FREEDOM!!!

Is there a law in the New Covenant? Indeed there is, but will a New Covenant saint ever be put under the authority of Old Covenant law?

So then are there “Two laws of God”? I would suggest that there are not in active authority more than one law at a time. The Old Covenant law was only in authority when the Old Covenant was active. Once the New Covenant became active and the Old Covenant faded during the first century, then the only law that remains is the New Covenant law. How then do we live under this New Covenant law?

What I believe the scripture to teach is that the Old Covenant law as it was in force in the OLD COVENANT has been abolished because the covenant that it came with has been abolished. Read the passage in Hebrews 7:12”For the priesthood being changed, there is made of necessity a change also of the law.” Here again God says that if the priesthood changed, then the law also must change. There is only one law at a time. The problem most people have is with the scripture that clearly and plainly teaches that the New Covenant law has replaced the Old Covenant law.

Romans 14 says that “Whatsoever is NOT of FAITH IT IS SIN”. The New Covenant definition, given by the apostle Paul under inspiration of the Spirit of God is that sin is defined by what is not of FAITH. Sin is not a violation of Mosaic Law. We must recognize the supremacy of Faith over law in the New Covenant.

I am not advocating sanctification by keeping the old law. There is no sanctification in the performance of any law. Unless that performance is the performance of Christ and the credit for that performance is imputed or accounted to our credit.

Let me cite you the words of Jesus where he seems to be teaching that the moral precepts that he (Jesus) brought into the New Covenant are superior to what Moses left the nation of Israel in the Old Covenant.

--Ye have heard that it was said by them of old time, (Moses) Thou shalt not kill; and whosoever shall kill shall be in danger of the judgment:

--But I say unto you, That whosoever is angry with his brother without a cause shall be in danger of the judgment: and whosoever shall say to his brother, Raca, shall be in danger of the council: but whosoever shall say, Thou fool, shall be in danger of hell fire.

--Ye have heard that it was said by them of old time, (Moses) Thou shalt not commit adultery:

--But I say unto you, That whosoever looketh on a woman to lust after her hath committed adultery with her already in his heart.

--It hath been said, (by Moses) Whosoever shall put away his wife, let him give her a writing of divorcement:

--But I say unto you, That whosoever shall put away his wife, saving for the cause of fornication, causeth her to commit adultery: and whosoever shall marry her that is divorced committeth adultery.

--Again, ye have heard that it hath been said by them of old time, (Moses) Thou shalt not forswear thyself, but shalt perform unto the Lord thine oaths:
But I say unto you, Swear not at all; neither by heaven; for it is God's throne:
Ye have heard that it hath been said, (by Moses) An eye for an eye, and a tooth for a tooth:

--But I say unto you, That ye resist not evil: but whosoever shall smite thee on thy right cheek, turn to him the other also.

--And if any man will sue thee at the law, and take away thy coat, let him have thy cloke also.

--And whosoever shall compel thee to go a mile, go with him twain.

--Give to him that asketh thee, and from him that would borrow of thee turn not thou away.

--Ye have heard that it hath been said, (by Moses, do you see the pattern here?)

--Thou shalt love thy neighbour, and hate thine enemy.

--But I say unto you, Love your enemies, bless them that curse you, do good to them that hate you, and pray for them which despitefully use you, and persecute you;

--That ye may be the children of your Father which is in heaven: for he maketh his sun to rise on the evil and on the good, and sendeth rain on the just and on the unjust.

--For if ye love them which love you, what reward have ye? do not even the publicans the same?

--And if ye salute your brethren only, what do ye more than others? do not even the publicans so?

"You have heard it said by them of old"... (MOSES)"...BUT I SAY UNTO YOU".

This is the language of super cession or of contradiction. Jesus is clearly saying that what Moses said was fine…but I am giving you something BETTER…remember that in the new covenant we have a BETTER high priest, a BETTER king, we also have a BETTER law giver, mediator, prophet. These are the roles that Moses fulfilled in the Old Covenant that Jesus is the fulfillment of the type that Moses was intending. WE HAVE A GREATER THAN MOSES in Jesus Christ. The law that came through the mediator of a BETTER covenant is a BETTER law established on BETTER promises. This concept is clearly taught in Hebrews, and here in the Sermon on the Mount Matthew chapter 7 Jesus is illustrating the principle with no apology. Here is what Moses said…BUT I SAY UNTO YOU…! Jesus changed the law from Mount Sinai and gave a greater law from The sermon on the MOUNT.

Some people claim that God's moral precepts have always been the same before the law, during the law and after the Law of Moses”. This is simply WRONG!!! I have just shown the words of Christ which clearly and “Simply” show that the opposite is true.

Are Murder and adultery still murder and adultery? Absolutely! But I do not refrain from them because I am under the Ten Commandments. The bible says that he who violated Moses law would die the death. The punishment under the old covenant for murder and adultery was being stoned to death. This does not apply in the New Covenant. There is no command enjoined on the New Covenant church to STONE adulterers, murderers, Sabbath breakers etc. When you remove the penalty of a law, that law is NO LONGER IN FORCE.

---So then why would I not murder?
---Why would I refrain from Adultery?

VERY GOOD QUESTIONS…I am glad you asked.

The answer is very simple and Jesus gave it in the sermon on the mount, it is because I have a NEW HEART. The law of the Spirit of God, the law of liberty is written on my heart. If the Holy Spirit would lead and guide a person to commit adultery…then well and good…but such would be impossible. The Holy Spirit would never lead me to do such things, and since I am led by God’s Spirit, I need no law to tell me “NO”. I am restrained by LOVE is what Paul teaches. “The love of Christ constrains me”.

If I know of a brother in the Lord who is committing adultery on his wife, I will never pull out the Law of Moses and hit them over the head with it…since it has NO AUTHORITY. I would simply in love go to my brother and ask him…”Brother is this what God through his Spirit is convicting you is right to do?” They have two options at that point, yield to the conviction of the Holy Spirit and repent, for all of God’s children who have the Spirit will be convicted by that same Spirit. If they say…”yes, this lifestyle of fornication is what I want and I am going to continue in my adultery”. Then I have the authority of scripture to declare that this man is not in Christ, is not a believer and has no inheritance in the kingdom of God. The bible is very clear about this teaching. This is why we have the church discipline procedures outlined for us in Matthew 18 and Galatians 6, and Hebrews 12-13. Repentance is evidence of salvation, rejection of biblical admonition is evidence of the fact that the Spirit of God is not dwelling in him, and if he has not the Spirit of God, he is none of His.

Re-read Matthew 7, I am not commanded not to murder, not to commit adultery…I am commanded and led by the Spirit to not look on a woman to lust. I am commanded to not hate my brother. If I obey through the Spirit the admonition of Christ to NOT HATE MY BROTHER…will I ever kill him?

If I love my brother, thoughts of murder can never take hold in me, and I will never commit murder…and I can achieve that without the mosaic commandment.

Same with adultery, if in my heart, I refrain from lust, then with what motivation do I lay with other woman than my wife. It is inconceivable that a law could better restrain me than the Spirit dwelling in me convincing and convicting me.

Why would I ever go back to living under a system (outward commands and law) that could never deliver me from sin, when I have the living God living in me to deliver me from all manner of sin and evil?

I pity any who think that by keeping commands that they are somehow pleasing God…they are NOT. I pity any who think that they can overcome the world the flesh or sin in any of its forms, by law keeping and duty. The New Testament clearly teaches that this way of thinking is ridiculous and futile. Please cite for me a passage of scripture that elevates law over the ministry of God’s Spirit and I will go back under law today. But you had BETTER give me a passage of scripture for me to make that decision. If not, you will not get me within 10 miles of a life led by law.

Do not worry about my freedom. No individual has the power to violate it. Paul in Galatians 5 tells me that I am to STAND in the liberty wherein Christ has made me free and not to be entangled again in the yoke of bondage. No one can take it from me no one can violate it without my consent. It is my inheritance in Christ and I will keep a good hold on it. It is for anyone to take, but it is mine to surrender. But be assured I am nowhere near the place where I would surrender it. Unless someone can show me something better…which I am very suspicious that they cannot.

This doctrine of liberty is for all believers in the New Covenant. First of all it is Christ’s doctrine taught by Him and His Apostles, I did not originate it. Secondly, I am not out to prove it, I am out to live it. I need not prove anything to anyone. But God by His Spirit has called me to live this life of freedom. I also feel compelled to offer it to those who are still in bondage to the Old Covenant way of living, and to those I offer it, I do not seek to prove it to them either. For if the Spirit of God does not give them a taste for freedom and a desire to be free from bondage, then I am not going to try to overpower God’s Spirit. But if they truly have the Spirit of God, they will yearn for this freedom and wild horses will not keep them from it.

So I offer it, and many eat…and yet many scoff. I am not responsible for the scoffers, nor do I take credit for those who are liberated…but I do get to walk with those who are liberated as true brothers.

I believe that we ought to reason from the scripture. If there is a scriptural principle I am missing, help me out, point it out. But if I were to have it my way, (the way of my flesh) I would still be where I was 15 years ago, under bondage to the Old Covenant with only a trail of destroyed relationships and a futile life behind me. Having it my way…I hope not…I hope to have it God’s way as His Holy Spirit leads and guides. For there is really NO OTHER WAY.