For if that first covenant had been faultless, then no place would have been sought for a second
—Hebrews 8:7

Scripture records how God, over the course of history, made all kinds of covenants with different people. You have probably heard of God’s covenant with Noah, with Abraham, with Moses, with David and so on. But two covenants stand out in the Bible: the first, the covenant of the law, which the Lord made with the congregation of Israel at Mount Sinai, and the new one, which God made on the cross of Calvary. Why is it so important to understand the covenants? Because if we don’t distinguish between them, we can fall into error and get confused, not understanding what our relationship with God is today and how we receive His blessings. We also need to understand the difference between the book called the “Old Testament”, which begins with Genesis and ends with Malachi, and the old covenant of the law, which the Lord made through Moses and which is also called “the Ten Commandments”.

Many people think the new covenant begins with the book of Matthew, because that is how the Bible is divided. Yes, the book called the “New Testament” begins with Matthew and ends with Revelation, but the new covenant itself, the agreement between God and man, was ratified on the cross of Calvary. Why? It is written: “Therefore not even the first covenant was dedicated without blood. For when Moses had spoken every precept to all the people according to the law, he took the blood of calves and goats, with water, scarlet wool, and hyssop, and sprinkled both the book itself and all the people” [Heb.9:18-19]. A covenant is always ratified with a sacrifice and the shedding of blood. When was the sacrifice of the new covenant offered and its blood shed? On the cross of Calvary! So that is exactly when the new covenant was ratified.

If we don’t draw a clear line, then the words Jesus spoke while He walked the earth and preached will be taken literally, as personal commandments. Jesus did not come to give people a law or some commandments to keep. He said: “I have come that they may have life, and that they may have it more abundantly.” The law of Moses does not bring life. It is written: “who also made us sufficient as ministers of the new covenant, not of the letter but of the Spirit; for the letter kills, but the Spirit gives life. But if the ministry of death, written and engraved ON STONES…” [2 Cor.3:6-7]. You see, the ministry based on the law of Moses — for it was the law that was engraved on stones — kills.

The new covenant, which was established on better blood and on better promises, gives life [2 Cor.3:6]. In other words, the more a person learns about the new covenant of grace, the more life will show in every area of his life. Life in the physical body is strong health! Life in family relationships is a blessed family! Life in finances is prosperity! All these blessings have already been given to the believer in Christ, but they show in our life when Christ [our life] works in us. And when does He work? When we are under grace, not under the law. Because if we try to please God by the works of the law, it is written: “You have become estranged from Christ, you who attempt to be justified by law; you have fallen from grace” [Gal.5:4].

Becoming estranged from Christ doesn’t mean that He has abandoned us, “For He Himself has said, ‘I will never leave you nor forsake you'” [Heb.13:5]. It means that all the blessings that are in Christ Jesus will not show in our life. Paul writes to the same Galatians: “Indeed I, Paul, say to you that if you become circumcised, Christ will profit you nothing” [Gal.5:2]. Becoming circumcised here means relying on your flesh. If we rely on our flesh, thinking we can please God by our own strength, then why do we need Christ? He will profit us nothing, and so the curses of the law, by whose works we are trying to please God, will show in our life.

Thank God that He did away with the old covenant of the law together with its curses. “Did away with it — how?” Yes, yes, my friends, Scripture says it very clearly: “For if that first covenant had been faultless, then no place would have been sought for a second” [Heb.8:7]. If there had been no fault in the covenant of the law, why do away with it? “Because finding fault with them, He says: ‘Behold, the days are coming, says the LORD, when I will make a new covenant with the house of Israel and with the house of Judah’” [Heb.8:8]. What is the problem with the law? That it constantly points out people’s faults to God and demands their curse. But God so loved the world that He did not want the world to live under the curse of the law, and so He sent His Beloved Son, who became a curse on the cross, redeemed us from every curse and gave us blessings and freedom in Christ [Gal.3:13]. “Stand fast therefore in the liberty by which Christ has made us free, and do not be entangled again with a yoke of bondage [of the law]” [Gal.5:1].