In My Honest Opinion…

 

By: Åge M. Åleskjær

From: April 2010

Found in: The Gospel of Grace

A Study of the Law of the New Covenant – the Law of Christ.

In an earlier article (“Rightly Dividing the Word of God”), I mentioned the three different groups of people that the Bible speaks about, and the laws that govern each group. The Jews are under the Mosaic Law, the Gentiles are under the law of conscience, and we, the church of God, are under the law of Christ. What is this law of Christ? The Bible uses many names to describe it, and it contains only one commandment: to love. In this article we will use some time to study this law of Christ, which is the only law that brings liberty!

The love that has been poured out in our hearts obviously wants to live a life pleasing to God.

The love that has been poured out in our hearts obviously wants to live a life pleasing to God. This is why all the requirements that the Old Covenant announced will be fulfilled as we live by the New Covenant love.So when some people think that we are preaching lawlessness, it is a big misunderstanding. We are preaching a higher law: the law of the New Covenant, the law of love, the perfect law of liberty, the royal law according to the Scripture, which only works when Jesus is living in you!

This perfect law exceeds all the requirements of the Old Covenant, but it all happens in the newness of the Spirit, not in the oldness of the letter. The Pharisees’ business with the letter has been replaced by the wonderful fragrance of life that comes from the new life.

We have moved out from the narrow corridor of letter and into the glorious freedom of the Spirit. Hallelujah!

Of course the new life is flowing in harmony with the right and wrong standards of God. But this is more than the tree of knowledge dividing between good and evil – this is the tree of life, dividing life and death. Many Pharisees try to do and say the right things, but it is without life. There is no aroma of Christ, and it fills Christian churches with lifeless doctrines.

Oh, how happy I am that I have experienced the new life of the Spirit! In Norway the old Pentecostal believers used to sing, “Rejoice that I came over to the Hallelujah side!” To that my heart says, “Yes, and Amen.”

The New Commandment

We are new creations; we live in a New Covenant with a new commandment.

In the New Covenant we have one commandment instead of ten.

In the New Covenant we have one commandment instead of ten. This one commandment is not written “on tablets of stone but on tablets of flesh, that is, of the heart” (2 Cor. 3:3).

“A new commandment I give to you, that you love one another; as I have loved you, that you also love one another” (John 13:34).

“And this is His commandment: that we should believe on the name of His Son Jesus Christ and love one another, as He gave us commandment” (1 John 3:23).

The key to live in this new commandment is that “the love of God has been poured out in our hearts by the Holy Spirit who was given to us” (Rom. 5:5).

The Brilliant Solution of God

The new commandment is an impossible “requirement” if we are to produce this love on our own.

The new commandment is an impossible “requirement” if we are to produce this love on our own. Then we are back where we started. Then the new commandment is worse than the Ten Commandments from Mount Sinai.

But the solution of God is brilliant! He Himself fulfills the requirement in us by pouring out His love in our hearts; He gives us a new nature when we pass from death to life. The new nature loves the brethren, just like 1 John 3:17 says. And therefore the requirement is fulfilled in us.

If we should be required to make the first initiative—that love should start with our effort—this requirement would be impossible to fulfill. It would be “mission impossible” if we were the ones who were to produce the love to fulfill the commandment about loving the Lord with all our hearts and our neighbor as ourselves.

So without being born-again, this commandment cannot be put into practice. It is when we pass from death to life that we receive the love, and then it is written on fleshly tablets of the heart. Love comes from God. We love because He first loved us. We forgive because He already has forgiven. He died for us while we were still sinners.

We Love Because He First Loved Us

Listen to this:
“Beloved, let us love one another, for love is of God; and everyone who loves is born of God and knows God. He who does not love does not know God, for God is love. In this the love of God was manifested toward us, that God has sent His only begotten Son into the world, that we might live through Him. In this is love, not that we loved God, but that He loved us and sent His Son to be the propitiation for our sins. Beloved, if God so loved us, we also ought to love one another” (1 John 4:7-11).

“We love, because he first loved us” (1 John 4:19, RSV).

The whole miracle is founded on His work in us; our performance and our boasting are excluded!

This is the key to the new commandment. It is not us who loved God – it is He who loved us! We love, because He first loved us.

This kills the religion of works, and gives God all the glory. The result is wonderful. We love, we have that love poured out in our hearts, and we love the brethren because we are born of God. The whole miracle is founded on His work in us; our performance and our boasting are excluded!  As we now live and do according to His good pleasure, and keep His commandment, it is the result of Him working in us both to will and to do for His good pleasure. Grace upon grace!

Jesus Introduced It, but the New Life Made It Possible

Even if Jesus introduced the new commandment in John 13:34, He knew that it was a prophecy of the time that was to come after Calvary. He knew

that this would not work before the Spirit was given, because it was by the Spirit that the love of God was poured out in our hearts

that this would not work before the Spirit was given, because it was by the Spirit that the love of God was poured out in our hearts.

In John 13, 14, 15, 16, and 17, Jesus is prophesying about the time after Pentecost. He is constantly referring to “when He, the Spirit of truth, has come,” and He uses expressions like “in that day,” etc. John explains it like this:
“Brethren, I write no new commandment to you, but an old commandment which you have had from the beginning. The old commandment is the word which you heard from the beginning. Again, a new commandment I write to you, which thing is true in Him and in you, because the darkness is passing away, and the true light is already shining. He who says he is in the light, and hates his brother, is in darkness until now. He who loves his brother abides in the light, and there is no cause for stumbling in him” (1 John 2:7-10).

When John says that they had this commandment from the beginning, it might be that he refers to the fact that they had this commandment from the time they were newly saved: “an old commandment which you have had from the beginning.” But it might also be that he refers to Jesus introducing this commandment. However, now it is true “in Him and in you,” because it is now that the light is shining.

In any case, the new commandment is that we love the brethren. He who does not love his brother abides in darkness.

One Commandment Instead of Ten

The Word explains:
“Owe no one anything except to love one another, for he who loves another has fulfilled the law. For the commandments, ‘You shall not commit adultery,’ ‘You shall not murder,’ ‘You shall not steal,’ ‘You shall not bear false witness,’ ‘You shall not covet,’ and if there is any other commandment, are all summed up in this saying, namely, ‘You shall love your neighbor as yourself.’ Love does no harm to a neighbor; therefore love is the fulfillment of the law” (Rom. 13:8-10).

“For all the law is fulfilled in one word, even in this: ‘You shall love your neighbor as yourself’” (Gal. 5:14).

So we have been given one commandment instead of ten. Are you able to see it?

If you at the same time have the revelation of how you can receive this love, as we just looked at in Rom. 5:5, 1 John 3:14, and 1 John 4:19, then you have found the answer of how you can live a life pleasing to God.

Some Things are an Individual Matter
This commandment is written in our hearts, and because of this, some things become an individual matter to us, e.g. that some keep one day holy and others don’t. But no part is allowed to despise the other. In connection to food it says that one believes he may only eat vegetables, whereas another believes he may have all things. Neither part is allowed to judge the other for all of us live to the Lord. You can find all this in Romans 14.

This chapter closes by saying that whatever is not from faith is sin. Consequently, the New Testament commandment is that we shall live in faith and love. The new commandment is love, and everything done apart from love is sin.

So you will find that God’s commandment in the New Testament is that you shall walk in love, because then you will fulfill the law. The one who loves does not steal. The one who loves does not commit adultery. The one who loves does not lie. The one who loves does not murder. He who loves has fulfilled the law (Rom. 13:8-10).

The Perfect Law – The Law of Liberty

“Therefore, lay aside all filthiness and overflow of wickedness, and receive with meekness the implanted word, which is able to save your souls. But be doers of the word, and not hearers only, deceiving yourselves.

The Word of God is like a mirror telling us who we are.

For if anyone is a hearer of the word and not a doer, he is like a man observing his natural face in a mirror; for he observes himself, goes away, and immediately forgets what kind of man he was. But he who looks into the perfect law of liberty and continues in it, and is not a forgetful hearer but a doer of the work, this one will be blessed in what he does” (James 1:21-25).

This is where the key is found!
The Word of God is like a mirror telling us who we are. Just think about all the verses in the Bible talking about “in Him,” “through Him,” “with Him,” etc. The Bible is explaining about who we are in Him because He lives in us and we in Him! When you look into this, like in a mirror observing who you really are, and after going away you do not forget what kind of man you are, but rather you continue to look into the mirror, then you will look into the perfect law of liberty and you will be blessed in your doing.

Do Not Forget Who You Are
Let us look at this sentence again: “immediately forgets what kind of man he was.”

This is a common problem for many Christians. They forget who they are in Christ, and what they can do because of Him living in us. This is why we have to continue observing ourselves in the mirror, so that we may know “what kind of man” we are. We must know that we are now new creations in Christ, that we are dead to sin and have been raised to a new life. We are blessed with every spiritual blessing, healed by the stripes of Jesus, seated with Him in Heaven, the devil is under our feet, and He who is in us is greater than he who is in the world.

We must know that we are now new creations in Christ, that we are dead to sin and have been raised to a new life.

That makes you victorious. You are above and not beneath; the head and not the tail.

Many Christians have forgotten who they are, and this is why they are not experiencing being blessed in what they do.

The Law of Liberty
This is a glorious name of the law that governs the believer’s life. There are many terms describing the laws that prevailed after Calvary. Here are some of them: the law of the Spirit of life, the law of faith, the law of liberty, and the law of Christ, which is the commandment of love.

The law of liberty is called the perfect law or “the perfect law of liberty.” This is the law that leads to complete freedom. It really is a name for the power that works in us when the Word gains control and we live in the fruit of the redemption. Therefore, if the Son makes you free, you shall be free indeed!

Notice how the message of freedom runs as a thread through the Word. He says:
“And you shall know the truth, and the truth shall make you free” (John 8:32).

“Therefore if the Son makes you free, you shall be free indeed” (John 8:36).

Then he is talking about freedom from living under the bondage of sin. Paul is teaching about freedom from sin throughout the entire chapter of Romans 6 and in Romans 7 he is setting us free from the law.  In Galatians he is very concerned about the liberty we have in Christ (Gal. 2 and 5:1).  The epistle to the Colossians speaks about freedom from bondage, traditions, man-made commandments, philosophies, and religiosity.

You are free from the curse of the law, free from the power of darkness, free from everything you were a prisoner to! It is this perfect liberty that applies now. The law of liberty is the perfect law.

The Liberty of the Individual

Let us look at another side of this liberty. There is a great difference between the position of the individual in the Old and in the New Covenant. In the Old Covenant one had to ask “the seer” (the prophet) to know about the will of God and receive God’s guidance. It was the prophet who had the Spirit of God, and he could teach his neighbor and his brother and say, “know the Lord.”

But now in the New Covenant every believer has received the Holy Spirit, and “for all shall know Me, from the least of them to the greatest of them” (Heb. 8:6-12).

The New Covenant, which is established on better promises, has the advantage in that the individual has the Spirit of God and can be led by the Spirit of God.
“For as many as are led by the Spirit of God, these are sons of God” (Rom 8:14).

“But the anointing which you have received from Him abides in you, and you do not need that anyone teaches you; but as the same anointing teaches you concerning all things, and is true, and is not a lie, and just as it has taught you, you will abide in Him” (1 John 2:27).

as an individual, you may “know the Lord” yourself

This does not mean that we do not need teachers, because God appointed teachers in the church. Rather it means that as an individual, you may “know the Lord” yourself. That is the privilege of the believer.

Unfortunately, the charismatic circles have sinned against this. The leaders have very often managed the life of the individual in a wrong way, and this leads to a control that binds the person. The worst thing is manipulating prophecies, where one prophesies people into ministries or asks them to do things or go places based on a prophecy. That is not the Spirit of the New Covenant at all!

As ministers, let us rather help people to grow in the knowledge of the privileges and ways of the New Covenant, so they can grow and live accordingly.

By: Åge M. Åleskjær

From: January 2009

Found in: Reading the Word of God

 

It is crucial that we are aware of certain divisions in the Word of God.  This will greatly increase our revelation of the new and better covenant.

When we study the Bible, it is crucial that we divide the Word of God in a right way.  Firstly, we have to see the different groups of people it talks about, and secondly, we have to understand certain events that also made a division in time.  The truth is that when Jesus was walking on this earth, He could not give us the whole revelation, although He was pointing towards it.  This was because the work He first had to do was not yet finished.

The Scriptures explain the dispensations, God’s time schedule, and the different covenants.  In the center of it all we find the cross of Christ.  There is a dramatic division in time at the death, resurrection, and ascension of Jesus, and the following outpouring of the Spirit at Pentecost.  Jesus spoke a lot about the time after Pentecost.  He said: “At that day you will know that I am in My Father, and you in Me, and I in you” (John 14:20).

There is a dramatic division in time at the death, resurrection, and ascension of Jesus, and the following outpouring of the Spirit at Pentecost.

“However, when He, the Spirit of truth, has come, He will guide you into all truth” (John 16:13).

Paul explains the same division in time, and talks about the time “before faith came” and “after faith has come” (Gal. 3:23-25).

We have the great privilege to live after faith has come, after the will is in effect (Heb. 9:16-17), and after the Spirit has come.  We live “in that day” that Jesus spoke so enthusiastically about.  This is the time when He can speak clearly to us.

The three groups

“Give none offence, neither to the Jews, nor to the Gentiles, nor to the church of God” (1 Cor. 10:32).

The Word of God divides people into three groups:  the Jews, the Gentiles, and the church of God.  I am thankful to Rev. Kenneth Hagin, who opened my eyes to this simple principle.  I got a hold of this teaching through direction from the Holy Spirit.  One morning as I was praying about a situation that I as a pastor had to solve, the Holy Spirit spoke to me and said that the answer I was looking for could be found in some teachings by Rev. Kenneth Hagin, which I had on tape.  I did find the answer I needed, but I also got a hold of something that has become an invaluable help in the study of the Word of God.  I could see it clearly in the Bible.  You might want to study this in more detail.  Then you may turn to 1 Cor. 10:32, 1 Cor 9:19-23, Rom. 2:14-15, Acts 15:19-21, Acts 21:25, and Gal. 2:7-8.

Paul is not under the Law, but neither lawless.

It is as simple as that – three groups of people and God approaches each group differently.  The revelation that Hagin was sharing on the tape, was that three different laws rule these three groups.  The Jews have the Mosaic Law, the Gentiles have “the law of conscience,” and the church of God has “the law of Christ” or “the law of love.”  All of the groups are represented in 1 Cor. 9:20-21: the Jews are under the Law;  the Gentiles are without law.  Paul is not under the Law, but neither lawless.  He is in the law of Christ.  This is plain, clear and simple.

I am an incurable Bible student.  I need to have more than one Scripture on a truth; two or three witnesses are a minimum.  The truth also has to fit the totality, and must not contradict other clear statements in the Word of God. 
Sometimes it may seem as though the Bible contradicts itself, but that is only because we do not see the whole context.  The Word of God is always in harmony with itself.

So then, the Word of God divides people into three groups, and different laws rule each of these groups.  Bearing this in mind we can easily understand that we must address these three groups differently.  This is why it is a good idea to ask ourselves some questions when we study the Bible, to better understand the context.

Questions to ask when studying the Bible

A simple, fundamental rule to understand the Scriptures is to simply ask:

Who is speaking?
To whom are they speaking?
What are they speaking about?

The first question is: “Who is speaking?”
God has allowed many people to be quoted in the Bible, including the fool.  Even the devil is quoted many times.  In the book of Job there are several voices that are allowed.  But it is important to see that God is rebuking them in chapter 42, saying, “…you have not spoken of Me what is right…”
And Job himself is saying, “I have heard of You by the hearing of the ear, But now my eye sees You.  Therefore I abhor myself, And repent in dust and ashes” (Job 42:5-6).
This is useful information.  You have to read the first 41 chapters of the book of Job in the light of this; only then are you rightly dividing the Word of Truth.

God has allowed us to join a search where the truth is finally revealed.  Other poetical books are also like this – for example, the Ecclesiastes.  It is important to understand that it is not God who is proclaiming, “All is vanity!” It is the preacher in this book who is saying this in a period of life where he was frustrated, searching for the truth.  God allows us to take part in the process, and many people are recognizing themselves.

The second question is: “To whom are they speaking?”
When Timothy is told to drink some wine for his stomach, it is not meant as a command for all of us to drink wine.  On the other hand, the apostle Paul is interpreting the law of love regarding this issue in Romans 14, and the conclusion is: walk in love!

Much of what Jesus said in the Gospels must also be studied in the light of to whom he was speaking.  Often he answered questions from the Pharisees, and obviously his answers would relate to Jews under the Law and not to Christian Gentiles after Pentecost.  He clearly stated, “I was not sent except to the lost sheep of the house of Israel.”

Many times Jesus was speaking about the Law to the people under the Law, and naturally its application to a born-again Gentile under the law of Christ is not the same.

Of course the teachings of Jesus carry significance for us today.  But we have to learn to rightly divide the Word of truth.  We have to read it in its context.  For example, when Jesus spoke to the rich young man that he would be saved by keeping the commandments, he said this because he was speaking to a Jew living under the Old Covenant.  He knew, of course, that no one trying to live according to the Law would be able to save himself.  But in this specific incident, he related his answer to God’s message to the Jews.  Today his answer to the rich young man would have been totally different.  Now the message is, “For whoever calls on the name of the LORD shall be saved” (Rom. 10:13).  “Believe on the Lord Jesus Christ, and you will be saved…” (Acts 16:31).

I believe you can see the importance of knowing the answers to these questions, and also to the third question: “What are they speaking about?”  Many times Jesus was speaking about the Law to the people under the Law, and naturally its application to a born-again Gentile under the law of Christ is not the same. All of this will help us to present ourselves as workers who rightly divide the Word of Truth.  But there is more.

The Scriptures

The Bible is divided into the Old and the New Testaments.  When the New Testament is referring to “the Scriptures,” it is referring to the Old Testament.  That was the Bible they had at that time.  The New Testament was not yet written.  Jesus often said, “It is written” or “Have you not read?”

In Acts we can read about the people in Berea, and how they “received the word with all readiness, and searched the Scriptures daily to find out whether these things were so” (Acts 17:11).

The Apostle Paul used the Scriptures in his ministry, “for he vigorously refuted the Jews publicly, showing from the Scriptures that Jesus is the Christ” (Acts 18:28).

So it is obvious then that it is of present interest for a Christian to search the Scriptures—the Old Testament.  We love the Bible from cover to cover.

But now we are able to read it in a new light.  Now we have the New Testament, and the New Testament gives the answer to what the Old Testament was pointing towards.  The Bible explains that all the things that happened to the people in Old Testament time happened to them as examples for us who live now (1 Cor. 10:11).

The Gospels and the Acts of the Apostles

The first part of the New Testament is a revelation of the life of Jesus. We are able to study His life and teachings and see what He did for us.  It is wonderful to closely follow the Son of God, and know that he came to show us who God really is.  The disciples wrote this down according to what the Holy Spirit wanted them to write.  Their mission was to record the life and whereabouts of Jesus.

The Acts of the Apostles is the next book.  It is the history of the first Christians.  The words and promises of Jesus are put into operation at this point, and the foundation of the New Testament church is laid.  This is powerful reading!

During the time of the Gospels, the New Covenant was not yet in operation.

Nevertheless, there are some important issues one has to be aware of.  During the time of the Gospels, the New Covenant was not yet in operation. This is why Jesus so definitely says that he was only sent to the Jews.  His earthly ministry was only directed toward them, even though His life, death and resurrection also apply to us, the Gentiles far away (Matt. 15:24, Matt. 10:5-6).  It is important to understand that Jesus often spoke about the Law to the people under the Law, and that what He said, therefore, does not always apply to us living after Calvary.

Let me give you another example to clearly portray to you the radical effect Calvary brought forth.

He Forgave Us, that We Might Forgive Others
Before Calvary, when Jesus taught His disciples how to pray “before Pentecost,” you will notice that to receive forgiveness you first had to giveforgiveness.  The initiative was with you, and it was man who first had to forgive and love, then God would forgive.  Read Matt. 6:12, 14-15.

The message is very clear.  You will not receive forgiveness unless you first forgive.  This has led to great agony among people who have had a hard time in forgiving parents that abused them as children, or unfaithful spouses who let their loved ones down.  Many counselors have forced a half-hearted forgiveness from people in order for those people to be forgiven.

But the Gospel brings good news.  It brings forgiveness to the tormented soul, and releases a true forgiveness toward those we need to forgive.  Here is the message: “And be kind to one another, tenderhearted, forgiving one another, just as God in Christ forgave you” (Eph. 4:32).

After Calvary the order has changed! Now we are not supposed to forgive to receive forgiveness, but we are supposed to forgive as a fruit of alreadybeing forgiven.

His finished work declares that by His sacrifice He has already made atonement for the sins of the world, and we have been forgiven at the cross.  “Because He first loved us, we love Him” (1 John 4:19).  It does not begin with us – it started with Him.  To understand this difference is to understand the Gospel itself.

After Calvary the order has changed!

“In this is love, not that we loved God, but that He loved us and sent His Son to be the propitiation for our sins” (1 John 4:10).

“But God demonstrates His own love toward us, in that while we were still sinners, Christ died for us” (Rom. 5:8).

It started with God, not with us.  He loved us first, He forgave us first, and He died for us while we were still sinners.

Col. 3:13 confirms Eph. 4:32 so wonderfully: “Bearing with one another, and forgiving one another, if anyone has a complaint against another; even as Christ forgave you, so you also must do” (Col. 3:13).

Again it is very clear who is the first party to forgive.  It is Christ who already has forgiven us.  This is why we should forgive.  The redemption makes the difference; now we can build on what He already has done.  And His love has been poured out in our hearts, enabling us to forgive others (Rom. 5:5).

Do you see the big difference that came after Calvary? The cross has left its eternal marks on history, and a new and better covenant has come with a new and better foundation.

The revelation was not yet given
The revelation that Paul later received about the church, and about the gospel to the Gentiles, was not yet revealed while Jesus was walking on the earth. It is, therefore, not written in the four Gospels.  Jesus shows us some glimpses of it, but it is not revealed.  He gives some prophetic “signals” about it, especially in the Gospel of John, but he says, “I still have many things to say to you, but you cannot bear them now.”

Jesus is often pointing toward the division in time that was to come after his death, and says, “These things I have spoken to you in figurative language; but the time is coming when I will no longer speak to you in figurative language, but I will tell you plainly about the Father. In that day you will ask in My name…” (John 16:25-26).

He also said, “I still have many things to say to you, but you cannot bear them now.  However, when He, the Spirit of truth, has come, He will guide you into all truth” (John 16:12-13).

The Spirit had to come before we could be guided into all truth.  This is why the Bible could not be fulfilled before after the Spirit had come, and the apostle Paul was commissioned to “fulfill the Word of God.”  Jesus had many things to say that He did not get a chance to share while He was here, but now He has shared it by revealing Himself to Paul. At this time He has explained to us plainly and openly about the meaning of His life and His sacrifice, and not in figurative language (John 16:25).

Jesus had many things to say that He did not get a chance to share while He was here, but now He has shared it by revealing Himself to Paul.

The Testament is in Force After Death

In reality it is a revelation that makes the pieces fall into place.  The revelation is to understand the significance of the cross of our Lord Jesus Christ!

This is why the apostle Paul is saying “Jesus Christ was clearly portrayed among you as crucified,” and how he determined “not to know anything among you except Jesus Christ and Him crucified.”  And he will not boast “except in the cross of our Lord Jesus Christ.”

Look at what the Bible says: “For where there is a testament, there must also of necessity be the death of the testator.  For a testament is in force after men are dead, since it has no power at all while the testator lives” (Heb. 9:16-17).

So the New Covenant comes into force at the end of the Gospels.  We get a glimpse of it in the Gospel of John, especially in the last chapters.  There Jesus is prophesying about how it will be after the Spirit has come.

The covenants of God are “covenants of blood,” so the New Covenant could not start before Jesus had died and given his blood.

The Bible needs to be read in the light of this central issue: the cross of our Lord Jesus Christ.  It needs also to be read in the light of the fact that Jesus entered the Most Holy Place, into heaven itself, with His own blood, and sat down as High Priest for all the blessings of salvation we now live in.  When He was seated in heaven, the Spirit was poured out.  That is when “the covenant of the Spirit” could start.

The Glories After the Cross of Jesus

The apostle Peter teaches the same thing as the apostle Paul, namely about the cross as a division in time.  He writes: “Of this salvation the prophets have inquired and searched carefully, who prophesied of the grace that would come to you, searching what, or what manner of time, the Spirit of Christ who was in them was indicating when He testified beforehand the sufferings of Christ and the glories that would follow” (1 Pet. 1:10-11).

In other words, the time they saw was the sufferings of Christ (the cross) and the glories that would follow.  They prophesied about a certain time period and they searched what, or what manner of time, they were prophesying about.  They saw in advance the glories that we now live in – we who live after Pentecost, in the time of the New Covenant.

They saw in advance the glories that we now live in – we who live after Pentecost, in the time of the New Covenant.

The time from John the Baptist Until Pentecost

If we read even more carefully, we will come to see that the time from John the Baptist until Pentecost is another division in time.  At that time the Gospel of the kingdom of God was preached, and it was possible to “press into it” or “take it by force.”

“The law and the prophets were until John.  Since that time the kingdom of God has been preached, and everyone is pressing into it” (Luke 16:16).

“Assuredly, I say to you, among those born of women there has not risen one greater than John the Baptist; but he who is least in the kingdom of heaven is greater than he.  And from the days of John the Baptist until now the kingdom of heaven suffers violence, and the violent take it by force” (Matt. 11:11-12).

Some people read this and believe that the New Covenant started with John the Baptist, but then one is not “rightly dividing the word of truth.” 
Firstly, Matt. 11:11 shows that John the Baptist was not born-again and because of that he was lesser than the least in the kingdom.  You need to be born-again to enter the kingdom of heaven (John 3:3-5), and it was impossible to be born-again before the resurrection of Jesus.  Jesus had to rise from the dead, “that He might be the firstborn among many brethren” (Rom. 8:29 and Col. 1:18).

However, in the time period from John the Baptist to Pentecost, one could take the blessings of the kingdom by force.  This is why people at that time experienced forgiveness of sins and healing more than ever before.  Even Gentiles, who were not among “the children” whom the bread belonged to, that is the Jews, took the kingdom by force – even though the Gentiles were called “dogs” (ref. Matt. 15:22-28).

The time period from John the Baptist to Pentecost was a very important interim period. Jesus was walking on the earth and the kingdom of God was at hand.

However, a totally new time started after Calvary.  Now the enmity is abolished, the Gentiles are included, and He has conveyed us into the kingdom of God.

Jesus Prophesied a Lot About the Time We Are Living In

When Jesus was about to leave, he spoke about the New Covenant and the time after Pentecost.  He said, “And I bestow upon you a kingdom, just as My Father bestowed one upon Me” (Luk. 22:29).

“Do not fear, little flock, for it is your Father’s good pleasure to give you the kingdom” (Luk. 12.32).

The kingdom of God was to come in power, and then one no longer had to “take it by force” or “press into it.”

“Assuredly, I say to you that there are some standing here who will not taste death till they see the kingdom of God present with power” (Mark 9:1).

In other words: The kingdom of God was to come in power, and then one no longer had to “take it by force” or “press into it.”  Of course one does not have to do that when “the kingdom is bestowed upon us” and “it was the Father’s good pleasure to give us the kingdom.” We have been given a full share, and the time “to press into it” is over.

Conveyed Into the Kingdom of God

Look at how different this is after Calvary: “He has delivered us from the power of darkness and conveyed us into the kingdom of the Son of His love” (Col. 1:13).

We are inside, not outside!  We do not take it by force – we live in it.

This happened without any effort on our part; we were conveyed into his kingdom.  It was He that performed it – not us.  We did not have to take it by force – He placed us into it.  Now we are placed in the kingdom of the Son of His love, so obviously we are not standing on the outside trying to press in or take it by force.  We have already been conveyed into the kingdom.  We are inside, not outside!  We do not take it by force – we live in it.  When we are preaching that the Christians have to press into it (Luke 16:16 and Matt. 11:12), we are ignoring the very work of Christ, as it is presented in Col. 1:13.

The Gospel according to Paul – in red-letter edition

A few years ago our church had the privilege to host a meeting with the famous evangelist Dr. T.L. Osborn. During our conversation, he mentioned something that bore witness to my heart.  He said he wished somebody would print a red-letter edition of the letters of the apostle Paul, where everything Paul says about the redemption and the work of the cross would be printed in red, and the rest would be printed in black.  He said that we have the Gospels according to Matthew, Mark, Luke and John, but the gospel to the Gentiles – that is us – is the gospel according to Paul, and that, too, should be printed in red-letter edition.

You see, Matthew, Mark, Luke and John mainly tell us what happened “physically” in relation to the death and resurrection of Jesus.  We read about the crucifixion, the grave, the resurrection, the angels, and about the resurrected Jesus that reveals Himself.

But it is the apostle Paul who shows us the spiritual consequence of what happened! He explains that we died with Christ, rose with Him, and were seated with Him in Heaven.

He is showing us the depths of the redemption, and is explaining that Jesus was made sin for us that we might become the righteousness of God in Him.  His letters reveal who we are in Christ and what Christ is in us.

The mystery of the Church is revealed, and all the pieces are put together so that we might see the whole picture in a way that was hidden in previous times.  This includes the time of the Gospels and the time when Jesus walked here on the earth.

This is why the letters of Paul should have a special place in the lives of us who used to be Gentiles but now are part of the Church.  We have been grafted into the vine, and Paul, the “apostle to the Gentiles,” has been given the task of revealing the gospel to the “uncircumcised.”

This is not to reduce the significance of the Old Testament or of the Gospels, but to encourage us to read the Bible in the light of the Bible! If we miss the revelation in the Bible and in God’s plan of salvation, we have read the Bible through shaded glasses that dim the view.  There are a lot of shaded religious glasses that tradition and religious communities have given us.

You may wonder why I say that the letters of Paul should be printed in red, the same color in which the words of Jesus are printed in the Gospels.  Maybe you feel this exaggerates the importance of Paul.  And you may wonder why I say that only part of his letters should be printed in red – not all his writings.  Let’s look at it.

Firstly, Paul is writing to explain his revelation of the Gospel.  He did not receive this from a man, but from Jesus Christ Himself (Gal. 1:11-12).

Secondly, he is writing after the Counselor has come.  And now Jesus can share with us everything He wanted to tell us, but could not, during the time He was here.  “The Day” that Jesus looked toward and pointed to has come (John 16:25).

It is not Paul who is important, but the revelation Jesus gave to him.  It is not the secretary who is great, but the one who is dictating the book.

So, in fact, Paul is only a secretary.  He is writing down the revelation he got directly from the resurrected Jesus.  We have to understand the Pauline revelation.  It is not Paul who is important, but the revelation Jesus gave to him.  It is not the secretary who is great, but the one who is dictating the book.  This is why these words also can be printed in red.  We do not praise Paul. On the contrary, we praise Jesus, who was the One who called and anointed the apostle Paul and gave him the mission of fulfilling the Word of God, as previously mentioned.

Thirdly, Paul is called the apostle to the Gentiles, and was the one God called in a specific way to preach to the Gentiles, the uncircumcised, just as Peter was called to the circumcised.  The fact that the Gentiles were to be included was part of the mystery that was revealed to Paul.  We will look into that later, but my point here is that Paul was planting churches, and the Bible says he had a “deep concern for all the churches” (2 Cor. 11:28).  As a father of the churches he wrote letters to help them with certain issues regarding everyday life in the churches.  He needed to talk about certain things to the church in Corinth, and other things to other churches.  In the letters to Timothy he is encouraging and instructing Timothy on how to be a leader in the church.  These things are certainly important to us, and we learn a lot from them, but they are not part of the mystery that had been hidden from ages and from generations. Therefore, these passages would not have to be printed in red.

In Ephesians 1 and 2 we can find a concentrated version of the message Paul was given

In Ephesians 1 and 2 we can find a concentrated version of the message Paul was given (as Paul also explains in Eph. 3:1-6). In Eph. 1 and 2 there is just a short greeting, and then he goes “straight to the point,” so to speak.  There is no mention of human relation’s issues or the like.  Paul says, “When you read, you may understand my knowledge in the mystery of Christ.” These two chapters are the very essence of the mystery that was revealed to Paul.

I want to always stay focused on the gospel of grace, and, therefore, a week never passes without me reading these two chapters.  Paul is elaborating on the message throughout all his letters. The red letters would be found in many other places, but all of Ephesians 1 and 2 would have to be printed in red.

The Letters of Peter and James

It was not only Paul who wrote the New Testament.  If we assume that Paul is the writer of the letter to the Hebrews, there are still the letters of Peter, James, and John.  These are also given by God and are profitable for edification, exhortation and comfort.

But in Gal. 2:7-8 we read about a division of labor.  Peter had a calling to the circumcised, and James was the pastor of the church in Jerusalem – a church full of messianic Jews.  According to Acts 21:20 many of these were “zealous for the law.”

Naturally, the letters of Peter and James were mainly writings to this group of people.  The introductions to these letters are in fact telling that they are meant for saved Jews.  That is also the case for the letter to the Hebrews.

These letters are also the Word of God. And they have a message to the Gentiles, too.  We just have to remember that they are written to “the circumcised,” while Paul mainly wrote to “the uncircumcised.”  Then we will remember to read the Bible in light of the words of the Bible, and we will rightly divide the Word of Truth.

Read the Bible in light of the words of the Bible

The Letters of John and the Revelation of John

In fact the letters of John are in their own league.  He, too, had a calling to the circumcised.  But according to church history, John moved to Ephesus in his latter days.  So in the book of Revelation we can see that he was in contact with the churches in Asia Minor.  These were churches that Paul and his fellow workers had planted and kept influencing.  Some historians claim that Timothy began to cooperate closely with John after the death of Paul in about 67 A.D.  Timothy was grateful for the teaching of John which was a powerful antidote to that of the Gnostics.  This teaching is shining forth through the letters of John. We can also see that John is very much in line with the teaching of Paul about the new creation and the new commandment.

Conclusion

The whole Bible is the Word of God and is profitable for doctrine, for reproof, for correction and for instruction in righteousness, but the sum of what the New Covenant is all about was revealed through Paul.

“All Scripture is given by inspiration of God” (2 Tim. 3:16).  But we have to read the Bible in light of what it says itself.

The following is an excerpt from a seminal presentation by Astrophysicist Dr. Hugh Ross in 1994 – “New scientific evidence for the existence of God”. Virtually every statement and inference given in this speech has been reinforced and further validated during the last decade by measurements from the COBE Satellite, the Hubble Telescope, and advances in physics and astronomy.

The hallmark of a truly reliable scientific theory is that it is thoroughly testable, scientifically falsifiable, and makes accurate predictions. Dr. Ross’s origins model has stood the test of time for nearly two decades, literally receiving further validation on a monthly basis as physics and astronomy journals publish new papers.

You can read the full transcript here.

The Extreme Precision of Physical Constants

Unless the force electromagnetism takes on a particular value, molecules won’t happen. Take the nucleus of an atom. There’s an electron orbiting that nucleus. If the force electromagnetism is too weak, the electron will not orbit the nucleus.

Electromagnetism

There won’t be sufficient electromagnetic pull to keep that electron orbiting the nucleus. If electrons cannot orbit nuclei, then electrons cannot be shared so that nuclei can come together to form molecules. Without molecules, we have no life.

If the force electromagnetism is too strong, the nuclei will hang onto their electrons with such strength that the electrons will not be shared with adjoining nuclei and again, molecules will never form. Unless the force electromagnetism is fine-tuned to a particular value, the universe will have no molecules and no life.

Strong Nuclear Force

We also have a problem in getting the right atoms. Now take a neutron and a proton. Protons and neutrons are held together in the nucleus of an atom by the strong nuclear force, which is the strongest of the four forces of physics.

If the nuclear force is too strong, the protons and neutrons in the universe will find themselves stuck to other protons and neutrons, which means we have a universe devoid of Hydrogen.

Hydrogen is the element composed of the bachelor proton. Without Hydrogen, there’s no life chemistry. It’s impossible to conceive of life chemistry without Hydrogen.

On the other hand, if we make the nuclear force slightly weaker, none of the protons and neutrons will stick together. All of the protons and neutrons will be bachelors, in which case the only element that would exist in the universe would be Hydrogen, and it’s impossible to make life if all we’ve got is Hydrogen.

How sensitive must this strong nuclear force be designed for life to exist? It’s so sensitive that if we were to make this force 3/10 of 1% stronger or 2% weaker, life would be impossible at any time in the universe.

Mass of the Proton and Neutron

We also have a problem with the protons and the neutrons themselves. The neutron is 0.138% more massive than the proton. Because of this, it takes a little more energy for the universe to make neutrons, as compared to protons. That’s why in the universe of today we have seven times as many protons as neutrons.

If the neutron were 1/10th of 1% less massive than what we observe, then the universe would make so many neutrons that all of the matter in the universe would very quickly collapse into neutron stars and black holes, and life would be impossible.

If we made the neutron 1/10th of 1% more massive than what we observe, then the universe would make so few neutrons, that there wouldn’t be enough neutrons to make Carbon, Oxygen, Nitrogen, Phosphorus, Potassium, etc. These are the elements that are essential for life. So, we must delicately balance that mass to within 1/10th of 1%, or life is impossible.

Electrons

With electrons we see an even more sense of the balance. In order for life to exist in the universe, the force of gravity must be 10,000,000,000,000,000,000,000,000,000,000,000,000,000 (10 to the 40th power) times weaker than the force of electromagnetism. It’s essential that the force of gravity be incredibly weak compared to the other three forces of physics.

Gravity

Yet planets, stars and galaxies will not form unless gravity is dominant in the universe, so the universe must be set up in such a way that the other forces of physics cancel out and leave gravity, the weakest of the forces, dominant.

It’s necessary for the universe to be electrically neutral. The numbers of the positively charged particles must be equivalent to the numbers of negatively charged particles or else electromagnetism will dominate gravity, and stars, galaxies and planets will never form. If they don’t form, then clearly life is impossible.

The numbers of electrons must equal the numbers of protons to better than one part of 10,000,000,000,000,000,000,000,000,000,000,000,000 (10 to the 37th power). That number is so large that it’s difficult for laymen to get a handle on it. So I compare that number with another very large number – the national debt.

God’s Fine-Tuning vs. Man’s Fine-Tuning

Another way of looking at this incredible fine-tuning of the universe in this one characteristic is to compare it with the very best that we humans have achieved. It’s not built yet, but towards the end of this year, a machine will come online at Cal Tech. This machine will have the capacity to make measurements to within one part in 100,000,000,000,000,000,000,000 (10 to the 23rd power). The best machine man has ever designed.

But the very best machine that man has ever designed, with all of our money, technology and education, falls one hundred trillion times short of the level of fine-tuning that we see in just this one characteristic of the universe.

If the universe is fine-tuned in one part to the 10 to the 37th power, one part in 10 to the 40th power and one part in 10 to the 55th power on three different characteristics, then that tells us that God must be personal; that He’s not only transcendent, he’s personal!

God: 100 Trillion Trillion Times More Precise than Man

Why do we say this? Because only a person is capable of fine-tuning to the degree that we’ve observed, and that person must be orders of magnitude more intelligent and creative than we human beings. One hundred trillion times more intelligent and creative than we human beings, just based on that one characteristic. But he’s also creative and loving.

Earth: An Insignificant Speck?

When I was a young man, questioning the holy books of the religions of the world, I knew God must exist because of the Big Bang. There’s a beginning, there must be a beginner. But I doubted that God was personal and caring because I felt that planet Earth was just an insignificant speck in the eyes of a God that created a hundred trillion stars. What could we matter to such an awesome God?

Mass of the Universe

Astronomers have discovered that the total mass of the universe acts as a catalyst for nuclear fusion and the more massive the universe is, the more efficiently nuclear fusion operates in the cosmos. If the universe is too massive, the mass density too great, then very quickly all the matter in the universe is converted from Hydrogen into elements heavier than iron, which would render life impossible because the universe would be devoid of Carbon, Oxygen, Nitrogen, etc.

If the universe has too little mass, then fusion would work so inefficiently that all that the universe would ever produce would be Hydrogen, or Hydrogen plus a small amount of Helium. But there again, the Carbon and Oxygen we need for life would be missing.

What does this tell me about the Creator? That God so loved the human race that he went to the expense of building one hundred billion stars and carefully shaped and crafted those hundred billion trillion stars for the entire age of the universe, so that for this brief moment in time, we could have a nice place to live.

It’s the same logic that my five and eight year old sons use on me. They measure my love for them by how much money I spend on the gifts that I buy for them. We can use the same kind of logic to draw the conclusion that the God who created the universe must love we human beings very much, given how much he spent on our behalf.

The following is an excerpt from “Tithing: Low-realm, Obsolete & Defunct” by Matthew E. Narramore. You can read the full book here. Let the Truth set you free!

Disinformation: When Jesus Died on the Cross, God Was Paying His Tithe

Most people have never heard this statement, but it has become popular among some well-respected ministries. It sounds scriptural and at first it doesn’t seem to violate the gospel message, but it distorts the meaning of both the cross and the tithe. It’s an inaccurate parallel that is used to promote tithing. It seems relatively harmless, but it is part of a serious theological error that has produced a church that is weak and ineffective, by God’s standards.

When Jesus died on the cross, he was fulfilling the eternal plan of God that existed before creation. He was “the Lamb slain from the foundation of the world.” (Rev. 13:8b) His death on the cross was also God’s fulfillment of a promise to Abraham. God had tested Abraham’s faith and commitment by commanding him to offer his son Isaac as a sacrifice. Abraham passed the test and the event became God’s prophetic picture of his own covenant obligation to offer Jesus as a sacrifice for man’s salvation.

Jesus’ death was a fulfillment of God’s covenant commitment but it had nothing to do with a tithe. When Abraham offered up Isaac it had nothing to do with a tithe either. Isaac was 100 percent of all that Abraham had because the rest of his wealth was worthless compared to his son. A tithe is a tenth and it leaves you with 90 percent. Abraham was giving everything when he offered Isaac.

Likewise, when the Father gave Jesus it was everything on his part as well. Colossians 2:9 says, “For in him dwelleth all the fulness of the Godhead bodily.” Jesus Christ was the full expression of God and everything that he could give, not just a tithe.

Tithes are based on the increase of something that has already been received. God gave in advance, before he received anything. He gave without any guarantees. He gave without regard to whether anyone would accept the sacrifice of Jesus or not. He gave because it is his nature.

God didn’t owe a tithe to us or to himself. We owed him a debt that we could never pay. The message of the cross is that Jesus was there in our place, on our behalf. He was doing something for us that we could not do for ourselves. So if God was paying anyone’s tithe it would not have been his, it would have been ours.

Paul did describe the resurrected Lord Jesus Christ as the firstfruits.

But now is Christ risen from the dead, and become the firstfruits of them that slept. (1 Cor. 15:20)

However, a firstfruits offering is a completely different Old Covenant offering than the tithe. The how, when, and why of a firstfruits offering is based on a different concept and the two are not interchangeable. God made tithes and firstfruits distinctly different so that they would portray different spiritual lessons. Beyond that, in describing Jesus as the firstfruits, Paul was talking about his resurrection not his death. There is no sound scriptural basis to call Jesus’ death on the cross a tithe. That is a faulty parallel. It is a misleading concept that reinforces the erroneous tithing doctrine.