The New Life of the Believer in Christ can never be forfeited. True or False? Take a moment to respond at the LLM Question of the Day

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And now the answer to the LLM Question of 4-26-2012

Question: Are Members of the Body of Christ Under the Law of Moses? Yes or No?

Answer: NO! The Children of God, the Members of the Body of Christ, have NO holy days, NO feast days, NO meat ordinances, NO Sabbath, NOR Sabbaths. Abram did not rest in a particular day; he found rest in a Person. So likewise does the Child of God today. Matthew 11:27. Hebrews 4:10. The Sabbath was a covenant between God and Israel. Exodus 31:12. There could be no universal Sabbath out of the Holy Land. When Christ became the end of the law for righteousness He was dead and buried on Israel’s Sabbath day, the seventh day. He arose on the First Day of the Week, the first fruits of them that slept, to start something new. He that keeps the Sabbath, like he that is circumcised, or water baptized, is debtor to keep the whole law. Galatians 5:3. Now, out of the 744 responses we received to this question, an impressive 95.5% of you got it right! Therefore, NOW, let us take a look at,

Does the Law of Moses Apply to the Body of Christ Today?

We receive many questions about The Law (of Moses) and whether or not it applies to members of the Body of Christ today. So let's take a look...

The word “Law” appears 523 times in the Bible of which 223 are in the New Testament. The Hebrew word “TORAH” appears 219 times in the Jewish Bible and primarily refers to “teaching.” To Jewish people, the “law” refers to both “oral” and “written” Law.

There are several synonymous terms that include the following:

commandments...Hebrew word “mitzvah”....used 181 times
testimonies.......…Hebrew word “yedah”.......used 25 times
statutes..............Hebrew word “choq”........used 126 times
judgments...........Hebrew word “mishpat”....used 417 times
word...................Hebrew word “dabar”.... used 1447 times

The “Law” refers to 613 commandments, the Ten Commandments, the first five books of the Bible, and to the entire Old Testament (Jewish Bible - TANAKH). The “Law” is forever settled in the heavens (Psalm 119:89) and is “perfect, right, pure, clean, true, righteous, holy, good, just” and “endures forever” (Psalm 19:7-9; Romans 7:12). The “Law” cleanses, revives, warns, gives direction and understanding (Psalm 119). It does NOT refer to tradition, be sure to read Matthew 15:6-9. The “Law” is more desirable than gold (Psalm 19:10).

THE PROBLEM WITH THE LAW

1. It CANNOT give spiritual life - 2 Cor. 3:6; Galatians 3:21

2. It CANNOT make us righteous before God - Romans 3:20, Romans 3:28; Galatians 2:16; James 2:10

3. It CANNOT take away our sin - Hebrews 10:1-4

4. It CANNOT cancel the promise of God to Abraham - Galatians 3:16-17

THE PURPOSE OF THE LAW

1. It relates primarily to Israel - Deuteronomy 4:1-2, Deuteronomy 4:8, Deuteronomy 4:44-45; Deuteronomy 5:1-3; Deuteronomy 6:1-3; Romans 9:4

2. It removes our ignorance of sin - Romans 3:20; Romans 7:7; Galatians 3:19; 1 John 3:4

3. It reflects the character of God Himself - Romans 7:12, Romans 7:22, Romans 7:25; Romans 8:7

4. It regulates society - made for the non-believer - 1 Timothy 1:9-10

5. It reinforces our need of a Savior and that Justification is by Faith ALONE - Matthew 5:17-18; Galatians 2:19-21; Galatians 3:19-25

TWO GREAT DANGERS

It is difficult to be “balanced” in our understanding, interpretation, and application of the “Law.” A person can wind up falling into one of two great ditches in relationship to the “Law.”

The First Ditch: LEGALISM - This is the belief that keeping the Law and its requirements is essential for salvation and/or Christian life and growth.

Galatians 3:1-3 speaks of this danger and warns the believers about it.

The Second Ditch: LIBERTARIANISM - This is the belief that our freedom in Christ allows us to sin without facing any consequences.

Pay attention….Believers are NOT free to sin or to disobey God. We don’t make up the rules...God does! But, we also need to understand that our forgiveness comes through the shedding of Blood, the Death, and the Resurrection of our LORD Jesus Christ, and NOT through our works or performance. We cannot earn, maintain, or deserve the Grace of God, and we cannot be Righteous, or maintain righteousness, by what we do or do not do. That comes solely through the work of our LORD Who declares us righteous on the basis of our exercising of The Faith in the finished work of our LORD Jesus, Who died for ALL of our sins, and rose again for our justification.

MAY GOD GIVE US ALL WISDOM FROM HIS WORD ALONE!

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In Ephesians 1:13 the Holy Spirit through the Apostle Paul declares that men are saved and sealed by hearing and BELIEVING the Word of Truth, the Gospel of your Salvation. Therefore, here, now, is declared unto you the Word of Truth, the Gospel of your Salvation: "that Christ died for our sins according to the scriptures; and that he was buried, and that he rose again the third day according to the scriptures" 1 Corinthians 15:3-4. BELIEVE today. The time is short.

The believer's new life in Christ can never be forfeited. Now, in Romans 8:2, when correctly read, is a wonderfully fantastic passage of Scripture. To get the true sense we should place a dash between the words "Spirit" and "of." Doing that it would read, "For the law of the Spirit - of life in Christ Jesus, hath made me free from the law of sin and death."

When a sinner places his trust in Christ as Savior he is justified before the bar of God, because Christ's death and righteousness are imputed to him. This is a judicial matter. We have to remember that.

But, at the same moment, something else happens. The Spirit regenerates us and gives us new life (Titus 3:5). This is a law, an unstoppable, unchangeable law. The sinner who sincerely places his trust in Christ as Savior is given life by the Holy Spirit. It is always this way, it is never otherwise.

1 John 5:12 says, "He that hath the Son hath life" John 3:36 says that "He that believeth on the Son hath everlasting life" and Colossians 3:3 declares that the believer's life is "hid with Christ in God."

Therefore, the Apostle could say, "The law of the Spirit, [that of] life in Christ, hath made me free from the law of sin and death." Adam forfeited his life by sin, but the believer's new life can never be forfeited, for this life is nothing less than the life of Christ, in whom the sinner has already died and paid for his sins, and in whom he now stands perfect and complete before God.

It is a law, a fixed unchangeable law, that sin brings forth death (Romans 5:12; Romans 6:23; and so on). This is called "the law of sin and death", but the believer has already died for sin in Christ and has been given new life by the Spirit. Thus "the law of the Spirit", that of "life in Christ", has made the simplest believer "free from the law of sin and death."

Thank God for "the law of the Spirit", everlasting life through the Lord Jesus Christ, who died for our sins.

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In Ephesians 1:13 the Holy Spirit through the Apostle Paul declares that men are saved and sealed by hearing and BELIEVING the Word of Truth, the Gospel of your Salvation. Therefore, here, now, is declared unto you the Word of Truth, the Gospel of your Salvation: "that Christ died for our sins according to the scriptures; and that he was buried, and that he rose again the third day according to the scriptures" 1 Corinthians 15:3-4. BELIEVE today. The time is short.