Experience the Difference
Experience the Difference
Gal 4:19-31 AMP My little children, for whom I am again suffering birth pangs until Christ is completely and permanently formed (molded) within you, (20) Would that I were with you now and could coax you vocally, for I am fearful and perplexed about you! (21) Tell me, you who are bent on being under the Law, will you listen to what the Law [really] says? (22) For it is written that Abraham had two sons, one by the bondmaid and one by the free woman. [Gen. 16:15; 21:2, 9.] (23) But whereas the child of the slave woman was born according to the flesh and had an ordinary birth, the son of the free woman was born in fulfillment of the promise. (24) Now all this is an allegory; these [two women] represent two covenants. One covenant originated from Mount Sinai [where the Law was given] and bears [children destined] for slavery; this is Hagar. (25) Now Hagar is (stands for) Mount Sinai in Arabia and she corresponds to and belongs in the same category with the present Jerusalem, for she is in bondage together with her children. (26) But the Jerusalem above (the Messianic kingdom of Christ) is free, and she is our mother. (27) For it is written in the Scriptures, Rejoice, O barren woman, who has not given birth to children; break forth into a joyful shout, you who are not feeling birth pangs, for the desolate woman has many more children than she who has a husband. [Isa. 54:1.] (28) But we, brethren, are children [not by physical descent, as was Ishmael, but] like Isaac, born in virtue of promise. (29) Yet [just] as at that time the child [of ordinary birth] born according to the flesh despised and persecuted him [who was born remarkably] according to [the promise and the working of] the [Holy] Spirit, so it is now also. [Gen. 21:9.] (30) But what does the Scripture say? Cast out and send away the slave woman and her son, for never shall the son of the slave woman be heir and share the inheritance with the son of the free woman. [Gen. 21:10.] (31) So, brethren, we [who are born again] are not children of a slave woman [the natural], but of the free [the supernatural].
My wife and I did not understand this text to the degree we do now, until we went through some things that allowed us to experience the difference. Reading the difference in Scripture only gave us a mental picture, but experience birthed in us a true knowledge leading to wisdom.
Many of our fellow believers are missing out on this experience because they have never followed Moses’ teachings closely and put them into practice. As those who have, we can testify truly of experiencing the difference.
The inspired writer of Galatians, the great Apostle Paul, had also experienced the difference. His writings can seem complicated and hard to understand, especially to those who have not experienced what Paul had. Paul spoke on a spiritual level that seems to go over our heads much of the time.
2Pe 3:16 AMP Speaking of this as he does in all of his letters. There are some things in those [epistles of Paul] that are difficult to understand, which the ignorant and unstable twist and misconstrue to their own utter destruction, just as [they distort and misinterpret] the rest of the Scriptures.
The most common distortion of Paul’s letters is that of the lawless doctrine in which an imbalance of grace vs. law exists. Scripturally, according to the true apostolic doctrine, there is a balance between grace and law. Also, there are specific ways in which each covenant allows those in covenant to relate to the law or experience grace.
Before we continue, it is important I state the following truths.
First, the Eternal Law of Elohim (God) stands forever over all creation. By HIS Word (which is Law) he holds the creation together. If his Word ever became void, all creation would be in big trouble.
Second, the Eternal Law of God is not the same thing as the Law of Moses. The Law of Moses is the communication of the Eternal Law of God through types and shadows and natural, outward things to a nation who were not new creations in the Spirit, but who were of a carnal, rebellious heart, as a whole. The Law of Moses was to bring this chosen nation of Israel in check, naturally. Thus, the Law of Moses contains elements from the Eternal Law of God, but also is communicated and enforced in a manner that is earthly and natural, and not heavenly and eternal. In addition, some ordinances have nothing to do with the Eternal Law, but were given only to govern natural people of a nation.
Third, the Law of the Spirit of Life in Messiah is not the same thing as the Law of Moses, but is another term for the Eternal Law of God. This eternal Law is designed to give Life to all sons of Adam who accept their Redemption, which is a free gift, and is not obtained by works in the flesh.
Fourth, the Law of Moses was given to expose sin as utterly sinful, showing carnal men (all since the fall of Adam) to be sinful in a wretched state and in need of Redemption. The Law of Moses can give life to sin but death to the people, because the Accuser of the Brethren uses this to curse and destroy the sons of Adam who are not Redeemed.
Fifth, it is not that the Eternal Law or the Law of the Spirit of Life is in contradiction to the Law of Moses or vice versa, but that the Law as given through Moses was taken from the Eternal Law and then veiled. Being given to people unable to worship in spirit and in truth, the Law of the Spirit of Life could not be given to Israel directly without a veil, and thus was given in natural terms with natural practice and ritual of worship, through the servant of God, Moses. These outward works of ritual worship are not what pleases God in themselves.
Sixth, because of our corrupted flesh, the Law in the form given through Moses becomes a stumbling block to the nations and Israel in one way, while the Law of the Spirit of Life and Yahshua (Jesus) himself become a stumbling block in another way. It is not that either are bad as we know the Law is good and holy as Paul stated, and Yahshua is our Redeemer. But, we stumble over things because of the corruption in our carnality, which is in rebellion to God.
Seventh, no man will ever be justified by the Law of Moses to receive eternal life. No man will ever know the Father in heaven through the Law of Moses. There is only one way, truth, and life, and his name is Yahshua, the Word become flesh, who came to take away the sins of the world and thereby Redeem whosoever will come to him and accept this Redemption. However, the Law of Moses still has purpose even now, and has not been made void or done away with. We simply need to know what that purpose is, and how it relates to those of us who are the Redeemed.
Paul
Paul’s letters are in my opinion the best writings in Scripture to show the difference between the old (national Israel) and new (the Redeemed) covenants. His letters also do a fantastic job telling us how the Law of Moses, and the Law of the Spirit of Life, relate now to the Redeemed.
It should be no mystery as to why the Holy Spirit chose to inspire Paul for these writings. He was the greatest vessel of persecution against the Redeemed in his generation before his miraculous conversion. He was a Pharisee of Pharisees who had learned from the greatest Pharisee of his generation. He was brilliant in his understanding of the Law of Moses and the Prophets of ancient Israel. Then, he became the recipient of the greatest measure of grace of any Apostle mentioned in Scripture.
No other Apostle needed such grace to be forgiven of murdering the Redeemed. No other Apostle needed such grace to be forgiven for being an enemy of Yahshua and the cross of our salvation. No other was a leader standing over the murder of the righteous Steven when the unbelieving Jews stoned him to death while he was operating in the Spirit sent from heaven.
But, because Paul, formerly known as Saul of Tarsus, was shown such grace, he understood this grace of God in the new covenant more so than anyone else, by experience. Because his writings are full of the teaching and preaching of this grace, some then make him out to be lawless, which is not true. Though he received grace, and correction from the Holy Spirit concerning how the Law of Moses is to relate to the Redeemed, he did not become lawless or teach lawlessness.
Rom 7:12 AMP The Law therefore is holy, and [each] commandment is holy and just and good.
Because of a misunderstanding and misapplying of the writings of Paul, many Christians have errantly thought of and spoken of the Law of Moses as if it were bad. It is not bad. As Paul says, it is “holy…just and good.”
On the other hand, we and many others went to the other extreme for a time, and many still do, which misapplies the Law of Moses to the Redeemed. It is “holy…just and good,” but it is not applied properly in any of the main “Torah Observant” groups I’ve seen. It is regularly being applied in a manner that brings death, not life; dryness, not the latter rains of the Spirit; wilderness experience, not promise land experience.
Having walked out both, Kathy and I have gained much knowledge and understanding on this subject, and more than ever understand what Paul was talking about.
What the Law Really Says
(20) Would that I were with you now and could coax you vocally, for I am fearful and perplexed about you! (21) Tell me, you who are bent on being under the Law, will you listen to what the Law [really] says?
Here is how the Law of Moses becomes a stumbling block to those attempting “Torah Observance.” The focus becomes so much on each commandment governing outward behavior that the big picture of what Torah teaches is missed.
I call this stumbling by nit-picking and making a big deal of little issues. Yahshua called it straining at a gnat and swallowing a camel. In that same context of Matthew 23 he goes on to say they were stumbling because they were so focused on outward appearances but were all unclean on the inside.
People this day are spending hours of their valuable time arguing over whether or not they should wear fringed clothing with tzitzit (tassles), how long, what knot style, if blue must be included, whether the dye needs to be from a specific source, etc. They have stumbled, hard, over the stumbling block that is the commandments of the Law of Moses. Their path does not lead them to fruitfulness.
In this distracted state, such people are missing what Scripture actually says concerning Law, the purpose of the Law, and how we now are to relate to the Law. We know they are missing it because if they were getting the big picture and what the Law really says, they wouldn’t even be concerned about tzitzit one way or the other. It would become a non-issue very quickly if they understand what the Law really says.
Here is a clue:
Jas 2:10-13 AMP For whosoever keeps the Law [as a] whole but stumbles and offends in one [single instance] has become guilty of [breaking] all of it. (11) For He Who said, You shall not commit adultery, also said, You shall not kill. If you do not commit adultery but do kill, you have become guilty of transgressing the [whole] Law. [Exod. 20:13, 14; Deut. 5:17, 18.] (12) So speak and so act as [people should] who are to be judged under the law of liberty [the moral instruction given by Christ, especially about love]. (13) For to him who has shown no mercy the judgment [will be] merciless, but mercy [full of glad confidence] exults victoriously over judgment.
The type and shadow given of the principle James is speaking of about showing mercy and you will be shown mercy is the Sabbath and Jubilee instructions of the Law of Moses. It is a violation of the Law to not let another enter rest. The Eternal Law component that this natural Sabbath rest and Jubilee is teaching us about is FREEDOM (LIBERTY as it says in the verse above).
Yahshua came to set the captives free, as Scripture says. To enter his rest (Sabbath), which is not a literal day, though the type and shadow is given as a literal day, one must be set free from bondage (slavery to sin and death and that taskmaster Satan).
Well, if you do not forgive another or show them mercy, you are holding them in bondage by a sin debt you keep them in. It is stated clearly in Scripture that according to the Eternal Law which Yahshua taught, that you MUST forgive others so your Father in heaven will forgive you. Thus, you show mercy and then he shows you mercy. The Law of Moses teaches this principles, though veiled, through the practice of Jubilee years when all debt was to be erased and all captives set free.
“Torah Observant” believers tend to stumble into condemnation of self and others, because they do not, and others do not, keep the Law of Moses perfectly. No one but Yahshua ever has. Because of this, they violate the Eternal Law of the Spirit of Life and put themselves in a position of under the Law (under the penalty of Law), instead of under grace (free from the penalty of Law).
I know from experience that this position is a dry, fruitless place, which feeds the carnal pride of the religious mind. It does not cause us to establish the Kingdom on earth as in heaven, or be fruitful branches connected to the Vine. It causes a spiritual disconnect from the Vine and a withering.
But, the Law really says that if you break one point, you are guilty of breaking all. Thus, the Word is saying, you who look down on another for their sins are in error. You too are a sinner and have fallen short, and it matters not which specific sins you have committed, you are by your sins disconnected from God and condemned to death. BUT, Yahshua says, I REDEEM you, if you will receive it.
What does he redeem us from?
Gal 3:13 KJVR Christ hath redeemed us from the curse of the law, being made a curse for us: for it is written, Cursed is every one that hangeth on a tree:
A person cannot redeem themselves by works of the Law of Moses. In fact, the more you try to perfectly do the works of the Law of Moses, the more you will run into the impossibility of doing so fully, so that you do not break a single point.
This is because the Word says that the point of the Law of Moses is to expose sinfulness, so that every man is humbled to the state of acknowledging he’s a sinner in need of Redemption. You can only be Redeemed by acknowledging your lack and need of such, which is outside of your own power and ability to accomplish.
Only such humility will work before the Judge. Trying to parade our “righteous works” in front of him will only lead to condemnation, as they will be found to come up short of the goal, and be nothing more than filthy rags before a perfect and holy God.
The Two Trees
The first book of the Law of Moses or “Torah” tells us about two trees which the first man and woman had access to in the center of the Garden of Eden. One was called the “Tree of the Knowledge of Good and Evil.” The fruit of this tree causes death. The other was called “The Tree of Life.” The fruit of this tree leads to everlasting life.
The Law is really saying by this that we have two choices just as the first man and woman. We can choose death or we can choose life. The Law of Moses pronounced this choice to national Israel at Mount Sinai.
Deu 30:15 AMP See, I have set before you this day life and good, and death and evil.
The Law of Moses contains both. The same test that was given to the first man and woman was being given to Israel. Which would they choose?
Most choose death. The ironic thing is, many Israelites who choose death tend to be self-righteous and prideful to a degree, thinking they know and understand and keep the Law of Moses, that they declare they have life and right standing with God.
However, Moses gives a big clue in the first book of Torah when he says the tree of death is called the “Tree of the Knowledge of Good and Evil.” He couldn’t give a more clear warning that the way of death is synonymous with the knowledge of good and evil (from the wrong source, or wrong perspective, or wrong use).
Knowledge of good and evil is not what is wrong here. God has knowledge of good and evil and said, “They have become like us knowing good and evil,” after the first man and woman at the fruit of that tree. Before this they were naïve and didn’t know anything but a relationship with God. How wonderful that must have been like!
But, Satan tempts men to partake of this fruit of his tree which is a knowledge of good and evil that separates us from a relationship with God. It makes us believe that we ourselves can eat and “become like God.” Another way to say it is that he tempts us to believe we can become godly on our own.
The Law of Moses was given to prove out to Israel and all mankind that you cannot eat of that fruit of the tree of the knowledge of good and evil, and become godly by it, or become like God by it. It only leads to death.
Let me restate for clarity. You can never partake of the knowledge of good and evil given through the Law of Moses and obtain everlasting life. You will only receive the penalty of death by trying to make yourself righteous, or like God, through the knowledge of good and evil.
When we try to determine what actions according to the Law of Moses will make us righteous and which will make us unrighteous, and then attempt in our own strength to thereby become godly, or like God, we are eating of the wrong tree. That tree is in the Law of Moses, just like it was in the center of the garden. Satan is still tempting people to eat of that tree.
After all, it looks good for food and pleasing to the eyes and able to make one wise.
But, it has no power to give everlasting life. It can only lead to death.
We went down that road for a few years and experienced it. It was not good and it was not what Yahshua redeemed us for. Of course, he worked all things out for our good, as those who love him and are called according to his purposes.
The Law of Moses also contains the Tree of Life. But, the heavenly truth and this heavenly life was concealed in the Law of Moses behind a veil. Just as in the beginning, Moses spoke of and wrote of the way of Life, but it was hidden from men and the path was guarded, so that no man could go there on his own and obtain this Life by his own power.
Enter Yahshua our Redeemer. His work on the cross caused a completing of the requirement of the Law of Moses, redeemed all mankind (each must receive this willingly, however) from the curse of the Law of Moses, and rent the veil from top to bottom, opening up the way to Life once again.
He entered the heavenly holy of holies behind the veil to sprinkle his own shed blood, to satisfy the requirement of the Law on our behalf, just as the type and shadow high priest of Israel did so each year.
Now, through our Redeemer, we can once again access the Tree of Life and we no longer need to partake in the knowledge of good and evil in a manner that leads us into bondage to sin and death.
Likewise, once again, we are able to connect with God and have a relationship with the Most High, our Father in heaven, through his Son, the only mediator between God and man. What Adam lost is being restored through the New Covenant.
Anyone who actually understands what the Law of Moses really says will never want to go back to the Old Covenant with national Israel or partake in the knowledge of good and evil through Torah for the sake of self-righteousness.
Do We Then Ignore the Commandments?
No. Rather, in the New Covenant, since we have relationship and not outward religion, and since we now have the Spirit dwelling in us to lead and guide us in the way of Truth and Life, we are to seek by such to properly discern how to apply the teachings of Scripture (including the Torah of Moses) to our natural lives on earth.
We are the Redeemed and we are made new creatures in Messiah spiritually. But, our flesh and mind is still the same old flesh and mind. We must be transformed in such by the renewing of our mind. We are to overcome the flesh which is disobedient and rebellious against God.
But, we will not accomplish this by attempting to take the Law of Moses and apply it to our lives in a legal manner in an attempt to become righteous by such. Doing so will only cause us to continue breaking all of that Law, because we will continue to fall short in at least one point, which means we continually break the whole Law of commandments.
As Paul said, it is not the Law of commandments that is bad. Such is holy, just, and good. But, the manner in which people use it is wrong and does lead to condemnation and death. The commandment is good, he said, but it causes sin to spring to life. And we know the end result of that.
Rom 7:8-14 AMP But sin, finding opportunity in the commandment [to express itself], got a hold on me and aroused and stimulated all kinds of forbidden desires (lust, covetousness). For without the Law sin is dead [the sense of it is inactive and a lifeless thing]. (9) Once I was alive, but quite apart from and unconscious of the Law. But when the commandment came, sin lived again and I died (was sentenced by the Law to death). [Ps. 73:22.] (10) And the very legal ordinance which was designed and intended to bring life actually proved [to mean to me] death. [Lev. 18:5.] (11) For sin, seizing the opportunity and getting a hold on me [by taking its incentive] from the commandment, beguiled and entrapped and cheated me, and using it [as a weapon], killed me. (12) The Law therefore is holy, and [each] commandment is holy and just and good. (13) Did that which is good then prove fatal [bringing death] to me? Certainly not! It was sin, working death in me by using this good thing [as a weapon], in order that through the commandment sin might be shown up clearly to be sin, that the extreme malignity and immeasurable sinfulness of sin might plainly appear. (14) We know that the Law is spiritual; but I am a creature of the flesh [carnal, unspiritual], having been sold into slavery under [the control of] sin.
The commandments are good, just and holy. They have something to teach us. They have a good purpose. Just as the way of death is in the Law of Moses, so is the way of Life concealed therein.
But, the commandments will not in themselves give us Life. Primarily because we have fallen short of the perfection of the Eternal Law of God (heavenly and unable to be truly perceived by natural men), and the Law of Moses revealed to natural men, as a way of making the Eternal Law perceptible, though veiled, to natural men.
What then are the commandments for, to those of us who are the Redeemed?
1. The commandments given to Moses for national Israel give us knowledge, wisdom, and understanding concerning how the natural realm relates to the eternal realm. Sabbath is an example. In heaven, there is no literal day of Sabbath, but the principle of Sabbath always at work - which is liberty and rest (from burdens). In Messiah we find this rest.
2. The commandments given to Moses give guidelines for national governance. Because men are still carnal in the world, they need guidelines and penalties. Otherwise, carnal men will become so uncontrollably sinful and violent, that the whole of the species is in danger of wiping itself out or being widely made subject to wrath.
3. The commandments also give a guide to those who love God and their neighbor in their hearts so they can express that love of God shed abroad in their hearts in a practical way, in the natural realm.
4. The commandments can teach us about Father’s will and his character (what he’s like). For example, many of the commandments deal with just treatment of others and just penalty for those who mistreat others. This teaches us that our Father in heaven is just and kind and wants all of the sons of Adam to be treated well and have blessed lives. He does not want people to be hurt or destroyed. The only ones he approved of in the Law of Moses to be destroyed were those destroying - thus, they were to reap what they sowed, and be removed from society so the destruction did not spread to harm more people.
5. The commandments expose sin as truly sinful so that we can be humbled by our sinfulness in the flesh and through such humility receive grace and thereby be exalted with Yahshua. As it is written, the humble will be exalted and the self-exalting will be brought low. Commandments or commandment keeping being used to exalt self over others, to declare self as righteous more than others, is actually a breaking of the Law, it is pride, and it will lead to a fall.
6. The commandments teach us wisdom concerning how to live in the flesh in the natural life on earth. An example of this is the dietary portion of the Law. It is not damnable to eat pork or shellfish, but it is foolish. These commandments teach us wisdom to live a more blessed natural life. Why? Because our Father in heaven loves us, even so that he wants us to succeed (prosper) and be in good health naturally, not just spiritually.
The Slave and the Free Woman
Now we go back to the opening Scripture quote. Which do we want to be? Do we want to be the slave woman or the free woman? Many who have stumbled over the Law of Moses through trying to be “Torah Observant” are unwittingly choosing to be like the child of the slave woman. There is an infatuation of being like the ancient Israelites and forefathers of Israel.
Knowing that ancient Israel with the Old Covenant was the child of the slave woman, why would we want to be that again when we are now children of the promise in the New Covenant; members of the child of the free woman?
The slave (ancient Israel) could not produce the children of promise; spiritual children born of the Spirit. The slave woman could only produce natural children without eternal life.
Only the Bride of Messiah, which is the people of the New Covenant can produce spiritual children. Rather, the Holy Spirit produces such spiritual children through the Bride of Messiah, the “church.” We are the free children of the free woman. She is not a slave like the previous woman.
She is the beloved and cherished wife who is in unity with the husband (Yahshua). She is under the authority of her husband, but not as a slave being commanded around like slave. She is given authority and boundaries to operate in as the wife, and has liberty and freedom in such.
With such, Yahshua did not give his spiritual bride a list of do’s and do not’s like Moses did ancient Israel. Why? Because she is not a slave but is free. She is free to have a relationship with him and be pleasing to him, or not. He may become disappointed in her and her conduct, but he loves here unconditionally. She is not cast off like the slave woman when her conduct required it, such as with Hagar, or ancient Israel.
Individuals who are not being pleasing, not walking in close relationship with him, will simply not bear him children. How can they? They aren’t entering the bed chamber.
A slave is under forced labor. A free woman is under voluntary labor. A slave works by compulsion. A free woman works by her love to serve her husband and others he wants her to minister to. A slave is forced into submission. A free woman is given the opportunity to submit and be blessed in it.
The child of the slave woman cannot be the legal heir. The child of the free woman can and is the legal heir of the husband and father.
The slave woman does not have authority but is a menial laborer. She depends on the master to provide everything and tell her exactly what to do and when to do it. The free woman knows her place, her authority under the husband (her master), and how to operate by making her own choices without the need for constant supervision or commandment of what to do and when to do it.
This is why ancient Israelites could not lay hands on the sick and know “they shall recover.” But, the bride of Messiah can. This is why the ancient Israelite could not receive the baptism of the Spirit and then have liberty to operate in the gifts and power of the Spirit. The slave woman was not entrusted with the authority like the Bride has been.
They had to wait on God to do something. We have been given the power and ability to do something about things (the earth around us and our circumstances) by the power of God he gave us.
They had to pray and plead with God, crying out for help. If we are walking in our right position and authority, we do not need to plead, we need to simply receive what is ours according to the marriage covenant, and walk in it. If we need something changed, such as a mountain moved, Yahshua gave us authority and teaches us we can speak to it and have it removed.
They had to receive revelation and direction through the anointed servants such as kings, prophets, and priests. We are all able to be led by the Spirit and empowered in the New Covenant.
They were not free but were still slaves to sin and death. We are the Redeemed and free from sin and death. In this we should rejoice! We should not desire to go back to what they had.
Heb 7:22 AMP In keeping with [the oath's greater strength and force], Jesus has become the Guarantee of a better (stronger) agreement [a more excellent and more advantageous covenant].
Reader, we do not want to be children of the slave woman, but children of the free woman. That is, we do not want to be children of the Law, but children of the Spirit of Life. The children of the Law (ancient Israel and the Law they were put under at Mount Sinai) could not inherit everlasting life thereby. Only the children of the Spirit of Life inherit the Kingdom and everlasting life.
Joh 3:5-6 AMP Jesus answered, I assure you, most solemnly I tell you, unless a man is born of water and [even] the Spirit, he cannot [ever] enter the kingdom of God. [Ezek. 36:25-27.] (6) What is born of [from] the flesh is flesh [of the physical is physical]; and what is born of the Spirit is spirit.
If you’ve been born of the Spirit, you know it. No one can convince you it didn’t happen, and no one needs to convince you it did happen. You know.
Rom 8:16-17 MKJV The Spirit Himself bears witness with our spirit that we are the children of God. (17) And if we are children, then we are heirs; heirs of God and joint-heirs with Christ; so that if we suffer with Him, we may also be glorified together.
Do not let the serpent convince you that the knowledge of good and evil will save you or make you like God (make you godly, righteous and holy). There is only one Way, Truth, and Life; his name is Yahshua (Jesus). His way is about relationship, not religion or ritual. He is our right focus.
Gal 4:19-31 AMP My little children, for whom I am again suffering birth pangs until Christ is completely and permanently formed (molded) within you, (20) Would that I were with you now and could coax you vocally, for I am fearful and perplexed about you! (21) Tell me, you who are bent on being under the Law, will you listen to what the Law [really] says? (22) For it is written that Abraham had two sons, one by the bondmaid and one by the free woman. [Gen. 16:15; 21:2, 9.] (23) But whereas the child of the slave woman was born according to the flesh and had an ordinary birth, the son of the free woman was born in fulfillment of the promise. (24) Now all this is an allegory; these [two women] represent two covenants. One covenant originated from Mount Sinai [where the Law was given] and bears [children destined] for slavery; this is Hagar. (25) Now Hagar is (stands for) Mount Sinai in Arabia and she corresponds to and belongs in the same category with the present Jerusalem, for she is in bondage together with her children. (26) But the Jerusalem above (the Messianic kingdom of Christ) is free, and she is our mother. (27) For it is written in the Scriptures, Rejoice, O barren woman, who has not given birth to children; break forth into a joyful shout, you who are not feeling birth pangs, for the desolate woman has many more children than she who has a husband. [Isa. 54:1.] (28) But we, brethren, are children [not by physical descent, as was Ishmael, but] like Isaac, born in virtue of promise. (29) Yet [just] as at that time the child [of ordinary birth] born according to the flesh despised and persecuted him [who was born remarkably] according to [the promise and the working of] the [Holy] Spirit, so it is now also. [Gen. 21:9.] (30) But what does the Scripture say? Cast out and send away the slave woman and her son, for never shall the son of the slave woman be heir and share the inheritance with the son of the free woman. [Gen. 21:10.] (31) So, brethren, we [who are born again] are not children of a slave woman [the natural], but of the free [the supernatural].
My wife and I did not understand this text to the degree we do now, until we went through some things that allowed us to experience the difference. Reading the difference in Scripture only gave us a mental picture, but experience birthed in us a true knowledge leading to wisdom.
Many of our fellow believers are missing out on this experience because they have never followed Moses’ teachings closely and put them into practice. As those who have, we can testify truly of experiencing the difference.
The inspired writer of Galatians, the great Apostle Paul, had also experienced the difference. His writings can seem complicated and hard to understand, especially to those who have not experienced what Paul had. Paul spoke on a spiritual level that seems to go over our heads much of the time.
2Pe 3:16 AMP Speaking of this as he does in all of his letters. There are some things in those [epistles of Paul] that are difficult to understand, which the ignorant and unstable twist and misconstrue to their own utter destruction, just as [they distort and misinterpret] the rest of the Scriptures.
The most common distortion of Paul’s letters is that of the lawless doctrine in which an imbalance of grace vs. law exists. Scripturally, according to the true apostolic doctrine, there is a balance between grace and law. Also, there are specific ways in which each covenant allows those in covenant to relate to the law or experience grace.
Before we continue, it is important I state the following truths.
First, the Eternal Law of Elohim (God) stands forever over all creation. By HIS Word (which is Law) he holds the creation together. If his Word ever became void, all creation would be in big trouble.
Second, the Eternal Law of God is not the same thing as the Law of Moses. The Law of Moses is the communication of the Eternal Law of God through types and shadows and natural, outward things to a nation who were not new creations in the Spirit, but who were of a carnal, rebellious heart, as a whole. The Law of Moses was to bring this chosen nation of Israel in check, naturally. Thus, the Law of Moses contains elements from the Eternal Law of God, but also is communicated and enforced in a manner that is earthly and natural, and not heavenly and eternal. In addition, some ordinances have nothing to do with the Eternal Law, but were given only to govern natural people of a nation.
Third, the Law of the Spirit of Life in Messiah is not the same thing as the Law of Moses, but is another term for the Eternal Law of God. This eternal Law is designed to give Life to all sons of Adam who accept their Redemption, which is a free gift, and is not obtained by works in the flesh.
Fourth, the Law of Moses was given to expose sin as utterly sinful, showing carnal men (all since the fall of Adam) to be sinful in a wretched state and in need of Redemption. The Law of Moses can give life to sin but death to the people, because the Accuser of the Brethren uses this to curse and destroy the sons of Adam who are not Redeemed.
Fifth, it is not that the Eternal Law or the Law of the Spirit of Life is in contradiction to the Law of Moses or vice versa, but that the Law as given through Moses was taken from the Eternal Law and then veiled. Being given to people unable to worship in spirit and in truth, the Law of the Spirit of Life could not be given to Israel directly without a veil, and thus was given in natural terms with natural practice and ritual of worship, through the servant of God, Moses. These outward works of ritual worship are not what pleases God in themselves.
Sixth, because of our corrupted flesh, the Law in the form given through Moses becomes a stumbling block to the nations and Israel in one way, while the Law of the Spirit of Life and Yahshua (Jesus) himself become a stumbling block in another way. It is not that either are bad as we know the Law is good and holy as Paul stated, and Yahshua is our Redeemer. But, we stumble over things because of the corruption in our carnality, which is in rebellion to God.
Seventh, no man will ever be justified by the Law of Moses to receive eternal life. No man will ever know the Father in heaven through the Law of Moses. There is only one way, truth, and life, and his name is Yahshua, the Word become flesh, who came to take away the sins of the world and thereby Redeem whosoever will come to him and accept this Redemption. However, the Law of Moses still has purpose even now, and has not been made void or done away with. We simply need to know what that purpose is, and how it relates to those of us who are the Redeemed.
Paul
Paul’s letters are in my opinion the best writings in Scripture to show the difference between the old (national Israel) and new (the Redeemed) covenants. His letters also do a fantastic job telling us how the Law of Moses, and the Law of the Spirit of Life, relate now to the Redeemed.
It should be no mystery as to why the Holy Spirit chose to inspire Paul for these writings. He was the greatest vessel of persecution against the Redeemed in his generation before his miraculous conversion. He was a Pharisee of Pharisees who had learned from the greatest Pharisee of his generation. He was brilliant in his understanding of the Law of Moses and the Prophets of ancient Israel. Then, he became the recipient of the greatest measure of grace of any Apostle mentioned in Scripture.
No other Apostle needed such grace to be forgiven of murdering the Redeemed. No other Apostle needed such grace to be forgiven for being an enemy of Yahshua and the cross of our salvation. No other was a leader standing over the murder of the righteous Steven when the unbelieving Jews stoned him to death while he was operating in the Spirit sent from heaven.
But, because Paul, formerly known as Saul of Tarsus, was shown such grace, he understood this grace of God in the new covenant more so than anyone else, by experience. Because his writings are full of the teaching and preaching of this grace, some then make him out to be lawless, which is not true. Though he received grace, and correction from the Holy Spirit concerning how the Law of Moses is to relate to the Redeemed, he did not become lawless or teach lawlessness.
Rom 7:12 AMP The Law therefore is holy, and [each] commandment is holy and just and good.
Because of a misunderstanding and misapplying of the writings of Paul, many Christians have errantly thought of and spoken of the Law of Moses as if it were bad. It is not bad. As Paul says, it is “holy…just and good.”
On the other hand, we and many others went to the other extreme for a time, and many still do, which misapplies the Law of Moses to the Redeemed. It is “holy…just and good,” but it is not applied properly in any of the main “Torah Observant” groups I’ve seen. It is regularly being applied in a manner that brings death, not life; dryness, not the latter rains of the Spirit; wilderness experience, not promise land experience.
Having walked out both, Kathy and I have gained much knowledge and understanding on this subject, and more than ever understand what Paul was talking about.
What the Law Really Says
(20) Would that I were with you now and could coax you vocally, for I am fearful and perplexed about you! (21) Tell me, you who are bent on being under the Law, will you listen to what the Law [really] says?
Here is how the Law of Moses becomes a stumbling block to those attempting “Torah Observance.” The focus becomes so much on each commandment governing outward behavior that the big picture of what Torah teaches is missed.
I call this stumbling by nit-picking and making a big deal of little issues. Yahshua called it straining at a gnat and swallowing a camel. In that same context of Matthew 23 he goes on to say they were stumbling because they were so focused on outward appearances but were all unclean on the inside.
People this day are spending hours of their valuable time arguing over whether or not they should wear fringed clothing with tzitzit (tassles), how long, what knot style, if blue must be included, whether the dye needs to be from a specific source, etc. They have stumbled, hard, over the stumbling block that is the commandments of the Law of Moses. Their path does not lead them to fruitfulness.
In this distracted state, such people are missing what Scripture actually says concerning Law, the purpose of the Law, and how we now are to relate to the Law. We know they are missing it because if they were getting the big picture and what the Law really says, they wouldn’t even be concerned about tzitzit one way or the other. It would become a non-issue very quickly if they understand what the Law really says.
Here is a clue:
Jas 2:10-13 AMP For whosoever keeps the Law [as a] whole but stumbles and offends in one [single instance] has become guilty of [breaking] all of it. (11) For He Who said, You shall not commit adultery, also said, You shall not kill. If you do not commit adultery but do kill, you have become guilty of transgressing the [whole] Law. [Exod. 20:13, 14; Deut. 5:17, 18.] (12) So speak and so act as [people should] who are to be judged under the law of liberty [the moral instruction given by Christ, especially about love]. (13) For to him who has shown no mercy the judgment [will be] merciless, but mercy [full of glad confidence] exults victoriously over judgment.
The type and shadow given of the principle James is speaking of about showing mercy and you will be shown mercy is the Sabbath and Jubilee instructions of the Law of Moses. It is a violation of the Law to not let another enter rest. The Eternal Law component that this natural Sabbath rest and Jubilee is teaching us about is FREEDOM (LIBERTY as it says in the verse above).
Yahshua came to set the captives free, as Scripture says. To enter his rest (Sabbath), which is not a literal day, though the type and shadow is given as a literal day, one must be set free from bondage (slavery to sin and death and that taskmaster Satan).
Well, if you do not forgive another or show them mercy, you are holding them in bondage by a sin debt you keep them in. It is stated clearly in Scripture that according to the Eternal Law which Yahshua taught, that you MUST forgive others so your Father in heaven will forgive you. Thus, you show mercy and then he shows you mercy. The Law of Moses teaches this principles, though veiled, through the practice of Jubilee years when all debt was to be erased and all captives set free.
“Torah Observant” believers tend to stumble into condemnation of self and others, because they do not, and others do not, keep the Law of Moses perfectly. No one but Yahshua ever has. Because of this, they violate the Eternal Law of the Spirit of Life and put themselves in a position of under the Law (under the penalty of Law), instead of under grace (free from the penalty of Law).
I know from experience that this position is a dry, fruitless place, which feeds the carnal pride of the religious mind. It does not cause us to establish the Kingdom on earth as in heaven, or be fruitful branches connected to the Vine. It causes a spiritual disconnect from the Vine and a withering.
But, the Law really says that if you break one point, you are guilty of breaking all. Thus, the Word is saying, you who look down on another for their sins are in error. You too are a sinner and have fallen short, and it matters not which specific sins you have committed, you are by your sins disconnected from God and condemned to death. BUT, Yahshua says, I REDEEM you, if you will receive it.
What does he redeem us from?
Gal 3:13 KJVR Christ hath redeemed us from the curse of the law, being made a curse for us: for it is written, Cursed is every one that hangeth on a tree:
A person cannot redeem themselves by works of the Law of Moses. In fact, the more you try to perfectly do the works of the Law of Moses, the more you will run into the impossibility of doing so fully, so that you do not break a single point.
This is because the Word says that the point of the Law of Moses is to expose sinfulness, so that every man is humbled to the state of acknowledging he’s a sinner in need of Redemption. You can only be Redeemed by acknowledging your lack and need of such, which is outside of your own power and ability to accomplish.
Only such humility will work before the Judge. Trying to parade our “righteous works” in front of him will only lead to condemnation, as they will be found to come up short of the goal, and be nothing more than filthy rags before a perfect and holy God.
The Two Trees
The first book of the Law of Moses or “Torah” tells us about two trees which the first man and woman had access to in the center of the Garden of Eden. One was called the “Tree of the Knowledge of Good and Evil.” The fruit of this tree causes death. The other was called “The Tree of Life.” The fruit of this tree leads to everlasting life.
The Law is really saying by this that we have two choices just as the first man and woman. We can choose death or we can choose life. The Law of Moses pronounced this choice to national Israel at Mount Sinai.
Deu 30:15 AMP See, I have set before you this day life and good, and death and evil.
The Law of Moses contains both. The same test that was given to the first man and woman was being given to Israel. Which would they choose?
Most choose death. The ironic thing is, many Israelites who choose death tend to be self-righteous and prideful to a degree, thinking they know and understand and keep the Law of Moses, that they declare they have life and right standing with God.
However, Moses gives a big clue in the first book of Torah when he says the tree of death is called the “Tree of the Knowledge of Good and Evil.” He couldn’t give a more clear warning that the way of death is synonymous with the knowledge of good and evil (from the wrong source, or wrong perspective, or wrong use).
Knowledge of good and evil is not what is wrong here. God has knowledge of good and evil and said, “They have become like us knowing good and evil,” after the first man and woman at the fruit of that tree. Before this they were naïve and didn’t know anything but a relationship with God. How wonderful that must have been like!
But, Satan tempts men to partake of this fruit of his tree which is a knowledge of good and evil that separates us from a relationship with God. It makes us believe that we ourselves can eat and “become like God.” Another way to say it is that he tempts us to believe we can become godly on our own.
The Law of Moses was given to prove out to Israel and all mankind that you cannot eat of that fruit of the tree of the knowledge of good and evil, and become godly by it, or become like God by it. It only leads to death.
Let me restate for clarity. You can never partake of the knowledge of good and evil given through the Law of Moses and obtain everlasting life. You will only receive the penalty of death by trying to make yourself righteous, or like God, through the knowledge of good and evil.
When we try to determine what actions according to the Law of Moses will make us righteous and which will make us unrighteous, and then attempt in our own strength to thereby become godly, or like God, we are eating of the wrong tree. That tree is in the Law of Moses, just like it was in the center of the garden. Satan is still tempting people to eat of that tree.
After all, it looks good for food and pleasing to the eyes and able to make one wise.
But, it has no power to give everlasting life. It can only lead to death.
We went down that road for a few years and experienced it. It was not good and it was not what Yahshua redeemed us for. Of course, he worked all things out for our good, as those who love him and are called according to his purposes.
The Law of Moses also contains the Tree of Life. But, the heavenly truth and this heavenly life was concealed in the Law of Moses behind a veil. Just as in the beginning, Moses spoke of and wrote of the way of Life, but it was hidden from men and the path was guarded, so that no man could go there on his own and obtain this Life by his own power.
Enter Yahshua our Redeemer. His work on the cross caused a completing of the requirement of the Law of Moses, redeemed all mankind (each must receive this willingly, however) from the curse of the Law of Moses, and rent the veil from top to bottom, opening up the way to Life once again.
He entered the heavenly holy of holies behind the veil to sprinkle his own shed blood, to satisfy the requirement of the Law on our behalf, just as the type and shadow high priest of Israel did so each year.
Now, through our Redeemer, we can once again access the Tree of Life and we no longer need to partake in the knowledge of good and evil in a manner that leads us into bondage to sin and death.
Likewise, once again, we are able to connect with God and have a relationship with the Most High, our Father in heaven, through his Son, the only mediator between God and man. What Adam lost is being restored through the New Covenant.
Anyone who actually understands what the Law of Moses really says will never want to go back to the Old Covenant with national Israel or partake in the knowledge of good and evil through Torah for the sake of self-righteousness.
Do We Then Ignore the Commandments?
No. Rather, in the New Covenant, since we have relationship and not outward religion, and since we now have the Spirit dwelling in us to lead and guide us in the way of Truth and Life, we are to seek by such to properly discern how to apply the teachings of Scripture (including the Torah of Moses) to our natural lives on earth.
We are the Redeemed and we are made new creatures in Messiah spiritually. But, our flesh and mind is still the same old flesh and mind. We must be transformed in such by the renewing of our mind. We are to overcome the flesh which is disobedient and rebellious against God.
But, we will not accomplish this by attempting to take the Law of Moses and apply it to our lives in a legal manner in an attempt to become righteous by such. Doing so will only cause us to continue breaking all of that Law, because we will continue to fall short in at least one point, which means we continually break the whole Law of commandments.
As Paul said, it is not the Law of commandments that is bad. Such is holy, just, and good. But, the manner in which people use it is wrong and does lead to condemnation and death. The commandment is good, he said, but it causes sin to spring to life. And we know the end result of that.
Rom 7:8-14 AMP But sin, finding opportunity in the commandment [to express itself], got a hold on me and aroused and stimulated all kinds of forbidden desires (lust, covetousness). For without the Law sin is dead [the sense of it is inactive and a lifeless thing]. (9) Once I was alive, but quite apart from and unconscious of the Law. But when the commandment came, sin lived again and I died (was sentenced by the Law to death). [Ps. 73:22.] (10) And the very legal ordinance which was designed and intended to bring life actually proved [to mean to me] death. [Lev. 18:5.] (11) For sin, seizing the opportunity and getting a hold on me [by taking its incentive] from the commandment, beguiled and entrapped and cheated me, and using it [as a weapon], killed me. (12) The Law therefore is holy, and [each] commandment is holy and just and good. (13) Did that which is good then prove fatal [bringing death] to me? Certainly not! It was sin, working death in me by using this good thing [as a weapon], in order that through the commandment sin might be shown up clearly to be sin, that the extreme malignity and immeasurable sinfulness of sin might plainly appear. (14) We know that the Law is spiritual; but I am a creature of the flesh [carnal, unspiritual], having been sold into slavery under [the control of] sin.
The commandments are good, just and holy. They have something to teach us. They have a good purpose. Just as the way of death is in the Law of Moses, so is the way of Life concealed therein.
But, the commandments will not in themselves give us Life. Primarily because we have fallen short of the perfection of the Eternal Law of God (heavenly and unable to be truly perceived by natural men), and the Law of Moses revealed to natural men, as a way of making the Eternal Law perceptible, though veiled, to natural men.
What then are the commandments for, to those of us who are the Redeemed?
1. The commandments given to Moses for national Israel give us knowledge, wisdom, and understanding concerning how the natural realm relates to the eternal realm. Sabbath is an example. In heaven, there is no literal day of Sabbath, but the principle of Sabbath always at work - which is liberty and rest (from burdens). In Messiah we find this rest.
2. The commandments given to Moses give guidelines for national governance. Because men are still carnal in the world, they need guidelines and penalties. Otherwise, carnal men will become so uncontrollably sinful and violent, that the whole of the species is in danger of wiping itself out or being widely made subject to wrath.
3. The commandments also give a guide to those who love God and their neighbor in their hearts so they can express that love of God shed abroad in their hearts in a practical way, in the natural realm.
4. The commandments can teach us about Father’s will and his character (what he’s like). For example, many of the commandments deal with just treatment of others and just penalty for those who mistreat others. This teaches us that our Father in heaven is just and kind and wants all of the sons of Adam to be treated well and have blessed lives. He does not want people to be hurt or destroyed. The only ones he approved of in the Law of Moses to be destroyed were those destroying - thus, they were to reap what they sowed, and be removed from society so the destruction did not spread to harm more people.
5. The commandments expose sin as truly sinful so that we can be humbled by our sinfulness in the flesh and through such humility receive grace and thereby be exalted with Yahshua. As it is written, the humble will be exalted and the self-exalting will be brought low. Commandments or commandment keeping being used to exalt self over others, to declare self as righteous more than others, is actually a breaking of the Law, it is pride, and it will lead to a fall.
6. The commandments teach us wisdom concerning how to live in the flesh in the natural life on earth. An example of this is the dietary portion of the Law. It is not damnable to eat pork or shellfish, but it is foolish. These commandments teach us wisdom to live a more blessed natural life. Why? Because our Father in heaven loves us, even so that he wants us to succeed (prosper) and be in good health naturally, not just spiritually.
The Slave and the Free Woman
Now we go back to the opening Scripture quote. Which do we want to be? Do we want to be the slave woman or the free woman? Many who have stumbled over the Law of Moses through trying to be “Torah Observant” are unwittingly choosing to be like the child of the slave woman. There is an infatuation of being like the ancient Israelites and forefathers of Israel.
Knowing that ancient Israel with the Old Covenant was the child of the slave woman, why would we want to be that again when we are now children of the promise in the New Covenant; members of the child of the free woman?
The slave (ancient Israel) could not produce the children of promise; spiritual children born of the Spirit. The slave woman could only produce natural children without eternal life.
Only the Bride of Messiah, which is the people of the New Covenant can produce spiritual children. Rather, the Holy Spirit produces such spiritual children through the Bride of Messiah, the “church.” We are the free children of the free woman. She is not a slave like the previous woman.
She is the beloved and cherished wife who is in unity with the husband (Yahshua). She is under the authority of her husband, but not as a slave being commanded around like slave. She is given authority and boundaries to operate in as the wife, and has liberty and freedom in such.
With such, Yahshua did not give his spiritual bride a list of do’s and do not’s like Moses did ancient Israel. Why? Because she is not a slave but is free. She is free to have a relationship with him and be pleasing to him, or not. He may become disappointed in her and her conduct, but he loves here unconditionally. She is not cast off like the slave woman when her conduct required it, such as with Hagar, or ancient Israel.
Individuals who are not being pleasing, not walking in close relationship with him, will simply not bear him children. How can they? They aren’t entering the bed chamber.
A slave is under forced labor. A free woman is under voluntary labor. A slave works by compulsion. A free woman works by her love to serve her husband and others he wants her to minister to. A slave is forced into submission. A free woman is given the opportunity to submit and be blessed in it.
The child of the slave woman cannot be the legal heir. The child of the free woman can and is the legal heir of the husband and father.
The slave woman does not have authority but is a menial laborer. She depends on the master to provide everything and tell her exactly what to do and when to do it. The free woman knows her place, her authority under the husband (her master), and how to operate by making her own choices without the need for constant supervision or commandment of what to do and when to do it.
This is why ancient Israelites could not lay hands on the sick and know “they shall recover.” But, the bride of Messiah can. This is why the ancient Israelite could not receive the baptism of the Spirit and then have liberty to operate in the gifts and power of the Spirit. The slave woman was not entrusted with the authority like the Bride has been.
They had to wait on God to do something. We have been given the power and ability to do something about things (the earth around us and our circumstances) by the power of God he gave us.
They had to pray and plead with God, crying out for help. If we are walking in our right position and authority, we do not need to plead, we need to simply receive what is ours according to the marriage covenant, and walk in it. If we need something changed, such as a mountain moved, Yahshua gave us authority and teaches us we can speak to it and have it removed.
They had to receive revelation and direction through the anointed servants such as kings, prophets, and priests. We are all able to be led by the Spirit and empowered in the New Covenant.
They were not free but were still slaves to sin and death. We are the Redeemed and free from sin and death. In this we should rejoice! We should not desire to go back to what they had.
Heb 7:22 AMP In keeping with [the oath's greater strength and force], Jesus has become the Guarantee of a better (stronger) agreement [a more excellent and more advantageous covenant].
Reader, we do not want to be children of the slave woman, but children of the free woman. That is, we do not want to be children of the Law, but children of the Spirit of Life. The children of the Law (ancient Israel and the Law they were put under at Mount Sinai) could not inherit everlasting life thereby. Only the children of the Spirit of Life inherit the Kingdom and everlasting life.
Joh 3:5-6 AMP Jesus answered, I assure you, most solemnly I tell you, unless a man is born of water and [even] the Spirit, he cannot [ever] enter the kingdom of God. [Ezek. 36:25-27.] (6) What is born of [from] the flesh is flesh [of the physical is physical]; and what is born of the Spirit is spirit.
If you’ve been born of the Spirit, you know it. No one can convince you it didn’t happen, and no one needs to convince you it did happen. You know.
Rom 8:16-17 MKJV The Spirit Himself bears witness with our spirit that we are the children of God. (17) And if we are children, then we are heirs; heirs of God and joint-heirs with Christ; so that if we suffer with Him, we may also be glorified together.
Do not let the serpent convince you that the knowledge of good and evil will save you or make you like God (make you godly, righteous and holy). There is only one Way, Truth, and Life; his name is Yahshua (Jesus). His way is about relationship, not religion or ritual. He is our right focus.