“The Letter Killeth, but the Spirit Giveth Life”
See if you’ve ever heard this verse mis-used to block the light of truth.
“… the letter killeth, but the spirit giveth life.” 2 Corinthians 3:6
Yes this verse says “the spirit giveth life” and yet this in no way negates the divine command to live out and to “preach the word… in season and out of season.” (2 Timothy 4:2-4) The point is that many are using this Scripture out of its context to say or insidiously insinuate that God’s people shouldn’t “preach the Word” as the LORD commanded us to do (2 Timothy 4:2). Ephesians 6:17 says “the sword of the Spirit is the word of God.” (Ephesians 6:17) Neither the Word nor the Spirit of God can be discounted or separated from each other.
The LORD commands His people to …
“Preach the word; be instant in season, out of season; reprove, rebuke, exhort with all longsuffering and doctrine. 3 For the time will come when they will not endure sound doctrine; but after their own lusts shall they heap to themselves teachers, having itching ears; 4 And they shall turn away their ears from the truth, and shall be turned unto fables.” 2 Timothy 4:2-4
There is power in the Word of God and when it is sent forth from the mouths of His anointed people, lost souls are convicted, they repent, and are saved!
“And he said unto them, Go ye into all the world, and preach the gospel to every creature.” Mark 16:15
THIS is why Satan aims at stopping the preaching of the Word of God – it is wrecking his evil kingdom of darkness.
“But have renounced the hidden things of dishonesty, not walking in craftiness, nor handling the word of God deceitfully; but by manifestation of the truth commending ourselves to every man’s conscience in the sight of God. 3 But if our gospel be hid, it is hid to them that are lost: 4 In whom the god of this world hath blinded the minds of them which believe not, lest the light of the glorious gospel of Christ, who is the image of God, should shine unto them. 5 For we preach not ourselves, but Christ Jesus the Lord; and ourselves your servants for Jesus’ sake. 6 For God, who commanded the light to shine out of darkness, hath shined in our hearts, to give the light of the knowledge of the glory of God in the face of Jesus Christ.” 2 Corinthians 4:2-5
Satan wishes to keep his prey, his captives in darkness, blinded. His goal in using his embedded agents to twist God’s Word aims at shutting down the preaching of the oracles, the written Word of God. This is how God has ordained that lost men should be saved and saved men should be further sanctified (John 15:3; 1 Peter 1:23, etc.).
There is power in the Word of God!
“So shall my word be that goeth forth out of my mouth: it shall not return unto me void, but it shall accomplish that which I please, and it shall prosper in the thing whereto I sent it.” Isaiah 55:11
When convicted, when those who are lawless, unaccountable, hear something they don’t like, they will shoot out a deflection by misusing this verse as they declare “… the letter killeth, but the spirit giveth life.” (2 Corinthians 3:6) In other words they don’t wish to be corrected by the Word of the LORD which is one of the four stated reasons God gave us His written Word (2 Timothy 3:16-17).
The way this verse, this truth is being used today is due to the rebels who refuse to be accountable to the Word that we know of 100% certainty is from the LORD.
“He that is of God heareth God’s words: ye therefore hear them not, because ye are not of God.” John 8:47
According to our LORD Jesus, we know who is “of God” or “NOT of God” by how they hold or don’t hold God’s written Word. Any person who does not uphold God’s Word as their final divine authority is “not of God.” It is highly recommended that you memorize the above verse.
It’s as if they are determining that a small portion of this one Bible verse cancels out, negates the mountains of Scripture which inform us that God’s written Word is the final divine authority for every matter of doctrine and the practice of the faith of Christ.
The true disciple is teachable, is captive to the LORD and therefore His Word. And so he declares with Paul “Let GOD be true and every man a liar.” (Romans 3:4)
BEWARE of misusing this verse to convey the false notion that God’s people aren’t accountable to God’s Word and are not to speak His Word.
WHEN people get convicted at the preaching of biblical truth, many of them will misuse the “The Letter Killeth” Scripture, lifting it out of context in order to deflect the guilt away from their darkened, lawless hearts instead of repenting (John 3:19-21). What does God’s Word mean when it says “The Letter Killeth, but the Spirit Giveth Life”? (2 Corinthians 3:6)
Many throw this verse out there to block intrusion upon their falsehoods. They want to stifle conviction and get a free pass to pretend they are “led by the Spirit” with no accountability to the written Word. They want the freedom to do their own thing and then claim it was the Holy Spirit that led them to do so. These antichrist flakes are not grounded in Holy Scripture. Beware of the lawless ones!
In 2 Corinthians 3, the apostle Paul was contrasting the old and new covenants and not dismissing any accountability to the written Word (2 Corinthians 3).
2 Corinthians 3:6 is often misused to convey the idea that God didn’t really mean what He stated and that we aren’t accountable to it – so we are free to do what we wish, call it ministry, and blame it on the Holy Spirit. Then the misuser introduces his own twisted explanation, perpetrates his/her supposed visions, words, or dreams he claims are from God. Some of these deceivers use allegory to dismiss the literal. Beware.
“Thus saith the LORD of hosts, Hearken not unto the words of the prophets that prophesy unto you: they make you vain: they speak a vision of their own heart, and not out of the mouth of the LORD.” Jeremiah 23:16
“How long shall this be in the heart of the prophets that prophesy lies? yea, they are prophets of the deceit of their own heart;” Jeremiah 23:26
False prophets perpetrate their own “words”, their own “visions” and “dreams” they claim are from God and expect their prey to believe them. Yet, they simultaneously discredit and denigrate the divine authority of God’s written Word. Now that friends, is Satan at work! Beware saints!
Test all against God’s written Word. Anything that contradicts is from counterfeits, from “another spirit” which is of Satan (Galatians 1:6-9; 2 Corinthians 11:2-4, 12-15).
“Beloved, believe not every spirit, but try (test) the spirits whether they are of God: because many false prophets are gone out into the world.” 1 John 4:1
People who are lawless, do not want to be held accountable to the Word of God which is the final divine authority (Acts 17:10-11; 1 John 4:1).
What does “the letter killeth, but the spirit giveth life” really mean? Does this mean that the Word of God should not be spoken or adhered to or taken literally whenever possible? Does it mean that individuals can claim to be “led of the Spirit” while contradicting or twisting what God’s Word states? Never. The divine Person of the Holy Ghost gave us the written Word and “the scripture cannot be broken.” (John 10:35; 2 Timothy 3:16; 2 Peter 1:20-21)
Some, upon hearing the words of God preached, do not wish to repent (are un-repentant) and therefore attack the messenger. They will use “private interpretation” by misquoting 2 Corinthians 3:6 out of its context (2 Peter 1:19-21).
“Heaven and earth shall pass away: but my words shall not pass away.” Mark 13:31
This 2 Corinthians 3 passage in no way negates the need for speaking God’s Word. Such would be blatant disobedience. Jesus and His holy apostles commanded that His people “Preach the word.” (Mark 16:15; 2 Timothy 4:2, etc.). In fact, it’s only those who do not “endure sound doctrine” who misuse 2 Corinthians 3:6.
Some would say “life can’t be found in the rules” but God’s Word states: “It is the spirit that quickeneth; the flesh profiteth nothing: the words that I speak unto you, they are spirit, and they are life.” (John 6:63) Since Jesus is “the life” and “the Word”, do His word not have divine life in them? (John 1:1, 14; 14:6) Yes they do.
When stating “the letter killeth, but the spirit giveth life”, Paul here is in no way minimizing the Law or Word of God. In fact, “the law is holy, and the commandment holy, and just, and good.” (Romans 7:12) Instead, rather the apostle is contrasting mere words with the words from/of God coupled with and enlivened by the Spirit of God through Spirit-filled New Testament vessels. Read 2 Corinthians 3 prayerfully.
Notice the context. Paul is speaking of the ministry of the Holy Spirit in and through the believer in ministering to others. Because of the Holy Ghost living in His people, we are said to be “able ministers of the new testament.”
“Not that we are sufficient of ourselves to think any thing as of ourselves; but our sufficiency is of God; 6 Who also hath made us able ministers of the new testament; not of the letter (the law), but of the spirit: for the letter killeth, but the spirit giveth life.” 2 Corinthians 3:5-6
If Paul was is speaking of the sword of the Word harming someone, it would only mean that the human vessel is not walking in the Spirit of God at the time he is ministering.
“Know ye not that ye are the temple of God, and that the Spirit of God dwelleth in you?” 1 Corinthians 3:16
Under the far superior New Covenant, ratified with the very sinless blood of the only begotten Son of God, the regenerated spirits of born again men are the very temples of the Holy Spirit (1 Corinthians 3:16). The born again saints of Christ are possessed by the Holy Spirit who brings life, grace, divine enablement, and divine empowerment to fulfill God’s will in contrast with the Old Law which gave no man the ability to keep it…. Romans 8:3-4
“For the law of the Spirit of life in Christ Jesus hath made me free from the law of sin and death. 3 For what the law could not do, in that it was weak through the flesh, God sending his own Son in the likeness of sinful flesh, and for sin, condemned sin in the flesh: 4 That the righteousness of the law might be fulfilled in us, who walk not after the flesh, but after the Spirit.” Romans 8:2-4
The law slays us (death and burial) and the Holy Spirit raises us up in Christ’s salvation (Romans 8:3-4, 11).
“But if the Spirit of him that raised up Jesus from the dead dwell in you, he that raised up Christ from the dead shall also quicken your mortal bodies by his Spirit that dwelleth in you.” Romans 8:11
“2 Cor. 3:6, the letter stands for the whole Mosaic Law. It kills because, of itself, it could not give life (Acts 13:39). The work of the law was to make men conscious of sin (Gal.3:21-25) 1 Tim. 1:9). The Spirit, by contrast gives life to believers.” Steve Smull
God sent His only begotten Son to die for us, establishing a new covenant, so we could be redeemed and the vessels, the very temples of His Holy Spirit.
“Forasmuch as ye are manifestly declared to be the epistle of Christ ministered by us, written not with ink, but with the Spirit of the living God; not in tables of stone, but in fleshy tables of the heart.” 2 Corinthians 3:3
Here is the verse in question…
“Who also hath made us able ministers of the new testament; not of the letter, but of the spirit: for the letter killeth, but the spirit giveth life.” 2 Corinthians 3:6
Of 2 Corinthians 3:6, in the Believer’s Bible Commentary, William MacDonald writes:
“In verse 6 the ‘letter’ refers to the Law of Moses, and the ‘spirit’ refers to the gospel of the grace of God. When Paul says that ‘the letter killeth’, he is speaking of the ministry of the law. The law condemns all who fail to keep its holy precepts. ‘by the law is the knowledge of sin.’ (Rom. 3:20) ‘Cursed is every one that continueth not in all things which are written in the book of the law to do them.’ (Gal. 3:10) God never intended the law to be the means of giving life. Rather it was designed to bring the knowledge of sin, to convict of sin. The New Covenant is here called ‘spirit’. It represents the spiritual fulfillment of the types and shadows of the Old Covenant. What the law demanded but could never produce is not effected by the gospel.” p. 1829
One commentary discloses the following of this glorious 2 Corinthians 3 passage and uncovers where the misuse of 2 Corinthians 3:6 began, at the hands of a known false teacher:
“Not of the letter, but of the spirit. In other words, “not of the Law, but of the gospel;” not of that which is dead, but of that which is living; not of that which is deathful, but of that which is life-giving; not of bondage, but of freedom; not of mutilation, but of self-control; not of the outward, but of the inward; not of works, but of grace; not of menace, but of promise; not of curse, but of blessing; not of wrath, but of love; not of Moses, but of Christ. This is the theme which St. Paul develops especially in the Epistles to the Romans and the Galatians (see Rom_2:29; Rom_3:20; Rom_7:6, Rom_7:10, Rom_7:11; Rom_8:2; Gal_3:10; Gal_5:4, etc.). Not of the letter. Not, that is, of the Mosaic Law regarded as a yoke of externalism; a hard and unhelpful “thou shalt” and “thou shalt not;” a system that possessed no life of its own and inspired no life into others; a “categoric imperative,” majestic, indeed, but unsympathetic and pitiless. Both the Law and the gospel were committed to writing; each covenant had its own book; but in the case of the Mosaic Law there was the book and nothing more; in the case of the gospel the book was nothing compared to the spirit, and nothing without the spirit. Out of the spirit. That is, of the gospel which found its pledge and consummation in the gift of the Spirit. The Law, too, was in one sense “spiritual” (Rom_7:14), for it was given by God, who is a Spirit, and it was a holy Law; but though such in itself (in se) it was relatively (per aceidens) a cause of sin and death, because it was addressed to a fallen nature, and inspired no spirit by which that nature could be delivered (see Rom_7:7-25). But in the gospel the spirit is everything; the mere letter is as nothing (Joh_6:63). For the letter killeth, but the spirit giveth life. This is one of the very numerous “texts” which have been first misinterpreted and have then been made, for whole centuries, the bases of erroneous systems. On this text more than any other, Origen (false teacher), followed by the exegetes of a thousand years, built his dogma that the Scripture must be interpreted allegorically, not literally, because “the letter” of the Bible kills. The misinterpretation is extravagantly inexcusable, and, like many others, arose solely from rending words away from their context and so reading new senses into them. The contrast is not between “the outward” and the inward sense of Scripture at all. “The letter” refers exclusively to “the Law,” and therefore has so little reference to “the Bible” that it was written before most of the New Testament existed, and only touches on a small portion of the Old Testament. Killeth. Two questions arise.
(1) What and whom does it kill? And
(2) how does it kill?
The answers seem to be that
(1) the letter—the Law regarded as an outward letter—passes the sentence of death on those who disobey it. It says, “He who doeth these things shall live in them;” and therefore implies, as well as often says, that he who disobeys them shall be cut off. It is, therefore, a deathful menace. For none can obey this Law with perfect obedience. And
(2) the sting of death being sin, the Law kills by directly leading to sin, in that it stirs into existence the principle of concupiscence (Rom_7:7-11; 1Co_15:56; Gal_3:10, Gal_3:21). But the spirit giveth life. This contrast between a dead and a living covenant is fundamental, and especially in the writings of St. Paul (Rom_2:27-29; Rom_7:6; Rom_8:11; Gal_5:8; 1Co_15:45). The Law stones the adulteress; the gospel says to her, “Go, and sin no more.”
2Co_3:7
The ministration of death. The ministration, that is, of the Law, of “the letter which killeth.” St. Paul here begins one of the arguments a minori ad majus which are the very basis of the Epistle to the Hebrews. Written and engraven in stones; literally, engraved in letters on stones (Exo_31:18). The reference shows that, in speaking of “the letter,” St. Paul was only thinking of the Mosaic Law, and indeed specifically of the Decalogue. Was glorious; literally, occurred in glory, or, proved itself glorious. In itself the Law was “holy, just, and good” (Rom_7:12), and given “at the disposition of angels” (Act_7:53); and its transitory glory was illustrated by the lustre which the face of Moses caught by reflection from his intercourse with God (Exo_24:16).”
Articles
Jesus Paid it All [podcast]
“by the sacrifice of himself“
“Now once in the end of the world hath he appeared to put away sin by the sacrifice of himself.” Hebrews 9:26
“ALL have sinned” against our God and so our own good works do not atone for our sins (Isaiah 64:6; Romans 3:10, 23; Ephesians 2:8-9, etc.). ONLY Jesus could and did do that for us – make the atonement that brings us back to God.
The LORD is “Holy, holy, holy” and therefore takes sin seriously (Isaiah 6:3; Revelation 4:8). The coming of Jesus to die on that cross reveals how loving God is and how personal He takes sin. The LORD therefore “appeared to put away sin by the sacrifice of himself.” The Son of God came in person to pay the full debt for the sin of mankind – “It is finished” which means paid in full (John 19:30).
Jesus “obtained eternal redemption for us” – “by his own blood.”
“Neither by the blood of goats and calves, but BY HIS OWN BLOOD he entered in once into the holy place, having obtained eternal redemption for us.” Hebrews 9:12
“And from Jesus Christ, who is the faithful witness, and the first begotten of the dead, and the prince of the kings of the earth. Unto him that loved us, and washed us from our sins IN HIS OWN BLOOD,” Revelation 1:5
“WHEN HE HAD BY HIMSELF purged our sins, sat down on the right hand of the Majesty on high.” Hebrews 1:3
ALL “BY HIMSELF” Jesus redeemed us, bought, brought us back to God by the shedding of His precious blood on that cross. Jesus needed no help: He alone was sufficient to propitiate, expiate, atone for the sins of mankind.
Jesus, I thank You for shedding Your precious blood for me and washing me afresh right now. I love You LORD Jesus!
The LORD desires to take His people “from glory to glory.” Think about that.
“But we all, with open face beholding as in a glass the glory of the Lord, are changed into the same image from glory to glory, even as by the Spirit of the Lord.” 2 Corinthians 3:18
As we seek and behold the face of our LORD, He will take us “from glory to glory” – deeper into the revelation of who He is, His eternal plan, and the inestimable blessings of the covenant He secured and ratified in His own precious blood (Matthew 26:28).
Jesus ALL “BY HIMSELF purged our sins” … Christ single handedly paid the sin debt with His perfect sacrifice on that cross – “It is finished” means paid in full (John 19:30).
“What the judiazers miss is that Jesus Fulfilled the Law at the Cross….Jesus being the perfect sacrifice was the Fulfilment.” Byron Wilson
“THE Lamb of God” has come and died, was buried, and raised again from the dead to fully justify His people, having redeemed them by the blood of his cross (Colossians 1:20)
“The next day John seeth Jesus coming unto him, and saith, Behold the Lamb of God, which taketh away the sin of the world.” John 1:29
Christ is our passover (1 Corinthians 5:7-8). The passover of the OT was a mere shadow of what Christ is the substance, the solution. The passover, the sprinkling of the blood of sacrificed lambs by the people of God was prophetic of the coming Messiah which merely prefigured what He has come and already did – shed His precious blood on that cross to redeem us from our sins (Exodus 12; 2 Corinthians 5:19-21; 1 Peter 1:15-16; 3:18). The doorposts were sprinkled/brushed with sacrificial animal blood in the shape of a cross which was a prophetic foreshadowing, prefiguring of our LORD Jesus Christ who was to come and has now come to die on that cross (Exodus 12:22-23). “It is finished” means paid in full (John 19:30). The price for your sins has been paid in full. Read Hebrews 8-10 several times prayerfully.
Why would anyone go to eternal damnation in hell when Jesus paid the full price for their sin, to bring them to Heaven? Unbelief.
Anyone who gets saved and then doesn’t drill down into the doctrinal letters and epistles and get grounded in grace through faith justification and living, will be susceptible to being deceived by the antichrist judaizers in our midst. It will cost many of them their eternal souls. There will be not 1 law-keeping judaizing snake in Heaven. If you don’t know that, you are biblically illiterate. Romans. Galatians. Ephesians. Philippians. Colossians. Hebrews.
Dear law-keeper, Torah-keeper: Tell us all how NEW Testament saints are not justified by Christ’s sacrifice…. Tell us how we must help God out to justify us …. when the Bible declares that ALL of our own righteousnesses are as filthy rags (Isaiah 64:6).
ANY person who adds anything to salvation except Christ, is antichrist! Salvation is Jesus Christ plus nothing.
“God, who at sundry times and in divers manners spake in time past unto the fathers by the prophets, 2 Hath in these last days spoken unto us by his Son, whom he hath appointed heir of all things, by whom also he made the worlds; 3 Who being the brightness of his glory, and the express image of his person, and upholding all things by the word of his power, WHEN HE HAD BY HIMSELF purged our sins, sat down on the right hand of the Majesty on high;” Hebrews 1:1-3
Jesus sealed the New Covenant in His own blood when He died on the cross.
“For this is my blood of the new testament, which is shed for many for the remission of sins.” Matthew 26:28
Moses vs Jesus …. Every person must choose – John 1:17.
“For the law was given by Moses, but grace and truth came by Jesus Christ.” John 1:17
2 Corinthians 3 and Hebrews 8-10 contrast the infinitely superior NEW Covenant with the old covenant it replaced, superseded. Amazing! Now check out John 1:17. Moses = OLD. Jesus Christ = NEW!
Shall we be under Moses, the law, or Christ, the Gospel? Do you want the bondage of the law or the freedom of Christ, the only One to ever keep the whole law perfectly – before He nailed it to the cross and took is away?! (Colossians 2:14-19)
“Now therefore why tempt ye God, to put a yoke (the law) upon the neck of the disciples, which neither our fathers nor we were able to bear?” Acts 15:10
“Stand fast therefore in the liberty wherewith Christ hath made us free, and be not entangled again with the yoke of bondage (the law).” Galatians 5:1
Of this distinction between Moses and Jesus, law and grace, one disciple writes:
“The yoke of Moses’ law is heavy and oppressive. The yoke of the cross is easy and light. Matt 11:28-30. Why? The law cannot give one resurrection life. Rom 7:10. The cross, through faith, confers resurrection life and power on the recipient. The cross is on every page of the Bible either in type and shadow (OT) or reality (NT).
The cross and resurrection with Christ (grace) is totally antithetical to law/tradition/external observances/human effort. It astounding to see how much of the New Testament is devoted to teaching the difference in the two. Identifying Sin (behavioral management) and its consequences is addressed far far less.
Why? Because righteous living is a spontaneous byproduct of resurrection life and power. Without resurrection, the law multiplies the number of sins committed. Rom 5:20; 7:5″
If you will be planted deep into Christ, your Christology, your study of, your personal knowledge of Christ must be deep, not shallow (Colossians 2:6-10).
The Book of Hebrews!
Reading the book of Hebrews, pouring over it perhaps several times, will do wonders for your understanding and lay the foundation in New Covenant truth. In no other book of the Bible is the comparison, the contrast of the Old and New Covenants so poignantly displayed.
“But without faith it is impossible to please him: for he that cometh to God must believe that he is, and that he is a rewarder of them that diligently seek him.” Hebrews 11:6
GOD values our FAITH in HIM, most (Hebrews 11:6). Faith is a Gospel essential. It is rebellion to try to merit or do something GOD alone can and did do – paying the full, the whole, the entire, the perfect price for our sins! Christ! His cross! Faith connects us with God. Faith in Christ, His perfect sacrifice for us, appropriates His blessed salvation and all of His many benefits to those who are His. FAITH not works! (Ephesians 2:8-9)
“For by grace are ye saved through faith; and that not of yourselves: it is the gift of God: 9 Not of works, lest any man should boast. 10 For we are his workmanship, created in Christ Jesus unto good works, which God hath before ordained that we should walk in them.” Ephesians 2:8-10
Just because Jesus paid it all does not mean that Jesus doesn’t have stated conditions for receiving His gift of salvation. Repentance and faith are those conditions and true repentance and faith will be demonstrated, proved by who we love which is who we obey! (Matthew 3:7-10; Luke 9:23-24; 14:27, 33; 17:33; John 14:15; 15:14; Romans 6; James 2; 1 John 2:3-6, etc.). – “we are his workmanship, created in Christ Jesus unto good works…” (Ephesians 2:8-10)
“Now to him that worketh is the reward not reckoned of grace, but of debt. 5 But to him that worketh not, but believeth on him that justifieth the ungodly, his faith is counted for righteousness.” Romans 4:4-5
Was Christ’s sacrifice perfect? What it enough? Yes or no?
One MUST leave Christ, to depart from the only Savior, to go back to law-keeping. Such a person has denied Christ, has “fallen from grace” – is under a spirit of witchcraft, and is no longer saved (Galatians 3:3; 5:4).
The Galatia believers allowed themselves to be sucked in, to be seduced, and the result was that they fell from saving grace (Galatians 3:1-3; 5:4). They were drawn away from saving grace in Christ to law-keeping and then fell away.
Memory Verse
“Stand fast therefore in the liberty wherewith Christ hath made us free, and be not entangled again with the yoke of bondage.” Galatians 5:1
God desires that the hearts of His people be “with grace.”
“Be not carried about with divers and strange doctrines. For it is a good thing that the heart be established with grace; not with meats, which have not profited them that have been occupied therein.” Hebrews 13:9
Hebrews 8-10 contrasts the infinitely inferior Old Covenant with the infinitely superior New Covenant which was ratified in the very blood of Jesus Christ, which was merely foreshadowed under the Old Testament.
Redemption Through Christ’s Perfect Blood Sacrifice
None of us is perfect. We have “ALL sinned” against our Maker (Romans 3:10, 23). And that makes us fully guilty of breaking the whole law and worthy of divine judgment (James 2:10). Only Jesus was perfect in keeping the whole law. He then nailed it to the cross and “took it out of the way.” (Colossians 2:14-19) This is the testimony, the message of Holy Scripture.
Read Romans 3-5 repeatedly.
Romans 10:4 – the law is over for righteousness. “The end.”
“For Christ is the end of the law for righteousness to every one that believeth.” Romans 10:4
WHO is “the end of the law for righteousness”? “CHRIST”! (Romans 10:4)
1. The Ten commandments are the Old Covenant: Ex 34:27-28
2. The Old Covenant was abolished: Heb 8:13
3. The Ten Commandments are therefore abolished! “For righteousness” (Romans 10:4)
One disciple writes: “The law causes people to sin, people who would not otherwise have sinned without the law. Rom 5:20 (“causes transgressions to INCREASE, not decrease); 7:5 (the motions of sins which are caused by the law); all of Rom 7 which says the apart from the law sin is dead. The law revived sin in Paul’s life when it was formerly dormant. Moses’ law is a slavery and a curse which Jesus died to free us from. Rom 8:2; Gal 3:10-13. The law is the enemy of the Christian just as much as Sin and Satan are. The law kills. 2 Corinthians 3:4-7 and is a ministry of condemnation and death. 2 Cor 3. The law killed Jesus. Jn 19:7”
The keeping of a certain day, circumcision, or reenacting Jewish festivals that merely foreshadowed Him who has now come for all people, has no value. For the Jews (not NT Christians), those things were instituted and were mere “shadows” pointing to Christ Himself before He came, but now He has ALREADY COME. He completed His work perfectly and put away the law for righteousness and replaced that Old Covenant with His new covenant which is based upon better promises (Hebrew 7-10; Colossians 2:14-17; Galatians 4:1-10). This is a basic truth of New Testament Christianity and if the saint doesn’t get this in their heart, he can be vulnerable to be deceived by judaizers as we are so often specifically warned concerning.
YOU MUST CHOOSE: If you are going to be a law-keeper, you’d better not miss even one jot or tittle of the law or you are guilty of breaking it all.
“For whosoever shall keep the whole law, and yet offend in one point, he is guilty of all.” James 2:10
Or, you could repent and trust Christ who is the only One to perfectly keep the law. Then He nailed it to the cross and took it away for righteousness (Colossians 2:14-19).
DO you realize that if you are a law-keeper, you are an antichrist? You have openly denied Christ, denied His perfect sacrifice and are foolishly attempting to keep the law perfectly instead of repenting and trusting the only One who ever kept the law perfectly and then nailed it to the cross, taking it away for righteousness (Romans 10:4 Colossians 2:14-19).
ANY person trying to keep the law to be justified in God’s eyes has no clue who the Son of God is nor why He came. They are lost. This includes all sabbath-keeping idolaters and Jewish feast keepers, etc.
Are you seeking to earn your salvation, your place with God? Or, are you trusting Christ, the only Mediator between you and God? (1 Timothy 2:5)
Obeying God after He saves us is the expression of our love for Him and not that which justifies us. HE alone justifies us. Only God Himself can justify a man and yet He set conditions. And yes, those who know Him will definitely obey Him and yet their obedience doesn’t justify them, God alone can do that. Memorize Romans 4:4-5 today.
Heather Hunter McKowen writes:
“Romans 7 says: ‘For sin, taking occasion by the commandment, deceived me, and by it slew me. 12 Wherefore the law is holy, and the commandment holy, and just, and good.”
The law reveals it is man who is full of sin, dead and in need of a Savior. The law is still a school master for those who have yet to come to the faith.
Galatians 3:
“Is the law then against the promises of God? God forbid: for if there had been a law given which could have given life, verily righteousness should have been by the law. 22 But the scripture hath concluded all under sin, that the promise by faith of Jesus Christ might be given to them that believe. 23 But before faith came, we were kept under the law, shut up unto the faith which should afterwards be revealed. 24 Wherefore the law was our schoolmaster to bring us unto Christ, that we might be justified by faith. 25 But after that faith is come, we are no longer under a schoolmaster.” Galatians 3:21-25
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America
“We’re Watching The Collapse of America in Real Time” [podcast]
Greatest Country in the World? – such a statement and others are the glue that holds the enslaved to their slave masters. And there was many more.
“Because thou sayest, I am rich, and increased with goods, and have need of nothing; and knowest not that thou art wretched, and miserable, and poor, and blind, and naked:” Revelation 3:17
America has for at least decades rejected God, even those who claim they are saved. They are bound for eternal damnation. They are “wretched, and miserable, and poor, and blind, and naked:”
Is America what it used to be? I think not. America is reaping what it has sowed. More on God’s judgment on nations in a moment.
So why would present judgment upon the USA be a surprise to the true born again Bible saints? Would this not prove that we ourselves are still in darkness?
“Professing themselves to be wise, they became fools,” Romans 1:22
Business as Usual? I don’t think so. Redemptive withdrawal at work – where God is removing His hand of protection over the USA due to the sin and unrepentant rebellion of the people. Notice how this starts – when we live in sin, we are unrepentant, we are digging out own pit.
“The heathen are sunk down in the pit that they made: in the net which they hid is their own foot taken. 16 The LORD is known by the judgment which he executeth: the wicked is snared in the work of his own hands. Higgaion. Selah. 17 The wicked shall be turned into hell, and all the nations that forget God.” Psalms 9:16-17
“Excellent podcast! And I agree America is on a downward spiral of evilness I don’t believe we have ever seen, as we are nearing the end times. I think of 2 Tim 3:1-4. But what really sticks out is v3 ‘without natural affection,’. Isn’t this exactly what we are seeing? Natural affection in the Greek ‘astorgos’ meaning natural and instinctual family love for parents, and children is gone. Yet our society is now without this love and their hearts and has become hardened from the deceitfulness of sin (Hebrews 3:12-15). The root cause is self-idolatry. The people have become ‘lovers of their own selves’. Children are now a burden to their lives, instead of a blessing from the Lord. So when that happens we kill them, we murder our own children. People are doing so either in the womb or whenever they tire of them. In our wicked society, killing children has become celebrated. Just recently Massachusetts passed a law, that you can kill your own baby up to birth. This was applauded, by these demonic, feminist, Jezebels! Remarkably, there was not one man standing with them when this was signed. This is how far America has come. Killing children is acceptable and applauded! God’s judgment is definitely upon us. We are rotten in absolute unrepentant rebellion all the way to the very core.” Karen Cochran
How did we get here?
What sins was Sodom committing when the LORD judged them?
PFA = Pride, Fulness of Bread, and Abundance of idleness.
The Sins of Sodom:
Sins Jerusalem cited for in Ezekiel 16:49-51:
- Pride (arrogance),
- Fulness of Bread (gluttony, hoarding),
- Abundance of Idleness (idle, lazy),
- did not help those in need due to preoccupation with self-worship (not generous in spreading God’s wealth to His people and work)
- haughty
- committed abomination (rampant fornication – just as in the days leading up to the Noahic flood. See Genesis 6)
Judgment is at hand.
HERE IS WHERE WE ARE – There’s a timing of judgment for each nation. The LORD has called America to repent for decades and she has refused and will not be repenting. She has wiped her mouth like she did nothing wrong. The people will not acknowledge their gross sin and only wants her freedom back in order to go back to living as she pleases but has no conviction of her sin to lead her to true repentance.
“AT WHAT INSTANT”
God has a specific timing for the judgment on each nation.
Jeremiah 18:10
1 The word which came to Jeremiah from the LORD, saying,
2 Arise, and go down to the potter’s house, and there I will cause thee to hear my words.
3 Then I went down to the potter’s house, and, behold, he wrought a work on the wheels.
4 And the vessel that he made of clay was marred in the hand of the potter: so he made it again another vessel, as seemed good to the potter to make it.
5 Then the word of the LORD came to me, saying,
6 O house of Israel, cannot I do with you as this potter? saith the LORD. Behold, as the clay is in the potter’s hand, so are ye in mine hand, O house of Israel.
7 At what INSTANT I shall speak concerning a nation, and concerning a kingdom, to pluck up, and to pull down, and to destroy it;
8 If that nation, against whom I have pronounced, turn from their evil, I will repent of the evil that I thought to do unto them.
9 And at what instant I shall speak concerning a nation, and concerning a kingdom, to build and to plant it;
10 If it do evil in my sight, that it obey not my voice, then I will repent of the good, wherewith I said I would benefit them.
Clear proof that America is under divine judgment. Rampant injustice such as judges giving bond to murderers and rapists so they can (and they are) go out and do it again. Read Isaiah 3.
Over 60 million murdered in cold blood precious babies, and county, with no voice crying out for abortion to cease.
No political party or candidate can save America from divine judgment. Only repentance could have done such—yet those claiming to be God’s people have refused (Jeremiah 18:1-10; 2 Chronicles 7:14).
Most other nations are not under such judgment at this time and this underscores the timing of God in judging individual nations. Those who live elsewhere or travel can testify that other nations are not the cascading catastrophe the United States presently is. The LORD told us that He has an “instant” in time, a specific time for the judgment of each nation – and in the end the final judgment of all nations (Jeremiah 18:1-10; Matthew 25:31-46).
“I see this on men’s faces all over America. The women have rotted their bones with their words! They destroy him and tear him down so much so that he stops fighting and surrenders to her. This is how they gain complete control. They strip him and tear him down to nothing. He then gives up.” Karen Cochran
At the time of this writing, nearly $1 million has been donated to the wicked woman’s defense fund by other wicked women who are defending her murders of her own three precious children and blaming her husband for it.
CONCERNING the woman who just murdered her three precious children, her attorney is using the “mental health episode” excuse. In other words, in the USA it’s okay to murder, even your own children, since after all, perhaps the pharmakeia drugs weren’t working good enough. So, your punishment is minimal. Justice perverted (Isaiah 5:20-24). | Sorcery, Pharmakeia | The Drugging of America
SHE knew exactly what she was doing and anyone defending this woman’s actions is accursed, pure evil. Sit down Jezebel. SIN and Satan is what was going on in this woman’s mind. As has been stated, “Sin will take you further than you want to go, will charge you more than you want to pay, and will keep you longer than you want to stay.” unknown …
There are consequences for our decisions.
“Be not deceived; God is not mocked: for whatsoever a man soweth, that shall he also reap. 8 For he that soweth to his flesh shall of the flesh reap corruption; but he that soweth to the Spirit shall of the Spirit reap life everlasting.” Galatians 6:7-8
We have all sinned against our Maker and are in need of His forgiveness before it’s too late. Call on Jesus today if you wish to be forgiven. “For the wages of sin is death; but the gift of God is eternal life through Jesus Christ our Lord” (Romans 6:23). America is over but eternity lies before each of us.
The Following Comments are Proof that the Sisterhood of Eve is Alive and Well
“Once you support murdering babies, there isn’t an evil left that you can’t justify.” Jesse
“Everyone that donated should get the injection along with the mother.”
“Women trying to escape accountability …. nothing new. I don’t recall men standing behind Chris Watts for nuking his family.”
“Killing of kids and even unborn ones are things that unite women the most for the last few decades.”
“I don’t think it’s ever been more over than it is now guys.”
“What if the husband committed this heinous act & he was suffering from depression? Would the women supporting and defending her, would have supported and defended the husband too and blamed it on depression? The answer is NO.”
“She planned it, sent her husband on a chore to get rid of him….then executed her children….”
“If a man had done it, NO WOMAN would be making excuses for him.”
“Guys, when Eve was seduced by the devil in the garden it wasn’t fiction.”
“At this point I am thinking ‘who seduced whom?’ “
“I have been shocked at the level of evilness in these women who are defending this demon! There is absolutely no doubt she did it! The prosecution said she did it, her lawyer said she did it, and she admitted herself she did it. And yet these lunatics are saying her husband did it. He wasn’t even home, as she sent him to the store. Sounds like pre-meditation to me. And not one mention of these three precious babies she killed, one by one! Oh boy! I have righteous anger over this. Especially because they are blaming the husband when she said, ‘I DID IT‘!!” Karen Cochran
The Killing Field known as the United States of America is under Divine Judgment – repent now, before it’s too late. You are going to burn in hell, consciously, irrevocably. Make Peace with God now. Jesus is calling you to Himself.
The right to abort, to murder one’s own precious innocent baby has given way to this exponential murderous evil – including murdering your own born babies. ALL abortion is murder and anyone in any way involved, has the blood of innocent babies on their wicked hands.
“Thou shalt not kill.” Exodus 20:13
“He that covereth his sins shall not prosper: but whoso confesseth and forsaketh them shall have mercy.” Proverbs 28:13
The LORD our Maker sees all.
- Proverbs 28:15: “As a roaring lion, and a ranging bear; so is a wicked ruler over the poor people.”
- Proverbs 29:2: “When the righteous are in authority, the people rejoice: but when the wicked beareth rule, the people mourn.”
- Ecclesiastes 5:8: “If thou seest the oppression of the poor, and violent perverting of judgment and justice in a province, marvel not at the matter: for he that is higher than the highest regardeth; and there be higher than they.”
- Isaiah 10:1-2: “Woe unto them that decree unrighteous decrees, and that write grievousness which they have prescribed; To turn aside the needy from judgment, and to take away the right from the poor of my people, that widows may be their prey, and that they may rob the fatherless!”
- Daniel 2:21: “And he changeth the times and the seasons: he removeth kings, and setteth up kings: he giveth wisdom unto the wise, and knowledge to them that know understanding:”
- Micah 3:9-11: “Hear this, I pray you, ye heads of the house of Jacob, and princes of the house of Israel, that abhor judgment, and pervert all equity. They build up Zion with blood, and Jerusalem with iniquity. The heads thereof judge for reward, and the priests thereof teach for hire, and the prophets thereof divine for money: yet will they lean upon the LORD…”
- Psalm 2:10-12: “Be wise now therefore, O ye kings: be instructed, ye judges of the earth. Serve the LORD with fear, and rejoice with trembling. Kiss the Son, lest he be angry, and ye perish from the way, when his wrath is kindled but a little. Blessed are all they that put their trust in him.”
- Psalm 82:1-2, 6-8: “God standeth in the congregation of the mighty; he judgeth among the gods. How long will ye judge unjustly, and accept the persons of the wicked? … I have said, Ye are gods; and all of you are children of the most Highest. But ye shall die like men, and fall like one of the princes. Arise, O God, judge the earth: for thou shalt inherit all nations.”
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Abiding
Antichrist or Christ? [podcast]
Recorded at a fellowship in Colorado.
Who is truly reigning in my heart?
“But those mine enemies, which would not that I should reign over them, bring hither, and slay them before me.” Luke 19:27
Am I an antichrist?
Are there professing Christians who have “the spirit of antichrist” reigning in their hearts, their personal lives?
“Let no man deceive you by any means: for that day shall not come, except there come a falling away first, and that man of sin be revealed, the son of perdition; 4 Who opposeth and exalteth himself above all that is called God, or that is worshipped; so that he as God sitteth in the temple of God, shewing himself that he is God.” 2 Thessalonians 2:3-4
Sitting upon the throne in the heart of this temple would make me an antichrist.
Anti as in antichrist means in place of: It’s the “spirit of antichrist” working through Satan’s false ministers that robs the glory from Jesus Christ (2 Corinthians 11:12-15; Colossians 1:18; 2:8-10, 18-19; 1 John 4:1-3, etc.).
anti – a. Against, opposed to. b. Before, predating. c. Usurping, in place of.
“Deceived people have no idea that they have been deceived, so they fight those who attempt to direct them back to the truth of the gospel.” Jim Borge
Those not excited for Jesus to return simply love this fleeting world and are not ready to meet the KING! Jesus is coming
We know when “that spirit of antichrist” is working through a rebel when he speaks contrary to God’s Word (John 8:47; 1 John 4:3). “That spirit of antichrist” – anti (in place of) Christ is anything that contradicts what God’s Word says, working to subvert divinely stated truth while posing as Christ’s minister (2 Corinthians 11:12-15).
“That spirit of antichrist” is witnessed in the human agents, possessed by devils who make it all about something, anything but Christ. The emphasis is taken away from Jesus Christ (Colossians 2:18-19). They make it about the church, Zionism/Israel, a nation, a genealogical people, a mere pastor, a man or men, an organization, a creed, a fraternal order, etc. This becomes clearer as the word “antichrist” is broken down. Anti means in place of.
Read Colossians 1 and 2 each morning this week.
“Beloved, believe not every spirit, but try the spirits whether they are of God: because many false prophets are gone out into the world. 2 Hereby know ye the Spirit of God: Every spirit that confesseth that Jesus Christ is come in the flesh is of God: 3 And every spirit that confesseth not that Jesus Christ is come in the flesh is not of God: and this is that spirit of antichrist, whereof ye have heard that it should come; and even now already is it in the world. 4 Ye are of God, little children, and have overcome them: because greater is he that is in you, than he that is in the world.” 1 John 4:1-4
Support | STORE | Podcasts | Christology | Be Ready in the Morning [podcast] | The Sure Mercies of David [podcast] | That Repentance and Remission of Sins should be Preached [podcast] | At His Feet | The 7 Sayings of Jesus on the Cross | How We Know the Bible is the Only Holy Book | More on Antichrists
Jesus Paid it All [podcast]
“We’re Watching The Collapse of America in Real Time” [podcast]
Antichrist or Christ? [podcast]
How Has Women Leaving Their Homes Hurt Culture?
Was Jesus the “One and Only Son” OR the “Only Begotten Son”? [podcast]
“Fear hath Torment” – 100% Deliverance from all Fear! [podcast]
Jacob’s Ladder: What Does it Mean to Us? [podcast]
The Idiocy of Calvinism
Church History or the Scriptures? [podcast]
Mission Mexico Part 46 [podcast]
The Cross in the Book of Job [podcast]
Apostasy Dialogues
The Gracious LORD will Abundantly Pardon [podcast]
“If God be For Us Who can be Against Us?” [podcast]
The Book of Jude Narrated [podcast]
The Idiocy of Calvinism
The Communication of Thy Faith
Jesus Paid it All [podcast]
“Fear hath Torment” – 100% Deliverance from all Fear! [podcast]
Jacob’s Ladder: What Does it Mean to Us? [podcast]
Was Jesus the “One and Only Son” OR the “Only Begotten Son”? [podcast]
Exhort One Another Daily [podcast]
Overcoming that Old Serpent, Called the Devil, and Satan [podcast]
Jezebel The Depths of Satan [video]
“Seven Women shall take hold of One Man” [podcast]
Church History or the Scriptures? [podcast]
Redemption Through Christ’s Sacrifice [podcast]
“Warn them from Me”: The 3 Things Paul did to Protect God’s People [podcast]
Apostasy Dialogues
The Weapons of Our Warfare [podcast]
Jesus Paid it All [podcast]
“We’re Watching The Collapse of America in Real Time” [podcast]
Antichrist or Christ? [podcast]
America1 year agoThe Drugging of America: The Pharmakeia Sorcery Deception [podcast]
- Articles3 years ago
Children being Rescued in Tunnels: Happening Now – UPDATE!
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Self-Examination in Preparation for the Lord’s Return
- Apostasy3 years ago
SHOCKING List of False Prophets Most Believe are True
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It’s interesting that those I am closest to, all had the same sense this past weekend…. As events are unfolding in the USA…..