Destined To Reign - Part 5 - Ministry of Death or Ministry of Life?

Dear friends,

I (Jesus) came that they may have life and have it abundantly. (John 10: 10b)
Just as Christ was raised from the dead by the glory of the Father, we too might walk in newness of life. (Romans 6: 4b)
In him was life, and the life was the light of men. (John 1: 4)

The glory of God is man fully alive. Is it God's intention towards me, that we live abundantly? That's different from saying, "I have come to forgive you." Forgiveness is awesome, but Jesus says that He comes to give us life, life to the fullest. The question is why we are not living that kind of life? What did Jesus mean when He promised us life? In Luke 18: 29-30, Jesus said this kind of life was to be received in this age, and in the age to come, eternal life. His offer to us is not only for the distant future, after we die, but also for this age or now. When we hear the word eternal life, most of us tend to interpret that as a life that "waits for us in eternity." But eternal means "unending", rather than "later". We are supposed to have a life with victory over sins, over sickness and over poverty, now. Yes, you may have heard of the "now and not-yet principle", where the perfect life without sickness and poverty will happen after Jesus comes back for the second time. However, Luke 18: 29-30 clearly says that such victorious life should have started even now. Let us look at what the Bible says about "life" and "death" for believers.

The Ministry of Death - Ten Commandments

2 Corinthians 3: 7 Now if the ministry of death, carved in letters on stone, came with such glory that the Israelites could not gaze at Moses' face because of its glory, which was being brought to an end, 8 will not the ministry of the Spirit have even more glory? 9 For if there was glory in the ministry of condemnation, the ministry of righteousness must far exceed it in glory. 10 Indeed, in this case, what once had glory has come to have no glory at all, because of the glory that surpasses it. 11 For if what was being brought to an end came with glory, much more will what is permanent have glory.

It is interesting that the Bible describes the Ten Commandments , which were written and engraved on stones, as the "ministry of death" or "ministry of condemnation". Some may argue that the "ministry of death" refers to the "ceremonial laws" of Moses, but this cannot be true because they were never written and engraved on stones, but were written on parchment. That's why the preceeding verse says that "the letter kills, but the Spirit gives life. (verse 6)"

While the law, i.e., the ministry of condemnation, had glory, the Bible declares that "the ministry of righteousness" (or "the ministry of life") exceeds moch more in glory". How is the covenant of grace more glorious than the covenant of law? The law demands righteousness from sinful man, whereas grace imparts righteousness to sinful man. You see, the law demands perfection but will not lift a finger to help. Grace, on the other hand, imparts perfection and does everything for man through Jesus Christ, and all that man needs to do is to believe.

Do you know what happened when the Ten Commandments were given? At the foot of Mount Sinai, 3,000 people died. Now, let's compare this with the New Testament. When the Day of Pentecost had come, God poured out His Holy Spirit upon all flesh and what was the result? Peter stood up to preach the gospel and 3,000 people were saved that day.

Now that you know that the Ten Commandments is the ministry of death, think with me: What do you think happen when the church remains bound by the law? Can you see why the body of Christ is sick and depressed today, or why believers do not have the power to overcome sin? For generations, the church has believed that by preaching the Ten Commandments, we will produce holiness. When we see the sin on the increase, we start to preach more of the law. But the Word of God actually says that "the strength of sin is in the law". 1 Corinthians 15: 56 The sting of death is sin, and the power of sin is the law. It also says that "sin shall not have dominion over you, for you are not under law but under grace" (Romans 6: 14)). So the power of the church to overcome sin is actually found in being under grace and not reinforcing law. Preaching more of law to counteract sin is like adding wood to fire! To reign in life, i.e., live victoriously over sin, we need to receive the gift of righteousness and the gift of abundance grace: Romans 5: 7 For if, because of one man's trespass, death reigned through that one man, much more will those who receive the abundance of grace and the free gift of righteousness reign in life through the one man Jesus Christ.

The Purpose of Law

God did not give us law for us to keep. He gave the law to bring man to the end of himself, so that he would see his need for a Saviour. There is inherently nothing wrong with the law. The law is holy, just and good, but it has no power to make you holy, just and good. The law is like a mirror that exposes your flaw. If you look in the mirror and see someone ugly, don't blame the mirror. It's not the mirror's fault. The rightful purpose of the law is to expose your sins. It was not designed to take away your sins. In fact the Bible states that the law was given to magnify your sins - "the law entered that the offence might abound." (Romans 5: 20). The law justified no one and condemned the best of us, but grace saves the worst of us.

Does the Holy Spirit Convicts You of Sin?

How can I differentiate between the Holy Spirit convicting me of sin and the accuser hurling condemnation at me? That's a very good question and the answer is really simple. The Holy Spirit never convicts you, believers, of your sins. He never comes to point out your faults. I challenge you to find a scripture in the Bible that tells you that the Holy Spirit has come to convict you of your sins. You won't find any! The body of Christ is living in defeat because many believers don't understand that the Holy Spirit is actually in them to convict them of their righteousness in Christ. Even when you fail, He is ever present in you to remind you that you are continually cleansed by the blood of Jesus.

It does not take the revelation from the Holy Spirit to see that you have failed. To know and believe that God still sees you as righteous even when you have sinned certainly will take the revelation of the Holy Spirit. That's why a non-believer can never be convicted of righteousness. That privilege is reserved for you and me, born-again believers.

How about the verse in John 16: 8-11: 8 And when he comes, he will convict the world concerning sin and righteousness and judgment: 9 concerning sin, because they do not believe in me; 10 concerning righteousness, because I go to the Father, and you will see me no longer; 11 concerning judgment, because the ruler of this world is judged. It is important to always read the Bible verses in their right context. One way to read Bible verses in their context (and this is a key Bible interpretation principle) is to identify who the verses are talking about. So who was Jesus talking about in John 16: 8? Was he talking about believers or unbelievers?

When Jesus said that the Holy Spirit would come to "convict the world of sin" because they do not believe in Him, it is clear the He was referring to unbelievers because they are of "the world". And notice that the Holy Spirit does not convict the world of "sins" (plural), but of "sin" (singular). It is the sin of unbelief, the sin of rejecting Jesus and not beleieving in His finished work. But when people take John 16: 8 out of its proper context, they start to believe erronously that the Holy Spirit is here to convict believers of their sins. If the Holy Spirit never convicts you, the believers, of your sins, then what does He convict you of? Jesus saya that the Holy Spirit convicts you "of righteousness, because I go to My Father ad you see Me no more." Now, who was Jesus referring to? Clearly, with the use of the second person pronoun "you", Jesus was refrring to His believers, as represented by His disciples who He was talking to. This tells us that the Holy Spirit was sent to convict believers of righteousness. Now, are you made righteous by your works of by faith in Jesus? By now, you should know that you are made righteous by faith, for righteousnes is not "right doing", but "right standing".

Is There Judgment for the Believers?

Above, we have established that the Holy Spirit came to convict the world (unbelievers) of the sin of unbelief in Jesus. But for the believers, the Holy Spirit came to convict him of his righteousness in Christ. Today there are some believers who believe that the Holy Spirit is in them to convict them not just of their sins, but also of God's anger and judgment towards them. This is just not true either. God's anger and judgment for all our sins have been exhausted on the body of Jesus at the cross. So what judgment is there for the believers today? When Jesus sais,"...of judgment, because the ruler of this world is judged," who was He referring to? Believers or unbelievers? The answer is neither. He was referring to the ruler of this world. So, who is the ruler of this world? It is the devil or the accuser. When God created Adam and Eve, He gave them dominion over the world. But when Adam sinned, he handed this dominion over to the devil. That's why we live in a fallen world today, where sicknesses, diseases, wars, earthquakes, and floods around us. But guess what? His lease on the world is running out and we are edging closer and closer to the day when Jesus will return for us. Praise the Lord.

My friend, we have seen here that the Holy Spirit has come to: 1) convict unbelievers of the sin of unbelief, 2) convict believers of righteousness apart from works, and 3) remind us that the ruler of this world (the devil) has been judged at the cross. Now, this is called rightly dividing the Word.

It is the time now to understand that we can have victorious life over sin and without condemnation, which will then lead to a life of abundance blessings. Do you believe that it can happen now?

Dedo Suwanda

PS. Materials are extracted from "Waking The Dead" by John Eldredge and "Destined To Reign" by Joseph Prince.