Christ Covenant Church

Following Christ requires that you daily submit every single area of your life (your mind or heart, your decisions and desires, your worries and cares, your past, present and future) to His Lordship (His Word, will and way) and justice (His penalty for sin), so that it will count for His Kingdom (Mat 16:21-24; Luk 14:25-35; Luk 9:23 and 62). In short, you choose to only be concerned with gaining Christ and His approval and nothing or nobody else (2Co 5:9-17; 2Ti 2:4; Phi 1:21; Col 3:2; 1Co 4:1-4) . Anything less than that is not following Christ according to how He defines it will not only fail to be effective in dealing w/sin, but manifest itself in a lack of boldness, interest, passion or loyalty for Christ in comparison to other things (Mat 6:21; Exo 20:3; *passion is what happens when you invest everything [when you give your whole life/everything you are/your present and future/all your hopes over to the Lordship of Christ]*).With that in mind, consider further, these truths as to what Following Christ i

To be united w/God and receive His forgiveness (justification/salvation) we must go to His house (18:1 “tent of meeting” = Literally, “tent of reunion” Deu 12:11; Jer 7:12; Joh 4:21 = God’s house of salvation/reunion wb all over the Gentile world).“Let no man deceive himself. Outside of this house, that is, outside of the Church no one is saved.” – Origen (184 -253 A.D.) What God has promised to His people: 1) is ready to be taken by His people (18:1 “lay subdued” = Conquered and ready to be possessed; 2Co 1:20 w/Heb 10:12-13), 2) will remain largely unrealized until we strive to take possession of it (18:2-3; 2Ti 2:5-6), 3) is incongruent w/laziness or procrastination (18:3 “How long will you put off” = How long will you be lazy? Pro 18:9; Heb 12:1; 2Pe 1:10 w/19; Eph 5:14-16), 4) will oftentimes require that we grow in knowledge and discernment to see what He specifically has for us (18:4-10; Phi 1:9-11; Heb 5:11-14; e.g. Mar 8:17). All God’s people receive an inheritance (18:2-19:51; Act 20:32; Eph 1:11-18

Following Christ requires that you daily submit every single area of your life (your mind or heart, your decisions and desires, your worries and cares, your past, present and future) to His Lordship (His Word, will and way) and justice (His penalty for sin), so that it will count for His Kingdom (Mat 16:21-24; Luk 14:25-35; Luk 9:32 and 62). In short, you choose to only be concerned with gaining Christ and His approval and nothing or nobody else (2Co 5:9-17; 2Ti 2:4; Phi 1:21; 1Co 4:1-4) . Anything less than that will not only fail to be effective in dealing w/sin, but manifest itself in a lack of boldness, interest, passion or loyalty to Christ in comparison to other things (Mat 6:21; Exo 20:3; *passion is what happens when you invest everything [when you give your whole life/everything you are/your present and future/all your hopes over to the Lordship of Christ]*).With that in mind, consider further, these truths as to what Following Christ is not:It is not confusing.If living in this world as a Christian

As discussed (in Part 1), following Christ requires that you daily submit every single area of your life (your mind or heart, your decisions and desires, your worries and cares, your past, present and future) to His Lordship (His Word, will and way) and justice (His penalty for sin), so that it will count for His Kingdom. Anything less than that is not following Christ according to how He defines it in (Mat 16:21-24, Luk 14:25-35, Luk 9:32 and 62) and will not only fail to be effective in dealing w/sin, but manifest itself in a lack of boldness, interest, passion or loyalty for Christ in comparison to other things (Mat 6:21; Exo 20:3; *passion is what happens when you invest everything [when you give your whole life/everything you are/your present and future/all your hopes over to the Lordship of Christ].With that in mind, consider further, these truths as to what Following Christ is not:It is not confusing.It is not going to make temptation/trials go away.It is not separate from loyalty to the church.CLOSING

Following Christ requires that you daily submit every single area of your life (your mind or heart, your decisions and desires, your worries and cares, your past, present and future) to His Lordship (His Word, will and way) and the justice He requires for your sin, so that it will count for His Kingdom (Mat 16:24 -“deny himself” = The removal of ourselves as the authority/boss over our lives ;“take up his cross” = The execution of ourselves upon our personal cross [Notice, “his cross”] is also necessary to following Jesus. Crosses were devices used by the Romans to punish law-breakers and rebels. As such, this phrase refers to a person’s actions in removing the sin and rebellion in our lives – through the justice required per God’s Law; Mat 6:19-34 = Investment, Loyalty and Focus; Mat 13:44-46; Mat 25:14-34; For “non-refundable” see Luk 9:62; “daily” see Luk 9:23).Following Christ is the only way to be saved and live without regret (Mat 16:25-27; Jos 23:14) .Those who only submit a portion of their life to fo

Coveting happens whenever we choose to indulge the temptation to pleasure our minds with thoughts of possessing or experiencing what God says is presently prohibited or forever forbidden (Jos 7:21 = pleasured/afflicting himself thinking about the forbidden fame and fortune, power and prestige of those things could bring; e.g. Exo 20:17/Deu 5:21 = pleasuring/afflicting ourselves thinking about us living in someone’s house, sleeping w/their wife or having their life). *when you choose to pleasure your mind w/thoughts of something/someone, you are (now in a very real way) desiring that something/someone (that is how God sees it)Examples:1.1. choosing to pleasure myself by thinking about my life as some pagan movie star or rock star;1.2. choosing to pleasure myself by thinking/looking at someone sexually that is not my God-given spouse;1.3. choosing to pleasure myself by imagining myself in a career that God will never give me;1.4. choosing to pleasure myself by imagining life as something other than what the tru

God-ordained and effective strategies for defeating our enemies include: 1) psychological warfare (6:1-16 w/20; 4-5 -“march around the city…blow the trumpets” = Sign that battle is beginning; 10-11 – “you shall not shout or make your voice heard…spent the night in the camp” = Sign that they are withdrawing from battle; 14-16, 20 – “marched around the city once…so they did for six days…on the seventh day…they marched around the city seven times…And at the seventh time…the people shouted” = Jericho’s citizens were mentally frazzled and emotionally drained by the time “the wall fell down flat” making them an easy target), 2) subterfuge/military deception (8:1-22, 3-8). The first of our success (given by God) is to be “devoted” (or given back to God) as “first-fruits” (6:1-2 w/17-21, 24; 2- “See I have given to you…” w/17 w/5:10 and Lev 23:5-11 = Feast of Firstfruits [day after the sabbath of Passover] – e.g. Sunday = The day/sabbath of Firstfruits in Christ – 1Co 15:20; e.g. first-fruits given back to God = our

Civil disobedience to protect the innocent among God’s people from being destroyed by the evil governments of this world wb: 1) viewed as faithfulness/loyalty to God/covenant community (2:1-16, 12 – “dealt kindly” = Literally, acted w/ faithfulness/loyalty [Heb. hesed]; Pro 24:11), 2) rewarded – even if that person is a pagan (2:17-21; Mar 9:41; See also Mat 1:5 = Rahab was welcomed into the covenant community). Spreading the news about Who God is and what He has done has proven to be a powerful tool for evangelism and advancing His kingdom (2:8-11, 22-24; Act 2:5-11; Psa 71:15-19, 145:1-12). Redundancy is one of the means God gives to us for discerning His ways/deliverance (3:1-13, 9-10 w/Exo 14:1, 14-16, 21-22 w/Exo 19:9-15; See 4:21-24). God’s love for His people is such that He is willing to “cut off” the resources of others, to prosper them (3:14-17; Rom 8:32). God gives “sign(s)” as a means to remember His deliverance/salvation (4:1-8, 19-24; Luk 22:19-20; 1Co 11:23-25). Great men are known by the power

Deuteronomy 32-34It is important that we “ascribe greatness to our God” (32:1-3) thru “words” that affirm His “perfection”, “justice”, “faithfulness” and sinlessness (32:4), and attribute any failure to our own propensity to act “corruptly”, be “blemished”, or “crooked and twisted”, or “foolish and senseless” (32:5-6). IOW: God is not the One to blame. We are no longer God’s children when we are “blemished” – which is the consequence of: 1) dealing “corruptly” w/God (32:5a; “dealt corruptly” = acted w/o loyalty – see 32:16, 21; Exo 32), 2) “crooked and twisted” behavior (32:5c; “crooked and twisted” = acting w/o justice/faithfulness to God’s Law – see 32:19-20). Children are to act like their father (or) wb associated w/the father they act most like (32:5-6; 1Jo 3:7-10; Joh 8:44). Remembering God’s care for His people (us) in the past is a powerful deterrent against sin in the present (32:7-18). Affluency can be a curse that causes us to forsake God (32:15). False gods (or religion) are demons disguised as th

Paul’s words in 1Corinthians fifteen make it clear that how we understand Christ’s death directly affects whether the “gospel” we believe is “in accordance with the Scriptures” (and saving) – or false (and damning). It is therefore (as Paul states) of “first importance”; a doctrine the Church cannot afford to get wrong. This unfortunately has been the plight of many within Evangelical or Reformed Christianity who espouse the false doctrine of Penal Substitutionary Atonement, a theory which states that Jesus in His death was punished for our sins (penal), in our place (substitute), so that God could extend forgiveness (or justification) to us[1].What those embracing the false doctrine of Penal Substitutionary Atonement fail to understand:The Bible communicates not one (penal only) – but two types of atonement – or means of satisfying justice, removing guilt or spiritual uncleanness and turning back God’s wrath[2]:Penal = atonement accomplished through the punishment of those guilty of sin establishing justice

Paul’s words in 1 Corinthians fifteen make it clear that how we understand Christ’s death directly affects whether the “gospel” we believe is “in accordance with the Scriptures” (and saving) – or false (and damning). It is therefore (as Paul states) of “first importance”; a doctrine the Church cannot afford to get wrong. This unfortunately has been the plight of many within Evangelical or Reformed Christianity who espouse the false doctrine of Penal Substitution.Penal Substitution = A theory which states that Jesus in His death was punished for our sins (penal) in our place (substitute) so that God could extend forgiveness (or justification) to us.Why the theory of Penal Substitution must be rejected as false:1.1. It is was invention of the Protestant Reformers to support their false gospel of Sola Fide.Though several of the Early Church Fathers did preach Christ’s cross-work as substitutionary (e.g. Justin Martyr, Athanasius, Ambrose, Gregory the Great), they did not view it as penal (i.e. Christ taking our

Faithful and “careful” obedience – not perfection, is: 1) what God expects in relation to His commands (28:1), 2) a condition of our salvation (28:1 – “If you faithfully obey…”; Evangelical view = There are no conditions other than faith). If we “faithfully obey the voice of the LORD (our) God” and are “careful to do all His commandments” then He promises to cause “all these blessings to overtake (us)” (28:2): 1) prosperity: we will prosper in our work, endeavors and investments (28:3-6, 8, 11-14), 2) protection: our enemies will be “defeated” and unable to unify/gain strength against us. They will also be “afraid” of us (28:7, 10; “flee before you seven ways” = A strategy in war. You route/scatter the enemy so that they cannot unify their forces against you.), 3) pardon: we will be made “holy” which implies the forgiveness of our sins (28: 9) (See Mat 6:9-13; 2Co 1:20). If we do not (faithfully) “obey the voice of the LORD (our) God” and are not “careful to do all His commandments and His statutes”, then He

Condescension (i.e. allowing divorce for “indecency” – things other than sexual immorality – Deu 22:1-24; e.g. Gen 21:10-12) – versus Holy Spirit possession, was God’s way of helping His people obey Him under the OC. Hence the reason divorce under the NC [the covenant providing the HS as helper] is only permissible where there has been a breach of the covenant – i.e. sexual immorality/adultery (24:1 w/Mat 19:1-9, Mat 5:31-32; Definition of condescension = concession/accommodation due to an inferior state; e.g. sippy cups for kids; Other examples of condescension: polygamy, OC clean laws for justification, Gen 29:30-31; Heb 10:1-4). The marriage covenant cannot be recovered for those divorced who have (again) joined sexually/spiritually to another (24:1-4; This includes our marriage covenant w/Christ – Isa 50:1 w/Jer 3:1 = Notice God sees spiritual/sexual union to another the same as marriage to another; According to the Bible, sexual union equates to spiritual union – 1Co 6:15-17). A person’s prosperity is ne

When contemplating “war” against the enemies of the church we must remember that victory : 1) is not determined by our opponent’s size or power since it is God who promises to fight w/ and for us (20:1-4), 2) mandates we fight (versus leaving it all up to God) and are ready to receive (the possibility of) pain/suffering (20:3 -“drawing near for battle” = we must still fight; 20:5-7 – “lest he die in battle” [3x]) 3) means enlisting/involving only the mature, brave and tough (20:5-7 = mature, 20:8 = brave and tough), 4) requires delegation (20:9). The only people the church can ever live “peaceably” w/ are those who are not : 1) fighting against the advancement of God’s kingdom (20:10-15), 2) trespassing on and threatening our “inheritance” (i.e. the Christian Faith and its blessings) (20:16-18; e.g. false Christians). God’s people are to be conservationists (20:19-20). 4.God’s instruction for dealing w/an unsolved crime in the covenant community means : 1) God does not always give us the evidence necessary to

Acceptable worship requires more than good intentions (i.e. it also requires careful observance of God’s instructions)(16:1-17, 12).The Lord’s Table (NC Passover) is to be observed only in the place where God’s Name dwells (i.e. the covenant community w/her anointed priests) (16:5-6).Though the “works of the law” (which included the three Sabbath holidays) have been superseded through faith in Christ (Gal 4:10), the principles which remain intact would include: 1) we must remove the sin or “leaven” from our life (i.e. we must seek and serve justice/repent) if we want God to remove His wrath for our sins (Passover) (16:1-8; 1Co 5:6-8), 2) we must acknowledge God’s yearly provision and blessings through freewill offerings and rejoicing w/the covenant community if we want His provisional blessings to continue (Feast of Weeks and Booths)(16:9-17, 10-11, 14, 16b-17).Every covenant community is to “appoint [its own] judges and officers” for the purpose of “judg(ing) the people w/righteous judgment” (16:18; 1Co 6:1-

Included in those “statutes and rules” that we are to “be careful to do” (or “obey”) “all the days that (we) live on the earth” that it may “go well w/(us) and (our) children after (us) forever” (12:1, 28) are: 1) the eradication of any and all traces of false religion/theology from our church/homes/lives (“the land the Lord has given us to possess”) (12:2-3, 28-31; e.g. worship songs w/wrong theology), 2) the establishment of worship (or liturgy) that is exactly according to God’s prescription (12:4-27), 3) the preservation of “everything” God has said w/o addition or subtraction (12:32).Meat is considered a blessing from God (12:15).The only blood we can ever “eat” is the blood of Christ (12:16, 23-25, 15:23; Gen 9:4; Lev 17:10-14 w/Joh 6:53-57 = Our lives are associated w/the life of the one whose blood we consume [we become “blood brothers”]. To possess blood association w/a dead animal is a curse whereas to be associated w/a dead Christ yields a blessing [since He rose again taking the curse only to Hims

Abundant life is the result of careful and complete obedience to God’s commands (8:1).God humbles us – i.e. tests us w/difficult situations to: 1) reveal the genuineness of our loyalty (love and obedience) to Him (8:2 – “to know what was in your heart”), 2) reinforce the fact that our physical bread/provision in life is fully dependent on our receiving of God’s spiritual bread/provision (i.e. His Word) (8:3), 3) demonstrate His ability to care for us during those times (8:4), 4) discipline us (positively and negatively) and make us stronger (8:5).If you get mad at God when things are difficult, then you have not taken to “heart” that God is treating you like a good parent either b/c you do not approve of good parenting or do – but are a giant hypocrite (8:5).Being faithful to God (“keep[ing] His commandments”) not only means “walking in His ways” (obeying Him) but also “fearing Him” (being afraid to disobey Him) (8:6).Constantly thanking God for all the good things He has given and done for you is important t