{"id":4874,"date":"2018-03-20T07:02:08","date_gmt":"2018-03-20T12:02:08","guid":{"rendered":"http:\/\/www.thewaywesee.com\/religiondetoxnetwork\/?page_id=4874"},"modified":"2023-06-25T08:39:19","modified_gmt":"2023-06-25T13:39:19","slug":"faith-grace-mercy-peace-love-heart-glory-blessing-spirit-and-truth","status":"publish","type":"page","link":"https:\/\/thewaywesee.com\/religiondetoxnetwork\/mystery\/gods-written-word-and-gods-spoken-voice\/the-law\/two-covenantspart1\/faith-grace-mercy-peace-love-heart-glory-blessing-spirit-and-truth","title":{"rendered":"Faith, Grace, Mercy, Peace, Love, Heart, Glory, Blessing, Hope, Joy, Truth"},"content":{"rendered":"

CODE WORDS WITH A COMMON MEANING<\/strong>
\nGod uses symbolism extensively throughout the Bible. We have discussed this in Symbols, Signs, Types, Allegories, Parables, Copies, Shadows and Patterns.\u00a0<\/a><\/p>\n

STUDY TIP: See God\u2019s Written Word and God\u2019s Spoken Voice Part 1<\/a>, God\u2019s Written Word and God\u2019s Spoken Voice Part 2,<\/a>\u00a0How to Hear God\u2019s Spoken Voice,<\/a>\u00a0Literal or Symbolic Interpretation Part 1,<\/a>\u00a0Literal or Symbolic Interpretation Part 2, <\/a>and\u00a0<\/a>Literal or Symbolic Interpretation Part 3. <\/a><\/p>\n

Also see\u00a0God\u2019s Spoken Word\u00a0<\/a>for a list of many\u00a0words\u00a0that have the same symbolic meaning as\u00a0Faith, Grace, Mercy, Peace, Love, Glory and Blessing.<\/p>\n

Also see\u00a0Place Where God Will Place His Name<\/a> for understanding of the heart.<\/p>\n

Many people might wonder why God doesn’t just say what he wants his people to hear instead of filling the Bible full of Mysteries and\u00a0Symbols, Signs, Types, Allegories, Parables, Copies, Shadows and Patterns. <\/a>They might wonder why God doesn’t make knowing him easy<\/a> instead of difficult. The simple answer to these questions is that God’s ways are not man’s ways<\/a>. The more complicated answer is that he requires that the people in whom he makes his home in their hearts seek him with all of their heart, mind, soul and strength.<\/a> The emphasis here is on seeking with the heart.\u00a0If he didn’t have that requirement, people would continue seeking for God as they have always done: Through religious activity<\/a> in religious places<\/a>.<\/p>\n

The main reason, however, that God doesn’t say what he wants to say in the words of the Bible is that he speaks a spiritual language. Being spiritual, he does not employ natural tools or devices such as books and words to communicate with man. The only device he uses is his voice which is represented as his spirit. Thus he writes his laws on the hearts<\/a> of prophet (i.e. New Covenant disciples), and then speaks through them<\/a> to people who do have hardened their hearts to hearing God’s voice. Because God’s laws\/words have been written on their hearts,<\/a>\u00a0his messengers are able to speak from their hearts<\/a>. And what they speak are God’s words of love<\/a>.<\/p>\n

God speaks to his prophets and they do their best to record and report what they hear to others using human words. Their words are mainly words of warning<\/a> to quit religio<\/a>n and listen to God’s voice.<\/a><\/p>\n

Much, but not all, of what God says through his prophets such as Jesus is symbolic.<\/a> God’s purpose in of all this symbolism is to challenge and encourage Bible readers to learn about him through his voice\/word spoken to their hearts<\/a> instead of listening to and reading human language. God’s purpose in the Bible is to lead people out of Old\/Fist Covenant<\/a> religion, which is based on human words, to the New Covenant which is based on God’s spoken voice. This process is consistent with the “first the natural and then the spiritual<\/a>” principle.<\/p>\n

Learning how to interpret God’s voice in the symbolic language is not easy and does not happen quickly. The process is described in the Bible as a forty year journey through the wilderness<\/a> on the way to the promised land.<\/p>\n

No one enters directly into the promised land<\/a> which is a spiritual place. Each individual must first spend a season of time in the wilderness<\/a>\u00a0where he\/she learns the literal words of the law and practices religion based on those words<\/a>. This season is different for each individual. It is a season of being natural (i.e. in the flesh,\u00a0<\/a>religious<\/a>) that always precedes the season of faith<\/a> and\u00a0eternal life<\/a> (i.e. promised land) in the spirit where God’s spiritual laws<\/a> are written on the heart<\/a>.<\/p>\n

On the way through the wilderness of religion represented in the literal words of the Bible, God uses Symbols, Signs, Types, Allegories, Parables, Copies, Shadows and Patterns\u00a0<\/a>as\u00a0code phrases and words that refer to and anticipate the New Covenant. It could be said that the code words\u00a0 are God’s “short-hand” technique for pointing Old\/First Covenant religionists to New Covenant truth. This is how the law of sin and death (i.e. literal words of the Bible) leads religious people to faith<\/a> that comes through God’s words spoken by messiahs<\/a>\/prophets<\/a> whom God sends to speak for him.<\/a><\/p>\n

STUDY TIP: See\u00a0GOD\u2019S WRITTEN WORD AND HIS VOICE ARE NOT THE SAME.<\/a><\/p>\n

Faith, Grace, Mercy, Peace, Love, Heart, Glory, Blessing and Spirit are among the key code words that use Old\/First Covenant language that symbolize God’s laws (i.e. his words) written on the heart of New Covenant disciples.<\/p>\n

Or, to put it more simply, these terms all symbolically refer to God’s spoken voice (i.e. his word) which is the vehicle by which these terms are communicated to clean, pure hearts<\/a>.<\/p>\n

STUDY TIP: See\u00a0Two Covenants Part 1 <\/a>and\u00a0<\/a>Two Covenants Part 2.<\/a><\/p>\n

Knowledge of these code words is very important to Bible study. The fact that these words appear so often,and because they integrate everyday language into religious doctrines, Bible readers skip over them thinking that they understand what God is trying to say. They wrongly think that human knowledge and Godly wisdom<\/a> are the same. But they are wrong.<\/p>\n

STUDY TIP: See TWO KINDS OF KNOWLEDGE.<\/a><\/p>\n

Without a solid understanding of what these code words mean, they become empty, filler, religious words that add little or no value to understanding God. But, once we understand their individual meanings and spiritual content, they become flashing neon signs in the wilderness that directing us toward the Promised Land<\/a>\u00a0in which New Covenant<\/a> disciples<\/a> hear God’s spoken voice<\/a>.<\/p>\n

Without even knowing the meaning and application of these code words, we should interpret from their frequency in scripture that they are very important and that we should not assume that we know their meanings. It is beneficial, therefore, to invest time learning about each word in contexts which contribute to spiritual understanding.<\/p>\n

<\/a>Clicking on the word combinations below reveals the multitude of scriptures in which these code words appear together.<\/p>\n\n\n\n\n\n\n\n\n\n\n\n\n
<\/td>\nGRACE<\/span><\/td>\nMERCY <\/span><\/td>\nPEACE <\/span><\/td>\nLOVE <\/span><\/td>\nHEART <\/span><\/td>\nGLORY <\/span><\/td>\nBLESSING <\/span><\/td>\nSPIRIT <\/span><\/td>\nTRUTH <\/span><\/td>\n<\/tr>\n
FAITH<\/span><\/td>\nfaith and grace<\/a><\/span><\/td>\nfaith and mercy<\/a><\/span><\/td>\nfaith and peace<\/a><\/span><\/td>\nfaith and love <\/a><\/span><\/td>\nfaith and heart <\/a><\/span><\/td>\nfaith and glory<\/a><\/span><\/td>\nfaith<\/a><\/span>
\n and<\/a><\/span>
\n blessing<\/a><\/span><\/td>\n		faith and spirit<\/a><\/span><\/td>\nfaith and truth<\/a><\/span><\/td>\n<\/tr>\n
GRACE<\/span><\/td>\n<\/td>\ngrace and mercy<\/a><\/span><\/td>\ngrace and peace<\/a><\/span><\/td>\ngrace and love<\/a><\/span><\/td>\nheart and grace<\/a><\/span><\/td>\ngrace and glory<\/a><\/span><\/td>\nfavor and blessing <\/a><\/span><\/td>\ngrace and spirit<\/a><\/span><\/td>\ngrace and truth<\/a><\/span><\/td>\n<\/tr>\n
MERCY<\/span><\/td>\n<\/td>\n<\/td>\nmercy and peace<\/a><\/span><\/td>\nmercy and love<\/a><\/span><\/td>\nmercy and heart<\/a><\/span><\/td>\nmercy and glory<\/a><\/span><\/td>\nmercy and blessing<\/a><\/span><\/td>\nmercy and spirit<\/a><\/span><\/td>\nmercy and truth<\/a><\/span><\/td>\n<\/tr>\n
PEACE<\/span><\/td>\n<\/td>\n<\/td>\n<\/td>\nlove and peace<\/a><\/span><\/td>\nheart and peace<\/a><\/span><\/td>\nglory and peace<\/a><\/span><\/td>\npeace and blessing<\/a><\/span><\/td>\npeace and spirit<\/a><\/span><\/td>\npeace and truth<\/a><\/span><\/td>\n<\/tr>\n
LOVE<\/span><\/td>\n<\/td>\n<\/td>\n<\/td>\n<\/td>\nlove and heart<\/a><\/span><\/td>\n love and glory<\/a><\/span><\/td>\nlove and blessing<\/a><\/span><\/td>\nlove and spirit<\/a><\/span><\/td>\nlove and truth<\/a><\/span><\/td>\n<\/tr>\n
HEART<\/span><\/td>\n<\/td>\n<\/td>\n<\/td>\n<\/td>\n<\/td>\nglory and heart<\/a><\/span><\/td>\nheart and blessing<\/a><\/span><\/td>\nheart and spirit<\/a><\/span><\/td>\nheart and truth<\/a><\/span><\/td>\n<\/tr>\n
GLORY<\/span><\/td>\n<\/td>\n<\/td>\n<\/td>\n<\/td>\n<\/td>\n<\/td>\n glory and blessing<\/a><\/span><\/td>\nglory and spirit<\/a><\/span><\/td>\nglory and truth<\/a><\/span><\/td>\n<\/tr>\n
BLESSING<\/span><\/td>\n<\/td>\n<\/td>\n<\/td>\n<\/td>\n<\/td>\n<\/td>\n<\/td>\nbless and spirit<\/a><\/span><\/td>\nblessing and truth<\/a><\/span><\/td>\n<\/tr>\n
SPIRIT<\/span><\/td>\n<\/td>\n<\/td>\n<\/td>\n<\/td>\n<\/td>\n<\/td>\n<\/td>\n<\/td>\nspirit and truth<\/a><\/span><\/td>\n<\/tr>\n<\/tbody>\n<\/table>\n

Some may think it a bit of a stretch to say that all of these words point to the New Covenant. We might agree except for the following scriptures that are clearly tied to the New Covenant:<\/span><\/p>\n\n\n\n\n\n\n\n\n\n\n\n\n
Faith and Covenant<\/a><\/td>\n<\/tr>\n
Grace and Covenant<\/a><\/td>\n<\/tr>\n
Mercy and Covenant<\/a><\/td>\n<\/tr>\n
Peace and Covenant<\/a><\/td>\n<\/tr>\n
Love and Covenant<\/a><\/td>\n<\/tr>\n
Heart and Covenant<\/a><\/td>\n<\/tr>\n
Glory and Covenant<\/a><\/td>\n<\/tr>\n
Blessing and Covenant<\/a><\/td>\n<\/tr>\n
Spirit and Covenant<\/a><\/td>\n<\/tr>\n
Truth and Covenant<\/a><\/td>\n<\/tr>\n<\/tbody>\n<\/table>\n

It is unwise to ignore the significance of the frequency with which these word combinations appear in both the Old Testament and New Testament. After reading the many scriptures found in the table above, we are compelled to accept that they are indeed code words that God has salted throughout the Bible to tell us that the New Covenant has always existed. It is not “new” in terms of chronological time. It is only “new” in terms of the experience of Old\/First Covenant religionists. Whereas, while they were religious, the listened to false prophets<\/a> and followed religious laws<\/a>, when they become New Covenant disciples<\/a>, they only listen to God’s spoken voice<\/a>\u00a0(spoken by God directly and his true prophets)<\/a> and only follow God’s spiritual laws.<\/a> When this change occurs, they are born again. That is a new thing for them<\/a>. The kind of life that they then live is a new life as a New Covenant disciple.<\/p>\n

This should be good news for Jews who still doubt what the Promised Land<\/a> is and how to get there. It should also be humbling and edifying for Gentile Christians who mistakenly believe that they have something that the Jews do not have because they believe in Jesus. Just believing that the man Jesus lived as a human man, died and was resurrected so they could go to heaven is theology that does not agree with what God says about Jesus or the New Covenant.<\/p>\n

AUTHORS’ NOTE: See Messiahs<\/a>\u00a0and Jesus<\/a> for understanding about Jesus.<\/p>\n

<\/p>\n

INCOMPREHENSIBLE SCRIPTURES THAT ARE IMPOSSIBLE TO OBEY<\/strong>
\nThe Bible is full of enigmatic,<\/a> incomprehensible scriptures. God calls them mysteries<\/a> and has not been at all deceptive about the fact that he has hidden their meanings from his people<\/a>.<\/p>\n

Throughout this web site we have provided the interpretation of several difficult scriptures that we think are especially critical to understanding God. Perhaps the most notable difficult scriptures are in the Books of the Law. Many of the commandments, for example, are so obscure that they defy intellectual understanding. The so called “dietary laws” are among those. Here are a few examples:<\/p>\n

Deuteronomy 14:1-21<\/a> You are the children of the LORD your God. Do not cut yourselves or shave the front of your heads for the dead, 2 for you are a people holy to the LORD your God. Out of all the peoples on the face of the earth, the LORD has chosen you to be his treasured possession.3 Do not eat any detestable thing.4 These are the animals you may eat: the ox, the sheep, the goat,5 the deer, the gazelle, the roe deer, the wild goat, the ibex, the antelope and the mountain sheep.6 You may eat any animal that has a split hoof divided in two and that chews the cud. 7 However, of those that chew the cud or that have a split hoof completely divided you may not eat the camel, the rabbit or the coney. Although they chew the cud, they do not have a split hoof; they are ceremonially unclean for you. 8 The pig is also unclean; although it has a split hoof, it does not chew the cud. You are not to eat their meat or touch their carcasses.9 Of all the creatures living in the water, you may eat any that has fins and scales. 10 But anything that does not have fins and scales you may not eat; for you it is unclean. 11 You may eat any clean bird. 12 But these you may not eat: the eagle, the vulture, the black vulture, 13 the red kite, the black kite, any kind of falcon,14 any kind of raven,15 the horned owl, the screech owl, the gull, any kind of hawk, 16 the little owl, the great owl, the white owl, 17 the desert owl, the osprey, the cormorant, 18 the stork, any kind of heron, the hoopoe and the bat. 19 All flying insects that swarm are unclean to you; do not eat them. 20 But any winged creature that is clean you may eat.21 Do not eat anything you find already dead. You may give it to an alien living in any of your towns, and he may eat it, or you may sell it to a foreigner. But you are a people holy to the LORD your God. Do not cook a young goat in its mother’s milk.<\/p>\n

STUDY TIP: See\u00a0Bread, Food and Wine<\/a> for insights on how to interpret these verses.<\/p>\n

Deuteronomy 14:22-29<\/a> Be sure to set aside a tenth of all that your fields produce each year. 23 Eat the tithe of your grain, new wine and oil, and the firstborn of your herds and flocks in the presence of the LORD your God at the place he will choose as a dwelling for his Name, so that you may learn to revere the LORD your God always. 24 But if that place is too distant and you have been blessed by the LORD your God and cannot carry your tithe (because the place where the LORD will choose to put his Name is so far away), 25 then exchange your tithe for silver, and take the silver with you and go to the place the LORD your God will choose. 26 Use the silver to buy whatever you like: cattle, sheep, wine or other fermented drink, or anything you wish. Then you and your household shall eat there in the presence of the LORD your God and rejoice.27 And do not neglect the Levites living in your towns, for they have no allotment or inheritance of their own.28 At the end of every three years, bring all the tithes of that year’s produce and store it in your towns,29 so that the Levites (who have no allotment or inheritance of their own) and the aliens, the fatherless and the widows who live in your towns may come and eat and be satisfied, and so that the LORD your God may bless you in all the work of your hands.<\/p>\n

STUDY TIP: See\u00a0Sacrifices, Tithes and Offerings <\/a>and\u00a0Tithes<\/a> for understanding of tithes.<\/p>\n

Try as you will, you will not be able grasp an intellectual understanding of these literal laws so that you can apply them in your life. Even if you live in an agricultural society, the details will be impossible for you to understand or obey completely. And yet, they are part of God’s laws which we are told to obey<\/a>. And they are part of God breathed scripture which is useful for training in righteousness. <\/a> So how do we begin to obey or even understand scriptures like these?<\/p>\n

The way we see it, God put these and other difficult scripture in the Bible and in life’s circumstances to test us<\/a>. They are essential pieces of the Stumbling Block<\/a> God has placed before us. We need to keep in mind, however that he is not just testing to prove if we can outwardly obey his commandments. He is always testing us to show what is in our hearts<\/a>. There are three ways we can respond to these tests<\/a>:<\/p>\n\n\n\n
<\/td>\n\n