The Messianic Covenant (part 7)

The actual reception of Jesus in order for one to be saved must be by faith, and that faith is a gift of the Spirit.

· Matt 21:31-32 Jesus said to them, "I tell you the truth, the tax collectors and the prostitutes are entering the kingdom of God ahead of you. 32 For John came to you to show you the way of righteousness, and you did not believe him, but the tax collectors and the prostitutes did. And even after you saw this, you did not repent and believe him.

While a person’s heart remains hard the Word does not have a way to effect a reconciliation. The faith that leads to salvation is the faith that receives Jesus as the One who hates sin, yet full of compassion for those who believe and heed His Word. So Jesus fulfills the promises of the new covenant by means of the ministry of His Word, under the agency of the Holy Spirit.

God’s people are effectually called by His grace; by faith they accept His mercy and surrender to His will. From the minute this exists in the heart, no matter how minor or feeble, salvation commences. The present grace progresses, sanctification, and finally passes into future glory, or that final stage of our eternal existence called glorification. Between this first manifestation of grace in the heart of a believer and our arrival in heaven our relationship with God continues to grow.

· Rom 11:29 for God's gifts and his call are irrevocable.

This is an assurance that the covenant supplies. But there is still further assurance:

· Jer. 32:38-40 They will be my people, and I will be their God. 39 I will give them singleness of heart and action, so that they will always fear me for their own good and the good of their children after them. 40 I will make an everlasting covenant with them: I will never stop doing good to them, and I will inspire them to fear me, so that they will never turn away from me. 41 I will rejoice in doing them good and will assuredly plant them in this land with all my heart and soul.

The covenant does not provide a pardon for their sins and then leave them in their sins. The “fear” which God puts in the hearts of redeemed souls is God’s medicine against sin.

· Prov 8:13 To fear the LORD is to hate evil; I hate pride and arrogance, evil behavior and perverse speech.

· Prov. 16:6, Through love and faithfulness sin is atoned for;through the fear of the LORD a man avoids evil.

God does not promise to place just His doctrines in our hearts but also His fear. Otherwise we have just a head knowledge of God. God says that He will not turn away from us to do good, but we will turn away from Him to do evil. So in the Jeremiah passage above He says that He puts fear in our hearts so that we will not turn away from Him. Now we must remember that the fear that the Scripture here mentions is not the fear of a mean, vicious father but a fear based on awe and appreciation and respect and thanksgiving.

So far we have been looking at the God side of the Messianic covenant, that is, the means that He has arranged for the fulfillment of His purpose of grace. Now let’s look at the human side and consider what God requires of us before the blessings of the covenant can become ours.

· 2 Sam 23:5, "Is not my house right with God? Has he not made with me an everlasting covenant, arranged and secured in every part? Will he not bring to fruition my salvation and grant me my every desire?

It would be easy to read this verse and leave it there but we must also consider Isaiah.

· Isa 55:3 Give ear and come to me; hear me, that your soul may live. I will make an everlasting covenant with you, my faithful love promised to David.

In this second passage we find several requirements of the one with whom God will make the covenant. He first says “give ear”, which means those who have not been willing to listen to Him must now listen and cease their rebellion against Him. Next, He says “come to me”, meaning those who are separated from Him, come to me and abandon your weapons of warfare against the holy God. Third, He says “hear me”, meaning that those whose souls are dead should listen to His good news and be alive. These are the human responsibilities required by God, and then He will make a covenant with you.

We must be careful here. While it is true that the covenant is entirely of grace, nevertheless grace reigns through righteousness, and not at the expense of it. God does not enter into a covenant with those who openly defy Him. It is not that the sinner has to do something to earn God’s blessings. But though God requires nothing from us in the way of earning or meriting His favor, He does have requirements so far as actually receiving the blessings. God cannot allow His blessing to be given without the submission of the sinner and confession and the resolve to be obedient to His standards. Remember that a covenant is an agreement between two parties and there is an obligation on the part of both parties.

Now so that there are no misunderstandings, God treats men as moral agents, that is, that they can act responsibly. The first blessing of the covenant, regeneration, or God putting His law in our hearts, depends on no condition on our part. That is purely a sovereign act of God’s grace. But for full participation in the blessings of the covenant, faith on our part is required.

This brings up an interesting matter. We have said much earlier that it is the work of the Holy Spirit that enables us to be faithful and obedient to God’s law. As we continue to live according to His law we are being “sanctified”, or growing in godliness throughout our lives. So how much obedience does God require of us?

· 2 Cor 1:20-22, Now it is God who makes both us and you stand firm in Christ. He anointed us, 22 set his seal of ownership on us, and put his Spirit in our hearts as a deposit, guaranteeing what is to come.

· 2 Cor 5:5, Now it is God who has made us for this very purpose and has given us the Spirit as a deposit, guaranteeing what is to come.

In both of these passages there is a very important word and that word is “deposit”.

A deposit is a partial payment of what has been agreed between two parties and an inferred guarantee of full payment at a later time. This term is used because of the right the believer has to eternal life and glory in heaven. So the work of the Spirit now is only a token of what our glorified life will be like. Or to put it another way, the spirituality that we grow into in this life is only a small hint of the perfection we will experience in heaven.