17) It is all in the mind

Romans 8:5 For those who live according to the flesh set their minds on the things of the flesh, but those who live according to the Spirit set their minds on the things of the Spirit.

Paul is making a clear distinction between believers and unbelievers. The difference in this verse is what they have their minds set on. The unbeliever is interested in temporal worldly things that do not last. The believer’s mind and focus is on spiritual things that are eternal.

Focus on Christ #17

16) Jesus purchases redemption and changes hearts

Romans 8:4 in order that the righteous requirement of the law might be fulfilled in us, who walk not according to the flesh but according to the Spirit.

The righteous requirements of the law have been fulfilled in believers because of the righteousness of Jesus Christ who perfectly upheld the law of Moses. Believers are in Christ through faith and are distinguished from unbelievers because they walk according to the Spirit. The character and life style Christians verses non-Christians are contrasted in this verse.

Focus on Christ #16

15) Jesus paid it all

Romans 8:3 For God has done what the law, weakened by the flesh, could not do. By sending his own Son in the likeness of sinful flesh and for sin, he condemned sin in the flesh,

Due to the sin nature inherited from Adam, human beings could not meet the legal requirements of the Mosaic Law. However, God provided through His son, Jesus Christ, a second Adam who met the laws demands and condemned sin on the cross of Calvary! Jesus provided the righteousness and also paid the sin debt of all who are in him through faith.

Focus on Christ #15

14) Christians are free from Old Covenant Law

Romans 8:2 For the law of the Spirit of life has set you free in Christ Jesus from the law of sin and death.

The grace of God through Jesus Christ and the Spirit has set Christians free from the Mosaic Law. New Covenant Christians are free from the legal requirements of the law because Jesus Christ fulfilled them all on their behalf. Christians are saved from the law of sin and death through faith in Christ.

Focus on Christ #14

13) Christians in Christ are eternally secure

Romans 8:1 There is therefore now no condemnation for those who are in Christ Jesus.

Christians are eternally secure from the condemnation that results from sin due to being covered by the righteousness of Christ. Jesus Christ fulfilled the Mosaic Covenant on behalf of everyone who is in union with Him by faith.

Focus on Christ #13

12) Christians are not under Old Covenant law

Galatians 5:18 But if you are led by the Spirit, you are not under the law.

New Covenant believers are led by the Spirit and their sanctification is powered by the Holy Spirit. They are NOT under the law for justification or sanctification. Under Christ, the new lawgiver, all of the principles for Christian obedience and discipleship are stated in the New Testament. Several of the ten commandments have been enhanced and made stronger by Jesus.

Focus on Christ #12

11) The law of Moses has been abolished

2 Corinthians 3:11 And if what was fading away came with glory, how much greater is the glory of that which lasts!

The law of Moses has been abolished! The New Covenant, grace, and the Spirit has replaced the law of Moses, which has faded away. Jesus Christ as prophet, priest, and king is the more excellent lawgiver that replaced Moses as prophet and Aaron as priest. We should look to Jesus and not Moses for our sanctification.

Focus on Christ #11

10) Physical descent does not determine the children of God

Romans 9:8 This means that it is not the children of the flesh who are the children of God, but the children of the promise are counted as offspring.

The true spiritual seed of Abraham are not ethnic Jews, but the children of the promise. Therefore, only those who come to personal faith in Jesus [the elect] are the redeemed spiritual seed of Abraham and not the physical seed of Jews or Christians.

Focus on Christ #10

9) The New Covenant replaced the Old Covenant

2 Corinthians 3:7-8 Now if the ministry of death, carved in letters on stone, came with such glory that the Israelites could not gaze at Moses' face because of its glory, which was being brought to an end, will not the ministry of the Spirit have even more glory?

The ten commandments [ministry of death] was put in place by God to convict sinners of their guilt. The law covenant was not a gracious covenant given to a redeemed people for their sanctification! It was a legal covenant that Christ fulfilled and brought to an end. The New Covenant and the more glorious ministry of the Spirit replaced the old law covenant.

Focus on Christ #9

8) Believers uphold the law by being in Christ by faith

Romans 3:31 Do we then overthrow the law by this faith? By no means! On the contrary, we uphold the law.

Through faith in Christ, believers are united to him and His finished work of upholding the law. Therefore, by being in Christ believers uphold the law through union with Christ and participate in the promised blessings of the law. Apart from Christ, sinners are condemned by the law.

Focus on Christ #8

7) It is faith that overcomes

1 John 5:4 For everyone who has been born of God overcomes the world. And this is the victory that has overcome the world—our faith.

Overcoming and conquering do not come from self-effort and law keeping. It is faith that overcomes the world, and it is faith that conquers and receives the eternal blessings. The power required for overcoming through faith comes from God, and not from self-examination and greater human effort. Do not look in the mirror. Look to Christ!

Focus on Christ #7

6) There is power in the blood of Christ

1 Corinthians 11:25 In the same way also he took the cup, after supper, saying, “This cup is the new covenant in my blood. Do this, as often as you drink it, in remembrance of me.”

The new covenant is sealed by the blood of Christ who obtained the blessings promised under the old covenant by fulfilling all of its demands. These blessings are realized through faith in Christ and not by attempting to keep old covenant law.

Focus on Christ #6

5) The New Covenant delivers eternal life

Hebrews 8:7 For if that first covenant had been faultless, there would have been no occasion to look for a second.

Since the law covenant was powerless to save anyone, God planned before the foundation of the world for his only begotten son to be the mediator of a second covenant and give eternal life as a gift to all who believe in him. The remnant who believed God in the Old Testament were saved by the redemption that is in Jesus Christ just as New Covenant believers.

Focus on Christ #5

4) Christ is the mediator of a better ministry

Hebrews 8:6 But as it is, Christ has obtained a ministry that is as much more excellent than the old as the covenant he mediates is better, since it is enacted on better promises.

New Covenant believers should look to Christ and his ministry where his better promises give believers grace, life, and the Holy Spirit. Looking backward past Christ to the old covenant produces bondage, sin, and despair.

Focus on Christ #4

3) Stand Firm In Christ

Galatians 5:1 For freedom Christ has set us free; stand firm therefore, and do not submit again to a yoke of slavery.

Christ set us free from the Mosaic covenant by perfectly fulfilling it and Christians should stand firm and not submit to this yoke of slavery.

Focus on Christ #3

2) Look to Christ not to the law!

Acts 15:10-11 Now, therefore, why are you putting God to the test by placing a yoke on the neck of the disciples that neither our fathers nor we have been able to bear? But we believe that we will be saved through the grace of the Lord Jesus, just as they will.”

The yoke refers to the Old Law Covenant written on tablets of stone. New covenant believers should look to Christ and grace rather than the ministry of death! Christians should not allow this yoke to be placed upon their necks.


Focus on Christ #2

1) Keep your eyes upon Christ

Hebrews 9:15 Therefore he is the mediator of a new covenant, so that those who are called may receive the promised eternal inheritance, since a death has occurred that redeems them from the transgressions committed under the first covenant.

As new covenant believers let us look to Christ, grace, and the Holy Spirit rather than put on the yoke of the law of sin and death!

Focus on Christ #1

The New Covenant replaced the faulty First Covenant

The following Scripture passages point to the New Covenant being a separate and better covenant than the Old Covenant which became obsolete:

“Behold, the days are coming, declares the Lord, when I will make a new covenant with the house of Israel and the house of Judah, (Jer. 31:31)

you are not under law but under grace. (Rom. 6:14)

But now we are released from the law (Rom. 7:6)

we serve in the new way of the Spirit and not in the old way of the written code. (Rom. 7:6)

to be ministers of a new covenant, not of the letter but of the Spirit. For the letter kills, but the Spirit gives life. (2 Cor. 3:6)

Now if the ministry of death, carved in letters on stone, (2 Cor. 3:7)

For to this day, when they read the old covenant, that same veil remains unlifted, because only through Christ is it taken away. (2 Cor. 3:14)

But when one turns to the Lord, the veil is removed. (2 Cor. 3:16)

For he himself is our peace, who has made us both one and has broken down in his flesh the dividing wall of hostility 15 by abolishing the law of commandments expressed in ordinances, that he might create in himself one new man in place of the two, so making peace, (Eph. 2:14-15)

(for the law made nothing perfect); but on the other hand, a better hope is introduced, through which we draw near to God. (Heb. 7:19)

This makes Jesus the guarantor of a better covenant. (Heb. 7:22)

But as it is, Christ has obtained a ministry that is as much more excellent than the old as the covenant he mediates is better, since it is enacted on better promises. (Heb. 8:6)

For if that first covenant had been faultless, there would have been no occasion to look for a second. (Heb. 8:7)

For he finds fault with them when he says: “Behold, the days are coming, declares the Lord,when I will establish a new covenant with the house of Israel and with the house of Judah, (Heb. 8:8)

In speaking of a new covenant, he makes the first one obsolete. And what is becoming obsolete and growing old is ready to vanish away. (Heb. 8:13)

Therefore he is the mediator of a new covenant, so that those who are called may receive the promised eternal inheritance, since a death has occurred that redeems them from the transgressions committed under the first covenant. (Heb. 9:15)

“This is the covenant that I will make with them after those days, declares the Lord: I will put my laws on their hearts, and write them on their minds,” (Heb. 10:16)

Let me ask you only this: Did you receive the Spirit by works of the law or by hearing with faith? 3 Are you so foolish? Having begun by the Spirit, are you now being perfected by the flesh? (Gal. 3:2-3)

Christ redeemed us from the curse of the law by becoming a curse for us—for it is written, “Cursed is everyone who is hanged on a tree”— (Gal. 3:13)

Now before faith came, we were held captive under the law, imprisoned until the coming faith would be revealed. 24 So then, the law was our guardian until Christ came, in order that we might be justified by faith. 25 But now that faith has come, we are no longer under a guardian, (Gal. 3:23-25)

For freedom Christ has set us free; stand firm therefore, and do not submit again to a yoke of slavery. (Gal. 5:1)

But in these last days!

Hebrews 1:1-2 Long ago, at many times and in many ways, God spoke to our fathers by the prophets, (2) but in these last days he has spoken to us by his Son, whom he appointed the heir of all things, through whom also he created the world.

But in these last days!!!!! Verse 1 refers to Old Testament and Old Covenant revelation and verse 2 refers to New Testament and New Covenant revelation.
Certainly this means that New Testament revelation should be used to interpret Old Testament revelation. It is clear that Jesus Christ brought a change of Covenants as Hebrews goes on to fully explain. The New Covenant replaces the Old Covenant. Why? Hebrews goes on to say that the Old Covenant is replaced by a better Covenant for which Jesus is the guarantor (Heb. 7:22). It further states that the Old Covenant is obsolete (Heb. 8:13). Yet, neither Dispensational Theology nor Covenant Theology views the Old Covenant as obsolete.

Dispensational Theology completely separates the Old from the New Covenant. For example in the thread of my last post, a dispensational adherent said, We see the law is in effect for the Jews during the tribulation period when Jesus again starts dealing with the nation Israel (Matt 24:20).

Although the New Testament clearly ends the role of physical Israel in redemptive history and brings all of humanity under the gospel of grace, the dispensationalist views a day when Israel will be dealt with completely separate from the Gentiles. Paul’s statement about there being neither Jew nor Greek does not interpret Old Testament Scripture in this view. The Old Testament is used to interpret the New in dispensational hermeneutics.

Covenant Theology, on the other hand, holds tightly to the Old Testament and Old Covenant principles. The New Covenant is viewed as the final revelation of a single major Covenant of grace, and there is barely a bump in the road from the Old Testament to the New Testament in Covenant theology.

A covenant theology adherent said the following in our last thread:
”I think the problem in Galatians 3:3 is that the Galatians were too reliant on the law without the help of the Spirit of God to seek to keep it.”

Although there are many warnings by Paul to totally reject law keeping, Covenant Theology, as seen by this commenter, views Paul’s warnings on law keeping as referring only to the manner or reason for doing so. Therefore, in this view the Galatian error was not law keeping, but law keeping without the help of the Spirit of God.

True Free Grace Anyone?

Thinking back over these nearly three years that I have been blogging I guess I must conclude that there truely is nothing new under the sun. I've been involved in discussions about LS/Calvinism on both my blog as well as on many other blogs. The Free Gracers have seen all of my arguments as I have seen all of theirs. What new ground is there to cover.

Does that mean that I will no longer go into that subject again?

Well, let's consider some things: Though I am actively collecting the works of Ryrie ( I have his study Bible as well as "So Great Salvation" - which I have read cover to cover ) I am also going to used book shops to see what of his works I can find there (Making things really hard here is that I now have two kids in college so my finances are limited ) Yet, in all this, I still hate classic, or "normative" dispensationalism, and its evil little daughter, Free Grace Theology.

Again, Does that mean that I will no longer go into that subject again?

FAT CHANCE!!!

A system that separates the Promises from the Person of Christ simply MUST be opposed, and vigorously so.

Christ is Prophet, Priest and King. We must present Him to the world as such. His offices must not be broken up. There simply is no scriptural warrant for that. His kingdom is within each believer, and that with God the Holy Spirit, indwelling the believer. This relationship between God the Holy Spirit and the believer is what the kingdom is all about in its present form. Later, at Christ's coming, the kingdom will be in power and judgement. In the mean time the Christian, being a subject of that kingdom, is the outward manifestation of God's rule to a lost and rebellious world; a world that has broken God's bonds, and cast away His cords; a world that loves sin, and hates its Maker.

You see, in placing so very much emphasis on a future millenial kingdom the dispy has changed the whole Biblical character of the Christian. Old line dispy's present the Gospel as a ticket to Heaven while the Bible presents a much more comprehensive picture than that. The Gospel results in the indwelling of the Spirit, death to sin, slavery to Christ, conformity to Christ - sanctification - and on to glorification. Ryrie, as does Kendall, who is not a dispy, btw, says that since practical sanctification is not listed in the unbreakable chain in Romans 8:29-30 that it (practical sanctification) must not be vital to the salvation experience. What a terrible mistake. I guess that is what happens when one's system thrives by fragmenting the Word of God.Well, enough for now.

Mark
Labels: Chaferism, Free Grace Theology