Yesterday we saw that GODS Promised are both for the Temporal, the hear and now which is passing away with use. And the spirit of mans restored to Him as opposed to the fallen deity who holds all unredeemed man in his slavery by deception and all manner of lies. Starting today I will look at GODS Word being our spiritual food. And because it is for us to eat, as food I have chosen to use small letters as opposed to caps. In many Bibles the term used maybe "Food for the Soul" or the "Word as Food," but I choose to use Food for our spirit or Spiritual Food when it is received from GODS Own mouth. Moving on to Pastor Hoekstra'a teaching on Grace verses Law. And from my E-Sword program I will continue to use the ESV translation.
"The New Covenant: Grace, Not Law"
"I will make a New Covenant . . . not according to the Covenant that I made . . . the gospel of the Grace of GOD." (Jeremiah 31:31-32 and Acts 20:24)
"The old covenant of Law was the covenant that GOD made with Israel "in the day that [He] took them by the hand to bring them out of the land of Egypt." The promise through Jeremiah was that the Lord (I leave this as is because it speaks of Jesus in this manner dressed out in mans flesh) would make a different type of covenant some day, "not according to [that] covenant." This New Covenant would be a Covenant of Grace, provided by the Lord Jesus Christ. "For the Law was given through Moses, but Grace and Truth came through Jesus Christ" (John 1:17).
The Law of GOD passed to Israel through Moses was an impossible way to relate to the LORD. It required perfection, but it offered no perfecting assistance. It was able, however, to convince people of their need for the Grace of Christ found in the New Covenant. "The Law was our Tutor to bring us to Christ " (Galatians 3:24).
Now, we live and proclaim this New Covenant of Grace, the"New and Living Way which He consecrated for us" (Hebrews 10:20). This was the Mission and Message of which the Apostle Paul spoke. "The ministry which I received from the LORD Jesus, to testify to the Gospel of the Grace of GOD" (Acts 20:24). The Gospel is all about the Grace of GOD, not about the Law of Moses. "The word of the Truth of the Gospel, which has come to you . . . the Grace of GOD" (Colossians 1:5-6).
Gospel means "glad tidings," or "good news." The Good News of the Grace of GOD Provided through Christ Jesus, Christ is the Preeminent Message in all of Creation. In fact, the Gospel of Grace is such Good News that some unbelievers initially reject it as "too good to be true." Indeed, it is an astounding reality to consider that Forgiveness, Justification, and New birth are all available "by Grace . . . through Faith . . . the Gift of GOD, not of works" (Ephesians 2:8-9). It must be pointed out that Jesus spoke of faith as being one of the smallest seeds known a mustard seed saw used for this. This seed starts as our trusting Him first for our Redemption for it is in Redemption that we begin to learn by the Holy Spirit our Tutor the word of revelation which draws us to the wanting for a deeper knowing of the mystery of Jesus. Which will bring us to acknowledge our own need for His Promised Salvation.
Perhaps we should not be surprised that some believers react in this same manner when they begin to consider the Message of Grace for Growth and Sanctification. To hear that the entire Christian life is to be "Grace upon grace" (John 1:16) may at first seem "too good to be true."
At times, we may ask (or have others ask us), "Isn't there any human responsibility in GOD's plan of Salvation?" The saved and unsaved alike must always be willing to respond to the offer of GOD's Grace in Christ. We must all relate properly to the LORD Christ Jesus for every work of Grace, because it is "the Grace of our LORD Christ Jesus" (2Corinthians 8:9). In all matters, we must seek Him and trust in Him."
GODS Word our Spiritual Food:
The word becomes our very sustenance after we have entered by the gate or door His Promised Salvation. For it is then that we know it is Divinely inspired without doubt.
Deuteronomy 8:1-10 "The whole commandment that I command you today you shall be careful to do, that you may live and multiply, and go in and possess the land that the LORD Swore to give to your fathers. And you shall remember the whole way that the LORD your GOD has led you these forty years in the wilderness, that He might humble you, testing you to know what was in your heart, whether you would keep His commandments or not. And it is He Who humbled you and let you hunger and fed you with manna, which you did not know, nor did your fathers know, that He might make you know that man does not live by bread alone, but man lives by every word that comes from the mouth of the LORD. Your clothing did not wear out on you and your foot did not swell these forty years. Know then in your heart that, as a man disciplines his son, the LORD your GOD Disciplines you. So you shall keep the commandments of the LORD your GOD by walking in His ways and by Reverencing Him only. For the LORD your GOD is bringing you into a good land, a land of brooks of water, of fountains and springs, flowing out in the valleys and hills, a land of wheat and barley, of vines and fig trees and pomegranates, a land of olive trees and honey, a land in which you will eat bread without scarcity, in which you will lack nothing, a land whose stones are iron, and out of whose hills you can dig copper. And you shall eat and be full, and you shall bless the LORD your GOD for the good land He has given you."
Job 23:8-17 "Behold, I go forward, but He is not there, and backward, but I do not perceive Him; on the left hand when He is working, I do not behold Him; He turns to the right hand, but I do not see Him. He knows the way that I take; when He has tried me, I shall come out as gold. My foot has held fast to His steps; I have kept His way and have not turned aside. I have not departed from the Commandment of His lips; I have treasured the words of His mouth more than my portion of food. He is unchangeable, and who can turn Him back? What He desires, that He does. For He Will complete what He appoints for me, and many such things are in His mind. Therefore I am terrified at His presence; when I consider, I am in dread of Him. GOD has made my heart faint; the Almighty has terrified me; yet I am not silenced because of the darkness, nor because thick darkness covers my face."
Mem.
Psalm 119:97-104 "Oh how I love Your (Word, Will) Law! It is my meditation all the day. Your Commandment makes me wiser than my enemies, for it is ever with me. I have more understanding than all my teachers, for Your testimonies are my meditation. I understand more than the aged, for I keep Your precepts. I hold back my feet from every evil way, in order to keep Your Word. I do not turn aside from Your rules, for You have taught me. How sweet are Your Words to my taste, sweeter than honey to my mouth! Through Your precepts I get understanding; therefore I hate every false way."
Jeremiah 15:15, 16-18, Ezekiel 2:8, 3:1 and Matthew 4:4 "O LORD, You know; remember me and visit me, and take vengeance for me on my persecutors. In Your forbearance take me not away; know that for Your sake I bear reproach.
Your Words were found, and I ate them, and Your Words became to me a joy and the delight of my heart, for I am called by Your name, O LORD, GOD of hosts. I did not sit in the company of revelers, nor did I rejoice; I sat alone, because Your hand was upon me, for You had filled me with indignation. Why is my pain unceasing, my wound incurable, refusing to be healed? Will You be to me like a deceitful brook, like waters that fail?"
Ezekiel 2:8-10 "But You, son of (Adam) man, hear what I say to you. Be not rebellious like that rebellious house; open your mouth and eat what I give you." And when I looked, behold, a hand was stretched out to me, and behold, a scroll of a book was in it. And He spread it before me. And it had writing on the front and on the back, and there were written on it words of lamentation and mourning and woe."......And He said to me, "Son of (Adam) man, eat whatever you find here. Eat this scroll, and go, speak to the house of Israel." So I opened my mouth, and He gave me this scroll to eat. And He said to me, "Son of (Adam) man, feed your belly with this scroll that I give you and fill your stomach with it." Then I ate it, and it was in my mouth as sweet as honey."
Matthew 4:1-4 Then Jesus was led up by the Spirit into the wilderness to be tempted by the devil. And after fasting forty days and forty nights, He was hungry. And the tempter came and said to him, "If you are the Son of God, command these stones to become loaves of bread." But he answered, "It is written, "'Man shall not live by bread alone, but by every word that comes from the mouth of GOD.'"
1Peter 2:1-4 "So put away all malice and all deceit and hypocrisy and envy and all slander. Like newborn infants, long for the pure spiritual milk, that by it you may grow up into salvation—if indeed you have tasted that the LORD is good."
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