One of the things which is
absolutely essential for us to look deeply, and see clearly, into the heart of
our New Testament is the ‘Law, or Principle, of Grace’— Jn. 1:14; Col. 2:14-17;
Titus 2:11-14; Heb. 8-10; 13:9-10. The Law of Grace tells us any teaching
which is contrary to the clear expression of the grace of God is false. This builds on the ministry of the Holy
Spirit and the insight He brings to understand the full scope of the New
Covenant as it relates to how we live, how we love, our standing in the Son of
God, our service to the Son of God, prophecy, His-Story, Eternity ...and on and
on it goes.
John spoke of the Logos of God and said, “The Word became flesh and made His
dwelling among us. We have seen His glory, the glory of the One and Only [Monogenes is an amazing word, it means- ‘the uniquely born, never
to be replicated, the One, the Only’], who came from the Father, full
of Grace and Truth”— and these in perfect balance {1:14}. I love this next part. In v. 16 he says, “From the fullness of His grace we have all received one blessing after
another.” This is charin anti charitos, literally- ‘grace in place of grace’ or ‘grace on
top of grace,’ like waves on the
seashore, one after another after another after another. “For
the Law was given through Moses; Grace and Truth came through Jesus Christ,”
v. 17. And hallelujah that they did!
The author of Hebrews, in his
final exhortation to the believers still living in Jerusalem and Judea,
commands them in 13:9-10 saying, “Do not
be carried away by all kinds of strange teachings [‘Strange’ being xenos, a word going all the way back to
the time of Homer and meaning- ‘a guest-friend, a stranger, foreigner.’ We get xenophobia-
‘fear or hatred of foreigners,’ from this.
‘Don’t let a variety of foreign teachings whisk your souls away from
Christ!’ {RRExp}]. It is good
for our hearts to be continually strengthened by grace, not by ceremonial foods [Which were a part of the
sacrificial system under the Old Covenant of the Mosaic Law, and:], which are of no value to
those who eat them. We [the Children
of God in the Age of Grace] have an
altar [Based on the Finished Work of the Lord Jesus Christ, a place from
which we receive an unlimited supply
of spiritual nourishment.] from which
those who minister at the Tabernacle have no right to eat.” He’s talking about those still bound to a
shadow-system which ceased with Jesus’ Death on the Cross because the reality of which it spoke had now come
into being!
Jesus “canceled the written code
with its regulations, which was against
us and stood opposed to us,” wrote Paul in Colossians 2:14; “He took it away, nailing it to the Cross.
...Therefore, do not let anyone
judge you by what you eat or drink, or with regard to a religious festival, a
New Moon celebration or a Sabbath Day.”
None of these things are the
issue; Jesus is the issue! They
weren’t then and they aren’t now. The
reason we ‘gather together,’ assemble ourselves in little Communities of Faith,
is to lift up the Name of the Most High God.
It is to worship Jesus, to
praise Jesus, to honor Jesus, to glorify the Son of God, not
get bound by the erroneous opinions of other believers. Why should we not cave under the legalism and
superficial spiritual ideas of others?
Cause “these are a shadow of the things that were to come;
the reality, however, is found in
Christ,” vv. 16-17.
Once you have the Real Thing
living and breathing in your grateful little hands, you don’t need the picture
of it any longer! It’s like falling in
love or discovering your destiny. All
your passion and purpose is directed towards a lover or a goal, an objective,
an all-consuming desire. You may hold on
to memories of time spent together or dream about opportunities arising in the
future. You might look over the pictures
of them on your phone or search out info on the I-Webs about your field of
endeavor, but once you have them in your arms, once your goal is solidly in
your grasp, you don’t need the images any longer. You
have the Reality, and that’s worth its weight in gold. Grace offers us the Ultimate Gift of Reality: a rock-solid relationship with the Lord
of Heaven and Earth, the Creator of All that Is, which will last for all
Eternity!
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HJC
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Ric Webb | Shepherd
Heart’s Journey
Community
9621 Tall Timber
Blvd. | Little Rock, AR 72204
t +1.501.455.0296
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hjcommunity.org
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Heart’s Journey – Live Generously and Love Graciously
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