2015-12-04
Good Morning Dear Ones,
Last week, we delved into the questions: Did the Galatians seek justification under the law or by the Holy Spirit? Has anyone kept the whole law other than Jesus Christ? All this was done at the behest of the Holy Spirit. And by the way, the answer to the first question is found in RO 10: 4; RO 7: 6; HE 8: 10-12; HE 10: 10. The answer to the second question is an unqualified “no.” For further illumination, we need to look at HE 9: 15, 22. “For this reason [that Christ is the once-for-all acceptable sacrifice] Christ is the Mediator of a new covenant, that those who are called may receive a promised eternal inheritance ---now that He has died as a ransom to set them free from sins committed under the first covenant [Covenant of the Law]…In fact the law requires that nearly everything is cleansed with blood, and without the shedding of blood there is no forgiveness.” It’s important to recall that the law was given to ancient Jews on Shavuot, and the Holy Spirit was given at Pentecost. Shavuot is 50 days after Passover, and Pentecost is 50 days after Easter. The law let people know what pleases God and what doesn’t; faith in Christ and receiving the Holy Spirit led to salvation [JN 3: 16], justification [RO 4: 3], and eternal forgiveness [1 JN 1: 9].
The issue of freedom once this ransom is paid by Christ’s Atonement is huge. “You will know the truth, and the truth shall make you free, “ JN 8: 32. The restraints of legalism practiced by traditional Judaism have been removed. With knowledge of God’s will and the ability to choose to obey it, there is freedom which leads to eventual eternal life—on God’s time clock and in His perfect way. With the blood of Christ shed for us, we have the hope of the resurrection and a totally new way of perceiving the challenges of our lives; we have God’s perception through His word and prayer. Our God is faithful, and He keeps His promises made to us, His covenant partners. Under the Covenant of the Law, there was no eternal forgiveness, no salvation or justification. Spiritual death could be the only outcome. However, with the new covenant, the Covenant of Grace, believers who live “in Christ” can look forward to eternal and blissful fellowship with God, Who appointed Christ as the Mediator and provided this hope of resurrection [RO 8: 29] through Christ’s blood shed on the cross.
The law couldn’t change hearts, as God later promised in EZK 36: 26-27. The law was read every Sabbatical year, once every seven years, in ancient Israel. From the time it was given, recorded in EX 24: 7-11, until the new covenant was first announced, in JER 31: 31-34, a period of 800 years elapsed. During that time, the Jews were becoming more and more idolatrous. Both Isaiah and Jeremiah warned them against impending dyaspora. During the exile brought about by the Babylonians, the prophet, Ezekiel, was a leader of a small community of Jews living by the Chabar River in Babylonia. In EZK 8: 6-10, Ezekiel was given a vision by God of just how far this idolatry had gotten. Yes, it had reached the interior rooms in the walls of His temple in Jerusalem! Later, in EZK 10: 18-19, God actually departs from the temple. Under the law, this sad consequence couldn’t be stopped. There was only forgiveness available for one year, granted at the end of the High Holy Days [Rosh Hashana (Jewish New Year), the Ten Days of Awe, and Yom Kippur (the Day of Atonement)]. The Jewish population, once “as many as the stars in the sky,” diminished in number due to their disobedience under the law. [Yom Kippur is discussed in LV 16: 1-34; LV 23: 26-32; NU 29: 7-11].
Those who take the time to read the prophecies of Jeremiah learn, in JER 25: 11, that the Babylonian Captivity will last only seventy years. JER 30: 1-3 also reiterates this prophecy. I hope you will read it. The end to it came around 444 BC when the Persians, under Cyrus the Great who had defeated the Babylonians by then, began releasing the Jews in three waves--- led by Ezra, the governor, Zerubbabel, and finally Nehemiah--- to return to Jerusalem and rebuild her walls, their city, and the temple. The darkness of disobedience to God wasn’t completely stopped, but improvements were gradually made. Still and all, there needed to be salvation, justification, and eternal forgiveness. God knew this, which is why He sent His Son, Jesus, to minister, to suffer, and to die on the cross to bring these things about. The rest of the story had to be mankind’s response with confession of sin and faith in the Lord Jesus. PS 32: 8, 10-11, [God speaking], “’I will instruct you and teach you in the ways you should go; I will counsel you and watch over you’…Many are the woes of the wicked, but the Lord’s unfailing love surrounds a man who trusts in Him. Rejoice in the Lord and be glad, you righteous; sing all you who are upright in heart.” JER 31: 34 ends with, “…declares the Lord, ‘For I will forgive their wickedness and will remember their sins no more.” That, Dear Readers, is something we all should find powerful!
PRAYER: O Lord, through the Holy Spirit, You have chosen to bring about great blessings in our lives, and we are grateful. First You recognized the law alone was not enough to bring about fulfillment of Your mission statements as found in JN 6: 39-40 and EPH 1: 4-5. All it did was to let people know what pleases You and what doesn’t. However, You realized the sacrifice of Your only Son, Jesus, on the cross would be necessary to this fulfillment. Once that was accomplished, You gained many Gentile and some Jewish covenant partners. You demonstrated Your love for Your human creation, which is unparalleled anywhere in the universe. PS 36: 5-8, “Your love, Lord, reaches to the skies. Your righteousness is like the highest mountains, Your justice is like the great deep. You, Lord, preserve both people and animals. How priceless is Your unfailing love, O God! People take refuge in the shadow of Your wings. They feast on the abundance of Your house, You give them drink from the river of Your delights.” We learn lessons from our study of Your history with mankind, and that is a good reason for studying it. 2 TIM 3: 16-17 gives us solid and grounded reasons for studying Your word. Getting to know You better is Your hope for us. You motivate us to obey You faithfully by giving us the hope of the resurrection. PS 86: 5, 7, 11, and 15 compel us to want to pray to You. You are kind and compassionate enough to listen to our prayers and to teach us what we need to know in Your answers in prayer. Your power is always used for good, and You have given us the gifts of the Holy Spirit [GA 5: 22-23] to guide us in our every day lives. What a grand and glorious God You are, a God Who heals, supplies needs, encourages, loves, and wisely guides His people. We thank and praise You in the holy/mighty name of Jesus Christ. Amen.
NEXT WEEK: The light pierces the darkness of sin, with the light being faithful obedience to God and God’s wise advice taken. We will continue our look at the promises of the Holy Spirit, first from the point of view of negative consequences of sinfulness and then, in a more positive perspective from what God does for believers.
Our Covenant Partner wants us to renew our personal covenant with Him and others. All this conversation is designed to cause each of us to participate with God in our sanctification (to reveal, confess, and expunge our sins), to view God’s interaction in our lives over the entirety of them, and to come to know God’s will for our lives. These things allow us to make the necessary improvements and to appreciate what God has already done for us. We can be righteous, because of our faith and Christ’s blood shed for us. We are in an intimate and remarkable covenant relationship with our God Who loves us dearly and other believers. We can take up the cross He bore and carry it in the course of our service and activities meant to build up His Kingdom. We can reach out to others, who haven’t yet heard the saving message of the Gospel of Jesus Christ to make it easier for the Holy Spirit to bring them into Christ’s fold. Our Good Shepherd, Covenant Partner, will go on loving and providing for us in a way no other source can. Through prayer and study of His word, the Lord God has made Himself available to us any time of day or night, any day of the year. He gives us direction, healing, guidance, provision of our needs, and so much more. I write to You today with inner peace and direction in my life that I never had before He came into it. He will do the same for you! We share great joy when another person comes to faith in Him who never had it before. Then, we get to watch His impact on this person’s life. That is true joy. He will help us step by step through any challenge the evil one throws at us. We can each live our lives deeply in love, that special love that only Christ has modeled for us. Praise and thanks be to Him forever!
Grace Be With You Always,
Lynn
JS 24: 15
© Lynn Johnson 2015. All Rights Reserved.
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