Bible Question:
What is God's covenant with me as a believer? |
Bible Answer: Wilson, Welcome to the forum! The covenant that you are under as a believer in Christ is called the New Covenant. This is what the words "The New Testament" mean. This New Covenant went into effect when Christ died - Heb 9:16-22. The New Covenant is vastly superior to the old covenant - it is a better covenant because it is unilateral - Heb 8:7,8. God announced the New Covenant - Heb 8:8-12, the Holy Spirit testified to it - Heb 10:15-18, and Jesus Christ proclaimed during His earthly ministry that it was coming - Luke 22:20; 1 Corinthians 11:25. The New Covenant replaced the old - Heb 10:8-10; Heb 7:18,19; Heb 8:13. There is a new priesthood, a New High Priest - Jesus Christ, and a new once-for-all sacrifice. The most important benefit of this New Covenant is that God has given us a new heart and a new spirit and He remembers our sins no more - Heb 10:17,18. There is no longer a sacrifice for sins - It is finished! We are now, as believers, ministers of the New Covenant, not of the Law - 2 Corinthians 3:6-11. I'll close with a quote from Spurgeon: According to this gracious covenant, the Lord treats His people as if they had never sinned. Practically, He forgets all their trespasses. Sins of all kinds He treats as if they had never been; as if they were quite erased from His memory. O miracle of grace! God here does that which is certain aspects is impossible to Him. His mercy works miracles which far transcends all other miracles. Our God ignores our sin now that the sacrifice of Jesus has ratified the covenant. We may rejoice in Him without fear that He will be provoked to anger against us because of our iniquities. See! He puts us among the children ; He accepts us as righteous; He takes delight in us as if we were perfectly holy. He even puts us in places of trust; makes us guardians of His honor, trustees of the crown jewels, stewards of the gospel. He counts us worthy, and gives us a ministry; this is the highest and most special proof that He does not remember our sins. Even when we forgive an enemy, we are very slow to trust him; we judge it to be imprudent to do so. But the Lord forgets our sins, and treats us as if we had never erred. O my soul, what a promise is this! Believe it and be happy. - Charles H. Spurgeon Hope this helps. ChristLifer2001 |