Comments on: Misunderstood Bible Terminology Part 2 http://www.charismaministries.org/misunderstood-bible-terminology-part-2/ LEARNING TO LIVE BY HIS DIVINE LIFE! Wed, 01 Feb 2012 23:47:55 +0000 hourly 1 http://wordpress.org/?v=3.3.1 By: Cornel http://www.charismaministries.org/misunderstood-bible-terminology-part-2/comment-page-1/#comment-759 Cornel Sun, 25 Apr 2010 05:36:11 +0000 http://www.charismaministries.org/?p=665#comment-759 Hi Trevor, thanks for your questions. This my personal take on them: Gen 22:18 And in thy seed shall all the nations of the earth be blessed; because thou hast obeyed my voice. What was the voice saying Abraham should do? Believe in me. So because he believed, he was obeying. Because he was obedient in faith, God could work righteousness and justice through him, blessing all nations. Gen 18:19 For I know him, that he will command his children and his household after him, and they shall keep the way of the LORD, to do justice and judgment; that the LORD may bring upon Abraham that which he hath spoken of him. The way of the Lord is justice and judgment. That doesn't mean law. It means the way of God is doing right to creation and judging who needs help. Ps 103 says God executes judgment for the oppressed. That means He looks for the oppressed and judges in their favour, setting them free. So as a co-worker with God, Abraham, and now us, have to judge who is oppressed and then do right to them. (Also see Acts 10:38) It is not a case of 'do right and you won't be judged', it is a case of judge who needs help and go do the right thing to them. That is what God wants. By faith, God will empower you to meet those needs. Then teach your children to do the same. That way, through you, God will be able to bless all nations. God told Abraham, through you I will bless all nations, so go and bless them. Believe that you are blessed, and go bless them and I will make it so. Gen 26:4-5 And I will make thy seed to multiply as the stars of heaven, and will give unto thy seed all these countries; and in thy seed shall all the nations of the earth be blessed; 5 Because that Abraham obeyed my voice, and kept my charge, my commandments, my statutes, and my laws. Again, you need to look at what God said, what His charge, command, statues and laws are. God never gave Abraham any laws like He did with Moses. Basically He came to Abraham and told him: "Abram, I Am God. I am going to bless you, and through blessing you I will bless all nations too. Do you believe me?" Because Abraham believed what God said, he obeyed God's voice. His charge was this: Be blessed. By receiving the blessing, Abraham was being obedient. God's commandment was this: Blessings, be manifested through Abraham to all nations. Because Abraham allowed God to bless all nations through him, he was obedient to God's command. His statues (Hebrew means His customs): God's custom is to do good and bless. Abraham was obedient to the custom by allowing God to do good to him and through him. His laws: Paul spoke about making the Gentiles obedient to the law of faith. That is God's highest law. Believe in Him. By choosing to believe in Him, you are consciously making a commitment to God to use you for His purpose. So if you allow God to do good through you, you are obeying His laws. Another way to look at it is to look at the actual covenant cut in Gen 12. Abraham had nothing to do with it really, God made him fall asleep, and Jesus walked through the blood on behalf of Abraham. As a future descendant of Abraham, Jesus would perfectly keep all God's laws and commandments on behalf of all mankind. He is the Seed through which we are all blessed anyway. So because Jesus was the one who had to keep the commandments and conditions of the covenant on behalf of Abraham, God sees Abraham is perfectly obedient through Jesus. Just like He sees us as perfectly obedient through Jesus. Jesus is keeping the conditions of the covenant on our behalf, giving us perfect right-standing before the Father always. Hope that helps :) Cornel Hi Trevor, thanks for your questions. This my personal take on them:

Gen 22:18 And in thy seed shall all the nations of the earth be blessed; because thou hast obeyed my voice.

What was the voice saying Abraham should do? Believe in me. So because he believed, he was obeying. Because he was obedient in faith, God could work righteousness and justice through him, blessing all nations.

Gen 18:19 For I know him, that he will command his children and his household after him, and they shall keep the way of the LORD, to do justice and judgment; that the LORD may bring upon Abraham that which he hath spoken of him.

The way of the Lord is justice and judgment. That doesn’t mean law. It means the way of God is doing right to creation and judging who needs help. Ps 103 says God executes judgment for the oppressed. That means He looks for the oppressed and judges in their favour, setting them free. So as a co-worker with God, Abraham, and now us, have to judge who is oppressed and then do right to them. (Also see Acts 10:38) It is not a case of ‘do right and you won’t be judged’, it is a case of judge who needs help and go do the right thing to them. That is what God wants. By faith, God will empower you to meet those needs. Then teach your children to do the same. That way, through you, God will be able to bless all nations. God told Abraham, through you I will bless all nations, so go and bless them. Believe that you are blessed, and go bless them and I will make it so.

Gen 26:4-5 And I will make thy seed to multiply as the stars of heaven, and will give unto thy seed all these countries; and in thy seed shall all the nations of the earth be blessed; 5 Because that Abraham obeyed my voice, and kept my charge, my commandments, my statutes, and my laws.

Again, you need to look at what God said, what His charge, command, statues and laws are. God never gave Abraham any laws like He did with Moses. Basically He came to Abraham and told him: “Abram, I Am God. I am going to bless you, and through blessing you I will bless all nations too. Do you believe me?” Because Abraham believed what God said, he obeyed God’s voice.

His charge was this: Be blessed. By receiving the blessing, Abraham was being obedient.

God’s commandment was this: Blessings, be manifested through Abraham to all nations. Because Abraham allowed God to bless all nations through him, he was obedient to God’s command.

His statues (Hebrew means His customs): God’s custom is to do good and bless. Abraham was obedient to the custom by allowing God to do good to him and through him.

His laws: Paul spoke about making the Gentiles obedient to the law of faith. That is God’s highest law. Believe in Him. By choosing to believe in Him, you are consciously making a commitment to God to use you for His purpose. So if you allow God to do good through you, you are obeying His laws.

Another way to look at it is to look at the actual covenant cut in Gen 12. Abraham had nothing to do with it really, God made him fall asleep, and Jesus walked through the blood on behalf of Abraham. As a future descendant of Abraham, Jesus would perfectly keep all God’s laws and commandments on behalf of all mankind. He is the Seed through which we are all blessed anyway. So because Jesus was the one who had to keep the commandments and conditions of the covenant on behalf of Abraham, God sees Abraham is perfectly obedient through Jesus. Just like He sees us as perfectly obedient through Jesus. Jesus is keeping the conditions of the covenant on our behalf, giving us perfect right-standing before the Father always.

Hope that helps :)

Cornel

]]> By: Trevor Lovegrove http://www.charismaministries.org/misunderstood-bible-terminology-part-2/comment-page-1/#comment-748 Trevor Lovegrove Sat, 24 Apr 2010 11:21:36 +0000 http://www.charismaministries.org/?p=665#comment-748 Hi I would be extremely grateful for some help in interpreting some scriptures in respect to the Abrahamic covenant. . I have always believed that the Abrahamic covenant was unconditional and that Abraham was declared righteous and blessed by God because of his faith alone. However the following scriptures appear to contradict that; Genesis 18:19, 22:18, and 26:4-5 which reads as follows; I will multiply your offspring as the stars of heaven and will give to your offspring all these lands. And in your offspring all the nations of the earth shall be blessed, because Abraham obeyed my voice and kept my charge, my commandments, my statutes, and my laws. What have I missed here? Hi
I would be extremely grateful for some help in interpreting some scriptures in respect to the Abrahamic covenant. . I have always believed that the Abrahamic covenant was unconditional and that Abraham was declared righteous and blessed by God because of his faith alone. However the following scriptures appear to contradict that;
Genesis 18:19, 22:18, and 26:4-5 which reads as follows;

I will multiply your offspring as the stars of heaven and will give to your offspring all these lands. And in your offspring all the nations of the earth shall be blessed, because Abraham obeyed my voice and kept my charge, my commandments, my statutes, and my laws.
What have I missed here?

]]> By: Leo De Siqueira http://www.charismaministries.org/misunderstood-bible-terminology-part-2/comment-page-1/#comment-521 Leo De Siqueira Mon, 29 Mar 2010 12:52:44 +0000 http://www.charismaministries.org/?p=665#comment-521 "Practicing lawlessness does not mean breaking the 10 Commandments: it means not being saved." It's amazing that even today, so many believers are trying to resurrect the Law of Moses, as if to imply that we still need to learn to 'keep all the rules' so-to-speak. "Obeying God’s commandments in the New Testament therefore means to believe in Jesus." 'Nailed' it :) “Practicing lawlessness does not mean breaking the 10 Commandments: it means not being saved.”

It’s amazing that even today, so many believers are trying to resurrect the Law of Moses, as if to imply that we still need to learn to ‘keep all the rules’ so-to-speak.

“Obeying God’s commandments in the New Testament therefore means to believe in Jesus.”

‘Nailed’ it :)

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