28 November 2021
The Covenant is everything.
I've said this before, several times: On this earth, your identity in Christ is the boundaries of the Covenant. How much of a Christian are you? Pay attention to the boundaries. They are written in your convictions, and your mind will recognize what's in your heart when your convictions confirm what you read and hear from the Word of God.
When Jesus spoke of loving your neighbor, he was referring to your Covenant brothers and sisters. Not in terms of worldly covenant membership, but in terms of heart-borne obedience. The Good Samaritan was tagged as a "covenant neighbor" because he obeyed God's Law from the heart. (Historical note: The Samaritan Covenant was substantially identical to Moses, with a couple of minor changes regarding the approved location of worship. Jesus spent several days teaching and performing miracles among the Samaritans near Shechem.) The whole point of that parable was to show that Jews could be outside the Covenant for failing to obey from the heart, and others could find themselves inside of it by virtue of obeying their convictions.
Your "neighbor" in Scripture is you Covenant brother or sister. The distinction is based on what you can discern of their heart with your own heart. It was a matter of Covenant identity, not national or racial identity. And you should not grant Covenant protection to those who reject the Covenant.
In the same fashion that Ezra and Nehemiah excluded from privilege those who refused to abide by the Covenant boundaries, so you must be discerning whom you embrace as Covenant family. It's not a question of being nice; it's a question of the same divine love that cracked a whip in the Temple, and pinned Jesus to the Cross. You do no favors to anyone by letting them slide past the boundaries. But for those who truly desire communion with the Lord, they are your brothers and sisters.
The boundaries laid out in the New Testament, in terms of "law", are the manifestation of the boundaries of the heart. They are a guide, the initial starting point. God's Law recognizes priorities, just as Jesus taught when confronted about Sabbath keeping and harvesting grain. God's Law recognizes priorities that overlap; rules must be flexible. But not for the sake of human convenience, but for the demands of the Kingdom service.
You can be friendly with folks outside the Covenant boundaries, but you cannot be actual friends, and you certainly cannot romance them. You must maintain that Covenant distance, the aloofness required by God's Law. Never make common cause with outsiders on any issue of human existence. Support things that are consistent with God's Law on this earth, but don't get directly involved any more than necessary. You can applaud a lot of things without getting on stage.
You have no expectation of righteousness from secular government or society. When things come out right, it's only random accident. There is nothing godly in secular political activities. The whole thing is condemned for the rejection of Noah's Code, which remains God's standard for the whole human race. That includes the requirement for all government and society to be tribal, feudal and under a valid covenant. No one has any business touching your life if they aren't covenant family.
All this nonsense about fairness and equality and rule by law is a flat rejection of Christ. The wokeness stuff is all from Satan, same as materialism. It all assumes there is no God and no divine revelation, regardless of the rhetoric. By no means should you ever assimilate into the society in which you live. They can do no righteousness; everything they do is defiled. Some things can be tolerable, depending on your mission calling and convictions, but nothing they do is actually "good".
Right about now, folks who embrace what this blog teaches should find themselves quite isolated socially. That's the fault of the world, not the faith you embrace. The boundaries have not changed since Christ rose from the grave. Moreover, the boundaries He taught were as ancient as Noah. What He taught was woven into the fabric of reality itself -- you really need to see it that way. It has not changed since Creation, because it is based on the character of His Father. Yes, it's lonely. That's our cross the bear right now.
Most of the people who claim His name aren't actually covenant people yet. In the coming years of tribulation, more and more will be shaken loose from their false doctrines and start looking for something better. We have it. It's the heart of the Father grafted into our souls.
Uphold the Covenant boundaries.
This document is public domain; spread the message.