Does the Holy Spirit Free Us from the Law?

Since the Holy Spirit is our guide, some Christians think that they do not need to study and follow the Law of God as written in the Scriptures. "I don't need the written law; I'm led by the Spirit." They assume that the written Law is not necessary for Christians because "the Holy Spirit will tell me if I'm doing something wrong." It would probably be hard to find a Christian that would actually voice these opinions. However, in practice, many Christians live as if the Holy Spirit has freed them from the written text of God's Law.

That is not a biblical concept! The Scriptures do not teach that "led by the Spirit" equals "free from the written Law." In fact, the Scriptures teach quite the opposite. Romans 8:3,4 says,

"3. For what the law could not do, in that it was weak through the flesh, God
sending his own Son in the likeness of sinful flesh, and for sin, condemned sin
in the flesh:
4. That the righteousness of the law might be fulfilled in us,
who walk not after the flesh, but after the Spirit."

These verses declare that one who walks after the Spirit is one who obeys the Law! We cannot claim to be led by the Holy Spirit if we reject the Law of God

Will Babylon Be Rebuilt?

When interpreting Scripture, some Christians take things allegorically that should be taken literally (i.e. Genesis 1). Other Christians have the opposite problem and take literally what should be taken allegorically.

In their quest to interpret the book of Revelation literally, some prophecy pundits claim that the city of Babylon will be rebuilt. They propose that the Antichrist will establish his headquaters at the ancient city of Babylon.

Why do they propose that this city will be rebuilt? It's because the book of Revelation mentions "Babylon". If we take this to be referring to the literal, Old Testament city of Babylon, we must conclude that it is a rebuilt city because Babylon currently lies in ruins.

The problem with the conclusion is twofold: 1. This conclusion is reached because the symbols of Revelation are interpreted literally rather than symbolically. 2. This conclusion is contradicted by earlier Scripture.

When we study Scripture, we must understand that any given passage of Scripture must be interpreted while taking the context into consideration. Consider Isaiah 13:19-22:

19 "And Babylon, the glory of kingdoms, the beauty of the Chaldees' excellency,
shall be as when God overthrew Sodom and Gomorrah.
20 It shall never be
inhabited, neither shall it be dwelt in from generation to generation: neither
shall the Arabian pitch tent there; neither shall the shepherds make their fold
there.
21 But wild beasts of the desert shall lie there; and their houses
shall be full of doleful creatures; and owls shall dwell there, and satyrs shall
dance there.
22 And the wild beasts of the islands shall cry in their
desolate houses, and dragons in [their] pleasant palaces: and her time [is] near
to come, and her days shall not be prolonged."

I would like to draw attention to verse 20 in particular: "It [Babylon] shall never be inhabited..." Does this leave any possibility of Babylon being rebuilt?

A Defense of God's Law: Shooting & Traffic Noises

Yesterday, I spent five hours shooting in the recording studio. Well, I guess I can't really call it a recording studio since it wasn't soundproof! The biggest challenge of the shoot was trying to work around all the traffic noises that continually interrupted us. My recommendation to other filmmakers is, don't record in a room right next to a busy main street...that is, unless you want the traffic noises for ambiance effect!

Today, the shooting continued for much of the afternoon, and everything seemed to go well. Tonight, I'll be reviewing the footage to ensure that the shots are satisfactory. Keep watching for further updates on the production progress.

A Defense of God's Law: More Shooting

Yesterday, we shot many more scenes for the film. I stepped in front of the camera this time. Jonathan Einwechter ran the camera for part of the day, then my brother Stephen took over for the rest of the day.

We completed everything I had hoped to complete. I'm thankful to the Lord for a good day of shooting. We plan to continue shooting the film tomorrow.

A Defense of God's Law: B-Roll & Misc. Shots

Wednesday was a busy day at Scott Eash Multimedia! We have launched a web ad for our film Autumn Breeze, Winter Freeze. The ad was placed on Wednesday and is viewable here.

But this was not the end of our workday to be sure. We began shooting b-roll and miscellaneous shots for A Defense of God’s Law, our upcoming documentary on the continuing relevance of God’s law. Props used included a Hebrew scroll, a globe, a Bible, bread, and a fruit bowl. (It’ll all make sense when you see the film.)






Here I am with my production assistants, Jonathan and Josiah Einwechter. They were very helpful with shooting the many scenes for the day. I appreciated their eagerness to help and their continued positive, cheerful attitudes as the day wore on. Everyone exhibited a high level of patience when we spent nearly one hour setting up a single shot!

From left: Josiah Einwechter, me, Jonathan Einwechter

We plan to continue our shoot next week. Please pray for this production to go smoothly.

Here are various other photos from the day:

Stephen Eash

Jonathan Einwechter

Josiah Einwechter

me

Interesting Road Signs and a Town to Avoid!

During our Michigan trip, we passed a number of interesting streets: Memory Lane, Easy Street, and Bible Road. We also passed a small town with a peculiar name: Hell, Michigan. Needless to say, we didn’t drive through that town. Ironically, leading to the town was a road named Darwin.

A Trip to Michigan

In my previous post, I wrote about my family’s visit to the Creation Museum in Kentucky. That visit was a stop we made while on our way to Sturgis, Michigan for a family reunion.

It was good to be in Michigan again, to see all those familiar faces once again! However, that wasn’t the end of the trip. Before leaving for home, we traveled further north to Pinckney, Michigan, my father’s hometown. We went there to see where my father was born, and we also visited a small church where his family once attended. There were people at that church which my father had not seen for nearly thirty years!

Answers in Genesis Creation Museum: A Behind the Scenes Tour

Driving up to the museum.

This past Friday, my family took a trip to northern Kentucky to visit the new Creation Museum. With the grand opening still nine months away, Answers in Genesis opened up the museum for a behind the scenes tour.

Pond and animatronic dinosaurs in the lobby.

One of the displays in the tour. (Note: those are not real people!)

The Garden of Eden (still under construction).

The museum is state-of-the-art, spectacular, and impressive. This is no miniature, low-budget museum! The team at Answers in Genesis has done a first-rate job.

A life-like animatronic dinosaur. (my brothers were scared to be near it!)

That's me standing next to a Stegosaurus

Most of the displays are still under construction, as can be seen in the photos. There still is a lot of work to do. They need to raise nearly $5 million to finish the museum in time for the April 2007 grand opening. Find out more at www.answersingenesis.org.

This head was huge!