Does the New Covenant Abolish the Commandments
The Bible tells us that Christ came as the Mediator of a new covenant (Hebrews 8:6). The popular belief that the New Covenant abolishes God’s law reflects a misunderstanding of both covenants. God tells us that He altered the original covenant in making “a better covenant, which was established on better promises” (Hebrews 8:6). But it was not established on different laws. The law stayed the same. There was, however, a weakness, or fault, in the original covenant. That fault was with the people , not with the law. “Because finding fault with them , He says: ‘Behold, the days are coming, says the Lord, when I will make a new covenant with the house of Israel and with the house of Judah’” (Hebrews 8:8). It was because the people “did not continue in My covenant, and I disregarded them, says the Lord” (Hebrews 8:9). In the Old Covenant, God wrote the law on tablets of stone. It was external, not part of the thinking and motives of the people. It was in their literature b...