Having Left Judaism For Christ; No Turning Back To Legalism Or Rituals
The Holy Spirit's ministry or role is to guide believers into the truth
of Christ's completed work, empowering them without undermining Christ’s
sacrifice. John 16:13–14 says that the Spirit of truth guides believers,
communicates what He receives, and reveals what belongs to Christ; the Holy Spirit
makes Christ’s work known rather than replacing or supplementing it.
Romans 8:32 says, He who did not spare His son, how shall he
not also with him freely give us all things? Praise the Lord!
Because God gave up his Son, He has also freely given
believers “all things.” All things have been given to us in the earth because
of Jesus Christ.
All things such as power, life, God’s nature, His
righteousness, and His holiness. All gifts and power come from understanding
that salvation is complete and freely given; believers need not perform rituals
or good works to attain it. True faith involves recognizing the fullness of
what Christ has accomplished, enabling believers to act in confidence and grow
in their faith journey.
Let us reject the
idea that someone must earn a special spiritual gift or complete a partial
salvation through additional religious practices.
Believers should live with the awareness of what we have
received and grow through understanding Christ’s word.
Spiritual growth means learning to recognize and exercise what is already given, not acquiring a missing portion of salvation.
Hebrews 6:1–2: having left Judaism, not abandoning any part of Christ
Hebrews 6:1–2 is an admonition to Jewish believers that having
left the old system of the Mosaic institution and its rituals behind, they are
to continue in the realities of life in Christ.
In the passage repentance, faith toward God, baptism, laying
on of hands, and eternal judgment- are often mistaken for basic Christian
doctrines. These are elements of the Old
Testament religious system and its preparatory practices. The passage is
addressing Judaism rather than describing requirements for Christian salvation.
The Greek term 'affentes' in Hebrews 6:1
signifies a completed action, meaning believers have already left behind
their old life rather than merely leaving it behind. This refers to a completed
departure from Judaism, not a future step away from part of Christ. The focus
is on moving from the old covenant system to Christ’s reality.
The emphasis is on the sufficiency of Christ's sacrifice for
salvation, where additional works or observances are not necessary for
maintaining it.
We need to distinguish between “leaving the foundation” and
“building on the foundation.” Christ is the foundation believers build upon. 1
Corinthians 3:11 reads, for no other foundation can any man lay than that is
laid, which is Jesus Christ.
So you see, Christ is the foundation. We don't leave this
foundation. Instead, we build on it. Christ has replaced Judaism. The “old
foundation” being left is Judaism’s preparatory system, not Christ himself. We
do not abandon a piece of Christ to
reach a higher spiritual level.
In the Old Testament, God began to tell them about something and someone that was coming to replace the old system, coming to replace Judaism, not coming to patch it. Jesus said, you cannot patch old garment and new garment together. So you can't patch those two things together. You can't patch law with grace together. The New Covenant actually is also known as the Grace Covenant.
Let’s look at the contrast between Adam and Christ in 1
Corinthians 15 from 21- 22, For since by man came death, by man came also the
resurrection of the dead. For as in Adam all died, in Christ all have been
brought back to a connection with God.
God replaced the first Adam with the last Adam. Look at
verse 45, And so it is written, the first man, Adam, was made a living soul.
The last Adam was made a quickening spirit. Praise the Lord Jesus! The first
Adam was natural while the last Adam was spiritual.
The first Adam is associated with death, while Christ the
“last Adam”, is associated with resurrection and spiritual life.
So we can rightly say, the first Adam represents Judaism while
the last Adam (the last, meaning there is no other after Christ) represents the
new covenant.
Christ is the definitive replacement rather than a repair or
supplement to Judaism.
Christ is the new foundation and the reality to which the
old system pointed; going back to the old rituals obscures the believer’s
identity and understanding of the New Covenant.
Christ is the foundation on which believers build; He is not
something to discard as we mature. This rules out the idea that growth requires
abandoning part of faith in Christ.
Repentance Under Grace
In the Old Testament repentance involved turning from sin
repeatedly, individually and collectively, because the sin problem had not yet
been resolved; under the New Covenant, Christ dealt with sin once for all. The
Lamb of God died once to take away, solve the sin problem for everybody. The
Sin problem has been solved. It has been paid for. God has closed that chapter.
He has moved on.
In the New Testament, repentance means having a change of
mind ( metanoia) - specifically,
changing one’s view of Christ, what Christ came to accomplish on our behalf and
accepting him as the expression of God’s love rather than asking God to forgive sins that Christ has
already dealt with; as believers, we should instead renew our minds in light of
what the Scripture says about Christ’s work. Believers should not keep seeking
forgiveness for sins already dealt with by Christ but should instead renew
their minds to understand their freedom from sin.
Change your view instead of rejecting what Christ has done, instead of
rejecting the love of God. Embrace it. That's the repentance.
Salvation Through Christ
Alone
Faith in God differs from faith in Christ, as highlighted by Jesus' call to believe in Him in addition to God. While demons acknowledge God, they cannot achieve salvation through belief in Christ, as salvation is exclusive to mankind. They believe in God, in the existence of God, in the supremacy of God, and all of that, but they do not believe in Christ as their savior (James 2:19). They know and believe that Christ is the savior of mankind. They know that, they believe that. There's no question about that, but they do not believe in Christ as their savior. Why?
Because there is no salvation for them. So they can't
believe in Christ. There's no salvation for fallen angels. But there's
salvation for mankind. And that's why we believe in Christ as our savior.
Praise the Lord Jesus!
True belief in Christ leads to a new
nature, prompting righteous living not to gain God's favor, but as a reflection
of the inherent change within.
True faith is rooted in belief in Christ alone, not in actions or rituals, (distinguishing between the religious church that adds to Christ's work and the reality church that affirms salvation through faith alone).
Our salvation is complete through Christ and nothing a
believer does can add to it or maintain it. This is not an endorsement for
reckless living, because living destructively can harm a person’s life and
well-being. You live right, not for the purpose of being saved. You live right
because you are the saved. There's a new nature in you. Living right does not
save you. Living right does not take you anywhere. It's about Jesus.
We fellowship, not in order to get saved. We fellowship
because we are already saved. We live right, not in order to get saved. But
because we are already the saved ones. Hallelujah! Thank you, Holy Spirit.
So good comes from you because that's your nature.
.png)
