To: Hebraic-Foundations@yahoogroups.com
From: "Pastor Buddy Martin" <Bro.Buddy@ChristianChallenge.org>
Date sent: Sat, 5 Jan 2002 13:09:14 -0600
Subject: Bible Study HF053 - A Covenant of Pure Grace
Hebraics,
May the Lord bless you in 2002. May you find doors of opportunity
for effectual service in the vineyard of our King. And may your
personal life be enriched with a true revelation of God's Son.
To begin our Bible studies for this year, I want to address an issue
that has proven to be an area of frustration for many believers.
Often frustrations in the Christian walk stem from a failure to
understand God's covenant in Christ. This was what the apostle
was addressing in his letter to the Galatian Churches.
The apostle said, "I do not nullify the grace of God, for if
righteousness comes through the Law, then Christ died
needlessly." (Gal2:21) When Paul speaks of the Law, he is
drawing from the Mosaic legislation, which was a covenant of
works. To nullify the grace of God means to render it ineffective, or
cause it to be invalid. (Nullify is the Greek word atheteo, which
means to bring to nothing, disannul, cast off.)
And so frustration comes to those believers who 'frustrate' God's
grace. We get frustrated because nothing seems to be working
right, and yet we are doing everything we know to 'make' things
work right. But here is the stumbling block. We earn nothing in the
new covenant. We are heirs. An heir does not pay for anything. He
or she simply inherits. But this concept is foreign to our natural
thinking. We are so accustomed to the idea of our 'worth.' So, here
comes frustration.
It is important to understand that the new covenant is wholly of
God. We are heirs of all that Christ purchased for us at the cross.
This is why the apostle says in one place, "All things belong to
you, and you belong to Christ; and Christ belongs to God."
(1Co3:22,23) And yet many believers still labor under an
assumption that the new covenant is based upon our personal
performances, or our personal goodness. This assumption is totally
untrue. The new covenant is based entirely upon the goodness of
Jesus Christ. It is His merits that are placed to the credit of
everyone who believes.
So, lets begin our year with Bible Study HF053 - A Covenant of
Pure Grace.
As a beginning point lets reach back to where the Lord speaks of a
new covenant to come. God says through Jeremiah, "Behold, days
are coming, 'declares the Lord,' when I will make a new covenant
with the house of Israel and with the house of Judah, not like the
covenant which I made with their fathers in the day I took them by
the hand to bring them out of the land of Egypt. My covenant which
they broke, although I was a husband to them,' declares the Lord.'"
Then the Lord explains the heart of the new covenant. He says,
"But this is the covenant which I will make ... I will put My law
within them and on their heart I will write it ... I will be their God,
and they shall be My people. ... They will not teach again, each
man his neighbor and each man his brother, saying, 'know the
Lord,' for they will all know Me, from the least of them to the
greatest of them ... for I will forgive their iniquity, and their sin I will
remember no more.'" (Cf. Jeremiah 31:31-34)
Keep the afore Scriptures in mind. We will return briefly. When
Jesus took the cup, He said, "This cup which is poured out for you
is the new covenant in My blood." (Luke 22:20) And so, there is no
question that the covenant we enjoy today is the very covenant
spoken of in the book of Jeremiah. There is only one new covenant.
Here are the major emphases God places in the new covenant:
(1) He Himself is going to write in the transformed nature of His
people, His laws and moral precepts. - I will put My laws on their
mind and write it in their heart. - (This writing into our nature is a
lifetime process. Whatever problem a believer may struggle over,
eventually the Lord will conquer it by His Spirit in the inner man. He
will write sin and failure out of our innermost being.)
(2) God is going to give every member of the new covenant a sense
of belonging. - They will all know Me - (Every believer will know God
personally. For this reason there is no human mediatorial ministry
in the new covenant, other than that of Jesus Christ. No prophet, or
pastor, or apostle, or whatever, stands between the believer and
the Lord. Every believer has direct access to God's throne. The Old
Testament order of prophets is no longer needed.)
(3) The new covenant allows for no remembrance of sin. - I will
forgive their iniquity, and their sin I will remember no more - (The
atonement of Jesus deals with all sin for all time, for those who
believe in Him. This is why Paul said, "Therefore there is now no
condemnation (damnatory sentence) for those who are in Christ
Jesus.")
(4) God makes the covenant unconditional. - I will be their God, and
they shall be My people - (No 'ifs' or 'buts.' The new covenant is
based on unconditional grace for those who enter. Everything that
is to be done, is done by God. This is why Paul later wrote, "For
from Him and through Him and to Him are all things. To Him be the
glory forever. Amen." - Romans 11:36 )
So when Jesus bowed His head, and said, "It is finished," this
meant that everything required for entrance in the new covenant
was fulfilled by Christ Himself. God's very own righteousness would
be given to every person who believes in Jesus Christ. The sin debt
was fully paid. God would now deal with believers on the basis of
love, and love alone.
The apostle wrote, "For I am convinced that neither death, nor life,
nor angels, nor principalities, nor things present, nor things to
come, nor powers, nor height, nor depth, nor any other created
thing, will be able to separate us from the love of God, which is in
Christ Jesus our Lord." (Romans 8:38,39)
The one question that lingers in our minds has to do with sin itself.
How does sin affect a believer's life. It should go without saying that
sin always has consequences. But since the blood of Jesus
atones for all our sins for all time, God can be merciful to our sins.
The Holy Spirit is constantly at work in the heart of a believer to
produce repentance and cleansing. Forgiveness is guaranteed all
believers in the covenant of Christ.
God has overlooked nothing in the new covenant. He knows well
that we reside in a body of death, and that we are subject to
temptations and failures in our natural life. His provision is continual
cleansing and restoration. John said, "If we walk in the Light as He
Himself is in the Light, we have fellowship with one another, and
the blood of Jesus His Son cleanses us from all sin." Notice
carefully that the blood of Jesus cleanses us from *all* sin.
John continues; "If we say we have not sin, we are deceiving
ourselves and the truth is not in us. If we confess our sins, He is
faithful and righteous to forgive us our sins and to cleanse us from
all unrighteousness. If we say that we have not sinned, we make
Him a liar and His word is not in us." (Cf. 1 John 1:7-10)
John's point is that a true believer has an inner safe guard when
dealing with sin. Not only do we have an eternal atonement through
the blood of Jesus, but we also have an internal spiritual working
that will not permit us to avoid sin, or put sin into practice. Sin is
contrary to the righteous nature of a child of God. Again we see
where the new covenant is awesome in all its performances.
But there is another issue we must encounter. What is the true
sign of a person who born from above? The answer to this is the
crux of the new covenant. The answer may seem too simple, but it
is true nonetheless. The sign of a person who is truly born of
Christ, is their faith in Jesus Christ alone. This has always been
the distinguishing sign of a Biblical Christian.
The reason for this is that it is impossible for a person to be born
again if any of their faith is placed in human effort. We have to
come clean on this issue before we can enter the kingdom of the
beloved Son. If our faith is placed in anything we can do to merit
salvation, or to merit God's favor by our performances or good
deeds, we exclude ourselves from the new birth.
The apostle said, "Because by the works of the Law no flesh will
be justified in His sight; for through the Law comes the knowledge
of sin." He had earlier said, "But the righteous man shall live by
faith." (Cf. Rom1:17; 3:20)
This brings us full swing back to the subject of pure grace, and why
believers sometimes walk in frustration. If at any time a believer
shifts from faith in Christ alone, and begins to look at his own
merits, this causes grace to be set aside. God cannot bless the
believer who is trusting in his own righteousness or good deeds.
God can only justify a believer when faith in Jesus Christ is in
place. This is the underlying principle of the new covenant.
And this isn't simply a salvation issue. It doesn't matter whether it
is our initial entrance into the kingdom of God, or anything else in
our lifetime journey, in each and every situation, God's blessings
come to us based on our faith in Jesus. Paul said, "Therefore as
you have received Christ Jesus the Lord, so walk in Him."
(Colossians 2:6)
This last Scripture is quite interesting. In the Greek, Paul is telling
believers to 'walk about' in Christ. The truth presented is that every
person born again actually enters into 'the' sphere of Christ. We live
our lives out in Christ Himself. What an awesome thought.
Let's take a break on this study. If you have any questions or
observations feel free to place them on the forum. The study will
remain open for awhile. (There is much more to be said. And there
is no area more important to understand than that of the covenant
of Christ. Take advantage of this study.)
Shalom in Christ,
Buddy
Lawrence E. (Buddy) Martin, HF Host
email: Bro.Buddy@ChristianChallenge.org
Web: http://www.ChristianChallenge.org
"See to it that no one comes short of the grace
of God; that no root of bitterness springing up
causes trouble, and by it many be defiled." (Heb12:15)