A study by the Biblical
Church of God (1985)
Jeremiah 31:31-33
31. Behold, the days come, saith the LORD, that I will make a new
covenant with the house of Israel, and with the house of Judah:
32. Not according to the covenant that I made with their fathers
in the day that I took them by the hand to bring them out of the
land of Egypt; which my covenant they brake, although I was an
husband unto them, saith the LORD:
33. But this shall be the covenant that I will make with the
house of Israel; After those days, saith the LORD, I will put my
law in their inward parts, and write it in their hearts; and will
be their God, and they shall be my people.
Hebrews 8:8-10
8. For finding fault with them, he saith, Behold, the days come,
saith the Lord, when I will make a new covenant with the house of
Israel and with the house of Judah.
9. Not according to the covenant that I made with their fathers
in the day when I took them by the hand to lead them out of the
land of Egypt; because they continued not in my covenant, and I
regarded them not, saith the Lord.
10. For this is the covenant that I will make with the house of
Israel after those days, saith the Lord; I will put my laws into
their mind, and write them in their hearts: and I will be to them
a God, and they shall be to me a people:
THE OLD
COVENANT
The Old Agreement or Contract was made with the physical nation
of Israel at Mount Sinai (Ex 19:5-8).
Brief Outline of The OLD COVENANT is as follows:
a. OPEN-ENDED CONTRACT - The contract could be added to or
subtracted from by God, but not by the Israelites (Exodus
19:5-6).
b. NATIONAL and INDIVIDUAL - The contract was made both with the
nation of Israel and the individuals of the nation. (The books of
Exodus, Leviticus, Numbers and Deuteronomy detail national and
individual terms and conditions of the contract).
c. EXCLUSIVE - The contract was made exclusively with the nation
of Israel, although it did allow for others to become adopted
into the Israelite nation.
TERMS AND CONDITIONS
a. The Israelites were to obey God (Exodus 19:5-6; Exodus 2023).
b. The Israelites would worship only God (Exodus 20:1-7; 25).
c. God would bless the Israelites and protect them.
BENEFITS FOR ISRAEL
Physical and eternal benefits
BENEFITS FOR GOD
The Israelites would be His treasure as a kingdom of priests
(Exodus 19:5-6).
CONTRACT DURATION
The contract was a perpetual contract and would last as long as
the Israelites obeyed God (Exodus 31:16; Leviticus
23:14,21,31,41; 24:5-8; Deuteronomy 28: 15).
CONTRACT RATIFICATION
The contract text was written in stone and in a book, and then
attested to orally and sealed with the blood of the sacrifice
(Exodus 24:3; 24:12; 34:1-5; 24:8).
CONTRACT PREREQUISITES:
This Contract was made between the God Family (through the God of
Abraham, Isaac and Jacob) and the nation of Israel. The only
prerequisite was to be an Israelite.
PRECAUTIONARY NOTE:
Be it known that this contract was irrevocable; its terms,
conditions and stipulations could not be renegotiated by the God
Family or the nation of Israel. Therefore: The children of Israel
were fully warned of the consequences of breaking this contract
(Deut. 28:15-64).
THE NEW COVENANT
This New Agreement of Contract supersedes and voids the contract
made with the nation of Israel at Mount Sinai (Ex 19:5-8). Brief
Outline of The NEW COVENANT is as follows:
TYPE OF CONTRACT
a. CLOSED CONTRACT - The contract cannot be added to or
subtracted from by either party (Hebrews 8:8-10; 10:16).
b. INDIVIDUAL - The contract is made with an individual Acts
2:38-39,47; 1 John 2:4-5.
c. EXCLUSIVE - The contract is made exclusively between each
individual (whether Israelite or non-Israelite) and God. Each
person is dealt with on a personal level (Matthew 20:16; John
6:44,65).
TERMS AND CONDITIONS
a. The individual must repent of past sins and be baptized.
b. The individual must worship and obey God.
c. God will give the individual the tools to help him perform his
part of the contract.
BENEFITS FOR THE INDIVIDUAL
Physical and eternal benefits.
BENEFITS FOR GOD
To share eternity with newly acquired spiritual sons.
CONTRACT DURATION
The contract will last for eternity once the individual fulfils
his part of the bargain (Hebrews 13:20).
CONTRACT RATIFICATION
The contract is overtly committed to by the individual when he is
physically baptized in water. God then seals the contract by
placing His Spirit into the individuals mind, thereby infusing
His laws, precepts, and principles into that person's very
thought processes (Acts 2:38).
CONTRACT PREREQUISITES:
This Contract is made between the God Family (i.e. God the Father
and Jesus Christ) and the individual. It is only offered to those
specifically called to repentance and salvation by God the
Father. "...no man can come unto me, except it were given unto
him of my Father." (Jn 6:65).
PRECAUTIONARY NOTE:
Be it known that this contract is irrevocable; its terms,
conditions and stipulations are eternal and can not be
renegotiated by the God Family or the individual. Therefore: let
the individual fully consider the consequences of consummating
this contract (Heb. 6:4-8; 10:26-31).
THE MAJOR DIFFERENCES BETWEEN THE OLD AND THE NEW COVENANTS
1. The Priesthood changed from the Aaronic-Levitical to the
Melchizedek-Christ Priesthood (Hebrews 4:15; 5:1-10; 6:20 7:117).
2. The animal sacrificial system was suspended by the perfect
sacrifice of Jesus Christ (Hebrews 10:4,10,12,14,16-18).
3. The temple worship system was suspended by the moving of God's
Spirit and temple into those individuals under the new contract
(Acts 2:1-4; 1 Corinthians 3:16-17; 6:19).
4. Individuals other than Israelites are now allowed to contract
with God for blessings (Galatians 3:26-20; Ephesians 2:11,13,19).
5. Those individuals who fulfil their par(of the contract:
a. Will have the Spirit of God dwelling within them (Acts 1:4-8
2:38; Hebrews s 8110).
b. Will receive, eternal life (1 Thessalonians 4:13-17;
1 Corinthians 15:158; Revelation 20:4-6; 22:14).
c. Will have direct access to God the Father (Ephesians 2:18;
Hebrews 4:15-16).
d. Are to he co-heirs
(Romans 8:17; Ephesians 3:6).
e. Will become Kings and Priests in the Kingdom of God
(Revelation 2:26; 3:21; 5:10; 20:4-6).
f. Will become Sons of God (Romans 8:14,16,17; 1 John 3:1-2).
g. Will become Gods as God is God (1 John 3:2).
BAPTISM, THE RATIFICATION OF THE NEW COVENANT
Contrary to what many organized churches believe, baptism is not
for the purpose of binding a person to a group of people or to
one particular physical organization or another. Baptism is your
ratification and acceptance of the terms and conditions that God
has established for the contract between you and the God Family.
"Know you not, that so many of us as were baptized into Jesus
Christ were baptized into his death?" (Romans 6:3).
Baptism is the making of a covenant (contract) between a person
and God the Father and Jesus Christ. Baptism is the induction of
a person into the holy and divine family of God and the church of
God. Baptism is a step toward becoming a God-being as God is God.
No earthly organization of puny physical humans can offer this
grand and awesome privilege - only God can bind a person to
Himself and place him into His Family (John 6:44-45).
The allegiance one makes at baptism is to God the Father and
Jesus Christ, and to no other. Baptism is a very, very serious
step to take. From the moment one is baptized and receives the
Holy Spirit, a commitment of gigantic proportions has been made -
by the baptized person, by God the Father, and by Jesus Christ.
The baptized person has committed himself to an endeavor that
will lead to eternal life as a member of the family and
government of God (Revelation 3:5,21; 5:10; 20:4-6), or eternal
death for those who turn back from this commitment (Luke 9:62;
Hebrews 6:4-6; 10:26-27; Revelation 20:13; 21:8).
God the Father and Jesus Christ have committed themselves to help
the newly begotten son with the very power that sustains the
universe and all that exists (Matthew 6:25-34; Hebrews 13:5-6;
John 14:12-14).
SUMMARY
Now we have a fool-proof method under the New Testament or
Covenant or agreement. This new method or covenant will succeed
where the old one failed because we now have a perfect sacrifice,
a perfect High Priest, and the Holy Spirit. When we sin we can go
right into the throne room of God and ask His forgiveness,
knowing that He will forgive because of our perfect High Priest,
Jesus Christ. So we who are under the New Covenant can always
stand before God as righteous individuals, as having never
sinned. God looks on us as if we had never sinned because our
sins are as far from us as the East is from the West: "He has not
dealt with us after our sins; or rewarded us according to our
iniquities. For as the heaven is high above the earth, so great
is his mercy toward them that fear him. As far as the east is
from the west, so far has he removed our transgressions from us"
(Psalm 103:10-12).
Human beings can forgive, but they cannot forget. But God can
forgive and He also has the ability to forget: "For I will be
merciful to their unrighteousness, and their sins and their
iniquities will I remember no more" (Hebrews 8:12). So our sins
are gone, never to be brought up again as long as we use the
tools that God has given to us under the New Testament.
One of the Holy Days, the Day of Atonement, pictures the time
when God will call physical Israel from the nations and bring
them back to their land of inheritance. He will at that time give
His Spirit to all of them and eventually will evangelize the
whole world so that everyone in the world will have God's Holy
Spirit. When this happens we will have one thousand years of
peace under the Kingdom of God. During this time of one thousand
years, resurrected Christians (who will then be Spirit Beings)
will have a part in this rulership. These Spirit Beings will
continue to administrate the estate of Jesus Christ offering
eternal inheritance to all who dwell on earth at that time. So
the whole world will eventually be under the New Covenant.
2 Corinthians 3:10 (Living New Testament): "In fact that first
glory as it shone from Moses' face is worth nothing at all in
comparison with the overwhelming glory of the new agreement."
Why was the first glory worth nothing when compared to the New
Covenant or Testament? Because it only showed them what sin was,
and there was no way found, under the first covenant, to take
away sins because the sacrifice of animals could not take away
sin.
GLORY OF THE NEW COVENANT
When you compare the two covenants, the new and the old, side by
side, the new one has an overwhelming glory, because it has the
tools contained in it to succeed where the Old Covenant did not.
These tools are (1) the perfect sacrifice of Jesus Christ, (2) a
High Priest who understands man's imperfections (Hebrews 2) and
(3) the Holy Spirit placed within man, so that he now desires to
obey God's commandments. 2 Corinthians 3:11 says: "So if the old
system that faded into nothing was full of heavenly glory, the
glory of God's new plan for our salvation is certainly far
greater, for it is eternal."
The New Covenant will never fade away, but will end in eternal
life and the glory of becoming a son of God, born into the Family
of God, having the same kind of glory and power of God himself:
"Now the God of peace, that brought again from the dead our Lord
Jesus, that great shepherd of the sheep, through the blood of the
everlasting covenant" (Hebrews 13:20).
The New Covenant brings with it an opportunity to be among the
first of humanity to be made a part of the very Family of God, as
a son of God the Father just as Jesus Christ is His firstborn
Son. It offers an eternal inheritance of the physical earth and
the universe plus a spiritual inheritance so fantastic that it
can not even be comprehended by the human mind. All of this and
more is offered by God the Father to those He calls and extends
the New Covenant in this age of human existence.
WHAT ABOUT YOU?
Is God extending this contract to you? If you understand what you
have read in this booklet, there is a good chance you are being
afforded this rare opportunity. Would you like to be among the
first humans to become a son of God and inherit the eternal
benefits offered by God the Father to those who desire them? Do
you want to make a contract for eternal life with the ruler of
all that is or will ever be? You can if you so desire. The choice
is yours alone.
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