New Covenant Ways – BT3:  New Covenant Ways replaced and ended the old covenant ways

 

 

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Many Christians and musicians simply have not grasped the complete difference between the old covenant “way” of obedience FOR God that puts your trusting-relying-faith in your own “might and power” (man’s external resources and internal abilities) of Zechariah 4:6 and the completely-different-in-kind New Covenant “Living Way” that puts your trusting-relying-faith  in “by the means of My Spirit, says Yahweh of hosts.”  But even if they do understand, many haven’t fully surrendered control to it!

 

However, I’ve found in most cases that they simply haven’t read or fully understood the OT prophesies about the New Everlasting Covenant replacing and ending the old covenant Law that is 97.4% of scripture – see Logos Word of God – BT5a, because only 600 prophecies remain about Christ and His gospel logos message.  Some key prophecies are:  Jeremiah 31:31-34, 32:38-41, 33:8-9, 50:5-6, 20 or Isaiah 55:3-4, 61:8-11 or Ezekiel 11:19-20, 16:60-63, 34:1-31; 37:23-28 or recognized these OT references in the NT such as:  Hebrews 8:8-13, 9:15, 20; 10:16-17, 29, 12:24, 13:20; Matthew 26:28; Mark 14:24; Luke 22:20; 1 Corinthians 11:25; 2 Corinthians 3:3, 6 – see Logos Word of God – BT20; Romans 11:27.  Let’s talk about some of these!

 

All of these verses are vital to understand because as we’ve seen in the last BLOG the “NEW” is superior to the “old, worn-out, decayed, rag-like, withered, and lifeless,” especially since the NEW is:  “a kreitton more useful, serviceable, helpful, better Covenant” (a).  It is “a kreitton more useful, serviceable, helpful, better Covenant because it is enacted on more kreitton useful, serviceable, helpful, better promises” (b).  And “for if that first covenant had been not memphomai faulted-blameworthy-rejectable-condemnable, there would have been no occasion to look for a Second” (c).  Also, “in speaking of a New Covenant, He already has made [with ongoing results] the first one obsolete (e) and moreover is presently and routinely being made obsolete (e) and/coupled presently and routinely gerasko failing from age into obsolescence aphanismos ready/near to disappear/vanish.”  I question why so many Christians want anything to do with any of the old covenant, which is 97.4% of the OT.  Notes> a) Hebrews 7:22, b) Hebrews 8:6 , c) Hebrews 8:7, d) Hebrews 8:13, e) palaioo: not just old, dated, or ancient in time, but also worn out by use, or worse for wear, obsolete.

 

Paul said in Romans 10:4 “Christ is the end (a) of the Law for righteousness to everyone who has trusting-relying-faith.”  But “Law” is used synonymously for “old covenant,” but this doesn’t just mean the first 5 books of the OT but is the essence of ALL OT scripture, just as Jesus, other NT writers, and all Jews today view graphe OT scripture – as the Law or Torah, Nomos Instruction of God given through “commandments expressed in ordinances, regulations, and precepts” (b).  Christ fulfilled/completed the Law and the Prophets – the very reason He came (c), the very reason the earliest Jewish-Church records show that they discarded use of the OT entirely, except singing/playing psalms (d) and using prophetic verses to help convert Jews and keep Jewish-Christians from lapsing (e). <Notes> a) telos: terminating end point, conclusion, b) Ephesians 2:15; Romans 2:26; Hebrews 9:1, 10; Colossians 2:20, c) Matthew 5:17, d) see Logos Word of God – BT18, e) see Logos Word of God – BT6.

 

After the Jewish wars of 66-73 AD, the destruction of the temple in 70 AD, and dispersion of surviving Jews, the Church became almost entirely Gentile and we see a complete drop off of OT use until 233-254 AD when Origen single-handedly convinced the Catholic Church to use it, to the great demise of the Church.  Legalism quickly set in after slipping on the slippery slope!  Few Protestant churches took the trouble to go back and reform the early errors of the Catholic Church.

 

Paul said in Galatians 3:24 that “the Law WAS our guardian UNTIL Christ came,” for “these things [of the Law] are a shadow of the things that were to come, but the substance/reality belongs to Christ” (a).  Hebrews 9:9-10 says that the OT “regulations for the body were imposed UNTIL the time of reformation.”  Paul says, “Why then the Law?  It was added because of sin, UNTIL The [singular] Offspring should come” – and that was Christ (b).  He says:  “Circumcision or uncircumcision (key sign of the Law) counts for absolutely in fact nothing” (c), because the Law has been nullified/abolished by Christ death fulfilling-completing it, and so the veil of darkness blocking the ‘seeing’ of God’s glory is removed (d)!  There’s so many more verses (e), but you get the point!  The “old” has been replaced by the completely-different-in-kind “NEW” because the former is “worn-out, withered, dead, and obsolete” and the latter is a “fresh, completely-different-in-kind, superior” creation.  <Notes> a) Colossians 2:17, b) Galatians 3:19, c) Galatians 5:6, d) katargeo:  Romans 7:6; Ephesians 2:15; 2 Corinthians 3:14, e) Logos Word of God – BT8.

 

Reflection:

 

 

As Christian musicians, do we want to perpetuate ignorance of the radical change of covenants and try to drag anything from the “old, shadowy, worn-out, decayed, rag-like, withered, lifeless, obsolete, nullified, and ended” one into the “completely-different-in-kind and superior” NEW Covenant, like the Catholic Church did, helping create The Great Wall quenching the Holy Spirit in the Church?

 

Prayer:

 

 

Lord, give us the courage to understand the radical difference between the 2 covenants so that we will never try to mix them.  Forgive us for tainting the pure-white, perfect New Covenant that You shed Your blood for.

 

 

 

 

 

Spiritual Education, New Covenant replaced and ended the Old Covenant, Christian ignorance keeps them imprisoned due to false doctrine, 97.4% of the Old Testament is Law-based, 2.6% of the Old Testament is New Covenant-based, New Testament realities are way better than Old Covenant shadows, Catholic Origen brought Old Testament use into the Church, The Old Testament Law was only a Jewish guardian of children until Christ came, The Old Testament was fulfilled and nullified by Christ’s life & death, The New Covenant is completely different in kind and superior to the Old Covenant