Participants: John Bradshaw
Series Code: IIW
Program Code: IIW001273
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00:01 [Music] It has stood the test of time,
00:12 God's book, the Bible. 00:17 Still relevant in today's complex world. 00:22 It Is Written, sharing hope around the globe. 00:36 This is It Is Written. 00:37 I'm John Bradshaw. 00:38 Thanks for joining me today. 00:39 Today on It Is Written, I'm joined by a very special 00:42 guest. 00:43 We've met before when we talked about the covenants, 00:46 the Old Covenant and the New Covenant, but there's much 00:49 to talk about on these subjects and how the Old 00:52 and New Covenants impact our lives today and what they 00:56 really stand for. 00:57 My guest is Dr. Skip McCarty who for over four decades 01:00 has been a pastor, a teacher and an author. 01:03 Skip, thanks very much for joining me today. 01:06 SM Thank you John. 01:07 An honor to be here. 01:08 JB I appreciate this opportunity to speak 01:10 with you about the covenants. 01:11 You have written extensively on this subject. 01:13 You have engaged with theologians and scholars 01:17 from across the Christian spectrum on the subjects 01:19 of the covenants. 01:20 It's a relevant subject, a very pertinent subject today 01:22 because there is a lot of discussion among people who 01:24 say, well I'm a New Covenant Christian. 01:27 I don't want to be an Old Covenant Christian. 01:30 And I'm sure that's right because the covenant God 01:32 gave us today is the New Covenant. 01:35 What was the first Covenant God gave us and before 01:38 you answer that, what's a covenant biblically? 01:40 What's a covenant biblically and what is the first 01:42 one God gave us? 01:43 SM The covenants in the Bible were different kinds. 01:46 There were covenants between nations, there were covenants 01:48 between individuals such as David 01:50 and Jonathan, they had a covenant with each other. 01:53 But the dominant covenants in the Bible are the covenants 01:56 God made with human beings. 01:57 And those covenants are all God initiated. 01:59 They are promises God made to his people. 02:02 JB What is or what was the original covenant God made 02:05 with the human family. 02:07 SM I am going to back up even before the human 02:10 family. 02:11 You can go back in time far enough 02:13 where there was no creation and there was only God. 02:16 And Christianity understands God in terms of Father, Son 02:20 and Holy Spirit. 02:21 That's how we understand God. 02:23 Therefore, it can say God is love for eternity past 02:25 because you have Father, Son and Holy Spirit relating 02:27 to one another. 02:28 Those love bonds, those commitments of loyalty 02:30 to one another, each treating the other as they would want 02:33 to be treated if they were in the other's place. 02:35 That's covenant. 02:37 That's essentially covenant. 02:38 It's that whole sold commitment John Murray, a Presbyterian 02:42 scholar, he called it a whole souled commitment 02:44 to the other. 02:45 Once God began to bring creation into existence, 02:48 the Angels, they were just folded into that covenant. 02:50 This was the same commitment that was made to them when 02:53 he brought Adam and Eve into the existence, that same 02:56 commitment was made to them. 02:57 That kind of a covenant expects the same kind 02:59 of commitment back again. 03:00 JB The covenant represents God's total commitment 03:04 to the person he is making a covenant with. 03:06 SM Absolutely. 03:07 God does expect a whole souled commitment back 03:09 to him. 03:10 There is no question about that. 03:12 No, it's not a whole list of you do this and this 03:14 and this and this and this and then I'll be your God. 03:16 JB And many people see it that way. 03:18 SM Yeah, well, that's a mistake. 03:20 It was not that way with the Angels, it was not that way 03:22 with the Father, Son or Holy Spirit and when Adam and Eve 03:24 were brought into existence, God made that same 03:26 commitment to them. 03:27 Now he did give them a way that they could express 03:29 their trust in him and that was that tree in the garden 03:32 and they showed their distrust of him which 03:34 is essentially what that was. 03:35 It was distrusting him but every covenant from 03:38 that point on has been God reaffirming. 03:41 Once Adam and Eve sinned, the everlasting covenant 03:44 from eternity past was adapted into a covenant 03:46 of grace. 03:47 The covenant of grace is the bridge between Eden lost 03:52 and Eden restored. 03:53 Everything Adam lost, the Covenant of Grace, 03:56 the Everlasting Gospel -- the Book of Revelation calls 03:59 it the Everlasting Gospel -- is that Covenant of Grace. 04:02 Is God's initiative to restore to us everything we've lost. 04:06 So that's the four promises we talked about last time 04:09 I came here, the New Covenant. 04:10 God will write his law in our hearts. 04:12 He'll be our God, we'll be his people. 04:14 Eventually everyone is going to know him and he'll 04:16 forgive us of our sins. 04:17 That comes into that. 04:18 JB Important to discuss that because many people have 04:20 the idea the Old Covenant was the Ten Commandments, 04:23 obey this and live, the New Covenant is believe in Jesus 04:26 and be saved by grace. 04:27 You mentioned something that isn't often spoken 04:31 of in discussions of the covenants. 04:33 So we want to accurately understand what 04:36 the covenants are and you've expressed them always 04:39 as being God's expression of his commitment to his people 04:42 and as we participate in that covenant our expression 04:45 of our commitment back to him. 04:47 But you talked about an everlasting covenant. 04:51 And now, where did that come from and what's that? 04:53 SM The everlasting covenant came from God who 04:55 is everlasting. 04:56 The Father, Son and Holy Spirit. 04:58 That's where it originated in the commitments they have 05:00 made to one another and then enfolded the angelic host 05:03 and the human race into that commitment. 05:05 I am going to turn to one passage and that's Isaiah 24 05:08 and read verse 5 if you would for us. 05:12 JB The earth is also defiled under its in habitants 05:16 because they have transgressed the laws, changed the ordinance, 05:21 broken the everlasting covenant. 05:25 SM Isn't that interesting? 05:27 This is the earth. 05:28 This is not just a little group of people here 05:30 or there. 05:31 It's not just a nation. 05:32 It's not just Israel. 05:34 The everlasting covenant involves everyone on 05:36 the earth and the covenants God made with his people, 05:39 for instance, the covenant he made at Sinai, he was just 05:43 grooming them to share with the world the knowledge 05:46 of the everlasting covenant, of God's commitment to everyone 05:49 and that they needed to put their trust in him too 05:52 and have this same experience with God that they were having 05:54 to have restored to them everything that Adam lost 05:57 on their behalf. 05:58 In Hebrews 13, this is the first time that 06:01 the everlasting covenant is associated directly 06:04 with Jesus in Hebrews 13:20. 06:08 Why don't you read that for us if you would? 06:10 JB Now may the God of peace who brought up our Lord 06:14 Jesus from the dead, the great shepherd of the sheep 06:18 through the blood of the everlasting covenant 06:21 make you complete in every good work to do his will. 06:23 SM Exactly. 06:24 Isaiah said there is an everlasting covenant 06:26 the whole earth has broken. 06:28 In Hebrews it says when Jesus died it was his blood 06:31 of the everlasting covenant. 06:33 He atoned for the sins of the whole world and gave his 06:37 life for them so they could be restored to wholeness 06:39 again. 06:40 JB When do we find talk in the Bible 06:44 of the Old Covenant? 06:46 SM The term Old Covenant first shows up in the New 06:49 Testament. 06:50 It doesn't occur anywhere in the Old Testament. 06:52 The term New Covenant does in Jeremiah, after 06:54 the exile, when they are in Babylon for 70 years 06:58 and Jeremiah 31 God said I'm going to make a New Covenant 07:02 with you. 07:03 JB It's worthwhile reading that. 07:05 Can I look at that? 07:06 It starts in verse 31. 07:07 SM Yes. 07:08 JB Behold the days are coming, says the Lord, 07:10 when I will make a New Covenant with the House of Israel 07:12 and with the House of Judah. 07:14 Not according to the covenant that I made with their fathers 07:17 in the day that I took them by the hand to bring them 07:19 out of the land of Egypt. 07:21 My covenant, which they broke, though I was a husband 07:25 to them, says the Lord. 07:26 But this is the Covenant that I will make with the House 07:29 of Israel after those days, says the Lord. 07:32 I will put my law in their minds and write it on their 07:35 hearts and I will be their God and they shall be my 07:39 people and verse 34 goes on to say, no more shall every 07:43 man teach his neighbor and every man his brother saying 07:46 know the Lord for they all shall know me, from the least 07:49 of them to the greatest of them says the Lord. 07:51 For I will forgive their iniquity and their sin 07:54 I will remember no more. 07:55 SM Okay this is the new expression of New Covenant. 07:57 JB And it's in the Old Testament. 07:59 SM It's in the Old Testament and it's talking about God 08:02 is renewing his covenant with his people, with Israel, 08:05 that he had made with him at Sinai. 08:07 These same promises occur in the Sinai covenant, 08:10 they incur all through the Old Testament. 08:12 There is New Covenant all the way through 08:14 the Old Testament. 08:15 JB Which means, then, that the Old Covenant isn't 08:17 the Old Testament and the New Covenant, the New Testament, 08:19 which is commonly talked about. 08:20 SM Yes. 08:21 There's an element of truth to that. 08:23 Once Jesus came, there was something so significant 08:26 about that that the Book of Hebrews does talk about 08:29 the whole period before Jesus came as being Old Covenant, 08:33 all the sacrifices and all the temple ritual and so forth, 08:37 that was Old Covenant. 08:38 When Jesus came, the ritual changed. 08:41 We still have ceremonies. 08:42 We still have ceremonial law. 08:44 Our ceremonies are baptism and the Lord's supper. 08:46 There is still ceremonial laws but that changed 08:48 because all of those other ceremonies were looking 08:50 forward to Jesus coming, the ceremonies we now have look 08:52 back on his coming. 08:53 The moral law didn't change, it is still the same moral 08:56 standard, it is still the same standard for sin. 08:58 But the ceremonies change. 09:00 In that sense, you do have a historical Old 09:02 and New Covenant. 09:04 But that's not what the New Testament is focusing on. 09:06 When the New Testament talks about the two covenants 09:08 it's talking about something vastly different. 09:10 JB We are going to have to talk about that in just 09:12 a moment. 09:13 We'll be back with more on the covenants with Dr. Skip 09:15 McCarty, right ahead. 09:18 In Matthew 4:4, the Word of God says, "It is written, 09:22 man shall not live by bread alone but by every word that 09:26 proceeds from the mouth of God." 09:28 Every Word is a one-minute Bible-based daily devotional 09:31 presented by Pastor John Bradshaw and designed 09:34 especially for busy people like you. 09:36 Look for Every Word on selected networks or watch 09:40 it on-line everyday on our website, itiswritten.com. 09:43 Receive a daily spiritual boost. 09:45 Watch Every Word. 09:47 You'll be glad you did. 09:48 Here's a sample. 09:51 [Music] 09:59 In 1 Thessalonians chapter 5 Paul tells his readers that 10:02 the day of the return of Jesus is going to come 10:05 for many people like a thief in the night. 10:08 They're not going to be ready, even though they have the same 10:10 opportunities as everybody else to be ready. 10:12 And with the thought of Jesus' return in the center 10:15 of the picture, Paul adds in verse 6. 10:17 "Therefore let us not sleep, as do others; but let us 10:20 watch and be sober." 10:23 There's nothing more important that being ready 10:25 to meet Jesus when He comes back, and people ought 10:27 to "watch" for that day: alert to the signs of the times 10:30 and living in a way that suggests you are serious 10:32 about meeting Jesus. 10:34 If ever there was a time to be living with eternity 10:37 in mind, this is definitely it. 10:40 Why? 10:41 Because Jesus is coming back soon. 10:45 I'm John Bradshaw for It Is Written. 10:47 Let's live today by Every Word. 10:51 This is It Is Written and I'm John Bradshaw 10:53 and my guest today is Dr. Skip McCarty and we are talking 10:56 about the covenants, the Old Covenant and the New 11:00 Covenant and Skip, must a moment ago you mentioned 11:04 something that is going to take our conversation a little bit 11:07 deeper. 11:08 There is an historical element to the covenants 11:12 and an experiential element to the covenants. 11:16 SM Correct. 11:17 JB There was an Old Covenant and there is a New Covenant. 11:19 Jesus stood between the two covenants historically 11:24 but what do you mean when you say there is an experiential 11:26 component? 11:27 SM In the writings of Paul, when he is talking about 11:29 the covenants, he is talking about something that God 11:32 himself hinted at when he gave the New Covenant 11:34 in the book of Hebrews. 11:35 When he gave the New Covenant in Hebrews 8, he said it's not 11:38 going to be like the covenant I made with those 11:40 I brought out of Egypt because they weren't 11:42 faithful to my covenant. 11:44 That was the difference. 11:45 It was a matter of faithfulness. 11:47 So God himself said what's going to be different about 11:49 the New Covenant is I'm expecting a different 11:51 response than I got at At Sinai, people said we'll 11:53 do it all, we'll do everything you said but they didn't. 11:56 They immediately made a golden calf. 11:58 JB Sure. 11:59 SM God says I want a different response from this generation 12:01 and so what he's talking about here is how people respond 12:05 to the gospel message. 12:06 Jesus said that which is born of the flesh is flesh, 12:08 that which is born of the spirit is spirit. 12:10 You must be born again and so if we stay in the flesh, 12:13 and that can be a rebellious response to God or a religious 12:16 response to God. 12:18 Religious response is where we just do what we think 12:21 is right and think that's going to put God in our debt. 12:24 We'll merit eternal life. 12:25 That's all Old Covenant. 12:26 And the other side, being born of the Spirit, being 12:30 born according to the Spirit is New Covenant. 12:32 JB So what you're saying, there's a historical component 12:35 to the covenants, Jesus stood between the two covenants 12:39 historically, but there is an experiential 12:41 component where somebody living in this very modern 12:44 age can have a very Old Covenant experience. 12:47 SM That's what he's warning against. 12:49 JB Tell me how a person in practical terms today 12:51 can have an Old Covenant experience. 12:53 SM Okay. 12:54 JB You might be living under the Old Covenant even 12:56 if you attend a church that says New Covenant church right 12:59 on the sign, if. 13:00 SM That's true. 13:01 I've knocked on many doors in my life just talking 13:04 to people about the gospel and somebody says well I don't 13:07 really need what you're offering because I think 13:09 I live a good life. 13:10 I live a good enough life. 13:11 If there's an after life, I think I'll be okay. 13:13 It's the law of Karma. 13:16 The law of Karma says I'm going to get coming back 13:19 to me. 13:20 If I don't get it all in this life I'm gonna get 13:22 it in the next life either good or bad. 13:24 The Gospel isn't Karma. 13:25 The Gospel is total faith in Jesus Christ. 13:28 His blood of the everlasting covenant is what washes away 13:32 my sins. 13:33 His promise to write his law in my heart and mind is what 13:36 empowers me to live a godly life and that's a process. 13:40 If I think going to church is going to help get 13:43 me salvation, just going to church - that's not going to 13:46 do it. 13:47 I have to have total dependence on the grace 13:49 of Jesus Christ's sacrifice for me and his promise to change 13:53 my life. 13:54 That's new covenant. 13:55 JB So secular people, without realizing it, can 13:57 have an Old Covenant attitude. 13:59 SM Exactly. 14:00 JB and modern New Testament church going Christians 14:03 can be under the Old Covenant. 14:04 SM John, we are born Old Covenant. 14:06 Every human being is born in Old Covenant. 14:09 .We have to be converted to become New Covenant people. 14:11 That's what Paul has in mind here. 14:13 Those who are born of the flesh are Old Covenant. 14:16 That's what he calls Old Covenant. 14:18 Those who are born of the Spirit are New Covenant. 14:21 So He is saying if you are Old Covenant, you will not 14:23 inherit eternal life. 14:25 So John, if the Old Covenant is the Covenant God made 14:28 with the people at Sinai, that would be saying 14:31 that anyone who is faithful to that covenant, as God asked 14:33 them to me, cannot have everlasting life. 14:36 That's why we absolutely, positively know 14:39 that it's not talking about any covenant he had 14:41 made previously. 14:42 It's talking about their response, an illegitimate 14:44 response, a legalistic or a rebellious response 14:47 to the gospel. 14:48 That's totally what the Old Covenant is in Paul's 14:50 thinking. 14:51 JB That's serious, isn't it? 14:52 Because there are Christians today who, based on their 14:55 attitude towards the gospel, might be Old Covenant 14:59 Christians because of the experience they are having 15:03 rather than New Covenant Christians because they are 15:05 missing something vital with Jesus Christ. 15:07 SM That's true. 15:08 And it has nothing to do with Oh, I believe in the Ten 15:10 Commandments, therefore you must be Old Covenant. 15:12 It has nothing to do with that. 15:14 It's how we are responding to God in faith. 15:16 Or if I'm responding to God and I say, Oh, I put faith 15:18 in God but I don't want anything to do with 15:20 the transformation of my life. 15:21 The New Covenant is I'm going to write my law 15:23 in your hearts. 15:24 I am going to forgive you but I am going to write my 15:26 law in your hearts as well. 15:27 It's a total submission to God, it's a total submission 15:29 to God to do everything he wants to do for us 15:31 in this life. 15:32 JB and entering into the transformation he wants to 15:34 bring into our lives. 15:35 SM Exactly. 15:36 JB Let's pick up on more and that in just a minute. 15:39 A great discussion with Dr. Skip McCarty. 15:39 I'll look forward to talking with you more about this 15:41 in just a moment. 15:45 Planning for your financial future is a vital aspect 15:48 of Christian stewardship. 15:49 For this reason, It Is Written is pleased to offer free planned 15:52 giving and estate services. 15:54 For information on how we can help you, please call 15:59 1.800.992.2219. 16:00 To receive additional material on the advantages 16:03 of life income plans such as a charitable gift annuity, 16:06 which can provide you with tax benefits and income 16:09 for life, call today or visit our special website 16:13 www.hislegacy.com. 16:17 You can also write to: It Is Written, Planned Giving 16:20 and Trust Services, Box O, Thousand Oaks, 16:22 California, 91359. 16:24 Our toll-free number again 1.800.992.2219 and our web 16:31 address www.hislegacy.com. 16:38 I'm glad you've joined me today on It Is Written. 16:40 My guest is Skip McCarty and our discussion is centering 16:45 on the covenants, the Old Covenant and the New Covenant. 16:48 And Skip, what we find in the Bible is that God wants 16:51 everybody to have a New Covenant experience. 16:53 SM Amen. 16:54 Old Testament, New Testament, it doesn't matter when they 16:56 lived, he wants them to have a New Covenant 16:58 experience. 16:59 It's the only way for salvation. 17:01 JB So somebody in the Old Testament living, it was God's 17:03 will that that person have a New Covenant 17:05 experience. 17:06 SM All those people in Hebrews 11. 17:08 They didn't have the Old Covenant experience 17:10 that Paul is talking about in Galatians 4. 17:12 They had a New Covenant experience. 17:14 JB Tell me how somebody living in the Old Covenant 17:16 times could have an Old Covenant experience 17:18 as opposed to a New Covenant experience. 17:20 SM Oh easy. 17:21 In Isaiah 1, God is saying you perform the sacrifices, 17:23 you go to the festivals but you are oppressing people. 17:25 He says I hate your sacrifices. 17:28 You need to live a godly life. 17:30 In other words, they weren't fully embracing the promise 17:33 God had given them to transform their hearts. 17:36 It's very clear God wanted love first. 17:39 Love me and keep my commandments. 17:41 And Love for God and love for others was always 17:44 at the top of the list of His commandments. 17:46 It always was. 17:47 And so God says you're not loving people, then the ritual 17:50 means nothing to me. 17:51 So people who say I'll treat people, I'll cheat them 17:54 in business, I'll get as rich as I can and oppress 17:56 the poor but yet I'll do the sacrifices and I'll perform 18:00 the rituals. 18:01 God says no, it's not what it's about. 18:03 That is Old Covenant. 18:04 JB New Covenant, it seems very clear, involves 18:07 a transformation in the life. 18:09 SM Absolutely. 18:10 JB God said if you love me, I'll write my law 18:13 in your hearts. 18:14 SM Exactly. 18:15 JB Now you would say that that law that he 18:17 is talking about is the Ten Commandments. 18:19 Can we be certain about that? 18:21 SM It's at least the Ten Commandments. 18:23 It's at least the Ten Commandments. 18:25 That's the law that God is writing on our hearts. 18:27 JB And saying that a person is going to keep the Ten 18:29 Commandments is not legalism. 18:30 SM It can be legalism if that is all they think about, 18:33 is the Ten Commandments and obeying those in order 18:35 to get to heaven. 18:36 That can be legalism. 18:37 But a person who sincerely seeks God, who trusts God 18:40 to do the work in them they can't do for themselves, 18:42 to make them godly people, loving people, and obedient 18:46 to His commandments, of course. 18:48 But the commandments become promises. 18:50 Once a person becomes a believer and converted, 18:52 they are ten promises. 18:53 JB And that's the New Covenant experience. 18:56 SM Yes it is. 18:57 JB You know, there's another passage that I have been 18:59 asked about frequently that deals with this. 19:02 It's found in 2 Corinthians 3. 19:05 Would you mind looking at that with me? 19:07 SM Yes. 19:08 JB What do we say about this passage that Paul 19:10 was talking about here. 19:11 In fact, you know, it has a little heading right here 19:13 in this Bible, glory of the New Covenant. 19:16 SM In 2 Corinthians 3 it's very much like his letter 19:19 to the Galations in his discussion 19:21 of the two covenants there. 19:22 So we bring that mindset here and we find out exactly 19:26 the same thing going on here because what he does here 19:28 is he contrasts New Covenant and another covenant here 19:31 that he has in mind. 19:33 He says we're ministers of the New Covenant, 19:36 not of the letter. 19:37 He calls the other the letter that many people 19:41 refer to the Sinai Covenant. 19:43 You have parallel columns again where he has Old 19:46 Covenant and he says the Old Covenant is the letter 19:48 and the New Covenant is the Spirit. 19:50 The Old Covenant is written on stone and the New Covenant 19:53 is written on the heart. 19:54 The Old Covenant is condemnation and death. 19:57 The New Covenant is righteousness and life 19:59 and when you go down those columns, you find out if you 20:02 just have the items he puts in the Old Covenant, 20:05 you have an unsaved person. 20:06 It's talking about an unconverted person. 20:08 So what you have is the Old Covenant again is an unbelieving 20:12 response to the gospel. 20:14 A rejection of it or a legalistic response to it 20:16 and the New Covenant being a faith-embrace 20:19 of the gospel, allowing God to do everything in us 20:21 he wants to do and he is going to change us from one 20:23 degree of glory to the other by the Spirit who does 20:25 this work in us. 20:26 That's New Covenant. 20:27 No matter when a person lived, they had to have 20:29 that experience and that is New Covenant. 20:31 JB So the covenants that God made with his people back 20:33 in Old Testament times were gospel-revealing covenants. 20:37 SM Exactly. 20:38 Each one in capsuled the gospel to be shared 20:41 with the people of the world around them. 20:43 It was the same gospel throughout. 20:45 Paul said in Galations 1 there's one gospel. 20:47 There is no other gospel. 20:48 If anybody preaches a different gospel, that would 20:50 be Adam, that would be Moses, that would be anybody 20:53 in the Old Testament who preached a different gospel, 20:56 Paul said let him be accursed. 20:57 JB God wants people today to have New Covenant experience 21:01 with Him. 21:02 SM Exactly. 21:03 JB Explain to somebody right now how they can have a New 21:08 Covenant experience with God, what that is going 21:11 to look like, what it will do for them. 21:13 SM Okay. 21:14 Every human being, John, no matter who they are, 21:16 is going to have times in their life when they are under 21:19 conviction by God. 21:21 You can't get away from that, no matter where you 21:23 are, whether you have even heard of Jesus or not. 21:25 You are going to come under conviction by the Spirit of God 21:28 that there is something wrong, you need something more. 21:30 Now people can try to make a transformation in their life 21:33 but that's futile too make that ultimate change that God 21:36 is asking us to make, and so they come to 21:39 the place where they say God, help me! 21:41 And God comes into the picture. 21:43 There's conversion. 21:44 The Spirit of God brings a new life into them 21:46 and the Bible calls that the new birth. 21:48 That's the New Covenant experience and then 21:51 it's a matter of continuing to trust God, trust his 21:53 promises, trust those promises. 21:55 God says I'm going to write my law in your mind. 21:57 I'm going to forgive you. 21:58 Don't keep bringing up the past. 22:00 Don't keep worrying about the past. 22:02 I am going to forgive you for that. 22:04 Let's go on from here. 22:05 I'm going to do a new thing in your life and I am going 22:07 to be your God, and you are going to be my child even 22:09 when things go rough for you when you fall, I'm still 22:11 your God, you're still my child. 22:13 We are going to get through this together. 22:15 The New Covenant is God promising people He is going 22:17 to do for them what they can't do and He is going 22:19 to save them. 22:20 It's his promise. 22:21 I am guaranteeing you, I will save you. 22:23 Just don't run away from me. 22:24 Hang on to me. 22:25 Hang on to me. 22:26 I am going to save you. 22:27 I am going to make your life more meaningful here than 22:29 you have ever dreamed here on this earth. 22:31 JB Allowing God to be in our life that which he wants 22:33 to be. 22:34 SM Yes. 22:35 JB To make us what he wants us to be. 22:36 SM Yes. 22:37 JB The discussion when we get into well New Covenant 22:38 you don't keep the commandments, Old Covenant you do keep 22:40 the commandments. 22:41 It's really a smoke screen, isn't it? 22:43 SM It's not in the New Testament. 22:44 It doesn't exist there. 22:45 That kind of thinking does not exist there. 22:46 Paul is not talking, when he is talking about the Old 22:49 Covenant, he is not talking about the covenant God made 22:51 with his people at Sinai. 22:52 Particularly the moral laws God gave his people 22:54 at Sinai. 22:55 Paul himself said if it wasn't for the 10th 22:56 Commandment, Thou shall not covet, I would not even know 22:58 I was a sinner. 23:00 He thought he was living a perfect life. 23:01 He says that in Philippians 3. 23:02 Before the law, I was faultless. 23:05 There is no argumentation in the New Testament against 23:07 the commandments of God, against the Ten Commandments. 23:09 Absolutely not. 23:10 It's only against this rebellious attitude 23:12 toward them. 23:14 Once you understand that's what the Old Covenant 23:15 is about, it's about a faulty response to God, an unbelieving 23:19 response or a legalistic response to God, 23:20 New Covenant is a faith-response to God, totally trusting 23:23 his grace. 23:24 It's our response to the law, it's a perversion of the law 23:27 that he has in mind. 23:28 If he is talking negatively about it, that's what he 23:29 is talking about. 23:30 He's not talking about a faith response to God's law, 23:33 see it as now the promise of God. 23:35 JB We've covered some ground today. 23:37 I'm thankful to you for taking the time and I want 23:39 to encourage you, friend, to know that God wants you 23:43 to have a New Covenant experience. 23:46 When you will come to God by faith and say here I am, 23:50 take me and do whatever it is you want to do in my 23:53 life, you are entering into a New Covenant experience 23:56 with God. 23:57 You see, when God enters your life and writes his law 24:00 in your heart, when Jesus begins to live his life 24:02 in you, what once might have seemed impossible to you 24:05 becomes possible. 24:06 You love the things you used to hate and maybe hate some 24:09 things you used to love and you find your life trending 24:12 in the very direction that God wants it to go. 24:15 Friend, there is only one thing, and that is to enter into 24:17 a New Covenant experience with Jesus. 24:19 Let him write his law in your heart. 24:22 Respond to him by saying as Jesus said to his Father, 24:25 not my will, but your will be done. 24:29 When you say to Jesus, let me have a New Covenant 24:32 experience with you, your life is going to bloom, 24:35 your joy will be full, you'll be walking with Jesus 24:38 the way he wants you to walk and you can look forward 24:42 with great certainty to the wonderful day 24:44 when Jesus comes to take you home. 24:47 [music] 24:59 The world in which we live is full of the phony and fake, 25:02 imitation of this and that, Photoshop pictures, 25:05 Internet hoaxes and we see people we want to 25:08 admire let us down with lies and deceit and broken promises. 25:13 But one person who won't let you down is God. 25:16 While people struggle to find meaning in a world full 25:19 of chaos you can find a religion that works. 25:24 That's my free offer to you today, this book. 25:26 A religion that works. 25:28 In this book you'll find out how you can have a real, 25:32 consistent, joyful experience in God and in the Bible. 25:36 I want you to have a religion that works. 25:39 To get your free copy, call right now 800.253.3000 25:43 and say you'd like to receive the book, 25:46 A Religion that Works. 25:48 But do call as soon as you possibly can because 25:51 supplies of this book are limited. 25:53 Call right away, 800.253.3000 or write to us 25:57 at It Is Written, Box O, Thousand Oaks, California, 26:00 91359 and we'll mail a copy to your address 26:04 in North America. 26:05 Now I said supplies are limited. 26:07 If we run out, we'll be sure to send you a copy of a book 26:10 that's very similar. 26:11 And remember, It Is Written is a donor-supported ministry. 26:15 Without the support of people like you, we're not able 26:18 to reach out around the world with the power and the blessing 26:20 of the Word of God. 26:21 Help us change lives for God's glory. 26:24 To support It Is Written, call that same number, 26:28 800.253.3000 or visit us on-line at itiswritten.com. 26:34 Do you have a New Covenant experience today? 26:37 It's the experience that God wants you to have. 26:39 Dr. McCarty, thanks for making this clear 26:41 for us today. 26:42 I'm just so thankful you've taken the time. 26:45 Friend, I want to pray for you that you can have 26:48 that experience with Jesus that he wants you to have, 26:50 an experience that is vital and vibrant, that even 26:53 when there are times of challenges, God can get you 26:55 through, an experience where the Lord's will is done 26:58 and you are made a new creature in Christ. 27:00 Let's pray for that now. 27:02 Father in heaven, thank you for giving us a New Covenant 27:05 experience, where we can open up our hearts to you 27:08 and allow you to be the God in our life, and allow Jesus 27:12 to work in us both to will and to do 27:14 for his good pleasure. 27:16 May we not choose to be Old Covenant Christians, 27:18 trusting our own works, doing our own thing 27:22 in order to secure salvation. 27:24 But may we trust fully in you. 27:26 Give us the grace today to lean on Jesus and expect 27:29 His will to be done. 27:31 This we pray, thanking you in Jesus' name, amen. 27:39 [Music] 27:53 Thank you for joining me today. 27:54 I look forward to seeing you next time. 27:56 Until then, remember, it is written, man shall not 27:58 live by bread alone but by every word that proceeds 28:03 from the mouth of God. |
Revised 2015-02-06