'Children Live What They Learn' Applies To New Testament Christianity

"Children live what they learn" applies to us Christians. Most of us begin in what I call it, "Sunday School 101," memorizing The Ten Commandments. Everything is about US - what we should do, and what we shouldn't do, to be good Kingdom kids. As The Gospel Coach, I share something totally different.

The Old System Produced Failure

But this was the Old system. We're told in the New Testament that this system was against us, contrary to us. It was faulty, found fault with us. It was sin-focused, and this make us all feel guilty and condemned. It made us all self-righteous. It was unprofitable and weak, so it was 'disannulled'.

The purpose for this system was NOT to give us something to try to live by. We're told that NO one could live by it. Everyone failed. Paul says there were 'None righteous, no not one.' God wanted the Old system to show us we could NOT live by it. No one had ever been able to. If we don't learn from this, and try to live by it, we show our PRIDE and ARROGANCE. We say, "Watch ME, God - I can do it. No one else in the world ever could, except Jesus, but I can. Watch me!"

The Law of First Impression

The law of first impression says what we learn first makes the greatest impression on us, and sticks with us. The first thing we usually hear about is God's LAW. Thus, we tend to think that the LAW is 'the name of the game.' We think we should live by law. The OPPOSITE is true.

The law was only made for the Jews, not us Gentiles. We are religious crooks! We have stolen the Jewish law. They couldn't live by it and we can't either.

God Changed Things

God has changed things. The whole Old Testament says he was going to. When Jesus came, he did. We are told the LAW was given by Moses, but grace and truth came by Jesus. He's changed everything. But for now, Paul says that OLD things have passed away... ALL things have become new. In II Corinthians 3, he calls the OLD the ministry condemnation and death, and the NEW the ministry of righteousness. He says we should only minister the NEW, not the OLD.

If we live in the OLD, we live in condemnation and guilt -- a sense of failure. Here, we cannot live in faith, hope, trust, and confidence before God. We can't come boldly before the throne of grace. We can't reign and rule in life with Jesus. Next time we'll see how this all applies to changing the game of football, and what happens if the Old ways are still taught and lived by.

Continual Teaching of the Old Ways

Paul says the Old Testament law should not be taught,-- preachers who don't teach the gospel should be cursed. But many will continue to teach law because it's EASY - "Don't lie, steal or commit adultery. Do pray, read the Bible, give money." DAH!

He compares 'Instructors in Christ' vs. 'Fathers of the Gospel'. Instructors are teachers who tell you what to do: "DO this... DON'T do that." Gospel fathers just take you my the hand and lead you into the presence of Jesus and his finished work. God does not want us living by RULES. If we do, we can't live in intimate RELATIONSHIP with him. This is also true in your family: the more rules there are, the less relationship.

Living by rules and precepts, we can't see that the law was revoked. Various passages say this. Hebrews says it was disannulled. The reformation took the Old Covenant law away, establishing the New Covenant gospel in its place. Jesus came to do the will of God by taking away the first and setting up the second. The Old was nailed to the cross of Jesus. It was abolished. Not seeing this, we keep failing.

The Game of Football

It would be like the NFL coming out with new rules for football. They say there are too many injuries, and they so they change things. They shorten the field to 50 yards, saying 100 yards is too long. They forbid passing the ball - you can only run it. They abolish tackling. Now, if you place your hand on a runner's shoulder, and squeeze once, he's tackled. After the changes, if players keep playing by the OLD rules, they're kicked out. It's like we get kicked out of the game too, if we don't live in God's NEW ways. We should be living in gospel truth, his gift of righteousness, his abundant grace and his total unconditional love, not in the old ways of the law.

Children Live What They Learn

Paul says ONLY live and minister the NEW Testament - the ministry of righteousness. He says OLD things have passed away, and ALL things have been made NEW. If we receive this righteousness and grace then we reign and rule with Christ. John says, "As Jesus is, so are we in this world". This is why he tells us to REPENT - of all Old beliefs about his law, and everything else - and only believe and live the gospel truth.

If we continue to live in the OLD, we cannot live in the NEW. The Old excludes and evicts the New. We must choose to live in the NEW, or we will continue to be in bondage to the Old. Paul says we are FOOLS if we live by the Old ways. He says we are cursed in everything we try to do. Be smart. Be smart. Don't live this way. Live in the power of the gospel. As THE GOSPEL COACH, this is what I share.