Five Operations of the Holy Spirit Part 33
This is the covenant that I will make with them after those days, saith the Lord, I will put my laws into their hearts, and in their minds will I write them; And their sins and iniquities will I remember no more. (Hebrews 10:16,17)
We have the New Testament writings, the testimony of the first-century Apostles, that serve as our infallible guide for faith and conduct.
If we wish to be specific we can state that the new covenant can be written only in the hearts and minds of people. It is the Holy Spirit who does the writing.
Ye are our epistle written in our hearts, known and read of all men: (II Corinthians 3:2)
Sometimes we carry a copy of the New Testament under our arm or paste the sign of the fish in the window of our car. These are good things to do as long as there is no persecution, but in actual fact it is the believer himself who is the testimony, who is the new covenant, who is the epistle of Paul. The first covenant was written on stone. The new covenant is being written on our heart and mind for all people to read.
Forasmuch as ye are manifestly declared to be the epistle of Christ ministered by us, written not with ink, but with the Spirit of the living God; not in tables of stone, but in fleshy tables of the heart. (II Corinthians 3:3)
Notice the prominence of the Holy Spirit in the new covenant. It is the Holy Spirit who is the Life of the new covenant. In the above passage the Spirit of God is placed in parallel with ink. The words of a book or letter are written with ink. The new covenant is written with the Holy Spirit of God.
The Ten Commandments were carved by the Finger of God in Hebrew words on the face of stone. The new covenant commandments and statements are being written in the language of actions, words, motives and imaginations on the heart and mind of the believer in Christ.
Who also hath made us able ministers of the new testament; not of the letter, but of the spirit: for the letter killeth, but the spirit giveth life. (II Corinthians 3:6)
The Hebrew priests and scribes taught the old covenant, which consisted of the Law and the Prophets. The old covenant was good. There was nothing wrong with the Law. The Law came from the hand of God. The problem arose because the flesh of humans is full of sin and corruption. To confront our flesh with the old covenant is to bring despair, and finally death.
God commands us not to do what our flesh craves to do, whether it be idolatry, fornication, lying, stealing, or murder. The letter of God's law kills us.
The new covenant is written with the Spirit of God on our heart and mind. It is the Spirit of life, and the Spirit imparts life to us. The new covenant is the Spirit of life creating God's holy will in every atom of our being.
How shall not the ministration of the spirit be rather glorious? For if the ministration of condemnation be glory, much more doth the ministration of righteousness exceed in glory. (II Corinthians 3:8,9)
Moses' law was the ministry of condemnation and death. Yet it was accompanied by the Glory of God to the point that the people of Israel could not bear to look at the face of Moses. Moses had to wear a veil over his face for the remainder of his days.
If this much Divine glory accompanied a covenant of condemnation and death, what fullness of glory will accompany the new covenant, which operates by the blood of God's own Son and is written with the Holy Spirit of God? Our hearts and minds are overwhelmed at the thought of the Glory of God that already has come, and is yet to come in increased measure as the new covenant is fulfilled.
Notice that the new covenant is termed "the ministration of the Spirit." Truly, the Holy Spirit of God is the One who directs each Christian in the process of being redeemed from chaos of personality all the way to the fullness of the image and glory of Christ.
But we all, with open face beholding as in a glass the glory of the Lord, are changed into the same image from glory to glory, even as by the Spirit of the Lord. (II Corinthians 3:18)
The above passage is one of the verses of the Scriptures that sums up a portion of the plan of God. In II Corinthians 3:18 we have a concise statement of the manner in which the new covenant works in us.
"But we all, with open face." In Christ, the veil that conceals the Glory of God has been removed. Through Him we now have access to the Most Holy Place, to the Lid of Reconciliation, to the Presence and Glory of the Father. The blood of Christ has accomplished this for us. The memory of our sins and lawlessness has passed from the mind of God.
"Beholding as in a glass the glory of the Lord." We behold the Glory of God as in a mirror, but the reflection is blurred, as Paul indicates (I Corinthians 13:12).
The glory is there, nevertheless. The reason the image is blurred is that our sinful nature prevents our looking directly into the Face of God Almighty. If we were to gaze on the Face of God we could not bear the sight. We would die.
Little by little we gain glimpses of the Glory of Christ, and each time we do we die a little. The Holy Spirit raises us up in proportion to the extent of our death. We die, we live; we die, we live; we die, we live. This is the true Christian discipleship.