The New Covenant..

Part 1 of 10

A good friend of mine, Mark Shubert, is a missionary to Brazil. He does a lot of different things there, but one of his primary purposes is to travel the country and teach the good news of Jesus, making disciples, and raising up churches and Bible schools. I admire him greatly.

One of the things he constantly comes across is the issue of legalism. For whatever reason, a lot of the people there strive to maintain Old (Mosaic) Covenant principles. Things such as Sabbath day, feast days, Israel, etc. are all regarded in Old Covenant light, rather than new. Talking with him made me think.. Does America have this same misunderstanding? Are we trapped in an Old Covenant mindset? To a degree, I believe we are. Our thinking, often times, is influenced by an old wineskin - and if the old wineskin is good enough, why allow a new one to emerge?

What is the New Covenant?

"Behold, the days come, saith the LORD, that I will make a new covenant with the house of Israel, and with the house of Judah: Not according to the covenant that I made with their fathers in the day that I took them by the hand to bring them out of the land of Egypt; which my covenant they brake, although I was an husband unto them, saith the LORD: But this shall be the covenant that I will make with the house of Israel; After those days, saith the LORD, I will put my law in their inward parts, and write it in their hearts; and will be their God, and they shall be my people. And they shall teach no more every man his neighbour, and every man his brother, saying, Know the LORD: for they shall all know me, from the least of them unto the greatest of them, saith the LORD: for I will forgive their iniquity, and I will remember their sin no more" (Jer 31:31-34).

Jeremiah prophesied of a coming covenant - one which would be written in our hearts. This will be an entirely new covenant, far different than any other.

"And as they were eating, Jesus took bread, and blessed it, and brake it, and gave it to the disciples, and said, Take, eat; this is my body. And he took the cup, and gave thanks, and gave it to them, saying, Drink ye all of it; For this is my blood of the new testament, which is shed for many for the remission of sins. But I say unto you, I will not drink henceforth of this fruit of the vine, until that day when I drink it new with you in my Father's kingdom. And when they had sung an hymn, they went out into the mount of Olives" (Matt 26:26-30).

Jesus Himself was born under the law of the Old Covenant and fulfilled in Himself all the details pertaining to it, in both letter and Spirit. He came under the law so that He could rightly redeem all those who were trapped (Gal 4:4-5). How would He redeem them? By the power of His coming New Covenant! He took bread (symbolic of His broken body), and wine (symbolic of His shed blood), and said "This is the New Covenant in My blood"! Jesus instituted His new and better covenant even in the midst of betrayal!

"For I have received of the Lord that which also I delivered unto you, That the Lord Jesus the same night in which he was betrayed took bread: 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. After the same manner also he took the cup, when he had supped, saying, This cup is the new testament in my blood: this do ye, as oft as ye drink it, in remembrance of me. For as often as ye eat this bread, and drink this cup, ye do shew the Lord's death till he come. Wherefore whosoever shall eat this bread, and drink this cup of the Lord, unworthily, shall be guilty of the body and blood of the Lord" (1 Cor 11:23-27).

Paul received this covenantal revelation from Jesus Himself. His eyes were opened to the meaning and power behind the "table of the Lord". How wonderful that a man who was legalistically raised under the Old Covenant would now be the chosen vessel to reveal the meaning behind the New Covenant of grace!

"But now hath he obtained a more excellent ministry, by how much also he is the mediator of a better covenant, which was established upon better promises. For if that first covenant had been faultless, then should no place have been sought for the second. For finding fault with them, he saith, Behold, the days come, saith the Lord, when I will make a new covenant with the house of Israel and with the house of Judah: Not according to the covenant that I made with their fathers in the day when I took them by the hand to lead them out of the land of Egypt; because they continued not in my covenant, and I regarded them not, saith the Lord. For this is the covenant that I will make with the house of Israel after those days, saith the Lord; I will put my laws into their mind, and write them in their hearts: and I will be to them a God, and they shall be to me a people: And they shall not teach every man his neighbour, and every man his brother, saying, Know the Lord: for all shall know me, from the least to the greatest. For I will be merciful to their unrighteousness, and their sins and their iniquities will I remember no more. In that he saith, A new covenant, he hath made the first old. Now that which decayeth and waxeth old is ready to vanish away" (Heb 8:6-13).

"Whereof the Holy Ghost also is a witness to us: for after that he had said before, This is the covenant that I will make with them after those days, saith the Lord, I will put my laws into their hearts, and in their minds will I write them; And their sins and iniquities will I remember no more" (Heb 10:15-17).

At the time of the Hebrew epistle, the believers there (Christian Jews) were in a transitional period from the Old Mosaic Covenant into the New. As Jews, they were under great pressure to return to the types and shadows of the Mosaic Covenant, and forsake the true substance of the New. The writer to the Hebrews instructed them that the New Covenant, and all that pertains to it, far out-shined the Old Covenant.

The Old Mosaic Covenant has passed away. It's been dis-annulled (Heb 7:18-19). It is ready to vanish away (Heb 8:13). God has taken away the first covenant, that He may establish the second (Heb 10:9).

Therefore, the Bible is clear.. The Christian church is under the New Covenant, and all that pertains to it. Jeremiah prophesied it, Jesus instituted it, Paul confirmed it, and the writer to the Hebrews interpreted it.

What the New Covenant is NOT:

For some reason, the body of Christ seems to like extremes. We're either legalistically bound by Moses' law, or we practice "greasy grace" and live like hell! It's pretty rare that we find a group of believers who are suitably balanced (Prov 11:1). This is because Christians often don't habitually study their Bibles. If we read the Bible and see that it tells us we're not "under law" (Rom 3:19; 6:14), we automatically assume that's a licence to sin - a free pass to live in lasciviousness. But that is not so. Paul makes it very clear that grace is not a permit to sin: "What then? shall we sin, because we are not under the law, but under grace? God forbid" (Rom 6:15). Shall we abuse our high and holy calling because we are not under that old law which makes no provision for pardon, but are now under that Gospel which has opened the fountain to wash away all sin and defilement? Shall we sin because grace abounds? Shall we do evil that good may come of it? This be far from us! On the contrary, such loving grace is to teach us to deny ungodliness and worldly lusts (2 Tim 2:11-12).

Interestingly, all of Moses' commandments (with the exception of number 4 - honor the Sabbath day) are repeated in the New Testament:

- No other gods before Him: Mark 12:29-30; 1 Corinthians 8:4-6
- No graven images: 1 Corinthians 10:14; 1 John 5:20-21
- No taking God's name in vain: Romans 2:24; 2 Timothy 2:19
- Remember the Sabbath - never repeated
- Honor one's father and mother: Luke 18:20; Ephesians 6:1-4
- Do not murder: Matthew 5:21; Romans 13:9; 1 John 3:15
- Do not commit adultery: Matthew 5:28-32; Romans 13:9
- Do not steal: Ephesians 4:28; Romans 13:9
- Do not lie: Matthew 15:18-20; Romans 13:9
- Do not covet: Romans 7:7-8; Luke 12:15; Colossians 3:5

Therefore, just because we see the commandments as a part of the "Old" Covenant economy, that doesn't necessarily mean the truth that they represented is old and dead, and doesn't still apply to us. Many will say that the law was "nailed to the cross" and abolished (Col 2:14), and is now waxed old and decayed (Heb 8:13). However, those "laws" that were nailed to the cross were not the moral laws, they were the ceremonial laws. The epistle to the Hebrews makes this clear (Heb 9:9-10, 23; 10:1-10). The ceremonial laws were those things pertaining to the priesthood, sacrifices, offerings, etc. The major purpose of the ceremonial law was to shadow forth the coming revelation of grace. Therefore, when the New Covenant emerged, the old ceremonial laws (shadows of things to come) became obsolete, and thus were "nailed" to the cross of Christ with Him. The birth of the New Covenant was "the time of reformation" spoken of in the Hebrew epistle (9:10).

As far as the moral law is concerned, this was not nailed to the cross. Why would Paul and others teach Christians to be morally pure if the moral law was extinct at the emergence of the New Covenant? He would not.. The moral law has simply been elevated to a higher plane. When Paul taught that the tables of stone (moral law) were a ministration of death, he was simply contrasting the superior power of God's New Covenant law now written upon our hearts, at New Testament Pentecost. He was only comparing and contrasting Old Covenant Pentecost with New Covenant Pentecost. New Covenant Pentecost had a superior mediator (Jesus Himself, as opposed to Moses), pertained to a superior covenant, was a ministration of life (as opposed to death), was written by the Spirit of God upon the fleshy tables of man's heart (as opposed to tables of stone), and provided a way towards real and lasting righteousness and glory! The old, by comparison, was nothing but a passing, veiled, ministration of death!

Under the New Covenant, we obey Jesus because we're in love with Him, His law is written upon our hearts - we follow a higher moral law, law on a superior plane, a love-law. This is why Scripture tells us if we follow after love, the law is fulfilled: "Owe no man any thing, but to love one another: for he that loveth another hath fulfilled the law. For this, Thou shalt not commit adultery, Thou shalt not kill, Thou shalt not steal, Thou shalt not bear false witness, Thou shalt not covet; and if there be any other commandment, it is briefly comprehended in this saying, namely, Thou shalt love thy neighbour as thyself. Love worketh no ill to his neighbour: therefore love is the fulfilling of the law" (Rom 13:8-10).

Love is the glory of the New Covenant law. For the believer, the law is no longer an external ordinance telling us what to do, but without the power to do it, and condemning us for not doing it well. Rather, the law of love is now internal, written on our hearts and minds, written by the Spirit of God, who enables us by His grace to fulfill it. Therefore, love is the fulfilling of the law. Hallelujah! Aren't you grateful?

So just what was nailed to the cross?

To be continued...