Listen to this articleThere are three things that sometimes get confused in Christian circles; Covenants, Promises and Vows.
Promises
Promises are things that God says he shall do for you. This happens without you even asking him. It’s God who in his own grace decides to do something for you and makes a promise to you that he shall do it.
Here are examples:
Genesis 12:1-3 (ESV)
1 Now the LORD said to Abram, “Go from your country and your kindred and your father’s house to the land that I will show you. 2 And I will make of you a great nation, and I will bless you and make your name great, so that you will be a blessing. 3 I will bless those who bless you, and him who dishonors you I will curse, and in you all the families of the earth shall be blessed.”
This is not a covenant. It’s a promise.
Here is another example:
Matthew 19:28-30 (ESV)
28 Jesus said to them, “Truly, I say to you, in the new world, when the Son of Man will sit on his glorious throne, you who have followed me will also sit on twelve thrones, judging the twelve tribes of Israel. 29 And everyone who has left houses or brothers or sisters or father or mother or children or lands, for my name’s sake, will receive a hundredfold and will inherit eternal life. 30 But many who are first will be last, and the last first.
These are promises made by God to man.
DO WE STILL HAVE PROMISES
In the New Testament, all the promises of God are YES and CERTAIN as long as we seek them through Christ.
2 Corinthians 1:18-20 (NIV)
18 But as surely as God is faithful, our message to you is not “Yes” and “No.” 19 For the Son of God, Jesus Christ, who was preached among you by us—by me and Silas and Timothy —was not “Yes” and “No,” but in him it has always been “Yes.” 20 For no matter how many promises God has made, they are “Yes” in Christ. And so through him the “Amen” is spoken by us to the glory of God.
Under the covenant of Christ, every promise that you can read in the bible, every promise that God has made, is a YES. There is no NO, in Christ. It’s all YES.
VOWS
A vow is a pledge, or a promise that we make to God. Where we say GOD, if you do this for me, I will do this for you.
Here is an example of a Vow.
Genesis 28:20-22 (ESV)
20 Then Jacob made a vow, saying, “If God will be with me and will keep me in this way that I go, and will give me bread to eat and clothing to wear, 21 so that I come again to my father’s house in peace, then the LORD shall be my God, 22 and this stone, which I have set up for a pillar, shall be God’s house. And of all that you give me I will give a full tenth to you.”
Here is another:
1 Samuel 1:11 (ESV)
1 And she vowed a vow and said, “O LORD of hosts, if you will indeed look on the affliction of your servant and remember me and not forget your servant, but will give to your servant a son, then I will give him to the LORD all the days of his life, and no razor shall touch his head.”
New Testament
As you go into the church, you will not find people making vows like in the Old Testament. This is because there is no need to make VOWS to God.
The work that Christ did on the cross, is enough to pay for everything that you will ever need or ask from God. Our blessings in Christ are not dependent on our works, on what we shall do for him, but on what Christ did for us.
When people make VOWS today, it’s because they they don’t understand what Christ has done for them. It’s like getting into a bus, and someone in the front seat pays for you. But because you don’t know that someone has paid your fare, you say to the driver, if you get me to the destination, I will help you clean the bus. You are working for something that’s already paid for.
There is nothing that you will ever want from God, that Christ has not paid for. You just need to have faith to receive it.
Christ has already given you all the spiritual blessings in heaven:
Ephesians 1:3 (ESV) Blessed be the God and Father of our Lord Jesus Christ, who has blessed us in Christ with every spiritual blessing in the heavenly places
Christ has made you a Son of God and joint heir.
As a Son of God it means you’re an heir of God. This means you own everything that God owns. Everything that belongs to God, belongs to you as his son.
Romans 8:16-17 (ESV)
6 The Spirit himself bears witness with our spirit that we are children of God, 17 and if children, then heirs—heirs of God and fellow heirs with Christ, provided we suffer with him in order that we may also be glorified with him.
Scripture says you’re joint HEIRS with Christ. A joint heir is different from a Co-Heir. Co-Heirs own 50-50. Joint heirs both own 100%.
And Jesus says:
John 16:15 (ESV) All that the Father has is mine; therefore I said that he will take what is mine and declare it to you.
The Apostle puts it this way:
1 Corinthians 3:21-23 (ESV) 21 So let no one boast in men. For all things are yours, 22 whether Paul or Apollos or Cephas or the world or life or death or the present or the future—all are yours, 23 and you are Christ’s, and Christ is God’s.
SHOULD YOU MAKE VOWS?
This is what God told the people in the Old Testament:
Deuteronomy 23:21 (ESV) 21 “If you make a vow to the LORD your God, you shall not delay fulfilling it, for the LORD your God will surely require it of you, and you will be guilty of sin.
When Jesus came, he said, don’t do it at all:
Matthew 5:33-37 (ESV)
33 “Again you have heard that it was said to those of old, You shall not swear falsely, but shall perform to the Lord what you have sworn.’ 34 But I say to you, Do not take an oath at all, either by heaven, for it is the throne of God, 35 or by the earth, for it is his footstool, or by Jerusalem, for it is the city of the great King. 36 And do not take an oath by your head, for you cannot make one hair white or black. 37 Let what you say be simply ‘Yes’ or ‘No’; anything more than this comes from evil.
Christians are copying Hannah of the Old Testament, to try and provoke God as she did. Why would you provoke God to give you what he has already given you. Why would you carry a burden that Christ has carried for you?
A born again Christian making a vow to provoke God, is like when someone given a bicycle for a journey, and they carry the bicycle on their head. It’s like someone who comes and ploughs your field with a tractor, then immediately afterwards you go with your hoe to plough on top of the ploughed field.
Lack of knowledge of the word, is what causes our prayers to be ineffective. We therefore waste time with the wrong things, and pray amiss. As a result, we end up trying to pay for what God has given to us freely.
Matthew 10:8 (NIV) Heal the sick, raise the dead, cleanse those who have leprosy, drive out demons. Freely you have received; freely give.
In this world you’ll always find people selling things that should be free, and others buying things that they were given for free. Some humanitarian organizations may give out free food and put free boreholes in rural areas. But you will find some people being made to pay for things that they were given for free.
All the blessings of God in Christ are free. God gave us Christ for free and all things in Christ are received by His grace for free. All you need to do is to believe.
Romans 8:32 (KJV) He that spared not his own Son, but delivered him up for us all, how shall he not with him also freely give us all things?
A thousand years ago, the church had begun to ask people to pay money to receive forgiveness of sins. Through the work of Martin Luther, this bad doctrine was abandoned by many. Yet even now, it has returned in a different form. Instead of paying money to the church for your sins to be forgiven, people are now being asked to pay money for healing, to pay money for impartation of gifts, to pay money for their marriage, to pay money for their breakthroughs, to pay money for God to bless them. Many preachers may try to sell you things that Christ has given for free. They will tell you that if you don’t seed or tithe a certain amount of money, then God will not bless you, or grant you a breakthrough. Yet the bible is clear, Christ has paid the full price for anything and everything that we will ever need from God. The Apostle Paul told us that, God who gave us his son for free, will also freely give us all things.
When we try to offer God money for spiritual things, this is an insult to the sacrifice of Christ, and an insult to God’s grace and gifts. Apostle Peter explains:
Acts 8:18-22 (NIV)
18 When Simon saw that the Spirit was given at the laying on of the apostles’ hands, he offered them money 19 and said, “Give me also this ability so that everyone on whom I lay my hands may receive the Holy Spirit.”
20 Peter answered: “May your money perish with you, because you thought you could buy the gift of God with money! 21 You have no part or share in this ministry, because your heart is not right before God. 22 Repent of this wickedness and pray to the Lord in the hope that he may forgive you for having such a thought in your heart.
Just because something is popular, does not mean it’s right. Do not make vows and do not pay money to receive blessings from God. If you want to give to the church, give simply because you want to see the kingdom and work of God prospering, give out of gratitude, give out of love, but never offer money to God, to receive spiritual gifts or blessings. You have been warned.
COVENANTS
The word translated as covenants, is the same word translated as testament. This is where we get the word testimony. A biblical covenant is a binding contractual agreement between God and Man based on the Testimony of God.
A covenant is sealed by blood and it comes into effect when the person who testified of it, has died.
Hebrews 9:16-18 (ESV) 16 For where a will is involved, the death of the one who made it must be established. 17 For a will takes effect only at death, since it is not in force as long as the one who made it is alive. 18 Therefore not even the first covenant was inaugurated without blood.
A covenant has a sign that God gives as a seal or guarantee of his faithfulness.
In the Noahic covenant it was the rainbow
Genesis 9:13 (NIV) 13 I have set my rainbow in the clouds, and it will be the sign of the covenant between me and the earth.
In the Abrahamic covenant it was the Circumcision
Genesis 17:11 (NIV) 11 You are to undergo circumcision, and it will be the sign of the covenant between me and you.
In the Mosaic covenant, it was the Sabbath
Exodus 31:12-13 (ESV) 12 And the LORD said to Moses, 13 “You are to speak to the people of Israel and say, ‘Above all you shall keep my Sabbaths, for this is a sign between me and you throughout your generations, that you may know that I, the LORD, sanctify you.
In the covenant of Christ it is the Holy Spirit
2 Corinthians 1:21-22 (ESV) 21 And it is God who establishes us with you in Christ, and has anointed us, 22 and who has also put his seal on us and given us his Spirit in our hearts as a guarantee.
Should You make another Covenant with God
The covenant of Christ is the covenant of all covenants. It contains all the blessings that you will ever need and all the promises of God are freely given within it.
Deliverance, salvation, prosperity, priesthood, kingship, sonship, wealth, power, honour, strength and blessing: All these things were received by Christ through his death and resurrection, and are freely given to us through his covenant.
Revelation 5:12 (ESV) 12 saying with a loud voice, “Worthy is the Lamb who was slain, to receive power and wealth and wisdom and might and honor and glory and blessing!”
If you’re in Christ and are looking to make another covenant with God outside of the covenant of Christ, then you don’t really know what you’re asking for.
The Challenge:
You see the challenge with all previous covenants that God made with man, is that God would always keep his end, but man always falls short.
Hebrews 8:6-9 (ESV)
6 But as it is, Christ has obtained a ministry that is as much more excellent than the old as the covenant he mediates is better, since it is enacted on better promises. 7 For if that first covenant had been faultless, there would have been no occasion to look for a second.
8 For he finds fault with them when he says: “Behold, the days are coming, declares the Lord, when I will establish a new covenant with the house of Israel and with the house of Judah,
9 not like the covenant that I made with their fathers on the day when I took them by the hand to bring them out of the land of Egypt. For they did not continue in my covenant, and so I showed no concern for them, declares the Lord.
The MAIN reason you would look for another covenant is because you don’t think the covenant of Christ is enough to meet your needs. And that is a result of lack of information on the word of God.
The covenant of Christ can never be broken, because it is not dependent on you. It is not dependent on you because it is not between you and God. It is between Jesus and God, so in other words it is between God and God. When you enter into Christ by faith, you become a beneficiary of the covenant, but all the work is and was done by Christ. So you can never break it. It is eternal, it is secure, it is perfect, it is complete.
There’s nothing you can ever want from God that’s not included in His covenant with Christ. You just need to know how to access it, you don’t need another covenant.
AMEN.
