Introduction
Some people will try to mix the rules of the various covenants.
We are going to see that the New Covenant which we will call Christianity supersedes
all other laws and covenants.
Yet people will try to draw justification for a practice by appealing to an
old covenant that has been removed.
They will always appeal to the Old Covenant to justify mechanical instruments
of music in worship to God.
God spoke through the Fathers and the prophets (which included Moses), but now
speaks through His Son (Hebrews 1:1-2).
The New Covenant Was Promised
Jeremiah 31:31-34 "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 --
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. 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. 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."
New Testament Writers Confirmed What Was Promised.
Hebrews 8:6-7 But now He has obtained a more excellent ministry, inasmuch as
He is also Mediator of a better covenant, which was established on better promises.
For if that first covenant had been faultless, then no place would have been
sought for a second.
Hebrews 8:13 “In that He says, ‘A new covenant,’ He has made
the first obsolete. Now what is becoming obsolete and growing old is ready to
vanish away”
Hebrews 10:9 Then He said, "Behold, I have come to do Your will, O God."
He takes away the first that He may establish the second.”
Colossians 2:14 Having wiped out the handwriting of requirements that was against
us, which was contrary to us. And He has taken it out of the way, having nailed
it to the cross.”
The death of Jesus and the establishment of His church brought in the New Covenant.
Ephesians 2:13-16 But now in Christ Jesus you who once were far off have been
brought near by the blood of Christ. Christ Our Peace For He Himself is our
peace, who has made both one, and has broken down the middle wall of separation,
having abolished in His flesh the enmity, that is, the law of commandments contained
in ordinances, so as to create in Himself one new man from the two, thus making
peace, and that He might reconcile them both to God in one body through the
cross, thereby putting to death the enmity.
Hebrews 7:18-19 For on the one hand there is an annulling of the former commandment
because of its weakness and unprofitableness, for the law made nothing perfect;
on the other hand, there is the bringing in of a better hope, through which
we draw near to God.
Romans 7:4 Therefore, my brethren, you also have become dead to the law through
the body of Christ, that you may be married to another -- to Him who was raised
from the dead, that we should bear fruit to God.
Matthew 17:5 - While he was still speaking, behold, a bright cloud overshadowed
them; and suddenly a voice came out of the cloud, saying, "This is My beloved
Son, in whom I am well pleased. Hear Him!“
Remember that on the mount that Moses (representing the law), and Elijah (representing
the prophets) were there, and God specified that they were now to hear Jesus
and follow His instructions
The New Covenant
GOD MADE THE OLD COVENANT WITH ISRAEL (JEWS), AND GOD AND CHRIST MADE THE NEW
COVENANT FOR BELIEVERS OF ALL NATIONS. (Titus 2:11—the grace of God hath
appeared to all men).
THE OLD COVENANT WAS GIVEN THROUGH MOSES, AND THE NEW COVENANT CAME BY CHRIST.
THE OLD COVENANT WAS FAULTY, BUT THE NEW COVENANT WAS ESTABLISHED UPON BETTER
PROMISES.
THE OLD COVENANT HAS BEEN BLOTTED OUT, NAILED TO THE CROSS. THE NEW COVENANT
IS STILL IN FORCE AND AVAILABLE TO ALL THE NATIONS.
The New Covenant
THE OLD COVENANT SEVERS FROM CHRIST. GOD NOW SPEAKS TO US THROUGH CHRIST’S
COVENANT.
Galatians 5:4 You have become estranged from Christ, you who attempt to be justified
by law; you have fallen from grace.
John 1:17 For the law was given through Moses, but grace and truth came through
Jesus Christ.
The New Covenant
THE OLD COVENANT WAS WRITTEN ON STONES. THE NEW COVENANT IS WRITTEN ON THE HEART.
2 Corinthians 3:7 If the ministry of death, written and engraved on stones,
was glorious, so that the children of Israel could not look steadily at the
face of Moses because of the glory of his countenance, which glory was passing
away.
2 Corinthians 3:3 You are an epistle of Christ, ministered by us, written not
with ink but by the Spirit of the living God, not on tablets of stone but on
tablets of flesh, that is, of the heart.
Hebrews 8:10 For this is the covenant that I will make with the house of Israel
after those days, says the LORD: I will put My laws in their mind and write
them on their hearts; and I will be their God, and they shall be My people.
The New Covenant
THE OLD COVENANT WAS ONLY A SHADOW OF THINGS TO COME. THE NEW COVENANT IS GOD’S
COMPLETED COVENANT WITH MAN.
Hebrews 10:1 For the law, having a shadow of the good things to come, and not
the very image of the things, can never with these same sacrifices, which they
offer continually year by year, make those who approach perfect.
The New Covenant
THE OLD COVENANT DID NOT HAVE A PERFECT PRIESTHOOD. THE NEW COVENANT HAS A PERFECT
UNCHANGEABLE PRIESTHOOD.
Hebrews 7:11-12 Therefore, if perfection were through the Levitical priesthood
(for under it the people received the law), what further need was there that
another priest should rise according to the order of Melchizedek, and not be
called according to the order of Aaron? For the priesthood being changed, of
necessity there is also a change of the law.
The New Covenant
UNDER THE OLD COVENANT THERE WAS A CONTINUAL OFFERING OF ANIMAL SACRIFICES.
UNDER THE NEW COVENANT THERE WAS ONE SACRIFICE, AND THAT ONCE FOR ALL.
I SPEAK OF THE SACRIFICEOF CHRIST ON THE CROSS.
Hebrews 10:3-4 But in those sacrifices there is a reminder of sins every year.
For it is not possible that the blood of bulls and goats could take away sins.
Hebrews 9:22-28 And according to the law almost all things are purified with
blood, and without shedding of blood there is no remission. Therefore it was
necessary that the copies of the things in the heavens should be purified with
these, but the heavenly things themselves with better sacrifices than these.
For Christ has not entered the holy places made with hands, which are copies
of the true, but into heaven itself, now to appear in the presence of God for
us; not that He should offer Himself often, as the high priest enters the Most
Holy Place every year with blood of another -- He then would have had to suffer
often since the foundation of the world; but now, once at the end of the ages,
He has appeared to put away sin by the sacrifice of Himself. And as it is appointed
for men to die once, but after this the judgment, so Christ was offered once
to bear the sins of many. To those who eagerly wait for Him He will appear a
second time, apart from sin, for salvation.
One Eternal Covenant
In recent years, a new false doctrine has been introduced by a number of false
teachers.
They rely upon some vague passages of scripture to suggest that all mankind
from Adam to now has been under the same covenant.
The primary reason (and I have yet to find one suggesting this for any other
reason) is that the practice of putting away the wife can be justified because
of the old covenant law.
Jesus taught during the Sermon On The Mount “But I say unto you”—thus
changing the old into the new.
Conclusion
The Old Law . . .the Law of Moses . . . served the purpose for which God intended
it.
The New Law . . . the Gospel of Christ . . . is serving the purpose for which
God has intended it to serve.
Anyone seeking to be justified by the Old Law will be severed from Christ.
The Old Covenant was for the Jews only.
The New Covenant is for all people . . . for all nations . . . everyone included
. . . no one excluded . . . For all who will accept it and render the proper
obedience to God through Jews Christ.
By Carey Scott from an outline by Donnie S. Barnes
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