The Day of Atonement:

Last night as I was praying, the spiritual fulfilment of the Old Testament Day of Atonement came to mind, with the Scriptures I have used so frequently in time past. These are old fires to warm my hands by. The baptism with fire is one of the primary revelations Jesus gave to me so many years ago.

Of the seven feasts of the Lord, the Day of Atonement is number six. Pentecost is number four. The Blowing of Trumpets is number five.

The twentieth century beyond all doubt was the "Pentecostal Century," with the spreading throughout the world of the speaking in tongues. The Blowing of Trumpets signifies the coming of the Lord Jesus to declare war on His spiritual enemies, Satan and the demons.

The Jews celebrate the Blowing of Trumpets as New Year’s Day. It is the first day of the year of doing business. This is why we are hearing more and more about the coming of the Kingdom of God to the earth.

The Day of Atonement is the period when Christ reconciles us to God by removing the sins in our personality. It is judgment on His spiritual enemies in mankind, beginning with His spiritual enemies in His Church. The Day of Atonement has begun now and will continue throughout the thousand-year Kingdom Age, often referred to as the "Millennium."

This present coming of Christ is mentioned in John 14:21-23. Jesus stands knocking at the door of His people today. He wants to enter us and become our very Life.

How can you tell when the King has come to you? The Spirit of God will make you aware of the sin you are practicing. When you become aware of a specific sin you are to confess it clearly; denounce it as evil; renounce it, saying clearly and firmly that you want nothing more to do with it forever. Then you are to look to Jesus knowing you have been forgiven and cleansed. You will discover that you now have the ability to resist this behaviour. (I John 1:9) It is an eternal judgment on that spirit. It will not be mentioned to you at the future Judgment Seat.

The Day of Atonement rightly may be termed the "Day of Reconciliation." There are three areas of our personality that are to be brought into harmony with God’s personality:

First, our love of the world spirit such that we look to the world for survival, security, and comfort.

Second, our sinful nature. Every sort of unclean spirit dwells in our flesh. Each of these must be presented to the Spirit of God for removal, once He shows them to us.

Third, our desire to maintain our self-determination. We want to conduct our life as we see fit.

When Christ cried out "It is finished," He meant the guilt of the sins of mankind had been atoned for. It is true also that the adamic race had come to an end. God desires that each of us by faith die with Christ on the cross of Calvary. Now we are to live by His resurrection Life.

To live by the Life of Jesus means we are to meditate in our Bible every day (if a Bible is available to us). More than that, we are to live in a state of prayer, bringing every decision to the Lord Jesus. We are to live by His Life in our thinking, speaking, and acting.

In the spiritual fulfilment of the Old Testament Day of Atonement we are baptized with the fire of Divine judgment. All that is chaff must be burned up. It is interesting to note that the trumpet of the Jubilee was blown on the Day of Atonement. The demons are condemned and we go free.

Allow the Holy Spirit to bring you into complete freedom from the Antichrist world spirit.

Allow the Holy Spirit to remove every trace of Satan from your flesh. Allow the Holy Spirit to lead you throughout the program of death to your self-will and entrance into the Life of Christ.

Some passages you may wish to consider are as follows:

Matthew 3:1,2.

Malachi 3:1-4.

Isaiah 61:2.

I Peter 4:17.

Leviticus 25:8-10.

Hebrews 6:1-3,

Romans 8:13,14.

Note that Lazarus was raised on the fifth day, the day of the Blowing of Trumpets. (John 11:13,14)

Borrowing a phrase from Isaiah 61:2, we just have been discussing "The Day of Vengeance of our God."

In the evening we turned to the eighth chapter of the Book of Romans and considered the Law of the Spirit of Life.

Our current traditions often maintain there is no law but the "law of love." This tradition is based on the idea we are in a new dispensation in which God sees us through Christ. It might be nice to behave in a godly manner, at least some of the time. But when we "accept Christ as our personal Saviour" we can forget about any law governing our behaviour. Our judgment was completed on the cross and now we will go to Heaven instead of to Hell when we die.

Am I correct? Are there Christians who believe these things and are living accordingly?

I used to rant and rave about these errors. I don’t anymore. I am real calm and soft-spoken—most of the time.

But for old times' sake, let me once again, peaceably and quietly, point out the problem with the current traditions.

There is no law but the "law of love."

We are in a new dispensation, a "dispensation of grace."

God "sees us through Christ."

When we "accept Christ."

Our judgment was "completed on the cross."

Our goal is "to go to Heaven."

If you could see me sitting at my computer and writing you would be pleased to know I am quiet and peaceable, "with malice toward none," as Lincoln said. There is no law but the "law of love." There is a law that is part of the new covenant. Paul calls it "the law of the Spirit of life." The law of the Spirit of Life requires that we live in the Spirit of God and not in the desires of our sinful nature. Thus the law of the Spirit of Life is far more comprehensive than the Law of Moses, governing at all times what we think, what we say, and what we do.

It is important to note that we share in the righteousness purchased on the cross only as long as we obey the law of the Spirit of Life. (Romans 8:4) We are in a new dispensation, a "dispensation of grace." There is no statement in the New Testament that we are in a new dispensation. There is, however, a statement concerning a new covenant, which is the writings of God’s eternal moral laws on our heart and in our mind.

The Apostle Paul used the term "dispensation" to mean a "trust" or "stewardship." The term is not found in the New International Version or the New American Standard Bible. "Dispensation of grace" is not a new-covenant concept.

God "sees us through Christ." There is no such statement in the New Testament. God always sees what we do. He knows our works, as stated so many times in the second and third chapters of the Book of Revelation. The idea that God sees only the righteousness of Christ when He sees us is not a new-covenant concept. It would mean that when we commit adultery that God sees the purity of Christ.

Do you really believe that? I don’t imagine you do; but we Christians often compartmentalize our thinking. We hold both ideas in our mind at the same time: God sees us through Christ; but God does not see the purity of Christ when we are behaving immorally. It is time we checked out our thinking to see if it is rational. Do you agree?

When we "accept Christ." There is no statement in the New Testament that we are to "accept Christ." We cannot even come to Christ except the Father draws us. At that point we are to believe in Christ to the extent of learning to live by His body and blood. (Check out the sixth chapter of the Gospel of John).

Far too often when we say someone has "accepted Christ" we mean he has conformed to the requirements of his denomination. He has not really come to the Man and laid down his life, determined to carry his cross behind Jesus wherever Jesus may lead him.

Christ stands at the door of our heart today. We are to invite Him into our personality. He is to dine on our obedience and worship. We are to dine on His body and blood, which are given to us in the Spirit every time we turn away from the deeds of our sinful nature and choose to follow the Spirit of God.

Our judgment was "completed on the cross." This can be construed from a passage or two, when we ignore the contexts. But the fourth chapter of the Book of First Peter shows this to be a false idea. Also, the eleventh chapter of First Corinthians, where we read of the consequences of participating in the Communion service when our heart is not pure. Why would we get sick or die if God does not see the sin in our heart?

There are numerous passages in the New Testament that warn the Christians about the danger of living according to the sinful nature. These would make no sense whatsoever if our judgment was finished on the cross.

Our goal is "to go to Heaven." There is no such idea presented in the New Testament. The expression "go to Heaven" is not found in the Bible.

When we make residence in Heaven the goal of our salvation, we simply cannot understand the Bible. The idea of the Kingdom of God coming to the earth, which we pray faithfully in the "Lord’s Prayer," is negated as far as having any concrete meaning in our mind.

Now, if anyone would care to challenge the above statements, please send me the passage of the Bible you are submitting so I can learn. And whatever you do, please do not start your comments with, "But Brother Thompson, don’t you think . . ." This drives me nuts! Obviously I have written what I think. Please address your comments to webservant@wor.org.

Really, the eighth chapter of the Book of Romans is a marvel. All anyone needs to be firmly established in the Christian salvation are the sixth and eighth chapter of the Book of Romans. This is my opinion.

What is the eighth chapter of Romans telling us? It is saying that we can turn away from the Law of Moses and be without condemnation.

It is telling us that because of the obedience and death of Christ on the cross, the full righteousness of the Law of Moses will be assigned to anyone who turns away from his sinful nature and follows the Spirit of God at all times. It is as though he had kept the Law of Moses perfectly even though he knew nothing about the Law of Moses.

It is telling us that our mind is to be kept a prisoner of the Spirit of God. It is telling us that God intends to make alive our mortal body by filling it with the Spirit of God.

It is telling us that we are not obligated to obey our sinful nature. It is telling us that if we continue in our sinful nature we will die spiritually; we will not attain to the making alive of our body. It is telling us that the sons of God are they who are led by the Spirit of God.

It is telling us that we are God’s children and co-heirs with Christ, and will share in His glory if we share in His sufferings.

It is telling us that the material creation is in bondage, waiting for the sons of God to be revealed–they who will release the creation from frustration and bring it into the freedom that comes as we live in the Spirit of God.

It tells us that our reborn inner nature will be clothed with a body fashioned from eternal, incorruptible life when God adopts our mortal body. It is the adoption of our mortal body that is our hope, not eternal residence in Heaven! (Lord, help me to stay calm. Thank You.)

We are told that all of man’s history, including today’s wicked events, exist for the good of those who have been called to be the brothers of the Lord Jesus.

It tells us there is no power on earth, or under the earth, or in the heavens above, that can in any manner separate us from God’s love that comes to us through our Lord Jesus Christ.

As I said previously, I have malice toward no one, even when I yell and tear around. But it does seem to me that there ought to be some Christians who believe the sixth and eighth chapters of the Book of Romans instead of the gallimaufry, hodgepodge, mishmash of errors that compose today’s supposedly Christian teaching.