When God first created human beings, He never had ‘religion’ in His mind. He had always wanted a ‘relationship’ with those whom He had imparted ‘His breath of life’ (see Genesis 2:7; 3:8-9). That’s how He’s been working all along with the people of faith – through their ‘relationship’ with Him, e.g. Noah, Abraham, and many others.
When men do not have personal relationship with God, the ‘requirement’ to obey God was ‘enforced’ by turning it into ‘rules and religion’. Instead of obeying God as a manifestation of an inward loving relationship with God, God’s people submitted to His commandments due to the fear of the punishment of the Law! (see Deuteronomy 28:15-68) Yet, they also always failed His ‘standard’. The Bible says ‘all have sinned and fall short of His glory’ (see Romans 3:23).
Notice God’s heart for His people in Jeremiah 31:31-34 (NKJV), "Behold, the days are coming, says the LORD, when I will make a new covenant with the house of Israel and with the house of Judah --- not according to the covenant that I made with their fathers in the day that I took them by the hand to lead them out of the land of Egypt, My covenant which they broke, though I was a husband to them, says the LORD. But this is the covenant that I will make with the house of Israel after those days, says the LORD: I will put My law in their minds, and write it on their hearts; and I will be their God, and they shall be My people. No more shall every man teach his neighbor, and every man his brother, saying, 'Know the LORD,' for they all shall know Me, from the least of them to the greatest of them, says the LORD. For I will forgive their iniquity, and their sin I will remember no more." (See also Hebrews 8:7-12; 10:16-17).
God took away the ‘Old Covenant/Covenant of Moses/Covenant of Law’ and established a new one through Jesus Christ’s perfect sacrifice on the cross for the remission of sins (see Hebrews 7:18-19; 8:13; 9:16-10:18). Through Christ’s blood sacrifice, God established an ‘everlasting’ covenant with those who believe in Him (see Hebrews 13:20). In this ‘New Covenant/Covenant of Christ/Covenant of Grace’, you are made holy and righteous in Christ so that a Holy God can reside in you and teach you to know Him personally!
How does God reside in you and teach you personally?
Jesus told His disciples that the Spirit of God (i.e. the Holy Spirit) will come to be with them after He (Jesus) had gone back to the Father (see John 16:7). “And I will pray the Father, and He will give you another Helper, that He may abide with you forever --- the Spirit of truth, whom the world cannot receive, because it neither sees Him nor knows Him; but you know Him, for He dwells with you and will be in you... But the Helper, the Holy Spirit, whom the Father will send in My name, He will teach you all things, and bring to your remembrance all things that I said to you.” (John 14:16-17, 26 NKJV)
By knowing all these, no case should be brought against the preaching of the Covenant of Grace by saying “people will then sin more and take advantage of God’s grace”. Now, you would agree with me that God is a wise God. He doesn’t forgive and forget the sins of His people forever but leave them to rot with their sinful behaviours. That’s the reason why He sends the Holy Spirit to dwell in you!
It is well said in Romans 7:6 (NLT), “But now we have been released from the law, for we died to it and are no longer captive to its power. Now we can serve God, not in the old way of obeying the letter of the law, but in the new way of living in the Spirit.” Also in Romans 8:4 (NLT), “He did this so that the just requirement of the law would be fully satisfied for us, who no longer follow our sinful nature but instead follow the Spirit.”
You see, if you truly understand these two verses above, and you live by the Holy Spirit, you won’t have the desire to sin and definitely won’t have the thought of taking advantage of God’s grace. Why? Because God is working in you through His Spirit, who is also the Spirit of Grace (see Hebrews 10:29). He is teaching you, influencing you, and transforming you from within – from your spirit man to your mind/thought life, and then to your outward action!
The Holy Spirit is commonly taught in the Church as the One who gives power, spiritual gifts, and anointing, so that the Body of Christ can be edified, and for the purpose of harvesting of souls. But He is first and foremost your ‘Personal Teacher’! Many Christians want great anointing to do great things for the Lord but they ignore the fact that they can be ‘useful’ and have good testimonies only when they allow the Holy Spirit to teach them always and change them from within!
Now may the God of peace who brought up our Lord Jesus from the dead, that great Shepherd of the sheep, through the blood of the everlasting covenant, make you complete in every good work to do His will, working in you what is well pleasing in His sight, through Jesus Christ, to whom be glory forever and ever. Amen. (Hebrews 13:20-21 NKJV)
Only God can make you complete in every good work to fulfil His will. Only God can work in you and through you to please Him. That’s what Jesus meant by “you can do nothing and you can’t ‘bear fruit’ without Him” in John 15:4-5.
The foundation of a great and effective ‘working relationship’ with God is to have the revelation of His grace in Christ Jesus, and to have an ‘intimate relationship’ with His Spirit. As you avail yourself to meditate on God’s Word and pray in the spirit often, allow the Holy Spirit to correct you without condemnation, align you to His way, enable you with His anointing, lead you with His knowledge, and guide you with His wisdom so that God’s purpose can be fulfilled in your life.