Chapter 2: "What the Bible Says About the Old vs. the New Covenant"

Chapter 2: What the Bible Says About
The Old vs. the New Covenant

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Introduction: Two Mountains, Two Covenants

Imagine standing between two mountains. On one side is Mount Sinai, dark with clouds, thunder, and fear. On the other side is Mount Zion, shining with the presence of Christ, full of joy and grace. The Bible paints this very picture in Hebrews 12:18–24:

“For you have not come to what may be touched, a blazing fire and darkness and gloom and a tempest… But you have come to Mount Zion and to the city of the living God, the heavenly Jerusalem… and to Jesus, the mediator of a new covenant, and to the sprinkled blood that speaks a better word than the blood of Abel.”

This is the contrast between the Old Covenant and the New Covenant. One was written on stone, full of shadows, demanding obedience but giving no power to fulfill it. The other is written on hearts, fulfilled by Christ, full of life and power.

For Former and questioning Adventists, understanding this contrast is crucial. Adventism often blurs the line, teaching that the Ten Commandments (especially the Sabbath) remain binding, while the rest of the Old Covenant has passed away. But the Bible does not separate the Old Covenant into pieces. It speaks of the entire covenant given through Moses as one unit—temporary, fading, and replaced by something better.

In this chapter, we will explore what Scripture teaches about these two covenants, how they function, why the Old Covenant was never permanent, and how the New Covenant in Christ gives us something infinitely better.

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The Old Covenant: A Ministry of Death

Paul does not mince words when he describes the Old Covenant. In 2 Corinthians 3:7–9, he calls it a “ministry of death, carved in letters on stone” and a “ministry of condemnation.” This language shocks many Adventists. After all, weren’t the Ten Commandments holy and good (Rom. 7:12)?

Yes, the law was holy, but its function was never to save. Instead, it exposed sin and condemned the sinner. Like an X-ray machine, it revealed the sickness but offered no cure. Paul says in Romans 3:20: “Through the law comes knowledge of sin.”

This is why Paul calls it a ministry of death. The law could diagnose but not heal. It was designed to point Israel to their need for a Savior, not to provide salvation in itself.

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The Unity of the Law: No Division Between Moral, Ceremonial, and Civil

Adventist theology tries to separate the law into categories:

• Moral law (Ten Commandments) = eternal.

• Ceremonial law (sacrifices, festivals) = temporary.

• Civil law (judicial commands for Israel) = cultural.

But the Bible never makes this neat division. Instead, it presents the law as a unified covenant package. James 2:10 says: “For whoever keeps the whole law but fails in one point has become guilty of all of it.”

The law was not designed to be divided but to function as a covenant unit. This is why Paul in Galatians 5:3 warns that if you keep one part (like circumcision), you are obligated to keep the whole.

The Old Covenant law—including the Ten Commandments—stood together as one covenant package. To try to preserve one part (like the Sabbath) while discarding the rest is to misunderstand the covenantal structure.

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The Temporary Nature of the Old Covenant

From the beginning, the Old Covenant was never meant to last forever. It was designed to point forward to something greater.

Hebrews 8:6–7 says:

“Christ has obtained a ministry that is as much more excellent than the old as the covenant he mediates is better, since it is enacted on better promises. For if that first covenant had been faultless, there would have been no occasion to look for a second.”

Notice: the fault was not in God’s design but in the weakness of the covenant to bring lasting transformation. It revealed sin, but it could not remove sin. Hebrews 10:1 says: “The law has but a shadow of the good things to come instead of the true form of these realities.”

This is why the prophets anticipated a New Covenant. Jeremiah 31:31–33 promised a covenant not like the one made with Israel at Sinai. Ezekiel 36:26–27 promised new hearts and the indwelling Spirit.

The Old Covenant was always temporary—a shadow preparing the way for Christ.

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The New Covenant: A Ministry of the Spirit

Paul contrasts the Old with the New in 2 Corinthians 3:6: “The letter kills, but the Spirit gives life.” The New Covenant is not about external laws written on stone but about internal transformation by the Spirit.

Hebrews 8:10 quotes Jeremiah 31: “I will put my laws into their minds, and write them on their hearts, and I will be their God, and they shall be my people.”

This does not mean the New Covenant brings lawlessness. Instead, it brings a higher law—the Law of Christ (Gal. 6:2). This law is not a list of Old Covenant codes but the fulfillment of love: “For the whole law is fulfilled in one word: ‘You shall love your neighbor as yourself.’” (Gal. 5:14).

The New Covenant is about transformation from the inside out, not conformity to external codes. It produces true holiness, not just outward behavior.

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The Fulfillment of the Old Covenant in Christ

Jesus did not come to abolish the law but to fulfill it (Matt. 5:17). Fulfillment means completion, bringing to its intended goal. Romans 10:4 says: “Christ is the end (telos) of the law for righteousness to everyone who believes.”

This means that the law has reached its destination in Christ. Its types, shadows, and commands find their true meaning in Him. He is our Sabbath rest (Heb. 4:9–10). He is our true temple (John 2:19–21). He is our final sacrifice (Heb. 10:14).

To cling to the old shadows when reality has come is to miss the point. It is like continuing to follow the road signs after you have already arrived at your destination.

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The Passing of the Old Covenant in History

From a Biblical perspective, the Old Covenant did not just fade spiritually but also passed away historically with the destruction of Jerusalem in AD 70. Hebrews 8:13 says: “In speaking of a new covenant, he makes the first one obsolete. And what is becoming obsolete and growing old is ready to vanish away.”

By the time Hebrews was written, the temple still stood, sacrifices were still offered, and Sabbath rituals still continued. But the writer says they were “ready to vanish away.” Within a few years, they did—when Rome destroyed the temple and ended the sacrificial system once for all.

This was God’s way of sealing in history what Christ had already accomplished on the cross. The Old Covenant system ended, and the New Covenant in Christ became the permanent reality.

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Common Adventist Objections

Objection 1: “But the Ten Commandments are eternal!”

Response: The Ten Commandments were the core of the Old Covenant, but they are explicitly called a covenant document (Exod. 34:28; Deut. 4:13). Paul calls them the “ministry of death written on stone” (2 Cor. 3:7). If the covenant is obsolete, its tablets are not eternal moral law but part of the old system.

Objection 2: “But didn’t Jesus keep the Sabbath?”

Response: Yes, because He was born under the law (Gal. 4:4) to fulfill it perfectly. But His fulfillment does not mean Christians are bound to keep the Old Covenant shadows.

Objection 3: “But doesn’t Hebrews 4 teach we must keep the Sabbath rest?”

Response: Hebrews 4 points not to weekly Sabbath-keeping but to entering Christ’s rest by faith. Verse 10 says: “Whoever has entered God’s rest has also rested from his works as God did from his.” This is about salvation, not a Saturday observance.

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The Blessings of the New Covenant

Leaving the Old Covenant behind is not a loss but a gain. Here is what you receive in Christ:

• Assurance of forgiveness (Heb. 10:17–18).

• Indwelling of the Spirit (Ezek. 36:27; Rom. 8:9).

• Freedom from condemnation (Rom. 8:1).

• Direct access to God without priests or temples (Heb. 10:19–22).

• Identity as part of one people of God, Jew and Gentile together (Eph. 2:14–16).

The Old Covenant demanded obedience but gave no power. The New Covenant provides power through the Spirit to actually live in holiness.

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Conclusion: Why This Matters for Former and Questioning Adventists

Understanding the difference between the Old and New Covenants is not just theology—it is survival. If you confuse the two, you will remain trapped in fear, legalism, and shadow-keeping. But if you see the glory of the New Covenant, you will find freedom in Christ.

Paul sums it up beautifully in Galatians 5:1:

“For freedom Christ has set us free; stand firm therefore, and do not submit again to a yoke of slavery.”

For former and questioning Adventists, the yoke of the Old Covenant has been broken. You do not need to carry the weight of Sinai when you have come to Zion. You do not need to cling to shadows when you have the substance. You do not need to fear condemnation when Christ has already declared you free.

The Old Covenant has served its purpose. It has led you to Christ. Now that you are in Him, you are under a new and better covenant—sealed not with the blood of animals, but with the blood of the Son of God.

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Reflection Questions

1. In what ways do you still feel tied to the Old Covenant (Sabbath, diet, fear of judgment)?

2. How does understanding Hebrews 8 help you process the transition?

3. How can you rest more deeply in Christ’s finished work this week?

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To be continued in Part 3