Aug 29 2008
Defining the Old and New Covenant (Short Version)
The difference between “old covenant” and “new covenant” is used by scripture to differentiate between the unregenerate sinner, and the regenerated saint. It is the difference between their individual relationship to the Torah. The Torah is the full description of the Messiah, Yeshua ben Yosef shel Netzaret. Thus by implication, and often by reference, the Torah of God (which he gave to Moses) is the Messiah, who is the Word of HaShem. Since the Torah is the Messiah in this sense that he is the Word of HaShem, then it is rightly said that he is also the Covenant God makes with all men. So then, when one rejects Torah, as they are inclined to do from birth, they reject the Messiah; and when one embraces Messiah, as they are inclined to do by God’s grace, they embrace the Torah. In summary, we can see this in the following descriptions of the difference between these relationships to the Torah (the relationships to the Messiah, the Covenant).
1st man:
Old man, unregenerate man, sinner, of the flesh, condemned, cursed, can’t help but sin against God’s Torah (which is spiritual). Since the Torah is spiritual, this man can not perceive the things of the Torah until the veil of his sinful nature which clouds his perspective of the Torah, is taken away. This man is fleshly and is guided by the lusts of the flesh. This man is cursed to die by the Torah for his sin, and is thus considered “under Torah,” a position of being cursed to death. This man is just like the fathers who broke the Covenant, and relies on his own righteousness, and therefore breaks the Covenant. The relationship this person has to the Torah is called the “old covenant.” This man is who dies to the Torah (Messiah), for the curse of sin brings death.
God remains faithful to his Covenant, and grants death, the consequence of the sin of this man.
2nd man:
New man, regenerate man, saint, of the spirit, blessed, not cursed, can’t help but keep God’s Torah (which is spiritual). Since the Torah is spiritual, this man can perceive the things of the Torah clearly because the veil of his sinful nature which clouded his perspective of the Torah, has been lifted. This man is spiritual and is guided by the Spirit of God. This man is blessed to eternal life by the Torah for Messiah’s righteousness, and is thus considered “not under Torah,” a position of being redeemed from its curse of death. This man is not like the fathers who broke the Covenant, and relies on Messiah’s righteousness, and therefore keeps the Covenant. The relationship this person has to the Torah is called the “new covenant.” This man is who lives to the Torah (Messiah), for the blessing of obedience brings life.
God remains faithful to his Covenant, and grants eternal life, the result of the righteousness of this man identified/clothed in Messiah’s righteousness.
You will find this understanding true all throughout scripture when it talks about old and new covenant, old and new man, etc.
For example, in Romans chapter 7, Paul uses these two “men” to show that the first man, as first husband, is put to death to the Torah, the Messiah, the wife; and therefore only then can the second man, the second husband be able to marry the wife, the Torah, the Messiah, and live in the Spirit, for the Torah is spiritual. See the Messianic Apologetics Reference Project called “Understanding Romans 7″ for an applicable understanding of this concept:
The old and new covenants are a state of condition, not a table of content, for the content remains the same since there is only one Covenant: the Torah, the Messiah. Who we are in relation to him is the only difference between “old” and “new” covenant. Let me state that again. WHO we are in relationship to the Perfectly Obedient Standard for Righteousness, the Messiah himself, is the only difference between what scripture calls old covenant and new covenant.
1. One party breaks it (by his own righteousness, which is nothing), and is cursed to death. (old man) (old Covenant that is broken)
2. God renews the Covenant to a different party (new man), while Himself remains faithful to the Covenant.
3. The second party keeps it (by Messiah’s righteousness), and is blessed with eternal life. (new Covenant that is kept)
God makes his Covenant, and each time he makes it with another party, it is called “new.” That is all there is to understanding the difference between the old and new covenant.
If we have identified ourselves in Messiah, then it is our cursed nature that is considered dead for he died hung on a tree which is a condition of being cursed under the Torah. And if we have identified ourselves in Messiah, then our spiritual nature is considered alive for he rose to life from the grave.
The key here then is to understand the necessity to identify oneself with Messiah’s death and resurrection in order to be blessed by the Torah for eternal life. This requires our obedience to the Torah, the Messiah as it is written:
Pay attention to him and listen to what he says. Do not rebel against him; he will not forgive your rebellion, since my Name is in him. (Ex 23:21)
and if one transgresses this commandment, then they are as:
When such a person hears the words of this oath, he invokes a blessing on himself and therefore thinks, “I will be safe, even though I persist in going my own way.” This will bring disaster on the watered land as well as the dry. The LORD will never be willing to forgive him; his wrath and zeal will burn against that man. All the curses written in this book will fall upon him, and the LORD will blot out his name from under heaven. The LORD will single him out from all the tribes of Israel for disaster, according to all the curses of the covenant written in this Book of the Law. (Deut 29:19-21)
When God makes his Covenant with us as sinners, which was made on that day with all who where “there” and “not there” in Deuteronomy 29:14-15, our inclination to sin caused us to break it the moment we sinned (and all have sinned in Adam). So then when God renews his Covenant with us (as a new regenerated man alive to the Messiah, the Torah) it is therefore to us, renewed, and to the new man (that is, we who are the righteous in Messiah) it is “new.” Thus that is why it is called a “new” or “renewed” Covenant.
At the point of our obeying the Messiah (surrendering our life to Him which is an act of teshuvah, or known as our repentance to the Torah), we are then “born” again, into the new man to whom the Covenant is made new to us, by God implanting His Spirit within us, and by implication of this renewal and identification in Messiah, His righteousness is therefore upon us, and we are given eternal life in accordance with the blessing promised when one keeps the Covenant. We can therefore look back on the “old man” that we once were, back to whom the same Covenant was made but condemned him to death. We can look back on that old man and see that the Covenant God made with him ultimately was that which put him to death because of that sinful man’s own “righteousness,” which is really no righteousness at all on the level that the Torah demands. From our perspective of the new man, that is why we thus call the “old” Covenant “old” and the “new” Covenant “new”- for God has renewed to us, we as the new man, the same Covenant to us, but through identifying with Messiah we now keep it.
The differences between identifying the old and new covenant then is a matter of perspective of the relationships a sinner has to the Torah and the relationship a saint has to the Torah, for the perspective of the Covenant one has concerning it, is based on the old and new relationship one has to the Covenant (the Torah, the Messiah).
You can read the full scriptural argument for this from:
Yashe Koach