Old Covenant vs. New Covenant

[Megwalters2288]

I am hoping someone can explain to me as best as possible the difference between the new covenant in Christ vs. the old covenant. What is the difference? What changed? Did anything carry over from the old covenant? I am trying very hard to understand this fully. The Seventh Day Adventist church gives a very confusing idea of this and I find it difficult to explain their belief here. I am searching very hard for the truth.

 

[adamhovey1988]

I am searching very hard for the truth.

The Catholic Church was founded by Jesus, and this is a matter of historical fact. And as such, she is protected from error of doctrine in faith and morals. You can find it in the Catechism of the Catholic Church, which is available online.

 

[Megwalters2288]

The more I study the more I just fear and become frustrated. I dont know if I am saved. Because I learned that none of us will know until we are judged. But, someone had said to me once that God will save who he chooses to save. So…what if I was just destined to fall by God? How can He not be compassionate to someone who truly loves Him but interprets the Bible differently even though they do no harm to anyone else? Sometimes I question as to what is the point in all this because we ultimately have no control any way which scares me because I feel I am in danger of losing faith due to my fear and frustration. We are told that they will know the truth and the truth will set them free…what if that is the reason I cannot decipher what the real truth is…its just very scary to me, the whole thing and what is on the line.

 

[christismylord]

Catholic theologian Thomas Aquinas held that there are three types of “Old Testament Laws” which are moral (permanent), ceremonial (temporary), and judicial (temporary)

 

[annad347]

So…what if I was just destined to fall by God?

You wont, God loves you too much to let you fall… and you obviously love Him.

But, someone had said to me once that God will save who he chooses to save

If God chooses who, He will save where is it written that He will not choose you?

People will tell you that God doesnt choose for us to fail we choose to fail because we choose to turn from God… but you are not doing that.

How can He not be compassionate to someone who truly loves Him but interprets the Bible differently even though do no harm to anyone else?

Who says He isn’t? Jesus said if you love me follow my commandments, that can scare a lot people because it can be hard… Jesus also said God’s judgment is fair and just, that is comforting because it tell us that God will judge us on who we are, in our mind and heart, not on what others say about us.

 

[Vico]

I am hoping someone can explain to me as best as possible the difference between the new covenant in Christ vs. the old covenant. What is the difference? What changed? Did anything carry over from the old covenant? I am trying very hard to understand this fully. The Seventh Day Adventist church gives a very confusing idea of this and I find it difficult to explain their belief here. I am searching very hard for the truth.

Consider the signs.

Catechism

1150 Signs of the covenant . The Chosen People received from God distinctive signs and symbols that marked its liturgical life. These are no longer solely celebrations of cosmic cycles and social gestures, but signs of the covenant, symbols of God’s mighty deeds for his people. Among these liturgical signs from the Old Covenant are circumcision, anointing and consecration of kings and priests, laying on of hands, sacrifices, and above all the Passover. The Church sees in these signs a prefiguring of the sacraments of the New Covenant.

1151 Signs taken up by Christ . In his preaching the Lord Jesus often makes use of the signs of creation to make known the mysteries of the Kingdom of God.17 He performs healings and illustrates his preaching with physical signs or symbolic gestures.18 He gives new meaning to the deeds and signs of the Old Covenant, above all to the Exodus and the Passover,19 for he himself is the meaning of all these signs.

1152 Sacramental signs . Since Pentecost, it is through the sacramental signs of his Church that the Holy Spirit carries on the work of sanctification. The sacraments of the Church do not abolish but purify and integrate all the richness of the signs and symbols of the cosmos and of social life. Further, they fulfill the types and figures of the Old Covenant, signify and make actively present the salvation wrought by Christ, and prefigure and anticipate the glory of heaven.

 

[po18guy]

Couple of books should greatly ease your situation. First, to know what the Catholic faith actually teaches (and not according to SDA rumor or misunderstanding):

https://smile.amazon.com/Catholicis...swatch_0?_encoding=UTF8&qid=1587598183&sr=8-2

Next, to compare and contrast Catholic teaching with the various other denominations, with emphasis on the Seventh Day Adventists, Mormons and Jehovah’s Witnesses:

The Essential Catholic Survival Guide: Answers to Tough Questions About the Faith

Discover The Essential Catholic Survival Guide, indexed by topic in a unique Q&A format for instant answers to any question.

shop.catholic.com

 

[fhansen]

What changed?

It’s really quite simple. The Old Covenant was intended to make a person right in the eyes of God by his adherence to the Law. But this is not the same as relationship with and adherence to God, Himself. With the Old Covenant, we must demonstrate our righteousness, by our own, external, efforts, as if we possess and control that righteousness on our own. The Jews in the Old Testament failed at this endeavor over and over, as we all inevitably will because we possess no real righteousness on our own. The real purpose of the Old Covenant, ultimately, was actually to prove that we cannot do it on our own, that we need God, a communion with Him that we were made for, in order to accomplish this, in order to become righteous interiorly, first of all; in order to be fully and truly who we were created to be, to put it another way. Adam thought otherwise and effectively broke communion with God, as he became his own “god” for all practical purposes. And this is the state of being, spiritual separation from God (aka the “death of the soul”), that all men are born into now. So both covenants demand righteousness from man but the old could not accomplish what the new can. The New Covenant mantra “Apart from Me you can do nothing”, Jesus speaking in John 15:5.

So the first marching order with the New Covenant isn’t to obey the commandments, but rather to enter communion with God, via faith professed and confirmed by Baptism, Who, alone, can give new life and cause authentic obedience in us, Who can justify us IOW. Thus, the most important New Covenant Prophecy, from Jer 31:
“I will put my law in their minds
and write it on their hearts.
I will be their God,
and they will be my people." Jer 31:33

and it continues:
No longer will they teach their neighbor,
or say to one another, ‘Know the Lord,’
because they will all know me,
from the least of them to the greatest,”
declares the Lord.
“For I will forgive their wickedness
and will remember their sins no more.” Jer 31:34

This knowledge is the object of faith, the direct “knowledge of God” that Jesus came to reveal. This speaks of something different now, something changed; it speaks of communion or relationship, even if that knowledge is only partial here and not fully consummated until the next life (1 Cor 13).

"Now this is eternal life: that they know you, the only true God, and Jesus Christ, whom you have sent" (John 17:3). Knowledge of the true God produces love of God.

The Church teaches that the New Covenant doesn’t revoke the Old; it simply replaces it with a new and better one, when the time was ripe in human history, when man was finally becoming able to receive that light. Simply put: man needs grace; man needs God.

 

[fhansen]

The more I study the more I just fear and become frustrated. I dont know if I am saved. Because I learned that none of us will know until we are judged. But, someone had said to me once that God will save who he chooses to save. So…what if I was just destined to fall by God? How can He not be compassionate to someone who truly loves Him but interprets the Bible differently even though they do no harm to anyone else? Sometimes I question as to what is the point in all this because we ultimately have no control any way which scares me because I feel I am in danger of losing faith due to my fear and frustration. We are told that they will know the truth and the truth will set them free…what if that is the reason I cannot decipher what the real truth is…its just very scary to me, the whole thing and what is on the line.

No one knows who are saved and who are not, whose names are written in the Book of Life, with any kind of perfect certainty except God, alone. But we can have a certain strong level of assurance and confidence, based on His goodness and trustworthiness and evidence of our fruits, of our love for God and neighbor IOW. Here’s the bottom line teaching of the Catholic Church on our judgment, quoting St John of the Cross in para 1022 of the catechism:
"At the evening of life we shall be judged on our love."

All Catholic teaching is based on and encompassed by that understanding of what makes a person right in the eyes of God. And the New Covenant promise is that He’ll help us achieve it, to the extent that we remain in Him and He in us. Communion… is the difference. It’s all in how we achieve righteousness.

 

[Crusader13]

Well not much was carried over from the old covenant, in terms of salvation, because the old covenant gave way to the new. The new covenant, like @fhansen stated above, is to be in communion with Jesus Christ.

That entire “age”, as is spoken about in Scripture, was the age of the old covenant, the law and the Temple. The Temple was destroyed in 70 ad and the Sanhedrin, the ruling hierarchy of Judaism at that time, was also wiped out.

Since the law could not save a person from their sins, the destruction of the temple was necessary to show the Jews and Gentiles that there was no more distinction between them, but that they were all one in Jesus Christ.

In order to enter the kingdom of Heaven, you need to be baptized and partake in the Eucharist.

Jesus answered: Amen, amen I say to thee, unless a man be born again of water and the Holy Ghost, he cannot enter into the kingdom of God.
John 3:5

Then Jesus said to them: Amen, amen I say unto you: Unless you eat the flesh of the Son of man, and drink his blood, you shall not have life in you.
John 6:54

 

[Dan_Defender]

In a nutshell, the spirit of the old covenant is kept, but the rituals of the old law are superseded in the new covenant. Specifically, anything to do with the Jewish Temple is past, as it was destroyed in 70 AD.

 

[KMC]

I am hoping someone can explain to me as best as possible the difference between the new covenant in Christ vs. the old covenant. What is the difference? What changed? Did anything carry over from the old covenant? I am trying very hard to understand this fully. The Seventh Day Adventist church gives a very confusing idea of this and I find it difficult to explain their belief here. I am searching very hard for the truth.

Buy the book, “Bible Basics for Catholics” by John Bergsma. It is the easiest book to understand, the easiest read, and he explains the Old Covenants and the New Covenant.

Side Note: “Testament” is a latin term that means “Covenant”, thus the Bible is divided up into the Old and New Covenants.

In the Old Testament, God tries to reach out to mankind to form a covenant (defined as: extension of kinship by oath). In other words, God wants to be our Father and He wants us to be His adopted children, by covenant. Here are the Old Covenants:

1. Adamic
2. Noahic
3. Abrahamic
4. Mosaic
5. Davidic

Each of the Old Covenants were broken by man’s sin. Then, the prophets prophesy a New Covenant, one that will be everlasting (Jeremiah, Ezekiel, Isaiah).

So what is the New Covenant? Read Luke 22:20: “This chalice which is poured out for you is the new covenant in my blood.”

The New Covenant is the Eucharist! We become children of God by receiving the body, blood, soul and divinity of our Lord, Jesus Christ. No longer is the Temple in Jerusalem the place where God is present, no longer is the Jerusalem temple the place of sacrifice. Jesus is the New Temple of the New Covenant, and when we receive Him in the Eucharist, WE ARE ALSO TEMPLES OF THE ALMIGHTY GOD! Pretty cool!

Blessings.

PS. Buy that book!

Note: Old Law / New Law is not the same as Old Covenant / New Covenant…don’t get confused.

 

[fhansen]

It can take some time and consideration, but a good place to look for yourself is the catechism here: Catechism of the Catholic Church - PART 3 SECTION 1 CHAPTER 3 ARTICLE 1

This section is on the Moral Law, and compares law and grace, and the Old Law vs the New Law, covering the two covenants.

 

[EndTimes]

I am hoping someone can explain to me as best as possible the difference between the new covenant in Christ vs. the old covenant. What is the difference? What changed? Did anything carry over from the old covenant? I am trying very hard to understand this fully. The Seventh Day Adventist church gives a very confusing idea of this and I find it difficult to explain their belief here. I am searching very hard for the truth.

It’s easier to understand the OT through the lens of Jesus / NT

Jesus redeemed Man to God…

The old covenant revolves around obedience to Mosaic Law of which no one save Jesus Fulfilled it

His Atonement Sacrifice conquered Death and ushered in the New Covenant
which is Faith in Jesus - opening the Door to God’s Spirit - Our Guide.

_

 

[TULIPed]

There is an interesting debate in covenant theology with regard to grace and works to wit - were the any or all of the old covenants - but especially the Mosaic - covenants of works? For example - let’s consider the Mosaic covenant. Here is the classic presentation nicely summarized by Jeremiah:

“ 23 but I gave them this command: Obey me, and I will be your God and you will be my people. Walk in obedience to all I command you, that it may go well with you.”

More specifically (and practically) - here it is in Deuteronomy:

“ 13 So if you faithfully obey the commands I am giving you today—to love the Lord your God and to serve him with all your heart and with all your soul— 14 then I will send rain on your land in its season, both autumn and spring rains, so that you may gather in your grain, new wine and olive oil. 15 I will provide grass in the fields for your cattle, and you will eat and be satisfied.”

Note the “if-then” presentation. We have this in covenants we enter in today - “if you continue to pay your mortgage payment, then I (the bank) won’t repossess your house.” It seems obvious that theses are all works-based covenants, no?

But wait! There’s more! What are we to make of this jewel from Deuteronomy 7:

“ 6 “For you are a people holy to the Lord your God. The Lord your God has chosen you to be a people for his treasured possession, out of all the peoples who are on the face of the earth. 7 It was not because you were more in number than any other people that the Lord set his love on you and chose you, for you were the fewest of all peoples, 8 but it is because the Lord loves you and is keeping the oath that he swore to your fathers, that the Lord has brought you out with a mighty hand and redeemed you from the house of slavery, from the hand of Pharaoh king of Egypt. ”

The implication we get here is that Israel was “chosen” IN SPITE OF who they were to receive the law. Hmmmm…

What do you guys think? (See if you can make the argument both ways - it’s way more fun and interesting that way.)

 

[EndTimes]

There is an interesting debate in covenant theology with regard to grace and works to wit - were the any or all of the old covenants - but especially the Mosaic - covenants of works? For example - let’s consider the Mosaic covenant. Here is the classic presentation nicely summarized by Jeremiah:

“ 23 but I gave them this command: Obey me, and I will be your God and you will be my people. Walk in obedience to all I command you, that it may go well with you.”

More specifically (and practically) - here it is in Deuteronomy:

“ 13 So if you faithfully obey the commands I am giving you today—to love the Lord your God and to serve him with all your heart and with all your soul— 14 then I will send rain on your land in its season, both autumn and spring rains, so that you may gather in your grain, new wine and olive oil. 15 I will provide grass in the fields for your cattle, and you will eat and be satisfied.”

Chosen to be the race from which Jesus the Messiah shall come forth from…

Many of those who walked out of Egypt - fell in love with Gold - and were destroyed…

To understand the New Covenant, one must of course become fluent with the New Testament.

)