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Explain how each of the following New Covenant provisions can contribute to the relief of the holy tension in our souls: New Purity, New Identity. New Inclination, and New Power.
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New Purity gives me an assurance that through the blood of Jesus and God’s Grace I cannot be lost. God has accepted me as His child and has forgiven my sins. Knowing God’s love for me gives me a desire to live according to God’s will. It makes sin less attractive to me.
New Identity assures me that I belong to God. I no longer identify by my sin. I identify as a child of God, a Christian. God’s love touches my soul more deeply than anything that is evil. Therefore my soul is defined by His love.
New Inclination is the appetite for God that places in us a desire for God that is much deeper than our appetite for sin.
New Power provides for the ‘mystical’ power of the Spirit of God that lives in me to touch the Spirit of God that lives in another person being released so that the person wants more than anything else to move toward the vision that God has created for them.
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New Purity: Since I’m forgiven and cleansed by Jesus, I need not wallow in self-pity and withdrawal from God. Instead, I begin to hate sin and desire purity.
New Identity: Since I am a child of God and, even when I sin, I am a saint in God’s design nevertheless, I feel loved and safe in this identity. I begin to desire a relationship with God.
New Inclination: Since God has given me a new heart, I begin to desire from the core of my heart to do what the law of God requires. My pursuit of righteousness is driven by appetite, not by accountability.
New Power: Since the Spirit of God lives in me, His power in me is greater than the external voice of the world and the devil who tempt me.
These provisions make it possible to relieve the tension between what I am now and what I can be in Christ.
#SoulCare
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all of this is from Father, from the Spirit within me at work in me – and not of myself – it is a gift from Him and a process – He has already provided for me everything I need for this transformation
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Given a new heart with new desires, gifted by grace to be a child of God, and the power of the Spirit to move toward what I most deeply desire as a child of God.
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New Purity – it is the realisation that we have been saved by grace, unconditionally forgiven and accepted, and at a great price through the blood of Jesus. Nothing can change that. It is a gift from God. That grace, when properly understood and internalised compels me to live in the light of God’s calling and make sin just a little less attractive in the light of this new purity.
New Identity – The experience of being God’s chosen people, His treasured possession, totally loved and adored will touch our soul like nothing else can, even evil. That is our new standing, our new identity that will determine who we live our life for.
New Inclination – With a new purity and a new identity that defines our soul, from it will a new appetite for the things of God, a desire for God himself will spring forth. That disposition of our soul will inclined our hearts towards God and away from the flesh dynamics.
New Power – This provision will enable me, empower me not only to be inclined towards the glory and purposes of God, but as it is released in and through me, will provide the ability a means to achieve them.