For years, I did not feel blessed but burdened when I thought about giving, and I was a pastor! Why? Because I viewed it through the lens of law instead
Christians Have Something Better Than The 10 Commandments
One of the questions we often hear is, “Don’t I need to obey the 10 Commandments?” If you talk to most Christians, they are 100% convinced we must follow the
Are You Hearing A Distorted Gospel Each Week?
Is the gospel you are hearing each week a distorted Gospel? The people who are ministered to by our counseling, coaching, events and resources come to eventually realize that this
Tired of Trying to Measure Up?
Do you ever feel like you don’t measure up? Maybe it’s with family. Maybe it’s with friends. Or maybe it’s with the one relationship you care about the most, God.
Breaking The Pattern of Living Under Self-Imposed Religious Rules
Ice cream comes in many flavors, but regardless of the taste, it’s still ice cream. In the same way, legalistic religious rules based on denomination or personal preferences have many
Christians Have Something Better Than The 10 Commandments
I have some great news for you. The New Covenant says you died on the cross with Christ to all religious rule-keeping including the law. God removed from you all
The New Testament Begins in Acts not Matthew
If you are like I used to be, you may be greatly confused when you read the Gospels. They seem to contradict other New Testament Scripture. Most of our confusion is because we think these teachings are part of the New Covenant (Testament). However most of them are not. The New Testament starts in Acts, not Matthew. How do we know that?
When we are reading, we need to ask ourselves a question. “Has Jesus died yet when this was written?” If not, it’s Old Covenant, in most cases. If He has died, it’s New Covenant writing.
When Jesus came to the earth, He came directly to the Jews who were still under the Old Covenant relationship with God. Want to get the gist of the Old Covenant? Deuteronomy 28 spells it out very clearly. If Israel obeyed God’s laws, there were12 verses of blessings He would give them. (See 1-14) If Israel disobeyed God’s laws, there were 52 verses of curses He would give them. (See 15-68)
Do you want to live in that kind of relationship with God? I don’t! Unfortunately, many Christians believe that is still how God treats them though we are under the New Covenant of grace. So, Christianity is a burden instead of a blessing.
A lot of what Jesus taught was Old Covenant teaching to the Jews of His day. And when He taught them, He was raising the bar of how perfect they needed to be accepted and blessed by God. Here are some examples:
Unless you are more righteous than the strictest religious leaders in Jesus’s day, the Scribes and the Pharisees, you will not go to heaven. Matthew 5:20
Calling someone an idiot or crazy because you are angry with them will send you to hell. Matthew 5:22.
Lust is adultery. Matthew 5: 27-28
If you don’t forgive people who offend you, God will not forgive you. Matthew 6:15
If you don’t forgive people who offend you, God will send you to hell. Matthew 18:21-25
You must live a perfect life exactly the way God does. Matthew 5:48
These teachings were aimed at showing the Jews of His day and anyone who reads them now that it is impossible to get God to accept you unconditionally by obeying the law. He wanted to prepare them for how much they needed Him to be their Savior.
He was about to bring into existence the New Covenant and was preparing them and everyone else for it. But the New Covenant did not begin until after Jesus’ death, burial, resurrection and ascension. See Hebrew 9:15.
Let’s compare what the New Covenant says about God and you as a Christ follower.
God has already forgiven you whether you forgive or not. Colossians 2:13
God made you perfect in your identity in Christ. Hebrews 10:14
God made you a saint (holy person) and not a lustful person in Christ. 1 Corinthians 1:2
God made you a patient person because you are complete in Christ. Colossians 2:10
The Old Covenant was conditional based on man’s imperfect works. The New Covenant is conditional based on faith in Jesus’ perfect work.
Read the New Testament with clarity today as you understand the New Testament starts in Acts, not Matthew.
Believe it! It’s the Gospel.
Live Free In Christ,
Mark Maulding, President and Founder
www.GraceLifeInternational.com All Content Copyright © 2015 Mark Maulding but feel free to pass it on!
The New Testament Begins in Acts not Matthew
If you are like I used to be, you may be greatly confused when you read the Gospels. They seem to contradict other New Testament Scripture. Most of our confusion is because we think these teachings are part of the New Covenant (Testament). However most of them are not. The New Testament starts in Acts, not Matthew. How do we know that?
When we are reading, we need to ask ourselves a question. “Has Jesus died yet when this was written?” If not, it’s Old Covenant, in most cases. If He has died, it’s New Covenant writing.
When Jesus came to the earth, He came directly to the Jews who were still under the Old Covenant relationship with God. Want to get the gist of the Old Covenant? Deuteronomy 28 spells it out very clearly. If Israel obeyed God’s laws, there were12 verses of blessings He would give them. (See 1-14) If Israel disobeyed God’s laws, there were 52 verses of curses He would give them. (See 15-68)
Do you want to live in that kind of relationship with God? I don’t! Unfortunately, many Christians believe that is still how God treats them though we are under the New Covenant of grace. So, Christianity is a burden instead of a blessing.
A lot of what Jesus taught was Old Covenant teaching to the Jews of His day. And when He taught them, He was raising the bar of how perfect they needed to be accepted and blessed by God. Here are some examples:
Unless you are more righteous than the strictest religious leaders in Jesus’s day, the Scribes and the Pharisees, you will not go to heaven. Matthew 5:20
Calling someone an idiot or crazy because you are angry with them will send you to hell. Matthew 5:22.
Lust is adultery. Matthew 5: 27-28
If you don’t forgive people who offend you, God will not forgive you. Matthew 6:15
If you don’t forgive people who offend you, God will send you to hell. Matthew 18:21-25
You must live a perfect life exactly the way God does. Matthew 5:48
These teachings were aimed at showing the Jews of His day and anyone who reads them now that it is impossible to get God to accept you unconditionally by obeying the law. He wanted to prepare them for how much they needed Him to be their Savior.
He was about to bring into existence the New Covenant and was preparing them and everyone else for it. But the New Covenant did not begin until after Jesus’ death, burial, resurrection and ascension. See Hebrew 9:15.
Let’s compare what the New Covenant says about God and you as a Christ follower.
God has already forgiven you whether you forgive or not. Colossians 2:13
God made you perfect in your identity in Christ. Hebrews 10:14
God made you a saint (holy person) and not a lustful person in Christ. 1 Corinthians 1:2
God made you a patient person because you are complete in Christ. Colossians 2:10
The Old Covenant was conditional based on man’s imperfect works. The New Covenant is conditional based on faith in Jesus’ perfect work.
Read the New Testament with clarity today as you understand the New Testament starts in Acts, not Matthew.
Believe it! It’s the Gospel.
Live Free In Christ,
Mark Maulding, President and Founder
www.GraceLifeInternational.com All Content Copyright © 2015 Mark Maulding but feel free to pass it on!
Are You a Minister of the Old or New Covenant?
For most of the first 10 years I was a pastor, I was a mixed up minister who mixed up a lot of Christians by preaching a mixture of the Old Covenant (OC) and New Covenant (NC). By doing this, I unwittingly watered down both the purpose of the (OC) and the power of the (NC).
It was my own preaching like this that eventually brought me to brokenness. That would be a great title for a book, wouldn’t it? “Pastor’s Own Preaching Breaks Him”! In that brokenness, God began to give me understanding about the liberating difference in the two Covenants. I didn’t know at the time that this was not only going to free me but many others in the years to come.
Let’s look at according to 2 Corinthians 3:5-11 and then check ourselves to which one we are telling people.
5 Not that we are adequate in ourselves to consider anything as coming from ourselves, but our adequacy is from God, 6 who also made us adequate as servants of a new covenant, not of the letter but of the Spirit; for the letter kills, but the Spirit gives life. 7 But if the ministry of death, in letters engraved on stones, came [c]with glory, so that the sons of Israel could not look intently at the face of Moses because of the glory of his face, fading as it was, 8 how will the ministry of the Spirit fail to be even more with glory? 9 For if the ministry of condemnation has glory, much more does the ministry of righteousness abound in glory. 10 For indeed what had glory, in this case has no glory because of the glory that surpasses it. 11 For if that which fades away was with glory, much more that which remains is in glory.
The ministry of the (OC) is a ministry of death. The purpose of the (OC) or law is to show an unbeliever how sinful they are. They are sinful because their old nature is spiritually dead. See Romans 3:19-20; Romans 5:20; Galatians 5:23; Ephesians 2:1-3
The ministry of the (NC) is a ministry of the Spirit.The law cannot give life but the gift of the Holy Spirit causes a person to come alive spiritually under the (NC). Forgiveness is great but dead people need life! Galatians 3:21; Romans 8:2
The ministry of the (OC) is a ministry of condemnation. The ministry of the (OC) is to reveal to an unbeliever that because of their sins, they are condemned and therefore unacceptable to God. Romans 3:19-20; 5:20; Galatians 3:21
The ministry of the (NC) is a ministry of righteousness. The ministry of the (NC) reveals to Christians that they are 100% acceptable to God because they are the righteousness of God in Christ. Romans 5:1, 17, 19; 2 Corinthians 5:21
The ministry of the (OC) has come to an end. Once a person comes to faith in Christ, their relationship with the (OC), meaning the law, ends and is replaced by the (NC). Romans 7:1-7; Galatians 3:19, 25
The ministry of the (NC) is permanent. As Christians, our identity in Christ and Christ in us has permanently replaced the (OC). Ephesians 1:13-14; Hebrews 10:16-17
If you are discovering that you are like I once was, in that you mix together the two Covenants, let go of the Old Covenant unless you are talking to an unbeliever. It’s not for Christians! Embrace and live in the freedom of being a New Covenant person! Minister to people this awesome New Covenant which God has provided for us in Christ!
Believe it! It’s the Gospel!
Live Free In Christ,
Mark Maulding, President and Founder
www.GraceLifeInternational.com All Content Copyright © 2014 Mark Maulding
Are You a Minister of the Old or New Covenant?
For most of the first 10 years I was a pastor, I was a mixed up minister who mixed up a lot of Christians by preaching a mixture of the Old Covenant (OC) and New Covenant (NC). By doing this, I unwittingly watered down both the purpose of the (OC) and the power of the (NC).
It was my own preaching like this that eventually brought me to brokenness. That would be a great title for a book, wouldn’t it? “Pastor’s Own Preaching Breaks Him”! In that brokenness, God began to give me understanding about the liberating difference in the two Covenants. I didn’t know at the time that this was not only going to free me but many others in the years to come.
Let’s look at according to 2 Corinthians 3:5-11 and then check ourselves to which one we are telling people.
5 Not that we are adequate in ourselves to consider anything as coming from ourselves, but our adequacy is from God, 6 who also made us adequate as servants of a new covenant, not of the letter but of the Spirit; for the letter kills, but the Spirit gives life. 7 But if the ministry of death, in letters engraved on stones, came [c]with glory, so that the sons of Israel could not look intently at the face of Moses because of the glory of his face, fading as it was, 8 how will the ministry of the Spirit fail to be even more with glory? 9 For if the ministry of condemnation has glory, much more does the ministry of righteousness abound in glory. 10 For indeed what had glory, in this case has no glory because of the glory that surpasses it. 11 For if that which fades away was with glory, much more that which remains is in glory.
The ministry of the (OC) is a ministry of death. The purpose of the (OC) or law is to show an unbeliever how sinful they are. They are sinful because their old nature is spiritually dead. See Romans 3:19-20; Romans 5:20; Galatians 5:23; Ephesians 2:1-3
The ministry of the (NC) is a ministry of the Spirit.The law cannot give life but the gift of the Holy Spirit causes a person to come alive spiritually under the (NC). Forgiveness is great but dead people need life! Galatians 3:21; Romans 8:2
The ministry of the (OC) is a ministry of condemnation. The ministry of the (OC) is to reveal to an unbeliever that because of their sins, they are condemned and therefore unacceptable to God. Romans 3:19-20; 5:20; Galatians 3:21
The ministry of the (NC) is a ministry of righteousness. The ministry of the (NC) reveals to Christians that they are 100% acceptable to God because they are the righteousness of God in Christ. Romans 5:1, 17, 19; 2 Corinthians 5:21
The ministry of the (OC) has come to an end. Once a person comes to faith in Christ, their relationship with the (OC), meaning the law, ends and is replaced by the (NC). Romans 7:1-7; Galatians 3:19, 25
The ministry of the (NC) is permanent. As Christians, our identity in Christ and Christ in us has permanently replaced the (OC). Ephesians 1:13-14; Hebrews 10:16-17
If you are discovering that you are like I once was, in that you mix together the two Covenants, let go of the Old Covenant unless you are talking to an unbeliever. It’s not for Christians! Embrace and live in the freedom of being a New Covenant person! Minister to people this awesome New Covenant which God has provided for us in Christ!
Believe it! It’s the Gospel!
Live Free In Christ,
Mark Maulding, President and Founder
www.GraceLifeInternational.com All Content Copyright © 2014 Mark Maulding
