The Hebrew Negative

What Joyful News!!

“This man receiveth sinners.” (Luke 15:2)

Sinners Jesus will receive;

Sound this word of grace to all

Who the heavenly pathway leave,

All who linger, – all who fall.

Sing it o’er and over again;
Christ receiveth sinful men;

Make the message clear and plain:

Christ receiveth sinful men.

Come, and He will give you rest;

Trust Him, for His Word is plain;

He will take the sinfulest;

Christ receiveth sinful men.

Sing it o’er and over again;
Christ receiveth sinful men;

Make the message clear and plain:

Christ receiveth sinful men.

Now my heart condemns me not,

Pure before the Law I stand;

He who cleansed me from all spot,

Satisfied its last demand.

Sing it o’er and over again;
Christ receiveth sinful men;

Make the message clear and plain:

Christ receiveth sinful men.

Christ receiveth sinful men,

Even me with all my sin;

Purged from every spot and stain,

Heaven with Him I enter in.

Sing it o’er and over again;
Christ receiveth sinful men;

Make the message clear and plain:

Christ receiveth sinful men!

~ This is a faithful saying, and worthy of all acceptation, that Christ Jesus came into the world to save sinners; – of whom I am chief! ~ (1 Timothy 1.15)

~ For God did not send the Son into the world in order to judge (to reject, to condemn, to pass sentence on) the world, but that the world might find salvation [and be made safe and sound] through Him ~ (John 3.17)

With you in prayer, John.

James 5:15-16 NASB
The effective prayer of the Righteous man can accomplished much.
I will remember you in my prayers today.

Yes, this is the way of true victory. Once again..we must see the true picture of what this life is all about before we can accept the battle we are in and what it will take to overcome. This earth is a battlefield – the war is between God/Love who created it from His Heart and one who chose jealousy and self reign. For God/Love, allowing His creation free will was a no brainer..anything less would be bondage. I Cor. 13 gives us a glimpse of what kind of God created us, He is patient, kind, not jealous in the way Lucifer was jealous, boastful, proud, rude, selfish, easily angered and keeps no record of wrongs-the only thing He has on record is the Blood of His Son laid out before Him. He does not gloat over your sins but delights in truth. He bears up under whatever happens, trusts in Love, always hopes for you and endures through your growing. His Love never ends for you. But then there’s this free will thing – a big responsibiity…but in using it to choose God/Love’s way, I become stronger in Him and a stronger force against His and my enemy. Lucifer cannot destroy God so the next best thing for him to destroy is His Creation. Our biggest cheerleader and Coach is God/Love…and if we have an open door to Him in our wills – He becomes our overcoming Energy Supplement! (I left you a note in Hard Lessons re: physical health last night) In Phil. 2 Paul explains to the church, “…keep working out your deliverance with fear (respect for God/Love) even in your weakness. (trembling)…for God/Love is the One working among you both to have the willingness and the ability to live in a way that covers you with Himself.” It takes effort but when we fail – obviously we are human not Godlike at this point – God/Love is championed in us – bearing up, hoping and enduring – so that our repentance will close the door we’ve opened to self rule and government. The enemies’ next strategy is condemnation – “God is really done with you now-you’ve blown it big time….you always have been a loser.” God doesn’t use condemnation – He only has Love/Truth – condemnation is a weapon against us…don’t fall for it! “But didn’t God say……….?” SHUT! ENOUGH ALREADY! Stop listening to words that are being twisted and trust in the One who created you and gave His Blood as an offering – a Blood much more valuable than a billion sheep. Therefore…there is no more condemnation for him who is in Christ Jesus/Love. “..let us also boast in our troubles; because we know that trouble produces endurance, endurance produces character, and character produces hope; and this hope does not let us down, because God’s love for us has already been poured out in our hearts through the Ruach HaKodesh who has been given to us. For while we were still helpless, at the right time, the Messiah died on behalf of ungodly people….God demonstrates His own Love for us in that the Messiah died on our behalf while we were still sinners. Therefore, since we have now come to be considered righteous by means of His bloody sacrificial death, how much more will we be delivered through Him from the anger of God’s judgment! ..we were reconciled with God through His Son’s death when we were enemies, how much more will we be delivered by His Life, now that we are reconciled!” Rom. 5 Instant cures are possible-when that is the best possible way – but God/Love is growing up a Neged Ezer who will partner with Him in reclaiming dominion of the earth He so loves. For that reason, our strength will come from the victories over those things that so easily entangle us. “So then, since we are surrounded by such a great cloud of witnesses, let us, too, put aside every impediment – that is the sin which easily hampers our forward movement – and keep running with endurance in the contest set before us, looking away to the Initiator and Completer of that trusting, Yeshua – who, in exchange for obtaining the joy set before Him, endured execution on a stake as a criminal, scorning the shame, and has sat down at the right Hand of the Throne of God…..My son, don’t despise the discipline of Adonai or become despondent when He corrects you. For Adonai disciplines those He loves and accepts as a son.” The enemy has put up a curtain of hostility and distrust in regard to how God/Love feels about us…isn’t that what he did with Eve? Don’t fall for it – we need to stand up tall in the knowledge of His Love for us and meet the responsibilities we have in caring for this creation – which is also taking proper care of our bodies. (You have to read my post in Hard Lessons about taking proper care of your own soil.)
We fail, we struggle and sometimes we almost give up – but all that drives us that way is from the enemy who fears us overwhelmingly. God/Love is cheering us on – believing we will overcome and infusing us with His powerful help when we call out for it. He’s awesome….I recommend Him Highly!

Skip, I pray that you are feeling better!

Like Laurita above, I have a slightly differing take on this first verse of Roman’s 8.
Roman’s 7 tells us that Paul is addressing brethren here, many of whom have probably been baptised and have received a down payment of the Holy Spirit. If that is true, they are in a very different mindset than Cain was as found in Genesis.
It seems to me that the cycle of life for a Christian goes something like this. God called us (John 6:44). We responded. We liked what HE has to offer – eternal life, glorious Kingdom of God, peace and security ad infinitum etc etc. A great deal!
So we ask:, what do we have to do to get to this place and get a ticket out of the hell of this world? (This hellish condition that we are all in was so so eloquently expressed by Skip as he shared his pains in a few recent TW’s !) Anyway, God’s Word shows us the Way out: “repent and be baptised for the remission of your sins and you will receive the gift of the Holy Spirit.

But if we have been instructed properly before “we die” in the baptismal pool, we understand that that God’s free gift comes with conditions / restrictions. We were told (or should have been!) that under the Law of Redemption in Torah, we need to a near kindsman to redeem us from our debts (sins). We eagerly accept God’s terms and so God has us sold to our near kindsman who is none other than our elder brother Yahshua HaMashiach. Paul tells us that we were bought with a price! Yeshua has covered our debts (sins) and we are set free from the bondage of sin and sins debt to God and we are no longer under the condemnation of the death penalty required for our rebellion against God. This is what Romans 8 is telling us. Fabulous stuff!
Problems arise (what Skip is discussing today) when we forget the terms of our release – which was that Yeshua bought us and now OWNS US – every part of us: body and mind and soul! We have surrendered all our rights to Him including our WILL to get our freedom.
Paul expressed this so eloquently when he wrote to Galatians:
I have been crucified with Christ; it is no longer I who live, but Christ who lives in me; and the life I now live in the flesh I live by faith in the Son of God, who loved me and gave himself for me.” (Gal. 2:20)

So any difference that I have with you in today’s TW, Skip, is really one of where we put the emphasis. When we break our baptismal covenant with God and fall back into sin, the first thing we need to do is to again resurrender our carnal will to His, ask God for forgiveness and more of His Spirit and pick up our lives once again as bondslave of Messiah. O sure effort and vigilance and sincerity are involved but to me throwing up the white flag of surrender to Him is of primary importance. Human effort alone, while noble in itself can be a tough road without the Holy Spirit and the mindset of a Bondslave of Messiah
Shalom

Great TW Skip. My Prayers are with you ALL.

🙂 Some much more i would love to share on this that reaches back into chapter 7 where Paul begins a new analogy that flows into chapter 8.

but it is critical to understand that chapter seven must be read in light of the previous chapters (and of course, the letter as a whole). As Paul continues his discussion of the law, keep in mind where he has just been in chapters five and six: namely, that we are no longer under the aspect, or purpose, of the law that brings death, or as he later puts it in chapter eight, the “law of sin and death.” In other words, we have been set free from sin and have become servants who obey God (6:22).

” There is therefore now no condemnation for those who are in Christ Jesus. For the law of the Spirit of life has set you free in Christ Jesus from the law of sin and death. For God has done what the law, weakened by the flesh, could not do. By sending his own Son in the likeness of sinful flesh and for sin, he condemned sin in the flesh, in order that the righteous requirement of the law might be fulfilled in us, who walk not according to the flesh but according to the Spirit .”

There are a few things we should take note of here. For the first time, we have the introduction of “the law of the Spirit of life,” which is clearly set in contrast to “the law of sin and death.” Paul has already discussed this law of sin and death in detail in chapters five through seven. The law of sin and death is the aspect of Torah that increases sin to those who are “in the flesh,” namely the unregenerate (those who are not identified in Mashiach). In contrast, those who are regenerate, who are in Mashiach , now are “under” the law of the Spirit of Life. Is this a new set of principles, different from what God had previously revealed? Is it merely the “heart” of the law, which many say does not necessitate obedience to God’s commands as long as we obey the general principle?
While this is generally what is taught in the Christian church at large, it simply does not follow from the argument Paul sets forth in Romans. Consider this:
Paul explains that the old self was enslaved to sin (6:6). Because of this enslavement, when we encountered God’s commands (the law), instead of these commands bringing about blessing, they increased our sinfulness, so that sin reigned in death (5:21). This is what Paul refers to as the law of sin and death.
Now, however, the old self has been crucified, the body of sin done away with, and we are no longer enslaved to sin (6:6). Sin no longer has dominion over us (6:9).
Since we are no longer enslaved to sin, it no longer has the power to cause sin to increase when we encounter God’s commands.
You see, God’s commands did not change. Our hearts changed. Our ability to respond positively to the commandments changed. Now let’s suppose, on the other hand, that Paul is referring to a freedom from God’s previously given instruction for his people. The argument would be as follows:
Paul explains that the old self was enslaved to sin (6:6). Because of this enslavement, when we encountered God’s commands (the law), instead of these commands bringing about blessing, they increased our sinfulness, so that sin reigned in death (5:21). This is what Paul refers to as the law of sin and death.
To remedy this problem, God freed us from his law, so that sin would not have the opportunity to increase.
Since we no longer have to obey his law, sin no longer reigns.
The problem with this argument is twofold. First, sin has not been put to death, but rather, in this argument, the opportunity for sin to increase has been removed by removing the need to be obedient to God’s commandments. Should God give a command, since sin is still alive, it will again have opportunity to cause sin to increase. Thus, if God were to give a command, he would fail to accomplish his purpose of freeing us from the law of sin and death. Under such an argument, God cannot free us from the law of sin and death and at the same time give us commands. This renders him impotent to give commands and directives! God ceases to be an authoritative God. Second, (but critically related to the first point), most believers do not actually think we are free from God’s law, at least in a general sense, at the heart level mentioned previously. Most agree that God has moral instructions for us, which at the most basic level include loving God and loving our neighbor. Those are commands, are they not? And we certainly haven’t been freed from them, which according to this second argument, puts us right back where we started. Our flesh encounters God’s moral commands to love God and our neighbor, and our flesh reacts. Sin increases. Sin reigns.
Instead, what we need is to be free, not from God’s commands, but from the sinful nature, the body of sin, the enslavement to sin, the law of sin and death, the evil inclination . . . call it what you want. If it is still alive, then we are enslaved. What we need is a freedom from this law and that is exactly what Paul says we have in Mashiach. We have been set free from the law of sin and death so that we can obey God’s commands. No longer will the body of sin respond negatively to God’s law because the body of sin is dead. God’s law is certainly not dead.
To put it one other way, there are two options to solve the problem of sin: God either has to free us from all his commands so that sin has no opportunity to reign OR the flesh has to be put to death. Which does Paul say that God has done for those in Mashiach?
So now, we in Mashiach have been made alive; no longer are we under the law of sin and death, but in its place, the law of the Spirit of life (8:2). As Paul puts it a few chapters earlier, we can now “walk in newness of life” (6:4). In other words, we are no longer under the aspect of God’s law that increases sin in the unregenerate heart, but rather, in its place, are under the aspect of God’s law that allows us to respond in obedience and receive blessings and life. With the old self dead, we can be blessed by God’s law, as he originally intended. Look at how Paul puts it:
By sending his own Son in the likeness of sinful flesh and for sin, he condemned sin in the flesh, in order that the righteous requirement of the law might be fulfilled in us, who walk not according to the flesh but according to the Spirit (8:4, emphasis ours).
What Paul says here is hugely significant. He says that now that sin is condemned (aka we are free from the law of sin and death), we can obey the righteous requirement of God’s wonderful commands, instead of always rebelling against them. Why? Because we no longer walk according to the flesh (the law of sin and death) but according to the Spirit (the law of the Spirit of life).
What an amazing truth this is! God knew the solution to our horrible problem, not to remove his righteous and just laws, but to free us from the old self that disobeyed them. Look at how Paul continues this same line of thought in chapter eight:
For those who live according to the flesh set their minds on the things of the flesh, but those who live according to the Spirit set their minds on the things of the Spirit. For to set the mind on the flesh is death, but to set the mind on the Spirit is life and peace. For the mind that is set on the flesh is hostile to God, for it does not submit to God’s law; indeed, it cannot. Those who are in the flesh cannot please God. You, however, are not in the flesh but in the Spirit, if in fact the Spirit of God dwells in you. Anyone who does not have the Spirit of Mashiach does not belong to him (8:5-9, emphasis ours).
Those who live according to the flesh (to the law of sin and death) are hostile to God, do not submit to God’s law, cannot submit to God’s law, and cannot please God. Those who live according to the Spirit (to the law of the Spirit of life), in contrast, can do these things. We can obey his law. We can please him.

Peace and Blessings
Michael