The One-Flesh Covenant

Biblical guide to marriage, divorce, separation and procreation

S. Theophanie

• Publisher: Christian Faith Publishing, Inc.
• Year: 2019
• Print ISBN:
  9781644589199
• eBook ISBN:
  9781644589205
• Topic: Social Sciences
• Subtopic: Sociology
• Index: Social Sciences

S. T. Theophanie, by way of the scriptures quoted in The One-Flesh Covenant, brings to light, through the power of the Holy Spirit, truths that have been rejected by the body of Christ for generations, truths that are foundational and crucial to every life and marriage, and truths that are able to change the behavior of this generation and generations to come. She exposes the false doctrines that permeate the church today in the areas of marriage and divorce, and with correlating scriptures she correctly interprets scriptures that have been misinterpreted for years""scriptures that God has mercifully sent to heal the broken-hearted, comfort the afflicted, and set the captives free. The One-Flesh Covenant is a must-read for every member of the body of Christ as it will enable those who receive its truths to no longer portray Jesus as the God of grace without obedience to faith, the God of faith without works, the God of mercy without justice and the God of forgiveness without repentance and bearing one's cross. No longer will she turn to idols for instruction in righteousness""church leaders who, knowingly or unknowingly, subvert the scriptures to the destruction of millions of souls""but to the Word of God, Jesus Christ.

Chapter 1

Law, Grace, and Obedience to Faith

Before embarking on the subjects of marriage and divorce, it is necessary, because of false doctrines within the church, to establish why Jesus came as regards the law. Why He said He came is as follows:

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“Think not that I am come to destroy the law, or the prophets: I am not come to destroy, but to fulfil. For verily I say unto you, Till heaven and earth pass, one jot or one tittle shall in no wise pass from the law, till all be fulfilled. Whosoever therefore shall break one of these least commandments, and shall teach men so, he shall be called the least in the kingdom of heaven: but whosoever shall do and teach them, the same shall be called great in the kingdom of heaven. For I say unto you, That except your righteousness shall exceed the righteousness of the scribes and Pharisees, ye shall in no case enter into the kingdom of heaven” (Matt. 5:17–20).

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The connotation of the word fulfil in the above scriptures is “to enlarge, to magnify, to fill to the full.” Thus, what Jesus is saying here is that He came to fill up the law with God’s intended meaning—to reveal what was required by God to satisfy the righteousness, or the spirit, of the law.

Examples of such requirements are found throughout the New Testament; however, to cite a few, refer to Matt. 5:22–48 wherein Jesus, magnifying the law, stated that not only must one not kill, one must not be angry with his brother without a cause; one must not call his brother a fool; if one has wronged his brother, he must make peace with him before bringing his gift to the altar; not only must one not commit adultery, he must not commit it in his heart; one must not divorce his spouse “saving for the cause of fornication”; one must not take an oath; one’s answers must be “yea” and “nay,” and anything else is evil; one must not repay evil with evil, “an eye for an eye and a tooth for a tooth,” but evil with good; one must not hate his enemies but love and pray for them; in essence, one must be perfect as one’s heavenly Father is perfect.

Due to the teachings of those leaders in the church who are without understanding as to Rom. 6:14, large strides have been made in preventing the fulfillment of the righteousness, or the spirit, of the law to be manifested in the lives of countless believers. Rom. 6:14 reads: “For sin shall not have dominion over you: for ye are not under the law, but under grace.”

This scripture is not teaching, as they are, that grace frees the believer from his/her obligation to obey the commandments and precepts of God. It is teaching, rather, that when one is under grace, he/she is no longer subject to the law of sin; in other words, sin—providing the believer walks not after the flesh but after the Spirit—no longer has dominion over him/her.

When Adam, being subject to his own free choice, disobeyed God, he was sold into the power of sin. Sin had dominion over him; it was his master, his lord. As Adam’s descendants, we, too, inheriting his nature, were sold into the power of sin; our flesh was made subject to the law of sin.

It is the nature of carnal man, as sin dwells in the flesh—“Now then it is no more I that do it, but sin that dwelleth in me” (Rom. 7:17)—to rebel against prohibitive authority; in other words, prohibition whets desire. The law, because of the restraint it places on man’s liberty, stirs up the carnal desires which incite to sin within, and sin finds its ally therein, or, as 1 Cor. 15:56 states, “the strength of sin is the law.”

As it is impossible to serve God in the natural realm—“Because the carnal mind is enmity against God: for it is not subject to the law of God, neither indeed can be. So then they that are in the flesh cannot please God” (Rom. 8:7, 8)—God, in His love for mankind, sent Jesus, His Son, to redeem all who were to be justified by faith in Him, thus delivering them from the law of sin, to which they had been subject, and its curse, which is death, and making repentance, forgiveness, reconciliation, and subjection to the righteousness of God’s law possible through His grace:

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“For what the law could not do, in that it was weak through the flesh, God sending his own Son in the likeness of sinful flesh, and for sin, condemned sin in the flesh: That the righteousness of the law might be fulfilled in us, who walk not after the flesh, but after the Spirit. For they that are after the flesh do mind the things of the flesh; but they that are after the Spirit the things of the Spirit” (Rom. 8:3–5).

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Redemption is essential to all who will accept the truth and be sanctified by it; that is, to all who will forsake sin as the truth of what is sinful is revealed to them: “Sanctify them through thy truth: thy word is truth” (John 17:17). However, it is of no avail to those who reject the truth and continue to walk after the flesh, thus denying the Lord who bought them.

To distinguish between the law and grace, liken the automobile to the law and fuel to grace. Just as one is not able to operate an automobile without fuel, neither is one able to fulfill the righteousness of God’s law without grace. When one acquires the fuel, the power, to operate the automobile, one does not do away with the automobile as the automobile is still necessary to reach one’s destination. So it is with the law. When one, through the goodness of God, receives grace, that supernatural power which enables him/her to fulfill the righteousness of God’s law, one does not do away with the law as obedience to its righteousness is still necessary to inherit the kingdom of God.

The law, though powerful in the sense of being able to stir up the rebellious nature within, is powerless in itself to bring us to perfection. It is grace that enables us to resist the promptings of the flesh; it is grace that restrains us from doing evil; and it is grace that empowers us, providing we walk not after the flesh but after the Spirit, to fulfill the righteousness, or the spirit, of God’s law.

God did not give believers a license to transgress the law:

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“Whosoever committeth sin transgresseth also the law: for sin is the transgression of the law. And ye know that he was manifested to take away our sins; and in him is no sin. Whosoever abideth in him sinneth not: whosoever sinneth hath not seen him, neither known him. Little children, let no man deceive you: he that doeth righteousness is righteous, even as he is righteous. He that committeth sin is of the devil; for the devil sinneth from the beginning. For this purpose the Son of God was manifested, that he might destroy the works of the devil”
(1 John 3:4–8).

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He gave them the grace to obey the law—to loose the law of sin’s power to hold them captive. Such power, while in their unregenerate condition, rendered them powerless to obey the law of God as the law of God in said condition only served to incite them to break it. Just as a wife is dead to, or loosed from, the law of her husband when he dies, so, too, those who walk after the Spirit are dead to, o...

Table of contents

• Acknowledgments
• Chapter 1
• Chapter 2
• Chapter 3
• Chapter 4
• Chapter 5
• Chapter 6
• Chapter 7
• Bibliography