Robert Wachter
As Netflix was changing the way people rent movies, Blockbuster Video did not adapt its business model. There was a time when the brick-and-mortar solution was the best option to rent movies. However, the company’s failure to recognize how the industry was changing eventually put them out of business. Blockbuster Video lost its dominant position in the marketplace and slowly faded away, becoming obsolete. In the same way, believers are no longer under the drudgery of the rules-based system. We have received a better covenant that comes with three incredible blessings that change how we live on this side of the cross.
When we were planning the launch of Imagine Church, I spent considerable time thinking about how to create a spiritual growth process that would not compromise the brand integrity of the gospel. I was fully aware of the law-based nuances that sneak their way into the processes of the local church, keeping people in bondage. Therefore, I wanted to create a system established on the new covenant and that guards against the tendency to rely on human strength. The spiritual growth process is based on the three primary blessings of the new covenant: New Creation, Intimate Relationship and Total Forgiveness.
1) Understanding the New Covenant Blessing of New Creation Will Set You Free From Works
“‘This is the covenant I will make with the people of Israel after that time,’ declares the Lord. ‘I will put my law in their minds and write it on their hearts’” (Jeremiah 31:33).
People tend to believe that Christianity is about doing and saying the right things, always making the right choices, or being a good person. However, the reality of salvation goes far beyond changing how we live on the outside. The process of becoming a new creation is a supernatural event whereby the Holy Spirit makes a person come alive spiritually. Jesus used the term born again. Paul used the term new creation.
The point is that believers have received a new spiritual identity that is fully compatible with the righteousness of God. Whereas the old system was based on living an outside-in life by keeping the rules, the new system is based on living an inside-out life that flows from the believer’s new spiritual identity. Paul said it this way, “Therefore, if anyone is in Christ, the new creation has come: The old has gone, the new is here!” (2 Corinthians 5:17). The believer does not work to become righteous because he or she is already righteous at the core.
2) Understanding the New Covenant Blessing of Intimate Relationship Will Set You Free From Isolation
“‘I will be their God, and they will be my people. No longer will they teach their neighbor, or say to one another, “Know the Lord,” because they will all know me, from the least of them to the greatest,’ declares the Lord” (Jeremiah 31:33–34).
It may seem obvious today, but the idea of knowing the Lord was not the normative experience under the old system. Certain hand-selected leaders were given access to an intimate relationship with God because they were to help guide the people. Most of the people, however, had only a general knowledge about God. Their understanding was based on how the Lord interacted with the nation of Israel through prophecies and miraculous signs.
The blessing of intimate relationship changes the way believers relate to God on this side of the cross. We still need gifted leaders, but we have received the ultimate leader in the Holy Spirit. Believers now enjoy an intimate relationship with a loving Father. Paul said it this way, “The Spirit you received does not make you slaves, so that you live in fear again; rather, the Spirit you received brought about your adoption to sonship. And by him we cry, ‘Abba, Father’” (Romans 8:15). The believer no longer suffers from cosmic isolation because he or she enjoys an intimate relationship with God.
3) Understanding the New Covenant Blessing of Total Forgiveness Will Set You Free From Condemnation
“For I will forgive their wickedness and will remember their sins no more” (Jeremiah 31:34).
God always had a plan to liberate the people from the condemnation of the law, which leads us to the third primary blessing of the new covenant known as total forgiveness. Total forgiveness means that believers now live under a perpetual state of forgiveness—past, present, and future. We don’t need to get forgiven every time we make a mistake. Instead, believers are forgiven based on the blood of Jesus that was shed on the cross.
Blood sacrifice is the only way God pardons sin. Since Jesus’s blood sacrifice was perfect, complete and permanent, we have total forgiveness. The author of Hebrews said it this way, “But when this priest had offered for all time one sacrifice for sins, he sat down at the right hand of God, and since that time he waits for his enemies to be made his footstool. For by one sacrifice he has made perfect forever those who are being made holy” (Hebrews 10:12–14). The believer no longer lives under the threat of condemnation because he or she has received total forgiveness.
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