The New Covenant
Covenants of Works and Faith
Before the Fall, God established a ‘Covenant of Works’ with Adam. Under this covenant, God promised eternal life and permanent holiness to Adam and all his descendants on the condition of perfect obedience. It involved one requirement: to rule over creation while refraining from eating of the Tree of the Knowledge of Good and Evil. Had Adam obeyed, humanity would have secured eternal life; instead, his failure brought sin and death into the world (Genesis 3, Romans 5:12).
While Adam broke the Covenant of Works, God didn’t abandon humanity to death; rather, he introduced a ‘Covenant of Faith’ by grace. By rejecting their fig leaves and clothing Adam and Eve in animal skins, God demonstrated that sin requires the shedding of blood to cover shame—providing the first picture of substitutionary sacrifice. Though Adam and Eve would eventually face physical death, God took care of their souls by faith that a future Saviour, born of the woman, would one day crush the serpent’s head (Genesis 3:15).
From this, we see that a Covenant of Works provided for immortal life without death, while a Covenant of Faith provided for the salvation of the soul once the body was compromised by sin.
We see the relationship between the two in Abraham’s life, wherein his faith was proved by works:
‘He received the sign of circumcision, a seal of the righteousness of the faith which he had yet being uncircumcised.’ Romans 4:11.
‘Was not Abraham our father justified by works, when he had offered Isaac his son upon the altar? Seest thou how faith wrought with his works, and by works was faith made perfect? And the scripture was fulfilled which saith, Abraham believed God, and it was imputed unto him for righteousness: and he was called the Friend of God. Ye see then how that by works a man is justified, and not by faith only.’ James 2:21–24.
Covenants For Israel
God renewed his covenant with Abraham’s son Isaac, and with Isaac’s son Jacob, who became known as Israel. God’s ongoing covenants were exclusive to Jacob’s descendants, the Israelites. This distinct relationship is summarised in Psalm 147:19–20:
‘He sheweth his word unto Jacob, his statutes and his judgments unto Israel. He hath not dealt so with any nation: and as for his judgments, they have not known them.’
Paul also recognised this special relationship:
‘Who are Israelites; to whom pertaineth the adoption, and the glory, and the covenants, and the giving of the law, and the service of God, and the promises.’ Romans 9:4.
The New Covenant
The promise of a future, new covenant for Israel (and Judah) was first introduced in Jeremiah 31:31–33:
‘Behold, the days come, saith the Lord, that I will make a new covenant with the house of Israel, and with the house of Judah: Not according to the covenant that I made with their fathers … But this shall be the covenant that I will make with the house of Israel … I will put my law in their inward parts, and write it in their hearts; and will be their God, and they shall be my people.’
Unlike the covenant made at Mount Sinai, where the laws were written on stone, the New Covenant involves God’s law being written on the hearts of his people and offers the complete forgiveness of sins. It also speaks to a perfect relationship between God and his people.
But if it was promised only to the houses of Israel and Judah, how, then, could other nations relate to God?
Salvation to All; Preservation to Israel
The New Covenant—including the restored and perfect relationship with God—came into effect and was made possible by Jesus:
‘For this cause he is the mediator of the new testament, that by means of death, for the redemption of the transgressions that were under the first testament, they which are called might receive the promise of eternal inheritance.’ Hebrews 9:15.
While Jesus initially came to the lost sheep of the house of Israel (Matthew 15:24), the nation’s rejection of him opened the way for the Gentiles to be grafted into the New Covenant:
‘And if some of the branches be broken off, and thou, being a wild olive tree, wert grafted in among them, and with them partakest of the root and fatness of the olive tree.’ Romans 11:17.
He brought soul salvation to every nation, which is receivable by faith and cannot be earned:
‘The Father sent the Son to be the Saviour of the world.’ 1 John 4:14.
‘For by grace are ye saved through faith; and that not of yourselves: it is the gift of God: Not of works, lest any man should boast.’ Ephesians 2:8-9.
However, Isaiah 49:6 promised that the Messiah would have a dual purpose relating to both the Jews and Gentiles:
‘It is a light thing that thou shouldest be my servant to raise up the tribes of Jacob, and to restore the preserved of Israel: I will also give thee for a light to the Gentiles, that thou mayest be my salvation unto the end of the earth.’
Here, we see two distinct yet complementary movements: the gathering and restoration of Israel as a preserved people, and the extension of salvation to the whole world. While the first part is often understood in terms of Israel’s ongoing preservation as a nation, Christian Israelites also consider it in the light of the New Testament, where Paul speaks about preservation in relation to the spirit, soul, and body being ‘preserved blameless’ wholly and together (1 Thessalonians 5:23).
Christian Israelites believe that God honours his commitment to his people Israel in the New Covenant by promising the preservation or redemption of the body through faith and works. This restores the promise of the original covenant made with Adam (life without death) and makes it possible by faith in Jesus, who redeems us from the wages of sin (death; Romans 6:23):
‘For the law of the Spirit of life in Christ Jesus hath made me free from the law of sin and death.’ Romans 8:2.
‘Who will render to every man according to his deeds: To them who by patient continuance in well doing seek for glory and honour and immortality, eternal life.’ Romans 2:6–7.
‘I will ransom them from the power of the grave; I will redeem them from death.’ Hosea 13:14.
Just as the Israelites had the hope of the Promised Land, so too do they have the hope of the promised land of their bodies, it likewise being made of earth (Genesis 2:7; 1 Corinthians 15:47).
Ultimately, this means that those who follow both the gospel of Jesus (faith) and the laws of God (works) (Revelation 12:17)—that is, those who will be found to not only be of Israelite heritage but an Israelite inwardly (Romans 2:28–29)—will receive the immortal life of their bodies without death under the New Covenant:
‘I say unto you, If a man keep my saying, he shall never see death.’ John 8:51.
‘Jesus Christ, who hath abolished death, and hath brought life and immortality to light through the gospel.’ 2 Timothy 1:10
‘Whosoever therefore shall break one of these least commandments, and shall teach men so, he shall be called the least in the kingdom of heaven: but whosoever shall do and teach them, the same shall be called great in the kingdom of heaven.’ Matthew 5:19.
‘There were sealed an hundred and forty and four thousand of all the tribes of the children of Israel … which were redeemed from the earth.’ Revelation 7:4; 14:3.
In other words, those who believe in soul salvation will receive eternal life through an incorruptible body, while those who pursue the redemption of the body will receive eternal life through an immortal body:
‘For this corruptible must put on incorruption, and this mortal must put on immortality.’ 1 Corinthians 15:53.
‘Even we ourselves groan within ourselves, waiting for the adoption, to wit, the redemption of our body.’ Romans 8:23.
(See Celestial and Terrestrial Bodies for more information.)
Everlasting Promises to Israel
While the Gentiles were grafted into the New Covenant for soul salvation, God’s promises to Israel are not forgotten. The everlasting nature of his covenant with them is reinforced in Ezekiel 37:26–27:
‘Moreover I will make a covenant of peace with them; it shall be an everlasting covenant … My tabernacle also shall be with them; yea, I will be their God, and they shall be my people.’
God’s commitment to the people of Israel stands firm. He will fulfil his promises to regather the scattered tribes (Jeremiah 31:10) and restore them to a place of honour in his eternal Kingdom, preserving them whole.
However, the soul salvation ratified under the New Covenant is available to all through Christ Jesus:
‘He is the propitiation for our sins: and not for ours only, but also for the sins of the whole world.’ 1 John 2:2.
‘There is neither Jew nor Greek, there is neither bond nor free, there is neither male nor female: for ye are all one in Christ Jesus.’ Galatians 3:28–29.
Transformation
Christian Israelites view the New Covenant as a call for transformation, both spiritually and physically. This includes the transformation of the mortal body into an immortal form (1 Corinthians 15:50-54). Yet, the focus of the New Covenant is not merely on external obedience but on internal change, as God in Ezekiel 36:26-27 promises that:
‘A new heart also will I give you, and a new spirit will I put within you … And I will put my spirit within you, and cause you to walk in my statutes.’
Romans 8:11 outlines the result of this change:
‘But if the Spirit of him that raised up Jesus from the dead dwell in you, he that raised up Christ from the dead shall also quicken your mortal bodies by his Spirit that dwelleth in you.’
True internal transformation, therefore, does not make God’s laws irrelevant; rather, the Spirit empowers the daily obedience that ultimately results in the quickening of the physical body.
A Call to Embrace the New Covenant
The New Covenant contains God’s promise of salvation to all the world but also enduring promises to Israel and Judah, through which we are called to not only live in close relationship with God but to anticipate the complete redemption and preservation of our spirit, soul, and body.
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