12/02/2023 - UNNECESSARY THINGS

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I will not rebuke you for your sacrifices or your burnt offerings, which are continually before Me. Psalm 50.8

Although the Lord Jesus said that He was inaugurating the New Covenant, made in His blood and with the Spirit of God, we live as if we want to go back to the past, when Israel made animal sacrifices in order to cover their sins. That no longer exists! If anyone tries to resurrect this kind of practice, they are under a curse. After all, Christ’s sacrifice is worth for all eternity (Hebrews 7.27; 9.26). Those who have accepted Him as Savior are already free from their sins (John 1.12). Praise Him!

Some still see meaning in, for example, participating in the feasts mentioned in the Old Testament. This is the beginning of the deviation of many lives, who do not understand that there is no biblical recommendation to return to such things. In the past, sacrifices were palliatives for God’s people who erred by not persisting in believing in the Lord. However, the blood of Jesus is the final work of the Father (Revelation 22:13).

When we do certain things that do not exist in the work of Christ accomplished in His death, they are only considered unnecessary; however, sacrificing animals is dangerous. You see, the Lamb of God was slain only once. Therefore, there is no reason for us to make another sacrifice to bring us closer to the Lord. Fasting to receive blessings is another mistake. Jesus said that we will fast only when we miss the Bridegroom (Mark 2.19,20).

We will be rebuked for not giving God’s Word the attention it deserves. In this case, we are despising Jesus. He is the Intermediary between God and man. Just having faith in what He says puts us in the presence of our Father (John 14.6; 1 Timothy 2.5). No one has to go back to the past; now is the time for people to believe in Christ’s substitution by suffering in our place (Isaiah 53:4-6). Be firm and win!

We must never use the statements of people who are wise according to the world in order to justify our actions or to encourage others to draw near to God. Whoever brings strange fire before the divine altar offends the Lord (Leviticus 10.1,2). What do the philosophers of ancient Greece have to do with anyone’s salvation? Why emphasize what they said, as if it were a good remedy for man’s problems? The lost need to believe that Jesus has replaced us!

Do you remember the sons of Aaron, the high priest, who brought strange fire on the altar of God and dropped dead? We don’t need to mention the ancient philosophers, nor those living today, because they know nothing – and if they want to live forever in the presence of the Lord, they will have to convert to Him: And Nadab and Abihu died when they offered profane fire before the Lord (Numbers 26.61). Heavenly fire is enough!

Stop the petty works! If God has not answered you so far, He will not answer you at all. The Most High answers only when we pray in faith, according to His Word. Quit your childish attitudes and turn to the eternal Father, the Strength of your life. With Him, you will never be defeated! 

In Christ, with love,

R. R. Soares