Sacraments are the two -and only two- God has commanded His Word be made visible. Read / Listen Listen to passage & devotional: Heidelberg Catechism Q&A 68 Q. How many sacraments did Christ institute in the New Testament? A. Two: baptism and the Lord’s Supper. Summary We have spent this week looking at what sacraments are and how they confirm our faith in Jesus Christ. As we come to the end of Lord’s Day 25 we are going to look at one more question. It is a question that perhaps we might think should have been asked at the beginning of the week as opposed to now, but there is a reason it is asked at the end. Before we get to the question, let's look at our two passages. In Matthew 28:19-20, Jesus gives the Christian Church our marching orders. We are to go and make disciples. It is an imperative; a command given to all believers. When we make these disciples of Jesus Christ, they are to be baptized. This comes directly from Jesus himself. In 1 Cor. 11:23-26, the Apostle Paul is ensuring the church in Corinth knows what the Lord’s Supper means. It is not simply a meal to be remembered. Paul repeats the words that Jesus used with his disciples when instituted the Lord’s Supper. The Lord’s Supper was given by Jesus to his disciples (and the Church) as a sign and seal of God’s grace in Jesus Christ. Dig Deeper Question and answer 68 seems fairly straight forward. Afterall, we have been looking at only two sacraments all week long: the Lord’s Supper and baptism. Why then is this question in the Heidelberg Catechism? Because not all Christians believe there are two sacraments. That is why this question comes at the end of Lord’s Day 25 after we have looked at what sacraments are. The Heidelberg Catechism was written as a tool for teaching and preaching, as well as a confession of faith. It was a tool that ensured that Reformed believers were taught what the Bible says regarding sin, salvation, and Christian living. While not a direct response to Catholicism, some questions address the differences between Catholicism and the Reformed tradition. For example, the Roman Catholic Church has seven sacraments: Baptism, confirmation, Eucharist, penance, extreme unction, holy orders, and matrimony. Q&A 68 wants to ensure believers know that there are only two sacraments instituted by Jesus. Nowhere in scripture does Jesus give confirmation, penance, extreme unction, holy orders, nor matrimony to the Church as sacraments. Furthermore, the Baptist church does not believe the Lord’s Supper and baptism are sacraments, they believe they are ordinances (an act of man in obedience to God). We celebrate the Lord’s Supper and baptism not because of tradition, but because they have been given to us by Jesus. We celebrate these sacraments because the Holy Spirit works through them to confirm our faith in Jesus. These sacraments are signs and seals of God’s promises to his people, and they impart grace to his children. Praise be to God that he has given us these sacraments as physical signs of what Jesus has done for us. We are saved through the death and resurrection of Jesus Christ. The Lord’s Supper and baptism confirm this truth. AAA Prayer (About) ACKNOWLEDGE WHO GOD IS: The God of all truth; ALIGN YOUR LIFE WITH GOD'S WILL: Pray that the Holy Spirit would make God’s truth known in your life so that you can follow him faithfully all the days of your life; ASK GOD FOR WHAT YOU NEED: Read the New Testament in a year, a chapter a day - Colossians 3

Baptism is more than water on your head... It's a whole new wardrobe. Read / Listen Listen to passage & devotional: Heidelberg Catechism Q&A 67 Q. Are both the word and the sacraments then intended to focus our faith on the sacrifice of Jesus Christ on the cross as the only ground of our salvation? A. Right! In the gospel the Holy Spirit teaches us and through the holy sacraments he assures us that our entire salvation rests on Christ’s one sacrifice for us on the cross. Summary In Genesis 12, God called Abraham out of his country and told him to go to a new land. God made a covenant with Abraham, saying, “I will make you into a great nation, and I will bless you; I will make your name great, and you will be a blessing…and all peoples on earth will be blessed through you.” In Galatians, Paul affirms that God’s promise to Abraham was fulfilled in Jesus Christ. If you belong to Jesus, you are an heir of God’s promise to Abraham. You are part of the promise that God made to Abraham. How did God fulfill that promise? He sent Jesus to die on the cross for our sins and salvation. When Jesus was crucified on that cross, he took the weight of our sin. When he died and rose from the dead, he defeated death. Through his death and resurrection, Jesus has defeated sin and death. Anyone who is in Christ has been given new life. They are no longer slaves to sin, but are free through the grace of Jesus Christ. Dig Deeper When you celebrate the Lord’s Supper and baptism, you are seeing physical signs and seals of what God has spiritually done. It was through the crucifixion of Jesus that you have a new life. It was through the shedding of his blood that you can be forgiven of your sins. It was through his death and resurrection that you have the promise of everlasting life. All of this is found in Jesus Christ alone. It cannot be found anywhere else or in anyone else. When you celebrate the Lord’s Supper you are reminded of Jesus’ perfect sacrifice on the cross. We are united together as God’s people by the Holy Spirit and to Jesus Christ, the head of the Church. We have hope because we know that death is not the end; Jesus is going to return and is going to make all things new again. In baptism God promises by grace alone to forgive your sins, to adopt you into the body of Christ, the church, to send the Holy Spirit daily to renew and cleanse you, and to resurrect you to eternal life. This promise is made visible in the water of baptism. The Lord’s Supper and baptism point to Jesus and everything he has done. The Holy Spirit works through these two sacraments to confirm your faith in Jesus and bless you. Jesus has given us both the Lord’s Supper and baptism as signs and seals of his amazing grace. AAA Prayer (About) ACKNOWLEDGE WHO GOD IS: Trustworthy God, who is reliable and above reproach; ALIGN YOUR LIFE WITH GOD'S WILL: Thank you for the promise to Abraham, and the fulfillment of that promise in Jesus. May I never take them for granted; ASK GOD FOR WHAT YOU NEED: Read the New Testament in a year, a chapter a day - Colossians 2

Sacraments are simply signs and seals symbolizing salvation. Read / Listen Listen to passage & devotional: Heidelberg Catechism Q&A 66 Q. What are sacraments? A. Sacraments are holy signs and seals for us to see. They were instituted by God so that by our use of them he might make us understand more clearly the promise of the gospel, and might put his seal on that promise. And this is God’s gospel promise: to forgive our sins and give us eternal life by grace alone because of Christ’s one sacrifice finished on the cross. Summary Jesus uses very interesting terminology when instituting the Lord’s Supper. He says to his disciples when they are eating the communion bread, “Take and eat; this is my body.” Then when he gives them the wine to drink, he says, “Drink from it, all of you. This is my blood of the covenant.” Why would Jesus use those terms? This builds on what we started to look at yesterday when we studied how the sacraments confirm our faith in Jesus Christ. When we eat the bread of the Lord’s Supper, we are not eating the physical body of Christ. When we drink from the cup of the Lord’s Supper, we are not drinking the physical blood of Christ. While Jesus is present spiritually in the Lord’s Supper through the work of the Holy Spirit, we are not eating his body or drinking his blood. Jesus uses these terms because the sacraments are signs and seals of God’s promises in Jesus Christ. Dig Deeper When we baptize an infant or a new convert, we know that baptism does not save them. We are only saved by grace through faith in Jesus Christ. Yet, baptism is a sign and seal of God’s gospel promise. As surely as water washes away dirt from our bodies, the blood of Christ, shed on the cross, washes away our sins. Baptism is a sign and seal because it points to the sacrifice Jesus made on the cross, and shows us how we are saved through faith. It is why we can sing a song like Nothing But the Blood of Jesus so fervently. What can wash away my sin? Nothing but the blood of Jesus. What can make me whole again? Nothing but the blood of Jesus. When we eat of the bread and drink of the cup of the Lord’s Supper, it too is a sign and seal of God’s gospel promise. Communion points to the sacrifice of Jesus on the cross. Jesus’ body was broken and his blood shed for our salvation. Not only that, just as bread and juice physically nourish us, Jesus nourishes us spiritually through his presence. The sacraments are a physical way for God to confirm a spiritual reality. We celebrate them to confirm our faith in Jesus and be nourished by him. AAA Prayer (About) ACKNOWLEDGE WHO GOD IS: Amazing God, who shows us, as well as teaches us of your power and grace; ALIGN YOUR LIFE WITH GOD'S WILL: Pray that you would contemplate the meaning of the sacraments as you are celebrating them; ASK GOD FOR WHAT YOU NEED: Read the New Testament in a year, a chapter a day - Colossians 1

The sacraments are a participation in Christ. How much participation would you like? Read / Listen Listen to passage & devotional: Heidelberg Catechism Q&A 65 Q. It is by faith alone that we share in Christ and all his blessings: where then does that faith come from? A. The Holy Spirit produces it in our hearts by the preaching of the holy gospel, and confirms it through our use of the holy sacraments. Summary Our faith is brought about by hearing the gospel preached. The Holy Spirit works through God’s holy Word to bring about faith in Jesus Christ. The Holy Spirit confirms this faith by our use of the holy sacraments. Jesus tells us in the Great Commission (Matthews 28:19-20) to go and make disciples of all nations and baptize them in the name of the Father, and the Son, and the Holy Spirit. The Apostle Paul says that by eating the bread and drinking from the cup of the Lord’s Supper we are participating in the body and blood of Christ. When celebrating the Lord’s Supper and baptisms, the Holy Spirit works through these two holy sacraments to confirm your faith in Jesus Christ. That is why the sacraments are referred to, along with the preaching of God's Word, as means of grace. By celebrating these two sacraments, you receive God’s grace through the work of the Holy Spirit. The sacraments (baptism and the Lord’s Supper), point us to Jesus and His saving work and deepen your relationship with Him. Dig Deeper When I was a kid, my mother would only use her good plates on special occasions like Easter, Thanksgiving, and Christmas. They were ornately decorated, and were only for important events. Otherwise, they would sit in a hutch. Is that how the Christian Church views the Lord’s Supper? Is it something that is so special, it can only be brought out occasionally? We think, “we cannot celebrate communion too much, otherwise it is no longer special.” How often does your church celebrate the Lord’s Supper? Is it quarterly? More frequently? The Lord’s Supper and baptism are a blessing given by Jesus to confirm our faith in him. While we can only celebrate baptisms when there are children or new unbaptized converts to baptize, we can celebrate the Lord’s Supper more frequently. If the Holy Spirit confirms our faith through the sacraments, shouldn’t we want to celebrate them more often? As followers of Christ, Jesus places the Great Commission before us. We are to go and make disciples. By making disciples we will get to celebrate baptisms, and there will be rejoicing in heaven! The Lord’s Supper is given to us by Jesus to celebrate and confirm our faith in him. Your elders and pastor oversee the celebration of the Lord’s Supper, so if you wonder why you celebrate it when you do, be sure to ask them. We will spend more time on Wednesday and Thursday digging into what it means to receive grace from the sacraments. For now, know that the Holy Spirit works through the Lord’s Supper and baptism to confirm our faith in Jesus. While both are holy, we can celebrate them often to help confirm our faith. AAA Prayer (About) ACKNOWLEDGE WHO GOD IS: God of grace, who sends us, His people, out with the good news; ALIGN YOUR LIFE WITH GOD'S WILL: Draw me closer to you through celebrating baptism and the Lord’s Supper; ASK GOD FOR WHAT YOU NEED: Read the New Testament in a year, a chapter a day - Philippians 4

Biblical preaching is what fuels your faith in Christ. Read / Listen Listen to passage & devotional: Heidelberg Catechism Q&A 65 Q. It is by faith alone that we share in Christ and all his blessings: where then does that faith come from? A. The Holy Spirit produces it in our hearts by the preaching of the holy gospel, and confirms it through our use of the holy sacraments. Summary This week, we're pivoting from the Apostles’ Creed to an introduction of the sacraments. The sacraments are an important part of our worship. Before we get into the sacraments, lets be reminded where our faith comes from. As someone who grew up in the Reformed tradition, I have heard Ephesians 2:8 preached on many times. Its simple message is one that cannot be overstated: For it is by grace you have been saved, through faith—and this is not from yourselves, it is the gift of God. We do not earn grace, we cannot buy grace, we are given God’s grace through faith. Heidelberg Question 65 asks the next logical question: where then does that faith come from? Our faith is a gift of God, through the work of the Holy Spirit. When we hear the word of God proclaimed, through preaching, the Holy Spirit works in our hearts to draw us to the Lord. Our faith is dependent upon the preaching of the gospel. Dig Deeper Do you ever wonder why ministers preach on the Old Testament as well as the New Testament? The New Testament focuses on Jesus, so why do we need to hear from the Old Testament? The Bible is the arc of redemption. The climax of the Bible are the Gospels: Matthew, Mark, Luke, and John, because they teach us about Jesus; His life, His crucifixion, and His resurrection. While the Gospels are the climax, the Old Testament teaches us God’s plan for salvation and how we got there. God worked through men and women like Abraham, Moses, Rahab, Ruth, and David to bring about his plan for salvation. He spoke through prophets like Isaiah and Haggai to prepare the way for the coming Messiah. Through the preaching of the Old Testament, we see how God was at work all the way back in Genesis, and as we move forward through the Bible we are led by God to his Son, Jesus Christ. From there, God lays out how He will complete His work when Jesus returns. The Holy Spirit works through all of scripture to turn your heart toward God. By the preaching of God’s Word, you hear who God is, who you are in relation to Him (a sinner in need of redemption), and what God did to save you from your sin. It is through the preaching of the Word that the Holy Spirit works on your heart to draw you to God by showing you that you are a sinner in need of grace. The only way to receive that grace is from God through faith that preaching produces. AAA Prayer (About) ACKNOWLEDGE WHO GOD IS: Most Holy and Righteous God, your Word endures forever; ALIGN YOUR LIFE WITH GOD'S WILL: May I seek out the preaching of your word; ASK GOD FOR WHAT YOU NEED: Read the New Testament in a year, a chapter a day - Philippians 3

You can't produce fruit if you're disconnected from Christ. Read / Listen Listen to passage & devotional: Heidelberg Catechism Q&A 64 Q. But doesn’t this teaching (that our works do not contribute to our salvation) make people indifferent and wicked? A. No. It is impossible for those grafted into Christ by true faith not to produce fruits of gratitude. Summary There are two words the Bible uses to describe how to live a fruitful life. The word used most often to describe successful Christians is the word Jesus uses in the example of a grape plant which bears fruit. This word has a passive feel to it. Jesus explains that as long as a branch remains connected to the vine, it will bear fruit. In other words, the fruit is going to come as long as the connection is maintained, just like a grape branch, when given the proper inputs, can't help but bear fruit. Sadly this isn't the case for every branch. Some grow off as long, wild shoots with lots of stem but no leaves or flowers. Others bury themselves under other branches, hidden from the sunlight. Still others seem to be in just the right condition, getting plenty of water, nutrients and sunlight, but for whatever reason nothing comes out of them. In each of these cases the unfruitful branches are cut of and thrown into the burn pile. In the second half of this passage, Jesus puts 'flesh' on this metaphor so to speak. He is the vine, and you and I are the branches. As long as we remain connected to Him - that is, as long as His Word and Spirit are flowing into our lives - He assures us that we will bear fruit. But some people are not content with this relationship, and shoot off on their own. Many bury themselves in the busyness of life, and although connected to the nutrients, do not absorb them. Apart from me, Jesus says, these people can do nothing, and their unfruitful lives will be cut off and thrown away. Dig Deeper Our instinct is to prefer the other word the Bible uses in regards to fruitfulness. We want to be people who produce fruit in our lives. Produce is a much more active word, and conjures up images of hard work, resourcefulness, and downright determination. Those are all good things, but most of the time the Bible uses the word produce, it does so in a negative way. Pharisees are quite often the people the Bible speaks of in connection with trying to produce fruit. They work super hard to impress their neighbors and appease their own consciences, but their reliance is totally on themselves, disconnected from the nutrients of the the true vine. The result is often like a Red Delicious apple: it looks really good and shiny on the outside, but not very appealing when the skin is peeled back. You've been created to be fruitful - to do and make things that reflect and glorify the image of God that you've been created in. Most of this world, separated from the vine by sin, is either desperately expending energy trying to produce fruit on their own, or they've given up trying and consequentially have very little meaning in their lives. So stay connected to the Vine - Jesus Christ. As you immerse yourself in the nutrients that flow from His Word, your life will naturally bear fruit. NOTE: The English Bible translations often use 'bear' and 'produce' interchangeably (even the Catechism uses the word produce). The contrast is much more noticeable in the Greek. AAA Prayer (About) ACKNOWLEDGE WHO GOD IS: Our Father, the gardner, who cuts away unfruitful branches; ALIGN YOUR LIFE WITH GOD'S WILL: Pray that you remain connected to the vine so that your life bears the fruit it was designed for. ASK GOD FOR WHAT YOU NEED: Read the New Testament in a year, a chapter a day - Philippians 2

Jesus is coming to settle up. What does that mean for you? Read / Listen Listen to passage & devotional: Heidelberg Catechism Q&A 63 Q. How can you say that the good we do doesn’t earn anything when God promises to reward it in this life and the next? A. This reward is not earned; it is a gift of grace. Summary It's always interesting looking at the famous last words of people throughout history. Often times people use such words to convey advice for those who continue to live. These words of Jesus that John records here could be classified as Jesus' last words, communicating key advice for how His followers ought to live as they wait for His return. We're just going to focus on v12 today as we continue looking at what it means that God promises to reward Christians for the good work we do, in addition to the saving grace that He gives to all who believe. The plain reading of the NIV’s translation could easily be misunderstood as presenting the returning, victorious Christ as some sort of a divine Santa Claus, coming back with a bag of rewards to give out for all of the good things that people have done in their lifetimes. Many people mistakenly place their hope for salvation in God by comparing the number of seemingly good deeds they have performed against their sinful deeds, and such a person might conclude after reading this passage that Christ’s words bear good news for them since, from their perspective at least, they have done more good things than bad. But this is a dangerous misunderstanding of the gospel. Your salvation is based on grace alone, through faith alone, so you must place all of your trust in Christ alone, since as we learned a few days ago, even your best efforts are tainted with sin and on their own are unacceptable to God. But as we learned yesterday, the work you for Christ's Church will not go unrecognized, and in His final words to us, Jesus promises that He will reward them! Dig Deeper When I was in seminary, I wrote a lengthy paper on how to best translate this verse. Here's where I landed: Look, I am coming soon. My settlement is with me to repay each one for what he has done. One thing that quickly becomes apparent with this translation is that Jesus has something for everyone: To those who have ignored Jesus' free offer of grace and have instead followed their own way, Jesus will settle up with them by giving them exactly what they want: an eternity devoid of grace (in which they'll face the full measure of God's unmitigated wrath for their sin); To those who trust in Christ for their righteousness, He will most certainly give to them the reward He's promised: peace with God; But to those who've not only trusted in Christ alone for their salvation, but who have also sacrificed their own wants and desires to work hard for Him in their lives, Jesus here promises to pay them with wages that will never fade away! Which of these three categories do you fall in? Be sure to heed Christ's famous last words. Trust in Him alone for salvation for sure, but also take full advantage to increase your reward by using the gifts He's given you to build up His body, the Church. AAA Prayer (About) ACKNOWLEDGE WHO GOD IS: Our Father, who accepts the sanctified work you do in Christ; ALIGN YOUR LIFE WITH GOD'S WILL: Pray that when Christ returns with the settlement you deserve, you will not be ashamed of what you have done for Him. ASK GOD FOR WHAT YOU NEED: Read the New Testament in a year, a chapter a day - Philippians 1

Why work for the minimum wage in life when you've been offered the maximum wage? Read / Listen Listen to passage & devotional: Heidelberg Catechism Q&A 63 Q. How can you say that the good we do doesn’t earn anything when God promises to reward it in this life and the next? A. This reward is not earned; it is a gift of grace. Summary We're jumping into a discussion here in 1 Corinthians 3 in which Paul is helping these early Christians and us understand that God uses all sorts of different ministers, churches and denominations to build Christians, and so far as they are faithfully proclaiming God's Word, God is using all of them to grow His Church. But in making this point, Paul writes something that catches our attention here today: even though there are many different roles to play and jobs to do in building the Church, each will receive his wages according to his labor (v8 - ESV). This seems to be in conflict with the gospel's primary message that salvation, and the rewards of eternal life in paradise with Christ, are a gift of grace alone! It appears from this verse that a person's eternal reward will be commensurate with the amount of work that person did for the Kingdom in life! Paul adds some clarification in v12-15. You have been called to build up Christ's church by using the Spiritual Gift that He's given to you. That work will be "shown for what it is," and half hearted efforts will not last, and although you will not receive an extra reward, you'll still get God's free gift of salvation, "even though only as one escaping through the flames." But if you make this work your top priority in life, and you make the effort to develop your gifts and become proficient with them, the Bible - here and multiple other places - makes clear that you will be rewarded. Dig Deeper It's important to understand that even though you will be paid for the work you've done for God's Kingdom, these wages are still completely a gift of grace. As we began our study of our only comfort in life and death, we were reminded that on our own, "we are so corrupt that we are totally unable to do any good (question 8)." But we are not on our own any more, are we! We have been regenerated - born again. Along with that grace, God gifted you with an ability to live for His glory by using your skills and talents to build up others. Your ability to do this work comes only because God in His grace gave you the necessary tools. As an extra grace, He will pay you for using the tools He's given you! This reward is something that Jesus talks about often, especially in the Sermon on the Mount (Matthew 5-7), and as we'll see tomorrow, one of the last things Jesus says to us in the very last chapter of the Bible is that He's coming soon to make payment! So be sure to work hard for Him, so that the treasure you build up is waiting for you in heaven. AAA Prayer (About) ACKNOWLEDGE WHO GOD IS: Our Father, who makes His Church grow by using the talents & skills He's given to His children; ALIGN YOUR LIFE WITH GOD'S WILL: Pray that you will know how you've been gifted, that you will see the opportunities to contribute, and that your work will stand the test and be eternally rewarded. ASK GOD FOR WHAT YOU NEED: Read the New Testament in a year, a chapter a day - Ephesians 6

Even your best efforts are as filthy rags, so you need new clothes! Read / Listen Listen to passage & devotional: Heidelberg Catechism Q&A 62 Q. Why can’t the good we do make us right with God, or at least help make us right with him? A. Because the righteousness which can pass God’s scrutiny must be entirely perfect and must in every way measure up to the divine law. Even the very best we do in this life is imperfect and stained with sin. Summary Isaiah 64 captures both the transcendence and immanence of God. Normally those concepts are polar opposites: many religions feature a transcendent God like the greek god Zeus, who controls all things from on high; new age religions focus solely on the immanent aspects of their god, which is often reduced to a generic spirituality that pervades all things. The God of the Bible is both of these extremes all at once. The mountains tremble before Him and the nations quake as He makes His name known. Yet at the very same time, this powerful God is our Father who will not remember our sins forever. Though there's much we could drill into here in this beautiful passage, today we're going to focus in on the ugliness it communicates: that even our most righteous acts are like filthy rags. We were created as image bearers of God in all of the beauty that comes along with that, able to think and act just like our Father, but having fallen into sin, Isaiah writes that we've all shriveled up like a leaf, and like the wind we've been swept away by our sins. It's passages like this one that our Catechism is summarizing when it says that even the very best we do in this life is imperfect and stained with sin. So along with Isaiah in v5, we cry out, "How then can we be saved?" Isaiah's prayer here in this 64th chapter is that God will reshape us, His broken shards of clay, completely bereft of any goodness, back into the work of His hand. Dig Deeper When I was a freshmen at Dordt College in NW Iowa 33 years ago, I worked on an egg farm. By the end of the year, my work clothes stunk so bad that even the guys who worked in hog barns plugged their noses when I came around. Although they still looked good from a distance, my clothes were nothing but filthy rags. There was no amount of laundering that could remove the stench. They needed to be thrown away. So it is with your actions before God. Even your best works, scrubbed and polished as much as possible, still stink. Jesus didn't come just to bring you a better version of detergent, He came to bring you a whole new set of clothes, so that as you stand before God, you God smells the sweet aroma of Christ's perfect righteousness given to you. AAA Prayer (About) ACKNOWLEDGE WHO GOD IS: Our Father, who causes nations to quake and mountains to tremble; ALIGN YOUR LIFE WITH GOD'S WILL: Thank God for removing your filthy rags and replacing it with the perfect righteousness of Christ, and pray that you will be as clay in the Potter's hand. ASK GOD FOR WHAT YOU NEED: Read the New Testament in a year, a chapter a day - Ephesians 5

Jesus looks at two extremes when it comes to keeping God's law and says 'Nope.' Read / Listen Listen to passage & devotional: Heidelberg Catechism Q&A 62 Q. Why can’t the good we do make us right with God, or at least help make us right with him? A. Because the righteousness which can pass God’s scrutiny must be entirely perfect and must in every way measure up to the divine law. Even the very best we do in this life is imperfect and stained with sin. Summary The Sermon on the Mount comes near the beginning of Jesus' earthly ministry, and right out of the gate He seeks to squelch the two biggest misunderstandings that people would have about Him. He begins by stating that He in no way, shape or form will be an excuse for sinners who seek to abolish God's Law. The latest incarnation of this in our own society comes from those who seek to pit Jesus' love against God's law by claiming that it's unloving, and therefore un-Christlike, to uphold Biblical standards that come into conflict with people's personal choices. Jesus lays out a stern warning to those who set aside even the least of God's commands, stating that they will be "called least in the Kingdom of Heaven." Next Jesus calls out those on the opposite end of the spectrum: those who think they're so high and mighty and righteous that they can ride their own awesome law keeping efforts right into the Kingdom of Heaven. Not so fast, warns Jesus. If this is your plan, your righteousness better far exceed the pseudo-righteousness of the Pharisees. But these super-duper rule followers were so hung up in dotting the i's and crossing the t's that Jesus mentioned in v18 that they missed the righteousness of God standing right in front of them. Trying to make yourself right with God on your own is hopeless. If this were the extent of Jesus' ministry, the gospel would be hopeless! Thank God it's not! Dig Deeper Last week we focused on one of the pillars of Reformed theology known as Sola Fide, a Latin phrase that simply means Faith Alone. By this we mean that you are made right with God solely because your faith in Christ and not because of works or rule keeping. But this understanding, while good, needs to be nuanced a bit. You actually are saved by works. God will not set aside His holy, righteous and perfect standards. The nuance comes in that you are not saved by your own works, rather you are saved by Christ's perfect obedience which has been credited to you. God's law must be kept - down to the smallest letter and the least stroke of a pen. Nobody born in Adam had the ability to keep this law since we were all conceived and born in sin, but Jesus Christ, born of a virgin, could and did. We'll spend most of the second half of 2023 looking at how you, as one who "can pass God's scrutiny" because you've been included in Christ, now relate to God's law. But suffice it to say for now, that although you are certainly saved by faith alone, you are not saved by a faith that is alone. As we'll see on Friday, true faith and trust in Christ produces a strong desire to live according to all of God's good and perfect law. AAA Prayer (About) ACKNOWLEDGE WHO GOD IS: Our Father, who defines goodness, holiness and righteousness and communicates them in His law; ALIGN YOUR LIFE WITH GOD'S WILL: Pray that as your faith in Christ alone increases, that so will your desire to live according to God's law; ASK GOD FOR WHAT YOU NEED: Read the New Testament in a year, a chapter a day - Ephesians 4