Greetings Brian, and all who love the Lord Jesus Christ;
<<< Ezek. 36 :26-27, " Moreover I will give you a new heart and put a new spirit within you; and I will remove the heart of stone from your flesh and give you a heart of flesh, and I will put my Spirit within you and cause you to walk in my statutes,and you will be carefull to observe my ordinances. <<
This scripture along with many others especially Jeremiah 31:31 was fullfilled at Calvary, with the death ressurrection and ascension of our Lord Jesus Christ. The Old Covenant people of God did not have the " Divine Nature " as believers now have under the New and Better Covenant. This " mystery " of " Christ in You " came into being afer Calvary when Jesus was raised from the dead. He appeared to His disciples and according to John 14:17 :
" that is the Spirit of Truth.................but you know Him for He abides with You, and will " BE IN YOU ".
This promise was officially realized by some disciples in John 20:22.
"" And when He had said this, He breathed on them and said to then " Receive the Holy Spirit ". These , according to the scriptures were the first born-again Christians under the New Covenant. The Old Covenant People of God enjoyed an " external " form of worship with God. We , since Calvary have an " inner " expression of worship, for we worship God in spirit and truth ( John 4: 21-24).
Brian please read and respond to my previous post on the types of Life we were discussing. If we can't agree here everything else we discuss will be at odds with eachother. Thank You.
Indeed Abraham is the Father of faith for all who would believe, but He never inherited the promises. He believed God and was able to look ahead to Calvary to the promise God gave him in Gen 12:3. He was not looking for a physical " Land " nor did he ever have it. He was looking for a " Spiritual Land " which we under the New Covenant enjoy.
" Heb. 11: 9-10, "" By faith he lived as an alien in the land of promise, as in a foreign land, dwelling in tents with Isaac and Jacob, fellow heirs of the same promise;
for he was looking for the CITY which has foundations, WHOSE BUILDER AND MAKER IS GOD.
Heb.11:13, " all these died in faith without receiving the promises, but having seen them and welcomed them from a distance, and having confessed that they were strangers and exiles on the earth
Heb. 11:16; " But as it is, they desire a better country, that is a heavenly one. Therefore God is not ashamed to be called thier God; for He has prepared a city for them
Heb.12:22. " But YOU ( Believers in Christ ) have come to Mount Zion and to the City of the Living God, the "HEAVENLY JERUSALEM ".
Ephes.2:6 " and raised US up with Him, and seated us with Him in the heavenly places, in Christ Jesus ".
We now belong to this City of God, the New Jerusalem as do the Old Testament saints since Calvary.
This is getting very long, I'll close for now. Grace and peace be unto all the brethren, Robert |
