The New Covenant and Its Ordinances

Yesterday I wrote about how the keeping of the old testament natural ordinances of water baptism, so called "communion" [partial Passover actually], and Sabbath days, has brought the body of Christ under an old covenant mindset where sin is a natural part of living as it was under the old covenant, which covenant could not deliver from sin. And sin is the bottom line on everything, because "the wages of sin is death" (Rom. 6:23). The devil has been very successful in getting God's people to be of an old covenant mentality while believing they are keeping the new covenant. But as I said, sin is the bottom line, and as the scripture says; "For the law made nothing perfect, but the bringing in of a better hope DID; by the which we draw nigh unto God" (Heb. 7:19). And while the law did not make anything complete [perfect], the scripture says otherwise of the sacrifice of Christ: "HOW MUCH MORE [than the law] shall the blood of Christ, who through the eternal Spirit offered himself without spot to God, purge your conscience from dead works to serve the living God?" (Heb. 9:14). Indeed what the blood of Christ [his Spirit] makes perfect is the conscience of those who are truly baptized with the Spirit (Heb. 10:1,2;15-17; I Cor. 6:11). Because as I often say, the only way the conscience can truly be clean is if there is no sin in the heart or soul. The conscience does not lie. It tells us what is what if we pay attention to it. Herein is the truth of the following passage: "There is therefore now no condemnation to them which are IN Christ Jesus, who walk NOT after the flesh, but after the Spirit. For the law of the Spirit of life in Christ Jesus hath made me free from the law of sin and death" (Rom. 8:1,2). There is no condemnation in the conscience of those who have been baptized with the Spirit into Christ, as long as they walk in the Spirit, and not after the carnal nature, as the scripture says; because the Spirit keeps them purged from sin, as another above quoted scripture stated (I Cor. 12:13; Rom. 8:13; Tit. 3:5). That is why the old covenant, which did NOT deliver anyone from sin, is referred to as "the ministration of condemnation," because it showed the people they indeed were IN sin, but did not provide them with a way OUT of sin (II Cor. 3:9; Rom. 7:10,11). That is also why the law is referred to as "the ministration of death," because "the wages of sin is death" (II Cor. 3:7; Rom. 6:23). But Jesus came "that [we] might have LIFE, and have it more abundantly," and that life is "the Spirit of life that makes [us] free from the [nature] of sin and death" (Jn. 10:10; Rom. 8:2). And these things are the same as saying, "the letter killeth, but the spirit giveth life," which saying comes from the same letter as referenced above, where we see the "ministration of death" [OT] and "ministration of life" [NT] (II Cor. 3:6). "The letter" is referring to the carnal, old testament format of the law, where it was written in tables of stone, and contained in natural, ceremonial ordinances (Rom. 2:27,28; Rom. 7:6; II Cor. 3:6). So again, for God's people to be under an old covenant type mindset has made the people carnally minded, which very simply is "death," meaning separation from God (Rom. 8:6). And I believe we SHOULD all be able to agree that is NOT GOOD!

Today I would like to point out another huge error that has contributed to the body of Christ making a carnal covenant out of a spiritual covenant, and that to its own hurt. That error is thinking that the Bible is the word of God. The BIBLE says, "This is the covenant that I will make with them after those days, saith the Lord, I will put my laws into their hearts, and in their minds will I WRITE THEM" (Heb. 10:16). And again, the BIBLE says, "Forasmuch as YE are manifestly declared to BE the epistle of Christ ministered by us, written NOT with ink, but WITH THE SPIRIT of the living God; NOT in tables of stone, but in fleshy tables OF THE HEART" (II Cor. 3:3). And according to the BIBLE, JESUS said, "He that hath an ear, let him HEAR what the SPIRIT SAITH unto the [congregations]" (Rev. 3:6). Friend, as the scripture plainly says, the word of God is "WHAT THE SPIRIT SAITH." And as the BIBLE says, God has written his laws [words], "NOT WITH INK... but in the fleshly tables of the heart." And I could literally write a book [Maybe I WILL!!] on what the BIBLE tells us in regard to God's word: "HEAR; for I will SPEAK of excellent things; and the opening of MY LIPS shall be right things. For my MOUTH SHALL SPEAK truth; and wickedness is an abomination to my lips. All the WORDS of my MOUTH are in righteousness; there is nothing froward or perverse in them" (Prov. 8:6-8). So to all who are honest of heart, and humble enough to acknowledge irrefutable scriptural truth, the Bible is absolutely NOT the word of God, but rather it is a written record ABOUT the word of God. The scriptures can help guide us TO the word of God if we seek him diligently, honestly, and humbly. Nevertheless the word of God itself is something that must be HEARD, not read. And according to endless confirmation of the SCRIPTURES, the word of God is something that must COME TO a person: "And the word of the LORD CAME UNTO Zechariah, SAYING" (Zech. 7:8; etc; etc.). The Bible has never SAID anything to anyone. I have had God's SPIRIT speak to me many times while READING the scriptures, but if the Bible was the word of God, IT would speak to me, and it would do so every time I read it. I have had the holy Ghost reveal many truths to me either while reading the Bible, or by bringing a line of scriptures to my mind with overshadowing power. But it is the "anointing [of the Spirit] that teaches all things," not the Bible itself (I Jn. 2:27; Jn. 14:26). Believing that the Bible is the word of God is nothing more or less than putting "the letter" back into effect, and having a carnal format to depend on, and a dispensation that has literally "faded away" (Heb. 8:13). It is another trick of the devil, and it is a trick that God's people are going to have to overcome if the body of Christ is to move forward with the leading of God's Spirit into the true preparation for the second coming of Jesus to collect his bride and set up his kingdom. For he will NOT be coming for a carnally minded people who are trusting in "the letter," and the "ministration of death" for their salvation. Amen.