2015-05-29
Good Morning Dear Ones,
You’ll remember that last week I wrote about how there was discontent among the members of the early church until a very wise Paul commented on how to deal with it in the books of Romans and Galatians. God had replaced the Covenant of the Law with the Covenant of Grace. The former covenant had been misunderstood and taken with legalism by the traditionally Jewish people of the day. God’s Son, Jesus Christ, instituted the new covenant, as we read in 1 COR 11: 23-25, “For I received from the Lord what I also passed on to you: The Lord Jesus on the night He was betrayed, took bread and when He had given thanks, He broke it and said, ‘This is My body, which is for you; do this in remembrance of Me.’ In the same way after supper He took the cup saying, ‘This cup is the new covenant in My blood; do this whenever you drink it, in remembrance of Me.’” After the crucifixion, Jesus returned and was glorified, then came back to earth as a resurrected being for time, during which He was seen by many witnesses, including the 12 apostles, Paul, and many others [1 COR 15: 1-8]. Then He ascended to heaven [AC 1: 9].
It was under Paul’s leadership of the early church that disagreements broke out between the Judaizers (who believed physical circumcision of males, celebrating Sabbath from sundown Friday to sundown Sat, and eating a Kosher regime was necessary) and the Gentile believers [GA 6: 12-13]. Paul’s explanation was for them to do as they pleased, and that they should never do anything to spoil the faith of another [RO 14: 3, 7-8]. There were also problems with the Anti-nomians [against the law] who believed in grace without license [RO 2: 6-11]. Paul stressed with them that it is necessary to know and follow God’s commands; there are negative consequences for not doing that. There is nothing accidental about the fact that God’s commands are applicable yesterday, today, and forever. His teaching throughout the Bible is consistent. Paul was also effective in conveying that God had decided to share the Gospel of Jesus with Jews and Gentiles, using him for this purpose [RO 1: 1, 16-17; RO 11: 17].
Justification, i.e. being deemed acceptable by God, is by faith and not by physical circumcision of males. This is relief to a sin-sick world! The Judaizers had tried to convince the Galatians that circumcision of males was necessary to salvation. By doing so, they were breaking God’s law themselves, for God had instructed us that being judgmental isn’t acceptable [MT 7: 1-2]. Those who were still living under the law were living under a curse. The law was instituted to let people know what is acceptable and what isn’t to God. When the law leads to taking format over the content of God’s teaching, then it becomes a curse. This is the problem of pursuing righteousness by works instead of through grace. EPH 2: 8-10, “For it is by grace you have been saved, through faith—and not by works, so that no one can boast. For we are God’s workmanship created in Christ Jesus to do good works, which God prepared in advance for us to do.” As far as circumcision is concerned, Paul made it clear to the Jews in RO 2: 29, and the word “Jew” can be substituted with “true believer.” “No, a man is a Jew if he is one inwardly; and circumcision is a circumcision of the heart, by the Spirit, not by the written code. Such a man’s praise is not from men, but from God.” The law became a curse, because no one can observe the law perfectly. God’s blessing is never earned but is freely given. RO 7: 6, “But now, by dying to what once bound us, we have been released from the law so that we serve in the new way of the Spirit, and not in the old way of the written code.”
It is as described in GA 3: 13-14, “Christ redeemed us from the curse of the law by becoming a curse for us; for it is written, ‘Cursed is everyone who is hung on a tree.’ He redeemed us in order that the blessing given to Abraham might come to the Gentiles through Christ Jesus, so that by faith we might receive the promise of the Spirit.” We have a deeper understanding of Christ’s Atonement when we read RO 8: 3, “For what the law was powerless to do in that it was weakened by the sinful nature, God did by sending His own Son in the likeness of sinful man to be his sin offering.” And so He condemned sin in sinful man.” What a gift the sacrifice of Christ’s physical life really is! We are left feeling awe and reverence for our God and His only Son, Jesus, when we meditate enough to realize just how effective this sacrifice on the cross really is. JN 8: 32 tells us that “you will know the truth, and the truth shall set you free.” This is real freedom, the freedom that faith in Christ and obeying God’s commands gives us. We are no longer hampered by form over content of God’s teaching. We are left with a code not written by human hands or debated over, but one that we can live by, in peace with our Creator. Righteousness over sin is always the best choice. The Law [Ten Commandments] gives us knowledge of right and wrong before God, but our salvation comes not from outward signs (like circumcision of males, our diet, or the one day out of seven that we celebrate the Sabbath) but through repentance and faith in Jesus Christ.
PRAYER: O Lord, we come before Your mighty throne to offer our heartfelt thanks and praise for releasing us from being bound by the worst aspects of the law. Instead, we are given a divinely-crafted code, through the Holy Spirit, that is a true “circumcision of the heart.” Just as You promised, EZK 36: 26-27, our hearts are given life-giving faith in the One Person Who could give us relief from the law, Our Lord, Jesus Christ. “I will give you a new heart and put a new Spirit in you; I will remove from you your heart of stone and give you a heart of flesh. And I will put My Spirit in you and move you to follow My decrees and be careful to keep My Laws.” When we obey Your commands, our lives are indeed “transformed inwardly by the renewal of our mind” [RO 12: 2]. Those of us who have been believers for a long time know from experience that the truth is in Your commands, that Your agenda for us is always in our best interests. We pray, Dearest Abba, that You will give us the wisdom we need and the opportunity to encourage faith in the Lord Jesus in those who are young in the faith or who may potentially come to faith. We take Your commands with all due respect, particularly those in JN 13: 33-34 and DT 6: 4-5. [Christ’s own words] “A new command I give you: Love one another. As I have loved you, so you must love one another. By this you will know that you are My disciples, if you love one another… Here O Israel, the Lord our God, the Lord is One. Love the Lord your God with all Your heart, Your soul, and Your might.” There are some people who need extra grace from us, because they have difficult personalities. We must open our hearts to give this extra grace, knowing that even if they don’t behave well, we have pleased God. We must try to love You with reverence and awe, in addition. For there is nothing more important in this life than our covenant relationships with You and with other people around us. Long ago, You made a covenant with Abraham, which eventually led to the Covenant of Grace that we now have with You. We pledge to do our best to keep up our end of the Covenant of Grace, so that You will know our faith in the Lord Jesus is genuine. We again offer You thanks and praise in His holy/mighty name. Amen.
NEXT WEEK: We will examine how God is a Promise-keeper next week. We’ll see how Moses is a mediator between God and mankind and how Christ took over in the Covenant of Grace. We can take enormous comfort in knowing that we have a part divine/part human Mediator in heaven for us. HE 9: 11-12, “When Christ came as High Priest of the good things that are already here, He went through the greater and more perfect tabernacle that is not man-made, that is to say, not part of this creation. He did not enter by means of the blood of goats and calves; but He entered the Holy of Holies once for all by His own blood, having obtained eternal redemption.” He opened the Holy of Holies to all of us who believe. There He is Mediator between God and mankind, advocating for us before the Father. His Atonement is the greatest sacrifice ever made. We should not waste one drop of the blood He spilled, so that we can honor our part of the Covenant of Grace. Our Father’s code of teaching is transmitted to us through the Holy Spirit, our Counselor [RO 8: 14-16, 26-27]. It is very possible for us to follow, even though there are moments when it is not the easy choice to do so. We are empowered to push back the dirty work of the evil one in favor of obeying the Lord’s commandments [EPH 1: 18-20]. Our Lord Jesus loves each of us and is our built-in rooting Covenant Partner 24/7. He offers us His outstretched hand when we pray to Him for help in difficult times. He never abandons us [JN 6: 37]. Praise and thanks be to Him!
Grace Be With You Always,
Lynn
JS 24: 15
© Lynn Johnson 2015. All Rights Reserved.
<-- Back to Archives