God is first and foremost a Father! But He's not like our earthly fathers. He's the Father of spirits - better, more generous and more committed to our good than our earthly parents could ever be.

There are only 2 kinds of righteousness described in the Bible - self-righteousness, which is earned on the basis of our success at keeping religious rules, and the righteousness of God, given to us as a gift on the basis of faith.

Don't be ashamed of the Good News. Don't be afraid of it. Don't apologize for it. Don't try to weaken or water it down. It is the power of God to save everyone who believes it!

Walking in freedom from everything that tries to dominate you!

Stabilize your thinking, your emotions and your decision-making.

Religion wants church to be a hospital, a sterile, germ-free environment. He wants church to be a garden, a fertile, life-giving environment. Your weakness, ungodliness, foolishness and sin are no obstacles to grace.

Are people roughing you up? Are you dealing with money trouble? Are you walking through the valley of the shadow of death? Hunger, distress, affliction or some other storm of life? Why is this happening? Who is doing this to you? You can have peace!

Will there be many saved or few? Why do we tend to exclude people who don't see things the way we do? Jesus was a gatherer, not a scatterer. We need to open our hearts to people with diverse views, diverse ministries and diverse methods.

Jesus is the Truth to us about God and the Truth to God about us. Like any good witness, let's speak the Truth, the whole Truth and nothing but the Truth, so help us God! He is our testimony!

In Part 9, the final installment of the Understanding the New Covenant series, we discuss the New and Living Way that Jesus opened for us by His blood! Also, we discuss the only sin that can keep you out of life.