Can it be that two Covenants: the Old and the New one, are having the same power and are acting simultaneously? And which of them is more important? And why shouldn’t a New Covenant believer hold on to the words, written by God in the Book of Deuteronomy, for example: «..if a tooth gets knocked out, knock out the tooth of the person, who did it» (Exodus 21:23-24), or «you must carry out the vows..», etc. And why should I hold on to the 10 commandments and ignore the words «..if a tooth gets knocked out, knock out the tooth of the person, who did it»? I like these very words so much! Who will give me the key to the code: what is right, and what is wrong? Is there an address of the church, who sorts it out? And did they get these instructions straight from Heavens? If I don’t do the commandment «an eye for an eye», will I be saved? — for Jesus told the young man: «keep the commandments, and you will be saved». But what if I don’t follow the Father’s words, and don’t knock out a tooth for a tooth, or don’t injure an eye for an eye, will I not get under the curse God tells us about in the Book of Deuteronomy 28:15-35? I didn’t keep His words, and now I must be cursed, is that not right? And when you ask theologians these questions, they don’t give any proof to their words, telling that in the New Covenant God opens Himself to us as the Loving God. But does it give us the right to ignore His commandments? .. Ok then! But what is the connection with ignorance of the commandments He gave us in the Old Covenant, with the fact, that He has exalted above all things His name and His Word? And maybe, the Book of Deuteronomy and the Book of Exodus are not from God, but from Moses? Of course not (Exodus 21:1)! It was told by God the Father. We know that the Word of God can’t be abolished or cancelled by anyone, until one condition is fulfilled. And today we shall discuss what this condition is.
According to Isaiah 55:11 the Word of God, which He sent to the earth, must fulfill what God expects from it. And all of us know it. But now I want to draw your attention to the fact, that in reality, very few people understand the principle of cancellation of what God had told before.
Let’s look at Mathew 5:17-18. In verse 17 God once more confirms and makes a stress on the fact, that the Word of God must be fulfilled, and Christ didn’t come just to cancel it. But what do we see in verses 33,34 of this chapter (nothing else but cancellation)? «Again, you have heard that it was said to the people long ago «Do not break your oath, but keep the oaths you have made to the Lord». But I tell you, «Do not swear at all: either by heaven, for it is God’s throne; or by the earth, for it is his footstool..» Now let’s decode it. Who were these people who lived long ago? These were believers. And who spoke to these people, who lived long ago? It was God the Father. Let’s try to make out, what is happening here. The Father says: «keep the oaths you have made to the Lord», and suddenly the Son orders «don’t make any oaths!», thus cancelling the Word of God. In this chapter we see such a picture for several times. And a question arises: «Who should we believe, and whose Word should we follow?», for both this and that was told by God.
If we don’t get a clear understanding of what is happening here, it’s difficult to firmly believe the Word of God. In verse 17 Jesus tells: «I didn’t come to abolish the law of Moses or the writings of the prophets», but He himself cancels the Father’s Word straight here. Who gave Him the right and who allowed Him to cancel God’s commandment? We can find the answer in the end of verse 18: «..until its purpose is achieved». Jesus tells us that first of all, the purpose of the words, which God the Father had told, must be achieved (and only after that it will be abolished). In Luke 24:44 we see, that it was achieved by the life of Jesus Christ! Amen!
Chaos and mess in minds of believers, as well as religious fear, appeared on the base of the words from Revelation 22:18-19. People can not understand: can they make the Word of God not so important, or can they abolish the words, told by God in the Old Covenant? It was God who told all that, wasn’t He? But that was why Jesus came — in order to achieve the purpose of the Old Covenant, and then to abolish it. By His life the Lord Jesus fulfilled each jot in the Scriptures, for us not to do it (not to follow the Old Covenant and the Law), but He established something new — now we must fulfill the Gospel. When Paul says, that the former regulation has been set aside (Hebrews 7:18,19), he means cancellation of former regulations, but he does not mean the equal, simultaneous action of the Old Covenant and the New Covenant. Two Constitutions can’t act simultaneously: for example, the Constitution of the USSR, and the constitution of Ukraine. One of them must have a bigger priority and influence. Example: God told Abraham to kill his son. But then the new word cancelled the previous word. And his son remained alive, due to cancellation of what had been told before. The Epistle to Hebrews is calling out to us!! about superiority of the New Covenant, of the better promises of the New Covenant for the spirit, not for the flesh (Hebrews 7:16). Naturally, it’s a chance for us to gain riches for eternal life, to get a reward and treasures in Heavens.
Of course, carnal believers love (simply adore) the Old Covenant and its promises (for the life here, on earth), which refer to their flesh (Hebrews 7:16). Unfortunately, many believers are eager to spend a wonderful life here (on earth), and practically nobody wants to have an invisible reward in Heavens. Who needs it, if you can’t feel it here? Ask yourself a question: «Do I accept the Gospel from Mark, and for example, the Book of the Prophet Isaiah equally? Are they the same to me?» If not, what is more important then, what is of more priority to me? Maybe, Isaiah speaks to the Jews, and Jesus speaks to us? The power to fulfill the Gospel, and to be a minister to the Gospel (2 Cor.3:6) can be taken from the New Covenant, or can be based on it, but it can’t be based on the canceled Word of God (the Old Covenant).
Regrettably, millions of believers, who read Col.2:14, Eph.2:15 can not realize, what is written there. Because carnal christians, who are not devoted to God and His will, can’t embrace the meaning of these words. The Epistle to Hebrews, chapter 10, starts from the description of the Law and its actions. And do you say, that the Law is cancelled, and doesn’t act in lives of New Covenant believers? But what are the grounds to say this? Who cancelled it? How can we understand all that? We have to think it over. We must understand the principle, of what had been cancelled by God before, and we shouldn’t be afraid to use it in our lives. We, who have the task to do our Father’s will, don’t have the right lose the most important weapon of christians — the Word of God. We are in doubt: «Was the Old Covenant cancelled for us?». It makes us weak, vulnerable and not able to do the will of God for our lives. Jesus not only lifted to the Cross our illnesses and weaknesses, but He also nailed to the Cross the Old Covenant — Col.2:14. Here I make a stress — not only the Law, but the whole Old Covenant was cancelled (without Law the Old Covenant is not a Covenant), although its blessings for us believers, who believe in Jesus Christ, are working, because Jesus lives in us. It’s He, who got the right for the Old Covenant promises (Rom.8:4). And when we believe in Christ, we automatically get their action in our lives, though we never fulfilled the Old Covenant and didn’t even know about its blessings. But faith in Jesus puts them into action.
Obedience to the truth is the will of God for us, or it is the way to the will of God. But what is the truth? Of course, we can learn something from the examples of the Old Covenant believers, and we can break the circumstances with the help of the promises of the Old Covenant, but we must be obedient to the Gospel of Jesus Christ and refuse forever the guidance of a schoolmaster (Gal.3:22-25).
The goal and purpose of the Old Covenant is to wait Jesus, so that believing in Jesus we could do the will of God. But when you are staying in the Old Covenant too much time, it produces in you the state of expectation («I am waiting for the wind») of His second coming. But the Gospel always motivated you for actions. Of course, when we have a double anointing, we want to wait for Jesus’ second coming, just sitting in a cozy church arm-chair. But He will never come until we do the Gospel, and make Him flesh. So, my wish for you is this: «Take Hebrews 10:9, and get inspired by the thought: «here I go to do your will, my God!»
P.S. In Galatians 4:24-26 Paul tells us not only about the Law, but about the whole Old Covenant.
P.S. When Jesus told in John 5:39, He didn’t mean the New Covenant believers, but pharisees, who didn’t believe in Him. Since we have trusted Jesus, we should investigate the Gospel, not the Scriptures of the Old Covenant. It’s because we already believe that Jesus is Christ! Amen!!!
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