Covenants

We read a lot about covenants in the Bible. So what is covenant actually?  It's an all-important concept. How else would it be possible for the holy God and sinful, man to ever come together? How can they have fellowship? Only on the basis of a covenant. A covenant is a stipulated agreement of God's promises. It's the foundation by which Holy God and sinful mankind can have an agreement and relationship.

In the Bible, there are two kinds of covenants, conditional and unconditional. An unconditional covenant is when God makes a declaration or gives a unilateral promise, saying, "I'm going to do this. This is going to happen”. A covenant is conditional when God and man both have a part to fulfill. "If you keep these conditions, then I will do this or that."

In Genesis 9, God gave Noah an instruction that would be a perpetual and permanent ordinance for all: Life ought to be a partnership. "Then God spoke to Noah and to his sons with him, saying: 'And as for Me, behold, I establish My covenant with you and with your descendants after you'" (vv. 8-9).

In the Garden of Eden, God made a conditional covenant when He said, "Eat anything you want, but don't eat from that tree," (Genesis 2:16-17). That was the only condition: Don't eat from one single tree. That's pretty simple. But Adam and Eve failed. The covenant was broken.

In Genesis 12, God’s covenant with Abraham was an unconditional covenant. He didn't say, "If you're perfect and upright and holy and everybody obeys perfectly, then I'll give you this land." God just said, "I'm giving this portion of land to Abraham and to his descendants forever."

The covenant of the law demanded righteousness from man. The covenant of grace gives righteousness to man from God. Grace says, here is the work of Jesus Christ. It's finished; it's done. You can't add to it or subtract from it. It's not your works. It's His work.

That's an unconditional covenant from our God.

Selah

Roland