“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— not according to the covenant 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, and I disregarded them, says the LORD.
For this is the covenant that I will make with the house of Israel after those days, says the LORD:
I WILL PUT MY LAWS IN THEIR MIND AND WRITE THEM ON THEIR HEARTS; and I will be their God, and they shall be My people. 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. For I will be merciful to their unrighteousness, and their sins and their lawless deeds I will remember no more.” (Hebrews 8:7-12 NKJV)
Down through the years many well-meaning people have come against grace. By grace I'm referring to THE REAL GOSPEL. These folks, incredibly and mistakenly believe it to be false; that they are protecting holiness. The nebulous "they" also all seem to come up with the the same mistaken old rhetoric that was used on the Apostle Paul: That without the law, people will become "law-less."
NEWS FLASH! The Law DOES NOT PRODUCE HOLINESS. Quite the contrary. It produces LICENTIOUSNESS. Perhaps they've forgotten the scripture that says, "THE STRENGTH OF SIN IS THE LAW." 1 Corinthians 15:56.
The Apostle Paul heard that same tired old line more than once. So, if people are telling you the same thing, not only are you on the RIGHT TRACK preaching the real gospel but you're in GOOD COMPANY.....the BEST in fact! Amen!
If you are not hearing that observation about your preaching, well.....Let the reader draw their own conclusion.
I submit to you that what is being preached in the Church today IS NOT THE GOSPEL. It is a counterfeit.
Think about it: if we were really preaching the same gospel Paul preached, we would be misunderstood to the point that we would be accused of promoting licentiousness. Since most preachers are not, then we need to look more closely at what we are preaching. It may not, in fact, be the real gospel but a counterfeit.
Outside of the Church, people without the law will.....AND DO.....become lawLESS. That's because they are SPIRITUALLY DEAD. They are the ones who need the law. Inside the Church is a whole other matter. Among believers the law is the "ministry of death, written and engraved on stones."
What happens when you remove the stones--i.e. the Law--from dead people? THEY STINK!
Make no mistake: We, Church, are NOT like people of the world. We are resurrected spirits in unresurrected bodies. We are spiritually alive! We don't need to be buried under "stones." Would you bury a living human under a pile of stones? OF COURSE NOT. You would kill them. Yet that is exactly what many pastors are doing to their congregations: Burying them under a pile of stones.
According to the passage above, it is GOD Who writes His laws in our hearts.....and those laws are not the TEN COMMANDMENTS internalized. How could they be? God said He found fault with the Old Covenant. He says it over and over and over and over and over and over and over again everywhere you look in scripture. He always intended to RELACE--USURP--the Ten Commandments with the New Covenant.
The New Covenant is not at all like the old one.
Think of it this way: You are going on a long trip. Would you rather stop now and then to consult a map? Or would you let The Man riding next to you, Who not only knows the way but built the road and constructed everything along your route guide you to your destination PERSONALLY? He'd be wonderful company, too. He knows where all the best places are to eat, all the best sights to see and where all the pot holes and all the pitfalls are. He'll even help you out whenever you run into trouble. Better yet, let Him drive!
The law...map...tells you NOTHING. Fall into a hole and you're on your own. It cannot help you.
That's the difference between Law and Grace. Law is a millstone around your neck.....and it won't stoop to help you when you make a wrong turn.
Grace, on the other hand, is a PERSON WHO LOVES YOU!
I don't know about you but I'd rather have the Man than the Map!
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