Are you under law or under grace today? Ask this question to a group of believers, and you would get a mixed-bag of answers. There is an impressive amount of confusion regarding such a fundamental part of our Christian walk, and God does not want us to be in confusion.
Today we will be studying the covenants which so many are confused about, and through the truth of scripture, we will answer the question of what covenant God has placed us under today, and we will not be in confusion any longer.
Before we begin, we first need to know something about God, and that is that He always works with covenants. In 1st Kings chapter 8 verse 23, Solomon declares that there is no God like the LORD, who keeps His covenant with those who are His. So let’s take a look at the covenants that He has made with man.
Now this is not going to be an exhaustive study of every single covenant, but the two main covenants which are points of contention and confusion today. The Mosaic Law (or the Old Covenant) and the Covenant of Grace (the New Covenant). So let’s begin by reading Exodus 20:1-17:
“And God spoke all these words, saying,
I am the LORD your God, which have brought you out of the land of Egypt, out of the house of bondage.
You shall have no other gods before me.
You shall not make to you any graven image, or any likeness of any thing that is in heaven above, or that is in the earth beneath, or that is in the water under the earth.
You shall not bow down yourself to them, nor serve them: for I the LORD your God am a jealous God, visiting the iniquity of the fathers on the children to the third and fourth generation of them that hate me;
And showing mercy to thousands of them that love me, and keep my commandments.
You shall not take the name of the LORD your God in vain; for the LORD will not hold him guiltless that takes his name in vain.
Remember the sabbath day, to keep it holy.
Six days shall you labor, and do all your work:
But the seventh day is the sabbath of the LORD your God: in it you shall not do any work, you, nor your son, nor your daughter, your manservant, nor your maidservant, nor your cattle, nor your stranger that is within your gates:
For in six days the LORD made heaven and earth, the sea, and all that in them is, and rested the seventh day: why the LORD blessed the sabbath day, and hallowed it.
Honor your father and your mother: that your days may be long on the land which the LORD your God gives you.
You shall not kill.
You shall not commit adultery.
You shall not steal.
You shall not bear false witness against your neighbor.
You shall not covet your neighbor’s house, you shall not covet your neighbor’s wife, nor his manservant, nor his maidservant, nor his ox, nor his ass, nor any thing that is your neighbor’s.”
This is the Mosaic Covenant, the Covenant of the Law, most commonly known as the Ten Commandments. Look at verse one, and notice who spoke these words… it was God, not Moses, not any man and not even an angel, but God Himself. The Ten Commandments are not evil; they are not bad or “wrong”, because God does not speak evil nor is any wrong found in Him. Now why did God give the Law and make a Covenant with Israel? Was the Law given to save man and make man righteous? Or was there another reason? The Bible tells us in Exodus 19:8: That the people estimated quite highly their own abilities. They all answered together and said:
“And all the people answered together, and said, All that the LORD has spoken we will do. And Moses returned the words of the people to the LORD.”
This is pride, plain and simple. Foolish, arrogant, pride. And so God created a second covenant for them, one with ten perfect laws. Notice that there are ten rules, more complicated than the first Edenic covenant. In Deuteronomy chapter 28, God makes it clear that anyone who keeps all of His commandments will be blessed, and anyone who does not keep all of His commandments will be cursed. So now, let’s pretend that we are all there at the foot of Mt. Sinai as this covenant came into effect. For you and I to be blessed under the Covenant of the Law, what is the requirement? What must me do? Under the Mosaic Covenant, we must keep the Commandments of the Law. If we do, we will be blessed, but if we break even one, we are guilty of all and cursed.
Now we know from Romans 3:20, that no-one is declared righteous by the works of the Law. The purpose of the Law is not to make anyone righteous but to show them their need for Jesus. And God knew that no-one could keep the Law perfectly… that is why as soon as God was finished giving the Law to the people in Exodus 20:24, God tells the people to build an altar to sacrifice their offerings, to cover their sin. The need for the altar shows that no-one could keep God’s law perfectly.
Even the great and notable kings such as King David and King Solomon, they did not keep God’s Laws perfectly, but they were diligent in offering sacrifices. The Law did not save them, nor did it bless them; but the sacrifices which reminded God of His Son Jesus, did.
At this point some may say “James, I think the Law did justify them, they just didn’t sin as bad as others.”
My friend, you are still missing it, there is no sin that is insignificant. The perfect law of God demands perfect obedience (James 2:10). King David committed both adultery and murder, which were both capital-punishment offenses under the Law, but David did not die, because he understood the covenant of Grace to come, and he offered the sacrifices. If you study the history of the kings in the Bible, you will find that even though some kings did wrong, as long as they offered sacrifices, the full punishment of God was kept from them – but when they started being turned away from God and stopped offering their sin sacrifices, then they were destroyed.
So again, the stipulation of the Mosaic Covenant is: keep all of the commandments perfectly and be blessed, break even one and be cursed, and a sacrifice is required.
Now contrast everything we have seen with the Mosiac Covenant with the New Covenant of Grace found in Hebrews 8:7-12:
“For if that first covenant had been faultless, then should no place have been sought for the second.
For finding fault with them, he said, Behold, the days come, said the Lord, when I will make a new covenant with the house of Israel and with the house of Judah:
Not according to the covenant that I made with their fathers in the day when I took them by the hand to lead them out of the land of Egypt; because they continued not in my covenant, and I regarded them not, said the Lord.
For this is the covenant that I will make with the house of Israel after those days, said the Lord; I will put my laws into their mind, and write them in their hearts: and I will be to them a God, and they shall be to me a people:
And they shall not teach every man his neighbor, and every man his brother, saying, Know the Lord: for all shall know me, from the least to the greatest.
For I will be merciful to their unrighteousness, and their sins and their iniquities will I remember no more.”
Verses 7 and 8 tell us that God found fault with the Old Covenant of the Law. Why? Because God wanted to bless man, but man ended up being cursed through his own iniquity and sin. Man tried to use the Law for justification and holiness instead of it’s true purpose to lead people to Jesus. We already know from Romans 3:20 that through the law comes the knowledge of sin. The law shows us our sin so that we realize we need a Savior, it was never meant to make us righteous. It was man’s foolish pride that boasted with foolish pride to be able to keep the law. Likewise there are believers today who still fight for the law and think that there is strength in themselves to be able to keep it. As if the law was somehow a tool to become holy.
Typical arguments for the law are these: Yes Jesus died for our sins, but we still need the law for holiness and morality. My dear friends, as we have already seen tonight from scripture, the Bible teaches no such thing. You can not be half-law and half-grace. You can not have one foot on Mt. Sinai and the other foot on Mt. Zion. In Verse 9 God specifically says that this New Covenant is not according to the covenant that He made with their forefathers when He took them by the hand to lead them out of the land of Egypt. That’s the Covenant of the Law. Some people today claim that these verses are not referring to the Mosaic covenant of the Law, but this line here solidifies the fact that God is indeed referring to the Mosaic Law
Now look at the covenant of Grace in verses 10-12. As you study it and meditate on it, you will notice something very interesting compared to the previous Mosaic covenant which we have seen today. Tell me… what is your part in the New Covenant of Grace?
In the covenant of the Law, the burden was on man, saying “you shall…”, but in the Grace covenant, notice that it is all God saying “I will…”, it is now all on God, and our part is to simply accept and believe. Believe what? Believe verse 12, that God is merciful to your unrighteousness and your sins and iniquities, He remembers no more.
So does this mean that we are lawless beings with no morality today? This question always seems to come up, so look at verse 10: God will put His laws in our mind and heart. Notice that it is God that does it, we won’t have to struggle, strive or sweat for it, but we will have effortless, natural obedience. God wants us to believe in the sacrifice of Jesus for us; believe that we are forgiven, and live with the power of new life in Christ. Usually what we do though is the exact opposite. For many years I used to believe that whenever something bad happened to me, that it was a result of some sin I had committed. I was still believing that I was being punished for my sin rather than being cleansed by Jesus, and that wrong belief kept me separated from God and in bondage to fear, guilt and condemnation.
So does the Mosaic Law have any place today? Only one, Galatians 3:24-25:
“Why the law was our schoolmaster to bring us to Christ, that we might be justified by faith.
But after that faith is come, we are no longer under a schoolmaster.”
There are some people who boast in their goodness and say “Well, I’m not so bad, I’m still generally a good person.”, then the perfect Law of God can be used to show them that they need a Savior. But then look at verse 25, after faith has come, we are no longer under a schoolmaster. Once we are in Christ and He has written His laws in our minds and hearts, the schoolmaster is of no use!
God wants us to trust in the finished work of Jesus and not in the Law or our own ability. There are believers today who cling to the schoolmaster, and hold to the Law more than to Jesus. And some say “But without the Ten Commandments, if people are just trusting in Jesus then they are free to sin. They will steal, commit adultery and murder. We need the Ten Commandments!”
My friend, you do not actually believe what God has said… look again at Hebrews 8:10: God says that He will put His laws in the mind and heart of everyone who trusts in Christ Jesus. Every one who is truly trusting in Jesus as their Savior and Lord will have a new nature, with new desires that will no longer revolve around sin or self.
In closing, we must now answer the question posed at the start of our study today: Which covenant are we under now? For the answer, let’s read Romans 6:14:
“For sin shall not have dominion over you: for you are not under the law, but under grace.”
Notice that it is when you are under the Law that sin shall have dominion over you. Just as in my own life that I mentioned earlier, when I was placing myself under the law and forsaking the finished work of Jesus, sin absolutely had dominion over me. However When God brought the Grace of Jesus into my life, it is His grace, that overcame my evil desires and my self, and believers need to come back to this truth and realize what the Bible is actually saying. God can not make it any more plain. Today we are under the New Covenant of Grace, and no longer the Law. God wants us to live free, with the freedom that comes from Jesus. Free to enjoy Him without any barriers or distractions. Free to be embraced by His love, and free to worship Him with no separation. This is the liberty of being in Christ, in the Covenant of Grace.
There are many people who fight for the Law, they cling to it as if it is what makes them holy, or somehow validates them beyond what Christ has done; as if the sacrifice of Jesus was an incomplete work and needs to be added to.
These people fail to understand that Jesus has completely done away with the Old Covenant, and as Gentiles, we were never under the Mosiac Law to begin with. In closing today, let’s take a look at 2nd Corinthians 3:5-11:
“Not that we are sufficient of ourselves to think any thing as of ourselves; but our sufficiency is of God;
Who also has made us able ministers of the new testament; not of the letter, but of the spirit: for the letter kills, but the spirit gives life.
But if the ministration of death, written and engraved in stones, was glorious, so that the children of Israel could not steadfastly behold the face of Moses for the glory of his countenance; which glory was to be done away:
How shall not the ministration of the spirit be rather glorious?
For if the ministration of condemnation be glory, much more does the ministration of righteousness exceed in glory.
For even that which was made glorious had no glory in this respect, by reason of the glory that excels.
For if that which is done away was glorious, much more that which remains is glorious.”
We see several eye-opening things in these verses. First, in verse 5, that our sufficiency is of God and not of ourselves. There is one reason alone that people ultimately try to hang onto the Law, and that is as we read earlier in this study, it is pride. We think that we can somehow help God or that we are honoring God or giving Him glory by offering Him the “works of our hands” or self-effort, and just as Cain in Genesis chapter 4, Cain’s self-effort sacrifice was not accepted.
My friends, we can offer God nothing of ourselves, our sufficiency is of God alone and we can not add anything to it.
Next in verse 6 we see something that many pastors today need to see… that God has made us able ministers of the New Testament (that is, new covenant) not of the letter, but of the Spirit. The letter spoken of here is “the letter of the Law”, The Mosiac Law. God has made us able ministers of the New Covenant of Grace and not of the Old Covenant of the Law. We also see the reason why, because the Law kills, but the Spirit gives life.
There are many pastors today who are preaching the Law to the people every Sunday instead of the Grace of Christ, and it is killing them because Jesus is the only source of life.
Verse 7 continues that the ministration of death which was written and engraved on stones did have glory at one time, but it was to be done away [in favor of Christ].
Now there is only one group of laws that were ever written and engraved on stones, and that is the Ten Commandments in Exodus 32:16. And the scriptures call them the ministration of death.
Furthermore in verses 8, 9 and 10, we see that not only does the ministry of Grace by the Spirit have a greater glory that excels, but by comparison, the ministry of the law is shown to have no glory.
Finally, in verse 11 we see that For if that which is done away was glorious, much more that which remains is glorious.
My friends, this is what so many believers who hold onto the law fail to see. The Law is done away. Replaced by Grace which has much more glory. It is not on the same level as the Law, nor is it only slightly better, but much more glorious.
Today we have seen the truth of scripture regarding the covenants, defined by God Himself and spoken of in the Holy Scriptures. I encourage you today to start living in your proper covenant, start reviving the Grace of Jesus Christ, and be free from the bondage of the Law that has no power to save, but is a ministry of condemnation and death.
In Christ we have better promises and greater glory. Jesus has paid for us to have all of these things. Receive without fear or shame. It is yours in Christ today.
One response
Yes, it has been a while since I spoke about it.
Here is an overview on it that I did back in 2016: http://www.thrivingbranch.com/2016/09/25/your-obedience-is-to-jesus-obedience/
Be blessed,
–Jim