“They were held prisoner under the Law before Christ came.
“The Law was established by God to guide them to Christ.
“They became justified in the Law through faith in Christ (Believing!)
“Because of their new belief, they no longer lived under the old Law.
“If you recall, Abraham was justified by his faith in God’s promises. The new Christians at the time of Jesus were now also justified by simply having faith in Christ and became joint heirs to God’s promises. They fulfilled their obligation to the old law by believing in Jesus. They could not be sanctified by complete obedience to the Law because they could not be one hundred percent compliant with that law. Therefore, something had to change. Jesus had to die for their sins and pay their debt which prompted God to create a new law! And the beauty of the new law, under which they lived, and you currently live, is that it applies to all who believe. God not only established his new law with the nation of Israel, he also established it with all who believe in Jesus. And since everyone has the ability to believe, all mankind has the capability to become baptized as a child of God.
“Galatians 3:26-29—You are all sons of God through faith in Christ Jesus, for all of you who were baptized into Christ have clothed yourselves with Christ. There is neither Jew nor Greek, slave nor free, male nor female, for you are all one in Christ Jesus. If you belong to Christ, then you are Abraham’s seed, and heirs according to the promise.
“You are a child of God by faith in Christ, not by physical lineage, as was previously required by Jewish descent. All Christians are one in Christ Jesus, no matter what their heritage may be. All believers are heirs to the promise of God, just like Abraham and his seed, who were God’s chosen people. You are currently baptized and clothed in Christ. You belong to him. He has done away with your old self and its previous bondage and given you a new beginning. Once you have learned that you are a sinner and need Christ in your life, God’s law has fulfilled its purpose! Jesus paid that debt for you and because of your faith in him you have been released from living under the supervision of the law.”
I was enjoying his revelation of the truth through scripture and said, “I guess I never fully understood how it all worked.”
He pointed back to the board as he read the verses he had written.
“Galatians 3:24-25—So the law was put in charge to lead us to Christ that we might be justified by faith. Now that faith has come, we are no longer under the supervision of the law.
“As a matter of fact, John, no one will become righteous by observing the law!
“Romans 3:20—Therefore no one will be declared righteous in his sight by observing the law; rather, through the law we become conscious of sin.
“So… if you think you are going to get to Heaven by observing God’s law with your flesh living a sinless life, you may want to rethink your plan.” He turned to me and took a sip from his glass allowing these ideas to gain a foothold in my soul.
“Christ died for the sins of all mankind, therefore, if you are willing to believe in what he has done, the requirements of the old Mosaic Law of sin and death have been fulfilled. All Christians are currently living under a new law. Christ’s death on the Cross brought about this new law, and he calls it, ‘the law of the Spirit of life.’
“God’s desire is not to separate you from himself. He loves you beyond your imagination, and wants you to spend eternity with him. But, IF you continue to believe you are a sinner after you have been saved, and sin creates a chiasm between yourself and God, THEN this belief will hinder your relationship with God.
“Your logical extrapolation confirms that this type of faith limits your spiritual abilities!” He smiled with his deduction before he continued.
“Think about it for a minute. When you say, ‘I am a sinner,’ does that statement bring glory to God, or does it bring glory to Satan?” Once again, he stared his question into my heart.
He was right! It was spiritually unsettling to constantly say to myself, “I am a sinner,” while totally ignoring Christ living within me.
I now recognized that in order to bring glory to God, I needed to look beyond the sin nature that was harbored in my body and concentrate on the righteousness of his Holy Spirit, which was trying desperately to dwell in my soul. Joshua’s voice brought my thoughts back to the moment.
“God wants you to believe that you are like Jesus and without sin because of his cleansing blood. Satan wants you to believe that you are a worthless sinner and not worthy of God’s love. Consider your own children, if they look at you and say, ‘Dad, I am a no-good, rotten, lousy sinner,’ does that statement bring glory to God? Does it bring glory to how you have raised them to feel about themselves, or what Jesus has done for them?”
“No!” I replied. “This is not how we want any of our children to think, believe, or live.”
I thought of our two boys and considered how this down-beaten self-image would affect every part of their lives. This belief would keep them from attaining those unimaginable plans God held for their future.
Could this actually be true for myself? Was my own mindset hindering my relationship with God?
I wanted to learn more about this subject of sin.
Joshua was pacing while he spoke, “If you continue to think, believe, and live with the attitude that, ‘I am a sinner,’ in essence you are telling Jesus, ‘What you did was not enough!’ You are telling him that despite his suffering on the cross, which allowed your sins to be forgiven and forgotten throughout eternity, you still focus on your sins. The song states, ‘I was lost (a sinner), but now I am found (I have been redeemed by the blood of Christ).’”
Joshua used his fingers to delineate the implied parentheses.
“You need to realize that God’s law enlightened you to the fact that you were a sinner. But now, by the sacrificial act of Jesus and your belief in his words, you have been saved from your sins. Jesus said you are to pray the Lord’s Prayer. In this prayer he states, ‘Thy Kingdom come, Thy will be done on earth as it is in Heaven.’ Is it God’s will for you to be a sinner in Heaven?”
I gave the obvious answer, “No.”
“Is it God’s will for you to be sinless and perfect in Heaven?”
“Absolutely!” The word brought peace to my heart.
“So, IF you are praying for God’s will to be done on earth as it is in Heaven, and it is his will for you to be perfect in Heaven, THEN it must be God’s will for you to believe in your perfection on Earth. Does this logic make sense?”
I nodded my head with affirmation.
“Remember, John, none of this perfection comes by your own ability. It is only through the love, mercy and grace of Jesus that you gain his Divine Nature for your soul. Because of your constant renewed acknowledgement of your Messiah’s perfection, you have gained the ability to clothe yourself in his holiness as he lives in you and you live in him.”
Joshua picked up the final cookie and broke it in half before placing a piece in my hand.
“If you recall, I told you that when God creates a law, he also establishes a covenant. Christ did not abolish the old law by dying on the cross for your sins, but rather, that debt was fulfilled. Someone had to shed his blood as a sacrifice, and Jesus did that for you. He said, ‘I did not come to abolish the law but to fulfill every jot and tittle of the law.’ Since the requirements of the old law had now been paid, a new law and new covenant could be established.”
Joshua turned to write the final statement on the board and raised his glass of lemonade. He proposed his final challenge with a smile.
“Your mission, Dr. Saurino, should you choose to accept it, is to discover this new covenant, or new agreement, God has established with all who believe.”
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