THE LORD'S SPECIAL COVENANT.
By G.
Of all the covenants spoken of in the Scriptures there is just one that God calls distinctively His own. It is not a covenant with any specific individual or people, with which they have anything to do but to obey. It is a covenant that all men are under obligation to observe. It was not an agreement, but a commanded covenant. "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." Deut. 4:13. This is a plain statement of what God's covenant is. It was this covenant which the Israelites had covenanted to keep. They made the agreement to keep whatever God would say before they knew what He was going to say. Ex. 19:4-8. This constituted what is known as the "old covenant." It was a covenant, or agreement, to keep the Lord's covenant of ten commandments. After they heard His words, they confirmed their agreement. But they soon failed to keep the Lord's covenant, and in this failure they broke their own covenant with God—that is, they broke the "old covenant." So the Lord's covenant of mercy, called the "new covenant," is the only hope of the disobedient. He makes that with a people, also called Israel and Judah, who will receive His covenant, or law, in their hearts. Jer. 31:31-34. A formal profession of righteousness must always prove a failure; only the law of God in the heart can keep one in covenant relation with God. Such covenanters are Israelites indeed, prevailers with God. Gen. 32:28. God's covenant of ten commandments does not fail because a faithless people fail to honor their promise to keep it. A foreigner who desires to become a citizen of the United States takes an oath to obey the laws of the land. If he afterward violate the said laws, he breaks his covenant with the government; but that does not affect the validity of the law. Nor is the law to be repealed on that account. Moreover the naturalized citizen who has a heartfelt regard for the law, will always prove faithful to his covenant with the government—his oath of allegiance. God's special covenant, which He says is the law of ten commandments, is a permanent, perfect covenant. "He sent redemption unto His people; He hath commanded His covenant forever." Ps. 111:9. This is why the people need redemption, because the covenant, or law, which all have violated, must stand forever. If the law could be set aside, there would be no more sin, for "sin is not imputed when there is no law" (Rom. 5:13); therefore there would be no necessity of redemption. But "the law of the Lord is perfect, converting the soul" (Ps. 19:7); it is not to be abolished. Speaking of Christ under the title of David, the Lord says, "I will make Him My firstborn, higher than the kings of the earth. My mercy will I keep for Him forevermore, and My covenant shall stand fast with Him." See Ps. 89:18-29. Again He declares, "My covenant will I not break, nor alter the thing that has gone out of My lips." Verse 34. Corroborating this declaration is the testimony of Christ: "Think not that I am come to destroy the law or the prophets; I am not come to destroy, but to fulfil. For verily I say unto you, Till heaven and earth pass, one jot or one tittle shall in no wise pass from the law till all be fulfilled." Matt. 5:17, 18. Luke reports Him as saying, "It is easier for heaven and earth to pass, than one tittle of the law to fail." Instead of abolishing one tittle of the law, Christ Himself magnified the law and made it honorable. Isa. 42:21. And "he that saith he abideth in Him ought himself also so to walk even as He walked." 1 John 2:6.