Chapter 13.10
Saved by Works
Three
parts of the Covenant - Moses’ Covenant of Works
Adam’s
Covenant of Works – Jesus’ Covenant of Grace
The
Fruit of the Spirit – Free Will
Covenant of Works
Adam
was in a covenant relationship with God when he was in the Garden of Eden,
it was a COVENANT
OF WORKS of
what he must DO in order to obtain
eternal life; live forever and what would happen if he chose by FREE WILL to reject it. This is commonly called the Adamic Covenant or the Covenant of Nature, but described best as a COVENANT OF WORKS.
(There is NO mediator
in a covenant of Works.)
There are THREE PARTS to a covenant;
1)
A clear stipulation of the relationship of the parties involved
2)
The covenant promise of blessings for obedience and
punishment for disobedience.
3)
The definitions of the legal binding conditions,
stipulations and provisions to obtain the blessing.
There was also usually a SIGN of the Covenant which was an
outward guarantee of an inward reality. For NOAH the sign was the Rainbow and for ABRAHAM, the sign was Circumcision.
Adams’s Covenant of Works; [1]
1)
The
Parties of
the Covenant was God and Adam.
2)
The
Promise
implied was the blessing that mortal Adam would live forever.
3)
The
Condition was
that he must not
eat of the fruit from the tree of
knowledge of Good and Evil or he would die;[2] it
was simple, Keep the Law or Break the Law.
The Sign of the Adamic Covenant if there was one, would be the “TREE OF LIFE”.
Moses’ Covenant of Works; [3]
1)
The
Parties to
the Covenant was God and the Nation of Israel.
2)
The
Promise of
blessings was that His chosen people would have a way back to God, coming into
His full fellowship and have ETERNAL
LIFE.
3)
The
Condition was
that they must keep EVERY ONE of the 613 Laws that God gave the Nation of Israel through Moses, THEN they would receive everlasting life with
God in heaven.
The Sign of the Mosiac Covenant became “CIRCUMCISION”
Jesus’s Covenant of Grace; [4]
1)
The
Parties of
the Covenant are the Father, Son, the Holy Spirit & the people He would
redeem.
2)
The
Promise; man
by the Grace
of God will have a way back to
God, to come into full fellowship with Him and have ETERNAL
LIFE.
3)
The
Conditions FOR US was to obey ALL
the Laws of the COVENANT OF WORKS and that the Son would become a man born
of a woman and become THE MEDIATOR between God and
Man. He
must remain sinless, but still pay
the sinner’s penalty of death
that we all deserve. However the people MUST place their FAITH
in God’s Son, Jesus the Christ and become OBEDIENT to His decrees
and commands.
The Sign of the Grace Covenant is “THE CROSS” and the empty tomb along
with the sacraments of Baptism and Communion; all an outward
guarantee of an inward reality.
The Fall
When
Adam ate of the fruit of the tree of Knowledge of Good and Evil, he broke
his covenant
with God and therefore God removed him from the Garden of Eden[5] lest he eat from the tree of life and live forever in
the fallen condition of sinful man SEPARATED from God forever.[6]
Death is best
described in its broadest sense as Physical as well as Spiritual along with
separation from God for eternity. Adam
and Eve were innocent, they were without sin and walked and talked with God in
the Garden and although they were MORTAL, they could have lived
forever in the presence of God.
Eternal life was based on their Works or Obedience.
Works
In
the very beginning, Man could NOT keep the Covenant of Works, and as
time moved on, God though Moses made ANOTHER Covenant of Works with Man. Moses wrote that keeping the Laws was the way
to make a
person right with God, Paul writing to the Romans said Moses Laws of
Works was intended to bring Eternal Life,[7] but
instead it brought DEATH.[8]
It’s just IMPOSSIBLE for Man to keep
all the Laws of Moses, because breaking just one of them makes you guilty of
breaking them all. This Covenant of Works is still in effect; if you do not keep ALL the Mosaic Laws you will die and be separated from God forever.
We are save by Works, but not ours; it is the
finished Work of Jesus Christ.
Romans 4:1-15 – We are counted righteous
because of FAITH
1 Abraham was, humanly speaking,
the founder of our Jewish nation. What did he discover about BEING MADE RIGHT WITH GOD?
2 If his GOOD DEEDS had made him acceptable to God, he would
have had something to boast about. But that was not God’s way.
3 For the Scriptures tell us,
“ABRAHAM BELIEVED GOD, AND
GOD COUNTED HIM AS RIGHTEOUS
BECAUSE OF HIS FAITH.”
4 When people work,
their wages are not a gift, but something they have earned. But PEOPLE ARE COUNTED AS RIGHTEOUS, not because of
their work, but BECAUSE OF
THEIR FAITH IN GOD who forgives
sinners.
6 David also spoke of this when he
described the happiness of those who are declared righteous without working for
it:
7 Oh, what joy for those whose
disobedience is forgiven, whose sins are put out of sight.
8 Yes, what joy for those whose
record the LORD has cleared of
sin.”
9 Now, is this blessing only for
the Jews, or is it also for uncircumcised Gentiles? Well, we have been saying
that
ABRAHAM WAS COUNTED AS RIGHTEOUS BY GOD
BECAUSE OF HIS FAITH.
10 But how did this
happen? Was he counted as righteous only after he was circumcised, or was it
before he was circumcised? Clearly, God accepted Abraham before he was
circumcised!
11 Circumcision was a SIGN that
Abraham already had faith and that God had already accepted him and declared
him to be righteous—even before he was circumcised. So Abraham is the spiritual
father of those who have faith but have not been circumcised.
They are counted as righteous because
of their faith.
12 And Abraham is
also the spiritual father of those who have been circumcised, but only if they
have the same kind of faith Abraham had before he was circumcised.
13 Clearly, God’s promise to give
the whole earth to Abraham and his descendants was
BASED NOT ON HIS OBEDIENCE TO GOD’S LAW,
but ON A RIGHT RELATIONSHIP WITH
GOD
that comes by FAITH.
14 If God’s promise
is only for those who obey the law, then faith is not necessary and the promise
is pointless.
15 For THE LAW ALWAYS BRINGS PUNISHMENT
ON THOSE WHO TRY TO OBEY IT.
(The only way to
avoid breaking the law is to have no law to break!)
(NLT)
New Covenant of Grace
Neither Adam’s Covenant of Works nor Moses Covenant of Works was able to
save mankind from death and separation from God. THE LAW’S COMMANDS, WHICH WERE SUPPOSED TO BRING LIFE, BROUGHT SPIRITUAL DEATH INSTEAD.[9] That’s why God sent His own Son, to be born of a
woman, born under the law to fulfill all the provisions of the Law once and
for all. Jesus did not sin[10]
yet was murdered by Satan; crucifying him on a tree that was reserved for
sinners. We have been freed from this
same Law of
Works by virtue of Christ’s work
at the cross.[11]
It was His death, resurrection and
ascension to the right hand of God the Father that gave man this new Covenant of
Grace. We are saved by His GRACE through our FAITH
in
the WORK of
Jesus Christ
on the cross and not based on any of our WORKS. We can do nothing to earn our salvation, it
is a FREE Grace Gift from
God.
LISTEN; whether you like it or not; if you
reject the New
Covenant of Grace offered by Jesus Christ, then you remain under
the Old
Covenant Laws, which cannot save; man just cannot keep the laws. The Jewish nation has rejected Jesus as the
Messiah and remain only a nation of Works; ALL remain under the Laws of Moses. The laws of
Moses pointed out that man was indeed in need of a Messiah; a Savior.
The Take Away
In
the beginning having EVERLASTING
LIFE in
the presence of God was based on WORKS; what man did
or didn’t do, but Adam the ONE and only SINLESS man could not keep the Covenant of Works, nor could
just ONE man out of the millions in
the Nation of Israel keep ALL the laws of Moses’ Covenant of Works.
The Book says Works COULD save you if you could only just keep the 613 Mosaic laws of God, BUT SINFUL MAN
CANNOT.
What the Law did, was show that man in
his fallen sinful condition could not keep God’s laws and was desperately in
need of a Savior; a Messiah to save him.
God in His mercy
and grace, sent a second Adam; He sent His only Son to be the sinless MEDIATOR between God and
Man, to become THE
WAY[12] for man to be united with God once again like he
was with the
first Adam before he rebelled and
sinned.
God has placed
these examples in the Book to
show us we
CANNOT be saved by WORKS. It requires REGENERATION which is the outward
evidence of the hidden, inward
work of God.
Did you see it? The knowledge
of the Father, Son and Holy Spirit does not equal regeneration; neither Jesus,
John nor Paul pointed to miracles or even our Church Activity as evidence of regeneration.[13]
The only evidence of regeneration or being born again is what is observed over TIME as a person demonstrates “in his own life” his genuine
love for God and OBEDIENCE to His commands
and the ACTS of love that he
freely extends to his fellow man.
The
regenerated man will exhibit the Christ like traits of THE FRUIT OF THE SPIRIT which radiates LOVE, JOY, PEACE, PATIENCE,
KINDNESS, GOODNESS, FAITHFULNESS, GENTLENESS, and SELF-CONTROL.[14] Not one or two of these, but ALL of them; these NINE traits are all ONE FRUIT. Satan’s influence or man working in his own
strength and abilities cannot duplicate the fruit of the
Spirit. This can only come through regeneration; the working of the Holy Spirit within us.[15]
We cannot keep God’s laws without the Holy Spirit within us.
Being Born Again or Regenerated is totally a Grace Work of God; we can do nothing
to earn it or deserve it; the WORK
of Jesus Christ on the Cross did it all through the Holy Spirit.[16]
We are now predestined to be adopted
as Sons of God,[17]
as we are continuously
being conformed to the Image of His son;[18] re-molded
to fit everything else in His Purpose and Will
until the day He returns; IT’S A LIFE
LONG PROCESS.
IT’S IN THE
BOOK
[1] Hosea 6:7 – Adam was in a covenant with God; you broke my COVENANT and betrayed my trust
[2] Genesis 2:15-17 – Adam Covenant of Works;
you shall Not eat of the tree of knowledge Good & Evil, if you eat its fruit, YOU DIE
[3] Deuteronomy 4:13 - He proclaimed His Covenant—the
Ten Commandments—which he wrote on two stone tablets
[4] Romans 5:12-21 – Jesus became the Second Adam; He did not disobey an explicit commandment of God, as ADAM did. As people sinned more and more, God’s wonderful grace became more abundant --
Genesis 17:7 - Covenant of Grace; generation
to generation
[5] Genesis 3:23 – God banished Adam & Eve from the Garden
[6] Genesis 3:22 – You would live forever in a fallen condition, if you also
took from the Tree of Life
[7] Romans 10:5 – Keep ALL the LAWS and you are made right with God -- Leviticus 18:5 –
Keep the LAW
and have eternal life -- Galatians 3:12 – Obeying the Law brings eternal LIFE
[8] Romans 6:23 – The punishment for SIN
is DEATH
[9] Romans 7:9-11 – The law’s commands,
which were supposed to bring life, brought
spiritual death instead
[10] 1 Peter 2:22 – Jesus never sinned nor ever deceived anyone.
[11] Romans 5:18-19 – Jesus obeyed the Covenant of Works so that many will be made righteous that believe
[13] Matthew 7:22-23 – Lord! We PROPHESIED in your name and CAST OUT DEMONS in
your name and PERFORMED MANY MIRACLES in your name.’ But on judgment day God will reply; get away from me, you who break God’s laws.’ I NEVER KNEW
YOU
[14] Galatians 5:22-23 – Fruit of the REGENERATED
Spirit LOVE, JOY, PEACE, PATIENCE, KINDNESS, GOODNESS, FAITHFULNESS,
GENTLENESS, and SELF-CONTROL.
[15] Galatians 3:10-11- No one is made right by keeping the Law; IT IS
THROUGH FAITH THAT A RIGHTEOUS PERSON HAS LIFE
[16] John 14:6 – Jesus is THE WAY, THE
TRUTH, and THE LIFE; No one can
come to the Father except through Him
[17] Ephesians 1:5 – HE PREDESTINED US FOR ADOPTION TO SONSHIP THROUGH
JESUS CHRIST, in accordance with HIS PLEASURE and WILL
[18] Romans 8:29- We are PREDESTINED TO BE CONFORMED TO THE
IMAGE OF HIS SON -- Ephesians 1:11 – The Holy Spirit conforms us to
God’s PURPOSE and WILL
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