Posted on 06/27/2026 7:13:51 AM PDT by Philsworld
It may be asked, then, how the ten commandments can be called "the covenant." We answer, That is just where the people are misled. They are never called "the" covenant, referring to the first or old covenant. That the ten commandments are called "a" covenant, we admit; but what kind of a covenant? and in what sense are they so called? Ex. 19:5: "Now therefore, if ye will obey my voice indeed, and keep my covenant", etc. Then God had something which he called his covenant, which antedated the covenant made with Israel. It was already in existence, before any formal agreement whatever was made with that people. And this explains Deut. 4:13. Those who read that verse should be critical enough to observe that Moses does not call the ten commandments the covenant, nor a covenant, but his (God's) covenant. "And he declared unto you his covenant, which he commanded you to perform, even ten commandments." These, then, are what God referred to in Ex. 19:5, in the words, my covenant; and these were already in existence when the covenant was made with Israel. Further, the covenant of Deut. 4:23, is not a covenant made, but a covenant commanded; and surely any one can see the difference between an arrangement established upon this voluntary and mutual promises of two parties, and that which one party has power to enjoin with authority upon another party.
The ten commandments were not, therefore, the old covenant, because (1.) They were in existence, and were just as much binding on men before as after the exode. (2.) They were never dedicated with blood. (3.) They were set forth by the Lord himself as antedating his covenant with Israel, being the primary and essential basis of the arrangement then entered into with them.
(Excerpt) Read more at cdn.centrowhite.org.br ...
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Christ gave his own body 15 to destroy the Law of Moses with all its rules and commands.
He even brought Jews and Gentiles together as though we were only one person, when he united us in peace.
16 On the cross Christ did away with our hatred for each other. He also made peace between us and God by uniting Jews and Gentiles in one body…
19 You Gentiles are no longer strangers and foreigners. You are citizens with everyone else who belongs to the family of God.
- Ephesians 2
Good morning.
All that without even reading the article?
In the article, that you didn’t read, is this passage, quoting Eph 2:13-15, 19. Gentiles who believe in Christ are now part of Spiritual “Israel.” The “Saints” are Israel, the seed of Abraham.
Away with this cry of Jewish; for the new covenant itself was made with Israel and Judah. How, then, do the Gentiles come in to share in its blessings? Paul explains in Eph. 2:13-15. After speaking of the Gentiles as aliens from the commonwealth of Israel and strangers from the covenants of Promise, he says, “But now in Christ Jesus ye who sometimes were far off are made nigh by the blood of Christ. For he is our peace, who hath made both one, and hath broken down the
middle wall of partition between us, having abolished in his flesh the enmity, even the law of commandments contained in ordinances, for to make in himself of twain one new man, so making peace.” In verse 19 he adds, “Now therefore ye are no more strangers and foreigners, but fellow-citizens with the saints, and of the household of God.” We “are no longer strangers from the covenants of promise.”
Thus plainly is it stated that through Christ the Gentiles are brought into such a relation to God that they are no longer strangers from the covenants of promise. The middle wall of partition between the Jews and themselves was broken down by what Christ abolished on the cross.
——>Christ gave his own body 15 to destroy the Law of Moses with all its rules and commands.
Paul was not talking about moral law, which preincarnate Jesus Christ calls “My covenant”, which predates Sinai.
The Sumerians had a very similar 10 Commandments. They pre-dated Moses considerably.
“cult” — An organized system of religious beliefs, rituals, or intense admiration for an object, person, or idea.
Just in case you’re interested. EGW and the intense admiration of her qualifies as the “person” in the descriptor. So would Joseph Smith or Charles Taze Russell.
Real Christianity has a guru, too — Jesus Christ.
so what does God say on the matter?
Jer_31:31 “The day is coming,” says the LORD, “when I will make a new covenant with the people of Israel and Judah.
Jer_31:33 “But this is the new covenant I will make with the people of Israel on that day,” says the LORD. “I will put My instructions deep within them, and I will write them on their hearts. I will be their God, and they will be My people.
2Co_3:6 He has enabled us to be ministers of His new covenant. This is a covenant not of written laws, but of the Spirit. The old written covenant ends in death; but under the new covenant, the Spirit gives life.
Heb_8:8 But when God found fault with the people, He said: “The day is coming, says the LORD, when I will make a new covenant with the people of Israel and Judah.
Heb_8:10 But this is the new covenant I will make with the people of Israel on that day, says the LORD: I will put My laws in their minds, and I will write them on their hearts. I will be their God, and they will be My people.
Heb_8:13 When God speaks of a “new” covenant, it means He has made the first one obsolete. It is now out of date and will soon disappear.
Heb_9:15 That is why He is the One who mediates a new covenant between God and people, so that all who are called can receive the eternal inheritance God has promised them. For Christ died to set them free from the penalty of the sins they had committed under that first covenant.
Heb_10:16 “This is the new covenant I will make with My people on that day, says the LORD: I will put My laws in their hearts, and I will write them on their minds.”
Heb_12:24 You have come to Jesus, the One who mediates the new covenant between God and people, and to the sprinkled blood, which speaks of forgiveness instead of crying out for vengeance like the blood of Abel.
The new covenant is a direct relationship with God by being born again. You are the temple and priests and prophets. The curtain is torn from top to bottom.
Jas_1:25 But the one who looks into the perfect law, the law of liberty, and perseveres, being no hearer who forgets but a doer who acts, he will be blessed in his doing.
Jas_2:12 So speak and so act as those who are to be judged under the law of liberty.
His chosen will be judged under the law of liberty. There is something to think about.
You salvation is a gift, your faith is a gift, your good deeds are a gift. You get no credit.
Has nothing to do with this article, no matter what you might think. Either you agree with the article, or you don’t.
In real estate, a covenant can be binding on a new owner even if that new owner didn’t agree to the terms. I suppose the new owner can refuse to buy or decline the inheritance.
Jas_1:25 But the one who looks into the perfect law, the law of liberty, and perseveres, being no hearer who forgets but a doer who acts, he will be blessed in his doing.
Jas_2:12 So speak and so act as those who are to be judged under the law of liberty.
His chosen will be judged under the law of liberty. There is something to think about.
James is quoting from the 10 commandments, God’s moral, eternal law. So, I agree with you on that. We will ALL be judged according to God’s moral law. That’s the standard.
There is no longer Jew or Gentile, slave or free, male and female. For you are all one in Christ Jesus. - Galatians 3:28
It's as though earthly nostalgia for division and separation - blacks and whites, slaves and masters - causes people to justify it in Scripture and project it onto every passage.
The only eternal segregation there is, is between the "saved" and "unsaved" and it's not the circumcision of Abraham that saves, but the faith of Abraham. And his name was literally changed from Abram to Ab-ra-ham to mean father of MANY nations and not just one. As your reply alludes to His seed, it is clear that 'many nations' encompass his lineage.
The article is 20 pages along so I'll have to look at it bit by bit. Though I don't see a need to expand or embellish upon what Paul has plainly explicated.
——>The new covenant is a direct relationship with God by being born again. You are the temple and priests and prophets. The curtain is torn from top to bottom.
The NEW COVENANT is made with Israel/Judah, NOT GENTILES. And just as I explained to CP, quoting from the article...
“Away with this cry of Jewish; for the new covenant itself was made with Israel and Judah. How, then, do the Gentiles come in to share in its blessings? Paul explains in Eph. 2:13-15. After speaking of the Gentiles as aliens from the commonwealth of Israel and strangers from the covenants of Promise, he says, “But now in Christ Jesus ye who sometimes were far off are made nigh by the blood of Christ. For he is our peace, who hath made both one, and hath broken down the
middle wall of partition between us, having abolished in his flesh the enmity, even the law of commandments contained in ordinances, for to make in himself of twain one new man, so making peace.” In verse 19 he adds, “Now therefore ye are no more strangers and foreigners, but fellow-citizens with the saints, and of the household of God.””
“Thus plainly is it stated that through Christ the Gentiles are brought into such a relation to God that they are no longer strangers from the covenants of promise. The middle wall of partition between the Jews and themselves was broken down by what Christ abolished on the cross.”
“And if ye be Christ’s, then are ye Abraham’s seed, and heirs according to the promise.” Gal. 3:29. All who are Christ’s then, are the children of Abraham, not literally but spiritually, and are accounted for the seed. So we hear him saying to the Romans in language still more pointed: “For he is not a Jew which is one outwardly; neither is that circumcision which is outward in the flesh; but he is a Jew which is one inwardly, and circumcision is that of the heart, in the spirit, and not in the letter, whose praise is not of men but of God.” The inward work of grace, then, in the heart, under the gospel, constitutes one a Jew in reality, and an Israelite indeed.”
——>The article is 20 pages along so I’ll have to look at it bit by bit. Though I don’t see a need to expand or embellish upon what Paul has plainly explicated.
Hopefully, you’ll get a better understanding of “what Paul has plainly explicated.”
The NEW COVENANT is made with Israel/Judah, NOT GENTILES. And just as I explained to CP, quoting from the article...
God always deals with his chosen. That is the definition, not Israel, Judah or gentiles.
Again, the NEW COVENANT was made with Israel/Judah, God’s covenant people...the seed of Abraham. Christ believing Gentiles are GRAFTED into God’s COVENANT PEOPLE. Paul speaks about it in Romans 11. I like how COPILOT states it.
COPILOT:
📌 Where Paul Talks About Natural & Wild Branches
Romans 11:17–24
This is the core text:
Wild branches
“If some of the branches were broken off, and you, being a wild olive tree, were grafted in among them…”
(Romans 11:17)
Natural branches
“…God is able to graft them in again.
For if you were cut out of the wild olive tree…
how much more shall these, which are the natural branches, be grafted into their own olive tree?”
(Romans 11:23–24)
Paul is using horticultural imagery to explain the relationship between Israel and Gentile believers.
📌 What the Branches Represent
Natural branches = ethnic Israel
They belong to the cultivated olive tree by nature.
They were “broken off” because of unbelief (11:20).
They can be grafted back in if they do not persist in unbelief (11:23).
Wild branches = Gentile believers
They come from a wild olive tree (not cultivated).
They are grafted in “contrary to nature” (11:24).
They stand by faith, not by heritage (11:20).
📌 What the Olive Tree Represents
The olive tree is the covenant people of God — the Abrahamic root that carries forward into the New Covenant.
It is not:
Israel vs. the Church
Law vs. grace
It is one tree, one people of God, with branches removed or added based on faith.
📌 Paul’s Main Points
1. Gentiles were added by grace, not merit
They are “wild” branches — not naturally part of the covenant tree.
2. Israel’s unbelief is not final
Natural branches can be grafted back in “much more easily” because the tree is originally theirs.
3. Faith is the determining factor
Unbelief breaks branches off
Faith grafts branches in
God is free to reverse either condition
4. Gentiles must not boast
Paul warns:
“Do not boast against the branches…
You do not support the root; the root supports you.”
(Romans 11:18)
5. God’s plan includes a future restoration of Israel
Romans 11 builds toward:
“All Israel shall be saved.”
(Romans 11:26)
📌 Summary
Paul’s teaching on natural and wild branches is found in Romans 11:17–24.
Natural branches = Israel
Wild branches = Gentiles
Olive tree = God’s covenant people
Grafting = inclusion by faith
Breaking off = exclusion by unbelief
One tree.
Two kinds of branches.
Faith determines your place on the tree.
The difference is that God’s 10 commandment law defines sin and eternity hangs in the balance. The Sumerian code doesn’t.
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