Hi <pastor's name>.

I was thinking about what you said about us making a covenant with God in order to be saved, but what you were really describing to me was a contract, not a covenant.  The article below explains that.  I highlighted the major points in that article. I am not sure where you got your idea of a covenant from as I had not heard your covenant view before.  From my understanding of scripture (Hebrews 9:16-28 for example), a true believer is the "beneficiary" of the blood covenant (last will and testament if you will) between God the Father and God the Son.  As beneficiaries we don't have to do anything for the will/covenant to come into effect.  The testator has to die for it to come into effect (Hebrews 9:16). And the beneficiaries are those whose names are written in the Lambs Book Of Life.  But, since we cannot do anything to initiate or contribute towards or maintain salvation (Titus 3:5) we are completely at the mercy of God and His good pleasure (Ephesians 1:5) to save us, if He wills, and hence comes the offense of the Gospel...  Being entirely at the mercy of God is the offense of the Gospel, is it not?   We as fallen sin-blinded creatures prefer a salvation plan that puts God at our mercy, waiting for us to choose Him.  We hate the idea of ourselves having no control over our salvation and being totally at the mercy of God to save us.  Yes we can invent a gospel (Romans 10:3) that allows us to choose God and thus save ourselves when we wish, but its not the gospel of the God of the Bible.  All we are doing at that point is choosing to think that we are saved (by choosing a God and a gospel that is not real), and then thinking that if we follow-up that "decision" with living the good and moral laws of the Bible as best as we can, we will be assured of heaven.  The scribes and Pharisees thought that (Matthew 23). Saul of Tarsus thought that of himself (Philippians 3:4-9) also -until God supernaturally converted him on the road to Damascus.  So <pastor's name>, if all a person really has is a self-willed contract with God and is not a beneficiary of His covenant, then doesn't that mean that they don't have salvation? And if they think they are saved yet don't understand what it means to be entirely at the mercy of God, doesn't it mean that they have another gospel (as stated in Galatians 1:8-9)?

"But I certify you, brethren, that the gospel which was preached of me is not after man.  For I neither received it of man, neither was I taught it, but by the revelation of Jesus Christ." [Galatians 1:11-12]

Ray

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The following text was extracted from an article at: http://www.lifetime.org/contract-covenant-b-25.html

Contract or Covenant?

I have a very important question: Are you under contract with God or do you have a covenant with Him? Does it matter?
You bet it does!
Contracts are powerful, legal instruments. For example: We are a quarter of the way into a collaborative effort with a California company to completely overhaul our online ministry. Several weeks ago, I signed a contract indicating our agreement to work together in this project.
If either party to this contract decides our agreement needs to be modified—or even nullified—it can be done, although painful and costly.
Note: I did not entered into a covenant with Caliber Media Group. As a matter of fact, I only have a covenant with two people: my wife and God. And, while both are covenants, they are different types of covenants.
When I married Dianne, we entered into a marriage covenant, “…for better or worse, for richer or poorer…until death do us part.”
Even though the presiding minister declared pronounced a clear warning to anyone who might tamper with our covenant—“Now what God has joined together, let no man separate!”—many do so anyway and suffer catastrophic consequences!
If you are willing to pay the price, you can alter both a contract and a marriage covenant. But such is not the case with God’s covenant. Hallelujah!
While God uses marriage as a symbol of His relationship with us, the parallel goes only so far before we must springboard into a deeper understanding of how God views our relationship. As people who are included in the life of Christ—you should recall what you have learned through LGI about being “in Christ”—we are participants in a blood covenant between God and Jesus.
 
There are two, initial aspects of this covenant that are significant: First, this covenant is between God and Jesus, not God and us. However, we are participants and beneficiaries of this covenant that God makes in Himself through the incarnate Jesus Christ. Second, this is a blood covenant, not a marriage covenant and certainly not a contract.
A blood covenant is sealed with blood and is made between equals. Therefore, even though God desired for us to be the beneficiaries of His covenantal heart, we are clearly not His equal. In order to resolve our inadequacy and His desire, He placed us in the crucified Christ long before we ever showed up (cf. Eph. 1:4; Rev. 13:8 (NKJV); Gal. 2:20).
A blood covenant is irrevocable and unalterable, sworn to with an oath from God. Let me quote Malcolm Smith, whose book I want you to purchase as it provides an incredible, systematic theology of the New Covenant in lay terms—“you in Christ and Christ in you.” Again, you know this through LGI, et al. Malcolm writes, “In the new covenant that God makes with us, He swears by Himself; He is the guarantee both of the human and divine side that the covenant shall be made and kept. This is the absolute certainty that we have of the covenant: It is made and guaranteed by God. It is as sure and unchangeable as God is.”