In contrast with the covenant of works in which man had to earn eternal life through his own obedience, the covenant of grace freely gives eternal life upon the basis of Christ’s obedience. We do not earn eternal life with our own obedience. We have it because of Christ’s obedience.

ROM 5:19 says, "For as by one man’s disobedience many were made sinners, so by the obedience of one shall many be made righteous." Through the obedience of Christ being imputed to us and imparted in us, we are "...made the righteousness of God in him," 2CO 5:21. We must look to the obedience of Christ as we look to the blood of Christ; they are co-essential to our salvation.

The Covenant of Grace had to perfectly replace the Covenant of Works. A sinless covenant head must replace sinful Adam, and the same test of obedience must be passed, the same penalty paid, the same promise earned. The promise Adam was to earn was eternal life by perfect obedience. The same penalty, however, must also be paid. "But of the tree of the knowledge of good and evil, thou shalt not eat of it: for in the day that thou eatest thereof thou shalt surely die," GEN 2:17. The death of Christ pays the penalty, but by His perfect obedience He earned salvation.

Without both, we don’t have a complete salvation. This is why we must understand the distinction between hungering and thirsting. We hunger after Him as the bread of life, and we thirst after Him as those waters of life. Christ is the object of our Spiritual thirst after righteousness. Jesus said in JOH 4:14, "But whosoever drinketh of the water that I shall give him shall never thirst; but the water that I shall give him shall be in him a well of water springing up into everlasting life."

Christ is also the object of our spiritual hunger after righteousness. Jesus said in JOH 6:49-51, "Your fathers did eat manna in the wilderness, and are dead. This is the bread and the bread that I will give is my flesh, which I will give for the life of the world."

Bread is used as a figure of speech to symbolize food. PSA 105:16 says, "Moreover he called for a famine upon the land: he brake the whole staff of bread." The broken bread in the Lord’s supper points to the broken body of Christ. This points to the payment of the penalty and being made righteous before the tribunal of God. This points to being made righteous before the bar of God’s justice. This is hungering after the perfect righteousness of Christ as the bread of life which He gave "...for the life of the world," JOH 6:51.

DEU 8:2 says, "And thou shalt remember all the way which the LORD thy God led thee these forty years [forty is the symbol of fullness, meaning through the whole lifetime] in the wilderness, to humble thee, and to prove thee, to know what was in thine heart [those are the same as the first three beatitudes], whether thou wouldest keep his commandments, or no." We will be proven through the trial of our faith and sanctified in the furnace of affliction to see "...whether thou wouldest keep his commandments, or no."

Verse 3 says, "And he humbled thee, and suffered thee to hunger, and fed thee with manna, which thou knewest not, neither did thy fathers know; that he might make thee know that man doth not live by bread only, but by every word that proceedeth out of the mouth of the LORD doth man live."

It is so blessed to see that we don’t feed on the things of the world. We are going to feed on only one thing. We won’t hunger for natural bread only, but for every word that proceedeth out of the mouth of the Lord doth man live. They were fed by manna.

To feed on Christ’s broken body is to feed on His righteousness obtained by the payment of the penalty. 1CO 11:24 says, "And when he had given thanks, he brake it, and said, Take, eat: this is my body, which is broken for you: this do in remembrance of me." It is so important that we understand hungering is hungering after the broken body of Jesus Christ. It is hungering after the work of salvation on the cross.

In JOH 6:53 we find, "Then Jesus said unto them, Verily, verily, I say unto you, Except ye eat the flesh of the Son of man, and drink his blood, ye have no life in you." Unless there is hungering after the broken body of Jesus Christ and a true desire to be justified, to be pardoned, to have our sins taken away before the tribunal of God’s justice, we have no life in us.

Verses54-56 say, "Whoso eateth my flesh, and drinketh my blood, hath eternal life; and I will raise him up at the last day. For my flesh is meat indeed, and my blood is drink indeed. He that eateth my flesh, and drinketh my blood, dwelleth in me, and I in him." When we have the true hunger after Christ, we are hungering after the broken body to be justified and pardoned before the tribunal of God.

Water is the emblem of the Holy Spirit throughout Scripture. To thirst after righteousness is to thirst after the purifying of the Spirit. It is to thirst after the Spirit’s work of cleansing and regeneration.

Our Saviour made a distinction between eating His flesh and drinking His blood. In JOH 6:56 the Lord said, "He that eateth my flesh, and drinketh my blood, dwelleth in me, and I in him." There is a distinction between the eating and the drinking. The drinking of the blood points to sanctification. HEB 9:13-14 says, "For if the blood of bulls and of goats, and the ashes of an heifer sprinkling the unclean, sanctifieth to the purifying of the flesh: How much more shall the blood of Christ, who through the eternal Spirit offered himself without spot to God, purge your conscience from dead works to serve the living God?"

Herein we see that the Scriptures clearly point to the blood of Christ as the cleansing and that through the eternal Spirit this cleansing process takes place. HEB 10:22 says, "Let us draw near with a true heart in full assurance of faith, having our hearts sprinkled from an evil conscience, and our bodies washed with pure water." This washing, a process of the Holy Spirit, is the work of sanctification pointing us to the blood of Christ.

ZEC 13:1 says, "In that day there shall be a fountain opened to the house of David and to the inhabitants of Jerusalem for sin and for uncleanness." This fountain that was opened is certainly open through the fountain of the blood of Christ. This fountain is open for sin and uncleanness. This certainly points us to the cleansing process and the washing of the conscience and body by the water. HEB 10:22 says that our bodies will be washed with pure water. It is so important that we understand the cleansing process is the work of the Spirit by the blood of Christ.

To thirst after righteousness is to thirst after the purifying of the Spirit. This is to thirst after the Spirit’s work of regeneration and cleansing. EZE 36:25 says, "Then will I sprinkle clean water upon you, and ye shall be clean: from all your filthiness, and from all your idols, will I cleanse you." The water is referred to as a cleansing. When we have a true thirst, we are really thirsting for the cleansing of the Spirit, who works the cleansing process.

TIT 3:5 says, "Not by works of righteousness which we have done, but according to his mercy he saved us [take notice], by the washing of regeneration, and renewing of the Holy Ghost." Now we are thirsting after righteousness and the cleansing process of the Spirit. We are thirsting to be cleansed from the filthiness and pollution of sin. Verse 6 continues, "Which he shed on us abundantly through Jesus Christ our Saviour." This thirst was also after Jesus Christ. The Spirit was shed on us abundantly through Jesus Christ our Saviour.

Water is used for bathing. In EPH 5:25-26 we find, "Husbands, love your wives, even as Christ also loved the church, and gave himself for it; That he might sanctify and cleanse it with the washing of water by the word." That is thirsting after the sanctification and after the work of regeneration. Verse 27 continues, "That he might present it to himself a glorious church, not having spot, or wrinkle, or any such thing; but that it should be holy and without blemish." This is speaking of after we have been washed. This is the purifying and sanctifying process, which we thirst after. We hunger after the pardon and we thirst after cleansing.

In ISA 45:8 the symbol of rain is used. "Drop down, ye heavens, from above, and let the skies pour down righteousness: let the earth open, and let them bring forth salvation, and let righteousness spring up together; I the LORD have created it." That is the righteousness for which we thirst. That is the blessedness of the righteousness of the purifying process.

To thirst after righteousness is to thirst after the Spirit’s melting effect. When we learn to understand the hardness of our hearts and our coldness by nature, we understand that we cannot come to the Lord of ourselves, but often we must cry unto the Lord from the ends of the earth. Then we thirst after the renewing of the blessed Spirit of Christ. We cry out for the visit of His love, and that He would come with the melting effect of the water of the Spirit to take away the hardness of our hearts.

A field that is dry and parched is full of clods of dirt, but floods of water do melt them. The clods of a dry and parched soul cannot be crushed, but when the pouring forth of the Spirit comes, the hard clods are dissolved. Only by the work of water can the clods be melted.

ISA 44:3 says, "For I will pour water upon him that is thirsty, and floods upon the dry ground [He doesn’t come with a sprinkle, shower, or dew; He comes with a flood.]: I will pour my spirit upon thy seed, and my blessing upon thine offspring." This is such a tremendous, refreshing effect. The thirsty soul is so satisfied by the melting away of the hardness and coldness of the heart. The floods of the Spirit melt the hardness.

Verse 4 says, "And they shall spring up as among the grass, as willows by the water courses." That is so blessed. This shows the two-fold righteousness. The soul hungers for justification before the bar of God’s justice, and it thirsts after righteousness too. We must distinguish between the two. We must understand what it is to thirst after those visits of Christ’s love, to hunger and thirst for the presence of the Lord.

Water quenches thirst. He will pour floods upon the dry ground, enough to melt the hardest heart. The Spirit of God comes as a flood upon our heart to melt that hard and stony heart. The Spirit will bring us into total submission and subjection to visits of His love.