Episode 11- 
We are still looking at God’s plan to redeem man from the satanic nature
and the Covenants he made with man. In our last two teachings we looked
at the Abrahamic Covenant and the law of Moses.
Today we will look at the New Testament.
The New Covenant found in the New Testament is the Covenant whereby
Jesus sacrificed His sinless blood and took the punishment for the sins of
the world so that those who put their faith in Him are saved and receive
eternal life.

In Mathew 26: 28, Jesus said to his disciples just before His crucifixion, this
is my blood of the covenant, which is poured out for many for the
forgiveness of sins. NIV

Just as in the Abrahamic Covenant, the fulfillment of the New Covenant
depended only on God. Man did not have to do anything for the Covenant
to be effective. He just had to believe.
Faith in Christ’s accomplished works. Not on our goodness.
Ephesians 2:8-10
For it is by grace you have been saved, through faith — and this not from
yourselves, it is the gift of God— 9 not by works, so that no one can boast.
NIV

Now let us compare these 3 Covenants that we have looked at.
Obviously the New Covenant is superior to the Abrahamic and the Mosaic
Covenants because it is based on the Blood of Jesus Christ.
In Galatians Chapter 3, Paul explained that we New Testament Believers
became sons of Abraham by faith. And that we receive salvation by faith
and only faith in Jesus Christ the promised seed of Abraham and nothing
more.

The Abrahamic Covenant and the New Testament are identical because
they are both dependent on faith in God and His unconditional faithfulness.
The New Covenant is like an extension of the Abrahamic Covenant. Our
redemption through Jesus Christ is the fulfillment of God’s promise to
Abraham that he would be the father of many nations. However, the New
Covenant has far better privileges like the indwelling of the Holy Spirit.
The covenant of Grace by which we are saved started in the form of God’s
promise to Abraham
The Abrahamic Covenant and the New Testament are superior to the Law
of Moses. Paul stated clearly in Galatians 3:7 that the law which was
introduced 430 years later, did not set aside the Abrahamic covenant
previously established by God.
The question then is, since God promised Abraham that He would save the
world through his seed-Jesus Christ, why was it necessary to introduce the
Mosaic law.
God introduced the Mosaic Law as a way of keeping His people in check
before the plan of redemption could be perfected.
God gave the law knowing that it was impossible to keep, especially as He
demanded that the Law was to be kept 100%. He went as far as saying
that anyone who did not continue to do everything written in the Book of the
Law was cursed (Deuteronomy 28:58). The Israelites were required to keep
every word of the covenant to the letter. Punishment for failing to keep one
was as stringent as punishment for failing to keep all. If you fail in one, you
fail in all.
God gave the Law to reveal to man that righteousness cannot be achieved
by keeping a set of rules. The purpose of the law was for man to realise
that he needed a mediator; for man to see his hopelessness apart from the
mercy and grace of God expressed through His son Jesus Christ.
“Why, then, was the law given? It was given alongside the promise to
show people their sins. But the law was designed to last only until the
coming of the child who was promised”. Galatians 3:19.
“Let me put it another way. The law was our guardian until Christ
came; it protected us until we could be made right with God through
faith. 25 And now that the way of faith has come, we no longer need
the law as our guardian”. Galatians 3:24:25.

“What I am saying is that as long as the heir is a child, he is no
different from a slave, although he owns the whole estate. 2 He is
subject to guardians and trustees until the time set by his father. 3 So
also, when we were children, we were in slavery under the basic
principles of the world. 4 But when the time had fully come, God sent
his Son, born of a woman, born under law, 5 to redeem those under
law, that we might receive the full rights of sons. Galatians 4:1:6.

So the reason why we have looked at these 3 Covenants briefly is for
everyone of us to evaluate whether we are still falling foul of Paul’s
admonition in Galatians 3:3.

In Galatians 3, Paul was angry with the Galatians because after gaining
salvation by faith in Christ, they resorted to living their Christian lives by
human effort.
Galatians 3:1-5
You foolish Galatians! Who has bewitched you? Before your very eyes
Jesus Christ was clearly portrayed as crucified. 2 I would like to learn just
one thing from you: Did you receive the Spirit by observing the law, or by
believing what you heard? 3 Are you so foolish? After beginning with the
Spirit, are you now trying to attain your goal by human effort? 4 Have you
suffered so much for nothing — if it really was for nothing? 5 Does God
give you his Spirit and work miracles among you because you observe the
law, or because you believe what you heard? NIV

After beginning with the Spirit, are you now trying to attain your goal by
human effort?

So what about you? After being saved by the Grace of God and not by your
own works, are you now trying to serve God by observing the law of
Moses? Are you struggling to serve God and impress Him by relying on
your own actions and human effort instead of resting on Christ’s
accomplished works? What is your motive for doing what you do for people
and what you do in the house of God? Many times we think this does not

apply to us because we are not trying to observe the laws of Moses, but we
are still legalistic in our practice of Christianity. We still strive to obey a set
of rules. We think we need to impress God by attending Mass or
Communion every morning; or by being a Church Worker or by fasting and
praying for 21 days. We judge people because they don’t act or dress in a
particular way.

God gave the Law to reveal to man that righteousness cannot be achieved
by keeping a set of rules but by faith in Jesus Christ only. And Paul also
explains clearly that living a life of righteousness can only be achieved by
faith in Jesus Christ and not by keeping a set of rules.

This is just an introduction to the life of complete dependence on Christ.
We are going to discuss various aspects of this theme in the future.