Today’s Scripture – March 1, 2021

1 Corinthians 7:12-16 (NIV)
To the rest I say this (I, not the Lord): If any brother has a wife who is not a believer and she is willing to live with him, he must not divorce her. And if a woman has a husband who is not a believer and he is willing to live with her, she must not divorce him. For the unbelieving husband has been sanctified through his wife, and the unbelieving wife has been sanctified through her believing husband. Otherwise your children would be unclean, but as it is, they are holy.
But if the unbeliever leaves, let it be so. The brother or the sister is not bound in such circumstances; God has called us to live in peace. How do you know, wife, whether you will save your husband? Or, how do you know, husband, whether you will save your wife?

It is important to not separate any of these verses from their context if we really want to understand what Paul is talking about here. Paul lets us know right up front that Jesus Himself gave no direct instruction about this particular issue. But, as always, Paul is being led by the Holy Spirit as he writes these words.

The Corinthian Christians had received Paul’s instruction that no Christian should marry a non-believer. But that made many believers who were married to non-Christians before they were saved, to wonder if they should divorce their unsaved spouses and look for a new spouse who was a Christian. Paul’s answer is very simple: If the unbelieving spouse is willing to live with them, even though they are Christian, then they should not seek a divorce. If they refuse to live with a Christian spouse and pose an ultimatum that their spouse must choose between Jesus and their marriage, they are to choose Jesus and let the unbelieving spouse go.

It is in this overall context that Paul reassures the Christian spouses that when they came to Jesus, their marriage, even to a non-Christian, was received by God as a holy marriage, and any children of that marriage were received as legitimate in God’s eyes and are to be raised in God’s nurture and admonition. This does not say that the spouse or children are saved simply by virtue of the saved spouse’s relationship with Jesus. If that were the case, every Christian would have been encouraged to marry only non-Christians so that they would be saved through marriage! But, obviously, that is not what any of Jesus’ apostles recommended. But if a married person comes to salvation, their marriage, even if it is to a non-believer, is still legitimate in God’s eyes, and any children are to be raised as legitimate children of that marriage, and raised to be men and women of God.

The last paragraph raises a couple of issues. The first is, do Paul’s words“The brother or sister is not bound in such circumstances” mean that if a non-believing spouse refuses to live with a believer, that the believer is are free to leave them and remarry a Christian? No. Paul’s primary advice to the married in verses 10-11 covered this. If the believing spouse does leave, he or she must remain unmarried or be reconciled.

There were other Christians in Corinth who were refusing to leave when their unbelieving spouse wanted them to go, because they wanted to stay and try to save their resistant spouse. And this was causing disruption in the family, and even bringing down violence on the heads of the Christians. Paul’s instructions are that God’s people are called to live in peace, not animosity. And even though they can choose to stay, God has no requirement that a believer stay in such an abusive situation, even based on the hope that the non-believer might eventually be saved, which might never happen anyway.

Father, these standards probably seem overly rigid to many people. After all, if someone is in a hostile and abusive situation, why not just get out and look for someone better? But You designed marriage to be a covenant relationship that can only be broken and formed with someone else if marital unfaithfulness occurs (Matthew 5:32, 19:3-9). Other than that, you designed marriage as a “till death us do part” proposition. That’s all the more reason why everyone, especially but not only Christians, should consider carefully before they marry, because if they divorce and remarry for other reasons, it is sin in Your eyes. But You are also reasonable and compassionate in providing an exit from a marriage where a non-believing spouse refuses to live with a Christian. Lord, this is so much different than the way our society has structured both marriage and divorce that our normal fleshly tendency is to push back against what seem to be such rigid requirements. Help us to see, Lord, that marriage is not what we want it to be, but about what You created it to be. And as Your people, we must do it Your way in every facet. Amen.

Today’s Scripture – February 26, 2021

1 Corinthians 7:8-11 (NIV)
Now to the unmarried and the widows I say: It is good for them to stay unmarried, as I do. But if they cannot control themselves, they should marry, for it is better to marry than to burn with passion
To the married I give this command (not I, but the Lord): A wife must not separate from her husband. But if she does, she must remain unmarried or else be reconciled to her husband. And a husband must not divorce his wife.

Paul has given his overarching philosophy on marriage in the first seven verses of this chapter. Now he focuses on several specific situations that were asked about in the letter from Corinth.

The first is: What about widows and the unmarried who want to get married? Paul is very consistent here with what he has written before. In his opinion, it is better for them to stay single instead of looking actively for a spouse, which will divide their attention and likely make them less productive in the Lord’s work. However, Paul realizes that the path of celibacy isn’t for everyone. So, he counsels that if the person in question has sexual desires that they cannot subdue, then it is better for them to seek out a spouse so that those desires can be expressed within the context of marriage, and not lead them into the sin of fornication, sexual activity outside of marriage. Even though Paul sees celibacy as preferable, he will not condemn anyone who chooses marriage instead.

The second situation is those who are married to a Christian spouse, but who are unhappy in their marriage for whatever reason and are wanting to divorce and remarry. For this situation, Paul has direct guidance from Jesus Himself. The couple must stay together and work it out. If they do separate, they must remain single and celibate unless and until they work it out and get back together.

It is not difficult to find Jesus’ commands on this issue. In the Sermon on the Mount (Matthew 5:31-32), He clearly tells His followers that if anyone divorces his wife, other than for sexual immorality, causing his wife to have to remarry for support, he causes her to commit adultery. This is because the divorce is not based on the only grounds that God allows, so He considers the covenant still in effect.

Later, when asked about grounds for divorce by the Pharisees (Matthew 9:1-12), Jesus clearly said that marriage is a covenant that God designed and implemented with the very first couple, Adam and Eve, and that it should not be broken by people. He further stated that if someone divorces his wife (again with the sole exception of marital unfaithfulness) and marries another, he is guilty of adultery in God’s eyes.

It is on the basis of this clear and uncompromising teaching of Jesus that Paul delivers his instruction on this situation. The couple must either work it out or choose to remain unmarried and celibate.

Father, this guidance might seem restrictive and unrealistic in our day. But that is because we have lost sight of what You created marriage to be in the first place. We tend to marry based primarily on emotions, and we allow sexuality into the situation before marriage, which clouds our judgment. So, when the fires of passion die down, as they invariably do, we look for someone else who will stoke the flames and make us feel the old passion again. But that is not what you designed marriage to be in the first place. In your design, marriage was not about passion, but companionship. It was not about continual excitement, but partnership in life, in ministry, and in creating a God-serving family. Forgive us, Lord, for trying to redesign marriage to suit our own carnal ideas and desires, twisting what You designed as holy into something that is focused on us, our feelings, and our desires. Help us instead to repent when necessary, to go back to Your design for marriage, and to recommit ourselves to doing things exactly Your way. Amen.

Today’s Scripture – April 14, 2020

Romans 9:6-9 (NIV)
It is not as though God’s word had failed. For not all who are descended from Israel are Israel. Nor because they are his descendants are they all Abraham’s children. On the contrary, “It is through Isaac that your offspring will be reckoned.” In other words, it is not the natural children who are God’s children, but it is the children of the promise who are regarded as Abraham’s offspring. For this was how the promise was stated: “At the appointed time I will return, and Sarah will have a son.”

Paul now turns his attention to a common argument: since the Jewish people are all descendants of Abraham, and thus are all God’s chosen people, doesn’t that mean that they are all already saved? This was an argument that some of the Jewish leaders used: “Since we are God’s chosen people, we don’t need Jesus to save us – we’re already saved by God’s election.”

But Paul had already shown that to be a false paradigm in chapters 5-8. Instead, salvation and the transformation that come with it, are only available through faith in Jesus, no matter who we are, no matter what we do, no matter what our ancestry or heritage.

The foundational fallacy, as Paul points out, is that all Jewish people are among God’s chosen people simply because they descended from Abraham. Instead, according to the Scriptures, God chose Abraham, and Abraham responded by choosing God and choosing to follow and obey Him. Thus, he became the father of the people through whom God would build His covenant people.

Of the first two sons of Abraham, God chose Isaac to pass the covenant to. It was not caprice that caused God to choose Isaac over Ishmael. Instead, Isaac was the son that God had promised to Abraham shortly after He called him. Ishmael was the son born, not by God’s miraculous power, but by the machinations of Abraham and Sarah, their trying to work around God’s timing. Even though God blessed Ishmael and his descendants at Abraham’s imploring, it was Isaac who received the covenant, the promise, to pass on (Genesis 17:18-22).

Again, Isaac had two sons, twins, but very different in character and temperament. And, again, God was not capricious when He chose Jacob, the younger, over Esau, the older. Yes, Jacob was self-centered and arrogant, grasping and conniving. But, as God looked ahead, he could see that, in the end, Jacob would be the one who would choose Him (Romans 8:29-30), and so He chose Jacob as the bearer of the covenant.

Unfortunately, the Jewish people believed that they were all part of God’s chosen people simply by reason of having Abraham’s DNA in their blood, even though many of them rejected God’s Son, Jesus, thus rejected God (Luke 10:16) and opted out of the New Covenant, and thus opted out of being part of God’s chosen people. Accepting Jesus as God in the flesh, God the Son, was a step they were unwilling to take.

Meanwhile, the gentiles receive the good news and Jesus gladly. And all of them who chose Jesus, chose God. And in choosing God, they chose to live in God’s New Covenant, and thus opted in to being part of God’s chosen people, grafted into the vine (Romans 11:17-21).

Father, this is a great mystery, sometimes difficult for us to understand – that You chose us, and then we validated that choice and made it real by choosing Jesus, choosing You, choosing Your New Covenant, and thus, through our choice we became a part of Your chosen people. By opting into Your covenant, made in the blood of Jesus (Luke 22:20), we opted into You and were grafted into the vine of Your chosen people, destined for eternal life. And we also know that, since Jesus was “lifted up,” that He now draws all people to Himself (John 12:32-33), and that it is Your great desire that all people find salvation (2 Peter 3:9), so You have opened the gates into Your kingdom wide enough for anyone to choose that destiny by choosing You. What a grand and glorious truth! Thank You, Lord! Amen.

Today’s Scripture – March 29, 2020

Romans 7:1-6 (NIV)
Do you not know, brothers–for I am speaking to men who know the law–that the law has authority over a man only as long as he lives? For example, by law a married woman is bound to her husband as long as he is alive, but if her husband dies, she is released from the law of marriage. So then, if she marries another man while her husband is still alive, she is called an adulteress. But if her husband dies, she is released from that law and is not an adulteress, even though she marries another man.
So, my brothers, you also died to the law through the body of Christ, that you might belong to another, to him who was raised from the dead, in order that we might bear fruit to God. For when we were controlled by the sinful nature, the sinful passions aroused by the law were at work in our bodies, so that we bore fruit for death. But now, by dying to what once bound us, we have been released from the law so that we serve in the new way of the Spirit, and not in the old way of the written code.

Paul has been writing about how we were slaves to sin in our old lives, but had now died to that old life, and had been raised up to live as bondservants, slaves by choice, of righteousness. He now uses another illustration to drive the point home.

His illustration is that of a marriage covenant. As long as the two human parties to the marriage covenant are alive, God, the non-human party in the covenant, holds the covenant in force, and the human parties are bound by it. If one or both parties break the requirements of the covenant, it is considered adultery by God.

But covenants are in force only as long as all parties are living. If one of the parties to a marriage covenant dies, the covenant becomes void and is no longer in effect. If the surviving partner marries someone else, it is no longer considered adultery by God.

Paul extrapolates that reality back into his former point. Since we died with Christ, we also died to the legalism of the law. The Old Covenant with its flesh-based requirements is no longer binding on those who have died and been born again.

That does not, however, mean that we become free agents, able to do whatever we want in violation of God’s moral requirements. Instead, we die to the Old Covenant in order to be bound under the New Covenant, a marriage covenant with Jesus Himself, the one who was raised from the dead. And we are bound in this New Covenant for a very specific purpose: to bear fruit for God by growing His kingdom, making disciples of all nations (Matthew 28:19-20).

Paul points out the huge difference between these covenants, and he is very well-versed in this, since he lived passionately under the Old Covenant before he died to legalism and sin and was raised to live passionately under the New. Under the Old Covenant, the passions of the flesh were in charge, snaring us over and over again in sin, leading to spiritual death. But, by dying to the Old Covenant and the flesh which had control under it, we are now raised up to serve God in the Spirit in the New Covenant. In the power of the Spirit, the flesh is no longer in charge, so each person is free to choose to live here and now continually in God’s presence, holy and righteous, and enduring to all eternity.

Father, many refer to the good news, meaning that we can go to heaven someday and avoid hell. And that is indeed good news. But Your gospel is so much more than just a better future someday. It is about a better now, a present where we can serve You without being inexorably bound by sin, constantly dragged down by earthly appetites, and consistently stymied by our weak flesh. Instead, as those who have died to all that, we can live as those who have been raised to life and to a powerful relationship with You through faith in Jesus and the power of the Holy Spirit, so that our lives here and now, today, are holy, obedient, and powerful. Thank You! Amen.

Today’s Scripture – May 21, 2018

Luke 22:19-20 (NIV) And he took bread, gave thanks and broke it, and gave it to them, saying, “This is my body given for you; do this in remembrance of me.”
In the same way, after the supper he took the cup, saying, “This cup is the new covenant in my blood, which is poured out for you.

During the meal, Jesus gave His followers new meanings for some of the elements of the Passover meal. Originally the bread eaten in the Passover event, and in the days that followed, was not leavened (raised with yeast) because the Israelites had to pack up and eat quickly, because they would soon be driven out of Egypt, and thus had no time to let their bread rise (Exodus 12:33-34, 39). No yeast was allowed to be used in bread that was offered to the Lord (Leviticus 2:11), because yeast was used as a strong symbol for sin, based on its ability to spread quickly, and to profoundly change the character of the bread it was added to. (See Matthew 16:6 for an example of Jesus’ use of yeast in this way.)

Jesus, in holding up the loaf of unleavened bread and declaring that it was His body, was not making a metaphysical statement, but an illustrative one. Jesus had never sinned a single time in His whole life (2 Corinthians 5:21), and so bread without yeast was the perfect symbol for His owns sinlessness. Since Jesus had no sin of His own to pay the penalty for, His bodily suffering and death would be accepted by God as payment in full for the sins of all who would come to God through faith in Him.

The participants in the Passover feast traditionally drank from four cups of wine throughout the meal, one after the other. Each cup represented one aspect of God’s saving grace that was extended to the Israelites when he redeemed them from Egypt. The fourth cup symbolized God covenant, made on Mount Sinai, claiming this people as His own. That covenant was sealed with the blood of animals. But now Jesus reinterpreted that cup. For His followers, it was now to represent the New Covenant, made on the cross, redeeming them from sin, and sealed with His own blood.

For the disciples, to eat the bread and to drink the wine that night was to accept the fresh significance that Jesus had poured into those elements. And they were to remember that new significance every time they ate this memorial meal together, and thus to reinforce in their own minds and hearts the significance of Jesus’ sacrifice on their behalf.

Father, these were and are very simple symbols. But Jesus filled them with such deep significance that it should cause us all to pause in holy reverence before we dare to lift the bread and wine to our lips. Thank You for these amazing symbols, and thank You for the profound reality that lies behind them. Amen.

Today’s Scripture – February 6, 2015

Mark 14:22-26 (NIV):  While they were eating, Jesus took bread, gave thanks and broke it, and gave it to his disciples, saying, “Take it; this is my body.” Then he took the cup, gave thanks and offered it to them, and they all drank from it. “This is my blood of the covenant, which is poured out for many,” he said to them. “I tell you the truth, I will not drink again of the fruit of the vine until that day when I drink it anew in the kingdom of God.” When they had sung a hymn, they went out to the Mount of Olives.

The unleavened bread and wine were a normal part of the Passover meal.  But as the meal progressed that night, Jesus began to fill these familiar symbols with new meaning.

The unleavened bread was a symbol of the deliverance of Israel from Egypt.  On the night of the first Passover, the Israelites were instructed to make and eat their meal quickly, without even giving the bread time to rise (Exodus 12:11, 39).  And the Jewish people ate unleavened bread for a full week starting with the Passover as a remembrance of that event.

Over time, yeast became a kind of symbol for sin, because both yeast and sin multiply quickly and affect everything nearby, spreading until it has affected the whole batch of dough.  When Jesus presented the bread to His followers that night, both meanings were very pertinent.  The giving of Jesus’ body in just a few hours was going to be the mechanism to provide deliverance for the people of the world from their bondage to sin and death.  Also, Jesus had lived a completely sinless life, so His body, symbolically given to the disciples in the bread, was pure and holy – without sin.  Thus Jesus had no sin of His own that had to be paid for by His death.  So His death would be accepted as payment for the sins of all humanity.

The cup symbolized and celebrated the Old Covenant given on Mt. Sinai – a covenant sealed with the blood of bulls, and sheep, and goats.  Jesus reinterpreted this to symbolize the new covenant, sealed with His own blood that He was preparing to pour out on the cross.

Jesus did not drink the wine that night (cf. Luke 22:17-18).  Some have believed that it was because He didn’t want the alcohol to dull His senses.  But the amount that He would have gotten from that cup that was shared all around would have been very small, and out of His system before His arrest.  But right at that moment, Jesus was making the transition Himself from the Old Covenant to the New Covenant.  He would drink wine again, but not until that transition had been completed.

This reinterpretation of the Passover meal was a powerful symbol that His disciples never forgot.  And these elements have become a central part of Christian worship to this day, reminding all who partake of them that they are part of the holy Body of Christ, the people of the New Covenant that was made once and for all with the blood of the Lamb.

Father, it always strikes me when we take communion how rich the symbolism is.  And the fact that we, as Your people, are joining others all around the world in this same ceremony of remembrance is a powerful reminder of the fact that we are all one in You.  Thank you for these symbols, and thank You for the reality that lies behind them.  Amen!

Today’s Scripture – October 14, 2014

Mark 10:10-12 (NIV): When they were in the house again, the disciples asked Jesus about this. He answered, “Anyone who divorces his wife and marries another woman commits adultery against her. And if she divorces her husband and marries another man, she commits adultery.”

Jesus’ words sound harsh to the ears of 21^st century Americans – hopelessly out of touch with the times. But again, Jesus’ context is not really the topic of divorce, but the topic of marriage.

The people of Jesus’ day, much like the people of today, had developed a very cavalier attitude toward marriage. They had devolved to the point where they believed marriage to be a social contract, entered into by two consenting adults (and/or their families), ratified by a ceremony, and celebrated by a party. Therefore, they believed that the contract could be nullified at the consent of either of the two parties, and a new contract entered into.

But Jesus’ frame of reference (which is also God’s frame of reference), is that marriage is not a contract, but a covenant. It is not something that originated in the mind of man, but a key part of God’s original design for people. It is one more thing that separates man, created in God’s image and likeness, from the animals – the ability to enter willingly into a covenant with God.

Even many of those who do believe in marriage as a covenant see it as being a three-way arrangement: a covenant primarily between the man and the woman, with God overseeing it – kind of like a triangle with God at the top.       But in reality, marriage is a two-sided covenant. On one side is God, the author and guarantor of the covenant. On the other side is the one-flesh entity of husband and wife.       That is the source of Jesus’ saying, “What God has joined together, let man not separate.” (Mark 10:9) God is the one who ratifies the covenant because, even through many promises are made by the husband and wife to each other, the covenant between the husband-wife entity is made with Him.

Therefore, marriage must be entered into with great seriousness. A man or woman who divorces to marry another, as the people of Jesus’ day were prone to do if they found someone more to their liking, did not avoid adultery by merely breaking the previous covenant through divorce. As long as God remains true to His covenant promises (and He always does), divorce does not nullify it. Only adultery by one of the parties nullifies it, breaking the covenant from the human side (Matthew 19:9). So, unless there is adultery by one or both parties, the marriage covenant remains in effect.

Again, this language sounds harsh and unreasonable to the ears of the people of today, just as it did to the ears of the disciples. (“If this is the situation between a husband and wife, it is better not to marry.” Matthew 19:10) But this viewpoint is not based on narrow-mindedness, lack of compassion, or staunch traditionalism. It is based on a true understanding of what marriage actually is, and the clear, straightforward, non-nuanced command of the One who crated marriage in the first place.

It is also vital to understand that divorce, even divorce and remarriage, is not an unforgiveable sin.       As in every other case of disobedience, God can provide forgiveness, restoration, and a fresh start to anyone who sincerely turns away from their sinful actions and attitudes (repentance), and turns back to Him for forgiveness.

Father, it is easy to see that the reason that this view of divorce sounds so “antiquated” and even harsh to many today is that we hold a different view of the nature of marriage than You do. Of course, because You are the one who designed marriage in the first place, Your view of what it is and how it is to be conducted is always the correct one, no matter how “progressive” or “enlightened” we think our viewpoint is.       Forgive us, Lord, for treating something as holy as marriage with such disregard. Forgive us for taking a covenant relationship that You created, and recasting it in our own image, doing untold damage to it in the process. Help us, at least Your people, those called by Your name, to recapture Your design for marriage, and to live it out in our own lives. Amen.

Today’s Scripture – January 24, 2014

Genesis 12:1-3 (NIV):  The Lord had said to Abram, “Leave your country, your people and your father’s household and go to the land I will show you.  “I will make you into a great nation and I will bless you; I will make your name great, and you will be a blessing.  I will bless those who bless you, and whoever curses you I will curse; and all peoples on earth will be blessed through you.”

When God called Abram, he was a 75 year old man who had just about gotten as far as he believed he could go.  He had a comfortable home with flocks, and herds, and servants.  He had a wife, but no children, and no hope of children, because his wife had been sterile for all of the years that they had been married, and she was now 65 and nearing menopause.  At that point, the best he could hope for was to enjoy whatever years were left of his life, be comfortable, and then die knowing that he was the end of his line.

But when God called Abram, He offered him six blessings if he would be obedient and go to the land to which God was calling him:

• God would make him into a great nation.  This was a promise that Abram had to take purely on faith, because there seemed to be no earthly way for this to happen.  He was a man who had hit a dead end as far as his future went.  But Abram trusted God, and believed the promise anyway.  And God was able to go even further than the promise:  in the end God made him the father of MANY nations.
• God would bless Abram.  This promise may seem nebulous, but at the root of it was the fact that God would be with him wherever he went, supplying all of his needs, and helping him to prosper in every way.
• God would make his name (reputation, character) great.  Up to that time, Abram had lived a normal, middle-class kind of life.  If he had just continued down that road, very few people would have known anything about him, and history would include no record of him.  But when he yielded himself to God’s direction and control, that all changed.  He became a man whose character was notable, and whom history has remembered as the patriarch of the Jewish people AND Christians.  (Even Muslims claim Abram as their father.)
• Abram himself would be a blessing.  And this was not just for future generations, but for his present.  Because he lived in His presence, God worked through him.  God helped him to rescue people, to mediate conflicts, and even to pray for the healing of others.
• God would bless those who blessed Abram, and curse those who cursed him.  Because he was God’s man, God took his welfare personally, and was actively involved in his life, guiding, directing, and protecting him, as well as helping his influence grow exponentially.
• All peoples on earth would ultimately be blessed through Abram.  Again, this was a promise that he had to take on faith during the whole rest of his life, because there was no human way that he could see this happening.  And for a long, long time, none of his descendants could see it either.  In fact, it was not until after Jesus’ death and resurrection that this promise began to come into clear focus.

All of these promises that God made to Abram were passed on to his succeeding generations.  But they are all still promises that are valid to God’s people, the followers of Jesus, today.  As legitimate children of Abram, children of the promise (cf. Galatians 4:28), all of the promises made to Abram find their ultimate fulfillment in us.

• God promises to make us into a great nation, a holy nation made up of people who belong specifically to God (1 Peter 2:9).  He accomplishes this as we reach out and continually bring new believers into the kingdom of God.
• God promises to bless us with His presence and His power, supplying our needs and helping us to prosper in every dimension.
• God promises to make our name (reputation/character) great, as He transforms us into the likeness of Jesus, His Son.
• God promises to make us a blessing, because He is in us, working through us to bring light, life, and healing into every life we touch.
• God promises to bless those who bless us, and curse those who curse us.  Because we are His people, the apple of His eye, He will have our back in every situation.  He will be actively involved in our lives, guiding, directing, and protecting us.
• God promises to bless all peoples on earth through us.  As we share the gospel, making disciples of all nations in accordance with Jesus’ commandment (Matthew 28:19-20), we will become the conduit through which all of God’s blessings impact the people of the whole world.

Father, what amazing promises!  They were amazing when you made them to Abram, and they are just as amazing when we see that they are still present and actively working in us.  Help us to live in these promises, so that we can live them out every day.  Amen.

Today’s Scripture – March 12, 2013

Jeremiah 31:31-34 (NIV):  “The time is coming,” declares the Lord, “when I will make a new covenant with the house of Israel and with the house of Judah.  It will not be like the covenant I made with their forefathers when I took them by the hand to lead them out of Egypt, because they broke my covenant, though I was a husband to them,” declares the Lord.  “This is the covenant I will make with the house of Israel after that time,” declares the Lord. “I will put my law in their minds and write it on their hearts. I will be their God, and they will be my people.  No longer will a man teach his neighbor, or a man his brother, saying, ‘Know the Lord,’ because they will all know me, from the least of them to the greatest,” declares the Lord. “For I will forgive their wickedness and will remember their sins no more.”

It is amazing to me that the Jewish people were and are so adamant against the new covenant that God instituted through the sacrifice of Jesus, since He told them as clearly as He could that it was coming.  But change, even change for the better, is very hard for people.  The Pharisees saw no need for a new covenant, because they were perfectly comfortable working under the old one.  They were blind to their own shortcomings under the old covenant, and uncaring about those who fell even shorter than them.  So, when the new covenant came along, they rejected it outright, even though they could clearly see its superiority in the lives of Jesus’ disciples, and in their power.  They decided to continue to live under the old covenant that they were familiar with, in which they were the top dogs, rather than put themselves under the new covenant, where they would have to learn all over again the new way of the kingdom, and where they would have to place themselves under “uneducated” men, Jesus’ disciples.  But they didn’t think through the fact that, where there is a new covenant, it supersedes the old one – they didn’t have the option of continuing in relationship with God under the old covenant, while others entered into the new one.  The old was invalid when the new one began, much like the writing and ratification of a new will supersedes all previous wills.  A person must either opt into the new covenant, or they are opting out of a covenant with God altogether.  The good news is that “if they do not persist in unbelief, they will be grafted in” (Romans 11:23).  They (or anyone else in the world) can come into the kingdom as long as they are willing to come in through the narrow door of Jesus.

Father, thank You for Your open, generous heart that leaves the door open (at least for now), so that we can all come in.  Thank You for opening Your new covenant to “sinners such as I,” so that I could find life and real holiness in You.  Amen.