The following quotation is from Burton Coffman, Commentary on Matthew, 528.

"The New Testament stands in glorious isolation as the unique source of authority in the religion of Christ. Its tiniest declaration is of more consequence than all the councils of Christendom. The New Testament is the religion of Jesus Christ; all else is incompetent, irrelevant, and immaterial. Its teachings will judge men and angels at the last day. It is the exclusive and final word of God through Christ, as confirmed to us by them that heard him. What it binds or looses on earth will be bound or loosed eternally. The concurrent opinions of all the wise men on earth are not sufficient to countermand a single line of it. The human race shall not be done with this book till the Christ himself shall appear the second time apart from sin to judge the world in righteousness.

"The New Testament rises higher and higher as the generations of men rise and fade away. Its lonely grandeur appears more and more conspicuous as the swift centuries roll. Its complete separation from all human literature and its dramatic elevation above all human wisdom are increasingly more and more evident. All the libraries of a hundred nations for two thousand years cannot produce one new additional sentence spoken by the Son of God, nor add the tiniest little word from Christ, beyond those given in the New Testament. All of his divine message appears exclusively in that little book. The New Testament is man’s mandate from on high. It is man’s credential for citizenship in the heavenly kingdom, his patent right of redemption, and his charter of inheritance among the saints of light. In the New Testament alone is certified the means of man’s redemption and the promise of the plenary discharge of human transgression in the blood of Christ. It is the rock of everlasting truth. It is the word of God. All else is shifting sand. It will confront men at the final judgment. Why should not men confront it now and accept its saving truth?"

We have heard of art appreciation and music appreciation in school, but we should be taught to appreciate the new covenant that we have with God through Jesus Christ. How priceless this covenant! How merciful are its terms! Literally thousands of books have sprung from this one book. Countless have been the messages delivered from its pages. In such a dark world as ours, how precious the light that shines from this single source.

I want to attempt to describe the nature of this new covenant of Jesus Christ. Jeremiah is known as the prophet who wrote, "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 in the day that I took them by the hand to bring them out of the land of Egypt, which covenant they brake, although I was an husband unto them, saith the Lord." (Jer. 31:31-32.) Paul wrote that "God had made us able ministers of the New Testament." (2 Cor. 3:6.)

There is a universal aspect to the new covenant. All mankind are included. The angels sang at Jesus’ birth, "Glory to God in the highest and on earth peace, goodwill toward men." (Luke 2:14.) "(God) who will have all men to be saved and come to a knowledge of the truth. For there is one God and one mediator between God and men, the man Christ Jesus. Who gave himself a ransom for all, to be testified in due time." (1 Timothy 2:4-6.) "The Lord is not slack concerning his promise, as some men count slackness, but is longsuffering to usward, not willing that any should perish, but that all should come to repentance." (2 Peter 3:9.)

"For God hath concluded them all in unbelief that he might have mercy upon all. O the depth of the riches both of the wisdom and knowledge of God! How unsearchable are his judgments and his ways past finding out!" (Rom. 11:32-33.) The Gospel was to be proclaimed to the Jew first and then to the Gentile. (Rom. 1:16.)

The universal nature of the Gospel is shown by a contrast that the Bible makes. Jesus and Adam are described twice by Paul as the head of the human family. (Rom. 5:12-21 and 1 Cor. 15:21-22.) Through the disobedience of one, death was brought upon the human family. In Adam, all die. Even so, in Christ shall all be made alive. Adam brought death through disobedience; Jesus brought eternal life through his obedience. (Law-sin-death vs. grace-righteousness-eternal life.)

Those who so teach divine election as to exclude anyone from salvation from the very beginning do not correctly represent the message of the Gospel to the whole world. Everyone stands condemned as a descendant of Adam, but everyone can be saved in Jesus Christ. That fits the nature of a merciful and loving God. Foreordination and election of a certain few does not harmonize with the God of Scripture. The new covenant is God’s covenant with the world. "God so loved the world. . . ." (John 3:16.)

Some have described the New Testament as "love letters." There is certainly a lot of love in this covenant, but this description alone is insufficient. The Scriptures refer to it as a covenant, not as love letters. To understand and appreciate the nature of biblical covenants, we need to see what happened when a covenant was instituted. We have such a description given for us. Here it is.

Abraham wanted some evidence that he would inherit the land of Canaan and that he would give him a son. God said to Abraham,

"Take me an heifer of three years old, a she goat of three years old, a ram of three years old, a turtledove, and a young pigeon. And he took unto him all these and divided them in the midst and laid each piece one against another, but the birds he divided not. When the fowls came down upon the carcasses, Abram drove them away. When the sun was going down a deep sleep fell upon Abram, and lo, an horror of great darkness fell upon him. He said unto Abram, Know of a surety that thy seed shall be a stranger in a land that is not theirs, and shall serve them, and they shall afflict them four hundred years. And also that nation whom they shall serve will I judge, and afterward shall they come out with great substance. And thou shalt go to thy fathers in peace; thou shalt be buried in a good old age. But in the fourth generation they shall come hither again, for the iniquity of the Amorites is not yet full. And it came to pass, that, when the sun went down and it was dark, behold, a smoking furnace and a burning lamp that passed between those pieces. In the same day the Lord made a covenant with Abram, saying, Unto thy seed have I given this land, from the river of Egypt unto the great river, the river Euphrates." (Genesis 15:9-18.)

This is called "cutting a covenant" in Hebrew terminology. It was sealed with the sacrifices offered. God made a binding agreement or promise that Abraham’s seed would receive the land of Canaan. In chapter 17, God used the word covenant, berith, no less than thirteen times! This covenant with Abraham concerning the three-fold promises of Genesis 12:1-3 actually embraced both covenants of the Old and New Testaments. The Hebrew writer stated that both covenants were sealed by blood; the old by the blood of animals, the new by the blood of Jesus.

"Whereupon neither the first testament was dedicated without blood. For when Moses had spoken every precept to all the people according to the law, he took the blood of calves and of goats with water and scarlet wool and hyssop and sprinkled both the book and all the people, saying, This is the blood of the testament which God hath enjoined unto you." (Heb. 9:18-20.)

When Jesus instituted the Lord’s Supper, he said concerning the cup, "Drink ye all of it, for this is my blood of the New Testament which is shed for many for the remission of sins." (Matt. 26:27-28.) Because the blood of animals could not take away sins, and was used only symbolically, it was the blood of Jesus which actually provided for the forgiveness of sins even under the first testament. (Hebrews 9:15.) When Jesus died on the cross, he was "cutting the covenant" with mankind.

This should give us an increased appreciation for the new covenant. It was sealed or made valid by the blood of Jesus. God initiated this covenant. He has made man some wonderful promises. Peter wrote, "Whereby are given unto us exceeding great and precious promises that by these ye might be partakers of divine nature." (2 Peter 1:4.)

This covenant of God with mankind is not forced upon anyone. Man is free to enter into this covenant or to reject it. However, man and God are not equal partners in this covenant. God is sovereign. He initiated the covenant by making promises to Abraham. The new covenant is based upon promise. Isaac is a child of promise. So is Jesus.

The word, grace, is used often to describe the means of our redemption. (Rom. 4:16, Eph. 2:8-9.) The terms of this covenant are gracious. They are overwhelmingly in our favor. We have nothing to lose and everything to gain by entering into this covenant with God. Jesus, God in the flesh, takes all the blame for what man did and pays the penalty for our sin. God does not expect of us something that we cannot do. Everyone can be saved according to the terms of the new covenant. A man once said, "It is too hard; I cannot live up to it. The Gospel demands too much." Such shows a total misunderstanding of the terms of the new covenant. Was it too difficult for Barabbas to walk out of the prison?? Was it too difficult for the thief on the cross to go and be with Jesus in Paradise?? Was having a baby too difficult for Sarah and Abraham?? Is faith too difficult?? Many preachers are guilty of not correctly representing the covenant of God through Jesus. They have misrepresented the God of the Bible. They have taught a gospel of good works, merit and self-redemption.

It is true that each person must make a decision about this offer of God. We must enter into that covenant with God. How do we do so? Simply stated, we enter into a covenant with God by accepting his promises to us. We enter the same way Abraham did. (Gen. 15:6.) Justification is by faith. Grace is God’s side; faith is man’s. "It is by faith that it might be by grace to the end that the promise might be sure to all the seed; not to that only which is of the law, but to that also which is of the faith of Abraham, who is the father of us all." (Rom. 4:16.)

We must be clear. Man does not cut the covenant. God has already done that. The covenant is unlike any that has ever been made. It is one-sided. It would be like the Jews saying to the Palestinian Arabs, Here you take all of the city of Jerusalem; we want you to have it! Or like two sons quarreling over their inheritance and one saying, You take my share too; I want you to have it. Or like Paul writing to Philemon saying, I will pay what Onesimus owes you. Put it on my account. It is like Barabbas going free though guilty and Jesus going to the cross though innocent. We are that Barabbas.

The only question is whether man will believe the promises of God. We enter into the covenant with God by faith in His Son. "Therefore being justified by faith, we have peace with God through our Lord Jesus Christ. By whom also we have access by faith into this grace wherein we stand and rejoice in the hope of the glory of God." (Rom. 5:1-2.)

Why did God wait so long after the promises to Abraham (Gen. 12) before he granted to them a son (Gen. 21)?? He waited to make sure that they understood that having that son was not something they did through the flesh. Isaac would not be a son of the flesh, but of promise and of the spirit. (Gal. 4:23, 28.) One good description of the new covenant is "spirit" and not flesh.

2 Corinthians 3 contrasts the old and new covenants. Seven times he refers to the "Spirit" in contrast to the letter of the law and flesh. Paul described the new covenant as "the ministration of the spirit." (3:8.) "Now the Lord is that Spirit, and where the Spirit of the Lord is, there is liberty. But we all, with open face beholding as in a glass the glory of the Lord, are changed into the same image from glory to glory, even as by the Spirit of the Lord." (3:17-18.) Paul asked the churches of Galatia, "This only would I learn of you, Received ye the Spirit by the works of the law, or by the hearing of faith? Are you so foolish? Having begun in the Spirit, are ye now made perfect by the flesh? Have y suffered so many things in vain? If it be yet in vain. He therefore that ministereth to you the Spirit, and worketh miracles among you, doeth he it by works of the law, or by the hearing of faith?" (Gal. 3:2-5.)

Paul used the two sons of Abraham, Isaac and Ishmael, as an allegory to represent the two covenants. Ishmael, a son of the bondwoman after the flesh, represents the old covenant. Isaac, a son of promise and of the Spirit, represents the new covenant.

"Now we, brethren, as Isaac was, are the children of promise. But as then he that was born after the flesh persecuted him that was born after the Spirit, even so it is now." (Gal. 4:28-29.)

Man has an incurable tendency to put himself at the center God’s work. He wants to think that he did it. Yet the new birth totally demolishes any such self-promoting idea. Do you know why we have left off part of the description of the new birth? We repeat only the part that says we are "born of water." The most important part is "born of Spirit." (John 3:3-5.) We want to leave the impression that we did something big in accepting the covenant God has made with man. Do you know that you cannot be a part of God’s covenant unless you are born of God? We are said to be like Isaac. "Now we, brethren, as Isaac was, are children of promise." (Gal. 4:28.) Our part is to have faith in the operation of God cutting away the sins of the heart.

"Buried with him in baptism, wherein also ye are risen with him through the faith of the operation of God, who hath raised him from the dead." (Col. 2:12.)

The new birth is a spiritual one, not primarily physical (immersion in water---though that is included). The physical is symbolic having spiritual meaning.

Even though the Bible speaks of two covenants, there are many things that bind the two parts of the Bible together. The promises of God to Abraham were made 500 years before the Law of Moses was given. Those promises included two directed toward the first covenant and the last one concerning the new covenant. There is one Lord; one plan of redemption; justification by faith has always been God’s way; only Jesus’ blood can redeem man, not the blood of animals; one spiritual kingdom; one destiny for the redeemed; one for the rebellious.

Paul so emphasized this point that the Jews asked, Why was the Law given then? It was added because of transgressions till the seed should come to whom the promise was made, and it was ordained by angels in the hands of a mediator. (Gal. 3:19.)

Alexander Campbell once delivered a message entitled, Sermon on the Law. The sermon was delivered as an impromptu presentation when the scheduled speaker did not arrive. Campbell was 28 years old when it was delivered in 1816. It was extraordinarily controversial for its day. Opponents regarded it as heresy. Many had not been taught about the two covenants of the Bible. Religious teachers ran things together, without realizing that some things belonged to ancient Israel and some for God’s people today. The first covenant was broken by man and removed by God. We could add, though, that God always knew that it would be temporary. It was never designed to be for all people everywhere alone. It would serve only a limited role. Campbell later reflected upon his sermon "as a youthful performance." (The Millennial Harbinger 3:3 (1846): 493.) However, it was a pivotal message. Campbell later said that he would not have likely promoted a restoration if opponents had not so opposed those simple truths. This message became a central part of the restoration movement.

Campbell’s father, Thomas Campbell, had written in his Declaration and Address, 1809, concerning the two covenants:

"That although the Scriptures of the Old and New Testaments are inseparably connected, making together but one perfect and entire revelation of the Divine will, for the edification and salvation of the Church, and therefore in that respect cannot be separated; yet as to what directly and properly belongs to their immediate object, the New Testament is as perfect a constitution for the worship, discipline, and government of the New Testament church, as the Old Testament was for the worship, discipline, and government of the Old Testament Church, and the particular duties of its members."

The Bible is so designed as to be one. It has one goal and one purpose. It is one story from start to finish. Jesus is the "end of the law for righteousness to everyone that believeth." (Rom. 10:4.) "End" means goal or purpose. He is the One at the center of the whole Bible. He fulfills all the types and shadows. He is the real lamb of God that takes away the sin of the world.

Since Campbell made this distinction for his audience, perhaps the time has come for us to show the harmony of the overall Bible again. One cannot understand the New without a knowledge of the Old. You can study the New Testament by studying the Old. We have often been accused of not believing the Old Testament by Protestants. A more accurate assessment would be that we have just neglected it. This neglect has been produced by a constant emphasis upon the differences between the old and new covenants, and that we are not under the old today.

Bible students often divide the Bible into three major dispensations: the Patriarchal, the Mosaic, and the Christian. This is an elementary division and connecting links between them must be understood. The strongest link is the three-fold promise of God to Abraham. (Gen. 12:1-3.) A second is the unfolding nature of revelation. It forms one story from start to finish. The old is new testament concealed; the new is the old testament revealed.

"Now I praise you, brethren, that you remember me in all things and keep the ordinances, as I have delivered them to you." (1 Cor. 11:2.)

"And they (Zechariah and Elizabeth) were both righteous before God, walking in all the commandments and ordinances of the Lord blameless." (Luke 1:6.)

"Then verily the first covenant had also ordinances of divine service and a worldly sanctuary. . . Now when these things were thus ordained, the priests went always into the first tabernacle, accomplishing the service of God. . . Which stood only in meats and drinks and divers washings and carnal ordinances, imposed on them until the time of reformation." (Heb. 9:1, 6, 10.)

"Whosoever resisteth the power resisteth the ordinance of God, and they shall receive to themselves damnation." (Rom. 13:2.)

There are ordinances (things ordained of God) under both covenants. God has other ordinances for the benefit of man. In order to understand the divine ordinances, we should first note the physical ones and their role.

"Thus saith the Lord, which giveth the sun for a light by day and the ordinances of the moon and of the stars for a light by night, which divideth the sea when the waves thereof roar. The Lord of hosts is his name. If those ordinances depart from before me, saith the Lord, then the seed of Israel also shall cease from being a nation before me forever." (Jeremiah 31:35-36.)

"Thus saith the Lord, If my covenant be not with day and night, and if I have not appointed the ordinances of heaven and earth, then will I cast away the seed of Jacob and David my servant." (Jer. 35:25.)

"Canst thou bind the sweet influences of Pleiades or loose the bands of Orion? Canst thou bring forth Mazzaroth in his season? Or canst thou guide Arcturus with his sons? Knowest thou the ordinances of heaven? Canst thou set the dominion thereof in the earth?" (Job 38:31-33.)

It should be noted that there are ordinances of our solar system which were so designed to bless man. The sun, moon, stars have "sweet influences" upon us. The governmental powers are ordained of God. They were ordained for our good. In addition, there are divine ordinances in both covenants. The Hebrew writer called those of the old covenant "carnal ordinances" imposed for a time until the spiritual ordinances of the new came.

Herein lies the connection between faith and the divine ordinances. We must believe that God designed the spiritual things of the new covenant as a blessing for us. There is value in them, just as there is good that comes from the monthly cycles of the moon. Spiritual ordinances of the new covenant include prayer, singing, baptism, the Lord’s Supper, the church, marriage, the home, Scripture reading. We could say that everything in the new covenant makes up the divine ordinances of God.

Campbell wrote: "In the kingdom of nature, sense is the principle and ordinances the means of enjoyment. Without sense, or sensation, nothing in nature can be known or enjoyed. In the present administration of the kingdom of God, faith is the principle and ordinances the means of all spiritual enjoyment. Without faith in the testimony of God, a person is without God, without Christ, and without hope in the world. In the kingdom of heaven, faith is, then principle and ordinances the means of enjoyment, because all the wisdom, power, love, mercy, compassion, or grace of God is in the ordinances of the kingdom of heaven; and if all grace be in them it can only be enjoined through them. These primary and sacred ordinances of the kingdom of heaven are the means of our individual enjoyment of the present salvation of God." (The Christian System, Campbell, 148-49.)