Baptists possess a rich theological history when it comes to covenant theology. Historic Baptists confessions and catechisms taught a distinct Baptist covenant theology. In my first article, I explained the purpose of this series. I also laid out some of the historical foundations of covenant theology in Baptist life. In this article, I define the common terminology used in connection with covenant theology: “covenant of works,” “covenant of grace,” and “covenant of redemption.” These theological terms are critical to understanding the redemptive flow of the Bible, and they are the historical terms used by theologians in the Protestant and Reformed tradition.

In his book The Mystery of Christ, Sam Renihan does an excellent job of showing the connection between covenant and kingdom:

Covenants function as the legal basis upon which God interacts with man in a given kingdom. Covenants establish the boundaries of a kingdom, appoint federal heads, grant promises, impose laws, define the offspring of the federal head, and specify all other pertinent and necessary details of how God will exercise His dominion through the federal head and his offspring. By way of covenant, every party involved in a kingdom can know how to act and what to expect. Kingdoms manifest themselves in visible forms through the terms of their covenant. The kingdom is the covenant realized, implemented, or actualized.¹

Renihan shows how these covenants are connected to and fashion three kingdoms: the kingdom of creation, the kingdom of Israel, and the kingdom of Christ. Each kingdom is founded upon and formed by covenants. The Covenant of Works made with Adam and all his posterity and the Noahic Covenant govern the kingdom of creation. The Abrahamic, Mosaic, and Davidic Covenants formed, established, and governed Israel. The Covenant of Redemption and the Covenant of Grace (which is the New Covenant) constitute the kingdom of Christ, which includes all of the elect, the redeemed, the flock of God.

So, what exactly do we mean when we speak of the covenant of works, the covenant of redemption, and the covenant of grace?

The covenant of works is the covenant that God made with Adam in the garden of Eden. In that covenant, Adam is called upon to obey God and to expand the garden throughout the earth. God created Adam with a will and the ability to keep the moral law of God, which he wrote upon Adam’s heart. The prohibition of the tree of knowledge of good and evil was a means to test and prove Adam’s obedience. Romans 5:12-21 provides for us the framework for Adam being the covenant or federal head for all of humanity. Genesis 2:15-17 uses covenantal language, which is reinforced by passages such as Isaiah 24:5-6 and Hosea 6:7. Every person is born with Adam as their covenant head, and we are born condemned in him.

In Genesis 3:15, after the fall of man and the pronouncement of judgment, the gospel is first preached. It promises the Seed of the woman who would conquer the serpent. This promise is of the covenant of grace. That promise is rooted in the covenant of redemption. The Covenant of Redemption serves as the covenantal foundation for the new covenant of grace. This covenant is described in Isaiah 42:1-7 and 50:4-9, John 17:6, Ephesians 1:3-11, 2 Timothy 1:9, Titus 1:2. Hebrews 10:12-14 declares that it has been fulfilled.

The covenant of redemption is made within the Trinity concerning the salvation of a people for the glory of God. The Father makes commitments, the Son makes commitments, and the Spirit participates in the unfolding of this covenant. The Father gives a people to the Son from this fallen race of mankind. The Son is given a covenant of works with conditions of obedience that He must carry out. He will do that which the first Adam failed to do. The Son fulfills all of His covenant obligations, which include living in perfect obedience to the law of God and being our substitutionary sacrifice at Calvary. The Spirit is with the Son working in Him and through Him to keep the commands of the Father. Thus, our salvation is rooted in a Trinitarian covenant, which means that it cannot be lost.

The covenant of grace is the historical outworking and fulfilling of the covenant of redemption. As Gal. 4:4 states, it was at the appointed time when Jesus Christ was born of a woman under the law. The covenants of the OT, the sacrifices, the priesthood, and so much more were the farther steps showing gospel glimpses. It is in the new covenant that the covenant of grace is ratified. The new covenant of grace brings justification, regeneration and sanctification, adoption and preservation, and resurrection and glorification.

Jesus Christ is the covenant head of the new covenant of grace. All who are in union with Him are in that covenant and receive all of the blessings of it. Hence, we remember the blood of the new covenant when we celebrate the Lord’s Supper. “The New Covenant of grace mediates the blessings obtained in the Covenant of Redemption. In other words, the New Covenant is the fulfilled Covenant of Redemption mediated to those for whom the Son was appointed head in the Covenant of Redemption.”²

This brief overview of terms and concepts gives us insights into what theologians mean when they use these terms. That brings us to consider this question in article 3: what did Southern Baptists believe concerning these covenants?

Bibliography

Renihan, Samuel. The Mystery of Christ: His Covenant and His Kingdom. Cape Coral, FL: Founders Press, 2019.