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The Old Covenant was
given specifically to the nation of Israel
(Exod. 19; Lev. 26:46; Rom. 9:4). It was
made up of three parts: the Ten
Commandments, the ordinances, and the system
of worship, which included the priesthood,
the tabernacle, the offerings, and the
festivals (Exod. 20-40; Lev. 1-7; 23).
The Ten Commandments make up the core 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
in Exod. 20-24. These additional laws became
part of the covenant God made with Israel.
The covenant was then ratified with blood
(Exod. 24:6-8). Deut. contains additional
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 basic covenantal
agreement or relationship between Israel and
God.
The Mosaic Covenant was not
given as a means of salvation, but was given
to distinguish Israel from the surrounding
nations as God’s special kingdom of priests
and a holy nation (Exod. 19:1-7). The
covenant was structured after a Hittite,
suzerain-vassal covenant treaty from 1400 -
1300 B.C. and it was designed to bring
Israel closer to realizing the promises made
by God in the Abrahamic Covenant. The
suzerain-vassal covenant was a very common,
conditional covenant type used between
nations around Israel at the time of the
exodus. The Mosaic Covenant had very
specific, blessings and curses laid out for
Israel in Leviticus 26 and Deuteronomy 28-30.
The Ten Commandments
are called the ‘words’ of the covenant.
Exodus 34:27-28, “And the LORD said to
Moses, “Write these words, for in accordance
with these words I have made a covenant with
you and with Israel.” So he was there with
the LORD forty days and forty nights. He
neither ate bread nor drank water. And he
wrote on the tablets the words of the
covenant, the Ten Commandments.” (cf.
Exod. 20:1; 34:1, 4; Deut. 4:13; 9:9; 5:2-3;
1 Kings 8:9, 21; 2 Chron. 6:11).
One
of the most distinguishing features of the
Ten Commandments is that they are the only
laws ever specifically referred to as “the
covenant” (Exod. 34:28; Deut. 29:1; 2 Chron. 34:31).
That is why they were among the
items placed inside the Ark of the Covenant.
They were the foundational laws upon which
the rest of the 613 laws contained in the
covenant were based.
The Ten
Commandments are the framework or outline
for the rest of the 613 laws of the “Old”
Mosaic Covenant.
All the
laws of the Torah were given to set apart
the nation of Israel as distinct from all
the other nations (Exod. 19:5).
The
establishment and stipulations of the Mosaic
covenant are recorded in the first five
books of the Hebrew Bible and collectively
called the Torah or Pentateuch. This
covenant also referred to as the Law of
Moses, Mosaic Law, the 613 Mitzvot, or
simply the commandments.
When people discuss the “Law,” they are
often thinking primarily of the Decalogue
(the Ten Commandments). However, the Law
(the Mosaic Covenant) contained all 613
commandments. Many of which today are not
even possible to follow, due to the lack of
a Jewish Temple.
The Mosaic
Covenant was a conditional covenant:
The Mosaic Covenant was conditional upon
Israel’s faithful response to keep the
covenant. Exodus 19-24 are key chapters to
understanding both redemptive history and
the history of Israel as a nation. As a
conditional promise, the Mosaic Covenant was
dependent on the peoples’ response to the
law God gave through His servant Moses.
Unfortunately, Israel broke their
covenant with God many times until they
received the most severe curse given in the
covenant stipulations, captivity. After
their captivity was over in 586 B.C., Israel
was restored to their land of promise but
God brought the Old Covenant to an end when
Israel rejected Jesus as their messiah and
king. Jesus warned His disciples about the
nation’s coming destruction along with all
of its temple services (Jer. 12:14-17; 18; 22:5; 26:1-6;
Dan. 9:26-27; Matt. 23:37-39; 21:42-44; Luke 13:34-35;
1 Kings 9:7; 1 Pet. 2:9).
The New Covenant that Jesus
made for God’s people to live by is superior
to the Old Covenant in every way. Under the
Old Covenant, a Gentile had to keep the
Sabbath while they were in Jerusalem, but if they wanted to keep the
Passover and other Jewish feasts they had to
be circumcised and become a Jew (Ne. 13:15-21;
Exod. 12:43-49). The New Covenant
is more inclusive than the old, God does not
require anyone to become a Jew when they
join the Church (Acts 15: Gal. 3:28; Eph. 2:11-22).
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. It is better because it
provides the complete atonement for our sins
when we trust in Christ alone for our
salvation!
The New Covenant
is the fulfillment of the Old Covenant.
Jesus fulfilled the Old Covenant Law by
the offering of His perfect life, death and
resurrection for all those who believe in
him. Christ kept the Law perfectly (Gal. 4:4;
John 8:46; 1 Pet. 2:22). He
accomplished all that the Law and the
Prophets said that he would do in his first
coming (Luke 24:44-47; 18:31; John 17:4).
Christ has taken away our bondage to the Law
and given us freedom in place of slavery
(John 8:32; 36; Acts 15:10; Rom. 8:15;
Gal. 2:4; 3:25; 5:1). Christ did away with the
Old Covenant Law by fulfilling it and
removing the law’s condemnation for those
who believe in Him (Eph. 2:13-16; Matt. 5:17;
Rom. 8:1; 2 Cor. 3:6-11; Heb. 9:11-14; 10:1-10).
This is the reason for Jesus
keeping the dietary restrictions and Sabbath
days as well as the other Old Covenant
requirements that Christians are not
required to keep under the terms of the New
Covenant (Matt. 26:17-26). No one is
expected to keep the laws of the Mosaic
Covenant anymore, Jesus Christ fulfilled
them all for us (Matt. 11:28-30; 12:1-8;
Acts 15:1-28; Col. 2:13-17; Gal. 4:10-11;
Rom. 14:5-12; Eph. 2:11-18;
Heb. 3:7-4:13; 8:13-9:4; 10:23-25).
The New
Testament writers point out repeatedly that
the New Covenant has fulfilled 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 nation of Israel. The plan of redemption
that God promised through Israel was brought
about through Jesus Christ, Israel’s
promised Messiah (Deut. 4:25-31; Judg. 2:13-16;
1 Kings 8:33-34; Ps. 81:7-10; 89:29-37;
Isa. 1:16-20; Acts 2:36-39; Rom. 3:21-26).
All of the Old Testament promises
of God are fulfilled in him (2 Cor. 1:20),
and the Old Covenant blessings promised to
Israel find their ultimate fulfillment in
the New Covenant, body of Christ, the Church
(Deut. 7:6-8; 1 Pet. 2:9-10; cf. Acts 3:25-26; 13:32-39;
Rom. 15:8-9; Gal. 3:16-22; Heb. 7:6; 9:15; 11:13).
The
New Covenant is the promised everlasting
covenant that was established by Jesus
Christ himself (Isa. 42:6; 49:8; cf. Dan. 9:26-27;
Heb. 9:20; 10:22; 13:20; Luke 22:20),
that fulfills all of the preceding
biblical covenants; a covenant in which all
believers have the full forgiveness of sins
(Jer. 31:34; Heb. 8:12; 10:17), are sealed
and permanently indwelt by the Holy Spirit;
and are empowered by the Spirit to live
lives that are totally pleasing to God
(Ezek. 36:25-27; Eph. 1:13-14; 4:30; 1 Cor. 12:13;
2 Cor. 1:22; Jer. 31:31-33; Phil. 2:12-13).
The people of God are the
elect from all ages, consisting of believing
Jews and Gentiles that was first formed as
the body of Christ, the Church on the day of
Pentecost (Eph. 2:15; Acts 1:4-5; 2:1-10; 2:11-41;
cf. John 7:39; 17:21; Col. 1:26-27;
Heb. 11:39-40).
The Old and
New Covenants have similarities and
differences:
The Law of
Christ and the Law of Moses have similar
commandments, but just because nine of the
Ten Commandments can be found in the New
Testament, it does not mean that the Law of
Moses is still in effect. If a Christian
steals, they break the law of Christ, not
the Law of Moses. If we choose to keep part
of the Old Covenant law, such as the Sabbath
or the dietary restrictions, we are free to
do so, but keeping the Law of Moses out of
obligation is neither commanded or expected.
To keep part of the Mosaic Law out of the
belief that we are obligated to do so denies
the perfect and finished work of Jesus
Christ.
The Promised
New Covenant
(Deuteronomy 29-30;
Jeremiah 31:31-34; Ezekiel 36:26-30)
Jesus instituted the
New Covenant with His disciples the night
before he died (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; 8:8-10; 9:15;
Heb. 10:16; 12:24; 13:20) and brought
it into effect by His death and resurrection
three days later (Heb. 9:12-17; 1 Pet. 1:19;
1 Jn. 1:7; Heb. 8-10). Jesus made a complete
remission of sins for all those who believe
in Him. He paid the price for our redemption
with His own blood (1 Pet. 1:18-19) and
freed us from sin’s curse and the demands of
the Old Covenant Law to become the children
of God when we accept Jesus as our Lord and
Savior (Gal. 3:13; 4:5). The Old Covenant
sacrifices were unable to completely atone
for sin. The sacrifice Jesus made sets aside
all of the Old Covenant practices and
secures total forgiveness and sanctification
for all of God’s people (Heb. 10:1-18).
The law of Christ (the New
Covenant)
Christians are
under what the New Testament calls the law
of Christ, or the law of the Spirit of life.
It is the only binding law for the New
Covenant Church (Gal. 6:2; 1 Cor. 9:20-21;
Rom. 6:14; 8:1, 2, 10, 11). It is made up of
Christ’s law of love (John 13:34-35; Matt. 5:44;
Gal. 6:2; Rom. 13:8-10; James 2:8;
1 Jn. 4:7-8; 5:3), Christ’s commands and
teachings (John 13:34; Phil. 2:4-12; Matt. 28:20;
2 Pet. 3:2); and the commands and
teachings of the New Testament epistles
(Acts 1:1-2; 15:1-28; 2 Pet. 3:2; Rom. 8:1-4;
Eph. 2:20; Jude 1:17; 1 Jn. 5:3).
Jesus Christ is the greatest revelation
of God to the human race. He is the Word of
God incarnate (John 1:14), and the pinnacle
of divine revelation (Matt. 17:1-8; Heb. 1:1-3).
He said all of the scriptures
pointed forward to Him and the work He would
do for us. The Old Testament scriptures need
to be interpreted in light of the work that
He has accomplish for us (Matt. 5:17-18;
Luke 24:27, 44; John 1:1-3; 5:39, 46; 2 Tim. 3:16-17).
The law of Christ
is an entirely New Covenant.
“The law of Christ contains some new
commands (1 Tim. 4:4), some old ones (Rom. 13:9),
and some revised ones (Rom. 13:4,
with reference to capital punishment). All
the laws of the Mosaic code have been
abolished because the code has. Specific
Mosaic commands that are part of the
Christian code appear there not as a
continuation of part of the Mosaic Law, or
in order to be observed in some deeper
sense, but as specifically incorporated into
that code, and as such they are binding on
believers today. A particular law that was
part of the Mosaic code is done away; that
same law, if part of the law of Christ, is
binding. It is necessary to say both truths
in order not to have to resort to a
nonliteral interpretation of 2 Corinthians 3
or Hebrews 7 and in order not to have to
resort to some sort of theological
contortions to retain part of the Mosaic
Law.” [From: Basic Theology – The End of the
Law by Charles Ryrie]
God’s
revelation is progressive and Jesus Christ
is God’s greatest revelation to the human
race. Jesus said that all of the scriptures
referred to Him and because of that, we
should read them in the context of what He
has already accomplished for us (Deut. 18:15;
Matt. 5:17-18; Luke 24:27,44; John 1:1-3; 5:39, 46; 2 Tim. 3:16-17).
Paul clearly told his converts that
Christians are not under the laws of the
Mosaic Covenant. This is stated in various
ways and in no uncertain terms (see Rom. 6:14; 7:1-14;
Gal. 3:10-13; 3:24-25; Gal. 4:21; 5:1, 13;
2 Cor. 3:7-18). Paul said he
wasn’t under the Law of the Jews any longer
because he was under the law of Christ
(1 Cor. 9:19-23).
God’s laws change
depending on what covenant you live under.
If you want to know what laws a Christian is
supposed to keep you have to read the terms
for the New Covenant, not one of the
covenants that came before it.
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