Lesson No. 9. The Old and New Covenants
                               The Old and New Testaments--What Are They?
  Text: Galatians 3:15
  Our Bible study today is about the Old and the New Covenants. These two Covenants are also spoken of as the Old and the New Testaments in the New Scriptures. Many have been led to believe that the Ten Commandments are the Old Covenant and that they were abolished when Jesus ratified the New Covenant by His blood. We wish to correct this misunderstanding in our study at this time. This is a large subject and we must deal with the main points if we are to make it clear so all can understand this important truth. A question introduces this topic.
  QUESTION: "Why do you teach people to go back and obey the Ten Commandments, which was the Old Covenant made with Israel? Explain Deuteronomy 4:12,13. The Old Covenant vanished away (Hebrews 8:13)."
  ANSWER: We do not teach people to go back under the Old Covenant, but we do teach them to obey the terms of the New Covenant. Under the New Covenant God writes His Law in our hearts. Read Jeremiah 31:31-33; Hebrews 8:6-12. This is what we teach. The same Law that was written on tables of stone under the Old Covenant is now written in the hearts of Christians under the New Covenant (2 Corinthians 3:2,3).
  The first, or Old Covenant, the writer spoke of in Hebrews 8:13 was the covenant God made with Israel when He led them out of Egypt (Hebrews 8:6-10). Israel failed to keep their part of the covenant (verses 9 and 10; Jeremiah 31:31,32). They lost their inheritance and were scattered among the nations as the consequence (Deuteronomy 28:25,64,65). God promised to make a New Covenant "with the house of Israel", and "with the house of Judah" (Hebrews 8:8; Jeremiah 31:31). Please note that the New Covenant was to be made with Israel and Judah. We will have more to say about that later on. Christ is the Mediator of the New Covenant (Hebrews 8:6,7; 9:15). Through Christ both Israelite and Gentile become children of God and heirs with Father Abraham (Galatians 3:14-16, 26-29).
  The main point now is what is the Old Covenant that God made with Israel? First let us look at the definition of the word "covenant." Webster says "A mutual consent or agreement of two or more persons; a contract stipulation. 2. In theology, the promise of God to man, usually carrying with it a condition to be fulfilled by man. In law, a writing under seal, containing the terms of agreement between parties."
  We will now give examples of three uses of the word "covenant" in the Bible.
  (1) The promise that God would not destroy the earth with a flood of water after the Great Flood in Noah's Day. The promise is called a covenant (Genesis 9:8-15).
  (2) An agreement, or contract, between two or more persons. Such was the Old Covenant made between God and Israel and sealed by the blood of animals (Exodus 24:1-10).
  (3) The basic code of law contained in the terms to which Israel agreed in the Old Covenant (Deuteronomy 4:12,13). "And the Lord spake unto you out of the midst of the fire . . . . And He declared unto you His Covenant, which He commanded you to perform, even Ten Commandments: and He wrote them upon two tables of stone." They are also called "the tables of the covenant" (Hebrews 9:4). This declared or commanded Covenant, the Ten Commandments, was the basic Law found in the terms of the Old Covenant to which Israel agreed in Exodus 19:5-8, 24:1-10. It is also the basic law of the New Covenant which is written in the hearts of Christians. Moreover, this commanded Covenant was the basic law in the covenant made with Father Abraham. David reveals that fact in 1 Chronicles 16:15-17. Let us read it: "Be ye mindful always of his covenant: the word which He commanded to a thousand generations: even of the covenant which He made with Abraham, and of His oath unto Isaac, and hath confirmed the same to Jacob for a Law, and to Israel for an everlasting Covenant." Note, please, that the Covenant that David speaks of is the word that God commanded to a thousand generations. The declared or commanded Covenant is the Ten Commandments of Deuteronomy 4:12,13. It was the basic Law of the covenant that God made with Abraham according to the verses just read in 2 Chronicles 16:15,16. Speaking of the commanded Covenant, David says, "Even of the covenant which he made with Abraham . . . and hath confirmed the same to Jacob for a Law." Evidently David is speaking of the basic Law found in the terms of the covenant made with Abraham and identifies it as the commanded Covenant, the Ten Commandments, which was confirmed to Israel for a Law. This Law of God was kept by Abraham long before the covenant with Israel on Mt. Sinai (Genesis 26:5). It was commanded to 1000 generations (1 Chronicles 16:5). There were 42 generations from Abraham to Christ. That leaves over 900 generations under the New Covenant who must obey that commanded Covenant, the Ten Commandments. That is just another way of saying that the Ten Commandments must be obeyed by all generations.

WHAT WAS THE OLD COVENANT MADE WITH ISRAEL?

  First I want you to note that the writer of Hebrews uses the words "covenant" and "testament" when referring to the Old and New Covenants. In Hebrews 8:6 he says that Christ is the Mediator of the New, or "better," Covenant, and in Hebrews 9:15 he says, "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 were called might receive the promise of eternal inheritance." Jesus was made surety of a better Testament (Hebrews 7:22). He deals with the Old Covenant in Hebrews 9:16-21 as a Testament, or Will. He quotes from Exodus 24:1-10 where the Old Covenant was made and ratified. These two Covenants must meet the definitions of both words "covenant" and "testament" in order to make harmony in the Scriptures. There must be a mutual agreement and there must also be an inheritance as in a will. The Old Testament and the Old Covenant are one and the same. When we find out what the Old Covenant is, we will also know what the Old Testament is. Since he describes the making and ratification of the Old Testament in Hebrews 9:15-20, and since he quoted from Exodus 24:1-10, we shall look into this last reference for an answer to the question "What is the Old Covenant?" Moses was mediator of the Old Covenant. In verse 3 we read "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." Here we have an agreement or Covenant, pure and simple. Israel had already agreed to obey God's voice and keep the Ten Commandments. "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 . . . and ye shall be unto me a kingdom of priests, 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 . . ." (Exodus 19:5-7). The people agreed to obey all the words of God and Moses returned the words of the people to the Lord (verse 8). This again was a mutual agreement between God and Israel. Besides the Ten Commandments which God Himself declared, Moses was commanded to teach Israel statutes and judgments (Deuteronomy 4:14; Exodus 21:1)--it was these statutes and regulations for the priesthood in Israel that Moses gave to the people in Exodus 24:3. The people agreed to obey all those words of the Lord. Read verses 4-8. Moses wrote all the words of the Lord in a book. He sent young men to offer certain sacrifices. Half of the blood of the sacrifices was sprinkled on the altar and half of the blood was put into basins. Then Moses 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." Here they heard Moses repeat the words of the Lord and they agreed to obey. Then Moses sealed or ratified it by sprinkling with blood of animals, both the book and the people (Hebrews 9:19,20).
  Now we have found that the Old Covenant was a mutual agreement between God and Israel. The words of Moses give final proof of that. "Behold the blood of the covenant, which the Lord hath made with you concerning all these words." The Covenant was made concerning all these words. In the terms of the Covenant, Israel agreed to keep two laws, the Ten Commandments that God commanded and the Law He gave by Moses, the book of the Law (2 Kings 21:8; 2 Chronicles 34:14).
  Was this Old Covenant also a Testament or Will? Was there an inheritance? Yes, there was. God promised to give Israel the land of Canaan, a land flowing with milk and honey (Exodus 6:6-8 and 3:8,17). God promised great national blessings in that promised land on conditions of full obedience to the terms of the Covenant. His purpose was to fulfill a promise made to Abraham and at the same time use Israel to teach the Gentile nations that the God of Israel is the only true God. Read Deuteronomy 28:1-13. For disobedience Israel was to be rebuked and the promised blessings be turned into cursings. If they continued to disobey God, they would be driven from their inheritance and scattered into all the kingdoms of the earth. See Deuteronomy 28:14-25,64,65. This was a temporary national inheritance with the possibility of eternal inheritance through Christ Jesus (Hebrews 9:15). Israel broke their covenant with the Lord and were disinherited. "Because they continued not in my Covenant, and I regarded them not, saith the Lord." The Old Covenant that came to an end, or waxed old, was the agreement between God and Israel found in Exodus 24:1-10. The basic Law in the terms of that Old Covenant was not annulled, and in the New Covenant that God makes with the house of Israel and with the house of Judah He will write His Law in their hearts. Read Jeremiah 31:31-33. He said nothing about giving a new Law as so many teach today.

THE NEW COVENANT, OR THE NEW TESTAMENT--WHAT IS IT?

  The New Covenant and the New Testament are one and the same thing. For proof, check the following evidence. Christ is the Mediator of the better or New Covenant (Hebrews 8:6). He is Mediator of the New Testament (Hebrews 9:15,16). He became surety of a better Testament or Will (Hebrews 7:22,27). ". . . He is the Mediator of a better Covenant, which was established upon better promises. 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 withs the house of Judah" (Hebrews 8:6-8). This New Covenant is a far better Covenant, or Testament. See margin for "covenant." Why is it better? Because it was established upon better promises. What are these better promises, and how are they made possible under this New Covenant? The better promises briefly stated are these: (1) Eternal life (Romans 6:23). (2) Eternal Inheritance in a Kingdom of perfect peace and security with no sorrow or death and with perfect harmony in all the earth (Isaiah 65:17-25; Revelation 21:1-5; Matthew 25:31-34; Isaiah 11:5-9).
  We will now show you how these better promises are made possible. God's Son became surety for the better Testament (Hebrews 7:22; Galatians 4:1-4). The Old Covenant was dedicated by the blood of animals (Hebrews 9:17-20). The New Covenant or Testament, was dedicated by the blood of the Son of God upon the Cross of Calvary (Hebrews 9:5-17,28). He tasted death for every man (Hebrews 2:9). He paid the penalty for the sins of the whole world (John 1:29; 1 John 2:2). The whole world was under the death penalty (Romans 3:23; 5:12). God's love gives all the right to eternal life if they will accept and obey the terms of the New Covenant (John 3:16,17; Matthew 7:21). There are conditions of inheritance in the New Covenant just as there were under the Old Covenant. The individual must come into Covenant relationship with God through faith and obedience to the Gospel (Romans 1:16; 6:17,18). After coming into this Covenant relationship with God, we are heirs of the Kingdom that is promised to them that love God(James 2:5). However, there are conditions that each heir must live up to in order to be able to receive the promise of eternal life in the Kingdom of Peace. Jesus, the Mediator of the New Covenant, makes that very clear. "Not every one that saith unto me, Lord, Lord, shall enter into the Kingdom of Heaven: but he that doeth the will of my Father which is in Heaven" (Matthew 7:21-23).

THE LAW IN THE NEW COVENANT

  What is the Father's will that must be obeyed? What is the Law of the New Testament, or Covenant? Let the Bible answer: "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 I will forgive their iniquity and will remember their sins no more" (Jeremiah 31:31-34; Hebrews 8:6-12). There are two things I wish to call attention to in this quotation. First, God promised to forgive the sins and to remember them no more. Under the Old Covenant they offered animal sacrifices for sins. There was a  remembrance again made of sins every year, because it is not possible that the blood of animals can take away sins (Hebrews 10:1-4). Those sacrifices only pointed them forward to the death of Christ. He died for the sins under the first Testament so that faithful people back there will receive the promise of eternal inheritance (Hebrews 9:15). That system of animal sacrifices with its rites and ceremonies ended when Jesus, the Lamb of God, died for our sins (Hebrews 9:1-12; Colossians 2:14; John 1:29).
  We now receive justification through faith in the atoning blood of Jesus. He paid the penalty for our sins. The repentant sinner must accept that fact by faith and be baptized to receive forgiveness of sins under the New Covenant. Those sins are forever erased (Acts 2:38; Romans 5:1,2).
  The second point to note in the New Covenant is that God promised to write His Law in the hearts of those with whom this Covenant is made. Remember that God said, "My Law" in Jeremiah 31:33. These words of God were given through Jeremiah over 500 years before Jesus was born. There can be no doubt about what Law is spoken of. It was the Ten Commandments. God did not say that He would give a new Law, but that He would write it this time in the heart. It will be remembered that at the making of the Old Covenant God wrote His Law on two tables of stone and they were placed in the ark (Deuteronomy 10:1-6). Under the New Covenant, or Testament, God writes this same law in the fleshly tables of the heart (2 Corinthians 3:2,3). That is why Jesus, the Mediator of the New Testament, taught obedience to the Ten Commandments, from the heart, in the Sermon on the Mount (Matthew 5:17-28). He was giving the conditions of inheritance. Moses enforced obedience in the letter, but Jesus enforces obedience from the heart to the Father's Law. Jesus did not change one word of His Father's Law. He commanded that Christians "do and teach" every Commandment in that Law. Jesus taught that hatred is murder, a transgression of the Law that said "Thou shalt not kill (Matthew 5:21,22; 1 John 3:15). Lust in the heart is violation of the Command that says "Thou shalt not commit adultery" (Matthew 5:27,28). The heart is changed  by the power of the Gospel, and the love of God is shed abroad in our hearts by the Holy Spirit (Romans 5:5 and 6:17,18). "This is the love of God that we keep His Commandments, and His Commandments are not grievous" (1 John 5:3).
  The Law that Jesus taught His followers to obey was His Father's Law, the Ten Commandments. In Matthew 19:16-23 a certain man asked, "What good thing shall I do, that I may have eternal life?" Jesus answered, "If thou wilt enter into life, keep the commandments." The young Jew asked, "Which?" Jesus quoted some of the Ten Commandents so that the young Jew would understand that He referred to that Law. Jesus taught that young man if he wanted to enter into eternal life he must keep the Commandments,  the Ten Commandments. Did He teach a different Gospel after His resurrection? Peter said, "Thou hast the words of eternal life." (John 6:68). Did Jesus have words of eternal life back there before the Cross, or did Peter tell a falsehood in the verse above? I believe Peter knew that Jesus was teaching the words of eternal life in those days of His ministry. Jesus was preaching the Gospel (Mark 1:15), and the same Gospel must be preached in our time (Matthew 24:14). Jesus, as Mediator of the New Testament, gave all the conditions of inheritance during His ministry before He sealed that will, or Testament, by His death (Hebrews 9:15-17). A man always makes his testament before he dies, and after his death no changes can be made. Paul, in explaining the Covenant, or Testament, that was confirmed by the death of Christ (Galatians 3:15-17), has this to say, "Brethren, I speak after the manner of men: Though it be but a man's covenant ["testament," see margin] yet if it be confirmed no man disannulleth, or addeth thereto" (Galatians 3:15). From this we see positively that no man could add anything to it, nor could a word be disannulled in the Covenant, or Testament, after it was confirmed by the death of Christ. Jesus spent some three and a half years teaching the terms of inheritance before He said, "I have finished the work which thou gavest me to do . . . . I have given unto them the words which thou gavest me: and they have received them" (John 17:4,8). That very day, He sealed those words in this Covenant with His blood. "It is finished: and He bowed His head, and gave up the ghost" (John 19:30; Matthew 26:28). Jesus gave the words that the Father gave to Him to give to the people (just as Moses did in making the Old Covenant--Exodus 24:1) before He sealed the Covenant with His blood.
  To find the Law of the New Testament, we have but to study the life and teachings of Jesus, the Mediator of the New Testament. Jesus set the example for us to follow (John 8:12; 1 Peter 2:21,22; 1 John 2:6). The life of Jesus must be manifest in Christians (2 Corinthians 4:10,11).
  Jesus kept God's Law, the Ten Commandments (John 15:10). Yes, He kept the Sabbath, which is part of that Law (Luke 4:16).
  He taught obedience to the Father's will, or Law (Matthew 5:19-28; 19:16-23; John 8:11; Revelation 22:14). Yes, He taught the people to keep the Sabbath and how to keep it (Luke 4:16; John 8:12; Mark 2:27,28; Matthew 12:1-12; John 7:23,27; Matthew 24:20).
  We must keep both the commandments of God and the Testimony of Jesus (Revelation 12:17).

CONCLUSION

  We have shown you that Jesus taught obedience to all the Ten Commandments under the New Covenant, or Testament, and that God truly does write His law in our hearts to enable the true Christian to obey from the heart (Psalm 40:7,8).
  Every Christian requirement, ordinances and all, were in the New Testament of Jesus Christ before He sealed it with His death. Nothing could be added after His death. The Memorial of His death was instituted on the night of His betrayal by a command: "This do" (Luke 22:19-22; 1 Corinthians 11:23-27).
  Repentance and baptism were part of His Gospel message too (Mark 1:14,15; John 4:1-4).