New Covenant

“To show proper reverence to God, we must be quiet and somber.”

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They say, “To show proper reverence to God, we must be quiet and somber.” Is it true? No.

There will certainly be times to be quiet before God, but the Bible says we are to “rejoice in the Lord always.”

Rejoice in the Lord always. I will say it again: Rejoice! Philippians 4:4 The Greek word translated as “rejoice,” chairó, means to rejoice, be glad, be cheerful.* We are to rejoice “always;” the Greek word, pantote, means, at all times. That would include when we’re in church. And yes, we’re to rejoice even in the face of suffering and persecution.

The Hebrew word translated as praise, from which we get hallelujah, means to shine; hence, to make a show, to boast; and thus to be (clamorously) foolish; to rave; causatively, to celebrate; also to stultify:—(make) boast (self), celebrate, commend, (deal, make), fool(-ish, -ly), glory, give (light).”**–even dance and spin around! No straight faces and sitting still!

*https://biblehub.com/greek/5463.htm

**https://www.blueletterbible.org/lexicon/h1984/kjv/wlc/0-1/

“Jesus is the Great Physician”

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Is it true? No.

Shocked? But doesn’t the Bible say he is? No, Jesus quoted mockers who had no faith in Capernaum, who would taunt him with a local proverb, “Physician heal thyself.”

Jesus said to them, “Surely you will quote this proverb to me: ‘Physician, heal yourself!’ And you will tell me, ‘Do here in your hometown what we have heard that you did in Capernaum.’” Luke 4:23.

Jesus didn’t use medicine to heal people—he used supernatural power! Even in the advanced medicine of the twenty-first century, physicians admit, “Medicine isn’t science—it’s an art. We only practice.” They also often say, “I don’t know. We don’t have a treatment for that.”

Jesus always knows what to do; his healing is free and is available to everyone. It does no harm and has no bad side-effects. He and his healing are way above any physician. That is good news!

“Christians aren’t different from anyone else, we’re just beggars telling other beggars where to find bread.“      

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They say, “Christians aren’t different from anyone else, we’re just beggars telling other beggars where to find bread.“      

 Is it true? No.

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Those who follow Jesus are redeemed and transformed by the Holy Spirit and adopted into the family of God! We are no longer beggars but are daughters and sons of the Most High King. Jesus promised that we could ask anything in his name and he would do it.

Yes, we offer Jesus, the Bread of Life–not as beggars, but as co-heirs with Jesus.

The Spirit you received does not make you slaves, so that you live in fear again; rather, the Spirit you received brought about your adoption to sonship. And by him we cry, “Abba, Father.” Romans 8:15

The Spirit you received does not make you slaves, so that you live in fear again; rather, the Spirit you received brought about your adoption to sonship. And by him we cry, “Abba, Father.”

Romans 8:15

And I will do whatever you ask in my name, so that the Father may be glorified in the Son.You may ask me for anything in my name, and I will do it. John 14:13,14

They say, “When Jesus said we are the salt of the earth he meant we’re to preserve the culture.”

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Is it true? No.

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The Bible interprets itself. It says that salt is a sign of the Covenant; God isn’t particularly interested in preserving human cultures, his mission is to spread his culture–the Kingdom of Heaven. Followers of Jesus are to be a sign to the world of the Kingdom of Heaven—and how to get there (John 8:31,32)

Season all your grain offerings with salt. Do not leave the salt of the covenant of your God out of your grain offerings; add salt to all your offerings. Leviticus 2:13

From that time on Jesus began to preach, “Repent, for the kingdom of heaven has come near.” Matthew 4:17

Cultures are set on earthly things. But the ultimate citizenship of followers of Jesus is in heaven.

Their mind is set on earthly things. But our citizenship is in heaven. And we eagerly await a Savior from there, the Lord Jesus Christ, who, by the power that enables him to bring everything under his control, will transform our lowly bodies so that they will be like his glorious body.  Philippians 3:19-21

They say, “It’s impossible to keep the Law of Moses.”

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In the 21st century and every century since 70 AD when the Romans destroyed the Jerusalem Temple—yes, since sacrificing at the Temple is a large part of the Law Moses gave (from God) to the Hebrews.  However, to say that it was always impossible is to overlook a number of passages in the New Testament:

Elizabeth and her husband (the parents of John the Baptizer) were upright, “observing all the Lord’s commandments and regulations blamelessly”. (Luke 1:6)

The “rich young ruler” said he had kept all the commandments since his youth. (Mark 10:17-23)

Paul said that he, himself, had been blameless in regard to the Law. (Philippians 3:5,6)

But those who followed Jesus learned “a new and better way” in the New Covenant of following Jesus’ teachings and coming under his atoning grace.

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