In Defense of the Faith

The New Covenant

One fault Mr. Canright finds with the old covenant is that it was made with Israel. But so was the new covenant. The difference between these two covenants lies chiefly in the character of the promises. In the old covenant some of these were made by God and some by the people. In the new covenant they are all made by the Lord. With this thought in mind, let us carefully note the terms of this new covenant. DOF 232.1

“But now bath He [Christ] obtained a more excellent ministry, by how much also 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 says, Behold, the days come, says 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, says the Lord. DOF 232.2

“For this is the covenant that I will make with the house of Israel after those days, says 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; and they shall not teach every man his neighbor, and every man his brother, saying, Know the Lord: for all shall know Me, from the least to the greatest. For I will be merciful to their unrighteousness, and their sins and their iniquities will I remember no more. In that He says, A ‘new covenant, He hath made the first old. Now that which decays and waxes old is ready to vanish away.” Hebrews 8:6-13. DOF 232.3

Let it be carefully noted that the promises here are all made by Christ the Lord. He declares: “This is the covenant that I will make.” “I will put My laws into their mind.”—I will be to them a God.”—I will be merciful to their unrighteousness, and their sins and their iniquities will I remember no more.” The old covenant was made between God and sinners; the new covenant is made between God and those who accept Jesus and who own Him as their Lord and Mediator. He can make no promises of obedience for any but those who are fully surrendered to the control of His Spirit; hence no sinner can come under this covenant until He accepts Jesus as his Savior. It is made with Israel; but this time it is spiritual Israel, and not the literal descendants of Abraham. DOF 233.1

“Not as though the word of God hath taken none effect. For they are not all Israel, which are of Israel. Neither, because they are the seed of Abraham, are they all children: but, In Isaac shall thy seed be called. That is, They which are the children of the flesh, these are not the children of God: but the children of the promise are counted for the, seed.” Romans 9:6-8. DOF 233.2

“He is not a Jew, which is one outwardly; neither is that circumcision, which is outward in the flesh: but he is a Jew, which is one inwardly; and circumcision is that of the heart, in the spirit, and not in the letter; whose praise is not of men, but of God.” Romans 2:28, 29. DOF 233.3

“As many of you as have been baptized into Christ have put on Christ. There is neither Jew nor Greek, there is neither bond nor free, there is neither male nor female: for you are all one in Christ Jesus. And if you be Christ’s, then are you Abraham’s seed, and heirs according to the promise.” Galatians 3:27-29. DOF 233.4

Observe that the new covenant is made concerning the law of God. In this particular it is no different from the old. Its object is to assure the keeping of God’s statutes by the covenanters. But in this covenant man is not left to struggle alone, in human weakness, in his efforts to keep the law, but our Lord Himself promises, “I will put My laws into their mind, and write them in their hearts.” How different this is from having the law written only on stone, and sin still in the heart! When the law is only on stone, it serves as an instrument of condemnation. All the struggles of the human heart to keep it end in failure. But when, by the Spirit of God, this law is written on the heart, then there is victory and power and perfection. Then it is that “the righteousness of the law” is “fulfilled in us, who walk not after the flesh, but after the Spirit.” Romans 8:4. DOF 234.1

“Forasmuch as you are manifestly declared to be the epistle of Christ ministered by us, written not with ink, but with the Spirit of the living God; not in tables of stone, but in fleshy tables of the heart. And such trust have we through Christ to Godward: not that we are sufficient of ourselves to think anything as of ourselves; but our sufficiency is of God; who also bath made us able ministers of the new testament; not of the letter, but of the spirit: for the letter kills, but the spirit gives life. But if the ministration of death, written and engraven in stones, was glorious, so that the children of Israel could not steadfastly 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? For if the ministration of condemnation be glory, much more doth the ministration of righteousness exceed in glory.” 2 Corinthians 3:3-9. DOF 234.2

So the “ministration” (or the manner of administering the law) even under the old covenant, was glorious, in that it revealed God’s perfect character and glory; but under the old covenant the law of God served only as a ministration of condemnation, or death. Under the old covenant the people had only the letter of the law written and engraved on stones. They failed to accept either the spirit of the law or the Spirit of God into their hearts. The old covenant therefore had no salvation in it. DOF 234.3

Under the new covenant the ministration is changed. Therefore those who were saved in the old dispensation had to be saved under the terms of the new covenant, as we shall show later. It is the ministration of the Spirit. The Spirit takes this same law that was then written upon stone, and now writes it upon the “fleshy tables of the heart.” Its principles become an integral part of our very nature. “Old things”—the carnal, fleshly lusts—“are passed away; behold, all thing are become new.” 2 Corinthians 5:17. Our trust is no longer in the power and strugglings of the flesh to keep the law, but in the indwelling Christ. “Whereunto I also labor, striving according to His working, which works in me mightily.” Colossians 1:29. “Not that we are sufficient of ourselves to think any thing as of ourselves; but our sufficiency is of God.” 2 Corinthians 3:5. DOF 235.1

The righteousness of Christ, is ministered to the life of the believer by the Holy Spirit. It is the new covenant relationship, and through this relationship alone is it possible for human beings to obey God’s law in an acceptable manner. Therefore “if the ministration of condemnation be glory, much more does the ministration of righteousness exceed in glory.” DOF 235.2

But this law which is written on the heart by the ministration of the Spirit under the new covenant, is not a new law, but is the same as that which was written on the tables of stone. It is not changed by a single jot or tittle. It therefore still declares to the heart of the believer that “the seventh day is the Sabbath.... In it thou shall not do any work.” It has no new provisions except the provision made by the indwelling Christ, which makes it possible for us to keep its every precept. DOF 236.1