Why then do we still mingle the covenants? This was a question that the apostle Paul asked of the Christians at Galatia. Galatians 3:1-5 You foolish Galatians, who has bewitched you, before whose eyes Jesus Christ was publicly portrayed as crucified? 2 This is the only thing I want to find out from you: did you receive the Spirit by the works of the Law, or by hearing with faith? 3 Are you so foolish? Having begun by the Spirit, are you now being perfected by the flesh? 4 Did you suffer so many things in vain-- if indeed it was in vain? 5 Does He then, who provides you with the Spirit and works miracles among you, do it by the works of the Law, or by hearing with faith?

I. DO WE STILL MINGLE THE COVENANTS?

The works of the Law refers to the Old Covenant or the Covenant of Law, a law to be kept, while the New Covenant is clearly portrayed as "hearing with faith." Under the New Covenant our perfection comes by hearing the word of God and living by faith. Those who live by the Old Covenant attempt to perfect themselves by keeping the law. Romans 3:20 Therefore no one will be declared righteous in his sight by observing the law; rather, through the law we become conscious of sin.

(1) HOW MANY DID PAUL SAY COULD HOPE TO BE DECLARED RIGHTEOUS BY LAW KEEPING? ___________________________________________________________

An example of this can be found in the "Lords Prayer". This prayer was given by Jesus "under law" to men "under law". Although the principles and the pattern remain valid, a portion of it conforms to the Covenant of Law and therefore is not applicable.

A. Forgive us our trespasses as we forgive those who trespass against us.

(1) IS OUR FORGIVENESS PREDICATED UPON OUR FORGIVING OTHERS? _________________________________________________________________.

(2) WHAT IS OUR FORGIVENESS ESTABLISHED UPON? _________________________.

B.. Under the Covenant of Grace, the passage should read; "may we forgive others as we have been forgiven!"

(1) DID YOU DO ANYTHING TO EARN YOUR FORGIVENESS? __________.

II. THE NEW COVENANT AND RECONCILIATION: LET'S LOOK AT GOD'S PROVISION FOR US UNDER THE NEW COVENANT.

A. THE CROSS: THE DIVIDING LINE OF HUMAN HISTORY.

HEBREWS 9:16-22 In the case of a will, it is necessary to prove the death of the one who made it, [17] because a will is in force only when somebody has died; it never takes effect while the one who made it is living. [18] This is why even the first covenant was not put into effect without blood. [19] When Moses had proclaimed every commandment of the law to all the people, he took the blood of calves, together with water, scarlet wool and branches of hyssop, and sprinkled the scroll and all the people. [20] He said, "This is the blood of the covenant, which God has commanded you to keep." [21] In the same way, he sprinkled with the blood both the tabernacle and everything used in its ceremonies. [22] In fact, the law requires that nearly everything be cleansed with blood, and without the shedding of blood there is no forgiveness.

Exodus 24:7-8 Then he [Moses] took the book of the covenant and read it in the hearing of the people; and they said, "All that the Lord has spoken we will do, and we will be obedient!" 8 So Moses took the blood and sprinkled it on the people, and said, "Behold the blood of the covenant, which the Lord has made with you in accordance with all these words." <

1)THIS WAS NOT THE FIRST COVENANT THAT GOD MAD WITH MAN. WITH WHOM DID GOD MAKE THE FIRST COVENANT ? ___________.

Genesis 1:28 And God blessed them; and God said to them, "Be fruitful and multiply, and fill the earth, and subdue it; and rule over the fish of the sea and over the birds of the sky, and over every living thing that moves on the earth." Since sin had not yet come upon the earth this covenant was based only on the word of God.

THE FIRST COVENANT HAD ONLY ONE LAW "Genesis 2:16-17 And the Lord God commanded the man, saying, "From any tree of the garden you may eat freely; 17 but from the tree of the knowledge of good and evil you shall not eat, for in the day that you eat from it you shall surely die."

A BREACH OF THAT LAW CARRIED THE ONLY PENALTY FOR SIN Romans 6:23 For the wages of sin is death, THROUGH THIS ACT OF DISOBEDIENCE DEATH CAME TO ALL MEN, THUS FORCING GOD TO INSTITUTE A NEW COVENANT WITH MAN, ONE THAT WOULD BE SEALED IN BLOOD .Genesis 3:16-19 To the woman He said,"I will greatly multiply Your pain in childbirth, In pain you shall bring forth children; Yet your desire shall be for your husband, And he shall rule over you." 17 Then to Adam He said, "Because you have listened to the voice of your wife, and have eaten from the tree about which I commanded you, saying, 'You shall not eat from it';Cursed is the ground because of you; In toil you shall eat of it All the days of your life. 18 "Both thorns and thistles it shall grow for you; And you shall eat the plants of the field; 19 By the sweat of your face You shall eat bread. Till you return to the ground ,Because from it you were taken: For you are dust, and to dust you shall return."

(2) WHEN ADAM & EVE SINNED, (BROKE THE LAW)GOD MADE A NEW COVENANT WITH THEM. WHAT PROVIDED THE BLOOD FOR THIS NEW COVENANT? __________________________________.Genesis 3:21 And the Lord God made garments of skin for Adam and his wife, and clothed them.

B. WHAT OTHER COVENANTS HAVE THERE BEEN BETWEEN GOD AND MAN AND WERE THEY SEALED WITH BLOOD?

Genesis 5:29 Now he called his name Noah, saying, "This one shall give us rest from our work and from the toil of our hands arising from the ground which the Lord has cursed." Genesis 8:20-9:17 Then Noah built an altar to the Lord, and took of every clean animal and of every clean bird and offered burnt offerings on the altar. 21 And the Lord smelled the soothing aroma; and the Lord said to Himself, "I will never again curse the ground on account of man, for the intent of man's heart is evil from his youth; and I will never again destroy every living thing, as I have done. 22 "While the earth remains, Seedtime and harvest, And cold and heat, And summer and winter, And day and night Shall not cease." 9:1 And God blessed Noah and his sons and said to them, "Be fruitful and multiply, and fill the earth. 2"And the fear of you and the terror of you shall be on every beast of the earth and on every bird of the sky; with everything that creeps on the ground, and all the fish of the sea, into your hand they are given. 3"Every moving thing that is alive shall be food for you; I give all to you, as I gave the green plant. 4"Only you shall not eat flesh with its life, that is, its blood. 5 "And surely I will require your lifeblood; from every beast I will require it. And from every man, from every man's brother I will require the life of man. 6 "Whoever sheds man's blood, By man his blood shall be shed, For in the image of God He made man. 7"And as for you, be fruitful and multiply; Populate the earth abundantly and multiply in it." 8 Then God spoke to Noah and to his sons with him, saying, 9 "Now behold, I Myself do establish My covenant with you, and with your descendants after you; 10 and with every living creature that is with you, the birds, the cattle, and every beast of the earth with you; of all that comes out of the ark, even every beast of the earth. 11 "And I establish My covenant with you; and all flesh shall never again be cut off by the water of the flood, neither shall there again be a flood to destroy the earth." 12 And God said, "This is the sign of the covenant which I am making between Me and you and every living creature that is with you, for all successive generations; 13 I set My bow in the cloud, and it shall be for a sign of a covenant between Me and the earth. 14"And it shall come about, when I bring a cloud over the earth, that the bow shall be seen in the cloud, 15 and I will remember My covenant, which is between Me and you and every living creature of all flesh; and never again shall the water become a flood to destroy all flesh. 16 "When the bow is in the cloud, then I will look upon it, to remember the everlasting covenant between God and every living creature of all flesh that is on the earth." 17 And God said to Noah, "This is the sign of the covenant which I have established between Me and all flesh that is on the earth."

(1) WAS BLOOD SHED TO INSTITUTE THIS NEW COVENANT? ________________.

(2) IS THIS COVENANT STILL IN EFFECT? ____________________.

Exodus 24:7-8 Then he took the book of the covenant and read it in the hearing of the people; and they said, "All that the Lord has spoken we will do, and we will be obedient!" 8 So Moses took the blood and sprinkled it on the people, and said, "Behold the blood of the covenant, which the Lord has made with you in accordance with all these words."

(1) WAS THIS COVENANT MADE WITH BLOOD? ___________________________.

(2) IS THIS COVENANT STILL IN EFFECT? _________________________________.

1. Col. 2:14 having canceled the written code, with its regulations that was against us and that stood opposed to us, he took it away, nailing it to the cross.

(1) DO YOU REMEMBER WHAT THE PENALTY WAS FOR VIOLATING THE LAW? _______________________________________________________________________.

(2) FOR THOSE WHO HAVE ACCEPTED THE FORGIVENESS OF GOD, (BECAME BORN FROM ABOVE) WHAT IS IT NOW? ___________________________________.

Galatians 3:24-25 So the law was put in charge to lead us to Christ that we might be justified by faith. 25 Now that faith has come, we are no longer under the supervision of the law.

(1) WHAT WAS THE PURPOSE OF THE COVENANT OF LAW? _________________

(2)THE BLOOD SHED FOR THESE COVENANTS LOOKED AHEAD TO THE CROSS OF ___________?.

(3) OUR FORGIVENESS WAS BOUGHT BY THE BLOOD OF ______________?

B. THE NEW COVENANT USHERED IN: HEBREWS 8:6-13 But the ministry Jesus has received is as superior to theirs as the covenant of which he is mediator is superior to the old one, and it is founded on better promises.[7] For if there had been nothing wrong with that first covenant, no place would have been sought for another. [8] But God found fault with the people and said: "The time is coming, declares the Lord, when I will make a new covenant with the house of Israel and with the house of Judah. [9] It will not be like the covenant I made with their forefathers when I took them by the hand to lead them out of Egypt, because they did not remain faithful to my covenant, and I turned away from them, declares the Lord. [10] This is the covenant I will make with the house of Israel after that time, declares the Lord. I will put my laws in their minds and write them on their hearts. I will be their God, and they will be my people. [11] No longer will a man teach his neighbor, or a man his brother, saying, 'Know the Lord,' because they will all know me, from the least of them to the greatest. [12] For I will forgive their wickedness and will remember their sins no more." [13] By calling this covenant "new," he has made the first one obsolete; and what is obsolete and aging will soon disappear. (1) DID GOD FIND FAULT WITH THE OLD COVENANT? ___________

(2) WHAT DID GOD FIND FAULT WITH? _____________________________

(1) Hebrews 10:16-18 "This is the covenant that I will make with them After those days, says the Lord: I will put My laws upon their heart, And upon their mind I will write them," He then says, 17 "And their sins and their lawless deeds I will remember no more." 18 Now where there is forgiveness of these things, there is no longer any offering for sin.

(1) WHAT IS THE BETTER PROMISE OF THE NEW COVENANT(Heb.8:6)? OUR SINS HAVE BEEN FORGIVEN AND __________.

(2) DID THE MOSAIC (LAW) COVENANT BRING ETERNAL LIFE? __________.

Romans 6:23a For the wages of sin is death, . . .

Gal 3:10 All who rely on observing the law are under a curse, for it is written: "Cursed is everyone who does not continue to do everything written in the Book of the Law."

(1) WHAT IS THE DIFFERENCE BETWEEN THE OLD AND NEW COVENANT? __________________________________________________________________________

(2) ACCORDING TO HEBREWS 8:10 WHERE WILL THE LAWS OF GOD BE WRITTEN? _______________________________________________________

(3) CAN EXTERNAL LAWS CONTROL THE HUMAN HEART?___________

Titus 2:11-12 For the grace of God that brings salvation has appeared to all men. 12 It teaches us to say "No" to ungodliness and worldly passions, and to live self-controlled, upright and godly lives in this present age, Jer 17:9 The heart is deceitful above all things, and desperately wicked: who can know it?

HEBREWS 7:18-22 The former regulation is set aside because it was weak and useless [19] (for the law made nothing perfect), and a better hope is introduced, by which we draw near to God. [20] And it was not without an oath! Others became priests without any oath, [21] but he became a priest with an oath when God said to him: "The Lord has sworn and will not change his mind: 'You are a priest forever.'" [22] Because of this oath, Jesus has become the guarantee of a better covenant.

(1) WHAT DID THE LAW MAKE PERFECT? _______________________

(2) WHO IS OUR GUARANTEE THAT WE HAVE A NEW AND BETTER

COVENANT? ___________.

(3) HOW GOOD IS A GUARANTEE? ___________________________________.

(4) THE COVENANT OF LAW WAS SET ASIDE BECAUSE IT COULD MAKE NOTHING PERFECT! WHAT THEN IS THE ESSENCE OF THE NEW COVENANT? IT CAN MAKE US _______________.

JESUS PAID THE PRICE OF OUR SIN DEBT ONCE FOR ALL TIMES, AND NOW WRITES HIS LAWS ON OUR HEARTS AND MINDS, REMEMBERING OUR SIN NO MORE WE OWED A DEBT WE COULDN'T PAY, CHRIST PAID A DEBT HE DIDN'T OWE. THE HOLY SPIRIT IS IN US CONFORMING US TO THE IMAGE OF CHRIST.

C: LETS LOOK AT THE DIFFERENCE: C: THE OLD COVENANT vs. THE NEW:

HEBREWS 10:1-18 The law is only a shadow of the good things that are coming--not the realities themselves. For this reason it can never, by the same sacrifices repeated endlessly year after year, make perfect those who draw near to worship. [2] If it could, would they not have stopped being offered? For the worshipers would have been cleansed once for all, and would no longer have felt guilty for their sins. [3] But those sacrifices are an annual reminder of sins, [4] because it is impossible for the blood of bulls and goats to take away sins. [5] Therefore, when Christ came into the world, he said:"Sacrifice and offering you did not desire, but a body you prepared for me; [6] with burnt offerings and sin offerings you were not pleased. [7] Then I said, 'Here I am--it is written about me in the scroll--I have come to do your will, O God.'" [8] First he said, "Sacrifices and offerings, burnt offerings and sin offerings you did not desire, nor were you pleased with them" (although the law required them to be made). [9] Then he said, "Here I am ,I have come to do your will." He sets aside the first to establish the second. [10] And by that will, we have been made holy through the sacrifice of the body of Jesus Christ once for all. [11] Day after day every priest stands and performs his religious duties; again and again he offers the same sacrifices, which can never take away sins. [12] But when this priest had offered for all time one sacrifice for sins, he sat down at the right hand of God. [13] Since that time he waits for his enemies to be made his footstool, [14] because by one sacrifice he has made perfect forever those who are being made holy. [15] The Holy Spirit also testifies to us about this. First he says: [16] "This is the covenant I will make with them after that time, says the Lord. I will put my laws in their hearts, and I will write them on their minds." [17] Then he adds: "Their sins and lawless acts I will remember no more." [18] And where these have been forgiven, there is no longer any sacrifice for sin.

(1) CAN THE COVENANT OF LAW EVER MAKE ANYONE FREE FROM THEIR SINS? ____________ (VS 3-4)

(2) CHRIST SET ASIDE THE _______________COVENANT TO ESTABLISH THE __________ OR NEW COVENANT. (VS 9).

(3) BY THIS NEW COVENANT WE HAVE BEEN MADE ___________ THROUGH THE SACRIFICE OF THE ____________________.(VS 10)

(4) BY ONE SACRIFICE, THOSE OF US WHO HAVE BEEN SET APART (MADE HOLY) ARE BEING MADE __________________ . (COMPLETE OR BLEMISH FREE). (VS 14)

(5) DOES GOD THE HOLY SPIRIT CONFIRM THIS? _____________ (VS 15)

II. JESUS CHRIST'S SACRIFICE ELIMINATES SELF-EFFORT

A. THERE IS NO MORE SACRIFICE FOR SIN. CHRIST SAID IT IS FINISHED

HEB 10:10 And by that will, we have been made holy through the sacrifice of the body of Jesus Christ once for all..

(1) WHAT CAN MAKE US HOLY? IS IT SOMETHING THAT WE CAN DO? _____________________________________________.

B. THERE IS ONLY ONE PRIEST IN THE NEW COVENANT - JESUS CHRIST.

HEBREWS 5:1 Every high priest is selected from among men and is appointed to represent them in matters related to God, to offer gifts and sacrifices for sins.

(1) WHAT IS THE FUNCTION OF A PRIEST? __________________________________.

Hebrews 4:14-15 Since then we have a great high priest who has passed through the heavens, Jesus the Son of God, let us hold fast our confession. 15 For we do not have a high priest who cannot sympathize with our weaknesses, but One who has been tempted in all things as we are, yet without sin.

(1) WHO IS OUR HIGH PRIEST? __________________________________________.

Hebrews 7:22-25 so much the more also Jesus has become the guarantee of a better covenant. 23 And the former priests, on the one hand, existed in greater numbers, because they were prevented by death from continuing, 24 but He, on the other hand, because He abides forever, holds His priesthood permanently. 25 Hence, also, He is able to save forever those who draw near to God through Him, since He always lives to make intercession for them.

(1) WHAT ARE THE TWO THINGS THAT OUR HIGH PRIEST, JESUS IS ABLE TO DO FOR THOSE WHO SEEK GOD?

1. _______________________________________________________________

2._________________________________________________________

HEB 5:5-6 So Christ also did not take upon himself the glory of becoming a high priest. But God said to him, "You are my Son; today I have become your Father." [6] And he says in another place, "You are a priest forever, in the order of Melchizedek."

C. WITHOUT THE SHEDDING OF BLOOD THERE IS NO FORGIVENESS:

THIS LAW EXTENDS THROUGH ALL OF THE COVENANTS THAT GOD MADE WITH MAN FROM THE TIME OF ADAM UNTIL NOW.

HEBREWS 9:22 In fact, the law requires that nearly everything be cleansed with blood, and without the shedding of blood there is no forgiveness.

(1) WHAT IS REQUIRED FOR THE FORGIVENESS OF SIN? ______________________

Hebrews 10:10 By this will we have been sanctified through the offering of the body of Jesus Christ once for all.

(1) WHAT DID JESUS USE TO ACCOMPLISH THE PAYMENT OF OUR SIN DEBT? __________

Hebrews 10:19 Since therefore, brethren, we have confidence to enter the holy place by the blood of Jesus,

(1) WAS BLOOD SHED FOR THE FORGIVENESS OF OUR SINS? __________.

Hebrews 10:10 By this will we have been sanctified through the offering of the body of Jesus Christ once for all.

(1) DOES ANOTHER SACRIFICE HAVE TO BE MADE FOR SIN? ________________.

(2) DOES THAT MEAN ALL OF MY SINS - PAST, PRESENT, AND THOSE THAT I MIGHT COMMIT? ____________

Hebrews 10:14 For by one offering He has perfected for all time those who are sanctified.

(1) DOES ANOTHER OFFERING EVER HAVE TO BE MADE FOR ANYONE WHO WILL ACCEPT THE SUBSTITUTIONARY DEATH OF JESUS? _____________.

Hebrews 10:19 Since therefore, brethren, we have confidence to enter the holy place by the blood of Jesus,

(1) WHAT IS IT THEN THAT ALLOWS US TO ENTER THE HOLY PLACES OF GOD? THE ________ OF ___________.

HEBREWS 6:4-9 It is impossible for those who have once been enlightened, who have tasted the heavenly gift, who have shared in the Holy Spirit, [5] who have tasted the goodness of the word of God and the powers of the coming age, [6] if they fall away, to be brought back to repentance, because to their loss they are crucifying the Son of God all over again and subjecting him to public disgrace. (7] Land that drinks in the rain often falling on it and that produces a crop useful to those for whom it is farmed receives the blessing of God. [8] But land that produces thorns and thistles is worthless and is in danger of being cursed. In the end it will be burned. [9] Even though we speak like this, dear friends, we are confident of better things in your case--things that accompany salvation.

(1) SOME WOULD SAY THAT THOSE WHO SIN, (DO BAD DEEDS) FALL AWAY FROM GRACE, LOOSE THEIR SALVATION, AND MUST BE SAVED AGAIN. ACCORDING TO THIS VERSE COULD THIS THEOLOGY BE TRUE? ____________.

(2) IF FALLING AWAY DID REFER TO SINS OF THE FLESH, ACCORDING TO VS 6 WHO COULD BE SAVED? _________.

HEBREWS 10:26-31 If we deliberately keep on sinning after we have received the knowledge of the truth, no sacrifice for sins is left, [27] but only a fearful expectation of judgment and of raging fire that will consume the enemies of God. [28] Anyone who rejected the law of Moses died without mercy on the testimony of two or three witnesses. [29] How much more severely do you think a man deserves to be punished who has trampled the Son of God under foot, who has treated as an unholy thing the blood of the covenant that sanctified him, and who has insulted the Spirit of grace? [30] For we know him who said, "It is mine to avenge; I will repay," and again, "The Lord will judge his people." [31] It is a dreadful thing to fall into the hands of the living God.

(1) THE KEY WORD HERE IS "DELIBERATELY". THAT MAKES THE SIN ONE OF REBELLION, A SIN OF THE HEART, OR OF REJECTION OF THE HOLY SPIRIT WHO LIVES WITHIN THE BELIEVER AND IS IN THE PROCESS OF RENEWING OUR MIND. IF WE REJECT THE HOLY SPIRIT OF GOD, DO WE HAVE ANY HOPE LEFT? ______

(2) WHEN WE CONTINUE IN UNBELIEF AFTER WE HAVE RECEIVED THE KNOWLEDGE OF THE TRUTH WE ARE ________________ THE SPIRIT OF GRACE.

II. ALL THIS IS FROM GOD.

A. GOD DESIRED FOR ALL MEN TO BE RECONCILED TO HIMSELF:

COLOSSIANS 1:19-22 For God was pleased to have all his fullness dwell in him, [20] and through him to reconcile to himself all things, whether things on earth or things in heaven, by making peace through his blood, shed on the cross.[21] Once you were alienated from God and were enemies in your minds because of your evil behavior. [22] But now he has reconciled you by Christ's physical body through death to present you holy in his sight, without blemish and free from accusation

(1) CHRIST _____________ ALL THINGS BY HIS BLOOD.

(2) I WAS ONCE AN ENEMY OF GOD, BUT NOW I AM __________ BY _________, THROUGH HIS DEATH ON THE CROSS. I STAND IN GOD'S SIGHT AS __________ AND WITHOUT __________ AND FREE FROM _______________ .

John 3:16 "For God so loved the world that He gave His one and only Son, that whoever believes in Him shall not perish but have eternal life.

2 CORINTHIANS 5:18-19 All this is from God, who reconciled us to himself through Christ and gave us the ministry of reconciliation: [19] that God was reconciling the world to himself in Christ, not counting men's sins against them. And he has committed to us the message of reconciliation.

(1) WHAT IS THE MESSAGE OF RECONCILIATION? __________________________

__________________________________________________________________

B. GOD'S DESIRE FOR RECONCILIATION PRECEDED HIS PROVISION:

JOHN 3:16 "For God so loved the world that he gave his one and only Son, that whoever believes in him shall not perish but have eternal life.

(1) WHEN DID CHRIST SAY THIS? BEFORE OR AFTER THE CROSS ____________.

ROMANS 5:6-8 You see, at just the right time, when we were still powerless, Christ died for the ungodly. [7] Very rarely will anyone die for a righteous man, though for a good man someone might possibly dare to die. [8] But God demonstrates his own love for us in this: While we were still sinners, Christ died for us.

(1) BEFORE HE MADE US CLEAN VESSELS CHRIST _____________FOR US.

1 JOHN 4:10 This is love: not that we loved God, but that he loved us and sent his Son as an atoning sacrifice for our sins.

BEFORE I LOVED GOD, GOD LOVED __________________ AND SENT HIS SON AS AN ATONING SACRIFICE FOR ______ SINS?

THE NAILS THAT HELD CHRIST TO THE CROSS WERE LOVE: GOD'S LOVE FOR US.

(Our thanks to People to People -Discipleship Training Course, Dallas Texas for the drawings).

Please e-mail comments, suggestions or questions to Greg at deans@interpath.com

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