A covenant is a contract between two or more people in which each party promises to fulfil certain conditions in order to enjoy the benefits of the agreement.
"For it is written that Abraham had two sons, one by the slave woman and the other by the free woman. His son by the slave woman was born in the ordinary way; but his son by the free woman was born as the result of a promise. These things may be taken figuratively, for the women represent two covenants..." Galatians 4:22-24.The Apostle Paul describes how Isaac and Ishmael represents two covenants that God made with mankind.
"...One covenant is from Mount Sinai and bears children who are to be slaves: This is Hagar. Hagar stands for Mount Sinai in Arabia and corresponds to the present city of Jerusalem, because she is in slavery with her children. But the Jerusalem that is above is free, and she is our mother...Now you, brothers, like Isaac, are children of promise...we are not children of the slave woman, but of the free woman" Galatians 4:24-26,28,31 (read also Genesis 16 and 21).
The Covenant of the Law, then, meant that by their good works they had to try to earn the blessing of God and the right to be made righteous, or suffer His judgment.
"The promises were spoken to Abraham and to his seed. The Scripture does not say 'and to seeds,' meaning many people, but 'and to you seed,' meaning one person, who is Christ...If you belong to Christ, then you are Abraham's seed, and heirs according to the promise" Galatians 3:16,29.
Because we receive Christ by faith, we are children of Abraham and heirs of the same promise. We are a part of the covenant God made with Abraham (see Romans 3:21-28; 4:23-25).
"Therefore no one will be declared ritheous in his sight by observing the law; rather, through the law we become conscious of sin" Romans 3:20 (see also 7:7-13).The Law was given to reveal sin. Its purpose was to act like a mirror. When we look into a mirror and see that our face is dirty, we do not pick up the mirror and rub our face with it to try and get it clean. Its purpose is simply to show us that we need cleaning, but we go to another source - the water - to actually be made clean. This was the purpose of the Law - to reveal sin, to show us our need of cleansing, and to point us to the One who could make us clean (see Revelation 1:5; Titus 3:5).
"What, then, was the purpose of the law? It was added because of transgressions until the Seed to whom the promise referred had come...Now that faith has come, we are no longer under the supervision of the law" Galatians 3:19,25.
The Law was added just for a period of time to make us aware of sin and our need for a Saviour; but it had nothing to do with the original covenant made with Abraham to which we become a part the moment we receive Christ (read Galatians 3:17-25).
"You foolish Galatians! Who has bewitched you? Before your very eyes Jesus Christ was clearly portrayed as crucified. I would like to learn just one thing from you: Did you receive the Spirit by observing the law, or by believing what you heard? Are you so foolish? After beginning with the Spirit, are you now trying to attain your goal by human effort?" Galatians 3:1-3.
Paul calls the Christians at Galatia ''foolish'' because after receiving righteousness through faith in Christ they tried to live the Christian life under the covenant of Law. The two covenants do not mix. It is impossible to live out of both at the same time. In fact, Paul says that when God gave the Covenant of the Law to Moses, it in no way interfered with the Covenant of Faith he had already made with Abraham - that covenant continued, untouched, through to Christ and to us, who are in Christ (Galatians 3:15-19).
"All who rely on observing the law are under a curse, for it is written: 'Cursed is everyone who does not continue to do everything written in the Book of the Law...Christ redeemed us from the curse of the law by becoming a curse for us, for it is written: 'Cursed is everyone who is hung on a tree'" Galatians 3:10,13 (see also James 2:10).
No wonder Paul said the Galatian Christians were foolish for reverting to the Law, for under its light two things are revealed:
"But now, by dying to what once bound us, we have been released from the law so that we serve in the new way of the Spirit, not in the old way of the written code" Galatians 7:6 (read also verses 1-5; Galatians 2:19-21).
Paul uses the picture of a woman bound by law to her husband until he dies. But at his death, she is free to be married to another. The Law was a hard ''husband'' to us, judging us and punishing us when we failed to obey. But through Christ's death on the Cross, we were set free from the Law and are now ''married'' to a new husband, Christ Himself. Now we obey because of the great love He has put within our hearts (see Romans 5:5; Matthew 22:36-40; Galatians 5:14) .
"'This is the covenant I will make with the house of Israel after that time,' declares the Lord. 'I will put my law in their minds and write it on their hearts. I will be their God, and they will be my people. No longer will a man teach his neighbour, or a man his brother, saying, "Know the Lord," because they will all know me, from the least of them to the greatest...'" Jeremiah 31:31.
God gave a special promise in the Old Testament to which Jesus referred when He told the disciples that He would send the Promise of the Father upon them (Luke 24:49; Acts 1:5,8; 2:1-4). God promised to write the Law on the hearts of people instead of on tablets of stone. This promise is fulfilled through Christ's work on the Cross of Calvary, and through the giving of the Holy Spirit to the believer (Romans 8:3-4; Matthew 5:17-18).
Covenant of Law (Ishmael) - The outward command with no inward power to obey because of sin.
Covenant of Faith (Isaac) - An inward power through the Holy Spirit to live a life that pleases God.
"Now the Lord is the Spirit, and where the Spirit of the Lord is, there is freedom. And we, who with unveiled faces all reflect the Lord's glory, are being transformed into his likeness with ever-increasing glory, which comes from the Lord, who is the Spirit" 2 Corinthians 3:17-18 (see also Ephesians 3:20).
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Unless otherwise stated, all scriptures quoted in these studies are from the New International Version of the Bible, © New York International Bible Society, used by permission. Other versions referred to are: KJV (King James Version), NKJB (New King James Bible), TLB (The Living Bible), Amp (The Amplified Bible) and The Message. All versions used by permission.
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