Jesus or Moses - You can only pick one

John 1:17 - The Law was given through Moses; Grace and Truth came through Jesus Christ.

-It was important to God to show up himself to bring something so wonderful. The Law is impersonal. You can't have a relationship with two tablets of stone, but you can with Jesus Christ.

John 5:39-40 "You diligently study the Scriptures (Law of Moses) because you think that by them you posses eternal life. These are the Scriptures that testify about me, yet you refuse to come to me and have life."

-A list of do's and don'ts isn't what God intended for man. They certainly don't give you life. Only grace and truth from a relationship with Jesus gives life. Real life.

John 6:28-33 "What is the work that God requires?"

Jesus responds, "The work of God is to believe in the one He has sent."

"Show us a sign! Show us a miracle so that we will believe you. Our ancestors ate the bread from heaven that testified to Moses."

Jesus responds, "Moses didn't give them bread, but it was from my Father who gives you the true bread of life. The bread of God is he who comes down from heaven and gives it to the world."

-People are still trying to please God with there deeds. The true "work" is to believe in Jesus. This one work will produce a life lead by the spirit: Love, Joy, Peace, Patients, Kindness, Gentleness, and Self-control.

John 5:45 - "But do not think I will accuse you before the Father. Your accuser is Moses (The Law), on whom your hopes are set."

-Your self-righteous (Righteousness by your works, feeling righteous when you do good things) will be condemned by the Law because you must be perfect in order to be righteous by Gods standard. Mess up once and you deserve death.

Grace will frustrate your self-righteousness. When you realize you can't earn grace (unmerited favor), your flesh will cry out to justify itself, but you will know that only Jesus can make you right.

If you are relying on any kind of self-holiness, self-righteous, or self-justification by observing what you think is God's law, be warned - "Anyone who relies on being justified by the law is under a curse" Galatians 3:10-11 (See also - Romans 3:20). The Law will condemn you in front of God the Father.

John 8:15 - "You judge by human standards; I pass judgement on no one."

-Jesus is full of grace. This verse comes right after He said to the woman caught in adultery, "I don't condemn you."

John 6:34-40 -"I am the bread of life. Everyone who comes to me will never go hungry, anyone who believes in me will never go thirsty. Whoever comes to me I will never drive away. I am here to do my Father's will - who ever believes in the Son shall have eternal life."

-The Law of Moses clearly isn't the will of God. Salvation through grace is the will of God. Jesus will not drive anyone away by any means - sickness, disaster, pain, condemnation... These are works of the devil. Don't credit them to Jesus.

Choose life! Choose Jesus! Only rely on Him.

The Mixed Garden

"Is it a sin to..."

"Is it a sin if..."

"Is it a sin when..."

There is a reason God didn't want us to eat from the tree of the knowledge of good and evil. The fall of man happened when we discovered what sin was. In today's church, people are still eating from that tree.

¹ Now the serpent was more crafty than any of the wild animals the LORD God had made. He said to the woman, "Did God really say, 'You must not eat from any tree in the garden'?"
² The woman said to the serpent, "We may eat fruit from the trees in the garden, ³ but God did say, 'You must not eat fruit from the tree that is in the middle of the garden, and you must not touch it, or you will die.' "
⁴ "You will not surely die," the serpent said to the woman. ⁵ "For God knows that when you eat of it your eyes will be opened, and you will be like God, knowing good and evil."
⁶ When the woman saw that the fruit of the tree was good for food and pleasing to the eye, and also desirable for gaining wisdom, she took some and ate it. She also gave some to her husband, who was with her, and he ate it. ⁷ Then the eyes of both of them were opened, and they realized they were naked; so they sewed fig leaves together and made coverings for themselves. Genesis 3:1-7

Do see what happened here? We became aware of sin. And since later on man thought that he could be righteous before God by what he does, God added laws to show us that we couldn't be righteous. The laws point us to our need for a savior. They don't point us to self-justification.

¹⁹Now we know that whatever the law says, it says to those who are under the law, so that every mouth may be silenced and the whole world held accountable to God. ²⁰Therefore no one will be declared righteous in his sight by observing the law; rather, through the law we become conscious of sin. Romans 3:19-20

Thank God for Jesus! He completed the hard work for us. Now the work of God is to believe in Jesus (John 6:29). But how do we obtain and do the good things God wants? We live in a relationship with Him and trust the Holy Spirit He sent to live in us. As it says in Hebrews 3 "Fix your thoughts on Jesus."

22But the fruit of the Spirit is love, joy, peace, patience, kindness, goodness, faithfulness, ²³gentleness and self-control. Galatians 5:22-23

This is the real fruit God wants you to eat. He does not want you to continue to pursue and define sin. The fruit of the Spirit isn't something "Good Christians" do. It is a by-product of RELATIONSHIP with God.

You see, focusing on what sin is and isn't will only lead to the opposite of the good fruits God has already place inside of you.

In Hebrews 8:10-12, God tells us that He has put his laws on our hearts and minds, meaning by His Holy Spirt. He will lead us and guide us in His way of love. He can do this because He has forgiven and forgotten our sins.

Stop eating from the tree that leads to death. Eat from the Tree of Life (Jesus) and live by His Spirit.

Knowing God

I remember being in youth group when I was younger and learning from the pastor about being able to drop your head knowledge of God to your heart. He called it the "12 inch drop" or something like that.

To be honest, I don't think I really understood that concept until much later in my life. I probably didn't get it until these last few years. It is one thing to have head knowledge of God, but it is something completely different to know Him in your heart. I mean, really know Him.

So let's take a look at the word "know" (Compliments of dictionary.com)

-Verb (used with object)

1. To perceive or understand as fact or truth: to apprehend clearly and with certainty: I know the situation fully.

2. To have established or fixed in the mind or memory: to know a poem by heart; Do you know the way to the park from here?

3. To be cognizant or aware of: I know it.

4. Be acquainted with (a thing, place, person) as by sight, experience, or report: to know the mayor.

5. To understand from experience or attainment

6. To be able to distinguish, as one from another: to know right from wrong

Many times I have heard Christians speculating on who God really is and how He operates. It seems like they really don't know Him. They are never certain about His character. They aren't certain if he is still hiding Himself from them or if He is still angry with them. Let me say right now that God isn't anymore mad at you than He is at Jesus. And God really loves Jesus.

Let me take you through a bit of scripture. Hebrews 8:10-12

¹⁰This is the covenant I will make with the house of Israel
after that time, declares the Lord.
I will put my laws in their minds
and write them on their hearts.
I will be their God,
and they will be my people. ¹¹No longer will a man teach his neighbor,
or a man his brother, saying, 'Know the Lord,'
because they will all know me,
from the least of them to the greatest. ¹²For I will forgive their wickedness
and will remember their sins no more.

It says that everyone from the least to the greatest will know God. That means that the most average person who thinks they can never have the same spiritual gifts and relationship with God as the high and mighty pastor can/does/should.

Now the word "know" is used twice in this passage. It is actually a different definition both times it is used.

The first time "Know the Lord", the Greek word is Ginosko -

To learn to know, come to know, get knowledge of.

This is the head knowledge I was talking about earlier. This is what people try to attain by their works and feeble understanding of God because they often don't rely on the relationship they have with Him by the Holy Spirit. They just try to gain knowledge of Him through doctrines and by what other people tell them to believe.

The second 'know' in this passage "they will all know me", the Greek word is Eido -

To see, to perceive with the eyes

To perceive by any of the senses

To notice, discern, and discover

To turn eyes, mind, and attention to

To look at, behold

To know, have regard for one, cherish and pay attention to

You see this is the relationship you have in your heart with God. It is being certain of who He is and knowing without a doubt that He is good. You can now look at God without fear. Before people would fall down dead in His presence, now because of this New Covenant, you can look at Him and behold His beauty, goodness and grace.

Do you see the difference?

¹¹No longer will a man teach his neighbor,
or a man his brother, saying, 'Ginosko the Lord,'
because they will all Eido me,
from the least of them to the greatest.

Before you had to try to gain knowledge so that you could eventually have a glimpse of who He was. But now You can see Him through Jesus Christ because He has forgiven and forgotten your sins. There is nothing that can keep you out of His presence.

What can separate you from God now?