New Covenant Comments by Elaine Stedman

Question:

The New Covenant seems illusive to me in ordinary daily life. Can you offer some clarifying comments?

Response:

First, the New Covenant is both objective and subjective, which it seems to me is the character of Truth. It is quite impossible, therefore, to simply state it as principle or doctrinal tenet and expect that it in itself will have any kind of life-changing effect. In an odd sort of way, that makes it legalistic!

The Word of God is objective and subjective. The written Word enters the mind as objective truth, but as you know that is sterile until the "eyes of the heart" are enlightened by the Living Word. That is, encounter with the Living Lord Jesus, revealed to us by the Holy Spirit.

The New Covenant is a Person with whom we have relationship. It is therefore ongoing, developing, evolving--never static. Its expression varies from person-to-person, and in each individual from day-to-day. It is not formulaic. It is simple to state but multi-layered to live.

Because the New Covenant is a Person, not formula or mantra, it pervades all of Scripture, always pointing to the Person, always urging relationship with Him. It is John saying, "He must increase, and I must decrease." It is Paul saying, "But whatever was to my profit I now consider loss for the sake of Christ. What is more, I consider everything a loss compared to the surpassing greatness of knowing Christ Jesus my Lord, for whose sake I have lost all things. I consider them rubbish, that I may gain Christ and be found in him...I want to know Christ and the power of His resurrection and the fellowship of his sufferings, becoming like him in his death..."

It is Ray saying, as he was about to enter the Presence of the Lord, "Oh, I just want to see Jesus!" And when reminded of the gratitude of so many for his ministry among them, "I just did what I was sent to do." The issue, he well knew, was not the man. The spotlight was on Jesus who IS the New Covenant.

For that reason, then, the New Covenant pervades all of scripture. It really has only one name, one aim: the glory of God in His Son, who said, "But I, when I am lifted up from the earth, will draw all men to myself."

We continually see men being lifted up, their books and mantras winning big time accolades, their names bandied about as champions of truth while Jesus is simply backup for their careers. That sort of thing I see as antithetical to authentic New Covenant Life-expression. I learned that well from Ray, substantiated by my own encounters with biblical Truth. I can't see Ray in any way endorsing promotion of New Covenant teaching as though it was his personal territory or triumph.

My hope for the ongoing ministry of raystedman.org is that everything published there will exalt our Living Lord. My sense, for what it's worth, is that we have very limited time to co-labor with God "as though God were making his appeal through us", putting "no stumbling block in anyone's path", so that our message unfailingly puts the Lord Jesus on center stage. "Christ's love compels us...he died for all that those who live should no longer live for themselves, but for him who died for them and was raised again."

I think we should make the site as "user friendly" as possible. Thankfully, we have wonderful help and counsel from persons with that specific expertise (left to me it would be hopeless). I believe that you all are involved in the process of planting and watering, and that God will bring about His intended fruit-- fruit produced by the Spirit which is living, vital and eternal, and is not always visible to us. I believe that as we look to Him, God will indeed give the increase that pleases Him.

Elaine Stedman

Email: stede@charter.net
July 27, 2005