Covenant

Now I want to look at what obedience is, and how we do it right, and that takes us to covenant.  Covenant is never about pretense nor perfection, but always about willingness. Simply put, covenant is the foundation, the “if and only if,” the essential of life with God. You may have heard other declarations about what the foundation of life with God is: perhaps faith, or salvation, or holiness, or humility. Each of these is important, but covenant undergirds them all.

There are several places in Scripture where covenant is declared and defined, but three key instances are:

•             The covenant between God and Abraham.

•             The Law: the covenant between God and Israel, beginning with Moses.

•             The covenant Jesus declared.

The relation of these three, and their interplay, is the topic of Paul’s writings, of Jesus’ declarations, and of the covenant that all of mankind is invited to partake in.

The first covenant to be established was with Abraham and his descendants, in Genesis 15 and 17. Paul refers to it in chapter three of his letter to the Galatians, although he cites only parts of it. Unfortunately, many subsequent Christian writers build theologies solely upon Paul’s partial references, and miss a key element of God’s covenant with Abraham—one that actually is continued in the Law of Moses and the teachings of Jesus.

God comes to Abram, reminds him that He is his protector and supply, and then God initiates a covenant with a promise to give Abram innumerable descendants, an exceedingly great reward. Abram believes (trusts) God when He makes the promise. This means simply that he has faith that what God promises, God can and will do. The text says God credited him for his belief as if it were righteousness.

To understand this odd equivalence of belief and righteousness, we first have to pause and ask, “What is righteousness?” In normal usage it means following moral principles. In Scripture it means acting in harmony with God’s will. To trust God is to be and act in harmony with His will. Thus this equivalence is not an odd one, but a perfectly natural one.

If righteousness is simply a social, moral value, then trusting God is an odd thing to equate with it. But if righteousness is being in harmony with His will, then to trust Him is righteousness.

So, Abram trusts God can and will do what He promises, and God credits this to him as righteousness: Abram is in God’s will, and God acknowledges it.

Genesis 17 further shows us about the covenant with Abram (here renamed Abraham), and that Abraham is:

•             To be complete, flawless, whole-hearted, authentic (because pretense hides flaws)

•             In God’s presence

This should ring a big bell! Remember the previous blogs on salvation and sanctification?

 

In salvation,

•             We trust the faithfulness and promises of Jesus,

•             His righteousness is counted as ours, and

•             We enter an everlasting covenant.

And then in sanctification,

•             We grow toward wholeness, authenticity and whole-hearted love…

•             …by the presence of the Spirit of God with us.

The covenant pattern with Abraham is the same as God’s covenant pattern with Christians: God initiates the relationship with eternal promises, we trust Him and enter the everlasting covenant He establishes, and He works with us to grow us up, to make us whole-hearted and complete. It shouldn’t be a surprise that these covenants are alike. Consider this:

Christ redeemed us from the curse of the Law, having become a curse for us—for it is written, “CURSED IS EVERYONE WHO HANGS ON A TREE”—in order that in Christ Jesus the blessing of Abraham might come to the Gentiles, so that we would receive the promise of the Spirit through faith. (Galatians 3:13-14, NASB italics mine)

Paul is writing to the Galatians, who are Gentiles. They are not a part of the house of Israel. They weren’t a part of the promise made to the Israelites, to the Jews. Paul is saying that a promise was made to Abraham: that his seed would spread beyond Israel to all the earth. It now has spread to the Gentiles. They are included as part of the promise made to Abraham in the covenant. Paul continues:

Brethren, I speak in terms of human relations: even though it is only a man’s covenant, yet when it has been ratified, no one sets it aside or adds conditions to it. Now the promises were spoken to Abraham and to his seed. He does not say, “And to seeds,” as referring to many, but rather to one, “And to your seed,” that is, Christ. (Galatians 3:15-16m NASB, italic in original)

Here’s the argument Paul is making: The promise given to Abraham—400 years before the Law was given to Moses—was that Abraham would be blessed through his seed (singular), a single future descendant, and that is Christ.

The covenant made with Abraham pre-existed the Law. It came before the Law was ever established. Paul is saying, “That promise was never broken or replaced.” That is, through Jesus Christ, who is the seed of Abraham, the promise to Abraham is extended to everyone, not just the children of Israel.

“And if you belong to Christ”—here’s where the argument draws to his point—“then you are Abraham’s offspring, heirs according to promise.”

There it is, the promise God made to Abraham was that the whole world would be blessed through his seed!

Paul says the seed of Abraham is Christ and all who trust in him inherit the promise made to Abraham, thus fulfilling it.

Extraordinary!

In Christ,

Pastor George