Articles
 The Upper Room Discourse 79
 The Upper Room Discourse 78
 The Upper Room Discourse 77
 The Upper Room Discourse 76
 The Upper Room Discourse 75
 The Upper Room Discourse 74
 The Upper Room Discourse 73
 The Upper Room Discourse 72
 The Upper Room Discourse 71
 The Upper Room Discourse 70

Series [All]
 Daniel Juster (61)
 Fruit of the Spirit (8)
 Guy Cohen (56)
 Introduction to Messianic Judaism (24)
 Juster summer trip
 Mark Rantz (2)
 The Mitzvah Book (93)
 Tikkun Articles (5)
 Torah Thoughts
 Zion's Glory (3)

Archive


 

Wednesday, 19 January 2022
Law and Grace - part 7

Something has changed ... the cross of Yeshua's sacrifice makes all the difference. Hebrews 12:1b-2 Let us run with endurance the race set before us, focusing on Yeshua, the initiator and perfecter of faith. For the joy set before Him, He endured the cross, disregarding its shame; and He has taken His seat at the right hand of the throne of God.

Before Yeshua's sacrifice, all we had was the letter of the law. Now we have His Spirit in us to lead us into all truth. When we talk of "Spirit," we are talking about our spirit man relating to God by grace. When we talk of "Flesh," we are talking about our carnal impulses of desire which cannot please God. The point here is that we cannot "beat ourselves" into submission. The "Spirit and the "Flesh" are at war with each other.

Galatians 5:17 For the flesh sets its desire against the Ruach, but the Ruach sets its desire against the flesh - for these are in opposition to one another, so that you cannot do what you want.

The "Ruach" is "Spirit." Before the cross there was no opportunity for the Spirit to relate to God by grace. But now, through Yeshua's great act of submission, we have a grace relationship with God the Father.

And since the cross, there is something better. The Bible even calls it "more excellent." Hebrews 8:6 But now Yeshua has obtained a more excellent ministry, insofar as He is the mediator of a better covenant which has been enacted on better promises. A grace relationship, established by grace, is sustained by grace. It's awful to live under a microscope, always being fearful of taking a wrong step.

What's changed? We have become partakers of God's character, called "the divine nature" in the following verse. 2 Peter 1:4 Through these things He has given us His precious and magnificent promises, so that through them you may become partakers of the divine nature, since you have escaped the corruption that evil desires have brought into the world.

Grace is better than works. Spirit is better than flesh. Desire to please God is better than striving to please God. When God has your heart, everything else falls into place. Ezekiel 36-27:26 Moreover I will give you a new heart. I will put a new spirit within you. I will remove the stony heart from your flesh and give you a heart of flesh. I will put My Ruach within you. Then I will cause you to walk in My laws, so you will keep My rulings and do them. Is that only for Israel (Jewish people), or is that something which the whole world wants to be grafted into? I hate to end with a question, but today, I am.

Posted By Rabbi Michael Weiner, 11:02am Comment Comments: 0