February 21, 2010

  • Question 231 - Is the Old Covenant Revoked or Just Fulfilled? Part 2

    Robert,

     

    From where do you draw this insistence on the revocation of the Old Covenant (i.e. what Magisterial teachings)? Obviously, the Old Covenant/Law is no longer legally binding, for it has been superseded by Christ's sacrifice and the New Covenant. I suppose I simply balk at your insistence on the term "revoke" since it carries a sense of rebuke and disownership...as if God has repudiated the Jews (which I don't think is correct; in fact, he has breathed new life into the Covenant and extended it to all and made it truly efficacious). Your 'legality' metaphor is not working for me and I fear would not help others understand what you truly mean. Well, Hebrews uses the term "annulled" and "obsolete" - perhaps less pointed but no less effective than "revoked." There is definitely a sense of the old being swept away by the perfection of the new.

     

    IMHO, I do think the word choice of "revoke" is overly negative...always best to stick with the Biblical terms.

    God bless,

     

    Michael

     

    R. Sungenis: Michael, I don't see any difference between the biblical term "annulled" and the word "revoke." They are both legal terms stating that a certain agreement has been taken away; it has no legal force any longer. "Revoke" means: to take back; repeal, cancel; withdraw. "Annul" means: "to do away; destroy the force of; make void; cancel." I think you are just reading into the word "revoke" a more negative connotation.

     

    As for the "legality" metaphor, this is where most people get confused because they don't understand the legal dimension of things, but the difference is crucial. Using the driving license metaphor again, I may be A. J. Foyt and know how to drive better than anyone in the world, but if I don't have a driver's license, then according to the law I don't know how to drive.

     

    Or let's use the analogy of marriage. I may love Susie with all my heart, but if I don't obtain a marriage license and then make my love for her official in a legal marriage ceremony, I'll never be able to live with her and bear children. By the same token, if the marriage with Susie is legally annulled, then it means she is no longer my wife and we cannot enjoy the privileges of marriage any longer. I may still love Susie in my heart, but legally speaking, it doesn't matter. As far as the law is concerned, we have no relationship. We may have a practical and human relationship, but not a legal one. As far as the law is concerned, we are strangers to each other, and, in fact, are adversaries.

     

    Also, your insistence that the revoke or annulling of the Old Covenant had nothing to do with "rebuke" or "disownership" is incorrect. Whether we use "revoke," "annul," "set aside," "take away," "cancel" or any other similar term, the fact remains that the legal or covenantal commission that God had originally given to the Jewish nation was revoked, and in the process of the revocation, the Jews were, indeed, "rebuked" for their sins and they were also severed from "ownership" of the Mosaic law. No longer could the Jews have a relationship with God based on the Mosaic law, legally speaking. No longer would the Jews be the "chosen people" or "the people of the covenant" in opposition to everyone else in the world. As a national or ethnic entity, God, indeed, has "repudiated" the Jews. All you need to do to prove this is read the plethora of Scripture passages in which God says that he has judged them for their sins and in the process took away the Old Covenant from them. I already gave you some of them in my previous answer, but there are many more.

     

    The only question remaining is, if the Jewish nation has been rejected by God, what about individual Jewish people? The answer to that is found in Romans 11:1-11. Whereas God rejected the nation and blinded the majority of the nation because of their continual sins, he set aside a remnant of Jews that will be saved, in the Old Testament and in the New. In that sense, in the sense of still being offered salvation, individual Jews have not been rejected. But in regards to national or ethnic aspects, the Jews have, indeed, been rejected. God no longer deals with or has a relationship to the Jews based on their Jewishness or their national origin. God will only relate to the Jews as he relates to everyone else in the world -- accept Jesus Christ for the salvation of your souls or perish. This salvation is only provided by the New Covenant in Jesus Christ, a covenant that began under Abraham in Genesis 12-15 when Abraham was saved, and from which he became the father of all who believe in Christ (cf. Rom 4:1-11; Galatians 3:6-29).