22 August 2023
We declare that the Covenant is everything. Christ is our covenant; He is the living Divine Law of God. In that sense, He is the Word of God. That's the proper ancient Hebrew understanding. The Word is not an idea or logical construct; the Word is a Person. He is the Truth.
The Covenant presumes spiritual birth. You cannot truly walk in the way of the Messiah without the Presence of His Holy Spirit. The flesh is utterly incapable. There is only one thing the flesh can do to approach peace with God, and that is to move the conscious awareness into the heart as the basis for committing to Him in feudal submission. That much flesh can do. But to rise and walk in His power requires the Holy Spirit, whose Presence coming into your soul is referred to as "spiritual birth".
This spiritual covenant with Christ recognizes what flesh can do. It recommends things for those who walk in the flesh, to get the best they can from this life. It is the mercy of God to offer that guidance. It is not the same guidance we give each other inside the Covenant.
Thus, we recognize that there is a Living Law we live that is not within reach of the flesh. Instead, the flesh gets a law code. For Gentiles, that law code is Noah. The ways of flesh are not the ways of the Spirit, but the law code will make life as merciful as possible. It will harvest a modicum of covenant blessings. It is designed as the starting point for the spiritually born to begin understanding their Lord and His moral character.
The law code recognizes human variations, and demands that people separate into their own ethnic nations. It doesn't demand hostility, but it does demand separation. Instead, the law code recognizes that hostility is inevitable at some point. That is wired into the flesh, part of the Fall. It cannot be redeemed without spiritual birth, so hostility is taken for granted. Thus, the law code also lays out a way of warfare in order to retain God's limited blessings.
There are distinctions in how we are supposed to treat our human enemies. Don't get confused; often Scripture describes "enemies" who are within your own nation. They get one kind of treatment as "neighbors" -- covenant family who aren't acting right. The real enemies of your nation get a different treatment. And from among them all, you will discern the difference between contextual enemies and sworn enemies. This is the way of the law.
The point is that, as we stand in the Covenant of Christ, we have an obligation to discern whether someone is operating in the realm of God's grace for us, and when they are simply under His laws. Are we dealing with a spiritual being, or does this situation call for law on the flesh?
Your convictions will tell you. A close brother might stray so far out into the wilderness that, within a given context, he acts as a sworn enemy, and warrants the appropriate treatment. But it remains a matter of context and conviction for you as a spiritual servant of the Lord. People do have a tendency to get lost in their fleshly natures, and we want to be as merciful as possible and restore them after the madness has passed. Still, their choices are not in your hands, and you must act according to the context.
If someone caters to the flesh, they are under the law code, not grace. You must discern the moment. Are they still under grace, or have they strayed out from under the Covenant and become subject to the law code? There is a whole range of differences between those two realms.
This is what's behind the teaching of the Divine Household. In God's household, in His earthly guise as a shepherd sheikh, there is family, there are servants/allies, and there are slaves. All serve His purpose but are treated differently when conflicts arise. Note that, on an experiential level, you will also regard a great many humans as mere scenery, or perhaps machinery, simply because you do not have the resources to give full attention to every human on the planet.
It is not "prejudice" as if that were some sin. Discrimination is a command from God. You are commanded to discern what role everyone plays when they come to your attention in the context. It is required. You defy God when you fail to discriminate in how you handle people in your life.
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