8.78 Performance by the flesh under the Old Covenant

For the last 3 weeks, we have contrasted between works of the law under the Old Covenant vs. works of faith under the New Covenant. From today, we will contrast the force that powers the two covenants.

The Old Covenant is powered by the “performance by the flesh”, which means to perform through our self-ability. The works of the law have to be performed through self-effort. The law does not lift a finger to help because it was given to show the ultimate failure of self-performance. The verse below shows that the “works of the law” and “performance by the flesh” go hand in hand.

(Gal 3:2-3)
This only I want to learn from you: Did you receive the Spirit by the WORKS OF THE LAW, or by the hearing of faith?— Are you so foolish? Having begun in the Spirit, are you now being made PERFECT BY THE FLESH?

Another verse in Heb 7:16 refers to the law as “the law of a fleshly commandment.” Why did the Bible refer to the law as “the law of fleshly commandment”? This is because the law places a demand on the flesh. Man must perform through self-ability to keep the law.

If you look at all the Ten Commandments, they begin like this: “You shall…” or “Thou shall…” It places a DEMAND on the person. “You shall” means YOU have to perform it. How does one perform the requirements of the law? It is with his self-ability – with all his heart, soul and strength. Therefore, the law is all about YOU and YOUR performance.

Let me show you the most important commandment for Israel under the Old Covenant. It is in Deut 6:5. This commandment sums up what self-performance means:

(Deut 6:5)
YOU SHALL love the Lord your God with all YOUR heart, with all YOUR soul, and with all YOUR strength.

You have to give every iota of effort that you can summon from yourself. The law focuses on man and his performance. It does not focus on Christ or His performance. It is only when man fails that he realizes the need for Christ.

When we focus on our performance, we experience Christianity as a powerless religion instead of a living relationship with God. We end up feeling inadequate like many Christians do. In the midst of our inadequacy, magnified by the system of the Old Covenant, we realize that we have to come to Jesus to depend on Him instead of our self-performance – in our New Covenant.