One of the major differences between the Old and New Covenants is that the New changes us at the heart level.
"This is the new covenant I will make with my people on that day, says the Lord: I will put my laws in their hearts so they will understand them, and I will write them on their minds so they will obey them." Hebrews 10:16 (NLT)
The New Covenant is a radical departure from the way God related to people. Under the Old Covenant, obedience to the Law was the basis for having a proper relationship with God. Blessings were attached to obedience and curses to disobedience. Personal performance measured our connection with God.
In the New Covenant, obedience springs from the new heart God puts within us via the new birth and the indwelling Holy Spirit. Rather than focusing on outward compliance, the New Covenant is a matter of the heart, where faith dwells.
Although most Israelites served God as a matter of Law, even under the Old Covenant there were individuals who connected with God from the heart. They were forerunners of what was to come. One example was Abraham, whose heartfelt faith opened the door for him to have a right relationship with God.
Then the LORD took Abram outside and said to him, “Look up into the sky and count the stars if you can. That’s how many descendants you will have!” 6 And Abram believed the LORD, and the LORD counted him as righteous because of his faith. Genesis 15:5-6 (NLT)
Abraham is a wonderful example of New Covenant life. His faith in God’s promises produced obedience to his commands.
Faith, which resides in the heart, reveals itself through acts of obedience.
You see, his faith and his actions worked together. His actions made his faith complete. 23 And so it happened just as the Scriptures say: “Abraham believed God, and God counted him as righteous because of his faith.” He was even called the friend of God. 24 So you see, we are shown to be right with God by what we do, not by faith alone. James 2:22-24 (NLT)
However, our obedience does not regenerate or save us. Only Christ’s perfect work of redemption can do that. By faith we connect to his perfect work so that it is transferred to us.
Jesus told them, “This is the only work God wants from you: Believe in the one he has sent.” John 6:29 (NLT) God made him who had no sin to be sin for us, so that in him we might become the righteousness of God. 2 Corinthians 5:21 (NIV)
However, it is also true that faith produces obedience that testifies to its presence in our lives. If we say we believe God will take care of us but refuse to take any risks, our words seem hollow. Abraham took the risk of leaving his home, friends, and culture to pursue God’s promise. That proved he believed God. Interestingly, all this took place before God ever gave Moses the Law.
Moses was the man through whom God gave Israel the Law; however, his own relationship with God was from the heart. One interesting verse illustrates this.
He made known his ways to Moses, his acts to the people of Israel. Psalm 103:7 (ESV)
Legalism only looks at performance (acts), but Moses knew God’s heart and ways. It took a man of faith who knew God’s heart to act as a mediator between God and Israel. In this way, Moses foreshadowed Christ, the ultimate mediator.
David was a man who lived after Moses and was “under” the Law. However, he related to God outside of the parameters of the narrow confines of the Mosaic Law. When he was hungry, the priest gave him bread that only the priests were allowed to eat. He worshiped God openly in what was called the Tabernacle of David, where the Ark was kept, which only the High Priest was supposed to have access, and that only once a year. He was forgiven for sins that technically required the death penalty – murder and adultery. David was described as “a man after God’s heart.” Despite his many faults, his heart had been captured by God, which is a New Covenant reality.
But God removed Saul and replaced him with David, a man about whom God said, ‘I have found David son of Jesse, a man after my own heart. He will do everything I want him to do.’ Acts 13:22 (NLT)
Despite committing serious sins during his lifetime, David’s overall orientation toward God was one of love for him. His relationship with God made him willing to serve the Lord with a “whole heart.” David also seemed to have an unusual for his day relationship with the Holy Spirit that is our New Covenant “normal.” After he repented for his sin with Bathsheba and against her husband Uriah, he begged that God would not remove the presence of the Holy Spirit.
Create in me a clean heart, O God. Renew a loyal spirit within me. 11 Do not banish me from your presence, and don’t take your Holy Spirit from me. 12 Restore to me the joy of your salvation, and make me willing to obey you. Psalm 51:10-12 (NLT)
Perhaps David only had the Spirit with him; whereas, New Covenant believers have the Holy Spirit within. We depend on him to transform us from the inside out and enable us to serve God from the heart. Nevertheless, King David experienced elements of New Covenant life. This is not surprising when we realize that in addition to being a king, he was also a psalmist and prophet. His life foreshadowed our Lord and his coming messianic kingship.
Our acknowledgement of Christ’s lordship is our declaration that we will follow his teachings and walk in step with his Spirit in accordance with our hearts being captured by God.
Our deepest need, in this regard, is for God to remove from us duplicity of heart. David, the psalmist, wrote:
Teach me your way, O LORD, that I may walk in your truth; unite my heart to fear your name. 12 I give thanks to you, O Lord my God, with my whole heart, and I will glorify your name forever. Psalm 86:11-12 (ESV)
We depend on the Holy Spirit to give us integrity in the innermost part of our being, the heart, so that we are not double-minded. Duplicity causes us to be unstable and unreliable. (James 1:8) Only God can make this happen by his Spirit as we continue in God’s Word.
So Jesus said to the Jews who had believed him, “If you abide in my word, you are truly my disciples, 32 and you will know the truth, and the truth will set you free.” John 8:31-32 (ESV) For the Lord is the Spirit, and wherever the Spirit of the Lord is, there is freedom. 18 So all of us who have had that veil removed can see and reflect the glory of the Lord. And the Lord—who is the Spirit—makes us more and more like him as we are changed into his glorious image. 2 Corinthians 3:17-18 (NLT)
Like Abraham and David, we are challenged to be obedient from the heart without wandering into the joy-sapping world of legalism, which is our default frame of mind if we fail to keep our focus on Christ and his grace.
We become legalistic whenever we try to obey the Lord in our own strength, rather than rely upon the grace of God.
We can tell when we are walking in the Spirit because we will enjoy the fruit of the Spirit. If we stray into legalism or licentiousness, we will bear the opposite fruit.
When you follow the desires of your sinful nature, the results are very clear: sexual immorality, impurity, lustful pleasures, 20 idolatry, sorcery, hostility, quarreling, jealousy, outbursts of anger, selfish ambition, dissension, division, 21 envy, drunkenness, wild parties, and other sins like these. Let me tell you again, as I have before, that anyone living that sort of life will not inherit the Kingdom of God. 22 But the Holy Spirit produces this kind of fruit in our lives: love, joy, peace, patience, kindness, goodness, faithfulness, 23 gentleness, and self-control. There is no law against these things! Galatians 5:19-23 (NLT)
God’s grace teaches us to obey God’s Word and to abstain from evil, but it does so through the power and working of God’s Holy Spirit, the Only One Who is able to live the Christian life.
For the grace of God has been revealed, bringing salvation to all people. 12 And we are instructed to turn from godless living and sinful pleasures. We should live in this evil world with wisdom, righteousness, and devotion to God, 13 while we look forward with hope to that wonderful day when the glory of our great God and Savior, Jesus Christ, will be revealed. 14 He gave his life to free us from every kind of sin, to cleanse us, and to make us his very own people, totally committed to doing good deeds. Titus 2:11-14 (NLT)
Calling Jesus Lord, then, is a pledge to love Jesus and his Word from the heart as the Holy Spirit transforms us from within, with the expectation that this will produce joyful obedience. Like the apostle Paul, we can experience what it is like for God to work into our lives a love for God’s will in combination with the grace for doing of it. (Philippians 2:13)
When we engage God’s will with God’s grace, obeying the Lord becomes a joy.
For this is the love of God, that we keep His commandments; and His commandments are not burdensome. 4 For whatever is born of God overcomes the world; and this is the victory that has overcome the world—our faith. 5 Who is the one who overcomes the world, but he who believes that Jesus is the Son of God? 1 John 5:3-5 (NASB)
A good test for how well we are walking in step with the Spirit is to ask ourselves if we find joy in obeying God.
If I am struggling in some area, it may be because Jesus is not yet Lord of that part of my heart.
We are continually challenged to surrender and re-surrender our hearts to the Lord. The “flesh” never goes away and never reforms. It will be with us until we die physically and are resurrected, always trying to pull us off course.
Following Christ is a grace-filled pursuit of making Jesus the Lord of my heart.
Click here to see the other articles in this series.
Questions for Further Study and Discussion
- Would you say that most Christians depend more on their own will power or God’s grace?
- How would you explain to someone how “walking in the Spirit” works?
- What would you tell a person who claims he or she can sin without worrying about it because the “grace of God will cover it”?
- Have you known anyone who abandoned the Lord and gave themselves over to sin in a certain area? What do you think may have caused that?
- Christ admonished the church to return to our “first love” for him. (Revelation 2:4) How can we do that?
