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Sometimes it is easier to learn something better by following a debate on a subject, so here is a recent discussion between me and Samuel Branster on the Old vs. the New law and covenant. W. Isaac Adams also participated briefly .
why do you believe the shadows are literal? It is actually the opposite. All the shadows pointed to the greater literal fulfilment of the things promised.
Deeper is the spiritual, the higher, the greater, the antitypical, the inner.
Typical vs. Antitypical
Adam : -the typical human. Creation.
Typical lamb: Creation.
Jesus Christ: -Antitypical Adam and lamb: Creator/God in man. The Son of God and the Son of Man.
The blood and righteousness of Christ = the law and spirit = character of God.
We must crucify the typical, unsanctified human and receive the antitypical/spiritual, sanctified human. Which is Christ in us.
And because we have all transgressed and fallen short, we must receive pardon for our transgressions by the sacrifice of the antitypical lamb, Jesus Christ, who paid the penalty for the sins of mankind on the cross of Calvary. (John 3:16.)
"For since death came through a man, the resurrection of the dead comes also through a man. For as in Adam all die, so in Christ all will be made alive" -1. Cor 15: 21-22
"It is impossible for the blood of bulls and goats to take away sins." - Hebrews 10:4.
= It is impossible for fallen creation to redeem themselves. We can only be saved by the Creator, by the sacrifice of the Son of God and His sanctification process: the way of the cross, the way of Christ.
Why do you believe the typical is literal when it is the exact opposite in scripture. The greatest fulfilment of truth is the most literal experience of it. The shadows are not the literal fulfilment of truth. I read 2 of the articles I did not know there was a third. I have now read many of your articles and you do not seem you clarify your terms you seem to repeat yourself but never get to the point of what you are trying to say.
One more quick example:
Old, typical order: - physical, literal temple/house
New, everlasting order of Jesus Christ: - Spiritual house/ temple.
1. Peter 2:4-5
1. Cor 3:16-17
Luke 17:20-22
Hebrews ch 8 -9
why do you believe the everlasting temple of God is not literal?
Point is that that which is of faith is the inner, the unseen FIRST. The word, the law of God is the moral law, which He write in our innermost being, the spiritual heart and mind.
What represent the Creator is the spiritual, the unseen, the deeper, the higher, the inner.
See 1. Cor 2.
We are to love God and what His kingdom represent first. Then we are to love Creation and what creation represent secondly: the physical, literal, the seen/ observable.
1. Creator (spiritual kingdom)
2. Creation (physical kingdom)
Matthew 22:37-39.
Hebrews 8:10.
Hebrews 11:1.
2.Cor 5: 7
2. Cor 4:16-18
Romans 14:17.
The new earth which is also literal will only be inherited by those who value the Creator and that which He represent first, and Creation and that which creation represent, secondly.
you keep on throwing the word "literal" in. Why? The spiritual is just a literal as the physical. The spiritual realities and experiences never separate themselves from the physical. We are both physical and spiritual, both are literal and Jesus came to save both from the power of Satan.
Literal as in typical. That which is of the letter.
2. Cor 3 again.
Under the old covenant we have typical, literal circumcision of the flesh for literal, typical Israel.
Under the new covenant we have circumcision of the spiritual heart and mind.
Romans 2:28-29
From typical to antitypical. From letter to spirit.
Nobody can be saved under the typical, the old law, covenant and order. Which is to walk and judge by sight = the apparent, typical, fleshly, external.
Everyone must be saved by advancing forward to the new, everlasting law, covenant and order, where the law is
1. Love for the Creator and His spiritual kingdom
2. Love for Creation ( physical kingdom).
Also saved by the sacrifice and blood of the Creator ( Son of God, antitypical lamb), rather than the blood of beasts, by Creation ( typical lamb). And crossing over on the path of the cross, from the old, typical to the new, everlasting kingdom.
This is to walk and judge by faith.
Hebrews 11. Galatians 3 and 4.
literal does not = typical. All the types were shadows of literal events and realities. The Anti-type, or greater revelation of truth was always more literal than the type.
I explained what I meant by literal in this context. That which is of the letter, which is the typical. You should be very familiar with the phrase literal VS. spiritual Israel. It is the same as the typical VS. antitypical Israel.
spiritual Israel is still literal. Your writtings appear to make literal realities and truth to be less or immature. Where the opposite is true. The greatest revelation of truth will be the most literal.
Nobody is arguing as if literal and spiritual is not real.
I am not saying that. I am saying the greatest manifestation of truth is more literal not less. We see things through a looking glass, (truth not fully visible). Until we see Jesus as He is in person (literal). You apear in all your articles to spritualise away the physical, literal realtiy of truth. This is spritualism and we have been warned against it very plainly in the SOP.
I have answered this before and also today in this discussion.
Which is why I state. Love or focus on:
1. Creator God (spiritual kingdom)
2. Creation (physical kingdom)
Hence I do not spiritualize away everything. I even write this regularly, including in the article I posted yesterday where I address spiritualism. I am not a gnostic.
Also this:
Take the two examples of circumcision and Israel.
It go from:
-physical/typical/fleshly/ outer/seen/apparant
to
- spiritual/ antitypical/ inner/ of faith/ unseen/ deeper/ fuller/to the heart (character).
What is unseen, deeper and spiritual is still very real.
and what are these deeper unseen truths?
You expect Ellen White to teach us the teachings she predicted would come at future time? The advancement of the truth?
so you are referring to prophetic fulfilment as being the advancement of truth?
No, that is not what I mean, that is not according to Scriptures or Ellen White.
Read Ephesians 3 and 1. Cor 13.
Prophecies has to to with predictions of future events ,it really has quite little relevance as to whether or not our characters are ready for the heavenly society.
so in plain words what is the advancement of truth? Linda Avdiel Aanestad It means several things, among other things to get very stuck in the letter, and refusing to think. We learn by walking the path of the cross, we learn by suffering and experience in addition to the word. It is when we advance by carrying our cross, that we can receive a fuller measure of the holy spirit. Then our understanding of the word will mature and we will see things we never saw while we were stuck under the old covenant, the immature phase. But it require a cross. and the cross comes, but most flee from it, thinking they are safe right where they are. FURTHER CONCERNING THE LETTER VS. THE SPIRIT OF THE LAW
I'm talking more about the fact that a human being, no matter who he is, regardless of race, nation, gender, age, status, etc., comes with a higher doctrine than another. Say a woman to a man. A teenager against a parent, etc. It will then be the content of the message (that which represent the inner, that of their faith/belief), which precedes who and what title expresses it. This is especially true if it is a spiritual issue. Then the law of the spirit will take precedence over the law of the letter.
Here in this example I speak of the spirit of the law as the *WHAT* IS WEIGHTIER THAN THE *WHOM*, is stating a law, a doctrine, a claimed truth.
Take the wrestling of Jacob with the angel of God as a good example.
See chapter 39 in Great Controversy, concerning Jacob's trouble.
Christ Himself can test us and willingly present a lower truth, after He has taught you a higher, fuller truth, to see if you go by the spirit or the letter of the law or doctrine.
Read the entire chapter of Galatians 3. And 2. Corinthians 3.
Can you please explain how you are using the term law of the spirit?’
Here in this example I speak of the spirit of the law as the *WHAT* IS WEIGHTIER THAN THE *WHOM*, is stating a law, a doctrine, a claimed truth.
Take the wrestling of Jacob with the angel of God as a good example.
Christ Himself can test us and willingly present a lower truth, after He has taught you a higher, fuller truth, to see if you go by the spirit or the letter of the law or doctrine.
See chapter 39 in Great Controversy, concerning Jacob's trouble.
I do believe there is the spirit of the law. But you have not clarifies what you mean when using this term. You have not define it. Can you please tell me what your definition is of the spirit of the law?
It means many things, it is a grand topic. I have tried to explain also earlier. Here is one more illustration:
To be born again and to advance from the old to the new covenant of Christ, does happen gradually. Both for the individual believer in their path on the the cross. But also for the church as a whole. From shadows to increased light. From physical to spiritual.
But to be set free from legalism and the old covenant, means you will make decisions based on time and situation. Hence it will rarely be black and white as you state. The traffic sign might command you to drive in 60 km/h. But as soon as there comes a sharp turn, you need to slow down regardless of what the law/sign/letter states. And that is one good illustration of what it means to walk according to the spirit and not the letter.
It also function as an illustration in how the letter can kill, while the spirit gives life.
From 2 Corinthians 3 again:
"6 He has made us competent as ministers of a new covenant—not of the letter but of the Spirit; for the letter kills, but the Spirit gives life.
The Greater Glory of the New Covenant
7 Now if the ministry that brought death, which was engraved in letters on stone, came with glory, so that the Israelites could not look steadily at the face of Moses because of its glory, transitory though it was, 8 will not the ministry of the Spirit be even more glorious? 9 If the ministry that brought condemnation was glorious, how much more glorious is the ministry that brings righteousness!"
why does the letter kill?
If the person had followed the letter/sign/law blindly, when there was sudden a sharp turn in the road, he would have crashed.
Do you agree or disagree so far?
Following the sign does not require you to go 60km/hr it only states you can not exceed that. So no they do not have to break the 'letter' to follow the spirit.
In a theological context, why do you believe the letter kills?
If everyone would drive 30 km/h when it state 60 km/h, it would also create traffic chaos. The police can give you a ticket for driving too slowly.
I understand people can be fined for going too slow however, that was not your point. It is not a violation of the law to slow down when appropriate. Hence, slowing down for a corner or other relevant circumstances is not a violation of the speed limit.
Why do you believe the letter of the law kills in 2 Corinthians?
But you understand the point, that if you were to follow the sign all the way and not slow down, it would lead to destruction? So if you did, the letter would then kill, be destructive. Like I said, it would be what I call blind faith, legalistic thinking. Being chained to the letter, not the spirit.
why don't you believe slowing down for a corner is obeying the sign? if you are slowing down are you exceeding the limit?
so you believe that obeying the literal reading of the law can be dangerous in some circumstances and that is why the letter kills. Is that correct?
Just take the illustration for what it is instead of getting hooked up in the details, it is mostly a figure to make you understand the difference.
As for your last comment: yes, that is one example.
why do you believe that is the point Paul is trying to make in 2 Corinthians about the letter bringing death. Samuel Branster
What is the law of the Spirit?
·
I have tried to explain that for several weeks. What do you understand from what I have explained so far?
o
Linda Avdiel Aanestad you have only given analogies to attempt to explain what you mean, yet have never defined what the spirit of the law is. Is there a reason you won't give a clear definition of what you mean?
Linda Avdiel Aanestad I have offered analogies and examples in addition to defining it. So what is your definition then? Or do you not believe there is such a thing as the spirit of the law?
the spirit of the law is the magnification of the letter. It is the letter fulfilled manifest in the life of Christ. It is the letter as it was intended to be obeyed.
I have no quarrels with you in your description, but for some reason you object when I describe the same.
However the great controversy was not quite over, and now we see that the last battle can really be summed up as a battle between those who insist to stick to the letter and the old, immature law, covenant and order, and those who choose to advance forward and break free from the letter and set free by the spirit of the law, through Christ.
Also the spirit of the law include to try to discern the present times and try to act accordingly. Hence progression toward true light.
what do you mean by break free from the letter of the law?
Read Galatians 4 carefully.
I have read it many times, it is one of my favourite books. What do you believe it teaches about breaking free from the letter?
Read Galatians 4:24-31
was the old covenant part of the plan of salvation? Linda Avdiel Aanestad
Yes,I believe so, when the fall of man first had happened.
The only way is to first go through the old, immature law and covenant of the letter, and then advance forward toward the new law and covenant, to the spirit of the law. The spirit of the law, is the law and order of faith, the new law, covenant and order, the law and order of Jesus Christ. See Hebrews 5-10.
From Egypt, through the desert, toward the promised land.
‘
why do you believe the old covenant was part of the plan of salvation? There is no salvation in the old covenant.
W Isaac Adams to Samuel Branster - why don't you believe the old covenant was part of the plan of salvation? Do you think millions or billions of people before Christ came will not be saved? Was the old covenant not made with them and therefore valid as a part of the entirety of the plan of salvation? "There is no salvation in the old covenant" meaning for you or for anyone? As for why it is a part of the plan of salvation, it is a Type and is therefore necessary even if you cannot see that. The shadow existed before the substance as with all type/anti-type. To say there is no salvation in the old covenant means you don't believe it to be part of the incomprehensibly large plan of salvation. It is not for you to decide what saves and what does not, that is the perogative of God alone, I'd be careful trying to use reason where only faith shall be applied.
Samuel Branster to W Isaac Adams - the old covenant is a promise made by the people to obey God's law, void a saviour. No one can be saved this way. This is what makes it an old covenant.
Everyone who was save was save d through the new or everlasting covenant that was made with Adam in the garden all the way to Abraham till it was ratified in the life and death of Christ.
W Isaac Adams to Samuel Branster
- That still doesn't explain your question of the old covenant not being part of the plan of salvation. Just because you aren't saved by one element of the plan (salvation is actually only through grace by faith in Jesus) doesn't mean that the one element is not part of the entire plan, it just means that it is part of a plan, not the entire plan and maybe not the key point of the plan, but still is part of the whole.
W Isaac Adams to Samuel Branster - What do you purport the purpose of the old covenant is then, if it does not play a part in the plan of salvation?
Samuel Branster to W Isaac Adams - the old covenant was a promise made by people. It cannot save and therefore, was not a part of the plan of salvation. Paul makes it clear in Galatians that the giving of the law at Sinai was not to make void the new/everlasting covenant made with Abraham. But the people did not make the same covenant with God as Abraham did, they were happy to obey God without a saviour. This is what made the covenant old. It is not in the plan God made before the world began for fallen man to save themselves, which is what the old covenant is.
- The picture is a lot broader than what you say here. Every single one go through what even Paul refer to as the immature phase of the Christian. The immature phase is the same as the phase of the law of the letter, the literal, the shallower, the external, the more fleshly/worldly.
Here Paul compare the immature Christian as those who are worldly minded:
1 Cor 3:1-3:
" Brothers and sisters, I could not address you as people who live by the Spirit but as people who are still worldly—mere infants in Christ. 2 I gave you milk, not solid food,for you were not yet ready for it. Indeed, you are still not ready. 3 You are still worldly. "
This is where we walk and judge by the letter, not the spirit. Because to be born of the spirit, is the mature stage of the Christian. This is the *crossing over* from the old, unsanctified human to the new, sanctified human, which is Christ in us. This require a cross,including to take up ours.
See 1. Cor 15:
"So will it be with the resurrection of the dead. The body that is sown is perishable, it is raised imperishable; 43 it is sown in dishonor, it is raised in glory; it is sown in weakness, it is raised in power; 44 it is sown a natural body, it is raised a spiritual body.
If there is a natural body, there is also a spiritual body. 45 So it is written: “The first man Adam became a living being” the last Adam, a life-giving spirit. 46 The spiritual did not come first, but the natural, and after that the spiritual. 47 The first man was of the dust of the earth; the second man is of heaven. 48 As was the earthly man, so are those who are of the earth; and as is the heavenly man, so also are those who are of heaven. 49 And just as we have borne the image of the earthly man, so shall we bear the image of the heavenly man.
50 I declare to you, brothers and sisters, that flesh and blood cannot inherit the kingdom of God, nor does the perishable inherit the imperishable."
- it may be a phase people need to go through (coming to the realisation we need a saviour) yet the old covenant has no salvation in it. No one has been saved through the old covenant and it was never part of the plan of salvation.
And that is exactly what I have said all along. But it is not just the realization that we need a savior. Even the pharisees awaited a Messiah, a savior, and was still lost. Think also of Nazi Germany who supposedly was a Christian nation, yet many justified the idea of killing so many based on external factors, which is a great part of what it means to walk and judge based on the letter.
you represent the old covenant as part of the plan of salvation. Not one person has ever been saved through the old covenant. Therefore, is not part of the plan of Salvation. The plan of salvation has always been righteousness by faith from Adam to today.
No human is born an adult, we all have to through childhood, then the teenage stage, until we become adults. In order to reach University level we have to through elementary school and upwards, step by step. Same is true for the divine school of Christ.
From Gal 3:
"Before the coming of this faith, we were held in custody under the law, locked up until the faith that was to come would be revealed. 24 *So the law was our guardian until Christ came that we might be justified by faith*. Now that this faith has come, we are no longer under a guardian. 26 So in Christ Jesus you are all children of God through faith, 27 for all of you who were baptized into Christ have clothed yourselves with Christ."
Notice also that there is a double application for going first through the immature stage of the letter (the "law"/legalist mindset) to later be set free from this old covenant, legalist mindset, which is to be born of the spirit, crossing over to the new everlasting covenant and order.
1. One relate to the church as a whole during the entire Christian dispensation. From typical to antitypical/spiritual order.
2. The other relate to each individual pilgrimage journey.
- the law in question is the law of the letter, only in Christ we are set free, He represent the spirit. His kingdom is a spiritual kingdom. That means to not be bound to the letter, but to have had the law engraved on our hearts and minds, by our path on the cross, by grace through faith. From immature to mature.
See 2. Cor 3 again.
Nobody is fully sanctified as immature Christians. Hence one need to go through the immature phase and onward to the new. The crossing over is the awakening, the rebirth from letter to spirit.
- there is not two sets of commandments. It is not one set that is the letter and one that is the spirit. Both are the same law. The only difference with the letter and spirit is the ministration of Christ is in the spirit of the law. There is nothing immature or wrong with the letter. The problem is with the transgressors of the law not the law itself. To the sinner the letter of the law can not offer pardon only death. That is why the letter kills. The spirit of the law is the same law yet includes the ministration of Christ that is why it brings life to the sinner and not death. Linda Avdiel Aanestad
There is nothing immature with the letter of the law you say? There you go straight against 2. Cor 3. The letter of the law is the old covenant law. It is the immature, typical phase for the church during 1. the Christian dispensation 2. The individual Christian pilgrimage journey.
The LETTER KILLS, the SPIRIT MAKES ALIVE.
Straight from the word of God. 2. Cor 3: 6-7
To say the letter is not immature is the same as to say the old covenant is not the old or immature. It is in Christ that it is taken away, then we are set free from legalism/the letter of the law, and we are able to walk free in the spirit, as we have the law engraved on our spirit, our soul, by the cross, the word and the spirit. Which is the sanctification by God.
- the letter is glorious according to 2 Corinthians 3. How then is it immature?
- Because the old covenant, the law of the letter is less glorious than the new covenant, the law of the spirit, which is far more glorious.
- Less glorious: immature, temporal/transitory
- Far more glorious: mature, everlasting
Samuel Branster
-why do you believe the old covenant is glorious? You are conflating the letter of the law with the old covenant, why?
Linda Avdiel Aanestad
From 2. cor 3
Here we see clearly how the NEW COVENANT is linked to the LAW OF THE SPIRIT (which is also the law of faith and the law and order of Christ)
" 4 Such confidence we have through Christ before God. 5 Not that we are competent in ourselves to claim anything for ourselves, but our competence comes from God. 6 He has made us competent as ministers of A NEW COVENANT—NOT OF THE LETTER BUT OF THE SPIRIT; for the letter kills, but the Spirit gives life.
Now if the ministry that brought death, which was engraved in letters on stone, came with glory, so that the Israelites could not look steadily at the face of Moses because of its glory, transitory though it was, 8 will not the ministry of the Spirit be even more glorious? 9 If the ministry that brought condemnation was glorious, how much more glorious is the ministry that brings righteousness! 10 For what was glorious has no glory now in comparison with the surpassing glory. 11 And if what was transitory came with glory, how much greater is the glory of that which lasts!"
Let us go to Hebrews 9:
Here is described the old covenant in relation to the church. Here we see that the old covenant had some glory, but the new covenant of Christ had a far higher glory. The blood of beasts could only cleanse them outwardly in the flesh. But the blood of the Son of God, could cleanse them inwardly, their hearts and minds.
"13 The BLOOD OF GOATS AND BULLS and the ashes of a heifer sprinkled on those who are ceremonially unclean sanctify them so that they are OUTWARDLY CLEAN.
14 How much more, then, will the BLOOD OF CHRIST, who through the ETERNAL SPIRIT offered himself unblemished to God, CLEANSE OUR CONSCIENCES from acts that lead to death, so that we may serve the living God!"
We see the same principle with regard to the training of our physical body, versus the inward training of our inner soul (spirit):
"For PHYSICAL TRAINING is of SOME VALUE, but GODLINESS has VALUE FOR ALL THINGS, holding promise for both the present life and the life to come."
-1. Tim 4:8
2 Cor 4: 16-18
"16 Therefore we do not lose heart. Though OUTWARDLY we are wasting away, yet INWARDLY we are being renewed day by day. 17 For our light and momentary troubles are achieving for us an ETERNAL GLORY that far outweighs them all. 18 So we fix our eyes not on what is SEEN , but on what is UNSEEN, since what is seen is TEMPORARY, but what is unseen is ETERNAL."
SO, the OLD; IMMATURE law, covenant and order, - the law of the letter ,has these characteristics:
- literal, typical, external, immature, apparent / seen, physical, shallower, lesser, temporal.
The NEW, EVERLASTING law, covenant and order, the law of the spirit has these characteristics:
-antitypical/ spiritual, deeper, unseen, higher, mature, holy, everlasting.
The word itself, without advancing on the path of the cross and thus receiving a greater fullness of the Spirit of God is what the word of God calls legalism. To become blind to the letter.
Take another example. Say someone in the family has been stabbed and is about to die of blood loss and shock. You live in the countryside and there is no ambulance available. The hospital is a good distance away and the speed limit is very low. If you follow it, you know that person will die. What will you do? Do you keep the law, or do you break what is the lesser law here to obey the greater law, which here will be to break the speed limit to save a life?
2 Cor 3:
"You show that you are a letter from Christ, the result of our ministry, written not with ink but with the Spirit of the living God, not on tablets of stone but on tablets of human hearts.
4 Such confidence we have through Christ before God. 5 Not that we are competent in ourselves to claim anything for ourselves, but our competence comes from God. 6 He has made us competent as ministers of a new covenant—not of the letter but of the Spirit; for the letter kills, but the Spirit gives life." The spirit of God is the spirit of Christ. Hence we must receive a fuller measure of His spirit to be able to reason properly or righteously. To reason and judge righteously. See John 7:24. This happens by Christ's sanctification, by grace though faith. This is the point of 2. Cor 3:3-6.
To choose the law of the spirit over the law of the letter.is about always trying to choose the higher law, the higher doctrine over the lower. It is to choose the law of Jesus over the law of the flesh / world. FAQ REGARDING THE OLD VS. NEW COVENANT.
The everlasting promise of the everlasting gospel to all mankind, of advancing from the old, immature, incomplete law, covenant and order, to the new, mature, everlasting law, covenant and order. By the two-fold purpose of grace through faith. From the law of the letter to the law of the spirit. From walking by sight to walking by faith. From the law of death to the law of life.
Romans 8. Gal 3 and 4. 2 Cor 3. Hebr ch 4-12.
Immature means that the fullness of the law, covenant and order was not fully revealed. The old testament period is called the typical age. The age of shadows, of limited light. The dispensational age of the church (the people of God) go from typical to antitypical, from the letter to the spirit during these 6000 years. There was a great shift at the death of Jesus Christ, and even his death symbolize this, where his flesh was torn. The flesh =the physical =the literal. We are to walk by faith, not by sight. (2. Cor 5:7).
Christ said "My kingdom is not of this world". The kingdom of God is not the flesh, the literal, but within you =the spiritual first. Luke 17:20-21.
This represent the Creator. The visible, literal represent creation. Christ did not come to abolish, but to make the law fuller, more complete. Same goes for the covenant and the gospel. They are interconnected.
Hebrews 8:13
13 By calling this covenant “new,” he has made the first one obsolete; and what is obsolete and outdated will soon disappear. It move from a seed to a flower if you will.
Linda Avdiel Aanestad
The old law and covenant still exist in the sense that one can still choose the limited, immature, but today after the fuller has been revealed, it is not Christ that represent it, as it stands alone. Christ is a high priest, a king of the new, everlasting law, covenant and order.
We know that the promise went from literal Israel to Spiritual Israel. The literal here is the lesser, the incomplete. Spiritual Israel is the fuller, the complete.
So do we have the local, lesser, physical, immature still? Yes. But Christ represent the fuller, the spiritual, the higher, the mature. The old is now the fallen. So it still can be chosen, but it is in the category "fallen".
Think of a caterpillar vs a butterfly.
There was a clear shift I would say particularly at the crucifixion and death of Jesus Christ. When the earthquake tore apart the curtains that seperated the holy from the most holy place in the Sanctuary.
See Matthew 27:51
Nobody could be saved under the old covenant. Those who lived before the time of Christ and the new testament, antitypical age, looked forward to the Messiah and was likewise saved in Him and under His order. Nobody could be saved by the blood of beasts uner the old covenant. But they looked forward to the sacrifice being made by Messiah, the Son of God, as we look back and is saved by the blood of Christ. But salvation is not just the blotting out of our transgressions, but also a recreation process which we call sancification, where we learn to walk by faith and advance from the old to the new. All are saved by grace through faith. See Hebrews 11. So there is a journey both for the church as a whole during these 6000 years, but also individually as we walk from immaturity to maturity in Christ. This is called the new birth, to go from the law of the flesh to the law of the spirit. This is how we are recreated in the image of God, and receive His character (heart and mind). See Hebrews 8:10.
2. Cor 3.
The letter of the law is like the seed while the spirit is like a seed that has grown into a flower. The physical, literal is of value if you put it in second place always and seek/put the spiritual kingdom of God first. The law of the letter is also called the law of death. As it stand alone without advancing toward the spiritual, greater, deeper it can not save. Nobody can be saved unless maturing and advancing to the law and order of the spirit and learn to walk by faith. However, what God requires depends on how much light is within their reach. Which is why Christ said that our righteousness must exceed that of the pharisees who lived at the time of Christ. Because we have received more light than they did. Else they are legalistic minded, and bound by the letter, bound under the old, immature, fallen law and order, hence linked to the lord of the fallen, the lord of shadows and darkness. I think also there might be a misunderstanding with my use of the word "covenant" in relation to the expression "New, mature, everlasting law, covenant and order". Perhaps some think of the word as meaning only "promise". I like to use the expression "everlasting promise" of advancing from the old, immature to the New, mature, everlasting Law, covenant and order.
It is clear though from the bibleverses I have shown that the word "covenant" is used in this manner. Maybe Galatians 4 is one of the most obvious. Christ came to make the law fuller. God reveal increased light that will make the truth, the doctrine and the law FULLER AND DEEPER. Much of this light was not revealed until Christ came. He showed us much about the spirit of the law. The old testament age is called the typical or formal age. The new, the antitypical age. But as I said that does not mean that the individual Christian did not have to advance and learn to walk by faith also at that time, and had to receive the light that shined for them individually. Yet the fullness was not yet revealed with relation to the Christian dispensation.
Ellen White states the pharisees would be saved in that limited light, if Christ had not come and revealed all that light to them. But many of them rejected it. And because they failed this test, Christ said, it was then clear that they had hated both Him and the Father. But we will learn more and more about the gospel in depth also in heaven throughout eternity. Yet there is a fullness that will be reached before the second coming. My view here is in perfect agreement with Ellen White. Moses and Abraham learned to walk by faith, yes, and looked forward to the Messiah, so they advanced and received all the light that shined for that time. That is what we are required, to receive the present truth. Or else the expression "present truth" woyld also have to be removed. Read all of 2. Cor 3. It is very clear that the ancient Israelited did not understand all the fullness of the truth for the Christian era. Ellen White says that not even the angels have comprehended the true nature of the great controversy until it is made clear in these last days. Paul says in Eph 3: I became a servant of this gospel by the gift of God’s grace given me through the working of his power8 Although I am less than the least of all the Lord’s people, this grace was given me: to preach to the Gentiles the boundless riches of Christ,9 and to make plain to everyone the administration of this *MYSTERY, which for ages past was KEPT HIDDEN in God, who created all things. 10 His intent was that now, THROUGH THE CHURCH, THE MANIFOLD WISDOM OF GOD SHOULD BE MADE KNOWN to the rulers and authorities in the heavenly realms, 11 according to his eternal purpose that he accomplished in Christ Jesus our Lord. 12 In him and through faith in him we may approach God with freedom and confidence. 13 I ask you, therefore, not to be discouraged because of my sufferings for you, which are your glory." This is not just the unfallen and fallen angels, but all of the unfallen worlds too. If Abraham or Moses had received all the same light that Paul received and more so later generations, and the last generation, then the angels and unfallen worlds who watch with close intensity, would have picked it up already back then. It would not have been a mystery to be revealed during the age of the church. Ellen White is also clear on that new light will ever be revealed from the throne of God to creation. And that there are/were many gems/treasures left to be found in the word of God at the time she wrote that. See my top post on my wall, with some of her quotes on this, in the comment section. She also said back then that the great controversy between Christ and Satan is yet not finished. Written in the 1800s. Samuel Branster - why do you refer to the 10 commandments as immature? Linda Avdiel Aanestad Point is that the law of God must be written as in engraved on our hearts and minds, like a spiritual tattoo (heart circumcision). This is the bloodstained path of the cross of Christ, which is God's sanctification. Hence the law must be received by experience, which includes tests and fiery trials. That is the only way we can truly receive God's law. We can never truly obey the law of God without it. Christ came to magnify the law. In addition to what He taught, He himself also traveled this path so He can better sympathize with us when we go through these trials and tests. And the Holy Spirit, after Christ's experience on earth, when He sacrificed Himself, I believe was then updated and from that point on contained His experience. And this was then added to the Holy triune Godhead? And I believe this is what helps to create a union between the creator and mankind (creation), yet without offering up the authority and greatness of the triune God. Christ is here the link that can connect mankind to God, without mankind receiving the title of the Creator, God. However we must receive God's character, His law and spirit in order to become inheritors of the new earth. This is impossible without the two sides of the cross and the two fold purpose of grace through faith. Linda Avdiel Aanestad
'Ellen White and the Bible on the importance of the spiritual/inner over the physical (outer). Many SDA's have the idea that this is against Ellen White and adventism. But here you see that it is even found in White's writings. Priority does not ( necessarily) mean exclusion of one or the other. https://m.facebook.com/groups/sdascandinaviaworld/permalink/10164903749660534/ Samuel Branster -that's fine, but my issue is your constant referral to the law of God as immature. Where do you get this from scripture? The law of God is glorious both the letter and the spirit. The law is perfect. We are immature not the law. Linda Avdiel Aanestad The law of God on tables of stone or on paper can not be properly obeyed unless they are circumcised in the process of sanctification. We can not obey them by trying to avoid sinning. The law must become a part of our new nature. Hence the word alone without being born anew by the cross and the spirit of God can not save. But I answered more properly the last time. See previous answer.
Samuel Branster
- because you do not use scripture to establish your assertion that the law of God is immature and a law of sin.
Linda Avdiel Aanestad
It is to go back to the immature, after you receive the mature that is sin. Or refuse to advance forward to the more glorious light on the word, on the law, when it is within reach. Hence getting stuck in tradition, in the letter.
Hebrews 6. 1. Cor 3:1-3. 2. Cor 3. Romans 8.
The immature, the letter (the literal), the external, the flesh means the same thing. It describe something that is less glorious than the more glorious. We can not remain in the less glorious forever, because that is in the category of getting stuck in tradition, and not advance forward to the more glorious, the greater, the deeper, the higher.