Salvation Through The New Covenant

The King James Version (KJV) is mostly used in these lessons. Click here to access the KJV online.

There is much confusion today over what the covenants are. Especially is the New Covenant and its application to the Christian misunderstood. The new covenant is a covenant of grace. It introduces Christ to the sinner in his struggle to reach the standard of a holy law. It transforms man from a hopeless failure to a glorious success. It changes defeat into victory. It lifts man’s feet from the miry clay and plants them upon a solid rock.

What is the New Covenant? It is God’s promise that Christ by the Holy Spirit shall dwell in the hearts of His people and impart to them divine power to keep His holy law. It is Christ writing the law in the heart and not merely upon stone. It is the restoration of God’s image in man by perfect obedience through the power of Christ. It opens the way back to Paradise.

“Another compact--called in Scripture the "old" covenant--was formed between God and Israel at Sinai, and was then ratified by the blood of a sacrifice. The Abrahamic covenant was ratified by the blood of Christ, and it is called the "second," or "new," covenant, because the blood by which it was sealed was shed after the blood of the first covenant. That the new covenant was valid in the days of Abraham is evident from the fact that it was then confirmed both by the promise and by the oath of God--the "two immutable things, in which it was impossible for God to lie." Hebrews 6:18.” Patriarchs and Prophets page 371.

The Old Covenant

1. Define the term “covenant.”

"To agree with, to enter into a formal agreement; to bind oneself by contract. An agreement between two or more persons or parties, or one of the stipulations in such an agreement." Webster Dictionary.

2. Where and with whom did God make the “old” covenant?

“In the third month, when the children of Israel were gone forth out of the land of Egypt, the same day came they into the wilderness of Sinai. For they were departed from Rephidim, and were come to the desert of Sinai, and had pitched in the wilderness; and there Israel camped before the mount. And Moses went up unto God, and the LORD called unto him out of the mountain, saying, Thus shalt thou say to the house of Jacob, and tell the children of Israel; Ye have seen what I did unto the Egyptians, and how I bare you on eagles' wings, and brought you unto myself. Now therefore, if ye will obey my voice indeed, and keep my covenant, then ye shall be a peculiar treasure unto me above all people: for all the earth is mine: And ye shall be unto me a kingdom of priests, and an holy nation. These are the words which thou shalt speak unto the children of Israel. And Moses came and called for the elders of the people, and laid before their faces all these words which the LORD commanded him. And all the people answered together, and said, All that the LORD hath spoken we will do. And Moses returned the words of the people unto the LORD.” Exodus 19:1-8.

Answer: At Mount Sinai and with the children of Israel.

What The Old Covenant Was Not

3. What proposition did God submit to them?

“Now therefore, if ye will obey my voice indeed, and keep my covenant, then ye shall be a peculiar treasure unto me above all people: for all the earth is mine: And ye shall be unto me a kingdom of priests, and an holy nation. These are the words which thou shalt speak unto the children of Israel.” Exodus19:5, 6.

Answer: They shall be a kingdom of priests- a holy nation.

4. After Moses had explained the terms of the covenant to the peo­ple, what was the unanimous response?

“And all the people answered together, and said, All that the LORD hath spoken we will do. And Moses returned the words of the people unto the LORD.” “And Moses came and told the people all the words of the LORD, and all the judgments: and all the people answered with one voice, and said, All the words which the LORD hath said will we do.” Exodus 19:8; 24:3.

Answer: All that the Lord hath spoken we will do.

5. How was this covenant ratified?

“And Moses came and told the people all the words of the LORD, and all the judgments: and all the people answered with one voice, and said, All the words which the LORD hath said will we do. And Moses wrote all the words of the LORD, and rose up early in the morning, and builded an altar under the hill, and twelve pillars, according to the twelve tribes of Israel. And he sent young men of the children of Israel, which offered burnt offerings, and sacrificed peace offerings of oxen unto the LORD. And Moses took half of the blood, and put it in basons; and half of the blood he sprinkled on the altar. And he took the book of the covenant, and read in the audience of the people: and they said, All that the LORD hath said will we do, and be obedient. And Moses took the blood, and sprinkled it on the people, and said, Behold the blood of the covenant, which the LORD hath made with you concerning all these words.” Exodus 24:3-8.

“Whereupon neither the first testament was dedicated without blood. {dedicated: or, purified} For when Moses had spoken every precept to all the people according to the law, he took the blood of calves and of goats, with water, and scarlet wool, and hyssop, and sprinkled both the book, and all the people, {scarlet: or, purple} Saying, This is the blood of the testament which God hath enjoined unto you. Moreover he sprinkled with blood both the tabernacle, and all the vessels of the ministry.” Hebrews 9:18-21.

6. Less than forty days after making this covenant, while Moses tarried on the mount, what did Israel say to Aaron?

“Up, make us gods, which shall go before us; for as for this Moses, the man that brought us up out of the land of Egypt, we wot not what is become of him.” Exodus 32:1.

7. What had Israel done before Moses had finished his audience with God and come down from the mountaintop?

“And the LORD said unto Moses, Go, get thee down; for thy people, which thou broughtest out of the land of Egypt, have corrupted themselves: They have turned aside quickly out of the way which I commanded them: they have made them a molten calf, and have worshipped it, and have sacrificed thereunto, and said, These be thy gods, O Israel, which have brought thee up out of the land of Egypt.” Exodus 32:7,8.

Answer: They made a molten calf.

N0TE: The great object and secret of the old covenant is revealed here. The people did not realize the weakness and sinfulness of their own hearts, or their need of divine grace and help to keep the law; and so, in their ignorance, they readily pledged obedience. But almost immediately they began to commit idolatry, and thus to break the law of God, or the very conditions laid down as their part of the covenant. In themselves the conditions were good; but in their own strength the people were unable to fulfill them.

The great object of the old covenant therefore was to teach the people their weakness, and their inability to keep the law without God’s help. This covenant was designed, like the law itself, over which it was made, to shut them up to the provisions of the new, or everlasting, covenant of grace and lead them to Christ. And the lesson which Israel as a nation had to learn, each individual now must learn before he can be saved. There is no salvation for any one while trusting in self. Unaided, no one can keep the law. Only in Christ is there remission of sins or power to keep from sinning. The breaking of the tables of the law signified that the terms of the covenant had been broken; the renewing of the tables (Exodus 34:1, 28), God’s patience with His people.

8. What then was wrong with the old covenant?

“For if that first covenant had been faultless, then should no place have been sought for the second. For finding fault with them, he saith, Behold, the days come, saith the Lord, when I will make a new covenant with the house of Israel and with the house of Judah.” Hebrews 8:7,8.

Answer: It had faults. The chief fault in connection with the old covenant lay with the people. They were not able, in themselves, to fulfill their part of it, and it provided them no help for so doing. There was no Christ in it. It was of works and not of grace. It was valuable only as a means of impressing upon them their sinfulness and their need of divine aid.

“The terms of the old covenant' were, Obey and live: 'If a man do, he shall even live in them' (Ezekiel 20:11; Leviticus 18:5); but 'cursed be he that confirmeth not all the words of this law to do them.' Deuteronomy 27:26. The 'new covenant' was established upon 'better promises'--the promise of forgiveness of sins and of the grace of God to renew the heart and bring it into harmony with the principles of God's law.” Patriarchs and Prophets, page 372.

9. Was the old covenant the Ten Commandments, the moral law?

Answer: No, the old covenant was not the Ten Commandment law, but was instead an agreement made between God and the people regarding the keeping of His commandments. “If ye will obey, ye shall live," was God's promise. To this the people replied: "All that Jehovah hath said will we do, and be obedient." Exodus 24:7. This was the covenant agreement. It was about the keeping of the Ten Commandment law, but it was not the law itself. The law was only the subject.

Better Promises

10. What became of the old covenant?

“In that he saith, A new covenant, he hath made the first old. Now that which decayeth and waxeth old is ready to vanish away.” Hebrews 8:13.

Answer: It vanished away.

11. With whom did God make the new covenant?

“For finding fault with them, he saith, Behold, the days come, saith the Lord, when I will make a new covenant with the house of Israel and with the house of Judah: Not according to the covenant that I made with their fathers in the day when I took them by the hand to lead them out of the land of Egypt; because they continued not in my covenant, and I regarded them not, saith the Lord.” Hebrews 8: 8,9.

Answer: With the house of Israel and with the house of Judah.

12. How did the new covenant differ from the old one?

“But this shall be the covenant that I will make with the house of Israel; After those days, saith the LORD, I will put my law in their inward parts, and write it in their hearts; and will be their God, and they shall be my people.” “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.” “Not according to the covenant that I made with their fathers in the day when I took them by the hand to lead them out of the land of Egypt; because they continued not in my covenant, and I regarded them not, saith the Lord. For this is the covenant that I will make with the house of Israel after those days, saith the Lord; I will put my laws into their mind, and write them in their hearts: and I will be to them a God, and they shall be to me a people” Jeremiah 31:33; Romans 8:3,4; Hebrews 8:9,10.

Answer: God promised to write His law in their hearts. The new covenant is “Christ in you, the hope of glory.” Colossians 1:27. (See also Ephesians 3:16-20; Philipians 4:13.)

The New Covenant Brings In A Mighty Helper

13. Who is the Mediator of this covenant?

“Now of the things which we have spoken this is the sum: We have such an high priest, who is set on the right hand of the throne of the Majesty in the heavens; . . . But now hath he obtained a more excellent ministry, by how much also he is the mediator of a better covenant, which was established upon better promises.” “And to Jesus the mediator of the new covenant, and to the blood of sprinkling, that speaketh better things than that of Abel.” Hebrews 8:1, 6; 12:24.

Answer: Jesus [Yahushua] the High Priest.

14. What is necessary where there is a covenant?

“For where a testament is, there must also of necessity be the death of the testator. For a testament is of force after men are dead: otherwise it is of no strength at all while the testator liveth.” Hebrews 9:16, 17.

Answer: Death.

A Deliverer Promised

15. How was Christ promised as soon as sin entered?

“And the Lord God said unto the serpent,.. . I will put enmity between thee and the woman, and between thy seed and her seed; it shall bruise thy head, and thou shalt bruise His heel.” Genesis 3:14, 15.

NOTE: The covenant of grace, with its provisions of pardon and peace, dates from the foundation of the world.

16. To whom was this covenant-promise later renewed?

“God said unto Abraham... 'Sarah thy wife shall bear thee a son indeed; and thou shalt call his name Isaac: and I will establish My covenant with him for an everlasting covenant, and with his seed after him.'" "I will make thy seed to multiply as the stars... and in thy seed shall all the nations of the earth be blessed.'” Genesis 17:15, 19; 26:4.

17. Who was the seed here referred to?

“Now to Abraham and his seed were the promises made. He saith not, And to seeds, as of many; but as of one, And to thy seed, which is Christ.” Galatians 3:16.

18. What shows that the new, or second, covenant and the Abrahamic covenant are virtually the same?

“And if ye be Christ’s, then are ye Abraham’s seed, and heirs according to the promise.” Galations 3:29.

NOTE: No one need be confused by the terms first covenant and second covenant. While the one made at Sinai is called the first covenant, it is by no means the first covenant that God ever made with man. Long before this He made a covenant with Abraham; He also made a covenant with Noah, and with Adam. Neither must it be supposed that the first, or old, covenant existed for a time as the only covenant with mankind, and that this must serve its purpose and pass away before any one could share in the promised blessings of the second or new covenant. In that case, during that time there would have been no pardon for anyone. What is called the new, or second, covenant virtually existed before the covenant made at Sinai; for the covenant with Abraham was confirmed in Christ (Galatians 3:17), and only through Christ is there any value to the new, or second, covenant. There is no blessing that can be gained by virtue of the new covenant that was not promised to Abraham. And we, with whom the new covenant is made, can share the inheritance which it promises only by being children of Abraham. (Galatians 3:7, 9.) Since no one can have anything except as a child of Abraham, it follows that there is nothing in what is called the new, or second, covenant that was not in the covenant made with Abraham. The second covenant existed in every essential feature, except its ratification, long before the first, even from the days of Adam. It is called second because its ratification occurred after the covenant made and ratified at Sinai.

19. With whose blood was the new covenant dedicated?

“Likewise also the cup after supper, saying, This cup is the new testament in my blood, which is shed for you.” Luke 22:20.

Answer: Christ’s blood.

20. Where and how was this new covenant ratified?

“When Jesus therefore had received the vinegar, he said, It is finished: and he bowed his head, and gave up the ghost.” “Jesus saith unto her, Touch me not; for I am not yet ascended to my Father: but go to my brethren, and say unto them, I ascend unto my Father, and your Father; and to my God, and your God.” John 19:30; 20:17.

Answer: When Jesus received the vinegar and died on the cross.

NOTE: “Jesus refused to receive the homage of His people until He had the assurance that His sacrifice was accepted by the Father. He ascended to the heavenly courts, and from God Himself heard the assurance that His atonement for the sins of men had been ample, that through His blood all might gain eternal life. The Father ratified the covenant made with Christ, that He would receive repentant and obedient men, and would love them even as He loves His Son.” The Desire of Ages, page 790.

21. What unites all believers under the new covenant?

“Ye being in time past Gentiles in the flesh, were without Christ, being aliens from the commonwealth of Israel, and strangers from the covenants of promise, having no hope, and without God in the world: but now in Christ Jesus ye who sometimes were far off are made nigh by the blood of Christ.” Ephesians 2:11-13.

22. By studying the new and old covenants what conclusion can we reach regarding salvation?

“For by grace are ye saved through faith; and that not of yourselves: it is the gift of God: Not of works, lest any man should boast. For we are his workmanship, created in Christ Jesus unto good works, which God hath before ordained that we should walk in them.” Ephesians 2:8.

The Old And New Compared

23. Under the old covenant, what did the people promise?

Answer: To keep the law of God in their own strength.

N0TE: Under this covenant the people promised to keep all the commandments of God in order to be His peculiar people, and this without help. This was virtually a promise to make themselves righteous. But Christ says, “Without Me ye can do nothing.” John 15:5. And the prophet Isaiah says, “All our righteousnesses are as filthy rags.” Isaiah 64:6. The only perfect righteousness is God’s righteousness, obtained only through faith in Christ. (Romans 3:20-26.) The only righteousness that will ensure an entrance into the kingdom of God is “the righteousness which is of God by faith.” Philippians 3:9. Of those who inherit the kingdom of God, the Lord says, “Their righteousness is of Me” (Isaiah 54:17); and the prophet Jeremiah says of Christ, “This is His name whereby He shall be called, The Lord Our Righteousness” (Jeremiah 23:6).

24. Under the new covenant, what does God promise to do?

“I will put My law in their inward parts, and write it in their hearts.” Jeremiah 31:33.

Answer: The new covenant is an arrangement for bringing man again into harmony with the divine will, and placing him where he can keep God’s law. Its “better promises” bring forgiveness of sins, grace to renew the heart, and power to obey the law of God. The dissolution of the old covenant and the making of the new in no wise abrogated the law of God.

25. Where was God’s law written under the old covenant?

“And I made an ark of shittim wood, and hewed two tables of stone. . . And He wrote on the tables. . . the ten commandments.” Deuteronomy 10:3, 4.

26. Where is the law of God written under the new covenant?

“But this shall be the covenant that I will make with the house of Israel; After those days, saith the Lord, I will put My law in their inward parts, and write it in their hearts.” Jeremiah 31:33.

Similarities Between The Two Covenants

1. Both are called covenants.
2. Both were ratified with blood.
3. Both were made concerning the law of God.
4. Both were made with the people of God.
5. Both were established upon promises.

Difference Between The Two Covenants