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The Daily Word of Righteousness
Why Have We Changed the New Covenant?, #3
For it is time for judgment to begin with the family of God; and if it begins with us, what will the outcome be for those who do not obey the gospel of God? (I Peter 4:17—NIV)
I agree that a few passages here and there in the Bible can be used to "prove" that if we believe in Christ we will not be judged for our behavior. But the text of the entire New Testament, including the four Gospel accounts, Acts, the Epistles of the Apostles, and the Book of Revelation, reveal beyond doubt that God insists on righteous, holy, and obedient personality and behavior. To not be transformed morally is to invite the outer darkness, the Lake of Fire, Hell, loss of inheritance in the Kingdom of God, and every other calamity.
Please review the entire New Testament with this in mind and see if I have spoken the truth.
No, the purpose of the new covenant is not to make it possible for untransformed people to live forever in the spirit Paradise. The purpose of the new covenant is to make it possible for people to be forgiven and then to be faithful to God's moral law. The purpose of the new covenant is to remedy the problem God found with the old covenant.
First, let us explain that by being faithful to God's moral law we do not mean to adhere to the numerous statutes and ordinances of the Law of Moses. The Law of Moses is a temporary, covenantal form of the true Law of God, the eternal moral law which is God's own Nature. The feast days, the kosher dietary laws, and the other statutes and ordinances were adapted to the conditions under which the Jews were living while the Law of Moses was in force. Even the Ten Commandments themselves are rough-hewn, incomplete expressions of the fullness of God's moral image.
The eternal moral laws of God are not peculiarly adapted to any race of people or time of season. They are those principles found in the undefiled conscience of all people. They are what God is; consequently they never change. They govern all righteousness, all holiness, and all obedience to God
The new covenant has been given to the royal priesthood that each member might be faithful to God's eternal moral laws, and in doing so become themselves a covenant to the remainder of mankind. When the nations practice what they see in the priesthood and what they hear from the priesthood, God will bless them. When they do not practice what they see in the priesthood and what they hear from the priesthood, God will destroy them.
Can you see from this what the Scriptures mean when they speak of us being God's covenant, God's witnesses, the light of the world?
Live such good lives among the pagans that, though they accuse you of doing wrong, they may see your good deeds and glorify God on the day he visits us. (I Peter 2:12—NIV)
For the nation or kingdom that will not serve you will perish; it will be utterly ruined. (Isaiah 60:12—NIV)
To be continued.