Faith is the basis for righteous living. Speaking through men known as prophets, God has made it abundantly clear that “the righteous will live by his faith” (e.g., Hab 2:4). To have faith means drawing the sharpest of lines between what we can do and what God must do with our cooperation. It means trusting God with all of our hearts and that begins with a repentant heart, having godly sorrow for sin and a change of attitude leading to turning from old ways and turning to God. And faith and obedience are inseparably related (see Ro 1:5, 16:26). Saving faith is not the act of a single moment, but an ongoing trust that is reflected in a lifestyle consistent with the lordship of the Savior over one’s life.
To appreciate the need for the work of the Holy Spirit, we must understand the nature of covenants from a biblical perspective. Covenants are binding agreements between two parties, each party being responsible for meeting certain conditions to keep a covenant intact. Two principles operate in biblical covenants. One is that God establishes both the promises and the conditions. The second is that He expects the conditions to be followed in obedient faith to maintain the integrity of a covenant. Bargaining is not an option. God sets the rules. And the first covenant between God and man was quite simple; it had but a single condition – that of not eating from one tree in the garden of Eden.
A decision to exercise the God-given gift of free will by disobedience led to the Fall with all of its consequences. Next God made covenant with Noah, telling him to build an ark to avoid divine wrath over all the wickedness in the world. In contrast to Adam, Noah did all that God commanded (Gen 7:5) and by obedience, he and his family survived the flood. God then made covenant with Abraham, promising that all peoples on earth would be blessed through him, having land known as Israel belong to his descendents, and having offspring numbering as stars in the sky despite his advanced age. Abraham responded by believing what God said and it was credited to him as “righteousness” (Gen 15:6).
The Hebrew used here for believing has the meaning of trustworthy by persevering in faith. Abraham’s faith had to be expressed through obedience. Not only was Abraham to walk blamelessly before God (Gen 17:1). He was required to sacrifice a long-awaited son, a test Abraham obeyed without delay. As a result, God later told Isaac that the covenant blessings made with his father were passed on “because Abraham obeyed me” (Gen 26:4,5). Like earlier covenants, that made with Israel at Mount Sinai required the people to accept and obey conditions of the Law and commandments and the people promised to do so with one accord: “All the words which the LORD has said we will do” (Ex 24:3).
To appreciate the new covenant requires greater understanding than simply saying the old covenant was replaced because something was wrong with its principles (Heb 8:6,7). Not only does Paul tell us the Law and commandments are holy and good. Jesus says, “Do not think that I have come to abolish the Law or the Prophets: I have not come to abolish them but to fulfill them” (Mt 5:17). The old covenant still has a purpose for today. First of all, the Law emphasizes that God remands righteous living (see Deut 11:26-28). We think we are fine until we meet the Law and it makes a diagnosis of spiritual cancer. The Law teaches that all are guilty of sin and fall short of the glory of God (Ro 3:23). We don’t realize how sinful we actually are until we try to live righteously in our strength.
The harder we try, the more we recognize the power of a sinful nature, our righteous acts being like filthy rags (Isa 64:9). Until convicted by the Holy Spirit and godly sorrow brings repentance, salvation is not possible. Thus the Law acts like a school teacher in leading us to Christ. It becomes obvious that neither good intentions nor willpower are sufficient to live according to God’s will. Israel fully intended to keep the Law, yet failed for 1500 years before the birth of Christ. The prophecy given by God through the prophet proved so true: “’Not by might nor by power, but by my Spirit’ says the LORD Almighty” (Zech 4:6). We can obey the will of God only if empowered by the Spirit of God.
The old covenant pattern of striving to live righteously is still seen today. Christians fail to live in accord with God’s will and confess their sins. They ask forgiveness and tell God, “I’ll try to do better the next time.” They fail to realize they are following the old covenant approach. Until the Law finishes its work, showing we cannot obey God in our own might or power, we are not ready to live by the Spirit. The Law and commandments were nailed to the Cross at Jesus’ crucifixion as the means for us to gain righteousness. We must see ourselves crucified with Christ so He might live His life through us: “I’ve been crucified with Christ and I no longer live, but Christ lives in me” (Gal 2:20).
While not always well articulated, the Law (OT) and the gospel (NT) have the same goal: “Love the Lord your God with all your heart and with all your soul and with all your mind…and love your neighbor as yourself” (see Lev 19:18; Deut 5:5; Mt 22:37-39). For this command of God to be practiced consistently in everyday life requires more than a mere affection and devotion to God. Our attitudes must be empowered by the indwelling Spirit for the love of Christ to be manifested in our lives whereby we love enemies, pray for those who persecute us, and submissively turn the other cheek when receiving a blow. For it is only those led by the Spirit of God who are the true sons of God (Ro 8:14)
Under the old covenant, detailed instructions were provided God’s chosen people – the Israelites – at Mount Sinai. They sincerely intended to live according to God’s revealed will. Told by Moses what the LORD had required in the Law and commandments, “the people all responded together, ‘We will do everything the LORD has said’” (Ex 19:8). But their repeated failure to do so brought the hand of discipline from God, and at times the discipline was severe when a holy God found His Name being “profaned” among the nations with whom the Israelites were living. One need only read the OT in the most superficial of ways to recognize that a holy God demands obedience (also see Ac 5:1-11).
An excellent illustration of obedience versus disobedience concerns Asa, King of Judah (2 Chron 14-16). Initially Asa sought the Lord and lived by faith, removing all foreign altars and commanding Judah to seek the LORD. Facing a vast army led by Zerah the Cushite, Asa called upon the LORD who struck down the enemy and there was no further war until the 35th year of his reign. Then the northern kingdom Israel came against Judah. Instead of again turning to the LORD, Asa relied on the king of Aram in Damascas by sending gold and silver from the LORD’s treasury. While Judah was spared, God was not pleased. When rebuked by a prophet, Asa spurned God’s rebuke and from that point forward, Judah remained at war.
Asa subsequently developed disease in his feet. Instead of seeking help from the LORD, he only went to his physicians and shortly died. He is an example for believers today that it is possible to fall from faithfulness to God even after leading a great spiritual reformation. Ignoring God’s discipline was a repeated failing under the old covenant. The question is, “Have we learned from the examples written down for us so we do not repeat mistakes made by the Israelites?” (see 1 Cor 10:1-13). The OT is priceless in terms of showing need not only for a Savior, but for the Spirit to be our personal guide through life and empower us so we might be witnesses to Christ and His redeeming love (Ac 1:8). Only in that way will we be able to cease from our own works and enter a rest of faith in Christ (see Heb 4:1-11).
