Better Promises under Grace
Like radiant heat in a sunroom, grace surrounds and warms without striving.
Devotional Credit: Day by Day by Grace
Photo Credit: Unsplash
Today’s entry from Bob Hoekstra opens a new series on one of the most treasured realities of the new covenant: the better promises we’ve received through grace. The author of Hebrews tells us plainly that Jesus is the Mediator of a better covenant, one that far surpasses the old covenant of law—not only in scope, but in the very foundation on which it stands: grace, not performance.
Under the old covenant, everything hinged on man’s ability to obey. “Do this and live,” the law said, placing blessing and favor entirely upon human effort. While God’s commands were perfect, man’s nature was not. Again and again, Israel failed to uphold their end of the covenant, revealing the futility of a relationship with God based on works.
But the covenant Jesus mediates is radically different. It doesn’t say, “Do and live,” but rather, “I will do, and you shall live.” It rests not on our obedience, but on God’s unwavering commitment. God says: “I will put My law in their minds… I will be their God… I will forgive… I will remember their sins no more.” These promises are not dependent on our ability—they are secured in Christ’s finished work.
This is grace: God binding Himself to us, not because we obey, but because He is faithful. And this new way of relating to Him is infinitely better, because it’s not based on us—it’s based on Him.
✍🏼 Personalized Journal Entry – Voice of the Holy Spirit Through Scripture
I never asked you to impress Me with your devotion. I asked you to trust in Mine.
The law once declared that life would come through doing, but I knew your frame—that you were dust—and I knew that no striving of yours could produce the holiness I desire. So I gave you something better. I gave you Myself.
In Christ, I have made a new covenant with you. It is not like the old one, which depended on your faithfulness. This one depends entirely on Mine. I have written My law upon your heart. I have made My dwelling within you. I have joined you to Myself in an everlasting union. I will be your God—not conditionally, but covenantally. And because of My Son, I will never count your sins against you.
This is not a promise for the strong, but for the trusting. You are not the keeper of this covenant—I am. Your place is to abide in Me and receive what I have already secured. Let My “I will” quiet every “I must.” Let grace have its full work in you. Let your soul exhale from the burden of earning, and inhale the joy of belonging.
You are not under law, but under grace. And grace will never fail you.
Scriptures referenced: Hebrews 8:6; Leviticus 18:5; Deuteronomy 28:1,15; Ezekiel 20:21; Jeremiah 31:31–34
🪟 Real-Life Analogy
It’s like stepping into a sunroom after being out in the cold. Under the old covenant, you had to keep moving to stay warm—run harder, work longer, do more. But grace is like radiant heat—you simply enter in, and the warmth surrounds you. You’re not warming yourself anymore; the warmth is provided. You just rest in it.
🙏🏼 Prayer of Confidence
Father, I thank You for the covenant that does not rest on me. You have written Your promises in Christ’s blood, not in my performance. I rejoice that I am not under the weight of earning Your favor, but under the covering of Your Son’s finished work. Today I rest in Your “I will.” I receive the immeasurable better promises that flow from grace, and I trust that You will complete in me what You have begun. All is secure, because all is Yours.