November 29

Hebrews 8:13
“In that He saith, A new covenant, He hath made the first old. Now that which decayeth and waxeth old is ready to vanish away” — Hebrews 8:1313In that he saith, A new covenant, he hath made the first old. Now that which decayeth and waxeth old is ready to vanish away. (Hebrews 8:13).
THE old covenant was the testing of man, through the nation that God had selected from all others as the recipient of His special favor. Their failure proved the incorrigibility of all mankind (Rom. 3:1919Now we know that what things soever the law saith, it saith to them who are under the law: that every mouth may be stopped, and all the world may become guilty before God. (Romans 3:19)). Now all are alike shown to be under sin. Hence, there can be no salvation for any apart from the direct operation of God’s Spirit upon the heart of man, acting in sovereign grace. This is the blessing of the new covenant. God is now the Worker—not man. He is the only contracting party. He gives freely, to all who are willing to receive, the riches of His mercy in Christ Jesus. He imparts divine life to the believer, and with this life is linked a new and a divine nature which delights in that which pleases God.
“Rest, my soul, the work is done,
Done by God’s almighty Son;
This to faith is now so clear,
There’s no place for torturing fear.
Not through works of weary toil.
Comes the sunshine of God’s smile;
Won by Christ, if found in Him,
Brightly falls the glorious beam.
With belief in Jesus blest,
We are ent’ring into rest;
He who full salvation brought,
In us all our works hath wrought.”
—Mary Bowley.