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+ The New Promise +

Board for Evangelism Newsletter: October 2008

Jesus says clearly that He is the only way of salvation (John 14:6).  But people often imagine a second way; being a good person.  At some funerals people go on and on about the dead person's good life, but ignore sin and the Redeemer.  For argument's sake, Jesus told a couple of self-righteous men that they must keep the commandments in order to be saved (Luke 10:25; 18:18). It is as if he were saying, “You prefer to be saved by keeping the Law?  Fine.  Here's how that will work: You will present yourself before God on Judgment Day in complete perfection.  You will have a spotless record with nothing whatsoever to speak against your flawless life.”

The prophet Jeremiah spoke to God's people, saying, "The time is coming," declares the LORD, "when I will make a new covenant with the house of Israel and with the house of Judah (Jeremiah 31:31).  In no circumstance could it have been clearer than with God's people exiled from their homeland because of wickedness and   idolatry that people  are  incapable   of  keeping a covenant with God. Sinners needed a new covenant.

Christ is the mediator of that new covenant.  The writer to the Hebrews says so (9:15).  Jesus Himself says so when He presents to His disciples the cup of wine joined with His blood for them to receive for forgiveness and salvation. "This cup is the new covenant in my blood, which is poured out for you.”  Paul says that it is a covenant not of the letter but of the Spirit; for the letter kills, but the Spirit gives life (2Cor. 3:6).

The Law put forward as a means of salvation for people can only be a false notion; something put forward for argument's sake.  A new covenant is needed - a new covenant in the blood of the One Who meets all requirements.  That new covenant is in Christ.  It relies not on what a person must do to inherit eternal life, but entirely on what Christ has done.

Last modified
2008-09-20 02:23 PM
 
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