So What About The New Covenant?

In the past few posts we've covered the ‘Law’ fairly thoroughly in that we've discussed the Ten Commandments.  Any student of the Bible, however, will know that there are many, many ‘laws’ mentioned in the Bible apart from the Ten Commandments.  While that is completely true if you examine any ‘law’ in the Bible you will find, ultimately, its roots will lie in the Ten Commandments.  They are the foundation of all of God’s laws and they are, at the heart, laws of love. 

When you see a law in, for example, the Old Testament that speaks of not marking your body with tattoos for the dead this seems an odd and arbitrary law.  Yet when examined in the light of the Ten Commandments it becomes much clearer.  What is God trying to say with this kind of law?  That we are not to follow the false and pagan practices of other nations and that we should not worship any god but the true Creator God of the universe.  Does that mean that in this modern world no one should ever get a tattoo?  I don’t believe so because when you are tattooed today you are not doing it as a form of pagan worship, today it is simply a fad, or done for artistic reasons, in fact a myriad of non-spiritual reasons – if, however, you are getting tattooed as a religious practice, then yes, you are worshipping a false god.

Likewise, in the Old Testament, there were many ‘laws’ which were pertinent to the people of that time and place but not necessarily relevant to our modern world.  For example, the Bible tells men not to cut the hair at the side of their faces – why?  Because as a desert dwelling people God wanted them to be healthy and not expose themselves unnecessarily to bacteria and other specifically desert problems like tiny biting insects.  By not cutting the hair at the side of their faces men avoided a multitude of ear infections.  Is that still necessary?  Only if you live in the desert without access to modern antibiotics.

Additionally the Old Testament is full of laws and regulations regarding sacrifice and specific Temple rules.  However, it is interesting to note that even during the Old Testament times God’s overwhelming rule of love was in action.  The laws of sacrifice were necessary so that people would eventually understand the magnitude of Jesus’ sacrifice.  That God in the flesh would actually sacrifice Himself for His own creation in order that we might dwell with Him forever in His Kingdom is something that no one, myself included, can ever really appreciate.  Yet the laws of the Old Testament regarding sacrifice were designed so that we would have, at least, some understanding of the depth of God’s love for us when He sacrificed Himself for us.

Even regarding the Temple laws, for example not touching or eating the shew bread placed in the Temple for God, are over-ridden and governed by God’s ultimate law of love.  When King David was hungry and ate the bread God did not count that as a sin.  God knew King David’s heart, knew David’s intentions and the law of love presided even over such strict prohibitions as the Temple laws.  Everything, always in our relationships with God and with our fellow man comes down to love. 

King David was a liar, adulterer and a murderer – to name only some of his faults – yet God called David ‘a man after My own heart’.  Read the psalms that David wrote and you will see that King David, at heart, thought first, last and always of trying to please God.  Did he sin many times along the way?  Absolutely, but he knew that God values true, heart-felt repentance above all sacrifices and if we are truly repentant then we are completely forgiven.

So what about the New Covenant?  We all know, if we have read our Bibles that God has created a New Covenant but does that mean God has done away with the ‘Law’?  Does that mean we are no longer bound to hold true to the Ten Commandments?  Absolutely not.  The Apostle Paul wrote that the New Covenant was not a ‘licence for licentiousness’, meaning that the New Covenant did not give us the right to break God’s ultimate and foundational laws of love. 

The New Covenant simply means that we are no longer bound by the penalty of sin.  God tells us clearly that ‘the wages of sin is death’, meaning that each and every single person should not only die physically but die eternally because each and every one of us has, at some time, sinned.  Therefore He sent Jesus, God in the flesh, to die for our sins so that the penalty was paid – this is the essence of the New Covenant.  Not that there are new laws but that the punishment has already been paid.

In fact, under the New Covenant, God holds us to a higher standard than ever before.  It is not enough to just keep the laws, we must keep them in our hearts and minds, keep the spirit and the letter of the law.  In the Book of James God inspired the Apostle to write that pure and undefiled religion was taking care of the widows and the fatherless.  God wants His laws of love to spill into our daily lives so that we will love each other as much as we love Him.  Yet this is not a new order or directive from God.  Read the Old Testament Book of Amos, God inspired that prophet to write to a group of people who were ‘keeping the letter of the law’ that because they were neglecting the poor and the disenfranchised He intended to punish them for their sins.  They were keeping to ‘the letter of the law’ but only on the surface, you must keep the law all the way through.

The New Covenant is bigger, better, grander and above all far more merciful than the Old Covenant God originally made with Abraham and the Israelites but it still rests firmly on God’s laws of love, the Ten Commandments.  Many of today’s church denominations and religions will tell you that this is not the case, that is because they represent the White Horse of false religion that has been riding since the foundation of the world.  Do not allow yourselves to be deceived by the White Horse, Satan is very, very convincing and many, many millions of people worship in error but thanks to the New Covenant God looks on their hearts and judges them accordingly.  Once you have discovered the truth however you must adhere to it as best as humanly possible.  

Til then live in peace.

Tracey