 All right. Good morning and welcome everyone to the class today on our identity in Christ. I will just give people a minute to connect to the class before we get started. I think it's time to pray together and get started. Could somebody lead us as a class in prayer before we get into our lesson today? Anybody could lead us in prayer please. Heavenly Father we thank you for this time. We humble ourselves before you even as we learn from your word. We pray our God that you would speak to our heart so clearly and help us to understand more of you. Help us to understand who we are in you. Open the eyes of our understanding so that we may know the hope of the glory to which you have called us God. We submit pastor to your hands and ask for your grace to be with you even as he is unveiling the truth for us. Help us all to be attentive and listening and to apply this in our practical life God. In Jesus name we pray. Amen. Amen. Thank you. All right. Good morning once again and welcome everybody. We're going to get started with our class today. The recording is on so this class will be available a little later as well. Just a quick announcement and I probably will repeat it again at the start of our second lecture. I haven't yet prepared your test or your assessment but I hope to be able to do it in the next today or tomorrow. I've got to work on about two or seven courses assessments for seven courses. So I will even I will get to this course as well the courses that I'm teaching you the two courses. So I will prepare those assessments, put it out on the coursework section. They're just going to be simple multiple choice questions. I should be able to finish it within an hour and it's open book open notes open Bible so it's not going to be difficult. It is going to be just kind of a review of what we covered till the lecture today. Okay, so I'll work on it today and tomorrow and put it up there and you'll have time. There's no deadline other than the end by the end of the semester to do your tests. So the test will be available and you could just work through it within an hour and it's open book open Bible test multiple choice are simple selections. Okay, so I'll get I'll work on that and put it out for you. I am sorry I couldn't do it last week as I originally wanted to. All right, so we've been making our journey in this revelation in the New Testament about the believers identity a child as believers what is our spiritual identity. And what is our spiritual inheritance so that we can learn to live out of our identity and our inheritance in Christ Jesus. And this is the way God wants us to live. He wants us to live out of that identity and inheritance and the life that we have in Christ. But, you know, it doesn't happen automatically we have to first of all understand this identity we have to receive revelation of this truth. And then we have to embrace it in our hearts we have to believe that that what God has said in his word concerning you and me about our identity about our inheritance we have to believe it in our hearts. There's no point, you know, if you just listen to it and let it go, no listen to it, but then you embrace it in your heart. So yeah, that's for me. This is what the Bible says, and I'm going to live by it and then be journey into it. And so that's towards the end of this course. We're going to spend some several lectures talking about how do we live out of this. Right, so right now we just unpacking or uncovering different aspects of what God has given to us in Christ. And then, of course, the main objective is, how do we live out of this identity. Okay, because you have a question. You have a question to become. Okay, I'm not sure. All right, I'll keep going. If you have a question, feel free to ask. So that's our objective. Yeah, once we understand these truths, our next quest is how do we live this out in our everyday life, how do you live out of this truth. Today, for the last week, we talked about the truth of redemption that we are redeemed and redeemed in the sense we have been bought out of everything Adam put us under. So Adam sinned, he brought us in subjection to sin, Satan, death, sickness, poverty, failure, everything that is not of God, he put us in subjection too. But Jesus came, he redeemed us, he brought us out of that, and he lifted us into a glorious place in Christ. So that is where we have to live out of our place in Christ. Today, we're going to talk about another aspect which has to do with our freedom in Christ. And I'll just give a quick overview and then we will get into the notes and read the scripture passages. What we will learn in the lesson today is that Christ being in Christ sets us free from bondage to the law. The law represents, of course, the law of Moses, what God gave through His servant, Moses, that is the Old Covenant. The law of Moses, which includes everything, it includes the Ten Commandments, it includes the religious laws, the sacrificial laws. It includes the ceremonial laws, keeping all the feasts and observances and it includes all the hygiene laws, you know, God said, don't eat this and eat this and all those things. So that entire thing that we just called the law or the law of Moses. First of all, as a believer, we will see from scripture that we are free from that. We are not in subjection to the law. Instead, we live by what the New Testament calls the law of liberty. It's what God gave us in the New Testament. So we live by that. Secondly, Robin, you think you need to mute your mic? Let me see if I can mute it. Okay. All right. Secondly, we will also see from scripture. Okay. Secondly, we will also see from scripture that we are free from manmade rules, the observances. People make all kinds of rules. We are free from that as well. And so we will talk about our freedom in Christ. And yet at the same time, in the New Testament, we also are taught that while we have this freedom in Christ, and we will look at that, there's also a right way to exercise our freedom in Christ. That there is something that supersedes our freedom, which is walking in love towards people, walking in honor towards God appointed authorities, honor of other people. We need to honor everybody. And also we have to keep the well-being of people in mind. That's another aspect of our freedom, of exercising our freedom. And also, even though we are free, sometimes we choose to sacrifice our freedom in order to reach people with the gospel of Jesus Christ. So we will present a complete picture of our freedom in Christ. And of course, when we talk about it, we get into the nitty-gritty of details of our freedom, and especially when we are faced with practical situations. And Paul in his episodes addresses that. What do you do in a situation like this? I mean, you have freedom, but what would be the right decision to make? So we will touch upon those things that we find in Scripture. So that we understand how to correctly exercise our freedom that we have in Christ. So that's kind of what we're going to cover today, talking about our freedom in Christ, right? So let's get into the, let's look at the PDF. Oops. I'm just going to go ahead and share the PDF, right? So this is available in the coursework section. I've just put it up this morning. So, right. So free, we are free in Christ, right? So what are we free from? First of all, we must understand that as people in Christ, we are free from bondage to the law. And it's very interesting. The New Testament calls the law as a bondage. It's a weight. It's something that puts us down, you know, and we will explain why. But let's read some Scripture. Could somebody read this for us? Galatians chapter two verses three and four and verse 16, please. Galatians chapter two verse three, four and 16. Yet not even Titus, who was with me being a Greek, was compelled to be circumcised. And this occurred because of false brethren secretly brought in, who came in by stealth to spy out our liberty, which we have in Christ Jesus, that they might bring us into bondage. Knowing that a man is not justified by the works of the law, but by faith in Jesus Christ. Even we have believed in Christ Jesus, that we might be justified by faith in Christ, and not by the works of the law. For by the works of the law, no flesh shall be justified. Amen. Thank you. So Paul is writing about our liberty, which we have in Christ Jesus. So this phrase in Christ Jesus, that's what we are tracing through the New Testament. And he is talking now about liberty, which we have in Christ. Now what is the context? And the entire episode to the Galatians addresses this one main theme about our liberty in Christ Jesus. And when you come later on to your third year, you'll be studying every book in the New Testament, not all the episodes, and the Gospels you'll be doing, Gospel of John, and of course you'll study Acts also. But just to give you a little understanding here, Galatia was a district, which today in our modern-day world is a part of Turkey. And Galatia was a district that would be, let's say, closer to the eastern, it'd be like we'd say central Turkey, extending south to north, central Turkey. So this was the district of Galatia. There were many cities in that, distributed across that district or region. And there was Paul on his first missionary journey. He went through three cities. They were very close to each other, through Lystra, Derby, Iconium. And before that there was Antioch, Antioch and Siddiac. So Antioch then over to Lystra, Derby, Iconium. These cities were all close, and they were in the southern part of the district of Galatia. And then in his second missionary journey, he did go a little bit north of this district as well. So, you know, he Paul had gone, he had preached the gospel of Jesus Christ. And a lot of these people, both Jews and Gentiles, that means non-Jewish people, heard the gospel, believed in Jesus Christ. And so obviously Paul led them to faith in Christ through the preaching of the gospel and so on. But what happened after that is, after Paul had gone through preaching and established these churches, there were what Paul refers to as false brethren. So these are people, these were whom Paul is referring to, are Judaizers or Jewish people who came from Jerusalem and they kind of traced or they tracked Paul's journey. And they came here into the same region, in the same district of Galatia. And they started telling all these people, okay, you believe in Jesus, that's fine, but you still have to follow the law of Moses. So they were bringing these people, especially the Jewish people, telling them that they still had to follow the law of Moses. Paul had just gone through there, telling them that, you know, in Christ, we have freedom in Christ, we don't have to keep the law because Christ himself is the fulfillment of the law and we have a new way to live. It's the law of love and so on. So Paul has gone through preaching there. But now there are these, today is there sort of come in and are confusing the people. So obviously the people are very confused. Many of them have been convinced that they have to go back and keep the law and follow all the rituals, the ceremonies, the religious rules of the law, et cetera, the entire law of Moses. And of course a big part of that law was for the male to be circumcised and all of that. And so people are very confused. Now Paul is writing his episode to the Galatians. To the churches in this area to explain to them that we have liberty in Christ Jesus and that this liberty actually sets us free from the law, from keeping the law. And so I've just picked out one verse here, verse 16, where Paul is telling that, look, a man, nobody is justified by doing the works of the law, but we are justified by faith, by faith in Jesus. So that's how we are justified. And not by the works of the law. So he's reiterating to them what he has already explained. That look, the way we get right with God, the word justified, the way we can be just or put right with God is through faith in Jesus and not by the works of the law. So he begins to explain this to them. He explains this to them in his episode to the Galatians. And that's what that episode is all about. And it was read in many of those churches so that believers could understand. But notice what he's saying. He's saying, we have liberty, which we have in Christ Jesus. And that's what, you know, we have to, we're going to discover. So let's read another passage from the same episode. Galatians chapter five, verses one through six, please. Somebody could read that. Galatians chapter five, verse one to six. Stand fast therefore in the liberty by which Christ has made us free and do not be entangled again with a yoke of bondage. Indeed, I, Paul, say to you that if you become circumcised, Christ will profit you nothing. And I testify again to every man who becomes circumcised that he's a debtor to keep the whole law. You have become estranged from Christ. You who attempt to be justified by law, you have fallen from grace. For we through the spirit eagerly wait for the hope of righteousness by faith. For in Christ Jesus, neither circumcision nor uncircumcision avails anything but faith working through love. Amen. Thank you. So again in this passage, and I'm just picking out, you know, certain verses of passages from the entire episode, but notice he says, stand fast or be firm in the liberty. Because you know, you stand in your freedom. Don't relinquish your freedom. Stand firm in the liberty by which Christ has made us free. The liberty that we have in Jesus. And don't go back and get entangled again with the yoke of bondage. So this yoke of bondage he's referring to is the law as you can see from the whole entire episode. And then he says, look, if you go and get yourself circumcised, Christ is of no use to you. That means you're trying to work your righteousness by keeping the law. And if you're going to do one part of the law which tells you to be circumcised, then you ought to keep the whole law. And it's impossible for a man or any person to keep the whole law. Because by default, we're going to break it. We're going to do things that the losses don't. And so he says, look, if you are going to try to gain righteousness by keeping the law, then you've been separated from Christ. And, you know, you're attempting to be justified by the law. And he says, you've fallen from grace. That means, you know, the grace that God has given you, meaning, but God has given you freely out of his own grace is now wasted. Because if you're going to go back and keep the law, if you're going to attempt to be justified by the law, you know, you're separated from Christ. And Christ is of no use to you. But he says, for us, we who believe, we, by the Holy Spirit, we have this hope of righteousness by faith. So we have righteousness by faith right now. And even in the future, when we stand before God, that's our hope, that's our expectation, that when we stand before him, we will be declared righteous, simply because of faith. And so he says, again, in Christ Jesus, again, that phrase, he says, look, in Christ, it's not about circumcision on circumcision, it's whether you're circumcised on circumcised, that's not the problem issue. What matters is faith that works through love. So once again, Paul is emphasizing, you know, stand in the liberty you've got. Don't go back and try to keep the law. If you try to keep a little bit of the law, you've got to keep the whole law. And this, you really cannot, you know, be justified by the law. The grace of God is of no use to you if you're trying to do that. But we are going to be a people who have righteousness by faith, right? Later on that same chapter, the 15th verse, he says, for in Christ Jesus, again, I'm highlighting this phrase here in Christ Jesus, you know, neither circumcision and circumcision avails anything, but a new creation, that's who we are. So he's saying really what matters is in Christ that you're a new creation. It's not about the law, right? Now Paul teaches the same truth in other episodes, you know, other places. He repeats this or re-emphasizes this truth. You'll find also in Romans chapter 4, he puts this, he brings up the same truth, but he puts it in a different way, right? Let's read that. Romans chapter 4 versus Romans chapter 7, sorry, verses 4 through 6. Can somebody read that for us, please? Therefore, my brethren, you also have become dead to the law through the body of Christ that you may be married to another, to him who was raised from the dead that we should bear fruit to God. For when we were in the flesh, the sinful passions which were aroused by the law were at work in our members to bear fruit to death. But now we have been delivered from the law, having died to what we were held by so that we should serve in the newness of the spirit and not in the oldness of the letter. Thank you. So notice in some of the statements Paul is making, he says, brethren, so of course he's talking to believers, we have become dead to the law. We have nothing to do with the law. We are dead to the law. Law here, of course, is talking to the entire law of Moses. So when Paul refers to the law, he refers to everything that God gave through Moses. So he says we are dead to it. Through the body of Christ that is through Christ or being in Christ, we are dead to the law. And now we are married to another, that is Jesus Christ, that means we are dead to that, the law, and we have been brought into relationship with Jesus Christ. And then he says, when we were living in the flesh, the law only pointed out all the sinful passions that were at work and it only resulted in death. So trying to keep the law is not really practical. It's not possible. But he says we have been delivered from the law. The word delivered means we are set free. We are delivered from the law, having died to what we were held by. So the law was holding on to us, but we've been delivered from that. And now in Christ, what do we do? We serve in the newness of the spirit. That means God has given us a brand new life and a new way of serving God or walking with him. It's in the spirit, not in the oldness of the letter. It's not by the old letter of the law. That's not how we serve God. We serve God in the newness of the spirit. Now, what does this mean for us as New Testament believers? And why am I emphasizing this? We'll see this again later on as we talk about it. That we are free. We are completely free from the law of Moses. So let me state this and I'll also answer some questions. That means we are not in subject, in subjection to the law of Moses, which is in the Old Testament. That means that includes everything. Like I said earlier, the Ten Commandments, the religious laws, the sacrificial laws are to go and make all these sacrifices. The law of observance is spinning, observing all the festivals, the feasts, the Jewish feasts. Now we are free from all of that. We are free from all the ceremonial laws and cleansing and hygiene laws. We're free from everything, the law of Moses. Now, some people may object, how can you say we don't have to keep the Ten Commandments? Well, because when you come to the New Testament, we have something higher than the Ten Commandments. You see, in the New Testament, both in James 1.25 and James 2.12, it tells us that we are under the perfect law of liberty. It's kind of interesting, the law of liberty. We think law is something that holds us down, but James was calling it the law of liberty. This is a law that actually liberates us, sets us free. He calls the New Testament as the law of liberty. Now, the law of liberty or the New Testament has much higher standards than the Old Testament. I just put on two things here. So the Ten Commandments says, do not commit adultery. But the New Testament, in the New Testament, Jesus said, even if a person, if a man looks at a woman to lust after her, he has committed adultery. So the standard in the New Testament is much higher than the law of Moses or the Ten Commandments. The Ten Commandments says, do not murder. The New Testament says, even if you hate your brother, you are a murderer. So the law of liberty is much higher than the Ten Commandments. So do we live by the Ten Commandments? Yes and no, meaning we don't follow the Ten Commandments. We have a law that's higher than the Ten Commandments, the New Testament. And we live by this, where God is looking at the heart, not just the deed. And he empowers us at the level of the heart. So by the Holy Spirit, it's not just of not committing adultery. He gets rid of lust from our lives. By the Holy Spirit, it's not just about murder. He gets rid of hate from our hearts. So we are living by a much higher standard, which is the New Covenant or the law of liberty. And in this New Covenant, we are empowered by the Holy Spirit at a much deeper level than what the law of Moses could help the people. The law of Moses told them what to do, what not to do, but didn't give them the power to practice it. When you come into the New Testament, the standards are much higher, but God empowers us by His Holy Spirit. So what can we sum up here? Could somebody please read these two texts, Galatians 5.18 and Romans 13 verses 8 and 10 please. Galatians 5.18 But if you are led by the Spirit, you are not under the law. Romans 13, 8 and 10. Oh, no one, anything except to love one another. For he who loves another has fulfilled the law. Love does no harm to a neighbor. Therefore, love is the fulfillment of the law. Thank you. Notice what it says. He's talking to us believers. Look, we are led by the Spirit. So we're not under the law. Think of it. We are not under the law. Why? Because we are living by the Spirit, the Holy Spirit, and the Holy Spirit. He definitely will make sure we not only keep the law, the good things that the law says, but he's going to take us higher. He's going to deal with our hard attitudes. He's going to deal with, you know, the motivations of our hearts. So Paul is telling us, look, because we are living by the Spirit, we are led by the Holy Spirit. We are not under the law. We're not in bondage to it. We're not trying to live by the rule book. We're not going to live by, you know, the do's and the don'ts. We are led by the Holy Spirit. And that's a much higher standard. And we are living by the Holy Spirit. As a New Testament believer, we walk in the Spirit. Romans 13, 8 through 8 and 10, as we read here, it says, look, when we walk in love, we fulfill the law. That means we automatically are going to do everything the law wants and much more. So as New Testament believers, there are two things. We are led by the Spirit and we walk in love. Now, what I do want us to understand is, you see, sometimes people take a verse from the Old Testament, from the law of Moses, they'll take a verse and say, notice it says here, don't do this. Don't do this. But hey, as a New Testament believer, you are not under that law example of not having enough food to eat. You cannot eat animals that have hoofed feet. So technically you cannot eat pork, because pork has that. But you come to the New Testament, hey, Paul says in Timothy, we can eat anything in 1 Timothy. And also look at the later, in Romans 14, you eat what you want, whatever is offered, you eat, you pray and eat. But somebody can take a verse from the Old Testament and say, hey, you're not supposed to eat this. Or you're not supposed to eat this kind of seafood. Now, of course, certain things were given to them for their hygiene purposes. But if somebody takes those verses and starts hitting a New Testament believer with those verses, and there's no end to it, you just have to say, look, I'm not under the law. Similarly, some people would take a verse from the law of Moses and say, you know, women cannot wear men's clothing. So that means, you know, trousers. Women cannot wear trousers. And there are some places where they will do that. They will take a verse like that and pray. Then you say, no, I'm not under the law. Because if you're going to take one verse from the law, then you've got to keep the whole of it, including sacrifices and so on and so forth. So you're not under the law. You are free. When you come in the New Testament, it says, you have both men and women. We be dressed in a way that's honorable to God. We wear clothing that's honorable to God. We're not dictated by the law. Similarly, for instance, the Old Testament would say, you know, you keep all kinds of feasts. Now somebody would come in the New Testament and say, okay, let's keep this feast in the feast of the Passover or the day of atonement or whatever feast they want. You don't have to do it. We're not under the law. We're not here to observe the feast that was given to the Jewish people. The Jews may practice it, but as a New Testament believer, you don't have to do that. Now out of curiosity, if you just want to kind of understand Jewish culture, you go and observe it or you kind of see what happens. That's okay. That's just a learning or a cultural exposure to the Jewish culture and so on. That's fine. But you don't have to keep the feasts and you're not going to be any more spiritual by keeping our feast or by not keeping our feast. I'm talking about the Jewish feast that's given here in the Old Testament. You're not going to be any more spiritual. You're not going to get any more closer to God just because you kept the Jewish feast. But today we have lots of Christians being caught up in that or I need to keep this feast and it makes me feel closer to God. No, it doesn't change who you are in Christ. Now if you want to do it for a cultural experience, like I said, that's fine. There's nothing wrong with it. But don't do it thinking you're going to get any closer to God because you're keeping a Jewish feast. Jesus has done away with all of that for those who are in Christ Jesus. Okay? So that's the first thing. We are free from bondage to the law. The law means the entirety of the law. The entirety of the law of Moses. We live by a greater law of the liberty as New Testament believers. We are called to walk in the spirit and walk in love. When you walk in the spirit, you're not under the law. When you walk in love, you're doing much more than the law requires. Let me pause here before you go forward and see if there are any questions or anything anybody wants to ask. Is it clear? Any questions? Davia, you have a question. Go ahead. My question was with reference to Galatians 5, 1 to 6. So as we were learning in the course of faith, the Old Testament people, they also were made righteous through faith. So I was just trying to understand when Paul refers to in verse 4, he says, you have become estranged from Christ. You who attempt to be justified by law. You have fallen from grace. For we through the spirit wait for the hope of righteousness by faith. So my question is like even in the Old Testament, the righteousness was through faith, right? Yes, yes. Okay, yeah. So here it is referring to those practices that the Jews used to circumcision. The entirety of the law. So here's a picture that we must get as far as the Old Testament is concerned. Everybody in the Old Testament could only be made righteous by faith. You know, even David, you know, he sinned, but he asked God forgiveness. And he says, you know, in Psalm 32, blessed is the man whose sins are covered, you know, whom God has forgiven and whose sins are covered. So he could also have the assurance by faith that his sins were forgiven. Notice it was by faith and not because of works of righteousness, but because of the deeds of the law. The law as Galatians explains, Paul explains in Galatians 3, was given and he explains it in Romans also, in Romans chapter 7. He also explains it in Galatians 3. The law was given to show man that he could not have righteousness by works. So Paul brings it out there, you know, in Galatians 3, verse 19 to 25, you know, Galatians 3. He says, you know, so why did God give the law? If the Old Testament too, were going to receive righteousness by faith, why did he give them the law? He gave them the law, we could see for two reasons. One, to show that there is sin. So Romans 7, Paul writes, he says, you know, it's because of the law that sin was, you know, he says, he used the word revived or, you know, it came alive that people recognized there is thing called sin because I'm not keeping the law of what God requires. Secondly, the law was given to show us that we cannot do righteousness on our own strength. We can't, we can't get righteousness by works. And thirdly, which we're seeing in Galatians 6 also says, is the law was given so as it points us to Christ, saying, look, the only way you're going to have righteousness is through faith in Christ. So even under the Old Testament, people who had faith in God, God in response to their faith gave them forgiveness or righteousness. It was on the basis of what Christ was going to do on the cross that he could give that to them. It was like a down payment, right? So look, I'm giving it to you on the basis that Christ is going to bear your sin. So how were Old Testament saints given righteousness by faith the same way you and I are given righteousness by faith because of the cross? Before the cross, it was like a down payment in advance given after the cross. We are receiving it because the price has been paid. Okay. Yeah. Okay, let me look at John's in Galatians 2. People who try to keep the law cannot be made righteous. Does this mean also mean nobody in the Old Testament were made righteous? We say Abraham was made righteous by faith, but no one else. Yeah. So John, like what we were saying, in the Old Testament, there were many people who were given righteousness because of their faith and not because of the law. So starting from Cain onwards, we see people who were made righteous. We hear Hebrews 11 to by faith, Cain obtained a good report. So each one, not Cain, I'm talking about Abel, my mistake, by faith, Abel. So Cain was the one who didn't get righteousness, but Abel was granted righteousness. So people throughout the Old Testament, like we mentioned, David, he received forgiveness of sins, Psalm 32, all on the basis of all the Old Testament saints. But it was given because of faith, not because of the works of the law. Is it okay, John? Yeah, yeah. Any other questions? Yes, Shani, go ahead, please. I had a question. I know you were talking about the perfect law of liberty. So first, I'm here about that. So where is that listed? Is it kind of like listed like the Ten Commandments? Where is that listed? Okay, so James, he doesn't, like it's basically talking about what God has given to us in the New Testament. So it's this law of liberty that James refers to in James chapter one, verse 25. He's really simply referring to the word of God, James 1, 25, right? He who looks into the perfect law of liberty. So using the phrase law of liberty for the word of God. And once again, he writes about it in James 2 and verse 12. So let me write it down. James 1, verse 25. James 2, verse 12. So once again, James 2 and verse 12, he talks about the law of liberty. In a sense, what is the law of liberty? It is simply us walking in the spirit. Secondly, walking in love. So that's it. But in James 1, 25, the context is the word of God. The word of God, the New Testament, the instructions God has given us in His word. But as New Testament believers, we just have to walk in the spirit and we walk in love. Two things. Okay. So I guess in James 1, 25 and 2, 12, like the examples you were giving about in terms of adultery and murder. I just kind of specifically kind of explained it like that breaks it down. Oh, okay. So those that I was quoting from Matthew chapter five, what Jesus said here. So in Matthew chapter five and verse 28, Jesus, these are the words of Jesus. I'm just giving the words. Matthew chapter five, 27 to 28. Where Jesus says, you know, sorry, the Old Testament said, do not commit adultery. But I say to you, and this look, this is how I'm at 25, 27 and 28. Sorry, that was my mistake. 27 and 28. Jesus said, you know, Matthew five, 27, it was said to you from those of all, you should not commit adultery, verse 28. But I say to you, whoever looks at a woman, right? So this is Jesus saying, look, this is what the new covenant is all about. This is a standard that we have to live by, that you do not lust for a woman in your heart. Matthew five, 27, 28. So he's giving us a standard that's much higher than the old. The other one in terms of like, I was referring to what we see in first John, where he says, he who hates his brother is a murderer. Let me give you the exact verse here. And I think it's in chapter three. And yeah, first John three, 15. First John three, 15. Okay. So I was offering to that worse. Whoever hates his brother is a murderer. So in the Old Testament, the 10 commandments, like we said, says, don't, don't murder. You don't kill somebody. But then the new covenant, you come into the new Testament or the perfect law of liberty. It says, even if I hate my brother, I'm a murderer. That's first John three, 15. So the standard is higher. And the only way we're going to keep this higher standard is if you walk in the spirit and if you walk in love. Okay. I understand that. I just, in terms of what about in terms of the Old Testament, I think it says that should not steal. Does he reference something in that in terms of since we're not under the law saying that you shouldn't steal, like where is that at too? And the rest of the, and the rest of the command in terms of, because when you said that, I'm thinking, okay, for, for every commandment, since there's 10 of them, it must be somewhere in the Bible that's explained. There's a no, you gave in terms of adultery and murder. So what about the rest of that should not steal? Or are there not in there? That's what I'm trying to figure out too. Yeah. So we do have that, right? We do have that. I'll just point out a few, but I think the essence of what Paul is writing when I pointed out Romans 13, eight and verse eight and 10, he says, look, if you walk in love, if we walk in love, we will not do anything that hurts somebody. So, you know, if I'm going to steal from somebody, I'm hurting that person. So if I walk in love, I won't do it because I won't do anything that hurts another person. Or if I'm led by the spirit, the spirit of God will not lead me to do something like that. So that in a sense summarizes, you know, all of the 10 and much more that if I walk in the spirit and if we walk in love, we will definitely not break any of the 10 commandments and much more, right? But if you want to, you know, look at everything, you know, each one of those 10 specifically, and we relate to them what the New Testament teaches that can be done very quickly. For instance, in terms of not stealing, you know, I can think of certain scriptures here in First Thessalonians. There are several here, but First Thessalonians chapter 4 or Ephesians, let me give you a few. Somebody can type it while I'm saying this. Ephesians chapter 4, he says, verse 28, Ephesians 4 verse 28, let him who stole steal no longer, but rather let him lay by working with his hands what is good that he may have something to give to him who has need. And also Ephesians 4, 28, that's in relation to stealing. Same thing in First Thessalonians chapter 4, verse 11 and 12. He says, you know, you lead a quiet life, you mind your own business, work with your own hands. First Thessalonians 4, 11 and 12, that you may walk properly towards those outside that you may lack nothing. So he's talking about, you know, just work with your own hands, earn and take care of your own needs rather than doing other things. You know, you could relate like that. When you talk about the Sabbath, and we will talk about this in the same chapter, in the same lesson, the Old Testament, they had to observe the Sabbath day, so seventh day has the Sabbath. You come into the New Testament, he says, you observe whatever day you want, you know, whatever day you want to, it doesn't have to be Saturday or the seventh day. If, you know, you want to rest on your, on a Tuesday, fine, you want to rest on a, basically you want to take that day to honor God, whether you do it on a Sunday or whatever day of the week you want to take, but you rest and honor God, that's your choice. You know, that's in Romans, the 14th chapter. Right, so we will see that as far as the New Testament is concerned. So like that, we can draw parallels, parallel scriptures. Okay, thank you. Now I understand that kind of like since you let, I guess in terms of, like you explained earlier, I'm having a hard time articulating, say if you're in a spirit, you won't help, you won't hurt people there for you, you won't steal. But also, you also said that in terms of there are references in a Bible that kind of, kind of compares with what they're doing. Yeah, parallel, yeah, thank you. So yeah, that, that clears it up a lot. Thank you. Okay, thank you. Good, good. Any other questions? Okay. Okay, thanks John for writing the references. All right. So I think we're understanding right that in the New Testament in Christ, we have this law of liberty, but it's governed by walking in the spirit, walking in love. Okay. Good. Let's pause now for a quick break. We'll come back in 10 minutes and we will continue forward. Okay. Thank you.