Too Good + So True: How Good is the New Covenant?

We’re kicking off our brand new mini-series with Pastor Beth: Too Good + So True where we’ll be spending two weeks learning all about the good news of the far better and far superior New Covenant. This 2-part series is filled with tons of scripture and revelation knowledge as we come to better understand the many differences between the Old Covenant and the New Covenant and embrace the indescribable gift God has given us in His new and better promises! 

2 Corinthians 9:15 “Thanks be to God for His indescribable gift!”

Through the Word of God, Pastor Beth’s teachings, and insights from other Christian leaders, we discovered the abundance and healing found in the New Covenant through God’s grace and permanent perfection. We have the freedom to receive the finished work of Jesus and live in the New Commandment of love. 

Let’s answer these New Covenant questions: 

• Do you sometimes struggle with the idea that to be pleasing to God, you should “do more, be more, pray  more, love more, read more, or serve more”?
• Do you wonder if you are missing one of the “keys, steps, or secrets” to a happy life, better marriage, success on the job or more friends? 
• Do you work on your holiness, service, and sin management, and yet feel angry with people who are at rest, having fun, and enjoying life in God’s grace?
• Do you find it hard to believe your sins (past, present, and future) are forgiven?
• Do you pray, read the Bible, or attend church to keep God happy or because you want to?
• Do you think God expects you to be perfect?
• Do you wonder how much sin is too much–what if someone calls themselves a Christian, but wants to live in sin?
• Do you know how forgiven you are?
• Do you believe you’ve been made “the righteousness of God” because of what you do or what Jesus has done?
• Do you want to sin more because of God’s goodness?
• Do you want to know how good and true the New Covenant is?

Hebrews 6:1-3 (NLT) 1So let us stop going over the basic teachings about Christ again and again. Let us go on instead and become mature in our understanding. Surely we don’t need to start again with the fundamental importance of repenting from evil deeds and placing our faith in God. 2You don’t need further instruction about baptisms, the laying on of hands, the resurrection of the dead, and eternal judgment. 3And so, God willing, we will move forward to further understanding.

What is a Covenant?

A covenant is a strong, solemn agreement between two parties. 

Old Covenant / New Covenant

Old Will & Testament / New Will & Testament

Old System / New System 

Throughout the remainder of this post, GREEN highlights symbolize OLD Covenant and BLUE highlights symbolize NEW Covenant to help us have a clear understanding of the pivotal difference between the two!

Exodus 19:5-8 (NLT) 5Now if you will obey me and keep my covenant, you will be my own special treasure from among all the peoples on earth; for all the earth belongs to me. 6And you will be my kingdom of priests, my holy nation.’ This is the message you must give to the people of Israel.” 7So Moses returned from the mountain and called together the elders of the people and told them everything the Lord had commanded him. 8And all the people responded together, “We will do everything the Lord has commanded.” So Moses brought the people’s answer back to the Lord.

Hebrews 8:6-8 (NLT) 6But now Jesus, our High Priest, has been given a ministry that is far superior to the old priesthood, for he is the one who mediates for us a far better covenant with God, based on better promises. 7If the first covenant had been faultless, there would have been no need for a second covenant to replace it. 8But when God found fault with the people, he said: “The day is coming, says the Lord, when I will make a new covenant with the people of Israel and Judah.

*Old Covenant: based on people’s faithfulness to God

*New Covenant: based on God’s faithfulness to God – far superior, far better, better promises

Hebrews 8:9-13 (NLT) 9This covenant will not be like the one I made with their ancestors when I took them by the hand and led them out of the land of Egypt. They did not remain faithful to my covenant, so I turned my back on them, says the Lord. 10But this is the new covenant I will make with the people of Israel on that day, says the Lord: I will put my laws in their minds, and I will write them on their hearts. I will be their God, and they will be my people. 11And they will not need to teach their neighbors, nor will they need to teach their relatives, saying, ‘You should know the Lord.’ For everyone, from the least to the greatest, will know me already. 12And I will forgive their wickedness, and I will never again remember their sins.” 13When God speaks of a “new” covenant, it means he has made the first one obsolete. It is now out of date and will soon disappear. 

*Old Covenant: obsolete, out of date, disappeared

*New Covenant: in effect, current, visible 

Discussion:

What questions do you have about the New Covenant that you’re hoping to answer during this series? 

What about the New Covenant seems too good to be true? 

Why do we need the New Covenant to replace the Old Covenant?

Hebrews 9:13-15 (NLT) 13Under the old system, the blood of goats and bulls and the ashes of a heifer could cleanse people’s bodies from ceremonial impurity. 14Just think how much more the blood of Christ will purify our consciences from sinful deeds so that we can worship the living God. For by the power of the eternal Spirit, Christ offered himself to God as a perfect sacrifice for our sins. 15That is why he is the one who mediates a new covenant between God and people, so that all who are called can receive the eternal inheritance God has promised them. For Christ died to set them free from the penalty of the sins they had committed under that first covenant.

Mark 14:22-26 (NLT) 22As they were eating, Jesus took some bread and blessed it. Then he broke it in pieces and gave it to the disciples, saying, “Take it, for this is my body.” 23And he took a cup of wine and gave thanks to God for it. He gave it to them, and they all drank from it. 24And he said to them, “This is my blood, which confirms the covenant between God and his people. It is poured out as a sacrifice for many. 25I tell you the truth, I will not drink wine again until the day I drink it new in the Kingdom of God.” 26Then they sang a hymn and went out to the Mount of Olives.

Hebrews 9:16-17 (NLT) 16Now when someone leaves a will, it is necessary to prove that the person who made it is dead. 17The will goes into effect only after the person’s death. While the person who made it is still alive, the will cannot be put into effect.

*New Covenant went into effect when Jesus died on the cross–His blood is a testament of the fact and confirms the start of the New Covenant. 

Hebrews 10:10-14 (NLT) 10For God’s will was for us to be made holy by the sacrifice of the body of Jesus Christ, once for all time. 11Under the old covenant, the priest stands and ministers before the altar day after day, offering the same sacrifices again and again, which can never take away sins. 12But our High Priest offered himself to God as a single sacrifice for sins, good for all time. Then he sat down in the place of honor at God’s right hand. 13There he waits until his enemies are humbled and made a footstool under his feet. 14For by that one offering he forever made perfect those who are being made holy.

Hebrews 10:15-18 (NLT) 15And the Holy Spirit also testifies that this is so. For he says, 16“This is the new covenant I will make with my people on that day, says the Lord: I will put my laws in their hearts, and I will write them on their minds.” 17Then he says, “I will never again remember their sins and lawless deeds.” 18And when sins have been forgiven, there is no need to offer any more sacrifices.

Summary so Far…

These are the articles of the New Covenant:

• I will put  my laws in their minds.
• I will write them on their hearts.
• I will be their God, and they will be my people.
• I will forgive their wickedness, and I will never again remember their sins. 

This means:

• God wrote “right and wrong” on the conscience of our mind.
• God embedded His desires on our heart - “allergic to sin + addicted to God.”
• God initiated it; He is our God, we are His!
• God forgave our sins (past, present, and future); never to be remembered. 

Discussion:

Based on what we’ve learned so far, how does the New Covenant differ from the Old Covenant? 

Why did God give us the New Covenant and how does this change impact our day-to-day lives?

The New Covenant isn’t just new, it’s better! Let’s compare the two covenants side by side:

The New Covenant is far superior, far better, and built on better promises! Let’s look at what other Christian leaders are also saying on this topic:

Most people, including Christians, see the forgiveness of sins as something that God can do, and continues to do, but not as something He has completed. From that comes the false concept that we must constantly confess our sins, which makes and keeps us sin conscious. The New Testament presents the forgiveness of sins as something that is already accomplished…

-Andrew Womack – Charis Bible College Founder, Bible Teacher

“The freeness of this pardon. It does not result from merit in man, but from mercy in God; he pardons for his own name's sake. The fullness of this pardon; it extends to their unrighteousness, sins, and iniquities; to all kinds of sin. The finality of this pardon. It is so final and so fixed that God will remember their sins no more; he will not recall his pardon; he will not only forgive their sins, but forget them, treat them as if he had forgotten them. Unpardoned sin prevents mercy and pulls down judgment; but the pardon of sin prevents judgment and opens a wide door to all spiritual blessings; forever. This is the excellency of the New Covenant and these are the articles of it; and therefore we have great reason to rejoice that the Old Covenant is obsolete and has vanished away.”

-Bible Commentators

“You’re allergic to sin. You’re addicted to Jesus. You’re going to prove this truth one way or another: by sinning and being miserable or by trusting Jesus and being fulfilled. Either way, you prove sin won’t work for you. God has empowered you to live in a new and better way. ... In the same way, count yourselves dead to sin but alive to God in Christ Jesus. (Romans 6:11) This isn’t about you naming or claiming something to make it true. This is about you living in the reality that you don’t want to sin. That’s right: You don’t really want to sin. You may feel you do, but you don’t. You have a new default setting. You have a new normal. You’re allergic to sin and addicted to righteousness! You may feel like you want to sin. But you’re going to prove your new identity one way or another: by sinning and being miserable or by expressing Jesus and being fulfilled You can’t escape your destiny of displaying Christ. 

You’re fused to Him, bonded to Him forever. You can’t get away from your new core desires. … When we’re worried about too much grace, it’s because our view of grace is puny and pitiful. Some see grace simply as mercy for when we fail, or a ticket to Heaven, or God canceling our debt. Sure, those things are a part of God’s grace, but let’s not settle for anything less than the fullness of God’s grace. In His grace, God took a spiritual scalpel and cut out your sinful heart and replaced it with a beautiful, new heart that always loves Jesus. That’s part of what God’s grace did too. God can afford to put us under grace with no limits, because His grace doesn’t stop at forgiveness. He also gives us new spiritual passions and desires."

-Andrew Farley – Pastor, Bible Teacher

“Only Jesus who lives outside time can forgive you of all your sins—past, present, and future. At the cross, Jesus paid the price of your sins and redeemed you. The law of double jeopardy states that sins cannot be tried twice—so God would be unjust if He tried the same sin twice. Since God judged all your sins in Jesus’ body, He cannot judge them in yours! God sees everything from beginning to end—He sees all our sins on Jesus at the cross, all forgiven. When you understand how deeply forgiven you are, you will live out these benefits:

‘Bless the Lord, O my soul; and all that is within me, bless His holy name!

Bless the Lord, O my soul, and forget not all His benefits:

Who forgives all your iniquities, Who heals all your diseases.’ ”

- Joseph Prince – Pastor

Double Jeopardy 

"The concept of double jeopardy is well established in Constitutional Law. The Fifth Amendment of the U.S. Constitution says, "Nor shall any person be subject for the same offense to be twice put in jeopardy of life or limb.” According to God’s justice, we are all guilty of sin and death, but because we’ve received Jesus, every sin we’ve ever committed or will commit has been fully prosecuted upon Christ on the cross. And once is all that the law demands. Now, we are unpunishable. There are still consequences when we sin, but as far as the eternal penalty of the law is concerned, Jesus’ substitutionary death places us in a wonderful position of being exempt from punishment. When we believe in Christ, we receive God’s pardon and escape sin’s penalty. Thank God for His principle of "double jeopardy!"

Discussion:

What would it mean for us if God’s principle of double jeopardy were not in place?

When we look at the chart comparing the Old and New Covenant, which truths resonate with you most? 

Were you surprised to discover how good the New Covenant really is?

Romans 6:1-2 (AMP) 1What shall we say [to all this]? Should we continue in sin and practice sin as a habit so that [God’s gift of] grace may increase and overflow? 2Certainly not! How can we, the very ones who died to sin, continue to live in it any longer?

 In practical terms, how do we live this out? How do we stay free in the New Covenant and access all of these new, better blessings God has for us? One quick thing to take note of before we press pause until next week…there is only one sin that will keep a person out of heaven and send them straight to hell instead.

Hebrews 10:26-27 (NKJV) 26For if we sin willfully after we have received the knowledge of the truth, there no longer remains a sacrifice for sins, 27but a certain fearful expectation of judgment, and fiery indignation which will devour the adversaries.

What is the “willful sin” that Hebrews talks about? The willful sin is the sin of rejecting Jesus and unbelief in His finished work on the cross. Jesus calls it "blaspheming the Holy Spirit" and resisting His truth. This is the one and only sin that will keep someone from what God has planned for them in heaven. To be sure that doesn't happen, all we're called to do is believe! Whosoever would believe in Him would not perish, but have everlasting life. Amen!