There are numerous examples in the scriptures of God promising things to people; of Him telling them to do seemingly impossible things because He has empowered them. And along with those examples, there are also some instances where people who have been promised things by God, allowed their perceptions to influence their judgment and their beliefs – sometimes to disastrous results.
Perceptions can actually be quite a dangerous trap. The way that we see and perceive can hold us in bondage, and even damage our belief if we do not have a solid foundation in Christ Jesus. And what I want to share with you today is how a Christ-centered perspective is essential for enjoying victory, and how a perspective based on the natural mind and senses, can be dangerous, and sometimes even deadly.
There’s a statement I often say that sometimes offends people… that the Gospel is simple, and there is great simplicity in Christ. This sometimes offends people because they are thinking of the word “simple” to mean stupid. This sometimes also offends people because they have spent their entire lives working hard and studying the scriptures, yet the Gospel is so simple that even a child can understand. So with one single statement I have managed to offend a wide audience. Yet in no way am I suggesting that the Gospel of Christ or Christ Himself are stupid, nor am I suggesting that studying the Gospel is of no value. It may in-fact surprise you to learn that my statement does not originate with me, but it is from the scriptures themselves.
The simplicity of the Gospel of Christ has been largely corrupted in modern Christianity today; replaced by something complicated, convoluted and full of man's efforts… not at all what Jesus intended. This is what we will be studying today. We will be taking a look at what the true simplicity of the Gospel is, and by seeing this we will also be able to see some of the ways man has complicated what God has made simple.
Are you under law or under grace today? Ask this question to a group of believers, and you would get a mixed-bag of answers. There is an impressive amount of confusion regarding such a fundamental part of our Christian walk, and God does not want us to be in confusion.
Today we will be studying the covenants which so many are confused about, and through the truth of scripture, we will answer the question of what covenant God has placed us under today, and we will not be in confusion any longer.