Why The New Covenant?

We are admonished by the Apostle Peter to “Always be prepared to give an answer to everyone who asks you to give the reason for the hope that you have” (1 Peter 3:15). So, I would like to answer a few questions regarding the New Covenant.

Can anyone die for the sins of another?

Answer: The answer to this question is a No.

The Bible teaches that “the wages of sin is death” (Romans 6:23). And that it is “The soul who sins” that “shall die” (Ezekiel 18:20). No one can die for the sins of another and less for the sins of any people. This is because of the simple reason that: “All have sinned and fall short of the glory of God” (Romans 3:23). And “As it is written: ‘There is none righteous, no, not one:’” (Romans 3:10). So, there is no one righteous among men who was qualified to pay for the sins of another person. No human was qualified to be a substitute for the remission of the sins of anyone. Since the penalty for sin is death and all have sinned, therefore there was none righteous, and all were doomed and destined to die.

So, before the Righteous One could come, God provided a temporal solution for the payment of the penalty for sin. Animal sacrifices (note that it was not just any type of animals, but the “clean” and “without blemish” ones) were required as a temporal solution for the atonement of sins until Messiah [i.e. “the Lamb of God who takes away the sins of the world” (John 1:29)] should come. This meant that: the guiltless (innocent) had to die for the guilty in order for the guilty to be forgiven. The penalty for sin was death and this was not negotiable. This truth is verified in Scriptures like Daniel 9:26 which says, “Messiah shall be cut off, but not for Himself;” and in 1 Corinthians 15:3 which confirms the fulfillment of the prophetic word of Daniel 9:26 when it said: “That Christ [Messiah] died for our sins according to the Scriptures.”

Please, read Isaiah 53:4-8 for a complete picture of this point.

“Surely He took up our pain and bore our suffering, yet we considered Him punished by God,  stricken by Him, and afflicted. But He was pierced for our transgressions, He was crushed for our iniquities; the punishment that brought us peace was on Him, and by His wounds, we are healed. We all, like sheep, have gone astray, each of us has turned to our own way, and the Lord has laid on Him the iniquity of us all. Yet He did not open His mouth; He was led like a lamb to the slaughter, and as a sheep before its shearers is silent, so He did not open his mouth. By oppression and judgment, He was taken away. Yet who of His generation protested? For, He was cut off from the land of the living; for the transgression of my people, He was punished. He was oppressed and afflicted.”

IS BLOOD REQUIRED FOR THE REMISSION OF SIN?

ANSWER: Yes! 
Blood is absolutely required; “for without the shedding of blood there is no remission.” Hebrews 9:22 says: “And almost all things are by the law purged with blood; and without shedding of blood is no remission.”

“Is this a true statement?” Someone may ask.

Again, the answer is yes. 

Hebrews 9:22 is a true Scriptural statement. Even without going into the context of this verse, Hebrews 9:16-22, (which would be helpful in understanding the point of it), the keywords here are PURGED and REMISSION. The blood is absolutely required for the PURGING of Sin. The word “purged” could be translated as “cleansed” or “purified”, which in a literal sense would mean, “the removal of” or “the taking away of.” Note that this is very different from ATONEMENT, which was applied in the old covenant to simply provide for compensation for sins. Atonement was a provision in the Torah by which people could compensate for the punishment of their sins and thus receive forgiveness from God. It was only applicable to satisfy the punishment that was required for the offense of sin. It did not purge the sinner even though he was forgiven. Hebrews 10:3-4 teaches that: “But in those sacrifices, there is a reminder of sins every year. For it is not possible that the blood of bulls and goats could take away sins.”

You see my dear friend; your understanding of this truth is the key to embracing the absolute necessity for the shedding of Christ’s blood for the remission of sins. No amount of animal sacrifices could take way (purge) sins. Animal sacrifices only provided for the forgiveness of sins and not the purging from it. Jesus alone was “the Lamb of God who takes away the sins of the world” (John 1:29).

So, Mankind needed a Savior, but the Old Covenant was inadequate, thus the necessity for a New Covenant in the Blood of Messiah. Only the blood of Jesus could take away the sins of the world, and in so doing is able to purge the consciences of all who repent from dead works so that they could serve the living God. The Blood of Jesus does provide for the REMISSION of sin and the PURGING from sins. The Blood of Christ literally supplies the power of God for the sinner to experience freedom from the power of sin. In simple terms, “we have REDEMPTION through His blood the forgiveness of sins” (Eph. 1:7; Col. 1:14).

THE NEW COVENANT:

“The time is coming,” declares the LORD, “when I will make a new covenant with the house of Israel and with the house of Judah. It will not be like the covenant I made with their forefathers when I took them by the hand to lead them out of Egypt, because they broke my covenant, though I was a husband to them,’” declares the LORD”  (Jer. 31:31-32).

For this reason, Christ is the mediator of a new covenant, that those who are called may receive the promised eternal inheritance—now that he has died as a ransom to set them free from the sins committed under the first covenant” (Heb. 9:15).