What Covenants did God make with People?

What is meant by a covenant with God?¹

A covenant is a relationship initiated by God, to which a body of people responds in faith.

What is the Old Covenant?²

The Old Covenant is the one given by God to the Hebrew people.

What did God promise them?³

God promised that they would be his people to bring all the nations of the world to him.

What response did God require from the chosen people?⁴

God required the chosen people to be faithful; to love justice, to do mercy, and to walk humbly with their God.

Where is this Old Covenant to be found?⁵

The covenant with the Hebrew people is to be found in the books which we call the Old Testament.

Where in the Old Testament is God’s will for us shown most clearly?⁶

God’s will for us is shown most clearly in the Ten Commandments. ⁷

What is the New Covenant?⁸

The New Covenant is the new relationship with God given by Jesus Christ, the Messiah, to the apostles; and, through them, to all who believe in him.

What did the Messiah promise in the New Covenant?⁹

Christ promised to bring us into the kingdom of God and give life in all its fullness.

What response did Christ require?¹⁰

Christ commanded us to believe in him and to keep his commandments.

What are the commandments taught by Christ?¹¹

Christ taught us the Summary of the Law and gave us the New Commandment.

What is the Summary of the Law?¹²

You shall love the Lord your God with all your heart, with all your soul, and with all your mind. This is the first and great commandment. And the second is like it: You shall love your neighbor as yourself.

What is the New Commandment?¹³

The New Commandment is that we love one another as Christ loved us.

What is the difference between the Law and the Gospel?¹⁴

• The Law teaches what we are to do and not to do; the Gospel teaches what God has done, and still does, for our salvation.
• The Law shows us our sin and the wrath of God; the Gospel shows us our Savior and the grace of God.
• The Law must be proclaimed to all people, but especially to impenitent sinners; the Gospel must be proclaimed to sinners who are troubled in their minds because of their sins.

Footnotes

1. Episcopal Catechism (1789), Question 11.
2. Episcopal Catechism (1789), Question 12.
3. Episcopal Catechism (1789), Question 13.
4. Episcopal Catechism (1789), Question 14.
5. Episcopal Catechism (1789), Question 15.
6. Episcopal Catechism (1789), Question 16.
7. What are the Ten Commandments?
8. Episcopal Catechism (1789), Question 38(?).
9. Episcopal Catechism (1789), Question 38(?).
10. Episcopal Catechism (1789), Question 39.
11. Episcopal Catechism (1789), Question 40.
12. Episcopal Catechism (1789), Question 41.
13. Episcopal Catechism (1789), Question 42.
14. Luther’s Small Catechism (1529), Question 85.