I. The New Covenant is the Holy Spirit Covenant. The Biblical Context: Jer. 31:31-34; Ez. 36:25-28; Heb. 8:1-13; Heb. 10:5-22
II. The fatal flaw of the Old Covenant is our fallen human flesh! Rom. 8:3 “For what the law could not do in that it was weak through the flesh, God did by sending His Own Son in the likeness of sinful flesh, on account of sin: He condemned sin in the flesh.” Rom. 7:18 “for I know that in me (that is in my flesh) nothing good dwells.”
John 3:6 “That which is born of the flesh is flesh, that which is born of the Spirit is spirit. Marvel not that I say unto you, you must be born again!”
John 6:63 “It is the Spirit Who gives life; the flesh profits nothing. The words that I speak to you are spirit, and they are life.”
III. Only One Flesh avails anything in the New Covenant: Heb. 2:10-15 vs 15 “Inasmuch then as the children have partaken of flesh and blood, He Himself likewise shared in the same (human flesh), that through death He might destroy him who had the power of death, that is the devil.”
Heb. 10:19-22 Jesus has become mediator of this New Covenant by the removal of the veil, that is His Flesh, His Perfect Flesh which bore the punishment for our sins perfectly and eliminated our “flesh barrier” through His death (the tearing of the veil), and as the Firstborn from the dead by His glorious Resurrection, has commanded us to come and dwell in the Holy Presence of the Most High God Eternally!!!
IV. The New Covenant is the Holy Spirit’s writing the Law of God on the hearts of the redeemed. Heb. 10:15-18 states that the Spirit is the Divine Author of the Law of God upon our hearts. Remember Ezek. 36:27? “I will put My Spirit within you and cause you to walk in My statutes, and you will keep My judgments and do them.”
Rom. 8:9 The indwelling Presence of the Holy Spirit is the indelible evidence of Christ’s possession of His people. If we don’t have the Holy Spirit, we are not His–period!!! He is God’s “law writer” in the hearts of His people, and it will show!!! This is why the Holy Spirit is the “Good Gift” given to Father’s children. (Compare Matt. 7:14 and Luke 11:13)
Paul’s Covenant Comparison–Being Christ’s Epistles
II Cor. 3-4:6
Old Covenant
1. Written with a stylus, or ink. Vs3
2. Written on tablets of stone
3. Ministered in the letter. Vs 6
4. The letter kills.
5. It is the ministry of death/in stones & letters.
6. It is the ministry of condemnation.
7. Its’ glory was the passing glory of the Holy Justice of God. They couldn’t bear to look upon it. Led to Pharisaism.
8. It is passing away. Vs 11 & 13, Heb. 10:8-9, 9:6-10
9. They who would look to the OC ever live in bondage, the veil of their faulty and
inadequate flesh ever lies on their hearts. II Cor. 3:15
10. The Old Covenant constantly reminds of sin. Heb. 10:1-4 10.
New Covenant
1. Written by the Spirit of God.
2. Written on the fleshy tablets of the heart.
3. Ministered in the Spirit
4. The Spirit gives life!
5. It is the ministry of the Spirit/writing on the heart.
6. It is the ministry of righteousness w/o condemnation. Rom. 8:1, 4
7. Its’ glory is the Eternal Glory of the Grace and Mercy in the Face of Jesus Christ. II Cor. 3:18, 4:5-6
8. It is eternal. Heb. 9:11-15, 7:25
9. Where the New Covenant Spirit is, there is liberty. Vs 17 There is no condemnation
to those who are in Christ Jesus. Rom. 8:1
10. The New Covenant Spirit constantly reminds us of Jesus and his Righteousness.
“But we all, with unveiled face, beholding as in a mirror, the glory of the Lord, are being changed into the same image from glory to glory, just as by the Spirit of the Lord.” II Cor. 3:18 Also see 4:5-6, John 16:13-15, and Hebrew 10:15-18
James Bourne (1773-1853) "If we make the law our rule of life, we shall feel its demands most infinite; and we shall never be able to fulfill them. Nothing remains for us that will reach our case but to have the Lord Jesus Christ revealed in the conscience with all His saving benefits; and this forgiveness of God is most wonderful. (Hebrews 10:1-14) Nothing we can do will please the law, whose demands are infinite; and there is no remedy but coming to that sweet liberty that is in Christ Jesus. What are God's children to do? Why, not to mend themselves, or hide their sin, or patch it up, but to come to the Lord Jesus Christ with an honest confession, that He may undertake for them." (Hebrews 7:24-25)
And this glorious revealing is the work of the New Covenant Spirit:
“I will put My Spirit within you and cause you to walk in my statutes, and you will keep my judgments and do them.” Ezekiel 36:18
II. The fatal flaw of the Old Covenant is our fallen human flesh! Rom. 8:3 “For what the law could not do in that it was weak through the flesh, God did by sending His Own Son in the likeness of sinful flesh, on account of sin: He condemned sin in the flesh.” Rom. 7:18 “for I know that in me (that is in my flesh) nothing good dwells.”
John 3:6 “That which is born of the flesh is flesh, that which is born of the Spirit is spirit. Marvel not that I say unto you, you must be born again!”
John 6:63 “It is the Spirit Who gives life; the flesh profits nothing. The words that I speak to you are spirit, and they are life.”
III. Only One Flesh avails anything in the New Covenant: Heb. 2:10-15 vs 15 “Inasmuch then as the children have partaken of flesh and blood, He Himself likewise shared in the same (human flesh), that through death He might destroy him who had the power of death, that is the devil.”
Heb. 10:19-22 Jesus has become mediator of this New Covenant by the removal of the veil, that is His Flesh, His Perfect Flesh which bore the punishment for our sins perfectly and eliminated our “flesh barrier” through His death (the tearing of the veil), and as the Firstborn from the dead by His glorious Resurrection, has commanded us to come and dwell in the Holy Presence of the Most High God Eternally!!!
IV. The New Covenant is the Holy Spirit’s writing the Law of God on the hearts of the redeemed. Heb. 10:15-18 states that the Spirit is the Divine Author of the Law of God upon our hearts. Remember Ezek. 36:27? “I will put My Spirit within you and cause you to walk in My statutes, and you will keep My judgments and do them.”
Rom. 8:9 The indwelling Presence of the Holy Spirit is the indelible evidence of Christ’s possession of His people. If we don’t have the Holy Spirit, we are not His–period!!! He is God’s “law writer” in the hearts of His people, and it will show!!! This is why the Holy Spirit is the “Good Gift” given to Father’s children. (Compare Matt. 7:14 and Luke 11:13)
Paul’s Covenant Comparison–Being Christ’s Epistles
II Cor. 3-4:6
Old Covenant
1. Written with a stylus, or ink. Vs3
2. Written on tablets of stone
3. Ministered in the letter. Vs 6
4. The letter kills.
5. It is the ministry of death/in stones & letters.
6. It is the ministry of condemnation.
7. Its’ glory was the passing glory of the Holy Justice of God. They couldn’t bear to look upon it. Led to Pharisaism.
8. It is passing away. Vs 11 & 13, Heb. 10:8-9, 9:6-10
9. They who would look to the OC ever live in bondage, the veil of their faulty and
inadequate flesh ever lies on their hearts. II Cor. 3:15
10. The Old Covenant constantly reminds of sin. Heb. 10:1-4 10.
New Covenant
1. Written by the Spirit of God.
2. Written on the fleshy tablets of the heart.
3. Ministered in the Spirit
4. The Spirit gives life!
5. It is the ministry of the Spirit/writing on the heart.
6. It is the ministry of righteousness w/o condemnation. Rom. 8:1, 4
7. Its’ glory is the Eternal Glory of the Grace and Mercy in the Face of Jesus Christ. II Cor. 3:18, 4:5-6
8. It is eternal. Heb. 9:11-15, 7:25
9. Where the New Covenant Spirit is, there is liberty. Vs 17 There is no condemnation
to those who are in Christ Jesus. Rom. 8:1
10. The New Covenant Spirit constantly reminds us of Jesus and his Righteousness.
“But we all, with unveiled face, beholding as in a mirror, the glory of the Lord, are being changed into the same image from glory to glory, just as by the Spirit of the Lord.” II Cor. 3:18 Also see 4:5-6, John 16:13-15, and Hebrew 10:15-18
James Bourne (1773-1853) "If we make the law our rule of life, we shall feel its demands most infinite; and we shall never be able to fulfill them. Nothing remains for us that will reach our case but to have the Lord Jesus Christ revealed in the conscience with all His saving benefits; and this forgiveness of God is most wonderful. (Hebrews 10:1-14) Nothing we can do will please the law, whose demands are infinite; and there is no remedy but coming to that sweet liberty that is in Christ Jesus. What are God's children to do? Why, not to mend themselves, or hide their sin, or patch it up, but to come to the Lord Jesus Christ with an honest confession, that He may undertake for them." (Hebrews 7:24-25)
And this glorious revealing is the work of the New Covenant Spirit:
“I will put My Spirit within you and cause you to walk in my statutes, and you will keep my judgments and do them.” Ezekiel 36:18
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