#15 The Ark - The New Covenant

the new covenant (New testament)

The New Covenant, what we call the New Testament, went into effect when Jesus died on the cross. The Old Covenant, what we call the Old Testament, went out of force when Jesus died on the cross. Old Testament prophets predicted the establishment of this new covenant.

The book of Hebrews is a wealth of information concerning the old covenant and the new covenant. In Hebrews 9 and 10 the scriptures explain that a new covenant went into effect after Jesus died on the cross. Hebrews 10:9-10, “Then said He, Lo, I come to do Thy will, O God. He taketh away the first (old covenant), that He may establish the second (new covenant).”

“By the which are we sanctified through the offering of the body of Jesus Christ once for all” Hebrews 10:10. The Law was fulfilled when Jesus Christ died for the sins of the world.

When Jesus died on the cross, even the Jews who did not believe in Him knew that something had changed because the veil of the temple, which separated the Holy of Holies, was torn from top to bottom, Matthew 27:51.

God never intended that laws in Leviticus should be applied to Christians in the twenty first century. In fact, in Leviticus Moses was speaking to whom? The Jews, the twelve tribes of Israel, under the Law. “And the LORD spoke unto Moses, saying, speak to the children of Israel and say to them…”

The key to understanding the relationship between the Christian and the Law is knowing that the Old Testament law was given to the nation of Israel, not to Christians. The purpose of the Old Testament law was given to convict us of our inability to keep the law and point us to our need for Jesus Christ as Saviour.

God no longer requires us to offer a blood sacrifice or to keep the Law in order to be right with God or to get saved. Christians are no longer under the Levitical or Jewish Law.  The New Testament never tells Christians they must keep the Jewish Law. In fact, we are told we are not required to keep the Law, Acts 15:24, 21:24-25. The New Testament specifically tells us we are not under the Law but under grace, Romans 6:14.

Christians today are allowed to eat any meat as long as we eat it with thanksgiving and prayer. 1 Timothy 4:5, “For every creature of God is good, and nothing to be refused, if it be received with thanksgiving: For it is sanctified by the word of God and prayer.” Webster’s dictionary: Creature – an animal of any type.

Christians are no longer required to observe one day as the Sabbath. Nine of the Ten Commandments are clearly repeated in the New Testament (all except the command to observe the Sabbath Day). Jesus fulfills the Sabbath law by opening the way for us (through His death and resurrection) to enter God’s Sabbath (rest). In Matthew 11:28 Jesus says, “Come unto me, all you that labor and are heavy laden, and I will give you rest.” Those who are Christian and have put their trust in Jesus are in God’s Sabbath now and there is no need for one special day each week (Hebrews 4:1-11). In fact, in a sense, every day is now a

Sabbath day to be kept holy. “There remaineth therefore a rest to the people of God” Hebrews 4:9.

New Testament Christians are no longer under the Law, and circumcision is no loner required. Circumcision is another great concern among Christians today, this was also an issue brought up in the early church and the apostles assured them it was no longer required. This is brought out in a number of New Testament passages, among which are Acts 15; Galatians 2:1-3; 5:1-11; 6:11-16; 1 Corinthians 7:17-20; Colossians 2:8-12; and Philippians 3:1-3.

The Bible states in Romans 2:28-29, “For he is not a Jew, which is one outwardly; neither is that circumcision, which is outward in the flesh: But he is a Jew, which is one inwardly; and circumcision is that of the heart, in the spirit, and not in the letter (old covenant); whose praise in not of men, but of God.”

While it is not required for Christians to celebrate the Passover, it is beneficial to study it. The Passover is a wonderful example of Christ’s atonement for His people and His deliverance of us from the bondage of sin. That is something we should celebrate every day of our lives.

Whether or not a Christian celebrates the Passover would be a matter of conscience for the individual Christian. Like all the Old Testament Jewish Feasts, the Passover Feast was a foreshadowing of Christ’s atoning work on the cross. Colossians 2:16-17 tells us that we should “let no man judge you in food or in drink, or regarding a festival or a new moon or Sabbaths, which are a shadow of things to come, but the substance is of Christ.” We should not look down upon another believer who does or does not observe the Passover or other special Jewish days or feasts, Romans 14:5.

Laws abolished. Ephesians 2:14-15, “For He is our peace, who hath made both one, and hath broken down the middle wall of partition between us; having abolished in his flesh the enmity, even the law of commandments contained in ordinances…” Jesus abolished the law of ordinances, which were all the laws the Jews had to follow. The feasts, the Passover, circumcision, etc…

In the newness of the Spirit, God’s commandments are written upon our hearts. Hebrews 10:16, “This is the (new) covenant that I will make with them after those days, saith the Lord, I will put my laws into their hearts, and in their minds will I write them.”

“Forasmuch as ye are manifestly declared to be the epistle of Christ ministered by us, written not with ink, but with the Spirit of the living God; not in tables of stone, but in fleshly tables of the heart.” 2 Corinthians 3:3

Romans 7:6, “But now we are delivered from the law, that being dead wherein we were held; that we should serve in newness of spirit, and not in the oldness of the letter (covenant).”

2 Corinthians 3:6, “Who also hath made us able ministers of the New Testament; not of the letter (Old Testament), but of the spirit: for the letter killeth, but the spirit giveth life!”

“But if ye be led of the Spirit, ye are not under the Law.” Galatians 5:18

Apostle Paul put it this way, in Colossians 2:13-17, “And you, being dead in your sins and the uncircumcision of your flesh, hath he quickened together with him, having forgiven you all trespasses; blotting out the handwriting of ordinances that was against us, which was contrary to us, and took it out of the way, nailing it to the cross; let no man therefore judge you in meat, or in drink, or in respect of an holy day, or of the new moon, or of the sabbath days.”