Better Promises.

     As mentioned in a previous post, the law cannot save anyone (Romans 3:20). This is not to say that there is a problem with the law. The law is good (Romans 7:12). Remember, it is a reflection of the very nature of God? The problem is not with the law, it is with us (Heb 8:7-8). The truth is mankind does not want to submit to God or His law, in fact he will not (Romans 8:7).
     The law can show us what God expects of us, but it is powerless to make us conform to it. Ancient Israel struggled under the law. They failed over and over to keep it. Likewise, countless thousands can relate to the Apostle Paul's Romans 7 experience of failing to do that which they know is right to do (Romans 7:18-20). Like Paul many have cried out for deliverance from sin and death (Romans 7:24).
     Knowing that in and of himself, man is powerless to fulfill the law, God promised to enact a new covenant based on better promises.
      The whole issue is that of the heart of man. It is wicked and deceitful (Jeremiah 17:9). We need a heart transplant! We see the law of God, and for selfish reasons we try to walk in it, but we only set ourselves up for failure. The harder we try, the worse it gets. Our hearts are not in it for the right reason. We only discover how wicked we really are on the inside. 
     Look what God has promised in His word! Right in the midst of Israel's rebellion, when He was about to send them off into captivity for their sin, He promises hope. He speaks of a new covenant; one that will provide the ability to live right. He speaks of a new heart with the law written upon it (Jeremiah 31:33). This is a promised "heart transplant" , the removal of a hard disobedient heart, replaced with a soft heart (Ezekiel 36:26). He promises to put His Spirit within to enable us to walk in His laws (Ezekiel 36:27). In this same passage (Ezekiel 36:25) God promises to cleanse from filthiness, or sin. Read what Paul says to the Corinthian Church about what they once were (1 Corinthians 6:9-10). He says that they were now cleansed from these things (1 Corinthians 6:11). This goes beyond forgiveness, to mean an actual change of life where these people were no longer participating in these sinful lifestyles.
     This is what is described by Paul in Titus 3:4-7. He calls it the washing of regeneration and renewing by the Holy Spirit poured out by Jesus Christ. This is the fulfillment of what we read in Ezekiel 36:25-27.
     Praise God! We have hope through Jesus Christ! There is a promise of a new heart to replace the sinful heart that is leading us to ruin! We can be made new (2 Corinthians 5:17). We have a chance to start over with a clean slate before God!