The most important thing to know about the NEW COVENANT is that it is not a legal document, it is a PERSON and His name is Jesus.
The second most important thing to know about the NEW COVENANT is that it supersedes and fulfills all aspects of all of the previous covenants.
While there were, indeed, Unconditional Covenants that will never pass away, they are all fulfilled in Christ. He is their completion. Through Him Israel will get their land, the Law of Moses will be satisfied, the promise to Abraham will be fulfilled and the sin of Adam will be atoned for.
In the New Covenant, there is not one iota of the Old Covenant(s) left to deal with. The New Covenant is a NEW DEAL that is instituted by God. It is the completion of God’s character, His love for His creation and His plan for its redemption. There is nothing you can add to it and there is nothing you can take from it.
The New Covenant was predicted in Jeremiah 31:31ff, and referenced many times by the writers of the Old Testament. It was provided directly for Israel and extended to Gentiles.
Galatians is all about those who corrupt the New Covenant by trying to add to it things like circumcision, tithing, rules and regulation. Galatians builds on the principles laid out in Romans. It sets the stage for the book written to the Jews to show them how their hope of a Messiah had been realized in Jesus…the book of Hebrews; specifically chapters 4-10.
Through the New Covenant, sin is more than atoned for, it is forgiven. The forgiveness is not through the shedding of the blood of animals, but of the Son of God. The New Covenant does everything the Mosaic Covenant could not do. The Mosaic Covenant could do no more than cover (atone) for sin. The New Covenant takes sin away.
The New Covenant is not written in stone, on tablets or on paper, it is written in the hearts of believers. It is made manifest by indwelling of the Holy Spirit. It provides a new temple; a temple of believers. Our bodies are now God’s temple.
The New Covenant contains the Law of Moses and fulfills it perfectly. Nothing, absolutely nothing, needs to be added to it to make it better. Nothing, absolutely nothing, can be taken from it to make it less inclusive.
When Jesus said, “This cup is the New Covenant of my blood,” He was not speaking insignificantly. His shed blood was the very purpose for His coming.
The Bride of Christ, His church, personifies the New Covenant. The church has not replaced Israel, it is a partaker with Israel.
There are those who insist that the Law of Moses, or at least some aspects of it, must be kept by Christians in order to please God. They are referred to as “Judaizers.” They are people who call themselves Christians, but find it necessary to apply some of the attributes of Old Covenant Judaism to their Christian walk. They call themselves “Bible believers,” but mean by that that they follow the Old Testament as well as the New Testament. That is untenable under the New Covenant.
Far too many “Christians” try to live with one foot in the Old Covenant and one foot in the New Covenant. That is patently impossible. Not one single part of the Old Covenant is relevant to Christians. They have a NEW DEAL in Christ. In Him ALL things have become new, not just select things.
The New Covenant is the basis of the “Dispensation of Grace.” It is an Unconditional Covenant, eternally in effect, between God and anybody who puts his trust in, and only in, the finished work of Christ at the cross of Calvary.
CHRISTIANS! LET GO OF THE OLD COVENANT! ENJOY THE BLESSINGS, FREEDOM AND REWARDS OF THE NEW COVENANT! LET THE HOLY SPIRIT WRITE GOD’S WILL IN YOUR HEARTS AND DON’T BE BOUND BY ANY ASPECT OF THE OLD COVENANT! YOUR SALVATION IS COMPLETE IN CHRIST!
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