What Jesus talked about with Moses and Elijah at His Transfiguration.

Believers, remember our Lord Jesus' transfiguration where Moses and Elijah appeared and talked with Him in Matthew 17? In v.4, Peter said to Jesus:

“Lord, it is good for us to be here; if You wish, I will make three tabernacles here, one for You, and one for Moses, and one for Elijah.”

Peter imagined that Moses (the law giver) and Elijah (the law restorer) were on the same level as our Saviour Jesus (Grace) but God set him right in verse 5:

"While he was still speaking, a bright cloud overshadowed them, and behold, a voice out of the cloud said, “This is My beloved Son, with whom I am well-pleased; listen to Him!” 6 When the disciples heard this, they fell face down to the ground and were terrified. 7 And Jesus came to them and touched them and said, “Get up, and do not be afraid.” 8 And lifting up their eyes, they saw no one except Jesus Himself alone."

Believers, our Father in heaven says we should listen to Jesus, not to Moses (representing the law) and Elijah (representing the prophets of the law.) Moses and Elijah are 100% in agreement with this. We know this from what they talked about with Jesus at His transfiguration: Luke 9:30-31:

"And behold, two men talked with Him, who were Moses and Elijah, 31 who appeared in glory and spoke of His decease which He was about to accomplish at Jerusalem."

Isaiah prophesied of Christ's suffering for us in Isaiah 53. See the result of His decease which He accomplished at Jerusalem in Isaiah 53:11-

"After He has suffered, He will see the light of life. And He will be satisfied. My godly servant will make many people godly because of what He will accomplish. He will be punished for their sins."

Through His decease that He accomplished, we who believe in Him are made godly. Romans 4:25 also tells us the reason for and result of His death that He accomplished:

“Jesus was handed over to be crucified for the forgiveness of our sins and was raised back to life to prove that He had made us right with God!”

Believing that in Christ, all of our sins have been forgiven and that we have been made right with God not because we obeyed the law but by Christ's obedience, is what it means to believe in Jesus. The law condemns the best of us. Grace saves the worst of us. Remember what Christ said in John 3:14-16:

"14 And as Moses lifted up the serpent in the wilderness, even so must the Son of Man be lifted up, 15 that whoever believes in Him should not perish but have eternal life. 16 For God so loved the world that He gave His only begotten Son, that whoever believes in Him should not perish but have everlasting life. 17 For God did not send His Son into the world to condemn the world, but that the world through Him might be saved."

Remember the bronze serpent that God told Moses to make when snakes were biting the Israelites in the wilderness? To be made whole, the Israelites that had been bitten by the snakes only had to look at the bronze serpent on the pole - for us, Christ lifted up to free us from the power, pleasure and penalty of sin and grant us everlasting righteousness apart from our law-keeping. Believing this way is seeing Christ lifted up.

Imagine the Israelites trying to suck the venom out of their wounds, rushing off to do burnt offerings/give gifts to God or doing their best to keep the law in order to be healed instead of looking at the snake on the pole. They would have been distracted from looking at the snake on the pole with all of their futile efforts at doing what the law commands in order to be made whole. The effect of the venom within isn't stalled by these futile activities. Death is the result.

But this is exactly what many in the church today are doing - putting Jesus on the same level of glory as Moses and Elijah with that false “Yes we are saved by grace but we still have to obey the Ten Commandments and do good things in order to be godly, made whole, escape God's wrath and make it to heaven” doctrine. This is listening to Moses and Elijah (trying to inherit eternal life by obeying the law) while calling on Jesus; this is to be neither cold nor hot.

1 Corinthians 15:56 says: “The sting of death is sin, and the strength of sin is the law.”

Many are still experiencing the effects of the sting of death (like the snake venom that killed some of the Israelites) in the form of proliferation of acts of sin, depression, sickness, lack, oppression, stress, everything that is as a result of the sin nature inherited from Adam, because they are not looking to Christ alone for salvation, even salvation from sins and addictions. The law that they are trying to keep in order to be godly gives sin power over them.

Romans 6:14 says "For sin shall not have dominion over you, for you are not under law but under grace." The more one listens to Moses and Elijah (tries to keep the law in order to be godly,) the more sins will multiply. Listening to Jesus (Grace) through whose obedience we have everlasting righteousness is the only way to escape the grip of sin. This is the only way to live in triumph over sin and death. See Romans 5:17-

“For the sin of this one man, Adam, caused death to rule over many. But even greater is God’s wonderful grace and His gift of righteousness, for all who receive it will live in triumph over sin and death through this one Man, Jesus Christ.”

Grace cannot make any go on sinning sprees as many believe. Grace saves us from our sins. Matt. 1:21 says of Him:

“She will bear a Son; and you shall call His name Jesus, for He will save His people from their sins.”

But many in the church are still trying to live a sin-free life by human might and trying to obey the Ten Commandments in order to get right with God; something that Christ already accomplished for us at the cross (2 Corinthians 5:21)

Believer, Christ came to fulfill the law for us. He in no way came to diminish or discard the law. Rather, His death in our stead magnifies the law: only the sinless blood of the Lamb of God can fulfill its righteous requirements. Of ourselves, we cannot (Romans 3:20.) Our own efforts at keeping the law are like "a menstrual rag" according to Isaiah 64:6.

Moses (representing the Law) and Elijah (representing the Prophets) attest to believers' righteousness apart from the law- see Romans 3 with emphasis on v.21 in the passage below:

"20 For no one can ever be made right with God by doing what the law commands. The law simply shows us how sinful we are. 21 But now God has shown us a way to be made right with Him without keeping the requirements of the law, as was promised in the writings of Moses and the prophets long ago. 22 We are made right with God by placing our faith in Jesus Christ. And this is true for everyone who believes, no matter who we are.

23 For everyone has sinned; we all fall short of God’s glorious standard. 24 Yet God, in His grace, freely makes us right in His sight. He did this through Christ Jesus when He freed us from the penalty for our sins….26 …and He makes sinners right in His sight when they believe in Jesus.

27 Can we boast, then, that we have done anything to be accepted by God? No, because our acquittal is not based on obeying the law. It is based on faith. 28 So we are made right with God through faith and not by obeying the law.”

With the Lord Jesus Christ as our righteousness, we are 100% righteous in God's sight and not because of our puny efforts at obeying the law. See Romans 5:9-

"And there is still much more to say of His unfailing love for us! For through the blood of Jesus we have heard the powerful declaration, “You are now righteous in My sight.” And because of the sacrifice of Jesus, you will never experience the wrath of God."

Also Acts 13:38-39:

“Brothers, listen! We are here to proclaim that through this man Jesus there is forgiveness for your sins. 39 Everyone who believes in Him is made right in God’s sight—something the law of Moses could never do."

We are saved by grace through faith. The law is not of faith.

Believe Right and you will Live Right.