The Gospel in the Old Testament

When Jesus came to earth preaching the Gospel, He wasn’t preaching a message that was unknown to the Jews. Centuries before, several Old Testament prophets had predicted that God would usher in a new way of doing things. In fact, the Gospel really started off in the promise that God made to Abram.

Now the Lord said to Abram, “Go from your country and your kindred and your father’s house to the land that I will show you. And I will make of you a great nation, and I will bless you and make your name great, so that you will be a blessing. I will bless those who bless you, and him who dishonors you I will curse, and in you all the families of the earth shall be blessed” (Genesis 12:1-3).

The end of this promise is what we want to focus on. Abram was told that in (or through) him, “all the families of the earth” would be blessed. Not only would the Jews be blessed, but all people. This is really the seed of the Gospel. So you see, the Gospel goes way back, even before the formation of the nation of Israel. That is why Paul argues that the law cannot overthrow the promise. The promise was given first. But I digress….

As anyone who has ever studied Israel’s history knows, she consistently was unable to keep the Law as given by the Lord. Because of that, Israel suffered judgment after judgment and eventually exile. The Lord continually pleaded through the prophets for Israel to return to Him, but she would not. Finally, the Lord spoke through Jeremiah:

“Behold, the days are coming, declares the Lord, when I will make a new covenant with the house of Israel and the house of Judah, not like the covenant that I made with their fathers on the day when I took them by the hand to bring them out of the land of Egypt, my covenant that they broke, though I was their husband, declares the Lord. For this is the covenant that I will make with the house of Israel after those days, declares the Lord: I will put my law within them, and I will write it on their hearts. And I will be their God, and they shall be my people. And no longer shall each one teach his neighbor and each his brother, saying, ‘Know the Lord,’ for they shall all know me, from the least of them to the greatest, declares the Lord. For I will forgive their iniquity, and I will remember their sin no more” (Jer. 31:31-34).

This is often popularly called the New Covenant. In addition, the Lord spoke through the prophet Ezekiel about this New Covenant:

I will sprinkle clean water on you, and you shall be clean from all your uncleannesses, and from all your idols I will cleanse you. And I will give you a new heart, and a new spirit I will put within you. And I will remove the heart of stone from your flesh and give you a heart of flesh. And I will put my Spirit within you, and cause you to walk in my statutes and be careful to obey my rules. . . . And you shall be my people, and I will be your God. And I will deliver you from all your uncleannesses (Ezek. 36:25-29).

Many things in these two passages are indeed part of the gospel. To summarize these promises, we have:

A new heart and a new spirit (Ezekiel 36:26). The believer now has a heart and spirit that are inclined toward God instead of being hostile to Him.
The law written on our hearts (Jeremiah 31:33). The commands of God are now part of our nature instead of being external standards.
The Holy Spirit within us (Ezekiel 36:27). Not only do we have a heart that longs to obey, and the law now part of our nature, but we also have God’s Spirit inside us to teach us and help us to obey. Though many Israelites were said to walk with God, none were ever said to have the Spirit within them!
Personal relationship with the Lord (Jeremiah 31:34). The Lord promises that everyone, “from the least to the greatest” will know Him. Indeed they will have His very Spirit inside them!

One final thought is in order, and it is very important when talking about the New Covenant. This may shock you. It is a one-sided covenant. Just as God made an unconditional promise to Abram, these promises are unconditional. There is no “If you will . . . I will . . .” There is only the repeated phrase, “I will . . . .” There is nothing that we have to contribute to our salvation. Even the faith we have is a gift from God (Ephesians 2:8), so that no one may boast. The Gospel, the New Covenant, is all about God and His display of love and grace toward His people, and He now invites all (Jew and Gentile, man, woman, child, black, white, brown, yellow, rich, poor) to experience His love. No matter what we have done, no matter what station in life we find ourselves, He invites us: “Let Him who thirsts drink freely.”

Note: Much of the material in this and succeeding posts is adapted from my book “From Blessed to Transformed: Moving Beyond the Blessed Life”, available on Amazon. For a more in-depth look at the New Covenant, the Gospel, and the believer’s hope, you can purchase it from Amazon (paperback and Kindle editions), or read it for free on Kindle Unlimited.