John 1:16-17 (Amplified) says, "For out of His fullness (abundance), we have all received, all had a share and were all supplied with, one Grace after another and Spiritual Blessing upon Spiritual Blessing and even favor upon favor and Gift heaped upon Gift. For while the Law was given through Moses, Grace (unearned, undeserved favor) and Spiritual Blessing and Truth, came through Jesus Christ."
1Corinthians 3:14-16 (Amplified) says, "In fact their minds were grown hard and calloused, they had become dull and had lost the power of understanding, for until this present day, when the old covenant is being read, that same veil still lies on their hearts, not being lifted to reveal that in Christ it is made void and done away. Yes, down to this very day whenever Moses is read, a veil lies upon their hearts and minds. But whenever a person turns in repentance to the Lord, the veil is stripped off and taken away."
The veil spoken about in the above scripture, still lies on the hearts of many in today's Church. We don't understand the difference between the way our Heavenly Father disciplined those in the old covenant and the way He disciplines His family by His Word and His Spirit. We continue expecting Him to discipline us, like He did those who weren't born-again. The veil still lies over our hearts and minds, like we are under the old covenant, instead of being born-again, Spiritual being and God's family.
We don't need to work at obeying the Law, in order to qualify for the Blessing. We're qualified through the One and Only Sacrifice of Jesus. The Promises aren't based on our qualifications anymore, but on His. We've somehow allowed the veil to cover our hearts and minds, by the enemy's deceptions that tell us that we're "not worthy to accept what Jesus paid to give us." This is why faith is so important to today's Church. Romans 4:16 (Amplified) says, "Therefore, inheriting the Promise is the outcome of faith and depends entirely on faith, in order that it might be given as an act of Grace (unmerited favor), to make it stable and valid and guaranteed to all his [Abraham's] descendants, not only to the devotees and adherents of the Law, but also to those who share the faith of Abraham, who is thus the father of us all."
Through Jesus, we've already come into the inheritance of the Promise, but we've heard the Law of Moses preached for so long, that we still have a veil over our understanding. We continue expecting the Father to punish and correct us, by the same physical standards He used with those under the Law, instead of by our spirits, which are alive to Him through Jesus. Don't be misled. God still does correct and disciplines us, but He uses His Word and His Spirit to do so. That's why every Christian should understand 2Timothy 3:16 (Amplified), which says, "Every scripture is God-breathed (given by His Inspiration) and is profitable for instructions, for reproof and conviction of sin, for correction of error and discipline in obedience, and for training in Righteousness, in holy living, in conformity to God's will in thought, purpose and action. So that the man of God may be complete and proficient, well-fitted and thoroughly equipped for every good work."
Why would we not adjust our lives by God's Word, instead of waiting until something happens to us physically and then believing "It was God's doing?" God speaks and corrects us by His Spirit and His Word, so we can avoid the pitfalls the enemy has laid before us and so we don't have to fall into them at the cost of our lives. Proverbs 17:10 (Amplified) says, "A reproof enters deeper into a man of understanding than a hundred lashes into a self-confident fool." Proverbs 15:5 (Amplified) says, "A fool despises his father's instruction and correction, but he who regards reproof acquires prudence."
The above scriptures aren't just "pretty words," but are for those of understanding. Proverbs 4:7 (Amplified) tells us, "The beginning of Wisdom is, get Wisdom, skillful and Godly Wisdom! For skillful and Godly Wisdom is the principal thing, and with all you have gotten, get understanding, discernment, comprehension, and interpretation."
For centuries, the Church has stumbled between the old and new covenants. Things don't work for God's family, because we cannot separate ourselves from the Law. The Law doesn't work for us, because we cannot keep it. Grace doesn't work for us, because we won't allow it to. We've mixed Law and Grace, thinking this is how it should be.
The Law operates by works, while Grace operates by faith. If we don't do everything the Law requires, then the Blessing is held back and if we try making Grace operate by works, then the Blessing is held back. It's either by Grace or not at all. Jesus paid an awesome price, in order to redeem us from the Curse of the Law. The Curse came when the people no longer did what the Law demanded. Grace has made the Law void and useless for the new creation child of God. The Blessing of God has already been made ours in Jesus. We don't operate by works any longer, but by Grace.
Our faith in the Finished Word of Jesus Christ, has already qualified us to the Blessing, because we are heirs of God and joint-heirs with Jesus. The things we're trying to make work, have already been done and made ours through Jesus, if we will simply accept them. This was the Father's idea, not your's. If God didn't intend for you to have them, then He would have simply left us under the Law. These things were conditional and no one could ever keep the conditions. God did away with these conditions and made it all by Grace, through faith. The only condition is that we receive Jesus and accept by faith, what He has already done.
Some might ask, "Don't we have to at least try to do the Law?" "No." As being one in Jesus and with Him, we've already fulfilled the Law and all the Blessing are already ours. Jesus says in Matthew 5:17 (Amplified), "Do not think that I have come to do away with or undo the Law or the prophets; I have come not to do away with or undo but to complete and fulfill them." Whether or not we see it, God sees us in Jesus, as having fulfilled all the Law and the prophets. In Jesus, our Heavenly Father you as never having violated any of His Words or commandments. You've been made perfect, in the perfection of Jesus.
Under the Law, "None were Righteous," but in Jesus, we have been made Righteous. This is an act of Grace and must be accepted by faith. If your deny His Righteousness and try to become righteous on your own, then you've put yourself back under the Law, which Jesus has already fulfilled for you. We've mixed Law and Grace, to a place where neither work like God intended.
The above scripture instructs us to, "With all you have gotten, get understanding." Without understanding, we've fallen into the same trap the enemy has used against the Church, for thousands of years. Man's idea of how to function in Spiritual understanding, is the same veil that covers and clouds the hearts and minds of believers. Law doesn't work by Grace and Grace cannot work by Law. One cancels the other out. You don't get your prayers answered, because you are good, but because God is good. We don't deserve anything, but God has just given it to us, by His Grace and Love.
In Hebrews 11 Paul writes about those of faith. Paul goes on in Hebrews 12:1 (Amplified) saying, "Therefore then, since we are surrounded by so great a cloud of witnesses who have borne testimony to the Truth, let us strip off and throw aside every encumbrance (unnecessary weight) and that sin which so readily and deftly and cleverly clings to and entangles us, and let us run with patient endurance and steady and active persistence, the appointed course of the race that is set before us."
I believe "that sin that deftly and cleverly clings to us and entangles us," is unbelief in what Grace has already done for us. We've limited the Holy One, like those in the Wilderness did, by our unbelief. We've accepted what we thought was correction by the flesh, without understanding that i the Father wasn't doing this, but the enemy. This has brought the Curse on those, who've been redeemed. We've staggered at the Promises through unbelief. We have allowed the enemy to have access, because we don't have understanding.
The Curse still is in the earth, but we have been exempted from the Curse, by faith in our Redeemer, Jesus Christ. Romans 8:1-2 (Amplified) tells us, "Therefore, there is now no condemnation (no adjudging guilty of wrong) for those who are in Christ Jesus, who live and walk not after the dictates of the flesh, but after the dictates of the Spirit. For the Law of the Spirit of Life which is in Christ Jesus (the Law of our new being), has freed me from the Law of Sin and of Death." We must stay away from the dictates of the flesh. We must not allow our senses to bring unbelief and limit God in our lives.
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