The Everlasting Covenant - 6.8 Covenant References

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6.8 Covenant References
by Hubert F. Sturges, www.everlastingcovenant.com, October 2009
References:
  1. The Dispensational View
  2. The Term “Covenant”
  3. New Covenant
  4. Old Covenant
  5. Covenant Promise
  6. Everlasting Covenant Verses
  7. Definition of a Covenant with God
  8. God Works Through His Creation
  9. The Everlasting Covenant Cannot be Broken
10. Features of the Everlasting Covenant

1. The Dispensational view
pictures God as requiring obedience to the law and observation of ceremonies as the means of salvation for the Jews under the old covenant; and requiring faith as the means of salvation for the Christian Church under the new covenant. This is illustrated as follows.

                      Old Covenant New Covenant
  Ten Commandments Love for others
  Saved by Law Saved by Grace
  Sacrifices and Ceremnies Jesus' Sacrifice on Calvary

There are problems with this view. The Covenant is repeatedly described in the Bible as “Everlasting”. Everlasting to the past, and everlasting to the future. This includes all aspects of the plan of salvation and is more in harmony with the character of God.

2. The term “covenant” is found 272 times in the Bible (King James Version), 254 times in the Old Testament and 18 times in the New. There is no discussion in the Old Testament of more than one covenant.

3. “New Covenant” is found four times in the Bible, three of these in Hebrews. “New Testament” means essentially the same as “new covenant.” It is found six times in the New Testament, four referring to the last supper. The other two times in 2 Cor 3:6 and Heb 9:15.

The historical new covenant prophesied in Jeremiah 31:31-34 refers to the renewal of the covenant when Israel was restored to their land after 70 years captivity. There is also the “new covenant” experience whereby, by faith, God will write His law on the heart and will change the life. This is the experience that God desired throughout history at every presentation of the covenant.

4. “Old Covenant” is not found anywhere in the Bible, though words like “first, faulty, and old” are used in Hebrews eight and nine. “Old Testament” is found just once in the Bible, 2 Cor 3:14 – discussing the vail over the face when reading the “old testament.”

There are several points that need to be kept in mind:

   a) God does not do anything faulty, ever. He would never give a faulty covenant.
   b) A faulty covenant was made at Sinai that lasted just a short time. This was based on human promises.
   c) The context in the writings of Paul and especially in Hebrews is that there were Jewish Christians who could not let go of their dependence on rote keeping of the moral law, meticulous keeping of the ceremonial law, and their dependence on lineage from Abraham as their means of salvation. These things had become to them a covenant of works, analagous to the old covenant.

To continue to depend on these things was to deny the efficacy of the sacrifice of Jesus on Calvary. Where these terms are used in Hebrews they are describing perceptions, not facts. One might even use the term “dispensation of sacrifices” for the worship form before Calvary, and a “dispensation of fact” after Calvary. Both “dispensations” required faith and offered grace.

(These definitions are extracted from Warren T: What is the difference between Covenant Theology and New Covenant Theology?)
<http://www.mountainretreatorg.net/faq/covenant_theol.html>

6. Everlasting Covenant Verses (16)

Genesis 9:16 the bow shall be in the cloud;... that I may remember the everlasting covenant
Genesis 17:7 I will establish my covenant (with Abraham) .... for an everlasting covenant
Genesis 17:13 He that is born in thy house,... be circumcised: ...for an everlasting covenant.
Genesis 17:9 I will establish my covenant... with him (Isaac) for an everlasting covenant
Leviticus 24:8 Every sabbath he shall set it (shewbread) in order... by an everlasting covenant.
Numbers 25:13 he (Phinehas) shall have it,. even the covenant of an everlasting priesthood;
2 Samuel 23:5 he hath made with me (David) an everlasting covenant, ordered in all things,
1 Chronicles 16:17 confirmed the same to Jacob for a law,... to Israel for an everlasting covenant
Psalm 105:10 confirmed the same unto Jacob for a law, and to Israel for an everlasting covenant:
Isaiah 24:5 The earth also is defiled.... because they have.... broken the everlasting covenant.
Isaiah 55:3 Incline your ear, and come unto me:. I will make an everlasting covenant with you
Isaiah 61:8 I will direct their work in truth, and I will make an everlasting covenant with them
Jeremiah 32:40 I will make an everlasting covenant with them, that I will not turn away from them
Ezekiel 16:60 I will remember my covenant.... I will establish unto thee an everlasting covenant.
Ezekiel 37:26 I will make a covenant of peace with them; it shall be an everlasting covenant
Hebrews 13:20,21 through the blood of the everlasting covenant,.. Make you perfect in every good

7. Definition of a Covenant with God, adapted from the SDA Bible Dictionary, p. 229:

The term "covenant" describes the formal relationship between God and Israel as the chosen people. This was not a covenant between equals, but between the infinite God and finite man. God Himself determined the provisions of the covenant, made them known to His people, and gave them the choice of accepting or rejecting the covenant. Once ratified, it was considered binding upon both God and His people. . . .

The covenant included all that was needed to make the plan of salvation effective. God promised to bless His people, to give them the land of Canaan, to make known His will, to send them the Messiah, and to make them His chosen instrument for the conversion of the world. On their part, the people were to obey and to cooperate with all of God's requirements. The people were to be enabled to do this through grace and the power of God to deliver them from Egypt.

There is a problem with this definition: The Everlasting Covenant was made between Father, Son and Holy Spirit. Men were not there, and had nothing to do with it. God has unilaterally bound Himself to keep His covenant. Men at times have made human covenants dedicating themselves to come under the Everlasting Covenant of God.

8. God works through His Creation
God is closely involved with His Creation with a bond which He will not break. He has staked His reputation on the success of His Creation and in the lives of His people. His basic promise found throughout Scripture is: “I will be to them a God, and they shall be to me a people”(9) (Hebrews 8:10). These following verses show that the everlasting covenant is forever:

Deuteronomy 7:9 LORD thy God, ..keepeth covenant and mercy...to a thousand generations
Psalm 105:8 He hath remembered his covenant for ever,... to a thousand generations.
Psalm 105:10 made with Abraham, .. unto Isaac; .. and to Israel for an everlasting covenant
Isaiah 54:10 my kindness shall not depart from thee, neither ... covenant of my peace be
Ezekiel 37:26 an everlasting covenant... my sanctuary in the midst of them for evermore.

9. The Everlasting Covenant cannot be broken
In this same line of thought, the covenant cannot be broken. Since it is God who made the covenant, and God who performs the covenant, what can humans do? We can accept the gracious provisions of the covenant, or reject it, but we cannot break it.

Psalm 89:34 My covenant will I not break, nor alter the thing that is gone out of my lips.
Galatians 3:15 but a man's covenant,.. if it be confirmed, no man disannulleth, or addeth thereto
10. Features of the Everlasting Covenant

What exactly, makes up the everlasting covenant? What things should a person look for to identify the covenant? Here are a few:

Substitution – Jesus would take man’s sin and die to pay the price of the broken law
Through the gift of grace man is reconciled to God, forgiven, restored, and blessed
In grateful response, man exercises faith in Jesus Christ and consents to grace in his life
Divine Presence: “I will be to them a God, and they shall be to me a people.” Heb. 8:10
God’s people commissioned to take His message to the world
God’s people to be a witness of the blessing of God in their lives.

The covenant between God and man offers a framework for our understanding of God. Every time that God declares Himself and every time He makes a promise He is invoking His everlasting covenant with man. This covenant makes plain His will so we pray more intelligently. Truth fits into a logical pattern. In gratitude for what He has done, God becomes the center of our lives and we seek to honor His name.

The “covenant of redemption” is a term applied to the covenant after Adam sinned.

The “covenant of grace” describes the practical application of the everlasting covenant through history. God offers life and salvation through Christ to all who believe. Belief or faith, is the sole condition of the covenant. It is a gift of God (Eph. 2:8 - 9) but even a gift requires that we submit to the glorious plan God has for our lives.

There is only one covenant made by God “before the foundation of the world.” All repetitions in the Bible are not new covenants but are applications of this covenant with promises according to the people’s need. Since this covenant was made by God the Father, Son, and Holy Ghost, it is everlasting, unbreakable, and sure. For “His mercy endureth forever” (Psalm 136). Please read this over so that it is clear!

Men may refuse the covenant, reject it, remove themselves from it, but they cannot change the covenant or add to it.