Is being a Baptist who holds to covenant theology the equivalent of being a theological unicorn? After all, most people think that to be a Baptist means you are a Dispensationalist and that covenant theology is only for our Presbyterian brethren. While we love our Dispensationalists brothers as well as our Presbyterian brethren, the roots of Baptist identity can be traced, in large part, to covenant theology. In fact, for over 300 years, to be Baptist meant that you held to some form of covenant theology, and it was a distinct covenant theology.
A distinctive Baptist covenant theology served as a means of separation from Presbyterians and Independents or Congregationalists in the 17th century. As Pascal Denault notes, it was not baptism that was chiefly the difference but covenant theology. Covenant theology relates to who is the church. “Before asking the question ‘Who can be baptized?’ there was a more fundamental question, namely, ‘Who is in the covenant?’”1
A distinctive Baptist covenant theology is found in the confessional statements of both General Baptists (see Articles 13 and 16 in “An Orthodox Creed”) and Particular Baptists (the 2LBCF or the 1689). The presence of covenant theology in both confessional documents shows that while the two groups differed on soteriology, an understanding of the covenants served to be foundational for both ecclesiology and soteriology. However, differences in covenant theology did not just exist between Arminian and Calvinistic Baptists, but within the Calvinistic community in general. Specifically, chapter 7 of 2LBCF on God’s covenant shows a clear difference between the Westminster Confession written by the Presbyterians and the Savoy Declaration written by the Independents. Baptists such as John Spilsbury, Christopher Blackwood, Nehemiah Coxe, Benjamin Keach, John Gill, John Ryland, Jr., and many others would articulate the importance of the covenants when defending Baptist ecclesiology and practice. They could not conceive of Baptist distinctives, such as the baptism of disciples alone and regenerate church membership as not being grounded in a robust, biblical understanding of covenant theology.
As Baptists, we need to rediscover that covenant theology formed a crucial piece of the foundation as to what it meant to be Baptists. Our British Baptist forefathers understood this as well as Baptists in America. What aspect that is largely unknown is that the early Southern Baptists stood in solidarity in this line of Baptist covenant theology. One of the first books published by Southern Baptists in 1855 was entitled “The Covenants” by R.B.C. Howell. Howell pastored the First Baptist Church of Nashville and was the 2nd president of the SBC serving from 1851-1859.
In the opening paragraph of his work, Howell states that the covenants compose “the whole system of divine grace. A perfect knowledge of the Gospel therefore, involves necessarily, a correct comprehension of the covenants.”2 Baptists are in need of a recovery of this issue. Consider that when we celebrate the Lord’s Supper, we are remembering and participating in the work of Christ in the new covenant. In fact, this is the meal of the new covenant. Since we are being called to remember the new covenant, that means that it is imperative we know exactly what that means.
In a series of articles, I want to show that Southern Baptists have a covenant theology heritage that is ignored, forgotten, or both. I want to draw upon some of the early pastor-theologians in Southern Baptist life that spoke in clear terms about covenant theology. While they each had some nuanced differences in areas, the substance is the same in their unpacking of the covenants. In the second article, I want to lay out some of the basic foundations and terms used in covenant theology. In the third article, we will consider the historic Southern Baptist witness regarding covenant theology. In the fourth article, I will seek to conclude this study and show why it is important for us to understand covenant theology.
Whether you agree or disagree with me, I pray that we will all be in awe of God’s majestic grace in salvation and rejoice that we are secured by covenant for all eternity! SDG!
Bibliography
Denault, Pascal. The Distinctiveness of Baptist Covenant Theology. Birmingham, AL: Solid Ground Christian Books, 2017.
Howell, R.B.C. The Cross and the Covenants. Harrisonburg, VA: Sprinkle Publications, 1994.
Jake Stone pastors New Testament Baptist Church in Biloxi, MS. He has served there since August 2011. He is a graduate of William Carey University in Hattiesburg, MS.
