Armor of God: What it means to wrap truth around your waist like a belt
"The Law through Moses was given, the Grace and the Truth through Jesus Christ did come." John 1:17
If you want to understand the first thing mentioned about the armor of God, then you need to seek the meaning of Truth... What is Truth? (This post is part of a series on the Armor of God)
Obviously we are speaking about spiritual Truth but be very careful this is not about the truth concerning doctrine or science or history. Jesus said He was the Truth. So Moses gave the Law but Truth came through Jesus - now, does that mean that the Law was not Truth? This shows that the Truth we seek here is indeed more than just a matter of fact, commandments, doctrine or history.
John juxtaposed the Truth with the Law and that is where we see the key to unlock the mystery of the belt of Truth in God's Armor. That's the first clue. The second is that Jesus came full of Grace and Truth. Grace accompanies Truth.
So we see two poles - the Law on the one hand and both Grace and Truth, inseparable, on the other hand.
The Law said you had to do things to be right with God and if you did you'd be blessed and if you didn't you'd be cursed (Deut 28). But Jesus revealed the True heart of God's, a heart full of abounding Grace upon Grace to the world - His desire is for all to be eternally and infinitely blessed not because of anything we do, but simply because we want His Grace and Receive it through the Messiah.
And today what we see in the church is a church of mixture. Among the followers of Yeshua there is - amazingly, after 2000 years - still a confusion. Are we under the Law or not? The Sabbaths? The Passovers? The Feasts? Or do we somehow create a new set of Laws instead? And so now are we righteous by our works or by what we believe? Do we just believe and do nothing?
These questions reveal that we don't get Grace. The Law through Moses was given - past, done, as Jesus declares on the Cross "It is Finished!" and that He would "Accomplish the Law". He didn't come to do away with the Holy Law but to fulfill it for He is the Very Object of the Law. In every commandment, in every detail of the tabernacle and Temple, in every feast, in every sacrifice, in every priestly ritual, JESUS YESHUA is the object of each and every one of those things.
Yeshua is Lord of the Sabbath Rest, the Lamb of the Passover Pesakh, the Sacrifices that bring Forgiveness in Yom Kippur (Day of Atonement). He is the Heavenly Original of the Earthly copies of Himself we see in the Bible, the Isaac, the Moses, the Joshua, the David and many more whose lives were a shadow and foretelling of the Messiah to come. He is also the Defining Vision of every Prophecy, the Son of Man in Ezekiel, the ImmanuEL of Isaiah, the Lord our Righteousness of Jeremiah, the Pierced One of Zechariah, and so forth.
So what does this all mean to you and I as we face the daily grind of life and the reality of this spiritual war?
It means you must not put yourself under law and like the leaven or yeast spoken of by Jesus and Paul, it is something you must desperately avoid in your life. Being girded in Truth means constantly pulling back from the temptation to achieve a right standing in front of God by doing good things and instead to relish His Grace and from His Love and Compassion let the Fruit of the Spirit abound in you.
You see, I believe this is one of the things Jesus meant when He said we needed to die to ourselves and carry our cross. We need to deny our fleshly itch to justify ourselves and be self-reliant and self-righteous.
Consider what Paul said in this regard in Galatians 2:19-21:
This is the Belt of Truth that we must fasten to ourselves, the Truth of this reality Paul spoke of; it is to completely cleanse ourselves and keep clear of the spirit of self-righteousness and justification through which we VOID GOD'S GRACE. Instead, we need only TRUST Yeshua and Receive His ABUNDANT LOVE and THE GIFT OF HIMSELF.
So are you ready to cast away the leaven of self-righteousness and law from your life? To dive in and immerse yourself in Yeshua, His Grace and His Love?
That's how you hold yourself together in the war. And this is where the fight of your life starts!
Like this blog? Don't miss out by subscribing!
If you want to understand the first thing mentioned about the armor of God, then you need to seek the meaning of Truth... What is Truth? (This post is part of a series on the Armor of God)
Obviously we are speaking about spiritual Truth but be very careful this is not about the truth concerning doctrine or science or history. Jesus said He was the Truth. So Moses gave the Law but Truth came through Jesus - now, does that mean that the Law was not Truth? This shows that the Truth we seek here is indeed more than just a matter of fact, commandments, doctrine or history.
 |
| Wonder Woman! |
So we see two poles - the Law on the one hand and both Grace and Truth, inseparable, on the other hand.
The Law said you had to do things to be right with God and if you did you'd be blessed and if you didn't you'd be cursed (Deut 28). But Jesus revealed the True heart of God's, a heart full of abounding Grace upon Grace to the world - His desire is for all to be eternally and infinitely blessed not because of anything we do, but simply because we want His Grace and Receive it through the Messiah.
And today what we see in the church is a church of mixture. Among the followers of Yeshua there is - amazingly, after 2000 years - still a confusion. Are we under the Law or not? The Sabbaths? The Passovers? The Feasts? Or do we somehow create a new set of Laws instead? And so now are we righteous by our works or by what we believe? Do we just believe and do nothing?
These questions reveal that we don't get Grace. The Law through Moses was given - past, done, as Jesus declares on the Cross "It is Finished!" and that He would "Accomplish the Law". He didn't come to do away with the Holy Law but to fulfill it for He is the Very Object of the Law. In every commandment, in every detail of the tabernacle and Temple, in every feast, in every sacrifice, in every priestly ritual, JESUS YESHUA is the object of each and every one of those things.
Yeshua is Lord of the Sabbath Rest, the Lamb of the Passover Pesakh, the Sacrifices that bring Forgiveness in Yom Kippur (Day of Atonement). He is the Heavenly Original of the Earthly copies of Himself we see in the Bible, the Isaac, the Moses, the Joshua, the David and many more whose lives were a shadow and foretelling of the Messiah to come. He is also the Defining Vision of every Prophecy, the Son of Man in Ezekiel, the ImmanuEL of Isaiah, the Lord our Righteousness of Jeremiah, the Pierced One of Zechariah, and so forth.
So what does this all mean to you and I as we face the daily grind of life and the reality of this spiritual war?
It means you must not put yourself under law and like the leaven or yeast spoken of by Jesus and Paul, it is something you must desperately avoid in your life. Being girded in Truth means constantly pulling back from the temptation to achieve a right standing in front of God by doing good things and instead to relish His Grace and from His Love and Compassion let the Fruit of the Spirit abound in you.
You see, I believe this is one of the things Jesus meant when He said we needed to die to ourselves and carry our cross. We need to deny our fleshly itch to justify ourselves and be self-reliant and self-righteous.
Consider what Paul said in this regard in Galatians 2:19-21:
For I through law, did die, that to God I may live; with Christ I have been crucified, and live no more do I, and Christ doth live in me; and that which I now live in the flesh -- in the faith I live of the Son of God, who did love me and did give Himself for me; I do not make void the grace of God, for if righteousness [be] through law -- then Christ died in vain.
This is the Belt of Truth that we must fasten to ourselves, the Truth of this reality Paul spoke of; it is to completely cleanse ourselves and keep clear of the spirit of self-righteousness and justification through which we VOID GOD'S GRACE. Instead, we need only TRUST Yeshua and Receive His ABUNDANT LOVE and THE GIFT OF HIMSELF.
So are you ready to cast away the leaven of self-righteousness and law from your life? To dive in and immerse yourself in Yeshua, His Grace and His Love?
That's how you hold yourself together in the war. And this is where the fight of your life starts!
Like this blog? Don't miss out by subscribing!
Comments
Post a Comment