LESSON 10 -THE OLD COVENANT AND THE NEW COVENANT

THE OLD COVENANT AND THE NEW COVENANT –

So many times in my life I have listened to the Christian mass where before communion I would hear the words, in a similar way, when supper was ended, he took the chalice and, once more giving thanks, he gave it to his disciples, saying: Take this, all of you, and drink from it, for this is the chalice of my Blood, the Blood of the new and eternal covenant, which will be poured out for you and for many for the forgiveness of sins. Do this in memory of me.

Jesus has said many times in the scriptures, “They listen but they do not hear.” I must confess that I listened to these words many times, but for years and years, I never really heard or understood them. They were just words. Well, I’ve come to realize that they are “important words.” What is the new covenant? This question also brings up the question, Is there an old covenant? If there is, what is it? In general, what is a covenant? I am going to use different sites I have studied to answer these questions.

A covenant is simply an agreement between two parties. In this case, the covenants are between God and people. The two covenants provide two completely different ways by which we relate to God.

The Old Covenant refers to the law (the Ten Commandments plus other laws) given through Moses on the “tablets of stone” recorded in the Old Testament. It emphasizes works, what we must do for God (“Thou shalt/shalt not”).

The Old covenant makes demands of us, but it doesn’t help us keep those demands, and the result is always failure on our part, The apostle Paul calls it “the ministry of condemnation because it was designed to show people that they constantly violated God’s laws and standards, but it gave no guarantee of God’s forgiveness and acceptance. Paul argues that the Old Testament is holy, righteous and good, but the problem is we cannot meet its demands.

The New Covenant refers to the Word of God, the Gospel that was given through Jesus Christ in the New Testament. It accentuates what God has done for us through Jesus Christ. The New Covenant offers to us a right standing with God through Christ. “For our sake he made him to be sin who did not know sin, so that we might become the righteousness of God in him.” God is willing to give us what we didn’t deserve, Christ’s Righteousness. Paul tells us that “the righteousness” is not our good works or performance, but God gives us Christ’s righteousness to us as a free underserved gift. What this gift of righteousness means is that you can have a secure relationship with God that is not based on what you can do for God, but what Christ has done for you.

So, Jesus was willing to “take what he did not deserve’ by willingly accepting the punishment for humanity’s sins on the cross, even though he was completely innocent and sinless, essentially taking the place of sinners to offer them redemption and forgiveness through his sacrifice. This act is seen as the ultimate expression of God’s love for humanity.

The apostle Paul builds a contrast between the new and the old, the “tablets of stone” and the new, the “new covenant.

“Now if the ministry that brought death, carved in letters on stone, was so glorious that the Israelites could not look intently at the face of Moses because of its glory that was going to fade, how much more will the ministry of the Spirit be glorious?’ (Corinthians 7-8).

The apostle Paul is talking about the Ten Commandments, written on stone when Moses’ face shone in glory. Paul is basically saying that the Ten Commandments is a “ministry that brought death.” What does Paul mean when he says, “the letter kills, but the Spirit gives life?” Why does he refer to the old covenant as “the ministry of death,” while he calls the new covenant “the ministry of the Spirit?”  Paul explains some differences: “For if the ministry of condemnation was glorious, the ministry of righteousness will abound much more in glory. Indeed, what was endowed with glory has come to have no glory in this respect because of the glory that surpasses it. For if what was going to fade was glorious, how much more will what endures be glorious. Therefore, since we have such hope, we act very boldly, and not like Moses, who put a veil over his face so that the Israelites could not look intently at the cessation of what was fading. Rather, their thoughts were rendered dull, for to this present day the same veil remains unlifted when they read the old covenant, because through Christ it is taken away. To this day, in fact, whenever Moses is read, a veil lies over their hearts, but whenever a person turns to the Lord the veil is removed. Now the Lord is the Spirit, and where the Spirit of the Lord is, there is freedom. All of us, gazing with unveiled face on the glory of the Lord, are being transformed into the same image from glory to glory, as from the Lord who is the Spirit.” (2 Cornithans 7-18)

The “Old Covenant” refers to the agreement God made with the Israelites through Moses, based on strict laws and a sacrificial system, while the “New Covenant” represents the agreement established through Jesus Christ, where salvation is achieved through faith in his sacrifice, offering a more personal and intimate relationship with God, with the holy spirit working within believers to fulfill God’s law on their hearts, rather than relying Soley on external rules; essentially, the New Covenant is seen as a fulfillment and improvement upon the Old Covenant.

“The Old Covenant is a code of moral demands, but the New Covenant provides God’s power to live for Him. God gives the same moral instructions in both covenants – but in the New Covenant he provides his Holy Spirit to supply both the motivation and the power to fulfill those instructions.” (Phil. 2:13) We have the ability through the new covenant to start each day anew, as the forgiveness of our sins will always be forgiven with true repentance.

To further explain, Paul says that the New Covenant can have a life-changing impact on your life. As we study the scripture, you will learn to focus on what God has done for you though Christ by giving to you the power of God’s spirit to gradually transform your life. My hope is that one way you can do this is through the use of bible study on this site.

Until next time, may peace, love and joy be with you always.