the landscape on which spiritual mothering relationships are to be
crafted and lived out.
THECOVENANT OFGRACE
God relates to us on the basis of a covenant of grace.
For you are a people holy to the LORDyour God. The LORDyour
God has chosen you out of all the peoples on the face of the earth to be
his people, his treasured possession. The LORDdid not set his affection
on you and choose you because you were more numerous than other
peoples, for you were the fewest of all peoples. But it was because the
LORDloved you and kept the oath he swore to your forefathers that he
brought you out with a mighty hand and redeemed you from the land
of slavery, from the power of Pharaoh king of Egypt. Know therefore
that the LORDyour God is God; he is the faithful God, keeping his
covenant of love to a thousand generations of those who love him and
keep his commands.
—DEUT. 7:6-9, NIVOur relationship with the Lord is personal, but it is not individ-
ualistic. When He adopts us into His family, our relationship with
Him means that we are also related to His other children. And our
relationships with one another are to mirror our Father’s relationship
with us.
May the God who gives endurance and encouragement give you a spirit
of unity among yourselves as you follow Christ Jesus, so that with one
heart and mouth you may glorify the God and Father of our Lord Jesus
Christ. Accept one another, then, just as Christ accepted you, in order
to bring praise to God.
—ROM. 15:5-7, NIVHow does Christ accept us? Not on the basis of our performance,
but on the basis of His grace. We do not earn our relationship with the
Lord. It is all through sovereign grace from eternity past, when He set
His affection upon us, to the moment in history when He gives us a
new heart so we can repent and believe, to eternity future. God for-
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