I have learnt that we are New Covenant sons if we are Christians, from Cur.ry Bla.ke’s teaching in the “Di.vine Hea.ling Tech.nician” (I’m quoting from that again), but that we often don’t live like that. We do not realise that we can live differently and therefore we are not participating in the new covenant! We are losing out on certain benefits and that is mainly because once again we are lied to by the enemy and we believe those lies. So I want to tell you what the difference is between the two and hopefully bring some of the lies out in the open:
“Old Covenant servant: What does that mean? The Old Covenant servants were the people in the Old Testament. Abraham made a covenant with God, and under that Covenant God had to treat man a certain way, according to their fallen nature. Under the Old covenant there were only a few people God could work through – He helped as many as He could but His hands were tied due to antagonism and certain laws that were in place. He could not do certain things without violating His own holiness and goodness. A lot of us are still acting today as if we are Old Covenant servants, even though we don’t have to. How do Old Covenant servants act?
• Want to be told what to do, when to do it and how to do it (you want to God to speak to you directly many times and in different ways before you will be moved to do His will)
• Believes that God is removed from us.
• Believes that God is an angry God ready to punish us the moment we mess up.
• Believes that God is ready to withdraw his help – He stands off from us.
• Believes that God is out there somewhere – we have to seek Him.
• We don’t have enough, and we can only get it when we are ready.
• Without Jesus I can’t do anything!
• You are always emphasising what you can’t do, what you don’t have and what you need.
• A servant has no rights, and has no insight into his master’s business.
The Old Testament did not reflect God’s character; it just reflects God’s holiness and justice. It’s like a parent that does not want to punish his child. He does not want to do it, but knows he has to, because he knows it would be better for that child if he did punish him. That is Old Testament! The law was sent to show us how we could not keep it and how much we needed Jesus Christ!
Galatians 4:4-7 (NIV): “4 But when the time had fully come, God sent his Son, born of a woman, born under law, 5 to redeem those under law, that we might receive the full rights of sons. 6 Because you are sons, God sent the Spirit of his Son into our hearts, the Spirit who calls out, Abba, Father. 7 So you are no longer a slave, but a son; and since you are a son, God has made you also an heir.”
Romans 8:14 (NIV): “14 because those who are led by the Spirit of God are sons of God.”
New covenant son: Who is a New Covenant son? Anyone who believes that Jesus Christ is their saviour. The term “son” here has nothing to do with your gender – we are all sons through the Son – Jesus Christ! The New Covenant is now between God and Jesus Christ, who took our punishment upon Himself. Jesus made the covenant, He fulfilled the covenant, He died without breaking that covenant, which means there was no curse in that covenant, because nobody broke it! Once he died there is no possibility of breaking it, because once you die that’s the end of it. That is when a new testament/will comes into being, when someone dies. The good news is that He rose from the dead to come and enforce the rules of that New Covenant. You are in Him, so you get the benefits of the New Covenant and even if you mess up, there is a provision in that New Covenant that you can go to God, beg forgiveness and be reinstated perfectly into the New Covenant, but even then there is no mention of a curse.
God gets to treat us now the way He wants to treat us under the New Covenant. It says in Matthew 5:44-45 (NIV): “44 But I tell you: Love your enemies and pray for those who persecute you, 45 that you may be sons of your Father in heaven. He causes his sun to rise on the evil and the good, and sends rain on the righteous and the unrighteous.” God treats everyone the same and He wants us to be like Him and do the same, so we cannot judge who is worthy or not of being blessed by God. God wants everyone to come to repentance (2 Peter 3:9 (NIV): “9 The Lord is not slow in keeping his promise, as some understand slowness. He is patient with you, not wanting anyone to perish, but everyone to come to repentance.”) How do New Covenant servants act?
• You do not wait to be told what to do – you do the word.
• Set the captives free – expose the lies of the devil, heal the sick, drive out demons and raise up the dead no matter who they are. (Mark 16:15-18 (NIV): “15 He said to them, Go into all the world and preach the good news to all creation. 16 Whoever believes and is baptized will be saved, but whoever does not believe will be condemned. 17 And these signs will accompany those who believe: In my name they will drive out demons; they will speak in new tongues; 18 they will pick up snakes with their hands; and when they drink deadly poison, it will not hurt them at all; they will place their hands on sick people, and they will get well.”) i.e. The great commission.
• When you are born again you get the authority to be called a son of God.
• God is with us, He’s come to dwell in us – The emotions that I feel are His emotions dimmed – If I feel compassion, how much more compassion does He not feel?
• I can do all things through Christ who strengthens me (Philippians 4:13 (NIV): “13 I can do everything through him who gives me strength.”)
• I’m made perfect and complete in Him.
• Jesus is the word made flesh – get the word in you, speak it out loud and there He is! He is available; you don’t have to find Him!
• We don’t lack anything.
• I am a new creature; all the old things have passed away. Your old “flesh” has died away.
• God wants us to be like Him!
• You are always emphasising what He has given you, what you can do with it, and how you can help others!”
“The biggest problem in the church is that 99,9% of all Christians are operating under a Old Covenant mindset as opposed to a New Covenant mindset. As long as you try to act like an Old Testament saint, you’re going to be a servant. Whenever you begin to act like a New Testament saint, you become a son. Do you believe in sowing and reaping? What you sow, is what you reap. Do you know that that law has been in place since Genesis? Let me (Curry Blake) tell you this: “God did not sow a Son to reap servants. He sowed a Son to reap sons, and the Bible tells us that Jesus is going to bring many sons to glory, not servants.” Hebrews 2:9-11 (NIV): “9But we see Jesus, who was made a little lower than the angels, now crowned with glory and honor because he suffered death, so that by the grace of God he might taste death for everyone. 10In bringing many sons to glory, it was fitting that God, for whom and through whom everything exists, should make the author of their salvation perfect through suffering. 11Both the one who makes men holy and those who are made holy are of the same family. So Jesus is not ashamed to call them brothers.”
We must learn to be renewed – that’s why we talk about being Born-again, we must change our mindset, our attitude and start to live life the way God has ordained it for us to be! Here are some more scriptures showing the difference between the Old and the New Covenant way of living:
Ephesians 4:17-24 (NIV): “Living as Children of Light 17 So I tell you this, and insist on it in the Lord, that you must no longer live as the Gentiles do, in the futility of their thinking. 18 They are darkened in their understanding and separated from the life of God because of the ignorance that is in them due to the hardening of their hearts. 19 Having lost all sensitivity, they have given themselves over to sensuality so as to indulge in every kind of impurity, with a continual lust for more. 20 You, however, did not come to know Christ that way. 21 Surely you heard of him and were taught in him in accordance with the truth that is in Jesus. 22 You were taught, with regard to your former way of life, to put off your old self, which is being corrupted by its deceitful desires; 23 to be made new in the attitude of your minds; 24 and to put on the new self, created to be like God in true righteousness and holiness.”
Romans 6:6 (NIV): “6 For we know that our old self was crucified with him so that the body of sin might be done away with, that we should no longer be slaves to sin—“
Galatians 5:16-26 (NIV): “Life by the Spirit 16 So I say, live by the Spirit, and you will not gratify the desires of the sinful nature. 17 For the sinful nature desires what is contrary to the Spirit, and the Spirit what is contrary to the sinful nature. They are in conflict with each other, so that you do not do what you want. 18 But if you are led by the Spirit, you are not under law. 19 The acts of the sinful nature are obvious: sexual immorality, impurity and debauchery; 20 idolatry and witchcraft; hatred, discord, jealousy, fits of rage, selfish ambition, dissensions, factions 21 and envy; drunkenness, orgies, and the like. I warn you, as I did before, that those who live like this will not inherit the kingdom of God. 22 But the fruit of the Spirit is love, joy, peace, patience, kindness, goodness, faithfulness, 23 gentleness and self-control. Against such things there is no law. 24 Those who belong to Christ Jesus have crucified the sinful nature with its passions and desires. 25 Since we live by the Spirit, let us keep in step with the Spirit. 26 Let us not become conceited, provoking and envying each other.”
Colossians 3:3-8 (NIV): “3 For you died, and your life is now hidden with Christ in God. 4 When Christ, who is your life, appears, then you also will appear with him in glory. 5 Put to death, therefore, whatever belongs to your earthly nature: sexual immorality, impurity, lust, evil desires and greed, which is idolatry. 6 Because of these, the wrath of God is coming. 7 You used to walk in these ways, in the life you once lived. 8 But now you must rid yourselves of all such things as these: anger, rage, malice, slander and filthy language from your lips.”
Thank you for this post Marion. I learned something from it. Sometimes we need to be reminded of things that are right under our noses.
Many thanks. It is indeed sad that many have confused “unity” with “uniformity” and “having a standard” with “standardization”. God is indeed looking for “us” and not the cookie cutter people we try to manage ourselves into.
Stay in-step…you’re on a great path.
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