OUT OF THE SHADOW INTO THE LIGHT
The Bible symbolically represents Old/First Covenant religion as darkness, shadow, night and evil. The New Covenant is symbolically represented as light, day, morning and good. Old/First Covenant religionists, therefore, are walking in darkness in the night with hopes of entering into the light in the day of the New Covenant where there is no night. In other words, New Covenant disciples, live in everlasting (i.e. eternal) daylight.
Eternal means without beginning and without end. New Covenant always existed because it is an eternal covenant that, like God, has no beginning and no end. Thus the New Covenant must be eternal because God is eternal.
Since God is eternal, his name/character is eternal. And, since his name/character are reflected in his commandments/laws. Thus the New Covenant that is eternal/everlasting. Thus, the eternal New Covenant law was always good and will always be good because God is eternal and good.
Understanding of the reason for two covenants begins when we acknowledge that God’s laws represent his name (i.e. character).
STUDY TIP: See Place Where God Will Place His Name and Third Commandment for more about God’s name/character.
To that we must add understanding that it is God’s desire that his name/character be written on the heart of his people. When this happens, Old/First Covenant religionists are transformed into New Covenant disciples. Another way to say this is that the written law is the vehicle by which God leads religious people to becoming people of faith.
When they become people of faith, everything changes. Their eyes are opened to see religion for what it really is:
The problem with people has always been their fleshly tendency to be religious and to want a king to lead them.
The question for everyone is this:
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It is a test in which God proves whether we love him or not. If we obey legalistically (i.e. religiously) where only our bodies (i.e. flesh) is engaged, we fail the test, get sick and die spiritually. In God’s language, this is “missing the mark” which is the definition of sin.
If we obey with our hearts in an attitude of love toward God, however, we pass the test and have everlasting life. This heart attitude (i.e. “love the Lord your God with all your heart, and with all your soul, and with all your mind, and with all your strength.”) is code language for the New Covenant. This is the essence of righteousness. Unfortunately, Christians and Jews think that zeal for their religious traditions is the same as zeal for God, but they are deceived because they are not able to discern between soul and spirit.
It is really a very simple proposition when considered in these terms. Old/First Covenant religious leaders past and present, however, have confused the simple truth with all kinds of doctrines and religious activities which are the essence of RELIGION. Because they are blinded to the truth, Old/First Covenant religionists must remain in their Old/First Covenant religious ways. The model of this proposition is found in the beginning of the Bible. The Tree of Life is the New Covenant, and the Tree of Knowledge of Good and Evil is the Old/First Covenant.
God’s clear preference is for obedience that originates in the heart. He abhors obedience that consists of religious laws and rituals (i.e. RELIGION). Since the spiritual content of his commandments, statutes and ordinances is the embodiment of the character of God, he desires that his people live according to the Spirit which enables New Covenant living, and not the flesh which can only act out through ritualistic form without being spiritually engaged.
In The Law: A Stumbling Block we discuss why God created the Mosaic laws with all their rules and regulations. Basically, he did this to test people regarding the depth of their love for him. But, despite their best intentions, Jews and Christians are snared and trapped to obey the rules and regulations of religious laws that their enemies use to tempt them to follow their gods. Just like in Bible days, religious people of modern days trip over this stumbling block by trying to keep all the religious requirements of the literal law. They are sincere but unenlightened in that their zeal for obedience is based on works of the flesh and not on faith.
STUDY TIP: God’s reference to “works” typically are to “works of the flesh.” These include anything that is accomplished by using any part of the body (e.g. intellect, physical senses, muscles, voice, emotions, etc.) See this link for understanding of good works and deeds.
When God refers to “flesh,” he is not just referring to the kinds of thoughts and behaviors we typically associate with flesh: impurity, licentiousness, idolatry, sorcery, enmity, strife, jealousy, anger, selfishness, dissension, party spirit, envy, drunkenness, carousing, evil thoughts, fornication, theft, murder, adultery, coveting, wickedness, deceit, licentiousness, envy, slander, pride, foolishness. These are all common human attributes found in all cultures and that is why it is useful for God to lump them all into the general concept of flesh which is a simple, general term that God uses to symbolically represent the sin of religion.
Even though these terms are not typically associated with religion, God uses these well-known and well-understood concepts to describe Old/First Covenant religion from his spiritual point of view. In other words, God conveys through these aberrant human feelings and behaviors his own contempt for Old/First Covenant religion.
While we might think that attitudes like pride and foolishness are unwise, or that deceit and envy are not admirable qualities, we might stop short of calling them and other behaviors (e.g. selfishness, anger and envy, etc) sin because almost everyone does these things at one time or another without even knowing that they do them. It might seem unfair of God, therefore, to judge people for doing things they don’t even know they are doing and are, for the most part, unable to control. And that would be unfair if the natural, human attitudes and behaviors were what God has in mind when he mentions this extensive list of sins. But this is not what God is trying to convey.
We must be consistently mindful of the fact that God is spirit and that everything he does is spiritual. That means even his voice cannot be anticipated because it is like the wind. Nevertheless, when he says “listen to my voice” we have his assurances that he does indeed speak to his people. So the issue is not whether he speaks, but whether his people listen or not. And, with respect to covenants, this is the way it sorts out:
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The what, the when, the where and the how of hearing God’s voice is generally unknowable — except to New Covenant disciples. Nevertheless, we can be sure of two things:
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Each and every religious tradition, including Judaism and Christianity, has prophets/teachers/spokespersons who explain the religion and teach others to follow it. And there are disciples/learners in all religions who listen to those prophets and learn how to follow the rules of that religion. But the kind of disciple/learner that God desires is the one who knows how to hear God’s voice. Hearing God’s voice, therefore, is the mark, or standard, that defines a New Covenant disciple.
The Apostle Paul makes the connection between religion (i.e. working for righteousness) and flesh in the following scriptures:
Philippians 3: Look out for the dogs, look out for the evil-workers, look out for those who mutilate the flesh. 3 For we are the true circumcision, who worship God in spirit, and glory in Christ Jesus, and put no confidence in the flesh. 4 Though I myself have reason for confidence in the flesh also. If any other man thinks he has reason for confidence in the flesh, I have more: 5 circumcised on the eighth day, of the people of Israel, of the tribe of Benjamin, a Hebrew born of Hebrews; as to the law a Pharisee, 6 as to zeal a persecutor of the church, as to righteousness under the law blameless. 7 But whatever gain I had, I counted as loss for the sake of Christ. 8 Indeed I count everything as loss because of the surpassing worth of knowing Christ Jesus my Lord. For his sake I have suffered the loss of all things, and count them as refuse, in order that I may gain Christ 9 and be found in him, not having a righteousness of my own, based on law, but that which is through faith in Christ, the righteousness from God that depends on faith; 10 that I may know him and the power of his resurrection, and may share his sufferings, becoming like him in his death, 11 that if possible I may attain the resurrection from the dead. 12 Not that I have already obtained this or am already perfect; but I press on to make it my own, because Christ Jesus has made me his own. 13 Brethren, I do not consider that I have made it my own; but one thing I do, forgetting what lies behind and straining forward to what lies ahead, 14 I press on toward the goal for the prize of the upward call of God in Christ Jesus. 15 Let those of us who are mature be thus minded; and if in anything you are otherwise minded, God will reveal that also to you. 16 Only let us hold true to what we have attained. 17 Brethren, join in imitating me, and mark those who so live as you have an example in us. 18 For many, of whom I have often told you and now tell you even with tears, live as enemies of the cross of Christ. 19 Their end is destruction, their god is the belly, and they glory in their shame, with minds set on earthly things. 20 But our commonwealth is in heaven, and from it we await a Savior, the Lord Jesus Christ,
The confidence in the flesh that Paul said he had while he was a religious Pharisee was based on his strict religious observance of the law. His religion was deeply embedded in Old/First Covenant theology which provided that he act according to a rigid, literal interpretation of the law. For Paul as a Pharisee, there was no room for spiritual understanding. It was all flesh. And this is how it has been for generations of religious people right up to modern times.
No one was more zealous for God than Paul. He was a Pharisee with so much influence and authority that he could persecute the church with impunity. And yet, despite this history, Paul came to understand that all his religiosity counted for nothing in God’s eyes. And after his eyes were opened, he equated all his religiosity and devotion to the law with rubbish.
The end of Paul’s fleshly pursuits came when he saw Jesus for who he really was: The spiritual fulfillment of the law. At that moment he made the transition from Old/First Covenant to New Covenant. He moved from living in the flesh through his religious works to living in the Spirit by faith.
Paul is an extreme model of both religiosity and faith. His history is the same process that all religious people go through.
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Paul’s story is our story just like the story of Israel is our story, and just like the story of all Bible characters is our story. These stories exist so that we can see ourselves and our rocky relationship with God and each other through the examples of their lives. If we do not see the parallels between their lives and ours, we miss the opportunity to be trained in righteousness.
We, like Paul and Solomon, must totally resign ourselves to the futility of all efforts to be spiritual through religious activity. In Paul’s language, he died to his fleshly pursuit of righteousness based on the literal law (i.e. religion). And he equates the outcome of this death to resurrection from the dead and new life in the spirit. Jesus called the process being born again.
We mention example of Paul to establish the symbolism that equates flesh to Old/First Covenant, religious behaviors. Flesh is more than impurity, licentiousness, idolatry, sorcery, enmity, strife, jealousy, anger, selfishness, dissension, party spirit, envy, drunkenness, carousing, evil thoughts, fornication, theft, murder, adultery, coveting, wickedness, deceit, licentiousness, envy, slander, pride, and foolishness. Indeed these are all forbidden, or at least, undesirable qualities and behaviors in most cultures because most cultures have cultural laws and civil laws that forbid them.
STUDY TIP: See Religion is Flesh in Motion for more about flesh.
It is reasonable to say, therefore, that they are common fleshly activities found in human nature. But God’s purpose in mentioning this long list of common, worldly sins and taboos is not as obvious as we might think. Most people do not need to be warned about these attitudes and behaviors because they have been raised by parents and cultures that teach about bad behavior and punish children and adults who exhibit it.
In the case of the most visible, hurtful behaviors such as murder and theft, civil laws and consequences are designed to deter people from breaking these laws and isolate hard core offenders so they can no longer harm others. And if there are no written civil laws, there are at least cultural norms that tell us what is acceptable and unacceptable behavior. And there is always someone who will discipline us in some way when we deviate from those norms. This is how we learn to become good citizens of families, workplaces and communities.
God uses the same kind of disciplinary techniques that parents and cultures use to teach and enforce good behavior, but his standards of behavior are not the same as we find in human culture. For God, the standard of perfection is the New Covenant. That being true, anyone who sets Old/First Covenant religion as their standard will miss the mark which is the definition of sin.
For Christians and Jews, the marks that distinguish good and bad behavior are based on the literal words of the Bible. Thus we find the ten commandments to be the basis of morality in most western countries that embrace Judeo/Christian doctrines, values and ethics. These are all religious laws created by, and enforced by people. They are not created by, nor enforced by God. The only laws God enforces are the spiritual laws he has created with his voice.
But the similarities between the two religions do not extend to religious ceremonial laws and doctrines where we find obvious differences between the two religions and even within each religion.
The New Covenant law is THE perfect law by which God tests/evaluates the condition of the heart. God’s exclusive practice of looking at the heart while men look at outward appearances stands in stark contrast with Old/First Covenant religions where everything done is for others to see so they can receive praise and glory for their religious behaviors.
God’s laundry list of bad behaviors does not simply affirm what we already know. Nor is the punishment that he prescribes for these sins meant to duplicate, replace or add to the punishments and disciplines that our parents and cultures use to maintain order and civility.
Instead, God uses these terms to describe how he sees the many offensive aspects of religion where natural behaviors that can be observed using natural senses and intellect have their spiritual counterparts which reflect conditions of the heart. These heart related matters are the substance and focus of spiritual sin which is God’s primary concern. This is not to suggest that God is not concerned about sin that is evident in the physical body, but his ultimate concern is with the heart out of which all fleshly sins emerge. God associates these human behaviors with Old/First Covenant religious beliefs, attitudes and behaviors that he summarizes as flesh and sin.
God’s association of these many sinful behaviors with religion is not understood by religious people because their eyes are blind to spiritual truth. They will continue to see these offensive behaviors as human sins to be avoided until God opens their eyes.
When eyes are opened to see spiritual truth, people begin the transition from practicing Old/First Covenant religion to being New Covenant disciples. Recognizing that they have been deceived by false prophets, they will begin to take personal responsibility to study and allow the spirit of God to teach them directly without a human mediator. Only then will they acquire spiritual wisdom that enables them to understand the spiritual meaning of the words that are commonly associated with sin.
Until then, Old/First Covenant religionists do not have spiritual wisdom to understand spiritual truth. They have human wisdom that enables them to understand the literal Bible, but they are not able to understand the spiritual meanings behind the literal words. New Covenant disciples, however, do have the ability to understand the mysteries hidden in the literal words of the Bible.