Overview

1. Why we struggle to draw near to God
2. We have a better covenant
3. The foundation of the new covenant—our forgiveness in Christ
4. You have been forgiven once and for all
5. The key to walking in victory today

Why we struggle to draw near to God

Many believers today worship or relate to God out of fear or guilt. They are either trying to earn God’s favor or appease Him, all the while carrying a heavy consciousness of their sins, feeling unworthy, and believing they must first “clean themselves up” before coming to Him.

While they do go to God in times of need, they’re hindered by fear. They approach Him with an old covenant mindset, where acceptance is based on performance.

But our heavenly Father desires that we come boldly to Him (Heb. 4:16). He wants us to worship Him in spirit and in truth—not out of fear but in response to His love and grace for us!

We have a better covenant

The old covenant was based on man’s performance: “You shall not… You shall not…” It demanded perfection from sinfully bankrupt men. While it could reveal man’s sin, it had no power to remove it. It was holy and righteous, but it was unable to produce righteousness in sinful man.

So, what hope did that leave for us?

Hebrews 8:7 tells us that God found fault with the old covenant and replaced it with a new one—the new covenant of grace, established through our Lord Jesus’ finished work at the cross.

Unlike the old covenant, the new covenant is not about what we must do, but God’s faithfulness and what He promises to do for us.

The verses above point us to God’s promises to us under the new covenant:

• “I will put My laws in their mind and write them on their hearts.”
  This means that the Lord will lead and guide us from within. Whether it’s in our career, parenting, or relationships, He leads us through the Holy Spirit who dwells in us. His guidance can come as an inward knowing, a sense of peace or lack thereof, or what the Bible describes as a “still small voice” (1 Kings 19:12).
  
  
• “I will be their God, and they shall be My people.”
  This speaks of a deep and personal relationship with God! Notice how He didn’t say that He would be someone else’s God but OUR God? And when He says, “I will be their God,” He is saying, “I’ll heal you. I’ll protect you. I’ll provide for you.”
  
  
• “None of them shall teach his neighbor, and none his brother, saying, ‘Know (ginōskō) the Lord,’ for all shall know (oida) Me, from the least of them to the greatest of them.”
  In Greek, the verse distinguishes between two kinds of knowing. The first “know” (ginōskō) means to know through experience. The second “know” (oida) means to know intuitively. Under the old covenant, the people relied on prophets and priests to know God on their behalf. But under the new covenant, every believer—from the least to the greatest—can know God personally and intimately. We don’t need to go through anyone else to know Him. We can know Him for ourselves!

The foundation of the new covenant—our forgiveness in Christ

For us to fully experience the abovementioned promises, we need to be established in this truth: we have been completely forgiven through Christ’s finished work at the cross.

The new covenant hinges on this truth. At the cross, our Lord Jesus took our place and bore the full punishment for our sins. He bore God’s fiery wrath and judgment, fully atoning for our sins. One sacrifice for sins forever (Heb. 10:12). And today, we have been made the righteousness of God in Christ (2 Cor. 5:21)!

What does this mean for us? This means that when God looks at us, He no longer sees us in our sins. Instead, He sees us in His Son.

Does this give us license to sin? Absolutely not! Knowing how forgiven we are allows us to rise above our sins and failures. Just like we wouldn’t want to hurt someone who’s been kind to us, the more we know how loved and forgiven we are, the more we would want to live lives that are pleasing to the Lord. It is His goodness that leads us to repentance (Rom. 2:4)! In fact, guilt and sin-consciousness are what keep people trapped in defeat. The power to overcome sin comes from knowing you are forgiven.

You have been forgiven once and for all

But what about 1 John 1:9? Doesn’t it say we must confess our sins to be forgiven?

Let’s look at it in context. The apostle John wrote 1 John to his Jewish brethren, among whom were a group called the Gnostics. This group of Jews were not believers. They denied that Jesus came in the flesh and claimed they had no sin. John addressed them directly in the first chapter:

John was inviting these unbelievers to acknowledge their sins and receive God’s forgiveness.

In chapter 2, we see a clear shift as John began addressing the believers among the Jews:

And what does he say?

So, as believers, we don’t confess to be forgiven. We confess because we are already forgiven.

Now, is there a place for repentance? Yes. But true repentance means changing your mind and aligning your thoughts with God’s truth. It’s not groveling in guilt but boldly taking your righteous position in Christ.

The key to walking in victory today

So how then should we live?

Many believers today aren’t fully enjoying the promises of the new covenant, not because God is withholding anything from them, but because they are more focused on their failures than on their forgiveness in Christ. The truth is, our Lord Jesus has already dealt with all our sins—past, present, and future—at the cross. And our minds need to be constantly renewed to this truth. Because if left unchecked, our natural tendency is to dwell on where we’ve fallen short.

So, instead of being sin-conscious, let’s be Son-conscious!

Though there will be moments when we fall short, and the enemy will try to accuse us and throw lies our way, and in those moments, we must choose to interpret everything through the finished work of the cross. The key to victorious living isn’t striving harder but believing right. And right believing starts with this: We are completely forgiven in Christ.

Every time you miss the mark, count on your forgiveness! Even your fresh failures have been cleansed by Jesus’ blood. Holding on to guilt doesn’t make you humble; it actually robs you of intimacy with God and keeps you stuck in cycles of defeat.

So beloved, once you’ve received Jesus as your Savior, you are saved, once and for all. All your sins, past, present, and future, were dealt with at the cross. Being established in this truth is the only way to walk boldly in the new covenant.

The more you embrace your forgiveness, the more boldly you’ll approach your heavenly Father. And the more you draw near to Him, the more you’ll know Him, and the more He will be able to guide you in living the best life He has for you!

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