Judgments (4) - New Covenant

A new covenant was established when Jesus died on the cross. The benefits of this covenant are received by faith and the Spirit is given to enable those who trust in him to hear his voice and walk in obedience to him. They Holy Spirit is able to convict believer of sin and teach them how to serve God, so he generally does not need to send judgements to teach us how to live in the fullness of the covenant.

Under the Old Covenant, the people of Israel could assess how they were going with God by reviewing their external circumstances. Peace and prosperity were signs that they were obeying God. Poverty and war were signs of disobedience. The prophets just amplified these signals to the people.

The pattern is totally different under the New Covenant. The Sermon on the Mount warns that external circumstances are poor indicator of our spiritual state. Christians who are slack in following Jesus will often have a more comfortable life.

But woe to you who are rich, for you have already received your comfort (Luke 6:24).

Those who follow Jesus seriously will often be persecuted.

Blessed are you when people insult you, persecute you and falsely say all kinds of evil against you because of me (Matt 5:11).

Our situation does not provide a reliable indication of our spirituality. We need to to the witness of the Holy Spirit to know how we are doing. The peace that surpasses understanding is the best indicator that we are fulfilling the covenant. If we have fallen into sin, the conviction of the Holy Spirit should turn us back to the right path. We will sometimes need a jolt from a prophet to confirm his witness, but that should be quite rare.

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