Covenant Contrasts Part 11
The apostle Paul described the old covenant as “the ministry of condemnation” (II Corinthians 3:9). Why would he say that? He might be writing from his own experience with the Law.
In Romans 7:14-25, Paul shares the weight of condemnation that plagued him in his pre-conversion attempt to obey the Law. He famously laid out the contradiction of wanting to obey the Law but not having the power to do you. The mind was willing. The flesh was powerless. He closes the passage with this desperate question, “Who can set me free from this contradiction churning inside?” (Romans 7:24 paraphrase).
Paul is quick to jump right to the new covenant answer. “Thanks be to God through Jesus Christ our Lord! [because prior to my conversion and living under the old covenant] on the one hand I myself with my mind am serving the law of God, but on the other, with my flesh the law of sin. [But under the new covenant] there is therefore now no condemnation for those who are in Christ Jesus” (Romans 7:25-8:1).
Under the new covenant, under the new arrangement with God, there is NO condemnation for those who believe the gospel. The “ministry of condemnation” is over because the old covenant is over.
So what is our focus now as “ministers of a new covenant”? (II Corinthians 3:6). We are engaged in a “ministry of reconciliation.” “Now all these things are from God, who reconciled us to Himself through Christ and gave us the ministry of reconciliation, namely, that God was in Christ reconciling the world to Himself, not counting their trespasses against them, and He has committed to us the word of reconciliation. Therefore, we are ambassadors for Christ, as though God were making an appeal through us; we beg you on behalf of Christ, be reconciled to God.” (2 Corinthians 5:18-20).
How many times is some variation of the word “reconcile” used in just these three verses? The message we preach is, “Come home to Jesus. Be reconciled to God. Be at peace with God through the blood of Jesus (Romans 5:1).
Condemnation was the ministry of the obsolete old covenant. Reconciliation is the ministry of the new!