Why God Creates Covenant Communities

In the letter from Paul to the Church at Ephesus, Paul addresses the biggest controversy facing the infant first century Church: whether you had to follow "the Law" in order to be a follower of Jesus.  The controversy was usually framed around the issue of whether male converts to Christianity, if Gentile, had to be circumcised.  However, the real crux of the issue was whether Gentile Christians were bound by all the commandments found in the Pentateuch; the first five books of the Bible that formed the basis of Jewish belief and practice.

Paul's short answer was no, which created conflict with most of the earliest leaders of the Church; particularly Peter, who took the opposing view.  Paul's rationale is instructive not only for the ancient community, but for us as well.  For Paul, in Christ, God has created a New Israel; a new covenant community, and what makes the new community "new" is not only an awareness of what God has accomplished in Jesus, but an entirely new covenant; we are no longer parties to the old covenant and are thereby not bound by its terms, including, but not limited to, circumcision.

Paul's answer is also instructive about what why God creates covenant communities.  Both the old and new covenants were designed to make those bound by it holy.  The entire purpose of the law was not to create arbitrary rules, like circumcision, but to create a system of practices that would make Israel holy.  Particularly, to reinforce God's sovereignty over Israel and Israel's submission before God.  The same is true of the new covenant community; the Church.  The Church gets bogged down in the details, when all that really matters is living under the Lordship of Christ; being a holy people who live under God's sovereignty.