THE TEN COMMANDMENTS NOT THE OLD COVENANT.
By S. H. Lane
Whenever we present the law of God, the ten commandments, and clearly prove their moral obligation binding on all mankind, our opponents are immediately awakened, and claim that the ten commandments constitute the old covenant; and as that has long since been abolished and given way to a new and better one, therefore the ten commandments are no longer binding, at least, only such parts of them as have been embodied in the new covenant. To those who are unacquainted with that which the Bible teaches in regard to the covenant question, the position of the opponents may seem plausible, but to those who have searched the Scriptures in reference to the subject, the position is absurd in the superlative degree. The primary definition of the term covenant, according to Webster, is, “a mutual agreement of two or more persons, or parties, in writing and under seal, to do or refrain from some act or thing; a contract; stipulation.” In speaking of both the old and the new covenants, the establishment of the old, the contracting parties, and the time when made, the prophet Jeremiah says: “Behold, the days come, saith the Lord, that I will make 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 that I took them by the hand to bring them out of the land of Egypt; which my covenant they break, although I was an husband unto them, saith the Lord.” Jer. 31:31, 32. The reader will notice that in each instance the covenants are made with the house of Israel and Judah, never in one instance for them. A covenant can be made with a party, and the very fact that such is the case proves that both parties were concerned in the making thereof. This was the case when the old covenant was made, as may be readily ascertained by examining Ex 19:1-6. Such is not the case with a law. It is not made with the people but for them. It is given by a superior party to an inferior, who owes allegiance thereunto. Not always so with the making of a covenant. One party contracting may be superior, or both may be of equal rank. As our Heavenly Father did not make the ten commandments with the children of Israel, said commandments cannot constitute the old covenant, but may very appropriately become the condition of a contract or covenant, as was the fact in the case of the old covenant. By the observance of said commandments the children of Israel should become unto the Lord “a peculiar treasure, a kingdom of priests, an holy nation.” The contract was broken on their part by not keeping the ten commandments, and the covenant thus proving faulty was abolished. The law, having thus lost its connection with the old covenant, is made the condition of eternal life by Him who taught the principles of the new covenant which he established. Matt. 19:17; Luke 22:19, 20. This point and many others clearly and forcibly prove that the ten commandments are not the old covenant.