While Jesus was on earth he lived under the Old Covenant.
Yet, using his authority as being one with God and the Son of God, the Messiah/Christ, (Matthew 26:63-65; John 4:25-26; Matthew 11:27; 28:18; John 10:30; 12:49-50; 13:3; 14:10-11; 1 John 5:7) he gave us some insight into the New Covenant.
This is evident in the account of the woman caught in the act of adultery (John 8:1-11).
The prevailing view was that Moses law required her to be put to death (Leviticus 20:10; Deuteronomy 22:22-24; Ezekiel 23:45-47).
Yet, Jesus short circuited that death penalty requirement of the law by not condemning her but allotting her grace. Now certainly David was given reprieve from his own death and that of Bathsheba, but their child died in their place. In the case of the woman there was no death at all.
Yet in the case of the woman Jesus did not discount her sin as not a serious violation of God’s will for he told her to go and sin no more (John 8:11).
In so doing he revealed the framework for the New Covenant of abundant grace (John 1:17). A covenant that withholds the death penalty but not necessarily chastisement (Hebrews 12:5-11) with the understanding that the person receives such grace will strive to sin no more (Romans 6:1-2; Hebrews 12:4).
Hebrews 12:4 speaks about the believer striving against sin though Christ is the only one who did so totally successfully until the point of shedding of his blood on our behalf.
In 1 John 1:9 and Romans 6:1-2, respectively, John and Paul echoes this principle of repentant faith that Jesus sets forth.
Indeed, Jesus began his public preaching with the message of repentance (Matthew 4:17).
The New Covenant came in full force not just a precursor with Jesus death on the cross as stated in Hebrews 9:16-18.
Hebrews 8:7-13 and Hebrews 10:16-18 quote from Jeremiah 31:31-34 some details about the New Covenant.
That with Hebrews 9:16-18 establishes that the New Covenant is in effect.
Hebrews 8:10 speaks about the law of God being put in the believers mind and written on his heart. Titus 2:11-15 speaks of the believer under grace living godly lives zealous of good works under Christ. 1 John 2:27-29 speaks of the anointing [of the Holy Spirit] abiding in the believer and that the believer is to abide in the Father and the Son to include doing righteousness.
Hebrews 8:10-12 in quoting from Jeremiah 31:31-34 says: “For this is the covenant that I will make with the house of Israel after those days, saith 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 neighbour, 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.
And 1 John 2:27 says: “But the anointing which ye have received of him abideth in you, and ye need not that any man teach you: but as the same anointing teacheth you of all things, and is truth, and is no lie, and even as it hath taught you, ye shall abide in him.
Notice how Hebrew 8 says neighbors and brothers will not need to teach each other. 1 John 2:27 says the same thing regarding the anointing of the Holy Spirit. Yet, in writing that John is in fact preaching and teaching the people then and now. On the surface that seems like a contradictory. However, under the Old Covenant the Holy Spirit sometimes came upon some people the Holy Spirit did not abide within all believers in God. Therefore, all needed other men such as prophets and elders to teach them everything. However now under the New Covenant, all believers have the Holy Spirit within and for some things the believer has the teaching of the Holy Spirit not of men.
Therefore, it is clear that God under the New Covenant holds obedience to his law/commandment to be important to him even under the covenant of grace. This is the essence of Jesus telling the woman caught in adultery to go and sin no more. This is the essence of Paul saying God forbid that we should continue in sin just because we are under grace (Romans 6:1-2).
Hebrews 9:9-10 speaks of a reformation. Acts 6:14 speaks of the Jewish authorities saying they had heard Stephen say Jesus will change the customs that Moses had delivered unto them. The fact they said customs which Moses had delivered them means they were not talking about things Sadducees and Pharisees had added. What is the difference between a law and a custom? Was circumcision a law or a custom since certainly the provisions for circumcision were changed from what it was under the Old Covenant?
A law is a custom but a custom is not necessarily a law. A law is something prescribed to be done and there is a consequence of some kind of punishment if not done. A custom is something people may choose to do or not do without but if not done there is no consequence of punishment.
The answer as to whether circumcision is a law or custom is as follows. Under the Old Covenant circumcision was a law for both the Israelite and the stranger (Exodus 12:48-49). But under the New Covenant God has changed circumcision into a custom no longer rising to the level of law. This is evident by the decree of the apostles by the Holy Spirit in Acts 15 where they say circumcision is not a requirement for salvation into the family of God.
Certainly a reformation took place regarding the priesthood (Hebrews 7:11-12; 9:11) where verse 11 says there is a change of the law. Is this change of the law limited to the priesthood service at the temple (Hebrews 9:1-4, 12-14)? The answer is profoundly no; the change in the law is not limited to the change of the priesthood. Jesus illustrates this in the case of the woman caught in the act of adultery. The doing away of the commandment for men to stone other humans to death for sin is a change in the law from what it was under Moses. For there was no requirement for a priest to be involved in executing the death penalty. God clearly no longer commands humans to stone folks to death for sin. That is a remarkable gracious change in the law.
So then let me for sake of brevity only deal with the ten commandments as points of obedience though there are other points in the Bible.
First let me say that in Matthew 22:34-40 in his answer to the question of what is the greatest commandment, Jesus speaks of the spirit of carrying out the commandments. He does so when he says on these two commandments of love hang all the law and the prophets.
The point is every disciple of Christ should strive to surrender to the Holy Spirit to obey and repent if one fails to obey (Matthew 4:17; 1 John 1:9).
Also, between them John, James, and Paul write about how disciples of Christ should obey the principles set forth in the Ten Commandments such that obedience to the Sabbath commandment being about spirit (Romans 7:6; 2 Corinthians 3:6) more than letter.
They write about this after Jesus death on the cross and resurrection. Therefore, it is illogical to say obedience only applied prior to Jesus death.
For the true disciple of Christ (John 3:16; John 8:31-32; Ephesians 1:6-7), the Bible indicates that failure to always obey the Ten Commandments including the spirit of the Sabbath will not result in lost of salvation.
The point of Matthew 19:16-30 is not that we should not strive to keep the commandments for they are good to keep; but, it is that none other than Jesus have kept them to God’s standard.
I do not speak here as to getting saved. I only speak here saying those who are saved should strive to be obedient.
Praise God for the blood Jesus shed for remission of sin; yet let us strive for obedience to his will for our individual and collective lives.
My list of Ten Commandments in the New Testament/ Covenant is given below to include correspondence between the Old Testament and New Testament:
Here are the Ten Commandments and some examples of where they are found in the New Testament.
Note that Matthew, John, James, Paul, and others writings of the Holy Spirit occurred after Jesus death on the cross.
Therefore, it would be illogical to say they only applied before Jesus death on the cross.
1) Do not worship any other gods — Exodus 20:3 — Matthew 4:10; 22:27; 1 Corinthians 8:6; 1 Timothy 2:5
2) Do not make idols — Exodus 20:4-6 — 1 Corinthians 6:9; 10:14; Ephesians 5:5; 1 John 5:21
3) Do not misuse the name of the LORD — Exodus 20:7 — 1 Timothy 6:1; James 5:12
4) Remember the Sabbath day and keep it holy. — Exodus 20:8-11 — see below
5) Honor your father and your mother — Exodus 20:12 — Matthew 15:3-6; 19:16-21; Ephesians 6:1-2
6) Do not murder — Exodus 20:13 — Matthew 5:21-22; 19:16-21; Romans 13:9; Galatians 5:19-21; 1 Peter 4:15
7) Do not commit adultery — Exodus 20:14 — Matthew 5:27-28; 19:16-21; 1 Corinthians 6:9-10
8 ) Do not steal — Exodus 20:15 — Matthew 19:16-21; Ephesians 4:28
9) Do not give false testimony — Exodus 20:16 — Matthew 19:16-21; Colossians3:9; Ephesians 4:25; Revelation 21:8
10) Do not covet — Exodus 20:17 — Romans 7:7; Ephesians 5:3-5; Colossians 3:5
Except for the 4th commandment having to do with the Sabbath, all of the Ten Commandments are rather explicitly brought forward into the New Covenant to be obeyed by disciples of Christ both in spirit (Romans 7:6; 2 Corinthians 3:6) and in letter. I will discuss the Sabbath commandment later.
Let me briefly address the 2nd commandment. The 2nd commandment is about idolatry. It says one shall not worship a graven image that is the likeness of anything in heaven above, in the earth or under the earth. Now it cannot say one cannot have an image of such things for then one could not even have an image of a car or a picture of ones children for they are certainly in the earth. The idea is clearly one is not to worship such things; it is all about idolatry.
Some people wear a cross that symbolizes the sacrifice of Jesus in shedding his blood for the remission of our sins. Wearing such a cross does not violate the 2nd commandment; the cross does not represent some false god one is worshipping.
Now let us look is a more generally way and ask the question what commandments are we to obey after getting saved through our faith in and acceptance of what Christ did on the cross on our behalf. Clearly the question is about what to do after accepting Jesus Christ as the Messiah, Lord, and Saviour.
Indeed to a large extent the different answers to that question is what divides Christians including Christian denominations, divides Christians from non-Christians who believe in the God of Abraham.
To began with let us start with Matthew 22:34-40 where Jesus says the dual laws of love for God and the almost equal law of love for others as one loves one’s self form the foundation for the law and the prophets. Then move from the general to the more specific:
- The Ten Commandments of Exodus 20:1-17, all of which are brought forth into the New Testament/Covenant
- The host of commandments given in the New Testament
- The host of commandments given in the Old Testament that are not rendered void by the New Testament.
All of the above of course is to be done under the Spirit of Truth, the Holy Spirit (e.g., John 16:13-14; Galatians 5:17).
All of the above is to be done with the understanding that keeping the commandments perfectly are not required to get saved or stay saved but the spirit of obedience in repentant faith is required. The right attitude toward God and the things of God are required.
And finally certainly the question assumes the understanding that this is not about the commandments Jesus gave to follow him and not deny him and similar statements he made. For of course they must come first.
Now let me look at a few controversial laws.
The Sabbath is given by example of the apostles but there is no instruction to keep it in the sense of the instructions given in the Old Testament. To the contrary Colossians 2:14-17 indicates we are not to judge one another on things such as the sabbath. Nevertheless, I believe it is a matter of faith that we take at least one day a week to rest, and assemble for worship on a regular basis in our homes and in the community with others. As early as the 4th Century AD the church leaders believed Saturday corresponds to the biblical Sabbath although they for purpose of honoring Christ resurrection begin to rest and worship on Sunday the first day of the week. I believe they should have kept the seventh day or Saturday. For they could have just as easily honored Christ resurrection on Saturday. Yet, as I said Colossians 2:16 seem to have given them the authority to choose Sunday. Therefore, though I choose Saturday I do not judge those who choose Sunday.
One related controversial law is the dietary laws and Leviticus 23 feasts and Christian holidays such as Christmas and Easter. Once again, Colossians 2:14-17 warns us not to judge people on such things. Therefore, I do not judge folks for what they eat or don’t eat nor for what feasts and holidays they keep or don’t keep. I do what I do regarding such matters and follow the adage live and let live regarding those things.
Then we have the purification laws of Leviticus 12 and Leviticus 15 chapters such as concerning a woman who is on her menstrual period separating herself from her family for at least seven days. In my view such laws are not binding as they were ceremonial and perhaps for health reasons in that day. But now a woman has tampon and other mechanisms to protect her surroundings. Not only that but purification laws were about defilement. Christ says the focus of defilement now is not about the external but the internal of a person with respect to the evil thoughts and actions that proceed from the heart per Matthew 15:10-20.
Another controversy with some is about who qualifies for salvation and whether God will place those who have enslaved Israelites under slavery to Israelites at some point in the end time. For both of these I trust God to determine righteously. For neither of those determine how we live our lives as long as we do not unrighteously enslave anyone. Those who unrighteously enslaved someone in the past or at any time without repentance will face God just as we all will face him for any unrepentant sin.
I do advice Israelites to remember that Hebrew Israelites enslaved other Hebrew Israelites as well as others in Bible days. If they enslaved one another or anyone else unrighteously it seems they will face the same judgement decision by God.
As far me I will live my life as though everyone is offered salvation as Romans 10:8-13 and Galatians 3:26-29 says all are welcome no matter the race or skin color or nationality or gender or free or slave.
I will live my life as though no one I meet will face any undesirable slavery under any person Israelite or non-Israelite in the end time. If I meet someone doing any unrighteousness to include any enslavement I will call them to repentance. I will say whosoever will, let them come to eternal life in Christ Jesus.
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