December
5, 2003
GOD'S
COVENANT WRITTEN ON THE HEART
"This
is the covenant that I will make with the house of Israel
after those days, says the Lord: I will put My law in their
minds, and write it on their hearts; and I will be their God,
and they shall be My people... I will forgive their iniquity,
and their sin I will remember no more" (Jeremiah 31:33,
34, NKJV).
"I
will put My law in their minds, and write it on their hearts":
God's law, His values, is not simply to be an external standard
of righteousness. It is "our tutor to bring us to Christ"
(Galatians 3:34). God's law is a listing of His values that
we are to live by, and they are the values that God plants
in our hearts by His Spirit. The fruits of His Spirit are
enumerated in Galatians 5:22, and "against such there
is not law." His Holy Spirit "will guide you into
all truth" (John 16:13), "God from the beginning
chose you for salvation through sanctification by the Spirit
and belief in the truth" (2 Thessalonians 2:13). By His
Word and by His Holy Spirit, God writes His law and His values
on our hearts.
"I
will be their God, and they shall be My people": Jesus
said, "If you love Me, keep My
commandments... He who has My commandments and keeps them,
it is he who loves Me. And he who loves Me will be loved by
My Father... If anyone loves Me, he will keep My word; and
My Father will love him, and We will come to him and make
Our home with him" (John 14:15, 21, 23). God dwells
in the hearts of His people by the presence of His Spirit.
When they put their faith and trust in God and in His Son,
they will reflect the love and values of their Creator. In
essence we are re-created into the image of the One who loves
us and has redeemed us from the ravages of sin, from that
which destroys. As we put our faith and trust in Him, He will
teach us and share with us the power of His values and His
love.
"I
will forgive their iniquity, and their sin I will remember
no more": "Who is a God like You, pardoning iniquity,
- He does not retain His anger forever, because He delights
in mercy. He will again have compassion on us, and will subdue
our iniquities. You will cast all our sins into the depths
of the sea" (Micah 7:18, 19). "Blessed is he whose
transgression is forgiven, whose sin is covered. Blessed is
the man to whom the Lord does not impute iniquity, and in
whose spirit there is no deceit" (Psalm 32:1, 2; Romans
4:7, 8).
By beholding,
we are changed. By "beholding - the glory of the Lord
[we] are being transformed into the same image from glory
to glory - by the Spirit of the Lord" (2 Corinthians
3:18). As we put our faith and trust in God, study His Word,
and receive His Spirit, He is planting His law and His love
into the hearts of His people.
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