QUESTION: PASTOR RONALD, PAANO PO BINABALUKTOT NG MGA SDA ANG HEBREO 8:7-13 TUNGKOL SA BAGONG TIPAN?

QUESTION:

"Pastor Ronald, paano po binabaluktot ng mga SDA ang Hebreo 8:7-13 tungkol sa Bagong Tipan?

ANSWER:

Ang SDA explanation na ito sa Hebrews 8:7–13 sounds pious on the surface, pero kung himayin mo gamit ang sound hermeneutics at New Covenant Theology, makikita natin na may mga malalaking sablay sa kanilang pagbasa. Let’s walk through it point by point:

---

What Hebrews 8:7–13 Actually Teaches

1. Fault of the First Covenant

   • The text is clear: “If that first covenant had been faultless…” (v. 7).

   • The issue is not only the people’s weakness but the very temporary and shadowy nature of the covenant itself (cf. Heb. 7:18, “the former commandment is set aside because it was weak and useless”).

   • SDA spins this by saying “the covenant wasn’t faulty, the people were.” Pero Hebrews itself says the Old Covenant was “obsolete” and “ready to vanish away” (v. 13). The fault is structural, not just human.

2. New Covenant Is New — Not Just a Repackage of the Old

   • SDA theology tries to blur the lines: “the New Covenant is the everlasting covenant given to Abel, Noah, Abraham.”

   • But Hebrews says “He has obtained a more excellent ministry… enacted on better promises” (Heb. 8:6).

   • The New Covenant is not simply “the same covenant repackaged.” It is the fulfillment of what the Old only foreshadowed.

3. The Law Written on the Heart

   • The SDA assumption: “It’s the same law Jeremiah knew — i.e., the Ten Commandments.”

   • But Hebrews never says “the Decalogue.” Jeremiah 31:33 says, “I will put my law (torah) within them.” The word torah here is flexible—it means God’s instruction, not specifically the Sinai code.

   • Under the New Covenant, the law written in the heart is the Law of Christ (Gal. 6:2), not the Old Covenant law written on stone.

   • If the Ten Commandments were still binding as covenant law, why does Paul call them a “ministry of death engraved in letters on stone” (2 Cor. 3:7)?

4. Galatians 4:24–31 – Paul’s Own Interpretation

   • The SDA quote is ironic: Paul’s allegory of Hagar and Sarah actually destroys the Adventist argument.

   • Hagar = Sinai covenant (law, bondage).

   • Sarah = New Covenant (promise, freedom).

   • Paul’s conclusion: “Cast out the slave woman and her son” (Gal. 4:30).

   • Meaning? The Sinai law (including the Sabbath command) has no place in the inheritance of the children of promise.

---

Questions for SDAs:

1. If the law written on the heart is exactly the Sinai law, why does Paul explicitly say in 2 Cor. 3:11 that what was engraved in stone “came with glory but is fading away”?

2. If the New Covenant is just the “everlasting covenant from Abel to Abraham,” bakit si Jeremiah mismo (Jer. 31:31) nagsabi: “It will not be like the covenant I made with their fathers when I took them out of Egypt”?

3. If Hebrews 8 says the Old is “obsolete,” bakit patuloy pa ring ipinipilit ng Adventism ang Sabbath bilang covenant sign, when Exodus 31:16–17 says Sabbath was the sign of the Sinai covenant?

---

Summary

The SDA reading tries to make the New Covenant = Old Covenant 2.0. Pero Hebrews 8 is crystal clear:

• The Old Covenant (Sinai law) is obsolete.

• The New Covenant is better, superior, and based on Christ’s once-for-all sacrifice.

• The law written on our hearts is not the Old Covenant tablets but the Law of Christ by the Spirit.

• The inheritance belongs to the children of promise (Sarah), not the children of bondage (Hagar = Sinai).

Therefore, Hebrews 8:7–13 is not about “God giving us power to keep the Ten Commandments.” It’s about God replacing Sinai with something infinitely better: Christ Himself as our covenant head.

---

For more inquiries, contact us:

Email: formeradventist.ph@gmail.com

Website: formeradventistph.blogspot.com

Facebook: https://www.facebook.com/groups/formeradventistph

Phone: 09695143944