The Difference Between The Covenants

[jiggyfly]

I am the Lord, I do not change. (Malachi 3:6)

There is a great difference between the old and the new, but that difference is not in God. The new covenant makes no difference in God. The covenant that is brought to us through the mediation of the Lord Jesus does not bring a different God to us. The difference is not in Him; that is, His nature and His standard are always the same, unchangeable. Grace never brings God down to a lower level. Grace does not make any difference to the holiness of God, or to the righteousness of God. The difference in the two covenants is not that of a change in God. His position remains as it ever was, perfect in holiness, perfect in righteousness. The difference is, firstly, in the mediators, secondly, in the ground upon which those mediators stand....

Oh, the snare of the platform idea that so often constitutes the whole conception of ministry, as though other people are not ministers at all. It is just as much your privilege to behold Christ as any man's in this universe, and, that being so, it is just as much your calling to minister what you see in Christ to others. Beholding Him, we are changed into the same image from one degree of glory to another. This is the latter glory, the glory of the new covenant. Christ is the glory of the new covenant. The difference is not in God, it is the difference between the mediators, and the difference in the position which we occupy because of the Mediator; we are now in Christ, Who satisfies God. The Lord give us the ministry issuing from a continuous and ever-growing contemplation of His fullness in Christ.


By T. Austin-Sparks from: Spiritual Ministry - Chapter 3

 

[David777]

Hello jiggyfly.

"There is a great difference between the old and the new, but that difference is not in God. The new covenant makes no difference in God. The covenant that is brought to us through the mediation of the Lord Jesus does not bring a different God to us. The difference is not in Him; that is, His nature and His standard are always the same, unchangeable"

1 John 4:4

4 You, dear children, are from God and have overcome them,
because the one who is in you is greater than the one who is
in the world.

5 They are from the world and therefore speak from the viewpoint of the world,
and the world listens to them.

6 We are from God, and whoever knows God listens to us; but whoever
is not from God does not listen to us. This is how we recognize the Spirit of truth
and the spirit of falsehood.

7 Dear friends, let us love one another, for love comes from God. Everyone
who loves has been born of God and knows God.

8 Whoever does not love does not know God, because God is love.

9 This is how God showed his love among us: He sent his one and only Son
into the world that we might live through him.

10 This is love: not that we loved God, but that he loved us and sent
his Son as an atoning sacrifice for our sins.

Yes sir, God does not change because God is love.

Love expressed through creation then in the majestic
sacrifice of His Son to reconcile us to Himself.

This primary Truth has never changed and never will.

 

[lordjesuschrist]

Amen!!
GOD is always the same!!
HE is love only, which isn't always a hug, but definitely a righteous shove in HIS direction!!
AMEN!!

MARK 12:30-31

Grace and peace to all in Jesus holy and precious name!!!

 

[Boanerges]

Same God, different covenants. Also, people are much the same: God gave His Word with a heart of love and this was missed by the Pharisees and other religious folks then just as it is today.
The Old was the Covenant of a servant, the New and better is the Covenant of a son.

 

[Strypes]

Matthew 5:17

"Do not think that I have come to abolish the Law or the Prophets; I have not come to abolish them but to fulfill them."



John 19:30

"When Jesus had received the sour wine, he said, "It is finished," and he bowed his head and gave up his spirit."


Luke 22:14 And when the hour came, he reclined at table, and the apostles with him. 15 And he said to them, "I have earnestly desired to eat this Passover with you before I suffer. 16 For I tell you I will not eat ituntil it is fulfilled in the kingdom of God." 17 And he took a cup, and when he had given thanks he said, "Take this, and divide it among yourselves. 18 For I tell you that from now on I will not drink of the fruit of the vine until the kingdom of God comes." 19 And he took bread, and when he had given thanks, he broke it and gave it to them, saying, "This is my body, which is given for you. Do this in remembrance of me." 20 And likewise the cup after they had eaten, saying, "This cup that is poured out for you is the new covenant in my blood."


A little background... The "Lord's Supper" was part of a Passover Seder. There are four cups of wine consumed during a Seder.

Two before the main meal (Cup of Blessing/ Cup of Plagues) and two after the meal (Cup of Redemption/ Cup of Praise). The Jewish people have followed a specific order of service for thousands of years. During the Passover Seder that Jesus shared with His disciples the night before He became our "Passover Lamb", it would have been the third cup (The cup of Redemption) that was to come to be known as Communion/The Lord's Supper in which Jesus institutes the New Covenant in His blood.

The New Covenant is not a rewrite of the Old Covenant.. Jesus fulfilled the Old covenant and established the NEW.

 

[David777]

Darkness and shadows exist due to the lack
of the illumination of light. Since the old covenant
was established before the arrival of the light (Jesus),
then the old covenant must be a shadow.

The old covenant is a shadow of the New Covenant.

Colossians 2

17 things which are a mere shadow of what is to come;
but the substance (reality) belongs to Christ.

Jeremiah 31:31

“ 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.

John 8:12

Then Jesus again spoke to them,
saying, “ I am the Light of the world; he who follows Me
will not walk in the darkness, but will have the Light of life.”

Jesus is the light and the New Covenant.

 

[jiggyfly]

Great posts Boenerges, Strypes and David777, I hope many read this thread and have their eyes opened to the trickery of the religious system and break free.

 

[NetChaplain]

"The difference is not in God, it is the difference between the mediators, and the difference in the position which we occupy because of the Mediator; we are now in Christ, Who satisfies God."

By T. Austin-Sparks from: Spiritual Ministry

Hi JF - I appreciate it when I see others who share Pauline Dispensation materials such as Sparks, who is one of many writers within the last few hundred years, which always shares on the basis that Christianity is a vicarious life, which is lived in us by Christ Himself through the Spirit. This means everything (except salvation which is imparted) that Christ is, we are; by virtue of attaining, not obtaining; imputed not imparted.

"As He is, so are we in this world" (I John 4:17).