In the previous study, we meditated on the characteristics of the Covenant of the Law.
We noted that it was a conditional and temporary covenant, a covenant of the knowledge of sin, and one that revealed the extent of man's inability to do good. It was the covenant of the letter, the covenant of death, judgment, and the curse, and the covenant of the symbol—that is, the likeness and shadow of heavenly things.
Today, we will meditate on the New Covenant, which is also the Covenant of Grace. We must not forget that our study is based on the verse quoted from
the Gospel of John 1: Verse 17
"For the law was given through Moses, but grace and truth came through Jesus Christ."
The New Covenant was declared when the Lord Jesus Christ gathered with His disciples at the Last Supper: Matthew 26:26-28
"And as they were eating, Jesus took bread, blessed and broke it, and gave it to the disciples and said, 'Take, eat; this is My body.' Then He took the cup, and gave thanks, and gave it to them, saying, 'Drink from it, all of you. For this is My blood of the new covenant, which is shed for many for the remission of sins.'"
Question: In your opinion, what is the difference between how God gave the Law in the Old Testament and how the Lord Jesus Christ presented the New Covenant?
1. We find a vast difference between the appearance of God on the mountain when He gave the Law to Moses, and Christ's presentation of the New Covenant to His disciples at the last supper.
2. Here, the Lord Jesus declares that this New Covenant will be through the breaking of His own body and the shedding of His own blood, for many, for the remission of sins.
3. This confirms that the basis of the New Covenant related to God, not to man. God is the initiator of the work of redemption, and man has only to accept.
The Seven Truths of the New Covenant
We will discuss seven truths of the New Covenant versus the seven truths of the Covenant of the Law.
Truth 1: The New Covenant is Unconditional
The Covenant of the Law was conditional upon man’s execution of the commandments and requirements of the Law. Meanwhile, the New Covenant is the unconditional grace of God.
A: Romans 3:24-25a: "being justified freely by His grace through the redemption that is in Christ Jesus, whom God set forth as a propitiation by faith in His blood.
B: Ephesians 2:8-9: "For by grace you have been saved through faith, and that not of yourselves; it is the gift of God, not of works, lest anyone should boast."
C: Titus 2:11-12: "For the grace of God that brings salvation has appeared to all men, teaching us that, denying ungodliness and worldly lusts, we should live soberly, righteously, and godly in the present age." (Romans5:1).
It is clear from these verses that the New Covenant is unconditional—a covenant of God's grace and His free gift, as it relies on the redemption of Christ.
Grace means a free gift given to those who do not deserve it.
Salvation is a gift given to the sinful human; thus, man's salvation depends on God's grace and not on any good works he must perform.
Truth 2: The New Covenant is Eternal
The Covenant of the Law was temporary, while the New Covenant is eternal.
A: Hebrews 13:20: "Now may the God of peace who brought up our Lord Jesus from the dead, that great Shepherd of the sheep, through the blood of the everlasting covenant."
B: Hebrews 9:11a-12: "But Christ came as High Priest of the good things to come… Not with the blood of goats and calves, but with His own blood He entered the Most Holy Place once for all, having obtained eternal redemption."
C: Hebrews 5:6 & 6:20: "As He also says in another place: 'You are a priest forever According to the order of Melchizedek'" (Psalm 110:4). "where the forerunner has entered for us, even Jesus, having become High Priest forever according to the order of Melchizedek." (Genesis14:18-19).
The Covenant of the Law was linked to the system of sacrifices and priesthood. However, the New Covenant is linked to the priesthood of Christ, which is an eternal priesthood according to the order of Melchizedek (who existed before the Law). Therefore, believers in Christ receive eternal salvation. (Hebrews 5:9).
Truth 3: The New Covenant is for the Forgiveness of Sins
The Covenant of the Law was for the knowledge of sin, but the New Covenant is for the forgiveness of sin.
A: Ephesians 1:7: "In Him we have redemption through His blood, the forgiveness of sins, according to the riches of His grace." (See also Colossians 1:14).
B: Acts 2:38: "Then Peter said to them, 'Repent, and let every one of you be baptized in the name of Jesus Christ for the remission of sins; and you shall receive the gift of the Holy Spirit.'"
C: Acts 10:43: "To Him all the prophets witness that, through His name, whoever believes in Him will receive remission of sins."
The New Covenant offers forgiveness for sin to everyone who confesses their sins, repents, and believes in the Lord Jesus Christ.
Truth 4: The New Covenant is the Victory over Sin
Under the Law, man was unable to apply the commandments because of his slavery to sin. In the New Covenant, he has the possibility of victory.
A: Romans 8:1-4: "There is therefore now no condemnation to those who are in Christ Jesus, who do not walk according to the flesh, but according to the Spirit. For the law of the Spirit of life in Christ Jesus has made me free from the law of sin and death. For what the law could not do in that it was weak through the flesh, God did by sending His own Son in the likeness of sinful flesh, on account of sin: He condemned sin in the flesh, that the righteous requirement of the law might be fulfilled in us who do not walk according to the flesh but according to the Spirit".
B: Romans 6:11, 14: "Likewise you also, reckon yourselves to be dead indeed to sin, but alive to God in Christ Jesus our Lord... For sin shall not have dominion over you, for you are not under law but under grace."
C: Colossians 1:12-13: "giving thanks to the Father who has qualified us to be
partakers of the inheritance of the saints in the light. He has delivered us from the power of darkness and conveyed us into the kingdom of the Son of His love."
In these verses, we find that it has become possible for man to triumph over sin because Christ has freed him from its slavery and moved him from the power of darkness into the Kingdom of God.
Truth 5: Renewal of the Heart by the Holy Spirit
In the Law, man followed literal commandments engraved on stone. In the New Covenant, God renews the heart of the repentant person and places His commandments within them through the Holy Spirit.
A: John 14:16-17: "And I will pray the Father, and He will give you another Helper, that He may abide with you forever—the Spirit of truth, whom the world cannot receive, because it neither sees Him nor knows Him; but you know Him, for He dwells with you and will be in you".
B: Romans 7:6: "But now we have been delivered from the law, having died to what we were held by, so that we should serve in the newness of the Spirit and not in the oldness of the letter".
C: 1 Corinthians 6:19-20: "Or do you not know that your body is the temple of the Holy Spirit who is in you, whom you have from God, and you are not your own? For you were bought at a price; therefore glorify God in your body and in your spirit, which are God’s."
D: Ephesians 2:19-22: "...but fellow citizens with the saints and members of the household of God, having been built on the foundation of the apostles and prophets, Jesus Christ Himself being the chief cornerstone, in whom the whole building, being fitted together, grows into a holy temple in the Lord, in whom you also are being built together for a dwelling place of God in the Spirit."
Worship under the Law was physical, adhering to the letter; worship in the New Covenant is spiritual, and the believer becomes a temple for the indwelling Holy Spirit. The Church is a Holy temple.
Truth 6: Victory over Death and Eternal Life
The Law was the covenant of death and the curse;
the New Covenant is the victory over death and the hope of eternal life.
A: John 5:24: "Most assuredly, I say to you, he who hears My word and believes in Him who sent Me has everlasting life, and shall not come into judgment, but has
passed from death into life".
B: Hebrews 5:9: "And having been perfected, He became the author of eternal salvation to all who obey Him."
C: 2 Corinthians 5:1: "For we know that if our earthly house, this tent, is destroyed, we have a building from God, a house not made with hands, eternal in the heavens."
D: Hebrews 9:15: "And for this reason He is the Mediator of the new covenant, by means of death, for the redemption of the transgressions under the first covenant, that those who are called may receive the promise of the eternal inheritance."
Truth 7: The Covenant of Heavenly Things and Reality
The Law was a shadow; the New Covenant is the reality (truth) and the heavenly things themselves.
A: Hebrews 8:1-2: "...We have such a High Priest, who is seated at the right hand of the throne of the Majesty in the heavens, a Minister of the sanctuary and of the true tabernacle which the Lord erected, and not man."
B: 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".
C: Hebrews 9:23-24, 26b: "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... but now, once at the end of the ages, He has appeared to put away sin by the sacrifice of Himself".
What was the fate of the Covenant of the Law?
There are three answers to this Question.
1. Christ declared He came not to destroy the Law but to fulfill it, to complete it in His life and His atoning death. Christ complete or fulfill the Law.
Galatians 3:13 "Christ has redeemed us from the curse of the law, having become a curse for us. fore it is written, 'Cursed is everyone who hangs on a tree”
On the same time, he set a higher spiritual standard than the heavy
commandments of the Law, while maintaining the Moral Law (the Ten Commandments) as a foundation for human societies.
2. The author of Hebrews answers this by quoting Jeremiah: 31:31-34,
(Hebrews8:8,10,13)
"Because finding fault with them, He says: '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 Juda… 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... In that He says, "A new covenant," He has made the first old. Now what is becoming obsolete and growing old is ready to vanish away”.
Jeremiah’s prophecy was fulfilled in the New Covenant. So, the Covenant of the
Law no longer has meaning or value after the New Covenant began; it has become "ready to vanish away."
Yes, The Old Covenant was the shadow of the reality. But the New Covenant
which was established by the Lord Jesus Christ through His atoning death and His triumphant resurrection, is the covenant of reality, perfection, and the one that will stand forever.
3. Book of Hebrews compare between the Covenant of the Law and the New Covenant by these words: (Hebrews12:18, 22a,23a, 24).
“You have not come to a mountain that can be touched and that is burning with fire; to darkness, gloom and storm”.
But you have come to Mount Zion, to the heavenly Jerusalem, the city of the living God… to the Church of the firstborn, whose names are written in heaven…
To Jesus the mediator of a new covenant, and to the sprinkled blood, that speaks a better word than the blood of Abel”.
- This is a wonderful comparison between the two Covenants.
- With this we conclude the comparison between the two.
For further study about the comparison between the Covenant of Law and the Covenant of the New Covenant, see Galatians 4:21-31.
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