God's Covenant with Man

The Bible tells the story of God's powerful work of creation; and then continues with the story of his gracious work of redemption. It basically gives a history of mankind, from God's perspective. God has intentionally designed history, and so works that it unfolds according to his own master to diplay who he is –.

From the beginning of Genesis, God created mankind with the purpose of having him display God's own nature, ruling in justice and righteousness over the rest of creation, in analogy of God's own righteous and universal rule. God created man with the potential to have a relationship with Him (Genesis 1:26-27). Therefore, He has initiated many agreements with man--some conditional, some unconditional. Since God wants us to obey Him, many of these covenants stress the necessity of obedience as a condition to receiving what He promises.

I The Edenic Covenant

Man is charged with responsibility for propagating the race, subduing the earth, exercising dominion over the animals, caring for the garden in Eden and refraining from eating of the tree of the knowledge of good and evil. (Gen. 1:28-30) (Gen. 2:16, 17)

II Adamic Covenant

See Genesis 3. Consequences of man's fall necessitated a changed relationship between man and God including the following elements: (1) A curse on the serpent: Gen 3:14, Rom. 16:20, 2 Cor. 11:3,14, Rev. 12:9. (2) The first promise of a redeemer (the proto-evangelium). Messiah would come in the line of Seth, Noah. Shem, Abraham, Isaac, Jacob, Judah and David. (3) A changed state of woman including bondage and subservience to man's headship, and suffering and pain in motherhood. (4) Loss of the garden in Eden as a dwelling place and light occupation changed to heavy burden of work because of a cursed earth. (5) Inevitable sorrow and disappointment in life. (6) Shortened life span and tragedy of death.

III. The Noahic Covenant. (Gen. 8:21-9:17)

This unconditional covenant with Noah (which affects all mankind) establishes principles for all government, and includes the following: (1) Sanctity of all human life established. Man responsible to protect life, even to capital punishment. (2) A Promise that another universal flood will not occur and the ground will not be cursed further. (3) Man's relationship to the animals and to nature is confirmed (Gen. 8:22, 9:2). (4) Man, presumably a vegetarian before the flood, is now allowed to eat meat. (5) Special characteristics are assigned to the three sons of Noah, Shem, Ham, and Japheth.

 IV. The Abrahamic Covenant

Genesis 17 describes the formal institution of the covenant. Here God spells out the terms and conditions of this historic pact. God's promises are conditioned upon Abraham's obedience (Genesis 17:1, 26:3-5). This covenant was also extended to Isaac and his descendants (Genesis 17:9, 24:60, 27:28-29, 28:10-14). Circumcision was the "sign" or physical brand of identification of the human participants (Genesis 17:11).

Genesis 22:16-18 describes the "seed" promise which Paul refers to in Galatians 3:16. Again, although fundamentally based on God's grace, the context clearly ties God's offer to Abraham's obedience.  (Gen. 12:1-7) (Gen. 13:14-17) (Gen 15:1-21) (Gen. 22:15-18)

The Covenant With Abraham Is Restated And Confirmed To Isaac By The Lord

And Isaac went to Gerar, to Abimelech king of the Philistines. And the LORD appeared to him, and said, 'Do not go down to Egypt; dwell in the land of which I shall tell you. Sojourn in this land, and I will be with you, and will bless you; for to you and to your descendants I will give all these lands, and I will fulfill the oath which I swore to Abraham your father. I will multiply your descendants as the stars of heaven, and will give to your descendants all these lands; and by your descendants all the nations of the earth shall bless themselves: because Abraham obeyed my voice and kept my charge, my commandments, my statutes, and my laws." (Gen. 26:1-5)

The Covenant With Abraham Is Restated And Confirmed To Jacob By The Lord

Jacob left Beersheba, and went toward Haran. And he came to a certain place, and stayed there that night, because the sun had set. Taking one of the stones of the place, he put it under his head and lay down in that place to sleep. And he dreamed that there was a ladder set up on the earth, and the top of it reached to heaven; and behold, the angels of God were ascending and descending on it! And behold, the LORD stood above it and said, 'I am the LORD, the God of Abraham your father and the God of Isaac; the land on which you lie I will give to you and to your descendants; and your descendants shall be like the dust of the earth, and you shall spread abroad to the west and to the east and to the north and to the south; and by you and your descendants shall all the families of the earth bless themselves. Behold, I am with you and will keep you wherever you go, and will bring you back to this land; for I will not leave you until I have done that of which I have spoken to you.'" (Gen. 28:10-15)

V. The Mosaic Covenant also know as the Old Covenant

God delivered Israel from Egypt due to His prior covenant with Abraham, Isaac and Jacob (Exodus 2:23-25, Exodus 6:2-8). God then makes a covenant with Israel (through Moses as mediator) (Exodus 19:1-8). Israel glibly accepts the offer, not realizing they don't have the nature to fulfill God's requirements (Exodus 19:8, Deuteronomy 5:28-29). The terms and conditions of this covenant are spelled out in the remainder of the book of Exodus and reiterated in Deuteronomy.

And Moses went up to God, and the LORD called to him out of the mountain, saying, 'Thus you shall say to the house of Jacob, and tell the people of Israel: You have seen what I did to the Egyptians, and how I bore you on eagles' wings and brought you to myself. Now therefore, if you will obey my voice and keep my covenant, you shall be my own possession among all peoples; for all the earth is mine, and you shall be to me a kingdom of priests and a holy nation. These are the words which you shall speak to the children of Israel. (Exodus 19:3-6)

"Now we know that whatever the law says it speaks to those who are under the law, so that every mouth may be stopped, and the whole world may be held accountable to God. For no human being will be justified in his sight by works of the law, since through the law comes knowledge of sin." (Rom. 3:19,20)

                                    

"For since the law has but a shadow of the good things to come instead of the true form of these realities, it can never, by the same sacrifices which are continually offered year after year, make perfect those who draw near. Otherwise, would they not have ceased to be offered? If the worshipers had once been cleansed, they would no longer have any consciousness of sin. But in these sacrifices made in the Old Covenant  there is a reminder of sin year after year. For it is impossible that the blood of bulls and goats should take away sins.

VI. The Palestinian Covenant

This partly conditional covenant has several parts: (1) dispersion of the Jews was to be a consequence of disobedience. (2) Future repentance will be accomplished by God. (3) God will regather his scattered people and restore them to the land. (4) The people of Israel will be brought to the Lord as a nation. (5) The enemies and oppressors of Israel will be punished. (6) Future national prosperity and preeminence is guaranteed. See also Deut. 28, 29. Because of this covenant, the right of the Jews to live in the land is conditional upon their behavior.

"When all these things come upon you, the blessing and the curse, which I have set before you, and you call them to mind among all the nations where the LORD your God has driven you, and return to the LORD your God, you and your children, and obey his voice in all that I command you this day, with all your heart and with all your soul; then the LORD your God will restore your fortunes, and have compassion upon you, and he will gather you again from all the peoples where the LORD your God has scattered you. If your outcasts are in the uttermost parts of heaven, from there the LORD your God will gather you, and from there he will fetch you; and the LORD your God will bring you into the land which your fathers possessed, that you may possess it; and he will make you more prosperous and numerous than your fathers. And the LORD your God will circumcise your heart and the heart of your offspring, so that you will love the LORD your God with all your heart and with all your soul, that you may live. And the LORD your God will put all these curses upon your foes and enemies who persecuted you. And you shall again obey the voice of the LORD, and keep all his commandments which I command you this day. The LORD your God will make you abundantly prosperous in all the work of your hand, in the fruit of your body, and in the fruit of your cattle, and in the fruit of your ground; for the LORD will again take delight in prospering you, as he took delight in your fathers, if you obey the voice of the LORD your God, to keep his commandments and his statutes which are written in this book of the law, if you turn to the LORD your God with all your heart and with all your soul

VII. The New Covenant

Jeremiah 31:31-34 prophesies about a new covenant. The book of Hebrews provides the main New Testament commentary on this new covenant.

"But this is the covenant which I will make with the house of Israel after those days, says the LORD: I will put my law within them, and I will write it upon their hearts; and I will be their God, and they shall be my people. And no longer shall each man teach his neighbor and each his brother, saying, `Know the LORD,' for they shall all know me, from the least of them to the greatest, says the LORD; for I will forgive their iniquity, and I will remember their sin no more.' Thus says the LORD, who gives the sun for light by day and the fixed order of the moon and the stars for light by night, who stirs up the sea so that its waves roar ---the LORD of hosts is his name: 'If this fixed order departs from before me, says the LORD, then shall the descendants of Israel cease from being a nation before me for ever.' Thus says the LORD: 'If the heavens above can be measured, and the foundations of the earth below can be explored, then I will cast off all the descendants of Israel for all that they have done, says the LORD.' 'Behold, the days are coming, says the LORD, when the city shall be rebuilt for the LORD from the tower of Hananel to the Corner Gate. And the measuring line shall go out farther, straight to the hill Gareb, and shall then turn to Goah. The whole valley of the dead bodies and the ashes, and all the fields as far as the brook Kidron, to the corner of the Horse Gate toward the east, shall be sacred to the LORD. It shall not be uprooted or overthrown any more for ever." (Jer. 31)

"But as it is, Christ has obtained a ministry which is as much more excellent than the old as the covenant he mediates is better, since it is enacted on better promises. For if that first covenant had been faultless, there would have been no occasion for a second. For he finds fault with them when he says: 'The days will come, says the Lord, when I will establish a new covenant with the house of Israel and with the house of Judah; not like the covenant that I made with their fathers on the day when I took them by the hand to lead them out of the land of Egypt; for they did not continue in my covenant, and so I paid no heed to them, says the Lord. This is the covenant that I will make with the house of Israel after those days, says the Lord: I will put my laws into their minds, and write them on their hearts, and I will be their God, and they shall be my people. And they shall not teach every one his fellow or every one his brother, saying, `Know the Lord,' for all shall know me, from the least of them to the greatest. For I will be merciful toward their iniquities, and I will remember their sins no more.' In speaking of a new covenant he treats the first as obsolete. And what is becoming obsolete and growing old is ready to vanish away." (Heb. 8:8-13)

"Now as they were eating, Jesus took bread, and blessed, and broke it, and gave it to the disciples and said, 'Take, eat; this is my body.' And he took a cup, and when he had given thanks he gave it to them, saying, 'Drink of it, all of you; for this is my blood of the covenant, which is poured out for many for the forgiveness of sins.'" (Matthew 26:26-28)

Consequently, when Christ came into the world, he said, 'Sacrifices and offerings thou hast not desired, but a body hast thou prepared for me; in burnt offerings and sin offerings thou hast taken no pleasure. Then I said, `Lo, I have come to do thy will, O God,' as it is written of me in the roll of the book.' When he said above, 'Thou hast neither desired nor taken pleasure in sacrifices and offerings and burnt offerings and sin offerings' (these are offered according to the law), then he added, 'Lo, I have come to do thy will.' He abolishes the first in order to establish the second. And by that will we have been sanctified through the offering of the body of Jesus Christ once for all." (Heb. 10:1-10)

"Behold, the days are coming, says the LORD, when I will sow the house of Israel and the house of Judah with the seed of man and the seed of beast. And it shall come to pass that as I have watched over them to pluck up and break down, to overthrow, destroy, and bring evil, so I will watch over them to build and to plant, says the LORD. In those days they shall no longer say: `The fathers have eaten sour grapes, and the children's teeth are set on edge.' But every one shall die for his own sin; each man who eats sour grapes, his teeth shall be set on edge. 'Behold, the days are coming, says the LORD, when I will make a new covenant with the house of Israel and the house of Judah, not like the covenant which I made with their fathers when I took them by the hand to bring them out of the land of Egypt, my covenant which they broke, though I was their husband, says the LORD

This is an everlasting, unconditional covenant imparting a renewed mind and heart to the recipients. Restored favor and blessing for Israel. Complete and final forgiveness and removal of sins. Indwelling of the Holy Spirit. A rebuilt temple in Israel (Ezek. 37:26,27a). Cessation of war and institution of world peace. The Greek word diatheke is used interchangeably 15 times in the New Testament for "covenant" and "testament."

Why is it called new? The New Testament uses two different Greek words for "new": Neos means new in contrast to old. Kainos means "new" in the sense of "unique". Hebrews 12:24, which identifies Jesus Christ as the mediator of the new covenant, is the only scripture where neos is used in reference to the new covenant. Every other passage uses kainos. So the "new covenant" is unique. How is the new covenant unique and better than the old?

Hebrews 8:6 tells us the new covenant is better than the old because it contains better promises. Promises which were never before offered and thus unique to the new covenant.

Hebrews 8 enumerates three such promises.

Change of Nature -- Internalization of the Law Of God

Israel didn't have the heart or nature to obey God (Deuteronomy 5:29). The old covenant contained no provision for internal motivation to obey God (Hebrews 8:7-8, Romans 8:3), (Romans 8:7).

In the new covenant God promises to put His laws into the mind and write them on the heart (Hebrews 8:10). The new covenant promises the power to obey God through the indwelling presence of the Holy Spirit (Romans 8:1-4, 9), a unique feature of the new covenant. The fundamental basis of the new covenant is simply the conversion process. Writing God's laws in the mind and on the heart poetically describes how God, through the transforming power of the Holy Spirit, helps us internalize His laws. But conversion does not put the brain on automatic pilot. Nor is it like a sudden brain transplant. It is a daily process (2 Corinthians 4:16) of renewing the mind (Romans 12:2). Christ is being "formed in you" (Galatians 4:19) as "God works in you to will and to act according to His good purpose" (Philippians 2:13, NIV).

This change of nature results in an intimate relationship with God (Hebrews 8:10).

·        Forgiveness of sins, also necessary for a relationship with God (Isaiah 59:1-2), is another unique benefit of the new covenant (Hebrews 8:12). The blood of bulls and goats cannot take away sins (Hebrews 10:4). Therefore, forgiveness of sins was unique to the new covenant. The Passover wine represents the new covenant in Christ's blood, which was shed for the remission of sins (Matthew 26:27-28).

·        The old covenant was made at Sinai when Israel accepted its terms. The new covenant is made at baptism when we accept Christ's sacrifice and commit ourselves completely to God and His will.

·        Eternal inheritance is a third unique and better promise offered in the new covenant (Hebrews 9:11-15). Eternal life is more than a chronological event and change of composition. Most importantly, it is a never ending relationship with God (John 17:3). What meaning would eternal life have apart from God? We are heirs of God through Christ (Galatians 4:6-7, Romans 8:16-19). The change of composition is only a means to that end. And the chronological aspect of eternity simply "goes with the territory."

Future fulfillment (Second Coming of Christ)

The main fulfillment of Jeremiah's prophecy will occur when the new covenant is made with the house of Israel (Jeremiah 31:31, Hebrews 8:10). After He returns to set up the kingdom of God. Christ will establish the new covenant with all Israel and ultimately all mankind. So Malachi 3:1 calls the returning Christ the "messenger of the covenant."

Under His rule, the Law will be taught from Jerusalem (Isaiah 2:3). This shows the Law remains an integral part of the new covenant.Ezekiel 11:17-20 prophesies that God will give them a new heart and new spirit to motivate them to obedience. Mercy and forgiveness of sin will be extended to all (Isaiah 59:20-21). As result, Israel will enjoy an intimate relationship with God (Hosea 2:16, 19-20, 23).

What is OBSOLETE?

Some wrongly assume that all Old Testament laws are obsolete unless repeated in the New Testament. The New Testament is a record of members living by the terms of the new covenant. But nowhere does the Bible say all new covenant laws are recorded in the New Testament. Rather, the laws of the new covenant are written in the minds and hearts of God's people.

The new covenant renders the old covenant obsolete. The old covenant is not the same as the Ten Commandments. A covenant is an agreement; commandments are laws or terms of the agreement. The Ten Commandments are the words [terms, Jewish Publication Society translation] of the covenant not the covenant itself (Exodus 34:27-28). The covenant or agreement became obsolete, not the laws within it.

The word "obsolete" (Greek: palaioo) means "things worn out by time and use" (Vine's Dictionary of Biblical Words). Hebrews 10:9-18 shows Christ's sacrifice made animal sacrifices obsolete. But the old covenant was not suddenly discarded or forbidden in the New Testament Church. It simply faded into disuse as people became aware of the superiority of the new covenant and came under it. But the law of God will never become obsolete (Matthew 5:18).

Summary of new covenant features (present and future)

The new covenant is really quite simple. God wants us to have a relationship with Him. Obeying His laws is fundamental to that relationship. The way God has communicated His laws has varied, but the laws remain the same. He related His laws verbally to the patriarchs (see Genesis 26:5 where God said Abraham obeyed his voice).

To Israel, God wrote them on stones and in the book of the law. In the new covenant, He writes them in the mind and on the heart. The new covenant provides the motivation to obey His laws, extends forgiveness when we don't, and results in an intimate relationship with God for all eternity. We all look forward to the time when we will fully experience the benefits of the new covenant as eternal spirit members of God's family.

The Covenant of Grace

This covenant has been made by God with mankind. In it he offers life and salvation through Christ to all who believe. Inasmuch as none can believe without the special grace of God, it is more exact to say that the covenant of grace is made by God with believers, or the elect. Jesus said that all those whom the Father had given him would come to him and that those who come would surely be accepted (John 6:37). Herein is seen the close relation between the covenant of grace and the covenant of redemption, with the former resting on the latter. From eternity the Father has given a people to the Son; to them was given the promised Holy Spirit so that they might live in fellowship with God. Christ is the mediator of the covenant of grace inasmuch as he has borne the guilt of sinners and restored them to a saving relationship to God (Heb. 8:6; 9:15; 12:24). He is mediator, not only in the sense of arbitrator, although that is the sense in which the word is used in 1 Tim. 2:5, but in the sense of having fulfilled all the conditions necessary for procuring eternal salvation for his people.

Thus Heb. 7:22 calls Jesus the "surety" or "guarantee" of the new covenant, which is better than that which came through Moses. Within the context of this last passage repeated mention is made of God's promise to Christ and his people. He will be their God and they will be his people. He will bestow on them the grace they need to confess his name and live with him forever; in humble dependence on him for their every need, they will live in trustful obedience from day to day. This latter, called faith in Scripture, is the sole condition of the covenant, and even it is a gift of God (Eph. 2:8 - 9).

Although the covenant of grace includes various dispensations of history, it is essentially one. From the promise in the garden (Gen. 3:15), through the covenant made with Noah (Gen. 6 - 9), to the day that the covenant was established with Abraham, there is abundant evidence of God's grace. With Abraham a new beginning is made which the later, Sinaitic covenant implements and strengthens. At Sinai the covenant assumes a national form and stress is laid on the law of God. This is not intended to alter the gracious character of the covenant, however (Gal. 3:17 - 18), but it is to serve to train Israel until the time would come when God himself would appear in its midst. In Jesus the new form of the covenant that had been promised by the prophets is manifest, and that which was of a temporary nature in the old form of the covenant disappears (Jer. 31:31 - 34; Heb. 8). While there is unity and continuity in the covenant of grace throughout history, the coming of Christ and the subsequent gift of the Holy Spirit have brought rich gifts unknown in an earlier age.

These are a foretaste of future blessedness when this present world passes away and the Holy City, the New Jerusalem, comes down out of heaven from God (Rev. 21:2).And through the Spirit of the risen Lord indwelling in the church, that covenant of friendship is realized spiritually in the hearts of all the elect, as they are reborn unto a new life, and called by the gospel out of darkness into God's marvelous light. Now they all know Him, from the smallest to the greatest, for His law is written in their hearts. And their calling it is to live from the principle of the new life, and to represent the cause of the Son of God in the midst of a world that lieth in darkness.

Still all things are not accomplished. One more revelation of the wonder of God's grace we expect in the light of the promise. For the Son of God must be revealed from heaven. Once again God will bring His Firstborn into the world. Then God's covenant shall be perfected. Old things shall pass away, and He will make all things new. Our mortal bodies shall be made like unto the most glorious body of the Son of God, creation shall be delivered from the bondage of corruption to participate in the glorious liberty of the children of God, and all things shall be made conformable to the glory of the risen Lord. The new Jerusalem shall come down from God out of heaven, and the tabernacle of God shall be with men. And He shall walk with them, and they shall see His face, knowing even as they are known, and taste and declare that the Lord is good!

The whole function of the covenant, and especially of the covenant signs, is to assure us of God’s favor. God confirming His promise by the covenant;a mechanism that He put in place in order to assure us of His purposes in salvation towards us. Every one of us as believers, from time to time, struggles with doubt. And when we struggle with doubt, usually corresponding to that, there is a struggle with assurance. Isn’t it comforting for you to know that one of the things that God has spent the most time on in His inspired Word from the very beginning, from the book of Genesis, is the assurance of believers.

When Abraham was wavering in his faith in Genesis 15 and in Genesis 17, what did God come to his rescue with? The signs of the covenant.  When David was wavering in his faith in II Samuel 7, what did God do? He established His covenant with David, establishing David’s line on the throne. When we waver in our faith, about the purposes of God towards us, what has God given us to be strengthened in assurance? The signs of the covenant: Communion, The Lord’s Supper, the covenant meal, and Baptism, which we see administered from time after time, reminding us of God’s initiative for us. So the covenant constantly functions to assure believers of God’s steadfast purposes toward them. Even though we are fickle, He is not, and the covenant speaks to that issue. He is a God who binds Himself. He comes towards us and He says,“I will do this. And I not only promise it to you, I bind Myself by oath, and since there is no one greater than me, I bind myself by my own oath, to perform the promises that I have made to you.” Don’t forget that that is what the Covenant is about, very close to its heart, the assurance of God’s people of God’s purposes towards them.

1. There is a singularity and commonality to all of God's covenant arrangements with man.

a. God created man as a choosing creature with freedom of choice.

b. God always respects man's created freedom of choice

c. God's divinely initiated and arranged actions toward man

            (1). allow for man's response and responsibility

(2). expect man's receptivity to God's activity - Faith

d. This condition of chosen receptivity and availability does not create a contingency of

conditionalism" whereby God is limited to act only when man acts.

e. There are consequences to man's choices

(1) Blessings and cursings Lev. 26:1-39, Deut. 28:1-68

(2) Privileges and penalties

2. God's covenantal arrangement with physical Israel

a. God made a unilateral arrangement with Moses at Sinai

b. Physical peoples of Israel were expected to obey, keep, remember, do, and walk in the

covenant arrangements.

c. They forgot, did not continue in (Heb. 8:9), transgressed (Heb. 9:15), profaned, rejected, broke (Jere. 31:32), and sinned against those arrangements.

d. They experienced the promised consequences of "curses," war, sickness, exile, death, and the termination of the covenant arrangement.

3. God's new covenant arrangement with Christians

a. God made unilateral arrangement with mankind through His Son, Jesus Christ.

John 3:16 - "God so loved the world that He gave His only begotten Son.."

b. Men are expected to receive God's grace in Christ by the receptivity of faith Eph. 2:8,9 - "for by grace you have been saved through faith"

c. Such receptivity of faith must be maintained in the dynamic relationship of the Christian life Col. 2:6 - "As you have received Christ Jesus, so walk in Him"

d. There are consequences to our choices Col. 3:25 - "he who does wrong will receive the consequences of the wrong which he has done, without partiality" I Cor. 3:13 - "the fire will test the quality of each man's work"

Development of Godly Character

If we permit God's spirit to dwell in us and guide our lives, God can then create perfect spiritual character in us. But we must choose to do what is right by following His laws.

In God's view, the development of character comes from the practice of love, patience, mercy, faith, kindness, gentleness, and self-control. Read the entire chapter of Romans 12 for a better understanding of what our behavior as Christians -- whose minds have been transformed by the Holy Spirit -- should be like.

As a Christian grows in godliness he is granted additional knowledge, wisdom, and purpose. God has not created a world of robots. He wants thinking people who voluntarily choose to follow His way, and He will supply us with the spiritual tools we need to succeed. "If any of you lacks wisdom, let him ask of God, who gives to all liberally and without reproach, and it will be given to him." (James 1:5).

Yet we must understand that God continues to allow suffering in the world. The Christian does not live in a kingdom apart from the rest of the world. He must coexist with the evils of society and not be pulled down by them.

All suffering -- unhappiness, fear, misery, and even death -- comes from transgressing God's laws. The Christian learns to live by God's law of love and to reject Satan's way of competition, greed, and vanity.

" . . . though He was a Son, yet He learned obedience by the things which He suffered. And having been perfected, He became the author of eternal salvation to all who obey Him, called by God as High Priest 'according to the order of Melchizedek,' " (Hebrews 5:8-10).

He never once sinned, although He was often sinned against. He was spiritually perfect before God.

Was it easy for Jesus? Definitely not! In verse 7 of the same chapter, we read, " . . . who, in the days of His flesh, when He had offered up prayers and supplications, with vehement cries and tears to Him who was able to save Him from death, and was heard because of His godly fear, " (Hebrews 5:7).

The suffering that God permits helps us to develop godly character. God chastens every son whom He loves because chastening strengthens the individual (Hebrews 12:5-10). It is done for our profit so that we can be partakers of the holy character of God the Father.

Self-control is an important part of godly character. We must grow and develop our ability to exercise self control through the suppression of wrong desires and selfish motives.

"Therefore put to death your members which are on the earth: fornication, uncleanness, passion, evil desire, and covetousness, which is idolatry. Because of these things the wrath of God is coming upon the sons of disobedience, . . . " (Colossians 3:5-6).

In order to receive salvation, the Christian must demonstrate to God that he can and will properly and obediently direct the powers and blessings he has at his disposal. Then and only then will God grant him the gift of eternal life.