TODAY’S SCRIPTURE Hebrews 2:1-3
Just as did the Old Covenant, the New Covenant has commandments, “Therefore we must pay much closer attention to what we have heard, lest we drift away from it. For since the message declared by angels proved to be reliable, and every transgression or disobedience received a just retribution, how shall we escape if we neglect such a great salvation?” (Hebrews 2:1-3).
I chose to quote the three verses above not only because of the serious tone they attach to New Covenant fidelity, but because they are found in the book of Hebrews. If there is a book that puts to rest any notion that one might have of being under the authority of the Law of Moses, that book is Hebrews. The almost exclusive purpose of the book is to both dissuade Jews from returning to Moses’ Law and to persuade them to be loyal to their Priest and King Jesus.
This obviously leads to the question, “What is normative for Christianity?” Since the answer cannot be found in a regression to the Old Covenant, what do we find in the New Covenant to insist that it is the new place to look for things distinctively Christian?
The principles relating to God’s nature never change and thus transcend any particular covenant (James 1:17). For instance, His nature demands He never lies (Hebrews 6:18). However, it is equally true that specific matters for the practice of Christianity are found in the New Covenant (John 14:26; 16:13; 1 Corinthians 4:6; 10:10-16; Ephesians 4:11-16).
A case in point is the Lord’s Supper. This is clearly not found in the Old Covenant. It is in fact a memorial meal commemorating, among other things, the establishing of the New Covenant through the blood of Christ (Luke 22:20). Paul thus references the instructions of Jesus as revealed by the Holy Spirit in the New Covenant to give instruction for this memorial (1 Corinthians 11:23-26).
Therefore, in matters relating to the church, its organization, its worship, and its membership, we have no authority to prescribe anything that is not authorized in the New Covenant.
Today, I will…give special consideration to the seriousness of New Covenant authority and seek to follow it so I will be found walking in the light of Christ (1 John 1:7).