OLD COVENANT PT1

TUNING POINT MINISTRIES

It is true that the Ten Commandments are called a covenant. Deuteronomy 4:13 reads: "He declared unto you His covenant, which He commanded you to perform, even Ten Commandments; and He wrote them upon two tables of stone." Does being called a covenant make the Ten Commandments the "old covenant"? Before we determine what the old covenant was, it might be better to let the SCRIPTURES PROVE WHAT IT IS NOT.

The covenant that has caused the most misunderstanding is designated as the "OLD COVENANT" by the writer of Hebrews. He also describes the institution of a "NEW COVENANT" that has some very important advantages over the old. Here is how he describes the two. "But now hath He obtain a more excellent ministry, by how much also He is the Mediator of a BETTER COVENANT, which was ESTABLISHED upon BETTER PROMISES. For if that FIRST COVENANT had been FAULTLESS, then should no place have been sought for the SECOND. 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….In that He saith, A NEW COVENANT, HE HATH MADE THE FIRST OLD. NOW THAT WHICH DECAYETH AND WAXETH OLD IS READY TO VANISH AWAY." Hebrews 8:6-13.

There is no doubt that the old covenant was set aside in favor of a new one that had BETTER PROMISES. Millions of people have been taught that the old covenant was the Ten Commandments Law. They boast of being delivered from the Law and claim to walk in a glorious freedom from the Old Testament covenant of works. Let us look at THREE ABSOLUTE PROOFS that the COVENANT THAT DISAPPEARED COULD NOT HAVE BEEN THE TEN COMMANDMENTS.

FIRST OF ALL we notice that the old covenant had some POOR PROMISES [ verse 6]. Tell me, has anyone been able to point out any POOR PROMISES in the TEN COMMANDMENTS? On the contrary, in Ephesians 6:1-3 Paul says: "Children obey your parents in the Lord: for this is right. Honor thy father and mother, which is the first commandment with PROMISE." "THAT OF LONG LIFE TO CHILDREN WHO OBEY THEIR PARENTS". Can anyone find anything wrong with this promise? Paul is here quoting directly from the Ten Commandments [Exodus 20:12 ], and this proves that Paul still believed in these commandments and their observance. IF THE TEN COMMANDMENTS ARE THE OLD COVENANT, THE POOR PROMISES MUST BE THERE.

THE SECOND THING wrong with the old covenant was that IT WAS FAULTY. The Bible says "For if that FIRST COVENANT HAD BEEN FAULTLESS, then should no place have been sought FOR THE SECOND" Hebrews 8:7. Can we find something in the Ten Commandments that could make them faulty? NO ONE, however, would presume even to attempt to prove that a Law which THE LORD HIMSELF PROCLAIMED WITH HIS OWN VOICE was defective and faulty! When the Lord commanded that man REFRAIN FROM IDOLATRY, FROM DESECRATING HIS NAME, and HIS DAY, FROM LYING, AND COVETING, did He later discover that such commandments were faulty because they imposed a burdensome yoke upon the CARNAL NATURE and should therefore vanish away and set men at liberty to sin? This is the logical conclusion of the claim that the Ten Commandments are the old covenant.

That the TEN COMMANDMENTS HAVE NO FAULTS is clearly proven from the Scriptures. In Psalms 19:7 we are told "THE LAW OF GOD IS PERFECT CONVERTING THE SOUL." Paul declares: "WHEREFORE THE LAW IS HOLY, AND THE COMMANDMENT HOLY, JUST AND GOOD." Romans 7:12. HOW COULD SOMETHING BE HOLY AND JUST AND GOOD AND FAULTY AT THE SAME TIME?! It becomes more and more evident that the TEN COMMANDMENTS COULD NOT BE THE OLD COVENANT!!!

FINALY we read the most dramatic thing about the old covenant: IT WAS TO BE ABOLISHED! "In that He saith, A NEW COVENANT, HE HATH MADE THE FIRST OLD. Now that which DECAYETH AND WAXETH OLD IS READY TO VANISH AWAY." Hebrews 8:13. Now we can ask a serious question that should settle every doubt on this matter. DID THE GREAT MORAL LAW OF TEN COMMANDMENTS VANISH AWAY? Anyone who has read the New Testament, must answer absolutely not. Paul affirms the exact opposite about the Law. He asks, "Do we then make void the Law through faith? God forbid: yea, we ESTABLISH THE LAW" Romans 3:31. Does the Bible contradict itself?! Did the same writer say opposite things about the same Law? HOW CAN THE LAW BE ESTABLISHED IN THE LETTER TO THE ROMANS, and the SAME LAW BE DONE AWAY WITH, in the epistle to the Hebrews?

"Whosoever committeth sin TRANSGRESSETH ALSO THE LAW: FOR SIN IS THE TRANSGRESSION OF THE LAW" 1 John 3:4. This fact remains the same under the NEW COVENANT. Did God get rid of the Law and then tell us "if you break the Law, you will die? See Romans 6:23. It is seen very clearly that the covenant that came to an end could not have been the Ten Commandments. Please look for PART 2: "WHY THE OLD COVENANT FAILED".

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