TOPIC: Our Part In The New Covenant Of Grace
SCRIPTURE: Therefore let it be known to you, brethren, that through this Man is preached to you the forgiveness of sins; and by Him everyone who believes is justified from all things from which you could not be justified by the law of Moses. – Acts 13:38–39.
Message
What is our part in the new covenant of grace? Our part in the new covenant of grace is to simply believe! What should we believe? We are to believe in Jesus! But follow me closely now, this answer may not be as straightforward as it seems. If you were to ask people on the streets if they believed in Jesus, you would probably get all kinds of answers. There would be those who believe that Jesus existed as a historical figure, moral philosopher, charismatic leader or prophet. Sadly, the truth is that believing all these things about Jesus will not save them.
So let’s establish what it means to believe in Jesus. To believe in Jesus is to first and foremost, believe and receive Him as your personal Lord and Savior who died on the cross for all your sins. To believe in Jesus is to believe that Jesus is the only way to salvation and that once you receive Him, you receive the gift of eternal life. Furthermore, to believe in Jesus is to believe beyond the shadow of a doubt that all your sins—past, present and future—were all punished on the cross and that today (this is where the last clause of the new covenant applies), all your sins and lawless deeds He remembers NO MORE!
Based on the new covenant of grace, what does God want you to believe? He wants you to believe with all your heart that He meant every word when He said, “…I will be merciful to their unrighteousness, and their sins and their lawless deeds I will remember no more” (aHebrews 8:12). You see, in the new covenant, there is nothing for us to do but to believe! Your part in the new covenant of God’s unmerited favor is to believe that you are completely forgiven of all your sins, and that Jesus’ blood cleanses you from all your unrighteousness and lawlessness.
In God’s eyes today, you are made perfectly righteous by Jesus’ finished work. The new covenant’s emphasis is to believe that you are forgiven of every sin and that God has erased them from His memory. If you don’t believe this, it will be impossible for you to depend on and expect God to protect, provide for and prosper you. If you don’t believe this, it will rob you of the ability to receive His goodness, blessings, unmerited favor and success in your life. So believe. Only believe!
