Better Than Religion - Part 10

Are You Living Under the Right Covenant? Discussion Questions for Hebrews 8: Hebrews 8 says Jesus mediates a "better covenant" based on "better promises." What are some of those promises of the new covenant? How would your enjoyment of God increase if you relaxed more in His promises? God says the New Covenant is "not like" the covenant made at Sinai. What are some ways Christians accidentally make the New Covenant sound exactly like the Old Covenant? What phrases have you heard that make grace sound conditional, fragile, or performance-based? God says, "I will put My laws into their minds, and I will write them on their hearts." What does this reveal about your new desires in Christ? Why is it so encouraging to know that God is not merely commanding from the outside but working from the inside? Many believers say, "I know what I should do, but I don't want to do it." How does Hebrews 8 challenge the idea that Christians are still fundamentally rebellious at heart? How can we be honest about temptation and struggle without denying our new heart and new identity? God says, "I will be their God, and they shall be My people." Why does belonging need to come before behavior? How does knowing you already belong change the way you respond to failure, growth, correction, or temptation? React to this statement: Every believer has direct relationship with God, not secondhand spirituality. How does this truth free us from comparing ourselves with "super Christians" or depending on religious elites to feel close to God? God says, "I will remember their sins no more." What is the difference between God forgetting information and God choosing never to deal with you according to your sins again? What sins, failures, or regrets do you still assume God is holding over you? Where do you most need to "come home" to New Covenant life today: once-for-all forgiveness, new desires, direct access to God, a secure identity, or freedom from Law-based living?