Is the Torah for Today - Part 13

Unlike the Sinai Covenant, the New Covenant is not a collection of rules that we are called upon to strive after. Under the New Covenant we do not live under the ongoing threat of condemnation. Rather, under the New Covenant we live a life based on acceptance by God, having been forgiven though what Yeshua has done on our behalf.

Under the New Covenant the ways of God are the expression of this acceptance. Having been given a new heart that desires to please God, we long to live according to his ways.

While the standard of the two covenants are similar and some of the practical outcomes the same, their approaches to living are radically different. The case can be made that the righteous standards of the New Covenant are greater than that of Sinai. The level of holiness is deeper and our consecration more intimate. Yet the two systems are altogether different from one another. The Sinai Covenant was designed to reveal our sins, so that we would understand our need for the New. The New enables us to live the life that Sinai sought to impose.

Under the New we want to learn God's ways and obey him, but we can do so without the fear of failure. The consequences of failure have been assumed by the Messiah. There is no penalty left for us to pay.

One of the greatest differences between the Sinai and the New is that the New is not a system. It is not under the control of a earthly priesthood. It decentralizes how we are to relate to God. Under the New Covenant there is no physical Temple. We are the temple of God - both individually and corporately. As we gather we bring God and his reality to each other.

Under the New Covenant we no longer have a set code of rules to be accountable to. Instead we have the presence of God's Spirit living inside us bringing us understanding and conviction as to his ways. This comes to us in concert with the Scriptures, which is the written revelation of the reality which now lives in our hearts.