There
is a clear contrast between two major covenants presented in the Scriptures,
and it is not
between the so called covenant of works and covenant of grace. Rather the
contrast is between the old covenant (“the
covenant which I made with their fathers on the day when I took them by the
hand to lead them out of the land of Egypt” Heb. 8:9), and the
new covenant in Christ’s blood (Luke 22:20). The former was “that
which fades away” (2 Cor. 3:11), the latter is “that
which remains” (2 Cor. 3:11; the
eternal covenant, Heb. 13:20); the former was a “ministry of
condemnation”(2 Cor. 3:9) , the latter is a “ministry of righteousness”
(2 Cor. 3:9); the former was merely “of
the letter” (2 Cor. 3:6), the latter is “of
the Spirit” (2 Cor. 3:6); the former proceeds “from
Mount Sianai bearing children who are to be slaves” (Gal. 4:24),
whereas the latter corresponds with the “Jerusalem above” who is free
(Gal. 4:26). Obviously, for good reason “He
takes away the first in order to establish the second” (Heb.
10:9).
Now
in order to fully understand the relationship between the old and new
covenants presented in the Scriptures, we must first be clear as to the
identity of the old covenant. Fortunately, the Lord, as recorded by Moses,
made such identification unmistakeable: “The
Lord said to Moses, ‘Write down these words, for in accordance with these
words I have made a covenant with you and with Israel.’ So he was there with
the Lord forty days and forty nights; he did not eat bread or drink water. And
he wrote on the tablets the
words of the covenant, the Ten Commandments.” (Ex.
34:27, 28). Here then, the covenant is clearly identified with the ten
commandments, recorded on the tablets of stone. Again, “So
He declared to you His
covenant which He commanded you to perform, that
is, the ten commandments; and He wrote them on two tablets of stone”
(Deut. 4:13). And again, “.
. . I went up to the mountain to receive the tablets of stone, the
tablets of the covenant which the Lord had made with you
. . . And
it came about at the end of forty days and nights that the Lord gave me the
two tablets of stone, the
tablets of the covenant” (Deut. 9:9, 11). It is, of
course, for this reason that we refer to the ark which sat in the tabernacle
as “the ark of the covenant”, for it contained precisely that: the
covenant made with Israel; “
the ark of the covenant covered on all sides with gold, in which was a golden
jar holding the manna, and Aaron’s rod which budded, and the tables of the
covenant” (Heb. 9:4). The conclusion is inescapable: the law as
given to Moses, with its attendant blessings and cursings, was the old
covenant.
Notice
as well, with who this covenant was made: “The
Lord said to Moses, ‘Write down these words, for in accordance with these
words I have made a covenant with
you and with Israel’ ” (Ex. 34:27). And again, “The
Lord our God made a covenant with us at Horeb. The Lord did not make this
covenant with our fathers, but with us, with all those of us alive here today”
(Deut. 5:2,3). In other words, this covenant was not made with all men, but
only with the nation of Israel. Not even Abraham, Isaac, or Jacob had part in
that covenant.
And
not only was this covenant restricted in its scope (made only with the nation
of Israel and those who joined themselves to her), it was also restricted in
its duration. The apostle Paul was clear on this point: “Why
the Law then? It was added because of transgressions . . . until the seed
should come to whom the promise had been made” (Gal. 3:19). The
law, in other words, was temporal; it had a fixed life span. In 2 Cor. 3, Paul
contrasts the tablets of stone (v. 3) with the “new
covenant” (v. 6). Here, it is the former, the “letters
engraved on stones” (v. 7), which was idenditifed with “that
which fades away” (v.11). Again, we wouldn’t speak this way of
something which was eternal, but only of that which is temporal. Finally,
according to the author of Hebrews, “When
He said, ‘A new covenant,’ He has made the first obsolete. But whatever is
becoming obsolete and growing old is ready to
disappear” (Heb.
8:13). So contrary to many, the old covenant, the letters engraved on stones,
was only a temporal
covenant. And that which is temporal cannot be perpetually binding.
So
what exactly was made obsolete? Is there any indication that this covenant was
somehow parceled out into civil, ceremonial, and moral divisions, with only
the ceremonial (according to the reconstructionists) or only the ceremonial
and civil (according to the rest) being made obsolete? None whatsoever! No
such division of the covenant is ever made. The whole was made “obsolete.”
The whole disappeared with the destruction of the temple, the altar, and the
priesthood under Titus Vespasian in a.d.
70. The laws regarding clothing (Deut. 22:11, “You
shall not wear a material mixed of wool and linen together”),
food, and cleanliness, as well as the sowing of one’s field, the trimming of
the beard, the menstrous woman, the breeding of cattle,
the tithes, and the sabbaths have all been removed insofar as the
covenant has been removed. The fact that the New Testament saints gathered on
the first day of the week (as opposed to the Sabbath) clearly indicates that
even in their day they saw the obsolescence of the old covenant (the tablets
of stone, the ten commandments). In this sense, Christ truly was “the
end of the law” (Rom. 10:4).
You
see, there was a problem with that first covenant (Heb. 8:7, “if
that first covenant had been faultless, there would have been no occasion
sought for a second”). Though the law itself was holy (Rom. 7:12,
“the
Law is holy, and the commandment is holy and righteous and good”),
on account of the weakness of the flesh (Heb. 8:8, “finding
fault with them”), no one could attain to the promises contained
within (Ex. 19:5, “If
you will indeed obey My voice and keep My covenant, then you shall be My own
possession among all the peoples . . . and you shall be to Me a kingdom of
priests and a holy nation”). It proved to be, therefore, only a
ministry of death and condemnation (2 Cor. 3:7,9). As a result, Paul could
say, “as
many as are of the works of the Law are under a curse; for it is written,
‘Cursed is everyone who does not abide by all things written in the book of
the law, to perform them” (Gal. 3:10). So the covenant had to be
removed, lest the promises made 430 years earlier were to remain only a pipe
dream. And removed it was, through fulfillment. Through the obedience of the
One. By His obedience (“even to the point of death”—thereby bearing the
curse of that covenant), those who belong to Christ (Gal. 3:29, “Abraham’s
offspring, heirs according to promise”) now come into all the
promises of God (2 Cor. 1:20, “For
as many as may be the promises of God, in Him [i.e., in Christ]
they are yes”). “For
what the Law could not do, weak as it was through the flesh, God did”
(Rom. 8:3). In this way, God has created in Christ “one
new man” (Eph. 2:15), a fruitful nation (Matt. 21:43), “a
people for God’s own possession” (1 Pet. 1:9).
So
then we have a better deliverer than even Moses! And a better deliverance. But
are we then, with the obsolesence of the tablets of stone, left without a law?
By no means! We have the law of Christ (Gal. 6:2, i.e., Christ is our law).
That is, the righteousness of God is ultimately revealed not in the law given
to Moses but rather in the man, Christ Jesus. For this reason we see in the
New Testament regular reference not to the tablets of stone as our “rule of
life” (WCF), but to the true Holy One of God, the righteous One, Christ!
Note in the following verses where (or better, in whom) the standard of
righteousness is found: “I
Paul, myself urge you by the meekness and gentleness of Christ”
(2 Cor. 10:1); “Have
this attitude in yourselves which was also in Christ Jesus”
(Phil. 2:5); “Walk
in love, just as Chrst also loved you” (Eph. 5:2); “For
you have been called for this purpose, since Christ also suffered for you,
leaving you an example for you to follow in His steps” (1 Pet.
2:21). Without multiplying verses, the point is made: Christ is our
standard—He is our “moral law”.
But then too, we’ve been amply supplied with more than just an
example to follow. We have as well, according to the words of the New Covenant
(as prophesied by Jeremiah), God’s laws placed in our minds and His laws
written upon our hearts (Heb. 8:10). Now from the perspective of the Jew
(whose eyes remain vailed) and certain Covenant Theologians (e.g., Greg
Bahnsen, Walter Chantry, etc.), this would surely seem to be a transcribing of
the words of the old covenant onto the hearts of men. But Paul speaks in quite
different fashion: “Christ
in you, the hope of Glory” (Col. 1:27). It is, therefore, not the
shadow that has been etched upon our hearts, but rather the righteousness of
God Himself, written with “the
Spirit of the Living God” (2 Cor. 3:3). Thus we are not “under
the law” (1 Cor. 9:20, cf. Rom. 6:14), nor are we “without law” (1 Cor.
9:21), but rather we are “under
the law of Christ” (1 Cor. 9:21, en
nomos Christou). For good reason then,
Peter, James, and John were told to “listen
to Him!” (Matt. 17:5); for they’d been instructed from birth to
listen to Moses. But a far greater law-giver was now in their midst (cf. Acts
3:22-23, “And
it shall be that every soul that does not heed that prophet shall be utterly
destroyed from among the people”). Consequently, the “wise
man” is now the one who hears His
words and acts upon them (Matt. 7:24), the inhabitants of His Kingdom are
those who keep His
commandments (1 Jhn. 2:3), and it is these that we, His disciples,
must teach others to observe (Matt. 28:20).
Now
who, exactly, are the members of the new covenant? Is it all believers and
their children? It is, only if such children are covered by Christ’s blood.
You see, the New Covenant is in
Christ’s blood (Luke 22: 20, “This
cup which is poured out for you is the new covenant in My blood”).
To be a child of this
covenant then, you must be washed clean in the blood of the Lamb. For this
reason, the promise of the new covenant came with the words, “they
shall not teach everyone his fellow citizen, and everyone his brother,
saying,’know the Lord,’ for all shall know Me, from the least to the
greatest of them. (Heb. 8:10; cf. Isa. 44:5; 52:1; Zech. 14:21).
That is, unlike the old covenant, where many of its members did not know the
Lord (see, for example, Isa. 1:2-3; and Hos. 5:4, “they
do not know the Lord”), in the new covenant, every last covenant
child knows the Lord. They are all His sheep, they all hear his voice, and
they follow Him (John 10:27). For it is said of eveyone within this
covenant that “[He] will
be merciful to their iniquities, and [He] will
remember their sins no more.” (Heb. 8:12). Hallelujah! Amen.