Are we in the new covenant? Most Christians would answer we are in the new covenant because the new covenant was given to us when Jesus died and rose again from the dead. But for this to be true, we must find scripture in the Bible confirming it as accurate.
The first question we have to ask is this; who is the recipient of the new covenant? Is it the church or the Jews? The Bible says in Jeremiah 31 and Romans 11 that the new covenant is between Israel (the Jews) and God, not between the church and God.
Who are the Jews? Paul says in the letter to the Romans that a true Jew obeys the Torah regardless of ancestry or DNA.
The second question is this; is the Torah (the written law of Moses) a part of the new covenant? The answer is yes; in Jeremiah 31 and Hebrews, the Bible says the Torah will be written on the Jewish heart.
This shows us the Torah is still in effect in the new covenant. We even read in Jeremiah 31 how the Torah will continue to be in effect for as long as the Jews are God’s chosen people. The same chapter says the Jews will be God’s chosen people for as long as there is a heaven and earth. But remember what Paul says; a Jew obeys Torah.
The third question is this; when will it happen, or has it already happened? According to Paul and the book of Hebrews, the new covenant is a future event and a time when we will no longer need teachers because we will all know Yehovah. We all need teachers today; Paul even says so in the letter to the Corinthians chapter 12. So if one of the proofs of being in the new covenant is that we dont need teachers, and Pauls says we need teachers, then it is obvious we are not in the new covenant today.
How can we then understand Jesus’s role as the new covenant mediator? (Hebr 9:15)
A mediator is a person who attempts to make people involved in a conflict come to an agreement; a go-between.
We are in a conflict with Yehovah, the God of Abraham, Isaac, and Jacob. Why are we in a confrontation with Yehovah? Because we have sinned. What is sin? According to the Bible, sin is breaking the Torah. So when we do something the law of Moses prohibits, we are sinning.
What are Yehovah’s terms for coming to an end of this conflict? In Jeremiah 4, Yehovah says: If we accept His Torah (the written law of Moses), He will forgive us of our sin (1. John 1:9)
What did Jesus do when He walked among us? The Bible says He taught Torah (Matt 23:2-4). So if a mediator is a person who attempts to make people involved in a conflict come to an agreement, it is easy to see how Christ is the mediator of the New covenant.
Jesus (his Hebrew name being Yeshua) can act as a mediator for the new covenant, without us being in the new covenant, by presenting the terms of the peace agreement between Yehovah and us. This He did when He taught us to obey Torah to receive forgiveness of sins.
There is no doubt Jesus is the mediator of the new covenant, and there is no doubt we are not yet in the new covenant.
The question is, do you accept the new covenant’s terms or reject them?
You will only be a part of the future new covenant as long as you accept the terms of it, by repenting from lawlessness to law and receiving forgiveness of sins.
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