Tag Archives: New Covenant

Peter’s First Letter-2

Posted on 27/09/2021 | Leave a comment

Once a week we look together at Peter’s first letter to people in various places. We see how he was encouraging them, preparing them. A most important, earth-shattering event was to take place. Terrible judgment was about to come on many back there in Jerusalem and Judea. The fabulous temple there and the Jewish religion as known for centuries, would be destroyed and replaced by a new creation (Mat 21:43-46). This would impact them and many Jews where they lived. Here we look at the first half of chapter 2.

In this part of his letter, Peter calls on his readers to thirst for the “pure milk of the word like newborn babies, if they have tasted the kindness of the Lord” and put aside all malice, envy, slander, hypocrisy etc.

Think how much the Lord has blessed us all abundantly! There’s much more. So let’s keep thirsting after the pure milk of God’s word to grow our salvation!  So important to long for the word of God. Look, it doesn’t matter how mature we think we are. The Lord’s blessing is inexhaustible. He wants us!

Yes, grow up in your salvation. Salvation is not merely getting newborn, started. There’s a big future idea, a whole of life growth of our salvation, as Peter reminded them several times in his letter.

So where to go? Peter says go to Jesus. Where else? Jesus is the One to come to—his open arms. He is the “chosen and precious.” Quoting from Isaiah 28, Peter identifies Jesus as like the most important stone in a building. That’s the cornerstone. It has to be laid exactly, in line, dead level, plumb. Then the building will follow the right design.

“Look, I lay in Zion a choice stone, a precious cornerstone and who believes in him shall not be disappointed”.

Jesus said if you don’t gather with him, you are scattering (Luke 11:23). Do you want to be building for God? Well, you have to strictly follow the playbook! Jesus is “the living stone that was rejected by men but chosen by God”. You have to build on the true rock, His words. Anything else is on sand. Anything else is useless. What God has not planted will be pulled up by the roots (Mat 15:13). This is serious.

This building design called for these newborns to be stones too—living stones! Each was being built up into a spiritual house for a special role of offering up spiritual sacrifices acceptable to God through Jesus.

And so are we today—part of the house that He is building, against which the gates of hell will not stand.

Peter wrote (v7) this precious situation belongs to the followers of Jesus. Quoting Ps 118:22, he showed that the stone which rejected, actually became the very head of the corner! Then he added that others stumble because they are disobedient to the word not following the designer. For these, Jesus the precious stone was “a stone of stumbling and a rock of offence” (Isa 8:14) and doom awaits them.

These “builders”—the disobedient, were the Jews of that generation and their system, those who rejected their messiah, that wicked generation.

He goes on to tell his readers (v9) “you are a chosen race, you are a royal priesthood, you are a holy nation, you are the people of God’s own possession! Peter used those very same terms from Moses (Deut 7:6) applying them to these newborn Gentiles and Jews. There’s a whole new creation being formed here, a whole new nation. with the bad tenants, Jewish elites and their fleshly system will be destroyed as Jesus had foretold in Mat 21:43 and a new spiritual one will be formed.

Why are his readers new-born? That they “may proclaim the excellencies of him who has called you out of darkness into his marvellous light.” That is our role, our privilege today. We are the Israel of God (Gal 6:16).

He recalls what the prophet Hosea wrote “once you were not a people but now you are the people of God. You once had not received mercy but now you have received mercy (Hosea 1:10). This points to a mostly Gentile readership. These newbies are the true people of God! And so are we who believe today.

Applause!

All this came from the pen of a Jewish born fisherman, but now since born from above through the resurrection of Jesus with whom he had walked for 3 years, a mere 30 years had past. Amazing.

Only 30 years previously! He could never forget when they nailed Jesus to the cross and then God raised Him up as He had foretold.

We struggle to grasp the reality, to feel, to enter in to those historic scenes—it all happened so long ago.

Peter’s readers are the forerunners of a totally new society and they have great responsibility, never seen before. So Peter urges them, aliens and strangers, to keep their behavior excellent among the outsiders. They may be slandered as evil by others but will see their good deeds and glorify God in the day of visitation.

This phrase ‘day of visitation’ is fascinating. It seems Peter had in mind an ‘end-times’ event (see 1 Pet 4:7).

The glorious light of God’s people show that God’s judgments are righteous and this will be acknowledged in the coming judgment.

So their behaviour would be very important. Let’s talk more about that next time.

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Peter’s First Letter–1

Posted on 20/09/2021 | 2 comments

Once a week, we a small ekklesia, are looking at an amazing scriptural letter by Peter who described himself as an apostle (a sent messenger) of Jesus Christ. He wrote to people he describes as aliens, strangers, they don’t belong here. How can that be?

He wanted to encourage them, to prepare them, for a most important, earth-shattering event was soon to take place. Terrible judgment was about to come on many back in Jerusalem and Judea. The temple and the Jewish religion as known for centuries, Judaism, would be destroyed and replaced by a new creation. This would also seriously impact them and many traditional Jews where they lived.

We read they were in various places, scattered throughout Pontos, Galatia, Cappadocia, Asia, and Bithynia. These were real places in the Ancient World. It’s interesting if you check Acts chapter 2 you find those same places mentioned among the many other regions, from which people had come to Jerusalem for the Jewish Feast of Pentecost. Acts 2 describes how on that day the Holy Spirit was poured out upon them.

So Peter was addressing some of those same people who had heard him proclaiming on that day some 25 or 30 years previously. These would have gone back to their homelands and no doubt bore witnesses for Jesus by the power of the Spirit where they lived.

Peter calls them chosen by God the Father, sanctified by the Holy Spirit and sprinkled with the blood of the Lord Jesus Christ. This was amazing thinking for a man who was still ‘Jewish’ (as most early believers were) to put Jesus alongside the Holy Spirit and the eternal living Lord God, the Father. One God.

Here we see a a typical salutation of a letter in the Ancient World.

Peter then reminded them about the living hope that they had through Christ’s resurrection. The resurrection is the basis of the way, the truth and the great story of Jesus. Without the resurrection there would be no faith in the Lord Jesus Christ. There would be no Christians.

They had been truly reborn through God’s great mercy! We are all utterly dependent on his mercy. Born again to a living hope through Jesus’ resurrection of Jesus. Remember that happened only 25 or 30 years previous to his writing!

For us, it’s now 2000 years ago. That time lapse makes it harder for us but for these people it was fresh in their memory.  Just think, you can remember so many things clearly that happened 25 or 30 years ago in your life.

Jesus had been killed and then came alive!

Peter’s readers are described as a possessing an inheritance that is reserved safely in heaven for them. They were already enjoying that sure hope! They were strangers and aliens here on Earth, like we are today but there’s an inheritance waiting for us who believe that’s reserved for us in heaven too! What a fabulous investment.

In the meantime, these aliens were protected by the power of God through faith for a full salvation he says is ‘ready to be revealed in the last time’.  They believed they were in the ‘last days’ when their salvation would be revealed.

Peter mentioned this idea of the ‘last time’ several times in his writings. This salvation ready to be revealed the original word is apocalypse. That brings to mind the time of the end. Peter saw his writing as fitting into that period. His readers could greatly rejoice in this understanding, even though now for a ‘little while’, short time—not a long, long time.

A little while and then things will radically change for them. If this mighty change was in a little while for them, how can it be soon for us today?

For a short time they will have various trials. Difficulties will prove the genuineness of their faith. Really it’s when we are subject to trials that our faith is is proven, tried out.

That experience, that assurance is much more precious than gold which is perishable. Peter reminded them that the testing by fire would be found to result in praise and glory and honour at the revelation (apocalypse) of Jesus Christ.

 His appearing, his coming and Peter goes on to say that although you have not seen him you love him and though you do not see him now you believe in him and you greatly rejoice with joy in express expressible and full of glory.

He went on to talk more about this wondrous salvation now experienced by God’s people.  All those OT prophets prophesied of the grace that would come. They tried to work out this mystery. We had studied them together—how they accurately foretold the coming of the messiah and the suffering that he would experience.

They never experienced what these Peter wrote to had experienced. Even the angels in heaven were ignorant of what those early believers understood. So us also today!

In view of what will take place ‘in a little while’, Peter goes on to appeal to them to modify their behaviour, to prepare themselves for action, and fix their hope completely on the grace about to be brought to you at the revelation (apocalypse) of Jesus Christ.

Clearly they were expecting the coming, the revealing, of Jesus within their lifetime.  They must not be conformed to the former life which they had in their ignorance. and so they needed to conduct themselves appropriately during the (very short) time of their stay on the Earth.

Today we too must be prepared. We too must live appropriately. We also are not redeemed with perishable things like silver or gold from a futile way of life inherited from our forebears. We too have just a little while! The Father will impartially judge according to each person’s work, Peter reminds us.    For “all flesh is as grass and withers. But the word of the Lord abides forever.”

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THE TRUE FORCE–WITH US

Posted on 10/05/2019 | 2 comments

Last time together we looked at parts of Matthew  7 and John the baptiser. 2- We noted several important matters of great relevance to us today as we think more of the Kingdom of God and Jesus the king.

Now when John heard in the prison the works of Christ, he sent two of his disciples and said to him, “Are you he who comes, or should we look for another?”Jesus answered them, “Go and tell John the things which you hear and see: the blind receive their sight, the lame walk, the lepers are cleansed, the deaf hear, the dead are raised up, and the poor have good news preached to them. Blessed is he who finds no occasion for stumbling in me.  Mat 11:2-

We wondered ‘why did John seem confused, disillusioned?’ While in prison, he had heard of the amazing, compassionate works of Jesus. But yet doubts assailed him. Even him.

Yes, even John who had actually seen the Holy Spirit come and land on Jesus when he baptised him and it was John who declared God had sent him to prepare the way for the Messiah, and who exclaimed ‘Look there is the Lamb of God who takes away the sin of the world’. He had doubts! Also Jane reminded us that even after Jesus’ resurrection we read ‘some doubted’.

Is it any wonder that we sometimes have doubts?

To John and any observant Jew, Jesus seemed to be breaking all the religious rules. Like John, Jesus keeps picking fights with the Jewish leader elites, but not in the way John was expecting—Jesus does not seem to be on the same page. There locked up in a gloomy, uncomfortable prison—hadn’t Jesus said something about releasing the captives? Didn’t Jesus come to establish the Kingdom of God here in earthly Israel and thrash the foreign rulers? Do I look for another?

As the two disciples of John went their way, Jesus asked the crowds about John. What did you go out into the wilderness to see? He asked them why did you go out? To see a prophet? Yes, I tell you, and much more than a prophet. For this is he, of whom it is written [in Malachi 3:1] ‘Behold, I send my messenger before your face, who will prepare your way before you.’

Then he stunned them by emphatically saying Most certainly I tell you, among those who are born of women there has not arisen anyone greater than John the Baptizer; yet he who is least in the Kingdom of Heaven is greater than he.

Since the prophet Malachi, prophesying had ceased as the Jews acknowledged. Now John’s preaching had also ceased, and since then there had been no prophecies concerning the Messiah and his kingdom. The time for prophesying the coming Messiah has ended. He is here!

Christ has now come and he is proclaiming the good news of the kingdom. See what is happening—all the signs of the long-awaited, prophesied One are taking place now! And people then were—and now are in 2019—entering the Kingdom of Heaven. And now any one in Jesus’ kingdom, even the least, is ‘greater’, more influential, than John—they have the most glorious access to the King himself! They have entrance to the power and the gifts of the Holy Spirit! They can see an open heaven, where anything is possible should they choose to believe! They are his inheritance, his holy nation!

Such blessed people find no occasion for stumbling in Jesus.

Since John, the last of the OT prophets like Elijah, a line has been drawn in the sand! The Old covenant has passed away and the New has come.

Jesus then said that since John-B the Kingdom of Heaven is being taken ‘by force’. It is now the new covenant under which we, poor, faulty, weak, mortals, despised by the world are yet a mighty force, commissioned to behave with a supernatural force to live out daily the power of God unto salvation, the wonderful Holy Spirit broadcasting to many souls. Now the people of God can be seen behind the scenes, secretly, powerfully, patiently and effectually, and yet not against the wills of others—instruments of Jesus’ love and power—lights in ever growing darkness.

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DO IT MY WAY

Posted on 29/04/2019 | 2 comments

We read in 2-Samuel 6:9-15 (WEB) in the story of the Ark of the Covenant’s return to Israel from the Philistines . . . .  

David was afraid of Yahweh that day; and he said, “How could Yahweh’s ark come to me?” So David would not move Yahweh’s ark to be with him in David’s city; but David carried it aside into Obed-Edom the Gittite’s house. Yahweh’s ark remained in Obed-Edom the Gittite’s house three months; and Yahweh blessed Obed-Edom and all his house. King David was told, “Yahweh has blessed the house of Obed-Edom, and all that belongs to him, because of God’s ark.”

So David went and brought up God’s ark from the house of Obed-Edom into David’s city with joy. When those who bore Yahweh’s ark had gone six paces, he sacrificed an ox and a fattened calf.  David danced before Yahweh with all his might; and David was clothed in a linen ephod.  So David and all the house of Israel brought up Yahweh’s ark with shouting, and with the sound of the trumpet.

God designed the Ark of the Covenant to have two staves for bearing it on the shoulders of four priests. There were 4 positions for 4 priests to bear it. They knew fearful consequences would follow if they did not do exactly as Yahweh commanded. This was the way the Ark must be carried every time it was moved from one place to another. Do as he says!

The house of Obed-Edom had been greatly blessed by the presence of the Ark—the presence of the Living God. The presence of God always brings joy and peace and spiritual prosperity. For us under the New Covenant, we have the assurance of the wonderful presence of the Lord and the remarkable indwelling of the Holy Spirit—if we do it God’s way.

The understanding of his awesome presence must have been an encouragement to those priests entrusted with bringing the holy box into David’s city—if they did it God’s way.

Imagine how carefully and fearfully the new bearers would have acted now since the death of Uzzah when the Philistine oxen stumbled and Uzzah tried to steady it. No doubt they took up the Ark of God in fear and trembling, upon their shoulders. We notice they took only six steps. Would they survive?  They surely trusted in God’s orders and no one would die.

And then they rested, no doubt in great relief. How they praised and thanked God, and offered sacrifices with great joy. Maybe they proceeded in this manner, six steps at a time, for the entire journey. Maybe not.

So do we think we can help God out, extend his kingdom and plans by doing what seems more up-to-date or what tradition demands? We do so at great cost when we ignore God’s plans for his people.

Apparently we do. We do it our way so often. We ignore the model—Jesus.

 We think we can worship God and minister and meet together a better or quicker way than the example passed by Jesus to the apostles and recorded in the scriptures.  

How foolish this is. Dumb. Clueless. Ignorant. If we are to think we know better than Jesus.  

God is a lot wiser than we. God always knows best and by obeying him we are shielded us from disaster, disunity, powerlessness, authority-challenged, peddling misinformed doctrines and witnessing waek, miserable outcomes.

We must God’s commands and his example in his Son, in whom all the treasures of wisdom and knowledge reside. We must follow his word. Do it his way.

The order we find laid out in God’s word for us seems so . . .  yesteryear, impractical.

They did not dare think ‘why carry ‘the Ark’ on our shoulders when we can put it on wheels?’ That is what the pagans did and it was OK. So efficient! Much quicker!

Many trusted, respected teachers are teaching not what our heavenly Father has taught them in the scriptures, but useless, empty, corrupt tradition. Well-meaning ‘I’m in charge here’ pastors and fake priests simply chant out the age-long mantras for the faithful to hear and remain dormant and subject to misinformation, keeping them from rising up with faith and joy in their redemption and enjoyment of what God has done in Christ.

Why is it that no one hears sermons on 1 Corinthians 12—14. For example, (12:11) But the one and the same Spirit produces all of these, distributing to each one in the (local ekklesia) separately as he desires. To each one! And (12:19-20) For the body is not one member, but many. (12:14)  If they were all one member, where would the body be? But now they are many members, but one body’.

So where is THIS BODY to be found?

I cannot find even one—what I see is one-man ministry, clergy-laity divide, numerous programs instead of equipping the people, money and business models.

Why is there is only infrequent teaching on healing the sick—there’s plenty on ‘praying for the sick’. Who is training young men to go out into the marketplace with spiritual weaponry downloaded by the Lord and learning how to heal the sick?

This is rank disobedience or abject unbelief—or both.

We must all change our way of doing God’s will. Surely his patience with us is amazing.

Do it his way.

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The new covenant signs

Posted on 12/10/2018 | 2 comments

Last time I wrote about the seriousness and the importance of covenant . . . Covenant is the same word as Testament in the original biblical (Greek) language. So New Testament means New Covenant. God expects us to live in the new covenant. Not the old. The old no longer pertains. If we fail to obey the implications are very dire. But if we respond, then untold, unimaginable  blessings and benefits accrue and the Kingdom of God will be experienced.

This morning the Holy Spirit directed me to the words of the Hebrew prophet Joel which are repeated by the apostle Peter to the multitudes in Jerusalem . . . .

“‘In the last days, God says,
I will pour out my Spirit on all people.
Your sons and daughters will prophesy,
your young men will see visions,
your old men will dream dreams.
18 Even on my servants, both men and women,
I will pour out my Spirit in those days,
and they will prophesy.
19 I will show wonders in the heavens above
and signs on the earth below .

. . .  And everyone who calls
on the name of the Lord will be saved.

Look at this. Read it. Hear it. Let go to your guts, your will. These are the signs of the new covenant.

What are we waiting for? Why do we settle for anything less? Why bother with religion?

Why  do we go on living under a man-evolved system when the Lord of glory has given us the new to live by, brought about at titanic cost by sending His Son in the form of sinful humanity and giving Himself to be a sacrifice for us?

“This is the new covenant in my blood!”

We must be united to him, one with him, in this new covenant in his blood. Jesus is everything.

We must be freed from the dominance of an old system, old wineskins. Immersed in the new.

Come on! Leave the old system which is no longer effective for God’s people.

More next post. Soon. (God willing).

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More on the De Facto Question

Posted on 25/07/2016 | 12 comments

In the previous post (was short—not the whole counsel of God) several people responded by email as well as here on the blog. How differently sincere and godly respondents can look at a post!

Some were very positive. Some did not actually read the article carefully. Some read with the aim to dismiss what is written or to critique and they miss what is actually being said. Others were disappointed that no conclusion was clear— whether “it” is right or wrong. Bless ‘em all!

We like to have difficult questions settled cleanly and simply. Then we can be quick to judge people and make decisions affecting people’s lives, tell others how to behave. But we end up excluding some behaviours and winking at others. Instead of showing patience and compassion, we exclude people.

We were addressing the situation of an already established, committed and caring ‘marriage’, one that has been recognised by the state and in law for many decades and by perhaps 75% of Australian society.

Should we not follow Jesus in the way he acted? He did nothing except what the Father told him. So must we cultivate that in our own lives rather than live just by precepts, dogma. It is important that we begin to move in the Holy Spirit in how we respond to people.  This will become critical in this culture of increasing ‘new morality’, political correctness and intolerant, mischievous opposition to anything Christian in politics, society and media.

There are some things that we can be clear about and these were pointed out in my post, things we hold true as Jesus did. I suppose I could have added how fornicators will come under the judgment of God. But that’s not the sort of issue that was being addressed.  Certainly young people need to be warned that cohabitation is not the answer to their search for true oneness, wholeness or identity.

There is a need to be holy, to please the Lord. But how is that achieved? It is the gift of God, lest any of us should boast. Grace. A free gift, the Holy Spirit. Not law. That needs another short post or two, perhaps twenty!

Holiness will not be achieved by observance of Law, any set of laws. Not by the rules and norms of average, lifeless, pew-bound Christianity, nor by rules we make up to protect our group, large or small or to give some false security or human authority. Imposition, judgmentalism and dogmatism.

For those of us who have escaped from the box (buildings, priestcraft, professional staff, staged-managed meetings, finances, etc) we are thrown back on the Holy Spirit to lead us and show us how to love, to embrace the newbees and to bring prophetic understanding and the Father’s mind, His ways.

In Jesus’ encounter with the Samaritan woman (John 4), He graciously exposed her history of 5 husbands and the current live-in guy. Yes, in that society there was a difference between marriage and cohabitation, which based on the evidence available, actually had very little in common with the scenario we were addressing.

Jesus did not behave as the scribes and Pharisees—and many fundamentalist or ‘bible-believing’ leaders—would do with condemnation and judgment. That word of knowledge from God brought her salvation, an unexpected extended stay for Jesus and co in Sycar and amazing blessing. Jesus is the standard.

Don’t you love how Paul talks about prophecy in action: if all prophesy, and an unbeliever or ungifted man enters, he is convicted by all, he is called to account by all;  the secrets of his heart are disclosed; and so he will fall on his face and worship God, declaring that God is certainly among you. (1 Corinthians 14)

We must expect such take place in our midst as we mix with unbelievers or ungifted ones. May that be our desire and experience as we deal with the many difficult situations which will arise and grow more frequent in coming days. The Holy Spirit is able to expose people’s hearts when they try to justify their actions, as they will. We all tend to.

We are promised magnanimous gifts and graces. Why are we not experiencing them? Why present to people worldly principles, white-washed with a veneer of religiosity? Let us move in the blessings of the new covenant in grace and glory and not with some mental checklist of dos and donts.

After decades of marriage, I believe it’s best for couples to express before witnesses a covenant relationship and be recognised by wider society even though I would struggle to produce texts to clearly support that.

Jesus is everything. Listen to God speak! He is there and He is not silent

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A New Covenant—Neglected

Posted on 26/04/2016 | 3 comments

Appallingly, today, we see a denial of much of the glorious features of the New Covenant—New Testament life. Instead of God’s laws poured by the Holy Spirit into their minds and written on their hearts, many are content to get their spiritual input not from the Lord Himself, but from middlemen with agendas—spiritual directors, priests, pastors. Instead of being the people of God, many see their identity as Baptist or Catholic or Evangelical and so on. The two-tier (clergy-laity) mentality persists.

Does not the Living God find fault with us in our unbiblical practices of assembly and hierarchy which we continue to hang onto?

Instead of all God’s people being in unbroken fellowship with the living God—knowing Him in their personal experience—they are dependent on professional Christians as mediators. The whole concept given to us by S. Paul—that of the one body with many active functioning members, each with gifts of the Holy Spirit—is ignored, seen as irrelevant or even mysteriously withdrawn. Millions even attend rituals in which it is believed Jesus is re-sacrificed again and again by a priest, clearly at great odds with the message of the New Testament—this sacrifice was made once for all and all time and is unrepeatable.

The key to much understanding of the New Covenant is that we are each born into a Body—the Body of Christ. Individualism is contrary to the New Covenant and to our organic, community life in the Body of Christ. We are many members and one body. God makes covenant with a people, not with individuals, but with the body of Christ, in Jesus.

When the Lord talks about a new agreement (covenant), he means that the first one is out of date. And anything that is old and useless will soon disappear. (Hebrews 8:13)

All kinds of spirituality that are inadequate or out of date have now been made obsolete by God’s flawless design; and what is obsolete and outdated soon disappears. And now what is not planted by the Father will be rooted up (Matthew 15:13). What is built, even if on a good foundation, if not with God’s specified materials, will be destroyed (1 Corinthians 3:10-15).

This New Covenant is made with Christ and we get under the New Covenant by being hid in Christ together. So it can never be broken! You cannot break it—it was not made with you!

So what are you going to do about this?

You have the wonderful power of choice. To change your mind and heart and actions.

Must we keep disobeying the Lord who gave Himself for us?

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A New Covenant—Ignored?

Posted on 22/04/2016 | Leave a comment

God’s first agreement (covenant) with His people, Israel, was defective, wrote the author of the New Testament book The Letter to the Hebrews (8:7-8) so a better was needed. This author shows how much more serious is our attitude and response to the New Covenant (how shall we escape if we ignore its implications, Hebrews 2:1-4).

The new must not be ignored. God’s design practices for corporate worship revealed in the New Covenant/New Testament must be followed. We must not lose His words or replace them by worldly or pagan ideas and practices like clergy—laity, pastor—people.

In this better covenant Jesus is not prevented by death and we are ALL called into the experience of the Lord Jesus in the power of his endless, indestructible life in which he works in us who draw near. He promises to energise within us, in our own life, breathing his life in us, so that it becomes our new nature to love him, delight to do his will—his own life in us.

Have believers gone backwards since Judaism with corporate matters?  In many ways our practices in churches as Christ’s people today are often more bound and institutional and domineering to that of many devout Jews in Jesus’ own day. Jews did not have a pastor or priest ruling over them. Nor did they meet in ‘house-of-the-Lord’ type buildings. Nor was the sharing of the word of God jealously guarded by one (or two) leaders.  The synagogue was a place of discussion and sharing of scriptures by the several.  Common meals were frequently shared together. Plus each synagogue was independently managed. They did not have to toe the line of any outside superintendent, C.E.O., denomination, statement of faith, or any head office!

These churchy practices plainly ignore the New Covenant.

How far we have drifted from the apostles’ teaching and practice! They were liberated from the practices of Judaism, yes, of religion and the Holy Spirit was living in each one! Yet today Christendom is weak, divided up into competing denominations, living “in the flesh” and generally not experiencing the New Covenant. It seems we have a similar situation today to that which our Hebrews author was addressing  (Heb 8:7-8) . . . .

 If the first covenant with God had been all right, there would not have been any need for another one. But the Lord found fault with them and said . . . . . .  (quoting Jer 31:31-34)

I will put my laws in their minds and write them on their hearts.
I will be their God, and they will be my people.
No longer will they teach or say to one another, “Know the Lord,”
because they will all know me, from the least of them to the greatest.
For I will forgive their wickedness and will remember their sins no more.’

Can we just go on and on ignoring the New Covenant made at the most tremendous cost to the Father by Jesus?

“If you love me you will keep my commands”  John 14:15

To be continued

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A SOUND AND FULL GOSPEL

Posted on 19/01/2016 | 2 comments

Sound doctrine must be encouraged right from the start for the newly baptised. That means the teaching of Jesus and the apostles recorded for us in the New Testament documents. An intensive approach is necessary until a foundation and unity in Christ is experienced to bring maturity and stops the person being tossed around by every wind of doctrine. Ephesians 4:1-16 says it all.

The Gospel is enough if it is the full message and based on sound apostolic teaching.

Paul’s letters are packed with warnings to people about losing what has been given at the start. It’s a constant theme. also Peter’s and James and John. The lot.

Sound doctrine in Jesus must replace everything else. Must replace all the additions and sacred cows that have gathered momentum and weight and accumulation by teachers in Christendom and away from the simplicity of Jesus and life, oneness and love centred only in him.

But what tends to happen amounts to adding to what people have already learned.

No. We must start from scratch—from Jesus only. That’s what the first disciples had to do. That’s what we must teach— the New Covenant and what that means, and stress its importance—the simple teaching of who we are in Christ—new men and women—who walk not after the flesh but after the Spirit. Cant serve two masters.

You cannot live the New Covenant life in Jesus’ blood while remaining in some other covenant, like a covenant of Churchianity or of a man-made organisation, or of a denomination—or one of your own choice.

The whole understanding of doctrine in current historic Churchianity is sick, stuck in a kind of poor renovation of Old Covenant shadows, yet fraught with splits, competitiveness, unbelief, envy, lust for power, desire to make a name for ourselves  . . . . . .

For example, what did Jesus teach about “the church”? Nothing. Just 2 passages in Mathew alone which today do not have the meaning anywhere near what he meant.

Instead Christendom is all about this imported c….. word.

Most people have no idea what the original Greek word (ekklesia) means because its translation to c….. in all English bibles is religious, Romish, worldly, even pagan.  Jesus gave NO command about forming churches. Instead he told us to love one another and sure, that means togetherness, yes. It means caring, service, sacrifice for others, being servants and above all, loving one another. Gathering like they did originally.

He told us to make disciples, heal the sick, set the oppressed free, love one another, lead a holy life, receive the Holy Spirit, walk in the Spirit . . . . . . . . . .

Christendom and its micro offshoots continue to do what he did not command and ignore what He DID command.

Christendom is in most places, a mere shadow of the Old Covenant—and without even the wonderful glory of the Old Covenant. The Old Covenant is a shadow of the New Covenant. But we have made the Old Covenant look by comparison far more glorious than what we see today—at least it had a supernatural glory.

The apostles declared that the glory of the New Covenant makes the old look a mere shadow. New Covenant life makes the old seem to have no glory at all says Paul (see 2 Corinthians 3).

You and I must start obeying the sound doctrine of the new covenant! Today.

No time to lose.

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ON KEEPING THE SABBATH

Posted on 12/06/2015 | 12 comments

There are some believers, and these are not just Seventh Day Adventists, laying on others an obligation to keep a Saturday Sabbath.

This is to forget or ignore the apostle Paul, who was firm about any kind of regression into Moses or any enslaving religion: “. . . But now that you have come to know God, or rather to be known by God, how can you turn back again to the weak and destitute elemental powers? Do you want to be slaves to them all over again?  You are observing days, months, seasons, and years. I am afraid on your account that perhaps I have laboured for you in vain.” (Galatians 4, NASB). No. God loves us and saves us from enslaving religion.

And in Colossians 2: “Let no one, then, pass judgment on you in matters of food and drink or with regard to a festival or new moon or Sabbath.  These are shadows of things to come; the reality belongs to Christ.” (NASB)

The Letter to the Hebrews—written to believers who were formerly locked up in Judaism—shows how all has changed in the New Covenant and that the ordinances we read about in the Old Covenant were shadows of what was to come. Truly Jesus’ sacrifice for us and his resurrection has changed everything. The love of God for us all is now wonderfully portrayed!

Jesus took the handwriting of ordinances that was against us, which was contrary to us, and took it out of the way, nailing it to his cross affirms Paul (Colossians 2:14).  God’s amazing grace and love again!

The Sabbath was an ordinance given to the people of God in the Old Covenant under Moses. Exodus 31:12—18 shows us that the Sabbath was given as a gift to the people of Israel. It was a special sign of God’s covenant between Himself and Israel—there was a special relationship between national Israel and Sabbath keeping, as Exodus 31 shows (31:12—18), especially vss 16-17. The emphasis was on the whole nation keeping the seventh day holy, rather than merely a day of rest.

This issue was the major stumbling block for leaders of natural Israel because of the huge emphasis on Sabbath observance in their scriptures—an emphasis which is so noticeably absent from the New Testament. In the New Covenant we must follow Jesus and not Moses: “this is my beloved son—Listen to him” said the Father on the mountain.

By contrast, Abraham received no such special sign in the covenant which God made with him and which preceded the Law by 430 years! Abraham, Isaac and Jacob knew of no Sabbath. Now Paul insists the covenant blessing of Abraham extends to Gentiles through Christ Jesus, so that we can receive the promise of the Spirit through faith. Having begun in the Spirit do we finish in the flesh? No way. (Galatians 3)

The Sabbath ordinance like all the others, was nailed to the cross. Jesus has become our Sabbath, and in Him alone we rest in everything. We have been transported into the kingdom of Christ, the New Covenant made between Jesus and the Father, a covenant that can never be broken by us because we cannot break a covenant we did not make. Oh such love!

Jesus gave many commands to his disciples but not once did he mention the Sabbath to them. When he said “the Sabbath was made for man and not man for the Sabbath” and “the the Son of Man is Lord of the Sabbath” you will find the context was that of religious churchy leaders accusing Jesus of working on the Sabbath. They were out to get him even though he was doing the very works of the Father—working on the Sabbath! Loving everyone. He did not rest on the Sabbath but he certainly kept it holy.

In Acts 15, the apostolic leaders in Jerusalem appealed to Gentile believers merely to “avoid pollution from idols, unlawful marriage, the meat of strangled animals and blood.” Nothing else—nothing there about keeping the Sabbath. Now for Jews to say that could only come from the Holy Spirit!

There is nothing in Paul’s writings to support Sabbath-keeping, nor in any of the other apostolic writings. Examine Paul’s last letters, 1 Timothy and 2 Timothy and you find several lists of sins predicted ‘in the last days’ and there’s nothing about expectation of the sin of neglect of the Sabbath! Neither is there any hint of Sabbath-neglect among the lists of faults of people contemporaneous with Paul’s letters. None.

The bottom line is the New Covenant we have in Jesus—our lives are hidden in Christ with God. All has changed in the New Covenant. We are not Israel after the flesh, but we are the Israel after the Spirit. We come to Jesus weary, heavy laden for his rest to our souls and to learn from him (Matthew 11:28-29). Oh, what love!

Of course there is nothing in the New Testament to suggest that we should not meet on Saturdays! Or any other day of the week. Or how often, for that matter. There is such freedom for the people of God.

It does say that our being together should be frequent. We see this in Acts 2:46  . . .  “Every day they devoted themselves to meeting together in the temple area and to breaking bread in their homes.    . . . . . . And every day the Lord added to their number those who were being saved.”

And Hebrews 3:13 reminds us to constantly encourage one another daily while it is still “today,” so that none grow hardened by the deceit of sin.

Every day is the Lord’s Day in the New Covenant, “now is the accepted time—this is the day of salvation”. That’s because Jesus is the Lord of the Sabbath—we follow him and not Moses who promised the coming of “that prophet” who turns out to be our Lord Jesus. So unexpected!

This is just another issue that we should not need to tackle–we who are partakers of the divine nature and upon whom the end of the ages–the new covenant in Jesus–has come! The devil loves to sideline the people of God into these sorts of things while people are dying around us and we trifle with doctrines which have long been rendered obselete. Let’s get on with making Jesus known, making disciples, healing the sick, proclaiming the nearness of the Kingdom of God.

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