Jeremiah 31:31 and the New Covenant: How Armstrongism Completely Botched It
(With Hebrews 8 Rubbing Salt in the Wound)
Behold, the days are coming, declares the Lord, when I will make a new covenant with the house of Israel and the house of Judah, not like the covenant that I made with their fathers on the day when I took them by the hand to bring them out of the land of Egypt, my covenant that they broke, though I was their husband, declares the Lord. (Jeremiah 31:31-32, ESV)
God Himself dropped a prophecy that should have ended the entire "let's drag Sinai into the Church Age" charade. Yet Herbert W. Armstrong and his ever-shrinking parade of self-anointed successors somehow twisted this divine declaration into theological gymnastics worthy of a circus sideshow. "New Covenant? Sure, but keep all the old rules, pay your tithes, and don't forget the Feast sites!" Brilliant strategy, boys. Really makes you wonder how they "rightly divide" anything besides their members' bank accounts.
God, never one for vague corporate memos, lays it out crystal clear:
For this is the covenant that I will make with the house of Israel after those days, declares the Lord: I will put my law within them, and I will write it on their hearts. And I will be their God, and they shall be my people. And no longer shall each one teach his neighbor and each his brother, saying, ‘Know the Lord,’ for they shall all know me, from the least of them to the greatest, declares the Lord. For I will forgive their iniquity, and I will remember their sin no more. (Jeremiah 31:33-34)
This isn't some minor software update to the Mosaic system with added Armstrong-flavored content like triple tithing, pork police, and calendar wars. No, this is a full system replacement. Internal transformation via the Holy Spirit. Universal knowledge of God—no elite "Philadelphian" headquarters bureaucrats or modern "apostles" needed to interpret for the peons. And best of all: complete, permanent forgiveness. Not the "repent, re-qualify, and grovel before the minister" hamster wheel these groups adore.
Jesus Himself confirmed it: "This cup that is poured out for you is the new covenant in my blood" (Luke 22:20). But why stop there when Hebrews 8 exists to absolutely eviscerate the old system?
Hebrews 8: The New Covenant Smackdown
The book of Hebrews doesn't pull punches—it quotes Jeremiah 31 and then joyfully plants the boot on the old covenant's neck:
"But as it is, Christ has obtained a ministry that is as much more excellent than the old as the covenant he mediates is better, since it is enacted on better promises. For if that first covenant had been faultless, there would have been no occasion to look for a second." (Hebrews 8:6-7)
Faultless? The old one was a glorious failure precisely because of those stubborn human hearts. So God promised something vastly superior. Then comes the knockout:
"In speaking of a new covenant, he makes the first one obsolete. And what is becoming obsolete and growing old is ready to vanish away." (Hebrews 8:13)
Obsolete. Vanishing. Ready to disappear. Take a good long look at that, Bwana Bob Thiel, Dave Pack, Gerald Flurry, Jon Brisby, Samuel Kitchen, and the rest of the COG relic collectors. Your precious hybrid "spiritual old covenant" that you peddle as essential for salvation? The Bible calls it outdated junk, fading into irrelevance like yesterday's failed prophecy date. The old had a weak priesthood, a shadowy tabernacle, and repetitive sacrifices that could never perfect anyone. Jesus brought the real deal—a better High Priest, better promises, and actual rest.
Where Armstrongism Went Off the Rails (Spectacularly)
The entire Armstrongist empire is built on studiously ignoring Hebrews 8 while cherry-picking "Israel" prophecies to prop up their British Israelism fantasy. They love yapping about a "New Covenant" in sermons—just enough to sound biblical—before burying it under mountains of Old Covenant baggage. "The law is written on your heart now... so keep it exactly like ancient Israel or you're disqualified!" How profoundly convenient for maintaining control, extracting cash, and disfellowshipping questioners.
Their system couldn't survive the truth: the New Covenant isn't about becoming "spiritual Israel" cosplaying Old Testament rituals to earn brownie points with God. Christ fulfilled it all. The law on hearts produces real fruit by the Spirit, not the fear-soaked, gritted-teeth obedience that defined decades of ruined lives, broken families, and ministerial abuse in these groups.
The Glorious Implications (That They Desperately Ignore)
Total forgiveness. Direct access to God. Freedom from the shadows that pointed to Christ. Grace that empowers instead of a law that only exposed failure. This is what the exiles from Armstrongism discover: actual life, not perpetual performance anxiety.
Armstrongism didn't merely misunderstand Jeremiah 31 and Hebrews 8—they performed a full-on doctrinal inversion, standing these glorious truths on their heads to protect a dying system of control and cash flow. While God announced a better covenant with better promises, these self-appointed experts doubled down on the obsolete, peddling the same legalistic poison that couldn't save Israel and certainly won't save anyone today. Their "one true church" routine, complete with prophetic failures, Kenyan scandals, luxury lifestyles funded by the faithful, and endless calendar/tithing obsessions, stands exposed as the very embodiment of the "faulty" old system God replaced.
Yet the good news rings louder than their desperate radio broadcasts and member letters ever could: the days foretold by Jeremiah are here. The old has passed away. The new has come in the person and finished work of Jesus Christ. No more middlemen demanding your paycheck to "qualify" for a kingdom they can't even accurately predict. No more fear-driven rule-keeping that leaves souls exhausted and families fractured. The Holy Spirit writes God's law on hearts not to resurrect Sinai, but to produce living faith that looks like Christ.
If you're still trapped in one of these splinter groups, do yourself and your loved ones a favor: open Jeremiah 31 and Hebrews 8 without the headquarters-approved filters. Let the Spirit speak directly, as the New Covenant promises He will. The freedom purchased at Calvary isn't a future reward for perfect Sabbath or Feast attendance—it's a present reality for all who trust in the better Mediator.
Stop earning what Christ has already given. The hamster wheel stops here. Real rest, real relationship, and real life await outside the shadows of Armstrongism. The new covenant isn't just better—it's everything the old one could never be.
Freedom isn't coming. It's already been delivered.
Total forgiveness. Direct access to God. Freedom from the shadows that pointed to Christ. Grace that empowers instead of a law that only exposed failure. This is what the exiles from Armstrongism discover: actual life, not perpetual performance anxiety.
Armstrongism didn't merely misunderstand Jeremiah 31 and Hebrews 8—they performed a full-on doctrinal inversion, standing these glorious truths on their heads to protect a dying system of control and cash flow. While God announced a better covenant with better promises, these self-appointed experts doubled down on the obsolete, peddling the same legalistic poison that couldn't save Israel and certainly won't save anyone today. Their "one true church" routine, complete with prophetic failures, Kenyan scandals, luxury lifestyles funded by the faithful, and endless calendar/tithing obsessions, stands exposed as the very embodiment of the "faulty" old system God replaced.
Yet the good news rings louder than their desperate radio broadcasts and member letters ever could: the days foretold by Jeremiah are here. The old has passed away. The new has come in the person and finished work of Jesus Christ. No more middlemen demanding your paycheck to "qualify" for a kingdom they can't even accurately predict. No more fear-driven rule-keeping that leaves souls exhausted and families fractured. The Holy Spirit writes God's law on hearts not to resurrect Sinai, but to produce living faith that looks like Christ.
If you're still trapped in one of these splinter groups, do yourself and your loved ones a favor: open Jeremiah 31 and Hebrews 8 without the headquarters-approved filters. Let the Spirit speak directly, as the New Covenant promises He will. The freedom purchased at Calvary isn't a future reward for perfect Sabbath or Feast attendance—it's a present reality for all who trust in the better Mediator.
Stop earning what Christ has already given. The hamster wheel stops here. Real rest, real relationship, and real life await outside the shadows of Armstrongism. The new covenant isn't just better—it's everything the old one could never be.
Freedom isn't coming. It's already been delivered.
Silent Pilgrim
23 comments:
Free! Free! No more scheduled meetings with the brethren! No more celebrations.... of your past sins absolved by Jesus' sacrifice. Of the coming of the Holy Spirit on Pentecost. NOT.
Thank you brother! I wish I had understood these foundational truths in 1972. I would have avoided a lot of stress and financial setbacks. The best that came from my 24 years in WWCG was, and still is, my wonderful wife of 52 years. Also, by God’s grace, our three children renounced Armstrongism, and are currently faithful followers of Jesus as Lord and Savior. God responds to those who seek Him with a sincere heart.
You can read this as the Torah laws are now written in your hearts instead of tables of stone.
Jesus from all accounts was a Torah observing Jew. His objections were to the added oral law that laid additional restrictions.
Scholars believe the Gospels were written after Paul's letters by educated Greek speakers.
Originally Christianity was a Jewish offshoot and then gradually taken over by Gentiles.
The COGs want to believe all the NT was inspired and written by apostles.
Other than some of Paul's letters, nobody knows who the authors are.
Silent Pilgram
When I read your scorn for the old covenant, I'm not sure if you are indicting HWA or God. Do you even know the real difference between the 2 covenants?
You say HWA misunderstood Jeremiah 31 and Hebrews 8. I agree, but hey, you're in the same boat!
Re-read both Jeremiah 31 and Hebrews 8 again (and while you are at it, thrown in Ezekiel 11 and 36). The new covenant mentioned is made with WHO? WHEN?
WHO? The who is very specific language and terminology, and it is NOT the church. It's those distinctions you are on record saying no longer exist and will never exist again: the HOUSE of Israel and the HOUSE of Judah.
WHEN? Since stubborn hearts haven't been eliminated yet, we read, "FOR this is the covenant I will make with the house of Israel and the house of Judah AFTER THOSE DAYS . . .".
For the Church, the ekklesia, the elect, the NC is in operation now (Luke 22:20) and producing the intended results. For physical Israel and Judah? Since you are not a big fan of the old testament, just read Romans 9-11 with Hebrews 8 and you will get the full picture.
At times SP scores a good point or 2. But most of the time the presentation comes off as a circus sideshow of its own.
They like to quote,( completely out of context) the verse about men robbing God by not tithing. That verse from the book of Malachi was written exclusively for the Old Covenant Isrealites and not for New covenant Christians. If tithing is manditory for Christians then so are the sacrificial laws and the Hebrew holy days, ect. all of which where addressed in the book of Malachi. The book of Malachi was written exclusively for the ancient Isrealites and not New covenant Christians.
The hamster wheel stops here>>the wheel does not stop because the rules give members something to do and the feeling you're in the only true church and others do not because they are all deceived by Satan fills a deep need inside of people
Not that I ever wanted to know what the WCG shoot-out during the '90s was like, but I'm thinking the current version of Banned probably approximates it pretty well. You have Classic Christianity presented in a depth to which most people who were originally attracted to the teachings of Herbert W. Armstrong had never gone. And you have the Armstrong-stalwarts countering it with, and attempting to renew interest and trust in Armstrongism as it it were the faith once delivered instead of the blatant cultism we now know it to be, having at last gone beyond the superficial, and to the depths which HWA had forbidden. What was the old man afraid of, anyway? What did he mean, "Don't read outside materials"? Well, now we know! The truth has set many of his followers free! It would have been much more satisfying had this taken place during his era, but better late than never!
Why all this gymnastics? Matthew 19:16-17 states what's required to enter the kingdom:
16 "Good Master, what good thing shall I do, that I may have eternal life?
17 And he said unto him, Why callest thou me good? there is none good but one, that is, God: but if thou wilt enter into life, keep the commandments."
Did Christ say keep the commandments?
""Keep the commandments""...
Interesting how people can read scripture and come up with diametrically different interpretations.
Yes, Jesus did say “keep the commandments,” - but the very next verses show why He said it.
When Jesus tells the man to sell everything and follow Him, the man walks away thus breaking Commandment 1 (another god), Commandment 2 (idol), and Commandment 10 (coveting). So he did not keep the commandments after all, despite claiming he had always done so, .
The disciples then ask the real salvation question: “Who then can be saved?” Jesus answers: “With man this is impossible, but with God all things are possible.” This one word 'impossible' destroys the entire “keep the commandments to be saved” doctrine.
That word means you cannot save yourself, you cannot keep the Law well enough, and eternal life is not earned. Salvation is only possible through God’s grace.
If the point were that we can keep the commandments -which it is not - , Matthew 5 should give us pause because Jesus raises the Law to a level no one can meet. That is the very purpose ofJesus's statementin Matthew 5.
Anyone who thinks they keep it as Jesus so elevated it proves they have not even paused to understood it.
Paul says:
“By the works of the Law no flesh will be justified.” (Rom 3:20)
“If righteousness came through the Law, Christ died for nothing.” (Gal 2:21)
“The Law was our tutor to lead us to Christ.” (Gal 3:24)
The rich young ruler story is a perfect illustration of this Pauline truth. Jesus uses the Law the same way Paul does , as a mirror to expose the heart.
A view seems to see two tracks , one of them being a future, ethnic‑Israel‑only New Covenant, separate from the church age? In other words, a New Covenant for the church now and a separate, ethnic‑Israel‑only New Covenant later. If so, that is classic dispensational two‑covenant theology.
Others may soften it and say it’s “one covenant, just separated in time,” but the New Testament never divides the people of God into two tracks. Hebrews says the New Covenant is already in force. Romans 11 says Israel will be grafted back into the same covenant tree, not given a different one. The New Covenant is fulfilled in Christ, and everyone , Jew or Gentile, enters it the same way: by faith in Him.
The New Testament never teaches this manner of separated covenants or phased covenants. It teaches one New Covenant, promised to Israel and Judah, fulfilled in Christ, and already in force. The church participates in that covenant now, and Israel will be brought into this same covenant, not a different one.
Jesus said His blood is the New Covenant (Luke 22:20).
Paul said we are ministers of the New Covenant (2 Cor 3:6).
Hebrews says the New Covenant is in force because the old is obsolete (Heb 8:13).
Gentiles are grafted into Israel’s promises now (Rom 11:17).
Believers already have the Spirit‑written heart Ezekiel promised (2 Cor 3:3).
So the question is not “Who was it promised to?” The question is “Who is included when God fulfils it?”
The New Testament’s answer is simple: those united to Christ, Jew and Gentile together
The wonderful freedom of the New Covenant transfers are three main ones: 1. We no longer have to worship in a Temple (Ye are the temple). 2. No more animal sacrifices, (Christ is our sacrifice). 3. We don’t have to go to a human high priest (Christ is our High Priest). These things have been transferred by Jesus Christ for our salvation.
But when it comes to BI, their Throne of David doctrine somehow gets “transferred” 700 plus years before Christ. But all those other TRANSFERS occurred after the death, resurrection and ascension of Jesus Christ. Their BI "transfer" (which really meant put in ruin), has nothing to do with our salvation. Christ is King!
Notice that discrepancy.
I just feel relief and unburdened. Physical life is SO hard as it is, there was never any break from the fear of breaking the rules. So happy to escape the middleman.
Anon 1258
What I have presented is based on the "every man in his own order" principle and not the "one size fits all" view where heaven and hell are the only 2 options. That option basically eliminates the majority (past and present) of mankind from any legitimate opportunity and fair chance to know the true God.
You question the distinctions I make between Israel and the Church, yet the Bible (especially the NT) is saturated with 2 levels of human existence and experience. We have
The Church, the spiritual people of God/ the physical people Israel
The true Israel / Israel after the flesh
The inward Jew / the outward Jew
The new man / the old man
The new heart / the heart of stone
The circumcision of Christ / the circumcision after the manner of Moses
The first fruit harvest / the latter harvest
The first resurrection/ the 2nd resurrection
The list is very long!
The elect of God have a unique relationship with Christ that will never be duplicated. They are the Body of Christ, the House of God, the Temple of God, joint heirs with Christ, The FIRSTFRUITS and Firstborn. The Church shall judge the world (the nations). The 12 apostles will literally judge the 12 tribes of Israel. Physical Israel and all the nations will have the opportunity to experience the new covenant relationship with God, which is the basis of the salvation process.
The conclusion of this matter is given by the apostle Paul in Romans 11:
God will have mercy on ALL (when)?-- verse 32
The receiving of physical Israel and the reconciling of the world (when)?--verse 15. All of Israel to be saved and the covenant extended to THEM (when)?
"" there shall come (the 2nd coming) out of Zion the Deliverer who shall turn away ungodliness from (who?) Jacob. For this is my covenant with (who?) THEM, when I take away their sins". (Verse 26-27).
The distinctions are real. The millennial restoration is both real and literal.
A new covenant made with a literal and physical house of Israel and house of Judah is real. How can this be? Every man in his own order!
Temple (Holy Spirit) / old Temple…….. then New Temple
But see you can be in a church (but at the same time claim to be a certain tribe , like Judah) Rev 3:9 or Rev 2:9. And Jesus called that person or people liars. You can look at those verses a couple of ways. I don’t know exactly what Jesus saw or was referring to. The book of revelations never uses the word Christian, but the Greek uses the term Tribe of Judah).
I would play it safe, and try on working within the new man with a new heart.
Romans 11 does indeed speak of Israel’s future “receiving,” Israel’s future turning from ungodliness, and Israel’s salvation at the return of the Deliverer - these are true biblical promises. Yet Paul is not describing a second covenant, a second people of God, or a separate millennial salvation system; he is describing the moment when Israel is brought into the same New Covenant already inaugurated in Christ. It seems there is no resolution to this fundamental difference.
620 writes, "Paul is describing THE MOMENT when Israel is brought into the same NC already inaugurated in Christ".
I have no issue with this statement. Obviously there is but one NC and one way to salvation, even though there can be different methodologies preparing the way for such. My comments on this are primarily a reaction to Silent Pilgrim's many posts on the NC, where he is just as guilty as HWA by imposing a methodology upon people where it does not apply. He denies the existence of ethnic differences, denies the restoration described by Christ and the OT prophets (Matthew 19:28, Acts 3:19-21), and denies a literal messianic age where national Israel (as he put it) makes a comeback. For him, Galations 3:28 dismisses a literal interpretation of Hebrews 8:8 and most of OT prophetic Scripture as having already been fulfilled. He believes such contradicts the NT in general and Pauline theology in particular., which it does NOT.
The NC can have differing methodologies leading to the final outcome even as the same Gospel can have a different emphasis for different audiences. Not understanding this has led many theologians to declare that Jesus and Paul
preached different gospels, which they did not.
Pauline theology is for the "church", not for the nations and profane masses . . .yet! Compare Revelation 2:26-27 and Matthew 19:28 with Paul's church epistles The one describes the events leading up.to the conversion of ethnic nations and peoples while the other is addressed to individuals God has specifically chosen for specific reasons. God deals with the church as a loving Father, in wisdom, grace and peace.. Of Israel and the nations? Not so much . . .yet. Of them it is written:
" For out of Zion will come the Deliverer who shall turn away ungodliness from Jacob. He will teach us his ways and we will walk in his paths, for out of Zion shall go forth the law. He shall judge many nations and rebuke many people. For when THY judgements are in the earth the inhabitants of the world will learn righteousness". (Romans 1126-27, Isaiah 2:3-4, 26:9). And there will be consequences and punishment if they refuse to follow Christ's directives (see Zechariah 14:16-19). Romans 9 tells us, God will have mercy on whom he pleases, which means He can put conditions on that mercy as He sees fit.
Don't misunderstood what I am saying. I am not promoting several different paths to salvation, but to REPENTANCE. It is God's will that all come to repentance and the knowledge of the truth (2 Peter 3:9, 1 Timothy 2:4). Repentance is a prerequisite to salvation and comes before the begettal of the spirit. And it is the spirit the inaugurates the NC, which is THAT MOMENT when Israel and the nations are brought into the same NC already inaugurated in Christ.
Anon, Friday, June 19, 2026 at 11:54:40 PM PDT, wrote:
""Keep the commandments""...
Interesting how people can read scripture and come up with diametrically different interpretations.
Yes, Jesus did say “keep the commandments,” - but the very next verses show why He said it.
When Jesus tells the man to sell everything and follow Him, the man walks away thus breaking Commandment 1 (another god), Commandment 2 (idol), and Commandment 10 (coveting). So he did not keep the commandments after all, despite claiming he had always done so, .
The disciples then ask the real salvation question: “Who then can be saved?” Jesus answers: “With man this is impossible, but with God all things are possible.” This one word 'impossible' destroys the entire “keep the commandments to be saved” doctrine.
That word means you cannot save yourself, you cannot keep the Law well enough, and eternal life is not earned. Salvation is only possible through God’s grace.
If the point were that we can keep the commandments -which it is not - , Matthew 5 should give us pause because Jesus raises the Law to a level no one can meet. That is the very purpose ofJesus's statementin Matthew 5.
Anyone who thinks they keep it as Jesus so elevated it proves they have not even paused to understood it.
Paul says:
“By the works of the Law no flesh will be justified.” (Rom 3:20)
“If righteousness came through the Law, Christ died for nothing.” (Gal 2:21)
“The Law was our tutor to lead us to Christ.” (Gal 3:24)
The rich young ruler story is a perfect illustration of this Pauline truth. Jesus uses the Law the same way Paul does , as a mirror to expose the heart.
******
Anon, it is true writing: "...Salvation is only possible through God’s grace...."
You mentioned: "...Jesus raises the Law to a level no one can meet. That is the very purpose ofJesus's statementin Matthew 5..."
Why would Jesus, a righteous man, raise the Law to a level no one can meet? Jesus, Himself, as a human being did meet it.
We are told this:
"Knowing this, that the law is not made for a righteous man, but for the lawless and disobedient, for the ungodly and for sinners, for unholy and profane, for murderers of fathers and murderers of mothers, for manslayers," 1 Tim 1:9
I suggest that "...The rich young ruler story is a perfect illustration of..." of what happens in our lives when God has not given/granted repentance to us.
IOW, is it possible that...... Repentance, like salvation, is also only possible through God’s grace?
Time will tell...
John
BP8, Monday, June 22, 2026 at 12:44:27 PM PDT, wrote:
“Repentance is a prerequisite to salvation and comes before the begettal of the spirit,”
******
And that is true for all individuals who are to be sealed by God’s Spirit and become firstfruits: members of God’s Church, but what about the rest of the world: the Great Harvest of humanity?
Will repentance be a prerequisite for the rest of humanity also?
Jesus’ God, His Father, provides salvation (John 3:16-17) through His Son:
“And we have seen and do testify that the Father sent the Son to be the Saviour of the world.” I John 4:14
To the Father, salvation is a done deal for the world, but each individual in his/her own order, but the firstfruits must precede “the rest” of humanity.
The apostle Paul said in Hebrews 11 the following:
:39 “And these all, having obtained a good report through faith, received not the promise:
:40 God having provided some better thing for us, that they without us should not be made perfect.”
The “us” are the firstfruits (Rev 14:4; )
Is it possible that repentance/salvation, both by God's grace, will both be granted to all of “the rest” of the world at the time of the second resurrection?
Time will tell…
John
Correct John, it was the apostle Paul who wrote Hebrews. As he said he was in chains. Hebrews 10:34 "for you had compassion on me in my chains", NKJV
Anon, Tuesday, June 23, 2026 at 10:29:55 AM PDT, wrote:
Correct John, it was the apostle Paul who wrote Hebrews. As he said he was in chains. Hebrews 10:34 "for you had compassion on me in my chains", NKJV
******
Paul well understood those literal chains, which was something evil happening in his life.
Paul, like so many of us, was learning about evil and learning to hate evil. Paul recognized this happening, to one degree or another, in everyone's lives. He expressed that in Hebrews 2:15.
"And deliver them who through fear of death were all their lifetime subject to bondage."
Being in chains was a bondage for Paul. People experience all sorts of pains and suffering in their lives: bondage.
It appears that the fear of death may be about the worse bondage, and Paul knew who to hold accountable for death and, for that matter, sin ("He that committeth sin is of the devil;..." I John 3:8):
Heb 2:14 "Forasmuch then as the children are partakers of flesh and blood, he also himself likewise took part of the same; that through death he might destroy him that had the power of death, that is, the devil;"
Jesus' God, Jesus' Father is forever, and the devil is only "for:" no forever for that evil thing.
Was Paul confident that the cause of such bondage, pains, suffering, etc. would one day finally cease working in our lives.
Time will tell...
John
Until that time, "the just shall live by faith", as Paul would reference.
Romans 1:17 For in it the righteousness of God is revealed from faith to faith; as it is written, “The just shall live by faith.”
Galatians 3:11 But that no one is justified by the law in the sight of God is evident, for “the just shall live by faith.”
Hebrews 10:38 Now the just shall live by faith; But if anyone draws back, My soul has no pleasure in him.”
Anon, Tuesday, June 23, 2026 at 9:20:50 PM PDT, wrote:
Until that time, "the just shall live by faith", as Paul would reference.
Romans 1:17 For in it the righteousness of God is revealed from faith to faith; as it is written, “The just shall live by faith.”
Galatians 3:11 But that no one is justified by the law in the sight of God is evident, for “the just shall live by faith.”
Hebrews 10:38 Now the just shall live by faith; But if anyone draws back, My soul has no pleasure in him.”
******
Yes, the just shall live by faith, as Paul often repeated, and Paul always gave the glory, praise and honor to Jesus' God, Jesus' Father, and never took any of that to self. Paul knew God was doing something by the power of His Spirit within Paul:
Romans 3:24 "Being justified freely by his grace through the redemption that is in Christ Jesus:"
:26 "To declare, [I say], at this time his righteousness: that he might be just, and the justifier of him which believeth in Jesus."
The just live by faith, because God produces that fruit in the life of the just by the power of God's Spirit.
God will give out faith by proportion/measure (Romans 12:3,6) to each man/woman in his/her own order in accordance with God's will.
And who believes in Jesus? The just, but how? By God's Spirit working within the workmanship of God's hands. Proof?
"And what [is] the exceeding greatness of his power to us-ward who believe, according to the working of his mighty power," Eph 1:19
No human being, of and by SELF, should boast about having such faith and belief:
"John answered and said, A man can receive nothing, except it be given him from heaven."
John 3:27
So, is it true that the just shall live by faith?
If the answer isn't "Yes, Amen," then time will tell...
John
To another spiritual John,
“No human being, of and by SELF, should boast about having such faith and belief:”
"John answered and said, A man can receive nothing, except it be given him from heaven."
__________________________________________________________________________
And speaking of fruits: Faith is one of the fruits of the spirit. It comes from the Father. If only our faith could increase, Time will
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