Tackling Tradition 86: 2 Different Legal Codes?

Some people think the thief on the cross & we ourselves are not under 2 different systems of law & that the New Testament itself was not in effect at that time.  

First, this belief assumes that the Bible speaks of something called The New Covenant.    That’s not true.   The term “New Covenant” is confessional language drawn from Historical Theology that people read back into the text due to several centuries of Ecclesiastical Tradition.   

In truth, the term “new” is an adjective that describes every covenant emanating from God when the covenants are considered in relation to one another.    Consider the Abrahamic Covenant & the Mosaic Covenant.  In relation to one another, the Abrahamic Covenant is the old covenant & the Mosaic Covenant is the new covenant. Likewise, in relation to the Davidic Covenant the Mosaic Covenant is old & the Davidic is new.  

The term new covenant in the Bible is just plain not intended to be a proper name. 

Second, assertion that the thief on the cross died under the previous law & now we are under a different law is disproven by Hebrews 9 & 10. 

For where a will is involved, the death of the one who made it must be established. 17 For a will takes effect only at death, since it is not in force as long as the one who made it is alive. 18 Therefore not even the first covenant was inaugurated without blood. (Hebrews 9:16–18, ESV)

Notice the the first covenant was NOT inaugurated without blood.  What blood would that be?   The text is talking about the blood of Christ Himself.  Only Yeshua’s blood is effectual for the inauguration & administration of a covenant whereas the blood of bulls & goats is just typological.    The blood of animals, according to Chapter 10 pointed toward the reality that Christ’s blood is what really and truly underwrites a covenant emanating from God. 

In addition, the New Testament most certainly in effect even though it had yet to be written down & published on the earth.  Why?  Because the content of the New Testament inheres in the mind of God & the Bible in Romans 2 is very clear that God is communion with our hearts & minds & we already know & understand His law.  His law doesn’t change, although His revelation of it in written form on tablets & paper is progressive.

Furthermore,  though Yeshua is the Redeemer - Mediator whose person & work underwrites every covenant, the root prophetic administrator of each covenant is single prophet who exercise the tripartite keys (Prophet, Priest, King) on Yeshua’s behalf.  They are: Adam, Noah, Abraham, Moses, & John the Baptist.  Consequently, what you call the New Covenant is better called the Johannine Covenant & it was most certainly in effect during John’s lifetime, ergo the law under which the thief & Yeshua died is one & the same, thus proving the New Testament itself need not have been written down & published on the earth in order to have been in effect at that time.