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The
Covenants, The Law, And Grace
by Henry Anderson
When Yahweh brought the children of Israel out from the land of Egypt, and led them to Mount
Sinai, He made a covenant with them there.
Now a covenant is simply a contract, just like we make today, when we buy a home or have a home built, and various
other things. In building a home, the contractor agrees to build it to the specifications of the owner. The owner
in turn agrees to pay a specific amount of money to the contractor. This is called the terms of the contract.
No one, if he has a sound mind, will enter into a contract without knowing what the terms are. And so it was at
Mount Sinai. Yahweh came down on top of the mount and spoke to all the children of Israel, giving them the terms
of what they must do if they were to enter into an agreement or covenant with Him. Let's go to the scriptures
for an account of this event.
And Yahweh came down upon mount Sinai, on the top of the mount: and Yahweh called Moses up to the top of the mount;
and Moses went up.
And Yahweh said unto Moses, Go down, charge the people, lest they break through unto Yahweh to gaze, and many of
them perish.And let the priests also, which come near to Yahweh, sanctify themselves, lest Yahweh break forth upon
them.
And Moses said unto Yahweh, The people cannot come up to mount Sinai: for thou chargedst us, saying, Set bounds
about the mount, and sanctify it.
And Yahweh said unto him, Away, get thee down, and thou shalt come up, thou, and Aaron with thee: but let not the
priests and the people break through to come up unto Yahweh, lest he break forth upon them. So Moses went down
unto the people, and spake unto them.. Ex 19:20-25 (KJV)
This is an account of Yahweh. He was the One who brought the Israelites out of Egypt. This is what He said to
all the children of Israel gathered there at the foot of the mountain.
1 And Yahweh spoke all these words, saying,2 "I am Yahweh your El, who brought you out of the land of Egypt,
out of the house of bondage. 3 "You shall have no other Elohim before me
.4 "You shall not make for yourself a graven image, or any likeness of anything that is in heaven above, or
that is in the earth beneath, or that is in the water under the earth;5 you shall not bow down to them or serve
them; for I Yahweh your El am a jealous El, visiting the iniquity of the fathers upon the children to the third
and the fourth generation of those who hate me,6 but showing steadfast love to thousands of those who love me and
keep my commandments.
7 "You shall not take the name of Yahweh your El in vain; for Yahweh will not hold him guiltless who takes
his name in vain.
8 "Remember the sabbath day, to keep it holy.9 Six days you shall labor, and do all your work;10 but the seventh
day is a sabbath to Yahweh your El; in it you shall not do any work, you, or your son, or your daughter, your manservant,
or your maidservant, or your cattle, or the sojourner who is within your gates;11 for in six days Yahweh made heaven
and earth, the sea, and all that is in them, and rested the seventh day; therefore Yahweh blessed the sabbath day
and hallowed it.
12 "Honor your father and your mother, that your days may be long in the land which Yahweh your El gives you.
13 "You shall not kill.
14 "You shall not commit adultery.
15 "You shall not steal.
16 "You shall not bear false witness against your neighbor.
17 "You shall not covet your neighbor's house; you shall not covet your neighbor's wife, or his manservant,
or his maidservant, or his ox, or his ass, or anything that is your neighbor's.
"18 Now when all the people perceived the thunderings and the lightnings and the sound of the trumpet and
the mountain smoking, the people were afraid and trembled; and they stood afar off,19 and said to Moses, "You
speak to us, and we will hear; but let not Yahweh speak to us, lest we die." Ex 20:1-19 (RSV)
Yahweh then wrote these commandments on flat sheets of stone, and gave them to Moses.
Yahweh also gave them promises, things that He would do if they carried out His terms.
1 "And if you obey the voice of Yahweh your El, being careful to do all his commandments which I command you
this day, Yahweh your El will set you high above all the nations of the earth.2 And all these blessings shall come
upon you and overtake you, if you obey the voice of Yahweh your El.3 Blessed shall you be in the city, and blessed
shall you be in the field.4 Blessed shall be the fruit of your body, and the fruit of your ground, and the fruit
of your beasts, the increase of your cattle, and the young of your flock.5 Blessed shall be your basket and your
kneading-trough.6 Blessed shall you be when you come in, and blessed shall you be when you go out.7 "Yahweh
will cause your enemies who rise against you to be defeated before you; they shall come out against you one way,
and flee before you seven ways.8 Yahweh will command the blessing upon you in your barns, and in all that you undertake;
and he will bless you in the land which Yahweh your El gives you.9 Yahweh will establish you as a people holy to
himself, as he has sworn to you, if you keep the commandments of Yahweh your El, and walk in his ways.10 And all
the peoples of the earth shall see that you are called by the name of Yahweh; and they shall be afraid of you.11
And Yahweh will make you abound in prosperity, in the fruit of your body, and in the fruit of your cattle, and
in the fruit of your ground, within the land which Yahweh swore to your fathers to give you.12 Yahweh will open
to you his good treasury the heavens, to give the rain of your land in its season and to bless all the work of
your hands; and you shall lend to many nations, but you shall not borrow.13 And Yahweh will make you the head,
and not the tail; and you shall tend upward only, and not downward; if you obey the commandments of Yahweh your
El, which I command you this day, being careful to do them,14 and if you do not turn aside from any of the words
which I command you this day, to the right hand or to the left, to go after other gods to serve them. Deut 28:1-14
These are the promises of Yahweh concerning the covenant, or contract He made with them there at Mt. Sinai. All
the people agreed to this contract, this was an oral contract at the time. Later the terms were written down.
3 Moses came and told the people all the words of Yahweh and all the ordinances; and all the people answered with
one voice, and said, "All the words which Yahweh has spoken we will do."4 And Moses wrote all the words
of Yahweh. Ex 24:3-4 (RSV)
The people understood and knew the terms of their contract, or covenant with Yahweh, and agreed to it. This is
known as the old covenant.
YAHWEH PROMISES TO MAKE A NEW COVENANT
After many centuries, Yahweh through the prophet Jeremiah, promised to make a new covenant with the house of Israel.
31 "Behold, the days are coming, says Yahweh, when I will make a new covenant with the house of Israel and
the house of Judah,32 not like the covenant which I made with their fathers when I took them by the hand to bring
them out of the land of Egypt, my covenant which they broke, though I was their husband, says Yahweh. Jer 31:31-32
(RSV)
What was wrong with the first covenant (contract) ? Notice in the scripture above, that the fault of the contract
was that the people broke their part of the agreement. They did not keep His commandments.
In order to assure that the people would, and could hold up their end, or perform their part of the covenant, He
gave these promises:
33 But this is the covenant which I will make with the house of Israel after those days, says Yahweh: I will put
my law within them, and I will write it upon their hearts; and I will be their God, and they shall be my people.
Jer 31:33 (RSV)
Yahweh's law and the commandments are the same. In other words His commandments are His law: 10 For whoever keeps
the whole law but fails in one point has become guilty of all of it.11 For he who said, "Do not commit adultery,"
said also, "Do not kill." If you do not commit adultery but do kill, you have become a transgressor of
the law. James 2:10-11 (RSV)
We see by this scripture in the new testament, that the commandments are the law of Yahweh. Do not commit adultery,
and do not kill, are two of the ten commandments given at Mt Sinai as part of the terms of the covenant made with
Israel.
Yahweh says that in the new covenant He will make with Israel, instead of writing the commandments (His law) on
tables of stone, He will put them in their hearts. If they are in their hearts, then they will have a desire to
keep them, all of them. They also will know what Yahweh requires of them. There will not be Aministers@ who teach
them things out of their own minds, who take the scriptures and twist and distort them to support their rebellious
teachings.
34 And no longer shall each man teach his neighbor and each his brother, saying, 'Know Yahweh,' for they shall
all know me, from the least of them to the greatest, says Yahweh; for I will forgive their iniquity, and I will
remember their sin no more." Jer 31:34 (RSV)
When will this time come? Is it already here?
17 There is hope for your future, says Yahweh and your children shall come back to their own country. Jer 31:17
(RSV).
21 Set up waymarks for yourself, make yourself guideposts; consider well the highway, the road by which you went"
Return, O virgin Israel, return to these your cities. Jer 31:21 (RSV)
24 And Judah and all its cities shall dwell there together, and the farmers and those who wander with their flocks.25
For I will satisfy the weary soul, and every languishing soul I will replenish." Jer 31:24-25 (RSV)
27 "Behold, the days are coming, says Yahweh, when I will sow the house of Israel and the house of Judah with
the seed of man and the seed of beast.28 And it shall come to pass that as I have watched over them to pluck up
and break down, to overthrow, destroy, and bring evil, so I will watch over them to build and to plant, says Yahweh.
Jer 31:27-28 (RSV)
31 "Behold, the days are coming, says Yahweh, when I will make a new covenant with the house of Israel and
the house of Judah, Jer 31:31 (RSV)
Some think this prophecy was fulfilled in 1948, when the nation which is called Israel today, was established in
what was known then as Palestine. This cannot be the time spoken about here in Jeremiah. This nation is composed
mostly of Jews, known as the house of Judah.
The living bible gives a better translation:
21 As you travel into exile, set up road signs pointing back to Israel. Mark your pathway well. For you shall return
again, O virgin Israel, to your cities here.22 How long will you vacillate, O wayward daughter? For Yahweh will
cause something new and different to happen--Israel will search for Yahweh.23 Yahweh, the El of Israel, says: When
I bring them back again, they shall say in Judah and her cities, "Yahweh bless you, O center of righteousness,
O holy hill!"24 And city dwellers and farmers and shepherds alike shall live together in peace and happiness.25
For I have given rest to the weary and joy to all the sorrowing. Jer 31:21-25 (Living)
Notice in verse 21 He is telling Israel that she would return to her cities. Judah and Israel are two separate
nations. Judah and Israel were one nation called Israel when they first came from Egypt to the promised land,
but later after Solomon=s death and his son took over the throne, ten of the tribes rebelled and made Jereboam
their king while still retaining the name Israel. Judah and Benjamin remained with Solomon=s son Rehoboam, and
they were called Judah.
Only the tribe of Judah came back to the promised land in 1948. Israel has not returned yet. They became known
as the lost ten tribes, after they were removed from their land by the King of Assyria in about the latter part
of 700 B C. The time when Yahweh will make a new covenant with the whole house of Israel is still in the future.
Just about two thousand years ago, The Father sent one who was with Him there in heaven to this earth, called the
Word, which in the Greek is Logos. When the translators translated the new testament from the Greek into English,
they translated Logos as The Word,. It could also be translated Spokesman. He became a human being, and we know
Him by the name of Yahshua Messiah, or Yahshua; it is a transliteration from the Hebrew name Yahshua, or Yahoshua
to the Greek.
It translating it from the Greek into English (via Latin influence) it comes out "Jesus." Christ is
translated from the Greek and means anointed, or anointed one. In modern Hebrew it would be simply Yahshua the
Messiah.
He came to the earth to make possible the New Covenant. It was necessary for Him to come here as a human being,
and die, in order for the new covenant to be enacted.
18 Hence even the first covenant was not ratified without blood.19 For when every commandment of the law had been
declared by Moses to all the people, he took the blood of calves and goats, with water and scarlet wool and hyssop,
and sprinkled both the book itself and all the people, Heb 9:18-19 (RSV)
Yahshua Himself said that His blood was shed to ratify the new covenant.
24 And he said to them, "This is my blood of the covenant, which is poured out for many.25 Truly, I say to
you, I shall not drink again of the fruit of the vine until that day when I drink it new in the kingdom of Yahweh."
Mark 14:24-25 (RSV)
25 In the same way also the cup, after supper, saying, "This cup is the new covenant in my blood. Do this,
as often as you drink it, in remembrance of me." 1 Cor 11:25 (RSV)
Why was it necessary for Yahshua to die in order that a new covenant could be enacted?
In the gospel of John we read this:
1 In the beginning was the Word, and the Word was with Yahweh, and the Word was Yahweh.2 The same was in the beginning
with Yahweh.3 All things were made by him; and without him was not any thing made that was made.4 In him was life;
and the life was the light of men. John 1:1-4 (KJV)
10 He was in the world, and the world was made by him, and the world knew him not. John 1:10 (KJV)
14 And the Word was made flesh, and dwelt among us, (and we beheld his glory, the glory as of the only begotten
of the Father,) full of grace and truth. John 1:14 (KJV)
12 Giving thanks unto the Father, which hath made us meet to be partakers of the inheritance of the saints in light:13
Who hath delivered us from the power of darkness, and hath translated us into the kingdom of his dear Son:14 In
whom we have redemption through his blood, even the forgiveness of sins:15 Who is the image of the invisible Yahweh,
the firstborn of every creature:16 For by him were all things created, that are in heaven, and that are in earth,
visible and invisible, whether they be thrones, or dominions, or principalities, or powers: all things were created
by him, and for him:17 And he is before all things, and by him all things consist. Col 1:12-17 (KJV)
The scriptures plainly tell us that the Word, or Logos, or Spokesman, who was with Yahweh and was Yahweh, created
all things including man, and therefore all mankind. This being became flesh, was born of a woman named Mary,
and was called Yahshua.
We exist in Him since He is our Creator. We would not exist if He did not exist.
24 Yahweh who made the world and all things therein, seeing that he is master of heaven and earth, dwelleth not
in temples made with hands;25 Neither is worshipped with men's hands, as though he needed any thing, seeing he
giveth to all life, and breath, and all things;26 And hath made of one blood all nations of men for to dwell on
all the face of the earth, and hath determined the times before appointed, and the bounds of their habitation;27
That they should seek Yahweh, if haply they might feel after him, and find him, though he be not far from every
one of us:28 For in him we live, and move, and have our being; as certain also of your own poets have said, For
we are also his offspring. Acts 17:24-28 (KJV)
Since it is true that we exist in Him, then when He died, it was as though all mankind died. The reason that all
mankind didn=t die literally, when He died, was because the Father sustained us.
A PENALTY OF DEATH MUST BE PAID
23 For the wages of sin is death; but the gift of Yahweh is eternal life through Yahshua the Messiah our Master.
Romans 6:23 (KJV)
4 Behold, all souls are mine; as the soul of the father, so also the soul of the son is mine: the soul that sinneth,
it shall die. Ezek 18:4 (KJV)
12 Wherefore, as by one man sin entered into the world, and death by sin; and so death passed upon all men, for
that all have sinned: Romans 5:12 (KJV).
The question arises in the minds of some, what is sin? The answer is found in 1 John.
4 Whosoever committeth sin transgresseth also the law: for sin is the transgression of the law. 1 John 3:4 (KJV)
To satisfy that penalty, we have to die. Yahweh says the soul (person) that sins shall die.
Yahshua came and died so that we could die in Him. He did not pay the penalty in our stead. He died for our sins.
Another way you could say that is, that He died because of our sins. If He had died and paid the penalty for
our sins, then every human being would be free from the penalty of death, as some erroneously teach.
Yahshua not only provided a way for us to die and pay the penalty of death for the transgressions of Yahweh=s law,
but the Father made a way for us to live after we had died, by raising Yahshua from the dead. Just as we die in
His death when we are baptized, we are made alive again in His resurrection when we come up out of the water, a
new creation, a new man, living a new, different life, a life of obedience to the terms of the covenant..
No man is free from the death penalty until he enters into the new covenant with Yahweh.
Just as there were terms for the old covenant, there are terms for the new covenant. One has to know what the
terms are before He can enter into a new covenant with Yahweh. Yahweh will make sure that the terms are made clear
to the ones He chooses to make a covenant with.
The Father is the one who chooses those with whom He will make a new covenant.
In John 6 Yahshua said: 44 No man can come to me, except the Father which hath sent me draw him: and I will raise
him up at the last day. John 6:44 (KJV)
Let's study the following passage carefully so we can understand how the penalty for our sins is paid.
3 Know ye not, that so many of us as were baptized into Yahshua the Messiah were baptized into his death?4 Therefore
we are buried with him by baptism into death: that like as the Messiah was raised up from the dead by the glory
of the Father, even so we also should walk in newness of life.5 For if we have been planted together in the likeness
of his death, we shall be also in the likeness of his resurrection: Romans 6:3-5 (KJV)
Ro 5:10 For if, when we were enemies, we were reconciled to Yahweh by the death of his Son, much more, being reconciled,
we shall be saved by his life.
When we meet the terms of the new covenant, and baptism is part of those terms, and we are baptized we die. The
person that we were, the person that had incurred the death penalty for his sins dies, and the death penalty is
satisfied, because we have undergone death in the death of the Messiah. When we come up out of the water we are
a new person, we are alive in the Messiah, in His resurrection. The old man or person is dead forever, we live
on in the Messiah Yahshua and because He lives, we live. We still have our being in Him, if we endure to the end
in keeping our part of the terms of the new covenant, then when He returns, we will come up out of our graves with
a new body, a spiritual body like His.
1Jo 3:2 Beloved, now are we the sons of Yahweh, and it doth not yet appear what we shall be: but we know that,
when he shall appear, we shall be like him; for we shall see him as he is.
25 Yahshua said to her, "I am the resurrection and the life; he who believes in me, though he die, yet
shall he live,26 and whoever lives and believes in me shall never die. Do you believe this?"27 She said to
him, "Yes, Master; I believe that you are the Messiah, the Son of Yahweh, he who is coming into the world."
John 11:25-27 (RSV)
When we repent and are baptized, we are alive in the Messiah, that is why He said AI am the resurrection and life@.
We died in Him and we are resurrected in Him, we have our being in Him, so He is our resurrection, He is the resurrection.
Before being baptized, we have to meet, or perform another term in the new covenant, and that term is to repent.
Yahweh, through Peter, made known the terms of the new covenant to those Jews who came together on the day of Pentecost,
after the crucifixion of our Savior.
37 Now when they heard this they were cut to the heart, and said to Peter and the rest of the apostles, "Brethren,
what shall we do?"38 And Peter said to them, "Repent, and be baptized every one of you in the name of
Yahshua the Messiah for the forgiveness of your sins; and you shall receive the gift of the Holy Spirit.39 For
the promise is to you and to your children and to all that are far off, every one whom Yahweh our El calls to him."
Acts 2:37-39 (RSV). You should read the entire chapter.
Now after John was arrested, Yahshua came into Galilee, preaching the gospel of Yahweh, and saying, "The
time is fulfilled, and the kingdom of Yahweh is at hand; repent and believe in the gospel" Mark 1:14-15, RSV.
One of the terms that you and I have to meet to be able to enter into a new covenant (contract) with Yahweh is
to repent. This is the second term. The first term is that one has to believe on Yahshua the Messiah.
I think that here I should pause, and explain in detail all the terms of the new covenant. As was explained at
the beginning of this article, Yahweh made a covenant with Israel when He freed them from slavery and brought them
out of Egypt. He conveyed to them in His own voice the ten commandments that they must keep in order to receive
the promises that He gave to them.
We will see in the following scripture, why He will make a new covenant with them:
6 But as it is, the Messiah has obtained a ministry which is as much more excellent than the old as the covenant
he mediates is better, since it is enacted on better promises.7 For if that first covenant had been faultless,
there would have been no occasion for a second.8 For he finds fault with them when he says: "The days will
come, says Yahweh, when I will establish a new covenant with the house of Israel and with the house of Judah;9
not like the covenant that I made with their fathers on the day when I took them by the hand to lead them out of
the land of Egypt; for they did not continue in my covenant, and so I paid no heed to them, says Yahweh. Heb 8:6-9
(RSV)
The fault with the old covenant was not the terms, but the fault was that the people did not keep their promise
of obedience to the terms, of keeping Yahweh=s law, the ten commandments. To shore up this weakness in the people,
Yahweh is going to establish a new covenant with them:
10 This is the covenant that I will make with the house of Israel after those days, says Yahweh: I will put my
laws into their minds, and write them on their hearts, and I will be their El, and they shall be my people.11 And
they shall not teach every one his fellow or every one his brother, saying, 'Know Yahweh,' for all shall know me,
from the least of them to the greatest.12 For I will be merciful toward their iniquities, and I will remember their
sins no more." Heb 8:10-12 (RSV)
Notice, instead of writing His laws on tablets of stone, He will put them in their minds and hearts. He goes further;
He says He will forgive their sins, this is what it means when He says that He will remember them no more. He
will do this when they enter into the new covenant with Him. They are then free from the penalty of death, because
they have been pardoned.
If they are freed from death, then that means they are granted eternal life. The terms on the part of the people
haven=t been changed, they still must obey His law, the ten commandments, but He, by putting them into their hearts
and minds has made it possible for them to do so. The better promises are that besides the promises He gave them
concerning the old covenant, He has added new ones. He puts His laws in their hearts and minds, and He will give
them eternal life.
One must know the terms of the covenant or contract, before he can accept it.. The first term is to believe on
Yahshua the Messiah, believe that He is the Son of Yahweh and that the Father sent Him.
John 14:6 Yahshua answered, ``I am the way and the truth and the life. No one can come to the Father except through
me.
If one does not believe that Yahshua is who He said He is, then that person will not, and cannot, accept the terms
of the new covenant. He will not repent, he will not be baptized, etc.
What does one repent of, and what is repentance? One must repent of breaking the terms of the old covenant, of
breaking Yahweh=s law. Repent means to stop doing what one is doing and do another. In this case, it is to stop
breaking the ten commandments and begin keeping them.
Yahshua told a young nobleman what he must do to have eternal life, 16 And, behold, one came and said unto him,
Good Master, what good thing shall I do, that I may have eternal life? Matt 19:16 (KJV) .17 And he said to him,
"Why do you ask me about what is good? One there is who is good. If you would enter life, keep the commandments."18
He said to him, "Which?" And Yahshua said, "You shall not kill, You shall not commit adultery, You
shall not steal, You shall not bear false witness,19 Honor your father and mother, and, You shall love your neighbor
as yourself." Matt 19:17-19 (RSV)
The third term is to be baptized for the remission of your sins. One is under the death sentence until he has
fulfilled these terms. When he comes up out of the water after he has been immersed in the water (baptize means
to immerse) his sins are forgiven, they are blotted out, he has died in the death of the Messiah. He receives
the gift of the Holy Spirit. Through the Holy Spirit the law is put into his mind and written in his heart. If
he has been sincere and has truly repented, he now desires to keep the laws of Yahweh.
But doesn=t the scriptures say that one is saved by grace, and not of works? Yes, in Ephesians, it says this:
: 8 For by grace you have been saved through faith; and this is not your own doing, it is the gift of Yahweh,
not because of works, lest any man should boast.10 For we are his workmanship, created in the Messiah for good
works, which Yahweh prepared beforehand, that we should walk in them. Eph 2:8-10 (RSV).
This scripture is misunderstood today by most of the nominal Christians. They think that grace means that they
can go on practicing sin, and by Yahweh=s grace He will automatically forgive them, because Yahshua died and paid
the penalty in their stead.
They do not understand that they must repent, nor what repentance is, in order to enter into a new covenant with
Yahweh. They do not realize that unless they enter into this new covenant, they cannot inherit the promises.
One of them being, the promise of eternal life.
It is true that we are saved by grace and not by works. Let=s examine this word grace for a moment. Many claim
that it means unmerited pardon, and that is true, but it means more than that. The Greek word for grace is*charis*.
One meaning of this word is *favor*. We could say, because Yahweh has bestowed His favor, or looks on us with
favor, or has shown favor to us, that we are saved.
There are only certain ones at this time who are being shown favor by Yahweh. They are from many nations, not
just from the house of Israel and Judah. He shows favor to them, by granting them repentance, and by making known
to them the terms of the new covenant.
Those who are not of the house of Judah and Israel, are known as gentiles. Peter was shown by Yahweh that He had
extended the opportunity to enter into the new covenant to the gentiles:
34 Then Peter opened his mouth, and said, Of a truth I perceive that Yahweh is no respecter of persons:35 But in
every nation he that feareth him, and worketh righteousness, is accepted with him. Acts 10:34-35 (KJV)
11 I say then, Have they stumbled that they should fall? Yahweh forbid: but rather through their fall salvation
is come unto the Gentiles, for to provoke them to jealousy. Romans 11:11 (KJV)
The Father chooses those to whom He will show favor: 44 No man can come to me, except the Father which hath sent
me draw him: and I will raise him up at the last day. John 6:44 (KJV)
9 Yahweh is faithful, by whom ye were called unto the fellowship of his Son Yahshua the Messiah our Master. 1
Cor 1:9 (KJV). We know that here it is speaking of the Father that does the calling, by what Yahshua said in the
scripture quoted above.
By Yahweh=s grace or favor, we are called now to give us an opportunity to enter into a new covenant with Him.
Yahweh has a time frame as to when He will call, or grant favor or grace to every individual that is living or
has ever lived, and give them the opportunity to enter into a new covenant with Him.. (Write for the article called
*The Resurrections*)
All mankind, except our Savior, have sinned and incurred the death penalty (eternal death)
It is only by entering into the new covenant with Yahweh, that we can pay that penalty by dying in the death
of Yahshua the Messiah, and inheriting eternal life by also being raised with Him in His resurrection. Those who
have entered into a new covenant with Him are alive in the Messiah, although they have died in His death. The
old sinful man is dead, but a new man is created and growing in the Messiah.
10 For we are his workmanship, created in the Messiah Yahshua unto good works, which Yahweh hath before ordained
that we should walk in them. Eph 2:10 (KJV)
17 Therefore, if any one is in the Messiah, he is a new creation; the old has passed away, behold, the new has
come. 2 Cor 5:17 (RSV)
Notice in Eph. 2:10 that we are created to good works, that Yahweh has ordained that we should walk in them.
What are the good works that we are to walk in? We are to walk in, or keep the terms of the covenant. He has
put His spirit in us, has written His law in our hearts. Now we have the spirit of the law living in us, and by
that spirit we keep the letter of the law.
We do not steal or commit adultery, or break any of the other commandments, because we have the love of Yahweh
in us. Yahweh=s love is outgoing towards others. If we truly love someone we will not steal his possessions.
He or she will not commit adultery with any person=s wife or husband, if he loves that person, or if he loves
his mate.
Before, we had only human love, which is toward self. And we, like the Israelites who came out of Egypt, had
not been keeping His law.
We keep His commandments through faith. Remember we are saved by grace through faith. Faith is believing. If
we do not believe, we have no faith. We must first believe in Yahshua, we believe He is the son of Yahweh. We
believe the Father sent Him here to make possible a new covenant, and that He died for our sins. We have faith
in His words, and because of this belief, this faith, we are baptized, and enter into a new covenant with Yahweh,
and through faith we keep the terms of the covenant.
It is written in the scriptures: 17 So faith by itself, if it has no works, is dead.18 But some one will say,
"You have faith and I have works." Show me your faith apart from your works, and I by my works will show
you my faith. James 2:17-18 (RSV).
So we see that to believe someone, is to have faith in his words, in what he says, and faith, or belief without
works is dead. Just to profess belief is not enough, we must act on our belief.
After one enters into a new covenant, he strives to keep his part of the terms, and because he has received the
Holy Spirit and through faith, he does keep his part.
If through ignorance, or weakness during a temptation, he sins, he is immediately forgiven if he truly repents
and determines not to do that again. We are now in Yahweh=s grace or favor. Because we are, and all our sins
can be forgiven when we repent, we can grow in strength to overcome our weaknesses. We can become more like our
Savior, who did no sin. We are able to attain to the fullness and stature of Yahshua the Messiah: 13 until we
all attain to the unity of the faith and of the knowledge of the Son of Yahweh, to mature manhood, to the measure
of the stature of the fulness of the Messiah; Eph 4:13 (RSV).
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