The Everlasting Covenant by Eugene Leland

Review and Herald Publishing Association · Takoma Park Station, Washington, D. C. · Feb 23, 1911

The Everlasting Covenant

By Eugene Leland

EUGENE LELAND

Neither the old covenant nor the new covenant is mentioned, as such, before the days of Moses at Mount Sinai. The new covenant is not mentioned by that name until it was foretold by the prophet Jeremiah in the thirty-first chapter of that book. The old covenant originated at Mount Sinai. “The Lord our God . . . made not this covenant with our fathers, but with us, even us, who are all of us here alive this day.” Deut. 5: 2, 3.

The covenant here mentioned, as all will agree, is the one called in the Scriptures “the old covenant,” the one “from the Mount Sinai, which gendereth to bondage.” Gal. 4: 24. It is plainly stated that this covenant was not made with their fathers, though a covenant had been made with them, as will appear from reading Deut. 8: 18: “But thou shalt remember the Lord thy God: for it is he that giveth thee power to get wealth, that he may establish his covenant which he sware unto thy fathers, as it is this day.”

His Covenant and Promise

From this scripture it is evident that the covenant sworn unto the fathers was distinct from the old covenant made at Horeb. It is also evident that the Lord designed to establish the covenant sworn unto the fathers, with the people who had the old covenant made with them; therefore a study of the two covenants involves a study of the covenant made with the fathers. What was that covenant? The apostle Peter gives the answer to this question in his remarkable sermon preached at the time of healing the impotent man at the Beautiful gate of the temple. He says: “Ye are the children of the prophets, and of the covenant which God made with our fathers, saying unto Abraham, And in thy seed shall all the kindreds of the earth be blessed.” Acts 3: 25.

This scripture identifies the covenant made with the fathers with the promise made to Abraham. Gen. 12: 1-3; 22: 15-18. This promise was renewed to Isaac (Gen. 26: 4) and to Jacob. Gen. 28: 13, 14; see also Ps. 105: 8-15. This thought is confirmed by the testimony of the New Testament scripture where the covenant made with Abraham, and the promise made to him, are used interchangeably, and spoken of as identical. “And this I say, that the covenant, that was confirmed before of God in Christ, the law, which was four hundred and thirty years after, can not disannul, that it should make the promise of none effect. For if the inheritance be of the law, it is no more of promise; but God gave it to Abraham by promise.” Gal. 3: 17, 18.

In addition to the fact that the covenant and the promise are identical, we wish to notice another point. The statement is made in verse 15 that “though it be but a man’s covenant, yet if it be confirmed,” it can neither be added to nor disannulled by anything that any other man can do after the confirmation. The force of this statement lies in the contrast that is made between a man’s covenant and God’s covenant. It may be stated in this way: If a man’s covenant is so unalterable after it is once confirmed, how much more so God’s covenant after it has been confirmed.

But was God’s covenant confirmed? Read verse 17: “And this I say, that the covenant that was confirmed before of God in Christ, the law, which was four hundred and thirty years after, can not disannul, that it should make the promise of none effect.” The object of this statement, in addition to showing that the covenant, or promise, was confirmed, is to show that the covenant was in no wise affected by the entrance of the law four hundred thirty years after. That which was promised,—the inheritance, and of course everything that is included in that term,—is to be secured by the promise, or covenant, and in no other way, notwithstanding the entrance, or addition, of the law four hundred thirty years afterward; because when a covenant is once confirmed, “no man disannulled or addeth thereto,” even “though it be but a man’s covenant.” But this is God’s covenant, and it “was confirmed before of God in Christ.”

This point should be well considered, especially by those who imagine that the people to whom the law was given sustain a different relation to the plan of salvation than do those who lived before the giving of the law, or those who have lived since the days of Christ.

One of the greatest evils that has ever afflicted the Christian church is the doctrine of—

Justification by Works

Though perhaps repudiating the idea that righteousness is attained by the law at the present time, it is supposed by many that a certain class of people, the Jews, from the time the law was given on Mount Sinai until the days of Christ, attained righteousness by the works of the law; but that since the time of Christ, righteousness has been attained

by faith. When one preaches that the law must witness to the righteousness which is attained by faith, he is at once branded by these as a law preacher, and accused of teaching justification by works. It seems to be utterly impossible for some to comprehend that one can plead for the perpetuity and binding obligation of the law, without teaching that righteousness is attained by the law. Because one preaches the gospel truth that in order to be a Christian, one’s life must conform to the requirements of the law, it does not necessarily follow that he became a Christian by, or because of, his obedience to the law, nor that he teaches any such doctrine.

Let it be plainly declared, and as distinctly understood, that righteousness is attained “without the law.” That is to say, one becomes righteous, becomes a Christian, “without the law.”

But though that statement is literally and absolutely true, it is just as true that this righteousness which is attained “without the law” is “witnessed by the law,” and the very same passage of scripture (Rom. 3:21) says so. It is just as true that no one in all the world, or at any time during all the history of the world, has ever attained righteousness by, or because of, his obedience to the law; but any man and every man who has ever attained righteousness, at any time or in any place in all the world, has done so—

By Faith Alone

But how is this faith by which one attains righteousness expressed? We answer, Simply by believing God. And what has God said?—He said to Abraham, “In thee shall all families of the earth be blessed.” Again, showing him the stars of heaven, he said, “So shall thy seed be.” Abraham “believed God” when he said that, understanding that it was the promise of the Saviour; “and it was accounted to him for righteousness. . . . So then they which be of faith are blessed with faithful Abraham.” Gal. 3: 6-9. Faith, then,—the faith which secures the imputation of righteousness now, or to any one at any time,—is expressed by simply believing the promise, or covenant, made with Abraham.

But we wish to show how this covenant was confirmed to Abraham. “For when God made promise to Abraham, because he could swear by no greater, he sware by himself, saying, Surely blessing I will bless thee, and multiplying I will multiply thee. And so, after he had patiently endured, he obtained the promise [the statement of the promise, not the realization of it; compare Heb. 11: 39]. For men verily swear by the greater: and an oath for confirmation is to them an end of all strife. Wherein God, willing more abundantly to show unto the heirs of promise the immutability of his counsel, confirmed it by an oath.” Heb. 6: 13-17; see also verses 18-20.

Possibly some may have thought, from the reading of Gen. 17: 9, 10, that circumcision was the covenant which God made with Abraham: “And God said unto Abraham, Thou shalt keep my covenant therefore, thou, and thy seed after thee in their generations. This is my covenant which ye shall keep, between me and you and thy seed after thee; every man child among you shall be circumcised.” Again we read, in Stephen’s sermon, “And he gave them the covenant of circumcision.” Acts 7: 8.

Before quoting the texts that clearly explain the meaning of these scriptures, let us note some of the reasons why circumcision can not be the covenant of promise made with Abraham:—

1. It is altogether contrary to the general idea of what constitutes a covenant. 2. It is contrary to the direct statement of scripture as to what constitutes the covenant,—“the covenant which God made with our fathers, saying unto Abraham, And in thy seed shall all the kindreds of the earth be blessed.” Acts 3: 25. 3. The covenant, or promise, is plainly distinguished from the law in Gal. 3: 15-18 and elsewhere in the Bible; but circumcision, whether as first given to Abraham, or as afterward incorporated in the law of Moses, is distinctly and plainly a law; and in no sense whatever can it be considered as a promise. 4. The covenant was established with Isaac as the son of Abraham, not with Ishmael, though he, too, was the son of Abraham, and the elder son at that; but Ishmael was circumcised as well as Isaac. Gen. 17: 20, 21. 5. If circumcision is the covenant, or promise, upon which the inheritance depends, then it follows that instead of being nothing, as Paul declares in 1 Cor. 7: 19, it is everything, not only to the Jew, but also to the Gentile as well; for the only hope of either Jew or Gentile is in the fulfilment of the promise, or covenant, made with Abraham. 6. It does not look reasonable that God would involve so much as the salvation of the whole human race in the practise of a mere rite, or ceremony, which included only the males of a single race. 7. Lastly, if circumcision is the covenant, or promise, does not its fulfilment depend more upon man’s work than upon God’s? In short, is it not—

A Token of the Covenant?

What, then, it may be asked, is meant by calling circumcision the covenant in the scriptures quoted above? The explanation is found in the eleventh verse of Genesis 17, where circumcision is called a “token of the covenant.” By common figure of speech, the token is put for the covenant itself, and called the covenant. This is a figure very often used in language. This is illustrated in another place in the New Testament. “For what saith the scripture? Abraham believed God, and it was counted unto him for righteousness.” “How was it then reckoned? when he was in circumcision, or in uncircumcision? Not in circumcision, but in uncircumcision.

“And he received the sign of circumcision, a seal of the righteousness of the faith which he had yet being uncircumcised.” Rom. 4: 3, 10, 11.

From this passage it appears that circumcision was not the covenant itself, but that it was simply intended as a sign, or token, of the covenant. No doubt there is much in the subject of circumcision that would be of interest to notice; but such notice is not necessary to an understanding of the subject under consideration in the present article, and we shall content ourselves with the brief mention of the subject herein made.

God made the promise to Abraham that in his seed all the kindreds of the earth should be blessed. But Abraham was ninety-nine years old when this promise was made, and to all human appearances, from the standpoint of nature, it could never be fulfilled. But Abraham believed God, believed that through his seed would come the promised Saviour, and his belief in an apparent natural impossibility was reckoned to him for righteousness. Rom. 4: 20-22. Practically, his own body as well as that of Sarah his wife was dead. Verse 19; see also Heb. 11: 11, 12. Therefore to believe that a child could be born to them under such circumstances, was to believe that God could bring life from the dead, and his belief in the promise was really a belief in the doctrine of—

The Resurrection of the Dead

That Abraham believed in the resurrection, is shown in his offering up Isaac. “By faith Abraham, when he was tried, offered up Isaac; and he that had received the promises offered up his only begotten son, of whom it was said, That in Isaac shall thy seed be called: accounting that God was able to raise him up, even from the dead.” Heb. 11: 17-19.

Abraham’s belief in the resurrection is also shown in the way that he looked for the fulfilment of the promise. He did not look for it to be fulfilled during his lifetime, but “he sojourned in the land of promise, as in a strange country, dwelling in tabernacles with Isaac and Jacob, the heirs with him of the same promise; for he looked for a city which hath foundations, whose maker and builder is God.” Verses 9, 10.

“These all died in faith, not having received the promises, but having seen them afar off, and were persuaded of them, and embraced them, and confessed that they were—

“Strangers and Pilgrims

on the earth. For they that say such things declare plainly that they seek a country. And truly, if they had been mindful of that country from whence they came out, they might have had opportunity to have returned. But now they desire a better country, that is, an heavenly: wherefore God is not ashamed to be called their God: for he hath prepared for them a city.” Heb. 11: 13-16. The doctrine of the resurrection, then, was the foundation and corner-stone of the covenant made with Abraham; for

only through the resurrection did he look for the fulfilment of the promises.

But in after-years his descendants drifted away from the faith which characterized his life, and began to look out upon the outward, visible sign as the all-important thing. Their whole religious life consisted in ceremonialism and formality rather than in faith, and as a natural consequence they lost sight of the covenant, or promise, and the manner in which it was to be fulfilled, and looked only for the establishment of a great worldly empire. But when they were carried away captive from their native land into a strange country, and all their forms and ceremonies were taken from them, they had nothing to rely upon, and they lost their hope. Then the bitter cry was heard, as they beheld the bleaching bones of their brethren and friends in a strange country: “Our bones are dried, and our hope is lost.”

The True Hope of Israel

But as they thus cry from the depths of their despair, looking in vain for the fulfilment of the promise in something earthly or temporal, the voice of the Lord is heard again in promise, speaking through his faithful patriarch (but whether through patriarch or prophet, the promise is ever the same): “Thus saith the Lord God; Behold, O my people, I will open your graves, and cause you to come up out of your graves, and bring you into the land of Israel.” Eze. 37: 12.

The inheritance restored through the resurrection of the dead is the true hope of Israel. This is the hope they should have cherished all the time, instead of looking for temporal dominion in this world; and this should be the Christian’s hope.

When the apostle Paul came to Rome, he called the chief of the Jews together, set before them the reason of his imprisonment, and closed his speech with this remarkable statement: “Because that for the hope of Israel I am bound with this chain.” Acts 28: 20. But Paul was a Christian. He did more perhaps than any other man to propagate and establish the Christian religion. His hope, then, was the Christian’s hope. But he declared it to be the hope of Israel. Therefore—

The Hope of Israel Is the Christian’s Hope

Just what this hope is he tells us in another place. He says: “And now I stand and am judged for the hope of the promise made of God unto our fathers: unto which promise our twelve tribes, instantly serving God day and night, hope to come. For which hope’s sake, King Agrippa, I am accused of the Jews.” Acts 26: 6, 7.

In the eighth verse he gives a hint of what he understood to be included in “the promise made of God unto our fathers,” in the question, “Why should it be thought a thing incredible with you, that God should raise the dead?” But he stated it explicitly when making his defense before the council at Jerusalem, in these words: “Of the hope and resurrection of the dead I am called in question.” Acts 23: 6; see also Acts 24: 14, 15. The hope of Israel, the Christian’s hope, is “the promise made of God unto our fathers,” of the inheritance restored through the resurrection of the dead. And this “promise made of God unto our fathers” is—

The Gospel

“And the scripture, foreseeing that God would justify the heathen through faith, preached before the gospel unto Abraham, saying, In thy seed shall all kindreds of the earth be blessed.” Gal. 3: 8. But as we have already shown (Acts 3: 25), this is the covenant made with Abraham. Therefore the covenant made with Abraham is the gospel. And because Abraham kept the covenant, believed the gospel, it was imputed unto him for righteousness; that is, God imputed his own righteousness to Abraham, because he believed the gospel; and he revealed that righteousness to him in the gospel; “for therein is the righteousness of God revealed.”

Righteousness is sometimes defined as right-doing. More properly it is right-being. But no man is naturally righteous; as it is written, “There is none righteous, no, not one.” Rom. 3: 10. It is just as unnatural, just as much a miracle, to make an unrighteous man righteous as it is to raise the dead to life. But because Abraham believed in the resurrection of the dead, righteousness was imputed unto him. And so, in revealing righteousness, the gospel reveals the resurrection of the dead; and therefore righteousness reveals life.

It Is Life

All this is revealed in the gospel, and only in the gospel; and the gospel is the covenant made with Abraham. Nothing could be added to it, because it had been confirmed in Christ. It was all-sufficient to accomplish its object, without any addition of any kind. Therefore, “the law, which was four hundred and thirty years after, can not disannul, that it should make the promise of none effect. For if the inheritance be of the law, it is no more of promise: but God gave it to Abraham by promise [the covenant, the gospel].” Gal. 3: 17, 18. And this statement is made with direct reference to the Jewish people, the very people to whom the law was given. Therefore let no man think that the Jewish people, even though the law was given to them, secured the righteousness of God by the law. This scripture shows plainly that no one, not even the Jewish people, could secure righteousness in any other way than that by which Abraham attained righteousness, and that was by believing the gospel, which is “the everlasting covenant.”

Millington, Mich.