January 17, 2021 Worship Service

Notes
Transcript
If you’re observant, you will notice that I’ve skipped forward in our study of Hebrews. I’m not taking the cowards way out - bypassing a difficult section of the letter in order to avoid the interpretive challenges it raises. I will come back to the part we have skipped over today. I have jumped forward because in the verses we have before us today, the author of Hebrews states the main theme of a much larger section of his letter that begins at 7:1 and goes through to 10:18. I want to deal with the main theme of this larger section today and then, in the coming weeks, address the sub-themes touched upon.
The theme of the section is stated clearly and succinctly in vs. 22: “This makes Jesus the guarantor of a better covenant.” There is a new covenant between God and man which has Jesus as the key Person in the covenant. And the new covenant is a better covenant than the old covenant. That’s the point of chs. 7 through 10 of Hebrews. The author develops that point by showing that the new covenant has a better priesthood, a better temple, and a better sacrifice than the old covenant. So those are the 3 sub-themes I’ll come to in the weeks ahead.
For today, let’s reflect on the truth that the new covenant, with Jesus Christ as the focal point, is better than the old covenant.
Throughout the history of the church, the question of how new covenant people - Christians - should relate to the old covenant, particularly to the commands given by God to Moses and the Israelites. No sooner did the gospel begin its spread to Gentiles than Judaizers began insisting that the Gentile converts must embrace all the requirements of the law in order to be included in the church. Acts 15 tells us about the meeting of the Jerusalem council which formally determined that the old covenant regulations were not binding on Gentile believers. But the Judaizing controversy continued to be an issue for the early church; Paul wrote Galatians in response to false teachers who were proclaiming a false gospel of adherence to old covenant rules as a means of drawing near to God. This letter to the Hebrews was written in response to people who professed faith in Christ who were being lured back into a false reliance on keeping the law to gain favor with God.
The issue continues to be a problem today in the church with two extremes being promoted. There are those who, like the 1st century Judaizers, promote old covenant law keeping as an enhanced form of spirituality. At the opposite end of the spectrum, there are well-known evangelical leaders who are advocating the abandonment of the Old Testament. My hope is that, by paying attention to what today’s passage says, we will arrive at a sound, balanced, orthodox understanding of the superiority of the new covenant and avoid the errors of either extreme.
My approach will be to point out what these verses tell us about the old covenant and the new covenant. I will also add some other scriptures to provide context for what we find here. After that, I hope to provide some practical guidance for living as new covenant people who have a healthy respect for the old covenant.

1)The Old Covenant

Hebrews 7:18 ESV
18 For on the one hand, a former commandment is set aside because of its weakness and uselessness
In this verse, the author of this letter uses the words “former commandment” to identify the Old Testament. Notice that there are three descriptions of it in this verse:
Set aside.
Weak.
Useless.
Set aside: The idea is of the removal of a thing. We could use words like “discard,” or “cancel,” or “nullify” to express the meaning of the Gk. term.
Weak: The idea is of helplessness. It’s the word that would be applied to someone with a disability.
Useless: That which has no advantage or benefit.
We might, on the basis of these descriptions, think that those who suggest abandoning the Old Testament are correct. But I don’t really think that’s what is called for here. The main emphasis of this description of the old covenant is that it was ineffective. I like the way Donald Guthrie clarified the meaning of the word “uselessness” in the Tyndale commentary on the NT:
Hebrews: An Introduction and Commentary (iv) The Order of Melchizedek (7:1–28)

Its uselessness must not be regarded in the sense of being totally worthless, but in the sense of being ineffective in providing a constant means of approach to God

This understanding is confirmed by the parenthetical explanation given at the beginning of vs. 19:
Hebrews 7:19 ESV
19 (for the law made nothing perfect); but on the other hand, a better hope is introduced, through which we draw near to God.
The problem with reliance upon the law given through Moses - the old covenant - is not that it has no worth at all. It is that the law is incapable and ineffective for bringing about the perfection which God demands. Those who rely on rules and regulations as a means of approach to God inevitable lower God’s standards to suit their practices. Adherence to the law cannot result in real fellowship with God. That’s the problem. The use of the law as a basis for fellowship with God is the reason the old covenant was set aside. It has been set aside as a basis for fellowship with God because it is weak and useless for that purpose.

2)The New Covenant

Hebrews 7:19 ESV
19 (for the law made nothing perfect); but on the other hand, a better hope is introduced, through which we draw near to God.
Notice two things we are told about the new covenant:
It is a better hope.
Through it we draw near to God.
Better: The opposite of the word “uselessness” used to describe the old covenant. It means, “having greater value.” What the old covenant lacked, the new covenant has.
Hope: The new covenant provides real reason for confidence about the future. Biblical hope is secure confidence in a future positive outcome.
Draw near: The emphasis is upon proximity, closeness. The new covenant is superior because it holds forth the promise of real, intimate fellowship with God. The old covenant, because it didn’t really deal with the problem of sin, proved utterly incapable of restoring fellowship between God and man. But through the new covenant we draw near to God.
Vs. 22 declares Jesus to be the guarantor of this better covenant.
Hebrews 7:22 ESV
22 This makes Jesus the guarantor of a better covenant.
The word “guarantor” means that he is the one who assumes all responsibility for the terms of the covenant. This is the only instance of this Greek word in the NT but it was fairly common in other writings from 1st century. It referred to someone taking formal, legal responsibility for an agreement, putting up collateral as assurance of fulfillment of the agreement. We don’t draw near to God because of anything we have done. We aren’t the guarantor of our relationship with God. Jesus is.
So the comparison between the old and new covenants is between something ineffective for producing fellowship with God because it depends on what we do, and something effective for producing fellowship with God because it depends on what Jesus did, is doing, and will do. Faith in ourselves cannot achieve fellowship with God. Faith in Christ does.

3) Biblical context for the relationship of new covenant people to the Old Testament.

This is not, of course, the only place in scripture where the relationship between the old and new covenant is brought to our attention. I can’t do a comprehensive overview of every passage on the topic. But I do think it will be valuable to turn to some passages that give us food for thought when it comes to our understanding of the Old Testament and its value for our relationship with God.
Matthew 5:17–20 ESV
17 “Do not think that I have come to abolish the Law or the Prophets; I have not come to abolish them but to fulfill them. 18 For truly, I say to you, until heaven and earth pass away, not an iota, not a dot, will pass from the Law until all is accomplished. 19 Therefore whoever relaxes one of the least of these commandments and teaches others to do the same will be called least in the kingdom of heaven, but whoever does them and teaches them will be called great in the kingdom of heaven. 20 For I tell you, unless your righteousness exceeds that of the scribes and Pharisees, you will never enter the kingdom of heaven.
Jesus valued the Old Testament. The contemporary move to abolish the Old Testament puts its advocates in the position of abolishing what Jesus specifically said he did not come to abolish. Does anyone else see a problem with that? How can someone who professes faith in Christ decide that he can abolish what Jesus said he came to accomplish?
But notice that Jesus said entry to the kingdom called for a righteousness that exceeds the scribes and Pharisees. These were people who were sticklers about the letter of the law. Their problem was that they believed that they could achieve perfection by law-keeping. But it wasn’t true. Jesus didn’t want to throw out the Old Testament, but he knew that righteousness could not be attained by meticulous rule keeping.
Jesus knew the Old Testament scriptures. He quoted them. He proclaimed them. He explained them. And he fulfilled them.
Luke 24:25–27 ESV
25 And he said to them, “O foolish ones, and slow of heart to believe all that the prophets have spoken! 26 Was it not necessary that the Christ should suffer these things and enter into his glory?” 27 And beginning with Moses and all the Prophets, he interpreted to them in all the Scriptures the things concerning himself.
These verses tell us that Jesus, in bringing his disciples to believe in him after his resurrection, turned to the Old Testament. Notice the specific reference to Moses. That was shorthand for Genesis, Exodus, Leviticus, Numbers, and Deuteronomy. Jesus appealed to the OT as an authoritative statement of God’s eternal plan and relied upon it to show that his suffering, death, and resurrection were foreshadowed in it. He did not tell his disciples to forget all that Old Testament stuff. He led them in a study of the OT in order to prove that he was the Christ who had fulfilled what they pointed to. The point is that the Lord obviously saw the Old Testament is a crucial source to understand God’s plan and was disappointed that his disciples didn’t know it well enough to that it pointed to him.
Those who advocate against understanding the OT as part of the Christian life risk recreating in the church the same disappointment as Jesus had with the Emmaus road disciples.
Acts 2:34–36 ESV
34 For David did not ascend into the heavens, but he himself says, “ ‘The Lord said to my Lord, “Sit at my right hand, 35 until I make your enemies your footstool.” ’ 36 Let all the house of Israel therefore know for certain that God has made him both Lord and Christ, this Jesus whom you crucified.”
This is part of Peter’s sermon on the day of Pentecost. I selected this part of it to highlight the fact that, from its beginning, the preaching of the gospel was rooted in the Old Testament — here a quotation from the Psalms was used as evidence that Jesus is both Lord and Christ. Indeed, it is the pattern throughout the New Testament to prove that Jesus is the Christ by quoting from the Old Testament. Even in our passage this morning, the author of Hebrews, almost immediately after describing the old covenant as weak and useless, quotes from the Old Testament to say that Christ is a high priest after the order of Melchizedek. This letter that is intended to show the superiority of the new covenant regularly appeals to the authority of the Old Testament to make its arguments.
All of this tells us that we can’t just discard Genesis through Malachi from our Bibles. It is important for us to know and understand the OT. There is foundational truth for Christians in the Old Testament.
But there is also danger in not recognizing the ineffectiveness of the law as a means of drawing near to God. The New Testament denounces the use of the Old Testament as a means of spiritual self reliance. So, for example:
Galatians 3:10–12 ESV
10 For all who rely on works of the law are under a curse; for it is written, “Cursed be everyone who does not abide by all things written in the Book of the Law, and do them.” 11 Now it is evident that no one is justified before God by the law, for “The righteous shall live by faith.” 12 But the law is not of faith, rather “The one who does them shall live by them.”
Galatians was written to respond to false teaching that had entered that church that said one could gain right standing with God by adherence to the OT’s rules and regulations. Paul wrote the letter to say that using the law as a means to draw near to God brought a curse upon those who attempted it. And he pronounced a curse on anyone who would proclaim a false gospel suggesting that a relationship with God was a matter of self-reliant law keeping.
The reason we have to be very careful about how we handle the old covenant is that it poses the danger of becoming our alternative to the gospel of faith in Christ. Judaizing is still a real threat to our faith. There are always those who will promote law-keeping as a means of heightened spirituality. But it is false. What we do cannot make us right with God.

Some guidelines for “better covenant” living:

Let me close by suggesting some application of the truths of today’s passage:

Be sure you have put your faith in Christ as the basis of your relationship with God.

He is the guarantor of the new covenant. We draw near to God through him. The enemy will always try to get us to focus on something other than faith in Christ as the basis of our relationship with God.

Hold the Old Testament in high regard for what it contributes to our understanding of the new covenant.

We can appreciate the Old Testament for the way if foreshadows and foretells the coming of Christ. Much of God’s character is known through the Old Testament. We come to understand our sinfulness and brokenness through the Old Testament. Much of our understanding of God’s moral standards comes from the OT. The fact that the old covenant is weak and useless for perfecting us doesn’t mean it is worthless. It is powerful and effective to convict us and set us on a path to find the guarantor of the new, better covenant. Don’t discard the Old Testament. It is an important provision of God for bringing us to Christ as our only real hope. We diminish our own spiritual well-being through ignorance of the OT.

Avoid the Judaizing tendency of the Old Testament.

There is, in all of our hearts, a Judaizing desire. What I mean is that we want to have a formula to live by so that we can comfort ourselves with the thought that God will accept us on the basis of the formula we follow. And, we reason, what better formula to follow than the one God Himself gave the children of Israel. So there is a desire to adopt practices given to the Israelites in the OT and turn them into a formula for heightened spirituality. But the reliance on formulas becomes a trap of self-reliance which cannot perfect us. We end up proclaiming to our own hearts a false gospel of self-reliance that deceives us into thinking we’re close to God even as we lose touch with the one who is the guarantor of the new covenant.
If you read your OT and discover that the Israelites were not allowed to eat pork and decide that you’re going to cut pork out of your diet, you’re free to do that. But don’t think you’re more spiritual than someone who does eat pork as a result of your abstinence. What you do can’t make you a holy person. Only Christ can cleanse you so that you can draw near to God.
Hebrews 7:22 ESV
22 This makes Jesus the guarantor of a better covenant.
Hebrews 7:22 is true. Jesus is the guarantor of the better covenant between God and man. Don’t settle for less. Amen.
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