How Wonderful is the Gospel

[FaithfulServant]

In March of 2009, I died. The life I now live is in Christ, a part of a New Spiritual Man. Positionally, I am holy before the sight of Father God because He no longer sees my sins, but He sees Jesus' righteousness upon me as I wear it like a robe. This gives me confidence to go boldly to the throne of grace when I stumble where He teaches me to let go of the things of the flesh and grow in knowledge of Him becoming sanctified as I abide in His Son Jesus. It's pretty awesome, this new covenant, this new way. It's life.

If we wish to remain in this flesh, we will be striving to create a righteousness of our own. This will always be nothing but filthy rags to God. It is the things Jesus Spirit does through us which will endure the test of fire at the Bema Judgment. The things we did when we yielded to His Spirit. These things are always based in love, which is why He commanded us to love one another. They will require us to put our own selfish wants aside in order to lay down our lives for others. We do what we see our Father do, and our Father came down to earth to walk sinless and die for others that we may live.

A seed cannot bear fruit unless it dies. And if it does die, it will bear much fruit. I encourage everyone who has not died to do so. The day you die will be a day of rejoicing, as it will be the first day you live in the Spirit of God.

[Emily]

In March of 2009, I died. The life I now live is in Christ, a part of a New Spiritual Man. Positionally, I am holy before the sight of Father God because He no longer sees my sins, but He sees Jesus' righteousness upon me as I wear it like a robe. This gives me confidence to go boldly to the throne of grace when I stumble where He teaches me to let go of the things of the flesh and grow in knowledge of Him becoming sanctified as I abide in His Son Jesus. It's pretty awesome, this new covenant, this new way. It's life.

If we wish to remain in this flesh, we will be striving to create a righteousness of our own. This will always be nothing but filthy rags to God. It is the things Jesus Spirit does through us which will endure the test of fire at the Bema Judgment. The things we did when we yielded to His Spirit. These things are always based in love, which is why He commanded us to love one another. They will require us to put our own selfish wants aside in order to lay down our lives for others. We do what we see our Father do, and our Father came down to earth to walk sinless and die for others that we may live.

A seed cannot bear fruit unless it dies. And if it does die, it will bear much fruit. I encourage everyone who has not died to do so. The day you die will be a day of rejoicing, as it will be the first day you live in the Spirit of God.

Amen and Amen!

[Shimri]

I will be listening to the link here shortly. I decided to check CCI's statement of faith first, and I am already troubled.

"This saving faith should produce an active lifestyle of loving obedience and service to Jesus our Savior."

I am highly doubtful of this statement. If this were true, you would not have recommended the link.



"The Church
The Church of Jesus Christ is the universal, spiritual body of believers from every tribe, tongue, kindred and race of peoples, and is indwelt by God through the Holy Spirit and divinely empowered to fulfill ministry and her Great Commission on earth."

This is patently false. There is no such thing as 'The Church.'

"The goal of the Church is to make disciples of all nations and to present the saints complete in Christ.".

The Great Commission also says to teach the nations all that He commanded, which is strangely absent here, even though they claim loving obedience to Him.

This is not starting off well, but I will still give it a listen.

[JGIG]

An easy way for me to remember how wonderful is the Gospel is to remember these things:

1. Who Jesus is
2. What He came to do
3. What that actually accomplished
4. Who we as believers are in Him

A solid understanding of the New Covenant is key to understanding all of those points.


Here's another really good teaching about the New Covenant that covers a lot of ground that we often see debated regarding Law/Grace issues. Here's a link directly to the site, but I'll provide a direct link for download and the study notes that appear at the site.

• The New Covenant - teaching with study notes (play or download audio)
• Download audio - http://bobgeorge.net/?ddownload=1833

Study notes:

1. Introduction: The Cross – The Dividing Line of Human History.
2. A Will is in Force Only When Someone Has Died.
   
   
   

   Hebrews 9:16-17

   
   
   

   “In the case of a will, it is necessary to prove the death of the one who made it, because a will is in force only when somebody has died; it never takes effect while the one who made it is living.”

Without the Shedding of Blood (Sacrifice), There is No Forgiveness.

Hebrews 9:18-22

“This is why even the first covenant was not put into effect without blood. When Moses had proclaimed every commandment of the law to all the people, he took the blood of calves, together with water, scarlet wool and branches of hyssop, and sprinkled the scroll and all the people. He said, “This is the blood of the covenant, which God has commanded you to keep.” In the same way, he sprinkled with the blood both the tabernacle and everything used in its ceremonies. In fact, the law requires that nearly everything be cleansed with blood, and without the shedding of blood there is no forgiveness.”

1. A New Covenant
2. Reason for a New Covenant
   
   
   

   Hebrews 8:7-8a

   
   
   

   “For if there had been nothing wrong with the first covenant, no place would have been sought for another. But God found fault with the people.”

The Lord’s declaration of the New Covenant

Hebrews 8:8b-12

“The time is coming, declares the Lord, when I will make a new covenant with the house of Israel and with the house of Judah. It will not be like the covenant I made with their forefathers when I took them by the hand to lead them out of Egypt, because they did not remain faithful to my covenant, and I turned away from them, declares the Lord. This is the covenant I will make with the house of Israel after that time, declares the Lord. I will put My laws in their minds and write them on their hearts. I will be their God, and they will be My people. No longer will a man teach his neighbor, or a man his brother, saying, `Know the Lord,’ because they will all know me, from the least of them to the greatest. For I will forgive their wickedness and will remember their sins no more.”

1. The Holy Spirit’s Testimony about the New Covenant.
   
   
   

   Hebrews 10:15-18

   
   
   

   “The Holy Spirit also testifies to us about this. First he says: “This is the covenant I will make with them after that time, says the Lord. I will put My laws in their hearts, and I will write them on their minds.” Then he adds: “Their sins and lawless acts I will remember no more.” And where these have been forgiven, there is no longer any sacrifice for sin.”
2. The New Covenant Replaced the Old
   
   
   

   Hebrews 10:8-10

   
   
   

   “First He said, “Sacrifices and offerings, burnt offerings and sin offerings You did not desire, nor were You pleased with them” (although the law required them to be made). Then He said, “Here I am, I have come to do Your will.” He sets aside the first to establish the second. And by that will, we have been made holy through the sacrifice of the body of Jesus Christ once for all.”

   
   

   Hebrews 7:18-19

   “The former regulation is set aside because it was weak and useless (for the law made nothing perfect), and a better hope is introduced, by which we draw near to God.”
   
   

   Hebrews 8:13

   “By calling this covenant “new,” He has made the first one obsolete; and what is obsolete and aging will soon disappear.”
3. A New Priesthood
4. The New Priesthood Replaced the Old
   
   
   

   Hebrews 7:11-12

   
   
   

   “If perfection could have been attained through the Levitical priesthood (for on the basis of it the law was given to the people), why was there still need for another priest to come – one in the order of Melchizedek, not in the order of Aaron? For when there is a change of the priesthood, there must also be a change of the law.”
5. A Superior Priesthood Representing A Superior Covenant.
   
   
   

   Hebrews 8:6

   
   
   

   “But the ministry Jesus has received is as superior to theirs as the covenant of which he is mediator is superior to the old one, and it is founded on better promises.”

   
   

   Hebrews 9:15

   “For this reason Christ is the mediator of a new covenant, that those who are called may receive the promised eternal inheritance – now that he has died as a ransom to set them free from the sins committed under the first covenant.”
6. A New Priest
7. A Perfect Priest Guaranteeing A Better Covenant.
   
   
   

   Hebrews 7:20-22

   
   
   

   “And it was not without an oath! Others became priests without any oath, but he became a priest with an oath when God said to him: “The Lord has sworn and will not change his mind: `You are a priest forever.’ ” Because of this oath, Jesus has become the guarantee of a better covenant.”

   
   

   Hebrews 7:26-28

   “Such a High Priest meets our need – one who is holy, blameless, pure, set apart from sinners, exalted above the heavens. Unlike the other high priests, He does not need to offer sacrifices day after day, first for His own sins, and then for the sins of the people. He sacrificed for their sins once for all when He offered Himself. For the law appoints as high priests men who are weak; but the oath, which came after the law, appointed the Son, who has been made perfect forever.”
8. An Eternal Priest
   
   
   

   Hebrews 7:23

   
   
   

   “Now there have been many of those priests, since death prevented them from continuing in office.”

   
   

   Hebrews 7:24-25

   “But because Jesus lives forever, he has a permanent priesthood. Therefore He is able to save completely those who come to God through Him, because He always lives to intercede for them.”
9. A New Sacrifice
10. His Sacrifice Took Away Our Sins.
    
    
    

    Hebrews 10:1-4

    
    
    

    “The law is only a shadow of the good things that are coming – not the realities themselves. For this reason it can never, by the same sacrifices repeated endlessly year after year, make perfect those who draw near to worship. If it could, would they not have stopped being offered? For the worshipers would have been cleansed once for all, and would no longer have felt guilty for their sins. But those sacrifices are an annual reminder of sins, because it is impossible for the blood of bulls and goats to take away sins.”

    
    

    Hebrews 10:5

    “Therefore, when Christ came into the world, He said: “Sacrifice and offering You did not desire, but a body You prepared for Me.”
    
    

    Hebrews 9:23-28

    “It was necessary, then, for the copies of the heavenly things to be purified with these sacrifices, but the heavenly things themselves with better sacrifices than these. For Christ did not enter a man-made sanctuary that was only a copy of the true one; He entered heaven itself, now to appear for us in God’s presence. Nor did He enter heaven to offer Himself again and again, the way the high priest enters the Most Holy Place every year with blood that is not his own. Then Christ would have had to suffer many times since the creation of the world. But now He has appeared once for all at the end of the ages to do away with sin by the sacrifice of Himself. Just as man is destined to die once, and after that to face judgment, so Christ was sacrificed once to take away the sins of many people; and He will appear a second time, not to bear sin, but to bring salvation to those who are waiting for him.”
    
    

    Atonement Covered Sins, 
Christ Took Away Our Sins.
11. His Sacrifice Is Final.
    
    
    

    Hebrews 10:11-14

    
    
    

    “Day after day every priest stands and performs his religious duties; again and again he offers the same sacrifices, which can never take away sins. But when this Priest had offered for all time one sacrifice for sins, He sat down at the right hand of God. Since that time He waits for His enemies to be made His footstool, because by one sacrifice He has made perfect forever those who are “the holy ones.”
12. There Is No More Sacrifice For Sins.
    
    
    

    Hebrews 10:17-18

    
    
    

    “Then He adds: “Their sins and lawless acts I will remember no more.” And where these have been forgiven, there is no longer any sacrifice for sin.”

    
    

    Hebrews 6:4-6

    “Therefore . . . It is impossible for those who have once been enlightened, who have tasted the heavenly gift, who have shared in the Holy Spirit, who have tasted the goodness of the word of God and the powers of the coming age, if they fall away, to be brought back to repentance, because to their loss they are crucifying the Son of God all over again and subjecting him to public disgrace.”
    
    

    Hebrews 10:26-29

    “If we deliberately keep on sinning after we have received the knowledge of the truth, no sacrifice for sins is left, but only a fearful expectation of judgment and of raging fire that will consume the enemies of God. Anyone who rejected the law of Moses died without mercy on the testimony of two or three witnesses. How much more severely do you think a man deserves to be punished who has trampled the Son of God under foot, who has treated as an unholy thing the blood of the covenant that sanctified him, and who has insulted the Spirit of grace?”
    
    

    Conclusions Concerning Forgiveness
    Without the shedding of blood there is no forgiveness.
    God remembers your sin no more.
    There is no longer any sacrifice for sin.
13. A New Ministry
14. We Are Ministers Of A New Covenant
    
    
    

    2 Corinthians 3:6-11

    
    
    

    “He has made us competent as ministers of a new covenant – not of the letter but of the Spirit; for the letter kills, but the Spirit gives life. Now if the ministry that brought death, which was engraved in letters on stone, came with glory, so that the Israelites could not look steadily at the face of Moses because of its glory, fading though it was, will not the ministry of the Spirit be even more glorious? If the ministry that condemns men is glorious, how much more glorious is the ministry that brings righteousness! For what was glorious has no glory now in comparison with the surpassing glory. And if what was fading away came with glory, how much greater is the glory of that which lasts!”
15. We Are Ministers Of Reconciliation
    
    
    

    2 Corinthians 5:17-19

    
    
    

    “Therefore, if anyone is in Christ, he is a new creation; the old has gone, the new has come! All this is from God, who reconciled us to Himself through Christ and gave us the ministry of reconciliation: that God was reconciling the world to Himself in Christ, not counting men’s sins against them.”
16. Practical Application.
17. There Is A Sabbath Rest That Remains For Us.
    
    
    

    Hebrews 4:1

    
    
    

    “Therefore, since the promise of entering his rest still stands, let us be careful that none of you be found to have fallen short of it.”

    
    

    Hebrews 4:9-11a

    “There remains, then, a Sabbath rest for the people of God; for anyone who enters God’s rest also rests from his own work, just as God did from his. Let us, therefore, make every effort to enter that rest.”
18. Are you willing to put aside all form of religion and rest in the sufficiency of Christ?
    
    Old Covenant: Man reaching up to God with self effort to be accepted by God.
    
    
    
    New Covenant: God reaching down to man through Jesus Christ with love and acceptance.
    
    
    
    
    
    
19. Are You Willing To Enter God’s Rest?
    
    
    

    Hebrews 10:19-23

    
    
    

    “Therefore, brothers, since we have confidence to enter the Most Holy Place by the blood of Jesus, by a new and living way opened for us through the curtain, that is, His body, and since we have a great Priest over the house of God, let us draw near to God with a sincere heart in full assurance of faith, having our hearts sprinkled to cleanse us from a guilty conscience and having our bodies washed with pure water. Let us hold unswervingly to the hope we profess, for He who promised is faithful.”

    
    

    Hebrews 4:16
    “Let us then approach the throne of grace with confidence, so that we may receive mercy and find grace to help us in our time of need.”
20. Conclusion: Believe It and Be Happy.

Grace and Peace,
-JGIG

[Shimri]

Okay, but what exactly is the New Covenant? Jeremiah coins the phrase. Hebrews quotes Jeremiah. Ezekiel and Isaiah describe its effect, as does Moses. You say a solid understanding of what the New Covenant is is necessary, yet you have not told us what it is. Do you understand what the New Covenant is?

If I asked what you feel has changed, we might be able to discuss the list of verses you gave. But your bunch of verses do not answer the question of what the New Covenant is.

Do you wish to try again?

[JGIG]

Okay, but what exactly is the New Covenant? Jeremiah coins the phrase. Hebrews quotes Jeremiah. Ezekiel and Isaiah describe its effect, as does Moses. You say a solid understanding of what the New Covenant is is necessary, yet you have not told us what it is. Do you understand what the New Covenant is?

If I asked what you feel has changed, we might be able to discuss the list of verses you gave. But your bunch of verses do not answer the question of what the New Covenant is.

Do you wish to try again?

The New Covenant is the Covenant in which this happens:

“For I will forgive their wickedness
and will remember their sins no more.”

The New Covenant is God providing rest for us through the Work of Christ. The commandments of God after the Cross?

1 John 3:19-24
19 By this we shall know that we are of the truth and reassure our heart before him; 20 for whenever our heart condemns us, God is greater than our heart, and he knows everything.

21 Beloved, if our heart does not condemn us, we have confidence before God; 22 and whatever we ask we receive from him, because we keep his commandments and do what pleases him.

23 And this is his commandment, that we believe in the name of his Son Jesus Christ and love one another, just as he has commanded us.

24 Whoever keeps his commandments abides in God, and God in him. And by this we know that he abides in us, by the Spirit whom he has given us.

That is the Law of the New Covenant: Believe on the One He has sent (also in John 6:28-29 from the mouth of Christ Himself) and love one another.

Elsewhere in the New Covenant Scriptures we are told that love fulfills God's Law:

Romans 13:8-10
8 Let no debt remain outstanding, except the continuing debt to love one another, for whoever loves others has fulfilled the law. 9 The commandments, “You shall not commit adultery,” “You shall not murder,” “You shall not steal,” “You shall not covet,” and whatever other command there may be, are summed up in this one command: “Love your neighbor as yourself.” 10 Love does no harm to a neighbor. Therefore love is the fulfillment of the law.


Galatians 5:14
14 For the whole law is fulfilled in one word: “You shall love your neighbor as yourself.”

A commenter at JGIG’s facebook page asked this excellent question out of frustration:

Andrea wrote,
“But I can’t love because it is a command – Because I am under grace. Do see how you guys make absolutely NO SENSE?!”

Andrea was referring to the quoting of the 1 John 3:19-24 passage posted above.

It’s a great question! If we’re not under Law, but after the Cross God commands us to love – sometimes referred to as the Law of Christ - what’s up with that?!

Here’s the really cool thing: Love is a Fruit of the Spirit as well as a command.

Though love is a command, if you don’t do it, (which would be sin), you’re already forgiven. If you are in Christ, you are not under law, and where there is no law, there is no sin (Romans 4:15, 5:13).

God makes clear to us that sin and the Law are dealt with from two angles: the sins of the world were forgiven at the Cross (John 1:29, 2 Corinthians 5:18-19, 1 John 2:2), and we who are in Christ are dead to the Law (Romans 7:1-4, Galatians 2:19).

Furthermore, as if that weren’t enough (!), God gives the Righteousness of Christ to us as a gift (Romans 5:15-21). These are the Truths of the Gospel that establish the position of the believer in the Reality of Christ and in the sight of God!

That said – If you are in Christ and are led by His Spirit, love will be a fruit produced in you.

Do fruit-producing plants strive to produce fruit? No . . . they produce fruit because they are attached to the vine/tree/plant which nourishes them.

Fruit is the by-product of LIFE.

If you are alive in Christ and abiding in Him, allowing His Holy Spirit to live through you, love is an unavoidable by-product and fulfills the law!

Commanding the one in Christ to love is like commanding a person who has life in them to breathe because it’s a law. If a person has life in them, they automatically breathe – it’s something that we just DO.

If we are in Christ, loving others is something that we just DO.

To command those in Christ to love is a ridiculously-unfair-in-our-favor-win-win-deal!

By resting in Christ and letting Him live His Life through us, God’s command to love is obeyed (John 15:12, 1 John 3:23) and the Law is fulfilled (Romans 13:8-10, Galatians 5:14).

That is Grace.

Believing in the One He has sent and loving one another is the New Covenant.

\o/ \o/ \o/ \o/ \o/

Grace and Peace,
-JGIG

[Sojourner]

The New Covenant is the Covenant in which this happens:
[INDENT]“For I will forgive their wickedness
and will remember their sins no more.”

Oh brother.



Scripture TELLS US PLAINLY what the new covenant is.



Heb 8:8 Behold, days are coming, says the Lord, when I will effect a new covenant with the house of Israel and with the house of Judah;

Heb 8:10 For this is the covenant that I will make with the house of Israel after those days, says the Lord:
I will put My laws into their minds, and I will write them on their hearts.
And I will be their God, and they shall be My people.




The New Covenant is His LAW written on the hearts and minds of his people.





You sure like to convolute, don't you? It's really not hard to see or understand when you let scripture speak for itself.




-Sojourner

[Shimri]

The New Covenant is the Covenant in which this happens:
[INDENT]“For I will forgive their wickedness
and will remember their sins no more.”

And what else will He do?

Come one. Hebrews quotes it from Jeremiah. Ezekiel eludes to it, and it is based in Deuteronomy.

It is not a difficult question . . .