During our Bible study in Leviticus, we have been studying the laws that God gave to the Israelites as a result of the Mosaic Covenant that He made with them. When we read these laws, it is very apparent that we no longer keep many of them, but how do we know what to keep and what not to keep? If they’re in the Bible, why don’t we keep them? How do the laws relate to the New Covenant? Why is that important?
While I cannot cover everything this morning, these are some of the questions that I would like to look at this morning.
Prior to the Exodus, God had made a covenant, or a binding agreement, first with Noah, then with Abraham, and finally with Moses at Mt. Sinai. Each new covenant came with a promise and an expectation. Under the Mosaic Covenant, God promised Moses that He would continue to bless Israel if they would obey Him and the laws that Moses wrote out in Exodus, Leviticus, and Deuteronomy. This was what is called the Mosaic Law or Mosaic Covenant. There was one other covenant made during the OT. It was the Davidic Covenant and it was made between God and King David and was the setup for the next covenant to come.
When God installed the Mosaic Law, He knew that the people of Israel would not be able keep the laws, so God also included rules for sacrifices that would atone for the sins of the people. This is what we have been reading in Leviticus. However, this system was only meant to be temporary. It required a constant parade of inadequate sacrifices. Why were they inadequate? Because they were not perfect sacrifices. They only served for the moment. God already had a permanent plan in mind. The prophet Jeremiah (Jeremiah 31:31-34) sets us up for the next covenant:
“The days are coming,” declares the Lord, “when I will make a new covenant with the people of Israel and with the people of Judah. It will not be like the covenant I made with their ancestors when I took them by the hand to lead them out of Egypt, because they broke my covenant, though I was a husband to them,” declares the Lord. “This is the covenant I will make with the people of Israel after that time,” declares the Lord. “I will put my law in their minds and write it on their hearts. I will be their God, and they will be my people. No longer will they teach their neighbor, or say to one another, ‘Know the Lord,’ because they will all know me, from the least of them to the greatest,” declares the Lord. “For I will forgive their wickedness and will remember their sins no more.”
God said that He would write the law on their hearts and in the minds. How would He do that? Before Jesus ascended into heaven, He told the disciples that He would send His Spirit. The Holy Spirit is the way in which God writes His laws on our hearts and in our minds. In this new Covenant, we never have to walk alone.
In each of the other Covenants, there were new laws that had to be obeyed. But what are the new laws in this New Covenant? Jesus, the Author and Finisher of our faith gave us the new laws when He said “Love the Lord your God with all your heart, soul, mind, and strength, and love your neighbor as yourself.” All of the Ten Commandments are encompassed in these two commandments.
But, what about all the other laws that are contained in the Law of Moses? The Apostle Paul tackles this subject in-depth in the book of Romans. He explains that the Law shows us that we are sinners. The Law was perfect and we are not. We could not hope to keep them all, which is why God set in place the sacrificial system. Paul goes on to say that those that live according to the law of the flesh are destined to die, but those who live by the law of the spirit will live.
The writer of Hebrews tells us in Hebrews 8:6
But in fact the ministry Jesus has received is as superior to theirs as the covenant of which he is mediator is superior to the old one, since the new covenant is established on better promises.
The new Gentile Christians in Galatia were being hassled by the Jewish Christians and were attempting to revert to Jewish law. Paul tells them (Galatians 1:6-7)
I am astonished that you are so quickly deserting the one who called you to live in the grace of Christ and are turning to a different gospel—which is really no gospel at all. Evidently some people are throwing you into confusion and are trying to pervert the gospel of Christ.
Keep in mind that the word ‘Gospel’ means Good News and Paul knew that it was not good news to enslave the Gentiles in the old Jewish laws. One of the clearest verses in Galatians is Galatians 3:24-25
So the law was our guardian until Christ came that we might be justified by faith. Now that this faith has come, we are no longer under a guardian.
Let’s look at an example where God showed this to Peter (Acts 10: 9-15)
About noon the following day as they were on their journey and approaching the city, Peter went up on the roof to pray. He became hungry and wanted something to eat, and while the meal was being prepared, he fell into a trance. He saw heaven opened and something like a large sheet being let down to earth by its four corners. It contained all kinds of four-footed animals, as well as reptiles and birds. Then a voice told him, “Get up, Peter. Kill and eat.” “Surely not, Lord!” Peter replied. “I have never eaten anything impure or unclean.” The voice spoke to him a second time, “Do not call anything impure that God has made clean.”
Just after this occurred, a messenger from a Roman Centurion came and asked Peter to come to his house. Jews were not allowed to eat with Gentiles. God showed Peter that this was an old system that had been replaced by the law of love. This law of love meant that the salvation of people was much more important than the old law that prevented Jews from entering the homes of Gentiles.
Paul tells us that (Romans 2:29):
No, a person is a Jew who is one inwardly; and circumcision is circumcision of the heart, by the Spirit, not by the written code. Such a person’s praise is not from other people, but from God.
So it is not by the keeping of the law that we are grafted into the family of God. It is only through grace and faith in Jesus. When you read through the letters of Paul, especially Romans and Galatians, you will see that Paul was adamant that we, as Gentiles, do not have to enslave ourselves to the Jewish law. This law was given to the Jews as a temporary guardian and was always meant to be replaced by the Law of Love and Grace.
The New Covenant has replaced the old one because it has internalized the spirit of the law. It was able to do that because of the coming of the Holy Spirit, who lives in each and every believer of Jesus Christ.
After quoting the passage from Jeremiah, the writer of Hebrews says (Hebrews 8:13):
By calling this covenant “new,” he has made the first one obsolete; and what is obsolete and outdated will soon disappear.
So, how is the old law obsolete and which ones do we still obey? Here is a simple method: if you obey the new laws: love God completely and love others as yourself, you will not lust, so you will not commit adultery. You will not covet your neighbors anything because you love him, so you will not steal from him or lie about him. The new covenant has gotten rid of the temporary things like having to wear blue tassels on your clothes or having to wear phylacteries on your wrists or forehead, and magnified the things that are still valid, like hatred in your heart for someone equaling murder or lust for someone equaling adultery, as Jesus pointed out to the Pharisees.
So, because of the coming of the Messiah, we are not bound by all those things that the Jews had to adhere to. We are bound by our love for God and our love for others. In this way, we are free from the law, oh happy condition. We aren’t slaves to the ‘law,’ but are bond-slaves to the Lord Jesus Christ. The New Covenant is a better Covenant because it is based on grace and love.
Jesus doesn’t want you to be enslaved to sin. He wants you to give yourself to Him so that He can wash you white as snow. He will throw your sins as far as the east is from the west. You just have to ask Him in and believe on Him with all your heart. If you have never come to that place in your life, you are still a slave to the old law and to sin and self. You have no chance to continually do what is right in God’s sight because your own will constantly supersedes His. Give Him your heart today and let Him write His Word on your heart and in your mind.
If you’re a Christian, maybe you’ve still been living a life filled with do’s and don’ts, but your heart isn’t filled with the love for God or for others that you know He would have you to have. Ask for His forgiveness this morning and tell Him that He can have all of you so that His love can begin to work in and through you…
(Prayer)
*All scriptures in NIV unless otherwise stated.
