by Douglas Goodin
The Glory of the Old Covenant
Notice the way the Apostle Paul describes the Old Covenant:
[God] has made us competent to be ministers of a new covenant, not of the letter but of the Spirit. For the letter kills, but the Spirit gives life. Now if the ministry of death, carved in letters on stone, came with such glory...the ministry of condemnation, the ministry of righteousness must far exceed it in glory.” (2 Cor. 3:6, 7, 9, ESV, emphasis added)
The Law of Moses and the covenant it formed with the people of Israel “killed” and “condemned” God’s people. That was its purpose. It was given to Israel to reveal their sin and to increase their sin (Rom. 3:20; 5:20). As the Jews willfully broke God’s covenant, they earned for themselves its destructive curses. In this way, it was a “ministry of death” and a “ministry of condemnation.” The Old Covenant also served as a guard and a disciplinarian for the Jews intended to lead them to Christ by commanding their obedience and rapping their knuckles when they failed to comply (Gal. 3:19f).
Here is the important point to take away from this: The Old Covenant/Law was intended as a means of salvation only indirectly, that is, by implicating the Jews as Law-breakers and thereby revealing their desperate need for the Savior. It convicted, it did not acquit. Indeed, it had no means of an acquittal because even its atoning sacrifices were inherently incapable of providing actual atonement (Heb. 10:4). If Jesus Christ had not come as the Lamb of God par excellence, every Jew under the Old Covenant would have perished in their sins, regardless of the sincerity of their faith because the Old Covenant was God’s minister for condemning and killing the Jews, not saving them.
The Glory of the New Covenant
Now notice the way the Apostle Paul describes the New Covenant:
[God] also made us adequate as servants of a new covenant, not of the letter but of the Spirit; for the letter kills, but the Spirit gives life. But if the ministry of death, in letters engraved on stones, came with glory...how will the ministry of the Spirit fail to be even more with glory? For if the ministry of condemnation has glory, much more does the ministry of righteousness abound in glory. (2 Cor. 3:6-9, NASB, emphasis added)
Whereas the covenant of Law was external, written on plates of stone, the covenant of Spirit is internal, written on human hearts. Whereas the covenant of Law killed by rendering its breakers subject to God’s holy wrath, the covenant of Spirit gives life by granting faith in the Savior. Whereas the covenant of Law declared its members “guilty,” pointing out its members’ wickedness and failure to keep the commandments, the covenant of Spirit declares its members “righteous” and points to the righteousness of Christ imputed to the one who believes the Gospel. The New Covenant is as superior to the Old Covenant as the eternal glory of Christ is superior to the fading glory of Moses.
Old Covenant—Letter—Ministry of Death—Written on Stone—Ministry of Condemnation—Fading Glory
New Covenant—Spirit—Ministry of Life—Written on Hearts—Ministry of Righteousness—Eternal Glory
Implications for Covenant Theology (CT)
When the NT describes the differences between the covenants in such stark contrasts of letter/Spirit, death/life, and condemnation/righteousness, it becomes increasingly difficult to view them as “two administrations of one Covenant of Grace.” In order to maintain this, CT must find the Old Covenant to be a ministry of life, Spirit, and righteousness in much the same way as the New. And if they are consistent, they will equally believe the New Covenant to be a covenant of letter, death, and condemnation. This must be the case if the two covenants are essentially the same covenant.
Implications for Dispensational Theology (DT)
For DT, the questions are both biblical and eschatological. The biblical question is, Since the Bible describes the Old Covenant as obsolete, terminated, and superseded by the New, on what basis may we regard the Jews as still in covenant with God (and thereby awaiting the fulfillment of His promises made to them under the Old Covenant)? The eschatological question is, If God suspended the Jewish dispensation in order to inaugurate the Church age, and if He will resume the Jewish dispensation after the rapture, what hope is there for Jews under the terms of their covenant? In other words, if the Jews remain under the Old Covenant then they are still under the covenant of death and condemnation and can never receive anything but judgment from God. (This would seem to rule out any global Jewish kingdom.) If they believe the Gospel, they become members of the New Covenant and are no longer Jews, but Christians (Gal. 3:28).