Two Covenants, a Wall, and the Door
The
Bible presents us with a detailed picture of two covenants. Between them, is a
wall that is just as God-ordained as the covenants themselves. Prior to this
wall, the first covenant was fully inspired, breathed-out by God, written down
by men carried along by the Holy Spirit. After this wall is a new covenant,
this one in Jesus' own blood, such a complete fulfillment of the first covenant
that the first is now complete, obsolete, and deadly to those who continue to
live by it.
In the wall between the two covenants stands a
door, which is Christ. In order for us to come out from under the burden of the
law, the tutelage of this time-limited gift from God, we must walk through the
door of salvation, trusting in the finished work of Jesus Christ in this new
covenant, rather than living under the never-ending demands of good works
presented by the law.
If we remain on the first side of the law, we
are obligated to keep the whole law, a demand that condemns us as sinners. If
we come into the new covenant in Jesus' blood, we travel from one side of the
wall to the other, from one covenant to another, and are now alive in a life of
faith that cannot be mixed with a life of law.
This
means that 100% of the requirements of the law are no longer in effect due to
the fact that we are no longer living on that side of the fence. On the other
hand, 100% of the teachings of the new covenant are in effect until Jesus'
comes due to the fact that we are now living in this new covenant. While
nothing applies regarding the old covenant requirements of law-keeping,
everything still applies regarding the new covenant requirements of
grace-walking in obedient faith.
It does not matter whether someone tells us
that we need to add old covenant requirements or promises to our life of faith,
or that we no longer need to obey certain teachings written to the new covenant
church, we can denounce both extremes as false teaching, and follow Paul's
example of "declaring to you the whole counsel of God" (Acts 20:27).
While there are many helpful teachings from
the journey of God's people through the first covenant all the way up to the
God-ordained wall, the life the church now lives is based on what is taught on
the new covenant side of the barrier between these two worlds. May all God's
children of faith live by faith, doing all the good works God prepared in
advance for us to do on this side of the fence, through the door which is
Christ. Christ in us by faith, the hope of glory, a glory that is most
certainly ours because Jesus gave us a new covenant in his blood.
© 2014 Monte Vigh ~
Box 517, Merritt, BC, V1K 1B8 ~ in2freedom@gmail.com
Unless otherwise
noted, Scriptures are from the English Standard Version (The Holy Bible,
English Standard Version Copyright © 2001 by Crossway
Bibles, a division of Good News Publishers.)
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