14.13 Laboring to fulfill your calling (Labor of the New Covenant)
Let us go back to the illustration. If the son knows that he has received $10m in the bank account. He could have embarked on the project to build the orphanage immediately. He did not have to labor to be qualified to build. He has already been qualified to fulfill his calling.
This is the kind of labor under the New Covenant. We do not have to keep works of the law to qualify for righteousness and blessings. Jesus has qualified us by going to the cross. Today, you are righteous. You are blessed with every blessing in Christ Jesus. You have received an inheritance as co-heir. You have received a calling with gifts of grace endowed upon you to perform.
This kind of labor is like a burning bush that never burns up. You are on fire from within, and you do not feel weary in the Spirit. You are resting in His grace and power to perform. You are not striving for anything – you are flowing with His power and the leading of His Spirit. Though you are rested from within, the things that you do produce results and great impact on others. You do not strive for a breakthrough because Jesus is your breakthrough. You do not strive for the next level, because you are complete in Christ and you are transformed by beholding His glory. Does that sound ideal? Beloved, this is the New Covenant that Christ established for us.
This kind of labor is motivated by passion from the Holy Spirit – not zeal in the flesh. Those who are strong in grace put no confidence in self-performance. There is nothing to boast in the flesh because everything comes from Jesus.
Most people will think that under grace, believers will perform less. They may become lazy and start slacking. Let us go back to the example of Paul. He was zealous under the law but his labor counted for nothing. Nobody was blessed by his zeal. Then he met Jesus (grace) on the road to Damascus.
His life was transformed and he started to preach the gospel of grace. It was a 180 degree switch. In fact, he labored more abundantly than all the other apostles – powered by the grace of God.
(1 Cor 15:10)
But by the grace of God I am what I am, and His grace toward me was not in vain; but I labored more abundantly than they all, yet not I, but the grace of God which was with me.
He was the channel used by the Holy Spirit to explain the gospel to us. He wrote two thirds of the New Testament. His writings continue to inspire revivalists like Martin Luther, John Wesley, and New Covenant teachers of today. This is the labor of the New Covenant. Paul fulfilled his calling. Paul prayed that WE MAY KNOW the hope of our calling that we may fulfill ours.
This is the kind of labor under the New Covenant. We do not have to keep works of the law to qualify for righteousness and blessings. Jesus has qualified us by going to the cross. Today, you are righteous. You are blessed with every blessing in Christ Jesus. You have received an inheritance as co-heir. You have received a calling with gifts of grace endowed upon you to perform.
This kind of labor is like a burning bush that never burns up. You are on fire from within, and you do not feel weary in the Spirit. You are resting in His grace and power to perform. You are not striving for anything – you are flowing with His power and the leading of His Spirit. Though you are rested from within, the things that you do produce results and great impact on others. You do not strive for a breakthrough because Jesus is your breakthrough. You do not strive for the next level, because you are complete in Christ and you are transformed by beholding His glory. Does that sound ideal? Beloved, this is the New Covenant that Christ established for us.
This kind of labor is motivated by passion from the Holy Spirit – not zeal in the flesh. Those who are strong in grace put no confidence in self-performance. There is nothing to boast in the flesh because everything comes from Jesus.
Most people will think that under grace, believers will perform less. They may become lazy and start slacking. Let us go back to the example of Paul. He was zealous under the law but his labor counted for nothing. Nobody was blessed by his zeal. Then he met Jesus (grace) on the road to Damascus.
His life was transformed and he started to preach the gospel of grace. It was a 180 degree switch. In fact, he labored more abundantly than all the other apostles – powered by the grace of God.
(1 Cor 15:10)
But by the grace of God I am what I am, and His grace toward me was not in vain; but I labored more abundantly than they all, yet not I, but the grace of God which was with me.
He was the channel used by the Holy Spirit to explain the gospel to us. He wrote two thirds of the New Testament. His writings continue to inspire revivalists like Martin Luther, John Wesley, and New Covenant teachers of today. This is the labor of the New Covenant. Paul fulfilled his calling. Paul prayed that WE MAY KNOW the hope of our calling that we may fulfill ours.
posted by Joshua Lye @ 12:14 AM
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