Chap. 11
We will now examine the changes that have taken place between the old and new covenants in relation to the law, and its fulfillment in our lives. As discussed in an earlier chapter, the law was given to the children of Israel straight from the mouth of God. Unquestionably the purpose of presenting the law in this manner was to leave a deep impression upon the children of Israel regarding the sacredness of God's law. The law is a revelation of God's character, it is perfect as He is.
PSA 19:7 The law of the LORD is perfect, converting the soul: the testimony of the LORD is sure, making wise the simple.
PSA 19:8 The statutes of the LORD are right, rejoicing the heart: the commandment of the LORD is pure, enlightening the eyes.
PSA 19:9 The fear of the LORD is clean, enduring for ever: the judgments of the LORD are true and righteous altogether.
PSA 19:10 More to be desired are they than gold, yea, than much fine gold: sweeter also than honey and the honeycomb.
Again, as has already been stated, the purpose of the law is to convict the soul of sin, in order that one might repent and be converted. This was the function of the law during the old covenant era, and is still the function of the law in this new covenant era. The conversion experience involves being changed from a law breaking non believer, to a law abiding and firm believer. During the old covenant era, the best way to establish the law within your heart was to dwell upon it. Thus the old testament writers, inspired by the Lord, admonished Israel to do so continuously.
DEU 6:6 And these words, which I command thee this day, shall be in thine heart:
DEU 6:7 And thou shalt teach them diligently unto thy children, and shalt talk of them when thou sittest in thine house, and when thou walkest by the way, and when thou liest down, and when thou risest up.
DEU 6:8 And thou shalt bind them for a sign upon thine hand, and they shall be as frontlets between thine eyes.
DEU 6:9 And thou shalt write them upon the posts of thy house, and on thy gates.
PSA 1:1 Blessed is the man that walketh not in the counsel of the ungodly, nor standeth in the way of sinners, nor sitteth in the seat of the scornful.
PSA 1:2 But his delight is in the law of the LORD; and in his law doth he meditate day and night.
PSA 119:97 O how I love thy law! it is my meditation all the day.
PSA 119:98 Thou through thy commandments hast made me wiser than mine enemies: for they are ever with me.
PSA 119:99 I have more understanding than all my teachers: for thy testimonies are my meditation.
PSA 119:100 I understand more than the ancients, because I keep thy precepts.
These are just a few of the many examples of old testament scriptures admonishing us to dwell upon the law of the Lord. Through the law, one could see the righteous character of God, an example of how they should be. Necessarily then, the more one dwelt upon the law, the more one became like the one who's character the law represented. It was not the moral law alone that revealed God's character to the world, but also the sanctuary services that revealed God's love and mercy for the world. The law revealed God's character, and condemned ours. "ROM 3:23 For all have sinned, and come short of the glory of God;" The sanctuary services and sacrifices revealed God's mercy through His plan of salvation for us.
The old covenant believer dwelt upon the law so that its precepts might become a part of their character. At the same time, the more they dwelt upon the law, the more they were convicted of the sinfulness of their condition. Thus they were lead to the sanctuary with their sacrifices and learned about complete dependents upon God. Hopefully they would understand that the Messiah was the one who would ultimately pay the price for their sins. Unfortunately, as was made obvious by the reception that Christ received from His people when He came to them as their Messiah, most did not understand this most important truth. Even during the old covenant dispensation, God expressed His desire for the sacrifice of obedience over the sacrifice of animals representing Christ. This revealed that those who truly accepted what God was going to do for them through His Son, were to express that acceptance more by the sacrifice of their own wills to that of God's, than by the sacrifice of animals representing the Savior.
PSA 40:6 Sacrifice and offering thou didst not desire; mine ears hast thou opened: burnt offering and sin offering hast thou not required.
PSA 40:7 Then said I, Lo, I come: in the volume of the book it is written of me,
PSA 40:8 I delight to do thy will, O my God: yea, thy law is within my heart.
SA1 15:22 And Samuel said, Hath the LORD as great delight in burnt offerings and sacrifices, as in obeying the voice of the LORD? Behold, to obey is better than sacrifice, and to hearken than the fat of rams.
These same principles still apply today. However, the life, death, and resurrection of the Lord Jesus Christ has fully established things that the written law and symbolic services of the sanctuary could only point to. Christ was and is the fulfillment of all that the sanctuary services pointed to, and was and is the fulfillment of the written moral law, the ten commandments. In Him these old covenant types are done away with. Not because they are no longer relevant, but because they are fulfilled and complete in Him. All that they were established to bring about in us, has been fully established in and through the Lord Jesus Christ.
MAT 5:17 Think not that I am come to destroy the law, or the prophets: I am not come to destroy, but to fulfil.
MAT 5:18 For verily I say unto you, Till heaven and earth pass, one jot or one tittle shall in no wise pass from the law, till all be fulfilled.
MAT 5:19 Whosoever therefore shall break one of these least commandments, and shall teach men so, he shall be called the least in the kingdom of heaven: but whosoever shall do and teach them, the same shall be called great in the
kingdom of heaven.
MAT 5:20 For I say unto you, That except your righteousness shall exceed the righteousness of the scribes and Pharisees, ye shall in no case enter into the kingdom of heaven.
Nothing has been really done away with, rather it has been fulfilled. All things come together and are made complete in Christ. Apart from Him there is nothing. Christ was the center of everything about the old covenant, apart from Him all the laws and ceremonies would have amounted to nothing. Apart from Christ, the nation of Israel would have amounted to nothing, in fact it would never have even existed.
JOH 1:1 In the beginning was the Word, and the Word was with God, and the Word was God.
JOH 1:2 The same was in the beginning with God.
JOH 1:3 All things were made by him; and without him was not any thing made that was made.........-
JOH 1:10 He was in the world, and the world was made by him, and the world knew him not.
JOH 1:11 He came unto his own, and his own received him not.
JOH 1:12 But as many as received him, to them gave he power to become the sons
of God, even to them that believe on his name:
JOH 1:13 Which were born, not of blood, nor of the will of the flesh, nor of the will of man, but of God.
JOH 1:14 And the Word was made flesh, and dwelt among us, (and we beheld his glory, the glory as of the only begotten of the Father,) full of grace and truth.
Here the Apostle John is trying to show his brethren that the God that they worshipped, the one who created all things was made flesh and dwelt among them. The one that they all went to the temple to worship, the one who's presents was in the temple and that made it holy, was here in the flesh and dwelling among them. They needed to understand this all important truth, and so do we. The law of God was fulfilled in His Son the Lord Jesus Christ. The only way it will ever be fulfilled in us will be when Christ Himself dwells within us through the ministry of the Holy Spirit. It is true that because of Christ's sacrifice, we can now come boldly before the throne of God to receive forgiveness of our sins. However, just as during the old covenant it was said" to obey is better than sacrifice", even more so by the establishment of the new covenant it is better to obey than to offer sacrifice.
Christ's coming in our flesh makes this more possible than ever before. In fact, the possibility of it has been established by Christ taking on our flesh and nature. Those believers of the old covenant, only looked forward to the promise of these things. We have the privilege of entering into the establishment of these things in and through Jesus Christ our Lord. Why should we be content to continually present Christ's sacrifice for our sins before the Father, when the way has been made for us to enter into Christ's experience and sacrifice our own wills to that of the Fathers with Christ on the cross. As previously stated in relation to the old covenant system, to sacrifice your own will to that of the Fathers through obedience, is better than sacrifices and offerings. Christ is our forerunner, He has prepared the way for us.
HEB 10:4 For it is not possible that the blood of bulls and of goats should take away sins.
HEB 10:5 Wherefore when he cometh into the world, he saith, Sacrifice and offering thou wouldest not, but a body hast thou prepared me:
HEB 10:6 In burnt offerings and sacrifices for sin thou hast had no pleasure.
HEB 10:7 Then said I, Lo, I come (in the volume of the book it is written of me,) to do thy will, O God.
HEB 10:8 Above when he said, Sacrifice and offering and burnt offerings and offering for sin thou wouldest not, neither hadst pleasure therein; which are offered by the law;
HEB 10:9 Then said he, Lo, I come to do thy will, O God. He taketh away the first, that he may establish the second.
HEB 10:10 By the which will we are sanctified through the offering of the body of Jesus Christ once for all.
He takes away the first that He may establish the second. It was good that by faith those of the old covenant could sacrifice animals representing Christ for their sins, and receive forgiveness. It is also good that by faith we can come to God and lift up to the Father the sacrifice of Christ on our behalf for the forgiveness of our sins, and receive it. However, Christ established much more than this when he came in our flesh, he established the possibility of the righteousness of God being fulfilled within us.
ROM 5:18 Therefore as by the offence of one judgment came upon all men to condemnation; even so by the righteousness of one the free gift came upon all men unto justification of life.
ROM 5:19 For as by one man's disobedience many were made sinners, so by the obedience of one shall many be made righteous.
ROM 5:20 Moreover the law entered, that the offence might abound. But where sin abounded, grace did much more abound:
ROM 5:21 That as sin hath reigned unto death, even so might grace reign through righteousness unto eternal life by Jesus Christ our Lord.
ROM 6:1 What shall we say then? Shall we continue in sin, that grace may abound?
ROM 6:2 God forbid. How shall we, that are dead to sin, live any longer therein?
The sin, or offence, of one man brought judgment upon all men to condemnation. Adam was the father of all mankind, and he sinned against God. Since all of humanity are descendants of Adam, all have inherited his fallen, sinful nature. We were all in Adam when he fell in the garden. This is the situation that Christ came to correct. Christ is the second Adam. He is the second head of the human race, and all who choose to do so can be in Him. Just as the sin of one, Adam, brought condemnation upon all men, so the righteousness of one, Jesus Christ, brings justification upon all men. We are born in Adam, we can be born again in Christ.
Verse nineteen of chapter five says that just as one mans disobedience made many sinners, so by the obedience of one shall many be made righteous. Christ's purpose for becoming a man was to make many righteous. So how does Christ make us righteous? The key is found in verse two of chapter six. " How shall we, that are dead to sin, live any longer
therein?" The Apostle then goes on to say-
ROM 6:3 Know ye not, that so many of us as were baptized into Jesus Christ were baptized into his death?
ROM 6:4 Therefore we are buried with him by baptism into death: that like as Christ was raised up from the dead by the glory of the Father, even so we also should walk in newness of life.
ROM 6:5 For if we have been planted together in the likeness of his death, we shall be also in the likeness of his resurrection:
ROM 6:6 Knowing this, that our old man is crucified with him, that the body of sin might be destroyed, that henceforth we should not serve sin.
ROM 6:7 For he that is dead is freed from sin.
Christ became a man, one of us. As a man he lived a perfectly righteous life before God the father. This perfectly righteous life lead the Lord Jesus Christ to the cross. The crucifixion was the climax of Christ's perfect righteousness. As the Apostle clearly points out in the above verses, those who are baptized into Christ Jesus are baptized into this experience, Christ's death. As all were in Adam, so now all are also in Christ on the cross. Having died with Him, we are now justified before God, for the penalty for sin is death. As verse seven says, " he that is dead is freed from sin." The one who has entered into this experience by faith, has sacrificed their own will to that of God's. This is the sacrifice that God prefers, to obey is better than sacrifice. How can one be born again without first dying? How can anyone be a new creature if they are still the old one?
CO2 5:14 For the love of Christ constraineth us; because we thus judge, that if one died for all, then were all dead:
CO2 5:15 And that he died for all, that they which live should not henceforth live unto themselves, but unto him which died for them, and rose again.
CO2 5:16 Wherefore henceforth know we no man after the flesh: yea, though we have known Christ after the flesh, yet now henceforth know we him no more.
CO2 5:17 Therefore if any man be in Christ, he is a new creature: old things are passed away; behold, all things are become new.
All were in Christ when He died. Those who accept this truth and enter into this experience, not only die with Christ, but are made new creatures. These new creatures no longer live for themselves, but for the one who died for them, the Lord Jesus Christ. They sacrifice their own will for the will of God. Again this is the sacrifice that God desires from us. Instead of continually offering up Christ to the Father for the forgiveness of our sins, it is better to offer ourselves to God the Father through Christ Jesus by dying with Him that He may live within us. Since Christ was the fulfillment of the law, His life in us will be the fulfillment of the law within us. This is a spiritual experience that could not be fully entered into, or understood, until the establishment of the new covenant in and through the Lord Jesus Christ.
Now instead of dwelling upon the written law as a means of becoming more like God, we can enter into the experience of the life and death of the Lord Jesus Christ, who is the fulfillment of the law. Dying with Christ is the continual experience of surrendering our own will to that of the Fathers. Only when we have offered our selves to God in Christ, can Christ live within us.
CO2 4:10 Always bearing about in the body the dying of the Lord Jesus, that the life also of Jesus might be made manifest in our body.
CO2 4:11 For we which live are alway delivered unto death for Jesus' sake, that the life also of Jesus might be made manifest in our mortal flesh.
The new covenant relation to the law is a spiritual experience that is completely centered in Christ. The type, or written law, was fulfilled in the antitype, Christ. The law was and is a revelation of God's character. Christ was God in the flesh, and therefore the fulfillment of the written law. Since God united himself to mankind through our own likeness and flesh, our relation to the law is now in Him through His Son the Lord Jesus Christ. While we should in no wise disregard the written law, it is imperative that we enter into the experience of the cross, as a means of the fulfillment of the law. By this one righteous act, the demands of the written law are met, that is the death of the sinner, and the fulfillment of the law within us as new creatures in Christ Jesus. This is the new covenant experience. It is a spiritual one that is entered into by faith in the Lord Jesus Christ and His atoning sacrifice for us. Again all things come together and are made complete in Christ. This could be accomplished only by God Himself becoming one of us, taking our nature and flesh to the cross.
ACT 4:8 Then Peter, filled with the Holy Ghost, said unto them, Ye rulers of the people, and elders of Israel,
ACT 4:9 If we this day be examined of the good deed done to the impotent man, by what means he is made whole;
ACT 4:10 Be it known unto you all, and to all the people of Israel, that by the name of Jesus Christ of Nazareth, whom ye crucified, whom God raised from the dead, even by him doth this man stand here before you whole.
ACT 4:11 This is the stone which was set at nought of you builders, which is become the head of the corner.
ACT 4:12 Neither is there salvation in any other: for there is none other name under heaven given among men, whereby we must be saved.
There is no other name under heaven given among men, whereby we must be saved. If you wish to be made whole, and complete, then you must be in Christ, and have Christ within you. We were created in the image of God, whole. This is the condition that Christ has restored us to, if we are only willing to enter into this new covenant relationship with Him.
Bye for now. Y. b. in C. Keith
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