New Law – La Vista Church of Christ

New Is Better

Jeffrey Hamilton — Mon, 16 Feb 2026 20:04:21 +0000

by Hugh DeLong

"God, after He spoke long ago to the fathers in the prophets in many portions and in many ways, in these last days has spoken to us in His Son, whom He appointed heir of all things, through whom also He made the world" (Hebrews 1:1-2).

The Bible is God’s word. God, whose knowledge is Infinite, created us with the ability to communicate with Him. He chose to reveal Himself and His will for us through such communication. God spoke. This is the foundation of the Bible: God speaking to man.

Here in Hebrews 1, we learn that in times past (to the fathers) He spoke in many ways: History, Wisdom, Prose, but also by dreams, audible vocalization, and even using a donkey. This covers the whole of the Old Testament: the Patriarchal era (before the law of Moses), and the Mosaic era of Israel living under the Law. This has been written, saved, and translated for us in the Old Testament section of our Bibles.

But now He has spoken through Jesus. Jesus spoke audibly while he was on earth; the chosen apostles wrote down (with the help of the Holy Spirit) His teaching, and, with the help of the Holy Spirit, wrote further history and letters that have been compiled into our 27 books of the New Testament.
The Hebrew writer will later contrast the first covenant with the second covenant (cp. Heb. 8). The Old Testament is useful for learning history and the plan of God, and also great principles that help us live godly lives. The New Testament, however, is our source for learning Christ’s instructions.

In Hebrews, we will repeatedly compare these two covenants. The conclusion is reached that the new is better than the Old. In fact, the word ‘better’ will be found some 13 times in this book.

Behold, I Will Do Something New

Jeffrey Hamilton — Sun, 04 Jan 2026 18:19:49 +0000

https://www.lavistachurchofchrist.org/cms/wp-content/uploads/2026/01/Behold-I-Will-Do-Something-New.mp3

by Jeffrey W. Hamilton

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Text: Isaiah 43:8-21

I. New things are special

A. They are fresher, cleaner, brighter.

B. We want new things, not old, used, hand-me-downs

C. God told His people that He had something new for them - Isaiah 43:18-21

II. A new covenant

A. God selected the decedents of Abraham, specifically the children of Israel, and established a covenant with them

1. But Israel disobeyed and repeatedly broke the terms of the covenant - Jeremiah 11:6-10

2. And in accordance with that covenant, God brought disaster on the people - Jeremiah 11:11-17

B. But God also promised a new covenant for His people - Jeremiah 31:31-34

C. Christ brought in a better covenant based on better promises - Hebrews 8:6

1. The first covenant, the Law of Moses, was flawed due to the people who should have kept it - Hebrews 8:7-8

2. The write then quotes Jeremiah 31:31-34

3. And ends with noting that by using the word “new” God made the Law of Moses obsolete, growing old from that time until it disappeared and was replaced by Christ - Hebrews 9:15-22

4. We have arrived at the new covenant with Jesus’ shed blood - Hebrews 12:22-24

D. The old covenant was canceled at the cross - Colossians 2:13-14

III. How was the New Covenant better? - Hebrews 8:10-12

A. God’s Laws will be a part of His people

1. The Old Law was written on tablets of stone and that came to illustrate the problem

2. The Israelites were frequently urged to put the laws in their hearts and minds - Proverbs 3:3-4

a. But they failed to really make the Law apart of them - II Corinthians 3:12-15

3. To become a Christian under the New Law, you have to learn it first - Romans 10:17

a. We read the law and allow it to change us - II Corinthians 3:16-18

b. We are transformed by the renewing of our minds - Romans 12:2

c. We become new creatures - Ephesians 4:22-24

B. There will be a closer relationship between God and His people

1. We become the temple of God - II Corinthians 6:16-18

2. We are being built into a spiritual house - I Peter 2:4-5

3. We are chosen to be God’s people - I Peter 2:9-10

C. His People will know God

1. Under the Old Law, Israelites were born into the nation. Boys took on the seal of the covenant by being circumcised when they were 8 days old - Genesis 17:10-11

a. They then had to be taught about God and His Law as they grew up - Deuteronomy 6:6-9

2. God’s new covenant is different. You learn about God first and then choose to be His child.

a. Jesus came that we may know God - I John 5:20

b. We show that we know God through our obedience - I John 2:3-6

D. In His Mercy He will provide complete forgiveness

1. The Old Law could not provide complete forgiveness - Hebrews 10:1-4

2. We have redemption in Christ - Ephesians 1:7

3. We remember this when partaking of the Lord’s Supper - Matthew 26:27-28

IV. A New Law

A. The New Covenant comes with new terms of agreement (laws, if you would)

B. It is a law of faith - Romans 3:27

C. The new laws are not compatible with the old - Luke 5:36-39

1. Any attempt to blend them will destroy both

2. The Old Law had become ridged and cannot contain the new

3. Yet, those use to the Old Law had no tolerance for the New Law

V. How is the New Law better?

A. The Old Law was a unbearable yoke - Acts 15:10

B. But Christ’s law frees us from that slavery - Galatians 5:1

C. The Old Law of sin and death was brought to a conclusion - Romans 8:1-4

D. We have been set free from the fear of death - Hebrews 2:14-15

E. It is still a law. It still is a burden. But it is a light one now - Matthew 11:28-30

1. His commands are not burdensome - I John 5:3

2. And we share the burdens of life - Galatians 6:2

VI. Will you enter into the covenant God is offering through Christ?

The Spirit or the Letter?

Jeffrey Hamilton — Thu, 01 Jan 2026 20:36:40 +0000

by Michael Thomas

The apostle Paul said he and his fellow apostles were “ministers of the new covenant, not of the letter but of the Spirit; for the letter kills, but the Spirit gives life” (II Corinthians 3:6). He said this in reference to the work they had been given as gospel preachers, and how their message contrasted with the Law given through Moses. The old covenant led to death for those who did not keep it flawlessly (Deuteronomy 27:26), but the new covenant of the gospel gives life because it is based on the blood of Christ. Until Jesus died, there was nothing man could do, not even the Jew in his sacrifices (Hebrews 10:1-4), to erase the eternal debt of sin. We needed Jesus, who “takes away the first that He may establish the second. By that will we have been sanctified through the offering of the body of Jesus Christ once for all” (Hebrews 10:9-10). Therefore, by revealing this second covenant to us through the inspired teachings of the apostles, the Spirit was giving us the eternal life that the Law could not. The message he taught through the apostles was truly the first life-giving message ever made known to mankind (Titus 1:2-3).

It is a shame that some have misunderstood what Paul meant in writing of the letter of the Law and the Spirit. Some think he is saying we are saved through a literal indwelling of the Spirit, separate and apart from any obedience to God’s writings. They associate “the letter” of II Corinthians 3 with any letter written by inspiration, especially those of the apostles, and interpret God to be saying we are not to worry with any obedience for salvation. What a horrible exegesis of inspired writing. True life is found in following what the Spirit has already revealed through the apostles (Ephesians 3:1-5; II Timothy 3:16-17; James 1:18-21), not in our feelings or thoughts outside the word. The sword of the Spirit is His word, not His person (Ephesians 6:17).

In saying the Spirit saves and the letter kills, Paul was trying to get people to see the folly of trying to be saved through the Law of Moses, a message covered often in Paul’s writings (Romans 7-9; Galatians 3-5). In no way was he saying our salvation is solely by a literal indwelling of the Spirit or by God’s grace alone, else no one would be lost since “the grace of God that brings salvation has appeared to all men” (Titus 2:11). Furthermore, God had never sent His Spirit literally upon anyone for the purpose of salvation. The Spirit was promised to the apostles to guide them into all truth (John 16:13), which would enable them to convict the world of sin (John 16:8), and to lead them in ways that produce eternal life (John 20:31). By teaching the things the Spirit taught, the apostles and inspired teachers of the first century “cut to the heart” those who contradicted God’s will (Acts 2:37; I Corinthians 14:24-25).

The Spirit doesn’t literally dwell in man to guide our thoughts and actions; else we wouldn’t need the word of God at all. If not, why not? Instead, the Bible says God has given us His word for doctrine, reproof, correction, and instruction in righteousness that we might be complete unto every good work. He did not leave us to our opinion, traditions, or feelings to guide us, but has left a lamp unto our feet and a light unto our path, through the word, that we might know all things that have been freely given to us. If anyone teaches anything contrary to the apostles’ teachings, we are to ignore them and stay far away from them, even if they are an angel from heaven (Galatians 1:6-9, II John 9-11).

The question is, do we have enough love for God to be content with His word as it was written (I Corinthians 13:8-10; II Peter 1:3; Jude 3)? The Bible is filled with examples of people who resisted God’s word for human opinion and were condemned for it (Genesis 4:4-5; I Kings 13:21-22; Acts 13:8-11). Will we join that list of compromisers, or will we be content with the truth? Will we follow the Spirit into life, or will we hold onto the letter that kills? “The letter” for us may not be a temptation to revert to Judaism, but it can represent anything that contradicts God’s will. Therefore, we must measure every teaching by the word of God (I John 4:1), lest we follow a spirit that leads unto death.

Those who believe a lie are those who resist what the Spirit teaches through the word (II Thessalonians 2:10-12). Therefore, I choose to follow the Spirit who will lead me into life, instead of a letter that kills.

He Takes Away the First

Jeffrey Hamilton — Wed, 16 Jul 2025 13:59:54 +0000

by Terry Wane Benton

Hebrews 10:9 says, “…He takes away the first that He may establish the second.” What is the first, and what is the second? The first is the law of Moses and its system of animal sacrifices. Paul agrees in Colossians 2:11-16 that the old system with its food laws, sabbaths, circumcision, and festivals were “shadows” of the good things that would come in Christ, and that Christ is the “substance” those things were pointing toward. Once the “substance” (Christ) arrived, we would have the proper sacrifice, the proper spiritual food, the proper sabbath (rest), and the better things the old only darkly illustrated.

Illustrations and shadows get absorbed into the substance. This is like you seeing your shadow on the ground, and you follow that shadow right up to your body. Your body is the substance that casts the shadow, but the shadow is only a dark form of your body. Your body is far greater than your shadow. The shadow fades into the substance's light.

Back to Hebrews 10, we find that the “first” is the shadow-filled law. “The law, having a shadow,” which includes the animal sacrifices (Hebrews 10:1-4). But God wasn’t interested in those animal sacrifices when all they were for was to be dark illustrations of the better thing, Jesus, the final and all-sufficient sacrifice. The Old Testament already confessed the insufficiency of its system of animal sacrifices. In Psalms 40:6-8, it admits, “Sacrifice and offering You did not desire.” He commanded it for a temporary purpose, not a purpose sufficient of itself, and certainly not the real answer to our sin problem.

God technically desired the Israelites to obey and offer the illustration offerings, but “shadows” have no substance in themselves. So, “the first” is the Law (of Moses) with its shadowy illustrations of sacrifice for sin, and that was not God’s objective or end-goal. God had in mind a far better and sufficient sacrifice that would never need to be repeated. It would be a sufficient, one-time-for-all-time-and-all-people, sacrifice for all sins.

He removed the first system of shadows and types so that He could establish the real thing we truly needed. Justice and mercy rolled together in Jesus, in His being wounded for our transgressions (Isaiah 53). The first system was “nailed to the cross” (Colossians 2:12f; Ephesians 2:11-18). We are not to be judged regarding foods and sabbaths. The old system was only illustrating the need to be discerning of our spiritual food and our need for internal rest in Christ (our true Sabbath rest). He has established a better system with a better covenant built on better things.

If someone teaches that we must retain all the shadows of the Old Testament, they cannot select just one thing, such as circumcision or Sabbath keeping. That would cause us to fall from the sufficient grace that is now offered to us in Christ. Stand fast in that liberating blessing (Galatians 5:1-6). We are complete in Jesus (Colossians 2:10). We need to be established in this better covenant with Jesus. He took away the first because the end-goal was the second and better covenant in Jesus.

The “Time of Reformation” Prophesied

Jeffrey Hamilton — Sun, 06 Apr 2025 21:13:38 +0000

by Terry Wane Benton

In Hebrews 9, the Holy Spirit tells us that the tabernacle and its furnishings were imposed “until the time of reformation” (Hebrews 9:10-11). The physical items used were merely teaching items to illustrate the spiritual things that would come into play in a new and better system. So, are there prophecies in the Old Testament that actually predicted this time of reform and change from one system to a different system? Indeed, there are many, but let us consider just two.

The Holy Spirit uses Jeremiah 31:31f and Psalms 110 to show us that He had long predicted and planned this greater system, and this greater system came to fruition in Jesus Christ. The Holy Spirit had said through Jeremiah,

“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 that I took them by the hand to lead them out of the land of Egypt, My covenant which they broke, though I was a husband to them, says the Lord. But this is the covenant that I will make with the house of Israel after those days, says the Lord: I will put My law in their minds, and write it on their hearts; and I will be their God, and they shall be My people. No more shall every man teach his neighbor, and every man his brother, saying, ‘Know the Lord,’ for they all shall know Me, from the least of them to the greatest of them, says the Lord. For I will forgive their iniquity, and their sin I will remember no more” (Jeremiah 31:31-34).

This prophecy, given by the Holy Spirit hundreds of years before Christ arrived, said that there would be:

A new covenant.
It would not be like the Sinai covenant with Israel.
It would come into their minds and hearts in the process of coming to know God.
It would bring the wonderful provision of forgiveness of sins with a permanence not offered under the system then in play.

After Jesus’ resurrection and ascension to God’s right hand, the Holy Spirit revealed that this new covenant and all those prophesied blessings were now offered in Jesus. This revelation and divine commentary on the Jeremiah prophecy is expounded in Hebrews 7-9.

Each of the above four items shows that a time of reformation was coming and has now come. A new covenant is reform, and the fact that it is not like the covenant they received when God brought them out of Egypt is all the proof needed to know that when the Holy Spirit identified the new covenant as being given by Jesus (Hebrews 9:15-17) and that Jesus was “surety of a better covenant,” then it is clear that this is the time of reformation. The Holy Spirit prophesied it in Jeremiah and confirmed it came to pass in Hebrews.

In Hebrews 9, the Holy Spirit shows us that the former system was “carnal” or “fleshly” and that the new and better system was not like that but rather “spiritual” or “written in the heart” or spirit. Our tabernacle is spiritual, and all our furnishings are spiritual in nature. That is the “reform.” We have reformed from carnal to spiritual, and with better things that deliver to the conscience and spirit what could not be done by the former system.

Psalms 110 prophesied a new and better priesthood. David said He would put down enemies and be victorious in a way not seen before. That implies a time of reformation when we would have a victorious leader as king and priest in one, and this would allure people to become “volunteers” in the day of His power. This greater priest would be permanent, a “priest forever,” which is a reform from what Israel had in the Levitical priests.

So, yes, the Holy Spirit told us ahead of time that a time of reformation was coming, and the same Holy Spirit has shown us in the New Testament that that time of reformation had arrived in Jesus. Now we have a greater High Priest, a greater system to address sin and a guilty conscience, and a greater tabernacle with greater furnishings, and greater provisions to bring to our hearts a desire to volunteer ourselves to God in Jesus.

Many more Old Testament passages prophesied of this time of reformation, but these two are among the powerful witnesses to the fact that the new system in Christ is far greater in many ways than the old system seen in Judaism under that carnal covenant in their flesh.

It addresses the spirit and conscience in a way the old could not. The old could not do all that was needed, or it would not have prophesied what the coming Messiah would accomplish. The Holy Spirit wanted us all to graduate from the inferior system to the superior system in Christ. Have you entered the greater time of reformation in Christ?

Biblical Law

Jeffrey Hamilton — Fri, 14 Mar 2025 22:06:24 +0000

by Lynn Trapp
via Sentry Magazine, Vol. 16 No.1, March 31, 1990

For several months now, I have agonized over the question of biblical law. Three factors have led to my consideration of this subject. First, having read Walther Eichrodt’s Old Testament Theology (Vol. 1), I began to perceive that how I had explained the relationship between the two covenants was essentially flawed because that explanation was based on the wrong premises. Second, recent studies (over the past three years) of Ezekiel and Joshua through II Kings have required a consideration of these matters. Third, last year, Brother Chappelear asked me to prepare an article for Sentry on the relation between the covenants (my only regret is that other duties have prevented me from pursuing that request until now). The primary focus of this article deals with how we explain the relation between the covenants. I respectfully beg the deference of the readers on this matter since this is being written more as an academic exercise to test a theory than it is as a settled conclusion of mine. Therefore, any response to this will be welcome.

What’s Wrong

Let me begin by describing what I think is fundamentally wrong with my former explanation. Basically, I would characterize it as thinking of the law of Moses and the law of Christ in a vacuum. I have viewed the law of God as a collection of regulations that exist solely because God gave them to us. Yet, such a concept makes God purely arbitrary—a conclusion I have long been uncomfortable with. Nonetheless, I was satisfied with this situation because I had no alternative.

Furthermore, I believe that the standard explanation runs into a difficulty in Hebrews 7:12, "For when the priesthood is changed, of necessity there takes place a change of law also." Clearly, the context (Hebrews 6:1-3; 8:7-13) is arguing for a complete change in law, but why does the change of priesthood require a total change of law? Would not an "amendment" to the law of Moses serve the same purpose? Is it possible that there is something more fundamental to the law than the restriction of priests to the tribe of Levi? Hebrews 7:14 says, "It is evident that our Lord was descended from Judah..." However, the writer says that the need for a law change becomes "clearer still" when we consider the order from which the new priest arises. Melchizedek predates the law of Moses, and thus, his priesthood rested on a more fundamental basis than that law. Thus, when another priest arises after the order of Melchizedek, it is based on something greater than the law.

The basic fallacy in explaining the relation of the covenants is the equating of law and the covenant. Now, while an exhaustive search of the use of the two terms in scripture will find some instances of equivalence, the terms are not exactly the same, either in meaning or use. Instead of giving an extensive definition of the words, let me state simply that law arises because of the existence of a covenant. The concept of a covenant establishes a community known as the people of God (Israel in the Old Testament, the church in the New Testament). It governs that community’s relationship with God. The law then is provided by God to keep the community in the proper relationship to the covenant. I suspect that Galatians 3:15-20 will prove to be a watershed passage regarding this question, but I have not thoroughly studied the subject and will, therefore, not deal with it in great detail. While this is only a provisional idea, I suggest that the one concept that runs through the entire corpus of Revelation is the concept of covenant. Accordingly, to properly understand the relation between the "old law" and the "new law," we must pursue the meaning and purpose of biblical covenants. Still, that study will require more time and space than is available for this article.

May One Law Supercede Another?

The understanding that covenant, not law, is the fundamental concept that governs our relationship with God will, I believe, help establish clearly that the law of Christ has superseded the law of Moses. The church, the people of God under what is called the new covenant, is (by its connection with Christ) the culmination of a covenant which Galatians 3:17 says is not invalidated by the introduction of the law of Moses. Conversely, those who come into covenant relationship with God through Christ are said to be not "under" the law of Moses (Galatians 3:25), but are "Abraham’s offspring, heirs according to the promise" (Galatians 3:29). With this in mind, I think we may say that the law of Moses consists of all the regulations for life and worship given to Israel from Mt. Sinai to the close of the Old Testament, and in no way annulled or added to the covenant with Abraham. Yet, what we call the law of Christ is fundamentally different (in fact, the term "law of Christ" may not be the best choice of terms, but I do not object to its use). The law of Christ and the culminated Abrahamic covenant are coterminous and so interwoven as to be indistinguishable. Thus, if the culminated covenant supersedes the law of Moses (Galatians 3:25), then the law of Christ supersedes the law of Moses.

Another thing that might be added, but is the subject of a completely different inquiry, is that the law of Moses and the law of Christ are also different in their nature. Where the law of Moses was given to lead men away from the commission of transgression, the law of Christ was given to lead men toward the forgiveness of transgression. I wish that someone defending the concept of continuous cleansing in Christ would take up that thought and pursue it because I believe a failure to recognize that difference is central to the argument in defense of specific repentance of every sin. But that’s another issue I will leave for others to pursue.

A Practical Question

Let me offer a practical benefit of looking at the two laws this way. Hebrews 13:8—"Jesus Christ is the same yesterday, today, yes and forever"—has been used by all sorts of people in all sorts of ways, not the least of which is an attempt to bind the law of Moses on the church. We have generally responded that the passage deals with God’s character, not the specific details of some law or practice. Yet, to the listener, it still sounds like we are arguing for change when God says there is none. And we place God’s integrity on the line unless we can show contextually that He is not dealing with the details of some law. Put another way, can God be said to be unchangeable if He changes the priesthood? He can if the change in that detail of law is necessary to preserve the integrity of His covenant promise to Abraham. In Hebrews 13:10-16, the writer argues, in the face of Hebrews 13:8, for change from animal sacrifices to the sacrifice of Christ. Paradoxically, the argument for change is made to defend his statement in Hebrews 13:8 that there is no change. The only possible way is because God is preserving the integrity of something (the covenant promise of Abraham), which is more basic than the law of Moses.

Conclusion

I appreciate the patience of the readers who have waded through my wanderings on this subject and Brother Chappelear’s consideration for publication. This may not be what he wanted when he asked me to write on this subject, but it is all I can offer in my current state of understanding. Admittedly, some controversy may be generated by some of the things I have said, though I cannot and will not predict just where. I only hope that any detractors I may have will chalk some of it up to my incurably cloudy head and enjoyment of a philosophical approach to writing. With that, I leave it with you to do with as you please.

The Living Intercessor

Jeffrey Hamilton — Sun, 09 Mar 2025 17:05:48 +0000

https://www.lavistachurchofchrist.org/cms/wp-content/uploads/2025/03/The-Living-Intercessor.mp3

by Jeffrey W. Hamilton

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Text: Hebrews 7:11-25

I. The need for an intercessor

A. Fear

1. Have you ever been so nervous that you said, “I can’t talk to him! You go and talk to him.”

2. Exodus 19:14-20 - When the people met the Lord God, it was a frightening experience.

3. So much so that the people asked Moses to go between them and God - Deuteronomy 5:23-27

B. Anger

1. At times it becomes difficult dealing with people directly. They caused you harm and it is hard to hold the civil discourse needed to resolve matters.

2. I Samuel 19:3-6 - Jonathan frequently interceded on David’s behalf with his father.

II. Jesus is the chosen intercessor

A. Eli asks a good question of his sons - I Samuel 2:25

1. God helps to resolve issues between people

2. But what happens when the issue is between people and God?

B. Isaiah 59:1-2 - We have angered our God with our sins. - Romans 2:5-9

C. This is what caused Job to despair. There was no umpire between him and God - Job 9:29-35

D. No man could intercede, so God took matters into His own hands - Isaiah 59:9-16

E. This is a function that the High Priest once performed imperfectly for Israel

1. Leviticus 9:7-8, 15 - The High Priest was a sinful man like everyone else, so he had to offer a sacrifice for his own sins before he could approach God with a sacrifice for the people.

2. Because of his imperfection, he could only enter the presence of God once a year - Leviticus 16:2-3, 11, 15-17

3. It had to be done yearly - Leviticus 16:34

F. It was prophesied that the priesthood would change

1. Hebrews 7:17 - There would be a priest of the order of Melchizedek

2. But priests came from the tribe of Levi. This indicated that these priests were inadequate - Hebrews 7:11

G. Contrast this to our High Priest

1. The Levitical priests died - Hebrews 7:23

2. Jesus lives forever, so his priesthood is permanent - Hebrews 7:24

3. Jesus’s offering was permanent - Hebrews 7:26-28; 10:10-14

4. Jesus is without sin, so he can remain in the presence of God - Hebrews 8:1-2

H. Jesus can mediate because He understands us - Hebrews 4:14-5:2, 5-10

1. This is why John called Jesus our Advocate - I John 2:1

2. The word means a councilor or comforter.

3. It is the same word Jesus used to say that He would send another comforter or helper - John 14:16

III. Intercession is also used in another way. The word literally contains the idea of a chance encounter.

A. It can be used of rogues just happening upon a lone maiden - Ruth 2:22

B. It can also describe an encounter that wasn’t so accidental - I Kings 2:24-25

C. It is in this sense that the suffering servant is described in Isaiah

1. Isaiah 53:4-6 - In that last phrase, the Lord caused our iniquities to fall upon him. “Fall upon” is the word for an intercessor.

2. Our sins deserved punishment and the Lord Jesus came between us and God and took the punishment upon himself.

3. He interceded for the transgressors - Isaiah 53:12

4. It was a “chance” encounter that was planned before the world began - II Timothy 1:9

D. By taking on our punishment, Jesus nullified the anger of God, healing the rift between God and ourselves. This is the meaning of “propitiation” - I John 2:2; 4:10

IV. By coming between man and God, Jesus mediated a new and better covenant

A. The old covenant could not make man complete - Hebrews 7:18-19

B. Jesus established a better covenant - Hebrews 8:6-7

C. The better promise? Eternal life - Hebrews 9:15

D. Jesus negotiated a better deal for mankind. He brought us a way to have eternal life. He bought and sealed that deal with his own blood.

V. The question though is whether you will accept the terms and enter into that covenant.

A. It has been bought and paid in full.

B. It just requires a few simple things to enter: hear, believe, repent, confess, and be baptized.

C. But it requires devoting your life to your new Master.

Ministration of Life

Jeffrey Hamilton — Fri, 17 Jan 2025 18:18:35 +0000

by Terry Wane Benton

An interesting contrast between the Old and New Testaments, according to II Corinthians 3, is that the Old is a ministration of death, while the New is a ministration of life. The old prepared the way for Jesus by pointing out sin and displaying a sentence of death, thus our need for a Savior. The new presents the Savior, the giver of life.

At Sinai, when the Law of Moses was given, we see the Israelites shaking in fear at the awesome presence of God, and soon after 3,000 were killed (ministration of death). "And about three thousand men of the people fell that day" (Exodus 32:28-29 NKJV). But, in contrast, at the beginning of the New Covenant established in Acts 2, we see 3,000 people who were dead in sin, baptized into Christ, and raised to spiritual life. "Then those who gladly received his word were baptized; and that day about three thousand souls were added to them. NKJV Here we see that the New Testament was/is a ministration of spiritual life that works to guarantee our eternal life in heaven" (Acts 2:41-42).

The Old Testament was glorious, but in comparison to the New Testament, it had not nearly the same glory.

"But if the ministry of death, written and engraved on stones, was glorious, so that the children of Israel could not look steadily at the face of Moses because of the glory of his countenance, which glory was passing away, how will the ministry of the Spirit not be more glorious? For if the ministry of condemnation had glory, the ministry of righteousness exceeds much more in glory. For even what was made glorious had no glory in this respect, because of the glory that excels. For if what is passing away was glorious, what remains is much more glorious" (II Corinthians 3:7-11 NKJV).

The old was designed to serve a temporal position of preparing the way for the Savior and then “passing away” as a binding law. The New is what “remains” and it provides all the needs of sinners to bring about their spiritual and eternal life.

The Time of Reformation

Jeffrey Hamilton — Fri, 26 Apr 2024 02:57:26 +0000

by Terry Wane Benton

The Book of Hebrews makes the argument that we had, in the past, been using carnal, earthly things in service to God (Hebrews 9:1-11) but would, from the Old Testament perspective, see a “time of reformation” (Hebrews 9:10) in which we would put down the carnal, earthly types and shadow things and reform to a spiritual counterpart. Instead of an earthly High Priest in an earthly tabernacle, we would see a spiritual High Priest in a spiritual tabernacle. That is the major theme of the change (Hebrews 7:10-12) from the old covenant to the new covenant, the change from an earthly nation (physical Israel) to a spiritual nation (spiritual Israel, the church of Christ).

The Old system used the earthly tabernacle, furnishings, and an earthly Levitical priesthood with various animal sacrifices. In the time of reformation with a “change of the Law” we would have a spiritual house, a spiritual priesthood, a heavenly Jerusalem, a Greater High Priest seated in heaven at the right hand of the Father, and the sacrifice of Jesus was “once for all time and all people”. This reformation from the earthly to the heavenly or spiritual was all part of God’s eternal plan for a better covenant with better things.

Now, we have land, but it is not the physical land of Israel; it is better. It is “the heavenly places in Christ” (Ephesians 1:3), and in this spiritual region, we have “every spiritual blessing” (Ephesians 1:3). This is truly a land flowing with milk and honey. Everything we need is in this spiritual region in Christ. We have our own “Jerusalem,” but it is “Jerusalem above” (Galatians 4:26), not the one on the earth. Thus, our heavenly Jerusalem is far greater than earthly Jerusalem has ever been, even in its finest glory days.

We have our own mountain, but it is not one that you can touch physically. During this time of reformation, you left the earthly things you could touch, and “you have come to Mount Zion and to the city of the living God, the heavenly Jerusalem” (Hebrews 12:18, 22). The contrast is clear! The earthly city was only a shadow form of the heavenly city. All Christians are gathered together in the heavenly places in Christ.

The time of reformation was entered from Pentecost of Acts 2 forward. Converts to Jesus are “translated out of darkness and into the kingdom of God’s dear Son” (Colossians 1:13), which kingdom Jesus said was “not of this world” (John 18:36). Thus, we are not physically born into this kingdom as the Israelite had been physically born into his earthly kingdom. In this time of reformation, we must be “born again” of the water and Spirit (John 3:3-5). That which is flesh is flesh. That which is spirit is spirit. We see this kingdom not with physical eyes but rather “with the eyes of your understanding” (Ephesians 1:18). We see the mountain that cannot be touched and the heavenly Jerusalem with the eyes of our understanding. We see ourselves as part of a spiritual temple (I Peter 2:5-9) and part of a royal and spiritual priesthood, ministering spiritual things in God’s spiritual house, the church. Isaiah 2:1-4 prophesied that this house is “above the mountains” and is not of the same nature as the house of Israel that had to learn to use the tools of war. Our weapons are not carnal (II Corinthians 10:4f). Our military is not earthly, and our armor is not earthly (Ephesians 6:10-18).

We fight spiritual battles with spiritual weapons while wearing spiritual armor. We are in a marvelous “time of reformation.” We see it through the gospel that opens the blind eyes and turns them into eyes of faith and understanding. You can’t point to this kingdom on an earthly map, for it is within those who have correctly learned Jesus, the King of kings.

Heavenly Places in Christ Versus the Old Earthly Places

While Hebrews is a very thorough book explaining many points of change and the supremacy of Christ over Moses, Aaron, and the old covenant system, other books add insight into this spiritual-over-earthly theme. The book of Ephesians is replete with similar contrasts to the old system. While the old Levitical priesthood system was physically still in motion at Jerusalem and those who rejected Jesus were still pretending God was with them and blessing them through their Mosaic law and animal sacrificial system, Matthew records that when Jesus was crucified, the temple veil was split from top to bottom (Matthew 27:51) indicating that God was no longer associated with that system, and all connection to God was now “in Christ” and through His sacrificial provision. While the Jews continued till AD 70 to use the temple and pretend God was with them, the evidence was clear that “every spiritual blessing was in the heavenly places in Christ” (Ephesians 1:3). No spiritual blessing is associated with national Israel. All blessings from God are in His church! We are His only people! National Israel is not God's people any longer! They can have His blessings if they obey Jesus the same as anyone else, but they are not God's nation. The time of reformation has changed that arrangement!

Spiritual Temple Greater than the Earthly Temple

The earthly temple in Jerusalem was a shadow form of the greater spiritual temple we now have in Christ, but now “in Christ” in “the heavenly places” we see with the “eyes of your understanding” (Ephesians 1:18) that the spiritual blessings are not associated with the Jews and their temple but are now wholly in a spiritual domain accessible to all nations at all times. The earthly temple in Jerusalem was far inferior to the spiritual temple we now have in Christ. In this spiritual domain, both Jews and Gentiles have equal access to God’s great blessings (Ephesians 2:11-22). The old earthly temple was a tool for concept building. To formulate spiritual concepts, you need a model, something physical, from which to illustrate the greater spiritual concepts. The earthly temple in Jerusalem served that needed purpose but now was no longer needed. The time of reformation had arrived in Christ, and now “you (Christians from Jew and Gentile background) also are being built together for a habitation of God in the Spirit”(Ephesians 2:22). This is the greater thing God had in mind. Use a richly decorated physical temple to illustrate a greater spiritual temple with greater spiritual riches in Christ. When we see with the eyes of our understanding, we have understood why God started with the earthly and then wanted us to graduate to the spiritual by way of inward spiritual perception. The earthly temple was for concept building. When the time was right, Jesus would build the greater spiritual temple, and we would find great inward, spiritual riches that no man could take from us.

The Foundation of the Temple

The earthly temple in Jerusalem had large foundation stones, but the spiritual temple also had foundation stones. They are not earthly stones in nature, but they are the apostles and prophets aligned with Jesus as the chief cornerstone (Ephesians 2:20). The stones of the spiritual temple build upward from this mighty foundation. Peter says to Christians that we are “living stones” that “build up a spiritual house” (I Peter 2:5-8). So, the “time of reformation” had arrived in Jesus to reform from a physical nation (Israel) with a physical temple in Jerusalem to a spiritual nation with a spiritual temple in a new and greater “heavenly place” in Christ, a “heavenly Jerusalem” (Hebrews 12:22f). We have been in this time of reformation since Pentecost of Acts 2, where “this Jesus you have crucified is now both Lord and Christ“ (Acts 2:36). He has all authority (Lord), and He is the Christ/Messiah/King over this great spiritual kingdom. If you see with the eyes of your understanding that all spiritual blessings are now in Christ, and if you can see that you need to build your life on the proper foundation, you can do as the 3000 on Pentecost and turn your life around and be baptized into union with Jesus where every spiritual blessing can be enjoyed. Can we help you see how important and absolutely essential that is?

In the former time, the time of dealing with Israel for concept building, the earthly nation, earthly places, the earthly temple, etc., all illustrated God’s greater plan to bring about a “time of reformation” (Hebrews 9:10) in which the earthly would be reformed or changed into spiritual counterparts for all the nations (Genesis 12:1-3). God always had in mind blessing all the nations through the coming Seed of Abraham (Jesus). When Jesus finished the job of satisfying the law of righteousness and fulfilling the sacrificial demand of justice and mercy, the new and better covenant could start this time of reformation. Hebrews emphasizes that we now have everything better through Jesus. Read the book of Hebrews and see how many things are “better” and “more excellent” in this time of reformation in Christ.

Our focus for now is that the “time of reformation” is seen clearly in the book of Ephesians. Already, we have seen that every “spiritual blessing” is “in the heavenly places in Christ” (Ephesians 1:3). The heavenly places in Christ are accessible to any heart anywhere. You do not have to go to physical Jerusalem to obtain God’s great blessings of forgiveness and reconciliation. You can enter Christ from any place, a spiritual move from worldly attachment to heavenly connection of heart and spirit, which connection is made in learning Christ Jesus.

Made Us Accepted in the Beloved – Ephesians 1:6

In the old system, you went up to Jerusalem, offered animal sacrifice, and prayed for forgiveness of sins, as you see with the Pharisee and Publican in Luke 18:9-14. One went down from that earthly Jerusalem temple justified. But in this time of reformation, we are made accepted in our heavenly Jerusalem in the heavenly places in Christ. He makes us accepted or justified in Christ. Those who entered this spiritual domain in Christ have the blessing of being able to confess their sins at any time and be forgiven (I John 1:7-9; 2:1-4). Our sacrifice is a one-time-for-all-time sacrifice in Jesus. He does not have to be offered over and over. So, the basis of forgiveness is always available. We have only to spiritually make our appeal for it when we sin. He makes us accepted in the Beloved.

Redemption Through His Blood – Ephesians 1:7

Redemption under the old system involved animal sacrifice, but in this time of reformation, we find that all those animals were foreshadowing the ultimate sacrifice we would have in Jesus. We have been bought at a price, a dear price. God gave His Son, the life-blood of Jesus, to buy us off the slave market of sin and condemnation. We have “forgiveness” of sins in this heavenly place, this spiritual temple in the Lord.

Riches of His Grace – Ephesians 1:7

As the old earthly Jerusalem temple was decked with gold, silver, bronze, and precious stones, those were but physical illustrations of the greater spiritual riches in Christ. So, the riches of His grace decorate our lives, our spiritual temple, and these great riches include the provisions of grace, redemption through His blood, and forgiveness of sins. We are nothing without these great riches provided by His marvelous grace.

The old system gloried in the earthly city and beautifully decorated temple at Jerusalem. In this time of reformation, our glory is in the beauty of Jesus’ marvelous spiritual blessings that decorate our lives, spirits, and hearts united to Him in the heavenly places. The riches that decorated the earthly temple were but shadows of the great spiritual riches in the heavenly places in Christ. God is not as interested in our physical wealth as our spiritual wealth. How rich are you inside? Is the kingdom of Jesus in you and you in His marvelous house? This time of reformation should enrich our minds more than anything in the world! Are you seeing this with the eyes of your understanding?

The kings of Israel sat on earthly thrones in earthly places like Jerusalem, but God wanted the earthly to typify and project the heavenly or spiritual places in Christ (Ephesians 1:3). His plan was to start first with the earthly things so that we could build concepts of the greater and eternal in our minds and spirits. Thus, in the time of reformation that began after Jesus’ death and resurrection, God “seated Him at His right hand in the heavenly places” (Ephesians 1:20). This position of rule is “far above all principality and power and might and dominion” (Ephesians 1:21). So, our king over all kings is ruling from a greater position and vantage point. Our king is ruling with the “name above all names.” There is no king who ever lived on earth who had a greater kingdom than the kingdom we are able to enjoy in Christ Jesus. He is over everything, and all enemies are “under His feet,” meaning that they cannot rise up to conquer Jesus as enemies rose up to conquer Egyptian, Babylonian, and other earthly kings. All enemies are under His feet. You cannot conquer a spiritual kingdom with carnal weapons of the earth. Our kingdom is “not of this world” (John 18:36), and one cannot put King Jesus under anyone’s feet. In this time of reformation, we have a king seated where no human arrows, spears, catapults, bullets, or bombs can bring Him down in defeat.

The weapons we use are not carnal weapons (II Corinthians 10:4f), and the armor we put on to fight is not material but spiritual (Ephesians 6:1-18). So, Jesus has a spiritual kingdom with a spiritual military with spiritual weapons. Under the old system, before the “time of reformation,” we had Israel as a physical nation, with a physical military, using carnal weapons, but now we have spiritual Israel (the church of Christ) with a spiritual “heavenly Jerusalem,” a spiritual military that does not use carnal weapons, and this is what Isaiah had predicted. Isaiah 2:1-4 predicted the greater house that is “exalted above the hills,” while earthly Jerusalem had been on the hills. The law of the Lord would go forth “from Jerusalem”, but it would gather all peoples into a heavenly Jerusalem. Those who learned from the Lord would beat their swords into plowshares because they would no longer employ the carnal weapons in that time of reformation. They would learn that kind of war no more. A spiritual kingdom fights spiritual battles of the heart and spirit. “We do not wrestle against flesh and blood” (Ephesians 6:10-12). Earthly Israel had to fight those kinds of battles, but spiritual Israel does not fight those kinds of battles. Nor do we use physical instruments of war. I might add here that we do not use physical instruments of music in worship either.

We are in a time of reformation where the carnal tools of the temple service are reformed to spiritual (Hebrews 9:1-11), and the carnal weapons of our spiritual military are powerful weapons that deal with the heart and spirit. Once you understand, see with the eyes of your understanding (Ephesians 1:18), you will see why the church of Christ does not employ the carnal instruments in our good fight of faith nor in our songs that play on the heartstrings. Rather than the carnal things we saw in the old system of earthly Israel, the time of reformation has brought reform from the earthly to the heavenly places in Christ Jesus. If we miss this point, we miss the fact that we have an opportunity right now to be in the Lord’s true spiritual Israel, and we miss the fact that His kingdom is among us now. If we miss this, we miss the opportunity to go to the eternal promised land. Don’t remain blind to the spiritual things Jesus has provided for you in the heavenly places in Him!

The Books of Hebrews and Ephesians have shown us the graduation from the carnal or earthly to the heavenly or spiritual. So far, we have seen the contrast between earthly Israel and the reformation into spiritual Israel, the church of Christ. We saw an earthly place on earth where earthly Israel presided, which foreshadowed the “heavenly places in Christ” (Ephesians 1:3). We saw earthly Jerusalem at the center of earthly Israel. Now, in the reformation, we have come to the “heavenly Jerusalem” (Hebrews 12:22f).

We saw the earthly kingdom under the greatest earthly king, David, and now, in the time of reformation, we have the heavenly king, Jesus, the greater antitype of David. We have seen the earthly temple in earthly Jerusalem, and now we are in the time of reformation where we have a spiritual temple (Ephesians 2:19f; I Peter 2:4-9).

In the old system, we have the earthly priests wearing physical white garments, and in the time of reformation, we see that the white garments are white spiritual garments of righteousness in Christ. We saw an earthly military using carnal weapons in earthly Israel, and now we have a spiritual army with spiritual armor (II Corinthians 10:4f; Ephesians 6:10-18). The time of reformation does not use the earthly instruments of war and battle. Therefore, we can hardly neglect to see that neither are we using the animal sacrifices, burning of incense, golden candelabra with literal oil lamps, table of shewbread, and literal altar and ark of the covenant, nor the instruments of music seen in the Old Testament system.

Hebrews 9 called the old “carnal” and “earthly” instruments in an earthly temple or tabernacle, but the “time of reformation” called for a dropping of the earthly for the spiritual things they were typifying. In Ephesians 2:19-22 we see that the time of reformation called for a spiritual temple. If the temple itself is spiritual, then the altar is spiritual, the lighting inside is spiritual, the incense is spiritual, and the shewbread is spiritual. Our source of oil for our spiritual lamps is the Holy Spirit's revealed word. Our light comes from the inward enlightening that the gospel of Jesus brings to our minds and hearts. Our bread is Jesus’ body and blood (John 6). Our incense is prayer and good works. “As Christ’s love” (Ephesians 5:2) is to God a “sweet-smelling aroma,” so too is our “walking in love” (Ephesians 5:2). Thus, the earthly incense on the altar in the temple is not the same incense used in the Old Testament system. Nor are we gathered in an earthly temple made by hands to offer such incense. The old temple and incense were carnal to give visual concepts that God wanted a spiritual relationship of the heart, where we come from any place in the world into a spiritual house, and have a share in Jesus’ sacrifice, and combine our love with His love to make a spiritual “sweet-smelling aroma” to God. The earthly incense is no longer used in this time of reformation because the earthly incense was only illustrating the mixture of love that would make us change from the stench of sinful worldliness to the sweet-smelling aroma of people changed by the love of Christ and projecting that love through good works of service.

We take the fire from the altar of Jesus’ love on the cross, mix it on the spiritual altar of our hearts, and send up an aroma that pleases God. God has no interest in us maintaining the incense of the old system; however, many churches today try to justify it with the Old Testament. They fail to understand that we are in “the time of reformation,” where we do not use a physical temple, have a physical altar, or use the physical mixture of incense that only typifies the better spiritual things in Christ.

If you try to adopt the incense of the Mosaic or Levitical system into the church, you must build the same kind of altar and utilize the same Levitical priesthood. You cannot pick one carnal item and exclude the other carnal items associated with that system. It is all or none (Gal.5:1-4). The time of reformation calls for incense, but it is spiritual, the mixture of Jesus’ love into our hearts and sending out the sweet influence of His love into our actions of love and service. That is the incense God is seeking from us, and the temple we are in as we offer our aroma of love is spiritual, not a temple made by hands.

Are you living in “the time of reformation?” Or are you trying to mix the former carnal system with some of the new? God is not pleased with a mixture! He offers His grace only in the heavenly provisions in Christ. We hope you can see this!

The Barrier of the Law of Moses

In seeing with “the eyes of your understanding” (Ephesians 1:18), we have seen the “time of reformation” break us away from the Law of Moses that directed earthly Israel, and now we have graduated to Jesus who now has “all authority” (Matthew 28:18f; Ephesians 1:18-22). He is higher than any ruler on earth who ever ruled, and He is positioned higher in power and glory than any name ever named. That is what is so special about this “time of reformation.” They never had such a One in such a position under the Old Testament system.

Now, we have Jesus having “abolished in His flesh” the “law of commandments contained in ordinances” (Ephesians 2:15). That describes the Law of Moses, including the Ten Commandments. This is not to say that under Christ, we are now free to steal, bear false witness, commit adultery, or murder, but that the entire law system under Moses carries baggage that will not move under the law and rule of Jesus. The baggage of the Law of Moses is that it was given to the Israelites and not all nations and is a cause of enmity between the haves (Israelites) and the have-nots (all Gentile nationalities). The Israelites were favored by the Law of commandments, and the rest of the nations felt the enmity it caused. It was like Joseph’s coat of many colors. It was nice for Joseph, but how did that help the other brothers feel, especially if Joseph bragged about it? The Jews bragged of God giving them alone the marvelous Law from Sinai, and thus Paul called it “enmity” (Ephesians 2:14-15), a wall between Jews and Gentiles that Jesus came to remove. By abolishing the law of commandments and starting all nations under a new and equally beneficial system, He gave us a common rallying point, a very special point of unity for anybody and everybody. He gave the cross for all nations, and there is the banner that calls Jews and Gentiles to the same body or church.

The time of reformation removes the source of enmity, the Law of Commandments given through Moses, and gives us a source of commonality, reconciliation, and unity. Jesus brings peace between two former enemies, the Jews and Gentiles, who come to know Jesus, share the love they gained from the cross, and bond together in one body or one church. This one body is a shared spiritual body. Old Judaism created tension and separation, a dividing wall or barrier between the earthly nations (and still does), but all who are “made near by the blood of Christ” (Ephesians 2:13-17), share the greatest common ground of all, the common bond of a common faith, a common hope, and a common ground of the greatest love, with the greatest spiritual riches and benefits that are equally available to all nations.

This does not mean that Jesus is lawless. Abolishing the law of Moses does not mean Jesus does not embody the same righteous principles contained in the Law, but that you come to know what is right through a new and better channel. Jesus is all the righteousness that Moses’ law demanded. These are two different vehicles that carry demands of righteousness. Moses’ law carried it to Israel through the Law of Commandments, which created enmity with others since it was exclusively for the Israelites alone. Jesus carries the demands of righteousness in Himself, showing it, demonstrating it, and displaying it for all nations to examine. It sets the possibility of life for us as the banner or rallying point of the cross (He paid, we get to live). He invites and draws us by gentle cords of love, while law alone would create separation. The rules of moral righteousness or moral right and wrong come to us through Jesus equally to all nations. We still cannot commit adultery, steal, bear false witness, murder, etc., but we all share the same standard as it comes to us through a better Mediator and a better Lawgiver and comes in a better covenant.

The wall between Jews and Gentiles is broken down where we hear the good news of Jesus and come to the royal banner of the cross for the sharing of great blessings from God. We are not under the old system and must not allow it to revive. Leave it where God left it! It is abolished, and the walls between Jews and Gentiles are broken down. In this time of reformation, we share the love of Christ, the blood of Christ, and His body or church, where all spiritual blessings are enjoyed in common. Don’t let the old inferior system revive. Enjoy this time of reformation, where greater things are ours to share! Thank God through our common bedrock and cornerstone, Jesus the Christ!

Changes in Worship

The Law has changed in this time of reformation (Heb.7:11-12). There is no earthly tabernacle or temple to which we must gather in worship to God or to bring an offering of animal sacrifice, nor Levitical priests to whom we must bring those offerings. In fact, we (Christians) are the priests. We don’t wear the same physical white robes of the Levitical priests, but we wear the white garments of righteousness, spirits, and consciences washed clean because of Jesus’ blood. The church of Christ is sanctified and cleansed “with the washing of water by the word” (Ephesians 5:26-27) and is presented “without spot and wrinkle” just as the priests in Israel were symbolically presenting themselves at the earthly temple. One thing that stood out in the former system of Judaism was that they divided the musicians into the singers and the players. These were part of the Levitical system all of which typified the greater spiritual service of the church. The church is the antitype, the real thing, anticipated by the darker forms seen in the Levitical service.
So, let us examine what we saw in the old forms of Judaism, with the temple service performed by the Levites, and see what we can glean from the shadow forms of the spiritual reformation.

First, we should make note of the procession moving into the temple compound or area around the Tabernacle. The Psalmist observed:

"They have seen Your procession, O God,
The procession of my God, my King, into the sanctuary.
The singers went before, the players on instruments followed after; among them were the maidens playing timbrels" (Psalms 68:24-25 NKJV).

We cannot avoid noticing that singing was one category of music and playing was another category of music. They were grouped accordingly. As they marched in procession to the sanctuary, there were the singers in front and next, the players on instruments. In the latter category were the maidens playing timbrels. So, if you sang, you were in one group, and if you played, you were in another group. If you were not a Levite, you were not in the procession at all. You would be observing what the Levites were doing on your behalf. But, let it be clear that singers and players were two distinct groups.

Let’s observe that singing is a separate act and category of music than playing. In order to sing, you need vocal cords and songs to share in common with the other singers. Songbooks and a coordinator or leader would aid in singing. For the group behind the singers in the procession, the players, there were various instruments like flute, lyre, harp, tambourines, etc. To aid a person in playing, you would need some kind of instrument external to the human body. If I were designated to that second group of players, I would need something to aid me in doing the job of playing since I am not in the category of singers. What might aid me in my job of playing? Well, a harp or lyre might aid me in getting this job done. The singers have their aid in getting their job accomplished, and the players have their aid in getting their job accomplished.

Now, as we look at that old system, our minds begin to wonder what we should see in “the time of reformation.” We expect a reform to change certain things. What things are reformed or changed in the “time of reformation” (Hebrews 9:1-12)? We see that every disciple is now a priest wearing spiritual garments of righteousness instead of the physical white ephod or external robe. In the time of reformation, there is no separate priesthood. Every Christian is a priest (I Peter 2:4-9), and we all wear white spiritual garments, minister in a spiritual tabernacle, and utilize all spiritual instruments. Our altar is spiritual and the sacrifice is the accomplished sacrifice of Christ. We offer no more animal sacrifices, our oil for our lampstand is spiritual, and we are illuminated with the excellence of the knowledge of Christ. Our incense is spiritual, and our music is “speaking to one another in psalms, hymns, and spiritual songs” (Ephesians 5:17-19), and notice where the melody is made. “Make melody in the heart!” A spiritual temple and spiritual instruments are used in a new and better covenant, and all we can see is that historically, the early churches dropped the external incense, animal sacrifices, altars, and instruments of music and presented the melody from the heart. The physical instruments in the old system foreshadowed the spiritual need to attend the singing with melody but pointed us to “melody in the heart” (specific to the spiritual heartstrings). The heartstrings are to be plucked so that we are not merely mouthing empty words but words that resonate from our inner senses of will and emotion. Singing came first in the procession toward the worship of God, and the melody came closely behind the singers by bringing the melody that attended the singers. When the early disciples knew the “time of reformation” had come into play, they dropped the external melody on the instruments and brought forth the melody, the pluck, and the vibration of the emotional strings of the heart. Historically, the early churches did not use musical instruments in their service of praise to God. It would take another 500 years before we see the Roman Catholics bring forth the instruments of music and then under great objection.

Later in the Reformation Movement (the efforts to reform the politically dominant Roman Catholic Church), we saw leaders among the Baptists, Presbyterians, and Methodists oppose using instrumental music in worship. Only in the last 200-250 years have the instruments become accepted and now expected among the various denominations. But that was more because of the carnal interest of pleasing our own ears than in seeking to adhere to what is biblically authorized by scripture command and president in this time of reformation. If we copied the early disciples in what was understood as acceptable to the Lord, we would do as they did and drop the earthly instruments in favor of the spiritual strings of melody in the heart. The Lord is seeking those who want to worship Him in spirit and truth (John 4:21-24), but knowing that, like Cain, many want to bring before God what they like (Genesis 4:1ff) rather than what God has authorized. A more excellent sacrifice is when we obey God from the heart and stay within the bounds of His authority, as expressed in the New Testament during this time of reformation.

That most of the modern denominations started in agreement that instrumental music was part of the Old Testament system but was not to be included in the New Testament “time of reformation” (Hebrews 9:1-12) is evident in the following quotes:

“I have no objection to instruments of music in our worship, provided they are neither seen nor heard.” [John Wesley, founder of Methodism, quoted in Adam Clarke’s Commentary, Vol. 4, p. 685].

How did John Wesley reach this conclusion? It was self-evident that the change from an earthly temple service to a spiritual temple service disclosed the absence of the earthly instruments in the spiritual service of making “melody in the heart” (Ephesians 5:19). The early Methodists were, like the Greek Orthodox Catholics, against bringing together the carnal and spiritual in this time that called for the spiritual and the dropping of the carnal ordinances that characterized the old Judaic system. Adam Clarke, a Methodist commentator, was insistent that the instruments of music had no place in Christian worship because of the contrast between the time of reformation and the old earthly system. He said emphatically and passionately:

“But were it even evident, which it is not, either from this or any other place in the sacred writings, that instruments of music were prescribed by divine authority under the law, could this be adduced with any semblance of reason, that they ought to be used in Christian worship? No; the whole spirit, soul, and genius of the Christian religion are against this; and those who know the Church of God best, and what constitutes its genuine spiritual state, know that these things have been introduced as a substitute for the life and power of religion; and that where they prevail most, there is least of the power of Christianity. Away with such portentous baubles from the worship of that infinite Spirit who requires His followers to worship Him in spirit and truth, for to no such worship are these instruments friendly.” [Adam Clarke (Methodist), Adam Clarke’s Commentary, Vol. II, pp. 690-691].

Clarke was very emphatic and outspoken about his passion for keeping the time of reformation (from the carnal system to the reformation into a spiritual system), saying,

“I am an old man, and I here declare that I never knew them to be productive of any good in the worship of God, and have reason to believe that they are productive of much evil. Music as a science I esteem and admire, but instrumental music in the house of God I abominate and abhor. This is the abuse of music, and I here register my protest against all such corruption of the worship of the author of Christianity.” [Adam Clarke, Methodist].

A modern Methodist would not realize how strange modern music is compared to the early Methodist assemblies. Most think it is strange for a church to have singing only without the blaring of guitars and organs. However, even the term “acapella” means “in the manner of the church” because that was historically the way all the churches saved a very few careless rebels. It was not strange to hear “acapella” music (singing without instruments) in churches. It was rather strange to hear anything but acapella. Adam Clarke was not a strange case; a weird commentator with weird ideas. It was the time of reformation, when the carnal system had been the symbolic time of the past, and the present Christian age was the time of spiritual reality. Most of the denominational leaders were aware of the contrast between the carnal Judaic system and the worship of God “in spirit” and truth in this time of reformation.

If the instruments of battle (swords and armor) were now spiritual (Ephesians 6:10-18), were not carnal and physical, and the temple is not physical but spiritual (Ephesians 2:18ff; I Peter 2:5-9), then why would all the temple elements be reformed to spiritual with the one exception of retaining the musical instruments? Your instrument of war is now spiritual (II Corinthians 10:4f), but would your instrument of music retain its place in this time of reformation? Everything else would reform to a spiritual instrument, but not this? Wesley and Clarke were voicing objection to allowing instrumental music into the worship of the church precisely because they had a reverent appreciation for the authority of the New Testament and the change from the old to the new and living way. Melody is to be made “in the heart” (Ephesians 5:19), the only instrument God is interested in us using in His worship in this "time of reformation.".

Why are the laws for remarriage different between the Old Law and New Law?

Jeffrey Hamilton — Mon, 25 Mar 2024 20:04:56 +0000

Question:

If the marriage law is universal, why is the remarriage law in Deuteronomy 24 different from Romans 7:2 in that the guilty party who gets married to a second spouse can go back to his/her first husband?

Answer:

The two laws of God are different. "Behold, days are coming," declares the LORD, "when I will make a new covenant with the house of Israel and with the house of Judah, not like the covenant which I made with their fathers in the day I took them by the hand to bring them out of the land of Egypt, My covenant which they broke, although I was a husband to them," declares the LORD" (Jeremiah 31:31-32). The two laws come from the same God, so you would expect similarities, but they will not be exactly the same.

"When a man takes a wife and marries her, and it happens that she finds no favor in his eyes because he has found some indecency in her, and he writes her a certificate of divorce and puts it in her hand and sends her out from his house, and she leaves his house and goes and becomes another man's wife, and if the latter husband turns against her and writes her a certificate of divorce and puts it in her hand and sends her out of his house, or if the latter husband dies who took her to be his wife, then her former husband who sent her away is not allowed to take her again to be his wife, since she has been defiled; for that is an abomination before the LORD, and you shall not bring sin on the land which the LORD your God gives you as an inheritance" (Deuteronomy 24:1-4).

This law is based on a series of events. It does not define when or how to divorce a woman. This law's only concern is that if a divorce happens and the woman remarries, she may not return to her first husband later.

"For the married woman is bound by law to her husband while he is living; but if her husband dies, she is released from the law concerning the husband. So then, if while her husband is living she is joined to another man, she shall be called an adulteress; but if her husband dies, she is free from the law, so that she is not an adulteress though she is joined to another man" (Romans 7:2-3).

This law states that a marriage is for life. It does not take into consideration divorce for this particular argument. If a woman marries while her husband is alive, she is an adulteress until her first husband dies.

Thus, Romans 7 and Deuteronomy 24 cover different situations. A divorce triggers Deuteronomy 24, but divorce is not considered in Romans 7. Deuteronomy 24 forbids a woman from returning to her first husband if her second marriage ends. In Romans 7, her first husband has died, so returning to him is not an issue.