Tag: spirituality

FAITH

Christians use the word faith a lot. But do Christians really know what the word means?

I believe it is vital for Christians to know and understand the definitions of the words they use all the time; words such as faith, grace, love, covenant, sacrament, etc.


Here is what faith is not:
• It is not simply having a belief in something
• It is not wishful thinking
• It is not being smart enough to be able to use the word faith in a sentence
• It is not having all the Scriptures memorized that has the word faith in them
• It is not a catch phrase
• It is not ‘blind’

So, what is it?

One place to start is the dictionary.

faith /fāTH/ noun

  1. complete trust or confidence in someone or something.

Let’s think about this. Let’s ponder it deeply. Having faith is having complete trust. It means you are 100% confident that something is true. Thus, if you have faith in a person, that means you have 100% trust in him. That person is 100% reliable. There isn’t a doubt in your mind. It is “complete trust”. Therefore, if you say you have faith in God, then you are saying you have complete trust in Him. It doesn’t mean simply that you believe God exists. It means you consider Him 100% reliable. He is 100% dependable.

Here is another thing to keep in mind. The book of James says that faith without works is worthless. Now, let’s not confuse “works” that James refers to with the empty “works” that St. Paul talks about in his letters. James is making the point that some people are frankly hypocrites. They say one thing and do another. I think we can all agree that the “faith” of hypocrites is no faith at all! It is worthless. The faith that God wants us to have, the faith that God consistently honors and blesses throughout Scripture, in both the Old and New Testaments, is a faith that is so sure, so unwaveringly certain, that one responds with unquestioning obedience to whatever God asks of that person, even if what He promises or asks of a person may seem illogical, dangerous, or downright crazy. God asked Abraham to believe he’d father a child even in his old age. He asked Gideon to form an army of a measly two hundred to confront enemy armies of thousands, and tens of thousands. He asked Noah to build an ark and told him to just trust Him that He would flood the earth, even though such a thing had never happened before in the history of all mankind, and Noah had never even seen rain fall from the sky. He had never seen a rainbow. God had anointed David as heir to the throne, but David had to put his entire trust in God while dodging enemies on all sides, including King Saul, who were trying to kill him. None of these valiant folk were hailed for their passionate submission to the Mosaic Law, as written in the Ten Commandments and expounded in Leviticus and Deuteronomy. But they were hailed by their faith, their complete confidence that they could depend on God. If God said something was going to happen, they believed it. If God told them to do something, they did it without question because they knew God as an all-knowing god who knew what He was talking about. They loved God and all the things that God valued and loved. They loved all His characteristics. They knew God as a god who was merciful, just, forgiving, gracious, tenderhearted, compassionate, almighty, powerful, a great protector, defender, dependable, honest, honorable, and kind. And God never did anything “out of character”. The Law taught them only that they fell far short of being considered worthy of acceptance as His holy people. They understood that their standing as God’s chosen people rested entirely on God’s faithful willingness to forgive and give them a clean slate every time they repented. Thus, they relied not on themselves but solely on the integrity and character of God. And this is the faith of a Christian – that we are realistic of who we are: flawed, weak, and corrupted human beings, who will one day die and return to the earth as dust – and of who God is: singular (there is only one god), eternal, holy, divine, perfect, all-knowing, all powerful, sovereign king, judge, healer, life-giver, provider, comforter, savior, defender, protector, and friend – AND we act on that knowledge in the things that we do, in at least one aspect of our lives. That is, perhaps we’ve learned to depend on God in our activities in some areas of our lives but not in others, such as perhaps we hit a rough spot in our marriage and we learned to “give it to God” and when we did that, things worked themselves out. Or perhaps you lost your job and you’ve had to depend on God to provide for basic things like food or enough money to pay the bills, something you never had to do before, you always lived comfortably before and kind of took it for granted that you always had more than enough to provide for your needs. Ironically, when we let go of ourselves and the dependence we’ve always had on our own strength to get us through, that is when we are the most free. And that is when our faith in God shines the brightest. And this is precisely the type of faith God consistently honors again and again all throughout Scripture.

Does that mean the Law is meaningless? What did King David do once he was confronted by Nathan regarding his sin? David had slept with Bathsheba, had her husband killed, and then took her as his wife. He had accomplished all this with cold-hearted determination. He had no conscious, no remorse. He was consumed with single-minded possessive lust. But once Nathan confronted him regarding his sin, his heart crumbled. You see, deep down inside, David loved the Lord. He had never lost his love for God. He loved the Lord and treasured all of God’s laws and statutes as being just and fair. When the realization of what he had done hit home, he confessed to God, “Against You only have I sinned.” Surely, he had sinned against a great number of people, but what broke his heart the most was the feeling that he had betrayed God. In his heart he knew he had done everything God despises – lust, adultery, deceit, murder, and countless other sins. He mourned in tears for many days and barely ate a thing. When confronted of our sins, our hearts should respond as David’s did. It should cut us to the heart. If we truly love God, it should tear us up inside. At the same time, we remember also who God is. There is no sin so great that God is unable or unwilling to forgive. We may feel low and dejected, cut to the heart, but at the same time, we can go before the throne of grace in tears and mourning, confessing our sins to God, confident that God who loves us with an all-consuming love, will forgive us and restore our broken spirits. This, too, demonstrates faith. David had faith in the Law as being good and just and also in God’s merciful nature, being someone who also was always eager to forgive a contrite heart.

Some people will say, “I have faith in God’s promises.” But we don’t put our faith in promises. Would you trust a promise made by a con artist to pay you back the money you loaned him? Probably not. But I’m guessing you would believe the same promise if it came from a trustworthy source, like a nun or priest. Thus, a promise is only as reliable as the promise-keeper. But what if you don’t trust nuns or priests. Then you wouldn’t put any faith in their promises either, even if they were good people. Thus, the amount of secure confidence you have in someone fulfilling their promise is only as great as your trust in that person’s integrity. Thus, your trust in God’s promises is directly linked to what you believe to be true about God Himself. If you think of God as distant, capricious, and uncaring, you probably are not going to have much faith in God’s promises to help you in your moment of crisis. However, if you think of God as intimate, merciful, compassionate, powerful, and attentive, you will be quick to call upon Him in faith that he will listen to your cries for help and save you in your time of need. You will be quick to believe in His promises because of what you believe about HIM.
I have often heard it said that God is a “covenant-making God”, as if that is supposed to be a mind-blowing concept. But we make covenants all the time. We get married, make promises to friends and family that we’ll spend more time with them, etc. We make promises and vows all the time. That’s not mind-blowing at all. It’s easy to MAKE promises. It’s easy to exchange wedding vows and throw a party. What’s mind-blowing about God is not that He makes covenantal relational vows with us. What’s mind-blowing is that He would be willing to stay loyal even when the covenant has been broken. There is one and only one condition that is acceptable by God for a man to divorce his wife and that is in the case of adultery. In the case of the covenant God made with Israel, God describes Himself as a husband being married to an adulterous wife (Israel). Over and over again, God reminds Israel, you have broken my covenant. By reminding Israel of this fact, He is saying, “Understand this: Because you’ve broken my covenant, I’m no longer bound by covenant to stay loyal to you or to keep my promises. You are acting like an adulterous wife, and I would be well within my rights to reject you and accept a new people, a new nation, to become my holy people. Even so, I have chosen NOT to reject you – I still love you, regardless of what you have done. Therefore, I choose to keep all the promises I had made to you, as if you had always been a faithful wife.”

Think about this. Ponder this deeply. Do you know anyone who would willingly put up with that kind of abuse?
This is mind-blowing. Adultery is the worst kind of betrayal. Imagine making promise after promise to your spouse, during your marriage’s honeymoon stage, expecting the relationship to last for as long as the two of you are alive, only to find out your beloved has been playing the field. Every instinct inside of you wants to leave this horribly dysfunctional and broken relationship. You feel angry, rejected, unappreciated, and unloved. Your heart is broken, and you know you have every right to leave the relationship for good. Yet, your heart breaks for your spouse. You find it in your heart to still love the person. And you make the conscious decision to not only stay faithful to that person as their spouse, but you are determined to fulfill all the promises you made from the moment you were first wed. If we are honest, we would probably call such a person a fool for being so naïve. That person is headed for heartbreak and disaster if they willfully choose to stay in such a relationship. But God was neither naïve nor blind when he made his decision. He knew what was in their hearts. He knew they’d probably betray Him again and again. He knew exactly what He was getting into. He knew He would ultimately suffer a lot of pain and heartache from a people who refused to listen to Him, time and time again. But by keeping his promises, he crowned them with unmerited favor.

This is the faithfulness of God. It defies all human instincts. Most people would run away from an adulterous relationship. Many walk away from that kind of betrayal feeling resentful and scarred. The depth of human love simply cannot comprehend the depth of pain and sorrow God was willing to embrace on behalf of his chosen, beloved people. In love, He willingly chose to stay bonded with Israel. It is impossible for human love to contemplate that kind of unwavering devotion. It doesn’t make sense. It doesn’t sound safe. Why would someone be that faithful to someone undeserved?

While there are some individuals who willingly stay in abusive relationships, they usually do so at great cost to themselves. They are battered, bruised, both physically and psychologically. They’ve been scarred deeply. They may suffer from a myriad of psychological disorders: anxiety, depression, battered wife syndrome, low self-worth, PTSD, alcoholism, substance abuse, etc. God is the only One capable of putting up with abuse and stand unhindered. God certainly grieves over sin, and even punishes us in anger and wrath, but our behavior never affects His character. His character and integrity never changes based on what we do. He never takes back His promises just because we’ve disappointed Him. He never becomes anxious, frustrated, bitter, or resentful over our own “bad behavior”. He never worries and frets over us. He’s never depressed. Never afraid. The magnitude of God’s patient love and tender sorrow for us is so great, that these emotions end up overriding everything else, and only the divine mind of God can supernaturally endure it unscathed.

Our reaction to God’s unmerited faithfulness to us should humble us. It should touch us deeply. There is no other love like this. It reveals to us how precious we are in His eyes. And because we are precious to Him, He is dependable. We can trust Him always.

Will you put your trust in Him today?

Why Should You Read the Bible?

I recently took a free online seminary class taught by a very well-known and highly respected biblical professor. The title of the course was How to Read the Bible Like A Seminary Student. The professor began the course with this bold statement: “This book will keep you from sin or sin will keep you from this book.”

This assertion may have the appearance of truth, but if you read Scripture closely, it is in fact utterly false. Saint Paul, who was a highly respected and knowledgeable Pharisee, who had studied the Old Testament law extensively, says this regarding the list of God’s commandments in Romans 7:10-11: “I found that the very commandment that was intended to bring life actually brought death. For sin, seizing the opportunity afforded by the commandment, deceived me, and through the commandment put me to death.” What does Saint Paul mean by this? He is basically saying that human beings by nature will desire to do just the opposite of what they are told. In fact, this is precisely what happened to Adam and Eve in the Garden of Eden. God gave Adam and Eve one simple command to follow: do not eat of the Tree of Knowledge, the Tree of Good and Evil. And what did they do? They were given permission to eat of every other tree in the Garden. But they took that all for granted and allowed themselves to be deceived by the devil and ate from the one tree they were specifically told not to touch!

So, does studying the Bible keep us from sin? Will studiously memorizing all of God’s commands make you a more righteous person? According to Saint Paul, absolutely not! Just the opposite!

The professor also made this bold statement: “Dusty Bibles always lead to dirty lives.” My sister rarely opens a Bible but in the last few years, she has learned to put her trust in God as she never has before. She has gone through some tough times, and in those hardships, she hasn’t opened Scripture, but she has prayed to God in desperate need. She has learned to trust in His care and has come to realize that God loves her far more than she could ever know. Her faith and trust in the Father would put many biblical scholars to shame. Scripture says in Romans 1:17, “the righteous will live by faith.” It does NOT say, “The righteous will diligently study their Bibles.” There is a big difference between intellectual knowledge of God and having the faith of a child, the faith to move a person to put their trust in God and call upon him, even in the midst of suffering and hardship. Certainly, Jesus alludes to this truth when he tells his disciples in Matthew 5:20, that “unless your righteousness surpasses that of the Pharisees and the teachers of the law, you will certainly not enter the kingdom of God.”

It is important to note that Saint Peter and probably a good number of disciples were not literate during Jesus’ day. Thus, Saint Peter likely did not spend his waking hours devouring Old Testament texts written in Hebrew or Greek. Yet, he is considered the founder of the church. So, why did Jesus choose Peter of all people? It certainly wasn’t because of his scholarly knowledge of Scripture. Was it not because of Peter’s pure heart and desire to be with God? There’s a big difference between memorizing a book about God and getting to know the real person. And in Jesus, Peter was blessed to have a very unique and special relationship with God’s only Son! Why did he have any need of a book when he had the person, the Son of God, the fullness of the Deity, standing beside him?

To the Pharisees, Jesus says this: “You study the Scriptures diligently because you think that in them you have eternal life. These are the very Scriptures that testify about me, yet you refuse to come to me to have life.”

What then is more important, the book or the God of whom the book describes? Isn’t it far more important and meaningful that a person comes to believe in God and place his full faith and trust in him then for that person to simply memorize a book ABOUT God?

Think of it this way. Suppose you have a favorite celebrity. You have read every article, every biography, watched every video, and follow every rumor regarding this celebrity. But you have never met this person. From all your study, you have formed certain ideas and assumptions about this person without realizing it. Then one day, you meet this celebrity in person. And the person surprises you. You thought you knew and understood this person. Yet, you realize there is so much more to the individual than you ever realized. You are humbled. You realized that although all the books and bios were true, the descriptions were just a shadow to what you experienced by being in the person’s presence. You come to realize that reading about someone is just not the same as meeting someone in person. In the case of the Pharisees, they rejected Jesus because he did not fit all the rigid assumptions they had formed in their own minds based on their own studies of the Scripture regarding the Messiah.

Reading Scripture just to avoid sin was in fact the very same trap that the Pharisees fell into. Was not the Pharisees utmost motivation for studying Scripture to live a pious life unsullied by sin? They had every commandment memorized. They strove to check every box and mind their p’s and q’s. They did everything in their power to live a righteous lifestyle. And yet what did Jesus say about them? He called them white-washed tombs! Although they appeared righteous on the outside, there was no transformation from within.

The seminary professor went on to quote Hebrews 5:11-14. In this section, the author of Hebrews talks about “spiritual milk” and “spiritual food”. The professor suggests “spiritual food” is the study of the Bible. However, in order to have an understanding of the central point the author of Hebrews is trying to make, it is important to read all of Hebrews 5 in its entirety. It is important to take the entire chapter into context. More importantly, you have to take the whole history behind the book of Hebrews into account. The book of Hebrews was written for… guess who? You guessed it. The book was written for the early Christians who came from the Hebrew faith. The Hebrews, of course, would have known Scripture well. They would have attended synagogue weekly. They would have been familiar with all the Old Testament books. So, knowledge of Scripture was NOT what they lacked. Thus, it is doubtful that this would have been the central concern of the author. The author of Hebrews quotes the Old Testament extensively throughout the book, but as he does so, he attaches to the Old Testament verses with the revealed knowledge of the identity and mission of Jesus Christ. In this way, he brilliantly points out all the many ways the Old Testament points to Jesus. It is thus much more likely that the point the author is trying to make is that some of the Hebrews were failing to see these connections even though it should have been obvious to them. Their understanding of the Old Testament Scriptures had not deepened, nor had it been enhanced by the new revelation of Christ Jesus and the New Covenant Christians enjoy. And we see a modern-day corollary today. Today, there are people who call themselves Christian but have only a superficial understanding of Scripture. And, sadly, they appear content to stay that way. These are people who may have read and know Scripture, but their desire to discover a deep understanding of it is limited and superficial at best. Their understanding barely scratches the surface. But there is spiritual food of a different sort. It is when one seeks spiritual maturity. The author of Hebrews was admonishing his listeners of their complacency and their lack of interest in maturing spiritually. To grow spiritually, you must want to grow in spiritual wisdom. You will not grow automatically. You must first have the desire. Second of all, you must accept that such wisdom does not come from you, your own intelligence or brain power. The wisdom of spiritual maturity comes from God alone. James says this: “If any of you lacks wisdom, you should ask God, who gives generously to all without finding fault, and it will be given to you.” If you seek to know the deeper things of God, and grow in spiritual maturity, then you need only ask God. But you must ask him. You will not attain wisdom on your own efforts. You will miss the deeper knowledge and wisdom the Scriptures testify to if God has not given you the gift of discerning His Word.

There is nothing worse or more embarrassing than a well-known seminary professor taking Scripture out of context to defend his argument This is the danger of placing your own agenda before considering God’s agenda. God’s agenda is simply to entice people to come to him. The Bible is just one way in which God reaches people. God also uses songs, testimonies, good works, religious books, and so much more, to reveal himself and his glory to his people.

Please do not misunderstand what I am saying! I am not saying a person shouldn’t read the Bible! What I am saying is that all the reasons the professor pointed out were WRONG! And of all the people who should be pointing out the right posture in reading Scripture, it should be someone of his fame and scholarly caliber. He is setting a very poor example to his students by advocating misguided motives for studying Scripture.

The professor postulates that most people avoid reading Scripture because they do not know how to read Scripture.

Again, this is ridiculous. If you know how to read, you can read the Bible. I started reading Scripture at the age of seven. I was given the King James Version to read, and I read it avidly. My motives for reading the Bible may have been unique. I came from a highly dysfunctional family. My parents were unpredictably harsh. From a very young age, I often felt rejected, neglected, and unloved. But as I went to church and read the Bible, I learned of a God who loved me unconditionally, a God whose Son gave His life for me. I learned of a divine Savior who wasn’t ashamed to sit with small children. I soaked it all up like a sponge, like the love-starved child that I was. I longed to know this amazing God! And the more I read about him, the more I admired him. I absolutely adored this God whose bottomless love surpassed all forms and expressions of human love. And I saw the words of Scripture as I longed to know God more literally jump off the page!

It is important to note that the Bible was written to teach us primarily of the person, character, achievements and glory of God, and the sometimes rocky relationship he has had with the human race, which has been recorded over the course of human history. The author of Scriptures, according to Saint Paul, was the Holy Spirit. The human beings who wrote things down were just instruments of the Spirit. Notice how few of the human authors of the books of the Bible refer to themselves in the first person. It is as if they considered themselves a minor character within God’s cosmic plan. Like a writer picking up a pen to express his thoughts, God used specifically chosen human beings as his instruments to record all manner of historical events, circumstances, songs of praise and lament, poems, prophesies, and words of wisdom, that God deemed important to pass on to others. In the mind of Saint Paul, God wrote the Scriptures and human beings were mere instruments in the writing of Scriptures. Thus, it is never a good idea to get too caught up in the historical and cultural backdrops, or to imagine the motives and personalities of each of the human beings described. God isn’t terribly interested in any of these things. God can use any type of person he chooses to write down what he wishes to say. And as far as history is concerned, if one has studied history extensively, one comes to realize that history repeats itself. Wars, plagues, pandemics, floods, earthquakes, death, suffering, injustice, cruelty, barbarism, slavery, jealousy and strife between siblings and family members, murder, oppression of the poor and needy, have always existed throughout the ages, and we still deal with the same issues today. As it is said in Ecclesiastes, “Nothing is new under the sun.” That is, no circumstance or event that is happening now is something that does not have a corollary to something that has happened before at some point in the past. Certainly, there was a reason why God chose certain historical events to be recorded. The question one should be asking is why. Why did God choose this particular event to be recorded? What universal truth can be learned from this? How is this event or circumstance similar to events and circumstances happening today? What deeper spiritual truth is God attempting to express through these verses? And even more importantly, if you believe the Bible can speak to you in your present-day circumstances, ask what is God trying to say to you now through these words of Scripture?

Always ask yourself, what does God seem to care about? What things make him pleased and happy? What makes him grieved and angry? What attributes of God make you uncomfortable? Do any of God’s actions described in the Bible trouble you or even make you angry? Are there certain characteristics of God described in the Bible hard for you to accept?

Please, do read the Bible. But read the Bible so that you may get to know the God of the universe. It is for no other reason than this that you should approach Scriptures. Pray to God and ask him to open your eyes and provide you the spiritual wisdom to discern a deep knowledge of the Word. And after you have read about God, do not stop there. Get on your knees and give him your devotion. Approach him directly. Accept what was spoken about him in the Bible and give him your trust, obedience, and praise. Then, and only then, will you be transformed.

Christianity 101

There are plenty of slippery snags that Christians fall into when discussing law, works, mercy, grace, faith, gospel, and the covenants.

Before we begin, let us first define what these terms mean.

LAW as defined by Merriam Webster Dictionary:

  1. the system of rules which a particular country or community recognizes as regulating the actions of its members and which it may enforce by the imposition of penalties.

In the Bible, the LAW is defined as all the rules, standards, and commands that were given by God that defined how His people are to live and conduct themselves as a society.

MERCY:

  1. compassion or a refraining from the enforcement of something (such as a debt, right, punishment, or obligation) that is due

In the biblical sense, mercy can either be a refraining from punishing someone who deserves punishment, or treating someone with special kindness out of a feeling of compassion towards the other person’s distress or circumstances.

Another, more secular way to look at MERCY is how it is expressed in a court of law. For example, suppose a person is arrested for stealing. Suppose the usual punishment for such a crime is five years in prison. But let’s suppose the criminal stole out of desperation. He is unemployed, lives out of his car, and has no money to buy food for himself and his family. Suppose it is within the judge’s authority and discretion to provide LENIENCY in such a case as this. OUT OF COMPASSION the judge decides to REFRAIN FROM PUNISHING this criminal and sets him free instead. This would be an act of MERCY by the judge.

GRACE:

  1. heartfelt approval, blessing, or kindness that is unexpectedly given

GRACE had always been described to me as “unmerited favor” or “getting what you don’t deserve”. Using the same court room example from above, suppose the criminal is not just set free, but is given a million dollars, with no strings attached, by an anonymous benefactor. That would be an act of exceptional GRACE. It is going over and above the removal of punishment and showering the individual with an unexpected and unprovoked blessing.

FAITH:

  1. complete trust or confidence in someone or something.

The word FAITH is used a lot in Christian circles, but I think to really understand what FAITH is, it is important to note what FAITH is NOT.

  1. It is NOT simply a belief that God exists. It is much more than that. It is COMPLETE TRUST OR CONFIDENCE in the nature of God, His abilities and attributes.
  2. It is NOT wishful thinking. Perhaps you WANT to believe God is loving, and kind, and has the desire and ability to heal your illness, but can’t bring yourself to believe with COMPLETE TRUST AND CONFIDENCE that He will do it. This is NOT faith.
  3. It is NOT ‘blind’. Oftentimes, faith is based on something, usually a promise made by God. When Jacob prayed on behalf of his family, before his confrontation with Esau. He pleaded earnestly with God to protect his family. He boldly reminds God (not that God needed reminding!) of His promise that Jacob’s offspring would eventually found a new nation. He had faith God’s promise would be accomplished, and it is on the basis of this promise that he pleaded for his family’s safety. Thus, his faith wasn’t ‘blind’
  4. It is NOT reading and memorizing the Bible. The Pharissees were well-versed in Scripture and it didn’t get them anywhere.
  5. It is NOT going to church every Sunday. Any non-believer can come to church and sit in a pew. My husband did so for eight years as a non-believer and none of my church friends knew about it. The Pharissees in Jesus’ day also attended worship services every Sabbath, but Jesus renounced them.
  6. It is NOT praying every day. Just because you pray often doesn’t mean your faith is any greater than anyone else. Jesus warns not to go on “babbling like pagans” because “they think they will be heard because of their many words.”
  7. It is NOT surface-deep. Faith is NOT our outward actions. It is NOT immersing ourselves into outward actions in order to prove to ourselves and others how faithful we are. If we already HAVE faith, we have nothing to prove. Our outward actions will automatically reflect this.

WORKS: There are several different types of ‘works’ described in Scripture. Below are three distinct definitions:

  1. Actions, activities, and achievements that were motivated and inspired by a firm confidence in the instructions or a promise made from God
  2. Actions, activities, and achievements that were motivated and inspired by a misguided belief that one can EARN GOD’S FAVOR by following the Old Testament LAW, or by following any set of God-given or man-made standards
  3. Any activities apart from FAITH IN GOD

It is important to render which definition of ‘works’ is being used, but usually it is laid out clear enough based on context.

GOSPEL:

  1. The GOOD NEWS OF JESUS CHRIST

What is this good news? It is that Christ died for the redemption of all mankind. While all mankind was doomed for hell and destruction by embracing disobedience, deception, evil, and darkness, Christ, in His MERCY, felt compelled to REMOVE OUR PUNISHMENT by trading places with us, and enduring the punishment that should have been ours; that is, He endured the FULL WRATH OF GOD upon Himself when He was crucified. But He goes ABOVE AND BEYOND just removing our punishment. He also, as a gift of GRACE, promises us ETERNAL LIFE – a life without any further suffering or sorrow – IN PARADISE to all who have FAITH IN HIM.

COVENANT:

  1. a binding agreement between two parties

The Bible describe many covenants made between God and man. There is much debate regarding the covenants – mainly whether or not all the covenants had stipulations attached – but there is one covenant all theologians can agree on that most definitely DID have stipulations attached, and that was the covenant given to Moses and the Israelites, that included the Ten Commandments, plus hundreds of other laws and ordinances by which all the people, and all their descendents after them, were to follow TO THE LETTER. This became what is known as the Old Testament LAW and we know from Scripture that not a single human being is capable of being 100% obedient to the LAW because humans by nature tend to do the exact opposite of what you tell them to do! 😀 Thus, don’t expect the LAW to vindicate you. You will receive no sympathy from God even if it were possible to fulfill “most” of the LAW. God is a holy God so He expects nothing less than perfection. You break one rule, one law, and you are a lawbreaker, someone who has broken the covenant of the LAW and stands condemned. You deserve nothing less than curses and death. No blessings of the covenant for you! But we will get into greater detail of the covenants below…

Now, where were we? Oh, yes…

In the beginning, God created all things, and set Adam in His garden. God granted Adam authority over the earth and everything in it. He gave Adam the task of gardening and of naming all the creatures God had made. While in the garden, Adam enjoyed special fellowship with God. God gave Adam just one rule (one “law”) and that was to not eat of the tree of knowledge, of good and evil. God told Adam that if he did so, he would surely die. This was the first LAW or instruction God ever gave to man. When Adam broke that LAW, Adam did not die – at least, not right away. God in His MERCY delayed Adam’s punishment of death for his sin for 900 years! (God had said Adam would die for his sin – and Adam did die eventually – but it must be noted that it was within God’s right to have Adam and Eve put to death that very day.) Not only did God, in His mercy delay Adam’s punishment, but He left in place all of His promises that He gave to Adam; that is, God did not revoke Adam’s authority over the earth, or his task of gardening and subduing creation as God’s steward. However, God introduced suffering into the world. Thus, after the Fall, Adam and Eve’s roles would be much more difficult. This was their curse, the harsh discipline they were to endure as a result of their disobedience. Adam would still cultivate the earth, but there would be thorns and thistles to contend with. Eve would still bear children as decreed (“be fruitful and multiply”) but her childbearing would be painful. And we bear the curse of sin and suffering to this very day.

Now, after the Fall, the Scriptures say man became increasingly evil. We see Cain’s descendents becoming very successful and highly skilled individuals – apart from God. God in His GRACE allowed Cain’s descendents to thrive in spite of their increasing wickedness. Scripture describes Cain’s descendents as highly skilled musicians and craftsmen. Yet they were evil and vengeful and would have nothing to do with God.

Then we come to Noah, and we learn from Scripture he was the only person left on earth who felt any devotion to God at all. God had favor on Noah and asked him to build an ark because He was about to destroy the earth by flood. Noah, because he believed in God and had FAITH in God’s words, went ahead and built the ark precisely to God’s instructions (and he was, no doubt, scorned and mocked by the rest of the world for doing so, who either forgot God even existed, or took it completely for granted that God had graciously allowed them to thrive in spite of their increasing wickedness). Noah persisted, built the ark, and saved all the animals, plus all of humankind. Afterwards, he burnt a thank offering to the Lord for His provision and deliverance from the flood. The Lord looked upon the offering and was well pleased. It was only then that the Lord made a COVENANT to Noah, a covenant with him, his descendents, and with the earth and all creation, that He would never again destroy the world with flood. The Covenant Theologians would say that building the ark was a stipulation to this covenant. However, this is in conflict with what we know of covenants. Stipulations of the Mosaic Covenant for example (the LAW) were passed down from generation to generation. Every generation had to fulfill the stipulations if they wanted to enjoy the blessings of the covenant. But unlike the covenant of the LAW, there are no stipulations imposed on Noah’s future descendents in order for them to enjoy the blessings of this covenant. Clearly, if ark building was a stipulation, all of Noah’s descendents, from generation to generation, would have to learn to build arks, just as Noah did, in order to enjoy the blessings of God’s promise. Clearly, this is not the case even though God intended for the blessings of His promise to extend out into future generations. In fact, we too enjoy the blessings of this promise, and the sign of the rainbow, to this very day. Thus, we are given this hope, that no matter how bad things get, or how wicked the world becomes, there is one gaurentee – God will never again destroy the world by flood! That is His promise, and His promises always stand. It is also important to note when God made His covenant to Noah, it was AFTER the flood, not before. And this is another reason why we should not consider ‘ark building’ a stipulation attached to the covenant. Timing is everything. If ‘ark building’ was a stipulation of the covenant, God would have inaugerated the covenant BEFORE the flood, not after. Also, when God asked Noah to build the ark, it was a test of Noah’s FAITH. Noah was a man of FAITH, but he had to PROVE HIS FAITH with obedience by making the ark. It was only after his FAITH had been proven genuine by obedience that God inaugerated His COVENANT with Noah. And this pattern you will see over and over again all throughout Scripture in both the Old and New Testament. FAITH had be proven genuine by unwavering obedience before a COVENANT was given.

God did not inaugerate a covenant with Abraham until Abraham had already PROVEN HIS FAITH was genuine, by leaving his family behind and going to a strange country, and by believing he would have a son in his old age and father a nation, as God had promised him, and this belief was accredited to him as righteousness. So only AFTER Abraham was declared righteous by faith did God grant him His covenant. This covenant was a covenant full of future blessings and favor, and it was granted unto Abraham as a reward for his steadfast faithfulness. God made promises to Abraham and his offspring that required nothing of Abraham and his descendents other than circumcism, which wasn’t so much a “stipulation” as it was a “seal”, that is a sign that you will be taking part in the promised blessings under the covenant. Those uncircumsized could not enter the Promised Land. And we know from reading Scripture that God was faithful – He rescued all the circumsized, regardless of their grumbling, idolatry, and ingratitude. This is God’s GRACE at work, that is, His UNMERITED FAVOR. The Israelites had done nothing to MERIT themselves in God’s favor. But God had made a promise to Abraham and God always keeps His promises.

God did not initiate a covenant with David until David had been king many years, long after David bravely took down Goliath, consulted with the Lord many times before battle, and had faithfully believed in God’s anointing, that he would somehow survive and take the throne over Israel, in spite of Saul’s fury and obsession with killing him. If mere ‘anointing’ was enough, God would not have rejected King Saul. But Saul’s faith had also been tested by God’s instructions relayed to him through the prophet Samual, and over and over again, Saul always fell short of complete obedience. He would kind of sort of obey… and rationalize why he didn’t follow God’s instructions to the letter. In the end, God was displeased and rejected Saul. Why? Because when the genuiness of his FAITH was tested, he failed. His halfhearted obedience revealed his lack of trust in God. So what seperated Saul from David? Was it not the genuineness of their FAITH? God surely knows the depths of our hearts already. But he always gives us several opportunities to choose obedience. Don’t you think that if King Saul had faithfully followed God’s instructions that were relayed to him by the prophet Samuel to the letter, God would have rewarded him with the covenant he gave David? But because King Saul revealed only a lackluster halfhearted obedience, God struck down Saul’s dynasty and replaced it with another, through Jesse’s son, David.

Clearly, all the men of whom God chose to initiate a covenant relationship were sinners. So, what made them special? Was it not their FAITH? Did not each person of whom the covenants were given first DEMONSTRATE THEIR FAITH in some manner?

So it is true now, in the New Covenant, as St. Paul says, we are “justified by faith” and “righteousness is given through faith in Jesus Christ to all who believe”. In the Old Testament, the righteous lived by FAITH, and nothing’s changed in the revelation of the New Covenant. We must first have FAITH that is proven genuine and true in order to take part in God’s covenant blessings, just as in the Old Testament.

So, what makes the New Covenant different? Yes, Christ fulfilled all the tenets of Abrahamic, Mosaic, and Davidic Covenants. Yes, Christ was faithful to His Father to the very end, was blameless, without sin. But this was not the New Covenant. As a man, a perfect and blameless human being living in perfect harmony and obedience with His Father, He would have earned His Father’s favor; even more, He would have earned eternal righteousness and eternal life and glory on earth. But instead of accepting blessing, He accepted disgrace on account of His love for us. He was “cursed for our iniquities” and “bruised for our transgressions”. And it is in this strange twist of events that we receive the New Covenant (“He became sin who knew no sin so we might become His righteousness”).

The only stipulation on the New Covenant is that ONE MUST HAVE FAITH IN JESUS CHRIST. That’s it. That’s all that’s needed for justification, sanctification, and the blessings of eternal life, without sorrow, without suffering, without temptation, destruction, or evil. The promise of eternal glory go far beyond our soul’s journey heavenward once our bodies die away. The GOOD NEWS promises a hope that one day our physical bodies will be resurrected, just as Jesus was raised from the dead, restored, without blemish or illness, to thrive once again in eternal glory.

All we have to do is BELIEVE it. Have FAITH in it. Have COMPLETE TRUST AND CONFIDENCE in it. Nothing else. Once we have this “one thing”, we have everything we need. All our motivation and inspiration, our thoughts and deeds, will spill out of this great FAITH in God. Not only do we have FAITH and great confidence in Him but we also LOVE Him with all our hearts. Once we seek HIM, God will take care of all the rest. We lose sight of Christ when we think we have to do something more. “We must do good works!” That’s what we tell ourselves. But Scripture is clear. Once we have faith in Jesus Christ, He will give us the gift of the Holy Spirit, and whatever works we do that are under the Spirit’s influence, aren’t “our” works at all, but God’s. “We” don’t do anything. We are instead carried along by the Spirit and used as His instruments. Ask that God will bless you with more of His spiritual gifts… and be amazed at what happens next!

Will you believe?

Christ Follower
christfollower376@yahoo.com