Old or New, Still the Same

Deuteronomy 7:6-11 ESV

 

“For you are a people holy to the Lord your God. The Lord your God has chosen you to be a people for his treasured possession, out of all the peoples who are on the face of the earth. It was not because you were more in number than any other people that the Lord set his love on you and chose you, for you were the fewest of all peoples, but it is because the Lord loves you and is keeping the oath that he swore to your fathers, that the Lord has brought you out with a mighty hand and redeemed you from the house of slavery, from the hand of Pharaoh king of Egypt.

 

“Know therefore that the Lord your God is God, the faithful God who keeps covenant and steadfast love with those who love him and keep his commandments, to a thousand generations, and repays to their face those who hate him, by destroying them. He will not be slack with one who hates him. He will repay him to his face. You shall therefore be careful to do the commandment and the statutes and the rules that I command you today.”

 

When we are reading the Old Testament, which is a good thing to do, if we want to apply to our lives what is written there, we need to make sure that it does apply to our lives under the New Covenant. There are many parallels between what is taught in the Old Testament and what is taught in the New Testament. Some things do not change. But not everything written for the Israel of old applies to us today, and not everything is to be disregarded.

 

So, today I want to look at those parallels between what was promised here to the Israel of the Old Covenant and what is promised to the Israel, God’s chosen people, of the New Covenant, who are heirs of the promise. For I am seeing multiple parallels between the old and the new. So, let’s begin.

 

Israel of the Old Testament, under the Old Covenant, were God’s chosen and holy people, his possession, redeemed from slavery, loved of God.

 

We, as followers of Jesus Christ, are to present our bodies to the Lord as a living sacrifice, holy and acceptable to God. We are God’s temple, and his temple is holy. We were chosen of God in him before the foundation of the world, that we should be holy and blameless before him. We grow into a holy temple in the Lord. We are to be holy and without blemish. We are God’s chosen, holy and beloved.

 

We who are saved by the blood of Jesus were called of God to a holy calling. And we are to be holy in all of our conduct. As God’s spiritual house, we are being built up to be a holy priesthood. And we are a holy nation, a people for God’s own possession, that we might proclaim him who called us out of darkness into his light. We are a people redeemed by the blood of Christ from our slavery to sin (from lawlessness), a people who are zealous for good works.

 

And the word “holy” means to be set apart by and for God as his people, who are belonging to him, who are his possession. And it means that we are different from (unlike) the world because we are being made into (conformed to) the likeness of Jesus Christ. So, this means that we no longer live in sin, making sin our practice, but now we live to our Lord to do his will, and to follow him in his ways and in his truth and righteousness.

 

And the word “redeem” means to be restored back into the possession of our rightful owner, who is God, being rescued from the power and possession of an alien possessor, i.e. Satan and sin. By his blood shed for us on that cross, Jesus bought us back for God that we might now honor God with our bodies. He redeemed us from our lives of slavery to sin so that, in the power of God, we might now live as slaves of God and of his righteousness.

 

[Rom 12:1-2; 1 Co 3:17; 1 Co 6:19; Eph 1:4; Eph 2:21; Eph 5:27; Col 1:22; Col 3:12; 2 Tim 1:9; 2 Tim 2:21; 1 Pet 1:13-16; 1 Pet 2:5-9; Tit 2:14; Rom 6:1-23; 1 Co 6:19-20]

 

Our God is the faithful God who keeps covenant and steadfast love with those who love him and keep his commandments, but who destroys those who hate him.

 

Not many are being taught this, but it is the same for us under the New Covenant. For Jesus said that if anyone keeps (obeys) his word, that he will never see death. And he said that if we love him that we will keep (obey) his commandments, and that we will abide in his love. He said that his sheep listen to him and they follow (obey) him. And he said that not everyone who says to him, “Lord, Lord,” will enter the kingdom of heaven, but the one doing (obeying) the will of God who is in heaven.

 

And the Apostle Paul said that God is going to render to each one according to his works, and for those who do not obey the truth, but who obey unrighteousness, there will be wrath and fury. And he said that just as we have always obeyed that we are to work out our own salvation with fear and trembling. And he said if we obey sin, it leads to death, but that if we obey obedience, it leads to righteousness, sanctification, and eternal life.

 

And John said that the way that we know that we know God is if we keep (obey) his commandments. He said that no one who abides in Christ keeps on sinning. No one born of God makes sin their practice. And he said that whoever practices righteousness, he is righteous. And he said that whoever does not practice righteousness is not of God. And he continued by saying that whoever keeps (obeys) God’s commandments abides in God, and God in him. And this is love, that we walk according to God’s commandments.

 

And we read in other books of the New Testament that Jesus became the source of eternal salvation to all who obey him. And we are called of God for obedience to Jesus Christ. And we are to be doers of the Word and not hearers only. And both in the Old and in the New Testament God expressed that faith equals obedience and that disobedience equals unbelief.

 

And we read further that if sin is what we practice that we will not inherit the kingdom of God. For we are all going to reap what we sow. If we sow to please the flesh, from the flesh we will reap destruction. But if we sow to please the Spirit, from the Spirit we will reap eternal life. We are all going to receive what is due for what we have done in the body, whether good or evil. For if we walk according to the flesh, we will die in our sins, but if we walk (in conduct, in practice) according to the Spirit, we have life eternal.

 

[Jn 8:51; Jn 14:15-24; Jn 15:10; Jn 10:26-30; Matt 7:21-23; Rom 2:6-8; Rom 6:16-23; Php 2:12-13; 1 Jn 2:3-6; 1 Jn 3:4-10,24; 1 Jn 5:2-3; 2 Jn 1:6; Heb 5:9; 1 Pet 1:1-2; Jas 1:21-25; 1 Co 10:1-22; Heb 3-4; Gal 5:16-21; Gal 6:7-8; 1 Co 6:9-10; 2 Co 5:10; Eph 4:17-32; Eph 5:3-6; Rom 8]

 

So, as you can see from all these Scripture references (and more), what was taught to the children of Israel of Old was taught again to us who believe in Jesus Christ in the New Testament. We are still to live holy lives separate from the world and unto God. We have been redeemed out of slavery to sin so we will now be slaves of God and of his righteousness. And we still must walk in obedience to our Lord’s commands (New Covenant), and if we don’t, we will not inherit eternal life with God. Same message, Old and New.

 

Songs in the Night  

 

An Original Work / December 18, 2013

 

“About midnight Paul and Silas were praying and singing hymns to God, and the other prisoners were listening to them.” Acts 16:25 NIV ‘84

 

Lord, I praise You forevermore.

You, my Savior, I now adore.

Hope in heaven awaiting me,

Because You died at Calvary.

 

I have been forgiven,

And I’m bound for heaven.

Jesus set me free from

All my sin, I say.

I will praise Him always!

 

Lord, I love You for all You’ve done:

Overcame death, my vict’ry won!

Jesus saved me, and now I’m free!

I rejoice in His love for me.

 

I will walk in vict’ry!

My sin is but hist’ry!

I am free to please Him

With my life today.

I will love Him always!

 

Lord, I thank You for giving me

A new life bought at Calvary.

Loving Jesus, I meet with Him.

Tender mercies now flow within.

 

Lord, I am so thankful;

Through my Lord, I’m able

To sit at His table;

Fellowship with Him.

I will thank Him always!

 

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