By calling this covenant “new,” He has made the first one obsolete; and what is obsolete and aging will soon disappear. —Hebrews 8:13, NIV
YOU ARE UNDER the new covenant of unmerited favor through Jesus’finished work. The old covenant based on your works is now obsolete. Look at what the New International Version of Hebrews 8:13 says: “By calling this covenant ‘new,’ he has made the first one obsolete; and what is obsolete and aging willsoon disappear.” Under the law, even the best failed. Under grace, even the worst can be saved! Read this verse in your Bible carefully. It is not Joseph Prince who said that the old covenant is obsolete. I am just reiterating what I read in my Bible. God’s Word tells us in no uncertain terms that the covenant of Moses is antiquated and obsolete. It is no longer relevant for the new covenant believer who is in Christ today! So it is not me who found fault with the old covenant of the law. God Himself found fault with the old covenant of law. Let’s look at another verse: For if that first covenant had been faultless, then no place would have been sought for a second. —HEBREWS 8:7
The Living Bible captures the apostle Paul’s exasperation with the old covenant of law: “The old agreement didn’t even work. If it had, there would have been no need for another to replace it. But God himself found fault with the old one…” (Hebrews 8:7–8, TLB).
Think about this objectively for a moment. Just for a second, put aside all the traditional teachings that you have heard or read. Let’s reason together, not based on what man says, but based completely on what God has said in His Word. His Word is our only unshakable premise. Based on this portion of the Scripture that we have just read together, if there was nothing wrong with the old covenant of law, why would God give up His one and only precious Son to be brutally crucified on the cross, so that He could cut a new covenant with us? Why would He be willing to pay such a heavy price, allowing Jesus to be publicly humiliated, and to suffer inhumane violence, if there wasn’t something fundamentally wrong with the old covenant of law? The cross demonstrated that God found fault with the old covenant and was determined to make it obsolete. He was determined to rescue us from our sins by cutting a new covenant with His Son Jesus. That’s the amazing unconditional love that God has for you and me. He knew that no man could be justified and made righteous by the law. Only the blood of His Son would be able to justify us and make us righteous in Christ.
In all of Israel’s 1,500 years under the covenant of law, not a single person was made righteous by the law. Even the best of them, such as David, failed. The Bible describes him as a man after God’s own heart (1 Samuel 13:14, Acts 13:22). But even he failed—he committed adultery with Bathsheba and had her husband Uriah killed. What hope then do you and I have under the law? Thank God that under the new covenant of His unmerited favor, even the worst of us can call upon the name of Jesus and receive Him as our personal Lord and Savior. In an instant, we can be made righteous by faith in Jesus’ mighty name! Under the law, even the best failed. Under grace, even the worst can be saved!
What does all this mean for us? It means that we no longer have to depend on our own works to earn God’s blessings, approval and favor. Today, my friend, we can depend on His unmerited favor for our peace, wholeness and success through Jesus Christ’s perfect sacrifice.
Today’s Prayer
Father, I thank You that I am not under the old covenant of law today, where even the best of us will fail, but I’m under the new covenant of Your unmerited favor. Thank You for putting me under this new covenant where I don’t have to work to earn Your blessings and favor. Instead, I can simply rest, knowing that I have Your blessings, approval and favor because Jesus secured them for me by His sacrifice at the cross. Today, I rest in Your unmerited favor for every success.
Today’s Thought
The law condemns me at my best. Grace saves me at my worst and gives me God’s unmerited favor for my peace, wholeness and success.
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Prince, Joseph. 100 Days Of Favor, Daily Readings From Unmerited Favor.