#56 The new covenant does not abolish an established covenant BY: JEFF ROSTOCIL

Описание: GALATIANS CHAPTER 4 VERSE 21 TO 31

Truth #56: The new covenant does not abolish an established covenant.
Rock Paper Spirit? The TORAH is perfect but it can't perfect us!
The laws are written on your heart as you are willing to receive them! WORK out your own salvation with fear and trembling! The path out of bondage is gradual! We are free to practice being Yahshua!


Galatians chapter 4 verse 21 to 31
,''Tell me, you who desire to be under the law, do you not hear the law? For it is written that Abraham had two sons: the one by a bondwoman, the other by a freewoman. But he who was of the bondwoman was born according to the flesh, and he of the freewoman through promise, which things are symbolic. For these are the two covenants: the one. from Mount Sinai which gives birth to bondage, which is Hagar-for this Hagar is Mount Sinai in Arabia, and corresponds to Jerusalem which now is, and is in bondage with her children-but the Jerusalem above is free, which is the mother of us all. For it is written: ''Rejoice, O barren, you who do not bear! Break forth and shout, yoi,1ivho are not in labor! For the desolate has many more children than she who has a husband "Now we, brethren, as Isaac was, are children of promise. But, as he who was born according to the flesh then persecuted him who was born according to the Spirit, even so it is now. Nevertheless, what does scripture say? ''Cast out the bondwoman and her son, for the son of the bondwoman shall not be heir with the son of the freewoman. “So then, brethren, we are not children of the bondwoman but of the free”

For those who sought justification through Jewish membership and desired to live under the te1ms of the old covenant, Paul gives an illustration from the Torah. His midrash of Genesis chapter 15 to 18 is of two women, two covenants and two outcomes.

Traditionally, it has been taught that the bondwoman is the old covenant and the freewoman is the new covenant. The bondwoman is born of the flesh, representing Hagar and physical Israel. The freewoman is born of promise, representing Sarah and spiritual Israel. Those born of Hagar are cursed, but those who are the

children of promise are free. It has served as a staple for celebrating our liberty from the law. It also infers that Jews are cursed and Torah keepers are in bondage to the flesh.

This section of Galatians is often misinterpreted - not because of
what it says, but because of what it doesn't say. You will not find the terms old and new covenant in these verses. Yet almost every commentary interprets it along these lines.

Old & Older Covenant

The problem with the standard interpretation is that it incorrectly identifies the participants. The two covenants are not the old and the new covenants. Paul is contrasting the old covenant and the older covenant, specifically the covenants of Sinai and Abraham. These are the covenants in his illustration.

Let's consider.

Abraham had two sons, representing two covenants. Ishmael is the covenant at Sinai. He was born of a slave woman and brought forth through fleshly effort. Jerusalem, at that time, was likened to Ishmael. The nation of Israel, as a whole, was under this broken
Sinaitic covenant and in condemnation for violating the terms of the
covenant. That term was to obey everything commanded of them.
The covenant at Sinai was not able to free them from the bondage of sin, nor was it designed to. Ishmael represents those still in sin, condemned by the law and legally bound by covenant to obey the Torah perfectly.

Paul identifies those seeking the promises of God through circumcision and the works of the law as the children of Hagar. Gentiles turning to ritual circumcision: for their justification were just as much in bondage as Jews relying on their ethnicity. Both sought ·God's promise by fleshly means. Both were still bound to the old covenant. Both resulted in slavery.

Isaac, however, represents the covenant of Abraham. He was born of promise and was brought forth through the free woman. Unlike Ishmael, his birth came by supernatural means. This symbolizes those being justified by faith. Uncircumcised Gentiles who have come to faith in Christ are free to claim the promise given to Abraham that ''all nations will be blessed in your Seed."

The covenant of Abraham is a covenant of salvation, accessed through faith. The covenant of Sinai, however, is not a covenant of salvation. It is a covenant of sanctification and obedience. It was given to Israel so that the promises given to Abraham could come to fruition. Any participation in the covenant at Sinai outside of faith in the Seed of Abraham would not and could never insure justification. Nor could it secure the promises given to Abraham. Because Abraham was both a Gentile and a Hebrew, Jews and Gentiles gain access to God through Abraham's covenant and find right standing with God through his Seed.