Jesus Christ is the same – yesterday, today, and forever (Hebrews 13:8).

God is immutable- He cannot and will not change.

So how do we reconcile Old and New Testament? God recently gave me this thought: “Although God doesn’t change, the covenant (the rules by which we are governed) changed.”

Think about it like this. You enter a highway under construction. The speed limit is 35 mph. You travel twenty miles, obeying the speed limit. But when the construction ends, the speed limit changes to 70 mph.

Do you continue traveling 35 mph? If you continue traveling 35 mph you are a danger to other travelers and yourself. A police officers could give you a ticket for driving below the speed limit. You haven’t changed. Your vehicle hasn’t changed. The law changed.

If you increase your speed to 70 mph, a police officer cannot give you a ticket because the speed was 35 mph twenty miles ago. He must deal with you according to the current speed limit and not the previous. The police officer did not change; the law changed.

Friends, are you expecting an immutable God to deal with you according to an old speed limit? The law was necessary. We were under construction. But then Jesus came. He fulfilled the law. He atoned for our mistakes. He was a propitiation for sins, satisfying the wrath of God.

Now, the speed limit has changed from law to grace. God did not change. The speed limit changed. But for some reason, we keep going back to the old speed limit. We keep recalling people who were fined for driving 36 mph and expect to be treated the same.

Friends, we are under grace. The covenant changed.

When the writer of Hebrews wrote, “Jesus Christ is the same – yesterday, today, and forever,” it was not to justify living under the law. If you read it in context, it was actually a reminder of grace. Check it out:

“Jesus Christ is the same yesterday, today, and forever. So do not be attracted by strange, new ideas. Your strength comes from God’s grace, not from rules about food, which don’t help those who follow them.”
‭‭Hebrews‬ ‭13:8-9‬ ‭NLT‬‬

Am I saying, “Go out and sin because we are under the New Testament?” No, of course not. I’m encouraging you to study Jesus, read Paul’s letters, get a better understanding of the New Covenant and live accordingly. Expect God to deal with you according to the new speed limit and not the old.

I don’t know about you, but I’m enjoying driving 70 mph!