Here’s the revised summary:
This is a Bible study session that steps away from Jeremiah’s long run of judgment to focus on the “good news” of the new covenant. The main idea is that God’s law was always good. The problem was the human heart, and the gospel (Christ’s work plus the gift of holy spirit) is what finally makes righteous living possible.
Announcements and side notes
- November 1st was the International Day of Prayer for the Persecuted Church. Voice of the Martyrs prayer calendars were handed out.
- On prayer: it works even when results don’t show, sometimes not for years. It may also prevent harm we never see. But it doesn’t override anyone’s free will.
- The teacher withdrew last week’s book recommendation, Don’t Believe Everything You Think, because it leans toward Buddhism and New Age ideas. He recommended The Life-Changing Art of Self-Brain Surgery instead.
- Ken will post an 18-page paper on the website, “Righteousness: A Closer Look.” Its point is that “righteousness” means different things depending on context: God’s nature, His righteous acts, Christ as the Righteous One, the gift of righteousness believers receive, and righteous living (2 Timothy 3:16–17).
Why Old Testament prophets had to be sure
Jeremiah, Moses, Isaiah, Ezekiel and Elijah stood against hundreds of false prophets and corrupt leaders, so God made His calling unmistakable to them. Back then the spirit came upon a few people, and only on conditions. Samson is the example: he lost the spirit through sin and got it back when he repented.
Was the law bad?
No. The law is the centerpiece of history. It appears about 272 times in the New Testament alone. Paul says it is “good if one uses it lawfully” (1 Timothy 1:8) and “holy, righteous and good” (Romans 7:12). Deuteronomy 28 promised Israel an ideal life for obeying it. But the law also made people aware of sin, and that awareness stirred sin up, the way a child wants to do exactly what he’s been told not to. The real problem was the human heart.
Three “laws” in Romans 7–8
- The law of God: the standard of righteousness.
- The law of sin in our members: a principle in the flesh that wars against the mind (“wretched man that I am…”).
- The law of the spirit of life (Romans 8:2): it sets believers free, so that “the righteous requirement of the law might be fulfilled in us” as we walk by the spirit. Setting the mind on the flesh is death. Setting it on the spirit is life and peace.
The new covenant promised
Jeremiah 31:33 and Ezekiel 11:19–20 and 36:26–27 promise a new heart, God’s law written on hearts, and His spirit within, causing people to obey. The early church in Acts lived this out. So why don’t we see more transformation today? Because the spirit inclines us toward obedience but doesn’t take us over. We have a part to play.
How transformation happens: mind vs. brain
- Believers have “the mind of Christ” (1 Corinthians 2:16) through the spirit within.
- The brain is a physical organ inherited from Adam. It’s part of the flesh and naturally produces “I want” thoughts.
- The mind (part of the soul) can override those first thoughts with a second, Word-based thought.
- Neuroscience confirms that the brain physically changes depending on what we choose to think. The book’s author is a neurosurgeon who recovered from his son’s death this way.
- This is the biblical pattern of putting off and putting on: put off the old self, be renewed in your mind, put on the new self (Ephesians 4:22–24). That’s why daily time in the Word matters: “When I get up, my brain gets up with me.”
What it looks like together: the one body
If Christ is truly the head of each individual, the body can have “the same mind and the same judgment” (1 Corinthians 1:10, Philippians 1:27, Philippians 2:4–5). The main subject of the epistles isn’t evangelism. It’s believers living together in unity and love, which in turn draws others in (John 13:35, John 17).
Closing: walking worthy
The Greek word axios (“worthy”) is linked to “axle”: two wheels joined so they turn together. Believers are to walk worthy of God, the Word, their calling and the Lord. The cost is to deny yourself and take up your cross. Peter’s change after Pentecost shows it can be done. Because deception is everywhere, as it was in Jeremiah’s day, we have to stay in the Word and see through its lens.
In short: the old covenant showed that people can’t keep God’s law in their own strength. The new covenant gives the spirit. Transformation comes when believers actively put off fleshly thinking and put on Christ’s thoughts, and that is what makes real Christlikeness and unity possible.