Chapter 3. The Old Covenant Was Changed to the New Covenant

Most Christians consider the Old Testament to be the law and the New Testament to be faith, and moreover, the law and faith are contradictory concepts. It is said that the law was abolished by the coming of Jesus, and a new era of salvation by faith began. If you understand the law and faith as contradictory concepts, it is a great obstacle to entering the right truth.

It should be noted that the Old and New Testaments are closely related through the feasts. It is true that the Old and New Testaments have different dimensions because the old covenant is the shadow and the new covenant is reality. However, the Old Testament and the New Testament are complementary to each other in revealing the nature of God’s redemptive work of forgiveness. The Old Testament and the New Testament are a system of truth connected to each other.

It should be noted that the Old Testament sacrifice system for resignation was not abolished in the New Testament, but was translated into a higher level spiritual sacrifice system. And Jesus Christ is the high priest who presides over spiritual sacrifices in the heavenly sanctuary. The word of salvation through faith in Jesus Christ is closely related to the spiritual sacrifices of the heavenly sanctuary.

In order to keep the feasts of the old covenant, it was necessary to go to the sanctuary. Only at the sanctuary were the priests allowed to offer sacrifices. And the earthly sanctuary of the old covenant was replaced with the heavenly sanctuary of the new covenant. There was a change of the priesthood from the order of Aaron to that of Melchizedek. When Jesus came as high priest of the heavenly sanctuary, he did not enter the Most Holy Place by means of the blood of goats and calves, ; but he entered by his own blood. All the visible regulations of the old covenant were changed to the invisible spiritual worship.

However, even in the New Testament, the principle of forgiveness of sins through the sacrifice system remains unchanged. You should know that the simple slogan of being saved if you only believe is very wrong. The word “only saved by faith” is established through the service of the sanctuary of the high priest, Jesus Christ.

【Heb. 8:1-2】 The point of what we are saying is this: We do have such a high priest, who sat down at the right hand of the throne of the Majesty in heaven, and who serves in the sanctuary, the true tabernacle set up by the Lord, not by man.

【Heb. 8:4-5】 If he were on earth, he would not be a priest, for there are already men who offer the gifts prescribed by the law. They serve at a sanctuary that is a copy and shadow of what is in heaven. This is why Moses was warned when he was about to build the tabernacle: “See to it that you make everything according to the pattern shown you on the mountain.”

【Heb. 9:11-12】 When Christ came as high priest of the good things that are already here, he went through the greater and more perfect tabernacle that is not man-made, that is to say, not a part of this creation. He did not enter by means of the blood of goats and calves; but he entered the Most Holy Place once for all by his own blood, having obtained eternal redemption.

The sanctuary rules and the offering system that made up the Mosaic Law were all changed into a new covenant. But the feast that played a key role in the Mosaic Law did not change even after Jesus came. The regular burnt offering was passed down to the daily prayer in the new covenant. The Sabbath and the seven feasts were also kept by Jesus and the apostles in a way of the new covenant.

We can see from the New Testament written by the apostles that the feast has not changed. There is no verse in the New Testament that says the feast has been abolished.

【John 4:21-24】 Jesus declared, “Believe me, woman, a time is coming when you will worship the Father neither on this mountain nor in Jerusalem ……. Yet a time is coming and has now come when the true worshipers will worship the Father in spirit and truth …… God is spirit, and his worshipers must worship in spirit and in truth