This episode takes many of themes of psalm 119 and applies them to Christian living. "The law is given as a tutor to lead us to Christ." (Gal. 3:24) While Christians should always rely on Christ and His merit as the basis for justification, they should nevertheless seek to honor God by fulfilling the Law, which is summed up in the Great Commandments. And, just as faith in Christ is the basis of our justification, faith in Christ is also the basis for all subsequent sanctification. Christ aids us in fulfilling the Law, while He delivers us from the power of sin. In essence, Christians are to keep the moral law THROUGH the power and grace of Christ. Many of the themes of dependence on God's grace are sprinkled throughout Psalm 119, the psalmist noting that he need God's grace to keep the Law. The episode is a needful reminder to the Christian Church to reject the Marcionite false dichotomy of our day which bogusly asserts that the Old Testament was all law and the New Testament all grace.
“Work Smart, Get a Vision”
This episode reemphasizes the absolute necessity of spending time with God in prayer and gaining His perspective on how we should invest our lives this year. Col. 3:1-2 tells us to "set our minds on things that are above where Christ is seated, NOT on things below.." Many Christians live reactive and aimless lives because they lack the tailor-made vision for their lives. Prioritizing the divine perspective over the lusts of men, ours and others', is the only way to lead an intentional life that pleases God. The episode closes with Nehemiah as an example of seeking God's will despite having sin issues. So no Christian can legitimately claim that God can't use them.
Faith in God Culminates with Seeing God
This initial episode defines the beatific vision as the direct apprehension of God Himself. While believers cannot have it in this life, believers are called to fix all of their hope in God. Very interestingly, the passage that most explicitly describes the beatific vision, 1 John 3:2-3, strongly suggests that the prerequisite for seeing God face to face, is looking like Him. Anticipating that many would lose hope based on their present condition, Christians are nevertheless exhorted to place all their hope on Christ and His transforming power. The episode notes the difference between our position in Christ (perfection) and our condition. We aren't only justified by faith in Christ, we are also sanctified by faith in Christ.