Question: When did the old covenant end, and when did the new covenant begin?
Answer: Perhaps we can collect a few scriptures which will answer this question to the inquirer’s satisfaction. But we must remember that all Scripture must be applied and interpreted according to the established law of “Unanimity of faith” which means that any particular text on any given subject must be applied or interpreted in harmony with all other scripture texts in the Bible on that subject. We cannot take any single text and interpret it privately without consideration for other texts on the subject and ever get a proper understanding of any given subject. If we vary from this law, there are some scriptures which might throw us off course in the particular question we are considering now.
For example: Luke 16:16 says, “The law and the prophets were until John: since that time the kingdom of God is preached, and every man presseth into it.” To interpret this text privately would seem to indicate that the kingdom of God came in with John the Baptist. But there are other scriptures which prove this could not be. John preached saying, “…Repent ye: for the kingdom of heaven is at hand.” (Matthew 3:2.) Jesus preached this same thing saying, “…The time is fulfilled, and the kingdom of God is at hand: repent ye, and believe the gospel.” (Mark 1:15.) Note they both said, “The kingdom of heaven is at hand.” It was just about to break in upon them, but it had not yet broken forth and been set up. Also, Jesus said in Mark 9:1, “…There be some of them that stand here, which shall not taste of death, till they have seen the kingdom of God come with power,” which would seem to make it clear that the kingdom of God had not come yet, even though John had preached it and was even then preaching it. But Jesus said in Matthew 12:28, “…The kingdom of God is come unto you.” It had come unto them in the person of Christ, but it was not in full operation yet. Again Jesus said in Luke 17:21, “…The kingdom of God is within you.” Surely we would not conclude that He was saying to those self-righteous Pharisees that the kingdom of God was within them. It could not have been in them, because they rejected the Lord of Glory Who brought it. Neither was it yet within His own disciples at that time. But He was merely stating the nature of the kingdom of God and that the place of its establishment was in the hearts of (within) the people of God who would be saved through His blood.
Jesus’ ministry was a preparatory ministry and work for what was to come. He observed the law and customs and practices of the Israelites in many respects, while at the same time preaching grace. We might say there was a little overlapping of dispensations during the life and ministry of Jesus between law and grace. The law still had a standing until grace was brought in fully.
Romans 10:4 says, “For Christ is the end of the law for righteousness to every one that believeth.” But at what point was Christ the end of the law? Was it at His birth; during His life and ministry, at His death, or when? In Matthew 5:17-18, Jesus said, “Think not that I am come to destroy the law, or the prophets: I am not come to destroy, but to fulfil. For verily I say unto you, Til heaven and earth pass, one jot or one tittle shall in no wise pass from the law till all be fulfilled.” But Jesus didn’t fulfill the law until the time of His death, so the law still had a standing during His life and ministry.
In Hebrews 10:1, it says that the law had a shadow of good things to come, and not the very image of the things. Colossians 2:17 makes it clear that the shadow of things contained in the law, (in this case it was the Sabbath, but the same principle would apply to all the shadows contained in the law) found their body, substance, reality, or fulfillment in Christ. Colossians 2:13 says that Christ has quickened us together with Himself, having forgiven us all trespasses, and verse 14 says, “Blotting out the handwriting of ordinances that was against us, which was contrary to us, and took it out of the way, nailing it to his cross.” This text makes it clear that all the carnal ordinances, rituals, and ceremonies pertaining to the law were taken away when Christ was nailed to the cross. Hebrews 10:8 says that God had no pleasure in the sacrifices and offerings for sin which were offered by the law. Then verse nine says, “Then said he, Lo, I come to do thy will, O God. He taketh away the first, that he may establish the second.” Thus, it is clear that Christ removed the old covenant to make place for the new covenant, and verse ten says that this was through the offering of the body of Jesus Christ once for all. Hebrews 9:11-12 makes is clear that Christ became a high priest of good things to come (the new covenant) by His own blood.
All of the above texts make it clear that the fulfillment of the law was not complete until Christ died. As Jesus hung upon the cross, He said, “It is finished.” These were His dying words His last utterance. The law age with its daily and yearly sacrifices for sin was ended and completely fulfilled in Him Who said He came not to destroy the law but to fulfil it. (Matthew 5:17.) The last, final, permanent, and continuous sacrifice for sin had been offered, and was now complete. The plan of salvation was completely executed and the dispensation of grace had been ushered in. All things were now ready for all to come into the kingdom of God (Matthew 22:2-4).
Matthew 27:50-51 says that when Jesus yielded up the ghost (died), the veil of the temple was rent in twain from the top to the bottom. That veil divided between the holy place and most holy place in the temple. Behind this veil in the most holy place is where God Himself chose to dwell on the mercy seat between the cherubims (Exodus 25:22.) Read verse 22 in particular. I Samuel 4:4 says that God dwelt between the cherubims Hebrews 9:7 says that the high priest was the only one ever permitted in this most holy place, and then only one time each year, and he was to sprinkle the blood of the sin offering as he went. Then verse 8 says, “The Holy Ghost this signifying, that the way into the holiest of all was not yet made manifest, while as the first tabernacle was yet standing.” But when died, the veil was rent, and God moved out of that place, never again to dwell in a temple made with hands (Acts 17:24). He was through with that temple and its religious system forever, and it was left desolate without its inhabitant (God). Luke 13:35.
Thus, we see the law was not abolished and ended until Christ’s death. It came to its end then. However, the new covenant was not fully established until some 52 or 53 days later, when the Holy Spirit came and filled the hearts of believers, and set the Church in full operation under the new covenant.
