The Law of the Kingdom: Old & New Covenant | Part B

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

In the first covenant [old covenant], to what was Israel's promise really equivalent?
In the first covenant, the people promised to keep all the commandments of Yahuwah, so as to be worthy of a place in His kingdom. This was a virtual promise to make themselves righteous; for Yahuwah did not promise to help them.

But says Yahushua, "I am the vine, ye are the branches: He that abideth in me, and I in him, the same bringeth forth much fruit: for without me ye can do nothing." John 15:5.

And the prophet says, "But we are all as an unclean thing, and all our righteousnesses are as filthy rags; and we all do fade as a leaf; and our iniquities, like the wind, have taken us away." Isaiah 64:6.

The only perfect righteousness is Yahuwah's righteousness, and that can be obtained only through faith in Yahushua (See Romans 3:20-26). The only righteousness that will insure us an entrance into the kingdom of Yahuwah, is: "And be found in him, not having mine own righteousness, which is of the law, but that which is through the faith of Yahushua, the righteousness which is of Yahuwah by faith." Philippians 3:9.

Of those who shall inherit the kingdom of Yahuwah, He says,
"No weapon that is formed against thee shall prosper; and every tongue that shall rise against thee in judgment thou shalt condemn. This is the heritage of the servants of Yahuwah, and their righteousness is of me, saith Yahuwah." Isaiah 54:17.

And the prophet says of Yahushua, when He has taken His place as king over all the true Israel,
"In his days Judah shall be saved, and Israel shall dwell safely: and this is his name whereby he shall be called, YAHUWAH OUR RIGHTEOUSNESS." Jeremiah 23:6.

Yet what must be done in order to have eternal life?
"And he said unto him, Why callest thou me good? there is none good but one, that is, Yahuwah: but if thou wilt enter into life, keep the commandments." Matthew 19:17. (See also Revelation. 22:14.)

Then how could ancient Israel have any chance for eternal life?
"How much more shall the blood of the Anointed, who through the eternal Spirit offered himself without spot to Yahuwah, purge your conscience from dead works to serve the living Eloah? 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 9:14-15.

NOTE: The fact that Yahushua, as mediator of the second covenant, died for the remission of the transgressions that were under the first covenant, shows that there was no forgiveness by virtue of that first covenant.

How alone can the good works required by the law be manifested in the lives of men?
See John 15:4,5; Philippians 2:13; Ephesians 2:10; Hebrews 13:20,21; 1 Corinthians 15:10; Galatians 2:20.

In order to have Yahuwah make us "perfect in every good work to do His will," what must be our position?
"Submit yourselves therefore to Yahuwah. Resist the devil, and he will flee from you." James 4:7.
"Neither yield ye your members as instruments of unrighteousness unto sin: but yield yourselves unto Yahuwah, as those that are alive from the dead, and your members as instruments of righteousness unto Yahuwah." Romans 6:13.

What is said of the law in the second, or new covenant?
"But this shall be the covenant that I will make with the house of Israel; After those days, saith Yahuwah, I will put my law in their inward parts, and write it in their hearts; and will be their Elohim, and they shall be my people." Jeremiah 31:33.

Old Covenant vs. New Covenant: Since no such promise was made in the old covenant (see Exodus 19: 5-8; 24:3-7), were not the promises of the new covenant much "better" than those of the old?

When and how was the second covenant ratified?
By the death of Yahushua: "And he shall confirm the covenant with many for one week: and in the midst of the week he shall cause the sacrifice and the oblation to cease, and for the overspreading of abominations he shall make it desolate, even until the consummation, and that determined shall be poured upon the desolate." Daniel 9:27.
"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.

Then how could the Israelites, or any people before the first advent, derive any benefit from it?
By faith in the promised Redeemer. See. Hebrews 6:13, 16-20; Romans 4:17.

How and in whom was the covenant with Abraham confirmed?
In Yahushua. See Hebrews 6:13, 16-20; Galatians 3:17.

Is there anything in the second covenant that was not in the Abrahamic covenant?
"And if ye be the Anointed's, then are ye Abraham's seed, and heirs according to the promise." Galatians 3:29.

NOTE: None should allow themselves to be confused by the terms first covenant and second covenant. While the covenant made at Sinai is called "the first covenant," it is by no means the first covenant that Yahuwah ever made with man. Long before He made a covenant with Abraham, and He also made a covenant with Noah, and with Adam. Neither must it be supposed that the first or old covenant existed for a period of time as the only covenant with the people before the promise of the second or new covenant could be shared. If that had been the case, then during that time there would have been no pardon for the people. What is called the "second covenant" virtually existed before the covenant was made at Sinai; for the covenant with Abraham was confirmed in Yahushua (Galatians 3:17), and it is only through Yahushua that there is any value to what is known as the second covenant. There is no blessing that can be gained by virtue of the second covenant, that was not promised to Abraham. And we, with whom the second covenant is made, can share the inheritance which it promises, only by being children of Abraham. To be Yahushua's is the same as to be children of Abraham (Galatians 3:29); all who are of faith are the children of Abraham, and share in his blessing (Galatians 3:7-9); and since no one can have anything except as children of Abraham, it follows that there is nothing in what is called the second covenant that was not in the covenant made with Abraham. The second covenant existed in every feature long before the first, even from the days of Adam. It is called "second" because both its ratification by blood and its more minute statement, were after the ratification of the covenant made at Sinai. More than this, it was the second covenant made with the Jewish people. The one from Sinai was the first made with that nation.