Good morning Randy,
Why do you believe Christians struggle under the New Covenant? It was only under the Old Covenant that they struggled because of their sin nature?
We are struggling with the semantics of the word "struggle." When I use the word, I'm referring to the Christian call to regularly overcome sin. Jacob wrestled with the angel and prevailed. The fact Jacob did not feel so "victorious" is because he knew the angel was superior, and exposed his weakness by putting his hip out of joint.
This amplifies the Christian's condition. He or she can overcome sin, and yet retains the sin nature. We prevail, and yet sense our constant need for God's grace. We "struggle" against sin--not as though we are losers. Rather, we "struggle" in order to prevail, or to overcome, even though in our struggle we retain the knowledge of our own imperfections and weaknesses.
Oh, good morning to you too!
It's beginning to be a pleasant sunny day here in the Pacific NW!
They went to Abraham's bosom when they died, but with Christ's resurrection, they rose too and were seen walking around Jerusalem. They wouldn't have died again; they are probably in heaven and Abraham's bosom is now empty.
I think the people seen walking around Jerusalem after the resurrection of Jesus had only just died. They may have arisen much as Lazarus did, before their bodies had completely dissolved into dust. They did indeed have to die again, just as Lazarus did.
To struggle by their own efforts??? That is not the gospel. We can do nothing without Christ inside us, and in Him there is NO struggle. His yoke is easy, and His burden is light. The laws are written on our new nature to do naturally, instinctively. So, what struggle? Unfortunately, there are many Christians in the church who have yet to fully surrender to Christ and be filled with His Spirit. It is not automatic by accepting Jesus as Savior, but not Lord.
We do "overcome." That is biblical. That is the "struggle." I'm not referring to a struggle in which we fail. Paul compared the Christian life to a spiritual warfare.
The burden that Jesus said was "light" has to do with his work in atoning for our sins. It's impossible to atone for our own sin. Therefore, a struggle to accomplish that is hard and painful, and incapable of success.
You still believe it is us choosing to live in His righteousness to be born again. That is works. NO! It is when we acknowledge our inability to live in God's righteousness by our own efforts, that we cry out to Jesus and tell Him of our failure, but desire to be cleansed, that Jesus steps up and gives us His Holy Spirit to empower us to easily and naturally do righteousness by the laws suddenly written on our hearts.
Again, we cannot do the work of atoning for our own sins--something only Christ could accomplish. But we can do the work of choosing Christ to be our redeemer. And we can choose to do his works, simply by accepting his word in our hearts.
This is not salvation by works, but rather, the works of salvation, meaning Christ atones and we do works through obedience to him. We accept him and choose to live by his word and enablement.
Above...
You are still giving your own efforts too much credit. Our new nature is so much more powerful than the old nature that died on the cross, it is easy to not resurrect the old nature by your free will, especially after experiencing the joy and authorities we enjoy and the freedom from falling into temptation.
I believe you're conflating the ease of accepting atonement for our sins with the difficulty of fighting against our sin nature. It is indeed easy to embrace Christ as our Savior. But it is not always easy to resist temptations to sin. Jesus bled in the garden of Gethsemane in his own resistance to sin. We sometimes have to resist sin to the point of martyrdom or suffering persecution. Choosing to live the Christian way is not always popular. Indeed, the world is hostile to it. It is indeed a "struggle" for us.
Yes, Jeremiah spoke of the New Covenant that would come.
Those who are actually Spirit-filled and Spirit-driven are much more successful than those in the OT who had to struggle. That is why their sins were previously overlooked. Romans 3:25.
The Holy Spirit directs us to follow God's word in a very specific way, to accomplish Christ's mission for the Church. But *all men* can do good, because God's word has gone out throughout the earth, convicting men of sin, and trying to encourage them to live righteous lives. All men, therefore, can obey God and do good. But it takes the Holy Spirit to carry out the mission of Christ once one has determined to commit their whole life to God, accepting Christ as the standard of obedience. Christ alone represents a standard that rejects *all sin.*
That was Adam BEFORE he willfully sinned. But no one in the OT have what we have. Otherwise, there would be no reason for Christ to send the Holy Spirit to all of us, not just the few.
Holy Spirit anointing in the OT did not make men sinless and perfect. All men could live in the likeness of God if they simply responded to God's word in their conscience. Lacking the knowledge of God they most often did not recognize God's word in their conscience in many ways and at many times.
But God's word speaks to the conscience of a man in a unique way when the man or woman lives in covenant relationship with God. Then he or she is given a specific task to do by God's word. That is unique to them. It has nothing to do with perfection, nor is it exclusive to the NT.
The benefit of the Holy Spirit anointing is not just to enable men and women to obey God, but more, to carry out specific missions for God after they have come into covenant relationship with God. It enables them to carry God's word to others in the form of knowledge about Him. And this is what most people lack--the knowledge of God. God speaks to their conscience, but their minds have been clouded by deceptions and lies. God's mission is to bring clarity to those who would otherwise repent and choose to serve Him.
The taking away has to do with the sin NATURE. This is the fundamental flaw in the humanistic doctrines that developed after the apostles died.
I disagree. The Sin Nature is not taken away from Christians until they die. That is why God placed a death sentence upon all of mankind when Adam and Eve sinned. We are redeemed by grace today, but the purpose is to lead us to resurrection into new immortal bodies that are free of sin.
For the present, however, we remain saddled with a Sin Nature. Christian grace does not remove our Sin Nature--only the curse of sin, which is exclusion from the Kingdom of heaven.
Again, you own efforts. Works. That is OT, not New.
Good works are in both OT and NT. Only after the atonement of Christ do good works achieve eternal life, and that by the grace of God. Our works "follow us."
Rev 14.13 Then I heard a voice from heaven say, “Write this: Blessed are the dead who die in the Lord from now on.” “Yes,” says the Spirit, “they will rest from their labor, for their deeds will follow them.”
