“The time is coming,” declares the Lord,
“when I will make a New Covenant with the house of Israel
and with the house of Judah.
It will not be like the covenant I made with their forefathers
when I took them by the hand to lead them out of Egypt,
because they broke My covenant, though I was a Husband to them,”
declares the Lord.
“This is the covenant I will make with Israel after that time,”
declares the Lord.
“I will put My law in their minds and write it on their hearts.
I will be their God, and they will be My people.
No longer will a man teach his neighbour or a man his brother,
saying, ‘Know the Lord,’ because they will all know Me,
from the least to the greatest,” declares the Lord.
“For I will forgive their wickedness
and will remember their sins no more.”[1]
Introduction
If you ask a believer to quote a command from the Law of Moses, chances are, an answer will come easily. But if you ask him to quote a command from the Law of Jesus, how would he fare?
It’s time to ask: Does the church regard and honour Jesus’ commands, regulations and decrees as the only set of law to obey under the New Covenant? If it does, it would not teach believers of Jesus Christ to observe partial obedience of the Law of Moses. If the church listens to Jesus at the standard expected of it, it would know, understand and obey the Law of Jesus, because it is the new set of laws under the New Covenant.
How can I say that Jesus’ word is law?
A law is a word that is given by proper authority. When the word is obeyed or disobeyed, the authority of the word carries punishments or rewards that can be enforced rightfully. A body of law is made up of decrees, commands and regulations. Jesus’ decrees, commands and regulations are law because of the authority given Jesus by the Father.[2] His law carries eternal consequences when it is obeyed or disobeyed. Jesus’ words are more than teachings of a Prophet or a radical reformed Rabbi of His day. They are more than lessons from a wise Man or a famous Healer.
Jesus’ word is truth, for God’s law is truth. Jesus said, “If you hold to My teaching, you are really My disciples. Then you will know the truth, and the truth will set you free.”[3] We can be sure that Heaven and Earth will pass away, but the words of Jesus will never pass away. Why is that? Because truth can never pass away. This is the power of truth. For if truth can pass away, how can His disciples be truly set free?
God’s law is truth. Listen to the first command God gave to the man Adam, “You are free to eat from any tree in the garden; but you must not eat from the Tree of the Knowledge of Good and Evil, for when you eat of it you will surely die.”[4] Was God cursing Adam? No, God was telling Adam the truth because He did not desire Adam to die. But it doesn’t sound like the God we think we know and fear, does it? We think God commands us what to do and not to do, and then is pleased to punish us. This is not true. God’s law is not about what you do or not do, any more than preaching the Gospel of Jesus Christ or spreading the Good News of the Kingdom of God is about converting people.
God’s law is about truth.
God’s law is not given to punish, condemn or control us. It is to teach and show us that the Lord delights in exercising kindness, justice and righteousness on Earth. When we obey His word, it is our righteousness. When He rewards us accordingly, that is His kindness. And when He disciplines and corrects us, that is His justice. So when we repent and He forgives us and remembers our sins no more, it is His kindness and His righteousness.
Paul wrote, “For since the creation of the world God’s invisible qualities - His eternal power and divine nature - have been clearly seen, being understood from what has been made, so that men are without excuse.”[5] People have said that God is in nature – God is in the trees, the stars and the ocean. That is true, because He created all these things. But can you see God’s law, His truths, when you look at Creation?
God’s laws to this Earth – the laws that He set in place as they are written in Genesis 1 are His decrees – His laws for Creation. God said, “Let there be light,” and there was light. He called them “day” and “night”, as He separated the light from the darkness.[6] This is a law and it is the truth. This is why no one can break God’s covenant with the day and His covenant with the night.[7] For who has the power to break or destroy truth? It’s just that we never saw the sun rising in the east and the sun setting in the west, or the tides coming in and ebbing out, as God’s law. Our minds are veiled to see and understand that God’s law is truth. When you can turn your mind to see and understand that in the Kingdom of God, God’s law is about truth, you will begin to shed your distaste for what you understood as law, and turn your heart to God’s law to seek the truth about His kingdom.
So is truth really that radical? It only appears to be, if we allow ourselves to be deluded by lies. The eyes of the church are like eyes that squint at the light, because they are so used to darkness. The commands and regulations in the Levitical Law as recorded in the Bible have become an idol to the church. We diligently study the Law of Moses, the Psalms, the Prophets, and the Epistles, for we think that by them we possess eternal life. But we refuse to come to Jesus and place all our faith in Him and His words to have life. We refuse to live the way, the truth and the life as shown, instructed and given to us by Jesus. So the observation of the prophet Isaiah regarding Israel, who refused to listen to God, also applies to the church. Isaiah said, “So then, the word of the Lord to them will become; Do and do, do and do, rule on rule, rule on rule; a little here, a little there – so that they will go and fall backward, be injured and snared and captured.”[8]
If the church, beginning with the first apostles, had listened to Jesus to the standard at which they are called and obeyed everything He commanded them, thereby retaining and increasing the power of the church to testify for Jesus as a co-witness of the Holy Spirit, the Law of Jesus would be established as the precious cornerstone of a sure foundation of which honour and respect is due. The Law of Jesus is the set of commands, regulations and decrees given to believers and disciples to obey. But Jesus Law is the law of the Kingdom of God that Christ Himself established.
Are you ready to receive Jesus Law?
Jesus Law
Jesus Law is law that is the nature of Jesus, the Christ Himself; a body of law that took who He was into who He became, into His eternal future. It is the embodiment, the sum of all parts, of all that constitutes what is held in the Name of Jesus and the power within that Name, which the Name Jesus encapsulates, if that were possible.
Jesus Law, first wrought and founded by Jesus Himself, is the art of the application and innovation of the Law of Jesus; driven by a desperate love to fulfil Their needs, Their glory, justice and success that produces the finished product, which is in the fullness of the Stature of the Christ. And it is the sum of all parts, for it is the way, the truth and the life that make up the full Stature of Jesus, the Son of Man, Son of God, the Great Overcomer.
It is in effect being the L/lord and M/master of the Sabbath, giving rest to God; the spirit, the nature and very essence of Jesus the Son of God, True Man, for it is not about sacrifices or about ourselves. But it has always been about love and showing mercy; loosing the chains of injustice and untying the cords of the yoke, to set the oppressed free and breaking every yoke; spending ourselves on behalf of the hungry and satisfying the needs of the oppressed; and of knowing God in all His fullness:[9] God the Father, God the Son, and God the Holy Spirit, who are One God, of one accord, that is, in perfect harmony with Each Other.
Jesus Law, for us, is when the Father and Jesus have come and made Their home with us, co-united with the Holy Spirit.[10] We no longer ask using the Name of Jesus as an adjunct to our request, but we ask because we ourselves are IN the Name as we remain in Jesus and He remains in us, just as He is in the Father and the Father is in Him.[11] For those who do what is right come to the light so that others can see that they are doing what God wants, and see God at work in what He is doing,[12] for these are the evidence of the work of God, the work of the Father in us.[13] We no longer ask through Jesus so that He would do it for us, but we ask the Father directly, for we are IN HIS NAME.[14] For then we are dwelling in the Name of the Father and the Name of the Son, JESUS, the family Name, the Temple of God.[15]
For the Way of the Truth brings that which is eternal life into the divine life of God. Jesus, the Son, is the way to Jesus, the Father; for Jesus, the Way, is the way of the Father. “The Father and I are One[16] … I do nothing of My own but say only what the Father taught Me. And the One who sent Me is with Me - He has not deserted Me. For I always do what pleases Him.”[17] And They will be in those who always do what pleases the Father.
The Law of Jesus is given to believers and disciples to follow and obey so that we would fulfil the laws of the New Covenant in such a way that cannot be completely fulfilled unless we love Jesus in the same manner that He loves His Father and has loved us. For Jesus said, “If you love Me, you will obey what I command. … Whoever has My commands and obeys them, he is the one who loves Me.”[18]
Our love takes us to that place where we willingly tithe the all of ourselves rather than percentages of what we have, and consider our lives lost to our own desires except for Jesus, the Father and the Holy Spirit. They are our whole life – all whom we live for! In this we fulfil this word of Jesus: “Anyone who loves his father or mother more than Me is not worthy of Me; anyone who loves his son or daughter more than Me is not worthy of Me; and anyone who does not take his cross and follow Me is not worthy of Me. Whoever finds his life will lose it, and whoever loses his life for My sake will find it.”[19]
So we begin by following the Law of Jesus in its science; yet in the shrewd wisdom of God, its science separates those who love the Lord their God with all their heart, soul, mind and strength,[20] from those who stop along the way and say, “That is enough, I am content here. My barns are full; rest, eat drink and be merry, for I have all I need.”
His laws separate the two groups for the inclusion of the ones who love Jesus and do what He says; dying to our own desires, hopes and dreams for His sake, to be surreptitiously moulded without overriding our freewill - just as the Word first did when He gave up Himself to become the Son for the One who desired to be Father, and became the Son of Man; and then again as the Son of Man when He submitted Himself to the cross, to then be declared by His resurrection from the dead to be the Son of God - into the art that is Jesus Law.
Simply put, Jesus Law is the art in which the Son, by His faithfulness and obedience, applied and innovated the way, the truth and the life of God, to become the full Stature of God’s Christ.
This is why Jesus said that the Holy Spirit will bring glory to Him, by taking what is His and making it known to us.[21] For Jesus has given us, His believers, the glory that the Father gave Him, that we may be one as They are One.[22] Jesus reveals the Family Law of God: “I and the Father are One.”[23] The divine life of God is the life of Oneness. The Oneness between the Father and Son is the truth about Family.
God’s grace is that He has permitted men to be one with Him through Jesus. The Covenant for the Forgiveness of Sins is God’s grace to sinners. This covenant is established between God the Father and His Son Jesus Christ. We are the beneficiaries of this covenant solely by grace through faith in Jesus Christ, the Son of God. The Holy Spirit is the Helper in this New Covenant; He is the wonderful Counsellor. Do you want to get on board? If so, listen to Jesus and start by believing in Him through the messages of His disciples.[24] Obey His commands so that you may remain in His love, just as He obeyed His Father’s commands and remains in His Father’s love.[25]
The Holy Covenant
What is a covenant? A covenant is an agreement where one person who has the power and authority agrees to do something, a promise of blessing in God’s case, if the other person abides by his ways. When we enter into a covenant with God, we must obey His commands so that His promises to us can be fulfilled righteously. For example, Abraham was to keep the covenant of blessing by obeying God’s command of circumcision.[26] Israel was to obey the Law of Moses to keep the covenant of deliverance and healing between God and Israel. Disobedience against even one command of the Lord under a covenant means that you have broken the whole covenant. Breaking the covenant through disobedience is saying to God, “I want nothing to do with You. Therefore, I will not obey the laws that bond us in agreement.” You have broken faith with the Lord by your disobedience or rebellion. And if you break faith with God to pursue an idol, it is adultery in God’s sight.
The Father likens this to divorce. Read Jeremiah 3.6-10 when the Lord said, “Have you seen what faithless Israel has done? She has gone up on every high hill and under every spreading tree and has committed adultery there. I thought that after she had done all this she would return to Me but she did not, and her unfaithful sister Judah saw it. I gave faithless Israel her certificate of divorce and sent her away because of all her adulteries. Yet I saw that her unfaithful sister Judah had no fear; she also went out and committed adultery. Because Israel’s immorality mattered so little to her, she defiled the land and committed adultery with stone and wood. In spite of all this, her unfaithful sister Judah did not return to Me with all her heart, but only in pretense.”
Jesus did not break faith with His covenant with His Father, and His resurrection and His life is the proof of this. Jesus obeyed His Father’s commands. He said, “The Father loves Me because I sacrifice My life so I may take it back again. No one can take My life from Me. I sacrifice it voluntarily. For I have the authority to lay it down when I want to and also to take it up again. For this is what My Father has commanded.”[27] The Father authorised Jesus to lay down His life. Jesus submitted His flesh and spirit unto death to fulfil the Father’s will. And Jesus was authorised to take it up again. He destroyed death in His flesh forever when the Spirit of Holiness declared Him with power to be the Son of God by His resurrection from the dead.[28] Jesus said, “I am the Living One; I was dead, and behold I am alive for ever and ever! And I hold the keys of death and Hades.”[29] The Son of Man is the Firstborn from among the dead.[30]
What does it mean that the Covenant was established between the Father and Jesus? It’s very simple. It means that under this covenant, the Father basically said to Jesus, “If you will be sent to be the sin offering for all men, I will forgive the sins of all those who believe in your Name and they will not perish but have eternal life.” What it does not mean is God the Father saying to man directly, “I will forgive your sins if you believe in My Son.” Although it appears the same because the result was the same, it is not, because the relationship within the covenant is different. The Father’s promise is bound to Jesus His Son. We are the third party in this New Covenant. The Father established His covenant with Jesus. Therefore, the Father’s word is first bound to Jesus, and then to man because Jesus has kept Their covenant and finished the work the Father sent Him to do. Our salvation through faith and repentance is a gift and the flow-on effect from the Son’s faithfulness to His Father. This is why we have no righteousness of our own.
So where is it written that the Father established a covenant with Jesus?
§ The Father said to Jesus, “You are My Son, today I have become Your Father. Ask of Me I will make the nations Your inheritance, the ends of the Earth Your possession. You will rule them with an iron scepter; You will dash them to pieces like pottery[31] … He will call out to Me, ‘You are My Father, My God, the Rock My Saviour’. I will also appoint Him My Firstborn, the most exalted of the kings of the Earth. I will maintain My love to Him forever, and My covenant with Him will never fail. I will establish His line forever, His throne as long as the Heavens endure[32] … I the Lord have called You in righteousness, I will take hold of Your hand and I will keep You, I will make you to be a Covenant for the people and to be a light for the Gentiles, to open the eyes of the blind, to free captives from prison and to release from the dungeons those who sit in darkness[33] … It is too small a thing for You to be My Servant to restore the tribes of Jacob and bring back those of Israel I have kept. I will also make You a Light for the Gentiles that You may bring My salvation to the ends of the Earth[34] … The time is coming when I will make a New Covenant with the house of Israel and the house of Judah … This is the covenant I will make with the house of Israel after that time. I will put My law in their minds and write it on their hearts. I will be their God and they will be My people. No longer will a man teach his neighbour, or a man his brother, saying, ‘Know the Lord’, for they will all know Me, from the least of them to the greatest. For I will forgive their wickedness and remember their sins no more.[35]”
§ Jesus replied, “Here I am, I have come. It is written about Me in the scroll. I desire to do Your will O My God; Your law is written in My heart[36] … Because of the covenant I made with You, sealed with blood, I will free Your prisoners from death in a waterless dungeon[37] … The Redeemer will come to Zion, to those in Jacob who repent of their sins.[38]”
§ The Father confirmed with Jesus, “As for Me, this is My covenant with them. My Spirit, who is on You, and My words that I have put into Your mouth will not depart from Your mouth, or from the mouth of Your children, or from the mouths of their descendants from this time on and forever[39] … I will make a covenant of peace with them; it will be an everlasting covenant. I will establish them and increase their numbers, and I will put My sanctuary among them forever. My dwelling place will be with them; I will be their God, and they will be My people. Then the nations will know that I the Lord make Israel holy, when My sanctuary is among them forever.[40]”
§ And so to bring men into the New Covenant that the Father has established with His Son concerning the house of Israel and Judah, and to bring His salvation to the ends of the Earth, Jesus said to His disciples, “This is My blood of the New Covenant which is poured out for many[41] … Drink from it, all of you. This is My blood of the New Covenant which is poured out for many for the forgiveness of sins[42] … Go into the world and preach the Good News to all Creation. Whoever believes and is baptized will be saved, but whoever does not believe will be condemned[43] … Therefore go and make disciples of all nations, baptising them into the Name of the Father and of the Son and of the Holy Spirit, and teaching them to obey everything I have commanded you[44] … And you will be My witnesses in Jerusalem, and in all Judea and Samaria, and to the ends of the Earth.[45]”
What does it mean that the Father has made His Son Jesus to be a Covenant for the people? What does it mean to be a covenant? It means that in Jesus is held all the blessings of God for His people. And that is why it is so important to remain in Jesus by eating His flesh and drinking His blood, and by having His words remain in us, and remaining in His love by obeying His commands. The Father established a New Covenant with His Son to give to Him the nations as His inheritance and the ends of the Earth as His possession. He made Jesus to be a Covenant for all men so that all the blessings of salvation promised by God are held in Jesus, since Jesus was the One who finished the Father’s work in keeping faith with the covenant. So that all those who believe, repent and drink His blood and eat His flesh are beneficiaries of the covenant by grace because they remain in Jesus who is blessed and rewarded by God.
It was never about us. It was always about Jesus through whom God’s blessings flow because of Jesus’ righteousness, NOT ours. This is the holy covenant; and how privileged we are to benefit from Their grace and love for Each Other. How grateful we should be for this holy covenant; and it would be an honour to defend this covenant with our own lives, laying down even our deaths to remain alive for Jesus!
By the blood of Jesus that sealed the covenant, which fulfilled God’s desire for mercy, the Father is bound to forgive the sins of all who repent and believe in Jesus, the Name of His one and only Son. (Except for the man doomed to destruction for committing the eternal sin of blasphemy of the Holy Spirit,[46] the one sin that Jesus did not die for.) Our Father is merciful and He desires to forgive sins. Jesus testified to His Father’s will, “For My Father’s will is that everyone who looks to the Son and believes in Him shall have eternal life, and I will raise him up at the last day.”[47] God the Father has a Son who laid down His life so that the Father could forgive sins righteously. The New Covenant instantly, permanently and completely accomplishes the Father’s will and desire to forgive. You could even say that God so loved the world that the Father entered into a covenant with His Son, Jesus, to forgive sins so that the world could be saved. All we have to do to benefit from God’s grace is to believe in Jesus who is the Son of God. This is why salvation is by grace through faith in Jesus, the Son of God.
You can argue all you like, but no other religion except a fellowship that has faith in Jesus Christ as the Son of God can boast of such amazing grace. No one can boast about the exercise of kindness, justice and righteousness that is in the covenant between God the Father and His Son. I do not understand how people say that all religions are the same, and they are all about the same God. You only have to listen to the goal of the faith to understand that every religion is different, despite the common threads of humanity.
There are people who believe there is more than one way to get to know God the Creator. This may be true. Many are even offended by Jesus Christ because they think He claimed to be the only way to God. But Jesus never said He is the only way to God. Rather, He said, “No one can come to the Father except through Me.”[48] If you think they are the same thing, consider the difference between coming to know, say, George Bush in his office as president, and George Bush as a father. Both perspectives would be true, but which one bears a more personal relationship? Question is, do you believe that man was created to worship God from afar, or is it possible that the Father has a dream that He will enjoy walking with a man, male or female, as His son or daughter, who pleases Him as Jesus does? And if you believe that it is possible, is it any wonder that the Father commanded us to listen to Jesus?
This is the truth: There is only one God, for God is three Persons who are One, meaning of one accord, that is, in perfect harmony - the Father who is the Sovereign Lord, Jesus His Son who is the Word in the flesh, and the Holy Spirit who is the Spirit set apart as holy unto God. Jesus came from His Father to reveal to us the Father. He laid down His life for the world to make known His Father’s perfection, mercy, compassion and righteousness. Have you met another Son who was so eager and passionate to honour His Father? And have you met a Father so perfect that His Son would do anything to glorify Him? You wouldn’t have, unless you have met Jesus Christ of Nazareth. And you wouldn’t meet Him unless the Father draws you to Him, for this is His Father’s good pleasure.
Law of Jesus
So as beneficiaries of the Covenant for the Forgiveness of Sin, how do we break faith with the covenant? There are three laws under the New Covenant for the Forgiveness of Sins, which all believers must obey to keep faith with the covenant:
1. Law of Grace
2. Law of Forgiveness
3. Law of Repentance
Law of Grace
As God’s law is truth, the Law of Grace is really the truth about grace. Grace is the quality of God who gives us what we need so that we are delivered from condemnation to death, because death is the due consequence and wages of sin. It is amazing grace because God incurs a personal cost when He helps us. For the sake of God’s kingdom and Their Image and Likeness, which They sowed into man, the Father sacrificed His Son, the Son sacrificed His life, and the Spirit sacrificed His holiness when He went out from the Father to be poured out on all people.
There is a difference between grace and mercy. Unlike grace, mercy does not involve a sacrifice or cost to the giver. For example, it does not cost a judge to choose to be merciful in judgment. But if a father is gracious to a son who broke his heart; the father has to first overcome his own pain to restore his child. The three-fold Law of Grace is the first law under the Covenant for the Forgiveness of Sins. The Law of Grace is three-fold as it is grace from God the Father, God the Son and God the Holy Spirit.
For the world, it is grace from the Father in the first Law of Grace in John 3.16: “For God so loved the world that He gave His one and only Son, that whoever believes in Him shall not perish but have eternal life.” This is the grace of the Father who gave His Son to the world. You do not have to do anything except have faith and believe in His Son. When you believe in Jesus, you must then repent of your sins since you believe He died for your redemption. The Father, who gave His only Son to the world, is full of grace and love.
After you enter the kingdom, the second Law of Grace applies to Jesus’ believers and disciples: “I tell you the truth, unless you eat the flesh of the Son of Man and drink His blood, you have no life in you. Whoever eats My flesh and drinks My blood has eternal life, and I will raise him up at the last day. For My flesh is real food and My blood is real drink. Whoever eats My flesh and drinks My blood remains in Me and I in him.”[49] Jesus, who gave His flesh and blood, is full of grace and truth.
The third Law of Grace applies to overcomers, “My grace is sufficient for you, for My power is made perfect in weakness.”[50] The power of the Spirit of Grace is sufficient for us to overcome our weaknesses and master sin. He is baptised into us by Jesus when we repent and believe in Jesus, then receive Him. The Holy Spirit is full of grace and power.
The Holy Spirit is not part of the covenant because the covenant is between the Father and the Son. This is why the third Law of Grace is not a command you can obey. You receive it with your heart. However, disobedience against the first Law of Grace is disbelief that God sent His Son into the world to save the world. And disobedience against the second Law of Grace is disbelief that eating the flesh and drinking the blood of the Son of Man means that you remain in Him and He remains in you, and that you will be raised on the last day. Both laws contain a promise of eternal life. But the law from the Spirit of Grace is a declaration that confirms His role as our Comforter, Counsellor, Strengthener and Helper under the covenant.[51]
The first foundation of the Covenant for the Forgiveness of Sins is God’s grace, because grace comes before forgiveness. Without the pre-requisite existence of grace, forgiveness will not flow. Grace is the source of the act of forgiveness. Just like imagination is the source of creativity, grace is the source, and forgiveness is the action or consequence that flows from grace. Grace is and was before the foundation of the world. The Lamb was slain before the creation of this world, and then the Word of God became flesh. Jesus, who came full of grace and truth, said on the cross, “Father, forgive them, for they do not know what they are doing.”[52] When the Lamb was slain from the creation of the world, God had already forgiven us. When Jesus said those words on the cross and then said, “It is finished,”[53] the New Covenant was fulfilled.
It is like if you had a credit card bill to pay. Just because the money is sitting in your bank account does not mean that you have paid your credit card. The account is not settled until the money is transferred for the credit card company to process the payment. In the same way, God had already forgiven sin by the covenant between the Father and the Son before He laid the foundation of the Earth. But the work of redemption was not official, nor were the accounts balanced for the forgiveness to be given, until Jesus breathed His last on the cross. Then the Holy Spirit raised Jesus back to life after three days, and by His power, declared Him the Son of God. Therefore, all sins, except the eternal sin, can be forgiven in Jesus’ Name.
God’s grace existed before forgiveness or repentance ever was. Think about it: If there is no grace in the person you sin against, you can repent all you want but he will not forgive you. Since our ways and thoughts are lower than God’s, we often think, “Oh, this person did something wrong against me. Since he sincerely apologised, I shall forgive him.” But this is not how the Lord thinks and acts.
Grace is, was, and will be before repentance ever was. Yet we often think of God’s forgiveness as an afterthought because we do not know or understand Them. We think God forgives grudgingly because we disobey and sin against Him. We see Him as an angry God, impatient and condemning. We even think God made a mistake when He created man. But do you see and understand that God enjoys forgiving sins? If we listen to Jesus and repent and forgive one another, wouldn’t we begin to come to know God as the Forgiver?
Is this even logical: That God, who wanted to be God the Forgiver, created Earth with man to live on it, knowing full well that man would sin? And is this fathomable: That when Creation was still in the Father’s heart, the Lamb of God was already slaughtered before the world was made,[54] because grace pre-existed before the foundation of this world? This is why the writer of Ecclesiastes said that God has set eternity in the hearts of men; yet they cannot fathom what God has done from beginning to end. We will never fathom God’s grace from beginning to end if we do not look to Jesus, the Lamb of God.
Grace is not logical. Grace defies logic. Yet grace can be, and is, the truth, for Jesus came full of grace and truth. As a believer or disciple of Christ, part of your riches is your testimony about your personal experiences of God’s grace. You are the witness of His grace, but to one who does not believe, your witness is foolishness because it lacks logic and proof. And that is why we must practise the words of Jesus. The evidence of signs, wonders and miracles backs up the truth of God’s grace, so that those with weaker minds and slower hearts may see and believe in Jesus.
Your acceptance and understanding of the truth that the Covenant for the Forgiveness of Sins was first established by the grace between the Father and His Jesus, and not between God and us, is very important. For then it will become clear that we have no righteousness of our own. Our salvation is based on God’s forgiveness due to Their generosity of grace to Each Other first and foremost, and we are Their beneficiaries. The Lord enjoys forgiving, but They first enjoyed being full of grace to Each Other. If you can accept that you were but a sinner who rebelled against the Lord by forsaking God through disbelief and disobedience - that you did nothing to deserve to benefit from the grace of God - and that the Covenant for the Forgiveness of Sins is truly about the grace of God to Each Other and not to us, then you will find the burden light and the yoke easy to obey the Law of Jesus under the New Covenant.
If the church had listened to Jesus, and sought to understand the purpose of Their sacrifice and why the world is worthy of His salvation, we would never run back to the old covenant and the Law of Moses, because it is a desert with no hope or life. The truth is, we do not have full understanding and knowledge of the effects of sin and how much sin had ruined God’s plans for His Creation, right down to the smallest detail. The more we are given the understanding and knowledge of the damage of sin, the more we will appreciate the sacrificial and inseparable love of the Father, Jesus and the Lord Spirit for Each Other. But how would we understand and come to know Them if we do not obey the Father’s command to listen to Jesus?
As there is a Law of Grace, so there is a Law of Un-grace. Jesus said, “But anyone who blasphemes the Holy Spirit will never be forgiven.”[55] He said that men will be forgiven of every sin and blasphemy, except the blasphemy against the Spirit.[56] The blasphemy against the Holy Spirit is the testimony and work of a man of God. The false prophet, whose goal is to resist Jesus’ return to Earth to reign, will wage war against Jesus, even planning to kill Him, so that he can reign as a god on Earth with the authority and power he has received.
Why is this the blasphemy of the Holy Spirit? Since it is the Holy Spirit who raised Jesus from the dead and declared Him to be Son of God, the one who opposes the Holy Spirit’s work of bringing Jesus back to Earth in the flesh, even being prepared to kill Jesus, is rebelling against the work of the Holy Spirit, and calling the Spirit of Truth a liar. Read the principle in Numbers 15.29-30 when the Father made a differentiation between one who sins unintentionally and one who sins intentionally in defiance. He said, “But anyone who sins defiantly, whether native-born or alien, blasphemes the Lord, and that person must be cut off from his people. Because he has despised the Lord’s word and broken His commands, that person must surely be cut off; his guilt remains on him.” The false prophet, who will blaspheme the Holy Spirit, commits the eternal sin intentionally and defiantly. He is raised up by the Holy Spirit as a disciple of Jesus, but he turns to betray the Holy Spirit. He knows and understands fully the consequence of his betrayal, yet he commits the ultimate act of un-grace towards the Holy Spirit. He has despised the counsel and work of the Holy Spirit, whose greatest and most righteous work is to raise Jesus from the dead eternally. For this, he will be thrown alive into the Lake of Burning Sulphur, together with the beast, upon Jesus’ return.[57]
And why is this sin unforgivable? Because no grace was made available to cover this sin. The Holy Spirit is not a party to the Covenant for the Forgiveness of Sins. This is the covenant between the Father and the Son, and the Holy Spirit is the Helper of the covenant. In the same way as an international treaty cannot be enforced against a nation that is not a signatory. The Father and Jesus never agreed to forgive a man who blasphemes the Holy Spirit by seeking to undo and overturn the very act – the raising of God’s Son from the dead. Because he is calling the Holy Spirit a liar when He declared with power Jesus is the Son of God by His resurrection from the dead.[58] This man is also trying to void the entire covenant. Because the purpose of the New Covenant is the fulfilment of the Father’s will: That everyone who looks to His Son and believes in Him shall have eternal life, and He will raise them up at the last day.[59] If the Holy Spirit is a liar and Jesus is not alive, no one will be raised in the last day. Therefore, understand the work of the false prophet and be on the watch.
This is part of the reason Jesus gave His disciples the authority to trample on snakes and scorpions and to overcome the power of the enemy, which is deception. When the false prophet takes centre stage to usurp Jesus’ throne, and repentance is no longer preached in the churches, the Law of Grace will be exalted to the forefront of the disciples’ practice of Jesus’ words. When repentance decreases, forgiveness must increase to cover a multitude of sins. If we have not been practising forgiving one another, and praying for our enemies today to gear our minds and hearts, how would we focus on the grace of the Father, Jesus and the Holy Spirit during the days of distress unequalled since the beginning of the world?
It is not for us to pray against the distress or resist the false prophet, because Scripture must be fulfilled. Scripture must be fulfilled because it is God’s ordained way to fulfil all righteousness, even the righteousness of His wrath. And God’s wrath will be released on Earth when the rejection of the Gospel of Jesus Christ, which is God’s peace offering to the world, has reached its full measure, and there are sons and daughters on Earth who are raised up in the stature of Jesus Christ to stand in the gap on behalf of the land so that He would not destroy it.[60] Just like God’s Son on the cross stood in the gap on behalf of all men who are sinful,[61] so that men would not perish but may have eternal life, for this is the victory of God’s grace.
So what is the purpose of obeying the Law of Grace, which is your holding onto the truth of God’s grace? To help you forgive, and like God, enjoy forgiving.
Law of Forgiveness
This brings us to the second Law of the Covenant for the Forgiveness of Sins, which is the Law of Forgiveness. The Law of Forgiveness is two-fold and it is given to disciples. The first Law of Forgiveness is “Love your enemies.”[62] The second Law of Forgiveness is “Love one another. As I have loved you, so you must love one another.”[63]
How are we to show love to enemies? Do not be deluded. We cannot love our enemies the same way as we love our friends and family. That is not the correct view or application of wisdom. Do not misunderstand Jesus’ command. Loving your enemy is simply obeying these two regulations:
· “Pray for those who persecute you;[64] and
· Do good to those who hate you, bless those who curse you, pray for those who mistreat you.”[65]
Why does the Law of Forgiveness contain the word “love”, rather than the word “forgive”? It is because with enemies, love is the extra mile of forgiveness. Jesus taught this before He opened up on the command to love our enemies, “If someone forces you to go one mile, go with him two miles.”[66] Forgiveness without love, or love without forgiveness, has no strength to endure. Jesus asked, “If you love those who love you, what credit is that to you? Even ’sinners’ love those who love them. And if you do good to those who are good to you, what credit is that to you? Even ’sinners’ do that.”[67] Likewise, if you only forgive those who love you, what credit is that to you?
This is the relationship between love and grace: A love without grace has no strength to endure because it will not strive to forgive. Forgiveness involves a personal cost, and love without grace will be easily lost when the adverse arises. Jesus said, “He who has been forgiven little, loves little.”[68] And in the same way, he who forgives much loves much.
How do we know that we have forgiven our enemies? It is when you want someone who has hurt you to be as blessed by the Lord as you are, if not more. The goal of your prayers is that his place in eternity is at least equal to yours, if not greater. In so doing, you do not lord your forgiveness over them, because this would cancel out grace. Just as Jesus does not lord His forgiveness over us, or put us down all the time, or keep reminding us of our sins and weaknesses. Rather, He said in John 14.12, “I tell you the truth, anyone who has faith in Me will do what I have been doing. He will do even greater things than these, because I am going to the Father.” So can you bear the thought that your enemy would receive forgiveness and blessings in Jesus’ Name, just like you do? Can you cope with the generosity of God’s grace? Can you accept His ways?
The second Law of Forgiveness is to love your fellow disciples as Jesus has loved us. Your fellow disciples are anyone who is a brother and sister and mother of Christ who hears God’s word, puts it into practice and does His will, doing the will of the Father in Heaven.[69] The outward sign is that they hold onto Jesus’ teachings through daily practice, which is obedience to God the Father.
This is how we obey the second Law of Forgiveness:
· “If your brother sins against you, go and show him his fault, just between the two of you. If he listens to you, you have won your brother over. But if he will not listen, take one or two others along, so that ‘every matter may be established by the testimony of two or three witnesses.’ If he refuses to listen to them, tell it to the church; and if he refuses to listen even to the church, treat him as you would a pagan or a tax collector.[70]
· If your brother sins, rebuke him, and if he repents, forgive him. If he sins against you seven times in a day, and seven times comes back to you and says, ‘I repent,’ forgive him.[71]
· Forgive your brother from your heart.”[72]
Like all things, forgiveness takes practice. Sometimes, it is easier. Sometimes, it is gut-wrenching. Jesus taught us to put His words into practice, so there is no judgment for failure in practice. If you find it hard to forgive, repent to the Lord. If someone can’t forgive you, pray for him in secret, and forgive his sin of unforgiveness so that the power of that sin looses its hold over him. In turn, the practice of Jesus’ words produces patient endurance and perseverance, and a richer testimony of your relationship with Him. In any event, we must keep on practising with urgency and fervency. The reason lies in the purpose of the New Covenant. The purpose of obeying the Law of Forgiveness is two-fold.
The first purpose is a personal benefit as it enables the Father to forgive your sins. It also enriches your relationship with the Father because you will come to know and love Him as God the Forgiver. When you pray for your enemy in secret, the Father will reward you.[73]
The second purpose exceeds the first, because it is the Father and Jesus who receive what They desire. Jesus irrevocably tied love of enemies in with sonship when He said, “Love your enemies and pray for those who persecute you, that you may be sons of your Father in Heaven[74] … Love your enemies, do good to them, and lend to them without expecting to get anything back. Then your reward will be great, and you will be sons of the Most High, because He is kind to the ungrateful and wicked.”[75]
The Covenant for the Forgiveness of Sins opens the way to sonship. The inheritance of sonship is compassion, perfection and mercy. For if we love our enemies, we will be perfect, merciful and compassionate like our righteous Father.[76] The other covenants God established with men promised no such heritage of the eternal qualities of God. Rather, those covenants promised life, blessings, peace, inheritance of land (which included a promise of deliverance and healing), repentance and kingship. Jesus confirmed this inheritance of sonship with His disciples after His resurrection when He said to Mary Magdalene after He arose from the dead, “I am returning to My Father and your Father, to My God and your God.”[77] He opened the door for His disciples to be sons of God, like Him. It is a privilege to be called Jesus’ brother or sister, and to serve Jesus in His kingdom. This is the King who does not hold any unforgiveness against us for murdering Him on the cross. This is our Brother who said, “And surely I am with you always, to the very end of the age.”[78] Jesus said the world must learn that He loves His Father and that He does exactly what the Father commanded Him. What Jesus also meant is that the world must learn that Jesus kept His covenant with the Father by doing what the Father commanded Him because He loves His Father. When you keep your covenant with someone, you honour that person. So if we do not hold our positions and keep the covenant by obeying Jesus’ laws, how will the world know that Jesus loves the Father, and that He is a Son who does exactly what the Father commanded Him?
Jesus kept His covenant with the Father by doing exactly what He commanded. If you obey the Law of Jesus under the New Covenant, you are also keeping Jesus’ covenant with the Father by doing exactly what Jesus commanded you, because the Father commanded you to listen to Jesus. This includes the three Laws of Grace, Forgiveness and Repentance enacted under the Covenant for the Forgiveness of Sins. It is faithfulness and obedience to the commands of Jesus under the New Covenant that raises you up as a son or daughter of God. Faithfulness and obedience to the Law of Moses does not make you a son or daughter, as that is a covenant for a superceded purpose. You cannot buy a house when you are holding a contract to buy a car. This is why it is so important that the church knows that we live under the Covenant for the Forgiveness of Sins and we are to obey the Law of Jesus. We are not to obey and follow the Law of Moses, the writings of James the Younger or the apostles, nor the doctrines of men. Your faithfulness and loyalty must be firmly in Jesus’ words, His law.
For a believer or disciple of Jesus Christ, unforgiveness is a sin because you have failed to believe in Jesus and practise His commands. Unforgiveness is a sin of the church, which must be repented and forgiven of, for the church has disgraced and dishonoured the Father, Son and Holy Spirit in its refusal to practise and preach unceasing forgiveness in Jesus’ Name. How can I say this? Because the churches of Jesus Christ have many reputations, but we do not have a reputation for forgiveness, much less a reputation of delighting to forgive.
Do you know and understand how much you have been forgiven? If you had a glimpse of such knowledge and understanding, you would know that you cannot even lift up your head to meet Jesus’ eyes, but for the grace of God. How can we even understand how much God has forgiven us, unless the Holy Spirit shows us the eternal condemnation we have been spared from – the fate of mankind and this world if Jesus did not lay down His life to redeem it – how much ruin we had brought to God’s original plan when Adam sinned, and then had Seth in his own image and likeness instead of God’s – the weight of the sin of mankind that was on Jesus’ shoulders when He was the sin offering on the cross – the pain in the Father’s heart when Jesus cried out, “My God, My God, why have You forsaken Me?”[79] – our true state of wretchedness, pitifulness, poverty, blindness and nakedness because we sinned against God – the height from which we have fallen – and the darkness in our hearts and the stench of death amongst us when we refused to believe, follow and listen to Jesus, the Son of God?
If we begin to understand what we had done to the Father, then we would know that nothing that anyone does to us will ever compare to what we did, and still do, to God. Unless we try to see things in the Father’s perspective, it is easy to justify holding grudges or forgiving with a miserly attitude.
For it is a good thing to say that we deserve to forgive those who wrong and hurt us, because then God will also forgive our sins. This way we won’t be drained of power and strength. It is a better thing to say our enemies deserve forgiveness, because their sins against us are nothing compared to our sins against the Lord. But it is a greater thing to not say anything or reason with it. Rather, just practise forgiveness unceasingly and joyfully because our faith and delight is in the words of Jesus, whose Father is God the Forgiver. Maybe then, you will begin to see your enemies as your treasure in acquiring perfection, because in the Kingdom of God, perfection comes by the love of enemies.[80]
The Law of Repentance
Repentance is the sincere acknowledgement of your mistakes. It reflects a gratefulness for the forgiveness received. It is followed by a continuous, sincere effort to change one’s thoughts, speech and conduct, so as to avoid making the same mistake that caused the other person grief or loss.
This is the truth about repenting to God: Repentance honours God’s forgiveness, for God first forgave us. Our faith and repentance make us eligible to be a beneficiary of the Covenant for the Forgiveness of Sins. Because the intent of the covenant was for the world to be saved and mankind to be forgiven by God’s gracious redemption; and that mankind no longer remains condemned because of sin when we believe in God’s Son. This is the nature of God the Forgiver.
Once the New Covenant was sealed by the blood of the Lamb, it meant that nothing else; no other name, blood, faith, words, works or religious practices, has the power and authority to forgive sins. It was Jesus’ blood that was poured out for many for the forgiveness of sins. Jesus did not say that His blood was poured out for all for the forgiveness of sins because there are at least four who will definitely be eternally condemned to the Lake of Burning Sulphur. They are the devil, the beast, the false prophet and death. Hades itself will give up the dead in it, and will then be thrown empty into the Lake of Fire, which is the second death.[81]
You might ask, “If God has forgiven us already, then why bother repenting? Why bother listening to Jesus? Heaven awaits anyway.” The point of repentance of our sins is to honour the Father, Jesus and the Holy Spirit, who Each made sacrifices, laying down something or Someone that was important to Them, so that we may receive forgiveness of sins in Their righteousness. For couldn’t the Father forgive our sins without sacrificing Jesus as the sin offering to the world? Of course He could. No one could stop Him. He didn’t have to send Jesus and the Holy Spirit. He could just declare from a big cloud, “I forgive you all, now leave your life of sin,” and we would be none the wiser.
But how would the Book of Life read if the accounts of sin and forgiveness of sins were not balanced righteously, but casually written off like a company writes off bad debts? How then can the Lord truthfully say He delights in exercising kindness, justice and righteousness on Earth? How then would He be God the Forgiver, as He is? How can God take any imperfection and unrighteousness into His eternity, for they would have devastating effects? And how would His perfection go into its increase? If the Father did not send Jesus and the Holy Spirit, how would we all be taught by God?
There is a way to do things righteously, which always involves a cost. This way is the narrow path and few are found on it. Then there is the easy way. It is easy because there is little to no apparent cost. That way is the broad road that leads to destruction and many enter through it. That is why the Lord said His ways are higher than our ways and His thoughts are higher than ours. We cannot dispute that.
Repentance in Jesus’ Name honours God’s forgiveness. If you truly believe in your Saviour, you would repent. Faith in Jesus as the Son of God and repentance in His Name go hand in hand, for they honour the Father who gave His Son as the sin offering to the world. If you ask, “If the Father knew that He would receive His Son back, what did it truly cost Him?” Then I ask you, would you let your only son, who is innocent, be punished for the sins of another man? And if a knife slashes across your flesh, doesn’t it hurt, even though it will heal? Can you imagine what it was like for the Father who watched His Son being flogged and crucified at the hands of sinful men? Are you able to be more sensitive toward God who is a Father? Or do you think that is “humanising” God? I was not aware that it is inappropriate to do so, for we are made in the Image and Likeness of God.
We cannot preach a gospel of faith in Jesus Christ without preaching repentance in His Name because that is what Jesus preached and commanded. Repentance may be an unpopular message, but then this is not a popularity contest, is it? If you answer yes or hesitate, is it because you are seeking the praises of men or rewards from Mammon? Faith in Jesus and repentance is like drinking His blood and eating His flesh. You cannot do one without the other.
Why are there “Christians” who are not baptised with the Holy Spirit or who refuse the gift of tongues? Have they not read Jesus’ words, “John baptised with water, but in just a few days you will be baptised with the Holy Spirit[82] … And these signs will accompany those who believe: In My Name they will drive out demons; they will speak in new tongues …”[83]? Shame on us all for our failure to listen to Jesus carefully and to teach everything He has commanded.
The baptism of the Holy Spirit is Jesus sending the Holy Spirit to us to live in us, for Jesus said that no one can enter the Kingdom of God unless he is born of water and the Spirit, and no one can even see it unless he is born again.[84] Jesus tied His words together this way, “Receive the Holy Spirit. If you forgive anyone his sins, they are forgiven; if you do not forgive them, they are not forgiven … You will receive power when the Holy Spirit comes on you; and you will be My witnesses in Jerusalem, and in all Judea and Samaria, and to the ends of the Earth.”[85] How else would we have the power to exercise the authority to drive out demons, speak in new languages, heal the sick, trample on snakes and overcome the power of the enemy,[86] testify for Jesus, forgive sins and make disciples of all nations? [87] We are called to be Jesus’ witnesses with power and authority. What kind of witnesses are we, if we lack the language, the authority, and power of the Kingdom of God? The power and authority we receive from Jesus are not meant for selfish purposes or to be substituted with the so-called powers of the world. They are granted so that the world may know that the Kingdom of God has come upon them,[88] as we prove Jesus’ words of John 14.12 to be true.
In Matthew 21, when the chief priests and the elders of the law attacked Jesus on His authority when He was teaching in the temple courts, Jesus counter-attacked with a single question. He asked them, “John’s baptism - where did it come from? Was it from Heaven, or from men?”[89] They discussed it among themselves and said, “If we say, ‘From Heaven,’ He will ask, ‘Then why didn’t you believe him?’ But if we say, ‘From men’ - we are afraid of the people, for they all hold that John was a prophet.” They were too afraid to answer because they valued praise for men.
In truth, John the Baptist was sent by God to prepare the way for the Lord, baptising with water for repentance.[90] God sent him to baptise with water so that the Messiah might be revealed to Israel. The baptism of the Holy Spirit also comes from Heaven because Jesus Himself baptises the Holy Spirit into us.[91] We are then given the power and authority to forgive sins in a manner that has eternal repercussions.
The point of repentance of our sins is to honour the Father who gave His Son, Jesus, who gave His life, and the Holy Spirit who went out from the Father to live in us. God’s grace existed before man sinned. He has forgiven you even before you repented, because you were loved. Your repentance honours that love. Jesus began His preaching with John’s message of Matthew 3.2: “Repent of your sins and turn to God, for the Kingdom of Heaven is near,”[92] then took it into: “The Kingdom of God is near! Repent of your sins and believe the Good News!”[93] This is the Law of Repentance. Nothing fancy, nothing complicated. Just repent and believe the Good News. God is not making it so hard and difficult. Repent and believe. Even a child can do it.
So what is sin under the New Covenant? It is unbelief in Jesus, and this includes all His words.
Jesus said about the Holy Spirit, “And when He comes, He will convict the world of its sin, and of God’s righteousness, and of the coming judgment. The world’s sin is that it refuses to believe in Me. Righteousness is available because I go to the Father, and you will see Me no more. Judgment will come because the ruler of this world has already been judged.”[94] The Holy Spirit convicts the world of unbelief in Jesus.
For believers and disciples under the New Covenant, sin is unbelief in Jesus and His word, which leads to disobedience against His laws. Once you believe in Jesus, you must obey the Father’s command to listen to Jesus, who taught us to put His words in practice and to obey everything He has commanded us. Disobedience against Jesus’ words is a sign of unbelief in Jesus and His words. If you believe Jesus, you would practise all His words as He commanded. This is obedience to the Law of Jesus. Even if you believe in His Name, and believe that He is the Son of God and call yourself a “Christian”, the fact that you do not know all His words nor practise them proves that you have unbelief in you. If you have unbelief in Jesus and His words, then you are just like the world. The Holy Spirit will convict you of sin.
Conclusion
Church: As Jesus’ disciples, we must hold on to His teachings by practising them daily. Then we will know the truth and the truth will set us free. As we do so, the Holy Spirit will bring forth an increase of revelations, knowledge and understanding of God. Each day we draw closer to Jesus’ return; so we really need to know the details of the Father’s plans for the church, the world and most importantly, for His Son.
The Laws of Grace, Forgiveness and Repentance are the primary laws of Jesus under the New Covenant. Our obedience to these three laws is paramount in keeping faith with the covenant because grace, forgiveness and repentance are its foundation. There are other laws that Jesus gave to His believers and disciples, and they are plainly written in the word. A good starting point is Matthew 5-7.
The daily practice of the Law of Jesus opens your heart and grows your spirit to become of the nature, the spirit and the attitude of Jesus Law, to walk the way of sonship as Jesus did, and serve your Father, Brother and Lord Holy Spirit in Their kingdom as a mature son or daughter of God, giving Them rest. Only Jesus can show you how, for only He is the perfected Son. For Jesus Law is the law that is Jesus, the Christ Himself; a body of law that took what He was into what He became into His eternal divine future, the Son of God, clothed in the flesh of glory, receiving the life that the Father had always dreamed of for His Son.
The purpose of this book was never to form a new doctrine from the revelation of Jesus Law. The purpose has always been to bring the church into correction by restoring the Father’s command to disciples to listen to Jesus, and Jesus’ command to the church to hear and understand what the Holy Spirit is saying to them, so that those whose hearts are opened and have ears to listen may learn to prepare themselves for Jesus’ soon return. For from among these, the Father is looking for the pearls of great price, who are those who go the extra miles, just like His Firstborn Son has.
Neither was the purpose of this book to create further division in the church by pointing out our errors, though there are many, for the lack of abundant signs, wonders and miracles is its proof, common to all the denominations. But this shall change. For by the restoration of the command “Listen to Jesus” in you, and the correction and discipline your obedience to the Father brings forth, harmony through unity in Christ[95] is restored within the church amongst those who do not anticipate to go to Heaven to wait out the Millennium but desire to remain on Earth for Jesus’ return.
Now that you know that it is possible to remain alive to greet Jesus upon His return, and how to achieve this and to overcome, it is high time to put all your faith and efforts into practising Jesus’ words by the power of the Holy Spirit. Now is the time to cast off all doubt and turn all your attention to the Holy Spirit who is working to bring Jesus back.
If you are on board, then get on board fully. If you are not interested, then Heaven awaits. In any case, Jesus is coming soon.
Question now is: Where will you be standing when the Son of Man arrives in Jerusalem?
[1] Jeremiah 31.31-34
[2] Matthew 28.18: “All authority in Heaven and on Earth has been given to Me.”
[3] John 8.31-32
[4] Genesis 2.16-17
[5] Romans 1.20
[6] Genesis 1.3-5
[7] Jeremiah 33.20
[8] Isaiah 28.13
[9] Hosea 6.6; Isaiah 58.6, 10 NLT / NIV
[10] John 14.23
[11] John 15.7, 10
[12] John 3.21 and subtext NLT
[13] John 14.11; 6.29
[14] John 16.23-24
[15] John 17.11; Revelation 21.22
[16] John 10.30
[17] John 8.28-29 NLT
[18] John 14.15, 21
[19] Matthew 10.37-49
[20] Mark 12.30
[21] John 16.14
[22] John 17.22
[23] John 10.30 NASB
[24] John 17.20 NLT
[25] John 15.9-10
[26] Genesis 17.9-14
[27] John 10.17-18 NLT
[28] Romans 1.4
[29] Revelation 1.18
[30] Colossians 1.18
[31] Psalm 2.7-9
[32] Psalm 89.26-29
[33] Isaiah 42.6-7
[34] Isaiah 49.6
[35] Jeremiah 31.31, 33-34
[36] Psalm 40.7 - Note John 4.34 when Jesus said, “My food is to do the will of He who sent Me and to finish His work.”
[37] Zechariah 9.11 NLT
[38] Isaiah 59.20
[39] Isaiah 59.21
[40] Ezekiel 37.26-28 - Note this ties in with Revelation 21.4
[41] Mark 14.24 and footnote a
[42] Matthew 26.27-28 and footnote b
[43] Mark 16.15-16
[44] Matthew 28.19-20
[45] Acts 1.8
[46] Mark 3.29; Luke 12.10
[47] John 6.40
[48] John 14.6 NLT
[49] John 6.53-56
[50] 2 Corinthians 12.9
[51] John 14.26 AMP: “Comforter (Counsellor, Helper, Intercessor, Advocate, Strengthener, Standby)”
[52] Luke 23.34
[53] John 19.30
[54] Revelation 13.8 and footnote NLT
[55] Mark 3.29 NLT
[56] Matthew 12.31
[57] Revelation 19.20
[58] Romans 1.4
[59] John 6.40
[60] Read Ezekiel 22.30
[61] Isaiah 59.15-17 NLT
[62] Matthew 5.43; Luke 6.27
[63] John 13.34
[64] Matthew 5.44
[65] Luke 6.27-28
[66] Matthew 5.41
[67] Luke 6.32-33
[68] Luke 7.47
[69] Luke 8.21; Mark 3.34-35; Matthew 12.49-50
[70] Matthew 18.15
[71] Luke 17.3-4
[72] Matthew 18.35
[73] Matthew 6.6
[74] Matthew 5.44-45
[75] Luke 6.35
[76] Matthew 5.48; Luke 6.36 NIV / NLT
[77] John 20.17
[78] Matthew 28.20
[79] Matthew 27.46; Mark 15.34
[80] Matthew 5.43-44, 48
[81] Revelation 20.10, 14 (Note: The Lake of Fire and the Lake of Burning Sulphur are one and the same)
[82] Acts 1.5 NLT
[83] Mark 16.17
[84] John 3.5, 3
[85] John 20.22; Acts 1.8
[86] Mark 16.17 NLT; Luke 10.19
[87] Acts 1.8; John 20.23; Matthew 28.19
[88] Matthew 12.28
[89] Matthew 21.25
[90] Matthew 3.11; Mark 1.4; Luke 3.3; John 1.26
[91] John 1.31-33 NLT
[92] Matthew 4.17 NLT and footnote “Or has come, or is coming soon”
[93] Mark 1.15 NLT
[94] John 16.8-11 NLT
[95] Psalm 133 NLT / NIV