The Better Covenant

Premise: The new covenant of which Christ is Mediator is a superior covenant. HEB 7:22; 8:6.

A. This covenant is made with the house of Israel and the house of Judah. HEB 8:8. 1. It embraces God's elect of all nations, Jew or Gentile. ROM 9:8; GAL 3:29; ROM 2:28-29. 2. Elect Gentiles are in Christ graft into the covenantal blessings of Israel and Judah. ROM 11:17; EPH 2:12-13.

B. By His superior priestly ministry, Christ is the mediator of this better covenant. 1. This covenant is mediated by an unchanging ministry upheld by the oath of God. HEB 7:20-24. 2. God's immutable oath makes Christ the surety (guarantor) of this covenant. a. There will ALWAYS be One to hold the two parties of this covenant together! b. God's oath guarantees there will be NO breach of contract. ROM 11:29. 3. God's oath and covenant provide His saints with strong consolation in the storms and strifes of life. HEB 6:17-19. a. Under the old covenant, an offender might not have a sure refuge at the horns of the altar that was without the veil. EXO 21:14; 1KI 2:28-29. b. Those who flee to Christ for refuge have a sure and stedfast hope within the veil. 4. Christ put this covenant into force by His death. HEB 9:15-23; 1CO 11:25. 5. Christ has thus taken away the first or old covenant/testament and established the second or new covenant/testament. HEB 8:13; 10:9. 6. Only the last will and testament is in effect upon the death of the testator. A former testament is abrogated by the latest. a. All promises of a return to the land for Israel are O.T. promises. b. The O.T. has been abolished. 2CO 3:13. c. The hope of Israel and Judah under the New Testament/Covenant is not a return to the land, but a turn to the Lord. 2CO 3:14-16.

C. The promises of the new covenant are better. HEB 8:6-13. 1. The old covenant was “do and ye shall live.” ROM 10:5. 2. The new covenant grants us life first. Then we may do. 1JO 2:29; 3:14; EPH 2:10. 3. The new covenant puts the laws into our inward parts and so gives us a disposition to obey God. 2CO 3:3; ROM 7:22; EZE 11:19-20. 4. The new covenant grants to all of the elect a knowledge of God without human instruction. JOH 6:45; MAT 16:17. a. The regenerate nature is renewed in knowledge. COL 3:10-11. b. The outward ministry of the word brings this inward teaching to manifestation. 2CO 3:1-3; 2TI 1:10. c. The spirit within God’s sons can then with understanding cry, “...Abba, Father” (GAL 4:6). 5. The new covenant secures ETERNAL forgiveness, something the old covenant could never do. GAL 3:10; ROM 8:3-4.

D. The administration of the new covenant is better. 2CO 3:7-11.

E. Obedience to God's commandments gives us assurance of being in the new covenant since the covenant grants the ability to obey God. 1JO 3:18-19, 23-24.

F. Those not in the new covenant are forever doomed. GAL 4:28-30; 2TH 1:7-9.

G. The new covenant system of worship is better. 1. We have access into the holiest of all in heaven, the place of communion with God. HEB 10:19-22. 2. At Sinai, where the old testament was given, Israel could not touch the earthly mount where God and the angels were. HEB 12:18-21; EXO 19:10-13; ACT 7:53. a. Under the new testament we come unto God and the angels in the heavenly mount. HEB 12:22-24. b. Jesus, the Mediator of the new testament, brings together God, the angels, and all the elect. COL 1:20. c. The angels and the redeemed are now brethren and fellow-servants, members of a common family. REV 19:10; EPH 3:14-15. d. They are associated together in obeying the Scriptures. REV 22:9. e. They are united together in worshipping the Lamb of God. REV 5:8-14. 3. Instead of the terror of Sinai, we come unto the blood that calls for peace and pardon instead of vengeance. GEN 4:10. a. Abel's blood cried unto God from the earth. b. Christ's blood speaks for us in heaven!

H. Such are the glories of “...a better covenant which was established upon better promises” (HEB 8:6).