The New Way

“The old way, with laws etched in stone, led to death, though it began with such glory that the people of Israel could not bear to look at Moses’ face. For his face shone with the glory of God, even though the brightness was already fading away. Shouldn’t we expect far greater glory under the new way, now that the Holy Spirit is giving life? If the old way, which brings condemnation, was glorious, how much more glorious is the new way, which makes us right with God! In fact, that first glory was not glorious at all compared with the overwhelming glory of the new way. So if the old way, which has been replaced, was glorious, how much more glorious is the new, which remains forever!” 2 Corinthians 3:7-11 (NLT).

As a believer, you are officially under the New Covenant, which is the new way that makes you right with God. This is why you want to understand grace and live in grace. Grace is the new way. “For by grace you have been saved through faith, and that not of yourselves; it is the gift of God, not of works, lest anyone should boast.” Ephesians 2:8-9 (NKJV). The new way is through the Jesus Christ who said, “I am the way, the truth, and the life. No one comes to the Father except through Me.” John 14:6b (NKJV). When you come to Jesus who is the new way, you enter into a New Covenant with God. That covenant or promise is that He will justify you because of what Jesus did for you. When you enter into this New Covenant with God, He does everything. You receive it and spend the rest of your life participating in His grace. Every aspect of your life is grace. Grace gives faith. Grace gives forgiveness. Grace gives a new heart. Grace makes you a new creation in Christ. Grace writes God’s laws in your soul and guides you to apply them. Grace comes to you in the form of the Word of God, the fellowship of church, and prayer. All you have to do is choose to participate in this New Way.

“The old way, with laws etched in stone, led to death” and … “brings condemnation.” This is because if you come to God through obeying His laws, you will fail. You will fail because when you break one law, you break all of God’s laws. In the old way, it is pass or fail. 100% obedience is a pass. 99% obedience is a fail, which leads to condemnation and eternal death. The old way was glorious because the law comes from God and reflects His holiness. The New Way is overwhelmingly glorious because it comes from God and reflects all of His attributes, from love to justice to holiness to grace. Not only does Jesus absorb all of the condemnation and death from the Old Way, He also gives you all of the acceptance and life of the New Way.

When you require yourself to be perfect or obedience to merit God’s acceptance or to feel like a good Christian, you are choosing the Old Way. Instead, choose the New Way and be accepted and a good Christian because that is who Jesus Christ made you to be already. You have been created in grace, so live in grace. Participate in gardening the holiness that has been planted inside of you by the Holy Spirit. He’s planted life inside of you, so life it! Jesus is Life. To live is to be like Jesus. The old way produced death because it was merit-based. The new way produces life because it is based on Jesus’s merit. His life is inside of you. You’re free to live in the glorious new way.

Prayer: “Dear Heavenly Father, I want to live in Your presence. I want to shine with Your holy brightness from the inside out. I reject perfectionism and accept Your grace through Jesus Christ. I accept the commandments that Your Spirit has written into my heart. Please fill me with Your mercy, love, holiness, kindness, justice, and with Your presence. In Jesus’s name amen.”