What Is New About The New Covenant Signs?

Because how we answer that question has a lot to do with how we think, what we think they are and how they're practiced. So that's why those texts are chosen, trying to highlight the significant passages that would speak to those most clearly. And as a practice of theology, we're going to use what's more clear or start with what's more clear to try to make sense of what might be less clear.

As we're thinking about old and new, the old is promise, the new is fulfillment. So the old covenant is going to take one word to really understand how they relate to each other. There's promise and fulfillment. The new is contained in the old. The old is explained in the new. I mean, a little bit more helpful fleshing out what that really means.

Um, we're going to look at baptism, uh, and the Lord's supper. Those are our ordinances. Those are our signs that we participate in. Uh, and I want to make sure we're looking at what it means for, uh, scripture to be interpreting scripture with how we do this.

Uh, real quick. I have appreciated the questions you've sent me. I hopefully over time we'll answer some of those. Uh, this is a developing, uh, study, uh, please send questions as they come. Uh, we won't have time to, to get into everything tonight. Before we look at those signs, I do want to first look at what the different covenants are. Because how you frame that and how that relates to who God's people are does have a lot of determination on how you think about baptism in the Lord's Supper.

A better covenant

So, the Old Testament itself testifies that it is partial and temporal. Jeremiah tells us there is going to be a new covenant, and it is a better covenant. If you look at the text there, you'll see Jeremiah 31. I'll reference Genesis 12. I put that on there as a conviction because that's where it all starts. Genesis 12 is the gravy of the covenant passage.

God blesses his people. It's through Abraham and his line. But Jeremiah 31, for our purposes of how the old and new relate, Uh, I want to highlight a few things from Jeremiah. He is looking forward, uh, toward a day of a new covenant. And what I put in bold font, that is what is consistent in the old and the new same God, same way of salvation. Uh, that's the covenant formula.

I will be your God. You will be my people.

You, you see this in the old and the new. So, so, so we, there is the, the one. covenant plan of God, but the three things that are different are underlined.

I will put my law in their heart. I will write on their heart. I'll put my law in them. They shall all know me and I will forgive their iniquity and I will remember their sin no more.

Those are three promises that are different or I would actually say better in the new covenant. Uh, the old covenant does refer to circumcised in the hearts. That is something that, that, that, that is held up. The, the real emphasis here is that everyone in the covenant will know the Lord, which means everyone in the covenant will have their heart circumcised, which means everyone in the covenant will be forgiven. And it's a better forgiveness. Uh, if you want to think through how Jeremiah 31 really works, well, the new is containing the old and the old is explaining the new. Hebrews 8 quotes this entire passage. And the concluding point is the old covenant is obsolete. The new covenant has come because Jesus Christ has come. The Hebrews even tells us the old covenant was already testifying it was partial because they had to sacrifice a new lamb every year.

It did not take away sin. Sin was not yet truly forgiven. That is something that only comes in the New Covenant when Christ provides the once and for all sacrifice. The hearts were not all circumcised. That is not until the Holy Spirit comes and every one of the New Covenant is sealed and made new internally. It's significant because Romans 9, 6 tells us there were two kinds of Israelites in the Old Covenant. physical descendants born of Abraham, and then true Israelites, those who were of faith. It's significant that we see that is a framework in the Old Covenant, and that's not the framework in the New Covenant. The New Covenant is better because everyone knows the Lord is forgiven and their hearts have the law written on them. Now to turn to, it's a different people, it's a new covenant. The covenant people have a significant difference. I will pause just for a question, but I am gonna run out of time tonight. Clarifying question, ask for a friend, Austin.

Uh, it is assuming that the, the, the, oh, uh, it says no, no one will teach his neighbor, his brother, as if you're not supposed to be teaching people, the new covenant, which would counter, you know, a lot of counterfactual there. The idea is that you're not teaching people who the Lord is. They already know him. You're not evangelizing in the covenant.

The Lord's Supper

Good question, Austin. All right. I'm going to start with the Lord's Supper. That is the second ordinance. It follows baptism. I'm going to start here because it's just easier. It's simpler. So let's start with what's easy. Hopefully setting up a framework to think through. The Passover is introduced in Exodus.

The very few descendants of Abraham go to Egypt because of the famine. God organized that. Then they multiply so much that the Pharaoh starts treating them harshly, they cry out to God, and then the very last plague carries with it what will be the Passover. And whenever you see the word redemption, deliverance in the New Testament, that is alluding to this great exodus. The exodus from Egypt and freedom and deliverance from slavery, that is the great salvation moment of the Old Testament.

And Passover, is given to commemorate, to remember, to keep celebrating and honoring God with a meal that God saved them out of slavery. Now there is a lamb and there's blood. Remember they were told last night in order for the judgment of God to pass over the home and not take the life of the firstborn, they would sacrifice a lamb, they would take that blood, put it over the doorpost, the judgment of God would pass over them. Their homes were safe, the homes of Egypt were judged, and then that meal of the lamb every year, and then the other meal that goes along with it, with bread, was to commemorate and remember what God had done. And Passover has some significant aspects.

You can look there, I won't read it, but it's very strict as to who can participate in it. Exodus 13. It makes it also clear, 47, all of Israel participates in it, no matter the age. Children are told, a passage not in here, Exodus 12, it says children, the whole idea is it's an object lesson.

They'll ask, why are we doing this, dad? Oh, son, two generations ago, Yahweh saved us out of Egypt. It's meant to be an opportunity to teach every generation. So significant, all of Israel, every single Israelite was saved from Egypt and slavery. But not all, not every Israelite was a believer. It's very important. They were all saved by the blood of the lambs, plural, but they were not all believers. Again, that two different kinds of people is significant. Jude 5 tells us, Jesus delivered everyone but destroyed those who did not believe. You see that distinction very clear in Jude 5. Everyone in Israel is saved by the blood of the lambs. Everyone is supposed to remember this every year by participating in the mill. So that's where we have that chart, hopefully that's helpful.

Jesus is the answer

All right, how does Passover relate to the Lord's Supper? Again, this is why this one's so easy. Jesus is the answer. When does Jesus institute the Lord's Supper? Yeah, the last Passover is the first Lord's Supper, right? So he has gone into Jerusalem for his last time, the triumphal entry has taken place, he's about to be betrayed, And at the Passover meal, he takes the bread and the cup and he introduces what will be the new covenant meal.

And I do want to read this, Matthew 26, 26. I could have read this from any of the gospels.

Now, as they were eating, Jesus took the bread and after blessing it, broke it and gave it to the disciples and said, take, eat, this is my body. And he took a cup and when he had given thanks, he gave it to them saying, drink of it, all of you.

For this is my blood of the covenant, which is poured out for many for the forgiveness of sins. I tell you, I will not drink again of this fruit of the vine until the day when I drink it new with you in my father's kingdom.

Now, I believe we're supposed to hear Jeremiah 31 in verse 28. Luke's account of this actually has the word new, where he's saying

this is the new covenant of my blood.

Now, again, it's important. Passover is now obsolete because Jesus Christ, the Lamb of God, has come. In the Old Covenant, there were lambs sacrificed that forgave Israel by faith for what would happen later. Jesus, when he's declared to be the Lamb of God, what did John the Baptist qualify that with? He's not just the Lamb of God who is a pass over your sin. He's the Lamb of God who takes away the sins of the world. It's not just the sins of Israel. He's the one who takes away the sins of the world.

Passover and the Lord's Supper is an indirect promise fulfillment relationship because everything the Passover is pointing to is fulfilled in Jesus Christ first. So if you make that just a one direct without Jesus in the middle, there's going to be something confusing about it. Everything about the Passover is fulfilled in Jesus.

He institutes a new meal that looks and sounds a lot like the old meal because he's the same God who saved people. But it's for a different people, and it has a different meal, and it has a different purpose. Now remember, the blood of the lambs saved everyone in Israel, believer or not believer. Who does the blood of Jesus save in the new covenant? If you say the blood of Jesus saves anyone outside of faith, I think we lost the gospel.

The blood of the covenant is effective. It's powerful. This new covenant has a new blood and it's better than the old blood. Because the old blood, God forgave them, but only because Their debt was paid in Jesus Christ. The Lamb of God who takes away sin is better.

And that meal, this is what's interesting, the Passover meal, it was for everybody, but the Lord's Supper is only for those who have confessed Jesus as their Savior, because the only way you are saved by his blood is if by faith you confess him as Savior. Does that make sense? That's a significant difference.

Why would we stop a practice of the Old Testament when the Bible doesn't tell us to stop? The Bible never tells you to not serve it to all your children so they would learn from it. So why would almost every church not serve the Lord's Supper to children, but limit it to those who have faith? The Bible never says stop doing it.

I believe it's because we We determine by what something is to how it functions. The what of the covenant, the what of the sacrifice, the what of the blood, the what of the meal determines what it does and then who participates. A new blood must be received by faith. This isn't a national whole people salvation from another nation. This is now building up a whole new people who will celebrate a new meal together, all because Jesus purchased them with his blood and they have believed with their hearts and confessed him with their mouths. The blood of the old was effective for all Israel, believer and unbeliever, the blood of the new, Jesus' blood is effective only for believers.

That's my grand declaration. I'll pause for a question. I think we should play the game. Somebody has to ask a question. Yeah, sure. Jesus calls him in John 17, the son of destruction, not a believer. Oh no, he did. Uh, partaking of the Lord's supper does not save you. But the Lord's Supper is meant to be limited to those who would believe they're saved and confess that they're saved. Churches can decide how they would handle it. If somebody would partake of it who is not a believer, should you stop them? Or how could you stop them? Or would you stop them? There are churches that have tokens. So in order to take the Lord's Supper, you'd have to go get interviewed by the pastor, and you'd have to be given a token. When I was in Maine, I got to stay with somebody who Pat Booth knows, and he collects these, and it was amazing.

So there's different ways in which, because it is so significant, we fence the table, hoping that, and we especially always want to say, if you're not a believer, this will not do anything for you. So there is a way in which somebody partaking it as not a believer, it has no good effect on them. Paul does more than imply that some are sick among you because you're not taking the Lord's Supper correctly. You know, he's speaking to Christians. If someone is taking the Lord's Supper and is not a believer, I would assume by that passage that there might be negative effects.

That's 1 Corinthians 11 that I'm referring to. We'll get into that passage later. That was like five questions, Charlotte. I said one. Come on, come on. All right, time, the clock. So what I want to do here is a pattern and a framework that I hope is consistent, right?

The circumcision of Christ

So if you have a pattern framework for the baptism and how it relates to circumcision, I think you need to have consistency on how the next works as well with the Lord's Supper and Passover. So I want to move now to the most clear text, and that's Colossians. That's on the bottom of your next page. And again, I try to choose checks that talk about baptism that have a connection to circumcision. And I believe Colossians is the one that has the most direct, clear connection.

In him you also were circumcised with a circumcision made without hands by putting off the body of the flesh by the circumcision of Christ, having been buried with him in baptism in which you were also raised with him through faith in the powerful working of God who raised him from the dead And you who were dead in your trespasses and the uncircumcision of your flesh, God made alive together with him, having forgiven us all our trespasses by canceling the record of debt that stood against us with its legal demands. This he set aside, nailing it to the cross."

How many different kinds of circumcision are mentioned in that passage? or second time, two. There's external and internal. So we're working with a framework that there's an external kind of circumcision and an internal kind of circumcision. And notice he's contrasting.

You were circumcised not with a circumcision made with hands like Abraham, the Old Covenant, a physical circumcision by putting off the body of the flesh, but you were circumcised uh, by the circumcision of Christ, having been buried with him in baptism, in which you were also raised with him through faith in the powerful working of God who raised him from the dead. You're, you're circumcised with a circumcision made with out hands. You, you, you, the circumcision you received is one of an internal nature. That circumcision made without hands is the circumcision of Christ, and I believe this is what we would see back in the old covenant that was referred to as be circumcised in your heart, or have the law written on your heart.

The Holy Spirit coming in, washing and cleansing your heart. That's significant because notice in verse 12, the internal spiritual circumcision of Christ is directly tied to your baptism. Your physical baptism has a direct tie to the spiritual circumcision. Your baptism is nothing like the physical circumcision. Your baptism is not like the old physical circumcision. Your baptism has a unique tie to the promises of a circumcised heart that is now fleshed out That wasn't a pun, it wasn't good wording either.

But you're united with Christ, having been buried with him in baptism. You're united with Christ in his death and resurrection so that you are now made alive. Baptism is connected to the new life Christ was raised for with you, for you. in the death that he suffered on your behalf. Notice you were dead in your trespasses, in the uncircumcision of your flesh. God has made you alive together with Christ.

The next session will be on baptism, and it will just be looking at all the benefits and privileges of what union of Christ have and how they are portrayed in baptism. So union of Christ is the foundation of the doctrine of salvation, and it is especially tied to baptism.

But here the significance is he's speaking of your salvation in absolute terms of what has happened. It's not a hopefulness. It is an absolute. This has taken place without hands. It's taken place with you being united with Christ. And notice there again, there's an absoluteness of the forgiveness of sins because he was nailed to the cross.

We see here a clear pointing to the new covenant reality of forgiveness, knowing God, and having a heart change all united with Christ in his death, burial, and resurrection. That's the most obvious passage because this is where folks usually think, oh, this is circumcision and Jesus Christ combined. No, this is heart change in baptism. And just in case we don't, we want to make sure we don't miss this, verse 12,

having been buried with him in baptism in which you were also raised with him through faith.

There is an assumed faith that you have, that you have been baptized with More importantly, it is your faith that unites you with Christ. Oh man. That was an easy one. I'm gonna introduce this. You can see the Galatians text.

The old is explained in the new

So, Galatians 3.16. is one of the more significant passages. This is, I think, as important as Jesus saying, we wish you knew what he was saying to the disciples on Emmaus Road.

He opened up all of scripture and showed how it pointed to him. Or when Paul says, every yes is in Christ fulfilled. 316,

now the promises were made to Abraham and to his offspring. It does not say, and to his offsprings, referring to many, but referring to one, and to your offspring, who is Christ.

The old is explained in the new. Paul just gave you a nice little key to think through how does the, how is the old explained in the new? Well, we go back to Abraham, he's promised a child. Why is that significant for Abraham to be promised a child? He's old and he does not have a child. Questions are easy, folks. Next one, I'll try to make sure the question leads to the answer Jesus.

Genesis 12, he leaves. He goes to Egypt. There he lies, gets Hagar, tries to adopt a son. God then has him separate the animals and walks through those. And the whole idea there is that God is saying, I will be as these animals. If I do not keep my promise, you will have a son through Sarah. Move on in time, Sarah convinces him to try to have a son through Hagar, another lapse of faith. Back in 15, though, this is where he believed God and he was declared righteous. After Hagar, there's some time there. You have God coming again to Abraham, and the whole idea is he's doubting if he can have a son. He isn't trusting God.

Sarah even laughs about it at one point. And God's making it clear, you'll have an offspring. You'll have an offspring. And you'll have many offspring, more than the stars, more than the sand. But Paul's being clear with this rule. Offsprings are the ultimate end, the final end, but the real thing is about one offspring.

And that goes back to Genesis 3.15. One offspring will crush the serpent.

That one offspring is now gonna come through the line of Abraham. This is why genealogies are supposed to be exciting. Let me say that again. Genealogies are supposed to be exciting because We now know the line through which the savior of the world is going to come. We know it's going to be a child of Abraham, Israel, Judah, David.

It gets more and more specific. And with that line getting more and more clear as to who the child's going to be, there's other promises wrapped in it. This is where the organic structure of scripture just kind of snowballs up. The key here is with the sign of circumcision in Genesis 17, the promise to the offspring, it does speak of those generations, there will be many in the land. The key is who's the one child? Because the one child must come. The one child must come who's going to crush Satan and reverse the curse. The one child must come who's going to be the ultimate blessing. I'm using Paul as the rule for how to read the Old Testament.

Circumcision, I believe, it's only applied to the male and is handed down through the generations of a kinfolk, a tribe, a physical descent, because they're looking for that one male who will come. Circumcision is a sign that God will keep his promise. A son will be born, a seed offspring will be born who will Be the great blessing to Abraham. Be the great blessing this world needs. Be the savior of the world. And Paul tells us explicitly who that one offspring is. It's Jesus. That worked. Every son is circumcised because they're looking for one true seed. That's why it's significant.

Matthew's the last genealogy in scripture. All right, Luke has one there afterwards, but you get what I'm saying. The Gospels have the last genealogy in Scripture. There's no more need for a genealogy. He's the son of Abraham, the son of David. There's no more circumcision, not because baptism replaced it.

No, the son's been born. The true son of God, even, can be born in these people's line. The great advantage of Israel, they have the oracles of God, but they're the people through which the The Savior will be born. Circumcision is a sign that this is the people that the son to save the world, he's going to be a descendant of Abraham, Judah, David.

Because the son is here

That's why circumcision is obsolete. It no longer serves a purpose because the son is here. This is tied to the, I'll not finish, I'll come back to this. We'll have to finish Galatians 3. Now that the son is here, we're not performing a sign with a hope that something's gonna happen. The sign now is baptism. Because the son is here, we can be united with him. Because the son is here, we can believe in him. We're not waiting for him. Because the son is here, we, by faith, can be a child of Abraham. So I'll stop there.

Do I have time for a question? Anybody itching to go get their kids? Daniel Thomas. That isn't all it is, but that is one particular purpose of it. No, because they're all waiting for a child that is just becoming more narrow because even if you're other child tribes, they do kind of disappear. You're, you're still longing for that one child who's going to come to give you the people of Israel, the blessings that you're waiting on from Abraham. Good question. I was saying like, if, why would Simon, why would the other, uh, Dan keep hindsight's maybe 2020. Another question.

Yep. So you said that physical baptism is like a connection to spiritual circumcision, correct? I think Paul says that, yes. OK. Yeah. So would that mean, because before we get baptized, you already receive the spirit, right? Yes. That's right. So you cannot have a real baptism unless you have the Holy Spirit. Right, right. Yep. So would that mean the circumcision comes before the baptism, the physical baptism? Oh. Great question.

I believe what we're calling that internal circumcision is what we're going to see as the Holy Spirit washing, renewing, and regenerating. So that's where I only chose Isaiah, Jeremiah 31. Isaiah, Jeremiah, I keep doing this, Jeremiah 31 and Ezekiel 36, I think you're talking about the same thing. That inward, internal writing of the law in your heart is the same as being washed by the Holy Spirit.

Those are both promising the old. I just decided not to go with Ezekiel for the simplicity of it. Yeah, I had to choose. I still can't finish. All right. Please keep asking questions. We'll start back in Galatians. Read those passages. The key is baptism, union with Christ, faith as we look ahead. Let me pray. Father, we thank you, Lord, for your kindness. We do thank you that you did not leave us alone. You made promises. We thank you that your word shows us that those promises have become so clear and powerful.

No longer wondering how we might be forgiven or if this forgiveness is real because we keep sacrificing a lamb. We can look back to Christ and know that his death was once for all for our sin. Thank you Lord that we can be united with him in his death. We can live now in the newness of his life and the resurrected power of Jesus Christ. Thank you that we can rejoice in baptism when we receive a new believer in baptism, and we can partake of the Lord's Supper even this Sunday, knowing that it represents the full price is paid because Jesus' blood was shed for us. In his name we pray, amen.