Life Project Blog

New Covenant Terms

In the Old Covenant, Man’s promises were the terms of the covenant: Man’s obligations.  That these obligations needed to be kept was obvious, and those obligations are clearly listed.  What are our obligations (terms or stipulations) living under the New Covenant?  This is not as easy to answer as it is for the Old Covenant.  The New Testament, unlike the Old, does not contain lists of things we must do or not do; in fact, the New Testament is not a record of rules and regulations at all.  The New Testament is not the covenant. The New Testament is the record of the covenant, it bears the covenant, it gives a brief background and history of its conception, and it gives an explanation as to how the covenant is to be executed… but it is not a legal code book. It contains practical discussions of problem solving, and it shows how the Apostles used the new means to end the old system of decision making, and all of this was based not on a legal code, but rather on the execution of a mission assigned to us by Christ Himself:

Then Jesus came to them and said, “All authority in heaven and on earth has been given to me. Therefore go and make disciples of all nations, baptizing them in the name of the Father and of the Son and of the Holy Spirit, and teaching them to obey everything I have commanded you. And surely I am with you always, to the very end of the age.”

Matt. 28:18-20

            The New Covenant priority is to complete the mission; we are required to do whatever it takes to MAKE DISCIPLES.  In all that we do, this is our obligation, our duty, and our priority above all else. If we operate in this fashion, we are keeping covenant. If we are keeping covenant, we are “like Christ”.  Little else need be said.

Category Terms

            Jesus gave us His command to make disciples, and this word “disciples” sums up our proper aim. He gave a considerable amount of instruction on what a disciple is, how a convert becomes a disciple, and how a disciple should behave. In this term, we find parties, terms and promises. (See Acts 6:1,7; 12:24; 16:5) Being a good disciples involves being as much like Christ Himself as possible (Luke 14:26) following the word of Christ (John15:7-12), willingness to suffer as He suffered (John 15:20), and doing the kinds of things Jesus did, thus becoming fully perfected, equipped, matured… fully like Christ (Luke 6:40) Jesus used the term disciple interchangeably with the term “servant” (John 15:20).

And we know that in all things God works for the good of those who love him, who have been called according to his purpose. For those God foreknew he also predestined to be conformed to the likeness of his Son, that he might be the firstborn among many brothers. And those he predestined, he also called; those he called, he also justified; those he justified, he also glorified.

Romans 8:28-30

            Note here Paul’s use of parallelism: Making disciples is parallel with election. Perfecting them is parallel with stipulations of covenant. Becoming perfected is the summation of the promises.

Dear friends, now we are children of God, and what we will be has not yet been made known. But we know that when he appears, we shall be like him, for we shall see him as he is.

1John 3:2

            Another term that deserves notice is “mystery”. The “mystery of God” when used in a ministry context means covenant. Jesus was the mystery revealed (Matt. 12:28). The spreading of the Gospel was the mystery being revealed (Mark 4:11). Paul stated that the mystery was no longer hidden (Rom. 16:25 ff.). In Ephesians Paul defines the “mystery”:

Surely you have heard about the administration of God’s grace that was given to me for you, that is, the mystery made known to me by revelation, as I have already written briefly. In reading this, then, you will be able to understand my insight into the mystery of Christ, which was not made known to men in other generations as it has now been revealed by the Spirit to God’s holy apostles and prophets. This mystery is that through the gospel the Gentiles are heirs together with Israel, members together of one body, and sharers together in the promise in Christ Jesus.

I became a servant of this gospel by the gift of God’s grace given me through the working of his power. Although I am less than the least of all God’s people, this grace was given me: to preach to the Gentiles 

the unsearchable riches of Christ, and to make plain to everyone the administration of this mystery, which for ages past was kept hidden in God, who created all things. His intent was that now, through the church, the manifold wisdom of God should be made known to the rulers and authorities in the heavenly realms, according to his eternal purpose which he accomplished in Christ Jesus our Lord. In him and through faith in him we may approach God with freedom and confidence.

Eph. 3:2-12

Parties:            Israel and Gentiles in “one body”

Terms:             “The administration of the mystery”

Promises:        “In the promises of Christ Jesus… unsearchable riches”

Ministry of Reconciliation

Paul seldom used the word “covenant” in his writings. Rather than say “Old Covenant” he preferred the term “Law”, for he knew it was part of the Covenant. When speaking of the New Covenant he often used the name of Christ, for he knew that Christ is the personification of the Covenant. In the following passage, he demonstrates his thinking by using a parallel in which he begins with the word “covenant” and then used the word “ministry” which then changes to the term “ministry of reconciliation”.

He has made us competent as ministers of a new covenant—not of the letter but of the Spirit; for the letter kills, but the Spirit gives life.

2Cor. 3:6  New Covenant stipulation is ministry.

All this is from God, who reconciled us to himself through Christ and gave us the ministry of reconciliation:… We are therefore Christ’s ambassadors, as though God were making his appeal through us. We implore you on Christ’s behalf: Be reconciled to God.

2Cor. 5:18,20 Ministry is the ministry of reconciliation. Therefore, New Covenant stipulation is the ministry of reconciliation.

            Chapter three discusses the two covenants; chapter four discusses ministry and being a servant of Christ, and Christ’s definition of a servant (disciple). A servant advanced the best interests of his Master. The best interest of Christ is for all men to “believe and obey” the Gospel, become reconciled to God and live like Christ.

All this is from God, who reconciled us to himself through Christ and gave us the ministry of reconciliation: that God was reconciling the world to himself in Christ, not counting men’s sins against them. And he has committed to us the message of reconciliation. We are therefore Christ’s ambassadors, as though God were making his appeal through us. We implore you on Christ’s behalf: Be reconciled to God. God made him who had no sin to be sin for us, so that in him we might become the righteousness of God.

2Cor. 5:18-21

            When you sum it all up, the terms of the New Covenant are to do whatever is necessary to complete the mission outlined in the Great Commission. The text does not actually list a set of regulations; of do’s and don’ts for the Christian to follow, for the New Covenant is all about God’s PURPOSES, not following a code. When we place the correct priority on the mission of making disciples, and our lives are lived as Christ’s servants, then we are like Christ. Therefore, the stipulations of the New Covenant are to become and live LIKE CHRIST.

Therefore, when Christ came into the world, he said:
“Sacrifice and offering you did not desire,
but a body you prepared for me;
with burnt offerings and sin offerings
you were not pleased.
Then I said, ‘Here I am—it is written about me in the scroll—
I have come to do your will, O God.’ “First he said, “Sacrifices and offerings, burnt offerings and sin offerings you did not desire, nor were you pleased with them” (although the law required them to be made). Then he said, “Here I am, I have come to do your will.” He sets aside the first to establish the second. And by that will, we have been made holy through the sacrifice of the body of Jesus Christ once for all.

Hebrews 10:5-10

            Jesus and the Apostles recognized the meaning and formulary of the concept of covenant to be the same as it had always been throughout the Old Testament period. Yet, they saw the emphasis of covenant as being different; for them, it was different in a radical and revolutionary way: it was not about form, it was about purpose.  It had been understood that God’s will had been expressed in our covenant duty, but Christ and the Apostles used the word will as a synonym for the word covenant, and in this they changed its emphasis: Covenant in the New Testament period is all about purpose. It was no longer a matter of WHAT the covenant was, but WHY God was making a treaty with humans.

Christ as Covenant

Jesus Himself was Covenant:

“I, the LORD, have called you in righteousness;
I will take hold of your hand.
I will keep you and will make you
to be a covenant for the people
and a light for the Gentiles,

to open eyes that are blind,
to free captives from prison
and to release from the dungeon those who sit in darkness.

Isaiah 42:6-7

            Jesus quoted this passage in Matthew 12… He stood between God and Man: He was Man’s only access to God…He was Covenant.

Jesus answered, “I am the way and the truth and the life. No one comes to the Father except through me. If you really knew me, you would know my Father as well. From now on, you do know him and have seen him.”

John 14:6-7

            This declaration immediately creates two camps: those “in Christ” and those “outside Christ”.  There is opposition and hostility between the two. Those who are outside of Christ are described by Paul as “dead, culture led, philosophy led, Satan led, disobedient, separated, excluded, without God, without hope, hostile, far off, foreigners and aliens. (Eph. 2:1 ff.) and those “in Christ” as “raised up, saved, recreated, brought near, at peace…” (Eph. 2:14 ff.).  In this, Paul is using covenant terminology, and thus his orientation is clear.  In a covenant context, those who were “in Christ” are Covenant Parties.

Baptism as Pledge

And now what are you waiting for? Get up, be baptized and wash your sins away, calling on his name.‘

Acts 22:16

            In Noah’s time, water was judgment; it put to death the sin of the times. Water also saved Noah, by God’s grace. Water was judgment, and it separated the living from the dead. The water of Christ is also a judgment: it is a judgment on the sin of the old life, and a pledge by both God and convert. The convert pledges his life to God; God pledged admission to covenant.

and this water symbolizes baptism that now saves you also—not the removal of dirt from the body but the pledge of a good conscience toward God. It saves you by the resurrection of Jesus Christ

1Peter 3:21

            The water, as death, provided a Hebrew oath or pledge. Prayer cannot provide this, and a careful inspection of the New Testament will reveal the fact that there is no conversion narrative or account that ends with a prayer of conversion; a “sinner’s prayer”. Each and every single time there is a conversion narrative, there is a Baptism. It is simply inconceivable that there can be a covenant pledge without death.

By no means! We died to sin; how can we live in it any longer? Or don’t you know that all of us who were baptized into Christ Jesus were baptized into his death? We were therefore buried with him through baptism into death in order that, just as Christ was raised from the dead through the glory of the Father, we too may live a new life.

If we have been united with him like this in his death, we will certainly also be united with him in his resurrection. For we know that our old self was crucified with him so that the body of sin might be done away with, that we should no longer be slaves to sin— because anyone who has died has been freed from sin.

Romans 6:2-7

This is my blood of the covenant, which is poured out for many for the forgiveness of sins.

Matthew 26:28

Peter replied, “Repent and be baptized, every one of you, in the name of Jesus Christ for the forgiveness of your sins. And you will receive the gift of the Holy Spirit.

Acts 2:38

Baptism and Belief

There is nothing magic about Baptism. It is not a magic ritual you can perform and receive a magic result, and there is no special significance to water as opposed to some other substance other than water is required by covenant. The person being Baptized is giving his testimony of his faith and belief that Jesus died, was buries and rose again. In fact, his testimony is “I believe that Jesus was buried and rose up again, just as I am going into this water, cut off from life, and will be raised up again.” He is further saying, “As Jesus died and rose again, so also my old way of life is dead and buried… and as Jesus rose up again, so also I will rise up again in a new life.” This is the crucial connection between Baptism and belief, and either one without the other is not productive.

There are many errors among Christians at the present time regarding Baptism, and while this study does not have the purpose of debating Baptism, one thing needs to be very clear: When a person enters the water of Baptism, they are saying “yes” to faith in Christ, and they are saying “yes” to the covenant command to be Baptized. One may not enter covenant by saying “yes” to faith in Christ, and “no” to the covenant command to be Baptized.

So far, we have the following formulary:

New Covenant

Parties:            Christ and those “in Christ”

Terms:             live “like Christ”

Promises:        Eternity “with Christ”

Being “in Christ” requires entry into the New Covenant. This is accomplished by a partnership between belief and obedience; believing Christ, and being Baptized into Christ.