|
A covenant is a
contractual agreement between two or more
parties. God has chosen to communicate with
us through His covenants to bring redemption
to the human race. Through the New Covenant,
God guarantees eternal life for all those
who put their trust in Jesus Christ alone
for their salvation. Acts 15 tells us about
the Jerusalem council’s decision on how Christians
should relate to the laws of the Mosaic
Covenant now that we live under the New
Covenant of Jesus Christ (Jer. 31:31-34;
Luke 22:20; 1 Cor. 11:25; 2 Cor. 3:6; Heb. 8:7-9:4; 9:15).
The Ten Commandments
formed the framework for the rest of the 613
laws of the Old Covenant (Exod. 34:28; Deut. 4:13). As part of the Old Covenant, the
people at Mount Sinai also agreed to obey
all the laws given in Exodus 20-23. These
additional laws became part of the covenant
God made with Israel. The covenant was then
ratified with the blood of an animal
sacrifice (Exod. 24:6-8). The books of
Leviticus and Numbers both have additional
laws governing Israel, and the book of
Deuteronomy contains even more laws and
regulations for Israel regarding how they
should conduct themselves in the Promised
Land, but those laws were still considered
part of the same covenantal agreement
between Israel and their God, Yahweh (Deut. 4:44-49; 5:1-5; 6:20-25).
The Mosaic Covenant was a conditional
covenant based on Israel’s response to God
and His law.
The Mosaic
Covenant was given to distinguish Israel
from the surrounding nations as God's
special kingdom of priests and a holy nation
(Exod. 19:1-7), and was designed to bring
Israel closer to realizing the promises made
by God in the Abrahamic Covenant. This type
of conditional covenant was commonly used
between nations around Israel at the time of
the exodus.
Exodus 19:5-6 says, “Now therefore, if you
will indeed obey my voice and keep my
covenant, you shall be my treasured
possession among all peoples, for all the
earth is mine; and you shall be to me a
kingdom of priests and a holy nation. These
are the words that you shall speak to the
people of Israel.”
Notice that God
told Moses that if Israel obeyed the
covenant they would be His chosen people,
and His treasured possession. The covenant
had blessings for obedience, and curses for
disobedience to be implemented depending on
Israel's faithful response to the covenant
spelled out for them in Leviticus 26 and
Deuteronomy 28-30. Israel’s failure to keep
the covenant would bring the curses of the
covenant upon them, and it could ultimately
bring the covenant to an end.
God had made provisions for the
Gentiles in the Mosaic Covenant.
God loved the Gentiles and provided for
them (Deut. 10:18), and instructed the
Israelites to love foreigners as themselves
(Lev. 19:33-34; Deut. 10:19), particularly
because they had been foreigners in Egypt.
This included providing for needy immigrants
(Lev. 23:22; Deut. 24:19-22) and not
mistreating or oppressing them (Exod. 23:9;
Deut. 24:14-18; 27:19), but treating them
equally under the laws of the land (Num. 15:15-16;
Lev. 24:22). Those who became
followers of Yahweh would become Israelites
in God's view and could participate in the
Passover and the other feasts of Israel
after the males were circumcised (Jer. 12:16; Exod. 12:43-49).
God always intended for Israel to be a
light to the Gentiles and to show them that
Yahweh, the covenant-keeping God of Israel
was the one true God, and that they could
have the same blessings Israel was promised
if they served Him (Isa. 2:2-3; 11:10; 14:1; 19:18-22;
Isa. 45:14; 55:5; 56:3-8; 60:1-12; Jer. 3:17; 16:19; 33:9;
Zech. 2:11; 8:20-23).
Israel failed in their
mission to reach the Gentiles with God’s
message of love and His superiority over all
the other gods until they reached the point
of no return. Israel repeatedly broke their
covenant with God until they received the
curse of captivity (Deut. 28:64-68).
Israel was restored to their homeland after
their Babylonian captivity in 586 B.C., but
once again broke the covenant and received
the final curse, they were destroyed as a
nation. God brought the Old Covenant to an
end when Israel rejected Jesus as their
Messiah and King (John 19:15).
Just
before his death, Jesus told his disciples
about the soon coming destruction of the
nation and its temple.
Matthew 21:42-44 says, “Jesus said to them,
“Have you never read in the Scriptures:
“‘The stone that the builders rejected has
become the cornerstone; this was the Lord’s
doing, and it is marvelous in our eyes’?
Therefore I tell you, the kingdom of God
will be taken away from you and given to a
people producing its fruits. And the one who
falls on this stone will be broken to
pieces; and when it falls on anyone, it will
crush him.”
And Matthew 23:37-39 says, “O Jerusalem,
Jerusalem, the city that kills the prophets
and stones those who are sent to it! How
often would I have gathered your children
together as a hen gathers her brood under
her wings, and you were not willing! See,
your house is left to you desolate. For I
tell you, you will not see me again, until
you say, ‘Blessed is he who comes in the
name of the Lord.’” (c.f. Jer. 12:14-17; 18; 22:5; 26:1-6; Dan. 9:26-27; 1 Kings 9:7;
Luke 13:34-35; 1 Pet. 2:9).
God made a New Covenant for His people to
live by:
Jesus instituted the
New Covenant with His disciples the night
before he died, and brought it into effect
by His death on the cross (Jer. 31:31;
Matt. 26:28; Mark 14:24; Luke 22:20; Rom. 11:27;
1 Cor. 11:25; 2 Cor. 3:6-11; Heb. 7:22; 8-10; 12:24; 13:20; 1 Pet. 1:19; 1 Jn. 1:7).
The Mosaic
Covenant had served as a dividing wall that
was meant to separate Israel from the
unbelieving Gentiles (Eph. 2:11-18; John 4:22; 7:35;
Acts 14:1, 5; 18:4; Rom. 3:9; 3:29; 9:4, 5, 24; 1 Cor. 1:22-24). Christ
brought the Old Covenant to a complete end
by doing away with the dividing wall that
separated Israel from the other nations.
Ephesians 2:11-18 says, “Therefore,
remember that formerly you who are Gentiles
by birth and called “uncircumcised” by those
who call themselves “the circumcision” (that
done in the body by the hands of men)—
remember that at that time you were separate
from Christ, excluded from citizenship in
Israel and foreigners to the covenants of
the promise, without hope and without God in
the world. But now in Christ Jesus you who
once were far away have been brought near
through the blood of Christ. For he himself
is our peace, who has made the two one and
has destroyed the barrier, the dividing wall
of hostility, by abolishing in his flesh the
law with its commandments and regulations.
His purpose was to create in himself one new
man out of the two, thus making peace, and
in this one body to reconcile both of them
to God through the cross, by which he put to
death their hostility. He came and preached
peace to you who were far away and peace to
those who were near. For through him we both
have access to the Father by one Spirit.”
(NIV)
Christ abolished the dividing
wall by fulfilling it and removing the law’s
condemnation for those who believe (Matt. 5:17; Rom. 8:1; Heb. 9:11-14; 10:1-10).
When we are in Christ, we become a new
person, part of a new human race made in the
image of Christ, the second Adam (1 Cor. 15:45, 49; Eph. 4:24). All of the divine
promises from the previous covenants find
their fulfillment in Christ through the New
Covenant (2 Cor. 1:20; Heb. 7:20-22; 8:6; 9:15).
The New Testament points out
repeatedly that the New Covenant is the
fulfillment of the Old Covenant. By this
they mean that God brought to completion the
plan of salvation He had been working out
for the human race through the history of
Israel. All of the Old Testament prophecies
and promises about the coming messiah and
the salvation He would accomplish for us
were fulfilled in the life, death, and
resurrection of the Lord, Jesus Christ (Deut. 4:25-31; Judges 2:13-16; 1 Kings 8:33-34;
Ps. 81:7-10; 89:29-37; Isa. 1:16-20; Matt. 5:17-18;
John 1:45; Acts 2:36-39; Rom. 3:21-26; 2 Cor. 1:20;
Eph. 1:9-10; 3:3-9; 5:32; Heb. 1:1-3).
The Old Covenant that God made with
Israel was very different from the New
Covenant made with Christ’s Church.
The book of Hebrews says that the New
Covenant is a better covenant. It has a
better priesthood, a better sacrifice, and a
better rest (Heb. 7:20-28; 9:23; 4:1-11).
It is a better covenant in every way.
Hebrews 8:7-13
says, “For if that first covenant had been
faultless, there would have been no occasion
to look for a second. For he finds fault
with them when he says: “Behold, the days
are coming, declares the Lord, when I will
establish a new covenant with the house of
Israel and with the house of Judah, not like
the covenant that I made with their fathers
on the day when I took them by the hand to
bring them out of the land of Egypt. For
they did not continue in my covenant, and so
I showed no concern for them, declares the
Lord. For this is the covenant that I will
make with the house of Israel after those
days, declares the Lord: I will put my laws
into their minds, and write them on their
hearts, and I will be their God, and they
shall be my people. And they shall not
teach, each one his neighbor and each one
his brother, saying, ‘Know the Lord,’ for
they shall all know me, from the least of
them to the greatest. For I will be merciful
toward their iniquities, and I will remember
their sins no more.” In speaking of a new
covenant, he makes the first one obsolete.
And what is becoming obsolete and growing
old is ready to vanish away.”
There was a controversy in the early
church over whether or not the Gentile
converts had to keep the laws of the Mosaic
Covenant so a council was convened in
Jerusalem to decide the matter in A.D.
49/50.
Acts 15:1-5 says,
“But some men came down from Judea and were
teaching the brothers, “Unless you are
circumcised according to the custom of
Moses, you cannot be saved.” And after Paul
and Barnabas had no small dissension and
debate with them, Paul and Barnabas and some
of the others were appointed to go up to
Jerusalem to the apostles and the elders
about this question. So, being sent on their
way by the church, they passed through both
Phoenicia and Samaria, describing in detail
the conversion of the Gentiles, and brought
great joy to all the brothers. When they
came to Jerusalem, they were welcomed by the
church and the apostles and the elders, and
they declared all that God had done with
them. But some believers who belonged to the
party of the Pharisees rose up and said, “It
is necessary to circumcise them and to order
them to keep the law of Moses.”
The
issue at the Jerusalem Council was whether
or not the Gentiles needed to become Jews
and follow all of the Old Covenant laws in
order to join the Church. Under the terms of
the Old Covenant, a male Gentile had to be
circumcised and become a Jew to be a part of
the covenant community. Circumcision was one
of the signs of the covenant that God
established to show that a man was a
follower of the God of Abraham and Israel (Gen. 17:9-14; Exod. 12:43-49; Lev. 12:1-3).
The Pharisees were thinking in terms of the
Old Covenant requirements to join the
community. But when Christ gave us His New
Covenant to keep, He replaced the Old
Covenant laws and regulations with the New
Covenant, law of Christ (Mark 12:28-31;
Gal. 6:2; 1 Cor. 9:19-23).
The Apostles taught that trying to keep the
law of Moses was too hard for anyone to
bear.
Acts 15:6-11 says,
“The apostles and the elders were gathered
together to consider this matter. And after
there had been much debate, Peter stood up
and said to them, “Brothers, you know that
in the early days God made a choice among
you, that by my mouth the Gentiles should
hear the word of the gospel and believe. And
God, who knows the heart, bore witness to
them, by giving them the Holy Spirit just as
he did to us, and he made no distinction
between us and them, having cleansed their
hearts by faith. Now, therefore, why are you
putting God to the test by placing a yoke on
the neck of the disciples that neither our
fathers nor we have been able to bear? But
we believe that we will be saved through the
grace of the Lord Jesus, just as they will.”
The Jerusalem Council’s
decision.
Acts 15:28-29
says, “For it has seemed good to the Holy
Spirit and to us to lay on you no greater
burden than these requirements: that you
abstain from what has been sacrificed to
idols, and from blood, and from what has
been strangled, and from sexual immorality.
If you keep yourselves from these, you will
do well. Farewell.”
Notice that it was the Holy Spirit that
made these requirements, and the Apostles
were careful to say that “no greater burden”
was to be laid upon the Gentiles than these
four requirements. The Church leaders made
it clear to all the churches that they would
never place the burden of keeping the Mosaic
Law upon the new converts.
Those were
the only restrictions placed upon the new
converts. Nothing is said about keeping the
Sabbath, or the dietary restrictions from
the Law of Moses. It is also important to
note that the controversy in Acts 15 seems
to be concerned with Jews and Gentiles
coming together to have fellowship and eat
meals together.
These questions continued to
be debated in Paul’s churches. Were the new
Gentile converts expected to keep the Law of
Moses? Are the unclean meats from Leviticus 11
still forbidden today? Did the new
converts have to keep the Sabbath and the
other Holy days of the Mosaic Covenant?
Paul dealt with these issues in
the books of Colossians, Galatians, and
Romans.
Colossians 2:13-17 says, “When you were
dead in your sins and in the uncircumcision
of your sinful nature, God made you alive
with Christ. He forgave us all our sins,
having canceled the written code, with its
regulations, that was against us and that
stood opposed to us; he took it away,
nailing it to the cross. And having disarmed
the powers and authorities, he made a public
spectacle of them, triumphing over them by
the cross. Therefore do not let anyone judge
you by what you eat or drink, or with regard
to a religious festival, a New Moon
celebration or a Sabbath day. These are a
shadow of the things that were to come; the
reality, however, is found in Christ.” (NIV)
And Galatians 4:10-11 says, “You
observe days and months and seasons and
years! I am afraid I may have labored over
you in vain.”
From these two
passages, it is obvious that new converts
were being pressured to observe Jewish
dietary laws and holy days from the Mosaic
Covenant. Paul taught that Christ’s
followers have been freed from practicing
the customs that Israel was required to keep
under the Old Covenant Law.
The
phrase, “a festival or a new moon or a
Sabbath day” from Colossians 2, and the
phrase, “days and months and seasons and
years” from Galatians 4, both refer to the
annual, monthly, and weekly cycle of holy
days from the Jewish calendar. The Old
Testament prophets used the same way of
illustrating the yearly cycle of worship
required under the Mosaic Covenant that Paul
was using in Colossians 2 and Galatians 4
(see: 1 Chron. 23:31; 2 Chron. 2:4; 8:13; 31:3;
Ne. 10:33; Isa. 1:13-14; Ezek. 45:17; 46:1-11; Hosea 2:11).
The weekly
seventh day Sabbath is clearly meant in both
passages. In Colossians 2:16, Paul had
already mentioned the ceremonial festivals
and new moon celebrations and would have no
reason to repeat himself. And in Galatians 4,
Paul had to rebuke the Galatians for
thinking God expected them to observe
special holy days, including the ‘weekly’
seventh day Sabbath, as if they were
required by God and necessary for salvation
under the New Covenant. Any insistence on
the observance of the Old Covenant
ceremonies is a failure to recognize that
their fulfillment has already taken place.
The yearly cycle of Jewish Holy days pointed
forward to the work of the messiah and would
come to their end when the messiah came.
When someone tells you to keep
the Old Covenant law they are teaching you
the false gospel of works-righteousness.
Acts 15:10 says, “Now, therefore, why
are you putting God to the test by placing a
yoke on the neck of the disciples that
neither our fathers nor we have been able to
bear?” And Galatians 5:1-4 says, “For
freedom Christ has set us free; stand firm
therefore, and do not submit again to a yoke
of slavery. Look: I, Paul, say to you that
if you accept circumcision, Christ will be
of no advantage to you. I testify again to
every man who accepts circumcision that he
is obligated to keep the whole law. You are
severed from Christ, you who would be
justified by the law; you have fallen away
from grace.”
A yoke was used on domesticated animals
to control their movements. The New
Testament tells us that trying to keep the
Old Covenant law was like wearing a yoke too
hard for anyone to bear. Christ has set us
free from our bondage to the Law to be
justified by grace. Anyone who tells you
that Christians have to keep the Old
Covenant ceremonies are teaching the same
false gospel of legalism that Paul dealt
with in the book of Galatians (Gal. 1:6-9; 3:1-14; 5:1-15).
The New
Covenant gives us guidelines on how to
relate to one another.
Paul’s churches had both Jewish and Gentile
believers and the Jews found it difficult to
come together with the Gentiles when it came
time for fellowship and to share meals
together. Many of the Jewish Christians
still held to the laws regarding “clean and
unclean” foods, but the Gentiles believed
they were not bound by those regulations.
For the Gentile converts, the issue was
whether or not they could eat meat that was
sacrificed in pagan temples and then sold in
the open marketplace that the Jews had no
problem with. The Jews held certain days
with special regard, but the Gentiles
believed they did not have to observe those
days. The weaker Gentiles wanted to separate
themselves from the special days of
festivities associated with their former
paganism because of the idolatry and
immorality associated with them (1 Cor. 8; 10).
These issues were a
very real problem in the context of their
continuing social relationships.
Paul gave us guidelines in Romans 12-13
on the appropriate conduct for Christians
living together with other Christians, and
with non-believers. Christ wants us to be more
concerned with the needs of our fellow
believers than with ourselves (Rom. 12:3, 10), and we are told to treat those who are
still in the world with goodness and respect
(Rom. 12:14, 21). As a follower of Jesus
Christ, we are to be guided by the principle
of love that Christ gave us. Romans 13:10
says, “Love does no harm to the neighbor.
Therefore love is the fulfillment of the
law.”
In Romans 14, Paul was
discussing our Christian liberty on
debatable issues. Having harmonious
relationships are important. Believers
should live their lives without judging
others (Rom. 14:1-12), and without trying
to influence others to violate their
consciences (Rom. 14:13-23). Not only
should the mature believer not hinder the
weak believer with their freedom, but the
weak believer must avoid judging those
who have discovered their Christian freedom.
Mutual love and respect are the marks of a
true disciple of Jesus Christ.
Romans 14:1-5 says, “As for the one who is weak in
faith, welcome him, but not to quarrel over
opinions. One person believes he may eat
anything, while the weak person eats only
vegetables. Let not the one who eats despise
the one who abstains, and let not the one
who abstains pass judgment on the one who
eats, for God has welcomed him. Who are you
to pass judgment on the servant of another?
It is before his own master that he stands
or falls. And he will be upheld, for the
Lord is able to make him stand. One person
esteems one day as better than another,
while another esteems all days alike. Each
one should be fully convinced in his own
mind.”
The importance of personal
conviction in disputable matters of conduct
runs through the book of Romans (see Rom. 14:14, 16, 22, 23). Paul was not saying it
is wrong to have strong convictions, but
that all people have a right to their own
personal beliefs on disputable matters. This
principle is basic in dealing with these
controversial issues. Romans 14:12-13 says,
“So then each of us will give an account of
himself to God. Therefore let us not pass
judgment on one another any longer, but
rather decide never to put a stumbling block
or hindrance in the way of a brother.”
The New Covenant does not require us to
keep any day of the week holy.
Christians
are free to worship together on whatever day
they choose. The day you go to church is a
matter of personal conviction. Whether you
set apart the seventh day of the week, the
first day of the week, or any other day of
the week for corporate worship, each person
needs to be fully convinced in his own mind.
The restriction in Acts 15 to
refrain from meats sacrificed to idols was
only seen as a temporary restriction. Paul states
clearly that an idol was nothing in the
world (1 Corinthians 8:1-13).
During the early years of the Christian
Church, Jews and Gentiles came together to
have fellowship and eat meals together. Over
time, the Gentiles became the larger group
and those issues became far less important
as fewer and fewer Jews were present. The
New Covenant deals with the issues of holy
days and dietary restrictions in Romans 14;
1 Corinthians 8-10; Galatians 1-6; Ephesians 2; Colossians 2, and Acts 15.
People can be offended over just
about anything these days.
How can we know if what we eat, drink, wear,
or an activity we take part in,
unnecessarily offends someone as
inappropriate, or if it is really something
that can cause a fellow believer to stumble
and fall in their walk with Christ?
Romans 14:13-17 says, “Therefore let us not
pass judgment on one another any longer, but
rather decide never to put a stumbling block
or hindrance in the way of a brother. I know
and am persuaded in the Lord Jesus that
nothing is unclean in itself, but it is
unclean for anyone who thinks it unclean.
For if your brother is grieved by what you
eat, you are no longer walking in love. By
what you eat, do not destroy the one for
whom Christ died. So do not let what you
regard as good be spoken of as evil. For the
kingdom of God is not a matter of eating and
drinking but of righteousness and peace and
joy in the Holy Spirit.”
And 1 Corinthians 10:31-33 says, “So, whether you
eat or drink, or whatever you do, do all to
the glory of God. Give no offense to Jews or
to Greeks or to the church of God, just as I
try to please everyone in everything I do,
not seeking my own advantage, but that of
many, that they may be saved.”
Paul’s
point is, when we come together as a church
for fellowship and the Lord’s supper, we
have to be sincerely concerned that we do
not do something that could cause another
person to seriously stumble by what we eat
or drink.
Each covenant is like a new
legal contract. A contract must have all of
its legal requirements clearly laid out in
that contract. Each of the covenants in the
Bible can use elements of previous
covenants, reapply them, omit them
completely and give new laws altogether.
The New Covenant has its own
laws that govern it. The law of Christ is
not the same law that the Jews kept under
the Old Covenant.
Paul says
in Galatians 6:2 that we are to, “Bear one
another’s burdens, and so fulfill the law of
Christ.” And Mark 12:28-31 says, “And one of
the scribes came up and heard them disputing
with one another, and seeing that he
answered them well, asked him, “Which
commandment is the most important of all?”
Jesus answered, “The most important is,
‘Hear, O Israel: The Lord our God, the Lord
is one. And you shall love the Lord your God
with all your heart and with all your soul
and with all your mind and with all your
strength.’ The second is this: ‘You shall
love your neighbor as yourself.’ There is no
other commandment greater than these.”
The
law of Christ, then, is to love God with all
of our heart and to love our neighbors as we
love ourselves (see: 1 Jn. 4:7-8; 5:3).
In 1 Corinthians 9:19-23, Paul said he
wasn’t under the Old Covenant law of the
Jews any longer because he was under the law
of Christ. The law of Christ is also called
the royal law of liberty in the book of
James, and the law of the Spirit of life in
the book of Romans (James 2:8-12; Rom. 8:1-8).
The law of Christ is made up
of Christ’s commands and teaching, and the
commands and teachings of the Apostles
taught in the New Testament epistles (Gal. 6:2;
1 Cor. 9:20-21; Rom. 6:14; 13:8-10; Matt. 5:44; 28:20;
John 13:34; Phil. 2:4-12; 2 Pet. 3:2; Acts 1:1-2;
Eph. 2:20; Jude 1:17; 1 Jn. 5:3).
The Old Covenant
Law was a strict taskmaster.
Both Peter and Paul called the Old
Covenant Law a yoke of slavery too hard to
keep (Acts 15:10; Gal. 5:1-4). The Law was
perfect but man is not! We have all sinned
and fallen short of God’s holy and perfect
standards (Rom. 3:23), and because of that
we are by nature, slaves to sin. The Law
could only pronounce judgment on our sin
nature, but it was powerless to do anything
about our problem with sin itself. The Law
has no power to put sin to death in our
lives.
Jesus Christ solved
mankind’s problem with sin forever by
entering into the New Covenant with those
who believe in Him by faith.
The Old Covenant was a system of laws
that governed every aspect of Hebrew life.
The law was a list of dos and don’ts that
Israel was unable to keep. The New Covenant
is superior to the Old Covenant in every way
because now we have a choice. Christ died
for our sins so we could have the choice to
live a life that is controlled by His Spirit,
or continue to live with our sinful desires
(Rom. 8:1-17). We can be at peace with
God, or at war with Him. We can live our
lives in the power of His Spirit, or we can
live our lives controlled by the sinful nature.
When we set our minds
on what the Spirit desires, He begins to
take control of our thoughts and desires (Rom. 8:5, 9).
We have to put to death the old way of
living on a daily basis and choose to be led
by the Spirit (Rom. 8:13, 18). When we
live by His Spirit, we are making the choice
to live by the highest moral standards. The
law requires holiness, but is powerless to
make us holy because of our sinful nature.
Christ’s death and resurrection has given us
freedom from sin and the Holy Spirit has
empowered us to fulfill the righteous
requirements of the law (Rom. 8:4).
The death of Jesus Christ
changed everything!
Christ
is the one who provides deliverance from the
power of sin, and the Holy Spirit living
inside of us is the one who empowers us to
experience daily conformity to the image of
Christ (Rom. 8:28-29).
The Jews living under the
New Covenant had to come to understand that
the Mosaic Covenant was no longer binding on
anyone. We have been freed from our bondage
to the Old Covenant law of sin and death by
the law of Christ. At the same time,
Christians shouldn’t let their freedom cause
another person to stumble and fall. Love,
not law-keeping, should be the focus of our
lives because, “Love is the fulfillment of
the law” (Rom. 13:8-13).
|
