By Joseph Machuta
Ephesians
4:22-24 states
this; “Put off your old nature which
belongs to your former manner of life and is corrupt through deceitful
lusts, (23) and be renewed in the spirit of your minds, (24)
and put on the new nature, created after the likeness of God in true
righteousness and holiness.” Also;
Paul states in Romans 12:1-2; I beseech you therefore, brethren, by the
mercies of God, that ye present your bodies a living sacrifice, holy,
acceptable unto God, which is your reasonable service. (2) And be not conformed to this world: but
be ye transformed by the renewing of your mind, that ye may prove what is that
good, and acceptable, and perfect, will of God. I believe that one of the mysteries that have
been withheld from the Gentiles over the last two thousand years is the
operation of this transformation. In
other words, most have been taught to simply transform the flesh themselves. I call it NIKE slogan Christians. They are told to just do it. The fact is that this can never be done in
the flesh and so it merely puts the would-be-saint into bondage and fear. The remnant that has really matured in Christ
has done so by the operation of believing the gospel. One of the first things that happen to most
babes in Christ, is that, once they are saved, the Church starts a timer
ticking. This timer is keeping track of
their transformation and the progress they are making in changing. This puts the new believer under a law and
Paul has explained that the letter kills but the spirit gives life. The end result is a stillbirth. The timer puts a limit on the time necessary
to transform. The reality is that only
the gospel, and the indwelling Lord can transform a life for real.
Further, there is some great
misunderstanding as to what the transformation will be, that is, what the fruit
of transformation will be. If God is
love and we find that He is in 1 John 4:8, then if we are to be transformed
into the image of Jesus, who is God, then it stands to reason, that we will be
transformed into a loving person and the fruit of the transformed life, will be
the fruit of the Spirit, which all spring from, and are a part of, agape love.
This study is devoted to explaining
the catalyst or the moving force of the process of transformation. Yes, transformation is a process, and yes,
the Lord wants to see us put on the new man created in true righteousness and
holiness.
Christ is
the central message of the scripture.
There is no other message. He is
the center and foundation of God’s plan of redemption. It is a plan, when properly understood, that
brings praise and glory to God alone.
John 5:39-40 Search the scriptures; for in them ye think ye have
eternal life: and they are they, which testify of me. (40] And ye will not come to me, that ye
might have life. This is further
stated in Luk
24:27 And beginning
with Moses and all the prophets, he interpreted to them in all the scriptures
the things concerning himself; also a little farther in the passage Jesus
said this; Luk 24:44-48 Then he said to them, "These are
my words which I spoke to you, while I was still with you, that everything
written about me in the law of Moses and the prophets and the psalms must be
fulfilled." (45) Then he opened their
minds to understand the scriptures, (46) and said
to them, "Thus it is written, that the Christ should suffer and on the
third day rise from the dead, (47) and that
repentance and forgiveness of sins should be preached in his name to all
nations, beginning from
Objectives: In this study, we will examine Biblical
Theology, which is Redemptive-Historical Hermeneutic. We will give a working definition of Biblical
Theology and Redemptive-Historical Hermeneutic.
We will show that Biblical Theology demands one understands that the
only way to “rightly divide the word of truth,” is with the cross. Also, one cannot begin to rightly divide the
word of truth unless one can rightly define the word of truth and the scripture
sufficiently defines it as the gospel of salvation. Ephesians
Redemptive-Historical Hermeneutic: All Old
Testament passages, must be understood in light of the revelation of the New
Testament. Thus, the promises of God to
Abraham, was not to the Children of Israel of the flesh, (Jews) but, to all the
children of the promise by faith in Christ Jesus (Galatians
dis·ci·ple
(d¹-sº“p…l) n. 1.a. One who embraces and assists in spreading the teachings of
another. b. An active adherent, as of a movement or philosophy. 2. Often
Disciple. One of the 12 original followers of Jesus. 3. Disciple. A member of
the Disciples of Christ. [Middle English, from Old English discipul and from
Old French desciple, both from Latin discipulus, pupil, from discere, to learn.
(John 13:35] By
this shall all men know that ye are my disciples, if ye have love one to
another.
(John 15:8] Herein
is my Father glorified, that ye bear much fruit; so shall ye be my disciples.
The two verses above are important in discovering the
definition of the word disciple from the perspective of Jesus and God the
Father. What marks the life of a
disciple? The answer according to these
passages of scripture is agape’ (love).
It is God’s love. It is selfless
love. It is the kind of love that sent
Jesus to the cross. How do we achieve
this love? The simple answer is by
resting in Jesus.
If anything is lacking in the visible institutional church,
it is most certainly discipleship. It
seems that we have lost the understanding of being a disciple. A disciple is one who exhibits the fruit of
the Spirit in their life. What is the
fruit of the Spirit? [Gal 5:22-23 But
the fruit of the Spirit is love, joy, peace, longsuffering, gentleness,
goodness, faith, (23] Meekness,
temperance: against such there is no law.]
All of the above fall into the category of agape (love)!
The life of a disciple is a vain life without the fruit of
the Spirit! [1Co 13:1-3] Though I speak with the tongues of men and of
angels, and have not LOVE, I am become as sounding brass, or a tinkling cymbal.
(2]
And though I have the gift of prophecy, and understand all mysteries,
and all knowledge; and though I have all faith, so that I could remove
mountains, and have not LOVE, I am nothing.
(3] And though I bestow all my
goods to feed the poor, and though I give my body to be burned, and have not
LOVE, it profiteth me nothing.] How
many believers that you know take these three verses seriously? It is obvious that love is important in the
life of a disciple of the Lord Jesus Christ.
How do we get there? How can we
love our neighbors as ourselves?
[Rev 2:4 Nevertheless I have somewhat against thee,
because thou hast left thy first love.]
What is meant by this phrase, thou has left thy first love? Think back beloved believer to the day that
you realized that Jesus had handled your sin burden. Think of how joyous and relieved you
felt. Think of how the peace and joy
flowed throughout your being. Think of
the peaceful rest from your guilt of sin.
What happened to your first love?
Could it be that it was slowly choked out by the sin and failure in your
life? Could it be dulled from your
inability to live holy at all times?
Could it be from the pressure that others have put upon you? Could it be that you find it hard to stay
real and genuine before the Lord and other believers? Yes, the struggles of spiritual warfare, the
weakness of the flesh, the lies of Satan and his demon angels, and the
dishonesty of brothers and sisters in Christ, all lead to the loss of your
first love!
So, how does one regain that first love? Well, the answer is resting in Jesus by
faith! This then, is necessary to stay
in the place of divine forgiveness and blessedness twenty-four hours per day
seven days per week. So, resting in the
finished work of Christ on
Recognizing Need:
Rom
When you think about it, there is nothing that man has that
God could possibly want. God created man
and thus had a purpose in creation. The
Bible teaches us that God’s motivation in the creation of mankind was to be
praised and loved. God does not want
love from a being that has no choice.
God wants to be loved by a person who really truly loves Him. John 4:23
But the hour is coming, and now is, when the true worshipers shall
worship the Father in spirit and truth, for the Father seeks such to worship
Him. This is exactly why God decreed that He would permit mankind to
fall. The grand purpose of God in
allowing the fall of humanity was to bring about a plan of redemption. It is the plan of redemption, which is the
impetus for real praise and worship and thus, genuine love for God.
There is never a time when the believer does not need Jesus
and His righteousness. One cannot
improve here on earth, so as to arrive at the point, where it is not necessary
to be clothed in the righteousness of Jesus Christ. This is one of the failings of the teaching
of the evangelical church. There is
often an unspoken, legal requirement of behavior, insinuated by church
doctrine, which forces the believer to depend on his or her own
righteousness. Here is how it
operates. The believer can rest in the
forgiveness of sins past, that is, prior to salvation. But, if it seems that there is too much sin,
after salvation, the new disciple is put in the position of either not being
sincere, or being a second-class believer.
This makes it difficult for the believers to stay honest with themselves
and with God. There is a tremendous
burden that goes along with this particular experience. Paul addresses this in Romans chapter
seven. Rom
Resting in Jesus:
The New Testament letters are divided into two distinct
types of messages. Actually it is one
message with two distinct perspectives.
One is God’s perspective outside of linear time. This perspective has been called God’s
decrees. The other perspective is also
God’s perspective, but it is written to describe man’s proper response. In these two concepts, we find the
sovereignty of God and the responsibility of humanity. These two messages seem to contradict one
another and appear to be mutually exclusive.
For example, if God is sovereign, how can man be responsible and have a
choice? In fact, the two main views of
systematic theology, i.e., Calvinism and Arminianism, emphasize one or the
other of these two concepts. They do
this chiefly, in their description and definition of salvation. The truth, it seems, is that there is a
paradox of sorts. First, God is
absolutely sovereign, but then, man is also completely responsible. If one is to ever resolve these issues, it is
necessary to view these two types of messages, i.e. sovereign decrees and
reasonable service instructions in the way that the apostles and writers of the
New Testament used them.
It is
important to see that the apostles and New Testament writers always put the
sovereign decrees of redemption first in order.
The decrees have precedent over the reasonable service
instructions. The decrees state the
promises of God. These are the promises
that one can rest in. Isaiah explains it
this way, Is 55:10-11 “For as the rain and
the snow come down from heaven and do not return there but water the earth,
making it bring forth and sprout, giving seed to the sower and bread to the
eater, (11) so shall my word be that goes out from my
mouth; it shall not return to me empty, but it shall accomplish that which I
purpose, and shall succeed in the thing for which I sent it.
Now, first, we’ll look at the decrees. All of Paul’s epistles begin with
decrees. The decrees must come
first. The reason is that God is sovereign
and depends on nothing or no one to be complete and fulfilled. Therefore God does not respond to man. Man responds to God
"The decrees of God are his eternal,
unchangeable, holy, wise, and sovereign purpose, comprehending at once all
things that ever were or will be in their causes, conditions, successions, and
relations, and determining their certain futurition. The several contents of
this one eternal purpose are, because of the limitation of our faculties,
necessarily conceived of by us in partial aspects, and in logical relations,
and are therefore styled Decrees." The decree being the act of an
infinite, absolute, eternal, unchangeable, and sovereign Person, comprehending
a plan including all his works of all kinds, great and small, from the
beginning of creation to an unending eternity; ends as well as means, causes as
well as effects, conditions and instrumentalities as well as the events which
depend upon them, must be incomprehensible by the finite intellect of man. The
decrees are eternal (Act_15:18; Eph_1:4; 2Th_2:13), unchangeable (Psa_33:11;
Isa_46:9), and comprehend all things that come to pass (Eph_1:11; Mat_10:29-30;
Eph_2:10; Act_2:23; Act_4:27-28; Psa_17:13-14).The decrees of God are (1.)
efficacious, as they respect those events he has determined to bring about by
his own immediate agency; or (2.) permissive, as they respect those events he
has determined that free agents shall be permitted by him to effect.
The sovereign decrees of God speak of his eternal
purpose. Look at these verses; Eph 1:4-6 According as he hath chosen us in him before
the foundation of the world, that we should be holy and without blame before
him in love: (5)
Having predestinated us unto the adoption of children by Jesus Christ to
himself, according to the good pleasure of his will, (6)
To the praise of the glory of his grace, wherein he hath made us accepted in
the beloved.
This passage sums up and gives an
excellent overview of the purposes of God.
In other words, the purpose of God for the creation of the universe is
summed up in these verses. Let me put it
in outline form so that it will be easy for all to see.
This doctrine ought to produce humility in view of the
infinite greatness and sovereignty of God, and of the dependence of man; a
confidence and an implicit reliance upon the wisdom, righteousness, goodness,
and immutability of God's purpose."
Because of God’s character, He being, all knowing, powerful,
righteous, holy and truthful, we can always rest in the promises found in his
merciful and loving decrees. Real rest
can only be found in believing God’s decrees.
It is God and no other who declares the end from the
beginning. Man is not in control. Not
now, nor has he ever been. This is the
great lie of humanism. Unfortunately,
for those trying to be a disciple of Christ, humanism has a death grip on the
teaching of church tradition and doctrine.
Humanism is the way, which seemeth right unto a man. It is inherited from the fall. It is in essence, the knowledge of good and
evil. Humanism is the source of all
unbelief. We will look much deeper into this matter when we examine Redemptive
History.
The Bible is the history of redemption. It has no other purpose. What exactly is meant by Redemptive
History? Well, it is the history of the
creation, fall, and redemption of mankind.
It is God’s grand plan in creation.
It can best be understood by epochs of redemptive-history. Key individuals, best define these epochs, in
God’s redemptive plan. The major epoch
divisions are Adam, Abraham, Moses and Christ.
God revealed an additional piece of His redemptive plan in each of these
epochs. Certainly there are others. This is especially true of King David. All of the prophets and poetry books tell of
redemption as well. But, Adam, Abraham,
Moses and Christ form the framework which all of Biblical Theology must be
constructed upon.
Adam:
All humanity is in a state of depravity. This is the result of the fall and of the
consequences thereof. It shall be
demonstrated; that “the knowledge of good and evil,” described in Genesis and
the “wisdom of the world,” defined in 1 Corinthians is one and the same. Likewise, it is a recurring theme throughout
the Bible. First look at the story of
the fall. Gen 3:1-7 Now the serpent was more subtil than any beast
of the field which the LORD God had made. And he said unto the woman, Yea, hath
God said, Ye shall not eat of every tree of the garden? First, Satan questions whether God really
said this or not. (2] And the woman
said unto the serpent, We may eat of the fruit of the trees of the garden: (3]
But of the fruit of the tree which is in the midst of the garden, God
hath said, Ye shall not eat of it, neither shall ye touch it, lest ye die. Gods pronouncement on eating of the tree of
the knowledge of good and evil was death.
This is important to note and remember as we read further in the story. (4] And the serpent said unto the woman, Ye shall
not surely die: (5] For God doth know that in the day ye eat
thereof, then your eyes shall be opened, and ye shall be as gods, knowing good
and evil. Now, Satan switches
tactics. He calls God a liar and gives
his motive as jealousy. (6] And when the woman saw that the tree was good
for food, and that it was pleasant to the eyes, and a tree to be desired to make
one wise, she took of the fruit thereof, and did eat, and gave also unto her
husband with her; and he did eat.
Notice that the lust of the flesh, the lust of the eyes, and the pride
of life are all in Satan’s plea. It was
worldly things that enticed her to partake. (7] And the eyes of them both
were opened, and they knew that they were naked; and they sewed fig leaves
together, and made themselves aprons.
They used the knowledge of good and evil, the wisdom of this world, to
mis-diagnose their problem. They were
spiritually dead and they were worried about being naked.
Proverbs
Isaiah 55:8-9 For my thoughts are not your thoughts,
neither are your ways my ways, saith the LORD.
(9] For as the heavens are higher than the earth, so are my ways higher
than your ways, and my thoughts than your thoughts. Here again, the Spirit is speaking of the
impossibility of man understanding God without the spirit of revelation.
1Co
Romans 1:21-23 Because
that, when they knew God, they glorified him not as God, neither were thankful;
but became vain in their imaginations, and their foolish heart was
darkened. (22] Professing themselves to be wise, they became
fools, (23] And changed the glory of the uncorruptible
God into an image made like to corruptible man, and to birds, and fourfooted
beasts, and creeping things. When
Eve was told that the tree would make her wise, she readily ate. Thus, when she was professing to be wise, she
became a fool. At the same time, she and
Adam, changed worshiping the incorruptible God, into the beginning of
idolatry. She wanted to worship at the
throne of her newfound wisdom.
It is obvious that the “knowledge of good and evil” and the
“wisdom of the world” are one in the same thing. Likewise, it is obvious that it is faulty
reasoning. So, it must be concluded that
mankind in the fallen state of natural birth, cannot understand the things of
God. 1Co
Adam, brings to us in his epoch, two things, that play an
important role in redemption. One is the
“knowledge of good and evil” (the wisdom of the world) and the other is
death. Both of these conditions require
redemption. Both of these conditions
require divine intervention. It is from
Adam and the fall that mankind inherits the need for redemption. It is not that humanity is a little faulty. No, humanity is totally depraved. This is the result of the fall also. It is not that mankind is off the mark and
needs a little help to get back on the mark.
The “knowledge of good and evil” and “death” work together, to so blind,
and to so deceive, that man has no capability of turning toward God, without
the intervention of the Holy Spirit.
Thus, all the glory goes to God in Christ
Abraham:
Gen 15:6 And he
believed in the LORD; and he counted it to him for righteousness. This is one of the most liberating scripture
verses in the Bible. Here in lies the
underpinning of imputed righteousness and God’s marvelous grace. Now certainly, the foundation is Christ and
no other foundation can be laid, but the concept of God imputing righteousness
for faith is begun in this passage. 2Co
It is precisely with Abraham and his faith model, that we
must examine the apparent controversy between Paul and James. First, we will examine out of grammatical or
historical context the two passages of scripture. Romans 4:1-5
What shall we say then that Abraham our father, as pertaining to the
flesh, hath found? (2] For if Abraham were justified by works, he
hath whereof to glory; but not before God.
(3] For what saith the scripture?
Abraham believed God, and it was counted unto him for righteousness. (4]
Now to him that worketh is the reward not reckoned of grace, but of
debt. (5] But to him that worketh not, but believeth on
him that justifieth the ungodly, his faith is counted for righteousness. Now we will contrast it with what the Apostle
James says. James 2:20-25 But wilt thou know, O vain man, that faith
without works is dead? (21] Was not Abraham our father justified by
works, when he had offered Isaac his son upon the altar? (22]
Seest thou how faith wrought with his works, and by works was faith made
perfect? (23] And the scripture was fulfilled which saith,
Abraham believed God, and it was imputed unto him for righteousness: and he was
called the Friend of God. (24] Ye see then how that by works a man is
justified, and not by faith only.
(25] Likewise also was not Rahab
the harlot justified by works, when she had received the messengers, and had
sent them out another way?
Certainly, Paul and James are contradicting each other are they
not? Yet, if this is contradictory then
the Bible falls apart and faith is a sham.
So, Let’s look for a resolution.
I am aware of a couple of explanations. I will briefly mention them, but I must
confess, that I will offer a third, in more detail. First, most Reformed-Calvinists, put James
and Paul back to back, saying that Paul is discussing justification before God
and that James is dealing with justification before man. This is wrong, because both passages cite
Genesis 15:6. Therefore both passages
must be referring to justification before God.
Secondly, and more closely right, it is explained that the works
referred to in the Romans passage are narrow in scope, i.e., the works of the
Mosaic Law. This concept is weakened by
Romans 4:2 For if Abraham were
justified by works, he hath whereof to glory; but not before God. Since Abraham precedes the law by 430 years,
this illustration cannot be talking about Mosaic works only.
Paradox:
I will take a look at a third alternative. This is the one that I believe is correct. The bulk of the New Testament writing is
divided into two general message categories.
One is God’s decrees and the other is perseverance instructions. The former states what God has accomplished
and the latter describes our reasonable service. I believe that these two messages give the
appearance of contradiction but are in reality a paradox. Thus, Paul is right, man is justified before
God by faith, and James is right also, man is justified before God by faith and
faith-works. In reality they agree. Faith-works are not meritorious. They are instead our reasonable service. Here is where I must examine the concept that
Paul is talking about works of the Mosaic law.
He suggests from Romans 4:2, however, that he is discussing meritorious
works in general. No one can do
justifying faith works unless they are resting on the decree of God found in
Romans 4:5. Let me make it perfectly
clear. Both, faith and faith-works are
necessary for justification before God.
Faith alone is not sufficient for justification. Likewise, I am not stating, that the
schizophrenic statement, “faith alone saves, but faith that saves is never
alone” is correct. These are not the
common works that Institutional Evangelical Christianity demands. As I pointed out, they are very narrow
works. For example, saying the rosary
over and over, or singing in the choir, paying tithing, or abstaining from some
fleshly pursuit are not the works.
Substitute whatever a particular sect or a denomination demands as
evidence of salvation and justification, and I guarantee these will not be the
works.
There is an order of salvation (ordo salutis) that becomes
necessary to the proper operation of this paradox. This order is as follows: First, the Holy Spirit must convict and convince
one of the need of redemption.
One must see that they are without hope and without God in this
world. Therefore Paul explains in Romans
that there is none righteous no not one; all are without excuse. Second, one must rest in God’s
decree. This is a process of faith
alone! Romans 4:5 is very important in
this stage. “ But to him that worketh
not, but believeth on him that justifieth the ungodly, his faith is counted for
righteousness.” This is the
foundation of salvation. One must
rest completely in God’s decree. Then,
from this place of rest in Jesus and his righteousness, one is obligated to
respond with reasonable service, which are faith-works. Abraham is an example of both faith and
faith-works. Paul and James connect
justification with both of these aspects.
First, one is justified before God by believing and resting in His
decrees. Then, one is justified before
God by doing faith-works from this place of rest. The works are spurred on by listening to the
voice of God. Listening to the voice of
God and reading the bible to follow every written word are two completely
different things. Listening to the voice
of God is knowing His heart and hearing His pleading.
What are
these faith works? To get the answer we
must look at a few passages of scripture.
First we’ll look at Ephesians 2:8-10 For by
grace you have been saved through faith; and that not of yourselves, it is the
gift of God; (9] not as a result of
works, so that no one may boast. (10]
For we are His workmanship, created in Christ Jesus for good works, which God
prepared beforehand so that we would walk in them. Well, here we see that we are the workmanship
of God created in Christ to do good works.
This gives some credence to the James passage but there is still no clue
as to what the works are. For this
understanding we must consult Matthew 25:31-36
"But when the Son of Man comes in His glory, and all the angels
with Him, then He will sit on His glorious throne. (32]
"All the nations will be gathered before Him; and He will separate
them from one another, as the shepherd separates the sheep from the goats; (33]
and He will put the sheep on His right, and the goats on the left. (34]
"Then the King will say to those on His right, 'Come, you who are
blessed of My Father, inherit the kingdom prepared for you from the foundation
of the world. (35] 'For I was hungry, and you gave Me something
to eat; I was thirsty, and you gave Me something to drink; I was a stranger,
and you invited Me in; (36] naked, and
you clothed Me; I was sick, and you visited Me; I was in prison, and you came
to Me.' So then, the good works are
specific good works. The good works are feeding
the hungry, clothing the naked, giving shelter to the homeless, and visiting
the sick and the prisoners. This is
a judgment passage and so Christ as the King of Glory has listed the specific
good works that show evidence of discipleship. These are the good works prepared
beforehand. This is even confirmed in
the James passage refered to above. The
context of the faith without works passage is found in James 2:14-15 What
use is it, my brethren, if someone says he has faith but he has no works? Can
that faith save him? (15] If a brother or sister is without clothing
and in need of daily food,. This is
consistent with the Matthew 25:31-46 passage. Further, look at Isaiah 58:6-8 "Is this not the fast which I choose, To
loosen the bonds of wickedness, To undo the bands of the yoke, And to let the
oppressed go free And break every yoke?
(7] "Is it not to divide your
bread with the hungry And bring the homeless poor into the house; When you see
the naked, to cover him; And not to hide yourself from your own flesh? (8]
"Then your light will break out like the dawn, And your recovery
will speedily spring forth; And your righteousness will go before you; The
glory of the LORD will be your rear guard.
This is a passage of scripture where God is finding fault with
Israel. It is a passage that is in the
New Covenant prophecy portion of Isaiah.
It is obvious from this that God has always made these good works His
priority. Justice for the poor is the
mandate God has given mankind. Israel
came into judgment for not doing these good works time and time again.
Moses:
Moses comes on the redemptive scene when the fleshly
descendents of Israel have all but forgotten God. God had blessed the posterity of Jacob in
Egypt by the popularity of Joseph. But
the Bible states, Act 7:18 Till another king arose, which knew not Joseph. This king began to misuse the Hebrews and would
not give them anything except a slave’s reward.
They received nothing but hard work and misery. The children of Israel were in bondage with
no way out. Pharaoh had total control
over their lives. First of all, this
bondage was symbolic of the bondage that humanity has under Satan and his
nefarious demons. Satan gives the
children of darkness a slave’s wages.
There is nothing but drudgery and misery in this world. Oh, it may seem sweet for a season, but time
and life have a way of exacting payment.
Moses becomes a type of Christ by delivering the children of Israel out
of bondage in Egypt.
We must also look at the covenant that God made with the
Children of Israel through his servant Moses.
John 1:17 For the law was given by Moses, but grace and truth came by
Jesus Christ. Lev 18:5 Ye shall
therefore keep my statutes, and my judgments: which if a man do, he shall live
in them: I am the LORD. The covenant
of law, which God made with the children of Israel, when He brought them out of
Egypt, offered eternal life, to the one who would keep the law in its
entirety. The weakness of the law was in
the fallen flesh of humanity. They could
not keep the law no matter what. Rom
8:3 For what the law could not do, in
that it was weak through the flesh, God sending his own Son in the likeness of
sinful flesh, and for sin, condemned sin in the flesh: We can see clearly that law keeping was never
God’s intention for humanity.
The law
was a schoolmaster. It held the children
of Israel in bondage until the promise was fulfilled which was issued to
Abraham. It acted as a tutor and a
governor. Gal 4:2 But is under tutors and governors until
the time appointed of the Father. It
was in effect only until the Son of God came to take away the sin of the world. Gal 4:4-5
But when the fulness of the time was come, God sent forth his Son, made
of a woman, made under the law, (5] To redeem them that were under the law, that
we might receive the adoption of sons.
One thing, which must be understood for anyone to rightly divide the
word of truth is this: The law was
abolished! Eph 2:15 Having abolished
in his flesh the enmity, even the law of commandments contained in ordinances;
for to make in himself of twain one new man, so making peace; Jesus
fulfilled the law by His perfect obedience to the Father. He never doubted. He always listened to the Father. He didn’t say anything unless the Father told
him to say it and he didn’t do anything unless the Father told him to do
it. Hebrews
11:6 states, And without faith it is impossible to please Him, for he who comes
to God must believe that He is and that He is a rewarder of those who seek Him. God thundered from
the sky, “This is my beloved Son in whom I am well pleased.”
In Christ:
2Co 5:17 Therefore if any man be in Christ, he is a new
creature: old things are passed away; behold, all things are become new. Rom 8:1 There is therefore now no
condemnation to them which are in Christ Jesus, who walk not after the flesh,
but after the Spirit. Gal 6:15 For
in Christ Jesus neither circumcision availeth any thing, nor uncircumcision,
but a new creature. There are
seventy-seven verses in the Greek Scriptures which have in Christ in
them and sixty-seven verses which have in him in them. The gospel message tells one how to be in
Christ. The fact is simple, either one
is in Christ or they are not in Christ.
1Jo 5:12 He that hath the Son hath life; and he that hath not the Son
of God hath not life.
Christ is the whole message of scripture. John 5:39-40 Search the scriptures; for in
them ye think ye have eternal life: and they are they which testify of me. (40] And ye will not come to me, that ye
might have life.