People today are taught that we are not under the "OLD COVENANT", that we are under the "NEW COVENANT", this is only a half truth. We are still under the same covenant (which is called the EVERLASTING COVENANT), the only thing that is changed is the terms of the covenant. Abraham kept the same covenant, that was given to Moses on Mount Sinai. Abraham kept His commandments, His statutes, and His laws. Moses was given the same covenant; NOTE: Deut. 30v16; "In that I command thee this day, to love the Lord thy God, to walk in His ways, and to keep His commandments and His statutes, and His judgments, that thou MAYEST LIVE, and MULTIPLY": this was the same given to Abraham; NOTE: Gen. 26v5; "Because that Abraham OBEYED my voice, and kept My charge, My commandments, My statutes, and My laws". (The Everlasting Covenant)

The word covenant means, "CONTRACT, OR AN AGREEMENT BETWEEN TWO OR MORE PARTIES, OR BETWEEN GOD AND MAN". In short you surrendered to God, (and man has no right to negotiate with God) you agreed to His covenant. In the old covenant, the terms of the contract was, if you obeyed God and His laws, statutes, and judgments, then He would do this FOR YOU, but if you didn't obey Him, then He would do this TO YOU. The terms of the covenant at that time was carnal, and not spiritual. They were only promised good crops, peace, happiness, healthy children, and good flocks, there wasn't anything spiritual then because the Holy Spirit had not been given to all the people yet. They were being tried as a nation at that time, and only the chosen of God was given the Holy Spirit.

In the new covenant, the only thing that was changed, were the terms of the covenant; NOTE: Heb. 8v6; "But now hath He obtained a more excellent ministry, by how much also He is the mediator of a better covenant, (not new, just better) which was established upon better promises". Now, we can have eternal life, and also reign with Him as a king or a priest, in His thousand year reign, then forever be with Him. This was not offered to them in the old covenant, because it was a carnal time. (not spiritual) It is the same covenant that was given to Adam in the garden, and verbalized through the years by God to His chosen up until Moses. Then, it was given to Moses in a codified form for the first time, (that we are aware of) and written down for our learning today. If you broke God's law back then, you had the death penalty passed on you, and carried out right then by stoning. It is still the same today except you don't get stoned to death right then, but you still have the death penalty passed on you by God, until you repent, same death penalty, but just carried out at a later date.

When you read what it says in Romans, it talks about the law,sin,and death, it also tells you where sin started; NOTE: Rom. 5v12; "wherefore, as by one man, sin entered into the world, and DEATH BY SIN; and so death passed upon all men, for that all have sinned". Now, what is sin? NOTE: 1John 3v4; "sin is the transgression of the law", and that is His law that is in the covenant. The covenant was given in the beginning when Adam was in the garden; NOTE: Hosea 6v7; "But they, (meaning Israel) like men, (meaning Adam) have transgressed the covenant". So you see, when you really dig into what the Bible says, then you see that Jesus gave the same covenant to Israel that He gave to Adam. It was broken by Adam, and it is still being broken today by most people. The same law that people break today, is the same law they broke back then, and the death penalty has not been done away with. (just moved to a later time) It is the same law that is in the everlasting covenant, and it is still in the Bible for us now. (it is one of the terms of the covenant)

So, in short, if you say that you have turned your life over to Jesus, and say that you don't have to obey all of HIS COMMANDMENTS, then you haven't really accepted HIS COVENANT, you are still lost, and belong to the world, because you can't accept one and not the other. This is Jesus's covenant, and you can't pick and chose what you want, and don't want in His covenant, HE IS THE GOD, not you. He is the one that paid the price for the covenant; NOTE: Heb. 13v20; "Now 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".

The OLD and NEW TESTAMENT both talk about the covenant, as I stated befor, it was given to Adam, they broke it, then given to Abraham, they broke it, then given to Moses, they broke it, it was given after Jesus, and they broke it, and it is being broken right up to this very day. You still have the same laws as in the old testament, you still can't murder, it was in the old. You still can't have adultery, it was in the old. You still can't lie, it was in the old. You still can't steal, it was in the old. He didn't come to do away with them, He just magnified them in the New Testament, and included some better promises with it.

All you have to do is study the Bible for what JESUS SAYS in it instead of what MAN SAYS about it. You have the same Scribes and Pharisees today, as Jesus did back then, the only difference is that they just wear different clothes today. You see in NOTE: Rom. 15v8; "Jesus came to confirm the promises made to the fathers", (the promises were part of the covenant) but when you come to confirm something, you don't do away with it, do you? Then when you add; NOTE: Rom. 15v4; "For whatsoever things were written aforetime, were written for our learning", which takes you to; NOTE: 1Cor. 10v11; "Now all these things happened unto them for examples: and they are written for our admonition". (warning) That is why you need to read the whole Bible, because it is the guide book to life, and how to live in God's covenant, so that you may have life. It is still His covenant, and His promises, and His way of life, all you have to do is decide whether you want His ways, or mans way. If you chose His way, then study the Bible the way He says to in Isaiah 28v9-10, then do what 1Thes. 5v21 says; "PROVE ALL THINGS: HOLD FAST, THAT WHICH IS GOOD". If He is your God, then do it His way, not mans way.

In Godly Love
Leslie Alan, Winters