How do these covenants (and particularly the New Covenant) relate to the church?
The language of the covenants is clear: it is repeatedly stated by God and the writers of the OT that He is establishing a covenant with the nation of Israel that they will literally inherit. For example:
“Therefore say to the house of Israel, ‘Thus says the Lord GOD, “It is not for your sake, O house of Israel, that I am about to act, but for My holy name, which you have profaned among the nations where you went. I will vindicate the holiness of My great name which has been profaned among the nations, which you have profaned in their midst. Then the nations will know that I am the LORD,” declares the Lord GOD, “when I prove Myself holy among you in their sight. For I will take you from the nations, gather you from all the lands and bring you into your own land.…You will live in the land that I gave to your forefathers; so you will be My people, and I will be your God.…I am not doing this for your sake,” declares the Lord GOD, “let it be known to you. Be ashamed and confounded for your ways, O house of Israel!” [Ezek. 36:22-24, 28, 32; Emphasis added]
This kind of language is typical in the covenants: they were made with a particular group of people (Israel) for their own particular fulfillment (in the Millennial Kingdom).
None of this would be too terribly controversial except that Christ said at the last supper with the disciples that His blood instituted the New Covenant (cf. Mt. 26:28; Mk. 14:24; Lk. 22:20; 1 Cor. 11:25). So in what sense is the New Covenant now operative? Or is it operative at all? Or is it partially operative?
We hold that the New Covenant was inaugurated or initiated by the blood of Christ and His work on the cross. However, the realization of all the benefits of that covenant have not yet been realized. So, because of Christ’s blood, individuals who are outside the nation of Israel (and individuals within the nation of Israel), by faith in Christ’s work, experience the removal of guilt and the removal of sin itself by forgiveness and even the blessing of the indwelling work of the Holy Spirit. That is blessing that comes from the institution of the New Covenant.
However, we still await the time when the covenant will be realized by the nation (Israel) with whom the covenant was made. We await the time when the nation is in the land (Ezk. 36:28), when ignorance of God will be removed and there will be a universal knowledge of God and His requirements (Jer. 31:34), and a universal relationship of love between God and His people (Jer. 31:33; Ezk. 36:26). None of these things has been fulfilled by the church; but they will be fulfilled by the nation of Israel.
J. Dwight Pentecost offers a helpful summation: “…the New Covenant has been established through the death of Christ, but Israel’s reception of its benefits awaits that nation’s future repentance. Meanwhile benefits accrue to believers today — by grace through faith — based on the blood of Israel’s covenant.” [p. 176.]
What does this all mean for believers today?
This is important for believers today so that they will remember and recognize that God has a plan for the nation of Israel that is not yet complete. The church has not supplanted or replaced the nation of Israel in God’s plan. Believers are not and the church is not the new Israel (nor is America!). God has a covenant plan with Israel that He is keeping and will fulfill. Into that plan, He has grafted the church (Rom. 11), allowing the church to partake now of some of the blessings that will one day be realized fully by the nation of Israel.
That means that as the believer reads the OT, he must be careful not to personally appropriate the promises made by God to the nation of Israel, but instead grow in understanding of the character of the God who made those promises to Israel, and realize that God’s same fidelity to Himself is what secures and keeps every believer in his own faith! (E.g., God who keeps His unconditional covenant with Israel despite its repeated disobedience is the same God who keeps those who are adopted as His children through Christ. He keeps His word regarding eternal salvation to the NT believer, just as He keeps His promise regarding the Abrahamic Covenant to Israel.) Those truths about God should evoke our trust, gratitude and worship!
Some helpful resources for additional study:
Keathley, Hampton IV. “The Relationship of the Church to Israel.”
McClain, Alva J. The Greatness of the Kingdom: An Inductive Study of the Kingdom of God. Winona Lake, ID: BMH Books, 1974.
Pentecost, J. Dwight. Thy Kingdom Come. Wheaton, IL: Victor Books, 1990. This is the most helpful book available on the covenants and the Kingdom of God.
Words of Grace 