Matthew 4:4(AMP) But He replied, It has been written, Man shall not live and be upheld and sustained by bread alone, but by every word that comes forth from the mouth of God.
Yes, we are no longer under the law in terms of the Levitical ceremonial laws. But even in the book of Leviticus are God's commandments written. For example, the following verses:
Leviticus 19:11-19 (AMP)You shall not steal, or deal falsely, or lie one to another.12And you shall not swear by My name falsely, neither shall you profane the name of your God. I am the Lord.13You shall not defraud or oppress your neighbor or rob him; the wages of a hired servant shall not remain with you all night until morning.14You shall not curse the deaf or put a stumbling block before the blind, but you shall [reverently] fear your God. I am the Lord. 15You shall do no injustice in judging a case; you shall not be partial to the poor or show a preference for the mighty, but in righteousness and according to the merits of the case judge your neighbor. 16You shall not go up and down as a dispenser of gossip and scandal among your people, nor shall you [secure yourself by false testimony or by silence and] endanger the life of your neighbor. I am the Lord.17You shall not hate your brother in your heart; but you shall surely rebuke your neighbor, lest you incur sin because of him.18You shall not take revenge or bear any grudge against the sons of your people, but you shall love your neighbor as yourself. I am the Lord. 19You shall keep My statutes. You shall not let your domestic animals breed with a different kind [of animal]; you shall not sow your field with mixed seed, neither wear a garment of linen mixed with wool.
Are we not going to read the OT because we are going to assume that we are no longer subjected to those commands? Are we going to say we are "no longer under the law" therefore we can steal, deal falsey, lie, hate, profane God's name, etc etc? The word "law" in the English translation is being used generically and frankly it has done a bad job of translation.
Romans 3:31 (AMP) Do we then by [this] faith make the Law of no effect, overthrow it or make it a dead letter? Certainly not! On the contrary, we confirm and establish and uphold the Law.
No, Paul said we are not here to make the Law of no effect or dead but to uphold it instead.
Please discern brethren and DO NOT BE DECEIVED. There are different laws in which the bible speak about. Yes, you are no longer under the food laws. Yes, you are no longer under the sacrificial law. They are but foreshadows. The Sabbath (Sundays) is not a foreshadow but a commandment of the the top four to keep His Day HOLY. And YOU ARE STILL SUBJECTED TO FOLLOWING GOD'S TEN COMMANDMENTS AND THE OTHER COMMANDS.
If we are to walk in the Spirit, then we are no longer subjected to the law because we are no longer law breakers because we make a willful choice to stop breaking them. However, if we start breaking His commandments and laws then we will at the end be declared law breakers.
Matthew 7:21-23 (AMP)Not everyone who says to Me, Lord, Lord, will enter the kingdom of heaven, but he who does the will of My Father Who is in heaven.22Many will say to Me on that day, Lord, Lord, have we not prophesied in Your name and driven out demons in Your name and done many mighty works in Your name?23And then I will say to them openly (publicly), I never knew you; depart from Me, you who act wickedly [disregarding My commands].
Therefore, if you live in the Spirit, this is not a theory but a practice as one makes a choice to die to oneself daily and live by the Spirit and not by the flesh. But if one is still living in the flesh and living as the world carnally, then it is them who actually puts themselves back under the law because they are now breaking the law.
1 John 3:7-10 Boys (lads), let no one deceive and lead you astray. He who practices righteousness [who is upright, conforming to the divine will in purpose, thought, and action, living a consistently conscientious life] is righteous, even as He is righteous.8[But] he who commits sin [who practices evildoing] is of the devil [takes his character from the evil one], for the devil has sinned (violated the divine law) from the beginning. The reason the Son of God was made manifest (visible) was to undo (destroy, loosen, and dissolve) the works the devil [has done].9 No one born (begotten) of God [deliberately, knowingly, and [h]habitually] practices sin, for God's nature abides in him [His principle of life, the divine sperm, remains permanently within him]; and he cannot practice sinning because he is born (begotten) of God
Will the police arrest you if you are NOT the thief? No, because if you are not a thief then you are not subjected to the laws of theft. But if you continue to steal, can one ask for grace from the laws of man and not go to jail? No, if one continues to steal, then one puts themselves back under that law and will go to jail.
Christ fulfilling the law does not mean you can go steal and get away with it. It does not mean you can continue to live in the flesh and in your bondage or in your sins. It does not mean you can live carnally as the world does and say you "Believe" in HIM. It does not mean you can give yourself an excuse and say you are weak so you will fornicate, divorce like the world, drink, smoke, do drugs, use profanity, lust, hate, etc etc.
So when Paul said he will EXERCISE and DISCIPLINE himself, is this "works" of his own? Is he working for His salvation? Paul said if you live by the flesh YOU WILL DIE!
Acts 24:16 Therefore I always exercise and discipline myself [mortifying my body, deadening my carnal affections, bodily appetites, and worldly desires, endeavoring in all respects] to have a clear (unshaken, blameless) conscience, void of offense toward God and toward men.
Romans 8:13 For if you live according to [the dictates of] the flesh, you will surely die. But if through the power of the [Holy] Spirit you are [habitually] putting to death (making extinct, deadening) the [evil] deeds prompted by the body, you shall [really and genuinely] live forever.
So Paul said "KILL or DEADEN the evil desires and your impulses from your body that employees sin. Is to KILL and DEADEN the evil desires in us "works" to get our salvation? But if we do not KILL it, Paul said that fornicators, gossipers, thieves, and the likes will NOT INHERIT the Kingdom of God!
Colossians 3:5 So kill (deaden, deprive of power) the evil desire lurking in your members [those animal impulses and all that is earthly in you that is employed in sin]: sexual vice, impurity, sensual appetites, unholy desires, and all greed and covetousness, for that is idolatry (the deifying of self and other created things instead of God).
He had DIED for you and HE had OVERCOME the world so YOU CAN LIVE and OVERCOME THE WORLD. Scripture says if we are born of God, we will overcome! Grace gives us the ability to overcome. Grace does not give us the excuse to say we cannot overcome.
The Lord had once told me....if we cannot overcome our trials and situations, we better ask ourselves if we are even born of God! How can people say they cannot overcome when they are not even praying as they should. It is through prayer and faith that changes the spiritual realm for us to move mountains.
May the Lord put His salve on the eyes and ears of our hearts so we may perceive and understand what is at stake. Lord, lead us not into temptation but deliver us from evil. Help us so we do NOT become corrupted, deceived or fall away as these days become much darker.
Fire of God
Steve Yong Kim
Feb 20, 2012
Good post! So many now a days are claiming that we no longer have to be concerned with God's laws, now that we are under Grace. I agree with everything you've stated in your post, except for one; God's Sabbath is on Saturday, not Sunday. This is something I have just recently learned, and it has been difficult for me to switch back and rest on Saturday instead of Sunday. But if we are to adhere to God's laws to the best of our ability, (with the help of the Holy Spirit of course,) then shouldn't we do so according to God's written Word, and not man's traditions?
ReplyDelete"...Constantine the Great..., as Roman Emperor, commanded the civil observance of Sunday. In the year 321 he issued a law prohibiting manual labor on Sunday.
"All judges and city people and the craftsmen shall rest upon The Venerable Day of the Sun."
The Sunday law of Constantine had nothing to do with Christianity.
Quoting the book "The History of the Church" we find that "He enjoined the observance, or rather forbade the public desecration of Sunday, not under the name of Sabbatum, but under its old astrological and heathen title, Dies Solis. familiar to all his subjects, so that the law was as applicable to the worshippers of Hercules, Apollo, and Mithras, as to the Christians. There is no reference whatsoever in his law either to the fourth commandment or to the resurrection of Christ.
Quotes from:
http://www.toolong.org/pages/remember_sabbath.htm
(If you were wondering, the calendar change didn't change God's sabbath day either, as the above link also reveals.)
Heart wrenching! Here all this time, I thought I had been honoring Him by resting on Sunday, not realizing that day was decreed in honor of a pagan god, and that His day was actually the day before!
May the Spirit of Truth keep leading us into all Truth, (no matter what the personal cost!,)
C. Dunamis
(www.dreamsofdunamis/wordpress.com)
This comment has been removed by the author.
ReplyDeleteGod bless you. Please read my note on the Eighth Day regarding which day may be the Sabbath now.
ReplyDeletehttp://fireofgodservants.blogspot.com/2011/08/eighth-day.html