In the first teaching of this series we identified the Old Covenant made on Mt. Sinai between God (the Word Who became Jesus of Nazareth-Jn. 1:1-4,14) and His people–the Nation of Israel-as He had promised Abraham He would do for his (Abraham’s) descendants. We identified a problematic situation with the Old Covenant/Testament which necessitated the creation of a New Covenant with His people (now His true church–“the Israel of God”–Gal. 6:16). According to the Apostle Paul, the first covenant had a “flaw” which the Scriptures identified as the Israelite people themselves. The God of both the Old and the New Covenants was the Word Who became Jesus of Nazareth. Read The God of the Old Testament. Key word–Old

We learned through “fine print” study that, following the introduction of the New Covenant, two controversies eventually erupted within the church as many of her members began to move away from the teachings of Jesus and His apostles and toward the teachings of the leaders they chose to follow. Jesus warned that this would happen in Matthew 24:4,5. The two controversies resulting from the creation of a New Covenant were (and are): 1) What did (does) the New Covenant contain? and 2) when did (will) the New Covenant take effect in the lives of God’s true saints. We began to explore the first contention in part one of this series.

In this posting we will pick up where we left off–in the midst of the “content” aspect of the New Covenant. To do so we need to return to the days of old, to Jeremiah (31:31-33) where we find God, who “Who knows the ending from the beginning,” saying: “Behold, the days will come … when I will make a New Covenant with the House of Israel (the ten northern tribes) and the House of Judah (the two southern tribes).” This covenant would not be like the first (Mt. Sinai) covenant which the Israelites refused to honor (vs 32). “This will be the covenant I will make with the whole House of Israel” (people of all 12 tribes, including Gentile converts, who would become His New Covenant Church). Here is where the Lord answers the covenant’s “content” question by proclaiming: “I will put MY LAW in their inward parts and write IT (HIS LAW) in their hearts (minds) and (THEN) I will be their God and they will be My people.” Notice two things: 1) The same Law that formed the foundation of the Old Covenant (the Law) would also form the foundation of the Lord’s New Covenant and the segment of His church that would embrace it and obey it. Those who refused to do so would be Christians in name only.

The conflict would later begin as the church allowed to remain within her those people who had “better ideas” than the Lord as to what a Christian must believe and do. As the church continued to grow (the mustard seed became a tree and began to be filled with birds (members) with anti-God beliefs (Mat. 13:31,31). As the apostles reveal in their writings, Satan began early on to plant his problem-producing prophets within her. As was the cased with the Church of Eden, his words appealed to the congregation population than did God’s Words.

A bit of church history needs to be injected into the series at this point. The original problem to arise in the New Covenant Church did not concern either of the problems identified in the first part of this series. The first problem concerned the SUBJECT OF THE GOSPEL THAT JESUS COMMANDED THAT HIS SERVANTS TEACH AND PREACH. The bitter, and continuing fight involved whether the Gospel was about the Kingdom of God or about Christ Himself. The latter won and the church has been going down ever since. The false Gospel that continues to be preached in “the church” to this day is a Gospel about Jesus Himself. This in spite of His commands to preach and teach about the Kingdom of God and how to enter it. The result is the modern-day (Laodicean) church as Jesus characterizes it in Revelation 3:14-17.

Later the content and timing of the New Covenant became an issue. Specifically, God’s Ten Commandment Law came into question: was it or was it not included in the New Covenant? Over time most of the members of the church came to believe that the “fault” of the Old Covenant was the Law. Therefore it had been “nailed to the cross” of Jesus Christ.. However, as we are told in John 12:34, the Law and its Creator are eternal. If the Law no longer exists, then Jesus no longer exists. As I have stated many times, IN ORDER TO RECEIVE SALVATION WE MUST OBEY GOD’S TEN COMMANDMENT LAW. TO BREAK ONE COMMANDMENT (#4 for example) IS TO BREAK THE ENTIRE LAW (Jam. 2:10) MAKING ONE GUILTY OF INIQUITY–LAWLESSNESS. Read Matthew 5:17; 15:8,9/ Lk. 6:46/ Mat. 7:21-23).

Billions of people world-wide have been led by Satan’s false prophets to believe that the Law was destroyed by Christ’s death. Two things need to be considered on this point: 1) Those deceived souls have never been forgiven of their sins, for they reject God’s definition of sin: “To transgress the Law is sin, for sin is the transgression of the Law” (1 Jn. 3:4). Read 1st John 3:1-10 and 2:3-6. Consider these facts relative to the church’s dead Law theology: No Law=no sin. No sin=no repentance. No repentance=no salvation. No Law=no Jesus. No Jesus=no resurrection. No resurrection=no eternity in paradise. No eternity=no need to obey God (to be righteousness). No need for righteousness=THE BASIC THEOLOGICAL “TRUTH” PROCLAIMED BY THE CATHOLIC/PROTESTANT RELIGIOUS SYSTEM KNOWN AS “THE CHURCH” WHOSE MESSAGE TO THE WORLD IS THAT CHRIST DIED SO THAT CHURCH ATTENDERS CAN SIN AND GET AWAY WITH IT. That is THE foundational message of professing Christendom. And who do they blame for this situation? Adam.

Paul refutes those church “truths” In Hebrews 8:8-12 where we find him telling converted Israelites that the prophecy God made in Jeremiah 31:31-33 was fulfilled and that the Ten Commandment Law was in effect within God’s true church which comprises approximately 1% of professing Christianism. Read Who Are God’s People? and “My People Who are Called by My Name. Key words–People and Called respectively.

At this point we need to understand exactly what a covenant/testament is. First of all, the words “covenant” and “testament” are interchangeable and refer to an agreement between parties. In this case, God made an agreement with the Israelites anciently, and His church today, that if they would obey His Law He would be their God and they would be His people (Exo. 19:3-6). In the original language of the Scriptures the word for covenant is “diatheke” and the word for testament is “brit.” Both have the same meaning. People of Great Britain (England) are called “Brit-ish,” meaning “covenant man,” a term that aptly applied to them in days gone by. But not today, for they, as has the other covenant nation (America), have spiritually descended into Satan’s religious sewer–the result of the prophesied “APOSTASY” (“FALLING AWAY” FROM GOD–2 Thes. 2:1-3) that Paul said would take place just prior to Christ’s return to earth at the end of the age. An explanation is needed here.

Jacob, whom God renamed “Israel,” meaning “Power with God,” had 12 sons who became the 12 tribes of Israel with whom the Lord made the Old Covenant at Mt. Sinai. They failed in their commission to obey the Ten Commandment Law (His LIGHT) and to carry God’s His light to the Gentile (heathen) world. As a result of their sins (breaking of His Law) the Lord orchestrated their military defeat, enslavement and scattering throughout the earth. God later made the New Covenant with their descendants and those Gentiles who had joined them in the worship of and obedience to Him. When Jacob (Israel) was on his death bed He declared that ONLY Joseph’s two sons and their descendants would carry His name–“ISRAEL“–from that time forward. The biological descendants of those boys–Ephraim and Manasseh–founded the two greatest nations ever to exist on the earth–Great Britain and the United States of America, exactly as God promised Abraham would happen (Gen. 48:8-19).

Today a tiny remnant of their PHYSICAL AND SPIRITUAL DESCENDANTS comprise God’s true church which was created some 2000 years ago. God’s church began with 120 souls. Today there are an estimated 10,000 Law-keeping Christians living on earth. Satan’s counterfeit Catholic/Protestant church numbers approximately 2.5 billion, most of them Catholic. In Matthew 7:13,14 and 22:14 Jesus warned that this disparity would develop in the latter days of this age. As the Apostle Paul prophesied, a “great falling away” (apostasy) has resulted in billions of people departing from the living God and entering into Satan’s religious trap known as Christianity. Read Who and Where is Israel Today? Key word–Today.

In the following posting we will execute a “fine print” study to determine when the New Covenant came (will come) into existence for the New Covenant Church. As does problem #1, problem #2 continues to persist today in the counterfeit church. The Truth concerning those contentions is ultimately important in that we must know the Bible Truth about both issues and obey those Truths in order to be saved upon Christ’s return. We will begin with the “Last Supper” which was the beginning of the final days of this world. We will end with the generation that will see the return of Jesus Christ.–THIS GENERATION. L.J.