The Everlasting Covenant with Christ: Distinguishing Israel's Covenants from the Believer's Inheritance
Orientation
Confusion arises when we think our standing before God depends on our performance or on covenants made with Israel.
- The Mosaic Law was a temporary, conditional arrangement given only to Israel.
- It was designed to reveal human inability, not to provide a means of justification or inheritance.
- Our assurance is not found in any covenant we could break, but in one God made unconditionally with His Son.
And this I say, that the covenant, that was confirmed before of God in Christ, the law, which was four hundred and thirty years after, cannot disannul, that it should make the promise of none effect. (Galatians 3:17)
— Galatians 3:17
Clarification
The New Covenant is for Israel's future restoration and is distinct from the church's heavenly foundation.
- The New Covenant (Jeremiah 31) replaces the Mosaic Covenant and is made with the house of Israel and Judah.
- The church is a mystery, a heavenly body united to Christ, not a party to Israel's earthly covenants.
- Our inheritance is not based on the New Covenant but on the everlasting covenant made directly with Christ.
Behold, the days come, saith the LORD, that I will make a new covenant with the house of Israel, and with the house of Judah: (Jeremiah 31:31)
— Jeremiah 31:31
Structure
All God's promises of inheritance, justification, and sonship are grounded in an everlasting covenant made directly with Christ as the singular Seed of Abraham.
- The promises were made to 'one... which is Christ' (Galatians 3:16), not to a group.
- This covenant was confirmed 430 years before the Law, so the Law cannot alter or annul it.
- Christ's resurrection affirms His unique status as Son of God and Heir, fulfilling this everlasting covenant.
Now to Abraham and his seed were the promises made. He saith not, And to seeds, as of many; but as of one, And to thy seed, which is Christ. (Galatians 3:16)
— Galatians 3:16
Weight-Bearing Prose
The theological foundation is the everlasting covenant made directly by God with Christ as the singular seed of Abraham (Galatians 3:16). This is the unconditional basis for salvation and justification by faith for all believers, distinct from all temporal covenants. The Mosaic covenant was a conditional, temporary ministry of condemnation given exclusively to Israel to function as a ‘schoolmaster’ (Galatians 3:24), revealing human inability and pointing to the need for Christ. Justification has always been by faith in God’s promise, from Abel onward, never by works of law. The New Covenant, prophesied in Jeremiah and Ezekiel, is for a future restored Israel and is distinct from the church’s standing. The church, as the body of Christ, is a mystery revealed post-resurrection—a heavenly people seated with Christ (Ephesians 2:6), united to Him by faith in His finished work. Our inheritance is Christ Himself, secured by His fulfillment of the Davidic provision of sonship and substitutionary atonement (2 Samuel 7:14; Isaiah 53). Any teaching that grounds a believer’s justification or inheritance in the Mosaic Law, the New Covenant, or personal performance undermines the gospel’s sure foundation.
Integration
Your standing before God is secure because it rests entirely on a covenant God made with His Son, not with you. Christ is the Heir. Your faith simply places you ‘in Christ,’ so you share in His inheritance as a co-heir. There is no pressure to perform or to qualify for a different, higher blessing. The work is finished, the covenant is everlasting, and your position is sealed in heaven. Rest in the assurance that God’s promises stand or fall with Christ alone—and He cannot fail. Let this truth anchor you: you are accepted in the Beloved, not because of your faithfulness, but because of God’s faithfulness to His Son.