The Objection
Not that we are adequate in ourselves to consider anything as coming from ourselves, but our adequacy is from God, who also made us adequate as servants of a new covenant, not of the letter but of the Spirit; for the letter kills, but the Spirit gives life. (2 Corinthians 3:5-6)
Scripture says that Christians are servants of a new covenant, not the old covenant.
The Response
First, believers are indeed members of a new covenant. Every believer, however, must recognize that the new covenant (as defined by Scripture) has not yet fully arrived:
Behold, days are coming," declares the LORD, "when I will make a new covenant with the house of Israel and with the house of Judah, not like the covenant which I made with their fathers in the day I took them by the hand to bring them out of the land of Egypt, My covenant which they broke, although I was a husband to them," declares the LORD. "But this is the covenant which I will make with the house of Israel after those days," declares the LORD, "I will put My law within them and on their heart I will write it; and I will be their God, and they shall be My people. They will not teach again, each man his neighbor and each man his brother, saying, 'Know the LORD,' for they will all know Me, from the least of them to the greatest of them," declares the LORD, for I will forgive their iniquity, and their sin I will remember no more." (Jeremiah 31:31-34)
Scripture describes the new covenant as having (at least) these elements:
- The Law is written upon the heart
- Everyone will know G-d
- G-d will forgive the iniquity of Israel
Today, every believer must recognize that not everybody knows G-d; therefore, the new covenant hasn't yet been fully established.
We also know that forgiveness of sin comes through faith in the Messiah. As long as Israel (as a nation) has not accepted Yeshua (Jesus' Hebrew name) as the Messiah, G-d has not forgiven their sin. It is evident that believers today do not entirely follow G-d's Law: we stumble, struggle, and strive against our sinful flesh.
Today's believers (both Jew and Gentile) are simply the "first fruits" of the promised harvest. We are a promise of the complete harvest, which is yet to come.
Second, the Law/Law of Moses/Sinai Covenant is not the "old covenant". The "old" covenant occurs when G-d's commandments are written on stone. The "new" is when G-d's commandments are written on our hearts (see above). I would completely agree that no believer is in the old covenant: the Law written on tablets of stone cannot do anything to change a person's spiritual state before G-d. However, once G-d has taken us out of darkness and into His marvelous light (1 Peter 2:9), He begins writing His Law upon our hearts, the promise of the new covenant!
Scripture says...
Objection overruled.
If you still have questions, check out our definitions and assumptions page. If you still have questions or concerns after reading that, please contact us. We would love the opportunity to understand and respond to those concerns!
