What if the Old Covenant was God’s final word to man?
What if the Ten Commandments were the only means available to us to gain entry into heaven, or to earn God’s love and acceptance?
Where would this leave us?
What would our eternal fate be?
How would this affect our lives here and now?
The Old Covenant was God’s word to Israel. Not His first word to Israel, nor was it His last. But it did define Israel’s way of life as a nation from Moses until Jesus. The teachers of the Law believed Israel’s role in the world was to live out the righteous requirements of the Law, and in so doing, become a blessing to all other nations.
Where did this leave them? The same place it leaves anyone who attempts to gain God’s acceptance through obedience to Law – judged, condemned, fearful and dead in sin.
That’s the Old Covenant, a ministry of condemnation and death.
When read correctly, the Law is God’s word about man, the plain, stark truth. It answers these questions: What is the destiny of a people caught in the throes of a lie? What will be their end? According to the Law, the final stop is death, but only if the Old Covenant is God’s final word.
The denouement of this story has a twist. It is revealed on a hill called Calvary, outside the walls of Jerusalem. A man hung there on a cross, suspended between heaven and earth. He was no ordinary man, and the death he died was no ordinary death.
The man whose hands and feet were pierced was the Lord Himself, the unblemished Lamb of God. His death was in place of ours. Live out the full story of the Law and it ends at the foot of this cross. Look up and see God’s final word to man – Jesus.
Death is not God’s end for man, it is Jesus. In Him we have forgiveness of sins, righteousness and a new way of life defined by the New Covenant.
What if we truly believed that Jesus was and is God’s final word to man?
Where would this leave us?
How would it affect us here and now?
The New Covenant answers – in Jesus fully alive!
Hi folks,
Maybe someone has some spiritual insights to the following question.
As I understand, in the NT, the purpose of the Law is to lead us to Jesus.
So, if that is correct, the Law reveals something in us. For example, “thou shalt not steal”. If I have stolen, I am a thief. Now I realize that I am a law breaker.
The only healing for a law breaker is the grace of God via the death burial and life of Jesus. Christ in me.
So my question is, to the unregenerate, is it proper to preach the law? Of course with a heart of love for that individual.
Thank you.
To me only as God leads you, many are today are already stuck under Law and have been convicted and behind closed doors stay convicted and just can’t stop sin, sometimes have even gotten worse at sin ususally behind closed doors not ever understanding what Christ has already done for them at the cross.
First the Holy Ghost does not convict one on sin, the world, the devil has done that Job to all mankind starting from birth on. A person needs to be freed from Sin and no one can do this, and no one has except Christ and he was born of a Virgin so no one can touch his perfectness. Yet today in him one believing in him seeing the new covenant the he brought has brought a change in the Law, and that new law is God’s LOVE best described in 1 Cor 13 and God wants to shed this abroad in each believers life and has once you believe, also we are under a new priesthood not in the order of AArron in the order of Melchizadek Hebrews tells us this, a new priesthood a new law and a new covennant one that we can obey trusting oin him produces this a law of LOVE, in Liberty WOW!!!!!!!!!
1Tim 1:8 “We know that the law is good IF ONE USES IT PROPERLY.”
So if there is a proper use of the law, there must also be an improper use of the law.
Gal 3:19 “What, then, was the purpose of the law? It was added because of transgressions UNTIL THE SEED TO WHOM THE PROMISE REFERRED HAD COME……”
Gal 3:24 “So the law was put in charge to lead us to Christ that we might be justified by faith.”
In other words, a man that is self righteous, who believes he is a good man and thus is going to heaven, needs to be shown that he is a sinner. That is the purpose of the Law, and that is the proper use of the Law.
It is necessary to acknowledge that you are a sinner, without hope and in need of salvation to turn to Christ. Nobody seeks salvation until they realize they are lost.
A person that already knows that they are a sinner does not need to be brought to that realization, they already know it. Using the Law on someone that already acknowledges their sinful nature is an improper use of the Law. It is beating a dead horse.
Once the self righteous person is brought to the realization that he is lost, then he can be given the GOOD NEWS, that God has provided a way by which he can be declared RIGHTEOUS-Jesus Christ!
Gal 3:25 “Now that faith has come, we are no longer under the supervision of the Law.”
I have nothing to add that was insightful and helpful,I think you rightly divided the word of truth. We go from trying to be self righteous to being righteous in and froim Goid through the cross at the resurrection
Only the Holy Spirit can open the eyes of a dead person.People that”preach” are in my opinion more likely to be either mixing law and grace or still under law themself.I would vote for maybe .opening a counseling center to fill in the cracks using non judgemental attitudes.Or has that been done already.
Right on Frank, come out from underneath the Old ways and serve in the new way the way God descibes it in 1 Cor 13 LOVE goes on forever all else will pass away
Awesome Post and The Law was put in place for the purpose to show us our need for the righteous Savior, to showus our inability to ne perfect so the perfect Savior Christ Jesus became the believers pinch hitter as in baseball and hit a homerun with the bases loaded and we have a free gift sliding right into home.
And Christ is the same today, yesterday and forever by Faith belief has man always had access to Father through Christ in the order of Melchizadek. Old Testament Saints were looking forward to the cross as David said in Psalms entering his courts with thanksgiving and praise, he was looking Forward as Job was too saying that he knows his redeemer lives. We today are looking back with thankfullness that it is done and we the believers have received WOW!!!!!!
Hi Howard.Always nice to hear from you.
What if the Old Covenant was God’s final word to man? What if the Ten Commandments were the only means available to us to gain entry into heaven, or to earn God’s love and acceptance? Where would this leave us? What would our eternal fate be? How would this affect our lives here and now? […]
Hi Howard.Always nice to hear from you.
Thanks Frank, appreciated
If the Old Covenant was God’s final word we would never make it and no one by Law ever did, it was and has always been by Faith and THis faith had to have an object and the objnect of Faith is Christ Jesus and has been from day one the Old Testament Saints looked forward to the day of Christ our redeemer. Now the Law was put in place to show ones inability and was never given to the gentile race, anyway that covenant was never a salvation covenant. it has been by Faith and Mercy God has Mercy on those that choose to believe God
Genesis 6:9
[ Noah and the Flood ] This is the account of Noah and his family. Noah was a righteous man, blameless among the people of his time, and he walked faithfully with God.
Genesis 17:1
[ The Covenant of Circumcision ] When Abram was ninety-nine years old, the Lord appeared to him and said, “I am God Almighty; walk before me faithfully and be blameless.
Exodus 34:6
And he passed in front of Moses, proclaiming, “The Lord, the Lord, the compassionate and gracious God, slow to anger, abounding in love and faithfulness,
Matthew 18:33
Shouldn’t you have had mercy on your fellow servant just as I had on you?’
Matthew 23:23
“Woe to you, teachers of the law and Pharisees, you hypocrites! You give a tenth of your spices—mint, dill and cumin. But you have neglected the more important matters of the law—justice, mercy and faithfulness. You should have practiced the latter, without neglecting the former.
Psalm 145:17
The Lord is righteous in all his ways and faithful in all he does.
Mark 5:19
Jesus did not let him, but said, “Go home to your own people and tell them how much the Lord has done for you, and how he has had mercy on you.”
Romans 4:16
Therefore, the promise comes by faith, so that it may be by grace and may be guaranteed to all Abraham’s offspring—not only to those who are of the law but also to those who have the faith of Abraham. He is the father of us all.
Abraham believed God and that was counted as righteousness from God period and at the time of Abraham there was no law in place to show the first chosen their inability to perform righteously with out God, Faith in, Beleiving in and trusting in.
Notice without Law and by Faith Noah built the ark and it had never rained on the earth before that day came. Abraham trusted God to raise his Son back to life or do wahtever because he knew God is the only one righteous. So I pick the one who knows all and trust God through Christ my redeemer that got me to be in him.
Now remember King David knew that Christ was comiong as Abnrahem knew, as Job knew and many others that just believed God and went through trials that seemed endless Joseph locked upfor what 13years before the famine came to the land and he got put in charge and his family came and bowed to him as he had told them they would as he had ahd dreams of this and they sell him to Ismaelites and Joseph just hol;ds on and trusts God to somehow come through WOW!!!!!!!!!!. Let us have this Faith trust belief oh Lord you are Mighty and always somehow come through while we are in the midst of adversity we can counr on you in your timing not ours. It was 430 years after the promise to Abraham and to his descendants that the Law of Moses got put in place. So the promise was never of the Law the promise was of faith in God,trusting God to work it all out somehow someway and that it does not matter how just God will and always does, forGod is not wishy washy at all, is 100% faithful to his promise, and this is shown through by Christ, through Christ I you and all believers have been past tense made righteous as partakers in his righteousness, never our own righteousness for that creates proudness, boastfullness and glory for self not God
This is what we are taught and God has shown his Mercy
Micah 6:8
New International Version (NIV)
8 He has shown you, O mortal, what is good.
And what does the Lord require of you?
To act justly and to love mercy
and to walk humbly with your God.
Humility and Mercy are to me what causes one to do justly ofr it no longer you through Christ that does the work it Christ through you. called an exchaged life your life for Christs life.