A New Covenant

A few days ago, I wrote an article about a new version of the Ten Commandments that is circulating, mostly in England, and (of course) on the Internet.  Called Just10, it is a restatement of the original Old Testament rules in an effort to make them more accessible to a new generation of believers and seekers alike.  Seeing as Christ Himself already restated the Ten Commandments into two easily understood new guidelines (i.e., love the Lord your God with all your heart and love your neighbor as yourself), I don't really see the point of dwelling too heavily on the original Ten Commandments in a "perform these daily or die" kind of way.  They are important to understand as part of the old covenant that God the Father made with ancient Israel, and they are important to comprehend in relation to Christ's restatement of the law, in that the first three commandments pertain to our relationship with God and the remaining seven guide our interactions with others.  Beyond that, I think we need to keep in mind the following, which I was reminded of in church this morning: 

"Behold, the days are coming," declares the LORD, "when I will make a new covenant with the house of Israel and with the house of Judah, not like the covenant which I made with their fathers in the day I took them by the hand to bring them out of the land of Egypt, My covenant which they broke, although I was a husband to them," declares the LORD.  "But this is the covenant which I will make with the house of Israel after those days, "declares the LORD, "I will put My law within them and on their heart I will write it; and I will be their God, and they shall be My people.  They will not teach again, each man his neighbor and each man his brother, saying, 'Know the LORD,' for they will all know Me, from the least of them to the greatest of them," declares the LORD, "for I will forgive their iniquity, and their sin I will remember no more." --- Jeremiah 31:31-34 (NASB)

Notice that the prophet Jeremiah specifically tells us that there will come a time when God will make a new covenant with His people.  Notice, too, that Jeremiah goes out of his way to say that this new covenant will be different from the old covenant.  This new covenant will operate from a law (i.e., teaching) that is written on the hearts of believers.  It will not function from laws that are preserved on tablets of stone.

So, has this new covenant been established?  Most certainly!  The suffering, death, and resurrection of Christ brought about, and are, the new covenant.

And in the same way He took the cup after they had eaten, saying, "This cup which is poured out for you is the new covenant in My blood." --- Luke 22:20 (NASB)

Such confidence we have through Christ toward God.  Not that we are adequate in ourselves to consider anything as coming from ourselves, but our adequacy is from God, who also made us adequate as servants of a new covenant, not of the letter but of the Spirit;  for the letter kills, but the Spirit gives life. --- 2 Corinthians 3:4-6 (NASB)

For if the first covenant [the old covenant] had been faultless, there would have been no occasion sought for a second...When He said, "A new covenant," He has made the first obsolete.  But whatever is becoming obsolete and growing old is ready to disappear. --- Hebrews 8:7, 13 (NASB)

So, from these last verses, we have confirmation that, somehow, the old covenant was imperfect and that a new covenant was necessary, a covenant that was secured by the shedding of Christ's blood on the cross, a covenant that is available to us through faith.

So, in light of this new covenant, do we need a program like Just10 to teach us how to obey the rules of the old covenant, a covenant that Scripture itself describes as obsolete?  Or would we do better to follow Just2:  love the Lord your God with all your heart, with all your soul, with all your strength, and with all your mind;  and love your neighbor as yourself?  My vote is for the latter.

Related article:
Just10?  How About Just2?