The New Covenant and the Mystery of Lawlessness

The New Covenant and the Mystery of Lawlessness

“Then He took the cup, and gave thanks, and gave it to them, saying, ‘Drink from it, all of you. For this is My blood of the new covenant, which is shed for many for the remission of sins.” Matt. 26:27-28.

Jesus gave them the blood of the new covenant. A covenant is entered into by at least two parties. We have a type of this in the old covenant that was also not dedicated without blood. Heb. 9:18-20.

“Then he took the Book of the Covenant and read in the hearing of the people. And they said, ‘All that the Lord has said we will do, and be obedient.’ And Moses took the blood, sprinkled it on the people, and said, ‘Behold, the blood of the covenant which the Lord has made with you according to all these words.’” Ex. 24:7-8.

They had to be willing to be obedient before they were sprinkled with blood. Most people reckon that the people had to keep the laws and commandments in the old covenant but that Jesus has fulfilled all of them in our stead in the new covenant. This is the kind of idea that the mystery of lawlessness has advanced and with which it has deceived the people. Rom. 8:3-4.

If they had to present themselves to obedience in the old covenant, we have to do it so much more in the new covenant. Heb. 2:1-3; 10:28-31. The law was only a part of God’s will, which they had to keep in their own strength. Jesus came with grace and truth—with help and all God’s will. John 1:17.

In the old covenant the people committed themselves to keeping the part of God’s will that was made known to them through the Book of the Covenant, and God committed Himself to give them all earthly glory and make them the head of all the nations. Likewise, in the new covenant we commit ourselves to keep everything Jesus has commanded us, and He commits Himself to forgive us all our former sins; to write His commandments in our hearts and minds and to endue us with power from on high, enabling us to keep them so He can give us all the heavenly glory.

We can also say it like this: The old covenant obliged the people to give the tithe, and God was obliged to give them all earthly glory. The new covenant obliges us to forsake everything for Jesus’ sake, and it obliges Him to bless us with all spiritual blessings and in addition, to supply us with what the body needs.

Just as the old covenant was consecrated with the blood of bulls, so the new covenant is consecrated with Jesus’ blood. Therefore it is a new covenant into which we enter when we are sprinkled with Jesus’ blood, a new covenant that speaks not only of what Jesus does for us, but also speaks of what we have to do. Once we understand this, the scriptures of the New Testament with all its exhortations and admonitions, consolation and promises, will be more living for us.

“Elect according to the foreknowledge of God the Father, in sanctification of the Spirit, for obedience and sprinkling of the blood of Jesus Christ . . . .” 1 Pet. 1:1-2.

First we must present ourselves to obedience, and then the sprinkling of the blood of Jesus, precisely as the pattern shows us. Therefore repentance must first be preached in Jesus’ name, and then the forgiveness of sins. Luke 24:47. “Repent,” Peter says, “and be converted, that your sins may be blotted out . . . .” Acts 3:19. A person has to repent—lay hold of a new mind—before his sins can be forgiven. To this end Paul received the apostleship—to work the obedience of the faith among all nations. Rom. 1:5. He wanted them in the new covenant to make disciples of them and to teach them to observe everything that Jesus had commanded. Matt. 28:19-20. Jesus said to do this after He had given His commandments through the Holy Spirit to the apostles whom He had chosen, and just before He was raptured. Acts 1:2.

We read that the mystery of lawless was already at work during Paul’s time. 2 Thess. 2:7. This matter of lawlessness is a mystery; it was precisely for the purpose of distorting the new covenant that Satan employed his tricks and interpretations. Satan has been working for many years, and now we have come so far that people have a form of godliness but deny its power (2 Tim. 3:1-5), and soon the lawless one—the man of sin—will be revealed.

A country is corrupted when apostasy proceeds from the holy places. Therefore the prophet was to set his face toward Jerusalem, preach against the holy places, and prophesy against the land. Ezek. 21:2. Thus it was in the church that Satan—the mystery of lawlessness—began his devastating work. Some men crept in unnoticed and turned the grace of God into licentiousness. Jude 4. And so this understanding has grown stronger and stronger that in the old covenant they had to slave away under the law, but in the new covenant Jesus has done everything and we don’t have to do anything. They say that we are under the blood, and God sees us in Jesus as if we had never sinned. Come to the foot of the cross; the work on Calvary is sufficient; receive Jesus as your atoning sacrifice; etc.

Such words are a mixture of the truth and a lie which only Satan can devise. From the letters to the seven churches in Asia Minor we can see how far Satan had already corrupted the churches. “Under the blood,” “At the foot of the cross,” and “The finished work of Calvary” are favorite expressions in these days, but where in the New Testament do you find such expressions???

Paul speaks about being crucified with Christ (Gal. 2:20; 5:24; 6:24), and Peter speaks about “having died to sins”. 1 Pet. 2:24. From where do people get the idea about standing at the foot of the cross???

Paul says that if Christ had not risen from the dead, then we would still be in our sins and our faith would be futile. 1 Cor. 15:17. Peter says that we have been born again to a living hope through the resurrection of Jesus Christ. 1 Pet. 1:3. Why, then, is this unbiblical expression being used continually: “The work of Calvary”? It is used in the definitive form as if the work occurred only on Calvary. Didn’t Jesus do any work before He was thirty years old?

It is the power of the lie and the mystery of lawlessness that has produced this unbiblical preaching that has become so “biblical” in people’s minds, and if you touch it at all they cry out like the silversmiths in Ephesus. Acts 19:24:29. Satan wants to hide Jesus’ steps in which we are to walk. 1 Pet. 2:21-24. If he cannot get us to forsake Jesus and God completely he will let us have Jesus as an atoning sacrifice as long as He is not our Lord. Satan himself wants to be our lord, and so he preaches to us that Jesus’ sacrifice covers everything and that it doesn’t really matter what we do. The result is that the salt has lost its strength.

Paul opposes this mystery of lawlessness powerfully when he says, “What shall we say then? Shall we continue in sin that grace may abound? Certainly not!” Or, “What then? Shall we sin because we are not under law but under grace? Certainly not!” Rom. 6:1-2, 15.

“For to this end Christ died and rose and lived again, that He might be Lord of both the dead and the living.” Rom. 14:9.

“As you have therefore received Christ Jesus the Lord, so walk in Him . . . .” Col. 2:6.

Therefore Jesus has become the author of eternal salvation to all who obey Him. Heb. 5:9. If you want Jesus’ death for you on Calvary to be effective for you, then you must also sanctify Jesus—He who arose from the dead—as Lord in your heart.

Read in the Scriptures, and you will see that much more is written about Jesus as Lord than as an atoning sacrifice. The mystery of lawlessness has perverted this relationship so that in these days Jesus is almost never called “Lord” but is very diligently referred to as our atoning sacrifice. Those who had crept in unnoticed in the apostles’ days and had turned the grace of God into licentiousness have today become large assemblies that are legally established and recognized. Woe to those who doubt their “pure doctrine” and their “biblically organized assemblies.”

However, then as now, God puts His mark on the foreheads of all those who sigh and cry over all the abominations that are done. He will fetch the bride before His wrath is poured out over the earth; this was to begin with the sanctuary, and those who were to kill should begin with the elders. Ezek. 9:4-8. In this manner God will also pour out His wrath over the harlot first of all—Babylon the Great—and then over the beast and those who worship it. Rev. 14:8-10.

Can you hear the voice from heaven: “Come out of her, my people, lest you share her sins, and lest you receive of her plagues”?!!! Rev. 18:4.