“So I led them out of the land of Egypt and brought them into the wilderness. I gave them my statutes and made known to them my rules, by which, if a person does them, he shall live. Moreover, I gave them my Sabbaths, as a sign between me and them, that they might know that I am the Lord who sanctifies them.” Ezekiel 20:10
Before taking a look at the New Covenant, let’s first understand a couple things about the Old Covenant.
God gave the people of Israel (all 12 tribes) his commandments, by which, if a person does them, that person shall live. This is NOT salvation by our works, but rather our salvation by faith is shown by our works (read James 2:14-26) The decision to follow God’s ordinances is an individual choice we all make, and it always has been! Let’s look at some of these Old Testament verses and see how they connect with the New Testament to reinforce God’s message and teachings.
Ezekiel 18:5 “But if a man is righteous and practices justice and righteousness…if he walks in My (God’s) statues and My (God’s) ordinances so to deal faithfully – he is righteous and will surely live, declares the Lord God.”
God declares that walking according to His laws/His ways is how we show, our faith, by our works and that we choose life!
God confirms this statement by stating the opposite in Ezekiel 18:20 “The person who sins will die.” Sin is by definition, the transgression of God’s law. So walking in God’s laws/His ways is to choose life and to walk in contrary to God’s laws/His ways is to choose sin/death. It is our choice. We are not forced to love God.
We are NOT perfect, it is impossible to keep the law, isn’t that why Christ came?
Did Christ do away with the Law?
What was new about the New Covenant?
Isn’t the law just for Israel/the Jews?
Let’s dive into some of these popular questions!
Yes, we are human, we are not perfect, and we all have sinned and will sin again – Romans 3:23, “for all have sinned and fall short of the glory of God,”
Let’s first look at the question, ‘Is it impossible to keep the law? Isn’t that why Christ came?’
Our sin (transgression of the law) is why Christ had to come. He came to conquer death and to reconcile us with God the Father.
Ezekiel 5:26, “When a righteous man turns away from his righteousness, commits iniquity and dies because of it, for his iniquity which he has committed he will die. Again, when a wicked man turns away from his wickedness which he has committed and practices justice and righteousness, he will save his life. Because he considered and turned away from all his transgressions which he had committed, he shall surely live; he shall not die.”
Ezekiel 5:32 “For I have no pleasure in the death of anyone who dies,” declares the Lord God. “Therefore, repent and live.”
Yes, we ALL sin. And God takes no pleasure in sin/death, he wants our repentance! Ezekiel is in the Old Testament, yet these verses are filled with teachings of repentance and sanctification. Sanctification is the process of being made holy/ set-apart for God’s special purpose. Sanctification is each individual’s spiritual transformation that occurs AFTER salvation. As an individual grows closer to God over their lifetime, He purifies him/her to become more Christ-like.
Ezekiel 5:22 “If the wicked man turns from all his sins which he has committed and observes all My statutes and practices justice and righteousness, he shall surely live; he shall not die.”
ALL his transgressions which he has committed will not be remembered against him; because of his righteousness which he has practiced, he will live.”
God is good! He promises that ALL a person’s sins, which that person committed will NOT be remembered. This is a teaching found in both the Old Testament and the New Testament. The blood of the Lamb (Christ) covers a person and saves them from sin/death ! This was available to even those who lived before Christ was born on earth! (Hebrews 9-10)
“All his transgressions which he has committed will not be remembered against him” is written in the New Testament, in Hebrews 8 and Hebrews 10.
Fellow believers, let that verse sink in. How amazing is His grace! Praise the Lord!
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If you look up the definition of sin, it means to break the law. If there is no law then there is no sin. Yet we know that there is still sin in the world, so what does that mean?
Let’s look at the questions, ‘Did Christ do away with the law?’ ‘Are those who are under the New Covenant, under the law?’
Hebrews 10:15-18 “And the Holy Spirit also bears witness to us; for after saying,
“This is the covenant that I will make with them
after those days, declares the Lord:
I will put my laws on their hearts,
and write them on their minds,”
The Lord declared, “I will put my laws on their hearts, and write them on their minds”. Adam and Eve knew and taught God’s law orally, for they walked in the garden with God and he taught them directly, but there was a falling away. Then God’s law was given to Moses, everything written in the books of Genesis, Exodus, Leviticus, Numbers, and Deuteronomy, summed up in the 10 commandments, but there was a falling away. So God’s law was given Spiritually, the Gift of the Holy Spirit, but there will be yet another mass falling away (written about in the book of Revelation).
We read in Hebrews 10 that God declares he will put HIS laws on the hearts and minds of those under the NEW Covenant.
In Hebrews 8:10 the Lord is again referring to the New Covenant that he will make with the house of Israel, when he says “ 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.” (Hebrews 8:11) 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. For I will be merciful toward their iniquities, and I will remember their sins no more.”
There is that promise again, “I will remember their sins no more.” What a loving God!
This matches perfectly what was quoted in Hebrews 10:16 and then he summarizes in verse 18 the foundation of the New Covenant – Christ’s sacrifice once and for all. The perfect lamb, the perfect sacrifice, the perfect sin offering. That when we accept Christ into our lives his blood covers us and he will remember our sins no more.
Hebrews 10:18 Where there is forgiveness of these, there is no longer any offering for sin.
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That leads us to the question, ‘If Christ didn’t do away with the law, what is New about the New Covenant?’
Hebrews 10:15-18 “And the Holy Spirit also bears witness to us; for after saying,
“This is the covenant that I will make with them
after those days, declares the Lord:
I will put my laws on their hearts,
and write them on their minds,”
then he adds, “I will remember their sins and their lawless deeds no more.” Where there is forgiveness of these, there is no longer any offering for sin.
This verse is in the New Testament and is writing about the New Covenant, the covenant that was made at The Last Supper (Passover), quoting an Old Testament promise, “I will remember their sins and their lawless deeds no more.” So what was new about this? We are told about 2 things:
- I will put my laws on their hearts and write them on their minds
- Where there is forgiveness, there is no longer any offering for sin
Hebrews 10 expands on the second point, Where there is forgiveness of sin, there is no longer any offering for sin. Christ’s sacrifice once and for all:
And every priest stands daily at his service, offering repeatedly the same sacrifices, which can never take away sins. But when Christ had offered for all time a single sacrifice for sins, he sat down at the right hand of God, (this is why we no longer need animal sacrifices) waiting from that time until his enemies should be made a footstool for his feet. (a time written about in the book of Revelation) For by a single offering he has perfected for all time those who are being sanctified. We are saved by faith, and then comes sanctification. By a single offering, Christ’s death and resurrection, he has perfected for all time the sin offering, which is the forgiveness of sins, for those who believe (by faith) and are being sanctified. This is when a person is being purified and set-apart to be more Christ like for God’s glory and purpose.
Under the New Covenant, is that there is no longer any need for animal sacrifices (a sin offering according to the law) but to believe in Christ (the ultimate sin offering) and accept him into our lives and our hearts, for he is our sin offering and his innocent blood covers us, instead of the blood of innocent animals.
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Now let’s look at the question, ‘Isn’t the law just for Israel/the Jews?’
Hebrews 8:8 “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,
In Hebrews 8:8 the Lord declares who he is establishing the NEW Covenant with. The Lord himself says, “I will establish a NEW covenant” with Israel and Judah. Some Christian churches teach that the Gentiles have replaced Israel, and that since Israel rejected God, the Gentiles now receive the promises of God instead. However, this is one Bible verse that directly contradicts that teaching.
Another thing to note here is how the Lord names both Israel and Judah separately. This goes back to the 12 Tribes of Israel splitting after their civil war. In which the tribe of Judah and the tribe of Benjamin became known as Judah, or the Jews, and the other 10 tribes became known as Israel, and were lost/scattered among the nations after being captives in Assyria. I encourage you to understand this history as it plays a key role in understanding New Testament Bible verses. Just note in the New Testament when the Bible names “Judah or the Jews” and “Israel” the text often is referring to two different groups of people.
Hebrews 8:9 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.
The Lord refers to the Old Covenant, which was given to all 12 tribes when he led them out of Egypt. This is written about in the verse we started with, Ezekiel 20:10
Ezekiel 20:10,“So I led them out of the land of Egypt and brought them into the wilderness. I gave them my statutes and made known to them my rules, by which, if a person does them, he shall live. Moreover, I gave them my Sabbaths, as a sign between me and them, that they might know that I am the Lord who sanctifies them.”
But the Israelites did not live by his statutes and rules.
Hebrews 8:10 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.
Note that the New Covenant, which the Lord declared:
- He would put His laws on their hearts and minds
- He would remember their sins and lawaless deeds no more
- God’s Sabbaths are A SIGN (mark) between God and His People, that they may know He is the Lord who sanctifies them
- Where there is forgiveness, there is no longer any offering for sin
- He will be their God and they will be his People
These are promises he made with the house of Israel according to Hebrews 8:10, Jeremiah 31:31 and others thoughout the Scriptures!
But you may say, I’m a Gentile! What does this mean for me?!
Galatians 3:28 There is neither Jew nor Greek, there is neither slave nor free, there is no male and female, for you are all one in Christ Jesus. And if you are Christ’s, then you are Abraham’s offspring, heirs according to promise.
If you are Christ’s, then you are Abraham’s offspring. Who is Abraham’s offspring? Abraham > Isaac > Jacob/Israel (all 12 Tribes). If you are Christ’s, then you are Abraham’s offspring, you are an Israelite and you are heirs according to the promise. Christ’s blood brings you into God’s Family. God’s People. Hebrews 8:10 “I will be their God, and they shall be my people.”
Ephesians 4:17 Now this I say and testify in the Lord, that you must no longer walk as the Gentiles do, (Gentiles literally means ‘of the Nations’. All Nations other than that of the Nation of Israel.) in the futility of their minds. They are darkened in their understanding, alienated from the life of God because of the ignorance that is in them, due to their hardness of heart. They have become callous and have given themselves up to sensuality, greedy to practice every kind of impurity. But that is not the way you learned Christ!— assuming that you have heard about him and were taught in him, as the truth is in Jesus, to put off your old self, which belongs to your former manner of life and is corrupt through deceitful desires, and to be renewed in the spirit of your minds, and to put on the new self, created after the likeness of God in true righteousness and holiness.
When you come to faith in Christ, then sanctification starts. Then you must no longer walk as the Gentiles do, according to Ephesians. God calls us out of “The Nations” and into His Nation, HIS Family!
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Chapter 10 of Hebrews, finishes with two teachings for those under the New Covenant.
- If you believe in Christ and enter into the New Covenant with him, but then deliberately sin after receiving the knowledge of the truth, there no longer remains any sacrifice for sin, but eternal death.
- Hebrews 10:26 For if we go on sinning deliberately after receiving the knowledge of the truth, there no longer remains a sacrifice for sins, but a fearful expectation of judgment, and a fury of fire that will consume the adversaries. Anyone who has set aside the law of Moses dies without mercy on the evidence of two or three witnesses. How much worse punishment, do you think, will be deserved by the one who has trampled underfoot the Son of God, and has profaned the blood of the covenant by which he was sanctified, and has outraged the Spirit of grace?
- After coming to the knowledge of the truth, you will endure hardships and suffering. Yet have confidence and endurance that you may receive what is promised, a great reward from God.
- Hebrews 10:32 But recall the former days when, after you were enlightened, you endured a hard struggle with sufferings, sometimes being publicly exposed to reproach and affliction, and sometimes being partners with those so treated. For you had compassion on those in prison, and you joyfully accepted the plundering of your property, since you knew that you yourselves had a better possession and an abiding one. Therefore do not throw away your confidence, which has a great reward. For you have need of endurance, so that when you have done the will of God you may receive what is promised.
Therefore remember, that God has now put his laws on our hearts and written them on our minds, that we may know our God and love him, just as he has loved us and that by a single offering he has perfected for all time those who are being sanctified.
Romans 8:6 For while we were still weak, at the right time Christ died for the ungodly. For one will scarcely die for a righteous person—though perhaps for a good person one would dare even to die— but God shows his love for us in that while we were still sinners, Christ died for us.
Christ died for us, so may we live for him. Amen. Hallelujah! Amen.