There used to be a guy who walked around in my body, calling himself by my name.  He was evil, an enemy of God (Rom 5:10) and forced my body to run around after each and every wicked desire that he had. He used my body as a slave for his unrighteous ways (Rom 6:16), the lusts of his flesh. He filled the memory banks of my body with the recollections of his foolish exploits and accustomed my body to his fallen habits. The members of my body were the instruments of his sinful actions, leading down a road which would eventually culminate in death.

But then came that glorious day when this old man was plucked from his comfortable flesh dwelling. Just like the Israelites of old received a snip on the tip, this sinful man was cut out and disjoined from the house he had tried to claim for himself. He was transported back through time and joined together with millions of other evil spirits like himself. This combined mass of dark, depraved, ghastly beings was transformed into an ugly beast, called sin. And before this creature could even attempt to flex a muscle, it was nailed onto a cross on a hill with Jesus of Nazareth (Rom 6:6). This creature consumed the body of Jesus for itself, trying to revive it, but it was too late. The body of Jesus had been broken and battered beyond repair by his torturers. And with Jesus’ final breath, he plunged the creature into the kingdom of death. Thus, the body of sin died (Rom 6:4).

In the wake of that old, sinful man who was pulled from my body, appeared a magnificent, faultless spirit man in it’s place, created perfectly in the image of the resurrected Christ (Eph 4:24). This perfected spirit man was fused together with the Spirit of God Himself (1 Cor 6:17) and this glorious, entwined Spirit man was inserted into my body. I AM NOW THIS NEW SPIRIT MAN.

The old has gone, the new has come (2 Cor 5:17). It is Christ who now lives in me (Gal 2:20) and I in Him. And since it is not I who live anymore, but Christ Himself, I am unable to sin, since Christ cannot sin (1 John 3:9). The blunders that I now make are not my own, but are the responsibility of the sinful habits that still dwell in the unrenewed parts of my mind (Rom 7:17); the confines that have not yet been illuminated by the light of grace. I am unable to corrupt myself, since Christ cannot be corrupted (1 Pet 1:23). I am a victim and a slave of His righteousness (Rom 6:18).

But still, everyday I find that the memory banks (the unrenewed mind) of my fleshly body tries to oppose my new, righteous desires (Gal 5:17). Since my body and mind previously received intensive training in how to sin, it seems to have developed a will of its own. But it is losing the battle bit by bit. I am influencing and renewing it everyday with the life of Christ that is saturating my entire being (Rom 12:2).

The person whom you now see walking before you is a perfect, righteous, sinless man (Heb 10:14). I am the delight of my heavenly Father. Jesus is my Brother (John 20:17). I am blameless in God’s sight (Col 1:22). I have no affiliation with the sinful man who previously occupied this body.

I am the righteousness of God in Christ (2 Cor 5:21)

People who claim that the Old Testament law still applies to believers, can be divided into several groups:

1)    Those who believe that all the Old Testament laws still apply.

2)    Those who believe that believers will not be judged according to the Old Testament law, but that it still serves as a moral compass that will help them to avoid falling into sin.

3)    Those who believe that the law can be split up into two different sections, namely moral laws and ceremonial laws, and that the ceremonial laws have passed away, but that the moral laws still need to be obeyed.

Group 1

For those who fall into the first group, the Bible unfortunately bears disappointing news:

For whoever shall keep the whole Law and yet offend in one point, he is guilty of all. (Jam 2:10 MKJV)

The punishment for sin is extremely severe, namely death (Romans 5:12 & 1 Corinthians15:56). The Bible also tells us that no man is ever able to obtain right standing with God through their level of obedience to the law:

God doesn’t accept people simply because they obey the Law. No, indeed! All the Law does is to point out our sin. (Rom 3:20 CEV)

But the apostle Paul then continues and shows us how to stand forgiven and justified before God:

Now we see how God does make us acceptable to him. The Law and the Prophets tell how we become acceptable, and it isn’t by obeying the Law of Moses. God treats everyone alike. He accepts people only because they have faith in Jesus Christ. (Rom 3:21-22 CEV, emphasis added)

The law provided a physical standard to measure a person’s level of holiness by. It was a contract which God had sealed in blood with the nation of Israel – only with them. How do we know this? Because we see in numerous instances how God acted in favor of Israel against other nations (the Moabites, Philistines, Syrians, etc).

In today’s world, when the terms of a contract between two parties have been fulfilled, the contract is finished. The contract isn’t abolished or destroyed, it is fulfilled. This is exactly what Jesus meant when he said:

Do not think that I have come to destroy the Law or the Prophets. I have not come to destroy but to fulfill. (Matt 5:17 MKJV)

And since Christ fulfilled the law and ended that contract which God had made with Israel, the consequences for failing to observe the clauses of that contract (the laws) are now irrelevant. God does not judge people by their ability to uphold the requirements of a contract which has already been fulfilled.

 

Group 2

The law is not a tool to assist us with moral direction. It cannot and has never helped anybody to stop sinning because it was never intended for this purpose. The purpose of the law was to make mankind aware of their inner sin problem (their sinful nature) so that when they realize they’d never be able to obtain eternal life through their own level of holiness, it would point them to Jesus for salvation. This sinful nature would then be circumcised (cut) out of them spiritually (Colossians 2:11) and be replaced by a brand new born again spirit which is 100% perfect, righteous and holy. The law was only a signpost that pointed to Jesus – it’s pretty silly to set up camp next to a signpost, isn’t it?

All that passing laws against sin did was produce more lawbreakers. (Rom 5:20a MSG)

What is the use of the Law? It was given later to show that we sin. (Gal 3:19a CEV)

The practice of trying to obey the demands of that ancient Jewish rule keeping system in order to overcome fleshly habits and lusts, is powerless and useless against the onslaughts of sin. Trying to overcome sin through adhering to the law will only have the effect of showing us how far we fall short of its decrees. The only way to overcome sinful habits is to be established in the revelation of how much God loves us and that He sees us as completely righteous. His grace took care of all our sins and He promised never to remember them ever again (Hebrews 10:17). When we know how much grace God has extended towards us, it will empower us to overcome any sin:

For sin shall not have dominion over you, for you are not under Law, but under grace. (Rom 6:14 MKJV)

 

Group 3

Nobody in this group (those who claim that the “ceremonial laws” have fallen away) has actually gone to the effort of drawing up a list to show exactly which of the laws have remained. The truth is that God Himself also never made this kind of distinction between any of the laws when He handed them down. On the contrary, He said:

“Obey all the laws and teachings I am giving you. Don’t add any, and don’t take any away.” (Deut 12:32 CEV)

Yet we find all sorts of religions that are based on Judaism jumping up nowadays, with non Jewish people trying to go back to their supposed “Jewish roots”.

Israel never welcomed intimacy with God (which is really all that God wants from us), because they always sent Moses to talk to God on their behalf (Exodus 20:19). Similarly, it appears that when people can’t find any fulfilment in their relationship with God, they make up all sorts of theories to try and earn His approval through some kind of rule keeping system. The peculiar thing about this trend is that since the entire Old Testament law is far too wearisome and laborious to keep, they formulate their own version of it and decide by themselves which laws they want to keep and which ones they can discard.

From Exodus 20 up to the end of Deuteronomy there were a total of 614 laws passed down to the nation of Israel. Just as the law was very specific about what to do and what not to do, it also contained very specific instructions about how to avoid being punished when a law was transgressed. Dodging retribution was mainly achieved in the form of sacrifices and offerings. Most of the modern day variations of Judaism (including those groups who insist calling God and Jesus by their Hebrew names, but whose lives are void of the fruit and the gifts of the Spirit) have opted not to include these sacrifices as part of their man-made belief systems, yet they vigorously claim to be living according to God’s laws. Who’s fooling who here?

Nonetheless, to accommodate these people and to try and show to them that they are actually not only disregarding the sacrifices and offerings, but also breaking many of the other (moral) laws contained in the Old Testament, let’s take a look at some of the laws:

Only, you shall not eat these of them that chew the cud, or of them that divide the hoof: …the swine, though he divides the hoof and is cloven-footed, yet he does not chew the cud; he is unclean to you. (Lev 11: 4, 7 MKJV)

Any form of pork, including bacon and ham, are strictly off limits according to the law. There goes that nice English breakfast or that ham and cheese sandwich out the door!

You must not eat anything that lives in the water and does not have fins and scales. (Lev 11:12 GNB)

No calamari or squid allowed, no sir!

And if any man’s semen goes from him, then he shall wash all his flesh in water and be unclean until the evening. And the woman with whom a man shall lie with emission of semen shall both bathe in water and be unclean until the evening. (Lev 15:16, 18 MKJV)

Men and women ought to separate themselves from any other people for an entire day every time after they’ve had sexual intercourse. This would mean quite a lot of sick leave for most people or heaps of broken up marriages because of spouses abstaining from sex with each other.

Don’t cut the hair on the sides of your head or trim your beard. (Lev 19:27 MSG)

All men would have to walk around with beards. If anybody who claims to be living according to the law shaves their beard, they are breaking God’s commands!

Don’t even build a cooking fire at home on the Sabbath. (Exo 35:3 CEV)

There will be no BBQ after watching that sports game with our friends on a Saturday, because strictly speaking the Sabbath is supposed to be observed on a Saturday.

Don’t wear clothes woven of two kinds of material. (Lev 19:19b MSG)

This would mean throwing out piles of our clothes, since a vast portion of the clothing found in anybody’s closet today is made from a mixture of cotton and polyester.

See how ridiculous it gets? But praise be to Jesus that He fulfilled all the requirements of that antique law keeping system, setting people free to live a life that is led by the Holy Spirit and not by rules:

But when the fullness of time had come, God sent forth his Son, born of woman, born under the law, to redeem those who were under the law, so that we might receive adoption as sons. (Gal 4:4-5 ESV)

G265 ἁμάρτημα ham-ar-tee’-ah

From G264; sin (properly abstract): – offence, sin (-ful)

G264 ἁμαρτάνω ham-ar-tan’-o

Perhaps from G1 (as a negative particle) and the base of G3313; properly to miss the mark (and so not share in the prize), that is, (figuratively) to err, especially (morally) to sin: – for your faults, offend, sin, trespass.

Hamartia (missing the mark) is often misinterpreted to mean “breaking the 10 Commandments”. But if this were really the case, what about those people who lived before the law was given to Israel? Because the Bible clearly says that sin was in the world before the law was given:

…for until the Law sin was in the world, but sin is not imputed when there is no law. But death reigned from Adam to Moses, even over those who had not sinned in the likeness of the transgression of Adam, who is the type of Him who was to come. (Rom 5:13-14 MKJV)

This scripture says that death even reigned over those who hadn’t sinned like Adam did. This means that they missed the mark too, even though they hadn’t broken any laws, because remember that the law hadn’t even been given yet.

Doubly Guilty

Mankind was dubbed into a condition of sin through Adam’s disobedience, and was made aware of this sinful condition through the giving of the Old Testament Law:

1)     We were made guilty through the condition of sinfulness, inherited from Adam:

Therefore as by the offence of one judgment came upon all men to condemnation; even so by the righteousness of one the free gift came upon all men unto justification of life. For as by one man’s disobedience many were made sinners, so by the obedience of one shall many be made righteous. (Rom 5:18-19 KJVA)

2)     Each and every person who tries to justify themselves before God through trying to obey the law, are made guilty by the law as well:

Now we know that whatever the law says, it says to those who are under the law, that every mouth may be stopped, and all the world may become guilty before God. Therefore by the deeds of the law no flesh will be justified in His sight, for by the law is the knowledge of sin. (Rom 3:19-20 MKJV, emphasis added)

 

Missing the Mark?

It’s easy for some to say that we sin when we “miss the mark”. But let’s think about this for a moment: What is the mark? How big is the mark? And how do we miss it?

If “hitting the mark” means that we perfectly obey the requirements of the law, then it gets very interesting, because remember the law didn’t just consist of the 10 Commandments. No, a total of 613 laws and stipulations were given to Israel (from Exodus to Deuteronomy) which they had to obey down to the last letter for as long as they lived. The law was given as a covenant, which means it was a life-long contract. Suddenly the mark becomes a 1mm little pin prick set against a wall about 9,000km away.

Paul the apostle talked about a different kind of righteousness; a way of being able to stand perfectly justified before God apart from trying to obey the Old Testament laws:

But now a righteousness of God has been revealed apart from Law, being witnessed by the Law and the Prophets; even the righteousness of God through the faith of Jesus Christ, toward all and upon all those who believe. (Rom 3:21-22 MKJV, emphasis added)

The entire New Covenant (after the cross) proclaims a redeeming message of being made perfect through faith in Christ. Through faith we enter into unity with God, receive eternal life, we have all our sins forgiven and we are made completely, 100% righteous… forever. As a mark of our salvation we receive the promise of the Father, the indwelling Holy Spirit.

But you are not in the flesh, but in the Spirit, if the Spirit of God dwells in you. But if anyone has not the Spirit of Christ, he is none of His. (Rom 8:9 MKJV)

 

The Sin of Unbelief

Although God has already forgiven the sins of the entire world and extended His Grace towards all men, not everybody chooses to receive this offer of peace. If it were somebody’s birthday and their friend arrived at their door with a gift, the birthday person still has to make a choice to open the door and take the gift. The gift becomes useless if the gift bearer is left standing outside the door.

The only choice that can nullify the redemption of the cross in a person’s life, is choosing not to believe in Jesus. The Bible is clear that it’s only through faith that a person becomes born again:

Everyone who believes that Jesus is the Christ has been born of God. (1 John 5:1a MKJV, emphasis added)

For God so loved the world that He gave His only-begotten Son, that whoever believes in Him should not perish but have everlasting life. (John 3:16 MKJV, emphasis added)

Because if you confess the Lord Jesus, and believe in your heart that God has raised Him from the dead, you shall be saved. (Rom 10:9 MKJV, emphasis added)

Therefore being justified by faith, we have peace with God through our Lord Jesus Christ. (Rom 5:1 MKJV, emphasis added)

 

The Sin of Trying to Live According to the Law

The Law isn’t based on faith. It promises life only to people who obey its commands. (Gal 3:12 CEV)
For whatever does not proceed from faith is sin. (Rom 14:23b ESV)

The Old Testament Law is not based on faith, because it didn’t take any faith for a person to know that they were wrong when they transgressed one of the commands. But it does take faith for us to still believe we are the righteousness of God, even when we just messed up!

When we combine Gal 3:12a with Rom 14:23b it says this:

“Living according to the Old Testament Law is sin.”

Bottom line.

Fasting in the Old Testament was combined with wailing in sackcloth and ash to demonstrate true repentance for sin and to avoid God’s wrath. However since God isn’t in the punishing business anymore (1 John 4:18) and all the sins of a believer are forgiven when they become born again (Col 2:13), fasting for this purpose is senseless and rejects what Jesus accomplished at the cross.

Some people interpret Isaiah 58 as the type of fast that would please God under the New Covenant, however the context of this chapter is clear from the first verse:

The LORD says, “Shout as loud as you can! Tell my people Israel about their sins! (Isa 58:1 GNB)

If we read the entire chapter it’s clear that this was addressed to Israel under the Old Covenant. Even though some of the principles may seem good and righteous (i.e. to remove the chains of oppression, share their food with the hungry, do not refuse help to their relatives, etc. in verses 6-7), it is still clear God’s blessings in this chapter were dependent on Israel’s ability to perform these deeds. It actually becomes blatantly clear in the last two verses:

The LORD says, “If you treat the Sabbath as sacred and do not pursue your own interests on that day; if you value my holy day and honor it by not traveling, working, or talking idly on that day, then you will find the joy that comes from serving me. I will make you honored all over the world, and you will enjoy the land I gave to your ancestor, Jacob. I, the LORD, have spoken.” (Isa 58:13-14 GNB)

Under the New Covenant, God’s blessings do not depend on our proficiency in executing the 10 Commandments – Jesus Christ accomplished it all! Now we are blessed simply because we have faith in Jesus:

This means that everyone who has faith will share in the blessings that were given to Abraham because of his faith. (Gal 3:9 CEV)

 

Fasting to Drive Out Demons

When Jesus’ disciples could not evict the demon from the young boy and afterwards questioned why, Jesus answered them:

¹⁹ Then the disciples came to Jesus apart, and said, Why could we not cast him out?  ²⁰ And Jesus said to them, Because of your unbelief. For truly I say to you, If you have faith like a grain of mustard seed, you shall say to this mountain, Move from here to there. And it shall move. And nothing shall be impossible to you. ²¹ However, this kind does not go out except by prayer and fasting. (Matt 17:19-21 MKJV)

Jesus’ answer in verse 21 did not refer to the demon – He was referring to their unbelief. He was saying “this kind (of unbelief) only goes out by prayer and fasting.” Jesus was simply expounding on His answer in verse 20 by telling them the secret of how to get rid of their unbelief.

So a fast is sometimes good for us, to rid us of our unbelief and to discipline our flesh. But it’s not to be used when asking God for something. What do we try to accomplish by accompanying a prayer request with fasting? Are we trying to prove to God that we are really serious? Do we need to beg and plead with our earthly fathers and throw in a fast for good measure when we ask them for something? Of course not!

We need not act as if we have to change God’s mind all the time, as though He doesn’t really want to bless us. His love for us is infinitely deeper than that of our earthly dads; God doesn’t need to be convinced of our intentions – He is on our side!

The Purpose of Fasting

The following are extracts from a great article written by author Ralph Harris from Life Course Ministries, entitled “A Needle to My Heart” (http://lifecourseministries.blogspot.com/2011/05/needle-to-my-heart.html):

I’ve been fasting this week.  It’s not because God likes it when I fast, it’s because I do.  Yeah, you read that right.  For me, fasting is choosing a weakness through which I will know and savor God more.  It’s all about satisfaction – mine.

In this case, I’m fasting from food, but in the past I’ve fasted from television, music (rather than listen to the stereo in my car on morning drives to work, I preferred thinking and listening for Him in quiet), news media, alcohol (I like an ale or a glass of wine now and then), and more.

It’s amazing how much I get used to turning to the things of this world for satisfaction, rather than to God, who satisfies me most and best.  Like many, I suppose, seeking God or reading the Bible or praying can become all about obedience and willpower (“I’ve got to do it!”) when I’m getting more satisfaction and better pleasure elsewhere.  Does that make sense?

I start to approach God and the things He likes as important things to do, rather than ways to know Him and like Him.  And what about letting Him show me why He likes me?  Reading the Bible and praying becomes a daily duration of time when I get my study and devotional time card punched.  Thunk-thunk!  Going to church becomes all about following through on commitment.  Giving money is about the pledge I made.  Yuck.  Round about then a college football game is much more exciting, or a bowl of ice cream, a shopping spree, a good movie, or a new electronic gadget.  What delight, right?

God no longer brings about the wedding of desire and satisfaction—fulfillment—because it has been joined together elsewhere.  What does God get?  Commitment and Study and Pledges of Obedience—and my frustration.  A lot of frustration.

But because He has crucified me to this world and this world to me (we’re incompatible), I can tolerate this hostage situation for only so long (Gal. 6:14).  A break-out is drawing near.

That’s where a fast comes in.  Through it I am needling myself, my true self, and saying, “Alert!  Wake up and be satisfied!  I can no longer stand surface satisfaction when I’ve been made for far deeper.”  To be sure, I still have strong longings for satisfaction—in fact they get stronger—but the Spirit brings out desires now natural for me.  I actually want God.  I truly want Father.

To be clear, no one has to fast to earn anything.  It’s a way of enjoying what you already have.  Any kind of fasting is toward satisfaction.  It’s a way of acknowledging, “Jesus, you have given me absolutely everything already for entirely nothing.  Hooray!  I’m full already.  So I want to hunger as a way of finding fullness.”