Covenant of Peace: A Return to Holiness

6.6 Faith Working Through Love

I cannot emphasize enough how much freedom in Christ is made possible by faith working through love. It is a radical upgrade from penalty-based obedience to love-based obedience. It is based on a relationship with God as Father. It is what He has always desired from His sons and daughters.

Sozo is a Greek word used in the New Testament to describe the comprehensive act of salvation, which includes being saved, healed, delivered, and made whole in body, soul, and spirit. It goes beyond mere forgiveness of sins to encompass a complete restoration of a person's well-being.

The revolutionary teaching of the New Covenant is that God writes his laws on the hearts and minds of believers. There is no longer a need to be taught by others because the Holy Spirit is the teacher. There is no longer an exclusive Levitical priesthood as was practiced in the Old Testament. It doesn't mean that there is no longer a need for learning and becoming knowledgeable. It simply means that God has a Sozo relationship with His followers, equipping them with creative, intelligent minds to process information and use it in a way that is both pleasing to God and beneficial to every aspect of society.

Obedience to the Law of the Spirit is a compassionate response to God's commandments. It produces spiritual life and wholeness in ourselves and in others. It is a Sozo lifestyle that leads to rest and gratitude instead of striving and complaining.

The fundamental shift in the New Testament is that God has written his laws on the hearts and minds of all believers. This is why the New Covenant supports the priesthood of all believers. There is no longer a class of Levitical priests and clergy. This takes place through the gift of the Holy Spirit, the Teacher, and an active agent of truth and grace in each believer's life. This same Spirit has imparted godly wisdom, which Paul describes in 1 Corinthians 2:6.

1 1 Corinthians 2:6

There is a maturing process that takes place in the life of believers. That is why Paul says that he speaks wisdom to those who are full-grown. Mature believers can use wisdom to make godly choices because they have learned to walk in love and godly discernment and can act responsibly.

This characteristic of Paul is portrayed throughout Acts and in his epistles. It results in a tremendous amount of respect for him, especially as a pioneering minister of Jesus Christ. We read the letters of Paul as oracles of God, but there is no reason that modern believers cannot walk with the same wisdom and confidence.

Paul penned these words in Romans 13:8-10 to describe how love is the fulfillment of the law.

3 Romans 13:8-10

8 Owe no one anything, except to love one another; for he who loves his neighbor has fulfilled the law.

9 For the commandments, "You shall not commit adultery,"" "You shall not murder," "You shall not steal," "You shall not covet,"" and whatever other commandments there are, are all summed up in this saying, namely, "You shall love your neighbor as yourself."

10 Love doesn't harm a neighbor. Love therefore is the fulfillment of the law.

Generosity is an example of unselfish love that is applied wisely and responsibly. It is not a debt - it is an act of sacrifice and compassion. It is left up to the individual to give freely without expectation or condemnation.

There are four Old Testament practices that no longer demand strict obedience: Sabbath-keeping, dietary laws, circumcision, and tithing. Each of these practices yields to the principle of faith working through love. Each of these has less glory compared to the Greater Glory of faith working through love. The transition from fading to greater glory is because of the Greater Glory and Greater Grace of Jesus the Messiah.

1. Sabbath-Keeping

In Mark 2:23-28, Jesus' disciples were gathering grain on the Sabbath. The Pharisees complained to Jesus that they should not work on the Sabbath. Jesus took them to an even more obvious "breaking of the law." David was fleeing for his life from King Saul and ate bread that was reserved for the high priests, even though David was not of the tribe of Levi. According to the law, it should not have been allowed, but David found grace.

6 Mark 2:23-28

23 He (Jesus) was going on the Sabbath day through the grain fields, and his disciples began, as they went, to pluck the ears of grain.

24 The Pharisees said to him, "Behold, why do they do that which is not lawful on the Sabbath day?"

25 He said to them, "Did you never read what David did, when he had need, and was hungry - he, and those who were with him?

26 How he entered into God's house at the time of Abiathar the high priest, and ate the show bread, which is not lawful to eat except for the priests, and gave also to those who were with him?"

27 He said to them, "The Sabbath was made for man, not man for the Sabbath.

28 Therefore the Son of Man is lord even of the Sabbath."

Jesus' response put a new twist on the Sabbath. It was instituted for man to have rest and worship. It was not intended to enslave him. Next, Jesus made an even more compelling statement. He himself is Lord of the Sabbath. The day or hour doesn't matter. In our adoration of Jesus, we discover that He is our Sabbath rest. Jesus' Greater Grace and Glory have become our peace and our rest.

2. Dietary Laws

Dietary laws may have some value when it comes to healthy living, but it was a practice of obedience in the Old Testament that mattered. In Matthew 15:17-19, Jesus explains that food does not make a person unclean, but what matters is what comes out of the heart.

3 Matthew 15:17-19

17 Don't you understand that whatever goes into the mouth passes into the belly, and then out of the body?

18 But the things which proceed out of the mouth come out of the heart, and they defile the man.

19 For out of the heart come evil thoughts, murders, adulteries, sexual sins, thefts, false testimony, and blasphemies.

In Acts, the Lord gave Peter a vision of all kinds of unclean food coming down from heaven to eat, but Peter rejected it because of dietary laws. Jesus responded to Peter in Acts 10:15.

1 Acts 10:15

15 A voice came to him again the second time, "What God has cleansed, you must not call unclean."

There is a two-fold interpretation to this dream. On the one hand, Jesus made these foods clean to eat, but on the other hand, these foods represented Gentiles, servants of Cornelius, whom he was sending to ask Peter more about Jesus. Cornelius had a good heart as described in Acts 10:1-2.

2 Acts 10:1-2

1 Now there was a certain man in Caesarea, Cornelius by name, a centurion of what was called the Italian Regiment,

2 a devout man, and one who feared God with all his house, who gave gifts for the needy generously to the people, and always prayed to God.

Subsequently, in Acts 10:44-46, when Peter shared the gospel with Cornelius and all who were with him, the Holy Spirit fell on all of them.

3 Acts 10:44-46

44 While Peter was still speaking these words, the Holy Spirit fell on all those who heard the word.

45 They of the circumcision who believed were amazed, as many as came with Peter, because the gift of the Holy Spirit was also poured out on the Gentiles.

46 For they heard them speaking in other languages and magnifying God.

In this case, we see that being confronted with dietary law led to a revelation of grace and the baptism of the Holy Spirit for Gentiles. It was earth-shattering news that Peter explained in Acts 11:17-18.

2 Acts 11:17-18

17 If then God gave to them the same gift as us, when we believed in the Lord Jesus Christ, who was I, that I could withstand God?"

18 When they heard these things, they held their peace, and glorified God, saying, "Then God has also granted to the Gentiles repentance to life!"

3. Circumcision

This interaction with Peter highlights the existence of the circumcision party in the New Testament. In Galatians 2:11-21, Paul confronted Peter about withdrawing from the Gentiles and eating only with the Jewish Christians of the circumcision party, who, in addition to requiring Gentiles to be circumcised, most likely held to Jewish dietary laws.

11 Galatians 2:11-21

11 But when Peter came to Antioch, I resisted him to his face, because he stood condemned.

12 For before some people came from James, he ate with the Gentiles. But when they came, he drew back and separated himself, fearing those who were of the circumcision.

13 And the rest of the Jews joined him in his hypocrisy, so that even Barnabas was carried away with their hypocrisy.

14 But when I saw that they didn't walk uprightly according to the truth of the Good News, I said to Peter before them all, "If you, being a Jew, live as the Gentiles do, and not as the Jews do, why do you compel the Gentiles to live as the Jews do?

15 "We, being Jews by nature, and not Gentile sinners,

16 yet knowing that a man is not justified by the works of the law but through faith in Jesus Christ, even we believed in Christ Jesus, that we might be justified by faith in Christ, and not by the works of the law, because no flesh will be justified by the works of the law.

17 But if while we sought to be justified in Christ, we ourselves also were found sinners, is Christ a servant of sin? Certainly not!

18 For if I build up again those things which I destroyed, I prove myself a law-breaker.

19 For I, through the law, died to the law, that I might live to God.

20 I have been crucified with Christ, and it is no longer I that live, but Christ lives in me. That life which I now live in the flesh, I live by faith in the Son of God, who loved me, and gave himself up for me.

21 I don't reject the grace of God. For if righteousness is through the law, then Christ died for nothing!"

Verse 20 is one of the Apostle Paul's most important theological statements in support of Christianity. In verse 21, Paul unequivocally states that the grace of Jesus Christ is opposed to righteousness through the law.

Paul rails against the false gospel of righteousness through the law, especially with respect to circumcision throughout the book of Galatians. Paul gave a scathing message in Galatians 1:6-9 in which he suggests that such false teachers should be accursed.

4 Galatians 1:6-9

6 I marvel that you are so quickly deserting him who called you in the grace of Christ to a different "good news",

7 but there isn't another "good news."" Only there are some who trouble you and want to pervert the Good News of Christ.

8 But even though we, or an angel from heaven, should preach to you any "good news" other than that which we preached to you, let him be cursed.

9 As we have said before, so I now say again: if any man preaches to you any "good news" other than that which you received, let him be cursed.

Paul calls them foolish in Galatians 3:1-14.

14 Galatians 3:1-14

1 Foolish Galatians, who has bewitched you not to obey the truth, before whose eyes Jesus Christ was openly portrayed among you as crucified?

2 I just want to learn this from you: Did you receive the Spirit by the works of the law, or by hearing of faith?

3 Are you so foolish? Having begun in the Spirit, are you now completed in the flesh?

4 Did you suffer so many things in vain, if it is indeed in vain?

5 He therefore who supplies the Spirit to you and does miracles among you, does he do it by the works of the law, or by hearing of faith?

6 Even so, Abraham "believed God, and it was counted to him for righteousness."

7 Know therefore that those who are of faith are children of Abraham.

8 The Scripture, foreseeing that God would justify the Gentiles by faith, preached the Good News beforehand to Abraham, saying, "In you all the nations will be blessed."

9 So then, those who are of faith are blessed with the faithful Abraham.

10 For as many as are of the works of the law are under a curse. For it is written, "Cursed is everyone who doesn't continue in all things that are written in the book of the law, to do them."

11 Now that no man is justified by the law before God is evident, for, "The righteous will live by faith."

12 The law is not of faith, but, "The man who does them will live by them."

13 Christ redeemed us from the curse of the law, having become a curse for us. For it is written, "Cursed is everyone who hangs on a tree,"

14 that the blessing of Abraham might come on the Gentiles through Christ Jesus, that we might receive the promise of the Spirit through faith.

The key points of grace are that the righteous will live by faith, that Jesus became a curse for us to redeem us from the curse of the law, and that the promise of the Holy Spirit, which is the blessing of Abraham, is also available to the Gentiles by faith.

This leads us back to an even better understanding of faith working through love. It is a faith demonstrated by Jesus' love on the cross, where He died, not just believing, but knowing full well that He would rise again so that we can have eternal life with Him.

4. Tithing

Many people attempt to use Malachi 3:8-12 as motivation for tithing, but they fail to realize that the curse was removed when Jesus became a curse for us on the cross. Herein, the curse mentioned in verse 9 does not apply to those who are in Christ.

5 Malachi 3:8-12

8 Will a man rob God? Yet you rob me! But you say, 'How have we robbed you?' In tithes and offerings.

9 You are cursed with the curse; for you rob me, even this whole nation.

10 Bring the whole tithe into the storehouse, that there may be food in my house, and test me now in this," says Yahweh of Armies, "if I will not open you the windows of heaven, and pour you out a blessing, that there will not be room enough for.

11 I will rebuke the devourer for your sakes, and he shall not destroy the fruits of your ground; neither shall your vine cast its fruit before its time in the field," says Yahweh of Armies.

12 "All nations shall call you blessed, for you will be a delightful land," says Yahweh of Armies.

Tithing was a practice implemented to provide for the Levites, who were set apart for priestly duties and were not allowed to own land. They were also called to be a part of the continuing sacrificial offerings. When Jesus came, he fulfilled the office of high priest and sacrificial Lamb, canceling the need for the Levitical priesthood. For all practical purposes, Jesus became our tithe. It is the essence of grace that requires faith in Him to be made whole.

Galatians 5:1-6 discusses faith working through love as Greater Grace and Greater Glory, with respect not only to circumcision, but also to the law-based practices of Sabbath-keeping, dietary laws, and tithing.

6 Galatians 5:1-6

1 Stand firm therefore in the liberty by which Christ has made us free, and don't be entangled again with a yoke of bondage.

2 Behold, I, Paul, tell you that if you receive circumcision, Christ will profit you nothing.

3 Yes, I testify again to every man who receives circumcision that he is a debtor to do the whole law.

4 You are alienated from Christ, you who desire to be justified by the law. You have fallen away from grace.

5 For we, through the Spirit, by faith wait for the hope of righteousness.

6 For in Christ Jesus neither circumcision amounts to anything, nor uncircumcision (or any other Old Testament law), but faith working through love.

Paul reemphasized in Galatians 6:15-16 that the law of the Spirit is at work in those who are a New Creation - they are God's Israel.

2 Galatians 6:15-16

15 For in Christ Jesus neither is circumcision anything, nor uncircumcision, but a new creation.

16 As many as walk by this rule, peace and mercy be on them, and on God's Israel.

Romans 11:26-27 describes how all Israel will be saved through the forgiveness of sins, which was already accomplished on the cross, inaugurating the New Covenant. Having a proper understanding of Paul's teachings in Galatians, we must conclude that all Israel is the combination of Jews and Gentiles who place their faith in Christ.

2 Romans 11:26-27

26 and so all Israel will be saved. Even as it is written, "There will come out of Zion the Deliverer, and he will turn away ungodliness from Jacob.

27 This is my covenant with them, when I will take away their sins."

In Isaiah 59:20-21, verse 20 discusses a redeemer coming to Zion. This is like many other Old Testament prophesies from Isaiah that extend past the captivity to the coming of the Messiah. In that case, Zion takes on a New Covenant context that pertains to Jews and Gentiles. Verse 21 corroborates that it points to the New Covenant because it refers to the coming of the Holy Spirit to those who have faith in Christ, regardless of ancestry and ethnicity.

2 Isaiah 59:20-21

20 "A Redeemer will come to Zion, and to those who turn from disobedience in Jacob," says Yahweh.

21 "As for me, this is my covenant with them, says Yahweh. "My Spirit who is on you, and my words which I have put in your mouth shall not depart out of your mouth, nor out of the mouth of your offspring, nor out of the mouth of your offspring's offspring, says Yahweh, "from now on and forever."

The sacrament of communion has replaced animal sacrifices because it is a regular remembrance of the sacrifice of the Lamb. The breaking of Jesus' body and the shedding of His blood brings us to our knees. All our complaints against God cease when we consider how Jesus bore the sins of the whole world. This is what brings real peace, again, as stated in Isaiah 53:5.

1 Isaiah 53:5

5 But he was pierced for our transgressions. He was crushed for our iniquities. The punishment that brought our peace was on him; and by his wounds we are healed.

Grace does not mean that anything goes. It means that freedom from sin has been accomplished on the cross and only by the shed blood of Jesus Christ. It is something that only God could work out for us. Obedience, however, is a fruit of faith working through love. It becomes a process of renewing our minds as is described in Colossians 3:1-4:

4 Colossians 3:1-4

1 If then you were raised together with Christ, seek the things that are above, where Christ is, seated on the right hand of God.

2 Set your mind on the things that are above, not on the things that are on the earth.

3 For you died, and your life is hidden with Christ in God.

4 When Christ, our life, is revealed, then you will also be revealed with him in glory.

Philippians 2:12-13 emphasizes that it is a continuing process.

2 Philippians 2:12-13

12 So then, my beloved, even as you have always obeyed, not only in my presence, but now much more in my absence, work out your own salvation with fear and trembling.

13 For it is God who works in you both to will and to work, for his good pleasure.

The New Covenant emphasizes that the partnership of the Holy Spirit is constantly at work like an inner scrub brush, actively bringing conviction to our thoughts and actions to become more Christ-like. Since Jesus is the image of the invisible God, becoming Christ-like means becoming more like God. The devil's lie to Eve in the garden was that she could achieve godhood, even by open rebellion and without consequences. However, Hebrews 11:6 makes it very clear that faith is required to pleae God.

1 Hebrews 11:6

6 Without faith it is impossible to be well pleasing to him, for he who comes to God must believe that he exists, and that he is a rewarder of those who seek him.

Colossians 3:5-11 offers a diagnosis of that which is worldly. No one is excluded.

7 Colossians 3:5-11

5 Put to death therefore your members which are on the earth: sexual immorality, uncleanness, depraved passion, evil desire, and covetousness, which is idolatry.

6 For these things' sake the wrath of God comes on the children of disobedience.

7 You also once walked in those, when you lived in them;

8 but now you also put them all away: anger, wrath, malice, slander, and shameful speaking out of your mouth.

9 Don't lie to one another, seeing that you have put off the old man with his doings,

10 and have put on the new man, who is being renewed in knowledge after the image of his Creator,

11 where there can't be Greek and Jew, circumcision and uncircumcision, barbarian, Scythian, bondservant, or free person; but Christ is all, and in all.

Colossians 3:12-17 offers a prescription of obedience. We discover that being a Christian is a way of life - a means of experiencing heaven on earth.

6 Colossians 3:12-17

12 Put on therefore, as God's chosen ones, holy and beloved, a heart of compassion, kindness, lowliness, humility, and perseverance;

13 bearing with one another, and forgiving each other, if any man has a complaint against any; even as Christ forgave you, so you also do.

14 Above all these things, walk in love, which is the bond of perfection.

15 And let the peace of God rule in your hearts, to which also you were called in one body, and be thankful.

16 Let the word of Christ dwell in you richly; in all wisdom teaching and admonishing one another with psalms, hymns, and spiritual songs, singing with grace in your heart to the Lord.

17 Whatever you do, in word or in deed, do all in the name of the Lord Jesus, giving thanks to God the Father, through him.

Romans 8:34 declares where and what Jesus is doing.

1 Romans 8:34

34 It is Christ who died, yes rather, who was raised from the dead, who is at the right hand of God, who also makes intercession for us.

Jesus is a scepter of truth and grace at the right hand of God. He intercedes for us and has unfailing love as described in Romans 8:35-39.

5 Romans 8:35-39

35 Who shall separate us from the love of Christ? Could oppression, or anguish, or persecution, or famine, or nakedness, or peril, or sword?

36 Even as it is written, "For your sake we are killed all day long. We were accounted as sheep for the slaughter."

37 No, in all these things, we are more than conquerors through him who loved us.

38 For I am persuaded that neither death, nor life, nor angels, nor principalities, nor things present, nor things to come, nor powers,

39 nor height, nor depth, nor any other created thing will be able to separate us from God's love which is in Christ Jesus our Lord.

We are more than conquerors - we are reigning as those of whom the world is not worthy. Hebrews 11:38-39 tells us that the world was not worthy of the Old Testament prophets. So then, neither is it worthy of conquerors in Christ.

2 Hebrews 11:38-39

38 of whom the world was not worthy - wandering in deserts, mountains, caves, and the holes of the earth.

39 These all, having had testimony given to them through their faith, didn't receive the promise.

Let us consider how 1 Corinthians 13:4-8 defines love. It is representative of God's love for everyone through Jesus Christ.

5 1 Corinthains 13:4-8

4 Love is patient and is kind. Love doesn't envy. Love doesn't brag, is not proud,

5 doesn't behave itself inappropriately, doesn't seek its own way, is not provoked, takes no account of evil;

6 doesn't rejoice in unrighteousness, but rejoices with the truth;

7 bears all things, believes all things, hopes all things, and endures all things.

8 Love never fails.