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Section Titles
What The Old Covenant Was Not
What the Old Covenant Was
The New
Covenant
New Covenant Effective Before the
Cross
In his chapter on this subject Mr. Canright the Baptist
contends that the “old covenant” spoken of by Paul as having passed
away, consisted of, or at least included, the Ten Commandment law and the
seventh-day Sabbath. We quote his words:
“The abolition of the Sinaitic covenant carries
with it the abolition of the Jewish Sabbath so completely that no authoritative
trace of it can be found this side of the grave of our risen
Lord.”—Seventh-day Adventism Renounced, p. 350.
Again:
“Now notice how plainly and how repeatedly the ten
commandments are called ‘the covenant,’ which God gave at Sinai to
Israel when He brought them out of Egypt.”—Ibid., p. 353.
And again:
“Notice the points in this. Jesus is Mediator of a
better covenant than the old. Verse 6. Then we have something better than the
decalogue.”—Ibid., p. 355.
This, of course, is not a new argument. We have often
heard it from the no-law advocates. It is a subtle line of reasoning, and to
one not familiar with the subject of the two covenants, is, to say the least, a
bit confusing. But this entire effort to get rid of the law of God via the old
covenant argument, is based on an entirely erroneous premise, i.e., that the
Decalogue was the old covenant. When this
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premise is removed, as it is not difficult to do, the entire
line of argument collapses. In considering this subject, we desire, for the
sake of clarity, to divide it into four subdivisions, as follows:
1. What the old covenant was not.
2. What the old covenant was.
3. The new covenant.
4. The new covenant, effective both before and after the
cross.
The old covenant was not the Ten Commandments, as Mr.
Canright would have us believe. This fact is clearly revealed by many of the
conflicting characteristics attributed to these two instruments. The things
said of either one of them could not by any possible means apply to the other.
The distinction between them is clear.
For instance, we find the Lord speaking of the new
covenant as being “a better covenant” than the old one. (Hebrews
8:6.) This clearly indicates that the old covenant was not perfect in its
provisions. There was weakness in it, and that weakness was to be corrected in
the new covenant.
But of the Ten Commandments the Lord declares: “The
law of the Lord is perfect, converting the soul: the testimony of the Lord is
sure, making wise the simple.” Psalms 19:7. “Wherefore the law is
holy, and the commandment holy, and just, and good.” Romans 7:12. But the
old covenant was imperfect and faulty. Therefore it is evident that the old
covenant and the Decalogue, though related, are certainly not identical. The
Ten Commandments cannot be the old covenant.
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Of the new covenant God says that it was to be
“established upon better promises.” Hebrews 8:6. This clearly
indicates that some of the promises of the old covenant were poor. These poor
promises were made, not by God, but by the people when they promised more than
they could perform. The fault was “with them,” the Lord declares in
verse 8. Their promises were not reliable. The new covenant had better
promises, not made by sinful men, but by the Lord Himself.
The old covenant is declared to have been
“faulty.” “If the first covenant had been faultless, then should
no place have been sought for the second.” Hebrews 8:7.
But this could not possibly apply to the Ten
Commandments, which, as we have seen, are clearly declared to be
“perfect,” “holy, and just, and good.” A thing cannot be
faulty and perfect at the same time.
Paul declared that the old covenant was “ready
to vanish away.” “In that He saith, A new covenant, He hath made
the first old. Now that which decayeth and waxeth old is ready to vanish
away.” Hebrews 8:13.
But this same apostle states that the law, instead of
vanishing away, was definitely established by faith. “Do we then make void
the law through faith? God forbid: yea, we establish the law.” Romans
3:31. A thing cannot “vanish away” and be established at the same
time. Jesus also makes this point clear when He declares: “It is easier
for heaven and earth to pass, than one tittle of the law to fail.” Luke
16:17. Now, heaven and earth have not “passed.” Therefore this is
positive evidence that not a jot nor tittle of the law has failed. No part of
it has vanished away.
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And again the apostle Paul, some thirty years after the
cross, wrote these words concerning the Decalogue: “Now we know that what
things soever the law saith, it saith to them who are under the law: that every
mouth may be stopped, and all the world may become guilty before God.”
Romans 3:19.
These considerations show conclusively that Mr. Canright
is wrong when he declares that the old covenant was the Decalogue, and that
with its passing both the Decalogue and the Sabbath passed away. The old
covenant was not the Ten Commandments, and therefore, the passing of
this covenant did not in any way affect the moral law.
The old covenant was an agreement between God and the
people of Israel concerning the keeping of His law. It did not consist
of the law, but it had to do with the law, and so, for that matter, does the
new covenant.
When God had brought Israel out of Egypt, He led them by
way of Sinai. They reached this place in the third month of their travels. (See
Exodus 19:1.) It was here that the Lord called Moses to come up into the mount
to commune with Him. There God revealed to His servant that He was about to
speak His law to Israel, but that before doing so He wished to make a covenant,
or agreement, with them. He therefore instructed Moses to return to the camp
and say to Israel: “Now therefore, if ye will obey My voice indeed,
and keep My covenant, then ye shall be a peculiar treasure unto Me above all
people: for all the earth is Mine; and ye shall be unto Me a kingdom of
priests, and a holy nation.” Exodus 19:5, 6.
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When Moses repeated these words to Israel, “all the
people answered together, and said, All that the Lord hath spoken we will do.
And Moses returned the words of the people unto the Lord.” Verse 8.
Here, then, was a definite agreement, or covenant,
between God and His people. God offers to bless Israel if they will obey His
voice. They agree to be obedient. Mr. Canright quotes Webster as stating that a
covenant is “a mutual consent or agreement of two or more persons to do or
forbear some act or thing; a contract.”—Seventh-day Adventism
Renounced, p. 351.
Here, then, we have found the agreement made at Sinai.
It consisted in definite promises made by God to His people, and in promises
made by the people to God. God's promises were good, but the people's promises
were like ropes of sand. This made the covenant faulty. It was established upon
poor promises. Sinful men, with carnal hearts, had made a high agreement to
keep a holy and perfect law, whereas “the carnal mind is enmity against
God: for it is not subject to the law of God, neither indeed can be.”
Romans 8:7. In their agreement they had not taken the weakness of the flesh
into account. They put no reliance in the power of the Holy Spirit. They felt
self-sufficient; and in their self-sufficiency they trusted not in God but in
themselves.
Jesus once said to the Jews of His day: “Ye shall
know the truth, and the truth shall make you free. They answered Him, We be
Abraham's seed, and were never in bondage to any man: how sayest Thou, Ye shall
be made free?” John 8:32, 33. It was this same spirit which led them to
speak with such assurance in entering into the old covenant relationship.
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It was just after this agreement was made at Sinai that
God spoke the law of the Ten Commandments and wrote it upon tables of stone.
When this was accomplished, Moses wrote the words of the agreement, or the old
covenant, that had been entered into, in a book, and once more read them in the
hearing of Israel, and they reiterated their promise, saying: “All that
the Lord hath said will we do, and be obedient.” (See Exodus 24:4-7.) Then
Moses “sent young men of the children of Israel, which offered burnt
offerings, and sacrificed peace offerings of oxen unto the Lord. And Moses took
half of the blood, and put it in basins; and half of the blood he sprinkled on
the altar. And he took the book of the covenant, and read in the audience of
the people: and they said, All that the Lord hath said will we do, and be
obedient. And Moses took the blood, and sprinkled it on the people, and said,
Behold the blood of the covenant which the Lord hath made with you concerning
all these words.” Verses 5-8.
Thus it is clear that the old covenant made at Sinai
was not the commandments, but, on the part of the people, an
agreement to keep God's law, and on God's part a promise to give them
certain blessings conditional upon obedience. The law was that concerning which
the covenant was made, but it was not the covenant itself. The weakness of this
covenant was the fact that it was based on the principle, “Do and
live,” whereas the people could not do, because they were carnal and
trusted in the flesh, and therefore were unable to fulfill the covenant
provisions. God knew that in their mere human strength they would be unable to
keep it, and evidently the reason it was given was that it might serve as an
everlasting lesson to man regarding his utter helplessness without God.
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The New Covenant
One fault Mr. Canright finds with the old covenant is
that it was made with Israel. But so was the new covenant. The difference
between these two covenants lies chiefly in the character of the
promises. In the old covenant some of these were made by God and some by
the people. In the new covenant they are all made by the Lord.
With this thought in mind, let us carefully note the
terms of this new covenant.
“But now hath He [Christ] obtained a more excellent
ministry, by how much also He is the Mediator of a better covenant, which was
established upon better promises. For if that first covenant had been
faultless, then should no place have been sought for the second. For finding
fault with them, He saith, Behold, the days come, saith the Lord, when I will
make a new covenant with the house of Israel and with the house of Judah: not
according to the covenant that I made with their fathers in the day when I took
them by the hand to lead them out of the land of Egypt; because they continued
not in My covenant, and I regarded them not, saith the Lord.
“For this is the covenant that I will make with the
house of Israel after those days, saith the Lord; I will put My laws into their
mind, and write them in their hearts: and I will be to them a God, and they
shall be to Me a people; and they shall not teach every man his neighbour, and
every man his brother, saying, Know the Lord: for all shall know Me, from the
least to the greatest. For I will be merciful to their unrighteousness, and
their sins and their iniquities will I remember no more. In that He saith, A
new covenant, He hath made the first old. Now that which decayeth and waxeth
old is ready to vanish away.” Hebrews 8:6-13.
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Let it be carefully noted that the promises here are all
made by Christ the Lord. He declares: “This is the covenant that I
will make.” “I will put My laws into their mind.”
“I will be to them a God.” “I will be merciful to
their unrighteousness, and their sins and their iniquities will I
remember no more.” The old covenant was made between God and sinners; the
new covenant is made between God and those who accept Jesus and who own Him as
their Lord and Mediator. He can make no promises of obedience for any but those
who are fully surrendered to the control of His Spirit; hence no sinner can
come under this covenant until He accepts Jesus as his Saviour. It is made with
Israel; but this time it is spiritual Israel, and not the literal
descendants of Abraham.
“Not as though the word of God hath taken none
effect. For they are not all Israel, which are of Israel. Neither, because they
are the seed of Abraham, are they all children: but, In Isaac shall thy seed be
called. That is, They which are the children of the flesh, these are not the
children of God: but the children of the promise are counted for the
seed.” Romans 9:6-8.
“He is not a Jew, which is one outwardly; neither
is that circumcision, which is outward in the flesh: but he is a Jew, which is
one inwardly; and circumcision is that of the heart, in the spirit, and not in
the letter; whose praise is not of men, but of God.” Romans 2:28, 29.
“As many of you as have been baptized into Christ
have put on Christ. There is neither Jew nor Greek, there is neither bond nor
free, there is neither male nor female: for ye are all one in Christ Jesus. And
if ye be Christ's, then are ye Abraham's seed, and heirs according to the
promise.” Galatians 3:27-29.
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Observe that the new covenant is made concerning the law
of God. In this particular it is no different from the old. Its object is to
assure the keeping of God's statutes by the covenanters. But in this covenant
man is not left to struggle alone, in human weakness, in his efforts to keep
the law, but our Lord Himself promises, “I will put My laws into their
mind, and write them in their hearts.” How different this is from having
the law written only on stone, and sin still in the heart! When the law is only
on stone, it serves as an instrument of condemnation. All the struggles of the
human heart to keep it end in failure. But when, by the Spirit of God, this law
is written on the heart, then there is victory and power and perfection. Then
it is that “the righteousness of the law” is “fulfilled in us,
who walk not after the flesh, but after the Spirit.” Romans 8:4.
“Forasmuch as ye are manifestly declared to be the
epistle of Christ ministered by us, written not with ink, but with the Spirit
of the living God; not in tables of stone, but in fleshy tables of the heart.
And such trust have we through Christ to Godward: not that we are sufficient of
ourselves to think anything as of ourselves; but our sufficiency is of God; who
also hath made us able ministers of the new testament; not of the letter, but
of the spirit: for the letter killeth, but the spirit giveth life. But if the
ministration of death, written and engraven in stones, was glorious, so that
the children of Israel could not steadfastly behold the face of Moses for the
glory of his countenance; which glory was to be done away: how shall not the
ministration of the spirit be rather glorious? For if the ministration of
condemnation be glory, much more doth the ministration of righteousness exceed
in glory.” 2 Corinthians 3:3-9.
So the “ministration” (or the manner of
administering the law) even under the old covenant, was glorious,
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in that it revealed God's perfect character and glory; but
under the old covenant the law of God served only as a ministration of
condemnation, or death. Under the old covenant the people had only the letter
of the law written and engraved on stones. They failed to accept either the
spirit of the law or the Spirit of God into their hearts. The old covenant
therefore had no salvation in it.
Under the new covenant the ministration is changed.
Therefore those who were saved in the old dispensation had to be saved under
the terms of the new covenant, as we shall show later. It is the ministration
of the Spirit. The Spirit takes this same law that was then written upon stone,
and now writes it upon the “fleshy tables of the heart.” Its
principles become an integral part of our very nature. “Old
things”—the carnal, fleshly lusts—“are passed away; behold,
all thing are become new.” 2 Corinthians 5:17. Our trust is no longer in
the power and strugglings of the flesh to keep the law, but in the indwelling
Christ. “Whereunto I also labour, striving according to His working, which
worketh in me mightily.” Colossians 1:29. “Not that we are sufficient
of ourselves to think any thing as of ourselves; but our sufficiency is of
God.” 2 Corinthians 3:5.
This, then, becomes a “ministration of
righteousness.” The righteousness of the law, which is none other than the
righteousness of Christ, is ministered to the life of the believer by the Holy
Spirit. It is the new covenant relationship, and through this relationship
alone is it possible for human beings to obey God's law in an acceptable
manner. Therefore “if the ministration of condemnation be glory, much more
doth the ministration of righteousness exceed in glory.”
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But this law which is written on the heart by the
ministration of the Spirit under the new covenant, is not a new law, but is the
same as that which was written on the tables of stone. It is not changed by a
single jot or tittle. It therefore still declares to the heart of the believer
that “the seventh day is the Sabbath…. In it thou shalt not do any
work.” It has no new provisions except the provision made by the
indwelling Christ, which makes it possible for us to keep its every
precept.
Now, a new covenant is not called “new”
because of its being a more recent provision than the old. In fact, it is much
older than the Sinaitic covenant. God's promise was made to Adam and Eve in
Eden immediately after the fall, and has been renewed to all succeeding
generations thereafter. When the Lord said to the serpent: “I will put
enmity between thee and the woman, and between thy seed and her seed; it shall
bruise thy head, and thou shalt bruise His heel” (Genesis 3:15), He
couched in those few words the first promise of a mighty Deliverer from the
power of sin. This was the beginning of the new covenant with man. This promise
introduced man to the plan of deliverance through Christ, the Seed. It was his
first lesson in the inability of man to deliver himself from sin, or regain the
moral perfection demanded by the law which he had broken. It revealed his utter
dependence upon Christ, the coming Deliverer.
This was the covenant that was made with Abraham. It is
said of him that he was justified by faith. “What shall we say then
that Abraham our father, as pertaining to the flesh, hath found? For if Abraham
were justified by
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works, he hath whereof to glory; but not before God. For
what saith the Scripture? Abraham believed God, and it was counted unto him for
righteousness.” Romans 4:1-3.
This same covenant was known to Isaac and Jacob, and in
fact to all the Old Testament worthies. It is outlined in Jeremiah's
prophecies. It was spoken of by David. Thus the new covenant stretches both
sides of the cross, and spans the gulf from Eden lost to Eden restored. The
only reason it is spoken of as “new” is the fact that it was ratified
at a later date than the Sinaitic covenant. The old covenant was ratified by
Moses at Sinai with the blood of beasts; the new covenant was ratified on
Calvary by the precious blood of Jesus. In that sense it is new. In every other
respect it antedates the old one.
No one was ever saved under the terms of the old
covenant. It provided only for righteousness by works, and so held no more hope
of salvation for sinners before the cross than after. All who were saved before
the cross were saved under the terms of the new covenant. They were saved by
faith, and not by the works of the law. Their law keeping grew out of their
faith-righteousness, but did not produce it. Just so it must be with us, if we
would be saved under the terms of the new covenant, which provides a way of
life and righteousness.
“For those who are led by God's Spirit are, all of
them, God's sons. You have not for the second time acquired the consciousness
of being slaves—a consciousness which fills you with terror. But you have
acquired a deep inward conviction of having been adopted as sons—a
conviction which prompts us to cry aloud, ‘Abba! our Father!’”
Romans 8:12-15, Weymouth's New Testament in Modern Speech.