“For this is the covenant that I will make with the house of Israel
After those days, says the Lord:
I will put My laws into their minds,
And I will write them on their hearts.
And I will be their God,
And they shall be My people.
“And they shall not teach everyone his fellow citizen,
And everyone his brother, saying, ‘Know the Lord,’
For all will know Me,
From the least to the greatest of them. “For I will be merciful to their iniquities,
And I will remember their sins no more.” When He said, “A new covenant,” He has made the first obsolete. But whatever is becoming obsolete and growing old is ready to disappear. Hebrews 8:8-13 (NASB)
The writer of Hebrews continues to plead with these early Jewish Believers not to return to the rituals of their old faith. He reminds them of the prophesies of Jeremiah that there would be a new covenant. Jesus Christ had come to be the final sacrifice. When He did, He made the first covenant to be obsolete.
But Christ came as High Priest of the good things to come,[a] with the greater and more perfect tabernacle not made with hands, that is, not of this creation.12 Not with the blood of goats and calves, but with His own blood He entered the Most Holy Place once for all, having obtained eternal redemption.13 For if the blood of bulls and goats and the ashes of a heifer, sprinkling the unclean, sanctifies for the purifying of the flesh, 14 how much more shall the blood of Christ, who through the eternal Spirit offered Himself without spot to God, cleanse your conscience from dead works to serve the living God? 15 And for this reason He is the Mediator of the new covenant, by means of death, for the redemption of the transgressions under the first covenant, that those who are called may receive the promise of the eternal inheritance. Hebrews 9:11-14 NKJV
The new covenant has not become fully realized by the Israel nation yet! However, it will be one day when Christ returns. For the moment, the new covenant has been extended to all who accept Christ as their Savior. This means Jew and Gentile alike.
As John the Baptist began to teach salvation through repentance, preparing the path of Jesus he said,
Bring forth therefore fruits worthy of repentance, and begin not to say within yourselves, We have Abraham to our father: for I say unto you, That God is able of these stones to raise up children unto Abraham. Luke 3:8
Our stony hearts are being transformed that we might be grafted into the family of God.
A new heart also will I give you, and a new spirit will I put within you: and I will take away the stony heart out of your flesh, and I will give you an heart of flesh.27 And I will put my spirit within you, and cause you to walk in my statutes, and ye shall keep my judgments, and do them. Ezekiel 36:26-27
In chapter 11 of Romans, Paul wrote elaborately concerning this truth. For the moment, Salvation is being offered to all who believe from all nations, races and people. The invitation to come to accept Christ as your great High Priest has been extended to you, whoever you are. We who believe are being grafted into God’s tree. The sad part is that many of the original tree, the descendants of Abraham have been cut out due to their unbelief, while we are adopted into the family and become grafted in. Being a part of a “church” does not give you any greater position with God. It depends on whether you believe that Christ is the only way, the truth and the life. It depends on whether you have accepted Christ as your Savior and asked Him into your heart.
I cannot pretend to say that I understand everything about salvation or why God has chosen me to be His child. [bctt tweet=”The longer I am a Christian, the more I realize how much Grace it took for God to choose me.” username=”effiedarlene”] So, I will not pretend to explain why salvation is extended to each of us; but, I will say “Come, taste and see that the Lord is Good”.
O the depth of the riches both of the wisdom and knowledge of God! how unsearchable are his judgments, and his ways past finding out! For who hath known the mind of the Lord? or who hath been his counsellor? Or who hath first given to him, and it shall be recompensed unto him again? For of him, and through him, and to him, are all things: to whom be glory forever. Amen. Romans 11:33-36
And I will end with the same question that the writer of Hebrews proposed in Hebrews 2:3
How shall we escape, if we neglect so great salvation; which at the first began to be spoken by the Lord, and was confirmed unto us by them that heard him
The Song I chose for you today is: Jesus Thank You
New American Standard Bible (NASB)
Copyright © 1960, 1962, 1963, 1968, 1971, 1972, 1973, 1975, 1977, 1995 by The Lockman Foundation
New King James Version (NKJV)
Scripture taken from the New King James Version®. Copyright © 1982 by Thomas Nelson. Used by permission. All rights reserved.
©Effie Darlene Barba, 2016
Disclosure of Material Connection: I have not received any compensation for writing this post. I have no material connection to the brands, products, or services that I have mentioned. I am disclosing this in accordance with the Federal Trade Commission’s 16 CFR, Part 255: “Guides Concerning the Use of Endorsements and Testimonials in Advertising.