Obedience under the New Covenant of Grace
Obedience under grace is like stepping onto a moving walkway—you’re carried forward by His life within.
Devotional Credit: Day by Day by Grace, by Bob Hoekstra
Photo Credit: Unsplash
Obedience is not an outdated concept from the Old Covenant—it’s a vital expression of the life of Christ within every believer. The Scriptures consistently affirm God's desire for His children to walk in step with His will, not through fear or external conformity, but through the internal empowerment of grace. Moses, Samuel, and Peter each echoed the same call to obey, not as a demand imposed from without, but as a reality flowing from within.
The law, with all its holy standards and grave warnings, could never deliver the soul from the power of sin. It only revealed sin's dominion. But grace does what the law never could—it unites us with Christ in His death and resurrection. This union renders the old man crucified and calls forth a new walk—one not of striving, but of sharing in Christ's life.
Grace does not increase sin—it ends its reign. It does not excuse disobedience—it births true obedience. The believer’s life under grace is not lawless, but Spirit-led. As we yield to the truth of who we are in Christ—dead to sin, alive to God—we discover that obedience is no longer a burden, but a byproduct of divine union.
✍🏼 Personalized Journal Entry – Voice of the Holy Spirit Through Scripture
I have not called you to obey in your own strength. I have called you to walk in what I have already accomplished within you. You were once under the dominion of sin, but now you are under grace. I united you with Christ—not merely to forgive your sin, but to free you from its rule.
You died with Him. That old self, bound to failure and driven by fear, has no claim on you. In Christ, you have been raised to walk in newness of life. This new life is not found in trying harder. It is found in trusting deeper. I do not expect you to conform to the law—I delight to transform you by grace.
Each step of obedience is not a test of your devotion but an expression of My life in you. I gave you a new heart and My Spirit to dwell within you. I work in you both to will and to do for My good pleasure. This is the obedience of grace—joyful, Spirit-born, and love-driven.
You are not your own. You are Mine. I am the One who leads you into obedience, not by force, but by fellowship. You are free—not to do as you please, but to live in the freedom of pleasing Me, because I live in you.
Scriptures referenced: Romans 6:1–4, 6:14; Deuteronomy 27:10; 1 Samuel 15:22; 1 Peter 1:14; Philippians 2:13
🧺 Real-Life Analogy
It’s like stepping onto a moving walkway at the airport. The moment you stop trying to walk in your own effort and simply rest your weight on the walkway, you begin moving forward. You’re still upright and alert—but it’s no longer your strength carrying you. That’s obedience under grace: resting in the One who moves you.
🙏🏼 Prayer of Confidence
Father, I thank You that I am no longer under law but under grace. I rejoice that sin has no dominion over me because I am joined to Christ, who fulfilled the law and now lives in me. I walk in obedience not as a burden, but as a blessing of union with You. Thank You that Your Spirit within me inclines my heart to do what pleases You. I rest in Your work and yield to Your ways, trusting You to express Your life through mine today.