Hebrews 8:6-13 "But now He has obtained a more excellent ministry, inasmuch as He is also Mediator of a better covenant, which was established on better promises. For if that first covenant (the Old Testament) had been faultless, then no place would have been sought for a second (the New Testament). Because finding fault with them (Israel under the Old Testament Law), He says: "Behold, the days are coming, says the Lord, when I will make a new covenant with the house of Israel and with the house of Judah--not according to the covenant that I made with their fathers in the day when I took them by the hand to lead them out of the land of Egypt; because they did not continue in My covenant and I disregarded them, says the Lord. 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 in their mind and write them on their hearts; and I will be their God, and they shall be My people. None of them shall teach his neighbor, and none his brother, saying, "Know the Lord", for all shall know Me, from the least of them to the greatest of them. For I will be merciful to their unrighteousness, and their sins and their lawless deed I will remember no more." In that He says, "A new covenant," He has made the first obsolete. Now what is becoming obsolete and growing old is ready to vanish away."
The Old Testament Law was a conditional covenant. If you obey God and follow the commandments, you receive blessing. If you do not obey God and do not follow His commandments, you would be cursed. This is the covenant described in Deuteronomy 28. This covenant did not work because the people could not keep His commandments perfectly. Verse 9 says "because they did not continue in My covenant and I disregarded them, says the Lord."
God had to establish the New Covenant that was not based upon our performance but upon His grace shown through our Lord Jesus Christ. Jesus bore the penalty for the sins of our entire lifetime. Verse 12 shows us why the New Testament works. "For (because) I will be merciful to their unrighteousness, and their sins and their lawless deeds I will remember no more." God no longer remembers our sins because He punished all of our sins in Jesus.
Much of the confusion in the body of Christ occurs because we are trying to blend the Old and New Testaments. They are two separate covenants and cannot be blended. The Old Testament Law is based upon our performance. The New Testament is based upon Jesus and His mercy shown to us at the cross. When we try to blend these covenants, we end up believing that God is forgiving us one sin at a time. We end up with a mixture of condemnation and grace, depending on what verses we focus on.
Hebrews 8:13 says that the Old Testament is obsolete. This means that the Old Testament is no longer used. It is out of date. It cannot be applied under the New Testament. I did not write this. Read the verse. The Old Testament is obsolete. We are no longer offering animal sacrifices on a daily basis in the Temple. We need to stop our Old Testament thinking. God is not forgiving us one sin at a time based upon an animal sacrifice. Jesus has made one sacrifice for sins forever. We are forgiven of the sins of our entire lifetime, past, present, and future sins. So many are quoting Old Testament verses and examples as if they apply today. We can learn how God was dealing with people back then by reading the Old Testament. But we are not under that covenant anymore.
Does this mean that we can just sin and run wild, because Jesus made one sacrifice for sins forever? Absolutely not. Hebrews chapters 12-13 will be addressing these issues. But recognize that the writer of Hebrews is spending the first 11 chapters assuring us that our sins are forgiven. That is 11 chapters assuring us that our sins are remitted and the last 2 chapters on holiness. Our teaching and preaching should reflect this also. As we hold on to the gospel truth that our sins are forgiven and we are made righteous before God apart from our works, then He will lead and guide into holiness and walking in love.
Hebrews 9:7-9 "But into the second part the high priest went alone once a year, not without blood, which he offered for himself and for the people's sins committed in ignorance; the Holy Spirit indicating this, that the way into the Holiest of All was not yet made manifest while the first tabernacle was still standing. It was symbolic for the present time in which both gifts and sacrifices are offered which cannot make him who performed the service perfect in regard to the conscience--"
When the book of Hebrews was written, the Jewish people were still offering animal sacrifices in the Temple in Jerusalem. This did not cease until Jerusalem and the Temple were destroyed in 70 A.D. They were offering animal sacrifices on a daily basis for sins that they were conscious of. Then once a year, the high priest entered the Holy of Holies where God's Presence dwelt in the Temple. He offered a sacrifice once a year for the sins of people committed in ignorance. So the Jewish people were receiving forgiveness one sin at a time and, at best, one year at a time for sins committed in ignorance. These sacrifices could never cleanse or perfect their consciences. Unfortunately, many Christians are continuing in this Old Testament line of thinking. Our consciences are cleansed and made perfect before God when we change our thinking and accept that Jesus shed His blood for the remission of the sins of our entire lifetime. This is the gospel. This is what brings lasting peace. This is the Sabbath rest discussed in Hebrews chapter 4.
Keith Oliver
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