The New Covenant

Introduction

Dispensationalism notes there are obvious covenants, which are clearly outlined in the Bible.[1] Each covenant within the Bible shows that God has one program in history and one chosen people, but there are different aspects to that program. [2]

What the New Covenant Is

The main biblical explanation for the New Covenant comes from the book of Hebrews 8:6-13. Here is where the writer not only gives insight into the covenant, but he also quotes from Jeremiah where God is predicting the New Covenant.

But now He has obtained a more excellent ministry, by as much as He is also the mediator of a better covenant, which has been enacted on better promises. For if that first covenant had been faultless, there would have been no occasion sought for a second. For finding fault with them, He says, “Behold, days are coming, says the Lord, When I will effect a new covenant With the house of Israel and with the house of Judah; Not like the covenant which I made with their fathers On the day when I took them by the hand To lead them out of the land of Egypt; For they did not continue in My covenant, And I did not care for them, says the Lord. “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 minds, And I will write them on their hearts. And I will be their God, And they shall be My people. “And they shall not teach everyone his fellow citizen, And everyone his brother, saying, ‘Know the Lord,’ For all will know Me, From the least to the greatest of them. “For I will be merciful to their iniquities, And I will remember their sins no more.” When He said, “A new covenant,”

He has made the first obsolete. But whatever is becoming obsolete and growing old is ready to disappear.[3]

Several questions arise from the text. What is the New Covenant mentioned in the text?  To whom was the covenant given or promised? What happened to the Old Covenant?

A covenant can be made between God and man, between man and man, and between nations. [4]A covenant is a contract, or an agreement. In the case of the Bible, God enters into covenants with man, and their longevity depends on God.[5] The Mosaic or Old Covenant was conditional while the other covenants were unconditional. God did place limitations on them, and they will not expire until their complete fulfillment.[6] Therefore, the New Covenant is either an extension of the Old or a complete abolishment of it. Because the Law was written by a holy God and therefore perfect, people could not perfectly obey the Law. [7] Indeed, there needed to be a new covenant, which would take the place of or renew the Old covenant.

The New Covenant is said to be an extension of the Abrahamic Covenant, in that God would someday bless “all the families of the Earth” in Genesis 12:3.  However, it was first intended for the Jews.[8] In the Abrahamic Covenant, God promised Israel the full possession of their land, in the future. [9] God also promised Israel several things within the New Covenant: regeneration (new heart and nature), forgiveness of sin, the indwelling of the Holy Spirit, knowledge of Himself among the people of Israel so that they would obey Him, and multiple national blessings for Israel.[10] Among the national blessings would be the reacquisition of their land and they would live there forever.[11]

Chronologically, it would stand to reason that, in order for there to be a New Covenant, there would need to be an Old Covenant. Indeed, the Old Covenant is the Mosaic Covenant outlined in Exodus19-24.[12] The Mosaic Law was a covenant from God to man, yet man was the problem and the one who broke the covenant (v.9).[13] The mediator for the New Covenant had to be a perfect sacrifice in order to be able to save mankind from its sins. Jesus Christ and His work on the Cross-was the mediator for the New Covenant.[14]

Jesus Himself proclaimed that He was the New Covenant in Luke 22:20, “And in the same way He took the cup after they had eaten, saying, ‘This cup which is poured out for you is the new covenant in My blood’”.  Due to Christ’s work on the Cross, the Old Covenant has been annulled and the New Covenant has taken its place.[15] The writer of Hebrews states that the only way this covenant could exist was through the spilling of Christ’s blood and His subsequent death (9:15-28).[16]The nature of the New Covenant through Christ makes the covenant unconditional and everlasting.[17]

Theological Implications for Today and the Future

As can be seen, this New Covenant was instituted first for Israel, but because of their rejection of the Messiah, God has established this covenant with all families of the earth so the prophecy in Genesis could be fulfilled.[18] Through the New Covenant, people can know of Jesus as stated in Hebrews 9:24-28:

For Christ did not enter a holy place made with hands, a mere copy of the true one, but into heaven itself, now to appear in the presence of God for us; nor was it that He would offer Himself often, as the high priest enters the holy place year by year with blood that is not his own. Otherwise, He would have needed to suffer often since the foundation of the world; but now once at the consummation of the ages He has been manifested to put away sin by the sacrifice of Himself. And inasmuch as it is appointed for men to die once and after this comes judgment, so Christ also, having been offered once to bear the sins of many, will appear a second time for salvation without reference to sin, to those who eagerly await Him.

Now, people can know beyond a shadow of a doubt that He came, lived among man, died, resurrected, and because of His atoning death on the Cross, has saved all mankind from all of its sins.[19]

Theological Implications: The Church

In Acts 2:4, the Holy Spirit comes upon the believers at Pentecost. This is what initiates the New Covenant.[20] Because this New Covenant is for all believers, Jew and Gentile alike can partake in its spiritual blessing and become servants of the covenant (2 Corinthians 3:6).[21] The Gentiles who are saved are the church, the Body of Christ through faith in Him. [22]The promise that the church (Gentiles) would be grafted into the New Covenant is referred to by the “seed” in Jeremiah 31, thus linking all believers to God through the sacrifice of Christ.[23] This link broke down the barrier between believing Jews and Gentiles and has allowed for the potential grafting of every man and woman (Ephesians 2:13-18).[24]

Not only was the barrier broken, but Gentile believers were made part of the house of God (Ephesians 2:19). [25] Gentiles were also made part of “Abraham’s seed” spiritually. Paul notes this in Galations 3:16, “Now the promises were spoken to Abraham and to his seed. He does not say, ‘And to seeds,’ as referring to many, but rather to one, ‘And to your seed,’ that is, Christ.” Therefore, the church, fellow believers who once were aliens and foreigners have been brought in with the saints in Christ (Ephesians 2:19).[26]

Theological Implications: Israel

The remaining question is, “What about Israel?” Paul addresses this issue in Romans 11:25-27 “For I do not want you, brethren, to be uninformed of this mystery—so that you will not be wise in your own estimation—that a partial hardening has happened to Israel until the fullness of the Gentiles has come in; and so all Israel will be saved; just as it is written, ‘The Deliverer will come from Zion, He will remove ungodliness from Jacob.’ ’This is My covenant with them, When I take away their sins.’” Therefore, their time is coming when, after the Church has been raptured, Israel will be saved and all the promises of God to them will come to be fulfilled.[27]

Dr. Showers states, “As a result, at that time, the literal, national Israel will enter fully into the New Covenant relationship with God, and all the promises (spiritual, material and national) of that covenant will be fulfilled completely with that nation.”[28] Despite the fact that Israel rejected the Messiah at His first coming, they will enter that eternal relationship with Him at His second coming.[29]

Conclusion

Even though the New Covenant was first intended for Israel, the Gentiles have been able to partake in it through the work of Christ on the Cross. However, because Israel rejected Christ at His first coming, they have not been able to fully partake in this New Covenant. So, after Christ comes back for the Church, Israel will be called back to God, inhabit their land, and fully enter into this New Covenant. This paper has introduced and explained the New Covenant and given the Current and Future Implications of both The Church and Israel.

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[1] Mal Couch, An Introduction To Classical Evangelical Hermeneutics: A Guide to the History and Practice of Biblical Interpretation (Grand Rapids, MI: Kregel Publications, 2000), 157.

[2] Walter Kaiser, Toward an Old Testament Theology (Grand Rapids, MI: 1978), 269.

[3] All Scripture Quotations taken from The New American Standard Bible 1995 Update (La Habra, CA: The Lockman Foundation: 1995) unless otherwise noted.

[4] Robert Lightner, Handbook of Evangelical Theology (Grand Rapids, MI: 1995), 259.

[5] Ibid., 259

[6] Ibid., 259

[7] Wayne Grudem, Systematic Theology (Leicester, England: Inter Varsity Press, 1994), 521.

[8] Mal Couch, An Introduction, 148.

[9] Mal Couch, “The Relationship Between the Dispensations and Covenants”, Conservative Theological Journal 2, no. 7 (December 1998) 426.

[10] Renald E. Showers, There Really Is A Difference: A Comparison of Covenant and Dispensational Theology (Bellmawr, NJ: The Friends of Israel Gospel Ministry, 1990), 100.

[11] Ibid., 101.

[12] Wayne Grudem, Systematic, 521

[13] Walter Kaiser, Toward, 232.

[14] Mal Couch, “The Relationship”, 424.

[15] Mal Couch, “The Relationship”, 425

[16] Mal Couch, An Introduction, 151.

[17] Renald Showers, There Really Is a Difference, 101.

[18] Mal Couch, An Introduction, 148.

[19] Wayne Grudem, Systematic Theology, 522.

[20] Mal Couch, An Introduction, 151.

[21] Ibid., 151.

[22] Renald Showers, There Really is a Difference, 110.

[23] Walter Kaiser, Toward an Old Testament, 234.

[24] Ibid., 268.

[25] Ibid., 269.

[26] Ibid., 269.

[27] Renald Showers, There Really is a Difference, 110.

[28] Ibid., 110

[29] Ibid., 111.