obedience

Jesus is the answer

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 For God so loved the world that he gave his only begotten Son, so that whosoever believes in him,should not perish, but have eternal life. John 3:16

I cannot overemphasize the fact, that whatever your need is, the answer is Jesus. It does not matter what you need , or think is now more grievously urgent for you, Jesus is the answer. God’s supply to you is inclusively packed in Jesus. Receive Jesus, have Jesus and all your needs are met.

Let me help you by pointing to you the greatest need you have whether you are aware of it or not. You need to do God’s will and be pleasing to Him. All your needs, whether are spiritual, emotional, physical are just symptoms of this one great need. If you’re a christian, you are aware of this need. You have already tried to do all you can to be and do all that is pleasing to your God, but down deep in your heart, you know that something is missing. Nothing of what you do or even all the sacrifices you have done is enough. You are not in rest, and you have no peace in your heart. Why it is so? Because you are looking to find the answer for your need in yourself. You can never be or do by yourself, what God wants you to be and do in His sight.

Only receive His love in the person of His Son. You believe in His love if you believe in Jesus. Only through Him, and because of Him you’re pleasing God the Father. Jesus is the only answer to this fundamental need. Only in knowing and believing God’s love, you will have real rest and peace in your heart. Receiving and believing in Jesus, brings such pleasure to God the Father in a similar way as an earthly father (how much more your heavenly Father) takes pleasure in meeting the needs of his children. Believe in Jesus and believe that all your needs are met. Know Him and you know that all your needs are met. This is the obedience that God wants from us. It’s called the obedience of faith or the obedience of the gospel. When we receive Jesus, then and only then, we truly obey God. When we believe in God’s love for us in the person of His Son, then and only then, we are truly pleasing God. Any action of ours no matter how noble or godly it might looks, unless is an expression and an overflow of our reception of His love, it’s sin. Our actions can have God or self as their source. If you consider,that you need to do something else, from just believing in Jesus, your actions of “obedience” will just derive from yourself. Receiving Jesus by faith, is not what we do once in order to be saved, but is what we are doing always if we want to live and walk in a pleasing way to the Father, where all our actions are from the overflow of God’s love, JESUS!

Our part in the New Covenant

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In order to know our part in the New Covenant, we need to have in mind the big contrast of the law and grace. This is the difference of the two main covenants in the Bible, the Old Covenant of the law and the New Covenant of grace. We are not under the Old Covenant but under the New one. We cannot fulfill our part of the New covenant by  keeping the terms of the Old. If we think, that unless we don’t keep the commandments we are breaking our covenant with God, or if we obey the law then we keep our part of the covenant, then we are trying to fulfill the New Covenant with the terms of the Old. Not knowing in clarity the contrast of law and grace we are trying to obey God in the terms of the Old Covenant though we are under the New one.

The Old Covenant is the Covenant of the law. A Covenant that was made between God and the people of Israel. Under the Old unless they didn’t obey all the commandments they were breaking it. One single commandment they  disobeyed was enough to break it with the result to be cursed. Paul in his letter to the Galatians says that anyone under the law was cursed simply because no one can be justified by the obedience of the law. Doing your part under the law/Old Covenant was a mission impossible.

The New Covenant is the gospel of grace. A Covenant made between God the Father and His Son Jesus Christ. It’s an eternal Covenant that cannot be ever been broken. Whosoever believes in Jesus comes under the blessings of the New Covenant. Your part in the Covenant is Jesus. Grace means God does something on your behalf. Grace is not a doctrine or another teaching but it’s Jesus Himself. He is , He did and does all on your behalf in the New Covenant. That’s why is called gospel(good news).

The big contrast of the Old from the New is this: Under the Old it was all up to you to obey the law but in the New is everything up to Jesus. Jesus fulfills always perfectly your part. There is nothing for you to do but to rest. No work from you is accepted in the New Covenant. There is nothing for you to achieve in the New but to receive all that Jesus achieved for you. Rest in the fact that Jesus is your part in the New Covenant. Rest in the fact that Jesus is for you all you need to be. Rest in the fact that Jesus did all that was needed to be done for you. When you rest He works for you and through you. This is the obedience of the New Covenant. It’s called obedience of the gospel  or obedience of faith.