The New Covenant Is Not What Many Have Been Taught
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If grace means you do not need to keep the Commandments that is exactly what it means,
"" you just need to say "I believe" and you are go to go"???
I was going attempt to explain using scriptures but after see how deceived folks are that will have to wait until Christ returns, and this time the folks will listen.
No need to wait till Christ returns…. only ONE scripture needed… and ignore the ESV translation that this site throws in my face even though I selected the NKJV at set up.
Acts-15 V24: “...unsettling your souls, saying, ‘You must be circumcised and keep the law’—to whom we gave no such commandment.”
The apostles and elders at Jerusalem “GAVE NO SUCH COMMANDMENT” by DECREE to the Gentile churches in Asia to “be circumcised and keep the law” which is the law of Moses. The law of Moses contains all the Sabbaths. It’s all right there staring at you in the face in just one verse.
For James concluded in Acts-15V21 that,
“...Moses has had throughout many generations those who preach him in every city, being read in the synagogues every Sabbath.”
In other words, unlike themselves, the Jews, who for generations were building synagogues and had those teaching them the law of Moses every Sabbath in those synagogues, were used to it, but to suddenly impose on the Gentile believers in Asia and the rest of the Gentile world, (a yoke that neither there fathers or themselves were able to bear, Act-15V10), the tasks of getting circumcised, building synagogues and teaching Moses every Sabbath, with all their different cultures, governments, duties and state obligations, would be outright destructive and utterly insane... just as it would be today.
Again, no need to wait for the return of Christ, He already told you and everyone else by the Holy Spirit almost 2,000 years ago, "For it seemed good to the Holy Spirit...." (Acts-15V28).
Saying that someone “cannot be speaking by the Spirit” is not a sound argument. Truth is not proven by insults, but by Scripture rightly understood. Jesus Himself told us how to recognize the Spirit’s work, not by harsh words, but by truth, obedience, and fruit.
Jesus clearly taught that His words are not just information. They carry life and power. When He said, “The words that I speak to you are spirit, and they are life” (John 6:63, NKJV), He was explaining that His teaching comes from God and gives spiritual life. Life is not passive. Life moves, changes, and produces fruit. The same Jesus then said, “If you love Me, keep My commandments” (John 14:15, NKJV). He did not separate love, obedience, and the Spirit. In the very next verses, He promised the Helper, the Spirit of truth, who would dwell in us and teach us. That means the Spirit supports and strengthens the believer to live out what Jesus taught. Jesus never commands something impossible and then offers no help.
Jesus also said, “Abide in Me… for without Me you can do nothing” (John 15:4–5, NKJV). This shows clearly that obedience is not done by human strength alone. It flows from remaining in Him. That is the work of the Spirit, even if the verse does not use the word “enable.” Jesus explained the reality, not a formula.
Now regarding the quote, “you are not under law but under grace.” Grace does not mean freedom to ignore God’s commands. The verse itself says, “Certainly not!” to that idea. Jesus taught the same thing long before. He said, “Whoever commits sin is a slave of sin” (John 8:34, NKJV). Grace is not permission to sin. Grace is release from sin’s control. That agrees fully with Jesus.
Jesus also said, “Blessed are those who hunger and thirst for righteousness, for they shall be filled” (Matthew 5:6, NKJV). Filled with what? With God’s life and Spirit. Righteousness is not canceled by grace. It is fulfilled through a changed heart.
The problem with the objection is that it separates what Jesus kept together. Jesus never taught grace without obedience, nor obedience without God’s help. He taught both together. Grace forgives, cleanses, and restores. The Spirit teaches, reminds, and strengthens. Obedience is the fruit, not the price.
So the real error is not saying that the Spirit helps us walk in God’s ways. The real error is claiming grace while denying the very purpose of grace, which is a changed life that listens to Jesus and follows Him.
I am also very familiar with that passage. The problem is not knowing the words. The problem is ignoring what Jesus already explained and then reading this text in a way that contradicts Him.
Jesus never taught that dying to the law means living without obedience. That idea comes from reading later words while setting aside Jesus’ own voice. Jesus said, “The words that I speak to you are spirit, and they are life” (John 6:63, NKJV). He also said, “If you love Me, keep My commandments” (John 14:15, NKJV). Any interpretation that turns “newness of the Spirit” into freedom from obedience is already false, because Jesus does not contradict Himself.
In Romans 7, the picture is marriage. Death ends one kind of relationship so a new one can begin. But notice this carefully. The woman is not freed so she can live without any bond at all. She is freed so she can belong to another husband. In the same way, we are not freed from God’s will. We are freed from the old way of relating to the law so that we can belong to Christ.
The text itself says the purpose: “that we should bear fruit to God.” Fruit is not lawlessness. Fruit is a life that shows obedience, faith, and righteousness. Jesus said the same thing when He said, “By this My Father is glorified, that you bear much fruit” (John 15:8, NKJV). And He also said, “If you keep My commandments, you will abide in My love” (John 15:10, NKJV). That is not oldness of the letter. That is life in the Spirit.
Serving in “newness of the Spirit” does not mean ignoring God’s commands. It means no longer obeying from fear, pressure, or self-effort. It means obeying from a changed heart. Jesus explained this clearly when He said that evil comes from the heart, and that a good tree produces good fruit (Matthew 7:17–18, NKJV). The Spirit changes the heart so the fruit changes.
To claim that this passage removes the call to obedience is to twist the meaning and silence Jesus. Jesus warned about this very thing when He said, “Why do you call Me ‘Lord, Lord,’ and do not do the things which I say?” (Luke 6:46, NKJV). Calling it “Spirit” while rejecting His commands is not spirituality. It is self-deception.
So my rebuke is this: you cannot claim to honor Scripture while dismissing Jesus’ own words. Dying to the law does not mean living without obedience. It means dying to sin, dying to the old way, and living to Christ. The Spirit does not remove God’s will. The Spirit writes it into the heart and gives life to walk in it. If you remembered the words of Jesus you would know this.
Saying “hear what the Word of God actually says” while ignoring what Jesus Himself said is a serious mistake. You are narrowing the work of the Spirit to only what fits your conclusion, instead of letting Jesus define it.
Yes, the Spirit teaches and reminds. Jesus said that clearly: “The Helper, the Holy Spirit… will teach you all things, and bring to your remembrance all things that I said to you” (John 14:26, NKJV). But what exactly does the Spirit remind us of? Not silence. Not freedom from obedience. He reminds us of what Jesus said.
And what did Jesus say?
“If you love Me, keep My commandments.”
“Abide in Me.”
“Bear fruit.”
“Without Me you can do nothing.”
“Why do you call Me ‘Lord, Lord,’ and do not do the things which I say?”
So when you say the Spirit only teaches knowledge and reminders, you must deal honestly with the content of those reminders. The Spirit does not remind us of empty words. He reminds us of commands meant to be lived.
Now to your marriage argument. Calling God’s commandments an “ex-husband” is already a distortion. Jesus never spoke that way. He never said the law was an enemy to escape. He said the problem is the heart, not God’s will. “From within, out of the heart of men, proceed evil thoughts” (Mark 7:21, NKJV). The law exposes sin. It does not create it.
Romans 7 says we died to the law so that we may belong to Christ and bear fruit to God. You keep skipping that purpose. Death to the old way was not so we could live without direction. It was so we could live under Christ, led by the Spirit. A new husband does not mean no faithfulness. It means faithfulness in a new way.
Jesus explained “newness of the Spirit” long before Romans was written. He said, “You must be born again” (John 3:7, NKJV). A new birth produces a new life. And a new life produces obedience from the inside, not forced from the outside. That is why Jesus said, “A good tree bears good fruit” (Matthew 7:17, NKJV).
So the rebuke is this: you are separating what Jesus joined together. You claim the Spirit, but resist the fruit the Spirit produces. You honor teaching and reminders, but deny the purpose of those reminders, which is to walk in what Jesus taught.
The Spirit does not free us to ignore Christ. The Spirit joins us to Christ. And Christ did not say, “I free you from obedience.” He said, “Follow Me.”
good luck with that attitude on judgment day!
For the ten commandments that GOD called the Covenant at least 5 times in the Torah. No temple necessary to obey these! still perfectly valid as GOD wrote them himself and Jesus taught them and did ask those who love him to KEEP them ALL.
No One can delete them or annul them, ever! you know this but avoid it.
did anyone say it's boring..?
i would expect you to be eager to understand the Word of Life instead of dismissing it as 'difficult'
the NT is extremely clear: the Christian believer is not under the Law, and that does not mean we do evil.
1 Corinthians 9:20-21
To the Jews I became like a Jew, to win the Jews. To those under the law I became like one under the law (though I myself am not under the law), so as to win those under the law.
To those not having the law I became like one not having the law (though I am not free from God's law but am under Christ's law), so as to win those not having the law.
- if this doesn't bore you, try to comprehend it
why do you presume everyone who understands they are not under the law believes they have permission to sin?
((speaking of the entirety of the book of the Law, which was to be inscribed in stone per Deuteronomy 27))
Deuteronomy 29:9
Therefore keep the words of this covenant, and do them, that you may prosper in all that you do.
but of course, you want to delete every jot and tittle except for ten words. cconsider James:
James 2:9-10
but if you show partiality, you commit sin, and are convicted by the law as transgressors. For whoever shall keep the whole law, and yet stumble in one point, he is guilty of all.
thou shalt not be impartial is not part of the ten words. but it is part of the Law, the covenant.don't like James? Consider Jesus -
Matthew 22:37-40
'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.
neither of these are in the ten words, but they are the basis of the entire Law. yes these are the basis of the whole Torah, not the decalogue - - so says the scripture, but you have had a different teacher, who has misinstructed you??
theae are jots and tittles you say are deleted - - but the gospel says, not one iota needs to be erased for a dead man to be free from the entire Law - - by this we are saved. without this, we are under the curse.
never ever? have you not read what He who wrote them said?
Matthew 5:18
Amen Amen, I say to you, till heaven and earth pass away, one jot or one tittle will by no means pass from the law till all is fulfilled.
what do you think, all will never be fulfilled? that sure sounds suspiciously like the old covenant which could never produce righteousness or erase sin, but under which the priest must needs always, year after year, shed more and more blood.
you think that's salvation? forever mimicking rest, but never achieving it?
note that Jesus says 'the Law' here - - what is He referring to? the whole Torah or, as some are trying to teach us, just ten commandments which aren't even the basis of Moses?
Matthew 5:17
Do not think that I came to destroy the Law or the Prophets. I did not come to destroy but to fulfill.
by 'the Law and the prophets' He signifies the entire OT. all Torah = ''the Law" and all the prophets are, "the Prophets" and @vassal what did He say? not one of tiny bit of Torah - - all of it, not just the decalogue which isn't even the foundation of it - - won't pass away until it is fulfilled.
and oh man, what did He say He came to do? TO FULFILL
you do not get to pretend you're only under part of the law and delete 99% of it.
you are either under all of it - and cursed by it because you are definitely not keeping it - or you are not under it at all.
@memberofthebride
the word that is translated in Numbers 15:38 as "blue" is very specific, much like "crimson" in Psalm 22:6 - - but while it is still known from what the correct crimson dye is made ((a specific worm; super interesting portrait of Christ, look it up!)) - the source and therefore the particular blue God instructed you, who have put yourself under the law to, to dye the tassels that you must always wear on the four corners of your garment, has been lost to history well before God appeared in the flesh.
A quite amazing fact - when He came, on a very technical, deep point, no one on earth could possibly be keeping the Law, because they had lost the color blue. the great scholars like Nichodemus for example, the greatest rabbi in all Israel, knew this of course -
but @4urenlightment you'll like this, do you imagine they made that loss of knowledge public? Did they admit they had forgotten how to pronounce the name of God, either, through their weird devotion of avoiding to say or write it? BTW, when Jesus quoted OT saying YHWH - - do you think He omitted vowels or spoke the ineffable name ((His own name)) boldly? Did anyone recognize this? who? Zaccheus? Joseph of Arimathea?
all that aside - - you, who boast that you keep the law, @memberofthebride -- no one possibly for 2500 years had kept the law except for JESUS OF NAZARETH and one very tiny reason why, is that no one earth except JESUS OF NAZARETH has known the correct interpretation of "blue" in Numbers 15:38.
do you understand this or do you have no real, actual respect for the Law? your reply will reveal your heart.
you don't keep it. you boast of keeping it, but such boasting is clearly nothing but stinky, vacuous wind.
no one who understands the Law says they keep it.
it is a great honor for an SDA legalist heretic to dislike one's posts.
thank you for your reacts. you establish the orthodoxy of my dialogue.
i don't want disharmony, but i will not sacrifice the gospel of JESUS OF NAZARETH for the sake of "getting along"
When Jesus was on the cross, He was speaking the ancient Hebrew language that the recent Israelites has forgotten. That's why their names were Greek/Latin/ Aramaic names. Like Jesus is a Latin name from the Aramaic name Joshua/ Yahshua but in Hebrew Yehoshua
But that's why the people who surround Jesus while on the cross couldn't understand who He was calling out to because some of them knew little bit of Hebrew, that they thought He was calling out to Elijah that sounded like Eli Lama Sabachthani which means in Hebrew, My God, why you have forsaken me. And that's hy they were shocked when Jesus the son of an uneducated carpenter was able to read the ancient Hebrew scrolls. Only the scribes who were the teachers and the readers of the scrolls were the only ones who knew Hebrew. But Yahweh isn't the Hebrew name for God, but a word that was used by Mesopotamian/Sumerians which Abraham was from Mesopotamian. But Jesus was speaking Hebrew when He was referring to God as being His father, and the word He used for father was the Hebrew word Abba, like in Abraham a Hebrew name which Moses knew Egyptian and little bit of the Hebrew languages.
Ieovah (Jehovah) is the Latin word they used for God. But today, the Jews call God Allah because they were raised around Arabic speaking people that they have gotten used to this name. Just like we call Him God which it's an English word.
God had designed for us to seek Him. That it shows that we really care about Him.
