Covenant Theology

In the Holy Bible, a covenant is similar to a contract, an agreement between two or more parties. However, unlike a business contract, a biblical covenant may be unilaterally given by God. This Sum primarily speaks of three covenants: the Covenant of Works, the Covenant of Redemption, and the Covenant of Grace. God gave the Covenant of Works to Adam and his descendants, promising eternal life upon condition of personal, perfect, and perpetual obedience to God. But—even before Creation, knowing Adam would fall—God the Father, God the Son, and God the Holy Spirit agreed between themselves that the Son would suffer and die as the Last Adam on the Cross to redeem the Elect, and that the Father would accept Christ’s perfect obedience, suffering, and death on behalf of the Elect and thus give the Elect eternal life. This agreement was the Covenant of Redemption. The outworking of the Covenant of Redemption on Earth is the Covenant of Grace in which God promised salvation to the Elect upon condition of saving faith in Jesus Christ. Covenants with people throughout history, such as the covenant with Abraham, with the Israelites at Sinai, with David, and so on, while different in administration, were outworkings of the same Covenant of Grace.

Navigation:

Past: Prerequisite Knowledge and More Helpful Background Information enable all readers to be on the same page as this Sum and profit from it, provided they are willing to at least suspend prior false beliefs for the sake of understanding this book.

Present: The Sum of Saving Knowledge, especially salvation by faith in Jesus Christ, the Eternal Son of God.

Future: How to put that knowledge to good use