What is the New Covenant? — Part 1

The revelation concerning the new covenant, or the new testament, is one of the greatest truths presented to us in the Scriptures. Sadly, very few believers have been adequately enlightened concerning this truth. As a result, many are not enjoying the marvelous spiritual blessings and benefits that are ours in the new covenant.

In order to begin to grasp the meaning and significance of the new covenant, we need to know the difference between a promise, an oath, a covenant, and a testament. A promise is an ordinary word by God in which He tells us that He will do a certain thing. That promise is strengthened by an oath in which God Himself swears by His immutable Godhead that what He has promised will be fulfilled. Once a promise has been strengthened by an oath, it can become a covenant. A covenant is somewhat like a contract in which two parties agree to fulfill certain conditions. A testament is a much stronger form of a covenant. A testament means that the person who has entered into a covenant has died, and the death of that person now makes that covenant a testament. As a result, the parties involved no longer need to do something in order to fulfill the requirements. Rather, the beneficiaries of the testament need to realize that everything has been done for them. All the items in the covenant have become bequests/Inheritances in the testament, or will, and these bequests are for them, the recipients.

Our Lord Jesus, through the shedding of His redemptive blood on the cross, has enacted a new covenant (Matt. 26:28; Mark 14:24; Luke 22:20). This new covenant in actuality is a testament. The whole New Testament is such a covenant, such a testament, containing countless items concerning the person and work of Christ that are available to the believers in Christ for their continual experience and enjoyment. This may be comparable to a person being designated an heir in someone’s will and testament. Once that person has died, the will, the testament, is enacted, and now the heir simply receives the relevant bequests.

Our eyes need to be opened to see that in Christ, God has made a new covenant, which is a testament enacted in the blood of Jesus (Heb. 9:15-23). According to the terms of this covenant, this testament, God in His righteousness wants to give us in Christ countless bequests/inheritances. He simply wants us in faith to open our being and to see and receive all that God in Christ has for us as bequests in the testament.

The Lord Jesus, the very One who enacted the new testament in His blood, is now interceding on our behalf, praying that we would be enlightened to realize what is in this covenant. He is also executing, enforcing, carrying out, applying all the bequests of this new testament (Heb. 9:15). He has enacted/endorsed the new testament, and now He is executing the new testament, praying for us that we will see it, believe it, receive it, experience it, and enjoy it for the carrying out of God’s New Testament economy. May our eyes be opened to see this marvelous revelation and may our faith be strengthened to enter into it and to experience it.