Friday, 18 April 2014

Clearing the Conscience of the Worshiper - Part 5



Because by one sacrifice he has made perfect forever those who are being made holy. The Holy Spirit also testifies to us about this. First he says: "This is the covenant I will make with them after that time, says the Lord. I will put my laws in their hearts, and I will write them on their minds." Then he adds: "Their sins and lawless acts I will remember no more." (Hebrews 10:14-17)

Notice very carefully the above passage. Christ by one sacrifice has made perfect forever those who are being made holy. The Holy Spirit testifies to us about this, that is, about Christ making perfect forever those who are being made holy.

What does the Holy Spirit say about this? He says two things:



First, God will issue to them a new covenant by putting His laws in their hearts and writing them on their minds.

Second, God will no longer remember their sins and lawless acts.

Carefully observe that the first aspect of our being made perfect forever is the writing of God's eternal moral laws in our hearts and minds-in our hearts so we will want to obey them and in our minds so we understand them.

This is an act of moral transformation that the Holy Spirit performs as we live each moment according to the law of the Spirit of life, turning aside from our sinful nature.

If we are being made holy in this manner, our sins and lawless acts are not remembered against us. The problem with today's Christian preaching is the concept that God no longer remembers our sins and lawless acts whether or not we experience the moral transformation of the writing of His laws in our hearts and minds.

I have never heard one sermon on the writing of God's laws in our hearts and minds. Have you? Why is this, when such writing is the core of the new covenant?

The eternal moral law of God is written in our personality as each day we abide in Christ; each day we through the Spirit put to death the works of the sinful nat ure; each day we experience the sufferings of Christ; each day we live in His resurrection Life; each day we commit our way to the Lord, refusing to follow our own ambitions. As we serve the Lord faithfully in this manner, Christ is formed in us, which is to say, the eternal Law of God is written in our mind and heart.

We usually state that the Law of Moses has been done away with. We do not often maintain that the law of God, although not in the same form as the Law of Moses, has not been done away with but has been lifted from the stone slabs and has been transferred into our hearts and minds. Quite a difference!

If we deliberately keep on sinning after we have received the knowledge of the truth, no sacrifice for sins is left, But only a fearful expectation of judgment and of raging fire that will consume the enemies of God. (Hebrews 10:26,27)

Can you see clearly that if the superiority of the new covenant lies in the fact that it offers an ete rnal forgiveness independently of our behavior, then the passage above makes no sense? How do Christian teachers and preachers explain Hebrews 10:26,27? Why not ask around and see what they have to say about this?

How much more severely do you think a man deserves to be punished who has trampled the Son of God under foot, who has treated as an unholy thing the blood of the covenant that sanctified him, and who has insulted the Spirit of grace? For we know him who said, "It is mine to avenge; I will repay,"and again, "The Lord will judge his people." It is a dreadful thing to fall into the hands of the living God. (Hebrews 10:29-31)

The above passage obviously refers to a Christian, someone who has treated as being unholy the blood of Christ that had made him holy. If the new covenant were an eternal forgiveness, then this passage does not apply.

Against whom does the Lord avenge Himself? Against His people!

You need to persevere so when you have done the will of God, you will receive what he has promised. For in just a very little while, "He who is coming will come and will not delay. But my righteous one will live by faith. And if he shrinks back, I wil l not be pleased with him." But we are not of those who shrink back and are destroyed, but of those who believe and are saved. (Hebrews 9:36-39)

Under the new covenant, perseverance through many difficulties is required. Those who endure to the end are the people who finally are saved.

"The righteous one will live by faith." The following chapter of the Book of Hebrews informs us what it means to live by faith. Living by faith has nothing whatever to do with belief in a doctrinal position. Rather, it is speaking of living in the Presence of the Lord and doing His will. The eleventh chapter of the Book of Hebrews is a record of the obedient acts of the patriarchs, not of their belief in doctrine.

To live by faith is to turn away from our own pride and wisdom and to do justly, love mercy, and walk humbly with God.

We understand the Lord Jesus Christ came to save us from our sins, not in our sins. We are not merely forgiven so we can go to Heave n when we die. We actually are converted from a sinful adamic personality into a life-giving spirit, who is filled with the Presence of God and can have fellowship with God.

The Lamb of God takes away the sin of the world, He does not just forgive the sin of the world. If our understanding is correct, He is coming in the Spirit to His people to help them remove the graveclothes of sin. We must walk before the Lord very carefully and prayerfully in these days so we do not miss the hour of our visitation. (from Clearing the Conscience of the Worshiper)



(Concluded)

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