The Power of Covenant Love

One of the hallmarks of spiritual revival throughout the world today is the restoration of biblical truth to the church. Such a conviction requires a radical commitment to seek out and embrace those biblical truths that have been either lost or neglected by believers throughout the centuries of church history. Today, one of the truths that is being restored to the church is a greater understanding of what it means to live in covenant with God and His people.

As you may know, the word "covenant" is used repeatedly throughout the entire Bible, for it is a word that is meant to help us understand how God chooses to relate to His people. And yet, with such a large portion of the Scriptures devoted to God's covenant dealings with people, one must wonder why it is so rare today to hear Christians speak of covenant. Indeed, the consequences of this could be serious for many church communities, for without an understanding of covenant, we will be limited in our ability to know why we should stay together. This is especially true for many evangelical/charismatic churches where there is a constant circulation of people moving from one church to another. How tragic it is that many believers take the route of walking away from each other instead of staying in relationship to work things out. This why an understanding of covenant holds people together.

One of the defintions that I have used repeatedly over the years comes from Charles Simpson's book entitled The Covenant and the Kingdom. Covenant, he says, simply means "to bind together." I like this defintion because it reveals how intimately God wants to be involved in the lives of His people, for a covenant is the ultimate commitment one makes to others. In the coming days, I would like to open this subject of covenant more fully as we believe God together for an understanding of His promises.