THE LAW OF GOD, AS RELATED TO BOTH THE OLD AND THE NEW COVENANT.
By C. A. Russell
That the old covenant was not the ten commandments, but an agreement between the Lord and the people respecting them, is clearly established by the concurrent testimony of Moses and Paul. In Ex. 19:5, 6, the Lord, through Moses, addressed the people thus: “Now therefore, if ye will obey my voice indeed, and keep my covenant, then ye shall be a peculiar treasure unto me above all people.” “And ye shall be unto me a kingdom of priests, and a holy nation.” Moses bore the message to the people, and in the eighth verse their answer is given: “All that the Lord hath spoken we will do.” As recorded in chap. 24:5–8, the people twice renewed their promise to obey the words of the Lord. Moses wrote their words in a book, called the book of the covenant. This solemn covenant was then dedicated with blood, when Moses said (verse 8), “Behold the blood of the covenant, which the Lord hath made with you concerning all these words.” What words are referred to? The words of the ten commandments. To prove this we have only to read in connection Ex. 19:5: “Now therefore, if ye will obey my voice indeed, and keep my covenant,” and Deut. 4:13: “And he declared unto you his covenant, which he commanded you to perform, even ten commandments; and he wrote them upon two tables of stone.” Now notice that the covenant was made between the Lord and the people, and concerning the ten commandments, as is clearly shown by the above scriptures. Then it is certain that the ten commandments are one thing, and that the covenant, which was made concerning them, is a separate and distinct instrument. But we are not left to our own deductions in this matter, though the case is a plain one; for the apostle Paul has given an inspired commentary on this very point. In Heb. 9:18–20 he refers to the acts of Moses recorded in Ex. 24, and declares that that was the dedication of the first covenant. The words covenant and testament are used interchangeably, as will be seen by reading Heb. 8 and 9. Once when discussing this subject with a member of the Disciple church, an illustration came to my mind which silenced my opponent. I said, We will suppose that a wealthy gentleman decides to build a house. He carefully draws up a design, and contracts with certain mechanics to build the house according to that design, and for doing this, he agrees to pay a stipulated price. The contract is put in writing and sealed, and the workmen commence. They have not proceeded far, however, before the gentleman discovers that they are not fulfilling his design. He expostulates with them. They promise to do better; but he becomes satisfied that they are not doing their work according to the plan, and he declares the contract forfeited, and discharges them. Now does the failure on the part of the workmen obliterate the gentleman’s design, so that he thenceforth gives it up? Rather does not the fact of his discharging those men show that it is still uppermost in his mind, and that he will accept nothing but a strict compliance with it? We will suppose that this gentleman has an only son who possesses a generous and sympathetic heart, and who is in perfect accord with his father. He deeply pities those men, who have failed to secure the reward they so much need. He approaches his father and says, “I have decided to undertake to help those men, if you will accept my mediation. I propose to go and personally assist them. I will instruct, and work with them; and by the great sacrifice that I will make for them, will so endear them to me, that they will be successful in their second attempt. I will superintend the work, and through my influence it shall be done.” In the above illustration, the design of the gentleman of course represents the law of God; the contract between him and the workmen, the old covenant, which the Lord made with the people concerning his law; and the generous-hearted son very feebly represents our adorable Redeemer. The prophet Isaiah said of Christ, “He shall magnify the law, and make it honorable,” chap. 42:21; and, true to the divine prediction, we hear him, immediately after commencing his ministry, teaching that the law relates not simply to the outward actions, but also to the motives; thus showing that in order to be fully kept, its principles must be implanted in the heart. Now let us read the promise of the new covenant, in connection with certain other scriptures bearing upon this point. In Jer. 31:31 we read: “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.” Verse 33: “But this shall be the covenant that I will make with the house of Israel: After those days, saith the Lord, I will put my law in their inward parts, and write it in their hearts; and will be their God, and they shall be my people.” Thus we see that in his second attempt for the good of his people, the Lord makes his law the basis. It must be put into their hearts, in order that he may be their God, and that they may be his people. And mark: this is the manner in which the new covenant is made. It was instituted by Christ, and ratified by the shedding of his blood. Matt. 26:28: “For this is my blood of the new testament [covenant], which is shed for many for the remission of sins” (transgressions of the law; 1 John 3:4). “For what the law could not do, in that it was weak through the flesh, God sending his own Son in the likeness of sinful flesh, and for sin, condemned sin in the flesh, that the righteousness of the law might be fulfilled in us, who walk not after the flesh, but after the Spirit.” Rom. 8:3, 4. We are plainly told in the above scripture that the object of Christ’s mission to this world was that the righteousness of the law might be fulfilled in us. Man, having inherited a sinful nature, and having indulged in sin, was incapacitated to keep the law of God; hence it could only condemn him. In this sense it was weak through the flesh. Now we are prepared to ask, How is a person inducted into the new covenant? and what is conversion? To the first question the answer has already been foreshadowed. It is the receiving of the law of God into the heart, and by faith in Christ, and through the assistance of his grace, fulfilling its righteousness by carrying out its principles in our lives. And when this is accomplished, the work of conversion is also. Hence they are identical. Under the new covenant, which covenant was ratified by the death of Christ, the law of God is put into the hearts of his people. No event that could have been instituted by Heaven could so affect the heart of fallen man as the vicarious death of the Son of God. Christ dying for us! “Oh, for this love, let rocks and hills their lasting silence break!” All, whose hearts are touched with his love will try to walk as He walked who kept his Father’s commandments,179and such shall at last “have right to the tree of life, and enter in through the gates into the city.” In view of the above facts, how glaringly false is the position of those who teach the abrogation of the moral law under the gospel. Rom. 3:31. This doctrine subverts the gospel, which undertakes to save men from sin instead of in sin. Matt. 1:21. It is as far from the truth as the earth is beneath the heavens. In conclusion I would say, lest we be misunderstood, that we do not believe a person can be saved by any meritorious works of his own, but only through the merits of Christ; for we are all under sin. Neither can we be saved when we knowingly commit sin. C. A. Russell.