Matthew 8:2-4
And,
behold, there came a leper and worshipped him, saying, Lord, if thou wilt, thou
canst make me clean.
And
Jesus put forth his hand, and touched him, saying, I will; be thou clean. And
immediately his leprosy was cleansed.
And
Jesus saith unto him, See thou tell no man; but go thy way, shew thyself to the
priest, and offer the gift that Moses commanded, for a testimony unto them.
The Leper came to Jesus with
obvious need and outspoken faith. He believed Jesus could make him clean and
while if He willed it to be so. Jesus did so will and he was cleansed.
But then Jesus made a further
statement. He was to go and offer the appropriate gift according to the Old
Testament command.
Too many believe that asking
and receiving forgiveness and cleansing is where the Christian life ends. They
speak of liberty and flaunt their rebellious nature as somehow being emblematic
of that liberty. But Jesus did not come to do away the Old Testament Word of
God; He came to fulfill it. Once fulfilled on the cross the Old Testament laws
were finished but New Testament sanctification replaced it. When we get saved:
· We do not
revert to the Old Testament laws but
· Neither do
we continue in old nature worldliness
· We are to
move forward into New Testament Christlikeness.
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