The New Covenant by H. F. Courter

Pacific Press Publishing Association · Mountain View, California · Aug 11, 1909

FromSigns of the Times, Vol. 36, No. 31.

The New Covenant

By H. F. Courter

“Behold, the days come, saith the Lord, when I will make [complete, finish] a new covenant with the house of Israel and with the house of Judah: not according to the covenant that I made with their fathers in the day when I took them by the hand to lead them out of the land of Egypt; because they continued not in My covenant, and I regarded them not, saith the Lord. For this is the covenant that I will make with the house of Israel after those days, saith the Lord; I will put My laws into their mind, and write them in their hearts: and I will be to them a God, and they shall be to Me a people: and they shall not teach every man his neighbor, and every man his brother, saying, Know the Lord: for all shall know Me, from the least to the greatest. For I will be merciful to their unrighteousness, and their sins and their iniquities will I remember no more.” Heb. 8:8-12, quoting from Jer. 31:31-34.

COMPARING this new covenant with the old covenant, we find some of the “better promises” spoken of in Heb. 8:6, to be: (1) The law written in the heart. (2) We shall not need to teach them to know the Lord. (3) Our sins and iniquities will be remembered no more. The second better promise can not be fulfilled until probation ends and the wicked are destroyed. See 2 Peter 3:13; Rev. 5:13. The third better promise can not be fulfilled until our names are passed in the investigative judgment, now going on in heaven.

Notice with whom the new covenant is made. Not with the Gentiles. No! no! It is made “with the house of Israel and with the house of Judah.”

Is there any hope for us, “Gentiles in the flesh,” to have any part in the blessings promised in the new covenant? — No, not without being as “wild olive-branches” grafted into “a good olive-tree;” or, in other words, being born again, and thus becoming a part of the true Israel of God. “Israel” means one who prevails with God. Gen. 32:28. Those who can trace their genealogy to Abraham are not all true Israel or Jews; for we read Christ’s words to the Jews: “If ye were Abraham’s children, ye would do the works of Abraham.” John 8:39, last clause. Paul says: “He is not a Jew, which is one outwardly; . . . but he is a Jew, which is one inwardly.” Rom. 2:28, 29. “Not as tho the word of God hath taken none effect. For they are not all Israel, which are of Israel: neither because they are the seed of Abraham, are they all children; but, In Isaac shall thy seed be called. That is, They which are the children of the flesh, these are not the children of God: but the children of the promise are counted for the seed.” Rom. 9:6-8. “Wherefore remember, that ye being in time past Gentiles in the flesh; . . . that at that time ye were without Christ, being aliens from the commonwealth of Israel, and strangers from the covenants of promise, having no hope and without God in the world.” Eph. 2:11, 12.

In this quotation Paul wants the Ephesian brethren to “remember” the condition they were in when they were Gentiles. We see by this scripture the awful condition of a Gentile. Paul intimates by the words, “Remember, that ye being in times past Gentiles in the flesh,” that they are not Gentiles any longer. Listen to the next verse, for in it he tells how they became Israel: “But now in Christ Jesus, ye who sometimes were afar off [that is, Gentiles], are made nigh by the blood of Christ.” “Now therefore ye are no more strangers and foreigners [Gentiles], but fellow-citizens with the saints, and of the household of God.” Eph. 2:13, 19.

In Rom. 11:13-26, we read of the grafting-in process. The Gentiles, represented by the “wild olive-branches,” and the Israelites according to the flesh represented by the “natural branches,” all have to be grafted into the “good olive-tree,” “and so all Israel shall be saved.” Thus we see how we can become a part of the true Israel of God, partakers of the promises, and sharers in the blessings of the new covenant. “If ye be Christ’s, then are ye Abraham’s seed, and heirs according to the promise.” Gal. 3:29.

(2) That the new covenant and the everlasting covenant were the same, and were dedicated with the blood of the blessed Son of God, we learn from the following texts: “And He took the cup, and gave thanks, and gave it to them, saying, Drink ye all of it; for this is the blood of the new testament [new covenant, Revised Version] which is shed for many for the remission of sins.” Matt. 26:27, 28. “Now the God of peace that brought again from the dead our Lord Jesus, that great Shepherd of the sheep, through the blood of the everlasting covenant, make you perfect in every good work to do His will.” Heb. 13:20, 21.

This blood that makes us perfect can be none other than the blood of Christ; therefore, these covenants are identical. Altho the new covenant, the everlasting covenant, was held out to God’s children from the beginning, it was not dedicated until Christ was nailed to the cross. The bow in the cloud was the “token” of this new or everlasting covenant to Noah. Gen. 9:12. Circumcision was the “token” of the covenant with Abraham. Gen. 17:7, 11. And the keeping of the Sabbath makes it the “token,” sign, seal, or mark, between God and the true Israel of God. “Verily My Sabbaths ye shall keep; for it is a sign between Me and you throughout your generations; that ye may know that I am the Lord that doth sanctify you.” Ex. 31:13. “Ye shall keep My statutes and do them: I am the Lord which sanctify you.” Lev. 20:8. All of true Israel are a sanctified, holy people. Heb. 12:14.

H. F. COURTER.