As we delve into our new covenant of grace, we find that God swore by Himself since there was none higher to swear by. Hebrews 6:18 (Amplified) says, "This was so that, by two unchangeable things (His promise and His oath) in which it is impossible for God ever to prove false or deceive us, we who have fled (to Him) for refuge might have mighty indwelling strength and strong encouragement to grasp and hold fast the hope appointed for us and set before us."
We read in Hebrews 6:13-15 (Amplified) that, "For when God made (His) promise to Abraham, He swore by Himself, since He had no one greater by whom to swear Saying, Blessing I certainly will bless you and multiplying I will multiply you." Verse 15 says, "And so it was that he (Abraham) having waited long and endured patiently, realized and obtained (in the birth of Isaac as a pledge of what was to come) what God had promised him."
The blessing of Abraham we have received through Jesus is, according to Galatians 3:14 (Amplified) says, "To the end that through (their receiving) Christ Jesus, the blessing (promised) to Abraham might come upon the Gentiles, so that we through faith might (all) receive (the realization of) the promise of the (Holy) Spirit."
Our part of this covenant requires that we simply believe on Jesus by faith like Abraham did. And, God has swore by Himself and there is no way to break this covenant. God's grace and favor that He had with Abraham has been realized in Jesus for all who will believe. Our Father has made it so easy to walk with Him that we have a hard time believing it can be that easy.
Walking with the Father is the easiest thing I've ever done. My failures and mistakes are covered by His grace and my sin is gone because of His Blood. We've complicated this covenant of grace with infinite rules and laws that it's as hard to walk in the new covenant as it was for those under the covenant and the Law. We've complicated our walk with God to the point where we're almost constantly at war with ourselves. We won't simply allow grace and mercy to govern us and have made our own guidelines to walk by.
The covenant of grace that God made with Abraham simply depended on Abraham's faith in the One Who made covenant with him. When God called upon Abraham to sacrifice his "only begotten son," Abraham was willing to do so on behalf of that covenant. If a flesh and blood man would to that for his part of the agreement, then could God do any less for His part?
God deliberately set Himself up to sacrifice His Son on behalf of His agreement with Abraham to fulfill His promise. We on the other hand, have set ourselves up for fail by being dogmatic in our own rituals. We can never feel like God is pleased with us or that we're adequate in His sight. We place ourselves under condemnation that the Blood of Christ has already taken care of. We always seem to expect the worst to happen and feel like we deserve the worst.
We have forgotten that grace didn't give us what we deserve, but what the Father desired us to have. God was under no obligation to make covenant with Abraham. He chose to do so. Man cannot bring about his own righteousness. This is why we always feel deserving of God's judgment and punishment. Hebrews 11:6 (Amplified) says, "But without faith it is impossible to please or be satisfactory to Him. For whoever would come near to God must (necessarily) believe that God exists and that He is the Rewarder of those who earnestly and diligently seek Him (out)."
There are no laws or rituals (even well meaning ones) can ever break the power of guilt and condemnation over the carnal minded Christian. The only way to walk pleasing to God is by faith in His grace and promise according to Romans 6:14 (Amplified) which says, "For sin shall not (any longer) exert dominion over you, since now you are not under Law (as slaves) but under grace (as subjects of God's favor and mercy)."
The sin that no longer has dominion over you, was the condemnation of the inability to ever keep the Law. Now, we're under grace and free from condemnation by the Spirit of Life in Christ Jesus according to Romans 8:1-2.
When we finally allow the Holy Spirit to deliver us from the mess the carnal mind have provided us, we can walk in liberty. This isn't to say we are to return to our old way of living, but we're to allow the Holy Spirit to lead us into the Father's love and presence.
The only thing holding us back from God's presence is the carnal mind with it's guilt and condemnation. We have fostered many man made laws of "righteousness" that will make us acceptable to God. None of the work and as a matter of fact, they keep us distant from Him because they are our own way of declaring ourselves righteous. And, because we're always falling short of our own restrictions, our faith is always at a level where we feel like we don't even deserve to have our prayers answered. Our own religious rules have negated our faith in His grace.
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