Covenant with God. Water baptism as a covenant with God

O. Palmer Robertson

Defining the concept of "covenant" is as difficult as defining the concept of "mother."

A mother can be called a woman who gave you life. Formally, this may be true. But who will be satisfied with such a definition?

Scripture clearly demonstrates the importance of God's covenants. God has entered into covenant relationships with individuals on many occasions. One can find explicit references to covenants made with Noah (Gen. 6:18), Abraham (Gen. 15:18), Israel (Ex. 24:8), and David (Ps. 89:3). The Israeli prophets foretold the coming of the days of the “new covenant” (Jer. 31:31), and Christ Himself spoke about the Last Supper in the language of the covenant (Luke 22:20).

But what is a covenant?

Some scientists consider any attempt to suggest futile single definition"covenant," covering all the various uses of the term in Scripture. They suggest that the variety of situations in which the term is used implies many different meanings.

It is clear that any definition of the term "covenant" must leave as much room for interpretation as the evidence in Scripture requires. However, integrity itself biblical history, determined by God's covenants, presupposes a comprehensive unity of the concept of “covenant”.

So what is a “covenant”? How can we define God's covenant relationship with His people?

The covenant is a bond of blood by which God, by His will, binds Himself to creation. By entering into covenant relationships with people, God, by His will, binds Himself to them in vital ties. A covenant is a bond sealed by blood, arising according to the Highest will, a bond of life and death.

Three aspects of this definition of God's covenants need to be examined in more detail.

A covenant is a bond

By its very nature, a covenant is something that binds two parties. The closest thing to the essence of the biblical concept of covenant is the image of indissoluble bonds.

Extensive research into the etymology of the Old Testament term "testament" (Hebrew) does not provide sufficiently convincing grounds to determine the meaning of this word. sch However, contextual use this term in Scripture quite consistently points to the concept of “connection” or “relationship” A covenant is always concluded by a person - God or man. Further, with rare exceptions, the second party in the covenant is also represented by a person. The result of a covenantal obligation is the establishment of a relationship “in connection with”, “with” or "between" people.

The most important formalizing element in the conclusion of all God's covenants in Scripture is the verbal definition of the nature of the union being established. To make a covenant, God speaks. He graciously announces His commitment to His creatures and declares on the basis of which He will communicate with them.

The importance of oaths and signs in God's covenants proves that a covenant is essentially a bond. A covenant binds the parties to each other with certain obligations.

The binding covenant oath can take many forms. Some passages use a verbal oath (Gen. 21:23,24,26,31; 31:53; Exod. 6:8; 19:8; 24:3, 7; Deut. 7:8,12; 29:13 ; Ezek. 16:8). In other cases, some symbolic action may be added to the verbal commitment, such as a gift (Gen. 21:28-32), a meal (Gen. 26:28-30; 31:54; Exod. 24:11), an institution monument (Gen. 31:44ff., Joshua 24:27), sprinkling of blood (Ex. 24:8), sacrifice (Ps. 49:5), passing under the rod (Ezek. 20:37) or cutting up animals (Gen. 15:10, 18). In several passages of Scripture the inseparable connection of oath and covenant is made abundantly clear by the parallelism of the construction (Deut. 29:12; 2 Kings 11:4; 1 Chr. 15:16; Ps. 104:9; 89:3, 4; Ezek. 17:19). In these cases, oath and covenant are used interchangeably.

This closeness of oath and covenant emphasizes that a covenant is essentially a bond. The covenant binds the participants to each other.

That God's covenants bind two parties is also emphasized by the presence of signs in many biblical covenants. The sign of the rainbow, the seal of circumcision, the symbol of the Sabbath - these covenant signs reinforce the binding nature of the covenant. Through a covenant, a certified interpersonal commitment is created. Just as the bride and groom exchange rings “as a sign and pledge” of their “constant fidelity and eternal love“So also the signs of the covenant symbolize the immutability of the bonds connecting God with His people.

A covenant is a bond sealed by blood.

The phrase "bonds of blood" or "bonds of life and death" expresses the utmost seriousness of the mutual covenantal obligations of God and man. When concluding covenants, God never enters into casual or non-binding relationships with a person. On the contrary, the obligations that He takes upon Himself affect the ultimate questions of existence - questions of life and death.

The basic Hebrew expression used to describe the establishment of a covenant relationship clearly reflects the extreme gravity of the choice between covenant life and covenant death. The phrase that Old Testament translated as "to make a covenant," literally means "to cut a covenant."

The expression “cutting the covenant” does not appear only at one point in the history of biblical covenants. On the contrary, it is found in the most important places throughout the Old Testament and is repeated many times in the Law, in the prophetic writings^ and in the rest of the Old Testament books. But]

It would seem that over time the bright image of the “cutting of the covenant” should have faded. However, both the oldest texts of Scripture and those dating to the end of Israel's stay in Palestine prove that the meaning of this expression was always understood in its entirety. The concept of “cutting the covenant” is first encountered by the reader of the Bible in the first record of the establishment of the covenant with Abraham, in which many signs can be found indicating its antiquity (Gen. 15). At another turning point in Israel's history, Jeremiah's prophetic warning to Zedekiah during Nebuchadnezzar's siege of Jerusalem is replete with references to the theological concept of "cutting the covenant" (see Jer. 34).

Another indication that this expression had a comprehensive meaning is the fact that it applied to all three major types of covenants. It was used to describe a covenant established between man and man, [covenants made by God with man and covenants made by man with God].

It is especially striking that the verb "to cut" can be used by itself and at the same time clearly mean "to cut the covenant." This use shows how closely the concept of "cut" is connected with the concept of covenant in Scripture.

This relationship between the process of "dissection" and the establishment of the covenant is evident in all the ancient languages and cultures of the Middle East. Not only in Israel, but also in the cultures of the peoples around it, there is a connection between the binding nature of the covenant and expressions meaning "cutting."

The process of "dissection" is impressively reflected not only in the terminology, but also in the rites usually associated with the establishment of covenants. When making a covenant, animals are dissected in a ritual ceremony. The most obvious example of this kind in Scripture is found in the 15th chapter of the Book of Genesis, at the conclusion of the Abrahamic Covenant. First, Abraham dissects several animals and places the parts opposite each other. Then God symbolically passes between the dissected parts of the animals. As a result, a covenant is “made” or “broken.”

What does it mean to cut animals into pieces at the time of making the covenant? Biblical and extra-biblical evidence alike support the special importance of this ritual. The cutting of animals symbolizes the "death oath" at the moment of accepting the obligations of the covenant. The dismembered animals represent the curse that the one who makes the covenant calls upon himself in case of violation of the accepted obligation.

The words of the prophet Jeremiah strongly support this interpretation. Reminding the people of Israel of their unfaithfulness to their covenant obligations, he recalls the ritual in which they passed “between the cut parts” of the calf (Jer. 34:18). By their crimes they called upon themselves the curses of the covenant, so they will face the dismemberment of their bodies: “Their corpses will be food for the birds of the air and the beasts of the earth” (Jer. 34:20).

It is in this context of covenant making that the biblical phrase “cut the covenant” should be understood. The concept of an oath, obliging fidelity and threatening death for treason, is inextricably linked with the very terms that describe the establishment of a covenant relationship. The covenant is truly a "bond of blood," or a bond of life and death.

This expression - "bond of blood" - fits perfectly with the biblical statement: "without the shedding of blood there is no forgiveness" (Heb. 9:22). Blood plays an important role in Scripture because it symbolizes life, not because Scripture is harsh or cruel. The life of the body is in the blood (Lev. 17:11), and therefore the shedding of blood represents the execution of punishment on life.

Biblical images of blood sacrifice emphasize the relationship between life and blood. The shedding of blood, which is life, is presented as the only way of release from covenant obligations once accepted. A covenant is a bond of blood that binds the participants to fidelity under pain of death. Once a covenant relationship has been established, nothing short of the shedding of blood can free the covenanters from the consequences that will befall them if they break it.

And it is at this stage of our reasoning that we must reject any attempt to correlate the concept of "covenant" in the life and experience of Israel with the idea of a "last will and testament." It is simply impossible to do justice to the biblical understanding of covenant and at the same time promote the idea of a “last will and testament.”

The main reason for the confusion between the concepts of "testament" and "testament" arises from the fact that they both deal with death. Death plays a vital role in both the entry into force of a will and the conclusion of a covenant. Because of this similarity, these concepts are often confused.

However, a covenant and a will are radically different in meaning. The similarity is, in essence, only formal. Both “testament” and “testament” are closely related to death, but it relates to each of these concepts in completely different ways.

In the case of a “covenant,” death is at the origin of the relationship between the parties, symbolizing a potential curse. In the case of “testate,” death occurs at the end of the relationship and triggers the probate clause.

The death of the covenanter appears before us in two separate images, following each other. First, it is indicated by the symbolic designation of a curse, warning against possible violations of the covenant. Further, the one who breaks the covenant actually suffers death as a consequence of the obligation he has assumed.

In the event of the death of the testator, there are no two forms, or two stages. Making a will is not accompanied by symbols of death. The testator dies not as a result of violation of his will and last will.

The content of the “testament and last will” itself presupposes the inevitability of death, and all the provisions of the will are built precisely on this. As for the provisions of the covenant, they involve the possibility of life or death. The image of death necessarily accompanies the implementation of the covenant. At its conclusion, the slaughter of a consecrated animal is obligatory. But there is no need for the actual death of the one entering into the covenant. The death of the covenantor occurs only if the covenant is broken.

The death of Jesus Christ must be interpreted in the context of a covenant, not a will. His death was a substitutionary sacrifice. Christ died in place of the covenant breaker. The concept of substitutionary sacrifice is extremely important to understanding the death of Christ.

When making a last will or testament, there can be no question of vicarious death. The testator dies “for himself” and not in place of another. No one's death can replace his own.

Christ died in the sinner's place. Because of covenant violations, people were doomed to death. Christ took upon Himself the covenant curse and died in the sinner’s place. His death was related to the covenant, not the will.

It is certainly true that the Christian is presented in Scripture as God's heir. But he is an heir by adoption into the family of the immortal God, and not by order of the testator.

At the level of publicly available interpretations, it is generally accepted that at the Last Supper Christ announced His last will and testament. But we must not forget that at that moment a cherished meal was being celebrated. During the Passover meal of the old covenant, Jesus announced the rules of the meal of the new covenant. Clearly His purpose was to establish Himself as the Passover Lamb who takes upon Himself the curses of the covenant. His death was vicarious; His blood was shed for His people. The words of Jesus were not testamentary orders; He spoke of the fulfillment of the covenant and the putting into effect of the covenant.

When we first become acquainted with the Bible, we learn that it is divided into the Old Testament and New Testament. What does the word “covenant” mean? There are several meanings of this word. One of them is “treaty”, the other is “union”. Both meanings imply the relationship between man and God. This relationship is sealed with certain obligations. And if the word "contract" has a legal meaning, it is a term used in the business world, then the word "union" sounds more cordial. Therefore, repeatedly in Holy Scripture The covenant is symbolized family union God with the Church, with His people. But is such a union possible at all between the Eternal Almighty God and a weak, sinful man?

Yes! The Word of God says that God's eternal, incomprehensible sacrificial love for His creation makes such a union possible. And this becomes possible thanks to the great sacrifice of Jesus Christ.

Thus, the true meaning of the Covenant is the revelation of God's self-sacrificing love for man in certain relationships. Through the Covenant, God reveals His love to people! God's love is His principle, which includes justice, mercy, and judgment.

Let's look at several components of the Covenant. In any union or agreement, that is, in any covenant, two parties are involved. So in the biblical Covenant, two parties participate: God and man, and relationships arise between them.

Law

What does God offer man for a happy, blessed life? Your will, expressed in the Law. God is unchanging, He does not need to improve, develop from less to more. Consequently, His will remains unchanged and perfect.

Human laws are constantly changing, being corrected and supplemented, because man has a relative understanding of good, evil and justice. Human laws correspond to the concept of justice in a particular society. This is logical: laws cannot be wiser and more spiritual than the legislator.

The law of God contains the wisdom of the absolute, perfect God. This is why God's Law is unchangeable. God has an absolute understanding of good and evil. So, the first component of the Covenant is the Law.

Liberty

The second component of the Covenant is freedom. From the very beginning of life on earth, man has the right to choose - true freedom. This was first mentioned in the Garden of Eden: “And the Lord God commanded the man, saying, Of every tree of the garden thou shalt eat; But from the tree of the knowledge of good and evil you shall not eat; For in the day that you eat of it, you will die” (Genesis 2:16-17). The Lord puts a person before a choice: if you listen to God and do not eat the forbidden fruit, you will live. If you disobey, you will die. This is the first covenant with Adam and Eve. The first people were absolutely free in their choice.

Redemption

Unfortunately, Adam and Eve's freedom turned out to be a disaster because they failed to use it properly. Sin and death burst into human life. The Law, as a condition of the Covenant, was broken, and now man had to die. And then the Lord, thanks to His perfect love, reveals the third component of His Covenant with man. This is redemption! “And I will put enmity between you and the woman, and between your seed and her seed; it will bruise your head, and you will bruise its heel" (Genesis 3:15). These words addressed to Satan are the first prophecy about the coming Redeemer.

People betrayed their Creator. They are in fear and hopelessness. They are guilty and must die “For the wages of sin is death” (Romans 6:23). And here the basis of God’s covenant is revealed—the guarantee of human life. This is the atoning sacrifice of the Son God's Jesus Christ.

Great Controversy

By violating the terms of the Covenant, man did not just become a lawbreaker. By violating the terms of the Covenant, man became a participant in the universal rebellion against God, a participant in the great struggle that is taking place between Christ and Satan to this day. And each of us, one way or another, becomes a participant in this great struggle.

This process is very vividly and multifacetedly presented in the Bible, in the prophetic books of Daniel and Revelation. In them we find an explanation of why Satan and his dark forces bring down their wrath on the Holy Covenant. This happens because keeping the Covenant is the basis of life, it is the hope of man. And the goal of the devil is the destruction of man. That is why the Lord invites man to return to the lost union again and again.

In the book of Genesis, we see God renew his covenant with Noah and save him and his entire family from the waters of the flood because Noah did not destroy his relationship with God. Centuries pass, and the Lord confirms His Covenant with Abraham, then with Isaac, Jacob and other patriarchs. This is the same Covenant that was made with humanity at the very beginning.

Covenant Courts

Today people often ask the question: “If God is good, why is there so much evil in the world?” Terrible diseases, wars, famine - isn't this the result of God's rule? The whole point is that in his freedom, already in the Garden of Eden, man chooses not God’s leadership, but the leadership of the great deceiver, the apostate Devil. Since then, man has followed the path of sin, moving away from God. And in order to stop him, so that he understands all the destructiveness and abomination of sin, the Lord in His wisdom allows a person to feel the disastrous result of his choice. Sin is inherently very active; it would have long ago destroyed all life on our planet if God had not restrained these terrible devilish forces.

Everything that is happening to our planet today is just a small illustration of what Satan is capable of doing. All the problems of society, such as corruption, violence, prostitution, disrespect for parents - all these are the fruits of the rejection of the Holy Covenant with God, the fruits of the rejection of the Law of God, where it is written: “Honor your father and mother... Do not kill. Don't commit adultery. Thou shalt not steal…” (Exodus 20:12-15). And violation of God's Commandments is the essence of the rule of the devil, not God. And if a person persistently commits lawlessness and does not listen to the warnings of God, then the Courts of the Covenant will certainly befall him.

The judgments of the Covenant are the consequences of sins. A trivial example: there is a sign on a pole that says “Don’t get in, he’ll kill you!” Who will be to blame for my death if I do climb, me or the energy drink?

Covenant Judgments are the fourth component of the Covenant.

Seal of the Covenant

Another component of the Covenant is the Seal of the Covenant. Every contract has a seal. And this seal, confirming my union with God, my fidelity to God and my reverence for my Creator, is undoubtedly the fourth Commandment of the Law of God: “Remember the Sabbath day, to keep it holy; six days you shall work and do all your work, but the seventh day is the Sabbath of the Lord your God: on it you shall not do any work, neither you, nor your son, nor your daughter, nor your male servant, nor your maidservant, nor your livestock, nor your stranger. who is in your dwellings; For in six days the Lord created heaven and earth, the sea and everything in them, and rested on the seventh day; Therefore the Lord blessed the Sabbath day and made it holy” (Exodus 20:8-11). If we desire to restore our relationship with the Lord, if we desire to please God, if we desire to live by the Word of God, then we will set aside a holy Sabbath day to commune with our Creator.

Purpose of the Covenant

The last component of the Covenant is exactly what the Covenant was made for. There are conditions, there is a guarantor, there is a seal. What is missing? Goals!

What is the purpose of making a Covenant? She is recorded in Revelation 21:3: “Behold, the tabernacle of God is with men.” This is the result of the great struggle, this is eternity, this is the Kingdom of God, where there are no sorrows, no sin, no tears.

This component of the Covenant is also very important in the lives of God's children. Because, seeing this bright, definite goal in front of him, a person will have the right aspiration and hope. And our Lord wants the gaze of His true children to always be directed upward, to heaven, to where our wondrous Lord dwells, to where our help and our salvation will come from!

(The article was previously published under the pseudonym Sergei Makarov)

I. GOD'S COVENANT WITH MAN
“I will not break My covenant, nor change what has gone out of My mouth (Ps. 89:35; see 34-38).
“And behold, my covenant is with them, says the Lord: My spirit which is upon you, and my words which I have put in your mouth, shall not depart from your mouth, nor from the mouth of your descendants, nor from the mouth of the descendants of your descendants, says the Lord, from now on and forever” (Isaiah 59:21).

God reveals Himself to man in as usual things, in miracles, in the Word and in His Son. All this is God's Revelation about Himself. This Revelation appears in the works of creation, providence and redemption. But these matters can only be properly understood if we understand the properties of God. For example, the fact that God is faithful to His Word, that He does not cancel or change it. By understanding the properties of God, we understand His works, and vice versa: understanding the works of God allows us to understand His properties.

God enters into a relationship with man through a covenant. A covenant establishes certain relationships and obligations. The very expression: “I am the Lord” indicates a covenant: God is our Master, we are His slaves, servants, workers who are obliged to do what they were created for, without demanding any reward. Therefore we can truly say that our God is the God of the covenant.

Having created Adam and Eve, God blesses them: “And God blessed them, and God said to them: Be fruitful and multiply, and fill the earth, and subdue it, and have dominion over the fish of the sea, and over the birds of the air, and over every living thing that moves on the ground. earth” (Gen. 1:28). The first word of God addressed to man is a word of promise and at the same time of blessing. Not an order, not a condemnation, but a blessing. And this, mind you, comes before any human deeds, good or bad.

What was the blessing? Man is given the opportunity to communicate directly with God. This is not a reward for work; the opportunity to communicate is provided immediately after creation. Even if Adam had performed all the work entrusted to him marvelously, he would have had no right to claim any reward or blessing. After all, he was created to do this job. The covenant assumed (and established) a happy relationship between God and man.

But Adam had to trust the word of the Lord. Trust in His word is possible only with a perfect recognition of the authority of God and recognition of His faithfulness. If Adam had unconditionally obeyed the word of God and fulfilled the commandment given to him: not to eat from the tree of the knowledge of good and evil, this would have ensured the continuation of the blessing, that is, Adam's fellowship with God. Adam's violation of the commandment led to his death (Gen. 2:17).

According to God's decree, those who break the commandment must die (Rom. 6:23). God is righteous, He does not turn a blind eye to disobedience, He does not continue to bless as before, as if nothing had happened. Therefore, people’s transgression of the commandment separated them from the Source of life. Life, both spiritual and physical.
However, after a person breaks a covenant, God does not change the terms of the covenant. He remains true to His word.

* * *
After the Fall of Adam, God established a covenant with him, which contains the promise of salvation (before the Fall there was no need to save a person).

All people, like Adam, are still required to trust in the words of God, to recognize God as Creator and to believe in Him as Savior, to believe in His unchanging word. The covenant is conditioned by the obligation of submission. Submission is sanctified by blessings. Those who break the covenant will be damned.

The calling of new witnesses to the covenant (Noah: Gen. 9:8-9; Abraham: Gen. 12:1-3; 17:1-2) confirms God's faithfulness to the covenant. God keeps His word: the covenant with Abraham, Isaac, and Jacob is still the same, it is eternal. In the Book of Exodus (2:24) we read: “God remembered His covenant.” The exodus of God's people from Egypt, led by Moses, testifies to God's faithfulness in keeping the covenant.

II. UNITY OF THE COVENANT
Adam represented all of humanity as a whole and each of us individually. After him, humanity is divided into two groups in relation to the covenant: those who keep the covenant (the people of God), and those who are outside the covenant, that is, covenant breakers. Holy Scripture characterizes the violation of a covenant as rebellion, betrayal. In this respect, the prophet Hosea does not in any way distinguish his contemporaries from Adam. Like Adam, they also rebelled against God: “They, like Adam, broke the covenant and there betrayed Me” (Hos. 6:7).

In essence, every sin of people is a failure to keep the covenant. The same covenant of obedience, fulfillment, listening to God. “And the earth is defiled by those who dwell on it; for they have transgressed the laws, changed the statute, broken the everlasting covenant. Because of this, a curse devours the earth, and those who live on it are punished; Therefore the inhabitants of the earth were burned, and there were few people left” (Is. 24:5-6).

The covenant renewed after the Fall was gracious in nature and based on God’s promise of salvation. Subsequent covenants do not contradict the previous ones, but serve as additions and extensions to the fullness of Revelation. All the covenant promises of God are consistently centered on Christ and His work of redemption. Therefore, Calvinistic theology recognizes the unity and consistency of God's covenant administration. Denial of the unity of the covenant leads to the recognition of the existence of two plans of God: one about Christ and His Church, and the other about the Jewish people and the land of Israel... The result is an artificial division, that is: heavenly and earthly programs intended for the artificially divided Church and Israel . But such a view contradicts St. Paul, who addresses the Galatian community, which consisted of former Jews and Gentiles who came to Christ (Gal. 6:15-16). Paul says that the Gentiles, saved by Christ, are now added to the community of Israel (Eph. 2:12).

Therefore, it is completely unlawful to separate the covenant concluded with Abraham from the covenant with Moses, as if the latter represents only dry, graceless legalism... When the ap. Paul writes that Israel did not achieve righteousness through the works of the law (Rom. 9:31-32), he refers to the Jews' misunderstanding of the covenant, but does not reject the law (Gal. 2:19). The covenant with Abraham could not be broken or changed after 430 years. And was it really only useless promises that were given to Moses (Gal. 3:17)? The law is not given as an alternative to promises. Paul says that the law is not “against the promises of God” (Gal. 3:21). Therefore, one should not contrast the covenant with the law, Abraham and David with Moses (Gal. 3:7; 3:29). The covenant with Moses speaks not only about the earthly kingdom of the descendants of David, but also points to Christ, the true King. Moses is called into the same covenant as Abraham. The giving of the law to Moses does not mean the establishment of a fundamentally different relationship between God and man.

It is also wrong to believe that the law is some kind of application or addition to the covenant. There is an inextricable connection between the law and the covenant: “And the Lord said to Moses, Write these words to yourself, for in these words I make a covenant with you and with Israel. And Moses stayed there with the Lord for forty days and forty nights, neither eating bread nor drinking water; And he wrote on the tablets the words of the covenant, the ten words” (Exodus 34:27-28). When Moses explains to Israel the nature and nature of the blessing given to all the people, he refers to the covenant: “Know this, that the Lord your God is God, the faithful God, who keeps his covenant” (Deut. 7:9).

God makes a covenant with David and His descendants (2 Sam. 23:5; Ps. 89:4-5, 35-38). And in this case the covenant remains the same as in the days of Abraham. And in the time of the prophet Isaiah, the truth about the unity of the covenant was reaffirmed - there is one covenant, and this covenant is eternal (Is. 55: 3). The prophet Jeremiah also speaks about the covenant. The coming of the days is revealed to him when the promises of the covenant will come to pass. The prophet speaks about the days of the New Covenant (Jer. 31:31-34), that is, about what Christ will do, namely: he will fulfill the promises of the covenant. (It is worth noting that Scripture views the work of Christ to save His people in covenant terms, see Heb. 13:20).

* * *
The New Testament has the same purpose, the same Sacraments, as the Old. Scripture speaks of the spiritual circumcision of the foreskin of the heart (Deut. 10:16; Jer. 4:4; Col. 2:11,12), indicating the spiritual nature of the Old Testament Sacraments (1 Cor. 10:1-4, 15-17). Both the Old Testament and the New have the same aspects of the covenant: God and His people (Rom. 11:16-24; Eph. 2:11-14).

All Scriptures lead consistently to God's gracious promise in Christ Jesus. Before Christ there were shadows and types pointing to Him, but the fulfillment of the covenant promises takes place in the Person of Christ, His work of redemption.

So, although Scripture mentions several instances of covenant making, it would be theologically incorrect to regard them as different covenants. All this is one covenant. All the covenants reflected in the Law, Psalms and Prophets are an integral part of the one covenant of grace. The Gospel and New Testament Epistles show how the promises of this covenant are fulfilled, how salvation is accomplished.

III. CHRIST IS THE FULFILLMENT OF THE PROMISES OF THE ONE COVENANT OF GRACE

“I have made a covenant with My chosen ones, I have sworn to My servant David: Forever
I will establish your seed, I will build your throne for generations and generations” (Ps. 89:4).

We will not fully understand the work of our salvation unless we see that Christ fulfills the covenant (“He will show mercy to our fathers and remember His holy covenant,” Luke 1:72), for His resurrection and ministry of salvation is the fulfillment of covenant blessings. The Apostle Peter speaks about this, addressing the people of Israel: “You are the sons of the prophets and the covenant that God commanded to your fathers, saying to Abraham: “And in your seed shall all families of the earth be blessed.” God, having raised His Son Jesus, sent Him to you first to bless you, turning everyone from your evil deeds” (Acts 3:25-26).

When Adam breaks the covenant, God mercifully restores it, promising to send a Savior who will destroy the enemy of the human race (remember what was said to the tempting serpent: “And I will put enmity between you and the woman, and between your seed and her seed; it will smite your head, and you will bruise his heel,” Gen. 3:15). This is the first promise of the Coming of Christ. It was promised that Christ would restore the right relationship between God and man (John 12:31-32, 1 John 3:8). The establishment of the covenant, let us remember, was an undeserved benefit to sinful man (Jer. 11: 2-4). The same can be said about Israel: the covenant is not based on the dignity of the people, but on the love of God (Deut. 7:7-9).

The fulfillment of the covenant of salvation, or the fulfillment of the promise of salvation, was revealed in the history of the redemption of God's people. Every period of history pointed to Christ and His works, pointing to the coming Savior (2 Cor. 1:20). Every promise of the covenant (made with different people) confirmed and established in Christ. Everything in the Scriptures speaks of the coming Savior (Luke 24:27). The Mediator and Mediator of the New Testament (Heb. 12:24) the Lord Jesus Christ promised its conclusion through Jeremiah:

“Behold, the days are coming, says the Lord, when I will make a new covenant with the house of Israel and with the house of Judah, not like the covenant that I made with their fathers on the day when I took them by the hand to bring them out of the land of Egypt; They broke that covenant of mine, although I remained in covenant with them, says the Lord. But this is the covenant that I will make with the house of Israel after those days, says the Lord: I will put My law within them, and write it on their hearts, and I will be their God, and they will be My people. And they will no longer teach one another, brother to brother, and say, “Know the Lord,” for they will all know Me, from the least of them to the greatest, says the Lord, because I will forgive their iniquity, and I will remember their sins no more” (Jer. .31:31-34).

Before the crucifixion, Christ drinks the cup of this New Testament (Luke 22:20), announcing its imminent fulfillment.

By His death and resurrection, Christ fulfilled the promises of the Old Testament Scriptures, giving the promised benefits to God's people (Heb. 9:15). Thus Christ received the inheritance promised to Abraham (1 Pet. 1:4; Gal. 3:16; Eph. 1:14). In Him the nations are blessed (Luke 2:32; Matt. 12:21; Acts 13:47-48; Gal. 3:14). Christ is the example of the righteousness revealed in the law of Moses (Matt. 5:17; Heb. 4:15; 1 John 2:5-6). Christ is the true and perfect sacrifice for sinners required in the covenant under the law of Moses (Heb. 9). Finally, Christ is the long-awaited King who was promised in the covenant with David (Ezek. 37:24-26; Luke 1:32-33; Acts 5:31; 1 Cor. 15:25; 1 Tim. 6:15).

CONCLUSION
God is true to His word. God still fulfills the covenant today by caring for the person who keeps the covenant. A person is pleasing to God only when he fulfills His covenant.

The covenant corresponds to the entire world order. Thus, man is not free from the laws of nature. One can say differently: he is free only to the extent that he follows these laws and fulfills them. Everywhere we can see covenant coupled with fulfillment certain laws, regulations, which entail blessings, and, on the contrary, failure to fulfill them entails curses (punishments) stipulated by the covenant. Everything is based on covenant.

Therefore, the Church requires legal entry into it - through the conclusion of a covenant (baptism). The family covenant is no less important. The same principle applies to the state. And it is determined by the covenant of God, and not by the agreement of people. That is why in our time a collective covenant with God of the entire people is absolutely necessary.

Current politicians offer their solutions to many issues related to family, society, and religion. But Christians are called to explain and preach the essence of God's covenant, so that all the inhabitants of the earth become executors of the covenant, without questioning the sovereign authority of God who established the covenant.

---------------
On the issue of predestination and God's unchangeable plan: I think everyone will agree that the word “remembered” does not give us reason to believe that God can forget something.

The Old and New Testaments are the books the Bible is divided into. Many people say that it is not necessary for Christians to read the Old Testament, and it only applies to Jews. Some doubt that these texts were written by Divine inspiration. For some, this is nothing more than a collection of myths. Christians believe that God really made covenants with people for their own salvation.

What is a “covenant” in Orthodoxy?

All Christians read the Bible - the books of the Old and New Testaments. The Bible has remained the most a book to read in the world. Christians have revered the New Testament for centuries. What is a Covenant? The Old Testament begins with a story about how the Lord created the world and man. Thanks to the Old Testament, we learn and understand the history of man’s relationship with God. Does this mean that The Testament is simply a story about the history of Christianity?

In fact, the Covenant is not a unilateral decree and not just a set of rules that God left to man. A covenant is a contract, an agreement between God and people, a solemn promise that God gave to man, and a person who wants peace with God agreed to follow the Commandments given to him by the Creator himself.

Initially, the Lord created man in His Image and Likeness, preparing us for eternal life, but the history of the Fall changed the original history of man’s relationship with the Heavenly Father. And yet God chose the path of love; He asks man to follow Him, and does not command him.

Testaments as the basis of biblical history

Covenants, the relationship between man and God, are a two-way process. The very etymology of the word presupposes the fulfillment of certain conditions by both parties, in this case it is the Creator and humanity. Since the creation of the world and man, the Fall and redemption by Jesus original sin The covenants were the basis of biblical history. By accepting Baptism, we agree to the terms of the New Covenant and commit ourselves to fulfilling the vows we made to God.

A covenant is not a directive or an order. It assumes voluntariness in the relationship between the Lord and humanity, which means that these relationships are not based on free will and coercion is impossible in them.

The Bible is written with amazing historical accuracy, it is beautiful literary work. From the point of view of a philologist, the Sermon on the Mount is an example of a most beautiful text. All this leaves no doubt for believers that the texts of Scripture are a true agreement with God. The texts of Scripture and which texts will be included in the Bible were discussed at the Ecumenical Councils and underwent a careful “selection”. Surprisingly, all the texts written by different people in different eras are kept in uniform style and carry the same ideas.

Types of Covenants

There are only two covenants between man and God - the Old and New Testaments. The Old Testament consists of 39 books, which are also considered the sacred texts of Judaism. There are 27 books in the New Testament. The ideas of the Old and New Testaments do not differ; the Old Testament prepares humanity for the New. Jesus comes into the world precisely when, according to all prophecies, humanity is ready to meet the Messiah.

Books of Testaments

The Books of Testaments are the Old and New Testaments. The Old Testament is the Torah, the Pentateuch of Moses, the Prophets and the Scriptures. Not all of these books are arranged in a strict chronological order. The Bible consists of several dozen books that are arranged in a certain way. For example, the very first of the books of the Pentateuch in chronological order is Deuteronomy, which is the last in the Old Testament. It was written around the 8th century. before the Nativity of Christ. Each of these books (Genesis, Exodus, Leviticus, Numbers, Deuteronomy) was written at different times by different authors. We may even encounter some contradictions that are explained in one way or another by theologians.

The Old Testament is the story of the childhood of mankind. Just as the relationship between a parent and a child changes—communication with a small child is different from communication with a teenager—the Lord’s relationship with His children, with us, has also changed. The very first agreement between man and God was broken. Adam and Eve ate the forbidden fruit and were expelled from Paradise. But God’s communication with people continued on earth. We received the Commandments of God on Mount Sinai, which were revealed to the prophet Moses.

Why is the Testament not a strict notation from God, but a way to protect and preserve people from sin? Together with the Commandments, God gave man free will. The truth has been revealed to man about how to live with dignity and righteousness, but he himself chooses whether to follow it. Therefore, the Covenant with God is a Covenant of love.

Christians revere the Old Testament and know the Bible in its entirety. Yet we call ourselves “New Testament” people. Why?

Covenant as a union between man and God

Throughout the history of mankind, the all-merciful Lord has tried to save us from eternal death and give us immortality, for which we were created. Man was not sinless, but Jesus Christ, the Son of God, came into the world to save us for Eternal life and take upon Himself our sins. The “old” agreement with people, the Old Testament, was not broken by the coming of Christ.

During the Sermon on the Mount He said: “Do not think that I came cancel Law or Prophets. Not cancel I came, A fulfill“. The “conditions” of the Old Covenant were fulfilled and God made a new “contract,” the New Covenant, with humanity.

God has enough power to simply force us to follow orders or destroy all of humanity. But our God is a God of mercy. He negotiates with a person, looks for ways to salvation that will allow people to choose of their own free will. eternal life with God blessing.

The role of covenants in Orthodoxy

It is necessary to know the Old Testament; it is still the Word of God. Orthodox Church, despite the fact that for Christians the main Book of the Bible is the New Testament, they have never renounced the Books of the Old Testament. The Old Testament is an important part of liturgical life. It is in the Old Testament that we see prophecies about the coming of the Messiah, by which we can recognize the Savior in Jesus Christ. The Old Testament contains the Commandments revealed to Moses.

The Old Testament is often called cruel. But the cruel events in it are not connected with the fact that God is not Just or Merciful. It is the consequences of sin that face us that are terrible, not Divine injustice. The tragedies of the Old Testament are directly related to the tragedy of the Fall.

The Old Testament plays an important role in Christianity. Knowledge of the history of the Church, prophets and saints, the creation of the world is necessary Orthodox Christian. The examples of the lives of the Old Testament righteous people still remain for us a model of holiness. Therefore, we cannot assume that we, the people of the New Testament, can ignore what has already been fulfilled by the Savior. In addition, there are parallel passages in the Bible. This once again proves that the texts of the Old and New Testaments are unusual, interconnected and are a single narrative, despite the fact that they were written by different people in different times.

Unfortunately, not everyone understood what was said in the Old Testament about the coming of the Messiah, and not everyone agreed with the New Testament. The Pharisees and scribes hated Christ because He exposed their hypocrisy. Many never accepted the Savior; they envied Him because people were drawn to His teachings; He had many followers who saw the miracles He performed.

The covenant is the basis of human salvation

There are 27 books in the New Testament, 21 of them are letters, which were originally written in Greek. Not a single page remains of the original manuscript. All we have left are copies of the New Testament. But it was these books that changed the course of human history and gave us the opportunity to enter the Kingdom of Heaven. The New Testament is the Gospels of Matthew, Mark, Luke and John, the Acts of the Apostles, the conciliar epistles, the epistles of the Apostle Paul and the Revelation of John the Theologian. These inspired texts were also written at different times, beginning in the 1st century AD. The composition of the books of the New Testament was approved by Ecumenical Councils. International biblical scholars have been studying all the texts that claim to be part of the Old and New Testaments. Some texts were controversial and remained apocryphal. Doubts also concerned the Revelation of John the Theologian, but this text was eventually included among the books of the New Testament. His text seemed too mystical and unusual. The oldest Bible in the world that has survived to this day dates back to the 4th century and contains two texts that are no longer considered canonical. There are about 50 Gospels that are not included in the New Testament. Jesus Christ Himself did not leave a single manuscript written in His own hand.

The basis of the New Testament is the atonement for all the sins of mankind through the voluntary death of Jesus Christ on the cross. Accepting this sacrifice means accepting the grace of the Lord. In the New Testament, God calls us his children. During the Last Supper, Jesus speaks of a new “contract” with people. God loved the world so much that He gave His only begotten Son. “Come to me, all you who are in need and burdened,” the Messiah calls to us.

What is the New Testament agreement? God knows that we cannot overcome sin on our own. But He is perfect. And according to the existing higher laws, the Perfect God cannot simply ignore imperfection, and, therefore, sin must be atoned for. Someone must bear the punishment for our sins. For this, God, who loved us, sends his Son, Jesus Christ, to humble himself to a man, to accept our sins, to suffer and die for us on the cross. We are required to accept this sacrifice and strive for holiness.

Video about the Old and New Testaments: