Why I'm Thankful for the Truth of the New Covenant

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The footnote that I've decided to write about in the KJV Study Bible today is found in Jeremiah 31:31. It's called the doctrine of the New Covenant. The doctrine of the New Covenant is defined as follows by the KJV Study Bible:

New Covenant: In this prophecy Jeremiah foresees the new covenant ("testament") that God will make with mankind by extending His grace to the Gentiles. Under this new covenant, God will call out a people for Himself from all the nations of the Earth to form the bride of Christ (Revelation 21:1-9). This new and unconditional covenant is better than the old covenant because it rests on the efficacy of Christ's atonement for the sins of mankind (Heb. 8:10-12). (First Reference: Jer. 31:31; Primary Reference, Luke 22:12-20, cf. Eph. 1:10) As document of prophetic promise, like the Abrahamic and Davidic covenants, the new convenant is unconditional. In form, it corresponds to the Royal Grant Treaties of the ancient Near East. As subject to comparing Jeremiah 31:31-34 with other formulatons of this new covenant (e.g. 32:37-44, 33:14-26, Is. 55:1-3, 61:1-11, Ezek. 34:22-31, 36:22-38, 37:21, 28) it may seem that the new covenant assimilates the elements of the promises made to Abraham and chanelled with the progressive light through David  and brings them to full realization. Thus, the final blessing of Abraham's seed will find fruition in Israel's possession of the Promised Land in perpetuity under the rulership of Christ, the greater Son of David, the Seed par excellence (cf. 33:26, Ezek. 37:25-27, Mic. 7:19, 20 with Luke 1:68-78; Acts 3:25, 26, Rev. 11:15). Further, by faith in Christ, Gentile believers also become the spiritual seed of Abraham a nd members of the family of God (cf. Is. 45:22-25; Rom. 4:18-25, Gal. 3:26-29, Eph. 2:1-3:6, Titus 2:11-14, 1 Peter 2:9, 10). Although the new covenant is now operative (Matt. 26:27, 28, 2 Cor. 3:6, Heb. 8:6-13) and is attended by the ministry of the Holy Spirit, who is resident in believers' lives (Acts 2:14-37, Rom. 8:23, 2 Cor. 1:20-22, 5:1-5, Eph. 1:13,14,; 1 Thess. 5:19), the full realization of the new covneant as the capstone of all covenants awaits the second coming of Christ. He will give Israel the promise distinctive of that nation, and will rule over the earht in an unpredecented period of universal peace (Is. 2:4, Ezek. 34:25, 37:26), prosperity (Is. 61:7, 8; Ezek. 34:26, 27) and the thfull knowledge (v. 34) of the abiding presence of God (Ezek. 48:35, Joel 3:21). 

Without the Old Testament then there will be no New Testament. The covenant was already made with Abraham then down to David (the Davidic Covenant). The promise of Genesis 12:3 started with Abraham and went down to David. Before David, there was Isaac, Jacob, and Judah. Judah prevailed above his three older brothers (Reuben was eliminated for fornicating with one of his father's wives, Simeon and Levi were instruments of cruelty), and from him came the Messiah (Genesis 49:10). Judah's confession of his unrighteousness may have led to his illegitimate son Phares to lead down to the Davidic Dynasty. The lineage of Judah would also include Salmon who married the Canaanite woman Rahab, from Salmon and Rahab came Boaz who married Ruth the Moabite, and from Boaz came Obed, and from Obed came Jesse the father of David. From David came the covenant of the eternal kingdom. The Davidic Kingdom collapsed in the earthly sense. The Herods soon became the kings under the authority of the Roman Empire. Both Mary and Joseph were from the line of David. Joseph came from the line of Solomon. Mary came from the line of Nathan. Our Lord Jesus Christ would be the fulfillment of that prophecy when the Millennial Kingdom and the Eternal Kingdom will arrive. 

The Old Testament can be a chore to study for the newbie Christian. Can you imagine reading through Exodus to Deuteronomy on the rules of the Jewish faith? The Old Testament was full of ceremonial rules. The priests had to come from the Tribe of Levi. Confessing of one's sins required an unblemished clean animal to become a sin sacrifice. Offerings were far more complicated. The tithe was such a complicated system in giving a tenth in all you owed in contrast to today's tithing from your paycheck or net income. The Law was such a burden to follow. One wrong move may have meant the last for some people. Nadab and Abihu in Leviticus 10 got incinerated for offering strange fire before the LORD, a fire that didn't come from the fire God started to be used for the ceremonies in Leviticus 9:24. The divisions in the temple were to be strictly followed. Failure to do so resulted in severe plagues. King Uzziah became a leper (2 Chronicles 28). 

Why was this covenant to be written in the hearts of men? Whether we like to admit it or not, we're all cut short of the Law of God. How many times have we committed sins that would be worthy of a stoning such as using the LORD's name in vain or cursing one's parents in a petty quarrel? How many times have we really broken God's standard of holiness. The biggest, worst news is that the biggest problem is the sin problem. I'm not saying that circumstances don't affect behavior. However, even the most orderly country has its criminals because of sin. A benevolent ruler who rules with justice will still have to deal with rebellious subjects. The rebellious subjects will rebel when given the chance. Countries with low crime rates still have crime. A low crime rate is different from a zero crime rate - something that's unachievable in this present age because of the problem of sin. Later on, many at the end of the Millennial Kingdom will eventually join Satan (after he's released for a short time) for the final (but short-lived rebellion) in Revelation 20. The Law is simply a restrainer from sin. Yet, the strength of sin is the Law (1 Corinthians 15:56). Let's face it that no matter how many laws you enforce - you will always find people who will defy it. The Law is incapable of eliminating sin from within the heart. 

Ezekiel would talk about the turning of the heart of stone for a heart of flesh (Ezekiel 11:19, 36:26). Jeremiah 17:9 says that the heart is desperately wicked. Every person today carries the curse of sin from Adam. Why do we grow old and why those who don't grow old, die young? It's because of the problem of sinfulness. Growing old is a slow death sentence to every person who will live beyond their youth. Dying young is a death sentence too. Either way, the payment for sin is death. It's only fair that we suffer for the fault of Adam because we have that sinful nature inherited from Adam. Adam's sin in the Garden of Eden brought a curse to the world. The heart of man is not free from sin. That's why there's the need for a new covenant to be written in the hearts of man.

How does this New Covenant work in the New Testament? It's all about the grace of God. Romans 6 defeats the idea that God's grace is a license to sin. Romans 3:31 says that the Law isn't made void but fulfilled by faith. 1 Corinthians 6:9-11 talks about a turn from unrighteousness to righteousness by the grace of God. Ephesians 2:8-10 and Titus 2:11-14 talk about how God's grace teaches righteous living and Christians are equipped unto good works. Salvation isn't by works but genuine salvation results in works. James 2:14-26 warns that a faith that doesn't produce works is a sham faith. Jesus' death on the cross finished all the ceremonial laws when He said, "It is finished!" (John 19:30). Hebrews 9-10 talks about the excellence of the sacrifice of Christ. The blood bulls and goats couldn't take away sins. Jesus' sacrifice became the ultimate remedy for sin. True, people can be humanly good but those are but dead works. The real good works kick in when one receives Jesus Christ as one's Lord and Savior. The good works that people do (humanly speaking) are but dirty rags. It doesn't matter how good a person is humanly speaking. All their good works amount to nothing because they weren't a result of God's grace (Isaiah 64:6, Galatians 2:21). 

The covenant of grace starts to turn the Law into a willing lifestyle. The Law says to do this or die. Grace provides the power to fulfill the demands of the Law. All the Law could do is the point to the remedy but never become the remedy. The change of perception happens. The abolition of the ceremonial law ends the Old Testament tithing. Instead, it becomes the principle of cheerful giving (2 Corinthians 9:7). The Law says to give your tithes and offerings. Under grace, all tithes and offerings fall under cheerful giving. It becomes the new nature that a Christian would tithe not out of necessity but because of cheerful giving. The Christian promises a tenth of one's income to God not out of fear but out of love. The New Testament though is silent on tithing while I still think giving a tenth of your salary is a good start. This giving a tenth may grow overtime not by the Law but by grace. God's grace provides the power to follow God's Law. It's like the Christian doesn't break the Law not just out of fear of punishment and consequences. More importantly, it's the Christian who follows the moral obligations of the Law out of a growing love for God and a result of being saved. Only fake converts will think that they've got a license to sin. True converts will follow God's Law out of gratitude and as a result of God's true salvation.

What I'm also thankful for is that offerings today are no longer tedious. Reading the law of the tithes made me dizzy. It made me think how am I literally going to give a tenth of all I own? Do I have to give one egg for every ten eggs? Instead, this becomes the principle that I will give as much as I want and not as much as I need. The tithes and offerings are used to support one's local New Testament church. Most of the time, it's about giving one's useful resources for the furtherance of the Gospel of Christ. Giving these tithes and offerings would be willful support. One wouldn't do a legalistic system anymore but freely give it. It would be like a person gives some of his or her produce for the missionaries without thinking if it was a tenth or not. Sometimes, a person ends up giving more than a tenth of their excess produce by the grace of God. I still believe it's good to keep records. I still think it's useful to divide offerings into three categories so the church will know how to allocate the funding. However, all these offerings under the New Covenant are always done because the Law is written in the hearts of righteous saints who are also sinners saved by grace. The Church is a museum of righteous saints and a hospital for repentant sinners who are also the same righteous saints. 

Right now, I even think about digging deeper into Calvinism or Reformed Theology. I think that this New Covenant works. It's by the effectual calling. John 6:44 says that no man can come unto God the Son if it wasn't for the calling of God the Father. I'm now more prone to think that it was God who did the calling and the choosing. John 15:18-19 has Jesus telling His disciples (and Judas Iscariot already left) saying that they didn't choose Him but He chose them. Later, in Acts 9, we read that it was Jesus who chose Saul of Tarsus and not the other way around. Saul of Tarsus was called unto salvation as a chosen vessel. This doesn't mean people are saved at birth. Rather, every person is unsaved at birth. It would require the supernatural calling of God for the person to repent ye and believe the Gospel into the New Covenant. If you've truly believed then you really were called by God's grace into the New Covenant. 

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