WHAT IS A COVENANT ?

 

A covenant is a sacred binding agreement between GOD and HIS people.  There are terms and conditions in a covenant that once the covenant is sealed it cannot be changed in any way. You can’t add to it and you can’t take from it anything in it.

“Brethren, let me put this in human terms. Even a human covenant, once it is made, cannot be cancelled or altered.”  Galatians 3:15

The old covent that GOD made with Israel had the same prohibition as the new covenant.

Deuteronomy 4:2 “You shall not add to the word which I command you, nor take from it…..”

Deuteronomy 12:32 “See that you do everything I command you; do not add to it or subtract from it.”

It is impossible and a violation of any covenant to add to or take anything from it.  What this means is that you cannot take something from the old covenant and make it part of the new covenant or something from the new covenant and make it part of the old covenant.  When Jeremiah the prophet spoke of the new covenant GOD intended to give he said……

Jeremiah 31:31-32 “The days are coming declares YAHWEH, when I will make a new covenant with the people of Israel and Judah. It will not be like the covenant I made with their ancestors when I took them by the hand to lead them out of Egypt, but they broke that covenant, even though I was a husband to them says YAHWEH.”

Now the old covenant was the Ten Commandments. Here is proof; don’t be lazy, look up these scriptures for yourself.

Exodus 32:15 

Exodus 34:29

Exodus 34:1

Exodus 31:18

Hebrews 9:4

Deuteronomy 9:9-11

1 Kings 8:9

Exodus 40:20

All the above scriptures confirm that the Ten Commandments were indeed the old covenant.  Now, this old covenant isn’t like the new covenant according to what GOD said In Jeremiah 31.  Hebrews 8:6   Hebrews 9:11-12   Indeed the old covenant is called a shadow and not the real promises that GOD gave to Abraham.   Abraham was given the promises of the new covenant 430 years before the Ten Commandments were given to Israel and Paul explains in Galatians 3:17 that the Ten Commandments covenant had no effect on the new covenant given to Abraham. 

Today people try to drag the Ten Commandments into the new covenant and they take things away from the old covenant like what death is, what a soul is, who GOD is and change the definitions of these words so as to lose the truth altogether.  Some abolish the law, some try to keep the law but both of these fail to understand the law and why GOD gave it.  

The old covenant demanded the death of sinners, Hebrews 10:28, a sinner under the Ten Commandments covenant could not repent or ask forgiveness as these things ARE ONLY IN THE NEW COVENANT, therefore if you place yourself under the Ten Commandments and try to keep them you are dead. Galatians 5:1-4   The Ten Commandments are the ministry of death but the ministry of the spirit of GOD, the Holy Spirit, gives life everlasting.  2 Commandments 3:7-8

I have already written articles on this blog that cover how the Ten Commandments were the old covenant but I haven’t explained just what a covenant is and how it operates.  The law covenant, the Ten Commandments, demands the spilling of blood, someone had to die because they sinned.  The someone is all humanity the ones that should die for their sins.  The blood of Christ is the purchase price to buy Christians out from under the Ten Commandments because Jesus, a righteous man of GODLY love who never sinned in thought or deed and was created by GOD to be the messiah, a man, a human being, with the exact express image of GODS character, became the sacrifice, took our punishment onto himself and his shed blood satisfied what the law demanded, death.  Then because Jesus was the only righteous man that ever lived and was GODS son and our messiah, it was not possible that death would keep him forever but GOD raised Jesus from the dead.  If you understand this and believe this in the truth of all of this, then GOD just might be calling you. Will you answer ?