FOREWORD for How ‘New’ Is the New Covenant?

It is safe to say that the root of most errors in believers’ minds is a failure to appreciate the reality and finality of Christ in the New Covenant.  Too many are trying to function with a mixture of law and grace, letter and Spirit and type/shadow versus substance. So much practice in the history of the visible church has taken its cue from the Old Covenant and not the New.

Take tithing as a glaring example. For centuries the mainstream church has relied on the members giving their tithe in order to finance the institution’s needs. The proof-texts for enforcing tithing were primarily drawn from the Old Testament. There were many instances of and statements about giving in the New Testament, but tithing was never mentioned as a benchmark. In fact, here a whole new way of looking at giving is found — a way that has nothing to do with percentage points, a way that has to do with Christ’s example of self-sacrifice, and a way that simply says, “Give, each according to their ability.” But most church peoples’ consciences are weighed down with a percentage-driven method of giving that has nothing to do with the revelation found in the New Covenant.

Hence, there is a crying need for Christ’s people to see that they are living in Christ, not under Moses; that they are to walk in the Spirit, not follow the letter of the law; that they are married to Jesus, not the Torah. They must understand that the better New Covenant is in force, not the obsolete Old Covenant. Stephen Crosby’s How ‘New’ Is the New Covenant? Provides a deep breath of Christ-centered air in our law-choked religious atmosphere.

The author’s chapters and appendices on the New Covenant and the Torah are must reading for today’s believers. They cut through eons of misunderstandings, and shed needed light on why the New Covenant sealed and inaugurated by Christ’s blood is so vital for understanding where we stand as the New Creation and the New Humanity. Those who read How ‘New’ Is the New Covenant? should see law-rooted scales fall from their eyes, resulting in a clearer view of Jesus’ glory.