What is the True New Covenant?

Hello, my name is Danny and I was an active Latter-day Saint for 60 years. Today, I want to speak to something I believe is often misunderstood. Let me begin by asking - Where did the names for the two main parts of the Bible come from? The terms “Old Testament” and “New Testament” are often used as titles for the two portions of the Bible. The literary work known as the Old Testament is made up of 39 individual documents that include the details of God’s “Old Covenant.” The literary work known as the New Testament is made up of 27 individual documents that include the details of the “New Covenant.” The “Old Testament or Covenant” contains the record of God’s interactions with man from the beginning of creation up to 400 years preceding the coming of the Messiah. The term "Old Testament" was first coined by Christians in the second century CE to describe the Hebrew Scriptures which include Genesis through Malachi. Then there was that 4-century gap called the Intertestamental period of silence between the end of the Old Testament writings and when Yeshua was born. When our Lord began His mortal ministry, He instituted a New Covenant which did away with the old sacrificial system under the Old Covenant. The gospels and epistles written after Yeshua’s resurrection and ascension into heaven - detail God’s New Covenant with man. The term “New Testament” was coined by early church father Tertullian in the late second century CE to describe the collection of these Christian scriptures written mostly by apostles and disciples of Christ. The finalized list of the combined 66 books of the entire Bible was not established as a canon of scripture until the late 4th century CE. Now, instead of New Testament - I prefer the name “Apostolic Record” which is a term formed by my bible teaching friend, Shawn. I think it better describes what the second section of the Bible is - since the idea or concept of a New Testament or New Covenant describes something completely different from the written word of God with ink on paper. I’ll explain. We know that the word “testament” is another word for “covenant.” They are interchangeable terms. If we called the Hebrew Scripture the “books of the Old Covenant” and the Apostolic Record the “books of the New Covenant,” I believe we would be closer to being correct in describing what they are. What was the Old Covenant within the Hebrew Scripture? That Covenant was the “working arrangement” that God had with Israel. God had chosen that nation for a special relationship that He did not have with any other group of people on earth. He took a few patriarchs (Abraham, Isaac, Jacob) and grew their descendants into a great nation. The Promised Messiah would come from their lineage. His gave them a Law through Moses to live by and those Israelites were to remain loyal to God by obeying Him and worshipping Him alone. Primarily, they were not to have any other Gods before Him. If they obeyed in keeping that covenant - He promised to bless them. And if they did not obey and keep His covenant - He assured them that they would be chastened and punished. Along with the Law of Moses, God established an animal sacrificial system that would allow the children of Israel to be cleansed (temporarily) from their sins—but these sacrifices had to be performed repeatedly in the temple. The designated Levite high priests were to represent the people before God in the temple - as the people could never come directly into the presence of God themselves. And even with all these accommodations, the nation of Israel as, a whole was disobedient and unfaithful. Being lured into idolatry repeatedly by other nations and eventually falling under the judgment of God. When the Law was given to Moses on Mt. Sinai around 1500 BC, it was written on two stone tablets by the finger of God. Exodus 31:18 “And he (God) gave unto Moses, when he had made an end of communing with him upon mount Sinai, two tables of testimony, tables of stone, written with the finger of God.” These laws or commandments were hard-set and had to be strictly observed. There is no flexibility in such laws written in stone. Eventually God prophesied that judgment was coming upon the nation of Israel for their repeated failure to keep the Law written in stone. Nevertheless, God also promised His people that something far better was coming. Jeremiah 31:31-34 “Behold, the days come, saith the Lord, that I will make a new covenant with the house of Israel, and with the house of Judah: Not according to the covenant that I made with their fathers in the day that I took them by the hand to bring them out of the land of Egypt; which my covenant they brake, although I was an husband unto them, saith the Lord: But this shall be the covenant that I will make with the house of Israel; After those days, saith the Lord, I will put my law in their inward parts, and write it in their hearts; and will be their God, and they shall be my people. And they shall teach no more every man his neighbour, and every man his brother, saying, Know the Lord: for they shall all know me, from the least of them unto the greatest of them, saith the Lord: for I will forgive their iniquity, and I will remember their sin no more.” This true “New Covenant” was not going to be written on paper with ink. Does that surprise you? It was going to be written in our “inward parts” and in our “hearts.” Amazing, isn’t it? In addition, this “New Covenant” or “New Testament” would include the Lord’s promise recorded in Ezekiel 36:26-27 “A new heart also will I give you, and a new spirit will I put within you: and I will take away the stony heart out of your flesh, and I will give you an heart of flesh. And I will put my spirit within you, and cause you to walk in my statutes, and ye shall keep my judgments, and do them.” Think about it – “a new heart” and a “new spirit” even His Spirit. What an astonishing promise that was coming, when Christ would fulfill all things and replace the “Old Covenant” with a “New Covenant” or “Testament” written in the hearts and minds of individuals. What specific law was going to be written in our hearts? It included the law or commandment to believe on Christ and to love as led by the Holy Spirit living within us. That is supported by Apostle John in his epistle which reads, 1 John 3:22-23 “And whatsoever we ask, we receive of him, because we keep his commandments, and do those things that are pleasing in his sight. And this is his commandment, That we should believe on the name of his Son Jesus Christ, and love one another, as he gave us commandment.” This one commandment is like a two-sided coin with belief on one side and love on the other. They go together. If we are faithful in keeping the commandment to believe and love – and with the indwelling of Christ’s Spirit - we will want to walk in His ways and serve others. The Old Covenant law written on stone tablets was never meant to be a means to salvation. Rather, it showed the children of Israel that it was impossible to make themselves righteous before God. It led to condemnation as people repeatedly broke the law and violated the covenant. Proving that we can’t make ourselves perfect. Only Christ was perfect, so we look to Him who did what we could not do for ourselves. Here is the point I hope to make: The entire Bible was written to those people, then, thousands of years ago – not to us in the 21st Century. But we can find applications in our lives today as we read it. But now since the Day of Pentecost recorded in Acts 2, the Holy Spirit has been poured out onto all men, women, and children – and today we live by the Spirit and the law that is written on our hearts. Mainly to believe and love. No man-made religion, church, or corporation is necessary to teach us. Christ who is our True High Priest, Apostle and Prophet will teach us by His Spirit. Today, you can read in the Bible the written word of God with ink on paper – and be guided by the Holy Spirit as you follow the law God has written on your heart and in your inward parts called the “New Covenant” or the actual “New Testament.” Do you see the difference now? Such freedom from dogma and theology is what the Apostolic Record calls “freedom in Christ.” Yeshua taught in John 8:30-32, 36 “As he spoke these words, many believed on him. Then said Jesus to those Jews which believed on him, If ye continue in my word, then are ye my disciples indeed. And ye shall know the truth, and the truth shall make you free. If the Son therefore shall make you free, ye shall be free indeed.” What is Yeshua saying we are from? Free from the bondage of religion and man’s authority over us. Paul declared in 2 Corinthians 3:17 “Now the Lord is that Spirit: and where the Spirit of the Lord is, there is liberty.” Galatians 5:13-14 “For, brethren, ye have been called unto liberty; only use not liberty for an occasion to the flesh, but by love serve one another. For all the law is fulfilled in one word, even in this; Thou shalt love thy neighbour as thyself.” The book of Hebrews is an extended discourse on the differences between the Old and New Covenants. Referring to the promise God made back in Jeremiah 31; here is confirmation of its fulfilment. It states in Hebrews 10:12-17 “But this man (Christ), after he had offered one sacrifice for sins forever, sat down on the right hand of God; From thenceforth expecting till his enemies be made his footstool. For by one offering he hath perfected forever them that are sanctified. Whereof the Holy Ghost also is a witness to us: for after that he had said before, This is the covenant that I will make with them after those days, saith the Lord, I will put my laws into their hearts, and in their minds will I write them; And their sins and iniquities will I remember no more.” The New Covenant sacrifice of the Lamb of God on behalf of the world means that sins have been paid for and forgiven - once and for all. Under the Old Covenant, only the high priest could enter the temple’s Most Holy Place on the day of Atonement. Because of Christ - our Final High Priest of the New Covenant - the temple veil separating man from God was torn in two so that we can freely come into the presence of God without another man (pastor, priest, or bishop) mediating for us except Christ Jesus. Hebrews 4:16 “Let us then approach God’s throne of grace with confidence, so that we may receive mercy and find grace to help us in our time of need.” We now have direct, intimate personal access to God on a daily, moment to moment basis. No need for intermediators like a pastor, a bishop, a stake president. Just you to God and God to you. Something important to understand, however, is that - until the Jerusalem temple came down in 70 AD., they were still operating under the former economy, under an old heaven, an old earth, an old covenant. Hebrews 9:8 “The Holy Ghost this signifying, that the way into the holiest of all was not yet made manifest, while as the first tabernacle (temple) was yet standing.” The way into the presence of God was not made available to anybody while the temple remained standing. That is why the temple had to come down at the hands of the Roman armies - to wipe out the vestiges of that former age along with all the genealogies, ordinances, and priesthood that would be discontinued. At that time, Christ came for His bride which was taken up to the heavenly New Jerusalem, and the Old Jerusalem and its inhabitants were completely destroyed. Today, God’s New Covenant gives us a new heaven, a spiritual new creation, because the world had been reconciled to God through His Son. And because He writes His law to believe and to love in our minds and hearts - all will know Him. That is the real True New Testament as revealed in the Apostolic Record of the Bible. The covenants that were once conditionally based have been replaced by unconditional love and grace through a fulfilled mission and atonement of our Messiah. Praise be to God! I hope you found this teaching meaningful. Thanks again for watching. Find more videos like this on YouTube and at Talking to Mormons.com. Shalom!