Doctrine of the New Covenant, part 15.

Title: Doctrine of the New Covenant, part 15.  

 

The Mosaic Covenant was only able to cover the sins of Israel, but the NC will take them away.

 

As we see in the NC, "I will remember their sins no more," and for this to be true there has to be a remission of sins.

 

Mat 26:27 And when He had taken a cup and given thanks, He gave it to them, saying, "Drink from it, all of you; 

 

Mat 26:28 for this is My blood of the covenant, which is poured out for many for forgiveness of sins.

 

Mar 14:24

And He said to them, "This is My blood of the covenant, which is poured out for many."

 

Luke and Paul quote Jesus as saying "This is the new covenant in My blood."

 

Zec 9:9 Rejoice greatly, O daughter of Zion!

Shout in triumph, O daughter of Jerusalem!

Behold, your king is coming to you;

He is just and endowed with salvation,

Humble, and mounted on a donkey,

Even on a colt, the foal of a donkey.

 

By presenting Himself to Jerusalem humble, and mounted on the foal of a donkey, He was exhibiting to the people that the kingdom was not to come by force of arms, but by suffering and death. He sought to neutralize the carnal expectations of the people as to the worldly character of the Messianic kingdom.

 

Zec 9:10 And I will cut off the chariot from Ephraim [northern kingdom],

And the horse from Jerusalem [southern kingdom];

And the bow of war will be cut off.

And He will speak peace to the nations [Gentiles];

And His dominion will be from sea to sea,

And from the River to the ends of the earth.

 

Zec 9:11 As for you also, because of the blood of My covenant with you, I have set your prisoners free from the waterless pit.

The waterless pit represents the misery of Israel's captivity, which is really just a manifestation of the inadequacy of man, Jew or Gentile.

 

This gets to the heart of why the New Covenant must be in His blood and not in His conquering sword.

 

The blessed Jewish nation found itself in a waterless pit and this shows that every Gentile nation, minus such blessings, is in the same pit.

 

Rom 2:29 But he is a Jew who is one inwardly; and circumcision is that which is of the heart, by the Spirit, not by the letter; and his praise is not from men, but from God.

 

Is there any advantage to being a Jew if a Jew is only one inwardly?

 

Rom 3:1 Then what advantage has the Jew? Or what is the benefit of circumcision?

 

Rom 3:2 Great in every respect. First of all, that they were entrusted with the oracles of God.

 

Rom 3:3 What then? If some did not believe, their unbelief will not nullify the faithfulness of God, will it?

 

Rom 3:4 May it never be! Rather, let God be found true, though every man be found a liar, as it is written,

"That Thou mightest be justified in Thy words, And mightest prevail when Thou art judged."

 

The next anticipated argument is that if my faithlessness sets God's faithfulness in a bolder relief, then why should He find fault with me?

 

Rom 3:5 But if our unrighteousness demonstrates the righteousness of God, what shall we say? The God who inflicts wrath is not unrighteous, is He? [in finding fault with me] (I am speaking in human terms.)

 

"I am speaking in human terms" - this is really a very foolish argument, but men are fools and they will make it.

 

Rom 3:6 May it never be! For otherwise how will God judge the world?

 

Rom 3:7 But if through my lie the truth of God abounded to His glory, why am I also still being judged as a sinner?

 

The foolish debater persists, as fools do, and asks, "if my sin shows God's grace and magnifies His faithfulness, why does He judge me as a sinner?"

 

This is typical "ends justify the means" thinking, which our world is always full of. If God's glory is the end, and that is good, and my sin is the means, then why is it counted wrong?

 

Rom 3:8 And why not say (as we are slanderously reported and as some affirm that we say), "Let us do evil that good may come"? Their condemnation is just.

 

"As a matter of fact," Paul says, "that is precisely what some people say my gospel amounts to; but they are condemned."

 

The gospel of grace is always attacked for this by people who love the darkness and hate the light. The gospel is the light and it brings forth the fruits of righteousness in a person's life since all who believe are given a divine nature. People who love darkness hate the fruits of righteousness. They use this foolish argument because they want to stay in darkness.

 

It is easy to see how Paul's gospel could be misrepresented as though it taught this. Those, whether Jews or Gentiles, who regarded religion as essentially a matter of law, could not but conclude that a doctrine of justification apart from works of law undermined the place of law in mankind's approach to God, and therefore undermined religion and morality.

 

Such an argument is condemned by the justice of God.

 

So the Jews are better than the Gentiles? - not at all. They were more blessed, but all have sinned; Jew and Gentile are guilty.

 

Rom 3:9 What then? Are we better than they? Not at all; for we have already charged that both Jews and Greeks are all under sin;

 

Paul seems to contradict himself.

 

In verses 1-2 he said the Jews had every advantage, and here is says the Jew is no better. In the first he speaks of blessings, and in the second he speaks of standing before God.

 

Privileges or no privileges, both Jews and Gentiles are in desperate need of God's grace.

 

Paul uses a connected series of quotations (catena) from the Old Testament which in general sum up the sinfulness of man.

 

Paul grew up with all of these passages and by the time he became a Pharisee, he had them fully in his memory, and he applied all of them to Gentiles, to the uncircumcised, and never to himself.

 

Rom 3:10-12 is from Psa 14:1-3 and Isa 53:1-3.

 

Rom 3:10 as it is written,

"There is none righteous, not even one;

 

Rom 3:11 There is none who understands, There is none who seeks for God;

 

Rom 3:12 All have turned aside, together they have become useless; There is none who does good, There is not even one."

 

Rom 3:13 "Their throat is an open grave [Psa 5:9], With their tongues they keep deceiving [Psa 5:9],""The poison of asps is under their lips" [Psa 140:3];

 

Rom 3:14 "Whose mouth is full of cursing and bitterness" [Psa 10:7];

 

Rom 3:15 "Their feet are swift to shed blood [Isa 59:7],

 

Rom 3:16 Destruction and misery are in their paths [Isa 59:7],

 

Rom 3:17 And the path of peace have they not known. [Isa 59:7]"

 

Rom 3:18 "There is no fear of God before their eyes. [Psa 36:1]"

 

Can you imagine the deep reflection in the former great Pharisee, Saul of Tarsus, when he realized that all of these were not descriptions of the Gentiles, but of him, and the entire human race?

 

Rom 3:19 Now we know that whatever the Law says, it speaks to those who are under the Law, that every mouth may be closed, and all the world may become accountable to God;

 

Rom 3:20 because by the works of the Law no flesh will be justified in His sight; for through the Law comes the knowledge of sin.

 

And then comes those two beautiful words, "but now." It is like a man who has lost all hope of being saved from peril and then bursting into his dungeon comes a man who takes him by the hand and says, "I have freed you. You may go in peace and be well." This is the New Covenant in His blood.

 

Rom 3:21 But now apart from the Law the righteousness of God has been manifested,

 

So we would conclude that the NC was instituted when Jesus died and His sacrifice finished, while the realization of the benefits of the covenant was future from that point.

 

By the grace of God, the church was given the spiritual aspects of the covenant, salvation, the forgiveness of sin, the ministry of the Holy Spirit: but the church is never promised physical blessings, such as inheritance in a land, material blessings on the earth, and rest from oppression.