These are notes on the sermon, Believe Right And Live Right, preached by Pastor Joseph Prince on Sunday, May 19, 2024, at The Star Performing Arts Centre, Singapore. We hope these sermon notes will be an encouragement to you!
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This sermon is a continuation of Pastor Prince’s previous sermon, Busy Outside Restful Inside, and is part of the series on the blessings of the upper room.
Here, Pastor Prince once again pointed out how important it is for us to be established in the new covenant truths that our Lord shared in His Last Supper in the upper room. These new covenant truths will equip us to embrace and fully experience the freedom, blessings, and transformative power that our Lord’s finished work can bring into our lives.
One of these new covenant truths that our Lord shared is on the gift of righteousness. In John 16:7–11, our Lord Jesus told His disciples that when He departed, He would send the Holy Spirit, and that the Holy Spirit would do 3 things:
a) He will convict those who do not believe in Jesus of their sin of unbelief
b) He will convict us, believers, of our righteousness in Christ
c) He will convict the devil of his judgment from God
In this sermon, we will focus on the teaching of righteousness. Now, what does it mean for us to be righteous in Christ as believers today? First, we need to understand the differences between the old covenant of law and the new covenant of grace.
The old covenant of law, which was given through Moses, was never part of God’s initial plan. God wanted to bless and lead His people based on His grace, but because the people were strong in their flesh and gloried in their ability to fulfill what God required of them, the law was given to expose their sins and their need for a Savior and to lead them to repentance.
Under the law, one’s qualification to receive their position or standing before God and His blessings depended on one’s obedience, and breaking one law was equivalent to breaking the whole law (James 2:10–11). It was impossible for morally bankrupt man to meet the demands of a righteous God and to earn their blessings through their own efforts. And although the law was holy, just, and good, it was powerless to make man holy, just, and good.
However, the good news is that there has been a change.
God sent His Son, our Lord Jesus Christ, to be the overpayment for our sins on the cross, and through Him, created a new way for man to be reconciled to God! Today, when we believe on Christ Jesus, we no longer come under the old covenant of law but under the new covenant of grace because of what our Lord did on the cross for us.
Under this new covenant, we only have to believe in our Lord Jesus’ perfect work to qualify for all the blessings our Father wants to give us.
Now that we are living under a new covenant, it is important for us to understand it well to walk in the abundant life that our Lord Jesus intended for us.
So what is the new covenant and what are its clauses? In Jeremiah 31, the prophet Jeremiah prophesied about the new covenant:
The new covenant, described in the scripture passage above, has three key clauses:
1. “I will put my law within them, and I will write it on their hearts.”
First, we will be able to receive guidance from within from the Holy Spirit, a blessing that allows us to discern God’s will intuitively. Under the new covenant, the Holy Spirit, who is the Helper God has sent to us (John 14:26), not only dwells within us, but also plays a pivotal role by bearing witness to our spirits, providing gentle nudges, inner promptings, and a sense of peace or unease to guide us in alignment with God’s will. By following the Holy Spirit’s leading, we can make decisions that reflect God’s purposes, receive His blessings, and deepen our personal relationship with Him.
2. “I will be their God, and they shall be my people.”
Second, our heavenly Father speaks of His desire for a deep and intimate relationship with us in this powerful and beautiful promise. What does our Father really mean when He declares that He will be our God and that we will be His people? If anyone is sick, He will be their God means that He will be the healing God, and they shall be a healed people, a healthy people, a strong people, a young people. If they are lacking, He will be their God means that He will be their supply. When He says He will be their God, their Jehovah Shalom, it means that they shall have peace and be a peaceful people.
My friend, what is it that you need today? Our Father saying that He will be our God represents a supernatural promise of His abundant provision, protection, healing, and blessings toward us, His people. This declaration assures believers that God will be personally involved in their lives, working miracles and ensuring they are cared for, guided, and blessed beyond measure!
3. “And no longer shall each one teach his neighbor and each his brother, saying, ‘Know (ginōskō) the LORD,’ for they shall all know (oida) me, from the least of them to the greatest, declares the LORD.”
In Hebrews 8:11 where the apostle Paul quoted the above from Jeremiah 31, the first “know” in “Know the LORD” is ginōskō in the Greek, which means to know the Lord by effort or human experience. The second “know” in “all will know me” is a different Greek word, oida, that means to know intuitively. Everyone, from the least to the greatest—that is all of us—will know the Father deeply and personally! Under the new covenant, instruction from without serves only to confirm what we already know intuitively (1 John 2:21) through the guidance of the Holy Spirit.
Beloved, the Lord desires for us to live under His new covenant and enjoy the provisions that He has intended for us to have to live victoriously.
When you live under His grace, you can receive guidance from within through the Holy Spirit's teaching of all things, know the Lord intimately through the revelations of the Spirit, and experience His involvement in our lives, working miracles on our behalf, along with all His other blessings through God’s mercy!
But Pastor Prince, if we are truly living under the new covenant, why is it that so many of us still struggle to know the Lord intimately, or receive His guidance?
That is because there is one final main clause that activates all the above three clauses in the new covenant, and it behooves us to study it and be established in it.
Many people are still struggling to walk in deep intimacy with the Lord or experience His guidance in their lives because they do not believe in the main clause of the new covenant that makes everything work—that our Father does not remember our sins anymore!
The Greek word for “remember” is mimnēskomai, which means “be mindful of,” while “no more” is the Greek ou mé, which is a strong double negative. Our Father is no longer mindful of any of our sins because all our sins have been completely condemned and dealt with by Jesus’ perfect payment on the cross!
And we need to know that when God condemns something, it ceases to exist in His eyes; He no longer acknowledges it. This is different from “sweeping sin under the carpet” because Jesus’ blood has righteously and efficaciously put away, once and for all, ALL of our sins—past, present, and future (Heb. 10:10)!
You may have heard of the teaching that says we are forgiven of our past sins until the day of our salvation, after which we must pay for our sins daily. However, nothing can be further from the truth!
Pastor Prince explained this further with this illustration: As humans, we have a linear perspective, witnessing events unfold day by day, one by one, somewhat like watching a parade where we see each event or float pass by before us. However, God’s perspective is different. He has a “helicopter view” high above the parade, and He is able to get a complete view of a long line of floats or events from beginning to end. In the same way, when God forgave us our sins at the cross, He saw the sins of our entire life, even those we have yet to commit, and placed them all on Jesus. ALL of our sins have been entirely judged on the cross!
Does this mean that, as believers, we can live freely and indulge in a sinful lifestyle since there is no more judgment? Of course, not! We need to first understand that once a person truly knows that they have been forgiven much and the price it took for Jesus to pay for their sins, this person will want to live right by God and not sin anymore!
However, a believer who does not have a true understanding of his forgiveness and continues to live in sin will have to face the consequences of his sin, as well as the chastisement of God. It’s important to differentiate between the consequences of one’s choices and God’s chastisement. Just as a father chastises (child-trains) his son because he loves him, God chastises His children in love with His words, not sickness or diseases (Heb. 12:7–11). In fact, the Bible tells us that our heavenly Father chastises us for our “profit” and that those who receive His chastisement will live, become “partakers of His holiness,” and yield the “peaceable fruit of righteousness.”
On the other hand, consequences are direct outcomes of your choices, for example, if you put your hand into a flame, you will get burned. Or if you live a sinful lifestyle, there will be negative consequences to your health, your relationships, your finances, and you will feel fearful and far away from God. However, the truth is that once you are born again, your heavenly Father has already forgiven you all your sins. He loves you and is for you, but you will still have to grapple with the negative results of your choice.
Today, you need to know and to believe that because of our Lord Jesus’ perfect work on the cross, you have been COMPLETELY forgiven of ALL your sins. The Holy Spirit is here to bear witness to the truth that “you are still the righteousness of God in Christ” (John 16:10), even when you fail.
But if people know that all their sins have been forgiven, won’t this give them the license to sin?
First, we know and acknowledge that sin is evil. Pastor Prince and all of us at New Creation Church do not condone sin. A lifestyle of sin leads only to defeat and destruction, which is not God’s heart for us. However, preaching the law will only strengthen our flesh (1 Cor. 15:56, Rom 6:14), causing us to live in bondage to sin.
That’s why God found fault with the old covenant (Heb. 8:7), because it lacked the power to bring about true inward transformation. The law could only manage behavior modification.
The verse above shows us that when we realize the immense forgiveness we have received from our gracious Father through the hefty price paid by Jesus, our hearts will love Him much. And this knowledge will not make us want to live in sin. Instead, it will make us want to live a life worthy of the cross, worthy of our Father’s love and of our Lord Jesus’ sacrifice.
When we are under grace and motivated by the Lord’s love, He can guide us from within by writing His laws on our hearts and minds (Jer. 31:33–34). This transforms us from the inside out and leads to true heart transformation.
Only by receiving God’s grace can we have the power to be free from a lifestyle of sin and develop a deep and intimate relationship with our Lord Jesus.
Under the new covenant, not only are our sins completely forgiven, but God has also imputed His righteousness to us apart from our works (Rom. 4:6). Knowing that we have already been made righteous with God’s own righteousness leads to quietness and assurance in Christ (Isa. 32:17), and results in us experiencing peace, joy, and gladness.
In this day and age, despite the advances in our world, people have never been more depressed, anxious, and bound by addictions of all kinds. Sadly, this includes believers still struggling to see breakthroughs in many areas of their lives and not walking out the victorious life that Christ has purchased for them.
Why is that so?
In Mark 2 where a paralytic was brought to Jesus for healing, we see our Lord first forgiving the man of his sins, and then asking him to arise, take up his bed, and go home. Notice how knowing he had been forgiven of his sins was critical to this man receiving his healing? This knowledge gave him victory over his sickness!
From this incident, we can see how important it is for us to grasp our complete forgiveness in Christ because it not only activates the new covenant, but also helps us live out our lives in Christ triumphantly. Beloved, if you are struggling in certain areas of your life and a breakthrough seems elusive, especially in the area of healing, perhaps it’s time to receive afresh the Lord’s complete forgiveness for you.
In addition to healing, there is so much more that our Lord Jesus died to give us! He did not just come to bear our sins; He also brought with Him a new way of life that enables us to walk in freedom, holiness, and a deep relationship with Him.
When we believe right that we have been completely forgiven and that we are now the righteousness of God in Christ, we can live a “let-go life” that embraces the unforced rhythms of His grace. Instead of trusting in our self-effort, which often leads to strive and anxiety, we can trust in our Father’s faithfulness and provision. And while we lean on the Holy Spirit’s leading to plan for our lives, we can surrender our worries and fears to our Father, knowing He cares for us, is in control of every situation in our lives, and will turn everything around for our good.
This is the essence of living life under the new covenant—to trust fully in the perfect, finished work of our Lord Jesus at the cross, to rest in our Father’s forgiveness and His gift of righteousness, and to receive breakthroughs by His grace. There is nothing more for us to do but to believe and to receive!
We hope these sermon notes blessed you! If they did, we encourage you to get the sermon and allow the Lord to speak to you personally as you watch or listen to it.
© Copyright JosephPrince.com 2024
These sermon notes were taken by volunteers during the service. They are not a verbatim representation of the sermon.
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