Which Side

 

Which side of the cross do you live on? One side is death, and the other is life.

 

Paul wrote in Galatians 5:1-4: "Stand fast therefore in the liberty by which Christ has made us free and do not be entangled again with a yoke of bondage. Indeed I, Paul, say to you that if you become circumcised, Christ will profit you nothing. And I testify again to every man who becomes circumcised that he is a debtor to keep the whole law. You have become estranged from Christ, you who attempt to be justified by law; you have fallen from grace."

 

The Old Covenant side of the cross is bondage to the law. In 2 Corinthians 3:7, Paul describes it as "the ministry of death." If you attempt to justify yourself by the law, Christ's gift of grace will not benefit you. In reality, you become obligated to keep the entire law. Anyone who stumbles in one part of the law is guilty of all (James 2:10). You will find yourself hopeless and estranged from Christ. Living under the Old Covenant law results in resignation to failure, a lack of faith in God's promises, and a falling away from His grace. 

 

If we are still under the Old Covenant with a mysterious God who gives and takes away, then why did Jesus come? Did anything change when Jesus sat down at the right hand of God (Hebrews 12:2)? What is the "new creation" (2 Corinthians 5:17)? What happens when we are born again and freed from the power of darkness (Colossians 1:13)? What does it mean to be one Spirit with the Lord (2 Corinthians 6:17)?  

 

On the cross, Jesus' love finished what only He could finish. The law brought a curse, and Jesus redeemed us from the curse of the law by becoming a curse for us (Galatians 3:13). The law justifies no one in the sight of God—those whom Christ has justified live by faith and not by the law (Galatians 3:11). 

 

The Old Covenant side of the cross partially reveals God's love. It hid the fullness of His love until Jesus unveiled it. The New Covenant side of the cross is full of Christ's revelation of God's love.

 

"But blessed are your eyes for they see, and your ears for they hear; for assuredly, I say to you that many prophets and righteous men desired to see what you see, and did not see it, and to hear what you hear, and did not hear it" (Matthew 13:16-17).

 

The prophets and righteous men of the past, like Job, did not experience what we see and hear. In Christ, God is revealed to us. We have heard the Gospel that liberates us from the law of sin and death and places us under the law of the Spirit of life in Christ Jesus (Romans 8:2). 

 

"To them God willed to make known what are the riches of the glory of this mystery among the Gentiles: which is Christ in you, the hope of glory" (Colossians 1:27).

 

This verse says God wants to reveal "the riches of the glory of this mystery." Since it is God's will to uncover the hidden mystery, it is no longer a mystery—it is unsealed. God wants to reveal the riches of the hope of His glory in you. This unveiling is more than just a surface understanding. We need to seek the fullness of His revelation.

 

Christ, the hope of glory is in you. Doesn't this truth make the words of Jesus and the revelation of Paul much more critical than the partial revelation of the prophets and righteous men of the past who longed to know what we know? They couldn't see the "new creation" (2 Corinthians 5:17) and being "seated with Him in heavenly places" (Ephesians 1:20). They didn't fully understand the "gift of righteousness" (Romans 5:17) and the "spirit of faith" (2 Corinthians 4:13). They were unaware that all of God's promises are "yes" and "amen" (2 Corinthians 1:20). Their experience with God was limited by sin. Our experience with Him is a gift of His grace.  

 

"The sting of death is sin, and the strength of sin is the law. But thanks be to God, who gives us the victory through our Lord Jesus Christ" (I Corinthians 15:56-57). The law gives power to sin, but Jesus' finished work of grace gives us victory. 

 

Which side of the cross do you live on? Does the old still dictate your life, or does Christ fulfill the old in you? Is He your new life? Are you His new creation? You are to stand fast in the liberty you have received in Him. He is no longer veiled to you, but you must seek the revelation of the fullness of His grace you have received (John 1:16).

 

Paul wrote in 2 Corinthians 3:18-19: "Nevertheless, when one turns to the Lord, the veil is taken away. Now the Lord is the Spirit; and where the Spirit of the Lord is, there is liberty. But we all, with unveiled face, beholding as in a mirror the glory of the Lord, are being transformed into the same image from glory to glory, just as by the Spirit of the Lord."

 

The Old Covenant side of the cross will never transform you: Only the New Covenant revelation of His unconditional love and grace will.

 

"But he who looks into the perfect law of liberty and continues in it, and is not a forgetful hearer but a doer of the work, this one will be blessed in what he does" (James 1:25).

 

Which side of the cross commands your life?