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If you have not yet read the previous parts, start first with part 1, click here. The Old covenant:
1. Corinthians 9:
"To the Jews I became like a Jew, to win the Jews. To those under the law I became like one under the law (*though I myself am not under the law*), so as to win those under the law."
(Notice that it here is referring to the old law and covenant: the outer, law of the letter, more ceremonial, circumcision of the flesh/external, the nation Israel and the race of the Jews etc.)
continues...
"21 To those not having the law I became like one not having the law (though I am not free from God’s law but am under Christ’s law), so as to win those not having the law." Comment:
Christ's law and order is not the old law and covenant, but the new, mature covenant. Hebrews 8:10. He is a high priest not of the old covenant of walking by sight, by the external factors = by race, nationality, genes/ancestry, status.
(Galatians 3:26-29), but after the order of Melchizedek who is a priest not by ancestry, but by righteousness (holy character = heart and mind. By FAITH (inner values, heart and mind). Hebrews 7.
2. Corinthians 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 GREATER GLORY OF THE NEW COVENENANT
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? 11And if what was TRANSITORY came with glory, how much greater is the glory of THAT WHICH LAST!
"14 But their minds were made dull, for to this day the same veil remains when the *old covenant* is read. It has not been removed, because *only in Christ is it taken away*. 15 Even to this day when Moses is read, a veil covers their hearts. 16 But whenever anyone turns to the Lord, the veil is taken away. 17 Now the Lord is the Spirit, and where the Spirit of the Lord is, there is freedom. 18 And we all, who with *unveiled faces* contemplate[a] the Lord’s glory, are being transformed into his image with ever-increasing glory, *which comes from the Lord, who is the Spirit*." FROM THE LITERAL, OUTER, APPARANT, CIRCUMCISION OF THE FLESH.
> TO INNER, DEEPER, IN SPIRIT, OF FAITH, THE UNSEEN WHICH IS EVERLASTING. Romans 2:28-29. From outer (old, immature law and covenant) to inner circumcision on the heart and mind (new, mature law and covenant) Law of Christ, by grace (spirit) through faith).
Paul draws a parallel between the old law and covenant (outer circumcision, walking by the letter (by sight) the apparent, the physical.) The new covenant is to walk by faith = the law of Christ, by grace (spirit) through faith. Galatians 6:1-18
"1 See what large letters I use as I write to you with my own hand!
12 Those who want to impress people by means of the flesh are trying to compel you to be circumcised. The only reason they do this is to avoid being persecuted for the cross of Christ. 13 Not even those who are circumcised keep the law, yet they want you to be circumcised that they may boast about your circumcision in the flesh. 14 May I never boast except in the cross of our Lord Jesus Christ, through which[a] the world has been crucified to me, and I to the world. 15 Neither circumcision nor uncircumcision means anything; what counts is the new creation. 16 Peace and mercy to all who follow this rule—to[b] the Israel of God.
17 From now on, let no one cause me trouble, for I bear on my body the marks of Jesus. 18 The grace of our Lord Jesus Christ be with your spirit, brothers and sisters. Amen."
Both of these texts speak of the old versus the new law and covenant. Not in the outer, but by sanctification (the way of the cross). By the spirit (grace) through faith (the inner values: the law of the heart and mind.
Galatians 5:16-18 “So I say, walk by the Spirit, and you will not gratify the desires of the flesh. 17 For the flesh desires what is contrary to the Spirit, and the Spirit what is contrary to the flesh. They are in conflict with each other, so that you are not to do whatever[c] you want. 18 But if you are led by the Spirit, you are not under the law.” THE LAW OF THE FLESH, OF THE LETTER; (THE PHYSICAL; APPARENT) = THE ORDER IN ACCORDANCE TO THE OLD COVENANT THE LAW OF THE SPIRIT BY FAITH = LAW AND FAITH OF CHRIST = THE ORDER IN ACCORDANCE TO THE NEW COVENANT. To walk after the flesh = to walk by sight (in the outer, the literal, physical, the apparent) "for we walk by faith, not by sight." 2. Cor 5:7 Romans 2: 28-29. "28 A person is not a Jew who is one only outwardly, nor is circumcision merely outward and physical.29 No, a person is a Jew who is one inwardly; and circumcision is circumcision of the heart, by the Spirit, not by the written code. Such a person’s praise is not from other people, but from God." From outer (immature law = old covenant) to inner circumcision of heart and mind (mature law and covenant. Law of Christ, by grace (spirit) through faith.
Hebrews 8:10: "For this is the covenant that I will make with the house of Israel after those days, declares the Lord: I will put my laws into their minds, and write them on their hearts, and I will be their God, and they shall be my people."
The law by grace (undeserved power by the holy spirit = walking by the spirit), through faith = the law of Christ = The law of the new covenant = Walking by faith, not by sight/the apparent. Christ also said: “Stop judging by mere appearances, but instead judge correctly." John 7:24 In 1 Corinthians 3: 1-3 we read:
“Yet I could not tell you, brethren, as of men living by the Spirit. I had to speak as to humans as they are by nature, as to immature Christians. I gave you milk, not solid food, for you could not bear it. Yes, you can not yet, because it is still your own nature that rules you. When there is envy and strife among you, are you not people of the same nature as everyone else and live like them? »
Immature Christians> Same or similar nature as those of the world. They (still) walk by sight,/by the apparent and literal, the external, the formal. Walk after the flesh. According to the law and spirit of the natural, the flesh, the physical, the apparent, worldly. Mature Christians = People who live by the Spirit (This is again the law of Christ of the new covenant: the law of the spirit by faith = sanctification away from the spirit of the flesh and has undergone the new birth from immature Christian to maturity, with a fuller measure of the spirit and law of God/Christ, yet has not reached victory. For Paul says that even he had not yet reached victory when he wrote his letters. They do not wander after just the literal, but more so the spiritual, the inner, the deeper. 1. Corinthians 2:10. "For the Spirit searches all things, yes, the deep thingsof God." So the immature Christian who walk according to the old covenant and law, are still wordly minded. They are still attached to the law and spirit of the world. Bound to the old, and now fallen law and covenant that was done away with. As it was of a temporary, transitionary nature. Those who still walk by this immature order, which we all do for at least a period, as we are to go from darkness to light, in order to know what is darkness and light. Truth and falsehood. This is a natural part of the sanctification process, from immaturity to maturity (where we receive the new birth: the Saul to Paul experience), from physical (Israel) and physical Jew, to the spiritual Jew. Not in the letter, in the flesh, in the outer, in the apparent, but by the spirit and law of God and Christ, through faith.
Still bound to the material, rather than receiving a fuller measure of the immaterial, the spirit, and become more spiritually minded, rather than worldly, literal and fleshly minded. So if we get stuck in the old, the immature law, and do not receive the new birth to maturity, we will get stuck to this world and the spirit of it. The lord of the fallen, the fallen angel, which is Satan himself. Does this mean we should not have any focus on the material and physical? No, but we should make that which is of the world, of creation of a secondary priority. Our main focus and priority should be to flee to the mountain, which is Christ, the high priest of the new covenant, of the heavenly, not earthly sanctuary, the innermost chamber, who is now stationed in the holy of holies. Who is also a high priest of the innermost nature, the heart and mind, the deeper things of God. Not after the order of Aaron or the levitical priesthood (representing the earthly temple), but after the order of Melchizedek (the heavenly). Hebrews 7:11-16 "If perfection could have been attained through the Levitical priesthood—and indeed the law given to the people established that priesthood—why was there still need for another priest to come, one in the order of Melchizedek, not in the order of Aaron? For when the priesthood is changed, the law must be changed also. He of whom these things are said belonged to a different tribe, and no one from that tribe has ever served at the altar. For it is clear that our Lord descended from Judah, and in regard to that tribe Moses said nothing about priests. And what we have said is even more clear if another priest like Melchizedek appears, one who has become a priest not on the basis of a regulation as to his ancestry but on the basis of the power of an indestructible life." This means by sanctification, the way of the cross and crucifying the spirit and law of the flesh. 2. Corinthians 4:16-18 "Therefore we do not lose heart. Though outwardly we are wasting away, yet inwardly we are being renewed day by day. For our light and momentary troubles are achieving for us an eternal glory that far outweighs them all. 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."
Entire series: "The Old vs. New Law, Covenant and Order"