Covenant Mindedness 1 by Apostle Femi Lazarus: MP3 Download & Sermon Notes

What Covenant Actually Means

To understand the word covenant accurately, you must trace it to its first usage. The law of first mention in biblical interpretation requires critical words to be checked in the context of their original appearance, then tracked through the flow of thought across all of scripture.

The first usage of the word covenant is in Genesis 6:17-18. God says to Noah: I will establish my covenant with thee. God was making a pact. A covenant is not a promise. A promise depends solely on the integrity of the one who promised. A covenant depends on both parties knowing and playing their part.

If God says I will make you great, I will bless you, I will make your name known — and he has not mentioned what you are to do — that is a promise, not a covenant. The moment he says what you must do to ensure it works, it becomes a covenant.

Marriage is a covenant. It involves two. For a covenant to remain, both must be in relationship.

Promise vs Covenant — The Distinction That Changes Everything

Look at Genesis 12:1-3. God says to Abraham: get out of your country, from your kindred, from your father's house, to a land I will show you. I will make of you a great nation, I will bless you, I will make your name great. Notice what is absent — God does not yet mention what Abraham must do. That is a promise.

The covenant with Abraham comes later in Genesis 17, when God says: walk before me and be thou perfect — and I will make my covenant between me and thee. Now there is a condition. Now there is a demanded response. That is covenant.

As a born-again believer, your relationship with God as Father is not primarily a covenant relationship. A daughter has no part to play to remain a daughter. But a wife is in covenant — something is required of both parties. In the same way, you are accepted in the beloved not because of covenant-keeping, but because you are a child of God. The basis of your salvation is the finished work of Christ.

The New Covenant and the End of the Old

Hebrews 10:1 — the law was a shadow of good things to come, not the very image. It could never make those who came to it perfect. Every year the same sacrifices; every year a remembrance of sin. The blood of bulls and goats was never the answer — it was always pointing to Christ.

Hebrews 10:10 — by the will of God we are sanctified through the offering of the body of Jesus Christ once for all. One offering. Done. He took away the first that he might establish the second. The old covenant — ordinances, animal blood, the priestly system — was removed. The new covenant, sealed by the blood of Jesus, is now the basis of everything.

• You cannot add anything to what Jesus finished. The basis for your acceptance is the finished work of Christ.
• The new covenant is written on the heart — Hebrews 10:16-17: I will put my laws in their hearts and in their minds, and their sins and iniquities I will remember no more.
• Where remission of sins is, there is no more offering for sin. You now have boldness to enter the holiest by the blood of Jesus.

Grace Is Not Irresponsibility

The reason people are cautious to teach this is the assumption: if people know they are accepted unconditionally, they will live in sin. But listen — you do not overcome sin by mental struggle. Your head is too small to comprehend the mystery of iniquity.

Romans 6:6 — our old man is crucified with him, that the body of sin might be destroyed, that henceforth we should not serve sin. Romans 6:14 — sin shall not have dominion over you, for you are not under law but under grace.

Grace does not produce license. Grace produces the divine enablement to yield your members differently. You choose what you yield yourself to. Do not set landmines for yourself by sowing seeds in your heart that, when they germinate, will destroy you.

• Discipline is powerful, but if your discipline alone were enough to overcome sin, Christ died for nothing.
• Joseph fled by the spirit of grace. When it was David's turn, he chose to stare — and yielded himself. The difference is not character strength. It is grace accessed or grace refused.
• The Holy Spirit is the one who keeps — Jude 1:24: unto him that is able to keep you from falling, and to present you faultless before the presence of his glory.

Accepted but Not Always Approved

A man has two children — one makes him proud, the other steals. Both are his children. But it is not true that he is equally pleased with both. That you are accepted in the beloved does not automatically mean God is pleased with the way you are currently living.

Repentance is the message for the one in error — not a generalised assurance of approval. If the Spirit is already signaling in your heart that there are things to repent from, take it seriously. The prodigal son was a son the whole time. The father's love never left. But the son was still in the pigsty.

Father, we thank you for the new covenant — that you have written your laws on our hearts and our sins and iniquities you remember no more. Help us to live worthy of the grace extended to us. Don't let the devil take any of us farther than this. Let me help you. In Jesus name we pray. Amen.