Keeping Our Covenant With God
God is always faithful to keep His covenant with us. However, we are not always faithful to keep our covenant with Him. This was true of Israel in the Old Covenant.(Nehemiah 1:5,7) It is true of us under the New Covenant. Let me explain.
A covenant is like a contract between two people. It is an agreement for both people to do certain things. Then, the covenant is fulfilled, and the relationship is very good between the two. Think of the marriage covenant. Both people make promises to each other, and if they are faithful to keep them, the marriage prospers. Our covenant with God is different from a marriage covenant, though, because it is not a covenant between two equal people. Obviously, God is far greater than we are, and we are to submit to His greatness, not treat Him as an equal. Therefore, we have more responsibilities in keeping our part of the covenant.
In the Old Covenant God promised to be their God and to have mercy on them, but they needed to love Him and to heed His commands, if they wanted to receive the full benefits of His mercy. Yes, they had to come to the place where they put their trust in God, because they saw that they were sinful, and so they could not keep the laws completely. As long as they loved the Lord by keeping His commandments, He took care of them and blessed them. When they ceased loving and trusting Him, He punished them severely, but He never cut off Israel completely to keep His part of the covenant.
In the New Covenant Jesus died to forgive our sins and to be able to give us life by grace through faith in Him as Lord and Savior. Once He saves us from our sins and adopts us into His family by grace through our faith in Jesus, God will not cast us away. However, if we do not continue to love and trust the Lord by submitting to the leadership of the Spirit and growing in our relationship with Christ, we will not receive the blessings of God. We will be punished.(Hebrews 12:5-11) We are still saved, but we are His disobedient children,so we must be disciplined.
If we find ourselves being disciplined, we must not get mad at God or blame Him. We must repent as Nehemiah and the Israelites did. We must confess our sins(I John 1:9), and return to fellowship with the Lord, as we fulfill our part of the covenant.
Tomorrow, I intend to read Nehemiah 2-4.
A covenant is like a contract between two people. It is an agreement for both people to do certain things. Then, the covenant is fulfilled, and the relationship is very good between the two. Think of the marriage covenant. Both people make promises to each other, and if they are faithful to keep them, the marriage prospers. Our covenant with God is different from a marriage covenant, though, because it is not a covenant between two equal people. Obviously, God is far greater than we are, and we are to submit to His greatness, not treat Him as an equal. Therefore, we have more responsibilities in keeping our part of the covenant.
In the Old Covenant God promised to be their God and to have mercy on them, but they needed to love Him and to heed His commands, if they wanted to receive the full benefits of His mercy. Yes, they had to come to the place where they put their trust in God, because they saw that they were sinful, and so they could not keep the laws completely. As long as they loved the Lord by keeping His commandments, He took care of them and blessed them. When they ceased loving and trusting Him, He punished them severely, but He never cut off Israel completely to keep His part of the covenant.
In the New Covenant Jesus died to forgive our sins and to be able to give us life by grace through faith in Him as Lord and Savior. Once He saves us from our sins and adopts us into His family by grace through our faith in Jesus, God will not cast us away. However, if we do not continue to love and trust the Lord by submitting to the leadership of the Spirit and growing in our relationship with Christ, we will not receive the blessings of God. We will be punished.(Hebrews 12:5-11) We are still saved, but we are His disobedient children,so we must be disciplined.
If we find ourselves being disciplined, we must not get mad at God or blame Him. We must repent as Nehemiah and the Israelites did. We must confess our sins(I John 1:9), and return to fellowship with the Lord, as we fulfill our part of the covenant.
Tomorrow, I intend to read Nehemiah 2-4.