Clash of the Covenants - new book from Mike Kapler

The brand new book, Clash of the Covenants - Escaping Religious Bondage Through the Grace Guarantee, from Growing in Grace co-host Mike Kapler is now available for Kindle on Amazon!  Remember, you don't need a Kindle in order to read.  Download the Kindle app on your computer, tablet or smartphone. 

GOD IS NOT YOUR PAROLE OFFICER, HE BROKE YOU OUT OF PRISON!
Have you been robbed by religion? Have you ever wondered where you really stood with God? For everyone trapped in a mindset of wondering whether God is angry or disappointed with them due to a lack of performance or dedication, help is on the way. In fact, it already arrived more than a couple thousand years ago.

Christian churches are filled with people who have been hearing Bible teaching built upon a foundation of mixing together two very different covenants that are not alike. Frequently embraced in most Christian circles, the practice of combining the old and new covenants has resulted in a diluted version of the gospel. This religious formula has caused many to avoid the institutional church altogether, often puts them in a state of confusion, and leaves them hungering and thirsting for a new identity of righteousness, unaware it has already been provided.

The current reality of unconditional love, peace, freedom, forgiveness, and everything else that is good, has been gifted to us by God's grace through the finished work of Jesus Christ. This is the message most people have been longing to experience, but it may require a complete change of mind from a lifetime of traditional church doctrines that have left many drowning in guilt and feeling as though they are in a state of bondage. God has provided a way of escape from the burdensome religious business—it is through a New Covenant where it is impossible for us to fail, because Jesus is the mediator and guarantee of this better covenant, and it has been established on better promises.

What was against us and contrary to us has been wiped out and made obsolete!

This post, and the post to follow, are not posts that are meant to turn your head a little. They're not simply "double-take" posts. These are absolute all-out in-your-face posts! I might even make some enemies with these posts, and I'm willing to take that risk. But my ultimate hope is that the words in these posts will be used to set people free.

For too long the Church of Jesus Christ has been involved in an atrocious, yet all too widely accepted, form of Christianity that continues to include within it various forms of the very thing that Christ came to set us free from! Actually, this has been going on for 2,000 years. Certain early Christians, such as the people in the churches of Galatia, were so involved in this atrocity that the Apostle Paul, in a strong rebuke, called them foolish and he asked them who had bewitched them that they would turn back to such things!

"It is for freedom that Christ has set us free," Paul said (Galatians 5:1), but yet there are still many Christians living today who are in bondage to the very thing that Christ set us free from! It should not be this way! So what is this terrible, heinous form of slavery that Christians are involved in, through the preaching and teaching of it, and through the daily yoking of themselves together with it?

The LAW. God's Law. God's holy Law. I'll be specific: The Ten Commandments (and any and all other of God's 600+ laws and ordinances in the Bible). This is what Christians, to their detriment, are misguidedly teaching and preaching as the way of the Christian life. The paradox here is that God's good, holy law... is not good for us! It was against us and contrary to us (Colossians 2:14). It was bondage to us (Galatians 4:24). See, God's good and holy Law has this itsy bitsy little shortcoming when it comes to sinful man: It can make no one perfect or holy or good! (See Hebrews 7:18-19 and Romans 8:3). So what God did through Christ was not to enable us to live according to the standards of His Law, but rather He took the Law out of the way by nailing it to the cross with Christ! (See again Colossians 2:14). And so with the Law nailed to the cross and our sin taken away, we were freed from our bondage and made close to God by His grace. We now live, not by God's Law, but by the Life of Christ that has come to indwell us.

So why the obsession with the Law in Christianity??? Do we not get that it was against us and that we had to die to it in order to belong to Christ? (Galatians 2:19-20, Romans 7:4). Jesus
said He didn't come to destroy the Law. He came to fullfil it. And guess what? At the cross, all was fulfilled!!! When Jesus died, God's Last Will and Testament (the New Covenant) was executed. When all was fullfilled, and the New Covenant came to be, God made the first covenant "obsolete" (Hebrews 8:13)! We can't miss the fact that Jesus, "after He had offered one sacrifice for sins forever, sat down at the right hand of God" (Hebrews 10:12). Jesus sat down, signifying that the work was complete and sufficient and finished forever!!! What the Law could never have done, Christ did once and for all.

Thank GOD that what was against us and contrary to us (God's Law) has been wiped out and nailed to the cross and made obsolete! Because of this, we are truly FREE!

A change in covenants: From bad news to good news!

I'm going to speak in general here, but under the Old Covenant, prophets would be sent out now and then to point out how the people were failing to follow God's commandments, and to proclaim the judgment that was awaiting them if they didn't repent of their evil deeds and start doing right.

There is no such bad-news prophet 'office' in the New Covenant! We got a taste of the change when the angels appeared to the shepherds with a brand new message, all focused around the Savior of the world, and no longer focused on what had condemned the world (the law).

Luke 2:13-14
And suddenly there was with the angel a multitude of the heavenly host praising God and saying:
"Glory to God in the highest,
And on earth peace, goodwill toward men!"

A stark change from the message of "change your ways or suffer the consequences!"

The law had done its job - death and condemnation. However, "when the fullness of the time had come, God sent forth His Son, born of a woman, born under the law, to redeem those who were under the law, that we might receive the adoption as sons" (Gal 4:4-5).

No longer is the message, "change your ways so that you won't be punished." That's bad news! The reason it's bad news is because there is none righteous, no not one. There is no one who can ever change their ways in a way that satisfies God! The new message, the message of the gospel (good news) is this: "Having been justified [made righteous] by faith [not by turning from bad behavior to good behavior], we have peace with God through our Lord Jesus Christ, through whom also we have access by faith into this grace in which we stand, and rejoice in hope of the glory of God" (Rom 5:1-2).

The Old Covenant gave birth to bondage! There is nothing about the Old Covenant that is good for us. Nothing! Cast out the bondwoman (the Old Covenant) and her son (the bondage that comes from the Old Covenant)! We are not children of the bondwoman, but of the free.

"Stand fast therefore in the liberty by which Christ has made us free, and do not be entangled again with a yoke of bondage" (Gal 5:1).

No More Guilt and Condemnation

Latest Growing in Grace program is ready for downloading/listening. Jesus came to take away our sin, leaving us without guilt and without condemnation. If you're experiencing fear (being afraid) of God, or if you're experiencing guilt or condemnation in your Christian life, be assured - that's not from God! This week we talk about all of this, and about how we need to "rightly divide" the word of truth, not mixing together the Old Covenant and the New Covenant and calling it all "Christianity." Jesus said to beware of the leaven of the Pharisees. Just a little bit of legalism can mess up the whole batch of dough! Take a few minutes with us and be encouraged as you grow in grace!

gigcast.graceroots.org

Freed from Tithing, Free to Give - Part 8

The New Covenant is not a continuation of the Old Covenant, nor is it related to the Old Covenant in any way. The Old Covenant was weak and unprofitable (Hebrews 7:18) because it could make nothing perfect, and therefore a New Covenant was needed that was completely different than the Old Covenant. The Old Covenant had many high priests who had to offer sacrifices often for their own sins and for the sins of the people, but in the New Covenant we have One High Priest, "who is holy, harmless, undefiled, separate from sinners, and has become higher than the heavens" (Hebrews 7:26) and who offered Himself up "once for all" (Hebrews 7:27).

In this series we've talked about the Levite tribe and priests who received the tithes that their fellow Jews from the other eleven tribes brought to support them. The New Covenant is a matter of a completely different Priesthood. There is no such thing as a set-apart "tribe" or group of Christian "priests" who are sanctioned to perform sacrifices or offerings or other duties that are a part of the covenant. In this covenant, ALL of the work has been done by One High Priest, Jesus. Please understand that the duties and functions of the Old Covenant priests were not carried over into the New Covenant in any way, shape or form. Why? Because it was all done away with (annulled - Heb 7:18, made obsolete - Heb 8:13) and the work of the New Covenant was all fulfilled (nothing left undone) in the finished work of Jesus.

In this New Covenant, ALL Christians are a new breed of priests. We are not a physical priesthood, but rather we are "a spiritual house, a holy priesthood" (1 Peter 2:5). We don't offer up physical sacrifices to God, but rather "spiritual sacrifices acceptable to God through Jesus Christ" (also 1 Peter 2:5). We are "a chosen generation, a royal priesthood, a holy nation, His own special people..." (1 Peter 2:9).

In the New Covenant there is no "tabernacle" nor "storehouse," nor anything that resembles them. Please don't tell me a church building is a modern day equivalent to the Old Covenant tabernacle! "The church" is not a place. It's not a building nor a location. It's true that local bodies of Christians gather together to meet in buildings, but these buildings are not tabernacles, and they are not storehouses and they are not "the house of God." The "house of God" is the people in whom He dwells. It is a spiritual house, not a physical house (see Eph 2:19-22). Again, we are a royal, spiritual priesthood.

This royal priesthood is one body. This one body of new-creation priests (including you and me!) happens to have many parts (see Romans 12 and 1 Corinthians 12), and each "part" has specific functions and giftings within the body - but none of the parts are set apart for ministry in any sense like the Levites were. Rather all the parts "are individually members of one another" (Rom 12:5), and each part is to minister to one another for the profit of all, according to the gifts given them by the grace of God (1 Cor 12:7, 1 Peter 4:10, Romans 12:6).

Let's let that sink in a little. One body, many parts. All parts individually members of one another. All parts ministering to one another for the profit of all. Can we see from this that the body of Christ - the spiritual house of God - is nothing like the Levitical system in which one tribe required the support of tithes from all the other tribes. In Christ, the entire body is to support the ministry of the entire body.

Now, Paul does indeed say that God "gave some to be apostles, some prophets, some evangelists, and some pastors and teachers." Does Paul lift these people up as being higher on the totem pole than other members of the body of Christ? Does Paul say that they are an extra-special type of "priest?" Of course not! The people in today's church seem to lift them higher, but as far as I can see in scripture they are simply playing their part in the body just like all the other parts are doing!

In 1 Timothy 5, Paul talks about "elders who rule well" being counted worthy of double honor, "especially those who labor in the word and doctrine." Now, instead of getting into what all of this means, I'll simply point out what it doesn't mean. None of it has anything to do with bringing a "tithe" of income or of any other physical possession to "a church." Can it mean that other members of the body can give a portion of income, or food, or possessions to support those people? I'm sure it can mean that. But the point is that there is no set amount (such as a "tithe"), and it's most certainly not based upon anything that has to do with the Old Covenant Levite/tithing system!

This has gone long so we'll pick it up in Part 9, where we'll finally begin to wrap up this series with a couple of posts on "true Christian giving."

Part 1 2 3 4 5 6 7 8 9 10

Alive

Look over there. The tomb is empty. The body is not there. It has risen. It is alive again!

I'm not talking about Jesus 2000 years ago. I'm talking about YOU right now!

YOU are alive! Why do you keep living as if you were still dead!

Are you still trying to eek out an existence through the letter of the law? Why not fully trust in and embrace the life given FREELY by the Spirit through the new covenant?

2 Cor 3:4-6
And we have such trust through Christ toward God. 5 Not that we are sufficient of ourselves to think of anything as being from ourselves, but our sufficiency is from God, 6 who also made us sufficient as ministers of the new covenant, not of the letter but of the Spirit; for the letter kills, but the Spirit gives life.

Rom 8:32
He who did not spare His own Son, but delivered Him up for us all, how shall He not with Him also freely give us all things?

Col 2:13-15
And you, being dead in your trespasses and the uncircumcision of your flesh, He has made alive together with Him, having forgiven you all trespasses, 14 having wiped out the handwriting of requirements that was against us, which was contrary to us. And He has taken it out of the way, having nailed it to the cross. 15 Having disarmed principalities and powers, He made a public spectacle of them, triumphing over them in it.

Eph 2:1-10
And you He made alive, who were dead in trespasses and sins, 2 in which you once walked according to the course of this world, according to the prince of the power of the air, the spirit who now works in the sons of disobedience, 3 among whom also we all once conducted ourselves in the lusts of our flesh, fulfilling the desires of the flesh and of the mind, and were by nature children of wrath, just as the others.

4 But God, who is rich in mercy, because of His great love with which He loved us, 5 even when we were dead in trespasses, made us alive together with Christ (by grace you have been saved), 6 and raised us up together, and made us sit together in the heavenly places in Christ Jesus, 7 that in the ages to come He might show the exceeding riches of His grace in His kindness toward us in Christ Jesus. 8 For by grace you have been saved through faith, and that not of yourselves; it is the gift of God, 9 not of works, lest anyone should boast. 10 For we are His workmanship, created in Christ Jesus for good works, which God prepared beforehand that we should walk in them.

Col 3:3-4
For you died, and your life [your new life] is hidden with Christ in God. 4 When Christ who is our life appears, then you also will appear with Him in glory.

Grace nullified

"You nullify the word of God by your tradition..." (Mark 7:13)

Although Jesus didn't say the above words in the exact context in which I'm going to use them, I do think the words themselves are very fitting in several contexts. I've seen many Christians - and I admit that I've been there myself - neglecting New Covenant truth and continuing on instead with some of the principles of the Old Covenant, only using them in a 'New Covenant kind of way' - which in reality only nullifies the truth of the New Covenant.

The New Covenant is a brand new thing! It's not Old Covenant Part 2. It's not a continuation of the Old Covenant, nor is it used in combination with the Old. It's not based upon the Old Covenant in any way. The Old Covenant is obsolete and is growing old and is ready to vanish away (Heb 8:13). Now, Jesus Himself was an Old Covenant teacher, and I think the whole idea of Jesus teaching the Old Covenant and yet being the "Mediator of a better covenant, which was established on better promises" is something that is hard for modern day Christians to grasp. We see Jesus' Old Covenant teachings throughout Matthew, Mark, Luke and John. So then if He came to bring the New Covenant, why did He teach the Old Covenant? It's because the Old Covenant did have a purpose, and His teachings put a magnifying glass on that purpose. I won't get into all of it here because I've written about it time and time again. One example would be this post. For now, though, I'll just say that the reason for Jesus teaching the Old Covenant was not as a means of teaching Christians how to live.

Now that I've come to understand the differences between the two Covenants and the reasons for each, I've found myself in the midst of some hairy situations with my brothers and sisters in Christ when it comes to talking about life in Christ, because many of them are still walking - at least to an extent - in the ways of the Old, trying to fit them in with the New. But of course you cannot put new wine into old wineskins (see Mark 2:21-22). I guess you could say I've seen the nasty effects - the wineskins bursting and the wine spilling all over the place - and it's a sad situation. I'm sure many of you can relate.

One example: Last year in a small group setting (a group that I had been meeting together with for 4 years), there was a man who had been hurt sorely by church people in his past. I'll just be vague and say that there were a lot of "rules" in place and he questioned a lot of them, and faced rejection from church people. Anyway, there came a time in our small group when he began speaking about how his hurt and bitterness towards these people was affecting his life in big ways, including his family and his work. There's much more to the story, but it seemed to me and to others that he was being open about this and really wanted to heal and get past this.

And so the "answer" came from one member of our group and was further propagated by a few more: "If you don't forgive people of their sins, God won't forgive you." These words, taken from Matthew 6, are of course the words Jesus spoke immediately following "The Lord's Prayer." And so I at least understand why my friends try to apply them to their Christian lives, since they are indeed the words of Jesus. But if you followed the link above to my previous post, you'll see why I don't believe all of Jesus words are Christianity-based words, but rather are pre-cross words, based upon the Old Covenant. In other words, I believe all the words of Jesus are important, but I don't believe all the words of Jesus represent life under the New Covenant. A few times I've referred to Bino's post, Dismantle the confession booths, for a scripture-only view of how in Christ (after the cross, after the resurrection) we have already been forgiven (and how we've already been justified, saved and made righteous and how we are complete in Him).

Well, the man in our group spoke up and said that he has a hard enough time forgiving himself for many of the things he has done, never mind forgiving others. I really felt for him. I had been praying for him for a long time, as had others. I knew he was dealing with a lot of junk.

"But," continued the others, "the Bible says that you have to forgive others. We're COMMANDED to forgive. If you don't forgive others, God won't forgive you."

Of course I couldn't help but speak up, not only in defense of this man but of the very gospel. In short, I tried to help to bring the truth to light by showing how in Christ we're already forgiven by God and how we're unconditionally loved by Him. I said that this man doesn't need to work on following any commands to love and forgive people; he needs to first know the unconditional love of God and he needs to understand how he himself is fully forgiven, before he can even begin to extend this to other people.

Our nice little discussion quickly became more of a heated argument. I saw emotions in my friends that I had never seen before. Afterwards, when I came up to the woman who had originally brought up the whole forgiveness thing to apologize for any discomfort caused by our discussion, she said she didn't want to talk to me. I waited a few days and then sent her an email to sort of extend an "olive branch" to her. She accepted the olive branch but then proceeded to warn me to not go against the Word of God. The word "WORD" was capitalized seven times in this email, emphasizing how my "OPINIONS" need to be backed by the WORD and how we need to "strive to do what the WORD says."

Again, I fully understand where people are coming from. I don't agree with them, but I understand. And that's why I said yesterday that "grace is hard." Pure grace is hard to accept and it's hard to understand when we're not rightly dividing the two covenants. I've been there. "Jesus said it. That settles it." I've been in the place of not understanding that all of Jesus' words are important but not all of Jesus' words have to do with the New Covenant.

Overall I think I've built up good relationships with various people who I see often, but often disagree with. I've been tactful but firm in my beliefs. I do see that there is a difference between the dark, legalistic, religious Pharisees who wanted to kill Jesus and do away with His grace, and the modern day legalistic, religious Christians who simply haven't yet understood the grace of God in its fullness - as revealed by scripture. I want to continue building relationships with these people, and have great loving-kindness and patience towards them. And yet at times I think I also have a personality that is sort of like Paul's that stands up and yells, "You foolish people! Who has bewitched you, that you don't see we are beneficiaries of a NEW and BETTER covenant!"

Joyful living and joyful giving - Part 2 of 2

In Part 1, I left off by saying that there was more to the stories about joyless giving that I had briefly mentioned. Check out that post to see the stories.

In story number one, the host of the program made things worse for the woman, in my opinion. It was obvious to me that he was a supporter of Christian tithing, and so instead of addressing the fact that tithing is a non-Christian principle (again, stay tuned and I'll eventually lay out a series of posts, showing how tithing is not a New Covenant principle by any means), and freeing the woman up to simply give freely from her heart as she determined to do on her own, which would by nature involve nothing less than cheerful giving, he gave her a list of rules and principles she could try to follow in order to have more joy in her life.

This is the type of thing in which I tend to have more verbal communication with my radio than I otherwise would have. ;)

And worse yet, in story number two the woman and her husband were commended by the host for what they did. I will mention that the woman said that she and her husband were very happy with what they had done and that they were thankful that they were in a position to be giving to something that they really wanted to give to. If they were truly changing their lifestyle because in their hearts they had decided that this was a way to give, and they did it cheerfully, then I can't argue with that.

But yet the whole story seems to me to be based more on legalism and religion - and not just a small wiff of it. This couple did feel obliged to "pay a tithe" to their local church. It didn't seem like they thought they had a choice in the matter. The root of their actions, it seems to me, was obligation, not giving freely.

When it comes to both joyful living (an overall life of joy) and joyful giving, the root can never be obligation. It can never be religion. It can never be rules. It can never be law. Christ came to set us FREE from all of that! I think that many Christians are living joyless lives, or at least seem to have very little joy, because they are mixing either a little or a lot of law and Old Covenant principles into their Christian lives. It only takes a little leaven of the law and religion to leaven the whole lump (see Gal 5:1-9).

Someone (well, ok, a LOT of people) might want to take some New Testament words and make "rules and principles" out of them. I'm thinking of words such as Peter's words, "What kind of people ought you to be? You ought to live holy and godly lives..." (2 Peter 3:9). I recently heard an entire sermon on the radio based upon this passage. It basically turned out to be a list of do's and don'ts for the Christian life.

But the more I find out about my freedom in Christ, I find that the "oughts" of the Christian life are rooted in something much deeper. We can't simply yank passages out of the Bible and make rules out of them. Peter, in the above passage, continues with words that are often overlooked. "...as you look forward to the day of God and speed its coming." This "ought" was rooted in joyful expectation of the coming of the Lord. It wasn't rooted in any kind of obligation to "be a better Christian" by following the rules. Joy wasn't going to come as a result of trying to live by "oughts."

Rather, the types of lives we live are rooted in the fact that in Christ we have freedom and we have joy. We have a wonderful Savior and Friend, and as we get to know Him intimately and freely, not through rules and oughts, but through His grace and love, then we won't be obliged to change our lifestyles in order to try to do better for Him. Instead, our growing process will be much more natural, over a period of time, as we rest in Him. It deeply saddens me that for many, the Christian life is not much more than futile attempts at rules and oughts.

As you read through other New Testament epistles, note how Paul and the others lay a foundation of life, love, grace, etc. And much more than a foundation, life, love and grace are also the makeup of the entire Christian life. And the actions of the Christian life, such as giving, kindness, love, holiness, etc, are not the root of the Christian life. They are the legitimate fruit of being grounded firmly and deeply in God's love and grace!

Joyful living and joyful giving - Part 1 of 2

I don't quite understand it (ha ha), but for some reason churches seem to make a priority of teaching on the topic of giving. And many of the teachings I've heard on this topic just make me sad. This is stuff I've heard all throughout my church life but I can't say that I ever get any happier when I hear it.

Here are two sad stories I've heard lately that I believe are direct results of how giving is taught in churches today.

1. On a Christian radio talk show, a woman called in with a problem. The gist of her problem is that she gives money to the church but she just can't seem to do it joyfully. She said something like, "We do pay our tithe to our church, but it just isn't a joyful thing for us."

2. Another woman called into a Christian talk show (I can't remember if it was the same program) and said that there was a time when she and her husband couldn't afford to pay their tithe to their church, because they wouldn't have enough money left over for other necessary things, but they felt guilty about it. So what did they end up doing? They SOLD their house, and in her own words, they took a huge loss on it. But, she says, now they are in a smaller house that costs less and they can now afford to "pay their tithe" to their church.

OH

MY.

Why do things like this surprise me? It probably happens far more than we can imagine.

But the point is... what has the Christian religion done to us??? We take Old Covenant laws and practices that served specific purposes for Old Covenant times, we stretch them and manipulate them to fit into the ways we've devised to do things in the church, and we call it "Christianity." I've written full commentaries on "the tithe" in the past and I've shared bits and pieces of my thoughts in various newgroups, and even more recently on other blogs, and I have in mind to do a full series here on "the tithe."

But for now I'll just say that I'll bet there are many similar stories to the ones I shared above, with people dealing with joyless giving, changing their lifestyles so they can "pay a tithe" to a church, and other problems rooted in legalism, and this is one of the areas of modern day legalistic Christianity that really gets under my skin.

The stories above didn't end where I left off. I'll pick up where I left off in Part 2.

Big Difference 5 - We have been forgiven

It's been almost a month since my last "Big Difference" post so I guess it's about time for a new one! This one was sparked by thoughts from Steve McVey's video from today (see below), as well as yesterday's blog post from Darin Hufford entitled "Going for the Worship." Both men mentioned how things changed at the cross. As Hufford puts it, "God hasn't changed from the Old to New Testament, however THINGS have."

In case anyone is new here and is not aware of where I'm coming from, I'll just state that I think it's of utmost importance that we Christians understand what the Old and New covenants are and how they are not the same and how there are huge differences between them! Also, that we are not living in a mixture of the two covenants, but we are under the New Covenant alone. The Old Covenant was a precursor to the New Covenant, and with the death, burial and resurrection of Jesus, everything changed dramatically! We entered into the era of the New Covenant.

It's also important to note that just because Matthew, Mark, Luke and John are accounts of the life of Jesus and are placed in the section of the Bible that we call "The New Testament," that doesn't mean that it's all New Covenant teaching! Again, it wasn't until the cross that things changed. Let me make a hopefully obvious point: Jesus' life as a man on the earth was all lived before the cross! The New Covenant came into effect at Jesus' death (i.e. the cross).

Jesus came into the world, "born of a woman, born under the law, to redeem those who were under the law" (Gal 4:4). And we know that "the law was our tutor to bring us to Christ, that we might be justified by faith. But after faith has come, we are no longer under a tutor" (Gal 3:24-25). For the past few weeks, I've been working on a series of posts that will delve much deeper into all this. But for now let me just say that in many, many cases, Jesus was speaking words that were aimed at those who were under the Old Covenant/law.

Jesus, before the cross (still under the Old Covenant) masterfully used the law as a tutor (as it was meant to be used), digging deep into the real meaning of the law (not simply going around citing the Ten Commandments), penetrating the hearts of those who perhaps only had a surface view of the law. I should also add that Jesus also spoke a lot of New Covenant talk, and it's of utmost importance that we learn to distinguish the difference. Much has been revealed to us in the New Testament epistles about the reality of the New Covenant in which we live. If you ever read something in the epistles that seems to contradict anything that Jesus said, please note that none of it is wrong or contradictory! The words simply represent two distinct covenants. As you read and learn, please remember which one you are under!

One of the things Jesus said (before the cross, speaking to those under the Old Covenant) is the conditional promise of God, "if you forgive men their trespasses, your heavenly Father will also forgive you. But if you do not forgive men their trespasses, neither will your Father forgive your trespasses" (Matt 6:14-15).

IF these words are meant as a condition that Christians, under the New Testament, are to heed, then I'd like to suggest that there are a lot of people in the church who are not forgiven! Do you know what that implies??? Have you ever thought through the ramifications of teaching this Old Covenant teaching in the church?! I've heard it taught time and time again. What's sorely missing if we look only at the face value of Jesus' words, is the truth of the New Covenant teaching that with the death, burial and resurrection of Christ we have been forgiven of all sins! In fact, our sins have been taken away.

IF this forgiveness condition is still in effect, then did the cross really change much of anything?! Were sins really forgiven? Was sin really taken away?

There are so many New Testament verses that testify to the fact that in Christ we've been forgiven, not based upon the condition that we forgive others, but based upon what Jesus accomplished on our behalf. I refer you to this excellent, scripture only post from Bino last year. Here are just a couple of examples:

"And you, being dead in your trespasses and the uncircumcision of your flesh, He has made alive together with Him, having forgiven you all trespasses, having wiped out the handwriting of requirements that was against us, which was contrary to us. And He has taken it out of the way, having nailed it to the cross" (Col 2:13-14).

(Again, where did things change? The cross.)

"I write to you, little children, because your sins are forgiven you for His name's sake" (1 John 2:12). (I might add that these words from John, as well as other words from him and other NT writers, are part of the reason I hold a different view than many of John's previous words in chapter 1, vs. 9 about confession and forgiveness... but I'll save that for another day!)

In the end, please hear me correctly and please don't get me wrong. I take all of the Bible seriously. I take all of Jesus' words seriously! But again I think we must learn to discern which of His words apply to New Covenant Christians and which of His words apply to those who were still under the tutor of the law. There's a big difference!

Here's Steve's video from today.
"Lie #92 If You Don't Forgive Others, God Won't Forgive You."


*For an explanation of this Big Difference series, see the original post.*

The New Covenant is New

The New Covenant is not "Old Covenant Part 2." The New Covenant is something new. It replaces, takes the place of, does away with the Old Covenant.

The Old Covenant was weak for one specific reason. Man. It was a covenant between God and man, and man did not keep his part. The New Covenant is better because man is not involved in making or keeping the covenant. Rather, man is the beneficiary of the covenant.

In the Old Covenant, God had no problem keeping His part. However, since man did not fulfill his part, the covenant was null and void.

The New Covenant is not a carry-over of the Old Covenant. No parts of the Old are mixed or brought in with the New. God has made it that way. (So why do we try to mix them???) But if any part of the Old were mixed in with the New, it would be null and void because just as always, man would end up not keeping his part and it would be a failed covenant.

The reason the New Covenant is better, and perfect, and stands for always and forever is because it's not dependent upon man keeping his part. God has initiated His covenant and keeps His covenant. The promises of God in Christ are not blessings and curses, as were the promises of the Old Covenant. The promises of God in Christ are blessings. Period. They are "Yes" and "Amen." The benefits of this New Covenant are bestowed "to all and on all who believe."

The finished work of Jesus - including nothing less than His blood - provided the fulfillment of this New Covenant. Do we really think there's something we can add to that?

Heb 8:6-13
6 But now He has obtained a more excellent ministry, inasmuch as He is also Mediator of a better covenant, which was established on better promises. 7 For if that first covenant had been faultless, then no place would have been sought for a second. 8 Because finding fault with them, He says: "Behold, the days are coming, says the LORD, when I will make a new covenant with the house of Israel and with the house of Judah — 9 not according to the covenant that I made with their fathers in the day when I took them by the hand to lead them out of the land of Egypt; because they did not continue in My covenant, and I disregarded them, says the LORD. 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 in their mind and write them on their hearts; and I will be their God, and they shall be My people. 11 None of them shall teach his neighbor, and none his brother, saying, 'Know the LORD,' for all shall know Me, from the least of them to the greatest of them. 12 For I will be merciful to their unrighteousness, and their sins and their lawless deeds I will remember no more." 13 In that He says, "A new covenant," He has made the first obsolete. Now what is becoming obsolete and growing old is ready to vanish away.
NKJV

2 Cor 1:17-22
17 Therefore, when I was planning this, did I do it lightly? Or the things I plan, do I plan according to the flesh, that with me there should be Yes, Yes, and No, No? 18 But as God is faithful, our word to you was not Yes and No. 19 For the Son of God, Jesus Christ, who was preached among you by us — by me, Silvanus, and Timothy — was not Yes and No, but in Him was Yes. 20 For all the promises of God in Him are Yes, and in Him Amen, to the glory of God through us. 21 Now He who establishes us with you in Christ and has anointed us is God, 22 who also has sealed us and given us the Spirit in our hearts as a guarantee.
NKJV

There is life in the Red Letters... Sometimes.

I was recently listening to some music from good ol' DC Talk. I've always loved their music. Even from the freaky hip hop days. :) By the way, are those guys ever gonna get back together? Their greatest hits CD, "Intermission," came out when? 2000??? That's quite an intermission! I know, I know, they've all gone on to other wonderful things, and I could really digress quite terribly here! So on with the point...

The chorus of their song "Red Letters," from the "Supernatural" CD goes like this:

There is love in the red letters
There is truth in the red letters
There is hope for the hopeless
Peace and forgiveness
There is life in the red letters
In the red letters

I want to go on record as saying I'm not trying to judge the writer's heart or intentions. A response to what I'm going to say here could go something like, "Come on, Joel! What are you bickering about now!" And it's true that I didn't even have to use this song to make my point. I actually had another title for this post, but this song popped into my head because I had just listened to it the other day. So it simply provided a starting point for what I'm saying.

The "red letters" in the song refers to the words of Jesus. Certain Bible publishers have published "Red Letter" versions, to highlight the words of Jesus in red.

So, first off... everything that is said in the chorus of this song can indeed be found in the "red letters" (in various words that Jesus spoke): Love, truth, hope, peace, forgiveness and life.

HOWEVER... There are times when the red letters do not speak love, truth, hope, peace, forgiveness and life. If you don't already know where I'm going with this, please stay with me give me a chance to make my point. There are times when the red letters speak death and condemnation. And it's not always at the most obvious times!

Let's back up a minute. In our modern day Bibles, we see a division between "Old Testament" (Genesis to Malachi) and "New Testament" (Matthew to Revelation). The New Testament (Covenant), we therefore perceive, begins with Matthew, Chapter 1. But hold on just a minute. Let's look at something Jesus said that's recorded in Matthew 26 and Luke 14. At the "Last Supper," Jesus takes the cup of wine and says "this cup is My blood of the new covenant, which is shed for many for the remission of sins."

The New Testament (Covenant) did not come into effect until the shedding of Jesus' blood. Before His death on the Cross, Jesus ministered and taught under the Old Covenant. Jesus was "born of a woman, born under the law, to redeem those who were under the law." Many of the red letters were addressed to those who were "under the law." Many of the red letters were spoken to affirm, emphasize, accentuate and show the intensity and true meaning of the... Law!!!

Paul would later remind us that "whatever the law says, it says to those who are under the law, that every mouth may be stopped and the world become guilty before God" (Rom 3:19). While Jesus HIMSELF "did not come into the world to condemn the world, but that the world through Him might be saved" (John 3:17), He knew that the LAW was the means by which the world stood condemned and which silenced their self-justifying mouths, and which ultimately was the schoolmaster that would lead them to Him (Galatians 3:24,25).

Paul called the law "the ministry of death" and "the ministry of condemnation" (2 Cor 3:7, 9). And again, Jesus Himself did not come to bring death or condemnation. But in order to bring Life and Justification, He taught the fullness and the exactness and the definitiveness of the death and condemnation that was through the law. This "tutor" (schoolmaster) of the Law is what leads people to Jesus.

Many of the "red letters" were not actually meant AS life, but rather as the means of demonstrating the death and condemnation of those under the law... with the intention of ultimately leading a person to Life.

So... if I were a big Nashville lyricist (don't I wish!), and if I would have been part of the writing team for this song, perhaps I would have added another line or two to the chorus, or even another chorus!

There is law in the red letters
There is guilt the red letters
There is death and condemnation
End of self justification
Sin abounds... in the red letters
In the red letters

(See Romans 5:20-21 if you think that last line is utter foolishness)!

I realize I may have dropped half of my audience with this post. Either because someone thinks I'm dissing DC Talk or because I'm misrepresenting the Bible.

PLEASE don't think I'm dissing DC Talk! As for the Bible, don't take my word for it anyway!