a Just What Is a "Covenant"?	3Back to Home

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The word "covenant" crept into the last paragraph. We must take a moment to understand this word, since it is very important. When the Bible talks of a covenant between two people, it means an "agreement" or a "binding." Each party promises to be faithful to his side of the bargain, and if party A is unfaithful, party B is released from his obligation. But the Bible also talks of a covenant agreement between God and his people Israel. This is not an agreement between equals but between a superior (God) and an inferior ( Israel). God takes the initiative and chooses Israel, and then Israel can respond, and in so doing is bound to God in a unique and inseparable way. The most significant instance of such a covenant agreement is the one made at Sinai ( Ex. 224: 3-8), at which time the Israelites promise to give exclusive allegiance to God and to be obedient to his will while God promises that the Israelites will remain his chosen people. Later on, the covenant is renewed. ( Josh., ch. 24, for example.) But it is also broken. The people drift away from God, or they worship other gods. Thus Israel breaks its side of the covenant agreement. But God does not! This is the astounding thing -- God remains faithful. Choosing Israel out of sheer grace -- for Israel was in no sense "worthy" of the privilege -- God remains faithful to Israel even when Israel is faithless. God has set his heart on Israel. He cannot give it up. When he would have every right to throw Israel overboard, he says: My heart recoils within me, my compassion grows warm and tender. I will not execute my fierce anger, I will not again destroy Ephraim; for I am God and not man, the Holy One in your midst, and I will not come to destroy. ( Hos. 11: 8, 9) God conquers death God gives us the power to conquer The Only Real "Answer" A Question You Can't Avoid Some Current Answers -- a Dime a Dozen The First Part of the Biblical Answer What Is the "Image of God"? Some Consequences The Second Part of the Biblical Answer What Sin Is Supplying Some Documentation What Sin Is Not Getting Straightened Out How Can I Be Changed? The Third Part of the Biblical Answer The First Step After the First Step The Heart of the Matter Not Once and for All Some Hints for Growing -- Tried and Tested A Final Warning Why Isn't "Individual Religion" Enough? The Case Against the Church -a Bagful of Objections When Did the Church Get Started? Just What Is a "Covenant"? The "New Covenant" Becomes a Possibility Those Words of Jesus to Peter Those "Upsetters of the World" A Rebuttal of the Case Against the Church Why the Church? Last Judgment? Second Coming? What Do They Mean? The Inescapability of Eschatology The Point of Biblical Eschatology: History Is Going Somewhere The Dangers of Literalism Exploring New Testament Eschatology The Kingdom of God A Few Bits of Help The Gift of God Schatology and "What I Do Today" What Happens When I Die? Sheol -- Where God Is Not Present The Community of the Resurrection Paul's Attempt to Describe the Christian Fact A "Spiritual Body" The Facts of the Case I Try to Live a Good Life. Why Isn't That Enough? The "Micah" Variation The "Worship and Action" Variation The "Therefore" Variation The Biblical faith that God is the Creator