Grace and the New Covenant

Just to be clear about "Grace", a much misrepresented word in Christian circles today ...

Tell people you are a grace believer or a grace-based church, and you invite accusations of antinomianism (lawlessness) or the misconception that you are handing out licenses to sin and live your life whichever way you like.

So for the record, this blog, my church and I DO NOT endorse or encourage sin or recklessness in living. 

What we do believe, however, is that the way to God is not through not-sinning but by believing in His Son, Jesus Christ and what He has done for us on the cross.

"For the law was given through Moses; grace and truth came through Jesus Christ." John 1:17

In a nutshell:

• Grace is a person, and that person is Jesus.

• Under the Old Covenant (the law given through Moses), God's agreement with the people was:
     Obey the law fully  = be blessed   Break just one law = be cursed

• Of course God's people, being of Adam's seed, could not keep their part of the agreement, and there was a recurring cycle of punishment and redemption. God also instituted various animal sacrifices to atone for the people's sins every year.

• Finally, God came to earth as a man, Jesus, to take our place in punishment and to be the ultimate sacrificial lamb for mankind, to redeem His people and forgive their sins once and for all.
  "He did not enter by means of the blood of goats and calves; but he entered the Most Holy Place once for all by his own blood, thus obtaining eternal redemption." Heb 9:2

• On that cross, there was a Divine Exchange (Isaiah 53)
• Jesus took all the penalties of our sins — past, present and future — on Himself; He became victorious over sicknesses and diseases.
• In return, He gave us abundant life and divine health in Him 
• But the greatest blessing is His righteousness in exchange for our filthy rags, which opens the way for us to approach God freely as Father. When God sees us, He doesn't see our sin but the righteousness of Jesus.
  "God made Him who had no sin to be sin for us, so that in Him we might become the righteousness of God." 2 Cor 5:21

• Jesus' death was God cutting the New Covenant with Jesus, based on new and better promises (Heb 8:6-13). And because both parties are infallible, the covenant is forever.

• When we accept Jesus as the only way to God — not our good works, our efforts, our cleverness, our money — we become a new creation and partakers of the New Covenant, enjoying all the benefits contained therein. It's not because we do good or obey the law fully, but because Jesus was good and obeyed the law fully.

• Sounds unfair? That's GRACE!

• What's our part? Just to believe, receive and rest in His finished work on the cross.

• So the motivation for the Christian is no longer the carrot nor the stick. We shift from performance orientation and sin obsession and bask in the loveliness of Jesus. Yes, we pray, we worship, we give, we do good works, we evangelise, we serve, we live in peace with our fellow men — but we no longer do all these to earn God's favour and blessings or out of fear of punishment and retribution.
• All the punishment was wrought on Jesus on the cross 
• All God's favour was given to us through Jesus on the cross

• All we do is a response and overflow of all we receive from the Lord. We love because He first loved us. We give because He first gave Himself to us. We forgive because He first forgave us. We live because His life flows through us and in us. That's New Covenant living!
  "I have been crucified with Christ and I no longer live, but Christ lives in me. The life I live in the body, I live by faith in the Son of God, who loved me and gave Himself for me." Galatians 2:20

As we let these truths sink in, declare them and live them out daily, our minds will be renewed and our lives transformed by His life in us.

Hallelujah!