Mowser
The Words of Jesus
Our Covenant for Eternal Life
by George Scullin
The Ministry Of Grace
Grace is defined in a number of ways. It is popularly thought of as "undeserved favor." It is true that man deserves nothing good from God, but grace is much more than undeserved favor. Strong’s Greek Dictionary of the New Testament defines grace as "The divine influence upon the heart and its reflection in the life." The Holy Spirit works in the heart of the believer to develop righteousness that is manifested in the life of the individual. Grace is not just the Holy Spirit working in the heart. It must be manifested by action. "Little children let no man deceive you: he that doeth righteousness is righteous, even as He is righteous" (I John 3:7).
Jesus made plain the ministry of the Holy Spirit. He told the disciples in John 14:15-17, "If ye love Me, keep My commandments, and I will pray the Father and He shall give you another comforter that He may abide with you forever, even the Spirit of truth whom the world cannot receive because it seeth Him not, neither knoweth Him; but ye know Him for He dwelleth with you and shall be in you." The Holy Spirit, the divine influence would dwell within them forever. What would the Holy Spirit do?
"He shall teach you all things and bring all things to your remembrance whatsoever I have said unto you" (John 14:26). In John 15:26, Jesus said, "He shall testify of Me." In John 16:8, Jesus said, "He will reprove (that is convince or convict) the world of sin, and of righteousness, and of judgment." "He will guide you into all truth" (John 16:13), etc. The Holy Spirit is a teacher, not an enforcer.
In Heb. 8:10, it is written, "For this is the covenant that I will make with the house of Israel after those days saith the Lord. I will put My laws into their mind and write them in their heart; and I will be to them a God and they shall be to Me a people."
Jesus said in Mark 7:20-23, "That which cometh out of the man, that defileth the man. For FROM WITHIN OUT OF THE HEART OF MEN proceed evil thoughts, adulteries, fornications, murders, thefts, covetousness, wickedness, deceit, lasciviousness, an evil eye, blasphemy, pride, foolishness. All these evil things COME FROM WITHIN AND DEFILE THE MAN." That word "proceed" means "go forth." They go out of him. It is the expression of evil that defiles man. It is a violation of the everlasting covenant. Jesus said even our words justify or condemn us (Matt. 12:37). They express a heart condition.
None of the foregoing scriptures condone nor excuse the heart’s condition. They reveal the problem man has in his struggle to maintain his covenant relationship with God. With the power of the Holy Spirit and the mighty blood of Jesus, man can overcome the sinful nature and gain eternal life and immortality.
The Words Of Jesus
God not only provided the blood of His Son to cleanse us from sin, and the Holy Spirit to teach, convict and empower us, He gave us a special message from His Son (Heb. 1:1,2). This message was dictated to the Son by the Father; for Jesus said, "I have not spoken of Myself; but the Father which sent Me, He gave Me a commandment, what I should say, and what I should speak" (John 12:49). In His message, Jesus told us how to serve God, how to serve others, and how to deal with our inner struggle. He told us in Matt. 7:24-27, His words are the foundation to build on, not Peter’s, Paul’s or John’s words.
The apostles’ words may edify and enlighten us on some points, but they cannot supersede the words of Jesus. His words are the most important words in the Bible. Among His teachings we find over one hundred and fifty commands, and He said, "If you love Me, keep My commandments" (John 14:15). He said, "If a man love Me he will keep My words; and My Father will love him, and we will come unto him, and make our abode with him" (John 14:23). What condition on earth could be more wonderful than that?
The commandments of Jesus are law. They are terms of the everlasting covenant known as the New Covenant. The covenant is still "make Me your God and you shall be My people," but the terms or conditions relative to the covenant have changed, therefore it is called a New Covenant. In Moses’ time the covenant required the blood of animals, a tabernacle of skins, an altar of earth and a multitude of commandments that controlled all of their living, their worship, their food, health, marriage, building codes, etc. Peter referred to these things as, "A yoke which neither we nor our fathers were able to bear" (Acts 15:40).
When Jesus died on the cross the veil in the temple was torn in two pieces, and now God’s people can all go "boldly before the throne of grace to find mercy and grace to help in time of need" (Heb. 4:16). The Levitical priesthood and its laws were abolished. Nevertheless, this did not relieve men from obligation for covenant relationship. The apostles expressed their recognition of this obligation, or requirement.
"If any man teach otherwise, and consent not to wholesome words, even the words of our Lord Jesus Christ, and to the doctrine which is according to godliness; he is proud, knowing nothing, but doting about questions and strifes of words, whereof cometh envy, strife, railings, evil surmisings, perverse disputings of men of corrupt minds, and destitute of the truth, supposing that gain is godliness: from such withdraw thyself" (I Tim. 6:3-5).
"The Lord Jesus shall be revealed from heaven with his mighty angels, in flaming fire taking vengeance on them that know not God, and that obey not the gospel of our Lord Jesus Christ" (II Thess. 1:7-8).
"Whosoever transgresseth, and abideth not in the doctrine of Christ, Hath not God. He that abideth in the doctrine of Christ, he hath both the Father and the Son. If there come any unto you, and bring not this doctrine, receive him not into your house, neither bid him God speed" (II John 9,10)
"And hereby we do know that we know Him, if we keep His commandments. He that saith, I know Him, and keepeth not His commandments, is a liar, and the truth is not in him, but whoso keepeth His word, in him verily is the love of God perfected: hereby know we that we are in Him" (I John 2:3-5).
"Blessed are they that do His commandments, that they may have right to the tree of life, and may enter in through the gates into the city" (Rev. 22:14).
Jesus said in John 15:7, "If you abide in Me, and My words abide in you, you shall ask what you will, and it shall be done unto you." This is not idle talk. He meant what He said. This promises power unlimited. Think of that: no sickness, no disease, no pain, no suffering. Where are the people that abide in Him and His words abide in them? It is evident that the church is not measuring up to the standards of the everlasting covenant.
Jesus taught love as a verb. "He that has My commandments and keepeth them, he it is that loveth Me" (John 15:21). That is God’s definition of love for Him. Before Jesus ascended back to heaven, He commanded His disciples to go to all nations, "teaching them to observe all things whatsoever I have commanded you" (Matt. 28:19,20). The message they were to give was "obey God." This was the condition, the terms, the requirements for maintaining covenant relationship. Faith without obedience to the commands of Jesus is a useless thing. It is a mere profession. We must do the will of the Father which is in heaven if we are to win eternal life and immortality. In Rom. 2:6-10, Paul wrote, "(God), will render to every man according to his deeds: to them who by patient continuance in well doing seek for glory and honour and immortality, eternal life: but unto them that are contentious, and do not obey the truth, but obey unrighteousness, indignation and wrath, tribulation and anguish, upon every soul of man that doeth evil, of the Jew first, and also of the Gentile; but glory, honour, and peace, to every man that worketh good, to the Jew first, and also to the Gentile."
Jesus said in John 12:48, "He that rejecteth Me, and receiveth not My words, has one that judgeth him: the word that I have spoken, the same shall judge him in the last day." Let us face the facts: the man that is a participant in the everlasting covenant is a man that does what God says he is to do. Few men measured up in the days of Israel. Few of those that profess Jesus Christ today sincerely try to measure up to God’s standard.
The promises of God for eternal life and immortality are for overcomers. Those that, with the power of the Holy Spirit within, control the sinful desires of this sinful heart shall reap the fulfillment of the promises.
"To him that overcometh will I give to eat of the tree of life which is in the midst of the Paradise of God" (Rev. 2:7). "To him that overcometh will I grant to sit with Me in My throne, even as I also overcame, and am set down with My Father in His throne" (Rev. 3:21). "He that overcometh shall inherit all things; and I WILL BE HIS GOD, AND HE SHALL BE MY SON" (Rev. 21:7).
See Obeying the Commands of Jesus
9; (This page was last updated on 02/18/2006.)
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