“SO WHY DO YOU KEEP CALLING ME ‘LORD, LORD!’ WHEN YOU DON’T DO WHAT I SAY?” (Luke 6: 46)

Throughout my many years of Pastoral Ministry, I have been thrilled when the unsaved receive Jesus Christ as Lord and Savior and then over time grow through discipleship into fully mature men and women of God – it is truly wonderful!

And throughout my many years of Pastoral Ministry, I have also been saddened when the unsaved receive Jesus Christ as Lord and Savior and then over time do NOT go on to grow through discipleship into fully mature men and women of God – it is truly disappointing!

Over the years I have observed that these Christians

Do come to Church, but not every Sunday because there is usually something else they need to attend to

They don’t make meaningful friendships in the Church

They don’t have a mentoring relationship with the Leaders of the Church

They are invariably ‘busy’ with something else and seem more interested in the unbelieving world than in the things of God

They don’t have a regular daily devotional time and are always struggling with their Bible reading and prayer

Their un-saved friends don’t know they are a Christian

Over the years I have thought about this a lot; “Why DON’T some Christians over time grow through discipleship into fully mature men and women of God?”

How can we explain this?

Do you remember the Parable Of The Sower that Jesus taught us in Mark 4: 1-20?

Mark 4:20 “And the seed that fell on good soil represents those who hear and accept God’s word and produce a harvest of thirty, sixty, or even a hundred times as much as had been planted!”

Maybe some Christians are just 30% producers, some are 60% producers and a few others are 100% producers!?

I think this might be part of the explanation – but I think there is more, I think there is another reason

I think the reason is this:

Some Christians DON’T fully understand their relationship with God – yes, they know they are saved but they think that their relationship with God can be ‘lived out’ on their terms and conditions, not on God’s terms and conditions

Some Christians think the Christian life is something like a Marriage Agreement – two parties, a man and a woman, bring their own terms and conditions to the relationship and if they agree then they can proceed, they can have a relationship, they can get married

A relationship like this is based on agreed terms and conditions

The man says - “I will be faithful to you”, the woman says - “I will be faithful to you”

And in the Marriage, if the man or the woman breaks the terms and conditions of the relationship, they might agree that the marriage can end and that they will go their separate ways

So, in summary, in a Marriage Agreement, 2 parties, the man and the woman, negotiate the terms and conditions of entering and exiting a Marriage

Some Christians think that’s how the Christian life works too – they think:

- “I will decide how I live out my relationship with God”

- “If it works out for me, if it is to my benefit, fine, I will keep doing it”

- "If it doesn’t work out, if it is not to my benefit, fine, I will walk away from it”

For those Christians who think this way I have some ‘Breaking News’ for you – our relationship with God is NOT based on a 2-party negotiation, it’s not an Agreement - it’s a Covenant

And a Covenant is very different to an Agreement

This misunderstanding about our relationship with God is not helped by some of the newer Bible translations that replace the word ‘Covenant’ with the word ‘Agreement’

Example:

Galatians 3: 15 NLT ‘irrevocable agreement' that God made with Abraham ‘irrevocable’ = unalterable

The problem is, an agreement is always up for re-negotiation/alteration

Galatians 3: 15 ESV ‘covenant’

Galatians 3: 17 NLT ‘The agreement God made with Abraham’

The problem is, God never made an agreement with Abraham

Galatians 3: 17 ESV ‘covenant’

Here is part of the Covenant that God made with Abraham:

C.F Genesis 17: 1-8

‘When Abram was ninety-nine years old, the Lord appeared to him and said, “I am El-Shaddai— ‘God Almighty.’ Serve me faithfully and live a blameless life. 2 I will make a covenant with you, by which I will guarantee to give you countless descendants.”

3 At this, Abram fell face down on the ground. Then God said to him, 4 “This is my covenant with you: I will make you the father of a multitude of nations! 5 What’s more, I am changing your name. It will no longer be Abram. Instead, you will be called Abraham, for you will be the father of many nations. 6 I will make you extremely fruitful. Your descendants will become many nations, and kings will be among them!

7 “I will confirm my covenant with you and your descendants after you, from generation to generation. This is the everlasting covenant: I will always be your God and the God of your descendants after you. 8 And I will give the entire land of Canaan, where you now live as a foreigner, to you and your descendants. It will be their possession forever, and I will be their God.”

Now, take a closer look at what the Lord said to Abraham about his responsibility to the Covenant

Genesis 17: 9 ‘Then God said to Abraham, “Your responsibility is to obey the terms of the covenant. You and all your descendants have this continual responsibility’”.

Then, the Lord went on to explain Abraham’s responsibility to God to live within the Covenant, Genesis 17: 10-27

Did God and Abraham negotiate the terms and conditions of a relationship Agreement?

No!

That’s because our relationship with God is NOT based upon a negotiated Agreement, it is based upon a Covenant

Before we go any further let's explain the difference between an Agreement and a Covenant:

An Agreement is made by synergism = two parties working together to decide the terms and conditions of the relationship

A Covenant is made by monergism = one party working alone to decide the terms and conditions of the relationship

There are 7 Covenants that God made with His people:

1/ ‘Adamic Covenant’ – the Covenant God made with Adam

C.F Genesis 1: 26-30; Genesis 2: 16-17; Genesis 3: 16-19

2/ ‘Noahic Covenant’ - the Covenant God made with Noah

C.F Genesis 9: 1-17

3/ ‘Abrahamic Covenant’ – the Covenant God made with Abraham

C.F Genesis 12: 1-3; Genesis 12: 6-7; Genesis 13: 14-17; Genesis 15; Genesis 17: 1-14; Genesis 22: 15-18

4/ ‘Mosaic Covenant’ - the Covenant God made with Moses and the people of God

C.F Exodus 20; Leviticus 26: 12; Deuteronomy 11

5/ ‘Land Covenant’ - the Covenant God made with Israel when they entered the Promised Land

Deuteronomy 29: 1; Deuteronomy 30: 3-9

6/ ‘Davidic Covenant’ – the Covenant God made with David

C.F 2 Samuel 7: 8-16

7/ ‘New Covenant’ - the Covenant God made through Jesus Christ with us

C.F Jeremiah 31: 31-34; Luke 22: 20; 1 Corinthians 11: 25; 2 Corinthians 3: 6; Ephesians 2: 8-9; Hebrews 7: 22; Hebrews 8: 6, 8, 13; Hebrews 9: 15; Hebrews 12: 24

So, what does it actually mean to be in Covenant relationship with God?

To answer this question, we need to understand that there are 3 parts of God’s Covenant

1/ In the first part of God’s Covenant He declares His authority over us

Leviticus 26: 12 ‘I will be your God, and you will be my people’.

Romans 9: 4-5 ‘He made covenants with them...and He is God, the One who rules over everything’

2/ In the second part of God’s Covenant He declares our responsibility to obey Him

The ten Commandments

Exodus 20: 2 ‘I am the Lord your God’

Exodus 20: 1-17 x 10 ‘you must’

Romans 1: 5 ‘Through Christ, God has given us the privilege and authority as apostles to tell Gentiles everywhere what God has done for them, so that they will believe and obey him, bringing glory to His name’.

2 Corinthians 6: 17-18 ‘Therefore, come out from among unbelievers, and separate yourselves from them, says the Lord. Don’t touch their filthy things, and I will welcome you. And I will be your Father, and you will be my sons and daughters, says the Lord Almighty.”

Ephesians 2: 10 ‘He creates each of us by Jesus Christ to join Him in the work He does, the good work He has gotten ready for us to do, work we had better be doing’.

3/ In the third part of God’s Covenant He declares the blessings of keeping His covenant and the curse of not keeping His covenant

Deuteronomy 28: 1-68

Hebrews 9:15 ‘He (Jesus) is the mediator of a new covenant, so that those who are called may receive the promised eternal inheritance’

Hebrews 10:29 ‘How much worse punishment, do you think, will be deserved by the one who has trampled underfoot the Son of God, and has profaned the blood of the covenant by which He was sanctified, and has outraged the Spirit of grace?’

So, what does it actually mean to be in Covenant relationship with God?

In summary:

1/ Submitting to God’s authority over our lives

2/ Obeying God in all things

3/ Giving God the glory for every blessing that He gives us

FINALLY:

Our relationship with God is NOT based upon a negotiated Agreement, it is based upon a Covenant

“So why do you keep calling Me ‘Lord, Lord!’ When you don’t do what I say?”

(Luke 6: 46)