Tuesday, September 27, 2011

September 27, 2011 … The Spirit Unveils the New Covenant

Passage of the Day: 2nd Corinthians 3: 12 - 18 … 4 Therefore, since we have such a hope, we are very bold. 13 We are not like Moses, who would put a veil over his face to keep the Israelites from gazing at it while the radiance was fading away. 14 But their minds were made dull, for to this day the same veil remains when the old covenant is read. It has not been removed, because only in Christ is it taken away. 15 Even to this day when Moses is read, a veil covers their hearts. 16 But whenever anyone turns to the Lord, the veil is taken away. 17 Now the Lord is the Spirit, and where the Spirit of the Lord is, there is freedom. 18 And we, who with unveiled faces all reflect the Lord’s glory, are being transformed into His likeness with ever-increasing glory, which comes from the Lord, Who is the Spirit.

My Journal for Today: Today’s passage, another from the enlightenment of God’s Spirit via the Apostle Paul, is a wondrous truth revealing the advantage that post-Pentecostal Christians have over the believers of the Old Covenant. As Paul proclaims, we of the New Covenant dispensation have the wondrous indwelling Rabbinical teaching ministry of the One Who is co-equal with Christ (see verse 18 above), the Holy Spirit, Who allows New Testament Christians to come with spiritually unveiled faces (see verses 12 – 13) to God’s Throne of Grace for His unmatched teaching grace. Now, we, as humans, come to the Throne with differing degrees of completion or enlightenment as we are transformed into Christlikeness with, as Paul says, “ever-increasing glory.” But we only have the veil of darkness covering our hearts when we choose to return to self rather than surrender to the Savior’s enabling and enlightening grace through His Spirit.

As John MacArthur writes in today’s devotional from his book, Strength for Today, we who believe in Christ as our Messiah and who actually reflect on the essence of Christian discipleship, live a life of worship where we are continually at the foot of The Master Teacher as He molds us by His Spirit into His own image through His Spirit. What a Mentor we have; and what a wondrous class we Christians have with the Perfect Teacher with His New Covenant being unveiled for us. I know I seem to use terms like “wondrous” repetitively; but this is not hyperbole. It is “wondrous, extraordinary, and mysterious” all wrapped up into the beauty of being a New Covenant Christian. And anyone who humbles himself in repentance and faith to receive Christ as Savior and Lord can live every day, by choice, in this “wondrous” realm of life surrendered in Christ at His foot, learning to be like Him.

My Prayer Today: O, blessed Spirit, teach me all that is Christ! Amen

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