BEAWARE OF SUBTLETIES

Table of Contents

1. Celebrating Forty-Two Years of Marriage
2. A Follow-Up Teaching About Grace
3. Romans 7:1-4: Dying to the Law and Becoming United With Christ
4. Why a Person Cannot Be Married to Two Covenants
5. The Subtle Progression Toward Adultery
6. New Testament Does Not Automatically Mean New Covenant
7. Acts 21: Believing in Jesus While Remaining Zealous for the Law
8. The Covenant of Works Versus the Covenant of Grace
9. Recognizing Covenant Mixture Through Guilt, Shame, and Condemnation
10. Staying Pure and Faithful to Grace
11. Blameless, Holy, and Innocent in Christ
12. Gratitude for the Ministry’s Supporters

Celebrating Forty-Two Years of Marriage

Pastor Leonard opens the teaching by introducing himself and his wife, Pastor Lori. Their conversation immediately turns toward the significance of the day: it is their forty-second wedding anniversary.

Pastor Lori confirms that they have been married for forty-two years, and Pastor Leonard describes those years as awesome and wonderful. They both express the feeling that, even after more than four decades together, they are only getting started. Their relationship continues to improve, and Pastor Leonard says he has been extraordinarily blessed with a wonderful wife.

He expresses his gratitude to God for Pastor Lori and raises the possibility of enjoying another forty-two years together. They humorously calculate how old that would make them and conclude that it might still be possible.

Rather than stepping away from ministry to celebrate privately, they consider sharing the teaching with their audience to be a fitting way to celebrate. Their wedding anniversary also provides a timely backdrop for a message focused on marriage, faithfulness, covenants, and the spiritual danger of adultery.

A Follow-Up Teaching About Grace

Pastor Leonard explains that this teaching is a continuation of the message he preached the previous Sunday. He encourages listeners who have not heard the earlier message to go back and listen to it.
He remarks that whenever he thinks he has preached everything there is to preach about grace, the Lord reveals something more. The Sunday message contained another such revelation, and this session is intended to continue and develop that teaching.
He expresses his hope that the message will bless the audience, then asks Pastor Lori to read from Romans 7. Pastor Leonard describes Romans 7 as a very telling chapter and encourages everyone to pay close attention to the passage.

Romans 7:1-4: Dying to the Law and Becoming United With Christ

Pastor Lori reads Romans 7:1-4. In accordance with the King James Version, the passage states:

Romans 7:1- “Know ye not, brethren, (for I speak to them that know the law,) how that the law hath dominion over a man as long as he liveth?”

Romans 7:2- “For the woman which hath an husband is bound by the law to her husband so long as he liveth; but if the husband be dead, she is loosed from the law of her husband.”

Romans 7:3- “So then if, while her husband liveth, she be married to another man, she shall be called an adulteress: but if her husband be dead, she is free from that law; so that she is no adulteress, though she be married to another man.”

Romans 7:4- “Wherefore, my brethren, ye also are become dead to the law by the body of Christ; that ye should be married to another, even to him who is raised from the dead, that we should bring forth fruit unto God.”

The passage explains that the law has authority over a person only as long as that person is alive. Paul illustrates this principle through marriage. A married woman is legally bound to her husband while he lives. If she becomes joined to another man while her husband is still alive, she is considered an adulteress.

However, if her husband dies, she is released from the law that bound her to him. She is then free to marry another man without committing adultery.

Paul applies this marriage illustration to believers and the law. Through the body of Christ, believers have become dead to the law. They are now free to be joined to another husband: Jesus Christ, the One who was raised from the dead. The purpose of this new union is that believers may bring forth fruit unto God. The fruit of the Christian life does not come from attempting to maintain a relationship with both the law and Christ. It comes from being united with the risen Christ.

Pastor Leonard calls this an awesome portion of Scripture. He draws particular attention to the statement that the law binds a married person as long as the spouse remains alive.

Why a Person Cannot Be Married to Two Covenants

Pastor Leonard asks Pastor Lori whether she would want to have two husbands at the same time. She answers no and explains that she would be unable to dedicate herself properly. She would be divided and torn between two relationships.

Pastor Leonard jokingly adds that it can sometimes be difficult enough for her to keep up with one husband. He then considers the reverse situation and says he cannot imagine being married to two women at the same time. The entire arrangement would be unimaginable and preposterous. This humorous conversation introduces the spiritual point of Paul’s illustration. Pastor Leonard explains that Paul is effectively calling certain believers adulterers. These believers have been married to Christ and placed under the covenant of grace. However, while claiming to belong to Christ, they continue adhering to the covenant of law. According to the illustration in Romans 7, attempting to remain joined to both covenants is spiritual adultery.

Pastor Leonard returns to the passage:

Romans 7:2- “For the woman which hath an husband is bound by the law to her husband so long as he liveth; but if the husband be dead, she is loosed from the law of her husband.”

Romans 7:3- “So then if, while her husband liveth, she be married to another man, she shall be called an adulteress: but if her husband be dead, she is free from that law; so that she is no adulteress, though she be married to another man.”

Romans 7:4- “Wherefore, my brethren, ye also are become dead to the law by the body of Christ; that ye should be married to another, even to him who is raised from the dead, that we should bring forth fruit unto God.”

Believers have died to the law and have been united with Christ. They cannot faithfully live as though they remain married to the former covenant while also claiming complete union with Jesus under grace. Two husbands would create division, confusion, and turmoil in an earthly marriage. In the same way, trying to live under two covenants produces spiritual chaos, turmoil, trouble, and struggle.

The Subtle Progression Toward Adultery

Pastor Leonard says that many people in the world have committed adultery, including people the audience may personally know. However, he does not believe most people begin with a settled intention to become adulterers. People generally do not wake up one morning committed to betraying their marriage. They are not necessarily searching for an adulterous relationship. Nevertheless, adultery still happens.

Pastor Leonard and Pastor Lori discuss how it develops. It often begins with subtle acquaintances, subtle occurrences, subtle thoughts, and seemingly minor situations. Two people may repeatedly find themselves together in circumstances in which they should not be. Nothing may appear serious at first. However, thoughts begin to develop. Those thoughts gradually become magnified and intensified.

Emotions then grow stronger. Actions follow the thoughts and emotions. Eventually, what began subtly develops into adultery. Pastor Leonard stresses that adultery may not have been the original intention of either person. It resulted from a progression of subtle compromises.

This natural illustration becomes a spiritual warning. Paul is warning believers that covenant adultery can also enter subtly. A person may not consciously decide, “I am going to leave grace and place myself under the law.” Instead, legalistic ideas enter little by little. A person begins accepting teachings, requirements, conditions, and practices that quietly shift confidence away from Christ and toward personal performance. For this reason, believers must be aware of subtleties. What appears to be a minor addition to grace can eventually trap a person in covenant mixture. Pastor Leonard repeats the central warning: a believer cannot be married to two covenants.

New Testament Does Not Automatically Mean New Covenant

Pastor Leonard explains an important distinction that many people fail to recognize. The New Testament is not identical to the New Covenant. The portion of the Bible commonly called the New Testament begins with Matthew 1:1:

Matthew 1:1- “The book of the generation of Jesus Christ, the son of David, the son of Abraham.”

It ends with Revelation 22:21:

Revelation 22:21- “The grace of our Lord Jesus Christ be with you all. Amen.”

These books collectively form the section of the Bible called the New Testament. However, Pastor Leonard emphasizes that the term “New Testament” does not mean that everything recorded within those books occurred exclusively under the New Covenant. In the same way, the term “Old Testament” should not automatically be treated as meaning that every event within that section of Scripture belongs only to the Old Covenant.

The distinction matters because the New Testament records a period of transition. The covenant of grace was becoming preeminent while the covenant of law was fading away. During that transition, the two covenants could be seen operating alongside one another. This historical setting helps explain why Paul had to address covenant mixture so strongly. Many people believed in Jesus while continuing to adhere to the law of Moses.

Paul’s letters dealt with the confusion that resulted from this intermingling. People were attempting to combine faith in Jesus with continued dependence upon the rules, regulations, and performance requirements of the former covenant.

Acts 21: Believing in Jesus While Remaining Zealous for the Law

Pastor Lori then reads from Acts chapter 21. The passage describes thousands of Jewish believers who believed in Jesus but remained zealous for the law of Moses:

Acts 21:20- “And when they heard it, they glorified the Lord, and said unto him, Thou seest, brother, how many thousands of Jews there are which believe; and they are all zealous of the law.”

Acts 21:21- “And they are informed of thee, that thou teachest all the Jews which are among the Gentiles to forsake Moses, saying that they ought not to circumcise their children, neither to walk after the customs.”

Pastor Leonard calls this an amazing portion of Scripture. These people believed in Jesus. They had heard the gospel of grace. They believed in the grace of the Lord Jesus Christ and in the gift of God.

However, they were also fervent and zealous for the law of Moses. That was the problem: mixture. They wanted Jesus, but they also wanted Moses. They wanted the gospel of grace, but they also wanted the requirements of the law. Paul refused to place the Gentiles under the same bondage that the Jewish people had experienced. He proclaimed the gospel of grace among the Gentiles and did not intend to impose upon them laws, rules, and regulations that the Jewish people themselves had never been able to keep.

Pastor Leonard describes Paul’s position as a refusal to return people to bondage. Paul would not preach the finished work of Jesus and then require Gentile believers to earn what God had freely given. The disagreement resulted in a practical division of ministry. Paul would continue going to the Gentiles, while others would remain focused upon the Jews.

However, Pastor Leonard explains the significance of what was being preached among some of the Jewish believers. They were preaching Jesus while also preaching continued commitment and zeal toward the law of Moses. That is the point at which covenant adultery occurs. A believer cannot walk in two covenants. A person cannot be married to two women or two men without producing chaos, turmoil, trouble, and serious struggle. In the same way, a believer cannot live under both grace and law without experiencing conflict.

The Covenant of Works Versus the Covenant of Grace

Pastor Leonard explains that the first covenant was a covenant of works. It was conditional. Life under that covenant was based upon human work, effort, toiling, and striving. Its blessings and consequences were connected to what people did and how successfully they fulfilled its conditions. The covenant of grace is different. It is not conditioned upon human works. Under grace, people do not have to earn, work, strive, toil, or exert effort to qualify themselves for God’s favor. The condition of the covenant of grace is belief in Jesus Christ.

Pastor Leonard explains that believing in Jesus automatically makes the believer righteous. It automatically makes the believer holy. It sanctifies the believer and qualifies that person to be an heir of God and a joint heir with Jesus Christ. Through Christ, the believer is qualified for all of heaven’s blessings and all of heaven’s promises. The believer is not attempting to become qualified through performance. Qualification comes through union with Christ.
This is the significance of Paul’s statement:

Romans 7:4- “Wherefore, my brethren, ye also are become dead to the law by the body of Christ; that ye should be married to another, even to him who is raised from the dead, that we should bring forth fruit unto God.”

The believer has died to the covenant that demanded work, effort, toiling, and striving as the basis of acceptance. The believer is now married to Christ under a covenant established upon faith and grace. Good fruit still results from this union, but the fruit does not earn the relationship. The relationship with Christ produces the fruit.

Recognizing Covenant Mixture Through Guilt, Shame, and Condemnation

On the day of their forty-second wedding anniversary, Pastor Leonard gives the audience a serious warning: be careful. Do not allow mixture to enter. Do not allow the legalistic bondage of the law to take control. Do not become a spiritual adulterer. Believers must remain faithful to grace.

Pastor Leonard then explains how people can recognize that they have entered covenant mixture. The evidence is guilt, shame, and condemnation. When people begin evaluating their relationship with God primarily through their own performance, failures, works, or effort, guilt and shame take over. They begin feeling condemned because their attention has moved from the sufficiency of Christ to the insufficiency of their own performance. Grace produces freedom. Mixture produces bondage.

Pastor Leonard therefore tells believers to stay free in the glorious gospel and covenant of grace. He again warns the audience to be aware of subtleties. No one necessarily begins with the intention of committing spiritual adultery. Small occurrences, thoughts, teachings, and compromises can gradually lead a believer away from complete confidence in grace. Eventually, those subtleties can become a trap.

Staying Pure and Faithful to Grace

Pastor Leonard summarizes the message by encouraging believers to remain pure in their covenant and strong in their covenant. The New Covenant is a covenant of belief and faith in Jesus Christ. Faith in Christ fully qualifies the believer. No human work is required to earn the believer’s standing before God. No personal effort, toiling, or striving is necessary to become righteous, holy, sanctified, or qualified. Those performance requirements belonged to the other covenant.
The believer has become dead to that former relationship:

Romans 7:4- “Wherefore, my brethren, ye also are become dead to the law by the body of Christ; that ye should be married to another, even to him who is raised from the dead, that we should bring forth fruit unto God.”
Believers are now joined to the risen Christ. Their responsibility is to remain faithful to the covenant of grace and refuse every subtle attempt to bring them back under law.

Pastor Leonard repeats his warning: do not become an adulterer. Do not claim to be married to grace while continuing to seek acceptance, righteousness, holiness, or qualification through the law. Stay faithful to Jesus and to the covenant established through His finished work.

Blameless, Holy, and Innocent in Christ

When Pastor Leonard asks Pastor Lori for her closing thoughts, she describes the believer’s identity in Christ. Believers are blameless, holy, and innocent because they are in Christ and in grace. These qualities are not presented as rewards that believers might eventually earn through enough work. They describe who believers already are because of their position in Jesus Christ.

Pastor Leonard agrees, and they close the teaching with “Amen and amen.” The message leaves believers with a clear choice. They can remain faithful to grace and rest in what Jesus has accomplished, or they can accept the subtle mixture of grace and law and return to guilt, shame, condemnation, and bondage. Pastors Leonard and Lori encourage believers to remain free, strong, and pure in the covenant of grace.

Gratitude for the Ministry’s Supporters

As the session concludes, Pastors Leonard and Lori thank everyone who communicates with them and supports their ministry. They express gratitude for the gifts and offerings they receive, explaining that the ministry could not continue without the generosity of its supporters.

Pastor Leonard describes the supporters as God’s hand extended. God extends His hands through His people, and those who give are participating in the work of the ministry. They also thank those who have already given and those who will give in the future. Viewers who wish to support the ministry are directed to the giving section of the ministry’s website, where the available giving methods are explained.

Pastor Lori again thanks the audience for being God’s hand extended. They close by telling the viewers that they love them and will see them again in a couple of days.

We hope this article blessed you and helped you recognize the importance of remaining faithful to the covenant of grace. Be aware of the subtle thoughts, teachings, and requirements that attempt to move your confidence away from Jesus and back toward human performance. Stay free from guilt, shame, and condemnation, knowing that you are blameless, holy, innocent, and fully qualified because you are in Christ. Please share this teaching with others who need to hear the good news of God’s grace.