25. The Old Covenant in the New Testament
April 2007
Topics:
The Old Covenant in the New Testament
Circumcision? Again?
New Testament Aspects
To Be a Real Jew
The Jerusalem Council
Born Again – A New Creature
The Faith of Abraham
The Ten Commandments
References
This article will focus on Romans chapters two to five and Galatians. The next two articles will discuss Hebrews chapters eight to ten. These chapters will cover the main points dealing with the covenant and the law. There is much more of value in the rest of the New Testament that we don’t have space for now.
Jesus, the Covenant and the Law
Jesus Christ is central to the gospel, the covenant, and to the plan of salvation. Through Jesus Christ this earth was created (John 1:1-3; Hebrews 1:2). He is the Jehovah of the Old testament. He was "the rock" that followed them on the Exodus, along with the pillar of fire at night and the pillar of cloud by day (Exodus 13:21).
4 "And they all drank the same spiritual (supernaturally given) drink. For they drank from a spiritual Rock which followed them [produced by the sole power of God Himself without natural instrumentality], and the Rock was Christ" (1 Corinthians 10:4 Amplified Bible).
Paul preached Jesus Christ and Him crucified. This was his passion. This is the gospel! Jesus Christ is the "lamb slain from the foundation of the world" and is the center of the everlasting covenant. For fourteen centuries of Jewish history the ceremonies and the sacrificial lamb pointed forward to Jesus Christ. Now that He had come, these ceremonies were no longer necessary. It is from His sacrifice that our sins are forgiven and we are justified.
Jesus in His life on earth kept the law of God perfectly. He was "In all points tempted like as we are, yet without sin" (Hebrews 4:15). The victory He gained is the robe of righteousness that He gives to each of us. And by His grace, He makes it possible for us to wear that robe! (Romans 5:19).
But even more Paul showed that Jesus was the Christ and that His death on the cross met the demands of the law. By His willing sacrifice on Calvary (John 10:17-18) our sins are forgiven, He has taken the condemnation of the law for us, and we are justified (Romans 5:18). By faith looking ahead through the sacrifices of lambs, and by faith looking back through the story of Jesus in the Gospels, grace has always been and is available to enable men and women to live a holy life.
In Jesus’ death on the cross the promises inherent in the ceremonial law also met their complete fulfillment. No longer was it needed to make sacrifices because Jesus, the true sacrifice, had come. The faith of Christians must center in Him. This is the everlasting covenant, also called the new covenant.
The people and even the disciples did not understand the covenant. The initial reaction to Jesus’ death on Calvary was that He had failed. The resurrection event threw an entirely new light on His ministry. Under the guidance of the Holy Spirit, most Christians began to see the true meaning of Jesus’ life and of His sacrificial death on Calvary. With this understanding the church was galvanized! The everlasting gospel was ready to bring to the world!
The Old Covenant in the New Testament
This understanding did not come easily. By the time Jesus walked the earth, the "Law of Moses" was ingrained to the point of taking on a life of its own. This included ceremonies, sacrifices, rituals (Mark 7:1-8 NIV) and even the meticulous keeping of the ten commandments. Too many people looked on these ceremonies as being the substance and reality of the covenant. They did not see the promised Messiah through these rituals, and did not recognize Him when He came.
In Jesus’ time, the leadership of the Jewish nation rejected Him, as did a majority of the people. They placed their assurance of salvation on their lineage from Abraham, in a focus on ritual and ceremony and on rote keeping of the law. These things, while good in themselves, might be done from the basis of an unchanged heart, still in rebellion.
Even more, they had added numerous regulations to the law to "ensure obedience." For the Sabbath commandment alone there were thirty nine categories of restrictions, plus innumerable subcategories. This served to make the law an intolerable burden, and to add to the focus on works in their religion (1).
The Old Covenant mentality was alive and well.
This was not pleasing to God. He emphasized repeatedly through the Bible that it is heart religion (see article fifteen) that is pleasing to Him. Outward ceremonies, even doctrines, have little value if the heart is not changed. Matthew chapters 5-8 (the sermon on the mount) emphasize heart religion. David makes it very plain:
16 "For thou desirest not sacrifice; else would I give it: thou delightest not in burnt offering.
17 "The sacrifices of God are a broken spirit: a broken and a contrite heart, O God, thou wilt not despise" (Psalms 51:16-17).
The sacrifices were meaningless unless they were the evidence of a changed and loving life. In His conversation with the Samaritan woman by the well at Sychar, Jesus said:
"But the hour cometh, and now is, when the true worshipers shall worship the Father in spirit and in truth: for the Father seeketh such to worship him" (John 4:23).
The early Christian church was a Jewish church. Many were truly baptized with water and the Spirit. Their lives were changed and they evangelized the world. They developed a living relationship with Jesus Christ through the Spirit, they talked constantly about Him, and they told everyone what they had found in Him. This movement was so vibrant and strong that society was changed in many cities by "These that have turned the world upside down" (Acts 17:6).
See a discussion of circumcision in Article eight.
Romans was probably written about the same time as Galatians, and before the Jerusalem council. Paul addressed the ritual of circumcision. Ceremonies and rituals were always meant to be a sign of an inward change and/or point forward to a future reality. Paul states in the following verses that a heart religion is of more value than a ritual which is external only.
"Circumcision has value if you observe the law, but if you break the law, you have become as though you had not been circumcised. If those who are not circumcised keep the law’s requirements, will they not be regarded as though they were circumcised? The one who is not circumcised physically and yet obeys the law will condemn you who, even though you have the written code and circumcision, are a lawbreaker.
"A man is not a Jew if he is only one outwardly, nor is circumcision merely outward and physical. No, a man is a Jew if he is one inwardly; and circumcision is circumcision of the heart, by the Spirit, not by the written code, such a mans praise is not from men, but from God" (Romans 2:25-29, NIV).
In Romans chapter three, Paul discussed the relation of the Christian to the moral law. At that time people looked to a careful keeping of the moral law as a means of salvation. But even the most rigorous keeping of the law does not provide for past sins. The depravity of the heart of man makes it impossible to do good except for selfish reasons, and impossible to truly keep the law. But through the sacrifice of Jesus on the cross our sins are paid for and we are ransomed. In Him the heart is changed and man is lifted out of his selfishness.
The moral law was not done away at the cross. It is through the cross that man is pardoned, justified, and "in Christ" a new creature (2 Corinthians 5:17). The law is still needed to show us our sin, but we need the grace of Christ to enable us to keep the law.
21 "But now the righteousness of God without the law is manifested, being witnessed by the law and the prophets;
28 "Therefore we conclude that a man is justified by faith without the deeds of the law.
31 "Do we then make void the law through faith? God forbid: yea, we establish the law" (Romans 3:21, 28, 31).
One might ask: If circumcision is a sign of the everlasting covenant, is circumcision required today? One way to look at this is to consider that circumcision is a sign of the everlasting covenant, but it is not an everlasting sign of the covenant. In the New Testament, baptism became the rite by which a new convert is added to the church. Circumcision was discussed in Acts 15. The Jerusalem council found that circumcision was no longer required for new converts. When Messiah had come, the symbolic aspects of circumcision had been fulfilled.
In New Testament times the Jews generally spoke of themselves as "the circumcision" (Gal 2:9; Col 4:11). The Judaizing, or "circumcision" party were Christian Jews who maintained that all Gentile converts to Christianity should accept circumcision and practice various rites and ceremonies of the Jewish faith. At one time this "circumcision" party succeeded in subverting the entire Galatian church.
Paul took the position that literal circumcision had become meaningless (1 Cor 7:19; Gal 5:6), and that the only kind of circumcision that mattered for the Christian was "that of the heart, in the spirit, and not in the letter" (Rom 2:28,29).
Circumcision was never intended to be a physical sign only. A memorial, a sign—yes. But dedication of the heart and mind were of even greater importance, even from the first.
"Circumcise therefore the foreskin of your heart, and be no more stiffnecked" (Deuteronomy 10:16).
25 "For circumcision verily profiteth, if thou keep the law: but if thou be a breaker of the law, thy circumcision is made uncircumcision.
26 "Therefore if the uncircumcision keep the righteousness of the law, shall not his uncircumcision be counted for circumcision?
27 "And shall not uncircumcision which is by nature, if it fulfil the law, judge thee, who by the letter and circumcision dost transgress the law?
28 "For he is not a Jew, which is one outwardly; neither is that circumcision, which is outward in the flesh:
29 "But he is a Jew, which is one inwardly; and circumcision is that of the heart, in the spirit, and not in the letter; whose praise is not of men, but of God" (Romans 2:25-29).
This passage, plus the discussion of the Jerusalem Council recorded in Acts 15 show that circumcision is not a requirement for today. However, a full commitment and a dedication of the life are just as important now as ever in the past.
God has appointed signs and memorials of various significant events.
• The Sabbath is a memorial of creation and the sign of sanctification;
• Circumcision was a symbol of the Abrahamic covenant;
• Baptism represented Christ’s death and resurrection; and
• The Lord’s Supper showed remembrance of Christ’s vicarious sacrifice.
Without a change in the life, these signs and memorials are meaningless. Rightly understood, they teach spiritual truths becoming God’s appointed channels for spiritual blessing. They serve as perpetual reminders of God’s grace and of our own duty and responsibility.
The Jews had suffered through many generations, and had endured a captivity of seventy years before they finally put aside all forms of idolatry. In their determination to obey God, they had made many regulations to ensure obedience to the Law of Moses, including the ten commandment moral code. Over the centuries, many had lost sight of the meaning of the ceremonies and the sacrifices, yet these were continued with great care, becoming the sum and substance of their religion.
There were some Jewish Christians that held to the Mosaic law. It had become ingrained so deeply, become so much a part of their culture, that to put aside the ceremonies would be to renounce being Jew! And not only that, their very salvation had long rested on their keeping the "Law of Moses."
As the Gentile Christians were coming into the church, these Jewish Christians were upset because the Gentiles were not being taught circumcision and the keeping of the ceremonies. There were some, called Judaizers, who began to follow Paul and teach these things to the Gentiles.
These Judaizers had all too much success with the churches in Galatia. They had listened to the Judaizers and many turned away from the gospel Paul had taught causing him much disappointment. Further they questioned if Paul were a real apostle after all!
In meeting this threat, Paul emphasized belief in Jesus Christ, grace, and faith. The ceremonial law had met its fulfillment and had no further use. Even keeping the moral law by itself added nothing to one’s salvation. Throughout Galatians, it is emphasized over and over that our salvation and justification is only through Jesus Christ. Because of His victory over sin, He can live through us. By faith and through grace, His victory is ours.
Even today one can become attached to doctrines (a temptation for Christians), to an institution (church membership), and to people (Pastors, church leaders). This is the "old covenant" mindset, where a person looks to good works as a means of salvation. The problem here is that good works can be entirely "outside" a person, do not require a commitment and may shield a selfish heart.
If the Christian should return to the Mosaic law for salvation, he is denying Christ. He is bringing up again the old, ineffective covenant of works. Further, if he should adopt the principle of legalism, that salvation can be earned by conformity to a prescribed code, he must bind himself to comply with every requirement of that code. To do this would be foolish!
As gentile converts came into the church, Paul taught that they should have faith in Christ, and that the ceremonial law was now done away (Col 2:14). How about the Jews? Were there two gospels? By no means. Jews as well as Gentiles are saved by faith and not by the works of the law. If the Gentiles could be saved apart from the ritual law, so could the Jews.
Paul was born a Jew and educated by the highly regarded Gamaliel. He was a pharisee of the pharisees. He knew about all aspects of Judaism. If anyone should have reason to continue in the Law of Moses, it was he. He knew the emptiness of legalism. He knew the prophecies of the Messiah. He received the Gospel "by the revelation of Jesus Christ" (Galatians 1:12). This new truth Paul now held as a valuable treasure. It became the passion of his life to preach Christ and Him crucified.
The issues of the Judaizers were a cause of much anxiety and added work. It was also the reason for much of the writings of Paul. We need to know this in order to read Paul with understanding, especially in the book of Hebrews. We will consider Hebrews in the next two articles.
A council was held first in Jerusalem on this issue. Barnabas and Titus went with Paul to reassure the Jerusalem Church that he was preaching the gospel of Christ. Paul circumcised Timothy (Acts 16:3), as he was half Jew. But Titus, a Gentile, was not circumcised. This was done purposely to emphasize that the ceremonial law was not a part of the Gospel of Jesus Christ (Galatians 2:1-3).
The Judaizers who "seemed to be somewhat (important)" were probably leaders in the church, possibly even apostles. When these leaders heard of the grace given to Paul in his work for the gentiles they freely accepted him and the gospel he preached (Galatians 2:7-9). Reports were given by Peter, Paul and Barnabas as to the success of bringing in Gentile converts, and of the fact that the Gentiles, too, were given the Holy Spirit.
After discussion, a decision was reached with good will and general agreement.
A delegation was sent to the Gentile church at Antioch. At this council, Peter and some of the other leaders separated themselves from fellowship with the gentiles. This was probably done in a way that was obvious to those present, and reinforced the traditional exclusiveness of the Jews. This precipitated a crisis and could have split the church. Paul, acting quickly stood before Peter and "withstood him to his face" (Gal 2:11-14).
The Holy Spirit prevailed and Peter accepted the rebuke graciously. The Antioch church was given the report, and this became the policy of the church generally:
19 "Wherefore my sentence is, that we trouble not them, which from among the Gentiles are turned to God:
20 "but that we write unto them, that they abstain from pollutions of idols, and from fornication, and from things strangled, and from blood" (Acts 15:19-20).
These four items had to do with ritual. Fornication was against one of the ten commandments, but it was also a ritual in some of the religions of the day.
Unfortunately, the issue was not put to rest by the council of the church. Men, called "Judaizers" followed Paul to deceive the new converts. There are passages in Romans, 1&2 Corinthians, and other epistles dealing with this issue. The book of Hebrews was written especially to the Jews urging a belief in Jesus Christ, rather than a dependence on the ceremonial law.
In Galatians 2:16-21 the Ten Commandment Law is the primary focus. The ceremonial law might be included. The principle point is that man is not justified by works, by keeping the moral law or the ceremonial law. You cannot be saved just by doing something. We are saved and justified only by faith in Jesus Christ. This is the foundation of the gospel.
16 "Know that a man is not justified by observing the law, but by faith in Jesus Christ. So we, too, have put our faith in Christ Jesus that we may be justified by faith in Christ and not by observing the law, because by observing the law no one will be justified.
17 "If, while we seek to be justified in Christ, it becomes evident that we ourselves are sinners, does that mean that Christ promotes sin? Absolutely not" (Galatians 2:16, 17, NIV)!
Take this one step further: In justification the sinner becomes a new creature. His old sins are put away. Grace has become effective in his life. He has new motives, a new direction in life.
"For in Christ Jesus neither circumcision availeth any thing, nor uncircumcision, but a new creature" (Galatians 6:15).
"Therefore if any man be in Christ, he is a new creature: old things are passed away; behold, all things are become new" (2 Corinthians 5:17).
The Christian now becomes dead to the law. His focus is now changed from keeping the law to a relationship with Christ. In coming close to Christ and beholding Him, we become like Him. The law becomes "transparent." In being like Christ, we keep the law but without a focus on the commandments as such. The "old man" is dead, and we live as Christ lives through us.
19 "For I through the law am dead to the law, that I might live unto God.
20 "I am crucified with Christ: nevertheless I live; yet not I, but Christ liveth in me: and the life which I now live in the flesh I live by the faith of the Son of God, who loved me, and gave himself for me.
21 "I do not frustrate the grace of God: for if righteousness come by the law, then Christ is dead in vain" (Galatians 2:19-21).
Abraham is a good example of faith in the Old Testament. It was his faith that was accounted to him for righteousness. It is this faith that makes a man a child of Abraham, not his physical lineage, for even Gentiles are justified by faith. Abraham had faith in the covenant and the promise to make of him a great nation. In the promise of God, "saying, In thee shall all nations be blessed" (Gal 3:8), was also the promise of a son and descendants. It was in this faith that Abraham lived, "for, the just shall live by faith" (Gal 3:11).
Galatians 3:16 focuses specifically on his "seed" as singular, meaning Christ. Abraham would be the progenitor of the Messiah, through Whom all families of the earth should be blessed.
What relation does the law have to the covenant? (Genesis chapters 12-17, and 22). The covenant given to Abraham was the Everlasting Covenant which was confirmed by Jesus Christ at Calvary (Daniel 9:27; John 19:30). The whole system of law was given at Sinai, 430 years after Abraham. Could keeping the law, ever in the past, annul the covenant sacrifice of Jesus Christ on the cross?
The answer is NO! Absolutely not! The ritual keeping of even the ten commandment law cannot disannul or take the place of the sacrifice of Jesus Christ. Of what purpose then is the law?
17 "And this I say, that the covenant, that is confirmed before of God in Christ, the law, which is four hundred and thirty years after, cannot disannul, that it should make the promise of none effect.
18 "For if the inheritance be of the law, it is no more of promise: but God gave it to Abraham by promise" (Galatians 3:17-18).
To Adam and Eve, made in the image of God, there was no focus on the law. They were in close communion with God. They knew nothing of evil. Their daily focus was to see God and to be like Him. They naturally kept the law. After sin, the law needed to be taught.
At Sinai the law was presented for the first time in written form and included the ten commandment moral law, the civil law, and the ceremonial law. The law had been known in part before, but now with Israel as a nation it had to be spelled out in detail.
Sinai was a critical juncture in the history of Israel. It was there that they came close to God who called them out for His own and made them His peculiar people, His holy nation. The distinctive mark of that experience at Sinai was the announcing to Israel of the great moral code that was to be the standard of their lives, plus (a) civil statutes and the (b) ritual statutes governing ceremonies and sacrifices.
During the many years in Egypt, sin had become common place to the people. They needed the law so that they could know what sin was. The basis for the everlasting covenant given in Exodus 19 was the ten commandment moral law, given as promises as to what God would do for them to make of them "an holy nation."
"Wherefore then serveth the law? It is added because of transgressions, till the seed should come to whom the promise is made; and it is ordained by angels in the hand of a mediator" (Galatians 3:19).
At Sinai, the people were still a nation of former slaves. They had been exposed to many years of wanton sin. They needed a law. They needed a written law since they were now a nation. This law would show them that the sin they had become so accustomed to, was exceedingly sinful. Mankind would need this law until Christ came the second time, and as God promised Abraham, "And thy seed shall possess the gate of his enemies" (Genesis 22:17). Christ’s enemies as well as Satan would not be removed until the second coming (Revelation 19:11-21).
"Before this faith came, we were held prisoners by the law, locked up until faith should be revealed" (Galatians 3:23 NIV).
Different terms and meanings are used in this verse: kept, held prisoners, shut up, locked up, a guardian, teacher, guide. Without faith and before faith, we are under the jurisdiction of the law. The idea of bondage is everywhere connected with sin. It is a cruel master. The law "held prisoner" its violators. The only way of escape is to have faith in what Jesus has done for us. The law here does not refer to the ceremonies because they never preceded faith in Christ. The sinner believed in Christ first, and then availed himself of the sacrifices. But it was possible to be locked up by the moral law before it drove one to the faith of Christ.
Again the question, what is the purpose of the law? The ten commandment law showed what sin is, and knowing this we come to Christ for forgiveness, cleansing, and restoration. The ceremonial law pointed to His perfection that we might copy, and to the sacrifice He made whereby we have grace to restore us to His image.
24 "Wherefore the law is our schoolmaster to bring us unto Christ, that we might be justified by faith.
25 "But after that faith is come, we are no longer under a schoolmaster.
29 "And if ye be Christ's, then are ye Abraham's seed, and heirs according to the promise" (Galatians 3:24, 25, 29).
The law reaches down into the depths and shows sinful man where he has sinned. Is this legalism? Is a focus on law a first step for people to bring them to Christ? It is only when a person recognizes his sin that he feels a need of a Saviour. It is only then that he will confess. Then Jesus can pardon and cleanse and make him a new creature.
Some will insist that a person must first know the love of Jesus, and be converted to be pardoned. This is the ideal and the way we wish all to follow. When Jesus was on earth the Jewish leaders had every evidence that He was the Messiah. But they had no concept of themselves as sinners and could not be reached. Not recognizing sin, not knowing of their need, they misinterpreted the sacrificial system and did not recognize the Messiah when he came.
While law is important and has to be kept in balance with grace, Paul showed that salvation does not come by law, did not come by law, and never will come by law. The rituals and sacrifices met their fulfillment in Jesus Christ, including circumcision. The ten commandment law was also discussed, usually from the standpoint of its use as a method of salvation. Those who held to the law; ceremonial or moral, rituals or slavish obedience—as their method of salvation, in effect, denied the sacrifice and resurrection of Jesus Christ.
Further, God’s people are always saved by faith and the faith of Abraham (Gal 3:6,7,18,29) is mentioned. The law always had a purpose and still has a purpose; to lead to Christ and to show where sin is (Gal 3:24). This is clearly stated by Paul and shows his support for keeping the law.
1. Eisenberg RL: The JPS Guide to Jewish Traditions. The Jewish Publication Society, Phil. PA. 2004. p. 130
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