God of the covenant
And each person will not teach his fellow citizen,
and each his brother or sister, saying, “Know the Lord,”
because they will all know me,
from the least to the greatest of them.
For I will forgive their wrongdoing,
and I will never again remember their sins.
By saying a new covenant, he has declared that the first is obsolete. And what is obsolete and growing old is about to pass away. Hebrews 8:11-13 CSB
Throughout the Scripture, God’s promise is that He will establish a covenant to believers. “For we are the temple of the living God, as God said: I will dwell and walk among them, and I will be their God, and they will be my people” (2 Corinthians 6:16). Believers are Christ’s treasured possession. “Look, God’s dwelling is with humanity, and he will live with them. They will be his peoples, and God himself will be with them and will be their God” (Revelation 21:3). This is God’s commitment: He will be inseparably united with believers. In this covenant, God’s Word will be upon their hearts and minds. They will experience God’s permeating power through His Word. His Word will guide them and will be a part of their consciousness. Believers have access to His throne of grace. They communicate with Him through prayer. They can approach God freely knowing that He hears and intercedes for them. “Let us approach the throne of grace with boldness, so that we may receive mercy and find grace to help us in time of need” (Hebrews 4:16). They are identified with Him and His name has been written on their foreheads (see Revelation 14:1, 22:4). Their sins are completely forgiven and “will never again remember their sins” (Hebrews 8:12). This is so, for in the covenant that God established His mercy and grace are freely given to all those who believes in Him. Christ’s death at the cross had proven that sins are forgiven and forgotten. This is the new covenant He promised He will establish. “See, the days are coming, says the Lord, when I will make a new covenant with the house of Israel and with the house of Judah” (Hebrews 8:8). This is now the reality of those who placed their faith in Christ. This new covenant declared by God had made “obsolete and growing old is about to pass away” (Hebrews 8:13). The old covenant is ineffective for the sinner has to repeatedly offer animal sacrifice for the forgiveness of sin. The new covenant is based in the one-time sacrifice of the Lord Jesus Christ. The old covenant was declared obsolete for it will not produce true godliness. Those who had experienced the new covenant with God for they have trusted Jesus as their Lord and Savior will result to godliness. Believers are grateful and in their joy, will keep God’s commands. “For it is God who is working in you both to will and to work according to his good purpose” (Philippians 2:13).
Blessings,
Noel De Guzman
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