Sermon on the Mount

552. Why Jesus Taught Two Covenants (Part 9): Be Perfect, As Your Heavenly Father

June 12, 2016 by Mike Kapler and Joel Brueseke

Jesus showed His disciples what the bottom line required when it came to trying to acquire righteousness through their works: It would demand that they be perfect. With this standard being taught, we can begin to see why many stopped following Jesus. They weren't rejecting a Christian message, but they came to realize their inability to meet the standard of perfection the law required in those commandments. Jesus did not always minister the good news gospel to His Jewish audience, but there was a purpose as to why He did this.

551. Why Jesus Taught Two Covenants (Part 8): Pluck out Your Eye, Cut off Your Hand

June 5, 2016 by Mike Kapler and Joel Brueseke

As Jesus continues ministering the law to His Jewish disciples during the Sermon on the Mount, we find some peculiar statements that seemed to make keeping the law something that was impossible. People often wonder just exactly what Jesus meant by cutting off body parts in order to avoid sin. It's not rocket science. Jesus meant what he said as He ministered the Old Covenant law in order to help them realize the hopeless position they were under at that time.

550. Why Jesus Taught Two Covenants (Part 7): Teach the Law and Do It?

May 29, 2016 by Mike Kapler and Joel Brueseke

During the Sermon on the Mount, Jesus had a purpose of revealing to His disciples what the law truly required in order to attain righteousness. He was ultimately teaching that it would be futile for them to maintain the standard it demanded in order to enter the kingdom of heaven. Religion will try to make this out to be a new Christian teaching that Jesus was laying before His Jewish audience, but what He was actually laying down was the law. Jesus would begin to show they needed to find a different way other than through the works of that law.

549. Why Jesus Taught Two Covenants (Part 6): Unsalty People & Fulfilling the Law

May 22, 2016 by Mike Kapler and Joel Brueseke

During the Sermon on the Mount, Jesus was having an Old Covenant conversation with Israelites. They had been considered the salt of the earth. Those under that first covenant understood the connection between salt and the covenant, also known as the covenant of salt. In that former covenant, God found fault with the salt (the people) and salt with no flavor is good for nothing except to be thrown out. If this doesn't sound like good news, it's because it is not the gospel. By God's grace, it would be the covenant that would be tossed out instead of the people. Jesus went on to talk about the law needing to be fulfilled. He would accomplish this in us through His finished work, but first He is getting ready to show his Jewish audience how hopeless their situation was in their current state under that law.

548. Why Jesus Taught Two Covenants (Part 5): The Beatitudes

May 15, 2016 by Mike Kapler and Joel Brueseke

When ministers teach a combination of the law that came through Moses and blend it with the gospel of Jesus Christ as a Christian application, it will leave people confused and often condemned. Teaching those old commandments as a way of life does not reduce sin but leads to an increase in sin. Israel was trapped in a system that could not bring life or righteousness. They needed to be shown their inability to abide by the law and be redirected to something better. Jesus is about to teach the law in a way they had never heard it before during the Sermon on the Mount. He begins with something known as the Beatitudes. These were not given to get people to try harder. These are blessings that would eventually be fulfilled by Jesus.

513. Randomly Addressing Commonly Held Beliefs (Part 1)

September 6, 2015 by Mike Kapler and Joel Brueseke

Doing something a little off the beaten path this week, Mike throws Joel some spontaneous questions or statements about common thoughts, assumptions or beliefs found in most Christian circles or church doctrine. Discussions include falling from grace and forgiving others in order to be forgiven.

Past podcasts related to this week's podcast:
The Sermon: Why Jesus Taught the Law
Jesus Ministering Condemnation
Fallen From Grace (Into What?)