Sons of Abraham
10.07.09
Sons of Abraham
The Gospel of the New Covenant centres around the fact that God has changed the way He relates to mankind, not through the obedience of the law, but through Grace alone. Through faith in Jesus Christ alone we are justified: [Gal 2:16 Knowing that a man is not justified by the works of the law, but by the faith of Jesus Christ, even we have believed in Jesus Christ, that we might be justified by the faith of Christ, and not by the works of the law: for by the works of the law shall no flesh be justified.]
God made promises to Abraham in Gen 12 that Abraham would be blessed, that God would make his name great and that in him all the nations of the earth would be blessed. God later in Gen 17 confirmed these promises to Abraham with a covenant. And for the simple reason that ABRAHAM BELIEVED GOD, God counted Abraham’s faith to him as righteousness. [Gen 15:6 And he believed in the LORD; and he counted it to him for righteousness] and also blessed Abraham with earthly possessions [Gen 13:2 And Abram was very rich in cattle, in silver, and in gold.]
430 Years later, God made another covenant with a group of “stiff-necked” people. [Deut 6:9 Therefore understand that the LORD your God is not giving you this good land to possess because of your righteousness, for you are a stiff-necked people.] After having just brought them out of Egypt with 10 mighty plagues, providing for their every need in the desert, Israel still refused to believe that God wanted to bless them SIMPLY because He is a good God – therefore God gave them the Law. Under the law they would have to live morally, perform rituals, make sacrifices and fully hold up their side of the deal in order for God to bless them. But during a major part of the Old Testament in the Bible, we see the sad unfolding of Israel’s failure to comply with the requirements of the Law. They were defeated, taken captive, their cities destroyed, and scattered across the earth.
And here is the shocker: At any moment in their history, Israel could have chosen to come out from under the law, and live under the covenant that God had made with Abraham, once again believing that God would bless them & see them as righteous NOT BECAUSE they tried to live up to the Law, but simply because they believed in God. The covenant of the Law did not cancel the promises that God made to Abraham!! [Gal 3:16 Now to Abraham and his seed were the promises made. He saith not, And to seeds, as of many; but as of one, And to thy seed, which is Christ. 17 And this I say, that the covenant, that was confirmed before of God in Christ, the law, which was four hundred and thirty years after, cannot disannul, that it should make the promise of none effect. 18 For if the inheritance be of the law, it is no more of promise: but God gave it to Abraham by promise.] During that period there would have been two covenants operational in the earth, since the Old Covenant only became obsolete after the cross.
Under the Old Covenant, the Laws were given to obey. Under the New Covenant, promises are given to believe in. Jesus came to the earth more than 2000 years ago to fulfil the requirements of the law, thereby cancelling it and effectively nullifying the Old Covenant. (Heb 8:7-13). Those who were still trying to live according to the Old Covenant tried to oppose Jesus, claiming that they were children of Abraham because of their natural descent. This was Jesus’ reply to them: [John 8:39 They answered and said unto him, Abraham is our father. Jesus saith unto them, If ye were Abraham's children, ye would do the works of Abraham. 40 But now ye seek to kill me, a man that hath told you the truth, which I have heard of God: this did not Abraham. 8:44 Ye are of your father the devil, and the lusts of your father ye will do. He was a murderer from the beginning, and abode not in the truth, because there is no truth in him... 8:45 And because I tell you the truth, ye believe me not]. Here we see that these people did not believe in Jesus.
Therefore we see that those who believe in Jesus are sons of Abraham, and are blessed along with Abraham simply because they believe. [Gal 3:7 Know ye therefore that they which are of faith, the same are the children of Abraham. 8 And the scripture, foreseeing that God would justify the heathen through faith, preached before the gospel unto Abraham, saying, In thee shall all nations be blessed. 9 So then they which be of faith are blessed with faithful Abraham]. [Rom 4:16 Therefore it is of faith, that it might be by grace; to the end the promise might be sure to all the seed; not to that only which is of the law, but to that also which is of the faith of Abraham; who is the father of us all].
When we understand this, it changes the way we receive (because we don’t have to think about whether we’ve been good or bad in order to receive from God); it changes the way we pray (because we’re praying from a place of victory, and not for victory); it changes the way we see God (not a harsh being who judges us for being bad or blesses us for being good, but a loving Father that blesses simply because we believe in Jesus His Son).
Yours in Grace
Andre van der Merwe
www.NewCovenantGrace.com
“During that period there would have been two covenants operational in the earth, since the Old Covenant only became obsolete after the cross.”
………………given the witness of history it appears that the holy spirit has been gradually weaning christendom off their old covenant mindset.
at the turn of the century(1900) believers were not capable of embracing their neighbor, as being everyone else, or that ALL new covenant law was summed up in the 2nd commandment and that the new covenant was without regulation.(“all things are permissable, but not everything in constructive”) all new covenant law is now to make us “conscious” of NOT loving our neighbor as ourselves.
john 16: 12″I have much more to say to you, MORE THAN YOU CAN NOW BEAR. 13But when he, the Spirit of truth, comes, he will guide you into all truth. He will not speak on his own; he will speak only what he hears, and he will tell you what is yet to come. 14He will bring glory to me by taking from what is mine and making it known to you. 15All that belongs to the Father is mine. That is why I said the Spirit will take from what is mine and make it known to you.
science has describe the process of man’s evolvement that has allowed him to more fully embrace the new covenant as the “spiral dynamic”.
romans12:1 Therefore, I urge you, brothers, in view of God’s mercy, to offer your bodies as living sacrifices, holy and pleasing to God—this is your spiritual[a] act of worship. 2Do not conform any longer to the pattern of this world, but BE TRANSFORMED BY THE RENEWING OF YOUR MIND. Then you will be able to test and approve what God’s will is—his good, pleasing and perfect will.
I really pray that this will revolutionize the way you think, whoever reads this comment on Andre’s message “Sons of Abraham.” Sometime in late August, as I was sitting and listening to Rob Rufus (one of my spiritual dad’s in the faith, although he hasnt met me in person, the same for you Andre) he mentioned Ps.105 concerning ‘all that God did for the children of Israel’ because they were “The seed” of Abraham. This sparked & loosened the faith of God in me more so because God did what He did because of the covenant He made to Abraham and to “His Seed (Singular, Jesus Christ).” The Holy Spirit showed me as “A son of Abraham, ‘IN the SEED’ (Christ) that I have INHERITED promises and asked me, “Who WORKS FOR what they have INHERITED?” Listen beloved, just like God our Father Abba did for those in Ps.105 because they were the seed of Abraham, their deliverance, prosperity & protection HAD NOTHING TO DO WITH THEIR OBEDIENCE, they EXPERIENCED their INHERITANCE based on THE PROMISES MADE TO ABRAHAM! You & I today Andre, Rob, Cornel, Craig and everyone IN CHRIST can EXPECT TO INHERIT THE PROMISES made to Abraham because YOU FIRST INHERITED THE PROMISES MADE TO Abraham & his SEED (Christ)! They are all as sure as yours because you are IN CHRIST, the PROMISED SEED, therefore YOU WILL INHERIT ALL THAT WAS PROMISED TO ABRAHAM BECAUSE YOU ARE THE REGENERATED SEED, and that HAS NOTHING TO DO WITH YOUR BEHAVIOUR but EVERYTHING TO DO WITH WHEN YOU BELIEVED IN JESUS CHRIST, the PROMISED SEED! Now, God our Father sees believers in the earth as THE SEED Christ, the BODY and no child of God WORKS FOR THEIR INHERITANCE, THEY JUST RECEIVE IT through faith & patience. Now, some believers, like some of the Israelites in Ps.105 probable didnt wise up to this and when they experienced this ‘deliverance & prosperity & protection, lowered their standing with God by thinking things like, “Wow, did you just see what God did when I started to pray more? When I went to church more, when I studied the Torah more, when I stopped doing…” They still didnt get it, IT IS BECAUSE OF CHRISTS FAITHFULNESS TO GOD, NOT OUR FAITHFULNESS TO GOD & because OF WHO WE HAVE BEEN REGENERATED INTO THE BLOODLINE OF… JESUS Christ, NOT BECAUSE OF OUR BEHAVIOUR!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!! Love ya!If This is a dream, then “DONT WAKE ME UP BECAUSE I HAVE LEARNED HOW TO LOVE GOD MORE ON ACCIDENT THAN I EVER HAVE ON PURPOSE because of HIS GRACE REVEALED TO ME!” We are the “Sons Of Abraham” because like Abraham we BELIEVE GOD, we BELIEVE IN CHRIST JESUS and God counts us righteous by RIGHT BELIEVING, NOT RIGHT BEHAVIOUR!!!!!!!! I MIGHT GET RAPTURED ANDRE, pray for me!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!! Hahahahaha.