Friday, May 31, 2013

Who Do You Follow?


Who do you find yourself identifying with? 

Want to know something? While essentially every born-again believer initially claims Jesus as Savior, many eventually act more like they are following Moses.

We are to NEVER follow Moses. Moses represents the Old Testament. The OLD Covenant.

Following the customs and admonishments of Mosaic and Levitical Laws presents a problem.

2 Corinthians 3:13 (AMP) - "Nor [do we act] like Moses, who put a veil over his face so that the Israelites might not gaze upon the finish of the vanishing [splendor which had been upon it]."

Following the legal letter of the Old Covenant places a veil over our faces and our hearts. The glory of the New Testament cannot shine into or out of that. People cannot see Jesus through the veil.

Verse 14 - "In fact, their minds were grown hard and calloused [they had become dull and had lost the power of understanding]; for until this present day, when the Old Testament (the old covenant) is being read, that same veil still lies [on their hearts], not being lifted [to reveal] that in Christ it is made voidand done away."

Did you catch that? "Until this present day, when the Old Testament is being read...".

And further...Verse 15  - "Yes, down to this [very] day whenever Moses is read, a veil lies upon their mindsand hearts."

It means not just when we read Moses, but when we read it as our "authority". Adhering to the laws and views of the OT is like having a veil covering your mind (soul) and heart! Wow.

This does not mean that we cut off the OT from the rest of the Bible, but that we read it now in the light of the new revelation of the NT. There are a great many wonderful truths in the OT, but our authoritative Scripture is now in the New Testament Gospel of Jesus Christ. He is the fulfillment of the Law.

We have a NEW Covenant in Jesus Christ. The Old has been absorbed into the New.

Remedy?

Verse 16 - "But whenever a person turns [in repentance] to the Lord, the veil is stripped off and taken away."

See? Jesus took all of that stale religious legalism away. Why then do so many choose to go back to what Jesus has freed us from?

Verse 17  - "Now the Lord is the Spirit, and where the Spirit of the Lord is, there is liberty (emancipation from bondage, freedom)."

Hebrews 8:13 (AMP)  - When God speaks of a new [covenant or agreement], He makes the first one obsolete (out of use). And what is obsolete (out of use and annulled because of age) is ripe for disappearance and to be dispensed with altogether.

You have been freed. You are emancipated from the chains of religion and legalism.

Verse 18 says that we who are born-again are people of the unveiled face. We are ever being transformed into the very image of Jesus Christ!

This is what the Church needs to realize today. It's not about doing as much as being. When we believe we are who the Bible says we are, we will begin to act like who we really are. The "doing" has to emanate from the "being".

If we are not acting out from who we are in Christ than it is all useless religion. The Church will simply be numbered among the countless "self-help" groups who have people ensnared to their philosophies. Never gaining a victory, but being kept barely alive on life support.

Keepin' it Real,

Pastor Kevin <><

www.reallifect.com

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