Better Covenant Church

03/07/2022

The words of the apostle Paul in Romans 7:19 are a comfort to many Christians: “For the good that I want, I do not do, but I practice the very evil that I do not want.” After all, so the thinking goes, “if even Paul struggled with sin and continued to sin, then surely I am doing well even if I still struggle with sin.”

But this thinking is a case of “right doctrine, wrong text.” For, although the New Testament certainly does acknowledge that those who are born of God still sin (in fact, 1 John 1:8 even says we are deceiving ourselves if we say that we have no sin), this is not what Paul is teaching in Romans 7. In Romans 7:14-25, Paul is employing the first person “I” for the sake of illustration. He is speaking as one who is still an unbeliever, and therefore still in bo***ge to sin (7:14) and still a prisoner of the law of sin (7:23). Whereas, in Romans 8:2, Paul is clear that for the Christian, “the law of the Spirit of life in Christ Jesus has set you free from the law of sin and of death.”

Romans 7:14-25 is part of Paul’s teaching concerning the purpose of the Law, which came from God through Moses, and the Christian’s freedom with respect to the Law. Here, he is teaching that the Law is powerless to set a man free from the destructive cycle of sin, which leads to death, and the corruption of death, which provides the ground upon which further sin is committed. In fact, the Law actually arouses the sinful passions of those who are still in the flesh and therefore still in bo***ge to sin (Rom. 7:5). But God, through our Lord Jesus Christ, sets men free from the law of sin and death as soon as they place their faith in Jesus (Rom. 7:24-25; 8:2). And thereby God has done what the Law could not do (Rom. 8:3). He has also made us die to the Law so that we may be joined to Christ (Rom. 7:4).

That’s right! If you are a Christian, then you are no longer in bo***ge to sin. We may still sin, but we are no longer in bo***ge to sin. God has renewed our spirit and has given us His own Holy Spirit by whom we have the power to flee from sin. The Holy Spirit also helps us to understand the Scriptures, which teach us God’s good and pleasing will. It is the Scriptures that train us in righteousness so that we can grow and mature as Christians. And as we mature, and practice righteousness, our senses are trained to discern good and evil (Heb. 5:14), which in turn equips us to practice righteousness, which further trains our senses, and so on and so on. Thanks be to God for taking us out of the destructive cycle of sin and death and putting us on the upward path of grace, life, and righteousness!

02/22/2022

Many people think that the book of James teaches that true faith is necessarily accompanied by works. Indeed this is what many have been taught. However, it is incorrect. What James taught is that faith without works is dead, not that it is not actually faith.

The salvation to which James refers in verse 2:14 is the same salvation to which he refers in 1:21. Specifically, this is a saving of the soul unto life in this life, not salvation unto eternal life. This is evidenced by the fact that James repeatedly acknowledges that his readers are those who are brethren in Christ and who have faith in Christ and therefore have already inherited the free gift of eternal life. So the salvation in view in 1:21 and 2:14 is salvation unto soundness of life and abundance of life in this life, a salvation that can be sought even by those who are already Christians (Paul uses “save” in this sense in 1 Timothy 4:16 concerning Timothy and his hearers).

James urges his readers not to be merely hearers of the word of God but those who do what the word of God instructs them to do. And in order for them to do this, their faith must be put into action. It will not suffice merely to have faith; these believers must walk in faith to do the deeds instructed by the word. They must have faith and works to be doers of the word.

However, faith alone is sufficient for obtaining eternal life. This is true today, it has always been true and it will be true forever. The teaching so popular today that faith is not faith unless it is accompanied by works is no different from the teaching that man receives eternal life by faith plus works. Such teaching is to be rejected and shunned based on Galatians 1:8.

At Better Covenant Church we will always preach the gospel of justification by faith alone.

02/10/2022

Because of the comparison between the Lord Jesus Christ and Melchizedek in the book of Hebrews, many have supposed that Melchizedek was a Christophany, an appearance of the Son of God before He was born as a man. But this is to misunderstand the teaching of Hebrews.

Melchizedek was not the Son of God; he was not the pre-incarnate Christ. But he was indeed a great man (Heb. 7:4). He was the king of Salem and a priest of God Most High (Gen. 14:18; Heb. 7:1). Serving in these political and priestly offices, he would have been known and recognized by many people over a period of time. These people would have seen that he was a man of flesh and bones, not a spirit, “for a spirit does not have flesh and bones” (Luke 24:39). A pre-incarnate appearance of Christ would not have had flesh and bones. Furthermore, whereas Melchizedek was a priest while he lived on the earth, during the life of Abraham, around two thousand years before the birth of Christ, and whereas he has remained a priest ever since (Heb. 7:3), our Lord Jesus was not a priest while He was on the earth (Heb. 8:4). So these two men are not the same person.

What then is Hebrews teaching us about Jesus and Melchizedek? Hebrews is telling us that Jesus and Melchizedek belong to the same priesthood, a priesthood in which Jesus is the sole high or chief priest, but which God the Father has seen fit to name after the man Melchizedek (Ps. 110:4; Heb. 5:10; 6:20; 7:11, 17). The requirement, or basis, for priesthood in the order of Melchizedek is “the power of an indestructible life” (Heb. 7:16). In the case of Jesus Christ, He obtained indestructible life upon being raised from the dead. “Christ, having been raised from the dead, is never to die again; death no longer is master over Him” (Rom. 6:9). In the case of other men, we obtain indestructible life when we become united with Christ by faith (Rom. 6:4, 11). Even though our bodies may pass away, our spirits are already alive to God, and one day God will raise our bodies even as He raised Christ.

This is true today for all who put their faith in Jesus Christ. And men who lived prior to the birth of Christ also obtained eternal, indestructible life upon believing in God’s promise to redeem the families of the earth through the promised seed of Abraham, that is, Jesus Christ. That is how Melchizedek could serve as a priest of God while he was still on the earth. That is, he believed God, dying to sin and obtaining eternal life. And he can remain a priest forever because he lives forever.

02/09/2022

The book of Colossians is about our Lord Jesus Christ, the Son of God and the head of the church, in whom we have forgiveness of sins through faith. Come join us this Sunday as pastor Mike begins preaching through Colossians.

12/05/2021