“The New Covenant Perfect Law Of Liberty”
The vast majority of religious believers during modern times tend to go to extremes with their theological interpretations of the divinely inspired Old and New Testament Scriptures of the Holy Bible. For example, most practitioners of various sects and denominations of Judaism and Messianic Torah-observance focus predominantly upon becoming “saved”, and approved as “righteous” by attempting (albeit in vain) to perform physical works of obedience to the entire Old Covenant Levitical book of Moses and Ten Commandments stone tablets Torah Law (including its approximate 613 Commandments) with self-humanistic abilities, rather than by faith and our heavenly Father Yahweh’s unmerited favor, with the guidance and sanctifying power of the Holy Spirit via the New Covenant Law of liberty (which is written upon the heart, rather than with ink in books, or carved onto stone tablets). [Jeremiah 31:31-34 ; Ezekiel 11:19-20 and 36:36-27 ; 2 Corinthians 3:3-7 ; Hebrews 8:6-13]
“Are you so foolish? Having begun with the Spirit, are you now being perfected by the flesh?...If righteousness comes through [practicing] the Law, then Messiah died needlessly" (Gal. 3:3; 2:21).
"Everyone who sins breaks the law; in fact, sin is lawlessness." (1 John 3:4)
"So whoever knows the right thing to do and fails to do it, for him it is sin." (James 4:17)
"But someone who does not know, and then does something wrong, will be punished only lightly. When someone has been
given much, much will be required in return; and when someone has been entrusted with much, even more will be
required." (Luke 12:48)
Oftentimes, the words and teachings of the apostle Sha’ul (Paul) are misinterpreted,and taken completely out of context, thus causing confusion, deception, and destruction.
“Consider also that our Master’s patience brings salvation, just as our beloved brother Paul also wrote you with the wisdom Elohim gave him. He writes this way in all his letters, speaking in them about such matters. Some parts of his letters are hard to understand, which ignorant and unstable people distort, as they do the rest of the Scriptures, to their own destruction. Therefore, beloved, since you already know these things, be on your guard so that you will not be carried away by the error of the lawless and fall from your secure standing. Instead, continue to grow in the favor and knowledge of our Master and Savior Yeshua [Jesus], the Messiah. Glory belongs to Him both now and on that eternal day! Amen.” (2 Peter 3:15-18)
The New Covenant in Messiah Yeshua cannot be a renewal of the Old Covenant because almost all of the old laws are obsolete, and are no longer binding nor applicable today. Two examples, are that the animal sacrifices have ended, due to Yeshua becoming our Final Sacrifice for sin, and that we no longer have a temporal Levitical priesthood during current times, due to it being replaced by the eternal Melchizedek priesthood. (Hebrews chapter 7 and 10:12,14)
Instead the New Covenant provides a new and deeper relationship with Yahweh based on our faith. “The Law is not of faith" (Gal 3:12). The New Covenant gives us eternal life, and the Holy Spirit comes to dwell within all believers, helping us to live holy lives. The Old Covenant was "a ministry of death" (2 Cor. 3:7), and even though the Holy Spirit came upon believers under that obsolete covenant, He never dwelled within, nor supernaturally helped anyone to be holy. The failure was mankind’s weakness and inability to be holy like Him.
Also, the New Covenant responds in pure, selfless love, but the Old Covenant demanded retaliatory “eye for an eye” vengeance as justice. The New Covenant gives us spiritual power (via the Holy Spirit) over sin, enabling us to live sanctified and holy unto Yahweh, but the Old Covenant exposed sin’s power over us, without giving believers power over sin (Rom. 5:20). The New Covenant makes us holy saints (through the Blood of Messiah), while the Old Covenant exposed us as unrighteous sinners. The New Covenant declares us righteous and holy, but the Old Covenant brought us into judgment. The New Covenant makes us sons of Yahweh and heirs of the promise which He gave to Abraham, while the Old Covenant left us slaves and outcasts from His promises (Galatians 4:21-31).
On the opposite flip side of the extreme legalists of Judaism, etc., most mainstream fundamentalist Christians believe that spiritual salvation and divine righteousness come only by faith and unmerited favor, and that works (of obedience to the Ten Commandments within the New Covenant Law of liberty written upon the heart) by the guidance and sanctification of the Holy Spirit) are unnecessary. If no works were necessary, to confirm our faith, then the Ten Commandments would not have been repeatedly re-taught throughout the New Testament Scriptures, nor would any believers be rejected by Him for being breakers of the law. By the divine inspiration of the Holy Spirit, the apostle James, the half-brother of Messiah Yeshua wrote, “a man is justified by works and not by faith alone.” (James 2:26a)
Both sides are unbalanced, unscriptural and incorrect. The Spirit of Wisdom is calling out to us, beckoning every son and daughter of Yahweh Elohim, haElyon (the Most High) to faithfully with freedom abide daily in His Light of eternal Life, perceiving, believing and receiving the full counsel of absolute truth, while living sanctified and set apart from the world as holy unto Him.
According to Ephesians 2:8, we are saved by unmerited favor through faith, and not of our own self abilities. Divine righteousness and salvation is a free gift from Yahweh, via Yeshua (Jesus), our Savior, Messiah, Mediator and High Priest of the New Covenant. However, this does not contextually mean nor imply that He does not command nor expect us to obey His Commandments, and to confirm and prove our love for Him by being obedient sons and daughters who are set apart as holy in His light, separated from the unholy peoples within the spiritual darkness of this fallen world. If our faith does not have confirmational works of obedience, then it is inactive and dead.
“O foolish man, do you want evidence that faith without works is worthless?...You see that a man is justified by works and not by faith alone. For as the body apart from the spirit is dead, so also faith apart from works is dead.” (James 2:24, 26)
“Not everyone who says to Me, ‘Master, Master,’ will enter the kingdom of heaven, but only he who does the will of My Father in heaven. Many will say to Me on that day, ‘Master, Master, did we not prophesy in Your name, and in Your name drive out demons and perform many miracles?’ Then I will tell them plainly, ‘I never knew you; depart from Me, you workers of lawlessness.’” (Matthew 7:21-23)
A person who is lawless is a breaker of Yahweh’s Ten Commandments-Laws, and these workers of lawlessness whom Messiah will cast out of the light of Heaven into the darkness of Hell are Holy Spirit-filled believers who operate in the gifts of the Spirit for ministry. Paul wrote,
“Work at living in peace with everyone, and work at living a holy life, for those who are not holy will NOT see the Master." (Hebrews 12:14)
“So, whoever thinks he stands must be careful not to fall." (1 Corinthians 10:12)
"Do we, then, nullify the Law by this faith? By NO means! Instead, we uphold the Law." (Romans 3:31)
“For NOT the hearers of the Law are just in the sight of Elohim, but the DOERS of the Law will be justified.” (Romans 2:13)
It is imperative that we find the proper central balance, with no extremes in either direction, so that we may become righteous by faith and unmerited favor in the complete fulfilled work of Yeshua (Jesus) the Messiah, with confirmational works of obedience to His perfect and eternal Law of liberty, thus obtaining justification, salvation and the right to enter through the gates of the heavenly New Jerusalem City of Light, eat of the twelve fruits of the Tree of Life, and drink freely from our Father Yahweh’s glorious River of Life.
“Blessed are they that do His commandments, so that they may have the right to the tree of life, and may enter in through the gates into the City.” (Revelation 22:14)
Yeshua (Jesus) the Messiah said : "...if you want to receive eternal life, keep the commandments." (Matthew 19:17b)
The Master was very clear in illustrating the factual truth that IF we want to receive eternal life, then we must love Him and obey His Commandments.
"If you love Me, you will keep My Commandments.” (John 14:15)
True liberation and freedom comes when we accept the Holy Spirit who writes the Ten Commandments-Laws upon our hearts, illuminates our consciousness with revelatory understanding, and equips us with the divine ability to perform our heavenly Father’s will.
"Yeshua told the people who had faith in Him, "If you keep on obeying what I have said, you truly are My disciples. Then you will know the truth, and the truth will set you free." (John 8:31-32)
“So if the Son sets you free, you will be free indeed." (John 8:36)
The last thing we need are more mere speculative human-based opinions and interpretations, for these have already gotten the majority of believers into the vast and widespread convoluted theological mess which exists today, as a darkened and chaotic contradiction of the Scriptures of Light. It is far better to simply examine and believe the full, multi-layered revelation of the Old and New Testament Scriptures as a sacred collective whole, and to believe exactly what they say contextually in totality, rather than merely in part. The Old Testament is the New Testament concealed, and the New Testament is the Old Testament revealed. The New Testament is metaphorically embedded in seed form throughout the soil of the Old Testament, and the Old Testament blossoms forth as a flowers in the New Testament. We need both to perceive the full revelatory picture by the Holy Spirit’s divine illumination.
As both the historical records and the Old and New Testament Scriptures collectively and conclusively prove, the Shemite Hebrew-Israelites were morally weak and unable to keep all of the Old Covenant laws. Repeatedly, the nation of Israel fell into spiritual apostasy, backsliding away from the Commandments of our Creator. The prophet Moses wrote about the harsh cold reality that his people couldn’t yet know and understand how to become fully obedient and holy.
"but Yahweh has not given you a heart to know, and eyes to see, and ears to hear, to this day." (Deuteronomy 29:4)
This confirmed the fact that humanity needed a Savior, Someone from above who would pay the ransom for our sins, and open the way of access to our Heavenly Father of lights. Likewise, we needed the gift of divine righteousness, which we are unable to obtain within our own finite and limited strength and abilities. The yoke of the Old Covenant laws was too heavy, burdensome and impossible to fully bear in totality with perfection, due to our weak, imperfect nature, and we are commanded to avoid coming back under bondage to it again.
"Stand fast therefore in the liberty wherewith Messiah hath made us free, and be not entangled again with the yoke of bondage." (Galatians 5:1). [see also Acts 15:10-11 ; Romans 9:13-15)
So therefore, Yahweh sent His only begotten Son to live a perfectly righteous life, and to die as the Passover Lamb, so that we may become righteous by faith (through unmerited favor) in Him, and also perform works of obedience to His eternal Ten Commandments by the liberating power of the Holy Spirit. Within Mark 2:21-22, the Messiah taught that the only way we can contain the “new wine” of the Spirit, is to become as “new wineskins”, or in other words, receive His New Covenant in His blood, and become filled with the Holy Spirit.
The eternal Laws are written upon our hearts, and divine revelation gives us understanding of true holiness, combined with the supernatural ability to perform righteous works which make us justified in His sight, as we walk by faith in His unmerited favor and free gift of righteousness. We do not do holy works to become righteous by self ability, for this has always been an impossible failure and shortcoming of humanity. Instead, we become righteous by unmerited favor through faith in Him, and then we do righteous works by the power of the Holy Spirit (who gives us perfect peace and liberty) in obedience to our Father, because we love Him. The Commandments are for mankind’s benefit and blessing, and when He obey Yahweh, we will reap His divine light of life, and also earthly and heavenly rewards.
"But now He has obtained a more excellent ministry, inasmuch as He is also Mediator of a better covenant, which was established on better promises. For if that first covenant had been faultless, then no place would have been sought for a second. Because finding fault with them, He says: “Behold, the days are coming, says Yahweh, when I will make a new covenant with the house of Israel and with the house of Judah— not according to the covenant that I made with their fathers in the day when I took them by the hand to lead them out of the land of Egypt; because they did not continue in My covenant, and I disregarded them, says Yahweh. For this is the covenant that I will make with the house of Israel after those days, says Yahweh: I will put My laws in their mind and write them on their hearts; and I will be their Elohim, and they shall be My people. None of them shall teach his neighbor, and none his brother, saying, ‘Know Yahweh,’ for all shall know Me, from the least of them to the greatest of them. For I will be merciful to their unrighteousness, and their sins and their lawless deeds I will remember no more.” In that He says, “A new covenant,” He has made the first obsolete. Now what is becoming obsolete and growing old is ready to vanish away." (Hebrews 8:6-13) [cf : Jeremiah 31:31-34]
"I will give you a new heart and put a new spirit in you; I will remove from you your heart of stone and give you a heart of flesh. I will put My Spirit within you and cause you to walk in My Laws, and you will be careful to observe My Commandments." (Ezekiel 36:36-27)
"I will give them a new heart and a new mind. I will take away their stubborn heart of stone and will give them an obedient heart. Then they will keep my Laws and faithfully obey all my Commandments. They will be my people, and I will be their Elohim." (Ezekiel 11:19-20)
"As for you also, because of the blood of My covenant with you, I will set your prisoners free from the waterless pit." (Zechariah 9:11)
We are called to take the easy and light yoke of Messiah upon our lives, and walk/live in the freedom and liberation of the Holy Spirit who gives us the divine ability to be set apart as holy, and also to do works of righteousness which bring glory and praise to our Heavenly Father. (Matt. 5:16)
“Come to Me, all you who are weary and burdened, and I will give you rest. Take My yoke upon you and learn from Me; for I am gentle and humble in heart, and you will find rest for your souls. For My yoke is easy and My burden is light.” (Matthew 11:28-30)
“For this is the love of Elohim, that we keep His commandments; and His commandments are not burdensome." (1 John 5:3)
"It is clear that you are a letter from Messiah, the result of our ministry, written not with ink but with the Spirit of the living Elohim, not on tablets of stone but on tablets of human hearts. Now we have such confidence through Messiah toward Elohim. Not that we are sufficient in ourselves to claim anything as coming from us, but our sufficiency is from Elohim. And He has qualified us as ministers of a new covenant, not of the letter but of the Spirit; for the letter kills, but the Spirit gives life. Now if the ministry of death, having been engraved in letters on stones, was produced in glory, so as for the sons of Israel not to be able to look intently into the face of Moses, on account of the glory of his face which is fading, how will the ministry of the Spirit not be more glorious?" (2 Corinthians 3:3-8)
"But their minds were closed. For to this day the same veil remains at the reading of the Old Covenant. It has not been lifted, because only in Messiah can it be removed. And even to this day when Moses is read, a veil covers their hearts. But whenever anyone turns to the Master, the veil is taken away. Now the Master is the Spirit, and where the Spirit of Master is, there is freedom. And we, who with unveiled faces all reflect the glory of the Master, are being transformed into His image with intensifying glory, which comes from the Master, who is the Spirit." (2 Corinthians 3:14-18)
David wrote that the “Law of Yahweh is perfect” (Ps. 19:7), for it reflects the divine character and nature of Elohim (Lev. 11:45). However, the book of Hebrews reveals that “the Law made nothing perfect” (7:19), which is the main reason why Yahweh brought in a “better covenant” (v. 22) through His Son, Yeshua (Jesus) the Messiah. This would not have been necessary “if that first covenant had been faultless” (Heb. 8:7).
"In speaking of a new covenant, He makes the first one obsolete. And what is becoming obsolete and growing old is ready to vanish away." (Hebrews 8:13)
"Because of this oath, Jesus has become the guarantor of a better covenant." (Hebrews 7:22)
This seems like a complete and total contradiction, but isn't. The Law was perfect in its nature, but imperfect in its results with humanity. It was a perfect expression of Yahweh’s divine righteousness, but an imperfect means of making man righteous. It is not the fault of the Law itself or the purpose for which Yahweh gave it. For the Law was never given to redeem sinners (Titus 3:5–6 ; Romans 4:5), but to reveal sin. It was only “our teacher to bring us to Messiah, that we might be justified by faith” (Gal. 3:24). Like a mirror, the law was intended to reveal our imperfections as we look into it; but it, no more than the mirror, was intended to correct our imperfections. So the law is perfect in itself, as a rule and revealer of sin, but it is imperfect as a means of empowering us to overcome sin.
The Old Covenant Law given to the prophet Moses was good. "So then, the Law is holy, and the commandment is holy and righteous and good" (Romans 7:12). But there was a flaw in the Law, for it depended on imperfect men to carry it out. "For if that first covenant had been faultless, there would have been no occasion sought for a second. For finding fault with them, ..." (Hebrews 8:7-8). The fault was not with it, but with them.
The Law “was added because of transgressions, until the Seed would come to whom the promise had been made" (Gal. 3:18,19). "It was "added…until" the Messiah came to fulfill the Law in Himself for our salvation. Those under the Old Covenant only had their sins temporarily spiritually covered by the blood of sacrificed animals, they and could only prophetically look forward to a day when Yahweh would solve the problem of sin through the Messiah, who became the final supreme sacrifice to bear and take away our iniquities, thus restoring our relationship with the Father of lights.
"Therefore, there is now no condemnation for those who are in Messiah Yeshua [Jesus]. For the law of the Spirit of life in Messiah Yeshua has set you free from the law of sin and death. For what the Law was powerless to do in that it was weakened by the flesh, Elohim did by sending His own Son in the likeness of sinful man, as an offering for sin. He thus condemned sin in the flesh, in order that the righteous requirement of the law might be fulfilled in us, who walk not according to the flesh but according to the Spirit." (Romans 8:1-4)
When Yeshua (Jesus) the Messiah came and died for mankind's sins, the Old Covenant became obsolete, and the weaker natural law was replaced with the perfect spiritual law which is written upon the heart by the Holy Spirit, who helps us from within by the divine power of Yahweh to both understand and obey His eternal New Covenant Ten Commandments Law of liberty.
"Therefore put away all filthiness and rampant wickedness and receive with meekness the implanted word, which is able to save your souls. Be doers of the word, and not hearers only. Otherwise, you are deceiving yourselves. For if anyone is a hearer of the word and not a doer, he is like a man who looks intently at his natural face in a mirror. For he looks at himself and goes away and at once forgets what he was like. But the one who looks intently into the perfect law of freedom, and continues to do so—not being a forgetful hearer, but an effective doer—he will be blessed in what he does. If anyone thinks he is religious and does not bridle his tongue but deceives his heart, this person’s religion is worthless. Pure and genuine religion in the sight of God the Father means caring for orphans and widows in their distress and refusing to let the world corrupt you." (James 1:21-27)
“For whosoever shall keep the whole Law, and yet offend in one point, he is guilty of all. For he that said, “Do not commit adultery, said also, Do not murder”. Now if you commit no adultery, yet if you murder, you have become a transgressor of the Law. So speak and so act as those who are to be judged under the Law of liberty... What good is it, my brothers, if someone says he has faith but does not have works? Can that faith save him?... O foolish man, do you want evidence that faith without deeds is worthless?...You see that a man is justified by works and not by faith alone. For as the body apart from the spirit is dead, so also faith apart from works is dead.” (James 2:10-12, 14, 20, 24, 26)
There is no excuse for anyone to avoid righteous works of obedience to Yahweh’s eternal Ten Commandments, which the Holy Spirit has imparted into our hearts. It is He who does the main work, and we should cooperate with Him unified as one in holy love, so that He can help us to do our Father’s good, acceptable and perfect will. Covenant is about oneness, and the full, complete merging of both sides. The more unified with Him you become, the brighter His Glory will illuminate your life, and shine through you into the lives of others locally and globally. This world has grown dark as the night, and NOW is the right high time to rise and shine with His divine Light.
"For Elohim is working in you, giving you the desire and the power to do what pleases Him." (Philippians 2:13)
"And I am sure of this, that He who began a good work in you will bring it to completion at the day of Yeshua [Jesus] the Messiah." (Philippians 1:6)
We are saved by unmerited favor through faith in Yeshua (Jesus) the Messiah (who died as the final Sacrifice for the sins of humanity), and justified by our confirmational works of obedience to the eternal Ten Commandments-Laws of Yahweh which are written upon our hearts via the New Covenant by the Holy Spirit, who works in us, both to desire and do to according to our heavenly Father’s good will. Yahweh wants us to take up our cross daily (in denial of the carnal ego-self nature) and follow in the footsteps of His Son Yeshua, with the easy and light yoke of liberty (freedom), allowing the Holy Spirit to help us become holy, just as He is holy. In so doing, we will both emanate and reflect the pure, divine Light of our Father on Earth, as it is in Heaven.
"‘For in Him we live and move and have our being.’ As some of your own poets have said, ‘We are His offspring.’" (Acts 17:28)
