Category: The Blood Covenant.


The Blood Covenant 44: The beggarly elements;

Filed under: The Blood Covenant. — Leave a comment
January 28, 2012

To-day we will conclude our study of the blood covenant. In my life as a Christian, I found that in the churches I attended a certain bondage was laid upon me in that over and over again it was preached we were not to forsake the gathering of the brethren, and that meant that we had to attend church, so it became a works thing, to please God I had to go to church, that was much the same as growing up as a Roman Catholic, it was a major sin to miss a Sunday Mass. Then I found out from the Word of God that the church is actually made of lively stones built into a spiritual house and it had nothing to do with the brick and mortar structure down the road and I also settled in my mind that the gathering of the brethren is actually a getting together with other believers, to share with, to encourage and to have a relationship with, bonded by the fact that we all love and worship God the Father of our Lord Jesus Christ. I am not against you going to church (the building down the road) but I am saying to you that if you think that scores points with God and if you miss a Sunday a guilty feeling envelopes you then you are in bondage. Another thing that I could not understand about this go to church thing on Sundays, because Sunday is God’s day, I could not find it in the Old or New Testament’s. The Sabbath is actually from Friday evening until sometime on Saturday (I think), so who had the audacity to change what God had set up? Go to church all you like my friend, but if it has become a have to thing, then you are under law.

Gal.4:9-12. (Amp) Now, however, that you have come to be acquainted with and understand and know [the true] God, or rather to be understood and known by God, how can you turn back again to the weak and beggarly and worthless elementary things [of all religions before Christ came], whose slaves you once more want to become? You observe [particular] days and months and seasons and years! I am alarmed [about you], lest I have laboured among and over you to no purpose and in vain. Brethren, I beg of you, become as I am [free from the bondage of Jewish ritualism and ordinances]; for I also have become as you are [a Gentile]. You did me no wrong [in the days when I first came to you; do not do it now].

The beggarly elements are:

The observance of Sabbaths.

The observance of months, or the new moons of the law.

The observance of times or certain seasons of the year, as the feasts of Israel.

The observance of years or annual atonements, sabbatical years, and jubilees of Israel.

Gal.4:10. (Mess) For that is exactly what you do when you are intimidated into scrupulously observing all the traditions, taboos, and superstitions associated with special days and seasons and years.

Col.2:14-17. (Amp) Having cancelled and blotted out and wiped away the handwriting of the note (bond) with its legal decrees and demands which was in force and stood against us (hostile to us). This [note with its regulations, decrees, and demands] He set aside and cleared completely out of our way by nailing it to [His] cross. Therefore let no one sit in judgment on you in matters of food and drink, or with regard to a feast day or a New Moon or a Sabbath. Such [things] are only the shadow of things that are to come, and they have only a symbolic value. But the reality (the substance, the solid fact of what is foreshadowed, the body of it) belongs to Christ.

Rom.14:5-6. (Mess) Or, say, one person thinks that some days should be set aside as holy and another thinks that each day is pretty much like any other. There are good reasons either way. So, each person is free to follow the convictions of conscience. What’s important in all this is that if you keep a holy day, keep it for God’s sake; if you eat meat, eat it to the glory of God and thank God for prime rib; if you’re a vegetarian, eat vegetables to the glory of God and thank God for broccoli.

Lev.23. and 25. Please read in your own bible.

The yoke of bondage.

Gal.5:1. (Amp) In this freedom Christ has made us free [and completely liberated us]; stand fast then, and do not be hampered and held ensnared and submit again to a yoke of slavery [which you have once put off].

(Mess) Christ has set us free to live a free life. So take your stand! Never again let anyone put a harness of slavery on you.

Observing any or all the Mosaic laws, commandments, rituals, or any jot or tittle of the law is considered a yoke of bondage.

Gal.4:24. (Mess) This illustrates the very thing we are dealing with now. The two births represent two ways of being in relationship with God. One is from Mount Sinai in Arabia. It corresponds with what is now going on in Jerusalem a slave life, producing slaves as offspring. This is the way of Hagar.

Acts.15:10. (Mess) “So why are you now trying to out god, God, loading these new believers down with rules that crushed our ancestors and crushed us, too?

If one goes back to keeping the law he is under obligation to keep the whole contract.

Gal.3:10-12. (Mess) And that means that anyone who tries to live by his own effort, independent of God, is doomed to failure. Scripture backs this up: “Utterly cursed is every person who fails to carry out every detail written in the Book of the law.” The obvious impossibility of carrying out such a moral program should make it plain that no one can sustain a relationship with God that way. The person who lives in right relationship with God does it by embracing what God arranges for him. Doing things for God is the opposite of entering into what God does for you. Habakkuk had it right: “The person, who believes God, is set right by God, and that’s the real life.” Rule keeping does not naturally evolve into living by faith, but only perpetuates itself in more and more rule keeping, a fact observed in Scripture: “The one who does these things [rule keeping] continues to live by them.”

Gal.5:3. (Mess) I repeat my warning: The person who accepts the ways of circumcision trades all the advantages of the free life in Christ for the obligations of the slave life of the law.

James.2:10. (Amp) For whosoever keeps the Law [as a] whole but stumbles and offends in one [single instance] has become guilty of [breaking] all of it.

(Mess) You can’t pick and choose in these things, specializing in keeping one or two things in God’s law and ignoring others.

If one wants to know whether he is allowed to steal, murder, commit adultery, or keep any Sabbath, then let him go to the new contract.

We have Jesus, the mediator of a better covenant founded on better promises. His blood is the blood of the eternal covenant.

Hebr.13:20. (Amp) Now may the God of peace [Who is the Author and the Giver of peace], Who brought again from among the dead our Lord Jesus, that great Shepherd of the sheep, by the blood [that sealed, ratified] the everlasting agreement (covenant, testament).

(Mess) May God, who puts all things together, makes all things whole, Who made a lasting mark through the sacrifice of Jesus, the sacrifice of blood that sealed the eternal covenant, Who led Jesus, our Great Shepherd, up and alive from the dead.

Covenant is for those who fear the Lord.

Prov.1:7. (Amp) The reverent and worshipful fear of the Lord is the beginning and the principal and choice part of knowledge [its starting point and its essence]; but fools despise skilful and godly Wisdom, and instruction, and discipline.

(Mess) Start with GOD, the first step in learning is bowing down to GOD; only fools thumb their noses at such wisdom and learning.

Ps.25:14. (Amp) The secret [of the sweet, satisfying companionship] of the Lord have they who fear (revere and worship) Him, and He will show them His covenant and reveal to them its [deep, inner] meaning.

(Mess) God friendship is for God worshipers; they are the ones he confides in.

To fear the Lord is to keep His commandments (His teachings, principles) to walk in His ways, to listen to His voice, to cling to Him, to love Him and to serve Him. For such people, the promises of God are an open book.

Have a great week-end, till next time, be blessed.

The prayer to receive Jesus as Lord.

“Father, it is written in Your Word that if I confess with my mouth Jesus as Lord and believe in my heart that You have raised Him from dead, I shall be saved. Therefore, Father, I confess that Jesus is my Lord. I make Him Lord of my life right now. I believe in my heart that You raised Jesus from the dead. I renounce my past life with Satan. “I thank You for forgiving me of all my sin. Jesus is now my Lord, and I am a new creation. Old things have passed away. Now all things become new in Jesus’ name. Amen.”

For more on salvation and the assurance of salvation visit us at:

http://theinvisablechurch.wordpress.com/

Tags: , , , , , , ,
Comment

The Blood Covenant 43: There are conditions of the Old Covenant that have been superseded by the New Covenant.

Filed under: The Blood Covenant. — Leave a comment
January 27, 2012

There are certain conditions of the Old Covenant that have been declared obsolete and have been superseded by the New Covenant. The law, as we have seen, was put in place to lead the Jews until Christ came, until justification by faith was made possible, through faith in Christ Jesus.

Gal.3:24-26. (Amp) So that the Law served [to us Jews] as our trainer [our guardian guide to Christ, to lead us] until Christ [came], that we might be justified (declared righteous, put in right standing with God) by and through faith. But now that the faith has come, we are no longer under a trainer (the guardian of our childhood). For in Christ Jesus you are all sons of God through faith

(Mess) The law was like those Greek tutors, with which you are familiar, who escort children to school and protect them from danger or distraction, making sure the children will really get to the place they set out for. But now you have arrived at your destination: By faith in Christ you are in direct relationship with God.

God has done for us what the law could not do.

Rom.8:3-4. (Amp) For God has done what the Law could not do, [its power] being weakened by the flesh [the entire nature of man without the Holy Spirit]. Sending His own Son in the guise of sinful flesh and as an offering for sin, [God] condemned sin in the flesh [subdued, overcame, deprived it of its power over all who accept that sacrifice], so that the righteous and just requirement of the Law might be fully met in us who live and move not in the ways of the flesh but in the in the ways of the Spirit [our lives governed not by the standards and according to the dictates of the flesh, but controlled by the Holy Spirit].

The New Covenant has rendered the sacrificial systems of the Mosaic covenant and the regulations for worship in the tabernacle obsolete.

Hebr.9:1-14. (Amp) Now even the first covenant had its own rules and regulations for divine worship, and it had a sanctuary [but one] of this world. For a tabernacle (tent) was erected, in the outer division or compartment of which were the lamp stand and the table with [its loaves of] the showbread set forth. [This portion] is called the Holy Place. But [inside] beyond the second curtain or veil, [there stood another] tabernacle [division] known as the Holy of Holies. It had the golden altar of incense and the ark (chest) of the covenant, covered over with wrought gold. This [ark] contained a golden jar which held the manna and the rod of Aaron that sprouted and the [two stone] slabs of the covenant [bearing the Ten Commandments]. Above [the ark] and overshadowing the mercy seat were the representations of the cherubim [winged creatures which were the symbols] of glory. We cannot now go into detail about these things. These arrangements having thus been made, the priests enter [habitually] into the outer division of the tabernacle in performance of their ritual acts of worship. But into the second [division of the tabernacle] none but the high priest goes, and he only once a year, and never without taking a sacrifice of blood with him, which he offers for himself and for the errors and sins of ignorance and thoughtlessness which the people have committed. By this the Holy Spirit points out that the way into the [true Holy of] Holies is not yet thrown open as long as the former [the outer portion of the] tabernacle remains a recognized institution and is still standing, seeing that that first [outer portion of the] tabernacle was a parable (a visible symbol or type or picture of the present age). In it gifts and sacrifices are offered, and yet are incapable of perfecting the conscience or of cleansing and renewing the inner man of the worshiper. For [the ceremonies] deal only with clean and unclean meats and drinks and different washings, [mere] external rules and regulations for the body imposed to tide the worshipers over until the time of setting things straight [of reformation, of the complete new order when Christ, the Messiah, shall establish the reality of what these things foreshadow, a better covenant]. But [that appointed time came] when Christ (the Messiah) appeared as a High Priest of the better things that have come and are to come. [Then] through the greater and more perfect tabernacle not made with [human] hands, that is, not a part of this material creation, He went once for all into the [Holy of] Holies [of heaven], not by virtue of the blood of goats and calves [by which to make reconciliation between God and man], but His own blood, having found and secured a complete redemption (an everlasting release for us). For if [the mere] sprinkling of unholy and defiled persons with blood of goats and bulls and with the ashes of a burnt heifer is sufficient for the purification of the body, how much more surely shall the blood of Christ, Who by virtue of [His] eternal Spirit [His own pre-existent divine personality] has offered Himself as an unblemished sacrifice to God, purify our consciences from dead works and lifeless observances to serve the [ever] living God?

We under the New Covenant we have our consciences purified from dead works and lifeless observances, we do not worship God through rituals and we shall see what those rituals are when we study the “beggarly elements”, we are free from religious ordinances and to lapse into legality is to go back to elementary religion and bondage to sin.

Gal.4:9-12. (Amp) Now, however, that you have come to be acquainted with and understand and know [the true] God, or rather to be understood and known by God, how can you turn back again to the weak and beggarly and worthless elementary things [of all religions before Christ came], whose slaves you once more want to become? You observe [particular] days and months and seasons and years! I am alarmed [about you], lest I have laboured among and over you to no purpose and in vain. Brethren, I beg of you, become as I am [free from the bondage of Jewish ritualism and ordinances]; for I also have become as you are [a Gentile]. You did me no wrong [in the days when I first came to you; do not do it now].

Tomorrow we will discuss the “beggarly elements” as the Bible so aptly calls them. So until then I’ll say “cheers for now” today is Friday the first day of the weekend so smile. If you have never accepted the Lord Jesus into your life and been born again then bow your head and say the following prayer from your heart and receive the promise of eternal life from our heavenly Father, it is for you and your children’s children.

“Father, it is written in Your Word that if I confess with my mouth Jesus as Lord and believe in my heart that You have raised Him from dead, I shall be saved. Therefore, Father, I confess that Jesus is my Lord. I make Him Lord of my life right now. I believe in my heart that You raised Jesus from the dead. I renounce my past life with Satan. “I thank You for forgiving me of all my sin. Jesus is now my Lord, and I am a new creation. Old things have passed away. Now all things become new in Jesus’ name. Amen.”

For more on salvation and the assurance of salvation visit us at:

http://theinvisablechurch.wordpress.com/

Tags: , , , , , ,
Comment

The Blood Covenant 42: What covenant conditions apply to-day?

Filed under: The Blood Covenant. — Leave a comment
January 26, 2012

Although the covenant promises of God remain in force because they are everlasting, can the same be said of the covenant conditions? Clearly the covenants introduce obligations that the covenant parties are required to fulfil in order to receive the covenant benefits.

The fundamental covenant conditions remain what they have always been, that is, faith and obedience. Israel failed to enter into covenant rest because of unbelief and the rebellion and disobedience that resulted from that unbelief.

Hebr.3:18-19. (Amp) And to whom did He swear that they should not enter His rest, but to those who disobeyed [who had not listened to His word and who refused to be compliant or be persuaded]? So we see that they were not able to enter [into His rest], because of their unwillingness to adhere to and trust in and rely on God [unbelief had shut them out].

Unbelief and disobedience disqualifies us from the covenant blessings, just as they disqualified a whole generation of Israelites in the wilderness.

Covenant faith does not just believe that the promise of God is for us to receive, like some sort of blank cheque on which we can sign our name, it believes in Jesus, it is faith in the covenant God who gave the promise. It is letting go of our whole life and destiny into the hand of our covenant partner, which is why faith is inseparable from radical obedience to Lord Jesus Christ.

Matt.16:24. (Amp) Then Jesus said to His disciples, If anyone desires to be My disciple, let him deny himself [disregard, lose sight of, and forget himself and his own interests] and take up his cross and follow Me [cleave steadfastly to Me, conform wholly to My example in living and, if need be, in dying also].

(Mess) Then Jesus went to work on his disciples. “Anyone who intends to come with me has to let me lead. You’re not in the driver’s seat; I am. Don’t run from suffering; embrace it. Follow me and I’ll show you how.

Matt.10:37-39. (Amp) He who loves [and takes more pleasure in] father or mother more than [in] Me is not worthy of Me; and he who loves [and takes more pleasure in] son or daughter more than [in] Me is not worthy of Me; and he who does not take up cross and follow Me [cleave steadfastly to Me, conforming wholly to My example in living and, if need be, in dying also] is not worthy of Me. Whoever finds his [lower life] will lose it [the higher life], and whoever loses his [lower] life on My account will find it [the higher life].

Jesus isn’t saying that we should abandon our family ties, but He is demanding that where there is a clash of loyalties between family claims and the claims of covenant obedience of discipleship, covenant claims take preference. Another thing I want to bring out here is that you can be a Christian and live your whole life in the lower life, by that I mean that you can live in the self life and go on be with the Lord in heaven, but you could forsake the self life and live in the higher life. In Matt.10 there are two different words used for life, the first is Zoë which means life as God has life, the second is psuche which means the individual, or self life. Jesus says that unless you give up the self life you cannot live in Zoë. The only way we can become partakers of the higher life is to become a disciple, there are Christians and there are disciples. It is up to every individual to make a choice, are you a Christian or are you a disciple?

Tomorrow we will have a look at certain conditions of the Old covenant that have been declared obsolete and have been superseded by the New Covenant. I trust that you will all have a awesome day and don’t forget to share the Word of His grace and to spread His love all around. Jesus is Lord.

The prayer to receive Jesus as your personal Lord and Saviour:

“Father, it is written in Your Word that if I confess with my mouth Jesus as Lord and believe in my heart that You have raised Him from dead, I shall be saved. Therefore, Father, I confess that Jesus is my Lord. I make Him Lord of my life right now. I believe in my heart that You raised Jesus from the dead. I renounce my past life with Satan. “I thank You for forgiving me of all my sin. Jesus is now my Lord, and I am a new creation. Old things have passed away. Now all things become new in Jesus’ name. Amen.”

For more on salvation and the assurance of salvation visit us at:

http://theinvisablechurch.wordpress.com/

Tags: , , , , , , ,
Comment

The Blood Covenant 41: The covenant mercies of the Old Covenant anre repeated in the New Covenant; conclusion.

Filed under: The Blood Covenant. — Leave a comment
January 25, 2012

To-day we will conclude our study on “Are the covenant promises ours to-day”?

The covenant included material blessings.

Deut.28:8. (Amp) The Lord shall command the blessing upon you in your storehouse and in all that you undertake. And He will bless you in the land which the Lord your God gives you.

Please note the terminology used: The Lord shall command “the blessing” upon you.

Duet.28:11-12. (KJV) And the LORD shall make thee plenteous in goods in the fruit of thy body, and in the fruit of thy cattle, and in the fruit of thy ground, in the land which the LORD sware unto thy fathers to give thee. The LORD shall open unto thee his good treasure, the heaven to give the rain unto thy land in his season, and to bless all the work of thine hand: and thou shalt lend unto many nations, and thou shalt not borrow.

3John.2. (Amp) Beloved, I pray that you may prosper in every way and [that your body] may keep well, even as [I know] your soul keeps well and prospers.

(Mess) We’re the best of friends, and I pray for good fortune in everything you do, and for your good health – that your everyday affairs prosper, as well as your soul!

Eph.1:3. (Amp) May blessing (praise, laudation, and eulogy) be to the God and Father of our Lord Jesus Christ (the Messiah) Who has blessed us in Christ with every spiritual (given by the Holy Spirit) blessing in the heavenly realm.

The New Covenant blessing holds out generosity as the path to prosperity, and generosity as the purpose of prosperity.

Luke.6:38. (Amp) Give, and [gifts] will be given to you; good measure, pressed down, shaken together, and running over, will they pour into [the pouch formed by] the bosom [of your robe and used as a bag]. For with the measure you deal out [with the measure you use when you confer benefits on others], it will be measured back to you.

(Mess) Give away your life; you’ll find life given back, but not merely given back – given back with bonus and blessing. Giving, not getting, is the way. Generosity begets generosity.

2Cor.9:6-15. (Amp) [Remember] this: he who sows sparingly and grudgingly will also reap sparingly and grudgingly, and he who sows generously [that blessings may come to someone] will also reap generously and with blessings. Let each one [give] as he has made up his own mind and purposed in his heart, not reluctantly or sorrowfully or under compulsion, for God loves (He takes pleasure in, prizes above other things, and is unwilling to abandon or to do without) a cheerful (joyous, “prompt to do it”) giver [whose heart is in his giving]. And God is able to make all grace (every favour and earthly blessing) come to you in abundance, so that you may always and under all circumstances and whatever the need be self-sufficient [possessing enough to require no aid or support and furnished in abundance for every good work and charitable donation]. As it is written, He [the benevolent person] scatters abroad; He gives to the poor; His deeds of justice and goodness and kindness and benevolence will go on and endure forever! And [God] Who provides seed for the sower and bread for eating will also provide and multiply your [resources for] sowing and increase the fruits of your righteousness [which manifests itself in active goodness, kindness, and charity]. Thus you will be enriched in all things and in every way, so that you can be generous, and [your generosity as it is] administered by us will bring forth thanksgiving to God. For the service that the ministering of this fund renders does not only fully supply what is lacking to the saints (God’s people), but it also overflows in many [cries of] thanksgiving to God. Because at [your] standing of the test of this ministry, they will glorify God for your loyalty and obedience to the Gospel of Christ which you confess, as well as for your generous-hearted liberality to them and to all [the other needy ones]. And they yearn for you while they pray for you, because of the surpassing measure of God’s grace (His favour and mercy and spiritual blessing which is shown forth) in you. Now thanks be to God for His Gift, [precious] beyond telling [His indescribable, inexpressible, free Gift]!

We therefore conclude that all God’s covenant promises remain in force for his covenant people.

The covenant promises are unchanging, immutable declarations of God’s will and purpose and disposition towards His people.

The covenant promises express what God wants to do and will do for all those who will apply the conditions set out in the covenant, if we fulfil the conditions, we can depend on God to be faithful to His promises.

Time to say “till next time” have a happy day and I trust you have been helped in some way so far in our study of the blood covenant, tomorrow we will answer the question of what covenant conditions apply today. I want to urge you who have not yet accepted Jesus as Lord and saviour to consider doing so and enter into the life God has for you. All you have to do is bow your head and pray the following prayer from your heart and receive God’s promise of eternal life by faith.

“Father, it is written in Your Word that if I confess with my mouth Jesus as Lord and believe in my heart that You have raised Him from dead, I shall be saved. Therefore, Father, I confess that Jesus is my Lord. I make Him Lord of my life right now. I believe in my heart that You raised Jesus from the dead. I renounce my past life with Satan. “I thank You for forgiving me of all my sin. Jesus is now my Lord, and I am a new creation. Old things have passed away. Now all things become new in Jesus’ name. Amen.”

For more on salvation and the assurance of salvation visit us at:

http://theinvisablechurch.wordpress.com/

Tags: , , , , , ,
Comment

The Blood Covenant 40: The covenanted mercies of the Old Covenant are repeated in the New Covenant; continued.

Filed under: The Blood Covenant. — Leave a comment
January 24, 2012

Let us continue to-day with our study of the covenanted mercies of the Old Covenant which are repeated in the New Covenant.

The covenant contained the promise of blessing for families and children.

Deut.28:4. (Mess) God’s blessing on your children, the crops of your land, the young of your livestock, the calves of your herds, and the lambs of your flocks.

We see that God’s blessing is on our children, now the Bible teaches us how in invoke the blessing:

Num.6:23-27. (KJV) Speak unto Aaron and unto his sons, saying, On this wise ye shall bless the children of Israel, saying unto them, The LORD bless thee, and keep thee: The LORD make his face shine upon thee, and be gracious unto thee: The LORD lift up his countenance upon thee, and give thee peace. And they shall put my name upon the children of Israel, and I will bless them.

Meditate on this, and then apply it. You have to speak the blessing that is why in yesterdays study I encouraged you to become “the blessing” minded. Don’t think on things like sickness, lack or any other thing that is listed under the curse of Deut.28. Train yourself to think on these things that are good and lovely.

Phil.4:8. (KJV) 8 Finally, brethren, whatsoever things are true, whatsoever things are honest, whatsoever things are just, whatsoever things are pure, whatsoever things are lovely, whatsoever things are of good report; if there be any virtue, and if there be any praise, think on these things.

The reason being is that you will become what you think.

Prov.23:7. (KJV) For as he thinketh in his heart, so is he.

The reason we become what we think is that eventually your thoughts will become your words and then you will have what you say, that is spiritual law and you can’t change spiritual law. Jesus said in:

Mark.11:23-24. (KJV) For verily I say unto you, That whosoever shall say unto this mountain, Be thou removed, and be thou cast into the sea; and shall not doubt in his heart, but shall believe that those things which he saith shall come to pass; he shall have whatsoever he saith.

Now if you want to argue about that please go to Jesus with it as I didn’t write that verse, Jesus quoted it. As for me, I speak the blessing of the Lord over my family and friends, that includes all who read this blog on a daily basis, that is why you are so blessed. Read Num.6 again.

Acts.2:39. (Amp) For the promise [of the Holy Spirit] is to and for you and your children, and to and for all that are far away, [even] to and for as many as the Lord our God invites and bids to come to Himself.

The covenant promised victory over enemies.

Deut.28:7. (Mess) GOD will defeat your enemies who attack you. They’ll come at you on one road and run away on seven roads.

You might say hey Monty I don’t have any enemies, listen my friend anything that the enemy, Satan, brings against you is your enemy, sickness is an enemy, lack is an enemy, strife is an enemy, get the picture?

Ish.54:14-17. (Mess) You’ll be built solid, grounded in righteousness, far from any trouble, nothing to fear! Far from terror, it won’t even come close! If anyone attacks you, don’t for a moment suppose that I sent them, and if any should attack, nothing will come of it. I create the blacksmith who fires up his forge and makes a weapon designed to kill. I also create the destroyer but no weapon that can hurt you has ever been forged. Any accuser who takes you to court will be dismissed as a liar. This is what God’s servants can expect. I’ll see to it that everything works out for the best.” God’s Decree”.

This promise is carried over into the New Covenant.

1Cor.15:57. (Amp) But thanks be to God, Who gives us the victory [making us conquerors] through our Lord Jesus Christ.

1John.5:4. (Amp) For whatever is born of God is victorious over the world; and this is the victory that conquers the world, even our faith.

The word used here for world actually means the system, the world system is a satanic system and it is only by faith and the word of our testimony that we can overcome it. There we are again, the word of our testimony, in other words what comes out of our mouths. I often hear people say “you can’t beat the system”, that’s true unless you are applying 1John.5:4 and Rev.12:11.

Rev.12:11. (KJV) And they overcame him by the blood of the Lamb and by the word of their testimony; and they loved not their lives unto the death.

It is time once more to say “have a blessed day” and don’t forget to share the Word of His grace and to spread His love all around. Jesus is Lord and I love ya.

Prayer to receive Jesus as your personal Lord and Saviour which results in you becoming a child of God.

“Father, it is written in Your Word that if I confess with my mouth Jesus as Lord and believe in my heart that You have raised Him from dead, I shall be saved. Therefore, Father, I confess that Jesus is my Lord. I make Him Lord of my life right now. I believe in my heart that You raised Jesus from the dead. I renounce my past life with Satan. “I thank You for forgiving me of all my sin. Jesus is now my Lord, and I am a new creation. Old things have passed away. Now all things become new in Jesus’ name. Amen.”

For more on salvation and the assurance of salvation visit us at:

http://theinvisablechurch.wordpress.com/

Tags: , , , , , , ,
Comment

The Blood Covenant 39: The covenanted mercies of the Old Covenant are repeated in the New Covenant.

Filed under: The Blood Covenant. — Leave a comment
January 23, 2012

Hi once again to all my friends, trust you all had a good weekend and are ready to face the challenges of a new week, don’t forget that “The blessing” is what is going to make it a fantastic week, filled with love, joy and peace in the Holy Ghost.

Let us study the covenant mercies that are promised to us in the New Covenant:

Spiritual blessing.

To the Hebrews “the blessing” was what gave the soul its life and vital power. It was synonymous with the presence of God, “and God was with him”, and is always associated with covenant, both in the Old and in the New Covenants. We as God’s people should be conscious at all times of “the blessing” as it is what gives our souls life and vital power.

Gen.12:3. (Amp) And I will bless those who bless you [who confer prosperity or happiness upon you] and curse him who curses or uses insolent language toward you; in you will all the families and kindred of the earth be blessed [and by you they will bless themselves].

Duet.28:1-14. (Mess) If you listen obediently to the Voice of GOD, your God, and heartily obey all his commandments that I command you today, GOD, your God, will place you on high, high above all the nations of the world. All these blessings will come down on you and spread out beyond you because you have responded to the Voice of GOD, your God: God’s blessing inside the city, God’s blessing in the country; God’s blessing on your children, the crops of your land, the young of your livestock, the calves of your herds, the lambs of your flocks. God’s blessing on your basket and bread bowl; God’s blessing in your coming in, God’s blessing in your going out. GOD will defeat your enemies who attack you. They’ll come at you on one road and run away on seven roads. GOD will order a blessing on your barns and workplaces; he’ll bless you in the land that GOD, your God, is giving you. GOD will form you as a people holy to him, just as he promised you, if you keep the commandments of GOD, your God, and live the way he has shown you. All the peoples on Earth will see you living under the Name of GOD and hold you in respectful awe. GOD will lavish you with good things: children from your womb, offspring from your animals, and crops from your land, the land that GOD promised your ancestors that he would give you. GOD will throw open the doors of his sky vaults and pour rain on your land on schedule and bless the work you take in hand. You will lend too many nations but you yourself won’t have to take out a loan. GOD will make you the head, not the tail; you’ll always be the top dog, never the bottom dog, as you obediently listen to and diligently keep the commands of GOD, your God, that I am commanding you today. Don’t swerve an inch to the right or left from the words that I command you today by going off following and worshiping other gods.

Eph.1:3. (Amp) May blessing (praise, laudation, and eulogy) be to the God and Father of our Lord Jesus Christ (the Messiah) Who has blessed us in Christ with every spiritual (given by the Holy Spirit) blessing in the heavenly realm!

(Norlie) Who has blessed us with every Holy Spirit given blessing that heaven itself enjoys.

Rom.15:29. (Amp) And I know that when I do come to you, I shall come in the abundant blessing of the Gospel of Christ.

Healing.

The covenant with Israel contained promises that had particular reference to health, healing and disease.

Ex.15:26. (Amp) Saying, If you will diligently hearken to the voice of the Lord your God and will do what is right in His sight, and will listen to and obey His commandments and keep all His statutes, I will put none of the diseases upon you which I brought upon the Egyptians, for I am the Lord who heals you. (Jehovah Rophe).

When reading this scripture we could conclude that God has a whole bag of sickness and disease that He uses on those who don’t obey Him, but that is not so, there is no record in the bible that there is a storehouse sickness and disease in heaven. What is being said here is that God allows sickness and disease to come, He is giving instruction on how to keep sickness and disease at bay. He says apply my teaching to your life and you can live free from the curse , poverty, sickness and spiritual death, but if you choose not to follow what God has to say then God can’t stop what comes, it is out of His hands and your own folly brings the curse, He allows what you allow.

Prov.4:20-23. (Amp) My son, attend to my words; consent and submit to my sayings. Let them not depart from your sight; keep them in the centre of your heart for they are life to those who find them, healing and health to all their flesh. Keep and guard your heart with all vigilance and above all that you guard, for out of it flows the springs of life.

Ps.105:37. (Amp) He brought [Israel] forth also with silver and gold, and there was not one feeble person among their tribes.

Healing is mentioned in the prophesies of the New Covenant.

Ish.35:5-6. (Amp) Then the eyes of the blind shall be opened, and the ears of the deaf shall be unstopped. Then shall the lame man leap like a hart, and the tongue of the dumb shall sing for joy. For waters shall break forth in the wilderness and streams in the desert.

Matt.11:5. (Amp) The blind receive their sight and the lame walk, lepers are cleansed (by healing) and the deaf hear, the dead are raised up and the poor have good news (the Gospel) preached to them.

Ish.61:1. (Amp) The Spirit of the Lord God is upon me, because the Lord has anointed and qualified me to preach the Gospel of good tidings to the meek, the poor, and afflicted; He has sent me to bind up and heal the broken hearted, to proclaim liberty to the [physical and spiritual] captives and the opening of the prison and of the eyes to those who are bound.

Healing in the ministry of Jesus was the fulfilment of those prophecies.

Matt.8:16-17. (Mess) That evening a lot of demon-afflicted people were brought to him. He relieved the inwardly tormented. He cured the bodily ill. He fulfilled Isaiah’s well-known sermon: He took our illnesses, He carried our diseases.

If you have not already accepted Jesus as your Lord and Saviour please pray the following prayer from your heart and accept by faith the promise of eternal life that God offers you this day.

“Father, it is written in Your Word that if I confess with my mouth Jesus as Lord and believe in my heart that You have raised Him from dead, I shall be saved. Therefore, Father, I confess that Jesus is my Lord. I make Him Lord of my life right now. I believe in my heart that You raised Jesus from the dead. I renounce my past life with Satan. “I thank You for forgiving me of all my sin. Jesus is now my Lord, and I am a new creation. Old things have passed away. Now all things become new in Jesus’ name. Amen.”

For more on salvation and the assurance of salvation visit us at:

http://theinvisablechurch.wordpress.com/

Tags: , , , , , , ,
Comment

The Blood Covenant 38: The unity of the covenants, are the covenant promises ours to-day?

Filed under: The Blood Covenant. — Leave a comment
January 21, 2012

To-day we will see that all the promises of God starting in Eden have their yes and amen in Jesus.  The evidence for the continuance of the covenant promises rests not only on the essential unity of the covenants, but also on the following:

All the covenants are everlasting.

That was stated as God’s declared intention when they were established. Therefore, once the promises were made they could never be changed.

Gal.3:15-17. (Amp) To speak in terms of human relations, brethren, [if] even a man makes a last will and testament (a merely human covenant), no one sets it aside or makes it void or adds to it when once it has been drawn up and signed (ratified, confirmed). Now the promises (covenants, agreements) were decreed and made to Abraham and his Seed (his offspring, his Heir). He [God] does not say, And to seeds (descendants, heirs), as if referring to many persons, but, And to your Seed (your Descendant, your Heir), obviously referring to one individual, Who is [none other than] Christ (the Messiah). This is my argument: The Law, which began 430 years after the covenant [concerning the coming Messiah], does not and cannot annul the covenant previously established (ratified) by God, so as to abolish the promise and make to void.

The covenant benefits could be forfeited by disobedience or by violating the covenant conditions, but God remained faithful to His Word and the promises were available for any succeeding generations that fulfilled the conditions of faith and obedience.

2Tim.2:13. (Amp) If we are faithless [do not believe and are untrue to Him), He remains true (faithful to His Word and His righteous character), for He cannot deny Himself.

The writer to the Hebrews affirms the unchanging nature of God’s promises.

Hebr.6:17-20. (Mess) When God wanted to guarantee his promises, he gave his word, a rock solid guarantee, God can't break his word. And because his word cannot change, the promise is likewise unchangeable. We who have run for our very lives to God have every reason to grab the promised hope with both hands and never let go. It's an unbreakable spiritual lifeline, reaching past all appearances right to the very presence of God where Jesus, running on ahead of us, has taken up his permanent post as high priest for us, in the order of Melchizedek.

We, the Gentiles, are described as having been “excluded from citizenship in Israel and foreigners to the covenants of the promise, without hope and without God in the world”.

Eph.2:12. (Amp) [Remember] that you were at that time separated (living apart) from Christ [excluded from all part in Him], utterly estranged and outlawed from the rights of Israel as a nation, and strangers with no share in the sacred compacts of the [Messianic] promise [with no knowledge of or right in God’s agreements, His covenants]. And you had no hope (no promise); you were in the world without God.

But now……

Eph.2:13, 19. (Amp) But now in Christ Jesus, you who once were [so] far away, through (by, in) the blood of Christ have been brought near. Therefore you are no longer outsiders (exiles, migrants, and aliens, excluded from the rights of citizens), but now share citizenship with the saints (God’s own people, consecrated and set apart for Himself); and you belong to God’s [own] household.

In Christ Jesus we inherit the promises of the covenants (note the plural), the Abrahamic, Mosaic and Davidic covenant promises.

Gal.3:29. (Mess) Also, since you are Christ’s family, then you are Abraham’s famous “descendant,” heirs according to the covenant promises.

Acts.13:34. (Amp) And as to His having raised Him from among the dead, now no more to return to [undergo] putrefaction and dissolution [of the grave], He spoke in this way, I will fulfil and give to you the holy and sure mercy and blessings [that were promised and assured] to David.

All the covenants promises are said to meet their fulfilment in the person of Jesus Christ, the promised Seed and the Davidic King.

Rom.15:8-12. (Amp) For I tell you that Christ (the Messiah) became a servant and a minister to the circumcised (the Jews) in order to show God’s truthfulness and honesty by confirming (verifying) the promises [given] to our fathers, and [also in order] that the Gentiles (nations) might glorify God for His mercy [not covenanted] to them. As it is written, Therefore I will praise You among the Gentiles and sing praises to Your name. Again it is said, Rejoice (exult), O Gentiles, along with His [own] people; and again, Praise the Lord, all you Gentiles, and let all the peoples praise Him! And further Isaiah says, There shall be a Sprout from the Root of Jesse, He Who rises to rule over the Gentiles; in Him shall the Gentiles hope.

2Cor.1:20. (Amp) For as many as are the promises of God, they all find their Yes [answer] in Him [Christ]. For this reason we also utter the Amen (so be it) to God through Him [in His Person and by His agency] to the glory of God.

We conclude today with no doubt in our hearts that all the covenant promises are ours to enjoy today, God is not holding out on us my dear friends.

You too can be part of all the promises of God that find there yes and so be it in Christ Jesus by joining the family of God. I urge you today, do not put this off to a future date, to-day is the day of your salvation. If you feel the Holy Spirit tugging at your heart strings then bow your head and pray the following prayer by faith and receive the eternal life that God is offering you today.

“Father, it is written in Your Word that if I confess with my mouth Jesus as Lord and believe in my heart that You have raised Him from dead, I shall be saved. Therefore, Father, I confess that Jesus is my Lord. I make Him Lord of my life right now. I believe in my heart that You raised Jesus from the dead. I renounce my past life with Satan. “I thank You for forgiving me of all my sin. Jesus is now my Lord, and I am a new creation. Old things have passed away. Now all things become new in Jesus’ name. Amen.”

Ya all have a really blessed week-end and bless someone else by sharing His Word and spreading His love all around. Remember the song “Love is all around” well God’s love is all around, waiting to explode into the lives of people, bring healing, wholeness, soundness and security to a floundering world. Love ya.

For more on salvation and the assurance of salvation visit us at:

http://theinvisablechurch.wordpress.com/

Tags: , , , , , , , , ,
Comment

The Blood Covenant 37: The unity of the covenants;

Filed under: The Blood Covenant. — Leave a comment
January 20, 2012

We concluded our study of the New Covenant yesterday by a short study of the indwelling Holy Spirit and how He unites us to Christ. To-day we start a study of the unity of the covenants.

There can be an unnecessary misunderstanding of the covenants if we fail to grasp their essential underlying unity. The covenants God made with man all have the same purpose, that is to bring man back into relationship with God. We find this aim expressed throughout scripture in the covenant formula, “I will be their God, they will be my people and I will dwell in the midst of them”. We will now see that each of the covenants have this relational aspect at their heart, but laying stress on particular aspects.

In the Abrahamic covenant the emphasis is on grace and faith.

The promise was given by grace.

Gal.3:18. (Amp) For if the inheritance [of the promise depends on observing] the Law [as these false teachers would like you to believe], it no longer [depends] on the promise; however, God gave it to Abraham [as a free gift solely] by virtue of His promise.

The promise received by faith.

Rom.4:16-17. (Amp) Therefore, [inheriting] the promise is the outcome of faith and depends [entirely] on faith, in order that it might be given as an act of grace (unmerited favour), to make it stable and valid and guaranteed to all his descendants, not only to the devotees and adherents of the Law, but also to those who share the faith of Abraham, who is [thus] the father of us all. As it is written, I have made you the father of many nations. [He was appointed our father] in the sight of God in Whom he believed, Who gives life to the dead and speaks of the nonexistent things that [He has foretold and promised] as if they [already] existed.

Abraham is supremely “the man of faith”.

Gal.3:9. (Amp) So then, those who are people of faith are blessed and made happy and favoured by God [as partners in fellowship] with the believing and trusting Abraham.

He is also the father of all who believe.

Rom.4:11. (God’s Word) Abraham’s faith was regarded as God’s approval while he was still uncircumcised. The mark of circumcision is the seal of that approval. Therefore, he is the father of every believer who is not circumcised, and their faith, too, is regarded as God’s approval of them.

In the Mosaic covenant, the emphasis is on obedience to the covenant requirements. God sets the terms and Israel’s duty of obedience to the terms is called “Keeping the covenant”.

Ex.19:5. (Amp) Now therefore, if you will obey My voice in truth and keep My covenant, then you shall be My own peculiar possession and treasure from among and above all peoples; for all the earth is Mine.

Ps.103:17-18. (Mess) God’s love, though, is ever and always, eternally present to all who fear him, making everything right for them and their children as they follow his Covenant ways and remember to do whatever he said.

In the Davidic covenant with its focus on the kingdom, the emphasis is on the all-embracing, societal and even creation-wide sweep of the covenant under the Messianic King. The word society means; the social mode of life, the customs and organization of an ordered community, (the progress of society is an evolution) hence societal. No society can retain members who flout (mock, insult, express contempt for by word or act) its principles.

Is.9:6-7. (Mess) For a child has been born, for us! The gift of a son, for us! He’ll take over the running of the world. His names will be: Amazing Counsellor, Strong God, Eternal Father, and Prince of Wholeness. His ruling authority will grow, and there’ll be no limits to the wholeness he brings. He’ll rule from the historic David throne over that promised kingdom. He’ll put that kingdom on a firm footing and keep it going with fair dealing and right living, beginning now and lasting always. The zeal of GOD-of-the Angel-armies will do all this.

The word zeal means; earnestness in advancing a cause or rendering service, hearty and persistent endeavour. God is indeed earnest in advancing the cause of the Kingdom; it is His hearty and persistent endeavour.

The New Covenant deals with the dynamics [the science of the laws of force and motion] of the covenant relationship, the sin problem and the obedience problem through the atonement, the internalising of the law of God and the gift of the Holy Spirit.

Hebr.8:10-12. (KJV) For this is the covenant that I will make with the house of Israel after those days, saith the Lord; I will put my laws into their minds, and write them in their hearts and I will be to them a God, and they shall be to me a people, and they shall not teach every man his neighbour, and every man his brother, saying, Know the Lord: for all shall know me, from the least to the greatest for I will be merciful to their unrighteousness, and their sins and their iniquities will I remember no more.

Gal.3:14. (Amp) To the end that through [their receiving] Christ Jesus, the blessing [promised] to Abraham might come upon the Gentiles, so that we through faith might [all] receive [the realization of] the promise of the [Holy] Spirit. (Or the Holy Spirit promises)

Thus the covenants represent one expanding revelation that reaches its climax in the New Covenant, which are both the fulfilment and the expansion of the covenants that went before and is also the means whereby the covenant goal of a personal relationship between God and man is finally achieved.

My dear friends it is time to say cheerio once again, to-morrow we will discuss “Are the covenant promises ours to-day”? Don’t forget to share His covenant message and to spread His unconditional love wherever you my roam to-day.

A prayer to receive Jesus as your Lord and Saviour.

“Father, it is written in Your Word that if I confess with my mouth Jesus as Lord and believe in my heart that You have raised Him from dead, I shall be saved. Therefore, Father, I confess that Jesus is my Lord. I make Him Lord of my life right now. I believe in my heart that You raised Jesus from the dead. I renounce my past life with Satan. “I thank You for forgiving me of all my sin. Jesus is now my Lord, and I am a new creation. Old things have passed away. Now all things become new in Jesus’ name. Amen.”

For more on salvation and the assurance of salvation visit us at:

http://theinvisablechurch.wordpress.com/

Tags: , , , , , , ,
Comment

The Blood Covenant 36: The New Covenant, the indwelling Holy Spirit;

Filed under: The Blood Covenant. — Leave a comment
January 19, 2012

The motive of covenant is, as we have seen, the desire of God for a personal intimate relationship with men and woman, but a holy God can have communion only with a holy people.

Lev.11:44-45. (Amp) For I am the Lord your God; so consecrate yourselves and be holy, for I am holy; For I am the Lord Who brought you up out of the land of Egypt to be your God; therefore you shall be holy, for I am holy.

1Pet.1:16. (Amp) For it is written, You shall be holy, for I am holy.

To make anything holy is to set it apart, to consecrate it, to God and to His service. The temple at Jerusalem was holy, that is to say, it was consecrated, dedicated to God that it might serve Him as a dwelling place. The vessels of the temple were holy, because they were devoted to the service of the temple; the priests were holy, chosen to serve God and ready to work for Him. In the same way, the Christian ought also to be sanctified, at the Lord’s disposal, ready to do every good work.

Sanctification, Holiness and consecration all stem from the same Greek word and they really mean a separation unto God from a secular or carnal use to a sacred or spiritual use. It means a life separated from a sinful world and dedicated to God

1Cor.1:30. (Amp) But it is from Him that you have your life in Christ Jesus, Whom God made our Wisdom from God, [revealed to us a knowledge of the divine plan of salvation previously hidden, manifesting itself as] our Righteousness [thus making us upright and putting us in right standing with God], and our Consecration [making us pure and holy], and our Redemption [providing our ransom from eternal penalty for sin].

1Thess.5:23. (Amp) And may the God of peace Himself sanctify you through and through [separate you from profane things, make you pure and wholly consecrated to God]; and may your spirit and soul and body be preserved sound and complete [and found] blameless at the coming of our Lord Jesus Christ (the Messiah).

(Mess) May God himself, the God who makes everything holy and whole, make you holy and whole, put you together, spirit, soul, and body, and keep you fit for the coming of our Master, Jesus Christ.

The Holy Spirit unites us to the life of Christ by his indwelling: He imparts the holiness of Christ to us. This is his sanctifying work.

2Thess.2;13. (Amp) But we, brethren beloved by the Lord, ought and are obligated [as those who are in debt] to give thanks always to God for you, because God chose you from the beginning as His first fruits (first converts) for salvation through the sanctifying work of the [Holy] Spirit and [your belief] in (adherence to, trust in, and reliance on) the Truth.

Rom.8:1-9. (Mess) With the arrival of Jesus, the Messiah, that fateful dilemma is resolved. Those who enter into Christ’s being here for us no longer have to live under a continuous, low lying black cloud. A new power is in operation. The Spirit of life in Christ, like a strong wind, has magnificently cleared the air, freeing you from a fated lifetime of brutal tyranny at the hands of sin and death. God went for the jugular when he sent his own Son. He didn’t deal with the problem as something remote and unimportant. In his Son, Jesus, he personally took on the human condition, entered the disordered mess of struggling humanity in order to set it right once and for all. The law code, weakened as it always was by fractured human nature, could never have done that. The law always ended up being used as a Band-Aid on sin instead of a deep healing of it. And now what the law code asked for but we couldn’t deliver is accomplished as we, instead of redoubling our own efforts, simply embrace what the Spirit is doing in us. Those who think they can do it on their own end up obsessed with measuring their own moral muscle but never get around to exercising it in real life. Those who trust God’s action in them find that God’s Spirit is in them – living and breathing God! Obsession with self in these matters is a dead end; attention to God leads us out into the open, into a spacious, free life. Focusing on the self is the opposite of focusing on God. Anyone completely absorbed in self ignores God, ends up thinking more about self than God. That person ignores who God is and what he is doing. And God isn’t pleased at being ignored. But if God himself has taken up residence in your life, you can hardly be thinking more of yourself than of him. Anyone, of course, who has not welcomed this invisible but clearly present God, the Spirit of Christ, won’t know what we’re talking about.

The Holy Spirit gives us access to the Father.

Eph.2:18. (Amp) For it is through Him that we both [whether far off or near] now have an introduction (access) by one [Holy] Spirit to the Father [so that we are able to approach Him].

The Holy Spirit teaches us the relationship of sonship.

Gal.4:6. (Amp) And because you [really] are [His] sons, God has sent the [Holy] Spirit of His Son into our hearts, crying, Abba (Father)! Father!

Rom.8:15-16. (Amp) For [the Spirit] you have now received [is] not a spirit of slavery to put you once more into bondage to fear, but you have received the Spirit of adoption [the Spirit producing sonship] in [the bliss of] which we cry, Abba (Father)! Father! The Spirit Himself [thus] testifies together with our own spirit, [assuring us] that we are children of God.

The Holy Spirit maintains and deepens our relationship with God, so that we live to please him.

1Pet.1:2 (Amp) Who were chosen and foreknown by God the Father and consecrated (sanctified, made holy) by the Spirit to be obedient to Jesus Christ (the Messiah) and to be sprinkled with [His] blood: May grace (spiritual blessing) and peace be given you in increasing abundance [that spiritual peace to be realized in and through Christ, freedom from fears, agitating passions, and moral conflicts].

The result is the liberty of the New Covenant

Rom.8:21. (KJV) Because the creature itself also shall be delivered from the bondage of corruption into the glorious liberty of the children of God.

2Cor.3:17-18. (Mess) They suddenly recognize that God is a living, personal presence, not a piece of chiselled stone. And when God is personally present, a living Spirit, that old, constricting legislation is recognized as obsolete. We’re free of it! All of us! Nothing between us and God, our faces shining with the brightness of his face. And so we are transfigured much like the Messiah, our lives gradually becoming brighter and more beautiful as God enters our lives and we become like him.

The New Covenant of peace made in the blood of Jesus Christ achieved the purpose of covenant. The alienation caused by sin has been overcome, God and man have been reconciled and it is now possible once again, and this time forever, for God to be their God, the nations of the earth to be His people and God to dwell in the midst of them. In achieving this end, the New Covenant gathers in, and both includes and expands, all that is provided under the previous covenants.

Well, well, it is time to say “till next” once again, be blessed and have an awesome day in the freedom you have through Jesus.

Every man, woman and child are invited to walk in this liberty by Father God Himself and to become a family member through the acceptance of Jesus as their Lord. To accept Him as Lord pray the following prayer:

“Father, it is written in Your Word that if I confess with my mouth Jesus as Lord and believe in my heart that You have raised Him from dead, I shall be saved. Therefore, Father, I confess that Jesus is my Lord. I make Him Lord of my life right now. I believe in my heart that You raised Jesus from the dead. I renounce my past life with Satan. “I thank You for forgiving me of all my sin. Jesus is now my Lord, and I am a new creation. Old things have passed away. Now all things become new in Jesus’ name. Amen.”

For more on salvation and the assurance of salvation visit us at:

http://theinvisablechurch.wordpress.com/

Tags: , , , , , ,
Comment

The Blood Covenant 35: The New Covenant, new inner values, a heart of flesh;

Filed under: The Blood Covenant. — Leave a comment
January 18, 2012

Yesterday we discussed the fact that Jesus said unless a man is born again he cannot see the kingdom of God and unless he is born of the spirit he cannot enter the kingdom of God. The kingdom of God literally means the rule and reign of God. You have to be born again to live under the rule and reign of God.

In John.3:6-7. (Amp) What is born of [from] the flesh is flesh [of the physical is physical]; and what is born of the Spirit is spirit. Marvel not [do not be surprised, astonished] at My telling you, You must all be born anew (from above).

Each person has a physical birth that proceeds from the union of their physical parents and in much the same way each and every person must under go a spiritual birth. What is born of flesh is flesh but what is born of the Holy Spirit is the spirit of man. It is at this spiritual birth that the spirit of man receives eternal life and the law is internalised. Let’s continue with our discussion.

Under the new covenant, the law is not only internalised, but the spirit of man is recreated, the sin nature of man is removed and the Holy Spirit takes up residence in the heart of man.

The sin nature with its hostile inner values is removed from the spirit of man.

Gal.5:24. (Amp) And those who belong to Christ Jesus (the Messiah) have crucified the flesh (the godless human nature) with its passions and appetites and desires.

(Mess) Among those who belong to Christ, everything connected with getting our own way and mindlessly responding to what everyone else calls necessities is killed off for good – crucified.

In its place there is a new set of inner values, known as the fruit of the spirit.

Gal.5:22-23. (Amp) But the fruit of the [Holy] Spirit [the work which His presence within accomplishes] is love, joy (gladness), peace, patience (an even temper, forbearance), kindness, goodness (benevolence), faithfulness, gentleness (meekness, humility), self-control (self-restraint, continence), against such things there is no law [that can bring a charge].

(Mess) But what happens when we live God’s way? He brings gifts into our lives, much the same way that fruit appears in an orchard – things like affection for others, exuberance about life, serenity. We develop a willingness to stick with things, a sense of compassion in the heart, and a conviction that a basic holiness permeates things and people. We find ourselves involved in loyal commitments, not needing to force our way in life, able to marshal and direct our energies wisely. Legalism is helpless in bringing this about; it only gets in the way.

Against such things there is no law.

If we live by the fruit of the Spirit then there can be no charge of the law against us, legalism is helpless in bringing this about; it only gets in the way. These inner values are in perfect harmony with the internalised law and the problem of disobedience is overcome. Right behaviour becomes the natural response of inner values and internalised law.

In the life of Jesus, the result of this perfect harmony between inner values and internalised law was perfect obedience. Out of this perfect obedience there came perfect freedom.

Jesus was free to do spontaneously whatever he liked, because the value system, which guided his preferences or desires, was in perfect harmony with the law of unselfish love. He did not have to stop and ask himself in every situation what the law of God or the will of the Father was. It was in his heart so that he spontaneously and freely lived in it, knowing that what pleased him was always what would please the Father.

John.8:29. (Amp) And He who sent me is ever with Me; My Father has not left Me alone, for I always do what pleases Him.

Here are the two covenants contrasted.

The Old Covenant.                                                               The New Covenant.

Sin merely covered.                                                               Sin remitted. (abolished)

External law on stone tablets.                                                Internal law on human hearts.

Inner values of the sinful nature (heart of stone).                       Inner values of the Spirit (heart of flesh).

Well my friends it is time to say “till next time” and may the blessing of Abraham superabound in your lives today and everyday to the eternities of eternities, and may it make you truly rich in every area of your lives. Remember that Jesus loves you and that Jesus is Lord of all. Don’t forget to spread the Word of His grace and to share His unconditional love with all you come into contact with this day. Love ya.

If you have not yet accepted the unconditional love of God into your life and entered into His rule and reign by being born again, then I urge you to do so right now, Jesus said that today is the day of salvation, don’t put it off for another second. You can do that by praying the following prayer from your heart and accepting eternal life or God life by faith:

“Father, it is written in Your Word that if I confess with my mouth Jesus as Lord and believe in my heart that You have raised Him from dead, I shall be saved. Therefore, Father, I confess that Jesus is my Lord. I make Him Lord of my life right now. I believe in my heart that You raised Jesus from the dead. I renounce my past life with Satan. “I thank You for forgiving me of all my sin. Jesus is now my Lord, and I am a new creation. Old things have passed away. Now all things become new in Jesus’ name. Amen.”

For more on salvation and the assurance of salvation visit us at:

http://theinvisablechurch.wordpress.com/

Tags: , , , , , ,
Comment
Follow

Get every new post delivered to your Inbox.

Join 263 other followers