Covenant Relationship between Christians

The Old Covenant Relationship

In the Old Testament the basis of the covenant relationship of God's people with one another is the covenant God made with Abraham in Genesis 17. Subsequently, at Mount Sinai the covenant was established a second time, not with Abraham individually, but with all his descendants collectively - Israel.

The process by which God entered into His covenant with Israel is described in Exodus, beginning in Chapter 19. Here, God declared the purpose for which He was bringing Israel into covenant relationship with Himself:

"Now therefore, if you will indeed obey My voice and keep My covenant, then you shall be a special treasure to Me above all people; for all the earth is Mine. And you shall be to Me a kingdom of priests and a holy nation" (Exodus 19:5,6, NKJV).

Notice that, from then on, Israel was set apart (from other nations) unto God as a special people, not by any intrinsic righteousness of their own, but by the covenant God made with them.

As members of one covenant people, the Israelites had special obligations to one another, different from those that they had to members of other nations who had no covenant relationship either with God or with Israel.

The general principle of covenant relationship may be seen in this way:

Those who have a covenant relationship with God necessarily also have a covenant relationship with one another. The relationships established by a covenant extend in two directions: vertical and horizontal. The covenant that brings God's people into union with God must of necessity also bring them into union horizontally with all who have entered into the same covenant with God.

The New Covenant Relationship

The same principle of covenant applied when carried over from the Old Testament to the New Testament (Covenant). When Jesus celebrated the Last Supper with His disciples and shared with them the bread and the wine, He brought them into a covenant relatioship with Himself by that act. After He had handed them the cup and told them all to drink of it, He said:

"For this is My blood of the new covenant ...." (Matt. 26:28).

Notice that, his disciples not merely shared the cup of the covenant with Him; they also shared it with one another. The same solemn act that brought each of them into covenant with Jesus, at the same time brought them all into covenant with one another. From then on, their covenant relatioship was not merely vertical, to Jesus; it was also horizontal, to one another.

This truth is borne out in 1 Corinthians, where Paul was explaining the significance of the Lord's Supper. He emphasized this horizontal relationship between all who partake of the one loaf and the one cup:

"The cup of blessing which we bless, is it not the communion of the blood of Christ? The bread which we break, is it not the communion of the body of Christ? For we, though many, are one bread and one body, for we all partake of that one bread" (1 Cor. 10:16,17).

Peter declared that all believers who entered into the new covenant in Christ has the same effect as God's previous covenant with Israel:

"But you are a chosen generation, a royal priesthood, a holy nation, His own special people, that you may proclaim the praises of Him who called you out of darkness into His marvelous light; who once were not a people but are now the people of God, who had not obtained mercy but now have obtained mercy" (1 Peter 2:9,10, emphasis added).

Therefore, as God's own special people, all Christians are obligated, by their covenant commitment, to relate to one another as they relate to God individually. By picking out phrases such as "one another" wherever they occur in the New Testament Scripture we may form a general picture of this mutual obligations.

All Christians who have entered into the new covenant in Christ are required to behave in the following ways toward one another:

1. Love one another (John 13:34).

2. Build up or edify one another (Romans 14:19).

3. Accept or receive one another (Romans 15:7).

4. Admonish one another (Romans 15:14; Colossians 3:16).

5. Greet one another (Romans 16:16).

6. Through love serve one another (Galatians 5:13).

7. Bear one another's burdens (Galatians 6:2).

8. Show forbearance to one another (Ephesians 4:2).

9. Kind to one another (Ephesians 4:32).

10. Forgive one another (Ephesians 4:32).

11. Be subject or to submit to one another (Ephesians 5:21).

12. Teach one another (Colossians 3:16)

13. Comfort one another (1 Thessalonians 4:18).

14. Encourage or exhort one another (Hebrews 3:13).

15. Stimulate or to stir one another to love and to do good works (Hebrews 10:24).

16. Confess their sins and trespasses to one another (James 5:16).

17. Pray for one another (James 5:16).

18. Be hospitable to one another (1 Peter 4:9).

19. Be submissive to one another (1 Peter5:5).

20. Be clothed with humility toward one another (1 Peter 5:5).

In my opinion, unless we, as Christians, discharge these mutual responsibilities with the right attitude toward one another, we are not fulfilling the terms of the New Covenant. In the sight of God, we become "covenant breaker"!

The Outworking of the Covenant Relationship among Christians

What really concerns me is that there is a teaching in the contemporary Local Church that christians are urged to form "friendship pairs" or "discipleship pairs" among members of the congregation. The purpose is to encourage both members of the pair to grow in their christian walk and to discharge the 20 mutual responsibilities that I have listed above. Note carefully that each responsibiblity contains the phrase "one another" and not "each other". The problem is, this method is not biblical. For details please read my earlier message - "Paradigm Shift for the Body of Christ? - posted on 11-4-05".

As you can see, under the New Covenant, christians in a local congregation as part of the whole Body of Christ are to relate to "one another" and not just to "each other" (as in the so called "friendly pair" relationship) for the purpose unity. This is made clear by the apostle Paul in Ephesians Chapter 4:

"I, therefore, prisoner of the Lord, beseech you to walk worthy of the calling with which you were called, with all lowliness and gentleness, with longsuffering, bearing with one another in love ........ " (Eph. 4:1 to 6, emphasis added).

In my opinion, "friendship pair" is not only an unscriptural but a harmfull man-made doctrine:

1. It causes division and "competition" in the local congregation. Some people tend to maintain a close relationship only with their partner and not with all those who are worshippers in the same Local congregation.

2. It is possible for the "pair", even of the same sex to develop into an unhealthy relationship or unhealthy "bonding". Paul said, "Do not give the devil a foothold" (Eph. 4:27, NIV).

3. In the partaking of the Holy Communion, those who are involved in "friendship pair" may unknowingly failed "to discerning the Lord's body" (1 Cor. 11:29). According to Paul, "many are weak and sick among you, and many sleep" (V.30). One of the reasons why christians need to come to the Lord's table as often as possible is to remind them of the covenant relation between one another - and certainly not to remind them of the covenant relationship between the "friendship pair" partners only (Please read my earlier message "Biblical significance of the Holy Communion" - posted on 27-4-05).

New Covenant, New Lifestyle

Christains under the New Covenant are initiated into a new lifestyle. This new lifestyle is described by the Greek word "koinonia" which means "having in common" or "fellowship" or "to be in union with" or "to share in common life". The earlier Church in Jerusalem fits this description very well:

"Now the multitude of those who believed were of one heart and one soul; neither did anyone say that any of the things he possessed was his own, but they had all things in common" (Acts 4:32, emphasis added).

The new lifestyle of "koinonia" (fellowship) is the result of the whole congregation of believers in convenant relatioship walking in the light together. And when believers walk in the light, their sins are cleansed by the blood of Jesus:

"But if we walk in the light as He is in the light as He is in the light, we have fellowhip with one another, and the blood of Jesus Christ His Son cleanses us from all sin" (1 John 1:7, emphasis added).

This is also the description of the early Church:

"And they continued steadfastly in the apostles' doctrine and fellowhip, in the breaking of bread, and in prayers" (Acts 2:42).

Is there a place of "friendship pair" fellowship in the early Church? Paul wrote to many Local churches. Is there a suggestion from him that the members of the congregation should be divided into many "friendship pairs"?