Aspects of the Old Covenant God made with Israel--

1). Was given as a mirror: to show man how much he needed a savior

2). Was an integral part of the old sacrificial system

3). Reflects God’s Authority & places emphasis on His Character

4). Can be relied upon as a moral compass, for the past, present & future

5). Should be revered and considered a moral mandate from the Lord, even though we are not to consider ourselves “under” it. Jesus said:

“Think not that I am come to destroy the law, or the prophets: I am not come to destroy, but to fulfil.

 ^“For verily I say unto you, Till heaven and earth pass, one jot or one tittle shall in no wise pass from the law, till all be fulfilled.

¹⁹ Whosoever therefore shall break one of these least commandments, and shall teach men so, he shall be called the least in the kingdom of heaven: but whosoever shall do and teach them, the same shall be called great in the kingdom of heaven.” (Matthew 5:17-19)

And Paul said:

“For sin will have no dominion over you, since you are not under law but under grace.”  (Romans 6:14, ESV)

6). Is driven by works of the flesh, rather than love for Christ

7). Is even more impossible to keep when we learn that simply wishing evil to come on someone, lusting after someone or any immoral desire, is synonymous to the offense, because God considers the heart. This explains how a depraved man with no conscience is not held accountable by God in the same way as someone who knows that murder is not permissible.

8). Came before the gift of repentance; using a sacrificial system of blood sacrifice  in order to satisfy God and be granted redemption.

NOTE: Hebrews 8:13 has been sited as a stumbling block for believers, as some  become confused by some of this writer's teaching (some believe it was the Apostle Paul), but with a bit of research, this condition is readily clarified. Evidently, he repeatedly discouraged any type of acknowledgement of the law in this verse, because these Jews he was working so hard to guide in godliness, were SO led astray by the law, that they were lost in works of the flesh and ritualism. Thus, his insistence that they not consider the law at all, was not to disregard the law, but to help make his point stick (that they were not under the law.) He said: “

^“In that he saith, A new covenant, he hath made the first old. Now that which decayeth and waxeth old is ready to vanish away.”

The NLT version:

^“ When God speaks of a “new” covenant, it means he has made the first one obsolete. It is now out of date and will soon disappear.”

Aspects of the New Covenant God made with whosoever will--

1). The desire for holiness is ignited from a deep love for Christ, rather than by works of the flesh: “Jesus answered and said unto him, If a man love me, he will keep my words: and my Father will love him, and we will come unto him, and make our abode with him.” (KJV)

2). Places tremendous value of works of love through faith, rather than works of the flesh and ceremonial reoccupation. (Works of the flesh in this context involves  things we do to try to get God’s approval.)

3). We have a relationship with God, through Christ, thanks to His Supreme Sacrifice! Now, God deals with us individually, not by blanket “rights” and “wrongs.” God will judge each according to their heart. That means God cares about where we are coming from. For example, He doesn’t judge the mother who steals to feed her children in the same way He judges a woman who is addicted to shop lifting.

4). Repentance (change of mind) & Conversion (turning away) are the New Covenant ways toward redemption: believers have forgiveness through their faith in Christ, but must also forgive those who sin against them, for this is one of God’s Precepts.

5). The only prerequisite for relationship with Christ is faith that He is our Savior & sincere remorse for wrong doing that leads to repentance & conversion

6). Freedom from following a bunch of rules and regulations, because God considers motive over perfect behavior:

“Every way of a man is right in his own eyes: but the Lord pondereth the hearts.”

(Proverbs 21:2)

PARABLE: The law of the classroom verses The Lord’s Adopted

A teacher is unexpectedly called away from her 8^th grade classroom, when she returns several minutes later, she finds 2 students with heads together; concocting some sort of plan, one student with a bloody nose and several guilty looking ones. Since she couldn’t be certain what happened or who did what to who, she punishes the entire class. The next day, she reprimands and later punishes a student named Corey; making him write 100 times that he would not pass notes in class, while the class remained silent in their knowledge of what really happened, while the real culprit is that the student sitting behind Corey. The following week, a new student was added to the class, named Sherry. Sherry sat in the center of the room and began rummaging through her purse for a stick of gum, when the teacher suddenly screeched: “There is no gum-chewing allowed at Richmont middle school!” Sherry timidly removed the gum from her lips and rewrapped it and stuck it back into her purse. “Sorry,” she muttered, with her head down. This analogy is likened to what it must have been like under the law, because:

         1). The law can be unfair.

         2). The law is a flawed system.

         3). The law makes no allowances for ignorance of the law or even mistakes.

****The “law of the classroom” analogy symbolizes the old system, as parables use symbolism to illustrate concepts and points being made.

ADOPTED AS HIS OWN CHILD—

When we accept Christ, we belong to God, as His own child; chosen, adopted into His Kingdom family. Salvation through Christ takes a believer from experiencing life as the law of the classroom analogy, to confidence in who he/she is in Christ, not in the self, but in Him, as a new creature in Christ.

The law can be unfair, but God is always fair. That means, inasmuch as He wants His children to obey and respect His Laws, His Precepts & Statutes, He is FAIR, which means He considers all of the hidden dysfunction, emotional pain and stagnation, and horrendous childhood experiences that drive behaviors. In other words, God is lovingly interested in the why behind what drives our behaviors and all He wants is, after He has chastised us, is that we come to Him in repentance and turn away from our sinful propensities and submit ourselves wholly unto His Spirit, which guides and strengths and drives us to please Him; literally making us able, because WE LOVE HIM.  God’s system is flawless. His Spirit dwells within all those who believe that He sent His only Son to die for our sins: we make a mistake, then come to Him on our knees, and He forgives us, and we go on: wiser and stronger than before! The Lord also showers the ignorant in His Mercy. God does not expect obedience from those who do not know any better, BUT, He is all-knowing, therefore, cannot be tricked by someone purposing using their personality wounded as an excuse in order to avoid accountability.

This is sound doctrine direct from the Apostles and Jesus Himself.  

Acknowledgements: KJV, NLT

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Linzy has been writing for many years; seriously since her 3 kids were still young and inspirational. She has taken 2 courses in Bible studies and completed "Four Soils" Bible study course in a 26-month period; earning her certification in Bible Counselling.