Path: utzoo!utgpu!jarvis.csri.toronto.edu!mailrus!cs.utexas.edu!rutgers!aramis.rutgers.edu!athos.rutgers.edu!christian From: bnr-vpa!bnr-fos!bmers58!davem@watmath.waterloo.edu (Dave Mielke) Newsgroups: soc.religion.christian Subject: Re: the new covenant begins when? Message-ID: Date: 5 Feb 90 09:07:10 GMT Sender: hedrick@athos.rutgers.edu Organization: Bell-Northern Research, Ottawa, Canada Lines: 38 Approved: christian@aramis.rutgers.edu In article mdg@ronin.UUCP (Mike Gallatin) writes: >The thief on the cross is suppossed judged by a different dispensation >then after Jesus' death. The spilling of Jesus blood is the begining >of the New Convenant. 'It is finished' he says before giving up the >ghost. The thief on the cross, John the baptist, Isaiah, Moses, Noah, Enoch, and Abel were all saved in the same manner as those of us are who live after the crucifiction, i.e. faith in the one and only truly atoning sacrifice of Jesus. This is possible because God considers Jesus to be "the Lamb slain from the foundation of the world" (Revelation 13:8). God did not have to wait until the actual sacrifice was made before He could save those who lived before it because, as one who never lies and always keeps every single one of His promises with impecable commitment and accuracy, the sacrifice was as good as paid already as soon as He said it would be. Those of us who live after the crucifiction look back at the finished work and place our trust in it. Those who lived before the crucifiction placed their faith in God's promise that He would do something. The whole ceremonial law was designed by God to give them insight into all the various elements of His salvation plan. Both for us and for them the only escape route from a certain arrival in hell is faith in the work of the Lord Jesus Christ. John 14:6 says "Jesus saith unto him, I am the way, the truth, and the life: no man cometh unto the Father, but by me.". Acts 4:12 says "Neither is there salvation in any other: for there is none other name under heaven given among men, whereby we must be saved.". Dave Mielke, 613-726-0014 856 Grenon Avenue Ottawa, Ontario, Canada K2B 6G3