Sun, Mar 19th - 8:46AM

STUDIES IN HEBREWS

CHAPTER 8: VS 8-13

Brothers and sisters, I love you all so much, let us give thanks and praises to our Thrice holy all powerful, invincible, indestructible, indomitable, Triune God, whom no foe can defeat, whose plans and will none can ever nullify, nor cancel.

We must continually remember and remind others that do not know that no mere sinful human being ever had a place on the cross of Jesus Christ, therefore Jesus Christ did not exchange places with us on the cross, nor was He ever a substitution for us. Jesus Christ the only sinless, perfect man/God who ever lived was the only sacrifice acceptable to God on that cross. To teach in error that Christ’s death was only a substitution or exchange in place for us greatly minimizes His death, which ought never be done, as the scriptures clearly demonstrates Christ purchased us with His own blood in His death on the cross.

We know, holy brethren, that Christ did not make a down payment for our sins, He PAID IN FULL for all of our sins on the cross: Act 20:28 Take heed therefore unto yourselves, and to all the flock, over the which the Holy Ghost hath made you overseers, to feed the church of God, which he hath purchased with his own blood.

Eph 1:14, purchased possession. Meaning all believers. We are not our own:  1Co 6:19.

1Co 6:20 For ye are bought with a price: therefore glorify God in your body, and in your spirit, which are God's.

1Co 7:23; 2Pe 2:1.

Brothers and sisters, raise your hand if you can give thanks to Lord Jesus who paid in full for all your sins. I raised both of my hands, brethren,  and wish I had more hands to raise.

However, those Christians brothers and sisters, whom we dearly love, in ignorance are blind to God’s promises through faith in God the Son of God Jesus Christ and His permanent  free gift of eternal forgiveness/salvation, with no expiration date, clearly and absolutely declared by God as eternal salvation: Heb 5:9; eternal life: Jhn 6:54, Jhn 17:2 ; eternal redemption, Heb 9:12; eternal inheritance, Heb 9:15, 1Pe 1:4. Those who are in Christ are kept by His power: 1Pe 1:5, and by Him all believers are  for ever delivered: Rom 7:6; Col 1:13;  1Th 1:10; Col 1:13;  1Th 5:5, and so much more.

These ignorant and spiritually blind brothers and sisters craft their own form of do- it- yourself salvation on the lay away plan, with no guarantees they will actually get it. They live lives of fear, anxiety, with no assurances that they will keep their salvation. They have no rest, even at night- fearing they might have forgotten to do some work or to confess some sin and be lost. It is obvious that they sincerely believe, in ignorance, that they can pay for their salvation, for God’s favor and blessings by their own works of righteousness, or by paying tithes, when we know neither salvation nor heaven is not ever for sale: Eph 2:8.

Holy people, is it any wonder that their spiritual lives are joyless, unstable, having no foundation and no assurance of permanent salvation, living in fear  of being lost and cast into hell? Some even fear and believe in error that it is possible for all Christians to fall into sin and be lost.

These ignorant, spiritually blind believers do not have a relationship with God based on faith and trust in Him. They are very, very suspicious of God’s goodness and have no confidence in His power. They don’t trust Jesus Christ the Word of God either because they carefully sift through God’s warnings to His people and misinterpret them in their ignorance to mean that all Christians can and will disobey God’s warnings and God will abandon them and send them to hell. They are ignorant and blind to the truth firstly that there is absolutely no record of any Christian or any church in scripture losing their salvation. Judas Iscariot although among the disciples was called rightly by our Lord Jesus Christ a devil. Moses although punished by God with death was never lost for we find the Bible clearly numbering Him among the saints.

They misinterpret Rev 2-3 to mean Jesus condemned the churches. They fail to grasp that Jesus rebukes and disciplines every one of these churches in love: Rev 3: 19 As many as I love, I rebuke and chasten: be zealous therefore, and repent.

Jesus is not commanding us nor any of these churches in Revelations to do anything that He has not already empowered us to do. We know, holy people, that even at this present time God does and has the authority to discipline in love every believer to repent from doing and living their way, and turning in obedience to His ways. Absolutely nowhere in scripture is there a teaching that Christians can lose their salvation. Instead, the Bible clearly teaches: 1Jo 3:9 Whosoever is born of God doth not commit sin; for his seed remaineth in him: and he cannot sin, because he is born of God.

 1Jo 5:4 For whatsoever is born of God overcometh the world: and this is the victory that overcometh the world, even our faith. 

1Jo 5:18 We know that whosoever is born of God sinneth not; but he that is begotten of God keepeth himself, and that wicked one toucheth him not.

I thank my God that His power keeps me, you, us, all believers. Furthermore, because God indwells us with Lord Jesus and the Holy Spirit to protect, guard and guide us when we sin, we repent that is turn away from sin to trust in God out of love for Him and His eternal truth: Rom 6:22-23. God is all powerful. God created space and time. He alone is in control of space and time. Through faith in Jesus Christ’s eternal atonement, His blood has gone through the elements of space and time past, present, and future and blotted out ALL the believers' sins. However, leaving the believer fixed in the elements of space and time, the believer will over time come to the points in His or her life when they sinned, but the believer will not practice that sin but repents, God testing, trying and proving their faith as genuine. God tempts no one, but we are tempted out of our own lusts, but the true believer denies Himself and chooses to obey God out of love and trust in Him.

Those Christians who in ignorance think they can pay God in any manner or with anything, really do not trust in God nor His great power. They make light of Christ’s permanent atonement for all sins and choose their own do- it- yourself salvation to obtain impermanent forgiveness on the lay away plan per confession, tithes or some other carnal works. They foolishly believe in ignorance that the eternal God doesn’t know what eternal or everlasting life means or is. The God they have crafted in their imagination has a corruptible temporary atonement, is powerless, cruel, mean, unkind, unloving, can’t wait to take His “free gift” of salvation away to throw His kids into hell should they not heed His warnings and be lost.

Is it any wonder that any Christian in ignorance believing these things often suffer sadness, depression, and some even suicidal ideation, because their work is never done, never finished.  All we can do is share the true gospel message with them and it is their choice to believe or not, showing proof of their genuine conversion or not.

The mature Christian, over time is rooted in the comprehensive eternal truth that Jesus Christ our Saviour PAID IN FULL for all of our sins FOREVER for all who believe. The promises of God of eternal permanent forgiveness are manifested in His New Covenant wherein He declared for all eternity: Their sins will I remember no more. So those in error, resting on their own works of righteousness, of carnal works of any kind, cofessions', short accounts, tithing, or the Law to stay saved and/or righteous are doing so in vain.

Under the Law although the human high priest made a yearly atonement, the sacrificed animals with their blood rotted away and the atonement made with it was lost. However, to save the people from total destruction, until the next day of atonement, God allowed every sinner to confess each of their sins, even if repeated sins to the priest and offer whatever sacrifice was prescribed by the Law. The sacrifice made by the priest was payment for the sinner and allowed the sinner to be made right with God and escape the punishment for that sin. Under the Law the sinner was guilty for all sins, whether in ignorance or not. The whole process of keeping the Law wore out the Levites and the people none of them ever had any rest. They got so sick of the Law that they broke it, finally refusing to obey it at all.

The apostles and Paul the last apostle, had the whole scriptures opened up to them by our Risen Saviour Jesus Christ so that they could take it out into the world. However, afterwards all others learn it over time as they study and are taught, but it is expected that they will believe it come to maturity by grasping the full gospel comprehensively and living it publicly and privately. Sermons are great, but interactive Bible study is more effective.

We know Paul gave sermons, but it is clear that he widely did interactive studies how else would he know the state of the believers understanding of scripture or if they understood it at all?

Paul our beloved brother, teaches that while the two Covenants have similarities, they are extremely different in their benefit to the believer. The Old Covenant ordains to certain parole for all faithful believers who later died and went into the bosom of Abraham and would await to be freed and taken to heaven by Lord Jesus in His work of atonement, while unbelievers received certain punishment and were lost.

The New Covenant ordains to God’s full permanent pardon, eternal forgiveness of all sins- restoration of all rights and freedoms, eternal expungement of all records of sin and guilt, the eternal nullification of the death penalty, the wrath of God, and everlasting condemnation and punishment in the lake of fire. Of course, dearly beloveds, there are even more permanent benefits to the believer through the permanent atonement of Jesus Christ, Saviour, High Priest Mediator God of all power.

Dearly beloveds let us go on into Jesus the Word of God knowing our Teacher the Holy Spirit will enrich us in knowledge of Him. Let us nourish and refresh ourselves freely in the Word, in the very presence of God our Father. We can ask God for more if we want and plenty to take home as we desire.

8For finding fault with them, he saith, Behold, the days come, saith the Lord, when I will make a new covenant with the house of Israel and with the house of Judah: 9Not according to the covenant that I made with their fathers in the day when I took them by the hand to lead them out of the land of Egypt; because they continued not in my covenant, and I regarded them not, saith the Lord.

Here, brothers and sisters the Bible is clearly specifying an altogether totally New Covenant, and not the other covenants previously mentioned in the Bible such as the Mosaic covenant, or the covenant made with Noah after the flood. Unfortunately, we still have some ignorant that God no longer curses the ground: Gen 8:21.

God knew the nation of Israel wouldn’t, couldn’t, and didn’t keep the Law. In fact God created the Law for that very purpose to show that all men are sinners, and that no man by works could ever achieve eternal forgiveness or righteousness by it.

Because the nation of Israel broke their promise to keep the Mosaic Law, as God knew they would, He terminated that Law for its work was done.

Therefore, dearly beloveds, if the nation of Israel couldn’t keep the Law not me, you, us or anyone else will ever be able to keep it either. Feel free, brethren to study more on the Law’s purpose on your own- Gal. 3.

The New Covenant was promised by God to Abraham 435 years before the establishment of the Mosaic Law and set to be revealed at the coming of the longed -for Messiah/Deliverer Jesus Christ God the Son of God. God never intended the Mosaic Law to be permanent.

Heb 8:10 For this is the covenant that I will make with the house of Israel after those days, saith the Lord; I will put my laws into their mind, and write them in their hearts: and I will be to them a God, and they shall be to me a people:

The nation of Israel had been brought to the mountain to meet God for the first time in human history. It was there that God had written the Law on tablets of stone and gave them to our brother the prophet Moses by the hand of angels. The people had no direct contact with God and had to go through the Levites. However, the Levites were so negligent that some books of scripture shows that they went off and did their own things and quit teaching the Law so that untaught, the nation of Israel totally forgot the book of the Law and did their own things too including marrying the pagans around them.

In this New Covenant, holy brethren, all thanks and praises to God, He comes directly to the people to be their God, to explicitly put His New Covenant directly in their minds and write them directly on the tablet of their hearts declaring:

Heb 8:11And they shall not teach every man his neighbour, and every man his brother, saying, Know the Lord: for all shall know me, from the least to the greatest.

God the Father would put His Word in their minds, and write the Word of God directly in the hearts of His people. Although they would have to learn and study this New Covenant, they would be indwelt directly by the Triune God in fellowship, love, truth and intimacy wherein they would be assured personally of all His love, mercy and peace, God, declaring forever that:

Heb 8:12 For I will be merciful to their unrighteousness, and their sins and their iniquities will I remember no more.

No more would the people have to settle for unfaithful leaders who left them to fend for themselves to stumble into sin in ignorance, or to be caught up in their own lustful sins to be punished by a rightfully angry God. God would come Himself to live in His people and be there sure eternal God, guide, and guard through a powerful new ever living Messiah, God the Son of God Jesus Christ, bringing God’s own eternal peace, love, and mercy to believers made new creatures in Him.

Heb 8:13 In that he saith, A new covenant, he hath made the first old. Now that which decayeth and waxeth old is ready to vanish away.

Here, brothers and sisters, God finalizes His New Covenant. Nope, the old is gone He has no further need nor use for it and has totally discarded it for anyone to please Him in any way by it.

Love and truth, serola 

Thu, Mar 9th - 5:58AM

STUDIES IN HEBREWS

CHAPTER 8: VS 6-8

Brothers and sisters, let us give thanks, blessings, and praises to God our Father, God the Son of God Jesus Christ, and God the Holy Spirit. Blessed be the Name of our Lord and Saviour Jesus Christ, the Word of God, and Consuming Fire, ever burning in our spirits and hearts, even our whole being. 

How generous and kind is God our Father, who sent His Son Jesus Christ through whom the gospel has been unleashed and sent into the world with the Holy Ghost and fire.

The Bible, dearly beloveds, declares that we ought to graciously honor those who carry out the oversight of the flock diligently and well. However, Paul warns us that we should not make idols of ourselves, men, teachers, nor any who hold office or aid with their gifts in the church as though we or they were the author/power of the gospel:  1Co 3:6.

We have to keep in mind that again, and again, we are all brothers and sisters, regardless of what office we hold or what gifts we have. Everything that we have comes from God in Christ including our ministries and enabled through the Holy Spirit by the will of God our Father. Let us love God, brothers and sisters, and let us love one another and be the servants of one another even as our Lord Jesus has taught us.

Paul, an apostle, gives us such a wonderful example of a humble brother and teacher. He helps these Hebrew Christians and us also to embrace the truth that while the elders etc. who have oversight of the flock minister and teach, it is not for them alone. 

In fact, the whole church has God's commands, and has received by His authority the right to learn, live, and share the good news of the gospel in every place that they can, as well as to participate in ministering to the saints, and any other good works that they choose to do for our brothers and sisters, and all men. The ministry of Jesus Christ is not to be limited to one overseer, one teacher, or one worker's gifts. God commands all that are able to serve.

The Hebrew saints did not fail to minister to the saints but had to be retaught that the word of God is the very heart/reason/guard/guide for all that we do and how we live as a way of life, pleasing to God. God will reward us all richly for our work in the gospel and ministry to the saints and all men.

We know, brethren, that Paul did not teach a warm soft and fuzzy, touchy feely psychologized gospel. He never taught that the purpose for which Christ came is to help the broken and hurting world. No, Paul declared Christ’s purpose: Gal 1:4

Who gave himself for our sins, that he might deliver us from this present evil world, according to the will of God and our Father:

The reason for brokenness and hurting in this present evil world is because that is what sinners do, for all have sinned and fallen short of the glory of God, the only cure is the only saviour.

We know, dearly beloveds, that Paul never taught that salvation guarantees that all believers would have a nice life free of trouble and stress. What Paul taught was:  2Ti 3:12 Yea, and all that will live godly in Christ Jesus shall suffer persecution.

Paul also warned that the Christian would have two kinds of adversaries' human and satanic, however the satanic can only be fought spiritually which is outlined in the sixth chapter of Ephesians, and other places in scripture. Interestingly in Revelation 13: 6, we find the only adversary that is a triad of human, beast, and satanic having the full- blown persona, power, and destructiveness of the devil Himself, wreaking world- wide havoc and gaining control of the world for a time.

 Some misinterpret Ephesians to mean our only adversaries are spiritual beings never flesh and blood people. However what Ephesians is declaring, and rightly interpreted means that we can't fight these spiritual beings with carnal weapons of any kind. God has given His people powerful spiritual weapons to use against these spiritual foes and overcome them thereby. We indeed have human adversaries which is well outlined in scriptures.

The Bible makes it clear that in the world there are many human antichrists and deceivers. Paul also declares that human adversaries will come into as well as arise from within the church: Act 20:28 Take heed therefore unto yourselves, and to all the flock, over the which the Holy Ghost hath made you overseers, to feed the church of God, which he hath purchased with his own blood.

 Act 20:29 For I know this, that after my departing shall grievous wolves enter in among you, not sparing the flock. Act 20:30 Also of your own selves shall men arise, speaking perverse things, to draw away disciples after them.

Brothers and sisters, it is obvious that the flock that is fully taught/fed the word of God will be well able to deal with any adversary human or satanic.

The Bible, dearly beloveds, keeps comparing, contrasting, and refining comprehensively our understanding of the Covenants/the High Priests, so that there will be no misunderstandings of them-that the Old is done away in Christ, that the blood of Christ is superior to that of the animal sacrifices under the Mosaic Law, accomplishing the eternal forgiveness of all sins of the believer, which all the sacrifices under the Law could not and cannot ever do. Eternal, forever, everlasting, never applied in any manner to the sacrifices under the Mosaic Law for good reason, because they could not.

The Old Covenant priesthood, brethren, we know was extremely limited to one tribe-only the males. The priests had to be physically perfect without a blemish or bodily impairment of any kind. God did not accept for the ministry any Levites who were blemished or impaired in any way. Not because God hated them, but because the priests' job was difficult, grueling, and continual-never done, they had no rest. Therefore, they had to be fit to carry out their duties. The penalty for any mistake in carrying out their duties could be and would be fatal.

Although the impaired or blemished Levites could not serve, nevertheless they still received other benefits including the provisions from the tithes.

A sister called me very frantic, tearful and greatly stressed. She had been denied the right to serve in the church she attended because she was handicapped. She poured out the hurt in her heart of being rejected by God between sobs- that she wasn’t good enough for God to love her or to allow her to have any part in serving Him. She said the pastor gave her this verse:   Lev 21:18 For whatsoever man he be that hath a blemish, he shall not approach: a blind man, or a lame, or he that hath a flat nose, or any thing superfluous,

I was very thankful to offer her the comfort and understanding of the New Covenant where every believer is welcomed and enabled to serve God and one another as they are able, whether physically fit or impaired. She was overjoyed and went back to her pastor with the truth, but it was not received. She decided to go to a Bible believing church based on the New Covenant.

Holy people, let us go on into the study into Jesus Christ the Word of God, and to our teacher the Holy Spirit, who will help us to learn and understand Him, in the presence of God our Father.

Heb 8:6But now hath he obtained a more excellent ministry, by how much also he is the mediator of a better covenant, which was established upon better promises.

The Old Covenant high priests were called by God and installed. They were mere men who sinned just as the people under them did and were unfaithful to God and to the people. 

However, Jesus Christ the High Priest of the New Covenant- we know how He obtained His ministry. He was called by God the Father who tested, tried, and proved Him to the nth degree to be utterly without sin, faithful, obedient, perfect and utterly holy in every way, showing Himself worthy to be installed by God the Father as the true eternal Anointed High Priest/Mediator of the New and better Covenant with better promises which were impossible under the Mosaic Covenant.

No way could the Mosaic Law promise: Rom 6:22 But now being made free from sin, and become servants to God, ye have your fruit unto holiness, and the end everlasting life. Only the New Covenant can promise this and so much more.

The New Covenant

7For if that first covenant had been faultless, then should no place have been sought for the second.

FAULTLESS: free from fault or defect.

God knew the first Covenant, merely a copy of the true was imperfect. He made it that way to be our schoolteacher- teaching us that we are all sinners, who can never be saved by any works of the Law, so that when Jesus would be revealed we would come to Him for eternal forgiveness of sins and deliverance, which the Law could never promise nor do. However, the perfect faultless High Priest Jesus Christ can and will forever. Feel free to read Galatians third chapter on your own.

Jde 1:24 Now unto him that is able to keep you from falling, and to present you faultless before the presence of his glory with exceeding joy,

Glory, honor, thanks and blessings that God has delivered us from a faulty law by the power of an eternally perfect and faultless High Priest Jesus Christ and His perfect New Covenant of the real tabernacle in heaven.

Again, there are people who are sincere, yet ignorantly believe or teach the Old Mosaic Law, and or combine it with the New Covenant. This is absolutely forbidden by God and, it is dangerous, damaging to them and those upon whom they impose it. Thanks be to God no believer ever has to stay ignorant.

However, there are some who are not ignorant, but of a combative, argumentative, stubborn nature. God does not force anyone to believe in Him we all have free will to choose to believe the truth or not when it has been thoroughly revealed to us. The person who rejects the truth after a number of times that they have been carefully taught the truth- thoroughly and understood it, is not ignorant but a heretic, Tit 3:10 A man that is an heretick after the first and second admonition reject;

8For finding fault with them, he saith, Behold, the days come, saith the Lord, when I will make a new covenant with the house of Israel and with the house of Judah:

See the repetition, dearly beloveds? No one can come running to God under the Mosaic Law to be saved or forgiven of their sins or any sins ever again. We know the whole Bible is relevant and we can learn so much from all of it. However, the forgiveness of all sins is solely through grace by faith in Jesus Christ alone. THERE IS NO EXPIRATION DATE ON FORGIVENESS OF ALL SINS THROUGH FAITH IN THE ATONEMENT OF JESUS CHRIST AS IT WAS UNDER THE LAW.

Brothers and sisters, I know this might seem shocking initially, because we are not to speak ill of the dead or be glad when somebody dies. But I'm glad my horrible, corrupt, worthless old man, that is my old Adamic sin nature is stone cold dead. There are times I can't help but say to myself thank God my old man died, and I'll never see it again, cause if I do, I'm stomping it right back into the grave! After all Jesus armed, enabled and licensed me to spiritually kill the deeds of the old nature: Ro 6:6; Ro 8:13; Col 3:5. The New Covenant makes it abundantly clear no mere human being can subdue, tame or reason with the Adamic sin nature on their own. 

Brothers and sisters we know that we are peaceful warriors but are spiritually violent striking out anything-all opposing our entry into the kingdom, fully armed and dressed for the battle with our God's weapons superior to all the weapons of the adversary. 

Only Jesus Christ could and did kill our old Adamic nature when He baptized us into His death and raised us up as a totally new creature in Him. The New Covenant, dearly beloveds, we know is not only eternal, permanent pardon, peace and union in God for the believer in Christ, but also the total expungement of their sin record of guilt/shame, the nullification of the death penalty and punishment/torment of everlasting damnation and separation from the presence of God in the lake of burning fire. 

Therefore, God has no need to remember our sins, seeing that Jesus has destroyed the nature and source of sin, our old Adamic inborn sin nature, and left instead one who has been blood washed, blood bought and having a new nature, the mind of Christ- desiring to serve God over self.1 Co 2:16.

Under the Law God allowed only a very limited parole to be available for the penitent, while the unrepentant sinner was condemned outright. We know God the Father has abolished this Old system of the Law. We will look further into those "confessing" or "short account" keeping Christians who in ignorance repeatedly run to God to get their sins forgiven by being sorry for them each time they sin, and who confess unknown sins for extra assurances.

Wed, Mar 1st - 7:11PM

STUDIES IN HEBREWS

CHAPTER 8: VS 5

Brothers and sisters, thanks and praises to Lord Jesus Christ God the Son of God our Saviour, first and last love, sent by God the Father to save all who believe in Him- that we would receive eternal forgiveness of all sins and have the right, privilege and honor to call God our Father too, as children of the living God.

Dearly beloveds, Jesus left us the supreme example of love, obedience and humility to His Father whom He has also made our very own. Although Jesus is Lord, He washed His disciples’ feet, and taught them to do the same to one another: Jhn 13:12-14.

Mar 9:35 And he sat down, and called the twelve, and saith unto them, If any man desire to be first, the same shall be last of all, and servant of all. 

Mar 10:44 And whosoever of you will be the chiefest, shall be servant of all.

Mar 10:45 For even the Son of Man came not to be served but to serve others and to give his life as a ransom for many.”

Mat 18:4 Whosoever therefore shall humble himself as this little child, the same is greatest in the kingdom of heaven.

Lord Jesus help us to remember that we are to connect/relate to one another in humility, service and love as the family of God, regardless of whatever office we may hold.

THE FUTURE IS NOW!

People of the world, dearly beloveds, have much concern about their future, and of the world. I pray brethren, that we would continually remind the world that the future is now. We know that all who believe and obey God are saved in this present world and the future world. Let us continually urge unbelievers to secure their future through faith in Jesus Christ.

Holy people, we know God has done many things for the first time in human history. Among them, God the Father, Sovereign Ruler, has through God the Son of God Jesus Christ, extended His kingdom to the whole earth not just the nation of Israel. Through God the Son of God the temple of heaven is extended and established all over the world in His people: 1Co 3:16 Know ye not that ye are the temple of God, and that the Spirit of God dwelleth in you?

As the ambassadors of Christ, resident aliens on this present earth, and citizens of heaven, brethren, let us be diligent in living and sharing to all that we can the ministry of reconciliation, peace, and favor with God through the atoning work of Jesus Christ, while the door is still open. I thankfully serve and obey the laws of the country that God has sown me in, however, without apology, I know without a doubt that I am a citizen of heaven and my undying allegiance is to our Sovereign God, Maker and Ruler of heaven and earth, to His people, and to further His kingdom through the ministry of reconciliation.

Brothers and sisters, God commands us to pay attention/carefully heed the fact that again and again Paul the apostle, and our brother relentlessly keeps comparing and contrasting God the Son of God Jesus Christ against the Aaronic priesthood of the Mosiac Law, and every time absolutely without fail clearly demonstrates that Lord Jesus and His New Covenant are shown as eternally superior in every way. This same manner of instruction/teaching is found throughout the scriptures.

We have to conclude without condemnation that sheep are clueless. These Hebrew Christians mistakenly thought all they had to do was learn the scriptures, then forget about them and go on to do the work of their ministry. 

However, Paul is a hands- on teacher who wants to make all of them equal teachers too. He patiently reteaches and encourages them that these teachings are not to be forgotten, but to become ingrained and lived according to the standards of the kingdom of God through the gospel of Jesus Christ.  Every kingdom has its constitutions/articles and laws under which it is established governing every aspect of the lives of its peoples, how much more the kingdom of God, brethren, through the gospel of Jesus Christ.

Some misinterpret Jas 3:1 My brethren, be not many masters, knowing that we shall receive the greater condemnation. To mean Christians shouldn’t seek to be teachers. Feel free to read chapter 3 of James on your own, you will see that the context is that the tongue can only be controlled through submission to the will of God; so that we should not be teachers with unbridled, unruly tongues sowing discord, division, and strife, but rather bring our tongues under subjection and the yolk of Christ and tame our tongues by the Holy Spirit to be the right kinds of teachers furthering the kingdom of God not tearing it apart.

The true godly teacher has his old dead natural man under control of his new nature through the Holy Spirit, and will be able to equip others through teaching the word of God:   2Ti 3:16-17.

Paul:  Heb 5:12; Lord Jesus Christ commands to the church as a whole: Mat 28:18 And Jesus came and spake unto them, saying, All power is given unto me in heaven and in earth. 19

Go ye therefore, and teach all nations, baptizing them in the name of the Father, and of the Son, and of the Holy Ghost: 20Teaching them to observe all things whatsoever I have commanded you: and, lo, I am with you alway, even unto the end of the world. Amen.

The Holy Ghost goes into overdrive through Paul to help us understand the whole message, meaning and purposes of God through each covenant, whereby neither covenant had any alternatives- no human being had any authority to arbitrarily make any changes in them, and each covenant carries an irreversible penalty for any daring impenitently to do so.

Heb 8:5 Who serve unto the example and shadow of heavenly things, as Moses was admonished of God when he was about to make the tabernacle: for, See, saith he, that thou make ALLthings according to the pattern shewed to thee in the mount.

Pattern: blue print, grafic schematic plan.

The gloriously attired human high priest and human priests under him had to make atonement for all their sins before they could make atonement for the people, and in all their services were a mere weak illustration and figure for the true tabernacle that would be revealed later in Jesus Christ.  God in giving Moses the pattern of the tabernacle, brothers and sisters, signifies that all in service to it were under His absolute control. While the Covenants have similarities, however they are vastly different in what they accomplish for the believers under them.

None of the priests, Moses, or the people had any independence, self-rule, autonomy, or authority to make any changes in this pattern upon penalty of death. The role of the High Priest, body AND BLOOD of the sacrificed animals lie at the heart of both Covenants for aiding sinners in escaping death/punishment for their sins as there can be NO Covenants without these in the sight of God.

Again, we note in both Covenants only the high Priest alone is, commanded by God to make the atonement, there were no alternatives to the high priests at all.

The Bible refers to the Law as the glorious ministry of death. We know, we comprehend fully that although it was a fixed system promising punishment, it also had a rigid uncompromising set systemic atonement through the offering of sacrifices of certain animals to take the place of the sinner, so the sinner would receive temporary forgiveness and not die or be punished for his own sins.

Again, we must underscore that neither the merely sinful weak human priests nor the people had any autonomy to alter the Law in any way or manner. The sinner could not on his own say oops I sinned, God forgive me, thanks now I’m forgiven. This is because the people had no direct contact with God, they absolutely had to go through the priest who would offer a sacrifice in their behalf so that the sinner could be forgiven, and escape the penalty for their sins, although certain sins could not be forgiven under the Law and would lead to death and or expulsion.

Dearly beloved, it should be clear that since God forbade the cherry picking of the Law, He most certainly forbids the cherry picking of the New Covenant of Grace. There were never any options/alternatives or plan b’s to either of these Covenants. No one had authority from God to operate independently of either of them.

Through the Bible we understand that the human priests of the Law failed in their service to God and the people. In some books of the Bible, they stopped making sacrifices or teaching the people the law, abandoning it altogether, some of them intermarrying the pagans around them. The people were no better and routinely broke the Law. We fully understand why God found fault with them and the need for a better and new covenant. We gain insights that it is imperative that we obey God to apply the New Covenant to our lives as it has been set for all eternity and have no authority to operate outside of it or to combine it with anything including the Law.