The Christian Life

The Old Covenant was a conditional covenant where the blessings and promises of God were contingent upon Israel’s collective obedience to the Law. The New Covenant is a different type of covenant called a Testament. The book of Hebrews teaches that a testament is like a will, and the blessings and promises of God are received through inheritance. All the blessings of the New Covenant, including salvation and the gift of the Holy Spirit, are received by grace through faith upon entrance into this covenant. We cannot earn these blessings, as they are a gift from God.

Ephesians 2:8-9 | NKJV
For by grace you have been saved through faith, and that not of yourselves; it is the gift of God, not of works, lest anyone should boast.

You cannot earn salvation. You cannot earn God's blessings. You cannot earn your spiritual inheritance because it is a gift from God. This is why God chose to make the New Covenant a testament, as it was all a part of His masterful plan of redemption.

How do you receive salvation? How do you receive justification? How do you receive reconciliation? It's all a gift from God and it is available to anyone who chooses to repent of his or her old sinful lifestyle and enter into this New Covenant relationship with God through Jesus Christ.

Hebrews 9:14-15 | NLT
For by the power of the eternal Spirit, Christ offered Himself to God as a perfect sacrifice for our sins. That is why He is the One who mediates a New Covenant between God and people, so that all who are called can receive the eternal inheritance God has promised them.

Here is where religious people get all freaked out! "No more rules?" "That's lawlessness!" Religious folk are addicted to the fleshly gratification that comes from believing that their good behavior has something to do with their righteousness. Jesus called this the righteousness of the Pharisees and told His followers that this type of righteousness could not get them into the kingdom of heaven. Many religious-minded people today do not understand
the difference between the covenants. They simply fail to understand the significance of the role of the Holy Spirit in the New Covenant.

One part of our spiritual inheritance is our new identity in Christ. As Christians, we don't live according to a list of rules; we live according to our new identity in Christ. We don’t live according to our old sinful nature; we live according to our new spiritual nature. We have been born-again of the Seed of God and we now produce fruit in accordance with our new nature. We don't need a rental contract instructing us not to destroy our house. We inherited the house and we take good care of it because it’s ours. We own it.

The absolute best part of our spiritual inheritance is the promise of the Holy Spirit. Jesus sent the Holy Spirit as a Helper and a Comforter. He is always with us. He leads us into all truth. He will never leave us and He will never forsake us. The old system of rules could only command us to love others. Under God’s new and better system, the Holy Spirit shows us who needs love, when they need love, and how we can love them in their current situation. The old system of rules may have been a good moral compass, but the Holy Spirit is far superior. He is not just some mapping tool, but our own personal tour guide in this adventure called the Christian Life. He is always with us and daily leads us in paths of righteousness.

God never offered the Old Covenant to any of the Gentile nations. It was an exclusive covenant offered to the nation of Israel and the descendants of Abraham through his son, Isaac. There are Jews today who still adhere to many of the teachings in the Old Covenant Law. This religious practice is called Judaism. God has a special plan for Israel. Christians have great love and respect for the nation of Israel. I, for one, do not have a problem with Jews who observe their cultural traditions. I do take issue with those who teach that Christians must practice Judaism. Christianity is not Judaism. It is not a revised Judaism. It is not a modified form of Judaism. Christianity is a completely new and different covenant between God and all who choose to have faith in Jesus Christ for salvation. If anyone ever tells you that God expects you to convert to Judaism and observe the terms of the Old Covenant Law of Moses, tell them, “No, thank you!” The New Covenant was God's idea and He says it's better!