Genesis Vol 3.pdf - College Press

THE OLD COVENANT
The distinctions between the Two Covenants may be
listed briefly as follows:
1. The Old was made with the fleshly seed of Abra-
ham only. It was first announced to Abraham himself,
and was later enlarged into a national covenant at the time
of the establishment of the Jewish theocracy under Moses,
at Mout Sinai, Gen. 12:l-3, 17:l-8, 22:1F-18; Deut. 5:2-
5, Gal. 3:19. It is generally known as the Abrahamic
Covenant. The New Covenant, on the other hand, is an
overture to all mankind, although its blessings are confined
to those who comply with its conditions of membership,
Matt. 28:19-20, Acts 10:34-43, 17:30-31; Rom. 10:9-10,
Acts 2:38, Gal. 3:26-29.
2. Moses was the mediator of the Old Covenant, Jesus
of the New (Deut. F:J; Heb. 3:l-6, 8:6, 9:18-28, 12:24;
1 Tim. 2:j).
3. The basis of membership in the Old Covenant was
fleshly. The Covenant included those born in Abraham’s
house and those bought with Abraham’s money, that is,
those born of Hebrew parents and those retained as slaves
in the Hebrew households, Gen. 17:12. Obviously, all such
infants and heathen servants bad to be taught to “~IZQW
Jehovah” after they had beeii iiiducted into the Coveizant by
circumcision. But the basis of membership in the New
Covenant is spiritual, Jer. 31:31-33-34, John 3:l-6: it de-
pends not on earthly parentage, nor upon inclusion in any
particular racial or ethnic group, but upon spiritual birth.
(See Jer. 3 1;3 1-34, John 3: 1-6), Under the New, God
must write His laws in our hearts, and we must all know
Him, from the least unto the greatest of us, in order to
be admitted into the Covenant, In a word, one of the
things absolutely necessary to participation in the blessings
of the New Covenant is that we know God by faith in
Jesus Christ who came to reveal God to us (John 14:1,
Acts 16:31, Rom. 10:9-10, etc.). We know Him by faith,