1 Cor 10:21 (The Real Thing)

So, on the last study, we realized that there is this tradition that man has had of partaking of drinks and meats offered to idols. My entire point in bringing this up, is that when Christ came, He spent much time addressing people's traditions of men, He is always trying to get us to think outside of our normal parameters. We like to think "comfortable," and the Lord is always trying to "grow us" in our thinking so to speak.

What i saw as i began to study this out, "drinking from the cup of the Lord, vs the cup of devils," and finding out about the customs of offering unto heavenistic gods, i saw Christ there alone with His closest followers, taking food and drink. He offered up bread and stated that it was His Body, which was broken for us and the remission of our sins. The cup of wine, He said we were to drink it, that it was His Blood, given for us, to do this in remembrance of Him.

I have never fully understood this. Everytime i have been at church and partook of the Lord's Supper, or Communion...what does all of this mean? am i the ONLY one that has posed this question? yes, i know He was foretelling the events to come with His sacrificial death, that part i understand. yet, i have always seemed to be intrigued by the thought that there is more underlying meaning in this than just that. now, i could get into the Jewish Feast of Passover and explain how what they do and eat and say is all a type and shadow pointing to Christ and What He would do for us, but it hardly seems relevant in the form that i am seeking to find this answer. So for the essence of time, i'll refrain from going into that, (although perhaps one day i can share those things, it is truly awesome what God has shown His chosen people, Israel, with their feasts and how they pertain to Gods' timeclock and the gospel of Christ.

What i find most important to address here is the need to understand the scripture and what Jesus is saying as He lifts these items up and calls them His body and blood...saying we are to eat and drink, for we do this to remember Him. Has anyone ever taken communion and heard that scripture at that time about discerning the Lord's body? (wow, id didn't know that we were going here, ok Lord...) Let's look at the scripture:

1 Cor 11:27-29 "WHEREFORE WHOSOEVER SHALL EAT THIS BREAD, AND DRINK THIS CUP OF THE LORD, UNWORTHILY, SHALL BE GUILTY OF THE BODY AND BLOOD OF THE LORD. BUT LET A MAN EXAMINE HIMSELF, AND SO LET HIM EAT OF THAT BREAD, AND DRINK OF THAT CUP. FOR HE THAT EATETH AND DRINKETH UNWORTHILY, EATETH AND DRINKETH DAMNATION TO HIMSELF, NOT DISCERNING THE LORD'S BODY."

This is SO STINKIN' AWESOME! I feel the Holy Ghost leading me with this study! LOL yeahhhh!

ok, what this scripture is saying is CRUCIAL to the reader's walk with Christ! Why, I'll tell you. The greatest thing that the church has lost in it's message of the gospel, is the message of the Cross. I say this because we have multi-million member churches that folks are attending every single day and they are not leave one bit changed. they are coming in and receiving a message that is not the true gospel. the gospel is not just "the good news," which is what gospel means in the greek. there is more to it than that. every ask why it is the good news? the gospel that they preach is either money (for you and for them) making these preachers rich and yet their congregations are still going to hell because they don't know the truth, there's the holiness group that tell people that they can work their way into heaven, the government of 12 group state that there is a 12 step program like they have for addicts, which is man's formula and will never work. there is the word of faith doctrine which says that we are little gods and there is power in the words that we speak, that we can create a new and better situation for ourselves, therefore leaving them in complete bondage to what they do or lack in professing, but denying the power that really can be possessed which is Christ.

I rant and say all of that to say this...let me give an example, a word picture if you will:

i used to be a banker, a teller to be exact. i worked with money for nearly 15 years. after working with money for so long, i got pretty good at being able to catch the counterfeit bills that came through my deposits. they look about the same, but they feel different, there are subtle differences, things that you can check on the bill to see if it is authentic or not. sometimes you have to check for little blue and red threads in the bill, the watermark has to be even the same. i actually encountered a counterfeit bill that was so good, and the makers so deviant that they actually made Benjamin Franklin in the watermark wink! His image's eye, winked...like, HA HA, i got ya! False bills usually feel a little different. But if you had never worked with real bills for such a long time, it's very hard to distinguish what is real and what is not. It takes time and experience. The same it true with the Word of God folks! The church has been so ignorant of what the Word REALLY says, who the REAL Christ really is...that we are overwhelmed, eating any spiritual junk food that is handed to us...which it may have come originally from God, like corn from the stalk, but once it has been tainted and manipulated, it's no longer recognized as corn, nor is it good for us when we eat it. I'm referring to the Word we receive from preachers that they, themselves have not either discerned the Body of Christ, or have rejected the power thereof.

Let me explain further, i feel i am confusing some. Let's use some scripture to make it more clear what i am poorly attempting to communicate here:

2Cr 11:4 For if he that cometh preacheth another Jesus, whom we have not preached, or [if] ye receive another spirit, which ye have not received, or another gospel, which ye have not accepted, ye might well bear with [him].

Now, why would Paul say this? He KNEW that there would be others that would have some sort of twist to the truth, therefore making it NOT the truth anymore. Here is what the scripture is meaning when it says that we are not discerning the Lord's Body, therefore eating and drinking unto ourselves damnation.

My Jesus is the one that was born of a virgin. (Is 7:14, Lk 1) He is the One that was God made manifest in the flesh. (John 1:14). He was perfect and without flaw (Num 19:2, Jn 1:29) (Lk 23:4, Jn 19:6) He was punished for my death (Is 53:5, 10-11, Mt 27)) READ THESE, it'll help. He was risen on the third day and sent the Holy Ghost to illuminate those who would ask to receive it. He overcame sin, death, hell and the grave through this sacrifice. Because of what He did for me, i am like Barabus, i am set free without deserving it! (that's the typology of setting Barabus free and killing Christ, it is a picture of what He did for us!!!)


He is the Real Thing! Not a sinner like me. So, let me get back to this scripture:

1 Cor 11:27-29 "WHEREFORE WHOSOEVER SHALL EAT THIS BREAD, AND DRINK THIS CUP OF THE LORD, UNWORTHILY, SHALL BE GUILTY OF THE BODY AND BLOOD OF THE LORD. BUT LET A MAN EXAMINE HIMSELF, AND SO LET HIM EAT OF THAT BREAD, AND DRINK OF THAT CUP. FOR HE THAT EATETH AND DRINKETH UNWORTHILY, EATETH AND DRINKETH DAMNATION TO HIMSELF, NOT DISCERNING THE LORD'S BODY."

So, how can we not discern the Lord's Body? What Paul is saying here is this, if you do not receive the One that died for You, if you do not receive the Christ that died, was perfect, poured out His life to cover my worthless life, the One who traded death for life, the One that was the only acceptable Sacrifice that God could accept for sin, and you just take communion without in your heart admitting to God, "i am a sinner, i needed a savior, and Jesus Christ, you are HIM, I need You, I receive You everyday of my life, I yield my life, my dreams, my hopes, my desires...to You and Your will," if you are not realizing what this ceremony is about and Who this is attributed to, for you and your benefit, (not money, not your personal wants, but the biggest prize, which is eternal life and forgiveness for your sinful selfish ways and nature,) than you are in fact eating and drinking damnation to yourself.

What does THAT mean? Unworthily means: to not make disctinction. why am i receiving damnation? i looked it up, damnation in the greek means: "condemnation of wrong, JUDGMENT." Do you know who is going to hell? is it you? is it me? it is those who will not receive God's only acceptable WAY to Him which is Jesus Christ.

Another example:

In Gen 4, there is the story of Cain and Abel. Those of us that have been in church a while, we know the story. Both brought a sacrifice to God, Cain's was the best of his fruit/plants. Abel's was the best out of his flock he kept. Does anyone know why this story is here? it is to show us the only acceptable sacrifice to God. Cain's offering was no doubt the very best, unblemished crops. he didn't bring his worst or his leftovers to God, with every effort he had within himself, he gave God his very very best. but why was that not good enough for God, but that of Abel's was? we assume that God loved Abel more than Cain. or Cain was just born evil and Abel had not a mean bone in his body, right? here is the reason: the only acceptable offering to God is that that consists of blood. it had to be a blood sacrifice! no other would do, because God was trying to line out there, this early on, that He had a plan of redemption for man, but by no other means can we come to him. the reason that Cain got angry and murdered Abel, is because he felt rejected by God not accepting his way, rather than obeying God's way.

God will not conform to us, we MUST conform to Him, and His Way states that He requires the Perfect Blood of Christ. That is why Jesus says, "I am the Way, the Truth, and the Life." No man can come to the Father, but by Him, being the Door. Remember the blood over the doors of the children of Israel, ever wonder why the blood of a lamb? why they had to EAT the lamb that night?! (another beautiful picture of our AWESOME, GRACIOUS SAVIOR that gave Himself for us). I could go on and on about the types and shadows that are lined out in the old and new for us to see.

Just remember, the old test points forward to the Cross of Christ. The new test. points back the Cross of Christ, but everything revolves around Jesus Christ and what He did for us. Anything other than that is a skewed and perverted doctrine.

This is getting lengthy, so i will conclude for this lesson, but i have more coming on this topic! so much more to the Lord's supper than what we are being taught in churches today....

1 Cor 10:21 (Traditions of Men)

I was spending some time in prayer one morning last week and the Lord spoke a scripture to me during that time. I didn't know what He was referring to, nor what it really truly meant, so i decided to study it out. I know I bounce around here and there, but I try to follow after the Spirit of the Lord and what He would be trying to say to me, and the church (since I am sharing these blogs with others as well).

My findings have really lead me into a place in the Word that I wasn't really anticipating, although it has been exciting what the Lord has shared with me.

Here is the scripture that I heard the other morning, "YE CANNOT DRINK THE CUP OF THE LORD, AND THE CUP OF DEVILS: YE CANNOT BE PARTAKERS OF THE LORD;S TABLE, AND OF THE TABLE OF DEVILS." (1 Cor 10:21)

I decided to go check out what all of my friendly commentators have said. (By the way, not all of them follow after the Spirit of God, we have to use discernment in reading other people's writings, as you should as i write my findings on studying the Word. Don't just take at face value what i say to be ultimate truth, because NO ONE has ultimate truth, and we can all be wrong! I always try to urge friends of mine to study things out themselves and ask God to reveal these things to them, so that they know that they are not being deceived.)

There are really so many things that the Lord has been showing me in this study, it may take me a few different blogs to get it all out, since our eyes tire of lengthy reading at times.

TRADITIONS OF MEN:

Something that i did not realize, (which is a tradition at weddings here in the US), was what the origins of a wedding tradition was. Let me better explain. As i studied, i found several (at least 3) different commentators make reference to our wedding toast traditions. What i didn't know was that this was something that heathens (meaning those that had strange gods, not believing in the One True God, Jehovah of the Hebrews, but Jesus Christ, the God Man), in an act of worship, people would take a food and drink offering and offer it to their heathen gods. when they had a guest partaking, they would first offer the drink or meat to the god or idol, and then to the guest of the celebration. they would pronounce some sort of toast or prayer, if you will to that idol, giving honor to it. this is paganistic worship. but what is it that we have always seen done at weddings? there is a toast made by close friends or relatives to the couple, in honor of them, and some sort of blessing or wish spoken as well.

I am not saying that if you have toasted folks at their wedding, than you are performing heathenistic practices, but i do feel that it is important that we begin to question all of the traditions of men that we willing engage in without ever giving thought to or asking questions about the reasons why we do it and the origin of the tradition. i have a point with bringing this up though, and it leads to my next portion of comments i will share.

some of my commentators explain this much more profoundly than i am able, so i will share what i read:

John Gill states, "They (meaning those that partake of the Lord's cup and the Devil's cup), could not truly drink the cup of wine in the Lord's supper,l in the true faith of Christ's bloodshed and his sacrifice offered for them, in remembrance of his love, and to the honor of his name; and also the cup of wine of libations offered to heathen dieties, these things are utterly inconsistent; no man can serve two masters, God & mammon, or God & Baal, Christ & Belial, or agreement between the temple of God & idols."

Barnes' notes said this: "the custom of drinking of toasts at feasts and celebrations arise from this practice of pouring out wine, or drinking in honour of the heathen gods; and is a practice that partakes still of the nature of heathenism. the toast or sentiment which now usually accompanies the drinking of a glass in this manner, if it means anything, is now also a prayer: but to whom?" And he goes on to state that if our partaking is not of that of Christ, it is actually offering ourselves and yielding ourselves as friends or having fellowship with idols or false gods.

all of which is true. a few years ago, i went to pick up some chinese food that my aunt had ordered down the road from where we lived. i walked into this resteraunt, having never been in there before, was shocked to see a budda statue down at my feet at the counter. what they had done was built a little shrine to this statue, and laying at the feet of this smiling piece of tin formed with man's own hands, was what appeared to be a drink and meat offering to him. i was utterly amazed at the stupidity of such action! (nothing against them, i'm sure they do it in faith...but, could it be a chinese tradition of men? could it be that they are not aware that they are only partaking in the foolish relics of men that will only end in death and not life eternally?) some believe that all gods are the One God, and i have to totally disagree! budda did not know me when i was not even formed in my mother's womb, nor is he intimate with me, he doesn't bring me blessing, and he didn't die for me, therefore, i find him to be a mere stature, a god or idol made by man's hands and nothing more.

in 1 Kings 18:21 we could read the story about this very same thing back then, nothing new under the sun, what has been shall be! I'm not going to make quotes, nor refer much to it, just making mention of the story for those who may either already know it, or are interested in checking it out, it's a good and exciting read. Elijah challenges the prophets of Baal. He tells them that their god is not real and challenges them to offer up a bullock to their god, and he would his as well, they would each build a fire, and lay their offering upon the altar that they built. they each built and offered alike, they called on their god, while he mocked their foolishness. but what they were looking for was the god that would answer by fire, and whosever god answered by fire, was the real True God. of course, we know that Elijah's God, our God, answered by fire. they fell down and worshipped our God, it made them believers. Oh, if we had that kind of tanicity and boldness these days!

There's more for me to cover, so for the sake of people's eyes, i will make another one available in the morning for reading, as i am still studying and have more findings to share. yeahhhhh! i love the Word of God. :D

Rom 4:2 (works)

Here is what i have been WAITING TO SHARE!!! i have had many many occasions that i have talked with other Christians and run into the subject of works and not had this info to help me. i found it last night and go so exhilirated! i feel liberated in knowing these things. i don't like to argue about the Word, in fact, fighting about it isn't even Godly, but there are times that i will find folks struggling in their walk. At my old church, they taught a whole lot of good things, that helped my walk with the Lord in mighty ways, and others that hindered my walk...and through much tribulation, failings, and the leading of the Holy Ghost to set me straight again, i am able to see when others are bound in "works-based religion." There IS a difference!

We were taught of the importance of fasting, prayer, worship and studying the Word, which are all great things and essential in the Christian walk. You almost can't have an effective walk with the Lord and continue to grow without practicing these basic principles, along with love, tithing and many others. the issue, is that many Christians believed that if they do not do these things, God will not bless them, He will not work in their lives, that He will simply withdraw His hand from them if they are not doing these things on a daily basis. that is "works!" again, they are essentials in our walks with the Lord, i do not believe that you will experience ALL you could in the Lord if you don't do these things, but God knows are frame and that we are dust. He knows that if we could overcome our flesh on our own, we wouldn't need what He did at Calvary for us!

My husband and i have a lot of friends that we talk to on a regular basis that are down on themselves in their relationship with Christ because they feel like God is not blessing them because of their lack of ...you fill in the blank. condemnation is not from God, His Spirit exhorts. in all things the Lord desires for us to want more of Him...HIM, HIM, not anything else but HIM. So, in our lack, we need HIM to fulfill, in our sadness, we need HIS JOY...we have none of our own. is this making sense? But He does NOT leave our lives completely in OUR hands and just sit back and watch to see if we will choose right or wrong. He is personal, He said that He would send the Comforter which is the Holy Spirit to lead us. Honestly, when we evidence Faith in Christ and what He has done for us...knowing that everything was "finished and accomplished" on that tree He hung on, and trust in the leading of the Holy Spirit to show us what to do and where to go...we give Him permission to have full reign in our lives. And that is pleasing to God! That is His way, not ours! His will, not our own.


Ok, this is the part wanted to share about works, it's helped me, perhaps it will help others as well.

There is an argument that comes up in Christiandom about "works," for those that are Word Lovers. There are two scriptures that SEEM to conflict with one another and always cause those that are "works oriented" to use against those that are not. (EPH 2:8-9 & JAMES 2) I was reading a commentary by John Gill last night on Rom 4:2 and this is what he stated about these two scriptures:

He compares: "Paul speaks of the justification before God, James of justification before men.

Paul speaks of a justification of the person, (before God), James of the justification of a man's cause (before men). Paul speaks of works as the causes of justification, James of them as the effects and evidence of faith.

Paul was dealing with the self-righteous, who trusted in their own works as justification before God, James with the Gnostics, who slighted and neglected the performance of them.

They are actually found to agree, once we understand all of this."

What does this mean? they are both speaking to two different audiences. Paul to those that think they are pleasing to God by what they do, and James to those who think that they are pleasing to God even though they don't do any of them.

Again, all of these things: fastings, prayer, word studies, worship, tithing...are absolute musts in the Christian walk, but none of these activities should be viewed as though it is the means by which we earn anything from God or in His sight. All of these things should be done in effort to intimately know our Creator (like Adam KNEW Eve, intimately), and to show trust in the Lord for His Fulfilling us in our every need.

In effort to prove that these are some essentials for the Christian walk, i have scriptures to prove such:

FAST, PRAY: Matt 6:6-7 He says, "WHEN YOU.... WHEN YOU..." not IF YOU...!!!
TITHING: MAL 3:8

Again, we should do these things in effort to fain RELATIONSHIP with Christ, not a BETTER STANDING.

Ahhhh, i love the Word! :) i know, i know...WORD GEEK! and proud of it!! LOL

Prelude & Rom 4:2

I just feel led to put a few things out there, my hopes are that at some point we can progress in this study to some of THESE books, because they are completely essential to the Christian walk and are some of the most misunderstood and most overlooked books in the New Testament.

We've just ended Rom 3 and yesterday covered the first verse of Rom 4, where the word, "flesh" was mentioned. There are many different books in the New Testament that mention the word "flesh" or some derivative of the word. Rom 7 gives us an idea of our frailty as human flesh, probably better than most passages. Many mistake this book to be Paul's writings and reference to his life and struggles BEFORE conversion, not so. This entire chapter deals with his life after conversion to Christ, by attempting to gain the victory over the flesh by the FLESH, (which will always end in severe failure.)

Rom 7:15 Here, he tells us how he hates his sin. Most Christians will not even so much as come to the place where they HATE their sin, thus, leaving them in bondage, that is until they are able to have a repenttive attitude in this regard. That word Repent means "to turn." We have got to desire Gods' way and not our own sinful fleshly desires. By admitting this to the Lord, and putting our faith and trust in Him and what He has done for us, we are able to effectively overcome in our lives, but NOT without His Holy Spirit leading in these situations. So, Romans 7 talks about the struggles of the flesh and the endless efforts that we try to produce our own righteousness by means of "works based" religion, rather than reliance and full surrender to the Holy Ghost. It is absolutely no mistake that Paul put THIS CHAPTER in the middle of 6 & 8.

Gal 5:16-26, the word, "flesh" should be translated as "sin nature," and would actually give a greater understanding if replaced when reading in these chapters. Through these chapters, Paul describes how the flesh is aroused and motivated by desires that find expression in a variety of ways: sexual immorality, etc.

1 Cor 3:1-4 Describes the word "carnal," in the Greek, "fleshly," or doing things that are contrary to the Word of God, because of one's yielding to the sin nature, (of which we all do at times).

The reason i bring up "flesh," is because we were just discussing Rom 4:1, "WHAT SHALL WE SAY THEN THAT ABRAHAM OUR FATHER, AS PERTAINING TO THE FLESH, HATH FOUND?"

So...we already discussed that scripture, now onto verse 2: "FOR IF ABRAHAM WERE JUSTIFIED BY WORKS, HE HATH WHEREOF TO GLORY; BUT NOT BEFORE GOD."

Matthew Henry (a well known bible commentator) says regarding this: "external priveliges and performaces? Now what did he get by these? was he justified by them? was it the merit of his works that recommended him to God's acceptance? No, by no means." and he makes a reference to a scripture that i think is brilliant here, concerning us glorying (or boasting) in our flesh:

Phil 3:3 "For WE ARE the CIRCUMCISION, which worship God in the spirit, and rejoice in Christ Jesus, and have NO CONFIDENCE in the flesh."

The "3 guys" commentary i use say "if works were the ground of Abraham's justification, he would have matter for boasting; but as it is perfectly certain that he hath none in the sight of God, it follows that Abraham could have been justified by works."

Translation: works were not Abraham's justification, it wasn't because he was circumcised, it wasn't because he was righteous in himself, it was because of the faith that he had that God would have a plan to justify him through the blessing that he would send on his seed, and that was Jesus Christ. Christ Himself even told the religious Jews, "Abraham rejoiced to see my day, and he saw it." He was giving reference to Abraham offering up his promised son, Isaac, which was a type and shadow of the One and Only Son of God to be offered up to Heaven for us...Jesus Christ is the Ram that God provided for Himself. (nice, huh...this is why i love the Word of God...everything in old and new point to Christ!!!)

So, if Abraham had his own righteousness, or works that he could present to God, he would have no need to be justified by God as Righteous instead of being seen as what he was, and we all are...a sinner in need of a savior.

And that is SO correct, our total reliance should be on the Lord and the leading of the Holy Spirit in our lives.

ROM 4:1

"WHAT SHALL WE SAY THEN THAT ABRAHAM OUR FATHER, AS PERTAINING TO THE FLESH, HATH FOUND."

Paul is presenting something to the Jews that he is speaking to, (he is speaking their language here,) as he questions Abraham their "father."

Background/Historical content: the reader should know that the Jews highly esteemed Abraham in their day, as they do now. Here is why:

God made promise with Abraham:

(Gen 22:16-17); "And said, By myself have I sworn, saith the LORD, for because thou hast done this thing, and hast not withheld thy son, thine only [son]: That in blessing I will bless thee, and in multiplying I will multiply thy seed as the stars of the heaven, and as the sand which [is] upon the sea shore; and thy seed shall possess the gate of his enemies."

This is the promised seed from where the Messiah would come and bring Redemption:

(Gen 3:15-16); "And I will put enmity between thee and the woman, and between thy seed and her seed; it shall bruise thy head, and thou shalt bruise his heel. And I will establish my covenant between me and thee and thy seed after thee in their generations for an everlasting covenant, to be a God unto thee, and to thy seed after thee."

So, the Jews are looking for the King of Israel to come through the loins of Abraham. They know that Abraham was a Jew...what they either neglect to recall or have lost in history over time at this point is that Abraham BECAME a Jew, he was formerly a Gentile.

Let's look at Deut 26:5 really quickly:

"And thou shalt speak and say before the LORD thy God, A Syrian ready to perish [was] my father, and he went down into Egypt, and sojourned there with a few, and became there a nation, great, mighty, and populous."

What this is saying here, is that Abraham's father was a Syrian, which is known to be a Gentile, not a Jew. It seems the Jews have neglected to acknowledge this fact. See, we often as people have a bent in our hearts toward being "works" based in our relationship to the Holy One of Israel. The Jews have seen keeping their 613 laws (not keepable, they can't follow the simple ten God gave, don't know why they set up another 603, as thought THAT will make them more acceptable to God.) So whether it be circumcision or baptism in water that makes people believe that they will be made righteous in the eyes of God, none are acceptable. No human effort will ever bring us to a place of right standing with a Just and Holy God as He is. The only acceptable format is perfection, which only Christ could be, was and still is.

I say all of that to say this: By questioning them about what Abraham has found as pertaining to the flesh, he is in fact stating to them that no works of the flesh have been accepted by God, rather that Abraham displayed FAITH in God's promise before he was ever circumcised. Thus, excluding all works of the flesh as being a way to come to God.

Christ has fulfilled all that needs to be fulfilled here. I keep drilling this, because we ALL tend to have a form of "religion" and not relationship with God, and can very easily be swayed into a works based religion instead of simple faith in Christ and what He has done for us. A good rule of thumb for those that do not know already, the way to know if you are receiving proper doctrine or not is this: if what you are being taught is to focus on Christ and Him Crucified as your way to the Father, than it is correct. Anything other than that is schewed and not truth, just scriptures being thrown together in an attempt to feed God's children. The truth is, many people do not know this simple truth, it has been lost in today's modern churches, sadly enough.

We all want to come to God based on what we DO: ie: Catholics believe their church attendance and "Hail Mary's" will save them, they worship Mary instead of Christ, the One who died and gave all of His blood for them, but they don't know the truth because it is not being taught. Everything that we could ever need is brought to us Courtesy of the Cross of Christ. case and point.

so, "pertaining to the flesh" is referring to man's only act in coming to God, is BY FAITH in Christ.

**what we are going to be covering in the next few studies is the doctrine of justification by faith: how we are justified to God by our faith in Christ**

ROM 3:31

"DO WE THEN MAKE VOID THE LAW THROUGH FAITH? GOD FORBID: YEA, WE ESTABLISH THE LAW."

Many have argued that Paul here is trying to saw that law was no longer needed because of faith now, as though faith was a new thing. Nothing could be further from the truth. In fact, he is actually saying the opposite. The Law was needed and IS CHRIST. Let me explain:

My favorite commentator says here, "that this scripture proclaims in effect that Christ is the Subject of the Law in all of its Rites and Ceremonies (Lk 24:44; Col. 2:14-17; Heb Chapts 8-10)."

I suggest we all take a look at those scriptures in light of this, it really opens up our understanding when making that reference while studying.

The Temple Type of Christ:

Swaggart also reminds us that everything that God introduced to Moses in Law was meant to be a type of Christ...meaning, it was meant to teach us about Christ, even in the temple sacrificial system. All of these items in the tabernacle in the wilderness were to show Christ, to explain who He is and what He would be for us. The Brazen Altar was a type of the Cross of Christ, where a live Lamb (Lamb of God) was sacrificed for sin, the Brazen Laver was a type of the Word of God which is Christ, the Word of Life, and the Table of Shewbread was Jesus, the Bread of Life. Let me remind the reader of when Christ told his followers, I am the Bread of Life, He was speaking the only language that the Jews knew, temple and sacrifice. I am the Light of the World, (The Golden Candlestick). It's beautiful how the Lord has arranged and put all of this so perfectly together to be the perfect picture of Christ for us to see. He was and is and will always be, the same yesterday, today and forever.


i like also what Barnes says, he rewords the questions here: "Do we then make void the law. Do we render it vain and useless; do we destroy its moral obligation; ...by no means!"

Something that we need to realize about the Moral Law, is that when God sent the Ten Commandments, He never gave man the means by which to keep it. Meaning, He knew that we couldn't keep these ten laws. There are only ten, but if we offend in one, we have offended in all points and are accounted as guilty of all ten. God accepts only perfection. A perfection only achieved by Christ. Thus, "under the New Covenant Christ becomes our Strength, & actually lives this Moral Life through us (Gal 2:20)." (Swaggart commentary on romans)

We also should mention that there is NOTHING that we can add to the finished work of Christ. This means that when He hung on the Cross and said, "It is finished," He was in fact saying, "I have fulfilled in every point what man could not." Hence His very own words in Matt 5:17, "I am come not to destroy the law or the prophets (meaning prophesies of Him), but to fulfill."

Romans 13:14 says, "But put on the Lord Jesus Christ, and make not provision for the flesh, to fulfill the lusts thereof."

He has already done the work & overcome the enemy, which is why He said that He has made our enemies our footstool. He did this at Calvary. The only act the Believer has been given the ability to perform is to rest in Him and what He did for us on that Sacred Tree covered in His Sinless blood.

"YEA, WE ESTABLISH THE LAW" (back to the scripture):

Barnes says that by the doctrine of justification by faith, (meaning, we are justified to God by faith in Christ and what He did at the Cross), we prove the need for the Moral Law to be fulfilled. Put more simply, by us evidencing faith in what Christ did for us, men are treated by God as righteous, even though we are NOT righteous, thus "establishing the law," showing we had need for a FULFILLER of the LAW we couldn't keep on our own, without what HE DID."

Rom 3:29-30 (The Same God)

i am kinda bouncin' around here. my husband started teaching a bible study & went over these scriptures this last saturday night. what i wanna do is just kind of go through and study them myself this week and catch up to what he will be teaching for next weekend, so i have already taken a look at it by then. i like to have already studied what he teaches in his bible studies, that way if anyone asks a question when he isn't around, or...i see that he may need to communicate something there that he is missing, i will have already looked at it and will be prepared ahead of time.

anyhoo...so to the Word we go:

Rom 3:29

Paul is asking a question, "IS HE THE GOD OF THE JEWS ONLY? IS HE NOT ALSO OF THE GENTILES? YES, OF THE GENTILES ALSO."

it seems pretty self-explanatory, but unless one understands some of the hermeneutics of scripture, the reader could wind up completely lost and not ever truly grasp the true intent and meaning of the scriptures. we are not to simply take a scripture here and one there and fit it into some sermon or speech in order to make something say what we want it to. the bible is not of any private interpretation. what hermeneutics is, is an expository or explanation of the scripture with historical backgrounds revealed...to help folks better understand the Word of God.

so, in this verse, the reason that Paul makes reference to God being the same God over the Jews and the Gentiles, is because there were a lot of Gentiles being converted in those days and many Jews corrupting the new converts by means of what we call these days, Judiasers. Judiasers were Jews that would come along side of new converts and tell them that they were saved, and Jesus was the Messiah, but in order to REALLY be saved, they must be circumcised, or observe the Jewish feasts, etc. Not much difference from today, we have folks still teaching the same things. (you have to do THIS in order for God to validate your desire for salvation, when all that He said was to, "Believe on the Lord Jesus and you shall be saved, you and your household.")

The Jews prided themselves with being handed down the Law of Moses and being God's chosen people, (for He gave the moral low only to the Jews). But what Paul is in fact saying here in this verse, is that the same God that is over the Jews, is the God of the Gentiles, who have received Christ. There is One Lord over all, One baptism, He is One.

Verse, 30: "SEEING IT IS ONE GOD, WHICH SHALL JUSTIFY THE CIRCUMCISION BY FAITH, AND UNCIRCUMCISION THROUGH FAITH."

I've studied this out, and some commentators have stated that there s a difference in he use of the words, "by faith" and "through faith." they are one and the same in meaning...two different greek words, they both are eluding to the fact that God is the SAME God and they both must come to Him.

What Paul is saying here is simply this: both Jew and Gentile have sinned and come short of the perfection of God, and both are equally in need of salvation.