Fri, Jan 16, 2009
Blameless For Covenant
An over-realized view of grace would misinterpret and misapply this verse in an "apparent" New Covenant context. Where Abram was required to walk before God blamelessly in order for God to covenant with him, many people mistakenly think that the New Covenant has taken the heat off of us. "We don't have to walk blamelessly, prior to the New Birth, to inherit covenant with God," some might say. "You can't clean a fish before you catch it." "Grace can't be earned," they argue. True. Grace cannot be earned. It is a free gift. Covenant with God, therefore, is a gift. But, as Bonhoeffer said, "The only man who has the right to say that he is justified by grace alone is the man who has left all to follow Christ." People who care very little about walking blamelessly before God will not inherit grace. Grace is for the heart that has been convicted by the Holy Spirit of sin, righteousness, and judgment. Thus, when we come to Christ to receive his free gift of grace, which gives us entry into the New Covenant, we come because our hearts are broken and poured out before us. We are crushed and realize our urgent and crucial need to walk blamelessly before God, yet are stymied by our own helplessness in the matter. Thus, we seek to "walk before" God. We WANT to be blameless.