Why Moses Had To Die

before entering the Promised Land.  Was God really that impatient with a man who had given everything?

Most of you are familiar with the story of Moses leading the Israelites out of Egypt and then Joshua leading them into the Promised Land. (Exodus 3-12 and Joshua 1-4)

I think that most Christians would agree that they have left Egypt. They are free. But like the Israelites, I wonder how many Christians still live as slaves in what was intended to be a land of freedom?

How many Christians would you say are living in the Promised Land, enjoying the inheritance that Christ purchased for them?

Though the Israelites were led out of captivity, they quickly returned to what they knew. Exodus 32:1 (ESV) 1 When the people saw that Moses delayed to come down from the mountain, the people gathered themselves together to Aaron and said to him, “Up, make us gods who shall go before us. As for this Moses, the man who brought us up out of the land of Egypt, we do not know what has become of him.”

As Christians, we often fall back on what we know.  We do that whenever we combine the covenants of Law and Grace. We live under the new covenant of  Grace but are still enslaved to the old covenant ways of law.

When Moses died, God said to Joshua, 'Get going'. Josh 1:2 Msg. The King James Version says, 'Go over....' signifying a transition.

God was saying,'time to make a transition' from old covenant/law thinking to new covenant/Grace thinking, a paradigm shift of epic proportion.

Does that mean they were freed from the law?  No, the law, the whole law, not just those written upon tablets of stone, was still in effect and would be until Jesus ratified the New Covenant at which time the law would be written upon their hearts.

Through relationship there would be no need for an external system of government. Only Grace can transform you from the inside.  Law simply modifies your behavior externally.

The night before they crossed the Jordan, Joshua spoke to them and said, Joshua 3:4 (GW) ”.......you have not gone this way before.” 

God was saying, 'This is a new way.  It is time to follow Jesus apart from the law'.

1 Corinthians 2:9 (NKJV) But as it is written: "Eye has not seen, nor ear heard, Nor have entered into the heart of man The things which God has prepared for those who love Him." ....... Grace is a brand new way of looking at things....... righteousness apart from the law had never been done before.


Joshua is a type of Christ and the very name means Yeshua. Jesus is the Greek transliteration of Yeshua.

We have to leave the pilgrimage of law (Moses), enter the water (a baptism signifying an identification with Christ, an identity exchange), via spiritual death, to be resurrected in the promised land under Grace with Jesus as our Guide.

Jesus (Yeshua) destroyed principalities and powers at the Cross.  In Joshua 3:10, God eliminates 7 tribes (7 signifying complete) 10 And Joshua said, 'Hereby ye shall know that the living God is among you, and that he will without fail drive out from before you the Canaanite, and the Hittite, and the Hivite, and the Perizzite, and the Girgashite, and the Amorite, and the Jebusite.

Jesus stripped principalities and powers of their authority at the Cross, a complete victory.  

In the process of moving into the promised land, we are given cities we did not build. It is not a place of works, but of rest. Joshua 24:13 (ASV) And I gave you a land whereon thou hadst not labored, and cities which ye built not, and ye dwell therein; of vineyards and oliveyards which ye planted not do ye eat.

The original Hebrew word for cities is from a root word signifying an 'opening of the eyes, a becoming naked', referring to a return to innocence, rest and provision similar to Adam and Eve.

The Greek word for land is from a root word meaning 'Adam',  symbolic of shamelessly entering the new Eden.

Adam and Eve were not under law.  Until shame drove them from His presence, they were in right relationship with God apart from law. At the Cross, Christ bore our shame so that relationship with our God could be restored.

Moses, because he represents the law, had to die rather than cross the Jordan and enter the Promised Land. Law cannot take you into your inheritance, only Grace can do that.

This crossing marked the end of the pilgrimage of law and the beginning of Grace.

The name "Moses" is from the Hebrew word Mosheh meaning "drawing out of (the water)", that is "rescued". He was drawn from the water to be the deliverer of God's people.

The Jews call Moses “Moshe Rabbeinu”, Our Teacher/Rabbi. The numeric value of “Moshe Rabbeinu” is 613, the number of laws (the mitzvot) that Moses taught the children of Israel!

But just like the law only takes us to the teacher, Moses could only take us to the edge of our inheritance. Jesus must take us in.  See the teaching, 'Arrested Development' at http://ow.ly/2K48b

The Reubenites, the Gadites and the half tribe of Manasseh were given land by Moses before his death before crossing the Jordan. They chose to stay.

I wonder if they don't represent the brothers-in-law? No doubt, our brothers in law will always be around.

We, however, have chosen to pilgrimage with Joshua and now live under the pilgrimage of Grace, not law-less but law-free, and are motivated by a personal relationship with Jesus rather than an impersonal relationship to the law.

Law cannot take you into your inheritance, only Grace can do that.

The Tree of the Knowledge of Good and Evil = The Law of Commandments by Ian Hall

The Tree of the the knowledge of good and evil was declared "good" along with everything else He created in the garden of Eden (Genesis 1:31).
The Law is good (Romans 7:12).

Eating from the Tree of the knowledge of good and evil brought a curse (Genesis 3:17).
The Law brings a curse (Galatians 3:10).

The Tree the knowledge of good and evil brought death (Genesis 2:17).
The Law brings death (2 Corinthians 3:17, Romans 7:5,10).

The Tree of the knowledge of good and evil enlightened the eyes of Adam and Eve (Genesis 3:7).
The Law enlightens the eyes (Psalm 19:8).

The Tree of the knowledge of good and evil was forbidden by God to be eaten (Genesis 2:17).
The Law is forbidden for believers to be sought after (Galatians 5:4).

The Tree of the knowledge of good and evil makes one wise (Genesis 3:6).
The Law makes one wise (Psalm 119:98).

The Tree of the knowledge of good and evil made Adam and Eve sin-conscience (Genesis 3:7).
The Law brings consciousness of sins (Hebrews 10:1-3).

The Tree of the knowledge of good and evil caused Adam and Eve to hide them selves from God (Genesis 3:8).
The Law disconnects people from God (Galatians 5:4).

The Tree of the knowledge of good and evil brought fear to Adam and Eve (Genesis 3:10).
Slavery to the Law brings about fear (Romans 8:15, also see Galatians 4:25).

Adam eating from the Tree of the knowledge of good and evil brought condemnation (Romans 5:14-18).
The Law is a ministry of condemnation (2 Corinthians 3:9).

Adam and Eve began to judge each other after eating from the Tree of the knowledge of good and evil (Genesis 3:12-13)
The Law causes people to judge one another (1 Corinthians 6:6).

By Adam eating from the Tree of the knowledge of good and evil, many were made sinners (Romans 5:19).
The Law came in so that sin might increase (Romans 5:20).

The Tree of the knowledge of good and evil brings knowledge of good by definition (Genesis 3:5, 22).
The Law is the embodiment of knowledge and of the truth (Romans 2:20), which is good (Ephesians 5:9).

The Tree of the knowledge of good and evil brings knowledge of evil by definition (Genesis 3:5, 22).
Through the Law comes the knowledge of sin (Romans 3:20).

There are only two trees; one brought life, and one brought death. The Tree of the knowledge of good and evil brought death, thus we can assume that the law brings about death. Jesus is full of GRACE and truth, and He is the way the truth and the LIFE. Therefore, Jesus is the Tree of life, which is the Covenant of Grace as opposed to the Covenant of Law.

by Ian Hall
http://facebook.com/manaftergod33

You Should Strive To Do Right and Avoid Wrong - Not True by Steve McVey

One of the worst and yet most prevalent lies I’ll present in this book is this one. The idea that we should focus on improving our behavior so that we avoid doing wrong and consistently do right seems to be the mindset of most of Christians in the contemporary church world. Most ministries are devoted to helping people know how to act better and avoid sin in an attempt to do what they imagine God wants them to do.

The problem with this belief is that it misses the point entirely. God’s purpose for mankind isn’t that we do good things and avoid doing evil. Don’t misunderstand me on this point. Of course, it’s better to do a good thing than a bad one in terms of the consequences the action will produce. That’s what makes this lie so easy to believe. However, God’s primary interest in our actions isn't about right and wrong. It never has been.

When God created Adam and Eve, do you think His purpose for them would be to do good and avoid evil? From a moral standpoint, that seems to make perfect sense. The problem is that the Bible presents a very different scenario. Our Creator never intended for our lives to be understood from a moral standpoint.

When the first couple was placed into the Garden of Eden, they were told they could eat from any tree in the garden except The Tree of the Knowledge of Good and Evil. They were plainly warned not to eat from that tree. Eating from it would bring death.

Take a careful look at the description of the tree. It was a tree that gave knowledge of two things. What were they? Good and evil, or to put it a different way, right and wrong. This was a tree that would activate morality if they were to eat from it. It would give them the knowledge of good and evil and, after all, right and wrong are the two great pillars of morality. Moral living leads one toward doing right and away from doing wrong. Immoral living has just the opposite effect.

As strange as it might seem, before they ate from the tree, Adam and Eve’s lives weren’t moral. Neither were they immoral. Their lives didn’t exist in the realm of morality. By virtue of their oneness with their Creator, their lives were miraculous. Their actions transcended rightness. Their behavior was righteous.

So when God put them in this garden, He told them not to eat from that tree at all. Notice that He did not say, “Eat from the good branch on the tree but be sure to avoid the evil branch.” No, God told them not to eat from the tree at all. Their lives weren’t to be based on morality. He had a better plan for them than that. Their lives were to be an expression of their relationship to Him. As they trusted Him as their life-source, their behavior would always honor Him.

But it was not to be that way. They chose to eat from the forbidden tree and, as a result, the template by which humanity began to live by was one of right and wrong – good and evil. Man began to evaluate his every action by right and wrong, despite the fact that God had told them that was not to be the way they lived.

Fast-forward many millennia later and where do we find ourselves today? Living from that same tree. Even those who desire to honor God with their lives commonly think that the way to do that is to do right and avoid wrong. Churches sound forth that message again and again. The idea that God’s goals for us revolve around our doing good and not evil is pervasive in the modern church.

The reality is, though, that God didn’t change His mind. His intent for you is the same one that He had for Adam and Eve. He doesn’t want you building your life around a system in which you try to do good and avoid evil. He wants you to recognize that your lifestyle is to flow from your connection to your Creator. Like Adam and Eve before the fall, when our lifestyle is an expression of the union we share with Him our behavior will be better than good. It will be godly.

Don’t think that doing the right thing necessarily honors your Father. The Bible says that whatever is not of faith is sin. (See Romans 14:23) So a person can do many good things, moral things, and still be committing sin because their actions from the wrong source. The Source of our lives is to be Him, not our determination to behave in a certain way, even if it is good.

I’m not suggesting that it doesn’t matter how we behave. To the contrary, I’m saying just the opposite. It does matter how we behave, but our Father doesn’t intend for our behavior to revolve around rules of right and wrong. He wants our behavior to be an expression of His indwelling Life, coming out through our thoughts, our words and our actions. He wants to animate our lifestyle, not some sterile list that tells us how to act right.

Most believers understand this to some extent. They’ll say to an unbeliever, “It’s not about how you behave. Christianity is all about trusting Jesus Christ! That’s what matters.” The sad thing is that they don’t see that the same thing is true for themselves. Let me say it to those who are believers that are reading this book: “It’s not about how you behave either! Christianity is all about trusting Jesus Christ. That’s what matters!”

You don’t have to be worried that your behavior will jump track and you’ll run off into a crevice of sinful living. When we stop focusing on right and wrong and start focusing on Jesus Christ and Him alone, I assure you that His Spirit within us will regulate our behavior. He will see to it that we act in the way that honors our Father to the max, and it won’t be moral living either. It will be nothing short of a miraculous lifestyle.

Super Abounding Grace!

Super Abounding Grace!



[Rom 5:20 Moreover the law entered that the offence might abound. But where sin abounded, grace abounded much more].

This verse is not referring to a particular sin because then we’d never be able to tell exactly which sin Paul was referring to. Instead it refers to the inherent tendency to sin that entered the human heart, which turned Adam into a sinner by nature. Adam then passed this inherent sinful nature on to all his offspring. Yes it was only a single act of disobedience, but it opened his heart to the entrance of the sinful condition.

Every human being has inherited this sinful nature from Adam, and the reason why the Law was given was to stimulate our sinful nature so that we became more aware of our sinful condition.

[Rom 5:14 Nevertheless death reigned from Adam to Moses, even over those who had not sinned according to the likeness of the transgression of Adam, who is a type of Him who was to come]. Because of Adam’s sin, the whole world became guilty. If anybody were to end up in hell, it would not have been because of their own sins but because they inherited Adam’s sinful nature at birth. In the same way, nobody will go to heaven because of their own goodness or level of obedience, but only because of their faith in Jesus’ perfect obedience.

[Rom 5:15 But the free gift is not like the offence. For if by the one man’s offence many died, much more the grace of God and the gift by the grace of the one Man, Jesus Christ, abounded to many]. Because of Jesus’ obedience, those who believe in Him are justified by faith.

Now when God gave the Law it was meant to come in beside sinners to show how huge our lack of holiness really was. It wasn’t given to turn mankind into sinners, because sin existed even before the law was given (see Rom 5:14 again). The purpose of the Law was to show us the depth of our depravity. God didn’t introduce the Law because He wanted to make us sin more, but He wanted us to be more conscious of our sins and the fact that we had an utterly sinful nature. Notice in Rom 5:15 that Paul does not say “offences” (plural) but “offence” (singular), which is a reference to the sin (sinful state) of Adam. A few of the heroes of the faith made the following comments:

Charles Spurgeon: “A stick is crooked, but you do not notice how crooked it is until you place a straight rule by the side of it. You have a handkerchief, and it seems to be quite white. You could hardly wish it to be whiter. But you lay it down on the newly fallen snow, and you wonder how you could ever have thought it to be white at all. So the pure and holy law of God, when our eyes are opened to see its purity, shows up our sin in its true blackness, and in that way it makes sin to abound. But this is for our good, for that sight of our sin awakens us to a sense of our true condition, leads us to repentance, drives us by faith to the precious blood of Jesus, and no longer permits us to rest in our self-righteousness. It was the practical result of the giving of the law that men became greater sinners than they were before, and it was the design of the law that they should see themselves to be greater sinners than before. The law is the looking-glass in which we see our spots, but it is not the basin in which we wash them away. The law has a provoking power, for such is the perversity of our (old) nature that, no sooner do we hear the command, “You shall not do so-and-so,” than at once we want to do it”.

Dave Guzik: “The flaws in a precious stone abound when contrasted with a perfect stone, or when put against a contrasting backdrop. God’s perfect law exposes our flaws, and makes our sin abound. There is another way that the law makes sin abound. Because of the sinfulness of my heart, when I see a line drawn I want to cross over it. In this sense, the law makes sin abound because it draws many clear lines between right and wrong that my sinful heart wants to break. Therefore, the law makes me sin more – but not because there is anything wrong in the law, only because there is something deeply wrong in the human condition”.

John Piper: “I take it to mean that one crucial function of the law is to turn our original sin into actual transgressions of specific commandments. First, we are guilty in Adam and sinful by nature, and then the Law confronts us with the specific will of God: “Don’t steal. Don’t lie. Don’t covet.” And the effect is that it turns sinful nature into specific sinful acts of transgression. One writer said it well: the Law makes little Adams out of us all”. (”The law has the function of turning those it addresses into ‘their own Adam.”)

So we see the Law was given so that sin might abound. Our key verse however says that where sin abounded, Grace abounded much more! [Rom 5:20 Moreover the law entered that the offence might abound. But where sin abounded, grace abounded much more]. Let’s look at some quotes on Grace that abounds:

Wayne Barber: “Now there are two words used in that verse for abound or increase. The first one is pleonazo (used with “sin”), which means “is more than enough” or “to have enough.” The other word (used with Grace), perisseuo, is actually a synonym, but when they are used together, they are saying different things. Pleonazo means to abound, but perisseuo means to go even beyond that (and) takes it to a greater extreme. Not only that, but Paul put a preposition, huper, in front of the word perisseuo (huperperisseuo). So what he is saying is that not only does Grace extend beyond where sin increased, but Grace goes WAY beyond”.

In his book, “What’s So Amazing About Grace,” Phillip Yancey points out that part of our problem is in the nature of Grace itself. Grace is scandalous. It’s hard to accept, hard to believe, and hard to receive. Grace shocks us in what it offers. It is truly not of this world. It frightens us with what it does for sinners. Grace teaches us that God does for others what we would never do for them. We would save the “not-so-bad”. God starts with prostitutes and then works downward from there. Grace is a gift that costs everything to the giver and nothing to the receiver. It is given to those who don’t deserve it, barely recognize it, and hardly appreciate it. That’s why God alone gets the glory in your salvation. Jesus did all the work when he died on the cross.

Law added transgressions, showing even more clearly the super-abounding (huperperisseuo) Grace of God. Grace did not set aside the Law, but rather completely satisfied it. As deep as sin goes, God’s Grace goes deeper. As wide as sin is, God’s Grace is wider. When sin abounded, Grace super-abounded. God’s Grace is greater than all our sin.

Barnhouse also comments on Paul’s use of “abounds” and “super-abounds”: “In the Greek, these are two different words. “Where sin overflowed, grace flooded in.” Where sin measurably increased, grace immeasurably increased. Where sin abounded – pleonazo – grace did much more abound – huper-perisseuo. The prefix huper is like the Latin “super”. The movie ads have taught us what “super” does to a word. Instead of being colossal, something is super-colossal. So, where sin could be measured by multiplying the number of commands of the law by the number of human beings in the world, Grace could never be measured because it would require the multiplication of the number of acts of God’s Grace by the infinity of His being. Our text might well read: “Where sin was finite, Grace was infinite.”

In Grace
Andre van der Merwe

Joel Brueseke - NEW Covenant! (Get out of the shadows)

Heb 10:9 "He takes away the first that He may establish the second."

About this New Covenant: This is not "Old Covenant, Part 2." This is not a continuation of the Old Covenant. This is not a mixture of two Covenants. This is not a "new" way to do the same old thing. This is not an amendment to the Old Covenant. This is not "picking up where the old left off." This is a completely different covenant. This is "a better covenant, which was established on better promises." (Heb 8:6).




The old system of a priesthood of mortal men (see Heb 7:23-25 "prevented by death from continuing"), and everything that went along with it, served a purpose under that old covenant, but it is now done away with. The old tithing system that was set in place to provide for the Levites, widows, orphans and strangers, served its purpose under that old covenant, but it is now done away with. All of the sacrifices, which had a purpose under that old covenant, have now been done away with.



The curse of the law has been done away with. In fact, the Law has been "wiped out," "taken out of the way," "nailed to the cross." (Col 2:14). Did Paul really say that? YES HE DID! Trying to be obedient to God's Law has been done away with. Man's relationship with the law altogether has been done away with! One has to be dead to the law in order to be married to a completely different spouse, Jesus Christ. (Rom 7:1-6, Gal 2:19-20). They are not the same, and you cannot be married/joined to both.




God's law was "a shadow of of the good things to come, and not the very image of the things" (Heb 10:1). It, along with the sacrifices, could never make anything perfect and could never take away sins, but really only brought about a reminder of sins! (Heb 10:2-4).



However...

JESUS HIMSELF - the PERSON - is the reality, is the substance (Col 2:17). The reality/substance is not a system of rules and laws and sacrifices, but is a Person. Jesus' one-time, once-for-all sacrifice did away with ALL of that! With one sacrifice, the system of laws and ordinances was done away with, as was the entire priestly system and the entire OLD COVENANT. "What the law could not do, in that it was weak through the flesh, God did by sending His own Son in the likeness of sinful flesh..." (Rom 8:3). Jesus Himself became a curse for us (Gal 3:13) and became sin for us (2 Cor 5:21). With one sacrifice, Jesus TOOK AWAY the sin of the world! "Behold, the Lamb of God who takes away the sin of the world!" (John 1:29). "But now, once at the end of the ages, He has appeared to put away sin by the sacrifice of Himself" (Heb 9:26).

If we want to live in the fullness of the reality of Jesus Christ, we need to get out of the shadows and instead focus on the substance - the Person of Jesus Christ who IS our life and who is our light. He Himself IS the reality of the abundant life.

Joel Brueseke - Ten specific examples of what was against us and contrary to us...

If the last post didn't step on any toes, I'm sure this one will. But let's at least look at what the Scriptures say. "Let us reason together." :)

First, a summary:
Scripture tells us that something was against us and contrary to us. It tells us that we were in bondage to something. It tells us that in Christ, this has now been taken out of the way, nailed to the cross and made obsolete. Isn't it quite astounding for God to go to such great lengths to take something out of the way, nail it to the cross and make it obsolete! So what is it that was against us, and contrary to us, and put us into bondage... and God then took out of the way, nailed to the cross and made obsolete?


Gal 4:24 "For these are the two covenants: the one from Mount Sinai which gives birth to bondage..."

Col 2:13-14 "And you, being dead in your trespasses and the uncircumcision of your flesh, He has made alive together with Him, having forgiven you all trespasses, having wiped out the handwriting of requirements that was against us, which was contrary to us. And He has taken it out of the way, having nailed it to the cross."

Heb 8:13 In that He says, 'A new covenant,' He has made the first obsolete. Now what is obsolete and growing old is ready to vanish away."
What came from Mount Sinai? God's LAW. What is the handwriting of requirements that was against us, which was contrary to us? God's LAW. What has been taken out of the way, nailed to the cross? God's LAW. What has been made obsolete? The Old Covenant, which was based upon man keeping God's LAW.

Brace yourself, I'm here to lay it down.

----------------------------------------

The following was against us, contrary to us, a source of bondage to us, and is now taken out of our way, nailed to the cross and made obsolete:

"You shall have no other gods before Me."
The following was against us, contrary to us, a source of bondage to us, and is now taken out of our way, nailed to the cross and made obsolete:

"You shall not make for yourself a carved image — any likeness of anything that is in heaven above, or that is in the earth beneath, or that is in the water under the earth; you shall not bow down to them nor serve them. For I, the Lord your God, am a jealous God, visiting the iniquity of the fathers upon the children to the third and fourth generations of those who hate Me, but showing mercy to thousands, to those who love Me and keep My commandments."
The following was against us, contrary to us, a source of bondage to us, and is now taken out of our way, nailed to the cross and made obsolete:

"You shall not take the name of the Lord your God in vain, for the Lord will not hold him guiltless who takes His name in vain."
The following was against us, contrary to us, a source of bondage to us, and is now taken out of our way, nailed to the cross and made obsolete:

"Remember the Sabbath day, to keep it holy. Six days you shall labor and do all your work, but the seventh day is the Sabbath of the Lord your God. In it you shall do no work: you, nor your son, nor your daughter, nor your male servant, nor your female servant, nor your cattle, nor your stranger who is within your gates. For in six days the Lord made the heavens and the earth, the sea, and all that is in them, and rested the seventh day. Therefore the Lord blessed the Sabbath day and hallowed it."
The following was against us, contrary to us, a source of bondage to us, and is now taken out of our way, nailed to the cross and made obsolete:

"Honor your father and your mother, that your days may be long upon the land which the Lord your God is giving you."
The following was against us, contrary to us, a source of bondage to us, and is now taken out of our way, nailed to the cross and made obsolete:

"You shall not murder."
The following was against us, contrary to us, a source of bondage to us, and is now taken out of our way, nailed to the cross and made obsolete:

"You shall not commit adultery."
The following was against us, contrary to us, a source of bondage to us, and is now taken out of our way, nailed to the cross and made obsolete:

"You shall not steal."
The following was against us, contrary to us, a source of bondage to us, and is now taken out of our way, nailed to the cross and made obsolete:

"You shall not bear false witness against your neighbor."
The following was against us, contrary to us, a source of bondage to us, and is now taken out of our way, nailed to the cross and made obsolete:

"You shall not covet your neighbor's house; you shall not covet your neighbor's wife, nor his male servant, nor his female servant, nor his ox, nor his donkey, nor anything that is your neighbor's."
(All of the above: "The Ten Commandments," taken from Exodus 20:3-17)

We now have something so much better than all of this! All of the above is good and holy, but it was weak in that it could never do a thing to make us good and holy. All it did was to make us guilty before God. It was against us, contrary to us, and put us into nothing but bondage. But what the Law could not do, God did by sending His Son. We have now died to the above so that we could be joined with Christ, whose life in us will always lead us into what is good, holy and righteous. We are now free to serve righteousness, which is something we could never, ever find in the Law!

Joel Brueseke - What was against us and contrary to us has been wiped out and made obsolete!

This post, and the post to follow, are not posts that are meant to turn your head a little. They're not simply "double-take" posts. These are absolute all-out in-your-face posts! I might even make some enemies with these posts, and I'm willing to take that risk. But my ultimate hope is that the words in these posts will be used to set people free.

For too long the Church of Jesus Christ has been involved in an atrocious, yet all too widely accepted, form of Christianity that continues to include within it various forms of the very thing that Christ came to set us free from! Actually, this has been going on for 2,000 years. Certain early Christians, such as the people in the churches of Galatia, were so involved in this atrocity that the Apostle Paul, in a strong rebuke, called them foolish and he asked them who had bewitched them that they would turn back to such things!

"It is for freedom that Christ has set us free," Paul said (Galatians 5:1), but yet there are still many Christians living today who are in bondage to the very thing that Christ set us free from! It should not be this way! So what is this terrible, heinous form of slavery that Christians are involved in, through the preaching and teaching of it, and through the daily yoking of themselves together with it?

The LAW. God's Law. God's holy Law. I'll be specific: The Ten Commandments (and any and all other of God's 600+ laws and ordinances in the Bible). This is what Christians, to their detriment, are misguidedly teaching and preaching as the way of the Christian life. The paradox here is that God's good, holy law... is not good for us! It was against us and contrary to us (Colossians 2:14). It was bondage to us (Galatians 4:24). See, God's good and holy Law has this itsy bitsy little shortcoming when it comes to sinful man: It can make no one perfect or holy or good! (See Hebrews 7:18-19 and Romans 8:3). So what God did through Christ was not to enable us to live according to the standards of His Law, but rather He took the Law out of the way by nailing it to the cross with Christ! (See again Colossians 2:14). And so with the Law nailed to the cross and our sin taken away, we were freed from our bondage and made close to God by His grace. We now live, not by God's Law, but by the Life of Christ that has come to indwell us.

So why the obsession with the Law in Christianity??? Do we not get that it was against us and that we had to die to it in order to belong to Christ? (Galatians 2:19-20, Romans 7:4). Jesus
said He didn't come to destroy the Law. He came to fullfil it. And guess what? At the cross, all was fulfilled!!! When Jesus died, God's Last Will and Testament (the New Covenant) was executed. When all was fullfilled, and the New Covenant came to be, God made the first covenant "obsolete" (Hebrews 8:13)! We can't miss the fact that Jesus, "after He had offered one sacrifice for sins forever, sat down at the right hand of God" (Hebrews 10:12). Jesus sat down, signifying that the work was complete and sufficient and finished forever!!! What the Law could never have done, Christ did once and for all.

Thank GOD that what was against us and contrary to us (God's Law) has been wiped out and nailed to the cross and made obsolete! Because of this, we are truly FREE!

Grace vs Law

What Bread Are You Feeding On? -Part 2

Matt 4:4 It is written, Man shall not live by bread alone, but by every word that proceedeth out of the mouth of God.

My last article under this topic was an attempt to show that Jesus is the “Word of God” that proceeds out of the mouth of God, just like manna proceeded from the mouth of God in the Old Testament. He is the heavenly bread that came down from God. To establish this truth, I had to delve into the Hebrew and Greek. I understand that it may not be easy for casual reading.

To summarize, the apostle John says that Jesus is the “Word of God” who became flesh and dwelt among us. He is the embodiment or essence of the word of God. In other words, he is a perfect representation of God the father and what the Father speaks to us (Heb 1:1, 2).

In the temptation in the wilderness, one of things satan tempted Jesus to do, was to prove His Sonship by works. He said, “If you be the son of God, then turn these stones into bread”. To which Jesus replied, “Man shall not live by bread alone, but by every word that proceedeth out of the mouth of God.” Jesus refused to prove his Sonship by His works because He was very well established in the knowledge of His identity. (This is a very important lesson for us to know our identity in Christ)

The stones represents “the law given on tablets of stone”. Turning “stones into bread” signifies making the law our food. Jesus was now very hungry after 40 days of fasting and the tempter wanted Him to turn the stones into bread and thereby have Jesus eat of it. This would serve satan’s purpose of Jesus feeding on the law by establishing His Sonship or identity by His works, apart from the identity which the Father had proclaimed over Him. The Father had proclaimed that “This is my beloved Son in whom I am well pleased.

This is very similar to the temptation with which satan tempted Eve in the garden of Eden. He told her that she could become like God by eating from the tree of the knowledge of good and evil, which represents the Law. But man was already like God, since they were created in the likeness and image of God. God had warned them against eating from this tree. He wanted them to eat from the tree of life which signifies the life of Jesus. Eve, unlike Jesus, had an identity crisis and gave into the temptation. She wanted to establish her own identity apart from God.

Jesus refused to give into satan’s deception to prove His identity by His works and partaking of the bread from stones (law). Rather, He said that you will live by the word of God or the bread of life that proceeds from the mouth of God. The word of God is Jesus himself. He is the bread of life. This word is full of grace and truth (John 1:14,16,17)

We have the same choice today. Do we want to feed on the bread of life (Jesus) or do we want to feed on the bread of the law? Eating from the bread of life will result in life; eating from the bread of law will result in death.” Live by my life” says the Lord!!

What Bread Are You Feeding On?

Matt 4:4 It is written, Man shall not live by bread alone, but by every word that proceedeth out of the mouth of God.

What was Jesus saying here? Was he saying that we should read the Bible every day and obey all the scriptures? (Don’t misunderstand; I am all for reading the Bible). Let’s examine prayerfully and with an open mind!

Jesus was quoting from Deut 8:3 which says, He humbled you and let you be hungry, and fed you with manna ……………. that He might make you understand that man does not live by bread alone (physical bread), but man lives by everything that proceeds out of the mouth of the LORD - NASB.(brackets mine). What is the thing that came from the mouth of the Lord - - It is manna, the heavenly bread. So God is saying, He fed them with this heavenly bread manna which came from Him, and not with physical/earthly bread, to show that they can live by what comes from God and not just by physical bread.

Now, when Jesus quoted this same verse to satan, He replaced “everything or manna” with “rhema – which means “utterance” or word that comes from the mouth of God. So what is this word or rhema that comes out of the mouth of God that we are supposed to eat and live by? It is the word of God, who came from God, in the form of flesh, His name is Jesus!

Let me explain! The manna in the Old Testament was only a type and shadow of the real heavenly bread Jesus. This heavenly bread became flesh. Jesus said in John 6:50 this is the bread which cometh down from heaven, that a man may eat thereof, and not die. John 6:51 I am the living bread which came down from heaven: if any man eat of this bread, he shall live for ever: and the bread that I will give is my flesh, which I will give for the life of the world. Hallelujah! The bread from heaven became flesh.

Jesus was referring to Himself when He told satan, that man shall live by every “word” that comes out from God. Jesus is the embodiment of every word that comes out of the mouth of God. When John talks about the “word” becoming flesh, he uses the greek word “logos”. Logos means the reasoning or computation of God or the essence of the word of God. Jesus is the essence of all the word or rhema or utterances of God. This logos (word) or Jesus is full of grace and truth. There is no condemnation His word.

What is God’s reasoning or logos word? It is simply that, by one man’s disobedience many were made sinners, but by the obedience of another man, many shall be made righteous (Rom 5:19). His reasoning is that because of Jesus’s obedience to the law and taking upon Himself the curse of the law, the righteousness of God comes as a FREE gift upon all who believe in this reasoning or logos of God. Can you align your reasoning with that of God’s and see yourself as He sees you – righteous and holy? Or are you trying to look for the do’s and don’ts in the scripture and still trying to become righteous and attain eternal life by obeying those scriptures like the Pharisees (John 5:38-40).

If you feed on the bread of life Jesus, you will never need the bread from stones (Law). Which bread are you eating and living by? The one leads to life the other to death! Don't mix the two breads either, because a little poison will poison the whole lump!

Please check Part 2 of this article......

What's wrong with knowing good and evil (eating the fruit from the tree of knowledge of good and evil)?

God did not want man to live by knowing what is good and evil, or right or wrong, and thereby doing good and avoiding evil (this tree represents the LAW - what to do and what not to do). God knew that man, by his own strength, will power and determination would always fall short. Instead, He wanted man to live off of the tree of life, (which is the very life of God in us). Adam and Eve were created in the very image and likeness of God (they were already like God) and they had the very life of God in them. But man chose to become (like God) what they already were (like God) by their own self effort. God had made man perfect and saw that His creation was GOOD. Yet man wanted to become like God by knowing good and evil and then doing the good thing (keeping the LAW). Only God is capable of doing that and that is why He wants man to live by His life inside of us. Satan deceived man into thinking that he could become like God, independant of God by His own self efforts, when in reality man was already created like God. Satan himself tried this when God has already placed him(satan) in a very high position. Lucifer was the covering archangel over the mercy seat, he was right there, infact above the mercy seat where God sits. But he was not happy with that, he wanted to ascend above God and become like God by His own self effort. In other words he want to be something that God had already made him to be and he wanted man to do the same. This same deception of Satan is still working in the church today.

Let's fast forward some thousands of year. Jesus Christ came to reverse what happened in Eden. He came as the last Adam and as our representative fulfilled every LAW perfectly, took our sins and died for them and rose again victorious and is in His glorified body at the right hand of the Father. His perfect sacrifice has made us holy, righteous, sanctified and perfected for ever(heb 9 and 10). Paul says that "I am crucified with Christ, it's no longer I who lives, but Christ lives in me." We had a co-crucifixion with Christ 2000 years ago. Now it is no longer us, but Christ HIMSELF is living in us by the Holy Spirit. We are to live by His life (tree of LIFE) in us leading us, animating our actions and thoughts. We are freed from the LAW (knowing good and evil and thereby doing good and avoiding evil). All religions basically teach a set of moral principles (good and evil) and command men to become holy by observing those. But true biblical Christianity is not living by laws or moral principles, but living powered by the very life of God in us. Jesus said several times in the N.T. that He has come to give us life and that He is that very life. When He comes inside of us, the Bible says, we become one spirit with the Lord. We are a brand new CREATION, holy and completey righteous. The Bible says we are "complete in Him". Now mind you this spiritual act has taken place in our spirits (which is our true self). God is a spirit and sees us in the spirit. Now God, by His one perfect sacrifice, has made us Holy. We look at our five senses and our thougts and conclude that we are unholy, and are trying to become holy by keeping the law and by our own self effort. This is the deception that Satan is still playing in the church 6000 years later. Eve was not tempted to do something bad, she was tempted to be like God or godly. This is what is being preaced is that we have to become godly by obeying rules and commands, when God has already made us godly and holy. He obeyed on my behalf perfectly and when I believe in Him that obedience or righteousness is imputed to me. We have the very DNA of God in our spirits when we are born of Him (born again). We need to live out of this new identity that God has given us and let His life in us (which is holy and righteous) manifest in our minds and bodies. We have to renew our minds to this spiritual reality of what took place at the cross (our co-crucifixion) and the reality of His life now in us. It's NO LONGER I, BUT CHRIST LIVES IN ME. Just yield to him, moment by moment and you will see an automatic transformation in your actions and thoughts. The price has been paid for the redemption of our souls and bodies, but our souls(mind, will and emotions are being renewed) and our bodies will be changed in the future.

Look at yourselves as how God has made you. Righteousness has been given to you as a gift, not by our doing good or avoiding evil. If righteousness could come by our works, the Bible says, then Christ died in vain. He needn't have come and died. You may say that if we don't have any laws then we won't have any guiding principles in our life. We don't need the law, but the very life of God in us becomes our guiding principle. The bible says that the law is not for the righteous. Let's trust God to be who He is and His perfect work He has done in us. As we behold ourselves as He has made us to be, we will be changed in our souls and bodies, from glory to glory by the indwelling Spirit of God. Let's get away from Satan's deception of "I am not holy, blessed etc...but I will be by knowing good and evil, right and wrong and then doing the right thing." "I will become holy by my fasting and praying and Bible reading, I will become blessed by obeying and sowing and reaping." NO! I will read the Bible, pray and fast to know Him and what He has done for me by His finished work and to grow in that relationship. I will give money to the work of God and the poor because I am already blessed by God, NOT to become blessed. You see the difference is very subtle and satan is using religion to trap people in his mindset of "I am not, but I wlll become what I do". This is what Paul preached against and Christ railed against the religious people of His day who woudn't come to Him (the eternal life), but was trying to get eternal life by searching the scriptures to see what to do and what not to do(John 5:39 and 40). I am afraid that the modern day church is doing the same thing. Instead of focussing on Jesus who is our very life and living by His life and our new identity, the church is focussed on 10 steps to this, 7 steps to holiness, prosperity etc. Religion is all about what YOU must DO,DO,DO, but real christianity(GRACE) is about what HE HAS DONE IN YOU. Next time you listen to a preaching, check how many times Jesus is mentioned in that preaching. Paul says that "we preach Christ crucified"- that's it. JESUS is the answer, not religious or biblical principles. Would you trust and yield to Him to let Him live His life throught you?

Spiritual Adultery

2For the married woman is bound by law to her husband while he is living; but if her husband dies, she is released from the law concerning the husband। 3So then, if while her husband is living she is joined to another man, she shall be called an adulteress; but if her husband dies, she is free from the law, so that she is not an adulteress though she is joined to another man. 4Therefore, my brethren, you also were made to die to the Law through the body of Christ, so that you might be joined to another, to Him who was raised from the dead, in order that we might bear fruit for God. (Rom 7: 2-4)


Here, the Apostle Paul is using the analogy of marriage to explain our relationship with the law. We were born into this world married to the law. How did that happen? When Adam ate from the law tree (tree of knowledge of good and evil), we who were in Adam, got married to the law system (Mr. Law). The law system or legalism is a system of knowing what is right and wrong, and then observing those rules to make spiritual progress. It is based on our performance.

Being married to Mr.Law is a miserable life because he is always condemning and critical (2 Cor 3:7, 9). He points out our faults, but never does anything to help us live a godly life (Gal 3:21). It is a lifetime of struggling in vain against sin and attempting to achieve righteousness.

How do we get free from this marriage with Mr.Law? When one person in the marriage dies, the other person is set free from that relationship. But Mr.Law is not going to die. Therefore, Rom 7:4 says that, we were made to die to the law through the body of Christ, thereby setting us free from the marriage with Mr. Law, so that we might be joined to another man (Mr.Grace). Gal 2:19 says that Paul died to the law so that he might live unto God. When Christ died on the cross, our old man that was married to the law, died with Christ. We are now born again in our spirits and are married to a new person Mr. Grace (Jesus Christ). Therefore we have NO RELATIONSHIP with Mr.Law or the system of religious rules.

Mr. Grace never condemns us (Rom 8:1), he loves us and adores us. He gives us a wedding gift – the gift of righteousness (Rom 5:17b). He offers us a life of rest, free from our toils and labors (Matt 11:28, 29). Grace says that we are blessed, not because of our performance, but because we are in Christ and what He has done on our behalf.

Now, what happens when we fail to fully understand our relationship with Jesus Christ? What happens when we feel like we need to observe certain religious rules to please God and make spiritual progress? We begin to flirt with our ex-spouse (Mr.Law) again. What is it called when we are married to one, but involved in an affair with another? It is called ADULTERY. Remember, Christ loved us so much, that He took us with Him on the cross, so we could die to the law, be set free from that relationship, and as a result be joined to Him. We don’t want to turn our backs to His love and commit spiritual adultery. Let us therefore be conscious of our relationship with Him and His life in us, thereby resisting the lure and deception of spiritual adultery.

CAUTION: This may turn you religious world upside down!!

I thank God for a friend who introduced me to the true Gospel(GOOD NEWS) of the grace and unconditional love of our Lord and Savior Jesus Christ. I have provided links to two topics, that I first listened to as a babe in this gospel. These messages RADICALLY transformed my life. Since then it's been a wonderful journey of mining into the knowledge of Jesus and His finished work and the new identity He has given me. I guarantee you, that these messages will challenge you to the core, about Christianity as you know it and you WILL be delivered from the chains of religion. I DARE YOU TO LISTEN!

CAUTION: This may turn your religious world upside down.

Click on the images below.

Beware of the leaven (yeast) of the Pharisees and the Sadducees

Matt 16:6 Then Jesus said unto them, Take heed and beware of the leaven of the Pharisees and of the Sadducees.
Matt 16:12 Then understood they how that he bade them not beware of the leaven of bread, but of the doctrine of the Pharisees and of the Sadducees.

Here Jesus warns His disciples to beware of the leaven of the Pharisees and of the Sadducees. Verse 12 shows that the leaven speaks of the doctrine of the Pharisees and the Sadducees.
The Pharisees and Sadducees were the religious people of Jesus’s time. We see that Jesus was not against the sinners, prostitutes and tax collectors, but He was against these religious people. Doesn’t that seem strange that He would do so? If Jesus was here physically on this earth today, what would He say about the modern church?
The doctrine of these religious people was that they could attain righteousness by doing the works of the law. In John 5, Jesus tells them that they were seeking eternal life in the scriptures, but they failed to understand that the scriptures were pointing to Him as the only way to salvation or eternal life. They were looking for “do’s and don’ts” in the scriptures to be able to fulfill them and thereby attain righteousness by their performance. Jesus called them “hypocrites, snakes etc.” They observed the laws outwardly but their inside was full of darkness. Jesus shed light on the righteous standards of the law and showed every single time that the religious people fell short of those standards. So rather than falling on God’s mercy and grace they wanted to trust in their own performance to attain righteousness. Doesn’t this sound like the modern church? They try to grow in righteousness and holiness by their own works rather than depending on the grace of God who is the indwelling Christ in every believer. They try to comb the scriptures to find every single law from Genesis to Revelation and make additional laws and put this heavy burden on the people.
The Apostle Paul in his epistles lashed out against such religious people who wanted to mix their legalism with the pure gospel of the grace of our Lord Jesus Christ. He calls them “wolves.”Writing to believers in the Galatian church, he asks them, “You foolish Galatians, who has bewitched you? After starting your Christian lives in the Spirit, why are you now trying to become perfect by your own human effort?”In chapter 5 He tells them that, “if you are justified by the law(performance), then you are cut off or severed from Christ! You are fallen from grace!” That’s a very serious statement! He further tells them that “a little leaven leaveneth the whole lump”. A little leaven or doctrine of legalism (even a little bit) will leaven the whole lump. Grace and legalism cannot be mixed.
We are saved by grace, made righteous by grace, live by grace, kept by grace, sanctified by grace, perfected by grace. This is the pure unadulterated message of the gospel of grace. Rom 11:6 says, that grace is no longer grace if your works are involved.
In conclusion, let us not nullify (invalidate) the grace of God (by mixing it with legalism), for if righteousness comes through the Law, then Christ died needlessly. (Gal 2:21)