Author Archives: Steve Long

Biblical Covenants

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The entire underpinning of the Bible rests on the covenants that God has made with His creation. It is common to hear references to the “Old Covenant” and the “New Covenant.” Sometimes references are made to an “Edenic Covenant,” an “Adamic Covenant,” a “Noahide (or Noahic) Covenant,” an “Abrahamic Covenant,” a “Mosaic Covenant,” and a “Davidic Covenant.”

What are all these covenants, and what bearing do they have on our life today?

To begin, let’s look at the definition of a covenant.

The Definition of a Covenant

The English dictionary defines a covenant as “an agreement, usually formal, between two or more persons to do or not do something specified.”

In the Bible, the word “covenant” is first encountered in Genesis 6:18, and is the Hebrew word “beri?yth” (Strong’s number H1285). The word is used 285 times in the KJV, and is translated “covenant” 265 times out of those 285. It is also translated as “league,” and “confederate” or “confederacy.”

“Beriyth” is related to the word “ba?ra?h” (H1262) meaning “to select” and “ba?ra?'” (H1254) meaning “to cut.” It is frequently used with the word “ka?rath,” which also means “to cut.” In Genesis 9:11 where the KJV reads “I will establish my covenant,” it is literally saying “I will cut my covenant.” The context of “cutting a covenant” is portrayed in Genesis 15 when God has Abraham cut a heifer, a goat, and a ram in half, then God passes between the halves.

In the New Testament, the word for “covenant” is the Greek word “diathe?ke?” (Strong’s number G1242). The same word is also translated “testament.”

Old Testament Covenants

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Salvation in the deep dark jungle

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If you have been a part of evangelical Christianity for any length of time, you understand the importance of a relationship with Jesus Christ, and the importance of sharing your faith with others so that they may come to Christ as well. With this understanding, the question is inevitably raised, “what about the people in the remote jungle who know nothing about Jesus?”

There are many ways to address this question; some answers can get quite involved.

One answer is, ignorance is no excuse. God is holy, humans are sinful (all of us, with no exceptions–Romans 3:10, 3:23), and without an acceptable sacrifice applied on our behalf, we deserve to go to hell (Romans 5:12, 6:23). There is nothing wrong with this answer, and it should motivate Christians towards global evangelism (Jerusalem, Judea, Samaria, and the ends of the earth–Acts 1:8).

However, this answer is still unsatisfactory to some, who find it difficult to accept that there is no hope of salvation for those who die without ever hearing about Jesus. Perhaps this raises the question, “what does it take for an acceptable sacrifice to be applied on your behalf?”

The question with regards to the inhabitant of the remote jungle might be, “is it possible to be saved by Jesus without knowing about Jesus?”

While not attempting to provide a definitive answer to every question that might be asked, there are several concepts that I find helpful.

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Sleeping arrangements

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What happens when an unmarried Christian couple (boyfriend and girlfriend) want to go on a trip together? Is it okay to stay in a hotel? Do they need to book separate rooms, or can they share a room?

In my opinion, there are two issues to be considered:

1. The issue of “appropriateness” versus “impropriety.”

2. The issue of temptation.

As a Christian, it’s a given that sexual acts (including, but not limited to, intercourse) are reserved for marriage. Engaging in such acts is sinful for those who are unmarried. There are also behaviors that are not necessarily wrong, but may result in being tempted towards behavior that would be wrong. For example, sleeping in the same bed, while not a sin itself, would open the door for lots of temptation, and put “forbidden fruit” within easy grasp, making it easy to succumb to temptation. Therefore sleeping in the same bed is a bad idea because of the issue of temptation. Also, even if two individuals were entirely confident in their ability to resist temptation, most people would agree that it would be inappropriate, in the same way that co-habitation prior to marriage is inappropriate. Even in the absence of any sexual behavior, sharing a bed is a very intimate arrangement, and that type of intimacy should probably be reserved for those who are married.

Sleeping in separate beds in the same room provides less opportunity for temptation, but still may allow for too much temptation to be a good choice. Particularly if there is no sofa or loveseat in the room, it would be quite easy to start out with the two individuals sitting on top of one bed talking or watching TV, and then the one invididual never makes it over to his/her own bed, which puts them right back into the problem described above. Most would agree that sharing a bedroom is inappropriate, just as sharing the same bed is inappropriate.

With separate sleeping quarters, one of the individuals must leave to “go to bed,” which greatly reduces the temptation that results from sharing the same sleeping quarters. From a temptation standpoint, my opinion is that separate rooms are called for. This could be separate bedrooms at the home of friends or family, a separate room in a hotel suite, or separate individual rooms in a hotel. In my view there is not a substantial difference between a separate room divided by a doorway and a separate room down the hall. There should be no more temptation or opportunity for temptation than spending time together normally at one individual’s house or apartment.

Wild at Heart

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It seems that whenever someone or something becomes popular, it’s never long before the attacks begin. The Christian subculture is no exception. Perhaps the logic goes something like this: “I’m teaching the truth, and I’m not popular. Therefore, the truth cannot be popular. Hence, if something is popular, there must be something wrong with it.” Another possibility is that sometimes a new perspective challenges people to change what they are doing. If someone is convinced that they are doing things the right way, then they may feel the need to poke holes in the viewpoint that expresses a need for change.

I can’t defend everything John Eldredge says, and I’ll admit that some of what he says leaves me a little uneasy. I’ve also been challenged and refreshed by the two books of his that I’ve read (Wild at Heart and Waking the Dead). After reading a very critical review of Wild at Heart, I wrote the following response:

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Finances

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Some thoughts on financial management, budgeting, getting out of debt, etc.

It takes time. You need to be organized, and take the time to keep track of your finances.

It can seem overwhelming at first. When someone is thousands of dollars in debt, sometimes they would rather just not think about it. That only makes the situation worse, because if you don’t figure out exactly how much you make and how much you owe, you cannot create a plan to get out of debt.

First steps:

1. Net Worth: Know where all your money is, and how much there is.
-Some people have multiple checking/savings accounts, and may not even know how much is in each account. Consolidate multiple accounts. Use your bank’s website to keep tabs on your account balances.

2. Income: Figure out how much you make. (net salary, after taxes, on a monthly basis)
-Don’t include overtime or odd jobs if they can’t be counted on for regular income.

3. Expenses: List all of your regular expenses. (mortgage/rent, car payments, other loan payments, utility bills, phone/cable/internet, magazines, food, gas, etc.)
-For expenses that don’t occur once a month, figure out the monthly equivalent. (expenses for total year, divided by 12)

4. Liabilities: Add up all past due bills. (we’ll come back to this one after Step 5)
-List your debts in ascending order, for the smallest amount owed to the largest amount
-Be aware of interest rates, late fees, service charges, etc.

5. Balance your budget.
If your expenses (#3) are more than your income (#2), then you need to aggressively reduce your expenses and/or increase your income. Increasing your income isn’t always within your control, but reducing expenses usually is. TV, internet, cell phones, magazines, movies, etc., are all optional expenses that may need to be eliminated. You may need to find strategies to save on gas money and food. You may decide you can’t afford your current car or residence, and need to trade down. You may need to find a second job. Do whatever it takes to make sure that your income is greater than your expenses.

6. Manage expenses.
Now that you have a budget that allows you to live within your means, you need some structure to keep your spending under control to make sure you stick to your budget. This is why keeping track of your spending habits is important, so you don’t get to the end of the month and realize (too late) that you’re out of money. Many people find it helpful to use an envelope system. At the beginning of each month, take out the budgeted amount of cash for food, gas, entertainment, and other discretionary expenses, and put each amount in it’s own envelope. Use only the allotted cash to make your purchases (don’t write checks or use your credit card). If your food money runs low, you’ll have to eat peanut butter and jelly for a while. If your gas money runs low, you’ll have to stay close to home for a while. If you don’t use all your gas money in a given month, don’t just blow it on something else: save it, or use it to pay off debt.

7. Pay down debt.
While you’re creating your budget in Step 5, it’s important to not just have your expenses be equal to your income, but to have your expenses be less than your income. This excess income is used to create savings and pay off accumulated debt. It is often recommended to eliminate your smallest debts first, and work your way up, but sometimes the debt with the highest interest rate or highest late fees should get top priority. Once a debt is payed off, don’t treat the money you were paying as being freed up for other expenses, roll it over into paying off the next debt.

This is the step that people are often the most worried about, but without doing Steps 1 through 6, Step 7 will never happen.

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