Setting the Captives Free – Isaiah 61:1 7-19-2013 The Ten Commandments or Old Covenant (Exodus 20:1-17) versus the New Covenant (Hebrews 8:7) So many people are saying that they have to keep the Ten Commandments. How can that be and who is able to keep them? When people try to keep the Ten Commandments that God gave Moses, they are bound by the law. For the law of the Spirit of life in Christ Jesus has set me (us) free from the law of sin and death (Romans 8:2). The law could not save anyone; the world needed a Savior. The law was put in place to show humans their sin. Those who are still bound by the law cannot experience true freedom. The Apostle Paul warns the church at Galatia about allowing people to come in and put them back in bondage. The gift of the Spirit is given by faith and not by the law of works (Galatians 3:1-5). For by grace you have been saved through faith. And this is not your own doing, it is the gift of God (Ephesians 2:8-9) {English Standard Version}. We didn’t work to get saved, however works do follow salvation (Ephesians 2:10). The reason some still embrace the law is because they don’t have an understanding of the Bible. Jesus was concealed in most of the Old Testament and He was manifested or revealed near the end of the Old Testament. Even though the four gospels are listed as New Testament, a will cannot be enforced until the owner of the will dies. Jesus did not die until the latter part of the gospels. Actually, Jesus kept the Law of Moses; He said: “Do not think that I came to destroy the Law or the Prophets. I did not come to destroy but to fulfill” (Matthew 5:17). Jesus’ intention was to prove to the religious leaders how wrong their motives were. These Leaders were not interested in the peoples’ welfare; they valued the law more than they did the people. The Pharisees put the people in more bondage by expanding laws (added many more laws). They pictured God to be harsh and unloving. These leaders were always trying to catch Jesus ministering on the Sabbath day and to prove that He was sinning because He broke a commandment. Remember the Sabbath day, to keep it holy (Exodus 20:8). Jesus went into the temple and healed a man with a withered hand on the Sabbath (Mark 3:1-6), and the Pharisees sought ways to get rid of Him. Jesus was angry because of the hardness of their hearts. In the Old Testament or old covenant (the law), Jesus was revealed through types and shadows. The rock that Moses struck was representing the crucifixion of Jesus and from Him water would flow for salvation (Exodus 17:6; John 4:10-15; 7:38; 1 Corinthians 10:4). The second time God told Moses to speak to the rock which means we can go straight to God in the name of His Son Jesus (Numbers 20:8-12). Moses didn’t make it to the Promised Land because of his disobedience. Striking the Rock two times meant that Jesus would die two times. Jesus died once for the sins of the world (Hebrews 10:10-12). By striking the Rock, Moses presented a wrong image of God to the Israelites. Instead of seeing God as the God of Grace, they pictured God to be harsh and angry. That same spirit has been spreading throughout the ages and even in this present age (the time period of Grace). The time period of the Old Testament Law is no longer effective. You can’t be under the law and grace at the same time. The law was given by Moses, but Grace and truth came by Jesus Christ (John 1:17). In this present time period of Grace, many people are still making God’s children feel like they have no self-worth. These self-righteous people are making God’s children think of God as being harsh. We have already been beaten down by the devil all of our saved life; in that he takes our past and tries to put us into condemnation (all those bad things we did). Romans 8:1 tells us that: there is therefore no condemnation to those (us) in Christ Jesus. The church should be like a hospital where people go in sick and wounded and come out healthy and motivated to keep on pressing forward. However some people come out worse off than when they went in. People need the love God ministered to them so they can be liberated (experience freedom). The Son has already made you free (John 8:36), now don’t put yourself back into bondage (Galatians 5:1). So let no one judge you in food or drink, or regarding a festival or a new moon or sabbaths, which are a shadow of things to come, but the body is of Christ (Colossians 2:16-17). When a body appears, there is no need for a shadow, which brings freedom for us to abide by God’s commandments under the new and better covenant. Under the old covenant people were not able to keep the Ten Commandments, but God’s children can keep every one of the new commandments. For if that first covenant had been faultless, then no place would have been sought for a second (Heb.8:7). Jesus gave a new commandment: To LOVE each other! (John 13:34-35) Here are just a few of the many new commandments: Go and carry the gospel of Jesus Christ; making disciples (Matthew 28:19-20); Study to show yourself approved unto God (2 Timothy 2:15); Do not forsake assembling together with the saints (Hebrews 10:25) - these commandments are not to be taken lightly, because there are still consequences to not obeying God’s new commandments. Grace and peace be unto you. Unshackled - Evangelist Betty A. Burnett
Posted on: Fri, 19 Jul 2013 16:42:06 +0000
Trending Topics
Recently Viewed Topics
© 2015