ICS Daily Devotions
Life Of Obedience And Love

Romans 7:24-25, 8:1-2 (NKJV) O wretched man that I am! Who will deliver me from this body of death? I thank God—through Jesus Christ our Lord! So then, with the mind I myself serve the law of God, but with the flesh the law of sin. There is therefore now no condemnation to those who are in Christ Jesus, who do not walk according to the flesh, but according to the Spirit. For the law of the Spirit of life in Christ Jesus has made me free from the law of sin and death.

God enables us to fulfill our part of the covenant.
 God’s laws are written on our hearts. 
God forgives sin and cleanses us from all unrighteousness. God provides a new heart that is responsive to His heart. Christians have the Holy Spirit to empower them to know and do God’s will. The Apostle Paul helped us with these few scriptures where it clearly showed us the crossover from using the law to deal with the flesh that brings about condemnation and the ability to walk in the Spirit through the born-again spirit man.

The difference between the New Covenant and the Old Covenant is the heart of flesh and the Spirit of God living in us. The new heart of flesh helps us to yield to the voice of God and cause us to walk in obedience. The empowerment of the Holy Spirit helps us to overcome temptation. Once we are able to yield to the voice of God and overcome temptation through the power of the Holy Spirit, then there is no more condemnation!

Jesus has dealt with the sin problem that separated us from God. He has nailed the curse of the law on the cross of Calvary. What is left are the blessings that come with obeying the voice of God and His commandments. In our new heart of flesh, we have the ability to be obedient to His voice. A part of the knowledge and wisdom is to know that the greatest commandment that the Lord has given us is to love our God and our neighbors.

We are to trust God that we are able to love others unconditionally because we are believers in the New Covenant that brought us a heart of flesh and empowered us with the Holy Spirit. It is not an unreasonable command for God to ask us to love our neighbours as we love ourselves. We are to love our brothers and sisters even though they might have sinned against us. We are to show love towards one another in the household of faith so that all men will know that we are His disciples! In the New Covenant, we are able to leave the gift at the altar when we remember that we need to establish reconciliation with someone. We are also able to deny ourselves, pick up the cross daily and follow Christ, especially in the area of love.

All the nations of the earth will witness the churches having an impact in the society through our love and good works! When we are blessed in every aspect of our lives, then we are able to go forth to bless many others and the nations with the gospel and provide practical help!

Love and faith go together. Once we know of the covenant rights and God’s obligation, then we will be able to have faith in what belong to us as covenant partners. We will also be able to have faith in God as a church for world mission and evangelization. We will also be able to believe God with our fellow church members whenever they are faced with a crisis in their lives. We apply faith in God and love together!

Sermon series: Our Church experiencing God Together (CG campaign 2)