PASTOR EMMANUEL DANSU:
GALATIANS 2:15-20
“We [who are] Jews by nature, and not sinners of the Gentiles, Knowing that a man is not justified by the works of the law, but by the faith of Jesus Christ, even we have believed in Jesus Christ, that we might be justified by the faith of Christ, and not by the works of the law: for by the works of the law shall no flesh be justified. But if, while we seek to be justified by Christ, we ourselves also are found sinners, [is] therefore Christ the minister of sin? God forbid. For if I build again the things which I destroyed, I make myself a transgressor. For I through the law am dead to the law, that I might live unto God. I am crucified with Christ: nevertheless I live; yet not I, but Christ liveth in me: and the life which I now live in the flesh I live by the faith of the Son of God, who loved me, and gave himself for me.” (KJV)
The Old Testament is about rules and regulations. The focus of the New Testament is Christ. There are people in the Old Testament that had glimpses of the New Testament. They operated based on New Testament principles right in the Old Testament. If you do all the works of the law without Christ, you can’t be justified. People think grace is the liberty to be disorderly. We should not be lawless because we are under grace. The grace of God teaches us to depart from iniquity.
Christ is the personification of the New Testament. The greatest disservice we can do to ourselves in this new dispensation is to reject the Him. We must always endeavour to stand for what He stands for. One of the good works in scriptures is to believe in the person of Christ. We have been given all that we need in Him. If we don’t find these things then there are things we are not doing or we are doing wrongly.
EPHESIANS 1:3
“Blessed [be] the God and Father of our Lord Jesus Christ, who hath blessed us with all spiritual blessings in heavenly [places] in Christ:” (KJV)
We have been blessed with every kind of blessing we can think of due to the death and resurrection of Jesus. Salvation is holistic, it contains all that man needs for life and godliness. God has blessed us with all spiritual blessings in heavenly places through Christ.
COLOSSIANS 3:17
“And whatsoever ye do in word or deed, [do] all in the name of the Lord Jesus, giving thanks to God and the Father by him.” (KJV)
Everything we do should be done in the name of Jesus Christ and with a heart of gratitude. Our attitude in the New Testament should always be that of gratitude to God for the finished work he did through Christ on the cross.
PSALM 103:1-6
“Bless the LORD, O my soul: and all that is within me, [bless] his holy name. Bless the LORD, O my soul, and forget not all his benefits: Who forgiveth all thine iniquities; who healeth all thy diseases; Who redeemeth thy life from destruction; who crowneth thee with lovingkindness and tender mercies; Who satisfieth thy mouth with good [things; so that] thy youth is renewed like the eagle’s. The LORD executeth righteousness and judgment for all that are oppressed.” (KJV)
David was grateful for everything that God did for him. To bless the Lord is to praise Him and adore Him. To bless the Lord is to praise Him with all your intellect and emotions. We must always thank God or all He is and all that He has done. David understood these principles.
The peak of death is to be separated from God. Sin captured man. We were darkness but the Bible tells us that God has redeemed us by His mercy. All our iniquity have been paid for by Jesus. The kind of life we have in Christ is expected to translate to the renewal of our youth like that of the eagle, even in our bodies. God created Adam to be eternal but sin introduced death. Eternal life is meant to permeate our spirit, soul and body. We cannot be as grateful as we should be if we do not understand the depth of what Christ has done.