Clash of the Covenants: A Deeper Exploration into the Old and New Testaments

0:00 This is righteousness. It's a gift, and Jesus has given it to you. He has given to you his righteousness. He has imparted and imputed his righteousness to you. When God the Father looks at you, he sees the righteousness of Jesus on you. When you talk to God the Father, he hears you as though it's Jesus talking to him. So who's more righteous, you or Jesus? The same Welcome to the City Light Church podcast. Thanks for joining us today as we look into God's Word and discover the hope and truth that he has for us. If you want to connect with City Light Church, feel free to visit us at CityLightNYCcom.

0:41 That's CityLightNYCcom. Pastor Boyan Jansik and his team believe that the power of the Holy Spirit is already working in our hearts and minds. As you listen to today's teaching, remember that you are deeply loved by God, that you are surrounded by his grace and that he has a real hope and a future for you. We're beginning a new series today Clash of the Covenants, and we're going to slow, marinate, slow cook. I did not know that moving to Long Island meant that I was obligated Every man I talk to, it seems that I'm under obligation to get a very expensive grill or a slow cooker, a smoker, I guess that's, and I'm thinking it's that time.

1:34 You know, mid-40s suburban dad, you can go one of two ways. No, it's true, you can really become a World War II history buff, or you can really get into smoking, smoking your meats. So you'll see, that's what happens, and I've learned enough about World War II from my granddad. So I'm going the slow cooking variety and we're going to slow cook over the course of eight weeks. New covenant Christianity and new covenant realities, because, after all, we do live under the new covenant, so we should learn the principles of the new covenant, shouldn't we?

2:20 How are we really going to experience the fullness of what Jesus has for us and experience true Christianity if we don't understand the covenant that we're operating under? And we're going to be going through Galatians, because Paul was addressing a problem, and the problem was the Galatian church mixing covenants. They were mixing the old covenant with the new. Interestingly enough, that wasn't just a first century phenomenon to this day, because the new covenant is so radical In fact Paul says it's hard to understand, he even calls it a mystery and it's just so mind blowing and it's so counterintuitive to everything, from how we were raised by our parents, how we were raised by society.

3:08 The whole system we grew up in. It's counterintuitive to that so it doesn't really click unless we get enough word in us and then the Holy Spirit can work with that word and then he apocalyptos, he pulls back the curtain, he reveals the truth of grace and the truth of living under grace. So people are still mixing and the word of the Lord is stop mixing, stop taking a little bit of the old covenant, a little bit of the new, putting it together and coming up with your own covenant, which is how I believe the vast majority of the church lives. But we're going to live under the fullness of the new Amen. So we're going to begin Galatians and there's no better way to begin Galatians than by turning to the book of Luke.

3:52 Amen. Let's go to the book of Luke, chapter 9, verse 51. Now it came to pass, when the time had come for him to be received up, that he steadfastly set his face to go to Jerusalem. This is speaking of Jesus. And they sent messengers before his face and as they went they entered a village of the Samaritans to prepare for him. But they did not receive him because his face was set for the journey to Jerusalem. So note that Jesus was rejected. He was rejected even before the cross. Sometimes the gospels read like a highlight reel, from miracle to miracle to miracle, but if you just look a little bit deeper you'll see that salt and pepper throughout the highlight reel is a lot of rejection.

4:40 So don't feel bad if ever you're rejected. He said the servant is not above his master. They hated me, they'll hate you. So he gets rejected by the Samaritans because he was on his way to Jerusalem. And when his disciples, james and John, saw this, they said Lord, do you want us to command fire to come down from heaven and consume them, just as Elijah did? Lol, right, wow, wow. What an extreme thought to have. But these were old covenant people. All they knew was the old covenant and, by the way, this is how God dealt with sin under the old covenant. When you were judged, it wasn't a slap on the wrist, it was the ground splitting open and swallowing you up.

5:25 It was fire from heaven, it was pestilence, it was a plague. There was one verdict guilty, and the punishment was death. The wages of sin is death. That's the old covenant and they're just thinking and talking in line with what they've read and with what they've experienced living under the old covenant. Here's what Jesus says. But he turned and rebuked them and said you do not know what manner of spirit you are of. You don't know that I'm bringing in a new spirit. I'm bringing in a new covenant. I'm bringing in a new dispensation, a different set of principles that this whole world, the entirety of the world, will be under.

6:11 You're of a different spirit. You're of an old covenant spirit. You know where else you'll see Jesus saying something similar with the woman at the well who happened to be a Samaritan. They were upset with him, with Jesus here, because he was going to Jerusalem and they didn't want to go to Jerusalem. The woman at the well says which mountain should we worship at? The Jews say worship at this mountain, and she was talking about Sinai, right at Jerusalem. But we worship at this mountain. So which one is it? See, she's thinking all physical, all natural. Where should we worship? Which mountain? And he goes listen, dear, the day is coming, you'll neither worship at this mountain or that mountain, but the true worshipers will worship me in spirit and in truth.

6:53 What's he saying Under the new covenant, empowered by the Holy Spirit, in spirit and in truth. So, before we begin with Galatians, I'm just going to ask Pastor James to come up and show you what I believe is one of the most important pages in the entire Bible, something that I really want you to read over and over again and really let this sink down deep into your spirit. These pages are hidden in the Bible. Many of you have never taken a good long look and ponder the significance of them. Right at the end of Malachi excuse me for the Italian Americans, malachi Sandwiched in between the last page of Malachi and the first page of Matthew, is this blank page.

7:43 You ever wonder what's happening here. There is a change. We're moving from old covenant to new covenant and you cannot mix the two together. Pick one, pick one and live in that one. Now, before you make your choice, let me explain the difference between the covenants. Under the old covenant, which I said earlier was a dispensation Don't get lost in a fancy theological term, a dispensation simply means a system of order. Picture a big umbrella over all of humanity. And this is how, underneath that umbrella, under that particular dispensation, these are the principles. This is how God will relate to man Under the old covenant umbrella, under the old covenant system of order, under the old covenant dispensation, man endeavored to get approval from God.

8:37 Man endeavored to be declared righteous based on their own self effort, their own self discipline, their own law, keeping their own good behavior Notice. I said man endeavored to be made righteous. Man was never made righteous Impossible. Couldn't be made righteous through his own self effort. Why? Because when you break the law in just one part, you're guilty of breaking the entirety of the law. There is no A minus on the test. You either get an A or an F. And if you just mess up once what a terrible burden. You mess up once, you're guilty of breaking the entirety of the law.

9:22 You're a sinner Under the new covenant. That's another dispensation, another umbrella. Under the new covenant, you're declared righteous, which means you have right standing with God, not based on your self effort, not based on your good behavior, not based on you trying to cross every T and dot every I, but it's all based not on what you do, but on what Jesus has already done for you. Hallelujah, amen. And under the new covenant, jesus kept the entirety of the law, fully and perfectly. He got an A plus on the test.

10:04 And when you say, jesus, I receive you to be my Lord and my savior, he takes your name, crosses his out, erases it on that A plus paper, puts your name in and says go ahead, hand this in to your parents. Hand, show this to your father. He'll be real proud. He did all the work, kept the law perfectly and then passed the benefit over to you. If you'll receive it by faith and only look to him and when you only look to him, you cannot add anything to his already finished work it's Jesus plus. Nothing equals everything. Religion then comes in and says well, jesus plus I mean we got to get some stuff out of you.

10:46 So Jesus plus regular church attendance, jesus plus getting baptized, jesus plus tithing. No, all those things are good things, but they don't help as far as your salvation is concerned. Your salvation is free, and when you really understand the significance of your salvation, nobody has to wag a finger at you telling you what you need to do. You, from the inside out, are empowered. It's not just that you want to live pleasing to the Lord, but now you're empowered to live pleasing to the Lord. See the law. It places a demand on people touch not, taste not, you cannot. But you never get the power to fulfill the obligation of the law.

11:28 So you're always frustrated, which is why people want to stay away from church. I don't blame them. They think it's an epicenter of frustration. I'm just going to be told a bunch of things that I can't do. I can fulfill and frankly I don't want to. So peace out, I'm out of there, when real new covenant Christianity is the exact opposite. So let's just begin Galatians by noting there is a difference between the covenants. Why? Because the cross of Jesus changed everything. Jesus changed everything. John the Baptist said behold the Lamb of God who takes away the sin of the world, that whole sin problem that was in the world.

12:11 Jesus on the cross took it away and it's because of his blood that we could live under a covenant, under a dispensation, not of the law but of grace, amen. Let's begin in Galatians, chapter one, martin Luther. He used to call Galatians by the name of his wife because he said I'm married to it. I wouldn't. I mean it's cool, move on, martin Luther. But, han, no other human or epistle or entity shall be called by thy name.

12:52 But just showing how much it meant to him, it's been called the declaration of independence of Christian liberty. So let's begin in Galatians, chapter one, and we're going to go verse by verse, smashing the idols of legalism, the idols of pride, and receiving the free gift of righteousness. Paul, an apostle, not for men or through man, but through Jesus Christ and God, the Father, who raised him from the dead, and all the brethren who are with me, to the churches of Galatia.

13:32 Grace, he outlines with that one word. The theme of the entire epistle is gonna be grace, grace to you and peace from God, the Father and our Lord, jesus Christ, who gave himself for our sins that he might deliver us from this present evil age. Note that you're delivered from the power of darkness, not the presence of darkness. You're delivered out of the power of this evil age, but you're still living in an evil age. Psalm 23, he prepares a table before you in the presence of your enemies. You're gonna be feasting, but not too far.

14:14 Is the enemies of God looking on, by the way, when the Psalms, psalms 23, says when Psalms 23 says he prepares a table before you in the presence of my enemies. This is where it's good to know the difference between the old and new covenant. Under the old, david is writing it, he's literally talking about other military people who were after his life. I mean, it could mean that and it can still mean that, but everything under the old covenant was physical. Under the new covenant and spiritual. So when you read Psalm 23, don't think about your coworker, who you think is your enemy, and you're praying oh God, cause me to eat lavishly and they'll just watch muah.

14:58 No, for us, under the new covenant, it's talking about the enemies of God, demonic spirits, and yes, they can operate through people, but we're not trying to stick it to somebody or go into war with people. We're eating lavishly, but the demonic spirits are still looking on because it's not fully their time yet. Shadrach, meshach and Abednego God didn't deliver them from the furnace, he delivered them from the fire in the furnace. You're delivered from the power of your enemies, but not from the presence of your enemies. Incidentally, this is why it's so important for us to go through this series and really understand the difference of the covenants. Another example is and there's many, many scriptures like this in the Old Testament here's one the Lord, god, is a Son and shield.

15:44 The Lord will give grace and glory. No good thing will he withhold from those who walk up. Rightly. Phenomenal verse, right. I have a problem with it, though. If I don't understand grace, I'm gonna see that the fulfillment of that verse is conditional on me walking up rightly. So I really need a breakthrough, I need the Lord, and I find this beautiful verse so generous. The Lord will give grace and glory. By the way, when it says glory in that verse, what do you think of? Somebody there shouted money.

16:28 He had the hoodie on and everything and then, like a Jedi movie, he removes the hoodie. That was me. He shouted money. Can you believe that we have such carnal Christians at City Light Church? So why is it always about? It's about money. He's right, just like he was, about the type of wood in Noah's Ark and corrected me and called it the word glory. We often mean like the glories of God, and what do you think of? Like golden streams and dust, and it can mean the anointing, but the first use of the word glory was heavy laden.

17:11 Abraham had so much stuff that he put the cabode, the heaviness of his treasures, on the beast of burden. And many times that word glory actually means material provision and sustenance. The Lord will give grace and glory. No good thing will he withhold from those who walk up rightly. And now I read that and I immediately realized oh, that's based on my behavior. I have to be well. What does that mean? Walk up rightly, right? How are you really gonna have confidence and claim that verse as your own when there's that little part in the end those who walk up rightly, well, how up rightly? I mean, if I compare myself to Hitler, I walk up rightly.

17:54 If I compare myself to those carnal Christians, I know I walk up rightly. But if I compare myself to Jesus, I'm not walking up rightly. So does that mean I miss it? Can I still claim it? Well, I've been pretty good this week, but I didn't read the Bible like I think I should. How much is enough anyway? Did I pray enough? Did I witness enough? And all these insecurities come in and you're robbed of the promise. Right? That's how it was under the old covenant. If you read that and you don't understand the power of the blood of Jesus and you go. Well, that's me. I walk up rightly, cause I'm all that. You just missed it. All those verses cause you to look out of yourself and look to a savior.

18:37 So under the new covenant, you have been made upright, you have been declared righteous, you have right, standing with God. So whenever you read throughout the Old Testament, these conditional promises there's so many promises to the righteous, to the one who walks up rightly that's not for us to say, oh well, this week I can't claim that it's been a bad week, and I really exploded on that person on the LIE, and I gesticulated to them and sign language, if you know what I mean. And so I really. No, I didn't do that, I'm just giving examples here, just like three people going, mm-hmm, this isn't confession therapy time for me, I'm just giving examples.

19:20 I'm just giving examples. You can't do that. But you read that and you say, god, I don't walk up rightly, in and of myself I lack, but because of you, jesus, you have made me righteous. You have forever cemented me in the upright before God position. All my sins, all your sins, past, present and future have been taken out of the way. Now guess what you have Confidence, and that's a major theme of grace Boldness. That's why the Bible says the righteous are as bold as a lion. Now, if you're looking at yourself, you're not gonna be too bold unless you're really given over to pride.

20:01 And there are some people that are so blinded all they can see is the good things in themselves and the bad in everyone else, and they think that in and of themselves they're righteous. They're not. Jesus showed up, he'd expose that in a second. But no, we're to not look at ourselves, we look to Jesus, and that's how the promise is fulfilled. Hallelujah, according to the will of our God and Father. Verse five to whom be glory forever and ever. Amen. Verse six he says I marvel that you are turning away so soon from him.

20:41 What was happening in this Galatian church Cause right now? This is Paul and he's not happy, he's upset. You know what's missing In the first five verses? We're ready. In verse six, we're missing charismatic, socially correct Paul who comes in and when he writes the letter, all the other letters he first praises them. He tells them how good they're doing. You can feel his affection for them. He doesn't. He skips all that and he's upset. He's upset, he's going. You're turning, not from a doctrine, not from a teaching, you're turning away from him. So what was happening to the Galatians? Well, this group called the Judaizers had snuck in. Imagine it's the first century, the apostle Paul is turning the whole world upside down with the gospel and this Aryan Galatia got saved.

21:29 And then Paul goes on another missionary journey. While Paul is gone, judaizers snuck in, and you know what their message was it's good that you believe in Jesus as the Messiah, as the Son of God we do too. But in order for you to be saved, you have to keep the entirety of the Levitical Law. In fact, the men have to be circumcised, because they were all not Jewish people who became Christian, the men. So they're putting them back under the law. What are they doing? They're mixing the covenants. And Paul says you're not just turning away from a teaching, you're turning away from Jesus. The moment you mix covenants, you're turning away from Jesus.

22:11 Why? Because Jesus is grace. Grace is not a doctrine, it's not a teaching, it's the very person of Jesus. The Bible says that the law it was given, it came by Moses, but grace and truth came by Jesus Christ. And under the old covenant, dispensation. You had to work to be approved unto God under the new covenant, dispensation, or the new covenant of His grace. Jesus did all the work and transferred the benefit over to you.

22:51 I marvel that you are turning away so soon from Him who called you, in the grace of Christ, to a different gospel. Hey, let me just say this Before you think wow, this sounds like a first century problem. And why is this so important to pastor? Because I don't really see the likelihood of a group of Judaizers coming in to city lights, signing up for our life groups and slowly because it says they crept in unawares slowly trying to bring mixture. No, we don't have Judaizers as a group of people today. But you have bad teachers, bad preachers. You have your own voice. You have Hasatan, satan, the accuser of the brethren, and what he's doing in your life over time is trying to get you to mix the covenants.

23:37 Because the moment you mix the covenants, you turn away from Him who called you in the grace of Christ and the power of the new covenant is robbed from you, even if you mix a little bit. The name of this series is Clash of the Covenants. I could add another title no Mixture, I want 100% pure new covenant grace. I don't need it sprinkled with a bit of the law, amen, amen. And one of the biggest culprits of sprinkling a little bit of the law onto grace are pastors, because they don't trust the Holy Spirit in people, they don't trust the word of God, they don't trust the very strength of the new covenant to actually keep people doing what they're supposed to be doing.

24:25 So they say things like if you don't come every Sunday, you might be cursed, you might get punished All these manipulative tactics. If you sin, god will punish you. If you don't tithe, god will punish you, as though you were living under the old covenant. But the cross of Jesus changed everything. If God has already thoroughly punished your sin in the person of Jesus on the cross, then how much more punishment is left for you? This? is wild isn't it?

25:07 Now, when you start preaching grace as it's meant to be preached, obviously some thoughts are gonna come up and they're gonna go something like does that mean I can just do whatever I want? Listen, if you're serving God and abstaining from sin because you're trying to avoid the threat of retribution or punishment, you're doing Christianity wrong. And, by the way, that can't last forever. You'll hold on tight for a little bit, maybe a few weeks, maybe a few months, maybe you'll even make it for years. I know some people that made it for years. They're no fun to be around, they're off. They're off Because then you're either full of pride or you're upset because you're seeing other people get blessed but they're not as religious and bound up as you.

25:51 And then the big brother syndrome comes up and you're upset and you try to get them to do what you're doing to score points with God. You went to an R-rated movie. I haven't since 1982. And all these legalistic things. Listen, listen. Martin Lloyd-Jones, phenomenal, phenomenal. Man of God, teacher of the word, was at Westminster Chapel in the 50s. Great revelation came through him. He said this you're not preaching grace correctly until people accuse you of antinomianism, which is a total disregard for God's moral law.

26:32 I'm not preaching disregard for God's moral law, but some people should accuse me of it. You know why they accused Paul of that. And whenever you preach grace, people who don't understand the heart of the new covenant will accuse you of doing just that. The heart of the new covenant is so much better than the old. Under the old, you didn't sin, or you didn't sin to avoid punishment. Under the new, it's because of your love of God, not because you're trying to avoid punishment, and love will carry you through your entire life and you're empowered by the Holy Spirit. The law is like a giant sign that says keep off the grass, but the new covenant gives you a love for the sidewalk, hallelujah.

27:21 And if you're stuck in some sin pattern right now, I'll tell you what your solution isn't trying much harder. I'll tell you what your solution definitely isn't me wagging my index finger and saying you gotta do it holy. You gotta do it right, be better. This is why so many pastors first they start with a lie. Most pastors I shouldn't say most, but a lot Too many are angry, they're bitter. They don't start off that way, but the moment they approach their fifties they just have, like the old man with the get off my lawn syndrome Blah, blah, blah, blah, blah, blah, blah, blah, blah. Because they put everybody else under the law. They're under the law, they're being crushed by the law, wagging their fingers.

28:09 No, I'm not gonna change your behavior by just messing with you and telling you, because I could be saying stop sinning. What are you doing? You're wrecking your life and you're going. I know well, stop it. And your response is I can't how. But when I say look to Jesus, dive into the cross, dive into His substitutionary death, meditate on the blood, how the blood has removed your sin, meditate on new creation realities, most people think when they're born again. That's like the Lord taking an old pig, putting it in a dress and slapping some makeup on it, going. Isn't she pretty?

28:50 That's religion. Religion does that. Takes an old pig, lipstick, fake lashes, puts a nice dress and goes no, it's still an oinker. God completely put a brand new spirit in you, a species of being that never existed before, your sinless, recreated in the image of Jesus. And as you meditate on this and this can be a process this can take time. When you come up out of the world or through life, you've opened some windows and doors to the enemy. Some sins will put their hook in you. How does that hook get removed?

29:31 Some sins it's quick. Other sins take time, but the solution is always the same it's the person of Jesus and what he did for you at the cross, and it's you living under the new covenant. That means you're not trusting in yourself, you're trusting in Him. You'll notice, under the to fulfill the law, there's a lot of those hyphenated sins Self effort, self discipline, self self, self dash, self dash. The problem is is that it's always on us and we have a partner role to play. The problem is also is that we don't know how to play it. We always fall on our face and come up short.

30:13 Under the new covenant, jesus has taken the weak link out of the way. You know what the weak link was Us, and now he's in our place, forever holding the new covenant together on our behalf. Woo, this is why the gospel is called Good News. Yeah, and can you believe it? They were turning away from that. Yes, I can believe it. People turn away from it every day. Today, we're sick no, really the way we were raised, the way society taught us, we have this sickness called pride. Grace is so offensive because it messes your pride up, because you don't get to say I hope to save you're out.

30:54 You don't get to boast and brag about any contribution to your salvation. You were desperate, you were shipwrecked, you were marooned on an island, you had no food, you had no covering, you were naked and Jesus came and rescued you. You had nothing to do with it, and so it's offensive because it strips you of your pride and it just causes you to fall to your knees and go thank you, yeah, thank you. You're my savior, you saved me off that island, hallelujah. So he's saying I'm marvel that you were turning away so soon from him, who called you, in the grace of Christ, to a different gospel, which is not another.

31:35 He's using this language, specifically that word, for another. In the Greek it means another, of the same kind, like if I said I was in my kitchen and I was eating a honey crisp apple and I liked it so much I went and got another, another. What Another? Apple of the same kind, another honey crisp. Paul is saying this gospel of mixture, it's not even another, it's a different gospel, it's completely different, it's a Clone and it's a perversion which is not another. But there are some who trouble you and want to pervert the gospel of Christ.

32:16 So he calls mixing the covenants a perversion. What's a perversion? We usually think of it in it with a sexual connotation, like that pervert. The word pervert? It means to distort that's the original meaning, like a fun house mirror that's distorted. You ever go, you're looking at the fun house mirror and your head is four feet wide and your legs are two inches thick and you're like that kind of sort of I guess I can see me in it, but the image is all distorted. Any teaching that mixes the covenants is a fun house mirror gospel. It's a distorted gospel, it's a perverted gospel.

33:01 It's funny to see the mood shift because on the one side I declare the goodness of Jesus and Freedom from the law and then on the other side I'm using I'm just quoting Paul, and every time I quote Paul because he's using strong words, perverted and he's just and that's what I want you to know that that the apostle Paul. You can hear the emotion, the pathos Depleting in his voice and this is the most upset you'll ever see him in entire New Testament. That's how much by the Holy Spirit he hates mixture. He even corrected a problem in the Corinthian church of a stepson sleeping with his father's new wife, which Strangely always brought me comfort in a weird way reading that as a pastor in New York City, because we experience all sort of crazy things and it's nice to be reminded that Paul dealt with crazy Jerry Springer stuff back in the first century in the Middle East.

33:59 That was always crazy. So Paul made it through. I'm gonna be alright, amen. He planted churches and churches thrive. We're gonna be alright, even though, oh yeah, the Montel show was right there in the background happening. Does anybody even know what I'm talking about? I'm looking at the age in here and I'm like you know what I'm doing. Act. You know what I'm talking about? Hallelujah, let's go to verse eight.

34:40 My point was I got off on 90s daytime TV, but my point is that you see the Apostle Paul most upset Even when he corrected that fella in Corinthians. You don't see him this upset, he gets excommunicated. And then the next letter, paul is like come on in, you've repented, come in. But he is viciously defending the integrity of the gospel when he says no mixture. And that's why the mood here is all over the place, because Paul is upset, but he's not upset at what most people think he would get upset at. He's upset that there's a distortion of the gospel which he knows. If they live under a distorted gospel, the people will be robbed.

35:23 Listen, if ever you're feeling condemned, you're living under a distorted gospel. If you're feeling guilty, you're living under a distorted gospel. Don't think this is a Galatians problem. This is a now problem. If ever you feel like you can't at any time Run to father God and be in his embrace and be in his presence and he's not counting your sin against you and there's nothing but love from him towards you, you're living under a perverted, distorted, mixture gospel. If ever you stay away from praying because you think God is upset with you, perverted gospel. If ever you don't have spiritual boldness and confidence, perverted gospel.

36:04 Which spiritual boldness? That's something that's lacking in the church. Why is it lacking? Because they have the opposite. They have a spiritual inferiority complex who always feel like they can't get too close to God when in reality they're seated in heavenly places in Christ People, even when they pray these Mickey Mouse prayers, not even from their chest, from their throat. Stop it, put some bass in your voice. Put some know who you are in Jesus. Why are you talking to the father God like he's this giant and yours, please?

36:47 I just want to come in real quick. Please don't crush me, don't hurt me. I just want to ask. I need a little money to make it to the end of the week, hopefully if you'd be so merciful. No, come boldly to the throne of grace. Amen, you're forgiven, you're made new, and that's why the enemy loves getting mixture in there, because it robs you of that essential boldness. Both Christians. They plant churches, they expand the kingdom, they win souls, they receive the promises of God. And, by the way, you can ask my wife when I am bold. But in order to be bold, I never, ever think of my accomplishments.

37:32 I don't psych myself up on Sunday morning and say, alright, bo, you got this, you got. I mean, you have done. The Lord threw you. I think of me in my history and I just like it's under the blood, I have nothing. I don't psych myself up in order to be bold. I think of only one thing Jesus on the cross and what that affords me. That's it. And out of that comes a roaring lion. If I look at myself for more than one second, I'll cry. You see me hiding, crying underneath the chairs. If I look at me too long, it's all through him. But Even if we verse 8, but even if we or an angel from heaven preach any other gospel To you than we have preached to you, let him be anathema, a cursed.

38:24 So once again, listen to how seriously Paul is dealing with this problem. Mixture people who preach mixture, he says. Let him be cut off. Get them out of the church. They are gospel pervertors. Hallelujah, I wish we can have some Pauline voices rise up today to speak to ministers who may mix the gospel in this way. I'm called to teach you not to correct other ministers, but I'd love a true apostle to rise up. Anyway, as we have said before, so now I say again if anyone preaches any other gospel so he's reiterating it twice let them be a cursed.

39:05 If anyone preaches any other gospel to you than what you have received, let him be a cursed. For do I now persuade men or God, or do I seek to please men? He's saying who am I? Who's my target here? My target is God. He's saying I preach for an audience of one. I Write these epistles, empowered by the Holy Spirit, for an audience of one. Everything we do, we shouldn't do with the idea of what will people think, but what will God think? We're trying it. When I preach, it's not what. How do the people feel? I mean, I wonder afterwards, but Is God, when on the ride home, god that I say everything you want it said? Is this message pleasing to you? Preaching for an audience of one?

39:46 For if I still pleased men, I would not be a bond servant of Christ. He's saying if I was not preaching for God, if I was preaching to please you, well then I wouldn't be in chains, they wouldn't have arrested me, I'd be one of the ear ticklers, ear tickling ministries international. But he said, no, I preach the truth, and that sometimes comes with consequences. Let's uh, let's look at some compare and contrasts, shall we, between the old and new covenant. Let's look at those slides, please.

40:27 Under the Old Testament, god, he demands righteousness. Under the New Testament, god imparts righteousness through the completed work of Jesus. So Old Covenant, god shows you the standard Righteousness, but you have no power to fulfill that standard. This is so beautiful under the new covenant and this is the gift that Jesus offers everyone. If you believe in him, believe in your heart and confess in your mouth that he died for you on the cross and that he was raised from the grave, you are given righteousness. You have something known as imparted righteousness and imputed righteousness.

41:09 Imparted righteousness means that Jesus takes his righteousness and gives it to you. Imputed righteousness means that in the heavenly ledger it's written down as so you know what the Bible also says numerous times that you have non imputation of sin. So there is a heavenly ledger. Even in Revelation it talks about the book and your name is written in there and Next to it. If you believe in Jesus, you're trusting in him for his righteousness. Your name is there and it says righteous. You know what? It doesn't say sinner, and it doesn't have any record of your sins. In fact, grace is so radical. Paul wrote in Romans David prophesied about it blessed as the man to whom sin is not imputed.

41:56 Paul said this is the day you're living and now If you mess up, if you sin, god doesn't even put it on your record. You know the way some people picture God is this schizophrenic up in heaven with a Erasable ink and a lot of white out and all throughout the day he's writing Okay, they're righteous, now. Oh, they messed up. Now, they're not righteous. Now they're righteous now, they're not righteous, they're righteous, not righteous. That's why most Christians are walking civil war. I'm right, I'm righteous. I'm not, I'm holy. I'm not, I'm saved. But I had a bad week, so let me get resaved. And this is why there's a problem in churches of the same person raising their hand at every altar. Call for two years.

42:36 You Don't have to be born again, again, if you fall, you don't fall a sinner, you fall a saint. You're still made righteous. And now you get up, a saint looking at Jesus, and he will empower you to cut the nonsense out, to stop sin, hallelujah. Let's look at the next one. Did I read the New Testament part or did I go off right after? Let's just go back. Just because I'm legalistic this way, I want to make sure.

43:18 And the New Testament, god in parts, I did read it in parts. Righteousness through the completed work of Jesus. Oh, I know what I wanted to say. When I read that, I knew I was missing something. I Ask, wherever and I travel, if I'm ministering. On this, I asked this question who is more righteous, you or Jesus? This is such an important question. You won't fully understand grace, you won't fully be living under the new covenant until you can immediately answer. I almost want to call some of you out who's more righteous, you or Jesus? Jesus right, wrong, who's?

43:59 more righteous here. Jesus, I love to see you squirm. I didn't mean to pick on you, but I love to see people squirm. I had to see it. I'm sorry, I wasn't trying to pick on you and I know you're new so I don't understand. I understand you're working all that, but you're just representative of so many. I see it all the time, jesus, because it seems so heretical to say anything else. Right, god? Feel that, lean into it. That feeling of being heretical. A leader sends you straight to hell or it's really going to bring you closer to Jesus because you're saying bye to past lies. If this is righteousness, it's a gift and Jesus has given it to you.

44:44 He has given to you His righteousness. He has imparted and imputed His righteousness to you. When God the Father looks at you, he sees the righteousness of Jesus on you. When you talk to God the Father, he hears you as though it's Jesus talking to him. So who's more righteous, you or Jesus? The same the same. Oh, you can feel it. Those of you with a prophetic angle, can you hear the gears turning in the air? Errrrrrr, does not compute, does not? Pastor? I'm uncomfortable with you saying it. I don't even know how I could say it.

45:24 I want you dancing around the house singing it. Yeah, it's what the enemy doesn't want you to believe, because holiness is linked to that. Receiving answers to prayer is linked to that. He died to give you His righteousness. See, I think the problem also is people think there's degrees of righteousness. They confuse righteousness with holiness. There's degrees of holiness, but righteousness is right standing with God. It's really a binary outcome you either is or you ain't.

46:06 There is no in between ground. That's why the Bible calls you a saint. You're a saint now. Now, after you die and the city light church presbytery meets and votes and decides to procure sainthood on your life. You're a saint now. You're sin free. Now You've been made perfect. Now. This is I know I'm camping around this at length, but this is so important Because, no matter how many times I ask it, you can just see people. They're so afraid. Be afraid of mixing the covenants. Be afraid of that. Don't be afraid of declaring that you have the same righteousness of Christ. It's not you saying I'm all that.

46:46 It's you still saying it's all of Him In and of myself. All my righteousness is as a filthy rag, but because of Him I smell even to the Father. Like Jesus, I have a fragrance. My voice is a delight to the Father, just like Jesus is. This is Bible truth. All right, next verse Under the Old Testament, god will visit your sin to the third and fourth generation. Under the New Testament, god will by no means remember your sin anymore. You have non-imputation of sin. Next slide, please.

47:28 Under the Old Testament, you're under a curse if you do not obey God's commandments perfectly, which, by the way, is why oftentimes, when you read the Old Testament, it can get a little bit how do I say? Depressing. Still, the Word of God, it's just as much the Word of God as the New Testament is, but it's a different covenant. Look, god hasn't changed. God is the same, but the way he deals with man has changed. And under the Old Covenant, if you mess up, some kind of curse has to come. You see David doing just fine at the end of his life.

48:09 All those victories. He was forgiven of sins, all is fine now. And then, at the end of his life, he has a bright idea to number the people, to number the armies. He shouldn't have done that because he was relying more on his natural strength than the divine strength that comes from Yahweh God. So he numbers the people. It's an act of pride and a curse comes upon the land. Too many Christians think they're living like that today. Under the New Testament, you enjoy God's favor and blessing because Jesus has been a made a curse for you on the cross. You are blessed. You cannot be cursed. Hallelujah Another way that preachers love to mix the covenants in order to manipulate the people and get the desired responses.

48:54 In the area of tithing, many of you have heard over and over again from Malachi, malachi three, malachi three. If you don't tithe, you are cursed with a curse. So, everybody, you come, you bring the whole tithe. What does that even mean? The whole tithe, because 10% is 10%. If it's half a tithe, it's 5%. But anyway, bring the whole tithe, otherwise you're cursed. I've never preached that. Here's the truth. Under the New Covenant, if you don't tithe, you're not cursed. Why? Because you're forever blessed in Jesus. God is not schizophrenic.

49:34 Up and have any racing over. They were blessed, not the cursed, and the blessed, not the cursed. You're blessed. Your finances may not be blessed and you're showing immaturity and you're showing lack of faith and unbelief. Because still, tithing is a benefit. When I tithe, it's my way of increasing. But it's not that you're going to be cursed. You're not paying protection money to the Godfather. He's your Father, god, and he loves you. And if you're tithing in order to avoid a curse, you are the most miserable of Christians. What a terrible, terrible setup that gets old real quick, like, okay, here's my protection money. God, don't send Vinnie and Angelo, the two kneecapping angels from heaven, to bust me up and teach me a law.

50:20 Won't do it again, oh Lord. I'll pay my money with a Vic. And do you know, at City Light, our giving as a church is about two to three, up to three times. We give up to three times more than our church number, our church attendance, the number of people we have at church. In other words, we're a very prosperous church. We're debt free, we support missions all over the world. We're moving forward. We have staff. Why? Because we have a bunch of new covenant Christians who love the Lord and they tithe because they know it's the right thing, not because they're trying to avoid a curse.

51:08 People say is tithing still for today? Yes, it's for today. It's the base layer. It's how you start. If they had to give a tenth under the old covenant, which was no fun at all. How much should we give under the new? The tithe is the beginning. And you say what is he saying? Is he saying I should give 30%? No, here's the beauty of what I'm saying. You check in with God and find out. Above the tenth and even the tenth is illegalistic. It's just what the idea is. Why should we do less than what they did under the old? I've been set free, I've been given the righteousness of Jesus. I have so much more. I should give more Hallelujah, hallelujah.

51:54 I remember once the pastor said he said if they come in for counseling, first question, ask them if they're tithing. If they say no, then I tell them I can't help you because you're already under a curse. If you're not tithing, I can't help you under a curse. Come back when you're tithing and the curse is lifted. I thought that's a good idea to keep the calendar clean. That will really that. Just kidding, I'm just kidding. You know what's really funny. Listen, grace is so messed up. It is the exact opposite. Christianity is a weird, bizarre faith.

52:36 It really really is. That's why Paul called grace a mystery. A mystery doesn't mean something that can never be known. A mystery in Bible language means it's a sacred truth hidden not from you, but for you. It just requires you asking the Lord for revelation. It's the same reason why Jesus spoke in parables. They asked him why do you speak in parables? He said because I don't want you to know what I'm saying Easily. You got to show hunger, you got to show desire and I'm not casting pearls before swine. But if you're hungry for the truth, I'm going to reveal it to you. Are you cool? See with me? So far, christianity weird, bizarre, different than what we think. My point here is when it comes to tithing, the more I declare that you're not under a curse.

53:19 When you tithe and I set people free our giving always goes up. And most pastors they're afraid to say it because they're afraid they think giving will go down. No, keep them under the law, keep them afraid of the curse. But I say, hey, you're blessed and God loves you. And if you don't tithe, no, you're not going to hell and no, he still forgives you and you have a relationship with him. And now you're like whoa, he's really nice, isn't he? He's really good. And finally you're seeing the love of God and the beauty of Jesus and you're entering into a real new covenant relationship with him. You're going to be tithing in no time, not because somebody's making you, but because it's a natural out of your spirit, man, natural Hallelujah, all right, just next slide, please.

54:08 Everybody having a good time, hallelujah. One of the immediate fruits we're going to see in this church during this series is your prayer life will get better and your receiving life will get better, so that you're not just a bunch of people asking God for stuff and never receiving, but you actually know you have a hotline to heaven when you're under grace there's a confidence, there's a faith, and you'll be a better receiver when you see who you really are, who his blood has made you to be. Under the Old Testament, the children of Israel were blessed only if they obeyed God's commandments perfectly, both inwardly and outwardly.

54:56 Under the New Testament, believers do not have to depend on their own self-effort, because Jesus fulfilled every single one of the requirements of the law on your behalf. Remember the whole A plus on the test that Next slide. Under the Old Testament, relying on self-effort produces behavior modification without heart transformation. God isn't after behavior modification. That's religion. He's after a heart transformation. True holiness is from the inside out and grace is an empowerment for holiness.

55:36 New Testament, as you behold the beauty of Jesus and his finished work on the cross. It brings about an inner transformation which produces good works that are motivated and here's the key motivated by God's love. Do you know how many people's entire Christianity is motivated by fear of punishment? Sad, I was on that path. Thank God he rescued me. Pastor, you mean to tell me that Christianity will be unlocked, that I'll experience a much greater blessing when I just love Jesus and let him love me more and look at the cross.

56:27 What about all the books? You know, the 10 doors to the 12 paths, to the 14 highways, to the? All the stuff I have to do, do, do. There's some things. There's some things you can do or not do, but you cannot stop gazing at Jesus and looking at him. Never forget the cross, never forget his blood. These are things the enemy wants you to forget, because that's where the power is. Paul said the gospel is the power of God. Jesus as a substitute on the cross. That's the power of God. When you can declare I am the same righteousness as Jesus, you'll know you're on the right track.

57:12 Do it boldly. Forever, now right, because it's on the internet for the whole world to see forever. You're never gonna forget this point. You're welcome. Ha ha ha ha. I'm only playing with her. She's such a good support. You two are awesome. Are we on the next slide? Worship team? Come on up. I just feel like that's gonna be that. There's a lot already here. We stopped in the middle of Galatians one. I finished it in the first service. Don't feel like you're missing out on anything. There's really not much to say about the second half of the first chapter of Galatians. I can sum it up if you want.

57:53 Shall I sum it up for you, so we don't. Oh, here's the summation. He basically just says I got the gospel by revelation. No man taught it to me. I got the gospel, this, the new covenant of grace. I got it by revelation and it's so bizarre and so different than anything I'd ever seen before, definitely different than the old covenant. I kept it under wraps for a while. Then I met with the official apostles, the original 12, well, 11. Judas was busy and some others, some other first century movers and shakers I wanna say that global world pastors types, real movers and shakers.

58:43 And he says I told him. No, this is important. He says I told him what I got from God. I told him the gospel, I told him about grace and I checked in with them. Like this is so radical, is this true? And then I thought that it is true. They all agreed on the same thing. That's exactly what God had given them. It's known as confirmation, anything less. You start a cult with some weird wild idea. Old Testament blood sacrifices of animals covered the sins of the children of Israel for only one year, and the process had to be repeated every year, and every year there was a reminder of your sin. Under the New Testament, the blood of Jesus has removed your sins past, present and future completely and perfectly, once and for all.

59:30 Hallelujah, church, do not mix the covenants. How will you know if you're mixing the covenants? You will know. There will be red flags. There'll be alerts and alarms that come up Once again, if you're feeling distant from God, you're mixing. You're never distant from Him. You're right there. He's right there. Listen, remember when the sky turned dark and black during the crucifixion and Jesus cried out Eloi, eloi, lama Sabactini, my God, my God, why have you forsaken me? That was the first and last and only time in the history of all time that God the Father separated Himself from Jesus Because Jesus was made sin and, in a sense, god the Father, turned His back on Jesus and Jesus cried out why have you forsaken me as he was made into sin as our substitute, so that today you would never, ever think, oh, I'm distant.

1:00:30 Or God, why have you forsaken me? Because Jesus was forsaken on the cross as your substitute. You will never be forsaken. The Father turned His back on Jesus on the cross as your substitute, so His face can always shine with love and approval towards you. Say, even if I'm messing up, especially when you're messing up, should I continue messing up? That this grace may abound? No knucklehead, god forbid, draw on that grace. I mean, you can dance that dance for a while. It's not gonna end. Well, why will God punish me? No, god's not gonna punish you. Well, what's the warning? The sin will punish you.

1:01:11 The sin is the punishment. You're getting away with it now, laughing your head off, but the wages of sin is death. God's not gonna. He has nothing to do with you. Engaging in sin stinks of death, it produces death. So I don't wanna dance with that devil. Amen. So what's the solution? Grace, jesus, the person of Jesus, everybody, lift your hands, shout this Lord Jesus, thank you for the cross, thank you for your blood, thank you for the new covenant of grace. Because of you, jesus, I have been justified, I'm declared righteous, I am accepted and I'm yours forever.

1:02:02 In Jesus' name, amen, hallelujah, hallelujah, hallelujah. We'll join us next Sunday as we jump into Galatians, chapter two. This is the City Light Church podcast. If you've missed any part of today's message or if you would like to find out more about Pastor Boyan Jansik in City Light Church, visit us at citylightnyccom. That's citylightnyccom. Feel free to visit us online or in person anytime. We would love to connect with you. We pray that you have been encouraged today, that you have been reminded how much God loves you and that you are surrounded by grace.

1:02:49 Thank you for listening. Make sure that you subscribe to City Light Church podcast wherever you find your favorite podcasts worldwide.