"The moment you place the Law of Moses between you and God again, you are negating the finished work of Jesus, for if righteousness could come through the Law, "then Christ died in vain." Christianity cannot be reduced to an impersonal list of do's and don'ts. Jesus' death has fulfilled the righteous requirements of the Law of the Old Covenant. The Word of God tells us that the "handwriting of requirements" has been nailed to the cross. Jesus came to fulfill all the requirements of the Law on our behalf, so that the way to God is now opened Hallelujah!
'Pastor Prince, you are saying that we are no longer under the Law. but Jesus Himself said that He did not come to abolish the Law.'
That is exactly right, my friend, but you have to quote what Jesus said completely. he said, "I have not come to abolish [the Law], but to fullfill [it]. Jesus did not sweep the Law under the carpet. He came and fulfilled every requirement of the Law perfectly on our behalf. All that we were unable to do, He did on our behalf. So by Jesus, the Law has been fulfilled!
When you have fulfilled your debt to the bank for the mortgage on your house, my advice to you is to stop sending in your monthly payments because the debt has already been fulfilled If the bank sends you a letter demanding more payment from you, all you have to do is produce the title deed to your home. In the same sense, the debt that you and I owed to the Law has already been fulfilled by our Savior Jesus Christ! Hallelujah! When the devil comes to accuse you with the Law and shows you how you have fallen short and failed, all you have to do is point the the payment that Jesus made on the cross. Christ is your title deed, which is why you are called a Christian today. You are not your own. You have been purchased with the precious blood of Jesus Christ. The Law has no hold over you anymore!
You probably know that the ussue of "nuclear disarmament" is big news in the world today. But are you aware that there is someone more sinister who has already been disarmed? The Bible says that God has 'disarmed principalities and powers.' We know from the book of Ephesians that 'principalities and powers' refer to satan and his cohorts. So the devil has already been disarmed! But do you know what weapon he was wielding before his forced disarmament? let's see what the Word of God says about this:"
Colossians 2:14-15
"Having wiped out the handwriting of requirements that was against us, which was contrary to us. And He has taken it out of the way, having nailed it to the cross. Having disarmed principalities and powers, He made a public spectacle of them, triumphing over them in it."
Taken from Destined to Reign by Joseph Prince
18 comments:
Great stuff! I love the part about mortgage payments.
I actually wish someone would step in and fulfill that for me so I wouldn't have to be under it any more!
But seriously, we (Christians) have been bought with a price that we could never pay, and we need to stop trying to pay it by trying to fulfill the law, since it's a done deal!
Amen to that, brother Joel!!!!
We need to kick back and relax and enjoy the freedom and acceptance we have in Jesus Christ! When people see that in us, they will very much desire what we have. I think a problem going on around the brothers is that we're so uptight worried about right living and principles and learning to manage our time, our 12 disciplines to receive the anointing, etc, etc. that we miss the grace of God and the freedom that we have in Christ.
When we grasp His grace and freedom in Jesus Christ and live in it with full maturity, the real Gospel will once again set the world on fire and cause people to hunger after the contentment and joy they see in us.
Great truth, Matthew!!
I like Joseph Prince and the grace He spreads!!
Nice! Like Joel said, this is good stuff! I will have to look into Joseph Prince's books.
Thanks for posting him, Matt!
~Amy :)
Hey, Matthew,
We loved "Destined To Reign", also.
Gave it as Christmas gifts-sneaky, huh?
Quick question-Did you catch the part where Pastor Prince talks about "living in sin"? Quote: "Anyone who is living in sin is not under grace..." (p.167).
It is true that the love of Christ will control us, and cause us to righteous(living out of our new nature) and not sin(living out of our flesh), but we weren't comfortable with his equating our performance with our standing. We are in Grace because we are in Christ. His statement seemed so contradictory to the rest of his message. Maybe he is just saying that seeing grace won't cause you to sin,just the opposite, but that part where he makes sin an issue kind of bothered us.
Whatcha' think?
Hey Ryan and Jamie,
That statement sort of irks me as well for the reason that you mentioned. But I think Joseph is really just trying to get the point across that God's grace doesn't cause people to live licentiously, but that His grace causes you to love Him more than sin.
For me it's when I'm under grace, I'm living near to God. I seek Him more. I'm obsessed with Him. And when I'm obsessed with Him, I'm not obsessed with sin.
But the statement is not all together true. People who are under can and will still sin. But it doesn't mean that they aren't under grace.
I meant to say under grace* can and will still sin.
Matthew,
That's so true. That's one of the big ways in which I missed the grace of God. I was under the teaching of a lot of rules and principles and I just couldn't keep up. And then I spent three years in a solid grace church that really helped give me a solid foundation in Christ.
But after that, we began attending a pretty decent church that did preach a lot of grace, but yet the subtlety of the of law, rules and methods being mixed in with the message began to wear me down again. I really needed to get that whole thinking out of my head, which essentially meant that in my mind I had to cast out the bondwoman and her son. I mean, I "knew" all that was true. In reality, I had died to the law and was married to Christ. But in my daily living the old ministry of death and condemnation was trying to creep back in. I needed to get out and simply rest in God's unadulterated grace!
I think we're discussing the issue of identity; until we have a revelation of grace and see ourselves dead to sin and truely alive in Christ(His Life living through us) we will live out of what we consider to be our nature. That's why it's important to know we're not sinners saved by grace; we are saints. I will righteous because it is my very nature to do so. Bill Gillham does a fantastic job of explaining our identity in his books. It is amazing to hear people discuss grace and somehow subtly put us back under some type of self-work; it is so insidious. (Not implying this about Joseph Prince).
Let me throw out this bomb: Given the current preoccupation of the Church with sin, how would you answer the question, "Do you live above sin?" Although I'll probably get hammered for this, I would answer, "In Christ, I do." Someone, somewhere just fainted, I'm sure. :)
Matthew,
This is a great post!
The only reason I kind of shied away from reading Joseph Prince's book was his mixing of material prosperity with the message of grace. I don't see such a thing in NT. But he is a great preacher/author. I think I will reconsider reading his book. This excerpt is great!
I under stand what you mean, Joel. Sometimes I hear confusing things from brothers and sisters. Somethings I hear are foggy and distorted. I really would like to join a like-minded Church, but I'm still not sure where God is leading me. I would like to think, being so young, He is leading me to more like-minded believers. But it still isn't very clear to me.
The subtlety of works of any kind can totally destroy and confuse the foundation of the Grace of God. Getting caught up in performance is very easy. It's so easy for me to think God is leading me to do something and then I end up getting tired, worn out and bitter.
I love the ruthless trust in the Gospel that I see in everyone I blog with. I want that. I want to be content with not doing anything at all. Not that I don't want to do things. But I want them to be God works and not good works.
RJW,
It is very irritating to hear someone preach grace, but then add some really fine print to it. It's the most frustrating thing for me right now! I want to scream when people do that. Our tendency toward unbelief just has to add something in there. Some how it's so difficult for us to believe the truth of the Gospel is really true.
Bino,
I would pick it up if I were you. Joseph makes little comments about prosperity, but the book is mostly about the Gospel. I just ignore the prosperity stuff. But Joseph has some great revelations in the book. You should definitely pick it up.
Hey Philip,
I think we're all experiencing (even the guys who have known the truth for years) difficulty in putting the Law down properly lol. Trying to keep the Law gives me a sense of security and fulfillment and assurance that I am sincere. But sincerity isn't the problem. Paul testified about the Jews in Romans 9 that they were zealous for God. They were very sincere. But that didn't matter. In seeking to establish their own righteousness, they did not submit to the righteousness of God.
Matthew,
Reckoning ourselves DEAD TO THE LAW...Watchman Nee explains Romans so well in "The Normal Christian Life." Why aren't we all handed that book at church when we get baptized along with our little New Testament? :)
Today they switched me over to the trailer with the piggyback forklift on the back. I used to deliver trusses by rollback trailer.
At the end of the day I felt like I did a decent job, but one of the other guys said I got an F for the day.
F? another one said. "Yeah, because I don't want him to get a big head and we need him to think he still has much to learn."
Great... I thought.
A few months ago, an order of walls came back as rejected. Every body else at work generally gets them when they asked for them. I tried asking this time.
Why do you want them? They asked me.
"I want to build a treehouse for my boys."
"Awww..." one woman responded.
Her husband, who is my boss said, "Better not do that!"
"Why?"
"Thats where I first started smoking and hiding out and doing...."
He began to talk about the sins he committed.
To me...The treehouse was a picture of grace and joy for my boys, but to him it was something to be trampled on for hedonistic reasons and of course his mentality was legalistic as was the guy commenting on my job today.
Gotta keep em under our thumbs theology.
Now the apostle Paul does indeed warn us not to use our liberty as a cloak for sin but goes on to say the fruit of the Spirit. So we are bound by the Word of God in that regard, so we shouldnt have a phobia against talking about our own fleshes proclivity toward sin, but we shouldn't isolate that and beat a dead horse either.
When put in the proper place, Pauls warnings to flee idolatry and other sin is put there by inspirition of the Holy Spirit.
I think in one sense both legalism and hedonism have mirged so much in our nation that we are so out of wack in regards to the Scriptures that we all are going through a process of unlearning and relearning so much. I know I am.
I am grateful for such a patient God as our God.
Grace upon grace,
Brian
My boss sent the walls out for someone else. I watched them they left the yard and just sighed and moved on. So it is with legalism in the Church today. You pretty much just have to sigh and move on and if someone wants to listen to a greater appreciation of grace then we can tell them how the Lord is blessing us and encouraging us, but until we reach the bosom of Christ the harassment, missapropriations and misconceptions and misunderstandings will continue because we live in a fallen world with a house of God where once an alive tree is losing its green and is becoming a shell.
May Jesus come soon.
No pun intended with regards to trees and houses:-)
Grace upon grace,
Brian
Brian,
I prayed for you at your job. I'm sorry, brother... That is ridiculous stuff. I'm so glad you have boldness to endure that sort of thing. They'll be ashamed of their behavior. Just hope it's now rather than at the judgment.
It's funny you mention legalism and hedonism merging. I was just speaking with some guy who is building a Church building across the road from my house and he, as a joke, after my mom asking him what they believe in took a shot from his mini bottle. And later on went to sort of brag how he wouldn't have worked so late today if they guy wasn't a preacher.
I wasn't sure how to talk to him...I understand God isn't calling me to judge him or condemn him to hell for the way he acts, but it's hard for me to like people with macho personalities like his. I sort of just tried to hasten his departure so I could get home. Bad, I know.
Yeh...we are not to condemn, but we do live in an age where mockery just seems to highlight the day.
I can remember when a family from a former church of ours bought the local Pizza dinner and started their business. They dropped alchahol from the menu and it was the Methodist church next door that gave them the most heat over it. They tried to tell them that they wanted a family environment as they had problems with drunks and I can remember being in there one night for my first sons first birthday and a drunk was in there stirring up trubble and we have it on video. So they bought it out a year or so later from the local lawyer and the Methodist church gave them a bunch of grief over it. They liked to meet in there after prayer meeting on Wenesday nights. It is hard to figure. I think they are a moderate Church. Not long ago they ran off the latest Preacher sent there from headquarters because he taught homosexuality was a sin. It became a major story in the local papers around here. He stood against the sin and lost his job. A family from that church finally left it and now they are in a SBC church. He really loves the Lord and has a ministry that does home improvements on poor peoples homes. He loves the Lord a lot.
Grace upon grace,
Brian
Wonderful post! :)
May the Lord receive all the glory!
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