Covenant Doctrine and
Theology
Both
Scripture and human history are replete with derivatives of covenant and (especially)
God’s covenant with his people. The old covenant and new covenant are commonly
considered in covenant theology; yet, framed within the bounds of the old
covenant are also individual covenants, e.g. the Abrahamic covenant, the Mosaic
covenant, and the Davidic covenant. The aim of this paper is to secure a
theology of covenant in an overarching manner. Preceding the covenant of grace
between God and his people and that upon which it is founded is the covenant of
redemption between the three members of the Godhead. Stemming then from such a
covenant is the covenant of grace, which encompasses both God’s sovereign plan
and the responsibility of humankind. Upon this covenant of grace rests the
entirety of God’s workings. Therefore, the foundation of God’s work throughout
human history is his covenant with his people. Realizing the foundational
doctrine of covenant is vital to the Christian faith and life in Christ, for
covenant subsists as the foundation of Christian faith.
The Covenant of
Redemption: The Foundation of Grace
In the Exodus narrative, God acts
based not primarily upon the prayers of his people but upon the covenant he
made with them (Exod 2:23-25). While various
covenants subsist throughout the Old Testament, John Calvin asserts, “after
the fall, there is only one covenant: the covenant of grace. This, however,
presents itself in the progressive unfolding of the Abrahamic covenant. The
Mosaic, Davidic, and new covenants are but a progressive revelation of what
Yahweh initiated with the patriarchs” (Macedo, 2016, p. 121). God’s covenant
with his people, i.e. the covenant of grace, then might be viewed as manifested
through various individual Old Testament covenants and then finalized and made
permanent through the new covenant in Christ. Nonetheless, a reformed
formulation of not only the covenant of grace but the covenant of redemption,
or pactum salitus (Bird, 2016, p. 5), provides the foundation upon which
God’s covenant of grace rests. The view that in eternity past, the three
members of the Godhead made a pact with one another as to how the redeemed
people would be saved was formulated during the era of Puritan, John Owen
(Bird, 2016, p. 5), but also holds biblical support primarily in the book of John
based on Christ’s common mention of the work which the Father sent him to do.
The pact between the three members of the Godhead then (or the covenant of redemption)
is foundational to God’s work in his covenant of grace with his people.
Whereas
the covenant commonly considered by most believers is the overarching covenant
of grace, of which a plurality of manifestations subsist in the biblical
narrative, the
covenant of redemption, often referred to as the (Latin) pactus salitus, differs in that it is the pact made in eternity
past between all three members of the Godhead regarding how the chosen people
(the church) would be redeemed; the covenant of redemption, therefore, precedes
the covenant of grace and is, in fact, the basis for the covenant of grace. The
basis for the covenant of redemption, however, is the three-way love
relationship between the Father, Son, and Spirit.
“[John]
Owen often speaks of the Father as the fountainhead of the Trinity; therefore,
the Father’s distinct work ad intra (though never separate from the
other members) is as the master designer of creation and salvation” (Rippee,
2016, pp. 89-90). In the covenant of redemption then, out of love for the Son,
the Father gives a people; out of love for the Father, the Son redeems the
people; and out of love for both the Father and the Son, the Spirit calls,
convicts, and guides the people. All actions are born of and based upon love
between members of the triune Godhead for each other.
One might question the biblical basis
for such a covenant. “During the post-Reformation era, English Puritan
theologians developed an exegetical theology of the covenant of redemption, in
part because earlier writers were ‘generally silent about this mysterious transaction:
but Scriptures are very pregnant and evident” (Parr, 2020, p. 55). Nonetheless,
by right admission, there does not exist explicit references to the covenant of
redemption; it is, however, a central part of reformed theology.
Although the term “Covenant of
Redemption” is not a biblical designation, the teaching that, from before the
creation of the world, the persons of the Trinity entered into a solemn pact to
accomplish the work of redemption, the Father promising to give a people to the
Son as his inheritance, the Son undertaking to accomplish their redemption, and
the Spirit covenanting to testify to Christ, and apply his redemption to his
people's hearts, is most evidently biblical. Thus, according to the divine
testimony, the Lamb was already considered as “slain from the foundation of the
world” (Rev 13:8) so certainly was the agreement to accomplish redemption
established before history (Monergism).
Additionally,
there subsists biblical support for the covenant of redemption by way of
inference. Psalm 2, for example, “depicts Christ
relating the terms of the Covenant that the Father had established with him.
Isaiah 53:10-12 also speaks of the covenantal agreement between the Father and the Son in the accomplishing the work of
redemption; and Ephesians 1:3-14 gives a trinitarian picture of the roles that
each person of the Godhead undertook from eternity to perform”
(Monergism). Many, however, view the gospel of John as the clearest portrait
which points to the covenant of redemption, as Jesus repeatedly speaks of the
work given to him by the Father, e.g. John 5:17-31, 36-37, 43; 6:37-40, 57;
7:28-29, 38-39; 8:16-19, 26-29, 38, 42, 49-54; 9:4; 10:14-18, 25-30, 36-38;
12:23-28, 44-50; 13:3, 20, 31-32; 14:9-14, 16-20, 24-26; 15:8-15, 24-27;
16:7-16, 27-28; 17 (Monergism).
The remainder of the text here will
focus on the covenant of grace; yet, to understand covenant, believers must
understand that all triune God’s workings rest upon the foundation of his own
glory and the threefold love relationship between Father, Son, and Holy Spirit.
The covenant of grace (or the pact between God and his people), therefore, is
founded primarily upon the preceding covenant of the Godhead in eternity past. Lest
humans supersede the glory of God by elevating their own importance, God’s love
for his people is derived from his love for himself, i.e. the manner which God
glorifies himself is by loving the bride of Christ beyond measure. Covenant is
the foundation of God’s work and the covenant of redemption the foundation of
the covenant of grace.
God’s
Sovereignty: The Unconditional Promise of God’s Covenant
God’s
covenant with his people is referenced in Romans 9:14-16, which makes clear the
fact that God’s covenant is unconditional, i.e. no matter what his people have
or have not done, he is merciful toward them. Understanding the text of these
verses ameliorates the understanding one has of God’s unconditional promise in
the bounds of his covenant.
The
Apostle Paul seems to emphasize the sovereignty of God here in his letter to
the Romans. In saying, “I will have mercy on whom I have mercy, and I will have
compassion on whom I have compassion” (Rom 9:15), God’s sovereignty in his
covenant is made clear. Though it might be easy to consider the various
manifestations of God’s covenant throughout Scripture as separate individual
covenants, each covenant is truly a manifestation of God’s overarching covenant
of grace, which was finalized and made permanent in the new covenant.
The essential nature of the new
covenant is nowhere more clearly articulated
than in Jeremiah 31:31–34. In fact, it is the only Old Testament text to utilize the term new covenant.
The writer to the Hebrews,
quoting this verse at length, teaches that this covenant has been inaugurated in the blood of
Christ, finding fulfillment in the church
(Heb. 8:8–12; 10:16–17) (Thompson, 2019, p. 25).
In
this manner, each individual biblical covenant, e.g. the Abrahamic covenant,
the Mosaic covenant, the Davidic covenant, etc. should be considered as parts
of a whole. As circumcision was the physical sign of the Abrahamic covenant,
(Gen 17:11) the argument could be made that baptism has become the sign of
grace in the new covenant. Whereas the new covenant is better than the old
covenant, (Heb 8:6) baptism is a better sign since it does not depend on either
gender nor genealogy, i.e. no longer must God’s people come from a particular
heritage and no longer is the sign reserved only for males; God’s people are
cleansed in Jesus Christ and signify their spiritual death in the ordinance of
baptism.
In both the old covenant and new
covenant, God acts sovereignly, i.e. he employs his grace according to what
will glorify him. What Paul’s words, in Romans 9:14-16, therefore, emphasize is
God’s sovereign role in his covenant with his people. Such an understanding,
however, should not yield a false understanding that humankind holds no
responsibility, for a covenant implies a pact between two parties.
Nevertheless, God’s saving works exist for his own glory. His covenant with his
people, therefore, is unconditional, i.e. not based on anything they have or
have not done. God’s unconditional promises precede the parts of the covenant
which are conditional and are indeed the foundation upon which his love for his
people rests. Lest Christians assume they are saved because of anything they may
do, it should be eternally realized that God is sovereign in his covenant and
indeed initiates such a pact between himself and his people.
Humankind’s
Responsibility: The Conditional Promise of God’s Covenant
Since
covenant lies as the foundation of God’s work throughout human history, a properly
rounded view of the topic should be understood by Christians. Joshua 24:14-28
provides an account of God’s people given a choice to follow him or not, which
is to suggest that although God is sovereign in his unconditional covenant,
humankind still has the responsibility to respond, i.e. the conditional promises
of God’s covenant. Understanding this passage in Joshua yields the necessary
understanding of the paradox that God’s covenant is both unconditional and
conditional; God is sovereign and humankind concurrently responsible.
Christian
theologians had long emphasized two main covenants at work in the Bible: (1)
the covenant of works whereby the chosen people of Israel, through obedience to
God’s law, are promised eternal salvation and blessing; and (2) the covenant of
grace whereby the elect, through faith in Christ’s incarnation and atonement,
are promised eternal salvation and beatitude (Witte, 2018, pp. 283-284).
While God’s covenant with his people
then holds the aspect of his sovereign choice, Christians are also given a
responsibility in the covenant. Aaron Clay Denlinger offers the following
explanation in reconciling the unconditional and conditional aspects of God’s
covenant:
The
covenant of God in general is a promise of grace under some settled condition. The
legal covenant is the promise of eternal life under the condition of our own lawful
works. The gratuitous covenant is the promise of both justice, which was lost
through the Fall, and eternal life, under the condition of satisfaction for an offence
committed, not a satisfaction of our own, but that rendered by Christ the mediator,
which must nevertheless be apprehended by our faith (Denlinger, 2013, p. 202).
Christ’s
mediating sacrifice, therefore, is not only the ultimate display of love but
the final work in fulfilling the promise of covenant, for God’s people are
incapable of obedience to the law.
In discussing a historical
understanding of covenant, Howard Marshall observes that Christian thinking in
distinguishing between the old and new covenants is both instructive and
ironic; it is ironic in that it merely serves as a footnote in early Christianity
and instructive in that it clearly articulates the meaning Jesus gave to his
own death (Saucy, 2014, pp. 344-345). Modern believers then have the luxury of
a complete understanding of God’s covenant, for the topic has morphed to become
not a mere footnote but a foundation of Christian theology and indeed God’s
work throughout human history. Stalwartly linked to that understanding,
however, is the understanding that God’s people hold responsibility which is
compatible with God’s sovereign work in covenant.
Paul discusses the law as a curse;
yet, although God’s people are not capable of keeping his law, Christ has
redeemed his bride from the curse by becoming a curse on her behalf (Gal 3:13).
“Paul rejects the works of the law because of his anthropological conviction
that humans are unable to fulfill the law” (Cowan, 2020, p. 211). The
responsibility of Christians then is not to be saved by works of the law but to
reflect the already-achieved redemption of Christ in the covenant of grace; the
church is to live in light of who she is: a redeemed people.
While Joshua 24:14-28 provides an
account of old covenant people being given a choice to follow or reject the
ways of the Lord, those redeemed in the new covenant hold the same
responsibility but as a reflection of God’s character rather than an obligation
for salvation. God is certainly sovereign in his covenant work; yet, God’s
people also have responsibility; and the two ideas are mysteriously compatible.
Covenant implies a pact between two parties. In the covenant of grace, God
initiates a relationship with his people and his people respond in faith to him,
both actions providing the foundation of Christian faith.
Covenant:
The Foundation of Faith
Covenant
is foundational to the Christian faith in that upon the covenant of redemption
rests the covenant of grace and upon the covenant of grace rests the entire
Christian faith and God’s work in the lives of his people. The foundation of
God’s work throughout human history is his covenant with his people. God’s
sovereign initiation of covenant is still compatible with the responsibility of
his people in the covenant of grace. Additionally, the foundational covenant
between God and his people is supported by and derived from the pact made in
eternity past between the three members of the Godhead. The vitality of
covenant then should not be diminished in the Christian faith, for covenant is
the basis of God’s work throughout human history.
