Study

ARTICLE 4: Covenant

Our New Covenant Confidence

God has graciously and sovereignly entered into a New Covenant with His people Jer. 31:31-34 32:40 Heb. 8:7-13 10:16-17 13:20-21.

Jer. 31:31-34 KJV Read in context

³¹Behold, the days come, saith the LORD, that I will make a new covenant with the house of Israel, and with the house of Judah: ³²Not according to the covenant that I made with their fathers in the day that I took them by the hand to bring them out of the land of Egypt; which my covenant they brake, although I was an husband unto them, saith the LORD: ³³But this shall be the covenant that I will make with the house of Israel; After those days, saith the LORD, I will put my law in their inward parts, and write it in their hearts; and will be their God, and they shall be my people. ³⁴And they shall teach no more every man his neighbour, and every man his brother, saying, Know the LORD: for they shall all know me, from the least of them unto the greatest of them, saith the LORD: for I will forgive their iniquity, and I will remember their sin no more.

Jer. 32:40 KJV Read in context

⁴⁰And I will make an everlasting covenant with them, that I will not turn away from them, to do them good; but I will put my fear in their hearts, that they shall not depart from me.

Heb. 8:7-13 KJV Read in context

⁷For if that first covenant had been faultless, then should no place have been sought for the second. ⁸For finding fault with them, he saith, Behold, the days come, saith the Lord, when I will make a new covenant with the house of Israel and with the house of Judah: ⁹Not according to the covenant that I made with their fathers in the day when I took them by the hand to lead them out of the land of Egypt; because they continued not in my covenant, and I regarded them not, saith the Lord. ¹⁰For this is the covenant that I will make with the house of Israel after those days, saith the Lord; I will put my laws into their mind, and write them in their hearts: and I will be to them a God, and they shall be to me a people: ¹¹And they shall not teach every man his neighbour, and every man his brother, saying, Know the Lord: for all shall know me, from the least to the greatest. ¹²For I will be merciful to their unrighteousness, and their sins and their iniquities will I remember no more. ¹³In that he saith, A new covenant, he hath made the first old. Now that which decayeth and waxeth old is ready to vanish away.

Heb. 10:16-17 KJV Read in context

¹⁶This is the covenant that I will make with them after those days, saith the Lord, I will put my laws into their hearts, and in their minds will I write them; ¹⁷And their sins and iniquities will I remember no more.

Heb. 13:20-21 KJV Read in context

²⁰Now 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, ²¹Make you perfect in every good work to do his will, working in you that which is wellpleasing in his sight, through Jesus Christ; to whom be glory for ever and ever. Amen.

He has done this through the work of Jesus Christ Heb. 8:6.

Heb. 8:6 KJV Read in context

⁶But now hath he obtained a more excellent ministry, by how much also he is the mediator of a better covenant, which was established upon better promises.

Christ’s obedience and blood infallibly secure all of the benefits of the New Covenant for His people Matt. 26:26-28 Heb. 13:20-21.

Matt. 26:26-28 KJV Read in context

²⁶And as they were eating, Jesus took bread, and blessed it, and brake it, and gave it to the disciples, and said, Take, eat; this is my body. ²⁷And he took the cup, and gave thanks, and gave it to them, saying, Drink ye all of it; ²⁸For this is my blood of the new testament, which is shed for many for the remission of sins.

Heb. 13:20-21 KJV Read in context

²⁰Now 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, ²¹Make you perfect in every good work to do his will, working in you that which is wellpleasing in his sight, through Jesus Christ; to whom be glory for ever and ever. Amen.

By making us members of the one body of Christ Rom. 12:4-5 1 Cor. 12:12-27, the New Covenant lays upon us responsibilities, not only to God, but also to each other.

Rom. 12:4-5 KJV Read in context

⁴For as we have many members in one body, and all members have not the same office: ⁵So we, being many, are one body in Christ, and every one members one of another.

1 Cor. 12:12-27 KJV Read in context

¹²For as the body is one, and hath many members, and all the members of that one body, being many, are one body: so also is Christ. ¹³For by one Spirit are we all baptized into one body, whether we be Jews or Gentiles, whether we be bond or free; and have been all made to drink into one Spirit. ¹⁴For the body is not one member, but many. ¹⁵If the foot shall say, Because I am not the hand, I am not of the body; is it therefore not of the body? ¹⁶And if the ear shall say, Because I am not the eye, I am not of the body; is it therefore not of the body? ¹⁷If the whole body were an eye, where were the hearing? If the whole were hearing, where were the smelling? ¹⁸But now hath God set the members every one of them in the body, as it hath pleased him. ¹⁹And if they were all one member, where were the body? ²⁰But now are they many members, yet but one body. ²¹And the eye cannot say unto the hand, I have no need of thee: nor again the head to the feet, I have no need of you. ²²Nay, much more those members of the body, which seem to be more feeble, are necessary: ²³And those members of the body, which we think to be less honourable, upon these we bestow more abundant honour; and our uncomely parts have more abundant comeliness. ²⁴For our comely parts have no need: but God hath tempered the body together, having given more abundant honour to that part which lacked: ²⁵That there should be no schism in the body; but that the members should have the same care one for another. ²⁶And whether one member suffer, all the members suffer with it; or one member be honoured, all the members rejoice with it. ²⁷Now ye are the body of Christ, and members in particular.

In this covenant God writes His law upon our hearts and causes us to walk in His ways Jer. 31:33 Ezek. 36:27.

Jer. 31:33 KJV Read in context

³³But this shall be the covenant that I will make with the house of Israel; After those days, saith the LORD, I will put my law in their inward parts, and write it in their hearts; and will be their God, and they shall be my people.

Ezek. 36:27 KJV Read in context

²⁷And I will put my spirit within you, and cause you to walk in my statutes, and ye shall keep my judgments, and do them.

Thus, both the direction of our obedience and our ability to obey spring from the work of Jesus Christ and are gracious gifts of God. Christ purchased for us the Holy Spirit, by whose gift of faith we obey, not to establish our own righteousness before God, but to express our gratitude for grace. We confess that we were guilty before God Eph. 2:1-3, that He has been gracious to us in Christ Eph. 2:4-10, and that we owe Him gratitude Col. 1:12.

Eph. 2:1-3 KJV Read in context

¹And you hath he quickened, who were dead in trespasses and sins; ²Wherein in time past ye walked according to the course of this world, according to the prince of the power of the air, the spirit that now worketh in the children of disobedience: ³Among whom also we all had our conversation in times past in the lusts of our flesh, fulfilling the desires of the flesh and of the mind; and were by nature the children of wrath, even as others.

Eph. 2:4-10 KJV Read in context

⁴But God, who is rich in mercy, for his great love wherewith he loved us, ⁵Even when we were dead in sins, hath quickened us together with Christ, (by grace ye are saved;) ⁶And hath raised us up together, and made us sit together in heavenly places in Christ Jesus: ⁷That in the ages to come he might shew the exceeding riches of his grace in his kindness toward us through Christ Jesus. ⁸For by grace are ye saved through faith; and that not of yourselves: it is the gift of God: ⁹Not of works, lest any man should boast. ¹⁰For we are his workmanship, created in Christ Jesus unto good works, which God hath before ordained that we should walk in them.

Col. 1:12 KJV Read in context

¹²Giving thanks unto the Father, which hath made us meet to be partakers of the inheritance of the saints in light:

We show Him gratitude through our obedience. GRBC exists on the basis of this New Covenant and as a local expression of the power and grace of God in that covenant. In our church covenant we expressly renew the New Covenant, confessing both our joyful faith in the God of that covenant and our willing embrace of its obligations. These New Covenant obligations require that we love God supremely and our neighbor as ourselves. By the grace of that covenant and in accordance with God’s law written on our hearts, we dedicate ourselves to the following commitments as tokens of gratitude for grace lavished upon us in Christ Eph. 1:8.

Eph. 1:8 KJV Read in context

⁸Wherein he hath abounded toward us in all wisdom and prudence;

Our New Covenant Commitments

We agree to worship the one, true, and living God (Father, Son and Holy Spirit), who has revealed Himself to us in the Scriptures of the Old and New Testaments. We will declare His glory to the nations and have no other gods before Him.

We agree to worship God in His appointed way, only through the mediation of His Son, our Lord Jesus Christ. We will exclude from our worship anything that He has not appointed. We will observe the sacraments or ordinances of the New Covenant, baptism and the Lord’s Supper, not forsaking but carefully and conscientiously attending all the meetings of the church, except where legitimately hindered, practicing regular private devotions as well as family worship, and uniting with another faithful church when we move from this place.

We agree not to use the name of the Lord our God lightly or to take it upon ourselves carelessly. Instead, we will adorn the triune name of God we have taken upon ourselves in baptism and labor with zeal for the fame of His name and gospel of His beloved Son.

We agree to cease from our own works on the Lord’s Day, Sunday, unless they are works of necessity or mercy. We will sanctify the day by consistently attending the meetings of the church, fellowshipping with one another in our homes, performing acts of mercy, and engaging in private devotions and family worship.

We agree to honor and obey, within the bounds of Scripture, all our superiors, whether in family, church, state, or business; and, if we be superiors, to deal reasonably and lovingly with our subordinates and thus to teach them by word and example to follow the Lord Jesus Christ. We promise to resist the spirit of our age, especially with regard to the ordinance of marriage–as wives, respectfully submitting to our husbands and, as husbands, tenderly loving our wives as Christ loved the church.

We agree to avoid whatever tends to destroy us or our neighbors and to engage vigorously in all lawful endeavors to preserve our own lives and the lives of others. We will walk together in brotherly love, caring for one another, bearing one another’s burdens, watching over each other, faithfully admonishing one another, promptly repenting when we have sinned against one another, and not abusing our Christian liberties to our own harm or that of our brethren.

We agree to possess our bodies in holiness as vessels joined to Christ and indwelt by the Holy Spirit, to avoid all uncleanness of thought, speech, or action, and to bear witness against the uncleanness and sensuality of our age.

We agree to be diligent in our callings, in order that we may provide for our own households, avoid theft of time, money, or goods, give tithes and offerings to the church, provide for the needy, and support the advancement of the gospel.

We agree earnestly to promote truth among men, to avoid anything that would prejudice the truth or injure our neighbor’s good name, to promote the unity of the Spirit by our words and prayers, and to avoid all gossip as undermining such unity.

10.

We agree to be fully content with our own condition in life, to delight in the advancement of our neighbor, to avoid envying him or coveting anything that is his, and to rejoice with those who rejoice and weep with those who weep.

King James Version (1769 text), public domain. Text from eBible.org and the CrossWire Bible Society.