Line Upon Line; Precept Upon Precept

Rightly Dividing The Word:

Isaiah 28:10

For precept must be upon precept, precept upon precept; line upon line, line upon line; here a little and there a little

We will use the principle of line upon line, precept upon precept to establish Christ as Savior and identify His body.

Galatians 3:24

Wherefore the law was our schoolmaster to bring us unto Christ, that we might be justified by faith.

The word “law” used in this scripture, represents the Old Covenant or Old Testament. However, it pointed us to Christ. The law was before Christ. It contained the Ordinances and Ten Commandments God gave to Israel. If they sinned against the law, they had to perform ordinances as a propitiation for their sins. These ordinances were sacrifices, washings, and rituals that all pointed to Christ. For instance, once a year, on the Day of Atonement, the High Priest would offer up a sacrifice for the sins of the people. These sacrifices were a type of Christ.

We have two covenants: the Old Covenant and the New Covenant. We must understand the difference between the two. It is very important that you understand this, if you are to understand the Word. We must put things in their proper perspective, which means to see the Word as God sees it and to know the Word as God reveals it.

He put them in Christ which gave Him a people who became the Body of Christ.

The conversation in Hebrews 10:5-7 took place in Heaven before Christ came to earth. Consider the following scripture: The Father, the Word, and the Holy Ghost are the Godhead. They are the three having the conversation about Christ coming to earth. In fact, they are also known as the Determinate Counsel.

Hebrew 10:5-7

5 Wherefore when he cometh into the world, he saith, Sacrifice and offering thou wouldest not, but a body hast thou prepared me:

6 In burnt offerings and sacrifices for sin thou hast had no plea- sure.

7 Then said I, Lo, I come (in the volume of the book it is written of me,) to do thy will, O God.

1 John 5:7

For there are three that bear record in heaven, the Father, Word, and the Holy Ghost: and these three are one.

The Christ is saying that God was not pleased with the sacrifices and burnt offerings that were offered for sin under the law; but a body was prepared for Him by God. The sacrifices of the law could not purge a man’s conscience of sin. The remedy for what the sacrifices of old were unable to do, is Christ.

If the remedy is a cure, it must remain. For example, if God heals a disease, there should be no more symptoms present. When something is cured the remedy remains; the evidence is there. God desired and loved His people; however, they were sinful. Although they offered sacrifices and rituals, they continued to sin by going against the laws of God.

God was displeased with the sacrifices and sent Christ as the cure for sin. Christ not only came as the final sacrifice for the sins of the people, but now the people are in Christ (literally). God has prepared a Body of Christ to maintain His people; the people whom God loves dearly and does not want to destroy because of sin.

Christ was delivered by the Determinate Counsel. Determinate means deciding, the authority, those who determine how things will go. It was the Word who said, “A body thou hast prepared me.” In other words, He said “Father, you have arranged for me to become a Body.” The Determinate Counsel also determined that Christ would be crucified and slain by the hands of wicked men. This would be the remedy for sin.

The Godhead bears a record; they have predetermined that the record declares that God has given us eternal life, and this life is in His Son. So, all who are not in Christ are in death. Death means to be without Christ. Anything that is outside of Christ is dead.

God was in Christ, reconciling us unto Himself through the ministry of reconciliation (2 Corinthians 5:19). Those who have not been reconciled to God are alienated from Him. This gives us another definition of death: alienated, separated from God. And the only way a person can get back in right standing with God is through Jesus Christ. I am the way, the truth, and the life: no man cometh unto the Father, but by me (St. John 14:6).

Acts 2:22-23

22 Ye men of Israel, hear these words; Jesus of Nazareth, a man approved of God among you by miracles and wonders and signs, which God did by him in the midst of you, as ye your- selves also know:

23 Him, being delivered by the determinate counsel and the foreknowledge of God, ye have taken, and by wicked hands have crucified and slain.

1 John 5:11-12

11 And this is the record, that God hath given to us eternal life, and this life is in his Son.

12 He that hath the Son hath life; and he that hath not the Son of God hath not life.

St. John 1:1-3

1 In the beginning was the Word, and the Word was with God, and the Word was God.

2 The same was in the beginning with God

3 All things were made by him; and without him was not any thing made that was made.

He further confirms His location and intent:

The Determinate Counsel decided that the Word would be made flesh and dwell among us. Nevertheless, the Word is also made flesh in the Body of Christ, because the scripture declares He was the first of many brethren (Romans 8:29). So then, the Word has also been made flesh in us; those who have been begotten of God. We are the Body of Christ.

The Lord nourishes and cherishes His Body. Just as Adam told Eve, “You are bone of my bone and flesh of my flesh”, Christ is saying the same about the Church, His Body. Therefore, we are the Body of Christ here on earth. All that we receive must be in Christ. Our schoolmaster teaches us in absolutes. The schoolmaster teaches us the principles of God, which never change whether in the Old or New Covenant. It also teaches us shadows and types of Christ, which will be discussed later.

Hebrews 10:6-7

6 In burnt offerings and sacrifices for sin thou hast had no pleasure.

7 Then said I, Lo, I come in the volume of the book it is written of me,) to do thy will, O God.

Everything written under the Old Covenant is written about Christ: the Ten Commandments and the Ordinances (sacrifices, washings, and rituals). He fulfilled all that was in the Old Testament. So, when we take on Christ, we have fulfilled the law as well.

St. John 11-14

11 He came unto his own, and his own received him not.

12 But as many as received him, to them gave he power to become the sons of God, even to them that believe on his name:

13 Which were born, not of blood, nor of the will of the flesh, nor of the will of man, but of God.

14 And the Word was made flesh, and dwelt among us, (and we beheld his glory, the glory as of the only begotten of the Father,) full of grace and truth.

Ephesians 5:29-30

29 For no man ever yet hated his own flesh; but nourisheth and cherisheth it, even as the Lord the church:

30 For we are members of his body, of his flesh, and of his bones.

The Gentiles did not have the Ten Commandments or the Ordinances. However, they did by nature those things that are in the law. In other words, it was in their nature to do that which is right, because God had written the law in their hearts. Once you receive Christ, take on Christ and walk in Christ, you become the fulfillment of the law and the sacrifices. Christ is the end of the law.

Living life abstaining from sin is our reasonable service. We should not have to think about whether or not we will sin. It is our nature not to sin. Jesus Christ came and gave us a walking manifestation of God’s heart and mind. The Lord has taken us line upon line; percept upon precept to establish Christ as Saviour and our identity as the Sons of God; the Body of Christ.

Romans 2:14-15

14 For when the Gentiles, which have not the law, do by nature the things contained in the law, these, having not the law, are a law unto themselves:

15 Which shew the work of the law written in their hearts, their conscience also bearing witness, and their thoughts the mean while accusing or else excusing one another,)”

Romans 12:1

I beseech you therefore, brethren, by the mercies of God, that ye present your bodies a living sacrifice, holy, acceptable unto God, which is your reasonable service.