OLD COVENANT VS THE NEW

[Ken Rank]

No that was "world", Ken, not "word".

Yea well... I'm old some days.

Do you believe the law is already on your heart, is in the process of being placed on the heart, or won't be until he returns and we are changed?

 

[fhansen]

Yea well... I'm old some days.

Do you believe the law is already on your heart, is in the process of being placed on the heart, or won't be until he returns and we are changed?

Think I misunderstood your previous post there now, but anyway we grow in righteousness as God indwells us and we abide in Him. We increasingly "own" it, with His help. God didn't create a bunch of worthless worms, then decide to save some and damn the rest later on. He knows our potential, what we're capable of. He made us in His own image and loves us lavishly even though we rarely reflect much of that image. But, with grace we can.

From the beginning He's meaning to produce something with this whole endeavor of creation, something better than He began with, something great! And our participation is part of that and a big part of our job is just to enter a relationship of love with Him-and let Him do the work. Our burden is light, just not non-existent; we're expected to get on board and follow, to do our part and continue to do so.

Understood in the New Covenant light I think this law, this love, can continue to grow infinitely in us, because love and its Source have no limitation. And at the end of the day we know that an infinitely just and fair and kind and merciful God will judge us on how we did-with what we were given. To answer your question directly, the law is already on our hearts, the new life and the authentic righteousness that it brings to the table begins now-and should blossom from there. I absolutely object to the idea that justification means we're nothing more than forgiven sinners. We're new creations! Now with the means to become who we were created to be, as we take advantage of it, of God's plan-or not. But it's not without struggle, with trials and triumphs, this being justified and growing in more of it yet.

 

[Ken Rank]

From the beginning He's meaning to produce something with this whole endeavor of creation, something better than He began with, something great! And our participation is part of that and a big part of our job is just to enter a relationship of love with Him-and let Him do the work. Our burden is light, just not non-existent; we're expected to get on board and follow, to do our part and continue to do so. it's not without struggle, with trials and triumphs, this being justified and growing in more of it yet.

So rabbit trail but a good one. On the 4th day of creation, God placed the sun, moon, and stars into their place in the heavens... here is the verse:

Gen. 1:14 And God said, Let there be lights in the firmament of the heaven to divide the day from the night; and let them be for signs, and for seasons, and for days, and years:

Notice I drew your attention to "seasons?" That isn't talking about summer, spring, fall and winter. That word is moedim, moed being "feast" and "im" making it plural... feasts. God placed the luminaries into the sky for a few different reasons, one of which, is so His people would know when the feasts are. In other words, a way in which to tell time (calendar) so that we know when the feasts are.

Here is where it becomes interesting... the feasts (all of them) point to various aspects of messiah's work. Since all the work that messiah has, is or will do is because of Adam's sin... then because the luminaries were placed where they are to tell when the feasts are proves that God knew Adam would fall, and that He has developed a plan to redeem him (and us) even BEFORE Adam was created, let alone before he sinned.

That ties in to your quoted post above, especially the boldened portion.

 

[fhansen]

I think most of this is pretty good but respectfully I think it might not completely answer all questions. For example, in 1965 it's called a new law, but I don't think Jesus would agree with that term. He didn't give any new commandments (loving God and loving neighbor come from Deut. and Lev. respectfully). What he did do was reveal the spirit behind the letter. For example, "It is said that you shall no commit adultery, but I say you have already committed adultery if you have lusted in your heart." (paraphrased) His point was, that the act was and IS still sin, but it was ALWAYS that when we lusted in the heart for another we already committed the act in the one place that really matters, the heart. The spirit of the law was always present, he just showed us an aspect of the written that we didn't realize was there, previously.

I think it's important to know that faith is not all about justifying us by merely effecting a transaction whereby we're forgiven of sin and translated from death to life by that alone. The justification, the life, also involves real justice, real righteousness, being instilled/imparted/infused in us, even if only in seedling and untested form at that point, by virtue of the Holy Spirit taking up residence in us. It's about real change, IOW. And our wills aren't overridden; we can accept the change and run with it, or still be more swayed by the world and its offerings instead.

 

[fhansen]

So rabbit trail but a good one. On the 4th day of creation, God placed the sun, moon, and stars into their place in the heavens... here is the verse:

Gen. 1:14 And God said, Let there be lights in the firmament of the heaven to divide the day from the night; and let them be for signs, and for seasons, and for days, and years:

Notice I drew your attention to "seasons?" That isn't talking about summer, spring, fall and winter. That word is moedim, moed being "feast" and "im" making it plural... feasts. God placed the luminaries into the sky for a few different reasons, one of which, is so His people would know when the feasts are. In other words, a way in which to tell time (calendar) so that we know when the feasts are.

Here is where it becomes interesting... the feasts (all of them) point to various aspects of messiah's work. Since all the work that messiah has, is or will do is because of Adam's sin... then because the luminaries were placed where they are to tell when the feasts are proves that God knew Adam would fall, and that He has developed a plan to redeem him (and us) even BEFORE Adam was created, let alone before he sinned.

That ties in to your quoted post above, especially the boldened portion.

Yss, that's a good point. God knows the beginning from the end and nothing surprises or gets past Him. So from the bigger perspective there's always been a grand plan in place.