The Old Testament Covenants and the New Covenant

[Michael M. Regan]

OK Harry I'm going to take your advice and start a new tread so that people can continue if they choose. "As iron sharpens iron". First of all the designation of Old Testament and New Testament did not appear until 300 years after the completion of the Scriptures. This was mans doing not Gods. The first day of his Old Testament class a student said the teacher said go to the blank page in your Bible that separates the Old Testament from the New and rip it out. It dosent belong there the Bible it is a complete, unified Whole. Next realize that every reference JESUS made from the Hebrew Scriptures were from what many call the Old Testament. The deciples NEVER quoted the Scriptures until after Jesus's Ressurection when he took them aside and opened their understanding to the law and the Prophets concerning Himself. JESUS Himself said he did it come to abolish the Law but to fulfill it. Fuffilly is not the same as abolishing. Part of the problem in the New Testament Church is their premis is wrong, if your premis is wrong your conclusion will be wrong. The Law was NEVER ment to be kept so people could be saved and go to Heaven. This premis leads to salvation by works through keeping the Law. The Church is wrong for taking that Premis for it is nowhere found in the Scriptures. The correct premis concerning God giving the law first on Sinai was to educate His people as to what Sin is. We would not know sin if there was no Law. Like our civil laws it outlined what pleased and what displeased God. It is a blueprint on how we are to live our life HERE ON EARTH, not as a means to get to Heaven. God did not deliver His people from bondage , tell them what was sin and explain to them how to live as His chosen people and when they disobeyed His Commandments said, "I screwed up I need to make a new Covenant". The new simply fully explains the old which JESUS did on the Sermon on the Mount.It was never meant as a way of salvation it was ment to explain how to live a life pleasing to God here on earth. "Not one jot or tittle shall pass away from the law. the Aaronic priesthood and the animal sacrifice were discontinued because they were fulfilled in Christ. Christians and the Apostiles kept the law, CHRIST perfectly fulfilled the Law. The New Testament Church kept the law long after Christ's accention. They kept the Jewish feast days. If they were suddenly of no effect and had been superceeded, they wouldn't of kept celebrating them. Paul went so far as to record his departure and arrivals times on some of his missionary journeys by feast days. The problem arose years after the Apostiles passed and Heritics enter the assembly of Believers and taught salvation by works and the keeping of the Law as a means of Salvation and they added even more man made laws and ordinances!! The Holy Spirit revealed this same Theology to Martin Luther which he in turn condemned the Catholic Church by giving his great dissertation on "Salvation by faith alone ". Summation; No Law, No Sin, No Law No living a life pleasing to God. In the end the Law is not a means of justification but of living a life pleasing to God. Now go practice the Ten Commandments which were written on stone tablets by the finger of God Himself and are an Eternal Covenant.