Part 1: Covenants

The Means of Grace

“… we work with you for your joy…”

2 Corinthians 1:24

Covenants

• What?– What is a covenant?

• So What?– What is the significance of covenants?

• Now What?– What difference does all this make?

London Baptist Confession (1689)

Chapter VII, paragraph 1. The distance between God and the creature is so great, that although reasonable creatures do owe obedience to him as their creator, yet they could never have attained the reward of life but by some voluntary condescension on God's part, which he hath been pleased to express by way of covenant.

What is the point of a Covenant?

• The central message of the covenant is this:

“I will be your God, and you will be my people.”

• E.g. Genesis 17:7-8, Exodus 6:7, Leviticus 26:12, Jeremiah 7:23; 11:4; 30:22, Ezekiel 36:28, Revelation 21:3.

What is a Covenant?

• “[A] covenant is a relationship between persons, begun by the sovereign determination of the greater party, in which the greater commits himself to the lesser in the context of mutual loyalty, and in which mutual obligations serve as the illustration of that loyalty.” – Michael Williams, Far as the Curse is Found, 45-46.

So What? – What is the significance of covenants?

• Covenants are central to the Biblical story, so understanding them will help us to understand the Bible and know God better

• Jesus saw his own ministry in covenantal terms (Luke 22:20)• How you view covenants affects how you view baptism

Significance of Covenants in the Bible’s Story

Noah (Genesis 9) – Promise never to destroy the earth again

Abraham: (Genesis 17 – see also 12:1-3 & 22:15-19)

Moses at Sinai: Exodus 19-24

David: (2 Sam 7– see also Psalm 89:3)

New Covenant: Jeremiah 31, Luke 22

Adam (Genesis 1-2) – Promise of life (See also Hosea 6:7)

Cove

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How do Covenants Work?

1. The Covenant Dynamic2. Covenant Mediators or Representatives3. Covenants Signs

1. The Covenant DynamicGod

makes his COVENANT

His people respond to his covenant in

and receive either

FAITHand obedience

UNBELIEFand disobedience

or

BLESSING CURSINGor

Diagram from Sinclair B. Ferguson, in Baptism: Three Views, Edited by David F. Wright (Downers Grove, IL: IVP, 2009), 97.

1. The Covenant Dynamic Examples

Blessings• Leviticus 26:1-13

[3] “If you walk in my statutes and observe my commandments and do them, [4] then I will give you your rains in their season, and the land shall yield its increase, and the trees of the field shall yield their fruit.

Curses• Leviticus 26:14-46

[14] “But if you will not listen to me and will not do all these commandments, [15] if you spurn my statutes, and if your soul abhors my rules, so that you will not do all my commandments, but break my covenant, [16] then I will do this to you: I will visit you with panic, with wasting disease and fever that consume the eyes and make the heart ache. And you shall sow your seed in vain, for your enemies shall eat it.

1. The Covenant Dynamic Examples

Blessings• Deuteronomy 28:1-14

[2] And all these blessings shall come upon you and overtake you, if you obey the voice of the LORD your God. [3] Blessed shall you be in the city, and blessed shall you be in the field…

Curses• Deuteronomy 28:15-66

[15] “But if you will not obey the voice of the LORD your God or be careful to do all his commandments and his statutes that I command you today, then all these curses shall come upon you and overtake you. [16] Cursed shall you be in the city, and cursed shall you be in the field…

1. The Covenant Dynamic Examples

Blessings• Joshua 23:14

[14] “And now I am about to go the way of all the earth, and you know in your hearts and souls, all of you, that not one word has failed of all the good things that the LORD your God promised concerning you. All have come to pass for you; not one of them has failed.

Curses• Joshua 23:15-16

[15] But just as all the good things that the LORD your God promised concerning you have been fulfilled for you, so the LORD will bring upon you all the evil things, until he has destroyed you from off this good … [16] if you transgress the covenant of the LORD your God, which he commanded you, and go and serve other gods and bow down to them …”

1. Covenant Dynamic – possible New Testament examples

Blessing• John 15:5

[5] I am the vine; you are the branches. Whoever abides in me and I in him, he it is that bears much fruit, for apart from me you can do nothing.

Curses• John 15:6

[6] If anyone does not abide in me he is thrown away like a branch and withers; and the branches are gathered, thrown into the fire, and burned.

1. Covenant Dynamic – possible New Testament examples

Blessing• Revelation 2:5-7

[5] Remember therefore from where you have fallen; repent, and do the works you did at first...

[7] He who has an ear, let him hear what the Spirit says to the churches. To the one who conquers I will grant to eat of the tree of life, which is in the paradise of God.’

Curses• Revelation 2:5-7

[5] Remember therefore from where you have fallen; repent, and do the works you did at first. If not, I will come to you and remove your lampstand from its place, unless you repent …

2. Mediators or Representatives

• Covenants have a mediator or representative with whom God makes the Covenant

• The faithfulness of the covenant mediator affects all the people in the covenant

• Members are said to be “in” the representative.

Covenant Representative

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2. Examples of Covenant Mediators

[10:1] For I do not want you to be unaware, brothers, that our fathers were all under the cloud, and all passed through the sea, [2] and all were baptized into Moses in the cloud and in the sea,

1 Corinthians 10:1-2 ESV

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2. Examples of Covenant Mediators

[22] For as in Adam all die, so also in Christ shall all be made alive. 1 Corinthians 15:22

Adam

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Christ

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3. Covenant Signs

• The Rainbow (Noah): Sign of God’s Promise[12] And God said, “This is the sign of the covenant that I make between me and you and every living creature that is with you, for all future generations: [13] I have set my bow in the cloud, and it shall be a sign of the covenant between me and the earth ... [16] When the bow is in the clouds, I will see it and remember the everlasting covenant between God and every living creature of all flesh that is on the earth.”(Genesis 9:12-16 ESV)

3. Covenant Signs

• Circumcision (Abraham): - Sign of Covenant Membership[11] You shall be circumcised in the flesh of your foreskins, and it shall be a sign of the covenant between me and you. [12] He who is eight days old among you shall be circumcised. Every male throughout your generations, whether born in your house or bought with your money … [14] Any uncircumcised male who is not circumcised in the flesh of his foreskin shall be cut off from his people; he has broken my covenant.”(Genesis 17:11-14 ESV)

3. Covenant Signs

• Circumcision (Moses) – Sign of Covenant Membership[1] The LORD spoke to Moses, saying, [2] “Speak to the people of Israel, saying, If a woman conceives and bears a male child, …[3] on the eighth day the flesh of his foreskin shall be circumcised.(Leviticus 12:1-3)

3. Covenant Signs

• Circumcision (Moses) – Sign of Covenant Membership

[48] If a stranger shall sojourn with you and would keep the Passover to the LORD, let all his males be circumcised. Then he may come near and keep it; he shall be as a native of the land. But no uncircumcised person shall eat of it.(Exodus 12:48)

3. Covenant Signs

• Circumcision: The outward sign points to an inner reality

[16] Circumcise therefore the foreskin of your heart, and be no longer stubborn. (Deut 10:16)[6] And the Lord your God will circumcise your heart and the heart of your offspring, so that you will love the Lord your God with all your heart and with all your soul, that you may live. (Deut. 30:6)

3. Covenant Signs

• Given by God• They are sign of his promise• They are external signs of an inner reality• They mark out members of the covenant people

BUT… [25] For circumcision indeed is of value if you obey the law, but if you break the law, your circumcision becomes uncircumcision… [28] For no one is a Jew who is merely one outwardly, nor is circumcision outward and physical. [29] But a Jew is one inwardly, and circumcision is a matter of the heart, by the Spirit, not by the letter. His praise is not from man but from God.Romans 2:25-29

Now what?

• How you think about covenants will determine your views on baptism

What’s New about the New Covenant?Topic / Area Covenant Infant Baptists Believers' Baptism Only

Differences between Old & New Covenants More similar than different More different than similar

Primary Nature of Old Covenant Spiritual Physical & National

Covenant signs of circumcision and baptism

Signify the same thing:- Circumcision of the heart / regeneration

Signify different things:- Circumcision is ethnic marker- Baptism signifies regeneration

Who is in the Covenant People?

Believers and their children(like Old Covenant; a mix of believers & unbelievers)

Biblical Basis: Warning passages in NT show that there are mixtures of believers and unbelievers present (e.g. Heb 4 and 6, John 15, Revelation 2-3).

Believers only(unlike Old Covenant)

Biblical Basis: Jeremiah 31:31-34, which says that in the New Covenant “they will all know me from the greatest to the least.

Now what?

• How you think about covenants will determine your views on baptism

• Worship the God who enters into Covenant with you• Trust in Jesus as your faithful covenant mediator• Respond in faith and obedience to our Covenant Lord