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The Covenant

In the first part of the book of Genesis, from Adam to Abraham, God interacted with individuals and not with groups of people. That changed with the Covenant God made with Abraham (around 1950 BC). In that Covenant, God established his own people, which I referred to as the “People of God” in the “OT Story” from last week. I like to use the word “established” because, with the Covenant, God began his people and his people (the Jews) continued until Jesus. [Jews believe that this Covenant with Abraham has continued to this day with them.]

This is an important point: From the time of the Covenant with Abraham until the time of Jesus, God mainly worked through this group of people, who we call the Jews. Yes, God interacted with individual Jews in the OT, but his main focus was always to bring the entire group of Jews into obedience. In the prophet books (all 15), we can see this idea most clearly: he was concerned that the whole group of Jews follow him, and, if they would all obey him, God promised that he would, in turn, bless the entire group of Jews. This will change after Jesus. All Christians are part of the church, but the emphasis shifts to the lives of individual Christians.

The Law

The Covenant had two parts: God’s part was eventually to make Abraham into a large nation and eventually to give his descendants the land of Israel, and Abraham’s part was for all Jewish males to be circumcised at eight days of age. But the Covenant with Abraham lacked instructions on how to please God. Instead, those instructions were given in the Law of Moses. (Moses lived around 1450 BC, although some scholars say it is closer to 1250 BC.) The Law of Moses contained 613 rules. This can be divided into the 10 Commandments plus 603 other rules, such as how to sacrifice, what foods to eat, descriptions of the festivals, etc. That is why these two are called the two “cornerstones” of the Old Testament. The Covenant of Abraham established or created the People of God, and the Law of Moses told the People of God how to live. This was the "system" in the Old Testament:

• How to join God's people? If male, then circumcision. If female, then make a decision to follow God.
• Once you are part of God's people, how do you know how to live? Follow the 613 rules in the Law.

The Covenant of Abraham and the Law of Moses were in effect for approximately 1500 years until the time of Jesus’ crucifixion.

How do these two tie in with the New Testament?

Jesus took part in these two cornerstones. He was circumcised at eight days of age (as stipulated in the Coveant), and he followed the Law of Moses. This is the “system” that God created in the Old Testament and that Jesus followed. The Covenant established the Jews (started them and created the entrance requirement of circumcision for men) and told the People of God how to live with the Law. Today, Christians tend to look down on or disregard the Covenant with Abraham and the Law of Moses. But, before Jesus, those two were the holy paths to God that God established. On a side note, it is easy to understand why many of the Jewish leaders doubted Jesus’ words when he said that he came to fulfill the Law and the prophets. After all, the Jews had obeyed the Covenant and the Law for a very, very long time (almost 1500 years).

Let us tie this into the New Testament. First the Covenant: if the Covenant established the People of God in the Old Testament, what establishes people as the People of God (now known as Christians) after Jesus? It is through faith. In the books of Romans and Galatians, Paul points out that Abraham was pleasing to God before the Law of Moses was established and before Abraham was circumcised. After Jesus, people enter into a relationship with God by means of their faith. But how does the Law of Moses tie into a Christian life? Just as males no longer need to undergo circumcision in order to become a Christian, no one should follow the Law of Moses in order to please God once they become a Christian. (After all, Abraham was pleasing to God, yet he did not follow the Law of Moses since he lived hundreds of years before Moses.) So, what took the place of the Law in telling the People of God how to please God? Instead, God gives the Holy Spirit to each Christian. The Holy Spirit guides, encourages, and comforts the believer. That is why the Law is no longer needed: if one has the Holy Spirit guiding them, the Law is unnecessary. From Romans 7:6: “But now, by dying to what once bound us, we have been released from the Law so that we serve in the new way of the Spirit and not in the old way of the written code.” Also, Galatians 3:25: "Now that faith has come, we are no longer under the supervision of the Law."

This is how the Old Testament and the New Testament work together. In the Old Testament, people were pleasing to God by being part of the Covenant and following the Law of Moses. After Jesus, people are pleasing to God once they have faith in God and follow the Holy Spirit’s guidance into living a life that is pleasing to God.

Bonus: Understanding the significance of the Covenant with Abraham will explain why some churches use infant baptism instead of believer’s baptism. Theologians from churches and denominations that use infant baptism teach that baptism was intended to replace circumcision (“pedobaptism” since “pedo” means “child”). Therefore, since Jews circumcise boys at eight days of age, and that is when they “officially” become Jewish, then, according to pedobaptism theologians, infants should be baptized in order to “bring them into” the church. Then, just like Jews have Bar Mitzvahs (boys) and Bat Mitzvahs (girls) around the age of 13 so that the children can “accept” their Jewish faith, so Christian churches should have “confirmation” services where children/young teenagers can “accept” their Christian faith. That is often in place of a salvation experience. Like Jewish boys and girls become full Jews by making a profession of their acceptance of Judaism, Christian youth profess their acceptance of Christianity and so become full members of their local church. On the other hand, those who practice believer’s baptism believe a salvation experience is vital to their faith.

It should be noted: usually churches that practice infant baptism are more sacramental; churches that practice believer's baptism are less sacramental. (This is the definition I am using for "sacramental": the idea that God gives grace through the participation in a ceremony.) For example, Methodists and Lutherans are more sacramental and both believed that God gives grace to a person upon being baptism or taking communion; the act itself causes God to give grace. Baptists and most Pentecostals are less sacramental and believe that grace comes to a person by having an mind focused on God. Communion, therefore, is not a time to receive grace but a time to remember the sacrifice of Jesus. That is why less or non-sacramental churches refer to these practices a "ordinances" and not "sacraments."

© 2020, 2021 Mark Nickens