THE COVENANT AGREEMENT

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Covenant Agreement

Isaiah 56:6-7 "Also the sons of the stranger, that join themselves to the Lord, to serve him, and to love him, and to be his servants. Every one that keeps the Sabbath from corrupting it, and accepts my covenant, them will I bring to my holy city, and make them joyful in my house of prayer. Their burnt offerings and their sacrifices will be accepted at my altar, for my house will be called a house of prayer for all peoples."

Daniel 9:27 "And he will confirm the covenant with many for one week, and in the middle of the week he shall cause the sacrifice and the obligation to cease."

Few people today understand what the covenant agreement was and is, or that the old covenant was broken Jeremiah11:10, and that a new one was set up to replace it. Lets take a look at both covenants,

The Old Covenant

The old covenant promise (terms and conditions found in Exodus 19:1 through 24:8) set forth that the people and nation would be a treasure, a kingdom of priests, a holy nation in which God would walk among them. And that they would be provided with extensive blessings, consisting of material wealth, health, and protection, above all other nations. This was God's part of the covenant.

The people's part was to simply obey Gods laws, statutes, and judgments. Obedience was to be to the letter of the law, and punishment was according to the letter of the law and nothing less.

The administration of the laws was carried out by the civil authorities not by God.

But the people continued to disobey and sin, which broke the covenant, and that is why the sacrificial rituals were instituted, to act as a repair for the breach, and to act as a constant reminder to the people of their sins, and the need for them to repent of their sins.

But the people did not repent and the sacrifices lost their value, and that is when God declared the covenant broken.

But God in his love and mercy chose to institute a new covenant for those that wished to obey his word. The old covenant has not ended, only modified. The law was not the old covenant, but part of the terms and conditions of the covenant.

Physical promises, material wealth, health, and protection, applied to the nation as a whole. Exodus 19:5-6; Deuteronomy 28; Leviticus 26

Physical circumcision. Genesis 17:9; Exodus 12:48; John 7:22
Holy spirit available to only a select few. Exodus 28:3
Access to God through Priests. Leviticus 1; 2; 3; 4; 5; 6; 7
Animal sacrifices required. Leviticus 1; 2; 3; 4; 5; 6; 7
Earthly tabernacle. Exodus 25:8

The New Covenant

These same terms and conditions (the ten commandments) remain in in the new covenant.

Hebrews 8:7-13 "For if the first covenant had been faultless there would be no need for a second. But finding fault with them he said, Behold the days come when I will make a new covenant with the house of Israel, and Judah. Not according to the covenant I made with their fathers in the day that I took them by the hand and led them out of Egypt, because they continued not in my covenant, and I regard them not. For this is the covenant I will make with them in those days. I will put my laws into their mind, and write them in their hearts, and I will be their God and they will be my people. And they will no longer teach each other to know the Lord, for all will know me from the smallest to the largest. I will be merciful to their unrighteousness, and I will remember their sins no more. In this he says, A new covenant, he has made the first old, now that which is decayed and waxed old is ready to vanish."

The administration of the covenant has changed from an earthly priest hood, to a heavenly priest hood (Christ).

Plus the old covenant did not allow for a pardon of sins, sinning meant that blood (a sacrifice) had to be spilled. Now, through Christ shedding his own blood (self sacrifice) in our stead, we receive a pardon for our sins, and no longer need to shed blood when we breach the covenant, instead we need only be remorseful, repent and try not to sin again. The Sacrifice of Christ has fulfilled the sacrificial law for all.

We now have access to;

Spiritual promises, eternal life. John 3:16; Hebrews 8:6; Romans 8; Luke 18:29-30
Circumcision of the heart. Acts 15:1-11; 1Corinthians 7:18-19; Colossians 3:11
All have access to the holy spirit. John 14:26
Access to God through Christ. Hebrews 4:14-16; 5:1-9;
Animal sacrifices no longer required. Hebrews 9; 10:10-14
Heavenly tabernacle. Hebrews 8:1-2

Unlike the old covenant, which required obedience to the letter of the law, the new covenant is based on obedience from the heart as well as the law, fulfilling the law of God in its spiritual intent.

We are offered much more than just physical blessings, we now have a spiritual aspect associated with it, both a promise of eternal life as a member of the God family, and help in achieving it through the holy spirit.

The ten commandments are still part of the terms of the covenant.

Our inheritance with God is no longer a matter of blood, but of mind and spirit. God allows you to choose whether or not you will enter into his covenant. The question is, will you make the right choice?