Contrasting
Two "Ministrations"
A
4-Part Study Series
By
Arthur J Licursi
-------------------------------
Contrasting:
The
Old Covenant's
"Ministration
of Death' and 'Condemnation"
administered
by
"the Law" for
Israel
with
The
Blessings of the New Testament
"Ministration of Righteousness"
administered
by the
"Spirit of Life in Christ Jesus"
for "the body of Christ" today
Part
1 of 4: Man's Dilemma and God's Answer
"The
Law," that is the "Ten Commandments" (Exo 34:28), is
simply an expression of the righteous character and nature of our Holy
Lord Himself. Therefore, Paul writes, "the Law is holy" (Rom 7:12).
Fallen
mankind, being in the lineage of fallen Adam, inherently possesses the "knowledge"
of "the
Law" (Rom
2:14) in
their soul's "mind" (Rom 7:23). All men hear "the
law" by their "conscience
bearing witness" (Rom 2:15). Though Adam was
originally created in innocence and without knowledge of "the
Law," this inherent "knowledge"
was gained illicitly when Adam rebelled against God's one
verbal instruction, which was not
to eat of "the
Tree of Knowledge of Good & Evil." All mankind,
as descendents of Adam, now possesses this "knowledge." Thus, Paul writes
that every man is not
ignorant, and therefore is "without
excuse" (Rom 1:20).
Then
also, something much more occurred when Adam ate of the
"Tree
of Knowledge of Good & Evil." Originally, Adam was created as a living vessel to
ultimately take into his spirit the very life and nature of God Himself as
seen in "the
Tree of Life." The earth had already come under the
hand of Lucifer, the false deity, who was then and now still is "the
god of this world" (2Cor 4:4). God intended that,
through Adam, He would dispense Himself into mankind and ultimately,
justly, recover
"dominion" over the earth through them. When
Adam ate of the "Tree
of Knowledge" he simultaneously took into his
body's "flesh"
the "sin-nature"
(Eph 2:3) of
the Sin-Spirit, Satan.
"Wherein
in time past ye (Christians had) walked according to the course of this
world, according to The Prince Of The
Power Of The Air, THE SPIRIT that now Worketh
IN the children of
disobedience:" (Eph 2:2)
After
Adam's innocence ended in rebellion, Adam then possessed a "nature"
in his
"flesh" that
would make his desires "the desires of the (sinful)
flesh,"
sinful desires that are in accord with the very nature
of "Sin."
Adam passed these to us as the offspring of his flesh body.
"Among
whom also we all had our conversation (manner
of living) in times past In
The Lusts Of Our FLESH, Fulfilling The Desires Of THE FLESH And
of The Mind; and were By NATURE the children of wrath,
even as others. (Eph 2:3)
Note
that when Paul uses the term "Sin"
he is most often using it as a noun,
to delineate the
proper name of a force, as if he is referring to a deviant personality.
Paul does not use "Sin"
as a verb unless Paul is referring the "act
of sinning."
Thus, "Sin"
is the Sin's nature
that Paul says indwell "the flesh" of
the human body "members"
(Rom 8:3b, 7:5) of every person born of the line of
Adam - that's all of us.
"When
we (Christians) were in (in accord with) the
Flesh, the Motions of Sins (sinful appetites)... Did Work
IN Our Members" (Rom 7:5)
The
Sin-nature that indwells "the
flesh" body of man opposes
every man who would try to live in accord with their "knowledge of Good & Evil."
Man's "sin-nature"
is expressed through his "carnal (fleshly) mind," which
remains always at "enmity
against God."
Unregenerate men, those without Christ's life, may at times
do what appears good, but its always out of the wrong motive of
pride, or out of an ultimate self-interest, thus their works are not
genuine and do not honor the Lord. These are "dead
works" (Heb 6:1).
"...the
(soul's) Mind set on the Flesh is death..." 7the
Carnal Mind (the mind of "the flesh")
Is
Enmity Against God: for it is NOT
Subject To The Law Of God, Neither Indeed Can Be. (Romans
8:6-7)
The
fact is that Christ Himself is the only Righteous One. His nature is of
love toward others, as a "giver."
All men are "conceived in Sin" and are by their fallen nature of
"lovers of self" and therefore "getters."
Yet,
among men today, only those in whom Christ's "Spirit of life"
comes to dwells are able to live in accord with His
righteous "divine nature" (2Pet
1:4), serving Him out of His
"love"
in them. This is because among men today only believers
have Christ's own "Spirit
of life,"
and thereby His very "nature," working within
their human "spirit,"
to prompt, guide
and empower them in expressing His life and righteousness.
"But
ye (the believers)
are not in the flesh, but in The Spirit,
if so be that the Spirit of God dwell
(abides) in you. Now
If Any Man Have Not The Spirit Of Christ, He Is None Of His. 10
And if Christ be
In You, the body
(to God) is
dead because of sin; but the Spirit is
life
(Zoë, God's life) because of
righteousness. (Romans 8:9-10)
Part
2 of 4 - Paul's Own Experience with Sin & The Law
As
the lineage of Adam, all unregenerate
non-believing men have NO
possibility of genuinely living in accord with the
righteous demand of "the
Law" for righteousness.
Then
also, even the genuine regenerated (born-again) Christian who chooses
to turn back and try to live by "the
Law," has NO possibility of living a
genuinely righteous life.
You
see, when believers live by "the
Law"...
they are living independent
of Christ's life, wisdom,
and power within
them. Such self-
trust is self-worship; a form of idolatry. When believers
persist in embracing "the Law"
to achieve righteousness or win God's favor, it only serves to energize "Sin
in the flesh."
(Rom 8:3) all
the more. Men honor God when
they take His way, which is the cross of Christ to take away their sins
and Christ's life as their new, righteous, life; to energize and guide
them from within.
Thus,
"the
Law," after exposing our sinfulness and
prompting us to receive Christ as Savior, is of no help to us in living
righteously. "The
Law" then is contrary to righteous living because
"...
The Strength (Gk.,
dunamis, power) of
Sin Is
The Law." (1Cor 15:56b).
I will explain this in more detail as we go along.
Paul
wrote of his own experience as a saved
regenerated man trying to keep the Old Covenant based upon "the
Law" for righteousness. It was then that Paul
recognized that it was "Sin"
in his flesh body members
that prevented him from living a genuinely righteous life. In (Rom
7:15-24) Paul says, when he wanted to do good and not do evil, by the
strength of his self "will"
(v18),
he failed. Paul saw that "Sin" was
actually empowered by his attempts to live by "the
Law" (Rom 7:11).
"...
what I would {like to do}, that do I not; but what I
hate, that do
I.
16 If
then I do that which I would not, I consent unto the law
that it
is good.
17 Now
Then It Is No More I That Do It, but...
SIN That Dwelleth IN ME. 18
For I know that In
Me (That Is, In My
Flesh,) Dwelleth No Good
Thing: for to will
is present with me; but how
to perform that which is good I find not.
(Romans 7:15-18)
Paul
initially tried to live according to "the Law" by
his own human
will-power, and failing. Then he recognize that the
problem was the "Sin-nature"
that dwelled in "the
flesh" of his "body"; so he cried out.
"O
wretched man that I am! who shall Deliver
Me >From the 'BODY' OF THIS DEATH?" (Rom
7:24).
Since
all men are sinful, God's Holy Law demands their death.
"The
soul that sinneth, it shall die...(Ezekiel
18:20) Therefore all men, including
believers, have at least "once
to die" (Heb 9:27). Only the unbelieving lost will
die a "second death" (Rev 21:8).
1)
The unbelieving lost will die once, and
then die again a "second
death" after they are resurrected to appear
at the "Great White Throne" judgment.
2)
By contrast, every regenerated believer has already died "with
Christ," and now literally possesses
Christ's righteous and eternal resurrection life (cf., 2Tim
2:11). After the physical
death of a "member of the body of Christ"
they will be resurrected at the Rapture, never to die again.
Paul's
cry of "
who shall Deliver Me From the 'BODY' OF THIS DEATH?"
(Rom 2:24) is answered as
seen in the next chapter, in Romans 8:1-2. These verses reveal the new
paradigm for Christian living under the grace terms of today's "dispensation of the grace of God."
In
Romans 7 we note Paul's use of the word "I"
thirty-three (33) times, indicative of his trying to serve the Lord by
his self-effort. By
contrast, in Romans 8 we see that word "I" replaced by the words
"Christ,"
"Spirit" and "life."
It is here, by these elements that Paul records the source of victory for
believers who go onto trust the indwelling "Spirit
of life in Christ Jesus" to be their new life
source.
1)
"THEREFORE,
[there is] Now NO CONDEMNATION
(no adjudging guilty of wrong) For Those Who Are IN CHRIST JESUS,
who
live [and] walk not after the dictates of the flesh, but after
the dictates of the Spirit." (Romans 8:1 AMP)
By
Faith In The
Fact... That
Believers Now Are Never To Be Condemned Under Grace:
2)
"For
THE LAW OF THE SPIRIT OF LIFE
[WHICH IS] IN CHRIST JESUS
[the law of our new being] Has FREED Me from the Law of Sin and of
Death." (Romans 8:2 AMP)
By
Faith in the Fact... that believers are freed from Sin's
dominion by their co-death with Christ (Rom 6:3-4, 6-7), and they are
empowered to live righteous overcoming lives by Christ's indwelling Life.
The
key elements of Paul "mystery"
and "gospel"
that he called "my
gospel." Paul says his gospel of "the
grace of God" (Act
20:24) would "establish"
the Christian. The details of Paul's "the
grace of God" gives believers a fixed understanding
of "the
mystery (Gk., musterion, secret plan of God)" concerning
who they are "in Christ" and the
resident "power"
of Christ's limitless indwelling life when they operate under the new paradigm of God's
unconditional love and pure, continuing, "grace."
"Now
to him that is of POWER
TO STABLISH You According To My Gospel,
and the preaching of Jesus Christ,
According to the Revelation Of The MYSTERY, which Was Kept
Secret Since The World Began" (Rom
16:25)
It
is by the core truth's of Paul's gospel that God has made a way for
helpless mankind to live in victory. The victory began when we
received Christ's
salvation and His inherently righteous everlasting
divine life.
"God so loved the world, that he gave his only begotten
Son, that whosoever
BELIEVETH IN HIM should not
perish but Have (Christ's
own) Everlasting Life.
(John 3:16).
Paul
wrote; "...Ye Are Sons (of God), God
Hath Sent Forth The Spirit of his Son Into Your Hearts..."(Gal
4:6).
Then,
placing ones faith in the truths that Paul sets forth in Rom 8:1-2 help us
to actualize our freedom from the "power"
of "Sin in the flesh" (Rom 8:3).
The victory was won for us 2,000 years ago at
the cross. Successful Christian living after
being saved and regenerated by grace through faith is based
on the believer knowing
and then continuing
in "faith" in these key
grace-age "truths."
Victory over "Sin
in the flesh" is actualized when we stand upon
these two points.
The
regenerated believer who is "saved by grace, through faith"
in Christ has come to a new way of living in this age of the pure "grace
of God." Every believer should know that they are risen to new life with and in Christ, and...
that they now continue
under the Lord's unconditional "Grace"
all the days of their life on earth. Paul proclaimed;
"...
ye are
NOT under the Law, but UNDER
GRACE. (Rom 6:14).
Believers
can and should actually ignore the external written
"Law"
that God gave Moses for
Israel
.
"The Law" is for sinners, having an important
function; its not for believers. Paul here proclaims the believers freedom
from the Law's ritual requirements, he lists several specific items in
this one verse, including the 4th Commandment under "the
Law," to "keep
the Sabbath Day holy."
"Let
No Man Therefore Judge You In meat, or in drink, or in
respect of an holyday, or of
the new moon, or of the sabbath
days:"
(Colossians 2:16)
Part
3 of 4 - The Two Ministrations
Paul,
in Galatians 3 and 4 (below), tells us as believers that "the
Law" was our "Schoolmaster"
as both our "Tutor"
and our "Governor."
"before"
we came to "faith."
(v23). The Law's purpose was to bring us to faith in Christ (v24). A young child needs a
tutor or teacher and also a governor (a diligent parent) to oversee and
direct them in the ways of right living. Of course, the "way"
ultimately is to learn to live in and by Christ's indwelling righteous
"Spirit of life" (Rom 8:2).
"But
BEFORE faith came, we
were Kept Under The Law, shut up unto the faith which
should afterwards be revealed. 24
Wherefore The Law Was Our Schoolmaster to
Bring Us
Unto Christ,
(so) that we might be justified by
faith (in Christ). 25
But AFTER that
faith is come, we are
NO Longer under a schoolmaster. (Gal
3:23-25)
"Now
I say, That
the heir, as long as he is a child, differeth
nothing from a servant, though he be lord of all; 2
But (he) is under
Tutors And Governors until
the time appointed of the father.
3
Even
so we, when we were children, were in bondage under the elements of the
world: 4 But
when the fulness of the time was come, God sent forth his Son, made of a
woman, made under the law, 5
To redeem them that
were under the law, (so)
that we might receive the Adoption of Sons (grown up sons).
6 And
Because Ye Are Sons, God Hath Sent Forth The Spirit Of His Son Into Your
Hearts, crying, Abba, Father.
7
...thou
art No More A Servant... But A
Son; and if
a son, then an Heir of God Through Christ. (Gal
4:1-7)
The
Tutors and Governors that
God the Father appointed were the elements of the "the
Law," which was our "Schoolmaster"
(3:24). These
lead us to "adoption"
as "sons"
(v4:5 above). Our
"adoption"
may be seen as our Bar mitzvah. An adopted "son"
is a grown up "child
of God" who has learned to be "led
of the Spirit" (Rom 8:14) This "adoption" is our coming of age after
the work of the Tutors and Governor. We should by then to have learned to
live by "The
Spirit of His Son (that Paul says, God sent) Into Your
Hearts" (v4:6 above), not to live by the
spontaneous desires (lusts) of "the
flesh."
So
what exactly was the Law's job?
Our
fruitless exercise under "the Law" was to show us how hopeless we are
within ourselves to life righteously. God intended that we thereby should
have come to see our need of Christ to be our new, capable, righteous
life.
The
Law and the works it demands are the Lord's tools to teach us our need of
Christ. In the believer the "works"
demanded by "the
Law" actually serve to negate the power of Christ's
"Spirit
of Life" within. The Christ-life operates only
by pure "grace."
Thus Paul wrote, "if by GRACE, then is it
NO more of works: otherwise grace is no more grace. (Rom
11:6a).
So
when a believer, after
his "salvation by grace through faith," then tries
to please God or earn favor with the Lord through their good works, they
have then departed from their grace
relationship with Him.
Believers
can only live victoriously when living "by
grace through faith" and in accord with the indwelling
"law
(normal operation) of the Spirit of life."
They then enjoy the limitless supply of the inexhaustible power of the
righteous "Spirit of life in Christ Jesus" (Rom 8:2a).
Only His life overcomes "Sin in the flesh."
Paul
here below clearly contrasts what he calls the
"Ministration
of Death" by
the Law's demands, with the
"Ministration
of Righteousness" that is empowered by "the
(indwelling) Spirit of life in Christ
Jesus."
Here
the word "ministration"
that is seen repeatedly in 2Cor 3 means "the
ministry of ..."
"Who
also hath made us able ministers of the New
Testament; NOT of The
Letter ("Law"), but of The Spirit: for the
letter ("Law") killeth,
but the spirit giveth life (Zoë, God's Spirit).
7
But
if the Ministration Of Death,
(the Law) written and
engraven in (dead) stones, was glorious, so that the children of Israel could
not stedfastly behold the face of Moses for the glory of his countenance; which
glory
Was To Be Done Away:
8
How shall not the Ministration
of The Spirit be rather glorious?
9 For
if the Ministration of Condemnation
be
glory, much more doth the Ministration
Of Righteousness exceed
in glory. 10
For even that which was made glorious had no glory in
this respect, by reason of the glory
that excelleth. 11
For if that (Old
Covenant Law) which is
done away (is made of no effect) was
glorious, much more that
(the spontaneous regulatory operation of His indwelling "Spirit of
Life") which Remaineth
is
Glorious.
12
...
we have such hope, we use great plainness of speech (openly proclaim): 13
And NOT as Moses, which put a vail over his face, that
the children of Israel could not stedfastly look to the
end of that which is abolished:
14 But
their Minds Were Blinded: for until this day remaineth the same vail
untaken away in the reading of the old testament (Covenant, of
the Law); which vail
is done away in Christ.
15 But
even unto this day, when Moses (Law) is read, the vail is
upon their heart.
16
Nevertheless
when it (the heart of the Christian)
shall turn (from Law) to the Lord (himself), the vail (the blinding
of the Law) shall be taken away." (2
Cor 3:6-16, KJV, with emphasis added)
Knowing
man's "infirmity"
due to every man's "Sin in the flesh," (cf.,
Rom 6:19a), God intended that the "Ministration"
that is of "the
letter (Law)," which is also called the
"Ministration
of Condemnation"
and "Ministration
Of Death," would serve to expose and reveal to
man his hopeless, sinful, needy condition. This is so man would become
convicted by his conscience and then turn to receive Jesus Christ as his
Savior. Then also he simultaneously receives Christ's resurrected "Spirit
of life" to dwell within his human spirit (John
3:6, 1Cor 6:17). Only the
"Ministration of the
Spirit" bears the "Ministration
of (the) Righteousness"
of Christ to be expressed in and through the believer.
When
a man tries to live according to the "Ministration
of 'the Law" he is under its
"curse."
"...
As Many As Are of The Works of The
Law Are Under The
Curse: for it is written, Cursed
is
every one that continueth not in All Things
which
are written in the book of the Law
to Do Them. (Gal 3:10)
"whosoever
shall keep the whole law,
and yet Offend In One Point,
he is Guilty Of All."
(James 2:10).
Thankfully,
every genuine believer
has already died with
Christ, and "in
Christ."
Each believer has
died and was "buried
with Him" (Rom 6:3-4, cf., Gal 2:20). With our
"old man (old soul-self)" being
already dead and buried, every believer is delivered from the demands
of "the
Law"
that had empowered the Sin-nature
in their flesh. "the strength (Gk.,
dunamis, power) of Sin is
the law. (1 Cor 15:56).
"For
I know that in me (that is, in
my flesh,) dwelleth no good thing: for to will is present
with me; but how to perform that which is good I find not. (Romans
7:18 KJV)
"For
sin (the Sin-nature)
shall NOT have dominion over you: for (because)
ye are NOT under the Law, but Under
GRACE." (Rom
6:14)
"...
our Old (unrenewed) Self
was nailed to the cross with
Him in order That [Our]
Body [which Is The Instrument] Of Sin might Be Made Ineffective and
inactive for evil, (so) that
we might no longer be the slaves of sin.
7...when
a man dies, he is freed
from [the Power of] sin [among men]." (Rom
6:6-7 (AMP)
By
the cross, our flesh nature of Sin, which is at "enmity
against God" (Rom 8:7), has been
circumcised, cut away from
our soul, once and for all...
making us free from the dominion of "Sin in the flesh."
The Lord cut us loose at the cross, where we died with Him. Thus, we
are now at liberty to walk with the Lord in righteousness due to the "circumcision
made without hands."
"in (Christ) ... ye (believers) Are Circumcised with the Circumcision
Made Without Hands, in Putting Off (divesting you from) The
Body of The Sins Of The Flesh by the circumcision of Christ: (
Col
2:11)
Believers
are now free to walk with the Lord under the
"ministration
of righteousness," being empowered
spontaneously by the indwelling "the
Law (the spontaneous regulating operation)
of the Spirit of life in Christ Jesus hath made me free from the
law (the spontaneous regulating operation)
of sin and death. (Rom 8:2,
KJV)
Paul
writes in four verses of 2 Corinthians chapter 3 that "The
10 Commandments" of the Law that condemns
men to death are
abolished or done away for the members of "the body of Christ."
- the Ministry of Death,
in letters engraved on stones ... abolished
[done away] v7
- Ministry of Condemnation...
abolished [done away]
v9, 11
- the Old Covenant... is
abolished [done
away, taken away] in Christ, v14
- whenever
"the heart
turns to the Lord," the veil [the Law] is abolished [taken
away] v16
Part
4 of 4: Who Died At The Cross?
Now
we must look more closely at the Greek word erroneously translated "destroy"
in Rom 6:6 of the KJV.
This mistranslation leads many to the erroneous idea that Sin has been "destroyed."
Actually, here in Romans 6:6 Paul is saying the
"body
of Sin" has been
"made
of no effect" (cf.,
Strongs #2673) in the flesh of believers.
"Knowing
this, that OUR OLD MAN IS CRUCIFIED
With Him,
(so) the body of sin might be DESTROYED (correction,
Greek, kartargeo, Made of No Effect),
(so) that henceforth we should not serve
sin. 7 For
He That Is Dead Is Freed From (The Power Of The) Sin (Nature).
(Romans 6:6-7 KJV, with emphasis)
Yet,
some think the "spirit"
(cf., Eph 2:2) of "Sin"
was "destroyed"
at the cross. Then others say the Sin-nature vacated or "went
out" when "Christ came in." These views are
clearly not borne out by an abundance of Scripture.
Here
in
Rom.
6:6 (above, cf., 6:3) we
see that the one who died
with Christ
was us; "our old man (old soul-self) was
crucified with Him."
Our death has
thereby made
"the body
of Sin" (the
flesh) "of no effect."
But how, is Sin "made of no
effect"? This
is because "Sin,"
which remains "in the flesh"
of the believer cannot tempt dead men.
Paul
says the Lord
has "condemned Sin IN The Flesh" (Rom
8:3), where it is confined.
"For
God has done what the Law could not do, [its power] being weakened by the
flesh [the entire nature of man without the Holy Spirit]. Sending His own
Son in the guise of sinful flesh and as an offering for sin, [God] Condemned
Sin In The Flesh [Subdued, Overcame, Deprived It Of Its Power
over all who accept that sacrifice], (Romans
8:3 AMP)
So
"Sin"
has not been eradicated or
evicted from "the
flesh"
and it will not be until our
"flesh"
body dies.
"...
sin, when it is finished, bringeth forth death" (James
1:15).
In
this series we've well established by Rom 7 that "Sin"
dwells "in the flesh"
body of
every man. By contrast, Christ came not into our flesh, but to dwell much
deeper in man. Christ indwells the core of tri-part believers, into our
human "spirit,"
where we
are now "one spirit"
with Him
(1Cor 6:17, cf., Jn 3:6).
1.
"Regeneration" by
"the Spirit" (Tit 3:5)
occurs in
our "spirit,"
not in our "the
flesh."
2.
Our
soul's mind is being "renewed"
(Rom 12:2, 2Cor 4:12).
3.
"Sin"
is
'condemned ..."in
the flesh" (Rom 8:3).
The
focus of Roman 6 is clearly that it was us,
as the believers, who died
with Christ as to our
"old man (our old soul self)." Our
co-death with Christ did NOT
"destroy"
our sinful
"body"
or expel sin.
Obviously, you as a reader are alive physically and you likely still
commit acts of "Sin" on
occasion (cf., 1Jn 1:8). We,
now being regenerated in our spirit, still live in the presence
of the Sin in the
"body of this death" (Rom 7:24).
We,
as to our "old
man" have died with Christ and thus we are free
from Sin's POWER over us, and ... we have also been "made alive... in Christ" (1Cor 15:22).
Being
dead, we are free from Sin's POWER
- dead men are never tempted by Sin. Yes, we as believers are free
from Sin's Power, but we are not yet free of Sin's
PRESENCE and we will not be free of Sin's
presence until this body dies; or Rapture alive
(1Thes 4:16-18). Dead or alive, "we
shall be changed" (1Cor 15:51-52).
It
only then that we shall "exchange"
this "mortal, corruptible," "body of sin" for
an "incorruptible" spirit-body,
like
Jesus' in His resurrection.
Again,
the Greek word "kartargeo,"
translated "destroyed" in Romans
6:6 means "made of no effect."
This also applies to the believers relationship to "the Law."
"now
we are delivered from
(Gk. kartargeo) the Law,
that being dead wherein we were held; that we
should serve in newness of spirit ..." (Rom
7:6).
The
same Greek word is correctly translated as "of no effect"
in Gal 5:4
(KJV). "Christ
is Become of No Effect unto you, whosoever of you are
justified by the Law..."
Here Paul says, one
who lives under "the Law" makes
Christ of no benefit.
The
Greek "kartargeo,"
is translated "done
away"
and "abolished,"
applying "the Law" four times (2
Cor 3:7, 11, 13, 14 KJV). The very same word, "kartargeo," is translated "abolished,"
in Eph 2:15 (KJV), then as "loosed" in Rom 7:2, and "delivered
from" in Rom 7:6... all specifically applying
specifically to "The 10 Commandments"
of "the
Law."
E.g.,
"Having
ABOLISHED (made of no
effect) in his (Christ's) flesh the enmity (opposition), even
(which is by) THE LAW OF
COMMANDMENTS ..." (Eph 2:15a)
Thankfully,
the believer
is dead to both "the
Law"
(Rom 7:4) and
"Sin in the flesh" (Rom
8:3, Rom 6:11).
Our
co-death with Christ has made "the Law," which
was contrary us, "of not effect." Believers
are free from the demands of the external
written "Law" that EMPOWERED
"Sin"
and "killeth"
(2Cor
3:6).
Thus,
believers are free totally from the "Power
of"
and "Dominion
of" (Rom 6:14a) "Sin in
the flesh."
Our
co-death with Christ has delivered us from the
"Old
Covenant (Law)"
that is "Hostile To Us."
"(Christ)
having canceled out the Certificate
Of Debt consisting of decrees Against Us and which was Hostile
To Us; and He (Christ) has
taken it (the Law) out
of the way, having nailed
it to the cross."
(
Col
2:14)
In
2Cor. 3:6-16 Paul draws these comparisons between the "Old
Covenant" and
"New Testament" (v6).
- The
Old Covenant - "Law,"
is External, written on "tables
of stone" (v. 3, 7).
- The New Testament "Law
of the Spirit of Life in Christ Jesus" is
written IN the "tablets
of the heart"
(v. 3).
- The
Old Covenant is of the outer
"letter"
(v. 6)
-
The New Testament is an inner
relationship with the indwelling
"Spirit of life" (v. 6)
- The
Old Covenant "killeth"
(v. 6)
- The "Spirit...
giveth life"(v.6)
- The
Old Covenant is the "ministration
of death"
and
"condemnation"
(v. 7, 9)
- The New Testament relationship is by the "ministration
of Spirit"
and "righteousness"
(v. 8, 9)
- The
Old Covenant - is
"glorious"
(v. 7, 9)
- The New
Testament relationship "exceeds"
(v9), "remaineth," and
is "much more glorious" (v.
11)
- The
Old Covenant "Law"
is
"abolished,
done away," (v7,
11, 13, 14)
- The New Testament relationship
of "the Law (the
spontaneous regulating power) of the
Spirit of life in
Christ
Jesus'
- 'remains"
(v11) in us.
Note:
A "Covenant" is a "promise" or contract, while a
Testament is a "last will and testament" after the death of the
"testator" has died - Jesus is our Testator who rose from the
dead to now live within us as our new life. We as believers are literal
heirs of His life.
"For
where a testament is, there must
also of necessity be the death of the testator. 17
For a testament is
of force after men are dead: otherwise it is of no strength at
all while the testator liveth. (Hebrews
9:16-17 (KJV)