This episode provides another possible reason why many Christians do not have a full appreciation of the Law, and this lack is made more salient because the psalmist in psalm 119 wasn't even born again. The psalmist was nevertheless beside himself with love and delight in God's law. So how is it that NT believers, who by definition are born again, have less delight with the Law of God than the unregenerate psalmist in Psalm 119? The episode first addresses the presumption of many that the psalmist was born again, showing that the Scripture indicates regeneration is a result of the resurrection (1 Peter 1:3) and the glorification of Christ (John 7:39) Believers consequently were NOT born again in the Old Testament. They nevertheless put their faith in God and even delighted with the Law of God, based on the influence of the Holy Spirit. So again, how is it that the unregenerate psalmist, who is INFLUENCED by the Spirit, delighted more with the Law than many REGENERATE Christians today? The episode contends that the sanctification expectations of "Romans 7" Christians stunt appreciation of God's Law. If Christians are at best divided souls, where the fleshly and spiritual principles are intractably at war, WITHOUT the expectation that the Spirit gains the upper hand, then the natural consequence is that these believers can never attain a holistic appreciation of God's Law. But this purely Romans 7 theology collapses in light of Romans 8:2, "For the law of the Spirit of life in Christ Jesus has set you free from the law of sin and death." The episode closes by exhorting believers to embrace the substantial victory of the Spirit over the fleshly principle and as a bi-product holistically delight in God's Law.
Are You a True Believer or a Mercenary?
This episode addresses the purely "transactional" understanding of salvation by mercenary Christians. "Transactional" Christians are professing Christians who have made a calculated decision to "follow" Christ, not because His way is better, but because He's the only One who can satisfy their sin-debt. While elements of this perspective are also embraced by genuine believers, true Christians follow Christ because they actually see Christ's way as so much better. They reflect on their false ways by contrast, and repent. Like the Psalmist, they have two encounters with the Law of God: one challenging and convicting, the second delightful and instructive. Mercenary "believers" are likened to the wicked, lazy "servant" in the parable of the talents. That servant also had a transactional understanding of "accepting" Christ. He took care of his sin-debt problem by ostensibly trusting Christ and then went off and buried his talent in the ground. He never fell in love with Christ and never delighted with the Law of God in the inner man. The other 2 servants delighted in the gifts of the Master and invested those gifts to honor Him. A transactional, mercenary view of Christ and the salvation He offers is consequently not salvation at all, for the wicked lazy servants ends up in hell.
Are You a Worshiper of Christ or a Mercenary?
This episode bluntly calls into question the professed "salvation" of some believers, based on a transactional, even mercenary view of Christianity. This superficial acceptance of Christianity acknowledges that Christ paid our sin-debt in full so that we would not have to pay those wages in hell. So a logical response, based on self-preservation, is to "accept" Christ. Well this simplistic mercenary picture of Christianity, where one sides with Christ SINGULARLY to escape consequences, does not correspond to the whole gospel presented in Scripture. While the fear of hell, the ultimate consequence of breaking God's Law, motivates a surface "acceptance" of Christ, genuine repentance and faith in Christ is the response of those who renounce their way in favor of God's Way, Christ Himself. Fear of consequences isn't their only motivation, but a genuine disgust with themselves coupled with devotion to Christ. This is precisely the dynamic present in the Psalm 119 where the psalmist turns to the Lord in faith because he loves God and His Law, though he has in fact suffered severe consequences for breaking God's Law. True believers would follow Christ even if the ultimate destination of heaven or hell wasn't an issue.
The Law Expresses the “Beauty of Holiness”
This episode is a recap of the previous week's teaching on Psalm 119, emphasizing the common threads of God's work in establishing our way, ultimately leading to a genuinely positive delight in God's law. Since the law is a reflection of God's character and beauty, love of God coupled with disdain for God's Law is inconceivable. While true believers would never seek to justify themselves by keeping God's Law, they nevertheless delight in that Law based on being born again. Romans 7:22 affirms that they "delight with the Law of God in the inner man." The episode closes with Jonathan Edwards' phraseology describing believers' delight in God's holiness described in the Law. Christians alone can apprehend the "beauty of holiness."
Starving for and Filled with the Law of God
The Christian life is all about the transformation of self-centered desires into truly satisfying God-honoring desires. This episode cites several verses in Psalm 119 in which the psalmist's desires are consumed with God and His law, even to the point the author sounds famished for them: "I am crushed with longing after your ordinances at all times." (20) This language signals the transformation of desire available to all Christians. God deposits in every believer a holy relish for God and His law (Romans 7:22), and saints who cooperate with the process of sanctification discover the beauty and excellency of God's law, which expresses God Himself. True lasting fulfillment is the reward of all those who hunger and thirst for righteousness. Their desperate longing is satisfied in Christ Himself.
Make the Law Your Rod and Staff
The road to having the psalmist's ways established involves two encounters with God's law. As a reminder, Psalm 119 uses 8 words to describe God's law: judgments, ordinances, precepts, word, testimonies, statutes, commandments, and way. The first encounter for Christians is often corrective: the law reflects God's character and highlights where ours is deficient. When believers work through the challenges of conforming to God's law through confession and repentance, they can revisit the same law and experience delight. God in His grace does a transformative work and now the law becomes the psalmist's delight. (Psalm 119:20)(Psalm 1:2) Believers should therefore recognize that the roadmap of sanctification is a purposeful journey in which we are both corrected and comforted by God's law as the Holy Spirit transforms us into the image of Christ.
Obey the Law through the Power of Christ
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.
Grace to Repent
This recap of the prior weeks' lessons emphasizes the necessity of God's grace in repentance. Many believers unfortunately don't avail themselves of God's grace to repent, because they're unaware that God honors sincere prayers that say something like, "Lord, I confess this sin, but I honestly don't want to repent..can you help me?" The primary casualty of such a prayer is human pride, and God gives grace to the humble honest petitioner who acknowledges that even though he knows about God's ways, he can't honestly embrace them as his own. The grace to repent, is consequently God's answer to the psalmist's first petition in verse 5: "that my ways be established to keep your statutes." The psalmist rests his hope on God's grace to repent in verse 32: "I will run the way of your statutes, for you will enlarge my heart." God establishes the psalmist's "ways" by enlarging his heart and helping him to repent.
“Graciously Grant Me Your Law”
The road to looking like Christ involves confession and repentance. While many readily confess their sins, repentance is often more challenging. Psalm 119: 25-32 records the psalmist's struggle to repent, and the psalmist's dependence on the grace of God to help him repent. "Remove the false way from me and graciously grant me your law." (29) The Psalmist implores God to give him a gift he doesn't deserve, i.e., grace, and that gift is His law. The gift of God's law here refers to granting the psalmist's a love for God's law, whereby he can abandon false ways and repent. This dependence on the grace of God to repent is underscored by verse 32: "I shall run the way of Your commandments, for you will enlarge my heart." Grace enlarges the psalmist's heart, enabling him to repent and therefore fulfill God's law. The application for NT believers struggling to repent is straightforward. Grace doesn't just release us from the penalty of sin, it also changes us from within, giving us a new heart so we can honor God by obeying Him. We run the way of commandments because He enlarges our heart.
The Mirror of God’s Law
Citing Psalm 119:104, this episode highlights how God gets us to change our ways. "From your precepts I get understanding; therefore I hate every false way." God's precepts, one of the eight expressions of God's way and law used in Psalm 119, act as a mirror to show us where we have missed the marked. They reveal the psalmist's false way (and those of others) and he sees the obvious disconnect. Confession and repentance should be the response, and we observe this in Psalm 119:59: "I considered my ways and turned my feet to your testimonies." God's law reveals sin, and ideally the response is confession and repentance. The psalmist then reconsiders the law, here God's testimonies, and sees its inherent beauty. At one point the psalmist's petitions God: "Open my eyes that I may behold wonderful things in your law." (18) This positive encounter with God's law is largely contingent upon the initial response to God's law where we confess and repent. The law consequently for NT believers is therefore very useful if we would become more like Christ.