So those are two mutually exclusive alternatives. You can be under law or you can be under grace but you cannot be under both at the same time. And if you’re under law you’re not under grace, and if you’re not under grace you are not under law.

The implications of what Paul says are very far reaching. He says sin shall not have dominion over you, for you are not under law but under grace. The implication is if you are under law, sin would have dominion over you. The only way to escape from the dominion of sin is to stop trying to keep a law and avail yourself of God’s grace. I told you this would be shocking. I can see some of you are already a little bit shocked.

Now in Romans 8:14 Paul says:

“For as many as are led by the Spirit of God, these are sons of God.”

Who are the real children of God? Those who are led regularly by the Holy Spirit. That’s the alternative to keeping a set of rules. You can keep the set of rules or you can be led by the Holy Spirit, but you can’t do both.

There’s a little illustration that I use which comes to my mind. I think I’ll use it just to make this vivid. There’s this young man, he’s just graduated from a Bible school. He’s got a degree in theology, he’s strong and healthy, and he’s got to make his way from a certain point to a certain destination. God says to him, “Now, you’ve got two alternatives. You can either use the map or you can avail yourself of a personal guide.” This young man says, “I’m pretty smart, I’ve got a degree in theology. I know how to read maps. I’ll take the map, I don’t need the guide.” When he starts off, the sun is shining, the birds are singing, but about three days later it’s dark. It’s the middle of the night, he’s in a forest, he’s on the verge of a cliff and he doesn’t know whether he’s facing north, south, east or west. A gentle voice says to him, “Can I help you?” Do you know who that is? The Holy Spirit, the personal guide. So he says, “Holy Spirit, I really need you!” The Holy Spirit gets him out of his position and they start off on the road again.

Then after a little while he says to himself, “You know, I think I was a bit silly. I could have handled that without any help. I really didn’t need to panic.” He looks around and his guide is no longer there. He’s on his own. “I can make it.”

Another three days later he’s in the middle of a bog. Every step he takes he sinks deeper and he can’t get out. The gentle voice says to him, “Perhaps you need me now.” “Oh, Holy Spirit, please help me! Only you can get me out of this.” And so he goes on with the Holy Spirit walking on the way that leads to his destination. Then he says to the Holy Spirit, to his guide, “You know, I’ve got a very excellent map. Maybe I could share the map with you.” The guide says, “Thank you but I don’t need the map, I know the way. Besides, I was the one who made the map.”

You see the message? How long will it take before we realize we cannot do it on our own? It’s not our good works, it’s not our keeping rules, it’s the Holy Spirit, the Spirit of grace. As many as are regularly led by the Holy Spirit, these are the sons of God.

And then in Galatians 5 Paul returns to this theme. I want to say to you this theme is one of the major themes of the New Testament. Anybody that has never really mastered this theme is in a state of twilight. I think

Laying the Foundation

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