Greetings to all,
I was at our every Tuesday prayer meeting last night and I was thinking of all the rejection that is out there. Rejection that kids experience due to lack of love, lack of involvement of the parents, divorce, and rejection from peers. Rejection that adults experience because our parents did not show their love. Rejection that wives or husbands experience due to lack of communication and love. Rejections from family and friends. Rejection from our places of employment for lack of recognition or gratitude. Rejection from our church.
And as our gracious Lord is prone to do at times and according to His will, he gave me this thought to say when I feel rejected;
You have not rejected me Father God. Therefore, I will not accept being rejected by man.
Deuteronomy 31:6 Be strong and of good courage, do not fear nor be afraid of them; for the LORD your God, He is the One who goes with you. He will not leave you nor forsake (reject) you.”
Deuteronomy 31:8 And the LORD, He is the One who goes before you. He will be with you, He will not leave you nor forsake (reject) you; do not fear nor be dismayed.”
If we guard our thoughts and put our trust in God, we would not have fear and rejection in our lives.
Psalm 56:11 In God I have put my trust; I will not be afraid. What can man do to me?
Hebrews 13:6 So we may boldly say: “ The LORD is my helper; I will not fear. What can man do to me?”
Blessings to you all,
Wednesday, August 31, 2011
Friday, August 12, 2011
What Law Are We Under?
Question: "What is the law of Christ?"
Answer: Galatians 6:2 states, “Carry each other’s burdens, and in this way you will fulfill the law of Christ” (emphasis added). What exactly is the law of Christ, and how is it fulfilled by carrying each other’s burdens? While the law of Christ is also mentioned in 1 Corinthians 9:21, the Bible nowhere specifically defines what precisely is the law of Christ. However, most Bible teachers understand the law of Christ to be what Christ stated were the greatest commandments in Mark 12:28-31, “… ’Which commandment is the more important of all?’ Jesus answered, ‘The most important is, ‘Hear, O Israel: The Lord our God, the Lord is one. And you shall love the Lord your God with all your heart and with all your soul and with all your mind and with all your strength.’ The second is this: ‘You shall love your neighbor as yourself.’ There is no other commandment greater than these.’”
The law of Christ, then, is to love God with all of our being, and to love our neighbors as we love ourselves. In Mark 12:32-33, the scribe who asked Jesus the question responds with “…to love Him with all the heart and with all the understanding and with all the strength, and to love one’s neighbor as oneself, is much more than all whole burnt offerings and sacrifices.” In this, Jesus and the scribe agreed that those two commands are the core of the entire Old Testament Law. All of the Old Testament Law can be placed in the categories of “loving God” or “loving your neighbor.”
Various New Testament scriptures state that Jesus fulfilled the Old Testament Law, bringing it to completion and conclusion (Romans 10:4 For Christ is the end of the law for righteousness to everyone who believes; Galatians 3:23-25 But before faith came, we were kept under guard by the law, kept for the faith which would afterward be revealed. Therefore the law was our tutor to bring us to Christ, that we might be justified by faith. But after faith has come, we are no longer under a tutor; Ephesians 2:15 He did this by ending the system of law with its commandments and regulations. He made peace between Jews and Gentiles by creating in himself one new people from the two groups NLT). In place of the Old Testament Law, Christians are to obey the law of Christ. Rather than trying to remember the over 600 individual commandments in the Old Testament Law, Christians are simply to focus on loving God and loving others. If Christians would truly and wholeheartedly obey those two commands, we would be fulfilling everything that God requires of us.
Christ freed us from the bondage of the hundreds of commands in the Old Testament Law and instead calls on us to love. 1 John 4:7-8 declares, “Beloved, let us love one another, for love is from God, and whoever loves has been born of God and knows God. Anyone who does not love does not know God, because God is love.” 1 John 5:3 continues, “This is love for God: to obey His commands. And His commands are not burdensome.”
Some use the fact that we are not under the Old Testament Law as an excuse to sin. The Apostle Paul addresses this very issue in Romans chapter 5. What then? Shall we sin because we are not under law but under grace? Certainly not! (Romans 6:15). For the follower of Christ, the avoidance of sin is to be accomplished out of love for God and love for others. Love is to be our motivation. When we recognize the value of Jesus’ sacrifice on our behalf, our response is to be love, gratitude, and obedience. When we understand the sacrifice Jesus made for us and others, our response is to be to follow His example in expressing love to others. Our motivation for overcoming sin should be love, not a desire to legalistically obey a series of commandments. We are to obey the law of Christ because we love Him, not so that we can check off a list of commands that we successfully obeyed.
Let us look at Matthew 22:37-40 Jesus said to him, “You shall love the LORD your God with all your heart, with all your soul, and with all your mind.’ This is the first and great commandment. And the second is like it: ‘You shall love your neighbor as yourself.’ On these two commandments hang all the Law and the Prophets.” The dictionary gives us these definitions of hang. 1. Something to hang our hopes on 2. Give heed to 3. Hold on tightly. So the Law and what the Prophets said are now under the two commandments above.
We need to be clear that although we are not under the Law, we still need to know who God is, His likes and dislikes, and what God has to say in the Old Testament about sin and the sinful nature of His people. The Old Testament gives us blueprint to follow in order to obey these two commandments and we need to rely on the Holy Spirit as we apply these two commandments to our lives. Galatians 5:18 But if you are led by the Spirit, you are not under the law.
Jesus in His sermon on the mount gives us clear understanding of the law and how He came to fulfill the law and not to ignore even the smallest detail of God’s law and His commandments.
Matthew 5:17-20 “Don’t misunderstand why I have come. I did not come to abolish the law of Moses or the writings of the prophets. No, I came to accomplish their purpose. I tell you the truth, until heaven and earth disappear, not even the smallest detail of God’s law will disappear until its purpose is achieved. So if you ignore the least commandment and teach others to do the same, you will be called the least in the Kingdom of Heaven. But anyone who obeys God’s laws and teaches them will be called great in the Kingdom of Heaven. “But I warn you—unless your righteousness is better than the righteousness of the teachers of religious law and the Pharisees, you will never enter the Kingdom of Heaven!
Again, although we are not under the law, we are to keep His commandments. His commandments are given in the Old Testament, carry over to the New Testament and if we love Him, we will etch them in our heart.
John 14:21 He who has My commandments and keeps them, it is he who loves Me. And he who loves Me will be loved by My Father, and I will love him and manifest Myself to him.”
Proverbs 3:1-3 My son, do not forget my law, But let your heart keep my commands; For length of days and long life And peace they will add to you. Let not mercy and truth forsake you; Bind them around your neck, Write them on the tablet of your heart
Thank you Lord for having so many resources available for us to have clear understanding on questions that arise. Amen
Tony Sanchez
Answer: Galatians 6:2 states, “Carry each other’s burdens, and in this way you will fulfill the law of Christ” (emphasis added). What exactly is the law of Christ, and how is it fulfilled by carrying each other’s burdens? While the law of Christ is also mentioned in 1 Corinthians 9:21, the Bible nowhere specifically defines what precisely is the law of Christ. However, most Bible teachers understand the law of Christ to be what Christ stated were the greatest commandments in Mark 12:28-31, “… ’Which commandment is the more important of all?’ Jesus answered, ‘The most important is, ‘Hear, O Israel: The Lord our God, the Lord is one. And you shall love the Lord your God with all your heart and with all your soul and with all your mind and with all your strength.’ The second is this: ‘You shall love your neighbor as yourself.’ There is no other commandment greater than these.’”
The law of Christ, then, is to love God with all of our being, and to love our neighbors as we love ourselves. In Mark 12:32-33, the scribe who asked Jesus the question responds with “…to love Him with all the heart and with all the understanding and with all the strength, and to love one’s neighbor as oneself, is much more than all whole burnt offerings and sacrifices.” In this, Jesus and the scribe agreed that those two commands are the core of the entire Old Testament Law. All of the Old Testament Law can be placed in the categories of “loving God” or “loving your neighbor.”
Various New Testament scriptures state that Jesus fulfilled the Old Testament Law, bringing it to completion and conclusion (Romans 10:4 For Christ is the end of the law for righteousness to everyone who believes; Galatians 3:23-25 But before faith came, we were kept under guard by the law, kept for the faith which would afterward be revealed. Therefore the law was our tutor to bring us to Christ, that we might be justified by faith. But after faith has come, we are no longer under a tutor; Ephesians 2:15 He did this by ending the system of law with its commandments and regulations. He made peace between Jews and Gentiles by creating in himself one new people from the two groups NLT). In place of the Old Testament Law, Christians are to obey the law of Christ. Rather than trying to remember the over 600 individual commandments in the Old Testament Law, Christians are simply to focus on loving God and loving others. If Christians would truly and wholeheartedly obey those two commands, we would be fulfilling everything that God requires of us.
Christ freed us from the bondage of the hundreds of commands in the Old Testament Law and instead calls on us to love. 1 John 4:7-8 declares, “Beloved, let us love one another, for love is from God, and whoever loves has been born of God and knows God. Anyone who does not love does not know God, because God is love.” 1 John 5:3 continues, “This is love for God: to obey His commands. And His commands are not burdensome.”
Some use the fact that we are not under the Old Testament Law as an excuse to sin. The Apostle Paul addresses this very issue in Romans chapter 5. What then? Shall we sin because we are not under law but under grace? Certainly not! (Romans 6:15). For the follower of Christ, the avoidance of sin is to be accomplished out of love for God and love for others. Love is to be our motivation. When we recognize the value of Jesus’ sacrifice on our behalf, our response is to be love, gratitude, and obedience. When we understand the sacrifice Jesus made for us and others, our response is to be to follow His example in expressing love to others. Our motivation for overcoming sin should be love, not a desire to legalistically obey a series of commandments. We are to obey the law of Christ because we love Him, not so that we can check off a list of commands that we successfully obeyed.
Let us look at Matthew 22:37-40 Jesus said to him, “You shall love the LORD your God with all your heart, with all your soul, and with all your mind.’ This is the first and great commandment. And the second is like it: ‘You shall love your neighbor as yourself.’ On these two commandments hang all the Law and the Prophets.” The dictionary gives us these definitions of hang. 1. Something to hang our hopes on 2. Give heed to 3. Hold on tightly. So the Law and what the Prophets said are now under the two commandments above.
We need to be clear that although we are not under the Law, we still need to know who God is, His likes and dislikes, and what God has to say in the Old Testament about sin and the sinful nature of His people. The Old Testament gives us blueprint to follow in order to obey these two commandments and we need to rely on the Holy Spirit as we apply these two commandments to our lives. Galatians 5:18 But if you are led by the Spirit, you are not under the law.
Jesus in His sermon on the mount gives us clear understanding of the law and how He came to fulfill the law and not to ignore even the smallest detail of God’s law and His commandments.
Matthew 5:17-20 “Don’t misunderstand why I have come. I did not come to abolish the law of Moses or the writings of the prophets. No, I came to accomplish their purpose. I tell you the truth, until heaven and earth disappear, not even the smallest detail of God’s law will disappear until its purpose is achieved. So if you ignore the least commandment and teach others to do the same, you will be called the least in the Kingdom of Heaven. But anyone who obeys God’s laws and teaches them will be called great in the Kingdom of Heaven. “But I warn you—unless your righteousness is better than the righteousness of the teachers of religious law and the Pharisees, you will never enter the Kingdom of Heaven!
Again, although we are not under the law, we are to keep His commandments. His commandments are given in the Old Testament, carry over to the New Testament and if we love Him, we will etch them in our heart.
John 14:21 He who has My commandments and keeps them, it is he who loves Me. And he who loves Me will be loved by My Father, and I will love him and manifest Myself to him.”
Proverbs 3:1-3 My son, do not forget my law, But let your heart keep my commands; For length of days and long life And peace they will add to you. Let not mercy and truth forsake you; Bind them around your neck, Write them on the tablet of your heart
Thank you Lord for having so many resources available for us to have clear understanding on questions that arise. Amen
Tony Sanchez
Subscribe to:
Posts (Atom)