So-you are a Christian-what now? I mean, that's the testimony, right?
So You Have Become a Christian -- Now What?
Nowhere in Scripture is it stated that a Christian is free from the need to obey the Law. If Christians are supposedly free from keeping the Law -- as many claim -- does that mean they are at liberty to violate the Law? And to go unpunished when they do? Because this is what Christians are saying and also doing. For the alternative to Law is not Grace, but lawlessness. If Christians are free to violate the Law because they are under Grace, then this gift of Grace becomes license to sin, for sin is simply violation of the Laws of YEHOVAH God -- any one of them!
by Arnold Kennedy
Introduction
When people first become Christians, it is not long before many have questions about whether or not any part of the Old Testament Law of YEHOVAH God has any place in their new life. Whilst they are told an interpretation of, “We are not under Law, but under Grace”, they know at the same time they cannot steal, lie or murder, all of which are against parts of YEHOVAH’s Law.
Ask these same people twenty years later about this matter, and find there has been absolutely no lessening of confusion over the twenty-year period. The tender conscience of first love has become hardened over this period, and in many aspects of practical living there is little obvious difference in the way they live from that of their “unsaved” neighbors.
This is especially evident in economic decisions, financial applications of borrowing and lending, political decisions and involvement, property responsibilities, criminal law, inheritance laws, health requirements, and in duties in regard to government. Even the area of pre-marital sex, divorce and adultery there is often little difference that can be seen. In remaining untaught as to what follows on from the Gospel,
denominational Christians often become, “spotted by the flesh” (Jude 23), through the superficial doctrine that has been presented to them. The great thing both the supposedly “saved” and the “unsaved” have in common is denial, or ignorance, of the Law of YEHOVAH God. In this both are humanistic.
This article is an effort to give some understanding as to how and when YEHOVAH’s Law has place in a Christians life, which life is pictured as being a journey, or what the Messiah terms a “way”. This is only one of several pictures that could be painted.
Look at this illustration. If a car restorer selects a damaged vehicle for restoration, the damaged car must first be paid for in full. This is a picture of the payment Yeshua the Messiah made to redeem his Father's people Israel. Being paid for, or “bought with a price”, as a wreck does not complete the restoration of a car. The Purchaser has to do a lot of restoration work on that car, and it may take a long time before the work is finished.
The Messiah has paid the price for us as damaged vehicles, and thus has “saved” us from being totally scrapped. But being “saved” does not immediately make us fully restored. This is why the, “Once saved, saved for ever” doctrine is totally deficient and blinds understanding in the way it is presented. Churches infer by doctrine that the restoration work is optional. We remain “saved” only whilst remaining “in Christ Jesus our Lord”, a safe place along the “way” where nothing can then separate us from the love of YEHOVAH God (Romans 8:29).
This picture is what follows throughout the Bible. It is about a journey by YEHOVAH’s chosen people, the Israelites, which parallels a car’s rescue from the scrap heap. It is pictured in the journey of the Israelites after being “saved” from slavery, and their subsequent journey to the Promised Land, by which time the work of restoration could have been completed. We read of judgment upon the Israelites for not working in with the Restorer and of them being “cast off” (Romans 11:22), and even being denied further restoration (perishing in the wilderness).
We are told something about the tools used in this work in the fourth chapter of the Book of Ephesians. But if these tools are not available, or are not being allowed, there can be little progress along the “way”. Failure to consider this progression is the cause of many misunderstandings people have about the application of certain passages of the Bible, especially in regard to the application or non-application of YEHOVAH’s Law. The starting point of the Christian journey is believing the “Gospel”, and each person is designed to continue from that point “unto perfection” (Hebrews 6:1). But like most of the Israelites who perished in the wilderness, many never “arrive” at the designed end.
The “Gospel”
There are 306 references to “gospel” in the New Testament, the prime message being about the “Kingdom of Heaven” (over Israelites), and “The Kingdom of God” (YEHOVAH God’s sphere of authority over everything). The “Kingdom” is not the aspect that this article is addressing. Galatians 1:9 speaks about “any other gospel” where “other” = para (or alongside). This runs parallel to the true gospel and thus looks something the same. Because of this one person may question whether or not another person believes the same Gospel as he does.
Both people may say they both believe what is often described as “the Gospel of the free Grace of God”, and indeed they may both start there. But they diverge on what follows on from that. How? One group considers the Gospel to be both the beginning and the end without having to start on a journey. They are led to believe that they have arrived, that all responsibility has been taken out of their hands, and that, “God still loves you unconditionally no matter what you do”.
This group does not believe that the following can happen, “The dog is turned to his own vomit again; and the sow that was washed to her wallowing in the mire” (2 Peter 2:22). These are the pathetic sugar-puff members of popular churches, who follow entertainment, the latest trends in "pop Christianity", fads such as WWJD, "Christian Rock", the prosperity purveyors, and excitement mongers such as Benny Hinn. Those who specialize in just one emphasis fall in this group also, as do all the many Pastors who regularly view pornography.
The other group believes, “Because strait is the gate, and narrow is the way, which leadeth unto life, and few there be that find it” (Matthew 7:14) -- that is, they believe that the Gospel is the beginning of a pathway that can end in eternal life. These are the real seekers.
We can easily see whether the first group have “arrived” or not in the following verses:
John 8:31: “If ye continue in my word, then are ye my disciples indeed”.
1 Peter 1:9: “Receiving the end of your faith, even the salvation of your souls”.
In the latter verse, “end” = telos, or the final point. The Messiah said, “I am the way” (John 14:6), where “the way” = hodos, which is about travelling from one place to another destination. The Messiah said, “I am the door” as the entrance to the “way” that leads = apago (an active-present verb) unto “life” = zoe. This word “way” is still “hodos” in:
Hebrews 10:19-20: "Having therefore, brethren, boldness to enter into the holiest by the blood of Jesus, By a new and living way, which he hath consecrated for us, through the veil, that is to say, his flesh;"
Then this passage carries on to tell us how to travel in practical terms. So with all the references to “way”, it cannot be escaped that being a believer in the Messiah starts at the beginning of a journey, and then continues by walking along a certain “way”. Now we are not looking at specifics here at this time, but at the active principles that apply. We can do this through the analogy of marriage that there is to follow throughout the Bible. This “way” proceeds from being single, entering through the door, the journey, betrothal, and thence to marriage. YEHOVAH God’s special relationship with the Israelites presents us with this picture.
Please note-I don't fully endorse this link. But there is enough to "think about"
J.
