Part of the Old Covenant contained laws PROHIBITING sex with animals (bestiality), arson, membership in vandalizing mobs, bribery, convicting a son for a crime his father committed, removal of property landmarks, placing stumbling blocks in front of the blind, the failure to cover deep holes that could, for example, break a cow’s leg, eating unclean armadillos that often carry leprosy, eating unclean monkeys that sometimes are infected with the often fatal Ebola virus, and eating unclean oysters, which always contain a certain amount of potentially flesh eating Vibrio vulnificus bacteria, marrying/having sex with siblings which can produce terribly deformed children, harmfully hitting pregnant women, and other essential common sense laws that make society decent, safe, and healthy. These and many other Old Testament laws are not specifically mentioned in the New Testament quite probably because the Apostles considered it unnecessarily redundant to repeat them again since they were already in the quite regularly read Old Testament. Do you really think that God has DRASTICALLY lowered His standards to now permit such heinous, nasty, highly injurious behavior? No, silly, of course He hasn’t, a dozen times over. Despite what your trusted, impressive, well credentialed minister says, most of the law keeping part of the Old Covenant continues to still be quite valid. Some laws have even been expanded. For example, the commandment to not commit adultery has now been magnified so that merely lustfully focusing your eyes on a strange, devastatingly beautiful woman is a serious, potentially fatal sin. The Apostles explained that ONLY the specifically identified sacrifice, circumcision, and Levitical priesthood laws were annulled, as well as the eternal death penalty for repentant, law keeping Christians. The Ten Commandments and other laws were a part of the Old Covenant. Why do 13 verses in the New Testament repeatedly warn Christians to continue obeying the Ten Commandments to gain immortality later if that part of the Old Covenant has been abolished? Answer: That part, quite obviously, has not been annulled. The very small number of 4 now irrelevant laws above have been REMOVED, and the mega, major gifts of
1) the Holy Spirit,
2) complete forgiveness of sin, and
3) immortality
have been ADDED or PROMISED to righteous, repentant Christians. These three gifts never were available in the Old Covenant except for people like Noah, Moses, the prophets, Abraham, king David, and so on.
Romans 7:7,12: “…… I would not have known sin except through the law. For I would not have known covetousness unless the law had said ‘You shall not covet.” 12 Therefore the law is holy, and the commandment holy and just and good.” The law is a necessary guide as to what is bad so that we can identify evil and then try to avoid and prevent it from happening in our lives.
Exodus 19: 1-6,8: “…… after the children of Israel had gone out of the land of Egypt, on the same day, they came to the Wilderness of Sinai. 2 …… So Israel camped there before the mountain. 3 And Moses went up to God, and the Lord called to him from the mountain, ‘Thus you shall say to the house of Jacob, and tell the children of Israel: 4 You have seen what I did to the Egyptians, and how I …… brought you to Myself. 5 Now therefore, if you will indeed obey My voice and keep My covenant, then you shall be a special treasure to Me above all people; for all the earth is Mine. 6 And you shall be to Me a kingdom of priests and a holy nation. These are the words which you shall speak to the children of Israel.’ ”
Note that in the above or other Exodus verses NOTHING is promised or even mentioned about eternal life, the Holy Spirit, or the forgiveness of sins. Even more importantly, the above words “OBEY MY VOICE” show that obedience to what the Lord says to do is additional, supplemental to and separate from the command to “KEEP MY COVENANT.” God’s laws are separate from His covenants. His covenants are like agreements in which one or more promises will be fulfilled only after the first or performance part of the covenant has occurred, which is obedience to His laws in the case of Biblical covenants. In the first or Old Covenant the Lord promised only national protection, prosperity, and making Israel His special treasure as a model for other nations to imitate.
Ezekiel 18:4: “…… The soul who sins shall DIE.” Ezekiel 18:20: “The soul who sins shall DIE ……” DEATH, DEATH, DEATH FOR BREAKING GOD’S LAWS, NOT FORGIVENESS, WAS THE MINDSET OF THE OLD COVENANT.
Numbers 15: 32-36, for example, illustrates this well. A man was caught picking up sticks, probably for firewood, during Sabbath hours. Regardless of his excuse for the sin if he had any, or repentance of it, he was later mercilessly stoned to death.
2 Corinthians 3:6-9,11-13: “who also made us sufficient as ministers of the new covenant, not of the letter but of the spirit; for the letter kills, but the spirit gives life. 7 But if the MINISTRY OF DEATH, written and engraved on stones, was glorious, so that the children of Israel could not look steadily at the face of Moses because of the glory of his countenance, which glory was passing away, 8 how will the ministry of the Spirit not be more glorious? 9 For if the MINISTRY OF CONDEMNATION had glory, the ministry of righteousness exceeds much more in glory. …… 11 For if what is passing away was glorious, what remains is much more glorious. 12 Therefore since we have such hope, we use great boldness of speech– 13 unlike Moses who put a veil over his face so that the children of Israel could not look steadily at the end of what was passing away.”
The “ministry of death and condemnation” refers to the Old Covenant’s required death penalty for sins that has now been abolished, but abolished only for repentant, law keeping, converted Christians (Romans 8:2: “…… Jesus has made me free from the law of sin and death.”) The old ministry of death and condemnation refers ONLY to the now annulled penalty part, the death part, of the Ten Commandments and other Mosaic laws, NOT the Ten Commandments and other laws themselves. Remember, penitentiaries and jails did not exist in ancient Israel. Mercy and forgiveness were not a part of the Old Covenant. Old Covenant law violators (sinners) were simply killed, apparently by stoning, in accordance with the death penalty for serious sins, and lesser offenses were punished by fines or by other physical compensation. There were no juvenile delinquents in ancient Israel because those commandment breakers were simply stoned to death since the Old Covenant REQUIRED the automatic, “heartless” death penalty, EVEN IF THOSE SINNERS FERVENTLY REPENTED OF THEIR SINS!! That is why the Old Covenant, which lacked the New Covenant’s gift of forgiving sins, is described as a ministry of death and condemnation. The Ten Commandments and other Mosaic laws remain intact within the New Covenant, but the Apostles did explain that the sacrifice, circumcision, Levitical priesthood, and death penalty laws have been annulled. The attempt itself to obey Old Covenant laws DID NOT BRING ON DEATH AND CONDEMNATION.
The HOLY SPIRIT is promised to be given to those, and only to those who repent of breaking God’s laws and then begin OBEYING God’s laws according to the following verse:
ACTS 2:38: “Peter replied, ‘All of you MUST TURN AWAY FROM YOUR SINS and be baptized in the name of Jesus Christ. Then your sins will be forgiven. You will receive the gift of the HOLY SPIRIT.’” (New International Reader’s Version)
ACTS 2:38: “Peter replied, ‘All of you MUST STOP BREAKING THE LAW AND START OBEYING IT and be baptized in the name of Jesus Christ. Then your sins will be forgiven. You will receive the gift of the HOLY SPIRIT.'” (Erickson’s Literal Translation, not yet published)
The Greek for “SINS” refers to anomia, defined as breaking mostly OT laws. “Turn away from your sins” means EXACTLY the same as STOP BREAKING BIBLICAL LAWS AND START OBEYING THEM.
Hebrews 8:6,8,10: “But now He has obtained a more excellent ministry, inasmuch as He is also Mediator of a better covenant, which was established on BETTER PROMISES ……. 8 …… ‘Behold, the days are coming, says the Lord, when I will make a new covenant with the house of Israel and with the house of Judah …… 10 For this is the covenant that I will make with the house of Israel after those days, says the Lord: I will put MY LAWS in their mind and write them on their hearts; and I will be their God ……’ ” The original Greek for LAWS here and in the following verses is nomos, which refers to the first 5 books in the Old Testament where the Mosaic laws are listed.
Hebrews 9:15: “…… He is the Mediator of the new covenant, by means of death, for the redemption of the TRANSGRESSIONS under the first covenant, that those who are called may receive the PROMISE OF THE ETERNAL INHERITANCE.”
The word “transgressions” means violations of pre-existing laws in the first covenant. If those violations were so bad that Jesus Christ had TO DIE to atone for, to get rid of those transgressions, then those laws must still be valid and in full force, otherwise there would have been no need for Jesus to sacrifice His life. Which would have been easier, to get rid of the laws or to get rid of the precious life of Jesus? God the Father and Jesus Both decided that it would be easier or better for Jesus to die, very briefly, though, of course, for sinners to atone for their transgressions, instead of scrapping the holy laws that give and protect life and dignity.
THINK!!
It would have been GROTESQUELY IRONIC, SUPREMELY NONSENSICAL, LUDICROUSLY ILLOGICAL, AND MASSIVELY WASTEFUL for our Savior Jesus to experience the infinitely gargantuan insult and embarrassment of temporarily dying for our transgressions of laws (specifically the Mosaic laws) IF THEY HAD BEEN ABOLISHED, OR WOULD NO LONGER EXIST. In such a situation Jesus’ death would have been a complete waste of time. Only the Mosaic laws were the main laws in existence at the time of His sacrifice. So those Mosaic laws must still be in full force.
Remember, the Greek word for “law” in the Bible overwhelmingly REALLY DOES refer to the Mosaic laws in the first 5 books of the Old Testament (Genesis, Exodus, Leviticus, Numbers, and Deuteronomy), which include the food and mostly prophetic festival laws. The following verses remind us of what Jeremiah prophesied long ago.
Hebrews 10:15-17: “But the Holy Spirit also witnesses to us; for after He had said before, 16 ‘this is the covenant that I will make with them after those days, says the Lord: I WILL PUT MY LAWS INTO THEIR HEARTS, AND IN THEIR MINDS I WILL WRITE THEM,’ 17 then He adds, ‘Their sins and their lawless deeds I will REMEMBER NO MORE.'”
Jeremiah 31:31,33,34: “Behold, the days are coming, says the Lord, when I will make a new covenant with the house of Israel and with the house of Judah …… 33 But this is the covenant that I will make with the house of Israel, …… I will put MY LAW in their minds, and write it on their hearts …… 34 …… I will forgive their iniquity, and their sin I will remember no more.” Instead of “abolishing” the law, God will place it or emphasize it in the minds of Christians, according to Jeremiah, apparently with the assistance of the peacefulness, love, and humility of the Holy Spirit. By incorrectly teaching that much or all of the Old Testament laws have been annulled in the New Covenant, mainstream Christianity has labeled Jeremiah a liar.
Remember also, that both Isaiah and Micah predicted that after the return of Jesus Christ, the law would eventually be taught to everyone around the world. It is ridiculously unreasonable to think that God would annul the law for thousands of years after Jesus died, then confusingly re-establish it after Our Savior came back.
Isaiah 2:2,3,4: “Now it shall come to pass in the latter days that the mountain of the Lord’s house shall be established on the top of the mountains …… all nations shall flow to it. 3 Many people shall come and say, ‘Come, and let us go up to the mountain of the Lord, to the house of the God of Jacob; He will teach us His ways, and we shall walk in His paths.’ FOR OUT OF ZION SHALL GO FORTH THE LAW AND THE WORD OF THE LORD FROM JERUSALEM. 4 …… They shall beat their swords into plowshares …… nation shall not lift up sword against nation, neither shall they learn war anymore.” The words “mountain of the Lord” mean the theocratic government of the Lord. After nuclear World War III Jesus will return to save humanity from itself, then the 1,000 year Millennium will begin, and the Mosaic law will be preached from Jerusalem for EVERYONE to obey. Remember that Isaiah 7:14 successfully predicted, about 685 years in advance, that a virgin would miraculously give birth to Our Savior, Jesus Christ.
Micah 4:1-3: “….. in the latter days ….. the mountain of the Lord’s house shall be established on the top of the mountains ….. and peoples shall flow to it. 2 MANY NATIONS SHALL COME and say ‘….. let us go up ….. to the house of the God of Jacob; He will teach us His ways, and we shall walk in His paths.’ FOR OUT OF ZION THE LAW SHALL GO FORTH …… FROM JERUSALEM. 3 ….. Neither shall they learn war anymore.” (NKJV) These verses refer to the distant future, a time that has not yet arrived. Micah 5:2 successfully predicted about 700 years before Jesus was born that He would be born in Bethlehem. So every prophesy of Isaiah and Micah needs to be believed, including the ones predicting worldwide Mosaic law keeping by everyone in the future.
For further study, please visit https://lifehopeandtruth.com/bible/covenants/the-new-covenant/.
Scripture taken from the New King James Version®. Copyright © 1982 by Thomas Nelson, Inc. Used by permission. All rights reserved.