The power of simplicity

In our relationship with God, we want to experience most of what is available to us. Our very human problem is that we seek complicated ways to get to God in order to experience Him. This is what is known as religion. Religion is us seeking a God we don't understand and experience on our own terms. There is a much better way. The fact is, God reveals Himself to us every day. The simplicity of the Gospel makes us aware of His Presence. Our religious ideas make us even less aware of God.

How do I then get to experience Him? Well, He reveals Himself in different ways. He reveals Himself primarily through His Word, and through people who already experiece Him. He is the Head, we are the body. If I want to reveal myself to people, it will be through my body, right? So it is with God. Look for Him in His body, the church. Not in religious denominations and buildings, in people. Those who understand His love. It will be simple, not complicated. When you see it, recognize it, and you will be more aware of Him.

Firstly, I believe the preachers have an important role to play.
Rom10:13 For everyone who calls upon the name of the Lord [invoking Him as Lord] will be saved.
:14 But how are people to call upon Him Whom they have not believed [in Whom they have no faith, on Whom they have no reliance]? And how are they to believe in Him [adhere to, trust in, and rely upon Him] of Whom they have never heard? And how are they to hear without a preacher?
:15 And how can men [be expected to] preach unless they are sent? As it is written, How beautiful are the feet of those who bring glad tidings! [How welcome is the coming of those who preach the good news of His good things!]

All preachers unfortunately don't know Him. Some are complicated and religious. But there are some that do. Here's how to spot them. Firstly, if they're always angry, walk away. If they preach to you that you must change and be better, walk away. I want to know Jesus, not more of myself. If they preach the love of Christ, and the finished work of the cross, listen closely. If they then go on and tell you that everyone is already saved, and that faith isn't necessary for salvation and that some just don't know it yet, walk away! The simple Gospel is the powerful one.

1Cor 1:18 For the story and message of the cross is sheer absurdity and folly to those who are perishing and on their way to perdition, but to us who are being saved it is the 
[manifestation of] the power of God.

1Cor 1: 22 For while Jews [demandingly] ask for signs and miracles and Greeks pursue philosophy and wisdom,
:23 We preach Christ (the Messiah) crucified, [preaching which] to the Jews is a scandal and an offensive stumbling block [that springs a snare or trap], and to the Gentiles it is absurd and utterly unphilosophical nonsense.

:24 But to those who are called, whether Jew or Greek (Gentile), Christ [is] the Power of God and the Wisdom of God.

The cross of Christ is the power and wisdom of God. Faith in the cross of Christ brings that power and wisdom to us. If the Word of the Gospel don't enter our hearts, we will not experience it. He IS the Word. The Word is Spirit and Life (John6:63), the Word is God (John1:1).

The more I hear how much He loves me, the more I will be conscious of His love for me. The more I hear that He paid the price for my sin in full, the less I will be inclined to pay the price myself. The more I hear about His love for me, the less I will be conscious of my own sinfulness. He did it. Now it is about getting to know Someone so wonderful that He would die for a sinner. Don't look far. He is in you (I'm speaking to believers). If you're not yet saved, just pray, and ask Him to wash you in His blood and come into your heart. If I go and look for Him far far away, I am not conscious of His here with me. I will not go and seek something if I know I have it with me.

The big problem is what we hear. We heard so much religious nonsense, that we got stuck on believing God is not with us. We became blind and deaf to Him. He is with you. He can hear and see you, even if you don't yet experience Him. Talk to Him. Ask Him every day to reveal Himself to you, and to lift the veil of religion from you. Never meditate on your sin. If you missed it, believe in His blood that was shed for you and thank Him for forgiveness. There is no question about forgiveness. He wants you to receive it so you can get your eyes of yourself and your past, and start to experience Him. The cross renders your efforts completely irrelevant, and also your mistakes. No sin can keep you away from Him, only unbelief in His grace. This turning away from self to Christ is true repentance.

So forget the past, be bold towards Jesus, and ask Him to show Himself. Keep on hearing the good news of Christ. Stop hearing the law. Before long your heart will burn with His love and you will experience Him stronger than ever.

Truth and reality

Truth is unchangable. It is true today, and it will be true tomorrow, and forever. Reality goes up and down. Truth is a rock that does not move. Reality is constantly shifting and changing, being influenced by random happenings. If something that can not be changed is forced against something that can change, there is only one outcome: what can change must change, and what can not change will not change. 

Truth is not merely an accurate record of things that has happened. Truth is absolute and universal. Truth is not information, truth is Spirit and unseen, but is communicated by Word and works. The knowledge of Truth is an experience or a fellowship with Him Who is Truth: God. God is love. Truth is love. Love is unseen, but is communicated in Word and works. The knowledge of Love is an experience or a fellowship with Him Who is love. God's love is powerful. His Truth is sometimes different than what we see and experience in this natural world. When His Truth comes into our shifting changing reality, the reality must change until He fills all things with Himself and He is the only reality.

His Word created all things. He created the world perfectly by His Word in His love. All things consist in Him and where made in Him. So things are imperfect when taken outside of Him. 

He made man. He gave man authority over earth to rule. He gave man a choice: the word of knowledge of good and evil by which man had to sustain everything by his own arm, or the word of Life, whereby man could speak a word in the power of God, and thus reiging in Him and by His will and power. The choice was simple: to live outside of Him in dependence upon the power of man outside of love, in isolation of His presence and influence, outside of life, OR to live in fellowship with Him in love, and trust Him to sustain man and reign through man.

Man chose his own arm and subjected creation to frailty, because he did not have the life in himself to sustain all things. Man withdrew from God. Thus sin entered into the world and death through sin. Death is isolation from life. Death spread to all men, who still had authority by God's sovereign will. 

Now since man was devoid of power and ruled with a word that could not sustain life, God's Truth was not seen fully on the earth until the days of Christ. Christ is the visible representation of the invisible. Christ is the manifestation of love. His Word is life. He came to demonstrate truth, love and power. His Truth means salvation to man and creation, because by His Truth all things were made, and by His Truth all things were reconciled back to Himself by Himself going through death to bring His Truth back to man. Jesus Christ was the full expression of Truth, of God Himself in human flesh. He was the demonstration of the knowledge of God in the heart of man, of man reigning and ruling in love. 

By faith in what He said and did, we are reconciled back to Him, and that same Spirit of Truth dwells in us, and reigns through us. Morality is not that fellowship, but is man acting in seperation from God. Love is that fellowship, and is man acting by His nature, and in dependence upon Him.

The sacrifice Jesus Christ brought of Himself freed us from having to sustain ourselves by our own power, and brought us back into fellowship with Him, so we can say what He says, love as He loves, and reign as He reigns. We are to be conformed to His very own image, to be the visible representation of Him to the world. This happens only by faith in His Word of Life, in dependence upon Him, and not ourselves.

When we insist on the Truth, everything changes. We have the same spirit of faith as him who wrote: we believe and therefore we speak. We too believe and therefore we speak. We speak Him, we preach Him, we insist on the Truth,  changing the reality by changing what we say and hear about God. 

It's very simple: we only have life in fellowship with Christ. We only have fellowship with Christ by faith in what He did and said. This fellowship changes our speech and our acts, and it causes Christ to come to the front in every one of us. The mystery is Christ within us, the hope of glory.

Kobus van Rensburg

We lost a great friend Kobus van Rensburg last night due to cancer. My heart is broken. Please pray with me for his wife Annalise and their three sons Kobus, Johan and Petrus and their families. Kobus was a man of love, he was a man of forgiveness. He believed the Word against all odds.

Death is swallowed up unto victory

Rom8:5  For those who are according to the flesh and are controlled by its unholy desires set their minds on and pursue those things which gratify the flesh, but those who are according to the Spirit and are controlled by the desires of the Spirit set their minds on and seek those things which gratify the [Holy] Spirit. 6  Now the mind of the flesh [which is sense and reason without the Holy Spirit] is death [death that comprises all the miseries arising from sin, both here and hereafter]. But the mind of the [Holy] Spirit is life and [soul] peace [both now and forever]. 7  [That is] because the mind of the flesh [with its carnal thoughts and purposes] is hostile to God, for it does not submit itself to God’s Law; indeed it cannot. 8  So then those who are living the life of the flesh [catering to the appetites and impulses of their carnal nature] cannot please or satisfy God, or be acceptable to Him. 9  But you are not living the life of the flesh, you are living the life of the Spirit, if the [Holy] Spirit of God [really] dwells within you [directs and controls you].

We can yield to the mind of the Spirit, which is life. This life will absorb the mind of the flesh which is death. We just need to surrender and be patient to let the Holy Spirit resist evil for us.
If you are tempted, you suffer. The Holy Spirit will save you from that suffering, and He will manifest His freedom in you until you experience no more evil. He does not condemn those who are tempted, or those who sin. He saves those who are tempted, and those who sin, because He is sympathetic towards you, having suffered temptation without sin. His love for you does not allow for Him not to care about you. He is able to destroy temptation in you by simply being in you. We need to give control over to Him and be patient until He has destroyed all evil in us.

Rom8:13  For if you live according to [the dictates of] the flesh, you will surely die. But if through the power of the [Holy] Spirit you are [habitually] putting to death (making extinct, deadening) the [evil] deeds prompted by the body, you shall [really and genuinely] live forever.

The Spirit will destroy the desires of the flesh in you.

Col3:1  IF THEN you have been raised with Christ [to a new life, thus sharing His resurrection from the dead], aim at and seek the [rich, eternal treasures] that are above, where Christ is, seated at the right hand of God. 2  And set your minds and keep them set on what is above (the higher things), not on the things that are on the earth. 3  For [as far as this world is concerned] you have died, and your [new, real] life is hidden with Christ in God. 4  When Christ, Who is our life, appears, then you also will appear with Him in [the splendor of His] glory. 5  So kill (deaden, deprive of power) the evil desire lurking in your members [those animal impulses and all that is earthly in you that is employed in sin]: sexual vice, impurity, sensual appetites, unholy desires, and all greed and covetousness, for that is idolatry (the deifying of self and other created things instead of God). 6  It is on account of these [very sins] that the [holy] anger of God is ever coming upon the sons of disobedience (those who are obstinately opposed to the divine will), 7  Among whom you also once walked, when you were living in and addicted to [such practices]. 8  But now put away and rid yourselves [completely] of all these things: anger, rage, bad feeling toward others, curses and slander, and foulmouthed abuse and shameful utterances from your lips! 9  Do not lie to one another, for you have stripped off the old (unregenerate) self with its evil practices, 10  And have clothed yourselves with the new [spiritual self], which is [ever in the process of being] renewed and remolded into [fuller and more perfect knowledge upon] knowledge after the image (the likeness) of Him Who created it.

So how do we kill the evil desire? How do we clothe ourselves with a new spiritual self? By realising that our new real life is hidden with Christ in God, and by letting Christ Who is our life appear in us in glory. Then we will appear in glory wherever we go. This is how we kill the evil desire lurking in our members. The Spirit is the antidote. Patiently surrender to the Spirit and just wait for the sin and death to disappear. It is by the Spirit that we are able to mortify the flesh.

Gal5:16  But I say, walk and live [habitually] in the [Holy] Spirit [responsive to and controlled and guided by the Spirit]; then you will certainly not gratify the cravings and desires of the flesh (of human nature without God). 17  For the desires of the flesh are opposed to the [Holy] Spirit, and the [desires of the] Spirit are opposed to the flesh (godless human nature); for these are antagonistic to each other [continually withstanding and in conflict with each other], so that you are not free but are prevented from doing what you desire to do. 18  But if you are guided (led) by the [Holy] Spirit, you are not subject to the Law. 19  Now the doings (practices) of the flesh are clear (obvious): they are immorality, impurity, indecency, 20  Idolatry, sorcery, enmity, strife, jealousy, anger (ill temper), selfishness, divisions (dissensions), party spirit (factions, sects with peculiar opinions, heresies), 21  Envy, drunkenness, carousing, and the like. I warn you beforehand, just as I did previously, that those who do such things shall not inherit the kingdom of God. 22  But the fruit of the [Holy] Spirit [the work which His presence within accomplishes] is love, joy (gladness), peace, patience (an even temper, forbearance), kindness, goodness (benevolence), faithfulness, 23  Gentleness (meekness, humility), self-control (self-restraint, continence). Against such things there is no law [that can bring a charge]. 24  And those who belong to Christ Jesus (the Messiah) have crucified the flesh (the godless human nature) with its passions and appetites and desires. 25  If we live by the [Holy] Spirit, let us also walk by the Spirit. [If by the Holy Spirit we have our life in God, let us go forward walking in line, our conduct controlled by the Spirit.]

No matter what you struggle with in the flesh, its all there, all the evil desires of the flesh is included in this. They have all been conquered by Jesus. So just yield to the Spirit and see how the doings of the flesh are destroyed and replaced by the fruit of the Spirit. It is HIS work in you. Simply allow Him to do His work. If you are tempted, or if you have sinned, run to Him, and let Him bring life to you.

James 1:21  So get rid of all uncleanness and the rampant outgrowth of wickedness, and in a humble (gentle, modest) spirit receive and welcome the Word which implanted and rooted [in your hearts] contains the power to save your souls. 22  But be doers of the Word [obey the message], and not merely listeners to it, betraying yourselves [into deception by reasoning contrary to the Truth].

Receive the Spirit and Life Word of God in your heart. It has the power to destroy and mortify the sin and death that is at work and lurking in your members.

Eph 2:1  AND YOU [He made alive], when you were dead (slain) by [your] trespasses and sins 2  In which at one time you walked [habitually]. You were following the course and fashion of this world [were under the sway of the tendency of this present age], following the prince of the power of the air. [You were obedient to and under the control of] the [demon] spirit that still constantly works in the sons of disobedience [the careless, the rebellious, and the unbelieving, who go against the purposes of God]. 3  Among these we as well as you once lived and conducted ourselves in the passions of our flesh [our behavior governed by our corrupt and sensual nature], obeying the impulses of the flesh and the thoughts of the mind [our cravings dictated by our senses and our dark imaginings]. We were then by nature children of [God’s] wrath and heirs of [His] indignation, like the rest of mankind. 4  But God--so rich is He in His mercy! Because of and in order to satisfy the great and wonderful and intense love with which He loved us, 5  Even when we were dead (slain) by [our own] shortcomings and trespasses, He made us alive together in fellowship and in union with Christ; [He gave us the very life of Christ Himself, the same new life with which He quickened Him, for] it is by grace (His favor and mercy which you did not deserve) that you are saved (delivered from judgment and made partakers of Christ’s salvation). 6  And He raised us up together with Him and made us sit down together [giving us joint seating with Him] in the heavenly sphere [by virtue of our being] in Christ Jesus (the Messiah, the Anointed One). 7  He did this that He might clearly demonstrate through the ages to come the immeasurable (limitless, surpassing) riches of His free grace (His unmerited favor) in [His] kindness and goodness of heart toward us in Christ Jesus. 8  For it is by free grace (God’s unmerited favor) that you are saved (delivered from judgment and made partakers of Christ’s salvation) through [your] faith. And this [salvation] is not of yourselves [of your own doing, it came not through your own striving], but it is the gift of God;

We have all had the evil sin and death in our bodies, and He has made us alive together in fellowship with Christ. He saves us with His Word of Life. This salvation is His work in you, it is not of your doing, but you need to let Him save you, and let Him do His work in you, in stead of hindering Him, but trying to overcome it yourself.

James 4:6  But He gives us more and more grace (power of the Holy Spirit, to meet this evil tendency and all others fully). That is why He says, God sets Himself against the proud and haughty, but gives grace [continually] to the lowly (those who are humble enough to receive it). 7  So be subject to God. Resist the devil [stand firm against him], and he will flee from you.

What will meet the evil tendency in you? The grace! This grace IS the power of the Holy Spirit, the Word of Life that meets the evil tendency which ends in death. God sets Himself against the proud. The evil in you is proud, and it is contrary to God and in opposition to Him. So let God give you grace to meet this opposition in you and destroy it. Let Him resist the proud thing in you through His Spirit. Resist the devil, by being subject (yielded, surrendered) to God. The Holy Spirit has an active role in our lives.

2Cor10:4  For the weapons of our warfare are not physical [weapons of flesh and blood], but they are mighty before God for the overthrow and destruction of strongholds, 5  [Inasmuch as we] refute arguments and theories and reasonings and every proud and lofty thing that sets itself up against the [true] knowledge of God; and we lead every thought and purpose away captive into the obedience of Christ (the Messiah, the Anointed One).

The weapons we have against our evil nature is not carnal, it is the power of the Holy Spirit (GRACE, the Word, the Gospel), which is able to meet the evil in us and destroy it. The evil in us are proud and lofty things that sets itself up against the true knowledge of God. The Gospel brings those thoughts down captive to obedience of Christ. God resists these proud things in us, and give grace to those who are humble enough to receive it.

Phil1:6  And I am convinced and sure of this very thing, that He Who began a good work in you will continue until the day of Jesus Christ [right up to the time of His return], developing [that good work] and perfecting and bringing it to full completion in you.

God will do it!

1Thess5:23  And may the God of peace Himself sanctify you through and through [separate you from profane things, make you pure and wholly consecrated to God]; and may your spirit and soul and body be preserved sound and complete [and found] blameless at the coming of our Lord Jesus Christ (the Messiah). 24  Faithful is He Who is calling you [to Himself] and utterly trustworthy, and He will also do it [fulfill His call by hallowing and keeping you].

James 1:3  Be assured and understand that the trial and proving of your faith bring out endurance and steadfastness and patience. 4  But let endurance and steadfastness and patience have full play and do a thorough work, so that you may be [people] perfectly and fully developed [with no defects], lacking in nothing. 5  If any of you is deficient in wisdom, let him ask of the giving God [Who gives] to everyone liberally and ungrudgingly, without reproaching or faultfinding, and it will be given him.

Be patient. Yield to the Spirit, and let Him strengthen you with might in the inner man in the midst of trials and temptations, and let the Holy Spirit have its fruit of patience in you, thus destroying the evil works in us.

Eph3:13  So I ask you not to lose heart [not to faint or become despondent through fear] at what I am suffering in your behalf. [Rather glory in it] for it is an honor to you. 14  For this reason [seeing the greatness of this plan by which you are built together in Christ], I bow my knees before the Father of our Lord Jesus Christ, 15  For Whom every family in heaven and on earth is named [that Father from Whom all fatherhood takes its title and derives its name]. 16  May He grant you out of the rich treasury of His glory to be strengthened and reinforced with mighty power in the inner man by the [Holy] Spirit [Himself indwelling your innermost being and personality]. 17  May Christ through your faith [actually] dwell (settle down, abide, make His permanent home) in your hearts! May you be rooted deep in love and founded securely on love, 18  That you may have the power and be strong to apprehend and grasp with all the saints [God’s devoted people, the experience of that love] what is the breadth and length and height and depth [of it]; 19  [That you may really come] to know [practically, through experience for yourselves] the love of Christ, which far surpasses mere knowledge [without experience]; that you may be filled [through all your being] unto all the fullness of God [may have the richest measure of the divine Presence, and become a body wholly filled and flooded with God Himself]! 20  Now to Him Who, by (in consequence of) the [action of His] power that is at work within us, is able to [carry out His purpose and] do superabundantly, far over and above all that we [dare] ask or think [infinitely beyond our highest prayers, desires, thoughts, hopes, or dreams]-- 21  To Him be glory in the church and in Christ Jesus throughout all generations forever and ever. Amen (so be it).

Col1:11  [We pray] that you may be invigorated and strengthened with all power according to the might of His glory, [to exercise] every kind of endurance and patience (perseverance and forbearance) with joy, 12  Giving thanks to the Father, Who has qualified and made us fit to share the portion which is the inheritance of the saints (God’s holy people) in the Light. 13  [The Father] has delivered and drawn us to Himself out of the control and the dominion of darkness and has transferred us into the kingdom of the Son of His love, 14  In Whom we have our redemption through His blood, [which means] the forgiveness of our sins. 15  [Now] He is the exact likeness of the unseen God [the visible representation of the invisible]; He is the Firstborn of all creation. 16  For it was in Him that all things were created, in heaven and on earth, things seen and things unseen, whether thrones, dominions, rulers, or authorities; all things were created and exist through Him [by His service, intervention] and in and for Him. 17  And He Himself existed before all things, and in Him all things consist (cohere, are held together). 18  He also is the Head of [His] body, the church; seeing He is the Beginning, the Firstborn from among the dead, so that He alone in everything and in every respect might occupy the chief place [stand first and be preeminent]. 19  For it has pleased [the Father] that all the divine fullness (the sum total of the divine perfection, powers, and attributes) should dwell in Him permanently. 20  And God purposed that through (by the service, the intervention of) Him [the Son] all things should be completely reconciled back to Himself, whether on earth or in heaven, as through Him, [the Father] made peace by means of the blood of His cross. 21  And although you at one time were estranged and alienated from Him and were of hostile attitude of mind in your wicked activities, 22  Yet now has [Christ, the Messiah] reconciled [you to God] in the body of His flesh through death, in order to present you holy and faultless and irreproachable in His [the Father’s] presence. 23  [And this He will do] provided that you continue to stay with and in the faith [in Christ], well-grounded and settled and steadfast, not shifting or moving away from the hope [which rests on and is inspired by] the glad tidings (the Gospel), which you heard and which has been preached [as being designed for and offered without restrictions] to every person under heaven, and of which [Gospel] I, Paul, became a minister.

The manifestation of what Jesus died for comes when we continually yield to the Holy Spirit, letting Him fight our battles for us in us, and letting Him manifest Himself in us and for us.

I pray that God will bring the experience of His Spirit to you life, so that you can be rid of sin and temptation once for all. Once He overcomes something, it does not return. In truth we are already free. In reality we still suffer temptation and sickness and death. Where the Spirit of the Lord is, there is liberty. Surrender to His liberty in you.

So now, if the Holy Spirit of life comes to our bodies and destroys sin, then it must destroy the fruit of sin.
Rom8:11  And if the Spirit of Him Who raised up Jesus from the dead dwells in you, [then] He Who raised up Christ Jesus from the dead will also restore to life your mortal (short-lived, perishable) bodies through His Spirit Who dwells in you.

1Cor15:51  Take notice! I tell you a mystery (a secret truth, an event decreed by the hidden purpose or counsel of God). We shall not all fall asleep [in death], but we shall all be changed (transformed) 52  In a moment, in the twinkling of an eye, at the [sound of the] last trumpet call. For a trumpet will sound, and the dead [in Christ] will be raised imperishable (free and immune from decay), and we shall be changed (transformed). 53  For this perishable [part of us] must put on the imperishable [nature], and this mortal [part of us, this nature that is capable of dying] must put on immortality (freedom from death). 54  And when this perishable puts on the imperishable and this that was capable of dying puts on freedom from death, then shall be fulfilled the Scripture that says, Death is swallowed up (utterly vanquished forever) in and unto victory. 55  O death, where is your victory? O death, where is your sting? 56  Now sin is the sting of death, and sin exercises its power [upon the soul] through [the abuse of] the Law.

2Cor5:1  FOR WE know that if the tent which is our earthly home is destroyed (dissolved), we have from God a building, a house not made with hands, eternal in the heavens. 2  Here indeed, in this [present abode, body], we sigh and groan inwardly, because we yearn to be clothed over [we yearn to put on our celestial body like a garment, to be fitted out] with our heavenly dwelling, 3  So that by putting it on we may not be found naked (without a body). 4  For while we are still in this tent, we groan under the burden and sigh deeply (weighed down, depressed, oppressed)--not that we want to put off the body (the clothing of the spirit), but rather that we would be further clothed, so that what is mortal (our dying body) may be swallowed up by life. 5  Now He Who has fashioned us [preparing and making us fit] for this very thing is God, Who also has given us the [Holy] Spirit as a guarantee [of the fulfillment of His promise].

God is faithful, and He will also do it! Num 23:9  God is not a man, that He should tell or act a lie, neither the son of man, that He should feel repentance or compunction [for what He has promised]. Has He said and shall He not do it? Or has He spoken and shall He not make it good?

Bless you in the freedom of the Holy Spirit. May you experience how God frees you day by day, and may God work His perfect patience in you.

Bless you.

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The law, the prophets and the Gospel of Christ.

So many people struggle with the scriptures. We read, and the scriptures seem to contradict itself constantly. People then try to figure it all out with human reasoning, and voila, the world is confused and in religious turmoil. The cross of Jesus Christ is the centre of everything. When we take all scripture back to the cross, everything makes perfect sense in a strikingly simple way.

The law and the prophets were the Holy Scriptures of God given to the nation of Israel. Heb 9:9 says that the law was a parable or a figure of better things to come. The prophets prophecied of the sufferings of Christ and the glory that should follow. The law and the prophets testified of the Messiah, or the Christ that would come and save the world from their sins.

In John 5:39-47, Jesus spoke to the Pharisees, who were educated in the law and the prophets. He said:
39 You search and investigate and pore over the Scriptures diligently, because you suppose and trust that you have eternal life through them. And these [very Scriptures] testify about Me!
40 And still you are not willing [but refuse] to come to Me, so that you might have life.
41 I receive not glory from men [I crave no human honor, I look for no mortal fame],
42 But I know you and recognize and understand that you have not the love of God in you.
43 I have come in My Father's name and with His power, and you do not receive Me [your hearts are not open to Me, you give Me no welcome]; but if another comes in his own name and his own power and with no other authority but himself, you will receive him and give him your approval.
44 How is it possible for you to believe [how can you learn to believe], you who [are content to seek and] receive praise and honor and glory from one another, and yet do not seek the praise and honor and glory which come from Him Who alone is God?
45 Put out of your minds the thought and do not suppose [as some of you are supposing] that I will accuse you before the Father. There is one who accuses you-it is Moses, the very one on whom you have built your hopes [in whom you trust].
46 For if you believed and relied on Moses, you would believe and rely on Me, for he wrote about Me [personally].
47 But if you do not believe and trust his writings, how then will you believe and trust My teachings? [How shall you cleave to and rely on My words?]

It is clear from this portion that Moses testified of something different than what the Jews thought. They were waiting for a natural physical king to come and establish their nation as the kingdom of God in Jerusalem. Moses wrote of a spiritual inheritance that would give power and authority to those who received it. They insisted on their own righteousness, and their way of thinking, which blinded them to what God was really saying through Moses.

The scriptures testifies about Jesus Christ, and not about us. The rituals of the law testifies about what Jesus Christ would do, not about what we must do to be justified. People feel condemned when they read the law, because we have a fallen human way of understanding. It is error in person, i.e. we don't realise who the scripture is reffering to. We think the scriptures give burdens to us, but the burdens was in fact to be carried by the Christ.

The same scripture that condemns someone who reads it with a natural mind, edifies and justifies someone who has spiritual insight. How can this be?

2 Cor 3:14 In fact, their minds were grown hard and calloused [they had become dull and had lost the power of understanding]; for until this present day, when the Old Testament (the old covenant) is being read, that same veil still lies [on their hearts], not being lifted [to reveal] that in Christ it is made void and done away.
15 Yes, down to this [very] day whenever Moses is read, a veil lies upon their minds and hearts.
16 But whenever a person turns [in repentance] to the Lord, the veil is stripped off and taken away.
17 Now the Lord is the Spirit, and where the Spirit of the Lord is, there is liberty (emancipation from bondage, freedom).
18 And all of us, as with unveiled face, [because we] continued to behold [in the Word of God] as in a mirror the glory of the Lord, are constantly being transfigured into His very own image in ever increasing splendor and from one degree of glory to another; [for this comes] from the Lord [Who is] the Spirit.

Whenever Moses is read, a veil lies on their minds and hearts. This means that whenever natural people with limited understanding reads Moses thinking that he wrote about them, the veil of darkness covers their minds and hearts. How can this be? God gave the law in a demonstration of glory! How can that which had glory bring darkness to those who read it?

2 Cor 3:7 Now if the dispensation of death engraved in letters on stone [the ministration of the Law], was inaugurated with such glory and splendor that the Israelites were not able to look steadily at the face of Moses because of its brilliance, [a glory] that was to fade and pass away,
8 Why should not the dispensation of the Spirit [this spiritual ministry whose task it is to cause men to obtain and be governed by the Holy Spirit] be attended with much greater and more splendid glory?
9 For if the service that condemns [the ministration of doom] had glory, how infinitely more abounding in splendor and glory must be the service that makes righteous [the ministry that produces and fosters righteous living and right standing with God]!
10 Indeed, in view of this fact, what once had splendor [the glory of the Law in the face of Moses] has come to have no splendor at all, because of the overwhelming glory that exceeds and excels it [the glory of the Gospel in the face of Jesus Christ].
11 For if that which was but passing and fading away came with splendor, how much more must that which remains and is permanent abide in glory and splendor!
12 Since we have such [glorious] hope (such joyful and confident expectation), we speak very freely and openly and fearlessly.
13 Nor [do we act] like Moses, who put a veil over his face so that the Israelites might not gaze upon the finish of the vanishing [splendor which had been upon it].

Moses brought the law with a demonstration of power and miracles. Physical glory shone from his face, and there were many miracles in his day. The Israelites went through the Red Sea on dry ground, and the Egyptians drowned. They were fed manna and quails from heaven in the desert. They drank water from a rock. They were accompanied by a glory cloud of light by night, and a covering cloud of shade by day. God showed spectacular miracles.

Moses acted out a parable. He put a veil over his face, so that the Israelites wouldn't know when the glory departed. They had the tabernacle with the veil seperating the Holy of Holies from the Holy Place. No one saw the glory behind the veil, except the High Priest once a year. They only assumed it was there. The glory of God was only manifested to the nation through miracles. As the time went on though, the glory faded. Less and less miracles happened until the Babylonian captivity, wherafter there were no real miracles to talk about. Even the tabernacle was no more. Solomon built the temple, and they brought back the arc of the covenant from Babylonia, but it was not as Moses described it. Solomon built his own Holy of Holies, and his own cherubim. The arc was broken, and had no glory. There were also no miracles. The nation was in darkness. The height of the darkness, was when the Pharisees, Saducees, Scribes and Temple Priests were in charge. No scripture made any mention of synagogues, but they built themselves synagogues. They had their own system, and they did not seek God.

Suddenly Jesus was on the scene, demonstrating glory: signs wonders and miracles. Some of the Jews believed, and some said He did the miracles by the power of the devil. They said he drove out demons by the power of the devil. They were so blinded by the veil of their ignorance, insisting on a righteousness of their own, not believing Moses who wrote about the Christ that would come to save them from their sins. They were so blinded that they did not recognise Him. They glory of Moses had faded, and it was time for it to pass away forever, and make way for the abiding glory of Jesus Christ, the power and miracles that would abide forever by the Holy Spirit inside those who believed what was written about Jesus Christ, the Son of God.

Rom 10:1 BRETHREN, [with all] my heart's desire and goodwill for [Israel], I long and pray to God that they may be saved.
2 I bear them witness that they have a [certain] zeal and enthusiasm for God, but it is not enlightened and according to [correct and vital] knowledge.
3 For being ignorant of the righteousness that God ascribes [which makes one acceptable to Him in word, thought, and deed] and seeking to establish a righteousness (a means of salvation) of their own, they did not obey or submit themselves to God's righteousness.
4 For Christ is the end of the Law [the limit at which it ceases to be, for the Law leads up to Him Who is the fulfillment of its types, and in Him the purpose which it was designed to accomplish is fulfilled. That is, the purpose of the Law is fulfilled in Him] as the means of righteousness (right relationship to God) for everyone who trusts in and adheres to and
relies on Him.
5 For Moses writes that the man who [can] practice the righteousness (perfect conformity to God's will) which is based on the Law [with all its intricate demands] shall live by it.
6 But the righteousness based on faith [imputed by God and bringing right relationship with Him] says, Do not say in your heart, Who will ascend into Heaven? that is, to bring Christ down;
7 Or who will descend into the abyss? that is, to bring Christ up from the dead [as if we could be saved by our own efforts].
8 But what does it say? The Word (God's message in Christ) is near you, on your lips and in your heart; that is, the Word (the message, the basis and object) of faith which we preach,
9 Because if you acknowledge and confess with your lips that Jesus is Lord and in your heart believe (adhere to, trust in, and rely on the truth) that God raised Him from the dead, you will be saved.

This means that the Jews tried to fulfill the law, in stead of seeing the parable of the law, and believing it. They tried to fulfill their own righteousness, which was completely against what God had planned for them. This was not by chance. God designed the law in such a way that it would blind the spiritual eyes of those natural people who read it. They had the knowledge of sin. They had the knowledge of good and evil. The law thereby gave the, a fresh remembrance of sins, because they had no other context to see it through.

God needed the spiritual knowledge of the Gospel of the kingdom of God to be hidden from people, until Jesus died on the cross to pay for the sins of the world and fulfill the law of Moses and everything the prophets wrote about Him.

This is the reason: 1 Cor 2:8 None of the rulers of this age or world perceived and recognized and understood this, for if they had, they would never have crucified the Lord of glory.

The Jews saw Jesus as a threat to their little world that they had created for themselves. Act 13:27 For those who dwell in Jerusalem and their rulers, because they did not know or recognize Him or understand the utterances of the prophets which are read every Sabbath, have actually fulfilled these very predictions by condemning and sentencing [Him].
28 And although they could find no cause deserving death with which to charge Him, yet they asked Pilate to have Him executed and put out of the way.
29 And when they had finished and fulfilled everything that was written about Him, they took Him down from the tree and laid Him in a tomb.
30 But God raised Him from the dead.

So Jesus was crucified, and the law in all of its intricate details and rituals had been fulfilled. The law therefore has no more bearing on us. It is made redundant and obsolete by the sacrifice of Jesus Christ.

Heb9:9 Seeing that that first [outer portion of the] tabernacle was a parable (a visible symbol or type or picture of the present age). In it gifts and sacrifices are offered, and yet are incapable of perfecting the conscience or of cleansing and renewing the inner man of the worshiper.
10 For [the ceremonies] deal only with clean and unclean meats and drinks and different washings, [mere] external rules and regulations for the body imposed to tide the worshipers over until the time of setting things straight [of reformation, of the complete new order when Christ, the Messiah, shall establish the reality of what these things foreshadow-a better covenant].
11 But [that appointed time came] when Christ (the Messiah) appeared as a High Priest of the better things that have come and are to come. [Then] through the greater and more perfect tabernacle not made with [human] hands, that is, not a part of this material creation,
12 He went once for all into the [Holy of] Holies [of heaven], not by virtue of the blood of goats and calves [by which to make reconciliation between God and man], but His own blood, having found and secured a complete redemption (an everlasting release for us).
13 For if [the mere] sprinkling of unholy and defiled persons with blood of goats and bulls and with the ashes of a burnt heifer is sufficient for the purification of the body,
14 How much more surely shall the blood of Christ, Who by virtue of [His] eternal Spirit [His own preexistent divine personality] has offered Himself as an unblemished sacrifice to God, purify our consciences from dead works and lifeless observances to serve the [ever] living God?
15 [Christ, the Messiah] is therefore the Negotiator and Mediator of an [entirely] new agreement (testament, covenant), so that those who are called and offered it may receive the fulfillment of the promised everlasting inheritance-since a death has taken place which rescues and delivers and redeems them from the transgressions committed under the
[old] first agreement.
16 For where there is a [last] will and testament involved, the death of the one who made it must be established,
17 For a will and testament is valid and takes effect only at death, since it has no force or legal power as long as the one who made it is alive.
18 So even the [old] first covenant (God's will) was not inaugurated and ratified and put in force without the shedding of blood.
19 For when every command of the Law had been read out by Moses to all the people, he took the blood of slain calves and goats, together with water and scarlet wool and with
a bunch of hyssop, and sprinkled both the Book (the roll of the Law and covenant) itself and all the people,
20 Saying these words: This is the blood that seals and ratifies the agreement (the testament, the covenant) which God commanded [me to deliver to] you.
21 And in the same way he sprinkled with the blood both the tabernacle and all the [sacred] vessels and appliances used in [divine] worship.
22 [In fact] under the Law almost everything is purified by means of blood, and without the shedding of blood there is neither release from sin and its guilt nor the remission of the
due and merited punishment for sins.
23 By such means, therefore, it was necessary for the [earthly] copies of the heavenly things to be purified, but the actual heavenly things themselves [required far] better and nobler sacrifices than these.
24 For Christ (the Messiah) has not entered into a sanctuary made with [human] hands, only a copy and pattern and type of the true one, but [He has entered] into heaven itself, now to appear in the [very] presence of God on our behalf.
25 Nor did He [enter into the heavenly sanctuary to] offer Himself regularly again and again, as the high priest enters the [Holy of] Holies every year with blood not his own.
26 For then would He often have had to suffer [over and over again] since the foundation of the world. But as it now is, He has once for all at the consummation and close of the ages appeared to put away and abolish sin by His sacrifice [of Himself].

The following is very important to what I what to convey today: The law speaks of purification by means of blood. It is the law of Moses that makes provision for a sacrifice of blood which brings purification. Jesus brought the perfect sacrifice, thereby purifying all and purging the world of it's sense of guilt, having once for all cleansed the conscience of the worshipper.

Who is included here? The sacrifice was for the sin of the world. The sacrifice included all sins of all people committed under the law of Moses. The question is: "Who do we believe", rather than: "How do I become justified and forgiven". The law and the prophets spoke of Jesus that would come and bring this perfect sacrifice to bring the world to salvation. There are those who still use the law and the prophets to condemn, rather than to preach the Good News of the end of the law through the perfect sacrifice of our High Priest after the order of Melchizedek, Jesus Christ, the Son of God.

John wrote and said: test the spirits to see wether they are from God.

1 John 4:1 BELOVED, DO not put faith in every spirit, but prove (test) the spirits to discover whether they proceed from God; for many false prophets have gone forth into the world.
2 By this you may know (perceive and recognize) the Spirit of God: every spirit which acknowledges and confesses [the fact] that Jesus Christ (the Messiah) [actually] has become man and has come in the flesh is of God [has God for its source];
3 And every spirit which does not acknowledge and confess that Jesus Christ has come in the flesh [but would annul, destroy, sever, disunite Him] is not of God [does not proceed from Him]. This [nonconfession] is the [spirit] of the antichrist, [of] which you heard that it was coming, and now it is already in the world.
4 Little children, you are of God [you belong to Him] and have [already] defeated and overcome them [the agents of the antichrist], because He Who lives in you is greater (mightier) than he who is in the world.
5 They proceed from the world and are of the world; therefore it is out of the world [its whole economy morally considered] that they speak, and the world listens (pays attention) to them.
6 We are [children] of God. Whoever is learning to know God [progressively to perceive, recognize, and understand God by observation and experience, and to get an ever-clearer knowledge of Him] listens to us; and he who is not of God does not listen or pay attention to us. By this we know (recognize) the Spirit of Truth and the spirit of error.

There are those who would use the scriptures to condemn and to make people change themselves through efforts and sacrifices. That is the spirit of antichrist. Those people would never confess that Jesus Christ the son of God came to pay the price for the sin of the world and thereby bring absolute forgiveness to all who believe. They will always imply that you need to do something according to the law of Moses (or some other law or ritual) to produce your own righteousness.

The devil is called Satan. Satan means: Adversary, or Accuser. The only thing the devil has to accuse you with, is the law of Moses. Jesus says in John 8:43 Why do you misunderstand what I say? It is because you are unable to hear what I am saying. [You cannot bear to listen to My message; your ears are shut to My teaching.]
44 You are of your father, the devil, and it is your will to practice the lusts and gratify the desires [which are characteristic] of your father. He was a murderer from the beginning and does not stand in the truth, because there is no truth in him. When he speaks a falsehood, he speaks what is natural to him, for he is a liar [himself] and the father of lies and of all that is false.

So the devil is a liar and the father of lies. He will not speak the truth to you. The devil is called Satan which means Accuser. This means that after the cross of Christ, all accusations are lies. Some will use the law to accuse. They are liars. Their lies will keep you in bondage to a law which have already been fulfilled. They lie to you, keeping from you the testimony of the True Sacrifice that had been brought to end the law. There are however others who will use the law and the prophets to preach the truth about Jesus Christ, that He fulfilled the law, and all its intricate demands. These will always speak of Christ and the cross. They are speaking the truth to you, and their word will always be in power, attested by glory: signs wonders and miracles.

Rom 3:21 But now the righteousness of God has been revealed independently and altogether apart from the Law, although actually it is attested by the Law and the Prophets,
22 Namely, the righteousness of God which comes by believing with personal trust and confident reliance on Jesus Christ (the Messiah). [And it is meant] for all who believe. For there is no distinction,
23 Since all have sinned and are falling short of the honor and glory which God bestows and receives.
24 [All] are justified and made upright and in right standing with God, freely and gratuitously by His grace (His unmerited favor and mercy), through the redemption which is [provided] in Christ Jesus,
25 Whom God put forward [before the eyes of all] as a mercy seat and propitiation by His blood [the cleansing and life-giving sacrifice of atonement and reconciliation, to be received] through faith. This was to show God's righteousness, because in His divine forbearance He had passed over and ignored former sins without punishment.
26 It was to demonstrate and prove at the present time (in the now season) that He Himself is righteous and that He justifies and accepts as righteous him who has [true] faith in Jesus.

If people quote the law and the prophets to preach the Gospel of the cross of Christ to you, and show you how everything is fulfilled in the cross, they are speaking the truth. If people quote the law and the prophets to accuse you and get you to do certain things to establish your own righteousness, they are lying to you and killing you. The law gives power to sin. The Gospel is about the forgiveness of sin which we now certain have. This forgiveness is ours because of the last perfect sacrifice that satisfied the law, i.e the body and the blood of Jesus.

Heb10:3 But [as it is] these sacrifices annually bring a fresh remembrance of sins [to be atoned for],
4 Because the blood of bulls and goats is powerless to take sins away.
5 Hence, when He [Christ] entered into the world, He said, Sacrifices and offerings You have not desired, but instead You have made ready a body for Me [to offer];
6 In burnt offerings and sin offerings You have taken no delight.
7 Then I said, Behold, here I am, coming to do Your will, O God-[to fulfill] what is written of Me in the volume of the Book.
8 When He said just before, You have neither desired, nor have You taken delight in sacrifices and offerings and burnt offerings and sin offerings-all of which are offered according to the Law-
9 He then went on to say, Behold, [here] I am, coming to do Your will. Thus He does away with and annuls the first (former) order [as a means of expiating sin] so that He might inaugurate and establish the second (latter) order.
10 And in accordance with this will [of God], we have been made holy (consecrated and sanctified) through the offering made once for all of the body of Jesus Christ (the Anointed One).
11 Furthermore, every [human] priest stands [at his altar of service] ministering daily, offering the same sacrifices over and over again, which never are able to strip [from every side of us] the sins [that envelop us] and take them away-
12 Whereas this One [Christ], after He had offered a single sacrifice for our sins [that shall avail] for all time, sat down at the right hand of God,
13 Then to wait until His enemies should be made a stool beneath His feet.
14 For by a single offering He has forever completely cleansed and perfected those who are consecrated and made holy.
15 And also the Holy Spirit adds His testimony to us [in confirmation of this]. For having said,
16 This is the agreement (testament, covenant) that I will set up and conclude with them after those days, says the Lord: I will imprint My laws upon their hearts, and I will inscribe them on their minds (on their inmost thoughts and understanding),
17 He then goes on to say, And their sins and their lawbreaking I will remember no more.
18 Now where there is absolute remission (forgiveness and cancellation of the penalty) of these [sins and lawbreaking], there is no longer any offering made to atone for sin.

The truth is that the law is fulfilled, and sin has been dealt with. The only way we could go back to a sin consciousness and condemnation, is if we reject the truth and believe the lies of the devil, which are accusations by means of the law. The law has one true testimony: You are forgiven and cleansed, because the perfect sacrifice was given to bring an end to sin in the flesh. We are cleansed by means of perfect blood. The Gospel is not about our sin, but about the perfect sacrifice of Jesus Christ, which is His body and blood that was given at the cross for our justification and sanctification. This is the truth. When the truth, which was hidden and is now revealed, is preached, even the law testifies that we are completely forgiven and free. The law was satisfied by the offering of Christ. The law said that we could be cleansed by blood. Not the blood of goats and bulls, but the perfect blood of Jesus Christ.

Condemnation preached through the law of Moses, is a lie. This comes from the anti-christ spirit, from the false prophet who uses the holy scriptures of God to bring accusation, condemnation and death, in stead of live in abundance.

The Old Covenant spoke of something which had to come. The New Testament spoke of that which did come. It all testifies about Jesus Christ, and the sacrifice He made of His flesh body for the salvation of all those who believe in that sacrifice.

Acts 13:38 So let it be clearly known and understood by you, brethren, that through this Man forgiveness and removal of sins is now proclaimed to you;
39 And that through Him everyone who believes [who acknowledges Jesus as his Savior and devotes himself to Him] is absolved (cleared and freed) from every charge from which he could not be justified and freed by the Law of Moses and given right standing with God.
40 Take care, therefore, lest there come upon you what is spoken in the prophets:
41 Look, you scoffers and scorners, and marvel and perish and vanish away; for I am doing a deed in your days, a deed which you will never have confidence in or believe, [even] if someone [clearly describing it in detail] declares it to you.

Let us reject the lie of sin and condemnation that had such a strangle hold on us, and rather believe the truth of forgiveness and sanctification brought to us through the cross of Christ. We have received grace and righteousness as a gift, and we are saved and forgiven because of the blood of Jesus. To this even the law of Moses testifies. If Jesus never died, we certainly would stand guilty, but since He did bring the perfect sacrifice, the law has no choice but to declare us holy.