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?

Just10? How About Just2?

Last week, a Facebook friend alerted me to this from our friends across the pond, a program called Just10.  It is a new effort by a British pastor, Canon J. John, who felt called to restate the Ten Commandments in order to make them more accessible to a new generation by paraphrasing them in the positive.  Frankly, I am a bit flummoxed by this whole idea.  I think the original Ten Commandments are pretty clear, plus I am not really troubled by the fact that they are written in the negative (i.e., do NOT do something vs. do something).  The fact that the original rules are referred to as God's Law doesn't get my knickers in a knot either, mostly because I do not believe the rules are applicable to Christians in a specific, "perform these daily or die" kind of way.  If they did, my salvation would rest on my works and not on the redemptive blood of Jesus Christ.  Apparently, Canon J. John takes a different approach.  He feels that 21st century believers, and non-believers for that matter, could benefit from a list of affirmatively stated guiding principles instead of laws.  He also seems to think that we should follow these rules in order to be happy, fulfilled individuals who can then go out and make the world a better place.  Unfortunately, the pastor seems to have forgotten that Christ Himself already restated the Commandments into a simpler, more understandable version, taking the original ten and summarizing them into two.  The incident is even recorded for us in three of the four Gospels:

Matthew 22:34-40  But when the Pharisees heard that Jesus had silenced the Sadducees, they gathered themselves together.  One of them, a lawyer, asked Him [Jesus] a question, testing Him.  "Teacher, which is the great commandment in the Law?"  And He said to him, "YOU SHALL LOVE THE LORD YOUR GOD WITH ALL YOUR HEART, AND WITH ALL YOUR SOUL, AND WITH ALL YOUR MIND.  This is the great and foremost commandment.  The second is like it, YOU SHALL LOVE YOUR NEIGHBOR AS YOURSELF.  On these two commandments depend the whole Law and the Prophets." (NASB)

Mark 12:28-34  One of the scribes came and heard them arguing, and recognizing that He [Jesus] had answered them well, asked Him, "What commandment is the foremost of all?"  Jesus answered, "The foremost is, 'HEAR, O ISRAEL!  THE LORD OUR GOD IS ONE LORD;  AND YOU SHALL LOVE THE LORD YOUR GOD WITH ALL YOUR HEART, AND WITH ALL YOUR SOUL, AND WITH ALL YOUR MIND, AND WITH ALL YOUR STRENGTH.'  The second is this, 'YOU SHALL LOVE YOUR NEIGHBOR AS YOURSELF.'  There is no other commandment greater than these."  The scribe said to Him, "Right, Teacher;  You have truly stated that HE IS ONE, AND THERE IS NO ONE ELSE BESIDES HIM;  AND TO LOVE HIM WITH ALL THE HEART AND WITH ALL THE UNDERSTANDING AND WITH ALL THE STRENGTH, AND TO LOVE ONE'S NEIGHBOR AS HIMSELF, is much more than all burnt offerings and sacrifices."  When Jesus saw that he had answered intelligently, He said to him, "You are not far from the kingdom of God." After that, no one would venture to ask Him any more questions. (NASB)

Luke 10:25-28  And a lawyer stood up and put Him [Jesus] to the test, saying, "Teacher, what shall I do to inherit eternal life?  And He said to him, "What is written in the Law?  How does it read to you?  And he answered, "YOU SHALL LOVE THE LORD YOUR GOD WITH ALL YOUR HEART, AND WITH ALL YOUR SOUL, AND WITH ALL YOUR STRENGTH, AND WITH ALL YOUR MIND;  AND YOUR NEIGHBOR AS YOURSELF."  And He said to him, "You have answered correctly;  DO THIS AND YOU WILL LIVE." (NASB)

So, to repeat, instead of these ten (from the NIV):

1.  You shall have no other gods before me.
2.  You shall not make for yourself an idol in the form of anything.
3.  You shall not misuse the name of the Lord your God.
4.  Remember the Sabbath day by keeping it holy.
5.  Honor your father and your mother.
6.  You shall not murder.
7.  You shall not commit adultery.
8.  You shall not steal.
9.  You shall not give false testimony against your neighbor.
10.  You shall not covet.

we have these two (also from the NIV):

1.  Love the Lord your God with all your heart, with all your soul, and with all your might;  and
2.  Love your neighbor as yourself.

Much easier to remember, wouldn't you agree?  Better yet, Christ's summary of the original Ten Commandments is, as Canon J. John desired, presented in the affirmative, so no need to change anything.  Right?  So, why did the esteemed pastor move forward with his project to make the Ten Commandments more accessible to believers and seekers alike by summarizing them, in effect duplicating work that Christ, the Savior, already accomplished?  Who knows?

Personally, I think Just10 loses something in translation.  Here are both the adult and the child versions presented side-by-side, along with the paraphrased originals.  Judge for yourself between the three:

Original	Adult	Children
1.  Have no other gods before Me.	1.  Live by priorities.	1.  Bee Loving.
2.  Do not set up idols.	2.  Know God.	2.  Bee Loyal.
3.  Do not take God’s name in vain.	3.  Take God seriously.	3.  Bee Careful.
4.  Remember the Sabbath.	4.  Catch your breath.	4.  Bee Still.
5.  Honor your father and mother.	5.  Keep the peace with your parents.	5.  Bee Respectful.
6.  Do not murder.	6.  Manage your anger.	6.  Bee Calm.
7.  Do not commit adultery.	7.  Affair-proof your relationships.	7.  Bee Faithful
8.  Do not steal.	8.  Prosper with a clear conscience.	8.  Bee Trustworthy.
9.  Do not bear false witness.	9.  Hold to the truth.	9.  Bee Truthful.
10.  Do not covet.	10.  Find contentment.	10.  Bee Thankful.

Granted, some of the rules don't suffer too terribly from the transformation process, such as "Honor your father and mother."  The adult version becomes "Keep the peace with your parents," while the child translation is reduced to "Bee respectful."  On the other hand, some restatements really miss the point.  For example, "Do not murder" is not just about the act of killing;  it is about the act of planning the physical death of another human being with malice aforethought (meaning with evil intent and premeditation).  Does this involve anger?  Oftentimes, yes.  But to reduce the entire meaning of the original commandment to only being about losing your temper and, if you are talking about the child version, just being calm runs the risk of creating a mental picture of nothing more than a man sitting quietly on the beach in a lotus position, breathing deeply and chanting a mantra in order to reduce his everyday stress.  Any mention, implication, or thought of violence towards another has been completely eliminated from the restatement, thereby losing the original meaning altogether.

Even worse, Just10 website makes a point of misguiding people about the purpose of the Ten Commandments, reducing them to the equivalent of Captain Jack Sparrow's Pirate Code --- "more like guidelines anyway."  To quote:

Most people have heard of the Ten Commandments, God's basic instructions for our lives that, when followed, help us live in freedom every day.  These core principles are designed to equip and guide us through life, keeping us on the right path, and helping us navigate through the tough times.

So, God's rules are really a self-help tutorial that, if followed, will bring daily, earthly freedom?  Ummm.  No, I don't think so.  God's Law, comprised of the original Ten Commandments, was given to the nation of Israel to make God's people aware of how far short they fall of the perfection that God requires as the holy Creator of the universe, thereby pointing to their ever-present need for a Savior.  That Savior is Jesus Christ.

For God so loved the world that He gave His one and only son, that whoever believes in Him shall not perish but have eternal life. --- John 3:16 (NIV)

Following the rules does nothing to free you from the bondage of sin and death.  Only the understanding that you need the shed blood of Christ to cover your sins and the belief (by faith) that Christ died for that purpose for you personally will bring the freedom that Canon J. John speaks of.  Once redeemed by the blood of Christ, two restated rules --- love the Lord your God with all your heart and love your neighbor as yourself --- can act as behavioral guidelines so that you demonstrate to others the love and grace that the Triune God shows to you every moment of every day.