Transcribed from YT Original Message Dated 1/29/22:
I want to try to encapsulate something I feel like I’m just starting to see more and more clearly in the Word. We are all learning and growing and seeing things more clearly, and it is the Lord’s mercy. No one can claim, “I got a special revelation;” this is something the Lord is just pouring out because he is merciful to the church.
In the letter to the church of Philadelphia, He says, “you have a little strength” (Rev 3:8). Philadelphia is the weakest, but he says, “I’ve set before you an open door, I have the key of David.” (Rev 3:7) The key of David has to do with the Davidic Covenant. We have been teaching through the scripture about the Everlasting Covenant as the source of our salvation. We’ve been seeing the great distinction between the inheritance we have in Christ because we are co-heirs together with Christ (Rom 8:17). Christ—the Seed of Abraham and the Seed of David—has an inheritance. There is a covenant that God has confirmed with Christ, and He (Christ) is the Seed to whom all the promises of that Covenant are made (Gal 3:17, 3:16). When the Bible uses the phrases “seed of Abraham” and the “seed of David,” they refer to Christ as the Heir of the promises contained in the Covenant.
From the Eternal Perspective, the Abrahamic and Davidic Covenants (the Covenant made with their Seed) are just one Covenant, called the Everlasting Covenant. This is a covenant between the Father and the Son which makes Christ the Shepherd of the Sheep to bring us home to glory (Heb 13:20) and contains the command for Christ to lay His life down for the sheep (John 10:17). The purpose is to bring us into the same position that He had enjoyed with the Father that we may inherit the glory that He had with the Father before the world began (Eph 1:4, 11-12).
The Mosaic and New Covenant for the Nation of Israel
The Everlasting Covenant, made between the Father and the Son, differs from the Covenant that God in Christ makes with Israel. The Covenant He makes with Israel is to allow them to dwell in His land and be a special people for His Kingdom to have His Throne during the Millennium. We call that the New Covenant (Jer 31:31-34; Eze 36:24, 26-28).
The church has nothing to do with the New Covenant. The New Covenant is a replacement for the Old Covenant, which was made with a nation, Israel (2 Ch 5:10; Ex 31:16). The New Covenant, in every mention, is said to be for the house of Israel and the house of Judah (Jer 31:31; Heb 8:10). They were never made with individuals. The law was not made for individuals; it was made for a nation, and its replacement, the New Covenant, is not made for individuals but a nation. It has to do with their dwelling in their land with the presence of God and all the blessings of the Kingdom. They are to be the head and not the tail, above and not beneath (Deu 28:13), blessed and sanctified as a nation.
Israel had that to a measure during Solomon’s day (as a type) when God was able to manifest his glory in the temple. But that didn’t last long. It didn’t last long because they could not keep their part of the Covenant. They broke that covenant, which was the law, as a nation (Jer 31:32).
Individual Justification Always By Faith
As I have stressed, individuals were justified by faith during the time the nation was being chastised for failure to keep the Covenant. The Babylonian captivity is a perfect example. When Israel was cast out of the land, their temple was destroyed, there was no priesthood, no temple, no king, and no prophets in the land. The only ones who were in the land were false prophets, and they were all put to death by Nebuchadnezzar. These things came upon the nation as chastisement for not keeping their part of the Covenant, which included all these curses for the nation (Per Deut 28). However, individuals who walked by faith and believed in the promise of the Seed and believed in what the sacrificial system represented (works cannot justify, there must be a propitiation for sins)…those people escaped to Babylon and prospered. They were justified by faith at a time when it was impossible to keep the law.
This and the clear teaching of Romans 4 show us that men were always justified by faith even during Israel’s national discipline for their failure related to keeping the law. The law was not given to individuals; it was given to the nation. However, the law had/has a purpose for individuals which was/is a schoolmaster to show them their need for Christ (Gal 3:24). Thus, in that sense, it’s not for the righteous but for the ungodly and the sinner (1 Ti 1:9). It is the ministry of condemnation and death to teach them their need for the Messiah—the Seed—(2 Cor 3:9). For us today, the law’s purpose is to show us and even cause us to despair of ourselves so that we say, “Oh wretched man, who shall deliver me from this body of death?” (Rom 7:24).
We should agree with God’s judgment on the flesh (as seen with the story of Noah and the Flood), which He decreed way before the law. When the law was given, sin had already entered the picture. Sin entered the picture when Adam fell, and the law wasn’t given until thousands of years later. What about all those people? Were they still sinning? Yes, they were still sinning. The law is not the “end all, be all” definition of what sin is, although every sin is a transgression of the law (1 John 3:4). Sin was already in the world before the law came, and death reigned through sin (Rom 5:13).
Nonetheless, God gave the law to show man that He (God) had already condemned man. Moreover, we know He (God) condemned them because of the Flood. He (God) said, “My spirit will not always strive with man for he is flesh, yet his days will be 120 years,” and He brought the flood, repenting that He even made man (Gen 6:3,6). He was done then which is why Peter takes us back to Noah’s flood for baptism when he (Peter via the Holy Spirit) says baptism saves us (1 Peter 3:18-22). That was a picture; he (Peter) connects the two. There is salvation for the righteous in the judgment of the world because the same flood that judged the world saved Noah. The ark then becomes a type of Christ into which Noah is baptized. Noah passes out of the old world and into the new world when he—in the Ark (a type of Christ)— landed on dry ground. Likewise, when we believe the Gospel, we are baptized into Christ and pass out of death into life (Gal 3:27; 1 John 5:4). How was Noah justified? Noah was justified by faith, not works.
Cain and his descendants all perished. They sought to be justified by works and were rejected by God. The only people who have ever been justified are those who are of faith. Whether before or after the law, whether David’s time or Abraham’s time, the only way to be justified as an individual is by faith in the Messiah—the Seed of David, the Seed of the woman, and the Seed of Abraham.
The reason we have justification is that God made a covenant with the Seed of Abraham and the Seed of David (The Seed being Christ, Himself). The book of Galatians tells us that the law came 430 years after God made the Covenant with Abraham’s Seed, who was Christ. Abraham’s Seed is Christ, and He is the one, according to Galatians 3, to Whom all the promises are made. He is the heir, and He is also the One who confirmed the Covenant. Galatians 3 tells us that God confirmed beforehand the Covenant in Christ 430 years before the law. His point is that the law cannot disqualify the heirs. The Covenant God made with a nation—later—cannot disqualify people who are justified beforehand based on a different covenant. He’s showing, in Galatians 3, that there are two covenants. One is made with Christ, and one is made with the nation of Israel corporately. One makes Christ the heir of everything. He’s the heir to all of its promises. The other (the Law of Moses) disqualifies whoever would seek to be justified by it because cursed is everyone who does not do everything in it (Deu 27:26; Gal 3:10). Moreover, if you obligate yourself to one point, you obligate yourself to the whole thing. If you obligate yourself to circumcision as they were in Galatia, you obligate yourself to the whole of the moral law, the sacrificial system, and the civil law. Thus, despite having already been justified, individually, by believing the gospel, you’re obligating yourself to the entire law that was given to the nation of Israel corporately. Nobody can bear that yoke. It’s impossible.
Individuals, whether the nation was in good standing or not, have always been justified by faith and blessed because of faith (Rom 4:6-8; Ps 32:1-2). This truth is really important to see; yet, because the enemy has lied to us through the institutional church and our unrenewed minds, we’ve not seen this. You can’t find this in commentaries although it’s so clearly spelled out in the Bible. So then, in Abraham’s Seed, we are baptized into Him; and that Seed is Christ (Gal 3:27; Rom 6:3; Col 2:12; 1 Cor 12:13; 1 Pe 3:21; Eph 4:5).
How then do we get our salvation? According to Galatians, it’s not because we are descendants of Abraham (we’re not descended from Abraham). Additionally, it’s not because we’re Jew or Gentile (Gal. 3:28). It’s that we were baptized into Christ and have put on Christ in which there is no Jew or Greek. We’ve put on Christ, and He is the Seed to whom the promises were made. Therefore, because we are in Christ, we are Abraham’s Seed. Abraham has a Seed which is Christ, and we are in him (Gal 3:29).
We are co-heirs together with Christ of His inheritance, not heir to an inheritance of our own (Rom 8:16-17; Rom 4:13). This is a radically different concept from which most people are familiar. Most people think they are here to try to get their own inheritance. It’s like the Jewish Pharisees: They thought that they could have the Kingdom. They believed in God; they had the temple and the priesthood. However, they rejected the Heir. Remember Jesus’ Parable of the Husbandmen (Lu 20:9-19):
He (Jesus) said that the vineyard had an Owner (God the Father) and that He (the Father) left it in charge of the husbandmen. He (the Father) then went off to a far country and sent his servants to receive the fruit of it in due time. Nevertheless, when He sent them, the husbandmen killed the servants. So He sent his Son (Jesus). He (the Father) said, “they’ll listen to him, he’s my son”. And when the son came, the husbandmen said, “Oh, the heir! Let us kill him and take the inheritance.” So the Owner (the Father) took the vineyard from them and gave it to others.
Jesus was talking about the Pharisees. He was trying to say to them “I am the Heir. I am the Seed to Whom the promises are made. You cannot have the Kingdom without Me. There is no kingdom without Me. I am the One to Whom it was promised. You think you have an inheritance apart from Me. You think you have a kingdom and relationship with God apart from Me; yet, I’m the One to Whom it was promised, and you want to kill Me.” Sure enough, killed Him they did! The Pharisees knew who Jesus was; Satanically, they knew. They were the Seed of Satan. They hated Jesus. Nonetheless, the world (and especially the religious world) thought that they were the most genteel, godly, loving, law-keeping people.
Law-keeping disguises religious flesh and makes it look good. Yet, religious flesh is the most murderous of all the flesh. It’s the greatest evil of all the flesh. When you are involved in pious flesh, your conscience approves of rather than judges the flesh. Consequently, you persist in all of it thus causing maximum damage. Whereas, if you’re just an adulteress, a crack addict, a leper, or just a tax collector, you know that what you’re doing is wrong (Luke 5:32). Your conscience usually condemns you, and you wish you could quit; hence, you do less damage (except to yourself). On the contrary, the Pharisees damaged everybody, because they claimed to speak for God. Via their flesh, they (the Pharisees) exposed themselves as Satan’s Seed. You see, the more you articulate lies and doctrines of demons, the more you are doing Satan’s work, henceforth showing yourself to be a tare (Isa 64:6; Rom 3:20, 23).
Galatians shows us that there is no kingdom apart from Christ, that there is no inheritance for us apart from Christ, and that as members of the body of Christ, we’ve been baptized into the Seed. That Seed is the One to Whom the promises are made because of a covenant that God made with Him. Thus, Galatians distinguishes between that Covenant and the law, which was 430 years later.
The Covenant is referred to again in Hebrews (Heb 8:6-13). However, the emphasis in Hebrews is not just the Covenant with the Seed of Abraham but much more so the Covenant with the Seed of David. Plus, out of the Covenant with the Seed of David (the Seed being Christ) comes what Hebrews calls our great salvation.
Let me go back. I’m trying to put all this together and rearticulate it. On the one hand, Galatians talks about how we’re baptized into Christ and how we’re made Abraham’s Seed (Gal 3:16, 29). That’s one side of it because He was the Son of man and the Seed of Abraham. On the other hand, however, because we were baptized into Christ, we received the Spirit of the Son into our hearts, crying Abba Father, and we are sons of God. So not only did we become the seed of Abraham because Christ is the Seed of Abraham, but we also became sons of God. We became sons of God, because Christ, according to the Davidic Covenant (2 Sam 7:12-13; 1 Chron. 17:12-15; Mat 1:1; Lu 1:32-33; Jer 23:5-6; Jer 33:17, 22), is the Son of God from eternity past. We are seeds of Abraham and sons of God, and as such, we are a whole new creation. We are a new species of being.
Now, this stuff is all a mystery. All of this was revealed after the resurrection of Christ to Paul so he could minister to the body of Christ the mystery of “Christ in us, the hope of glory” (Col. 1:27). Paul conveys that this mystery was not revealed to the prophets or the apostles. Thus, we’re not going to find our spirituality, our destiny, or our inheritance by trying to look for these realities in the New Covenant. The reason we won’t is that the New Covenant was prophesied for national Israel—corporately—via the Old Testament prophets. We have to look at Paul’s revelation because he’s revealing the mystery that we’re one with Christ and made joint-heirs together with Him. The reason we’re one with Christ and made joint-heirs together with Him is that we’re baptized into Him and reckoned as part of Him. Therefore, our status in Christ—this mystery of “Christ in us the hope of glory” (Col. 1:27)—isn’t because God made a covenant with us or promised anything to us. No! On the contrary, this hidden mystery—unveiled as our Position in Christ—is because we are counted as part of Christ, not as a party to any covenants. Again, we’re counted/reckoned/considered as part of Christ, not as a party to any covenants! Thus, as such, our standing (position) in Christ is so much higher, because we not only inherit the earth but also the heavens!
The point of Hebrews (and it’s ridiculous that people say this is not for the church) is to emphasize the heavenly nature of our calling by showing us Christ, the high priest, according to the order of Melchizedek which is based on the Covenant that God made with the Seed of Abraham who is the Seed of David. So Hebrews is based on the Covenant, specifically to the Seed of David. The great salvation that Hebrews talks about is quoted from the Psalms which refers to the promises that God the Father made. These assurances include the oaths and decrees that He made to the Son of David saying the following: You are my Son, this day have I begotten you. Ask of me and I will give you the heathen (nations) for your inheritance and the uttermost parts of the earth for your possession. You will rule them with a rod of iron and dash them to pieces like a potter’s vessel (Ps 2:7-9). Hebrews also says He (Christ) inherited a more excellent name than that of the angels (Heb 1:4). This is talking about the glorification of His Humanity.
So let’s talk about the exaltation of His (Christ’s) Humanity: He was part of the Covenant that God the Father made with David’s Seed (Christ). It’s that He (Christ—the Seed) would be God the Father’s Son, and He (God the Father) would be a Father to Him (Christ); this is from 2 Samuel 7. He (Christ) was already the Son of God according to His divinity. However, Jesus became a man so that, according to His Humanity, He could inherit all these things and then take that humanity into the heavens and glorify it. In so doing, that humanity (He took on flesh and blood to become like us in order to become the firstborn among many brethren) now shares the position that He enjoyed in His divinity. Why did He do that? Well, Hebrews tells us that He became a partaker of flesh and blood to get us! He became like us and partook of us and became what we are so that He could become the captain of our salvation to bring many sons into glory (Heb 2:14-17). Accordingly, He become the author of what’s called our heavenly calling. We are partakers of the heavenly calling.
Furthermore, Hebrews reveals things that are not revealed to national, corporate Israel. People say, Ah, it’s for the Jews. No, the Jews expect an earthly kingdom. They don’t expect that we’re baptized into Christ. They don’t expect that He’s been made the Author of a salvation (by the Everlasting Covenant ) that brings many sons into glory. They don’t expect that as such He (Christ) is made the Shephard of the sheep, to give His Life for the sheep. No! These truths are all revealed in the New Testament—Paul’s ministry—including Hebrews. These truths are based on the Davidic Covenant, and they’re also revealed in John, which is Pauline.
In review, the aforementioned is a summary of what God has been showing us. Again, we’re probably not going to find this in any commentaries, but it’s right there in the Bible! Such scriptural insight is not being given because we’re special or smart. No, it’s manifesting because God is speaking (through His Word—showing us what His Word has been saying all along). In addition, remember that Jesus says to the church of Philadelphia that He has the key of David, to open what no man can shut and shut what no man can open (Rev 3:7). There is a revelation for the end times church. Is it something new? No! It’s not a spectacular, gnostic, inward revelation of that kind. No, we are just seeing what the scriptures have actually said all along. What the Lord has been doing is distinguishing between truth and error and using the Word to do it! We are just talking about the scriptures, okay? With that said, however, we are talking about the scriptures more deeply than most people. Therefore, because of how deeply we’re delving into the meat of God’s Word, there can arise some confusion, because it is not the milk of the Word (and I get that). At the same time, though, I’ve often wondered what this key of David is, and I’m just now seeing that it has to do with the Everlasting Covenant.
I’m going through the Hebrews book, again, getting it ready to print, and I’m seeing clearly that the Davidic Covenant made Christ the Heir of all things (Heb 1:2). He was already the Heir of all things (according to His Divinity), but He became a man to inherit it all on our behalf—everything in Heaven and on Earth! Why? He (Christ) became a man so that He could become like us in order to bring us into the same Position that He enjoys. Why? Well, the reason He brought us into the same Position that He enjoys is so that God could show us the exceeding riches of his grace and kindness in Christ. It’s based on the Davidic Covenant that we are positionally raised up with Christ and seated with Him in the heavenlies far above all rule and authority (Eph 1:3, 21; 2:6). It’s based on the Davidic Covenant that we will reign with Him as kings and priests during the Millennium (Rev 1:6). It’s based on the Davidic Covenant that He becomes a high priest according to the order of Melchizedek forever (Ps 110:4; Heb 5:10; 7:17). Furthermore, it’s based on that Covenant that He entered into his heavenly ministry where he’s faithful over the house of God. As such, He becomes the Surety for our salvation to dispense Himself to us as Bread and Wine. He (Christ) dispenses Himself to us as Bread and Wine in order to be our Satisfaction, our Supply, and our Enjoyment as well as to guarantee our entrance into God, Himself.
Hebrews reveals all of these truths. Its whole point is to show us that we have a Heavenly High Priest who was established by an oath that God made in Psalm 110 to the Son (Christ) of David. Thus, as such, Christ inherited the Name much more excellent than that of the angels. In His resurrection, He was begotten as the Firstborn among many brethren who are to inherit a great salvation. This great salvation subjects the world to come to us, including the angels, thereby giving us (this would have been a big surprise to anyone listening in that day who knew what the temple was) access to the Holiest of all. See, we read that and say, Oh, we have access to the Holiest of all. Let us come forward with boldness. We have no idea how shocking that is! The Holiest of all was closed off to the Jews; they couldn’t go to it. They would die if they tried. The only person allowed to go in there was the high priest once a year which, according to Hebrews, was a picture of what was to come. But that picture and the promises it pointed to implied there would have to be a whole new order of things.
Hebrews does refer to the New Covenant, again saying it is for the house of Israel in making its argument (for the sake of the Jewish believers) that the Old Covenant is waxing old and is outdated (Heb 8:18): You don’t need to go to the temple anymore, and you don’t need to go visit the Aaronic priesthood for your sins; in fact, you’d better not because the blood of Christ is enough. You have access to the Holiest of all. You see, no man or angel had ever had access to the Holiest of all. It had been guarded by cherubim. No angel could even get that close. The cherubim surround the throne of God saying “Holy, holy, holy”. There’s no way to get close. However, we now have access because of a High Priest who has been touched with the feeling of our weakness. He offered Himself for our sins and brought us into Him.
This is our great salvation: not only that we inherit the world to come but that we’re also one with God. Our Position is so much higher than anything we can imagine. It’s higher than what angels can imagine. It’s definitely higher than what the Jews could imagine. Accordingly, it’s not something that we see in the prophetic (the OT). The New Covenant does promise that He will dwell in and among them (each saved individual in the nation of Israel during the Millenium) and that He will be their God and they will be His people (Jer 31:31-34; Eze 36:26-28). What you don’t see is an invitation such as ours into the heavens (as described in Ephesians). Positionally speaking, we are in the heavens in Christ, seated in Him far above all rule, authority, dominion, and every name that is named both in this age and the age to come (Eph 1:3, 21). Additionally, we are partakers of the power that God operated in Christ when He (the Father) raised Him (Christ) from the dead and set Him (Christ) at His (the Father’s) own right hand and gave Him (Christ) to be head over all things (Eph 1:20-22). Moreover, we inherit with Him the rod of iron to rule the nations (Rev 2:27). Furthermore, we will come back with Him to reign as kings and priests (Rev 5:10; 20:6).
All of these truths come out of the Davidic Covenant. Once we see the Davidic Covenant as the source of our salvation, once we see the great gulf between the Everlasting Covenant and the New Covenant, we see how inadequate it is for anybody as a member of the church to want to put themselves under what is promised for future Israel (as glorious as it is). “Well, why do they do that?” we might wonder. To explain why I must go into some further detail regarding some additional concepts.
Jesus says to the church of Philadelphia (the ones to whom he promised to open a door nobody could shut because he has the key of David), “I’ll make those of the synagogue of Satan who say they are Jews and are not but do lie, to come and worship (worship Christ) at your feet, and to know that I have loved you,” (Rev 3:9). Those who say they are Jews but are not and do lie are mentioned a couple of times in the letters to the seven churches. The true Jew is the one whose circumcision is in the heart, and they glory before God and not men. What is circumcision? Well, most people think circumcision means keeping the law, but it doesn’t.
So, let’s talk about circumcision: Circumcision represents casting off the flesh as the source of strength, especially our religious service. We have studied all that too. Once again, I see hardly any commentaries that tell us this. Regarding Abraham, circumcision represented his cutting off his natural strength after having received the promise. Let’s review the story: Abraham had already received the promise, but afterward, he tried to help God by going in unto Hagar (which represents the law) and producing Ishmael (which is an allegory for trying to perfect himself according to his flesh). He (Abraham) had been justified by faith already in Genesis 15, but he then spent the next thirteen years trying to produce the blessing himself (which is a picture of our attempts to be perfected by the flesh) with Hagar (which is adultery, by the way). Paul says in Galatians 4:24-25 that Hagar is a picture of Mt. Sinai (which is the law); it (the law) brings the children of God (as if they weren’t already legitimate heirs) into bondage. Abraham lost his fellowship, and his story is a picture of our being brought into bondage and brought into religion (as if we weren’t already legitimate Heirs) through our own desire to try to help God. Finally, at the end of thirteen years, God gave him (Abraham) the Covenant of circumcision while promising him the Seed and ignoring what he had done beforehand. Abraham said, Oh that Ishmael may live before you! But God said, “No,” because He was not accepting the works of the flesh. From then on, Abraham had to default into the position of faith described in Romans 4:19-21 which is that he counted not his own body as though dead or the deadness of Sarah’s womb but believed on the One who calls those things which are not as though they were and gives life to the dead, counting that God was able to do what he promised. He waxed strong in faith giving glory to God. That’s the faith by which we’re to walk. We walk by faith in the Word of God, not in our ability. That is the circumcision; that is the true Jew. Paul says in Philippians 3:3, “For we are the circumcision, which worship God in the spirit, and rejoice in Christ Jesus, and have no confidence in the flesh.” Paul contrasts this with the enemies of the cross in Philippians 3:2, 19: the dogs, the evil workers, the Judaizers, and the concision, whom he says to beware of. Their glory is in their shame.
Circumcision is shameful. Let me reiterate: boasting in circumcision, as if it is an accomplishment of your own righteousness, is to glory in your own shame. Circumcision was the cutting off of a private member, your reproductive organ. Are you going to take that out and show it off and say, “Look at me, I’m circumcised!”? No! It is a shameful admission that you can’t do it and are going to have to depend on God. On the other hand, the Judaizing types love to boast in such a humiliation. These liars who say they are Jews but are not, spin out all the Galatian error and the doctrines of demons. They are the false brethren that have crept in unawares, seeking to spy out our liberty, bringing in leaven (Gal 2:4). They are the ones who try to pretend like they are justified by faith while making sure that everybody comes under law. The way they do it is by saying “Yea, you’re justified by faith, but you have to be perfected in the flesh“. They try to entice you to make an Ishmael by getting you to commit adultery with the law. Romans 7:1-4 tells us that is adultery.
In stark contrast to such false teachers, we reckon on our being crucified to the world and the world to us (Gal 6:14). Galatians 2:19 tells us that we died to the law. We had to die to it so that we could be married to Christ; you can’t have two husbands. We became dead to the law by the body of Christ; so that we could be married to another, even to him who is raised from the dead so we can bear fruit unto God. Romans 6 says, “We died to sin, how can we live to it?”, to the accusation of ‘should we continue in sin so that grace may abound?” (Rom 6:1). He says “God forbid! How shall we, who died to sin, live in it anymore?” (Rom 6:2)!
These false teachers who accuse us that we’re looking for a license to sin will then say, Yeah, but you’re supposed to live under the law. However, once again, Paul tells us we died to the law in Galatians 2:19, “For I through the law, died to the law that I might live unto God.” So how can I live to it anymore? I died to sin, so how can I live to it anymore? God forbid (Rom 6:2)! We don’t have a relationship to the law anymore, but these Judaizers want to bring you under law, and the way they do it is to say, Yea, you’re justified by faith, but God is pleased by your efforts to keep the law, and that’s how you’ll be blessed. My response is this: No, you’re trying to get me to go back to Hagar, which Paul already told me is illegitimate, and the works that come from Hagar—Mt Sinai—are discounted. They are going to be Ishmael; they’re not going to be recognized by God. Such a heretical mindset just shows that you are uncircumcised. You boast in the flesh, you glory in your shame, and you are seducing God’s servants to commit adultery! You’re bringing them to death. You’re bringing them into bondage. You have an accursed gospel!
These same people will be the first to use the words, “the true Jew is the one whose circumcision is of the heart,” to say that we’re the true Jews! Then they’ll jump to Galatians 6 and say that we’re the Israel of God. Why? Well, Israel of God, what does that mean? We’ve talked about that. Where is this in the commentaries? Again, it’s in the scripture. Galatians shows us the God of Abraham, Isaac, and Jacob in chapters 3-6. He’s the God of Abraham in Galatians 3 and 4, showing Abraham’s need to be circumcised, to repudiate his flesh, and to walk by faith in the promise. Further on in chapter 4, He’s the God of Isaac in that he’s the child of the promise, and he’s going to be persecuted by the children of the flesh. He doesn’t seem to have anything, but he’s the true heir. Isaac is the legitimate inheritor, and the bondwoman and her child have to be cast out of the house (representing the law and the fruitless efforts of trying to perfect oneself in the flesh). Where does Jacob fit in? See, what Paul allegorizes in Galatians 3-6 he summarizes when he says that what matters is not circumcision and uncircumcision, but a new creature! Peace to everyone who walks according to that rule and mercy upon the Israel of God, (Gal 6:15-16). The Israel of God represents transformation in the heart; it’s the circumcision of the heart.
So let’s talk about Jacob: Jacob had wrestled his whole life; from the moment of his birth, he was a heel grabber and a supplanter. In Genesis 25:22-23, we see that Jacob even wrestled with his brother, Esau, in the womb. When his mother asked, “Why are they wrestling?” God answered, “Two nations are struggling in your womb.” When they came out, we know, according to Romans, that Jacob—for his whole life—was set up in the flesh to wrestle for what God had already ordained was his (which was the blessing). Romans tells us, Jacob I have loved; Esau I have hated, (Rom 9:13). Now, this doesn’t mean God hates and loves; it means He has regarded Jacob for his purpose, his birthright, and his blessing and has disregarded Esau. In all the Old Testament families, that’s how the inheritance worked. Somebody had to be the heir. Well, they’re twins; who’s going to get it? Jacob was, by decree, God’s selection; however, he (Jacob) couldn’t rest in it. Thus, he swindled Esau out of the birthright and the blessing, and that’s the story we have of them growing up. Then he (Jacob) went to Laban’s house for twenty-one years and wrestled with Laban where he was outmatched by another swindler. He came out of that house with four fighting wives and twelve terrible children; his house was a mess. Furthermore, when he came out, he was going to have to encounter Esau again, and he was afraid Esau was going to kill him. He was a miserable person, but he knew God had made a decree. God gave him a vision at Bethel. God spoke to him and told him that the promise of the Seed was going to come through him, and that’s why he was justified, despite being a terrible person. He was justified by faith, but he wanted that blessing so badly that the night before he was going to go see Esau, an angel met him who turned out to be God. They wrestled all night, and Jacob would not give up. Jacob was too strong; so the angel finally had to touch him in the thigh and weaken him thus permanently crippling him. However, even after all that, he still wouldn’t let up! He said I will not let you go until you bless me, (Gen 32:26). He was so desperate. That night of wrestling represented his entire fight his whole life up to that point. Jacob knew his whole life had been a mess trying to wrestle for the blessing, and he couldn’t stop. God had to weaken him, and that is when God renamed him Israel. From that point forward, he walked with a staff, which physically represented his spiritual dependence on God. He realized he had to trust God going forward, that he couldn’t rely on himself to make these things happen.
Abraham went through the same thing beforehand, but Jacob’s story shows us something deeper. It’s not that you get to circumcise yourself by cutting yourself off (as in Abraham’s story). No, God has to wear you out (as in Jacob’s story). There is another side to this; it’s not just you deciding one day, I’m going to stop; I’m going to wait on God; I’m not going to do this on my own. No, you can’t quit. Jacob was an example of somebody who could not quit, thereby making himself miserable; he made everybody miserable because of his religious flesh. God had to step in.
Hence, Jacob’s story represents God’s discipline in our life. In God’s discipline, He brings us to the place of circumcision (spiritually and metaphorically speaking). He knows how to bring us to the point of, I am the true circumcision, I have no confidence in my flesh. My boast is in Christ whom I serve by the Spirit of God, (Phil 3:3). That is not a boast. That’s our seeking to be found in Christ, not having our own righteousness which is of the law but that which is of God and based on faith, (Phil 3:9). It’s knowing we’ve got nothing, knowing that in ourselves nothing good dwells, (Rom 7:18). We know that our best efforts to serve God only damaged us and everybody else even more so than our regular sins. We eventually get to a point where we fear our religious service more than our normal sin because we know how much damage we, in our religious flesh, can do to the purposes of God. However, the dogs, the Judaizers, the tares, they have no fear. They are not the true circumcision; yet, they boast and say they are Jews but are not; they lie, (Rev 2:9; 3:9). They try to use Romans 2:29 where it says that the true Jew is the one whose circumcision is in the heart. They say, see, we’re the Jews, but then they want to say that we’re the Israel of God. Now, why do they want to do that? The reason is that they want to say we’re under the New Covenant. Why do they want to say we’re under the New Covenant? They say that we’re under the New Covenant because they want to bring us under law! They want to say we’re justified by faith but sanctified by law—i.e. perfected in the flesh by law-keeping. The reason they want to do that is that they’re false brethren. They creep in unawares (Gal 2:4), hiding in the language of grace, trying to take advantage of sheep who know their Shepherd. They tell the beaten sheep that the only way to please their Bridegroom is to commit adultery with the bondwoman and become a whore! They do this because of hatred. Hatred is their motive.
If you look at the intentions of the Judaizers (false brethren who crept in unawares) that Paul was dealing with in Galatians, Corinthians, and all the other places, you’ll see that the real driving force was a secret hatred for Christ and the brethren, like Cain. That’s why scripture mentions the way of Cain (Jde 1:11). The way of Cain is another principle that we’ve come to understand in the scriptures. What does it mean to keep the new commandment which is true in Christ and in us, because the true light has shined and the darkness is past, (1 Jo 2:8)? Well, according to this verse it means that we believe in Jesus Christ and love the brethren. Additionally, that love we have toward our Brethren is not as Cain who hated his brother.
Let’s talk about Cain: Cain hated his brother because his own deeds were evil, and his brother’s were righteous, (1 Jo 3:12). What were those deeds? They were the offerings that they had brought before God (Abel offered the firstling of the flock while Cain offered fruit from the cursed ground). They were both God-fearing worshippers of God; however, Abel knew to bring the lamb, the firstling of his flock with the fat portion, and his offering was accepted. Why? Abel’s offering was accepted because he was a prophet (according to Jesus in Luke 11:50-51) who knew that he was justified by faith in the Blood, and he believed in the promise of the Seed. That Seed (Christ) is the reason we have any right to any covenant promises. However, in diabolical contrast, Cain wanted to be accepted from the fruit of the toil of the ground which God had cursed. Consequently, just like Cain, these modern-day Judaizing tares want you to try to be justified by offering up the flesh that God has cursed, by offering up works of the flesh (just as Cain did). Nonetheless, anyone (past, present, and future) seeking to be justified by the law is brought under the curse (Gal 3:10-11).
Do we not understand that the flesh has already been cursed? The law just pronounces the judgment. So, what motivated Cain? He was motivated by hatred and jealousy. He didn’t like the fact that sinners could (and can) be justified by what he viewed as laziness. Furthermore, he viewed God as a hard taskmaster. He thought that God wanted him out there toiling with the sweat of his brow. Contrariwise, God didn’t want that at all! So, when Cain presented that odious offering, it was offensive! John said it was evil (1 Jo 3:12) to offer the fruit from the ground after God had already pronounced judgment on it.
God’s verdict on the ground (and thus the flesh) conveys that such labor was (and is) a picture of the fact that we were (and are) alienated from God (apart from Christ) because of our sin. Do we want to offer our fleshly efforts (that God has already crucified) as if God is pleased with it? What does that say about the nature of God in our minds? That’s like the older brother in the story of the prodigal son: I was out here in the field all day keeping all your commandments and you never threw a party for me (Luk 15:29). He hates the Father. Such an attitude is rooted in a religious hatred for God, and it’s satanic. So, all of this is to see that that’s why the Bible says that Cain was of the evil one (1 Jo 3:12). You see, Cain is the way of the tares. Cain is of Satan, but he thinks he’s of God. Yet at the same time, he hates God, and he hates the ones who God justifies.
These Judaizers (Cain) come in secretly, unaware (Jde 1:4). How did they do it in Galatia? They misled others by pretending to be justified by faith even to the point where James believed that they were one of them. Most of the apostles in Jerusalem were deceived to think that these were actual brothers. Moreover, these false brethren mixed justification by faith with the law and said that the Gentiles needed to be circumcised. However, Paul said, No, don’t you know that if you’re circumcised, you’re obligated to the whole law? (Gal 5:3). Likewise, Peter said to the apostles at Jerusalem, Look, we couldn’t take that yoke upon ourselves and our fathers, how could we put it on the gentiles? We have to be justified just like them; by faith without works (Act 15:9-11).
We have been lied to by the commentaries and teachers that tell us that Galatians is about justification and circumcision (as if justification were only about going to Heaven and having eternal salvation and circumcision were the matter they were dealing with—Jewish ordinances). They’ll say, “It wasn’t actually talking about the law.” No, people who say that are liars. The reason they lie is so they can get you to stop listening to people who are teaching the truth of which Galatians is actually speaking. Galatians is addressing a church that had already been justified by faith but had been moved from him who called them into the grace of Christ to something that was not a gospel (it was a perversion of the true gospel) (Gal 1:6-7). The believers were being carried away by these hypocrites who were injecting subtle leaven. These deceivers were bewitching the saints by getting them to try to perfect themselves according to the flesh. How? These imposters were promoting law-keeping for sanctification, blessings, and fruit-bearing. For these charlatans it wasn’t about how do you get saved; it was about how do you live the Christian life.
The same is true today: The law teachers come in and pretend to be about justification by faith. They’ll say, Yeh, you believe in Jesus, and you’re saved. You’ll go to Heaven. However, they will not admit that justification secures all the blessings of the Christian life. Justification guarantees my expectation of fruit. Justification ensures the blessing of the Spirit now. It’s all by the hearing of faith (Rom 10:17); it all operates by faith. It’s not a mixture of faith and works. Nonetheless, they say it’s a mixture of faith and works. They say there is justification before God in Heaven and so you’re going to Heaven, but practically, how you live your life is a matter of law-keeping. That’s an accursed gospel spouted by false teachers which includes 99% of the Christian leaders, unfortunately. Not all of them are tares; many of them are just confused. However, the ones we’ve been dealing with are tares—the ones who double down and will not stop and go on and on and on. Hence, no matter how many times you show them the truth, they twist your words and twist the scripture to pervert the facts again. They especially like to say we are Jews and that we’ve replaced Israel or that we’ve been grafted into Israel, and therefore, we’re part of their Covenant. Again, the reason they spread such deception is that they want to bring Christians under the law. That’s why; that’s their goal, and they’re motivated by abhorrence. It’s the way of Cain.
So, this is a summary of everything God has been speaking the last three years regarding all the different studies we’ve been going through, and the root of it is the Everlasting Covenant. The Everlasting Covenant made Christ the Shepherd of the sheep and the Heir as the Son of man. As such, He was glorified and became the Son of God and the Seed of David according to the flesh. Yet, He was declared to be the Son of God with power by the Spirit of holiness according to Romans 1. He was the Son of God in eternity past; he was already the Heir of everything. All things were created for Him, through Him and by Him. He was the firstborn of all creation, which means he is the Heir. Nevertheless, He became a man, and Hebrews tell us why.
Hebrews explains that since the children (which is us), the heirs of salvation, were partakers of flesh and blood, He partook of the same. Christ took on Himself flesh and blood so that He may taste death for every man. Therefore, He—through death—destroyed him who had the power of death (Satan) thereby delivering us once for all who had been subject to the fear of death all of our lives (Heb 2:14-15). It was to deliver the heirs from the bondage of fear and bring them into the liberty of sonship which He enjoyed with the Father in eternity past. That’s His high priestly ministry. Again, we’re not going to hear about the high priestly ministry of Christ in Christianity. They are going to say, Christ rose from the dead; he’s seated in the heavens; now you need to go preach the gospel and do good works. Eventually, he’ll come back. There’s the Holy Spirit here; we’re not quite certain what he’s doing. Sometimes he does miracles; see that guy laughing over there, I think that was a miracle. Maybe that was a revival. I don’t know. Sorry, I’m making fun, but it’s ridiculous.
Now, the reason we don’t know the work of the Spirit is because we don’t know the high priestly ministry of Christ. We don’t know his position as Head of the body (Eph 4:15-16; 5:23). We don’t know the building up of the church. We don’t know the New Testament ministry. We don’t know what He’s doing, and a part of the reason for that is because we think we’re under the New Covenant. So we don’t even think we need a New Testament ministry because, in the New Covenant, there is no need for teachers. God will do it, you know? It’s a mentality of, every man for himself. We have interpretations of what the New Covenant means; yet, we still don’t comprehend it. We’re unable to grasp its meaning because we’ve yet to see the New Covenant manifested; that’s for another age. It will be glorious, but we have the New Testament ministry which brings us into the New Testament.
Our being brought into the New Testament means there is an inheritance that Christ entered into in His death, thus becoming the Testator. Moreover, now He’s sharing the riches of that inheritance with His body that He has raised to be seated with Him at the right hand of God (Eph 2:6; Col 3:1). We are in the heavens with Him (Eph 1:3), we have a heavenly portion, and it’s one portion, one inheritance. Whose is it? It’s His portion, His inheritance. Whose reward is it? It’s His reward. In light of these truths, we see how Christ is our life, our hope of glory, our reward, our sanctification, and our righteousness; He’s our everything! The New Testament ministry presents Christ as everything! The unsearchable riches of Christ (Eph 3:8) are presented as our inheritance to equip us to walk as a member of Christ. We can barely get our minds around it right now. Nonetheless, I do feel if we’re here for a while, the Lord is going to teach us—not something new as in a gnostic, mystical, secret revelation that nobody before has ever heard. Even so, we’re going to be amazed at what the Bible says and think, Wow, this was here the whole time—just as they were astonished in Luther’s day. I know some people have problems with Luther. However, I like to use him as an example, because he was the loudest voice in his day. He’s just a spokesman of an entire continent that was shaken by the book of Galatians, particularly. Additionally, God used Romans and Galatians to reveal His Truth that we are heirs together with Christ because of a free gift (not because of anything that we do). Thus, laying hold of these precious gems found in God’s Word strengthens us against being brought into the bondage of men.
Let’s go back to the Covenants: We are not parties to a covenant that God made with the nation of Israel to replace the Old Covenant that he made with the nation of Israel. The Old Covenant (the law) is the one Paul calls a ministry of condemnation and death that is waxing old and that they weren’t able to keep (2 Cor 3:9-11). Consequently, that’s why they were chastised and taken out of their land and received all these curses on themselves (corporately—as a nation). Now (in the Great Tribulation), they are going to believe in Jesus, and He’s going to put them back in their land, and He’s going to give them all the blessings that the Old Covenant promised. The difference, however, is that He is going to work to keep the conditions for them. In a way, it’s still unilateral; nonetheless, it’s nothing like the Covenant that God made with Christ. The Covenant God made with Christ gave Him not only the Earth but the heavens and a Name which is higher than the angels, as a man. He (God) also subjected the world to come to this man, gave Him the nations to rule with a rod of iron, and said the following (found in Ps 110:1; Mt 22:44; Heb 1:5; 5:5): Thou art my Son, this day have I begotten thee and My God said to my God, sit at my right hand. Those are all decrees he made to the Son. Sit at my right hand until I make your enemies a footstool.
Where is Jesus today? He’s seated at the right hand of God as a man on the throne of God. That’s why he said to the Jews, “You’re going to see the Son of Man ascended into Heaven and seated at the right hand of God (Joh 1:51; 3:13), and they picked up rocks to throw at him, claiming it was blasphemy. No, there’s a man, a glorified man, the Seed of David that has prevailed to overcome. That’s why he can open the seals because He’s the Seed of David. He purchased the right to do with the world what He wants and to give everything He has to His co-heirs, the church. Who comes back with him to rule the nations with a rod of iron as kings and priests? The church does. Israel is put in their land. We are brought back in a glorious, triumphant way from the heavens. It’s a whole different order of things. We will judge angels. We just have no idea how glorious our position is until we understand the Everlasting Covenant, and that seems to be the key of David that really opens the door to everything, or at least it seems like it to me.
Today, Colleen (Be Still & Know) did a video that I strongly recommend. She broke down what the Hebrew Roots believe. They are the ultimate example of the Jews who say they are Jews and are not but do lie—the synagogue of Satan. Everybody knows they are the synagogue of Satan. When you deal with these people, you know right away that you don’t want them over for dinner. They’re so unfriendly and mean-spirited. However, they are not as dangerous as the ones who come right in and seem sweet but believe and teach the same thing, and that’s what we are dealing with. Thus, unfortunately, they’ve got half the so-called grace community convinced that they’re teaching grace. This is because half the grace community believes the following: 1) justification is a matter of going to Heaven, 2) despite having already been justified by faith, you now have to be sanctified by works, and 3) works sanctification (or so-called progressive sanctification—which doesn’t exist) is a secondary issue.
So they just sit on the fence and watch us go back and forth. Therefore, please watch her video. One thing she said in her video was “Paul defines lawlessness in another way” because of these people who call us Antinomian (Antinomian means without law and it’s an insult developed by the Calvinists to throw at grace preachers to say we hate the law, and we’re lawless). The scripture only has one use of that word, I believe, when John says that “all sin is lawlessness because all sin is the transgression of the law”(1 John 3:4). Therefore, in my judgment, and John’s (and the Bible’s), every man is lawless, because anyone who breaks the law is lawless. So, what are we going to do? We are without law. We are transgressors. Even so, the righteousness of God has manifested apart from the law, and that is Christ. Romans 3 tells us that Christ is God’s manifestation of righteousness apart from (or without) the law (Rom 3:21). Then they’ll say, Well, that’s Antinomian. So, is God an Antinomian? No!
You see, there is a righteousness that’s higher than the law. The law was a shadow but Christ is the reality. The law never demanded that Christ give his life for the sinners. He could have thrown away the whole world and just burned it when we fell and been righteous to do so by the law’s standard. All the same, He gave Himself for the sinners and demonstrated His Righteousness and His Love in doing so. He became a propitiation and vindicated God’s righteousness, forgiving our sins. When we read the Ten Commandments there is no forgiveness of our sins; it just tells us what our sins are. Be that as it may, when we go to the sacrifices, we see a prefigure. Wait, there’s an offering; what does that mean? Well, people in the Old Testament who were justified by faith understood this. They knew that they couldn’t be justified by the law. In light of this truth, King David, knowing he was a lawbreaker and a sinner, said, Cleanse me with hyssop (Ps 51:7). He was referring to the Levitical system for grace which is ironic. The reason it’s strange is that the Jews who say they are Jews and are not and do lie will tell you the following: It was the Levitical system that Paul was talking about that was such bondage. We’re not dead to the moral law; we’re dead to the Levitical, or ceremonial, law. First of all, it’s one law because if you obligate yourself to circumcision, you obligate yourself to the whole thing (Gal 5:3).
Paul also tells us that it (the law) was the ministry of condemnation and death that was written on and engraved in stone (2 Cor 3:7); that’s the Ten Commandments. In addition, he said it was the law, thou shalt not covet, that brought him into death and worked all manner of covetousness in him (Rom 7:7-8). The Ten Commandments are an intolerable burden. Thou shalt not covet (Ex 20:17) is the one you can’t fulfill. The Pharisees were great at keeping the ceremonial law; that’s why they thought they were righteous. Meanwhile, inwardly, they were full of covetousness and all kinds of greed and hatred and broke the moral law while keeping the ceremonial law. They failed to realize that they were obligated to all of it. By obligating themselves to the ceremonial law for justification, they obligated themselves to the moral law and therefore condemned themselves.
The Jews who say they are and are not and do lie, today, will say, Paul doesn’t say we’re dead to the law; he meant the ceremonial law—like circumcision, and that’s what Galatians is dealing with. He’s not talking about the law. They are liars! Read the Bible; you’ll see it says otherwise. Read Paul yourself. Don’t listen to these people. These are those who are crept in unaware to bring you into bondage. They do it sounding sweet, but their motives are ugly. It’s motivated by hatred for you and hatred for justification. They’re taking the way of Cain even though they look righteous. The Pharisees looked righteous. They looked loving; they looked genteel. They were the most giving; they gave their alms to be seen of men. They prayed the most. They were seemingly the most spiritual people; everybody thought they were spiritual. Yet, in the end, they were a crowd of barely restrained zealots saying, Crucify Jesus. Give us Barabbas instead. We have no king but Caesar (Joh 19:15).
Eventually, it’s all going to come out, because they’re walking in the flesh. They can only restrain themselves for so long before they expose themselves. They are going to repudiate everything that they pretended to believe. That’s the good news. Eventually, they will take the fake sheep costume off and show their wolf fangs. Then everybody will be able to see. Nevertheless, those who don’t know the difference will follow them, and that will be a bundling of tares. The tares have to be bundled up before the harvest. Thus, even though it must happen, it’s still a hard thing to watch; it’s very grievous.
Getting back to my point earlier, I was talking to Colleen, and she said in her video that Paul defined lawlessness in another way—that it’s not the way these people are calling us Antinomian. We know that the law is spiritual and good and holy, but we also understand what it decrees. We agree with its judgment that we were crucified and had to die to it (If you don’t agree with that, then you’ve not kept the law or established it). I was asking her, “Did you ever explain how Paul defined lawlessness?” (Because she had said, “I’m going to explain what Paul meant later in this video,” and I was listening for it but missed it). She responded, “Well, I think it means like in Romans 8 where if we walk by the Spirit then we’ll be fulfilling the righteousness of the law” (implying that walking in the flesh is lawlessness). That didn’t sit right with me. Even so, it was kind of like a door to a new understanding. So, even though that interpretation never sat well with me, it’s the only explanation I’ve ever understood too (even though it was a law-based interpretation). The interpretation was always, “If I walk in the Spirit, I’ll do good, but if I don’t, I’ll do bad.” That is law.
Taking a deeper look at Romans 8, I see that the righteousness of the law is not talking about me doing good or bad. As I talked to her about it, I realized I needed to do a video about it, and that’s what I started this video to do (but I got off on a tangent). The righteousness in Romans is not our righteousness; it is God’s righteousness. In Romans 1, it says that, in the gospel, the righteousness of God is revealed from faith to faith: as it is written, the just shall live by faith (Rom 1:17). Where is the revelation of the righteousness of God? It’s in the gospel. How is the gospel applied? It’s applied via living by faith. Faith in what? The gospel. We say, “Well, what is that then?” Romans 3 tells us what that righteousness is. He builds up to it; he describes the judgment of the law on everybody, but then he answers the question of “how can God be just and the justifier of those who believe in Jesus?”. That’s the devil’s question—“How can you let these people inherit salvation? Look what the law says they are. None has done good. None is righteous, not even one! Their tongues are the tongues of adders, their mouths are an open grave, the way of peace they haven’t known, their feet are quick to shed blood. The law condemns everyone and the whole world is guilty before God” (Rom 3:10-19). Well, how can a righteous God give an inheritance to such people? Romans 3 tells us that Christ is the manifestation of God’s righteousness apart from the law, being witnessed by the law and the prophets, even the righteousness of God upon all those who believe, for there is no difference (Rom 3:20-22). Then he says in verses 25 and 26 that God set Christ forth as a propitiation through faith in his blood to declare at the present time God’s righteousness in forgiving sins in the past (meaning the nation, all the people who were anticipating the promise; He was just in forgiving their sins even though Christ had not yet died) that he (God) might be just and the justifier of those who believe in Jesus.
Whose righteousness is on display in Romans? It’s God’s righteousness, revealed in the gospel from faith to faith in those who believe it. Subsequently, it’s put on display in Christ Who is the manifestation of righteousness—a manifestation of righteousness apart from the law. It was witnessed by the law and the prophets, and it’s higher than the law. Christ didn’t come to fulfill the law in the sense that He came and did it. No! The law is a shadow; He is the reality. He is righteous with or without the law, just as we were sinners (before we believed the Gospel) with or without the law. There were sinners in the world thousands of years before the law was even given. Before the law came, mankind were still sinners condemned to death. Before the law was given, Christ was already righteous, having already determined (in eternity past) that He would be the propitiation for the sins of the whole world. Hence, Christ is the righteousness of God put on display apart from the law. That righteousness is manifested within the regenerated spirit of those who believe; furthermore, it declares not that we are righteous but that God is just and the justifier of him who believes in Jesus. That justification (according to Romans 4) gives the inheritance and the reward. Reading Romans 4, we see the following: 1) Abraham received the inheritance; 2) the promise is certain to all the Seed because of justification, and 3) Justification secures the reward. Paul says if Abraham were justified by works, then the reward would have been a wage rather than a gift. Thus, both the reward and justification are included in God’s gift.
King David, who was born and lived under the law, wrote, “blessed is the man whose sins are forgiven” (Ps 32:1; Rom 4:7). Our sins are forgiven, and we receive the blessing of Abraham. Paul in Galatians declares how Christ became a curse for us so that the blessing of Abraham might come upon the Gentiles that we might receive the promise of the Spirit through faith (Gal 3:13-14). Now, the blessing of Abraham isn’t only that we’re forgiven; it’s also the inheritance (a Person) and the reward (a Person) of the Seed of Abraham who is Christ! He’s the heir of Abraham, the heir of David, and the Seed to Whom those promises were made. Paul’s speaking of the Abrahamic and Davidic Covenants. Romans and Hebrews are both built on the Davidic Covenant. Our salvation comes out of the Davidic Covenant; it’s the key of David.
God put His righteousness on display in Christ who is the propitiation for our sins. In Romans 8, we come to a verse that says, so that the righteousness of the law might be fulfilled in us who walk not after the flesh but after the Spirit (Rom 8:4). When reading this verse, because we tend to be law-oriented, we say that the way to be good is to walk in the Spirit. However, that’s not what Paul in this verse is saying. Romans 8 tells us that if Christ is in you (i.e. if you have believed the Gospel), though the body is dead because of sin, the Spirit is life because of righteousness and if the Spirit of him who raised Christ from the dead lives in you, He who raised Christ from the dead will also give life to your mortal bodies through His Spirit that dwells in you (Rom 8:10-11). God’s righteousness is the ground upon which He is justified in qualifying us and giving us the inheritance which is life. Romans 6 tells us that the wages of sin is death, but the gift of God is eternal life (Rom 6:23). God is just to give that gift to us. Yet, how is that gift manifested in our life? Is it only, I’ll go to heaven when I die? Well, what about the guilt we suffer today because of our sins, our weakness, and our lack of spirituality? That is called the spirit of bondage and fear in Romans 8:15, and it’s called condemnation (2 Cor 3:9; Rom 8:1). Romans 8 is about freeing us from judgment and the spirit of bondage and fear by the Spirit of sonship (Rom 8:14, 19). The condemnation in Romans 8 is not that God is angry at us; no, it comes from within our damaged conscience. Our damaged conscience stems from a sense of weakness emanating from a false sense of debt. Moreover, that false sense of debt is due to a spirit of bondage and fear in our flesh from thinking that we’re under the law. You see, Romans 4 tells us that our putting ourselves under the law or works causes us to think that we have to earn a wage for our efforts to put God in our debt (Rom 4:4). As a result, we wrongly conclude that that is how we get our rewards, blessings, inheritance, and our salvation when in reality, all of it—our reward, blessings, inheritance, and salvation—is a gift (Rom 4:14, 16).
To be a child of the bondwoman (Hagar—Mt. Sinai) means to be in the spirit of bondage and fear (Gal 4:22-25). It means I’m fearing death, loss, and suffering; I fear that God is mad at me, that I’m disqualified because of my sins. That’s called not agreeing with the gospel—the mind set on the flesh—in Romans 8:5-8, and that’s death. Paul says we’ve not been given a spirit of bondage to bring us again into fear, but we’ve been given the Spirit of sonship whereby we cry Abba, Father. The Spirit himself bears witness with our spirit that we are children of God and heirs; heirs of God and joint-heirs with Jesus Christ (Rom 8:15-17).
“What? Joint heirs of Jesus Christ? We’re heirs because we have an inheritance ourselves; we earn it, right?” No! This is Christ’s inheritance. He is the Seed of David. He is the Heir to all the promises, and He is sharing all that freely as a gift to those who work not but believe in him who justifies the ungodly (Rom 4:5). That’s another point Romans 4 tells us: Justification qualifies us for the blessing, the inheritance, and the reward; justification forgives us of our sins even though we work not but believe in Him who justifies the ungodly. All we do is believe that God is righteous and agree that God manifested His righteousness in putting Christ forth. We’re not looking to our righteousness but His (and that’s Christ). That’s why Paul says, but of him you are in Christ Jesus who is made unto us wisdom, and righteousness, sanctification, and redemption (1 Corinthians 1:30). He (Christ) is our righteousness; He’s God’s righteousness. Furthermore, He’s been given to us as a gift, and that gift is life. Death is condemnation—thinking that we owe God, that we need to work off that responsibility. Thus, we obligate God to us thinking that, at the end of the day, He will give us what is rightfully ours. No! That is not grace but a spirit of bondage and fear. That’s the spirit under which the legalists operate!
The Spirit of sonship says I’m a co-heir with Jesus Christ. I’m a co-heir not because I’ve worked for it and God owes me anything but because I’m in Christ, and Christ is in me. Hence, God is righteous to give me life. That life is eternal; it is everything. Here’s the key: it’s for now; it’s not just for eternity. The Spirit of sonship bears witness with my spirit that I’m a child of God and an heir. Thus, as such, I’m given the right to have life and peace now, even though I’m a sinner. This body of truth was robbed from the Galatians by the Jews who say they are but are not and do lie. This reality is called the sense of blessing. Paul said to them “where is that sense of blessing you had? Did you receive the Spirit by the hearing of faith, or by the works of the law?” (Gal 3:2). Being brought into a spirit of bondage and fear is thinking that you must work, thereby putting God in your debt to:
- feel his love
- feel that you have to earn it by not sinning anymore
- draw near to him
- have access to the holiest
- be filled with the Spirit and strengthened within and
- drink of the Living Water that is your supply
You see, thinking that you must earn any &/or all of the above is death which results in condemnation. Positionally speaking, we aren’t under any condemnation (Rom 8:1); however, we do carry it (i.e. it can affect our condition) if we’re not clear on justification. Hence, in their efforts to foil our sense of blessing, the Judaizers lie to bring us into captivity. They are a Satanic attack on the body of Christ.
The tares and the Judaizers are probably the longest-running attack on the body of Christ—the most successful attack that’s been going on since the beginning of the church. Most people who are Galatianized will argue and say that Galatianism isn’t even a thing. It’s sick. Even genuinely justified believers don’t see that justification is for today, that they should be enjoying the Spirit of sonship now, that God, being righteous, is qualified to give them life. So, Romans 8:10 is saying, if Christ be in you, though the body is dead because of sin (it’s like, “look, my situation is a mess and I can’t do anything about it”), yet because of righteousness, God is clear through his Holy Spirit to give life to my mortal body and that life is Christ. The Spirit becomes life and peace to our soul.
The overall point of Romans 8 is walking in the Spirit which sets us free from condemnation, giving us life and peace in our soul. We can have that even if our life is a wreck (because of sin). If you haven’t read my discipline book and are struggling in this area, I pray that you read it. It’s free on my website, or you can order a print copy. We need to grasp that we have the right to rejoice and enjoy Christ. We have that right even before the manifestation of righteousness in our lives, and God is qualified to give us that life (Him being just in justifying the ungodly—Rom 4:5). I shouldn’t ask if I’m qualified to come forward if God is just in receiving me. Put it back on God: Is God just in receiving me even though all I do is work not but believe in Him who justifies the ungodly? That means I am ungodly; my life is a mess. Nevertheless, I’ve received Christ. I’ve received the Spirit of sonship. I’ve been redeemed by the Blood, and I agree with God’s righteous way of dealing with things. I’m not like Cain; I’m like Abel. I may not have anything; I can’t build a city. Nonetheless, I’ve got an offering. I’ve got the firstling of the flock with the fat portion. I have what God requires, which is (Christ’s) Blood, nothing less. That Blood justifies me. Moreover, it justifies God in justifying me so that He is freely able to give me, not of my own inheritance, but Christ’s! Additionally, He deals with me as if I am Christ and accepts me in the beloved (Eph 1:6); I am a fragrance of Christ unto God (2 Cor 2:15). When I come forward, He has the same pleasing disposition as when the beloved Son of the Father comes to him (who was in his bosom from eternity past). That’s why Jesus prayed his high-priestly prayer: that the love that you have for me may be in them and I am in them (John 17:26). Remember what He said in the letter to the church of Philadelphia in Revelation 3: I’m going to make the Jews who say they are Jews and are not and do lie, to come and worship before your feet and to know that I have loved you, (Rev 3:9).
Even so, none of the above is because we’re righteous; yet, He’s somehow going to put this on display. He will fulfill every word. We don’t want to be the Judaizers, nor do we want to associate with them. We don’t follow after those who deny Israel’s place in their land. Such a mindset entrenched in replacement theology denies Christ His Footstool given Him in the Davidic Covenant. Furthermore, such an outlook denies the promises made concerning the throne that He (Christ) will inherit, including His possession of the land. Replacement theologists and those who follow them infiltrate the church with these wicked doctrines of demons to put the church under law. Additionally, to top it all off, they do it deceptively; they do it with malice.
Now there are a lot of nondispensationalists who allegorize the promises made to national Israel, having inherited such ideologies from traditional Christianity but who contend for the gospel just the same. Renee Roland is one example: she stands for and defends the gospel. However, she might not have seen these kinds of truths, and she hasn’t listened to my teachings on it. She’s admitted to me she’s a little confused about it from what she’s hearing from other people and wants to have a conversation with me. Well, I sent her my Galatians book; we’ll see how far she can get through it; she may decide it’s not for her. Even so, I know that we are fighting the same fight. I don’t consider her on a different team, because her intention is my intention (maintaining the purity of the gospel). We are battling for the conscience of the saints, for the building up of the body of Christ. In contrast, the individuals (mentioned in the previous paragraph) to whom we are referring are those who set themselves out to lie and deceive. They borrow words they don’t understand to clothe their lies in language that will be accepted in our community, and it’s disgusting. They have shown themselves to be tares. It’s sad but aggravating.
Returning to my main point of this teaching: The good news from Romans 8 is that the righteousness of the law manifested in me does not mean that walking in the Spirit means I’m doing good and not doing badly. Colleen said she found herself explaining it that way, and I was like, That’s law again. However, no it’s not. The righteousness in Romans 8 is not our righteousness; it’s God being just to give us the life of Christ in response to our weakness. Moreover, that is why Romans 8, after talking about the Spirit of sonship, talks about how we sigh inwardly. We don’t know how to pray as we ought, but Christ intercedes with groanings that cannot be uttered (Rom 8:26). He knows what’s in our hearts, and He prays according to the will of God. Hence, that’s why we know everything works together for good (Rom 8:28), and He is using everything to conform us to the image of Christ (Rom 8:29). Jesus has this high-priestly ministry. That’s the heavenly ministry of Christ, the key of David, the Melchizedek priesthood according to the Covenant to the Seed of David. That’s how He’s bringing us (many sons) into glory. The way He comforts us today is out of that high priesthood. He has vowed Himself to us as life. When we feel weak, tempted, and condemned—like we’re spiritually dying—He starts interceding to strengthen us within thereby drawing us to seek the truth. He still has to impart the truth to our minds, though, and that takes the renewing of our minds. In light of this, He gives gifts to the body—shepherd, evangelist, teacher, etc (Rom 12:6-8; 1 Cor 12:8-10, 28-31; 13:8; 14:1-3; Eph 4:11-12; 1 Peter 4:10-11). These different gifts of the Spirit create the ministry through which He shows us these truths.
As I’ve stated before, righteousness is not, We’re doing better. In contrast, righteousness is God’s appointing Christ to be our life. We can’t do it, and that’s okay. God is still on our side. If God is for you, who can be against you? If he did not spare his own Son, how shall he not also fully with him give you all things? Who is it that condemns? It is God that justifies. Who shall bring a charge against God’s elect? Nothing can separate me from the love of God which is in Christ (Rom 8:31-33, 35). That is all based on His righteousness. That’s what it means that if Christ is in you, though the body is dead because of sin, the Spirit is life because of righteousness (Rom 8:10). So, when Romans 8 articulates how the righteousness of the law might be fulfilled in us, it’s talking about the law of the Spirit of life which makes Christ our life. As such, He is the manifestation of the righteousness of God—not in that we are living more righteously according to the law’s definition but that Christ is giving His life to us.
How does God manifest His righteousness? He does so via Christ giving His Life to us. How does He establish His Love? It’s the same way. First John says, and this is love, not that we loved God, but that he loved us and gave his son for us that we may live through him (1 Joh 4:10). Paul said, I, through the law, died to the law that I might live unto God. I’ve been crucified with Christ, nevertheless, I live, yet not I but Christ in me, and the life I now live in the flesh I live by the faith of the Son of God who loved me and gave himself for me” (Gal 2:19-20). Yes, He gave Himself for me on the cross. Moreover, not only that, but He, in His high priestly ministry, is giving Himself to me (because of righteousness) to be my life.
How do I know this is happening in my life? The way I know that it’s happening in me is that I’m getting bolder and bolder before God, and my sins (though they are many) don’t bring me into condemnation. I’m done trying to make vows about my sins, trying to pay off debts over my sins, trying to put God in debt because of my sins, and trying to work for sanctification or reward. I already know I’m complete in Christ and I’m not going to let anybody steal my crown by bringing me into bondage through their ordinances (do not handle, do not taste, do not touch) which have the appearance of wisdom but are of no value against the indulgence of the flesh, according to their philosophy, the traditions of men, empty deceit, and not according to Christ. For in him dwells all the fullness of the Godhead bodily and I am complete in him who is the head of all rule and authority (Col 2:8-10). On these scripture verses, I am standing and will continue to do so!
Everything is ours in Him; that’s what righteousness produces. Righteousness is not about our being good or bad. That’s the tree of the knowledge of good and evil. I’m not saying it makes us bad; that’s not the point. We will have more righteousness in our life even by what we define as righteousness because love fulfills the law. There’s no law against the fruit of the Spirit, and the Spirit produces His fruit. Nevertheless, we’ve got to let the Spirit flow in our life. We can’t do that if we’re gripped with the spirit of bondage and fear thinking that we have to earn the blessing that Christ has already obtained with His Blood. If we don’t receive it as a gift, we’re not going to receive it at all. Thus, outside of His Gift, anything that we try to manufacture by ourselves through law-keeping is just our own illegitimate, adulterous attempt to produce a caricature imitation, a mimicry of Christ. That’s another thing these Hebrew Roots people and these Judaizers say is, We’re supposed to imitate Christ. Yet, these counterfeits are the least like Christ of anybody we’re going to meet. They are stuck up, mean-spirited, religious, merciless, burden-laying asses. We don’t want to be like them. We aren’t trying to imitate Jesus; we are learning to abide in Him by letting that which we heard from the beginning abide in us (1 Joh 2:24). We know that His Word bears fruit (Isa 55:11), and the first fruit that we need to allow that Word to bear is our agreeing with our position. We concur in faith until we see our standing (in Christ) so clearly that we become thankful instead of fearful. Consequently, we will come forward to God (Heb 4:16) instead of shrinking back in fear. Once that starts happening, the Spirit can have much more freedom to shape us, thereby manifesting things in our life that are genuinely of Christ. Nevertheless, until then, everything is a manufactured imitation.
The significant lesson we observed in Jacob’s story is that he couldn’t stop wrestling. The message is that we can’t just decide, I’m not going to be in the flesh anymore. God eventually has to touch us in our thigh and weaken us. So no, we’re not all of the circumcision (of the heart); we want to be, but circumcision is not a boast. Circumcision, in contrast, is that final place where we conclude, I just have no confidence in my flesh. We kind of are there, even though we know that our flesh is strong. We trust in Christ; we boast in Him. That doesn’t mean we are of the nation of Israel and trying to have a kingdom apart from the Heir. That’s what the Pharisees did. They were the ones who said they were Jews but were not and did lie. The only way to be a real Jew is for us to acknowledge that Christ is the Seed to Whom the promises were made and to realize that without Him I have nothing. That’s what David did. That’s what Abraham did. That’s what we do. Moreover, we have the special privilege of being baptized into Christ so that we become members of the body in which there is no Jew or Greek, and Christ is all in all (Gal 3:28).
I believe the key of David is really what opens up the whole Bible and puts everything in its suitable place. These truths that the dispensationalists (the Brethren) were discerning are just becoming more and more clear. We are not saying something new; we are repeating what Paul said. We’re shining a light on what there is in scripture and going, Ah!, That’s how you apply Paul to that. It’s not Paul; Paul is just a nobody; he’s just a minister, a steward. It’s the ascended Christ and the body of truth He revealed.
Eventually though, what we would like to see is these Judaizing tares cut themselves off by denying Paul’s ministry. They call us gnostic, satanic, and all these different things, but they pretend to agree with Paul. Yet, they reject everything Paul teaches, and when we say it, they don’t recognize it. They are not Pauline; they don’t know what Paul teaches. They are calling us satanic for teaching what Paul teaches while trying to say that Paul is fine. Ultimately, we see people like that saying Paul was a false apostle. Then they are fully manifested. That’s what the Hebrew Roots eventually do (a lot of them, anyway). The Judaizers do that; they eventually reject Paul’s ministry altogether, and that’s what this is. What it comes down to is a rejection of Paul’s ministry. They don’t understand what Paul’s ministry is.
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