The New Covenant
II Corinthians 3:4‑16
Dr. D. L. Lowrie

INTRODUCTION
God relates to man on the basis of a Covenant. The people who put our Bibles together recognized this so they divided the Bible into two parts ‑ the Old Covenant and the New Covenant. The Old Covenant begins with Genesis and ends with Malachi.  The New Covenant begins with Matthew and ends with Revelation.

A Covenant is an agreement between two partners. Usually, it will lay out promises and conditions for both sides. In the case of God's Covenant with man, He takes the initiative in approaching man with the proposition. The Covenant becomes binding on God.

The New Covenant is the best. In defense of his ministry, Paul sets forth some of the vital points of superiority. Paul affirms, "He has made us competent as ministers of a new covenant.''

Evidently, many are not aware that God has made a New Covenant. They are content to try to go to heaven on the basis of the Old. If you happen to be in this group, I have some good news for you. While the Old Covenant is good and glorious for it is from God, the new is better at every point. In our text, Paul presents us with three aspects of this superiority of the New.

I. THE NEW COVENANT GIVES LIFE
The Old Covenant brought death. "He has made us competent as ministers of a now covenant ‑ not of the letter but of the Spirit; for the letter kills, but the Spirit gives life." This statement of Paul's has been misunderstood. By "letter,'' Paul is referring to the law of Moses that 'was given at Mount Sinai. He explains this in the next verse, "Now if the ministry that brought death, which was engraved in letters on stone, come with glory." A minister of the "letter" would be a minister who simply made men aware of the demands of God revealed in the Law of Moses. He would probably close his presentation by stating, "Now God has promised that that if you will do these things and live in this way, you can live forever.”

There is one fatal problem with that covenant. No man has ever kept all of the precepts set forth in the Covenant. This was Paul's discovery as a teacher of the law. According to the testimony recorded in the Roman letter, he felt rather secure with the first nine of the ten commandments, but the last one got him. While he had not killed anyone or committed adultery, he had coveted. This commandment of God, or letter, helped Paul to become aware of just how sinful he really was. The letter killed him. It killed all of the hope he ever had of being accepted by God. While the letter told him what he ought to do, it did not give him the power to do.

The New Covenant is better. In the New Covenant, we receive the gift of the Holy Spirit ‑ not a new edition of the law. "For the letter kills, but the Spirit gives life." The new International Version is correct in capitalizing "Spirit" in this verse. Do you see the contrast? In the Old Covenant, Moses went up on Mt. Sinai and comes down with the Law of God inscribed on tablets of stone. In the New Covenant, Jesus went up on Mt. Calvary and came back with the gift of the Holy Spirit for His people.

"The Spirit gives life." He resurrects the poor sinner that the law has killed. He imparts to him the very life of God in regeneration. He enables the poor sinner to overcome the inward inclination toward sin and to work in the ways of the Lord. He works in man both to give him the desire to do right and then the power to do it. Surely you can see that this is better.

II. THE NEW COVENANT GIVES RIGHTEOUSNESS
The Old Covenant told men what was right. It was a reflection of the character of the righteous God who gave it. But it could not make sinful man righteous. Instead it condemned. "If the ministry that condemns men is glorious, how much more glorious is the ministry that brings righteous!" The outcome of the Old Covenant, the law, is the experience of man was not a flaw in the law but rather was a weakness in man. The law did exactly what it was designed to do ‑ it made mankind aware of what God demands of man and condemned those that did not measure up. It was not the fault of the law that no one lived up to it, nor was it the fault of the God who gave it.

No wise man will argue against the rightness of the law. There is something within us that approves the rightness of it. But instead of bringing peace to us, it leaves us with a painful awareness that we are condemned. If the only agreement God has ever made with man is the Law of Hoses, we are all eternally condemned.

But the New is better. In the New Covenant, God offers to the condemned man a perfect righteousness or a free gift to be received by faith in Jesus Christ or Lord. In reflecting on the contrast between the two, Paul explains, "How much more glorious is the ministry that brings righteousness!''

Do you realize the significance of this? Because righteousness is required for acceptance before Holy God, this gift makes it possible for me to be fully accepted.  I means that I now have access to Him in the present, and I have assurance of a place before Him in eternity. It means that on the books of heaven, as far as salvation is concerned, I have a perfect record. Indeed, the record includes all of the merits and credits belonging to the Lord Jesus. Is this not better?

However, the thing that makes this so much better is that this righteousness is freely given to those who believe. While any righteousness offered under the Old was the result of man's effort, this is the result of God's generosity. This comes to those who admit their unworthiness of it. This is a faith gift. I cannot do what God demands, but surely I can commit myself to him in full reliance upon His grace. This is the New Covenant.

III. THE NEW COVENANT GIVES HOPE
The Old Covenant was meant to be temporary, but the New is permanent. Paul presents what may seem to us unusual evidence of this in our text. When Moses came down from the mountain with the law, there was a glow of glory on his face. But instead of following the people to gaze upon this remarkable phenomenon, a moil was placed over the face of Moses. Paul explains why this was done. "Therefore, since we have such a hope, we are very bold. We are not like Moses, who put a veil over his face to keep the Israelites from gazing at it while the radiance was fading away." Even the glory that comes to Moses through the 01, was temporary. It could not be presumed.

But in the New, it is different. In the New, the glory never fades. "And if what was fading away came with glory, how much greater is the glory of that which lasts." The Now Covenant is God's final, best and everlasting covenant. It will never be terminated. Since the basis of the Covenant is the redemption work of Christ upon the Cross, there will be no reason for it to ever be terminated. It never depen0ed in any part on the efforts of man. Man might fail, or change, but not the God of this New Covenant.

This permanence of the Covenant provides us a basis for hope. "Therefore, since we have such a hope, we are very bold." We are very confident about our acceptance before God and our place in His eternal kingdom. This hope the New Covenant gives us is confidence and assurance about our standing before God.

The people who understand this are fairly east to spot. They have a quiet boldness about them. Then you asked them about their relationship to God, they do not evade the issue. They do not say, "Well, I am not sure. I am trying." People who are not sure are often not sure because they are uncertain as to whether they have done enough. They are depending on themselves. Those who are living on the basis of the New Covenant do not have this problem. They know that they have not done enough but they are confident that God has.

Other people will say, "I hope so." What they usually mean is, "I sure want to, it is my goal to be accepted before God and go to heaven when I die." They too are not sure because they are uncertain about their part. They use the word in an entirely different way from its use in our tent. For them, it expresses a wish, but some uncertainty; for Paul it expresses confidence based upon a solid foundation ‑ the Covenant of God. How confident is your testimony?

CONCLUSION
Are you in this New Covenant? If you are not, you can be. God has given to me the same ministry that he gave to Paul. I am a New Covenant minister. It is my glad responsibility to make known to you what God has done for you in Christ Jesus. God sent His Son to be the sin‑offering for your sin. God accepted what He did for you at the Cross ‑ and gave evidence of his acceptance by raising Jesus from the dead.

God now offers to forgive all of your sins, to give you divine righteousness as a
free gift, and to give you the gift of the Holy Spirit. What are the conditions'?

The only condition is that of repentance and faith. You must come to Him acknowledging your guilt and just condemnation, but pleading Christ as your only hope. In spite of the superiority of this Covenant, it has no validly or benefit for you when you accept it. Will you agree to your part of the agreement?