As Christians, Who are We?

To begin with, let's make it clear that we are not Jewish (unless we are Jews who have accepted Messiah). Israel is God's chosen nation. They are not His chosen nation because they were so good and pure...they were not. They constantly rebelled against God.

Israel was who God chose to bring Messiah into the world. That's what He chose them for. That's what they did and that's why God is not finished with them yet. Messiah still has some more coming to do...His second coming.

The Jews lived in a covenant relationship with God. They understood what a covenant is: an agreement between God and His people. Actually, God's people had been through 7 covenants with God: the Edenic Covenant; the Adamic Covenant; the Noahic Covenant; the Abrahamic Covenant; the Land Covenant (Palestinian); the Mosaic Covenant and the Davidic Covenant.

With the coming of Messiah, God established a New Covenant, one that did not involve the written code of the Law (see Colossians 2). This New Covenant did not add another covenant with God. Nor did it build on the Old Covenant(s). It totally and absolutely replaced it (them). Totally. It was a completely new concept. The New Covenant rendered the Old Covenant OBSOLETE (Hebrews 8:13).

Christians are children of the New Covenant.

This New Covenant relationship is a personal relationship with God through Christ. It does not do away with the Law, it fulfills the Law. As Paul points out in Romans, the Law only condemns. Faith in Christ alone saves.  As he points out in Hebrews, the New Covenant is the person of Jesus Christ, who is greater than all of the prophets and priests who preceded Him.

Christians who think they can live with one Biblical foot in the Old Covenant and one Biblical foot in the New Covenant are deceived. It must be one or the other. It cannot be both. The New Testament does not build on the Old Testament. The New Testament is the revelation of a totally new way to relate to God. Did you get that? IT'S A TOTALLY NEW WAY.

Christianity is not the Old Testament plus the New Testament. It is not the Old Covenant plus the New Covenant. Christianity is 100% New Covenant or it is heresy.

When a Christian reads the Old Testament, he is reading the Old Covenant(s). He must learn to read it in a new way. No longer do the rules and regulations of the Old Testament apply. With the New Covenant in place, the Christian now reads the Old Testament as it relates to Christ. In fact, the Christian discovers that every word of the Old Testament points to the coming of Christ and His New Covenant.

Joshua points to Christ. Exodus points to Christ (Check out the priests' garments in Exodus 39---a picture of Christ, the High Priest of Hebrews). Genesis points to Christ. Numbers points to Christ with the laying out of the tents of Israel in the shape of a cross (Numbers chapter 2). Jeremiah points to Christ (Jeremiah 31). Isaiah points to Christ (how many verses do you need from Isaiah?). Malachi points to Christ. The Psalms are rife with references to Christ (By the way, "Christ" is the Greek word for "Messiah").

So, who are Christians? We are people who have repented of our sinful nature and have trusted in, and only in, the finished work of the Christ of the New Covenant at the cross of Calvary for our relationship with God.

Who are you?