The Canceling of the Written Code!
John 19:31
31 Now it was the day of Preparation, and the next day was to be a special Sabbath. Because the Jews did not want the bodies left on the crosses during the Sabbath, they asked Pilate to have the legs broken and the bodies taken down.
· THESE RELIGIOUS PEOPLE ARE JUST LIKE RELIGIOUS PEOPLE ARE TODAY. IT WAS IMPORTANT NOT TO VIOLATE THEIR SABBATH RULES. TO MAKE SURE THEY WERE FOLLOWING THEIR MORAL LIST THAT THEY THOUGHT MADE THEM APPROVED BY GOD.
THEY DID NOT REALIZE THAT CHRIST HAD JUST REMOVED ALL THEIR RULES AND REGULATIONS OF LAW AND RELIGIOUS LIFE.
HE WAS DOING SOMETHING FOR THEM THAT THEY COULD NOT EVEN IMAGINE.
IT WAS SUCH GOOD NEWS THAT EVEN MANY TODAY CAN NOT BELIEVE IT IS TRUE.
LET PAUL EXPLAIN.
Col 2:13-3:1
13 When you were dead in your sins and in the uncircumcision of your sinful nature, God made you alive with Christ. He forgave us all our sins, (EVEN THE SIN OF UNBELIEF)
14 having canceled the written code, with its regulations, that was against us and that stood opposed to us; he took it away, nailing it to the cross.
15 And having disarmed the powers and authorities, he made a public spectacle of them, triumphing over them by the cross.
16 Therefore do not let anyone judge you by what you eat or drink, or with regard to a religious festival, a New Moon celebration or a Sabbath day.
17 These are a shadow of the things that were to come; the reality, however, is found in Christ.
18 Do not let anyone who delights in false humility and the worship of angels disqualify you for the prize. Such a person goes into great detail about what he has seen, and his unspiritual mind puffs him up with idle notions.
19 He has lost connection with the Head, from whom the whole body, supported and held together by its ligaments and sinews, grows as God causes it to grow.
20 Since you died with Christ to the basic principles of this world, why, as though you still belonged to it, do you submit to its rules:
21 "Do not handle! Do not taste! Do not touch!"?
22 These are all destined to perish with use, because they are based on human commands and teachings.
23 Such regulations indeed have an appearance of wisdom, with their self-imposed worship, their false humility and their harsh treatment of the body, but they lack any value in restraining sensual indulgence.
· THEY LACK ANY VALUE IN RESTRAINING THE SENSUAL INDULGENCE.
· BEING DEDICATED TO A RELIGIOUS LIFE DOES NOT GIVE YOU POWER.
· THE PEOPLE WHO CRUCIFIED CHRIST ACTED ON WHAT THEY WERE TAUGHT THAT GOD WANTED FROM THEM. THEY WERE WRONG.
· HUMAN COMMANDS AND TEACHINGS NO MATTER HOW GOOD THEY SEEM CAN NOT BE TRUSTED.
Heb 8:9-139 It will not be like the covenant I made with their forefathers when I took them by the hand to lead them out of Egypt, because they did not remain faithful to my covenant , and I turned away from them, declares the Lord.10 This is the covenant I will make with the house of Israel after that time, declares the Lord. I will put my laws in their minds and write them on their hearts. I will be their God, and they will be my people.11 No longer will a man teach his neighbor, or a man his brother, saying, ‘Know the Lord,’ because they will all know me, from the least of them to the greatest.12 For I will forgive their wickedness and will remember their sins no more."13 By calling this covenant "new," he has made the first one obsolete; and what is obsolete and aging will soon disappear.
· And in this covenant the promises are based on God not on us. The weak will prevail as well as the strong.
Rom 14:1-4
14:1 Accept him whose faith is weak, without passing judgment on disputable matters.
2 One man’s faith allows him to eat everything, but another man, whose faith is weak, eats only vegetables.
3 The man who eats everything must not look down on him who does not, and the man who does not eat everything must not condemn the man who does, for God has accepted him.
4 Who are you to judge someone else’s servant? To his own master he stands or falls. And he will stand, for the Lord is able to make him stand.
Excellent post! I noticed in the story of Zechariah and Elizabeth churches talk about before Christmas(besides Mary) Zechariah wasn’t able to believe that God could give them a son at their age yet it happened anyway. Even Abraham and Sarah laughed at the idea of having a child at their age yet God did not take back His word.
Cliff,
Thanks! I needed that!! I love it when the bible is quoted. A wonderful Christmas post.
Because he first loved us – Sue
Hey great post Cliff, it is fascinating, sometimes, what we can learn from the bible, it is also fascinating how the mentality was in that day, the whole favor gain thang, not so much the awaken to Conscience within thang. God is within you, Jesus said, wow that must have really rocked their boats!
The letter kills but the spirit gives life, doctrines kill, literal intrepretation kills, but in Christ the letter(literal) is cancelled, doctrines get abolished, spirit prevails.
I guess it really is all about faith at the end of the day, not even so much as Jesus own faith either, as if somehow seperate, but as we move into true consciousness we begin to grasp we are operating in the same.
Not faith in doctrines or divine plans of sorts, but a living breathing faith here and now, is the ressurection anything but…?
In Christ
Marco
ALL:
Happy Holidays and a great New Year to everyone! In Christ – Love –
Because he first loved us – Sue
“For God has accepted him. for the Lord is able to make him stand”.
Acceptance i have found to be the key that draws all those for whom jesus tasted of death for heb2v9 to the truth.Acceptance frees the heart and mind to think for ones self.without judgement nor guilt for another or ones self.The truth that we find in comparring both the old and new covernants shows us clearly the reason both where set in place by God our Father.
I see the first covenant being all about the first adam and the second covenant being all about the second and last adam.The first adam could not meet any requirements set by the law.But the last adam met them all for him and all those that recieved his condemntion.The last adam fulfilled them then nailed them to his tree once and for all and then brought in everlasting righteousness for us all forever.So from the cross of christ everyone born into this world has been born into the free righteousness of God our Father freely imputed to the entire world through christ.without their works because in the first adam we all failed to measure up.So cliff my friend,The Canceling of the Written Code! Did indeed take place at the cross as you have clearly said here.Once and for ALL!
This is the good news.
As i said at the beginning of this comment i have found when i’am dealing with people from day to day on my other sites who didn’t want to know anything about the gospel, it was not the gospel they didn’t want to hear about, they didn’t want to hear about a law based righteousness that always condemed them .So when i share with them their acceptance already in christ that is when the eyes of the blind are opend to the true Gospel of jesus christ
Great post cliff.Thank..you brother.Love you all
grace and peace.
Cliff – you have so rightly pointed out that the new covenant is written in our minds and on our hearts, we just have to change our mind-set to receive it. The old was but a picture of what the REAL covenant was all about. All the time from the foundation of the earth it has been available, but there’s been a veil over our minds and we couldn’t see it, so Jesus had to be born and die to give us yet another picture of the gift Father has put within us. Chapter 9 of Hebrews gives us the picture again. In the old covenant, the people could not go past the outer court – they had not yet been given the ability to ’see’. But because of Christ we now can go through the second veil (our old mind-set) into the Holy of Holies (our hearts – the mansions that have been prepared for us) There is the ark (us, our humanity, dead wood – a wooden box – coffin, covered all over inside and out with the presence and life of Father). In this box is spiritual food (every word proceeding from your heart), Aaron’s rod ( the sceptre, the walking stick, the power to walk and authority to do all and more than Jesus showed us) and the written law that cannot be broken. Above it, the cherubim (that new baby within us, the Christ being birthed in us) full of glory (pure and holy) watching over the grace and mercy provided as a seat or resting place by Father. The new covenant CANNOT be seen while the old is still standing. The old covenant is our old mind-set, when we turn from the old, we ’see’ the new.
Audrey, When I read the words in your comment something stirs within and I’m sure it is the Christ. Thank you so much for sharing where you are and what is stiring within you.
Paul said in Colossian 2:14 ” Having cancelled the (written code), with its regulations, that was against us and that stood opposed to us; he took it away, nailing it to the cross. Basically, The death of Jesus nailed to the cross the written code not God’s law.
Paul again said in the book of Romans 3:30 “Since there is only one God, who will justify the circumcised by faith and the uncircumcised through that same faith. Romans 3:31 Do we, then, nullify the law by this faith? NOT AT ALL! Rather, we UPHOLD the law.
Paul said in Romans 7:12 So then, the law is holy, and the commandment is holy, righteous and good.
Paul again said in Romans 7:14 We know that the law is spiritual; but I am unspiritual, sold as a slave to sin. Roman 7:15 I do not understand what I do. For what I want to do I do not do, but what I hate I do. Roman 7:16 And If I do what I do not want to do, I agree that the law is good.
Paul agreed that the law help us identify sins in order to overcome them.
Of course if you are leaving by the holy spirit, you would not fufill the lust of the flesh, you are not under the law. But if you claim to be Christians and disobey to God’s commandment and fufill the lust of the flesh; you are under the law.
If there is no more law, there is no more sin. How could anyone say my brother or sister commited a sin, if there is not any law identifying this sin.
Jesus did not come to abolish the law or the prophets but to fufill the law. Matthew 5:18 I tell you the truth, until heaven and earth disappear, not the smallest letter, not the least stroke of a pen, will by any mean dissapear from the law until everything is accomplished.
Can a nation for example the US be without the constitution. Can A family exist without rules for the children to follow. Can a workplace be without rules and regulations. Can anyone follow or obey to God without knowing what is good to do and not to do.
Keeping God’s commadments is to love God= Once an individual loves God, this person will obey God’s commandments.
By the way, it is your choice to obey or not God’s commandments.
Peace be with you.
Garry,
Thanks for stopping by and for your comment. I am greatful that there was ONE who UPHELD the LAW. I am glad that there was ONE who LOVED God. I am glad that there was ONE who fulfilled the law. I am glad that there is ONE who has no sin and I am glad that ALL of us are that ONE. When you really understand the ONE then the peace you enjoy comes from that ONENESS and not from any individuals ability to obey God’s commandments.
Hello Cliff, I understand the fact you appreciate me stopping by but one thing from your comment I would like to question:
If that oneness is all of us; then we supposed to be united; why some are going to Heaven and some others to hell. I let you meditate on your posting.
May God bless you!!!
Garry
Gary,
If you would read more of my posts you would know that I do not believe in the traditional HELL that you speak of. We are all ONE, some know this and others don’t, but ALL will eventually either in this lifetime or the next.