2Corinthians 3:7-18
7*That old system of law etched in stone led to death, yet it began with such glory that the people of Israel could not bear to look at Moses’ face. For his face shone with the glory of God, even though the brightness was already fading away. 8*Shouldn’t we expect far greater glory when the Holy Spirit is giving life? 9*If the old covenant, which brings condemnation, was glorious, how much more glorious is the new covenant, which makes us right with God! 10*In fact, that first glory was not glorious at all compared with the overwhelming glory of the new covenant. 11*So if the old covenant, which has been set aside, was full of glory, then the new covenant, which remains forever, has far greater glory.
12*Since this new covenant gives us such confidence, we can be very bold. 13*We are not like Moses, who put a veil over his face so the people of Israel would not see the glory fading away. 14*But the people’s minds were hardened, and even to this day whenever the old covenant is being read, a veil covers their minds so they cannot understand the truth. And this veil can be removed only by believing in Christ. 15*Yes, even today when they read Moses’ writings, their hearts are covered with that veil, and they do not understand.
16*But whenever anyone turns to the Lord, then the veil is taken away. 17*Now, the Lord is the Spirit, and wherever the Spirit of the Lord is, he gives freedom. 18 And all of us have had that veil removed so that we can be mirrors that brightly reflect* the glory of the Lord. And as the Spirit of the Lord works within us, we become more and more like him and reflect his glory even more.
Hebrews 8:1-13
1*Here is the main point: Our High Priest sat down in the place of highest honor in heaven, at God’s right hand. 2*There he ministers in the sacred tent, the true place of worship that was built by the Lord and not by human hands.
3*And since every high priest is required to offer gifts and sacrifices, our High Priest must make an offering, too. 4*If he were here on earth, he would not even be a priest, since there already are priests who offer the gifts required by the law of Moses. 5*They serve in a place of worship that is only a copy, a shadow of the real one in heaven. For when Moses was getting ready to build the Tabernacle, God gave him this warning: “Be sure that you make everything according to the design I have shown you here on the mountain.”* 6*But our High Priest has been given a ministry that is far superior to the ministry of those who serve under the old laws, for he is the one who guarantees for us a better covenant with God, based on better promises.
7*If the first covenant had been faultless, there would have been no need for a second covenant to replace it. 8*But God himself found fault with the old one when he said:
“The day will come, says the Lord,
when I will make a new covenant
with the people of Israel and Judah.
9* This covenant will not be like the one
I made with their ancestors
when I took them by the hand
and led them out of the land of Egypt.
They did not remain faithful to my covenant,
so I turned my back on them, says the Lord.
10* But this is the new covenant I will make
with the people of Israel on that day, says the Lord:
I will put my laws in their minds
so they will understand them,
and I will write them on their hearts
so they will obey them.
I will be their God,
and they will be my people.
11* And they will not need to teach their neighbors,
nor will they need to teach their family,
saying, ‘You should know the Lord.’
For everyone, from the least to the greatest,
will already know me.
12* And I will forgive their wrongdoings,
and I will never again remember their sins.”*
13*When God speaks of a new covenant, it means he has made the first one obsolete. It is now out of date and ready to be put aside.
Galatians 3:1-5
1*Oh, foolish Galatians! What magician has cast an evil spell on you? For you used to see the meaning of Jesus Christ’s death as clearly as though I had shown you a signboard with a picture of Christ dying on the cross. 2*Let me ask you this one question: Did you receive the Holy Spirit by keeping the law? Of course not, for the Holy Spirit came upon you only after you believed the message you heard about Christ. 3*Have you lost your senses? After starting your Christian lives in the Spirit, why are you now trying to become perfect by your own human effort? 4*You have suffered so much for the Good News. Surely it was not in vain, was it? Are you now going to just throw it all away?
5*I ask you again, does God give you the Holy Spirit and work miracles among you because you obey the law of Moses? Of course not! It is because you believe the message you heard about Christ.
Galatians 5:1-6
1*So Christ has really set us free. Now make sure that you stay free, and don’t get tied up again in slavery to the law.
2*Listen! I, Paul, tell you this: If you are counting on circumcision to make you right with God, then Christ cannot help you. 3*I’ll say it again. If you are trying to find favor with God by being circumcised, you must obey all of the regulations in the whole law of Moses. 4*For if you are trying to make yourselves right with God by keeping the law, you have been cut off from Christ! You have fallen away from God’s grace.
5*But we who live by the Spirit eagerly wait to receive everything promised to us who are right with God through faith. 6*For when we place our faith in Christ Jesus, it makes no difference to God whether we are circumcised or not circumcised. What is important is faith expressing itself in love.
Colossians 2:16&17
16*So don’t let anyone condemn you for what you eat or drink, or for not celebrating certain holy days or new-moon ceremonies or Sabbaths. 17*For these rules were only shadows of the real thing, Christ himself.
Romans 7:1-6
1*Now, dear brothers and sisters*—you who are familiar with the law—don’t you know that the law applies only to a person who is still living? 2*Let me illustrate. When a woman marries, the law binds her to her husband as long as he is alive. But if he dies, the laws of marriage no longer apply to her. 3*So while her husband is alive, she would be committing adultery if she married another man. But if her husband dies, she is free from that law and does not commit adultery when she remarries.
4*So this is the point: The law no longer holds you in its power, because you died to its power when you died with Christ on the cross. And now you are united with the one who was raised from the dead. As a result, you can produce good fruit, that is, good deeds for God. 5*When we were controlled by our old nature, sinful desires were at work within us, and the law aroused these evil desires that produced sinful deeds, resulting in death. 6*But now we have been released from the law, for we died with Christ, and we are no longer captive to its power. Now we can really serve God, not in the old way by obeying the letter of the law, but in the new way, by the Spirit.
Romans 8:1-4
1*So now there is no condemnation for those who belong to Christ Jesus. 2*For the power* of the life-giving Spirit has freed you* through Christ Jesus from the power of sin that leads to death. 3*The law of Moses could not save us, because of our sinful nature. But God put into effect a different plan to save us. He sent his own Son in a human body like ours, except that ours are sinful. God destroyed sin’s control over us by giving his Son as a sacrifice for our sins. 4*He did this so that the requirement of the law would be fully accomplished for us* who no longer follow our sinful nature but instead follow the Spirit.
Hebrews 10:1-7
1*The old system in the law of Moses was only a shadow of the things to come, not the reality of the good things Christ has done for us. The sacrifices under the old system were repeated again and again, year after year, but they were never able to provide perfect cleansing for those who came to worship. 2*If they could have provided perfect cleansing, the sacrifices would have stopped, for the worshipers would have been purified once for all time, and their feelings of guilt would have disappeared.
3*But just the opposite happened. Those yearly sacrifices reminded them of their sins year after year. 4*For it is not possible for the blood of bulls and goats to take away sins. 5*That is why Christ, when he came into the world, said,
“You did not want animal sacrifices and grain offerings.
But you have given me a body so that I may obey you.
6* No, you were not pleased with animals burned on the altar
or with other offerings for sin.
7* Then I said, ‘Look, I have come to do your will, O God—
just as it is written about me in the Scriptures.’”*
