law – Page 11

763. The Essence of Hypocrisy: Try to Keep the Law

July 12, 2020 by Mike Kapler and Joel Brueseke

Church corporations have generally made it their mission to erroneously mix two very different covenants. One came to an end and the other Jesus established by replacing the Old one with a something New, established upon better promises.

Those who desire to keep one foot in the “land of the legal” have coached the sheep to do their best to follow the Ten Commandments and other selective parts of the law which came to Israel through Moses. This is one of the most hypocritical and misunderstood pieces of legalistic legislation to ever hit the church. We point out just a few of the inconsistencies.

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762. Stone Tablet Commandments Can’t Bring Life or Righteousness

July 5, 2020 by Mike Kapler and Joel Brueseke

David thought life could be found in the law which was introduced to the nation of Israel through Moses. Before he came to faith in Jesus Christ, the Apostle Paul said he thought the same thing and then came to find out “the very commandment that promised life proved to be death to me.” So how is it the church culture has gotten this so backwards?

Why have religious institutions lured Gentiles into a ministry referred to as one that brings bondage while being unable to bring life or righteousness? The Ten Commandments were part of a law containing 603 other commands, rules and statutes. This is the very bundled requirement that Jesus came to deliver the Jewish people from … not to bring Gentiles into.

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761. The Ten Commandments No Longer Have Glory

June 28, 2020 by Mike Kapler and Joel Brueseke

Although empty religion has made it sound as though the Ten Commandments and some other selections from the expired law are meant to be applied to the Christian life, we find quite the opposite in New Covenant writings. The Apostle Paul reveals this was a ministry that came to an end and no longer has any glory at all. Why? Because of the ministry of the Spirit, which has a glory that surpassed it.

His fruit now abides in us because He abides in us … and we bear what He produces. This is a more powerful and liberating way to live than to pursue the flesh by trying to keep stone-tablet commandments that leave people in lifeless condemnation. For those who think the top 10 were somehow separate from the rest of the law and are meant to still apply, we address the hypocrisy of this.

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760. Contrasting the Ten Commandments With the Gospel

June 21, 2020 by Mike Kapler and Joel Brueseke

Church-goers and believers have frequently been disoriented and in a place of confusion by being exposed to a combination of two very different covenants, resulting in “the Christian religion.” Often we’ve been taught to cling to a ministry that Jesus came to deliver people from.

The Ten Commandments is our starting point on this week’s program, with more to come in the weeks ahead. The Apostle Paul called those stone tablets from the Old Covenant the ministry of death and condemnation—hardly a recipe for life and peace.

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748. Hebrews 9: The Failure of Ceremony and Sacrifice

March 29, 2020 by Mike Kapler and Joel Brueseke

Priests appointed through the law under the Old Covenant always went into the tabernacle to offer the blood of animals for their own sins and the sins of the people. It was a temporary solution that needed to constantly be repeated because these gifts and sacrifices could not meet God’s requirement of perfection, and left the worshippers in a state of sin consciousness.

But when Christ appeared as High Priest (after the law), everything radically changed.

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735. Hebrews 1: God Has Spoken to Us Through His Son

December 29, 2019 by Mike Kapler and Joel Brueseke

Welcome to a series where we will provide an overview of the book of Hebrews. We will sift and skim some highlights to help provide context of these very important writings when it comes to realizing the grace and truth that came through Jesus Christ … and the differences between an expired Old Covenant and a New and better covenant.

The writer starts off in Chapter One by pointing out to Jewish believers that God had formerly spoken to them—their ancestors—through the prophets (and the writings related those prophets). But now in these days, He has spoken through His Son, who has been appointed an heir of all things, through whom the world was made.

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730. Red Letters Were Not Always Meant for You

November 24, 2019 by Mike Kapler and Joel Brueseke

“Jesus said it, I believe it.” “It’s a red-letter verse!” “We should obey everything Jesus said.” “When Jesus spoke to His disciples, it means He was speaking to us.”

These are a few of the comments you’ve probably heard over the years regarding the words of Jesus. What the pulpit may have neglected to tell you is that Jesus was born under the law and spoke about things regarding the Old Covenant in order to redeem the Jewish people from that bondage — it has become a covenant that is obsolete. Religion has copied and pasted many red-letter verses onto the church wall that were never meant to be applied into the lives of believers. We don’t discard these words of Jesus, but we embrace them within the proper context of the New Covenant and awaken to grace and truth realized through the Person of Jesus.

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729. Red Letters + Golden Rule = Spiritual Blues

November 17, 2019 by Mike Kapler and Joel Brueseke

Most of us have been taught that Jesus ushered in a New Covenant at His birth and began to teach new guidelines and rules for believers and future Christians to follow. Having this mindset will cause us to begin filtering all of the Scripture through this faulty assumption, causing our lenses to see a fake gospel which isn’t really the good news at all. Even the so-called golden rule was not a new guideline for Christians, but it was an old statute from the law—a ministry that could only supply the Jewish people with death and condemnation. Jesus was on a mission to free people from such a bondage.

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727. “This Is Love: Not That We Loved God, but That He Loved Us”

November 3, 2019 by Mike Kapler and Joel Brueseke

Following up on last week’s program about the New Covenant command to believe in Jesus and love one another … Under the law, it was considered one of the greatest commandments to put forth all of one’s strength and effort to love God and each other. The entire law revolved around this and yet nobody had ever done it before the cross.

In this New Covenant Jesus has established, what is so different about our love for God and for each other compared to the old way? John admitted nobody had ever really loved God … the gospel is not built upon a foundation of our love for God - once again it was about what God has done by giving us His Son and demonstrating His love for us - and the results are the difference between light and darkness.

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726. New Covenant Commands from Jesus

October 27, 2019 by Mike Kapler and Joel Brueseke

Commandments given under the law to Israel through Moses didn’t squelch sin, but caused it to increase. That’s clue number one that Christ came to put an end to that system in order to redeem people from that law. This would occur by Jesus becoming the replacement for that failed covenant which was based upon works, not faith.

So what about the commandments of Jesus that He shared with His disciples as He looked forward to the new and better covenant which would manifest after His death and resurrection? Just exactly what are those commands? Are there any conditions attached? Are they performance based with no room for failure? The eyewitness known as the Apostle John explains it for us.

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725. Where Do I Stand if I’m Not Keeping the Commandments Perfectly?

October 20, 2019 by Mike Kapler and Joel Brueseke

Ever since the cross and resurrection, church-ianity has pushed a counterfeit gospel known as law-keeping, which believers become hooked on and frequently have a difficult time breaking free from. The Bible tells us the commandments contained within the law from the Old Covenant were not based upon faith. Faith came when Christ arrived. Trying to live by the command caused sin to increase. Living in the Spirit allows us to bear His fruit instead of our own rotten tomatoes.

We don’t serve in the old way of a written code but by the new way of the Spirit. The old way will leave you wondering where you stand with God in any given minute. You will never be at peace while trying to live up to a standard that required perfect behavior … and take notice that legalistic Christianity only will only require you keep a very small portion of what the law demanded. The rest gets hypocritically tossed aside. The remedy for breaking free from the slavery of the addiction of works is God’s grace.

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724. Why Did Peter Cling to Law After it Ended with Jesus?

October 13, 2019 by Mike Kapler and Joel Brueseke

Religious legalists will argue that Peter adhered to rules from the law of Moses for years after the resurrection of Jesus. They make the false assumption that because God moved through him in such miraculous ways—such as shadow healing—Peter must have had a perfect understanding of the gospel. But like the rest of us limited humans, Peter was “growing in the grace and knowledge of the Lord Jesus Christ.”

Through a vision, God began to show Peter the change of law that occurred within a New Covenant which is based upon faith instead of a law of works … and he began to repent (have a change of mind). Later in the book of Acts, he would even argue the case before former Pharisees that Gentiles who were being saved and never had the law, should not be burdened with the futile attempt of trying to keep what they and their fathers were unable bear.