Sunday, February 1, 2015

THE NEW COVENANT EXPLAINED - PART 4

The New Covenant is in essence, an improvement of the Old (Sinai) Covenant and not a replacement of it. For one, the New Covenant provides a better relationship with God as the former only provides a symbolic relationship with the Creator. New features were added in the New Covenant and some features that are symbolic were removed from the former. This is because Jesus Christ is now the permanent High Priest unlike the former which was based on the Levitical Priesthood descended from Aaron.

The sacrificial death of Jesus Christ provides a better promise in that eternal life was offered to all who would accept and obey Him as compared to the Sinai Covenant which provides only physical blessings as the blood of bulls and goats can never permanently take away the sins of mankind! Besides, the gift of the Holy Spirit is only available under the New Covenant for all who would repent to become sons and daughters of God born again into His Divine Family. Such gift was not made available to the masses under the Sinai Covenant. However, do note that the spiritual and moral laws of God enshrined under the Sinai Covenant remain intact and has never been replaced under the New Covenant  - they remain relevant even throughout eternity!

The Apostle Paul states that the spirit and not the letter of the law is to take precedence - 2 Corinthians 3:6. What it means is that the original meaning and purpose of the law is to take root in our hearts and mind and not just the letter written on tablets of stone - verse 3. This will enable those who are called of God to live life righteously and be able to have proper spiritual discernment in making life's decisions.

In fact, this is the miracle of "new creation" in Christ (2 Corinthians 5:17) when God writes His law in our hearts and minds through the gift of the Holy Spirit and not through physical circumcision. The Apostle Paul is reminding the Galatians  - having started with the Spirit and to end with the circumcision of the flesh would be foolhardy - Galatians 3:1-3.

We now come to the 'new part' of Jesus Christ's 'New Commandment' that is often misunderstood. Many assume that Christ came to replace all of God's commandment taught in the Old Testament with this New Commandment - John 13:34. However, this is never the case as all His teachings show. Centuries ago before the first advent of Christ, Moses wrote about the same commandment recorded for us in Leviticus 19:18 - 'Thou shall love thy neighbour as thyself : I am the LORD'. Jesus added the phrase 'as I have loved you' in John 13:34 but not found in Leviticus 19:18 because at the time of Moses, Jesus Christ was not yet incarnated as Man to walk the earth  and die for the sins of mankind.

The short phrase (as I have love you) holds great significance as it sets the perfect example of love Jesus has for all who would believe and obey Him - Greater love hath no man than this, that a man lay down his life for his friends - John 15:13. The point Jesus was making is that love and obedience are inseparable - If you keep my commandments, you shall abide in my love: even as I have kept my Father's commandments, and abide in His love - John 15:10.  All the teachings of Jesus Christ, particularly the Sermon on the Mount and that of the Apostle Paul clearly point to this fact - that observance of God's righteous law in the external form without a change of heart and mind is defective as one could still break God's righteous law inwardly where it cannot be seen by men. Such was the hypocrisy practiced by the scribes and Pharisees which was condemned by the Lord Jesus Christ - Matthew 5:20!

The Apostle Peter's caution about misunderstanding and misinterpreting Apostle Paul's teaching about law and grace has to be taken to heart. Otherwise, some will twist Paul's words out of context to mean different from what he intended - only to their own destruction (2 Peter 3:16)! Contrary to what many believed Paul was teaching that the law of God had been 'nailed to the cross', he actually put the law on a firmer footing (Romans 3:31) - by affirming that the law of God is holy, and the commandment holy, just and good (Romans 7:12) as the law define what sin is (Romans3:20) - for sin is the transgression of the law (of God) - 1 John 3:4.