Matt. 5: 21-48. What does Christ mean when He says “you have heard, but I tell you?
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Christ is the one conquering. And we are more than conquerors in Him. Hell is on defense as Jesus possesses the keys to death and hell, and is plucking brands from the fire at will. Hell is in a defensive position with the gates closed trying to maintain its captives. But it can't. The Spirit has been poured out and ain'ts are becoming saints everyday. Jesus is winning, not losing.
Christ set a sinless example for us to follow of how to walk in obedience to the Mosaic Law and we are told to follow Christ's example (1 Peter 2:21-22), that those who are in Christ are obligated to walk in the same way he walked (1 John 2:6), and to be imitators of Paul as he is an imitator of Christ (1 Corinthians 11:1). Christ lived in obedience to the Mosaic Law, so that is the way that we also live when he is living in us, yet most Christians think that it makes perfect sense to interpret the Bible as arguing against following Christ's example of obedience to God.
The Son is the image of the invisible God (Colossians 1:15) and the radiance of God's glory and the exact image of His nature (Hebrews 1:3), so God is holiness, righteousness, goodness, justice, mercy, faithfulness, love, joy, peace, patience, kindness, gentleness, self-control, and so forth, and if all of these invisible aspects of God's nature were in the form of a body that we can see, then that would be the Son, which he expressed through setting a perfect example for us to follow of how to walk in obedience to the Mosaic Law. So the goal of the Mosaic Law is to teach us how to testify about aspects of God's nature and the way to follow Christ is by also testifying about those aspects of His nature by following his example of obedience to the Mosaic Law. For example, by doing good works in obedience to the Mosaic Law we are testifying about God's goodness, which is why our good works bring glory to Him (Matthew 5:16), and by testifying about God's goodness, which are also expressing the belief that God is good, or in other words, we are believing in Him.
In Exodus 20:6, God wanted His people to love Him and obey His commandments, so obedience to God has always been about more than an outward performance and God has always disdained it when His people honored Him with their lips while their hearts were far from Him (Isaiah 29:13). In Matthew 23:23, Jesus said that tithing was something that they ought to be doing while not neglecting weightier matters of the Mosaic Law of justice, mercy, and faithfulness, so Jesus was calling the Pharisees to have a higher level of obedience to it in a manner that is in accordance with the weightier matters that are aspects of God's nature/fruits of the Spirit that it was given to teach us how to express.
The Son is the image of the invisible God (Colossians 1:15) and the radiance of God's glory and the exact image of His nature (Hebrews 1:3), so God is holiness, righteousness, goodness, justice, mercy, faithfulness, love, joy, peace, patience, kindness, gentleness, self-control, and so forth, and if all of these invisible aspects of God's nature were in the form of a body that we can see, then that would be the Son, which he expressed through setting a perfect example for us to follow of how to walk in obedience to the Mosaic Law. So the goal of the Mosaic Law is to teach us how to testify about aspects of God's nature and the way to follow Christ is by also testifying about those aspects of His nature by following his example of obedience to the Mosaic Law. For example, by doing good works in obedience to the Mosaic Law we are testifying about God's goodness, which is why our good works bring glory to Him (Matthew 5:16), and by testifying about God's goodness, which are also expressing the belief that God is good, or in other words, we are believing in Him.
In Exodus 20:6, God wanted His people to love Him and obey His commandments, so obedience to God has always been about more than an outward performance and God has always disdained it when His people honored Him with their lips while their hearts were far from Him (Isaiah 29:13). In Matthew 23:23, Jesus said that tithing was something that they ought to be doing while not neglecting weightier matters of the Mosaic Law of justice, mercy, and faithfulness, so Jesus was calling the Pharisees to have a higher level of obedience to it in a manner that is in accordance with the weightier matters that are aspects of God's nature/fruits of the Spirit that it was given to teach us how to express.
Hello,
A covenant is essentially a serious agreement between two parties about what they will do, so the "I do" has nothing to do with boasting, just two people getting married with an "I do" has nothing to do with boasting. In Deuteronomy 30:11-16, it says that God's law is not too difficult to obey and obedience to it brings life, and Romans 10:5-8 references that passage as the word of faith that we proclaim, so believing that what God has instructed is is a matter of faith in God's word, not a matter of boasting.
The distinction between the letter of the law and the spirit of the law is in regard to whether someone is focused on following a law as it is written or whether they are focused on following it according to its intent. For example, in Leviticus 19:12, it prohibits swearing falsely by God's name, so someone who was focused on following the spirit of that law would understand that we are not free to swear falsely whereas someone who as focused on following the letter of that law would understand that we are free to swear falsely just as long as we swear by something other than God's name, which is incidentally the issue Jesus was addressing in Matthew 5:33-37).
A covenant is essentially a serious agreement between two parties about what they will do, so the "I do" has nothing to do with boasting, just two people getting married with an "I do" has nothing to do with boasting. In Deuteronomy 30:11-16, it says that God's law is not too difficult to obey and obedience to it brings life, and Romans 10:5-8 references that passage as the word of faith that we proclaim, so believing that what God has instructed is is a matter of faith in God's word, not a matter of boasting.
The distinction between the letter of the law and the spirit of the law is in regard to whether someone is focused on following a law as it is written or whether they are focused on following it according to its intent. For example, in Leviticus 19:12, it prohibits swearing falsely by God's name, so someone who was focused on following the spirit of that law would understand that we are not free to swear falsely whereas someone who as focused on following the letter of that law would understand that we are free to swear falsely just as long as we swear by something other than God's name, which is incidentally the issue Jesus was addressing in Matthew 5:33-37).
None of what you stated is wrong that Christ is our example and we are obligated to live a life of obedience. Those are given. The question is how? Jesus was given the Spirit without measure. We, too, are to walk in the Spirit.
I'm not arguing your first 2 points. I'm trying to show you how obedience is actually accomplished. It's not by trying to copy Jesus; rather, it's by being empowered by Him as we walk in the Spirit.
I'm not arguing your first 2 points. I'm trying to show you how obedience is actually accomplished. It's not by trying to copy Jesus; rather, it's by being empowered by Him as we walk in the Spirit.
No it's not. It only mimics His outward behavior; it doesn't reflect the heart from which He is motivated. Your heart is deceitful above all things and desperately wicked. His heart is pure. So simply copying His behavior doesn't provide you with purity in motive. You haven't truly obeyed if you are only conformed outwardly.
Of course. And it's in salvation that the circumcision of the heart is accomplished. But you still never deal with the source of the power of obedience. It's not you. It is the Spirit. And He is not under your control. You are to be under His. And unless you are, you aren't obedient, regardless of what you believe.
Jeremiah doesn't say "Mosaic". Let's not be adding to God's word.
Given my point above, your point falls flat.
If I make a contract with one person, and a different contract with another person, is the second person bound to the terms of the first contract? No. In the same way, the Mosaic law was given to Israel, and the covenant in Christ's blood is given to all people. They terms are different. Those under the blood are not bound by the terms of the Sinai covenant.
Wrong. The way to obey God's word is to believe in Jesus, which is what God directly says. He hasn't said to all the gentiles, "Obey the terms of the Sinai covenant and you will by My people."
Given my point above, your point falls flat.
If I make a contract with one person, and a different contract with another person, is the second person bound to the terms of the first contract? No. In the same way, the Mosaic law was given to Israel, and the covenant in Christ's blood is given to all people. They terms are different. Those under the blood are not bound by the terms of the Sinai covenant.
Wrong. The way to obey God's word is to believe in Jesus, which is what God directly says. He hasn't said to all the gentiles, "Obey the terms of the Sinai covenant and you will by My people."
Jeremiah 31:33 uses the Hebrew word "Torah", which refers to the Mosaic Law. I could have alternatively said that following the Torah is not one of ways in which the Mosaic and New Covenants are distinct, so your point falls flat.
God sovereign, so He isn't required to make contracts that we need to have agreed to first in order for us to become obligated to act in accordance with His nature and to refrain from sin. In Jeremiah 31:31-33, the New Covenant was only. made with the house of Judah and the house of Israel and it involves God putting the Torah in our minds and writing it on our hearts. The purpose of the Torah is to teach us how to know the God of Israel, how to worship Him, how to love Him, how to believe in Him, and how to testify about Him through acting in accordance with His nature, so those instructions are available to anyone who wants to do those things regardless of whether or not they are under contractual obligation to do them.
God's word is His instructions for how to believe in God's word made flesh. The way that we choose to live testifies about what we believe to be true about the nature of who God is, so by doing good works in obedience to the Torah, we are testifying that God is good and thereby we are also expressing the belief that God is good, and the same is true for other aspects of God's nature. It is contradictory to believe in God's word made flesh while not believing in God's word.
God sovereign, so He isn't required to make contracts that we need to have agreed to first in order for us to become obligated to act in accordance with His nature and to refrain from sin. In Jeremiah 31:31-33, the New Covenant was only. made with the house of Judah and the house of Israel and it involves God putting the Torah in our minds and writing it on our hearts. The purpose of the Torah is to teach us how to know the God of Israel, how to worship Him, how to love Him, how to believe in Him, and how to testify about Him through acting in accordance with His nature, so those instructions are available to anyone who wants to do those things regardless of whether or not they are under contractual obligation to do them.
God's word is His instructions for how to believe in God's word made flesh. The way that we choose to live testifies about what we believe to be true about the nature of who God is, so by doing good works in obedience to the Torah, we are testifying that God is good and thereby we are also expressing the belief that God is good, and the same is true for other aspects of God's nature. It is contradictory to believe in God's word made flesh while not believing in God's word.
I disagree. New creations live in new places. If any man is in Christ, he is a new creation. He lives in the new Jerusalem. It is the kingdom of God. It is a spiritual kingdom ruled by Jesus and consists of all true believers. It is the city made without hands that is ruled by peace and righteousness provided by Christ. And this kingdom is eternal and will never end.
This is the city Abraham sought.
This is the city Abraham sought.
The Torah is more than the Mosaic Law.
Irrelevant and totally missing the point.
The word "only" is not there. You're adding to Scripture... again.
No, it is not. There isn't a single verse that connects obeying the terms of the Sinai covenant with believing in Jesus.
No, by doing so we would be testifying that we don't believe Him at His word, because we would be rejecting His word which says, "Believe in the One I have sent."
Irrelevant and totally missing the point.
The word "only" is not there. You're adding to Scripture... again.
No, it is not. There isn't a single verse that connects obeying the terms of the Sinai covenant with believing in Jesus.
No, by doing so we would be testifying that we don't believe Him at His word, because we would be rejecting His word which says, "Believe in the One I have sent."