Strong Man Of God Blog

On January 28, 2014 in The Faith by Robert Kelley

Originally Posted January 19, 2014

In continuing to celebrate God’s New Covenant in the New Year, the Holy Spirit has led me to further discuss its terms and conditions. A covenant is a binding agreement between at least two parties. God is the Party of the first part to His New Covenant which He has taken the initiative to offer freely to men that will enter into it through faith in the Gospel of Jesus Christ during this temporary season of grace. God being of perfectly trustworthy character, there is no doubt but that He for His part keeps His covenants and performs what He has promised as His Word also testifies (Deuteronomy 7:9-11; Nehemiah 1:1-7; Psalm 105:7-12; Daniel 9:1-8; Hebrews 6:13-18, 11:17-19, 13:20-21).

Mortal men that will respond as God has required are the party of the second part to His New Covenant. This is very important to understand for while God offers His salvation and New Covenant to all mankind, not all respond in the way He has prescribed to enter in! Only those who in voluntary repentance and faith receive the Gospel of Jesus Christ--that He died on the cross for our sins, was buried and on the third day after rose again--are qualified to enter into the promise of salvation guaranteed by the indwelling of the Holy Spirit and God’s New Covenant (Acts 2:36-39; 1 Corinthians 15:1-4; 2 Corinthians 1:21-22; Hebrews 8:7-13, 10:1-22).

God’s New Covenant is for believers in Jesus Christ who like Abraham the father of the faith that pleases God, accept His terms and embrace His promises at His word (Romans 4)! God’s terms in summary (see my January 10, 2014 posting, God’s New Covenant under the category, Holidays) are that He will be God to believers and we His people. He will supernaturally write His laws in our minds and on our hearts and each one will know Him intimately. He will completely forgive the past sins of believers and those confessed in repentance going forward all due to the finished work and continuing intercession of Christ who serves eternally as our High Priest (Isaiah 53:10-12; Hebrews 7:11-28; 1 John 1:5-2:2).

The Lord has only one condition for believers as a party of the second part to His New Covenant. It is the same as it was for Israel exclusively under the Old Covenant: walk lifelong with Him in faith and love driven obedience (Exodus 19:3-8; Deuteronomy 6:1-5; Galatians 5:5-6)! Uniquely under the New Covenant we are not charged to keep God’s law written externally through our best self-effort (which no sinful man can). But now, He has superiorly put His law inside of us and given us power through the Holy Spirit to live it out with hardly any conscious effort to His glory (Romans 8:1-5)! When we sin, upon our confession and repentance He forgives us as promised.

Our coming to God in faith for the promise of salvation is not just as a one-time act, but we ‘“live by faith’” in Him for life (Romans 1:16-17, NKJV). This active and continuing faith in God is demonstrated by its works for as James writes, “faith without works (deeds) is dead,” (James 2:14-26, NKJV). He cites how Abraham not only believed the promise of God at the time it was given, but also later when tested held to his confidence in spite of being asked to sacrifice Isaac who was the link to the fulfillment of the promise (Genesis 22:15-18). In the same way, God expects believers in His future promise of salvation completed to persevere in their faith as displayed daily in their lives through all manner of trials. All lack of faith (unbelief) is sin (Romans 14:23b; Hebrews 11:6; James 1:2-8; 1 Peter 1:3-9).

When the Holy Spirit takes up residence in a believer in accord with God’s New Covenant, such a one will immediately begin to experience the reality of God for He comes to us as He is. “God is love,” (1 John 4:8, NKJV). God’s love is not theoretical; it is experienced because He Himself is love (Romans 5:5)! In God’s love we love Him back the way He has required: obedience to His commandments (John 14:15-24). Obedience is not some burdensome legalistic task either, but the love and joy-filled experience of our life in and from God wherein we are also enabled to love fellow believers (1 John 5:1-3), the unsaved and enemies as God does (Matthew 5:43-48; Romans 13:8-10). In light of God’s excellent terms and one condition that He even helps the willing fulfill, why would any mortal party to His New Covenant want to break it?

Tagged With: God's New Covenant blesses believers in Christ

God's New Covenant

On January 28, 2014 in Holidays by Robert Kelley

Originally Posted January 10, 2014

Welcome to the New Year 2014! The New Year like many things new provides a sense of freshness, excitement, anticipation and the promise of great benefits to come. While writing my December 2013 blogs, the Holy Spirit renewed great joy in me concerning God’s New Covenant with Israel that in “the exceeding riches of His grace” He has opened up to Gentiles willing to enter into its terms and conditions through the Gospel of Jesus Christ (Ephesians 2:4-9, NKJV)! The surpassing greatness of God’s New compared with the Old Covenant include superior promises that bless those who enter into it with Him both now in this present age and endless ages to come!

A covenant is a binding agreement. The Bible shows God making covenants with men of His choosing. While there is no formal stating of a covenant with Adam, the Lord acts toward him in a way that will become His covenant pattern with some of Adam’s future sons. Adam’s first sight upon coming to life from the dust was his Creator as Ruler (Genesis 2:7). God then transports His creature to a garden He had planted with the expectation of relationship and the man’s obedience (Genesis 2:8-17). Adam disobeyed God rejecting His rule. God brought the promised consequence but not without providing a future hope for making things right again (Genesis 3).

Of Adam’s future sons, Abram found favor with God and He approached him with a covenant of promise to make him a great nation of innumerable size and to give them a land to live in (Genesis 12:1-3, 15:1-21). Later, after changing his name to Abraham as ‘“a father of many nations,’” the Lord makes an ‘“everlasting covenant’” with him promising ‘“to be God to you and your descendants after you’” and to give the land ‘“as an everlasting possession.’” For Abraham and his descendants through Isaac it was required by God that every male be circumcised as a perpetual sign of the covenant which if they did not obey, they would be guilty of breaking it (Genesis 17:1-22, NKJV).

After bringing Abraham’s descendants out of slavery in Egypt as promised, God spoke to the people from Mt. Sinai concerning His covenant made specifically with them as a nation. He would be God to them and bless them as a holy people if they for their part would keep the covenant by obeying His commandments (Exodus 19:1-9; Deuteronomy 4:12-14, 5:1-29, 7:9-15, 26:16-19, 28:1-14). But the people disobeyed the first two of His Ten Commandments written in stone before Moses had come down from the mountain (Deuteronomy 9:7-21). And they continued to sin against the Lord for centuries breaking His covenant until He sent them out of the land in judgment--Judah last (2 Chronicles 36:15-23).

In the midst of judgment, the Lord announced through Jeremiah the prophet that in future days He would ‘“make a new covenant’” with Israel that would not be like the one in key provisions He made previously with their fathers which they had broken. God’s offer of Himself to be their God from the Old remains in the New Covenant but He would do something supernatural to enable the people to obey if they would as their part. He says, ‘“I will put My law in their minds, and write it on their hearts and I will be their God, and they shall be My people,’” (Jeremiah 31:31-33, NKJV). So pervasive would be God’s inner work in each heart, no one would need to be urged to know the Lord on an intimate basis and He would forgive (remove rather than just cover) their sins (Jeremiah 31:34).

Hallelujah! The New Covenant like the New Year has come, inaugurated through the blood Jesus the Jewish Messiah shed on the cross in the first century AD we who believe in Him mark in Communion (1 Corinthians 11:23-26; Hebrews 9:16-22)! The Old Covenant established the Levitical priesthood to intercede for the covering of the people’s sins once per year. However, the Lord Jesus is God’s appointed eternal High Priest of the New Covenant who has offered Himself once and for all to obtain forgiveness and blessings for the saints of old as well as mortal men that believe in Him now (Hebrews 7:1-9:15, 9:23-10:18). Forgiveness and cleansing through confession and repentance is only a prayer away at all times (Hebrews 4:14-16; 1 John 1:1-2:2)!

Of the superior promises too in God’s New Covenant through Christ is the spiritual new birth caused by the indwelling of the Holy Spirit who puts God’s law into our minds and writes it on our hearts (John 1:12-13, 3:1-8, 14:15-26, 16:12-15; Romans 2:17-29, 8:1-30, 12:1-2; 2 Corinthians 3; Hebrews 10:19-25; 1 John 3:4-9). Even so, mortals that enter into God’s New Covenant can still break it as it was broken in the Old through unbelief driven willful disobedience without repentance or apostasy to their eternal destruction (Ezekiel 18:19-32; Hosea 8:1-8; Mark 8:34-38; Luke 12:4-12; 2 Timothy 2:8-13; Hebrews 3:1-4:13, 6:1-12, 10:26-39). God’s foreknown elect stand by persevering faith in Christ to the end (Matthew 22:1-14; Hebrews 11:1-12:2, NKJV)! The risen, living Christ continues His cry among American churches, “Who is on the Lord's side?”

Tagged With: God's superior New Covenant Through Christ

Strong Man Of God Blog

Robert Kelley's weekly instruction, observations and reflections inspired by the Lord posted each Sunday night.

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