Key Idea: The absolute covenant loyalty of our covenant-making God trains Trusters toward covenant loyalty through truth and consequences and draws them toward God in love through grace and mercy.
God is absolutely loyal to every covenant he makes, for covenant-making flows from his intentional grace and love. Keeping covenant is inherent to his character; he is utterly trustworthy. His Word is his bond, and by his Word, those who trust him are made the community of the Word by his sovereign and gracious choice alone.
God trains Trusters toward covenant loyalty through the truth of his Word and the consequences of their own covenant breaking. God draws Trusters toward the love and worship required by the covenant by bringing them back to the gracious truth of his Word: he alone is the source of life and wholeness, and his eternal covenant in Messiah is the only way to receive these blessings.
Trusters respond to God’s grace, mercy, and training by living toward his glory, by remembering and living his Word. Through his Word, we come to understand God and his covenant and learn how to keep trusting this trustable one.
Launching Pad: Malachi 1:1-11; Malachi 2:1-9; K230415S0803
