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The Old Covenant

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Pacific Press Publishing Association · Mountain View, California · Jun 8, 1915

FromSigns of the Times, Vol. 42, No. 23.

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The Old Covenant

By Allen Moon

No Sinner Saved by It—The Source of Our Redemption
By Allen Moon
No Jew was ever accepted of God for keeping the old covenant. Abraham was the father of the Jews; and of him it is written, “Even as Abraham believed God, and it was accounted to him for righteousness.” Gal. 3:6. The blessing that came upon the children of Abraham was not for walking in the old covenant, for it is written again, “So then they which be of faith are blessed with faithful Abraham.” Verse 9.

THE CHILDREN OF ABRAHAM

The gospel of justification by faith was preached to Abraham, and he accepted it, and the prophet says, “The just shall live by his faith.” Hab. 2:4. “Know ye therefore that they which are of faith, the same are the children of Abraham.” Gal. 3:7.
The time when it was possible for man to live by the old covenant, passed away long before there was a Jew on earth. Righteousness by faith was preached to Adam. His son Abel understood and accepted it. The law had been broken, and Abel could obtain righteousness only by faith in the promise of God to provide a Redeemer. He showed his faith by his offering of that which pointed to the coming Saviour.

REDEEMED FROM THE CURSE

The law became a curse to mankind only because it condemned him to death for its transgression. But God provided a righteous Seed, who was both God and man; and this One, who was obedient to the law, redeemed man from the curse of a broken law, by hanging on a tree to pay the penalty of man's sin. “For it is written, Cursed is every one that hangeth on a tree.” Verse 13.
The children of Abraham, after the flesh, revealed their inability to observe the old covenant; and God gave them a constant reminder of it in the shedding of blood, until He should come through whom the promise of life was made, and who gave the life demanded by the law. It could then be said, “Blessed be the God and Father of our Lord Jesus Christ, which according to His abundant mercy hath begotten us again unto a lively hope [hope of living] by the resurrection of Jesus Christ from the dead.” 1 Peter 1:3.
From the days of Adam, man has been shut up under the transgressed law until faith came. Faith comes by the preaching of the Word, and we are delivered from the curse of the law by believing in Him who was promised, who came and bore the curse of the broken law for us. All who are of faith, then, from the days of Adam, the same are the children of God. Gal. 3:26. Abraham became the inheritor by faith in the promise of God, and all who will have part in the inheritance will be named after him. Verse 18.
“There is neither Jew nor Greek, there is neither bond nor free, there is neither male nor female: for ye are all one in Christ Jesus. And if ye be Christ's, then are ye Abraham's seed, and heirs according to the promise.” Verses 28, 29.
Where then is the old covenant? Paul, in his salutation to Titus, wrote, “In hope of eternal life, which God, that cannot lie, promised before the world began.” Titus 1:2. The promise which was based on obedience alone failed through the failure of the human family. But God renewed the promise of life on condition of faith in His Son. So Paul wrote again, “Paul, an apostle of Jesus Christ by the will of God, according to the promise of life which is in Christ Jesus.” 2 Tim. 1:1. Can we distinguish the old from the new?