Did you know that there are three facts that can accelerate your walk with God? Though we live in the Age of the Spirit where the law was fulfilled in Christ and we as children of God are free from the law, many still live their lives subject to the law. Just knowing the following will help give us understanding in regarding the things of God that will help us move forward in our relationship with God.
1. The Bible says that the old covenant law is good, if it’s applied to lawbreakers!
Now we know that the law is good, if one uses it lawfully, understanding this, that the law is not laid down for the just but for the lawless and disobedient, for the ungodly and sinners, for the unholy and profane, for those who strike their fathers and mothers, for murderers, the sexually immoral, men who practice homosexuality, enslavers, liars, perjurers, and whatever else is contrary to sound doctrine, 1 Timothy 1:8-10.
There’s a belief out there that the bible is only relevant if you believe it yourself! This is not true!!! Many have made the choice to not hear and respond to the voice of God and it is for these people that it’s important that the law is written down in such a way that others can see and experience the wisdom of God. This continually confronts pre-Christians with truth.
In one way the law serves as a school-teacher for pre-Christians to see the nature and character of God. In another way the law lets pre-Christians know that there are absolutes in this earth, though they may choose to not agree with or live by them. Yet if it had not been for the law, I would not have known sin. Romans 7:7
Jesus and his words are the axis of the universe; the line against which everything else is measured. We know where all things stand if we know Jesus and his word. This does not change just because someone has declared that it’s not their truth. Jesus is the TRUTH!
2. The law that brings death is binding on all people…if we’re still alive! Are we alive or is it Christ that lives through us?
Or do you not know, brothers—for I am speaking to those who know the law—that the law is binding on a person only as long as he lives? Romans 7:1
I have been crucified with Christ. It is no longer I who live, but Christ who lives in me. And the life I now live in the flesh I live by faith in the Son of God, who loved me and gave himself for me. Galatians 2:20
The law’s conditions require purity before approaching the God who is pure, but we no longer have to get pure, we’re pure by the blood of Jesus. The law’s conditions require death for sin, whether death of the person who committed the sin or the death of a sacrifice as punishment in their place. But for those who have accepted Christ’s sacrifice as payment for their sin, the law has been satisfied and fulfilled.
We as receivers of Christ’s sacrifice are therefore no longer under the law, but are now governed by the Spirit, which allows us to be pure and enter God’s presence at any point in time confident that we will find help in our time of need.
3. The new covenant is a Holy Spirit led life.
But now we are released from the law, having died to that which held us captive, so that we serve in the new way of the Spirit and not in the old way of the written code. Romans 7:6
For all who are led by the Spirit of God are sons of God. Romans 8:14
For this is the covenant that I will make with the house of Israel after those days, declares the Lord: I will put my laws into their minds, and write them on their hearts, and I will be their God, and they shall be my people. And they shall not teach, each one his neighbor and each one his brother, saying, ‘Know the Lord,’ for they shall all know me, from the least of them to the greatest. For I will be merciful toward their iniquities, and I will remember their sins no more.” In speaking of a new covenant, he makes the first one obsolete. Hebrews 8:10-13
The rules and regulations of the new covenant of the Holy Spirit are not written on tablets of stone or in books as rules that we follow. Instead it’s written on our hearts and minds by the Holy Spirit. We have been redeemed, restored, and reconciled to Christ. Just as Adam and Eve were in full relationship with God before the fall, in the same way we can expect to walk and talk with God.
What does living by the Spirit look like today?
We know that God gave a mandate to Adam and Eve in the garden. This is the same mandate that we have been redeemed, reconciled, and restored to.
- Be fruitful and multiply.
- To fill the earth and subdue it.
- To take dominion in the earth for God‘s purposes.
God’s Spirit was available for Adam and Eve to expand the paradise garden of Eden across the earth as they grew and multiplied. In the same way, God‘s Spirit is available to us to expand God’s kingdom in our personal spheres of influence as we are fruitful and multiply across the earth.
A physical garden may not be our dominion, but our families are our dominion. Where our children go to school is our dominion. Where we work is our dominion. In each of these places we are to extend the territorial dominion of our king as we are his ambassadors in this world.
How do we go about this? Thankfully God’s Spirit is written in our hearts and minds and as we abide in Him we can trust that we will bear good fruit. The same God that called Abraham, and Abraham followed Him without knowing where he was going is the same God that has called us forth. We may not know exactly what the future holds, but we can trust the nature and character of God is such that in the end not only will we be blessed, but we will be used to be a blessing to others.
The City on a Hill
Ultimately we will be a city on a hill that the world will see as a place to find solutions and answers to life’s greatest challenges. It is then that we’ll see that the mountain of the Lord is established as chief off the other mountains. We’ll be a place where others come to find answers to real life problems because in Christ are hidden all of the treasures of wisdom and knowledge and He lives in us by the Holy Spirit. While only the Spirit of God knows the thoughts of God, we’ve been given the mind of Christ through the Spirit of God that reveals what eyes have not seen, ears have not heard and the solutions that have not entered in the man’s heart as options. This is what what God freely gives us by the Spirit within.
Things to do this Week.
1. Set aside some time to ask God to reveal to you answers and solutions to real problems that are around you.
2. Journal the things that come to mind. If you don’t feel like you receive anything that’s ok.
Sometimes the greatest treasures are not the ones most easily discovered, but require some searching out. Remember, it’s the treasure of kings to search out a matter.
3. It’s not always God’s intent for us to share everything we receive so when you receive some sort of insight, ask God if there’s anything you need to do with it before sharing. Always follow the path of peace.
Go with God!
David Sr.