9.16 Studying the Word of God in the New Covenant

For the next few lessons, we will talk about the difference in how we approach God’s word today under the New Covenant, in contrast to the Old Covenant.

Under the Old Covenant, the objective was to keep God’s laws to attain to righteousness. The focus was in “doing” all that was demanded by the law.

(Romans 10:5)
For Moses writes about the righteousness which is of the law, “The man who DOES those things shall live by them.

Even when Joshua meditated on the bookof the Law, it was for the purpose of “doing” all the demands of the law.

(Joshua 1:8)
This Book of the Law shall not depart from your mouth, but you shall meditate in it day and night, that you may observe TO DO according to all that is written in it.

But God knew that Israel would fail to “do” all that is required because of their state of sin. God would send His Son Jesus to fulfill all those demands. So the coming of Christ was hidden in all the rituals of the law.

And because Christ has fulfilled all the demands of the law on our behalf, we can receive the gift of righteousness by faith. We can receive all that Jesus has purchased for us – every promise of redemption – by faith in Him.

So the key to studying the Bible in the New Covenant is to see the person of Jesus, to see His finished work on the cross, and to to respond by “faith”. Because there is nothing we can add to His finished work, the secret is to receive by “faith”.

For example, salvation is a free gift. Since we can’t earn it, we receive justification by faith. Healing is a free gift. Since we didn’t pay to earn our healing, we receive it by faith – by the stripes of Jesus we were healed. The same goes for every promise. We can never add to the finished work of Jesus, otherwise it wouldn’t be “finished”.

Many people use the Bible the Old way. When they read it, they are always asking, “What must I do?” or “What does God want me to do?” When we read it this way, we are going back to the law, and we are depending on self effort again.

Instead, we should ask, “Holy Spirit, reveal Jesus to me! Show me what Christ has done for me on the cross! Let Jesus live through me!” When we do so, we will respond by faith to receive the promises of God. We will also start to allow Christ to work in us through His Holy Spirit.