The Old Covenant
Attitude |
The New Covenant
Attitude |
Characterized by a
people who had not realized the sinfulness of their own hearts and
their utter inability, in themselves, to render obedience to God's
law. |
Characterized by a
people who realise the depravity of human nature, and who appreciate
their desperate need of a Saviour who would save them by grace alone. |
Obey
and live |
Believe
and be saved |
Provisional
and temporary |
Changeless
and eternal |
Covenant
based on salvation by works |
Covenant
of Grace (unmerited favour) |
Made
between God and Israel |
Made
between the Father and Jesus |
Made
at Sinai |
Made
before creation |
Ratified
by the blood of a sacrifice |
Ratified
when Jesus died |
Because
the blood by which this covenant was sealed was shed before the
blood of the second covenant, it is called the first or `old'
covenant. |
Called
the second or `new' covenant because the blood by which it was
sealed was shed after the blood of the first covenant. |
An arrangement to
help Israel to realise their utter helplessness and their need of
divine aid: and to reveal to them God's power and mercy, that they
might be led to love and trust Him.
|
An
arrangement for bringing men again into harmony with the divine
will, placing them where they could obey God's law - not so much out
of obligation, but out of love and gratitude to God |
Offers
pardon in exchange for an obedience that man is not able to offer |
Offers
pardon and the assisting grace of God for future obedience through
faith in Jesus |
Also
contained the promise of redemption on condition of fidelity to
God's law - a fidelity motivated primarily by fear and by pride |
Promises
eternal life on condition of fidelity to God's law - a fidelity that
is motivated by love for and gratitude to God |
Is
the vain hope of salvation by works |
Is
the hope of salvation by grace through faith |
We
trust in ourselves and in our own righteousness for salvation |
We
trust in Jesus for forgiveness, for righteousness and salvation |
Man
strives to provide a righteousness of His own |
We
accept the righteousness of Jesus, that is put to our account in
exchange for simple faith |
Man's
reaction: `All that the Lord hath said will we do, and be obedient.'
(Ex 24:7) |
Man's
reaction: `God be merciful to me a sinner.' (Luke 18:13) |
We
strive to make peace with God, and to earn forgiveness, by
presenting Him with our filthy rag righteousness |
His
blood atones for our sins. His obedience is accepted by God as
though it were our obedience. (SC62) |
Maintains
the authority of God's law in that the law of God is the basis
of this covenant |
Maintains
the authority of God's law in that the law of God is the basis of
this covenant |
This
law was engraved on tables of stone |
This
law is engraved on the tables of the heart |
The
Promises |
`Then he took the
Book of the Covenant and read it to the people. They responded, ``We
will do everything the Lord has said; We will obey.'' ' (Ex
24:7) |
`By His perfect
obedience He has satisfied the claims of the law, and my only hope
is found in looking to Him as my substitute and surety, who
obeyed the law perfectly for me.' (1SM396) |
`What the law was
powerless to do in that it was weakened by the sinful nature, . . . |
. . . God did by
sending His own Son in the likeness of sinful man to be a sin
offering.' (Romans 8:3) |
Justification |
`Israel, who pursued
a law of righteousness, has not attained it. Why not? Because they
pursued it not by faith but as it were by works.' (Rom 9:31-33) |
`The Gentiles, who
did not pursue righteousness, have obtained it, a righteousness that
is by faith.' (Rom 9:30) |
`The spirit of
bondage is engendered by seeking to live in accordance with legal
religion, through striving to fulfill the claims of the law in our
own strength.' (1MR121) |
`No one will be
declared righteous in His sight by observing the law; rather,
through the law we become conscious of sin.' (Rom 3:20) |
`Are you so foolish?
After beginning with the Spirit, are you now trying to attain your
goal by human effort? (Gal 3:3) |
`Christ redeemed us
from the curse of the law.' `By faith in His
merits . . . [we are] free from the condemnation of
the law.' (Gal 3:13; 1SM 396) |
`You who are trying
to be justified by [keeping the] law have been alienated from
Christ.' (Gal 5:4) |
`We maintain that a
man is justified by faith apart from observing the law. (Rom 3:28) |
Under law. We are
under the impression that our rigid adherence to a cold and lifeless
law can save us. |
Under grace. We
understand that we are saved by God's infinite kindness, poured out
in limitless measure, upon us, His totally undeserving children. |
`A man is not
justified [absolutely forgiven and declared to be righteous and to
have always been righteous] by
observing the law.' (Gal 2:16) |
`A man is . . .
justified [absolutely forgiven and declared to be righteous and to
have always been righteous] . . . by faith in Jesus Christ.' (Gal
2:15) |
`You who are trying
to be justified by [keeping the] law have been alienated from
Christ, you have fallen away from grace.' (Gal 5:4) |
`If you are led by
the Spirit you are not under law' for `Christ [has] redeemed us from
the curse of the law.' (Gal 5:18; 3:13) |
`No one is justified
before God by [keeping the] law.' (Gal 3:11) |
`His righteousness . . . answers all the demands of the law.' (1SM 396) |
Justification only
takes place when we, in our own efforts, reach a certain stage
of perfection.
|
`The moment true
faith in the merits of the costly atoning sacrifice is exercised,
that moment the sinner is justified before God, for he is pardoned.'
(3SM 195) |
Salvation |
`Now a man came up
to Jesus and asked, ``Teacher, what good thing must I do to get
eternal life?' '' (Mt 19:16) |
`All that a man can
possibly do toward his own salvation is to accept the invitation,
``Whosever will, let him take the water of life freely.'' '
(6BC 1071) |
`One covenant is from
Mount Sinai and bears children who are to be slaves.' (Gal 4:24) |
`But the Jerusalem
that is above is free and she is our mother.' `You are no longer a
slave, but a son; and since you are a son, God has made you also an
heir.' (Gal 4:26, Gal 4:7) |
The Son of Man came
to seek and to save the righteous. |
`The Son of Man came
to seek and to save what was lost.' (Luke 19:10) |
Salvation is God's
obligation to us. |
Salvation is God's
gift to us. |
The inheritance
depends on obedience to the law. (Gal 3:18) |
The inheritance
depends on God's promise. (Gal 3:18) |
The primary focus of
his religious experience is on receiving Christ, coming to Him,
trusting in Him, committing the keeping of the soul to Him,
submitting to God, determining to keep His commands, etcetera. |
The primary focus of
his religious experience is Jesus who endured the penalty of the law
and who perfectly obeyed its precepts on our behalf. |
The sanctuary teaches
him about himself and what he must do to serve God and to ultimately
be saved. |
The sanctuary teaches
him about Jesus, about His death, life, and mediation on our behalf. |
God |
Feeling that our
righteousness can save us, we have a very dim view of the character
of God - and also a very dim perception of the malignity of sin. |
`As the heavens are
higher than the earth, so are my ways higher than your ways and my
thoughts than your thoughts.' (Isa 55:9) |
God is a stern judge |
God is an infinitely
kind Father |
The
Holy Spirit |
The Old Way of the
Written Code |
The New Way of the
Spirit. (Rom 7:6) |
`Did you receive the
Spirit by observing the law?' (Gal 3:2) |
`By faith we . . .
receive the promise of the Spirit.' (Gal 3:14) |
The
Works of Man |
`They were very
punctilious in the observances of the church, very rigorous in
following their forms, but they were destitute of religious
devotion.' (1SM 386) |
`Where faith is, good
works appear. The sick are visited, the poor are cared for, the
fatherless and the widows are not neglected, the naked are clothed,
the destitute are fed.' (1SM 398) |
`This man deserves to
have you do this, because he loves our nation, and has built our
synagogue.' (Luke 7:4-5) |
`Lord, . . .
I do not deserve to have you come under my roof. That is why I did
not even consider myself worthy to come to you.' (Luke 7:6-7) |
`They had been
performing many and burdensome works in order to recommend
themselves to God; and they were ready to hear of any new observance
by which they could secure greater merit. Their question meant, what
shall we do that we may deserve heaven.' (DA 385) |
`The price of heaven
is Jesus. The way to heaven is through faith in the Lamb of God
which taketh away the sin of the world.' (DA 385) |
Always striving to do
`good.' |
`You must be
good before you can do good.' (MB 128) |
`The proud heart
strives to earn salvation but; . . . |
both our title to
heaven and our fitness for it are found in the righteousness of
Christ.' (DA 300) |
We consider church
and personal devotions as the journey of religion. |
We consider church
and personal devotions as merely the filling station of religion. |
`Some . . .
were confident of their own righteousness and looked down on
everybody else.' (Luke 18:9) |
`Christ Jesus came
into the world to save sinners - of whom I am the worst.' (1 Tim
1:15) |
`Why does your
teacher eat with tax collectors and ``sinners'' '. (Matt 9:11) |
`I have not come to
call the righteous, but sinners.' (Matt 9:13) |
`The boasting of what
He has and does - comes not from the Father but from the world.' (1
John 2:16) |
`May I never boast
except in the cross of our Lord Jesus Christ.' `I will boast all the
more gladly about my weaknesses.' (Gal 6:14; 2 Cor 12:9) |
`The Pharisee stood
up and prayed about himself. ``God I thank you that I am not like
other men . . . I fast twice a week and give a tenth
of all I get.'' ' (Luke 18:11-12) |
`The tax collector
stood at a distance. He would not even look up to heaven, but beat
his breast and said, ``God have mercy on me a sinner.'' ' (Luke
18:13) |
`They insist on being
saved in some way by which they may perform some important work.
When they see that there is no way of weaving self into the work,
they reject the salvation provided.' (DA 280) |
`Our great need is
our only claim on God's mercy.' `The idea of doing anything to merit
the grace of pardon is fallacy from beginning to end.' (DA 317,
FW 24) |
`Since they did not
know the righteousness that comes from God and sought to establish
their own, they did not submit to God's righteousness.' (Rom 10:3) |
`But now a
righteousness from God, apart from [keeping the] law, has been made
known' - `a righteousness that is by faith from first to last.' (Rom
3:21; 1:17) |
Church |
The purpose of the
church is to minister to the needs of the church members. |
`The Saviour has
given His precious life in order to establish a church capable of
ministering to the suffering, the sorrowful, and the tempted.' (MH 106) |
`The solemn assembly
for worship, the round of religious ceremonies, the external
humiliation, the imposing sacrifice, proclaim that the doer of these
things regards himself as righteous, and as entitled to heaven; but
it is all a sad deception. Our own works can never purchase
salvation.' (DA 280) |
`Not in idle
mourning, in mere bodily humiliation and multitudinous sacrifices,
is the true spirit of devotion manifested, but it is shown in the
surrender of self in willing service to God and man.' (DA 278) |
Others |
`Many who profess His
name have lost sight of the fact that Christians are to represent
Christ. Unless there is practical self-sacrifice for the good of
others, in the family circle, in the neighborhood, in the church,
and wherever we may be, then whatever our profession, we are not
Christians.' (DA 504) |
`If we are
Christians, we shall not pass by on the other side, keeping as far
as possible from the very ones who most need our help. When we see
human beings in distress, whether through affliction or through sin,
we shall never say, This does not concern me.' (DA 504) |
We see everyone,
barring a few close friends, as worthy of condemnation. |
We see all as sinners
redeemed by God's great love. |
We are convinced that
Jesus came to judge the world - hence we feel justified in judging
others. Pointing out the sins and mistakes of others is our solemn
duty. |
We rejoice in the
knowledge that Jesus came not to judge the world but to save it.
Thus we work with Him in pointing fellow-sinners to the cross and to
the loving Cross-bearer. |
We are convinced that
Jesus came to call the righteous and not sinners, thus we blindly
cling to our self- righteousness and have great difficulty in
confessing our sinfulness. |
We rejoice in the
knowledge that Jesus came not to call the righteous but sinners -
thus we lay claim to His righteousness through faith and we eagerly
confess our sinfulness. |
We strives to find a
reason to bring `sinners' under the curse of the law. |
We rejoices in the
knowledge that Jesus has freed all the world from the condemnation
of the law. |
Being convinced that
our righteousness is acceptable to God, we cannot discern the extent
of our guilt, and we thus consider ourselves better than others. As
such it is hard to forgive and easy to judge. |
Understanding the
extent of our guilt and the forgiveness that is ours through faith
in Jesus, we are ever ready to forgive others and to forget their
mistakes and wrongs. |
We will give Bible
studies to others, but they will focus on Christless doctrines. Our
studies will prove how right our doctrines are and how wrong the
rest of the religious world is. |
We will give Bible
studies to others, but they will focus primarily on Jesus and His
perfection. Our studies will prove how right Jesus is and how wrong
we all are. |
Having converted our
new candidate on the strength of the correctness of our doctrine, he
falls in love with the church, and He becomes but another
`rich . . . and do not need a thing' legalist.' |
Having converted our
new candidate on the strength of God's love, he falls in love with
Jesus, and he devotes His life to the Lord and to the service of
others. |
Character |
You will know them by
their gifts and by their strict adherence to the tenets of their
religion. |
`By their fruit
(character) you will recognize them.' (Matt 7:16 - see Gal 5:22) |
Inclined to be gloomy
and full of criticism. |
Inclined to be
cheerful and full of words of encouragement. |
We take pride in what
is seen. (2 Cor 5:11) |
We take pride in what
is in the heart. (2 Cor 5:11) |
Obedience |
We must strive to be
obedient to the commandments. |
`It is God Himself
whose power creates within you both the desire and the power to
execute His gracious will.' (Phil 2:13, Weymouth.) |
We strive to obey the
commandments in order to satisfy the demands of the law. |
We respond to God's
graciousness and we become obedient, not in order to satisfy the
law, but because Jesus suffered our punishment and thus satisfied
the law on our behalf. |
Obedience is our
outward compliance with the law of God. |
`Obedience to God is
liberty from the thralldom of sin, deliverance from human passion
and impulse.' `Obedience [is] the service and allegiance of love.'
(MH131,
SC 60) |
`To substitute
external forms of religion for holiness of heart and life is still
as pleasing to the un-renewed nature as it was in the days of the
Jewish teachers.' (AA 387) |
`The only thing that
counts is faith expressing itself through love.' `No one can live
the law of God without ministering to others,' for `love is the
fulfillment of the law.' (Gal 5:6; DA 584, Romans 13:10) |