New Covenant Obedience
The idea for this message came from a statement that my wife made a while back. Father has given her a remarkable mind, and she expressed this perfectly.
She said, “There are two kinds of law. One is like a speed limit—you must obey. The other is like gravity—it simply is, and obeying it requires no effort. The first type of law is like the old covenant. The second is like the law of love and the new covenant.”
Many who adhere to the unadulterated Gospel of the grace of God face criticism. By some they are seen as teaching a feel-good message that is nothing more than what people want to hear. They are understood to say that obedience is not necessary or even that sin is okay. Others, often those who have been hurt by institutional religion and performance-based acceptance, view them as legalistic if they give any hint that believers are called to godly attitudes and actions.
Let me be crystal clear right at the outset. The Law of Moses has no relationship to believers under the New Covenant of Grace. That Law shows people that they cannot hope to obtain righteousness—and thus eternal life—by relying on themselves and living a moral life. The New Covenant instituted an entirely new law. It is called the law of the Spirit of life in Christ Jesus. (see Romans 8:2)
An understanding of the two types of law is very helpful when considering what it means to obey God under the covenant of grace. Let’s look at the Law of Moses, the Old Covenant Law.
The Old Covenant Law was given to Moses on Mount Sinai and Moses carried it down to the people. The Law consisted of the Ten Commandments, which were engraved on stone by God Himself, and many other laws for daily living. These gave details about what it meant to live in an upright and godly way.
Exodus 19:7–8 (KJV 1900) “7 And Moses came and called for the elders of the people, and laid before their faces all these words which the LORD commanded him. 8 And all the people answered together, and said, All that the LORD hath spoken we will do. And Moses returned the words of the people unto the LORD.” This is where the people of Israel gave their agreement to the terms of the covenant.
Exodus 24:3 (KJV 1900) “And Moses came and told the people all the words of the LORD, and all the judgments: and all the people answered with one voice, and said, All the words which the LORD hath said will we do.” The people affirmed their agreement to the covenant terms a second time.
Next, the people reaffirmed for a third time their agreement and Moses consummated the covenant with blood as we see in Exodus 24:6–8 (KJV 1900). “6 And Moses took half of the blood, and put it in basons; and half of the blood he sprinkled on the altar. 7 And he took the book of the covenant, and read in the audience of the people: and they said, All that the LORD hath said will we do, and be obedient. 8 And Moses took the blood, and sprinkled it on the people, and said, Behold the blood of the covenant, which the LORD hath made with you concerning all these words.”
This covenant agreement required the people to obey the laws God had given Moses. Their part of the contract, as it were, was to do all the things the Law required and to refrain from doing the things the Law prohibited. The problem was that the people never could keep their end of the agreement.
We see this recounted in Exodus 32:1–4 (KJV 1900) while Moses was still on the mountain with God. “1 And when the people saw that Moses delayed to come down out of the mount, the people gathered themselves together unto Aaron, and said unto him, Up, make us gods, which shall go before us; for as for this Moses, the man that brought us up out of the land of Egypt, we wot not what is become of him. 2 And Aaron said unto them, Break off the golden earrings, which are in the ears of your wives, of your sons, and of your daughters, and bring them unto me. 3 And all the people brake off the golden earrings which were in their ears, and brought them unto Aaron. 4 And he received them at their hand, and fashioned it with a graving tool, after he had made it a molten calf: and they said, These be thy gods, O Israel, which brought thee up out of the land of Egypt.”
Peter talked about it in Acts 15:10 (KJV 1900). He was discussing whether Gentile believers needed to keep the Law of Moses and he said, “Now therefore why tempt ye God, to put a yoke upon the neck of the disciples, which neither our fathers nor we were able to bear?”
We may be tempted to think that this was because there were so many laws, but we need only return to Eden to see that is not the case. In Genesis 2:16–17 (KJV 1900), “…the LORD God commanded the man, saying, Of every tree of the garden thou mayest freely eat: But of the tree of the knowledge of good and evil, thou shalt not eat of it: for in the day that thou eatest thereof thou shalt surely die.” Jut a few verses later in Genesis 3:6 (KJV 1900)we read, “And when the woman saw that the tree was good for food, and that it was pleasant to the eyes, and a tree to be desired to make one wise, she took of the fruit thereof, and did eat, and gave also unto her husband with her; and he did eat.”
That’s the way such laws are. They raise in us a desire to disobey them. This happens to us all. You may have noticed, for example, that many people do not carefully adhere to the speed limits on roads and highways. You may observe that some fail to signal turns, or obey mandates with which they disagree. Paul puts it this way in 1 Corinthians 15:56 (KJV 1900) “The sting of death is sin; and the strength [or power] of sin is the law.” When Eve saw the fruit and thought about its alleged benefits, it seemed to her senses that eating it would provide that good thing she was looking for—being like God. She was walking by sight, rather than by faith.
Since humans are like this, Father stepped in. We read in Romans 8:3–4 (KJV 1900) “3 For what the law could not do, in that it was weak through the flesh, God sending his own Son in the likeness of sinful flesh, and for sin, condemned sin in the flesh: 4 That the righteousness of the law might be fulfilled in us, who walk not after the flesh, but after the Spirit.”
There is another kind of law. There are laws that are simply the way things work. These laws are better because obeying them requires no effort on our part. The Law of gravity says that whatever goes up will come down. Gravity results in things moving toward the center of mass. The law of sin and death says that sin leads to death. Sin results in death. The law of sin and death is a law of the universe. Like gravity, it's just the way things work.
There is no way to be freed from the law of gravity other than for mass to be taken away. In the same way, there is no way to be freed from the law of sin and death other than for sin to be taken away.
Jesus took away sin, so we are free from the law of sin and death. Now the universal law for us is the law of the Spirit of life in Christ Jesus. Romans 8:1-2 says Therefore there is now no condemnation at all for those who are in Christ Jesus. For the law of the Spirit of life in Christ Jesus has set you free from the law of sin and of death.
So, what is the law of the Spirit of life in Christ Jesus? I like to think of it this way: The wages of sin in death but the gift of God is life. Romans 8:6 (KJV 1900) says it like this, “For to be carnally minded is death; but to be spiritually minded is life and peace.” In Romans 6:23 (KJV 1900) it’s said this way, “For the wages of sin is death; but the gift of God is eternal life through Jesus Christ our Lord.”
This is an expression of the two kinds of law. Living according to the flesh, what the Bible calls walking by sight leads to death. The Old Testament points this out in Proverbs 14:12 and 16:25 (KJV 1900). Those verses both say, “There is a way that seemeth right unto a man, But the end thereof are the ways of death.” If you try to work for righteousness (which yields eternal life) by attempting to keep the Law of Moses or a moral code, you will fail. The old adage is true. You cannot legislate morality. It’s a universal law that such laws incite disobedience. It’s just the way things work.
Then there is the other kind of law upon which we might place our hope of righteousness and its attendant eternal life. The law that Christ in us makes us righteous. Christ living in us by His Spirit is our hope of glory—righteousness, life. (see Colossians 1:27) Now that we have the Spirit within us, we have been made righteous. (see 2 Corinthians 5:21) Under the law of the Spirit of life in Christ Jesus, since we are righteous, we have eternal life. The life of God. It’s a universal law that those who have the Spirit have life in Christ Jesus. It’s just the way things work.
This is what obedience looks like under the New Covenant of grace. Remember, Romans 8:4 (KJV1900) told us, “That the righteousness of the law might be fulfilled in us, who walk not after the flesh, but after the Spirit.”
How can we fulfill the righteousness of the law without doing it in our own strength? How can we do it by walking by faith? We trust God to do the work. We base that trust on some compelling evidence. Romans 5:5 tells us that the love of God has been shed abroad, or poured into, our hearts. Then, Romans 13:10 (KJV 1900) says that “Love worketh no ill to his neighbour: therefore love is the fulfilling of the law.” We love because He first loved us. (see 1 John 4:19) He has put His love in our hearts and not only that, but Philippians 2:13 (KJV 1900) says that, “it is God which worketh in you both to will and to do of his good pleasure.”
So, when we read things like, John 13:34 (KJV 1900) where Jesus said, “A new commandment I give unto you, That ye love one another; as I have loved you, that ye also love one another,” or John 15:12 (KJV 1900) He said, “This is my commandment, That ye love one another, as I have loved you.” We know that the law of the Spirit of life in Christ Jesus dictates that we will be loving because Father put love into our hearts and He is working to give us the desire to love others, and more than merely wanting to, He prompts us to carry it out.
The same is true of all the things we read passages that seem to require certain behaviors from us. These passages are well understood to be telling us about the good things we might expect to find ourselves doing. Ephesians 2:10 (KJV 1900) says it well, “For we are his workmanship, created in Christ Jesus unto good works, which God hath before ordained that we should walk in them.” We were made for this.
We are not born of the Spirit as mature as we will ever become. Just as in physical life we grow physically, so in spiritual life we grow spiritually. That’s why we read things like Titus 2:11–12 (KJV 1900) “11 For the grace of God that bringeth salvation hath appeared to all men, 12 Teaching us that, denying ungodliness and worldly lusts, we should live soberly, righteously, and godly, in this present world;” Jesus came to us and He is teaching us to live uprightly, righteously and godly. This is the law of the Spirit of life in Christ Jesus. He is in us causing growth and maturity, causing our desires to be godly, causing us to love others.
We do not need to worry that we are not obedient enough or that we are not doing enough. Holy Spirit produces His fruit in us. We have no control over that. Like a branch on a grapevine, we simply bear the fruit He produces. It isn’t anything we work at; it just happens in the natural course of spiritual life in Christ.
New Covenant obedience then, is living a life dependent on Jesus. He gave us the example when He was on earth. In John 8:28 (KJV 1900) we find this, “Then said Jesus unto them, When ye have lifted up the Son of man, then shall ye know that I am he, and that I do nothing of myself; but as my Father hath taught me, I speak these things.”
This is the life of dependence. It is the obedient life. Paul says it this way in Romans 6:17–18 (KJV 1900) “17 But God be thanked, that ye were the servants of sin, but ye have obeyed from the heart that form of doctrine which was delivered you. 18 Being then made free from sin, ye became the servants of righteousness.”
Don’t worry about trying to be more fruitful. That is the vinedresser’s role. Trust that He is doing His job in you and causing fruit to come. Rest in that and expect the fruit to show up. Here is the way Jesus put it in John 15:5 (KJV 1900) “I am the vine, ye are the branches: He that abideth in me, and I in him, the same bringeth forth much fruit: for without me ye can do nothing.” You are in Christ, and He is in you, so you are going to bear fruit. It’s a universal law. It’s just the way things work.
Grace and peace to you.
Larry
E3 Ministries
LarryEiss.com
