Before continuing, I have to make it clear this is not an article written for idiots, but by one! If you are after understanding the intricacies of covenant theology, then I strongly suggest you visit a place such as Monergism and study some of the manifold, and wonderful articles and audio files there. {Since writing this article, I have become aware of a wonderful resource available through iTunes. A whole series of lectures introducing covenant theology can be freely downloaded through “iTunes U” and is published by Westminster Theological Seminary.} However if you want to read from the perspective of someone grasping for a sane and reasoned alternative to dispensationalism, then read on.
Probably the best place to begin is to firstly explain that both dispensational theology and covenantal theology, have the similarity of being a type of grid that forms how one interprets the text of the Bible. Obviously the differences between the two systems become highly visible with regards to end times events found in the Bible, but the problems I find difficulty reconciling with are much deeper, and are more to do with the interpretation of the Bible as a whole.
Dispensationalism is a theology that purposely divides the Bible narrative into various dispensations (epochs of time), and along with the history itself, also divides things such as the Law and Gospel, the people of God, and the promises made to national Israel in the Old Testament, from the promises made to the Christian Church in the New Testament. The division of the Word of God in such a way, separates Israel from the Church, and identifies the Old Testament as a dispensation of righteousness by works according to the Law, and the New Testament as a dispensation of righteousness by faith in the completed works of Christ crucified. There are other dispensations too, but the differences already mentioned will serve as a sufficient contrast to covenant theology.
The interpretative grid provided by covenantal theology, rather than the focus being separated into various dispensations, instead it is that the whole Bible, from Genesis to Revelation, is one complete revelation to the one chosen people of God, from the fall of man, until the second coming of Christ. Through this narrative, God progressively reveals His plan of salvation to His people, through a system of covenants running through the entire Bible.
According to my limited understanding of these covenants, they can be identified as the covenant of works, the covenant of redemption, and the covenant of grace. The first of these covenants, the covenant of works, can first be seen in God’s command to Adam; “And the Lord God commanded the man, saying, “You may surely eat of every tree of the garden, 17 but of the tree of the knowledge of good and evil you shall not eat, for in the day that you eat of it you shall surely die.” [Gen 2:16-17] Although opponents of this system would remark that there was no covenant made with Adam, the Scriptures elsewhere disagree as according to the prophet Hosea, “But like Adam they transgressed the covenant; there they dealt faithlessly with me.” [Hosea 6:7] From there on, it can be seen anywhere God demands obedience to His righteous commands in order to enter into His blessing.
Obviously God knows the end from the beginning, and even though the fall of Adam spelled disaster for all those who followed him [Rom 5:12], throughout Scripture we begin to see that God had an eternal plan of salvation before the creation of the world. This covenant is known as the covenant of redemption, or the counsel of peace, drawn from the text Zech 6:13. It is a covenant formed between God the Father, and God the Son before creation even began, whereby the Son would be sent as the Lamb of God into the world. He would live a life of perfect obedience to the Father, which would ultimately result in suffering and dying at the hands of those He came to save. As a result of His obedience, God the Father would give to His Son a people for Himself, chosen before the foundation of the earth. Throughout the Old Testament the prophets looked forward to the coming of Christ, and when He came, everything about His life, works and the words He spoke, reflected that He was sent of the Father in Heaven according to His eternal purpose.
Equally importantly, the role the Holy Spirit plays in this covenant between the Godhead should not be overlooked. Whereas the Father sends the Son into the world, and the Son is obedient to His Father’s will, the Holy Spirit is the One who applies the redemption purchased by Christ Himself, to those chosen by the Father. The Holy Spirit is the One who convicts of sin, and works upon the hearts of the elect, granting them faith and repentance, that they should truly believe in Christ Jesus as their Lord and Saviour. Not only that, but indwelling each one in order to complete the work that was begun in them, and losing not one.
It was out of this covenant made between the Godhead that proceeded the covenant of grace. This was to be a progressive revelation of the mercy and grace of God to those He had forechosen, and those forechosen would be gifted back to the Son for His faithfulness and obedience to the eternal covenant of redemption. This covenant could be seen first of all immediately after the fall of Adam, when the first prophecy about Jesus Christ was made [Gen 3:15], and the grace and mercy of God was manifested towards Adam and Eve by clothing their nakedness. From that point onwards, God has revealed His grace and mercy to those He calls, by way of covenant. And the covenant of works being the very thing that drives the elect of God to utlize the faith they have been gifted [Eph 2:8-9], to embrace the covenant of grace that God establishes with them.
I find the easiest way of understanding this system, and the reason it gives me so much confidence in the salvation Christ offers is this: In the covenant of works, God reveals His righteous requirements for perfect obedience to the whole of mankind through Adam, who is the natural father of us all. As a result we all fall short of this mark, and face the curse of death in the same manner as Adam. However in the face of this insurmountable penalty, God has chosen to reveal His grace to those He has forechosen to be given to His Son on the last day, by way of saving faith that He has gifted to them, and for His own glory [Eph 2:7-9]. Basically at whatever point the covenant of works condemns us to death for sin, the covenant of grace lays the sins of the believer upon Christ as the Lamb of God, and imparts His righteousness as their own, for their justification before God the Father. This grace is only given to those called by the Father and given to the Son to raise up on the last day [John 6:44], not based upon any merit of the soul saved, but solely upon His sovereign will.
Contrary to dispensational theology, those of God’s people in the Old Testament were saved by precisely the same means as those in the New Testament, namely by grace through faith in the sacrifice of Christ. And though the progressive revelation of God’s grace through from Adam onwards, has become more clearly defined in it’s scope and purpose, it always comes back to the sacrifice Christ has made, as the sole reason that grace can be offered. The sole reason the grace of God can be extended to sinners, is the faithfulness of Christ to be sent into this world as the only acceptable atoning sacrifice for sin. And although Christ was only revealed clearly at His first advent, whether looking forward to Calvary or back from the present time, the sins of those who believe upon Him are laid upon His shoulders by the faith the Father gifts to us.
I am so thankful to the Lord for revealing these truths to me through the revelation of His Word, and thank Him from the depth of my heart for the confidence it gives concerning the heritage of all of the saints, called by God into the salvation of Christ His Son.
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