The Laws Of The New Covenant

Hebrews 8:7-9
"7 For if that first covenant had been faultless, then no place would have been sought for a second. 8 Because finding fault with them, He says: “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— 9 NOT ACCORDING TO THE COVENANT THAT I MADE WITH THEIR FATHERS  {the Ten Commandments} the day when I took them by the hand to lead them out of the land of Egypt; because they did not continue in My covenant, and I disregarded them, says the Lord."

God has cut covenants with man since the beginning of time.   The two major ones are, of course, the Old Covenant of Law and the New Covenent of Grace.  But they aren't the only ones.  There was the Covenent between God and Adam where He promised to send His Champion through "the Seed of the woman."  Then there was the Covenent of the Rainbow after the flood and the Covenant with Abraham.  That's five all together.....the number of grace! 

This passage of scripture in Hebrews outlines our New Covenent.  Paul tells us quite plainly here and in many other places, Romans 6 for one, that we are not under Law, meaning the Ten Commandments:  We are under grace.  The entire book of Galatians, in fact, deals with this very subject.  

(For more on that topic, follow this link:  http://emmausrevelations.blogspot.com/2014/11/part-14rightly-dividing-word-of-god.html)

Now, obviously, we are not "law-less," right?  No one is saying or advocating that!  Being under Grace means that we are lead from within by the Holy Spirit and He's a great teacher!  

Here's the problem:  Many preachers don't really trust Him to do what He says He will do:  Lead us into ALL TRUTH.  That's very sad. That's why they continue to preach "Law," meaning do's and don'ts, because they think they are responsible to get people to do the right thing.  

But are they?  

Well, yes and no. Yes, we need to be concerned that people do the right thing; but no, it isn't by telling them what to do.  You know: Preaching do's and don'ts. Law, is not the remedy.  The strength of sin is the Law. Grace is the antidote.  

You see, correction is the job of the Holy Spirit, not us.  By unveiling Jesus' beauty, glory and majesty and showing the people how much they are loved BY God we give the Holy Spirit the raw material He needs to transform God's people so they will live right.  Dishing out a bunch of do's and don'ts only serves to help them live more UNholy lives.

(Council of Jerusalem.)

Supposedly, this whole issue was settled by the council at Jerusalem IN THE FIRST CENTURY.  Well, apparently not because it keeps cropping up and remains a hotly contested issue even today!  Incredible!  Why?  

That old devil is behind it, that's why.  He knows that if we, the Church, are consumed with "contemplating our navals," so to speak, meaning we are so focused on our sins, faults and failings, that we're less effective as witnesses in the world.  You see, he HATES GOD and therefore MAN because we are made in His image.  That's why he HATES THE GOSPEL 
because sending man and women to hell by deceiving them hurts God, Whom he cannot strike at directly.  

  

The covenant that God made with the children of Israel at Mt. Sinai, meaning the Ten Commandments, were written and engraved on stones.  The other 603 were written on parchment, NOT STONE.  Nothingwrong with the Law.  It is perfect, but it can do nothing to make you perfect.  The law is just, but it can't lift a finger to make you just.  The law is holy but it is is also rigid and unbending.  It cannot make you holy and.....THERE IS ABSOLUTELY NO ROOM FOR ERROR.  

Folks, it's an all or nothing kinda deal.  There's no trying to do right and then, when you fail, run to Jesus for forgiveness, get forgiven and restored, only to repeat the process.  Uh, uh.  IT'S ALL:  Perfect obedience.....OR NOTHING AT ALL.  PERIOD.

  

In order for you to be blessed by God under that Covenent, you have to keep the whole law perfectly in thought, word and deed FOR YOUR ENTIRE LIFE.  It is based you your performance.  

NO ONE CAN DO THAT!!!  Break even one, have even one wrong thought, and you're guilty of the whole law.  YOU'RE TOAST, deserving of hell!  God has no choice but to curse you.

Now do you see why we DESPERATELY need a Savior?  If you could do or be good enough, you wouldn't need a Savior......and Jesus died in vain.  AS IF!!!

God knew, even if we didn't, that we couldn't keep the law perfectly which is why He did two things:  #1.  He instituted the system of sacrifices of bulls and goats and #2.  He instructed Moses to build the Mercy Seat and PLACE THE TABLETS INSIDE.  Once a year the high priest placed ONE DROP of blood on top so all the sins of the entire nation would be covered for the 12 months ahead.  Ultimately, God sent His beloved Son to offer ONE sacrifice once and for all.  

Rabbinical tradition maintains that the big Ten were carved on stones of sapphire.  There is actual, Biblical evidence to back up their assertion in case you don't believe them. This has great significance in regard to the case of a very famous, or should I say, "infamous," couple from the New Testament:  Ananias and Sapphira.  The clue to unlocking the mystery of their story is hidden here.  (For more information on this topic, follow the link below:  

http://emmausrevelations.blogspot.com/2014/08/ananias-and-sapphira.html).      

Here's the problem with the Ten Commandments:  

God loves His people.  He only wants to bless them. But He is also a just God and, when they sinned, He had no choice but to curse them.  That's why He found fault with that covenant and wanted to replace it with the New, signed and sealed by the precious, sinless blood of His beloved Son.  It was based on a faulty priesthood and imperfect people.

Terms Of The New Covenent.

The Holy Spirit outlines the terms of this New Covenant in verses 10-12 of Hebrews 8:

"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, and they shall be My people.

11 None of them shall teach his neighbor, and none his brother, saying, ‘Know the Lord,’ for all shall know Me, from the least of them to the greatest of them......

AND THE CLAUSE THAT MAKES IT ALL WORK:

12 For I WILL be merciful to their UNRIGHTEOUSNESSES, (plural) and their SINS and their LAWLESS DEEDS I will remember no more."

The above passage is a direct quote from Jeremiah 31:31-34!  God was planning this for a long time:  Forever, in fact!  Every possible kind of sin you could commit, be it in thought, word, deed, of comission or ommission, and the guilt incurred there from is covered by verse 12.  You don't even have to remember them all because God remembered them all for you and wiped your slate clean. This is typified in the Old Testament by "The Treaspass offering."  

 

It used to be that God remembered your sins and VISITED punishment for your sins to future generations, the dreaded "Generational Curse."  How horrible to think that something you did could cause pain and suffering for your children, grandchildren, great grandchildren and so on.  Church, we are not under that or ANY CURSE!   (For more on that topic, follow this link:

http://emmausrevelations.blogspot.com/2014/07/sour-grapes.html)

So, according to the description in the passage above, the new laws are NOT the Ten Commandments written and engraved on stones. So what are the laws God writes on our hearts?  Let's see what the Bible to say on the subject.  It is, after all, it's own best commentary. 

The Old Testament is the New concealed as the New is the Old revealed.  Think of the Old as a kind of dictionary for the New.  It's a great place to go to find stories, types, offices and illustrations that show us more about Jesus, clarify spiritual principles and illustrate Biblical truths.  They help us better understand the New, kinda like watching a play or looking at a visual aide. Where else do you think Paul got his information?  Jesus did for him what He did for Mr. & Mrs. Cephas on the Emmaus Road:  He revealed to Paul all the scriptures concerning Himself!

But before we go visit the Old Testament, we need to look at Revelation 1:20.
"20 The mystery of the seven stars which you saw in My right hand, and the seven golden lampstands: The seven stars are the angels {messengers/Senior pastors} of the seven churches, and the seven lampstands which you saw are the seven churches."

The lampstand is a picture of the Church, according to this verse.

(All the lamps point in toward the "Shemesh.")

Exodus describes how the lampstand was made. 

Exodus 25:31-32
31 “You shall also make a lampstand of pure gold; the lampstand shall be of hammered work. Its shaft, its branches, its bowls, its ornamental knobs, and flowers shall be of ONE PIECE. 32 And six branches shall come out of its sides: three branches of the lampstand out of one side, and three branches of the lampstand out of the other side"

The center lamp is called the "Shemesh, in Hebrew.  It means "center or servant lamp."  It is always lit first, is removable and used to light all the other lamps, hence the "servant" part.  All the other six lamps are pointed inward toward the center.  {see picture'above}.  

It was hammered into shape out of one solid piece of gold weighing one talent.  THAT'S 100 LBS. FOLKS!   The "hammered" part speaks if the beating or "hammering" Jesus took in our place. 

Nowhere in the description of the menorah do we find it's dimensions; ONLY IT'S WEIGHT.  Why?  Because it doesn't matter how large or small your church, your outreach or your ministry.  The tiniest Church can have the greatest weight in terms of preaching the gospel IF THEY ARE POINTING PEOPLE TO JESUS! 

(Shemesh stands out in the midst of the other lamps)

You'll know you're following the laws of the New Covenent when everything you do, say or think points to The Shemesh; in other words, "TO" Jesus, giving Him all the honor, all the praise and all the glory and benefits His Church. 

When you are only occupied with how much you are loved by this wonderful Jesus and are captivated by what He did for you, I promise that you will not even be conscious of the fact that you're  following Him or obeying His laws. You can't help it.  You are obedient by "accident," so to speak.

Jesus' sacrifice on the cross is THE GREATEST proof of His love for us!  He emptied Himself of EVERYTHING so He could give it ALL to us!!  Thank you, Jesus!!!  
In light of such incomprehensible, superabounding, over-the-top love for sinful people like us, how can we not love Him in return?  We love BECAUSE HE FIRST LOVED US!"

Now perhaps you can see why these new laws that God said He writes on our hearts are most definitively NOT The Ten Commandments internalized.

The Menorah is a perfect picture of the laws of the New Covenant.  Everything points toward The Center showing us that  #1: Everything we do should glorify Jesus and #2:  Benefit His Church.  

These are the laws of the New Covenant.