The Spiritual Revolution of Jesus Christ
and How the False Church
Opposes It (Pt. 5)

By William Handschumacher

A Rock of Offence Special Commentary





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This is part 5 of a six-part Bible study.
To access the other parts click on the
appropriate link below:

Part 1 ----- Part 2 ----- Part 3

Part 4 ----- Part 6

Return To Home Page
Return To Basics of Salvation Page
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Important Information About
'The Moral Code Exclusion'


In this study, we discover the Scriptural truth about how Jesus fulfilled ... and then took the entire Old Testament Law 'out of the way' for the Christian. This is a core truth of Christ's Gospel, supported by many passages throughout the New Testament. However, this incredible benefit creates a problem for those who embrace various brands of Christian theology which are illegally established upon this same law. To get around the problem, it is often stated that ... "Yes, Jesus fulfilled and took away the law - except for the part that contains "The Moral Code" (commonly known as 'The Ten Commandments'). Their reasoning is that Jesus only fulfilled and took away that part of the Law dealing with animal sacrifices and other ritualistic temple practices associated with the Mosaic Law ... but left the Moral Code intact and in force. Yet, Scripture warns that God designed the Law in such a way that makes any attempt to separate it into different parts - illegal.

James said it this way ...

"For whoever shall keep the whole law, and yet stumble in one point, he is guilty of all." (James 2:10)


In other words, Old Testament Law is indivisible, meaning you have to accept all of it - or none of it. Also, keep in mind that the Law consists of over 613 different commandments ... not just 10. It can't be treated like a cafeteria, where you take what you want and ignore the rest. As a result, when Jesus fulfilled - and then took away Old Testament Law ... He took away all of it.

"And you, being dead in your trespasses and the uncircumcision of your flesh, He has made alive together with Him, having forgiven you all trespasses, having wiped out the handwriting of the requirements that was against us (Old Testament Law), which was contrary to us. And He (Jesus) has taken it out of the way, having nailed it to the cross." (Colossians 2:13-14)


The 'moral code exclusion' is an argument used by those who object to the Scriptural truth ... that Christ's sacrificial death now makes eternal life available as a free unmerited gift; as stated in Romans 3:24-26, Romans 4:4-8, Romans 5:17-19, Ephesians 2:8-9, Titus 3:5-7. But, if the moral code truly remains as 'preconditions for salvation', as many in the Church insist, then eternal life - as God's free gift - becomes a lie. What these ministers are teaching is that the moral code of the Law (commonly known as "The Ten Commandments" or just "The Commandments") remain as preconditions for possessing eternal life (or salvation). However, as we warn in many of our studies, this is actually a tenant of a dangerous spiritual counterfeit called 'Galatian religion' ... and its related doctrines of Calvinism and Catholicism.

In contrast to the way it previously existed in the Old Testament, the Law's 'moral code' was taken away by the cross of Christ - as a requirement to obtain (and keep) God's gift of eternal life. However, that does not mean it no longer serves any purpose - or was somehow destroyed. Following the cross, the moral code receives its new role as 'a reference guide' to help the Christian identify the sin they should now avoid. Yet, contrary to many popular church teachings ... the moral code no longer has the power, as it did under Old Testament Law, to prevent anyone from receiving eternal life - or to take it away once it is received. This is why God can now offer eternal life (salvation) as a free unmerited and undeserved gift.

As a result, we can now see that obeying the Law's 'moral code' is no longer necessary to receive or keep eternal life. However, God does require the Christian to observe this code - not to be saved - but to place their life in agreement with why Jesus went to the cross in the first place; to take away our sins and give us new and everlasting life. By living contrary to the Law's moral code, we are living contrary to Christ's entire redemptive program. Saint Paul said it this way ...


"What shall we say then? Shall we continue in sin that grace may abound? Certainly not! How shall we who died to sin live any longer in it? Or do you not know that as many of us as were baptized into Christ Jesus were baptized into His death? Therefore we were buried with Him through baptism into death, that just as Christ was raised from the dead by the glory of the Father, even so we also should walk in newness of life." (Romans 6:1-4)


As a result, what Paul stated about the whole Law and its affect on salvation remains true :

"For sin shall not have dominion over you: for ye are not under the law, but under grace." (Romans 6:14)




The Day of Pentecost was
the Beginning of the Law's
New Role that Now Operates
Through the Indwelling Holy
Spirit


The law is not being 'thrown away' (or destroyed) as some accuse us of saying. Jesus said that He didn't come to destroy the law, but to fulfill it - which requires a radical change in its previous role. As a result, God takes the old program of the Law out of the way (abolishes it) ... and replaces it with something new - and better.


God's Holy Spirit is the
embodiment of everything the
previous Old Testament Law
represented ... except for
the condemnation and judgment
for breaking its commandments
(the Bible calls it 'sin'). The
condemnation and judgment was
permanently removed by the Lamb
of God who paid the price, in
blood, so that all these
violations could be legally
cancelled in God's Heavenly
courtroom. This is called...
"Redemption".



In Romans 7:12 Saint Paul instructs us that the Law is "holy and just and good". However, Paul also reveals that this same Law "made nothing perfect because it was weak and unprofitable" (Hebrews 7:18-19). He continues the same thought in Romans 8:1-4 by saying; "For what the law could not do in that it was weak through the flesh, God did by sending His own Son ...."

We see that the Law was indeed holy and just and good ... but it was also weak, unprofitable - and made nothing perfect. Paul tells us that God initiated the New Covenant to correct these faults (see Hebrews 8:6-7). This is why the Spirit of Christ - also called "the Holy Spirit" - is God's 'new and better and perfect replacement' for the Law of the Old Testament. On the day of Pentecost following Christ's crucifixion, the 'Holy Spirit' came to indwell every true believer in Christ - which was also the beginning of the Law's new and enhanced role. One reason we call it 'enhanced' (the Bible uses the word ... 'Better') is because it was stripped of the condemnation (God's judgment against sin), which previously existed at the core of the old system. However, this judgment has no place in the new administration of the Spirit, since Jesus bore all of our judgment for sin on the cross - which sets us free and makes us righteous in God's eyes (2 Corinthians 5:21). This is why Paul made the statement in Romans 8:1 ...


"There is therefore now no
condemnation to those who
are in Christ Jesus ..."



This new 'indwelling administration of the Spirit' is referred to in Romans 8:1-4 as; "the law of the Spirit of life in Christ Jesus". In Luke 22:20, Jesus referred to it as "the New Covenant in My blood". When this new administration (or new covenant) started to govern after the cross ... God considers the old administration (or covenant) of the law to be obsolete (Hebrews 8:13). Its 'obsolescence' requires that it be taken permanently 'out of the way' (Colossians 2:13-14). Finally, to remove any doubt, Hebrews 7:11-19 declares that the Law was 'annulled' (invalidated) through Christ's new office as the believer's 'High Priest'.


All of these clear Scriptural
testimonies concerning the
fulfillment and removal of
the Law by the cross of Christ
offers the reader little room
to argue, unless you are
attempting to defend an
unbiblical theology, a
a different gospel-or another
Jesus.

It also reveals the shocking
truth that there are many
churches, denominations and
ministries that insist that
they represent Christ, yet are ...

'Christian in name only'



In addition to Jeremiah's prophecy
about the future new covenant, the
prophet Ezekiel also speaks about
this future change in God's
program:


(God is speaking) "I will give you a new heart and put a new spirit within you; I will take the heart of stone out of your flesh and give you a heart of flesh. I will put My Spirit within you and cause you to walk in My statutes, and you will keep My judgments and do them. (Ezekiel 36:26-27)


We can now understand what Saint
Paul meant when he said ...


"What? know ye not that your body is the temple of the Holy Spirit which is in you, which ye have of God, and ye are not your own? For ye are bought with a price: therefore glorify God in your body, and in your spirit, which are God’s." (1 Corinthians 6:19-20)


"But if the Spirit of Him who raised Jesus from the dead dwells in you, He who raised Christ from the dead will also give life to your mortal bodies through His Spirit who dwells in you." (Words of Saint Paul from Romans 8:11)


Paul reveals the incredible truth that the Holy Spirit now "dwells in the believer". This is a unique New Covenant provision that was not available to those living under Old Testament Law.

Paul uses the word "ministry" to
describe both the previous Old
Testament program ... and the
New Covenant program of Christ.

Note: Some translations use the
word 'administration' instead of
the word 'ministry'. Regardless
of which term is used, the goal
is to show that an old ministry
or administration has ended and
a new administration (of the
Spirit) has begun.


"And we have such trust through Christ toward God. Not that we are sufficient of ourselves to think of anything as being from ourselves, but our sufficiency is from God, who also made us sufficient as ministers of the new covenant, not of the letter but of the Spirit; for the letter kills, but the Spirit gives life. But if the ministry of death, written and engraved on stones, was glorious, so that the children of Israel could not look steadily at the face of Moses because of the glory of his countenance, which glory was passing away, how will the ministry of the Spirit not be more glorious? For if the ministry of condemnation had glory, the ministry of righteousness exceeds much more in glory. For even what was made glorious had no glory in this respect, because of the glory that excels. For if what is passing away was glorious, what remains is much more glorious." (2 Corinthians 3:4-11 - Emphasis Added)


Paul is comparing both the new and
the previous administrations in
the following ways:




  • The old administration (the letter-or law) now kills

  • The new administration (the Spirit) gives life

  • The old administration (ministry of death) was
    glorious

  • The new administration (ministry of the Spirit)
    is more glorious

  • The old administration (ministry of condemnation)
    had glory

  • The new administration (ministry of righteousness)
    has much more glory

  • The old administration is passing away

  • The new administration remains


According to Ephesians 3:1-7, all believers
in Christ are now governed by the new
ministry of the Spirit also known as ...

The Dispensation of the
Grace of God



Paul also uses an alternate term to describe the indwelling presence of the Holy Spirit in the believer ... which is 'sealed with the Holy Spirit'. In Scripture the word 'sealed' carries the idea of 'permanence or preservation'. After the cross, when God seals an individual it is to keep the contents (in this case the Holy Spirit and Christ's salvation that comes with Him) from being lost. The 'seal' remains in place until the 'Day of Redemption' ... or the day that Christ returns to remove the Church from the earth. Contrary to some popular church teachings, this means that a believer is not unsealed when they sin, then resealed when they repent - as taught by a popular counterfeit gospel. The cross of Christ forever removes sin's power to condemn the believer. As a result, sin does not possess the power to undo God's seal, which is why it remains in place until Jesus returns.




***********************************************************

This is part 5 of a six-part Bible study.
To access the other parts click on the
appropriate link below:

Part 1 ----- Part 2 ----- Part 3

Part 4 ----- Part 6

Return To Home Page
Return To Basics of Salvation Page
 ***********************************************************


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