The joy of mercy. The writer of Hebrews in our text is arguing that there is a new covenant that is based in the work of Christ.
There will be a coming day when God would renew the minds of Israel and write into their hearts the very things that gentiles already have in the cross. The blindness over Israel would be lifted and the nation, from the least to the greatest would experience the mercies of God.
There is no greater joy than to experience the saving grace of Jesus. If you have come to know Christ as your savior, you are the present remnant saved by His grace.
Romans 11:5 (ESV) 5 So too at the present time there is a remnant, chosen by grace.
God is faithful even when we are not!
To endure, or persevere, with Christ does not protect salvation, which is eternally secured when a person trusts in Him as Savior and Lord. It confirms what has already taken place by the regeneration work of the Holy Spirit at new birth.
Obedience is not a means to God but rather the result of a work of God in us. And it is that obedience which is the ultimate act of worship to God as a result of the work of the Holy Spirit within us through regeneration.
Ephesians 2:10 (ESV) 10 For we are his workmanship, created in Christ Jesus for good works, which God prepared beforehand, that we should walk in them.
The deepest and most enduring happiness is found only in God. Not from God, but in God.
This is expressed in worship and worship is praise. Praise is to speak what we care about. To delight in the Lord is incomplete until it is expressed. We praise what we enjoy because the delight is incomplete until it is expressed in praise.
When we walk in the Spirit we please God. When we don’t we please the flesh. Our flesh, does not desire the things of the Spirit of God.
It desires those things that run counter or contrary to the Spirit. And the end result is that when the flesh is in control we fail do those things that please God.
Walk in The Spirit!
There is the problem that many believers have with understanding the ministry of the Holy Spirit in sanctification. And that is where I want to set my focus on in this devotional. We need to remember that a person cannot come to God by means of the law
or performance, nor can he or she grow or sustain living for God by keeping the law or performance. Our sanctification, like our conversion is still a work of God either in regeneration or sanctification
The default condition of lost humanity is to always revert to some form of self-help. It’s the Gospel of moralism that says man is not totally depraved, and there is with humanity the ability for self-improvement. It is this self-improvement that not only will bring personal happiness but will ultimately be approved by God.
But our text here in Romans 6:6-7 runs counter to that kind of thinking. Let me read it once again…
Romans 6:6-7 (ESV) 6 We know that our old self was crucified with him in order that the body of sin might be brought to nothing, so that we would no longer be enslaved to sin. 7 For one who has died has been set free from sin.
David speaks to the beauty of God’s word as he saw it in the Old Testament. It is also important to note that
David uses the covenant name of God, LORD, meaning Jehovah. God’s word speaks directly to the believer, the one in a covenant relationship with Him.
and reminds us of our relationship with Him. The two “edged sword” (Hebrews 12:4) of the word had penetrated David heart and soul and his response here is one of delight and awe. He knew he was being exposed to the God of the universe who has revealed Himself to David in spirit and truth.
Paul calls the Ephesians to walk worthy of your calling.
Soundness of theology is not about winning an argument but about humbly, gently, and patiently pointing hearts to the One who is the Way the Truth, and the Life (John 14:6). While salvation and true sanctification are exclusive to the person and work of Christ and the Scriptures, our goal is to be used as earthen vessels qualified for the master’s use.
2 Corinthians 4:7 (ESV) 7 But we have this treasure in jars of clay, to show that the surpassing power belongs to God and not to us.