Hello all,

I am continuing on with this study….I will just be making a few comments along the way. In this part the author defines and provides ample Scripture about types and shadows, and how Jesus fulfilled them.

When we are in Christ we keep the Sabbath and the feasts of the Lord every day. What was once a weekly or monthly or yearly observance is now a daily observance as Jesus fulfilled all the shadows and brought them all into reality….imperfect made perfect in Him.

When I say Jesus is all and everything I really mean it!!

The Law has a form of godliness, but it has no power of the spirit! The law is the whitewashed tomb, having a form of godliness but leads to death. Those who do not have Jesus are still under the law! Therefore they are dead already…just like the false churches of these end times…exchanging works for faith… and death for eternal life.

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The Purpose for Types and Shadows

Shadows cannot perfect, and the first covenant is a shadow of the second. "For the law having a shadow of good things to come..." (Heb 10:1). Notice again, no parsing (taking apart and analyzing) of "the law".

In Matthew 5, Christ is showing what the 10 commandments foreshadowed. Six times he says "You have heard it said of old time", then he quotes either the Ten Commandments or the Law of Moses. It was all the same to Christ.

The first two "you have heard that it was said by them of old time" concerned the sixth and seventh commandments. The last four concerned statutes and judgments. All had already "waxed old and were ready to vanish away" (Heb 8:13).

In Romans 2, Paul is calling the Jewish believers to task for judging the Gentile believers who "have not the law, but do by nature [the "divine nature" of 2Pe 1:4] the things contained in the law" (Rom 2:14). Paul is not talking about the old covenant law because that law required circumcision. Circumcision, among many other laws, is NOT by nature. The Jews thought that because they had the Law of Moses, they had the truth.

Rom 2:17 Behold, thou art called a Jew, and restest in the law, and makest thy boast of God, Rom 2:18 And knowest [his] will, and approvest the things that are more excellent, being instructed out of the law; Rom 2:19 And art confident that thou thyself art a guide of the blind, a light of them which are in darkness, Rom 2:20 An instructor of the foolish, a teacher of babes, which hast the form of knowledge and of the truth in the law.

The old covenant, which includes the Ten Commandments (Deu 4:13), was a "form of knowledge and... truth".

The Greek word for form is morphosis (Strong's #3446) and is used only twice in the New Testament. The only other appearance is in 2Ti 3:5. In verse one, Paul is telling us what it will be like "in the last days" (vs. 2). "For men shall be lovers of their own selves, covetous, boasters, proud, blasphemers, disobedient to parents, unthankful, unholy...". Then in verse 5, he says "having a form of godliness, but denying the power thereof: from such turn away." Paul informs us "if ye be circumcised Christ will profit you nothing" (Gal 5:2).
Now Paul was circumcised and goes on to tell the Corinthians that "circumcision is nothing and uncircumcision is nothing, but the keeping of the commandments of God [is everything] (1Co 7:19).

Don't let anyone tell you Paul did not believe in commandment keeping. But neither should you be deceived into believing that "commandments of God" here in 1Co 7:19 are the ten commandments of the old covenant (Deu 4:13; Exo 20). "For I testify again to every man that is circumcised that he is a debtor to do the whole law" (Gal 5:3). "Cursed is everyone that continueth not in all things that are written in the book of the law to do them" (Gal 3:10).

Circumcision is as much a part of the Old Covenant as the Ten Commandments. But the "whole law" and "the book of the law" is a mere "form of the knowledge and of the truth". It is "a yoke...which neither our fathers nor we were able to bear" (Act 15:10).

What Paul is saying is that if we mistake the outward ritual of circumcision for the spiritual reality that "Christ will profit you nothing." The same is true for Sabbath and holy day observance.

The weekly Sabbath and all the holy days are mere forms of Christ, just as surely as animal sacrifices were mere forms, shadows and types.

Surely no Christian would sacrifice animals and expect animal blood to cover and hide their sins. Why? Because "Christ is our Passover". Paul did not physically keep the feast once a year with physical bread. Paul put sin out of his life every day all year. He kept the feast with the unleavened bread of sincerity and truth (1Co 5:8).

Let us get away from 'forms'. Let us "keep the feast" not literally once a year, but daily with "the unleavened bread of sincerity and truth."

Let's forsake the form of a Sabbath of one in seven and remain in our sabbatismos 24 hours a day seven days a week, “for we which have believed do enter into rest...”

Heb 4:10 For he that is entered into his rest, he also hath ceased from his own works, as God [did] from his.

“For he that hath entered into his rest, he also hath ceased from his own works” every day. Remember, forms "deny the power thereof" because they are all just 'forms' of Christ. Let's trade in the old passing, powerless form for the permanent, powerful reality of Christ through whom we can do all things and conquer sin all the time.

Mat 5 reveals to us that the 10 commandments are a morphosis, a form of godliness, not the spirit or power of godliness that Christ is revealing here for the first time. If this is not so, then there would have been no need for the "sermon on the mount".

The believing Jews who were attempting to judahize Paul's Gentile converts, were concerned with the letter of the law and an outward visible show of righteousness and obedience. They wanted the Gentiles to be circumcised (Act 15:1), to observe the holy days (Col 2:15) and to keep the law of Moses (Act 15:5). It was not given to them to see (Mat 13:13) that circumcision must be of the heart (Lev 26:41). They may have realized that the Messiah was to be rejected (Isa 53:3), but they did not see that he was to be a reformer like Moses. (Deu 18:15, Heb 9:10)

Yet it was all there in the "law and the prophets" for those who were given "eyes to see and ears to hear" (Mat 13:13). The purpose all the types and shadows serve, being part of the law, is as a "schoolmaster to bring us to Christ" (Gal 3:24).

What Are "Good Things To Come"?

For the law, (notice it simply says "the law", not any particular part of it; the whole law) having a shadow of good things to come, and not the very image of the things, can never with those sacrifices which they offered, make the comers thereunto perfect (Heb 10:1).

As with Heb 7:12, which some say refers only to the laws pertaining to the priesthood, so here also many will argue that this refers only to the laws concerning the animal sacrifices.

But, it is not any particular part of the old covenant that is being replaced; it is all of the... old" covenant that is "ready to vanish away" (Heb 8:13). So if "the law" is simply "a shadow [a form] of good things to come, and not the very image of the things", then what is "the very image that makes the comers thereunto perfect" (Heb 10:1)?

When our eyes are opened, and we are given ears that hear, the Bible becomes amazingly simple and pleasantly redundant in its simplicity: "let no man therefore judge you in meat, or in drink, or in respect of an holy day, or of the new moon, or of the Sabbath days: [all part and parcel of the old "vanishing" covenant] which are a shadow of things to come; but the body [casting that shadow] is of Christ." Once again, they all pointed to Christ who is the center of all scripture (Col 1:19).

Again we ask, what is the "old covenant"? The answer is the same: "And he declared unto you his covenant, which he commanded you to perform, even ten commandments; [the ones superceded by Christ in Mat 5] and he wrote them upon two tables of stone" (Deu 4:13). These are the tables and the stones referred to in 2Co 3:3, 7 and 11). The ten commandments are the foundation of the law of Moses.

Mixing The Old Covenant With The New Covenant

We cannot dissect the old covenant and use or discard its parts at random. It is all or none at all. We dare not mix the old with the new. Mat 9:16, 17, "No man putteth a piece of new cloth into an old garment, for that which is put in to fill it up taketh from the garment, and the rent is made worse. Neither do men put new wine into old bottles: else the bottles break, and the wine runneth out, and the bottles perish: but they put new wine into new bottles, and both are preserved." I think we all realize that Jesus is not speaking of literal cloths and wine bottles.

It is hard to give up the flesh (the letter of the law). It seems so right, so good to us. Old wine will always taste more mellow to the carnal mind. Christ predicted that this "time of reformation," this "new covenant," would not be well received. That is as true today as it has ever been. Here is Christ telling us that the new covenant will be rejected by His people for the old: “No man also having drunk old wine straightway desireth new: for he saith, The old is better” (Luk 5:39). That statement was made to "the disciples of John and of the Pharisees" (Mar 2:18, Luk 5:33), because to this day, it is their disciples who want to go back to the law of Moses.

Keeping the old covenant laws and the ten commandments may seem like the right thing to do (Act 15:5 - “But there rose up certain of the sect of the Pharisees which believed, saying, That it was needful to circumcise them, and to command them to keep the law of Moses.”), however, unless we repent of breaking these new commandments of our Lord, just like the men on whom the tower of Siloam fell, "...ye shall all likewise PERISH" (Luk 13:4-5). Mixing the new with the old does not work. It makes things worse. In fact, Jesus said, "they PERISH"! So notice what Paul tells us regarding circumcision, “I testify to every man that is circumcised [or keeps the holy days, or the clean and unclean food laws, or tithing, etc. etc.] that he is a debtor to do the whole law” (Gal 5:3).

Upon what scripture therefore, have some decided that, yes, circumcision is no longer needed, but the holy days, tithing, clean and unclean food laws, etc. etc. are to be observed? It is the "whole law" that must either be kept or it is all "things written in the book of the law" that are "done away" and "disannulled" but only after the law brings us to Christ (Heb 7:18). Circumcision is a type and shadow of putting off the flesh and being given a new heart: "In whom also ye are circumcised with the circumcision made without hands in putting off the body of the sins of the flesh by the circumcision of Christ [Christ living his life in us] (Gal 2:22, Col 2:11). The type, physical circumcision, has been rejected for the reality, Christ in us.

Who Is 'The Circumcision?'

"For we [those in Christ] are the circumcision, which worship God in spirit, and rejoice in Christ and have no confidence in the flesh [such as being a physical descendant of Abraham]" (Php 3:3).

This is what Paul means when he says “...though we have known Christ after the flesh, yet now henceforth know we him no more” (2Co 5:16). Paul is not saying that we are no longer to acknowledge Christ's teaching given while He was in the flesh. To the contrary, he says “if any man...consent not to...the words of our Lord Jesus Christ...he is proud, knowing nothing...” (1Ti 6:3). What Paul is saying is that the type, being born of David after the flesh, being Abraham's seed after the flesh, the natural is always first (1Co 15:46). But once it is fulfilled, it “waxeth old [and] is ready to vanish away” (Heb 8:13).

Rom 2:28 For he is not a Jew, which is one outwardly; neither [is that] circumcision, which is outward in the flesh:
Rom 2:29 But he [is] a Jew, which is one inwardly; and circumcision [is that] of the heart, in the spirit, [and] not in the letter; whose praise [is] not of men, but of God.

The Proper Use Of New Covenant Liberties

On what scriptural grounds do we tend to think that, yes, partof the law (circumcision) is fulfilled in Christ, but that the rest of the law is not? Paul had no such doctrine. Yes, he did "become a Jew to the Jew, and under the law to them that are under the law", but not because those types and shadows were necessary, but simply "that I might gain the Jew" and that "I might gain them that are under the law" (1Co 9:20). When Paul says, "...I must by all means keep this feast that cometh in Jerusalem..." (Act 18:21), it wasn't that he esteemed it necessary for salvation, but rather "and this I do for the gospels sake..." (1Co 9:23).

We should all follow Paul's example and tolerate those who are "weak in the faith" (Rom 14:1). One Christian may eat things not eaten by another (vs. 2 and 3). Another Christian may observe holy days, while another doesn't (yes, holy days were "esteemed" above other days). What is Paul's advice? "One man esteemeth one day above another: another esteemeth every day alike. Let every man be fully persuaded in his own mind" (Rom 14:5). "To his own master (God) he standeth or falleth" (vs. 4).

But how did Paul really feel about clean and unclean meat laws?

Rom 14:14 I know, and am persuaded by the Lord Jesus, that [there is] nothing unclean of itself: but to him that esteemeth anything to be unclean, to him [it is] unclean.

Rom 14:15 But if thy brother be grieved with [thy] meat, now walkest thou not charitably. Destroy not him with thy meat, for whom Christ died.

Rom 14:16 Let not then your good be evil spoken of:

Rom 14:17 For the kingdom of God is not meat and drink; but righteousness, and peace, and joy in the Holy Spirit.

So exactly how do we decide how to conduct ourselves among other brothers whose spiritual development differs from ours?

Rom 14:18 For he that in these things serveth Christ [is] acceptable to God, and approved of men.

And how do we serve Christ?

Mat 25:40 ...Inasmuch as ye have done [it] unto one of the least of these my brethren, ye have done [it] unto me.

Therefore the way to "serve Christ" is to become a "servant" to your brother: "And whosoever of you will be the chiefest, shall be servant of all" (Mar 10:44). We must not allow our liberty to "become a stumbling block" to our brothers (1Co 8:9).

Understanding the liberties inherent in the new covenant is good as long as we do not become puffed up with our "superior knowledge".

1Co 8:1 ...Knowledge puffeth up, but charity edifieth.

Keep holy days with those who keep holy days, eat meat with those who eat meat, herbs with those who eat herbs. Become "all things to all men that you might by all means save some" (1Co 9:22).

"...Take heed lest this liberty of yours become a stumblingblock to them that are weak" (in faith) (1Co 8:9).

"...Everyone of us shall give account of himself to God. Let us not therefore judge one another anymore: but judge this rather, that no man put a stumbling block or an occasion to fall in his brother's way. I know and am persuaded by the Lord Jesus, that there is nothing unclean of itself: [Gen 9:3 "...everything that moves is food for you..."], but to him that esteemeth anything to be unclean, to him it is unclean" (Rom 14:12-14).

"For the kingdom of God is not meat and drink; but righteousness and peace, and joy in the Holy Ghost" (Rom 14:17).

“The kingdom of God…is righteousness...” sends many folks, oblivious to the whole point of Matthew 5, right back to the commandments of God for carnal Israel. “All your commandments are righteousness” (Psa 119:172) they quote, blithely unaware that the same God who commanded carnal Israel to take an “eye for an eye and a tooth for a tooth” changed that command to “But I say unto you, that ye resist not evil: but whosoever shall smite you on thy right cheek, turn to him the other also” (Mat 5:38 and 39).

Yes, "all thy commandments are righteousness", but Christ did not say "Why call ye me Lord, Lord and do not the things in the law or the Torah". What he did say was "Why call ye me Lord, Lord, and do not the things that I say" (Luk 6:46).

Christ did not say "Whosoever cometh to me, and keepeth the Torah or the laws I gave to Moses..." What he did say was "Whosoever cometh to me and heareth MY saying and DOETH them…is like a man which built an house…upon a rock" (Luk 6:47).

Anyone who thinks that "love your enemy" is obeying the law of Moses doesn't know the law of Moses. Anyone who thinks "except for fornication" is in the law of Moses, hasn't read the law of Moses. Anyone who thinks "don't look on a woman to lust after her" is in Torah doesn't know Torah. And anyone who thinks that gathering corn to eat on the Sabbath and telling a man to take up his bed on the Sabbath are not breaking the Sabbath, simply hasn't read the old covenant laws (Num 15:33-35; Exo16:5; Jer 17:21-22).

Christ did not do these things because they were permitted in the "spirit of the law which had been lost in the traditions of the elder." He did them to demonstrate "that he was Lord also of the Sabbath" (Luk 6:5).

Christ, like Moses, was a reformer and a law-giver. “The Lord your God will raise up unto you a Prophet from the midst of thee, of thy brethren like unto me; unto Him ye shall hearken” (Deu 18:15). “Which [tabernacle of Moses] stood only in meats and drinks and…carnal ordinances, imposed on them UNTIL [but only until] the time of REFORMATION…Christ being come” (Heb 9:10 and 11).

Jesus Christ for the first time in history brought a spiritual (not a letter) law (Rom 7:6, 14 and Mat 5). "Thou shalt not commit adultery" (Mat 5:27) is letter law; "Whosoever looketh on a woman to lust after her has committed adultery with her already in his heart" (Mat 5:28) is spiritual law. "All these have I kept from my youth up" (Mat 19:20) and "...touching the righteousness which is in the law, blameless" (Php 3:6) are statements made by the rich young ruler and Apostle Paul respectively. Yet Christ says they were 'lacking' while keeping these laws (Luk 18:22). It is the "newness of spirit" primarily (Rom 7:6), that the carnal mind "cannot be subject to" (Rom 8:7). One can keep the ten commandments from his youth up and be blameless in "the law", yet violate the "newness of spirit" (Rom 7:6), "the law of God" which is "inward" (Rom 7:22).

You can refrain from murder, adultery and love your neighbor, and still be carnal; but you cannot refrain from hate and lust and love your enemies and still be carnal. It is the spiritual law, not the Ten Commandments, not the letter of the law that troubles the carnal mind.

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The Law is flesh and Jesus is Spirit…..I want to emphasis two important paragraphs of this part of the study:

[“It is hard to give up the flesh (the letter of the law). It seems so right, so good to us. Old wine will always taste more mellow to the carnal mind. Christ predicted that this "time of reformation," this "new covenant," would not be well received. That is as true today as it has ever been. Here is Christ telling us that the new covenant will be rejected by His people for the old: “No man also having drunk old wine straightway desireth new: for he saith, The old is better” (Luk 5:39).”

“Keeping the old covenant laws and the ten commandments may seem like the right thing to do (Act 15:5 - “But there rose up certain of the sect of the Pharisees which believed, saying, That it was needful to circumcise them, and to command them to keep the law of Moses.”), however, unless we repent of breaking these new commandments of our Lord, just like the men on whom the tower of Siloam fell, "...ye shall all likewise PERISH" (Luk 13:4-5). Mixing the new with the old does not work. It makes things worse. In fact, Jesus said, "they PERISH"! So notice what Paul tells us regarding circumcision, “I testify to every man that is circumcised [or keeps the holy days, or the clean and unclean food laws, or tithing, etc. etc.] that he is a debtor to do the whole law” (Gal 5:3).”]

In returning to the shadow we reject the real! It may seem that it is good to keep the law, when in all actuality we are dishonoring Christ and what he did for us. This is paramount…we must obey Jesus, and let His Spirit guide our lives, and give up our carnal understanding and works that lead to death.

This is also true in regards to defining Israel in regards to Spirit or flesh! Flesh matters nothing as the Spirit is come!!!

"For we [those in Christ] are the circumcision, which worship God in spirit, and rejoice in Christ and have no confidence in the flesh [such as being a physical descendant of Abraham]" (Php 3:3).

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JESUS IS ALL AND EVERYTHING!!

Patti C.

To be Continued………