| E-MAIL SERVICE | Sign me up to receive the daily Word of Righteousness free via my E-mail address! ( ONLY AVAILABLE IN ENGLISH ) | |
| ARCHIVES | I want to check out the daily Words of Righteousness for any of the last fourteen days or from previous weeks. ( ENGLISH ONLY ) | |
| FEEDBACK | I have a question or comment about today's Word of Righteousness. ( ENGLISH AND SPANISH ONLY ) | |
| BOOK LIST | I would like to see the complete book list of the Words of Righteousness author Robert B. Thompson. (SOME SPANISH TITLES AVAILABLE ) |
The Daily Word of Righteousness
The True Nature of the New Covenant
For finding fault with them, he saith, Behold, the days come, saith the Lord, when I will make a new covenant with the house of Israel and with the house of Judah: Not according to the covenant that I made with their fathers in the day when I took them by the hand to lead them out of the land of Egypt; because they continued not in my covenant, and I regarded them not, saith the Lord. For this is the covenant that I will make with the house of Israel after those days, saith the Lord; I will put my laws into their mind, and write them in their hearts: and I will be to them a God, and they shall be to me a people: And they shall not teach every man his neighbour, and every man his brother, saying, Know the Lord: for all shall know me, from the least to the greatest. For I will be merciful to their unrighteousness, and their sins and their iniquities will I remember no more. (Hebrews 8:8-12)
If we would understand the true nature of the new covenant, the scriptural definition of what it means to be "saved" must be made clear. A salvation based solely on forgiveness and transfer to the spirit Paradise falls far short of the greater purpose of redemption provided by Christ's atoning death and resurrection. Man in the complete image of God and in untroubled union with God, brought into this state by daily transformation, is the true goal of salvation—the goal that accomplishes Kingdom purposes.
It is the writer's conviction that the nature of the new covenant has been misunderstood by a large part of the Christian ministry of our day.
The new covenant, which is the Christian "salvation," is being presented as the Divine means of forgiving the sins of Gentiles (and of a few Jews) so they may be permitted to enter Heaven, there to live forever in bliss.
In connection with this concept the idea is advanced that we are being saved (made eligible for eternal residence in Heaven, according to the current definition of salvation), under a special "dispensation of grace." A dispensation of grace, according to the present doctrine, is the forgiving of the past, present, and future sins of believing Gentiles so they may be eligible to enter Heaven when they experience physical death.
Another important aspect of the popular belief is that our eternal forgiveness is unconditional. It does not depend on nor is it significantly affected by our conduct or our personal transformation into the image of Christ.
The current Christian doctrine of salvation is decidedly different from the new covenant presented in Hebrews 8:8-12 (above).
It is difficult to understand how the new covenant, which God intended to be superior to the Law of Moses in that it would create a holy priesthood, ever was converted into a means of evading the Kingdom principle of sowing and reaping. The self-love of religious man has invented a salvation that enables human beings to sow sin and rebellion and reap eternal bliss in the spirit realm.
To be continued.