One of the great mysteries in Scripture concerns the identity of Jerusalem. Today many Christians wait to see a new temple built in old Jerusalem and yearn for the day when this same old Jerusalem shall be made a praise upon the earth. But, the prophecies concerning Jerusalem do not deal with old Jerusalem and Ezekiel’s vision concerning a new temple do not relate to some new physical temple that will one day be built in old Jerusalem. No, these prophecies speak about the overcomers of God, the sons of God and the Bride of Christ, whom John saw as New Jerusalem descending from heaven.

In the Old Testament it is primarily the prophets Isaiah and Ezekiel who spoke about this new Jerusalem. We need to interpret the prophets through the filter of the Revelation given to John and the other New Testament apostles and prophets. For example, what does John mean when he says, “Then the angel^[a] showed me the river of the water of life, bright as crystal, flowing from the throne of God and of the Lamb ² through the middle of the street of the city; also, on either side of the river, the tree of life^[b] with its twelve kinds of fruit, yielding its fruit each month. The leaves of the tree were for the healing of the nations.” (Revelation 22:1-2, ESV)

First, take note that in this passage John says the very same thing which Ezekiel prophesied when talking about the new temple to come. Look particularly at verse 12 below to see this. Ezekiel said,

Then he led me back to the bank of the river. ⁷ As I went back, I saw on the bank of the river very many trees on the one side and on the other. ⁸ And he said to me, “This water flows toward the eastern region and goes down into the Arabah, and enters the sea;^[b] when the water flows into the sea, the water will become fresh.^[c] 9 And wherever the river goes,^[d] every living creature that swarms will live, and there will be very many fish. For this water goes there, that the waters of the sea^[e] may become fresh; so everything will live where the river goes. ¹⁰ Fishermen will stand beside the sea. From Engedi to Eneglaim it will be a place for the spreading of nets. Its fish will be of very many kinds, like the fish of the Great Sea.^[f] 11 But its swamps and marshes will not become fresh; they are to be left for salt. ¹² And on the banks, on both sides of the river, there will grow all kinds of trees for food. Their leaves will not wither, nor their fruit fail, but they will bear fresh fruit every month, because the water for them flows from the sanctuary. Their fruit will be for food, and their leaves for healing. (Ezekiel 47:6b-12)

Notice that trees grow on each side of the river. The river itself is the water of life, Jesus Christ. The water, representing Christ’s truth and life, flows to the salty sea. This sea is mankind. Mankind dwells in the salty, murky, dark waters under the firmament of heaven. Remember the second day of creation, “And God said, “Let there be an expanse^[a] in the midst of the waters, and let it separate the waters from the waters.” ⁷ And God made^[b] the expanse and separated the waters that were under the expanse from the waters that were above the expanse. And it was so. ⁸ And God called the expanse Heaven.^[c] And there was evening and there was morning, the second day.” (Genesis 1:6-8) The waters “above the expanse” are the waters of life.  A time is coming when this water above the expanse will flow into the water below the expanse. This will make the salty water into “fresh” water, that is, it will bring life and healing to the “fish of the Great Sea.” The fish are men. Remember that Jesus calls us to be fishers of men. But, what are the trees? Isaiah prophesied,

The Spirit of the Lord God is upon me,
    because the Lord has anointed me
to bring good news to the poor;^[a]
    he has sent me to bind up the brokenhearted,
to proclaim liberty to the captives,
    and the opening of the prison to those who are bound;^[b]
2 to proclaim the year of the Lord’s favor,
    and the day of vengeance of our God;
    to comfort all who mourn;
³ to grant to those who mourn in Zion—
    to give them a beautiful headdress instead of ashes,
the oil of gladness instead of mourning,
    the garment of praise instead of a faint spirit;
that they may be called oaks of righteousness,
    the planting of the Lord, that he may be glorified.^[c]
4 They shall build up the ancient ruins;
    they shall raise up the former devastations;
they shall repair the ruined cities,
    the devastations of many generations. (Isaiah 61:1-4)

The trees we see in Ezekiel and Revelation are these “oaks of righteousness.” These are the firstfruits of God, the first human beings besides Jesus ever to be glorified with immortal bodies. To them will be granted a “beautiful headdress” in place of the ashes of dust they now bear. Today they mourn under the burden of their faint spirit, their unfruitfulness, and the sin of their flesh. Tomorrow they will be clothed with a garment of praise. Tomorrow, at their glorification, they will produce new, good fruit each month. Their leaves, their produce, will bring healing to the nations. To them it shall be granted to build up the ancient ruins, to raise up the former  devastations, and to repair the ruined cities. These trees are the ones whom the Bible also calls “New Jerusalem,” as prophesied by Isaiah.

For Zion’s sake I will not keep silent,
    and for Jerusalem’s sake I will not be quiet,
until her righteousness goes forth as brightness,
    and her salvation as a burning torch.
² The nations shall see your righteousness,
    and all the kings your glory,
and you shall be called by a new name
    that the mouth of the Lord will give.
³ You shall be a crown of beauty in the hand of the Lord,
    and a royal diadem in the hand of your God.
⁴ You shall no more be termed Forsaken,^[a]
    and your land shall no more be termed Desolate,^[b]
but you shall be called My Delight Is in Her,^[c]
    and your land Married;^[d]
for the Lord delights in you,
    and your land shall be married.
⁵ For as a young man marries a young woman,
    so shall your sons marry you,
and as the bridegroom rejoices over the bride,
    so shall your God rejoice over you. (Isaiah 62:1-5)

 This is the same image which John saw and wrote of.

⁹ Then came one of the seven angels who had the seven bowls full of the seven last plagues and spoke to me, saying, “Come, I will show you the Bride, the wife of the Lamb.”¹⁰ And he carried me away in the Spirit to a great, high mountain, and showed me the holy city Jerusalem coming down out of heaven from God, ¹¹ having the glory of God, its radiance like a most rare jewel, like a jasper, clear as crystal. ¹² It had a great, high wall, with twelve gates, and at the gates twelve angels, and on the gates the names of the twelve tribes of the sons of Israel were inscribed— ¹³ on the east three gates, on the north three gates, on the south three gates, and on the west three gates. ¹⁴ And the wall of the city had twelve foundations, and on them were the twelve names of the twelve apostles of the Lamb. (Revelation 21:9-14)

So, when John says, “Then the angel^[a] showed me the river of the water of life, bright as crystal, flowing from the throne of God and of the Lamb ² through the middle of the street of the city; also, on either side of the river, the tree of life^[b] with its twelve kinds of fruit, yielding its fruit each month. The leaves of the tree were for the healing of the nations,” (Revelation 22:1-2) this speaks of God’s Spirit, God’s water of life, moving without hindrance through the very essence (“middle of the street of the city”) of each overcomer who comprises New Jerusalem! And it is this unhindered flow of the water of life, the very fullness of Jesus Christ himself, which produces in us ongoing fruit which will bring healing to the entire earth! Let us then each aspire to become these oaks of righteousness that will heal a broken and hurting world.

When we believe in Jesus Christ for the forgiveness of sins and for the salvation of our souls we receive the earnest of the Holy Spirit, which gives us the power to become sons of God. We do not suddenly become sons of God like so many falsely teach. Simply re-read the parable of the sower and the seeds from the gospels of Matthew, Mark, and Luke to see this is so. Also remember John 1:12, “But as many as received him, to them gave he power to become the sons of God, even to them that believe on his name.” So far you and I have only received power to become sons of God. We have not yet been made sons of God. Nevertheless, Jesus and the prophets did give us clear instructions so that we could discern whether or not we walk upon that one, narrow path which will result in our manifestation as a son of God. Those instructions include the doctrine of fruit which we are now studying.

The Gospel begins with John the Baptist saying,

“You brood of vipers! Who warned you to flee from the wrath to come? ⁸ Bear fruit in keeping with repentance. ⁹ And do not presume to say to yourselves, ‘We have Abraham as our father,’ for I tell you, God is able from these stones to raise up children for Abraham.¹⁰ Even now the axe is laid to the root of the trees. Every tree therefore that does not bear good fruit is cut down and thrown into the fire.“ (Matthew 3:7b-10 ESV)

John spoke to the religious hypocrites of his day, the Pharisees and the Sadducees. I speak to the religious hypocrites of my day, those who call themselves by the name of God and yet teach men to do evil in his name. These are those who call evil good and good evil, who are righteous in their own eyes, and yet are filled with nothing but dead men’s bones. They hold the truth in unrighteousness and teach the doctrines of men in place of the doctrines of God. They do not follow the narrow path of God’s Word, nor do they teach others to do so. They make men into the sons of Hell which they themselves are, thus making men into the image of their father, Satan, rather than into the image of God. As John warned, these shall be cut down and thrown into the fire.

Jesus himself spoke about bearing fruit toward God many times in his ministry. Early on he said,

“Beware of false prophets, who come to you in sheep’s clothing but inwardly are ravenous wolves. ¹⁶ You will recognize them by their fruits. Are grapes gathered from thornbushes, or figs from thistles? ¹⁷ So, every healthy tree bears good fruit, but the diseased tree bears bad fruit. ¹⁸ A healthy tree cannot bear bad fruit, nor can a diseased tree bear good fruit.¹⁹ Every tree that does not bear good fruit is cut down and thrown into the fire. ²⁰ Thus you will recognize them by their fruits. (Matthew 7:15-20)

Here, like John before him, Jesus criticized religious leaders who pretend they serve God, but in reality are false prophets. He told us we could recognize false prophets by looking at their fruit. What is their fruit? Anything dealing with their life, for example, their wife, their children, their dress, their demeanor, their habits, their teaching. A person’s fruit is that which you see concerning him. Is the fruit bad or is it good. Would you eat it, that is, would you want that type of fruit in your life. It is very common, for example, that people consider preacher’s kids to be brats, or to be arrogant. If the kids exhibit these traits what does that tell you about their father and mother? So, examine your fruit. First identify it. What is your fruit? Now determine whether your fruit is good or bad.

If you think your fruit may tend toward what God would judge to be bad, then consider Jesus’ next teaching about fruit:

³³ “Either make the tree good and its fruit good, or make the tree bad and its fruit bad, for the tree is known by its fruit. ³⁴ You brood of vipers! How can you speak good, when you are evil? For out of the abundance of the heart the mouth speaks. ³⁵ The good person out of his good treasure brings forth good, and the evil person out of his evil treasure brings forth evil. ³⁶ I tell you, on the day of judgment people will give account for every careless word they speak, ³⁷ for by your words you will be justified, and by your words you will be condemned.” (Matthew 12:33-37)

If you can “make” your fruit either good or bad, then you must have some control over your own tree, your own self, right? The nature of your tree depends upon the treasure in your heart. Where is your treasure, on earth or hidden in Christ above? The vast bulk of Scripture concerns building up your treasure in heaven. Our treasure should be the oil of the Holy Spirit which we must have in order to see God. We seek this oil by faith in the holy Son of God. We act upon this faith by works of obedience which God gives us to do as we seek his face. Our actions, like Abraham’s before us, prove our faith. By this shall we be justified in God’s sight. None of us create our good fruit by obeying God or his law perfectly. Our fruit develops by drawing upon and having faith in the sap which feeds and nourishes our tree, the living water of Jesus Christ himself (his flesh and his blood in the spiritual).

Jesus explained this shortly before men crucified him. He said,

“I am the true vine, and my Father is the vinedresser. ² Every branch in me that does not bear fruit he takes away, and every branch that does bear fruit he prunes, that it may bear more fruit. ³ Already you are clean because of the word that I have spoken to you.⁴ Abide in me, and I in you. As the branch cannot bear fruit by itself, unless it abides in the vine, neither can you, unless you abide in me. ⁵ I am the vine; you are the branches. Whoever abides in me and I in him, he it is that bears much fruit, for apart from me you can do nothing. ⁶ If anyone does not abide in me he is thrown away like a branch and withers; and the branches are gathered, thrown into the fire, and burned. ⁷ If you abide in me, and my words abide in you, ask whatever you wish, and it will be done for you. ⁸ By this my Father is glorified, that you bear much fruit and so prove to be my disciples. ⁹ As the Father has loved me, so have I loved you. Abide in my love. ¹⁰ If you keep my commandments, you will abide in my love, just as I have kept my Father’s commandments and abide in his love.” (John 15:1-10, ESV)

Again, examine your own fruit. Be diligent and be honest. What exactly is your fruit? Now determine whether your fruit is good or bad by holding it to the light of God’s word. Jesus said that the word that he spoke would judge us. So shall his word judge our fruit.

It was one of the Hebraic Roots ministries, 119 Ministries I think, which really got my blood boiling concerning this new push to teach Christians to obey every jot and tittle of the Torah (Old Testament law, Mosaic law). They taught that the only legitimate day to honor the Sabbath on is Saturday, that Christians ought to obey all the laws concerning it, including not picking up sticks (properly understood of course), and that if Christians lawfully honored the true Saturday Sabbath, then that would dramatically help lead the Jews to finally accepting Christ. I listened as one amazed. These were men who seemed honorable and appeared to understand the basic truths of God’s Word… and they were teaching gross, rank heresy!

Many years ago, 26 to be exact, during my first year of law school God taught my wife and I to honor the Sabbath. Law school is difficult, very difficult if you want to do well, and I am a person that wants to do all things well. Law school consists of study and classes and that’s about it. All of my colleagues studied seven days a week and I did too, at first. Then one day while reading the Bible and talking things over with my wife we really realized that God would be blessed and would bless us if we observed a 24 hour period of rest. We did not analyze the Old Testament in order to determine its specific laws for Sabbath observance. We relied upon the Holy Spirit to lead us in this, and He did. Because our society is based upon a Monday through Saturday work week, including the fact that the Law library was open on Saturday and not Sunday, we decided to take our rest beginning at 6:00 P.M. Saturday and ending at 6:00 P.M. Sunday. Usually we did not go to church on Sunday morning.  Instead we took our two young children to parks, beaches, canoe rides in wilderness areas, and picnics. Although I worked six hard days every week during those three years my entire family enjoys sweet, sweet memories of our family time and of law school. My grades were always good, sometimes the best in the class, and I did not study seven days a week like our valedictorian did! We honored the Sabbath and God honored us.

As I grew older the concept of God’s Sabbath became even bigger. The LORD impressed me that the Book of Hebrews’ teaching on entering his rest involved something much bigger than taking a 24 hour day of rest once a week. He showed me that entering his rest is a way of life, 24 hours a day seven days a week, not just one day out of the week. He taught me that coming into his rest means to come to the end of my own carnal striving and my own selfish ambitions. Am I there yet? Have I learned to put away all of my fleshly thoughts and desires? Do I perfectly walk in God’s ways and in his rest? No, but that is my goal and that will one day be my reality.

Learning to rest in God does not consist of a set of do’s and don’t's. I live on a cattle ranch. If a cows gives birth on my Sabbath day, then I may have to work to help it. A cow might get through a fence and out on the road, and I might have to go get it back into my field. I’m a lawyer and I do jury trials. I might get wind of critical evidence on the Sabbath, just before my trial. I will follow up that lead. And, the day after the trial ends may be Wednesday and I may just take a day or two of rest then. In fact, during the trial itself I pray and try to maintain my rest in God. The point is that God desires the Sabbath to be our way of life, not just a day of special religious duty to God. The Sabbath, entering God’s rest, is a state of being, not a special mode of doing.

Therefore, while the promise of entering his rest still stands, let us fear lest any of you should seem to have failed to reach it. ² For good news came to us just as to them, but the message they heard did not benefit them, because they were not united by faith with those who listened.^[a] 3 For we who have believed enter that rest, as he has said,

although his works were finished from the foundation of the world. ⁴ For he has somewhere spoken of the seventh day in this way: “And God rested on the seventh day from all his works.” ⁵ And again in this passage he said,

⁶ Since therefore it remains for some to enter it, and those who formerly received the good news [the Gospel] failed to enter because of disobedience, ⁷ again he appoints a certain day, “Today,” saying through David so long afterward, in the words already quoted,

⁸ For if Joshua had given them rest, God^[b] would not have spoken of another day later on.⁹ So then, there remains a Sabbath rest for the people of God, ¹⁰ for whoever has entered God’s rest has also rested from his works as God did from his.

¹¹ Let us therefore strive to enter that rest, so that no one may fall by the same sort of disobedience. ¹² For the word of God is living and active, sharper than any two-edged sword, piercing to the division of soul and of spirit, of joints and of marrow, and discerning the thoughts and intentions of the heart. ¹³ And no creature is hidden from his sight, but all are naked and exposed to the eyes of him to whom we must give account. (Hebrews 4:1-13, ESV)

The passage above makes it very clear that the “Sabbath” rest which God intends his people to come into involves far more than observing a Saturday Sabbath according to the Torah laws. Coming into God’s rest is part of the Gospel and something we do by faith and obedience to that Gospel. The obedience required is Spirit-led and founded upon the Word of God as verse 12 above makes clear. This verse teaches that God’s Word will divide our soul and spirit, will separate our fleshly attempts to please God from the truly Spirit-led life. But, we do not teach a Spirit-led mysticism which ignores the teaching of God’s Word. Neither do we teach a dead legalism which ignores the Holy Spirit and all of the Word of God and then drives us back to Old Jerusalem and Hagar, its Mother.

⁵ One person esteems one day as better than another, while another esteems all days alike.Each one should be fully convinced in his own mind. ⁶ The one who observes the day, observes it in honor of the Lord. The one who eats, eats in honor of the Lord, since he gives thanks to God, while the one who abstains, abstains in honor of the Lord and gives thanks to God. ⁷ For none of us lives to himself, and none of us dies to himself. ⁸ For if we live, we live to the Lord, and if we die, we die to the Lord. So then, whether we live or whether we die, we are the Lord’s. ⁹ For to this end Christ died and lived again, that he might be Lord bothof the dead and of the living.

¹⁰ Why do you pass judgment on your brother? Or you, why do you despise your brother? For we will all stand before the judgment seat of God; ¹¹ for it is written,

¹² So then each of us will give an account of himself to God. (Romans 14:5-12)

So, let us discern the teaching of the Word of God by relying upon God’s Spirit, and not the heretical teachings of men. Let us continue walking together in God’s ways toward New Jerusalem, our eternal home.

4 For behold, the day comes that shall burn like an oven, and all the proud and arrogant, yes, and all that do wickedly and are lawless, shall be stubble; the day that comes shall burn them up, says the Lord of hosts, so that it will leave them neither root nor branch.

² But unto you who revere and worshipfully fear My name shall the Sun of Righteousness arise with healing in His wings and His beams, and you shall go forth and gambol like calves [released] from the stall and leap for joy.

³ And you shall tread down the lawless and wicked, for they shall be ashes under the soles of your feet in the day that I shall do this, says the Lord of hosts.

⁴ [Earnestly] remember the law of Moses, My servant, the statutes and the ordinances which I commanded him on [Mount] Horeb [to give] to all Israel.

⁵ Behold, I will send you Elijah the prophet before the great and terrible day of the Lord comes.

⁶ And he shall turn and reconcile the hearts of the [estranged] fathers to the [ungodly] children, and the hearts of the [rebellious] children to [the piety of] their fathers [a reconciliation produced by repentance of the ungodly], lest I come and smite the land with a curse and a ban of utter destruction. (Malachi 4, Amplified Version)

Well, today I read a comment by an old friend who is traveling back to ancient Jerusalem (in the spirit) in order to become Torah observant. He was one whom I thought well on the way to New Jerusalem as an overcomer, but now appears to be bent upon becoming a son of Hagar instead of a son of Sarah. The comment quoted Malachi 4, “Remember the Law of Moses,” and spoke of an “Elijah Spirit” (the Holy Spirit which he now must, to be Torah correct, call ‘the Ruach”) which would turn the hearts of God’s children back to the Mosaic Law. And, in keeping with the many videos I have seen this person recommend over the last month, this would mean teaching God’s people (Christians) to obey the many statutes of the Old Testament contained in Exodus, Leviticus, Numbers, and Deuteronomy. Is this what Malachi 4 prophesies and commands?

Malachi clearly commanded the people of his time to remember the law of Moses in the sense of remembering and obeying every aspect of it, including the bloody sacrifices. Today, as seen in the past teachings in this series and many other articles posted here, remembering the law of Moses speaks of understanding God’s definition of good and evil and knowing exactly what he considers to be sinful behavior. This is so that we can repent of any particular sins we commit (John calls this practicing righteousness) and continue in a right relationship with Christ. But, remembering the law of Moses today does not mean that we now have to submit to all of the various Old Testament laws Malachi and the Israelites of his day had to obey, laws like wearing tassels on our garments, obeying the stringent Sabbath laws, and refusing to eat certain “unclean” foods like pork and shrimp.

If the prophetic word God gave Malachi meant that Christians had to obey all the laws of Moses (the Torah), then Paul would not have written what he did and Jesus would not have said what he said, for Jesus did in fact specifically change certain Mosaic laws. Yet Jesus also said,

¹⁷ “Do not think that I have come to abolish the Law or the Prophets; I have not come to abolish them but to fulfill them. ¹⁸ For truly, I say to you, until heaven and earth pass away, not an iota, not a dot, will pass from the Law until all is accomplished. (Matthew 5:17-18)

I hope to expound on Matthew 5:17-18 in my next post, but until then let Paul’s word to the Romans suffice regarding the issues raised herein.

Do Not Pass Judgment on One Another

14 As for the one who is weak in faith, welcome him, but not to quarrel over opinions.² One person believes he may eat anything, while the weak person eats only vegetables.³ Let not the one who eats despise the one who abstains, and let not the one who abstains pass judgment on the one who eats, for God has welcomed him. ⁴ Who are you to pass judgment on the servant of another? It is before his own master^[a] that he stands or falls. And he will be upheld, for the Lord is able to make him stand.

⁵ One person esteems one day as better than another, while another esteems all days alike.Each one should be fully convinced in his own mind. ⁶ The one who observes the day, observes it in honor of the Lord. The one who eats, eats in honor of the Lord, since he gives thanks to God, while the one who abstains, abstains in honor of the Lord and gives thanks to God. ⁷ For none of us lives to himself, and none of us dies to himself. ⁸ For if we live, we live to the Lord, and if we die, we die to the Lord. So then, whether we live or whether we die, we are the Lord’s. ⁹ For to this end Christ died and lived again, that he might be Lord bothof the dead and of the living.

¹⁰ Why do you pass judgment on your brother? Or you, why do you despise your brother? For we will all stand before the judgment seat of God; ¹¹ for it is written,

¹² So then each of us will give an account of himself to God.

Do Not Cause Another to Stumble

¹³ Therefore let us not pass judgment on one another any longer, but rather decide never to put a stumbling block or hindrance in the way of a brother. ¹⁴ I know and am persuaded in the Lord Jesus that nothing is unclean in itself, but it is unclean for anyone who thinks it unclean. ¹⁵ For if your brother is grieved by what you eat, you are no longer walking in love.By what you eat, do not destroy the one for whom Christ died. ¹⁶ So do not let what you regard as good be spoken of as evil. ¹⁷ For the kingdom of God is not a matter of eating and drinking but of righteousness and peace and joy in the Holy Spirit. ¹⁸ Whoever thus serves Christ is acceptable to God and approved by men. ¹⁹ So then let us pursue what makes for peace and for mutual upbuilding.

²⁰ Do not, for the sake of food, destroy the work of God. Everything is indeed clean, but it is wrong for anyone to make another stumble by what he eats. ²¹ It is good not to eat meat or drink wine or do anything that causes your brother to stumble.^[c] 22 The faith that you have, keep between yourself and God. Blessed is the one who has no reason to pass judgment on himself for what he approves. ²³ But whoever has doubts is condemned if he eats, because the eating is not from faith. For whatever does not proceed from faith is sin.   (Romans 14, ESV)

Notice that it is the person “weak” in faith who eats only vegetables. Vegetables would be considered “clean” foods under the law of Moses. The person who is not weak in faith, i.e. one strong in faith, “believes he may eat anything,” even those foods which Moses forbade. Then in verse 5 Paul discusses believers who esteem certain days versus others who treat every day the same. His point in verses 5 through 9 is that that issue simply doesn’t matter. Each is convinced he is right and is serving the LORD, so don’t make an issue of it! Yet, a new group of believers has come upon the scene who now teach all believers that they need to begin obeying the Torah, if not for their justification or sanctification, then to show God that they esteem his law and love him.

I love God and his ways, but I am not going to submit to 21st century Judaisers who would accompany me back to Old Jerusalem as they teach me the intricacies of Torah commandments and compel me to obey them. I will walk in God’s ways, and I can testify that that way is a narrow path, but it is not the path back to the old city. I have set my face like flint toward New Jerusalem!

Now Adam knew Eve his wife, and she conceived and bore Cain, saying, “I have gotten a man with the help of the Lord.” 2 And again, she bore his brother Abel. Now Abel was a keeper of sheep, and Cain a worker of the ground. 3 In the course of time Cain brought to the Lord an offering of the fruit of the ground, 4 and Abel also brought of the firstborn of his flock and of their fat portions. And the Lord had regard for Abel and his offering, 5 but for Cain and his offering he had no regard. So Cain was very angry, and his face fell. 6 The Lord said to Cain, “Why are you angry, and why has your face fallen? 7 If you do well, will you not be accepted? And if you do not do well, sin is crouching at the door. Its desire is for you, but you must rule over it.” (Genesis 4:1-7, ESV)

The message of God’s Word remains the same from beginning to end; it is the story of God creating man in his own image, in his own likeness. He begins the story by recounting his creation of all the plants in the world and announces that each plant bears seed within itself “according to its kind.” He then creates the manifold animals upon earth and says that fish, birds, beasts, and creeping things were created “according to their kinds.” Then Genesis 1:27 proclaims,

So God created man in his own image,
in the image of God he created him;
male and female he created them.

This tells us that God created man after his, God’s, own kind. In many previous posts I have taught that God did not fully make man in his image in the beginning. He used the Tree of the Knowledge of Good and Evil to help accomplish that. This is why after Adam and Eve ate of that tree’s fruit God said, “Behold, the man has become like one of us in knowing good and evil. Now, lest he reach out his hand and take also of the tree of life and eat, and live forever—” (Genesis 3:22) Even, then, however, man had not been fully conformed to God’s image. For now, having the knowledge of good and evil, man had to learn which things are good and which things are evil and also to choose the good instead of the evil. Thus when Cain began to choose evil things instead of good God told him that he must learn to rule over sin. Cain did not accept God’s rebuke and advice and went on to murder his brother Abel.

Later in history God chose a particular nation, Israel, to whom he further revealed the concepts of good and evil through his Law. Paul said, “if it had not been for the law, I would not have known sin. For I would not have known what it is to covet if the law had not said, `You shall not covet.’” (Romans 7:7) Paul then further explained the purpose of God’s Law saying, “It was sin, producing death in me through what is good, in order that sin might be shown to be sin, and through the commandment might become sinful beyond measure.” (Romans 7:13) History, however, proved that men could not obey God’s Law in the power of their flesh. Paul therefore proclaimed,

What then? Are we Jews any better off? No, not at all. For we have already charged that all, both Jews and Greeks, are under sin, 10 as it is written:

“None is righteous, no, not one;
11 no one understands;
no one seeks for God.
12 All have turned aside; together they have become worthless;
no one does good,
not even one.”
13 “Their throat is an open grave;
they use their tongues to deceive.”
“The venom of asps is under their lips.”
14 “Their mouth is full of curses and bitterness.”
15 “Their feet are swift to shed blood;
16 in their paths are ruin and misery,
17 and the way of peace they have not known.”
18 “There is no fear of God before their eyes.”

19 Now we know that whatever the law says it speaks to those who are under the law, so that every mouth may be stopped, and the whole world may be held accountable to God. 20 For by works of the law no human being will be justified in his sight, since through the law comes knowledge of sin. (Romans 3:9-20)

The knowledge of sin is the knowledge of good and evil. The Old Covenant proved to us that men cannot be good in the power of their flesh, but that they can want to be good. God established the New Covenant so that goodness, i.e. perfection, could become reality in those who truly desired it. He specifically promised this New Covenant in the Book of Jeremiah and he proclaimed its actual coming through the work of Jesus in the Book of Hebrews. Hebrews says,

“This is the covenant that I will make with them
after those days, declares the Lord:
I will put my laws on their hearts,
and write them on their minds.”  (Hebrews 10:16

The New Covenant takes the external knowledge of good and evil and makes it internal. This is why Jesus declared that the Kingdom of God is within us. This is why Paul proclaims in Romans 8:

There is therefore now no condemnation for those who are in Christ Jesus. 2 For the law of the Spirit of life has set you free in Christ Jesus from the law of sin and death. 3 For God has done what the law, weakened by the flesh, could not do. By sending his own Son in the likeness of sinful flesh and for sin, he condemned sin in the flesh, 4 in order that the righteous requirement of the law might be fulfilled in us, who walk not according to the flesh but according to the Spirit. 5 For those who live according to the flesh set their minds on the things of the flesh, but those who live according to the Spirit set their minds on the things of the Spirit. 6 For to set the mind on the flesh is death, but to set the mind on the Spirit is life and peace. 7 For the mind that is set on the flesh is hostile to God, for it does not submit to God’s law; indeed, it cannot. 8 Those who are in the flesh cannot please God.

9 You, however, are not in the flesh but in the Spirit, if in fact the Spirit of God dwells in you. Anyone who does not have the Spirit of Christ does not belong to him. 10 But if Christ is in you, although the body is dead because of sin, the Spirit is life because of righteousness. 11 If the Spirit of him who raised Jesus from the dead dwells in you, he who raised Christ Jesus from the dead will also give life to your mortal bodies through his Spirit who dwells in you.

12 So then, brothers, we are debtors, not to the flesh, to live according to the flesh. 13 For if you live according to the flesh you will die, but if by the Spirit you put to death the deeds of the body, you will live. 14 For all who are led by the Spirit of God are sons of God. 15 For you did not receive the spirit of slavery to fall back into fear, but you have received the Spirit of adoption as sons, by whom we cry, “Abba! Father!” 16 The Spirit himself bears witness with our spirit that we are children of God, 17 and if children, then heirs—heirs of God and fellow heirs with Christ, provided we suffer with him in order that we may also be glorified with him. (Romans 8: 1-17 ESV)

We see here that we cannot please God and fully obey his Law by the power of our flesh. Only through the power of the Spirit will we ever have strength to “submit to God’s Law.” So, does this mean that I now have to learn all the Old Testament Law and seek power to submit to every jot and tittle of it? This is the crux of the issue we face today with the Judaizers who seek to place Christians back under Mosaic laws.  But Paul answers this question in the negative repeatedly, especially in the Book of Galatians, and the Book of Hebrews also clearly answers “NO!” when it says,

Consequently, when Christ came into the world, he said,

“Sacrifices and offerings you have not desired,
but a body have you prepared for me;
6 in burnt offerings and sin offerings
you have taken no pleasure.
7 Then I said, ‘Behold, I have come to do your will, O God,
as it is written of me in the scroll of the book.’”

8 When he said above, “You have neither desired nor taken pleasure in sacrifices and offerings and burnt offerings and sin offerings” (these are offered according to the law), 9 then he added, “Behold, I have come to do your will.” He does away with the first in order to establish the second. 10 And by that will we have been sanctified through the offering of the body of Jesus Christ once for all. (Hebrews 10:5-10)

The verse in bold above means that Jesus Christ did away with the Mosaic Law in order to establish his will. Christ made a new covenant with us in order to make our will and his will one. This does not happen simply because we make a one-time confession of faith. John says,

But as many as received him, to them gave he power to become the sons of God, even to them that believe on his name. (John 1:12 KJV)

This “power” mentioned here is the Holy Spirit whom God sends to those who believe. Then, as Paul teaches in Romans above, if we will but “set our minds” upon the things of the Spirit, then God will faithfully see that we live “according to that Spirit.” This, and only this, is how we fulfill God’s command to Cain,  “Sin is crouching at the door. Its desire is for you, but you must rule over it.” (Genesis 4:7, ESV)

In light of these things I will next interpret my daughter’s dream… (to be continued).

Paul’s Use of the Law in 1 Corinthians 9

Many of us view God’s Law as something harsh and terrible. Our minds have become blinded to the truth because we have listened to teachers who have not understood God’s Law. We ourselves have failed to correctly apprehend this doctrine from our own faithful study of God’s Word. Thus we became convinced that the life, death, and resurrection of Jesus Christ meant an end to all application of God’s Law. We, like so many others, have believed a lie. Thus Paul, speaking by the Holy Spirit’s knowledge of this future heresy, presents us with doctrinal truth concerning God’s Law as a premier example of “food sacrificed to idols” (God’s truth sacrificed to the idols of our heart)

In 1 Corinthians 9 Paul applies specific Old Testament laws to particular New Testament circumstances. Be sure to review 1 Corinthians 9 again to see this. He applies the Law to New Testament doctrine. The Law clearly, then, does not end in Jesus. Rather, it reaches its goal, or fulfillment, in Jesus. Most of us have, for some reason, never realized nor understood this. Our minds have been blinded to the truth of what Paul does in this chapter because we have eaten food sacrificed to idols all of our lives. We have believed the doctrine of demons that says, “adherence to and/or application of God’s Law is legalism and to be avoided by the devout Christian,” or “the Law is symbolized by the Genesis Tree of the Knowledge of Good and Evil and is, therefore, an evil thing that Christians should avoid at all costs.” Paul’s many writings, including his application of the Law here, conclusively prove the grievous error of such common views.

Here Paul takes two specific Old Testament laws and applies the principle of each to a New Testament matter. First he uses the law of Moses, “You shall not muzzle an ox while it treads out the grain,” to teach that ministers of the gospel should be paid in the natural for their spiritual work. (vss. 7-11) Second he shows that the law which provided food from sacrifices to the Levite priests establishes the principle that “those who preach the gospel should live from the gospel.” (vs. 13-14) These two examples alone conclusively prove that Old Testament laws still apply during New Testament times. We do, however, need to seek God’s wisdom concerning their applications because often we would be in error if we simply started doing them in some vain attempt to show God that we really love him.

In verses 19 to 22 Paul declares that he is even willing to live under Old Covenant ceremonial practices if it will help to win Jews to Christ. He also says that he is willing to live without any of these if it will help win the Gentile. He makes it clear, however, that although he may live as a Gentile “without the law,” he never lives as one “without law toward God,” but always lives “under law toward Christ.” (vs. 21) The meaning of this phrase has become another one of God’s many mysteries in these latter days.

Paul’s Advice to Timothy Concerning the Law

{1} Paul, an apostle of Jesus Christ, by the commandment of God our Savior and the Lord Jesus Christ, our hope, {2} To Timothy, a true son in the faith: Grace, mercy, and peace from God our Father and Jesus Christ our Lord. {3} As I urged you when I went into Macedonia; remain in Ephesus that you may charge some that they teach no other doctrine, {4} nor give heed to fables and endless \genealogies, which cause disputes rather than godly edification which is in faith. {5} Now the purpose of the commandment is love from a pure heart, from a good conscience, and from sincere faith, {6} from which some, having strayed, have turned aside to idle talk, {7} desiring to be teachers of the law, understanding neither what they say nor the things which they affirm. {8} But we know that the law is good if one uses it lawfully, {9} knowing this: that the law is not made for a righteous person, but for the lawless and insubordinate, for the ungodly and for sinners, for the unholy and profane, for murderers of fathers and murderers of mothers, for manslayers, {10} for fornicators, for sodomites, for kidnappers, for liars, for perjurers, and if there is any other thing that is contrary to sound doctrine, {11} according to the glorious gospel of the blessed God which was committed to my trust. (1 Tim 1:1-11)

Paul begins his first letter to this true son, Timothy, with a command to teach “no other doctrine” than that explained to him by Paul himself. He begins his explanation of this doctrine with the purpose or goal of the gospel and the Law. The goal of the “commandment” or gospel is love. This Godly love proceeds from “a pure heart, from a good conscience, and from sincere faith.” This corresponds to what we know to be the greatest commands given by Christ, (1) to love God and (2) to love men. Jesus tells us that all of the Law and the prophets are summed up in these two commands. (Mat. 22:37-40) Since these two commands “sum up” the Law, this means that the two commands are defined by the Law and the prophets. Otherwise the phrases “love God” and “love men” have no meaning. We simply could not know what “love” means without the instructions of the rest of the Bible.

In this passage Paul tells Timothy exactly who is under the Law. He lists fourteen specific sins and then adds the sin of “any other thing that is contrary to sound doctrine.” First, see that each of these listed sins constitutes what Paul calls “sound doctrine.” Thus he is defining sound doctrine as teaching that corresponds to the truth found in God’s Law. Paul tells Timothy that the Law is for every single person who commits any of the fourteen specific acts he mentions and for anything else a person does that is contrary to sound doctrine. Paul, therefore, teaches that if any Christian commits any of these fourteen acts or any other sin that is contrary to sound doctrine, then the Law is for that Christian. According to Galatians, the Law will then act as a tutor to lead one back to Christ and a Spirit-led life.

Understanding the Book of Galatians

 But, how can the Law still be relevant? Is it not true that Galatians says, “This only I want to learn from you: Did you receive the Spirit by the works of the law, or by the hearing of faith? Are you so foolish? Having begun in the Spirit, are you now being made perfect by the flesh?” (Gal. 3:2-3)

Thus we see that the Law never does make us perfect. Why, then, is it still important? Galatians answers all these questions. First, we see that the Law “was our tutor to bring us to Christ, that we might be justified by faith.” (Gal. 3:24) Proper teaching of God’s Law brings an unbeliever (including unbelieving Christians) into the knowledge that he has sinned by breaking God’s Law. This leads him to seek forgiveness by believing in the work of Christ which brings him justification by faith. This is the way that anyone becomes a Christian. The Holy Spirit in His grace convicts a man of sin and then gives him the faith to believe that Jesus atoned for that sin. See Ephesians 2:8.

The problem with most Christians, however, is that they do not perfectly hear the Holy Spirit after they first believe and, therefore, are not led by the Spirit. Paul tells us a little later in Galatians that “if you are led by the Spirit, you are not under the law.” (Gal. 5:18) This directly implies that if one is not led by the Spirit, then he comes back under the Law. We need simply look to our own lives and the sins that we have committed and then been convicted of by the Holy Spirit and we will see this is true. The working of the Law and the conviction of the Holy Spirit in the life of a sinning Christian brings personal conviction of sin. The Law itself defines sin according to Romans 7:7. No one could even identify particular sins if not for God’s Law. The Holy Spirit brings conviction of law-breaking according to John 16:8. The Holy Spirit’s Law-based conviction leads a Christian back to a healthy relationship with Christ through repentance and forgiveness. This is true so long as he does not harden his heart toward God. If a sinning Christian will at least read or hear some of God’s Word, then the written word, the Law, can still stir his heart and cause repentance and faith to spring up once again. Remember how the Levitical sacrifices themselves prophesy this truth. (See Part I of my book When We Awake for a full exposition of the Levitical sacrifices)

Every Christian needs to come to an understanding that it is Christ in him, i.e. the Holy Spirit in him, that will first convict him of sin and then empower and enable him to keep God’s commandments. Yet, this occurs only if we develop a desire to keep Christ’s commands. God’s Word, so long as we attempt to hear it, continues to convict us of certain areas in our lives that do not line up with Christ’s life. This is the “fiery law” of Deuteronomy 33:2 that burns our flesh, our sinful nature. The Law through the convicting and changing power of God’s Spirit purges our dross, and conforms us to Christ’s image. For our part, we must never make the mistake that we, in our own power, conform ourselves into the image of God. God works through His Law and Holy Spirit to convict us of sin and lead us to Christ. With broken, mournful hearts we fall before God and beseech Him to change our hearts, to write His laws on them, so that we may do His will from our hearts and not our heads. Our hearts (souls) must change. The Law helps us to understand that and the Holy Spirit prosecutes and persecutes us until we either do change by God’s power, or utterly rebel against God.

Thus, when Paul asks, “Having begun in the Spirit, are you now being made perfect by the flesh?” we answer, “No. We will not become circumcised in our flesh in order to be justified before God to have fellowship with Him. Neither will we, by the power of our flesh, perfectly obey God’s commands so that we become sanctified, holy and have fellowship with Him. Rather, we will believe Jesus and enjoy fellowship with Him. We will then learn to honor and love God’s Law. We will allow Him to write that Law on our hearts so that we can obey Him by the power of the Holy Spirit who lives within us.”

Paul told Timothy, ”I charge you in the presence of God … to keep the commandment unstained and free from reproach until the appearing of our Lord Jesus Christ.” (1 Timothy 6:13-14) The question we face today is what “commandment” does Paul exhort Timothy to keep? Many today teach that Christians should keep all of the Old Testament commandments, at least the ones which do not command animal or food sacrifices. They would teach us that we must (or, “out of love for God”) obey every jot and tittle of the Law concerning Sabbath observance, which foods to eat, and what clothing to wear. Is this what Paul meant?

First, notice that the word “commandment” used by Paul in this passage is singular, not plural, as in “the ten commandments.” Just before charging Timothy he said, “Pursue righteousness, godliness, faith, love, steadfastness, gentleness. ¹² Fight the good fight of the faith. Take hold of the eternal life to which you were called and about which you made the good confession in the presence of many witnesses.” (1 Timothy 6:11b-12) Yesterday we discussed the good confession which Timothy and Jesus both made. Today we consider the commandment Jesus desires us to keep. Whatever the commandment is I believe that it includes pursuing righteousness, godliness, faith, love, steadfastness, and gentleness.

When Jesus dwelt among us he said, “A new commandment I give to you, that you love one another: just as I have loved you, you also are to love one another.” (John 13:34) James calls this “the royal law” in James 2:8 and says that if we keep this commandment, then we are doing well. If we fail to keep this law, however, he tells us that “the law,” meaning the Old Testament Law of Moses, convicts us as transgressors, for “whoever keeps the whole law but fails in one point has become accountable for all of it.” (James 2:10) Strangely, James then calls this new commandment “the law of liberty.” (James 2:12) How can this possibly be? If I fail to perfectly obey the law of liberty, then I become convicted by the Old Testament Law of Moses as a transgressor of that law? Is this really what James says? Is this why Martin Luther wanted to expunge the Book of James from the canon of Scripture, because it seems to contradict the rest of the teaching of the New Testament, and especially Paul’s doctrine? I believe the answers to these last three questions are yes, yes, and yes! But, Paul does provide the answer to this seeming contradiction.

Recall that Paul wrote the Book of Galatians specifically to tell new Christian converts that they did not need to become circumcised or submit to the manifold regulations of Old Testament law. He warned them that if they began to submit to those regulations then they would become accountable to all the Law. He said,

 Look: I, Paul, say to you that if you accept circumcision, Christ will be of no advantage to you. ³ I testify again to every man who accepts circumcision that he is obligated to keep the whole law. ⁴ You are severed from Christ, you who would be justified^[a] by the law; you have fallen away from grace. (Galatians 5:1-4)

Yet, Paul makes it clear through all of his writings that he highly honored the Law. He does not disparage it. In fact he even tells the Galatians that “the law was our schoolmaster to bring us unto Christ, that we might be justified by faith.” (Gal. 3:24) Strong’s tells us that this Greek word translated “schoolmaster” here means “a servant whose office it was to take the children to school.” The Law is the servant and we are the children. The Law takes us to school in the sense that it teaches us right from wrong. It teaches us how to relate to God (the first five of the Ten Commandments) and to men (the second group of five of the Ten Commandments). The Word of God further tells us that these first five commands define what God means by the word “righteousness” and that the word “justice” sums up the second group of five. Paul takes this idea even further and says, “All the law is fulfilled in one word, even in this; Thou shalt love thy neighbour as thyself,” (Gal. 5:14) which, as we have seen above, is the new command Jesus gave us.

Clearly, then, Paul exhorts Timothy to keep this particular command. Just prior to telling him so he tells him how to do this. He says, “pursue righteousness, godliness, faith, love, steadfastness, gentleness.” When we pursue these Godly attributes then we become empowered to love others. Paul does not tell Timothy to “go and learn the Old Testament laws and do them.” Similarly, James does not tell his Christian hearers to submit to the Old Covenant laws. He simply tells them that if they fail to perfectly obey Christ’s new command, then the Mosaic laws will convict them as transgressors. This is the function of the Law, to convict us of sin. This is its function as a schoolmaster. It convicts us, we acknowledge our sin, we come to Christ for forgiveness of our sins.

No New Testament writer ever teaches us to submit ourselves to the specific Old Testament commands which demand outward signs of inward truth, signs like circumcision, tassels, garments, days of the week, weeks of the year, and natural food that we eat. Instead, each writer focuses upon spiritual reality within our hearts, spiritual reality which becomes part of our very being. Jesus taught of love, mercy, and perfection, even as God is perfect.  Paul spoke of righteousness, godliness, faith, love, steadfastness, and gentleness. James spoke of impartiality toward the rich and poor within our churches and of mercy, for “mercy triumphs over judgment.” (James 2:13)

This is “the perfect law,” “the law of liberty,” “the royal law,” the “new commandment” which Jesus and all his apostles taught. This law takes us well beyond the Old Testament Law, for that law made nothing perfect. Christ’s Law takes us to perfection itself, but it does not do this by putting us back under Moses’ law, nor by suggesting we ought to keep all the jots and tittles of that law in order to please him. Rather than demanding that we keep the Law which he gave fifteen hundred years before his birth, Jesus gives us his Spirit and says,

⁷ Nevertheless, I tell you the truth: it is to your advantage that I go away, for if I do not go away, the Helper will not come to you. But if I go, I will send him to you. ⁸ And when he comes, he will convict the world concerning sin and righteousness and judgment:⁹ concerning sin, because they do not believe in me; ¹⁰ concerning righteousness,because I go to the Father, and you will see me no longer; ¹¹ concerning judgment, because the ruler of this world is judged.

¹² “I still have many things to say to you, but you cannot bear them now. ¹³ When the Spirit of truth comes, he will guide you into all the truth, for he will not speak on his own authority, but whatever he hears he will speak, and he will declare to you the things that are to come. ¹⁴ He will glorify me, for he will take what is mine and declare it to you.¹⁵ All that the Father has is mine; therefore I said that he will take what is mine and declare it to you. (John 16:7-15)

When Jesus made his good confession to Pilate he said, “You say that I am a king. To this end was I born, and for this cause came I into the world, that I should bear witness unto the truth. Every one that is of the truth hears my voice.” (John 18:37 KJ2000) When we come to Jesus, when we accept and acknowledge him as LORD and Savior, then we come to the truth. So long as we follow him, so long as we “obey the Gospel” (obey the good confession that Jesus is our King), then he will reveal his truth to us and we will walk in that truth he reveals to us. He does not put us back under Old Covenant Law. He declares a New Covenant, and so long as we walk in this New Covenant we walk toward that perfection he desires for us.

Psalm 120, the first song of ascent into the presence of God, teaches us that we must repent of our sins before we can ever see his face. This also is the first elementary truth of the eternal Gospel of God preached both to and by Moses and to and by the first Christians. See Hebrews 4:2 and 6:1. We cannot repent unless we know, really know, that we stand as unclean beasts before God. God considers us unclean because we sin, we miss his mark of perfect holiness. If we deny that we sin, then the truth dwells not within us. If we confess our sins, then God is faithful and just to forgive us our sins because his son, Jesus Christ, died for our sins. When we acknowledge our sins, then we may take the second step, the step that will absolve us of our sins. The second song of ascent thus says,

O foolish [Christians], who has bewitched you, that you should not obey the truth, before whose eyes Jesus Christ has been openly set forth, crucified among you? This only would I learn of you, Received you the Spirit by the works of the law, or by the hearing of faith? Are you so foolish? having begun in the Spirit, are you now made perfect by the flesh? (Galatians 3:1-3 KJ2000)

A prophetess recently received a word from God that we are now “in the end game.” This phrase specifically speaks about the ending moves of the classic strategy game called chess. God has made it clear through this prophetess and others with prophetic gifting that he intends to establish his kingdom soon. Part of this prophetic word concerns examining ourselves to be sure that we are currently living lives of obedience and faith to God. Another word tells us to rest in God right now until he does a new greater work in us which will empower us to build the kingdom with him.

If we do not know and understand God well we may become fearful and anxious, instead of restful, during this time. On the other hand we could also “rest” carnally and fall into gross sin. As in all things relating to God and his Word we must walk the narrow path, which means we must keep our balance and not fall off of it. We may become fearful and anxious because we perceive, and rightly so, that we are still not good enough in God’s sight. Every one of us, if honest with himself, can point to something in his life that is not perfect. I can beat myself up, I can try to keep myself from everything that might not be the best for me, but ultimately I still cannot be good enough to satisfy the perfection of God. And so Paul says, “O foolish Christians, who has bewitched you, that you should not obey the truth, before whose eyes Jesus Christ has been openly set forth, crucified among you? This only would I learn of you, Received you the Spirit by the works of the law, or by the hearing of faith? Are you so foolish? having begun in the Spirit, are you now made perfect by the flesh?”

So, given the imminence of the change of time, the literal coming of God’s kingdom, do we now expect to perfect ourselves by the flesh before that instant gets here? I don’t think so. But, neither do I believe that I have a license to go out and sin so that grace may abound unto me. I cannot obey the written word in perfection by the power of my flesh, but I can obey God according to the faith that he gives me. “Faith comes by hearing and hearing by the Word of God,” says the Scripture. I can pray that God will open my ears to hear and my eyes to see his truth. I can pray that he then gives me faith to obey the truth he shows me.

I will close this post by quoting certain passages from the book of Romans as interpreted by J. B. Phillips. This morning the Holy Spirit quietly whispered the title of today’s post to me, and I knew this was a Scripture I had read somewhere. I could only find one translation, the New International Version, which rendered Roman 1:5 and 16:26 this way, and I have not read that version for over fourteen years. But as I searched for this verse I also found J. B. Phillips’ translation. I find his insight amazing and very helpful in understanding this whole idea.

Romans 1:3-6
The Gospel is centred in God’s Son, a descendant of David by human genealogy and patently marked out as the Son of God by the power of that Spirit of holiness which raised him to life again from the dead. He is our Lord, Jesus Christ, from whom we received grace and our commission in his name to forward obedience to the faith in all nations. And of this great number you at Rome are also called to belong to him.

Romans 4:13-14
[ The promise, from the beginning, was made to faith ] The ancient promise made to Abraham and his descendants, that they should eventually possess the world, was given not because of any achievements made through obedience to the Law, but because of the righteousness which had its root in faith. For if, after all, they who pin their faith to keeping the Law were to inherit God’s world, it would make nonsense of faith in God himself, and destroy the whole point of the promise.

Romans 16:25-27
Now to him who is able to set you on your feet as his own sons—according to my Gospel, according to the preaching of Jesus Christ himself, and in accordance with the disclosing of that secret purpose which, after long ages of silence, has now been made known (in full agreement with the writings of the prophets long ago), by the command of the everlasting God to all the Gentiles, that they might turn to him in the obedience of faith—to him, I say, the only God who is wise, be glory for ever through Jesus Christ! PAUL

Galatians 2:15-21
And then I went on to explain that we, who are Jews by birth and not Gentile sinners, know that a man is justified not by performing what the Law commands but by faith in Jesus Christ. We ourselves are justified by our faith and not by our obedience to the Law, for we have recognised that no one can achieve justification by doing the “works of the Law”. Now if, as we seek the real truth about justification, we find we are as much sinners as the Gentiles, does that mean that Christ makes us sinners? Of course not! But if I attempt to build again the whole structure of justification by the Law then I do, in earnest, make myself a sinner. For under the Law I “died”, and now I am dead to the Law’s demands so that I may live for God. As far as the Law is concerned I may consider that I died on the cross with Christ. And my present life is not that of the old “I”, but the living Christ within me. The bodily life I now live, I live believing in the Son of God, who loved me and sacrificed himself for me. Consequently I refuse to stultify the grace of God by reverting to the Law. For if righteousness were possible under the Law then Christ died for nothing!

Therefore I choose the obedience that comes by faith and by reliance upon the Holy Spirit of God rather than the obedience that derives from the power of my flesh. But, make no mistake, I choose obedience, not disobedience and rebellion to the commands of God!

² Let me ask you only this: ^(A)Did you receive the Spirit by works of the law or by ^(B)hearing with faith? ³ Are you so foolish?^(C)Having begun by the Spirit, are you now being perfected by^[a]the flesh? ^4 (D)Did you suffer^[b] so many things in vain—if indeed it was in vain? (Gal. 3:2-4, ESV)

With respect to our final approval or disapproval by God can it get any simpler than this statement by Paul? Who is responsible for your initial faith and thus for your salvation in Jesus Christ? You or God? If you believe that you are a great person who because of your greatness sought out and believed upon Jesus all on your own, then you might believe that your salvation rests upon your own shoulders. But, I doubt that many of you think that. I know that I can still look back thirty-five years to a young man barely twenty-one years old who was about to cast everything away for a life of sin when I began to feel a longing inside for “truth.” Shortly thereafter God put the “New English Bible” in my path along with the thought, “I have always heard that the truth is in this book. Why don’t I just buy this, read it, and see if it is.” Within three months, and in a story I have told before, God revealed to me that he wrote the Bible and that indeed the truth did reside in that book. He further showed me that his truth had a name and that his name was Jesus Christ. I then believed in Jesus, determined that I had better start doing what he said, and was baptized in water as I made that confession of faith.

During those three months while I first read the Scriptures God’s Spirit slowly, but surely, convicted me of sin. I was not convicting myself; my flesh did not say, “Flesh, you are bad and sinful.” No, the LORD began to say through his word, “The things you are doing in your flesh are bad and you need to stop doing those things and obey me instead.” When I finally realized that Jesus was in fact the God of the Bible, when I came to faith in him, suddenly I had both the conviction that my sinful behavior was wrong and the power to stop doing those things. Those two things did not come through my flesh, they came by the Spirit of God. Thus I received the Spirit of God by “hearing with faith.” The first time that I “heard with faith” was when I realized by reading the Bible that God wrote the Bible (through men). Simultaneously, as I came to this understanding, God spoke to me in a voice which seemed audible (yet I believe it was within me), “That’s right, Glenn, and I want you to teach my word.” Since then, the spring of 1977, it has been a struggle to understand and follow the leading of the Spirit versus the leading of my own flesh.

At this time in our spiritual journey the LORD communicates to us through our “flesh,” through our minds (souls) which are housed in these temporary bodies of dust. We also each possess a spirit and if we have believed in Jesus Christ as our LORD and Savior, then our own particular spirit has been “quickened” or “born again.” This occurs when we first hear the Word with faith. If we do not believe in Jesus then our spirit remains dead. This is what Jesus meant when he spoke to Nicodemus.

3 Now there was a man of the Pharisees, named ^(A)Nicodemus, a ^(B)ruler of the Jews; ² this man came to Jesus by night and said to Him, “^(C)Rabbi, we know that You have come from God as a teacher; for no one can do these ^[a](D)signs that You do unless ^(E)God is with him.” ³ Jesus answered and said to him,“Truly, truly, I say to you, unless one ^(F)is born ^[b]again he cannot see ^(G)the kingdom of God.”