From Broken Stones to Living Faith: Righteousness Under the New Covenant"

 

From Broken Stones to Living Faith: Righteousness Under the New Covenant

By

The Silent Pilgrim

Samuel Kitchen posted a letter to his scattered followers, 

and this is my response to it (his letter is at the end).

The statement mixes some biblical truths (righteousness comes by faith in God/Christ, not self-boasting works; the Spirit—not our strength—empowers obedience; sin is serious and calls for quick repentance; faith produces living evidence) with several clear errors when measured against the New Covenant as taught in the New Testament. The New Covenant (promised in Jeremiah 31:31-34 and fulfilled in Jesus) is not a revised version of the Old Covenant/Mosaic Law with "faith added on." It is a fundamentally better covenant (Hebrews 8:6-13) where:

• God writes His law internally on hearts and minds by the Holy Spirit (not external stone tablets or ritual observance).
• Justification and freedom from condemnation come by grace through faith in Christ's finished work alone.
• The Old Covenant system (including its ceremonial commands) is obsolete and fulfilled in Christ.

Here is why key parts of the statement contradict this, with direct scriptural grounding:

"If we sin we are judged of the law of God!" (and the idea that sin makes our righteousness "worthless" or puts us back under law's judgment)

This is the core error. The New Covenant explicitly declares believers not under the law's dominion or condemnation.

• Romans 6:14: "For sin will have no dominion over you, since you are not under law but under grace."
• Romans 8:1-2: "There is therefore now no condemnation for those who are in Christ Jesus. For the law of the Spirit of life has set you free in Christ Jesus from the law of sin and death."
• Galatians 5:18: "But if you are led by the Spirit, you are not under the law."

Christ bore the full curse and penalty of the law (Galatians 3:13; Romans 7:6). Sin still grieves the Spirit, requires repentance, and can bring discipline (Hebrews 12:5-11; 1 John 1:9), but it does not return us to law-based judgment or make our standing in Christ "worthless." The New Covenant promise is that God "will remember their sins and lawless deeds no more" (Hebrews 8:12; 10:17). The statement's logic—that ongoing sin (which all believers still experience—1 John 1:8) nullifies righteousness unless perfectly faith-powered—actually undermines assurance in Christ and revives the very condemnation the cross removed.

Keeping the Sabbath, Holy Days of God, tithing, etc., as part of "keeping the law" that strengthens faith or avoids being "breakers of the law"

The New Covenant does not bind believers to these Old Covenant shadows. They pointed to Christ but are no longer required observances:

• Colossians 2:16-17: "Therefore let no one pass judgment on you in questions of food and drink, or with regard to a festival or a new moon or a Sabbath. These are a shadow of the things to come, but the substance belongs to Christ."
• Romans 14:5-6: "One person esteems one day as better than another, while another esteems all days alike. Each one should be fully convinced in his own mind."
• Hebrews 8:13: "In speaking of a new covenant, he makes the first one obsolete."

The Jerusalem Council (Acts 15) confirmed that Gentile believers (and by extension the church) are not placed under the Mosaic Law's ceremonial requirements. Tithing was part of Israel's theocratic system; the New Testament shifts giving to cheerful, Spirit-led generosity (2 Corinthians 9:7). The statement treats these as ongoing "law" that faith must uphold or be judged by—this is exactly what Paul warned against as a return to "weak and worthless elementary principles" (Galatians 4:9; 5:1-4).

"Our righteousness is good works proclaimed and boasted while sinning... Faithless and dead" combined with "Righteousness is of faith. It is not of works" and the reward framework.

This creates an internal contradiction that the New Covenant resolves. Yes—righteousness is of faith, not our works (Ephesians 2:8-9; Romans 3:28; Philippians 3:9—"not having a righteousness of my own that comes from the law, but that which comes through faith in Christ"). Our attempts at self-righteousness are worthless (Isaiah 64:6). But the New Covenant does not say "if you sin at all, your faith-righteousness collapses and you're judged by the law."

• Good works (love, obedience, fruit of the Spirit—Galatians 5:22-23) are the evidence and result of living faith (James 2:14-26; Ephesians 2:10—"created in Christ Jesus for good works"). They do not "strengthen" faith to avoid law-judgment; the Spirit does the empowering (Philippians 2:13).
• Rewards in the New Covenant are for faithfulness done in Christ (1 Corinthians 3:10-15; Matthew 25), not for "doing what we ought" under law or to prove we "cannot be condemned by the law." The statement's tension ("we are not justified by works... but if we sin we are judged of the law") revives the very self-righteous boasting it claims to reject.

Minor strengths that still miss the New Covenant's heart

Parts like "Christ in us who doeth them," "by the Spirit of God," quick repentance, and thanking God for exposing sin align with New Covenant reality (Galatians 2:20; Romans 8:9-11; 1 John 1:9). The "mind of Christ" is indeed humble and receptive. However, these are framed inside a system that still treats believers as partially under the Old Covenant's external law-structure for judgment and righteousness. That framework was nailed to the cross (Colossians 2:14).

In summary, the New Covenant is grace-based freedom from the law's curse and ceremonial yoke, with the Spirit producing internal obedience that looks like love for God and neighbor—not ritual law-keeping to "strengthen faith" or avoid being "judged of the law." The statement's view, while sincere, functionally pulls believers back under the Old Covenant's shadow instead of resting fully in the substance, which is Christ. This is why Paul so strongly opposed any mixture of law and grace for justification or daily walk (Galatians 1:6-9; 3:1-5).

The goal of the New Covenant is joyful freedom in Christ, not fear of law-judgment.

Samuel Kitchen's letter to his followers:

If God commands us not to sin, and we sin still, our righteousness is worthless because it was not of faith.

Meaning, we may keep the sabbath of the Lord, the Holy Days of God, tithe of all, be hospitable, and keep the law….but if we sin we are judged of the law of God!

Righteousness is of faith. It is not of works.

Our works strengthen faith, showing it is alive, for if we disobey God how can we believe God in faith? Sin is a lack of faith and sin weakens faith.

Our righteousness, is good works proclaimed and boasted while sinning against God. Faithless and dead.

The righteousness of God is believing God, and knowing He is able to perform what He says! And through obedience, we strengthen faith. Knowing God is a rewarder to those who both do good and evil.

We are not justified by boasting or self righteousness. We are not justified by our works, for we all are sinners. But if we believe God let us believe in faith, and let us strengthen one another in faith, and loosen the chains of darkness that easily beset us.

For we cannot do the works that strengthen faith. But it is Christ in us who doeth them. Therefore it is not ourselves who strengthen faith, but Christ in us. And it is God who gives us living faith, and living faith is strengthened and powered by the spirit of God, through which Christ lives in us.

Not by our own hands, might, ability, strength, I.Q, and works.

But by the Spirit of God.

So when sin is revealed, let us not turn our heads away, for we strive always to walk and to live by the living faith of Jesus Christ. Let us repent quickly, of allowing Satan to weaken faith through disobedience, and therefore by repentance turn to God wholly and being strengthened thoroughly filled with the Holy Spirit. The mind of Christ is not hostile, angry or bitter against God for exposing sin. When sin is exposed, let us thank God. For it is HIS GOOD WORK for our sake to walk in faith and be rewarded according to our faith.

We do not get rewarded for doing the things which we ought. We are rewarded according to doing which we ought in faith, not in self righteousness, not as breakers of the law but those who cannot be condemned by the law.