No More Consciousness of Sins – Part 1

2 Corinthians 3:5-18 NLT
5 It is not that we think we are qualified to do anything on our own. Our qualification comes from God. 6 He has enabled us to be ministers of HIS NEW COVENANT. This is a covenant NOT OF WRITTEN LAWS, but OF THE SPIRIT. The old written covenant ends in death; but under the new covenant, the Spirit gives life. 7 The old way, with LAWS ETCHED IN STONE, LED TO DEATH, though it began with such glory that the people of Israel could not bear to look at Moses’ face. For his face shone with the glory of God, even though the brightness was already fading away. 8 Shouldn’t we expect far greater glory under the new way, now that THE HOLY SPIRIT IS GIVING LIFE? 9 If THE OLD WAY, WHICH BRINGS CONDEMNATION, was glorious, how much more glorious is THE NEW WAY, WHICH MAKES US RIGHT WITH GOD! 10 In fact, that first glory was not glorious at all compared with the overwhelming glory of the new way. 11 So if the old way, WHICH HAS BEEN REPLACED, was glorious, how much more glorious is the new, which remains forever! 12 Since this new way gives us such confidence, we can be very bold. 13 We are not like Moses, who put a veil over his face so the people of Israel would not see the glory, even though it was destined to fade away. 15 But the people’s minds were hardened, and to this day WHENEVER THE OLD COVENANT IS BEING READ, the same veil covers their minds so they cannot understand the truth. And this veil can be removed only by believing in Christ. 16 Yes, even today when they read Moses’ writings, their hearts are covered with that veil, and they do not understand. But whenever someone turns to the Lord, the veil is taken away. 17 For the Lord is the Spirit, and wherever the Spirit of the Lord is, there is freedom. 18 So all of us who have had that veil removed can see and reflect the glory of the Lord. And the Lord—who is the Spirit—makes us more and more like him AS WE ARE CHANGED INTO HIS GLORIOUS IMAGE.

Colossians 2:13-14 AMP
13 And you who were dead in trespasses and in the uncircumcision of your flesh (your sensuality, your sinful carnal nature), [God] brought to life together with [Christ], having [freely] forgiven us all our transgressions, 14 having CANCELLED AND BLOTTED OUT AND WIPED AWAY THE HANDWRITING OF THE NOTE (BOND) WITH ITS LEGAL DECREES AND DEMANDS which was in force and stood against us ( HOSTILE TO US). THIS [NOTE WITH ITS REGULATIONS, DECREES, AND DEMANDS] HE SET ASIDE AND CLEARED COMPLETELY OUT OF OUR WAY by nailing it to [His] cross.

Hebrews 10:1-4, 8-10, 16-17 NKJV
1 For the law, having a SHADOW of the good things to come, and NOT THE VERY IMAGE OF THE THINGS, CAN NEVER with these same sacrifices, which they offer continually year by year, MAKE THOSE WHO APPROACH PERFECT. 2 For then would they not have ceased to be offered? For the worshipers, ONCE PURIFIED, WOULD HAVE HAD NO MORE CONSCIOUSNESS OF SINS. 3 But in those sacrifices there is a reminder of sins every year. 4 For it is not possible that the blood of bulls and goats could take away sins. 8 Previously saying, “Sacrifice and offering, burnt offerings, and offerings for sin You did not desire, nor had pleasure in them” (which are offered according to the law), 9 then He said, “Behold, I have come to do Your will, O God.” HE TAKES AWAY THE FIRST THAT HE MAY ESTABLISH THE SECOND. 10 By that will we have been sanctified through the offering of the body of Jesus Christ ONCE FOR ALL. 16 “This is the covenant that I will make with them after those days, says the Lord: I will put My laws into their hearts, and in their minds I will write them,” 17 then He adds, “THEIR SINS AND THEIR LAWLESS DEEDS I WILL REMEMBER NO MORE.”

To be continued…

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No More Consciousness of Sins – Part 2

Every one that is not born again is under the conviction of the Holy Spirit for the SIN of not believing in Jesus Christ (John 16:8&9).

Once we are born again we should not be sin conscious because God doesn’t keep a record of our sins.

Romans 4:6-8 NKJV
Just as David also describes the blessedness of the man to whom God IMPUTES RIGHTEOUSNESS APART FROM WORKS: “Blessed are those whose lawless deeds are forgiven, and whose sins are covered; Blessed is the man to whom the Lord SHALL NOT IMPUTE SIN.”

God changed the law because we have a High Priest that serves under a different covenant to the one that Israel had with Him. Because priesthood changed, the law had to change. There is a new law in the place of the old one.

Hebrews 7:11-12 NKJV
11 Therefore, if perfection were through the Levitical priesthood (FOR UNDER IT THE PEOPLE RECEIVED THE LAW), what further need was there that another priest should rise according to the order of Melchizedek, and not be called according to the order of Aaron? 12 FOR THE PRIESTHOOD BEING CHANGED, OF NECESSITY THERE IS ALSO A CHANGE OF THE LAW.

Romans 3:21-22 NKJV
21 But now the righteousness of God APART FROM THE LAW IS REVEALED, being witnessed by the Law and the Prophets, 22 even THE RIGHTEOUSNESS OF GOD, THROUGH FAITH IN JESUS CHRIST, to all and on all who believe.

John 13:34 NKJV
A new commandment I give to you, that you love one another; as I have loved you, that you also love one another.

The old covenant commandment was to keep the Law, and then God would be pleased with you. In the new covenant we don’t do things to please God and become acceptable before Him. We do things for God and people out of love for God and people (I Corinthians 13:3 NKJV – And though I bestow all my goods to feed the poor, and though I give my body to be burned, but have not love, it profits me nothing.)

I John 3:23 NKJV
And this is His commandment: that we should BELIEVE ON THE NAME OF THE OF HIS SON Jesus Christ and LOVE ONE ANOTHER, as He gave us commandment.

Now that we are born-again our commandment is to 1. Believe what Jesus accomplished for us, 2. Walk in love toward other people.

Because we have the Holy Spirit prompting us to do right, we do not need the law to tell us what to do. The Bible tells us to completely dissociate ourselves from the law because it brings condemnation and death (2 Corinthians 3:7,9).

We have to grow in our relationship with the Holy Spirit because He has taken the place of the law in providing guidance for our conduct.

Romans 7:6 AMP
6 But now we are DISCHARGED from the Law and have TERMINATED ALL INTERCOURSE with it, having died to what once restrained and held us captive. So now we serve not under [obedience to] the old code of written regulations, but [UNDER OBEDIENCE TO THE PROMPTINGS] OF THE SPIRIT in newness [of life].

When the peace of God remains in our hearts after receiving a prompting, we can act on the prompting because it is from the Holy Spirit.

The promptings can come in many ways including: a thought, a word, a phrase, a picture/vision, an impression in your heart, compassion toward a person, etc.

We are no longer under the law of Moses. The law has been removed from our relationship with God. If we miss a mark we are not condemned by God. We will have to deal with the consequences of our actions or omissions where this life is concerned, but God does not count that sin against us because He has removed the law from His dealings with us.

Visit http://fountainofhisword.co.za for an audio recording of this message and other messages that were preached during our celebration services.

We No Longer Relate to God through the Law – Part 2

The new covenant is about having faith that Jesus has COMPLETELY RESTORED US BACK TO GOD and WALKING IN LOVE toward other people (1 John 3:23).

Galatians 3:10-11 & James 2:10-11 tell us the reason it is IMPOSSIBLE TO PLEASE GOD by living according to the Law. Even if you were to keep 99% of the Law you would still go to hell for breaking the Law because it is not flexible to accommodate mistakes. We clearly see this where a man was stoned to death for breaking the Law by picking up sticks on a Sabbath day (Numbers 15:32-36).

As Christians we have thought that keeping the Law of Moses would make people see that we are God’s children. That was true for Israel. Jesus did not teach this to His disciples but to those who claimed to live by the Law of Moses.

We must not confuse what Jesus taught His disciples with what He said to the Scribes, the Pharisees, and the young rich ruler who claimed to live according to the Law. In Matthew 22:37-40 and Matthew 19:16-30 Jesus was not giving a kingdom teaching to His disciples, He was showing people who claimed to live by the Law how impossible it is to keep the whole Law.

To correctly interpret the Word one must know WHO WAS TALKING, TO WHO, AND WHEN. In John 13:34&35 Jesus was talking to His disciples. 1 John 3:23 tells us that what Jesus said in John 13:34 is the commandment we should follow as Christians.

This is what John 13:34-35 NLT says, “So now I am giving you a new commandment: Love each other. Just as I have loved you, you should love each other. YOUR LOVE FOR ONE ANOTHER WILL PROVE TO THE WORLD THAT YOU ARE MY DISCIPLES.”

If you love your neighbour you will not steal from him, you will not tell lies about him, you will not kill him, you will not commit adultery with his wife, etc. AS YOU FOLLOW THE NEW COMMANDMENT YOU WOULD NOT BREAK THE OLD COMMANDMENT IF IT WAS STILL APPLICABLE.

Under the new covenant we do not try to impress God by showing how much we love Him and people, we get empowered to love both God and people. We do not have the demand Israel had when they lived by the Law of Moses (Matthew 22:37-40). His love for us empowers/enables us to love both God and people (1 John 4:10&19). As we receive/experience His love for us we will be able to love Him back and love other people. The first thing that His love does to us is to cast out all fear for punishment for our wrong (1 John 4:18).

A child of God correctly relates with God through faith in what Jesus Christ did for him or her. Our good deeds (acts of love) are the product of our relationship with Him; not that our relationship with Him is the product of our good deeds. God is not interested in our attempt to gain acceptance before Him by keeping the law He gave to Israel to follow while they were waiting for the Messiah.

Galatians 3:23-25 NLT
Before the way of faith in Christ was available to us, WE WERE PLACED UNDER GUARD BY THE LAW. We were kept in protective custody, so to speak, UNTIL THE WAY OF FAITH WAS REVEALED. Let me put it another way. The law was our guardian UNTIL CHRIST CAME; it protected us until we could be made right with God through faith. And now that the way of faith has come, we no longer need the law as our guardian.

The Word of God says we must not mix faith in Jesus and the Law (Galatians 4:21-30). Verse 30 tells us to remove the Law from our relationship with God.

As you celebrate Christmas remember that the Law was given through Moses but GRACE and TRUTH came through Jesus Christ (John 1:17). Note that according to this verse the TRUTH is on the side of Grace; not the side of the Law.

Love Revealed – Part 1

When Satan approached Eve he made God look like He was withholding something good from them. He made her think that God didn’t love them enough so He wanted them to be kept in the dark; not having the knowledge of good and evil. Satan said God didn’t want them to be like Him (which was a lie because God created them in His image – Genesis 1:26-28).

Today the devil still uses the same tactic; making God look like He is withholding good things from us. Every sin starts from doubting God’s love for us. Think about it. Will I be tempted to steal if I believe that God loves me enough to meet my need? Will I be tempted to lie if I believe God loves me enough to protect me? Will a young man do what he knows is hurting his life just to have acceptance with people he thinks have influence over his future if he believes that God loves him enough to give him the future he wants? The same goes for a young girl that has her life destroyed before it starts just because she thinks God doesn’t love her enough to give her the future she wants so she has to take it upon herself to make it happen.

The majority of people believes that God is angry at them because of what they haven’t done or did which God hates. According to them God will not provide for them, He will not protect them, He will not give them what they want, etc., because they failed to meet His standard. They think God is worse than an earthly father who wouldn’t let his child starve just because the child didn’t cleanup his room.

What makes things worse is that when they see punishment of sin in the old covenant they think that that shows God’s true nature; an angry God who cannot be pleased because His demands are more than what they can meet. We as the Church have not clearly explained what it meant to get into a covenant in the old covenant time since in our time we treat covenants differently. They do not understand that when entering a blood covenant you are saying you will be killed if you do not keep your part of the covenant. When the covenant partner kills you for not honoring the covenant they are within their rights.

Because of what we have heard from some pulpits we think that we are still under the same covenant that Israel lived under before the death of Jesus Christ. We do not understand that nobody managed to keep the covenant that Israel was under so they all deserved to die. People could not be regenerated then, as it happens after the death of Christ, so evil had to be treated like a cancerous cell; removed or it would bring death to the whole body.

The nations that did not have the law also were killed when their evil got to the point of no return because they would affect everybody as evil multiplies in the earth (Genesis 15:16). To cut out evil, like you would deal with a cancerous cell, God ordered that everything that belonged to some of those nations be completely destroyed to cut out the demonic influence that was involved so that it does not affect the rest of humanity. Again, remember that these people could not be regenerated since Christ had not come into the picture; the only solution was their complete removal from the earth.

But Jesus Christ came and died in our place. When Jesus died in our place He took the law to the cross and we became free from it (Colossians 2:11-15). The law was satisfied, it cannot ask for more sacrifice; IT WAS FULFILLED by the sacrifice of Jesus Christ. Romans 7:1-6 tell us that the law was like Israel’s husband, who died such that Israel is now free to marry another husband. We now follow the leading of the Spirit instead of the law (verses 6&7). Jesus introduced grace in the place of the law (John 1:14-17). God does not treat us like He treated Israel before Jesus Christ came to the picture, His anger for not keeping the law was satisfied when He released ALL OF IT on Christ at the cross (Isaiah 53:10 & Hebrews 10:15-17).

(To be continued…)

Love Revealed – Part 3

Now let’s go back to the beginning to see the love of God in how He dealt with people even before the new covenant was introduced.

Mankind sin brought a curse upon the ground, Adam, Eve, and everybody that came after them (Gen. 3:16-19). But God continued to love mankind. The love of God is seen in what He continued to do for them even after they sinned.

The first thing we are told that showed His love was when He made leather clothes for them to replace the leaves they were using (Gen. 3:21). Nobody can deny the fact that leather clothes are better than clothes that are sown out of leaves. God did this for two sinners! Isn’t that love?

The second thing He did for the two people that He still loved even after they sinned was to prevent them from eating the tree of life because of the state they were in; they had sin nature in them. If they lived forever in that state they would be forever separated from God.

Can you imagine us living with the worst murderers of old, rapists, people like Hitler, and all those who did horrendous things? If Adam and Eve ate of the tree of life after their fall they would not die and people after them would also not die as well. God not allowing them to eat the tree of life was for their benefit. If Adam and Eve were alive today and seeing all that their sin has brought to humanity they would be suffering with guilt and shame. Praise God that they are in heaven being comforted! (Gen. 3:21-22)

The third thing I want to mention to show that God never stopped loving people when sin had entered them is the fact that He never stopped speaking to them. This is seen in the fact that Cain and Abel knew the type of sacrifice that was acceptable before God, and we see a conversation that took place between God and Cain before and after he, Cain, killed his brother (Genesis 4:3-15). God even promised protection to Cain, the murderer (Genesis 4:13-15). Sin doesn’t stop God from speaking to you, you may stop hearing Him.

God even tried that with the Israelites but they chose that He only speak to Moses and he will pass the message to them! Note that when the law was later introduced God had to abide by the rules of engagement; He strongly punished sin and He would not have a relationship with people who did not repent of their sins.

When the rules of engagement changed, again, and the new covenant was introduced God justified all who believe in Jesus Christ and He does not keep record of their sins (Romans 4:5-8 and Hebrews 10:15-18). That is the reason why God still speaks to all of us not just a selected few, we all have sinned and therefore we do not qualify for the benefits we have as believers. We receive all benefits, including hearing from Him, by faith.

Sin has consequences, but God never stops loving you. As you deal with the consequences of your sin God will not leave you. If you are a believer the Holy Spirit will continue convicting you of your righteousness in Christ, if you are not a Christian the Holy Spirit will continue convicting you of the sin of not believing in Jesus because that is the only sin Jesus’ sacrifice didn’t cover (John 16:8-11).

(To be continued…)

Love Revealed – Part 4

As we look back in the beginning to see the love of God in how He dealt with people after they sinned we see that GOD’S LOVE FOR US KNOWS NO BOUNDS!

Sin has consequences; we saw Adam and Eve deal with the consequences for their sin. What is amazing to me is to see that God continued to love on them even when they were in their fallen state. He could do that because He already had a plan to rescue the human race. The fact that they had to deal with the consequences of their sin, that didn’t stop God from pouring His love on them (for more info see Love Revealed – Part 3 from our Facebook page).

Another story that tells of God’s unconditional love is how He protected Cain after he murdered his brother. Cain suffered the consequences for his sin but when he asked for God’s mercy that no-one kills him for what he did, God promised to punish seven times whoever would kill Cain because of what he did (Genesis 4:13-15). To me it is like God was saying “I have dealt with Cain for his sin, no-one else is supposed to judge him for this sin”.

We learn from this incident that we must not run away from God after we have fallen to sin, even though we suffer the consequences of our sin God will treat us with mercy (not according to our sins) and kindness because that is what He uses to turn us from our sins to His plan for our lives (Romans 2:4 & Romans 11:29).

After the flood that wiped out all people on earth except for Noah and his family, God went on to make an UNCONDITIONAL COVENANT with all flesh on the earth (Genesis 9:11-17). IN THIS COVENANT, God promised that He would never again curse the ground in response to man’s sin (Genesis 8:21-22).

Later on we will see that God introduced another covenant, Law Covenant, that was going to last only until God makes an EVERLASTING COVENANT with Jesus Christ (Galatians 3:20). The law covenant was harsh; it introduced punishment for every sin (a curse) and the blessing would only come as a result of good works. Today a lot of people still try to relate to God according to their works.

But before the introduction of the Law Covenant we see God making a covenant with Abram. In this covenant God promised to exceedingly multiply Abram if he, Abram, would 1. have a relationship with God, 2. be sincere before God, and 3. be circumcised as the sign for the covenant (Genesis 17:1-2,10).

We will later see that God kept His covenant with Abraham active even after He introduced the Law Covenant (Luke 13:16), because Abraham’s Covenant was also made to Jesus Christ (Galatians 3:16). When God introduced the New Covenant with Jesus Christ, God removed all the curses that were introduced by the Law and gave the believers in Christ access to the benefits of the covenant He made with Abraham (Galatians 3:10-14).

The Bible tells us that Abram became acceptable (righteous) before God by FAITH not by his GOOD WORKS (Genesis 15:5&6). This is exactly how those who believe in Jesus Christ become acceptable before God and receive His blessings; it is by FAITH not because they meet some standard of the law (Galatians 3:11 & Romans 4:13). GOD LOVES US UNCONDITIONALLY!

(To be continued…)

Love Revealed – Part 5

God never wanted to destroy us, human beings, for our sins, He always believed in His plan to rescue us and bring us back to where we relate to Him without guilt and shame as the Holy Spirit transforms us back to who He created us to be (Ephesians 1:4-6).

So God started revealing HIS LOVE STORY by giving us a PICTURE OF JESUS in the form of innocent animals being killed in humans’ place to 1. provide for their needs (Genesis 3:21), 2. please God so that He could bless them (Genesis 4:4), and 3. remove their sins so that He could freely bless them (Exodus 20:24). Before Jesus came God would rather kill an innocent animal than kill a human being for his/her sin. God fully revealed His Love Story when He killed His Son in the place of human beings (2 Corinthians 5:21). THIS IS LOVE IN ACTION!.

At times we do not acknowledge the love of God that was revealed under the Old Covenant but we interpret it as God showing favoritism. Let’s look at David and the nation of Israel to see the power of God’s love.

The Bible describes David as the man after God’s heart (Acts 13:22). If you are familiar with the Bible you know about David’s blunders. Yet God calls him a man after His own heart. In this story we see that GOD IS LOOKING FOR SINCERITY NOT PERFECTION, just like He told Abraham (Genesis 17:1). God knows that if you are sincere in your relationship with Him you will not be pleased to disobey Him such that you will see your life change for better as you spend time with Him in prayer and His Word (Romans 12:2 & 2 Corinthians 3:18).

Numbers 23:21 tells us that God did not OBSERVE sin in Jacob, nor did He SEE mischief in Israel. This verse doesn’t say there was no sin and mischief in Israel, He didn’t observe or see sin and mischief because He had forgiven Israel. Therefore Balaam could not curse but bless them (verses 18-20). God ensured that sorcery or divination did not work against Jacob not because they didn’t sin but because God loved them and He wanted to show forth His goodness (verses 22&23). This is what He wants to do for those who believe in Him (Romans 4:6-8).

When Israel was passing Edom as they were wondering in the wilderness they became very discouraged and murmured against God and Moses (Numbers 21:4-6). This is not the first time that they murmured against God. But this time God sent fiery serpents as punishment for murmuring. By this time Israel was under the Law Covenant. This covenant stated that if they did good God would bless them but if they didn’t do good they would be punished (Exodus 20). So, God was within His rights to punish them for murmuring. (In future we will look at the purpose of the Law and the fact that we live under a different covenant to the one that Israel lived under. Covenants dictate God’s way of dealing with people hence we see different people experiencing different treatment from God.)

When Israel repented of their sin, murmuring, God instructed Moses to make a serpent out of bronze and set it on a pole. God said whenever a person is bitten by a fiery serpent, that came because of their sin, should simply look up at the fiery serpent that was hanging on the pole and they would live (Numbers 21:7-9).

Jesus said that the same way the fiery serpent was LIFTED UP ON THE POLE in the wilderness to DRAW JUDGMENT for Israel’s sin was the same way He was going to be LIFTED UP WHEN HE DIES to take the penalty for our sin. (John 12:31-33). (Please note that in the NKJV the word PEOPLES is itiliced; not in the original manuscript but added by translators.

When Jesus died on the cross He did not draw all people to Himself hence people still go to hell if they do not believe in Him, HE DREW ALL JUDGMENT THAT WAS SUPPOSED TO COME TO US. Think of a lightning rod, it draws lightning to itself to protect property around it. What Jesus did is similar to what a lightning rod does; He drew to Himself all the judgment that was supposed to come to us because we broke the Law (Romans 3:23-28). THIS IS LOVE IN ACTION!

(To be continued…)