Some claim that even though God might have promised people in the Old Testament wealth, prosperity and riches, this is no longer the case for New Testament Christians, as the New Covenant has “better promises,” which allegedly succeed Old Testament blessings.
It is true that as converted Christians, we are living under the conditions of the New Covenant. We read in Hebrews 8:6 that the New Covenant is based, founded or established on better promises. But what are those better promises, exactly?
One of those promises is forgiveness of sin, which was never part of Old Covenant promises. Before the New Covenant came, there was no forgiveness of sins—animal sacrifices do not forgive sins (Hebrews 10:4, 11). They just served as a reminder of sins. When those sins were recognized and “repented” of, a physical relationship with God could be restored so that people were allowed to stay within the community of Israel. They did not repent in a spiritual sense and did therefore not receive forgiveness in a spiritual sense, as they were not called for salvation at that time.
New Testament Christians recognize that Jesus Christ already shed His blood, the blood of the New Covenant, for the remission of our sins. Christ clearly told us the conditions of the New Covenant, and we accepted them at the time of our baptism. As ancient Israel said, we also said, “Everything that the LORD has said, we will do.” We also, of course, accepted Christ’s shed blood that forgives our sins, and we acknowledged that we had entered into a covenant with God at the time of our baptism.
The New Covenant is also a marriage agreement. The consummation of our marriage with Jesus Christ—the bridegroom and the Lamb—is still in the future. This is where the biblical concept of betrothal becomes important. In biblical times, the parties went through a period of “betrothal” before they actually consummated the marriage. Mary was already betrothed to Joseph when she was found to be with child (Matthew 1:18). Since they had not consummated the marriage, Joseph thought that Mary was guilty of fornication. But Mary and Joseph were already called, at the time of their betrothal, husband and wife (Matthew 1:19–20, 24; compare also Deuteronomy 28:30). Betrothal was a binding agreement or contract of marriage, and it could only be severed through a divorce. With this contract, the husband had promised his wife to consummate the marriage with her, after a certain period of time.
As the consummation of the marriage occurred later, and so it is with us today. The consummation of our marriage will occur, once Jesus Christ returns to establish His Kingdom on earth. At that time, we will become immortal Spirit beings—born-again members of the God Family. That is the time when the New Covenant—the consummation of our marriage with Christ—will reach its total fulfillment. We are to inherit eternal life and become glorified God beings. THAT was never a promise given to ancient Israel.
Also, there was no promise for receiving the Holy Spirit, which alone gives us the strength and power to overcome and conquer sin, and to obey and keep God’s Law. God, in the New Covenant, replaces our stony hearts with hearts of flesh (Ezekiel 11:19). The ministry under the previous covenants led to condemnation, since people sinned and could not obtain forgiveness (2 Corinthians 3:9). On the other hand, the ministry under the New Covenant leads to righteousness, since the promises of the New Covenant include forgiveness of sins and the gift of the power of the Holy Spirit to live righteously.
We see, then, that the New Covenant contains tremendous spiritual blessings and promises which were not included in previous Old Testament covenants which God made with Israel under Moses. But does this mean, then, that the New Covenant does not include physical promises which were indeed part of Old Testament covenants? To put it differently, does the New Covenant relationship with God exclude physical blessings? Must we be poor when we want to be Christians?
It is true that at times, true Christians had to give up physical possessions for Christ’s sake. But is this supposed to be the promised general and permanent condition of a Christian life?
Let us note Ezekiel 34:25–27 which describes physical people living under the conditions of the New Covenant:
“I will make a covenant of peace with them, and cause wild beasts to cease from the land; and they will dwell safely in the wilderness and sleep in the woods. I will make them and the places all around My hill a blessing; and I will cause showers to come down in their season; there shall be showers of blessing. Then the trees of the field shall yield their fruit, and the earth shall yield their increase. They shall be safe in their land; and they shall know that I am the LORD…”
These promises clearly include physical blessings.
We also read in Malachi 3:8-10 about the New Covenant command of tithing and God’s physical blessing when we fulfill that command:
“Will a man rob God? Yet you have robbed Me! But you say, ‘In what way have we robbed You?’ In tithes and offerings. You are cursed with a curse, For you have robbed Me, Even this whole nation. Bring all the tithes into the storehouse, That there may be food in My house, And try Me now in this,’ Says the LORD of hosts, ‘If I will not open for you the windows of heaven And pour out for you such blessing That there will not be room enough to receive it.’”
In Matthew 19:27-29, Christ gave His disciples a tremendous promise of spiritual AND physical blessings:
“Then Peter answered and said to Him, ‘See, we have left all and followed You. Therefore what shall we have?’ So Jesus said to them, ‘Assuredly I say to you, that in the regeneration, when the Son of Man sits on the throne of His glory, you who have followed Me will also sit on twelve thrones, judging the twelve tribes of Israel. And everyone who has left houses or brothers or sisters or father or mother or wife or children or lands, for My name’s sake, shall receive a hundredfold, and inherit eternal life.’”
He makes it still clearer in the parallel passage in Mark 10:28-30 that He was also referring to “hundredfold” physical blessings in this life:
“Then Peter began to say to Him, ‘See, we have left all and followed You.’ So Jesus answered and said, ‘Assuredly, I say to you, there is no one who has left house or brothers or sisters or father or mother or wife or children or lands, for My sake and the gospel’s, who shall not receive a hundredfold now in this time—
houses and brothers and sisters and mothers and children and lands, with persecutions—and in the age to come, eternal life.’”
Either these words are true and to be taken quite literally, or Christ is a liar, which is of course a ridiculous and preposterous concept, as then, we would have no Savior, since lying is sin. But we are told that Christ never committed a sin in what He thought, said and did.
So let us reflect on the tremendous application of what Christ said. Leaving houses and lands for Christ’s sake will bring about a hundredfold blessing, including houses and lands. One might think of Job at the end of his trial, whose losses were restored, and who received twice as much as he had before (Job 42:10). Of course, our motivation must not be to get hundredfold blessings when we give up physical possessions, but the fact of the matter is that God promises us such physical blessings when we give up physical possessions for Christ.
Christ also made clear that not only our relationship with God, but also with our fellow man, will have a bearing on whether God will bless us physically. We read Christ’s words in Luke 6:38:
“Give, and it will be given to you: good measure, pressed down, shaken together, and running over will be put into your bosom. For with the same measure that you use, it will be measured back to you.”
We should be able to see, then, that the New Covenant clearly includes physical blessings, in addition to those spiritual blessings which are of course better than the physical ones. But physical and spiritual blessings are not mutually exclusive.
Note also the following timeless promises of God for His people, including New Testament Christians:
Proverbs 10:22 says: “The blessing of the LORD makes one rich, And He adds no sorrow with it.”
Proverbs 11:25 adds, mirroring the above-mentioned promise in Luke 6: “The generous soul will be made rich, And he who waters will also be watered himself.” Compare also Proverbs 22:9: “He who has a generous eye will be blessed, For he gives of his bread to the poor.”
Proverbs 3:9-10 mirrors God’s promise in Malachi for faithful tithing:
“Honor the LORD with your possessions, And with the firstfruits of all your increase; So your barns will be filled with plenty, And your vats will overflow with new wine.”
Our relationship with God in all of this is of tantamount importance. God says He will bless the righteous with physical blessings; there is no Scripture telling us that God will bless the unrighteous in this way. And God warns us that we must never forget where our physical blessings come from, and while thinking that we did it on our own, we even forget to keep God and His Law.
In Deuteronomy 8:11-18, God warns ancient Israel in this regard, but His warning applies in like manner to us today:
“Beware that you do not forget the LORD your God by not keeping His commandments, His judgments, and His statutes which I command you today, lest–when you have eaten and are full, and have built beautiful houses and dwell in them; and when your herds and your flocks multiply, and your silver and your gold are multiplied, and all that you have is multiplied; when your heart is lifted up, and you forget the LORD your God who brought you out of the land of Egypt, from the house of bondage; who led you through that great and terrible wilderness, in which were fiery serpents and scorpions and thirsty land where there was no water; who brought water for you out of the flinty rock; who fed you in the wilderness with manna, which your fathers did not know, that He might humble you and that He might test you, to do you good in the end—then you say in your heart, ‘My power and the might of my hand have gained me this wealth.’ And you shall remember the LORD your God, for it is He who gives you power to get wealth, that He may establish His covenant which He swore to your fathers, as it is this day.”
Also, as mentioned above, we must not concentrate on wanting to become rich, thereby forgetting about God and His Way of Life. Notice 1 Timothy 6:9-10:
“But those who desire to be rich fall into temptation and a snare, and into many foolish and harmful lusts which drown men in destruction and perdition. For the love of money is a root of all kinds of evil, for which some have strayed from the faith in their greediness, and pierced themselves through with many sorrows.”
We also read in Mark 4:19 that “…the cares of this world, the deceitfulness of riches, and the desires for other things entering in choke the word, and it becomes unfruitful.”
Proverbs 11:28 includes a similar stirring warning, but it also shows the connection between righteousness and physical blessings: “He who trusts in his riches will fall, But the righteous will flourish like foliage.”
Christ cautions us in Luke 12:15 to “Take heed and beware of covetousness, for one’s life does not consist in the abundance of the things he possesses.”
Instead, we are challenged to use our physical blessings wisely, as we read in 1 Timothy 6:17-19: “Command those who are rich in this present age not to be haughty, nor to trust in uncertain riches but in the living God, who gives us richly all things to enjoy. Let them do good, that they be rich in good works, ready to give, willing to share, storing up for themselves a good foundation for the time to come, that they may lay hold on eternal life.”
We are even told in 1 John 3:17: “But whoever has this world’s goods, and sees his brother in need, and shuts up his heart from him, how does the love of God abide in him?”
These warnings do not negate the fact that in regard to converted Christians who live under the conditions of the New Covenant, God has promised them physical blessings, as long as they remain faithful and righteous, with right priorities and the right goal and purpose in mind, seeking first the Kingdom of God and His righteousness. Then God will give us what we need physically, and so much more (compare Ephesians 3:20).
Lead Writer: Norbert Link