I received an email with a question concerning whether or not the believer is secure. There are many ways this issue can be addressed. Nevertheless, I find that many of the hindrances to a right understanding of Biblical Christianity owe their existence to a misunderstanding of the New Covenant. I thought I would post a segment from my initial response to this issue. I tried in this email to simply underline the promises that apply to every Christian.
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In dealing with this issue it is important to understand the overarching scheme of Scripture before going to particular passages. In other words, we must have a foundation in order to understand this “great salvation” (Hebrews 2:3). Many errors gain entrance into Christian teaching simply because the Bible is not viewed as a unit. The statement “the Bible is a unit” simply means that the Bible does not contradict itself. What has been written in the Old Testament in no way contradicts what has been written in the New Testament. Therefore, the best interpretation for Scripture is Scripture. This is very important.
One of the most foundational doctrines of Scripture is that of the old and new covenants. We could begin by asking ourselves if there was any need for a “new covenant.” What was wrong with the old one? What does it mean to become a Christian? To this we will now turn.
God made a covenant with Moses and the nation of Israel at Sinai. God gave the nation of Israel the Law saying, “You shall keep My statutes and My judgments, by which a man may live if he does them; I am the LORD” (Leviticus 18:5). However, according to Scripture, this covenant had a “fault” (Hebrews 8:6). The fault with this covenant was that no one could keep it! The reason no one could keep the Law and merit life (Matthew 19:16-17) was because all men, in their natural state, are “hostile toward God” and they are unable to submit to the law of God (Romans 8:7). Men are born wicked and God-hating (Romans 3:10-18). The righteousness of all men can be compared to a “filthy rag” (Isaiah 64:6). As Scripture says, “The heart is more deceitful than all else and is desperately sick; who can understand it? (Jeremiah 17:9)” So what was the fault with the old covenant? The old Covenant did not address the main problem: man’s heart is bent on sin. However, an incredible thing has happened.
God, through the prophet Jeremiah, announced the solution: a new covenant. This is what God says concerning this covenant (Jeremiah 31:31-34),
"Behold, days are coming," declares the LORD, "when I will make a new covenant with the house of Israel and with the house of Judah, not like the covenant which I made with their fathers in the day I took them by the hand to bring them out of the land of Egypt, My covenant which they broke, although I was a husband to them," declares the LORD. "But this is the covenant which I will make with the house of Israel after those days," declares the LORD, "I will put My law within them and on their heart I will write it; and I will be their God, and they shall be My people. "They will not teach again, each man his neighbor and each man his brother, saying, ‘Know the LORD,’ for they will all know Me, from the least of them to the greatest of them," declares the LORD, "for I will forgive their iniquity, and their sin I will remember no more."
Can you see the awesome difference between these two covenants? In the “old” covenant God wrote the Law on tablets of stone (Exodus 24:12). In the “new” covenant God writes the Law on the heart of His people! In the old covenant, each man had to teach his neighbor to know the Lord. However, everyone in the new covenant knows the Lord! In this new covenant, God is going to deal with the wicked heart of man. And, notice the usage of “I will” throughout the passage. This is a promise for all of those that are in the new covenant. God isn’t saying “I hope” to do these things. He says, “I will”. These realities become even clearer in a parallel passage in Ezekiel. Listen to these same truths about what God is going to do in the new covenant (Ezekiel 36:22-27, 29):
“Therefore say to the house of Israel, ‘Thus says the Lord GOD, "It is not for your sake, O house of Israel, that I am about to act, but for My holy name…"I will vindicate the holiness of My great name…"For I will take you from the nations, gather you from all the lands and bring you into your own land. "Then I will sprinkle clean water on you, and you will be clean; I will cleanse you from all your filthiness and from all your idols. "Moreover, I will give you a new heart and put a new spirit within you; and I will remove the heart of stone from your flesh and give you a heart of flesh. "I will put My Spirit within you and cause you to walk in My statutes, and you will be careful to observe My ordinances…."Moreover, I will save you from all your uncleanness…”
This is incredible! Once again, all of these truths are promises (“I will”) based on the fact that God is acting in order to vindicate the holiness of His great Name. We will simply list these promises so we can understand them more clearly.
- I will vindicate the holiness of My great name
- I will take you from the nations, gather you from all the lands and bring you into your own land
- I will sprinkle clean water on you, and you will be clean
- I will cleanse you from all your filthiness and from all your idols.
- I will give you a new heart and put a new spirit within you
- I will remove the heart of stone from your flesh and (I will) give you a heart of flesh
- and you will be careful to observe My ordinances
- I will save you from all your uncleanness
We learn that God is going to vindicate His great name by gathering a people. Who is this people? Well, who is in the New Covenant? The Church (Hebrews 10:15-17)! These promises belong to every single Christian! Christ said at the Passover with His disciples, “This cup which is poured out for you is the new covenant in My blood” (Luke 22:20). Dear brother, all of these realities belong to you and me! Looking back to this passage in Ezekiel, we see that God is going to deal with their unrighteous record of breaking His commandments. This is justification. In justification God declares us to be righteous in His sight based on the blood of Christ (Romans 5:9). In this act, we are forgiven and credited with the righteousness of Christ. Also, God is going to deal with their “desperately wicked” heart. This is regeneration. In regeneration God takes out their “heart of stone” and gives them a “heart of flesh”. All Christians have new hearts “created in righteousness and holiness of the truth” (Ephesians 4:24). Christians really are a “new creation” (2 Corinthians 5:17)! Finally, God is going to put His Spirit in all Christians. Why? To ensure that they “will be careful to observe My ordinances”. The main feature of this covenant is the ministry of the Spirit bearing witness to Christ (John 16:14, 2 Corinthians 3:7-8). Praise the Lord! “You shall call His name Jesus, for He will save His people from their sins” (Matthew 1:21). At the blazing center of this new covenant is Christ crucified, now risen and exalted – ruling and reigning at the right hand of the Father. I cannot emphasize this enough.
In summary: When a person becomes a Christian some major things happen.
- Something takes place in Heaven in the courtroom of God: God declares a person to be righteous in His sight. Once again, this is justification.
- Something takes place on earth in the heart of the man: God takes out the old, sinful heart that is hostile to Him and gives the man a new heart that loves Him and wants to follow Him. Once again, this is regeneration.
Salvation is not about bad men becoming good. Salvation is about dead men coming to life! Christianity is not simply a choice that is made to start being a better person. Christianity is God living in and through a person that has been made new!
Let us look at one more section on the new covenant. We will turn to Jeremiah 32:38-41.
"They shall be My people, and I will be their God; and I will give them one heart and one way, that they may fear Me always, for their own good and for the good of their children after them. "I will make an everlasting covenant with them that I will not turn away from them, to do them good; and I will put the fear of Me in their hearts so that they will not turn away from Me. "I will rejoice over them to do them good and (I) will faithfully plant them in this land with all My heart and with all My soul.”
Once again, these things are promises God has made to everyone that is in the new covenant. Let’s list out these promises once again.
- They shall be My people, and I will be their God
- I will give them one heart and one way, that they may fear Me always
- I will make an everlasting covenant with them that I will not turn away from them, to do them good
- I will put the fear of Me in their hearts so that they will not turn away from Me
- I will rejoice over them to do them good
- (I) will faithfully plant them in this land with all My heart and with all My soul.
This is glorious! God has determined that He will have a people. He is going to give them one heart and one way. For what purpose? “That they may fear (God) always.” In this “everlasting covenant,” God is promising that He will not turn away from His people to do them good. This is why Philippians 1:6 says, “He who began a good work in you will perfect it until the day of Christ Jesus.” God also promises to “put the fear of Me” in the hearts of His people. For what purpose? “So that they will not turn away from Me.” This is extremely important. I will make a reference to this in my next reply. Finally, God promises to “rejoice over them to do them good” and “will faithfully plant (His people) in this land”. My dear brother, God is not apathetic about His children. At this very moment God is rejoicing over His people!
The things we have been looking at are not the characteristics of radical Christianity. In other words, what we have been looking at is normal Christianity! Anything less than these realities and (though it may be a lot of things) it is not Christianity. As one brother has said, “Christianity is not simply a person getting out of the line that is going to Hell and getting into the line that is going to Heaven.” To become a Christian is nothing short of a supernatural work of the creative powers of God. As it is written, “God, who said, ‘Light shall shine out of darkness,’ is the One who has shone in our hearts to give the Light of the knowledge of the glory of God in the face of Christ” (2 Corinthians 4:6).
