Out of his great love, God reaches out to sinful, rebellious humanity with commitments and promises, called covenants. He offers them by his grace, and humans have to fulfill certain obligations. They have to stop their rebellion and surrender and follow him. This post marks a good transition from God to humankind (Sec 4).
I’m not Reformed, and they highlight God’s covenants. Instead this is a study of this important topic because the word covenant appears over 330 times in the Bible.
Let’s begin
I.. Introduction
A.. First two covenants
The first two covenants are global: covenants of redemption and humankind (or adamic).
B.. Covenant to a family
The next three were offered to a family that grew into a nation, even with kings: covenants to Abraham, the forefather of the family-turned-nation, to Moses at Sinai, and to the gold-standard king, David.
C., Most important Covenant
The most important covenant was offered to the entire globe through his incarnated Son, with the promise of God’s Spirit living in everyone who lays down their weapons of rebellion and declare Jesus to be Lord. He fulfills all of them in his being, his life, his ministry, his atonement on the cross, his resurrection, and his session on high, next to his Father.
D.. Encouragement
Let’s study them one at a time and discover the results of accepting the covenants and at least a remnant obeying the terms and conditions, or by people refusing to live by the covenants’ terms and conditions and then the consequences of their rebellion.
II.. Bible Basics
A.. What is a biblical covenant?
In classical Greek, long before the New Testament was written, a covenant was a testament, as in a man’s last will and testament. A dying man in good mental health would spell out the terms of how his property and assets would be distributed. It was inalterable and irrevocable. Then it came into effect when he died.
The picture for our purposes: unalterable commitment, irrevocable (it can’t be withdrawn by other parties), and death for it to be implemented or ratified. This speaks volumes for the New Covenant.
Let’s begin with an easy-to-follow word study of covenant and look at the types of covenants in Bible times, which is repeated in the other articles on biblical covenants.
B.. Old Testament
The noun is berit (pronounced b’reet or buh-reet). It means “covenant” or “treaty.” It is used 287 times. The ancient Near East was filled with treaties and agreements between tribes and militaries and even nation states. So it is logical that God would relate to his people in a custom that they could understand.
The verb for making a covenant is karat (pronounced kah-raht), and it literally means “to cut (objects), exclude or destroy, make a covenant.” It is used 289 times. Therefore, to “make a covenant” with God is literally to “cut a covenant.” The majority of times it is used in cutting / making a covenant between humans (e.g. Gen. 21:27, 32; Jos. 9:11, 15) or between God and his people (e.g. Exod. 34:10; Deut. 4:23).
What is the background to “cutting a covenant”? First, it communicates the rite of ratifying a covenant. The parties walked between dismembered parts of the sacrificial animals (Gen. 15:9-10, 17; Jer. 34:18-20). The implied announcement is this: If I break the terms of the covenant, let what happened to this animal happen to me! It was a symbol of binding the parties to the covenant. The death of the animals stood in or substituted for the death of the people and through them the covenant went into effect. This is where we get our idea of substitution.
Second, ancient treaties were cut into stones, and both parties got a copy to store in their own temples. Note how Moses cut the Ten Commandments in the two tablets of stone and placed them in the ark of the covenant (Exod. 34:1-4). Further, he sacrificed young bulls and sprinkled blood on the people (Exod. 24:5-8). The text does not say the dismembered animal parts were laid out in two parallel rows, but sacrifice and the blood were present. But God using a covenant goes deeper than just conformity to ancient customs. The concept describes God love and commitment to his people, out of his initiative.
The Hebrew word for God’s commitment to his covenants is ḥesed (pronounced kheh-sed), and it is variously translated as “steadfast love” or “unfailing love.” It really means “covenant love.” God is so committed to his highest creation—us—that he establishes inalterable agreements with humankind. However, it happens that people became faithless and broke the terms so God, who was not surprised, had to come up with an alternative plan—the New Covenant and put his Spirit into humans to ensure their ability to keep the terms.
C.. The Septuagint
Pronounced sep-TOO-ah-gent, the Hebrew Bible was translated into Greek in the third to second century B.C., also called LXX (for the seventy scholars who translated it). And in nearly every place that the word berit appears, they used the less common Greek word diathēkē (pronounced dee-ah-they-kay) and not the commoner sunthēkē (pronounced soon-they-kay or sin-they-kay because the latter term implies equality (note the prefix sun– or “with”) between the parties making the agreement, which inadequately describes how God relates to humankind: they are not equal! In fact, diathēkē usually means, as noted, a testament explaining how a man disposed of his property as he dictated the terms before he passed on. “This parcel of land is to go to my son named Abraham” […]. So the head of household initiated it and it was irrevocable and inalterable. It went into effect when he died.
D.. New Testament
The New Testament writers took over term diathēkē from the LXX. It is used 33 times, and almost half in quotations from the Old Testament. The synoptic Gospels (Matthew, Mark, Luke) show Jesus instituting the Last Supper and saying that this cup is his covenant in blood, shed for the forgiveness of sins (Matt. 26:28; Mark 14:24; Luke 22:20). The expressions “blood” and “poured” out allude to the Old Sinai Covenant, which was ratified in the blood of animals. Through his sacrificial death on the cross, he ratified the New Covenant.
The writer of Hebrews uses the term seventeen times. It can mean last will and testament (Heb. 9:15-23; cf. Gal. 3:15-18). A diathēkē does not go into effect until its writer dies, and in the Old Sinai Covenant, this required a sacrificial animal that stood in for the humans who presented it to the priest, every year.
In the Old, the high priest represented the people and was their mediator (Lev. 16). In the New, Christ is our better high priest (Heb. 2:17; 4:14-15; 8:1; 9:11, 25) and mediator (Heb. 9:15; 12:24). The high priest entered the tabernacle to offer sacrifices. In the New, Jesus himself went into the heavenly tabernacle (Heb. 9:2, 8, 11, 21). The sacrificial animal was the substitute to pay for human sins. In contrast, Jesus’s shed blood through his death on the cross was eternal, so we do not have to go through a yearly ritual. It was once-and for all (Heb. 9:12; 9:28; 10:10). He stood in for us (our substitute) and paid for our sins. This covenant, ratified by his blood, is eternal.
In Jeremiah 31:31-34, the New was predicted. It promised to take away the sins of the people, so God would remember them no more. Christ fulfilled this promise in reality; he took away and forgave our sins (Heb. 10:16-23).
E.. Definitions
Here, then, is a working biblical definition of covenant, which is true for all the covenants in this chapter:
Out of his great love for his highest creation, people, God unilaterally reaches out to them and initiates an unalterable legal agreement, in which he stipulates the terms that reveal how he relates to people, and they to him.
More simply:
A covenant is an unalterable legal agreement, in which God stipulates the terms that reveal how he relates to people, and they to him.
The main points are that he takes the initiative and spells out the terms of the agreement. We cannot strut up to God and demand that he relates to us in our way. That’s arrogant and presumptuous because our strutting and demanding fail to understand that he is the one in charge of his creation. He imposes the agreement on his highest creation, humankind, who can accept or reject the covenant, out of their own free will.
To be clear: he wants a relationship with us. But there is a Creator-creature gap, which cannot be bridged by human effort and ingenuity. Since he is so far above us, he must instruct us on how we approach him and get to know him. He did this through the New Covenant, with foreshadows in the Old.
III.. Covenant of Redemption
A.. A council in heaven
The Triunity agreed that they would reach down to humanity and redeem it. It was a rescue mission. This agreement is also a covenant—the Covenant of Redemption.
In the Bible, covenants were unalterable agreements between man and man, and between God and man. The latter were never equal parties—God and humankind were never and are never equals!
In the covenant of redemption, however, the three parties—the Father, the Son, and the Holy Spirit—were equals in the covenantal agreement. Each one had a role to play in the planning, implementation, and completion of redemption—ultimately in heaven.
B.. Scriptural basis
There is no doubt that the plan of redemption was decided from the distant past; some theologians say from eternity past. It was an eternal decree.
Ephesians 1:4 says that God chose us in Christ before the creation of the world. (A remarkable and profound statement!) The result was that “in him we have redemption through his blood, the forgiveness of sins, in accordance of the riches of his grace which he lavished on us (vv. 7-8).
Ephesians 3:11 teaches us that through the church God revealed his manifold wisdom to the heavenly rulers and authorities according to his eternal purpose that he accomplished in Christ Jesus the Lord.
Second Timothy 1:9-10 says that he called us to live a holy life, not because of anything we have done but because of his purpose and grace, which was given us in Christ Jesus before the beginning of time; it has been revealed through the appearing of our Savior, Christ Jesus.
C.. Can the plan of redemption really be called a covenant?
Jesus spoke of Father’s promises made to him before his coming. John 5:30, 43 say that he has come in his Father’s name. John 6:38-40 says Jesus has come down from heaven to do the will of the Father, and the Son won’t lose the ones whom the Father has given him. The Father’s will is that those who look to the Son shall have eternal life. In John 17:4-12 Jesus is praying the Great High Priestly Prayer, in which he praises his Father for giving to the Son disciples, to whom the Son has revealed the Father. These promises are what covenants are made of.
Further, the OT speaks of the covenant with the Messiah. Psalm 89:3 is based on 2 Samuel. 7:12-14, and this is the promise of an everlasting covenant with King David. Jesus is the fulfillment of these verses (Heb. 1:5; Luke 1:32). Isaiah 42:6 speaks of the Servant of the Lord, who is not merely Israel, and God will make a covenant through him. Jesus is the fulfillment of that promise.
Now let’s look at the part or role each person of the Trinity played.
D.. What was the Father’s part?
In John 17: 2, 6 The Father agreed to give to the Son a people he would redeem for his own. The Father revealed to the Son those whom the Father had given him.
The Father sent the Son to represent him and the Spirit. John 3:16 is famous because it spells out this divine mission. God loved the world so much that he gave his unique Son. And Romans 5:18-19 says that through the obedience of one man many will be made righteous.
Through the virgin birth, the Father prepared a body in which the Son could dwell as a man (Col. 2:9; Heb. 10:5), so he could represent those whom he was to redeem of his own people, the Jews (Heb. 9:24). The Father gave to the Son all authority in heaven and earth (Matt. 28:18). This authority extended to include the authority to pour the Spirit in power to apply redemption to people (Acts 1:4; 2:33).
E.. What was the Son’s part?
He agreed that he would come to earth and live as a man and under Mosaic law (Gal. 4:4; Heb. 2:14-18). He was tempted in every way that we humans were, but without sin (Matt. 4:1-11; Luke 4:1-13; Heb. 4:15). He was commissioned to become perfectly obedient to all the commands of the Father (Heb. 10:7-9), even to the point of death on a cross (Phil. 2:8). He promised the Father that everyone whom the father gave to the Son would not be lost (John 17:12).
F.. What was the Holy Spirit’s part?
He agreed to obey the will of the Father and empower the Son to fulfill the ministry laid out before the Son (Matt. 3:16; Luke 4:1, 14, 18; John 3:34). Redemption is eternal (Heb. 9:12), and the eternal Spirit (Heb. 9:14) applies the benefits of Christ’s redemption to the hearts of believers (John 14:16-17, 26; Acts 1:8; 2:17-18, 33).
IV.. Covenant with Adam
A.. Adam’s name
The first covenant we study is called the Adamic Covenant or the Covenant of Nature. It means “humankind.” He represents all of humanity. Let’s see what we can learn from his story.
Please note: nowhere does Genesis 1-5 mention the word covenant, so if you see no covenant there, then you may be right. But let’s find out why many Bible interpreters and theologians see one. Since all covenants have component parts, so does this one, as follows:
Williams say this could be called the Covenant of life (vol. 1, p. 277).
B.. God’s initiative
By creating Humankind, God initiated the covenant with him. Humankind did not negotiate with God. It is God’s divine covenant which he imposed on Humankind, since God created him and therefore had every right to do this. It is important to realize this biblical truth, or else we will believe that God asks permission. Or we will wrongly believe that we can do enough good works for God to notice us in the first place. So the Adamic Covenant was not initiated by Humankind by his doing good works. It was not, therefore, a covenant of works, but God’s grace initiative.
However, some theologians argue that the Adamic Covenant is based on works, but this seems weak if it means his works earned and initiated it. It is not as if humankind had to do something to keep the covenant, other than just living at peace in the garden and eating of the tree of life. But he could do something to break it, which was to eat of the wrong tree, the tree of knowing good and evil.
C.. Type of covenant
This was a suzerain-vassal covenant. Humankind was a subject of his sovereign lord, who granted Humankind all the earth in a land grant, for absolute loyalty and obedience to the Lord of heaven and earth.
Alternatively, it could be a Royal Grant of land. Humankind was to care for the land God gave him and her. It was passed down to their descendants, if they remained loyal and obedient. They did not.
D.. Parties involved
They were God and Humankind. God made him in God’s image (Gen. 1:26-27), so this means God had a special relationship with Humankind that the other created animals did not and could not have. Thus, the Adamic Covenant involves all humankind, because he stands in for us; all Humankind bears the image of God. So this covenant was universal and for all living humans, including us. It was the covenant of life.
E.. Stipulations and obligations and promises
This aspect of the covenant could also be called requirements or conditions. What are the promises for keeping the covenant? In Genesis 2:15-17, God placed humankind in the garden and commanded him to care it. God was to have close contact and relationship with humankind. God obligated himself to care for Humankind in a personal relationship with him.
In Genesis 3:22 the promise was life eternal. He could eat of the tree of life, which speaks of an intimate relationship with God, far beyond moral law. God was to be Humankind’s conscience and guide for living righteously. He could eat of the tree of life and so live forever in close communion with God. So the Adamic Covenant was a covenant of life.
What are the consequences for breaking the covenant? The other command was a prohibition not to eat of the tree of the knowledge of good and evil (moral law). Therefore, the covenant could be broken if Humankind ate of the tree of the knowledge of good and evil, which happened (Gen. 3:1-13). The penalty would be death (Gen. 2:17). God would punish his highest creation (Gen. 3:17-19). Eternal life was to be taken from him.
After humankind broke the covenant, God placed cherubim (angel-like heavenly creatures to do God’s will) and ordered a flaming sword to go back and forth before the path and to block it, in case Humankind would become like God because he knew good and evil and would have eternal life (Gen. 3:14-19). This speaks of the loss of intimate relationship with God.
F.. Ratification
This means officially approving, sanctioning, and confirming the agreement. It is not clear in humankind’s case, but it seems to be ratified when God made the garden and placed humankind in it and then issued the terms of the agreement. The ratification is his creation and placement of Humankind in his creation.
G.. Fulfillment of the covenant
Covenants have multiple fulfillments as it moves down the corridor of time. The Adamic Covenant is no different.
First, God still gives life, so even though humankind broke the covenant, God still fulfills his side of the agreement, from Genesis to Revelation. Humankind is still alive. Second, when humankind broke the covenant, God clothed humankind (man and woman) with animal skins. This foreshadows the animals sacrifices in Leviticus, which in turns foreshadows the sacrifice of Christ on the cross (Heb. 8-9). Third, Genesis 3:15 speaks of woman’s seed or offspring bruising or crushing the head of the serpent, and the ultimate fulfillment came through Christ, her greatest offspring, when he defeated Satan on the cross (Col. 2:14; Heb. 2:14; 1 John 3:8). Fourth, Christ perfectly obeyed God’s will (John 6:38; Rom. 5:18-19; 2 Cor. 5:21; Heb. 4:15), which reversed the curse and consequences of Adam’s fall (Rom. 5:15-19).
After God exercised his justice-wrath-judgment, he made a covenant with Noah. Is it relevant to us today? Thankfully, he sends his specially called people to warn the general populace to get right with God. And so it happened in the days of Noah.
V.. Covenant with Noah
A.. Brief intro
The third covenant we study is called the Noahic Covenant or the Covenant of Noah. Since all covenants have component parts, so does this one, as follows:
B.. God’s initiative
God saw that humankind was acting like violent mammals, even though they were made in his image (Gen. 1:26-27). They were violating God’s universal covenant of life with Adam (humankind), because they were not following moral law or the knowledge of the tree of good and evil. Long ago through Humankind, they lost intimacy with God. Now they were wandering sheep—but more than sheep. They had turned violent. Therefore, God had to take action to rid the planet of these covenant violators. So he told Noah that he was about to send the flood of judgment on them.
C.. Type of covenant
It is the Royal Grant: Noah had found favor in the sight of the Lord (Gen. 9:8) and was blameless and righteous, relative to the people of his times (Gen. 6:9). For his faithful service, the Lord gave him salvation and the land to care for. The grant applied to his descendants, if they walked loyally and obediently before the Lord.
D.. Parties involved
They were God and Noah and his descendants (Gen. 9:6) and every living thing on earth that was subject to human jurisdiction. So Noah and his family stood in for the animals, as their representative head.
E.. Stipulations and obligations and promises
This aspect of the covenant could also be called requirements or conditions, if the covenant is like that. If Noah built the ark and entered it (Gen. 6:13; 7:15), God would spare him of the flood of judgment. After the flood came and went, God made a covenant with Noah and his family and all living beings with the breath of life in them: “Never again will all life be destroyed by the waters of a flood; never again will there be a flood to destroy the earth” (Gen. 9:11). This is unconditional. God made it for humanity and he would maintain it. However, this does not mean that God won’t judge humanity again. Instead, it means that he would not destroy the earth by a flood. He will destroy it to a certain degree by fire, however (2 Peter 3:10-12).
F.. Ratification
And God said, “This is the sign of the covenant I am making with you, a covenant for all generations to come. I have set my rainbow in the clouds, and it will be a sign of the covenant between me and earth. Whenever I bring clouds over the earth and the rainbow appears in the clouds, I will remember my covenant between me and you and all living creatures of every kind. Never again will the waters become a flood to destroy all life” (Gen. 9:12-15).
So the ratification was the rainbow.
G.. Fulfillment of the covenant
Humanity does not have to do anything, because God made it unconditionally, and he will fulfill it to the end of this age—and even during the age after the Second Coming—also known as the kingdom of God on a refurbished and cleansed earth. Whenever clouds and rain come, God will not allow floods to destroy the whole earth.
VI.. Covenant with Abraham
A.. Brief intro.
Are the covenants made with Abraham still in force? Are there more than one? This covenant we study in this post is called the Abrahamic Covenant or the Covenant with Abraham, which is divided in two parts (Gen. 15 and 17).
B.. God’s initiative
God called Abram to leave his land in Ur of the Chaldees, in Iraq today (Gen. 12:1-3). And so he set out for the land promised to him and reached it and was ordered to walk around and claim what God had already given him (Gen. 13:14-17). Then God promised the aged Abram a son, and he believed the Lord, and it was counted him as righteousness (Gen. 15). The point is that all throughout Abram / Abraham’s life, God initiated the call and the end of this patriarch’s life. The patriarch did not strut into God’s presence and dictate the terms. God initiated and set the terms. It is by God’s initiating grace.
C.. Types of covenants
Scholars divide the covenant with Abraham into two parts. The first part was a Royal Grant of land, an unconditional promise to possess Canaan (Gen. 15:7). It was to belong to Abraham and his descendants forever, but under the Lord’s ownership.
Some may object that it was not unconditional. If the people broke the Sinai covenant, then the land would vomit them out (Lev. 18:22; 20:22). And it did when the northern and southern kingdoms violated this covenant (2 Kings 17-18; 2 Chron. 36:15-23). However, the Abrahamic covenants, particularly the first one, are different from the Sinai covenant.
The second part was a Suzerain-Vassal Covenant. Abraham and his descendants were to be totally dedicated, loyal, and obedient to their sovereign Lord (Gen. 17).
Many scholars see these as two separate covenants. I believe they are right.
D.. Parties involved
In both parts, the parties were the Lord as the ruler of heaven and earth, and Abraham, the Lord’s servant.
E.. Stipulations and obligations and promises
This aspect of the covenant could also be called requirements or conditions, if the covenant is like that. In the first part, Abraham was to have the land by God’s unconditional promise (Gen. 15:17). In the second part, the terms were conditional. In Gen. 17:4, the phrase “as for me” and in v. 9 “as for you” signify the conditions. For God’s part, he would ensure that Abraham would have many descendants, and he reinforced the land grant established in the first part (Gen. 17:8). For Abraham’s part he and his descendants were to be totally consecrated to the Lord.
But what would happen if they were disobedient? Would they lose the land? If so, then the first part was conditional, after all. But if they were never to lose the land, but a remnant could keep it because they remained faithful, then the first part can be considered unconditional.
See the fulfillment section for a possible resolution of these interpretations.
F.. Ratifications
The first part was by Abraham’s faith (v. 6) and then his faith was confirmed by his cutting up animals and laying them out in two parallel rows (Gen. 15:9-11, 17-18). A flaming torch and smoking firepot passed between the dismembered animal parts. This was the presence of God ratifying the covenant.
The second part was confirmed by circumcision (Gen. 17:11-14). The Abrahamic covenant in both parts together was repeated to Abraham (Gen. 22:17-18), Isaac (Gen. 26:3-5), Jacob (Gen. 28:13-15), and to Moses (Exod. 6:2-4); it was celebrated by the psalmist (Ps. 105:7-11) and the exiles who had returned (Neh. 9:7-8).
G.. Fulfillment of the covenants
It is the clearest teaching of Scripture that New Covenant fulfills all OT covenants through Christ, which he initiated at the Lord’s Supper and ratified at his death and resurrection. He fulfills even the two-part covenant given to Abraham. Specifically, Paul says that in Abraham’s “seed” all the nations will be blessed. Who is the “seed”? Christ alone is the seed (singular) of Abraham (Gal. 3:15-18), and salvation goes through him and only him. Now the church inherits the whole world by salvation through Christ (Rom. 4:13). Now through him the whole world is being blessed as his gospel is spread.
The sign of the second covenant was circumcision. Today, believers are not circumcised except in their hearts (Rom. 2:25-29; 1 Cor. 7:19). So this sign of the covenant and therefore the second part of the covenant is obsolete. The nation of Israel rejected the Messiah, about four decades before the destruction of the temple in Jerusalem in A.D. 70. That rejection, however, opened the door to Gentiles to receive salvation offered through the Messiah (Gal. 3:15-18).
Christ is the fulfillment of the “seed” (singular) or the descendant promised to Abraham the believer that the whole world would be blessed through his “seed.” Now he is the only way of salvation through faith in him. We can be like Abraham the believer, but our faith is now directed towards and put wholly in Christ. This is Paul’s main emphasis throughout his writings, particularly in Romans 9-11 and Galatians 3-4.
Now the church inherits the world (Rom. 4:13), while the Jews can inherit Israel. They are on two parallel tracks globally, but salvation is through Christ alone.
VII. Sinai Covenant
A.. Brief intro.
It begins in Exodus 19, and the Ten Commandments were delivered in Exodus 20. Is it a covenant of grace and law or law and what exactly? This covenant we study is called the Sinai Covenant or the Sinaitic Covenant or the Covenant with Israel or the Mosaic Covenant (Mosaic = “of Moses”).
B.. God’s initiative
This act of reaching out to a human is God’s loving grace. Humans do not dictate the terms, but God sets them out. So in that sense it is a covenant of grace. Any time God reaches his hand out to help an individual or a people, that is his grace. Just picture God’s hand extended and lifting you out of your sinful (mammal) nature and saving you and setting you on the path of holiness—becoming like Christ through the power of the Spirit. In ancient Israel’s case, God was fulfilling his covenantal promises to Abraham and his descendants and chose them out of his love (Deut. 7:7-8, see it quoted, below).
However, it is also conditional covenant, based on law keeping. Before that point, here is Leviticus 26:14-16:
14 “‘But if you will not listen to me and carry out all these commands, 15 and if you reject my decrees and abhor my laws and fail to carry out all my commands and so violate my covenant, 16 then I will do this to you: I will bring on you sudden terror, wasting diseases and fever that will destroy your sight and sap your strength. You will plant seed in vain, because your enemies will eat it. (Lev. 26:14-16)
The verses go on to say diseases and fevers and bad crops and defeat in battle will be the curses for disobedience. Conditions do apply.
C.. Type of covenant
It is the Suzerain-Vassal Covenant. and it is conditional. It was made with Israel, the descendants of Abraham, Isaac, and Jacob. God had redeemed them from bondage to Egypt, and he initiated the covenant with them (Exod. 19-24).
D.. Parties involved
The parties were the Lord as the ruler of heaven and earth, and Israel, the Lord’s people.
E.. Stipulations and obligations and promises
For God’s part, he promises to be Israel’s God and redeemer and protector and guarantor of its blessed destiny. For Israel’s part, the Israelites promised to be totally consecrated to God and live under his rule by keeping the law of his kingdom and serve him.
Exodus 24:6-8 describes Moses reading the covenant to the people and blood being applied:
6 Moses took half of the blood and put it in bowls, and the other half he splashed against the altar. 7 Then he took the Book of the Covenant and read it to the people. They responded, “We will do everything the Lord has said; we will obey.” 8 Moses then took the blood, sprinkled it on the people and said, “This is the blood of the covenant that the Lord has made with you in accordance with all these words.” (Exod. 24:6-8)
In that passage, the people vowed to keep all of the law. If they did not, then numerous curses were put on the disobedient people (Deut. 27; 28:15-68).
But they did not keep the law, yet God kept calling them back, but if they continued to violate the law, then God hands them over to judgment. In their case, they were handed over to powerful nations: Assyria conquered the northern kingdom, Israel, in 722 B.C., and Babylon conquered the southern kingdom Judea in 587 B.C.
So it was conditional, based on whether they would keep the law (Deut. 4:1-14). But it was also based on grace. Deuteronomy 7:7-8 says the Sinai Covenant is built on the love God has for Israel’s ancestors:
7 The Lord did not set his affection on you and choose you because you were more numerous than other peoples, for you were the fewest of all peoples. 8 But it was because the Lord loved you and kept the oath he swore to your ancestors that he brought you out with a mighty hand and redeemed you from the land of slavery, from the power of Pharaoh king of Egypt. (Deut. 7:7-8)
As noted, God was fulfilling his covenantal promises to Abraham and his descendants and chose them out of his love ḥesed, which means his covenant love (note the word love or its approximate in those two verses).
F.. Ratification
This happened in point no. 4. Moses read the book of the Covenant to the Israelites, they vowed to keep it, and then he sprinkled blood on them. The covenant with Israel was a blood covenant (Exod. 24:6-8).
G.. Fulfillment of the covenant
Jesus Christ fulfilled the law. It is paid in full. He obeyed God’s will perfectly (Rom. 5:18-19; 2 Cor. 5:21; Heb. 4:15). He died the death of a curse (Gal. 3:10-13), and so his death removed the curse from us (Gal. 3:13-14). This is part of the Great Exchange.
The New Covenant is also a blood covenant, which he instituted in the Lord’s Supper: “… after the supper he took the cup, saying, ‘This is the cup is the new covenant of blood, which is poured out for you’” (Luke 22:20; 1 Cor. 11:25).
VIII.. Covenant with David
A.. Brief intro.
This covenant we study is called the Davidic Covenant or the Covenant of David.
Has this covenant been fulfilled in Christ?
B.. God’s initiative
God scanned the hearts of all of Israel and found David to be his man. God initiated David’s anointing (1 Sam. 16:1-13). 2 Sam. 7:5-16 shows God initiating this covenant. On his deathbed, David said God is the one who made the covenant with him (2 Sam. 23:5). God chose David to be king; David did not choose himself to be king or beg God to make him king.
This act of reaching out to a human is God’s loving grace. Humans do not dictate the terms, but God sets them out.
C.. Type of covenant
It is the Royal Grant Covenant. In 2 Samuel 7:10 God promised David that he would carve out a parcel of land and plant his people in it, over which his king was to rule. In 1 Kings 4:20-21 and 5:3-4 shows that in David’s descendant Solomon, the people were at rest in the land.
D.. Parties involved
The parties were the Lord as the ruler of heaven and earth, and David, the Lord’s servant.
E.. Stipulations and obligations and promises
This aspect of the covenant could also be called requirements or conditions, if the covenant is like that. This covenant is unconditional.
Psalm 89:20-37 says in the context of God’s love and commitment to David that he has anointed him with sacred oil (v. 20); his hand and arm will sustain him (v. 21); the enemy will not get the better of him and not get victory over him (vv. 22-23); God’s love will go so deeply that that God’s love and commitment will sustain him forever (vv. 25-28). God will establish his lineage forever, and his throne will endure as long as the heavens endure (vv. 28-29). This commitment and love for his specially chosen will last forever, even if his sons and descendants should forsake God’s law and violate his decrees, so God would have to punish their sin with flogging and the rod (vv. 30-33). Still, even in those cases, God will not take his love for him and not violate his covenant with his anointed one. His line will continue forever (vv. 34-37).
So God promised to establish and maintain the Davidic dynasty on the throne of Israel and provide her with a godly king like David and through his descendants bring her to rest in the promised land.
It is mentioned to Solomon (1 Kings 2:2-4) and celebrated by him (1 Kings 8:22-26); it is mentioned to King Jeroboam (1 Kings 11:34-36) and reaffirmed during his reign (2 Kings 8:19); it was celebrated by the psalmists (Ps. 89:3; 132:1-12); it was reaffirmed by Isaiah (Is. 9:6-7) and by Ezekiel (Ezek. 37:24-25).
So, as noted, this covenant is unconditional and promises an everlasting throne.
F.. Ratification
God himself ratified the covenant. The covenant was promised to David after his anointing—or the details of the covenant were not revealed to the boy David or to the old prophet Samuel, but one could say that God ratified it during the anointing (1 Sam. 17:12-13). Or at least it was launched then. In any case, recall that Psalm. 89:34-35 says that God will not violate or break his covenant, so David’s throne will endure before God.
G.. Fulfillment of the covenant
Jesus fulfilled and is fulfilling and always shall fulfill the Davidic covenant, for he is the righteous ruler for whom Israel had been looking or should have been looking.
Luke 1:32 says that Gabriel himself announced that the Lord God will give the Messiah Jesus the throne of David, and he will reign over Jacob’s descendants forever; “his kingdom will never end.” Matthew 1:1 and Romans 1:3 says that Jesus was the son of David. John 18:33-37 says that in a dialogue with Pilate Jesus affirmed that his kingdom is not of this world, so his fulfillment of David’s covenant would take place in heaven—for now. In Acts 13:22-23, 34 Paul preached that Jesus fulfilled the Davidic covenant. Paul also says that Jesus will hand over his kingdom to his Father when he has destroyed all dominion, authority and power (1 Cor. 15:24-25). Jesus is called THE KING OF KINGS (Rev. 19:16).
IX.. The New Covenant
A.. Brief intro.
Let’s never give up on Christ’s sacrifice on the cross, leaving him up there as a mere martyr who was unfortunately put to death for being merely a good man. His sacrificial death is much deeper than that.
B.. God’s initiative
This act of reaching out to a human is God’s loving grace. Humans do not dictate the terms, but God sets them out. So in that sense it is a covenant of grace. Any time God reaches his hand out to help an individual or a people, that is his grace. Just picture God’s hand extended and lifting you out of your sin (mammal) nature and saving you and setting you on the path of holiness—becoming like Christ through the power of the Spirit.
C.. Type of covenant
In the posts on Old Testament covenants, there were three types: Royal Grant (unconditional); Parity (conditional), and Suzerain-Vassal (conditional). The New Covenant does not fit any of them perfectly, but it is unconditional without the royal land grant, unless the whole planet is the land that God is currently taking back and possessing. If that is the case, then the Royal Grant covenant is nearer the truth. But in the New Covenant, some elements are unprecedented.
D.. Parties involved
At first, Jeremiah 31:31-34 promises the New Covenant to the houses of Israel and Judah. But when the writer of the epistle of Hebrews quotes that prophecy, he expands it to include everyone (Heb. 9:28). So the parties are the Lord on the one side and entire world on the other, that is, everyone who repents of their sins, receives forgiveness of sins, has saving faith in Jesus, and receives the Spirit, who applies the New Covenant to our hearts.
E.. Stipulations and obligations and promises
Let’s look at the terms in this passage from Hebrews 8:7-13 and key verses in chapters 9-10)
6 But in fact the ministry Jesus has received is as superior to theirs as the covenant of which he is mediator is superior to the old one, since the new covenant is established on better promises.
7 For if there had been nothing wrong with that first covenant, no place would have been sought for another. 8 But God found fault with the people and said[b]:
“The days are coming, declares the Lord,
when I will make a new covenant
with the people of Israel
and with the people of Judah.
9 It will not be like the covenant
I made with their ancestors
when I took them by the hand
to lead them out of Egypt,
because they did not remain faithful to my covenant,
and I turned away from them,
declares the Lord.
10 This is the covenant I will establish with the people of Israel
after that time, declares the Lord.
I will put my laws in their minds
and write them on their hearts.
I will be their God,
and they will be my people.
11 No longer will they teach their neighbor,
or say to one another, ‘Know the Lord,’
because they will all know me,
from the least of them to the greatest.
12 For I will forgive their wickedness
and will remember their sins no more.”
13 By calling this covenant “new,” he has made the first one obsolete; and what is obsolete and outdated will soon disappear. (Heb. 8:6-13, quoting Jer. 31:31-34)
Let’s analyze those verses.
1.. The old covenant was flawed.
It needed to be replaced.
2.. Localized new covenant?
He was about to establish the new covenant with Israel and Judea, but they officially rejected their Messiah, King Jesus, and this rejection opened the door of salvation through Jesus to the Gentiles, all non-Jews throughout the entire planet.
3.. Official rejection
Beyond those above verses, the official Jewish rejection of the Messiah four decades before the temple was destroyed by the Romans in A.D. 70, Christ has become the fulfillment of the “seed” (singular) or the descendant promised to Abraham the believer. Now the whole world would be blessed through his “seed.” He is the only way of salvation through faith in him. We can be like Abraham the believer, but our faith is now directed towards and put wholly in Christ. This is Paul’s main emphasis throughout his writing, particularly in Rom. 9-11 and Gal. 3-4.
4.. Plan for new covenant
Because the Jews continually spurned the of Sinai covenant, God disregarded them and planned a new covenant (Heb. 8:9).
5.. The law in their hearts
God was going to instill the law in their minds and inscribe them on the hearts of the people. The new covenant was going to be inward, not outward. Though the verses don’t say it, only the Holy Spirit can do this (Rom. 8; Gal. 5:13-26).
6.. God is gracious
The best news is that God will be gracious to our unrighteousness (literally “unrighteousnesses,” plural), and he will no longer remember our sins.
7.. Sinai covenant is now obsolete.
Hebrews 8:13 is perfectly clear. The old covenant of Moses (the Sinai covenant) is old, obsolete and ready to disappear.
8.. Christ went into the heavenly tabernacle by his perfect sacrifice (Heb. 9:6-10).
This speaks of his being an eternal high priest who no longer needs to offer yearly sacrifices for us, because he did this once and for all. Through his blood he offers eternal redemption (9:11-14). One of the results of eternally applied sacrifice (9:14) is that we no longer have to do dead works that lead to death (i.e. rituals) to have our consciences cleansed. Now his blood sprinkled on our consciences (Heb. 10:22).
9.. Christ is therefore the mediator of the new and better covenant (9:15).
We are now set free from the sins committed under the first covenant. We Gentiles did not commit sins under the first covenant, but we can still have freedom from our own sins through his blood ransom.
10.. His redemption completes us.
Since we have been cleansed by sacrificial blood, we can be complete and whole in our soul and spirit, as we are being made holy (10:14). So when God saves us through Christ, he instantly sends his Spirit into our hearts, an act that sets us apart, and then we are in the process of catching up with the Spirit in our lives and our initial consecration to him.
11.. Summing up (so far)
God offered us his very best to establish and ratify the New Covenant: His Son Jesus Christ. Now we can have permanent forgiveness of sins without more sacrifices from him or dead rituals from us. And now we can have an eternal relationship with the Father.
12.. What is our obligation?
It is to believe on his Son Jesus Christ, not to achieve the New Covenant, but to receive it. Heb. 6:12 says believers through faith and patience inherit the promises. That is, what we need is faith to enter the New Covenant and patience to wait for our ultimate inheritance when he returns (Heb. 9:28).
F.. Ratification
It is in the blood of Jesus Christ. At the Last Supper he said this is the cup of the new covenant in his blood (Luke 22:20), which is poured out for many for the forgiveness of sins (Matt. 26:28; cf. 1 Cor. 11:25). And Heb. 9:17-18 says a covenant is not ratified without blood. In the Old it was the blood of animals; in the New, it is the blood of God’s precious Son through the death on the cross. It was the cross that ratified the New Covenant.
G.. Fulfillment of the covenant
Jesus Christ fulfilled the law. It is paid in full. He obeyed God’s will perfectly (Rom. 5:18-19; 2 Cor. 5:21; Heb. 4:15). He died the death of a curse (Gal. 3:10-13), and so his death removed the curse from us (Gal. 3:13-14). As noted, the New Covenant is also a blood covenant, which he instituted in the Last Supper: “… after the supper he took the cup saying, ‘This is the cup is the new covenant of blood, which is poured out for you’” (Luke 22:20; 1 Cor. 11:25).
Second Corinthians 3 is emphatic about Christ fulfilling the Sinai Covenant. We are a letter from Christ, written not with ink but with the Spirit of the living God. This is better than the covenant written on tablets of stone (v. 3; cf. Exod. 31:18; 34:1-4). We live in the Spirit; people under the Sinai Covenant lived under the law. “The letter kills, but the Spirit gives life” (v. 6). Moses’s glory was transitory and faded, while the ministry of the Spirit is much more glorious and ever-increasing (v. 8). Moses put a veil over his face (Exod. 34:29-35), but the glory of the New Covenant is everlasting (vv. 8-11). The veil covers the minds and hearts of Jews during Paul’s days, and it is only lifted in Christ (v. 15). We have unveiled faces and are being transformed into his image with ever-increasing glory, which comes from the Lord, who is the Spirit (v. 18).
H.. A table of differences and similarities
It shows the differences between the Old and New Covenant, though there are similarities. It draws the comparisons from the New Covenant’s point of view, looking back on the Old, in a fuller perspective.
| Categories | Old Covenant | New Covenant |
| Duration | Temporal | Everlasting |
| Conditional | Yes | No |
| Grace and Faith | Yes | Yes |
| Moral Law | Yes | Yes |
| Written | In stone | On hearts and minds |
| Ratified | By blood of animals | By the blood of Christ |
| Number of Sacrifices | Countless numbers | One sacrifice forever |
| Mediator | Moses | Jesus |
| Holy Spirit | No permanent indwelling | Permanent indwelling |
| Being Born Again | No | Yes |
| Life in the Spirit | Intermittent or minimal or not at all | Permanent and powerful |
| Approach to God | Through Aaron the high priest and his successors | Through Christ our High Priest |
| Celebrated | By sacrifices (looking forward) | By communion (looking back to the cross) |
| Fulfilled and Replaced | Yes | Never |
| Adapted and much expanded from Geisler, p. 1393 | ||
I. Explanation
The New Covenant is superior and better than the Old, as the epistle of Hebrews teaches. The main point is that life in the Spirit is the whole project and new way that God grants to people in the New Covenant (Luke 24:49; John 20:22; entire book of Acts; Rom. 8; Gal. 5). People of the Old Covenant did not have life in the Spirit, in the same way, both extensive and intensive, as do people of the New.
What does it mean that both covenants have grace and faith and moral law? Do New Covenant believers have to obey the moral law? The New Covenant is based mainly on two things. First, God extends his grace to us. (He also did this to the ancient people of God in the Old.) Second, grace reaching us is the only way we can have saving faith in Jesus Christ, which places us in the New Covenant. Faith is the opposite of law keeping (Rom. 4). Law keeping, including rituals and ceremonies and kosher food laws, are essential in the Old.
So the huge difference between the two covenants is that in the New Covenant, believers walk in the Spirit, who enables them to fulfill the law by God’s love (Rom. 8; 13:8-10; Gal. 5:13-18, 22-23). Walking in the Spirit transcends law keeping.
J.. Moral law
What about moral law, which is not the foundation of the New Covenant? Christ is. However, moral law appears everywhere in the New Covenant Scriptures. When believers get confused or need more detailed guidance, then moral law teaches them. In contrast, in the Old Sinai Covenant, the people promised to obey the law (Exod. 24). It was conditioned on their law keeping.
K. Summary
It works out like this:
Sinai Covenant:
God’s part: grace
Humankind’s part: faith in God and law keeping
Result: Righteousness through grace, faith, and the law
New Covenant:
God’s part: grace
Humankind’s part: faith in Christ and living in the Spirit
Result: Righteousness through grace, faith, and the Spirit
Bottom line: John wrote: “For the law was given through Moses; grace and truth came through Jesus Christ” (John 1:17).
So the emphasis in the Sinai covenant tilts more towards law keeping than resting in God’s grace in the New (Phil. 3:4-11). Renewalists believe that they have the Spirit to enable them to live in the New Covenant. We need to develop our close relationship with the Father and Christ, through the power of the Spirit.
X.. Decisive Difference between Sinai Covenant and New Covenant
A.. Brief intro.
Let’s explore the differences more thoroughly. First and foremost, this difference is what Jesus established and the New Testament authors laid out in the Scriptures. It’s really very simple.
Read this table from the bottom up, from the foundation.
B.. Table of the one big difference
|
One Decisive Difference between Sinai Covenant and New Covenant |
||
| Covenants | Sinai | New |
| People’s Response to Grace | Faith | Faith |
| God’s Gift and Calling | Grace | Grace |
| Foundation | Law | Christ |
C.. Explanation
The Sinai Covenant and the New Covenant have grace and faith in common. God calls and woos people by his grace, and people respond by exercising their faith. No, their faith does not flow out of their own inner strength and will power, but God gives grace and the power of the word to trigger and spark saving faith. Abraham, who lived before the Sinai Covenant, and David, who lived within the Sinai Covenant, and the true prophets and many others, were all saved by grace through faith. They had a salvific relationship with God by his grace and their faith in him. Unknown to these OT saints (except for their revelations or hints in their writings), their faith was actually in the pre-incarnate Son of God (Ps. 110:1-2; Matt. 22:41-46 // Mark 12:35-37 // Luke 20:41-44).
However, the decisive difference is the foundation between the Sinai and New Covenants: Law v. Christ. Here are just a few Scriptures that spell out the superiority of grace and faith built on Christ instead of the mixture of law and grace and faith in the Sinai covenant. John 1:17: “For the law was given through Moses; grace and truth came through Jesus Christ.”
D.. Table of Scriptures
We need to see the Scriptures.
|
Scriptures |
|
| Sinai Covenant | New Covenant |
| Moses and people are at foot of Mt. Sinai and the Sinai Covenant begins:
20 The Lord descended to the top of Mount Sinai and called Moses to the top of the mountain. So Moses went up 21 and the Lord said to him, “Go down and warn the people so they do not force their way through to see the Lord and many of them perish. 22 Even the priests, who approach the Lord, must consecrate themselves, or the Lord will break out against them.” (Exod. 19:20-22) Ten Commandments are imposed, so law is built into the fabric of Sinai Covenant: 2 “I am the Lord your God, who brought you out of Egypt, out of the land of slavery. Many other commandments are given, and people affirm they can keep them. The covenant was established by blood: 6 Moses took half of the blood and put it in bowls, and the other half he splashed against the altar. 7 Then he took the Book of the Covenant and read it to the people. They responded, “We will do everything the Lord has said; we will obey.” 8 Moses then took the blood, sprinkled it on the people and said, “This is the blood of the covenant that the Lord has made with you in accordance with all these words.” (Exod. 24:6-8) |
Jesus established New Covenant by his sacrificial death and his blood:
19 And he took bread, gave thanks and broke it, and gave it to them, saying, “This is my body given for you; do this in remembrance of me.” 20 In the same way, after the supper he took the cup, saying, “This cup is the new covenant in my blood, which is poured out for you (Luke 22:19-20)
Paul writes that he was a blameless law keeper, but he gave up his own righteousness based on law for Christ’s righteousness based on faith: As for righteousness based on the law, faultless. 7 But whatever were gains to me I now consider loss for the sake of Christ. 8 What is more, I consider everything a loss because of the surpassing worth of knowing Christ Jesus my Lord, for whose sake I have lost all things. I consider them garbage, that I may gain Christ 9 and be found in him, not having a righteousness of my own that comes from the law, but that which is through faith in Christ—the righteousness that comes from God on the basis of faith. (Phil. 3:6-9)
The author of Hebrews says that the OT prophesied the New Covenant, and the New Covenant made the Old Sinai Covenant obsolete: Hebrews 8:7-13, quoted above |
E.. What is retained or not
Moral law has been God’s gift to humanity long before Moses lived, who is a late-comer in human history, if you think about it. In the Sinai Covenant, however, moral law becomes much clearer and focused than it was before the Sinai Covenant was initiated.
1.. Four C’s rejected
Transitioning from Sinai to the New, what is left behind are the four C’s: calendar observances, culinary or kosher food laws, circumcision, and ceremonial laws (e.g. sacrifices). Food (sharing a meal) and the other C’s potentially separated Jewish Christians and Gentile Christians in the earliest Christian community, while, in contrast, moral law is for everyone, for all times. Therefore, all Christians keep moral law, in case they get confused about life, while the other four C’s are obsolete.
2.. Liberty, not legalism
However, if converted or saved or redeemed Jews (and converted Gentiles who reach out to unconverted Jews) today voluntarily wish to keep some of the four C’s (no animal sacrifices! Read Hebrews!), not out of a covenant command, then they may do so because they intend to witness to unconverted Jews–who have missed their true Messiah. Keeping some of the four C’s no longer separates Jew from Gentile in the New Covenant, but only to witness to Jews outside of the New. Therefore, for this narrow purpose, freely keeping some of the four C’s is not unlawful by New Covenant standards.
3.. Warning about a movement
However, human nature in some people tends to extremes. So the Hebrew Roots Movement must be careful and moderate and discerning! They must not turn permitted practices to commanded practices. They must not become extreme and apostatize into a half-baked, distorted “Sinai” covenant, which has been made obsolete.
As for Jesus and Paul going into the synagogue regularly, for example, they entered there to preach the gospel. Neither one was under command (in Num. 15:32-36 a man was stoned to death for breaking the Sabbath). Jesus made the Sabbath for man, not man for the Sabbath. In other words, humankind stands on top of the Sabbath; the Sabbath does not hang like a sword over the head of humankind.
4..Grace and faith
In any case, New Covenant righteousness is offered by grace and received by faith on the basis of Christ. Old Sinai righteousness is offered by grace and received by faith but was built on the law. So the everlasting New is superior to the obsolete Old.
F.. So are there two tracks of salvation?
Unconverted and unsaved Jews are collectively still “in Abraham,” while non-Jews who convert to Judaism are now “in Moses” or “within the law.” By adoption they are also “in Abraham.” By contrast, converted and saved Jews and converted and saved Gentiles are “in Christ.” Being in Abraham or in the law is insufficient for eternal salvation. However, being in Christ, God’s Son, whom God introduced to humanity about two thousand years ago, is now the only way to God and eternal salvation for Jews and Gentiles–for everyone who puts his faith in the Son.
XI.. Panoramic Overview
A.. Brief intro.
The sweeping plan of God for your entire life and for all of humanity can be shown in these steps.
B.. Direct knowledge of God
It is seen in the Garden of Eden and God’s perfectly intimate relationship with the first humans, Adam and Eve, our parents. God walked in the Garden with them and communed with them. He was their guide and teacher about knowledge and truth. He was their guide, bringing them to himself. He was their conscience. They didn’t need their own conscience.
C.. Knowledge degraded
But then the snake—picked up in Christian Scriptures as Satan—told womankind that she needs the knowledge of good and evil, in other words, to develop her own sense of right and wrong apart from God. The snake told her she needed her own conscience. God was withholding this human-centered gift from her.
Then the Fall (Gen. 2:15-3:24). Intimacy degrades, except in bits and pieces for a remnant. In fact, God wiped out all of humanity, except one remnant, in the Flood (Gen. 6-9). Talk about a big failure on humankind’s part! Humankind was (and is) broken. That’s the big failure. God came up with a new way to handle human reality–its deep flaws.
D.. Knowledge of God through the Sinai Covenant and law-keeping
The Ten Commandments are God’s great compromise with humankind’s big failure.
However, there’s an immediate problem. Can anyone perfectly keep, say, the Tenth Commandment—not to covet? It goes right to desire. Who doesn’t covet once in a while? You may not act on your covetousness every time, but don’t you get in the rat race to keep up with your neighbor because you want what he has?
What about the First Commandment that says not to worship other gods? Didn’t ancient Israel fail by disobeying this standard? Didn’t they incorporate Canaanite deities into the worship of Yahweh? Didn’t an Israelite king sacrifice a child (2 Kings 16:3; 21:6; cf. 23:10 when the Law told them not to do this (Lev. 18:21; 20:2-5)? Israel failed to keep the Law of Moses. They suffered his judgment, but not before God sent prophets to warn them of it.
E.. Prophecy about a new path toward intimacy with God
God needed another way to help people. Read Hebrews 8 for an overview of the new way, part of which quotes Jeremiah 31:31-34. Those verses in Jeremiah promise the New Covenant, one that is written on the heart. It will save us from judgment for our failures and sins.
F.. Knowledge of God through the New Covenant and life in the Spirit
Christ ushered in the New Covenant, ratified it with his blood, much like various Old Covenants; for example, the Abrahamic one (Genesis 15) was ratified with an animal sacrifice.
But then he sent his Spirit to live in our hearts in Acts 2 for the rest of time, if we receive him by faith—not by working or obeying the law to receive the Spirit (Gal. 3:2-5).
For Paul, life in the Spirit is the Renewed Ideal in Eden of sorts–even better, now that Christ ushered in the New Covenant. We can enjoy God being the source of our conscience.
The classical verses in Galatians 5 for the life in the Spirit that produces the fruit of holy living, which used to be commanded of us by the Old Law of Moses, are as follows:
16 So I say, live by the Spirit, and you will not gratify the desires of the sinful nature. 17 For the sinful nature desires what is contrary to the Spirit, and the Spirit what is contrary to the sinful nature. They are in conflict with each other, so that you do not do what you want. 18 But if you are led by the Spirit, you are not under law. (Gal. 5:16-18)
Note the last sentence: When you are being led by the Spirit, you are not under law, and in the context of the entire epistle the Law of Moses is included in the general category.
Another great passage is 2 Corinthians 3:7-18. It’s quite a stark contrast between the two ways: life in Christ v. life under the fading glory of the Ten Commandments.
Paul was indeed talking about the Ten Commandments and their fading glory in 2 Corinthians 3:7-18, for these two verses side-by-side say so: 2 Corinthians 3:3 and Exodus 34:28. The tablets of stones in both verses refer to the material on which the Ten Commandments were carved. For the believers, it’s all about being in Christ, not their law-keeping.
G.. Knowledge of God and the mixture of flawed humanity
You’re walking along in the Spirit. Then bam! You fall in love with someone other than your spouse. You even believe the Spirit led you to this other person. You’re deceived. Now what?
For Spirit-filled believers who sometimes walk in the flesh and confusion and ignorance—who are sometimes overcome by human reality that pulls them down, and who refuse to see the right path, the New Covenant Scriptures are filled with commands.
These verses are given in the imperative in Greek. Imperative means command (for examples, see Ephesians 4-6 and watch for the commands).
The Ten Commandments and other biblical moral law are for Spirit-filled believers (and people in society) who are still stuck in harsh and confusing and sinful reality. For an adulterer, the Sixth Commandment applies–don’t commit it.
But in no way are you distant from God in your failure. “Where sin increased, grace increased all the more (Rom. 5:20). He’s right there with you. But usually these New Testament commands are reminders of what we should do in our daily life; they’re not always about our big personal failings.
H.. Summary
Here is the panoramic overview.
Humankind was perfectly intimate with God in the Garden.
Humankind failed–big.
The Old Law of Moses embodied in the Ten Commandments is God’s Great Compromise with humanity’s big failure. People are confused, so they need the Law, as a child needs a guardian (Gal. 3:23-29).
In addition to the Ten Commandments, you have all sorts of moral commands in the New Testament to guide you out of your confusion or in your regular daily life.
However, here’s the higher way: God bestows on you grace and love and the free gift of righteousness by faith, not by works or law-keeping. You are now fully grown sons and daughters, not children or slaves needing the guardian-law (Gal. 4:1-7).
Therefore, the ideal and best path for all of us is to walk in the Spirit (Gal. 5:22-25), the restoration of intimacy with God, reflected in Genesis before the Fall. The Spirit in us cries, “Abba, Father!” a cry of intimacy (Gal. 4:1-7).
The Law–the Ten Commandments and the moral law in the New Testament–comes in second to life in the Spirit. And certainly we don’t keep the laws to gain approval from God. He already loves us, even when–especially when–we admit we can’t keep his rules and then call out to him for grace and mercy.
XII. Application
A.. Caution about critics
Let’s not listen to the over-thinkers (I did not say “thinkers”) throughout social media who tells us that Christ’s sacrificial death on the cross is old-fashioned, too bloody, and irrelevant. They must believe that he died an unfortunate martyr’s death, the death of a good man, but nothing more. It is as if they leave him up on the cross and ignore his words at the Last Supper, on the night before he was crucified. This attitude is arrogant and presumptuous.
B.. His sacrificial death is essential
I for one will never leave Jesus on the cross and claim he died a mere martyr, a wise teacher. He himself said that his death would take away our sins through his blood. He was taking over and fulfilling the Old Sinai Covenant, and he was the once and for all sacrifice for all times and all people, if they repent of their sins and receive saving faith through the Spirit-filled proclamation of the gospel. Then the Spirit fills them, so their salvation is sealed and they can live for him.
C.. The covenant of redemption
This covenant was voluntarily entered into, between the three persons of the Triunity (Trinity). This shows how much each loved us the people. We were their highest creation; however, we sunk the lowest and needed the deepest and farthest redemption.
It has been well said that if you were the only one in all of the earth, God still would have sent his Son to rescue you and redeem you. He would have voluntarily sacrificed his life, so that his blood would cleanse your conscience (Heb. 10:22). That’s how much he loved you—just as you are, no matter what you have done!
Humankind used to have fellowship with God as the preincarnate Christ walked through the garden with his highest creation (Humankind) all the way back in Genesis. By virtue of your connection to Humankind—by your being a human—you too were called to have that level of relationship with God. God created you to have intimate fellowship and a personal relationship with him. You are made in his image.
However, because of your sin nature, which you got naturally through Humankind, again by virtue of your being a human, that fellowship was broken. Now you were wandering around, lost and dazed and confused. You are on drugs; you are addicted to TV and social media; you are in dysfunctional relationships; you are a workaholic. Even your thoughts turn against you, saying awful and negative things to you. Satan attacks your mind, as well. Such is life without God.
D.. Covenant with Adam
Now, however, your fellowship and relationship can be restored through Christ who fulfilled the terms and intentions of the Covenant of Nature, the Adamic Covenant. His sacrificial death on the cross offers atonement (blotting out and wiping away) for your sins. You have been reconciled to God, not him to you, for he never moved! The way back to the garden, so to speak, is open—the garden of intimate relationship with God through your redeemer, Jesus Christ. God is patient and kind. He does not want to destroy earth or anyone’s life.
However, he is the God of Ultimate Justice. He cannot by his nature allow degradation and injustice and violence and sin to go on forever without judgment and recompense. To deny God’s justice-wrath-judgment is simply misguided on humanity’s part.
However, please realize that God is pleading with humankind and calling him to be reconciled to him. He wants a personal relationship with people, through surrendering to his Son Jesus Christ. He is so patient and kind that he is willing to wait for all people to hear his message of love, so they will receive his Son Jesus Christ through the power of the Spirit.
E.. Covenant with Abraham
Let’s explore the salvational aspect more deeply. The Hebrew Bible is full of prophecies about the Messiah. As Peter proclaimed before the Jewish Sanhedrin (high court and council), now salvation is only through faith in Jesus Christ, Yeshua ha-Meshiach (Acts 4:12). I for one will never abandon him and his bold stance and statement.
Jews today need their Messiah. Please don’t accept the theology of the two-track covenants: one salvation for Jews through the covenants with Abraham and Moses, and the other one for Gentiles (and a few “wayward” Messianic Jews) through Jesus Christ. Two tracks of history is not the same as one covenant through Christ. No, Jesus is the only way of salvation for everyone on the planet, Jew and Gentile.
God’s whole plan for humanity is to break down the dividing wall between this small band of Jews and the rest of the seven billion people on the planet (cf. Eph. 2:14). This was important in Paul’s day because for him Israel was a major player in the first-century Roman Empire.
Now for us today, the Church must reach out to everyone, including Jews, and keep an eye on any anti-Semitism that rears its ugly head. We can support the Jewish state of Israel and still call for the salvation of the Jews everywhere through their true Messiah. In fact, the best way to support Israel is to issue this call of salvation.
F.. Sinai Covenant
It is difficult to sort out what scholars and theologians believe about the Sinai covenant. Some say it was a covenant of grace and play down the law keeping. Other say it was a covenant of law keeping and play down God’s grace. However, this chapter has shown (I hope) that it was a mixture of law and grace because God chose Israel by his grace and required them to keep the law. In contrast, The New Covenant offers the permanent indwelling of the Spirit, so they can grow in holiness and righteous living. There is no mixture of grace and law keeping to be righteous.
Renewalists believe that they have the Spirit (or the Spirit has them) to enable them to live in the New Covenant. We need to develop our close relationship with the Father and Christ, through the power of the Spirit.
But moral law has never disappeared. It is God’s gift to humanity long before Moses existed. It is imported into the New Covenant and eliminates confusion in our daily living. But we don’t keep it in order to join the covenant or to be saved for the first time. We keep moral law because keeping it is our duty as kingdom citizens.
G.. Covenant with David
Jesus sits on the throne of David now and will remain there forever, whatever happens to the sun and earth. David will never co-rule on this throne, as if David and Jesus would sit side by side. In heaven David will announce that the KING OF KINGS is the best and most qualified king to sit there, infinitely better than he is (or so I poetically imagine this to happen).
Before the end, however, Jesus sits on the throne of David in heaven and is watching out for Israel. We would do well not to spit on this nation. No, we don’t have to agree with every little thing that every Israeli politician does or says, but the fact of this nation’s existence means we should respect its right to thrive as a Jewish state.
And the best way to support this nation is to preach their true Messiah to them. Never believe that because the land grant is unconditional, they do not need their Messiah. He is the fulfillment of the Davidic covenant in the way of salvation—he transcends this covenant through the gospel. Everyone is saved the same way: through Jesus Christ (Acts 4:12).
H.. New Covenant
You can know God better by considering these Scriptural truths and personal realities.
The main and deep truth is that for Christ, establishing the New Covenant was a covenant of works. He did the work to live a sinless life. He worked to lay down his life on the cross, where he shed his blood for the forgiveness of sins. His death is the ultimate expression of works.
For us, therefore, the New Covenant is the covenant of grace. Now all we do is receive it by grace through faith. We don’t work to achieve it, but we receive it by faith and then rest in his eternal covenant.
So here are some benefits of living in the New Covenant.
First, now the Spirit lives in us and puts in our minds and inscribes into our hearts moral law, which the New Covenant Scriptures is full of (Heb. 8:10).
Second, now we can be born again or experience new birth or regeneration (John 3:7-8; Tit. 3:5).
Third, the New Covenant enables us through the Spirit to be free from the law of sin and death (Rom. 8:2). We no longer have to be beat down by our old sins and habits and addictions (Rom. 6:14-18). He sets us free
Fourth, God and people now have a special relationship. “I shall be their God” (Heb. 8:10). We have a special knowledge of God now.
Fifth, God promises the forgiveness of sins (Matt. 26:28). He will remember our sins no more, no longer, not at all (Heb. 8:12).
Sixth, now we have an eternal inheritance (Heb. 9:15, 28). We have a blessed life in Christ, down here on earth, but we have an eternal, heavenly home waiting for us. Christ’s sacrificial death opened it up to us.
I.. Summary
For these wonderful reasons, let’s not listen to the over-thinkers on social media who tell us that Christ’s blood sacrifice on the cross is primitive and irrelevant to the world today. I for one will never leave Christ on the cross and in the tomb and claim that his death is just an unfortunate martyrdom of a wise teacher.
No. (Other martyrs can fill out that task). That’s arrogant and presumptuous to think that way. His sacrificial, bloody (emphasis added and necessary) death on the cross is the only way to salvation through the New Covenant, which he himself instituted. I for one let him teach me; I don’t teach him.
BIBLIOGRAPHY
I depended heavily on J. Rodman Williams Renewal Theology, vol. 1, chapter 12, though of course I go my own way.
Dr. Jim's Essential Bible Teaching 