The Place of Grace In The New Covenant

Call To Prayer

Title: The Place of Grace in the New Covenant

By: Daniel Peter

Date: 19.12.2023

For by grace are ye saved through faith; and that not of yourselves: it is the gift of God: Ephesians 2:8 KJV.

In my write-up yesterday, I indicated that the transition from the Old Testament to the New Testament has not changed God’s expectations for us to walk in His fear and obey His commandments. For the consequence of sin is still death (Rom. 6:23). What then is the place of grace in the New Testament?

When God gave the law to the children of Israel, He knew they wouldn’t be able to keep it. He made them sing songs foretelling their rebellion ( Deu. 31:30, 32:47). In fact, Joshua was more succinct when he told them “… You are not able to serve the LORD. He is a holy God; he is a jealous God. He will not forgive your rebellion and your sins (Joshua 24:19 NIV)”. You may ask, why then did the Lord give them the law? He did so to help them recognise sin as sin, and so that they may see that they are unable to keep His commandments without His help (Rom. 7:13 NIV).

In the New Covenant, the Holy Spirit, who is also the spirit of grace, has been given to us to help us do the will of God (Heb. 10:29, John 14:26). The grace of God is the help of God. So, much more than those in the Old Testament, God expects us to walk in His fear and be obedient to His commandments, for we have been enabled by the coming of the Holy Spirit.

Another thing the grace in the New Covenant helps us to attain is access to the blessing. In the Old Covenant, they were blessed in accordance with their ability to obey the Lord (Deu. 11:27). However, in the New Testament, we have been made qualified for the blessing without works. Though in the New Covenant, we are instructed to walk in righteousness, the blessing is not dependent on our works but simply on our faith. We walk in righteousness because we have been made righteous; it’s the revealing of the nature we have received (Rom. 3:21-24).

So, the sure sign that you have found grace in Christ is when you are walking in all ways pleasing to God. One in the habit of sinning lacks grace.

Prayer Point:

Let’s thank the Lord for His word today. Let’s ask Him to help us grow in grace so we can walk in all ways pleasing to Him.