Covenant
Theology
Covenant theology interprets the Bible
through the lenses of two covenants, the covenant of works
and the covenant of grace. Some covenant theologians see a
third covenant, the covenant of redemption, but this falls
under the umbrella of the covenant of grace. Covenant
theology does not disregard individual covenants in the
Bible such as the Davidic covenant but see them as part of a
broader part of God’s plan.
In the covenant of works, there was a covenant between God
and Adam; Adam would obey God and God would provide eternal
life. Disobedience would bring death however. This is made
clear in Genesis 2:16-17, “And the LORD God commanded the
man, "You are free to eat from any tree in the garden; but
you must not eat from the tree of the knowledge of good and
evil, for when you eat of it you will surely die."
When God’s command was broken, sin and death entered into
the world. Adam had sinned as the representative of man and
thus all people were born into sin. Man continued to sin
individually as well, however, emphasizing the need for
salvation from sin.
The covenant of grace is between God and the elect, those
who have been or will be saved. Grace is not extended to
those who do not accept and enter into the covenant. This is
different from the covenant of works because Adam began
under this covenant and chose to break it. The covenant of
grace is a covenant that man enters into but not all enter.
The covenant of grace offers eternal life to all with the
condition that they have faith in Jesus Christ.
Because sin and death had entered the world, God had to
extend grace to humanity. Grace is found in Jesus’ sacrifice
on the cross. Even though this does not occur until the New
Testament, the Old Testament is still under the covenant of
grace because the people looked forward to Jesus from the
moment that God instilled the covenant in Genesis 3:15.
There, Eve is promised that her seed would crush the head of
the serpent.
The covenant of redemption is a covenant between God the
Father and Jesus. Its importance is not so much that it be
recognized as a third covenant under covenant theology but
simply the fact that the covenant of grace is made possible
because of the work of Jesus.
The covenant of redemption states that there was an
agreement in eternity past that Jesus would provide
redemption for fallen man. This is based off of passages
such as Ephesians 1:3-14. The covenant of grace is placed
into effect because Jesus came to earth as the “Second Adam”
and lived a sinless life but paid the penalty of death that
all sinners deserve.
Covenant Theology in the Old and New Testaments
The covenant of works failed the moment that sin entered
into the world and the need for the covenant of grace arose.
The covenant of grace goes into effect directly after the
fall with the first prophecy concerning the coming of Jesus
in Genesis 3:15. All of the Old Testament is spent looking
forward to Jesus.
Anyone who follows the commands of God and takes part of the
sacrifices that God requires does so in anticipation of the
death of Jesus and the redemption found in the cross.
Therefore Old Testament believers are saved in the same
manner in which New Testament believers are saved. Salvation
is through Jesus Christ, Old Testament believers are simply
looking forward while New Testament believers look back upon
the work that has already taken place.
Covenant Theology and Israel
Some reject covenant theology because of its view of God’s
treatment of Israel. In short, the promises that God made to
Israel were unconditional in that they would be fulfilled by
God. However, they are spiritualized in that the promises
are passed along to the church – spiritual Israel. Because
Israel rejected Jesus, they do not get to enjoy in the
promises that are made to Israel but the church will still
see these promises fulfilled to them.
The thinking behind extending the promises of Israel to the
church goes as follows. The covenant of grace was extended
to the elect. In the beginning this was Israel whom God
chose as a people for Himself. The promises that were made
to Israel were not made to a nation or a people group, but
to the elect who were a part of the covenant of grace. When
Israel rejected Jesus and stopped placing their faith in the
Messiah who they previously had looked forward to, they were
no longer a part of the covenant. The church, made up of
believing Jews and Gentiles alike, inherited the promises of
God by virtue of the fact that they were now the
participants of the covenant of grace. Nationality never had
anything to do with Israel’s covenant aside from the fact
that previously the nation of Israel had been a part of the
covenant of grace.
Prophecy and Covenant Theology
Because of covenant theology’s view of Israel, this effects
one’s interpretation of the
Millennial Kingdom. Premillennialism holds that Jesus will literally reign on
David’s throne for 1,000 years. This can’t literally happen
if the promises to Israel are fulfilled in the church. For
this reason, covenant theologians are amillennial or
postmillennial in their view of the Millennial Kingdom.
For centuries it appeared as if the promises to Israel had
to be spiritualized because Israel was no longer a nation.
It appeared as though God had punished Israel and He was
done with them. In 1948 when Israel became a nation again,
it became possible for the prophecies about Israel to be
literally fulfilled once again. This does not prove that the
prophecies must be taken literally, it simply opens the door
for them to be literally fulfilled when before that appeared
impossible.
Signs of the Covenant
Israel was given circumcision as a sign of the covenant
between them and God. All males were to be circumcised on
the eighth day after their birth and all converts to Judaism
were to be circumcised. Once Israel rejected Jesus, a new
sign of the covenant of grace was needed. Baptism was used
by the church as a sign of the covenant of grace. Baptism
was then used in place of circumcision as a sign of the
covenant to distinguish Christianity from Judaism.
It should be noted that there is little scriptural evidence
of infant baptism. A few passages in the New Testament
reference households being baptized but never imply that
babies are baptized. Instead this most likely refers to the
fact that the entire household became saved and chose to be
baptized together.
Infant baptism is therefore something that is deduced from
scripture rather than a direct command. It takes the place
of circumcision in order to differentiate the two religions.
Much like circumcision did not save a child – they must
choose to follow God’s commands and offer the appropriate
sacrifices – so should infant baptism not be thought of as
an act that causes salvation. A child must make the decision
on their own to place their faith in Jesus.
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