Question 22: What, then, must Christians believe?

 Question 22: What, then, must Christians believe?

Answer: Everything God has promised us in the gospel. This gospel is summarized in the Apostles' Creed, a trustworthy Christian creed confessed worldwide.

Galatians 3:22 But the Scripture has confined everything under sin, so that the promise by faith in Jesus Christ might be given to those who believe.

Christians must believe in the new covenant and new promise Jesus made. Matthew 13:52 says, "Therefore, every scribe who has been trained for the kingdom of heaven is like a householder who brings out of his treasure things new and old."

The new is the word of the new covenant, and the old is the law of the old covenant. Only when a believer can accurately interpret the law and the new covenant can he be a scribe who has become a disciple of the kingdom of heaven. When Jesus asked, "Have you understood all this?"

the disciples answered, "Yes." Then Jesus compared them to "scribes who have become disciples of the kingdom of heaven," saying that they have learned the kingdom of heaven well, and can skillfully draw out the word of God, both old and new, and teach it abundantly. Believers must understand the meaning of the Bible well in order to read it and evangelize it to others, and they must apply it effectively according to the situation.
However, many churches today are failing to distinguish between the new and the old. This is stated in Ephesians 5:18: "And do not get drunk with wine, for that is debauchery, but be filled with the Spirit."

Here, "wine" refers to wine. Wine is the Word of God. When drunk, one starts talking nonsense, one saying one thing and the other. If one cannot even distinguish between the old and the new, it means that one is not being filled with the Holy Spirit. Therefore, God tells us to be filled with the Holy Spirit. Of course, the Bible also tells us not to get drunk on wine in this world.

The old law was meant to redeem sinners. That's why Jesus Christ came to the world and died on the cross as a ransom. Saints must bring forth the new in place of the old. The new is the new covenant, the heavenly resurrection life. The new covenant is explained through blood and flesh. Dying with Jesus means drinking his blood, and being resurrected with Christ means eating his flesh. Those who do not eat his flesh do not participate in Christ's resurrection.

2 Corinthians 5:17 "Therefore, if anyone is in Christ, he is a new creation; the old has passed away; behold, all things have become new."
When a believer becomes new, his relationship with God is restored. 2 Corinthians 5:21 says, "For he made him who had no sin to be sin for us, so that in him we might become the righteousness of God."

There are two kinds of faith: the faith of being called and the faith of being chosen. Those who are called realize and are thankful that Jesus died for them, and they consider themselves saved. However, those who are chosen have faith in Jesus, who died on the cross, realizing that he died for them and that his death was their own. Furthermore, they believe that they have been resurrected in the present, united with the resurrection of Christ. This is why God calls those who are chosen new creations. This faith is a gift from God to the new person.

In the Old Testament, the Hebrew people received the Old Covenant in the wilderness, but in the New Testament, the new covenant is received by the reborn, new people. 2 Corinthians 3:3 states, "You are manifestly a letter from Christ, ministered by us, written not with ink but with the Spirit of the living God, not on tablets of stone but on tablets of human hearts."

This is a word spoken to the present, resurrected, born-again new person. 2 Corinthians 3:6 says, "He has also made us competent as ministers of a new covenant, not of the letter but of the Spirit. For the letter kills, but the Spirit gives life."

The Bible says that many are called, but few are chosen. This is because those who are called are not born again. They are not prepared for the wedding garment (the robe of righteousness: resurrection). 2 Corinthians 3:14 says, "But their minds were hardened; for to this day, when the Old Testament is read, the same veil remains unlifted, for it is taken away in Christ. To this day, when Moses is read, a veil lies over their hearts."

The veil is the law. Like the veil of the sanctuary, it is covered, hidden from view by sinners. When Christ died, the veil was torn. Those who are in Jesus Christ have the veil removed. Just as the veil was torn, those who died with Jesus on the cross, and the Holy of Holies within the veil, believing in the present resurrection, enter into the hearts of the saints.

In churches, I see pastors teaching that believing in Jesus means being in the New Covenant. However, if you are not in Jesus Christ, you have never received the New Covenant. Believing in Jesus and being in Jesus are two different things. Those who are called know that they are saved through Christ, but they are not those who have entered into Christ. To enter into Christ, one must receive the mark of the New Covenant.

The mark of the New Covenant is one that must be paid. Along with Jesus, believers also die on the cross. Then, believers are resurrected with Christ and enter into Christ.