Covenant Children

NT Church fighting against those trying to drag it back to “empire-approved” religion (Judaism).

Galatians 4:22-5:1  22 For it is written, that Abraham had two sons, the one by a bondmaid, the other by a freewoman.      23 But he who was of the bondwoman was born after the flesh; but he of the freewoman was by promise. 24 Which things are an allegory: for these are the two covenants; the one from the mount Sinai, which gendereth to bondage, which is Agar. 25 For this Agar is mount Sinai in Arabia, and answereth to Jerusalem which now is, and is in bondage with her children. 26 But Jerusalem which is above is free, which is the mother of us all. 27 For it is written, Rejoice, thou barren that bearest not; break forth and cry, thou that travailest not: for the desolate hath many more children than she which hath an husband. 28 Now we, brethren, as Isaac was, are the children of promise. 29 But as then he that was born after the flesh persecuted him that was born after the Spirit, even so it is now. 30 Nevertheless what saith the scripture? Cast out the bondwoman and her son: for the son of the bondwoman shall not be heir with the son of the freewoman. 31 So then, brethren, we are not children of the bondwoman, but of the free. 5:1 Stand fast therefore in the liberty wherewith Christ hath made us free, and be not entangled again with the yoke of bondage.

Galatians 3:26-29  26 For ye are all the children of God by faith in Christ Jesus. 27 For as many of you as have been baptized into Christ have put on Christ. 28 There is neither Jew nor Greek, there is neither bond nor free, there is neither male nor female: for ye are all one in Christ Jesus. 29 And if ye be Christ’s, then are ye Abraham’s seed, and heirs according to the promise.

The word “covenant” means “a binding agreement,” but the term has lost much of the richness of its meaning through modern disuse.  The Hebrew and Greek terms are much more enlightening:

Hebrew “Beriyth” – a pact made by passing through pieces of flesh, implying the thought of “cutting a covenant”

§  Genesis 15:17  And it came to pass, that, when the sun went down, and it was dark, behold a smoking furnace, and a burning lamp that passed between those pieces.

§  Jeremiah 34:18  And I will give the men that have transgressed my covenant, which have not performed the words of the covenant which they had made before me, when they cut the calf in twain, and passed between the parts thereof,

Greek “Diatheke” – disposition (as in a Last Will & Testament); an arrangement made by one party with plenary power which the other party may accept or reject, but cannot alter

§  Galatians 3:17  And this I say, that the covenant, that was confirmed before of God in Christ, the law, which was four hundred and thirty years after, cannot disannul, that it should make the promise of none effect.

A human covenant has each party “bringing something to the table.”  But all spiritual covenants have to originate with God, for He alone has the authority and ability to make them effective.  That God would take such initiative on our behalf is the greatest manifestation of His love and mercy!

Our God is a covenant-making God, a covenant-keeping God, a covenant-revealing God, and a covenant-enabling God!  From start to finish, the initiative is His alone!

§  Job 35:7  If thou be righteous, what givest thou him? or what receiveth he of thine hand?

§  Job 22:3  Is it any pleasure to the Almighty, that thou art righteous? or is it gain to him, that thou makest thy ways perfect?

As man is not in the position to be an independent covenanting party with God, the only thing God requires for us to be in covenant with Him is to OBEY THE TERMS of the covenant He has made!

Those who enter into a covenant obligate themselves to that relationship, as in the marriage covenant, which God instituted to be a model of His covenants.  God hates divorce because it annuls a covenant, it destroys the very purpose of making a covenant in the first place, and it does not accurately reflect the irrevocability of the covenants it is meant to symbolize.

§  Malachi 2:14 Yet ye say, Wherefore? Because the LORD hath been witness between thee and the wife of thy youth, against whom thou hast dealt treacherously: yet is she thy companion, and the wife of thy covenant.

The marriage covenant shows us that God (the husband) loves, while we (the wife) submit!

Biblical covenants were established by calling, entering, and keeping.  God calls, but man must enter through obedience and keep the covenant by continually fulfilling its terms.

A Biblical covenant is comprised of three parts: the promises of the covenant, the blood of the covenant, and the seal of the covenant.  This is one of the reasons God has revealed Himself through three manifestations: as the Father, He spoke the promises; as the Son, He shed His blood; as the Holy Ghost, He actually becomes the seal of His own covenant!

PROMISE – This is God’s oath to fulfill the covenant; it is irrevocable, making the covenant not subject to change or cancellation.  The term “oath” in Hebrew is “shebooaw,” meaning “to complete or to ‘seven oneself’ (repeat seven times).”  In Greek, it is “horkos,” meaning “a fence, limit, sacred restraint.”  Covenants are restrictive in order to grant freedom!

§  Galatians 3:15  Brethren, I speak after the manner of men; Though it be but a man’s covenant, yet if it be confirmed, no man disannulleth, or addeth thereto.

§  Hebrews 6:16-17  16 For men verily swear by the greater: and an oath for confirmation is to them an end of all strife. 17 Wherein God, willing more abundantly to shew unto the heirs of promise the immutability of his counsel, confirmed it by an oath:

BLOOD – This represents a “life commitment,” and of necessity involves a sacrifice!

§  Hebrews 13:20  Now the God of peace, that brought again from the dead our Lord Jesus, that great shepherd of the sheep, through the blood of the everlasting covenant,

 

SEAL – This is an ongoing tangible witness, a constant reminder as to the veracity of the covenant.  It is called in Scripture a seal, a sign or a token.  Some Old Testament covenant elements could not last forever because they were temporal in nature, but any New Testament fulfillments of these elements are eternal because they belong to the New Covenant.

 

There are nine grand covenants initiated by God in the Bible: Edenic, Adamic, Noahic, Abrahamic, Mosaic, Palestinian, Davidic, New, and Everlasting.  God expressed His purpose in creating man in the Edenic Covenant, but Adam broke its terms.  This ushered in the seven redemptive covenants of God (including the New Covenant in which the church is included).  These “7 steps” take man back to his original state of fellowship under the Edenic covenant.

Both the covenant of creation (Edenic) and the seven covenants of redemption are included in the scope of God’s Everlasting Covenant, His eternal purpose for man before time began!  God knows the end from the beginning!

 

Among the redemptive covenants, the most comprehensive one is the Abrahamic Covenant, which either explicitly or implicitly includes in itself all previous and subsequent covenants.  Its ultimate fulfillment is not found in earthly Israel, but in the New Testament Church!

 

The Abrahamic Covenant is rightly referred to by Stephen as “the Covenant of Circumcision,” for that act served as the covenantal seal.

§  Acts 7:8  And he gave him the covenant of circumcision: and so Abraham begat Isaac, and circumcised him the eighth day; and Isaac begat Jacob; and Jacob begat the twelve patriarchs.

It is a common misconception that circumcision was the seal of the later Mosaic Covenant.  Not so!  While it was confirmed under and incorporated into that covenant, the seal of Moses’ covenant was the Sabbath.  Circumcision was given to Abraham BEFORE the law.  Jesus emphasized this:

§  John 7:22  Moses therefore gave unto you circumcision; (not because it is of Moses, but of the fathers😉 and ye on the Sabbath day circumcise a man.

§  Exodus 31:13  Speak thou also unto the children of Israel, saying, Verily my sabbaths ye shall keep: for it is a sign between me and you throughout your generations; that ye may know that I am the LORD that doth sanctify you.

From the very moment God made this covenant with Abraham, the world would forever be divided into two ethnic groups: the uncircumcised and the circumcised, the Gentile and the Jew.

§  Galatians 2:11-12  11 Wherefore remember, that ye being in time past Gentiles in the flesh, who are called Uncircumcision by that which is called the Circumcision in the flesh made by hands; 12 That at that time ye were without Christ, being aliens from the commonwealth of Israel, and strangers from the covenants of promise, having no hope, and without God in the world:

Anyone not sealed in this manner was “cut off” from God’s covenant.  God sought to kill Moses even after He called him, because he failed to bring his own sons into the covenant!  God was sending Moses to Pharaoh to demand that he let God’s “firstborn” (Israel) go; if not, God would slay the firstborn of Egypt.  But Moses’ uncircumcised sons would have fallen under the same judgment!

§  Genesis 17:14  And the uncircumcised man child whose flesh of his foreskin is not circumcised, that soul shall be cut off from his people; he hath broken my covenant.

§  Exodus 4:24-26  24 And it came to pass by the way in the inn, that the LORD met him, and sought to kill him. 25 Then Zipporah took a sharp stone, and cut off the foreskin of her son, and cast it at his feet, and said, Surely a bloody husband art thou to me. 26 So he let him go: then she said, A bloody husband thou art, because of the circumcision.

By their very nature, covenants are exclusive, intolerant, and restrictive!

Only after the physical act of circumcision did a covenant relationship exist in God’s mind, thus …   no circumcision, no covenant!

But God can’t be that demanding, can He?  Remember that we would not have even the chance of a relationship with God if it were not for His love and mercy in initiating the covenant!  The Creator and Covenant-Maker certainly has a right to demand that we enter His covenant on His terms!

It is important to note that this “covenant of circumcision” was an outward physical act (“in your flesh”), but it initiated man into a spiritual covenant (“everlasting covenant”).  If this covenant was indeed “everlasting,” then there must still exist a “covenant of circumcision” today!

§  Genesis 17:13  He that is born in thy house, and he that is bought with thy money, must needs be circumcised: and my covenant shall be in your flesh for an everlasting covenant.

The new covenant church is the fulfillment of the Abrahamic covenant!  That is why in Scripture they are called: a chosen generation, a royal priesthood, a holy nation, a peculiar people, the sons of God, kings and priests unto God, heirs of the kingdom, children of God, trees of righteousness, household of God, children of Abraham, children of promise, heirs of the promise, the elect of God, the true circumcision, priests of the Lord, ministers of God, the holy people, the redeemed of the Lord, heirs of God, the people of God, the election, the remnant of grace, the church of the firstborn, the seed of Abraham, the Jew inwardly, and the Israel of God. 

In the New Testament, the term “circumcision” can refer to either the physical ritual practiced by the Jews, or to the spiritual seal of the New Birth, which is the fulfillment of the Abrahamic covenant!  It is crucial to make this distinction, for while the Apostles preached that the temporal form of circumcision was passing away, they also declared that spiritual circumcision was an absolute necessity for salvation!  Notice the difference …

Here is what Paul says about the PHYSICAL RITUAL of Old Testament circumcision:

§  Galatians 5:6  For in Jesus Christ neither circumcision availeth any thing, nor uncircumcision; but faith which worketh by love.

§  Romans 2:28-29  28 For he is not a Jew, which is one outwardly; neither is that circumcision, which is outward in the flesh: 29 But he is a Jew, which is one inwardly; and circumcision is that of the heart, in the spirit, and not in the letter; whose praise is not of men, but of God.

§  Galatians 6:15  For in Christ Jesus neither circumcision availeth any thing, nor uncircumcision, but a new creature.

But notice how differently he speaks about the SPIRITUAL SEAL of New Testament circumcision:

§  Colossians 2:10-14  10 And ye are complete in him, which is the head of all principality and power: 11 In whom also ye are circumcised with the circumcision made without hands, in putting off the body of the sins of the flesh by the circumcision of Christ: 12 Buried with him in baptism, wherein also ye are risen with him through the faith of the operation of God, who hath raised him from the dead. 13 And you, being dead in your sins and the uncircumcision of your flesh, hath he quickened together with him, having forgiven you all trespasses; 14 Blotting out the handwriting of ordinances that was against us, which was contrary to us, and took it out of the way, nailing it to his cross;

§  Galatians 3:26-29  26 For ye are all the children of God by faith in Christ Jesus. 27 For as many of you as have been baptized into Christ have put on Christ. 28 There is neither Jew nor Greek, there is neither bond nor free, there is neither male nor female: for ye are all one in Christ Jesus. 29 And if ye be Christ’s, then are ye Abraham’s seed, and heirs according to the promise.

BAPTISM IN JESUS’ NAME IS NEW TESTAMENT CIRCUMCISION.  THERE IS ABSOLUTELY NO WAY TO BE IN THE SALVATION COVENANT WITHOUT IT!

Covenant principles are bigger than people, movements or nations!  Even a Jew cannot be in the “seed of Abraham” in this dispensation without being born again!

There were several crucial elements involved in the act of circumcision:

The cutting off of the flesh of the male reproductive organ, involving the shedding of blood

§  Genesis 17:11  And ye shall circumcise the flesh of your foreskin; and it shall be a token of the covenant betwixt me and you.

Its occurrence on the eighth day after the birth of the child, at the beginning of a new week

§  Genesis 17:12  And he that is eight days old shall be circumcised among you, every man child in your generations, he that is born in the house, or bought with money of any stranger, which is not of thy seed.

§  Genesis 21:4  And Abraham circumcised his son Isaac being eight days old, as God had commanded him.

The giving of the name of the child, legally making him a member of his family

§  Luke 1:59  And it came to pass, that on the eighth day they came to circumcise the child; and they called him Zacharias, after the name of his father.

§  Luke 2:21  And when eight days were accomplished for the circumcising of the child, his name was called JESUS, which was so named of the angel before he was conceived in the womb.

All of these crucial elements are fulfilled by baptism in Jesus’ name!

§  Romans 6:3-4  3  Know ye not, that so many of us as were baptized into Jesus Christ were baptized into his death? 4 Therefore we are buried with him by baptism into death: that like as Christ was raised up from the dead by the glory of the Father, even so we also should walk in newness of life.

There is one final “twist” in the long saga of Abraham’s covenant, “for it is written, that Abraham had two sons” (Galatians 4:22) …

Listening to the religious rhetoric of today, you would think that God’s greatest concern is that Christianity becomes more tolerant of other religions, that doctrinal walls come down, etc.

But this is not the Christianity of the Bible!  Jesus, the Prince of Peace himself, said:

§  Matthew 10:34  Think not that I am come to send peace on earth: I came not to send peace, but a sword.

Jesus constantly talked about the “division” His teaching would bring, and He often contrasted the two types of disciples that would follow Him:

TWO ROADS:  Two word pictures of a “narrow way” that is restricted and confined, like a difficult mountain pass, and a “broad way” that is wide-open country with no fences or boundaries, allowing its residents to go anywhere they want, for there is no road!

§  Matthew 7:13-14  13 Enter ye in at the strait gate: for wide is the gate, and broad is the way, that leadeth to destruction, and many there be which go in thereat: 14 Because strait is the gate, and narrow is the way, which leadeth unto life, and few there be that find it.

TWO TREES:  Jesus gave us instructions to evaluate other believers, not by their professed doctrines, but by the practical outward effects (“fruit”) of their teachings. 

§  Matthew 7:18-20  18 A good tree cannot bring forth evil fruit, neither can a corrupt tree bring forth good fruit. 19 Every tree that bringeth not forth good fruit is hewn down, and cast into the fire. 20 Wherefore by their fruits ye shall know them.

TWO HOUSES:  One house is built on a foundation of obedience (“heareth … and doeth”)  that withstands the storm while the other one has no foundation and collapses.

§  Matthew 7:24-25  24 Therefore whosoever heareth these sayings of mine, and doeth them, I will liken him unto a wise man, which built his house upon a rock: 25 And the rain descended, and the floods came, and the winds blew, and beat upon that house; and it fell not: for it was founded upon a rock.

Jesus faced those who wanted to be in the covenant without obeying the covenant.  The Apostles faced the same thing with the Judaizers on one extreme and the Nicolaitanes on the other.  Today, with more breeds of “Christianity” than ever before, we also must deal with this same problem.

What about all those “good Christian people”?  Is it fair for God to exclude them from His covenant on a mere “technicality”?  Why do they seem to be blessed by God also?

The answer lies in the two sons of Abraham, for only one was the son of promise!

§  Genesis 17:18-21  18 And Abraham said unto God, O that Ishmael might live before thee! 19 And God said, Sarah thy wife shall bear thee a son indeed; and thou shalt call his name Isaac: and I will establish my covenant with him for an everlasting covenant, and with his seed after him. 20 And as for Ishmael, I have heard thee: Behold, I have blessed him, and will make him fruitful, and will multiply him exceedingly; twelve princes shall he beget, and I will make him a great nation. 21 But my covenant will I establish with Isaac, which Sarah shall bear unto thee at this set time in the next year.

Notice that Ishmael gets many blessings, but only Isaac gets a covenant!

Like it or not, covenants are exclusive.  By their very nature, they show favoritism.  But God, who initiates them in the first place, retains the right to set their parameters.  Paul comments on this:

§  Romans 9:6-16  6 Not as though the word of God hath taken none effect. For they are not all Israel, which are of Israel: 7 Neither, because they are the seed of Abraham, are they all children: but, In Isaac shall thy seed be called. 8 That is, They which are the children of the flesh, these are not the children of God: but the children of the promise are counted for the seed. 9 For this is the word of promise, At this time will I come, and Sara shall have a son. 10 And not only this; but when Rebecca also had conceived by one, even by our father Isaac; 11 (For the children being not yet born, neither having done any good or evil, that the purpose of God according to election might stand, not of works, but of him that calleth;) 12  It was said unto her, The elder shall serve the younger. 13 As it is written, Jacob have I loved, but Esau have I hated. 14 What shall we say then? Is there unrighteousness with God? God forbid. 15 For he saith to Moses, I will have mercy on whom I will have mercy, and I will have compassion on whom I will have compassion. 16 So then it is not of him that willeth, nor of him that runneth, but of God that sheweth mercy.

From the beginning of his covenant with God, Abraham was promised two seed lines, the physical line (“as the dust of the earth“) and the spiritual line (“as the stars of the heaven“):

§  Genesis 13:16  And I will make thy seed as the dust of the earth: so that if a man can number the dust of the earth, then shall thy seed also be numbered.

§  Genesis 22:17  That in blessing I will bless thee, and in multiplying I will multiply thy seed as the stars of the heaven, and as the sand which is upon the sea shore; and thy seed shall possess the gate of his enemies;

OLD TESTAMENT COVENANT	NEW TESTAMENT COVENANT
As long as there were no children of Sarah, Hagar was quite content to be a bondmaid.  After all, her son Ishmael had love, gifts, favor and food throughout his childhood and into his teen years.  He had no problem with any of Abraham’s other children – until the HEIR was born.	Other “Christian” religions are content to co-exist with each other, and fellowship around the “lowest common denominator.”  They interpret God’s blessing on them as His stamp of approval on what they preach and practice.  An Apostolic with a non-negotiable message throws this status quo into chaos.  Christianity at large is NOT content to “live and let live” with an “Apostolic heir”!
Hagar, Keturah, and all the other women that had relationships with Abraham (Genesis 25:1-6) had a much easier time conceiving than Sarah.  But when Sarah conceived, she gave birth to the son of promise, because the relationship was according to God’s covenant!  Weddings make people nervous – and covenants make people nervous!	It is apparent that many other religions and groups have an easier time “giving birth” than the Apostolic church, because they preach a gospel that appeals to the flesh.  But if people are not being baptized in Jesus’ name, no one is getting into the covenant, no matter how large the crowd!  This is not an excuse for small thinking, but one in the covenant is worth thousands outside it.
Hagar’s roots were in Egypt, and although she had a one-time intimacy with Abraham, she knew her son would never have a COVENANT.  Only the legitimate son of a legal relationship had that!	Occasional intimacy with God that begets “children after the flesh” is no substitute for covenant relationship.  The children of the bond woman are fascinated by their Egyptian roots, and so everything they do is “Egypt-friendly.”  But the heart of the gospel is not to be a “consumer” of God, but to allow God to “consume” us!
Ishmael was circumcised, but not according to the pattern of the covenant (on the eighth day); he also did not have the covenant name (Isaac), so he was outside of the covenant.	Only the Apostolic church fulfills the beautiful typology of salvation set out in the Old Testament.  Baptism is New Testament circumcision, but many have tried to enter the covenant using a different pattern than what God prescribed.  True circumcision involves the cutting off of the flesh, the shedding of blood, rising to walk in newness of life (eighth day), and the giving of a NAME!  Only baptism in Jesus’ NAME puts you in the covenant!
It took the birth of Isaac to bring out the true nature of Ishmael.  Imagine a 16-year-old being so jealous that he would viciously persecute a 3-year-old just because he was the heir!  Ishmael, like his mother, had his roots in Egypt – and they were never eradicated!   ? ·        Genesis 16:12  And he will be a wild man; his hand will be against every man, and every man’s hand against him; and he shall dwell in the presence of all his brethren.	The watchword of modern religion is “tolerance without absolutes.”  A thin veneer of “brotherly love” covers the vast quagmire of conflicting doctrines and beliefs.  That is, until God’s absolute plan of salvation is preached; then the true fighting nature of the bondwoman’s son comes out!
The last straw was when Ishmael mocked Isaac on the day he was weaned (when he graduated to solid food).  God agreed with Sarah that he and his mother should be cast out for this action.  He was now not only outside the birthright (covenant), but outside the blessing (presence of Abraham) as well. ·        Genesis 21:8-9  8 And the child grew, and was weaned: and Abraham made a great feast the same day that Isaac was weaned. 9 And Sarah saw the son of Hagar the Egyptian, which she had born unto Abraham, mocking. ·        Galatians 4:29-30  29 But as then he that was born after the flesh persecuted him that was born after the Spirit, even so it is now. 30 Nevertheless what saith the scripture? Cast out the bondwoman and her son: for the son of the bondwoman shall not be heir with the son of the freewoman.	Many Christians are quite satisfied with their message of God’s love and being “saved by grace.”  They would be quite happy if we would stop there also.  Where the dividing line really comes is at the point of “weaning,” when the Apostolic church preaches and practices the meat of the Word.  As long as they are walking toward truth, God has patience with them.  But when they see it and reject it, God lifts His presence from them.  Their work from that point is accomplished totally in the flesh. BE SURE TO DISTINGUISH BETWEEN THE TWO IN DEALING WITH PEOPLE!  Are they walking toward truth or away from truth?
Because Hagar had a “common-law” relationship with Abraham, God promised to make Ishmael great.  But though he was blessed and multiplied, Ishmael still was not part of the covenant! ·        Genesis 17:20  20 And as for Ishmael, I have heard thee: Behold, I have blessed him, and will make him fruitful, and will multiply him exceedingly; twelve princes shall he beget, and I will make him a great nation.	God’s blessing is never a sign of His blanket approval, but only of His inherent goodness.  God always honors the preaching of His Word, and He meets faith wherever He finds it.  But crowds, miracles and blessings are not the seal of the covenant – baptism in Jesus’ name is!
The prophetic command to barren Sarah is to rejoice, because she ultimately ends up with more children than Hagar.  That’s because only the children of the covenant “count” in God’s sight!  Paul quotes from Isaiah to prove this: ·        Galatians 4:27  For it is written, Rejoice, thou barren that bearest not; break forth and cry, thou that travailest not: for the desolate hath many more children than she which hath an husband.	The prophetic picture of the endtimes is one of rejoicing for the Apostolic church.  This is our day!  It is not time to think small because you have been intimidated by the bondwoman in the past!  It is time to enlarge our thinking – we have the Covenant message!  Here’s what Isaiah said: ·        Isaiah 54:1-3  1 Sing, O barren, thou that didst not bear; break forth into singing, and cry aloud, thou that didst not travail with child: for more are the children of the desolate than the children of the married wife, saith the LORD. 2 Enlarge the place of thy tent, and let them stretch forth the curtains of thine habitations: spare not, lengthen thy cords, and strengthen thy stakes; 3 For thou shalt break forth on the right hand and on the left; and thy seed shall inherit the Gentiles, and make the desolate cities to be inhabited.

Philippians 3:3  For we are the circumcision, which worship God in the spirit, and rejoice in Christ Jesus, and have no confidence in the flesh.

Mark 16:15-16  15 And he said unto them, Go ye into all the world, and preach the gospel to every creature. 16 He that believeth and is baptized shall be saved; but he that believeth not shall be damned.

Galatians 3:26-29   26 For ye are all the children of God by faith in Christ Jesus. 27 For as many of you as have been baptized into Christ have put on Christ. 28 There is neither Jew nor Greek, there is neither bond nor free, there is neither male nor female: for ye are all one in Christ Jesus. 29 And if ye be Christ’s, then are ye Abraham’s seed, and heirs according to the promise..

WE SHOULD NOT FEEL “SUPERIOR” BECAUSE WE HAVE A COVENANT!  RATHER, WE SHOULD FEEL AN AWESOME SENSE OF PRIVILEGE AND RESPONSIBILITY TO PREACH THE GOSPEL TO EVERY CREATURE!  WE DO NOT SHARE RESPONSIBILITY WITH OTHER DENOMINATIONS – WE BEAR RESPONSIBILITY TO GET THE COVENANT MESSAGE OUT!