Someone once asked CS Lewis if he cared for the Sermon on the Mount.

“As to ‘caring for’ the Sermon on the Mount”, he replied, “if ‘caring for’ here means ‘liking’ or enjoying, I suppose no one ‘cares for’ it. Who can like being knocked flat on his face by a sledgehammer?”

Lewis was right.

The words Jesus spoke that day on the Mount of Beatitudes knock us flat on our faces.

As a friend of mine once said, “if you think the ten commandments are hard to keep, try the Sermon on the Mount for size.”

It is impossible because it demands perfection from the heart.

And that’s the problem. We can’t fix our hearts.

The Sermon on the Mount delivers that message loud and clear.

But here is the good news.

In Christ, you are a new creation. You have a new heart.

Categories: Old Covenant New Covenant Identity/Self Image

What if the Ten Commandments were God’s final word to you?

Would it be good news to your soul?

I know you want to say yes, but deep down you know you can’t live up to those laws. It’s impossible

You’ve tried and discovered that Paul’s word ring true…

"no one will be declared righteous in his sight through obedience to the law” (Romans 3:20).

So where does the law leave you? – judged, condemned, and dead in sin.

That’s the Old Covenant, a ministry of condemnation and death.

But thankfully the law was not God’s final word.

Live out the full story of the Law and it ends at the foot of this cross. Look up and see God’s final word to you – Jesus Christ.

And Jesus came that you might have life and have it to the full.

Categories: Old Covenant New Covenant Righteousness/Justification

Do you know that the writer of Hebrews actually said that there was something wrong with that Old Covenant?

It’s right there in Hebrews 8.

But the problem wasn’t the laws themselves. No, God found fault with the people.

Israel couldn’t live up to those Ten Commandments. As a matter of fact they never got past commandment #1.

Of course God knew all along that Israel didn’t have what it took to fulfill her end of the Mosaic Covenant, and neither do we.

That’s why God promised a New Covenant

The day Jesus died. The old covenant gave way to the New. A covenant totally dependent on the person and work of Jesus Christ

And God has found no fault with Him.

As a believer in Christ, this New Covenant is yours.

Categories: Old Covenant New Covenant

What is the purpose of the law?

It’s an important question, one that Paul addressed numerous times.

Here’s what he said:

• The law silences our mouths and holds us accountable to God
• It makes us conscious of our sin
• It condemns us

This doesn’t sound like a very noble purpose, but it is.

The law is much like an x-ray machine. This medical marvel peers into our bodies and pinpoints the problems.

But that’s all it can do.

The same is true of the law. It pinpoints our spiritual problems, but it can’t impart to us either righteousness of life.

That’s Jesus’ job. And once we have turned to him by faith the law has done its job in our life.

Let me ask, has the law done its work in your life?

Categories: Old Covenant

The first time I read 2 Corinthians 3:7 I thought, Now just a minute Paul, what are you saying about the Ten Commandments?

Here’s what he wrote: “Now if the ministry that brought death, which was engraved in letters on stone.”

Wow! The 10 Commandments is a ministry that brings death and condemnation?!

I had never thought of it that way.

But then I started thinking about all my efforts to live up to the law. All I got back was condemnation. That’s what the law said to me. Those Ten Commandments speak condemnation and death to all of us.

I finally started listening. And when I did I found my heart ready to receive Jesus’ words of love, forgiveness and life.

How about you. Are you listening?

Categories: Old Covenant