Believe Right!

The first time my son attempted to eat a banana by himself, he tried to do so with the skin still intact. I showed him how to peel off the inedible skin to get to the food within. What does this have to do with your question? The original language of the Old Testament is mainly Biblical Hebrew; the New Testament, Greek. Today, the Bible has been translated into several languages. The English Language translation alone has several versions: KJV, NKJV, MSG, AMP, NASB, NIV, RSV, YLT, NLT and so on. Some people won't read any other version but KJV. Me, I was a New King James Version (NKJV) girl for a long, long time and wouldn't read any other. I very much prefer “ has " to “ hath. ” So let's take a look at some KJV/NKJV “banana skins.” Take Isaiah 53:4 for example. It's a part of Isaiah's prophecy about the suffering of Christ for our sake. The KJV says: "Surely he hath borne our griefs, and carried our sorrows:.." The NKJV makes it an easier re...

Believer, rest in Christ is not inactivity. Rest in Christ is Holy Spirit-directed activity. This way - being utterly dependent on Christ and putting no confidence in our will-power to keep the Law or produce fruit by human effort aka arm of flesh, we get to bear fruit that is like Isaac and not Ishmael that was the result of Abraham (Faith) and Sarah's (Grace) faithless connivance that produced Ishmael (work/fruit of the Law) through Hagar (Law.). See Hagar and Sarah typified as the two covenants of Law and Grace in Galatians 4- 21 "Tell me, you who want to be under law, do you not listen to the law? 22 For it is written that Abraham had two sons, one by the bondwoman and one by the free woman. 23 But the son by the bondwoman was born according to the flesh, and the son by the free woman through the promise. 24 This is allegorically speaking, for these women are two covenants: one proceeding from Mount Sinai bearing children who are to be slaves; she is Hagar. 25 Now thi...

The Old Testament is Christ hidden. The New Testament is Christ unveiled. We see an explanation of what it means to live according to the flesh in Paul's typology of Hagar and Sarah as the two covenants of Law and Grace in Galatians 4: 21 "Tell me, you who want to be under law, do you not listen to the law? 22 For it is written that Abraham had two sons, one by the bondwoman and one by the free woman. 23 But the son by the bondwoman was born according to the flesh, and the son by the free woman through the promise. 24 This is allegorically speaking, for these women are two covenants: one proceeding from Mount Sinai bearing children who are to be slaves; she is Hagar. 25 Now this Hagar is Mount Sinai in Arabia and corresponds to the present Jerusalem, for she is in slavery with her children. 26 But the Jerusalem above is free; she is our mother. ... 28 And you brethren, like Isaac, are children of promise. 29 But as at that time he who was born according to the flesh...

Being the disciple of a Jewish rabbi in Israel is an  exclusively  Jewish affair. Jesus was addressing Jews who wanted to be His disciples in Luke 14:25-33, even though His sermon is still crucial for all believers (both Jew and Gentile) today in terms of separating Law and Grace. See Luke 14:25-33- 25 “Now great multitudes went with Him. And He turned and said to them, 26 “If anyone comes to Me and does not hate his father and mother, wife and children, brothers and sisters, yes, and his own life also, he cannot be My disciple. 27 And  whoever does not bear his cross and come after Me cannot be My disciple. 28 For which of you, intending to build a tower, does not sit down first and count the cost, whether he has enough to finish it— 29 lest, after he has laid the foundation, and is not able to finish, all who see it begin to mock him, 30 saying, ‘This man began to build and was not able to finish’? 31 Or what king, going to make war against another king, does not s...

Rest in Christ is not inactivity or sitting down and doing nothing because we are under Grace. Rest in Christ is Holy Spirit-directed activity. Faith without works is dead. How? Being in Christ without bearing fruit (works of faith) and living in triumph over sin and death is as impossible as jumping into the sea naked without getting wet. When you are immersed in water, nobody has to tell you to get wet. Being wet is the EVIDENCE of immersion in water. Good works are EVIDENCES of salvation in Christ, not conditions. No one has to tell the one who is believing right to spend time in the Word, give, love and live a godly life. It's who Christ transforms us to be. The Holy Spirit transforms even the vilest offender who believes in Jesus to live right (2 Corinthians 3:18.) Good works always follow after one puts his faith in Christ, just as it was with Abraham and Sarah. Christ says in Him, you will bear much fruit. These works are not works done by the arm of flesh (huma...