MEMORISE:
For this is my blood of the new testament, which is shed for many for the remission of sins. Matthew 26:28
READ: Galatians 3:20-26
20 Now a mediator is not a mediator of one, but God is one.
21 Is the law then against the promises of God? God forbid: for if there had been a law given which could have given life, verily righteousness should have been by the law.
22 But the scripture hath concluded all under sin, that the promise by faith of Jesus Christ might be given to them that believe.
23 But before faith came, we were kept under the law, shut up unto the faith which should afterwards be revealed.
24 Wherefore the law was our schoolmaster to bring us unto Christ, that we might be justified by faith.
25 But after that faith is come, we are no longer under a schoolmaster.
26 For ye are all the children of God by faith in Christ Jesus.
MESSAGE
Many Christians think the law (the Old Testament) is no longer of any effect and thus behave carelessly, claiming that, that, because they are born again, grace covers all their sins. Paul clarifies this in the following Scripture:
“But the scripture hath concluded all under sin, that the promise by faith of Jesus Christ might be given to them that believe. But before faith came, we were kept under the law, shut up unto the faith which should afterwards be revealed. Wherefore the law was our schoolmaster to bring us unto Christ, that we might be justified by faith. But after that faith is come, we are no longer under a schoolmaster. For ye are all the children of God by faith in Christ Jesus.”
The old covenant protected the people against temporal death, poverty, all forms of suffering and bondage but the new delivers eternally (Matthew 1:21; 26:28). Your ability to overcome sin is proof that you are a child of God, John the Beloved corroborated this when he said in 1 John 3:9 that
“Whosoever is born of God doth not commit sin; for his seed remaineth in him: and he cannot sin, because he is born of God.”
Are we really children of God? If we still wallow in sin, we remain in the old dispensation and the letter of the law will punish us here and in the afterlife.
The superiority of the new covenant over the old however is that, while the latter puts constraints to prevent sin, the new gives power over it. Romans 6:14 says: “For sin shall not have dominion over you: for ye are not under the law, but under grace.” We therefore have the assurance that grace will work for us. Romans 6:1 however cautions that we cannot remain in sin, expecting grace to abound. Rather, grace empowers us to conquer sin. You do not have any excuse to abide in sin.
ACTION POINT:
Tap into the power of the new covenant to overcome sin.
BIBLE IN ONE YEAR: 2 Chronicles 6-7
Psalm 136
AUTHOR: PASTOR E. A. ADEBOYE
HYMN 30: WHEN WE WALK WITH THE LORD.
1. When we walk with the Lord in the light of His Word,
What a glory He sheds on our way!
While we do His good will, He abides with us still,
And with all who will trust and obey.
o Refrain:
Trust and obey, for there’s no other way
To be happy in Jesus, but to trust and obey.
2. Not a shadow can rise, not a cloud in the skies,
But His smile quickly drives it away;
Not a doubt or a fear, not a sigh or a tear,
Can abide while we trust and obey.
3. Not a burden we bear, not a sorrow we share,
But our toil He doth richly repay;
Not a grief or a loss, not a frown or a cross,
But is blessed if we trust and obey.
4. But we never can prove the delights of His love
Until all on the altar we lay;
For the favor He shows, for the joy He bestows,
Are for them who will trust and obey.
5. Then in fellowship sweet we will sit at His feet,
Or we’ll walk by His side in the way;
What He says we will do, where He sends we will go;
Never fear, only trust and obey.
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