The Living Epistle of Christ

 

 

The Living Epistle of Christ

 

II Corinthians 3: 2-3

 

Ye are our epistle written in our hearts, known and read of all men: 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.

 

Ye are our epistle written in our hearts. The words of our Lord Jesus Christ had been written on the hearts of the apostles in their regeneration. The words of Christ which were written on the hearts of the apostles had become the words which they had preached. Those words reveal the gospel in their hearts, the apostle Paul called it my gospel: “In the day when God shall judge the secrets of men by Jesus Christ according to my gospel” (Romans 2:16; see Romans 16:25; II Timothy 2:8).

 

The word of the apostles which they had preached was the gospel truth concerning Jesus Christ written on their hearts. In the prayer of Christ our Great High Priest just before His arrest in the garden of gethsemane, he uttered these words; “Neither pray I for these alone, but for them also which shall believe on me through their word” (John 17:20). In these words our Great High Priest prayed that the word of truth in the hearts of the apostles should be written on the hearts of the children of God through their word, or their preaching. It is the office of God the Holy Ghost to transcribe from faith to faith (Romans 1:17) or from heart to heart, the gospel of Jesus Christ. The words that Christ Jesus speaks to His children of the covenant by the power of the Holy Ghost using the instrumentality of preaching bring new life to the hearers, as it is written: “the words that I speak unto you, they are spirit, and they are life” (John 6:63). And it is written: “Verily, verily, I say unto you, He that heareth my word, and believeth on him that sent me, hath everlasting life, and shall not come into condemnation; but is passed from death unto life. Verily, verily, I say unto you, The hour is coming, and now is, when the dead shall hear the voice of the Son of God: and they that hear shall live” (John 5:24-25). This is the spiritual resurrection of the spiritual dead.  Sinners are raised from spiritual death in themselves to eternal life in Jesus Christ by the hearing of the gospel which is the word of life (Philippians 2:16).

 

Our Lord Jesus Christ gives eternal life to the children of the covenant of God by the preaching of the gospel as it is made effectual by the power of the Holy Ghost. As it is written: “And you hath he quickened, (made alive, writer)  who were dead in trespasses and sins; wherein in time past ye walked according to the course of this world, according to the prince of the power of the air, the spirit that now worketh in the children of disobedience: among whom also we all had our conversation in times past in the lusts of our flesh, fulfilling the desires of the flesh and of the mind; and were by nature the children of wrath, even as others. But God, who is rich in mercy, for his great love wherewith he loved us, even when we were dead in sins, hath quickened us together with Christ, (by grace ye are saved;) and hath raised us up together, and made us sit together in heavenly places in Christ Jesus” (Ephesians 2:1-6).

 

Those who are made to live by the word of God, have that word written on their heart. The word of life is passed from faith to faith, from the written word to the heart of the preacher, and preached by the anointing of the Holy Ghost, and written on the heart of those hearers to whom He makes it effectual. As it is written: “For after that in the wisdom of God the world by wisdom knew not God, it pleased God by the foolishness of preaching to save them that believe. For the Jews require a sign, and the Greeks seek after wisdom: but we preach Christ crucified, unto the Jews a stumblingblock, and unto the Greeks foolishness; but unto them which are called, both Jews and Greeks, Christ the power of God, and the wisdom of God” (I Corinthians 1:21-24). And again it is written: “For with the heart man believeth unto righteousness; and with the mouth confession is made unto salvation. For the scripture saith, Whosoever believeth on him shall not be ashamed. For there is no difference between the Jew and the Greek: for the same Lord over all is rich unto all that call upon him. For whosoever shall call upon the name of the Lord shall be saved. How then shall they call on him in whom they have not believed? and how shall they believe in him of whom they have not heard? and how shall they hear without a preacher? And how shall they preach, except they be sent? as it is written, How beautiful are the feet of them that preach the gospel of peace, and bring glad tidings of good things! But they have not all obeyed the gospel. For Esaias saith, Lord, who hath believed our report? So then faith cometh by hearing, and hearing by the word of God” (Romans 10:10-17).

 

The word of God sown in the heart by the Holy Ghost through the preaching of the gospel is the seed that brings offspring like unto itself, For it is written: “Being born again, not of corruptible seed, but of incorruptible, by the word of God, which liveth and abideth for ever” (I Peter 1:23). The same truth is declared in the epistle of James: “Of his own will begat he us with the word of truth, that we should be a kind of firstfruits of his creatures” (James 1:18). “Wherefore lay apart all filthiness and superfluity of naughtiness, and receive with meekness the engrafted word, which is able to save your souls” (James 1:20).

 

In every birth, something is born. And that which is “born of the Spirit is spirit” as it is written: “That which is born of the flesh is flesh; and that which is born of the Spirit is spirit” (John 3:8). That which is born of the Spirit in the birth from above has the law of God written on the heart. This law written on the heart is the new principle of spiritual life. It is the life that God hath given unto us. It is eternal life and it is the life that is in Jesus Christ, as it is written: “And this is the record, that God hath given to us eternal life, and this life is in his Son” (I John 5:11). Our Lord Jesus said “I give unto them eternal life; and they shall never perish” (John10:28). Every life has its nature, its likes and dislikes, its predispositions, its attractions, and repulsions. So it is with the new life that is in the believer. The believers mind is no more enmity against God, but is now desirous of complete subjection to the will of God. However the fleshly nature is still with him, sin is still in the flesh (I John 1:8) and in its rebellion would resist the will of God. So that as the apostle Paul wrote “Now then it is no more I that do it, but sin that dwelleth in me. For I know that in me (that is, in my flesh,) dwelleth no good thing: for to will is present with me; but how to perform that which is good I find not. For the good that I would I do not: but the evil which I would not, that I do. Now if I do that I would not, it is no more I that do it, but sin that dwelleth in me. I find then a law, that, when I would do good, evil is present with me. For I delight in the law of God after the inward man: But I see another law in my members, warring against the law of my mind, and bringing me into captivity to the law of sin which is in my members” (Romans 7:17-23).

 

Sin is in the members of the children of God and the law of God is in their hearts. Therefore there is a war going on in each believer continually. Sin would rule as in the unregenerate days of life, but the new life is dominate, so that the walk is seasoned with the grace of the covenant of God as believers walk in the Spirit, for it is written: “ This I say then, Walk in the Spirit, and ye shall not fulfil the lust of the flesh. For the flesh lusteth against the Spirit, and the Spirit against the flesh: and these are contrary the one to the other: so that ye cannot do the things that ye would” (Galatians 5:16-17). With the law of God written on the heart of the believer he cannot fulfill the desires of the flesh with pleasure as was the case in his unregenerate state. On the other hand with sin in his members the believer cannot fulfill the desire for complete conformity to the image of Christ because of sin that is in his members, therefore the war of sin, and real desire after holiness in life and walk are always in opposition the one to the other.

 

The epistle of Christ written on the heart of the believer separates him from the world. His real desire is to love and worship God as he should. His desire is to conform to the image of Christ in all things. The world having no God-ward inclinations runs on swiftly after the gratification of the lusts of the flesh until hampered by the laws of man or of nature. But the child of God has a higher law in his heart, the epistle of Christ written on the heart, so that although first impulses may lean toward that which is evil, the law of Christ (Galatians 6:2) restrains and corrects his motive so that he is content, desirous, and determined to walk after the Spirit of the living God. “O wretched man that I am! who shall deliver me from the body of this death” (Romans 7:24)? Thank God that Jesus Christ has finished that deliverance.

 

AJ Ison

 

See the writers blog at www.hebrews915.blogspot.com hear the true gospel of Jesus Christ preached at www.13thstbaptist.org webcasting live at listed service times.

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

The Salt of the Covenant of thy God

 

The Salt of the Covenant of thy God

 

Leviticus 2:13

 

And every oblation of thy meat offering shalt thou season with salt; neither shalt thou suffer the salt of the covenant of thy God to be lacking from thy meat offering: with all thine offerings thou shalt offer salt

 

The words of the title make it clear that the covenant is God’s covenant, “the covenant of thy God”. The same is true in the New Testament “this is my covenant unto them” (Romans 11:27), and in the Prophets: “As for me, this is my covenant with them, saith the LORD” (Isaiah 59: 21). In the book of Genesis we read: “And I will establish my covenant between me and thee and thy seed after thee in their generations for an everlasting covenant, to be a God unto thee, and to thy seed after thee” (Genesis 17:7) and in II Samuel: “Although my house be not so with God; yet he hath made with me an everlasting covenant, ordered in all things, and sure: for this is all my salvation, and all my desire, although he make it not to grow” (II Samuel 23:5). With respect to the covenant we have this statement: “He hath remembered his covenant for ever, the word which he commanded to a thousand generations. Which covenant he made with Abraham, and his oath unto Isaac; and confirmed the same unto Jacob for a law, and to Israel for an everlasting covenant” (Psalm 105: 8-10). This covenant is the New Testament in the blood of Jesus Christ as it is written: “Likewise also the cup after supper, saying, This cup is the new testament in my blood, which is shed for you” (Luke 22:20; see Matthew 26:28).

 

A testator seals his last will and testament in his death as it is written: “For where a testament is, there must also of necessity be the death of the testator. For a testament is of force after men are dead: otherwise it is of no strength at all while the testator liveth. Whereupon neither the first testament was dedicated without blood. For when Moses had spoken every precept to all the people according to the law, he took the blood of calves and of goats, with water, and scarlet wool, and hyssop, and sprinkled both the book, and all the people, saying, This is the blood of the testament which God hath enjoined unto you” (Hebrews 9:16-20). The everlasting covenant of grace is between the Trinity of Persons in the Godhead and Jesus Christ. As the conditions of that covenant were fulfilled by Christ, the covenant became the New Testament in the blood of Jesus Christ wherein He bequeaths His goods to the heirs of the New Testament.   

 

Our God and Father is the God and Father of our Lord Jesus Christ: “Jesus saith unto her, Touch me not; for I am not yet ascended to my Father: but go to my brethren, and say unto them, I ascend unto my Father, and your Father; and to my God, and your God” (John 20:17; Hebrews 12:9). Our Lord Jesus Christ having accomplished His cross death, the death of the Surety of the New Testament and thereby having satisfied the law and justice of God, as Surety for the children of the covenant, “took it (the law, writer) out of the way” as it is written: “Blotting out the handwriting of ordinances that was against us, which was contrary to us, and took it out of the way, nailing it to his cross” (Colossians 2:14). The God and Father of the children of the everlasting covenant of grace, has loved His “children of the covenant” (Acts 3:25) as He loved our Lord Jesus Christ (John 17:23).  He has Loved them in that way without beginning, that is,  from “the foundation of the world” (John 17:24)  it is written: “The LORD hath appeared of old unto me, saying, Yea, I have loved thee with an everlasting love: therefore with lovingkindness have I drawn thee” (Jeremiah 31:3). The law and justice of God having stood in the way of blessing according to the love of the Father for His Children is now taken out of the way by the blood of the cross. Our Father is now free according to His own law and justice to manifest His love to His dear children ( Ephesians 5:2) for our God is a “just God and a savior”  as it is written: Tell ye, and bring them near; yea, let them take counsel together: who hath declared this from ancient time? who hath told it from that time? have not I the LORD? and there is no God else beside me; a just God and a Saviour; there is none beside me” (Isaiah 45:21). Our God is true to His holiness and truth when He according to His own heart manifests His love to His people, as it is written: “Thou hast forgiven the iniquity of thy people, thou hast covered all their sin. Selah. Thou hast taken away all thy wrath: thou hast turned thyself from the fierceness of thine anger. Turn us, O God of our salvation, and cause thine anger toward us to cease. Wilt thou be angry with us for ever? wilt thou draw out thine anger to all generations? Wilt thou not revive us again: that thy people may rejoice in thee? Shew us thy mercy, O LORD, and grant us thy salvation. I will hear what God the LORD will speak: for he will speak peace unto his people, and to his saints: but let them not turn again to folly. Surely his salvation is nigh them that fear him; that glory may dwell in our land. Mercy and truth are met together; righteousness and peace have kissed each other” (Psalm 85:2-10).

 

Now our God is (to His children of the covenant) a God of peace, as it is written: “Now the God of peace, that brought again from the dead our Lord Jesus, that great shepherd of the sheep, through the blood of the everlasting covenant” (Hebrews 13:20). The blood of the everlasting covenant is “the New Testament in My blood” (Luke 22:20; I Corinthians 11:25; Isaiah 42:6; 49:8) and “My blood of the New Testament” (Matthew 26:28; Mark 14:24), and it is the blood which washed away the sin and sins of the Church of God, which had been laid on the Lamb of God (Isaiah 53:6). Christ Jesus took away forever the guilt of sin from those who were given Him of the Father (Hebrews 1:3; Isaiah 1:18) and who had been sanctified in Him from the beginning (II Thessalonians 2:13; Jude 1:1; I Corinthians 1:2; John 17:2; Acts 13:48; Ephesians 1:3-5; Romans 8:28-39). Incidentally, this is that world whose sin the Lamb of God has taken away, as said John the Baptist: “Behold the Lamb of God, which taketh away the sin of the world” (John 1:29).

  

Having silenced forever the voice of justice against the world of God’s elect, who are themselves the children of the covenant, and having reconciled them to Himself (II Corinthians 5:19) by the blood of the cross of our Surety: as it is written “And, having made peace through the blood of his cross, by him to reconcile all things unto himself; by him, I say, whether they be things in earth, or things in heaven” (Colossians 1:20). Our God will, rejoice over His people with joy, He will rest in His love, and He will rejoice over His people with singing,  as it is written: “In that day it shall be said to Jerusalem, Fear thou not: and to Zion, Let not thine hands be slack. The LORD thy God in the midst of thee is mighty; he will save, he will rejoice over thee with joy; he will rest in his love, he will joy over thee with singing. I will gather them that are sorrowful for the solemn assembly, who are of thee, to whom the reproach of it was a burden. Behold, at that time I will undo all that afflict thee: and I will save her that halteth, and gather her that was driven out; and I will get them praise and fame in every land where they have been put to shame. At that time will I bring you again, even in the time that I gather you: for I will make you a name and a praise among all people of the earth, when I turn back your captivity before your eyes, saith the LORD” (Zephaniah 3:16-20).

 

The salt of the everlasting covenant of grace is that which seasons the walk of the children of God by giving grace in the heart which grows through increasing knowledge of God in Christ Jesus: “But grow in grace, and in the knowledge of our Lord and Saviour Jesus Christ. To him be glory both now and for ever. Amen” (II Peter 3:18).  Salt is cutting and burning to the flesh when it penetrates the outer layers of the skin. In the same manner, salt of the covenant of God cuts and burns the proud and self sufficient nature of men and it is offends their haughtiness. The salt of the covenant of our God humbles the hearts of men by showing us our nothingness. The salt of the covenant is the doctrine of the covenant made known by the preaching of Christ and His Apostles in the words of the New Testament. The word of the New Testament is living seed planted and ingrafted in the hearts of the children of the covenant by the gracious operation of the Holy ghost. (John 6:63; I Peter 1:23; James 1:21). As it is written: “ For the word of God is quick, and powerful, and sharper than any twoedged sword, piercing even to the dividing asunder of soul and spirit, and of the joints and marrow, and is a discerner of the thoughts and intents of the heart. Neither is there any creature that is not manifest in his sight: but all things are naked and opened unto the eyes of him with whom we have to do” (Hebrews 4:12-13).

 

The salt of the covenant of God that most is offensive to the proud heart of man is the doctrine of the sovereignty of God in election of grace unto salvation and of the predestination of the elect to eternal life in Jesus Christ (Ephesians 1:3-5; Romans 8:28-30). This is demonstrated in the first sermon of our Lord Jesus preached in His home town of Nazareth. All the people “bare him witness, and wondered at the gracious words that proceeded out of His mouth” until He spoke of the sovereignty of God in salvation. Our Lord Jesus called God’s sovereignty to the attention of the crowd by referencing the fact that Elias was sent to none of the Jews, but to a Gentile widow of Sarepta and that God had not sent His prophet to any of the lepers of Israel but had sent him the Naaman the Syrian. When our Lord Jesus spoke of the sovereignty of God as demonstrated in those events, the fickle hearts of the members of the crowd turned from wondering at His gracious words and sought to kill Him, as it is written: “And he came to Nazareth, where he had been brought up: and, as his custom was, he went into the synagogue on the sabbath day, and stood up for to read. And there was delivered unto him the book of the prophet Esaias. And when he had opened the book, he found the place where it was written, the Spirit of the Lord is upon me, because he hath anointed me to preach the gospel to the poor; he hath sent me to heal the brokenhearted, to preach deliverance to the captives, and recovering of sight to the blind, to set at liberty them that are bruised, To preach the acceptable year of the Lord. And he closed the book, and he gave it again to the minister, and sat down.

And the eyes of all them that were in the synagogue were fastened on him. And he began to say unto them, This day is this scripture fulfilled in your ears. And all bare him witness, and wondered at the gracious words which proceeded out of his mouth. And they said, Is not this Joseph's son? And he said unto them, Ye will surely say unto me this proverb, Physician, heal thyself: whatsoever we have heard done in Capernaum, do also here in thy country. And he said, Verily I say unto you, No prophet is accepted in his own country. But I tell you of a truth, many widows were in Israel in the days of Elias, when the heaven was shut up three years and six months, when great famine was throughout all the land; But unto none of them was Elias sent, save unto Sarepta, a city of Sidon, unto a woman that was a widow. And many lepers were in Israel in the time of Eliseus the prophet; and none of them was cleansed, saving Naaman the Syrian. And all they in the synagogue, when they heard these things, were filled with wrath, and rose up, and thrust him out of the city, and led him unto the brow of the hill whereon their city was built, that they might cast him down headlong. But he passing through the midst of them went his way” (Luke 4:16-30). The hearts of natural men have not changed since the days our Lord Jesus walked on the earth. The preacher who faithfully preaches the doctrine of the Holy Scriptures, particularly the doctrine of election of grace unto salvation and of the predestinating mercies of God will arouse the wrath of the unregenerate among the people to whom he is preaching. Those who will not be subject to the written word of God show themselves to be uncircumcised in ears and in heart (Acts 7:51), that is, they have valid reason to think themselves unsaved. 

 Salt preserves the substance it is in by inhibiting corruption. Our Lord Jesus Christ said: “Ye (that is believers, writer) are the salt of the earth: but if the salt have lost his savour, wherewith shall it be salted? it is thenceforth good for nothing, but to be cast out, and to be trodden under foot of men” (Matthew 5:13). Hearers of the gospel who believe the gospel have the covenant written on their hearts by the Spirit of the living God: as it is written: “Ye are our epistle written in our hearts, known and read of all men: 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. And such trust have we through Christ to God-ward: not that we are sufficient of ourselves to think any thing as of ourselves; but our sufficiency is of God; 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” (II Corinthians 3:2-6).

 

The words of our Lord Jesus Christ, in Matthew 5:13, show the result of the gospel believed in the heart of the children of the covenant of God. The gospel believed in the heart of the elect people of God is the law of Christ written on the heart (Galatians 6:2), which is the new heart that brings new life to that particular individual by the Holy Ghost. If the heart of professors of religion is not conformed (according to the measure of the gift of Christ; Ephesians 4:7) to the image of Christ, then it is found that the salt of the covenant of God is lacking in that person. For it is written: “Let your speech be alway with grace, seasoned with salt, that ye may know how ye ought to answer every man” (Colossians 4:6). And again it is written: “Let no corrupt communication proceed out of your mouth, but that which is good to the use of edifying, that it may minister grace unto the hearers” (Ephesians 4:29). Where the salt of the covenant is lacking, those persons in whom the salt is lacking shall be salted with hell fire, as it is written: “For every one shall be salted with fire, and every sacrifice shall be salted with salt” (Mark 9:49).

 

“Have salt in yourselves, and have peace one with another” (Mark 9:50). “But if we walk in the light, as he is in the light, we have fellowship one with another, and the blood of Jesus Christ his Son cleanseth us from all sin” (I John 1:7). If that which is written on our hearts is the salt of the covenant of the God of the Bible we shall have peace among ourselves, but if our salt have lost its savor, by believing that doctrine which is not according to the truth then there can be no concord nor fellowship of truth with error. “Be ye not unequally yoked together with unbelievers: for what fellowship hath righteousness with unrighteousness? and what communion hath light with darkness? And what concord hath Christ with Belial? or what part hath he that believeth with an infidel? And what agreement hath the temple of God with idols? for ye are the temple of the living God; as God hath said, I will dwell in them, and walk in them; and I will be their God, and they shall be my people. Wherefore come out from among them, and be ye separate, saith the Lord, and touch not the unclean thing; and I will receive you” (II Corinthians 6:14-17).      AJ Ison

 

See the writers blog at www.hebrews915.blogspot.com hear the true gospel preached at www.13thstbaptist.org webcasting live at listed service times.