This was a thought written almost a week ago, but just now being posted because of the lack of internet…
In a girl’s Bible study that I’ve been going to we are going through the book Twelve Extraordinary Women by John Macarthur. Three weeks ago we finished a chapter on Eve and the next chapter we were supposed to read was on Sarah. This chapter has entrigued me, and I have had over a week extra to think on it since the teacher had her beautiful little baby girl 
…anyways…back to the purpose of the blog…. The story so entrigued me that I have been re-reading through the biblical account of Sarah. It is truly an amazing story, and Macarthur’s writings give you a whole fresh look at a story that we have read through so many times without giving much thought to.
With having so much time to wait until the next Bible study meeting, I have also been reading other books and such on the story of Sarah. One thing I read that I found greatly interesting was a sermon preached by Charles Spurgeon (a magnificent preacher by the way) on part of Paul’s allegory of the story of Abraham.
For it is written, that Abraham had two sons, the one by a bondwoman, the other by a freewoman. But he who was born of the bondwoman was born after the flesh; but he of the freewoman was by promise. Which things are an allegory: for these are the two covenants;
-Galatians 4:22-24a
The title of the sermon was “The Allegories of Sarah and Hagar” if you would like to try to look it up somewhere and read it. I would have loved to hear him preach it in person!
At the beginning of the sermon, he says:
There cannot be a greater difference in the world between two things than there is between law and grace. He who knows and always recollects this essenestial difference, has grasped the marrow of divinity….He is not far from understanding the gospel theme in all it’s ramifications, its outlets, and its branches, who can properly tell the difference between law and grace.
By this point I could kinda see where this was going, and I was hooked!!
He tells of how Hagar represents the covenant of the law (or the covenant of works) in which God says to man “Here is my law. if you keep it wholly, perfectly, and without a single flaw or blemish, I will carry you to heaven, but if you violate one command and rebel against a single ordinance…I will destroy you forever!”
He also tells of how Sarah represents the law of grace in which Jesus Christ made a covenant with The Father. Christ engaged on His part to bear the iniquities of His people’s sins and to die and pay the penalty for them, and to pay our debts. The Father, on His part, promised to save all those for whom The Son died, and that seeing their evil hearts, He would put His law in their hearts, that they should not depart from it, and seeing their sins, that He would pass them by and remember them no more.
Wow!
The covenant of the law says “Do this and live, O man.”
The covenant of grace says “Do this, O Christ, and thou shalt live O man.”
It truly is an amazing sermon on law and grace. I wish I could just write the WHOLE thing for everyone to see. I will write at least this one more part though…
In talking about the covenant of grace, Spurgeon says:
There are no conditions whatever in the covenant of grace, or if there be conditions, the covenant gives them. The covenant gives faith, gives repentance, gives good works, gives salvation, as a purely gratuitous unconditional act; nor does our continuance in that covenant depend in the least degree on ourselves. The covenant was made by God with Christ, signed, sealed, and ratified, in all things ordered well.
I could go on for a long time about this. It really is a great sermon! Very possibly the greatest I have ever heard on the covenants of law and grace. I would definitely recommend that you read it. The point of this is just to say that I believe we, as Christians, need to always keep fresh in our minds just what God has done. We have nothing that we can hold up and say “this is why I deserve this” or “God remember what I did then.” It is not of us. We don’t even have the right to approach the throne of God in prayer except through Christ. It is ALL because of what Jesus Christ did. It is all because of the covenant made between God the Father and God the Son that we will one day stand face to face with our Creator and He will welcome us into eternal fellowship with Him in heaven. I have really been majorly struggling lately with some things going on, and all of this reading this week has kept me going. God’s Word has been my comfort. He is the reason I live. I cannot say that I enjoy these struggles, but if it is what I need, or what He wants of me, than I will receive it, because I have absolutely no right to claim that I somehow know better than He does. He is all-knowing. He is why I live. I am nothing without Him, and He knows what He is doing. I will trust Him and thank Him for what He has done.
If you are not a Christian, and you have any questions about any of this just let me know, and I’ll do my best to answer them.
