The new covenant, which is never made with a Gentile (except as the Gentile becomes part of Israel through Christ), only with the House of Israel and the House of Judah, is the writing of the Law in our mind and on our heart.

The old remains intact in the new and is greatly enlarged. Our righteousness must exceed the righteousness of the Orthodox Jews.

The Law serves as a slave that guards us against sin until we come to Christ. When we come to Christ by faith, Christ by several Divine graces, including the impartation of His own body and blood, enables us to keep the Law to a much fuller extent than ever could be possible by the adamic nature interacting with the Law of Moses.

If we choose to remain in our adamic personality and go back under the Law, then we have turned away from Christ. We have chosen the slave over Christ. And since we cannot offer the blood sacrifices required by the Law, we are not really under the Law at all. We have brought ourselves into confusion.

Paul said, "But after that faith is come, we are no longer under a schoolmaster [a guardian servant]" (Galatians 3:25).

What Is Faith?

If it is faith that removes us from the jurisdiction of the guardian servant, then it is critically important how we define faith. We will present three incorrect definitions and then the correct definition of faith.

The first incorrect definition is as follows: faith is our statement of belief in the facts concerning Christ, His atonement and His bodily resurrection from the dead. For example: "I believe that Jesus was born of a virgin, made an atonement for my sins on the cross of Calvary, and then was raised from the dead by the Father."

The above is a profession of belief that orients us to the plan of salvation but it is not what the Bible means by faith. The demons know these facts better than we (though they lie about them) and they possess no faith whatever.

The second incorrect definition of faith is the idea of identification. Christ is perfectly holy, perfectly righteous. "By being identified with Him I also am perfectly holy and perfectly righteous. I am an overcomer because He is an overcomer."

This is to call Jesus "Lord! Lord!" and then not do what He says. When we first are saved the Lord spreads His covering of righteousness over us. But then we are to keep His commandments. We are to "go and sin no more." If we keep appealing to the Lord's righteousness but do not keep His commandments, we do not love Him. We are attempting to turn the grace of God into immorality.

To be continued.