Eric Casagrande      /          Genelyn Novabos

 

 

Old Covenant  vs.  New Covenant

  

While the Old Testament portion of the Bible officially ends with the Book of the Prophet Malachi, nevertheless, the Old Covenant was not concluded at that point. It’s very important for people to understand that while the four Gospels mark the start of the New Testament, they are, for the most part, describing the final three-and-a-half years of the Old Covenant.

Many people believe the Gospels are recounting the beginning days of the  Church, but a careful reading of the events and teachings which are being described, reveal teachings heavily steeped in the Mosaic laws and traditions. The New Covenant on the other hand, is entirely based on the Grace of God, through faith in the shed blood, death, and resurrection of Jesus Christ, rather than a perfomance based righteousness, of which nobody has ever attained.

We have further evidence these were the final days of the Old Covenant, because Jesus Himself stated in no uncertain terms, that He had come to be the fulfillment of all the Mosaic Laws and traditions (Matthew 5: 17-18):

 

“Think not that I am come to destroy the law or the

prophets: I am not come to destroy, but to fulfill.

  

For verily I say unto you, Until heaven and earth

pass, one jot or one tittle shall in no wise pass

from the law till all be fulfilled.“

 

 

 

The Old Covenant, with all of its laws and traditions, was strictly between God and the nation of Israel. The Gentile nations were excluded from it, as Paul says in Ephesians 2: 11-12:

 

“Wherefore remember, that you, being in time past

Gentiles in the flesh, who are called Uncircumcision

by that which is called the Circumcision in the flesh

made by hands;

 

That at that time you were without Christ, being aliens

from the Commonwealth of Israel, and strangers from

the covenants of promise, having no hope, and without

God in the world.“ 

 

As noted above, the Old Covenant was completely performance based, requiring the people of Israel to do something first, whether fulfilling a specific area of the 600+ laws, or some other ceremonial requirement, and then God would respond secondly.

If Israel would do this thing …. then God would do that thing. If they kept this law … then God would give them that blessing. But it also worked in reverse. If Israel failed to live up to all their responsibilities under the terms  outlined in the Covenant, then God would not bless them, and they would end up being cursed.

The blessing wasn’t proportional either. If you obeyed 99% of the laws of God, you didn’t receive 99% of the blessing … you still received 100% of the curse. It was all or nothing. This was why Israel was constantly being cursed – because they couldn’t live up to their part of the Covenant.

Now let us examine some of the teachings given by Jesus in the Gospels, and you will clearly see a very strong resemblance to the Old Covenant:

 

“And when he was gone forth into the way,

there came one running, and kneeled to him,

and asked him, Good Master, what shall I do

that I may inherit eternal life?

 

And Jesus said unto him, Why do you call me

good? There is none good but one, that is God.

 

You know the commandments, Do not commit

adultery, Do not kill, Do not steal, Do not bear

false witness, Defraud not, Honour your

father and mother.“

  

 

In these verses (Mark 10: 17-19), the young man is asking Jesus: “What must I do first, in order to have God respond (second), with a blessing?”  He clearly knew how the Old Covenant relationship that he had with God, worked. In order to receive from God, he had to earn it.

 

In reply to his question, Jesus made it clear that He also understands exactly how the Old Covenant operates, for He quotes the Mosaic Laws back to the young man.

 

Jesus then goes on to make a very revealing statement, but I would like to set it aside for just a moment, and state again that there is absolutely no question the Old Covenant was in full force during His ministry.

Now having established this point, allow me to “drop a bomb” on a few of the most misunderstood New Testament scripture verses, and open up the eyes of your heart!

 

LOVING

A surprising number of ministers out there, would suggest that if we want to receive love as born-again believers, then we must take the first step and be willing to offer love, both to God and our fellow man. Their idea is usually based on Matthew 7: 12, where Jesus says:

 

“Therefore, all things whatsoever you would that men

should do to you, do you even unto them …“

 

This verse however, has clearly no foundation in terms of New Covenant principles, but rather is based on the Mosaic Law, where the individual is required to do something first in order to receive something second. The second part of this verse clearly proves its Old Covenant origins: 

 

“Therefore, all things whatsoever you would that men

should do to you, do you even unto them: for this

is the law and the prophets.“

 

Now someone might ask: What about where Jesus says that you are to love God with all your heart, and love your neighbour as yourself?  Well this idea was taught in Matthew 22: 36-40, but it’s another principle from the Old Covenant:

 

“Master, which is the great commandment in the law?

 

Jesus said unto him, You shall love the Lord your

God with all your heart, and with all your soul, and

with all your mind.

 

This is the first and great commandment.

 

And the second is like unto it, You shall love your

neighbour as yourself.“

 

My friends, let me say it again: The Old Covenant demanded Israel do something first - in order to receive from God second. But it was never successful in its application, because although God was fully capable of living up to His side of the Covenant, Israel was weak and unable to fulfill their part in it.

The idea of man acting out some merit-based performance, in order that God might respond favorably, does not have its foundations within the New Covenant. Let me prove it to you with the following verse (John 3: 16):

 

“For God so loved the world, that He gave His only

begotten Son, that whosoever believes in Him

should not perish, but have everlasting life.“

 

How interesting. It doesn’t say that God demanded that the world love Him first so that He could love them back second – which was the entire modus operandi of the Old Covenant – but rather that God loved the world so very much, that He took the first step and gave, before mankind did anything!

My friends, this is how the New Covenant operates! We don’t love in order to be loved, but rather, we love in response to God, who loved us first, in the person of His Son, Jesus Christ!

This is exactly what the Bible teaches in 1 John 4: 9-11, where it says:

 

“In this was manifested the love of God toward us,

because that God sent His only begotten Son

into the world, that we might live through Him.

 

Herein is love, not that we loved God, but that

He loved us, and sent His Son to be the

propitiation for our sins.

 

Beloved, if God so loved us, we ought also

to love one another.“

 

Now let us examine the next important area.   

 

 

 

 

GIVING

Okay some of you might say: But what about where it concerns our giving in order to receive? What about all the televangelists constantly reminding us that Jesus said we have to give in order to receive? Well they usually make this statement because they want you to give money to them, and Luke 6: 38 is the scripture that is often maligned in the process:

 

“Give, and it shall be given unto you: good measure,

pressed down, and shaken together, and running

over, shall men give into your bosom. For with the

same measure that you mete withal, it shall be

measured to you again.“

 

Sounds pretty convincing, doesn’t it? Because I mean after all, it was Jesus who made this statement.

But just hold on a moment, because once again it bears all the trimmings of the Old Covenant. Israel was required to give (first), in order to receive (second). It’s completely performance based, not grace.

 

 

While we should give to support our local church, giving in order to get has no foundational basis in the New Covenant. The reason Jesus said what He did is because He was living under the Old Covenant, and it was His purpose to fulfill it to the very letter. His purpose in fulfilling all of the Old Covenant was so that it could be folded up and put away, paving the way for a new and better covenant – not just for Israel, but for all mankind.

 

Well then, where does giving fit in under the terms of the New Covenant, and how do we go about it? In order to properly answer that question, let’s take a look once more at what John 3: 16 has to say:

 

“For God so loved the world, that He gave His only

begotten Son, that whosoever believes in Him

should not perish, but have everlasting life.“

 

Herein lies the truth concerning giving under the New Covenant. For God so loved the world, that He gave His only begotten Son. Under the terms of the Old Covenant, all giving had been motivated by the strong desire to get something back in return. But in the New Covenant, we don’t give in order to get … we give out of love, because God first gave to us, in the person of Jesus Christ!

But there is one more biggie which remains.

 

 

 FORGIVENESS

 

Many people struggle within the area of forgiveness, having long been taught by their pastors and other spiritual leaders that if they do not offer unrestricted forgiveness at all times to everyone – then neither will God ever forgive them. The following scripture verse (Mark 11: 25-26), is the one usually quoted: 

 

“And when you stand praying, forgive, if you have

ought against any: that your Father also which

is in heaven may forgive you your trespasses.

 

But if you do not forgive, neither will your Father

which is in heaven forgive your trespasses.“

 

Once more, this isn’t the New Covenant definition of forgiveness.

This definition is highly steeped and rooted within the demands of the Old Covenant. If Israel will first do this thing – then God will (secondly) do that thing. If Israel will offer forgiveness first, then God will grant forgiveness in response. It is totally based on man’s ability to earn acceptance with God through the keeping of the law on his own effort, and has no relationship whatsoever to the Gospel of Grace through Jesus Christ, and His finished work on the Cross.

 

 

But isn’t forgiveness important, and unforgiveness a sin?  Yes, of course forgiveness is important, and yes, unforgiveness is a sin – but so is lying, gossip, anger, stealing, and pride – and I have not even begun to scratch the surface!

 

 

Please understand one other thing: When Jesus Christ went to the cross, He bore every single sin – both of commission and omission – that every single one of us would ever fall into, past, present, and future. There is not one single sin that was excluded, and for which Jesus did not pay the full price, including the sin of unforgiveness!

 

 

Do you think Jesus Christ went to the Cross and said: “Okay Father, now we know I agreed to pay the price for every sin, but unforgiveness is such a hot potato that I’ll have to skip over that one.”

 

 

How utterly ridiculous!

 

 

There is not a single person who was ever born, that absolutely forgave every single person, every single time they were offended, every single day, for the entire duration of their life! Not once – not ever! Nobody!

 

 

This is why the Lord Jesus Christ went to the cross, to pay for it all!

 

 

My brothers and sisters – we don’t forgive in order to be forgiven. We forgive others because we already have been forgiven by God, through the person of Jesus Christ (Ephesians 4: 31-32), nearly two thousand years before we were ever born! 

“Let all bitterness, and wrath, and anger and clamor, and

evil speaking, be put away from you, with all malice:

 

And be you kind one to another, tenderhearted,

forgiving one another, even as God for

Christ’s sake has forgiven you.“

 

Another thing for you to keep in mind when reading the Gospels is that, on occasion Jesus said things as a provocative challenge to the Pharisees, who thought they could be saved by through the keeping the Mosaic Law, and thus rejected the One who was the true giver of life!

In no uncertain terms, there were many times in which Jesus took a given law, and gave a significantly deeper explanation of what it meant than the Pharisees had ever considered … all in an attempt to have them realize they couldn’t save themselves … they needed to come to Him! This is the same message He was trying to get across with the rich young ruler we spoke about earlier.

 

My brothers and sisters, we don’t love out of a sense of duty, in order to be loved. We love because God first loved us, through the person of His Son, Jesus Christ!

 

We don’t give in order to get something in return. We give because God first gave to us, through the person of His Son, Jesus Christ!

 

Finally, we don’t forgive, in order to be forgiven. We forgive, because God first forgave us, through the person of His Son, Jesus Christ!

 

 

 

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