Good morning, everyone. Welcome to the 16th meeting of the Net Zero Energy and Transport Committee for 2022, which today we are conducting in hybrid format. This meeting is being held in addition to our usual Tuesday morning meeting. We have apologies from Natalie Dawn, MSP, and I am pleased to welcome to the committee Eleanor Whitham, MSP, as Natalie's substitute. Good morning. At agenda item 1, we have consideration of whether to take agenda item 3 in private. Item 3 is consideration of an evidence heard this morning. Do we agree to take this in private? That is agreed, thank you very much. Our main agenda item today is an evidence session in relation to our inquiry into increasing energy prices. This inquiry is looking at the significant increase in energy prices, what is driving this, what impact this is having, and what can be done to alleviate the worst impacts. Yesterday, in relation to this inquiry, we heard from and today we are going to hear from the right honourable Greg Hans MP, Minister of State at the Department for Business, Energy and Industrial Strategy, who is joining us remotely. Good morning, minister. Welcome to the committee. Good morning, Mr Lockhart. I hope you can hear me fine. Yes, you are coming through loud and clear. Thank you very much for accepting our invitation and for giving your time to give evidence to the committee. We have allocated one hour for this session and I believe that you would like to begin by making an opening statement, Minister, so I will hand over to you. Thank you. Well, thank you, Mr Lockhart, and apologies for not being able to be with you in person. We're obviously debating the Queen's speech that we had yesterday here in Westminster, but I'm always pleased to be with the front of the Scottish Parliament. But let me say about your inquiry. The rise in energy prices has been driven by the global factors that have increased the price of wholesale gas. The UK Government absolutely gets that high energy prices are a key concern, and that is why we have taken the strong action that we have taken in the box. But this, I should add, has not had an impact on our energy security. Our new British energy security strategy puts renewed emphasis on supporting our North Sea oil and gas sector and making the transition to low-carbon alternatives, protecting 100,000 jobs in the sector, particularly in Scotland. In February, the chancellor announced a £9.1 billion package of support to health households with rising energy bills. This includes the energy bill support scheme, which will provide a £200 bill reduction to domestic electricity customers bills on October 2022. The scheme will apply across England, Scotland and Wales. Households in Scotland will also benefit from the additional £296 million of support for the cost of living in Barnett consequentials, including health for high energy costs on top of the record £41 billion annual settlement announced at the spending review for Scotland, the largest settlement since devolution. Over the longer term, the UK Government, as set out in the British energy security strategy, is focused on replacements for fossil fuels that are reliable and do not expose us to the volatility of international commodity markets. We already have Europe's largest capacity in offshore wind, and we are going to quadruple that over the course of the next decade. We also have a big increase in our nuclear ambition to rise to 24 gigawatts by 2050, representing 25 per cent of our electricity outcomes. This, if I mis-locker, is all a major step towards delivering the Government's increased ambition on renewables and low-carbon generation, as well as energy security. We will continue to monitor the situation with high energy costs, particularly to the consumer and to businesses, and to consider how best to address the issue. We will go straight to questions. My first question relates to the energy supply companies that have left the market over the past 18 months. As you know, around 30 suppliers have left the market, and the supplier of the last resort process has added £2.8 billion to consumer bills, which, as you know, is on top of the increase in wholesale energy costs. We had off-gem at the committee yesterday. They indicated that this is the only mechanism that they have available to recover costs. What other tools has the UK Government considered could be available in this context? What other powers could be given to off-gem to mitigate the consumer costs of companies leaving the market? Thank you, Mr Scott. It's a very good question. I'm glad that off-gem is here before you to answer that, because, principally, solar is a matter for off-gem. The solar process has worked well. Overall, we've had a lot of customers transferred successfully. In fact, nobody has had any disruption in supply—2.5 million customers overall across the 28 solars. That has been a good and seamless process. In terms of reviewing or looking at in the future how these costs might be met, we do think at present that the solar process and how that has met socialising across customers is the best way, but I, of course, will continue to speak to off-gem to see if there might be better ways in the future. The solar process is working well. We saw a good competition in the market, and there are still around 30 energy suppliers in the market overall. That represents a good healthy level of competition, even after the number of companies that have left the market, particularly in the last quarter of last year. Thank you for that reply, minister. In other evidence that the committee has heard, there has been some speculation that the wholesale price of gas will remain high for the foreseeable future, for the reasons that you mentioned in your opening remarks and some global issues that are outside of our control. What action will the UK Government take if the wholesale price of gas remains high beyond 2023? For example, in the Queen's speech yesterday, there was confirmation that the price cap will be extended beyond 2023. I wonder if you could elaborate on other measures that the UK Government might consider if we are to see wholesale price gas prices being elevated for a particular period of time beyond the next 12 or 18 months? I think that the first thing that you might point out in the Queen's speech yesterday, we announced the energy security bill coming up, which will allow us to extend the existing price cap as an obligator to extend it, but it allows us to give it the powers to do so. The second thing that I will say is that it is very difficult to predict energy prices, as we have really seen in recent years. Typically, for example, the gas price in this country hovers between 50 to 60 p a firm, and that has been the case most of the last 25 years. However, the recent current price is around 180 p, so about three to four times the historic average. However, it did go as high as 700 p straight after the Russian invasion. I think that I will give you an idea of the volatility in particular of gas prices that we have. I think that we have to watch the market carefully. The price cap, as you know, gets reset every six months, if you might, lagged by two months. The price cap that will come in next October, the refreshed price cap, will be based on prices—it is calculated by offshore—but on prices between this February and this August. We are about halfway through that period at the moment. Prices that happened yesterday hit a recent low. The spot price was down to as low as 40 p a firm. The forward price was about 185 p a firm, which is relatively low by recent standards. I would say that it remains very volatile. The best thing, though, in answering questions about how structurally do we deal in the long term if there were to be a very extended period of elevated gas prices, is actually to be using less gas. That is why we have such an effective programme across the UK in moving into renewable energy. I mentioned in the opening statement having the largest-installed offshore wind capacity anywhere in Europe. We have bigger capacities in offshore wind, in solar, as you know, in the recent contracts with difference option. We also have separate costs for tidal energy. Scotland plays an vital role in delivering all of these forms of energy. Scotland's key role in this should also be acknowledged as an appearing in front of the Scottish Parliament stage. It would seem remiss not to mention the crucial role of Scotland, because all of our energy sources, including more traditional oil and gas, in answering the question of how structurally do we reduce dependence, is through renewables, through more nuclear, which will provide the base load in the future to make this less dependent on gas in particular? Let me bring out other members to explore some of these issues. First of all, Fiona Hyslop, to be followed by Monica Lennon. Oh, sorry, I think that Monica will come in first. Monica, over to you please. Oh, thank you, convener. That's very kind. Good morning, minister. Welcome to the committee. We all listened with interest to the Queen's speech to hear what the UK Government plans to do, because a couple of weeks ago, the committee heard from a fuel poverty charity, and they warned that unless the UK Government and the Scottish Government take more action, there will be a catastrophic loss of life this winter, so it is very serious. What many of us have heard in the Queen's speech is underwhelming, to say the least. There's no windfall tax on the unique profits of big companies. There's no suspension of VAT on the energy bills of ordinary people. Are those issues that you're going to take forward going to be an emergency budget? When you hear things like catastrophic loss of life, has the Government seen any modelling on that? What are your worst fears about this winter, minister? Thank you for those questions and a lot in those. Let me try and answer as best I can. First of all, I think that the action in the Queen's speech is building on action that we've already taken. The package of measures announced by the UK Chancellor on 3 February, the £9.1 billion package of action on bills, which I also mentioned in the opening speech. That's part of a £22 billion package overall this year to help households with the cost of living. We recognise that we cannot provide complete insulation for one of the better terms from these big rises, particularly the big rises in energy bills, but that is a very substantial package of measures. I think that the second thing that I would say is that, of course, not all those measures have actually come into effect yet. For example, the energy bills stabilisation measures don't start until October. They're designed to kick in at a time when energy use really starts to rise at the beginning of winter. It's work recognising that not all the measures that we've taken have yet taken effect. The council tax measures obviously took effect in England and the Department of Conservatives to Scotland from April. I think that we will continue to monitor the situation very closely. It's too early to tell what the price cap will look like from October, but that will be a key consideration of what actually will be prices that people will pay for energy from October. In terms of your other points, the windfall tax, it's worth bearing in mind that oil and gas companies, which provide, as you all know, a huge amount of employment, particularly in Scotland, around £100,000 a job. There's very much the belief of the chancellor of the matter of the taxation of the matter of the chancellor that a windfall tax would kill off investment, for example, in the North Sea, particularly from companies that are also using those processes to invest increasingly in renewables. Oil and gas companies already pay corporation tax at twice the rate of other companies that pay around £375 billion in taxation to the extractor of stints North Sea oil and gas that came on the street. We take the view that the windfall tax would be likely to kill off investment, cost jobs, particularly in Scotland, I might add. A particular time when we need, in particular, our gas production, UK, we benefit from producing 50 per cent of our gas needs. That's something that a lot of other European countries don't have. We are not dependent on Russia, for example, on the importation of gas, which is really fortuitous position, thanks to North Sea gas. I think that we need to make sure that we don't kill off investment, particularly at this time, of acute and heightened issues around energy security. I think that on VAT, if I might add, there would be a very untargeted approach to cut VAT on energy. What we have done has been a much more targeted approach to make sure that those most vulnerable benefit from the support that we've provided. For example, on tax, properties in bans A to D, at the less wealthy end of the spectrum, and the increase of, for example, the warhounds discount and other measures to really get money back into the pockets of those most vulnerable assets, whereas the VAT cut would be disproportionately benefiting a wealthier household. Perhaps the Government needs to listen more closely to what firms are saying a couple of weeks ago, Sheler on record, that they are quite comfortable about a windfall tax. Certainly more can be done, and instead of killing off investment, just to quote your words back, what we are hearing from charities, trade unions in Scotland, local volunteers and food banks, that the cost of living crisis is killing off people. With respect, we need to hear more from both your Government and the Exchequer of the Scottish Government what will be done. I know that you also have a responsibility for climate change, and we are looking at longer-term solutions as well. In your view, should the proposed jackdaw oil fields go ahead, is that the kind of investment that you want to support? Thank you. It is difficult for me to comment on a specific consent or a specific field, because jackdaw, for example, is being assessed by a group called Operator Government, which is within Bays, my partner, but operates independently. They do an independent environmental assessment. It is difficult for me to give, as the Minister, the early sight of something that operate is examined. But in general, I would say that we very much welcome increased investment at this time, particularly in gas, to make sure that we have security of supply. It would make absolutely no sense. I am sure that you would agree with me for us to be importing more oil and gas at this moment. We are making the transition so that we will use significantly less oil and gas. There still will be a role for oil and gas, even after 2050. The Climate Change Committee has agreed that. But for the present, the last thing that we want to be doing is importing more oil and gas, and what has become a highly competitive and highly expensive market, not least if we ended up importing more hydrocarbons from Russia, which is absolutely the worst choice. That is why we want to make sure that, in general, we are not commenting on a specific field that we support our North Sea oil and gas. I might add that the number of jobs that are attached to it, the 100,000 jobs, is a huge amount of that industry, of course, in Scotland, and mostly in the north-east of Scotland. It is really important that we help the industry to make the transition, not shutting it down. Extinction is not a good policy choice. Transition is the right policy choice, making sure that those highly skilled jobs in the workforce for oil and gas become transferred, over time, into lower carbon sectors, like offshore wind, like hydrogen production, for example. All of those different things that I know that North-East of Scotland will be a world leader in terms of offshore wind. That is why we are making the transition and making sure that investment goes in the near term. The last thing that I want to be doing is importing more volatile, expensive hydrocarbons, particularly from countries that are very friendly to the UK at the moment. I will hand back to the convener now in the interest of time, but we are dealing with a cost-of-living crisis and a climate crisis, and it seems like we have a business-as-usual approach, but I will hand back to you, convener. Thank you very much, Monica. Let me bring in Fiona Hyslop. Fiona, please. Yes, we have a climate crisis, but we have a cost-of-living crisis, which has been made worse by energy price increases. Minister, I am assuming that you take responsibility for protecting consumers from that severe energy price increase, which we have heard will fuel poverty even from the press cap increase that we have already seen. Therefore, there is a pressure in the short term for what action is required. Bearing in mind the UK's Office of Budget Responsibility indicated that there was a £20 billion headroom in the spring statement, what are you doing to press the Treasury and, indeed, other departments to provide support more immediately rather than to wait and see what happens after October to help to protect families? Well, thank you, Ms Hyslop. I thank you for that question. First of all, I think that fuel poverty is devolved, of course, but I think that, in terms of your question about what the UK Government is doing, we have already taken really substantial measures. What I was saying earlier is that not all of those measures have yet taken effect. It looks like we have a slight problem with the minister's connection. Minister, your screen froze slightly there for a second. Would you be able to go back a sentence, perhaps? Apologise to that. Yes, of course. Apologise to Mr Lockhart. Let me just rewind it by heading a little bit. The package of measures that was announced by the Chancellor of the Third Amendment was comprehensive. It is over £9.1 billion of support, £22 billion of support overall when you consider other measures like the universal credit taper change, the reduction in fuel duty, which is worth about £5 billion, the £5p of a litre of petrol and diesel, for example. It is a real practical measure of support for consumers. It would not be right to say, Ms Hyslop, that we are not taking action, but we have taken decisive action. We have also done things like increase the national living wage from £8.91 an hour to £9.50 an hour. It would make a real difference an extra £1,000 a year in the pockets of those who have worked in the national living wage. We already have taken decisive action. We do not rule out anything in the future, and we continue to talk to the Treasury all the time and other relevant Government departments, like the Department for Work and Pensions, making sure that support is good. Employment remains strong and robust right the way across the UK. We need to make sure that that continues to be the case. There has been a comprehensive response so far, but we will continue to look at the situation as to whether further action will be appropriate and necessary over the course of this year. The evidence that we have heard is that there should be a recognition of what action has been taken already, but rather than wait and see what happens in the autumn, measures can be put in now, as opposed to wait to the winter when we know that people will be absolutely suffering. That is the message that we have heard from our other witnesses, and we want to relay that to you. The other issue is about the energy market and how it has performed or has not performed. You seem to be quite optimistic about the state of it. That is not necessarily what we have heard from other witnesses, but, often, we have, from yesterday, quite clear that there are a number of measures that they would like to take into account. Your energy security bill seems more focused on supply security, as opposed to consumer protection. Will you be prepared to implement those measures that Ofgem are proposing, and they must have proposed to you to allow them to step in in certain areas to be more severe in ensuring that companies protect individual consumers and shift the balance between protecting to suppliers to protecting consumers? I think that those are really good questions. First, we work very closely with Ofgem. It is an independent regulator, but the Secretary of State and I meet with Ofgem pretty often. I say on average once a week in one context or another. We have a very good dialogue with Ofgem. I would not be right to say that the energy security bill, which has not yet been published, I might add, but the measures that have been announced yesterday will be in it. There are key measures there to protect consumers and to give Ofgem a stronger role. First, we already mentioned the extension of the price cap beyond its current and statutory 2023 limit. The second one will be more competition in onshore electricity networks. The third area is an area that has not been regulated by Ofgem before, and that is on the heat network. I forget which part of the list goes. Anybody who represents a more in-a-city area will have quite a few heat networks, and I am sure that you will in your constituency as well. Typically, things like mansion blocks and housing associations benefit from lower heating prices with a sort of economy of scale from a heat network, but they are currently unregulated. We will be giving Ofgem powers to regulate a heat network so that people feel that their heat network is overcharging them or charging them unreasonably. There are going to be quite a few practical ways in the energy security bill yet to be published, but we did publish from Gov.uk what the main measures or many of the main measures will be. There will be in that bill measures to A. protect consumers and B. give Ofgem more muscle when it comes to regulating some of these markets. Pass back now to the convener. We have a number of members and I know that you have a tight deadline as well minister. Thank you very much. If you want to next up is Liam Kerr. Let me bring in Liam. Thank you convener. Good morning minister. You said in your opening remarks minister that the rise in energy price was driven by wholesale gas, among other things. Given the current price spikes, do you think the marginal generation technology, which would be predominantly gas, should continue to set the price? Is there in fact a case for wholesale restructuring of the energy market? If so, what impact could that have on bills and how quickly? That's a very good question. It makes the point that it's quicker and better. We can't, if you like, create an energy market that isn't reflective of global or wholesale energy prices, but we can, if you like, influence it and try and change our energy supply mix. That, I think, is the priority. What we set out, for example, in the net zero strategy and in the British energy security strategy, and now in the energy security bill, is going to be increasing the move into renewables, making sure that we are less dependent on gas in the first place. We, A, have to look at our security supply at the moment and support that sector. That is a move that's going to take some time and has already been taken place. We've already got, as I mentioned, Europe's largest installed offshore wind capacity. We need to go further. That is why we're quadrupling over the course of this decade our amount of offshore wind. We need to make that move. That is also why we're moving decisively back into nuclear to make sure that we've got the base load when the wind isn't blowing, the sun isn't shining. Nuclear will also provide a big part of our energy mix. We're targeted in the energy security strategy nuclear being 25 per cent of our generation by the year 2050. If I might, Mr Kerr, just to delve for a moment, I'm just going to—what I will say to my Scottish minister in Delocavit is that it would be really helpful if the Scottish Government were to drop its ideological opposition to nuclear, because nuclear has got a fantastic track record in Scotland when the Huntersden power plant closed just before Christmas. That was an incredible success story. It generated zero carbon, low-cost electricity for every Scottish home equivalent for 32 years, I think, in the right sense there. It's a pity, I think, to see Scotland not participating thanks to the Scottish Government's approach to nuclear in our nuclear renaissance. I guess what I'm trying to say is that the best way to reduce the impact of gas prices on wholesale energy prices is to reduce our use of gas to do that, but with more renewables and more nuclear. Thank you for that slightly different side of things now. After so many new entrant failures, there's been a consolidation, of course, within the legacy suppliers, which can reduce competition and consumer choice. In your view, Minister, how can the UK Government ensure increased competition and, indeed, innovation, with the effect of ensuring value for money and also, of course, driving decarbonisation and net zero? Again, this is always a question of balance. More than 20 companies have left the market, particularly in the fourth quarter of last year. Equally, there are still 30 energy suppliers in the market. I think that provides a robust level of competition on energy supply. We also try to ensure good competition when it comes to electricity and energy generation. Our CFD options, if you like, put in the amount of government money, but make sure that not everybody wins. Not every project wins in a CFD option, so we create competition there between electricity generators as well. Making sure that this remains a strong, robust and competitive market is one of our key priorities. I think that the fact that 30 energy supply companies are unsatisfying with that is still providing a high level of competition. We would like to see more competition in some other parts of the market as well. On innovation, we have a really good innovative market. Companies are forward-looking, tech-savvy. Companies have quite a diversity of energy suppliers in the things that they are able or willing to offer their customers. Anything from companies that take on a large number of your bills beyond energy, there are companies with a large number of renewable only energy suppliers, there are energy suppliers that are more of a niche geography or a niche thing to sell. I think that there is good diversity in our energy suppliers. I am very innovative as well. We quite often see energy companies react well to government announcement. The UK Government is not able to step in and provide a good example of the heat pumps. It is not realistic for the government to come along and give everybody, install everybody, a heat pump. What we have said is that the boiler transformation fund, the £450 million fund that we launched in the awesome, if you like to pump, prime the heat pump market, we have seen energy suppliers react really well to that and say that, thanks to the support that is being given by the UK Government, we think that we will be able to drive up to mark, which will therefore bring down costs in the heat pump market. I think that octopus energy, to just give one example, said that thanks to the UK Government announcement in the awesome that they think the cost of a heat pump will become comparable to a gas boiler as early as this year over the life of the installation and the life of the unit. The Government can encourage and drive innovation. We have a really innovative sector in my view, particularly on the energy supply as a competitive sector, but it is something that we need to keep an eye on. Clearly, companies have left that market. We need to make sure that the companies that remain provide a competitive market, which I currently believe that they do, and in the business market as well. I am very grateful. Thank you minister. No further questions, convener. Thanks very much, Liam. Next up is Mark Ruskell. I'll hand over to you, Mark. Thanks very much, convener. Good morning minister. We've had some very sobering evidence on the impact of households who are suffering fuel poverty. We were told that, for many, it's no longer a choice between heating and heating. They can't do either. We were told that, for many, on very low incomes, they are now spending over half of their income on energy alone. You said earlier on in this session that you can't provide complete insulation for those people who are in fuel poverty. You can't protect them.  You're going to have to think again as to what those measures are that you can ramp up to protect those people. One example that's been brought to this committee from Scottish Power was the establishment of a deficit fund that wouldn't give people a £200 loan on their electricity bill or give them a £1,000 grant to enable them to get out of fuel poverty and to wipe out their debts. Are you considering initiatives like that? What are you considering may need to be done in the autumn if we're going to continue to see people spiralling into fuel poverty, spiralling into debt? Thank you, Mr Roskell. First thing, I'll just stress that fuel poverty is devolved. I'm assuming you'll be making the same point. I think your party, if I'm not mistaken, is now in government. I'm assuming you'll make that same point to your Scottish Green ministers as well, who will also have responsibility in this space. I can say that the UK Government is doing it. It's worth pointing out that it's not just the £9.1 billion of measures that are announced by the Chancellor on 3 February. We have a lot of existing schemes in place. The Warholms Discount works in a similar way to what Keith Anderson was proposing earlier this week, not to that same extent but in a similar way, where effectively— It looks like we have another slight technical issue with the minister's connection. Minister, your screen froze for a second there as well. If I could ask you to by-track literally 10, 15 seconds. Right. My apology, Mr Lockhart. I've not had this problem before, but the pattern of what Keith Anderson, Scottish Power, was pushing. Keith Anderson is incredibly respected and has been in the market a long time. He is understandably concerned about the market and concerned about consumers, which I think is absolutely the rise approach and is the approach shared by the UK Government. However, we have put in place—the Warholms Discount, we have extended that. We increased it to £150. It now goes to 3 million households. Don't forget that we also have existing schemes in place—cull-weather payments as well—to make sure that the elderly are particularly supported at times of particularly cold weather, as well as increased energy needs. There is a lot of support mechanisms in place. I already mentioned the measure that the UK Government has taken overall to support consumers this year with the rise in the national living wage, the reduction in tax on petrol, diesel and so on. There is all the package of measures, but I am not telling anything that you would not already know that we watch these things incredibly closely across the Government. We also have good conversations with the Scottish Government and other devolved administrations about this. It is a watching brief, but at the moment, the measures that we have in place we think are substantial, and some of those measures that I stated earlier have not yet taken effect. For example, the price stabilisation mechanism—200lb discount of energy bills—has not yet taken effect. We keep a really close eye on that. When it comes to fuel poverty, have you had a word with the ministers from your party as well in the Scottish Government? It would be great if our ministers had full control over energy, including energy markets, but of course we do not minister. That responsibility lies with yourself. I would like to see investment across the UK in getting families out of fuel poverty. It is quite clear that the measures at the moment are not working. That is what we are being told that families are continuing to spiral into debt. You talked earlier on about ideological opposition to nuclear power. Why do you have an ideological opposition to a windfall tax? Across Europe, we are seeing the European Union's plan to reduce reliance on oil and gas, favouring a windfall tax. We are seeing Italy introduce a windfall tax, increasing it to 25 per cent, raising 10 billion euros. We are seeing Spain introduce a windfall tax as well. Surely, as a short-term emergency measure, a windfall tax would help to boost the kind of programmes that you and I know and need across the UK to get families into a position where they are coming out of fuel poverty, and clearly something that would not be resisted by oil and gas majors who are making billions and billions of pounds. Can you tell me why it is that a windfall tax is currently off the table? What would have to change in the state of the energy crisis at the moment for you to reconsider the introduction of a windfall tax? I will be clear that the Chancellor has been clear not to follow the Labour Party's suggestion here of a windfall tax, which I think is also backed by the SNP if I am not mistaken, although I think that their windfall tax might be slightly different. Your windfall tax may also be slightly different in turn, but we have said that oil and gas companies pay corporation taxes twice the rates of other companies. They are paying the big increase in the amount of tax that we are taking from those companies this year already. However, we also need those companies to make the investment, the investment that particularly affects jobs in Scotland—again, I might add, particularly in the north-east of Scotland—100,000 jobs overall, and we need them to invest to make sure that we are able to use our own gas resources in particular at the moment, rather than have to import them. I think that that is incredibly important. It is also worth recognising that a lot of those companies also have big, big investors in renewable energy. Scotland plays an enormous role in delivering renewable energy for the whole country. We do not think that the windfall tax proposed by Labour or, indeed, the SNP—I am almost slightly confused because, in Westminster, MPs representing areas outside of the north-east of Scotland are backing the tax, and the ones representing north-east of Scotland seem to propose it. I am never totally sure whether the SNP in Westminster are for or against a windfall tax. I think that there is a favourable one, but a different windfall tax than a one through Labour already. Overall, we do not think that that is the right approach. We think that the better approach is investment, making sure that those jobs are secure, making sure that our diverse energy mix continues, making sure that the north-east makes the transition, not closing it down, making that transition to guarantee those jobs, that skill base, and making sure that we have the energies that we need today while transforming to the energies of the future for reaching that zero by 2050. For the UK, it continues to play its key international role in this space. When we brought COP26 to Glasgow, that was a proud moment for the UK, for Glasgow. I think that there is an incredible feeling around that conference that Glasgow is a climate compact and a big success. We need to keep delivering of that with our international partners as well. Making sure that all of these things continue to be delivered on is going to be a key part of that. That is why we work very well with our international partners. The UK does not think that as an outlier, we would be an outlier if we were to close down our own oil and gas resources. We would absolutely be an international outlier if we were to do that. Thankfully, that is not what we are doing, but that might be what you might be suggesting that we do. To be absolutely categorised, transition is the answer, not closing down. It is hard to see how the investments that the oil and gas industry may be making, or not making renewables today, are actually going to benefit consumers that are sitting there in fuel poverty spending over half of their income today on energy. Can I ask you, then, final question? You do not believe in a windfall tax. You do not believe that that is the right approach. Presumably, you do not want to take money out of general taxation to invest in supporting those in fuel poverty. Do you believe that that cost should be put back on to energy consumers and that that is where the money should come from to then help support those who are most in fuel poverty? I have already said that we have got a £9.1 billion package this year announced in February by the Chancellor to support energy consumers. We have overall £22 billion this year to support consumers under cost of living pressures. We also have existing measures in place, like the Warhounds discount, with the fuel payments and coal weather payments that support consumers. That is the support that is in place. I am not denying that consumers are facing difficult times at the moment. That is why we are keeping this continually under review. All matters of taxation are always kept under review by the Chancellor, the Exchequer and the Treasury. That is why we announced the measures that we did on 3 February. We would not hesitate to announce further measures, but we are not introducing any emergency budget. We think that we are taking the right action at the right time. As I say, some of those measures have not taken effect yet. They will take effect when consumers are most needed, particularly going into next winter. Thank you very much, Mark. Liam Kerr has a very brief supplemental in this area. Then he will bring in Jackie Dunbar at Liam, please. Very grateful, convener. Minister, just on the line of question we have just heard, Chris O'Shea, CEO of British Gas owner Centrica, said just today that a windfall tax would hit investment and actually push up costs in the longer term. My question to you is, do you think that increased costs to consumers could be a result of the windfall tax that is being proposed? That is a really good question, Mr Kerr. I think that it is very likely to be so, depending on exactly which windfall tax that you take. Anything that prevents or reduces investment in either the energies of today, particularly gas coming out of the North Sea, or renewables today and in the future, is likely to have an impact on prices and emissions, I might add. It is also worth pointing out that the UK continental shelf gas comes with much less emissions than imported liquefied natural gas. Actually, anything that drives down our supply increases our imports. It is also likely to have a negative impact on emissions as well. When it comes to investment, we have been absolutely clear that we need the industry to invest with putting pressure on the industry to invest in the UK. The response, so far, has been good to that. A recent announcement by both the BPM Shell and more investments in the UK is really important that we continue to send that signal. Our signal to industry is that we need you to invest in the UK. We will provide a supportive regime, making sure that you make the transition as well. The North Sea transition deal is, if you like, our Bible. It is a deal that we signed last March with the sector and with obligations on the sector, such as platform, electrification and all those things. The right way to do that is to work with the sector to make the transition and make sure that it invests. In the meantime, the UK Government will make the case for our energy today, while also making our move to renewables increasingly. The UK is a world leader when it comes to renewables. We are a world leader in offshore wind. We do a huge amount of offshore wind, a huge amount of solar, increasingly tidal. We are really setting the pace on how we roll out our renewables. Thanks very much, Liam. Next up, we have Jackie Dunbar. Jackie, over to you, please. Thank you and good morning, Minister. There are multiple different potential strategies and options for minimising the impact of the energy crisis and the cost of living crisis. Some, I think, you have already mentioned, have been put in place, and some have been suggested by witnesses in this inquiry. Should the energy simply not just be subsidised at the point of sale? We provide a lot of support for consumers. The energy price cap itself provides a lot of support for consumers, but this is a competitive market. It is a competitive market with very high prices due to effective world events, the world economy recovery from Covid, the Russian invasion we create is what drives prices. Ultimately, the higher energy prices in the UK are not immune or exempt from high energy prices. Even with our excellent sources of supply, we are not immune from high prices in worldwide wholesale markets. I understand that, but we are trying, regarding the cost of living crisis just now, that we are hearing some pretty hard-hitting stuff. Some innovative ideas, as Mark Ruskell said earlier, Scottish Power has suggested the deficit fund, where they are proposing that £1,000 be taken off the bills of those hardest hits, and they get to repay that over 10 years. Do you think that is a good suggestion? What do you think the practical implications would be in setting up such a fund to help those who are most in need? It is a helpful contribution to the debate, and I always listen carefully to anything that Professor Anderson will tell me about the key role in that. It reflects elements of schemes that we have already got in place, such as the energy bill support scheme, which we are consulting on at the moment. The idea that there is a smoothing of energy prices over a period of time—in this case, £200, with £40, added two bills over the 16 and five years—£200 in this October. We already have schemes that share similarities with what Keith is. The Warholms Disgap has also got elements of this. Those in the most vulnerable households will get £150 extra, which is effectively paid for by households that are in the less vulnerable sectors, typically up to about £10 a year. I think that it is worth bearing in mind that Keith's scheme would also add to bills of other households. It is not effectively subsidised and paid for by other households, so you have to bear in mind that there are winners and losers in many of the schemes, but what Keith is proposing is not dissimilar to the sorts of schemes that we have already got in place to support consumers. I am also a convener of the social justice and social security committee, and we have taken harrowing evidence that shows that people are facing unimaginable choices, and support services are already extremely stretched. That appears to be disproportionate across the UK versus the rest of the world in terms of this global crisis. Evidence suggests that supports that are not going to adequately alleviate the impact of the energy crisis, especially on the most vulnerable households, some of whom have already self-disconnected due to soaring costs and the risk of wholly avoidable deaths looms large this winter. Pre-payment metre households pay more than direct debit households. What justification is there for vulnerable people paying a premium for their energy? We heard yesterday from Ofgem that that was needed to balance the risk to the suppliers, but what protections are in place for those households and what more should be done? Could a social tariff, as proposed by Scottish Power in a previous session, play a role? Thank you for those questions. First of all, the warm homes discount was brought in in 2011 to replace the social tariff. We think that that is the better approach to use the warm homes discount. You raised some very important points about fuel poverty and impact on vulnerable customers, which we are acutely aware of. I say that we have a lot of support in place. I have outlined huge elements of the UK Government support package. Equally, when gas prices are anything up to 12 or 15 times the historic 20-25-year norm when they peak back in early March, you are talking about a completely unprecedented situation. We have provided a lot of support, but I don't think that we are able to completely insulate the UK from these very high wholesale energy prices. Fortunately, they have come down from that peak, but they remain quite volatile. I think that the points of prepayment customers are really important, in that we have to make sure that prepayment customers get a fair deal. That is what we are doing, working closely with Ofgem. The number of disconnections continues to fall, which I think is good. We work strongly with energy suppliers to make sure that they do all that they can to help customers who are struggling to pay their bills. Ofgem warns suppliers that PPMs should only be installed as a last resort for debt collection and banned the forcible installation of vulnerable customers in 2017. Ofgem, rather, in December 2020, we introduced new licensing conditions, including an ability to pay principle and obligational supplies to identify self-disconnecting and self- rationing PPM customers proactively. There are a lot of measures being put in place by the Government and administered by Ofgem to make sure that PPM customers are protected as well. That is very interesting. I am absolutely certain that the committee and my own committee will be following that closely with the data that you say shows that self-disconnections are reducing. That does not chime with the evidence and the reality that we are seeing on the ground. Sticking with data, as is usually the case, there is not enough disaggregated gendered data, but there is strong circumstantial evidence that women are at a higher risk of experiencing circumstances known to make households more vulnerable to fuel poverty. I am thinking about lower pay. We are thinking about those who have caring responsibilities and those who had single-parent families. Therefore, it is important that policy makers understand what role gender plays and that they respond accordingly. Therefore, what gendered analysis the UK Government did prior to agreeing to lifting the price cap and how do you intend to monitor its impact on women going forward? Thank you. That is all incredibly important points. First, the operation of the price cap is a massive offer. The price cap is in there to protect consumers. It was designed as such, particularly to protect those who were facing what is called a loyalty penalty that may get penalised effects, but not moving between suppliers. The fact that the price cap rises if the light roof is backward-looking is better than if there would be no price cap in place, because people would have faced those rises in their energy bills earlier in that six-month period. That is why some of the price cap looks like it is going up a lot and it has done, but it reflects the preceding period of rising prices. I remind you that fuel poverty is, of course, devolved. Scottish measures differ to those in the rest of the UK. I can tell the statistics for England that we do not have specific—because it is done by household, we do not have specific female or male data based on household in terms of fuel poverty data, at least in the rest of the UK. That would be a good question for the Scottish ministers and they would be disaggregated. There are some characteristics of vulnerable customers who are more likely to be women than men. That is certainly true. For example, lone parents with dependent children are 26.5% of fuel poverty compared to 13.2% of the population as a whole. That is not defined, obviously, as being women, but it is much more likely to include women in that, twice the rate of fuel poverty. The base of your question is likely to be correct that women suffer from fuel poverty more than men. I would stress that it would be more complicated if we had to really disaggregate the data overall. We do not publish fuel poverty statistics in England or, I think, even in the rest of the UK based on gender. I am not sure what the Scottish Government does, but we are definitely lone parents and in couples who are more likely to be fuel poverty than single people. That is certainly true. I am not disputing the basis of your question, but fuel poverty data is collected by households rather than by individuals. Some of the indicators within those households will definitely show that lone parents, for example, are more likely to be in fuel poverty than others. Is it a good question to put to the Scottish Government as well as to how they do their data? Thank you very much. I will put to everybody any opportunity that I have, because we do not have enough disaggregated gender data for most things. That brings us to the end of our allocated time. I appreciate, minister, that you have to go at 10 o'clock. Thank you very much for taking part in the session. It is very much appreciated.  I now close the public part of this meeting.


Brain development begins just a few weeks after conception, so many critical brain regions develop in utero. At birth, the human brain has developed most of its neurons and wired them together in precise ways. For example, the corpus callosum starts developing at about 12 weeks gestation and continues to develop even after birth. The corpus callosum is the largest fibre tract in the brain. It connects the left and right cerebral hemispheres. In 1981, Roger Sperry shared the Nobel Prize in Physiology or Medicine for his work on understanding the function of the corpus callosum. He studied patients that had had their corpus callosum surgically severed to control epileptic seizures from travelling from one side of the brain to the other. These patients had difficulty integrating information from each side of the body. Sperry called this split brain syndrome. However, some people are born with an absent or malformed corpus callosum and these people have vastly different cognitive outcomes to people with the split brain syndrome. Malformation of the corpus callosum can occur in isolation as the only deficit or it can accompany a range of developmental problems in other organ systems. Therefore, people with these disorders can have a variety of symptoms ranging from severe to more mild intellectual, physical and sensory disabilities. But in addition to offering support and information to parents and individuals concerned our increased understanding of the corpus callosum also has implications for our understanding of brain plasticity. The concept of brain plasticity has received a lot of attention in recent times. Brain plasticity refers to the capacity of the brain to modify its connections or to reorganize itself throughout a person's lifetime. While neuroscientists talk about plasticity, psychologists talk about learning. Neuroscientists look at the hardware, how the structure and function of synapses change with experience. Psychologists look at how these brain changes express themselves in behavior. But the two fields can inform one another in ways that can be really useful for understanding learning. From a neuroscience perspective, the classic form of plasticity operates at the synapse. The tiny gap between nerve cells across which neurotransmitters pass. If one nerve cell fires and activates another neuron in the chain and that happens repeatedly, there'll be a stronger relationship between those two cells. This means that over time, for one nerve cell to activate or communicate with another one less and less juice will be required to complete the same action. We teach our students to remember this with the phrase, neurons that fire together wire together. But there's a flip side to this with its own little catchphrase, neurons out of sync lose their link. If the pattern of firing between neurons is infrequent or random, then those neurons don't tend to fire together in the future. So plasticity is two-sided. One side greases the wheels for things that do happen often, while the other side does the opposite for things that don't happen very often. Plasticity isn't just about enhancement, but also about inhibition. The brain is highly interconnected and all the different parts have to act in concert with one another. The term brain plasticity refers to the idea that the brain can change when making new functional and structural connections between neurons or brain cells. However, why we definitely do have plasticity in our brain? The idea of cells making connections through task exposure and training doesn't necessarily capture the whole complex pattern of what's happening in the brain during learning. There's different types of learning, too. Motor memory or procedural learning involves learning skills like a specific sequence of actions such as that involved in playing an instrument. This is different from the kind of learning involved when learning to read. So when we talk about how the brain works and what's happening during learning, it's not a simple, orderly story. The brain is a very messy, complex, highly interactive and highly interconnected processing system. The way that the brain compensates for a malformed corpus callosum illustrates a kind of brain plasticity that is different to the more common understanding of synaptic plasticity. The fibres that normally cross the corpus callosum find a different route to connect the two hemispheres. This is called axonal plasticity. Would-be callosal fibres grow in a new direction across a different tract during development. The value of this research lies in its potential to help us understand how optimal brain wiring could be achieved, giving people the chance to reach their full potential. Certainly, there are parts of the brain that are critically involved in learning, like the hippocampus, which is involved in memory. While teachers don't necessarily need to know the details, it is useful for teachers to have some knowledge about how the brain works, because this can potentially enhance the planning and management of classroom activities to support deep learning.


Today we've been combining artillery, mortars, naval gunfire, and post air support to support fire support teams from multiple allied nations. This training helps Marines practice integrating all the different assets that we have, as well as assets from across the Joint Force to increase our ability to work with more nations, as well as work with our sister services.


with us. Today we begin our study in Galatians. Let's look at verses, well we'll be looking at verses 1 through 9, but I'm going to read verses 1 through 5 and we'll get into our study. Galatians chapter 1, beginning at verse 1, reading to verse 5. Paul an apostle, not from men, nor through man, but through Jesus Christ and God the Father who raised him from the dead and all the brethren who are with me to the churches of Galatia. Grace to you and peace from God the Father and our Lord Jesus Christ who gave himself for our sins that he might deliver us from this present evil age according to the will of our God and Father to whom be glory forever and ever. Amen. So as we begin our study of Galatians as is my normal methodology in beginning of studies I'll give you a brief introduction, some information as I give this introduction that will help you as we look at this particular book. I'll give you some basic things and then we'll move into the first verse and go through the first nine verses. But as we begin this particular letter, this letter to the Galatians was written somewhere around the year 49. This is the only letter that Paul writes that is addressed to more than one church. I want you to notice that in verse 2 he says to the churches of Galatia. When you look in a map Galatia is actually what we today would call modern Turkey and the people who were there were actually they were called Gauls. They were from Orceltic, they were actually from from Europe, central Europe as well as France and so they're called Gauls and that's why it's called Galatia. These churches that are being written to were planted on Paul's first mission that he went on with Barnabas and it's recorded in Acts chapter 13 and chapter 14. Now there's a reason why he re he writes this letter. Every letter that he ever wrote had a purpose and the purpose for this is very basic. It's a response. It's a response to bad doctrine that has begun to enter into the churches. There are people who have entered in that we're going to recognize as they're referred to now as Judaizers who have entered into the church. They've infiltrated the church and what they're doing is they're actually adding to the Gospel and as they're adding to the Gospel they're mixing the Gospel of grace with the law of Moses. These people were entering in and you're going to see him as he begins to respond to this doctrine. These people who are entering in began to teach that Gentiles had to first become Jews through circumcision before they could become Christians and that one could only become righteous before God if you obey the law of Moses. And so what they were doing is they were mixing the law with the grace of God. And so what Paul is going to do in this particular book is he's going to he's going to reveal to the Galatians that freedom from the law as we are saved by Jesus Christ is the result of God's grace. God's grace and faith in Jesus alone gives us freedom and we're free from the law because we have been set free by the grace of God. When you look into this there'll be some key chapter and we'll see that when we get to chapter 5 because he's going to point out that though we are saved by grace and we are free from the law we are not given freedom to just live in the flesh and we'll be seeing that as we get there. Now this particular letter actually has a note of concern. I didn't read these verses but in verses 6 and 7 you see his concern it says I marvel that you are turning away so soon from him who called you in the grace of Christ to a different gospel which is not another but there are some who trouble you and want to pervert the gospel of Christ and so he begins by saying I'm concerned for you because these false teachers are trampling the heart of the Christian gospel and I'm concerned that you are so easily being seduced you are so easily being led astray. A commentator by the name of Meryl Tenney wrote Christianity might have been just one more Jewish sect and the thought of the western world might have been entirely pagan had it never been written. Galatians embodies the germinal teaching on Christian freedom which separated Christianity from Judaism and which launched it upon a career of missionary conquest and so this particular book actually gives to us insight into grace and that's why I chose to entitle our first study the gospel of grace because that's what Paul is defending. Now as we begin here verse 1 Paul an apostle not from men nor through man but through Jesus Christ and God the Father who raised him from the dead. This is a typical salutation of the apostle Paul. He begins by saying Paul an apostle. This is how he normally starts his letter as a matter of fact in nine letters that he writes in those nine letters he repeats this Paul an apostle in every one of those nine letters. Here he begins this letter in this way because there's a reason because his authority has been challenged. There are people who are who are challenging his authority and that's why he's saying I am an apostle of the Lord Jesus Christ. You see Paul had given the church the gospel of grace and they had originally embraced the message of God's grace but false teachers had entered in after he left and and we're bringing in something that we use the word that we use today to describe it is something called legalism and legalism is a wrong attitude toward the code of laws under which a person lives. Legalism is a fleshly attitude which conforms to a code for the purpose of exalting yourself and that's what is taking place here. These people were bringing in legalism a code of laws that ultimately would exalt themselves because they were going to be capable or they would think of themselves as being capable of actually living in such a way that it would please God and in doing that they needed to understand that in my flesh I can't please the Lord. I need the grace of God and the power of the Holy Spirit in order to be pleasing to him. So these legalists were entering in teaching them that you can please God if you undergo circumcision and obey the law of Moses and in doing so they were undermining the foundation of grace and so that's why Paul it begins in this way they were bringing doubt on his credentials. They're saying basically the apostle Paul he calls himself an apostle but he's not one of the original twelve he wasn't there when the birth of the church occurred and so that's why he begins by saying wait a minute my name is Paul and I'm an apostle. Now that word apostle literally is one who has sent forth with orders one who has received authority. It normally would apply to the twelve whom were called by the Lord Jesus Christ and you see those twelve in various portions of Scripture from the four Gospels and the book of Acts and there were twelve men originally called by Jesus Christ to follow after him. You had Simon who's called Peter, his brother Andrew, James the son of Zebedee and his brother John. You had Philip in Bartholomew, you had Thomas and Matthew the tax collector, James the son of Alpheus and Thaddeus. You had Simon the zealot as well as Judas Iscariot the one who betrayed the Lord Jesus Christ. These men except for Judas were used to form the foundation of the church. Paul has been called the thirteenth apostle because he was uniquely chosen by God. Well he wasn't of the original twelve and therefore he needs to defend his apostleship and that's why he says that he's an apostle. Now notice not from men nor through man but through Jesus Christ and God the Father who raised him from the dead and so he's defending his apostleship. Notice he says not from men. When he says not from men it means I haven't been sent out by men. The twelve did not appoint me. The twelve did not recognize me. The twelve did not send me out. He says not through man, not through some human agency. No human agency appointed me as an apostle. There has been no installment ceremony. I am not receiving my apostleship through going through apostle 101 classes and graduating with the degree of apostle. He's saying I haven't been selected by the twelve and I didn't go through some classes to be recognized as an apostle. You see the bottom line is man cannot do anything but recognize what God already has done and that's why he says in verse one but through Jesus Christ and God the Father because Jesus Christ, God the Father, they are the ones who call people. God is the one who ordains man doesn't. In our church we have opportunities for me to as a senior pastor recognize individuals and give to them certificates that allow them in the state of California to perform certain functions. You have ordination, you have licensing, you have commissioning and those are three things that the state of California recognizes which enables an individual to perform marriages in a variety of things that relate to ministry. So the men that I have on staff have received commissions or are licensed and they're capable of doing things legally. That's why when you get married and one of the men performs the function, the ceremony for you and they sign that certificate that's a legal document and in order for that legal document to be signed the individual who signs it has to have legal credentials and so the state has a recognition process for an individual and they usually use those three things either ordination or commissioning or licensing. The bottom line is though all a man can do is recognize that God has called somebody. I don't call anybody into the ministry that's not my job. I don't look out there and see a holy glow on somebody and know beyond a shadow of a doubt that this is a person called from God. Now I used to think that way as a new believer. I really did. I actually sat close to the pastor when the pastor was preaching kind of hoping that he'd look down and see that halo effect over my head and know that I was a man called by God. I really did and I would be up there hoping maybe he'll recognize me. Well I had a lot to learn and with Paul Paul would simply say listen I wasn't sent by men and man isn't the one who called me. I haven't received my calling from man at all. The apostles didn't recognize me in that way. My calling came from God and so all a human being can do is recognize what God has already done. John the Baptist in John 3 27 says a man can receive only what is given him from heaven. In John 15 verse 16 Jesus speaking to his apostles said you did not choose me. I chose you and ordained you to go and bear fruit fruit that abides. You didn't choose me. I chose you and I ordained you. So ordination comes from above and that's what Paul is speaking about. He's saying I'm an apostle not from men nor through man but through Jesus Christ and God the Father who raised him from the dead. So these false teachers who are coming into the churches of Galatia undermining my authority and ministry and challenging challenging me saying well I wasn't one of the original 12. Well these who are coming in have their facts wrong because the Lord has called me into the ministry and recognized me and that's the point he's making. He says in verse 2 and all the brethren who are with me. In other words I'm not alone. There are others who recognize my authority and therefore are included in this salutation. He says in verse 3 grace to you and peace from God the Father and our Lord Jesus Christ. I always say this too when we look at his letters. I would always remind you that I want you to know grace always comes before peace. You cannot have peace until you experience the grace of God. There are so many people who put it the other way. They want to have peace and then maybe I'll seek the grace of God. Paul made it very clear theologically even in his introduction to his letters that you will never have peace with God and you will never have the peace of God until you experience the grace of God because it all begins and it all ends with grace unmerited favor and so he begins with a basic salutation but in reality he's given a theological insight. It's interesting because he combines the customary Greek greeting which would be keras, grace to you with the Hebrew salutation which would be shalom or peace and so he actually takes both the Hebrew and the Greek but he puts grace before peace so that we'll always understand every one of us in this room and everyone who ever reads the word that we'll always understand that until I've experienced the grace of God I will never have peace with him or peace from him. Grace always comes before peace and because if I don't have grace I will never have peace. Romans 5 1 says we have been justified through faith we have peace with God through our Lord Jesus Christ.  Now as he's speaking about this he says grace to you and peace from God the Father and our Lord Jesus Christ who gave himself for our sins that he might deliver us from this present evil age according to the will of our God and Father. How do you receive peace? How can I have peace with God and peace from God? Well I receive peace by recognizing that Jesus Christ gave himself for my sin. To the legalist this sounds too easy. Are you telling me it's interesting I just had a conversation within the last two three weeks with somebody who basically this is the gist of the conversation in a sense. It's almost as if the person was saying are you telling me that grace is all you need and the answer is yes that's what the Bible says. God's grace is all I need. God's mercy is all I need and when I respond properly to his grace and when I receive his mercy it actually transforms my life radically because I begin to live as an individual who realizes that though I deserved justice I obtained grace. I received something I didn't deserve. See mercy is withholding something I do deserve but grace is receiving something I don't deserve. So when God gives me his grace he's actually giving me something that is unmerited. There's nothing in me that charms God. That makes God say oh that cute little sinner down there I think I'll give him some grace. That's not how it works. But a legalist would say that sounds too easy. That sounds just just it's just too good to be true. You really ought to do something to show to show to prove to demonstrate that you really are sorry. But the bottom line is is the things that I do that demonstrates how sorry I am as a result because I have been overwhelmed by the grace of God. I've been overwhelmed by his goodness to me and it has provoked me to do something which is to give him my life and to live for him to the best of my ability every day. Not to somehow try and earn cosmic brownie points with God. To somehow get him to owe me something the Bible says who has first given him that he owes you something in return. The fact is the only thing that I added to salvation would be the sins that I've been forgiven for. The Lord worked in my life and that's what Paul's speaking about. He's speaking about the grace of God that God gave his son Jesus Christ. He says here Jesus gave himself for our sins. That is the heart of the gospel in John chapter 10 verses 17 and 18. Jesus said it like this. The reason my father loves me is that I lay down my life only to take it up again. No one takes it from me but I lay down. I lay it down of my own accord. I have authority to lay it down and authority to take it up again. This command I received from my father.  Jesus was not murdered. Jesus was not martyred.  He gave his life. He yielded it voluntarily. Matthew 2028 says just as the Son of man did not come to be served but to serve and to give his life a ransom for many. In 1st Timothy chapter 2 verse 6 it says Jesus gave himself a ransom for all to be testified in due time. The heart of the gospel is God's so loved the world that he gave his only begotten son and that Jesus Christ came to do the will of his father and he laid down his life voluntarily Paul is dealing with men who are coming into the church saying well this Paul is speaking about God's grace but in order to understand grace you need to experience law and if you don't understand the law then how can you have a deep appreciation of grace therefore you Gentiles need to receive circumcision when you receive circumcision and find yourself under the full weight of the law the yoke of the law when you see what a terrible burden it is you're going to understand the grace that comes through Jesus Christ but in mixing the law with grace they actually stole the power from the gospel and Paul's upset about it you're going to see this just a moment you see Jesus Christ gave himself for us notice that he gave himself for our sins Jesus was that offering that satisfied his father's perfect demands it's the offering he is the offering who is called the propitiation the blood of Jesus Christ satisfied the Lord God's anger towards sin and as Jesus Christ came and died on that cross for us voluntarily he demonstrated to us his depth of love for us and the justice of God God's love for you is an amazing thing I don't know if you realize it I don't know if you really ponder that I don't know if you meditate on it I don't know if we fully appreciate it I don't know that we really will until we are in heaven my children mean everything to me as a father I love my babies two sons and two daughters my grandchildren I wish you could have grandchildren without having children that's how much I love my grandchildren when my Josiah was born he's seven years old now my first grandson Marie and I were with two friends Randy and Jeanette Walls and we were having a cup of coffee we received a phone call from my daughter Corinne's about to have a baby on us said you need to be here now I knew that she was in the hospital but I made an assumption that she having her first baby would probably be like her mom Marie took 33 hours until she gave birth I really got tired to be honest with you hurry up let's get out get with it it's up so I'm thinking well Corinne went in you know just a few hours ago we got a phone call if you want to be around when the baby is born you better get here so I finished my coffee and jumped in the car and made it to the hospital well when we got up to the the ward where the babies were you know newborns are and all Josiah had already been born we walked in and as Marie and I and Jeanette and Randy walked in the nurse walks up to Jeanette Walls and says your daughter's doing fine and Jeanette says that's not my daughter that's this lady's daughter and points to Marie so the nurse says oh I'm sorry your your daughter's fine and the baby's fine mama go on in and see the baby and but only one of you can go in so mama go in and see your grandson and Marie goes no she goes grandpa is going to go in first my husband and the nurse looks at me and kind of smiles and says he can go in in a minute grandma go on in and hold your grand baby she tells Marie that a second time and Marie looks at her and says no my husband's going to go in and see his grandson and the woman looks at Marie and says no he can do that in a moment grandma go and so I strangled her I mean right there I mean she's dead it's over I mean shut up it's giving me orders shut up so Marie Marie says no my husband's going to go in and so I go walking into the room and the nurse couldn't understand that so she brings Marie in anyway and you know she just could not hang with that I mean this guy's not supposed to be in here the grandma supposed to be in here but Marie knew how I am she knows how I am when it comes to my babies and I walked in there and there's this bundle of ugly love my daughter and this beautiful baby you know and there's this little baby he was premature tiny little guy and Karini's holding him when I came walking in and I walked in and Marie's coming in behind me and my daughter looks up at me and I'm just looking down at my Josiah and she hands him to me and he was so small I had my hands together like that and his little head was in my hand he was so small he was he was premature and so tiny and I turned and I looked at Marie my wife and my eyes just burst with tears you know I know you can't believe that it's true and I took this little bundle and I gave him a kiss since little forehead and as as I'm so happy my my daughter happened to have her little phone that takes pictures right and she got that picture of Papa holding and kissing his grandbaby for the very first time I have that picture in a little album that she gave to me I have to tell you as a father I would lay my life down and that's the truth every dad would do the same thing for my babies there's not even a question of that that wouldn't even be that you wouldn't even have to ask me that's unnatural of course I'd lay my life down for him my grandchildren same way of course of course I've lived a long and happy life take mine let them live like yeah of course that there's no thought about that but if somebody said to me you give up your son you take his life his life is going to be he's going to be he's going to die not for good people but for evil people your son will you give your son for evil people I would say no like Paul said for a good man someone would possibly die for a righteous man but but while we were yet sinners Jesus died for us see we were no good we were no good if somebody said this criminal here is going to die unless he gets a transfusion of all the blood from your son so he can live I'd say bye I'll do your funeral bye you have got to be kidding me this man needs Josiah's heart no you cannot have my son you cannot have my grandson are you kidding me that isn't even something I'd even think about I'm sorry you're dying I'll pray for you before you die but I'm not about to give my child for you that's what amazes me have you gotten it yet that's what amazes me about my god while I was yet a sinner Christ died for me he gave up his life for me and I don't deserve it of course not the most precious precious person in the entire universe gave up his life love legalism never produces it never produces it the motivation of legalism is never love it's always activity love that's what we heard earlier today that's what motivates us to do things for Jesus Christ love not brownie points not some kind of position love love causes people to put money away their own money and to take vacation time and to fly to Haiti and care for these babies it's love that makes him do that not some reward they they are going to get some day in heaven God does give rewards but that's not what motivates them it's the love of Christ it's the love of God and and love love is the response that we have to a god who first loved us we love him because he first loved us not because I invented love and said oh I've always loved you know he loved me first he loved me first I didn't love him first again using children as an illustration you have your baby korean being my first born Marie is starting to swell up with child I'm a first-time dad I've got no understanding of these things I've heard about babies kicking and all that stuff I don't know what that means I've just heard it no women have a different grip on those things me it's just I don't know what that means and she starts to tell me oh the baby's kicking I say that's cool I'm kicking too no no the baby's kicking so I she said here and she'd take my hand and and put it on her on her little belly there and and and before you know what I'd feel that little kick and and and I go wow you know that is amazing she is all active kicking and everything and I would and and I would put my hand on on Marie's tummy and I and I shake her so the baby'd get all agitated and bang she kicked me and I go all right and there were times there were times when she wouldn't kick and I'd get nervous and I'd be shaking Marie get up talk to me you know I'd put my face on Marie's stomach and I would yell baby that's the truth I did baby this is daddy daddy's talking to you and I would do this and I would say I love you I would do that how stupid huh but I did I did I would yell that to her baby I love you she's born she comes out with her head all twisted all ugly they wrap her up put that blanket over her face no face that only a daddy could love ugly little thing but it was mine it was my ugly baby and I would carry her and hold her and talk to her and love her as I did all of my babies all of them all of them same way carry them hold them love them took her in to get her first shot I held her they pulled a diaper down jammed that needle in her little bottom she pulls back and looks me in the eyes like man what's up would you do that for her I cried the nurse starts to laugh I had to turn around with tears coming down my face because my baby was crying I'm real tender with my kids I love them with all my heart it's the truth I love you then one day they say you never loved me are you kidding me I don't like you but I sure love you I've always loved you I loved you before you even knew you were you I loved you before you separated that womb I loved you before I held you my hands I loved you from the moment I knew you were there and now you tell me I never loved you are you kidding me if there's anything you've ever had always it's been the love of a father but you know what you can do that to god you can say that to god you don't love me because if you love me you wouldn't let this happen to me no wait a minute father knows best he knows what he's doing in my life and if I understand his goodness and his love I can get through anything if I if I can put my head on a pillow at night knowing god loves me no matter what kind of day I've had god loves me I'm gonna make it I will make it and I have made it because I know beyond anything truly god is good and truly god loves me he loves us and that is what paul is dealing with when these people are coming into the church saying well god's love is great and his mercy is good and and grace is wonderful but you've got to do these things in order to to really have a relationship with god well paul gets upset because they're undermining the relationship of god with his children and he gets upset about that because it's wrong god loves us he gave himself he's saying concerning jesus he gave himself for our sins that he might deliver us from this present evil age according to the will of our god and father jesus gave himself that he might rescue us that we're delivered speaks of rescuing us from danger this evil age is a a death system energized by satan and is doomed first john 217 the world is passing away and the lust of it he who does the will of god abides forever jesus matthew 2435 jesus says heaven and earth will pass away but my words will by no means pass away in first Corinthians 7 31 paul says the form of this world is passing away he has delivered us from this present evil age this death system energized by satan that is doomed we haven't been removed but we're kept from its sentence of death and we live for jesus christ and we're used by god to rescue others we minister and call people and say to them god has a way for you jesus died on a cross for you to deliver you to rescue you some of us remember that tsunami that hit indonesia and thailand that region terrible and devastating and we saw a film where there was somebody on a roof taking a video of the wave that was approaching land traveling as fast as a jet and when a tsunami hits what happens is the wave as it's building well the water on the shoreline begins to recede it begins to be drawn towards the ocean and this man is on a on a rooftop with his camera and he's taking a film of the and you can see this huge wave in the distance coming towards the land but the but the water that is normally there on the shoreline has receded you know quarter mile out or further and there's a man who sees all these fish just flopping around they've been left behind and he has a basket and he's there running after the fish grabbing fish and putting them in his basket thinking oh man i've got all this fish i can eat later on it's just there but you hear the man on the roof screaming to the man who's there below he has a bird's eye view he sees the wave and he's screaming for the man run for your life run for your life and the man is so busy picking up fish he doesn't see when the wave hits him and you see that you see this man's film as the wave hits it and some people don't know this about tsunamis they have picked up all kinds of trash and things on the bottom of the ocean and it's like being inside of a of a blender when it hits you there is so much inside the wave that chops you up you are actually blended to death instantly it's not a drowning that takes place you are torn apart and this man is up there screaming get off leave run for your life that's a christian that's a good picture of a christian the wave is coming you're going to be destroyed but you're so busy picking up fish you don't even realize your life is in danger and the christian has the bird's eye view looking down saying it's coming that's what paul is speaking about when he says he delivered us he rescued us from this present evil age that's what we do as ministers of the gospel when you say come to christ turn from your evil ways open your heart to the grace of god he loves you be saved and so that's what he's speaking about he delivers us but what's going on well notice verse six i marvel that you are turning away so soon from him who called you in the grace of christ to a different gospel which is not another but there are some who trouble you and want to pervert the gospel of christ but even if we or an angel from heaven preach any other gospel to you than what we have preached to you let them be accursed as we have said before so now i say again if anyone preaches any other gospel to you than what you have received let him be accursed i marvel that you're turning away so soon he says in verse six that word marvel i am bewildered and astounded i cannot believe that you're turning so quickly from the truth of the gospel i cannot believe that you are deserting god and his grace now he's not surprised by what the false teachers are saying and doing he surprised at how quickly and easily the church is deceived that gives us insight by the way into how powerful deception really is you see paul outside of jesus was the greatest teacher in the history of the church yet they're readily rejecting the truth communicated to them by him they are being hoodwinked they are drifting from their moorings he speaks of them turning away when he speaks of turning away that means to fall away or desert it could be deserting a person it could be deserting a thing it actually is a word that can be used of military desertion they're not being removed by others that's what amazes him you are willingly removing yourself you are voluntarily leaving the sphere of grace so that you can begin to pursue legalism and that's what bothers him you see that continues to happen to this day by the way there are there are those who will say well i have the pure in the original gospel and you need to listen to what we have to say that those who follow that kind of teaching are people who seem to say things like well tell me what i'm supposed to believe in another words think for me and tell me how i should think somebody who approached me on one occasion said to me pastor i want to ask you a question what do we believe about this and my answer was i know what i believe about that but you have to determine what you believe about that see my job isn't to believe for you your job is to believe for yourself you know when marie and i were starting to date and she was newly following the lord one of the things that we had a conversation about very early in our relationship was this i said listen i don't have enough faith for the both of us i cannot carry you on my back i only have enough faith for myself and so you're going to need to develop a walk with god that is your own you cannot be relying on me to believe for you you have to have a walk with god of your own because i am not supposed to lord it over people's faith i'm supposed to be a helper of their joy because by faith they stand each one of us stands before god individually in other words and so paul is saying you are deserting voluntarily the grace of christ these false teachers are saying follow our god guidelines if you do what i say you're going to be right with god to desert the gospel of grace is more than to desert a doctrine to desert the gospel of grace is to desert god himself he says i marvel that you are turning so soon from him who called you the judizers who had invaded the church were claiming to be christians they were claiming to recognize jesus as a messiah they recognized the necessity of his death on a cross if not they wouldn't have been able to share but their problem was is they're trying to improve on the gospel and thus destroying grace what they're doing is they're adding a dimension knowledge of the law and again undermining the grace of god because when the law is added grace ceases being grace and it begins to be what we would call a false gospel notice verse seven how he says which is not another it is not another of the same kind because it's not a message of grace by adding works to salvation the good news becomes the bad news again some cannot fathom that god forgives every single one of their sins by his grace they cannot fathom that they forget god forgive god forgives you everyone every one of your sins and you want to know something about the law let me share something with you that really ministers to me he doesn't bring it up to you once it's done it's done you know how there's sometimes people who will say i forgive you but i'm not going to forget some guy was talking about his wife and he says man when we get an argument she gets all historical and his friend says you mean hysterical he says no historical she brings everything up from the past god doesn't do that aren't you glad are you not glad i'm glad that god doesn't do that oh lord please forgive me no wait a minute i forgave you 27 minutes and 30 seconds ago because you said this or did this and you're asking me again he doesn't do that he doesn't do that you know my kids can tell you this is true about us in our relationship if my kids won't have done something i or had done something wrong and they were to come up to me and say to me dad i'm sorry forgive me i don't bring it up to him again it's over it's done it's under the blood it's been forgiven this isn't something we're going to talk about again it's over it's done i don't bring it back up why because god doesn't bring up my sins because he doesn't remind me of what i've done if it's been forgiven it's forgiven let's move on i used to tell my kids when they were small at the end of the day sometimes they weren't as good as i would have liked them to have been but i would tell them sometimes at the end of the night you know what's a blessing is tomorrow's a new day and we can start over again tomorrow every day is a new day god's mercy is new every morning every morning because i use up all of his mercy that day so i need some more tomorrow and god renews and god renews and god renews this is the god i serve a god who loves me a god who forgives me of my sins in isaia 118 come now let us reason together say at the lord though your sins are like scarlet they shall be as white as snow though they are red like crimson they shall be as wool isaia 43 25 i even i am he who blots out your transgressions for my own sake and i will not remember your sins psalm 103 12 as far as the east is from the west so far as he removed our transgressions from us saved by grace the wonderful grace of god totally unmerited the bible says it is by grace that you've been saved through faith and this not from yourselves it's a gift of god not by works so that no one can boast but he says in verse seven there are some who trouble you and want to pervert the gospel of christ there are some who are stirring you up who are agitating they're unsettling your minds are stirring your emotions that is always the result of false teaching there will be a lack of peace your relationship with god is going to be shaken your faith is going to be shaken and so he says if we are an angel from heaven should come and give you another gospel if we should preach any other gospel to you then what we have preached to you well let them be accursed as we've said before so now i say again if anyone preaches any other gospel to you then what you have received let him be accursed now i want you to see verse eight we're going to close with this these two verses even if we or an angel from heaven if i change my message may i be lost but if an angel from heaven brings a different message let them be accursed an angel from heaven different message all you need to do is listen to a young Mormon tell you the testimony that he has all you have to do is listen to the young Mormon and the angel moroni who appeared and brought this new insight to their prophet leader joseph smith who brought a different gospel all you need to do is do a little reading on islam how that muslims believe that gabriel gave revelation to muhammad an angel when you when you go to israel there is an area there in jerusalem we go to is called the the temple mount and on the temple mount you have the al aqsa mosque and you also have the dome of the rock one of the most holy sites in the muslim faith and we go up that we've been up there numerous times over the years and and people will say can we go into the dome of the rock and and my answer has always been the same they do permit it if you'd like you can go in they ask me are you going to go in pastor and i've been to israel i think 20 times and and i say no i i don't go in well why not wouldn't you like to go in and see it i say no not really well why not well there is a founding inscription inside the building that is written in classical arabic it's from the quran chapter 4 171 and it says this oh you people of the book overstep not bounds in your religion and of god speak only the truth the messiah jesus son of mary is only an apostle of god and his word which he conveyed unto mary and a spirit proceeding from him believe therefore in god and his apostles and say not trinity it will be better for you god is only one god far be it from his glory that he should have a son that is a blasphemous statement regarding jesus christ and i've been asked why don't you go in and that's why why would i enter in when it is centered on a denial of the god of grace it is built on the denial of a loving god who gave his son for me paul was dealing with error that crept in in the early history of the church that has continued to creep in and influence people over the centuries and paul said if i or an angel of god should give a message that is different than the gospel of jesus christ may we be accursed may we be anathema may we be doomed to destruction false teachers are marked avoided their teachings are rejected and they are left he's saying to god's judgment the gospel of grace must stand it's a gospel that is built on the gracious love of god for us a god who sent his son for us