The Importance of New Covenant Theology

INTRODUCTION:  The following post is a response to a dear individual that is very confused about how the Old Covenant Law of Moses relates to the New Covenant believer.  He posted a video in his Google+ account from a cult known as 119 Ministries that boldly proclaims on their website,

It is our position at 119 Ministries that nothing in the Word has been abolished.

By this, they mean that Christians are obligated to keep the food laws, Sabbaths, and feasts that are listed in the Law of Moses.  To substantiate this, they frequently appeal to 2 Timothy 3:16 and Matthew 5:17-18.  I will deal with 2 Tim. 3:16 below, so let's now consider Matthew 5:18,

Do not think that I came to abolish the Law or the Prophets; I did not come to abolish but to fulfill. 18 "For truly I say to you, until heaven and earth pass away, not the smallest letter or stroke shall pass from the Law until all is accomplished. 19 "Whoever then annuls one of the least of these commandments, and teaches others to do the same, shall be called least in the kingdom of heaven; but whoever keeps and teaches them, he shall be called great in the kingdom of heaven. (Matthew 5:17-19)

Since this is one of the major passages the heretics use to build their case, I will discuss it carefully. Here's the question we need to ask:  

When is everything accomplished? (Matthew 5:18)

Option #1 – At the 2nd Coming.

This option says that the entire Mosaic Law, the law of the Old Covenant, continues until the 2nd Coming of Jesus Christ. This option cannot be true if Scripture can be quoted in context that states that Mosaic Law has been changed or abolished in the New Covenant era. Ephesians 2:14-16, Galatians 3:25, Hebrews 7:12, Galatians 4:21-31. Scripture cannot contradict itself therefore Matthew 5:18 must mean something else.

• The Ten Commandments are said to be a ministry of death and condemnation in the new covenant era (2 Corinthians 3).
• The Mosaic Law is said to be abolished because it would not allow for a new version of the people of God in the New Covenant era that was not distinctively Jewish (Ephesians 2:14-18).
• There is said to be a change in the Mosaic Law in the New Covenant era since the Mosaic law would not allow for a new priesthood in the order of Melchizedek (Hebrews 7:11-12).

Option #2 – The Cross and Pentecost

This option says that Jesus Christ by his death on the cross and with the coming of Pentecost has brought to an end the Old Covenant era and has accomplished all that the Old Covenant had revealed in picture form by ushering in the New Covenant (Hebrews 8:6-13).

• The New Covenant is the fulfillment of Abrahamic Covenant. The Old Covenant produced a physical people of God, Israel, and they were given a physical land, Palestine, but this was not the true fulfillment of the Abrahamic Covenant (Genesis 15, Galatians 3:17-25, Galatians 3:15-18, Hebrews 4:1-11).
• The New Covenant is the fulfillment of what was pictured in the Old Covenant (Hebrews 8:6-13).

The second interpretive option of Matthew 5:18 is the only acceptable option a believer can hold to if they want to remain orthodox and not contradict clear passages in context elsewhere in the New Testament.

As a result of studying heretical material, this young man is very confused about the relationship believers living under the New Covenant in Christ have to the law of Moses.  He believes that Christians need to keep the Old Covenant dietary laws of Leviticus 11.  This issue is easily answered by a clear understanding of the relationship between the Old Covenants (Mosaic Law) and the New Covenant in Christ; i.e., New Covenant Theology. What follows is my brief response to him.  I post it here to show the importance of having a correct understanding of how the Bible fits together and the ramifications poor theology can have on the life of a New Covenant believer.

The Response

Hi XXXX,

I realize you may have already developed strong convictions in this area, but to teach that the Old Covenant food laws are still required for New Covenant believers is not only moving the clock of progressive revelation backwards but contrary to what this man says in the video above, it is damnable just as 1st Timothy 4:4 teaches. This is because such a move seeks to put a yoke upon the shoulders of a Christian that God never intended for a New Covenant believer to bear. But before I go any further, consider the following:

Jesus abolished all of the Old Covenant food laws when he declared all foods clean with the coming of the New Covenant era,

And He said to them, 'Are you so lacking in understanding also? Do you not understand that whatever goes into the man from outside cannot defile him, 19 because it does not go into his heart, but into his stomach, and is eliminated? (Thus He declared all foods clean.)" Mark 7:18-19

The same God that originally gave the holy, righteous, and godly food laws of Leviticus 11 is the same God that abrogated them and used a divinely sent vision concerning their abrogation to prepare Peter's heart to give the gospel to the Gentiles,

But he became hungry and was desiring to eat; but while they were making preparations, he fell into a trance; 11 and he saw the sky opened up, and an object like a great sheet coming down, lowered by four corners to the ground, 12 and there were in it all kinds of four-footed animals and crawling creatures of the earth and birds of the air. 13 A voice came to him, “Get up, Peter, kill and eat!” 14 But Peter said, “By no means, Lord, for I have never eaten anything unholy and unclean.” 15 Again a voice came to him a second time, “What God has cleansed, no longer consider unholy.  Acts 10:10-15

The entire Old Covenant law with its 613 commands has been completely abolished with the coming of the New because it was a ministry of death, engraved in stone (i.e., the decalogue),

You are our letter, written in our hearts, known and read by all men; 3 being manifested that you are a letter of Christ, cared for by us, written not with ink but with the Spirit of the living God, not on tablets of stone but on tablets of human hearts. 4 Such confidence we have through Christ toward God. 5 Not that we are adequate in ourselves to consider anything as coming from ourselves, but our adequacy is from God, 6 who also made us adequate as servants of a new covenant, not of the letter but of the Spirit; for the letter kills, but the Spirit gives life. 7 But if the ministry of death, in letters engraved on stones, came with glory, so that the sons of Israel could not look intently at the face of Moses because of the glory of his face, fading as it was, 8 how will the ministry of the Spirit fail to be even more with glory? 9 For if the ministry of condemnation has glory, much more does the ministry of righteousness abound in glory. 10 For indeed what had glory, in this case has no glory because of the glory that surpasses it. 11 For if that which fades away was with glory, much more that which remains is in glory.  2 Corinthians 3:2-11

The entire Old Covenant (i.e., the Mosaic Law) has become obsolete with the coming of the New Covenant,

But now He has obtained a more excellent ministry, by as much as He is also the mediator of a better covenant, which has been enacted on better promises. A New Covenant 7 For if that first covenant had been faultless, there would have been no occasion sought for a second. 8 For finding fault with them, He says, “BEHOLD, DAYS ARE COMING, SAYS THE LORD, WHEN I WILL EFFECT A NEW COVENANT WITH THE HOUSE OF ISRAEL AND WITH THE HOUSE OF JUDAH; 9 NOT LIKE THE COVENANT WHICH I MADE WITH THEIR FATHERS ON THE DAY WHEN I TOOK THEM BY THE HAND TO LEAD THEM OUT OF THE LAND OF EGYPT; FOR THEY DID NOT CONTINUE IN MY COVENANT, AND I DID NOT CARE FOR THEM, SAYS THE LORD. 10 “FOR THIS IS THE COVENANT THAT I WILL MAKE WITH THE HOUSE OF ISRAEL AFTER THOSE DAYS, SAYS THE LORD: I WILL PUT MY LAWS INTO THEIR MINDS, AND I WILL WRITE THEM ON THEIR HEARTS; AND I WILL BE THEIR GOD, AND THEY SHALL BE MY PEOPLE. 11 “AND THEY SHALL NOT TEACH EVERYONE HIS FELLOW CITIZEN, AND EVERYONE HIS BROTHER, SAYING, ‘KNOW THE LORD,’FOR ALL WILL KNOW ME, FROM [c]THE LEAST TO THE GREATEST OF THEM. 12 “FOR I WILL BE MERCIFUL TO THEIR INIQUITIES, AND I WILL REMEMBER THEIR SINS NO MORE.” 13 When He said, “A new covenant,” He has made the first obsolete. But whatever is becoming obsolete and growing old is ready to disappear.

2 Tim. 3:16 doesn't mean that all Scripture is directly applicable to us now but that all Scripture is profitable in some way. To say that the Old Covenant is directly applicable to us now contradicts many clear New Testament passages in context. But what's worse than that is this: where do we draw the line? If we say that the Mosaic food laws are still binding upon Christians, why not the laws about planting mixed vegetables in my garden, wearing polyester shirts, or trimming the edges of my beard?  (Lev. 19:19, 27) Shall we tell our Christian friend that he's in sin because he has a mixed garden in his backyard and is clean shaven? If the food laws still apply what about those laws? Why not, and how would you know? Or how about God's commands to kill Israel's enemies under the Old Covenant? After all, I'm a spiritual child of Abraham by virtue of faith in Christ (Gal. 3:29), so why not be consistent with the Old Covenant law and slay those who are God's avowed enemies of the gospel instead of praying for them and preaching to them? 

The point I'm making is that when we dip into the law of Moses to get our laws for today, we cannot arbitrarily pick and choose which laws we want to grab and bring with us into the New Covenant era and which ones we want to skip over because with the law of Moses, its all or nothing. If you're going to keep part of it, you're going to have to keep the whole thing, just like Paul said when dealing with the issue of circumcision (Gal. 5:3). This is because if we dip into the very law that has been abolished to get our ethic for today, we have moved the redemptive clock backwards and are in danger of preaching the same legalistic false gospel that the Judaizers preached in Galatia if we preach that keeping the Law of Moses is required for Christians. Therefore, this is a very serious issue because it's not just dealing with food, it's making implications that relate to what era Christians are in and what commands they are obligated to follow to be pleasing to their Lord.

2 Tim. 3:16 means that all Scripture teaches us something about God and that in some way it is useful for teaching, rebuking, etc. However, we know from clear New Covenant passages in context (such as those above) that we cannot rebuke a man for eating a hot dog in the New Covenant era because Jesus has repealed those laws and what was sin under the Old Covenant is holy under the New.

If this man is teaching that it is always sinful to consume unclean foods under the New Covenant era then he is teaching the very thing that Paul warned against which are doctrines of demons.

Therefore no one is to act as your judge in regard to food or drink or in respect to a festival or a new moon or a Sabbath day— 17 things which are a mere shadow of what is to come; but the substance belongs to Christ." Colossians 2:16-17

For a Biblical alternative, I'd recommend viewing the following series on New Covenant Theology by A. Blake White: http://www.youtube.com/user/ablakew

The following New Covenant Theology website is excellent as well with plenty of audios and articles dealing with the issue of which law believers are under: http://www.ids.org/