Sharing Life and Christ

Behold, the days are coming, declares the Lord, when I will make a new covenant with the house of Israel and the house of Judah, not like the covenant that I made with their fathers on the day when I took them by the hand to bring them out of the land of Egypt, my covenant that they broke, though I was their husband, declares the Lord. But this is the covenant that I will make with the house of Israel after those days, declares the Lord: I will put my law within them, and I will write it on their hearts. And I will be their God, and they shall be my people. Jeremiah 31:31-33 Try and imagine with me what it would be like to be a devout Jew reading this passage of Scripture. Can you sense the eager longing in your heart? Can you begin to comprehend the burden of sin that weighs you down daily as you fail to follow the Law? Can you begin to grasp the joy of this promise? God knew as well as His people did that this first covenant wasn’t working. It wa...

For while we were still weak, at the right time Christ died for the ungodly. For one will scarcely die for a righteous person—though perhaps for a good person one would dare even to die—but God shows His love for us in that while we were still sinners, Christ died for us. Romans 5:6-8 One of the hardest parts for me about the sanctification process is what I learn about myself. As I behold the glory of Jesus Christ (2 Corinthians 3:18) and am transformed from one degree of glory to the next, I don’t gain a better opinion of myself. In fact, it is the exact opposite. I find myself resenting the fact that I’m not a good person. I’m certain that I’m not alone. We have some options. We can resign to being a less-than-stellar person and give up trying to make any progress towards Christ. We can try and fix ourselves and be like those Galatians whom Paul says are trying to finish in the flesh what has been started in the Spirit (Galatians 3:3). Or, ...