When someone buys a new house, they move out and they no longer live in their old one. When someone finds the perfect spouse, they no longer date their former romantic interests any longerunless they want a very unhappy life. There are many other analogies we could use to explain the differences between the Old and New Testaments of the Bible. As Christians, we have a new house and a new spouse, and it’s called the New Testament or the New Covenant. While we can remember the old or the former, we realize the new is much better so there is absolutely no reason to go back! Unfortunately, many Christians are living in the old house and still trying to maintain an old relationship that could destroy their new one.
The entirety of the Book of Hebrews explains in detail why the New Covenant, initiated by Jesus Christ is so much “better” than the Old Covenant initiated by Moses. It uses the term better thirteen times! The Old Covenant was based on law while the New Covenant is based on grace. The writer of Hebrews explains in no uncertain terms that once we’ve tasted grace, no one in their right mind would want to return to a covenant of law. Let’s look at the details and ramifications of being under a covenant of law.
The Old Covenant is an agreement between God and man. It is a covenant of “if” and “then”. The Old Covenant is filled with laws including commandments that hold mankind responsible when we break them- and break them we do! Unfortunately, many people actually think they follow the laws of God with an “I’m not that bad” attitude. When you ask them how they hope to get to heaven, they rattle off a list of things that they are “doing” to get to heaven. In other words, they think they are following the rules enough to merit eternal life. Galatians chapter 1 calls that mentality “another gospel” and warns that it can save no one.
We should all take the “I’m doing good enough test” to see if we can qualify under the law. Have I ever taken something that didn’t belong to me, told a lie, or lusted for someone not my spouse? Honest people answer yes, and in so doing admit that they are lying, thieving, adulterous people at heart! Wow, that’s just examining three of the ten laws. The gospel truth is that we break all ten which is called sin and the wages of sin is death (Romans 6:23). When the apostle Paul, a once religious bigot, realized his true condition before God he lamented, “What a wretched man I am, who will free me from this body of death” (Romans 7:24) Enter the good newsthe New Covenant instituted by the death and resurrection of Jesus Christ. God’s plan is the perfect man, completely following and fulfilling the law, and then dying in the place of all of us who didn’t and couldn’t! The Book of Hebrews declares we no longer need the old temple system, the old priesthood, and the old sacrificial system to cover our sins; we have Jesus. He is our priest, our temple and our sacrifice (Hebrews 4). We are no longer buried under a pile of laws but can be freed by grace. GRACE: God’s Riches At Christ’s Expense!
