I have written much about the three central principles of the New Covenant, sometimes very much expanded, and sometimes much condensed: The Great Commandment, The Great Commission, and The Great Mercy. I have identified these three principles and have discussed their value as a way to know what is right but I have never said, precisely how. I will attempt to remedy that somewhat, here.
It is one thing to find relief in the simplified New Covenant but it is another to understand how it can be used when real-life tough decisions must be made. How, exactly, do you use the New Covenant to think through questions of right and wrong? I hope to be helpful in describing how I think about and try to think through questions using the paradigm of the New Covenant.
Contents
How to live in the New Covenant
First, Study
First, you must study the Old Testament (Old Covenant) and the New Testament (New Covenant) or you will be lead astray in your thinking and one arm of the New Covenant triangle will improperly outweigh another arm of the triangle.
If you have a tendency to orderliness, then you will tend to lean towards Love God and Neighbour and you may find yourself making decisions that don’t live up to the spirit of the other principles. If you tend towards tenderness and compassion, then you will tend to lean towards Mercy Triumphs Over Judgment and you will fall into the same trap, that of not wholeheartedly upholding the other principles.
Only in studying God’s written Word can you attain the knowledge that will inform your experiences that will lend the required breadth and depth of consideration necessary for some choices to be made.
Second, Contemplate
You do not always have to come to a decision quickly, no matter how much modern life may pressure you to do so. So, think, consider, ruminate, meditate on the question. Don’t get stressed about coming to a decision. Let is sit, for days, for weeks, for months, if needed. Some realizations only come with years of time, learning, and experience.
Third, Practice
When nothing else presents itself as a challenge to the answer you’re leaning towards, make your decision. Most choices are not end-of-the-world choices. Choosing in an election every 4 years might have consequences but it is unlikely those consequences will be very, very bad. If it is a serious choice, take all the time you are allotted.
Then, Take the Leap of Faith
Sometimes you just don’t have the knowledge or experience to decide. Sometimes you have no time to really consider a choice that really needs time to decide. And, sometimes, you have only bad options to choose from, and you really don’t want to make a choice.
This is when you fall at the feet of Jesus and claim The Great Mercy, admitting that the choice is beyond you, and that you are making a choice even though you’re not certain and trusting on the mercy of Jesus to set it right in the end.
This is the key to why Mercy Triumphs Over Judgment is the key to the New Covenant because you are not God and you are not always even capable of making the right decision. God knows this and gives you mercy.
Apply What The Bible Says
Love God and Neighbour
Love God
- Obey His Commands
- Study His Word
- Worship Him
- Sacrifice to Him
Jesus replied: “‘Love the Lord your God with all your heart and with all your soul and with all your mind.’ This is the first and greatest commandment. And the second is like it: ‘Love your neighbor as yourself.’ All the Law and the Prophets hang on these two commandments.” Matthew 22:37-38
Long ago the LORD said to Israel: “I have loved you, my people, with an everlasting love. With unfailing love I have drawn you to myself.“ Jeremiah 31:3
Hear, O Israel: The Lord our God, the Lord is one. Love the Lord your God with all your heart and with all your soul and with all your strength. Deuteronomy 6:4-5
No other gods. No idols. No misuse of God’s Name. Keep the Sabbath Day. Honour your parents. No murder. No adultery. No stealing. No perjury. No coveting. Exodus 20
He replied to him, “Who is my mother, and who are my brothers?” Pointing to his disciples, he said, “Here are my mother and my brothers. For whoever does the will of my Father in heaven is my brother and sister and mother.” Matthew 12:48-50
Blessed are those who are poor, who mourn, who are meek, who hunger and thirst after righteousness, who are merciful, who are pure in heart, peacemakers, and who are persecuted because of righteousness.
Be Salt and Light. Fulfill the Law. Reconcile with your enemy. No adultery. No divorce. Keep your word. Love your enemies. Give to the needy. Live out the Lord’s Prayer. God-honouring fasting. Keep your hope in heaven not on earth. Keep yourself innocent. Do not worry.
Judge others the way you would want to be judged. Ask, seek, and knock with God and keep doing it. Follow the narrow way that leads to life. Bear good fruit in doing the Will of God. Act on God’s Words.
But Samuel replied: “Does the LORD delight in burnt offerings and sacrifices as much as in obeying the LORD? To obey is better than sacrifice, and to heed is better than the fat of rams. 1 Samuel 15:22
Love Neighbour
- Bless your neighbour
- Pray for your neighbour
- Help your neighbour
- Sacrifice for your neighbour
Do not seek revenge or bear a grudge against anyone among your people, but love your neighbor as yourself. I am the Lord. Leviticus 19:18
But love your enemies, do good to them, and lend to them without expecting to get anything back. Then your reward will be great, and you will be children of the Most High, because he is kind to the ungrateful and wicked. Luke 6:35
But I tell you, love your enemies and pray for those who persecute you, Matthew 5:44
And you are to love those who are foreigners, for you yourselves were foreigners in Egypt. Deuteronomy 10:19
Rescue those being led away to death; hold back those staggering toward slaughter. If you say, “But we knew nothing about this,” does not he who weighs the heart perceive it? Proverbs 24:11-12
Preach the Gospel and Make Disciples
Preach the Gospel
- Spread the good news of Salvation in Jesus
- In words
- In actions
- In art
Then Jesus came to them and said, “All authority in heaven and on earth has been given to me. Therefore go and make disciples of all nations, baptizing them in the name of the Father and of the Son and of the Holy Spirit, and teaching them to obey everything I have commanded you. And surely I am with you always, to the very end of the age.” Matthew 28:18-20
For God so loved the world that he gave his one and only Son, that whoever believes in him shall not perish but have eternal life. John 3:16
The jailer called for lights, rushed in and fell trembling before Paul and Silas. He then brought them out and asked, “Sirs, what must I do to be saved?”
They replied, “Believe in the Lord Jesus, and you will be saved—you and your household.” Then they spoke the word of the Lord to him and to all the others in his house. Acts 16:29-32
Preach the word; be prepared in season and out of season; correct, rebuke and encourage—with great patience and careful instruction. 2 Timothy 4:2
For I am not ashamed of the gospel, because it is the power of God that brings salvation to everyone who believes: first to the Jew, then to the Gentile. Romans 1:16
Make Disciples
- Teach others to walk with Christ
- In friendship
- In conversation
- In small groups
- In bible studies
- In teaching
- In leading
- In preaching
Go therefore and make disciples of all the nations, baptizing them in the name of the Father and the Son and the Holy Spirit, teaching them to observe all that I commanded you; and lo, I am with you always, even to the end of the age. Matthew 28:19-20
And the things you have heard me say in the presence of many witnesses entrust to reliable people who will also be qualified to teach others. 2 Timothy 2:2
How, then, can they call on the one they have not believed in? And how can they believe in the one of whom they have not heard? And how can they hear without someone preaching to them? Romans 10:14-15
All Scripture is God-breathed and is useful for teaching, rebuking, correcting and training in righteousness, so that the servant of God may be thoroughly equipped for every good work. 2 Timothy 3:16-17
Mercy Triumphs Over Judgment
Be Merciful
- Forgive others
- Bless those who have not blessed you
- Bless those who cannot bless you
- Bless those who will not bless you
Speak and act as those who are going to be judged by the law that gives freedom, because judgment without mercy will be shown to anyone who has not been merciful. Mercy triumphs over judgment. James 2:12-13
But love your enemies, do good to them, and lend to them without expecting to get anything back. Then your reward will be great, and you will be children of the Most High, because he is kind to the ungrateful and wicked. Be merciful, just as your Father is merciful. Luke 6:35-36
For I desire mercy, not sacrifice, and acknowledgment of God rather than burnt offerings. Hosea 6:6
Be merciful, just as your Father is merciful. Do not judge, and you will not be judged. Do not condemn, and you will not be condemned. Forgive, and you will be forgiven. Luke 6:36-37
Examples
A Supposedly Easy Example
A Nazi officer comes to your door and claims you are hiding Jews. You are hiding Jews. Do you answer with the truth or with a lie? Do you answer, truthfully, “Yes”, which avoids the lie but seals their fate to injustice, or untruthfully, “No”, which is the sin of lying but spares them an unjust fate?
In this supposedly easy example, we are asked to tell the truth yet most reasonable people would say they would lie. Few would argue that’s the moral choice. But why is it the moral choice? Some would say it’s obvious. Some say you’re “doing good” hiding Jews so lying is okay. Some would say it’s a sin and you can ask forgiveness later. All of these answers lack the confidence we really want in our decisions, especially questions of morality.
We begin by walking through the principles of the New Covenant.
Love God and Neighbour
In answering Yes, am I loving God? Have you followed His commandments? Are you an accomplice to murder? Are you blessing the poor and meek? Are you keeping your word?
Now, in reverse, it becomes clearer: In answering No, am I loving God? You have followed God’s instruction not to murder or be a party to murder. You have loved your neighbour as you love yourself. You have blessed the poor and meek. You have kept your word.
In Answering Yes, am I loving my neighbour? Well, are you loving your neighbour by giving them away to certain injustice? Is it neighbourly to enable murder? Does it seem like you’re really blessing the poor and meek?
Again, in reverse, it becomes clear: In answer No, am I loving my neighbour? You have loved your neighbour as yourself. You have tried to prevent an injustice against your neighbour. You have blessed your neighbour, who is poor and meek and at your mercy.
Preach the Gospel and Make Disciples
In answering Yes, have you preached the Gospel? At first glance, this seems like an odd thing to say because you have not spoken for or against the Gospel. It is true, you haven’t spoken the Gospel with words but you have spoken the Gospel with your actions, and you have denied the Gospel, that is the message of the mercy of the cross.
In answering No, it becomes clear you have preached the Gospel, without words. You have preached the Gospel, the message of the mercy of the forgiveness of Christ, by your actions.
In answering Yes, am I making disciples? You are not teaching anyone in this situation with words but with actions. What are your actions teaching? Are your actions teaching others that you obey Christ and his example of mercy and forgiveness? Are you actions teaching others that you are not ashamed of the Gospel and the power of God to bring “salvation to everyone who believes”?
In answer No, am I making disciples? Clearing you are preaching by your actions, you are leading by example, in the footsteps of Christ in showing mercy. Those who see or hear of your actions may not become disciples here and now but they are being discipled in a sense, either toward the good or toward the evil.
Mercy Triumphs Over Judgment
In answering Yes, have you shown mercy? Have you shown the mercy demonstrated for us on the cross by Jesus who died to save everyone of us who believes?
In answering No, have you shown mercy? You have shown mercy, both to the Jew you are hiding by putting yourself in a position that could be bad for you and you have shown mercy to the Nazi officer by preventing him from committing an injustice, avoiding a sin he’ll have to account for, and providing him one more opportunity to repent.
A Decidedly Not So Easy Example
You are drafted for war. You are put on the front lines. You are ordered to “kill the enemy”. You believe killing is immoral. But you believe the war is a just war. Do you say Yes, I will kill the enemy, violating the sixth commandment, and sin, or do you say No, refuse to kill the enemy, and remain innocent in the light of the Ten Commandments?
In the supposedly easy example, in the previous section, we told a “little white lie” and, even though we think it was justified, it still probably wouldn’t have kept us up at night, anyway, because it wasn’t one of those big sins, you know. But taking a life is different, we think.
The only way to be sure is to walk through the principles of the New Covenant.
Love God and Neighbour
In answering Yes, have you loved God? Have you followed His Commandments? No, you have murdered. Have you tried to reconcile with your enemy? Probably not. Have you tried to be a peacemaker? How could you in war?
In answering No, have you loved God? You have upheld the sixth commandment, no murder. You have at least provided an opportunity to reconcile with your enemy. You are making an attempt to be a peacemaker.
In answering Yes, have you loved your neighbour? Can killing your neighbour possibly be seen as loving? Can fighting ever be seen as merciful? How is it even possible to bless the neighbour you are ordered to kill?
In answering No, have you loved your neighbour? Maybe. You didn’t kill them but you didn’t try to prevent them from killing others, either. You showed them mercy but they’re not likely to show mercy to anyone else. Perhaps you “blessed” them by preserving their life but will they do the same?
What just happened? It was so easy before and now it’s already unbelievably difficult and we’re not even done considering the New Covenant principles yet. Well, what else can you do, maybe the other principles will have answers for us.
Preach The Gospel and Make Disciples
In answer Yes, having you preached the Gospel? We already said actions can preach, but can bullets, injury, and death preach? God works in mysterious ways, they say, but this is getting a little much.
In answering No, have you preached the Gospel? Oh, good, this sounds easier. Yes, you say, by my pacifist actions I have shown mercy to my enemy…so that they may go on killing untold numbers of my friends, neighbours, and fellow citizens. Ouch.
In answering Yes, have you made disciples? Again, hard to see how a corpse can be preached to.
In answering No, have you made disciples? Well, maybe this time, yes, yes, maybe my peaceful actions have demonstrated that others should be peaceful, too…but my actions also showed a reckless disregard for the well-being of my own friends, neighbours, and fellow citizens.
What just happened? This got crazy complex and fast. All of our pat answers seem to have failed us.
Mercy Triumphs Over Judgment
Take a deep breath. And relax.
The reason Mercy Triumphs Over Judgment is as important as the other New Covenant principles is because it’s for you.
We’ve been discussing showing mercy to others, so far, but mercy is for all who call on the Name of the Lord, and that means you and me, because in this Fallen world, sometimes there are choices with only bad options. Sometimes you are in a no-win scenario.
You have studied. You have contemplated. You have practiced. Take the leap of faith.
Based on your convictions, informed by study, contemplation, and practice, and illuminated by the Holy Spirit, make your decision.
This is not an “easy out”. Mercy is not intended to outweigh the other principles. It is meant to inform your choices and, when needed, to provide the peace of mind you need for the very toughest of choices.
You have tried your best to show mercy, you will be shown mercy.
Blessed are the merciful, for they will be shown mercy. Matthew 5:7
Conclusion
What I have attempted to do, here, was to put some meat on the bones of the suggestion that, with the principles of the New Covenant, we have a simpler “law” by which to inform us of how to decide what actions are right and wrong.
As we have discovered, though, while the New Covenant is simpler in quantity, it is much more demanding in quality.
In order to live in the catastrophe of the complexity of the Fallen world we find ourselves in, study these principles, contemplate them, and practice them. We must learn what the bible has to say about the New Covenant and then apply what it has to say to how we make choices and live our lives.
There are other thorny questions, perhaps thornier, but the distilled New Covenant principles will also be there to give us a simplified entry point to dealing with the everyday and the not-so-everyday choices of life.
Love God and Neighbour
Preach the Gospel and Make Disciples
Mercy Triumphs Over Judgment
For God so loved the world that he gave his one and only Son, that whoever believes in him shall not perish but have eternal life. John 3:16
Visualizing
Some may find value in encapsulating these ideas visually. I quite liked this AI generated image for the ideas presented here.
This is a ChatGPT 4o generated image using a prompt of the principles of the New Covenant. ChatGPT even justified its artistic choices when asked. I was rather impressed. Full details in this X/Twitter thread.
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