New Covenant Grace

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Category Archives: Faith

Don’t Ask God for What You Already Have

[John 1:16 And of His fullness we have all received, and grace for grace].

A predominant doctrine doing the rounds in the church today is the fact that we have to keep asking God to give us more anointing, more power, more boldness, etc. to serve better and be more effective for God. And yet when we look at what Scripture says, we are told again and again that we have already been given EVERYTHING we will ever need, pertaining to life (which talks about our physical needs) and godliness (talking about our spirituality). [2 Pet 1:3 His divine power has given us everything we need for life and godliness through our knowledge of him who called us by his own glory and goodness].

You will find that most mainstream church leaders are rejecting & opposing this theology because it takes the blame off God (for all the things He DOESN’T do for us) and it puts the responsibility squarely back on the believer to go out and do what God commanded us to do in the first place: [Matt 10:8 Heal the sick, cleanse the lepers, raise the dead, cast out demons. Freely you have received, freely give]. Note that Jesus didn’t say we should pray for the sick, He commanded us to HEAL them! This clearly puts the responsibility on the believer, whereas simply “praying for the sick” puts the responsibility on God. Under the Old Covenant God fought for us – under the New Covenant He fights through us.

[John 14:12 Most assuredly, I say to you, he who believes in Me, the works that I do he will do also; and greater works than these he will]. Now consider this: Do you think that Jesus would have made this statement if He didn’t mean it? Would He have said this if He knew we would never be able to do the works He did, thereby making Him a liar? Of course not. Jesus would never make a promise like this and then leave the church short changed & unequipped to do what He commanded them.

Now I am not speaking as one who claims to be moving at the level of signs & wonders that Jesus did, but I have definitely made the shift in my mind that if the person I have prayed for didn’t get healed, I know the blockage and the problem is with me and not with God! The same principle goes for this verse: [Phil 4:13 I can do all things through Christ which strengthens me]. If I am not seeing this manifest in my life yet, then maybe it’s time I stopped blaming God for what’s going on in the world, stopped asking God “why me?” and stopped asking Him to give me more boldness, more power, more anointing etc and started to realize and use what I have ALREADY BEEN GIVEN. It is important to realize that at this very moment the Holy Spirit dwells in us in fullness, which means all His power, His nature & His character resides within us. [Col 2:9 For in Him (Christ) dwells all the fullness of the Godhead bodily; 10 And you are complete in Him, who is the head of all principality and power].

The greatest obstacle is NOT knowing what we already have! [Philemon 1:6 That the communication of your faith may become effectual by the acknowledging of every good thing which is in you in Christ Jesus]. We will become more effective in communicating our faith (this includes healing, deliverance, provision, etc) when we begin to acknowledge that which is already inside us. If God has commanded us to rule the earth, and given us EVERYTHING that pertains to life & godliness (see 2 Pet 1:3 again), then by saying we want “more” power, “more” faith, “more” anointing, etc. we are basically telling God He HASN’T given us everything. No, we discover what God has already given us by getting to know Him better. [2 Pet 1:3 His divine power has given us everything we need for life and godliness through our knowledge of him who called us by his own glory and goodness].

Many of the songs we sing in church tell God how thirsty and how hungry we are and that He should come and fill us and let His water flow over us. In the following 2 verses Jesus is talking SPECIFICALLY about salvation, and He says that whosoever comes to Him (which means to receive salvation for the first time), such shall never hunger or thirst again. [John 4:14 but whoever drinks of the water that I shall give him will never thirst. But the water that I shall give him will become in him a fountain of water springing up into everlasting life]. [John 6:35 And Jesus said to them, “I am the bread of life. He who comes to Me shall never hunger, and he who believes in Me shall never thirst]. Whilst there is nothing wrong with being passionate for God and seeking after Him more and more, there is definitely something wrong with telling Him that the reason we are not moving in signs & wonders is because He hasn’t equipped us! The truth is that acknowledging any form of “lack” in what God has given us, is actually an insult against the cross. If we tell God that we are thirsty for Him, well then maybe we should get saved and receive the Holy Spirit so that we will never hunger or thirst again. [Matt 5:6 Blessed are they who hunger and thirst for righteousness: for they shall be filled]. Once you receive the righteousness of God as a gift (when you are saved), you ARE filled!

Almost all the times the apostle Paul prayed for “more”, he was talking about knowing God better & having more revelation of what we HAVE BEEN given (Col 1:9, Eph 3:19, etc).

Now you may be thinking: “But we are sincere when we sing these words to God (that we are hungry & thirsty), and He would still honor our sincerity.” But have you considered that many people in this world who believe they are sincere, are sincerely wrong? Being sincere doesn’t make it right, and God wants us to worship Him in Spirit and in TRUTH. Muslims & Satanists are also sincere in what they believe.

If you’ve managed to keep reading this article up to here, it means you are probably looking for truth on this matter. The key is simply to make the shift in our minds and to decide to live FROM our position of victory, living from the inside out. We need to let what’s inside us flow out to change the world around us. [Col 1:27 To them God willed to make known what are the riches of the glory of this mystery among the Gentiles: which is Christ in you, the hope of glory]. When the world begins to see Jesus living through us, they will not be able to deny the authenticity of the love and power flowing from the lives of God’s children. And it all begins with acknowledging what we have ALREADY been given: Fullness in Christ!! Amen!!!

Yours in Grace
Andre van der Merwe

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Did Jesus End the Law or Not? (Let’s Settle This!!)

Many people that still believe they have to live according to the Old Covenant Laws have thrown Matt 5:17-18 at Grace Preachers to try and prove their case. Let us now therefore look at what the Bible really says about living under the law, and if we are still bound to it, because all scripture has to be interpreted by scripture. First off, let’s start with this week’s main scripture:

[Matt 5:17 “Do not think that I came to destroy the Law or the Prophets. I did not come to destroy but to fulfill. 18 For assuredly, I say to you, till heaven and earth pass away, one jot or one tittle will by no means pass from the law till all is fulfilled.]

Peter Ditzel from www.wordofhisgrace.org explains these 2 verses as follows: “Jesus is giving us two either/or conditions here: The law cannot pass until heaven and earth pass OR the law cannot pass until all is accomplished. One or the other can do it. Heaven and earth have not yet passed, so we will leave that aside. But what did Jesus mean by ALL being accomplished? He was referring to what He had just said in the previous sentence: the fulfilling or completing of the law AND the prophets. Once He had completed the law and the prophets, the law could pass. Why is it that so many people who accept that Jesus fulfilled the Old Testament prophecies have a hard time understanding that in the same way, He fulfilled the Old Testament laws — all of them?”

When you are under a contractual obligation to someone, and you fulfill all the requirements of the contract, the contract is finished & over. But if you simply destroy the contractual agreement before you have fulfilled its requirements, you are not released from its obligations, which is why Jesus said He did not come to destroy the Law. But the moment you do fulfill it you are set free from it! In exactly the same way Jesus did not come to destroy the law, but He fulfilled it, see verse 17 above again. Jesus was in all ways 100% obedient to the law for his entire life (isn’t that amazing???), thereby fulfilling its requirements. Let’s look at more verses (and there are many more than the ones below) that prove the law has passed.

[Rom 10:4 For Christ is the end of the law for righteousness to everyone who believes.] Because all the righteous requirements of the law have been fulfilled in Jesus, and since we are given the righteousness of Christ and filled with the Holy Spirit as a free gift when we put our faith in Jesus, it means that in Christ we have fulfilled the requirements of the law as well, therefore the law has ended for us as well. [Rom 8:3 For what the law could not do, in that it was weak through the flesh, God sending his own Son in the likeness of sinful flesh, and for sin, condemned sin in the flesh: 4 That the righteousness of the law might be fulfilled in us, who walk not after the flesh, but after the Spirit.]

[Matt 11:13 For all the prophets and the law prophesied until John.] The entire law and the old testament prophets spoke of the coming of the Messiah who would forgive the sins of the whole world. The law was our tutor (schoolmaster), teaching us “right living” until we should put our faith in Jesus and begin to live by faith. Now that we put our faith in Jesus, we don’t need the tutor of the law anymore. [Gal 3:23 But before faith came, we were kept under guard by the law, kept for the faith which would afterward be revealed. 24 Therefore the law was our tutor to bring us to Christ, that we might be justified by faith. 25 But after faith has come, we are no longer under a tutor.]

[Luk 16:16 “The law and the prophets were until John. Since that time the kingdom of God has been preached, and everyone is pressing into it.”] This verse implies that if you still preach law-based living, you are NOT preaching the Kingdom, because you are preaching the things that ended with John the Baptist over 2000 years ago – read the verse again. How much clearer can it get??

[Gal 3:16 Now to Abraham and his Seed were the promises made. He does not say, “And to seeds,” as of many, but as of one, “And to your Seed,” who is Christ.] And also [Gal 3:19 What then is the purpose of the law? It was added because of transgressions, UNTIL THE SEED SHOULD COME to whom the promise was made; and it was ordained by angels in the hand of a mediator.] This verse says that the law was given because of transgressions UNTIL THE SEED should come (and if you will read the story of Israel in Exodus you will see it was specifically the sin of self righteousness). Then when the SEED (Christ) came, the law was fulfilled and we are not under it anymore.

[Rom 3:21 But now the righteousness of God apart from the law is revealed, being witnessed by the Law and the Prophets.] This verse says that if there were such a thing as the “court of heaven”, that the law & prophets would have stood up as witnesses, pointed their fingers to us who put our faith in Jesus and said: “This person is righteous!”

We are now not under the law anymore, but instead we live by faith. And here is a shocker, something that will no doubt shut the mouths of those who still try to be justified by obeying the law. Lets look at 2 verses first: [Gal 3:12 And the law is not of faith…] and also [Rom 14:23b … for whatsoever is not of faith is sin.] Can you see what it says when you combine these 2 verses? Can you see it??? Since the law is not of faith, and since anything that is not of faith is sin, then it means that those who try to be justified by their own good works and try to live up to some moral code (the law) are actually living in sin!!

Lastly, look at what Jesus said just after this week’s 2 key verses: [Matt 5:20 For I say to you, that unless your righteousness exceeds the righteousness of the scribes and Pharisees, you will by no means enter the kingdom of heaven.] The scribes & Pharisees prided themselves in how well they kept the laws of Moses, it’s what they did for a living! These laws included all the rituals & daily sacrifices, not just the 10 commandments. In fact most people who try to live up to the Law of Moses today would pale in comparison against your average Pharisee. No, the righteousness that Jesus was talking about was not about us trying to live more obedient or more holy, He was talking about a righteousness that comes from God, given to every believer as a free gift at the point of salvation when we put our faith in Jesus, the exact same moment where Jesus is given our sin & transgressions and we are given His perfect righteousness: [2 Cor 5:21 For He made Him who knew no sin to be sin for us, that we might become the righteousness of God in Him.]

Yours in Grace
Andre van der Merwe

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You Have Enough Faith Pt 2 (The Problem of Unbelief)

Last week we concluded that every born again Christian has received THE measure of faith from God (Rom 12:3). God has given us His faith as a gift (Eph 2:8) and it does not vary or falter. A person that has “great” faith does not possess a larger quantity of faith than other believers; they simply have more faith operative than others.

Now of course our next question would be: “If I have God’s faith, why doesn’t it produce for me at the level that God promises in His Word?” Well firstly because faith has to be acted on & released, which is what it says in James 2:17 Thus also faith by itself, if it does not have works, is dead. 18 But someone will say, “You have faith, and I have works.” Show me your faith without your works, and I will show you my faith by my works. You can actually have the faith of the Son of God inside you, but if you don’t act on it, it’s as good as dead.

Another reason why we don’t see our faith work for us is because of our unbelief. The soul (mind), just like the body, lives by what it feeds on. If we saturate our minds with the doom & gloom on TV, the newspapers and what we see happening in the world around us, we won’t have our minds renewed according to the truth of God’s Word. Then when you pray, even if you do pray with faith, the unbelief in your mind will counter that faith. So the Christian life is a pursuit of intimacy with God, experientially learning to know Him as He reveals Himself through His Word, which has the wonderful side effect of transforming your mind and purging it of unbelief.

In Luke 9 Jesus had sent out His disciples Luke 9:1 Then he called his twelve disciples together, and gave them power and authority over all devils, and to cure diseases. 2 And he sent them to preach the kingdom of God, and to heal the sick. They then went out and did it, and they were actually seeing great results! Luke 9:6 And they departed, and went through the towns, preaching the gospel, and healing every where. But then came a father whose son was possessed by a unclean spirit, whom they could not heal. Luke 9:38 Suddenly a man from the multitude cried out, saying, “Teacher, I implore You, look on my son, for he is my only child. 39 And behold, a spirit seizes him, and he suddenly cries out; it convulses him so that he foams at the mouth; and it departs from him with great difficulty, bruising him. 40 So I implored Your disciples to cast it out, but they could not.”

The disciples asked Jesus afterwards why they could not drive out the demon, and Jesus answered them (the same passage from Mark 9): Mark 9:29 And He said to them, This kind can come out by nothing except by prayer and fasting. Now Jesus didn’t mean that they had to specially go praying and fasting so that they could drive out this demon. He also didn’t mean that this was a “type” of demon that the only way to cast it out was to pray and fast about it, because if that’s what you believe then just about every second demon or disease you encounter will say to you “I am the kind that only goes out by prayer and fasting.” If you look at what Jesus said to the disciples first off when He heard they could not cast the demon out: Mark 9:18 … So I spoke to Your disciples, that they should cast it out, but they could not.” 19 He (Jesus) answered him and said, “O faithless generation, how long shall I be with you? How long shall I bear with you? Bring him to Me.” Jesus called his disciples (who had just come back from their trip, having seen great results) “faithless generation”.

And then also we see the father of the demon possessed boy confessing that he had a problem with unbelief: Mark 9:23 Jesus said to him, If you can believe, all things are possible to him who believes. 24 And immediately the father of the child cried out and said with tears, Lord, I believe. Help my unbelief.

You see the biggest problem is not that people don’t have faith. We all have faith, it’s just that we have a tremendous amount of unbelief that is countering our faith. Jesus said if we have faith the size of a mustard seed we can say to a mountain to cast itself into the sea. Let’s read this same passage from the book of Matthew:

Matt 17:14 And when they had come to the multitude, a man came to Him, kneeling down to Him and saying, 15 “Lord, have mercy on my son, for he is an epileptic and suffers severely; for he often falls into the fire and often into the water. 16 So I brought him to Your disciples, but they could not cure him.” 17 Then Jesus answered and said, “O faithless and perverse generation, how long shall I be with you? How long shall I bear with you? Bring him here to Me.” 18 And Jesus rebuked the demon, and it came out of him; and the child was cured from that very hour. 19 Then the disciples came to Jesus privately and said, “Why could we not cast it out?” 20 So Jesus said to them, “Because of your unbelief; for assuredly, I say to you, if you have faith as a mustard seed, you will say to this mountain, ‘Move from here to there,’ and it will move; and nothing will be impossible for you. 20 However, this kind does not go out except by prayer and fasting.”

So why did Jesus tell them that they could only do it with prayer and fasting? Well, what do you think happens when you pray and fast (and worship, and go to church, and read the Bible, etc)? You get rid of your unbelief!! Your faith doesn’t increase, because remember that we already have the faith of God and that faith the size of a mustard seed will move a mountain. But we fill our minds and thoughts with so much garbage everyday, focusing on our depressing circumstances and NOT on God, that it’s no wonder we don’t have any power.

Just one last point that we should clarify in the body of Christ: It is very cruel to tell a sick person they can not get healed because they have too much unbelief. In the Bible we see that Jesus as our perfect example, healed ALL who came to him, regardless if they had unbelief or not. Acts 10:38 How God anointed Jesus of Nazareth with the Holy Ghost and with power: who went about doing good, and healing ALL that were oppressed of the devil; for God was with him. Yes He did not heal many people in His home town Nazareth, but it was not because their unbelief countered or neutralized His faith. No it was because many of them were offended at Him, seeing Him only as “Joseph’s boy”, and not many came to Him for healing. But those that came still got healed!! Thus we can see that He still did mighty works, but only for those that came to Him. Matt 13:54 When He had come to His own country, He taught them in their synagogue, so that they were astonished and said, “Where did this Man get this wisdom and these mighty works? Now with what we just discussed above, read the following 2 verses:  Mark 6:5 Now He could do no mighty work there, except that He laid His hands on a few sick people and healed them. 6 And He marvelled because of their unbelief. Then He went about the villages in a circuit, teaching. Did you see he STILL healed those who CAME TO HIM?

Therefore we can conclude that if we don’t see the promises of God fulfilled in our lives, or if we don’t see the sick healed when we pray for them, it’s because of OUR unbelief & unrenewed minds. God’s power is always switched on; He’s already provided healing, prosperity & deliverance in the atonement. This message however is not a call for Christians to go back into works to try and rid themselves of their unbelief, because it does not happen through striving or self-effort. Remember we are all still learning & growing. Unbelief eradication & mind renewal is something that happens as we simply enjoy God and turn our affections toward Him, resting in Him, living from our secure position of victory. Don’t forget to enjoy the journey…

Yours in Grace
Andre van der Merwe
www.NewCovenantGrace.com

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You Have Enough Faith Pt 1

When we pray prayers like the disciples prayed in Luke 17:5 And the apostles said to the Lord, “Give us more faith”, we often pray it because we don’t know what we have already been given. There are 2 kinds of faith:

Firstly there’s the kind of faith that says “I will believe it when I see it”, like with Thomas in John 20:25 The other disciples therefore said unto him, We have seen the LORD. But he said unto them, Except I shall see in his hands the print of the nails, and put my finger into the print of the nails, and thrust my hand into his side, I will not believe. We call this physical or natural faith, faith that is based upon what we can see, taste, hear, smell & feel with our 5 senses. Then there is the kind of faith that is anchored firm in the Word of God, that does not falter because we don’t see the answer to our prayer, faith that keeps on believing “I AM healed” because the Word says so, even though I don’t “feel” healed yet. John 20:29 Jesus saith unto him, Thomas, because thou hast seen me, thou hast believed: blessed are they that have not seen, and yet have believed.

Do you know we have the same faith as the apostle Peter that did mighty signs & wonders? 2 Pet 1:1 Simon Peter, a servant and an apostle of Jesus Christ, to them that have obtained like precious faith with us through the righteousness of God and our Savior Jesus Christ. In fact do you know we have the same faith as Jesus? Gal 2:20 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. All believers have been given THE measure of faith: Rom 12:3 … according as God hath dealt to every man the measure of faith (KJV).

This faith was given to us by God the day we were born again, it was a gift: Eph 2:7 For by grace are ye saved through faith; and that not of yourselves: it (the faith) is the gift of God (emphasis my own). Now since we have received this faith as a gift in the first place, we can rest assured that God will maintain perfect & perfect it for us as well. Heb 12:2 Looking unto Jesus the author and finisher of our faith… Some translations say “author & perfector”. When Jesus said someone had “great faith” or “little faith”, He wasn’t referring to the quantity of their faith, He was referring to the level of faith that they were operating in.

Now some would try to counter this by quoting 1 Cor 12, saying that the Spirit gives only SOME gifts to each of us individually. 1 Cor 12:11 But the one and the same Spirit works all these things, distributing separately to each one as He desires. Well did you ever consider that you have inside you the Holy Spirit that has ALL the gifts? This verse doesn’t say He only gives “some gifts”, no the Spirit will give to a person ANY of the gifts that is needed in that specific situation. Also see just a few verses before this one: 1 Cor 12:6 And there are differences of workings, but it is the same God working all things in all.

When we are new in the faith, we need the Holy Spirit to come and empower us with these gifts from time to time as we may require in our specific situation. In Paul’s epistle to the church at Corinthians (who was a “baby” church) he wrote this: 1 Cor 3:1 And I, brethren, could not speak unto you as unto spiritual, but as unto carnal, even as unto babes in Christ. 2 I have fed you with milk, and not with meat: for hitherto ye were not able to bear it, neither yet now are ye able. And it was this same “baby” church that Paul was speaking to when He wrote about the gifts of the Spirit in 1 Cor 12.

But when we come into maturity in Christ, we will realize that we have all the gifts at our disposal since we have received FULLNESS in Christ. Col 2:9 For in him dwelleth all the fullness of the Godhead bodily. 10 And ye are complete in him, which is the head of all principality and power. And also Jon 1:16 And of His fullness we have all received, and grace for grace.

You see the biggest problem is not that people don’t have faith. Born again believers all have the faith of God. The faith of God is simply this: Faith that enables you to believe in things that you cannot perceive with your 5 senses. You needed this faith to be saved in the first place – how else would you KNOW that your sins have been forgiven? You had to believe it!  Sins that have been forgiven and blotted out is not something you can see, but through the faith God has given us, we can believe it and KNOW we have been forgiven. I encourage you to download this sermon from one of my heroes of the faith: Andrew Wommack. Click on this link: http://www.awmi.net/extra/audio/a01

Well if we have God’s faith, why doesn’t it produce for us in the area of finances, health, etc. at the level which God promises in the Bible? Next week we will be answering this question, so stick around!!

Yours in Grace
Andre van der Merwe

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