The New Covenant - Life and Death

Well, we're approaching the annual holiday season again. It's been five months now since the Feast of Tabernacles and the eighth day concluded. And it seems as we approach Passover and the Days of Unleavened Bread and Pentecost, Trumpets, Atonement, Feast of Tabernacles and the eighth day again, well, it seems sort of familiar, doesn't it? Why do we do this again? It's almost like the Sabbath. Well, it seems kind of familiar. We do it every Sabbath, every week. You know, the commandments of God in one sense are things that we're used to, and if we're not careful, we might view them as the covenant of God. We might say, well, I'm a Sabbath keeper, therefore I fulfill the covenant. Or I keep the Sabbath, the holidays, I don't eat pork, and I don't keep holidays. Therefore, I'm good. I fulfill the new covenant. When we look at the new covenant, perhaps we don't understand that those things are more the titles of chapters of the new covenant, if I could use it that way. The Holy Days, as we go through them, are merely what one might call a title of a chapter full of content. And each of these Holy Days depicts something that will happen in time with a great deal of energy, a great deal of involvement. When Herbert W. Armstrong began keeping the Holy Days, he did not understand the meaning of them for seven years. Why is that? Because the Holy Days, if you were to look at Leviticus 23 or Deuteronomy 16, the Holy Days are listed, but the meaning of those days and the things involved in those days, and all the undertakings associated spiritually with those days are not listed there. So those days are kind of like titles of chapters. The information is there, but it's throughout the Bible. It is spread throughout the Bible, and it's through studying, it's through keeping those days, it's through walking through a covenant with God that the material, the deep, rich material of each of those days then becomes aware to us. And along with that is all the practice that must go into each of those Holy Days. It's quite possible that a person who merely goes to a Holy Day and maybe doesn't eat unleavened bread at this one, or doesn't eat at that one, might think they've fulfilled the covenant, and yet, if we're not careful, we may actually miss out on what we are to fulfill that those Holy Days picture. Sometimes a person can just go through the motions of the Bible's directives and miss the kingdom. Is that possible? You know, Jesus Christ Himself stated in many cases that some will be surprised at the ends of their life when their judgment comes by the end result of the experience they've had in their walk with God. Will that be me? Will I be surprised? How many parables did Jesus Christ give us, kind of warning us not to be surprised in a wrong way at the end? Will it be me? Or perhaps I just won't think about that. Let's remember the core biblical teaching. When you look at your Bible, it's bookend and filled through the metal with a core teaching. It's a teaching that's involved in every covenant. The covenant with Adam and Eve, the covenants that came all the way down through Noah, the covenant with Abraham, the covenant with Israel, covenant with David, the covenant with the New Covenant Church, the covenant that will take place with Israel after those days when they receive in the Millennial time a new heart. The covenant made with those whose names will be written in the Book of Life at the Second Resurrection.

The core of all of these covenants is an essential biblical teaching. We find it in Romans 6, verse 23. You don't have to turn there. It simply states, the wages of sin is death. Now that's a core biblical teaching. A lot of people don't like that teaching. They like to dismiss that, somehow forget that. But that's a core teaching of the Bible. Some say, oh no, Jesus' death took that away. In John chapter 8 and verse 21, just to clarify, Jesus, when He was on earth, speaking to some people, said this.

John 8, 21, then Jesus said to them again, I am going away, and you will seek Me, and you will die in your sin. Consider those words. I am going away, you'll seek Me, and you will die in your sin.

He concludes, where I go, you cannot come. We begin to see that God is really true, and He is very serious about the core principle of the Bible. When we look in Scripture, it's pretty clear. We can see the Israelites following God to the edge of the Red Sea, and they are stuck. We can only do so much in our lives without a special covenant that God offers to us, just as any covenant down through time provides us with something of God that is special, that is important, that is vital.

Today I'd like to take a look at this as we approach the festival season with a serious mind, as the Bible tells us to examine ourselves, to really take stock here of where we are, to be alert, to be aware, to be watchful. The title of the sermon today is, The New Covenant, Life or Death? The Bible's foundational message is fixed. God does not change. And that is that sinners will die, everyone has a judgment, and sinners will die.

We know from the book of Ezekiel, the soul who sin shall die. That's not kind of an invented phrase that no longer applies. The soul who sin shall die. 1 John chapter 1 tells us, verse 8 and 9, all have sinned. We need to understand that the wages of sin is death, and that's the basis of the law of God. That is justice in God's eyes. Sin requires a death. There's no exceptions to the rule.

Sin requires a death, and that's a permanent law of God. Some like to wish that away. But all the way to the end of the Bible, it remains solid. Death is the penalty for sinners. All sinners. All the way to the book of Revelation. Notice in Revelation chapter 21 and verse 8.

Revelation 21 verse 8, But the cowardly, the unbelieving, the abominable, the murderers, the sexually immoral, the sorcerers, idolaters, and if you're not one of those, and all liars, shall have their part in the lake which burns with fire and brimstone, which is the second death. The penalty for sin is death.

It's an inexorable penalty, and it must be paid. Now, I've only given you one half of the Bible's core message. Whenever God makes those statements, He always gives both halves of the core message. But it's important for us to realize this part and not skip over it, because as we've just seen, all covenants rely on life or death. There is a penalty that will be paid. Somebody has to pay it. The Bible, however, always includes the second element of an encounter balance, and that is found in verse 7 here of Revelation 21 verse 8.

He who overcomes shall inherit all things, and I will be his God, and he shall be my son. So, there's life and there's death. But there's a responsibility for you and I to be part of the process and to choose which we will end up with. If we go back to Romans 6 and verse 23, yes, the wages of sin is death, but the gift of God is eternal life in Christ Jesus, our Lord. So you always have the counterbalance, wherever you find it. What's important for us is to not sort of skip over the first part and say, oh, that doesn't apply.

That no longer is valid. No, it's valid. And either you will die because of your sins, and I will, or Jesus Christ will die because of your sins, but somebody will die.

Let's go back to Deuteronomy chapter 30 verse 11, and we'll see that this is the same continual message that we hear from God, again, with all the covenants that he makes. Deuteronomy chapter 30 and verse 11.

For this commandment, which I command you today, is not too mysterious for you, nor is it far off. See, God's not doing away with the commandment. He is making a way out of the penalty of the law. He's not doing away with the law.

This commandment isn't too mysterious. Verse 12, it's not in heaven that you should say, who will ascend into heaven for us and bring it to us, that we may hear and do it? Verse 13, nor is it beyond the sea that you should say, who will go over the sea for us and bring it to us, that we may hear it and do it? But the word is very near you, in your mouth and in your heart, that you may do it. We now begin to see a responsibility here that one can never shirk from in any covenant, in any relationship, including the New Covenant.

We must do it. Going on. See, I have set before you today life and good, death and evil. The covenants have these two components, as the New Covenant does. In that I command you today to love the Lord your God, to walk in His ways, to keep His commandments, His statutes, His judgments, that you may live. That's what God wants for us, and that also is the theme throughout the Scripture.

You remember He encouraged even Cain, who had killed his brother, to fight against and overcome and overpower sin. He wants people to live. In 2 Peter 3 and verse 9, It is not God's will that any should perish, but that all should come to repentance and have eternal life. That's God's will. But the covenants all contain life or death. As we approach the Passover, it's important for us to understand how big an element this is in God's mind, to God and to Jesus Christ. This was so huge, this foundational point is so huge, that the Logos, the Word through which all was created, was assigned to come down and die so that our sins would have someone to pay for them versus our own eternal life.

You and I can't do that for ourselves. I can't say, well, I'll volunteer to die forever so that Lucy can live. We're not worth that. But the Creator is one whom the Father accepts as the one to die in our stead if that is taken on by Him. And there are conditions for that to happen. The New Covenant of Grace, as it's called, or favors God's helper, the Holy Spirit, and all the armor of God, with that we must work.

The Bible says we must wrestle, we must run, we must fight, we must die to our old self. And with every thought and every action, we must become godly. We must convert in that sense. We must bring every thought into harmony with God in His commandments.

Notice Jesus Christ's words about those who will be victors of life. Matthew 5 and verse 8. We'll just take a few phrases here from the Beatitudes and see who will dwell with God. Matthew 5 and verse 8. Blessed are the pure in heart. Concept. Pure in heart. Ah, this person has died to the old self, the old man, the old woman has died.

A new person, a godly person, who is now pure in heart, in God's eyes, has grown, and they are blessed, for they shall be called sons of God. They shall see God. Blessed are the peacemakers, who through God's Holy Spirit, with love and joy, create harmony and peace. They shall be called sons of God. Verse 10. Blessed are those who are persecuted for being righteous, being right in God's eyes. For righteousness' sake, for theirs is the kingdom of heaven.

So you see, there's a whole lot of effort here, a whole lot of converting, a whole lot of changing, becoming sons and daughters, truly, of God's nature. How this looks is found down in verse 44. But I say to you, love your enemies. Bless those who curse you. Do good to those who hate you. Pray for those who spitefully use you and who persecute you, that you may be sons of your Father in heaven. That's how much converting we go through until we're Christ-like, and we're praying for those who are crucifying us, who are slandering us, who are hating us, trying to kill us.

That's a lot of work on our part. And so you take the Holy Days and you look at how one puts sin out and then converts into a child of God and has the fruit for the harvest. You see, there's a lot below those chapter titles. There's a lot of depth, there's a lot of effort, there's a lot of personal responsibility to be developing into one of these. The Israelites were descendants of Abraham, but they had somehow become slaves. Slaves in Egypt, which is a type of sin, under Pharaoh, who was a type of Satan.

Their freedom required a death, a ransom, a firstborn payment of a ransom so that they could be restored and have a relationship with God, so they could be released. That was through the Passover. They had a calling. They had a calling from Moses. Come, let's go. Let's come. Let's repent. Let's try to get out of Egypt. And they went so far in six days and they stood at the edge of the Red Sea. But they couldn't get out of Egypt. They couldn't leave Egypt on their own. The second holy day was their baptism. God led them through baptism and took them out.

Then they began a life being led by God. And they were led by God for seven weeks, 49 days. And on the 50th day they met God, on the Feast of Harvest, most probably, at Sinai. How did they do? How had they done after their baptism? How had they produced? Were they ready for the Feast of Harvest? Were they ready to be the firstfruits? No. It says in Scripture that with most of them God was not pleased. And there they were, down there, making golden calf.

You and I were slaves to sin under Satan. We become captives of him. You and I were called. And through Passover, through the blood of Jesus Christ, we could be released, saved, in a sense, from the immediate condemnation for eternal death. We were baptized, and we began our walk. We struggled after we found Jesus Christ. We struggled. We were baptized, and then we have a life. Each of us has a life, portrayed by seven Sabbaths, seven weeks. 49 days, followed by the Harvest of Firstfruits Festival, pictured in Pentecost. What are we doing with our time? What are we doing? How am I doing?

We're told in Scripture to not neglect so great a salvation. We have to complete a covenant. We don't just sort of exist. We have to do. We have to overcome. We have to grow. And it's our responsibility to enter a new covenant with God. It's an individual responsibility. That responsibility comes when God provides a calling. We must answer that calling. After that calling, some faith that God gives us, we are to repent. And that repentance is repentance against this, not some sort of internal, personal repentance that somebody feels, and any church can do it, in any religion. The Bible says in Ephesians 4, there is one God, one faith, one baptism. Those are the true. One true God, one true faith, one true baptism. You have to come into the body of Christ to receive the true faith. You have to come to a minister of the true Jesus Christ to be baptized and have hands laid on, to have sins forgiven, and to receive God's Holy Spirit. And then one must grow. It's one's personal responsibility for those to take place. Then we must stir up the Spirit. Just as Paul had left and been taken to Rome as a prisoner and then told those whom he used to pastor, you work out your own salvation with fear and trembling. So you and I have the responsibility, then, of stirring up the Spirit individually and then developing this character with the favors, the blessings of God. We find that the process for salvation is titled by the Holy Days, in a sense. But each of these is linked into scriptures, that we are to study, we are to learn, we are to say, Oh, I see this happening, now what's my responsibility? What am I to do? When we look at the Holy Days, they don't actually perform any action. To just say, oh, I keep the Holy Days means, I observe the titles. Because a Holy Day doesn't actually provide the action. For instance, when we take the Passover, your sins are not forgiven. Do you think you wash away your sins in the water on your feet? No? Do we take bread and then we're forgiven? Maybe a year's sins? Do we drink wine and we're forgiven? No, it's not what the Passover is about. Those things we find, sin is forgiven when we repent. Again, 1 John 1. Whenever we repent and confess our sins, God is faithful to forgive us our sins. The Passover is about an event, the greatest event that ever happened in all time. It's about the profound event that sin was so bad, and the only way that an individual could avoid the death penalty was by God Himself paying that penalty for us, if we repent, when we repent. It's huge. So we have a Holy Day about that. As we approach the Passover, we should stop and say, wow, I'm in a covenant, death. Death is a huge factor in life. And this giant event is one to stop, reflect on, examine myself, see if I'm even in the faith. Examine myself as to how I relate to this covenant that I'm in, in the plan of salvation. This is deep stuff. Passover is what God did and Jesus Christ did, which was necessary for our being redeemed, our having an opportunity for life. It's followed by Feast of Unleavened Bread.

Feast of Unleavened Bread, in that time up to the harvest of the firstfruits, is a time for us to work, to take action, not just eat a little unleavened bread and think, yep, good to go. No, it's a time for us to become like that unleavened bread every day of our life, to look and think of Jesus Christ, that unleavened bread, and for us to strive to be Christ-like, to put sin out of our lives, and to work throughout our lives in the hopes of the resurrection, pictured by the resurrection of the firstfruits, and the timing of which is shown in trumpets to be when Christ comes back and stands on the Mount of Olives with 144,000 with him. When we keep the Feast of Trumpets, Jesus Christ doesn't return. Caimans of this earth aren't taken over. When we keep atonement, Satan's not removed. When we keep the Feast of Taranacles, the millennium doesn't begin. When we keep the eighth day, the second resurrection doesn't happen. See, the Feasts remind us of the work and the effort that will take place and must take place by all in their own time. And this is our time. Days of Unleavened Bread and up to the Feast of Pentecost is what we are to be focused on as the potential firstfruits that will be harvested to assist Jesus Christ in the millennium. All of that is followed by the Lake of Fire. Those who do not become godly are removed.

Right now, we have the New Covenant with laws in our hearts, written in our minds. We have divine favor, we have the Helper, we have the Holy Spirit, we have Jesus Christ leading us who will never leave us or forsake us. The question is, are we diligent in our calling? Are we working and performing what we need to be? We look at Passover and examine ourselves. As Jesus said, watch yourself. Take state of yourself all the time. This is a good annual reminder for us as we enter these holy days and realize each one of them is a huge, meaningful thing. It represents a huge, meaningful epoch that requires responsibility. In Exodus 19, verse 5, God said, Again, another theme in the Scripture is the word if, and that is personal responsibility, choice. We have to approach even the weekly Sabbath with a conviction to remember, to keep it holy, as God worked and prepared so we must work to step in. There's a day of rest coming in the future, and that we are not to be neglectful in preparing for that rest. In preparing for that, we have to be the bride of Christ, ready to step in and work with Christ.

This covenant that we're in is a great covenant. It's a better covenant. It has life as an opportunity. Life is an opportunity, but life is not guaranteed without us fulfilling the terms of our covenant. I know Passover's coming, and it seems like as we get closer to Passover, people get a little more somber, and maybe we begin to think again, Oh, ugh, Passover's coming. I'm guilty of sin. I need to put sin out of my life. I'm not worthy, etc. etc. We miss the whole meaning of Passover because we make it about us. Passover's not about us. What is God's purpose for our observing the Passover? Do you know right off the top of your head what the Passover purpose is? Why we observe the Passover? Why is it that some people only come to church on the Passover? They don't come to church, and they don't come to the other Holy Days.

Let's see why God established the Passover and what it's for. 1 Corinthians 11, verse 23. 1 Corinthians 11, verse 23. It has to do with the new covenant and how big and important the new covenant is. It's the thing for us to marvel at. Passover creates something for us to have wonder over and great awe and develop respect, which will propel us to renewed energy in fulfilling our covenant. 1 Corinthians 11, verse 23 says, Why? Why do we do this? In remembrance of me. We keep the Passover to remember the greatest event that has ever happened in history.

The death of the Word. God the Father created you and me through Him. That is how big an issue death is. It is so big that God sent His Son to die for our sins if we qualify for that. It is huge in God's eyes. That's why Passover is there. It's not even a Holy Day. God put it right there and said, you need to stop. You need to look at this. You really need to look at this. This is how big sin is. It requires a death.

The soul that sin shall die. If we go on, verse 24, verse 25, it's proclaiming the Lord's death. That's a big deal. Sometimes we just don't want to think about sin. I just don't want to think about death. God thinks about death. God thinks about sin.

So let's examine ourselves. How about my life? Am I repenting every day? Am I overcoming every day? Am I coming under the saving of Christ's blood for the sins that would require my eternal death? And will I tomorrow, because they will be new sins? In Matthew 25, Jesus went to great lengths to give various parables, analogies, stories, to help us understand this huge part of His covenants, of our existence, of our purpose. Matthew 25, just break into verse 27. So you ought to have deposited my money with the bankers, and at my coming I would have received back some of my own interest. So take the talent from Him and give it to Him who has ten talents. Just because we receive God's Holy Spirit doesn't mean that we are good to go, that we have done our work, that we have finished the covenant. Here the individual has that taken away. Verse 30, cast the unprofitable servant into outer darkness. There will be weeping and gnashing of teeth. Now, that's the negative side. Let's go back to verse 21. And His Lord said to Him, Well done, good and faithful servant, you were faithful over a few things, and I will make you ruler over many things. Enter into the joy of your Lord. This covenant is life or death, but it depends on you and me. It depends on what we do with the opportunity. As we approach another festival season, let's be serious. Let's be real serious about this calling that we have. Passover, again, is a reminder of the biggest event. Let's go to 1 Peter 2 and verse 21. There are many, many passages we can read about this. 1 Peter 2 and verse 21. For to this you were called, because Christ also suffered for us, leaving us an example that you should follow in His steps. He suffered for us. This isn't just a man. This is in heaven, one who is God, and he suffered all the way to death. Verse 22. Committed no sin, nor was deceit found in his mouth. He was sinless. Also, when he was reviled, did not revile in return. When he suffered, he did not threaten, but he committed himself to him who judges righteously. Verse 24. Who himself bore our sins in his own body on the tree, that we, having died to sins, might live for righteousness. That's our responsibility, to die to sins, to repent, to have that old person die away every day, and thus have him take our sins and the penalty for our sins, which is death upon himself. Look in verse 9. But you are a chosen generation, a royal priesthood, a holy nation, his own special people.

In verse 10. Who were once not a people, but are now the people of God, who had not obtained mercy, but now have obtained mercy. If we look down in verse 21. For to this you were called, because Christ suffered for us, leaving an example. We have to follow that example. If we don't become Christ-like, then his stripes will not apply to us. Let's look in Hebrews 2 and verse 3.

Hebrews 2 and 3. You know, God doesn't walk us through the sacrifice of Jesus Christ in painful detail. He doesn't talk about every horrible thing and make us just feel bad. But it was a horrible thing that he went through for us. Hebrews 2 and 3. How shall we escape if we neglect so great a salvation, which at first began to be spoken by the Lord and was confirmed to us by those who heard him? We drop down to verse 9. But we see Jesus, who was made a little lower than the angels, for the suffering of death, crowned with glory and honor, that is, he by the grace of God might taste death for everyone. Said he might taste death for everyone. That is part of the covenant. That is a possibility. That's an opportunity. Verse 10. For it was fitting for him, for whom are all things, and by whom are all things, in bringing many sons to glory, to make the captain of thou salvation perfect through sufferings. For both he who sanctifies and those who are being sanctified are all of one, for which reason he is not ashamed to call them brethren. God is with us. Jesus Christ is with us. They are pulling for us. They are giving us every opportunity. We've given us this covenant. Ask yourself a question. Can you name the terms of the new covenant that we're in? Sometimes we zip along in life. I keep the Sabbath. I keep the Holy Name. Good to go. What's the new covenant? Ah. You know, does it just tumble out? The new covenant is an agreement with God that with his help we repent and die daily. And that we are forgiven of our sins as we repent and we build a new man in the nature of God. That's the new covenant. And if we are in that process, if we are fulfilling that process, we are fulfilling our covenant. If you keep the Sabbath and the Holy Days and don't eat pork, is that fulfilling the new covenant? You see, we can sort of do the titles of the chapters, can't we? And think that we're fulfilling the covenant only to have Jesus Christ say, I don't know you. You're not like me, in other words. The God family, you didn't convert, you didn't develop into one of us. In Galatians 6 and 7, familiar passage, Galatians 6 and 7, again, New Testament, New Covenant, well into it. Paul here writes, Do not be deceived, God is not mocked, for whatever a man sows, that will he reap. Now here comes life and death. Here comes that core message again. Verse 8, For he who sows to his flesh will of the flesh reap corruption, death. But he who sows to the spirit will of the spirit reap everlasting life.

Let us not grow weary while doing good, for in due season we shall reap if we do not lose heart. We're going to reap. Whatever we're putting in is what we're going to harvest. Either corruption, which is death, or eternal life.

When we look at the good news that's ahead, the Gospel proclaims what is that good news? Isaiah 11, verse 4, again, it's a continual theme throughout Scripture. Isaiah 11, verses 4-8. Here the prophet Isaiah says, But with righteousness Jesus Christ shall judge the poor, and decide with equity for the meek of the earth. He's going to judge. Judgment is always there. He shall strike the earth with the rot of his mouth, and with the breath of his lips he shall slay the wicked. This is never going to be a time when sin doesn't require death, where God sort of tolerates it. Righteousness shall be the belt of his loins, and faithfulness the belt of his waist. The wolf will dwell with the lamb, the leopard will lie down with the goat, etc., etc. Verse 9, They shall not hurt nor destroy in all my holy mountain, for the earth shall be full of the knowledge of the Lord as the waters cover the sea. Okay, so what does that say? In the millennial time, if we become Christ-like, and we're harvested, and we reign as the bride of Christ, there will be laws, and there will be judgment. And the earth will be full of the knowledge of the Lord, and people will have to choose, won't they? The covenant that God will make with them, they'll have knowledge, but then they'll also have judgment and correction. We see at the end of the millennial period, Satan is released, and most of the world is corrupted by him. Then you have the second resurrection. What happened? The books are opened. People are judged out of the books. Again, they have the knowledge, they have the spirit, their name is written in the Book of Life. They can taste the good mind of God, but they have to make a choice.

Beyond Today has a question and answer page, and one of the questions on one page is, why do you believe that Jesus Christ will return to set up the kingdom of God on earth?

And the answer in part says that Jesus Christ came once to bear the sins of many, and as promised will appear a second time. And it gives a number of scriptures. And then it quotes Jesus, This belief in Christ's second coming should motivate us to live our lives in a way that will be pleasing to him, being pure and obedient to his law. So what we've seen here today is that the covenant that we're in has an essential core, life and death. And you and I can escape death if someone, being Jesus Christ, will die for us. But it's our responsibility within the terms of that covenant to, you might say, qualify for him to do that. By repenting, overcoming, daily, putting Satan, the thoughts of carnality out of our mind, working away in the time that we have before the judgment for the resurrection. In conclusion, it is through God's favor. It's through his divine gifts, through Jesus Christ's help that humans can have life. God provides that. But this is serious. This is really, really serious. So serious that as we approach the Passover, we have to stop and say, Wow! This is such a huge deal to God the Father and Jesus Christ that he was willing to give his only begotten Son. That those who believe in him and faith with works is required can have eternal life. This is big. Now, what am I going to do? What am I going to do about it? It involves a covenant that requires faith, diligence, work, overcoming Satan, producing godly fruit. So the question comes down to this in the new covenant. Am I pursuing life? Or am I allowing death to prevail? Pursuing life takes effort, takes work. In Romans 5 and 20, there's a description that Paul gives here to the Romans. It's very, very profound. We are up against huge obstacles in this quest. We live in an age of sin. We live in a present evil age where Satan reigns. That's a big obstacle, isn't it, to us being righteous, converting into children of God, and to us being ready to be harvested as the fruit. It's an obstacle. It's a challenge. It's a defense, as it were. Romans 5 and 20. Moreover, the law entered that the offense might abound. Let the games begin, as it were. Let this challenge begin here. The law entered so that the offense might abound. The law, or as Paul might say here, the penalty of the law, which is death, anyone who sins, dies. The law enters, the offense might abound, and everyone who sins is guilty of death. But, here's the counterbalance.

But where sin abounded, grace abounded much more. God's favor, Jesus Christ's sacrifice, God's calling, His Holy Spirit, His forgiveness of sin, as we pursue the godly state, is much more. Verse 20, so that as sin reigned in death, you see how those two work? Sin reigned in death, even so God's favor might reign through righteousness to eternal life, through Jesus Christ our Lord.

So there's our challenge, and there's our covenant. What are we going to do with it? The Sabbath, the annual festivals, the Passover, these are reminders of God's process for salvation. As we approach them, let's respect the opportunity God has given each one of us to choose life each day.