MAJOR ELEMENTS
OF BIBLE COVENANTS


THE COVENANT BETWEEN THE FATHER
AND THE HOLY SPIRIT

        The covenant between the Father and the Holy Spirit is here given as a second covenant, only for the sake of study. Actually the covenant between the Father, the Son, and the Holy Spirit is one covenant with three parties. Each party has a specific covenant work to perform, but all three are in perfect agreement and function together in perfect team harmony as each One performs His assigned covenant work.
        The Holy Spirit is the Administrator of the covenant between the Father, the Son, and the Holy Spirit, as He is with the New Covenant, II Cor 3. All the works of Christ on earth were done by the Holy Spirit according to the will of the Father, Joh 3:34; 5:19; 14:10; Luk 4:1,14,18-19; Mar 1:10,12; Mat 12:18,28.
        Likewise, all the covenant works of the covenant people are done by grace through faith; that is, they are the works of the Holy Spirit as the Father through the Spirit works in and through us both to be willing and to be doing the will of the Father, Phil 2:13; Mat 10:19-20; 1Co 15:10.

I. THE FATHER'S COVENANT OFFER TO THE HOLY SPIRIT

        The covenant offer was tendered by the Father to the Holy Spirit in the form of 1) the Father's counsel and purpose which included the covenant work description, and 2) a command by the Father to be obeyed by the Holy Spirit. To obey the command was to accept the offer. To disobey the command would have been to reject the offer.
        The position and work of the Holy Spirit as the third Person in the Godhead and the perfect unity and harmony within the Godhead was not an arbitrary, accidental, or evolutionary process. Whatever else may be said about the position of each Person in the Godhead and the perfectly harmonious functions between the Three must be recognized as being by design and covenant agreement. Take this one passage among many, for instance, which illustrates the agreement between the Father and the Son and the freedom of choice on the part of the Son:
        "Therefore My Father loves Me, because I lay down My life that I may take it again. "No one takes it from Me, but I lay it down of Myself. I have power to lay it down, and I have power to take it again. This command I have received from My Father," Joh 10:17-18. See also Heb 1:9.
        See also another passage which shows the agreement and function of the Holy Spirit:
        However, when He, the Spirit of truth, has come, He will guide you into all truth; for He will not speak on His own authority, but whatever He hears He will speak; and He will tell you things to come. He will glorify Me, for He will take of what is Mine and declare it to you. All things that the Father has are Mine. Therefore I said that He will take of Mine and declare it to you," Joh 16:13-15. See also 2Co 3:17.

A. Covenant Work Description.

        The covenant work statement or description includes a detailed description of all the work to be performed by the Father, by the Son, and by the Holy Spirit in this first and all-encompassing covenant. This first covenant between the Father, the Son, and the Holy Spirit includes the entirety of all the other covenants that follow, although only the work description of the Father and the Holy Spirit are generally given at this juncture. The other covenants are a progressive revelation of the first covenant.

  1. God's Part of the Covenant Work.
    1. Give the Holy Spirit to the Son to perform all the works assigned to the Son, all of which are covenant works, Gen 1:26; Luk 2:40; Mat 3:16-17; 4:1-11; Luk 4:14,18-21; 12:18,28; Joh 3:34. Everything the Son did, is doing, or will ever do is by the Holy Spirit, and is a covenant requirement: see the work description of the Son above.
    2. Give the Holy Spirit to the covenant people to perform the covenant works of the covenant people, Zec 4:6; Mat 10:19-20; Phi 2:12-13; 1Co 2:10-16; 15:10; Joh 6:44; 14;16-26; 16:7-15; Act 1:4-8. Whatever is done by grace through faith is done by the Holy Spirit, 1Co 15:10; Phi 2:12-13; Mat 10:10. Everything that the covenant people do in obedience to God is done by the Holy Spirit, and is a covenant requirement: see the work description of the covenant people below.
    3. Commission the Holy Spirit to convince the world of sin, of righteousness, and of judgment, Gen 6:3; Psa 139:9-12; Joh 16:7-8; Psa 19:1-6; Act 14:16-17; 17:16-18; Rom 1:18-20; Zec 3:1-9; Rev 1:4; 5:6. Everyone is saved from hell before becoming a church member and before becoming one of the covenant people, and is saved by the working of the Holy Spirit based upon the shed blood and death of Christ.
    4. Commission the Holy Spirit to administer all the covenants and perform all covenant works according to covenant stipulations, Gen 1:2; 6:3; Psa 139:9-12; Zec 4:6; Mat 3:16-17; 28:18-20; Act 1:8; 2Co 3. See the works of the Holy Spirit below.
  2. The Holy Spirit's Part of the Covenant Work.
    1. Perform the works of Christ, Gen 1:26; Luk 2:40; Mat 3:16-17; 4:1-11; Luk 4:14,18-21; 12:18,28; Joh 3:34. Christ did all His works by the Holy Spirit.
    2. Perform the covenant works of the covenant people, Zec 4:6; Mat 10:19-20; Phi 2:12-13; 1Co 2:10-16; 15:10; Joh 6:44; 14;16-26; 16:7-15; Acts 1:4-8. All the "good works" of the covenant people are done by the Holy Spirit.
    3. Convince the world of sin, righteousness, and judgment, Gen 6:3; Psa 139:9-12; Joh 16:7-8; Psa 19:1-6; Act 14:16-17; 17:16-18; Rom 1:18-20; Zec 3:1-9; Rev 1:4; 5:6. All the works of God (of the Holy Spirit) outside the covenant people are covenant works FIRST because God is preparing many nations of non-covenant peoples for the covenant people to rule over eternally, and SECOND because God is revealing just where sin (refusal to obey God through the covenants) will lead those who rebel against God's covenant offer and therefore against covenant works, Rom 7:13; 1:21-32; 3:9-19; Pro 1:22-32. All is written in the books of the covenants and are kept in the Ark of the Covenant as a repository, Rev 11:18-19; Dan 7:9-10; Rev 20:11-15.
    4. Administer all the covenants and perform all covenant works according to covenant requirements, Gen 1:2; 6:3; Psa 139:9-12; Zec 4:6; Mt 3:16-17; 28:18-20; Act 1:8; 2Cor 3.
      1. The works of the Holy Spirit are all covenant works, which include all the works of the Father, of the Son, and of the covenant people, 2Co 3; Heb 8:6-13; 10:15-16; Act 2:38-39; Gal 4:21--5:4; 15:1-6; Joh 16:13-15; Jn 17:21-23.
      2. The works of the Holy Spirit includes all the works of all the righteous angels; the chain of command is from the Father, through the Son, through the saints to the angels, Heb 1:14; 2:5-9; 1Co 6:2-3; 11:1-10. "Are they not all ministering spirits sent forth to minister for those who will inherit salvation?" Heb 1:13-14. Though the angels are not the covenant people, they are ALL ministers of the covenant people. That is a covenant ministry to the covenant people, and the works of the covenant people are ALL by grace through faith -- the works of the Holy Spirit.
      3. The works of the Holy Spirit hold all the activities of Satan and fallen angels in check precisely to the extent necessary to accomplish the will of the Father as prescribed in the covenants, Gen 3:1-7; Job 1 & 2; 2Co 4:4; Eph 2:2; 6:12; 1Jo 5:19; Rev 12:7-10. The covenant people and all mankind are constantly at war with Satan and his evil forces, but it is God through the Holy Spirit who is our Co-laborer and fights our battles for us, 1Co 3:7-9; Phi 2:12-13; Mat 10:19-20; Gal 5:17; Heb 4:16. Satan is constantly resisting the angels, Dan 10; Zec 3; 2Pe 2:11; Jud 1:9). Satan is also constantly resisting the covenant people (as shown immediately above); however, Christ is our lawyer in heaven (Rom 8:34; Heb 7:25) and the Holy Spirit is our strength and Defense on earth, Joh 14:16-23,26; 15:26; 16:7-15; Luk 24:47-49; Act 1:4-8; Rom 8:16-27; Gal 5:17; Mat 10:19-20; Phi 2:12-13.
      4. The works of the Holy Spirit includes all the life and activities of all creation, animate and inanimate, Psa 139; Zec 3 & 4; Rev 5:6. Christ upholds all things by the Word of His power (Heb 1:3), but both the Father and the Son perform all their works by the Holy Spirit, as shown above.
      5. All these works, to the most minute detail, are stipulated in the covenant between the Father, the Son, and the Holy Spirit before creation, Joh 5:19-23; 16:13-15; 17:21-23; Heb 1:2; 2:5-9; 1Co 3:21-23; Psa 56:8; 139:16; Ecc 12:13-14; Dan 7:9-10; Mal 3:16; 2Co 5:10; Eph 1:4,11; Rev 11:18; 13:8; 20:11-15; Mat 6:25-32; 10:26,29-30; 12:36; Luk 12:2-3,6-7; Isa 46:8-11; Heb 4:13.

B. God's Command to the Holy Spirit to Begin Covenant Performance.

        The Father commanded or gave counsel to the Holy Spirit to begin and continue performance of the covenant work statement and as stated above and as we can observe throughout all the covenants.

II. COVENANT ACCEPTANCE BY THE HOLY SPIRIT

        The Holy Spirit obeyed the command of the Father by beginning the covenant work performance, is still performing the covenant work, and will forever continue to do so precisely as the covenant stipulates.
        In this way the Holy Spirit accepted the covenant offer from the Father and began performance according to the covenant, which was doing what the Father instructed the Spirit to do as stated immediately above. The Scriptures throughout reveal the essence of the divine nature and mind of the Father, the Son, and the Holy Spirit to be such that bonds them into an infinitely rich and intimate love and oneness beyond human expression or imagination, and that the nature and will of the Son and the Holy Spirit is to precisely and perfectly accept and obey the counsel and will of the Father.

III. COVENANT LEGALITY

        God is perfect in righteousness, Mat 5:48. All His ways, His works, and indeed His Word (in Its entirety) express His covenants and are all righteous and perfect altogether. "...God is light and in Him is no darkness at all," 1Jo 1:5; Psa 18:30,32; 19:7.

IV. COVENANT CAPACITY

        The Holy Spirit as the third Person in the Godhead was, is, and always will be able to perform all the covenant work requirements, Zec 4:6; Gen 18:14; Jer 32:17,27; Mat 19:26. The Father, the Son, and the Holy Spirit are all the same yesterday, today, and forever, as stated of the Father in James 1:17 and of Christ in Heb 13:8. They are all ONE in this respect, as stated of the Father, Son, and of the covenant people in Joh 17:21-23. God would not assign the Holy Spirit to administer the covenants as stated above unless the Spirit was altogether more than capable of performing with omnipotence and omniscience.

V. COVENANT CONSIDERATION TO THE HOLY SPIRIT

        The covenant "consideration" (pay, benefit, compensation) to the Holy Spirit for covenant work performance is that the Holy Spirit will jointly share with the Father and the Son in the glorious inheritance of the covenant people and all other divine benefits. The scope and theme of God's inheritance in the covenant people is immeasurably rich and infinitely and eternally beyond the knowledge limits of finite beings.
        God is doing this through the immeasurable and priceless redemptive work of Christ and the equally immense and complex working of the Holy Spirit, all of which are covenant works because all the works of God are covenant works by the Holy Spirit, Eph 1:4-11; 3:9-11; 2Ti 1:9; Act 20:27; Col 1:16-19; Heb 1; 2:5-8; Eph 1:19-23; Rom 4:13.16; 8:17,32; 1Co 3:21-23; Joh 3:17; 17:21-23.

VI. COVENANT RATIFICATION BY THE HOLY SPIRIT

        The Holy Spirit accepted and ratified the covenant by beginning covenant performance. The Holy Spirit had a major part in ratifying the covenant by being a Partner with Christ in the death of Christ, because it was by the Holy Spirit that Christ offered Himself to God as the covenant ratifying Sacrifice, Heb 9:14-17 (11-27). Again, the covenant between the Father, the Son, and the Holy Spirit before creation is one and the same with God's covenant with Abraham and the New Covenant, Gal 3:14-27; Heb 6:11-20; 13:20.