and two glasses of iced tea.
“Tea and cookies, Sir?” he asked, as he sat down next to me.
“Sounds great, Joshua, thanks. That was quite a surprise. I should have known you would be here, but a servant?”
He looked at me with a smile and took a small sugar cookie from the plate.
“I take great pleasure in serving the wounded, John. It is a task I truly enjoy.”
“Well, you did a wonderful job tonight. The food was excellent and it feels really good when I do this kind of thing, you know... giving freely while expecting nothing in return.”
“It does bring a special kind of comfort to the soul,” he replied, and paused to look at the beauty of the evening before presenting his first question.
“When you completely believe in what Jesus has given you, how long does it take God to act with his blessings?”
It was obvious my lesson had just begun.
CHAPTER 9
Two Wooden Chairs
I was lost in thought as I gazed at the silver streak of moonlight cutting a path across the water’s glassy surface. The tranquility of the moment was interrupted by his voice when he repeated the question.
“Did you hear what I said? When you believe with one hundred percent of your heart in what Jesus has given you, how long does it take God to act with his blessings?”
My answer came as easily and quickly as God’s response to our consummate belief. “Instantly!” I replied. “Why do you ask?”
He continued as if no time had passed since our lesson last Saturday.
“If you recall, God said your job is to believe in Jesus. He wants to be closer to you and sin will hurt the relationship he desires. Because of the atoning sacrifice of Christ, God has forgiven your sins so you can live on a more intimate basis with him.”
I took a sip of iced tea while trying to catch up with his words.
“Remember, you are justified by faith in Jesus under the New Covenant. God’s law required a blood sacrifice in payment for the sins committed by his people. And Jesus’s death on the cross paid that price for all mankind, forever. The old Mosaic Law was known as the law of sin and death, and disobedience to that law carried the condemnation of sin, which resulted in death. But the new law, is called, the law of the Spirit of life in Christ Jesus. If you believe in Jesus, you receive his Spirit, and, through faith, gain eternal life for your soul. The work of Christ on the cross fulfilled the requirements of God’s law and has set you free from its eternal consequences!
“I prefer the King James version for this one.
“Romans 8:1-4—There is therefore now no condemnation to those who are in Christ Jesus, who do not walk according to the flesh, but according to the Spirit. For the law of the Spirit of life in Christ Jesus has made me free from the law of sin and death. For what the law (the Mosaic Law) could not do in that it was weak through the flesh, God did by sending His own Son in the likeness of sinful flesh, on account of sin: He condemned sin in the flesh, that the righteous requirement of the law might be fulfilled in us who do not walk according to the flesh but according to the Spirit.” He used fingers to express the parentheses when he inserted (the Mosaic Law) into the verse.
He reached for his glass while the beautiful simplicity of the passage found its home in my soul.
“John, you are not supposed to live according to the sinful nature of the flesh, but instead, walk according to the Spirit. Jesus put an end to the old law of sin and death. You now have the ability to gain righteousness for your soul, if you believe in Christ and what he has given you.”
He quoted from memory.
“Romans 10:4—Christ is the end of the law so that there may be righteousness for everyone who believes.
“You do not live under the old Law. It has come to an end for the Jewish nation and does not apply to any believer in Christ. Let me explain this in another way. If someone lives in your home, they live under a certain set of rules or laws you have established for living there. For example, if you are under ten years of age, you must go to bed by 9:00 p.m. and may not eat food or drink beverages except in the kitchen. You must take your shoes off at the door and finally, no dogs sleep on your pillow! These are all ‘Sins’ in your house and punishable by a near death experience.”
We both laughed at the inferred reality of what he said, then I pondered how he might know the detailed truth of his words, which I had never shared with him. His voice interrupted, once again.
“On the other hand, in my house, you live under a different set of laws. In my house, you are allowed to stay up until 11:00 p.m., you can eat in my living room, and under my laws you can walk around with your shoes on. And best of all, the dog sleeps anywhere he wants to sleep! In essence, because I do not live in your house, the laws of your house do not apply to me or anyone who lives in my house under my laws, do they?”
I was beginning to see his point. “No, I guess not,” I said and reached for another cookie.
He smiled in affirmation.
“Correct! You must be living under the law for it to apply to you. God provides some insight to this matter in the book of Romans when describing marriage and widows. He explains how a woman is bound to her husband by law until he dies, but, upon his death, she is released from that law allowing her to marry another man. This is a type and shadow of how the nation of Israel was bound by the old Law until Christ’s sacrifice, but was released from that Mosaic Law upon his death. And you have become an heir to that promise by your faith in Jesus. Now all believers live under God’s new law of the Spirit of life, as the bride of Christ.
“Romans 7:1-6—Do you not know, brother—for I am speaking to men who know the law—that the law has authority over a man only as long as he lives? For example, by law a married woman is bound to her husband as long as he is alive, but if her husband dies, she is released from the law of marriage. So then, if she marries another man while her husband is still alive, she is called an adulteress. But if her husband dies, she is released from that law and is not an adulteress, even though she marries another man.
“So, my brothers, you also died to the law through the body of Christ, that you might belong to another, to him who was raised from the dead, in order that we might bear fruit to God. For when we were controlled by the sinful nature, the sinful passions aroused by the law were at work in our bodies, so that we bore fruit for death. But now, by dying to what once bound us, we have been released from the law so that we serve in the new way of the Spirit, and not in the old way of the written code.”
I raised my glass to toast his revelation and he touched mine with confirmation, stating, “Let us move on to righteousness.”
He glanced at me over his glasses with a smile and continued.
“Galatians 2:19-21—For through the law I died to the law so that I might live for God. I have been crucified with Christ and I no longer live, but Christ lives in me. The life I live in the body, I live by faith in the Son of God, who loved me and gave himself for me. I do not set aside the grace of God, for if righteousness could be gained through the law, Christ died
