Living Faith
The New Testament and New Covenant Are Not The Same Thing
August 21, 2019 | 
Author If we really understand this concept it gives true meaning and interpretation to the New Testament scriptures.
I think, at his conversion, Paul was the first apostle to understand the Gospel of the New Covenant which Christ revealed to him during and after his conversion.
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I found a small series of essays by Nathan Rambeck about this distinction, with which I (and Mom) agree.
It is not often that we find someone who thinks like we do. So it is kind of exciting. Generally, people who have been to seminary or people who have been taught by people who have been to seminary do not have this perspective.
Although he does not quite get to my concept of the New Covenant , he does a good job of explaining the difference between Law and Grace and the Old and New Covenant concept.
In the 6 subpages which follow, Nathan Rambeck shows the impact, in a good way, of misinterpreting this basic concept. His writing style is clear and orderly. Although there is not much other content, there is no indication that he has been to Seminary.
GRACE TO THE HUMBLE and Foundations of Grace There is no specific copyright, nor is there permission to use. I have retained all of the attribution and source links, and I am using it for private personal instruction not for distribution.
(Facebook)
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This is what I wrote about explaining the New Covenant in 2012.
“It is not enough to define the New Covenant as a distinction between Law and Grace. Rom 6:14
The real distinction is between Law and Life.
God’s Grace has always been active, even in the Old Testament. Grace is simply the activity of God’s love. God is always active in His creation.(1) The Life given by the New Covenant, however, is an altogether new way of living with God. Gal 3:21 Rom 7:6
The New Covenant is actually unique because of Life not Grace. Heb 9:15 2 Cor 3:6″
Originally posted June 25, 2012
Copyright © 2012 Daniel R. Boliek www.gflstudy.org
I also have notes to write a paragraph explaining how this “Life” works, which I think will be very interesting.
Let me know what you think?
(1) I don’t believe that God directs every circumstance in our life, as some people do.. But, I believe He does direct world history.
If you are a believer, God is always active in your thoughts and decisions.
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Do you believe?
Do you believe? You have Life!
Do you believe? You have Life!
Do you believe? You have Life!
Do you believe? You have Life!
This is the New Covenant. If you believe Christ is who He claimed to be, you have a new spiritual life. Rom 1:16
The New Covenant should always be defined by “life” rather than forgiveness. Christ’s death on the cross was certainly the sacrifice needed to satisfy the penalty of sin, but it did not give us the “new” life and new way of relating to God. Rom 5:10,8
Romans 7:6
Hebrews 10:20
This life is not so much defined as power to overcome sin in our life or empower us to service as it is the power to receive truth from God.
This is indeed a new way of relating to God.
People are innately selfish and generally misanthropic without some influence from outside of themselves.
Experiencing Truth, over time, renews our natural tendencies and changes us to love others. Change is the fruit of Truth which we learn by studying the Word and praying.
This is the New Covenant way. Trusting is based on what we experience over time.
Love
1 John 3:1 Behold, what manner of love the Father hath bestowed upon us, that we should be called the sons of God: therefore the world knoweth us not, because it knew him not.
Is Christianity Really Real?
Is Christianity really real? If so, where is it? Anyone can claim to be a Christian, and many do, who don’t have a clue about what it really is, because, deceived by their own imagination and conscience they want to define it in their own terms and superstitious beliefs. Any “new-age” ideas will work for many people, but, just to be safe, they want to be known as Christians. That can not be it. Or, in many cases, leaders are just charlatans exploiting a religious Christianity based on a perverted interpration of scripture. Then there are those who have been taught to interpret and teach scripture in a way which ignores the reality and meaning of the New Covenant. The Bible tells us how to know the real thing and the real Christians.(John 13:35)
I can understand why many young people have doubts, when preaching seems to be simply a way of controlling your life by guilt, fear and expectations, rather than teaching the “newness” of life which Christ taught for the New Covenant way. It is important to know that the “New Covenant” and the “New Testament” are not the same thing. See/join this discussion “New Covenant Interpretation” (Romans 7:6; 6:4; Hebrews 10:14-20)
In many seminaries, professors are teaching students how to make Christianity a religion. When these students get into their denominational work, they then teach and preach that Christianity is not a religion, it is a relationship, but then they usually mix in their religious church rules and performance expectations. A religion would be something similiar to what the Pharisees promoted; a set of church rules to live by in order to be a good Christian, obedience and commitment. On the other hand, a true relationship is based on “walking in newness of life” which is the New Covenant way.
It is easy to recognize the difference. Does your church frequently teach on obedience, commitment, sin, motivation and fear, rather than love, grace and the freedom of being a child of God and living a Christian life? Or, worse than that, do they teach one way one time and another way another time? (John 13:34; Mark 12:30-31)
But don’t give up on the Bible, it is actually spot-on for all of life’s circumstances and relationships and for what happens in this world. But, you must be born-again in order to interpret its meaning correctly in a nonlegalistic and selfless way. Somehow, if you are really “born-again”, over time, the Holy Spirit will help you understand what the scripture really means and it will change the frustrations of your heart. (See this article for what being “born-again” is all about.)
Don’t let ill-informed preaching influence your personal views. Study scripture yourself from a “New Covenant” perspective and see if it is really real. If it begins to make sense, that may be the Holy Spirit calling you to repent of unbelief. Being a born-again believer is simply repenting of your unbelief not making a commitment to resolve all sin in your life.
Walking by faith, then, is simply believing God for what He has done and what He says He will do in Scripture, in all of life’s situations, opportunities and circumstances. Walking by faith, is not trying to avoid sin and sinful thoughts. You learn to walk (think and act) where God is, not where your mind wants you to go.
What Does “In God” Mean To Me?
There are also terms such as “in me”, “in Christ”, “in the Father”.
Sometimes it is just an object of belief, other times it is a spiritual identity kind of like DNA is a physical identity.
This new spiritual identity is called being born-again, so it is not just a commitment to a cause like “Semper Fi”. It is an actual spiritual indwelling of God into “us”. So, spiritually we are also “in God”. Rom 8:11
This is the essence of the “new covenant”, which is called a “new and living way”. We now walk in this “new and living way” rather than by written laws and commandments or our own conscience. John 6:63 2Cor 3:6
Christ taught under the law and explained the “new way” which was coming. The Apostles did not understand that part of what He was teaching until the Pentecost.
Many people still do not understand this “new way”, because they may have been taught according to the “Flesh” rather than according to the “Spirit”. (Motivational teaching always speaks to the flesh. Much of Scripture may also speak to the “Flesh” if it is not studied with an understanding of the New covenant.) So, they live according to a mixture of “law” and “grace”. For some, it is easier to grasp rules and try to live those than it is to understand the freedom of Grace and live because you really know what it means to be “in Christ”.
A few scripture references:
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Living Faith by Grace
GRACE, FAITH and LIFE
A Personal Statement of Christian Faith and Practice
Living Faith by Grace
March 5, 2009
“Living faith by grace” is living faith by what God does not by what I do. It is all about knowing how Biblical, Christ based, “faith” should work. We should not be the initiators of our faith. Faith is responding to what God puts into our heart. Grace is God, through His Word, acting in our heart and mind.
When living our faith, the focus should always be on who we are in Christ, not on what we do for God by our performance, obedience or creed. Our faith is by grace when we understand how we connect and respond to God, sin is doing something religious when we don’t understand how our connection to God really works. ( Romans 14:22-23 )
When learning our faith, we must understand how God works in our heart and mind by expressions of love to one another, rather than being motivated to serve God and join an activity to help God before we understand how spiritual truths work in our life. The only thing we can do for God is to walk by faith in the spirit, not make commitments from the soul.
We abide in Christ, the truth of His Spirit, and, over time, that produces the fruit in our life and renews our mind. The gospel of this connection is what we should always be teaching believers, not how to strive to be purpose driven and purify our soul as the Pharisees did. ( John 15:1-9; John 5:37-40 )A strong desire of our soul is to be in control of our life.
We should always study and learn New Covenant Biblical truths as understanding the difference between the soul and the spirit, law and grace, old covenant and new covenant. (Hebrews 4:12 ) It doesn’t work to mix these messages to believers. Many Christians live the Christian Life as a philosophy of life, a religious life, rather than a spiritual rebirth which renews their inner being as a spiritual life and connection to God, to be led by the Truth; the Word of God.
Living a Christian philosophy of life can simply be doing or saying religious things for God without first understanding how the connection to God works out in our life. Sometimes we are taught that we are not under the law, but at the same time we will be admonished to be obedient, and obedient not just to the Old covenant law, but the Old Covenant law as Christ taught it. Of course they know we can’t do it, so then they teach that the Holy Spirit empowers us to do it. They teach that we are sinners empowered by the Holy Spirit to be obedient to the old commandments. This is a form of legalism to keep people in bondage to the programs of the church.
The power of the Holy Spirit is in the message of the gospel and the Truth of His Word to transform lives, not for us to do something for God. The work of the Holy Spirit is to remind us of the love of Christ for us. This then works out as our obedience of faith when we love God and one another. Holiness is the fruit of this truth, Christ in us. We are believers empowered to fulfill the new commandment to love God and Others. This is a truth which sets us free to enjoy God and our relationship with Him and others.
One of the biggest deceptions in some churches is to motivate people (believers) to service before they know who they are in Christ and how God really works in their life. Reformers tend to make God’s grace an afterthought, teaching cooperative perseverance in sanctification and then “by-the-way we can’t do it, it is really the Holy Spirit who does it”. Understanding God’s grace should always come before our works. Coming to understand what it means to walk in newness of life will be a conversion experience.
There are many secular organizations doing good social work which are called “faith” based. This is not the same thing as Biblical, Christ based, faith. Born-again believers will know the difference. So-called mainline churches who promote acceptance of deviant life styles and ideologies in the name of tolerance are acting-out a faith unknown in the Bible. Beware of these, they are perfectly willing to recruit and motivate people to do good works without understanding any spiritual connection to God.
Just think about it, the greatest act of grace in a believer’s life is being filled with the life of Christ and all we want to talk about is our sins! The greatest act of grace in this world is described in John 3:16. And yet, forgiveness of sins did not give us life. When we repent of our unbelief and believe Christ is who He said He is, we receive His life. This is the promise of the New Covenant. We have His life in us; and we want to focus on our sins and trying to clean-up our “old man”? ( Romans 5:10, Gal 5:16 )
John 3:16 (NKJV) For God so loved the world that He gave His only begotten Son, that whoever believes in Him should not perish but have everlasting life.
John 5:37-40 (NKJV) 37 And the Father Himself, who sent Me, has testified of Me. You have neither heard His voice at any time, nor seen His form. 38 But you do not have His word abiding in you, because whom He sent, Him you do not believe. 39 You search the Scriptures, for in them you think you have eternal life; and these are they which testify of Me. 40 But you are not willing to come to Me that you may have life.
Titus 2:11-15 (NKJV) 11 For the grace of God that brings salvation has appeared to all men, 12 teaching us that, denying ungodliness and worldly lusts, we should live soberly, righteously, and godly in the present age, 13 looking for the blessed hope and glorious appearing of our great God and Savior Jesus Christ, 14 who gave Himself for us, that He might redeem us from every lawless deed and purify for Himself His own special people, zealous for good works. 15 Speak these things, exhort, and rebuke with all authority. Let no one despise you.
Ephesians 3:16-20 (NKJV) 16 that He would grant you, according to the riches of His glory, to be strengthened with might through His Spirit in the inner man, 17 that Christ may dwell in your hearts through faith; that you, being rooted and grounded in love, 18 may be able to comprehend with all the saints what is the width and length and depth and height– 19 to know the love of Christ which passes knowledge; that you may be filled with all the fullness of God. 20 Now to Him who is able to do exceedingly abundantly above all that we ask or think, according to the power that works in us,
Romans 5:1-2 (NKJV) 1 Therefore, having been justified by faith, we have peace with God through our Lord Jesus Christ, 2 through whom also we have access by faith into this grace in which we stand, and rejoice in hope of the glory of God.
Galtians 5:1-16 (NKJV) 1 Stand fast therefore in the liberty by which Christ has made us free, and do not be entangled again with a yoke of bondage. 2 Indeed I, Paul, say to you that if you become circumcised, Christ will profit you nothing. 3 And I testify again to every man who becomes circumcised that he is a debtor to keep the whole law. 4 You have become estranged from Christ, you who attempt to be justified by law; you have fallen from grace. 5 For we through the Spirit eagerly wait for the hope of righteousness by faith. 6 For in Christ Jesus neither circumcision nor uncircumcision avails anything, but faith working through love. 7 You ran well. Who hindered you from obeying the truth? 8 This persuasion does not come from Him who calls you. 9 A little leaven leavens the whole lump. 10 I have confidence in you, in the Lord, that you will have no other mind; but he who troubles you shall bear his judgment, whoever he is. 11 And I, brethren, if I still preach circumcision, why do I still suffer persecution? Then the offense of the cross has ceased. 12 I could wish that those who trouble you would even cut themselves off! 13 For you, brethren, have been called to liberty; only do not use liberty as an opportunity for the flesh, but through love serve one another. 14 For all the law is fulfilled in one word, even in this: “You shall love your neighbor as yourself.” 15 But if you bite and devour one another, beware lest you be consumed by one another! 16 I say then: Walk in the Spirit, and you shall not fulfill the lust of the flesh.
John 15:1-9 (NKJV) 1 “I am the true vine, and My Father is the vinedresser. 2 Every branch in Me that does not bear fruit He takes away; and every branch that bears fruit He prunes, that it may bear more fruit. 3 You are already clean because of the word which I have spoken to you. 4 Abide in Me, and I in you. As the branch cannot bear fruit of itself, unless it abides in the vine, neither can you, unless you abide in Me. 5 I am the vine, you are the branches. He who abides in Me, and I in him, bears much fruit; for without Me you can do nothing. 6 If anyone does not abide in Me, he is cast out as a branch and is withered; and they gather them and throw them into the fire, and they are burned. 7 If you abide in Me, and My words abide in you, you will ask what you desire, and it shall be done for you. 8 By this My Father is glorified, that you bear much fruit; so you will be My disciples. 9 “As the Father loved Me, I also have loved you; abide in My love.
2 Corinthians 1:3-5 (NKJV) 3 Blessed be the God and Father of our Lord Jesus Christ, the Father of mercies and God of all comfort, 4 who comforts us in all our tribulation, that we may be able to comfort those who are in any trouble, with the comfort with which we ourselves are comforted by God. 5 For as the sufferings of Christ abound in us, so our consolation also abounds through Christ.
2 Peter 1:1-4 (NKJV) 1 Simon Peter, a bondservant and apostle of Jesus Christ, To those who have obtained like precious faith with us by the righteousness of our God and Savior Jesus Christ: 2 Grace and peace be multiplied to you in the knowledge of God and of Jesus our Lord, 3 as His divine power has given to us all things that pertain to life and godliness, through the knowledge of Him who called us by glory and virtue, 4 by which have been given to us exceedingly great and precious promises, that through these you may be partakers of the divine nature, having escaped the corruption that is in the world through lust.
Romans 14:22-23 (NKJV) 22 Do you have faith? Have it to yourself before God. Happy is he who does not condemn himself in what he approves. 23 But he who doubts is condemned if he eats, because he does not eat from faith; for whatever is not from faith is sin.
1 Corinthians 3:10-15 (NKJV) 10 According to the grace of God which was given to me, as a wise master builder I have laid the foundation, and another builds on it. But let each one take heed how he builds on it. 11 For no other foundation can anyone lay than that which is laid, which is Jesus Christ. 12 Now if anyone builds on this foundation with gold, silver, precious stones, wood, hay, straw, 13 each one’s work will become clear; for the Day will declare it, because it will be revealed by fire; and the fire will test each one’s work, of what sort it is. 14 If anyone’s work which he has built on it endures, he will receive a reward. 15 If anyone’s work is burned, he will suffer loss; but he himself will be saved, yet so as through fire.
Hebrews 4:12 (NKJV) For the word of God is living and powerful, and sharper than any two-edged sword, piercing even to the division of soul and spirit, and of joints and marrow, and is a discerner of the thoughts and intents of the heart.
Romans 5:10 (NKJV) For if when we were enemies we were reconciled to God through the death of His Son, much more, having been reconciled, we shall be saved by His life.
This page last updated on March 5, 2009.
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