Chapter 1: The Critical Distinction Between the New Testament and the New Covenant
The confusion between the New Covenant and the New Testament is not a minor doctrinal issue—it strikes at the heart of how we understand our relationship to God, our assurance, and our inheritance. If you collapse these distinctions, you do not merely muddle terminology; you undermine the very foundation of justification and sonship. The church’s widespread assumption that it is “under the New Covenant” is not just imprecise—it is a theological error that breeds either legalism or naïve disillusionment, and ultimately robs believers of the rest and certainty Christ secured.
The New Covenant: God’s Solution for Israel’s Failure
Let’s be clear: the New Covenant is not a generic spiritual upgrade for all believers. It is a specific, national covenant God promised to the house of Israel and the house of Judah. Why? Because Israel broke the Mosaic covenant. God’s answer was not to give them a second chance at the same arrangement, but to promise a new, better covenant—one that would guarantee their ability to remain in the land as mortals during the Millennial Kingdom.
“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: Not according to the covenant that I made with THEIR FATHERS… WHICH MY COVENANT THEY BROKE…” (Jeremiah 31:31-32)
The New Covenant is God’s positive answer to Israel’s negative history under Moses. God Himself will write His law in their hearts, forgive their iniquity, and put His Spirit within them so that they walk in His statutes and never depart. This is not a vague spiritual metaphor—this is a concrete, national, and future reality for Israel. The result is unambiguously good: Israel will finally keep God’s ways, remain in their land, and fulfill their calling as a holy nation. This is not the church’s present experience, nor is it the church’s promise.
If you want a picture of this, look at the 144,000 in Revelation 14: they are mortals, sealed and preserved, with no lie on their lips, walking in perfect obedience because God has done exactly what He promised under the New Covenant. This is not what you see in the church today, nor has it ever been the church’s expectation.
The Church: Heirs of the Everlasting Covenant, Not Parties to the New
Gentiles were never under the Mosaic covenant. We were “strangers to the covenants of promise” (Ephesians 2:12). God never said to us, “You broke My covenant, so I will make a new one with you.” That is not our history, and it is not our promise. The New Covenant is not for us; it is for Israel, to replace what they broke.
What, then, is the basis of our relationship with God? It is not a bilateral covenant with obligations on both sides. It is the Everlasting Covenant—an agreement made not with us, but within the Godhead: between the Father and the Son. When Abraham was asleep, God swore by Himself (Hebrews 6:13-18; Genesis 15:17). The Everlasting Covenant is secured by Christ’s obedience and sacrificial death, not by our performance. Christ is the Seed to whom the promises were made (Galatians 3:16), and by being baptized into Him, we become co-heirs—not by law, but by union.
“For as many of you as have been baptized into Christ have put on Christ… And if you be Christ’s, then are you Abraham’s seed, and heirs according to the promise.” (Galatians 3:27-29)
We are not parties to a covenant; we are beneficiaries of a testament. Christ died, and by His death, the will—the testament—came into force. Our inheritance is secured, finished, and irrevocable because it rests on Christ’s work, not ours. To put believers under the terms of the New Covenant is to reintroduce the principle of law and obligation, which is precisely what the gospel abolishes.
What Is Lost If You Accept the Error
If you insist that the church is under the New Covenant, you do not merely mislabel your blessings—you forfeit the ground of assurance. You set up a false expectation: that God will empower you for perfect, sinless obedience here and now, just as He will for Israel in the Millennium. When this does not materialize, you are left with two options: legalism (striving to produce what only God can do in the future) or disillusionment (concluding that God’s promises have failed). Worse, you subtly shift the basis of your standing before God from Christ’s finished work to your own spiritual performance. This is not a secondary issue; it is salvific. To confuse testament with covenant is to undermine justification, inheritance, and sonship.
The Church’s Inheritance: Spiritual, Heavenly, and Secure
Our position is far greater than anything Israel was ever promised under any covenant. We are made members of Christ’s body, brought into the Holy of Holies, made sons and co-heirs with Christ, blessed with every spiritual blessing in the heavenlies (Ephesians 1:3). Our inheritance is not earthly land, but Christ Himself—His life, His glory, His position before the Father. This is the result of the Everlasting Covenant, secured by Christ and received by faith.
Christ is the heir of all the covenants: Abrahamic, Davidic, and Mosaic. But He is also the party and the mediator of the Everlasting Covenant. We are joined to Him, and so we inherit all things with Him—not as covenantal parties with obligations, but as sons and heirs of a finished testament.
The Finished Work and the Cleansed Conscience
This is why the New Testament calls us not to strive under law, but to rest in the finished work of Christ. The testament is in force because the Testator has died and risen. There are no terms left for us to fulfill—only an inheritance to receive. Any doctrine that puts you back under covenantal obligation is a denial of the cross and a rejection of your sonship.
Let the distinction stand: Israel will one day, as a nation, experience the blessings of the New Covenant in the land. The church, now, is the beneficiary of the Everlasting Covenant, united to Christ, and seated with Him in the heavenlies. Do not trade your inheritance for a return to law. Stand in the liberty Christ has purchased, and refuse any teaching that would make you a debtor again.
This is not a matter of nuance. It is the difference between law and grace, between striving and rest, between slavery and sonship. The distinction is not optional—it is the foundation of the gospel itself.
