12 “I still have MANY THINGS TO SAY TO YOU, BUT YOU CANNOT BEAR THEM NOW. 13 However, when He, the Spirit of truth, has come, He will guide you into all truth; for He will not speak on His own authority, but whatever He hears He will speak; and He will tell you things to come."
(Upper room discourse.)
When Jesus walked this earth, with the exception of the 40 days after His resurrection, He lived under the law. Because He lived most of His earthly life under the Old Covenant, everything He told his disciples was said because of it's constraints but also to give His people, natural Israel, the chance to accept Him as their Messiah.
The moment He cried out from the cross, "FINISHED!" the Old Covenant was OVER! He fulfilled ALL OF IT PERFECTLY, something you and I could not do. He died in our place, bearing in His body ALL of God's just judgments and righteous indignation. That's why His Father could legally rip that temple veil in two!
Jesus ushered in the age of grace so we could now, through Him, have full and free access to Our Father! Yes, He came to save the whole world, but His inital mission was to save the lost sheep of the house of Israel. What is recorded in the gospels are His dealings with His natural family, though He did interact with Gentiles from time to time. True, salvation and the gospel is for the whole world, but remember, it is for the Jew first and then for the Gentiles. The time to bring the gospel to all of us would soon come.
(For more on this topic, follow these links:
You might also want to consider going through the entire 16-part study. Here is a link to Part 1:
Before the cross, Jesus had not yet shed His blood, OBVIOUSLY, so there were many things He could not reveal to His disciples as the opening verse reveals. Until He ascended to His Father, the Holy Spirit could not be sent to teach them (and us) the "WHOLE TRUTH" which would come from Jesus' as our RISEN AND GLORIFIED SAVIOR. Now He can tell us almost everything.....except when He's coming back.
(The words of Jesus in red.)
(The Apostle Paul.)
That full-up revelation of the gospel of grace was given to the Apostle Paul, who subsequently wrote 3/4 of the New Testament. ALL OF THOSE WORDS are direct from the throne of our RISEN, GLORIFIED LORD JESUS CHRIST. For non-Jews, it is best to pay the most attention to what he wrote, since He was specifically sent to minister TO the Gentiles.
Regarding these words in red, we do not live by ALL of the words in red that Jesus actually spoke. If we did, the Gentiles would never have had the chance to hear the gospel and be saved! See for yourself. Below are several examples that clearly show "before (Jesus' death) and after" contrasts.
BEFORE: "Do not go to the Gentiles but to the Jews."
Matthew 10:5-7
"5 These twelve Jesus sent out and commanded them, saying: “Do not go into the way of the Gentiles, and do not enter a city of the Samaritans. 6 But GO RATHER TO THE LOST SHEEP OF THE HOUSE OF ISRAEL. 7 And as you go, preach, saying, ‘The kingdom of heaven is at hand.’"
The above are words in red ink in red-letter Bibles. Obviously these words are no longer in effect.
AFTER: Go into all the world....
Mark 16:15
The Great Commission
"15 And He said to them, “Go into all the world and preach the gospel to every creature. 16 He who believes and is baptized will be saved; but he who does not believe will be condemned."
These words are also in red but spoken after Jesus rose from the dead. BIG DIFFERENCE! If you're a non-Jew, I'll bet you're glad that the gospel went out to the WHOLE world! I know I sure am! Thank you, Daddy!
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BEFORE: Forgive others so that God will forgive you.
Matthew 6:14-16
14 “For if you forgive men their trespasses, your heavenly Father will also forgive you. 15 But if you do not forgive men their trespasses, neither will your Father forgive your trespasses."
AFTER: Forgive others as you HAVE BEEN forgiven
Ephesians 4:32
"32 And be kind to one another, tenderhearted, forgiving one another, even as God in Christ FORGAVE {past tense} you."
BEFORE: Forgive others so that God will forgive you.
Matthew 6:14-16
14 “For if you forgive men their trespasses, your heavenly Father will also forgive you. 15 But if you do not forgive men their trespasses, neither will your Father forgive your trespasses."
AFTER: Forgive others as you HAVE BEEN forgiven
Ephesians 4:32
"32 And be kind to one another, tenderhearted, forgiving one another, even as God in Christ FORGAVE {past tense} you."
Before the cross, your forgiveness depended on you forgiving others first so your sins could then be forgiven. After the cross, we are forgiven and CLEANSED of all our sins and that knowledge gives us the desire to forgive others of their trespasses against us because we know of what we have been forgiven!
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Nowhere is the contrast between being under law as opposed to being under grace more clearly demonstrated than in the story of the woman caught in adultery. This woman was caught IN THE ACT remember, which was punishable by stoning under the Ten Commandments. But Jesus extended His Grace to her saying: "Neither do I condemn you, go and sin no more."
Notice the order here: He tells her FIRST: "Neither do I condemn you..." THEN He says: "GO...and sin no more." The power to "GO and sin no more," comes from FIRST KNOWING THAT WE ARE NOT CONDEMNED."
Under the Old Covenent, she would have summarily been stoned, irregardless of whether or not she repented. Under grace, Jesus forgives her which breaks the power of sin over her and gives her power to "go and sin no more!" Now she can successfully live a holy life, something the law CANNOT produce!
The tragedy of the church today is that she has it backwards! What you are told is, "Go and sin no more.....THEN you are not condemned." That is Old Testament. That is outer court, judgment minded, law-centric mentality.....180% opposite of the TRUE GOSPEL. That keeps people bound up in sin and doomed to repeat what holds them bound.
Read below the New Covenant bought and paid for by the precious blood of Jesus. Actually, His death and resurrection was an OVERpayment!
Hebrews 8:7-12
A New Covenant
"7 For if that first covenant {the TEN COMMANDMENTS} had been faultless, then no place would have been sought for a second. 8 Because finding fault with them, {the TEN COMMANDMENTS} He says: *“Behold, the days are coming, says the Lord, when I will make a new covenant with the house of Israel and with the house of Judah— 9 not according to the covenant {the TEN COMMANDMENTS} that I made with their fathers in the day when I took them by the hand to lead them out of the land of Egypt; because they did not continue in My covenant, {the TEN COMMANDMENTS} and I disregarded them, says the Lord. 10 For this is the {NEW} covenant that I will make with the house of Israel after those days, says the Lord: (#1) I WILL PUT MY LAWS IN THEIR MIND AND (#2) WRITE THEM ON THEIR HEARTS; and I will be their God, and they shall be My people. 11 None of them shall teach his neighbor, and none his brother, saying, ‘Know the Lord,’ for all shall know Me, from the least of them to the greatest of them. 12 (#3) FOR I WILL BE MERCIFUL TO THEIR UNRIGHTEOUSNESS , AND THEIR SINS AND THEIR LAWLESS DEEDS I WILL REMEMBER NO MORE.”
*(See Jeremiah 31:31-34)
You see, Church. God SO LOVED THE WORLD that he gave His only begotten Son...."
He is not into judgment. HE NEVER WAS, NEVER WILL BE. He has always been about mercy and grace.
(In order to preach the Law, you must push Jesus aside and take out the Tablets of Stone.)
Which city in Israel was the most Holy to Him?
Jerusalem.
Which part of Jerusalem was most Holy?
The temple mount.
Which part of the temple was most Holy?
The Holy of Holies.
What part of the Holy of Holies was most Holy to Him?
THE MERCY SEAT!
You see, MERCY has always been of central importance to God, not judgment.
BUT.....
If you insist on teaching the law, know what you have to do? PUSH ASIDE THE MERCY SEAT--JESUS--and drag out the tablets of stone the Father OBVIOUSLY WANTS HIDDEN INSIDE.
I REPEAT: In order to preach the law, you must PUSH JESUS ASIDE. REALLY BAD IDEA!
Remember what happened to the people of Beth Shemesh in 1 Samuel 6? God killed 70,000 of them! Yeah: REALLY BAD IDEA.
Let's keep the law right where it belongs, shall we? UNDER the Mercy Seat.
(For more on that story, follow this link: http://emmausrevelations.blogspot.com/2015/01/why-did-oxen-stumble.html)
All the "before and after" examples are like "pluses and minuses." The law takes away, condemns, punishes and empowers us to sin more. GRACE RESTORES, HEALS FORGIVES AND EMPOWERS US TO "GO AND SIN NO MORE!"
The whole Bible is a wonderful, Emmaus-Road experience where we can see pictures of Jesus everywhere. We can be warmed, edified, encouraged and truly transformed as we behold Him in the stories, types and shadows there, shadows being in the Old Testament. But the rest of scripture, from the Book of Acts, for the most part, all the way through Revelation are the words of our RISEN, GLORIFIED JESUS Who is seated at the right hand of The Father.
Oh, yeah; there's a HUGE DIFFERENCE between truths Jesus shared BEFORE the cross.....the words in RED.....as opposed to AFTER the cross. So, though we can certainly appreciate them, let's have a proper understanding of The Words In Red.
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