Tag: Old Covenant

From an Old Covenant to a New Covenant mindset

For years I never gave the Old Covenant Mosaic Law much thought.  In my thinking, it was an old, outdated Judaic system of 613 laws that no one follows anymore.  After all, no one could follow 613 rules and regulations daily and some of these laws were just impossible to do, like animal sacrifices.  Of course, as believers, we still had the 10 commandments and some of the Old Covenant laws that were “do-able”.  Still, I didn’t think I (or anyone I knew was extremely “legalistic” in regards to the Law.

Then I heard a teaching on Old Covenant (law) and New Covenant (grace) thinking.  Old Covenant thinking was “do in order to be blessed” and New Covenant thinking was “we are blessed because it was already done.”  While I definitely believed that we were already blessed because of what Jesus had done, I had to admit that a lot of my thinking was also “do in order to be blessed.”  I believed the blessing was ours through Jesus but in order for those blessings to be mine,  I had to “do” something.  And if I did things “wrong” it would interfere with my blessing or take me out from under His protective covering…….leaving me open to demonic attacks (like Job).  When things would go wrong, I was wracking my brain trying to figure out where I had missed it or which “door” I had left open through something I did or didn’t do.  If things were going well, I must be living an obedient life — doing ALL God has said to do and pleasing Him.

I was definitely living a life of mixed grace and law.

So it wasn’t that I had an actual checklist of do’s and don’ts to follow, but rather my thinking was still rooted in an Old Covenant based mindset of reward and punishment instead of a New Covenant mindset of being only grace based on the finished work of the Cross.  So I started seeing differently and looking at Old Covenant (including the Gospels – since the law continued to be in effect until the Cross) through the lens of the finished work of Christ.  And as I read Scriptures asking Holy Spirit “did the Cross change this particular verse?”

For instance… one of the first Scriptures I got revelation on was Psalm 51:9-11: “Hide thy face from my sins, and blot out all mine iniquities (10) Create in me a clean heart, O God; and renew a right spirit within me, (11) Cast me not away from thy presence; and take not thy Holy Spirit from me.”  While David was perfectly fine praying this prayer under the Old Covenant before Christ came, for me to pray it was an absence of faith….rooted in ignorance of the finished work of the Cross  While it sounds beautiful and appears “humble,” it’s full of doubt and unbelief.

  1.  God doesn’t hide His face from my sins — Jesus totally removed them and the Father doesn’t remember them or hold them against me any longer.
  2. I don’t have to ask Him to blot out (or wipe away; abolish) my sins — He’s already done that.
  3. He has ALREADY given me a clean and pure heart and He most definitely has ALREADY renewed a right spirit within me!
  4. He would NEVER cast me away from His presence because He has promised to never leave me nor forsake me
  5. And ABSOLUTELY He wouldn’t take Holy Spirit from me because we are ONE now.

The next Scripture I got revelation on was Matthew 6:14-15: “For if you forgive men their trespasses, your Heavenly Father will also forgive you. (15) But if you do not forgive men their trespasses, neither will your Father forgive yours.”  Jesus was talking to people STILL UNDER the Old Covenant Law.  So, how did the Cross change that?  Ephesians 4:32: And be kind to one another, tender-hearted, forgiving each other, as also in Christ God forgave you. And Colossians 3:13:  Bear with each other and forgive any complaint you may have against one another. Forgive as the Lord forgave you.  We forgive BECAUSE He first forgave us.  Old Covenant was “forgive SO THAT God can forgive you.”  New Covenant is “His forgiveness is your empowerment to forgive.”  Big difference.  Those 2 Scriptures began a  new way of thinking and a beautiful journey of freedom for me.  

And the next Scripture the Holy Spirit began to change my thinking on was Matthew 22:37-40: Jesus said unto him, Thou shalt love the Lord thy God with all thy heart, and with all thy soul, and with all thy mind. (38) This is the first and great commandment. (39) And the second is like, unto it, Thou shalt love thy neighbor as thyself.  (40) On these two commandments hang all the law and the prophets. Verse 36 says that one of the Pharisees had asked Jesus what the greatest commandment IN THE LAW!  This commandment was an Old Covenant Law commandment.  We don’t love God with all of our strength nor do we love our neighbor like we love ourselves.  Rather, 1 John 4:19 says We love because He first loved us and John 15:12 says This is My commandment, that you love one another as I loved you.  We don’t have to rely on our strength or self-efforts to love God or others.  He poured His love into our hearts by the Holy Spirit…. we are able to love God and others because He loved us and that same agape love is in us to release.  

Over the last couple of years, I realized that people struggle with this area of their Christian walk.  They really love God and desire to “serve” Him better.  The way they think they can do that is by making the Old Covenant law their standard for living.  They live in a mindset of reward and punishment based on their behavior.  Thinking that if they can just line up their behavior with what they believe God wants, that He will be happy and they will be accepted and “good” sons.  The thing is, our Father already sees us as “good” sons.  We can make Him any happier than He already is with us.

Jesus set us free from an Old Covenant mindset of blessing and cursing… reward and punishment.  He never intended it to be our standard of holiness… He made us holy by giving us His holiness.  He took our sin and gave us His righteousness, His holiness…. His very own nature became our new nature.  We are now IN CHRIST and wholly, completely, wonderfully accepted in the Beloved…. not someday, but now…. just as we are!  We are full of His glory, we have His mind, and we are one in union with Him.  We have the FULLNESS of the Spirit WITHOUT MEASURE!

Today as you read the Word and you come across Old Covenant or Gospel Scriptures, ask Holy Spirit to show you Jesus in them…. ask Him to show you the finished work of the Cross in Scriptures.  He will and your mindset will change causing you to walk in a greater freedom than you have ever known.  It will change how you see God, yourself and others….. you will suddenly be free to walk in a love you have never known.  

We don’t receive a blessing from God because of what we do…. John 1:16 says For from His fullness we have all received, grace upon grace.  The amplified version says For out of His fullness (abundance) we have all received [all had a share and we were all supplied with] one grace after another and spiritual blessing upon spiritual blessing and even favor upon favor and gift [heaped] upon gift.  We receive from His fullness…. out of His abundance, grace, spiritual blessings, favor and gifts in ABUNDANCE.  

~ Robin

Which Law did God write​ on our hearts?

“This is the new covenant I will make with my people on that day, says the LORD: I will put my laws in their hearts, and I will write them on their minds.”  ~ Hebrews 10:16

In a Bible study, I recently started attending it seemed like you had only 2 options…. antinomian (against the Law – basically hyper-grace) or a mix of law and grace (saved by grace but relying on the Law to keep us holy – specifically 10 commandments).  I guess if those are my two options, then I must be antinomian.  Though personally, I prefer the term “IN CHRIST” because in Christ we are no longer under the Law (Galatians 3:24).  I am definitely against the idea of following the Old Covenant Mosaic Law as a moral compass.  I tackled that issue in yesterday’s blog post 10 Commandments.    

law hearts 1

I do know quite a few people who believe that the law God has written on our new hearts as believers is the Old Covenant Law, making it easier to walk out.  Why would God write the Mosaic Law on our hearts?  All that the Law did was arouse sinful passions (Romans 7:5).  Also, Romans 7:4 says that we died to the Law through Christ and we are now married to Him.  So, if it’s not the Mosaic Law on our hearts.  Which law did He write?  According to Hebrews 10:16 He wrote laws (plural) on our hearts and our minds.  I’ve found 4 different laws mentioned in the New Testament.

The Law of Love

Under the Mosaic Law, love was commanded in order to receive the blessings of long life, many children and for life to go well for you.  Failure to obey this command of love would obviously result in not attaining those things.  Deuteronomy 6:5 “Love the Lord your God with all your heart, soul, mind and strength.”  This is impossible to fulfill in ourselves!  No one can love God with ALL of our heart, soul, mind, and strength. We try… we give it our best shot… but that is an impossibility in and of ourselves.  But of course that was the purpose of the Old Covenant laws… they were meant to point us to Christ.  To awaken in us the revelation that we in our selves… in our flesh… we cannot walk out or obey these laws… we need a Savior. 

Under the new covenant of grace, Love is given to you.  Out of Christ’s measureless love, we are now able to love others.  It’s out of the overflow of His Love in us.  It’s not something we have to work up in ourselves towards others or even towards God.  Romans 5:5 tells us God’s love has been poured out into our hearts through the Holy Spirit, who has been given to us. God abundantly poured His love into our hearts by giving us the Holy Spirit, … the Spirit of Grace.  Jesus said, “As I have loved you” – it’s out of His love that is in us that we are able to love.   Do you see the difference between the old and new?  Under the old, you loved others because you feared punishment…. you feared not receiving His blessings, His promises.   But under the new, you love because the Lover lives in you and His nature is Love.  He can’t be anything else.  It’s not just an adjective that describes Him, it is who He is (1 Jn 4:8)

The law of the Spirit of life

The Old Covenant was a written code no one could keep (except Jesus) and the New Covenant is Christ Himself living in you.  Paul told us in Romans 7:24 that trying to keep the Old Law makes you frustrated and miserable… “O wretched man that I am! who shall deliver me from the body of this death?”  Notice he didn’t say what will rescue me but rather Who… Who will rescue me?  And the answer was….Thanks be to God, who delivers me through Jesus Christ our Lord. (Rom 7:24-25a).  The old law is a what but the new law is a Who.  The old law ministers condemnation and death (2 Cor 3:7-9), but the new law of the Spirit gives life (Rom 8:2).  The letter kills, but the Spirit gives life (2 Cor 3:6)  So Who gives life… Who rescued from the frustration of trying to keep the Law?  The Spirit of Christ within you. 

The perfect law of liberty

James wrote that “the perfect law gives freedom” (James 1:25).  In contrast, Romans 7:6 tells us that the law of Moses binds.  What is the perfect law that gives freedom?

It’s Jesus, the living Word who set us free.  The perfect law of liberty describes what Jesus has done (perfectly fulfilled or completed the law) and the fruit He will bear in our lives (liberty) if we trust him.

But whoever looks intently into the perfect law that gives freedom, and continues in it – not forgetting what they have heard, but doing it – they will be blessed in what they do. (James 1:25)

Look into the mirror of Moses’ law and you will be miserable, for it exposes all your faults… your weaknesses in serving God in the flesh.  It is like putting a veil over your eyes and you are unable to see that Jesus fulfilled it all not just for you… but as you!  Looking into the perfect law, which is Jesus, blesses you because it reveals his righteousness.

But it also says “Don’t just listen but do what it (the perfect law of liberty) says” (James 1:22). In other words, allow the Spirit of Christ to convince you that in Him you are righteous and holy. Don’t walk away from the perfect law and forget who you are in Christ. Fix your eyes on Jesus. Look intently with an unveiled face and be transformed into his likeness.

Law of faith

Romans 3:27 says Where then is boasting? It is excluded. By what kind of law? Of works? No, but by a law of faith.  God is a faith God.  Without faith, it’s impossible to please God (Heb. 11:6), so our relationship with the Lord is dependent on it. Faith is what brings the things God has provided for us from the spiritual realm into the physical realm (Heb. 11:1). Our faith is the victory that enables us to overcome the world (1 John 5:4). Everything the Lord does for us is accessed through faith.

And He has given to us His faith…. Galatians 2:20 says “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.”  We live our lives by His faith.  Paul did not say that he lived by faith IN the Son of God but by the faith OF the Son of God. The measure of faith that Paul had was the same measure that Jesus had. It was Jesus’ faith. If there is only one measure of faith (Rom. 12:3), then we also have the faith of Jesus.

We don’t have to wonder if we have enough faith for something… or try to work up our faith.  He gives us His faith to live by.  How do we access this faith? Romans 10:17 says, “So then faith cometh by hearing, and hearing by the word of God.” We access God’s faith through His Word.  When we hear God’s Word, the Holy Spirit empowers it, and if we receive the truth, God’s supernatural faith enters us.

Galatians 5:22-23 tells us that faith is a fruit of the Spirit.  Faith becomes a permanent part of our born-again spirits.  There is no lack of faith within any true Christian. There is just a lack of knowing and using what God has already given us.  Philemon 1:6 says, “hat the communication of thy faith may become effectual by the acknowledging of every good thing which is in you in Christ Jesus.” Notice that Paul isn’t praying that Philemon will get something more from the Lord. He was praying that his faith would begin to work as he acknowledged what he already had. The word “acknowledge” means, “to admit, recognize, or report the receipt of.” You can only acknowledge something that you already have. We already have the faith of God, and it will begin to work when we acknowledge this.

Why would we want the Old Covenant Law written on our hearts?  It is a ministry of death and condemnation.  The New Covenant of grace and it’s laws that are written on our hearts is a ministry of life.  The Spirit of Life abides in us and teaches us all things.  He transforms us into the image of the Son.  The Old Mosaic Law was made obsolete…. Hebrews 8:13 When God speaks of a “new” covenant, it means he has made the first one obsolete.  Colossians 2:14 tells us that it was nailed to the Cross.  Ephesians 2:15 tells us that in His incarnation, He rendered the entire Jewish system of laws and regulations useless as a measure to justify human life and conduct.  Hebrews 8:7 says that if there had been nothing wrong with the first covenant there would’ve been no need for a second covenant to replace it.  

We don’t need the Old Covenant Law to show us how to live holy lives.  First of all, we have already been made holy — 1 Corinthians 1:30 God has united you with Christ Jesus. For our benefit God made him to be wisdom itself. Christ made us right with God; he made us pure and holy, and he freed us from sin.  In Christ, we are righteous, holy and free from sin!  That’s good news!  Second of all, Titus 2:11-12 says that grace, not Law is what we need to teach us how to live holy — For the grace of God has appeared that offers salvation to all people. It teaches us to say “No” to ungodliness and worldly passions and to live self-controlled, upright and godly lives in this present age. Now that Jesus has come, we no longer need the supervision of the law.  So begin today to live a grace-filled life… standing fast in the liberty by which Christ has made us free, not becoming entangled again with a yoke of bondage to the Law and it’s commandments. (Galatians 5:1).  

~ Robin

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