Destined to Become a Living Soul - Part 621

Jesus said, "This is my commandment ... that you love one another as I have loved you." (John 15:12)

When our Lord God and Saviour formed man from the dust of the ground, He breathed into man's nostrils the breath of life. Thus, from that time forward, man became a living soul. (Genesis 2:7) In the days ahead, humans struggled with perfection and the freedom that God had given them. Indeed, the more we tried to abide by the letter of the law and the ten commandments, for example, the more we failed miserably. Our intellect got the best of us. This is why this same heavenly Father that created us in the beginning knew --- even before the world was created -- that He -- the Almighty God -- would become flesh and shed His precious holy blood on a cross so that we might be saved. (John 1:1-14)

"Of which salvation the prophets have inquired and searched diligently, who prophesied of the grace that should come unto you. searching what, or what manner of time the Spirit of Christ which was in them did signify, when it testified beforehand the sufferings of Christ and the glory that should follow." (I Peter 1:10-11)

As a consequence of the sufferings of Christ and the glory that should follow, He is forever able to make "all grace abound unto us so that we always have all sufficiency in all things that may abound to every good work." (II Corinthians 9:8) "For all things are your sakes so that the abundant grace might -- through the thanksgiving of many -- redound to the glory of God." (II Corinthians 4:15) 

In other words, His grace and mercy -- His abundant love for His creation -- is imparted to us in the revelation of Jesus Christ. Our first act of faith when we ask Jesus into our heart. "That as sin hath [previously] reigned death, even so might grace reign [forever more]." (Romans 5:21) 

Therefore, when Jesus died on the cross, He paid the price for our sins once and for all. The veil that had kept us captive to the old covenant law was torn from top to bottom. As a result, we no longer live under the law but under the dispensation of grace. The mystery which from the beginning of the world "hath been hid in God." Kept secret from humankind since the world began. Hid from ages and from generations. (Ephesians 3, Romans 16:25, Colossians 1:26) That is, until the coming of Jesus.

Unfortunately, there were those who did not recognize Jesus as God in the flesh. Their motives differed from the commandments that Jesus taught. Rather than accept that there were only two commandments -- that is to love the Lord thy God with all thy heart, with all thy soul and with all thy mind and second, to love one another as Jesus has loved us -- these learned men relied upon the traditions of their historical fathers.

Matthew 15 offers a prime example of this. Herein, we read that the learned intellectuals of the day accompanied by the Pharisees wanted to accuse Jesus' disciples of breaking the traditions of elders. The traditions and institutional form that men had legislated even though these traditions deviated from the old covenant scriptural teachings. 

Hoping to snare Jesus. they asked Him, "Why do your disciples break the tradition of the elders?"

The accusers here were referring to the washing of hands that man's tradition had dictated should always be done before one eats. Within the culture, Jews did not eat unless they gave their hands a ceremonial washing. Similarly, when these same men would come from the marketplace, the traditions of men demanded that they not eat any food unless they had washed.

But Jesus knew their hearts. He was aware that these intellectuals had no interest in truth or pursuing the love that God desired for His creation from the beginning. So He asked them, "And why do you break the command of God for the sake of your tradition? For God said, "Honour your father and mother" and "Anyone who curses his father or mother must be put to death." But you say that if a man says to his father or mother, "Whatever help you might otherwise have received from me is a gift devoted to God. He is not to "honour his father" with it. Thus, you nullify the Word of God for the sake of your tradition."

Further, Jesus said, "You hypocrites! Isaiah was right when he prophesied about you. "These people honour me with their lips but their hearts are far from me. They worship me in vain. Their teachings are [as nothing] but rules taught by men." (Matthew 15:1-9)

Then Jesus called the crowd to Him and said, "Listen and understand. What goes into a man's mouth does not make him unclean but what comes out of his mouth. That is what makes him unclean." (Matthew 15:10-11)

Then the disciples came to Jesus and asked, "Do you know that the Pharisees were offended when they heard this?" Jesus replied, "Every plant that my heavenly Father has not planted will be pulled up by the roots. Leave them. They are blind guides. If a blind man leads a blind man, both will fall into a pit."

But the apostle Peter did not understand what Jesus had said. He asked for further explanation. You see, even though the apostles sojourned with Jesus daily, there were times when even they had to be taught.

Jesus replied, saying, "Don't you see that whatever enters the mouth goes into the stomach and then out of the body. But the things that come out of the mouth come from the heart, and these make a man unclean. For out of the heart come evil thoughts, murder, adultery, sexual immorality, theft, false testimony, slander. These are what make a man unclean. But eating with unwashed hands does not make him unclean." (Matthew 15:15-20)

After Jesus silenced the Pharisees, he reproved them for their hypocrisy and wickedness of hearts. They had nullified -- or made void -- the commandments of God through their traditions. There are still those intellectuals and Pharisees today that would have believers ignore the Biblical scriptures, desiring instead that we follow their religious and institutional traditions. The traditions of men. This is why the letter of the law contained within the Old Testament -- the old covenant -- is so often preached and dictated to believers.

But Jesus brought a new covenant. The dispensation of grace. Indeed, Jesus said there are only two commandments. That is to love our beloved Lord God and Saviour Jesus with all our heart, with all our soul, and with all our mind and to love one another. This is the grace that covers our transgressions. Because even before the world was formed, our Lord God and Saviour loved us. His name is Jesus. It is He that wants the sin that once reigned in our hearts to be covered by His precious blood shed on the cross. The grace of Jesus now reigning in our hearts. Search the scriptures. Willingly do His will. Stand in the offering plate.