Vol. II Lesson 17 WHY THE MOSAIC COVENANT? G. K. Smith

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1 INTRODUCTION Vol. II Lesson 17 A biblical covenant is a sovereign pronouncement of God by means of which He establishes a relationship between Himself and some other party or parties so that He can bless them. Many still consider the Mosaic Covenant to be somehow applicable to Christians in spite of Paul s teachings in Romans and Galatians against legalism. Many Jewish legalists followed Paul around in his ministry and tried to convince churches that Christians still had to keep the Mosaic Law to be saved. This false teaching still plagues the Church today in various forms with the result that inordinate emphasis has been placed on keeping the Mosaic Law. No system of law or good works (in whatever form) ever saved anyone or kept anyone saved. Paul made very clear in Gal. 2 and Rom. 3 that keeping the Law didn t provide Salvation for man. The fact is that the Mosaic Covenant is not the primary covenant of Scripture; the Abrahamic Covenant is! (See Lesson 10, The Covenants of Scripture). The Mosaic Covenant was given to Israel only (not the Church) and is conditional: Blessings are contingent on keeping the letter of the Law and cursings follow failure to keep the law. Grace has no place in the Law. Thus the Law is totally at odds with the New Covenant given by Christ to the Church. The question is, why was the Mosaic Law given to Israel? There is very little expositional material on the biblical covenants beyond the very short summary found originally in the Schofield Reference Bible, but essentially repeated in some Bible Handbooks such as Unger s. B. KEY SCRIPTURES Gen. 3:15; 17:19;12:1-3;13:14-17;15:4-6,12-20; 17:1-14; 22; 28:13-15; 35:9-13; Ex. 2:8-17; 3:8, 9; 6; 7; 4:8; 8:21,22; 9:1-17; 19:5-8; 20:1-17; 21:1-23:23;25:1-31;31:12-17; Deu. 5:2; Deut. 30:10; 2 Sam. 7:4-16; Psm. 40:6;89:3,4; Isa. 11:1-9;16:4,5;35; 61:8,9; Jer.7:22-24; 31:31-40; Eze. 20:12; 16:60-62; 37:21-28;33:22,25,26; Dan. 2:44; Mal. 2:4-6; Mk. 14:24; Lk. 22:20, Rom. 4; 6; 7;8; 8:18,19; 9:30-10: 10:5; 8-10; 11:26-28;Gal. 3:17-19;1 Jn. 1:8;Heb. 11;12:24; 2 Pet. 2:4,5; Jude 6. C. THE PRINCIPLES 1. The Mosaic (Sinaitic) Covenant The Mosaic (or Sinaitic) Covenant, given to Israel on Mt. Sinai, is a conditional covenant between God and the Children of Israel (Ex ; etc.). The Mosaic Covenant ( Mosaic Law ) may be divided into three parts (or codices ): 1. "The Commandments" (The Moral Law), which is found in Ex. 20: "The Ordinances" (O.T. Christology), found in Ex. 25:1-31:18 plus most of Leviticus. 3. "The Judgments" (Israel's way of life), found in Ex. 21:1-23:23 plus much of Numbers. Paul explains the reason for the Law (Mosaic Covenant): "Why the Law then? It was added because of transgressions, having been ordained through All rights reserved, 2008 Pg. 1 of 10

2 angels by the agency of a mediator, until the seed should come to whom the promise had been made." (Gal.3:19) The Mosaic Covenant was added to Israel because of the sins of Israel. The nature of these sins showed that they just didn't trust God or believe His Word. The Mosaic Covenant can exist alongside the Abrahamic Covenant for the Jews to whom it was given, but it can't replace it. In Gal. 3:19b,20 Paul shows the superiority of the Abrahamic Covenant by pointing out that it was given directly by God to Abraham, while the Mosaic Covenant was given to Israel by mediators, i.e. angels and Moses. Just before they came out of Egypt, God gave Israel the Passover (Ex.12), which was a picture of blood redemption by grace and protected them from the final curse on Egypt. The Israelites began to murmur against God shortly after crossing the Red Sea (Yam Suph, Ex. 15:24). Almost a thousand years later God upbraids Israel for their evil ways through the prophet Jeremiah, because the Israelites (promoted by the Temple Cult ) assumed that God would not allow His temple to be destroyed and desecrated. However, God says concerning their sacrifices: "For when I brought your forefathers out of Egypt and spoke to them, I did not just give them commands about burnt offerings and sacrifices, but I gave them this command: Obey me, and I will be your God and you will be my people. Walk in all the ways I command you, that it may go well with you. But they did not listen or pay attention; instead, they followed the stubborn inclination of their evil hearts. They went backward and not forward." (Jer.7:22-24 NIV) The point here is that sacrifices (Psm. 40:6) and these procedures of the Law were not God's idea for them; it was theirs 1. (Note, the "just" in the verse quoted from the NIV above is not in the original.) It was God's desire to deal with this generation on the basis of grace in accordance with the Abrahamic Covenant just as he had the Patriarchs, but that generation had no faith in God, which was the basis of the Abrahamic covenant. They did not want to just obey the voice of God. Israel would not trust an agreement that was not written down in "black and white." The sin of Israel was habitually the sin of unbelief (Num.14:11; Psm.78:7,8,22; 106:24; Rom.9:32; 10:21;11:20; Heb. 3:19; etc.). So that was why "the Law was added" until Christ ( Seed ) should come (Gal. 3:19). The Mosaic Covenant was added because they failed to qualify as heirs of the Abrahamic Covenant (Rom. 4:9-16). God did not give the Law until at least three months after they came out of Egypt (Ex. 19:1). God told them prior to giving the Law that if they kept His covenant (i.e. Abrahamic, not Sinaitic!), then they would be His holy nation and a kingdom of priests (Ex. 19:5,6) just like the N.T. sons of Abraham are today (Rom. 4:16; 1 Pet.2:5,9,10). That never happened! Israel as a nation rejected the grace of the 1 Dr. Unger, in his O. T. Commentary on Ex. 19, says: But the people.were very willing to give up God s gracious dealing with them by grace through faith alone and instead accept a legal principle that in and of themselves they were not able to follow. They were leaving the sure ground of faith alone in God s grace and looking to themselves and what they were in themselves instead of looking entirely to God and what they were in Him. All rights reserved, 2008 Pg. 2 of 10

3 Abrahamic covenant that was based on trust in God. Since Israel couldn't inherit the Abrahamic Covenant (because Israel as a nation didn t qualify), God had to create another covenant just for them for which the nation of Israel could qualify. It was designed to provide a basis for special treatment for the nation of Israel and to teach them to trust God and lead them to Christ (Gal.3:24) and thus individually to qualify for the ( everlasting ) unconditional Abrahamic Covenant. The Hebrew word for Law is Torah. It signifies primarily "direction, teaching, instruction." The very word used to refer to the Mosaic Covenant shows the purpose of God to instruct Israel in the way of righteousness and faith. When used with the definite article, ha-torah, it refers to the Mosaic Law. The equivalent Greek word is nomos, which means "usage, custom, law" It comes from the verb that means "to distribute, divide out, to assign." The Greek nomos became the established name for law as decreed by the state, while ethos, from which the word "ethics" is derived, was used for unwritten law, i.e. "custom." The Mosaic Law is a conditional covenant. God said, in effect, " If you keep the Law, then I will bless you, and if you don't I will curse you" (Jer.7:22-24; Gal. 3:10,12). God wanted Abraham and his descendants to be "His people" and represent him among the heathen nations so that they would become a blessing to the world (Gen. 12:2,3; Deu. 4:6-8). God also wanted a nation that could be the custodian of His revelation of truth to man (God s Word) for posterity and the Gentile nations (Rom. 3:2). God offered Israel the opportunity to become a "kingdom of priests" to Him in accordance with the Abrahamic Covenant (Ex. 19:5,6). It was not His idea to give them the Mosaic Law (Jer. 7:22, 23; Psm. 40:6). The problem is that Israel as a nation did not trust God and therefore didn't qualify as heirs of the Abrahamic Covenant. It is the heart attitude that God is concerned with (Deu. 10:12; 1 Chr. 28:9; Psm. 4;4,5;15:1,2;33:15;51:17; Isa. 57:15; Jer. 4:2;9:24; Zech. 8:16; Mic. 6:8; Jn. 4:24; Rom. 12:1,2; etc.). Israel wanted a covenant whose terms were written down in "black and white." So God had to make a covenant with them that they could qualify for, a covenant of works. So the Mosaic Law was added because of their sin of unbelief (Rom. 14:23b;9:32; Gal. 3:19). God used the Law as a means of leading these Jewish "unbelievers" to faith in Messiah (Gal. 3:23-25). Israel never became a "kingdom of priests" to God, because the Mosaic Law imposed a specialized priesthood. Israel was still supposed to be a light of truth and righteousness to the nations (Ex. 19:6; Isa. 49:3-6) around them who knew only idol worship. However, Israel turned the Law into exclusiveness and a means of boasting (Mat. 3:7-10; Rom. 9:30-10:21). They didn't want other people to be God s people. They wanted that privilege kept for themselves. They wanted the temporal prosperity that the Law promised, rather than personal fellowship and relationship with God through faith and eternal spiritual riches. They made the external keeping of the law the key issue of the Mosaic Covenant rather than the trust in God that the Law and the Prophets taught (Rom. 9:30-33; Gal. 3:21,22). The Greek word paidagogos in Gal. 3:24 ("tutor, school master") referred to the Greek All rights reserved, 2008 Pg. 3 of 10

4 slave that was responsible for the discipline and education of the child. He tutored the child as well as insured that he attended class and listened to the teacher (Gk. didaskalos). So Paul says, "The Law was our paidagogos towards Christ (or christward ), so that we might be justified by faith" (Gal.3:24). The purpose of the Law for Israel was to act as "a slave" to see to it that they learned about Messiah and to lead them to exercise faith in Him. The whole sacrificial system was a Christology in shadow and type. It was to teach them about sin, the holiness of God, and the need for a sin bearer and Savior to satisfy God's just requirements (Heb. 10:1-4). So Christ is the "end of the Law" (Rom. 10:4). However, most of the Israelites did not see into the spiritual meaning and object of the Law. They simply went through the motions of observance without any faith in the Messiah who would one day come to fulfill the Law (Rom. 9:30-33). The same thing is true today in the majority of those who claim to be "Christians." They may attend services and go through the motions of worship, but they have no active faith and trust in the One they claim to worship. (They have never personally invited Jesus Christ into their life to be their savior and Lord Jn. 1:12,13; Rom. 10:9,10.) Many who claim to know the Lord will never enter the kingdom of heaven (Mat. 7:21-23), but the wise man who builds his life on faith and trust in Jesus Christ will never be moved (Psm. 1; Mat. 7:24-27). 2. Israel Misses the Point In Romans chapter 10 Paul shows how the Israelites, though chosen by God as a nation, generally failed to appropriate Salvation based on grace through faith. They failed to understand that it was not the overt keeping of the Law that made them righteous, but rather it was faith in the One to Whom the Law pointed (Rom. 10:3,4; Gal. 3:24,26,29, etc.). As a result they made Judaism into an exclusive religion just for themselves, rather than sharing the knowledge of the One true God and His Plan of Salvation with the whole world. Paul uses the words of Moses to prove his point: "For Moses writes that the man who practices the righteousness which is based on law shall live by that righteousness." (Rom. 10:5) This is a quotation from Lev. 18:5. Moses is saying that the Law, humbly observed and applied, contained everything that a person needed to know in order to appropriate the grace of God in Salvation. He goes on in vs. 6 & 7 to paraphrase Moses' words of Deu. 30:11 ff to show that the Truth that they needed to know to be saved was right there in the Law of Moses. It wasn't too difficult for them or out of their reach, and they didn't need to send anyone up to heaven or down into the Abyss to get this information (Rom. 10:6,7). In other words, God has so revealed the means of Salvation so that anyone can do it! There are no excuses! God didn't demand of them something they could not do. The spiritual aspect of the Mosaic Law pointed to Messiah who would one day take care of the sin problem and provide the basis for an eternal personal relationship with God. Paul then relates Moses' words of Deu. 30:14 to the gospel message which he preached: All rights reserved, 2008 Pg. 4 of 10

5 "But what does it say? "THE WORD IS NEAR YOU, IN YOUR MOUTH AND IN YOUR HEART'--that is, the word of faith which we are preaching, that if you confess with your mouth Jesus as Lord, and believe in your heart that God raised Him from the dead, you shall be saved; for with the heart man believes, resulting in righteousness, and with the mouth he confesses, resulting in salvation." (Rom. 10:8-10) Moses gave the Israelites in Deu. 30:14 the exact formula for righteousness as in Rom. 10:9. It is the same principle of faith as in Rom. 1:17. That is, "The Word... in your mouth (confession) and in your heart (i.e. personal belief in the sense of trust). The order of confession and belief, in the first case (vs. 9), is taken from Moses' words which put the emphasis first on the external observance of the Law, which then leads to the internal spiritual understanding and faith (or trust) in the heart (Psm. 50:23;94:12). He then reverses the order in vs. 10 to show that faith in the gospel message precedes the outward confession of that faith. (The "if" of vs. 9 is a Greek third class conditional clause indicating volitional choice - vs. 11,13). The "if" means that it is open to anyone, just as the "waters" of Salvation are open to anyone (Isa. 55:1). It is the equivalent of the "whosoever" of Scripture, which implies that it is man's will (volition) that determines his own sovereign choice. "for WHOSOEVER WILL CALL UPON THE NAME OF THE LORD WILL BE SAVED." (Rom. 10:13) 3. Does the Mosaic Law Relate to the Church? John the Baptist came preaching the gospel of the Kingdom (Ez. 34:20-24) and announcing that the Kingdom of the Heavens was at hand (Mat. 3:1) and that the nation of Israel should Repent. He was preparing the way for Jesus Christ as Messiah and King of Israel (Jn. 1:26,27). (See footnote 3 at bottom of pg. 7) The necessity of repentance (a change of mind) towards God is explained by Jesus telling Necodemus that only those who are born again spiritually will enter (or see) the Kingdom (Jn. 3:3,5; 1 Cor. 6:9; 15;50; Gal. 5:21). When Jesus began His ministry, He also preached, Repent, for the Kingdom of the Heavens is at hand (Mat. 4:17;10:7). Thus Jesus offered the Kingdom, which the Jews were always longing for, to the nation of Israel with Himself as the King at His First Advent. However, eventually the nation of Israel rejected Jesus of Nazareth as Messiah, so that the Kingdom was deferred to the Second Advent (1 Cor. 15:24; Eph. 5:5; Heb. 12:28; Rev. 20). The so called Sermon on the Mount (Mat. 5-7) was given early in Jesus ministry and must be interpreted in the context of Jesus presenting the Kingdom to Israel. It is really a crash program for O. T. believers to demonstrate the righteousness of the Law in their lives preparatory to the Kingdom. Everything that Jesus says has to do with keeping the Mosaic Law in its true spirit (Mat. 22:36-40). The so called Beatitudes (Mat. 5:3-10; Lk. 6:20ff) are an encouragement to believers to demonstrate the character of God in their lives since the Kingdom age will be characterized by righteousness, justice, and peace because Messiah will literally rule the world with a rod of iron from Jerusalem (see Isa. 11; Rev. 19:15). The Kingdom age will be All rights reserved, 2008 Pg. 5 of 10

6 characterized by the redemption of nature (Rom. 8:14-27) and a return of the earth to its Edenic state of perfect environment (Isa. 35). There will be no hunger or disease or worry about bodily needs or trouble. (So why worry?) The Kingdom begins with only the saved of mankind. All unbelievers are removed from the earth prior to the Kingdom. He then encourages them to be salt and light among the Israelites (Mat. 5:13-16; Mk. 9:50; Lk. 14:34,35) so that Israel as a nation will repent (i.e. at least a saved majority) and the Kingdom will come. Then He explains that He came not to destroy the Law, but to fulfill the Law (Mat. 5:17-20). In subsequent verses of Mat. 5, and also in Mat. 6 and 7 Jesus gives instructions, warnings, and principles for how to live a life that pleases God in the Kingdom age, and to act as a witness to the unsaved Jews in Jesus offer of the Kingdom to Israel. Many of these principles are general and apply to any age. However, the Mosaic Law had no provision for any help for man to be able to keep it (Rom. 7). The Christian life, in contrast, is based on the Holy Spirit controlling ( filling ) the believer moment by moment (Eph. 5:18; 1 Jn. 1; etc) so that he/she is able to walk in fellowship with God and thereby do the will of God apart from any rules or regulations. (See Vol. I Lessons 9 and 15). Salvation is not by works of any kind of law (Eph. 2:8,9), and the Law has no place in the church or the Christian life! The Sermon on the Mount (Mat. 5-7; etc.) is seen by Covenant theologians 2 as primarily applicable to the Church as the Christian way of life, but to do so the interpreters depend heavily on the method of allegorization (or "spiritualization") to eliminate the details that don't fit. The themes of The New Jerusalem in Rev , as well as the millennial temple of Eze , are interpreted allegorically rather than literally. Their prophetic (eschatological) viewpoint is postmillennial, which says essentially that the world is getting better and better until eventually Christianity covers the world. Then Christ comes again at which point all the dead are raised, the righteous Raptured, the great judgment and destruction of the wicked occur, and the new heavens and new earth follow immediately. This is basically the same teachings as the late 19 th century liberal theologians and the basis for the social gospel.. In fact, it was the Unitarian (Universalist) Daniel Whitby ( ) that invented (or revitalized) Post Millennialism. It was also the basic tenant of the WW I slogan, the war to end all wars, which was used effectively to get nations involved. (WW II ended that delusion!). The Mosaic Law was given to Israel only (Ex. 24:8;31:12,17; Deu. 5:2; Eze. 20:12.) It was not given to the patriarchs (Deu. 5:2,3). Nor does the Bible speak of anything like a law before Exodus 20. The sign of the Mosaic Covenant is the keeping of the Sabbath (Ex. 31:16,17). There is no indication that the patriarchs ever observed the Sabbath. It applies exclusively to Israel (Ex. 31:12-17). There is no injunction in the N.T. for the keeping of the Sabbath ( seventh day ). It is clear from the N.T. that the Church observed the Lord s Day, the First Day of the week (Sunday), to meet for worship (Acts 2: 1; 20:7; 1 Cor. 16:2) because Christ rose from the dead on the first day 2 Covenant theologians believe that the Church replaced the nation of Israel in God s plan, and assume that the all the covenants, blessings, and prophecies to Israel in the O.T. now apply to the Church. But such prophecies must then be interpreted allegorically rather than literally. (However, see Rom. 11). All rights reserved, 2008 Pg. 6 of 10

7 of the week. The Church (Christ s disciples) first met on Pentecost (Acts 2:1) which is always a Sunday. Thus the Church began on Pentecost, Fifty days after the Resurrection. It is primarily the failure to understand the purpose of the Mosaic Law in God s plan that leads Christians to misapply it to the Church. The Mosaic Law has no applicability to the Church! 4. Israel s Future The New Covenant ( new is the Gk. kaines or neas as in 1 Cor. 11:25; Heb. 9:15;12:24) and means new in the sense of fresh, i.e. on a different basis than the old. It is unconditional (not based on works) and promises the national salvation of Israel, (after) national cleansing of unbelief, and national restoration to a right relationship with God through personal faith in the finished redemptive work of Christ (Heb. 8:10,11). It is first revealed to Israel in the O.T. in Jer. 31:33,34. Indeed, all unbelieving Israelites will be removed from the earth (along with unbelieving gentiles) at the Judgment of the Multitudes (or Nations) at the time of the Second Advent (see under Palestinian), so that only the Remnant of believing Israel goes into the millennial Kingdom 3 of the Heavens (the use of the term kingdom in Matt.). Thus all (i.e. Remnant of true believing) Israel will be saved (Rom. 11:26) in the Kingdom Age. This relationship with God is the same kind of relationship that Abraham enjoyed as the friend of God. (2 Chr. 20:7; Isa. 41:8; Jas. 2:23). The failure to recognize that God s Plan of Salvation always involves faith or trust in Him (e.g. Abraham) has led some interpreters to mistakenly assume that God has provided some other basis for the eternal salvation of Israelites, and therefore it is not necessary for Jews to believe in Jesus of Nazareth to have eternal life. This is further complicated by the failure to understand the distinction between the national salvation of Israel (earthly) and the personal salvation (eternal) of each individual Israelite. The Tribulation period is the last week (7 years) of the 70 weeks (literally, 70 sevens ) of years (490 years) that God provided for Israel s salvation (Dan. 9:24-27). Israel s national repentance and conversion will happen at the end of the Tribulation period (the time of Jacob s Trouble Jer. 30:7; Dan. 9:27; Zech. 12;13;14, Mat. 24:15-22) immediately preceding the Second Advent of Christ coming in ( The Day of the LORD ) judgment (Isa. 11;12; Zech ; Rev. 19; etc.) to rule the nations with justice (Isa. 11) and the severity of a rod of iron (Psm. 2:9; Rev. 12:5). Only one third of Israel will survive (Zech. 13:8) the Judgment of the Nations or Multitudes (Mat. 25:31-35), which will remove all unbelievers from the earth (Psm. 2;75:2;76:9;110; Isa. 11:4;24:1,6;26:21;27:27,30;34:2;66:15; Eze. 20:33-44; etc.) Only the Remnant of believers in Jesus as Messiah and God (both Jews and gentiles) at the close of the Tribulation will go into the Kingdom (Millennial) Age (Isa. 10:20-23; Eze. 20:33-44; Zech. 8:3,7,8,13; Jn. 3:3). The regenerate Remnant of Israel left after the Judgment of the Nations will become a legitimate Nation in one day at the 3 This term is used because this is the time when God's will "will be done on earth as it is in heaven" (Mat. 6:10). Paul uses the term "Kingdom of Christ" (Eph. 5:2) and the "Kingdom of his beloved Son" (Col. 1:13) to refer to this physical kingdom on earth. The "Kingdom of God", a spiritual kingdom, is the practical sphere of God's rule (Psm. 22:28;145:13; Dan. 4:25;Lk. 1:52). Christ s Kingdom is part of God s spiritual Kingdom. All rights reserved, 2008 Pg. 7 of 10

8 time of the Second Advent (Isa. 66:5-10). 4. QUESTIONS 1. Did the O. T. patriarchs live by a Law? 2. Where does Scripture show that the Mosaic Law was given only to Israel? 3. What is the basic Covenant of Scripture? 4. Why didn t the nation of Israel qualify for the Abrahamic Covenant? 5. Why was the Mosaic Covenant given to Israel (Gal. 3:19)? 6. What blessings did Israel give up by demanding God write down His rules to keep? 7. Who are the children of the promise (Rom. 4)? 8. What are the 3 divisions of the Mosaic Law? 9. What spiritual purpose did the Law serve in its relationship to the nation of Israel? 10. How does the Mosaic rite of circumcision demonstrate the superiority of the Abrahamic Covenant? 11. What is the sign of the Sinaitic Covenant? 12. What is the sign of the Abrahamic Covenant? 13. What day is the Sabbath? 14. What day does the N.T. say Christians met together to worship: 15. Is the Gospel of Christ revealed in the Mosaic Law? How? Where? 16. Did Israel succeed in being a light to the nations? 4 Note that the Hasidic Jews do not recognize the legitimacy of the nation Israel today because they believe that Messiah must come to create it.) At that time the earth will be restored to its original edenic state (Isa. 11:6-9; Rom. 8:18-25) All rights reserved, 2008 Pg. 8 of 10

9 17. What was God s original plan for Israel? (Ex. 19:5,6) 18. What is the New Covenant? 19. When will Israel as a nation enjoy the blessings of the New Covenant? 20. When did God offer the Kingdom to the nation of Israel? 21. Is the Tribulation part of the Church Age or the Age of Israel? 22. When will the Kingdom Age begin? SUMMARY The primary or central covenant of Scripture is the Abrahamic covenant. It is the continuation of the promise of a Savior Messiah in Gen. 3:15. It first of all promises that Abraham s seed (descendents) will inherent the world and also promises a Messiah. It continues the development of the Redeemer theme of Gen. 3:15 and develops the plan by which God provides eternal salvation for mankind based on the principle of grace (which is how God has always dealt with mankind). The basic qualification for the Abrahamic covenant is personal heartfelt faith (trust) in God (Yahweh). The Mosaic or Sinaitic covenant is an add on (Gal. 3:19) because of Israel s unbelief as a nation. The nation of Israel didn t qualify for the Abrahamic covenant, so God had to create a different covenant as a basis for establishing a relationship with the nation of Israel with the objective of bringing them into the Abrahamic covenant (Gal. 3:24). So the Mosaic Law was given to provide a Standard for Israel to live by, showing that man is a sinner and cannot comply with God s Standard. It also provided a covenantal basis for God to relate to the nation of Israel for blessings, to preserve His Word (progressive Revelation to mankind), and continue the line of the Redeemer through Abraham s physical progeny (Gen. 17:19). The Law failed to provide any help in keeping it, which Paul notes in Rom. 7. However, Regeneration under the New Covenant provides the universal indwelling presence of the Holy Spirit for the Church to provide the help needed to do the will of God (Rom. 8:4-10;Gal. 5:16-23;Eph. 5:18;1 Jn. 1:3-10). It was always, however, God s plan to save the human race (Gen. 3:15; Jn. 3:16; Gal. 3:6-9, etc.), not just a few people or even one nation. After the Reformation, the development of theology among the new Protestant denominations started with the Roman Catholic theologian, Augustine (a Neo-Platonist), and it took time for Protestant theologians to recognize many of the Augustinian theological errors such as Amillennialism, which assumes that the Kingdom is now and Christ rules the world through the Pope as vicar. However, Jesus and the Apostles taught that this world system under Satan s invisible rule is the enemy of Christ and His followers (Lk. 4:5,6; Jn. 8:44;14:30;15:18,19;16:8-11;17:6,9,12-18,25,36; 2 Thes. 2:3-10; 1 Pet. 5:8; 1 Jn. 2:16;4:3; 5:19; Rev. 20:3). Constantine, as both Emperor and head of the Roman state religion, declared Rome Christian, and All rights reserved, 2008 Pg. 9 of 10

10 thus the pagan Roman basilicas and priesthood became Christian by edict. (The Roman religion traces it linage to Greece, Egypt, and Babylon-Rev. 17;18.) This is the origin of the Roman Catholic priesthood, from which other Christian denominations priesthood owed their origin. Since Satan was unable to stamp out the Church of Jesus Christ (and the principle of faith in Christ alone for salvation) in the first 3 centuries, he then joined the Church with the Roman Empire via Constantine s edict, and thus is able to continue the deception of salvation by works via sacerdotalism. Any sacerdotal system of religion as a commercial income generator must preserve the necessity of works for Salvation, which is contrary to the Reformation s sola fide, the principle of Salvation by faith alone in the Person and work of the Lord Jesus Christ (Jn. 3:16,18,33,36; 20:31; Rom. 3:21-23;4:25;10:8-13; Gal. 2:15,16,22;3:26;Eph. 2:8,9; Phil.3:9;Tit. 3:5; 1 Pet.1:23). Had the Reformation leaders recognized the real reason why God provided the Sinaitic Covenant to Israel (viz. unqualified for Abrahamic Covenant), the applicability of the Law to the Church would never have been an issue. All God s covenants have their ultimate fulfillment in the Kingdom Age during which Jesus Christ rules the world from Jerusalem as King of Righteousness and King of Peace (Zech. 14:4). Failure to understand how these covenants fit together in God s plan can result in inordinate emphasis being placed on only one covenant such as the Sinaitic (Mosaic), which often leads to legalism. However, a neglect of these covenants can lead to a theology that fails to grasps God s overall plan for redeeming man and resolving all the conflicts we see in the world. An understanding of the covenants and their relationship with prophecy gives us a much better perspective of God s plan for man and puts the Mosaic Covenant in its proper place. Furthermore, if you understand the covenants of Scripture, you have a basis for fitting things into place both theologically and eschatologically. FOR FURTHER READING Unger s Commentary on the Old Testament, 2 Vols., Merrill F. Unger Th.D., Ph.D., Moody, The Scofield Reference Bible, C.I. Schofield D.D., Ed., Oxford U. Press, The New Scofield Reference Bible, Editorial Committee for New Edition, E. Schuyler English, Litt.D., Ed., Oxford U. Press, All rights reserved, 2008 Pg. 10 of 10