But now has He obtained a more excellent ministry, by how much also He is the mediator of a better covenant, which was established upon better promises. Hebrews 8:6
Question; “what makes the new covenant better?” This is our third blog in a series of blogs I started after hearing a minister, ostensibly of the Lord Jesus Christ say, “The reason old covenant saints could not go to heaven was because the blood of animals could not wash away sins.” I say, “Ostensibly” because He was not preaching the gospel of the new covenant nor did he understand the difference between the new and old covenants. Moreover, I wonder how many supposed new covenant saints do. If you do not have a clear understanding of the new covenant, you will never be able to access the promises of it. So what is it that makes the new covenant new?
The new covenant is new because it is a totally different covenant, totally different than the last covenant God made with mankind. It is not the old covenant remodeled or the old covenant with an addendum or an old covenant makeover; it is a new covenant. It is not the blood of Jesus added to the old covenant. The new covenant is new because there is a different member of the Godhood heading it up. The old covenant was established by the Father God. He was Lord of the old covenant but at Jesus’ resurrection from the dead the Father God highly exalted Jesus and gave Him the name above all other names, the name of Lord, making Him the head of the new covenant. The new covenant is new because there are two parts to it. Jesus is both Saviour and Lord in the new covenant and faith concerning Jesus must be exercised in both arenas. The new covenant is new because there is a new code of conduct associated with it. Just before Jesus’ resurrection, Jesus stood in front of the founding members of His Church and issued to them the commandments of the new covenant. These commandments are radically different than anything under the old covenant. The new covenant is just that, new.
What makes the new covenant better? The new covenant is better because the blood of Jesus is far superior to the blood of innocent animals. The new covenant is better because there are far fewer laws to keep under it. The new covenant is better because its laws are much easier to keep and the new covenant is better because it is possible to keep those laws. The new covenant is better because of the grace and mercy associated with it. The new covenant is better because its promises are far superior to the old covenant promises. Oh, and by the way, the new covenant is better because the Holy Spirit actually comes into the hearts of new covenant believers to dwell.
What makes the promises of the new covenant better? In a nutshell, the promise of the old covenant was a long healthy prosperous life but the promise of the new covenant is eternal life but not just eternal life. The promise of the new covenant is the life of God but not just the life of God. The promise of the new covenant is to become a Son of God with all the power and authority that implies.
The superiority of the new covenant over the old covenant is reflected by the superiority of the blood of Jesus over the blood of innocent animals. For anyone to insinuate or come right out and state that new covenant believers must keep the old covenant commandments and repent of transgressions of old covenant law in the new covenant has not considered the superiority of the blood of Jesus to deal with sin once for all time. Moreover, in that there is a new covenant, sin has a new definition. The superiority of the new covenant is reflected by the superiority of the commandments issued in conjunction with it. And the superiority of the new covenant is reflected by the superiority of the promises of it.
The word, “new,” means, “Not having existed before; made, introduced, or discovered recently or for the first time.” The new covenant, with all its pieces and parts, did not exist before Jesus’ resurrection. It is not the old covenant revisited; remodeled; or added to. It is a completely new event.
Now, the truth that the Church, far and wide, is not living in the new covenant is self evident. Where can you look to see the promises of the new covenant manifesting themselves? Paul, in 1Corinthians 11:28-30, states quite plainly, “But let a man examine himself, and so let him eat of that bread, and drink of that cup, for he that eats and drinks unworthily, eats and drinks damnation to himself, not discerning the Lord’s body. For this cause many are weak and sickly among you, and many sleep.” Here, Paul is speaking of the proper way to receive communion.
Communion is that event whereby the Church comes together to celebrate and remember the death of Jesus but the death of Jesus served two purposes; it fulfilled the old covenant and it established the new covenant. The word covenant is just another word for contract. A contract that has been fulfilled is no longer valid. It does not pass away; it just loses its authority. Since the old covenant was fulfilled by Jesus, it has gone out of force; its authority has ended. Indeed, the author of the old covenant, The Father God, has transferred His authority over to Jesus who has established a new covenant with it. Remember, the definition of new is not having existed before.
Now, again, the death of Jesus accomplished two things; it fulfilled the old covenant but Jesus used His death to establish the new covenant. Again, one of the things that make the new covenant new is that it has two parts. The old covenant only had one part. Jesus died on the cross under the authority of the old covenant; He died under the authority of His Father but He was raised from the dead by His own authority under the authority of the new covenant. That there is a clean break between the old and new covenants is made clear by 1Corinthians 11:28-30, “But let a man examine himself, and so let him eat of that bread, and drink of that cup, for he that eats and drinks unworthily, eats and drinks damnation to himself, not discerning the Lord’s body. For this cause many are weak and sickly among you, and many sleep.”
Notice the phrase, “not discerning the Lord’s body.” To discern the Saviour’s body and to discern the Lord’s body is two different discerning. Jesus, the Saviour, died under old covenant law but Jesus, the Lord was raised under new covenant law. Paul says, “Let a man examine himself.” Is this examination an examination of new covenant law or of old covenant law? The question is, “Do new covenant saints need to keep old covenant law in order to be in right standing with God under the new covenant?” Do new covenant saints need to repent of old covenant law before receiving the Lord’s Supper? No, absolutely not!
To discern the Lord’s body is to discern the law (commandments) of the new covenant and to examine yourself is to examine whether you are faithfully keeping those laws. He that receives of the Lord’s body and blood without keeping the Lord’s commandments, the commandments of the new covenant, receives damnation to himself. He is not discerning the body and blood of the Lord. This is the reason most every Christian dies with some form of sickness and or disease and there is no difference between the saints of God, who ostensibly have received the life of God, and the world.
Christians and the world of Christianity have been sold a lie. They were told not to attempt to keep the first commandment Jesus issued under the authority of the new covenant. They were told that commandment was personal, issued to eleven men and no others. They were told these eleven men perfectly kept that commandment for all men for all time. But Jesus, when asked what the greatest commandment of the old covenant law was, stated, “The first; and the second is like it.” He said, “On these two commandments hang all the law and the prophets” Matt.22:36-40. If the same principal holds true under the new covenant, the greatest commandment of the new covenant and the most important commandment of the law of life in Christ Jesus is being ignored by those who are attempting to access the promises of the new covenant. Moreover, they are trying to keep the wrong commandments.
If the new covenant is new, why would new covenant believers have to keep old covenant law in order to be righteous or worthy to receive the sacrament of the Lord’s Supper? Why would new covenant believers be found worthy of the body and blood of the Lord by keeping old covenant law?
Let’s state the obvious again for emphasis: The new covenant is new (not my word but God’s); God is the one who called the new covenant new. That is to say, the new covenant has not existed before. It is a brand new contract between God and man. Even the God (Jesus) who instituted it is different than the God (the Father) who instituted the previous covenant. All of its commandments are brand new; as well as every promise associated with it. The authority of the new covenant is new and its definition of righteousness is new. The blood of Jesus was not just great enough to wipe all sin away; it was great enough to change the definition of sin. There is not a synonym of the word new we can use to emphasize this.
So, you might ask, “What are the commandments that make up the law of the new covenant?” Remember, Paul said, “The law of the spirit of life in Christ Jesus has set me free from the law of sin and death,” Romans 8:2. He said, “There is therefore now no condemnation to them which are in Christ Jesus, who walk not after the flesh but after the Spirit,” Romans 8:1. In Romans 8:2, Paul juxtaposes the law of the new covenant with the law of the old covenant. In order to be set free from the law of sin and death, one must be in the new covenant, not the old covenant. He further explains, “There is no condemnation to them which are in Christ Jesus.” The word “Christ,” is a title Jesus earned by dying on the cross. Those who are “in Christ” have been baptized into His death through faith that He took the penalty for their “sin in His body on the tree, that we, being dead to sin, should live unto righteousness,” 1 Peter 2:24.
However, as we stated before, the new covenant has two parts. To be in Christ is the first part. The second part is to walk not after the flesh but after the Spirit.” That’s the Holy Spirit. You see, the old covenant accentuated the flesh in that it told you what not to do. The flesh automatically rebels against anything it is told not to do. The new covenant, instead of telling you what not to do, tells you what to do. So, to walk after the flesh is to accentuate the flesh by telling it what not to do but to walk after the Spirit is to place the emphasis on following the Spirit of God.
Any commandments Jesus issued as part of the new covenant, a covenant that was new at His resurrection, would have to be issued between His resurrection and His ascension. Since Jesus is the author of this covenant, the commandments would have to be issued by Him and Him alone. It is His covenant. The first commandment is found in Acts 1:4 as He prepares to ascend into heaven. The word commanded is a word a general would use to command His troops. The word, baptize, means, to saturate. To “walk after the Spirit” (Romans 8:1) is to saturate yourself with the Spirit of God daily. This saturation of the mortal with immortality is how the new covenant comes into fruition in your life. This is the greatest commandment of the new covenant and on this commandment hangs the whole of the new covenant. If you were to take this commandment off the table, the whole of the new covenant falls away; it collapses. This explains the condition of the Church, both today, and the last 1900 years.
The second commandment of Jesus is to preach this gospel, the gospel of the new covenant, starting in your Jerusalem and proceeding outward from your doorstep to your friends to strangers who cross your path. The third commandment is to teach those who need to understand this truth. Now, there is a fourth commandment that provides the foundation for the three found just before Jesus’ ascension. This commandment was not issued under the authority of the new covenant; it was issued before, under the authority of the old covenant, but, it is radically different than anything in the old covenant law.
In John 13:34-35, Jesus tells His disciples, “A new command I give to you, that you love one another, as I have loved you, so you must love one another. By this shall all men know that you are my disciples.” Now the second of the Ten Commandments of the law is to “love your neighbor as yourself,” so in order for this to be a new commandment, it must be different. The word new means not having existed before. The question is, “How had Jesus loved His disciples to this point?” Notice the wording is past tense. Moreover, what is it about this kind of love that will show all men that you are a disciple of the new covenant?
Remember, Jesus is the author of the new covenant. To be a disciple of the Lord Jesus Christ is to be a disciple of the new covenant. So, to love as Jesus loved is to advertise to the world that you are a disciple of the new covenant, a disciple of the commandment to saturate yourself with the Holy Spirit daily. Moreover, Jesus said, “You must love one another as I have loved you.”
In other words, it is not enough for us to simply love one another; we must love one another as Jesus loved His disciples. The thing that strikes me is that Jesus loved His disciples with honesty and integrity. If we understand the new covenant has nothing to do with the old covenant and that in order to receive the blessings of the new covenant we must keep the commandments of the Lord, we will love one another with that truth, the truth that you must saturate yourself with the Spirit of God daily. If we love others in this way, all men will know we are disciples of the Lord Jesus Christ, the author of the new covenant. There will be no doubt in anyone’s mind.
The thing is; the gift of tongues, which is how the Holy Spirit manifests Himself in the saturation of the Spirit, was made to be controversial by the Lord. Notice 1Peter 2:6-8. Verse 6 begins with, “Behold I lay in Sion a chief cornerstone.” The Greek word, Sion, is the same word, Zion, and is the Church. Verse 7 begins with, “Unto you therefore which believe He is precious.” So the cornerstone of the Church is Jesus but Jesus and His commandments are one. The believer is He that believes in the commandments of Jesus. “But unto them which be disobedient,” reveals the verses are speaking of the commandments of Jesus. The believer keeps the commandments; the unbeliever does not. “The stone which the builders disallowed, the same is made the head of the corner.” By the time of this writing, the stone which is the cornerstone of the Church, the first commandment of the Lord Jesus Christ, has been ignored. The verse continues, “And a stone of stumbling, and a rock of offense, even to them who stumble at the word, being disobedient.”
Earlier I said, the gift of tongues was designed to be controversial. The controversial nature of the gift of tongues is how all men will know we are Jesus’ disciples when we love as Jesus loved. Peter says this a bit differently in that he calls the gift of tongues a “stone of stumbling and rock of offense,” and we have certainly seen how the Church stumbles over the gift and is offended that it could have anything to do with salvation. Consider the wording of Acts 1:4. “And being assembled together with them,” so Jesus deliberately gathered His disciples about Him to deliver these commandments. They were that important.
The disciples, now called apostles, were commanded to wait in Jerusalem, but today we wait where we are for the initial baptism with the Spirit. In Acts 2:4 we see that when the apostles were baptized with the Spirit the Holy Spirit manifested Himself as tongues and so each subsequent time we saturate ourselves with the Spirit we must wait for the Holy Spirit to pour out of our bellies, manifesting Himself as tongues.
The definition of a covenant is perhaps best stated by Deuteronomy 28:1 “And it shall come to pass, if you will hearken diligently to my voice to observe and to do all of my commandments which I command you this day, the Lord thy God will set you on high above all nations of the earth.” Just imagine Jesus standing somewhere just outside Jerusalem on a hillside with all of His disciples gathered about Him, and He says these words, and then issues three commandments. The new covenant has just been delivered to the Church.
There is one last point to be made. In John 14:15, Jesus said, “If you love me, keep my commandments,” even though to access the blessings of the new covenant, you must keep its commandments. This is the nature of covenants. Jesus’ plea to keep His commandments is a plea to enter the new covenant and inherit eternal life. This explains why Jesus commanded the disciples to love one another before the new covenant was established. It is not a commandment of the new covenant because the new covenant is based on love and established by love.
What I mean to say is this, the new covenant is completely voluntary, even though Jesus is the propitiation of the sins of the entire world (1Jn.2:2), there is no compulsion to enter it. The entire world could receive everlasting life and is invited to, but whether they do or not is completely up to them. The commandments are easy and easily kept but one must first love themselves with integrity. In other words, they must be honest with themselves, then, in that honesty, love Jesus, then their fellow man. It is much easier to love one another sacrificially than to love honestly.
The thing is; to be a disciple of the Christ is much different than to be a disciple of the Lord. Notice John 14:15 again, “If you love me, keep my commandments.” There is no commandment to keep the new covenant commandments. And Deuteronomy 28:1 “And it shall come to pass, if you will hearken diligently to my voice to observe and to do all of my commandments which I command you this day, the Lord thy God will set you on high above all nations of the earth.” Believers all across the globe are believing in the shed blood of Jesus to save them; they are following after the Christ, and Jesus does love them and is doing everything He can for them, but they have not accessed eternal salvation. You must follow the Lord to inherit salvation.
It is as simple as this, if you love Jesus, you must keep Jesus’ commandments. That is, if you want to gain eternal life, you must “hearken diligently to my voice to observe and to do all of my commandments which I command you this day.” Jesus stood in front of His disciples as the Lord Christ and issued three commandments and ascended up to heaven. These commandments are unique to Jesus, the Lord; they are clearly the Lord’s commandments and His alone. If you are wondering which commandments need to be kept to enter heaven, wonder no more. But it’s not enough to know these commandments; it’s not enough to have them, we must observe to do them.
The Holy Spirit will not convict you of sinning against the new covenant because there is no commandment in the new covenant stating you must keep them. Those who do not keep them, do so with their own free will. The old covenant was made with the Jews and each and every Jewish person was held accountable to the covenant but the new covenant was made with all the peoples of the world and no one is held accountable to it. The old covenant was specific; issued to a specific group of people. The new covenant is generic; not specifically issued to anyone. It is a “whosoever will” covenant. You can go through out your life following after the Christ; you can even follow the Lord without making Him Lord. The only point of question is honesty and integrity. Jesus did command His disciples “to love one another, as I have loved you,” not sacrificially, but honestly. The Christian, who is honest with him or herself, will realize the discrepancy between the promise of eternal life and their experience and will go searching for answers. The Christian who nears the end of his or her life and suffers from sickness and or disease should realize they have eaten and drunk damnation to themselves along the way. This should set them on a course of searching for answers, but alas, most do not. They cling to a belief that belies their faith.
The new covenant believer is made free from sickness and disease because Jesus took them in His own body on the tree (1Peter2:24) but those who do not recognize the body of the Lord in the receiving of the Lord’s Supper bring them back upon themselves, making themselves vulnerable to their ravages again.