Faith. Grace. Righteousness. Forgiveness. Life. Salvation. These are gifts we’ve been delivered into since God established a New Covenant where both Jew and Gentile have been invited into the covenant - Christ Jesus is that covenant that has been given and established after the cross. These things were not attainable for those Jews living under the religious system of the Mosaic law from the Old Covenant. Their efforts at trying to abide by the many commandments fell far short of the requirement. The new way came by an oath or a promise. The premise of most Christian church doctrines tragically resembles a train-wreck where law and faith have crashed head-on, leaving people in a state of anxiety, pain, fear and bondage. Our program this week covers many of the differences between the law of works compared to the ministry of faith and grace… and why we should avoid the mixture.
We frequently find them blended into the doctrines and sermons of Church Incorporated… selected portions of commandments from the law which came by way of Moses. Not the entire law, mind you. Each religious brand will pick and choose what they think should be applied and what should be left off the list. The problem? There shouldn’t be a list. The entire written code of the letter from the Old Covenant was wiped out and came to an end. It was replaced with a better option that arrived when Jesus was manifested - it’s called faith. Paul was explaining to the Galatians they needed to make one of two choices… attempting to follow and live by the works of the law (the flesh) or to live by faith in Jesus Christ.
Before faith came, the Jews were held as prisoners under the law. The Mosaic law was a tutor or guardian which was meant to eventually lead them to the custody of Jesus Christ. When faith (Christ) came, there was no longer the need for the guardian because us who are in Christ Jesus became children of God by faith. The law and commandments are not based upon the faith that was provided for us within a new and better covenant.
Do you know what one of the coolest things about the grace-life is? It’s that you come to realize it’s not about you. You suddenly see it as clear as day – oh my goodness, This Is All About Jesus! And when you see it, glorious results follow. As you may know, the Branson Women […]
Jesus always had a reason for His methods during His earthly ministry. But much of what He taught was not meant to be considered or received as New Covenant Christianity - yet we can still look back on it and benefit when considered in the proper context. As the Apostle Paul explained to the Galatians, Jesus was born of a woman under the Mosaic law so that He might redeem those who were under that law - the Jews needed to be delivered from that religious system which could only bring death and condemnation. To assume Jesus was usually teaching a new doctrine meant for future Christians has resulted in countless misinterpretations as to how the gospel is defined. Empty religious doctrines of men will scream that we should do our best to keep some of the commandments from that old law which is now obsolete. What’s the problem with this? “The law is not of faith!” Faith in Christ has no relationship with a law of works which can’t bring life.
When you mix peanut butter with chocolate, you might end up with a delicious peanut butter cup. If you take (portions) of the Mosaic law from the Old Covenant God made with Israel and mingle it with the New Covenant of Jesus Christ, you’ll end up with confusion and uncertainty. One of the primary ingredients that has led to this problem within the Christian religion is making the false assumption that the New Covenant began with the birth of Jesus. It pulls people into a misleading belief system that Jesus was usually communicating a new Christian teaching meant to be applied to our lives today. Certainly there were moments when He did look forward to the New Covenant, but His primary purpose while walking the earth as a man was to minister to Israel - those who were under the curse of the law - and to ultimately redeem them from it. Don’t fall into the trap of concluding that much of what Jesus taught was always meant for you personally. If that were true, we’d discover inconsistency with some of the writings from the apostles after the cross… not because they contradicted Jesus, but because two different covenants need to be kept in the proper context.
What do you believe you have to do to qualify yourself for God’s blessings? Tithe? Give offerings? Give both tithes and offerings? Five of my friends and I had a 75 minute conversation regarding this subject and I’m so happy this is now available for everyone to view. It obviously struck a nerve because we […]
What do you believe you have to do to qualify yourself for God’s blessings? Tithe? Give offerings? Give both tithes and offerings? Mine and my husband’s lives have been pretty radically changed within this past year after learning the truth that we are blessed because of Jesus alone! I had to personally come to terms […]
Legalists from the Christian religion who promote and teach a combination of the Old and New Covenant will use ambiguous language which is often misleading and leaves the hearers in the state of confusion. The double talk tries to convince people they need to do something in order to become more like God, become more righteous, more holy, more sanctified and the list goes on. It begins to take the spotlight off of the finished work of Jesus Christ and put the focus on us as we try to maintain forgiveness and fellowship with God by following some sort of “Judeo Christian” mixture based upon a sandy foundation of law and grace. As believers begin hearing “Moses” out of context, they become blinded to a greater knowledge of the truth, while missing out on many blessings God has already provided. One example is where they use the fabricated phrase “the spirit of the law” when the Scripture clearly defines the passage as the Spirit of the living God.
When mixed covenant teaching attempts to suggest Christians should follow the Mosaic Law from the Old Covenant, a concept or phrase has been known to be used to build their case as they refer to “the spirit of the law.” They will complicate the simple gospel by convincing people of the differences between what they call the spirit of the law and the letter of the law. As is typically the case, people will be begin to believe the phrase actually appears in Scripture (it doesn’t). Bible “verses” get used out of context from various passages and the message of the good news becomes confusing as the waters get muddied with misleading theories which lack clarity, while leading people into a type of spiritual bondage. If you find yourself traveling on the road of lifeless religion, watch for the warning signs: “Dead End Ahead.”
EXTRAS: On this week's podcast we mentioned Kap's 'preaching' at Heartland Vineyard Church. Here is his 40 minute message on YouTube.
We also mentioned Ralph Harris and his new book "Life According to Perfect," as well as Joel's past interviews of Ralph. Check out the book here, as well as Part 1 and Part 2 of the interview.
When believers fall into the trap of getting focused on improving behavior, it often leads them back into a place of bondage rather than the freedom Jesus came to give us. Your behavior will never reach the perfect standard God required under the law of commandments given to Israel. Trying to follow those rules and statutes only caused sin to increase. The letter of the law killed, but we now live in a New Covenant of the Spirit, which gives life. The power of grace found within the Spirit of God who lives in us is a very different ministry than what Israel went through under a system of works which did not lead to righteousness within their hearts. On this week’s program, our encouragement is to abandon the attempt to mix Old Covenant commands with New Covenant grace … because in spite of what the religious world has been teaching, they are not compatible.
The title of this week’s program is an obvious paraphrase, but it isn’t far off from what Paul explained when it came to being freed and delivered from the Mosaic Law with its burdensome commandments. He found out that what he thought would give life had actually proven to bring death and despair, while causing sin to increase. Today many believers will get up in front of the church and talk about how they used to do bad things and now they work on doing good things. To be clear, pursuing sin will never be a profitable venture - less sin is a good thing. But this was not Paul’s testimony. He didn’t boast about how he used to murder and then stopped after he was saved. He emphasized that we’ve been made a new creation, and the value of getting to know Jesus and the power of His resurrection. God’s life in us, has caused us to pass from death into life in a New Covenant that isn’t based upon our ability to a meet certain standard of rules and regulations. Instead, we live by the righteousness of faith with the power of Jesus Christ abiding in us.
The Christian Church World has been duped into thinking the Law which was ushered in through Moses to the Jewish people under the Old Covenant was also meant for us to live under today (at least some of it). It is one of the greatest misunderstandings about God’s written Word, and it has kept many believers in a type of spiritual bondage that Jesus came to deliver people from experiencing. The inability to grasp this is because so many have made the assumption that certain commands and statutes from that first covenant were carried over into the New Covenant of Jesus Christ. Mixing portions of the 613 laws within the Law goes against the very Law itself. God declared nothing shall be taken away from the Law and nothing shall be added to it. But that is exactly what the church world has done. Either it had to completely come to an end and be replaced with something better or it ALL needs to remain intact. God redeemed Israel from that Law and provided all of us with a better Way.