Was
the Mosaic Covenant only concerned about temporal blessings? Was living long and
peaceful lives in a land filled with milk and honey the ultimate reward for
obeying the Law of Moses? Or was eternal life the ultimate promise of the
Mosaic Covenant.
New
Covenant Theology (NCT) views the Law of Moses as a code of morality that only
demanded external obedience. Some NCT proponents have even sought to explain away
the tenth commandment (thou shalt not covet) as a command not to steal. Regardless,
for NCT, the Mosaic Covenant was merely an external covenant that promised external
blessings to an external people. In some ways, NCT looks at the Mosaic Covenant
and the nation of Israel in the same way Dispensationalists look at the New
Covenant and the church—parenthetical to God’s overall redemptive plan.
I,
on the other hand, believe that the Mosaic Covenant was more than just a parenthetical
and typological covenant that was given to foreshadow New Covenant realities. In
addition to that, I believe that the Mosaic Covenant was designed for Christ
Jesus to fulfill in order to establish eternal life for all who believe. In
other words, for national Israel, the Mosaic Covenant was typological and
provided only temporal and physical blessings, but for Christ (the true Israel
of God), who fulfilled the Mosaic Covenant, it brought eternal and spiritual blessings
(i.e., eternal life). In other words, the Mosaic Covenant of works was necessary
because the New Covenant of grace was born out of its fulfillment.
With
this in mind, there are at least nine reasons why I believe that the Mosaic
Covenant promised eternal life.
1. The Promises
of Mosaic Covenant Flowed Out of the Promises of the Abrahamic Covenant
To say that the Mosaic Covenant only promised
physical and temporal blessings is to say that the Abrahamic Covenant only
promised physical and temporal blessings. This is because the promises of the
Mosaic Covenant are one and the same as the promises given to Abraham. “I will
be your God, and you shall be my people” was the ultimate goal of both the
Abrahamic and the Mosaic Covenant. And yes, these spiritual promises were conditional
under both the Abrahamic and Mosaic Covenant, but to say that the Mosaic
Covenant did not promises spiritual and eternal promises is to say that the
Abrahamic Covenant did not flow out of the Abrahamic Covenant.
2. Moses Taught
that Eternal Life was Promised in the Mosaic Covenant
According
to Moses, the reward for obedience was not merely a prosperous temporal life
but eternal life: “You shall therefore keep my statutes and my rules; if a
person does them, he shall live by them” (Lev. 18:5). This is due to the fact
that the curses of the Old Covenant not only threatened Israel with expulsion
from the promised land but also ultimately, threatened the physical seed of
Abraham with being “cut off” from God. For it is written, “the curses written
in this book will settle upon him, and the Lord will blot out his name from
under heaven” (Deut. 29:20). For the land of promise was to be more than a
geographical plot of land for the children of Israel to inhabit, but more
importantly it was to be the place where God’s presence would dwell with man.
Therefore, to be cut off and expelled from the land implied the greater danger
of being cut off and exiled from God.
3. Paul Taught
that Eternal Life was Promised in the Mosaic Covenant
The
Apostle Paul understood that Moses was speaking of eternal life when he compared
and contrasted the Mosaic Covenant with the New Covenant: “For Moses writes
about the righteousness that is based on the law, that the person who does the
commandments shall live by them. But
the righteousness based on faith says...For with the heart one believes and is
justified, and with the mouth one confesses and is saved” (Rom. 10:5, 10). In
other words, Paul is not making a distinction between the “life” that was promised in the Mosaic Covenant from the “life” that is promised in the New Covenant.
Rather, Paul is contrasting how “life” was to be obtained in the Mosaic Covenant
from how “life” is obtained in the New Covenant, which is a distinction between
the works of the law and faith in Christ Jesus. For as Paul says in another
place: “But law is not of faith, rather ‘The one who does them shall live by
them’” (Gal. 3:12).
4. Christ Taught that Eternal Life was Promised
in the Mosaic Covenant
Moreover,
when a certain person came up to Christ asking “what good deed must I do to
have eternal life?” The Lord responded
by saying, “If you would enter life,
keep the commandments” (Matt. 19:16-18).
For even the Lord Jesus affirmed that it was not merely a long physical life
but eternal life that the Law of Moses promised to those who loved God with all
their hearts and loved their neighbor as themselves (Luke 10:25-29). Which conversely
affirms that eternal death awaits all those who fail to love God in the
slightest with all their hearts, minds, strength and souls. Calvin was right
when he claimed, “It is quite certain that the primary promises, which
contained that covenant ratified with the Israelites by God under the Old
Testament, were spiritual and referred to eternal life.”
5. If the Law was Spiritual, then the Promises Must Have Been Spiritual
(i.e., Promising Eternal Life)
Moreover,
because the Mosaic Covenant was a republication of the moral law of God, it by
necessity promised eternal life for all who perfectly obeyed God. Unless the
Law of Moses was something less than the perfect moral law of God, then it held
out eternal life for those who kept it and eternal death for those who did not.
Thus, Samuel Petto (1624-1711) concluded:
Now
the Sinai covenant is a platform of the legal righteousness which was
indispensably necessary unto life; there it is deciphered, delineated, and
described, more clearly than in any other federal expressure. The Sinai
covenant excels all other, in discovering what that righteousness is, upon
which we enjoy eternal life.
Again, NCT teaches that the Law of Moses merely demanded external obedience, and thus it would make
sense that external obedience cannot offer spiritual life. But, if the Law of Moses is spiritual (the perfect
moral law of God), then eternal life and death must be its ultimate blessing and curse.
6. Removes Christ from the Adamic Covenant of Works
And
it is important to note that the covenant of works that God established in the
Abrahamic and Mosaic Covenants is same as the covenant of works that was
established with Adam, for it consisted of the same moral law with the same
blessings and curses. Eschatological life and death were at the heart of both. As
Edward Fisher writes, “the law delivered on Mount Sinai, and formerly engraven
on man’s heart, was one and the same; so that at Mount Sinai the Lord delivered
no new thing.”
Therefore, these two covenants of works are one and the same, but were issued
with two different federal heads. This safely removes Christ from the
membership of the broken Adamic Covenant of works, while placing Him in the
revised covenant of works that was established in the Abrahamic and Mosaic
Covenants.
Consequently,
the federal head of the Adamic Covenant of works is Adam who brought death upon
all humanity, while the federal head of the Abrahamic/Mosaic Covenant of works
is Christ Jesus who thankfully brings life to all who are united to Him by
faith. Thus, we are condemned in Adam who broke the first covenant of works but
justified in Christ who fulfilled the second covenant of works. But again, the
same moral law that was broken by the first Adam was the moral law that was
satisfied by the second Adam (Rom. 5:12-21).
This
also means that the Adamic Covenant of works is still currently holding Adam’s
natural seed captive to the curses of the law (i.e., death), while the
Abrahamic/Mosaic Covenant of works has been satisfied for all of Abraham’s
spiritual seed who are heirs to the blessings of the law (i.e., life). In short,
the first covenant of works (made with the first Adam) remains broken, while
the second covenant of works (made with the second Adam) is fulfilled. Consequently,
a person is either in union with the first Adam or in union with the second
Adam. And depending upon which union that is, depends if that person is under
law or under grace.
And just because it was impossible
for the physical seed of Abraham to fulfill such a strict and demanding covenant
did not mean that its promises and curses were nullified.
For their responsibility to obey was not contingent upon their ability to obey.
This may seem unfair, but the moral law by its very nature cannot be anything
but fair. And this is why the Mosaic Covenant was an administration unto death
rather than unto life, for by the works of the law no flesh shall be justified.
Nevertheless,
for this reason, the Mosaic Covenant was not hypothetical. The covenant of works condemns all those who are not
found righteous in the sight of God’s moral law. Hell is proof that the terms
of the covenant of works are unchangeable. The Cross of Calvary is proof that
the covenant was not hypothetical.
For
the blessings of the law to be established, then the physical seed of Abraham (i.e.,
Christ) had to fulfill the demands and the curses of the law. For God to be
both just and merciful there is simply no way around this. Thus, for sinners,
the law was given to awaken them to their own sinfulness and administer death,
but for the righteous (i.e., Christ) it was given to establish life.
7. Christ Fulfilled the Law of Moses
Christ
fulfilled is the moral law of God in His life and death. And if the Law of
Moses is the moral law of God, then Christ fulfilled it. When the Bible speaks
of Christ obeying the law, it is speaking primarily of the Law of Moses and not
to the law of creation (which, nevertheless, I believe, that they are the
same).
·
Matt.
5:17-19 Do not think that I have come to abolish the Law or the Prophets; I
have not come to abolish them but to fulfill them. For truly, I say to you,
until heaven and earth pass away, not an iota, not a dot, will pass from the
Law until all is accomplished.
·
· Gal
3:10-14 For all who rely on works of the law are under a curse; for it is
written, "Cursed be everyone who does not abide by all things written in
the Book of the Law, and do them." Now it is evident that no one is
justified before God by the law, for "The righteous shall live by
faith." But the law is not of
faith, rather "The one who does them shall live by them." Christ
redeemed us from the curse of the law by becoming a curse for us—for it is
written, "Cursed is everyone who is hanged on a tree"— so that in
Christ Jesus the blessing of Abraham might come to the Gentiles, so that we
might receive the promised Spirit through faith.
Galatians
3:10-14 speaks of Christ fulfilling the Law of Moses in order to bring the
spiritual blessings of Abraham to all who believe. For this reason alone, the
Mosaic Covenant must have promised more than just temporal and physical
blessings.
8. The
promises in the Mosaic Covenant spoke of Eternal Realities
Although the Mosaic Covenant was merely typological
in the Old Testament dispensation, the promises spoke of eternal realities. For
instance, take this quote by G. K. Beale:
…after promising
that God would restore Israel and ‘multiply men’, and make them ‘increase and
be fruitful’ (Ez. 36:10-11), he also promises a ‘multiplications’ of
fruitfulness (36:29-30), so that Israel’s formerly desolated land will ‘become
like the garden of Eden’ in which God ‘will increase their men like a flock’
(cf. 36:35-38). Then, in direct development of these preceding ideas and of
Leviticus 26:6-12 (!), Ezekiel 37:26-28 again refers to that aspect of the
promise of ‘multiplying them’ and ties it to Israel’s temple: ‘It will be an
everlasting covenant…And I will…multiply them, and will set My sanctuary in
their misdst forever. My dwelling place [or ‘tabernacle’] also will be over
them; and I will be their God, and they will be My people. And the nations will
know that I am the Lord who sanctifies Israel, when My sanctuary is in their midst
forever.’
Were these promises physical or spiritual? I would
say they were both physical and spiritual. Of course, because of Israel’s
failure to obey, the nation of Israel did not enter into the fulfillment of
these promises, but regardless these promises pointed to the new heavens and
the new earth where they would be ultimately fulfilled. And if this is the
case, then the promises given in the Mosaic Covenant, although not fulfilled in
the Old Testament dispensation, looked to the greater and eternal realities to
come. For what national Israel was unable to bring about, we see Christ, the
true Israel of God, establishing.
9. The Deficiency of Mosaic Covenant was not that It Promised only Temporal
Blessings but that It was Unable to Establish the Spiritual Promises
When
the Scripture speaks of the Mosaic Covenant as being physical and the New
Covenant as being spiritual, this does not mean that the Old Covenant was
unconcerned about spiritual realities (e.g., circumcised heart, eternal life)
or that the New Covenant is unconcerned about physical realities (e.g., a new
earth, a resurrected body, etc…). Rather, the difference between the Old and
New Covenants is that they approach the physical and spiritual concerns of the
Abrahamic Covenant from two different directions or starting points.
For
instance, the Old Covenant was ineffectual because it sought to reform the
inner man by external means. For instance, the Mosaic Covenant started by
issuing outward circumcision but afterwards it demanded inward circumcision.
Moreover, once the Old Covenant law was etched in stone, it required inward obedience
from the heart. Moreover, though the physical children of Abraham were given a
physical land and established in a physical kingdom, they would not fulfill
their ultimate purpose until they filled the land of promise (i.e., the earth) with
the presence, knowledge, and glory of God as the spiritual and holy people of God.
Yet, because the Old Covenant started from the outside, it remained ineffectual
in establishing for its unregenerate membership the spiritual promise of the
Abrahamic Covenant. For no matter how hard one tries, outward legislation (regardless
of the purity of the laws) can never change sinful and depraved hearts.
On
the other hand, the New Covenant is effectual in securing the physical promises
of the Abrahamic Covenant because it starts not with the physical but with the
spiritual realities first. For example, a circumcised heart precedes water
baptism, and spiritual regeneration goes before outward obedience of the law. Moreover,
before the saints inherit the world at the end of the age, they must be born
again into a spiritual kingdom in the present age. The New Covenant will bring
about universal peace, prosperity, and a new heavens and a new earth where only
righteousness dwells, but only because it starts by calling out a spiritual
people unto a heavenly kingdom in the midst of this fallen world first.
Therefore,
in this sense, the promises of the Old and New Covenant are the same, but they have
two different means in which they seek to accomplish their end objectives. As
it were, the Old Covenant, by the works of the law, sought to enter the house
of God through the back door, which always remains locked for the sinner. By
grace, on the other hand, the New Covenant has opened the front door of the
house of God for the believer through the finished work of Christ Jesus. For
Christ went through the back door by obedience of the law so that he could open
the front door for all who enter by faith.
For
this reason, the New Covenant is superior to the Old Covenant. In that, unlike
the Old Covenant, the grace of the New Covenant has the power to save sinners
and usher believers into the presence of God because it begins by effectually
changing their hearts.
Nevertheless,
though God redeems the soul before He redeems the body, God revealed the law of
the Old Covenant before He revealed the grace of the New Covenant. In other
words, though the spiritual kingdom of this age comes before the creation of the
new heavens and the new earth in the age to come, the spiritual kingdom of this
age was foreshadowed by the physical kingdom of Israel in the previous age.
In
the order of salvation, the spiritual comes before the physical, but in the
order of revelation, the physical is revealed before the spiritual.
The
Order of Revelation
Physical,
then Spiritual
The
Old Covenant, then the New Covenant
Law,
then Grace
Do
this, then Live
Ishmael,
then Isaac
Animal
Sacrifices, then Christ
Israel,
then the Church
The
Order of Salvation
Spiritual, then Physical
New Heart, then Obedience
Grace, then Works
Live, then do this
Redemption of the Soul, then Glorification of the
Body
The Spiritual Kingdom, then the New Earth
Thus, in regards to the order of divine revelation, the ineffectual and physical realities of the Old Covenant, which were revealed first, were only shadows and types of the effectual and spiritual realities of the New Covenant, which were revealed afterwards. “For…the law has but a shadow of the good things to come instead of the true form of these realities” (Heb. 10:1).
But this only stands to reason. Because the Old Covenant could not fulfill the spiritual promises of the Abrahamic Covenant, even the physical promises of the Abrahamic Covenant were never fully fulfilled either. The physical seed, land, kingdom, and temple may have come first and looked like the real thing, but because of their inability to produce the inward and spiritual promises, they were merely pictures or empty and typological shadows of the spiritual and physical realities, which were to be established afterwards by the New Covenant. To put it more plainly, though the Mosaic Covenant promised eternal life it could not provide eternal life for the sinner, therefore the Mosaic Covenant at best was a temporal and typological covenant that pointed to the spiritual and eternal realities that would afterwards be established in the New Covenant.
For this reason, the Old Covenant was not only ineffectual in establishing the promises of Abraham, it was a temporal covenant that was not designed to last forever. The ineffectual shadows of the Old Covenant where to continue until the effectual and eternal realities of the New Covenant were establishment in Christ Jesus and then they were to pass away.
Conclusion
For
fallen Israel, the Mosaic Covenant was unable to establish the spiritual and
eternal promises of the Abrahamic Covenant. For them, the Law of Moses, was
design to condemn them. But what Israel failed to do (due to the weakness of
their sinful flesh), Christ, the physical child of Abraham (who was born under
the Law of Moses), did. In this since the Law of Moses was not designed to condemn
but to justify Christ. In a word, because of the fallen nature of the children of
Abraham in the Old Testament dispensation, the Mosaic Covenant was merely typological
and dealt with only temporal blessings, but because of Christ stratification of
the Mosaic Covenant, the New Covenant users in the spiritual and eternal
blessings that were promised in both the Abrahamic and the Mosaic Covenants.
John Calvin, Institutes of the Christian Religion. Edited by John T. McNeill.
Translated by Ford Lewis Battles. The Library of Christian Classics (Philadelphia: Westminster Press, 1977), 4.16.11.
