Engraved on Stone
Deuteronomy 4:11-14 establishes that the Old Covenant is made up of the 10 Commandments as well as the commandments related through Moses to the people of Israel in the Sinai Desert. Deuteronomy 5:1-6 teaches that this covenant was not given to the patriarchs of Israel like Abraham, Isaac and Jacob, but only to the generation that came out of Egypt under Moses. And Exodus 20-24 reveals that the Law of Moses was given as one holistic law, it was not divided into a ceremonial, civil and moral law. Though we can see that the individual commands are applied to different areas of life, they are each interconnected and make up one law known as the Law of Moses and referred to as the Old Covenant by the New Testament writers.
Now we must ask, do Christians still need to obey the Old Covenant commands? Are we under the authority of the 10 Commandments?
4 And we have such trust through Christ toward God. 5 Not that we are sufficient of ourselves to think of anything as being from ourselves, but our sufficiency is from God, 6 who also made us sufficient as ministers of the new covenant, not of the letter but of the Spirit; for the letter kills, but the Spirit gives life.
2 Corinthians 3:4-6
In 2 Corinthians chapter 3 Paul is writing to the Corinthians and defending his ministry as a minister of the New Covenant. He declares that he, and his co-laborers are sufficient ministers, but not in themselves, only by the grace of God’s Spirit. In verse 6 he begins to address some differences between the Old and New Covenants. In this verse he begins to teach that the New Covenant is of the Spirit, not mere letters, and that it brings life, not death.
Continue reading “Under Law or Under Grace? YES! (OT Interpretation #5)”
Kingdom Theology 