Michael Tinsley Retired Army veteran. Love my Bible (Jesus) and fishing.

Peter, altogether there are seven covenants, God's biblical promises to mankind. Here are brief explanations of three of them.

Biblical promises are God's covenants with mankind.Genesis 9:11 is God's promise to Noah and his family to never again use a flood to destroy the Earth. His covenant with Abraham was unilateral (by God alone) and unconditional (nothing mankind did would annul God's covenant). This covenant was threefold. The promise of land, descendants, and salvation and redemption (Christ Jesus is Abraham's descendant), Genesis 12:1-3.

Michael Houdmann has an excellent explanation of this covenant here:
https://www.gotquestions.org/Abrahamic-covenant.html

Finally there is God's new Covenant of Grace established at Jesus' death on the cross and His resurrection which defeated sin and death forever and is our promise of eternal life in Him for all who believe. God's Grace Covenant is understood in His mercy, forgiving us while we were still sinners, His grace, the gift of salvation we could never earn on our own and, His eternal and infinite love which is the reason for His mercy and grace. God truly is love.

The principles of Scripture are different in scope and application. Old timers called it 'rightly dividing' Scripture. Here's a short explanation.I'll provide a link at the end.

First, all Scripture is God-breathed, 2 Timothy 3:16-17 meaning you can believe what the Bible says. Secondly, the entire Bible is written for you but not all of it is written directly to you. Using hermeneutics and exegesis, which go hand-in-glove, are the way we come to the correct interpretation and application of the Bible. The name for that is Christian Apologetics and there are volumes written on that subject.

An example is the change from Mosaic Law (the 10 commandments et al) to our present covenant of grace. We are no longer bound to obey the OT laws because they were fulfilled in Jesus' death and resurrection and don't apply, 2 Corinthians 5:16-21.

This link is a very good explanation of how to approach scripture:
http://pastorrick.com/devotional/english/full-post/six-principles-for-interpreting-scripture?fb_comment_id=761514633923487_812211388853811

I hope this helps to answer your question. Let eBible know if this wasn't what you wanted by commenting below.

January 28 2017 • 5 responses • Vote Up • Share • Report