One of the most revealing and perplexing comments I regularly hear people make about life is “Life didn’t come with an owner’s manual!” I always want to scream, “YES, IT DID!” This type of statement is so revealing about the prevailing ignorance and unbelief of God’s Word. God’s Word gives us everything we need for life and godliness through the (experiential) knowledge of the Lord Jesus. However, as we are growing in our willingness and capacity to hear God’s voice we have His written Word.
The first five books of the Bible are the foundation of everything else in the entire Old and New Testaments. The confusion in the Church and the world today is ignorance or rejection of what was written in those first five books. Sadly, in what many people falsely call the Grace Movement, God’s wisdom in those first five books is not just totally ignored, the believer is made to feel he is doing something wrong by trusting what is said in those books. Keep in mind the first five books of the Bible were dictated to Moses. They came straight from the mouth of God. All the other books were inspired by the Holy Spirit through men. Of all the books of the Bible we should know these five are the basic essentials for understanding every other book.
Maybe it’s best that we first help you understand how to relate to the Old Testament. Keep in mind the Old Testament is the testimony or record of things that happened with God and His people. That is not the same as the Old Covenant. The Old Covenant is the part of the law whereby man related to God. While the Old Covenant is obsolete and done away, The Old Testament is still as viable as ever. In that He says, “A new covenant,” He has made the first obsolete. Now what is becoming obsolete and growing old is ready to vanish away (Heb. 8:3). All of God’s commands should still be our standard of values, morals, conduct, and fairness!
The word “commandment” could have and would have been more accurately translated as “a divine prescription!” The commandments were preemptive directives that showed us how to avoid the pitfalls of life. There is nothing bad or destructive in the commandments unless we attempt to use them unlawfully. Now the purpose of the commandment is love from a pure heart, from a good conscience, and from sincere faith (1 Tim. 1:5). If the commandments had been applied the way God intended this is what they would have produced. That’s why the Scripture says Jesus bought grace and truth. Jesus showed us what the commandments would have looked like if they had been applied the way God intended. The commandments only work as they should when they are applied from the perspective of love! Anything else is an unlawful use.
The “law” is a term that can mean many different things and should be interpreted based on the context. When looking at the law as a whole there were ceremonies, sacrifices, holy days, and feasts. All of these were the means whereby man approached God and made himself ceremonially clean. All of these were fulfilled in the death, burial, and resurrection of Jesus. Thus, Romans 10:4 says, For Christ is the end of the law for righteousness to everyone who believes. It does not say Christ is the end of the law, it says He is the end of the law for righteousness!
Then there are the curses of the law. These were the penalties man would have to face for violating God’s Word. Col. 2:13-14 gives us incredible insight into our freedom from the curses. And you, being dead in your trespasses and the uncircumcision of your flesh, He has made alive together with Him, having forgiven you all trespasses, having wiped out the handwriting of requirements that was against us, which was contrary to us. And He has taken it out of the way, having nailed it to the cross. Jesus didn’t nail all the law on the cross, just the part that was against us. Galatians 3:13 says it this way: Christ redeemed us from the curse of the law having become a curse for us… So when we read the Old Testament and see any of those curses or penalties we should turn our thanks to God for the price paid by the Lord Jesus.
All the promises offered to us in the New Covenant are in the law. Under that Covenant you earned the promises by your obedience to all the requirements, but under this New Covenant you abide in Jesus. The promises were given to Him as part of His inheritance. Since we are in Him we share in His inheritance. Romans 8:16-17 says it like this: The Spirit Himself bears witness with our spirit that we are children of God, and if children, then heirs — heirs of God and joint heirs with Christ, if indeed we suffer with Him, that we may also be glorified together. Sharing in His suffering isn’t talking about us going out and suffering; it’s about us sharing in His suffering in the cross by faith. If we can’t share in our death with Him on the cross, we can’t share in the inheritance obtained through the resurrection. This is the heart of the “in Him” realities of this resurrected life. That’s why 2 Corinthians 1:20 says, No matter how many promises God has made they are all yes and amen IN HIM!
If Jesus fulfilled all the righteous requirements of the law, delivered us from the curses of the law, and obtained all the promises of the law, all that’s left of the law is how we treat one another and ourselves. Jesus told us the most important of all that God commanded was to love God, love our neighbor, and love ourselves. Obviously, He isn’t talking about a selfish, self-centered love. He’s talking about loving ourselves based on God’s Word and treating ourselves and others according to God’s Word. This is why believing on Jesus as Lord and walking in love will fulfill all of God’s commandments because Love does no harm to a neighbor; therefore love is the fulfillment of the law (Rom. 13:10).
Paul says it like this: the righteous requirement of the law might be fulfilled in us who do not walk according to the flesh but according to the Spirit (Rom. 8:4-6). Lawbreakers are people who are not walking in love. We are delivered from the curses if we violate the law but there is still a law called “sowing and reaping.” When we use harsh language we stir up wrath and anger in others. When we lie people do not trust us. If we steal we go to jail. God’s social laws provide the basis of a peaceful, just, and free society. When we violate them we have chaos and anarchy!
In the area of health we violate God’s commands toward us and we reap the results in our body. The Word of God teaches us how to manage our emotions, live in peace, and manage our physical body! Somehow we have created a mystical concept of faith and healing that says if I do anything to manage my health I am in unbelief. So our only concept of faith and healing is to live foolishly, ignore God’s Word, and then stand at an altar begging God to heal us. And if that doesn’t happen we blame and distrust God!
We are spiritual beings, not spirit beings. We have a physical body that was designed to live in a physical world and we received a handbook on how to avoid illness and enjoy optimal health. For those times that things happen beyond our control we have the laws of faith and healing.
The Word of God tells us to rest one day a week. Everything in our society attempts to defy that. My major illnesses have most often been the result of pushing myself too hard for too long. Our bodies are designed to heal themselves but we have to provide the right environment for that to happen. There are many things we need to stay healthy and one of them is rest. Having a Sabbath day is not a day that you observe for some spiritual reason but to rest because you trust (have faith) in God’s Word and apply it preventively instead of waiting until there is a crisis.
Likewise, God’s Word gives us dietary wisdom. The unclean foods of the Bible are foods that carry disease. Many people have rationalized eating unclean foods primarily from the logic that we now cook with higher heat and therefore it is not as dangerous. But the negative effects of unclean foods are much more extensive than parasites and cholesterol. We now know the body functions primarily on electromagnetic energy. Therefore, continuity is essential to cellular communication, a healthy nervous system, and the coordination and function of all of our organs. We now know that pork, which is unclean, causes a problem with conductivity; therefore, it disrupts cellular communication. While I have not yet seen studies, I’m sure the same is true of other unclean foods. The Bible provides a list of things not to eat and then it gives general guidelines for water creatures and land animals. If it is in water it must have both scales and fins to be clean. If it is a land animal it must part the hoof and chew the cud to be considered clean. Again, don’t make this an issue of righteousness or spirituality. This is about trusting God!
Since our bodies were made to live in this physical world it only stands to reason that we must keep them in harmony with the world and we must primarily use those healthcare and dietary guidelines that are also in harmony with this physical world and the way God created it! We need clean, chemical-free water and organic fruits and vegetables daily. God even warned about hybrid foods.
One of the most interesting things I have discovered in recent years is a new value for coming in contact with Planet Earth. Most people are suffering from pain somewhere in there body. Where pain is located there is an almost absolute certainty inflammation is present. Inflammation is the result of positive electrons in the body. When we come in contact with the earth we actually ground ourselves when negative ions from the earth go into our body, attract the positive electrons and take them out of our body. By eliminating inflammation many life-threatening diseases can be eliminated. Walk or exercise barefoot outside for about thirty minutes a day and in a few months you’ll be surprised at your decrease in pain!
The children of Israel walked daily so they got plenty of exercise. They wore sandals with natural soles so they were always in contact with the earth. Plus, when they slept they were grounded. They also experienced the earth’s electromagnetic pulse. They ate clean foods, drank clean water, and observed God’s wisdom for sanitation. When they entered the Promise Land there was not one sick among them.
Man was not made for the law; the law was made for man. Because we try to turn everything in the Bible into some mystical, religious concept we lose the incredible wisdom of the One who created us. We have even made praying over our meal something that is not even what God said to do. We attempt to get God to bless something that can’t be blessed. He told us to receive our food with thanksgiving and gladness of heart. Why? This creates the optimal environment for metabolism, digestion, and health! If you turn this into legalism you miss the point and add to your struggle. But if you turn this into faith, trusting God’s loving wisdom you may find yourself enjoying more health, vitality, and energy.
This article is based on the series Qualified for Healing: The New Covenant Reality. To get more information about this powerful series click here!
Hi, i have been searching for the reference where God warned us about hybrid foods for an upcoming seminar on milling organic grains to make our own breads. Could you tell me where this is in scripture? Thank you.
Hi Renee,
I don’t think there is a passage specifically about hybrid foods but it is a principle of creation – everything produces ‘after it’s own kind.’ I sent your question to Dr. Richards for further explanation but He usually takes some time to get through all his emails.
Hi Renee,
Dr.Richards did get to the email.Here’s his answer:
The two most significant instructions about seeds are found in the following:
In Genesis there is the emphasis that the seed must bear fruit of itself, among other things, a natural process).
Then Leviticus is kind of straight forward
Gen 1:11, When God said, “Let the earth bring forth grass, the herb that yields seed, and the fruit tree that yields fruit according to its kind, whose seed is in itself, on the earth”
Lev 19:19, ‘You shall keep My statutes. You shall not let your livestock breed with another kind. You shall not sow your field with mixed seed. Nor shall a garment of mixed linen and wool come upon you.
Hi, I was wondering about the whole clean and unclean foods issue. I know that the Jews did not eat p”ork and other things. But then later it seems that Jesus declared all foods clean, in the light of the truth that what does into a man does not defile him but what comes out of the heart.
I’d love some explanation for this. Clearly eating pork can no longer make one religiously unclean, but if indeed pork causes problems for other reasons why then would Jesus pronounce it clean which would of course also mean ” okay to eat”?
Hi Patricia, To paraphrase what Paul wrote: all things are legal but not all things are expedient. Meaning in this case you can eat anything but that doesn’t mean what you are eating is good for you. And it can be different fro each person. For instance, echinacia is an effective treatment for cold symptoms for most people but I cannot use it without getting sick from it. Or avocados which are a good nutritional food make me throw up if I eat even a little bit. But because it is bad for me doesn’t mean it is bad for everyone. A lot of people have trouble with milk and milk products but none of them bother me at all and I can eat them all without problems. So the key is to pay attention to how YOU react to certain food and decide from that whether it is good or bad for you – and realize it’s for you alone and not everybody else.