“[T]hough I also might have confidence in the flesh. If anyone else thinks he may have confidence in the flesh, I more so: circumcised the eighth day, of the stock of Israel, of the tribe of Benjamin, a Hebrew of the Hebrews; concerning the law, a Pharisee; concerning zeal, persecuting the church; concerning the righteousness which is in the law, blameless” (Philippians 3:4-6).
Dear God, it is with deepest gratitude that we approach Your Throne of Grace, we do it confiding in your power to save us to the uttermost! We realize that without You we are helpless, but with You, we have all power! Please help us to live our lives dedicated to doing Your will, for Your glory. In the blessed Name of Jesus Christ we pray. Amen.
For the past five devotionals we dedicated the time studying the Covenant Within, as it related to Israel of old. Today we will see that even after Jesus came to earth and was crucified, buried and resurrected, the Covenant Within continues to have power to save to the uttermost, those who come to God in faith! It was necessary in order for the Gospel of the kingdom to go to the ends of the earth, before the return of Christ to the world.
One of the most powerful expositors of the Gospel to the Gentiles was Saul turned Paul. Before his personal encounter with Jesus Christ, Paul thought that he was doing all the right things, that would gain him an entrance into the kingdom of God. After his encounter, and his conversion from Judaism to Christianity, he would later look at all of his works, and consider them but loss:
“But what things were gain to me, these I have counted loss for Christ. Yet indeed I also count all things loss for the excellence of the knowledge of Christ Jesus my Lord, for whom I have suffered the loss of all things, and count them as rubbish, that I may gain Christ and be found in Him, not having my own righteousness, which is from the law, but that which is through faith in Christ, the righteousness which is from God by faith; that I may know Him and the power of His resurrection, and the fellowship of His sufferings, being conformed to His death, if, by any means, I may attain to the resurrection from the dead” (Philippians 3:7-11, italics provided).
Note the change in Paul after he had the law of God’s Covenant written within his heart and mind. It was no longer about who he was, or what he knew; it became all about Whose he was, “Christ Jesus my Lord[!]”
Saul, the once proud and zealous Pharisee, turned Paul, the apostle to the Gentiles, would see life through an entirely different pair of lenses, and would one day declare: “I have been crucified with Christ; it is no longer I who live, but Christ lives in me; and the life which I now live in the flesh I live by faith in the Son of God, who loved me and gave Himself for me” (Galatians 2:20). It was no longer about Paul, it was all about Christ!
If not physically, he would at least, spiritually, share in the fate of the One who had one day, thrown him off of his high horse and caused him to change the direction of his life forever! The Covenant Within is still changing lives. If you desire the change, ask in faith, and you shall receive (Matthew 7:7, 8)!