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Grace of Christ and the New Covenant
231
Why God Worked With Israel
God called Israel in order to reveal Himself through them to
everyone who lived on the Earth. It was for this reason that He com-
manded them to keep themselves distinct from the idol-worshipping
nations around them.
It was just as necessary then as it is now for God’s people to be
pure, “unspotted from the world.” But God did not want His people
to shut themselves away from the world so that they could have no
influence on it. It was their evil heart of unbelief that led them to
hide their light instead of letting it shine on the peoples around them,
shutting themselves away in proud exclusiveness as if God’s love
and care were only for them.
The covenant of grace was first made in the Garden of Eden.
After the Fall, God promised that the seed of the woman would
bruise the serpent’s head. This covenant offered to everyone pardon
and the assisting grace of God to obey through faith in Christ. It also
promised eternal life on condition of loyalty to God’s law, and so
the patriarchs received the hope of salvation.
God renewed this same covenant to Abraham in the promise,
“In your seed all the nations of the earth shall be blessed” (
Genesis
22:18
). Abraham trusted in Christ for the forgiveness of sins, and
it was this faith that was credited to him for righteousness. The
covenant with Abraham also upheld the authority of God’s law. The
testimony of God was, “Abraham obeyed My voice and kept My
charge, My commandments, My statutes, and My laws” (
Genesis
26:5
). Though this covenant was made with Adam and renewed
to Abraham, it could not be confirmed until the death of Christ. It
had existed by the promise of God, it had been accepted by faith,
yet when confirmed by Christ’s death, it is called a new covenant.
The law of God was the basis of this covenant, which was simply an
arrangement for bringing sinners into harmony again with the divine
will, placing them where they could obey God’s law.
Another covenant—called in Scripture the “old” covenant—was
made between God and Israel at Sinai and was then confirmed by
the blood of a sacrifice. The covenant with Abraham, confirmed
by the blood of Christ, is called the “second,” or “new” covenant,