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Here is the patience of the saints: here are they that keep the commandments of God, and the faith of Jesus. (Revelation 14:12) |
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The third area of disagreement is the role our own personality and will should play in keeping the commandments. |
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The first (and we think scriptural) position is that our first personality has to keep the commandments, always praying and seeking God's help. We do not wait for Christ to perform them for us or through us. We just set out and do them! |
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Therefore whosoever heareth these sayings of mine, and doeth them, I will liken him unto a wise man, which built his house upon a rock: (Matthew 7:24) |
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If ye know these things, happy are ye if ye do them. (John 13:17) |
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I beseech you therefore, brethren, by the mercies of God, that ye present your bodies a living sacrifice, holy, acceptable unto God, which is your reasonable service. (Romans 12:1) |
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Awake to righteousness, and sin not; for some have not the knowledge of God: I speak this to your shame. (I Corinthians 15:34) |
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There is no flavor in the above passages that we are supposed to wait for Christ to do such things in us. |
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Your natural man has to do these things. He has to have integrity. He has to hold up your body on the altar of God until Christ is formed in you. |
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It is right here that Evangelical teaching founders. It does not place enough emphasis on the role of the first personality. |
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The first personality must decrease and Christ must increase. But if the first personality does not do its job faithfully the second personality, that which is of Christ, cannot be formed. |
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It is impossible to make a success of the Christian life if one does not have integrity of personality. The seed, the Word of God, must fall into an honest and good heart. |
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Following is a passage that unequivocally supports the Evangelical position. |
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We must always remember that of ourselves we can do nothing. We are not to lift a finger because to do so is filthy rags. What! Would you improve on the perfect work of Christ! Know then that until Christ keeps the commandment in you it is only folly for you to attempt to do anything. Settle back and wait for God to do the work in you. He will keep the commandment from within you without any effort on your part. Your work is only to believe. Christ will do it all for you. The new creation will come forth in your personality to your utter amazement while you are getting drunk and meditating on pornography. In the meantime please keep firmly in mind that Christians are not perfect, only forgiven. Let this be your motto. Tie it as a symbol on your hand and bind it on your forehead. Write it on the door frame of your house, on your gate, and on the rear bumper of your car. (Passivity 8:12-20) |
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I like what Paul says. Wake up! Quit sinning! For so long Satan has run a bluff on the believers, telling them no one can please God; no one can obey God. |
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To be continued. |
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For this is the love of God, that we keep his commandments: and his commandments are not grievous. (I John 5:3) |
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Of course we can please God! Of course we can obey God! Is our Father some kind of tyrant that He issues commandments that are grievous and unlivable? It is Satan who issues commandments that are grievous and unlivable. |
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Our natural man cannot please God. But God has given us the Holy Spirit, the body and blood of Jesus, the Scriptures, the ministries and gifts of the Spirit, so that through these we can diligently apply ourselves and keep the commandments of the Lord. |
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If we do not keep the commandments of the Lord, Christ will never be formed in us. |
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The fourth area of disagreement has to do with the results of keeping the commandments of the Lord. |
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The first position is that there is great reward for keeping the commandments of God. |
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Marvel not at this: for the hour is coming, in the which all that are in the graves shall hear his voice, And shall come forth; they that have done good, unto the resurrection of life; and they that have done evil, unto the resurrection of damnation. (John 5:28,29) |
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Jesus answered and said unto him, If a man love me, he will keep my words: and my Father will love him, and we will come unto him, and make our abode with him. (John 14:23) |
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To them who by patient continuance in well doing seek for glory and honour and immortality, eternal life: (Romans 2:7) |
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For we must all appear before the judgment seat of Christ; that every one may receive the things done in his body, according to that he hath done, whether it be good or bad. (II Corinthians 5:10) |
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Because thou hast kept the word of my patience, I also will keep thee from the hour of temptation, which shall come upon all the world, to try them that dwell upon the earth. (Revelation 3:10) |
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And, behold, I come quickly; and my reward is with me, to give every man according as his work shall be. I am Alpha and Omega, the beginning and the end, the first and the last. Blessed are they that do his commandments, that they may have right to the tree of life, and may enter in through the gates into the city. (Revelation 22:12-14) |
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It is obvious that Satan has a large stake in keeping Christians from behaving righteously. He keeps them from their reward. In addition he extinguishes the light of the testimony, for the light of the believer is his good works and it is these that cause people to glorify God. |
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Apart from the fruit of good works, of righteous behavior, we are useless for the Kingdom purposes of God. We shall be cut out of the Vine, out of Christ. For it is God's plan to fill the whole world with righteousness through Christ through the saints. More about this in a subsequent essay, God willing. |
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To be continued. |
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My little children, of whom I travail in birth again until Christ be formed in you, (Galatians 4:19) |
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The greatest reward for keeping the commandments of God is to have Christ formed in us. This is the new covenant. This is how we ultimately keep the commandments of God perfectly—by having Christ formed in us. |
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We have also a more sure word of prophecy; whereunto ye do well that ye take heed, as unto a light that shineth in a dark place, until the day dawn, and the day star arise in your hearts: (II Peter 1:19) |
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The above verse means we are to pay attention to the Old Testament Scriptures and to do what they say (excepting the covenantal statutes of the Law of Moses) until Christ is formed in us. The new covenant, which is the writing of the Word of God (Christ) in our personality, does not consist of our keeping the commandments. Rather it is true that the keeping of the commandments makes possible the forming of Christ in us. The forming of Christ in us is not the sum total of our keeping the commandments. The forming of Christ in us is a supernatural occurrence that takes place as the Holy Spirit builds Christ in us from the body and blood of Christ's Divine Nature. |
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But if we do not keep God's commandments, if we do not come out of the world and pray, read the Bible, gather with the saints, lead a holy life, Christ will not be formed in us. It is as straightforward as that. |
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As Christ begins to be formed in us we begin to keep the commandments of God by nature. Then the work of our first personality has been completed and will eventually fall away as scaffolding. |
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The second, Evangelical viewpoint is that there is no reward of truly eternal significance for keeping the commandments of Christ and His Apostles. |
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Here is a passage that clearly supports the second position. |
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I am writing again to you to encourage your hearts. As I told you before there is no reward for keeping the commandments of Christ. You are saved by a sovereign, unconditional grace that admits no human enterprise. If then you are saved by a sovereign, unconditional grace, set apart for you from the beginning of time, you can see, brothers, how illogical it would be for one to have a greater reward than the other. When I appear I will reward all equally. You all have been accepted in the beloved. Therefore live as you please, knowing that when our Lord appears you all will be given a mansion in which to reside forever. There are no greater and lesser in the Kingdom of God. When speaking of the greatest and least in the Kingdom our Lord was referring only to Jews who still were under the Old Testament. Whereas they had to work righteousness to attain rank in the Kingdom (which they could not do in any case because they had not been born again—you see how logical I am being) you have only to rest with the pigs in the slops. If you will but raise your hand your Father will leave home and run to you, bringing a bottle of wine for your stomach's sake. Remember, God blesses those who do nothing at all but believe that Jesus is Lord and Christ. If you continue to have faith alone (James was an unconverted Jew and was biased!) your reward will be greater than that of Abraham and Daniel. (Passivity 10:1-8) |
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To be continued. |
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For if after they have escaped the pollutions of the world through the knowledge of the Lord and Saviour Jesus Christ, they are again entangled therein, and overcome, the latter end is worse with them than the beginning. For it had been better for them not to have known the way of righteousness, than, after they have known it, to turn from the holy commandment delivered unto them. (II Peter 2:20,21) |
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"Not to have known the way of righteousness." The way of righteousness. |
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Does that expression say anything to you? It says to me that the Christian life is a way of righteousness, a way of behaving righteously from which you can turn and go back into the pigpen if you wish. |
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We stated in the beginning that all Christians when asked would affirm that we are supposed to keep the commandments given by Christ and His Apostles. |
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We then said there are four areas of disagreement concerning the keeping of the New Testament commandments. |
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* The consequences of not keeping the commandments. |
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* The approach we take to the commandments. |
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* The role of our own personality in keeping the commandments. |
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* What the results are of keeping the commandments. |
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Then we combined the various viewpoints concerning these four areas of disagreement into a first viewpoint, and then the current, Evangelical viewpoint. |
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After that we discussed the two viewpoints. |
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It is our firm opinion that dispensational thinking, which along with the Lutheran "faith alone" position accounts for much of the second viewpoint, is absolutely disastrous. By postulating a dispensation of grace different from all the previous working of God we have, I believe, destroyed the whole intention of the new covenant, which is to produce people who, unlike the Jews under the Law of Moses, actually practice righteousness, love mercy, and walk humbly with God. |
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God's goal for man never changes. God's method of attaining the goal may change from time to time (but not as much as suggested by a "dispensation of grace"). |
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However, we have changed the goal. We are presenting the goal as eternal residence in the spirit Paradise in a mansion. We are not emphasizing the forming of the new, righteous creation that is at home anywhere in God's universe. We are changing the location rather than the person, and this never was, is not, and never shall be the purpose of God's plan of redemption. |
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Man fell through disobedience. Jesus Christ came and walked in obedience to the Father. Now through His resurrection Life we are to learn to walk in obedience to the Father. This is the new covenant. |
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How utterly frustrating it must be to God to see His plan for developing righteous people changed into an escape to the place from which Satan originated—the spirit Paradise. |
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If I have ever heard from the Lord in fifty-two years as a Christian He is telling me to urge upon His people the importance of keeping His commandments. We invite you to go to Jesus in prayer and see if He actually is saying that to us. |
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Do you think we made any progress untying the knot? |
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Here is a one-liner for your meditation this week. |
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If the Christian salvation does not change our behavior it is worthless to God and to man. |
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Amen. |
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And I will give power unto my two witnesses, and they shall prophesy a thousand two hundred and threescore days, clothed in sackcloth. (Revelation 11:3) |
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Today I sit stupidly in front of my E-mail trying to remember who I am and what I am supposed to be doing. |
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When I was studying piano I heard the story of Ignace Paderewski, the famous Polish pianist and prime minister. When he began his practice session each day he would just work the pedals of his grand piano for fifteen minutes before doing anything else. |
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As a young man I marveled at the diligence of the master. To think of sitting for fifteen minutes and just working the pedals. This would bore all but the most dedicated of musicians. |
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Now that I am old I think I understand what Paderewski was doing. He may have been trying to remember who he was and what he was supposed to be doing. |
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I am in the mood to regale you with something that came to me as I was driving to church one Sunday morning years ago. Honest! I was so astounded I preached on something else for fear the message was not from the Lord. But time seems to prove it out. |
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Before God starts a new, eternal day He sends two witnesses. There are seven eternal days in all and seven sets of two witnesses. |
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Once a new day starts it goes on forever. |
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The two witnesses portray in themselves what will be true of the coming day. The new day proceeds from the witnesses, so to speak. |
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The two witnesses of Revelation, Chapter Eleven are the sixth set of two witnesses and herald the sixth eternal day of God's working. |
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The first set of two witnesses was Adam and Eve. The eternal day they heralded could be referred to as the Day of Form. You can term it whatever makes sense to you. |
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The point is, in Adam and Eve God revealed the form of what always will be true. People will always be people with arms and legs. They will not be triangular or have huge heads and spindly bodies like some kind of spider, as some have imagined. (That would be a rotten world, wouldn't it?) |
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A billion years from now people will still be people. Thank God for that! |
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Notice that the eternal day proceeded from the first two witnesses. |
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(Can you imagine all this coming to me while I'm driving? It's a wonder I didn't drive off into Lake Hodges!) |
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The second set of two witnesses was Abraham and Sarah. You could call this the Day of the Church. |
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To understand the Day of the Church you have to recognize that there will be two sets of saved people in the future—the Church and the saved nations. This fact is not commonly understood. |
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To be continued. |
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And in thy seed shall all the nations of the earth be blessed; because thou hast obeyed my voice. (Genesis 22:18) |
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The Church is a royal priesthood called out from the nations of the earth, not to be saved only but to be trained to govern the earth in righteousness. There will be unnumbered multitudes of people who will be saved to the new world but who will not be part of the Church. |
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From Abraham and Sarah has proceeded the Church, Israel, the elect, the Seed to whom all the promises of God are made. The separation between the Church and the world is eternal as evidenced by the mammoth wall surrounding the new Jerusalem. |
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People in the future will be able to go through the gates into the holy city, provided they are keeping the commandments of God. There they can drink of the water of life and eat from the tree of life. But then they must leave and return home. The Church will always and forever be separate from the saved nations of the earth. |
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You know, Abraham gets all the glory while Sarah is in the background. But Sarah represents the Jerusalem that is above. How come the Pastor gets all the glory while his wife is in the background? We don't even know the name of Job's wife but think what she went through? Oh well! |
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The eternal age of the Church proceeds from the two witnesses, Abraham and Sarah. |
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The third set of two witnesses is Moses and Aaron. You could call the third day the Day of the Law. Sometimes I refer to the third day as the day of dry ground, in terms of the third day of creation. For the first time man had firm moral ground on which to stand and walk. |
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When we say that the Day of the Law is an eternal day we run into problems, don't we? Let us explain. I would like you to pay particular attention to the explanation that follows because there is a great deal of confusion over the relationship between the Law of Moses and the eternal moral law of God. |
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We are now going to speak of two different laws and the relationships between them. |
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* The first law is the eternal moral law of God. |
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* The second law is the Law of Moses. |
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In case you don't know where to find the Law of Moses it is contained in Exodus, Leviticus, Numbers, and Deuteronomy. |
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The eternal moral law of God always has been in effect and always shall be in effect. The Law of Moses has not always been in effect and shall not always be in effect. |
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The eternal moral law is the expression of the character of God. It is written in the conscience of man. |
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The Law of Moses consisted of a number of statutes and ordinances that were given to Moses by God and carved into tables of stone. |
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The Law of Moses was a covenant made with the twelve tribes of Israel. It no longer is in effect for those who are in Christ because it has been completely superseded by the new covenant. The new covenant is the writing of the eternal moral law of God, which is summed up in Christ, in the heart and mind of the believer in Christ. |
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To be continued. |
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And he gave unto Moses, when he had made an end of communing with him upon mount Sinai, two tables of testimony, tables of stone, written with the finger of God. (Genesis 31:18) |
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Paul teaches us we are not under the Law of Moses but under grace. This is true but I think it is greatly misunderstood. |
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Let us take the practice of adultery. Adultery is prohibited by the Law of Moses. If the Law of Moses has been done away, are we free to practice adultery? If not, what law of the new covenant prohibits adultery? The answer is, the eternal moral law of God. |
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Let us take the fourth commandment, that of not working on Saturday. If the Law of Moses has been done away, are we free to work on Saturday? Now there is confusion. The prohibition of adultery and the prohibition of working on Saturday are both found in the Ten Commandments. If one is binding on us why not the other? |
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So you see, the statement that we are not under the Law of Moses but under grace, while it is scriptural, can be misleading and certainly unsatisfying to the devout Jew. |
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Let us present the fact that there are three categories of the Law of Moses: |
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* Those aspects of the Law of Moses that are part of the eternal moral law of God and therefore are binding on all of God's creatures at all times, independently of the Law of Moses. |
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* Those aspects of the Law of Moses that are not part of the eternal moral law of God except in a transcendent form. |
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* Those aspects of the Law of Moses that are not part of the eternal moral law of God and no longer are binding on the Christian. |
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That's pretty simple, isn't it? |
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Let's give an example of each. |
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Covetousness and murder are prohibited by the Law of Moses and also by the eternal moral law of God—category one. We would add that the prohibitions against adultery, covetousness, and murder are greatly enlarged under the new covenant such that the thought and attitude of them in the heart is sinful. He who hates his brother is a murderer and there is no eternal life in him. |
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Circumcision and the Sabbath day are enjoined by the Law of Moses. But they are not part of the eternal moral law of God except in a transcendent form. |
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The true and eternal circumcision which is part of the eternal moral law of God has to do with the cutting away of the fleshly nature of man. The true circumcision is part of the new covenant. Fleshly circumcision, although it has benefit in terms of health, is not part of the eternal moral law of God and therefore not binding on the Christian. There is no harm whatever in the circumcision of the flesh as long as it does not get confused in the believer's mind with the salvation that is in Christ. |
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The true and eternal Sabbath which is part of the eternal moral law of God refers to the fully mature Christian who is always resting in God, who does not speak, act, or think outside of the will and Presence of God. This is the way Jesus always and eternally lives and the way we always and eternally are to live. The practice of not working one day a week is definitely beneficial in terms of health but has nothing to do with the Christian salvation—category two. |
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To be continued. |
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