Why I Doubt The “Old Covenant” Has Been Completely Eradicated At This Time
Certainly, the covenants are a complex issue and one should always be open and teachable accordingly, but though the New Covenant is definitely superior to the old, even to the point of its glory being insignificant because of the glory of the new, I can’t buy into an ending to the old covenant and all of its attributes altogether prior to the Lord’s return. The following is my eight reasons why:
1. Because the “OC” includes the law. And the “law” includes all Scripture (Matt. 5:18). Two choices there: Law of Moses, or “law” as all of Scripture. Either way, nothing passes away till all is accomplished.
2. When Paul speaks of the OC’s uselessness and its ministry of death, I think this is in regard to justification and not sanctification. If the OC has no more use, what is Paul’s point in Ephesians 6:1-3?
3. As an aside for additional thought: I know “Decalogue” is not a biblical term, but is “Old Covenant” a biblical term? I can’t find that specific term anywhere in the Bible. We have to be careful that language not used in the Bible doesn’t suggest ideas that aren’t in the Bible. For instance, “church” which suggests a special and particular distinction between the Gentiles and the Jews. And “legalism” which suggests that there is an abuse of the law that is separate from anti-law. All abuses of the law are against the law. I don’t think I am belaboring a mute point here because many foul doctrines are afoot due to a distinction between the so-called “ten commandments” and the rest of the law as if the fact that there are ten is some kind of monumental purpose intended by God to set it apart from the rest of Scripture. Just because there are ten. I’m not buying that. The Hebrew writer referred to a “first covenant.” John referred to an “old commandment.” So, if we are going to refer to it, let’s refer to it in biblical language: the “first covenant” (which of course raises some questions at that point). With all of that said, this may be a simple case of missing that term in Scripture, but I’m still looking.
4. I am uncomfortable with a grammatical tense contradiction between total eradication and total replacement verses what Paul and the Hebrew writer say: they seem to be saying that the OC is in the process of passing away, rather than being totally eradicated. Kenneth Wuest’s expanded translation presents those passages in that tone as well.
5. Jeremiah said the NC is specifically a covenant with Israel, and implies that the consummation is future. I mean, I’m just saying; not everybody from the least to the greatest knows the Lord right now. There is no need for anybody to be taught about the Lord at this present time? Paul writes in 1Cor. 13 that only love will endure, but knowledge will pass away in the future. What knowledge is he talking about? NCT teaches that the “old law” has been replaced with the law of Christ, or the single law of love. That seems to be what Paul is saying in 1Cor. 13, except it’s future.
6. And hearkening back to my third point, “OC” implies that there is only one significant covenant other than the New Covenant. The term “OC” carries that implication with it, but nothing is farther from the truth: there are many other covenants in the OT. Are they eradicated as well?
7. All of the OT covenants had “promises.” The “OC” is certainly no exception. The “OC” also had “blessings and cursings.” If those are not still valid, what do you do with James 1:25 and Ephesians 6:1-3?
8. Because the OC is part of “All Scripture” (2Tim.3:16) and “every word that comes from the mouth of God” (Matt. 4:4). We still live by it and it is still profitable that the man of God will be equipped for every good work. “All” means “all” and “every” means “every.”
Paul's Passing Thoughts 
Paul:
You may enjoy Dr. Sam Waldron’s sermon on NCT. (Sorry, I don’t know how to paste a link here, but his sermon is found on sermonaudio.com and is titled, “The Law and New Covenant Theology” from 10/7/2006). http://www.sermonaudio.com/sermoninfo.asp?SID=10180662149
God bless,
Jess
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Thanks Jess!
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Re: #3 Heb.8:13
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A,
Right, “becoming obsolete” and “growing old.” You see my problem here? Someone who is
growing old isn’t dead yet.
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Law in the sense of Mosaic Covenant does not include all of Scripture. Law is one of the terms used to describe the Old Testament Scriptures, but Law in that sense is not synonymous with the Mosaic code.
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A,
With all due respect, that’s a presupposition that cannot be proven from Scripture if the
same word is used for both. However, I could invoke Matthew 4:4 and say that all of it
came from God’s mouth which cannot be denied. Therefore, in one way or another, we live by
it.
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Re: #5 The promises of the New Covenant are made to the Church. If this were not the case, their citation in Hebrews would have been totally without meaning. If fact, the entire book of Hebrews would be without meaning, since the issue was the danger of returning to Judaism, i.e., Old Covenant. If Paul, the Apostle to the Gentiles, was a minister of the New Covenant and not of the Old, its fulfillment could not be yet future. Its promises are made in contrast to in contrast to Israel’s situation in which even members of the covenant community needed to be evangelized since, by design, not everyone was a believer. No one in the New Covenant community needs to be exhorted to know the Lord, since that community is made up of professed believers.
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And Peter was the Apostle to the Jews: Galatians 2:7. Also, the consummation of the NC isn’t just knowing; according to Wuest, the Hebrews citation of Jeremiah involved knowing in an “absolute way” without the need to teach each other about God. That doesn’t sound like today.
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Re: #3 The word translated “old” in Heb 8:13, in regard to the Mosaic Covenant means antiquated or obsolete. It was ready to vanish away [the term suggest utter destruction and abolition] in the sense that in A.D. 70 with the destruction of Jerusalem, the entire system based on that covenant would be demolished forever.
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That’s not how Kenneth Wuest translates it. he says: ‘waning in strength” and ” near to the point of vanishing” as the English translation suggests. Youngs Literal translation says: “in the saying `new,’ He hath made the first old, and what doth become obsolete and is old [is] nigh disappearing.”
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Re: #7 The blessings promised under the OC were all conditioned on obedience. Without obedience, there was no blessing.
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Ok
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Re: # 8 I take it you are not a Calvinist. Every Calvinist knows that “all” does not always mean all without exception. Sometimes, it means all without distinction. I take it from your comment that you are a Theonomist.
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A,
No intention of being a jerk here, but the burden of proof is on you to prove “all”
doesn’t mean “all” in that particular case. In regard to the rest of your comment, I
differ to this article:
http://www.reformed-theology.org/html/issue07/was_calvin_a_theonomist.htm
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There is a big difference between saying that all Scripture is profitable in the sense that we can finds principles that are valid for Christian living and saying New Covenant believers are under the binding authority of every law in the Mosaic code. I may find value in individual points of British law, but since I am not a citizen of that country, I am not bound by any of them.
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A,
Hmmm, that’s not your best point.
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I guess you are without a covenant relationship with God since you are a Gentile. In your view, the New Covenant is to be made with Israel. The first [using biblical terms, the OLD Covenant] covenant was also made with Israel. You can’t have any part of the Abrahamic covenant since the NC is a fulfillment of the Abrahamic You are an alien to the covenants of promise; a man without a covenant.
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A,
No, the Gentiles were grafted into the tree as unnatural branches, they did not replace
the natural branches as the word “church” insinuates. And by the way, I am not a Gentile.
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Re:#1 The OC doesn’t include the Law. The Law ( including 613 commandments) includes the Covenant (Ten words written on tablets of stone).
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A,
So what is the OC exactly?
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