COVENANT

By Pastor Gitahi Daniel, Christian Foundation Fellowship (CFF) Donholm Kenya.

A covenant is a chosen relationship in which two parties make binding promises to each other e.g God and man.

There are various major covenants mentioned in the Bible.
These covenants include
Noahic Covenant, the Rainbow Covenant, Abrahamic Covenant, Sinai Covenant, Davidic Covenant and the New Covenant which we are in and is the subject of this study.

THE NEW COVENANT
Jesus did not come with a new law, He came as the new law.
According to the new covenant, i am a Church, you are a Church, the building is where we congregate as the importance of brethren fellowship cannot be overlooked. This new covenant puts us at a better place spiritually and physically.

1. In the new covenant, Jesus Christ is the High priest and the Chief Apostle who cleanses our sins. In the old covenant, the law put the high priests in a position to forgive sins and access the holy of holies, which was not accessible to others.

2. According to the new covenant, we have the ability to obey God and to do His will. All this at a very personal level.

3. In the new covenant, we can commune with God, with whom we have a direct inward fellowship.

4. According to the new covenant we can know God deeply. We are allowed to receive gifts of the Holy Spirit and use them to edify the Body of Christ. We can prophecy. We can perform miracles among other things. In the old covenant; prophets were chosen, miracles were performed by specific people. Today, anyone in Christ Jesus and under the guidance of the Spirit of truth can be a prophet, can perform miracles.

5. Under the new covenant we can have a direct access to God. We do not require any middlemen for it.

Old Covenant vs New Covenant

• The old covenant came by Moses while the new covenant came by Jesus Christ. John 1 :17 says “For the law was given through Moses, but grace and truth came through Jesus Christ.” The law was given to be kept in the old testament while in the new covenant, Jesus is the law. When we follow Christ, we follow grace, truth, freedom etc.

• The old covenant kills . The new covenant gives life. 2 Cor 3:6 (b) says ‘the letter killeth but the Spirit gives life.’ With Jesus in you, you have life and life in abundance. Those in Christ will live even when they die.

• The old covenant was ended by Jesus, thus says Romans 10:4. The new covenant was established by Jesus according to Hebrews 8:6. Jesus is the mediator of a better covenant established on better promises hence we are blessed, strong, rich, have rights to be blessed etc.

• The old covenant enslaved/entangled with the yoke of bondage, Gal 5:1. The new covenant makes free . It is for freedom that Christ has set us free. John 8:36 says that if the son sets you free you shall be free indeed, while John 8: 32 speaks of knowing the truth, and that truth becomes the means by which we are set free. Free from; curses, bondages, sins, poverty. You should never be ensnared all that is required is for you to remain holy.

• The old covenant brings a curse. The new covenant redeems from curse. From Gal 3:10, all that rely on the works of the law are cursed. Verse 13 of the same chapter says “Christ redeemed us from the curse of the law by becoming a curse for us.” You should never be bound by an old covenant when Jesus, the new law, has redeemed you from curses.