Doctrine of the New Covenant, part 19.

Title: Doctrine of the New Covenant, part 19.  

 

 

GAL 6:12 Those who desire to make a good showing in the flesh try to compel you to be circumcised, simply that they may not be persecuted for the cross of Christ.

 

Sadly, this infers that some Jewish Christians or professing Christians, under the pressure of their fellow Jews put themselves back under the Law of Moses, counting physical circumcision to be a necessary in the work for salvation, so that they could avoid the persecution that their fellow Jews hurled at them. Not content to fall from grace alone, in their cowardice before these bullies, they heartily worked to convince Gentile Christians to do the same in order to make a good showing.

 

GAL 6:13 For those who are circumcised do not even keep the Law themselves, but they desire to have you circumcised, that they may boast in your flesh.

 

GAL 6:14 But may it never be that I should boast, except in the cross of our Lord Jesus Christ, through which the world has been crucified to me, and I to the world [freedom from worldly and human standards].

 

GAL 6:15 For neither is circumcision anything, nor uncircumcision, but a new creation.

 

GAL 6:16 And those who will walk by this rule, peace and mercy be upon them, and upon the Israel of God [true Israel - faith in Christ].

 

EPH 2:11 Therefore remember, that formerly you, the Gentiles in the flesh, who are called "Uncircumcision" by the so-called "Circumcision," which is performed in the flesh by human hands — 

 

EPH 2:12 remember that you were at that time separate from Christ, excluded from the commonwealth of Israel, and strangers to the covenants of promise, having no hope and without God in the world.

 

EPH 2:13 But now in Christ Jesus you who formerly were far off have been brought near by the blood of Christ.

 

We noted a parallel passage in Heb 10 addressed to Jews to draw near by the blood of Christ.

 

EPH 2:14 For He Himself is our peace, who made both groups into one, and broke down the barrier of the dividing wall,

 

God erected this barrier when He called forth Abraham and then He tore is down when Christ died on the cross.

 

The Jews were called by God as Abraham's offspring. They were called out of God's love and they were commanded to be holy or set apart unto Him.

 

DEU 7:6 "For you are a holy people to the Lord your God; the Lord your God has chosen you to be a people for His own possession out of all the peoples who are on the face of the earth.

 

DEU 7:7 The Lord did not set His love on you nor choose you because you were more in number than any of the peoples, for you were the fewest of all peoples,

 

In ignorance of the reason for which God called out Abraham and through Abraham built a nation for God's own possession, many have accused their capture of the Promised Land as ethnic cleansing or just pure snobbery.

 

DEU 7:1 "When the Lord your God shall bring you into the land where you are entering to possess it, and shall clear away many nations before you, the Hittites and the Girgashites and the Amorites and the Canaanites and the Perizzites and the Hivites and the Jebusites, seven nations greater and stronger than you,

 

DEU 7:2 and when the Lord your God shall deliver them before you, and you shall defeat them, then you shall utterly destroy them. You shall make no covenant with them and show no favor to them.

 

DEU 7:3 Furthermore, you shall not intermarry with them; you shall not give your daughters to their sons, nor shall you take their daughters for your sons.

 

DEU 7:4 For they will turn your sons away from following Me to serve other gods; then the anger of the Lord will be kindled against you, and He will quickly destroy you.

 

DEU 7:5 But thus you shall do to them: you shall tear down their altars, and smash their sacred pillars, and hew down their Asherim, and burn their graven images with fire.

 

A nation needs a land, and the Jewish nation was to be solely under the Mosaic Law. Through them would come the Messiah and the prophets and writings. Salvation to the world would come through the Jews.

 

JOH 4:22

"You worship that which you do not know; we worship that which we know, for salvation is from the Jews."

 

They needed a land and God, Lord of all nations, decided that it was time for the judgment of the Canaanites.

 

GEN 15:15-16

"And as for you [Abraham], you shall go to your fathers in peace; you shall be buried at a good old age. Then in the fourth generation they shall return here, for the iniquity of the Amorite is not yet complete."

 

Jew and Gentile were not destined to be separated by this barrier forever, and this was a mystery to the OT.

 

EPH 3:6 The Gentiles are fellow heirs and fellow members of the body, and fellow partakers of the promise in Christ Jesus through the gospel

 

The Gentiles were to become fellow heirs and members of the body. In our age, both Jew and Gentile are in the body of Christ. Through Abraham, blessings have come to the Gentiles and so part of the Abrahamic Covenant is in effect. This doesn't mean that Gentiles become Jews or vice versa. It also doesn't mean that the nation of Israel, made up of true Israel, who are believers and saved people, will not enjoy the fulfillment of the unconditional covenants in the future kingdom age.

 

It means that now and in the future Millennium, there is no barrier wall between Jewish and Gentile believers, even though Israel will be a sovereign client nation during the kingdom age.

 

EPH 2:13 But now in Christ Jesus you who formerly were far off have been brought near by the blood of Christ.

 

EPH 2:14 For He Himself is our peace, who made both groups into one, and broke down the barrier of the dividing wall,

 

The promise was that when the Mosaic Law was taken away, the New Covenant would be given. The dividing wall, Mosaic Law, Christ abolished in His flesh.

 

EPH 2:15 by abolishing in His flesh the enmity, which is the Law of commandments contained in ordinances, that in Himself He might make the two into one new man, thus establishing peace,

 

Christ Jesus abolished the Mosaic Law by His death on the cross.

 

The Greek word translated "abolished" means to render inoperative.

 

By rendering the Mosaic Law inoperative and, as Jesus designated the cup as the New Covenant in His blood, the two, Jew and Gentile, were made into one new man by their personal faith in Christ. The old distinction between Jew and Gentile was lost. This doesn't mean that the nation of Israel becomes the church or incorporated into the church, but there is no legit nation of Israel in this age, not the client nation of God.

 

With the Law rendered inoperative, the barrier wall was eliminated. It was His death that fulfilled the Law and so in His death the barrier wall was demolished.

 

It is not the law as a revelation of the character and will of God that has been done away with in Christ.

 

ROM 3:31 Do we then nullify the Law through faith? May it never be! On the contrary, we establish the Law.

 

We uphold the ethics of the Law far more fully than ever possible under the old economy, in that we have the indwelling Spirit. The ethics of the Law are a revelation of God's character and integrity. Those things have not been nullified, but rather established in us since the divine nature resides in us. That nature doesn't guarantee that each Christian will live and conduct himself in God's integrity, but it does mean that all of us are in union with and baptized into the One who fulfilled the Law.

 

Being in Him and having the Spirit within, every Christian can walk in the law of Christ and experience the fulfillment of the law in his own life - sanctification or experiential righteousness.

 

ROM 8:1 There is therefore now no condemnation for those who are in Christ Jesus.

 

The Law as a threatening code, is done away with in Christ.

 

ROM 8:2 For the law of the Spirit of life in Christ Jesus has set you free from the law of sin and of death.

 

ROM 8:3 For what the Law could not do, weak as it was through the flesh, God did: sending His own Son in the likeness of sinful flesh and as an offering for sin, He condemned sin in the flesh,

 

ROM 8:4 in order that the requirement of the Law might be fulfilled in us, who do not walk according to the flesh, but according to the Spirit.

 

The requirement of the law is fulfilled in every Christian. God has made, by grace, ever believer to be holy, righteous, and justified. Yet God has also indwelt every believer so that by the Holy Spirit they may walk as holy, righteous, and justified, or in other words, to be in thought and conduct who they really are in identity - in Christ Jesus.

 

We don't walk according to the Spirit by threat. We walk according to the Spirit by blessing.

 

The believer is to know how blessed he is and not how burdened he is. He is under the grace and love of God and not the justice of God in terms of judgment and wrath. He is justified forever.

 

EPH 2:13 But now in Christ Jesus you who formerly were far off have been brought near by the blood of Christ.

 

EPH 2:14 For He Himself is our peace, who made both groups into one, and broke down the barrier of the dividing wall,

 

EPH 2:15 by abolishing in His flesh the enmity, which is the Law of commandments contained in ordinances, that in Himself He might make the two into one new man, thus establishing peace,

 

"the two into one new man." - new individuals in quality - righteousness of God.

 

We would not  therefore have Jewish Christians or Gentile Christians, but brand new creatures. We are a new creation and that distinction is now extinct.

 

GAL 6:15

For neither is circumcision anything, nor uncircumcision, but a new creation.

 

There is a Greek word used for "new in time," but that is not used here. It is not new in reference to not being seen before (like a new but used car), but new in quality, meaning the quality of what God would make new. We would equate this with the new creature in Christ, possessing a divine seed or nature, having a new heart, righteous, and justified.

 

Look again at the five things listed in verse 12 and we easily see that they are no longer a part of the life of the Gentile who believes in Christ. The Gentile isn't made a Jew or a citizen of Israel, but he is fully in the know concerning the Mosaic Law, the economy of the OT, and the New Covenant in Christ's blood that has fully replaced it. There is no knowledge or wisdom that is hidden from the Gentiles. He is with a Messiah and a hope and included in God as a son, and in fact an adult son with freedom and grace.

 

EPH 2:13 But now in Christ Jesus you who formerly were far off have been brought near by the blood of Christ.

 

EPH 2:14 For He Himself is our peace, who made both groups into one, and broke down the barrier of the dividing wall,

 

EPH 2:15 by abolishing in His flesh the enmity, which is the Law of commandments contained in ordinances, that in Himself He might make the two into one new man, thus establishing peace,

 

EPH 2:16 and might reconcile them both in one body to God through the cross, by it having put to death the enmity.

 

Jew and Gentile, formally at enmity, are reconciled into one body. There is no enmity in this age or in the Millennium.

 

A Gentile believer and a Jewish believer in this age have nothing dividing them and everything uniting them. It will be the same in the Millennial reign of Christ, though during that time the nation of Israel will be distinct so that they may be set apart to receive the covenant promises.

 

In verse 15, Jew and Gentile are reconciled to one another and in verse 16 they are both reconciled unto God through the cross of Christ.

 

EPH 2:17 And He came and preached peace to you who were far away [Gentile], and peace to those who were near [Jew];

 

EPH 2:18 for through Him we both have our access in one Spirit to the Father.

 

"access" - prosagwgh, [prosagoge] = freedom to enter through the assistance of another. The ministry of the HS gives the saints an audience with God the Father.

 

The Holy Spirit opens a way of access. The Greek word was used of those who secure for one the privilege of an interview with a sovereign. The French word entrée exactly translates it. It is by means of the ministry of the Holy Spirit that the saints have entrée into the presence of God the Father.

 

Note the Trinity in this passage. God the Son provides the way into the Father's presence through the Blood of His Cross, God the Spirit conducts the saint in and presents him, and God the Father is the One into whose presence the believer is brought.

 

It is by the Spirit that we also call God "Abba" as our Lord did. By the Spirit we approach the throne of grace with boldness that we may receive mercy and may find grace to help in time of need.

 

Could any of us have imagined that all three persons of the Trinity would have worked like this on our behalf in order to bless us with things unimaginable?

 

EPH 2:19 So then [conclusion to vv. 14-18] you are no longer strangers and aliens, but you are fellow citizens with the saints, and are of God's household,