Let not sin therefore reign in your mortal body, that ye should obey it in the lusts thereof. Neither yield ye your members [as] instruments of unrighteousness unto sin: but yield yourselves unto God, as those that are alive from the dead, and your members [as] instruments of righteousness unto God. (Romans 6:12-13)
The Apostle Paul never taught we could state our belief in Christ and then remain "unmarried."
The Ten Commandments are binding on all people (especially on God's Israel) for all time until they die and are raised with Christ,.
Romans 10:9,10 can be construed to mean in order to be saved it is necessary only to confess Christ and profess to believe God has raised Him from the dead. But such an interpretation requires that we ignore the remainder of the Book of Romans. The sixth chapter of Romans teaches that we must, if we would obtain eternal life, choose to be servants of righteousness.
The practice of building our salvation on one or two such "key" passages requires that we separate these passages from the remainder of Paul's writings and interpret them in isolation from the balance of Paul's explanation of grace. An examination of all the Epistles reveals that Paul taught righteous behavior as solidly as did the Apostle James.
Paul's gospel of grace is summed up in Romans 7:4. We are dead to the works of the Law of Moses so we may be married to Christ, with the end in view of bringing forth the fruit of righteousness to God. We are dead so we may be married, not so God may hold us guiltless no matter what we do.
We are dead to the Law of Moses so we may be married to the Lord Jesus Christ!
To die to Moses by means of faith in Christ and baptism in water, and then not proceed to union with the living Christ, is to abide in a state of lawlessness. The spiritual "single" is a lawless individual. He is not under the headship of the Ten Commandments or of Christ.
Marriage to Christ is the all-important issue of the Christian salvation. If we are not married to Him in daily vital relationship, if we are not abiding in His Presence, thinking His thoughts, obeying His every desire, we are not keeping our part of the new covenant. We will not bring forth fruit. We will be removed from the Vine and will wither and die. Our end shall be the fire (John 15:6; Hebrews 6:8).
Let us consider for a moment the nature of the new covenant-God's means of redemption through faith in Christ.
The new covenant is God's plan for creating man in His image, for making man truly righteous, truly holy, and truly obedient to God.
The old covenant, the Law of Moses, includes many righteous laws and ordinances. But the old covenant is limited by the weaknesses of human flesh. We humans have a sinful nature. The Law of Moses emphasizes our sin but the Law of Moses has no power to deliver us from our sinful nature.
Thus saith the LORD, In an acceptable time have I heard thee, and in a day of salvation have I helped thee: and I will preserve thee, and give thee for a covenant of the people, to establish the earth, to cause to inherit the desolate heritages; (Isa 49:8)
The new covenant is the Lord Jesus Christ.
The Lord Jesus comes to an individual. Christ says, "Here, let Me take your personality-the evil and the good of it. I am ready to accept full responsibility for you. I have the authority, based on My death on the cross, to forgive all your past sins. In addition, I am willing to take the responsibility for all that you are and all that you do from this point forward.
"Because My Father has made Me your Judge you do not have to concern yourself with any other standard of righteousness. Neither man nor spirit can lay anything to your charge. From now on you are My responsibility. I alone am your Judge."
Current Christian teaching proceeds to this point and then
departs from the new covenant. It maintains that Christ takes all the responsibility for our sins-past, present, and future, and then leaves us waiting to die and go to Heaven to live in a mansion forever.
The current teaching does not place nearly enough emphasis on what follows our receiving of Christ.
The Lord Jesus goes on to say, "Now that you are My responsibility I want you to live in Me, with Me, and for Me. I want you to seek My face with all your heart, all your soul, all your mind, and all your strength. I want you to eat My flesh and drink My blood. I want you to abide in Me in all that you are and do.
"I want you to be married to Me. You no longer belong to yourself. You belong to Me and I require stern obedience to My will.
"I am not interested in part of your heart. I demand all of your heart. If you will not give Me all of your heart and your life, I will not abide in you and with you.
"I am God! I will share your love with no other. I will be first in your heart or I will not remain in your heart. As long as you truly desire that I be your Lord I will remain with you. But I will cast down every other throne that I find in your personality. You shall have no other gods before Me."
We are dead to the Law of Moses so we may be married to the Lord Jesus Christ. Our marriage to the Lord Jesus always brings forth His image in us.
Jesus did not come merely to forgive the guilt of the sin of the world. The Lord Jesus came to remove the sin of the world. Christ destroys the works of the devil (I John 3:8).
The Lord Jesus forgives us so He may save us.
To be saved is to be "delivered" from sin. Salvation is deliverance-not only or primarily forgiveness, but deliverance! What an enormous gulf there is between forgiveness and deliverance!
To be continued.
Copyright © 1997-2013 by Trumpet Ministries Inc. ALL RIGHTS RESERVE
The Apostle Paul never taught we could state our belief in Christ and then remain "unmarried."
The Ten Commandments are binding on all people (especially on God's Israel) for all time until they die and are raised with Christ,.
Romans 10:9,10 can be construed to mean in order to be saved it is necessary only to confess Christ and profess to believe God has raised Him from the dead. But such an interpretation requires that we ignore the remainder of the Book of Romans. The sixth chapter of Romans teaches that we must, if we would obtain eternal life, choose to be servants of righteousness.
The practice of building our salvation on one or two such "key" passages requires that we separate these passages from the remainder of Paul's writings and interpret them in isolation from the balance of Paul's explanation of grace. An examination of all the Epistles reveals that Paul taught righteous behavior as solidly as did the Apostle James.
Paul's gospel of grace is summed up in Romans 7:4. We are dead to the works of the Law of Moses so we may be married to Christ, with the end in view of bringing forth the fruit of righteousness to God. We are dead so we may be married, not so God may hold us guiltless no matter what we do.
We are dead to the Law of Moses so we may be married to the Lord Jesus Christ!
To die to Moses by means of faith in Christ and baptism in water, and then not proceed to union with the living Christ, is to abide in a state of lawlessness. The spiritual "single" is a lawless individual. He is not under the headship of the Ten Commandments or of Christ.
Marriage to Christ is the all-important issue of the Christian salvation. If we are not married to Him in daily vital relationship, if we are not abiding in His Presence, thinking His thoughts, obeying His every desire, we are not keeping our part of the new covenant. We will not bring forth fruit. We will be removed from the Vine and will wither and die. Our end shall be the fire (John 15:6; Hebrews 6:8).
Let us consider for a moment the nature of the new covenant-God's means of redemption through faith in Christ.
The new covenant is God's plan for creating man in His image, for making man truly righteous, truly holy, and truly obedient to God.
The old covenant, the Law of Moses, includes many righteous laws and ordinances. But the old covenant is limited by the weaknesses of human flesh. We humans have a sinful nature. The Law of Moses emphasizes our sin but the Law of Moses has no power to deliver us from our sinful nature.
Thus saith the LORD, In an acceptable time have I heard thee, and in a day of salvation have I helped thee: and I will preserve thee, and give thee for a covenant of the people, to establish the earth, to cause to inherit the desolate heritages; (Isa 49:8)
The new covenant is the Lord Jesus Christ.
The Lord Jesus comes to an individual. Christ says, "Here, let Me take your personality-the evil and the good of it. I am ready to accept full responsibility for you. I have the authority, based on My death on the cross, to forgive all your past sins. In addition, I am willing to take the responsibility for all that you are and all that you do from this point forward.
"Because My Father has made Me your Judge you do not have to concern yourself with any other standard of righteousness. Neither man nor spirit can lay anything to your charge. From now on you are My responsibility. I alone am your Judge."
Current Christian teaching proceeds to this point and then
departs from the new covenant. It maintains that Christ takes all the responsibility for our sins-past, present, and future, and then leaves us waiting to die and go to Heaven to live in a mansion forever.
The current teaching does not place nearly enough emphasis on what follows our receiving of Christ.
The Lord Jesus goes on to say, "Now that you are My responsibility I want you to live in Me, with Me, and for Me. I want you to seek My face with all your heart, all your soul, all your mind, and all your strength. I want you to eat My flesh and drink My blood. I want you to abide in Me in all that you are and do.
"I want you to be married to Me. You no longer belong to yourself. You belong to Me and I require stern obedience to My will.
"I am not interested in part of your heart. I demand all of your heart. If you will not give Me all of your heart and your life, I will not abide in you and with you.
"I am God! I will share your love with no other. I will be first in your heart or I will not remain in your heart. As long as you truly desire that I be your Lord I will remain with you. But I will cast down every other throne that I find in your personality. You shall have no other gods before Me."
We are dead to the Law of Moses so we may be married to the Lord Jesus Christ. Our marriage to the Lord Jesus always brings forth His image in us.
Jesus did not come merely to forgive the guilt of the sin of the world. The Lord Jesus came to remove the sin of the world. Christ destroys the works of the devil (I John 3:8).
The Lord Jesus forgives us so He may save us.
To be saved is to be "delivered" from sin. Salvation is deliverance-not only or primarily forgiveness, but deliverance! What an enormous gulf there is between forgiveness and deliverance!
To be continued.
Copyright © 1997-2013 by Trumpet Ministries Inc. ALL RIGHTS RESERVE
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