Covenants
Have you ever been involved in a
covenant? Most all of
us have at some point in life. If you're married, you entered into a
covenant with your spouse. The words “until death do us part” make that
covenant an unconditional one that only death can disannul. If you have
ever purchased a home with a standard 30-year mortgage, you entered
into a covenant with the lender to make regular payments until you paid
off the loan. The mortgage covenant is conditional. In the event you
fail to make payments on time, the lender has the right to repossess
your home.
The Bible is a book defined by its
covenants: Old Testament and New Testament. Within the pages of these
testaments, scripture identifies several covenants. Some are
conditional, others are unconditional. For the most part, they are not
covenants between men and women, borrowers and lenders. They are
covenants – sacred agreements – between a holy God and sinful men. The
purpose of this document is to provide a high-level summary of these
biblical covenants.
Adamic Covenant
The
first of these is the Adamic covenant. The terms of this covenant
between the LORD God and the first couple, Adam and Eve, were rather
simple. They could “freely eat” of every tree except one. They would
“surely die” if they transgressed that one prohibition (Genesis
2:16-17). The Adamic covenant was conditional in nature, contingent
upon Adam and Eve walking in compliance with God's directive. The
disobedience of Adam brought into play the “surely die” provision of
the covenant. Spiritual death was immediate; physical death came 930
years later (5:5).
The Adamic covenant has a
prominent place in the NT revelation. In Romans 5:12-14, scripture
says: “Wherefore, as by one man sin entered into the world, and death
by sin; and so death passed upon all men, for that all have sinned:
(For until the law sin was in the world: but sin is not imputed when
there is no law. Nevertheless death reigned from Adam to Moses, even
over them that had not sinned after the similitude of Adam's
transgression, who is the figure of him that was to come.” The entire
human race was in the loins of Adam when he sinned. Thus the whole
human race sinned and died spiritually with Adam.
Paul
made reference to the Adamic covenant in 1 Corinthians: “For since by
man came death, by man came also the resurrection of the dead. For as
in Adam all die, even so in Christ shall all be made alive” (15:21-22).
As he concluded his resurrection argument, he added: “And so it is
written, The first man Adam was made a living soul; the last Adam was
made a quickening spirit: (15:45). Jesus Christ is the last Adam,
single-handedly providing the life solution for the spiritual death
incurred by the first man Adam and us his co-transgressors.
Noahic Covenant
The
second is the Noahic covenant as recorded in Genesis 9:1-17. The
post-flood world would bring a dread of man by the animal world (9:2)
and the institutionalization of capital punishment (9:5-6). It included
God's promise never again to flood the earth (9:11). As a
token
(sign)
of his intent to honor this covenant, God set his bow in the cloud
(9:13). The Noahic covenant was both “everlasting” (9:16) and
unconditional. It was not contingent upon any future behavior in Noah,
his sons or descendants. It was also universal, meaning that all men,
whether saved or lost, would be benefactors of God's unconditional
covenant. To this day, the rainbow is a reminder of God's
faithfulness in honoring the Noahic covenant.
Abrahamic Covenant
The
third is the Abrahamic covenant as revealed in Genesis 12:2-3; 15:1-21.
God promised to make of Abram a great nation with innumerable seed,
including the Messianic seed, which was Christ (see Acts 13:23;
Galatians 3:16, 19; Hebrews 2:16). Abraham “believed in the LORD; and
he counted it unto him for righteousness” (Genesis 15:6). Abraham is
the model for how God EVER saved a sinner – by faith! Paul wrote: “So
then they which be of faith are blessed with faithful Abraham”
(Galatians 3:9). If there is any OT covenant that directly impacts the
NT believer, it's the Abrahamic covenant, because Christ is the seed of
Abraham in whom all believers are justified. Paul explained this in
detail in Romans 4:1-25 and Galatians 3:1-29. Every OT saint who has
ever been justified (Abel, Noah, Samuel, David, Isaiah, etc.) had the
righteousness of God imputed to them by faith. The Law of Moses has
never saved and will never save anyone!
The Abrahamic
covenant was unconditional in nature. It was not contingent upon the
future behavior of Abraham or his descendants. Genesis 15:9-10
describes the manner in which Abraham prepared animal sacrifices to
seal the covenant. After Abram had laid them out as God prescribed, a
“deep sleep” fell on him (15:12). Then this transpired: “And it came to
pass, that, when the sun went down, and it was dark, behold a smoking
furnace, and a burning lamp that passed between those pieces. In the
same day the LORD made a covenant with Abram, saying, Unto thy seed
have I given this land, from the river of Egypt unto the great river,
the river Euphrates” (15:17-18). The furnace and lamp were clearly God
the Father and God the Son. They made an unconditional blood covenant
with each other. The benefactors would be (1) Abram, (2) his seed, and
(3) every believing sinner from all the nations of the earth who would
follow Abram's example of faith. This covenant was made four-hundred
thirty years before God gave his Law to Israel. In terms of NT
salvation, the Abrahamic covenant is the model, not the Law.
Mosaic Covenant
The
fourth is the Mosaic covenant as revealed in the Torah. The Ten
Commandments are enumerated in Exodus 20:1-17, written with “the finger
of God” on tablets of stone (31:18). In the books of Leviticus and
Deuteronomy, the Lord added many ordinances, tabernacle instructions,
priesthood and sacrificial requirements, etc. The Mosaic covenant was
conditional in nature. If Israel complied with its statutes, they would
experience God's blessing. If they forsook the Law, God would withhold
his blessing.
The benefits of Law compliance
were largely temporal, not spiritual. We know this from several NT
statements. “Therefore by the deeds of the law there shall no flesh be
justified in his sight: for by the law is the knowledge of sin” (Romans
3:20). “Knowing that a man is not justified by the works of the law,
but by the faith of Jesus Christ, even we have believed in Jesus
Christ, that we might be justified by the faith of Christ, and not by
the works of the law: for by the works of the law shall no flesh be
justified” (Galatians 2:16). And again: “Is the law then against the
promises of God? God forbid: for if there had been a law given which
could have given life, verily righteousness should have been by the
law” (3:21). Law compliance CANNOT justify a sinner. It CANNOT produce
a righteousness that God will accept. It CANNOT impart spiritual life
to the compliant. But it can bring a better quality of life in temporal
terms: “And the law is not of faith: but, The man that doeth them shall
live in them” (3:12).
The context of Galatians
3 demands that the “life” the Law cannot give be interpreted as
spiritual life and that the “live in them” reference be interpreted as
a better quality of life. Otherwise we have Paul contradicting himself
in the same context. Paul intertwined life and righteousness (3:21).
The source of both is faith in Christ rooted in God's promise to
Abraham. The Law CANNOT disannul the Promise: “And this I say, that the
covenant, that was confirmed before of God in Christ, the law, which
was four hundred and thirty years after, cannot disannul, that it
should make the promise of none effect” (3:17).
What then is the
purpose of the Mosaic covenant if not to bring righteousness and impart
spiritual life? First, it is a schoolmaster: “Wherefore the law was our
schoolmaster to bring us unto Christ, that we might be justified by
faith. But after that faith is come, we are no longer under a
schoolmaster” (3:24-25). Saved men no longer need a schoolmaster.
Secondly, it brings an awareness of sin: “Therefore by the deeds of the
law there shall no flesh be justified in his sight: for by the law is
the knowledge of sin” (Romans 3:20). Thirdly, it makes sin exceeding
sinful: “Was then that which is good made death unto me? God forbid.
But sin, that it might appear sin, working death in me by that which is
good; that sin by the commandment might become exceeding sinful”
(7:13). Paul summed it up this way: "Wherefore then serveth the law? It
was ADDED because of transgressions, TILL the seed [Jesus of
Nazareth] should come to whom the promise was made"
(Galatians 3:19). The words "added...till" are the equivalent
of a
time stamp. The Law was an ad hoc provision, designed by God to lead
sinners to Christ, the promised seed of the Abrahamic
covenant.
Believers who have come under law to Christ are no longer
under
Mosaic Law in any way, shape or form.
The Law is holy, just and good
(7:12).
It's purpose is not nullified by the law of faith, but established: “Do
we then make void the law through faith? God forbid: yea, we establish
the law” (3:21). When the Mosaic covenant accomplishes its established
purpose in a lost man's life, causing him to embrace the promise of
life and righteousness by faith in Christ, its work is done in that
man's life. Paul painted this contrast: “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 stedfastly 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?”
(2 Corinthians 3:6-8).
Paul describes the
Mosaic covenant as the letter that killeth, the ministration of death
and as fading in glory. Contrariwise, Paul describes the new testament
as a life-giving spirit, the ministration of the spirit and more
glorious than the old. The words of Jesus are eminently applicable: “No
man putteth a piece of new cloth unto an old garment, for that which is
put in to fill it up taketh from the garment, and the rent is made
worse. Neither do men put new wine into old bottles: else the bottles
break, and the wine runneth out, and the bottles perish: but they put
new wine into new bottles, and both are preserved” (Matthew 9:16-17).
There is no mixing possible of the new testament in the blood of Christ
and the old testament written in tables of stone, between the Spirit of
life in Christ Jesus and the ministration of death. There is zero
compatibility between them. The old and new testaments are mutually
exclusive although God intended the old to point sinners to the
new.
Paul
taught that the believer in Christ is
“dead to the law.” But that didn't mean the Law had failed in its
divine purpose: “For I through the law am dead to the law, that I might
live unto God” (Galatians 2:19). Those two prepositional
phrases modifying 'dead'–THROUGH the Law and TO the Law–encapsulate in
six little words
the whole relationship between the Law and the NT believer. He
continued with: “I am crucified with Christ: nevertheless I live; yet
not I, but Christ liveth in me: and the life which I now live in the
flesh I live by the faith of the Son of God, who loved me, and gave
himself for me. I do not frustrate the grace of God: for if
righteousness come by the law, then Christ is dead in vain” (2:20-21).
The believer who has died with and lives in Christ is beyond the reach
of the Mosaic covenant. “Wherefore, my brethren, ye also are become
DEAD TO THE LAW by the body of Christ; that ye should be married to
another, even to him who is raised from the dead, that we should bring
forth fruit unto God” (Romans 7:4). Any believer that gets married
to Christ by faith and subsequently mixes his faith in Christ
Jesus with the Mosaic covenant is guilty of spiritual
adultery.
Davidic Covenant
The
fifth is the Davidic covenant. Isaiah stated it as follows: “For unto
us a child is born, unto us a son is given: and the government shall be
upon his shoulder: and his name shall be called Wonderful, Counsellor,
The mighty God, The everlasting Father, The Prince of Peace. Of the
increase of his government and peace there shall be no end, upon the
throne of David, and upon his kingdom, to order it, and to establish it
with judgment and with justice from henceforth even for ever. The zeal
of the LORD of hosts will perform this” (Isaiah 9:6-7). The covenant is
both unconditional and earthly in its scope. Jesus will one day reign
as King from Jerusalem. Christ inherited the throne of David legally at
birth and ultimately by his triumphant resurrection from the dead. The
relevance for the NT believer is that we will one day rule and reign
with him. O what grace to think the King of heaven and earth would
share his authority with his servants!
New Covenant in Christ's Blood
Our
sixth covenant is the New Testament. During the Last Supper, Jesus
said: “This cup is [represents] the new testament in my blood, which is
shed for you” (Luke 22:20). Paul reiterated this truth: “After the same
manner also he took the cup, when he had supped, saying, This cup is
the new testament in my blood: this do ye, as oft as ye drink it, in
remembrance of me” (1 Corinthians 11:25). The blood of Christ secured
his role as Mediator: “And for this cause he is the mediator of the new
testament, that by means of death, for the redemption of the
transgressions that were under the first testament, they which are
called might receive the promise of eternal inheritance” (Hebrews
9:15). In addition: “For there is one God, and one mediator between God
and men, the man Christ Jesus” (1 Timothy2:5). In Galatians 3:20, we
find this profound gospel truth: “Now a mediator is not a mediator of
one, but God is one.” In other words, the incarnation produced the
God-Man, combining into one person a function that usually required
two. Moses (party #2) was a mediator between Yahweh (party
#1)
and Israel (party #3). Jesus the God-Man became the mediator of the new
testament by virtue of his own blood, uniting the roles of Yahweh and
Moses in himself. When a sinful man (party #2) comes to Christ (party
#1), he finds both God and Mediator in one person. Christ is all a
sinner needs!
How important is the blood of Christ?
Jesus purchased the church of God with his blood (Acts 20:28). The
blood was a propitiation Godward for our sins (Romans 3:25). God
justifies believing sinners by the blood (5:9). We have redemption and
forgiveness through Jesus' blood (Ephesians 1:7; Colossians 1:14). His
blood made peace and reconciliation possible (Colossians 1:20). The
blood of Jesus has the power to purge the conscience from dead works to
serve the living God (Hebrews 9:14). The blood of Jesus affords the
believer boldness to enter into the holiest (10:19). The blood cleanses
believers from all sin as they walk in the light (1 John 1:7). The
blood of Jesus will be an eternal theme of praise for the redeemed in
heaven (Revelation 5:9). Hebrews 9:12 sums it up: “Neither by the blood
of goats and calves, but by his own blood he entered in once into the
holy place, having obtained eternal redemption for us.” The ONLY Old
Testament covenant that has any working relationship to the New
Testament in the blood of Christ is the Abrahamic covenant inasmuch as
Christ is the promised Seed.
There
are some who
think the Law (Mosaic covenant) is still applicable to the NT believer.
There are several problems with this doctrine. First, one CANNOT be
'under Law' and 'under Grace' at the same time (Romans 6:14). They are
mutually exclusive. Calling it 'covenant + grace' rather than 'law +
grace' is an intellectually-dishonest distinction. Secondly,
it
requires putting new
wine in old wine skins; theological disaster! Thirdly, it's a
fatal exercise that mixes the ministration of life with the
ministration of death. Fourthly, it deludes the practitioners into
believing they can compartmentalize the Law. If ANY part of the Mosaic
covenant is applicable, then ALL parts are applicable. One CANNOT chose
which parts of the Mosaic covenant he wants to embrace. If one thinks
the Ten Commandments are still applicable as a means of winning the
favor of Yahweh, he should be prepared to arrange for a Levitical
priesthood and animal sacrifices. Paul said: "For I testify again to
every man that is circumcised, that he is a debtor to do the WHOLE law"
(Galatians 5:3). In doing so, he must remember that
all his efforts to comply with the Decalogue will NOT result in
spiritual life or righteousness. Fifthly, the idea that observance of
the Law is able to generate a single spiritual benefit Godward defies a
3,500-year track record of abject failure. Sixth, it fails to take into
account the new testament dynamic whereby the indwelling Spirit writes
the Law of God in fleshy tables of the heart and transforms believers
into living epistles of Christ (2 Corinthians 3:3). Lastly, and perhaps
most importantly, it counts the blood of Jesus, the believer's path
into the holiest, as inadequate and Christ himself as
insufficient.
Dealing with a False Accusation
The next logical topic of discussion
is the false charge Satan and his
cohorts have leveled against the proponents of NT grace for
the last two thousand years. The LIE goes like this. One who believes
he or she is no longer 'under Law', but 'under Grace', is lawless by
default. This LIE is called antinomianism; that is, one who is
'against'
Mosaic Law lives without law. Nothing could be further from the
truth. The proponents of grace live under a higher law. Paul identified
it as “the LAW of the Spirit of life in Christ Jesus” that makes the
born-again believer “FREE from the law of sin and death” (Romans 8:2).
Paul continues: “For what the law could not do, in that it was weak
through the flesh, God sending his own Son in the likeness of sinful
flesh, and for sin, condemned sin in the flesh: That the righteousness
of the law might be fulfilled in us, who walk not after the flesh, but
after the Spirit” (8:3-4). What the Law CANNOT do is provide freedom
from sin! Why? Because the flesh is weak, unable to comply in total
with the Law's demands. God's design for the NT believer is fulfillment
of the Law IN US by the power of the indwelling Spirit. The Law of
the Spirit of life supersedes the Mosaic Law. I heard a
little rhyme years ago that goes like this: '"Do this and live
that Law commands, but gives me neither feet nor hands. A better word
the Gospel brings, it bids me fly and gives me wings!" The
believer in Jesus Christ LOVES God's Law because it is a reflection of
his holy character. Grace does NOT give him a license to sin, that
grace may abound. He desires to please his heavenly Father by
obedience. The born-again believer who operates in Spirit power will
find himself complying with the Law of God PLUS bearing the fruit of
the Spirit–love, joy, peace, longsuffering, gentleness, goodness,
faith, meekness and temperance–against which there is no Law (Galatians
5:22-23). This is why Paul admonished the Galatians against turning
back to the “weak and beggarly [powerless] elements”
of the Mosaic
Law, which engenders to bondage (4:9). The Law is holy, just and good,
but has no power at all to produce fulfillment of the Law. The Law of
the Spirit of life in Christ Jesus, the Law that supersedes the Mosaic,
is God's solution for producing IN US the righteousness of God's Law.
The man who has experienced the saving grace of God has no
problem
understanding the doctrine of grace. It is the unregenerate
crowd who never seems to 'get it' because they've never
experienced it. The Issue of Guilt
Now a final word
regarding guilt. If and when a man takes upon himself Torah
compliance as a means of winning God's favor, he is obligated to live
in sinless perfection. No man since God gave the Law through Moses,
including Moses himself, has ever accomplished that feat.
Being
'Under the Law' carries with it serious consequences. Paul
wrote:
"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). James adds:
"For
whosoever shall keep the whole law, and yet offend in one point, he is
GUILTY of all (James 2:10). The glory of grace through faith
in
Christ is that Jesus, who DID live a sinlessly perfect
life, bore
our guilt on the Cross. He offers the guilty sinner who believes in him
the forgiveness of sins, imputation of Christ's
righteousness
and eternal life! God reckons the believer as having done the whole law
inasmuch as he is clothed in Christ's righteousness and
accepted
in the Beloved. This is the
glory of the gospel. It is impossible to be 'under Grace' and 'under
Law' at the same time. Moreover, a life of sinless Torah compliance,
even if possible, CANNOT get a man to heaven. He would
still lack God's righteousness and eternal life,
which are
ONLY
obtainable through faith in Christ Jesus, the promised Seed of the
Abrahamic covenant.
Conclusion
A
document of this length cannot possibly deal with all aspects of
covenant. But it is my prayer that it has been sufficiently informative
to provide a healthy perspective on God's dealings with men. As we have
seen, there are many covenants with unique applicability. Some are
conditional, like the Adamic and Mosaic covenants. Others are
unconditional and eternal – the Noahic, Abrahamic and Davidic. The New
Covenant in the blood of Christ is also unconditional and eternal. The
one condition upon which it rests is faith in the Lord Jesus Christ,
who is able to save to the uttermost those who come unto God by him
(Hebrews 7:25). Once a man is in Christ and Christ is in the man, the
new covenant in his blood is irrevocable!
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