The New Covenant
- Richard
- Jan, 30, 2017
- Today's Musings
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The New Covenant: Grace, Not Law
“I will make a new covenant…not according to the covenant I made”…the gospel of the grace of God. (Jeremiah 31:31-32 and Acts 20:24)
The old covenant of law was the covenant that God made with Israel “in the day that [He] took them by the hand to bring them out of the land of Egypt” (Jeremiah 31:32b). The promise through Jeremiah was that the Lord would make a different type of covenant some day, “not according to [that] covenant.” This new covenant would be a covenant of grace, provided by the Lord Jesus Christ. “For the law was given through Moses, but grace and truth came through Jesus Christ“ (John 1:17).
The law of God was an impossible way to relate to the Lord. It required perfection, but it offered no perfecting assistance. It was able, however, to convince people of their need for the grace of Christ found in the new covenant. “The law was our tutor to bring us to Christ“ (Galatians 3:24).
Now, we live and proclaim this new covenant of grace, the “new and living way which He consecrated for us“ (Hebrews 10:20). This was the mission and message of which the Apostle Paul spoke. “The ministry which I received from the Lord Jesus, to testify to the gospel of the grace of God“ (Acts 20:24). The gospel is all about the grace of God, not about law. “The word of the truth of the gospel, which has come to you…the grace of God“ (Colossians 1:5-6).
Gospel means “glad tidings,” or “good news.” The good news of the grace of God provided through Jesus Christ is the supreme message for man in all of creation. In fact, the gospel of grace is such good news that some unbelievers initially reject it as “too good to be true.” Indeed, it is an astounding reality to consider that forgiveness, justification, and new birth are all available “by grace…through faith…the gift of God, not of works“ (Ephesians 2:8-9).
Perhaps, we should not be surprised that we believers sometimes react in this same manner when we consider the message of grace for growth and sanctification. To hear that the entire Christian life is to be “grace upon grace“ (John 1:16) may at first seem to us “too good to be true.”
At times we may ask, “Isn’t there any human responsibility in God’s plan of salvation?” Yes, there is. The saved and unsaved alike must always be willing to respond to the offer of God’s grace in Christ. We must all relate properly to the Lord Jesus for every work of grace, because it is “the grace of our Lord Jesus Christ“ (2 Corinthians 8:9). In all matters, we must seek Him and trust in Him.
Blue Letter Bible - Day by Day by Grace
Just as the lost don't understand the Gospel, the saved rarely understand grace.
There are few activities more exhausting and less rewarding than Christians attempting to please the people around them by maintaining impossible legalistic demands. What a tragic trap, and thousands are caught in it. When will we ever learn?
Grace has set us free!
That message streamed often through the sermons and personal testimonies of the apostle Paul.
The lost need to hear how they can go from the island of debris, filled with misery and guilt, to the land of peace and forgiveness, flowing with mercy and grace. Those bridges are built when we lovingly and patiently communicate the Gospel. You don't have to have a seminary degree. You don't have to know a lot of the religious vocabulary. In your own authentic, honest, and unguarded manner, share with people what Christ has done for you. Who knows? It may not be long before you will know the joy of leading a lost sinner from the darkness of death's dungeon across the bridge to the liberating hope of new life in Christ. Once they've arrived, release them. Release them into the magnificent freedom that grace provides. Don't smother them with a bunch of rules and regulations that put them on probation and keep them in that holding tank until they "get their lives straightened out."; Making us holy is the Spirit's work. Be faithful to dispense the Gospel to the lost and Grace to the saved. Then leave the results in the Lord's hands.