Friday, July 31, 2009

...let them see your good works...

"On the other hand, works and deeds are the plan and system of God that functioned under the Mosaic Law. Matt 5:16, "Let your light shine before men, that they may see your good works, and glorify your Father which is in heaven." Jesus was talking to the Jews and the Jews only. And in the Sermon on the Mount in Matt chapters 5-7, Jesus was talking about the Mosaic Law. And the Mosaic Law was only operational in the Dispensation of Israel. Rom 9:4 says, "The people of Israel, theirs is the adoption as sons; theirs the divine glory, the covenants, THE RECEIVING OF THE LAW, the temple worship, and the promises."

(2). Grace is the system whereby man cannot be blessed by what he does, but can only be blessed by what God has done through Jesus Christ. Rom 5:1-2, "Therefore, since we have been justified (made righteous) through faith, we have peace with God through our Lord Jesus Christ, through whom we have gained access by faith INTO THIS GRACE IN WHICH WE NOW STAND." We do not stand under the law, we stand in grace. Rom 6:14 tells us very clearly that "...you are not under law, but you are under grace." Rom 7:6, "...we have been released from the law so that we can serve in the new way of the Spirit, (the law of the filling of the Holy Spirit) and not in the old way of the written code." (The written code is the Mosaic Law). Rom 11:5-6, "...at the present time there is a remnant chosen by grace. And if by grace, then it is no longer by works; if it were, grace would no longer be grace." Gal 2:16, "...no one will be justified (made righteous) by observing the law." Gal 3:11-12, "...the righteous will live by faith. The law is not based on faith."

(3). The Mosaic Law was the teacher in the past. It taught the Jews the plan of God through object lessons. It taught them what the work of Jesus Christ would involve. It was actually designed to bring them to Christ. Gal 3:24-25, "The law was our schoolmaster to bring us to Christ so that we might be justified (made righteous) by faith. Now that faith has come, we no longer need the schoolmaster." Rom 2:20 tells us that it was "through the law that we become aware of sin." In other words, it was the law that taught people what was right and wrong. The law was a teacher. But it is very important to know and understand that the law was only a teacher, it could not save anyone. It was designed to show the total depravity of mankind and cause man to look toward the Savior, Jesus Christ."

Tuesday, July 28, 2009

the gospel IS the power of God

It does not merely release God’s power – it is the power of God! When we speak the Gospel, power comes out of our mouth. While we depend on the Holy Spirit, it is not a matter of praying the power down but rather, preaching the power out. When the good news of what God in Christ has done comes out of our mouth, it is like beams of light driving away darkness.

Peter Youngren

Monday, July 27, 2009

Jesus is NOT the new law-giver...

"We can be sure that the Law is confused with the Gospel when Christ is spoken about as a new law-giver, as one who tells us the new principles or rules by which we can come to God. This flies in the face of the words of the Apostle John who states that Law does not come by Christ. For the law was given by Moses, but grace and truth came by Jesus Christ. (John 1:17 KJV) Jesus did not come to judge the world, but to offer the means by which we are saved. For God sent not his Son into the world to condemn the
world; but that the world through him might be saved. ( John 3:17 KJV). Jesus did not
come to give a better law than Moses. He came to give in mercy that which was far
greater than Moses could give. This is a faithful saying and worthy of all acceptation that
Christ Jesus came into the world to save sinners; of whom I am chief. (1Tim. 1:15 KJV)
Jesus could not be considered a new law-giver by the commands he spoke. He was
teaching the fuller meaning of the old Law. What Jesus said in the Sermon on the Mount
was a fulfillment of the Law of Moses. Think not that I am come to destroy the Law or the
prophets; I am not come to destroy but to fulfill (Matthew 5:17 KJV)"

Tuesday, July 21, 2009

www.newcovenantgrace.com

THIS IS WORTH A VISIT...

YOU WILL BE BLESSED IN READING HIS STUFF...

WELL DONE ANDRE...KEEP IT UP!!

http://www.newcovenantgrace.com/browse-by-topic



Monday, July 20, 2009

Teach grace only because only grace teaches...

i have said it before, i will say it again....

Do you want "your" people to change, to grow in God, to be generous, to see signs wonders and miracles, to live Godly lifestyles...then preach the gospel of grace to them...and only the gospel of grace...

Why?

Titus 2:11-12 says the grace of God that brings salvation teaches us to say "No" to ungodliness and worldly passions, and to live self-controlled, upright and godly lives...

Acts 20:32 says...the word of His grace builds us up and gives us an inheritance among the those that are sanctified...

whose the us in this context, its the believers...you and me....Simple really...

Sunday, July 19, 2009

what happened?

"What happened during those hours of darkness as Christ suffered in the place of His people was a tremendous transaction between God the Father and His Son which no natural man could comprehend. This was no ordinary death. No ordinary suffering. When Christ suffered upon the tree it wasn’t the natural pain and suffering which slew Him, but the supernatural outpouring of the wrath of God upon Him and what He had become vicariously in the place of His people. At the cross Christ and His people were united together in death. As Eve was taken out of Adam’s side while he slept, so in Christ’s death, His bride – His Church – were united to Him and brought forth from His side washed in the precious blood of Christ which justified them and cleansed them from their sins."

Thursday, July 16, 2009

extreme law vs extreme grace

"We cannot learn salvation by grace from the Law. The Law does not make us godly. All the Law can do is to show us our sins. (Romans 3:20) This is why the Law must still be preached in all of its terror and conviction. If we preach the Law one iota less exacting than God intends we are hindering the purpose of God's Law. The Law is meant to shock and awaken every sinner to their sinfulness. They must know they are in a disastrous situation from there is no hope without Christ. The Bible teaches that All who rely on observing the law are under a curse, for it is written: "Cursed is everyone who does not continue to do everything written in the Book of the Law." (NIV Galatians 3:10) This strict understanding of the Law must not be dampened, muted or lost.

It is essential for understanding the beauty and sweetness of the Gospel. "The Law must precede the preaching of the Gospel, otherwise the latter will have no effect." [Walther, p. 83] For those who are broken by their sinfulness the Cross is a great salvation. What mercy and grace is revealed in Christ compared to the horror felt under the Law. When we truly recognize the holiness of God and His sovereignty, and we are convinced of how deep we are in our sins, then the Gospel will taste like honey to our souls. We will see Christ is a fountain of living water for our dead souls. We will cry out like Paul, O the depth of the riches both of the wisdom and knowledge of God! how unsearchable are his judgments, and his ways past finding out! (KJV Romans 11:33"

Wednesday, July 15, 2009

Jesus, a new law-giver?

"We can be sure that the Law is confused with the Gospel when Christ is spoken about as a new law-giver, as one who tells us the new principles or rules by which we can come to God. This flies in the face of the words of the Apostle John who states that Law does not come by Christ. For the law was given by Moses, but grace and truth came by Jesus Christ. (John 1:17 KJV)

Jesus did not come to judge the world, but to offer the means by which we are saved. For God sent not his Son into the world to condemn the world; but that the world through him might be saved. ( John 3:17 KJV). Jesus did not come to give a better law than Moses. He came to give in mercy that which was far greater than Moses could give. This is a faithful saying and worthy of all acceptation that Christ Jesus came into the world to save sinners; of whom I am chief. (1Tim. 1:15 KJV)

Jesus could not be considered a new law-giver by the commands he spoke. He was teaching the fuller meaning of the old Law. What Jesus said in the Sermon on the Mount was a fulfillment of the Law of Moses. Think not that I am come to destroy the Law or the prophets; I am not come to destroy but to fulfill (Matthew 5:17 KJV)"

Monday, July 13, 2009

The grace hating spirit...

"Jesus was not beguiled by the cunningly politically correct exterior of these religious bigots. They could put on such a good show in being hospitable and being nice but Jesus knew how controlling and manipulative they were."

"Many Christians are beguiled by smiling faces and false humility that hides, camouflages and masks an ugly and sinister face that hates freedom and stops the multitudes of desperate people entering into salvation.

"You are so full of death that when people come under your ministry and touch you - you touch them with death and they never know they are touching graves. You kill their dreams - you kill their vision - you kill their hopes and aspirations. You bring death to everything you are involved with"

Rob Rufus - The Grace Hating Spirit - 2004

Sunday, July 12, 2009

get rid of the old !

"I want to talk today about my little journey into the anointing and how that happened to me and how it changed my life and based on the reality of coming into the distinction between the Old Covenant and the New Covenant. Lets read 2 Corinthians chapter 3:4 onwards to the end of the chapter. It is such a beautiful passage of Scripture. I like the word "confidence". I think Christians should be very confident. When you know the New Covenant you become very bold and very confident. The Old Covenant under the law was given to strip you of all your confidence. It was to strip you of all self-righteousness and every time you thought you thought you were good enough to earn God's favour or earn God's blessing then the law would come in to strip you of all confidence and show you that you haven't got a hope. You are way short of the standards of the law. The New Covenant was given by God to fill you with confidence before God. As you look around the church world today, primarily you will find a church world that is filled with people who the majority do not have confidence before God to do miracles, to walk into the face of the glory of God because of the deception of mixing the Old Covenant and the New Covenant and blurring them together has confused God's precious people on the planet."

Rob Rufus - March 2007

Saturday, July 11, 2009

true holiness...

"The more you see by faith your heavenly position - then the more your current condition gets rooted in the heavenly realms and the fruit of being rooted up there will show over here! You don't even have to make it manifest. You won't be able to stop it manifesting.

The religious world tries to pull on leaves and branches to make the tree grow. Forget it! Feed the roots and the tree will grow and produce fruit! Get rooted and established in the heavenly realms and the fruit will show up in the earthly realms!

If you don't see that holiness is about living from your position and who you really are, then when you read Scriptures about holiness - you will assume all they are talking about is not sinning - when in actual fact they are trying to say that if you live from your position in the heavenly realms then you will not only overcome sin but you will see heaven coming to earth and you will see the kingdom coming to earth!"

Rob Rufus