The Covenants of Scripture, part 3

Transcript

GRM 1134
03/01/2015
The Covenants of Scripture, Part 3
Exodus 14-20; Galatians 2-3
Gil Rugh

We've taken a pause in our study of 2 Corinthians and Daniel to just remind ourselves of the covenants. These come up in 2 Corinthians where we are contrasting the old covenant and the new covenant and have significance in our study of Daniel and his prophecies. We talk about the contrast between covenant theology or reform theology and dispensationalism. When we refer to dispensationalism, without going into much detail, we are dealing with those who take a literal interpretation of Scripture. By that we mean a normal interpretation. We recognize different figures of speech and so on, metaphors, similes and so on, but we take the Scripture normally, literally. That includes future prophecy. So in light of that we take a literal view of God's promises to Israel, we see a distinction between the nation Israel and the church today. We believe there will be a literal fulfillment of all the promises God has given in the Old and New Testament alike to the nation Israel. The physical promises regarding a land and so on all will be fulfilled literally. That's what we talk about when we talk about being dispensational, that contrast with covenant theology. And just as a reminder (and put up the chart there of covenant theology) these are three covenants that I do not see as biblical covenants. But if you are a reformed or covenant theologian, these are three covenants you hold—the covenant of grace, the covenant of redemption and covenant of works. They are not called covenants in Scripture. I believe we should limit our identification of covenants to what the Bible calls a covenant. We have looked at the various covenants of Scripture, but covenant theologians believe that they can discern these covenants. The covenant of grace is the foundational one, sometimes combined with the covenant of redemption. But basically it says in eternity past God established the covenant with the elect to provide and guarantee their redemption through the finished work of Christ. They join it with the covenant of redemption. So they believe there is only one people of God—in the Old Testament that was manifest in Israel, in the New Testament it's the church and there are not any promises that have to be fulfilled to the physical nation Israel. That covenant’s perspective overshadows everything.

All the other covenants of Scripture like you have in the chart in your newsletter, the Abrahamic Covenant, the various covenants elaborating it—the Palestinian Covenant, Davidic Covenant and New Covenant—are just manifestations of the one overarching covenant of grace. It becomes confusing, so just forget this. That's an X. But I do want you to know what happens because this kind of thinking comes into churches and people pick it up and say, we believe in covenants. Out of this flows the whole theological system that involves a lot of other areas, limited atonement and so on. All tied back to these covenants. The problem comes, they are not called covenants. We noted the first covenant identified as a covenant in the Scripture is the covenant God made with Noah at the end of Genesis 8 and into Genesis 9 following the flood. It was a universal covenant, it covered all creation—animal, man, so on. So you read about that. That's the first covenant in Scripture.

The covenants that we are dealing with are the covenants mentioned in the chart you have. The Abrahamic Covenant is the foundational covenant in Scripture. It was made with Abraham, starting in Genesis 12. And we've been through it numerous times. It was reiterated and you have three basic provisions in it—a land promised to Abraham and his descendants; a seed, multitudes of descendants, we'll say more about that seed in our study this morning; and then blessing which really comes to the salvation provision that God would make that would enable all the other provisions to see their fulfillment. All these covenants are made with the nation Israel—the foundational one, the Abrahamic and then these covenants elaborating. They will realize their full fulfillment and realization in every detail in the coming Messianic kingdom. That's why we put the kingdom at the bottom, encompassing that. That's when the nation Israel will experience all that God promised in these covenants. We'll talk about how we Gentiles jump in and enjoy blessings promised through the finished work of Christ. But we do not replace Israel. Covenant theology is sometimes called replacement theology because they replace Israel with the church. No one can replace Israel. That is the only nation God ever has or ever will choose to be His special nation. We as the church have a role but we are not Israel, we are never called a nation.

And before we go further, go to the letters of Peter. We'll start in 1 Peter 2 and come back to 1 Peter 1. You'll note what he says in 1 Peter 2:4, “Coming to Him,” to Christ, “as a living stone which has been rejected by men but is choice and precious in the sight of God, you as living stones being built up a spiritual house for a holy priesthood to offer spiritual sacrifices.” Then the quote from Isaiah, then verse 7, “This is for you who believe,” and those who don't believe, this stone has become a stumbling stone. You'll note then he quotes in verse 9, “You are a chosen race, a royal priesthood, a holy nation.” Some take that to mean that the church here is called a nation. Covenant theologians would say, the church is now God's nation. The problem with that, come back to 1 Peter 1.

“Paul an apostle of Jesus Christ to those who reside as aliens, scattered throughout Pontus, Galatia, Cappadocia, Bithynia, Asia who are chosen according to the foreknowledge of God.” Literally we translate this to the elect sojourners of the diaspora. That's those who are aliens scattered, they are the elect sojourners of the diaspora. You are familiar with the term diaspora, we've carried it over to dispersion, refers to Israel scattered among the nations. Peter is writing to believing Jews, those believing Jews are a testimony of God's faithfulness, they are the elect nation. He is not talking to the church. We just have to read. Who did he write this to? To whom is it addressed? To the elect sojourners of the diaspora. He is writing to Jews, Jewish believers.

And indeed, 1 Peter 2:9, they are “a chosen race, a royal priesthood, a holy nation, a people for God's own possession.” because they are the believing line, they are the remnant in that sense. As we will see the promises of the Abrahamic Covenant are limited to those who have the faith of Abraham. These believing Jews are in the line of those promises, even though in this period of time they are part of the church, they are a testimony of God's faithfulness to the nation He has chosen, even when He has them under judgment. So be careful to consider the context. I just bring that up since it sometimes ties to how it is taken. People say, the church is called a holy nation. The church is not called a holy nation, believing Jews are called a holy nation because in them God testifies to His faithfulness and they are an evidence that some day He will bring the full realization of all He has promised in the covenant He made with Abraham and his descendants.

In Scripture there are two kinds of covenants. These covenants that we have here, we don't have the Noahic covenant because it was an overarching covenant; we've looked at that. But it could be included as part of the class of covenants. These are unconditional covenants, the Noahic, and then the Abrahamic, the Palestinian, the Davidic, the New Covenant. Those are all unconditional covenants. By that we mean God has promised to fulfill all the provisions of those covenants. Period. Those covenants will be fulfilled down to the last detail. That does not mean that there are not conditions within those covenants, but there are no conditions regarding the fulfillment of these covenants. For example the Abrahamic Covenant, as we will be reading some passages, to be in the line of Abraham and see a fulfillment, you must be a Jew who has the faith of Abraham. Not every physical descendant of Abraham will. So there are conditions within the covenant, but the covenant itself is unconditional. God has promised and guaranteed its fulfillment, Period. There is nothing that can violate that.

There is one covenant that is a major covenant, and if you put that chart back up you'll see right over here I have attached the Law. That may not be the best place to diagram it but that's how I did it, because it is an add-on. We're going to talk about the Mosaic Covenant, the Law. When we talk about the contrast between the new covenant and the old covenant, it is a contrast between the Mosaic Law and the new covenant. It is not a contrast between the new covenant and the Abrahamic Covenant. We've seen that if you've been here in our study. So the Law is also called the old covenant, it is the only conditional covenant out of these covenants. It is conditioned upon the agreement of the people and their obedience.

Come back to Exodus 19, let's talk about the Mosaic Covenant, the old covenant, the Mosaic Law. The Ten Commandments are a portion, of course, of the Mosaic Law. We're going to come to Exodus 19 and read the conditions and then I want to put it in its context. The exodus from Egypt has occurred, so we come to Exodus 19 and they are in the Wilderness of Sinai. And verse 3, “Moses went up to God and the Lord called to him from the mountain,” Mt. Sinai, “saying, thus shall you say to the house of Jacob, tell the sons of Israel.” Jacob, remember his name was changed to Israel, so identifying them as the descendants of Abraham, Isaac and Jacob. They are Israel. “You yourselves have seen what I did to the Egyptians. I bore you on eagle's wings, I brought you to Myself. Now then,” now note the condition, “if you will indeed obey My voice and keep My covenant, then you shall be My own possession among the people and be a kingdom of priests to Me,” and so on.

Verse 7, “So Moses came and called the elders of the people and set before them all these words which the Lord had commanded him.” So Moses goes and God gives him the covenant with its condition. Verse 8, “All the people answered together and said, all that the Lord has spoken we will do.” That's why it is a conditional covenant, it is conditioned upon the agreement of the people to its conditions. That means just like you sign a contract to buy a house or something and you read through the provisions. And the person selling to you has their place of signing, and then you have your place of signing. You have both agreed to this contract, the conditions of the contract. You do a will which is a covenant or contract, and then they make up the will. Then they ask if you have read it. And you sign, you are joined to the contract.

This is a conditional contract. God says here is the contract, here is the covenant. It is presented to the people, the people say we are signing off on it, we agree. “All that the Lord has spoken we will do.” So you ought to have underlined verse 5, “If you indeed obey My voice and keep My covenant;” verse 8, “all the people answered and said, all that the Lord has spoken we will do.”

Come over to Exodus 24. Moses again goes up to speak to the Lord, and he is going to confirm this covenant, reaffirm it. “God said to Moses, ‘come up to the Lord, you and Aaron, Nadab and Abihu and seventy of the elders of Israel.’” So I want the representatives of the nation to come up on Mt. Sinai. Moses then comes and he leaves them a little further back and he goes up so the Lord can talk to him. “Then Moses came,” verse 3, “and recounted to the people all the words of the Lord, all the ordinances, and all the people answered with one voice and said, all the words which the Lord has spoken we will do. Moses wrote down all the words of the Lord.” He offers the sacrifices, cutting the covenant. Verse 7, “Then he took the book of the covenant, read it in the hearing of the people and they said, all that the Lord has spoken we will do. And we will be obedient.” That's why we say the Mosaic Covenant is a conditional covenant. The people are called to agree.

Come back to Genesis 15, just as a reminder. This is the Abrahamic Covenant. You have the animal sacrifices and so on all prepared and laid out. And God tells him what He is going to do. He’s going to give him the land and everything in verses 5-6. Abraham believes the Lord. Then verse 12, “When the sun was going down, a deep sleep fell upon Abram. God said to Abram, know for certain,” then He tells him about the 400 years of bondage in Egypt, then they'll come out and all that ties to what He has promised to Abraham. Then you'll note in verse 17, “And it came about when the sun had set it was very dark, behold there appeared a smoking oven, a flaming torch which passed through these pieces. On that day the Lord made a covenant with Abram.” Wait a minute, Abram is in a deep sleep. He didn't get a chance to sign off on the covenant. It's not a conditional covenant. God said, this is what I'm going to do, then He passed through these animals. And when we looked at this in our previous study, that's an unconditional covenant. God said, I'm doing it. Period. He signs in both places, in effect. I guarantee it. That's different than the Mosaic Covenant where the people were asked and required to agree to the covenant and its position. So one is unconditional, the other is conditional. All the covenants we are talking about are unconditional except the Mosaic Covenant. It is conditional.

It’s important to see the context when God gives the Mosaic Law and it will help us appreciate some of the verses we are going to go to. We were in Exodus 19 and Exodus 24, but let's come back to Exodus 14. And in Exodus 14 the Jews have come out of Egypt, all the mighty miracles that God in bringing plagues and judgment on Egypt to convince the Pharaoh and the Egyptians that the God of Israel was the God who had to be obeyed. And it brought devastating judgment on the Egyptians. Israel got to behold all this without having to experience the judgments. I mean, what did the Egyptians say to Pharaoh? Don't you know Egypt is destroyed? Finally, with the death of the firstborn, the Israelites are sent out of Egypt. So off they go. And as you know the account, Pharaoh has a change of heart. What have I done? I've turned all our slaves loose. What was I thinking? So he starts to pursue them. Now you think, Israel, what do they have to fear? They just saw the mighty hand of God destroy the nation, kill the firstborn of everyone in all the Egyptians. What do we have to fear with Pharaoh? Not so, verse 11, they see Pharaoh coming after them. Verse 11, “Then they said to Moses, is it because there were no graves in Egypt that you've taken us away to die in this wilderness? Why have you dealt with us in this way, bringing us out of Egypt? Is this not the word which we spoke to you in Egypt saying, leave us alone that we may serve the Egyptians? It would have been better for us to serve the Egyptians than to die in the wilderness.” Amazing, the faith of Israel, isn't it? I mean, here they are in rebellion against God—I would rather be back in slavery in Egypt. What's going to happen? Rebellion.

Come to Exodus 15. Of course God delivered them, God brings them through the Red sea, another miracle. They walk through on dry land and they get on the other side and watch the Egyptian armies overwhelmed by the flood of waters that parted for them to come through. Surely they have learned their lesson now. So you have in Exodus 15:22, “Then Moses led Israel from the Red Sea. They went out into the Wilderness of Shur. They went three days in the wilderness and found no water. They came to Mara, they couldn't drink the water, the waters there were bitter.” So the people prayed in faith to God to provide their need. No. Verse 24, “So the people grumbled at Moses, saying, what shall we drink?” Still complaining, still rebelling against the Lord.

You come to Exodus 16. “They set out from Elam and all the congregation of the sons of Israel came to the Wilderness of Sin which is between Elam and Sinai. On the fifteenth day of the second month after their departure,” here we are, out two months. You'd think for two months all the plagues in Egypt, the Red Sea, the water . . . I mean, I can remember that for two months. Don't you think? I don't think so. What happened? Verse 2, “The whole congregation of the sons of Israel grumbled against Moses and Aaron in the wilderness. They said, would that we had died by the Lord's hand in the land of Egypt when we sat by the pots of meat. We ate bread to the full.” Those were the good old days.

I'm in my 70s, I love to talk about the good old days. Those were the days when we did everything right, kids were perfect. Those were the good old days. Those were the days when Israel was being ground under the heel of the Egyptians as slaves. They just moaned under the burden of their slavery. Now they talk about we had potsful of meat, we had plenty of bread to eat. Discontent, unhappy, rebellious people. That's what is going on.

You come to Exodus 17, it's not getting any better. The first verse, “All the congregation of the sons of Israel journeyed by stages into the Wilderness of Sin, according to the command of the Lord. They camped at Rephidim. There was no water for the people to drink,” but they remembered God had provided before. No, they didn't. “They quarreled with Moses and said, give us water to drink. Moses said to them why do you quarrel with me? Why do you test the Lord? They thirsted for water and they grumbled against Moses. Why have you brought us out from Egypt to kill us? Our children, our livestock from thirst?” Is it any wonder Moses comes to the point where he says to God, I didn't ask for this job. Why did you dump these people on me?

So keep this in mind when you come to Exodus 19 and now God is going to establish the Mosaic Law. It's a later edition. It was added not as part of the Abrahamic Covenent, but it was added to help keep Israel in line, on track. They are all over the place. So God is going to lay down His Law—613 commandments. It's going to have blessings and curses, and it is going to separate them, mark them off as different from the nations around them. All to serve the purpose to keep them somewhat on track. So in effect the Law is like a disciplinary tool for this people who just persist in their rebellion. Keep the Law in perspective then, it is a later add-on. The people agreed to it and it will function until its purpose has been fulfilled.

Come over to the New Testament, the book of Galatians. Paul has to remind believers in the New Testament that the Law has accomplished its purpose. It was a later add-on. It was not part of the original Abrahamic Covenant, and it was to be temporary. It was to keep Israel on track and in line to be ready for the coming of the One who would provide for the ultimate fulfillment of all that God promised in the Abrahamic Covenant. So when you come to Galatians 3 Paul is dealing with Jews who profess faith in Christ and found it hard to let go of the Law. They thought, we're going to add Christ to the Mosaic Law. But the Mosaic Law still has to be obeyed. Remember we've looked at this, Acts 15, the first conference was held in Jerusalem to sort out, “ is it necessary not only to believe in Christ and His work, but is it also necessary to believe in the Law of Moses?” There was a disagreement. That continued to permeate the early church, and those who professed to be believers but were just Jews who jumped on the bandwagon and created confusion. So in Galatians 3, for example, Paul challenges them about the faith of Abraham. Verse 6, “Even so Abraham believed God and God was reckoned to him as righteousness.” That was back in Genesis 15:6, the context where we went just a moment ago to look at the Abrahamic Covenant established by God. Abraham believed God hundreds of years before the Mosaic Law. The point is salvation was always by faith in the promises of God. It never was by trying to keep laws that God gave. The laws that God gave had a purpose, but one of those purposes was not the salvation of the nation Israel. We ought to be clear on that.

So Abraham believed. So those who are of faith are the sons of Abraham. Not every descendant of Abraham was in the line of promise, you had to be through faith. Why don't you put that Mosaic Law chart up. This tells you what the Mosaic Law was given. It was given to Israel as all the covenants are except the Noahic covenant which was a universal covenant before the choice of Abraham. It was not a means of salvation, it was not a means of sanctification. Paul covered that in Galatians 3:3, “Are you so foolish, having begun by the Spirit are you now perfected by the flesh?” Your initial justification wasn't by works, nor is your sanctification. It revealed sin, it restrained sin, to summarize it. That's what the Law did. It was to serve as a schoolmaster.

Look at Galatians 3:15, “Brethren, I speak in terms of human relations. Even though it is only a man's covenant, yet when it is ratified no one sets it aside or adds conditions to it.” In other words if you sign a contract to buy someone's house or piece of property, after you both sign the contract you can't just go back and change or alter it. That's the contract. That's his point.

“Now the promises were spoken to Abraham and to his seed. He does not say to seeds as referring to many, but to one, and to your seed, that is, Christ.” We will explain that verse in a moment. “What I am saying is this, the Law which came 430 years later does not invalidate a covenant previously ratified by God so as to nullify the promise.” The point being, you ought to understand this. It's just like a human covenant or contract. Once it has been ratified, signed, agreed, it's in place. You can't now just come back and add it. That's what he is saying about the Law. God made a promise; that's why you talk about the Abrahamic Covenant is a covenant of promise. The Mosaic Covenant is a covenant of law. That's the contrast. Verse 17, “What I am saying is this, the Law which came 430 years later does not invalidate a covenant previously ratified by God so as to nullify the promise.” The Mosaic Law can't change what God promised in the covenant with Abraham. That's a later addition, but it can't change what God promised. There can be no alterations in that covenant with Abraham. God promised Abraham in his deep sleep, here is what I will do.

I read you a quote from a man who is a covenant theologian who said, the land, the physical things in the Abrahamic covenant, they won't be fulfilled. They were conditional. It is just the opposite of what Paul said so clearly. There can be no changes.
So you see this covenant is a later add-on for a specific purpose, but it alters nothing in the basic covenant—the Abrahamic Covenant.

Verse 18, “If the inheritance is based on law, it's no longer based on promise. But God has granted it to Abraham by means of promise.” The Law required obedience, Israel said yes, we will obey in everything. They couldn't, they didn't, but the covenant was initiated. The Abrahamic Covenant is a totally different kind of covenant. God simply promised, I will do this. Now there can be conditions within the covenant, the only ones who will experience the blessings of this covenant with Abraham are those who are not only the physical descendants of Abraham, but who also have the faith of Abraham. But as far as the covenant and all it contains, it will be fulfilled. There is a condition on who will get to participate in the blessings, but there is no doubt about the covenant or any of its provisions.

So understand what conditional is. The Abrahamic Covenant is an unconditional covenant in all of its parts. That is different than the Mosaic Covenant. It is conditional, conditioned on the agreement of the people to obey. They don't obey, that nullifies the contract. It stays in force until God says, that's it, it is done, it has served its purpose. So that where it goes.

Verse 19, “Why the Law then? It was added because of transgressions until the seed would come,” jumping to the middle of verse 19. That's the statement. It was added because of transgressions “until the seed would come.” That's why we went back and read those events in Israel's brief history after the exodus from Egypt. It is persistent rebellion, transgression against God. We started in Exodus 14, they are not even out of Pharaoh's grasp, so to speak, and they are transgressing, they are sinning, they refuse to trust God. We saw that repeated. So in Exodus 19, we're going to establish a covenant of law. It was added because of the transgressions.

Verse 21, “Is the Law contrary to the promises of God?” Is there a conflict between the Mosaic Law and the promises of the Abrahamic Covenant? “May it never be!” The King James version says, God forbid. The word God is not in that expression, magnoito. May it never be, such a thought is inconceivable. “If a law had been given which was able to impart life, righteousness would have been based on the Law.” But that's not so. All the Law did was shut everybody up under sin. The Law could reveal sin, the Law could show the magnitude of sin, the Law could show the deserving penalties of sin. The Law could do a lot, but the Law couldn't save. That never was intended. The provision for salvation was contained in the Abrahamic Covenant.

Come back to Galatians 3:8. Verse 7 says, “It is those who are of faith who are sons of Abraham. The Scripture foreseeing that God would justify the Gentiles by faith preached the Gospel beforehand to Abraham saying, all the nations will be blessed in you.” There was the salvation promise. That was the Gospel in a nutshell. Abraham didn't understand it. He didn't have to. What he believed was what God had revealed to that point. Different than covenant theologians. Covenant theologians say that Abraham had to believe the same Gospel that we believe, the full knowledge of the death and resurrection of Christ. That's absurd. Read Genesis 15:6. The promise God made and “Abraham believed God. God credited it to him as righteousness.” They believed the revelation of God. What had God given to that point? He fully believed it, believed the God who gave it.

So the Gospel was preached beforehand, all the nations will be blessed in you. That's why if you look at the chart, would you put that Abrahamic Covenant chart up again, the New Covenant here will be part, we'll be talking about that tonight, of the Abrahamic Covenant. It's the blessing side of the Abrahamic Covenant. The Law was just given to get people to the provisions here, not as a way of salvation but as a way of keeping them on the track.

Verse 23, “Before faith came we were kept in custody under the Law, being shut up to the faith which was later to be revealed.” Doesn't mean there was no faith in the Old Testament, but the fullness of God's provision and faith in that provision was not yet clear. “Therefore the Law has become our tutor to Christ so that we may be justified by faith, so that now faith has come we are no longer under a tutor.” The Law is done, it has served its purpose. God gave the Law to function as a tutor, that person responsible for the oversight of the young child, to see he got to school, to see that he functioned properly. That's what the Law was to do for Israel. It kept them, marked them off and separated them, made them a funny people, a strange, a different people. Their food, their clothing, the way they could or could not cut their hair on their beards and so on, the circumcision. All cut them off from the nations to keep them from getting absorbed into the nations. The Laws of the sacrifice and conduct which were to guide their behavior, to keep that nation on track. But it was never a way of salvation, God never said they could be saved by it because nobody could keep it. If they could keep it, they would have been saved but they wouldn't have been sinners. That's the problem.

Back in Galatians 2:15 Paul says, “We are Jews by nature, not sinners from among the Gentiles.” The Jews agreed that Gentiles were sinners. They were dirty, but we (Jews) are the righteous. I mean, we have the Law, circumcision, the food, the sacrifices, the morality. They thought they were saved by doing their best to keep all that. Paul says, we are Jews by nature, we're not sinners like the Gentiles. The issue among the Jews was not were the Gentiles sinners. Everybody agreed on that. The problem they had was seeing themselves as a sinner. We can understand this, this is always the struggle. I'm an expert on your sin, not my sin. But for the Jews they had the added thing of the Law, and those sinner Gentiles, of course. The immediate context of this beginning in verse 11 was Peter slipped back. He understood God had given him a vision in Acts 10 about clean and unclean foods and the Gentiles were now acceptable to God. But when Jews came from Jerusalem up to Antioch, Paul says Peter (called Cephas here) wouldn't eat with the Gentiles because he was afraid those Jews from Jerusalem, that center of Judaism, would look at him as a defiled, ungodly person. And Paul had to rebuke Peter publicly.

And so he is explaining here. Galatians 2:16, “Nevertheless knowing that a man is not justified,” declared righteous, “by the works of the Law but through faith in Christ Jesus, even we,” we Jews who are not sinners from among the Gentiles, verse 15. They may not be sinners like the Gentiles but we are every bit as much sinful. “Even we have believed in Christ Jesus so that we may be justified by faith in Christ and not by works of the Law,” and that last statement, “since by works of the Law no flesh will be justified.” Period.

So it was the Jews' rebellion that turned the Law into a way of salvation. That's why Isaiah begins Isaiah 1 and tells the Jews, don't bring your sacrifices to My temple any longer. That's a sacrilege, you are trampling My courts. Why? Because they didn't come with hearts of obedience and submission to God. So the purpose of the Law in the plan of God.

Now look at Galatians 3:16. “Now the promises were spoken to Abraham and to his seed. He does not say to seeds, as to many, but to one and to your seed, that is Christ.” So covenant theologians say all the promises are fulfilled in Christ. There are no promises for the physical Jews, they are all fulfilled in Christ.

Come back to Genesis 22. The word seed can be used collectively or what we call a collective singular. It can be used of all the descendants of Abraham or it can be used in the singular of one descendant of Abraham. And it is used in both ways. Look in Genesis 22:17, “Indeed I will greatly bless you, I will greatly multiply your seed as the stars of the heavens.” Your seed that will be countless. So he is referring to the seed as those who are true descendants of Abraham. In the very next verse, verse 18, “And in your seed all the nations of the earth will be blessed.” There is a specific individual, seed singular, not referring to all his descendants. So you see the word seed was used of the many, many descendants in verse 17. That collective singular, it's a singular but it includes them all. But in verse 18 under the inspiration of Scripture Paul says clearly in Galatians 3:16, he said seed, not many but singular, referring to Christ. Because the blessing for all the nations, which is a Gospel presentation, is an indication God was going to provide one particular descendant of Abraham who would bring salvation blessings to all nations and enable all the promises given to the physical descendants of Abraham to have their realization.

So to take Galatians 3:16 and say, I read you from a hermeneutics book when we started of a man who said Gospel-centered hermeneutics, and all the promises to Abraham were fulfilled in Christ. There are no physical promises of the land yet to be fulfilled for Israel. There are no physical descendants of Abraham who are going to experience because it was all fulfilled in the one seed, Christ. That's an example of how you just take one passage of Scripture and you use it to rewrite all the others. And what you have in Genesis 22 is both uses of seed right together, a seed that will be as numerous as the stars of heaven and a seed that is singular, one,that will bring blessing to all nations. And without the redemptive work of Christ, the descendant of Abraham, there could be no fulfillment of the promises of the Abrahamic Covenant because the land can only be fulfilled in the kingdom. That can only be fulfilled by the redemptive provision of Christ because it can only be fulfilled in people who have the faith of Abraham to receive the promise of Abraham.

So we have two lines in the descendants of Abraham now. Under the new covenant, the new covenant is given to Israel but there is a provision in the Abrahamic Covenant for all the nations. So we are not changing the Abrahamic Covenant, we're not making an alteration. There was a provision in there for all the nations—in you all the nations of the earth will be blessed. Paul said that was a Gospel proclamation even though Abraham couldn't have understood it at that point. But does that mean now the physical Jews are out of the picture? You can't take one part of Scripture, sometimes covenant theologians talk about the analogy of faith, where you compare Scripture with Scripture. There is an element of truth in that but not the way they do it. They use one portion of Scripture to rewrite and change another portion. That's not valid, that's what Paul said when he said you can't change the promise God made to Abraham. You are not going to rewrite part of that as conditional now and part as unconditional. It is all fulfilled just as He gave it, and in that there is a provision for Gentiles. That doesn't cancel all the promises He gave in the same covenant to Jews, the physical Jews. We're going to talk about that with the new covenant this evening.

Here we are doing this 2,000 years after Paul wrote this and there are still people who are walking around with their heads in a cloud saying, do you know you are going to heaven? Yes. How do you know? Well I try to keep the Ten Commandments. Everybody who wants to call himself a Christian should be viewed as a Christian. We've seen some debate over that. What is a Christian? What was a true saved Jew? Jesus told Nicodemus you must be born again. You are a physical descendant of Abraham but that won't get you into the kingdom. We saw that he should have understood that from the new covenant in Ezekiel 36 and Jeremiah 31. Being a physical descendant of Abraham never did guarantee you salvation, never did guarantee you all the blessings of the Abrahamic Covenant. You had to also be of the faith of Abraham, that is a condition. But the covenant is not conditional. God gave the promise, He has to do everything He said He would do. You can't add or subtract from it. It's an offense to God, I don't know how this gets by.

People claim, I believe, the inspiration of Scripture. Well that's great. Everybody wants to go back to the Reformers. I'm getting a headache. Why do you want to go back to the Reformers? They did some good things. They weren't right in all their theology. I don't want to go back to the Reformers. I don't want to go back to the church fathers. I want to get back to the Scriptures. What's wrong with that?

Now we have a debate going on in Calvinism where the new Calvinists, that's not better than the old Calvinists, two different groups of replacement theologians who don't see a future for Israel. A curse on both your houses. Go back to the Reformers? We're going back to the Scripture. Who said the Reformers were right? We have the Heidelberg confessions of 1689 or whatever it is. Can't get any better than that. Yes you can, I think Paul is better. How does the church get all confused? Why don't we just stay with the Word of God? God gave it to be understood, to be believed, to be practiced.

Come to Romans 2, then we will stop. Romans 3:20, “Because by works of the Law no flesh will be justified in His sight. For through the Law comes the knowledge of sin.” The Law could reveal sin, the Law could show the magnitude of sin. But the Law couldn't provide righteousness—“by the works of the Law no flesh will be justified.” If you can't be justified by the works of the Law, what hope is there for any other works? At least the Jews could say God gave the Law on Mt. Sinai, it was accompanied by the glory of God. And people running around think they can be saved by their works. One thing the Law makes clear, if you can't be saved by trying to keep the Law, you certainly can't be saved by works that somebody made up for you. The point is no one will ever be saved by works of any kind.

Look in Romans 2:12, “For all who have sinned without the Law will perish without the Law; all who have sinned under the Law will be judged by the Law. It is not the hearers of the Law who are justified before God, but the doers of the Law will be justified. For when the Gentiles who do not have the Law do instinctively by nature,” foosis, by nature, “the things of the Law these not having the Law are a law to themselves. They show the work of the Law written in their hearts, their conscience bearing witness, their thoughts alternately accusing or excusing them.” The Jews had the Law but the Gentiles have a law in their heart. We were created in the image of God, that's what it means by nature. So man just by being in the image of God, he doesn't have all the details of the 613 commandments of the Mosaic Law, but man recognizes right and wrong. You recognize things as sinful. And those who don't believe anything about the Bible have laws regarding murder. Where does that come from? Well, everybody knows that's wrong or that's right. They have never found a tribe or a group of people anywhere who didn't have some form of religious practice. Some innate sense there is a God or gods or this powerful being and I must do something to be made right with him. I mean, where did this come from? It's built into our very nature.

That's why incidentally, come back to Romans 1:18, “The wrath of God is revealed from heaven against all ungodliness and unrighteousness of men who suppress the truth in unrighteousness.” That includes all men, even those who don't have the Mosaic Law, have never heard the Bible. The end of verse 20, “they are without excuse.” And you'll note the example given, it's by nature and you have that same word used here at the end of verse 26. “They exchanged the natural use for that which is unnatural,” which is contrary to nature. They know that's wrong. I saw in the paper all the states that have approved homosexual marriage. They suppress the truth, they know in their heart and mind. I don't have to go and convince them it's wrong, they know it's wrong. They just don't want to submit to what God has said. Man always delights to do the opposite of what God says. So that's where we are, we shouldn't be surprised.

So when we talk about the Mosaic Law, what about those who never had the Mosaic Law? That's Romans 1. They were created in the image of God, everyone has a conscience, they have a sense of right and wrong, the need to be right with that One who is greater than they are. This leads to all kinds of religious practice but the truth, they suppress it. They are going to do it their way, on their terms. Nothing changes today with the fullness of God's revelation. You go out and talk to people that come from religious services and tell them being religious, going to church, getting baptized cannot make you right with God. You are like I am, a lost sinner without any ability to do anything to make yourself acceptable to God. And only God could do that which could provide the cleansing from sin, the righteousness from Him we need. And see how many people say thank you for telling me that. Why? Men don't want to hear the truth. Paul had to tell the Galatians,” have I become your enemy because I tell you the truth?” Even there he is telling about the place of the Law and he says, “some of you aren't going to like it." They'll think now Paul is my enemy because he tells me the truth.

We need to be clear on these things, they aren't just well, I don't know much about it. Does it matter? I mean, people want to keep the Ten Commandments, that can't be bad and if some people think the Mosaic Law, let's divide the Law and keep the moral part of the Law but not the civil part. If you break one part you've broken it all. It's done, it was added after for a time until Christ would come. With the coming of Christ the Mosaic Law served its purpose for the nation Israel. That doesn't mean we don't learn things from the Law, that doesn't mean certain things from the Law don't continue on, not because they are part of the Law. Someone used an example, you go to Canada and you live under their constitution. Some of the things in their constitution would be the same as in ours. Fine, but you are under a different constitution. The fact that certain things in the Mosaic Law are repeated as part of the law of Christ in the new covenant, the New Testament doesn't mean the Mosaic Law is in force. It simply means that God with the new covenant has repeated and included something He included in the old covenant that is no longer operative.

We want to be clear on this. Salvation is involved. If you're not clear on salvation, if you're not clear on sanctification, you are in a world of confusion. And we need to be clear. Eternal destiny hinges on the clarity of the Gospel that we proclaim.

Let's pray together. Thank You, Lord, for the truth of Your Word. Lord, matters that seem in some ways involved yet there is a beautiful simplicity to it that we simply read Your Word, allow Your Spirit to open the eyes of our understanding as those who have trusted in Your salvation. There is a simplicity and beauty to it. Lord, awesome to see Your plan promised 4,000 years ago to Your servant Abraham. We live in a world that has changed greatly and yet nothing has changed. And You sovereignly are moving all things to that time when You will completely and fully fulfill all You promised in the promises You gave. Lord, we have trusted You, knowing You are faithful. We give You praise, in Christ's name, amen.