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THE TWO COVENANTS

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Seventh-day Adventist Publishing Association · Battle Creek, Mich. · Oct 3, 1878

FromReview and Herald, Vol. 52, No. 15.

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THE TWO COVENANTS.

By J. G. Matteson

BY ELD. J. G. MATTESON.
(Concluded.)
2. How the new covenant was made and ratified: Christ was made flesh, and dwelt among us. He is not the mediator of the old, but of the new covenant. Heb. 8:6. He confirmed the new covenant with many during one prophetic week. Dan. 9:27. Seven prophetic days symbolize seven years. Eze. 4:6: “I have appointed thee each day for a year.” Christ established the new covenant with many of the house of Israel in Palestine, first by his own labor during the three years and a half in which he preached, and afterward by his apostles during the following three and a half years. After that time his disciples commenced to labor among the Gentiles, as they suffered “great persecution” and were “scattered abroad.” Acts 8:1, 5, 14.
That night when Christ was betrayed, the new covenant was especially entered into in the most solemn manner by the apostles, who were present as representatives for all the believers of the house of Israel.
Jesus took bread, and gave it unto them, saying, “This is my body which is given for you; this do in remembrance of me.” Luke 22:19. All partook of this, and showed thereby that they were members of the new covenant and partakers of “the communion of the body of Christ.” 1 Cor. 10:16. Then he gave the cup to them, saying, “This cup is the new testament [or covenant] in my blood, which is shed for you.” Luke 22:20. They all partook of the cup, and thus entered into the new covenant.
On the next day the new covenant was ratified, or sealed, as Christ died on the cross, and poured out his own precious blood for the sins of men. And from that day the new covenant is of force, and it is not in the power of man to add anything or to change that covenant, or testament, which our Saviour thus sealed with his own blood. Heb. 9:16, 17; Gal. 3:15. Please notice that the words testament and covenant are translated from one word in the original (diatheke). They denote one and the same thing.
Ponder well this great truth. Those principles, laws, ordinances, and promises which our divine Mediator has introduced, or recognized, in the new covenant, are necessary to salvation, and those only. When the covenant was sealed, it could not be moved nor changed by the apostles, neither by any other man. It is therefore a great mistake to set aside the testimony of our Saviour, his example and ordinance, under the pretence that he lived under the old covenant. His ministration on earth did not have reference to the old but to the new covenant. Our Saviour came to this earth as the mediator of the new covenant. Heb. 8:6. And he that tries to set aside this great truth, resists the word of God. Christ prepared the believing children of the house of Israel in three years and a half to become worthy members of the new covenant, and then he sealed it with his own blood at his death. And the third day he rose from the tomb, thus proving his divine mission.
After that the apostles gained many believers who entered into the covenant. This was done in the following manner: They preached the gospel of the death and resurrection of Christ; they exhorted the people to repent and believe on the Son of God. Those who believed and obeyed the good news were baptized and added to the church. Afterward they were instructed in keeping all the commandments of God. And the power of God was with them. Matt. 28:18–20; Mark 16:15–20; Acts 2:38, 41; 8:12, 36–39; 10:40–48.
3. What the new covenant contains. This we have already partly considered, but we will now more particularly notice each point which the Lord has introduced in the great sum of the new covenant. This contains four things:—
(1) “I [the Lord] will put my laws into their mind, and write them in their hearts.”
(2) “And I will be to them a God, and they shall be to me a people.”
(3) “And they shall not teach every man his neighbor, and every man his brother, saying, Know the Lord; for all shall [or they shall all] know me, from the least to the greatest.”
(4) “For I will be merciful to their unrighteousness, and their sins and their iniquities will I remember no more.” Heb. 8:10–12.
The very first proposition in the new covenant is to love the law of God, the ten commandments. This proves clearly, that those believers who preach or write against the holy law of God, or speak of it lightly, or set it aside, have gone astray. They have turned aside from the true order of the divine covenant.
But how do you prove that the ten commandments are the law of the Lord, and that they are given to convince of sin under the new covenant?
They are the only law which the Lord has spoken publicly with his own voice and written with his own finger. Deut. 4:12, 13; 5:22. They were separated from all other laws. Ex. 25:10, 16, 21; 26:33. And they are that law which the apostles pointed to in the New Testament in order to convince men of sin. “Nay, I had not known sin, but by the law; for I had not known lust, except the law had said, Thou shalt not covet.” Rom. 7:7. “Behold, thou art called a Jew, and restest in the law, . . . which hast the form of knowledge and of the truth in the law. Thou, therefore, which teachest another, teachest thou not thyself? Thou that preachest a man should not steal, dost thou steal? Thou that sayest a man should not commit adultery, dost thou commit adultery? Thou that abhorrest idols, dost thou commit sacrilege?” Rom. 2:17–22.
None can misunderstand that the apostle in these two texts speaks of the ten commandments. And this is the very law which even under the new covenant stops every mouth, and makes all the world guilty before God. Rom. 3:19, 20. The same is proved by James 2:10, 11.
This law the Lord now proposes to write in the hearts of his believing children, that they may be able to love the law of God. Then it is not a yoke of bondage unto them to obey the Lord; for they have “received the spirit of adoption,” and can say with the apostle, “This is the love of God, that we keep his commandments, and his commandments are not grievous.” 1 John 5:3.
Those who thus with the mediator of the new covenant learn to say, “I delight to do thy will, O my God; yea, thy law is within my heart” (Ps. 40:8), are the children of God. They are the children of the covenant; Acts 3:25; the Israel of God; Gal. 6:16; the people of God, and the Lord “will be to them a God.” Heb. 8:10.
The next condition in the new covenant, which is just as necessary to salvation as the first, is to know the Lord. So soon as our faculties are developed, and we have personal responsibility, so soon must we seek personal fellowship with the Father and the Son in order to be saved. 1 John 1:3. Thus testifies our Saviour: “And this is life eternal, that they might know thee the only true God, and Jesus Christ, whom thou hast sent.” John 17:3. And the prophet testifies of the children of the new covenant: “And all thy children shall be taught of the Lord; and great shall be the peace of thy children.” Isa. 54:13; Gal. 4:26.
With this agree the words of the beloved apostle: “I write unto you, fathers, because ye have known him that is from the beginning. . . . I write unto you, little children, because ye have known the Father.” 1 John 2:13. The children of the new covenant need not teach one another to know the Lord; for no one can become a member of the new covenant until he knows the only true God and believes in his Son, our Saviour. Heb. 8:11.
Then follows the last blessed proposition in the new covenant,—God “will be merciful to their unrighteousness.” Heb. 8:12. This blessed promise belongs certainly to those who love the law of the Lord, and believe in his dear Son, those who “keep the commandments of God, and the faith of Jesus.” Rev. 14:12.
May the Lord bless his word in your heart, kind reader, and make it a living word by his good Spirit. And may you willingly open the door to Him who stands and knocks, that you may overcome, even as he also overcame (Rev. 3:20, 21), and soon with the “Israel of God” receive a crown of glory that fadeth not away.” 1 Pet. 5:4.