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Practicing Lawlessness or Unrighteousness

Following up from our last message, we have seen that many verses and “concepts” in the New Testament (especially from the epistles of 1 – 3 John) have been misinterpreted in the past and used as a whip to beat the body of Christ back under the Law. In this message we will continue to destroy these arguments with truth from the Word.

In Matt 7 Jesus used the exact same terminology as the apostle John did, talking about those who “practice lawlessness”. He told them to depart from Him because He didn’t know them. Now “practicing lawlessness” may sound like something that a person is supposed to DO, but let’s look at the context. In Matt 7:15 Jesus warns about the false prophets that would come in sheep’s clothing and down in verse 21 He is still talking about these same people. We’ll look at the entire text here so the sceptics can see for themselves:  [Matt 7:15 “Beware of false prophets, who come to you in sheep’s clothing, but inwardly they are ravenous wolves.  16 You will know them by their fruits. Do men gather grapes from thornbushes or figs from thistles?  17 Even so, every good tree bears good fruit, but a bad tree bears bad fruit.  18 A good tree cannot bear bad fruit, nor can a bad tree bear good fruit.  19 Every tree that does not bear good fruit is cut down and thrown into the fire. 20 Therefore by their fruits you will know them]. These verses pertain specifically to the fact that an unbeliever cannot manifest the fruit of the Holy Spirit because they don’t have the Spirit living in them. They may act kindly or behave in very moral manner, but their hearts still remain evil and sinful, hence Jesus says they are “ravenous wolves” on the inside.
Also, since Jesus is the tree of life and the good vine, He can not bear bad fruit. This means that we as believers are the good fruit that He bears since His life is recreated in us. God the Father sowed His own Son and reaped more sons.

Now note that in the next verses Jesus is still talking about these same people (the false prophets and unbelievers):

[Matt 7:21 “Not everyone who says to Me, ‘Lord, Lord,’ shall enter the kingdom of heaven, but he who does the will of My Father in heaven.  22 Many will say to Me in that day, ‘Lord, Lord, have we not prophesied in Your name, cast out demons in Your name, and done many wonders in Your name?’ 23 And then I will declare to them, ‘I never knew you; depart from Me, you who practice lawlessness!’].

In verse 21 Jesus says that “whoever does the will of the Father” shall enter the kingdom of heaven. Now hang in there for the next paragraph; it may seem disjointed, but we will pull it all together at the end.
Somewhere else Jesus also said the following: [John 3:5 Jesus answered, “Most assuredly, I say to you, unless one is born of water and the Spirit, he cannot enter the kingdom of God.  6 That which is born of the flesh is flesh, and that which is born of the Spirit is spirit.  7 Do not marvel that I said to you, ‘You must be born again’]. Here Jesus was referring to the 2 different births (natural and spiritual) of any human being that enters the kingdom of heaven – firstly they are born from the water of their mother’s womb (He was NOT talking about water baptism, because in verse 6 He specifically talks about being born of the “flesh” which means to be born into this world) and secondly they are born in the spirit, better known as being “born again”. Now what does the Bible teach us about how to be born again? [Rom 10:9 that if you confess with your mouth the Lord Jesus and believe in your heart that God has raised Him from the dead, you will be saved. 10 For with the heart one believes unto righteousness, and with the mouth confession is made unto salvation].
Once again it would “appear” as though we have a contradiction: In Matt 7:21 Jesus says that whoever does the will of the Father shall enter the kingdom of heaven, but from John 3:5 and Rom 10:9-10 we can conclude that whoever believes in Jesus shall enter the kingdom of heaven.
The following verse sheds some light on what it means to “do” the will of the Father and “work” the works of God: [John 6:29 Jesus answered and said to them, “This is the work of God, that you believe in Him whom He sent”]. As before we see that these expressions, even though they appear to imply that we have to do some external action or work, it actually refers to an action of faith, of placing our trust in Jesus Christ. This is what it means to “do the will” of the Father.

Then in Matt 7:23 Jesus tells those who “practice lawlessness” to depart from Him, referring to the unsaved again, just like we previously saw John did in his epistles. Jesus also said to them “I never knew you”. Can it be any clearer that in fact He was referring to unbelievers?  Practicing lawlessness does not mean breaking the 10 Commandments: it means not being saved.

Obeying Commandments

Let’s slam the final nail in the coffin and prove to the legalists just how fully the Grace of God has made provision for our natural human insufficiencies. Let’s try and figure this one out together. Remembering all that we have just learnt about those who “practice righteousness” and previously also about those who “commit sin”, it is obvious that John could also be talking about something else than obeying the 10 Commandments when he says that we need to “obey God’s commandments”. This is in fact a big favourite with those who still preach that we should live according to the Old Testament Laws. Let’s take a look and see what John really meant:

[1 John 2:3 Now by this we know that we know Him, if we keep His commandments. 4 He who says, “I know Him,” and does not keep His commandments, is a liar, and the truth is not in him]. Some other verses address this same issue and the aforementioned “abiding in Him” issue as well (own comments in brackets):

[1 John 3:24 Now he (any person) who keeps His (God’s) commandments abides in Him, and He in him. And by this we know that He abides in us, by the Spirit whom He has given us]. From Paul’s letter to the Ephesians we know that every believer receives and is SEALED with the Holy Spirit as a guarantee that they are indeed saved: [Eph 1:13 In Him you also trusted, after you heard the word of truth, the gospel of your salvation; in whom also, having believed, you were sealed with the Holy Spirit of promise, 14 who is the guarantee of our inheritance until the redemption of the purchased possession, to the praise of His glory]. We can therefore see that believers receive the Holy Spirit as a guarantee after they are born again and because He is sealed inside them He naturally will also “abide” with them, and they with Him. Now in this context, read 1 John 3:24 (above) again. Clearly John is saying that whosoever has the Holy Spirit (a believer), such a person also keeps God’s commandments. What “commandments” is he talking about?

[1 John 3:23 And this is His commandment: that we should believe on the name of His Son Jesus Christ and love one another, as He gave us commandment].

When the very nature and character of the person of the Holy Spirit resides within a person, a natural result will be that they begin to change in their outward behaviour. People will begin to notice a difference in the way they live. It can not happen the other way round – somebody that acts in a well behaving manner can never through their good actions be changed on the inside – they need to receive the Holy Spirit first. This is exactly what the apostle John is talking about: When we believe in God and are born again, we will love one another more and more as a fruit of the Holy Spirit that abides within us. Obeying God’s commandments in the New Testament therefore means to believe in Jesus.

In our next message we will conclude this series on “Misunderstood Bible terminology” and take an in-depth look at what it means to “Walk in the Light”.

In Grace
Andre van der Merwe

Misunderstood Bible Terminology

In this message we’ll take a close look at some Bible terminology that can easily be misunderstood if not read through the perspective of the New Covenant. Many of these verses, especially from the epistles of the apostle John, have been used as a whip to beat the church back into obeying the Old Covenant Law. A good understanding of Grace and Righteousness would go a long way into clearing up the fog surrounding these topics of discussion, such as the terms “fellowship”, “practicing truth”, “committing sin or lawlessness”, etc.  Undivided attention and prolonged concentration is strongly recommended for this one.
Fellowship
It is commonly believed that whenever a believer messes up in regards to their moral behaviour, that they fall out of fellowship with God and that they need to confess their sins in order to restore such “fellowship”. However when viewed from this perspective the term “fellowship” (better known as “fellowshipping with God” in Pentecostal circles) would then refer to a feeling of intimacy that comes and goes depending on our ability to perform at our best. This is not what scripture has to say, in fact not even once in the entire New Testament is the word “fellowship” described in this manner, specifically when it pertains to our relationship with God. The term “fellowshipping with God” is not even used once in the entire Bible. It is a phrase that has been conjured up by people to refer to their own quiet time with God and through the last few decades it has been twisted by legalists to make believers feel guilty and stand accused of being “out of fellowship” with God if they didn’t allocate a certain amount of time per week to prayer and Bible study. On the contrary, here are a few examples of how the word “fellowship” has been used in Biblical terms:

[2 Cor 6:14b ...For what fellowship has righteousness with lawlessness? And what communion has light with darkness? 15 And what accord has Christ with Belial? Or what part has a believer with an unbeliever?] Take note how these opposing entities are contrasted with each other: righteousness vs. lawlessness, light vs. darkness, Christ (anointed) vs. Belial (worthless) & believer vs. unbeliever. It says that such opposites can not have fellowship with one another, meaning they are not compatible. Just as Christ can not have fellowship with Belial, in the same way a believer is not to be considered by the same measure as an unbeliever. If a person is therefore out of fellowship with Christ it means that they have not been born again and they fall under the same category as darkness, Belial, and lawlessness in the above verse.

[1 Cor 1:9 God is faithful, by whom you were called into the fellowship of His Son, Jesus Christ our Lord]. We were called into the fellowship and therefore when we put our faith in Christ we are now in the fellowship.

[1 John 1:6 If we say that we have fellowship with him, and walk in darkness, we lie and do not practice the truth]. This verse makes it abundantly clear that the apostle John is talking about our position in Christ, not our behaviour. We can not say that we have fellowship with God (in other words that we have been born again) if we walk in darkness (which means we have not actually been born again), because then we would be lying. In simple English: You cannot say you are a Christian if you have not been born again!!

Practicing Truth or Righteousness / Walking in Darkness
Now of course the pessimist or legalist would say, “Yes but what about the parts in the previous verse that says “WALK in darkness” and “PRACTICE the truth?” The answer is simple: once again this is not referring to our own works of righteousness, in fact it has nothing to do with our behaviour. The terminology used by the apostle John for being born again is to “practice righteousness” or “practice truth” or “walk in the light” (we will deal with “walking in the light” in the next chapter).  [1 John 2:29 If you know that He is righteous, you know that everyone who practices righteousness is born of Him].
In contrast, when John talks about those who “commit sin” or who “practice lawlessness” or “walk in darkness” he is referring to the unsaved. This principle stays consistent throughout all 3 of John’s epistles. Predominantly however these verses have been read through a legalistic point of view, causing much perplexity in the body of Christ.

Committing Sin or Lawlessness
Another shining example is 1 John 3:4-9: [1 John 3:4 Whoever commits sin also commits lawlessness, and sin is lawlessness. 5 And you know that He was manifested to take away our sins, and in Him there is no sin]. Once again John is referring to the unsaved here. Whenever the New Testament refers to those who “commit sin” or “practice lawlessness” it does not have the same meaning as under the Old Testament when people were still judged according to the Law. The only sin in the New Testament is not believing in Jesus. (Read the article “The Unforgivable Sin” at our website in “Message Archive” page).
Verse 5 depicts God’s answer to mankind’s problem of sin – He took our sin away and placed us in Christ where we now are completely forgiven and seen as though we’ve never even committed a single sin! Read verse 5 again in this context. Is the light beginning to go on yet?

[1 John 3:6 Whoever abides in Him does not sin. Whoever sins has neither seen Him nor known Him]. This verse mentions another “buzz” concept, namely to “abide” in Him. It’s really very simple to prove that this also refers to being saved and not to our own efforts to maintain a good standing with God. Simply do searches for the word “abide(s)” on any Bible software program and study the results.
Verse 6 further says that whoever sins has not seen God or does not know God, which implies not having a relationship with Him. Many (if not all) sincere Christians who have had an intimate relationship with God for decades still make mistakes every day of their lives despite their best efforts. If this verse meant that they are disqualified from their relationship with God if they sin even once (because it doesn’t say “sin a hundred times” or “sin four times per day”), this would amount to nobody on the entire planet being able to maintain a stable relationship with God. Clearly therefore this is not the context of this verse. Let’s look at the subsequent 3 verses (comments added in brackets):

[1 John 3:7 Little children, let no one deceive you. He who practices righteousness (which means to be saved) is righteous, just as He (God) is righteous.  8 He who sins (an unbeliever) is of the devil, for the devil has sinned from the beginning. For this purpose the Son of God was manifested, that He might destroy the works of the devil.  9 Whoever has been born of God (a believer) does not sin, for His (God’s) seed remains in him; and he cannot sin, because he has been born of God]. The key here is verse 9. How is it possible that a believer can not sin if we’re all too aware of how many mistakes we make? Simply because John is not talking about our behaviour! He is still using the same terminology to differentiate between being saved or not. Read verses 7 – 9 again and let it sink in. In verse 8, if John meant that anybody who commits an act of sin is of the devil, it would imply that all Christians are of the devil. Clearly this is not what he meant.
There are 3 main reasons why Christians can not be called “sinners” anymore, the first being because they are no longer under the Old Covenant Law. And since there is no more Law to break (and sin is defined as breaking the Law) consequently their mistakes can no longer be called “sinning”. [Rom 4:15b ... And where there is no law there is no transgression].
Secondly everybody on the planet person is either a sinner or a saint. Not once in the entire Bible mention is made of a “neutral” position somewhere in the middle. We either have God as our Father, or the devil.
Thirdly the born again spirit of a Christian is 100% righteous and will remain 100% righteous for all of eternity in spite of less than perfect behaviour during his / her remaining time on the earth. If this were not the case, then there would be no other way to explain the following “contradicting” verses:

[1 John 1:8 If we claim to be without sin, we deceive ourselves and the truth is not in us. 9 If we confess our sins, he is faithful and just and will forgive us our sins and purify us from all unrighteousness 10 If we claim we have not sinned, we make him out to be a liar and his word has no place in our lives].

Now compare these 3 verses against the following “seemingly” conflicting verse:

[1 John 3:9 Whoever has been born of God does not sin, for His seed remains in him; and he cannot sin, because he has been born of God].

The only explanation is that in the first 3 verses, even though John used the word “we”, he was in fact not referring to believers, but to unbelievers. As a shepherd and a preacher he was identifying with the lost in an open display of God’s love, saying “We have all sinned, we all need to repent”. Instead of bashing and ridiculing the unbelievers openly, he was tactfully saying something along the lines of this: “(v8) If any person claims to be without sin, they are deceived and the truth (Christ) does not live inside them (because Christ said “I am the TRUTH, the way and the life). (v9) But if such a person (a sinner) acknowledges they are sinful and in need of a saviour, God who is faithful will forgive them ALL of their sins and wash them clean of ALL unrighteousness (implying that they are now clean forever). (v10) However if any person claims they have never sinned, they make God into a liar and willingly reject the truth of His word.” Take these 3 verses and compare them verse by verse to the actual verses above.
Think about it this way: What does a person have to do to be born again? They have to confess they are a sinner, admit that they need a saviour and put their faith in Christ (Rom 10:9-10). Therefore if any person claims to be without sin before putting their faith in Christ, they are deceived and blinded to the truth. This is the heresy that John was countering in this epistle. (For a more elaborate explanation on 1 John 1:9, please read our previous message “Should Christians Confess Their Sins to God?” on the “Message Archive” page of our website).

In our next message we will continue destroying these religious doctrines that have crippled the church for too long. We will look at what Jesus had to say about those who “practice lawlessness” in Matt 7:23 as well as take a look at what the apostle John meant when he talked about “obeying commandments” in  1 John 2 and 3.

In Grace
Andre van der Merwe

Is Grace Simply a License to Sin?

This topic has presented itself in the form of numerous questions and statements in the past, such as the following:

• Does preaching Grace lead to a careless lifestyle?
• Won’t people run out and sin recklessly if they get too “deep” into the Grace message?
• We can not preach Grace to a new believer because they are not mature enough to be trusted with such freedom yet.
• Taking the Law off believers gives them a license to sin.

All these statements fly straight in the face of what the Bible teaches about Grace:

[Tit 2:11 For the grace of God that brings salvation has appeared to all men, 12 teaching us that, denying ungodliness and worldly lusts, we should live soberly, righteously, and godly in the present age].

Firstly let us consider how Grace influences a person’s thinking. When we comprehend what the message of Grace is all about (how God pardoned the sins of the whole world (Heb 10:17), abolished the written code of the Law (Col 2:14), set people at liberty to live free from the fear of judgement and punishment (1 John 4:18), how believers are encouraged to have boldness when approaching God (Heb 10:19-21), that we can be confident that God will never be angry with us ever again (Isa 54:9-10) and many other truths like these), it is clear that a proper understanding of these matters will in fact NOT encourage a person to want to sin, but rather inspire such a person to be more thankful towards God for all He has done, to live a life worthy of the sacrifice made by Jesus and to deny ungodly conduct as stated in Tit 2:11-12 (above).

Mostly the arguments and questions against the Grace message, such as the ones we mentioned above, come from people who are not necessarily afraid that they themselves will be deceived into wanting to commit more sins, but their arguments are for other “weaker” Christians who in their opinion do not yet have the “maturity” to handle the responsibility that comes with such freedom. Therefore they encourage that the truth of the Grace message be taught with a healthy dose of Law mixed in to warn these “weak” Christians against the perils of sinning. How ironic isn’t it then that the Bible teaches us that sin doesn’t increase through Grace, but rather through the Law: [Rom 5:20 God’s law was given so that all people could see how sinful they were. But as people sinned more and more, God’s wonderful grace became more abundant] (NLT). Grace actually came in and covered the sins that were made more abundant through the Law!

So for someone to say that Grace is a license to sin, it simply serves to expose such a person’s ignorance to what Grace actually means and stands for. It reveals that they don’t understand that the power of the Holy Spirit inside a believer (reminding them of their complete 100% righteous standing before God) is an infinitely stronger empowerment for “good behaviour” than threatening someone with the Law. As a result the legalists can all relax and come to terms with the fact that the Holy Spirit can be trusted with the transforming work in the life of a believer: [Phil 1:6 being confident of this very thing, that He who has begun a good work in you will complete it until the day of Jesus Christ]. Nobody appointed us as each other’s moral policemen, so how can we ever try to assume that function?

The truth is that Grace can never be reduced to an “acceptable” level to compensate for the insecurities of legalists. Due to the extreme nature of the Law, Grace needs to be preached in its purest form as well in order to free people from the poison of “works based” mindsets.
In Grace
Andre van der Merwe

Not Just an Old Sinner

Although it is true that believers once went by the name “sinners”, the same can not be said of a born again Christian anymore. After the crucifixion, throughout all the New Testament scriptures, the term “sinner” consistently refers to a person who has rejected God, choosing to live in subjection to the carnal desires of their sinful nature. It clearly talks about a person who has NOT been born again.

Well known Grace minister, Steve Mcvey (www.gracewalk.org) writes the following:
The primary project for most Christians in the modern church is to reduce the number or frequency of sins in their lives. It’s a sin management program that they devote themselves to with great zeal and sincere commitment.
  It all sounds so good on the surface. That’s the subtlety with legalism. It sounds right to the religious ear despite the fact that it contradicts and ignores what the Bible teaches. It sounds so right to some that to become Godly requires that we work hard to change our bad behaviors and replace them with good ones. To them it’s all about diminishing the number of sins that we commit and increasing the number of good things that we do. But Godliness doesn’t come from that. Godliness is not the absence of sin.
  The truth is this, the reason you’re godly is because the Spirit of God lives in you… Since the Holy Spirit came into your spirit, and your spirit is the core of your identity (you ARE a spirit, HAVE a soul and LIVE in a body), then you are holy, you are Godly, because God’s Spirit is inside you. It doesn’t have to do with resisting sin, or giving into sin. The truth is, you’re just as Godly whether you sin, or don’t sin. Your identity isn’t established by what you do. It is established by what He has done!

Let’s look at a few examples of verses dealing with this matter in the Bible:

[Rom 5:8 But God demonstrates His own love toward us, in that while we were still sinners, Christ died for us]. This verse clearly says that while we WERE still sinners, Christ died for us, which by implication means that a believer is not a sinner anymore.

[1 Tim 1:9 knowing this: that the law is not made for a righteous person, but for the lawless and insubordinate, for the ungodly and for sinners, for the unholy and profane, for murderers of fathers and murderers of mothers, for manslayers...] There’s quite a lot happening in this verse:
  Firstly It says that the Law (including the 10 Commandments) was not made for a righteous person, referring to a person who has been born again and who has received the righteousness of God as a free gift, making that person perfect for ever in His eyes: [Heb 10:14 For by one offering he hath perfected for ever them that are sanctified] (KJV).
  Furthermore this verse says that the Law was made for ungodly people and sinners and it also calls these people “lawless”. That is because under the New Covenant it is not those who fail to obey the written moral code of the Law that are considered to be “lawless”, but instead those who refuse to accept the free gift of salvation offered by God, who turn their back on His Grace and harden their hearts against the compassionate promptings of the Holy Spirit to repent and be saved. These people will retain their status as murderers, adulterers, liars, etc. because they refuse to accept the pardon for these sins that is freely offered by God to all those who choose to believe in Him.

Another scripture that proves this principle is the following: [1 Cor 6:9 Do you not know that the unrighteous will not inherit the kingdom of God? Do not be deceived. Neither fornicators, nor idolaters, nor adulterers, nor homosexuals, nor sodomites, 10 nor thieves, nor covetous, nor drunkards, nor revilers, nor extortioners will inherit the kingdom of God. 11 And such were some of you. But you were washed, but you were sanctified, but you were justified in the name of the Lord Jesus and by the Spirit of our God]. Verse 9 says the “unrighteous” will not inherit the kingdom. And then it goes on to describe a list of deeds done by those who have not been forgiven their sins, in other words those who did not put their faith in Jesus to be reconciled with Him. And then in verse 11 we see the key to unlock this portion of scripture: Paul says “such WERE some of you”. And then he goes on to describe what happened to those who put their faith in Jesus, saying they WERE cleansed and justified, meaning they now stand clean, innocent and forgiven before God. Isn’t that amazing?

This serves to confirm that whenever the Bible (after the cross) talks about a sinner, it speaks about a person that has not been born again. Let’s look at 3 more scriptures:

[Jam 5:20 let him know that he who turns a sinner from the error of his way will save a soul from death and cover a multitude of sins]. This verse says that a “sinner” can be saved from death and his sins be forgiven if he is turned from the error of his way.

[1 Pet 4:18 Now “If the righteous one is scarcely saved, where will the ungodly and the sinner appear?”]. This verse is squarely in support of 1 Tim 1:9 (above) and it clearly contrasts the “righteous” with the “sinner & ungodly”.

The next verse nails it: [1John 3:9 Whoever has been born of God does not sin, for His seed remains in him; and he cannot sin, because he has been born of God]. This confirms that a born again Christian can not be labelled as a “sinner” according to their level of good or bad works, because it’s a no-brainer that everybody makes mistakes almost everyday of their lives! And yet this verse says that whoever has been born of God (born again) cannot sin, because their identity is not based on their level of adhering to the 10 commandments but instead it is based on the finished work of the cross!

Therefore we can conclude that a born again person HAS received the righteousness of God as a gift and HAS BEEN sanctified (in their spirit) and can therefore not be referred to as a sinner anymore, even if their behaviour does not always reflect this. Yes we do not always live in 100% obedience to God, but that does not influence the fact that God still sees us as completely righteous, forgiven, sanctified and holy. And obviously to those who believe we are saying that Christians can now just go out and sin as much as they want, we are not implying this at all.

In Grace
Andre van der Merwe

Super Abounding Grace!

[Rom 5:20 Moreover the law entered that the offence might abound. But where sin abounded, grace abounded much more].

This verse is not referring to a particular sin because then we’d never be able to tell exactly which sin Paul was referring to. Instead it refers to the inherent tendency to sin that entered the human heart, which turned Adam into a sinner by nature. Adam then passed this inherent sinful nature on to all his offspring. Yes it was only a single act of disobedience, but it opened his heart to the entrance of the sinful condition.

Every human being has inherited this sinful nature from Adam, and the reason why the Law was given was to stimulate our sinful nature so that we became more aware of our sinful condition.

[Rom 5:14 Nevertheless death reigned from Adam to Moses, even over those who had not sinned according to the likeness of the transgression of Adam, who is a type of Him who was to come]. Because of Adam’s sin, the whole world became guilty. If anybody were to end up in hell, it would not have been because of their own sins but because they inherited Adam’s sinful nature at birth. In the same way, nobody will go to heaven because of their own goodness or level of obedience, but only because of their faith in Jesus’ perfect obedience.

[Rom 5:15 But the free gift is not like the offence. For if by the one man’s offence many died, much more the grace of God and the gift by the grace of the one Man, Jesus Christ, abounded to many]. Because of Jesus’ obedience, those who believe in Him are justified by faith.

Now when God gave the Law it was meant to come in beside sinners to show how huge our lack of holiness really was. It wasn’t given to turn mankind into sinners, because sin existed even before the law was given (see Rom 5:14 again). The purpose of the Law was to show us the depth of our depravity. God didn’t introduce the Law because He wanted to make us sin more, but He wanted us to be more conscious of our sins and the fact that we had an utterly sinful nature. Notice in Rom 5:15 that Paul does not say “offences” (plural) but “offence” (singular), which is a reference to the sin (sinful state) of Adam. A few of the heroes of the faith made the following comments:

Charles Spurgeon: “A stick is crooked, but you do not notice how crooked it is until you place a straight rule by the side of it. You have a handkerchief, and it seems to be quite white. You could hardly wish it to be whiter. But you lay it down on the newly fallen snow, and you wonder how you could ever have thought it to be white at all. So the pure and holy law of God, when our eyes are opened to see its purity, shows up our sin in its true blackness, and in that way it makes sin to abound. But this is for our good, for that sight of our sin awakens us to a sense of our true condition, leads us to repentance, drives us by faith to the precious blood of Jesus, and no longer permits us to rest in our self-righteousness. It was the practical result of the giving of the law that men became greater sinners than they were before, and it was the design of the law that they should see themselves to be greater sinners than before. The law is the looking-glass in which we see our spots, but it is not the basin in which we wash them away. The law has a provoking power, for such is the perversity of our (old) nature that, no sooner do we hear the command, “You shall not do so-and-so,” than at once we want to do it”.

Dave Guzik: “The flaws in a precious stone abound when contrasted with a perfect stone, or when put against a contrasting backdrop. God’s perfect law exposes our flaws, and makes our sin abound. There is another way that the law makes sin abound. Because of the sinfulness of my heart, when I see a line drawn I want to cross over it. In this sense, the law makes sin abound because it draws many clear lines between right and wrong that my sinful heart wants to break. Therefore, the law makes me sin more – but not because there is anything wrong in the law, only because there is something deeply wrong in the human condition”.

John Piper: “I take it to mean that one crucial function of the law is to turn our original sin into actual transgressions of specific commandments. First, we are guilty in Adam and sinful by nature, and then the Law confronts us with the specific will of God: “Don’t steal. Don’t lie. Don’t covet.” And the effect is that it turns sinful nature into specific sinful acts of transgression. One writer said it well: the Law makes little Adams out of us all”. (”The law has the function of turning those it addresses into ‘their own Adam.”)

So we see the Law was given so that sin might abound. Our key verse however says that where sin abounded, Grace abounded much more! [Rom 5:20 Moreover the law entered that the offence might abound. But where sin abounded, grace abounded much more]. Let’s look at some quotes on Grace that abounds:

Wayne Barber: “Now there are two words used in that verse for abound or increase. The first one is pleonazo (used with “sin”), which means “is more than enough” or “to have enough.” The other word (used with Grace), perisseuo, is actually a synonym, but when they are used together, they are saying different things. Pleonazo means to abound, but perisseuo means to go even beyond that (and) takes it to a greater extreme. Not only that, but Paul put a preposition, huper, in front of the word perisseuo (huperperisseuo). So what he is saying is that not only does Grace extend beyond where sin increased, but Grace goes WAY beyond”.

In his book, “What’s So Amazing About Grace,” Phillip Yancey points out that part of our problem is in the nature of Grace itself. Grace is scandalous. It’s hard to accept, hard to believe, and hard to receive. Grace shocks us in what it offers. It is truly not of this world. It frightens us with what it does for sinners. Grace teaches us that God does for others what we would never do for them. We would save the “not-so-bad”. God starts with prostitutes and then works downward from there. Grace is a gift that costs everything to the giver and nothing to the receiver. It is given to those who don’t deserve it, barely recognize it, and hardly appreciate it. That’s why God alone gets the glory in your salvation. Jesus did all the work when he died on the cross.

Law added transgressions, showing even more clearly the super-abounding (huperperisseuo) Grace of God.  Grace did not set aside the Law, but rather completely satisfied it. As deep as sin goes, God’s Grace goes deeper. As wide as sin is, God’s Grace is wider. When sin abounded, Grace super-abounded. God’s Grace is greater than all our sin.

Barnhouse also comments on Paul’s use of “abounds” and “super-abounds”: “In the Greek, these are two different words. “Where sin overflowed, grace flooded in.” Where sin measurably increased, grace immeasurably increased. Where sin abounded – pleonazo – grace did much more abound – huper-perisseuo. The prefix huper is like the Latin “super”. The movie ads have taught us what “super” does to a word. Instead of being colossal, something is super-colossal. So, where sin could be measured by multiplying the number of commands of the law by the number of human beings in the world, Grace could never be measured because it would require the multiplication of the number of acts of God’s Grace by the infinity of His being. Our text might well read: “Where sin was finite, Grace was infinite.”

In Grace
Andre van der Merwe

Renewing Your Mind

At salvation our spirit was created 100% righteous and holy, in the image of Christ. The last part of Eph 4 talks about our behaviour towards other people and v24 says that just as our inner man (which is of course the born again spirit)  has already been created according to the very image of Jesus, we should now also let our actions reflect this change that’s occurred inside us. [Eph 4:24 and that you put on the new man which was created according to God, in true righteousness and holiness].
There is nothing we can add to this perfect work which God accomplished in us. He did however tell us one way to transform ourselves:
[Rom 12:2 And do not be conformed to this world, but be transformed by the renewing of your mind, that you may prove what is that good and acceptable and perfect will of God].
This is also why we are told to set our minds on the things above [Col 3:2 Set your mind on things above, not on things on the earth], because the more we think God’s thoughts, the faster our minds will be transformed. When we still had an old sinful nature on the inside, we followed after its desires and trained our mind to think according to its lusts. But now that we have Christ living inside us, we need to re-train our mind to think according to the new nature. As our old sinful thought patterns then begin to starve, our mind will come more and more into agreement with our born again spirit.

Now you may be asking: “Isn’t it blasphemy to say we want to think God’s thoughts?” No, definitely not. I am not saying that we should become God; I’m saying we begin to think like Him.
“And how do we do that?” Well I’m glad you asked that question. Before anybody speaks, the words they say had to have been thoughts in their mind first, which they then speak or write down, thereby giving life to those thoughts and making them known to others. And since we have God’s thoughts written in His Word and available to us, then by reading the Word we can know what God’s thoughts are. Many people are waiting for God to speak to them when He has already written them a letter. So if you want to begin to think God’s thoughts, read and meditate on His Word – simple as that! Begin to understand how He sees you, familiarise yourself with the New Covenant, the New Creation, the atonement, your authority as a believer, how to hear God’s voice and much more! If we truly want our faith to become effective, we should reach a place in our life where our first thought is always what the Word of God says, and not “What does God’s Word say?”

Don’t be condemned by the following statement, but read the following words through the lenses of the New Covenant, and remember that the Holy Spirit is living inside you and that you can do all things through Christ who strengthens you. Here we go: It’s not just knowing scripture that serves as proof that our minds have been renewed. [James 1:22 But be doers of the word, and not hearers only, deceiving yourselves]. The amount of Word that we actually begin to put into practice in our lives is a measure of the degree to which our minds have been renewed. If we’re not doing it, it means we don’t believe it. People will know what we believe by the fruit we bear, by the things we do. Actions speak louder than words.

There are generally 2 groups of Christians: Firstly there is the group that grew up under the Law. They always expected God to punish them if they made a mistake, and their minds were trained to think legalistically: Do good – get good. Do bad – get bad. So they trained themselves to always try and do more, live better and be more holy. Secondly there is the group that grew up outside of church, who lived with a disregard for any moral code, running blindly after the desires of their sinful nature. This group trained their minds to think in terms of self preservation and self gratification. Depending on what age you were when you got saved, generally most people have lived according to one of the above ways for the better part of about 20 years of their life.
Both these groups now have to come to terms with Grace and begin to retrain their minds to relate to God according to the way of the New Covenant. And there are two ways of doing this:
They can either choose to spend another 20 years attending church Sunday by Sunday and hope that their pastor is doing a decent job, and have him/her renew their minds for them on Sunday mornings. Then during the week they would go back to their normal life and live as though God didn’t exist and then finally, after about 20 years they would maybe begin to understand the revelation of Grace.
Or they can make a decision to get stuck in the Word of God, learn discipline, listen to sermons, worship God extravagantly, go to conferences and seminars and have their minds renewed in a couple of months or years. They can then spend the rest of their remaining life reaping the fruit of this season of their life, a season where they purposely dedicated themselves to re-training their mind to think according to the truth of God’s Word.
Nobody said it would be easy initially, but we can be assured of this: Once we dive head first into the ocean of God’s realm, of His Spirit and His Life, a passion for Him will begin to overtake us and we will find it becoming easier and easier to renew our mind.

Why do we need to renew our minds? Let’s read the second part of Rom 12:2 again: [Rom 12:2b ... that you may prove what is that good and acceptable and perfect will of God]. The world is tired of clever arguments and philosophies about the existence of God. [1 Cor 2:4 And my speech and my preaching were not with persuasive words of human wisdom, but in demonstration of the Spirit and of power, 5 that your faith should not be in the wisdom of men but in the power of God]. We prove God’s will to the world by demonstrating His kingdom in power by healing the sick, freeing the oppressed, setting the captives free.

[Acts 10:38 how God anointed Jesus of Nazareth with the Holy Spirit and with power, who went about doing good and healing all who were oppressed by the devil, for God was with Him]. Since Jesus is perfect theology and He healed ALL, then it is God’s will for ALL to be healed. We also know that it’s God’s will that ALL be saved: [1 Tim 2:3 For this is good and acceptable in the sight of God our Savior, 4 who desires all men to be saved and to come to the knowledge of the truth].
In the Lord’s Prayer Jesus prayed the following: [Matt 6:10b ... Your will be done on earth as it is in heaven]. The very fact that He prayed these words serves to prove that not everything that happens on the earth is God’s will, or else He would not have prayed “let Your will be done on earth”. So from these words spoken by Jesus, we see it is God’s will for everything that is happening in heaven to also be manifested here on earth and to have the will of the Father done in the earth. Because we know in heaven there is no sickness, no poverty, no corruption, no death, no suffering, etc. So by simply looking around us we can easily see where God’s will is NOT being manifested, and in that situation we can be the hands and feet of Jesus, making known to the world that it is in fact God’s will for them to be healed, to be saved and to be delivered from bondage. This is how we prove the will of God to the world; the good, acceptable and perfect will of God. Hallelujah!

In Grace
Andre van der Merwe

Heavenly Treasures

What you BELIEVE determines WHERE you will spend eternity (heaven or hell). What you DO determines HOW you will spend eternity (rich or poor). Yes, it is possible to be “poor” in heaven, and even though everybody in heaven will be happy, love each other and have no envy or strife, some people will be “richer” in heaven than other people (read the rest of the article if you want to find out what it means to be “rich” in heaven).

Firstly let’s just settle this one point: If you believe in Jesus Christ as your Lord and Saviour, you WILL go to heaven. This message is NOT about whether you will go to heaven or not, it assumes you WILL. This message is about receiving a reward for your WORKS.

Firstly there are those people who say that everybody will be equal in heaven, have all things in common and that  they don’t care about whether they will have lots of treasure in heaven or not, as long as they get there! Although the first 2 statements may be partially true, there is definitely something wrong with saying you don’t care about having treasure in heaven, as Jesus specifically taught us to store up treasures for our self in heaven: [Mat 6:19 Do not lay up treasures on earth for yourselves, where moth and rust corrupt, and where thieves break through and steal. Mat 6:20 But lay up treasures in Heaven for yourselves, where neither moth nor rust corrupt, and where thieves do not break through nor steal].

The New Covenant is full of passages that tell us we will be rewarded according to our WORKS:

[Rev 22:12 And behold, I am coming quickly, and My reward is with Me, to give to each according as his work is].
[1 Cor 3:13 each one's work shall be revealed. For the Day shall declare it, because it shall be revealed by fire; and the fire shall try each one's work as to what kind it is. 14 If anyone's work which he built remains, he shall receive a reward. 15 If anyone's work shall be burned up, he shall suffer loss. But he shall be saved, yet so as by fire]. These verses say we will receive a reward for our works, and if we didn’t do any works that are worth a reward, we will suffer loss and only just make it to heaven ourselves, we’ll almost be able to smell the smoke on our backsides, ha-ha!!

[2 Cor 5:10 For we must all appear before the judgment seat of Christ, so that each one may receive the things done through the body, according to that which he has done, whether good or bad]. Note that not all “good works” will be rewarded. Good works done from a motive of trying to be justified through it, or from any other motive other than FAITH, will be burnt up.

How can we know which of our good works will be rewarded? It’s all about the motive, and no man can judge the motive of another man’s heart. [1 Sam 16:7 For man looks on the outward appearance, but God looks on the heart]. And what should our motive be? [1 Cor 10:31 Therefore, whether you eat or drink, or whatever you do, do all to the glory of God]. We don’t store up treasures for ourselves to build our own empire or kingdom, but rather the Kingdom of God.

The next obvious question is this: What “treasure” is the Bible talking about? If even the streets of heaven will be paved with gold, of what use will an abundance of possessions be in heaven? The key lies in the parable of the faithful servant. When the master came back and he found the servant had doubled the 5 talents into 10 talents, he was very pleased with him: [Matt 25:20 And so he who had received five talents came and brought another five talents, saying, Lord, you delivered five talents to me. Behold, I have gained five talents above them. 21 His lord said to him, Well done, good and faithful servant! You have been faithful over a few things; I will make you ruler over many things. Enter into the joy of your lord].

Our reward in heaven for being faithful with what had been appointed to us is not possessions: it is responsibility. We will be entrusted with more responsibility (called “heavenly treasure” or “true riches”) in heaven if we proved ourselves faithful here on the earth. [Luk 16:10 Whoever can be trusted with very little can also be trusted with much, and whoever is dishonest with very little will also be dishonest with much. 11 Therefore if you have not been faithful in the unrighteous mammon, who will entrust the true riches to you?]

After the second coming of our Lord, the saints will rule the earth with Him and those who were faithful during their time on earth will be appointed in positions of higher authority.
[1 Cor 6:2a Do you not know that the saints will judge the world?]
[Rev 5:10 And You made us kings and priests to our God, and we will reign over the earth].
[Dan 7:27 And the kingdom and dominion, and the greatness of the kingdom under the whole heaven, shall be given to the people of the saints of the most High, whose kingdom is an everlasting kingdom, and all dominions shall serve and obey him].
[Rev 2:26 And he who overcomes and keeps My works to the end, to him I will give power over the nations. 27 And he will rule them with a rod of iron, as the vessels of a potter they will be broken to pieces, even as I received from My Father. 28 And I will give him the Morning Star].

Is eternity to be a time when those still living out physical lives on the earth will be kept in subjection by a divine dictatorship? The verb translated “rule” in Revelation 2:27 is poimanei, derived from the word for a shepherd (poimen). It is the same word used by the apostle Paul in Acts 20:28 to describe the care that overseers are to show toward the Church of God. The rod or club carried by a shepherd was primarily for the protection of his sheep, not to frighten or punish them.

In Grace
Andre van der Merwe

Why Live Holy?

The entire New Covenant speaks against trying to “live holy” in our own strength and be justified though our own efforts. God does not relate to us according to our own level of obedience anymore, but according to the perfect obedience of the One Man, Jesus Christ.

[Rom 3:28 Therefore we conclude that a man is justified by faith apart from the deeds of the law].
[Rom 5:19 For as by one man’s disobedience (first Adam) many were made sinners, so also by one Man’s obedience (Christ) many will be made righteous].

Yet we see many verses in the New Covenant that still advocate a holy lifestyle. What would be the purpose of this? Well if we look at the 2 verses above, it talks about our standing before God. In God’s eyes, once we put our faith in His Son Jesus, we will always be justified and righteous before Him because when the Father looks at us, He sees Christ. We are IN Christ and nothing can ever take us out of Christ. [1 Cor 6:17 But he who is joined to the Lord is one spirit with Him]. However, often we try and separate ourselves from Christ when we mess up and we feel that our actions are being scrutinized by God under a magnifying glass, but this is not the case. The Father sees the perfect obedience of Jesus on our behalf!

On the contrary, when it comes to PEOPLE, we are constantly stirred to “love one another”, “keep the bond of peace”, “forgive one another” etc. People are not as gracious as God and we need to maintain “good works” when it comes to relating to people, but NOT TO GOD. Note that we are not saying that people should live disobedient to God. But you will see that the context of most scriptures in the New Covenant that talks about holy living and good works, pertain to maintaining our relationships with other people. Let’s look at 3 examples:

[Eph 4:25 Therefore, putting away lying, “Let each one of you speak truth with his neighbour,” for we are members of one another]. If you keep lying to people you will get into trouble sooner or later.
[26“Be angry, and do not sin”. Do not let the sun go down on your wrath, 27 nor give place to the devil]. When you stay angry with someone for an extended period of time, you give the devil a foothold in your relationship with that person.
[28 Let him who stole steal no longer, but rather let him labour, working with his hands what is good, that he may have something to give him who has need]. When we steal from others, this is bound to have a detrimental effect on our relationship with them when they find out.
[29 Let no corrupt word proceed out of your mouth, but what is good for necessary edification, that it may impart grace to the hearers]. Once again it talks about PEOPLE, because it says our words should edify the hearers.

[Col 3:9 Do not lie to one another, since you have put off the old man with his deeds, 10 and have put on the new man who is renewed in knowledge according to the image of Him who created him, 11 where there is neither Greek nor Jew, circumcised nor uncircumcised, barbarian, Scythian, slave nor free, but Christ is all and in all. 12 Therefore, as the elect of God, holy and beloved, put on tender mercies, kindness, humility, meekness, longsuffering; 13 bearing with one another, and forgiving one another, if anyone has a complaint against another; even as Christ forgave you, so you also must do].

[Gal 6:8 For he who sows to his flesh will of the flesh reap corruption; but he who sows to the Spirit will of the Spirit reap everlasting life]. When you follow after the desires of your flesh (which means your unrenewed mind with its carnal desires), you are bound to run into trouble with people if you lie, defraud, cheat or trick them. You might even be prosecuted by the law if you steal or commit other crimes. This is the “corruption” that this verse talks about – the NIV says “destruction”.

There are many other examples, but I think we get the point: God doesn’t love us less when we mess up, but people do – unless they are mature Christians that understand Grace & know that nobody’s behaviour is perfect.

Finally, a second reason for living holy is this: If we have died to sin (because our sinful nature was “cut” out of us through the circumcision of Christ (Col 2:11)), why would we want to live in it any longer? Why would we still want to run after the desires of our old sinful nature as though it wasn’t removed from us?

[Rom 6:1 What shall we say then? Shall we continue in sin that grace may abound? 2 Certainly not! How shall we who died to sin live any longer in it? 7 For he who has died has been freed from sin. 12 Therefore do not let sin reign in your mortal body, that you should obey it in its lusts. 13 And do not present your members as instruments of unrighteousness to sin, but present yourselves to God as being alive from the dead, and your members as instruments of righteousness to God. 14 For sin shall not have dominion over you, for you are not under law but under grace].

And here is how we do it: The more we try to sin less, the more we will fail. Our victory over the lusts of the flesh is to have our minds renewed, to have our thoughts transformed to discern the truth of God’s Word and spend time in His presence, allowing Him romance and woo us. When we begin to see how deeply His love runs for us, we will not be able to resist flowing in the fruit of the Spirit inside us, showing love and compassion to a world that needs to see Jesus!

In Grace
Andre van der Merwe

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 realise and use what I have ALREADY BEEN GIVEN. It is important to realise 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 honour 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

Divorced from the Law

[Rom 7:4 Therefore, my brethren, you also have become dead to the law through the body of Christ, that you may be married to another – to Him who was raised from the dead, that we should bear fruit to God].

This verse says that we have to become dead to the Law in order for us to bear fruit. This implies that if we have not died to the Law, we cannot actually bear fruit. What is fruit? It is the result of the Holy Spirit living through us (Gal 5:22-23), the very manifestations of His character, and not our own efforts to “live holy”. Instead of letting the Holy Spirit live through us, we suppress Him when we try to earn the approval of God through our own obedience and try to live according to the Old Covenant Law.

As a child I was raised in a very conservative Christian home, made to go to church and attend Sunday school every Sunday and I learned to relate to God on the basis of my own performance. For our final year church exam (can you believe that such a thing exists??) just before we were “confirmed”, we had to write a test that included writing down word for word the 10 commandments by heart. I scored the highest in the class with 98% and felt very good about myself, thinking I was a model Christian. But the very next week I caught myself having lustful thoughts and I spent the night on my knees, crying and begging God for forgiveness because now I was “bad” again.

This is a pattern in the life of most Christians who live under the Law: One week you’d have a good week, feeling that you didn’t make too many mistakes and that God is pleased with you. But then you’d find yourself doing that one thing you swore you’d never do again, and you’re back to square one. The Law demands a level of obedience that no human being is able to achieve, and failure to comply is punishable by death. And that’s where Jesus comes in: He lived a perfect sinless life, fulfilling ALL the requirements of the Law and effectively ENDING it (Matt 5:17-18). He destroyed the hold of sin (which was strengthened by the Law) by removing the consequences / punishment for sin completely. [1 Cor 15:56 The sting of death is sin, and the strength of sin is the law]. And He set us at liberty to live free from the fear of judgement (1 John 4:17-18) and the power of sin. [Rom 6:14 For sin shall not have dominion over you, for you are not under law but under grace].

When two people marry, they make a vow to stay true to each other until death should part them. Now back in the old days when a person’s vow still actually meant something, a vow could not be broken except through death by one of the parties involved. Well the same goes for vows / covenants / oaths made by God. When God makes a vow, it WILL come to pass and stay in power for all eternity. So when God made a covenant with Israel and gave them the 10 commandments and the Old Covenant Law, the only way for them to be able to get out of that Covenant was to fulfill it or to die for breaking it. Now watch this: Jesus Christ both fulfilled it (and earned ALL the blessings for perfectly obeying it) and then went even further and died for us because mankind could not hold up their part either (and carried all the curses & punishment for disobedience on our behalf as well). Now if that isn’t love, I don’t know what is…

Now by simply putting our faith in Jesus, we also die to the law (and all the curses for disobedience) and become alive to God (and through Christ are given ALL the blessings for His obedience – [Eph 1:3 Blessed (be) the God and Father of our Lord Jesus Christ, who has blessed us with every spiritual blessing in the heavenly (places) in Christ].

[Rom 7:1 Or do you not know, brethren (for I speak to those who know the law), that the law has dominion over a man as long as he lives? 2 For the woman who has a husband is bound by the law to her husband as long as he lives. But if the husband dies, she is released from the law of her husband. 3 So then if, while her husband lives, she marries another man, she will be called an adulteress; but if her husband dies, she is free from that law, so that she is no adulteress, though she has married another man. 4 Therefore, my brethren, you also have become dead to the law through the body of Christ, that you may be married to another – to Him who was raised from the dead, that we should bear fruit to God].

[Gal 2:19 For I through the law died to the law that I might live to God].

Once we realize that we are actually dead to the Old Covenant Law, we will stop trying to relate to God on the basis of our own good or bad behaviour, and simply love Him because He is a good Dad. Gone are the days of Do’s and Don’ts, of us running around like slaves to try and live up to the demands of the old husband of the Law, that slaps us around and always demands more! Here are the days of being married to our new husband, Jesus Christ, who loves us because we are His glorious bride, His beloved church. Yay God!!!!

In Grace
Andre van der Merwe