Hebrews 8:8-13
But God found fault with the people and said:
“The days are coming, declares the Lord,
when I will make a new covenant
with the people of Israel
and with the people of Judah.
9 It will not be like the covenant
I made with their ancestors
when I took them by the hand
to lead them out of Egypt,
because they did not remain faithful to my covenant,
and I turned away from them,
declares the Lord.
10 This is the covenant I will establish with the people of Israel
after that time, declares the Lord.
I will put my laws in their minds
and write them on their hearts.
I will be their God,
and they will be my people.
11 No longer will they teach their neighbor,
or say to one another, ‘Know the Lord,’
because they will all know me,
from the least of them to the greatest.
12 For I will forgive their wickedness
and will remember their sins no more.”
when I will make a new covenant
with the people of Israel
and with the people of Judah.
9 It will not be like the covenant
I made with their ancestors
when I took them by the hand
to lead them out of Egypt,
because they did not remain faithful to my covenant,
and I turned away from them,
declares the Lord.
10 This is the covenant I will establish with the people of Israel
after that time, declares the Lord.
I will put my laws in their minds
and write them on their hearts.
I will be their God,
and they will be my people.
11 No longer will they teach their neighbor,
or say to one another, ‘Know the Lord,’
because they will all know me,
from the least of them to the greatest.
12 For I will forgive their wickedness
and will remember their sins no more.”
13 By calling this covenant “new,” he has made the first one obsolete; and what is obsolete and outdated will soon disappear.
Our Sunday School class is going through Acts which is a fascinating time where the New Covenant meets the Old Covenant and the resulting confusion that is caused by this. For example in Acts 19, Paul arrives in Ephesus and meets some believers who don't even know about Jesus and the Holy Spirit. They were following the teachings of John the Baptist. If they had died would they have gone to Heaven without faith in Jesus? Abraham's bosom, the holding place for believers, according to my understanding, had been cleared out at Christ's death. And then there were other questions like how much of the law should we follow? Should we be circumcised, what about dietary laws, feasts, sacrifices, cleanliness laws, judicial laws, etc.? They even had the first Church Counsel in Acts 15 where it was decided that the Gentiles should abstain from sexual immorality, food offered to idols, blood, and strangled animals.Although Paul is thrilled to take the news back to Antioch that the men didn't need to be circumcised, part of me thinks that he was disappointed that James added a few rules to their freedom. In fact Paul later addresses food offered to idols as a problem for someone weaker in the faith. The transition continues to be a problem and the whole book of Galatians addresses it.
Paul makes a summary statement on how the New Covenant Christians (us) are to live in Galatians 5:6
"For in Christ Jesus neither circumcision nor uncircumcision has any value. The only thing that counts is faith expressing itself through love."
He says love God and love your neighbor. So we can do whatever we want, we just have to love? Well, sort of. You see if you love God you won't do things contrary to His will. Well, how do we know His will if we don't follow the law? Paul makes another statement in Galatians where he lists some sins to avoid and calls them "obvious."
"The acts of the flesh are obvious: sexual immorality, impurity and debauchery; 20 idolatry and witchcraft; hatred, discord, jealousy, fits of rage, selfish ambition, dissensions, factions 21 and envy; drunkenness, orgies, and the like. I warn you, as I did before, that those who live like this will not inherit the kingdom of God." Gal. 5:19-21
How are they obvious? I think it goes back to this passage in Hebrews - God has put His laws in our hearts and minds. We know what is wrong when we are doing it or thinking about doing it. Also, we have the teaching by Christ on what is wrong and right, the writings of his apostles who were schooled by Him for three years, and the examples from the Old Testament of people whose behavior was approved of or disapproved of by God.
Takeaway? Let's do one act of love for someone each day. I was thinking about this as I drove past someone's house whose garbage cans had blown into the street and I didn't stop and get them out of the street. Shame on me. Every morning get up and think - one act of love.
Our Sunday School class is going through Acts which is a fascinating time where the New Covenant meets the Old Covenant and the resulting confusion that is caused by this. For example in Acts 19, Paul arrives in Ephesus and meets some believers who don't even know about Jesus and the Holy Spirit. They were following the teachings of John the Baptist. If they had died would they have gone to Heaven without faith in Jesus? Abraham's bosom, the holding place for believers, according to my understanding, had been cleared out at Christ's death. And then there were other questions like how much of the law should we follow? Should we be circumcised, what about dietary laws, feasts, sacrifices, cleanliness laws, judicial laws, etc.? They even had the first Church Counsel in Acts 15 where it was decided that the Gentiles should abstain from sexual immorality, food offered to idols, blood, and strangled animals.Although Paul is thrilled to take the news back to Antioch that the men didn't need to be circumcised, part of me thinks that he was disappointed that James added a few rules to their freedom. In fact Paul later addresses food offered to idols as a problem for someone weaker in the faith. The transition continues to be a problem and the whole book of Galatians addresses it.
Paul makes a summary statement on how the New Covenant Christians (us) are to live in Galatians 5:6
"For in Christ Jesus neither circumcision nor uncircumcision has any value. The only thing that counts is faith expressing itself through love."
He says love God and love your neighbor. So we can do whatever we want, we just have to love? Well, sort of. You see if you love God you won't do things contrary to His will. Well, how do we know His will if we don't follow the law? Paul makes another statement in Galatians where he lists some sins to avoid and calls them "obvious."
"The acts of the flesh are obvious: sexual immorality, impurity and debauchery; 20 idolatry and witchcraft; hatred, discord, jealousy, fits of rage, selfish ambition, dissensions, factions 21 and envy; drunkenness, orgies, and the like. I warn you, as I did before, that those who live like this will not inherit the kingdom of God." Gal. 5:19-21
How are they obvious? I think it goes back to this passage in Hebrews - God has put His laws in our hearts and minds. We know what is wrong when we are doing it or thinking about doing it. Also, we have the teaching by Christ on what is wrong and right, the writings of his apostles who were schooled by Him for three years, and the examples from the Old Testament of people whose behavior was approved of or disapproved of by God.
Takeaway? Let's do one act of love for someone each day. I was thinking about this as I drove past someone's house whose garbage cans had blown into the street and I didn't stop and get them out of the street. Shame on me. Every morning get up and think - one act of love.
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