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Mark VanOuse

The Biblical Reasons Why Christians Are NOT Under Law

A visitor to our website responded to our article, Not Under Law: What the “Struggle Verses” of Romans 7 Really Mean by writing:

The problem with this article is that you don’t understand history, which gives you a false understanding on how to interpret scripture.

The God of Israel gave the instructions (the law, the first 5 books of the bible) to Israel at Sinai setting a precedent on how to know if a prophets is of God or not.
The law is the standard to the rest of the scripture.

So to have the understanding that Paul seeming says we are “not” under law but under grace, would mean that Paul is a false prophet and should be stoned according to the God of mt Sinai.

Paul is not above God, and he has no authority to change what God said at mt Sinai.

So question really isn’t law and grace.. but:

Is Paul a false prophet?
Or
Are “you” misinterpreting Paul?

Since others may be making the same mistakes that our visiting friend has, I thought I would share my response to his concerns in this article:

Many well-meaning Christians believe they are still under law, yet are ignorant of what the law really says. Galatians 4:21 (NKJV) says: “Tell me, you who desire to be under the law, do you not hear the law?”

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Hebrews Pt 24: God’s Mercy & Total Forgiveness (Heb 8:12) Part 2

In this lesson we continue to look into God’s mercy and total forgiveness, as promised — and given — in the New Covenant, Hebrews 8:12. We talk about why it is so important that we understand that God’s forgiveness is as total, perfect and complete as the perfection of Jesus and His finished work. That perfect, finished work means that the Covenant of Law (the Old Covenant) is obsolete. We are no longer under the jurisdiction of the law, we are under the infinite superiority of Jesus and the New Covenant of grace!

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Hebrews Pt 23: God’s Mercy & Total Forgiveness (Heb 8:12) Part 1

In Hebrews 8:12, God promises, “For I will be merciful to their unrighteousness, and their sins and their lawless deeds I will remember no more.”

In this lesson, we focus on the vastness of God’s mercy, total forgiveness and complete removal of our sins. Most Christians hold to a dubious theology of forgiveness based on only one verse, 1 John 1:9. They believe in what amounts to a temporary forgiveness, meaning they are forgiven UNTIL they sin, then they have to confess their sins in order for God to forgive them again. The scripture, however, has many verses that make it clear that God’s forgiveness is in fact total and eternal, based on the perfection of Jesus Christ and His perfect, finished work. The result is a tremendous security and stability for your Christian life!

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Total Forgiveness, Now and Forever

“I will be merciful to their unrighteousness, and their sins and lawless deeds I will remember no more” (The New Covenant, Hebrews 8:12) Ask the average Christian, “What do you have to do for God to forgive you?” and most will cite 1 John 1:9, “If we confess our sins, He is faithful and just to forgive us our sins and to cleanse us from all unrighteousness.” Their viewpoint of forgiveness is:

  • You are completely forgiven UNTIL you sin.
  • You have to confess every single one of your sins in order to be forgiven and cleansed.

I call this “transient” or “temporary” forgiveness, as it is only good enough until your next sin. That’s the first clue that something is amiss. Another clue is that despite the fact that there is a huge class of scriptures clearly speaking of God’s total and forever forgiveness, they still insist on pointing to only one verse, 1 John 1:9, to back up their “temporary forgiveness” theology. Poor and misleading is the theology that is built on only one verse. …

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Hebrews Pt 22: The Greatest Treasure of All: Knowing God (Heb 8:11)

It’s the greatest treasure of all: intimately and personally knowing the living God. Not an impersonal “know about” God, but a relational reality. In this episode, we continue our focus on the specifics of the New Covenant, as presented in Hebrews 8:10-12. In this lesson, we dive into verse 11, where the Lord promises, “None of them shall teach his neighbor, and none his brother, saying, ‘Know the LORD,’ for all shall know Me, from the least of them to the greatest of them.” We explore:

  • The connection between eternal life and knowing The Lord
  • So many things in our Christian life “work” in the context of a first-hand, relationship with God.
  • Biblical prayers that lead to a far deeper knowing of God.

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Hebrews Pt 21: Belonging to God & His People (Heb 8:10c)

Belonging. We all long for it. God has made it a wonderful reality through His New Covenant promise in Hebrews 8:10, “I will be their God, and they shall be My people”. In this episode we explore: God as truly our God, being His people, a part of His family, as sons we are rightful and joint heirs with Jesus Christ and a member of Christ’s true church. We belong to Him in His family of love!

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Hebrews Pt 20: The New Spirit — GOD Alive IN YOU

It’s the great secret of the Christian life: GOD alive and IN us, as promised in Ezekiel 36:27, the parallel to Hebrews 8:10. God says: “I will put My Spirit within you and cause you to walk in My statutes, and you will keep My judgments and do them.” You’ll learn about this most important part of the New Covenant and God’s brilliant design for success in Him!

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Hebrews Pt 19: The 100% New Heart

True of false: a Christian’s heart is “deceitful above all things, and desperately wicked”.

The biblical answer is: definitely false.

In the New Covenant God promises — and gives — a new heart that is good. In this eye-opening episode you’ll find out about your new, good heart given to you by God in the new creation.

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Hebrews Pt 18: The New Covenant: The I WILL of God (Heb 8:11-13)

Ask the average Christian exactly what the New Covenant is and you are likely to get bewildered stares, or wild guesses. How tragic it is that the majority of Christians have no idea what the New Covenant is! Yet Jesus bled and died to institute it. In this episode, we introduce Hebrews 8:11-13, the I WILL’s of God of the New Covenant. We discuss:

  • The huge difference between law (the Old Covenant) and grace (the New Covenant)
  • How Satan’s “I WILL’s” led to his fall and how the greatest lie of all is “I will make myself like the Most High”.
  • How this same lie has been used by Satan through the ages and is used to paralyze Christians.
  • The New Covenant is not all about your “I will’s” but God’s I WILL’s alone — and HE gets it done!

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Hebrews Pt 17: So Much Better (Heb 8:1-9)

Hebrews 8:6 declares, “But now He has obtained a more excellent ministry, inasmuch as He is also Mediator of a better covenant, which was established on better promises.” In this study of Hebrews 8:1-9, we see even more vividly how the New Covenant — the covenant of grace — is as infinitely better than the Old Covenant of law, as Jesus Himself is. We’ll examine:

  • The SO MUCH BETTER of the High Priestly service of Jesus.
  • The SO MUCH BETTER of Jesus’ more excellent ministry brings in a MUCH BETTER covenant.
  • The fault of the Old Covenant of Law: sinful man, in desperate need of a new and infinitely better covenant.

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