The New Covenant

Then He took the cup, and gave thanks, and gave it to them, saying, “Drink from it, all of you. For this is My blood of the new covenant, which is shed for many for the remission of sins. (Mt 26:27-28)

Friend, Christians live under the New Covenant which was effected by Yeshua’s once-for-all sacrifice on the cross. However, most are ignorant of or have inaccurate understanding of what the New Covenant really is, and therefore do not experience the sanctifying power and liberty of this glorious Covenant. Worse of all, an increasing number of pastors and believers are promoting a perverted form of “new covenant” doctrine that basically is a repackaging of the ancient heresy of antinomianism (anti-Law). This heresy, condemned in 1 John, erroneously presumed that the Old Testament Law has been abolished under the New Covenant, and thus, encourages lawlessness. Truly, God’s people are destroyed for lack of knowledge!

The Old Covenant

To understand the New Covenant, we first need to know what the Old Covenant was, which again, many are confused about. A covenant is essentially an agreement, pledge or treaty between two parties. The Old Covenant as we know it was a covenant between Yahweh and Israel. Moses clearly identified this covenant:

So He declared to you His covenant which He commanded you to perform, the Ten Commandments; and He wrote them on two tablets of stone. (Deut. 4:13)

Therefore, the Old Covenant is really the Ten Commandments (Exo. 20:1-17)! Now, the thing to note regarding this covenant is that Yahweh promised to bless Israel with the condition that Israel obey His Law.

Now therefore, if you will indeed obey My voice and keep My covenant, then you shall be a special treasure to Me above all people; for all the earth is Mine. And you shall be to Me a kingdom of priests and a holy nation. (Exo. 19:5-6)

For even within the content of the Ten Commandments, Israel was warned that just as obedience begets blessings, disobedience will likewise reap judgments.

…For I, the Lord your God, am a jealous God, visiting the iniquity of the fathers upon the children to the third and fourth generations of those who hate Me, but showing mercy to thousands, to those who love Me and keep My commandments. (Exo. 20:5-6)

Sadly, we know that Israel broke the Old Covenant by their persistent disobedience to the Words of the Covenant and thus reaped the full judgment as warned by Yahweh (cf. Deut. 28). This ultimately resulted in their dispersal outside the Promised Land. However, please understand that the Old Covenant failed not because there was anything wrong in the Covenant itself, but rather because of Israel’s disobedience. Out of this failure, Yahweh promised the New Covenant for the New Israel as prophesied by the prophets.

The New Covenant Promises

31 “Behold, the days are coming, says the Lord, when I will make a new covenant with the house of Israel and with the house of Judah— 32 not according to the covenant that I made with their fathers in the day that I took them by the hand to lead them out of the land of Egypt, My covenant which they broke, though I was a husband to them, says the Lord. 33 But this is the covenant that I will make with the house of Israel after those days, says the Lord: I will put My law in their minds, and write it on their hearts; and I will be their God, and they shall be My people. 34 No more shall every man teach his neighbor, and every man his brother, saying, ‘Know the Lord,’ for they all shall know Me, from the least of them to the greatest of them, says the Lord. For I will forgive their iniquity, and their sin I will remember no more.” (Jer.31:31-34)

Plainly stated through the prophet Jeremiah, the New Covenant promises New Israel that:

1. God Himself will initiate this covenant with them (which include the Gentiles).

2. God will forgive and not remember their sins anymore.

3. God will put His Law (The Ten Commandments) in their minds and hearts.

4. God will be their God they shall be His people.

5. God will cause them to know Him without the need to be taught by anyone.

From Ezekiel 36 below, the New Covenant further promises that:

6. God will separate them from among the nations.

7. God will cleanse them and make them clean.

8. God will give them a new heart of flesh and remove the old stony heart.

9. God will give them a new spirit.

10. God will put His Spirit in them.

11. God will cause them to obey- walk, keep and do- His Law!

12. God will restore them back to the land of Israel.

24 For I will take you from among the nations, gather you out of all countries, and bring you into your own land. 25 Then I will sprinkle clean water on you, and you shall be clean; I will cleanse you from all your filthiness and from all your idols. 26 I will give you a new heart and put a new spirit within you; I will take the heart of stone out of your flesh and give you a heart of flesh. 27 I will put My Spirit within you and cause you to walk in My statutes, and you will keep My judgments and do them. 28 Then you shall dwell in the land that I gave to your fathers; you shall be My people, and I will be your God. (Eze. 36:24-28)

Friend, I want to tell you that we need a continual, greater revelation by the Spirit to see that the New Covenant is so infinitely glorious, gracious, complete, infallible, and undefeatable! I can only humbly conclude, inadequately, that through Yeshua Christ, God and God alone has initiated and executed, and given the New Covenant to the New Israel as a gift, to the praise of the glory of His grace (Eph. 1:6, 12, 14)!

Thus, Paul rightly affirms that grace, salvation and faith are altogether given to God’s people as a gift!

For by grace you have been saved through faith, and that not of yourselves; it is the gift of God, not of works, lest anyone should boast (Eph. 2:8-9)… So then faith comes by hearing, and hearing by the word of God (Rom 10:17).

Therefore, grace is the source and faith is the channel for salvation to flow. Understood rightly, the New Covenant leaves no room for any to boast of his own work or effort in his salvation. Likewise, it also gives no excuse to anyone to justify sin or disobedience. The Old Covenant demanded obedience-to-the-Law from Israel as a condition; but the New Covenant bestows obedience-to-the-Law to New Israel as a promise! So, at every moment, if we are IN the New Covenant, God has already given us the faith, power and will to obey! Paul affirms that, “for it is God who works in you both to will and to do for His good pleasure” (Phil. 2:13).

Law and Obedience

What about the Law? Tragically, many who boast of living in the “new covenant” erroneously claim that the Law has been abolished because they know not Scriptures. As mentioned above, contrary to their claim, the very same Law of the Old Covenant is the Law of the New Covenant. Yeshua Himself affirmed clearly that He came not to abolish the Law, but to fulfill it in its entirety:

17 “Do not think that I came to destroy the Law or the Prophets. I did not come to destroy but to fulfill. 18 For assuredly, I say to you, till heaven and earth pass away, one jot or one tittle will by no means pass from the law till all is fulfilled. (Mt. 5:17-18)

In fact, Yeshua’s fulfillment of the Law includes unveiling the Ten Commandments to their full glory and intent. Thus, under the New Covenant, to be angry is to commit murder and to lust is to commit adultery (Mt. 5:21-30). The Ten Commandments are the very manifestation of Christ Himself, Who is the Word of God! To abolish the Law is to abolish Christ, which is impossible! Furthermore, the Law is perfect (Ps 19:7), so why would God need to abolish what is perfect? It is eternally established in heaven (Ps. 119:89)! If any man changes or takes away God’s Law or Word, he is eternally accursed (Gal. 1:8-9, Rev. 20:18-19)! Therefore, understanding this then, we also realize that under the New Covenant, the “Law” of God now rightly describes both the Old and the New Testaments, and not just certain portions of the Old Testament.

What about obedience to the Law? Firstly, Yeshua had already fulfilled the righteous requirement of the Law on our behalf and imputed or accounted that to us through faith. Paul clearly said this: “But of Him you are in Christ Jesus, who became for us wisdom from God—and righteousness and sanctification and redemption” (1Cor 1:30). Thus, those who are in Christ are reckoned by God as having perfectly fulfilled all the righteous requirement of the Law! Secondly, as said above, the ability or power to obey the Law is then given to us as a promise of the New Covenant, not as a demand or condition. Simply put, we accept and believe that the New Covenant not only saves us, but also imparts the power to obey the Law. And therefore, thirdly, obedience to the Law is not a condition for salvation, but rather the fruit of salvation. Thus, as Paul says, the eternal Law of God is established or upheld through faith: “Do we then make void the law through faith? Certainly not! On the contrary, we establish the law” (Rom 3:31).

Friend, all the laws and commandments of God are the Word of God. There is no knowledge of God outside of His Word; neither is there salvation, deliverance, healing, health, wisdom, hope, peace…in summary, ETERNAL LIFE, apart from His Word! God’s Law “is a tree of life to those who take hold of her, And happy are all who retain her” (Prov. 3:18). “For they are life to those who find them, And health to all their flesh.” (Prov. 4:20-22)

Christ and the Word

Christ and His Word are one and the same. Yeshua says that His Words are Spirit and Life (Jn 6:63). The eternal life of God in us is lived out in accordance with His Word. Living apart or contrary to the Word of God is but death. Thus, we understand now what Moses said of the Law, “…The man who does them shall live by them” (Deut. 18:5). Consistently, we are exhorted to keep God’s commands and live (Prov 4:4; 7:2; Deut. 4-11)! Outside of Christ, we were sin-bound and diseased in body, soul and spirit. In Christ, God gives us His Word to save, heal and deliver us: He sent His word and healed them, And delivered them from their destructions (Ps. 107:20).

The Law or Word of God is not given for us to earn eternal Life, which is a gift received by faith. Rather it is given to us to live out that Life. The New Covenant seeks to rectify the problem in the Old Covenant: the transgressions of the Law of God. Thus, those who claim that the Law is abolished under the New Covenant are doing the exact opposite of what the New Covenant seeks to do, which is to uphold the Law! What a terrible deception!

Love and Obedience

Furthermore, it is falsely claimed that since the entire Law is summed up in love, therefore “love” supersedes even obedience. Yeshua Himself explains the relationship between love and obedience:

15 “If you love Me, keep My commandments… And he who loves Me will be loved by My Father, and I will love him and manifest Myself to him…24 He who does not love Me does not keep My words; and the word which you hear is not Mine but the Father’s who sent Me. (Jn 14:15-24)

Friend, be mature in understanding. Many who strive to abolish the Law are warped and sinning, being self condemned (Tit. 3:9-11). Yeshua says that those who practice Law-lessness will not enter the Kingdom of Heaven (Mt. 7:23). John says that Law-lessness is sin and those who are Law-less are of the devil!

4 Whoever commits sin also commits lawlessness, and sin is lawlessness…6 Whoever abides in Him does not sin. .. 7 Little children, let no one deceive you. He who practices righteousness is righteous, just as He is righteous. 8 He who sins is of the devil, for the devil has sinned from the beginning…(1 Jn. 4:4-8)

The anti-christ, the man of sin, the son of the devil is called the Law-less one (2Thess. 2:8-9). Those who claim the abolishment of the Law will eventually claim the abolishment of any judgment or conviction of sin for believers. For where there is no law, there is no transgression, thus there is no judgment or wrath (Rom. 4:13). But Paul says that those who practice unrighteousness will not inherit the kingdom of God (1Cor 6:9-10; Eph. 5:3-5; Gal. 5:19-21).

The New Covenant and Israel

While we have been warning about the perversion of the New Covenant that results in lawlessness or unrighteousness, we equally need to guard against the opposite sin of pride or self-righteousness in insisting that we still have some goodness or ability to add to the New Covenant. We need to see how God had completely condemned the unregenerate man as utterly devoid of any righteousness or good:

10As it is written: “There is none righteous, no, not one; 11 There is none who understands; There is none who seeks after God. 12They have all turned aside; They have together become unprofitable; There is none who does good, no, not one.” (Rom. 3:10-12)

The infinite glory of God’s grace in the New Covenant can best be seen in none other than the salvation of the house Israel at the return of Yeshua at the end of the age.

10 “And I will pour on the house of David and on the inhabitants of Jerusalem the Spirit of grace and supplication; then they will look on Me whom they pierced. Yes, they will mourn for Him as one mourns for his only son, and grieve for Him as one grieves for a firstborn. 11 In that day there shall be a great mourning in Jerusalem…(Zech. 12:10-11)

According to the prophecy above, the remnant of the Jews that survive the end time tribulation will only repent and bought into the New Covenant, AFTER Yeshua had poured on them the Spirit of grace and supplication to see Him as the One Whom they have pierced 2000 years ago! This is in exact fulfillment to the prophecies of the New Covenant in Jer. 31 and Ezek. 36! This is grace in its truest meaning, where salvation is really all of God’s and none of man’s! Even the Apostle Paul was “undone” when spoke about the glory of God’s grace in saving helpless and undeserving Israel and let out such a glorious praise:

33 Oh, the depth of the riches both of the wisdom and knowledge of God! How unsearchable are His judgments and His ways past finding out! 34“For who has known the mind of the Lord? Or who has become His counselor?” 35“Or who has first given to Him And it shall be repaid to him?” 36 For of Him and through Him and to Him are all things, to whom be glory forever. Amen. (Rom. 11:33-36)

Truthfully, this should also be our experience of salvation where, through the gospel, Yeshua comes to us in our wretchedness and is revealed to us as the One Whom we had pierced with our sins. For unless this is our experience, we will not fully appreciate or experience the blessings of the New Covenant.

The New Covenant and You

My dear friend, the New Covenant is indeed glorious! God had indeed done everything for us. The Old Covenant with its demand for obedience as a condition has been made obsolete by Christ (Heb. 8:13). Through the New Covenant, God has given us both righteousness and obedience as a promise. If you are struggling in sin, defeat, depression, oppression, hopelessness and sicknesses, it may be because you have not fully understood the New Covenant with its promises. Please read, memorize and meditate on Jer. 31:31-34 and Ezek. 36:24-28 again and again. Ask God for the Spirit of wisdom and revelation to understand! Then make sure that you have entered or are entering into the New Covenant with God with ALL YOUR HEART, else you may fall short of it!

Finally, some will ask: Are they not laws that have been fulfilled by Christ and superseded in the New Covenant so that they need not to be kept or practiced anymore? To be sure, there are. However, I suggest that you search through the Scriptures yourself to ascertain that and ask yourself this question: If Christ is living in me, what are the laws of God that He would not be practicing anymore? But leaving the question of ethics and morality aside, I want to say this: from practising circumcision to abstaining from swine meat, shell fish and physical intimacy during the wife’s menstrual cycle as prescribed by the Law, research have found out that these contribute to a healthier life free of certain diseases that may afflict those who practise contrary to the Law. This confirms what God says about His Law, that “…they are life to those who find them, And health to all their flesh” and that we are to keep His commands and live.

Friend, let me pray for you: 17 that the God of our Lord Jesus Christ, the Father of glory, may give to you the spirit of wisdom and revelation in the knowledge of Him, 18 the eyes of your understanding being enlightened; that you may know what is the hope of His calling, what are the riches of the glory of His inheritance in the saints, 19 and what is the exceeding greatness of His power toward us who believe, according to the working of His mighty power (Eph. 1:17-19)

Shalom to you in Yeshua’s precious Name!

If you have any comment or query, or if you want to know how you can be saved and have a personal relationship with your Creator God through Yeshua Christ, please write to thekingdompeople@yahoo.com. It will be my pleasure to help you to know God personally. All sincere inquiries will be responded to.

Note:

I have been much blessed and advanced in my understanding through the following writings of godly men of the past which I wish to highly recommend to your own reading:

  1. Andrew Murray in “Covenants and Blessings”.
  2. Watchmen Nee in “The Normal Christian Life” and “The Spiritual Man”.
  3. Abraham Booth, “By God’s Grace Alone”, which is the abridged version of “The Reign of Grace”.