| Gospel
Truth #6
The new covenant is God's
one-way promise to write His law in our hearts, and to give us
everlasting salvation as a free gift "in Christ." The old
covenant is the vain promise of the people to obey, and "gives
birth to bondage." The spiritual failures of many sincere people
are the result of being taught old covenant ideas, especially in
childhood and youth. The new covenant truth was an essential element of
the 1888 message, and even today lifts a load of doubt and despair from
many heavy hearts.
What
the Bible Says
A.T.
Jones
E.J.
Waggoner
Gospel
Truth Index |
Ellen White
Proclaimed This Same Good News
"You are weak in
moral power, in slavery to doubt, and controlled by the habits of your
life of sin. Your promises and resolutions are like ropes of sand. You
cannot control your thoughts, your impulses, your affections. The
knowledge of your broken promises and forfeited pledges weakens your
confidence in your own sincerity, and causes you to feel that God cannot
accept you [this is what Paul means when he says that the old covenant
'gives birth to bondage']. . . . What you need to understand is the true
force of the will. . . . Everything depends on the right action of the
will. . . . You cannot change your heart, you cannot of yourself give to
God its affections; but you can choose to serve him. . . . Thus your
whole nature will be brought under the control of the Spirit of Christ;
your affections will be centered upon Him, your thoughts will be in
harmony with Him" (Steps to Christ, p. 47).
"The ten commandments,
Thou shalt, and Thou shalt not, are ten promises, assured to us if we
render obedience to the law governing the universe" (Seventh-day
Adventist Bible Commentary, vol. 1, p. 1105).
"There is not a negative
in that law, although it may appear thus. It is DO and live" (idem).
"The terms of the 'old
covenant' were, obey and live. . . . The ‘new covenant" was
established upon ‘better promises'—the promise of forgiveness of
sins and of the grace of God to renew the heart and bring it into
harmony with the principles of God's law" (Patriarchs and
Prophets, p. 372) |
