Appendix 1: The New Covenant’s Distinct Connection with Israel vs. the New Testament and Its Heirs

There is a persistent confusion in much of Christendom: the conflation of the New Covenant with the New Testament, as if both terms describe the same reality for the Church. This error is not minor. It undermines the clarity of God’s redemptive plan, blurs the distinction between Israel and the Church, and—if pressed—collapses the very foundation of our inheritance in Christ. Scripture does not permit such confusion. The apostolic witness, especially Paul’s, draws a decisive line: the New Covenant is God’s sworn promise to restore Israel, while the Church receives its inheritance through the New Testament, established by the death of Christ, the Testator.

The New Covenant: God’s Irrevocable Promise to Israel

The prophets are unambiguous: the New Covenant is made with the House of Israel and the House of Judah—not with the Church (Jer 31:31; Ezek 36:22,25; Heb 8:8). It is the divine answer to the failure of the Mosaic Covenant, which Israel could not keep. Because of that failure, Israel was scattered among the nations, enduring judgment and exile. But God, for the sake of His own name—not Israel’s merit—has promised to act.

When the New Covenant is enacted upon Israel, the results are nothing less than miraculous and entirely positive:

• God Himself replaces the Mosaic Covenant (Jer 31:32), a covenant that had become a curse due to Israel’s inability to keep it.
• He writes His law on their hearts (Jer 31:33), not merely as external commands but as inward reality.
• He forgives their iniquities and remembers their sins no more (Jer 31:34).
• He regathers them from the nations, cleanses them, gives them a new heart and spirit, and causes them to walk in His statutes (Ezek 36:24-28).
• He sanctifies His name among the nations (Ezek 36:23), displaying His faithfulness and power.

This is not a hypothetical or spiritualized fulfillment. It is a concrete, national restoration in the land promised to the fathers. The New Covenant is God’s unilateral commitment to do for Israel what they could never do for themselves: to make them His people, holy and secure in the land, for the vindication of His name.

The Church: Heirs of the New Testament, Not Parties to the New Covenant

Here is where many go astray. The Church is not a party to the New Covenant as Israel is. The Church’s relationship to God is not based on a bilateral contract, but on a testament—a will—enacted by the death of Christ, the Testator (Heb 9:16-17). The Greek word often translated “covenant” also means “testament,” and the distinction is crucial.

• Christ’s blood is the blood of the New Covenant for Israel (Matt 26:28), but it is also the blood of the New Testament, the basis for the Church’s inheritance.
• The Church was a mystery, hidden until after Christ’s resurrection (Col 1:26; 1 Cor 2:7-8). In this new creation, there is neither Jew nor Gentile (Eph 2:15; Col 3:10-11). All who believe are baptized into Christ and become members of His Body, the New Man (Eph 1:23).
• Gentiles had no covenantal claim to Abraham’s promises (Eph 2:12). Only in Christ—the true Seed of Abraham (Gal 3:16)—do we become heirs. Our relationship to the promises is not direct, but through union with Him. We are not co-signers of a contract; we are beneficiaries of a will.
• Apart from being in Christ, the Church has no standing in any covenant God made with Abraham’s seed (Eph 2:12; Rom 9:4). Our only relationship is as joint-heirs with Christ, the Beloved Son (Rom 8:17; Gal 3:26-29).

To confuse these categories is to rob the Church of the assurance and finality of our inheritance. If we are merely parties to a covenant, our possession is conditional, and justification is imperiled. But as heirs of a testament, the work is finished, the inheritance is secure, and Christ Himself is our qualification.

The Mosaic Law: Temporary, Conditional, and Now Obsolete

Paul’s argument in Galatians is decisive: the Mosaic Covenant was given 400 years after the promise to Abraham (Gal 3:15-18). It was a temporary, conditional arrangement—added alongside the promise, not as an extension of it. The Law could not annul or add conditions to the unconditional promise made to Abraham’s Seed, who is Christ. Reformed theology errs grievously when it treats the Mosaic Covenant as a development of the Abrahamic. If the inheritance is made conditional, it is no longer by promise, and grace is nullified.

What Is Lost If This Distinction Is Denied?

If you collapse the distinction between Israel’s New Covenant and the Church’s New Testament inheritance, you do more than muddle prophecy. You undermine the very ground of justification, sonship, and assurance. You make the Church’s inheritance contingent on covenant-keeping, not on Christ’s finished work. You obscure the glory of Christ as the unique Seed and sole Heir, and you rob the believer of the certainty that comes from being a beneficiary, not a contractor. This is not a secondary issue—it is salvific.

God’s Unified Plan: Distinction Without Division

God’s redemptive administration is not fragmented. He will fulfill every word He spoke to Israel, restoring them to their land and sanctifying His name among the nations. He will also bring the Church—His Body—into the fullness of the heavenly inheritance secured by Christ. When the Church is complete (at the rapture), God will resume His dealings with national Israel, culminating in their restoration and the manifestation of the Kingdom.

• Israel’s promises are earthly and national, centered on the land and the Kingdom.
• The Church’s promises are heavenly, seated with Christ above all principalities and powers (Eph 2:6).

In the end, God will head up all things in Christ—things in heaven (the Church) and things on earth (Israel) (Eph 1:10). The distinction stands, not as a barrier, but as a testimony to the manifold wisdom and faithfulness of God.

Let us not blur what God has made distinct. Our assurance, our inheritance, and the vindication of God’s name depend on it.