Romans 6:13-15
"13 And do not present your members as instruments of unrighteousness to sin, but present yourselves to God as being alive from the dead, and your members as instruments of righteousness to God. 14 For sin shall not have dominion over you, for YOU ARE NOT UNDER LAW BUT UNDER GRACE."
The Ministry Of Death.
Paul even goes so far as to call it "the ministry of death."
2 Corinthians 3:7
"7 But if the MINISTRY OF DEATH, WRITTEN AND ENGRAVED ON STONES, was glorious, so that the children of Israel could not look steadily at the face of Moses because of the glory of his countenance, which glory was passing away...."
The ONLY laws that were "written and engraved on stones" were "THE TEN COMMANDMENTS." The other 603 were written on parchment. Yep, there were 613 laws in all! Aren't you glad we have a New Covenant?!
MUCH MORE.
Paul goes on to say about the New Covenant in 2 Corinthians 3:8-11 "how will the ministry of the Spirit not be MORE GLORIOUS?
For if the MINISTRY OF CONDEMNATION {the Ten Commandments} had glory, the ministry of righteousness {the Abrahamic Covenant of GRACE} EXCEEDS MUCH MORE IN GLORY.
For even what was made glorious {the law} had no glory in this respect, because of the glory that excels.
For if what is passing away {the law} was glorious, WHAT REMAINS {Grace} IS MUCH MORE GLORIOUS."
What he means by the phrase, "What remains," is this: The Law no longer "remains," having "passed away" because Jesus fulfilled it as He said He would. In other words, He kept perfectly what we could not. That's why He could cry out, "FINISHED!"
You and I were delivered from the laws of Ten Commandments, Church, when we put our trust in Jesus. He writes New Laws on our hearts and they're not the Big Ten. (See Hebrews 8) The Holy Spirit now directs us from within by His Holy Spirit. It's a much better and more effective system. You see, Jesus is all about HEART TRANSFORMATION not simply behavior modification. Inward transformation results in right behavior.
What are the laws God writes on our hearts? Find out more by following this link: https://emmausroadministries.wordpress.com/2016/07/06/the-laws-of-the-new-covenant/
Do We Still Need The Law?
So where does the law fit in? Does it fit in at all any more?
Yes.
You see, Jesus didn't come to make bad people good; He came to make DEAD PEOPLE LIVE: Spiritually alive, that is. Humans are born with body, soul and a spirit that is not regenerated; you know, dead. You can only insist on good outward behavior. Does that give you a clue as to why parenting is so difficult? They need strict laws and boundaries (laws) with definite consequences or your home life would be very difficult.
Now, think for just a minute: What happens when you remove the stones (the law) from dead people? THEY STINK!
It is the unregenerated or unsaved who need the Ten Commandments. The Law only regulates outward behavior and produces outward change. The Holy Spirit cannot live inside them to direct their behavior because there is still one sin left unforgiven that separates them from God: UNBELIEF.
Heart Of Stone.
Inside they still have the old heart of stone. That's where the problem lies. Because God is Spirit and speaks to the spirit of man, they have no means of communication. They are spiritually cut off, no way to communicate because they're spiritually DEAD, you see. The ONLY thing you can do for them is to preach the gospel to them, lead them to Jesus so that He can make them spiritually alive!
That is why, outside the Church, the law is absolutely essential for governing. Without it there would be total chaos.
Does that help explain all the mayhem in the world, especially of late? It should. The world has thrown out the standard, the Buble. These poor folk don't understand that the One against Whom they are objecting so vehemently is the One Person Who can make everything right!
Unregenerated people are at a great disadvantage because they don't have what you and I do, Church: Our inner teacher, The Holy Spirit.
(The contents of the Ark)
What Happens When You Preach The Law To The Church?
In the Old Testament, the tablets of stone were placed UNDER THE MERCY SEAT.....in other words, under JESUS. They were hidden from God's sight where they were covered by the blood of an acceptable sacrifice. THAT'S WHERE HE WANTS THEM TO STAY!!
But, stubborn, foolish man thinks he knows best. He continues to insist on hauling out the tablets of stone and preaching on the Law to believers who are spiritually alive.
There are two problems with that.
#1: When you (in effect) push aside the mercy seat and preach the law, YOU ARE PUSHING JESUS ASIDE!! That's right. You have to shove Jesus out of your way, take the tablets out of the Ark from UNDER THE MERCY SEAT, WHERE GOD WANTS THEM KEPT mind you, in order to teach the Law....and proceed AT YOUR OWN RISK, I might add.
Tell me: What happens when you pile stones, (a typology of the Law), on top of people who are alive? YOU KILL THEM. The law crushes the spirit which, sooner or later, kills the body.
Disaster At Beth Shemesh.
The men of Beth Shemesh could tell you all about that subject. They found out the hard way just how serious it is to God that those tablets not see the light of day. Remember what happened there?
(Beth Shemesh, where The Ark first returned to Israel from its Philistines captivity.)
The Ark had been in the hands of the Philistines for some 20 years and caused them nothing but grief, sickness, tumors and death. They finally decided (wisely) that it should be sent back to Israel before it killed everybody! So, they put it on a new cart drawn by two milk cows and sent it on it's way.
The first town the Ark came upon was Beth Shemesh. The men of the town were overjoyed to see the Ark returned, of course. Unfortunately, they were also curious to look at the stone tablets inside. They unwisely lifted up the Mercy Seat to look inside, (Uh oh!) having probably heard about the sapphire tablets from childhood. Who wouldn't want to pass up a chance to see that, right?
(Sapphire tablets a new concept to you? Follow this link for more on that topic; https://emmausroadministries.wordpress.com/2016/07/17/ananias-and-sapphira/)
Well, God was SO ANGRY at them that He struck down 50,070 men in one fell swoop. OUCH!
(For more on this topic and why the Ark was in Philistine hands in the first place, follow this link: https://emmausroadministries.wordpress.com/2016/03/16/why-did-the-oxen-stumble/)
Falling From Grace.
This story perfectly depicts the verse that says, "the letter kills but the Spirit gives LIFE!" It certainly does.....LITERALLY!
I reiterate: JESUS IS THE MERCY SEAT. God wants the stone tablets UNDER the Mercy Seat--OUT OF SIGHT--covered for all time by the precious blood of Jesus.
I suggest you LEAVE THEM THERE.
You see, when you insist on putting your people under the Law, God has no choice but to punish them for breaking it. Otherwise, He would be in violation of His own Law. To go back to the Law is to FALL FROM GRACE.
But here's the problem: God loves sinful man! He doesn't want to punish us; He wants to bless us. That's why He sent His beloved Son so He could eternally be gracious and merciful to those who have accepted His priceless gift.
The key word here is "ACCEPT." Salvation isn't automatic. It's a gift you either accept or reject. That's why there's no such thing as universal salvation. That us a heinous lie of the devil.
Dying Before Their Time.
The men of Beth Shemesh discovered, the law is deadly. IT KILLS JUST AS DEAD TODAY, not as instantly as Beth Shemesh, of course. But trying to keep it brings condemnation, which is ultimately deadly to our physical bodies. This is why so many in the church are sick and die before their time. They are trying to please God by their performance. It's tantamount to trying to keep the law.
IT DOESN’T WORK.
You are either under Law OR you are under Grace. PICK ONE. You cannot have it both ways. If you ARE under one you ARE NOT under the other.
Let's face it; we can never be or do good enough. That’s why we need a Savior! With Jesus as our eternal Mercy Seat, there is therefore now NO CONDEMNATION to those who are in Christ Jesus……forever. HALLELUIA!!!
We Love Because He First Loved Us.
Because of Jesus, you and I, Church, are the children of light. We are a new creation. Old things have passed away; behold, all things have become new! NEW HEART + NEW DESIRES = HOLY LIVING. We have a new Spirit within us and a heart of flesh, not stone. We obey God, not because we're supposed to, but because WE GET TO. It's a response to His love for us. We love, because He first loved us
If you truly know how much you are loved by God, you'll have no desire to steal, to commit murder or any number of other things that would dishonor Him Whom you love. No. You'll be motivated from within to please to The One Who is well-pleased with you.
You will experience internal correction when you fail, however. But that still, small voice of the Holy Spirit whispers gently to you, not in condemning fashion, but by reminding you not of sin, but of your righteousness. You have a higher calling.
The Holy Spirit convicts believers of their Righteousness. That's what Jesus told us in John 16:10. Why of righteousness? Because Jesus was going to His Father. He is right now bodily in heaven, so we cannot look into His beautiful eyes when we fall to see our acceptance there. That's why we need the Comforter to remind us: WE ARE ETERNALLY RIGHTEOUS. Believe right and you will live right.
We Don't Trust God?
It's our faith that we are the righteousness of God in Christ that is constantly under attack from the devil. He wants to see us condemned, defeated and disheartened, not blessed, not victorious and definitely not spreading the gospel.
I believe the biggest problem in the Church today is that we put more faith in man's ability to do wrong than the Holy Spirit's ability to do what a He said He would: LEAD US INTO ALL TRUTH. We don't trust God. We don't trust GRACE.
It's really sad that many preachers don't see that, by teaching law, they are actually helping their people fail. That isn' their intent, of course. But their people are struggling and striving only to end up living live UNholy lives, defeated, dejected and depressed.
Nothing makes the devil happier than to see God's people in bondage. He wants us to be hindered from being effective for God. LET'S DISAPPOINT HIM.
But.....if you are preaching the "Law;" you know, morality, dos and don'ts---you're singing his song.
Think about it: What happens when you tell a child NOT to do something? What's the very next thing you find them doing? THE VERY THING YOU JUST TOLD THEM NOT TO DO.
Humans never grow out of this tendency.
GRACE is the antidote to sin; not laws, laws and more laws. THEY DO NOT BELONG IN THE CHURCH.
So pastors, do your people a favor: Help them live right by reminding them that they are the righteousness of God in Christ, not about how far away they fell from some standard.
Unregenerate people of the world: THAT'S WHO NEEDS THE LAW.