Is the gospel really different in the New Testament from the Old? - TopicsExpress

Is the gospel really different in the New Testament from the Old? Is the new covenant really different from the old? Will there be two types of people in heaven - one group saved by the new covenant and another saved by the old? One group saved by grace and yet another saved by their works? The word gospel means good news. This is good news from God to the whole world. Gospel is all about Jesus (Yeshua) and its essence is salvation through Christ. Although whole of the Bible can be considered as the gospel, usually the first four books of the New Testament are called the gospels. Some may ask, whether the gospel was preached during the Old Testament times at all. Paul says yes. “For we also have had the gospel preached to us, just as they did; but the message they heard was of no value to them, because those who heard did not combine it with faith” (Heb. 4:2). That means gospel was preached then just as today, without any difference in the message. The problem, was not with the message but the way it was heard. In the Old Testament the promised Messiah was referred to by various times. All the sanctuary service pointed towards this promised Messiah and His mission. Messiah means “the anointed”. Various other names like “Wonderful Counselor,” “Mighty God,” “Everlasting Father,” “Prince of Peace”, “Son of man”, “Immanuel”, “King”, “Redeemer of Israel”, “Holy One”, “Sun of Righteousness” etc. (Isa. 7:14, Isa. 9:6, Ps. 2:6-7, Prov. 30:4, Zech. 9:9, Isa. 49:7, Micah 4:2, Daniel 7:13) were used. Just like the Old Testament times, today also people hear the same gospel in different ways. How crucial is then that we submit ourselves to the Holy Spirit in complete faith when the gospel is heard or when we read the word of God, so that we hear it correctly and understand it. Lastly, but not the least, how we apply it fully in our lives. This good news about our savior is echoing, again and again throughout the Bible. God intervenes to save us. He forgives our sins and puts “enmity” in us toward sin and devil (Gen. 3:15) so that we can be willing and obedient (Isa. 1:19). One (Jesus) died for the many (2 Cor. 5:15), bore our iniquities (1 Peter 2:24; Isa. 53:5), and justifies the undeserving (Rom. 5:6-8). Then what is the difference in the new covenant? Is it really different from the old? The new covenant is different from the old covenant in that now the law is written in believers’ hearts (Rom. 2:15; Hebrews 10:16; Jeremiah 31:33; Hebrews 8:10; Romans 2:14) and the promised Messiah has really come in the flesh. Yet some people have very hard time finding the good news (gospel) within the gospels itself. This is because if they don’t read and understand the message in the Bible, under the guidance of the Holy Spirit. We should pray daily for more indwelling of the Holy Spirit. Most Jewish people in Jesus’ time considered themselves to be in good standing before God. They supported the temple by paying the required tax and offering the appropriate sacrifices. They abstained from unclean food, circumcised their sons, kept the festival days and the Sabbaths, and generally tried to keep the law as taught by their religious leaders. Yet they were considered to be wrong in their relationship to God. That is why John came and cried repent, and be baptized. Many realized they were sinners, repented and got baptized. Thus he was preparing the way for the real savior. Finally Jesus came and went further teaching the need for a new birth (John 3:3, 5). He also said “except your righteousness shall exceed the righteousness of the scribes and Pharisees, ye shall in no case enter into the kingdom of heaven” (Matt. 5:20). In other words, Jesus was saying, “You need what you do not have. You need something more. Your life is not good enough.” This was something very difficult for the Jews to understand. The parable of the Pharisee and the tax collector (Luke 18:9-17) should have been an eye opener for those Israelites of Jesus time. Here the “righteous” Pharisee is ignored by God, while the sinful tax collector is not only accepted but leaves justified, forgiven, and free from guilt. Only somebody who humble himself before God and recognize his or her sinful state will be accepted by God. Another difference in the new covenant is the fulfillment of the promise of the Messiah. “Lamb of God who takes away the sin of the world” (John 1:29), as John has said, came really into the world. The same Christ willingly dies as the real Passover Lamb, a substitutionary death in place of us (Matt. 26:28). Like the Israelites of his time Paul also thought that he was in correct spiritual standing before God. Abruptly, coming out of his spiritual blindness, he saw Jesus as “the Son of God, who loved me, and gave Himself up for me” (Gal. 2:20). Now, he saw himself not saved, but lost; not Gods servant, but Gods enemy; not righteous, but the chief of sinners. As the scales fell from his eyes, the same verses from the Old Testament took up newer meanings under a newer light. Gods revelation, to him personally and through the Scriptures, transformed his heart and changed his life forever. The full meaning of the old covenant becomes clear only “when one turns to the Lord” (2 Cor. 3:16). Till that time our minds will be “blinded” (v 14) and the “veil remains un-lifted”. Jesus is the only way to salvation. It all begins and ends in Him. For the Jews who trusted in their obedience to God’s laws, as Paul did before, the old covenant was like a minister of death, because all have sinned (Rom. 3:23), and so the commandments could only condemn them (2 Cor. 3:7). In contrast Paul compares the true believers as “a letter of Christ…written not with ink but with the Spirit of the living God, not on tablets of stone but on tablets of human hearts” (v 3). The gospel is the power of God to save all who believe. Righteousness is based not on what we do but on what Christ has done for us, which we claim by faith, which grows from faith to faith (Rom. 1:17). Through Christ we have redemption (God has bought us back by paying for our sins), justification (we are cleared of guilt and cleansed by grace), and forgiveness (God accepts us back and “forgets” our past sins). The book of Hebrews describes the new covenant as “better” than the old covenant (Heb. 8:1-2, 6). Then why should God establish the old covenant if it was faulty? Here just like any other free choice we make, the problem is not with the covenant but with the response of the people to it. Those people “did not remain faithful” to the covenant (Heb. 8:9), but were disobedient and rebellious. In addition the animal sacrifices of the old covenant could never take away sins (Heb. 10:4), which meant sin remained. Only “the offering of the body of Jesus Christ once for all” could atone for sin, including those committed under the old covenant (Heb. 10:10; 9:15). In one sense the new covenant is not new at all since the promise in Eden of the seed, who would bruise the serpents head (Gen. 3:15), the plan of salvation has always been predicated on the death of Christ, the Lamb slain from the foundation of the world (Rev. 13:8; Jer. 32:40; Heb. 13:20-21; John 13:34). This covenant of grace is not a new truth, for it existed in the mind of God from all eternity. That is why it is called the everlasting covenant (Gen. 17:7; Jer. 32:40). The good news is that the immeasurable cost of our sin has been paid by Jesus “through the blood of the everlasting covenant” (Heb. 13:20). This “new” covenant changes the way we look at everything, such as the commandment to love one another. Although it is not really new (Lev. 19:18), we are not just to love our neighbor as ourselves, but “as I (Jesus) have loved you” (John 13:34). The gospel (good news) is the same from Genesis to Revelation- from the first book to the last book of the Bible. Our God is in pursuit of the lost mankind. In Genesis, the first book, we see Eden lost and the last book Revelation we see Eden restored (Rev. 22). The law is the same. The covenant is the same. Jesus, Paul, and James all affirm that the gospel is the same one believed by Abraham (John 8:56, Rom. 4:13, James 2:21-23). Some may find this difficult to believe. This is because they define the gospel narrower than that is in the whole Bible. Even Abrahams obedient faith, originated through his foreseeing of Jesus sacrifice (John 8:56). Then there is a confusion, whether we need to balance faith with works in order to be saved? Faith alone is sufficient, but it must not be an intellectual faith as the devils have, nor a presumptuous faith that claims the promises of God without complying with the conditions of salvation; rather it must be a faith that works. But there is a climax for the gospel, when “the mystery of God is finished, as He preached to His servants the prophets” (Rev. 10:7). At this end time moment in human history the mystery of God will be fully revealed to His servants. The commission God has entrusted to us in Rev. 14:6 to proclaim the “everlasting gospel” will be completed. What is your opinion about keeping the Commandments and testimony and faith of Jesus (Rev. 12:17; Rev. 14:12) in the context of the everlasting gospel? The decisive issues are at the end time - whom will we worship and obey? The God “who made heaven, and earth, and the sea, and the fountains of waters”? (Rev. 14:7) Or the beast and his image? (Rev. 14:9, 11) Obedience to all the commandments (including the 4th commandment) through the faith of Jesus signifies those who remain faithful to the end. True religion demands both faith and obedience. Always remember Eve who fell to the cunningness of Satan and ate from a tree which looked like any other tree in the garden, although there was an explicit command from God not to eat from it. The tree may look like any other tree. The day may look like any other day. But obedience to God’s commandments cannot be replaced by anything else. God’s commandments will not change as God will not change. Finally remember God’s last-day commission to spread “the everlasting gospel . . . to every nation, and kindred, and tongue, and people” (Rev. 14:6). This gospel will last and continue to be preached till the end of the world. Every man on this earth will be given a chance to hear this good news before his death or end of the world. The choice is ours. Whether to choose life or death? Whether to choose savings which will last for a long-long time or temporary pleasures of this life? May God bless us abundantly with His grace! Welcome to this page for more messages https://facebook/SomeTruthsThatYouShouldNotMiss