Theological question shared on FB: “Who knows what it means to be led by the Holy Spirit and not under Law?”

Christian response,

Concerning God’s promises in the New Covenant established in Messiah’s blood (Matthew 26:28),

And the Holy Spirit also testifies to us; for after saying, 16 “This is the covenant that I will make with them After those days, says the Lord:I will put My laws upon their heart, And on their mind I will write them,”He then says, 17 “And their sins and their lawless deeds I will remember no more.” 18 Now where there is forgiveness of these things, there is no longer any offering for sin.

Jesus said concerning the indwelling Holy Spirit’s work in the New Covenant,

25 All this I have spoken to you while I am still with you. 26 But the Advocate, the Holy Spirit, whom the Father will send in My name, will teach you all things and will remind you of everything I have told you. 27 Peace I leave with you; My peace I give to you. I do not give to you as the world gives. Do not let your hearts be troubled; do not be afraid.… John 14:25-27

Discussion,

Being led by the Spirit means that those who are “born again” by the Holy Spirit by grace through faith in Jesus Christ have subsequently received the indwelling Holy Spirit as their Seal and Guarantor of relationship with God the Father forever through faith in Jesus as Lord and Mediator for sin (Ephesians 1:13-14) meaning that we are then “justified” by faith in Jesus before God the Father (Romans 5:1).

Subsequent to our confession of faith in Jesus as Lord, God the Father gives the faithful the indwelling Holy Spirit Who then becomes our Tutor, our Teacher, our Instructor and Guide in righteousness through obedience (1 John 2:27; John 14:16) not to the letters carved in stone or etched upon parchment but the Law having been written in our heart and placed in our mind through the Spirit (Ezekiel 36:26; Hebrews 10:16); this same Law, to a lesser degree, has been relevant since the creation of the angels and the creation of our Earthly father, Adam.

Necessity for the Law of Conscience (Romans 2:15),

The Law of Conscience infused within the angels and human kind by our Creator is essential for at least two-reasons,

1. The sustainability of human kind as a bulwark against unrestrained narcissism-hedonism culminating in extinction of the species.
2. So that Judgment in Eternity can manifest with equity and due process; every man and woman having died in the body rejecting Jesus as Lord will be without excuse in the Day of Judgment of the Condemned (John 8:24; Revelation 20:11-15).

The Law of the Spirit (Conscience) v. The Law of Moses,

It is the Law of Conscience (Romans 2:15), the Natural-objective-Moral Law written in our heart and infused in our mind at conception by our Creator that the Holy Spirit takes and magnifies in the believer and carefully guides them to follow God’s Law which now includes mens rea i.e. the mind of mankind e.g. the thoughts of mankind are now subject to culpability (Matthew 5:27-28) which supersedes the Law of Moses and the Commandments, these having faded away and given way to the Law of the Spirit in the New Covenant of Grace (2 Corinthians 3:4-11; Romans 7:6).

The Law of Moses, the Commandments, were given specifically to the Hebrew Tribes and converts to Judaism and they were NOT given to the Gentiles or the New Testament Church (Acts 15). In the New Covenant of Grace, a Christian is NOT under Law but under Grace in Jesus Christ and through the Spirit (Romans 6:14). The Law of Moses/The Commandments cannot save or redeem (Galatians 2:16) because lasting regenerative atonement for sin is not available in the Covenant of Law (Hebrews 10:4); though men and women found righteousness (a right standing) with God the Father in the Covenant of Law through their faith, the Law of Moses/the Commandments only condemn as the Law of Moses only defines sin (Romans 3:20; Romans 8:1-4).

Messiah’s Commands established in the New Covenant,

Following is a short list of Messiah’s “Commands” that the Spirit is careful to teach us in our walk of sanctification in Him (2 Timothy 2:15)…

Repent (Matthew 4:17)

Follow Him (Matthew 4:19)

Let your light shine (Matthew 5:16)

Be reconciled (Matthew 5:23–24)

Don’t Lust (Matthew 5:27–30)

Make no oaths (Matthew 5:34, 37)

Don’t resist evil with evil (Matthew 5:39-42)

Love and pray for your enemies (Matthew 5:44–46)

Be perfect (in love) (Matthew 5:48)

Seek God’s Kingdom first (Matthew 6:33)

Don’t Judge (Matthew 7:1)

Don’t give what is holy to dogs (Matthew 7:6)

Treat people as you want to be treated (Matthew 7:12)

Enter (heaven) through the narrow gate (Matthew 7:13-14) (Matthew 7:15–16)

Follow Jesus (Matt. 8:22)

Ask God to send out workers (Matthew 9:37–38)

Don’t fear those who can kill the body (Matthew 10:28)

Come to Jesus for rest (Matthew 11:28)

Confront brothers in private first (Matthew 18:15–17)

Forgive Seven times Seventy (Matthew 18:21–22)

Render to Caesar what is Caesar’s (Matthew 22:21)

Love God (Matthew 22:39)

Partake of Communion (Matthew 26:26–27)

Keep guard against sin (Matthew 26:41)

Make Disciples (Matthew 28:19-20)

Preach the Gospel (Mark 16:15)

Be on guard against greed (Luke 12:15)

Invite the poor (Luke 14:12–14)

Love one another (John 13:34) (John 15:12) (John 15:17).

The Atheist’s Logic> “Free will implies a free decision. If god already knows what everyone’s’ [everyone’s] will and decisions will be then your thoughts and actions (volition and decision) HAVE ALREADY BEEN MADE. What it would mean is that god purposely put you in a position so that you will be subject to specific influences that mould [mold] your personality. Since your free will is an expression of your personality and god set you up for your personality to develop along a certain line then god is very much responsible for the types of decisions you make in life- which means that the so called burden of sin is not only your fault. The following bible verse will help you to understand that god is responsible for the sins of people.”

Isaiah 45:7 King James Version

7 I form the light, and create darkness: I make peace, and create evil: I the Lord do all these things.

Christian response,

Where you err is thinking that foreknowledge mandates a conclusion but this is a logical fallacy. I know my Wife of 35-years and my two-children with intimacy and I know what decisions they will make in almost every life scenario but my foreknowledge does NOT negate their free will to choose. Simply because God knows does not suggest He mandated or orchestrated an outcome. You are free to choose your own destiny and God, in His omnipotence, is perfectly capable of working through and around your personal choices in life to bring to fruition His perfect and immutable plan for Time and Eternity. What you do or say or think does NOT negate God’s ability to achieve His immutable will yet He allows you to choose your own destiny so that love and relationship with Him can manifest in purity with authenticity.

Your free will choices are also mandated and of necessity so that your judgment in Eternity before God can manifest with equity and due process i.e. you will be without excuse. If you are nothing more than an impotent robot and forced to comply via predestination, you can never truly love and relationship with purity and authenticity is virtually impossible. God does NOT desire love from robots nor does He find meaning and glorification in a predestine relationship of forced compliance.

BTW: Your quotation for the KJV relevant to Isaiah 45:7 is incorrect. The Hebrew “ra” translated by the KJV translator’s is, in context, correctly translated as “calamity” not “evil.” God is NOT the Author of moral evil, Satan is (John 8:44).

See Isaiah 45:7 in Hebrew: https://biblehub.com/text/isaiah/45-7.htm

I form the light and create darkness, I make peace and create calamity; I, the Lord, do all these things.’ Isaiah 45:7 (NKJV)

Absence of Atonement in the Hebrew Scriptures

A discussion relevant to the absence of true regenerative atonement for sin in the Hebrew Scriptures i.e. The Adamic Covenant; The Noahic Covenant; The Covenant of Law encompassing the Sinai Commandments – the Law of Moses – the Prophets – the Psalms and the repercussions of same for those who reject Jesus Christ-Yeshua as Lord and Mediator for their sin…

Discussion,

From the creation of Adam forward, God the Father has permitted mankind to attain a state of righteousness (a right standing) with Him by faith, alone (Hebrews 11); unfortunately, righteousness by faith in the Hebrew Scriptures did NOT provide atonement for sin; therefore, every Old Testament saint, upon death of the body in Time, their disembodied spirit was relegated to the region Messiah describes in Luke 16 as Sheol/Hades-Paradise or Abraham’s Bosom (Luke 16:19-31). King David also spoke of this region, Sheol, that harbored disembodied spirits of God’s faithful from Adam to Messiah’s atoning death and David exclaimed that his soul at death of the body would not be abandoned in Sheol and that Messiah, the Holy One, would not suffer decay.

“For You will not abandon my soul to Sheol; Nor will You allow Your Holy One to undergo decay.” Psalm 16:10 (NASB)

Today, many observant Jews, Israelite’s, Hebrew Roots advocates, Black Hebrew Israelite cultists, will insist that atonement was achieved for the sins of the people on the Day of Atonement (Leviticus 4:20–35) but an exegesis relevant to Leviticus (Chapter 4) concerning the root of the Hebrew word translated “atonement” in the Old Testament (v.35) is kaphar (wə-ḵip-per) which suggests a “covering” (to pacify) NOT complete removal. The Hebrew “kaphar” is also relevant in God’s command to Noah as God instructed Noah to cover the ark with pitch.

“Make yourself an ark of gopherwood; make rooms in the ark, and cover it (wə-ḵā-p̄ar-tā) inside and outside with pitch.” (Genesis 6:14)

Hebrew: Leviticus 4:35, see: https://biblehub.com/text/leviticus/4-35.htm

Hebrew: Genesis 6:14, see: https://biblehub.com/text/genesis/6-14.htm

“atonement” = kaphar: to appease

Original Word: כָּפַר

Part of Speech: Verb Transliteration: kaphar

Phonetic Spelling: (kaw-far’) Definition: to cover over, pacify, make propitiation

Concerning the Day of Atonement,

The Day of Atonement in the Covenant of Law, the Ark, the Mercy Seat, the Scapegoat, the ceremonial cleansing, all pointed to the coming Messiah, the Lamb of God (John 1:29) who would give Himself as a true and lasting atonement for sin (Hebrews 10; Matthew 10:28) as the blood of animals could NEVER take away sin or sufficiently appease God’s wrath concerning mankind’s sin (Hebrews 10:4); therefore, those Old Testament saints who died during the Adamic-Noahic-Mosaic periods could not enter into the Kingdom of God as their sin had not been sufficiently atoned for but only “covered” temporarily awaiting Messiah’s pure, complete and lasting blood atonement for the sins of the whole World (1 John 22; John 3:16-17).

Sin and God’s Kingdom,

It is eternally important to note that the Holy Spirit has clearly articulated that NOTHING impure will enter the Kingdom of God; therefore, unrepentant sin, sin not having been atoned for by Messiah’s sinless blood, will not be permitted to enter God’s presence subsequent to the death of the body in Time (Revelation 21:27); therefore, every Old Testament saint, upon death of the body in Time, their disembodied spirit was relegated to the region of Sheol-Paradise/Abraham’s Bosom and these saints patiently waited there until Messiah entered the Realm of Time and provided acceptable atonement for sin; once Messiah had shed His blood as atonement for sin and while His body laid in the tomb, Jesus Christ, in His Spirit, entered Sheol-Hades/Paradise and proclaimed freedom to the captives held there and escorted them into the Kingdom of God (John 3:16; Hebrews 10; Mathew 26:28; 1 Peter 3:18-20; Ephesians 4:8-9; Luke 16).

Today, in the Age of Grace established by the shed blood of Messiah (Matthew 26:28), everyone who dies in the body having repented of sin and sincerely believed in their heart, confessed with their mouth that Jesus Christ is their God who died to pay their sin debt, that person so believing and confessing Jesus as Lord is instantaneously translated into the presence of the Lord at their last exhalation in the Realm of Time (2 Corinthians 5:8; Romans 10:9-10).

Atonement in the Law of Moses?

There is no atonement for sin for the one seeking obedience to the Commandments or the 613-Levitical Laws as per Leviticus and reiterated in Deuteronomy. Though one “could” find righteousness (a right standing) with God the Father by pursuing the Law through faith in God’s holiness and righteousness as demonstrated by said Law, atonement remains absent; again, the blood of animals sprinkled upon an altar, including the Mercy Seat, could never take away the sin of the people but this ritual was a temporary covering offered annually by the High Priest as these animal sacrifices foreshadowed the coming Messiah as the ONLY acceptable Lamb of God who would take away the sins of the World (John 1:29).

The Holy Spirit testifies in this manner concerning the Law and atonement via the Epistle to the Hebrews,

It is written,

For the Law, since it has only a shadow of the good things to come and not the very form of things, can never, by the same sacrifices which they offer continually year by year, make perfect those who draw near. 2 Otherwise, would they not have ceased to be offered, because the worshipers, having once been cleansed, would no longer have had consciousness of sins? 3 But in those sacrifices there is a reminder of sins year by year. 4 For it is impossible for the blood of bulls and goats to take away sins. 5 Therefore, when He comes into the world, He says,“Sacrifice and offering You have not desired, But a body You have prepared for Me; 6 In whole burnt offerings and sacrifices for sin You have taken no pleasure. 7 “Then I said, ‘Behold, I have come(In the scroll of the book it is written of Me) To do Your will, O God.’”8 After saying above, “Sacrifices and offerings and whole burnt offerings and sacrifices for sin You have not desired, nor have You taken pleasure in them” (which are offered according to the Law), 9 then He said, “Behold, I have come to do Your will.” He takes away the first in order to establish the second. 10 By this will we have been sanctified through the offering of the body of Jesus Christ once for all.11 Every priest stands daily ministering and offering time after time the same sacrifices, which can never take away sins; 12 but He, having offered one sacrifice for sins for all time, sat down at the right hand of God, 13 waiting from that time onward until His enemies be made a footstool for His feet. 14 For by one offering He has perfected for all time those who are sanctified. 15 And the Holy Spirit also testifies to us; for after saying, 16 “This is the covenant that I will make with them After those days, says the Lord: I will put My laws upon their heart, And on their mind I will write them,”He then says,17 “And their sins and their lawless deeds I will remember no more.”18 Now where there is forgiveness of these things, there is no longer any offering for sin.19 Therefore, brethren, since we have confidence to enter the holy place by the blood of Jesus, 20 by a new and living way which He inaugurated for us through the veil, that is, His flesh, 21 and since we have a great priest over the house of God, 22 let us draw near with a sincere heart in full assurance of faith, having our hearts sprinkled clean from an evil conscience and our bodies washed with pure water. 23 Let us hold fast the confession of our hope without wavering, for He who promised is faithful; 24 and let us consider how to stimulate one another to love and good deeds, 25 not forsaking our own assembling together, as is the habit of some, but encouraging one another; and all the more as you see the day drawing near. Hebrews 10:1-25 (NASB)

Conclusion,

Those who seek righteousness and atonement for sin through attempted obedience to the Law of Moses and the Commandments given at Sinai will NOT enter the Kingdom of God because there is no atonement available in seeking same through obedience to a Law that only condemns as it defines sin void a provision for attaining forgiveness through atonement (Romans 3:20); therefore, those who seek life in Eternity through the Law and reject Jesus as Lord for the atonement of sin, these will die in their sin (John 8:24) as that sin will follow them in death and at the point of death, the Age of Grace offering imputed atonement/righteousness by faith in Jesus Christ as Lord will end and only Judgment in condemnation will be forthcoming ultimately culminating in the “second death” in Hell (Hebrews 9:27; Revelation 20:11-15). Without Jesus Christ as our Lord for the atonement of sin paving the way to life in the Kingdom, mankind dies in sin and dies in Hell in futility (Matthew 16:26; John 14:6).