By Kenneth Pitcock
The greatest gift
available to man is the Covenant of Jesus Christ. There is nothing in our lives
as important as eternal life. Eternal life is only available through the
Covenant of our Lord. There are many false doctrines in the world today. The
scriptures teach that many false prophets will arise and deceive many. (Matthew
24:11) Only the Chosen of the Lord will
receive His Covenant. He told us that “Many are called, but few are chosen.”
(Matthew 20:16) The way to eternal life is a narrow path. This means that there
are dangers on both sides of the path. To understand God's will, it requires us
to seek Him and do His will. The scripture states; “We know that God heareth
not sinners, but if any man be a worshiper of God and doeth His will, him God
heareth.” (John 9:31) It is evident by
this scripture, that the casual seeker will not be able to make an appeal to
the Lord. Jesus also told us that: “broad is the way that leadeth to
destruction, but straight is the gait that leadeth to life, and few there be
that find it.”(Matthew 7:13) This lesson is written so those that hunger and
thirst after righteousness are assisted in finding it.
The word covenant
can easily be interchanged with promise. His Covenant is His promise to you,
and your promise to Him. His Church is called the Bride of Christ. Therefore,
this Covenant is as an espousal. Sometime after the return of Jesus, there is a
marriage and marriage supper between Christ and His body of believers.
(Revelations 19:7-9) God promises on His behalf, that He will forgive you of
your sins and never impute them (charge
them) to you. (Romans 4:7-8) It also
states that by His one sacrifice, He has perfected them forever who are
sanctified, whereby the Holy Spirit is witness.(Hebrew 10:14-20) Once you have
repented of your sins, been baptized in Jesus name, and received the Holy
Ghost, you're perfected forever! There is no more sacrifice that is needed to
be made. This is possible because once you're born again, you are taken out of
the law, and placed into the law of the liberty in Christ Jesus. (James 2:12)
His laws have been placed in our hearts and minds. There is therefore no need
for a written law anymore. We are no longer subject to such things as touch
not, taste not, and handle not.(Colossians2:21) There are many man made
religions that seek to put a bondage on the believers of the Lord. They are
mostly imposed by teaching people that they are required to obey the Mosaic Law
of the Old Testament. Others impose their own man made doctrines. When the
Apostles were gathered to discuss the restrictions that were to be imposed on
the Gentile believers, (Non Jewish)
they gave their voices in Acts15:5-20.
They were to refrain from pollution to idols, from fornication, from
things strangled, and from blood.
Someone that is
born again is the Lords free man. Yet, because of his love of Jesus, he has
made himself a servant of Jesus. A true believer desires not to sin. A true
believer will seek to please and worship the Lord. Like earlier stated, a born again person is
taken out of the law. Where there is no law, there can be no transgression.(Romans
4:15) It is crazy to drive a car 100 MPH down a city street. However, if there
is no law against it, you can not be prosecuted for it. Therefore since you are
no longer under the law, when you do things contained in the law, you are no
longer charged with it. It is for this cause that Jesus went into hell after
giving His life on the cross to preach unto the disobedient in Noah's days.
They were wicked and violent, but the only law given to man at that time, was
not to eat of the tree of the fruit of the knowledge of good and evil in the
Garden of Eden. I can't tell you what Jesus preached to those souls, but it is
evident that it was something that they could be judged by at the Judgment of
the Lord.
This subject of law
versus grace was of much discussion during the early church. But, the apostles
did conclude as above stated the things believers were to refrain from.
To understand this
subject, it is necessary to put it in the overall plan of God. The scriptures
teach us that before the law, sin was in the world, but where there is no law,
there is no transgression. (Romans 4:15)
The purpose of the law was to make all guilty before God. (Romans
3:19) Then, it would allow them to turn
to Jesus and His plan of salvation to be saved. The Apostle Paul was used
greatly by the Lord Jesus to bring this understanding to the Church. It was of
great great concern to the Jews who were converted to Jesus that had been
keepers of the law. As a matter of fact, Jesus became a stumbling block to the Jews
because they sought to be justified by keeping the law, when the law was given
to make all guilty. They tried to seek justification by keeping the ordinances
contained in the law. Romans 9:30-33 explains this in more detail. We can't
make ourselves anymore right than the work that Jesus did for us on the cross.
Doing things in the law will not give you anymore favor with God. On the
contrary, if we seek to be justified by doing the things in the law, we will
fall from grace. Galatians (5:4) Galatians 2:16-21 deals with this and what we
are to do for justification. The seriousness of this subject can't be over
stated. None of us want to fall from grace!
Many ministers in
this day are so afraid to preach this truth because they feel it will give
their believers an attitude of; let us do whatever we want, good or bad. This
is far from the truth! Someone truly born again will only seek to do things
that please God. If you make a mistake, you will be the first to repent and try
to please God. No laws or rules are able to stop people from doing wrong. Nor,
can they justify anyone by doing what is right. We are justified by faith in
the Lord. Believing He will do what He promised in His covenant.
Our part of the
covenant requires us to be faithful to the Lord and have no other God, or idol
before Him. We are required to be faithful to Him. There are a few things that
the Apostles taught us to do according to the flesh. You will find them in the
writings of the Apostles in the New Testament.
I am writing this
because of the many teachings that are in the world today, and the fact that
unless you really understand the LIBERTY that the Lord gives us, you will not
understand how much love and trust He has for you. In marriage between a man
and woman, trust is a big issue. With God, it is called faith. Without faith,
it is impossible to please God. A good man does not put a bunch of rules and
regulations on his wife. He trusts her. A good woman doesn't mess around with
other men, but is faithful to her husband. When true love is obtained, fear is
not present, but faith, hope, and charity!
The scripture proclaims that it is your Fathers good pleasure
to give you the Kingdom. (Luke 12:32).
This teaching in no
way is designed to teach anyone to do wrong. Paul explained this also in Romans
6:1-2. “What shall we say then? Shall we continue in sin, that grace may
abound? God forbid, How shall we that are dead to sin continue any longer
therein? If we make a mistake or do wrong, we are to repent and continually die
out to sin.
The law has an
effect on the human soul. It will actually put a snare on you that will cause
you to do the things that are contained in it. It works it's purpose to make
you guilty as God designed it to do. Paul explained this in Romans chapter 7.
Please read the entire chapter.
This liberty that
the Lord has given us is not to be used for an occasion to serve our flesh.
(Galatians 5:13) We understand from the
teaching of Jesus that all the commandments in the law can be summed in in one
statement: love thy neighbor as yourself. (Matthew 22:37-40) If we really love
someone, we will not transgress against them. Therefore it is concluded that by
love we fulfill the law of God. John also spoke that if we love Him, we will
keep His commandments and they will not be grievous.(1 John 5:3) The love of
God is shed abroad in our hearts by the Holy Ghost that is given to us. It is
therefore by love and faith that we please God, not by works of the law.
It is important that
we lay no burdens on the children of God that are not ordained by the Lord.
When you do this to the children of God, you are just as guilty as one that
teaches it is okay to sin because you're under grace. It works both ways. We
must be very careful not to add to or take away from God's Word. The Apostle
Paul was concerned about those that would enter in teaching the law, not
understanding the things that they were doing. (1Timothy 1:5-10)The law is for
the ungodly and sinners, not for the righteous.
You ministers of God, heed this warning;
Galatians 1:8 But though we, or an angel from heaven, preach any other gospel
unto you than that we have preached unto you, let him be accursed. If your
minister preaches anything other than this, you need to get away and find
someone that will preach and practice the truth.
