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Now it happens that Christ put His doctrines in this Church
through His own chosen Apostle. Had I known my son was so far out
of harmony, he would never have held the office he held and abused.
Much in the "STP" is in error--much of it so subtly and in a
minor way that it might not be noticed by many. I have undertaken
to correct these errors. The "STP" is, of course, null and void.
It CANNOT be salvaged. But I shall try to correct the errors, minor
as well as major.
, as time permits.
THE PLAIN TRUTH ABOUT THE COVENANTS
by Herbert
w.
Armstrong
One of the most important doctrines Jesus Christ has put in His
Church is that of the "Old," and the "New Covenants." WHY should
..
these be misunderstood? For that matter, WHY should the Sabbath truth,
the annual holy days and festivals, tithing, he�ling, or even salva
tion? Yet they are misunderstood.
God has made a number of covenants, among them the Noachian cov
enant, the Abrahamic covenant, what we call the Old Covenant with
the nation Israel, the separate Sabbath covenant of Exodus 31:12-18,
the Davidic covenant, etc.
In fact, it might be of passing interest to know that my first
"sermon," if it could have been called that, was a message to Church
of God people near Jefferson, Oregon, on a covenant that appeared
to be news to them--the separate Sabbath covenant of Exodus 31:12-
18. Whether worthy to be called a sermon or not, it was enthusias
tlcally received with joy--for those people loved the Sabbath, and
rejoiced in receiving new light concerning it.
However, I am concerned here only about the "Old Covenant," and
the "New Covenant."
Let me first define "covenant." Webster defines the word as
a "usually formal, solemn, and binding agreement: compact." In the
biblical usage a covenant is a contract or agreement, solemnly binding,
under which God promises certain rewards or blessings, conditioned
on man's promise of performance.
A grave mistake very often carelessly made is to confuse the
word "covenant" with "testament." We speak of the New Testament,
and the Old Testament Scriptures.
A testament is not a covenant, and a covenant is not a testament.
Yet common usage seems to confuse them. It is important, at the out
set, to understand the difference.
The word "testament" is defined as: an act or written instrument
by which a person bequeathes, or wills certain of his possessions
to another. It may or may not be a conditioned will. It is not neces
sarily payment or reward for work or obligation performed.
The Old Covenant between God and the nation Israel was NOT a
testament or will. It was an agreement by which the childrer10f-Israel