As Paul nears the end of his letter to the Galatians, he begins to wrap up his thoughts expressed previously, with a big "therefore" to start chapter 5. The exhortation is centered on standing firm in the freedom which came to them through belief in Christ alone, while avoiding the temptation of doing something to make themselves acceptable to God.
They began their journey in the Spirit until some "bewitchers" came along to steer them into a mixture of the Mosaic law and grace. Paul reveals that attempting to be justified by law and works instead of faith working through love will send them in the opposite direction of grace. This is the good news gospel. If Paul had written and suggested that they need to do more to prove outwardly they are Christians—starting with circumcision and other works of the law—that would have been a burdensome epistle and quite a "different gospel."
In the year of our Lord, 2005 A.D., we were asked to begin a 15-minute Internet Radio Program, and we had no plans on doing a long-term weekly podcast. Now 17 years later, we take a look back at how it all started in our humble beginnings … and how it has grown into tens of thousands of weekly downloads from multiple countries around the world from people wanting to know God in an authentic way. We also reveal how we’re about to break one of our long-standing rules for future podcasts —one which we’ve abided by for all of our programs—until now.
In the 8th chapter of Hebrews, the writer was looking back at a prophetic statement from the book of Jeremiah. He was explaining how the previous covenant containing the law was not the same as the New Covenant which was established by Jesus, our new High Priest. God declared to Jeremiah the New would not be like the Old when it was given to Israel at the time they were delivered from Egypt!
When God spoke about His laws being put in our minds and written upon our hearts in this better covenant, the assumption by many church folks is that this is a reference to the Ten Commandments. But why would God want to write something on the hearts of His people which brought condemnation, resulted in sin increasing, and wasn’t based upon faith? In the previous chapter, the writer had just declared that old ministry as one that became nullified or cancelled because it was weak and unprofitable, unable to bring a required spiritual perfection. Our hearts now contain and reflect something new and better than a law of sin and death—it’s “the law of the Spirit of life in Christ Jesus.” It’s based upon the ministry of God’s Spirit in us, the gift of righteousness, faith, love and liberty.
The Bible speaks of a slavery that keeps people in spiritual bondage. When speaking to Jews in one of their synagogues, Jesus referred to a prophecy in Isaiah that indicates the reason He came was to set these captives free with good news — those who were spiritually poor, held captive, blind and oppressed. What was it that was keeping these Jewish people in bondage? It was the very ministry that came through Moses on Mt. Sinai, the ministry they thought would be righteousness for them. Unfortunately, much of the church has inserted fragments of that old, obsolete ministry into the Christian mindset, and it has brought unnecessary misery to many believers today. The good news is Jesus provided the way of escape.
Part 3 in our series on the third chapter of 2 Corinthians includes some fantastic cross references related to the former ministry of condemnation (the law and commandments). Whereas the law that came through Moses brought death, condemnation and bondage, we've been transferred into the ministry of the Spirit of life in Christ Jesus. The law keeps a veil over hearts, and it can only be taken away when one turns to Christ, and where the Spirit of the Lord is, there is freedom.
When the Old Covenant ended and the New Covenant started, it was the beginning of something entirely different. Whereas the old way centered around commandments that brought fault, condemnation and a guilty conscience to the people under it's burden, the new way brought liberty, life and complete forgiveness. The ministry of the Spirit is in total contrast to the previous ministry of condemnation. We don't have to keep requesting His presence in our lives, we were invited into His presence and His life. Unlike the enemy, He is not our accuser and He never leaves us.
We focus on the love of God this week, and the life that we have in Him. It freely brought mercy and righteousness apart from anything we could do to try to establish ourselves before God. Where the commands of the law ministered guilt and and put our weaknesses on display, grace delivered us from that. We'll look at a couple of instances that contrast Jesus ministering law while at other times reaching out with with mercy and compassion to those in need.
