“This is my blood of the new covenant.” “Without blood there is no remission of sin.”
If there is no forgiveness of sin without blood and Jesus’ blood is the blood of the new covenant, where is the forgiveness of sin for believers in Jesus’ death under the old covenant? While it is clear Jesus died as a fulfillment of old covenant law to fulfill that covenant, it should also be clear that Jesus established a new covenant upon His resurrection. Where is Jesus’ blood sprinkled?
The old covenant had to be dealt with before the new covenant could be established and in Jeremiah’s prophecy of the new covenant from Jeremiah 31:31-32, Jeremiah described the new covenant as different, unlike the old covenant. While it is clear the Father sent His Son to die to provide righteousness for all mankind, it should also be clear that righteousness is not salvation. Otherwise, why does Paul make the distinction that righteousness is received through faith but salvation is received through confession?
Jesus is called the sacrificial lamb and it would be easy to think Jesus’ blood was let through the many wounds inflicted on His skin but these wounds were superficial in nature, designed to inflict pain, but not death. The goal was discipline, not cessation of life. It is not reasonable to believe that Jesus’ blood was drained from His body at the cross. In fact, it is more reasonable to believe very little was. Therefore, when Jesus died on the cross, He literally gave up the ghost, as the scriptures say; He did not die because all of His blood was drained from His body.
This is significant because Jesus is called the sacrificial lamb. Sacrificial lambs were killed by making a small cut across the jugular while gently holding the animal with respect and even love, whereby the animal’s blood was drained from its body. It died when the blood was all drained out. The animal had to remain calm, with no realization that it was losing its life, in order for its innocence to remain intact, to be passed on. When Jesus’ body was laid in the tomb, the bulk of His blood was still inside. When Jesus was resurrected from the dead, His resurrected body was full of blood, which He then took to heaven to ratify the new covenant.
“Without blood there is no remission of sin.” If we are to believe this, then there is no remission of sins in the old covenant even though Jesus died under the old covenant. The word redeem from Galatians 4:4-5, means to buy back. This means that those who are outside the old covenant, which was only made with the Children of Israel, must first sell themselves into sin. In other words, they must accept God’s standard for righteousness as defined by the old covenant and strive to keep it. They then become slaves to the law of God to try and keep the law and can be bought back from it through faith in Jesus’ perfect keeping of it and death according to it.
The righteousness Jesus earned by keeping the law is then imputed to the believer. Sins are not washed away; they are covered over by the righteousness they now wear. The old covenant never washed away sins; it has always been about providing righteousness to those who had none of their own. Jesus fulfilled the old covenant by providing a permanent righteousness; a righteousness obtained by faith, not by behavior, but Jesus’ death according to the law cannot modify the law from its original founding.
This cloak of righteousness gives believers the right to stand in the presence of God and receive the salvation of the new covenant. In Matthew 26, it is recorded that Jesus set down with His disciples to eat the Passover meal and as they ate, He took bread and broke it and said, “This is my body,” and He took a cup of wine and said, “This is my blood of the new covenant.”
Luke’s version of this story, found in Luke 22:20, states, “This cup is the new covenant in my blood, which is poured out for you.” Now, traditionally we have been told that Jesus “bled out” at Calvary, but the scriptures tell us Jesus gave up the ghost on the cross. All of the wounds Jesus suffered were superficial. He certainly bled, but His blood was not “poured out.” Neither was His blood sprinkled on any covenant.
The last supper contains both covenants. Jesus died under the old covenant law to redeem those under the law that we might become sons of God (Gal.4:4-5). Redemption is accomplished by the old covenant but the becoming of sons is new covenant. The bread represents the death of Jesus on the cross to redeem mankind but His blood is not of the old covenant. It was not until after the resurrection of Jesus that He picked up His body, still loaded with His blood, went to heaven, and poured out His blood for the remission of sins. Salvation was accomplished in heaven after the cross was endured.
Hebrews chapter nine describes a parallel between the old and new covenant. The writer states “without the shedding of blood, there is no forgiveness.” While Jesus was horribly mistreated by the Romans, His blood was not “poured out” before the cross. This is a moot point however, because Jesus said, “This cup is the new covenant in my blood.” While Jesus died under the old covenant, the new covenant is a subsequent covenant to the old covenant. And, the blood of Jesus is in the new covenant. The cleansing power of the blood is in the new covenant. In order to have your sins washed away, you must enter the new covenant.
Jeremiah was the first person to speak of a new covenant and He describes the new covenant as, “Not according to the old covenant” (Jer.31:32). This phrase, “not according to,” indicates to us the new covenant would be drastically different, dissimilar, unlike, unrelated to, contrasting, contradicting, and contradictory to the old covenant. Jesus’ blood was foretold to be poured out in the new covenant, which is a separate covenant and unlike the old covenant in every way.
While Hebrews nine points out some similarities, the differences are outstanding. Just as the old covenant priests entered into the old covenant tabernacle with blood to ratify it, Jesus entered into the new covenant tabernacle with His own blood to ratify it. While the old covenant priests had to enter over and over again to supply ongoing innocence, Jesus entered once and then sat down. While the old covenant conveys righteousness, or innocence, through the death of innocent animals, the new covenant conveys eternal life through the death of the Son of God.
We are told, “The life is in the blood,” so when Jesus’ blood was poured out, His life was poured out. While Jesus laid aside His Godhood to come to earth as a man, living out His life in a man’s body, Mary’s egg was impregnated by God. This makes Jesus’ blood the blood of God. When Jesus gave up the ghost on the cross, He was giving up His natural life, the life of men. When He poured out His blood on the new covenant tabernacle in heaven, He was giving the eternal life of the Son of God. Only God has eternal life; therefore, only the new covenant can convey eternal life.
While the old covenant has commandments that must be kept in order to remain in good standing with the covenant, the new covenant has commandments that must be kept to remain in good standing with it. The commandments are drastically different however. The old covenant was established to convey righteousness and righteousness was defined as morality. The commandments of the old covenant establish a moral code of morality.
Jesus perfectly kept the moral code of the old covenant and it is His perfect keeping that is imputed to those who believe Jesus died for them, taking the penalties of their sin in His own body, that they, “being dead to sin, should live to righteousness” (1Peter 2:24). These believers are dead to sin through faith in Jesus’ death. It is not so much that their behavior has changed, but rather that they no longer consider a breach of old covenant law as sin, having been redeemed from the law by faith in Jesus’ death for sin (Gal.4:4). The righteousness they now enjoy is not obtained by behavior, it is obtained by faith, and behavior has no impact on it.
The new covenant commandments do not contain the same moral code because believers in Jesus’ death now wear the old covenant’s moral code like a cloak. These believers are free from old covenant law. All covenants contain a moral law. Consider the contract you might sign with a builder to build a house or with a telephone service to provide telephones, or a cable company to provide television service. Each contains a moral code. If you break the moral code you nullify the contract.
Therefore the new covenant has a moral code but its moral code is drastically different from the old covenant’s moral code. Near the end of Jesus’ life on earth, Jesus said, “If you love me, keep my commandments.” Now, even though the Godhead had always used the inclusive pronouns we, and, our, in the past, Jesus used the exclusive pronoun, my, indicating commandments unique to Him. Jesus had to differentiate the new covenant commandments from the old covenant commandments in such a way that new covenant saints would not try to keep old covenant commandments in an attempt to enter the new covenant.
The commandments Jesus issued that are unique to Him can be found in Acts 1:4, 5 and 8. He commanded His followers to wait for a baptism with the Holy Spirit. He commanded them to preach this gospel, the gospel of the new covenant, and He commanded them to disciple the converts. The word, baptize, means, to saturate, so the commandment to wait for a baptism is a commandment to wait to be saturated. This saturation occurs as the gift of tongues pours out of the belly.
In John 7:37-39, Jesus invites the thirsty to come to Him and drink. Oddly enough, the word, drink, is the same word as saturate. Jesus then said, “Out of his belly will flow rivers of Living Water.” The commentary then states, “But this He spoke of the Spirit, which was not yet given because Jesus was not yet glorified.” Now Jesus was not glorified at the cross; He was not glorified under the old covenant, so belief in Jesus’ death does not allow the believer to have the Holy Spirit in his or her heart. In order to receive that blessing, one must enter the new covenant. Entrance is gained through a belief on the resurrection of Jesus, as this is when Jesus was glorified.
The new covenant is just like any other covenant though in this regard; in order to remain in good standing, you must keep its commandments. However, the new covenant contains the blood of Jesus, which Jesus said, was shed for the remission of sins. So anyone who fails to keep the new covenant commandments can be forgiven for doing so if true repentance is experienced.
OK, so let’s recap. Any person who is in the world without God can sell themselves into slavery to sin by accepting God’s standard for righteousness and attempting to keep old covenant law. At this point, access to Jesus’ death on the cross for sins against old covenant law becomes open to them. Through an acceptance that Jesus took their place and died in their stead, paying the price for their sins, Jesus’ perfect keeping of the old covenant’s standard for righteousness can be gained by the believer and they are redeemed, bought back, from the law. Having gained Jesus’ righteousness, the believer now has the ability to stand before God without guilt or shame. Sins are not washed away, as there is no remission of sins without blood; they are covered over with righteousness, a righteousness maintained by faith.
Having gained the ability to stand before God without guilt or shame, the believer is now free to enter the new covenant, which is a separate and distinctly different covenant. The new covenant is entered by a belief that Jesus was raised from the dead with all power in heaven and in earth (Matt 28:18). This faith demands obedience and the first commandment of the Lord was a commandment to saturate yourself with the Spirit of God. This saturation is made possible through the baptism with the Spirit and it is the responsibility of the believer to receive the initial experience. The Holy Spirit is already in your heart through belief on Jesus’ resurrection; it’s just a matter of learning how to allow Him to flow out. This receiving is harder for some than it is for others. Once the gift of tongues has been received, a daily obedience can be practiced so that the believer is daily saturated by God, saturated by eternal life.
Anytime saturation is not achieved, repentance can be and thus, there are no sins against the new covenant. New covenant believers attain a position of being spotless and blameless before God; a new covenant church attains the position of being a glorious, spotless and blameless church.
I am called to preach the new covenant, after the manner and with the likeness of Jeremiah. So the most important thing I can do is to study and wait on God in an effort to understand what the new covenant is and is not. I cannot receive the power to witness of the resurrection of Christ until I understand the new covenant and am able to expound the truth of it to others.
The problem is: the Church today does not have this understanding. Today’s Christians spend their lives trying to be cleansed of sins against old covenant laws. Instead of reckoning themselves redeemed from the law through faith in Jesus’ death, they reckon themselves subject to the law and guilty of transgressions. They reckon themselves sinners in need of a Saviour, instead of reckoning themselves clothed with Jesus’ righteousness through faith in His death. The Church of today applies the blood of Jesus to wash away sins against old covenant law even though Jesus clearly states the blood He shed was the blood of the new covenant.
In this way, the Christian, himself, judges himself unworthy of Jesus’ return. It is Christians who are judging themselves spotted and worthy of blame. When they receive of the Lord’s Supper, they judge themselves by old covenant law to see if they are living their lives worthy of the Saviour but the sacrament is not the Saviour’s Supper.
Christians today do not discern the new covenant at all. They disregard the commandments Jesus issued the Church as irrelevant to the Church even though Jesus was glorified at His resurrection. They worship the Saviour and the cross and disregard the Lord as relevant. They live their lives in an effort to please the Saviour and take little notice of the Lord. Most Christians put the Father God, the author of the old covenant, on the throne of heaven. They do not recognize Jesus as Lord of all.
As long as Christians judge themselves spotted by sin and worthy of blame, Jesus has nothing to return for. Jesus is returning for a glorious Church; one without spot or wrinkle. The only way for that Church to exist is for Christians to reckon their old lives buried with Christ and live their new lives by faith in the resurrected Lord, allowing His life to saturate them daily through a daily obedience of His commandments. The blood of Jesus, which was poured out in the new covenant for the remission of sins, keeping them clean and spotless and their obedience making them glorious shining lights for the Lord.
As long as the Church puts its emphasis on the Christ, and judges the Christ to be the more important figure, as long as the Church sees the cross as the vehicle of salvation, the glorious Church will not exist. The blood of Jesus was not poured out under the old covenant to wash away sins of the flesh; the blood of Jesus was poured out under the new covenant to make the church glorious and without spot or wrinkle.
The thing is: this is the same thing the Holy Spirit said to me before. “Jesus did not enter into the old covenant tabernacle with His blood.” I didn’t realize then that Jesus’ blood was not “poured out” at the cross. What I thought was that Jesus’ blood was poured out, then gathered back up, to ratify the new covenant in heaven. I thought this was the way Jesus fulfilled the old covenant and established the new covenant. It was not until yesterday that I realized the old covenant never forgave sins, it only covered them, and Jesus’ death could not modify the covenant, it could only fulfill it. The only thing necessary to fulfill the old covenant was to provide a permanent righteousness, which Jesus did by living His life by the standards set by the old covenant and then dying as one who had broken every commandment. In this way He took the penalty for our sin and gives us His righteousness. Jesus had to die under the old covenant to provide righteousness but Jesus died so that He could establish the new covenant.
That the new covenant is different from the old covenant is apparent from Jeremiah 31. So belief in Jesus’ death does not wash away sins though belief in Jesus’ death is the necessary first step toward salvation. By paying the price for sins under the old covenant, Jesus negated the cost of sin and nullified the effects of sin, but left the new covenant to wash them away. Lost souls, those in the world without God, are redeemed, bought back from the law after selling themselves into sin through an acceptance of God’s standard for righteousness, therefore, it makes no sense that Jesus would shed His blood in a covenant mankind is delivered from.
Otherwise, there would be no remission of sins in the new covenant and no way to remain in the new covenant. How could the new covenant be better than the old covenant if there was no forgiveness of transgressions against new covenant law?
Every covenant is a contract and every contract has clauses that govern the validity of the contract. In order to enter into contract, you must understand the clauses and agree to them. Jesus said, “If you love me, keep my commandments.’ He said, “He that has my commandments and keeps them, he it is that loves me and he that loves me will be loved of my Father and I will love him and manifest myself to him.” This is contract language.
In order to enter into contract with Jesus, you must first become acquainted with, know, and understand, Jesus’ commandments. You must know what Jesus requires. Then, if you are willing to keep the commandments, you will enter into the covenant. “He that has my commandments and keeps them,” is the language of the new covenant. The promise from Jesus is this: “He will be loved of my Father and I will love him and manifest myself to him.”
Now in any contract there is a chance of breaching the contract. This is called sinning against the contract and there is usually a way provided to return to right standing with the contract. So Jesus’ blood was poured out in the new covenant. The goal of every single believer in Jesus’ death should be the new covenant, the place where sins are washed away and mortality takes on immortality.