Understanding Your Identity In Christ

Jesus started His ministry by saying this: 

"I have come to fulfill the Law and the Prophets and it will not disappear until this is accomplished." [Matt. 5:17]

At the end of His ministry He said this:

"Father...I have glorified you on earth, having accomplished the work that you gave me to do." [John 17:4]

"It is accomplished!" [John 19:28]

Now that Jesus has accomplished the Law and the Prophets as He came to do, we are told that the Law is: "fading, vanishing" and "obsolete" according to the Apostles. [2 Cor. 3:7-11; Gal. 4:24-31; Heb. 8:13]

This means we are no longer under the Law of Moses, because:

* It was a covenant made with the Jewish Nation 

* The covenant with that nation ended officially in AD 70, along with the priesthood, temple and daily sacrifice
* It was fulfilled and accomplished by Christ and now it will disappear, exactly as Jesus promised [see Matt. 5:17]

So, we who are in Christ are now only under the Law of Christ [Gal. 6:2; 1 Cor. 9:21] which has an easy yoke and a light burden because:

* Christ indwells and empowers us to love one another as He loved us [John 15:4]

* Jesus is transforming us daily into people who are like Him [2 Cor. 3:18]

* The Grace given to us by Christ has given us everything we need to live a godly life [2 Peter 1:3; Titus 2:11-12]

This also means that we, who are in Christ, are now God's Chosen People because:

* Jesus is "the Chosen One of God" [Matt. 12:18; Luke 9:35; John 1:34]

* If we are in Christ then we are also "Chosen in Him" [Eph. 1:11; Col. 3:12]

* God's "Chosen people" have always been those who belong to Him in Spirit and in Truth [Rom. 9:6; Gal. 3:29]

So, please keep these things in mind:
*Jesus fulfilled the Law

*You are not under the Law

*You are under the Law of Christ 

*You are called to love others as Jesus has loved you

*Christ's Law brings freedom and an easy yoke

*You are one of the "Chosen People of God"

*Anyone who is "in Christ" is Chosen of God

Now, go and live like every one of these is true - because it is true.

-kg

FOR FURTHER STUDY

*Answering Questions About The Old and New Covenant

*Just One Covenant

*Israel Is The Bride and We Are Israel

*Everything We Need [To Live A Godly Life]

*Subversive Radio Podcast: God's Chosen People?

EAT CAREFULLY

In Exodus 29:33, God gives instructions to the priests regarding how the sacrifices are to be performed, and by whom. In this section, God wraps it up by saying:

“They [the Priests] are to eat these offerings by which atonement was made for their ordination and consecration. But no one else may eat them, because they are sacred.”

Very simply, only the Old Covenant priests were allowed to perform the sacrifices. These offerings were specifically for atonement and they also were made for the ordination and consecration of the priests themselves. Only the priests were allowed to eat the meat that was offered there on the altar because that meat was “sacred”.

Got it? Good. Now, let’s skip over to Hebrews chapter 9 where we read about how the old covenant [the “first covenant”] was set up with rules and regulations about the tabernacle [and later the temple] and how all of those things were “copies” or symbolic of the “realities” which were found in Christ.

“It was necessary, then, for the copies of the heavenly things to be purified with these sacrifices, but the heavenly things themselves with better sacrifices than these.” [Hebrews 9:23]

“The law is only a shadow of the good things that are coming—not the realities themselves.” [Hebrews 10:1]

Now, I’d like you to notice something that the writer of Hebrews points out in Hebrews 13:10:

“We have an altar from which those who minister at the tabernacle have no right to eat.”

Wow. Do you get it?

Under the Old Covenant, the priests of that old covenant were the only one’s allowed to eat what was offered on that altar. No one else had the right to eat from it.

But now, under the New Covenant, “we have an altar from which those who minister at the tabernacle [those priests of the old covenant] have no right to eat.”

What is “our altar”? What is it that we have a right to eat that they, and others, do not?

It’s Christ!

Jesus is our true High Priest. He is our true sacrifice for sins and upon the cross he offered up his own life in the temple of his body as an atonement for us.

Just like in the Old Covenant, only a certain group of people had the right to eat of the meat that was sacrificed for atonement. Who were they? The priests of that old covenant.

Now, under the New Covenant, another sacrifice for atonement is made, and only a certain group of people have the right to eat of that meat that was offered. Who are they? Us! And what does that make us? It makes us priests in the Kingdom of God.

Jesus gave us His body to eat. He said that only those who eat his flesh and drink his blood have any life in them. At the last supper, Jesus said, “This is my body which is broken for you. Take and eat.” And then he took the cup and said, “This cup is the new covenant in my blood.”

Paul says it this way:

“Don't you know that those who serve in the temple get their food from the temple, and that those who serve at the altar share in what is offered on the altar?” [1 Cor. 9:13]

So, if we are “in Christ” then we are the only ones who have permission to eat of the flesh that was offered for atonement, and when we eat of that flesh, and partake of that sacrifice, we are also accepting our “ordination and consecration” as priests under the New Covenant of God.

“As you come to him, the living Stone…you also, like living stones, are being built into a spiritual house to be a holy priesthood, offering spiritual sacrifices acceptable to God through Jesus Christ.” [1 Peter 2:4-5]

"But you are a chosen people, a royal priesthood, a holy nation, a people belonging to God, that you may declare the praises of him who called you out of darkness into his wonderful light. Once you were not a people, but now you are the people of God; once you had not received mercy, but now you have received mercy." [1 Peter 2:9-10]

Halleluiah!

I don’t know about you, but I’d never seen this before and now that I’ve connected those dots, it unlocks many other realizations about our identity in Christ.

Can’t wait to hear what you think! If you enjoyed this, please consider sharing this post on Facebook or Twitter or on your other social networks to bless others as well.

Thanks!

-kg

 **
READ MORE
*Now Open, The New Temple of God

*My Body

*For The Love Of Your Pastor

The Anabaptists: Is Nothing Sacral?

Sometimes you read something that makes you stand up and cheer. That happened for me while I was reading “The Reformers and Their Stepchildren” by Verduin recently.

The book is an overview of the Anabaptists and the Reformers (Luther, Calvin, Zwingli, etc.) who violently opposed them.

In an attempt to explain why these Christians and their ideas were so aggressively resisted, the author points out something I am sure most people overlook; something that made me stand up and say, “Yes”!

Starting with Jesus, the author emphasizes the differences between “Sacral” societies and the revolutionary teachings of Christ. Namely, the idea that Jesus advocated for a radical ideology whereby men and women who differ – theologically, politically, etc. – can still live together in total harmony.

As he notes in the book, “This is one of the New Testament’s boldest innovations, the sweep of which will not escape the thoughtful.”

Now, what I find so exciting is that the author has put his finger on something that so many, many Christians today have totally missed out on.

He continues:

“It must not escape the reader that this was a novel insight, so novel as to be revolutionary. The world had never seen the like of it before. For all pre-Christian society is sacral. By the word “sacral”…we mean “bound together by a common religious loyalty.”…we mean society held together by a religion to which all the members of that society are committed.”

He goes on to point out that all other ancient societies were pre-Christian ,and therefore “sacral”.

As he illustrates so eloquently:

“The society of ancient Babylon…was a sacral society; all Babylonians were expected to bow to the one and the same “Object” (See Daniel 3); their society was pre-Christian.

The society of Ephesus was sacral; all Ephesians were expected to join in the chant: “Great is Diana of the Ephesians!”; (See Acts 19:28) Ephesian society of was pre-Christian.

In our own day, the society of the Navajo…is sacral; all members of that society are expected to take part in the ritual; theirs, too, is a pre-Christian society.”

And then, then, he drops the proverbial bomb:

“According to the construction of things, the Old Testament too was pre-Christian – as indeed it was in the chronological sense. Every member of the OT society was considered to be in the same religious category as was every other member of it. This makes the Old Testament society sacral and pre-Christian.”

Why is this insight so powerful? Because if those Reformed Christians had understood this simple truth, then the murder of the Anabaptists by their Christian brothers would never have taken place.

“…there would in all probability never have been a [persecution of Anabaptists] if the Reformers had been aware of the pre-Christian quality of the Old Testament in this matter. It was the Reformer’s refusal to admit that there is this perspective in the relationship that obtains between the two Testaments, it was their refusal to grant that the one had outmoded the other at this point, that caused the exodus of the Stepchildren (Anabaptists).”

Did you see that? Do you understand what he’s saying here? Because one group of Christians did not understand that the Old and New Testaments were fundamentally different – and that one of them (the New) had “outmoded the other” (the Old)…the bloody execution of Christians by their own brothers and sisters was set in motion.

Today we have much the same arrangement among followers of Christ. One group – the vast majority in this nation – hold the idea that both the Old and the New are concurrent and equally in force. Another group – in the small, but growing minority – understand that Jesus trumps Moses and that the NT declares the OT to be “obsolete” and “fading away”.

All that is missing is the power of one group to put to death the other group for daring to disagree on this point.

Based on the amount of hate mail and venomous comments left on my blog and FB page, if it were legal for those in the majority opinion to have those of us in the minority group arrested, tried and sentenced to prison or death, I would say that this blog would have been written from a jail cell on death row.

But, I digress. Getting back to the book, let’s wrap up the differences between the sacral perspective and the Kingdom perspective:

“It was because the Jews of Jesus’ day were pre-Christian, and therefore sacralists in their conception of things, that the problem “whether it is lawful to pay tribute to Caesar” seemed to them an insoluble problem. How could a man, they asked, be loyal to the political community by paying his taxes, without thereby being disloyal to the religious community, the Church? They, sacralists that they were, knew no answer to this question. It vexed them every time they tangled with it. And for that reason they confronted the Master with it, so that He too might be embarrassed by it and be hopelessly pinned in a corner. How great must have been their surprise at the ease with which Jesus, acting on the new insight He had come to convey, sailed through the dilemma with “Render unto Caesar what is Caesar’s and to God what is God’s”. In His way of thinking there wasn’t even any problem.

“As the thoughtful reader will have perceived, much is implied in this New Testament innovation. In it is implied that the State is a secular institution…It is implied in the NT vision that Christianity is not a culture-creating thing, but rather a culture-influencing one.”

Yes! This is where I could no longer contain myself and I jumped up to shout, “Yes!” in my living room.

The Church is not meant to be yoked to the State. We are not compelled to legislate culture through the courts or the law. Instead, we are commanded to communicate the radical Gospel of Jesus to everyone around us and to influence the human heart to submit to the rule and reign of Christ – regardless of what the Laws of the Land may be.

In that way, Christianity seeks to transform the culture from within rather than to legislate culture from above.

As the author notes:

“….there can never be such a thing as a Christian culture; there can only be cultures in which the influence of Christianity is more or less apparent. The NT vision does not pit a “Christian culture” against a non-Christian culture; rather does it introduce a leaven into any existing culture into which it insinuates itself, a leaven whereby that already existing culture is then affected.”

Amen!

-kg

DUCK DYNASTY OR CHRIST DYNASTY?

Once again, American Christians have confused Patriotism and Nationalism with Christianity.

As Phil Robertson (the star of reality show Duck Dynasty) declares that he is more than prepared to meet ISIS militants on the battlefield, Christians in America scream “Amen!” and salute their flag - sadly oblivious to how far away this actually is from the Gospel that Jesus – the founder of their professed faith – came and died to proclaim.

I think the basic disconnect we have on this issue stems from whether we hold the Ten Commands or the Sermon on the Mount as our basis for living.

For example: Many Christians today opt for the Ten Commandments. However, the Scriptures tell us several times and in many different ways that the Old Covenant is a shadow of the reality to come – (the reality being Christ). 

Moses prophesied about the Messiah saying that God would send one like himself who would be a Prophet and that people should listen to him. [Deut. 18:15]

Both Peter and Stephen remind the NT Jews and Christians of this verse and add that anyone who does not listen to Jesus (the Messiah) “will be cut off from among his people”. [Acts 3:22-23; Acts 7:37-38]

Paul also tells us that “to this day when Moses is read, a veil remains” and that this veil is only taken away by Christ. [2 Cor. 3:14]

Remember the Mount of Transfiguration? Moses (who stands for the Law) and Elijah (who stands for the Prophets) appear with Jesus. Peter mistakenly wanted to honor all three of them at once and God then removed Moses and Elijah (leaving only Jesus) and says, “This is my Son. Listen to Him!”.

Furthermore, Peter tells us even the Prophets themselves didn’t know what they were writing about and that only now (through Christ) do we understand what those OT scriptures mean.

What does all this mean? It means that we, as followers of Jesus, need to interpret the Old Covenant (Ten Commandments, Mosaic Laws, etc.) through the lens of Christ, not the other way around. In other words, we never take the words of Jesus and filter them with the Old Covenant scriptures. No! Jesus is the One we are to listen to. Moses says it. Peter and Stephen say it. God Himself says it: “Listen to Him!”

So, if Jesus says “Do not resist an evil person” and says clearly, over and over again: “Love your enemy”, “Bless those who curse you”, etc. then we have no choice but to obey Him. We cannot turn back to the shadow and the metaphor of the Old Covenant scriptures and try to live our lives apart from the revelation of Christ.

In fact, I believe the entire debate between Christians over the issue of violence is simply centered on this very practice of filtering Jesus through the Old Covenant, rather than placing the Old Covenant in submission to the Supremacy of Christ – and therefore ourselves under His supremacy as well.

To justify violence you have to turn to the Old Covenant scriptures. To justify military involvement you have to appeal to Moses or Joshua. But quite simply a follower of Jesus should do exactly that: Follow Jesus and not attempt to place the teachings of Jesus (which bring life) under the bondage of the Old Covenant (that brought death).

Jesus trumps Moses. The Sermon on the Mount trumps the Law. The New Covenant has replaced the Old Covenant which is “obsolete” and “fading away” [Heb. 8:13]

Chose you this day whom you will serve: A redneck reality TV star, or the Son of God. As for me and my house, we will follow Jesus.

Peace,

Keith

Out With The Old. In With The New.

Which has more relevance for you:The 10 Commandments or The Sermon On The Mount?

Which one trumps the other: Moses or Jesus?

Does the question confuse you? Maybe so. “Aren’t they both equal in weight and value?” you might ask.

But think of it this way: Should we allow the Old Testament scriptures to inform our understanding of the New? Or is it the other way around?

American Christians have been lulled into an Old Testament form of Christianity. We’ve started to gravitate to a more Moses-centric form of Christianity rather than a purely Jesus-form.

If we’re followers of Christ, for example, why wouldn’t we want the words of Jesus on our buildings in public places rather than the Ten Commandments?

Imagine “Blessed are the poor for theirs is the Kingdom of God” posted in your Courthouse? Or “Love God with all your heart, soul, mind and strength. And…love your neighbor as yourself” displayed in our Town Squares? Wouldn’t that be more radical and “Christ-like” than a list of “Thou Shalt Not’s”?

But back to our previous question: Do we interpret the New Testament in view of the Old Testament? Or do we use the New Testament – and the teachings of Jesus and the Apostles – to help us understand the Old Covenant scriptures?

According to Paul, the Gospel is a mystery to everyone who came before Jesus. In fact, he says it four different times:

“We do, however, speak a message of wisdom among the mature, but not the wisdom of this age or of the rulers of this age, who are coming to nothing. No, we declare God’s wisdom, a mystery that has been hidden and that God destined for our glory before time began.” (1 Cor. 2:6-7)

“In reading this, then, you will be able to understand my insight into the mystery of Christ, which was not made known to people in other generations as it has now been revealed by the Spirit to God’s holy apostles and prophets.” (Eph. 3:4-5)

“Now to him who is able to establish you in accordance with my gospel, the message I proclaim about Jesus Christ, in keeping with the revelation of the mystery hidden for long ages past, but now revealed and made known through the prophetic writings by the command of the eternal God, so that all the Gentiles might come to the obedience that comes from faith.” (Rom. 16:25-26)

“I have become its servant by the commission God gave me to present to you the word of God in its fullness— the mystery that has been kept hidden for ages and generations, but is now disclosed to the Lord’s people.” (Col. 1:25-26)

The Apostle Peter says it this way:

“Concerning this salvation, the prophets, who spoke of the grace that was to come to you, searched intently and with the greatest care, trying to find out the time and circumstances to which the Spirit of Christ in them was pointing when he predicted the sufferings of the Messiah and the glories that would follow. It was revealed to them that they were not serving themselves but you, when they spoke of the things that have now been told you by those who have preached the gospel to you by the Holy Spirit sent from heaven. Even angels long to look into these things.” (1 Peter 1:10-12)

This is why Jesus, after he had risen from the dead, had to “open (the) understanding” of the disciples so “that they might comprehend the scriptures.” (Luke 24:44-45)

It’s also why Paul says, “But their minds were made dull, for to this day the same veil remains when the old covenant is read. It has not been removed, because only in Christ is it taken away.” (2 Corinthians 3:13-15)

In short, Jesus illuminates the Old Covenant scriptures. He alone “removes the veil” so that we can understand when the old covenant is read. The Apostles, under the power of the Holy Spirit, were empowered to reveal the true meanings and mysteries for us.

So, the teachings of Jesus from the Sermon on the Mount are more authoritative for us than the teachings of Moses. Even Moses acknowledged this in Deuteronomy 18:15, and Peter reminded everyone of this in one of his earliest messages to the people, saying:

“For Moses said, ‘The Lord your God will raise up for you a prophet like me from among your own people; you must listen to everything he tells you. Anyone who does not listen to him will be completely cut off from their people.’” (Acts 3:22-23)

And Stephen also reminded everyone of this same fact in Acts 7:37 just before they stoned him to death.

So, Jesus – not Moses, not Jewish Rabbis, not the traditions of men – and His Apostles to whom He has revealed this mystery, are the ones we should be listening to.

Jesus is greater than any human prophet. He is the Son of God, and God the Son. He is Emmanuel, “God With Us” and He is the Word of God made flesh to dwell among us.

Let us remember the words of our Heavenly Father on the mount of transfiguration - after He had removed Moses and Elijah from their presence – when He said: “This is my beloved son. Listen to him!” (Matt. 17:5)

Yes. Let’s.

-kg

Just One Covenant

The Ten Commandments given to Moses on Mt. Sinai were the terms of a Covenant with the nation of Israel.

“Moses was there with the Lord forty days and forty nights without eating bread or drinking water. And he wrote on the tablets the words of the covenant—the Ten Commandments.” (Exodus 34:28)

“He declared to you his covenant, the Ten Commandments, which he commanded you to follow and then wrote them on two stone tablets.” (Deut. 4:13)

The Ten Commandments are only mentioned (by name) three times in the entire Bible. Here in these two scriptures referenced above, and also in Deut.10:4. But in each case it is clear that God gave the Ten Commandments to the Jews as a Covenant. (Note: There are many other terms used such as “Tablets of Stone”, “Stone Tables”, etc.) But these commandments were given to the Jews alone, not to the entire world. Why? Because it outlined the terms of His Covenant with them, not with anyone else.

“Then the Lord said to Moses, “Write down these words, for in accordance with these words I have made a covenant with you and with Israel.” (Exodus 34:27)

Without this Covenant, the Jewish people had no basis for being called a nation. If this Covenant was in force, then they would have a claim to the promises included in the Covenant, but if they broke this Covenant then they would lose all their status as God’s chosen people and their status as a nation.

“Now if you obey me fully and keep my covenant, then out of all nations you will be my treasured possession. Although the whole earth is mine, you will be for me a kingdom of priests and a holy nation.’ These are the words you are to speak to the Israelites.” (Exodus 19:5-6)

In much the same way that the Constitution is a document that outlines the laws of our nation and establishes our system of government, the Ten Commandments (or the Law) outlines God’s terms for establishing the nation state of Israel.

Notice, however, that the terms of Israel’s nationhood are dependent upon a few things. First, it says, “If you obey me and keep my covenant, THEN you will be my treasured possession.” That’s a conditional covenant.

We know that the History of Israel records their continual disobedience to God and to His covenant. Because they broke their covenant with God, they were scattered over and over again, until finally they nation of Israel was judged in AD 70 during the destruction of Jerusalem by the Romans, as Jesus predicted it would be (Luke 21) and in the Parable of the Vineyard (Matt. 21:33-46).

Now notice that the very same conditional covenant terms spoken to the Jews are repeated in the New Testament as being unconditionally applied to the Church:

“As you come to him, the living Stone—rejected by humans but chosen by God and precious to him— you also, like living stones, are being built into a spiritual house to be a holy priesthood, offering spiritual sacrifices acceptable to God through Jesus Christ.” (1 Peter 2:4-5)

“But you are a chosen people, a royal priesthood, a holy nation, God’s special possession, that you may declare the praises of him who called you out of darkness into his wonderful light. Once you were not a people, but now you are the people of God; once you had not received mercy, but now you have received mercy.” (1 Peter 2:9-10)

Here, Peter declares that Christians “ARE a chosen people, a royal priesthood, a holy nation, God’s special possession…”. The very same conditional promises originally offered to the Jewish nation in Exodus 19:5-6 are now spoken to the Church as being now in effect. So that anyone who is currently found in Christ is the recipient of these promises to be chosen, of the priesthood, a holy nation and God's special possession. We are also promised to be called the people of God and to receive mercy.

The Good News is that Jesus first came and fulfilled the terms of the Old Covenant, and then He made a New Covenant with anyone who would receive Him as Lord and Savior. The terms of that New Covenant are simple, “I will put my law in their minds and write it on their hearts. I will be their God and they will be my people…and they will all know me from the least to the greatest for I will remember their sins no more.” (Jer. 31:33-34 and Hebrews 8:7-9)

We are now under one Covenant, not two. The first has been fulfilled and is now obsolete:

“In speaking of a new covenant, he makes the first one obsolete. And what is becoming obsolete and growing old is ready to vanish away.” (Hebrew 8:13)
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Galatians 3:16

In Galatians, Paul spends a lot of time explaining specifically how that promise to Abraham was fulfilled in the Church, not in the physical descendants of those of the ethnic nation.

Paul says, "The promises were spoken to Abraham and to his seed. He does not say, “And to seeds,” as referring to many, but rather to one, “And to your seed,” that is, Christ." (Gal. 3:16)

Here, Paul is specifically referring to the OT promise made to Abraham in Genesis 12:7 - "And the Lord appeared unto Abram, and said, Unto thy seed will I give this land."

Then Paul concludes chapter 3 of Galatians by saying this:

"And if you are Christ's, then you are Abraham's offspring, heirs according to promise." (Gal. 3:28)

So, clearly, Paul makes the case that this promise made to Abraham was made to Jesus, not to every single Jewish person alive. Therefore, only those who are "in Christ" are the "offspring of Abraham and heirs according to the promise."

Secondly, the specific promise is also from Genesis 12, and in the same way, Paul's teaching clarifies to whom this promise is valid. It is not valid for those Jews who claim Abraham as their Father but do not do the works of Abraham (have faith in God and obey).

The nation of Israel was judged for rejecting Christ. Just as Christ prophesied it would be in the Olivet Discourse (see Mark 13, Matthew 24, Luke 21).

For thousands of years God continued to give the Jews opportunities to keep the conditional Covenant he made with them. Their final opportunity came when He sent His son and as Jesus warned them, their punishment for killing the Son would be that God would take the Kingdom from them and give it to others. (See Mt. 21:33-46; Mark 12:1-9; Luke 20:9-19)

When Jerusalem was destroyed in AD 70, that was the final straw for every Jew who rejected God and His Messiah. This was also in fulfillment of the 70 Weeks prophecy in Daniel. Jesus, the Prince, was cut off in the middle of the week (His ministry was 3 and a half years long) and when Christ was crucified "he put an end to the daily sacrifice".

When the city of Jerusalem was destroyed in AD 70, this was the end of their Temple, their Priesthood and their Daily Sacrifice. All 3 of these are now realized in the Church of Jesus. (We are the living Temple of the Holy Spirit, the Priesthood of Believers and the daily living sacrifice to God).

The secular Jewish nation that we have now in the Middle East is a godless one. They are not religious Jews. There is no difference between a secular Jewish nation that persecutes Christians in Palestine and rejects Jesus as Messiah and the Pharisees of Jesus' day who rejected Christ and persecuted Christians in Palestine. No difference.

So, as far as I can see, there is no reason to "Bless Israel" unless you're understanding that "Israel" is actually everyone who is found in Christ, because the Christian community is now the "true circumcision" (Phil. 3:3)

As Paul clearly teaches:

"For they are not all Israel who are descended from Israel; nor are they all children because they are Abraham’s descendants, but: “through Isaac your descendants will be named.” That is, it is not the children of the flesh who are children of God, but the children of the promise are regarded as descendants." (Romans 9:6-7)

And:

"Know then that it is those of faith who are the sons of Abraham." (Gal. 3:7)

And:

"...the mystery of Christ, which in other generations was not made known to the sons of men, as it has now been revealed to His holy apostles and prophets in the Spirit; to be specific, that the Gentiles are fellow heirs and fellow members of the body, and fellow partakers of the promise in Christ Jesus through the gospel." (Eph. 3:4-6)

So, there's one Body - the Church - which is made up of "all the nations of the earth" who are blessed by the Seed of Abraham (that is Christ) by faith in Him alone.

If you're curious, the teaching that we should bless Israel, etc. is relatively new and came through a guy named John Nelson Darby in 1830. When he introduced his teachings (which became Dispensationalism) he admitted that this was "new revelation" and that the Church did not ever believe or teach these things (which is confirmed by reading Church History).

So, you are free, of course, to continue to believe that God still has a special plan for the ethnic Jews of the Earth that currently reject Christ, but I believe the NT is clear that the only hope for the Jews (and the rest of the planet) is to receive Jesus as Messiah and follow Him. God does not have any other special plan for the Jewish people apart from His Son.

-kg 

PART 3: WHY ARE (SOME) CHRISTIANS SO MEAN?

One friend posted a comment of mine on their Facebook page last week that said “If you would shoot your enemy in the head, you might not be a Christian” and the comments that followed that simple truth were deeply disturbing to me, especially the ones that cried “Bulls**t!”, and “Keith Giles is soooo wrong” and my favorite, “This Keith Giles is a gut-shooter, not a head-shooter, a dumb-ass playing games.” [Nice].

It starts to make you wonder, “How can Christians who follow the One who said ‘Love your enemies’ respond to this comment in this way?” Are they unaware of their Savior’s teaching? Are they willfully ignorant of what He meant by this statement? Or are they mostly confused by how to apply His teachings in everyday life?

Reason #3 – Christians in America are confused about the Old and New Covenant.

As one commenter to that same post said, “I get a little confused with Old Testament vs New…is everything in the OT about war and defending (oneself) null after Jesus died?”

I think it’s this fundamental misunderstanding of how the Old Covenant and the New Covenant work together that allows us to call ourselves “Christians” without actually following Christ.

Jesus said that He came “not to abolish the Law and the Prophets” but to “fulfill them.” (Matthew 5:17)

But, in what way did Jesus “fulfill the Law and the Prophets”? Most Christians are taught that this statement implies that the Old Testament Scriptures are still intact. However, that’s not at all what Jesus meant. As the writer of Hebrews explains:

“By calling this covenant “new,” he has made the first one obsolete; and what is obsolete and outdated will soon disappear.” (Hebrews 8:13)

So, when Christ fulfilled the Law and the Prophets, He accomplished what they were pointing to and prophesying about. Jesus fulfilled the Old Covenant, and now we are under a new and everlasting covenant. Rather than become enslaved again to the Old Covenant Laws, we are free to follow Jesus and we therefore are bound to obey Him.

This means that when Jesus says, “Love your enemies” we need to actually do that and not shoot them in the head (or anywhere else). And when Jesus says, “If you do not forgive those who sin against you, then your Heavenly Father will not forgive your sins either” we need to start forgiving people. (see Matthew 6:14-15).

Want further proof that Christians today don’t understand the difference between the Old Covenant and the New Covenant? Let me ask you to tell me what the New Covenant is. Honestly, most Christians I ask have no idea what the New Covenant actually is. (Hint: You can find out in Hebrews 8:8-10; and Jeremiah 31:31-34).

See, when we fail to obey Jesus we start to act mean, and the reason why is that following Jesus is meant to transform us into the image of Christ. In other words, if we’re not following Jesus there’s no hope of ever actually becoming like Jesus. Only when we die to ourselves (daily)and deny our selfish, human (i.e. “mean”) impulses and actions, do we get anywhere near actually becoming like Christ.

It’s a little frustrating to me that I even need to write this down or explain this to anyone. It should be such a simple, basic idea to everyone that a follower of Jesus would be like Jesus.

 

How in the world have we gotten the idea that one can be a Christian but not follow Christ? This would be like a Muslim refusing to obey the Koran. Or a Jew who has no clue about Moses or his teachings. Either you’re a follower of Jesus and you take Him seriously, or you are not following Jesus and you should just go ahead and call yourself a humanist who does what he feels like. You can’t have it both ways.

We act nothing like Jesus because we have not been told we should follow Jesus’ teachings. We do not obey Jesus because we do not think of ourselves as “Disciples” but as “Believers” who accept a certain set of doctrines and we dare anyone to say we’re not really “Christians” even though we don’t act like Jesus.

For the record, the followers of Jesus were first called “Christians” in Antioch back in the first century. You want to know why? Because they were all so much like Jesus that their enemies called them “Little Christs” – which is what “Christians” actually means.

If those Antioch pagans could come to America, I don’t think they’d call us “Christians” today.

Yes, I’d say that the Church in America is some serious trouble, and if we don’t start embracing the New Covenant that Jesus died to initiate, and die to ourselves to receive it, then we will be nothing but a nation of Mean Christians who have no idea who Jesus is, or what it means to follow Him.

-kg

[END PART 3]