The covenant of peace, as described in Isaiah 54, is primarily intended for the physical nation of Israel after Christ's return, yet it is a perpetual covenant that those called into the body of Christ are under right now. This same covenant, highlighted in Ezekiel 37, has been given as both a gift and a responsibility to those within the body of Christ. As shown in Hebrews 8 and 10, this covenant will also be Israel's in the Millennium, emphasizing that our justification, sanctification, glorification, and peacefully productive relationship with God come as a gift through Jesus Christ. Accepting this gift involves a great personal cost in living out our God-given opportunity in a world driven by prideful, carnal nature that is enmity against God and His Family. The covenant of perpetual peace with God, as exemplified by Stephen, required an incredible cost, even to the point of his life, yet he continued working in the Family business under the direction of the Holy Spirit until his last breath. At baptism, when one is buried with Jesus Christ and becomes part of the body of Christ, having made the covenant of peace with God, there is an extraordinary cost involved in learning to follow the leadership of our Elder Brother and engaging in the Family business. Forgiveness, a key aspect of maintaining this covenant of peace with the Father, is costly due to our carnal nature that often clings to pride and refuses to let go of faults. Jesus Christ emphasizes in Matthew 6:14-15 and Mark 11:25-26 that forgiveness, both received from God and extended to others, is pivotal to successful prayer and sustaining this covenant. Without actively seeking God's guidance to forgive as He forgives, we risk treating the sacrificial cost of Jesus Christ for our unpardonable debt with contempt. If we cannot absorb the personal cost involved in forgiving one another in humility, we tread contemptuously on the blood of Jesus Christ, who will ultimately bring Israel, Judah, and the nations of the earth together with heartfelt forgiveness in the covenant of peace.