A covenant is a contractual agreement between two or more parties. God has chosen to communicate with us through His covenants to bring redemption to the human race. Through the New Covenant, God guarantees eternal life for all those who put their trust in Jesus Christ alone for their salvation. Acts 15 tells us about the Holy Spirit’s determination on how Christians should view the relevance of the Mosaic Covenant now that Christians live under the New Covenant of Jesus Christ (Jeremiah 31:31-34; Luke 22:20; 1 Corinthians 11:25; 2 Corinthians 3:6; Hebrews 8:7-9:4; 9:15).
The Ten Commandments form the framework for the rest of the 613 laws of the Old Covenant (Exodus 34:28; Deuteronomy 4:13). As part of the Old Covenant, the people at Mount Sinai also agreed to obey all the laws given in Exodus 20-23. These additional laws became part of the covenant God made with Israel. The covenant was then ratified with blood (Exodus 24:6-8). The book of Deuteronomy contains some additional laws and regulations for Israel regarding how they should conduct themselves in the Promised Land, but those laws were still considered part of the same covenantal agreement between Israel and Yahweh their God.
The Mosaic Covenant was a conditional covenant based on Israel’s response to God and His law
The Mosaic Covenant was given to distinguish Israel from the surrounding nations as God's special kingdom of priests and a holy nation (Exodus 19:1-7). The covenant was structured after a Hittite, Suzerain-Vassal covenant treaty from 1400 to 1300 B.C. and it was designed to bring Israel closer to realizing the promises made by God in the Abrahamic Covenant. The Suzerain-Vassal covenant was a very common, conditional covenant type used between nations around Israel at the time of the exodus.
Exodus 19:5-6 says,
“Now therefore, if you will indeed obey my voice and keep my covenant, you shall be my treasured possession among all peoples, for all the earth is mine; 6 and you shall be to me a kingdom of priests and a holy nation. These are the words that you shall speak to the people of Israel.”
Notice that God told Moses that “if” Israel obeyed the covenant they would be His chosen people and His treasured possession. The covenant had blessings for obedience, and curses for disobedience to be implemented depending on Israel's faithful response to the covenant spelled out for them in Leviticus 26 and Deuteronomy 28-30. Israel’s failure to keep the covenant would bring the curses of the covenant upon them, and it could ultimately bring the covenant to an end.
God had made provisions for the Gentiles in the covenant
God loved the Gentiles and provided for them (Deuteronomy 10:18), and instructed the Israelites to love foreigners as themselves (Leviticus 19:33-34; Deuteronomy 10:19), particularly because they had been foreigners in Egypt. This included providing for needy immigrants (Leviticus 23:22; Deuteronomy 24:19-22) and not mistreating or oppressing them (Exodus 23:9; Deuteronomy 24:14-18; Deuteronomy 27:19), but treating them equally under the law (Numbers 15:15-16; Leviticus 24:22). Those who became followers of Yahweh would become Israelites in God's view and could participate in the Passover and the other feasts of Israel (Jeremiah 12:16; Exodus 12:43-49).
God always intended for Israel to be a light to the Gentiles and to show them that Yahweh, the covenant-keeping God of Israel was the one true God and that they could have the same blessings Israel was promised if they served Him (Isaiah 2:2-3; Isaiah 11:10; Isaiah 14:1; Isaiah 19:18-22; Isaiah 45:14; Isaiah 55:5; Isaiah 56:3-8; Isaiah 60:1-12; Jeremiah 3:17; Jeremiah 16:19; Jeremiah 33:9; Zechariah 2:11; Zechariah 8:20-23).
If a Gentile wanted to keep the Passover and the other Jewish Feasts they had to be circumcised and become a Jew.
Exodus 12:43-49 says,
"And the LORD said to Moses and Aaron, “This is the statute of the Passover: no foreigner shall eat of it, 44 but every slave that is bought for money may eat of it after you have circumcised him. 45 No foreigner or hired worker may eat of it. 46 It shall be eaten in one house; you shall not take any of the flesh outside the house, and you shall not break any of its bones. 47 All the congregation of Israel shall keep it. 48 If a stranger shall sojourn with you and would keep the Passover to the LORD, let all his males be circumcised. Then he may come near and keep it; he shall be as a native of the land. But no uncircumcised person shall eat of it. 49 There shall be one law for the native and for the stranger who sojourns among you."
Israel failed in their mission to reach the Gentiles with God’s message of love and His superiority over all the other gods until they reached the point of no return. Israel repeatedly broke their covenant with God until they received the curse of captivity (Deuteronomy 28:64-68). Israel was restored to their homeland after their Babylonian captivity in 586 B.C., but once again broke the covenant and received the final curse, they were destroyed as a nation and God brought the Old Covenant to an end when Israel rejected Jesus as their Messiah (John 19:15). Just before his death, Jesus declared the soon coming destruction of the nation with all of its temple services.
Matthew 21:42-44 says,
"Jesus said to them, “Have you never read in the Scriptures: “‘The stone that the builders rejected has become the cornerstone; this was the Lord’s doing, and it is marvelous in our eyes’? 43 Therefore I tell you, the kingdom of God will be taken away from you and given to a people producing its fruits. 44 And the one who falls on this stone will be broken to pieces; and when it falls on anyone, it will crush him."
And Matthew 23:37-39 says,
"O Jerusalem, Jerusalem, the city that kills the prophets and stones those who are sent to it! How often would I have gathered your children together as a hen gathers her brood under her wings, and you were not willing! 38 See, your house is left to you desolate. 39 For I tell you, you will not see me again, until you say, ‘Blessed is he who comes in the name of the Lord.'" (c.f. Jeremiah 12:14-17; 18; 26:1-6; Daniel 9:26-27; 1 Kings 9:7; Jeremiah 22:5; Luke 13:34-35; 1 Peter 2:9).
The New Covenant:
Jesus instituted the New Covenant with His disciples the night before he died, and brought it into effect by His death and resurrection three days later (Jeremiah 31:31; Matthew 26:28; Mark 14:24; Luke 22:20; Romans 11:27; 1 Corinthians 11:25; 2 Corinthians 3:6-11; Hebrews 7:22; Hebrews 8:8-10; Hebrews 9:15; Hebrews 10:16; Hebrews 12:24; Hebrews 13:20; Hebrews 9:12-17; 1 Peter 1:19; 1 John 1:7; Hebrews 8-10).
The Mosaic Covenant had served as a dividing wall or partition that was meant to separate Israel from the unbelieving Gentiles (Ephesians 2:11-15; John 4:22; 7:35; Acts 14:1, 5; 18:4; Romans 3:9; 3:29; 9:4, 5, 24; 1 Corinthians 1:22-24). Christ broke down the dividing wall by doing away with the partition.
Ephesians 2:14-18 says,
"For he himself is our peace, who has made the two one and has destroyed the barrier, the dividing wall of hostility, 15 by abolishing in his flesh the law with its commandments and regulations. His purpose was to create in himself one new man out of the two, thus making peace, 16 and in this one body to reconcile both of them to God through the cross, by which he put to death their hostility. 17 He came and preached peace to you who were far away and peace to those who were near. 18 For through him we both have access to the Father by one Spirit." (NIV)
Christ abolished the dividing wall by fulfilling it and removing the law’s condemnation for those who believe (Matthew 5:17; Romans 8:1; Hebrews 9:11-14; 10:1-10). When we are in Christ, we become a new person, part of a new human race made in the image of Christ, the second Adam (1 Corinthians 15:45, 49; Ephesians 4:24). All of the divine promises from the previous covenants find their fulfillment in Christ through the New Covenant (2 Corinthians 1:20; Hebrews 7:20-22; 8:6; 9:15).
The New Testament points out repeatedly that the New Covenant is the fulfillment of the Old Covenant. By this, they mean that God brought to completion the plan of salvation He had been working out for the human race throughout the history of Israel. All of the Old Testament prophecies and promises about the coming messiah and the salvation He would accomplish for us were fulfilled in the life, death, and resurrection of the Lord, Jesus Christ (Deuteronomy 4:25-31; Judges 2:13-16; 1 Kings 8:33-34; Psalm 81:7-10; Psalm 89:29-37; Isaiah 1:16-20; Matthew 5:17-18; John 1:45; Acts 2:36-39; Romans 3:21-26; 2 Corinthians 1:20; Ephesians 1:9-10; 3:3-9; 5:32; Hebrews 1:1-3).
The Old Covenant that God made with Israel was very different from the New Covenant made with Christ’s Church.
The book of Hebrews says that the New Covenant is a better covenant. It has a better priesthood, a better sacrifice, and a better rest(Hebrews 7:20-28; 9:23; 4:1-11). It is a better covenant in every way.
Hebrews 8:7-13 says,
"For if that first covenant had been faultless, there would have been no occasion to look for a second. 8 For he finds fault with them when he says: “Behold, the days are coming, declares the Lord, when I will establish a new covenant with the house of Israel and with the house of Judah, 9 not like the covenant that I made with their fathers on the day when I took them by the hand to bring them out of the land of Egypt. For they did not continue in my covenant, and so I showed no concern for them, declares the Lord. 10 For this is the covenant that I will make with the house of Israel after those days, declares the Lord: I will put my laws into their minds, and write them on their hearts, and I will be their God, and they shall be my people. 11 And they shall not teach, each one his neighbor and each one his brother, saying, ‘Know the Lord,’ for they shall all know me, from the least of them to the greatest. 12 For I will be merciful toward their iniquities, and I will remember their sins no more.” 13 In speaking of a new covenant, he makes the first one obsolete. And what is becoming obsolete and growing old is ready to vanish away."
There was a controversy in the early church over whether or not the Gentile converts had to keep the laws of the Mosaic Covenant so a council was convened in Jerusalem to decide the matter in A.D. 49/50.
Acts 15:1-5 says,
"But some men came down from Judea and were teaching the brothers, “Unless you are circumcised according to the custom of Moses, you cannot be saved.” 2 And after Paul and Barnabas had no small dissension and debate with them, Paul and Barnabas and some of the others were appointed to go up to Jerusalem to the apostles and the elders about this question. 3 So, being sent on their way by the church, they passed through both Phoenicia and Samaria, describing in detail the conversion of the Gentiles, and brought great joy to all the brothers. 4 When they came to Jerusalem, they were welcomed by the church and the apostles and the elders, and they declared all that God had done with them. 5 But some believers who belonged to the party of the Pharisees rose up and said, “It is necessary to circumcise them and to order them to keep the law of Moses."
The issue at the Jerusalem Council was whether or not the Gentiles needed to become Jews and follow all of the Old Covenant ceremonial laws in order to join the Church. Under the terms of the Old Covenant, a male Gentile had to be circumcised and become a Jew to be a part of the covenant community. Circumcision was one of the signs of the covenant that God established to show that a man was a follower of the God of Abraham and Israel (Genesis 17:9-14; Leviticus 12:1-3). The Pharisees were thinking in terms of the Old Covenant requirements to join the community. But when Christ gave us His New Covenant, He replaced the Old Covenant laws and regulations with the New Covenant, the law of Christ (Mark 12:28-31; Galatians 6:2; 1 Corinthians 9:19-23).
The Apostles taught that trying to keep the law of Moses was too hard for a person to bear.
Acts 15:6-11 says,
"The apostles and the elders were gathered together to consider this matter. 7 And after there had been much debate, Peter stood up and said to them, “Brothers, you know that in the early days, God made a choice among you, that by my mouth the Gentiles should hear the word of the gospel and believe. 8 And God, who knows the heart, bore witness to them, by giving them the Holy Spirit just as he did to us, 9 and he made no distinction between us and them, having cleansed their hearts by faith. 10 Now, therefore, why are you putting God to the test by placing a yoke on the neck of the disciples that neither our fathers nor we have been able to bear? 11 But we believe that we will be saved through the grace of the Lord Jesus, just as they will."
The Jerusalem Council’s decision.
Acts 15:28-29 says,
"For it has seemed good to the Holy Spirit and to us to lay on you no greater burden than these requirements: 29 that you abstain from what has been sacrificed to idols, and from blood, and from what has been strangled, and from sexual immorality. If you keep yourselves from these, you will do well. Farewell."
Notice that it was the Holy Spirit that made these requirements, and the Apostles were careful to say that "no greater burden" was to be laid upon the Gentiles than these four requirements. The Church leaders made it clear to all the churches that they would never place a burden on keeping the Mosaic Law upon the new converts. The four requirements were:
1) that you abstain from what has been sacrificed to idols;
2) from blood,
3) from what has been strangled, and 4) from sexual immorality.
Those were the only restrictions placed upon the new converts. Nothing is said about keeping the Sabbath, or the dietary restrictions from the Law of Moses. It is also important to note that the controversy in Acts 15 seems to be concerned with Jews and Gentiles coming together for fellowship and meals.
These questions continued to be debated in Paul’s churches. Were the new Gentile converts expected to keep the Law of Moses? Are the unclean meats from Leviticus 11 still forbidden today? Did the new converts have to keep the Sabbath and the other Holy days of the Mosaic Covenant?
Paul dealt with the issues in the books of Colossians, Galatians, and Romans.
Colossians 2:13-17 says,
"And you, who were dead in your trespasses and the uncircumcision of your flesh, God made alive together with him, having forgiven us all our trespasses, 14 by canceling the record of debt that stood against us with its legal demands. This he set aside, nailing it to the cross. 15 He disarmed the rulers and authorities and put them to open shame, by triumphing over them in him. 16 Therefore let no one pass judgment on you in questions of food and drink, or with regard to a festival or a new moon or a Sabbath. 17 These are a shadow of the things to come, but the substance belongs to Christ."
And Galatians 4:10-11 says,
“You observe days and months and seasons and years! 11 I am afraid I may have labored over you in vain.”
From these two passages, it is obvious that new converts were being pressured to observe Jewish dietary laws and holy days from the Mosaic Covenant. Paul taught that Christ’s followers had been freed from practicing the customs that Israel was required to keep under the Old Covenant Law.
The phrase, "a festival or a new moon or a Sabbath day" from Colossians 2, and the phrase, “days and months and seasons and years” from Galatians 4, both refer to the annual, monthly, and weekly cycle of holy days from the Jewish calendar. The Old Testament prophets used the same way of illustrating the yearly cycle of worship required under the Mosaic Covenant that Paul was using in Colossians 2 and Galatians 4 (see: 1 Chronicles 23:31; 2 Chronicles 2:4; 31:3; Ezekiel 45:17; Hosea 2:11).
The weekly Seventh-day Sabbath is clearly meant in both passages. In Colossians 2:16, Paul had already mentioned the ceremonial festivals and new moon celebrations and would have no reason to repeat himself. And in Galatians 4, Paul had to rebuke the Galatians for thinking God expected them to observe special holy days, including the ‘weekly’ seventh-day Sabbath as if they were required by God and necessary for salvation under the New Covenant. Any insistence on the observance of the Old Covenant ceremonies is a failure to recognize that their fulfillment has already taken place. The yearly cycle of Jewish Holy days pointed forward to the work of the Messiah and would only end when the Messiah came.
False teachers in Galatia were teaching the heresy of works righteousness.
Galatians 1:6-9 says,
"I am astonished that you are so quickly deserting him who called you in the grace of Christ and are turning to a different gospel— 7 not that there is another one, but there are some who trouble you and want to distort the gospel of Christ. 8 But even if we or an angel from heaven should preach to you a gospel contrary to the one we preached to you, let him be accursed. 9 As we have said before, so now I say again: If anyone is preaching to you a gospel contrary to the one you received, let him be accursed."
When someone tells you to keep the Old Covenant law they are teaching you a false gospel.
Acts 15:10 says,
"Now, therefore, why are you putting God to the test by placing a yoke on the neck of the disciples that neither our fathers nor we have been able to bear?"
And Galatians 5:1-4 says,
"For freedom, Christ has set us free; stand firm therefore and do not submit again to a yoke of slavery. 2 Look: I, Paul, say to you that if you accept circumcision, Christ will be of no advantage to you. 3 I testify again to every man who accepts circumcision that he is obligated to keep the whole law. 4 You are severed from Christ, you who would be justified by the law; you have fallen away from grace."
A yoke was used on domesticated animals to control their movements. The New Testament tells us that trying to keep the Old Covenant law was like a yoke too hard for anyone to bear. Christ has set us free from our bondage to the Law to be justified by grace. Anyone who tells you that Christians have to keep the Old Covenant ceremonies is teaching the same false gospel of legalism that Paul dealt with in the book of Galatians (Galatians 1:6-9; 3:1-14; 5:1-15).
The New Covenant gives us guidelines on how to relate to one another.
Paul’s churches had both Jewish and Gentile believers and the Jews found it difficult to come together with the Gentiles when it came time for fellowship and to share meals together. Many of the Jewish Christians still held to the laws regarding "clean" and "unclean" foods, but the Gentiles believed they were not bound by those regulations. For the Gentile converts, the issue was whether or not they could eat meat that was sacrificed in pagan temples and then sold in the open marketplace which the Jews had no problem with. The Jews held certain days with special regard, but the Gentiles believed they did not have to observe those days. The weaker Gentiles wanted to separate themselves from the special days of festivities associated with their former paganism because of the idolatry and immorality associated with them (1 Corinthians 8 and 1 Corinthians 10).
These issues were a very real problem in the context of their continuing social relationships.
Paul gave us guidelines in Romans 12-13 on the appropriate conduct for Christians living together with other Christians, and non-believers. Christ wants us to be more concerned with fellow believers than with ourselves (Romans 12:3, 10), and we are told to treat those who are in the world with goodness and respect (Romans 12:14, 21). As a follower of Christ, we are to be guided by the principle of love that Christ gave us. Romans 13:10 says, "Love does no harm to the neighbor. Therefore love is the fulfillment of the law.”
In Romans 14, Paul discusses our Christian liberty on debatable issues. Having harmonious relationships are important. Believers should live their lives without judging others (Romans 14:1-12), and without trying to influence others to violate their consciences (Romans 14:13-23). Not only should the mature believer not hinder the weak believer with their freedom, but the weak believer must avoid restricting those who have discovered their Christian freedom. Mutual love and respect are the marks of a true disciple of Christ.
Romans 14:1-5 says,
"As for the one who is weak in faith, welcome him, but not to quarrel over opinions. 2 One person believes he may eat anything, while the weak person eats only vegetables. 3 Let not the one who eats despise the one who abstains, and let not the one who abstains pass judgment on the one who eats, for God has welcomed him. 4 Who are you to pass judgment on the servant of another? It is before his own master that he stands or falls. And he will be upheld, for the Lord is able to make him stand. 5 One person esteems one day as better than another, while another esteems all days alike. Each one should be fully convinced in his own mind."
The importance of personal conviction in disputable matters of conduct runs through the book of Romans (see Romans 14:14, 16, 22, 23). Paul was not saying it is wrong to have strong convictions, but that all people have a right to their own personal beliefs on disputable matters. This principle is basic in dealing with these controversial issues.
Romans 14:12-13 says,
"So then each of us will give an account of himself to God. 13 Therefore let us not pass judgment on one another any longer, but rather decide never to put a stumbling block or hindrance in the way of a brother."
The New Covenant does not require us to keep any day of the week holy. Christians are free to worship together on whatever day they choose. The day you go to church is a matter of personal conviction. Whether you set apart the seventh day of the week, the first day of the week, or any other day of the week for corporate worship, each person needs to be fully convinced in his own mind.
The restriction in Acts 15 to refrain from meats sacrificed to idols was only a temporary restriction. Paul states clearly that an idol was nothing in the world (1 Corinthians 8:1-13).
During the early years of the Christian Church, Jews and Gentiles came together to have fellowship and eat meals together. Over time, the Gentiles became the larger group and these issues became far less important as fewer and fewer Jews were present. The New Covenant deals with the issues of holy days and dietary restrictions in Romans 14; 1 Corinthians 8-10; Galatians 1-6; Ephesians 2; Colossians 2 and Acts 15.
People can be offended over just about anything these days. How can we know if what we eat, drink, wear, or an activity we take part in, unnecessarily offends someone as inappropriate, or if it is really something that can cause a fellow Christian to stumble and fall in their walk with Christ?
Romans 14:13-17 says,
"Therefore let us not pass judgment on one another any longer, but rather decide never to put a stumbling block or hindrance in the way of a brother. 14 I know and am persuaded in the Lord Jesus that nothing is unclean in itself, but it is unclean for anyone who thinks it unclean. 15 For if your brother is grieved by what you eat, you are no longer walking in love. By what you eat, do not destroy the one for whom Christ died. 16 So do not let what you regard as good be spoken of as evil. 17 For the kingdom of God is not a matter of eating and drinking but of righteousness and peace and joy in the Holy Spirit."
And 1 Corinthians 10:31-33 says,
"So, whether you eat or drink, or whatever you do, do all to the glory of God. 32 Give no offense to Jews or to Greeks or to the church of God, 33 just as I try to please everyone in everything I do, not seeking my own advantage, but that of many, that they may be saved."
Paul’s point is, that when we come together as a church for fellowship and the Lord’s supper, we have to be sincerely concerned that we do not do something that could cause another person to seriously stumble by what we eat or drink.
Each covenant is like a new legal contract. A contract must have all of its legal requirements spelled out in that contract. Each of the covenants in the Bible can use elements of previous covenants, reapply them, omit them completely, and give new laws altogether.
The New Covenant has its own laws that govern it. The law of Christ is not the law of the Jews under the Old Covenant.
Paul says in Galatians 6:2 that we are to,
“Bear one another’s burdens, and so fulfill the law of Christ.”
What is the law of Christ?
Mark 12:28-31 says, "
And one of the scribes came up and heard them disputing with one another, and seeing that he answered them well, asked him, “Which commandment is the most important of all?” 29 Jesus answered, “The most important is, ‘Hear, O Israel: The Lord our God, the Lord is one. 30 And you shall love the Lord your God with all your heart and with all your soul and with all your mind and with all your strength.’ 31 The second is this: ‘You shall love your neighbor as yourself.’ There is no other commandment greater than these."
The law of Christ, then, is to love God with all of our heart and to love our neighbors as we love ourselves (see: 1 John 4:7-8; 5:3).
In 1 Corinthians 9:19-23, Paul said he wasn’t under the Old Covenant law of the Jews because he was under the law of Christ. The law of Christ contains some new commands, some old commands, and some revised commands (1 Timothy 4:4; Romans 13:9; Romans 13:4). The law of Christ is made up of Christ's law of love; which is also called the royal law of liberty in the book of James; the law of the Spirit of life; Christ’s commands and teaching; and the commands and teachings of the Apostles found in the writings of the New Testament epistles (Galatians 6:2; Romans 6:14; 1 Corinthians 9:20-21; James 2:8-12; Romans 8:1-17; Matthew 5:44; Galatians 6:2; Romans 13:8-10; John 13:34; Philippians 2:4-12; Matthew 28:20; 2 Peter 3:2; Acts 1:1-2; 2 Peter 3:2; Ephesians 2:20; Jude 1:17; 1 John 5:3).
The Old Covenant Law was a strict taskmaster.
The Apostles called the Old Covenant Law a yoke of slavery (Acts 15:10; Galatians 5:1-4). The Law was perfect but man is not! We have all sinned and fallen short of God’s holy standards (Romans 3:23), and because of that, we are by nature, slaves to sin. The Law could only pronounce judgment on our sinful nature, but it was powerless to do anything about our sin itself. The Law has no power to put sin to death in our lives.
Jesus Christ solved mankind’s problem with sin forever by entering into the New Covenant with those who believe in Him by faith.
Galatians 3:23-25 says,
“Now before faith came, we were held captive under the law, imprisoned until the coming faith would be revealed. 24 So then, the law was our guardian until Christ came, in order that we might be justified by faith. 25 But now that faith has come, we are no longer under a guardian,”
When we are in Christ, we are set free from the sentence of death that the Old Covenant law commands, and empowered by God Himself to live our lives for Christ in the power of the Spirit.
Romans 12:2 says,
“Do not conform any longer to the pattern of this world but be transformed by the renewing of your mind. Then you will be able to test and approve what God's will is—his good, pleasing, and perfect will.” (NIV)
The world that we live in is evil and it still threatens those who belong to Christ, so we must resist the pull it has on us. Our lives are changed as our minds are made new by the Spirit of Christ living inside of us. We have to be willing to conform our thoughts and habits to the mind of Christ. Only then will we be able to discern God’s will for our lives and put it into practice?
When we are in Christ we are freed from the condemnation of the law.
Romans 8:1-4 says,
“There is therefore now no condemnation for those who are in Christ Jesus. 2 For the law of the Spirit of life has set you free in Christ Jesus from the law of sin and death. 3 For God has done what the law, weakened by the flesh, could not do. By sending his own Son in the likeness of sinful flesh and for sin, he condemned sin in the flesh, 4 in order that the righteous requirement of the law might be fulfilled in us, who walk not according to the flesh but according to the Spirit.”
The Old Covenant was a system of laws that governed every aspect of Hebrew life. The law was a list of dos and don’ts that Israel was unable to keep. The New Covenant is superior to the Old Covenant in every way because now we have a choice. Christ died for our sins so we could have the choice to live a life that is dominated by His Spirit or continue to live with our sinful desires (Romans 8:1-17). We can be at peace with God, or at war with Him. We can live our lives in His Spirit, or we can live our lives controlled by sinful nature.
When we set our minds on what the Spirit desires, He begins to take control of our desires (Romans 8:5, 9). We have to put to death the old way of living on a daily basis and choose to be led by the Spirit (Romans 8:13, 18). When we live by His Spirit, we are making the choice to live by the highest moral standards. The law requires holiness but is powerless to make us holy because of our sinful nature. Christ’s death and resurrection have given us freedom from sin and the Holy Spirit has empowered us to fulfill the righteous requirement of the law (Romans 8:4).
The death of Jesus Christ changed everything!
Christ is the one who provides deliverance from the power of sin, and the Holy Spirit living inside of us is the one who empowers us to experience daily conformity to the image of Christ (Romans 8:28-29).
The Jews living under the New Covenant had to come to understand that the Mosaic Covenant was no longer binding on anyone. We have been freed from our bondage to the Old Covenant law of sin and death by the law of Christ. At the same time, Christians shouldn’t let their freedom cause another person to stumble and fall. Love, not law-keeping, should be the focus of our lives because "Love is the fulfillment of the law" (Romans 13:8-13).
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