The blessing and curse were part of the Old Covenant. As long as the congregation of God (the people of Israel) obeyed and kept the law of God, the congregation was blessed by God. But if the congregation became rebellious and decided to go her own way and refused to obey and keep the law of God, the congregation was cursed by God. They had a choice to live on the mountain of the blessing Gerizim or to live on the mountain of the curse Ebal. Therefore they decided to be blessed or cursed by God. Today the doctrine of blessing and curse is still preached and the mountains of blessings and curses are still cited and taught. But do the mountains of blessings and curses exist in the New Covenant? Can you live in the New Covenant under the blessing of the Lord and under the curse of the Lord?
The curse that came upon the earth through disobedience to God
After the fall, death entered man, whereby the spirit of man died and man became (spiritually) separated from God. 每個人, who would be born of the seed of man would be carnal and consist of a body and soul, since the spirit of man had died and lived under the authority of the death. Including those, who were chosen by God and through natural birth belonged to the people of God, 以色列.
The people of Israel belonged, just like the other nations on earth, to the generation of the old man, in whom sin and death reign and lives in the bondage of death in the kingdom of darkness.
The kingdom of darkness, where the devil reigns, reigned on earth and there was no way to leave this (精神) kingdom. Man was trapped in the flesh and was a prisoner of the kingdom of darkness and was led by the powers of darkness.
Sin and death reigned in – and represented the kingdom of darkness and the will of the ruler of the kingdom of darkness.
The death reigned in everyone, who belonged to the kingdom of darkness. Therefore the people, who belonged to the kingdom of darkness and death, exalted themselves above God and rebelled against Him, and lived in sin.
Since every person lived on earth in the kingdom of darkness and sinned by nature, because sin and death reign in the flesh, God gave via Moses, the law of sin and death to His chosen people.
The law of Moses, 罪惡和死亡的律法, was meant for the old man, who is carnal and in whom sin and death reigns (另請閱讀: 'Why did God say “thou shall not…” and why did Jesus say, thou shall…?」).
The commandments of the law, which God gave to His people, represented the will of God and His nature and Kingdom.
God instituted the Levitical priesthood and gave commandments, precepts, ordinances, 食品法, 祭祀法, 節日, 和儀式, which God’s people had to keep. All these commandments, ordinances, and rituals applied to the old man, who is unspiritual and walks after the flesh in which sin and death reign.
The blessing through obedience to God or the curse through disobedience to God
看哪, I set before you this day a blessing and a curse; A blessing, if ye obey the commandments of the Lord your God, which I command you this day: And a curse, if ye will not obey the commandments of the Lord your God, but turn aside out of the way which I command you this day, to go after other gods, which ye have not known. 它必將應驗, when the Lord thy God hath brought thee in unto the land whither thou goest to possess it, that thou shalt put the blessing upon mount Gerizim, and the curse upon mount Ebal. Are they not on the other side Jordan, by the way where the sun goeth down, in the land of the Canaanites, which dwell in the champaign over against Gilgal, beside the plains of Moreh? For ye shall pass over Jordan to go in to possess the land which the Lord your God giveth you, and ye shall possess it, and dwell therein. And ye shall observe to do all the statutes and judgments which I set before you this day (申命記 11:26-32)
I call heaven and earth to record this day against you, that I have set before you life and death, blessing and cursing: therefore choose life, that both thou and thy seed may live: That thou mayest love the Lord thy God, and that thou mayest obey his voice, and that thou mayest cleave unto him: for he is thy life, and the length of thy days: that thou mayest dwell in the land which the Lord sware unto thy fathers, to Abraham, to Isaac, and to Jacob, to give them (申命記 30:19-20)
All the commandments and ordinances were written in the Torah. The blessing and curse were connected to the law of Moses. God had commanded the people through Moses, when they entered the promised land and possessed the land, they had to put the blessing upon Mount Gerizim and the curse upon Mount Ebal (申命記 27:11-26; 28; 29; 30, 約書亞 8:30-35).
The mountains of blessings and curses belonged to the law of sin and death, 這是為屬肉體的人準備的, who was born of the seed of Jacob (以色列) and belonged to God’s people Israel.
As long as God’s people obeyed His law, the people were blessed by God. But as soon as God’s people disobeyed His law, the people were cursed by God.
Therefore the people decided themselves to be blessed by God through their obedience to God or to be cursed by God through their disobedience to God.
By keeping the law, the people of Israel showed they loved God above all, including themselves, and that they belonged to God and only served Him.
God’s people were holy; separated from all the other nations and devoted unto God. And through their obedience to God, they showed they belonged to God and distinguished themselves from the world.
And so the holy people of God were separated from the world and lived on the mountain of the blessing in the (精神) kingdom of darkness and were blessed by God.
Jesus bought and redeemed man with His blood
But that no man is justified by the law in the sight of God, it is evident: for, The just shall live by faith. And the law is not of faith: 但, The man that doeth them shall live in them.Christ hath redeemed us from the curse of the law, being made a curse for us: 因為經上記著, Cursed is every one that hangeth on a tree: That the blessing of Abraham might come on the Gentiles through Jesus Christ; that we might receive the promise of the Spirit through faith (加拉太書 3:11-14)
Until the promise of God, 上帝啊, 上帝的兒子, came to the earth and fulfilled the law through His obedience to the will of God. Although Jesus Christ fulfilled the law and God was with Him, Jesus Christ was slain as a Lamb and sacrificed for the whole generation of fallen man.
Jesus Christ took the place of fallen man; the sinner and carried all sin and iniquity and became a curse on the cross.
Through His sacrifice and by His blood He redeemed man from the kingdom of darkness and the power of sin and death.
First, those, who belonged to God’s people Israel were given the ability to be saved by faith and to be redeemed from the power of darkness by His blood, and through the death of the flesh, 罪惡和死亡統治其中, leave the kingdom of darkness and through the resurrection of the spirit from the dead enter the Kingdom of God.
Then the salvation of God also came to the Gentiles and they were also given the opportunity to be saved and to be redeemed from the power of darkness and by faith in Christ and by His blood and regeneration leave the kingdom of darkness and enter the Kingdom of God and belong to Gods Congregation; the Church.
這 (精神) transfer from the kingdom of darkness to the Kingdom of God
Giving thanks unto the Father, which hath made us meet to be partakers of the inheritance of the saints in light: Who hath delivered us from the power of darkness, and hath translated us into the kingdom of His dear Son: In Whom we have redemption through His blood, even the forgiveness of sins (歌羅西書 1:12-14)
在精神領域, man was transferred through regeneration from the kingdom of darkness (kingdom of the world; 黑暗) to the Kingdom of God (Kingdom of Heaven; the light)
And so through the death of the flesh, in which sin and death reigns and the law of sin and death applied to, man was redeemed from sin and death and sin and death no longer reigned over man anymore, as long as man would live after the Spirit in the Kingdom of God after His will (另請閱讀: ‘上帝的意志 vs 魔鬼的意志')
The law of Moses; 罪惡和死亡的律法, to which the mountain of the blessing and the mountain of the curse were connected, has been replaced by the law of the Spirit.
In Christ redeemed from the law of sin and death
因此，如今那些在基督耶穌裡的人就不定罪了, 不隨從肉體而行的人, 但在聖靈之後. 因為生命聖靈的律在基督耶穌裡釋放了我，使我脫離了罪和死的律. For what the law could not do, in that it was weak through the flesh, God sending His own Son in the likeness of sinful flesh, and for sin, condemned sin in the flesh: That the righteousness of the law might be fulfilled in us, 不隨從肉體而行的人, 但在聖靈之後 (羅馬書 8:1-4)
The new man, who is a son of God and has received God’s nature, is no longer the old man; the fallen man, who is a son of the devil and has the devil’s nature and lives under the curse through disobedience.
The new man has been redeemed from the curse by Christ and the law of sin and death no longer reigns in the new man, because the flesh in which sin and death reigns has died in Christ.
The law of the Spirit reigns in the new man, whereby the commandments, which God gave to Moses and represented His will are written upon the heart of the new man by the Holy Spirit and the new man is able to discern good and evil.
The mountains of blessings and curses were part of the Old Covenant
The mountains of blessings and curses were written in the Torah and were part of the law of sin and death, which was meant for the old man, who lived in the kingdom of darkness. But since the old man has died in Christ and no longer belongs to the kingdom of darkness but through the resurrection of the spirit has become the new man and belongs to the Kingdom of God, the mountains of blessings and curses no longer exist. The mount of the blessing Gerizim and the mount of the curse Ebal were part of the Old Covenant and are no longer part of the New Covenant.
If you are transferred to the Kingdom of God, you are blessed in Christ.
You are anointed in Him, which means that you have been placed in the position as son of God, through the death of the flesh and the resurrection of the spirit from the dead, and have received His Holy Spirit, whereby you have received the inheritance in Christ. That is much more than the earthly blessings of the mountain of the blessing.
老人, who automatically belonged through natural birth to the Congregation of God (以色列) but was unspiritual, because the spirit of the old man was dead, was given a choice to be obedient to God and live on the mountain of the blessing Gerizim in the kingdom of darkness or to be disobedient to God and live on the mountain of the curse Ebal in the kingdom of darkness.
But the new man has already made the choice to believe in Jesus Christ and has decided to follow Jesus Christ and to do the will of God.
A son of God lives in obedience to the will of the Father
Through faith and regeneration and your position in Christ, you don’t belong to the kingdom of darkness anymore and you are no longer subject to – and a slave of sin and death, but you belong to the Kingdom of Heaven, and you are seated above the kingdom of darkness (kingdom of the world) and in Christ you reign in His authority over sin and death.
As long as you stay in Christ and stay in the Kingdom of God, by walking after the Spirit in obedience to the commandments of Jesus Christ, which derive from the commandments of the Father that represent His will, you shall remain in His love and reign over darkness.
If you are transferred and redeemed from the power of sin and death, you shall no longer walk in it.
If you do and keep living after the flesh and persevere in sin, you are not redeemed yet from your sinful nature, and/or you are not transferred but still belong to the kingdom of darkness.
Because as long as you keep doing unrighteousness and persevere in sin, righteousness and life don’t reign in you, but unrighteousness and death. Your deeds show, who you are and to whom, and which kingdom you belong.
In the New Covenant, you live by the resurrection of your spirit from the dead in unity with God after His will. You have received His nature and therefore you shall do what pleases God. And if you unconsciously do something that goes against His will, during the process of sanctification, when you put off the old man 和 穿上新人, then the Holy Spirit, Who dwells in you, shall confront you and than it’s up to you to yield to the Holy Spirit and repent and continue your way after the Spirit or not.
Blessed in Christ
In the New Covenant, you are blessed in Christ by God and there are no curses, which God places on the new creation. Because as a child of God you live in obedience after His will. Unless you decide to go your own way and live after the will of the flesh and leave Christ and His Kingdom.
Because at any moment, you can leave the Covenant and return to the kingdom of darkness and pick up your old life and live after the flesh under the curse in disobedience to God and do what pleases you, but displeases the Father.
因為 ‘once saved always saved‘ is not part of the gospel of Jesus Christ and doesn’t exist in the Kingdom of God, but is made up by carnal people and derives from a carnal mind and vain imaginations.
‘成為地球之鹽’
