Saved To Serve

Pastor Andrew Henriques

www.prophesyagain.com

The Old & New Covenant

Should We Keep The Ten Commandments Today? Part 3

1. In this Sabbath School Lesson, we will study the Old and New Covenant to see what they are, what it means to be living
under the New Covenant, and if we need to keep God’s Ten Commandments under the New Covenant.

2. What is a covenant? Deuteronomy 29:12, 14; Isaiah 28:15, 18 




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3. What is God’s covenant? Deuteronomy 4:13 _______________________________________________________________



4. Note: Let us now look at the Old Covenant made between God and the Israelites.


5. What did Israel say after hearing God’s covenant? Exodus 19:5-8; 24:3, 7



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6. What was done to ratify (to seal or confirm) the covenant? Exodus 24:8



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7. Note: The blood was required because God’s commandments were broken. The Bible teaches that the wages of sin is death
(Romans 6:23). When man sinned, his blood or life (Leviticus 17:11) was required to satisfy the broken law. When the
sacrifice was made, that blood allowed them to enter into an agreement with God because it was a means of pardoning them
for their sins (Hebrews 9:22). The Old Covenant is also called the “First Covenant” not because it was made first, but
because it was first ratified by blood.

8. Why did the First Covenant come to an end? Was there anything wrong with it? Hebrews 8:7-9



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“The terms of the “old covenant” were, Obey and live: “If a man do, he shall even live in them” (Ezekiel 20:11; Leviticus 18:5);
but “cursed be he that confirmeth not all the words of this law to do them.” Deuteronomy 27:26.” {PP 372.1}

The people did not realize the sinfulness of their own hearts, and that without Christ it was impossible for them to keep
God’s law; and they readily entered into covenant with God…They had witnessed the proclamation of the law in awful majesty, and
had trembled with terror before the mount; and yet only a few weeks passed before they broke their covenant with God, and bowed
down to worship a graven image.” {PP 371.4}

9. Who should the Israelites have relied on to fulfill the terms of the covenant? Philippians 4:13 



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10. Which sanctuary was the first covenant connected to, and to whom did all the symbols point? Hebrews 9:1, 9, 11



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11. Note: Since Israel failed to uphold their end of the agreement with God in the Old Covenant, they were brought to see their
need of a Savior foreshadowed in the sacrificial offerings. Now that we have a general understanding of the Old Covenant,
let us focus on the terms of the New Covenant.

12. Upon what was the New Covenant established? Hebrews 8:6 __________________________________________________



13. Can the New Covenant be found in the Old Testament? Jeremiah 31:31-34 _______________________________________

14. The basis of the Old Covenant was God’s law, the Ten Commandments. What is the basis of the New Covenant? Hebrews
 8:10; 10:16 



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15. Contrary to the Old Covenant, who is doing the work to uphold the terms of the New Covenant? Hebrews 13:20, 21;
Philippians 2:13; 1:6 



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“The “new covenant” was established upon “better promises”—the promise of forgiveness of sins and of the grace
of God to renew the heart and bring it into harmony with the principles of God's law. “This shall be the covenant that I will
make with the house of Israel; After those days, saith the Lord, I will put my law in their inward parts, and write it in their hearts.... I
will forgive their iniquity, and will remember their sin no more.”The same law that was engraved upon the tables of stone is written
by the Holy Spirit upon the tables of the heart. Jeremiah 31:33, 34.” {PP 372.1}

16. What else does Jesus promise to do for us under the New Covenant? Jeremiah 31:34; Hebrews 8:12; Isaiah 43:25
remember not our sins and to blot them out

17. The first or the Old Covenant was ratified by blood. When was the second or New Covenant ratified? John 19:17, 28, 30; 1
John 1:7



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18. How does the moral law bring us unto Christ? Romans 7:7, 12, 24, 25; Romans 3:20



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19. Note: The New Covenant is also called the “Second Covenant” because it was the second covenant to be ratified by blood
(Hebrews 8:7). However, which covenant existed first? The Old Covenant or the New Covenant? The New Covenant existed
first. Revelation 13:8 tells us that Jesus is the Lamb slain from the foundation of the world. Let us now confirm that the New
Covenant existed since the beginning.

“The covenant of grace was first made with man in Eden, when after the Fall there was given a divine promise that
the seed of the woman should bruise the serpent’s head. To all men this covenant offered pardon and the assisting grace
of God for future obedience through faith in Christ. It also promised them eternal life on condition of fidelity to God’s law.
Thus the patriarchs received the hope of salvation.” {PP 370.2}

20. Who else did God reestablish His covenant with - that His Son would one day come to save us from our sins and justify us
by faith? Genesis 17:2, 7



Abraham
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21. Note: Notice that the covenant was not only pledged to Abraham but also to his seed. The promise of salvation from sin by
faith is not only for literal Jews or descendants of Abraham. Those who accept Christ by faith are Abraham’s seed. See
Galatians 3:16, 17, 7, 29; Romans 2:28, 29.

22. The Old Covenant was connected to the earthly sanctuary. Is the New Covenant connected with a sanctuary? Hebrews
9:22-26 (22-24)



Heavenly sanctuary
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23. In the New Covenant, the Ten Commandments are written in the heart. Who does God use to write His law in our hearts?
Ezekiel 36:26,27



A new heart and a new Spirit, The Holy Spirit
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a) What does the Holy Spirit do for us? Ezekiel 36:25 



He cleanses us from all our filthiness and from all our idols
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b) Note: We cannot keep the commandments on our own, so God empowers us to keep the commandments by giving us the
Holy Spirit.


24. What must be our work since Jesus is in the heavenly sanctuary interceding for us, and will soon blot out our sins? Hebrews
9:28; James 4:6-10



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25. Bonus Points For Further Study: Jesus’ death is what confirmed the New Covenant. The word “testament” also means
 “covenant or contract.” Look up number 1303 in the Greek Concordance. The reason why both the Old and the New
Covenant were ratified by blood is because the death of a testator seals the will or testament. Think of a person who writes a
will. Once they die, the will cannot be altered or changed. See Hebrews 9:15-17. What did Jesus institute as a part of the
New Covenant before his death which cannot be altered?

a) John 4:1; Romans 6:3-5 - Answer: Baptism


b) Matthew 26:26-28; 1 Corinthians 10:16 - Answer: the Lord's supper/communion


c) Matthew 24:20 - Answer: The Sabbath. Jesus spoke these words about keeping the Sabbath as he foresaw the
destruction of Jerusalem in 70 A.D., which occurred about 40 years after His death on the cross.

Since Jesus reconfirmed the seventh-day sabbath before His death, it is evidence that He could not have changed it to Sunday.
Those who advocate for Sunday observance, give nothing earlier than the first day of the week when Jesus rose from the grave as
evidence to keep it holy. However, it is on the wrong side of the cross to be included in the New Covenant.

For Spirit of Prophecy references on the Old and New covenant, read Patriarchs and Prophets Chapter 30 - The Law and The
Covenants, starting on page 370-373.

“If man had kept the law of God, as given to Adam after his fall, preserved by Noah, and observed by Abraham, there would have
been no necessity for the ordinance of circumcision. And if the descendants of Abraham had kept the covenant, of which
circumcision was a sign, they would never have been seduced into idolatry, nor would it have been necessary for them to suffer a
life of bondage in Egypt; they would have kept God's law in mind, and there would have been no necessity for it to be proclaimed
from Sinai or engraved upon the tables of stone. And had the people practiced the principles of the Ten Commandments,
there would have been no need of the additional directions given to Moses.” {PP 364.2}