“… “I am Almighty God; walk before Me and be blameless. And I will make My covenant between Me and you, and will multiply you exceedingly.” Then Abram fell on his face, and God talked with him, saying: “As for Me, behold, My covenant is with you…””
Genesis 17:1-4
As I’ve matured and become familiar with the truth of Jesus Christ, I’ve learned to recognize what part of the covenant I’m responsible for, and what part God takes care of. The facts are salvation, holiness, and righteousness is all taken care of for me by Almighty God…Jesus Christ.
When He said, “It is finished”
Everything that we in our natural ability could not do for ourselves, the Lord in His supernatural power completed for us. There is one thing that we are responsible for however, that is to partner with God in what He has established for us.
“Yeah right” you might think.
“All I’ll do is fall on my face again” you say.
But once we’ve accepted Jesus into our lives we aren’t the same.
“Therefore, if anyone is in Christ, he is a new creation; old things have passed away; behold, all things have become new.”2 Corinthians 5:17
By faith in Jesus we who were dead in our sin and falling short of Holiness, were made alive in Christ and made righteous through His blood.
“For He made Him who knew no sin to be sin for us, that we might become the righteousness of God in Him.”2 Corinthians 5:21
One thing that freed me up was when I understood what God truly desires of me. When God told Abram to walk before Him blameless, He meant whole, or unimpaired, or abiding entirely with truth, the word in the Hebrew actually means “Perfect”. As we learn in the New Testament we can walk perfectly before the Lord by the blood of Jesus Christ and in the power of God’s Holy Spirit. By Christ’s blood I’m no longer impaired by sin, and by the power of God’s Holy Spirit I am able to abide in the truth of God’s word.
The part of the covenant that I am responsible for is that I choose to receive all that God has done for me by faith, therein the power of the Holy Spirit strengthens me supernaturally to “abide in the light as He is in the Light” (1 John 1:5-10). God will never make that decision for me; it is our choice by our God given free will to respond to God’s gracious love. This is what is so amazing and unique about Christianity. If we by faith choose to trust in Jesus and keep in step with the Spirit we aren’t left to go at it all alone.
All other religions will tell you that if you can’t earn it or if you don’t measure up you’re a lost cause…but Jesus Christ tells us, “His yoke is easy and His burden is light” He partners in salvation with us, “working in us to both will and to do of His good pleasure” (Phil 2:12-13).
No matter how many times you find yourself falling flat on your face, God is there saying, “behold, My covenant is with YOU!”
