Are You a Team Player

Covenant tends not to be spoken of in most Christian circles today, yet the Bible is broken down into the Old Covenant and the New Covenant. Every believer should come to understand the depth of what covenant is from Gods perspective. Covenant is often mistaken in the church by many because there is a tendency to think that covenant and contract are the same, when in fact covenant is much more far reaching than contract. Covenant can be defined as a mutual consent or agreement of two or more persons, to do or to forbear some act or thing; To enter into a formal legal agreement; to stipulate; to bind ones self.

Now this may seem the same as a contract in many respects but there are some large differences between the two. For instance, covenant has unlimited liabilities whereas contract has limited liabilities. Covenant does not define terms in the way a contract does, but is commitment to the success of what has been stated in the body of the covenant, whereas a contract, the parties are only responsible to fulfill the terms of what has been stated in the body of the contract. Some Components of a Covenant as things such as...

• Agreement: The union of opinions or sentiments resulting in harmony and conformity...
• Commitment: The act of engaging; to pledge; or to pledge by implication...
• Stipulation: An agreement or covenant made by one person with another for the performance or forbearance of some act...
• Conditions:  To make terms; to precisely stipulate terms...
• Duration: In regards to the continuance of time...
• Exchange: To give and receive reciprocally...
• Bind: To tie together; To confirm or ratify...
• Death to independent living: Life shared between the covenant partners becomes the priority...

The word covenant appears 185 times in the Old Testament and 20 times in the New Testament. Maybe this is the reason why so many believers fail when it comes to upholding covenant. Could the thinking be "Well the New Testament does not mention much about covenant, so it is more and Old Testament topic or principle." This is so far from the truth. Look at what the writer of Hebrews says when he contrasts the Old and New Covenants, "But now Jesus has obtained a more excellent ministry, inasmuch as He is also Mediator of a better covenant, which was established on better promises. For if that first covenant had been faultless, then no place would have been sought for a second. Because finding fault with them, He says: "Behold, the days are coming, says the LORD, when I will make a new covenant with the house of Israel and with the house of Judah not 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 did not continue in My covenant, and I disregarded them, says the LORD. For this is the covenant that I will make with the house of Israel after those days, says the LORD: I will put My laws in their mind and write them on their hearts; and I will be their God, and they shall be My people. None of them shall teach his neighbor, and none his brother, saying, 'Know the LORD,' for all shall know Me, from the least of them to the greatest of them. For I will be merciful to their unrighteousness, and their sins and their lawless deeds I will remember no more." In that He says, "A new covenant," He has made the first obsolete. Now what is becoming obsolete and growing old is ready to vanish away." (Hebrews 8:6-13)

The Father was not establishing this New Covenant through His Son with one person or a specific group of people, but with all humanity. However, those who benefit directly from the covenant are only those who, "Confess with your mouth the Lord Jesus and believe in your heart that God has raised Him from the dead, you will be saved." (Romans 10:9) We must also keep in mind that, "For as the body is one and has many members, but all the members of that one body, being many, are one body, so also is Christ." (1 Corinthians 12:12) Well, if all believers are in one body, although diverse, why is it that we have so many denominations (division), independent congregations (division), congregation splitting apart (division) people leaving congregation for any reason (division) and not being in agreement (division)? Honestly, it is because many in the church today do not place any value on covenant, which translates into listening to the devil (division) more than God and is an open door for selfishness. Covenant is always broken for selfish reasons.

Whether we want to acknowledge it or not, breaking covenant is divorce. To divorce is to dissolve covenant. Look what God says about divorce, "For the LORD God of Israel says that He hates divorce, for it covers one's garment with violence, says the LORD of hosts. Therefore take heed to your spirit, that you do not deal treacherously." (Malachi 2:16) Although God is confronting the men of Israel with divorcing their wives, it is still a covenant that is being broken and the same applies when believers break off relationships from other believers. Breaking covenant is treacherous because it involves betrayal and or deception.

It takes courage and faith to walk out covenant. I believe that as we draw closer to the end of the ages, believers are going to need each other like never before. This means that we will have to accept one another in love and see our diversities as a good thing. Our hearts must be focused on Christ and the purpose of His Body on earth and most important, we must at all cost stop speaking words that offend. We must also let go of all offenses that some tend to hold on to. Finally, let us apply what the Holy Spirit spoke through the apostle Paul, "Let no corrupt word proceed out of your mouth, but what is good for necessary edification, that it may impart grace to the hearers. And do not grieve the Holy Spirit of God, by whom you were sealed for the day of redemption. Let all bitterness, wrath, anger, clamor, and evil speaking be put away from you, with all malice. And be kind to one another, tenderhearted, forgiving one another, even as God in Christ forgave you."  (Ephesians 4:29-32)