Have you ever signed something without knowing what you were getting into? Don’t!
This is a sure recipe for getting robbed.
Sure, it’s a free trial* until next month when they automatically bill you for $39.95 (per month). Been there? Me, too.
God is not a cheater, but many pastors will cheat you of your riches in Christ when they wrongly put you back under Israel’s covenants.
Old Covenant Warnings
Consider the Presbyterian pastor who puts you under the old covenant given to Moses. He might attract you with the covenanted promises of blessing when you obey, but he will wait until tithe tax season to warn you about the curses that come if you fail to comply.
Know ye not that you are “not under the law” (Rom 6:14), you are at liberty from its bondage (Gal 5:1), and that Christ was made a curse for us (Gal 3:13)?
Under the old covenant you are obligated to a required tithe, or else you have robbed God and can be cursed (Mal 3:8). If you can be cursed, you have been robbed of Christ by your pastor putting you under the old covenant.
When you accepted old covenant preaching for the physical blessings it promised, you didn’t know what you were getting into. Beware. You need something better than the old covenant.
New Covenant Warnings
Hebrews describes something far better than the old covenant: the new covenant (Heb 8:6-8). The Baptist preacher says the old covenant was inadequate, but the new covenant requires Christ, and is better in most every way.
Be careful before you get robbed.
You say, “What’s wrong with the new covenant?”
Nothing, if you are a Hebrew whose salvation is incomplete, ignorant of the mystery, and waiting and laboring to receive your promised blessings in an earthly kingdom.
Know ye not that, if you believe, you have atonement now (Rom 5:11), forgiveness now (Eph 1:7), salvation as a present possession (1 Cor 1:18), a completed position in Christ (Col 2:10), and have all sufficient grace right now by the gospel (Eph 1:3; 2 Cor 12:9)?
The new covenant is promised salvation for Israel. Since their covenant has not yet been complete, Israel’s salvation is incomplete today (Heb 8:11-13; Rom 11:25-27). Their forgiveness, grace, day of atonement, and complete salvation provided by Christ is yet future (Acts 3:19; 1 Pet 1:13).
Is the new covenant better than the old? Yes, in that it requires Christ. Is it complete? Not yet.
If you are put under the new covenant it robs you of your complete standing and present possession of the unsearchable riches of God’s grace (Eph 3:8).
When you accepted new covenant teaching of the Hebrew epistles for the Christ it taught, you didn’t know what you were getting into. Forewarned is forearmed. You need something better if you want to possess complete and finished salvation now.
Things Excellent
Paul prays that the Philippians would “approve things that are excellent” (Phil 1:10). This is what you need to do before you accept any covenant teaching your pastor tries to pull over your eyes.
What is better than the old covenant? The new covenant. What is better than the new covenant today? The mystery of Christ excels where we find the dispensation of God’s grace offered freely to you.
The church today is not operating under Israel’s covenants which are either inadequate or incomplete.
If you are saved by the gospel of Christ today, you receive salvation now, freely, by grace through faith in the blood, burial, and resurrection of Christ, and all the unsearchable riches that come with that according to the mystery.
Why contract for something you already have for free?
Don’t let anyone beguile you of your reward with talk of shadows and types of Hebrew prophecy or judgments according to Israel’s laws (old or new).
“Which are a shadow of things to come; but the body is of Christ.” – Col 2:17
You are in a mystery Body, not a covenant. If you are saved today and have the unsearchable riches of God’s grace be careful of being robbed of your riches by signing up for one of Israel’s covenants.
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Find more about the New Covenant here, and in our Hebrews studies.
Article Index Published: May 28, 2016
Last Modified: September 1, 2018