*COVENANTS*
part 2 of 2

*7. THE COVENANT WITH DAVID* (2Sam7:4-16).

This covenant, likewise, is unconditional. By its terms David is promised an unending royal lineage, a throne, and a kingdom, all of which are to endure for ever. In the declaration of this covenant, God reserves the right to interrupt the actual reign of David’s sons if chastisement is required (2Sam7:14,15; Ps89:20-37); but the perpetuity of the covenant cannot be broken. As the Abrahamic covenant guaranteed to Israel an everlasting entity as a nation (Jer31:36) and an everlasting possession of the land (Gen13:15; 1Chron16:15-18; Ps105:9-11), so the Davidic covenant guarantees to them an everlasting throne (2Sam7:16; Ps89:36), an everlasting King (Jer33:21), and an everlasting kingdom (Dan7:14). From the day that the covenant was made and confirmed by God’s oath (Acts2:30) to the birth of Christ, David did not lack for a son to sit on his throne (Jer33:21), and Christ the Eternal Son of God and Son of David, being the rightful heir to that throne and the One who will yet sit on that throne (Luke1:31,33), completes the fulfillment of this promise to David that a son would sit on his throne forever.

*8. THE NEW COVENANT MADE IN HIS BLOOD* (Mark14:24; Luke22:20; Jer31:31-33; Ez37:26; Heb8:6, 10-13; 10:16).

This, again, is an unconditional covenant and it is most important for every child of God to recognize this fact since this covenant forms the very basis of his own relation to God. What may be proposed for Israel or the nations may be of interest to the believer, but it does not directly apply to him; but the covenant of divine grace is of infinite import to all who are saved.
The New Covenant guarantees all that God proposes to do for men on the ground of the blood of His Son. This may be seen in two aspects:

(a) That HE WILL SAVE, PRESERVE AND PRESENT in Heaven conformed to His Son, all who have believed on Christ. The fact that it is necessary to believe on Christ in order to be saved does not form a condition in this covenant. Believing is not a part of the covenant, but rather is the ground of admission into its eternal blessings. The covenant is not related to the unsaved, but it is made with those who believe, and it promises the faithfulness of God in their behalf. “He which hath begun a good work in you will perform it until the day of Jesus Christ” (Phil. 1:6), and every other promise concerning the saving and keeping power of God is a part of this covenant in grace. There is no salvation contemplated for man in this age that does not guarantee perfect preservation here, and a final presentation of the saved one in glory. There may be an issue between the Father and His child as to the daily life, and, as in the case of David’s sons, the Christian’s sin may call for the chastening hand of God (Heb12:6); but those questions which enter into the daily life of the believer are never made to condition the promise of God concerning the eternal salvation of those whom He has received in grace.
There are those who emphasize the importance and power of the human will and who contend that both salvation and safe-keeping must be made conditional on the cooperation of the human will. This may seem reasonable to the human mind; but it is not according to the revelation given in the Scriptures. In every case God has declared unconditionally what He will do for all those who put their trust in Him (Jn5:24; 6:37; 10:28).
We are told that God controls the will of man (Jn6:44; Phil2:13) and at the same time appeals to and conditions His blessing on the will of man (Jn5:40; 7:17; Rom12:1; 1Jn1:9)
Those who believe are saved and safe forever because it is according to the unconditional covenant of God.
(b) THE FUTURE SALVATION OF ISRAEL is promised under the unconditional New Covenant (Is27:9; Ez37:23; Rom11:26,27). This salvation will be accomplished only on the ground of faith in the shed blood of Christ. Through the sacrifice of Christ, God is as free to save a nation as He is free to save an individual. Israel is represented by Christ as a treasure hid in the field. The field is the world. It was Christ, we believe, who sold all that He had that He might purchase the field, and in order that He might possess the treasure (Matt13:44).

*Conclusion*
In contemplating the eight covenants, too much emphasis cannot be placed on the fact of the sovereignty of God as it is related to those covenants which are unconditional, and the absolute failure of man as it is revealed in the outworking of those covenants which are conditional. Whatever God undertakes unconditionally will be completed in all the perfection of His own infinite Being.