The Living Covenant

What did Jesus mean when he said, “Do not think that I will accuse you to the Father. There is one who accuses you: Moses, on whom you have set your hope” (John 5:45, ESV)?

Moses represents the Old Covenant law received from God on Mt. Sinai. If we set our hope on accomplishing God’s law, it is Moses’s voice that accuses us when we fail. You may think, “Why would anyone ever put their hope in the Old Covenant?” Well, Christians do it all the time. It happens when we say, “God has given me a command, and I can do it. I can maintain his holy standard.”

That’s how we “set our hope on Moses.” That’s also the moment our hearts begin to grow sick. “Hope deferred makes the heart sick” (Proverbs 13:12). We have no real hope when we set our sights on accomplishing the law because we do not possess the ability to do so.

Under these terms, we may try to worship Jesus, but something in our hearts doesn’t feel right; it feels earthbound. We sense something is missing, and it is: the grace of God that comes to us in Christ, the living covenant. When the law accuses, “You’re not holy,” we keep trying; but the result continues to be the same, and we end up in despair.

God does not accuse us, and it is absolutely essential for us to have this as our firm foundation based not on law or accusations or despair, but on the glorious, gracious action of God himself. When he hears accusations against us, he tells Jesus, “Crush it.” In that moment, we hear the voice of the Holy Spirit saying, “Do not listen to that lie. It has been destroyed on the cross.”

Neither does God accuse us. His Son has set us free. We have been given Jesus; and in our times of discouragement, we will hear his voice above all others, “Neither do I condemn you; go, and from now on sin no more” (John 8:11). May God supply you with his grace to build on that foundation and to rejoice!