If you don’t know the Covenant you are under, how can you expect to walk in Its benefits?
A covenant is an agreement or promise, usually formal, between two or more people or groups to do or not do something specified. Jesus and The Holy Spirit gave us in great detail, the benefits of the New Covenant.
Peter wrote by The Holy Spirit in 2nd Peter chapter 1:
2 Grace and peace be multiplied to you in the knowledge of God and of Jesus our Lord,
3 as His Divine power has given to us all things that pertain to Life and Godliness, through the knowledge of Him Who called us by glory and virtue,
4 by which have been given to us exceedingly great and precious promises, that through these you may be partakers of the Divine Nature, having escaped the corruption that is in the world through lust.
How can you walk in agreement with FATHER and Jesus Christ if you don’t have true knowledge of them? Our mindset cannot be changed without first having the knowledge of Who GOD is, Who Jesus is, and Who The Holy Spirit is. If we don’t know the precious promises, how can we expect to embrace them on a personal level? We must read and dwell on those precious promises in order to change our mindset resulting in a change of expectation concerning our individual circumstances.
Paul wrote by The Holy Spirit in Romans chapter 8:
5 For those who live according to the flesh set their minds on the things of the flesh, but those who live according to the Spirit, the things of the Spirit.
6 For to be carnally minded is death, but to be Spiritually minded is Life and peace.
We are either carnally minded or Spiritually minded so our mindset is the issue!
7 Because the carnal mind is enmity against God; for it is not subject to the law of God, nor indeed can be.
8 So then, those who are in the flesh cannot please God.
9 But you are not in the flesh but in the Spirit, if indeed the Spirit of God dwells in you. Now if anyone does not have the Spirit of Christ, he is not His.
10 And if Christ is in you, the body is dead because of sin, but the Spirit is life because of righteousness.
11 But if the Spirit of Him who raised Jesus from the dead dwells in you, He who raised Christ from the dead will also give Life to your mortal bodies through His Spirit Who dwells in you.
We need to come to the realization that The Holy Spirit lives in us thus we are no longer a subject of the adversary. We are meant to fully embrace The New Covenant made perfect and complete by Christ Himself.
Jesus spoke in John chapter 6:
63 It is the Spirit Who gives Life; the flesh profits nothing. The Words that I speak to you are Spirit, and they are Life.
As we read and reread The Gospels, our minds become renewed and our relationship with Jesus deepens. If is our individual decision to either pursue life or by default, to accept death. If you don’t know the “terms” of a covenant, how can you expect to experience its benefits?
An excellent example of embracing the Truth once you have been exposed to it is recorded by Luke in Acts chapter 10 concerning the household of Cornelius:
1 There was a certain man in Caesarea called Cornelius, a centurion of what was called the Italian Regiment,
2 a devout man and one who feared God with all his household, who gave alms generously to the people, and prayed to God always.
3 About the ninth hour of the day he saw clearly in a vision an angel of God coming in and saying to him, “Cornelius!”
4 And when he observed him, he was afraid, and said, “What is it, lord?” So he said to him, “Your prayers and your alms (generosity) have come up for a memorial before God.
5 Now send men to Joppa, and send for Simon whose surname is Peter.
Cornelius had two things going for him: prayer and generosity to the poor. FATHER responded and prepared Peter to go and minister the baptism of The Holy Spirit to Cornelius and his household.
When Peter arrived, he began to preach The Word of Life:
34 Then Peter opened his mouth and said: “In truth I perceive that God shows no partiality.
35 But in every nation whoever fears Him and works righteousness is accepted by Him.
36 The Word which God sent to the children of Israel, preaching peace through Jesus Christ-He is Lord of all-
37 that Word you know, which was proclaimed throughout all Judea, and began from Galilee after the baptism which John preached:
38 how God anointed Jesus of Nazareth with the Holy Spirit and with power, Who went about doing good and healing all who were oppressed by the devil, for God was with Him.
Peter first confirmed The Word Cornelius already knew.
44 While Peter was still speaking these Words, the Holy Spirit fell upon all those who heard The Word.
45 And those of the circumcision who believed were astonished, as many as came with Peter, because the gift of the Holy Spirit had been poured out on the Gentiles also.
46 For they heard them speak with Tongues and magnify God. Then Peter answered,
47 “Can anyone forbid water, that these should not be baptized who have received the Holy Spirit just as we have?”
48 And he commanded them to be baptized in the Name of the Lord. Then they asked him to stay a few days.
Once you receive AND embrace The Word, then you will receive Its benefits!