It is important to remember that the Epistle to the Hebrews was written to a nation of people (God’s People) whose existence was rooted in a covenant with God, Himself. They were chosen by God; they were set apart by God, Himself; and called by God, Himself, to be His witness for Him to all the nations of the world. Sound familiar!
Who are we in Christ? Peter writes, in I Peter 2:9-10 (NKJV), “But you are a chosen generation, a royal priesthood, a holy nation, His own special people, that you may proclaim the praises of Him who called you out of darkness into His marvelous light, who once were not a people but now are the people of God, who had not obtained mercy, but now have obtained mercy.”
Therefore, what God originally purposed with His people under the first covenant, He has still purposed with His people under the second covenant in Christ. The Epistle to the Hebrews “seeks to explain the nature and history (of God’s people then and now) in the light of Christ, and true spiritual Christianity. It shows that even such a people may make their separation earthy so they have been ‘overthrown and will–even as Christians–be overthrown again, if they repeat what their father’s did in Judaism.” (my insert) [quoting T. Austin Sparks]
Has the Church done the same today? Have we made ourselves ‘earthy’ and ‘worldly’? Have we forsaken what God has originally purposed for His people in Christ?
This is why it was hard for the new Jewish believers to put off the OLD and put on the NEW. They were steeped in the OLD covenant. It programmed their religion and lifestyle. It was who they were. In Christ, a NEW covenant had been instituted and they were embarking on a NEW learning curve. Guess what? This is the same learning curve we have to embrace as NEW believers. The OLD has passed away, and behold all things have become NEW. It can be, and will be a struggle.
This is why the Holy Spirit was sent. What had Jesus instructed His disciples in the Upper Room the night of His betrayal? A lot. As this instruction was winding down, Jesus says, in John 16:12-13 (NKJV), I still have many things to say to you, but you cannot bear them now.” [I suspect that during the 40 day interval between His resurrection and ascension the Upper Room discussion was continued.] “However, When He, the Spirit of truth has come (Pentecost), He will guide you into all truth; for He will not speak on His own authority, but whatever He hears He will speak, and He will tell you things to come.” [my insert].
In I Corinthians 15, Paul has been instructing the church about the gospel, the resurrection of Christ, and end times. In I Corinthians 15:46, He states a principle which can be applied to our understanding regarding the whole of Scripture. “However, the spiritual is not first, but the natural, and afterward the spiritual.”
[Christ, the Son of God, was born in a natural body (Phil. 2:5-8; Heb. 10:5-7; Gal. 4:4), after His resurrection He had a spiritual body.(I Cor. 15:35-49).
Applying this thinking to God’s people before the Cross and after the Cross, we understand, read, and reflect upon the nation of Israel, under the first covenant, the OLD, as the natural. Christ is born in a natural body and completely fulfills the Law under the first covenant and He institutes a second covenant, the NEW covenant. He is crucified on the Cross. He dies, and He is entombed in a grave. But, God raises Him from the dead. He has a resurrected body. His OLD body has passed away and He is raised in a NEW body. This is our glorious hope in the gospel of Christ. (I Cor. 15:50-58)
As I have stated before, and reiterate again, natural Israel is struggling to let go completely of the OLD, and embrace completely the NEW. And so do many of us. And unfortunately, it is easy to ‘spiritually relax’ as believers and become ‘earthy’ and ‘worldly’ in our walk with the Lord. This is the essence and purpose of the letters to the Churches in the NEW Testament. How do believers in Christ overcome the temptations of the world, the false teaching coming into the church, and the struggles of being a disciple of the Lord? Answer: it’s the Grace of the NEW covenant. It wasn’t easy for them; and for many of us, it, too, has not been easy; however, just as the Lord answered Paul regarding his own struggle in the flesh, He says to us in 2 Cor. 12:9, “And He said to me, ” My grace is sufficient for you, for My strength is made perfect in weakness.” Paul’s reply follows, “Therefore most gladly I will rather boast in my infirmities, that the power of Christ may rest upon me.” Whoa, there is something needed to be learned. Paul continues in 2 Cor. 12:10, “Therefore I take pleasure in infirmities, in reproaches, in needs, in persecutions, in distresses, for Christ’s sake, for when I am weak, then I am strong.” Question: Is what Paul said, the mindset of the Church today? or does the Church avoid these issues, individually and/or collectively? Question: Is this where we are headed in our nation?
Will we need to embrace infirmities, reproaches, needs, persecutions, distresses for Christ’s sake? This reminds me of Hebrews 13:13, “Therefore, let go forth to Him, outside the camp (context-established religion), bearing His reproach.” (my insert).
Christ in me is supernatural. Christ in me is spiritual. Christ in me is real not religious. Paul clearly understood this NEWness. Listen to his explanation in Galatians 2:20, “I have been crucified with Christ (that takes care of the OLD); it is no longer I who live (I am dead to the OLD), but Christ lives in me (NEWness); and the life that I live in the flesh (NOW, OLD things have passed away, and behold all things have become NEW) I live by faith in the Son of God, who loved me and gave Himself for me.” (my inserts)
This is Paul’s NEW understanding. The is what the Spirit planted (downloaded) in seed form in Paul. Question: Does Paul get it? Absolutely, he understands what he had to put off or have removed from his thinking. He comprehended what the OLD meant to him personally and to the Jewish nation. He understood that life was not going to be the same in Christ.
Paul(Saul) was entrenched in Judaism. He witnessed Stephen’s death by stoning (Acts 7:58). In fact, he consented to Stephen’s death (Acts 8:1). He was obsessed with the arrest and incarceration of Christian believers. (Acts 8:3).
But God! Jesus confronts Saul (Paul), calls him, blinds him with His brilliance, chooses him, and commissions him to Himself for the preaching of the gospel to the Gentiles, and as a witness to the nations (Acts 9:1-30).
Massaging an OLD phrase, did Paul (Saul) get it? Listen to his testimony found in Philippians3:1-9, NKJV, “Finally , my brethren, rejoice in the Lord. For to me to write the same things to you is not tedious, but for you it is safe. Beware of dogs, beware of evil workers, beware of mutilation! For we are the circumcision, who worship God in the Spirit, rejoice in Christ Jesus, and have no confidence in the flesh, though I also might have confidence in the flesh. If anyone else thinks he may have confidence in the flesh, I more so: [Paul says I will put up my credentials and compare them to anyone’s; and I do not think anyone can out do my credentials] (my insert). (bring it on!): circumcised the eighth day, of the tribe of Benjamin, a Hebrew of the Hebrews; concerning the law, a Pharisee; concerning zeal, persecuting the church; concerning the righteousness which is in the law, blameless. But what things were gain to me, these I have counted loss for Christ. Yet indeed I also count all things loss for the excellence of the knowledge of Christ Jesus my Lord, for whom I have suffered the loss of all things (all associated with the OLD), and count them rubbish, that I may gain Christ (all associated with the NEW) and be found in Him, not having my own righteousness, which is from the law (OLD), but that which is through faith in Christ (NEW), the righteousness which is from God by faith.” (my inserts)
Therefore, what is the goal of the Christian life, according to Paul, NOW. Philippians 3:10-11 says, “…that I might know Him and the power of His resurrection, and the fellowship of His sufferings, being conformed to His death, if by any means I may attain to the resurrection from the dead.” How is that going to happen? To be His disciple we must take up our cross daily and follow Him.
I submit to you that Philippians 3:12-21 addresses the answer to the aforementioned question. Paul understands that the issue is not about going to heaven. He knows that going to heaven is guaranteed to those who are in Christ. Paul is focusing on the life we are to be living NOW, based upon the NEW.
Please give me some ‘space’ regarding my next thought. Question: How do we change the word NEW to the word NOW? Easy, remove the letter E and replace it with the letter O. ‘E’asier said than done. When we embrace the NEW, the letter ‘E’ says that we are ‘eternally’ justified in Christ. Our salvation is secure, and our destination will be with the Lord in His Presence, in Heaven, with the Father. It also says that our NEW life is ‘E’very day.
We replace in the space where the ‘E’ was with the letter ‘O’. ‘O’ is learning how to live ‘obediently’ undergoing the sanctification process of walking and growing in Christ ‘E’very day . This is what we are to be learning and living NOW. Hebrews 5:8 NKJV, “…though He were a Son yet learned He ‘O’bedience by the things that He suffered.” Is this the mindset of the church today? Is this the mindset of every believer? Unfortunately, NO! So…
this means that if we put the E and O together as ‘EO’ we have ‘E’very day ‘Obedience’. This is our goal.
What is Paul’s exhortation? Philippians 3:17;18 (NKJV), “…walk according to the pattern you have in us.” Was Paul’s pattern after the Spirit (NEW) or the OLD (flesh)? Was Paul’s walk ‘carnal’ or ‘soulish’?
Let’s consider Galatians 5:1-26. I submit to you that Paul is correcting the Galatian Church about their struggle in growing in the Lord. The are being told not to put off all the OLD by false teachers. They are being told that they need to retain their ‘identity’ as Jews. Paul is categorically saying that this is wrong. He tells them to put off the OLD in its entirety. He is warning them that retaining their traditions and customs will be disastrous in their walk with the Lord. He exhorts them to put on the NEW, which is Christ, as they had been taught in the gospel. Galatians 5:16 defines the spiritual struggle within all of us, and it summarizes the admonition of Paul to the Galatian Church. “I say then, Walk in the Spirit (NOW), and you will not fulfill the lust of the flesh (OLD). ”
This is exactly what Paul addresses in his letter to the Colossian church. Read, Colossians 3:1-17.
Let me ask again, is the church walking after the flesh, or after the Spirit? Is the church directed by the soulish desires of mankind or by the Spirit of God? Is the church riddled with carnality, or is it maturing in Christ? Why is the church so anemic in the United States? Is the church for real or is it just a religious exercise? If Jesus sent a letter to the church in the United States as He did to the seven churches of Asia, what would He say? Does the church in the United States resemble any of the churches He wrote too?
Sunday, May 23, 2021, is Pentecost Sunday on the western church calendar. Will it be church as usual? or will there be an honest re-evaluation of the state of the church?
Quoting T. Austin Sparks again, “There is something here much more than typology interpreted and interpretation accepted as to salvation from sin and judgment. It is the essential and indispensable heavenly relatedness and life of the Lord’s people as inwardly detached from the natural life (OLD) even in a religious sense.” In short, is the church real or religious?
To be real, the church must walk after the Spirit (NOW), and not after the flesh (OLD). Walking after the Spirit comes from the preaching of Christ crucified, centered in the gospel of Christ.
To be Christ’s disciple, we are to take up our cross daily, and follow Him. What is our cross for? crucifixion, a reminder that in Christ, the OLD has been crucified and the NEW has been resurrected (remember Gal. 2:20). We are to live as one who embraces ‘death to self’.
In the closing chapter of the letter to the Galatians, (Gal. 6:1-18), Paul puts it all in perspective. Concentrating on Gal. 6:12-18, Paul, in verse 12, says, “As many as desire to make a good showing in the flesh (OLD), these would compel you to be circumcised (OLD), only that they may not suffer persecution for the cross of Christ (NEW?NOW).” (my inserts) (NKJV)
This is the issue for the individual believer and the community of believers in a local church. Do you, does the church, embrace or avoid the cross of Christ in our daily lives? Do we live for our selves, or for the Lord? Who sits on the throne of my heart, your heart, the heart of the local church?
To grow in the NEW so that it becomes the NOW, the church must center on Christ, and on the cross. Galatians 6:14-17 lays out the answer as Paul closes his letter. “But God forbid that I should boast except in the cross of our Lord Jesus Christ, by whom the world has been crucified to me, and I to the world. For in Christ Jesus neither circumcision nor uncircumcision avails anything (OLD), but a NEW creation (boldness mine). And as many as walk according to this rule, peace and mercy be upon them, and upon the Israel of God. From NOW on let no one trouble me, for I bear in my body the marks of the Lord Jesus.”
Do I, do we, does the church bear the ‘marks of the Lord Jesus’.
Does the church you attend preach the Gospel, centered on Christ, and the Cross?
Maybe the church needs to revisit the words of a hymn that was a foundation in the church. The hymn is entitled, THE OLD RUGGED CROSS. It was written by George Bennard (1873-1958). Here are some of its words:
“On a hill far away stood an old rugged cross, the emblem of suffering and shame, and I love that old cross where the dearest and best for a world of lost sinners was slain…so I’ll cherish the old rugged cross…”
Do we still cherish the old rugged cross? Paul did. It was the foundation of his ministry. Christ crucified. Are we out of touch with the gospel in our churches today? The word ‘rugged’ here means “having or requiring toughness and determination”. (googled)
Is the church tough and determined today? Am I willing to be drawn nearer to the cross? Remembering the words to another hymn, the words say:
“Draw me nearer, nearer blessed Lord, to the cross where Thou hast died, draw me neared, nearer blessed Lord, to Thy precious bleeding side” (Fanny Crosby)
Thank you Father for sending Your Son; Thank you Jesus for Your Gospel and the Cross; Thank you Holy Spirit for Your teaching, guidance, and comfort.
Thank you Trinity for Your love.
As a believer in Christ, I , Deo, am in possession of a NEW covenant ratified by the Blood of Jesus.
Living Words of Encouragement 