The Old and the New Covenant of Relationship
By F. M. W.
We think of the old covenant relationship as pertaining to the agreement made at Sinai between God and Israel. In a historical sense this is true, but in its broader scope and application the old covenant has existed in some degree in the experience of every child of God from the days of Adam down to the present time. It represents the strivings of the members of the human family to make themselves better; to work out by human effort and ingenuity the plans and purposes of God. Abraham and Sarah passed through this experience in seeking to make Ishmael the son of promise. To Isaac and Rebekah the word was given that the elder of their two sons should serve the younger. Rebekah sought to fulfill this word of the Lord by inducing Jacob to practice deception upon his father in order to secure the birthright blessing. Moses was governed by this principle, as he sought in the killing of the Egyptian to effect the deliverance of his brethren from Egypt. The disciples in their experience were not strangers to the working of this power. They sought by human plans and methods to bring about the fulfillment of their understanding of the prophetic word with respect to the Messiah. But these men of God came to recognize the weakness and futility of human effort. They saw that there was no salvation in the arm of flesh; that man could never become his own savior, but that he must take hold of some power outside of himself, even the power of the Lord Jesus Christ. Gaining this experience, Abraham became the “friend of God,” the “father of the faithful;” Jacob earned the title of “Israel,” showing that he had learned to prevail with God and with his fellows; Moses, though “learned in all the wisdom of the Egyptians, and . . . mighty in words and in deeds,” came to realize that he himself was without power or wisdom in God’s sight, and that deliverance to Israel must come from on high rather than through his wisdom or strength or skill. He became the meekest of men, and the only man of whom it is recorded that he talked with God “face to face.” And the disciples of the Lord, including the confident, boastful, and impetuous Peter, became so emptied of self that they could experience the infilling of the Holy Spirit poured upon them on the day of Pentecost. Many professed Christians today are still in the bonds of the old covenant relationship. They have not yet come to realize fully that “all have sinned, and come short of the glory of God;” that “there is none righteous, no, not one.” They feel that in some way salvation is a reward of merit, and not the free gift of God through Christ Jesus. Like Israel of old, they depend upon their own promises and resolutions to enable them to do right; and because failures come in their experience, as they inevitably will so long as they seek in their own strength to do the will of God, many are thrown into utter despair. Such need to realize that it is their blessed privilege to take hold of the “better covenant, which was established upon better promises.” That better covenant is the new covenant in Christ Jesus, and the better promises are the promises of Christ to take the believer and work in him his own divine will and purpose. The Lord promises his children that he will put his laws into their minds and write them in their hearts. He will not only forgive their iniquity, but he will take away the love of sin. He will not only forgive the sins that are past, but he will impart power to keep them from sinning in the future. The fruit of this blessed union will manifest itself in good works in the lives of the believers. But these good works will be performed not as a means of securing this new covenant relationship, but as its fruit. Dear reader, under which covenant are you endeavoring to secure salvation today? Are you hoping to earn a home in the kingdom of God by the keeping of God’s commands, by the observance of the Sabbath, by the payment of tithe, or by the performance of any other good work? Salvation will never come to you as a result of Christian service. Your only hope for salvation is through faith in the sacrifice and merits of the Lord Jesus Christ. We are justified by Christ’s shed blood, and we are saved by his life. Realizing that you are lost and undone, that in you there exists no good thing, that by no effort on your part can you make yourself righteous or acceptable in the sight of God, you must cast yourself at the foot of the cross and cry: “Unclean, unclean.” “God be merciful to me a sinner.” And then as you look up into the face of Jesus Christ and accept his sacrifice in your behalf, opening your heart to the infilling of his Spirit, he will work in and through you that which is well pleasing in his sight. By beholding, you will be changed from glory to glory, becoming “his workmanship, created in Christ Jesus unto good works.” Then love will prompt service, and service will be rendered, not as a means in securing righteousness, but as the fruits of the indwelling Spirit.