Why do you say the Old Covenant is “obsolete”?
Because in Hebrews 8:13 we read:
“By calling this covenant "new," he has made the
first one obsolete; and what is obsolete and aging will soon disappear.”
But, how can the OT
be obsolete if Jesus said he did not come to abolish the Law but to fulfill it?
Jesus said: “Do not think that I have come to abolish the Law or the Prophets; I
have not come to abolish them but to fulfill them. I tell you the truth,
until heaven and earth disappear, not the smallest letter, not the least stroke
of a pen, will by any means disappear from the Law until everything is
accomplished.” ( Matthew 5:17-18)
There are two qualifiers here: One is that the Law will not
disappear “until Heaven and Earth disappear”, and the second qualifier is that
the Law will not disappear until “everything is accomplished.”
So, first Jesus assures us that His mission is to fulfill or
to accomplish the Law, and then He tells us that the Law will not disappear
“until everything is accomplished.”
The question is: “Was everything accomplished?”
And the answer is: Yes!
“When he had received
the drink, Jesus said, "It is finished." With that, he bowed his head
and gave up his spirit.” (John 19:30)
The Greek word Jesus used here is literally “accomplished”.
So here, on the cross, Jesus declares that He has
accomplished His mission to “fulfill the Law”, just as He set out to do.
What does that mean, then, according to the two qualifiers
Jesus placed on the Law? It means that since everything has been accomplished, the
Law has now disappeared.
Maybe this is why
Paul the Apostle told us that, on the cross, Jesus actually DID “abolish the
Law” by fulfilling (or “accomplishing”) it?
"For He Himself is our peace, who made both groups into one, and broke
down the barrier of the dividing wall, by
abolishing in His flesh the enmity, which is the Law of commandments contained in ordinances, that in Himself He
might make the two into one new man, thus establishing peace." (Eph. 2:15)
Elsewhere Paul also affirms for us that “Christ
is the end of the law.” (Rom. 10:4).
Furthermore, Paul
explains for us the differences between the Old Covenant and the New Covenant –
not once but twice.
The first time, in 2
Corinthians, Paul contrasts the Old and the New Covenant saying:
“Now if the ministry that brought death, which was engraved
in letters on stone, [that’s the Old Covenant] came with glory, so that the
Israelites could not look steadily at the face of Moses because of its glory,
fading though it was, [the Old was “fading”] will not the ministry of the Spirit
[that’s the New Covenant] be even more glorious?”
“If the ministry that condemns men [the Old] is glorious,
how much more glorious is the ministry that brings righteousness! [that’s the
New] For what was glorious [the Old] has no glory now in comparison with the
surpassing glory. And if what was fading away [the Old] came with glory, how
much greater is the glory of that which lasts! [the New] - (2 Corinthians
3:7-11)
So, Paul tells us the following about the Old Covenant:
- ·
It brought death
- ·
Its glory was fading
- ·
It condemns men
- ·
It was glorious (past tense)
- ·
It now has no glory
- ·
It is fading away
The New Covenant, in contrast :
- · Is More glorious than the Old Covenant
- ·
Brings righteousness
- ·
Has a glory that is surpassing
- ·
Is everlasting
The second contrast
and comparison that Paul does between the Old and the New Covenant is here in
Galatians:
"The women (Hagar and Sarah) represent two covenants.
One covenant is from Mount Sinai and bears children who are to be slaves: This
is Hagar. Now Hagar stands for Mount Sinai in Arabia and corresponds to the
present city of Jerusalem, because she is in slavery with her children. But the
Jerusalem that is above is free, and she is our mother." (Galatians
4:24-26)
"But what does Scripture say? “Get rid of the slave
woman and her son, for the slave woman’s son will never share in the
inheritance with the free woman’s son.” Therefore, brothers and sisters, we are
not children of the slave woman, but of the free woman." (Gal.4: 30-31)
Now what does Paul
say about the Old Covenant?
The Old Covenant:
- Is from Mount Sinai
(where the 10 Commandments were given)
- · Bears children who are slaves
- · Corresponds to the earthly Jerusalem
- · Is in slavery with her children
- · Should be cast out of our presence
- · Will not share in the inheritance of Christ
- · Is not our Mother
Paul says the New
Covenant:
- ·
Bears children who are free
- ·
Is of the heavenly
New Jerusalem, not the physical city
- ·
Is our true Mother
- ·
Shares in the inheritance of Christ
To drive the point home even further, Paul
tells us many times:
"We
are not under the law" (Rom. 6:14; Gal. 5:18).
“We
are dead to the law” (Rom. 7:4).
“We are delivered from the law” (Rom. 7:6).
Therefore, those who
are in Christ are not under the Ten Commandments but under the “Law of Christ”
as Paul says:
“Carry each other’s burdens, and in this way you will
fulfill the law of Christ.” (Galatians 6:2)
But what about the
Jewish people, then? Aren’t they God’s Chosen people?
That depends on what you mean by “Israel” and “Chosen”. Paul
pointed out to us that not everyone who claims to be “Israel” is actually,
truly “Israel” in God’s eyes.
"For not all who are descended from
Israel are Israel. Nor because they are his descendants are they all Abraham’s
children." (Romans 9:6)
John the Baptist said the same thing to the Pharisees who
wanted to claim that they were “Children of Abraham” (or “Israel”) and
therefore blessed and favored of God. He said to them:
“And
do not think you can say to yourselves, ‘We have Abraham as our father.’ I tell
you that out of these stones God can raise up children for Abraham. The ax is already at the
root of the trees, and every tree that does not produce good fruit will be cut
down and thrown into the fire.” (Matt. 3:9-10)
So, the true “Israel of God” is actually found in Galatians
where Paul assures us that:
"If you belong to
Christ, then you are Abraham’s seed, and heirs according to the promise."
(Galatians 3:29)
Where does that leave
the unbelieving Jewish people? The answer is troubling, and it should give
us sincere pause and cause us to fall on our knees and cry out to God for their
salvation.
Consider this:
"Who is the liar?
It is whoever denies that Jesus is the Christ. Such a person is the
antichrist—denying the Father and the Son." (1 John 2:22)
The Jewish people today who deny Jesus is the Messiah have
neither the Father, nor the Son. They are anti-christ and they are lost without
Him.
But I thought they
were God’s “Chosen” people?
Consider what the
Apostle Peter says about the Christians he writes to in his epistle:
“But you are a chosen people, a royal priesthood, a holy nation, God’s special
possession, that you may declare the praises of him who called you out of
darkness into his wonderful light. Once you were not a people, but now you are the
people of God; once you had not received mercy, but now you have received
mercy.” (1 Peter 2:9-10)
Who, then, is the
true Israel of God according to the New Testament?
Anyone who is in Christ.
Who are the “Chosen
people” of God?
Those who put their hope in Jesus as their Lord and King.
So, the Jews are no
longer the “Chosen people of God”?
Let’s go back and look at what the Jewish people were “Chosen”
for in the first place. Were they chosen to be saved? No, because salvation
depends upon trust in Christ as Lord and Savior.
What we find is that God chose the Jews to be the people
group from whom the Messiah would be born.
That’s it.
So, since Jesus was born a Jew, they have fulfilled their
calling. There’s nothing more for them to be “chosen” for.
Christians, according to Peter, are now the “Chosen of God”
to carry the message of the Gospel to every nation. This is our calling as God’s
“chosen people”.
How can you say the
10 Commandments are no longer relevant for Christians today?
Because the 10
commandments were the terms of the Old Covenant (which is obsolete and
vanishing).
“Moses was there with
the Lord forty days and forty nights without eating bread or drinking water.
And he wrote on the tablets the words of the covenant—the Ten Commandments.”
(Exodus 34:28)
“He declared to you
his covenant, the Ten Commandments, which he commanded you to follow and then
wrote them on two stone tablets.” (Deut. 4:13)
The Ten Commandments are only mentioned (by name) three
times in the entire Bible. Here in these two scriptures referenced above, and
also in Deut.10:4. But in each case it is clear that God gave the Ten
Commandments to the Jews as a Covenant. (Note: There are many other terms used
such as “Tablets of Stone”, “Stone Tables”, etc.)
Also because the 10
Commandments were a covenant between Himself and with the Nation of Israel, not
with the entire world:
“Then the Lord said to
Moses, “Write down these words, for in accordance with these words I have made
a covenant with you and with Israel.” (Exodus 34:27)
Without this Covenant, the Jewish people had no basis for
being called a nation. If this Covenant was in force, then they would have a
claim to the promises included in the Covenant, but if they broke this Covenant
then they would lose all their status as God’s chosen people and their status as
a nation.
“Now if you obey me fully and keep my
covenant, then out of all nations
you will be my treasured possession. Although the whole earth is mine, you will
be for me a kingdom of priests and a holy nation.’ These are the words you are
to speak to the Israelites.” (Exodus 19:5-6)
In much the same way that the Constitution is a document
that outlines the laws of our nation and establishes our system of government,
the Ten Commandments (or the Law) outlines God’s terms for establishing the
nation state of Israel.
The terms of Israel’s nationhood are dependent upon a few
things. First, it says, “If you obey
me and keep my covenant, THEN you
will be my treasured possession.”
That’s a conditional covenant. We know that the History of
Israel records their continual disobedience to God and to His covenant. Because
they broke their covenant with God, they were scattered over and over again,
until finally they nation of Israel was judged in AD 70 during the destruction
of Jerusalem by the Romans, as Jesus predicted it would be (Luke 21) and in the
Parable of the Vineyard (Matt. 21:33-46).
Did you know that the
promises connected to the Old Covenant have now been offered unconditionally to
those who are under the New Covenant?
It’s true! The very same conditional covenant terms spoken
to the Jews are repeated in the New Testament as being unconditionally applied
to the Church:
“As you come to him,
the living Stone—rejected by humans but chosen by God and precious to him— you
also, like living stones, are being built into a spiritual house to be a holy
priesthood, offering spiritual sacrifices acceptable to God through Jesus
Christ.” (1 Peter 2:4-5)
“But you are a chosen
people, a royal priesthood, a holy nation, God’s special possession, that you
may declare the praises of him who called you out of darkness into his
wonderful light.Once you were not a people, but now you are the people of God;
once you had not received mercy, but now you have received mercy.” (1 Peter
2:9-10)
Here, Peter declares that Christians “ARE a chosen people, a
royal priesthood, a holy nation, God’s special possession…”. The very same
conditional promises originally offered to the Jewish nation in Exodus 19:5-6
are now spoken to the Church as being now in effect. So that anyone who is
currently found in Christ is the recipient of these promises to be chosen, of
the priesthood, a holy nation and God's special possession. We are also
promised to be called the people of God and to receive mercy.
The Good News is that Jesus first came and fulfilled the
terms of the Old Covenant, and then He made a New Covenant with anyone who
would receive Him as Lord and Savior.
THE TERMS OF THE NEW
COVENANT
“I will put my law in
their minds and write it on their hearts. I will be their God and they will be
my people…and they will all know me from the least to the greatest for I will
remember their sins no more.” (Jer. 31:33-34 and Hebrews 8:7-9)
We are now under one Covenant, not two. The first has been
fulfilled and is now obsolete:
“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.” (Hebrew 8:13)
-kg
