Jesus’ New Covenant

QUESTION: What is Jesus’ New Covenant all about?

ANSWER:

Jesus’ New Covenant is made available through His crucifixion for each and every one of us. The Old Covenant is all about keeping the Law. Mankind is born with a sin nature and therefore cannot keep the Law. This necessitated the New Covenant God provides through His love and grace. Those who are rigid in their outward biblical practices are what some call “legalistic” and their religion is in vain. God does not want our commitment to be “because I have to,” but rather “because I want to.”

That is, instead of accepting Jesus’ New Covenant gift of salvation by grace through Him, the ‘legalistic’ attempt Salvation through their own works or strict traditions. Those people follow the Law of the Old Covenants out of an obligatory sense. Jesus’ New Covenant makes the way to have an intimate and personal relationship through Him with God the Father (John 14:6).

God sacrificed His beloved Son on the cross for our redemption from sin. Our debt was paid in full. I say “our redemption” because Romans 3:21-24 says this:

“But now apart from the law the righteousness of God has been made known, to which the Law and the Prophets testify. This righteousness is given through faith in Jesus Christ to all who believe. There is no difference between Jew and Gentile, for all have sinned and fall short of the glory of God, and all are justified freely by his grace through the redemption that came by Christ Jesus.”

God had intended that all mankind would be worthy of His glory. Since the original sin in the Garden of Eden, man has inherited a nature to sin. Sin cuts us off from our Holy God as He cannot abide to be in the presence of any amount of sin. No one can live a perfectly pure and good or righteous life. It was man’s disobedience to God that has kept him a slave to sin. Therefore, the need for a New Covenant and mediator, Jesus, (Hebrews 9:15), was necessary to make an atonement for us. The Son of God is our bridge, our only pathway to God the Father.

Jesus’ New Covenant - Forgiveness
Jesus’ New Covenant is a promise of God’s grace. Grace does not mean we are not guilty of breaking God’s law; it means that although we are guilty, we are forgiven if we believe in Him. The truth is that if we have faith in Jesus, good works will be a natural result. Jesus did not come to do away with the Old Testament Law, but through Him the Law was fulfilled. For much more on this see “What does Matthew say about Jesus and the Law?”

Jesus’ New Covenant of Grace and the Old Covenant Law are not opponents. Grace and good deeds, or works, go hand-in-hand. They both are the evidence of God working within us. Ultimately, we must receive forgiveness by grace through Jesus because works do not bring salvation.