New Covenant Grace

Boldly Proclaiming GRACE to the Nations!

Category Archives: Completely Forgiven

Why Grace Doesn’t Appeal to Legalists

As the fragrance of Grace continues to flood the earth at an unstoppable rate, legalists and religious types are digging their heels in even more firmly as they resolutely set out to counter the truth (which they depict as blasphemy) and warn their denominations to steer clear from this “perversion of the gospel”. We may however begin to understand their panic if we set ourselves in their shoes for a minute.

Here is a message that threatens such a preacher’s entire existence, a gospel that empowers and emboldens his once passive flock to the level of beginning to challenge him in some of his beliefs and in some cases even surpass him with a raw display of God’s power. Of course it’s not a “who can do the greatest miracles” competition, but in places where manifestations of the supernatural is sometimes as rare as chicken teeth, a believer who suddenly starts to heal the sick and cast out demons may easily be seen as a “threat”. In congregations where a religious reverence and fearful “respect” of God is advocated instead of joy, freedom and love, the exuberant liberty which generally follows from receiving the revelation of Grace is oftentimes frowned upon by conservative groups.

Let’s look at some of the reasons why Grace is being shunned and even declared as heresy in certain circles:

1) Telling people that all their sins (past, present and future) have been forgiven, gives them a license to sin.

The funniest thing about this argument is that people still sin, whether they’ve been given a license or not! The difference is that under Grace, someone who’s made a mistake has the boldness to run straight back to God after they’ve messed up, because like the prodigal son they know that the Father’s love always welcomes them back. But the person living under the condemnation of law will probably take at least week before they can even muster up the courage to talk to God again and then still beat themselves up about what they’ve done.

2) Law preachers firmly believe that preaching Grace makes Christians “lazy”. So instead of preaching the New Covenant, they preach the demands of the Old Covenant or a mixture of the two to keep their people “in check”.

The problem with this approach is that it reduces a love relationship down to an oppressive set of rules, with fear of punishment or guilt as its motivation. Naturally there may be a “transition period” where people become somewhat passive as they feel the stringent demands of the law being lifted off their lives. But just like we would want to romance and please a person whom we love very much, so our lives will begin to reflect our love for God as we realize more and more just how much He loves us! [1 John 4:19 We love Him because He first loved us].

3) The law appeals to the flesh and gives people a sense of accomplishment during the periods they feel they’ve been “obedient”.

The problem is that when this false feeling of success is taken away, there is nothing left to boast in. Instead we need to simply rest and believe in Christ’s finished work. [Rom 3:27 What, then, can we boast about? Nothing! And what is the reason for this? Is it that we obey the Law? No, but that we believe] (GNB). In most people’s opinion however, this option is simply too easy and legalists are always looking for ways in which to earn what God has given to us for free.

4) Grace removed all the obligations we had towards God.

When something is done out of a sense of duty or obligation, the Bible describes it as work. And whenever we work for something, the reward is called a wage. Grace is different. Christ did all the work for us and through faith we received all the blessings that He earned on our behalf as a free gift. Thus work = wages and faith = free gift. [Rom 4:4 A person who works is paid wages, but they are not regarded as a gift; they are something that has been earned. 5 But those who depend on faith, not on deeds, and who believe in the God who declares the guilty to be innocent, it is this faith that God takes into account in order to put them right with himself] (GNB).

Once again this is a hard pill to swallow for those who always wish to “work hard” for God. The truth is that we don’t owe God anything, but to rest in His love for us and allow the Holy Spirit to manifest HIS fruit through us.

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Forgive To Be Forgiven?

At the risk of sounding critical, it remains a sad reality that the Bible Society chose to combine the Old and New Testaments into one single book. This single decision has caused widespread confusion within the ranks of believers throughout the world. Many of the writings in the Bible before the cross portray God to be a harsh, cruel being, set on destroying and punishing people if they dared to disobey the set of moral standards represented by the 10 Commandments and the other laws.

On the contrary, after the cross we see Paul and the other apostles preach a message of unconditional love, grace and mercy to all who place their faith in Christ. In fact, the way that God relates to believers under the New Covenant is so vastly different from the way He treated Israel under the law (remember this was a result of their own doing), that it can’t be even remotely compared. The rules of the race have changed, and trying to run according to the old rules while competing in a new race will only cause confusion, condemnation and fear. We’ll look at one of these changed rules, namely how God has changed the way He forgives people and what that implies for us.

Without a proper understanding of the context of His words, some of Jesus’ statements (before the cross) may seem contrary to what Paul the apostle preached (after the cross). Let’s look at an example:

Jesus said the following: [Matt 6:12 And forgive us our debts, as we forgive our debtors] and in another place [Mark 11:25 “And whenever you stand praying, if you have anything against anyone, forgive him, that your Father in heaven may also forgive you your trespasses. 26 But if you do not forgive, neither will your Father in heaven forgive your trespasses”]. This implies that God’s willingness and ability to forgive us is directly related to our ability to forgive others, which means that if we refuse to forgive others, God won’t forgive us either. And of course we know that nobody can go to heaven without having their sins forgiven… Take a moment and think about this scenario: It entails that if there is even a single bit of unforgiveness in our hearts, even if it’s unintentional, it can condemn us to hell.

On the contrary, Paul made the following statements: [Eph 4:32 And be kind to one another, tenderhearted, forgiving one another, even as God in Christ forgave you] and also [Col 3:13 bearing with one another, and forgiving one another, if anyone has a complaint against another; even as Christ forgave you, so you also must do]. The apostle John also added his voice to this chorus, saying: [1 John 2:12 I write to you, little children, because your sins are forgiven you for His name’s sake].

Before the cross (even when Jesus walked the earth), the house of Israel lived under a different set of rules than what we now have. This was called the Old Covenant and it mainly stated that God’s faithfulness and His blessings were dependent on Israel’s ability to obey all the rules. If they failed (to forgive, to obey, to sacrifice, etc.) they would not be forgiven either and be punished for their transgressions. Jesus also lived under this Covenant, which in essence consisted of the laws that were given to Moses and the Israelites. [Gal 4:4 But when the fullness of the time had come, God sent forth His Son, born of a woman, born under the law]. Jesus knew He still had to follow this old set of rules so that He could later offer Himself as the perfect sacrifice for all transgressions and free mankind from its demands: [Rom 10:4 For Christ is the end of the law for righteousness to everyone who believes]. But while He was alive (before the cross) He still had to obey the old rules.

Our sins did not pass through the cross. Under the New Covenant God considers those who believe in Him as spotless and blameless in His sight. [Heb 10:16 “This is the covenant that I will make with them after those days, says the LORD: I will put My laws into their hearts, and in their minds I will write them,” 17 then He adds, “Their sins and their lawless deeds I will remember no more”].

[Col 2:13 And you, being dead in your trespasses and the uncircumcision of your flesh, He has made alive together with Him, having forgiven you all trespasses]. In the dictionary the word “all” pretty much means what it says: ALL. God has forgiven us all our trespasses, which means all past, present and future sins. Now most preachers don’t have a problem with our past and even our present sins being forgiven, but they have a big problem with someone saying that all our future sins have been forgiven as well, because this implies we’ve been given a licence to sin. However if the Holy Spirit lives inside a person, such a person will not want to indulge in the works of the flesh but strive to live a life worthy of the calling they’ve been given!

Under the New Covenant we don’t need to forgive others in order to receive our own forgiveness anymore, as we’ve just seen. This however does not make it right to walk in unforgiveness. In the ancient times of the Romans, when a person was murdered, the dead body would literally be tied to the murderer’s back with ropes and left to rot. The decomposing flesh would then begin infecting the flesh of the living person and the murderer would die a horrible death within a few days. When we carry around offence in our hearts, it does not affect to a great degree the person who has offended us. It does however eat away at us like a cancer, and that’s why we need to forgive: It’s for our own good.

Our last example shows that God took it even a step further: The only difference between a believer and a non-believer is that the believer has placed his faith in God’s forgiveness, in other words he’s chosen to accept God’s free gift of grace. The unbeliever also stands forgiven, but he has not accepted it yet. We have to accept a gift before it becomes our own.

[2 Cor 5:19 that is, that God was in Christ reconciling the world to Himself, not imputing their trespasses to them, and has committed to us the word of reconciliation].

There are two distinct groups in this verse, namely “them” and “us”. God through His Son has already reconciled the world (“them”) to Himself, which means He’s already done everything from His side that mankind will ever need to be saved. All that’s left is for believers (“us”) to get the good news out to “them” so that when they hear it, they will believe it, accept God’s forgiveness and be saved.

There is no limit that can be placed on the completeness of God’s forgiveness. Each and every dark little secret, from the smallest right up to the most hideous act of violence or depravity has already been covered by Jesus’ blood. Let’s start acting as though we believe we’ve been forgiven!

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Approaching God With Confidence

After clothing us with His own spotless garment of righteousness, God does not want us to be conscious of our sins anymore, like the people were under the Old Covenant. Trying to live according to the requirements of the Law will always make us all too aware of just how poorly we measure up against it. The only way for a believer to have confidence when approaching God is to be absolutely convinced that all their sins have been forgiven! Anything less will always leave a trace of uncertainty about whether God really loves them or wants to bless them. God wants us to be conscious of our righteousness. When we constantly tell God how sorry we are for this and that sin, we remind ourselves of how bad we think we are, forgetting that our sin was already forgiven at the cross more than 2000 years ago!

The writer of Hebrews wanted to instil his readers with this same confidence, showing them how the superiority of the New Covenant over the Old allows the believer to draw near to God with boldness, trusting not in their own level of obedience to the Law, but in the blood of Christ. Those who try to please God through their own efforts of Law-keeping are like the priests of the Old Covenant who constantly remained conscious of their mistakes, because no human being was or is ever able to perfectly execute the obligations of the Law:

[Heb 10:1 For the law, having a shadow of the good things to come, and not the very image of the things, can never with these same sacrifices, which they offer continually year by year, make those who approach perfect. 2 For then would they not have ceased to be offered? For the worshipers, once purified, would have had no more consciousness of sins. 3 But in those sacrifices there is a reminder of sins every year. 4 For it is not possible that the blood of bulls and goats could take away sins].

[Heb 10:12 But this Man (Jesus), after He had offered one sacrifice for sins forever, sat down at the right hand of God, 13 from that time waiting till His enemies are made His footstool. 14 For by one offering He has perfected forever those who are being sanctified].

[Heb 10:19 Therefore, brethren, having boldness to enter the Holiest by the blood of Jesus, 20 by a new and living way which He consecrated for us, through the veil, that is, His flesh, 21 and having a High Priest over the house of God, 22 let us draw near with a true heart in full assurance of faith, having our hearts sprinkled from an evil conscience and our bodies washed with pure water. 23 Let us hold fast the confession of our hope without wavering, for He who promised is faithful].

Which of the following attitudes would Christ rather want us to walk around with: Feeling condemned, unworthy and guilty, begging and crawling on our knees before Him, constantly pleading for mercy? At the same time having no confidence whatsoever to approach Him because we feel we are sinners? Or would God rather want us to be conscious of the fact that we have been completely forgiven of all sins (past present and future), fully accepted and loved by Him, how we have been justified and made righteous and given authority over sickness, poverty and all other enemies of God?

We have even been seated in heavenly places with Christ! [Eph 2:6 and raised us up together, and made us sit together in the heavenly places in Christ Jesus]. Now how can a believer that sits in heaven still think that they are a sinner? This can only happen when we try to relate to God on the basis of how well we have performed, forgetting that this is not the way that He relates to us. God is a Spirit and He relates Spirit to Spirit. And since the Spirit of a believer has been sanctified, perfected, purified and justified, this is the way that God sees us.

In Matthew 3 we see Jesus being baptised in the river Jordan. This was before He had done any miracles, before He began His ministry and before He had healed even a single person. After He was baptised the heavens opened, the Holy Spirit came down onto Him like a dove and the Father said “This is My beloved Son in whom I am well pleased.” What makes this so remarkable is the fact that Jesus was accepted and loved by God before He did even one miracle or began His ministry. Why did God love Him then already? Because Jesus was God’s Son – simple as that. (By the way it isn’t written anywhere that the heavens ever closed again or that the Holy Spirit ever “lifted” off Him again).

Now the Bible tells us over and over that because of our faith in Christ, we are God’s children too. [Rom 8:16 The Spirit Himself bears witness with our spirit that we are children of God]. In fact we are even called God’s SONS, just like Jesus: [2 Cor 6:18 “I will be a Father to you, and you shall be My sons and daughters, says the LORD Almighty”]. Now if God loved Jesus at that stage, regardless of the fact that He hadn’t even done any miracles, didn’t have a ministry or hadn’t even preached a sermon yet, wouldn’t God (because He is the same forever) love us the same? We can therefore, whether we don’t feel like He loves us, whether we think we’ve committed the worst sin or whether we feel like we’ve been wasting our lives with insignificant activities, trust that God rejoices over us simply because of our identity: We are His beloved children, bought with the most precious commodity in the universe: The blood of Christ. [1 Pet 1:18 knowing that you were not redeemed with corruptible things, like silver or gold, from your aimless conduct received by tradition from your fathers, 19 but with the precious blood of Christ, as of a lamb without blemish and without spot]. God is pleased with us, whether we do miracles or have a ministry, OR NOT.

In Grace
Andre vander Merwe

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Walking After the Flesh (Unrenewed Mind)

Previously we concluded a 2 part series on why Christians still sometimes do the things that the law calls “sin”. (At our website under the “Browse by Topic” page you can find pt1 & pt2 of the series called “Why do Christians Sin?”).

Under the New Covenant all the sins (past present and future) of a believer have been forgiven: [1 John 2:12 Little children, I write to you because you have been forgiven your sins through His name]. And also [Heb 10:17 Their sins and their lawless deeds I will remember no more].

We concluded in this 2 part series that Christians sometimes still make mistakes because of 2 reasons, namely because of an unrenewed mind and also because of external temptations. Our body will simply yield itself as an instrument to whichever part we give control to: 1) To our 100% righteous born again spirit man or 2) to our unrenewed mind. If the mind is unrenewed, it will be at enmity (war) with our spirit. The body will follow like a slave to whichever one of these two we yield control to. If our mind is renewed by the washing of the Word of God, we will use our bodies as instruments of righteousness . But if a person walks after the lusts of their unrenewed mind, their body will be a slave to sin, and reap the carnal (earthly) consequences of that sin. Yes earthly consequences, because all the eternal punishment was dealt with at the cross.

If the following statement offends you, please read the paragraph until the end first …

Because New Covenant believers are not under the law anymore, they can’t actually “break” the law, and can technically speaking therefore not “sin” anymore. [Rom 4:15 for where no law is, there is no transgression]. Actually they are not committing sin, but rather “works of the flesh”. [Gal 5:19 Now the works of the flesh are evident, which are: adultery, fornication, uncleanness, lewdness, 20 idolatry, sorcery, hatred, contentions, jealousies, outbursts of wrath, selfish ambitions, dissensions, heresies, 21 envy, murders, drunkenness, revelries…]. This is not just “word play”, because sin pertains to unbelievers & “works of the flesh” pertain to believers. Today’s message is about “works of the flesh”, pertaining only to believers.

We can clearly see from this list that if a person were to practice such things on a regular basis, they will very quickly not only estrange themselves from the people who love them, but also ought to find themselves in jail when the law catches up to them for things like theft, murder, etc. (It’s interesting that the Bible lists hatred and jealousy up there with MURDER…)

These things are all earthly consequences, which include the anger, condemnation & resentment of the people we have harmed because they have NOT forgiven us all our mistakes past, present & future. People aren’t as gracious as God, and therefore when we harm people and trespass against them, we need to confess to them and ask for their forgiveness. [James 5:16 Confess your trespasses to one another, and pray for one another, that you may be healed].

It’s well worth noting at this point that even though a believer that practices such things might at some point face the music with people or with their local authorities, God will never resent them or stop loving them, even when they commit the most horrendous thing. The grace of God has made provision enough to cover even the biggest sin. [Rom 5:20b But where sin abounded, grace abounded much more]. You may ask “But why would God still want to love such a person even if they have committed these horrible things?” The answer is simply that once a person has been born again, they are now IN Christ. [1 Cor 1:30 But of Him you are in Christ Jesus, who became for us wisdom from God—and righteousness and sanctification and redemption[. Also [Eph 1:7 In Him we have redemption through His blood, the forgiveness of sins, according to the riches of His grace]. And because they are IN Christ, the Father loves them the same as He loves Christ and nothing can ever separate them from God’s love.

Something that New Covenant believers should guard against, is trying in their own effort to “live more holy”. Sanctification does not mean you try to stop doing this or that sin, sanctification means living from your position in Christ. When we try to “become” more holy, we go back under the law and open up the door for condemnation to come in when we make mistakes, making us aware of our own shortcomings and robbing us of our confidence before God. We will then not want to get to know God because we’d feel too guilty to talk to Him.

This means that we will just have an ordinary life, and live like practical atheists whose lives are void of any of the power of our mighty God. We will continue to feed our unbelief and not have our minds renewed, and therefore we will not get to know God for who He really is: A kind and gracious Father who is always poised towards blessing and prospering us beyond our wildest dreams. As a close brother of mine (Cornel Marais) put it: “Just remember that when you go back and live under law as a saved believer, it doesn’t mean you’ve lost your salvation, it just means you might only get to know God when you die, so don’t blame Him for your powerless religious existence on earth while you refuse to get to know Him.”

Yours in Grace
Andre van der Merwe

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