Covenant Religion, Part 2: Introduction to Covenant Requirements

As the Lord gives me understanding, longevity, and passion, I will seek to lay out the various ways God has reached out to mankind through covenants. But for now, it’s important to understand that the way in which God decides to offer Himself to mankind at any given time in history must be the way in which they are saved. If God says He will save in one way, and a human thinks to be saved in another fashion, there is no hope for that soul. If God says that He will not justify according to the works of the law (Gal. 2:16), and one seeks to be redeemed by the works of the law, they will not be saved. God sets the terms for His covenants because it is His salvation.
In the covenant that God made with national Israel in the Old Testament, He clearly told them that when they conquered foreign nations, they were not to seek to adapt their worship of Yahweh according to the practices of their conquered foes. God emphatically declared, “You shall not worship the LORD your God that way…” (Deut. 12:31) Those who try to reach out to God in a way that is not prescribed by Him, do so in futility because they worshiped what they do not know. (John 4: 22) When it came time for God’s covenant to be perfected in the New Testament, Jesus again laid the groundwork of an equally exclusive nature: To the Samarian woman (“the woman at the well”), Jesus stated, “You worship what you do not know; we know what we worship, for salvation is of the Jews. But the hour is coming, and now is, when the true worshipers will worship the Father in spirit and truth; for the Father is seeking such to worship Him.” (John 4:22-23) Jesus was telling the woman that she was worshiping in a way that was not honored by God, but the time had come for God-honoring worship to be redefined.
The whole point of the covenant requirements is that God is the One who is reaching out to us, and He makes the rules.
In the following discussion concerning the various covenants God has used, I will outline the specific requirements, but for now I just want you to realize the importance of the revealed guidelines.