Listen to this articleThere is a common misconception that Abraham lived according to the new covenant or (New Testament). There is also a tendency by some people to treat the New Covenant as an extension of the Old. This comes from a misunderstanding of firstly what a covenant is, and secondly what The New Covenant is.
In order to show the difference more clearly, I have to show the four main covenants of the bible.
A covenant is an agreement, what we would call today, a contract.
1.) THE NOAHIC COVENANT (Covenant of Grace)
Noah was the tenth generation from Adam.
The Noahic covenant is a covenant of grace. When God destroyed the whole world, Noah was saved purely through the grace of God. And through this grace, Noah become the father of all human beings.
Genesis 6:7-8 (NKJV)
7 So the LORD said, “I will destroy man whom I have created from the face of the earth, both man and beast, creeping thing and birds of the air, for I am sorry that I have made them.” 8 But Noah found grace in the eyes of the LORD.
So, in a way, by an act of grace Noah has taken the place of Adam, as Father of all human beings.
Genesis 9:1 (NKJV)
1 So God blessed Noah and his sons, and said to them: “Be fruitful and multiply, and fill the earth.
God then makes a covenant with Noah.
Genesis 9:11 (NKJV)
11 Thus I establish My covenant with you: Never again shall all flesh be cut off by the waters of the flood; never again shall there be a flood to destroy the earth.”
The Sign of the Nohaic Covenant
The Noahic covenant is an everlasting covenant of grace between God and all his creatures on earth. As long as you are a descendant of Noah or of the animals in the flood, you are a beneficiary of that covenant. The sign of this covenant is the Rainbow in the sky.
Genesis 9:16 (NKJV)
16 The rainbow shall be in the cloud, and I will look on it to remember the everlasting covenant between God and every living creature of all flesh that is on the earth.”
2.) ABRAHAMIC COVENANT (Covenant of Faith)
Abraham was the 10th Generation from Noah.
During the time of Noah, the world was of one language and it was one nation. During the time of Nimrod, the world became divided into 70 nations of different languages. These nations continued to divide further and further.
When Abram fathered a son called Ishamael, God came to him and promised him that he would have a son, who would be heir to all his wealth, and that he would have descendants as many as the stars and sand.
Abram believed in this promise, and his faith in God’s promise was counted to him as righteousness.
Genesis 15:4-6 (NKJV)
4 And behold, the word of the LORD came to him, saying, “This one shall not be your heir, but one who will come from your own body shall be your heir.” 5 Then He brought him outside and said, “Look now toward heaven, and count the stars if you are able to number them.” And He said to him, “So shall your descendants be.”
6 And he believed in the LORD, and He accounted it to him for righteousness.
God then made a covenant with Abram, and changed his name from Abram to Abraham, from Exhalted Father to Father of many.
Genesis 17:3-6 (NKJV)
3 Then Abram fell on his face, and God talked with him, saying: 4 “As for Me, behold, My covenant is with you, and you shall be a father of many nations. 5 No longer shall your name be called Abram, but your name shall be Abraham; for I have made you a father of many nations.
6 I will make you exceedingly fruitful; and I will make nations of you, and kings shall come from you.
The Abrahamic covenant was between Abraham and his descendants, and the sign of this covenant was circumcision. If any child of Abraham did not get circumcised, they could not part of the blessing of Abraham. The blessing of fruitfulness, to bear kings and nations.
The Sign of The Abrahamic Covenant
The sign of this covenant was to be seen in the flesh. It is circumcision.
Genesis 17:13-14 (NKJV)
13 He who is born in your house and he who is bought with your money must be circumcised, and My covenant shall be in your flesh for an everlasting covenant.
14 And the uncircumcised male child, who is not circumcised in the flesh of his foreskin, that person shall be cut off from his people; he has broken My covenant.”
So, in this case, every child of Abraham who got circumcised, it was an act of faith, in the promise given to Abraham.
3.) MOSAIC COVENANT (Covenant of Works)
Though many nations came out of Abraham. From the descendants of Abraham, God then took the children of Jacob and created a nation out of them. This nation would be a nation of Priests and God’s kingdom would come to the earth through this nation. However, it was a conditional covenant.
Exodus 19:5-6 (NKJV)
5 Now therefore, if you will indeed obey My voice and keep My covenant, then you shall be a special treasure to Me above all people; for all the earth is Mine. 6 And you shall be to Me a kingdom of priests and a holy nation.’ These are the words which you shall speak to the children of Israel.”
As you can see, from the above scripture, this covenant is the only conditional covenant. The promise of the Mosaic was based on the works of the people. If people failed to obey God’s covenant then they could not receive the promise.
The promise of this covenant was adoption. They would be adopted by God, to be his holy nation of priests, and a special treasure.
The words of the covenant were ten words. God came down from heaven onto Mt Sinai, and spoke ten words to the people, in their hearing. (Exodus 20:1-18) They heard his voice and the elders saw him, and ate with him. (Exodus 24:10)
After God had spoken the ten words, the people said they no longer wanted to hear God’s voice, and begged Moses to continue as their prophet (hearing God on their behalf).
God continued to speak more things to Moses, but the first ten words, which he had spoken in the hearing of the nation, were written on stone by God’s finder, and called the Ten Commandments. These Ten Commandments are the basis, and agreement of the covenant between God and Israel.
The Ten Commandments are the words of The Mosaic Covenant.
Exodus 34:27-28 (NIV)
27 Then 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.” 28 Moses was there with the LORD forty days and forty nights without eating bread or drinking water. And he wrote on the tablets the words of the covenant—the Ten Commandments.
The Sign of the Covenant
The fourth commandment was the sign of this commandment. It was the only commandment that commanded them not to work.
Exodus 31:12-13 (NIV)
12 Then the LORD said to Moses, 13 “Say to the Israelites, ‘You must observe my Sabbaths. This will be a sign between me and you for the generations to come, so you may know that I am the LORD, who makes you holy.
Notice that it says Sabbaths… meaning, the had to obey the weekly, yearly and festival sabbaths as a sign.
If they failed to keep the sign, and if they failed to follow the commandments, then this covenant would be broken and gone.
THE DAVIDIC PROMISE
In 2 Samuel 7, David makes a plan to build a temple for God. However God then sends prophet Nathan to tell David that he will not build a temple for him. He then tell him that his depended would sit on his throne and build the temple for him. He also promises him that he will establish his kingdom forever, and will not fail to have a dependent on the throne.
The reason I did not include this among the covenants but as a promise id because I have not yet found a scripture where this promise is referred to as a covenant.
4.) THE NEW COVENANT, (A Covenant of Peace)
Isaiah 54:10-13 (ESV)
10 For the mountains may depart and the hills be removed, but my steadfast love shall not depart from you, and my covenant of peace shall not be removed,” says the LORD, who has compassion on you.
13 All your children shall be taught by the LORD, and great shall be the peace of your children.
Ezekiel 37:26 (ESV)
26 I will make a covenant of peace with them. It shall be an everlasting covenant with them. And I will set them in their land and multiply them, and will set my sanctuary in their midst forevermore.
The new covenant destroys the barrier of sin that seperated man and God, effectively bring peace and reconciliation between God and His creation.
2 Corinthians 5:16-21 (NIV)
16 So from now on we regard no one from a worldly point of view. Though we once regarded Christ in this way, we do so no longer. 17 Therefore, if anyone is in Christ, the new creation has come: The old has gone, the new is here! 18 All this is from God, who reconciled us to himself through Christ and gave us the ministry of reconciliation:
19 that God was reconciling the world to himself in Christ, not counting people’s sins against them. And he has committed to us the message of reconciliation. 20 We are therefore Christ’s ambassadors, as though God were making his appeal through us. We implore you on Christ’s behalf: Be reconciled to God. 21 God made him who had no sin to be sin for us, so that in him we might become the righteousness of God.
Why A New Covenant
The Mosaic Covenant had been based on the works of the people, and because the people could not not live without sinning, they ultimately broke this covenant, and it became ineffective. God then promised that he would make a new covenant with Israel, and this covenant would not be the same as the Mosaic Covenant.
Jeremiah 31:31-34 (NIV)
31 “The days are coming,” declares the LORD, “when I will a new covenant with the people of Israel and with the people of Judah.
32 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 broke my covenant, though I was a husband to them,” declares the LORD.
33 “This is the covenant I will make with the people of Israel after that time,” declares the LORD. “I will put my law in their minds and write it on their hearts. I will be their God, and they will be my people.
34 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,” declares the LORD. “For I will forgive their wickedness and will remember their sins no more.”
There are a few things to note about this new covenant
A) it is a replacement of the Mosaic Covenant.
B) It is different from the Mosaic Covenant
D) People under this covenant do not need to be taught to know God.
E) God will not remember the sins of the people in this covenant
This covenant is established in the Blood of Jesus.
Matthew 26:27-28 (NIV)
27 Then he took a cup, and when he had given thanks, he gave it to them, saying, “Drink from it, all of you. 28 This is my blood of the covenant, which is poured out for many for the forgiveness of sins.
How come, God can not remember people’s sins no more and the people in this covenant don’t need to be taught to know God? How is it that God writes his laws in their hearts.
God explains this how Ezekiel
Ezekiel 36:25-27 (ESV)
25 I will sprinkle clean water on you, and you shall be clean from all your uncleannesses, and from all your idols I will cleanse you. 26 And I will give you a new heart, and a new spirit I will put within you. And I will remove the heart of stone from your flesh and give you a heart of flesh.
27 And I will put my Spirit within you, and cause you to walk in my statutes and be careful to obey my rules.
Under this new covenant, God would transform people’s hearts, regenerate their spirits and put his own Holy Spirit inside them. And the Holy Spirit causes them to follow his statues and rules.
This process is known as the New Birth, and it is how you can experience the Kingdom of God.
An Important Fact to Remember
From Exodus 19:5-6, we know that the Mosaic Covenant made Israel to become God’s holy kingdom on Earth. So through the first covenant between God and Israel, Israel became the Kingdom of God on earth.
2 Chronicles 13:8 (NIV)
8 “And now you plan to resist the kingdom of the LORD, which is in the hands of David’s descendants. You are indeed a vast army and have with you the golden calves that Jeroboam made to be your gods.
To be an Israelite, and to receive the inheritance of Israel, you had to be born into the kingdom of Israel. Once born, you had to keep the covenant of God to remain as part of the Kingdom of God.
I say this, because this similar to how the New Covenant works.
The New Covenant would establish the Kingdom of God in Israel: Instead of establishing the kingdom of God outside first, it would establish the kingdom of God inside a person.
Luke 17:20-21 (ASV)
20 And being asked by the Pharisees, when the kingdom of God cometh, he answered them and said, The kingdom of God cometh not with observation: 21 neither shall they say, Lo, here! or, There! for lo, the kingdom of God is within you.
Just as you had to be born a child of Israel, to enter the kingdom of God in Israel and receive inheritance, you must be born again spiritually, to enter the kingdom of God in Christ and be beneficiaries of the New Covenant.
John 3:5-6 (NIV)
5 Jesus answered, “Very truly I tell you, no one can enter the kingdom of God unless they are born of water and the Spirit. 6 Flesh gives birth to flesh, but the Spirit gives birth to spirit.
And the new covenant establishes the kingdom of God inside you.
Luke 17:20-21 (ASV)
20 And being asked by the Pharisees, when the kingdom of God cometh, he answered them and said, The kingdom of God cometh not with observation: 21 neither shall they say, Lo, here! or, There! for lo, the kingdom of God is within you.
The Sign of the Covenant
Just as each new covenant had it’s own sign, the Covenant of God in Christ also has a sign. That sign and seal is the Holy Spirit.
Romans 8:9 (NIV)
9 You, however, are not in the realm of the flesh but are in the realm of the Spirit, if indeed the Spirit of God lives in you. And if anyone does not have the Spirit of Christ, they do not belong to Christ.
Ephesians 1:13-14 (NIV)
13 And you also were included in Christ when you heard the message of truth, the gospel of your salvation. When you believed, you were marked in him with a seal, the promised Holy Spirit, 14 who is a deposit guaranteeing our inheritance until the redemption of those who are God’s possession—to the praise of his glory.
Ephesians 4:30 (NIV)
30 And do not grieve the Holy Spirit of God, with whom you were sealed for the day of redemption
The Blessings of the Covenant
When a person enters into the Covenant of Christ, they receive access to all spiritual blessings that God has ever promised to mankind, and all promises that God has ever given are fulfilled and received in this new covenant.
2 Corinthians 1:20 (NIV)
20 For no matter how many promises God has made, they are “Yes” in Christ. And so through him the “Amen” is spoken by us to the glory of God.
The promises given to Abraham, the promises given to Adam, to Noah, to Israel to David to Aaron, all of them, are YES in Christ Jesus. You don’t need to be circumcised to enter into Abraham’s blessing, Christ was circumcised on your behalf. You don’t need to keep the Mosaic law and Ten Commandments to earn the blessing of the law, Christ kept the law on your behalf. All you need to do, is to remain in Christ, and Christ qualifies you for all the promises.
Not only, do we have all the promises given, but we have all the blessings in heaven too. Blessings that have not yet been revealed to anyone.
Ephesians 1:3 (KJV)
3 Blessed be the God and Father of our Lord Jesus Christ, who hath blessed us with all spiritual blessings in heavenly places in Christ:
1 Corinthians 3:21-23 (NIV)
21 So then, no more boasting about human leaders! All things are yours, 22 whether Paul or Apollos or Cephas or the world or life or death or the present or the future —all are yours, 23 and you are of Christ, and Christ is of God.
This is the Good News concerning the new covenant.It fulfils all the requirements and gives all the blessings of all the covenants.
The Requirement to enter the New the Covenant
There is only one requirement, and that is to have Faith in Jesus. When you believe in Jesus, he will give you into a new birth, your heart is transformed, you receive his spirit, and his spirit will cause you to do things that please him.
The works that we do under the new covenant, don’t qualify us, but they are a result of out of our transformed nature.
John 6:28-29 (NIV)
28 Then they asked him, “What must we do to do the works God requires?”
29 Jesus answered, “The work of God is this: to believe in the one he has sent.”
Acts 16:30-31 (NIV)
30 He then brought them out and asked, “Sirs, what must I do to be saved?”
31 They replied, “Believe in the Lord Jesus, and you will be saved —you and your household.”
The Way of life in the New Covenant
To be saved, you have to believe in Jesus as saviour and lord. Believing in him as Lord means you are willing to obey his commandments.
His commandments were given to us in two ways:
A) through the apostles
They are found in the gospels and the epistles of the apostles.
Matthew 28:18-20 (NIV)
18 Then Jesus came to them and said, “All authority in heaven and on earth has been given to me. 19 Therefore go and make disciples of all nations, baptizing them in the name of the Father and of the Son and of the Holy Spirit, 20 and teaching them to obey everything I have commanded you. And surely I am with you always, to the very end of the age.”
1 Corinthians 14:37 (KJV)
37 If any man think himself to be a prophet, or spiritual, let him acknowledge that the things that I write unto you are the commandments of the Lord.
1 Thessalonians 4:1-2 (KJV)
1 Furthermore then we beseech you, brethren, and exhort you by the Lord Jesus, that as ye have received of us how ye ought to walk and to please God, so ye would abound more and more. 2 For ye know what commandments we gave you by the Lord Jesus.
The Commandments of Jesus, don’t make us children of God, but we keep them because we want to, and love too. We love to keep his commandments because it’s in our nature.
1 John 3:22-23 (ESV)
22 and whatever we ask we receive from him, because we keep his commandments and do what pleases him.
23 And this is his commandment, that we believe in the name of his Son Jesus Christ and love one another, just as he has commanded us.
B) Through the Spirit
Galatians 5:16-18 (ESV)
16 But I say, walk by the Spirit, and you will not gratify the desires of the flesh. 17 For the desires of the flesh are against the Spirit, and the desires of the Spirit are against the flesh, for these are opposed to each other, to keep you from doing the things you want to do.
A Covenant of Peace – Abolishing The Ten Commandments
The Covenant of Christ is a covenant of Peace, based on the blood of Jesus. The ten commandments given by God, created hostility and division among the people. The peace of the new covenant comes through the abolishing of the commandments.
Ephesians 2:14-15 (ESV)
14 For he himself is our peace, who has made us both one and has broken down in his flesh the dividing wall of hostility 15 by abolishing the law of commandments expressed in ordinances, that he might create in himself one new man in place of the two, so making peace,
The New Covenant is not based on walking according to the ten commandments which were written by God’s finger, but is based on walking according to the leading of the Spirit within you.
We are not supposed to minister to people the ten commandments
2 Corinthians 3:6-8 (ESV)
6 who has made us sufficient to be ministers of a new covenant, not of the letter but of the Spirit. For the letter kills, but the Spirit gives life.
7 Now if the ministry of death, carved in letters on stone, came with such glory that the Israelites could not gaze at Moses’ face because of its glory, which was being brought to an end, 8 will not the ministry of the Spirit have even more glory?
What Paul is referring to as the Ministry of death, is specifically the Ten Commandments. It was the Ten Commandments that were carved in stone, and caused Moses Face to shine.
Exodus 34:28-29 (NKJV)
28 So he was there with the LORD forty days and forty nights; he neither ate bread nor drank water. And He wrote on the tablets the words of the covenant, the Ten Commandments.
29 Now it was so, when Moses came down from Mount Sinai (and the two tablets of the Testimony were in Moses’ hand when he came down from the mountain), that Moses did not know that the skin of his face shone while he talked with Him
So Paul is saying that the Ten Commandments that caused Moses face to shine, were a ministry of death. He is saying that God has made us ministers of a new covenant, that was not written on those stones. And he says the glory of the Ten Commandments has been done away with.
2 Corinthians 3:8-11 (ESV)
8 will not the ministry of the Spirit have even more glory? 9 For if there was glory in the ministry of condemnation, the ministry of righteousness must far exceed it in glory.
10 Indeed, in this case, what once had glory has come to have no glory at all, because of the glory that surpasses it.
11 For if what was being brought to an end came with glory, much more will what is permanent have glory.
Any person who tries to enforce the words of the old covenant, which are the Ten Commandments to the people, he is ministering death.
In Conclusion
Every believer, who tries to make himself right with God by following the Law of the Ten Commandments is placing himself under a curse, and the grace of God, of the new covenant becomes ineffective in their life.
Galatians 3:10 (ESV)
10 For all who rely on works of the law are under a curse; for it is written, “Cursed be everyone who does not abide by all things written in the Book of the Law, and do them.”
That is great