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Volume 8 ... #1
The Church of the New Covenant
Heb. 10:16-17 ... God says ...
This is the covenant that I will make with them after those days, saith the Lord, I will put MY laws into their hearts, and in their minds will I write them; And their sins and iniquities will I remember no more.
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God reveals HIMSELF to us and we are changed instantly ... born again ... given the Spirit of God to live in us.
We once pursued our own thoughts, our own ideas, our own desires for ourselves.
But now we are changed! The person we once were is now dead ... something new is now there and it is of God ...
This happened to Paul on the road to Damascus. God chose Paul and in God's time God revealed HIMSELF to Paul. The circumstances differ for us but the principle is exactly the same.
In HIS time ... by HIS will ... God reveals HIMSELF to HIS people.
Being born again ... by the will of God by the Spirit of God ... not by our own works.
Here is Paul's story:
Acts 9 ... 1 And Saul, yet breathing out threatenings and slaughter against the disciples of the Lord, went unto the high priest, 2 And desired of him letters to Damascus to the synagogues, that if he found any of this way, whether they were men or women, he might bring them bound unto Jerusalem. 3 And as he journeyed, he came near Damascus: and suddenly there shined round about him a light from heaven:
4 And he fell to the earth, and heard A VOICE saying unto him, Saul, Saul, why persecutest thou ME?
5 And he said, WHO art THOU, Lord?
And the Lord said, I am Jesus WHOM thou persecutest: it is hard for thee to kick against the pricks.
6 And he trembling and astonished said, Lord, what wilt THOU have me to do?
And the Lord said unto him, Arise, and go into the city, and it shall be told thee what thou must do.
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Suddenly Paul was changed by God revealing HIMSELF. Paul didn't work to change. Paul was changed, never again to be the same.
It was all by the will of God.
Concerning Paul, God said:
Acts 9 ... he is a chosen vessel unto ME, to bear MY NAME before the Gentiles, and kings, and the children of Israel: 16 For I will shew him how great things he must suffer for MY name's sake.
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And when this happens, we are divided from this world ... We are no longer that person we once were ... The world continues. We are different. All by the will of God and not by our own will nor effort.
Being born again is a great mystery. But we know when we are made different by God. We know we didn't do this of our own works nor our own desires. It is simply of God, by HIS will.
And we are very grateful.
Where we once were led by our own thinking, by our own reasoning, by our own desires, now we are led by the Spirit of God who dwells in us, though we may not know this at first.
Now we do not want to do wrong things. Where we once sought our own desires, now we really do not want to do that which is wrong, for God has changed us, putting HIS laws into our hearts and into our minds. Heb. 8 & Heb. 10
God does this.
Heb. 8 ... God says ...
For this is the covenant that I will make with the house of Israel after those days, saith the Lord; I will put MY laws into their mind, and write them in their hearts: and I will be to them a God, and they shall be to ME a people:11 And they shall not teach every man his neighbour, and every man his brother, saying, Know the Lord:for all shall know ME, from the least to the greatest. 12 For I will be merciful to their unrighteousness, and their sins and their iniquities will I remember no more.
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Being changed by God ... being given a heart and a mind after God ... we no longer want to do wrong.
And if we do wrong, God is greater than us and greater than the wrong. The wrong will no longer rule over us. Now God rules over us.
It is a great mystery.
It is the New Testament Church ... designed by God, set up by God ... We are a part of it when we belong to God ... when HE has revealed HIMSELF to us, giving us HIS Spirit ...
It happened to Peter ... It happened to Paul ... It happened to us!
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