love – It Is Finished

Woe unto you…..

When Jesus said “WOE” to the Pharisees and the religious leaders of His day, it wasn’t a stern warning to them or a harsh rebuke. In Greek it is a word uttered in grief. In Hebrew it is the word oy which means a lamentation (a passionate expression of grief; weeping), it is a crying out after.. and it’s ROOT is to crave or greatly desire or long after; to covet.

Then He called them hypocrites which means an actor, a pretender; one who decides, speaks and acts under a false part; — one who is walking in a false identity… not walking in their true nature, who they were created to be.

Try reading those verses and hear Jesus’ cry to them… His passionate longing after them… His desire for them to walk in who He created them to be.

Instead of hearing “judgment” and “disapproval” hear with ears of LOVE. Love that says “this is not who you are, come back to the knowledge of who you always have been IN Me — image and likeness of God”

#divinenature #identity

From an Old Covenant to a New Covenant mindset

For years I never gave the Old Covenant Mosaic Law much thought. In my thinking, it was an old, outdated Judaic system of 613 laws that no one follows anymore. After all, no one could follow 613 rules and regulations daily and some of these laws were just impossible to do, like animal sacrifices. Of course, as believers, we still had the 10 commandments and some of the Old Covenant laws that were “do-able”. Still, I didn’t think I (or anyone I knew was extremely “legalistic” in regards to the Law.

Then I heard a teaching on Old Covenant (law) and New Covenant (grace) thinking. Old Covenant thinking was “do in order to be blessed” and New Covenant thinking was “we are blessed because it was already done.” While I definitely believed that we were already blessed because of what Jesus had done, I had to admit that a lot of my thinking was also “do in order to be blessed.” I believed the blessing was ours through Jesus but in order for those blessings to be mine, I had to “do” something. And if I did things “wrong” it would interfere with my blessing or take me out from under His protective covering…….leaving me open to demonic attacks (like Job). When things would go wrong, I was wracking my brain trying to figure out where I had missed it or which “door” I had left open through something I did or didn’t do. If things were going well, I must be living an obedient life — doing ALL God has said to do and pleasing Him.

I was definitely living a life of mixed grace and law.

So it wasn’t that I had an actual checklist of do’s and don’ts to follow, but rather my thinking was still rooted in an Old Covenant based mindset of reward and punishment instead of a New Covenant mindset of being only grace based on the finished work of the Cross. So I started seeing differently and looking at Old Covenant (including the Gospels – since the law continued to be in effect until the Cross) through the lens of the finished work of Christ. And as I read Scriptures asking Holy Spirit “did the Cross change this particular verse?”

For instance… one of the first Scriptures I got revelation on was Psalm 51:9-11: “Hide thy face from my sins, and blot out all mine iniquities (10) Create in me a clean heart, O God; and renew a right spirit within me, (11) Cast me not away from thy presence; and take not thy Holy Spirit from me.” While David was perfectly fine praying this prayer under the Old Covenant before Christ came, for me to pray it was an absence of faith….rooted in ignorance of the finished work of the Cross While it sounds beautiful and appears “humble,” it’s full of doubt and unbelief.

God doesn’t hide His face from my sins — Jesus totally removed them and the Father doesn’t remember them or hold them against me any longer.
I don’t have to ask Him to blot out (or wipe away; abolish) my sins — He’s already done that.
He has ALREADY given me a clean and pure heart and He most definitely has ALREADY renewed a right spirit within me!
He would NEVER cast me away from His presence because He has promised to never leave me nor forsake me
And ABSOLUTELY He wouldn’t take Holy Spirit from me because we are ONE now.

The next Scripture I got revelation on was Matthew 6:14-15: “For if you forgive men their trespasses, your Heavenly Father will also forgive you. (15) But if you do not forgive men their trespasses, neither will your Father forgive yours.” Jesus was talking to people STILL UNDER the Old Covenant Law. So, how did the Cross change that? Ephesians 4:32: And be kind to one another, tender-hearted, forgiving each other, as also in Christ God forgave you. And Colossians 3:13: Bear with each other and forgive any complaint you may have against one another. Forgive as the Lord forgave you. We forgive BECAUSE He first forgave us. Old Covenant was “forgive SO THAT God can forgive you.” New Covenant is “His forgiveness is your empowerment to forgive.” Big difference. Those 2 Scriptures began a new way of thinking and a beautiful journey of freedom for me.

And the next Scripture the Holy Spirit began to change my thinking on was Matthew 22:37-40: Jesus said unto him, Thou shalt love the Lord thy God with all thy heart, and with all thy soul, and with all thy mind. (38) This is the first and great commandment. (39) And the second is like, unto it, Thou shalt love thy neighbor as thyself. (40) On these two commandments hang all the law and the prophets. Verse 36 says that one of the Pharisees had asked Jesus what the greatest commandment IN THE LAW! This commandment was an Old Covenant Law commandment. We don’t love God with all of our strength nor do we love our neighbor like we love ourselves. Rather, 1 John 4:19 says We love because He first loved us and John 15:12 says This is My commandment, that you love one another as I loved you. We don’t have to rely on our strength or self-efforts to love God or others. He poured His love into our hearts by the Holy Spirit…. we are able to love God and others because He loved us and that same agape love is in us to release.

Over the last couple of years, I realized that people struggle with this area of their Christian walk. They really love God and desire to “serve” Him better. The way they think they can do that is by making the Old Covenant law their standard for living. They live in a mindset of reward and punishment based on their behavior. Thinking that if they can just line up their behavior with what they believe God wants, that He will be happy and they will be accepted and “good” sons. The thing is, our Father already sees us as “good” sons. We can make Him any happier than He already is with us.

Jesus set us free from an Old Covenant mindset of blessing and cursing… reward and punishment. He never intended it to be our standard of holiness… He made us holy by giving us His holiness. He took our sin and gave us His righteousness, His holiness…. His very own nature became our new nature. We are now IN CHRIST and wholly, completely, wonderfully accepted in the Beloved…. not someday, but now…. just as we are! We are full of His glory, we have His mind, and we are one in union with Him. We have the FULLNESS of the Spirit WITHOUT MEASURE!

Today as you read the Word and you come across Old Covenant or Gospel Scriptures, ask Holy Spirit to show you Jesus in them…. ask Him to show you the finished work of the Cross in Scriptures. He will and your mindset will change causing you to walk in a greater freedom than you have ever known. It will change how you see God, yourself and others….. you will suddenly be free to walk in a love you have never known.

We don’t receive a blessing from God because of what we do…. John 1:16 says For from His fullness we have all received, grace upon grace. The amplified version says For out of His fullness (abundance) we have all received [all had a share and we were all supplied with] one grace after another and spiritual blessing upon spiritual blessing and even favor upon favor and gift [heaped] upon gift. We receive from His fullness…. out of His abundance, grace, spiritual blessings, favor and gifts in ABUNDANCE.

~ Robin

A beautiful love letter

I made the decision to go back to school and enrolled in Global Grace Seminary to get my bachelors in Theology. My life is already so crazy busy, but I decided to make the time and fulfill a dream I’ve had for quite some time. Well, I had an essay that was due that needed to be 2500 words and what I’ve learned in my Foundations course and how I can apply it to my life.

I turned it in yesterday and my professor gave it an A+ (100%) saying I blew him away with this heartfelt essay. That it is FILLED with Christ-centered nuggets of freedom and he would like permission to use it “somewhere” in the future. As awesome as that feedback was, it was my husband’s comment after reading it that filled me with joy. He said it read like a letter, like a beautiful love letter. Well, that was definitely a quote worth putting on my Facebook page. After posting it I had a couple of people ask to read it so I thought I would put it on my blog. Enjoy!

Foundations Course One Essay

I enrolled in Global Grace Seminary a month ago today, and I just finished course one, Foundations. I have enjoyed it so much. Some of it is new to me and other parts of it, especially the IN CHRIST teachings just awakened things I had already been taught but had allowed to slip.

A couple of years ago, God opened my eyes to the revelation of reading the Old Testament through the lens of the New Covenant. So, one of my favorite classes in this course as Don Keathley’s teaching on Uncorking Your Bible. It really helped solidify what I’ve already been teaching in my Bible studies through our church. The cross was completely, perfectly, successful. Jesus finished His part, and He finished my part. When Jesus “said it is finished,” the Old Covenant was done, and the New Covenant was now in place. I learned that because the New Covenant didn’t take start until the cross, I need to read the “words of red” in light of the finished work of the Cross. While Jesus came full of grace and truth, He came as a minister of the circumcision to the Jewish people.

Not everything Jesus said was to me. It still has value for me, but it wasn’t to me. In order to have His heartbeat, His mind, and His mission I have to have an encounter the Author of the words in red. A daily encounter where He shows me more of Himself, and as a result, I see more of who I truly am. No longer striving to become what I already am and always have been. But having an encounter that leads to the grace which takes me to love and then I will love as He loves. 2 Corinthians 3:6 says He has made competent as ministers of a new covenant—not of the letter but of the Spirit; for the letter kills, but the Spirit gives life. Releasing a love full of mercy (grace) and truth.

Love that reveals that we were always in the heart of God. Love that reveals that He had a plan to redeem me and His covenant love for me was His unwillingness to let go of me. Love that reveals that He pursued me relentlessly because He loves me He designed me to be in union with the Trinity, and He desired for me to find my meaning in Him. Love that reveals that the simple Gospel starts with Him, ends with Him and swept me up in the middle.

My adventure in Christ begins at the finished work of the cross. It is a journey of discovering who I am in Him. Of becoming more aware of the One Who’s fullness I have received. Of knowing that He is constantly present. He is not an outside God, but rather Emmanuel in me and I in him. Life with Him is a co-union that now defines my life. It is no longer just Jesus or me but rather it is a seamless union. It is His life expressed through mine. In Him, I live, and move and have my being. While at the same time He lives, and moves and has His being in me. I am a beautiful expression of Him to the world. I am no longer a woman with myself, for myself or by myself. I now live only as a woman who is with God, for God and in union with God.

My co-union in Christ is what God’s faith knew about me all along when He resurrected Him from the dead (Colossians 2:12). It’s His faith that justified me, not my faith in Him. It’s His faith that is in me and that I live by. Any faith on my part is simply a reflection of Jesus’ faith in me. It’s just an outflow of “the Faith.” Living by His faith is believing what He believes about me and allowing it to transform me. Faith in me awakens to the fact that I am in Christ and in union with God the Father, Son and Holy Spirit. My oneness has been redeemed, and all distance, delay, and dispute have been canceled forever. There is no longer any separation between God and me. The cross settled all of that.

His mind is made up about me, and He is determined to relentlessly love me. To love me fully, completely and extravagantly. Jesus is evidence of that. Eternity is not some distant future event but rather dwells in me now. I can’t be anymore eternal than I am at this moment. I am right now an eternal being reflecting Him. In Him, there is a co-seatedness where I cease from my labors. Where I rest in Him. The Gospel language is a co-language. I am co crucified, co buried, co resurrected, co ascended, co seated, co-heir, co awakened, co quickened. I have co-union, and I have been co revealed IN HIM. This past month, as I read the Bible I see “co” everywhere I look. It has become my new lens. The truth of this Gospel is the Son revealed IN me. This co-language has become so real to me that I didn’t even realize this was from Francois du Toit’s notes from his class Moment of Awakening. I thought Holy Spirit revealed it to me. I love that! When you no longer remember who said something because you can only hear yourself echoing Him.

In this co-union, I have grace benefits that belong to me as part of my inheritance. I have been forgiven of my sins. All of my sins have been forgiven, past, present, and future. Understanding this keeps me from being sin conscious and allows me to be righteousness conscious or Son conscious. He didn’t just cover my sins; He completely removed them. His forgiveness is perfect and complete in my life. After making purification for my sins, after He successfully cleansed and acquitted humankind, He sat down at the right hand of God. He now occupies the highest seat of dominion to endorse our innocence! His throne is established upon our redeemed righteousness.

Also, He remembers my sins no more. I have been justified. Declared innocent through the righteousness of Jesus. In God’s eyes, it’s as if I’ve never sinned. He doesn’t remember my past or refer to my past.

The third benefit of my grace package is He is never angry with me. He’s a good Father who is always pleased with me. Nothing I do makes Him more or less pleased. He is just happy with me all the time. I think this is one of my favorite benefits. I grew up always saying and doing the right thing so that I wouldn’t displease my dad. His standard was impossibly high. Not so with my Father. He is never disappointed in me. He loves me regardless of my good or bad behavior. I can’t make Him any happier than He already is with me. His mind is already made up about me.

I also love the benefits package that He qualifies me for ALL things. How refreshing to know that IN CHRIST I don’t have to jump through hoops or pass tests to qualify. He qualified me, and I can rest in His obedience. I share in His inheritance through His qualifications, not mine. He takes hold of me and never let’s go. He keeps me from stumbling. He doesn’t ever let go of me, so there is never any separation between us. There is only oneness because He reconciled me to Himself. It is now Father, Son, Holy Spirit and me! That one still makes my head reel, but I keep saying it because He said it and the reality of it is going deeper and deeper on the inside of me. The truth of it is changing my thoughts and aligning them with His thoughts about me.

Grace benefit number 6 is that God credited me with perfect righteousness. He made me who knew no righteousness to be His righteousness because He who knew no sin became my sin. I am as righteous as Jesus. A couple of years ago I started confessing that on a daily basis. I am righteous! It began to change me from the inside out. It changed how I saw my self and began to change how I walk this new life out. Making me more aware of all that He had done for me and in me. It began producing in me a freedom and a boldness that I hadn’t previously known.

He also gave me the Holy Spirit to teach me. He is the One who unlocks all of this inheritance for me. He is teaching me, empowering me and revealing the Son in me. I realize now that it wasn’t I who accepted Jesus. He accepted me! Holy Spirit simply opened my heart to believe. He was leading me, drawing me and pulling me the whole time. It wasn’t my decision but rather the decision that God had put in me all along awakening to the truth. Another benefit is that God is for me! He’s on my side, He’s accepted me, and I’m in partnership with Him. This is where true freedom is experienced. I am His delight, His masterpiece. He not only loves me but He likes me. He created me to uniquely express Him.

Not only is He for me but He is with me. I am the house of the Lord. I don’t have to ask Him for His presence because He is always with me. We are joined together. We are united in His death and united in His resurrection. Two parts joined together to make one individual that is indivisible in wholeness! I am absorbed into Him! Whatever became of Him became of me. Whatever happens to Him now happens to me. We have become ONE! I love that!

I have been empowered to overcome the enemy. Religion can no longer pull me into bondage again. He has given me strength to overcome enabling me to stand in His liberty. He has given me eternal life. I will never die. I just walk from one dimension to the next. All of these grace benefits are mine to enjoy. He is a benefit giving Daddy that knows no limits in my life. He is extravagant in His love for me.

I have been fortunate to not grow up with much religion. I didn’t grow up in church, and I had my moment of awakening 25 years ago at the age of 25. I was taught by a Pastor who’s ministry message centered around Colossians 1:27 Christ in you, the hope of glory. Receiving that foundational teaching of being IN CHRIST was priceless. I did get involved in a ministry for a short time that was a bit controlling and legalistic. The foundation that I had of Christ in me held me and helped me find my way out of it.

A few years ago, Holy Spirit began teaching me how to look at the Old Testament through the lens of Christ’s finished work on the cross. These classes have helped strengthen that. However, the teaching in these GGS classes on inclusion is a new revelation for me and one that I am continuing to see clearer.

I always knew Jesus did it for the world, but somewhere along the years, I had picked up an “us and them” mentality. Before I started taking these classes, Holy Spirit had begun revealing to me this message of inclusion through a couple of Scriptures. The first was 2 Corinthians 5:19 namely, that God was in Christ reconciling the world to Himself, not counting their trespasses against them, and He has committed to us the word of reconciliation. And the second one was Ephesians 2:4-6 But God, being rich in mercy, because of His great love with which He loved us, (5) even when we were dead in our transgressions, made us alive together with Christ (by grace you have been saved), (6) and raised us up with Him, and seated us with Him in the heavenly places in Christ Jesus.

These two scriptures were now face to face with me, and a change in my thinking was needed but I wasn’t sure how to do it. The problem was that I still held on to the “us and them” mentality believing that we were only reconciled, made alive with Christ, raised up and seated with Him when we believe. But the phrase even when we were dead in our transgressions kept jumping off the page and conflicting with what I believed. I would have to let go of the old in order to carry the new, but I wasn’t sure how to do that. No one I knew was teaching this.

God has really opened my eyes through these classes that the cross included ALL mankind. And that His resurrection included ALL mankind. They just have to awaken to it, but it’s already done. I also learned that God didn’t turn His face from Jesus on the cross because He couldn’t look upon sin. Jesus came to reveal the Father. He was known as the friend of sinners which means that was what the Father was like as well. God was in Christ on the cross! He was reconciling the world to Himself through Christ! Humanity changed on the cross. Jesus was the last Adam, not the second Adam. He was the LAST Adam to be part of that Adamic race.

To stand guilty before God was no longer an option. The LAST Adam came and went In His resurrection He brought about a whole new humanity. A humanity that stands guiltless and blameless before their Maker. A humanity that is now a new creation in Christ.

This truth has changed how I now see the world. And because the One died for ALL, I can say like Paul, “so from now on I no longer see anyone after the flesh.” Because in Christ, humanity has been made new. This new revelation is changing how I share the gospel. It is no longer me requiring that someone say a “salvation prayer” or come to the altar. Jesus went to the altar for ALL and placed His blood on the mercy seat. The gospel doesn’t require faith but rather supplies the faith that is needed. It communicates the faith of God, His persuasion about us. Our faith is that wow moment when we see what God sees, and it takes our breath away. We “accept” Him because we realize we have always been accepted.

One of the most beautiful things I’ve heard was in Don Keathley’s class (Uncorking Your Bible). He said that the Godhead’s mission to humanity is to unveil the love that is flowing from Them to us. My thinking has now changed from an “us and them” exclusion mentality to a “Them and us” inclusion mentality.

~ Robin

Which Law did God write on our hearts?

“This is the new covenant I will make with my people on that day, says the LORD: I will put my laws in their hearts, and I will write them on their minds.” ~ Hebrews 10:16

In a Bible study, I recently started attending it seemed like you had only 2 options…. antinomian (against the Law – basically hyper-grace) or a mix of law and grace (saved by grace but relying on the Law to keep us holy – specifically 10 commandments). I guess if those are my two options, then I must be antinomian. Though personally, I prefer the term “IN CHRIST” because in Christ we are no longer under the Law (Galatians 3:24). I am definitely against the idea of following the Old Covenant Mosaic Law as a moral compass. I tackled that issue in yesterday’s blog post 10 Commandments.

law hearts 1

I do know quite a few people who believe that the law God has written on our new hearts as believers is the Old Covenant Law, making it easier to walk out. Why would God write the Mosaic Law on our hearts? All that the Law did was arouse sinful passions (Romans 7:5). Also, Romans 7:4 says that we died to the Law through Christ and we are now married to Him. So, if it’s not the Mosaic Law on our hearts. Which law did He write? According to Hebrews 10:16 He wrote laws (plural) on our hearts and our minds. I’ve found 4 different laws mentioned in the New Testament.

The Law of Love

Under the Mosaic Law, love was commanded in order to receive the blessings of long life, many children and for life to go well for you. Failure to obey this command of love would obviously result in not attaining those things. Deuteronomy 6:5 “Love the Lord your God with all your heart, soul, mind and strength.” This is impossible to fulfill in ourselves! No one can love God with ALL of our heart, soul, mind, and strength. We try… we give it our best shot… but that is an impossibility in and of ourselves. But of course that was the purpose of the Old Covenant laws… they were meant to point us to Christ. To awaken in us the revelation that we in our selves… in our flesh… we cannot walk out or obey these laws… we need a Savior.

Under the new covenant of grace, Love is given to you. Out of Christ’s measureless love, we are now able to love others. It’s out of the overflow of His Love in us. It’s not something we have to work up in ourselves towards others or even towards God. Romans 5:5 tells us God’s love has been poured out into our hearts through the Holy Spirit, who has been given to us. God abundantly poured His love into our hearts by giving us the Holy Spirit, … the Spirit of Grace. Jesus said, “As I have loved you” – it’s out of His love that is in us that we are able to love. Do you see the difference between the old and new? Under the old, you loved others because you feared punishment…. you feared not receiving His blessings, His promises. But under the new, you love because the Lover lives in you and His nature is Love. He can’t be anything else. It’s not just an adjective that describes Him, it is who He is (1 Jn 4:8)

The law of the Spirit of life

The Old Covenant was a written code no one could keep (except Jesus) and the New Covenant is Christ Himself living in you. Paul told us in Romans 7:24 that trying to keep the Old Law makes you frustrated and miserable… “O wretched man that I am! who shall deliver me from the body of this death?” Notice he didn’t say what will rescue me but rather Who… Who will rescue me? And the answer was….Thanks be to God, who delivers me through Jesus Christ our Lord. (Rom 7:24-25a). The old law is a what but the new law is a Who. The old law ministers condemnation and death (2 Cor 3:7-9), but the new law of the Spirit gives life (Rom 8:2). The letter kills, but the Spirit gives life (2 Cor 3:6) So Who gives life… Who rescued from the frustration of trying to keep the Law? The Spirit of Christ within you.

The perfect law of liberty

James wrote that “the perfect law gives freedom” (James 1:25). In contrast, Romans 7:6 tells us that the law of Moses binds. What is the perfect law that gives freedom?

It’s Jesus, the living Word who set us free. The perfect law of liberty describes what Jesus has done (perfectly fulfilled or completed the law) and the fruit He will bear in our lives (liberty) if we trust him.

But whoever looks intently into the perfect law that gives freedom, and continues in it – not forgetting what they have heard, but doing it – they will be blessed in what they do. (James 1:25)

Look into the mirror of Moses’ law and you will be miserable, for it exposes all your faults… your weaknesses in serving God in the flesh. It is like putting a veil over your eyes and you are unable to see that Jesus fulfilled it all not just for you… but as you! Looking into the perfect law, which is Jesus, blesses you because it reveals his righteousness.

But it also says “Don’t just listen but do what it (the perfect law of liberty) says” (James 1:22). In other words, allow the Spirit of Christ to convince you that in Him you are righteous and holy. Don’t walk away from the perfect law and forget who you are in Christ. Fix your eyes on Jesus. Look intently with an unveiled face and be transformed into his likeness.

Law of faith

Romans 3:27 says Where then is boasting? It is excluded. By what kind of law? Of works? No, but by a law of faith. God is a faith God. Without faith, it’s impossible to please God (Heb. 11:6), so our relationship with the Lord is dependent on it. Faith is what brings the things God has provided for us from the spiritual realm into the physical realm (Heb. 11:1). Our faith is the victory that enables us to overcome the world (1 John 5:4). Everything the Lord does for us is accessed through faith.

And He has given to us His faith…. Galatians 2:20 says “I am crucified with Christ: nevertheless I live; yet not I, but Christ liveth in me: and the life which I now live in the flesh I live by the faith of the Son of God, who loved me and gave himself for me.” We live our lives by His faith. Paul did not say that he lived by faith IN the Son of God but by the faith OF the Son of God. The measure of faith that Paul had was the same measure that Jesus had. It was Jesus’ faith. If there is only one measure of faith (Rom. 12:3), then we also have the faith of Jesus.

We don’t have to wonder if we have enough faith for something… or try to work up our faith. He gives us His faith to live by. How do we access this faith? Romans 10:17 says, “So then faith cometh by hearing, and hearing by the word of God.” We access God’s faith through His Word. When we hear God’s Word, the Holy Spirit empowers it, and if we receive the truth, God’s supernatural faith enters us.

Galatians 5:22-23 tells us that faith is a fruit of the Spirit. Faith becomes a permanent part of our born-again spirits. There is no lack of faith within any true Christian. There is just a lack of knowing and using what God has already given us. Philemon 1:6 says, “hat the communication of thy faith may become effectual by the acknowledging of every good thing which is in you in Christ Jesus.” Notice that Paul isn’t praying that Philemon will get something more from the Lord. He was praying that his faith would begin to work as he acknowledged what he already had. The word “acknowledge” means, “to admit, recognize, or report the receipt of.” You can only acknowledge something that you already have. We already have the faith of God, and it will begin to work when we acknowledge this.

Why would we want the Old Covenant Law written on our hearts? It is a ministry of death and condemnation. The New Covenant of grace and it’s laws that are written on our hearts is a ministry of life. The Spirit of Life abides in us and teaches us all things. He transforms us into the image of the Son. The Old Mosaic Law was made obsolete…. Hebrews 8:13 When God speaks of a “new” covenant, it means he has made the first one obsolete. Colossians 2:14 tells us that it was nailed to the Cross. Ephesians 2:15 tells us that in His incarnation, He rendered the entire Jewish system of laws and regulations useless as a measure to justify human life and conduct. Hebrews 8:7 says that if there had been nothing wrong with the first covenant there would’ve been no need for a second covenant to replace it.

We don’t need the Old Covenant Law to show us how to live holy lives. First of all, we have already been made holy — 1 Corinthians 1:30 God has united you with Christ Jesus. For our benefit God made him to be wisdom itself. Christ made us right with God; he made us pure and holy, and he freed us from sin. In Christ, we are righteous, holy and free from sin! That’s good news! Second of all, Titus 2:11-12 says that grace, not Law is what we need to teach us how to live holy — For the grace of God has appeared that offers salvation to all people. It teaches us to say “No” to ungodliness and worldly passions and to live self-controlled, upright and godly lives in this present age. Now that Jesus has come, we no longer need the supervision of the law. So begin today to live a grace-filled life… standing fast in the liberty by which Christ has made us free, not becoming entangled again with a yoke of bondage to the Law and it’s commandments. (Galatians 5:1).

~ Robin

SaveSave

No Hebrew word for obey

I was reading an article by Rabbi Daniel Lapin, and he said that there is no Hebrew word for “obey.” I always just assumed the actual word ‘obey’ was in the Hebrew Bible….it’s translated in our English Bibles, and it’s definitely in most sermons that are preached. I did some further research, and sure enough, there is no word in Hebrew for our English word ‘obey.’ The word translated obey in our Bibles is the Hebrew word “shema.”

Don’t get me wrong, I’m not against obedience, and I’m definitely not advocating for disobedience. I am one of those people that obedience just comes naturally to. I was an extremely obedient kid… to the point of losing a cat once… but that’s another story for another blog! I also like rules…truthfully I LOVE following rules and setting them. In fact, my kids and husband call me the rule maker! I’m sure they mean it as a term of endearment… right??

Just as there is no Hebrew word meaning “obey,” there also is no English word for shema. While this Hebrew verb translates as “hear” it means much more than just hearing or listening. The King James Bible chose the verb ‘to hearken’ rather than hear. But now, nobody hearkens anymore so the English translators of the Bible didn’t know what to do with this verb. So they translated it as ‘obey’.

keys bible

But “obey” poses a problem…before we obey we usually go through a 3 part process.

We hear what God says
we evaluate the command based on our understanding
we make a choice to obey based on our evaluation.

That’s a Greek mindset to understand first then obey. But God doesn’t give us instructions in order that we might understand Him! He gives His instructions to us that we might live life well… Proverbs 10:17 “Whoever heeds instruction is on the path to life.”

There are 613 commandments in the Old Testament and 1050 commandments in the New Testament. With so many “commandments” you would naturally assume that obedience is what God is requiring. But He’s not looking for obedience from us the way we understand obedience.

Webster’s Dictionary defines obey as to do what someone tells you to do or what a rule, law, etc., says you must do. Some synonyms are to submit, to keep, to comply, to be governed by, bow to, do one’s bidding, do what is expected, do as told, to take orders. Lots of English synonyms for a word that’s not even in the Hebrew language.

IF NOT OBEDIENCE — WHAT IS GOD LOOKING FOR?

So, what does God require from us? He’s looking for shema levot….for hearing hearts. A hearing heart is a heart that is intent on… or committed to… doing whatever God commands… whatever He asks from us. And most importantly a hearing heart is rooted in love (Deut 11:1; John 14:15; 1 John 5:3).

The first time “shema” appears in Scripture is in Genesis 3:8. “And they heard (shema) the sound of the LORD God walking in the garden in the cool of the day, and the man and his wife hid themselves from the presence of the LORD God among the trees of the garden.”

Adam and Eve had just sinned and eaten from the tree of the knowledge of good and evil. This scripture shows us God’s response to them in spite of their sin… in spite of them not following their hearing hearts and doing what God required of them. God came walking through His garden in the cool of the day.

The word walk is halak; it has the idea of moving or going as opposed to just sitting there. The term “cool of the day” wasn’t just added as a poetic phrase, the word cool is the word ruach which is the word for spirit.

Immediately following their disobedience they “heard”(shema) the Spirit of the Lord in the Garden ready to walk with them… eager to enjoy fellowshipping Spirit to spirit with them. They heard His Spirit come into the garden desiring to be with them like always.

To hear (shema) is hearing with understanding, attention, and with a response. Response to what? To come to Him and walk with His Spirit as usual. Allowing the wind of His Spirit to blow over them and make things right.

Our translations then tell us that God said “where are you?” Actually, in the Hebrew it is a Semitic idiomatic expression meaning “he is nowhere.” God wasn’t asking a question; He wasn’t asking where Adam was. He was crying out “Adam is nowhere in My heart.”

This is not a picture of an angry God who is looking for Adam so that he can punish his “disobedience”… this first look at sin for us is a picture of a caring Father so sad that His son left His heart.

Today let’s have hearing hearts, let’s respond to Him, walk with His Spirit, committed to doing whatever He asks. Today let’s be hearers and doers.

~Robin

Enemy of Israel…. healed!

And there were many lepers in Israel in the time of the prophet Elisha, and none of them was cleansed, but only Naaman the Syrian.” When they heard these things, all in the synagogue were filled with wrath ~ Luke 4:27-28

I started this blog post 2 weeks ago but a death in my immediate family forced me to put my study on hold. Now that life has resumed back to normal, I’m excited to start blogging once again.

We had been talking about Jesus’ teaching of Isaiah 61:1-2 in the past two blogs (see Jesus is our Jubilee and The widow of Sidon) and the people of Nazareth’s response to His teaching. He was revealing to them that He had come to be a light and a blessing… to show forth His salvation… to the Gentiles (unbelievers) as well as the Jews.

He was reminding them of their covenant responsibility to co-labor with Him in being a blessing to ALL the families of the earth (Genesis 12:3)…. He had blessed them to be a blessing… and to release that blessing to ALL we come in contact with.

This example that He gave was unthinkable to their natural reasonings! The widow represented Gentile sinners which was bad enough….. BUT Naaman represents much more than that… he was the captain of the Syrian army… the Syrians oppressed Israel. They were enemies of Israel. Much in the same way that the Romans were the oppressors of the group sitting and listening to Jesus.

Surely Jesus wasn’t asking them to be a light and a blessing to their oppressive enemies, was He?

Remember, God’s heartbeat is for the nations. He was so intent on showing the Israelites His love and compassion for ALL people, and that ALL people can have faith in God, that He chose one of the most hated men in Israel at that time to prove it. God in His mercy pursued Naaman…. there were MANY lepers in Israel but none of them were healed except Naaman the Syrian (Luke 4:27)

The Syrians were always terrorizing and attacking Israel and then taking prisoners back to Syria… and on one of these raids, Namaan carried off a little girl from Israel and made her his wife’s servant (2 Kings 5:2).

2 Kings chapter 5 opens with the Lord allowing Syria to win a battle, although we don’t know who the other side is. The Bible also tells us that Naaman was mighty, honorable to his King (King Aram) and strong in battle. But his military strength and glory were marred by an incurable disease of leprosy.

This little girl that he kidnapped tells Namaan’s wife about the prophet Elisha and that Naaman could be healed if only he were with him.

I love the little girl in this story… she is definitely a co-laborer with God…a minister of reconciliation. She is extending the light and the blessing to the one who took her captive. She has complete faith that if Naaman were to see Elisha he would be healed! She had faith in her God that He is not only able to heal but is also willing to heal…. even an enemy of Israel!

While this story in Luke 4 is a rebuke to the people listening to Him that they are neglecting their covenant role of being blessed to be a blessing to ALL the people of the earth… thankfully, however God doesn’t just rebuke us and leave in our neglectful condition. It is also an invitation to be His ambassadors of unconditional love… God’s love that He poured out into our hearts (Romans 5:5) … to even our enemies… those who oppose us… oppress us… or even enslave us (as Namaan did to this girl).

Namaan goes to see Elisha. An enemy of God, one who has attacked, killed, plundered Israel, one who has leprosy… an outcast of outcasts is standing at the door of the man of God hoping to be healed. He comes carrying as gifts 750 pounds of silver, 150 pounds of gold, and ten sets of clothing and with his horse and chariot and wealth. What a sight Namaan was… power, prestige, a commanding presence. He had yet to acknowledge with the psalmist that “Some nations boast of their chariots and horses, but we boast in the name of the Lord our God.” (Psalm 20:7).

But rather than respond to such pomp and circumstance as Namaan was undoubtedly used to people doing…. rather than come personally, Elisha sends a messenger to him telling him to go and wash 7 times in the Jordan River and he will be made clean. God alone would get the glory for healing Namaan… not Elisha… because Namaan was expecting Elisha, the prophet of God, to heal him… he didn’t even know the God of Israel yet. His trust was in a man whom he assumed had “magical” powers.

Naaman comes from a pagan country, where his “prophets” made quite a spectacle when they healed the sick. According to the Bible Commentaries, they raised their hands in the air and shouted for the sick to be healed.

But God was after Naaman’s heart not just in healing his physical body… He was pursuing Namaan in love!

However, Naaman almost misses his miracle healing because of pride and self-importance. The first words out of his mouth were “Behold, I thought that he would surely come out to me and stand and call on the name of the Lord his God, wave his hand over the spot and cure me of my leprosy. Are not Abana and Pharpar, the rivers of Damascus, better than all the waters of Israel? Couldn’t I wash in them and be cleansed?” So he turned and went off in a rage. He went away more than just mad… the word used means wrath, rage, full of poison and venom.

Naaman thought! He had a preconceived idea of how he thought his healing would come about.

How many times have we missed or almost missed our miracle because we thought God would do something the way we preconceived it? We had it all figured out in our minds! Thank God He is not bound to the limitations of our preconceived ideas or the boundaries of our thinking!!

Let’s let go of our limited expectations and have faith in the God of Israel and His limitless way of manifesting miracles in our life.

Naaman thought the resources he trusted in were better than what God was providing. He said the rivers in Damascus are better than Israel…. they are tov. Tov in Hebrew is good… to be in proper working order, the way it was meant to… the way God created it to work. Naaman’s pagan ways were far from tov! He lived in a culture that didn’t function the way God created us to live. We were created to love Him… not to serve false gods.

He was asked to do nothing less than to betray the faith of his fathers. He was being asked to be willing to acknowledge that there was a possibility that Israel’s God could do something the Syrian god was unable to do. Naaman would have to let go of everything he trusted in and trust God for his healing. The Jordan means to descend… Namaan would have to humble himself… to descend… to lower himself in order to be made clean.

And this was exactly what Jesus was saying to the people in the synagogue listening to Him that day… if they wanted salvation, they were going to have to let go of everything they trusted in… their adherence to the law…their good works…. and admit they were the poor, the blind, the oppressed, unclean.. that they were no different from Namaan.. or for that matter their Roman oppressors…in need of a Savior. Instead of responding to the rebuke and the invitation to release His goodness and His presence… His salvation…. to the Gentiles (the unbelievers), they responded with offense.

So, after being encouraged by his servant to do what was asked of him, he steps out in faith and humbles himself by dipping in the dirty Jordan 7 times. Naaman experienced the overwhelming power, presence, and mercy of Israel’s God and his whole attitude changed. Naaman had a whole-hearted transformation: “Then Naaman and his entire party went back to find the man of God. They stood before him, and Naaman said, ‘Now I know that there is no God in all the world except in Israel. So please accept a gift from your servant.’”

When Naaman goes back to Elisha’s house – he’s a changed man! There is no mention of horses and chariots this time as he returns to Elisha. And he doesn’t just declare the goodness of God but that God is the only God in the entire world. This is a radical statement for a man of his time, living in a polytheistic society.

Naaman’s God is now the God of Israel and he declares he will only make sacrifices and offerings to God. Before he didn’t want to wash in the Jordan River, because the waters of Damascus, were better than any of the waters of Israel, and now he wants to take dirt from Israel (v 17).

The Bible Commentaries say: he wants to take dirt because God’s presence was in Israel. His solution to worshiping in Syria was to take Israeli dirt with him. He asks God to forgive him when he has to bow to other “gods” because of his obligation to the king. This gentile, knows it’s a sin to bow down to any other “god” that isn’t the God of Israel. Elisha blesses him and tells him to go in peace.

In Luke 4:27 Jesus says there were many in Israel with leprosy in the time of Elisha the prophet, yet not one of them was cleansed—only Naaman the Syrian.”

God’s heart is for the Nations…. Naaman was a changed man… a redeemed man all because of one little Jewish girl who had compassion on him… her oppressor.

~ Robin

Full of Grace and Truth

John 1:14 “….We have seen His glory, the glory of the one and only Son, who came from the Father, full of grace and truth.”

Jesus came full of grace and truth. Full of is “pleres” in Greek which means abounding in and completely occupied with. Grace is “charis” which means bowing down favorably toward us… it’s also the Old Testament equivalent of “chesed” which is God’s covenant loyalty toward us (see the last blog post Goodness and Grace). Chesed (grace) is His love that will not let us go! And truth is “aletheia” which is not just truth spoken but the reality of truth.. truth revealed.

Summed up, Jesus came abundantly and completely occupied with bowing down favorably toward us… He came abundantly and completely occupied with showing us God’s covenant love toward us and revealing to us the reality of the Father… what He’s like… that He’s a good Father to us all the time. He was completely occupied with reconciling us back to the Father!!

He was consumed with revealing to us the true realities of the Father’s love. The Word, the Son, who is God, became flesh to reveal a divine glory that is “full of grace and truth.” The Word of God became flesh to be gracious to us. The Word became flesh so that this graciousness to us would come in accord with God’s truthfulness.

Paul put it like this in 1 Cor 4:4 “The god of this world has blinded the minds of the unbelievers, to keep them from seeing the light of the gospel of the glory of Christ, who is the image of God.” The glory of Christ is the image of God, our Father. Verse 18 says although no one has ever seen God, Jesus has revealed Him and made Him known to us. Our Father is full of grace and truth all the time. Verse 16 tells us that we have received “out of this fullness” grace upon grace! We’ve received an abundance of grace.

Sometimes I get preoccupied with the demands of my life… motherhood, being a wife, family time, making a home, friendships, our business, etc. and don’t make the time to be completely occupied with Him…. completely occupied with His love and allowing that Love to flow through me to the world around me. Completely occupied with the truths and realities of what my Father really looks like…. and showing others what our Father looks like.

Not completely occupied with being a walking, talking manifestation of His extravagant grace. Being full of grace makes me more pleasant to be around. I’m not pointing out others faults or weaknesses but rather helping them to look to the One who can pour out His grace upon them. Being full of grace causes me to encourage and walk along side those around me. It makes me realize that apart from Him I can do nothing because in Him I live and move and have my being.

I have become more occupied lately with learning about grace and the truths or realities of my Father. The more I learn, the more it replaces old mindsets… the wrong perceptions of who my Father is and what He’s like. And the more revelation I get, the more I become a walking epistle for a hurting world to read…. because isn’t that truly what we all want… for the world to come up and grab our coat tails and ask us how they can have a life like ours… one that is victorious, peaceful, loving, and full of grace and truth. For them to look at us and not see us but to look into our Father’s eyes and experience His truth (realities) and His grace (chesed).

And then we get the honor of directing them to the One who can give them life more abundantly.

~ Robin

Goodness and Grace

chesed love Yesterday we looked at the word good. We studied 1 Chronicles 16:34 O give thanks to the Lord, for He is good… ” and learned that good is not an adjective describing God but it is who He is (see yesterdays post entitled “Goodness“). Good and God are the same thing… they are a single idea. He is good! And He can’t be anything but good to you!

Good and God are the same thing… they are a single idea. He is Good! And therefore He can’t be anything but Good to you!

The rest of that scripture says “for His mercy (lovingkindness) endures forever”. The word mercy is not an accurate translation. Translators use words like kindness, lovingkindness, mercy, loyalty, steadfast love, and graciousness because there really isn’t a proper English word that encapsulates the meaning of this word. Perhaps loyal love is close.

The Hebrew language has a word for this loyal love that is richer and deeper than anything in English—it is chesed (KHEH-sed). It is a covenant word that goes beyond the requirements of mere duty and obligation…..it is a love that WILL NOT let me go! It is from the root word chacad, which is to be good or kind…..”to bow down.” It is a picture of God coming down to where we are (in the person of Jesus) and providing us the Way of Salvation! It truly is covenant love…. an immovable, unshakable, unchanging loyalty to His covenant with us.

We also quoted Ps 23:6 yesterday “Surely goodness and loving kindness (chesed) will follow me all the days of my life…. goodness, and chesed (God’s loyalty to His covenant) will follow me ALL the days of my life. The word”surely” is set as a seal upon it… it’s guaranteed… a done deal! It doesn’t depend on what I do or don’t do… I can add nothing of myself to it. I am sealed with His goodness and chesed!

Psalm 107:1 is the same verse as 1 Chronicles 16:34 (above) and the same word chesed is used. Psalm 136 is another identical Scripture….again the word used is chesed although our English uses the translation mercy. I like Psalm 136 in the Complete Jewish Bible translation (you can go to bible gateway.com to read it)…. this translation always translates chesed as grace, and not just in this Psalm only.

One of the earliest usages of chesed is by Abraham’s servant, Eliezer, when he was sent to find a wife for Isaac. He realized that his success was because of the Father’s chesed (translated “kindness” in Genesis 24:12). It was because of God’s covenant loyalty to his master Abraham.

Moses used this term to show why God delivered Israel from captivity in Egypt…. because of covenant loyalty (chesed). “You in Your mercy (chesed) have led forth the people whom You have redeemed; You have guided them in Your strength to Your holy habitation” (Exodus 15:13).In Ex 34:5-8 after God gives Moses the Tablets, He descended in a cloud and stood before him proclaiming who He is… verse 6 translates

In Ex 34:5-8 after God gives Moses the Tablets, He descended in a cloud and stood before him proclaiming who He is… verse 6 translates chesed as abounding in goodness! He abounds in covenant loyalty towards us.

We see a similar statement in John 1:17 “grace (charis) and truth (reality) came through Jesus Christ.” Jesus is the manifestation and the reality of grace and truth… of chesed (covenant loyalty). Thus we see the connection between the Hebrew word chesed (translated here as “goodness”) and the Greek charis, meaning “grace.”

Ps 117 says Praise the LORD, all nations! Extol him, all peoples!
For great is his loving kindness (chesed) toward us, and the faithfulness (truth) of the LORD endures forever. Praise the LORD!…..The CJB translation says in verse 2… For his grace has overcome us, and Adonai’s truth continues forever.

Grace and truth! Jesus came full of grace and truth….this had always been His character and by extension the character of His Father.

Chesed is covenant word …. it is the Old Testament equivalent of the New Testament word charis which is “grace.” Sometimes we view the Old Testament (Judaism) as a religion of laws and the New Testament (Christianity) as a religion of grace. God extended his grace in both Testaments… both Covenants. He is the same yesterday, today and forever. He revealed his grace to the fullest in the New Testament coming of Jesus …John 1:16-17 For from his fullness we have all received, grace upon grace…….grace and truth came through Jesus Christ…. but His grace is also displayed throughout Old Testament Scriptures

Chesed is definitely a word that begs for a deeper study than we can give to this one blog post. Now that I know it is the equivalent of New Testament grace, it will change how I read scriptures and it will definitely cause me to do a deeper study of it. I hope it sparked you to do a deeper study as well.

Hosea 6:6 says that God desires chesed (covenant loyalty) not sacrifice, and He desires the knowledge of Him (yada – intimate knowing as in a husband and wife) not burnt offerings.

That reminds me of Paul’s words in Phil 3:10 that I may know (ginosko in Greek – the equivalent of the Hebrew word yada) Him and the power of His resurrection. By going deeper, drawing nearer to Him… knowing Him more intimately… only then can I fully understand chesed.

God’s grace is a given that is always being given! There is nothing you can do to earn or merit His grace. It is given because of chesed… His covenant loyalty toward us…. HIS LOVE THAT WILL NOT LET US GO!

~ Robin