Lots of Christians are confused by the covenants of the Bible. While everyone knows that Christians are bound to the New Covenant, we don’t know what to do with the Old Covenant.
To make matters even more confusing, conventional wisdom tells us that we should obey the Ten Commandments, but the Ten Commandments were part of the Old Testament law. How do we reconcile these confusing mixed messages? Is it really that hard to sort out? The Bible makes it pretty clear how to understand the testaments, but “conventional wisdom” tends to muddy the waters.
Let’s take a look at the covenants, when they were made, who they were made with, and the reasons they were made. This will help us sort it all out.
Who was the Old Covenant made with?
3 while Moses went up to God. The LORD called to him out of the mountain, saying, “Thus you shall say to the house of Jacob, and tell the people of Israel:
5 Now therefore, if you will indeed obey my voice and keep my covenant, you shall be my treasured possession among all peoples, 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 that you shall speak to the people of Israel.” (Ex. 19:3, 5–6 ESV)
God led the descendants of Jacob (Israel) out of Egypt to the foot of Mount Sinai. It was there that he made a proposal to them. He offered to make them His treasured possession and allow them to represent Him to all the people of the Earth. God gave them a choice and they freely decided to enter into Covenant with God (Ex 19:8, 24:3).
God established this covenant in approximately 1446 BC with the Jewish people – the descendants of Abraham, Isaac, and Jacob. As soon as they agreed to enter into a covenant relationship with God, He set forth the terms of the covenant beginning with the Ten Commandments (Ex 20). These terms of the covenant, what we refer to as “the law” were a normal part of covenant making in the ancient Near East.
Anatomy of a covenant
Covenants in the ancient world shared several elements in common:
- A preamble identifying the parties entering into covenant.
- A prologue describing what the greater party of the covenant had done for the lesser party.
- Stipulations of the covenant which amounted to what both parties were agreeing to.
- Sanctions which amounted to rewards for keeping the covenant stipulations and curses for breaking them.1
The preamble and prologue to this covenant are both found here:
“I am the LORD your God, who brought you out of the land of Egypt, out of the house of slavery. (Ex. 20:2 ESV)
The parties involved are “the LORD” and “you” (Israel). This same verse concisely tells what He had done for them – delivered them out of Egypt. In v. 3 God begins the first of the stipulations which are what we call the Ten Commandments. These terms or stipulations would eventually total 613.
What’s the point?
Why does this matter? It reveals that the Israelites understood exactly what they were getting into since the covenant took a form people of the ancient Near East understood clearly. The law of Moses, of which the Ten Commandments and the other 603 laws were part of, formed the terms of the covenant that the ancient Jewish people entered into with God.
Perhaps the most important thing to note about all of this is that God established this covenant, not with gentiles, but with Jews. It was also never intended to be a permanent covenant. The apostle Paul tells us the reason for the Old Covenant:
24 Therefore the law was our tutor to bring us to Christ, that we might be justified by faith. 25 But after faith has come, we are no longer under a tutor. (Gal. 3:24–25 NKJV)
If the Old Covenant with Israel wasn’t meant to be permanent, what took its place?
Who was the New Covenant made with?
31 “Behold, the days are coming, says the LORD, when I will make a new covenant with the house of Israel and with the house of Judah— 32 not according to the covenant that I made with their fathers in the day that I took them by the hand to lead them out of the land of Egypt, My covenant which they broke, though I was a husband to them, says the LORD. 33 But this is the covenant that I will make with the house of Israel after those days, says the LORD: I will put My law in their minds, and write it on their hearts; and I will be their God, and they shall be My people. (Jer. 31:31–33 NKJV)
The prophet Jeremiah foretold of a new covenant that the LORD would make. Who would He make it with? Well, since Gentiles are now followers of Jesus, God must have made it with the entire world, right? Wrong. Notice that Jeremiah 31:31 says God would make this covenant with Israel and Judah – not the Gentiles!
Those of us who are not Jews are privileged to enter into this covenant because we have been “grafted in” (Rom 11:13-22). Paul used the imagery of an olive tree which represented Israel. God splices us Gentiles (a wild olive shoot) into the olive tree’s branches.
In short, when we Gentiles come to a saving faith in Christ, he makes us a party to the New Covenant by splicing us into the olive tree. God adopts us into His family. We become a Jew “inwardly” (Rom 2:29).
When was this New Covenant made?
So, Jesus made this New Covenant, which all His followers are a party to, with the Jews. When did the New Covenant take effect? According to Heb 9:15-16, it came into effect at the death of Jesus on the cross. When Jesus ushered in this New Covenant, the first covenant became obsolete and He took it away.
“By saying a new covenant, he has declared that the first is obsolete. And what is obsolete and growing old is about to pass away.” (Heb. 8:13 CSB)
“he then says, See, I have come to do your will. He takes away the first to establish the second.” (Heb. 10:9 CSB)
Laws of the New Testament
Does the New Covenant have laws? Yes, but as Jeremiah said these laws would be different, “I will put My law in their minds, and write it on their hearts.” Jesus revealed that the laws of the New Covenant are based on the same thing as the laws of the Old Covenant: love for God, and love for each other. When someone asked Jesus what the greatest commandment was, His response was:
37 Jesus replied: “ ‘Love the Lord your God with all your heart and with all your soul and with all your mind.’ 38 This is the first and greatest commandment. 39 And the second is like it: ‘Love your neighbor as yourself.’ 40 All the Law and the Prophets hang on these two commandments.” (Matt. 22:37–40 NIV)
When Jesus taught the Sermon on the Mount (Mt 5-7), He was not teaching something new, but was instead correctly interpreting the teachings of the Old Covenant.
Furthermore, God made the laws of the Old Covenant for a theocracy. That is, for a system of government that was inseparable from its religion. Ancient Israel was a theocracy and all of the laws God gave them under the Old Covenant regulated life in that system.
The Old Testament is no longer in force
Christian, you are not under the Old Covenant nor are any of its laws incumbent upon you. He didn’t make the Old Covenant with anyone alive today. We are not a party to it. It’s just that simple.
It is true that God reinstated some of the commandments from the Old Covenant in the New Covenant. For example, it is still wrong to murder and commit adultery. However, we don’t abstain from murder and adultery because the laws of the Old Covenant forbade these things. We abstain from such actions because God forbids them in the New Covenant (Rom 13:9, 1 Cor 6:9-10).
Jesus Himself, in the Sermon on the Mount, showed us how Christians ought to view the Old Testament laws. For instance, Jesus took the commandment against murder and explained its true intent (Mt 5:21-26). He explained that the driving force behind the command “thou shalt not kill” was to avoid having contempt for others. Despising other people leads to sins far worse than contempt.
The Old Testament laws, properly interpreted, teach us to have respect for one another as image bearers of God. These laws are a body of wisdom which should shape the way we approach the New Testament Scriptures and how we apply the New Testament in our daily conduct.
Bottom line: No one has been a party to the Old Covenant for the last 2,000 years. Jesus fulfilled everything about the Old Covenant (Mt 5:17). His death, burial, and resurrection made it obsolete. Nevertheless, it still serves as a schoolmaster imparting wisdom to guide life in the New Covenant.
Our confusion about the covenants results in inconsistency
Because many Christians haven’t been clearly taught the difference between the covenants we make ourselves look like fools. For example, it has been common in the ongoing culture wars for Christians to state their opposition to same sex marriages by quoting Old Testament passages pertaining to homosexuality. This is a frequently quoted Old Testament verse:
You shall not lie with a male as with a woman; it is an abomination. (Lev. 18:22 ESV)
Enemies of Christ are more consistent with covenant application than we are
In response, the enemies of Jesus offer up all kinds of Old Testament laws which Christians do not follow. A satirical website makes this point by showing how inconsistent we are when we try to bind Leviticus 18:22, but ignore the prohibition against other Old Testament laws.2
They point out that we are eager to enforce one of the terms of the Old Covenant while ignoring others about eating shrimp, stoning disobedient children, wearing clothing made of mixed wool and linen and so forth. While it pains me to say it, they are right!
Same-sex marriage and engaging in homosexual acts is sinful. However, we would do well to go to the New Testament to object to these sins (1 Cor 6:9, 1 Tim 1:10). We can show that God considers these things an abomination in the present, and then refer to the Old Testament passages to show that He has always considered them sinful. This is a case where the Old Testament helps shape our understanding of the New Testament.
Many of the old laws simply “dropped off the books” (dietary restrictions, etc.). God repealed some laws and reinstated others. The law has changed because under the New Testament there has been a change in the priesthood (Heb 7:12).
Christian, What Covenant Are You Under?
You are under a New Covenant, under a new priesthood, and under different (yet similar) terms. What good is the Old Testament? “For whatever things were written before were written for our learning, that we through the patience and comfort of the Scriptures might have hope” (Rom. 15:4 NKJV).
The Old Testament still is, in a sense, our tutor. It provides vital background and context without which we cannot understand the New Testament. But make no mistake, we are under a better covenant, with better terms, and we have a perfect High Priest (Heb 7:22, 8:6, 12:24). Our primary authority is the New Testament given to us by Jesus Christ.