COVENANT BASICS
In Religion is not Faith we established the basic differences between faith and religion. A principle of faith is that it comes through a verbal promise that inspires hope for a good, future outcome which cannot be seen. The following are the outcomes of faith:

These are the only rewards for hearing God’s spoken voice. They are experienced quietly and invisibly in the hearts of New Covenant disciples.

These private, internal outcomes contrast remarkably with religion:

Understanding these basics, we can move on to compare the Old/First Covenant and the New Covenant in detail. Here are other distinguishing characteristics of the two covenants.
The New Covenant law, which is all spiritual, includes the following features embodied in New Covenant disciples.

The differences between the two covenants can be summarized in these key points:

Old/First Covenant New Covenant
  • Old/First Covenant religion always interprets the Bible literally.
  • Old/First Covenant religion always employs human mediators (e.g. pastors, priests, prophets, evangelists, authors, etc.) who interpret the Bible literally and report their interpretations to people who trust their ability to hear from God.
  • Old/First Covenant religion always uses human mediators (false prophets) who use  literal interpretations of the Bible to instruct and direct people in visible, ritual worship at certain times, in certain places, and usually in the company of others.
  • Old/First Covenant religion never equips people to learn how to interpret the spiritual meaning of the Bible by listening to God’s voice.
  • Old/First Covenant religion is all about activities that are accomplished with the physical body — including the intellectual mind.
  • Old/First Covenant religion depends on the buying and selling of religious products and services.
  • Old/First Covenant religions distinguish themselves through a variety of physical identifiers. 
  • Old/First Covenant religionists exhibit evidence of evil, impure hearts in their obedience to religious laws.
  • Old/First Covenant religionists dedicate the Sabbath as their primary day of worship.
  • Old/First Covenant religionists pay financial tithes and offerings to religious organizations that provide religious services.
  • Old/First Covenant religionists travel to particular locations (e.g. churches and synagogues) to worship.
  • Old/First Covenant religionists are always identified by faithfulness to practice religious traditions.

STUDY TIP: See this link for more comparisons of the two covenants.

After reviewing the list above, readers will notice that both Christianity and Judaism fit the descriptions of Old/First Covenant religions. Judaism for example, is not just a set of beliefs. It is  is a comprehensive way of life, filled with rules and practices that affect every aspect of life. Jews call this law Halakhah. The inspiration for Halakhah is found first in the written Torah, and then in Oral Laws written by rabbis. In some sects of Judaism, Oral Laws are codified and summarized in the Mishnah and Talmud are considered to have the same instructional value and force of law as the Torah.

In one way or another, all these rules and practices are intended to satisfy God’s expectations of Jews laid out in various covenants. Most Jews do not consider the New Testament to be part of their Bible. To acknowledge writings that are called “new” and compare them to writings that are called ‘old” is offensive to most Jews because oldness is equated with deficiency and decay. Therefore, because their religion is based on scriptures Christians call the Old Testament, and because the so-called New Testament includes doctrines about the Messianic Age which Jews believe is yet to come, Jews tend to reject the New Testament and Christianity.

Christians tend to have their own biased views about the oldness and newness of scripture. Christians definitely favor the New Testament for their theology. But, unlike the Jews who dismiss the New Testament and add Oral Laws into their religion, most Christians like to boast that the entire written Bible is the source of inspiration for their religion. They do this even though most Christian theology is based on the New Testament with minimal influence from the Old Testament.

The reality is that religious traditions and theologies have been evolving steadily for nearly two thousand years due to the writings of hundreds of theological thinkers and writers who keep tweaking theology according to their own personal visions of what it ought to be. Thus Christians proudly display a double standard for Biblical authority: They find fault with Jewish affection for their Oral Laws and traditions while ignoring that all Christian church practices have their antecedents in the Jewish “synagogue” system. Thus their actual practices spoil their lofty claims and boasts about the influence of the Bible on their beliefs.

When we review this history of the development of Judaism and Christianity, we cannot avoid the conclusion that both religions are confused about the meaning and importance of God’s everlasting covenant. Something that is everlasting does not change over time — just like God does not change. This contrasts greatly, of course, with religions which are always evolving in one way or another under the influence of a succession of religious leaders.

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