Understanding the New Covenant As Typically Taught

Under typical Christian teaching, the New Covenant, signifies a renewed relationship between God and humanity through Jesus Christ's death and resurrection. Covenant Theology sees it as a fulfillment of the Old Covenant with Israel, while Dispensational Theology views it as distinct and present with some still future elements. Both typically agree the Old Covenant's law and sacrifices anticipated Christ, and the New Covenant rests on faith in His work on the cross.

Key Elements of the New Covenant in typical teaching

In Christian teaching, the New Covenant holds several key elements. Firstly, it involves the forgiveness of sins, a divine mercy that reconciles believers with God. Secondly, it promises eternal life to those accepting Jesus Christ as their Savior. The third element is the Holy Spirit, a divine presence guiding believers to live a life pleasing to God. Fourthly, it brings about a transformation in believers, granting them a new heart and mind to live out virtues such as love, patience, and self-control. Lastly, the New Covenant establishes a community of believers, reflecting God's love and grace, fostering growth in faith, and encouraging believers to serve each other and make a positive impact on the world.

Summary of the typical teaching.

The new covenant came into effect with the resurrection of Jesus Christ and the giving of the Spirit at Pentecost. It binds believers together in a covenant relationship with God and church, giving each of them individually and the church collectively a higher level of thinking and insight into our world and God’s work in it, and enabling them to be more than conquerors in Christ Jesus.

The Biblical Teaching on the New Covenant

Jeremiah 31:31-34 includes these promises: God will establish a New Covenant with the house of Israel and the house of Judah (v.31).

1. This New Covenant will not be like the covenant He made with their ancestors when He led them out of Egypt, a covenant which they broke despite His care for them (v.32).

2. Under the New Covenant, God will put His law in their inward parts and write it on their hearts (v.33).

3. God will continue to be their God, and they will be His people (v.33).

4. There will be no need for one person to teach another to know the Lord, for all will know Him, from the least to the greatest (v.34).

5. God will forgive their iniquity and remember their sin no more (v.34).

If this list does not match what God has done with Israel today, then the New Covenant simply has not been established. To argue otherwise is to redefine the New Covenant from the Biblical picture to one of “theological makebelieve.”

Additionally, Hebrews 8:9-13 says that at the time of the writing of Hebrews the Old Covenant was ready to vanish away (v. 13). The Book of Hebrews was likely written in the late 60s of the first century. This conflicts with the teaching that the new covenant was established in the early 30s.

Although standard evangelical teaching claims that we are under the "New Covenant," the biblical description has not been fulfilled in a single point. Therefore, in order for the standard teaching to be accepted, one must take a spiritualistic interpretation of “Israel” as well as of the description of the covenant found in Jeremiah 31:31-34.

Many Christian theological traditions do indeed interpret "Israel" in a spiritual or metaphorical sense in certain biblical passages. They view the term as including all those who have faith in Christ, whether they are of Jewish or Gentile descent. This is known as the concept of the "spiritual Israel" or the "Israel of God," which is drawn from passages like Galatians 6:16. (See The Israel of God by Drew Elrod, published by Dispensational Publishing House for a literal view of that passage).

Moreover, these traditions typically understand the promises of the New Covenant described in Jeremiah 31:31-34 as being fulfilled in a spiritual sense through the life, death, and resurrection of Jesus Christ and the ongoing work of the Holy Spirit. In this understanding, the law written on the hearts of the people refers to the internal transformation of believers through the Holy Spirit, the universal knowledge of the LORD refers to the spread of the gospel to all nations, and the forgiveness of sins refers to the salvation offered through faith in Jesus Christ.

What If We Take The Bible For What It Says?

If the Old Covenant has not yet been replaced by the New Covenant, what does that mean for believers today?

1. Future Fulfillment: The enactment of the New Covenant is still in the future, to be fulfilled with national Israel at the return of Jesus.

2. Israel-Centered Eschatology: A future, literal fulfillment of the New Covenant with Israel might lead to a strong emphasis on the role of national Israel in end-times prophecy and current geopolitical events.

3. Continued Relevance of the Old Covenant: If the New Covenant is not yet in effect, one might argue that elements of the Old Covenant remain operative for believers today.

I accept the implications of all the above as possible. I think only 1 and 2 are required. The final implication (#3 above) would change by understanding Hebrews 8:6, which shows Jesus as the mediator of a better covenant. The mediator is the one in the middle. The Old Covenant, which was ready to vanish away (v. 13) when Hebrews was written has now fully passed away. But the new covenant, as described in Hebrews 8, has clearly not begun. Rather, we have a “middle Man,” Jesus Christ. We are not under any covenant today.