They asked him, "Why then do you baptize, if you are not the Christ, nor Elijah, nor the Prophet?"
God said to Adam, "In the day that you eat you will surely die." That is, the death of the consciousness of God within the heart of man. The death of the life of God, that Spirit of God and that life of God within man. It happened. Adam ate and that death took place, that spiritual death.Now, God still longed for fellowship with man, but that fellowship had been severed by man because of man's sin. Now in order that man might have fellowship with God, something first had to be done about man's sin. And so, God sent Moses and God gave to Moses the law, the law of the sacrifices, the covering of sin, making possible the restoration of fellowship with God. And in part of the sacrificial offerings were these offerings that were just fellowship offerings. The communion offerings, the meal offering, in which I just would just sit and eat with God and fellowship with God after the sin offering; then, that offering of consecration, the burnt offering, and then, the peace offering, the fellowship offering, where I just sit down and eat with God and fellowship with Him, but that could not be until first of all the sin offering. I had to take care, first, of the sin. And so, under the law and under Moses, the covenant of God through Moses, there was that provision for the covering of sin so that sinful man could be restored into fellowship with God and could sit and commune and eat with God.But these offerings of the bulls and goats could not put away sin. All they could do was cover sin, and they could point to an offering that God Himself was going to make, by which the sin of man could be put away so that the fellowship between man and God could be totally and completely restored.And so, the law came by Moses. This is not looking at the law in a derogatory sense. This is looking at the law as God intended it as a tool by which man could come into fellowship with God, but an imperfect tool because of man's failure. There's nothing wrong with the law, it was good, it was holy. But man was still sinful, and thus, the necessity of year after year the offering of the sacrifices for sin.So, God has established now through Jesus Christ a new covenant of grace and truth. By the law, Moses' covenant with God, but now through Jesus Christ a new covenant, a new covenant that is established on the grace of God and the truth of Jesus Christ. So, "The law came by Moses, but grace and truth came by Jesus Christ."