Under the "New Covenant"?
What does someone mean when they say, "I'm not under the 'Law', I'm under the 'New Covenant'"? It would appear that they misunderstand both what the "Law" and the "New Covenant" are. And to be clear, the Torah is not just the "Law" and the "New Covenant" is not the "New Testament".
The Torah (here meaning the first 5 books of the Bible) contain instructions, but also contains everlasting covenants, among other things. How long is "everlasting"? God did not enter into contracts, He is very specific about covenants. Contracts expire, covenants do not.
The archery term "sin" means to miss the mark, and Torah is the target. We can't just remove the target, there would be no mark to aim for and no understanding of what missing the mark looks like. Isn't sin = lawlessness?
The Greek word(s) used for lawlessness:
ἀνομία anomia (Strong's G458) ἄνομος anomos (Strong's G459)
1) the condition of without law 1) destitute of (the Mosaic) law
a) because ignorant of it a) of the Gentiles
b) because of violating it 2) departing from the law, a violator of the law, lawless, wicked
2) contempt and violation of law, iniquity, wickedness
These are opposite of νόμος nomos (Strong's G3551)
1) anything established, anything received by usage, a custom, a law, a command
a) of any law whatsoever
1) a law or rule producing a state approved of God
a) by the observance of which is approved of God
2) a precept or injunction
3) the rule of action prescribed by reason
b) of the Mosaic law, and referring, acc. to the context. either to the volume of the law or to its contents
In Greek, as we see here, when the first letter "alpha" is added as a prefix, it changes the word it's added to from a positive to a negative. Instead of "law" we have "lawlessness"; instead of Torah, we have "Torah-lessness".
We find the promise of the "New Covenant" in the writings of the prophets Jeremiah and Ezekiel. It does not say that God will abolish His Torah for a replacement; it tells us that this -b'rit chadash- will be the Torah written on our hearts. His Spirit that He puts within us will cause us to walk in His ways.
Jer 31:31-33 ESV - [31] "Behold, the days are coming, declares the LORD, when I will make a new covenant with the house of Israel and the house of Judah, [32] not like the covenant that I made with their fathers on the day when I took them by the hand to bring them out of the land of Egypt, my covenant that they broke, though I was their husband, declares the LORD. [33] But this is the covenant that I will make with the house of Israel after those days, declares the LORD: I will put my law within them, and I will write it on their hearts. And I will be their God, and they shall be my people.
Eze 36:24-28 ESV - [24] I will take you from the nations and gather you from all the countries and bring you into your own land. [25] I will sprinkle clean water on you, and you shall be clean from all your uncleannesses, and from all your idols I will cleanse you. [26] And I will give you a new heart, and a new spirit I will put within you. And I will remove the heart of stone from your flesh and give you a heart of flesh. [27] And I will put my Spirit within you, and cause you to walk in my statutes and be careful to obey my rules. [28] You shall dwell in the land that I gave to your fathers, and you shall be my people, and I will be your God.
Is this covenant completely new? And who is this covenant with? Read it again.
The Hebrew word for "new" is חָדָשׁ chadash (Strong's H2319) meaning new or fresh. It comes from the Hebrew word חָדַשׁ chadash (Strong's H2318) which sounds the same but with a different context: to be new, renew, repair, make anew, repair oneself. This is similar to a "New Moon"; it's not that the moon is actually replaced, it is renewed. It's also like polishing a sword to renew the edge.
When pointing this information out to someone recently, their response was, "I'm not Jewish, so it doesn't apply to me." Also a misunderstanding. The Torah was always for "whoever is standing with us today before the LORD our God, and whoever is not standing here with us today."
Deu 29:10-15 ESV - [10] "You are standing today all of you before the LORD your God: the heads of your tribes, your elders, and your officers, all the men of Israel, [11] your little ones, your wives, and the sojourner who is in your camp, from the one who chops your wood to the one who draws your water, [12] so that you may enter into the sworn covenant of the LORD your God, which the LORD your God is making with you today, [13] that he may establish you today as his people, and that he may be your God, as he promised you, and as he swore to your fathers, to Abraham, to Isaac, and to Jacob. [14] It is not with you alone that I am making this sworn covenant, [15] but with whoever is standing here with us today before the LORD our God, and with whoever is not here with us today.
So, where are you standing and do you know why?
