Have you become petrified or, are you a living, building stone for Christ?
Christians are all part of the body of Christ and have an important role to play in God’s plan. Ask Jesus everyday what He wants you to do? Seek His guidance in everything. Be a useful stone in the building of the Church. Even in the wilderness the Israelites relied on a Spiritual Rock.
1 Cor. 10:3-5 All were baptized into Moses in the cloud and in the sea, all ate the same spiritual food, and all drank the same spiritual drink. FOR THEY DRANK OF THAT SPIRITUAL ROCK THAT FOLLOWED THEM, AND THAT ROCK WAS CHRIST!
When Christ started His ministry and began building His Church, He selected twelve apostles to train in building His Church. Jesus chose Peter as the chief apostle and rock of the Church to start His building!
Matthew 16:18 And I also say to you that you are Peter, and on this rock I will build My church.
The Church has grown in two thousand years to about two billion Christians on the earth. It is still growing as you the building stones of the Church are spreading the gospel of salvation to reach the lost of the world.
Again I ask are you petrified or are you a living stone for Christ? Are you using your life to reach others who are lost? Are you planting and watering so God can give the increase? That is what He commands!
1 Corinthians 3:6 I planted, Apollos watered, but God gave the increase.
Ephesians 2:20 Having been built on the foundation of the apostles and prophets, JESUS CHRIST HIMSELF BEING THE CHIEF CORNERSTONE. Thess. 1: 6 You became followers of us and of the Lord, having received the word in much affliction, WITH JOY OF THE HOLY SPIRIT.
Be moved by the Holy Spirit! The Holy Spirit dwells in you! Let Him use you as a fruitful building stone for Christ.
God made a time for everything! Ecclesiastes 3:1 To everything there is a season, A time for every purpose under heaven:
11 He has made everything beautiful in its time. Also He has put eternity in their hearts, except that no one can find out the work that God does from beginning to end.
From the beginning to the end! WOW! The historical lifetime of man is extremely short compared to the lifetime of God!Revelation 1:8 “I am the Alpha and the Omega, the Beginning and the End,” says the Lord, “who is and who was and who is to come, the Almighty.”
God has a great and Holy Plan by which He created the heavens and the earth and created man to inhabit the earth. So the age old question that has been asked: “What is man and what is his purpose?” The purpose is a great mystery that is now revealed by the Holy Spirit to those in Christ! God created man for an extremely high and holy purpose, but He left it to man to decide whether he wanted to partake of His glory. So what has man done with the earth he has inherited? He has just about totally polluted it. The earth, air, water, sound, etc. you name it and man has tainted and contaminated it. Man’s understanding of things from above is polluted and perverted as well. God wants to share His glory with those who choose to do so through the gospel of Jesus Christ.
1Peter 1:3-5 Blessed be the God and Father of our Lord Jesus Christ, who according to His abundant mercy has begotten us again to a living hope through the resurrection of Jesus Christ from the dead, to an INHERITANCE INCORRUPTIBLE AND UNDEFILED and that does not fade away, reserved in heaven for you, who are kept by the power of God through faith for salvation ready to be revealed in the last time.
The Holy Spirit in Christ Jesus changes everything by making anyone who chooses Christ and is born again into new life an INHERITOR of the Kingdom of God. They will receive a new body, name, residence, job, eternal life, a great reward, is a king and priest, sharing the glory and throne of God!
Have you ever observed someone being baptized and heard the pastor make a statement that baptism is not important and that you are not saved by baptism that it is only a symbol of publicly receiving Christ as your Savior? I have and I always wondered why they felt that they had to tell everyone this every time they baptized someone as if they might do something wrong if they didn’t. I have thought on this subject many times and have always wondered about it!
The bible teaches that there are certain important major Church doctrines that we ought to obey. In the book of Hebrews God very thoroughly explains to us what the “new covenant” is all about. The church of God is no longer under the old covenant after the order of the Levitical Priesthood as given to Israel by Moses. We are now under the Priesthood after the order of Melchizedek! Our high priest is Jesus Christ who is from the tribe of Judah which was never even mentioned by Moses that there would be a priesthood other than the Levitical Priesthood. Now Christ teaches us in the bible that there are new covenant doctrines that we need to learn and follow. Hebrews 6: 1-2 Therefore, leaving the discussion of the elementary principles of Christ, let us go on to perfection, not laying again the foundation of repentance from dead works and of faith toward God, of the DOCTRINE OF BAPTISMS, of laying on of hands, of resurrection of the dead, and of eternal judgment.
I believe that Jesus Christ is the author of the Holy Bible and that it is the infallible truth of God! When He makes it a point to tell us about the major doctrine of baptism in context with the resurrection of the dead we need to pay attention and understand what Jesus is saying! When God sent His Holy Spirit down to the earth to inhabit the hundred and twenty believers on the day of Pentecost (Acts 2: 1-4 When the Day of Pentecost had fully come, they were all with one accord in one place. And suddenly there came a sound from heaven, as of a rushing mighty wind, and it filled the whole house where they were sitting. Then there appeared to them divided tongues, as of fire, and one sat upon each of them. And they were all filled with the Holy Spirit… Matthew 3:11 I indeed baptize you with water unto repentance, but He who is coming after me is mightier than I, whose sandals I am not worthy to carry. He will baptize you with the Holy Spirit and fire) the Apostles went out and started preaching to the multitude of people in Jerusalem and the very first thing Peter told them in Acts 2:38 Then Peter said to them, “Repent, and let every one of you be BAPTIZED in the name of Jesus Christ for the remission of sins; and YOU SHALL RECEIVE THE GIFT OF THE HOLY SPIRIT. WHEN YOU ARE BAPTIZED YOU RECEIVE THE HOLY SPIRIT! Don’t you think that makes baptism rather important to a Christian? But always remember that with God all things are possible! If He chooses to give you His Holy Spirit some other way He can but you still need to be baptized. (Acts 10:44-48 While Peter was still speaking these words, the Holy Spirit fell upon all those who heard the word. And those of the circumcision who believed were astonished, as many as came with Peter, because the gift of the Holy Spirit had been poured out on the Gentiles also. For they heard them speak with tongues and magnify God. Then Peter answered, “Can anyone forbid water, that these should not be baptized who have received the Holy Spirit just as we have?” And he commanded them to be baptized in the name of the Lord).
I encourage anyone who has not done so, to get on your knees and ask God what baptism is all about and He will answer and lead you into a life so wonderful and will infuse you with a new power that you never knew existed. Jesus changes everything! SEEK HIM NOW!
Once in a senior Sunday school class, a man who was a long term member made the statement that he had the rapture and he didn’t need anything else.
Sadly, there are many Christians who feel that “once saved always saved” excuses them from any other duties as a Christian. That is not so!
They lack understanding of the new covenant that Jesus Christ preached about in the “Sermon on the Mount.” Under the old law you literally had to commit an act of sin to be guilty, but under the new covenant Christ makes it very clear that if a person harbors evil in their heart they are guilty of sinning. Everything we do in life should be spiritual, not of the flesh. But how can we do this? Through Jesus who lives in us! Jesus made the supreme sacrifice once and for all so our sins are forgiven and remains our advocate forever.
Hebrews 10:10 We have been sanctified through the offering of the body of Jesus Christ once for all.
12 But this Man, after He had offered one sacrifice for sins forever, sat down at the right hand of God.
14 For by one offering He has perfected forever those who are being sanctified.
15 But the Holy Spirit also witnesses to us; for after He had said before,
16 This is the covenant that I will make with them after those days, says the LORD: I will put My laws into their hearts, and in their minds I will write them.
17 Their sins and their lawless deeds I will remember no more.
Matthew 5:21 You have heard that it was said to those of old, You shall not murder; and whoever murders will be liable to judgment.
22 But I say to you that everyone who is angry with his brother will be liable to judgment; whoever insults his brother will be liable to the council; and whoever says, you fool, will be liable to the hell of fire.
27 You have heard that it was said, you shall not commit adultery.
28 But I say to you that everyone who looks at a woman with lustful intent has already committed adultery with her in his heart.
31 It was also said, whoever divorces his wife, let him give her a certificate of divorce.
32 But I say to you that everyone who divorces his wife, except on the ground of sexual immorality, makes her commit adultery, and whoever marries a divorced woman commits adultery.
33 Again you have heard that it was said to those of old, you shall not swear falsely, but shall perform to the Lord what you have sworn.
34 But I say to you, do not take an oath at all, either by heaven, for it is the throne of God,
35 or by the earth, for it is his footstool, or by Jerusalem, for it is the city of the great King.
36 And do not take an oath by your head, for you cannot make one hair white or black.
37 Let what you say be simply ‘Yes’ or ‘No’; anything more than this comes from evil.
38 You have heard that it was said, an eye for an eye and a tooth for a tooth.
39 But I say to you, do not resist the one who is evil. But if anyone slaps you on the right cheek, turn to him the other also.
43 You have heard that it was said, you shall love your neighbor and hate your enemy.
44 But I say to you, Love your enemies and pray for those who persecute you,
4 so that you may be sons of your Father who is in heaven. For he makes his sun rise on the evil and on the good, and sends rain on the just and on the unjust.
46 For if you love those who love you, what reward do you have? Do not even the tax collectors do the same?
47 And if you greet only your brothers, what more are you doing than others? Do not even the Gentiles do the same?
48 You therefore must be perfect, as your heavenly Father is perfect.
How is it possible to be perfect as God our Father is perfect?
1John 3: 9 No one born of God makes a practice of sinning, for God’s seed abides in him, and he cannot keep on sinning because he has been born of God.
The whole book of 1 John is a further expansion of the spiritual laws of Christ.
If you do not have a personal relationship with Jesus Christ, then now is your time, this is why you are reading this now! Jesus is knocking on your door! Open to Him now! Receive Him into your life! God bless you! Amen!
Three things of paramount importance to understand what is meant by the statement that we are not under the law, we are under grace. These three things are works, law and grace. What are works? Biblically, works means moral or immoral acts, deeds, output, or accomplishments. The apostle Paul relates to us the immoral works of the flesh inGalatians 5: 19-21 Now the works of the flesh are evident, which are: adultery, fornication, uncleanness, lewdness, idolatry, sorcery, hatred, contentions, jealousies, outbursts of wrath, selfish ambitions, dissensions, heresies, envy, murders, drunkenness, revelries, and the like. That is a very clear definition of immoral works. But God says that there are good works also inEphesians 2:10 For we are His workmanship, created in Christ Jesus for good works, which God prepared beforehand that we should walk in them.However, salvation only comes through the grace of Christ, not our works.
Keeping of the law is next! There is a definition and explanation by God concerning the law. What is its purpose? Why did God give the law in the first place?Galatians 3: 19 What purpose then does the law serve? It was added because of transgressions, till the Seed should come to whom the promise was made; and it was appointed through angels by the hand of a mediator.
21 Is the law then against the promises of God? Certainly not! For if there had been a law given which could have given life, truly righteousness would have been by the law.
23 But before faith came, we were kept under guard by the law, kept for the faith which would afterward be revealed.
24 Therefore the law was our tutor to bring us to Christ, that we might be justified by faith.
Matthew 5:18 For assuredly, I say to you, till heaven and earth pass away, one jot or one tittle will by no means pass from the law till all is fulfilled.
Both the works and the law point toward grace. As a matter of fact it literally paves the way for grace.John 1: 17 For the law was given through Moses, but grace and truth came through Jesus Christ.As God begins to open up His truth about law and grace we see that without grace all is of no effect because we have no means of ourselves to be justified to God. Jesus loved us so much He willingly gave His life so that we could live. Jesus died while we were still sinners and took upon Himself the sins of the world and became sin for us. He took our sins and died in our place. There is no greater grace than that. He freely gave Himself.
So now we ask the question, what are the spiritual laws? The answers are always found in God’s Word! Jesus revealed and the Apostle Paul wrote inRomans 8:2 For the law of the Spirit of life in Christ Jesus has made me free from the law of sin and death.Jesus teaches us in the” Sermon on the Mount” the difference between the old law and the new spiritual law. Under the old law you had to physically break the law to be guilty but under the new spiritual law, if you so much as harbored evil in your heart and mind, you are guilty of breaking the law.Matthew 5: 27 “You have heard that it was said to those of old, ‘You shall not commit adultery.’
28 But I say to you that whoever looks at a woman to lust for her has already committed adultery with her in his heart. Romans 7: 25 I thank God — through Jesus Christ our Lord! So then, with the mind I myself serve the law of God, but with the flesh the law of sin. Galatians 6: 2 Bear one another’s burdens, and so fulfill the law of Christ.
The old law given by Moses was etched in stone and written in ink but the new law under the new covenant is written in the fleshy heart of man.2 Corinthians 3:3 clearly you are an epistle of Christ, ministered by us, written not with ink but by the Spirit of the living God, not on tablets of stone but on tablets of flesh, that is, of the heart.
The change of the old to the new took place the night Jesus kept the last Passover and then instituted the communion with bread and fruit of the vine.1 Corinthians 11:25 In the same manner He also took the cup after supper, saying, “This cup is the new covenant in My blood. Hebrews 12:24 to Jesus the Mediator of the new covenant.
Hebrews 7: 12 For the priesthood being changed, of necessity there is also a change of the law.
13 For He of whom these things are spoken belongs to another tribe, from which no man has officiated at the altar.( of the Levites)
14 For it is evident that our Lord arose from Judah, of which tribe Moses spoke nothing concerning priesthood.
15 And it is yet far more evident if, in the likeness of Melchizedek, there arises another priest
16 who has come, not according to the law of a fleshly commandment, but according to the power of an endless life.
17 For He testifies: ” You are a priest forever According to the order of Melchizedek.”
18 For on the one hand there is an annulling of the former commandment because of its weakness and unprofitableness,
19 for the law made nothing perfect; on the other hand, there is the bringing in of a better hope, through which we draw near to God.
The priesthood changed from the Levitical Priesthood to the Judean Priesthood, Jesus becoming the high priest forever. Any and all laws under Christ are spiritual.Romans 7:14 For we know that the law is spiritual.
Jesus says over and over in the new covenant that we need to obey Him.Hebrews 5: 8-9 He was a Son, yet He learned obedience by the things which He suffered. And having been perfected, He became the author of eternal salvation to all who obey Him.
This is an intense bible study and will require prayer and much study to understand all of the spiritual content. Most church people I ask about the covenants don’t really know much about them and how important they are to our spiritual lives and the impact it has on Christian teachings especially the Lords Supper where it was all changed by Jesus on that fateful night of the last Passover.
Ephesians 3:16 that He would grant you, according to the riches of His glory, to be strengthened with might through His Spirit in the inner man,
Wow! What a statement! His Spirit is in my inner man, in me? What does this mean? Am I two people? What is God saying?
This brings up the reminder that we must understand the two covenants. This is the least understood subject in the Church today and it is imperative that we take a brief study of the covenants to learn how the change came about.
About the Covenants
Hebrews 9:8 the Holy Spirit indicating this, that the way into the Holiest of All was not yet made manifest while the first tabernacle (A shadow of our corruptible body) was still standing.
11 But Christ came as High Priest of the good things to come, with the greater and more perfect tabernacle not made with hands (The inner man, 1 Cor.12:27), that is, not of this creation.
15 And for this reason He is the Mediator of the new covenant, by means of death, for the redemption of the transgressions under the first covenant (Forgiveness of our sins), that those who are called may receive the promise of the eternal inheritance.
Hebrews 10:9 then He said, “Behold, I have come to do Your will, O God.” He takes away the first that He may establish the second.
We are not under the Law of Moses, not even the Ten Commandments! We are under the Spiritual Laws of Jesus Christ as enlarged upon in the Sermon on the Mount. Under the Old Law you literally had to commit the offense to be guilty, but under the Laws of Christ if you harbor the offense in the heart you are guilty.
10 By that will we have been sanctified through the offering of the body of Jesus Christ once for all.
15 But the Holy Spirit also witnesses to us; for after He had said before,
16 “This is the covenant that I will make with them after those days, says the LORD: I will put My laws into their hearts, and in their minds I will write them,”
The Spiritual laws of Jesus Christ as referenced in the Sermon on the Mount.
17 then He adds, “Their sins and their lawless deeds I will remember no more.”
Jesus shed His blood for the remission of all sins, past, present, and future. Jesus took all sins to the grave and buried them there forever.
18 Now where there is remission of these, there is no longer an offering for sin.
This is where the covenants changed from the Levitical priesthood of the tribe of Levi to the Judean priesthood of the tribe of Judah with Christ as the High Priest.
Hebrews 7:11 Therefore, if perfection were through the Levitical priesthood (for under it the people received the law), what further need was there that another priest should rise according to the order of Melchizedek, and not be called according to the order of Aaron?
12 For the priesthood being changed, of necessity there is also a change of the law.
13 For He of whom these things are spoken belongs to another tribe, from which no man has officiated at the altar.
14 For it is evident that our Lord arose from Judah, of which tribe Moses spoke nothing concerning priesthood.
15 And it is yet far more evident if, in the likeness of Melchizedek, there arises another priest
16 who has come, not according to the law of a fleshly commandment, but according to the power of an endless life.
17 For He testifies: ” You are a priest forever According to the order of Melchizedek.”
Jesus who is our high priest today rebuilds us into a holy spiritual body.
Once we have received Christ into our lives and have eternal life, we have entered into the body of Christ. There was never anything like this ever mentioned by Moses in the Law. They would think it blasphemous to say we have a holy body like God. That’s why it is necessary to know about the two covenants. Now we can return to learning how we are spiritual
1 Corinthians12:27 Now you are the body of Christ, and members individually.
1 Corinthians 3:16 Do you not know that you are the temple of God and that the Spirit of God dwells in you?
17 If anyone defiles the temple of God, God will destroy him. For the temple of God is holy, which temple you are.
1 Corinthians 6:19 Or do you not know that your body is the temple of the Holy Spirit who is in you, whom you have from God, and you are not your own?
It is staggering to learn that we are of such importance to God that He would make us Holy as He is holy. The Apostle Paul says he labors in birth until Christ is formed in us.(Gal.4:19)The Apostle Peter said that we are living stones used to build a spiritual house and holy priesthood.(1Peter 2:5) The Apostle Paul tells us to accept to being conformed to the new body the perfect man formed in us by God.
Ephesians 1:24 and that you put on the new man(The inner man) which was created according to God,
We are a spiritual construction job built on an everlasting foundation powerfully anchored by Christ and built of perfect building blocks of eternal strength fitted together to form a Spiritual structure for the holy habitation of our God and Father. We are the building blocks and Christ is the builder and we will be the dwelling of the Holy Spirit forever and ever. In the Kingdom of God there is no temple, for God and the Lamb are the temple and we are the body of the Lamb.(Rev. 21:22)
Ephesians 2:19 Now, therefore, you are no longer strangers and foreigners, but fellow citizens with the saints and members of the household of God,
20 having been built on the foundation of the apostles and prophets, Jesus Christ Himself being the chief cornerstone,
21 in whom the whole building, being fitted together, grows into a holy temple in the Lord,
22 in whom you also are being built together for a dwelling place of God in theSpirit.
I pray that god blesses the understanding of those who read this bible study as it may be the most important study to have in these times. Amen!
Sharing the Gospel message of hope, strength, love, and peace through Jesus Christ to those who are hurting in their soul or spirit. This is the mission of Healthy Mind Ministry
