Covenant theology
A view held among orthodox Christians
A way of reading the whole Bible as the story of God's covenants, centred on one covenant of grace administered across both testaments.
Also called: covenantal theology, Westminster covenant theology
What it means
Covenant theology reads Scripture through the covenants God makes with people. In its classic Presbyterian form (often called Westminster covenant theology) it speaks of a covenant of works made with Adam, which Adam broke, and a covenant of grace by which God saves sinners through Christ. That one covenant of grace is administered differently over time: through promises, sacrifices, and the law under the old covenant, and through the preaching of the gospel and the sacraments under the new.
Because the covenant of grace is one in substance, covenant theologians stress the unity of God's people across the testaments. Believers in the Old Testament were saved by faith in the promised Christ, just as believers are today. This unity is also why Presbyterian and Reformed churches baptise the children of believers: God's promise was made "to you and your children," and the sign of the covenant was given to households under Abraham.
Reformed Baptists share most of this framework but read the relationship between the covenants differently (see 1689 Federalism). Both traditions hold that salvation has always been by grace alone, through faith alone, in Christ alone. The difference is mainly over who belongs to the covenant community now, and therefore who should receive baptism.
In Scripture
God establishes an everlasting covenant to be God to Abraham and to his descendants after him.
The promises were made to Abraham and his seed, who is Christ, and the later law does not annul them.
Peter tells his hearers that the promise is for them, their children, and all whom the Lord calls.
Paul sets Adam and Christ side by side as two representatives whose acts reach many.
Christ was raised through the blood of the eternal covenant.
Where it comes up
Confessions: WCF 7.1-6; WCF 28.4
On this site: Covenant framework
Related terms
Covenant of worksA view held among orthodox Christians
The arrangement Reformed theology sees God making with Adam before the fall, promising life on condition of perfect obedience.
Covenant of graceA view held among orthodox Christians
God's gracious promise, first announced after the fall, to save sinners through Christ by faith.
1689 FederalismA view held among orthodox Christians
The covenant theology of the 1689 London Baptist Confession, which sees the covenant of grace promised in the Old Testament and established in the new covenant.
PaedobaptismA view held among orthodox Christians
The teaching that baptism, the sign of the covenant of grace, is to be given both to those who profess faith and to the infant children of believers.
Covenant childrenA view held among orthodox Christians
The teaching, held by paedobaptist churches, that the children of believers belong to the visible church as members of the covenant, though they come to the Lord's Table only after a credible profession of faith.
ReformedTerm
The branch of Protestantism that grew from the Swiss and Genevan Reformation and is summarised in confessions such as Westminster and the 1689 London Baptist Confession.