The basic situation in this world is that man is under the bondage of the law ( Romans 3:19-20; also see Galatians). Therefore; the universal application of the old covenant of works essentially is expected for all who wish to come to the one true faith. Christ; of course has allowed us to be "grafted in" to the promises of Israel. We see this in the second half of Romans 13.
We have been called and chosen to be God's children. Nonetheless; we are just as required to follow the stipulations of Christ; namely loving God and obeying His commandments. ( John 14:21). Our love; of course only comes from the Lord; as any who love the law of God ( Psalm 119). The flesh abhors the law as it cannot obey it.
The church therefore; once again doesn't sign any paperwork with God but is held accountable to God's terms for calling themselves a believer. Greater punishment for those who have knowledge of the law is seen in Matthew 11:21 and the following verses. This is why churches that want signed agreements as to membership requirements aren't a failsafe method. God isn't fooled by those who say "Lord, Lord" but don't do what He says. ( Luke 6:46). God knows man's heart and that is what He gets to the bottom of in terms of man's attitudes and actions which is the focus of the New Testament and new covenant as the Lord Himself explained and of course is further discussed in the Epistles. We should be careful not to call ourselves Christians if we are not; it is better not to know the truth than to follow Christ in this way ( 2 Peter 2:21). We see the two classes of people who are either unbelievers or reprobate in many scriptures. More on that later.
When we look at the covenants of old specifically made for God's called out people who would eventually become the nation of Israel there was still nothing which man was required to do as far as signing a document on their end. There were certain regulations for those who wished to join the Jewish faith and there were severe restrictions when it came to foreigners and others with approaching the inner sanctuary of worship. God's patience certainly can be seen as they went quickly to idolatry the first time Moses went up into the mount; so the tablets of stone with the 10 commandments were dashed into pieces by Moses. After "cleaning house" as it were and pleading with God not to destroy all of those who crossed over from the Exodus Moses had to go through another 40 days of fasting and repeat the procedure.
As I have mentioned previously; the only covenant that was rendered obsolete was the old law when the new one of grace was established. ( Heb. 8:13). My backdrop in this subject delineates the distinction between obligations of His creation at large and case specific conditions for God's people. We need to be careful here as well; because in the case of Cain and Abel we see murder as something requiring justice well before any law was established. Things unique to Israel were things such as the Sabbath Day which was in force for those living in the land itself. That could bring a punishment as severe as a death penalty for those gathering sticks on the Sabbath; with some other things cutting people off from the camp. In other words there is some intersection of universal law with the specific rules for Israel. A final point here is that there are also covenants made between God and man. In Galatians 3:15 we see that covenants between men cannot be annulled or added to once ratified.
This is what makes marriage something in that category. Man makes a covenant with God "until death do us part." Clearly vows are a serious matter
The eternal nature of God is more or less comprehended by the souls of men ( Ecclesiastes 3:1). This is further bolstered by passages in Romans 1 about the Godhead revealed as well as a Creator of the universe (see also Psalm 19). God in the beginning established man in the environment of His choosing with the authority over all living creatures and with the assignment to till the ground. He also made Eve to be a suitable companion and as long as man remained obedient under the condition of not eating from the tree of knowledge of good and evil they would have lived forever in a state of innocence. Of course we know what happened; man broke the one rule and hence the warnings came to pass with the death of the soul (immediate) and the body (over time). Such terms could be said to be part of a covenant; or agreement.
I believe it is helpful to look at our Christian lives this way as well. John 6:37 and a plethora of other verses make it clear that before time God chose some to come to faith and for the Son to be revealed to them. This was part of a covenant; in some sense with the Godhead where the Son was obedient to the Father's plan for redemption. Again; this is an unwritten sort of understanding; perhaps this mystery involves some of the unrevealed things in Deut. 29:29 in the secret councils of heaven.
Scripture appears to have a number of records; a book of all the living ( Psalm 69:28) as all souls are His ( Ezekiel 18:4). There is also the Book of Life as mentioned in Revelation several times as well as a book of remembrance in Malachi 3:16 for a remnant or subsection of believers meeting these conditions. As far as the term covenant is concerned; we see that promise on God's end with the rainbow after the flood where He promises no more worldwide flood. Up until this point these were things that affected all of mankind but later things were for the set apart who would eventually make up national Israel.
Hi Jrv260. The Jewish Shabbat (from the word, Shavat meaning to 'cease or desist') has always been the seventh day of the week ( Exodus 35:2). And this began from sunset Friday & ending at nightfall Saturday.
The day that Christians generally observe as Sunday, for corporate worship, is not the Sabbath Day, but can be referred to as the Lord's Day (a day specially kept remembering the Lord Jesus' Resurrection, just as the Lord's Supper is for the remembrance of Jesus' Crucifixion ( 1 Corinthians 11:20)). However, some often fuse the two together, making Sunday the new Sabbath, which it is not - Sabbath has always been the day of rest for Israel only and yet by law, Christians living among the Jews also kept (i.e. abided by) the Jewish Sabbath.
The basic situation in this world is that man is under the bondage of the law ( Romans 3:19-20; also see Galatians). Therefore; the universal application of the old covenant of works essentially is expected for all who wish to come to the one true faith. Christ; of course has allowed us to be "grafted in" to the promises of Israel. We see this in the second half of Romans 13.
We have been called and chosen to be God's children. Nonetheless; we are just as required to follow the stipulations of Christ; namely loving God and obeying His commandments. ( John 14:21). Our love; of course only comes from the Lord; as any who love the law of God ( Psalm 119). The flesh abhors the law as it cannot obey it.
The church therefore; once again doesn't sign any paperwork with God but is held accountable to God's terms for calling themselves a believer. Greater punishment for those who have knowledge of the law is seen in Matthew 11:21 and the following verses. This is why churches that want signed agreements as to membership requirements aren't a failsafe method. God isn't fooled by those who say "Lord, Lord" but don't do what He says. ( Luke 6:46). God knows man's heart and that is what He gets to the bottom of in terms of man's attitudes and actions which is the focus of the New Testament and new covenant as the Lord Himself explained and of course is further discussed in the Epistles. We should be careful not to call ourselves Christians if we are not; it is better not to know the truth than to follow Christ in this way ( 2 Peter 2:21). We see the two classes of people who are either unbelievers or reprobate in many scriptures. More on that later.
When we look at the covenants of old specifically made for God's called out people who would eventually become the nation of Israel there was still nothing which man was required to do as far as signing a document on their end. There were certain regulations for those who wished to join the Jewish faith and there were severe restrictions when it came to foreigners and others with approaching the inner sanctuary of worship. God's patience certainly can be seen as they went quickly to idolatry the first time Moses went up into the mount; so the tablets of stone with the 10 commandments were dashed into pieces by Moses. After "cleaning house" as it were and pleading with God not to destroy all of those who crossed over from the Exodus Moses had to go through another 40 days of fasting and repeat the procedure.
As I have mentioned previously; the only covenant that was rendered obsolete was the old law when the new one of grace was established. ( Heb. 8:13). My backdrop in this subject delineates the distinction between obligations of His creation at large and case specific conditions for God's people. We need to be careful here as well; because in the case of Cain and Abel we see murder as something requiring justice well before any law was established. Things unique to Israel were things such as the Sabbath Day which was in force for those living in the land itself. That could bring a punishment as severe as a death penalty for those gathering sticks on the Sabbath; with some other things cutting people off from the camp. In other words there is some intersection of universal law with the specific rules for Israel. A final point here is that there are also covenants made between God and man. In Galatians 3:15 we see that covenants between men cannot be annulled or added to once ratified.
This is what makes marriage something in that category. Man makes a covenant with God "until death do us part." Clearly vows are a serious matter
The eternal nature of God is more or less comprehended by the souls of men ( Ecclesiastes 3:1). This is further bolstered by passages in Romans 1 about the Godhead revealed as well as a Creator of the universe (see also Psalm 19). God in the beginning established man in the environment of His choosing with the authority over all living creatures and with the assignment to till the ground. He also made Eve to be a suitable companion and as long as man remained obedient under the condition of not eating from the tree of knowledge of good and evil they would have lived forever in a state of innocence. Of course we know what happened; man broke the one rule and hence the warnings came to pass with the death of the soul (immediate) and the body (over time). Such terms could be said to be part of a covenant; or agreement.
I believe it is helpful to look at our Christian lives this way as well. John 6:37 and a plethora of other verses make it clear that before time God chose some to come to faith and for the Son to be revealed to them. This was part of a covenant; in some sense with the Godhead where the Son was obedient to the Father's plan for redemption. Again; this is an unwritten sort of understanding; perhaps this mystery involves some of the unrevealed things in Deut. 29:29 in the secret councils of heaven.
Scripture appears to have a number of records; a book of all the living ( Psalm 69:28) as all souls are His ( Ezekiel 18:4). There is also the Book of Life as mentioned in Revelation several times as well as a book of remembrance in Malachi 3:16 for a remnant or subsection of believers meeting these conditions. As far as the term covenant is concerned; we see that promise on God's end with the rainbow after the flood where He promises no more worldwide flood. Up until this point these were things that affected all of mankind but later things were for the set apart who would eventually make up national Israel.
The day that Christians generally observe as Sunday, for corporate worship, is not the Sabbath Day, but can be referred to as the Lord's Day (a day specially kept remembering the Lord Jesus' Resurrection, just as the Lord's Supper is for the remembrance of Jesus' Crucifixion ( 1 Corinthians 11:20)). However, some often fuse the two together, making Sunday the new Sabbath, which it is not - Sabbath has always been the day of rest for Israel only and yet by law, Christians living among the Jews also kept (i.e. abided by) the Jewish Sabbath.
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