Nepaug Bible Church - http://www.nepaugchurch.org - Pastor's Sermon Notes - http://www.nepaugchurch.org/Sermons/zz20030119.htm

JESUS CHRIST IN OLD TESTAMENT PROPHECY
Part XXIII: Living The Christian Life On God's New Covenant Terms
(Jeremiah 31:31-34 with Hebrews 8:1-13)

Introduction: (To show the need . . . )

(1) There are a number of parties in Evangelical circles today who tell Christians either to heed parts of the Mosaic Law for God's blessings, or to promise to heed its principles for blessings:

(a) A book mailed out to many Evangelical ministers by Seventh-day Adventists claims on page 244 (Seventh-day Adventists Believe . . .): "While Christ's death ended the authority of the ceremonial law, it established that of the Ten Commandments."

(b) Then, this work quotes the Protestant Reformer, John Calvin, who wrote: " . . . we must not imagine that the coming of Christ has freed us from the authority of the law; for it is the eternal rule of a devout and holy life, and must, therefore, be as unchangeable as the justice of God.'" (Ibid.)

(c) A public Evangelical promotes the "health" benefits of circumcision in the Law as a basis for practicing it in the Church.

(d) A book by the Promise Keepers association a few years ago came out urging Christian men to promise to live a godly life much like Israel promised to keep the Mosaic Law in Exodus 24:3, 7.

(2) On the other hand, Scriptures in the New Testament appear to challenge these stands:

(a) The Apostle Paul ordered his Christian readers at Galatia to "stand fast in the liberty wherewith Christ hath made us free," and "if ye be circumcised, Christ shall profit you nothing" in reference to keeping the rite of circumcision in deference to the Mosaic Law. Paul also taught we Christians "are delivered from the law, that being death wherein we were held; that we should serve in newness of spirit, and not in the oldness of the letter," Rom. 7:6.

(b) In Romans 3:20, Paul taught no man could keep his promises to do the Law like Promise Keepers promotes and which Israel claimed to do in Exodus 24:3, 7: indeed, Paul wrote: "Therefore by the deeds of the law there shall no flesh be justified in his sight: for by the law is the knowledge of sin."

Well, WHAT is the Christian's relationship to the Mosaic Law today? Should he PROMISE to try to keep it, or should he keep it as honoring unto the Lord like the Seventh-day Adventists, John Calvin and other Evangelicals promote today? Why?

(We turn to the sermon "Need" section . . . )

Need: "Some Christians try or pledge to heed principles' of life derived from the Mosaic Law to gain God's blessings. Conversely, I hear we are free from the Law'! Well, IS my relationship to God affected by how well I heed the Mosaic Law, and WHY is this so?!"
  1. The RISEN Jesus told His disciples on the road to Emmaus how He fulfilled Old Testament Messianic prophecies, Luke 24:25-27.
  2. As these men were edified by Christ's teaching of those passages (Luke 24:32), we also view them, following the list of prophecies named in the Ryrie Study Bible, KJV, s. v. "Messianic Prophecies."
  3. The Old Testament Jeremiah 31:31-34 prophecy on God's New Covenant as fulfilled THROUGH Christ in accord with Hebrews 8:1-13 reveals TODAY'S believers are FREE from the Mosaic Law's JURISDICTION to live under a NEW ORDER in Christ!
    1. The first arrangement God made for Israel to be blessed by keeping the Mosaic Law turned out to be a very unworkable one:
      1. God's Law given to Israel at Mount Sinai offered His blessing conditioned upon Israel's obeying that Law, Ex. 20:1-17, 18-20.
      2. Thus, Israel promised to heed the Law, Exodus 19:8; 24:3, 7.
      3. However, in time, Israel so completely failed to keep her promise to heed that Law that God judged the nation to be taken captive to Babylon for seventy years, cf. 2 Chronicles 36:14-21.
    2. The reason this arrangement failed was due to the SIN in the people of Israel that led them inevitably to disobey God, cf. Romans 3:19-20.
    3. Accordingly, God promised through the Old Testament prophet, Jeremiah, to REPLACE that old Mosaic Law arrangement with a NEW COVENANT that would supply victory over SIN:
      1. Jeremiah predicted God would make a new covenant with Israel in CONTRAST TO the Mosaic Law arrangement, Jer. 31:31-32a.
      2. The new covenant would circumvent the problem of sin, 31:33-34:
        1. In the future, God would put His law in the heart, Jer. 31:33a.
        2. Due to such a new order, God would be related to people, 33b.
        3. As a result, the people would fellowship with God, Jer. 31:34a.
        4. Finally, God would graciously forgive His people, Jer. 31:34b.
    4. We know from the New Testament this New arrangement is the one made through the atonement of Jesus Christ, Hebrews 8:1-13:
      1. Hebrews 8:8b-13 cites Jeremiah's prophecy of this new covenant.
      2. This passage explains the new arrangement we Christians in the Church have with God based on Christ's atonement on the cross:
        1. The author of Hebrews noted Jesus has a better ministry than did the Old Testament Moses, for He has become the minister of the New Covenant promised by Jeremiah, Hebrews 8:6-8.
        2. Accordingly, He is our high priest in heaven on the right hand of God the Father, and ministers in the heavenly sanctuary that upstages the earthly one established under Moses, Heb. 8:2-5!
      3. (Israel as a nation will enjoy this arrangement when she repents re: her Messiah in the future, cf. Jer. 31:34 with Zech. 12:10-13:1)
    5. We know from other New Testament passages just how this New arrangement circumvents the obstacle of our SIN for blessing:
      1. When we believe in Christ, we are made positionally complete in Him and enjoy every spiritual blessing in Him, Col. 2:10; Eph. 1:3.
      2. We are also graciously indwelt by God the Holy Spirit Who urges us to want to obey God and to relate well to Him, Romans 8:9, 15.
      3. However, because of the continuing presence of our sin natures, we believers still sin, 1 John 1:8, 10. That breaks our fellowship with God, and leads to His discipline in life, 1 Cor. 3:1-3; 11:29-30.
      4. Thus, if we confess our post-salvation sins to God, He forgives us and we enjoy restored fellowship with God, 1 John 1:9.
      5. Then, we are to rely on the Holy Spirit for the power and will to do God's Word in life, resulting in God's blessing, Gal. 5:16-23.
Lesson Application: (1) As life under the Mosaic Law is futile due to sin (2) we must SHIFT to life under the NEW Covenant by (a) trusting in Jesus to be justified by God, Romans 3:24-26. (b) If we then SIN, we handle it by way of Christ's heavenly work to intercede for us, and we confess it to God for forgiveness and restored rapport with Him, 1 Jn. 1:9, 7. (e) Then we depend on the Holy Spirit for the power and will to heed the New Testament directives, Gal. 5:16-23! (f) We subject all we read in Scripture that is BEFORE Christ's Cross to the orders of the Church era, and in THAT way pay heed to the Old Testament! (+) Thus, we do NOT PLEDGE to be upright as mans' efforts to promise God to be upright are fruitless, Ex. 24:3, 7 & Rom. 3:19-20. (+) That means we must NOT be SUBJECT to the MOSAIC LAW, but ONLY those teachings the post-cross New Testament directs exist for OUR era! (+) In heeding the post-cross New Testament, we must do so in the Spirit's power for success, Galatians 5:16-23!

Conclusion: (To illustrate the sermon lesson . . . )

 The best closing illustration I can use is Scripture itself! Only Scripture can say most eloquently that we are indeed liberated from the jurisdiction of the Mosaic Law!

For your edification, allow me simply to cite Scripture relative to the Christian and the Law, and life by the power of the Holy Spirit:

(1) Colossians 2:13-17 NIV: "When you were dead in your sins and in the uncircumcision of your sinful nature, God made you alive with Christ. He forgave us all our sins, having canceled the written code, with its regulations, that was against us and that stood opposed to us; he took it away, nailing it to the cross. And having disarmed the (evil angelic) powers and authorities, he made a public spectacle of them, triumphing over them by the cross.

Therefore do not let anyone judge you by what you eat or drink, or with regard to a religious festival, a New Moon celebration or a Sabbath day. These are a shadow of the things that were to come; the reality, however, is found in Christ." (parentheses ours)

(2) Romans 8:1-4 NIV: "Therefore, there is now no condemnation for those who are in Christ Jesus, because through Christ Jesus the law of the Spirit of life set me free from the law of sin and death. For what the (Mosaic) law was powerless to do in that it was weakened by the sinful nature, God did by sending his own Son in the likeness of sinful man to be a sin offering. And so he condemned sin in sinful man, in order that the righteous requirement of the law might be fully met in us, who do not live according to the sinful nature but according to the Spirit." (parentheses ours)

(3) Romans 7:6b NIV: " . . . we have been released from the law so that we serve in the new way of the Spirit, and not in the old way of the written code."

(4) Galatians 5:1 NIV: (In reference to heeding the rite of circumcision because it is in the Mosaic Law) "It is for freedom that Christ has set us free. Stand firm, then, and do not let yourselves be burdened again by a yoke of slavery.