GOD'S POSITIVE ABOUT YOU

For all the negative things we have to say to ourselves,

God has positive answers:

You say: “It’s impossible.” God says: All things are possible. (Luke 18:27)

You say: “I’m too tired.” God says: I will give you rest. (Matthew 11:28-30)

You say: “Nobody really loves me.” God says: I love you. (John 3:16 & John 13:34)

You say: “I can’t go on.” God says: My grace is sufficient. (II Corinthians 12:9 & Psalm 91:15)

You say: “I can’t figure things out.” God says: I will direct your steps. (Proverbs 3:5-6)

You say: “I can’t do it.” God says: You can do all things. (Philippians 4:13)

You say: “I’m not able.” God says: I am able. (II Corinthians 9:8)

You say: “It’s not worth it.” God says: It will be worth it. (Roman 8:28)

You say: “I can’t forgive myself.” God says: I FORGIVE YOU. (I John 1:9 & Romans 8:1)

You say: “I can’t manage.” God says: I will supply all your needs. (Philippians 4:19)

You say: “I’m afraid.” God says: I have not given you a spirit of fear. (II Timothy 1:7)

You say: “I’m always worried and frustrated.” God says: Cast all your cares on ME. (I Peter 5:7)

You say: “I don’t have enough faith.” God says: I’ve given everyone a measure of faith. (Romans12:3)

You say: “I’m not smart enough.” God says: I give you wisdom. (I Corinthians 1:30)

You say: “I feel all alone.” God says: I will never leave you or forsake you. (Hebrews13:5)

God wants you to depend on Him and draw your strength from Him – you are His beloved

ZACCHAEUS & THE RICH RULER

DO WE PREACH GRACE OR LAW?

Two linked Bible stories reveal the differences between the effect of The Law and the effect of Grace.

(Lk 18:18)  A certain ruler asked him, “Good teacher, what must I do to inherit eternal life?”…….          (Lk 19:2)  A man was there by the name of Zacchaeus; he was a chief tax collector and was wealthy. He wanted to see who Jesus was………

It is not by coincidence that these two stories almost directly follow each other in The Scriptures!

1)    WHY DID JESUS PREACH RELIGIOUS LAW TO SOME AND GRACE TO OTHERS?

God gives The Law to the Self-Righteous while to the humble and lost He shows Grace.

Jesus understood that The Law was given to expose Self-Righteousness and for bringing people to an end of themselves. This is the only reason Jesus preached The Law, he never preached The Law to condemn people.  The Jewish Teachers of Jesus’ day had totally misunderstood the purpose of The Law of Moses (The ten commandments+). They used it for the exact opposite purpose for which it was intended.  They taught that people could be saved and holy by obeying The Law.

In contrast Jesus preached The Law to show that no one could ever be saved by keeping The Law and that all fall short, all have sinned and all need a Saviour and Grace. Jesus never preached the Ten Commandments as an external moral code for man to live by or a way of obtaining Righteousness. Jesus knew that these things could only come about through a heart transformed by Grace.

Let’s be honest, we all would like to keep the Ten Commandments, but the truth is that we all blow it, no matter how hard we try.

The good news is that under The New Covenant, our role is to recognize that we fall short of God’s holiness standard, we therefore rely on God’s Grace and find rest in Christ from The Law. The Law just brings us terrible condemnation and death (2Cor.3:7-9) so we need to get free from it.

It is only from position of Grace that we are able to live in the way God desires: a loving, generous, holy life full of the fruit of the Spirit. Right living flows from a heart that is full of Grace, it can never come about by trying to obey The Law.

Traditionally we have been taught that Jesus preached Laws for believers to aspire to and live by. However we have missed the truth that both Jesus and Paul used The Law in a different way, in the way for which it was originally intended i.e. to expose the sin of Self-Righteousness, pride and the sin of unbelief. Moral sin flows out of unbelief, moral sin is the fruit of man’s pride and independence from God.

This misunderstanding of the purpose of The Law has led to confusion in the Church and has resulted in an erroneous deadly mixture of Law and Grace that has produced terrible fruit in many Christian lives.

 Looking at the two parables of the Rich Ruler and Zacchaeus help us understand how Jesus correctly applied Law and Grace with amazingly different results.

2)    THE RICH RULER & THE LAW (Lk.18:18-24).

This parable typifies the Principle that to the Self-Righteous Jesus always preached The Law.

Luke 18:18 A certain ruler asked him, “Good teacher, what must I do to inherit eternal life?”19 Why do you call me good?” Jesus answered. “No one is good—except God alone. 20 You know the commandments: ‘Do not commit adultery, do not murder, do not steal, do not give false testimony, honor your father and mother.’”21 “All these I have kept since I was a boy,” he said. 22 When Jesus heard this, he said to him, “You still lack one thing. Sell everything you have and give to the poor, and you will have treasure in heaven. Then come, follow me.”23 When he heard this, he became very sad, because he was a man of great wealth. 24 Jesus looked at him and said, “How hard it is for the rich to enter the kingdom of God!

The key context

Luke 18:9 Jesus spoke this parable to  men who trusted in themselves that they were righteous, and despised others.

Firstly, To enable us to fully understand what issue is actually being addressed it is very important to establish and interpret scripture in its context. A scripture taken out of context can be a con.

The context of these two stories is that Jesus was exposing the primary sin of pride and self-righteousness and was starting to reveal Grace to Israel.

Jesus knew that exposure of Self Righteousness is crucial, as the Self Righteousness deny the need for salvation…. after all who needs to be saved if they are righteous (in right standing with God) through their own efforts.  Self-Righteousness is the ultimate manifestation of man’s pride, man’s self sufficiency and the Fallen nature of Mankind.

The issue of Righteousness by self effort or Righteous by Grace is in fact the key theme of Scripture, it is crux of the Cross and is one of the keys to fully understanding the Kingdom and the ministry of the Holy Spirit (Rom.14:17).

Points from the story of the Rich Ruler.

Jesus’ intent in this encounter was not to give us another impossible Law to obey “You must sell everything and give all your money to the poor”. Jesus was actually exposing Self-Righteousness and the bondage to money from which self-sufficiency and self-righteousness often flows.

Jesus was responding to a very specific question (v18) from a self-sufficient and rich Ruler who asked: “What must I do to inherit Eternal Life?”.

The Rich Ruler’s question reveals the foundations of Self-Righteousness i.e. Self Effort. This trait happens to be particularly pertinent to the Rich because they are self- sufficient, able and  “Doers” based on:-

• The erroneous and arrogant belief that we are able “ to do” things that make us worthy, holy and sufficiently qualified to spend eternity with God.
• The assumption that we are good and don’t need a Saviour and God’s Grace.
• The belief that we can obey laws and keep The Law to the perfect degree that God’s Holy Law demands.

Jesus’ usual response to people wanting to ‘do things’ to get saved was to preach The Law in an extreme form. In this case it was “Go and sell everything, give it to the poor and follow me“. Jesus knew that the Rich Ruler believed he was good, able and righteous. Jesus also knew that he was obsessed with money. Despite his claim of having kept The Law since childhood, through his money making he had actually repeatedly broken the Law “Thou shalt not covet”.  Sadly the Rich Ruler was blind to this fact.

If this Rich Ruler was ever to repent and be saved In response Jesus had to first reveal the Rich Rulers Self-Righteousness, spiritual blindness and bondage to money.

What is interesting is the actual affect the preaching of Law actually had on the Rich Ruler. Did he repent? No! Instead he hardened his heart and turned away from Jesus because he realised he could not DO what The Law required. In a way it seems like a strange story. No one was saved, no one repented and no one followed Jesus.  However it needs to be said that firstly, the Rich Ruler missed the point of Jesus’ teaching. Secondly, not everyone is saved and The Lord gives us freewill to turn away if we choose.  Thirdly, the sermon was not wasted as the listening crowd understood what was being taught and responded in the right way to Jesus’ teaching. The response Jesus was looking for was actually for people to understand their precarious position and cry out for Grace.

Lk 18:26 Those who heard this asked, “Who then can be saved?” Jesus replied, “What is impossible with men is possible with God.”

Lessons from the Rich Ruler

1. Self-Righteousness is a strong bondage which spiritually blinds people.
2. The religious-rich are particularly prone to Self-Righteousness.
3. No one can save themselves by keeping The Law.
4. Law preaching results in condemnation and turning away from Jesus.
5. Law preaching just reinforces how much we fall short and fail.
6. Preaching The Law doesn’t get people saved.
7. Preaching The Law does not lead to repentance.

Thankfully Jesus also didn’t leave us with just this story as He desired to teach us what happens when we preach The Law and what happens when we share Grace.  The teaching continues and He reveals the way of Grace in the very next chapter. And thank God the results are astoundingly different!

3)    THE RICH TAX COLLECTOR AND GRACE

Luke 19:2 A man was there by the name of Zacchaeus; he was a chief tax collector and was wealthy.  3 He wanted to see who Jesus was, but being a short man he could not, because of the crowd. 4 So he ran ahead and climbed a sycamore-fig tree to see him, since Jesus was coming that way. 5 When Jesus reached the spot, he looked up and said to him, “Zacchaeus, come down immediately. I must stay at your house today.”6 So he came down at once and welcomed him gladly. 7 All the people saw this and began to mutter, “He has gone to be the guest of a “sinner.’” 8 But Zacchaeus stood up and said to the Lord, “Look, Lord! Here and now I give half of my possessions to the poor, and if I have cheated anybody out of anything, I will pay back four times the amount.” 9 Jesus said to him, “Today salvation has come to this house, because this man, too, is a son of Abraham. 10 For the Son of Man came to seek and to save what was lost.”

The  context.

The rich man in this story is called Zacchaeus which means “an Israelite”. He was a Jew just like the Rich Ruler and as such he was also under the Law of Moses. Zacchaeus was a very rich Jewish Tax collector who worked for the Romans. These tax collectors exploited and defrauded the Jewish people and they were intensely hated. The Jews considered him to be a traitor, a sinner and unclean (v7) -no one would associate with him.

Points from the story of Zacchaeus

What is crucial in this story is for us to see that Zacchaeus was desperate to encounter Jesus.  This desperation for Jesus is what determines Jesus’ actions and response to Zacchaeus. Unlike the Rich Ruler, Zacchaeus’ focus was not on ‘what he should do’ but on who Jesus was. This rich man humbled himself and climbed a tree just so he could see Jesus. This must have been quite a sight and quite an effort for this short man. Jesus’ response to the rotten and corrupt Zacchaeus was pure love and Grace.

(v5) “ Zacchaeus, come down immediately. I must stay at your house today.”

This was amazing as Jesus knew that Zacchaeus was despised and a “sinner”. Jesus also knew that his offer to go to Zacchaeus’ house would offend people as Zacchaeus was a Jew, under the Law and clearly a Law breaker. However in stark contrast to Jesus’ response to the Rich Ruler:-

• Jesus never preached The Law to Zacchaeus.
• Jesus never once pointed out his sin or that Zacchaeus lacked anything.
• Jesus never indicated that He required Zacchaeus to do anything.
• He never condemned Zacchaeus in any way.
• Jesus simply showed him Grace and acceptance – by coming to his house to eat.

The affect of Jesus’ Grace and acceptance is nothing short of miraculous and is in stark contrast to the Rich Ruler who turned away from Jesus:-

• Zacchaeus is overwhelmed by Jesus’ Grace
• He welcomed Jesus and was full of joy (v6).
• He received salvation through Jesus (v9&10).
• The kindness of Jesus causes him to repent of his sinful way of life (v8).
• He was contrite and humble of heart and confessed his sin.
• Without being told what to do, his heart led him to do what was right (eous).
• He was set free from his bondage to money.
• He showed a heart for the poor and needy.
• He set out to make right the affects of his past sins.

It must be clearly understood that it is not his actions of giving away his money that gained him salvation and righteousness. Giving his money away was the result of his meeting Jesus, experiencing Grace and receiving salvation.  True salvation and Grace always results in a transformed character and Godly good works that are from the heart.

Lessons from Zacchaeus.

1. When people seek Jesus He responds in Grace.  Jesus is Grace!
2. Jesus shows Grace to those who are humble and not Self-Righteous.
3. When we share Grace, unconditional love and acceptance, people will be saved.
4. It’s the kindness of God that leads to repentance, not the Law.
5. People don’t need the Law to know that they are sinners and fall short in some way.
6. Repentance is a change of mind, a change of belief which results in a change of actions.
7. True ‘good works’ come from a heart transformed by Grace.
8. A  heart touched by Grace will show concern for the oppressed and needy.

4)    CONCLUSION

Preaching Religious Laws exposes peoples short coming but it doesn’t bring people to salvation.

There is a better way than preaching Law-  it’s the way of revealing God’s love and Grace through Jesus Christ!

Not only does the Grace of Christ bring people to salvation but it transforms people’s characters and enables them to live Righteously.

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HEALTH THROUGH JESUS' REST

OUR REST AND HEALTH IN CHRIST

Heb 4:11  Let us, therefore,  labour (KJV) to enter God’s rest

THE PEACE & JOY KINGDOM

Understanding that we are Righteous – in right standing with, and accepted by God – by faith and not because of what we do, or fail to do, results in an inner joy and peace as we hope for and expect blessings from a good and kind God.

Rom 14:17  For the kingdom of God is not a matter of eating and drinking, but of righteousness, peace and joy in the Holy Spirit……

Rom 14:13  May the God of hope fill you with all joy and peace as you trust in him, so that you may overflow with hope by the power of the Holy Spirit.

REST AND HEALTH THROUGH GRACE

The only thing that believers are called to strive and labour for in the New Covenant is inner rest that comes through the Grace of Christ.

Depression and sickness are major fruits of today’s work, success and perfection focussed society.

Depression is affecting many Christians who are not living in Grace and who are instead works, obedience and law orientated and therefore doomed to fall short all the time.

Living by the soul is living by the intellect and logic which leads to striving and worry.

There is a higher way of living by the Spirit which leads to inner rest.

Heb 4:11  Let us, therefore,  labour (KJV) to enter that rest, so that no one will fall by following their example of disobedience. 12 For the word (Logos) of God is living and active. Sharper than any double-edged sword, it penetrates even to dividing soul and spirit, joints and marrow; it judges the thoughts and attitudes of the heart.

JESUS SETS US FREE FROM THE LAW’S OPPRESSION

Jesus came to set us free from the bondage of living by the flesh, trying to fulfil the law which leads to oppression.

Jesus came to proclaim the good news of Grace and God’s dispensation of unearned favour for all who would believe.

Luk 4:18  “The Spirit of the Lord is on me, because he has anointed me to preach good news to the poor. He has sent me to proclaim freedom for the prisoners and recovery of sight for the blind, to release the oppressed.

BELIEVING IN GOD’S GOODNESS (NUM.13:23)

Israel’s unbelief and distrust of God (Num.13:23) prevented them from receiving their blessing and rest.

Likewise, the major battle within us is against unbelief.

Unbelief causes us to doubt God’s good intentions and love for us – it was the original sin.

Unbelief is the sin that the Holy Spirit convicts of (John 16:9).

Heb 3:12  See to it, brothers, that none of you has a sinful, unbelieving heart that turns away from the living God.

LINK BETWEEN GRACE REST & HEALTH

There is a direct medical link between the lack of inner peace and rest and stress.

Perfectionism, works and obedience orientated Christian living is stressful as it’s always focussing on our sin and short comings.

Knowing and accepting that all our sins are forgiven and that we are righteous through Jesus will produce good mental and physical health.

Sin focussed Christianity leads to condemnation, guilt, shame, anxiety and sickness.

Rom 4:7  “Blessed are they whose transgressions are forgiven, whose sins are covered. 8  Blessed is the man whose sin the Lord will never count against him.”   ……. comes from:  Psa 32:1 Blessed is he whose transgressions are forgiven, whose sins are covered. 2  Blessed is the man whose sin the LORD does not count against him and in whose spirit is no deceit. 3  When I kept silent, my bones wasted away through my groaning all day long. 4  For day and night your hand was heavy upon me; my strength was sapped as in the heat of summer. 5  Then I acknowledged my sin to you and did not cover up my iniquity. I said, “I will confess my transgressions to the LORD”— and you forgave the guilt of my sin.

Heb 4:11  Let us, therefore,  labor (KJV) to enter that rest, so that no one will fall by following their example of disobedience. 12  For the word (Logos) of God is living and active. Sharper than any double-edged sword, it penetrates even to dividing soul and spirit, joints and marrow; it judges the thoughts and attitudes of the heart.

THE TREADMILL OF SELF WORKS AND THE SICKNESS CYCLE

When one cannot accept God’s grace, forgiveness and love, then we cannot believe we are truly God’s beloved children and blessed.

When our identity is based on what we do instead of the finished work of the cross, we are insecure in our identity.

UNCERTAINTY OF IDENTITY ->  LACK OF GRACE TO SELF -> UNBELIEF -> FEAR -> ANXIETY

->CONTROL-> PASSIVITY OR BUSYNESS -> LAWS & RULES -> JUDGMENTS

EMOTIONAL AFFECTS ->  Resentment. Bitterness. Anger / Frustration. Negativity. Panic.

PHYSICAL AFFECTS : Chemical imbalances leading to….  JOINT PROBLEMS. DEPRESSION (anger turned inward). HEART ISSUES. GASTRIC ILLNESS. CANCERS (Self hate & rebellion)

THE WAY OUT

Rom 4:5  However, to the man who does not work but trusts God who justifies the wicked, his faith is credited as righteousness.

Rely on Jesus, see yourself as he is. Fix your eyes on Him……

WHAT IS LEGALISM

 Legalism, in Christian theology, is a usually pejorative term referring to an over-emphasis on discipline of conduct, or legal ideas, usually implying an allegation of misguided rigour, pride, superficiality, the neglect of mercy, and ignorance of the grace of God or emphasizing the letter of law at the expense of the spirit. Legalism is alleged against any view that obedience to law, not faith in God’s grace, is the pre-eminent principle of redemption.

 In the New Testament

The words ‘legalism’ or ‘legalist’ do not occur in the Old or New Testaments. Legalism’s root word, “law” (Greek nomos), occurs frequently in the New Testament, and sometimes connotes legalism. The Greek of Paul’s day lacked any term corresponding to the distinct position of “legalism”, “legalist”, or “legalistic”,

One concept of legalism, the belief that salvation can be earned by obedience to laws, is referred to in various New Testament books, including Galatians. In this case, some Jews who had become Christians believed that in order to obtain salvation, both faith in Christ (as Messiah), and obedience to the Mosiac laws were required, such as the cases of the circumcision controversy and the Incident at Antioch. Generally, however, these cases are referred to as the Judaizer controversy, rather than a legalism controversy, but the two are related.

Legalism refers to any doctrine which states salvation comes strictly from adherence to the law. It can be thought of as a works-based religion. Groups in the New Testament said to be falling into this category include the Pharisees, Sadducees, Scribes, Judaizers, and Nicolaitans. They are legalists because they emphasized obeying the Law of Moses, in the case of the Pharisees and Scribes, to the letter without understanding the concept of grace. Jesus condemned their legalism in Matthew 23. The Pharisees love of the praises of men for their strict adherence is said to be a prime example of legalism.

Legalism is sometimes confused with obedience. New Testament books such as Romans, speak of grace and obedience together. An example is found in Romans 1:5 (New American Standard Version) speaking of Christ ‘through whom we have received grace and apostleship to bring about the obedience of faith among all the Gentiles, for His name’s sake…’ The goal of receiving the grace was to bring about obedience of faith. Here grace, faith and obedience are tied together. Other references are in Acts 5:29, 32; Romans 16:19; 2 Corinthians 7:15; Hebrews 5:9.

Legalism is also confused with discipline, which is often spoken of in a positive light. See 1 Corinthians 9:17; 1 Timothy 4:7; 2 Timothy 1:7 and Hebrews 12:5–11.

A third common misunderstanding of legalism is the word law. Law in many places in the Bible refers to the Law of Moses, see also Biblical law in Christianity. In Galatians the Judaizers were trying to insist that salvation required that a person be circumcised prior to obeying the Law of Christ. Galatians 2:16 says, “Knowing that a man is not justified by the works of the law, but by the faith of Jesus Christ, even we have believed in Jesus Christ, that we might be justified by the faith of Christ, and not by the works of the law: for by the works of the law shall no flesh be justified” (King James Version). The faith here is the Law of Christ and the law here is the Law of Moses. The legalism of the Judaizers was that obedience to the law of Moses was necessary to be saved

From http://en.m.wikipedia.org/wiki/Legalism_(theology)

SERMON ON THE MOUNT

Many Christian struggle with the Sermon on the Mount  in which Jesus seems to set impossibly high standards for Christian living  (Mt.5:1- Mt.7:29).

In His famous sermon Jesus seems to be setting amazingly high standards of living, which despite our heart’s desire, most of us know we fall short of. However before we fall into condemnation and are driven to do more good works to prove ourselves, we need to read the whole sermon on the mount, beginning to end and ask what was Jesus’ aim, who was He addressing and for what reason?

When seeking to understand this important sermon from the aspect of grace we see that Jesus’purpose was actually to call us to a dependence on Him, His holiness (1Cor.1:30), His righteousness (Matt.5:20) and His Spirit rather than to give us a list of seemingly impossibly high “do and don’t” to endeavor to live by in our own strength. Jesus is in fact teaching that the wonderful sentiments of this sermon can only be lived out as His Spirit and His grace empowers and free us to be His life on earth.

It is important for us to grasp this deeper and significant theme of the Sermon on the Mount least like the famous writer Leo Tolstoy (of ‘War and Peace’ fame)  we take the sermon simply to be a list of rules for good Christian living. Tolstoy thought this and in the early 20th century he built a movement solely around the teaching and laws of the  Beatitudes. This movement, like most Christianity based on laws, rules and regulations was doomed to failure because rule based living relies on acts of man’s will rather than the empowering and righteousness of the Spirit of Jesus within. The strength, will and obedience of man always falls short unless it is sourced in the grace and empowering of Jesus.

When looking at the Sermon on the Mount one of the critical truths is to recognize is that Jesus preached this sermon to Jews who were following Him as a Rabbi (a Jewish teacher), they did not yet know Him or recognize Him as Lord and Savior.  The context of the whole sermon is that Jesus was addressing the issue of righteousness - how we get right with God (Mat.5:20). He was expounding the very, very, high standard of righteous living expected of those under the Law of Moses who were seeking to be righteous through Law  keeping (Rom.9:31). Jesus was endevoring to being about a paradim shift as to what righteousness was and how it was attained.

Jesus was clarifying that if we choose to live by laws and rules, the righteous behavior required by the Law must even exceed that of the strictest Pharisee. Jesus points out that these “righteous” Pharisees that lead Israel,were actually hypocrites (Mat.6:2) and  were in many instances breaking the commandments and teaching the others to do the same .  Jesus taught,  if anyone wants to be righteous enough for God based on the Law, it only works if you live perfectly and are perfect just like God …. like Him (Mat.5:38)….. think about that one.

Thank God that in the end of the sermon Jesus reminds us that the solution  is to seek first His kingdom and HIS righteousness. His righteousness is not based on our keeping the Law & our works but on the cross and His fulfillment of the Law (Rom.3.21-22). That’s the good news of the gospel of the grace of Christ – our righteousness is a gift from God, not something we work for.

Now some may think that I am are implying that we need to ignore the all the good and beautiful things in the Sermon on the Mount and the high standard of living it alludes to – no, I’m not!  But I am are saying don’t think that you can earn righteousness and God’s favor by trying to live out these things – you will never make the grade and ultimately you will fall into self righteousness and /or condemnation. That’s the point of the teaching to show us how we all fall short if we focus on the way we live instead of who we live by.  We live by the Spirit of Jesus within us and in this grace we find ourselves living righteously in a natural effortless way that is full of joy , love and a blessing to all around us, simply because of who we are in Christ and who He is in us (Gal.2:20).

It is good and desirable to bless our enemies, endure persecution as a blessing, never break any of the Law’s commandments, to forgive, reconcile, turn the other cheek, be perfect like God, to stop focusing on money, keep pure thoughts, not to get angry with others, to pray, give, stop worrying, fast,  not to swear, not to get divorced, to bear good fruit and not to judging others. I’m all for it  and I’m sure we all want to live like this, but if the truth be known we just so often fall short (Rom.7:19) –  try as much as we want!

The good news is that righteousness is the root not the fruit of good works! We will find ourselves doing the things of the Sermon on the Mount once we have found Jesus’ righteousness, firmly established ourselves in it and realized that we are righteous not because of any  good works, obedience, self effort, will or trying. We are righteous purely because we have received the gift of Jesus righteousness (Rom.3:19-24)and for no other reason. Righteous living can only come about as a fruit of knowing that our righteousness is Jesus alone.

It’s not just coincidence that after preaching all the heavy high standards of righteousness  to the Jews, Jesus next meeting is with an leper and a Roman gentile, both rejects according to the Jewish Law. Jesus responses radically to their faith, not by preaching but showing grace by healing. Amazingly he make that statement that he has never found such faith in the whole of Israel as he experienced in the Roman gentile “sinner” (Matt 8:1-10), could this amazing faith have come about because this Roman was not under Law and therefore faith could operate? The lesson is that it’s hard for those who choose to place themselves under law, rules, regulations and obedience based on self effort and will (the Jews in this case) to please God. However those under grace please God simply because of their trust and belief in His goodness and His Son. That’s what New Covenant living is all about – our dependence on Jesus and His Spirit within us.

Be blessed, Garry www.gracelovetruth.com Connect with us on Twitter or Facebook.