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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 Holy Spirit’s determination on how
Christians should view the relevance of the
Mosaic Covenant now that Christians 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 form 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 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 Yahweh, their God
(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). The
covenant was structured after a Hittite,
Suzerain-vassal covenant treaty from 1400 to
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.
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; 6 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
(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 and God brought the Old Covenant to
an end when Israel rejected Jesus as their
Messiah (John 19:15). Just before his death,
Jesus warned His disciples about the destruction
that was soon to come
on the nation along with all of its temple
services.
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’? 43 Therefore I
tell you, the kingdom of God will be taken
away from you and given to a people
producing its fruits. 44 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! 38 See, your house is left to you
desolate. 39 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).
The
New Covenant:
Jesus
instituted the New Covenant with His
disciples the night before he died, and
brought it into effect by His death on
Calvary’s cross the next day (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, or partition that was meant to
separate Israel from the unbelieving
Gentiles (Eph. 2:11-15; 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 2:14-18 says,
“For he himself is our peace,
who has made the two one and has destroyed
the barrier, the dividing wall of hostility,
15 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, 16 and in
this one body to reconcile both of them to
God through the cross, by which he put to
death their hostility. 17 He came and
preached peace to you who were far away and
peace to those who were near. 18 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 that Jesus made
with His church (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.
8 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, 9 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. 10 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.
11 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. 12
For I will be merciful toward their
iniquities, and I will remember their sins
no more.” 13 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.” 2 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. 3 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. 4
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. 5 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 ceremonial 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; 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, 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 a person to bear.
Acts 15:6-11 says, “The apostles and the
elders were gathered together to consider
this matter. 7 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. 8 And God, who knows
the heart, bore witness to them, by giving
them the Holy Spirit just as he did to us, 9
and he made no distinction between us and
them, having cleansed their hearts by faith.
10 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? 11 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: 29 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
new converts 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. The four requirements were: 1)
that you abstain from what has been
sacrificed to idols; 2) from blood, 3) from
what has been strangled, and 4) from sexual
immorality. 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 for
fellowship and meals.
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, 14
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. 15 And having
disarmed the powers and authorities, he made
a public spectacle of them, triumphing over
them by the cross. 16 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. 17
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! 11 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; 31:3; Ezek. 45:17; 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 only end when the
messiah came.
False teachers
in Galatia were teaching the heresy of works-righteousness.
Galatians 1:6-9 says,
“I am astonished that you are so quickly
deserting him who called you in the grace of
Christ and are turning to a different
gospel— 7 not that there is another one, but
there are some who trouble you and want to
distort the gospel of Christ. 8 But even if
we or an angel from heaven should preach to
you a gospel contrary to the one we preached
to you, let him be accursed. 9 As we have
said before, so now I say again: If anyone
is preaching to you a gospel contrary to the
one you received, let him be accursed.”
When someone tells you to keep the
Old Covenant law they are teaching you a
false gospel.
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. 2
Look: I, Paul, say to you that if you accept
circumcision, Christ will be of no advantage
to you. 3 I testify again to every man who
accepts circumcision that he is obligated to
keep the whole law. 4 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 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. Many of the Jews still held to
the Holy days
from the Mosaic Covenant but the Gentiles
believed they did not have to observe those
days, and the weaker Gentile Christians 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
non-believers. Christ wants us to be more
concerned with fellow believers than with
ourselves (Rom. 12:3, 10), and we are told
to treat those who are in the world with
goodness and respect (Rom. 12:14, 21). As
a follower of 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 restricting those
who have discovered their Christian freedom.
Mutual love and respect are the marks of a
true disciple of Christ.
Romans 14:1-5 says,
“As for the one who is weak in faith,
welcome him, but not to quarrel over
opinions. 2 One person believes he may eat
anything, while the weak person eats only
vegetables. 3 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. 4
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. 5
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 whole 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. 13
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 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 these 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 Christian 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.
14 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. 15
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. 16 So do not let what you
regard as good be spoken of as evil. 17 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. 32 Give no offense to
Jews or to Greeks or to the church of God,
33 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 share meals together, 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 spelled 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 law of the Jews
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.” What is the law of Christ?
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?” 29 Jesus answered,
“The most important is, ‘Hear, O Israel: The
Lord our God, the Lord is one. 30 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.’ 31
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 because he was under the law of Christ.
The law of Christ contains some new
commands, some old commands, and some
revised commands (1 Tim. 4:4; Rom. 13:4, 9). The law of Christ is
made up of Christ’s law of love; which is
also called the royal law of liberty in the
book of James; the law of the Spirit of
life; Christ’s commands and teaching; and
the commands and teachings of the Apostles
found in the writings of the New Testament
epistles (Gal. 6:2; 1 Cor. 9:20-21; James 2:8-12; Rom. 6:14; 8:1-17; 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.
Galatians 3:23-25 says, “Now before faith came, we
were held captive under the law, imprisoned
until the coming faith would be revealed. 24
So then, the law was our guardian until
Christ came, in order that we might be
justified by faith. 25 But now that faith
has come, we are no longer under a
guardian,”
When we are in
Christ, we are set free from the sentence of
death that the Old Covenant law commands,
and empowered by God Himself to live our
lives for Christ in the power of His Spirit.
Romans 12:2 says, “Do not conform any
longer to the pattern of this world, but be
transformed by the renewing of your mind.
Then you will be able to test and approve
what God’s will is—his good, pleasing and
perfect will.” (NIV)
The world that
we live in is evil and it still threatens
those who belong to Christ, so we must
resist the pull it has on us. Our lives are
changed as our minds are made new by the
Spirit of Christ living inside of us. We
have to be willing to conform our thoughts
and habits to the mind of Christ. Only then
will we be able to discern God’s will for
our lives and put it in to practice.
When we are in Christ we are freed
from the condemnation of the law.
Romans 8:1-4 says, “There is therefore
now no condemnation for those who are in
Christ Jesus. 2 For the law of the Spirit of
life has set you free in Christ Jesus from
the law of sin and death. 3 For God has done
what the law, weakened by the flesh, could
not do. By sending his own Son in the
likeness of sinful flesh and for sin, he
condemned sin in the flesh, 4 in order that
the righteous requirement of the law might
be fulfilled in us, who walk not according
to the flesh but according to the Spirit.”
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 dominated 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
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).
Further reading:
One
Law:
The End of the Law:
Matthew 5: The Old Covenant was Fulfilled:
The People of God in History:
Jesus was a Jew: and
Is the Sabbath Still Required for Christians?
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