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Which Covenant Was Jesus Under Before Dying on the Cross?

The answer is the Old Covenant.

Galatians 4:4 KJV
But when the fulness of the time was come, God sent forth his Son, made of a woman, made under the law,

Jesus was born under the law and was sent only to the lost sheep of Israel.

Matthew 15:24 KJV
But he answered and said, I am not sent but unto the lost sheep of the house of Israel.

Because Jesus lived under the covenant of law, His words line up with that covenant as He spoke to the Jews. Under the old covenant the only blood ever shed for people was animal blood which had no power to forgive sins or perfect the believer before God. (Heb. 7:19; 9:9; 10:1-4; 11:40) Animal's blood could only cover/atone for sin until the Lamb of God would come and take away the sin of the world and remove it as far as the east is from the west and remember it no more.

John 1:29 KJV
The next day John seeth Jesus coming unto him, and saith, Behold the Lamb of God, which taketh away the sin of the world.

If you are a true believer then all your sins are forgiven by the blood of Jesus.  Again it is necessary to point out that you do not need to ask God for more forgiveness.  You already have all the forgiveness you can get.

An Earthly Illustration
If you were to give your child a candy bar and he ate half of it and then forget about the candy bar until later finding it on the kitchen counter, how would you respond if your child brought you the candy bar you already gave them and asked if they could have that candy bar?  Might you say, "I already gave you that candy bar.  Why are you asking for me to give it to you again?"

If you truly believe what God says about your state of forgiveness then you would see that asking for more forgiveness not only doesn't make sense but it is an indication that you don't know the extent to which you are completely forgiven of all sin.  It is by the blood of Jesus that you are forgiven, not your ability to remember to track sins and ask for daily forgiveness.

Asking For Forgiveness and Apologizing Are Not Synonymous Actions
I think much frustration over this topic of why we don't need to continuously ask for forgiveness daily causes so much contention is tied to the fact that we still feel bad about the sin we commit as believers and we feel it necessary to give God an apology.  I agree, but an apology to God as a believer should include the understanding that we don't need to ask His forgiveness but rather we should thank Him that we are forgiven.  It is good to acknowledge and address sins in our own life as sin destroys lives and God hates sin as we should too.

So if you are confused about why Jesus said before He died on the cross in His prayer spoken to men under the Old Covenant Matthew 6:12 - “…and forgive us our debts as we also forgive our debtors.” and Matthew 6:14 - “For if you forgive men their trespasses, your heavenly Father will also forgive you;.”...consider the following:

When Jesus made the above statements He was addressing the Jews alone and were law based statements. Jesus was plainly telling them that if there was a single person they did not fully forgive, then they would not be fully forgiven. No man can come into the presence of God unless they are fully forgiven. Jesus is raising the standards of God beyond the Law to point people to the grace that He alone possessed. He was asking people who didn’t even have the Holy Spirit in them to do in the flesh what only God can do. Keep in mind that none of the New Testament blessing had been initiated because Jesus had not yet died on the cross.

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