HOW WONDERFUL! YOU AND I ARE FREE
Come let us walk with this freedom in the way of our Lord
Sakkie Parsons
Translated from Afrikaans: “Hoe heerlik, Jy en ek is vry”
Translator: Robin Barker
From the time I was saved, it struck me from time to time, how some people applied the Mosaic covenant (law of Moses) to themselves and I think that it is partly due to, some people and some ministers who eagerly use the Sabbath and tithes in their proclamation of the Gospel as examples to be followed. Because, it seems to me, that they think if they remove these two things from their proclamation of the Gospel, that the attendance will wain and should they proclaim in their teachings that you must give what your heart tells you to give –
2 COR 9:7 Each of you should give what you have decided in your heart to give, not reluctantly or under compulsion, for God loves a cheerful giver.
– Their income will suffer due to this.
In other words they are selective about the Mosaic covenant (law of Moses) because they do not have confidence in our Lord.
I give you a very simple example:
Someone will continually hammer on about the tithes that you must give, then they are generally speaking about the money portion thereof, it does not appear anywhere in the New Testament, but the same person will join you in eating a delicious pork chop, even though the following is written in the Mosaic covenant (law of Moses):
LEV 11:7 And the pig, though it has a divided hoof, does not chew the cud; it is unclean for you.
Because there are many of these people who must give direction and then are very selective about parts of the Mosaic covenant (Law of Moses), at which point the people who are to be lead no longer know what is permissible and what is not permissible.
Here then is my attempt to show you the difference between the Mosaic covenant (Law of Moses) and what I refer to as the Love Law of Jesus as I understand it and how I live my life.
Firstly, this is how I understand the Mosaic covenant (law of Moses), and I will try, due to length of this writing, limit myself to two examples from the Word which supports what I am saying:
The Old Covenant was a covenant/agreement between our Lord and Israel and excluded all other nations.
If you read EXODUS 19 until and including EXODUS 24 you will have a good insight into what I am going to share with you.
EXO 19:4-7
4 ‘You yourselves have seen what I did to Egypt, and how I carried you on eagles’ wings and brought you to myself.
5 Now if you obey me fully and keep my covenant, then out of all nations you will be my treasured possession. Although the whole earth is mine,
6 you will be for me a kingdom of priests and a holy nation.’ These are the words you are to speak to the Israelites.”
7 So Moses went back and summoned the elders of the people and set before them all the words the Lord had commanded him to speak.
With their acceptance of what our Lord said, the covenant was ratified,
Or if you want to say, the agreement was signed.
EXO 19:8 The people all responded together, “We will do everything the LORD has said.” So Moses brought their answer back to the LORD.
EXO 24:3-8
3 When Moses went and told the people all the LORD’s words and laws, they responded with one voice, “Everything the LORD has said we will do.”
4 Moses then wrote down everything the LORD had said. He got up early the next morning and built an altar at the foot of the mountain and set up twelve stone pillars representing the twelve tribes of Israel.
5 Then he sent young Israelite men, and they offered burnt offerings and sacrificed young bulls as fellowship offerings to the LORD.
6 Moses took half of the blood and put it in bowls, and the other half he splashed against the altar.
7 Then he took the Book of the Covenant and read it to the people. They responded, “We will do everything the LORD has said; we will obey.”
8 Moses then took the blood, sprinkled it on the people and said, “This is the blood of the covenant that the LORD has made with you in accordance with all these words.”
The Mosaic covenant (law of Moses) with its laws basically worked like this:
• If Israel did what is right in the eyes of the Lord, the Lord would bless them as He had done in the past.
• If they did not do right in the eyes of the Lord, then our Lord would hold His blessings back and they would suffer hardship.
The Mosaic covenant (law of Moses) is also called the Old Covenant and you can read about the blessings and curses which were part of this (old covenant) in DEUT 28.
One of the things the Word says about the people who hang onto the Mosaic covenant (law of Moses) is as follows:
But their minds were made dull, for to this day the same veil remains when the old Covenant is read. It has not been removed, because only in Christ is it taken away.
2COR 3:14 But their minds were made dull, for to this day the same veil remains when the old covenant is read. It has not been removed, because only in Christ is it taken away.
The Mosaic covenant (Law of Moses) chiefly served three goals:
• It instructed Israel on how it was to serve our Lord. An example being the Ten Commandments.
• It gave instructions to Israel on how to make sacrifices.
• It instructed Israel on how they should live. An example thereof is what they may and may not eat.
The Mosaic covenant (Law of Moses) was identified by my great hero Paul, as a proctor/child educator.
GAL 3:23-25
23 Before the coming of this faith, we were held in custody under the law, locked up until the faith that was to come would be revealed.
24 So the law was our guardian until Christ came that we might be justified by faith. (The law is our guide to Christ)
25 Now that this faith has come, we are no longer under a guardian.
Those who proclaim that the Mosaic covenant (law of Moses) must still be adhered to, especially those who selectively follow the Mosaic covenant (Law of Moses), must remember that the following was written:
JAMES 2:10 For whoever keeps the whole law and yet stumbles at just one point is guilty of breaking all of it.
In the King James Version (KJV) it is written as follows:
JAMES 2:10 For whosoever shall keep the whole law, and yet offend in one point, he is guilty of all.
Now the question is:
Must the Christian keep the Mosaic covenant (Law of Moses)?
In my personal opinion, in any case it is how I live my life and how I serve our Lord, – Certainly Not.
I serve our Lord through a New Covenant.
GALATIANS 4:4-7
4 But when the set time had fully come, God sent his Son, born of a woman, born under the law,
5 to redeem those under the law, that we might receive adoption to sonship.
6 Because you are his sons, God sent the Spirit of his Son into our hearts, the Spirit who calls out, “Abba, Father.”
7 So you are no longer a slave, but God’s child; and since you are his child, God has made you also an heir.
What did our Lord do to bring Jesus’s Love Law into existence and making it applicable?
JOHN 3:16 For God so loved the world that he gave his one and only Son, that whoever believes in Him shall not perish but have eternal life.
What does our Lord require of me?
How must I live if I do not apply the Mosaic covenant (law of Moses) to my life?
MATTHEW 22:36-40
36 “Teacher, which is the greatest commandment in the Law?”
37 Jesus replied: “‘Love the Lord your God with all your heart and with all your soul and with all your mind.’
38 This is the first and greatest commandment.
39 And the second is like it: ‘Love your neighbour as yourself.’
40 All the Law and the Prophets hang on these two commandments.”
I accepted Jesus Christ as my Redeemer and Saviour.
Now I have a loving relationship with our Lord and I am not compelled to, for example identify one day in a week as a Sabbath/the day of the Lord, to put it that way and to live that day a holy life.
Now my life proclaims/exults it every day.
PSALM 118:24 The Lord has done it this very day;
Let us rejoice today and be glad.
Now I follow our Lord and serve Him because I love Him and treat my neighbours as I would like them to treat me, even if they do not treat me the same way and if I fail on my side, not when I fail, because I fail often, I have that wonderful knowledge –
1JOHN 1:9 If we confess our sins, he is faithful and just and will forgive us our sins and purify us from all unrighteousness.
Because, how wonderful to know:
I am not compelled to follow the Mosaic covenant (law of Moses) which is like an angry proctor compelling you to do so.
How Lovely!!!
I am covered by the mercy of my loving Lord, who loves me that He, all my sins which I should have and must confess, carried for me when He was on the cross.
COLOSSIANS 2:9-16
9 For in Christ all the fullness of the Deity lives in bodily form,
10 and in Christ you have been brought to fullness. He is the head over every power and authority.
11 In him you were also circumcised with a circumcision not performed by human hands. Your whole self ruled by the flesh was put off when you were circumcised by Christ,
12 having been buried with him in baptism, in which you were also raised with him through your faith in the working of God, who raised him from the dead.
13 When you were dead in your sins and in the uncircumcision of your flesh, God made you alive with Christ. He forgave us all our sins,
14 having canceled the charge of our legal indebtedness, which stood against us and condemned us; he has taken it away, nailing it to the cross.
15 And having disarmed the powers and authorities, he made a public spectacle of them, triumphing over them by the cross.
Freedom From Human Rules
16 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.
If I read everything that I have shared with you again, I cannot help to be jubilant!
JOHN 1:16 Out of his fullness we have all received grace in place of grace already given.
JOHN 1:17 For the law was given through Moses; grace and truth came through Jesus Christ.
How wonderful! You and I are free. Come let us walk in the wonderful ways of our Lord.
GAL 5:13 You, my brothers and sisters, were called to be free. But do not use your freedom to indulge the flesh; rather, serve one another humbly in love.
GAL 5:14 For the entire law is fulfilled in keeping this one command: “Love your neighbour as yourself.”
The whole law is summed up in one command: “Love your neighbour as yourself..”
The following daily thoughts which I have written, may help to explain my point of view a little better and with greatest of love I will send them to you on request thereof:
• Die wet deur Moses en die genade en waarheid deur Jesus. – The law through Moses and the mercy and truthfulness through Jesus
• Wie volop saai, sal ook volop maai – Those who sow abundantly, will also reap abundantly
• Die liefde die vervulling van die wet – Love – The fulfilment of the law
Greetings,
Sakkie