Commitments, Agreements and Covenants

Today’s topic is not going to be a very complicated one, but it is, I think, extremely important for us to understand, and (of course) to be able to explain to others. I have been looking forward to presenting it, as I believe it can be a general help to all of us, and a particular blessing to one or two of us. The topic of the talk today is called “Commitments, Agreements and Covenants.” What do they mean, and how do they apply to us?

We, as teachers of the CSDA message, speak quite a bit about all three of these concepts. We certainly see Church Membership as a covenant that is necessary for individual sanctification, and this is certainly not something easily accepted by many in modern Christendom. But I will speak more about that later.

For now, let us start with some definitions. For our purposes, I would define the terms, Commitments, Agreements and Covenants, in the following way:

A commitment is something that is given by a single party. It is one-dimensional, in that it does not require agreement or even consent or knowledge, from the other or others who are involved. In other words, I can commit to helping someone, I can even commit to an action, in that I fully intend to carry it out. I can commit an object to another person by giving it into their care. We have examples of commitments in the Scriptures:

2Cor 5:18, 19

You will notice, there is no response necessary from the other side; when Paul received a revelation of Yahshua on the road to Damascus, he did not agree to be knocked off his horse and temporarily blinded. When human beings received the Gospel, there was no agreement beforehand that they would teach it to others. The fact that some did and do teach the Gospel is the result of their covenant with Yahweh through the Son; and you will see what I mean by that shortly.

Here is one of our most used verses: 1 John 3:9

We explain that this verse means “deliberately” perform acts of sin, but in reality the verse itself actually says precisely that – if we take the word commit as a proper and specific translation of the Greek term that John used (which it is). In the Scriptures, the terminology used is always divinely perfect. If the Scripture is speaking of a sin with any circumstances that would lessen the spiritual guilt, it always carefully indicates this. For example

Lev 5:15

Num 15:24

But if the Scripture is speaking of sin deliberately done, then it simply says, “Thou shalt not commit adultery.” This is how we find it reading in 1John 3:9; those who are born again do not commit sin. They do not purpose, or intend, to sin. In other words, if they know something is a sin, they will not do it, because they had no purpose or intent to carry it out. If a born-again Christian does something that is sinful, it is not because he or she purposed or intended to do it. In other words, it was done in ignorance, or that person has not had a full conversion experience. This is the Bible’s universal testimony on this matter.

This is an example of where knowing the Biblical usage of a word helps us to confirm with assurance our understanding of the verses that are used. It is not enough to simply “read” the Bible. We must understand it also, and this often involves not only knowing what a word means, but what it meant to the writer of the passage we are studying.

In its pure, Biblical meaning, we cannot accidentally “commit” something, because we did not “commit” to doing it.

Now a covenant is a specific type of commitment. It is two-dimensional, but that is not the extent of it. A two-dimensional commitment is an “agreement.” If I say I will do something and it is an agreement, it is because someone else has asked or instructed me to do it, or has heard and accepted my statement. In other words, in proper terminology I cannot walk up to someone I have never met and say, “I agree to fix your car.” I can offer to fix his car; I can demand to fix it, or I can attempt to get an agreement to do so, but I cannot agree to it if there is no request or instruction. Now, if I tell someone I am going to fix his car, and he lets me do it, then he is agreeing to my statement – it is now two dimensional.

In the Scriptures, we have a few examples of agreement, but not as many as one might expect:

Exo 8:1

Exo 12:31, 32

Now you will notice that there is quite a lot of space between chapters 8 and 12; that is where the famous “Ten Plagues” are described. Pharaoh needed a lot of convincing before he entered into the agreement; Yahweh instructed him to let His people go, and the king of Egypt, eventually, let them do just that.

Now, in the books that CSDAs have studied during our camp meetings, we have seen a number of teachings that answer the question, “Why did Yahweh not just take His people out of Egypt? Why did He go through the process of breaking the king down, letting him harden his heart, and delaying the release of the slaves?”

There were a number of reasons for this, including as a testimony to the other nations of His authority over the creation, but one of the key ones was that Yahweh never does anything without agreement. We read:

Dan 2:20-22

It is not enough that Yahweh does all these great things, but very significantly, He revealeth those things that He does! How few are the people who appreciate this aspect of our Father in Heaven! Yah is often praised for His power, for His greatness, for His truth, and fairness. He is often rightly praised for His love. But how often do we give thanks to Yah that He is a God of Revelation?

There are two verses I have found myself using often in my recent studies:

Amos 3:7

John 15:15

Yahweh is to be praised, because He reveals things to those who are willing to listen. And He reveals the things that He does because He is showing us an aspect of His love, that He will not use any more force than is necessary. Even when the future of His nation is at stake, He will always use the least amount of power He can, even if it takes time, and repeated acts to get an agreement to be formed.

Here is another example of an agreement:

Mat 5:25

And another:

Mat 20:1, 2

As I mentioned, there are a “few” example of agreements in the Scriptures. Here is one with Yahweh as one of the participants:

Jonah 3:3-10

The people of Nineveh, believing Jonah’s warning, turned away from their evil ways, hoping and requesting that Yahweh would not fulfill the promise of destruction He had threatened through His prophet. When Yahweh heard the request, expressed in both words and actions, He turned away from His commitment to visit judgments upon the region. Now, there are a few things that may be learned from this… first, an agreement is stronger than a commitment. If I commit to doing something, but I later agree with someone that it is not something I should do, I need not do it.

Of course, this is something we must be careful with, because the world will often use those terms loosely, and interchangeably. If I commit to doing something and someone hears me and agrees with me, it is, by definition, an agreement. So we cannot use agreements to get out of promises made – one agreement does not (necessarily) cancel or nullify another. But if we intend to do something, and we later find an agreement that would run counter to it, we see that even Yahweh follows this example in which the agreement takes precedence over the thing spoken as a commitment.

We also see that when Yahweh enters into “agreements” it is with people who are not His own, like Pharaoh, or the people of Nineveh.

But you might say, “The Bible is filled with Yahweh agreeing to do things with people.” And that’s true, but just as an agreement is a specific kind of commitment, a two-dimensional one; there is another level also. There is a specific kind of agreement known as a covenant. This is a two-dimensional commitment with other characteristics as well, and it’s something that we have looked at in previous studies, but never in its relation to commitments and agreements.

One way to look at it is this: Yahweh will enter into agreements with anyone, even the heathen, but Covenants are reserved for those who are His people, who have, or are intended to have, a portion of His Spirit within them. Most of the agreements mentioned in the Bible involving Yahweh are actually Covenants, because He makes them with those who are, or are being called to be, His people.

We read, and for this we have a great variety from which to choose:

Gen 12:1-7

Another example, and look for the common thread:

Gen 9:8-17

And one more, just in case you missed all that:

Exo 31:13 (an idea repeated in Ezek 20:12 and 20:20)

When we studied Covenants by themselves some time ago, we saw that there were several parts to them. Among them were a promise (or result), a condition, and a sign or seal. Now, a simple commitment may have a condition, such as, “If it does not rain I will go to the store.” Any agreement is at least an implied promise, such as, “If I paint your house, you will give me $50.” But if I agree to paint your house for fifty dollars and I sign a contract with you, this is now more than just an agreement. There is now a sign involved, probably with our signatures on it… and now we have a covenant.

Yahweh is more than just a God of agreements. He is a God of Covenants. He will commit to doing things, such as sending His Son to redeem us even before we could appreciate or respond to this infinitely loving gesture. He will agree with the Heathen so that His will can be fulfilled upon the earth without needless displays of power. But ideally, and with those that respond to His loving kindness, He wishes to draw us all into a Covenant with Him.

To put it another way: Commitments are to the deaf and blind, such as the warnings of judgment and destruction. Agreements are to the unwilling, such as those who eventually follow His purposes, even though they would prefer not to. But Covenants are to the friends of the Almighty. Covenants are the assurances of blessings that come to those who willingly serve our Father in Heaven.

We are now talking about what commitments, agreements and covenants mean to us on a practical level. How do we use these things? I am sure there are a great many applications, perhaps more than we can cover in a single study, but I will share with you one of the most important, and it involves the concept of victory over sin.

How do we overcome sin in the life? It is by following a process of commitment, agreement, and covenant.

First, we must become aware of the sin. We must see that some habit, some practice, some action, is displeasing to the Almighty. We must come to know His mind on the matter, and by so doing, we come to hate that thing, and desire that it be gone from us. Remember, Yahweh does not use force, and He will not “tear” the sin from us if we are not willing with all our hearts to surrender it. But now, if we, by the grace of Yahweh, repent of a sin, come to the point where we are turning from it with firm intent, then we make a commitment to cease from that sin. That is the first step. Without any promise or reward or even, ideally, threat of punishment (although these are both used by Yahweh at times to awaken people from spiritual slumber) we say, “I will not do that thing any more!” We have made a commitment.

But Yahweh hears such statements. Yahweh honors such statements, when said with a sincere heart. When our Father hears these words, He agrees with it. He rejoices in it, and He accepts it. We now have an agreement, and by this agreement, the one who made the commitment is given the power, authority, and will, to live up to the commitment that he or she made. Remember, we are talking about sin… no human being has the power on his own, to resist sin. We are creatures of flesh, we have been weakened by six thousand hears of degeneration, we have enemies that are far more powerful and intelligent than we are, and we have the great drawback of a sinful past on an individual level. No human being can, in his own power, keep a commitment to cease from sin. There must be an agreement with a higher power. And fortunately, by the Sacrifice of Yahshua such an agreement exists, and is simply awaiting the sinner’s commitment so that it can go into effect. And remember, an agreement trumps, or nullifies a commitment.

We may have committed sins. We may intend to commit more; but when we make the commitment to cease from sin, that commitment is accepted by Yahweh, and becomes an agreement, so it destroys the previous sinful intent in the individual who is turning away from a dark and sinful life. In effect, because of the principle behind commitments and agreements, “whosoever is born of God doth not commit sin.” And why? Because we have an agreement with the Father. And by this agreement “His Seed remaineth in him, and he cannot sin, because he is born of God.” I hope you see how this works.

But now, what if we want to live our entire lives this way? What if we have turned from a sin, and done something pleasing to Yahweh and beneficial to ourselves and all those around us for the rest of eternity? Well, then we must advance to the third stage… now it is time for a commitment. Now it is time for a sign, or a seal, that expresses our faith in our Heavenly Father in a way that is a blessing to us, and a testimony to others.

Church Membership is that covenant. We enter into the Bride of Christ, the Church of Christ, and we do so by agreeing with the Head and Body, with Christ and His members, that the agreement we made with the Father and Son will guide us for the rest of our lives. And then we are baptized, then we accept a life lived in harmony with the 10 Commandments, then we enter into an open and public spiritual relationship with the earthly Temple of Yahweh, and we are now members of the Covenant.

But now, remember that an agreement has power over a commitment. Is there anything more on that topic? There absolutely is. Just as an agreement will nullify a commitment if the two are contrary one to the other, so a covenant will nullify or cancel a previous agreement, if that agreement conflicts with the covenant.

For example, I may tell my wife: “I am going to go to the park today.” I intend to do that, and I declare it… that is a commitment. But then she says to me, “We need to go to the store and buy groceries.” I agree with her, and so I break my commitment to go to the park, because I now have an agreement to spend my time in another way. Have I erred in breaking my commitment? No, because I now have an agreement that nullifies it. In fact, even if my wife had agreed to go to the park with me, but later realized we needed to go to the store, we can agree to break the previous agreement, and there is no problem. But suppose we agree to go to the store, and then one of us realizes that it is Friday evening, and we will not be able to get through our shopping before sunset? In that case, we cannot go to the store, because we have a covenant, one of the portions of which states that we will not violate the Sabbath day by conducting trade. So, we break our agreement. Are we wrong to do this? Certainly not, it is just that the covenant we are in is more binding upon us than the agreement, and certainly more than the commitment, we have made.

The Scriptures give a couple examples of this idea:

Mat 4:18-22

Another example:

Mat 10:37, 38

These are teachings that are difficult to accept for those who yet have an earthly, carnal mind, who cannot see the bigger picture, and the purpose for which the Christian is called into service. Here is a third, perhaps even more dramatic, example:

Mat 8:19-22

It is interesting to me that many of these examples of covenants costing people something involve family ties. It may be that Yahweh, knowing that the family is a sacred thing, also knows that it has great power to keep people from the right path if Satan is able to misuse the unspoken (and sometimes spoken) agreements and commitments among family members.

Family is very important. In fact, it is one of the most important institutions that the Bible mentions. Even so, Satan will often set it up so that familial commitments are at variance with the covenant to which Yahweh is calling His children. That is unfortunate, but it has proven to be a very effective tool used by the enemy of our souls. When that happens, what do we do?

Sometimes, we have to rely upon the principle of the Covenant. If we are in, or are being called to enter into, a covenant, we must understand how serious a matter this is. It means that if our previous commitments are in contrast with the covenant, Yahweh considers the covenant more important. If our previous agreements with others, up to and including members of our families, are conflicting with the covenant that we are in, or to which we are being called, Yahweh considers the covenant more important.

This is an experience that many of our current members, or near-members, have had to go through, or are going through. Whether it be parents, as it was in my case for a time, or husbands, or wives, there will come times when we must look at the things to which we have committed through the bigger picture, that of saving souls. And we must understand that, Biblically, the covenant that Yahweh has with His people is more important than any other arrangement we have entered into, or can enter into. Some of us have had to break off relationships to enter into the covenant of being a CSDA Christian. Some of us have had to depart from the homes of our parents. Some of us have had to deal with marital tensions, because we desire to serve Yahweh with all our hearts and cooperate with Him in bringing the Gospel to the people of this last generation.

But in every case, when we commit to something in the name of Yahshua, the Father and Son hear it, and they agree. And with that agreement comes power, and with the covenant that they thereafter draw us into comes the greatest gift of all: Eternal Life, and the opportunity, while probation lasts, to save other souls from death and destruction. As Yahweh said to Abraham, so He now says to us:

Gen 17:1b, 2

David.