Grace Place insights

by GPI Partner

Mike Blanton

Arizona

Articles:

1. COMMANDMENT KEEPING... IN THE NEW COVENANT

2. Jesus Christ, the same... Yesterday, Today and Forever 

3. I AM A SINNER SAVED BY GRACE | True or False?

4. 1 JOHN 1:9 | For Believers or Non-Believers?

5. WHY GRACE? | How can a focus on Grace defeat the influence of the enemy?

6. THE GRACE OF GIVING | Is the Church Under the Tithe Today?

COMMANDMENT KEEPING... IN THE NEW COVENANT 

In John 15:10, Jesus said, “If you keep my commandments you will abide in My love, just as I have kept My Father’s commandments and abide in His love.” 

John 15:2, “By this we know that we love the children of God, when we love God and keep His commandments.”

A surface rendering  of these verses might lead us to think that loving God and others is based on keeping commandments.

Philippians 3:6b, Paul said that “…concerning the righteousness which is in the law, blameless.”  Paul is saying  that he kept the commandments of the law.  However,  in Philip. 3:7,8, he said all of his law keeping, his credentials as a Hebrew of the Hebrews and as a Pharisee, he counted as loss and all things as loss and rubbish.  If keeping commandments was all important in loving God and others and in being loved by God, then why was Jesus so hard on the Scribes and Pharisees who also kept the commandments of the law.  He called them vipers, hypocrites, white-washed tombs, fools, and blind. 

The answer can be found in Matt. 23:23, where Jesus said, “Woe to you Scribes and Pharisees, hypocrites!  For you pay tithe of mint and anise and cumin and have neglected the weightier matters of the law:  justice, mercy, and faith.  These you ought to have done, without leaving the others undone.” 

In Hebrews 4:2, the writer explains that “For indeed the gospel was preached to us as well as to them; but the word which they heard did not profit them, not being mixed with faith in those who heard it.”   The “them” in the preceding two verses is referring to the children of Israel who died in the wilderness.  These people did not understand the love and provision of God and that they had a wonderful future through God, in the Promised Land.  Because of their lack of understanding they murmured, complained, and died in the wilderness.

Under the New Covenant we know that we’re not under the law, but under grace.  In other words, our right standing with God is not earned by keeping rules or laws, but by faith in Jesus Christ and His finished work on our behalf.  The only two commandments that we are left with under the New Covenant are, “You shall love the Lord your God with all your heart, with all your soul and with all your mind.  Matt. 22:37. And, “You shall love your neighbor as yourself.”  Matt. 22:34.

In Galatians 5:6, Paul says, “For in Christ, neither circumcision nor un-circumcision avails anything, but faith working through love.”  

Romans 5:5, “Now hope does not disappoint, because the love of God has been poured out in our hearts by the Holy Spirit who was given to us.”  In other words, the Spirit of God indwelling us enables us to live in this kind of love which is agape or unconditional love.  This love comes through grace that accompanies salvation.

Our ability to keep commandments  then is a gift and an ongoing work of God through the Holy Spirit.  When Jesus said, “He who has My commandments and keeps them, it is he who loves me.”  John 14:21a.  Only born-again Christians have His commandments and the ability, through faith, to keep them.  In that sense the ability to be a commandment-keeper is a byproduct of salvation.  Only through the indwelling of the Holy Spirit can we love Jesus and be commandment keepers.

©Copyright 2010 by Mike Blanton. All rights reserved.

Jesus Christ, the same... Yesterday, Today and Forever 

When we read this in Hebrews 13:8, I believe it can be confusing to many people. In the Old Testament we see God causing the flood and telling the Israelites to wipe out whole tribes of people including women and children and sometimes even their animals. Under the law we see God announcing blessing and cursing (Deut.11:26-31), when he knows that no one could ever keep the law. We see God demanding holiness of the people that they were not able to produce.  It seems that God was not fair in making such demands on the people that were fallen and spiritually separated from God. In other words, God was telling the people to keep themselves pure and holy and then they could have life and prosperity from Him.

Under the law, God could bestow a certain amount of favor and grace on the Israelites based on the elaborate system of cleansing and sacrifice that was given through the Levitical priesthood. If they confessed their sins to the priests and availed themselves of the cleansing and sacrificial laws, then the priests could make atonement for their sins. This process would have to be repeated every time they sinned. Even though God demands perfect holiness for fellowship, He could have a degree of fellowship with His people through this system. The reason that God would demand destruction of tribes that the Israelites would come in contact with was because of their complete immersion in sin. They would so corrupt the Israelites that even His limited fellowship with them would be destroyed. Because the Messiah, Jesus Christ, was to come from the Israelites, He protected them from certain enemy tribes.

Under the law, the perfection and holiness that God demands was imputed to the people through the sacrificial system. This system was not perfect, however, in that it had to be repeated over and over every time they sinned. The blood of animals could never “take away” sin and guilt in the lives of the Israelites.  While God demanded the animals to be without blemish or defect, their blood was insufficient to take away sin. This was a shadow of the perfect sacrifice that was to come; that is Christ’s perfect sacrifice of Himself. Old Testament saints that understood the limitations of the law and were looking forward to the coming of the Messiah could be saved. In other words, salvation came by faith then, just as it does now.

The thing that makes God or Jesus the same yesterday, today and forever is His demand for perfect holiness in order to have fellowship with Him. This was accomplished by imputation in the Old Covenant and also in the New Covenant. By believing that Jesus is the final sacrifice for sin for all men, for all time, and accepting Him as Lord and Savior, you then have this perfection that God demands imputed to you.  This perfection is not temporal like the animal sacrifices, because their blood could not bring the permanent forgiveness and the impartation of life that Jesus Christ’s death, burial and resurrection brought to us on this side of the cross. Now, he will never leave us or forsake us (Hebrews 13:5b) and we can enjoy continual fellowship with God because of His finished work on the cross and resurrection.

In summarizing, there are two events from God’s perspective that determine all of human history. They are the first and second coming of Jesus Christ. With that in mind, was it cruel or unfair to protect the Israelites from whose bloodline the Messiah came?  Was it a mistake to give them the law until the Messiah came? The answer to both of these questions is no. God is love, and He is also just. He did what He had to do to bring about the result that He wanted and we needed.

Jesus Christ, the same... Yesterday, Today and Forever!

©Copyright 2010 by Mike Blanton. All rights reserved.

I AM A SINNER SAVED BY GRACE | True or False?

We’ve all heard this statement many times in our Christian experience. I really believe that the people making this declaration have not thought through what they are saying.

If you truly believe this statement, you may also believe 1 John 1:9 in what I call the “traditional” way.  In other words, sin will be placed on your account until you confess it.  Most teach that, when a believer sins they have not lost their salvation, but they are out of fellowship with God because of their sin. That fellowship can only be renewed by confession of the sins, and then forgiveness that was supplied by Jesus’ sacrifice is appropriated.

As I have stated in other writings, I have found twenty –one scriptures (TOTAL FORGIVENESS SCRIPTURES) that speak of our total forgiveness as our Birthright in Christ.  We are forgiven based on His finished work on the cross, the burial and the resurrection.  The moment we step out of Adam by believing in Christ, that forgiveness becomes ours.

I have found, in the Strong’s Concordance, sixty verses that call Christians, saints.  I have found two verses that seem to be calling Christians, sinners.  These are Galatians 2:17 and James 4:8.  In both of these instances they are being called sinners because of certain actions that they are pursuing.  It is not speaking of who they are in Christ and what they received as their Birthright.

With this said, I believe the statement “I AM A SINNER SAVED BY GRACE” is definitely wrong!  We were sinners before we were saved.  Now, as believers, we are saints who have the capability (through the flesh) of sinning.  The sins we commit now can never change who we are in Christ, nor take away our Birthright, because of the finished work of the cross.  We should rejoice in this truth and allow this to motivate us not to sin.

Let’s change our statement to “I WAS A SINNER, NOW I AM SAVED BY GRACE!”

©Copyright 2009 by Mike Blanton. All rights reserved.

Mike Blanton continues to give food for thought in his most recent article 1 JOHN 1:9, FOR BELIEVERS OR NON-BELIEVERS. We trust this Insight challenges you to study the Word, and blesses your life. GPI Staff

1 JOHN 1:9 | For Believers or Non-Believers?

When looking at the first chapter of 1 John, it is important to know why John wrote this letter and to keep everything in context. From the context and historical knowledge, we know that the letter was written to deal with the teaching of Gnosticism, which was making inroads into the early church.

Some of the doctrines of the Gnostics were that flesh was evil and spirit was good; so Jesus couldn’t have come in a real flesh and blood body like ours, hence they denied the incarnation and the resurrection. They also taught that because the body couldn’t affect the spirit within, they believed they had no sin. Another doctrine they taught was that salvation came by mental enlightenment and not by faith in Christ. Thus only spiritual elites were saved.

1 John 1:1-8

With these doctrines in mind, it is easier to translate the first chapter of 1 John. The first and second verses talk about Jesus actually coming in a flesh and blood body.  The third and fourth verses talk about the need for these Gnostics to be saved and therefore enter into the fellowship and joy of the true believers. The fifth verse speaks of God’s righteousness. Verse six refutes the no sin teaching of the Gnostics. Verse seven is describing the walk and benefits that apply to the true believer. Verse eight can only be applied to an unbeliever. No one that claims to have no sin can be saved and this was the belief of the Gnostics.

1 John 1:9

Verse nine is telling these unbelievers to confess their sins and receive the forgiveness and cleansing that is theirs in Christ. This forgiveness is a once and for all thing, because we know that all of our sins were placed on Christ and paid for and the blood He shed keeps on cleansing us from all sin. When we are clothed with Christ’s righteousness, we can never be seen by God as unrighteous.

1 John 1:10

Verse ten reiterates the fact that no one saying they have not sinned can be saved.

With this understanding we can see that 1 John 1:9 is calling unbelievers to salvation.  This cannot be a call to believers to keep short accounts with God, or to maintain fellowship with Him. If this were the case we would be denying the finished work of the cross of Christ.

I have found twenty-one TOTAL FORGIVENESS SCRIPTURES in the Old and New Testaments that speak of our total forgiveness found in Christ. I encourage you to meditate on these. Our identity in Him is not something we access by our ongoing confession every time we sin.

©Copyright 2008 by Mike Blanton. All rights reserved.

WHY GRACE? | How can a focus on Grace defeat the influence of the enemy?

When we speak of God’s Grace, we are primarily talking about the Birthright truths of total forgiveness and being made alive through Christ.  “…Christ in you, the hope of glory.” Col. 1:27b.  In John 8:36, Jesus says, “Therefore if the Son makes you free, you shall be free indeed.”

My purpose in writing this article is to share the blessing of understanding these Birthright truths. Almost all Christians would agree that they are totally forgiven, alive in Christ, and set free from sin. As we grow in the knowledge of Christ, these truths become more profound and life-changing for us in our everyday Earthlife.

Most Christians understand that they have enemies, (the world, the flesh and the devil), and we are in warfare against their influence in our lives. Their purpose is to take your focus off of Christ, and put it on yourself. If the devil can get you self-focused, instead of Christ-focused, he has won the battle.

When we know that every need we have, both physical and spiritual, are met in Christ, then we can rest in Him and we are free from concern about our own needs, allowing us to serve God with abandon. This is how we receive our meaning and purpose in life.

Jesus did nothing unless He saw or heard his Father. He told us to live the same way. Through the indwelling of the Holy Spirit, we do have the ability to live like Jesus lived. But the question still remains, how do we live with the influence of the enemies and indwelling sin? Within ourselves we are not able to walk this out perfectly. However, by focusing on God’s Grace and stay away from legalistic teaching, we can experience our Kingdom Life every day.

There are behavioral teachings in the New Testament, but it’s only by the wisdom and power of the Holy Spirit that we can walk them out. In that sense, even our conduct becomes an act of faith, not something to be fearful about. Philippians 2:13 states, “For it is God who works in you both to will and do for His good pleasure.”  In Philippians 1:6, Paul says “Being confident of this very thing, that He which began a good work in you will perform it until the day of Jesus Christ.”

So you may ask, “Why Grace”? Through a deeper understanding of God’s Grace, we become less occupied with ourselves, and more focused on God and his purpose for our lives. That's experiencing KINGDOM LIFE!

©Copyright 2008 by Mike Blanton. All rights reserved.

THE GRACE OF GIVING | Is the Church Under the Tithe Today?

Recently I looked into Strong’s Concordance and found forty verses concerning the tithe. Thirty-six were speaking of the tithes given according to the Law of Moses. The other four spoke of when Abraham paid the tithe from the spoils of war to Melchizedek. While the principle of the tithe could be taught through these four verses, the main purpose of them is to teach the superiority of Melchizedek to Abraham and the Levitcal priesthood.

Melchizedek was the High Priest of Abraham’s day, and a type of our High Priest, Jesus Christ.  Both Melchizedek and Jesus have endless lives, which is the power of their ministry. Hebrews 7:17 says “For He testifies; ‘You are a priest forever according to the order of Melchizedek.’”  The overarching purpose of the scriptures concerning Melchizedek and Jesus, that include tithing, is to teach the Jewish people that Jesus is superior to any man, or priesthood, or angels. 

When you read the thirty-six verses that describe tithing under the Law, I think you will have to conclude that tithing is certainly part of the law. In Galatians 3:10-14 it says “For as many are as of the works of the law are under the curse; for it is written ‘Cursed is everyone who does not continue in all things which are written in the book of the law, to do them.’

But the good news is, Christ has redeemed us from the Law, having become a curse for us; ...for it is written, ‘Cursed is everyone who hangs on a tree’, that the blessing of Abraham might come upon the Gentiles in Christ Jesus, that we might receive the promise of the Spirit through faith.’”   In 2 Corinthians: 7a it says “But if the ministry of death, written and engraved on stones was glorious…”, and in verse 9 it says “For if the ministry of condemnation had glory…”   These verses about the Law, describe it as bringing condemnation and death. But the ministry of Christ, through God’s grace, has set Believers free from the Law!

So, what does this have to do with, “Is the Church Under the Tithe Today?”  In 2 Corinthians, chapters eight and nine, the Apostle Paul speaks of the grace of giving.  This teaches us how to give under the New Covenant. The amount is determined by you and God. You are to give out of what you have. You are to give abundantly, and you are to be a cheerful giver. In giving this way, God will make you sufficient in all things, multiply your seed that you have sown, and increase the fruits of your righteousness (2 Corinthians 9:10b).  In 2 Corinthians 9:8b it says that “you will have an abundance for every good work.”  All of this comes through what Paul calls the grace of giving. Nowhere does the Apostle Paul, or any other apostle, mention the law of tithing under the New Covenant.

With this said, I believe the answer to, “Is the Church Under the Tithe Today?” is “No!”  The church is not under the tithe, but the Grace of Giving, which I believe, if given a chance, would probably be more effective than tithing!

©Copyright 2008 by Mike Blanton. All rights reserved.

Grace Place International is funded solely

through donations.

Through your donation, GPI is able to produce

Kingdom Life Bible Studies, Bible Study Helps,

Worship Videos, Teaching Videos, and Kingdom Life Music.

The commitment of Grace Place International

is to give these to the world,

FREE OF CHARGE.

As a Companion Ministry to the Body of Christ,

GPI has chosen to give, in an effort to enhance the lives

of Believers around the world, thus fulfilling the plan of

God designed for Grace Place International.

Grace Place International

Broken Bow, OK

info@graceplaceintl.org

www.graceplaceintl.org

A division of GLNC.

GLNC is a Non-Profit Corporation established to share the

Gospel of Jesus Christ with the world.

Copyright 2008 - 2015 by GLNC. All rights reserved.