A Better Covenant

In speaking of a new covenant, he makes the first one obsolete. And what is becoming obsolete and growing old is ready to vanish away.”. (Heb. 8:13 ESV)

In the Mosaic covenant, God provided a conditional covenant to the Israelites and promised that he would bless them if they kept all His commandments. However, if they did not keep all of His commandments, they would receive the curses listed in Deut. 28:15-68. The author of this letter clearly wrote to a Hebrew audience that was very familiar with the old covenant and the Law of Moses. His purpose in writing to these Hebrews was to show them that now that Jesus has established His unconditional New Covenant, it is better than the Old Covenant. He argued that this old covenant is “ready to vanish away” and has been replaced by God’s New Covenant. Remember that this old covenant had 613 laws for the people to follow, as well as a system that required the people to sacrifice animals at the Temple for the covering of their sins. As a matter of fact, the priests had to sacrifice for their own sins and the sins of the people every day.

The New Covenant that Jesus established is not conditional on people keeping their part. We do not have a list of activities we must follow to receive eternal salvation. Jesus states in John 14:6, “… I am the way, and the truth, and the life. No one comes to the Father except through me.”  Under the new covenant, we are no longer bound to keep the 10 Commandments or any of the other 603 laws that were given to Moses. Jesus has taken care of fulfilling the Law for us. The new covenant that God has made with humankind is straightforward and simple; in Romans, we read, “… if you confess with your mouth that Jesus is Lord and believe in your heart that God raised him from the dead, you will be saved.” (10:9). The simple belief is that God the Father is a promise keeper and that He has provided a way for humankind to receive as a gift eternal life. That way is through the belief that Jesus is that gift.

There are many verses in the New Testament that show we cannot work for our salvation. We cannot just do more good deeds than bad deeds and tip the scale in our favor. The only way we can have access to God is through the New Covenant, faith in Jesus the Christ.

Some sincere believers keep trying to put themselves back under the Old Testament Laws, particularly the 10 Commandments. We must realize that “In speaking of a new covenant, he makes the first one obsolete. And what is becoming obsolete and growing old is ready to vanish away.”. (Heb. 8:13)

Let us quit trying to earn God’s love; we have it as a gift, and that gift’s name is Jesus.

"Living in Grace is not about what I can do, but about what Jesus has already done!"