Systematic Theology, by Louis Berkhof - New Leaven

that could not possibly obtain salvation by works. But this covenant is represented in
Scripture as a blessing bestowed upon Israel by a loving Father, Ex. 19:5; Lev. 26:44,45;
Deut. 4:8; Ps. 148:20. But though the covenant with Abraham and the Sinaitic covenant
were essentially the same, yet the covenant of Sinai had certain characteristic features.
a. At Sinai the covenant became a truly national covenant. The civil life of Israel was
linked up with the covenant in such a way that the two could not be separated. In a
large measure Church and State became one. To be in the Church was to be in the
nation, and vice versa; and to leave the Church was to leave the nation. There was no
spiritual excommunication; the ban meant cutting off by death.
b. The Sinaitic covenant included a service that contained a positive reminder of the
strict demands of the covenant of works. The law was placed very much in the
foreground, giving prominence once more to the earlier legal element. But the covenant
of Sinai was not a renewal of the covenant of works; in it the law was made subservient
to the covenant of grace. This is indicated already in the introduction to the ten
commandments, Ex. 20:2; Deut. 5:6, and further in Rom. 3:20; Gal. 3:24. It is true that at
Sinai a conditional element was added to the covenant, but it was not the salvation of
the Israelite but his theocratic standing in the nation, and the enjoyment of external
blessings that was made dependent on the keeping of the law, Deut. 28:1-14. The law
served a twofold purpose in connection with the covenant of grace: (1) to increase the
consciousness of sin, Rom. 3:20; 4:15; Gal. 3:19; and (2) to be a tutor unto Christ, Gal.
3:24.
c. The covenant with the nation of Israel included a detailed ceremonial and typical
service. To some extent this was also present in the earlier period, but in the measure in
which it was introduced at Sinai it was something new. A separate priesthood was
instituted, and a continuous preaching of the gospel in symbols and types was
introduced. These symbols and types appear under two different aspects: as the
demands of God imposed on the people; and as a divine message of salvation to the
people. The Jews lost sight of the latter aspect, and fixed their attention exclusively on
the former. They regarded the covenant ever increasingly, but mistakenly, as a covenant
of works, and saw in the symbols and types a mere appendage to this.
d. The law in the Sinaitic covenant also served Israel as a rule of life, so that the one
law of God assumed three different aspects, designated as the moral, the civil, and the
ceremonial or religious law. The civil law is simply the application of the principles of
the moral law to the social and civic life of the people in all its ramifications. Even the
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