now come back to Galatians, so verse 8 again, this persuasion to go back under legalism, that didn't come from the Holy Spirit who brought them out of paganism, but it came from the same evil spirit that held them in paganism until the Gospel freed them. You see Satan never gives up. Now we're going to see probably in our next taping session, when we get over further in chapter 5, that for every believer there is a constant warfare, and it's between the two natures, the new nature which is Holy Spirit driven, and the old nature which still has its roots in the Satanic powers of the curse, and so those two natures are in a constant warfare, and so it is between the believer community in general, and the world in general, they are two total opposites, and so we are up against two forces constantly, and so even amongst the believers Paul says, the spirit that is taking you back into a false gospel is not the same spirit that brought you out. It's the opposite, so verse 8, "...and this persuasion cometh not of him that calleth you." Now then verse 9, here comes the warning, a little leaven, leaveneth the whole lump. Now in common vernacular what's leaven? Well it's yeast, and when you put yeast into the dough, it's not just going to leaven a fourth of it, it's going to leaven all of it. Now it's the same way with false teaching. If you let a little bit of false teaching in as leaven, it isn't long until it permeates the whole, and one leads to another. I think all you have to do, those of you who know your Bible, what has happened to Christendom in general? It's been leavened, and Christianity today is leavened. All the things that Scripture and Christianity stood against 50, 60, or 70 years ago, are all part and parcel of everyday experience. I'll never forget, I think I referred to it on the program a long time ago. We went and visited a church when one of our kids was at the university, and my, he made such a tremendous point of it, that all of the things of the world came knocking on the church's door. And the church said, Yeah, we can accommodate that, we can live with that. And then it wasn't long until the door opened a little further, and some of the other world stuff came in, and the church said, Yeah, we can live with that. And now you see the doors are wide open, and you can't tell the difference between the church and the world. What happened? A little leaven leavened the whole lump. Now let's read verse 10, and I have confidence in you. See Paul didn't give up on these people, he's not going to throw them to the wolves. He's still hanging in there, and he's trusting that He's going to bring them back to the truth. But like I said in an earlier program, on the basis of what he wrote to Timothy in II Timothy chapter 1, what happened? They didn't come back, because he said, all they in Asia have turned against me. And that's who these people were. They were in Asia Minor, they were in Galatia, but at this point in time the apostle still has not given up on the fact that He's going to bring them back into the truth of the Gospel of the grace of God. I have confidence in you through the Lord, that you will be none otherwise minded. But he that troubleth you shall bear his judgment, whoever he be, whoever it is that is bringing in this false teaching, whoever it is that is leading you away from the Gospel of grace, his judgment is sure. He's going to one day stand before the great white throne as a lost person, and he's going to be judged absolutely there. I've said for years and years, and I may get in hot water over this, but I've said for years that preachers and theologians who mislead people are going to have the hottest corner in the lake of fire, because they are misleading multitudes. You know when you pick up this book, I don't care if you're a Sunday school teacher or if you are just leading a small devotional, every time you pick up this book you are accepting a tremendous responsibility. And don't think I don't take it lightly, because I have to understand that if I would be guilty of misleading someone to the place of missing heaven's glory, I'm going to have to answer for it. But so far I've never felt guilty of that. I feel as though we've had so many people write and call and have expressed a joy of salvation that just sort of puts the stamp of God's approval on our ministry. If I didn't have that, I don't think I'd have much confidence. But over and over people who have been steeped in their particular background, Sunday school teachers and church officers, and they'll write and say, For the first time in my life I now know what it is to have a real salvation. Well if the Lord were not blessing it, that could never happen. And so we have to feel that we are presenting the Word as close to the truth as is humanly possible. My, I'd be scared to death of presenting an error. Now it could be, I'm human, I'm not saying I'm above error, and I just told someone on the phone the other day, I don't expect everyone to agree with me on everything. But on these fundamentals, who Christ is, or was, however you want to put it, that He was virgin born, that He is God the Creator, and that His atoning work of the cross has completed every bit of God's requirement for salvation. He rose from the dead, He's coming again, and I will never compromise those things. I'd rather go back and just simply stay on the ranch. I suppose a lot of people think that's where I should have stayed in the first place, but whatever. If I sound bold at times, this is why. I don't have to depend on some denominational retirement account, I don't depend on a salary from any of this. If I get booted out of this situation, then I can just go back and pet my cows a little more than usual. The Irish think I give them more attention than they deserve anyway. But whatever, we're going to proclaim the truth as the Lord lays it upon us, even as the Apostle Paul did, and he said over and over, if I don't, and if I please men, then I'm not pleasing God. And listen, I'm far more fearful of God than I am of men. And so here is where Paul the Apostle says, "...he that troubleth you with their false teaching, he shall bear his judgment." Whoever he is, whether he was highly educated, whether he was a philosopher, whether he was a high man in Judaism, Paul says, I don't care who he was, he is going to one day stand in judgment. Verse 11, "...and I, brethren, if I yet preach circumcision, why do I yet suffer persecution?" Well who were his chief persecutors? The Judaizers. Oh listen, it's been a while, I think we've got time, haven't we? What have we got? Four or five minutes? Oh, plenty of time. Let's come back to Acts chapter 15. Most of you here know this, but we might have someone watching the program for one of the earliest times, and haven't been aware of all this. But in Acts 15, here is exactly what he was up against. Acts 15 verse 1, "...and certain men who came down from Judea..." Now remember, this isn't Paul writing, who's writing this? Luke. See, this is Luke the historian. Luke is writing the account. "...certain men came down from Judea," that is to Antioch, where Paul and Barnabas had been ministering amongst primarily Gentiles, remember, "...and they came from Jerusalem, and they taught the brethren," those believing Gentiles at Antioch, "...and they taught the brethren, and said, Except ye be circumcised after the manner of Moses, ye cannot be saved." See how clear that is? That's what Paul was up against. These people came down from Jerusalem with authority, I mean after all they were emissaries of the Twelve. Now a lot of people probably don't like the idea that I put Peter, James and John along with a lot of these Judaizers, and he says, unless you're circumcised after the manner of Moses, you cannot be saved. Then I'm going to skip the other verses just for sake of time, and then you come up to verse 5. Acts 15 verse 5. "...Now as the council takes place in Jerusalem, and Paul and Barnabas have gone down from Antioch, and there rose up certain of the sect of the Pharisees, who believed, that it was needful to circumcise them," that is the Gentile converts at Antioch, "...and to command them to keep the law of Moses." And these people up in Galatia were falling for that, and this is what Paul had to constantly remind them. If I've got a minute, I'll come back to Galatians chapter 5, and we'll finish up probably on verse 11. And Paul says, hey listen, if I preached what the Judaizers from Jerusalem preached, hey I'd have clear sailing. I wouldn't have any opposition, and I wouldn't be under this persecution, because that's their main reason for hating me, and for fighting me, is because I will not give in to circumcising these Gentile believers. And he says, if that's the case, if I preach circumcision, why do I yet suffer persecution? And if he were to stop preaching against legalism and the Law, then he says, is the offense of the cross brought to an end. Isn't that amazing? All Paul would have had to do to have an easy role, all he would have had to do is succumb to the pressure, and all he would have had to do is give in and say, okay, I'll preach circumcision, I'll preach law keeping, get off my back. That's all he would have had to do. God wouldn't have been satisfied, but the world would have. And the Church would have just died a natural death, and Satan would have gloated all the way into eternity. But Paul didn't. Paul never backed off, he never gave in to the Judaizers, and as we saw in Galatians chapter 2, he stood his ground, so that the truth of the Gospel might continue with you Gentiles. And he never backed away, and so he did. He suffered persecution every day of his life, and then later on of course it came under the heavy hand of the Roman government. But I think even Paul's problems were precipitated by Judaizers, just like Christ. Rome didn't just go out and arrest Christ and crucify Him. Who demanded it? Well, the Jews of the day, because they couldn't accept who He was. So you see, the apostle never gave in, he never backed off, even though the persecution was reigning supreme on the man. He hung in there. Thank you for watching Through the Bible with Les Feldick, a weekly Bible study. If you would like more information about the Les Feldick Ministries, a Bible study in your area, or about this program, write to Les Feldick Ministries, Route 1, Box 760, Kenta, OK 74552. That's Route 1, Box 760, Kenta, OK 74552. Through the Bible with Les Feldick is viewer supported, and your gift is appreciated. Thank you.