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29 lines
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<title>Blue Letter Bible: Day By Day By Grace — Bob Hoekstra</title>
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Day By Day By Grace</div>
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<div class="subhead">Bob Hoekstra</div>
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<div class="desc-center"><div class="pad2020">May 5</div>
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<h2>The Letter versus the Spirit</h2>
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<div class="block"><i>[God] also made us sufficient as ministers of the new covenant, <b>not</b> of <b>the letter</b> but of <b>the Spirit</b>.</i> (<a onClick="return mV('2Cr',3,6);">2 Corinthians 3:6</a>)</div>
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<p>The "letter versus the Spirit" is another contrast between living by the old covenant or by the new. This is another choice that determines whether we are functioning by man's sufficiency or by God's.</p>
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<p>A life developed <i>"of <b>the letter</b>"</i> is one built on rules and regulations. We cannot <b>become</b> a child of God by rules; neither can we <b>develop</b> in godliness by regulations. No list of demands (including God's law) could ever bring to us, or develop in us, a life with God. All rules and regulations (including God's law) come without resource. They are a list of requirements, not a supply of adequacy. They call for an observable response, but they provide no power to produce the required effect.</p>
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<p>Consider circumcision, which was required by the law of God for the Israelites. <i>"And on the eighth day the flesh of his foreskin shall be <b>circumcised</b>"</i> (<a onClick="return mV('Lev',12,3);">Leviticus 12:3</a>). This was to be a reminder to God's people that they were His. Implementing that regulation did not inherently change the life of any Jew. Physical, external circumcision (that is, circumcision "by the letter") did not make a change in the heart of the one circumcised. It takes an inner working of God to produce a true child of God (in <a onClick="return mV('Rom',2,'-');">Romans 2</a> language, a "true Jew"). <i>"For he is <b>not</b> a Jew who is one <b>outwardly</b>, nor is that <b>circumcision</b> which is <b>outward</b> in the <b>flesh</b>; but he is a Jew who is one <b>inwardly</b>, and <b>circumcision</b> is that of the <b>heart</b>, in the <b>Spirit</b>, and <b>not</b> in the <b>letter</b>.</i>" (<a onClick="return mV('Rom',2,'28-29');">Romans 2:28-29</a>). God births His children and raises them in godliness through His work in their hearts by the Holy Spirit.</p>
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<p>The kingdom of heaven is <i>"of <b>the Spirit</b>."</i> It is not about external "do's and dont's" (such as, whether to follow the standard of God's law concerning certain foods). <i>"For the <b>kingdom of God</b> is <b>not food and drink</b>, but <b>righteousness</b> and <b>peace</b> and <b>joy</b> in the <b>Holy Spirit</b>"</i> (<a onClick="return mV('Rom',14,17);">Romans 14:17</a>). Entrance into God's family, as well as development as God's children, does not hinge on following various regulations. Rather, it is about the Holy Spirit supplying heavenly blessings in the hearts of those who trust in the Lord. Life with God is always <i>"of the <b>Spirit</b>"</i> (God's sufficiency), <b>not</b> <i>"of the <b>letter</b>"</i> (man's sufficiency).</p>
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<div class="dbdbg_prayer">Father, I admit my tendency at times to equate godly living with following regulations. Help me to live by the work of Your Spirit within my heart. Through Christ I pray, Amen.</div>
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