Covenant and Law

Covenants in Scripture

The Bible is a covenantal book from start to finish. The term “covenant” in theological discussions refers to a legal relationship of obligation between God and his people in which God promises blessings to those who obey him and threatens curses for disobedience. God’s covenantal condescension highlights his kindness and beneficence to his people, and yet biblical covenants also entail obligations to obey God’s law. 

We can discuss biblical covenants from two vantage points: from a biblical-theological angle and from a systematic theological angle. First, one can look to the specific covenants in Scripture: the covenants with Adam, Noah, Abraham, Moses, David, and the New Covenant. Each of these covenants brings distinctive emphases to the fore, though they are also closely related. A second way to organize biblical covenants utilizes the framework of two overarching covenants: the Covenant of Works (made with Adam) and the Covenant of Grace (made with Christ, the second Adam, who is also its Mediator).¹ These two overarching covenants correlate to two ways of seeking life: one is by works, which is no longer a viable option for eternal life for those who descend naturally from Adam after Adam’s fall into sin—for we are all sinners. The other way is the way of faith, trusting in Christ as the Mediator who representatively meets the obligations of the covenant (see Gen. 3:15).² All biblical covenants after the Covenant of Works should be subsumed under this broader heading “Covenant of Grace,” for they are all part of the same, unified plan of salvation across the Old and New Testaments.

Covenant with Adam

The first covenant in Scripture is the covenant with Adam, often called the Covenant of Works or Covenant of Life. In this covenant, God offered Adam and his posterity eternal life on the condition of Adam’s perfect obedience to the divine commission (Gen 1:28; 2:14-17). Alternatively, if Adam disobeyed, he was threatened with death (Gen. 2:17). Adam was obligated as a creature to obey the entire moral law of God, which was written on his heart. And yet Adam was also given a special command: not to eat from the tree of the knowledge of good and evil (Gen. 2:17). This command tested whether Adam would truly listen to and obey God, or whether he would doubt God’s word and depart from the obligations of the covenant. This administration is best understood as a covenant. For even though the term “covenant” is not used in Genesis 1–3, the concept is present (see also Hos. 6:7). 

It is also helpful to consider that the term “Covenant of Works” does not mean that Adam could autonomously earn eternal life. God beneficently created Adam in the divine image and required him to obey his Creator. Were Adam to have fulfilled what he was already required to do, he would not have merited eternal life, strictly speaking. Instead, it is because of God’s beneficent condescension to offer Adam more than he could ever deserve that eternal life was offered to Adam in the context of the covenant. Even so, the correlation between perfect obedience and eternal life is seen clearly in the Covenant of Works—since the requirement of the covenant was perfect obedience. 

Adam failed to meet the obligations of the Covenant of Works, but thanks be to God that he did not leave Adam in sin. After Adam’s failure, God offered Adam and Eve a Covenant of Grace. In it, God offered salvation by a Redeemer, promising that the offspring of the woman would crush the head of the serpent (Gen. 3:15). Eventually this Redeemer would come and obey perfectly as the second Adam, securing salvation for all who trust in him. The benefits of Christ’s work are offered to all believers in the Covenant of Grace, including believers in the Old Testament. The covenants in Scripture that come after the Adamic Covenant are all different administrations or outworkings of this one Covenant of Grace. 

Covenant with Noah

In the opening chapters of Genesis, sin and death continue to spread, and God intervenes to save righteous Noah and his family (Gen. 6–9). Through the ark of Noah humanity is preserved, as is the lineage that will produce the seed of the woman. God also entered into a covenant with Noah, promising to preserve the world and commanding Noah to be fruitful and multiply (Gen. 9:1–17), a commission that God originally commanded Adam and Even to fulfill (Gen 1:28; see also 6:18). In this covenant, the importance and dignity of humanity is reaffirmed (Gen. 9:6). 

Covenant with Abraham

Next comes the covenant with Abraham (see especially Gen. 15:1–21). In the Abrahamic Covenant, God promises Abraham that one of his own offspring would be his heir, and that through Abraham’s family all the nations would be blessed (see Gen. 12:1–3). For indeed, Abraham’s family would be as numerous as the stars (Gen. 15:5). Further, God promises Abraham a land (Gen. 15:7). These two elements—descendants and land—are central to the Abrahamic Covenant. It is also in the context of this covenant that Abraham “believed the LORD, and he counted it to him as righteousness” (Gen. 15:6). ³ Abraham was a man of faith who believed God’s promises and walked according to his ways (Gen. 17:1–2; 18:17–19; 22:12–18; 26:3–5; see also James 2:21–24).

Covenant with Moses 

Looming large for any consideration of covenant and law is the Mosaic Covenant (or the Sinaitic Covenant), which is found particularly in Exodus 19–24. The LORD made known his covenant name to his people (“the LORD,” Exod. 3:14–15) and redeemed his people—his firstborn son (Exod. 4:22–23)—from slavery in Egypt. The people then gathered at Mt. Sinai where they received the law—sometimes called the Book of the Covenant (Exod. 20–23)—and were set apart in a covenant ceremony (Exod. 24). 

The Mosaic Covenant provides the context for the most extensive treatment of the law anywhere in Scripture. Central to the Mosaic law is the Ten Commandments, a collection that reflects the law given at creation and summarizes the abiding standards of God’s moral law. Other commandments given to Israel focus on ceremonial aspects of the law (i.e., laws relating to sacrifices) and civil aspects of the law (i.e., the law as a guide for the theocratic nation of Israel). But the Ten Commandments summarize the moral law of God that abides throughout the ages.

The Exodus pattern of redemption followed by the giving of the law is important for properly relating the law to our obedience in the world after Adam’s fall into sin. Notice that God gives his law after redeeming his people from Egypt. The great work of redemption comes first, and then the giving of the law. This pattern is sometimes called the “indicative/imperative” relationship. The indicative refers to what God does to save us; the imperative refers to our call to obedience. No sinner can obey God’s law fully enough to attain salvation. Our obedience is best construed as a response to God’s gracious work of salvation—and this is true already in the Old Testament, for Old Testament believers were saved by faith in the same way that New Testament believers are. Indeed, in Deuteronomy fathers are instructed to teach their children that the proper context for understanding the law of God is in relation to their redemption from Egypt (Deut. 6:20–25).

Even so, the covenant with Moses highlights the principle that fullness of life is wedded to the principle of perfect obedience (Lev. 18:5), a point that Paul picks up on in his letters. This principle points us to Christ. No sinner can keep the law perfectly; therefore, we should trust in Christ. He perfectly obeyed the law, yielding eternal life for all who look to him in faith (see below on Rom. 10:5; Gal. 3:10–12).

Covenant with David 

The Mosaic Covenant speaks about a coming king (Deut. 17:14–20), and the prototypical king of Israel is David. Already from the beginning of creation humankind was made in the royal image of God and called to rule over creation (Gen. 1:28), but that royal investiture is from the time of David particularly focused in God’s anointed king. Indeed, God made a covenant with David. In the Davidic Covenant, God promises to make for David an everlasting dynasty—one of his sons would reign forever (see especially 2 Sam. 7:11–16). From the time of David forward, kingship is central to Israel, and kingship plays an important role in Israel’s subsequent history—including its successes and failures. The ideal king would be, like David, a man after God’s own heart who would lead his people in righteous and in accord with the vision of the law of Moses in Deuteronomy 17. Sadly, too often the kings in Israel rejected God’s law, and even David proved to be a great sinner whose disobedience begat great tragedy. David’s house was divided; the kingdom of Israel split; and eventually the people were led away once again into captivity in the Exile. Things looked quite grim.

But all hope was not lost. God had made a covenant promise to David that one of his sons would reign forever. We catch of glimpse of this in Psalm 110:1: “The LORD says to my Lord: Sit at my right hand, until I make your enemies your footstool.” The Old Testament does not provide the final fulfillment of the Davidic covenant, but God never breaks a covenant promise. God’s faithful people were still anticipating this promised king at the end of the Old Testament; the final king establishes the end-time kingdom of God in the New Testament. 

New Covenant (Gospels)

That promised king is Jesus Christ. He is the Son of David, the Son of Abraham (Matt. 1:1). As the king, Jesus brings the Kingdom of God and fulfills the hope for a lasting ruler from the line of David (Luke 1:31–33). He is also the last Adam, the Son of Man, who overcomes the devil through his obedience, death, and resurrection—Jesus is the Stronger Man who binds the strong man and establishes the kingdom of God (Mark 1:7; 3:23–27). Jesus succeeded where Adam failed, and his obedience yields eternal life for his people.  

The Gospels continue the close relationship between covenant and law. In terms of covenant, Jesus brings the New Covenant which he inaugurates by his death and resurrection. We read about this, for example, at the Last Supper where Jesus indicates that the wine is the blood of the New Covenant poured out for many for the forgiveness of sins (Matt. 26:28). Jesus brings the final sacrifice and the final, consummate covenant, fulfilling the new covenant hope of Jeremiah 31:31–34. As the Son of Abraham, Jesus is the one through whom all the nations will be blessed (Gen. 12:1–3; Matt. 28:18–20). 

Jesus is greater than Moses (see Luke 9:30–35) and teaches us more about God’s law. Like the Prophets before him, Jesus teaches that external obedience devoid of true devotion to God is insufficient. He teaches us to love God and love our neighbor, for these are the two greatest commandments (Matt. 22:37–38). In the Sermon on the Mount (Matt. 5–7), Jesus teaches that we should have a greater righteousness than the scribes and Pharisees (Matt. 5:20)—our righteousness should be true righteousness, living by faith in light of God’s law. We must not be selective or hypocritical in our application of God’s law. As the one who brings the New Covenant in his blood, Jesus has fulfilled the requirements of the Mosaic Covenant. The law does not pass away, but it is fulfilled in Christ (Matt. 5:17)—the one who fulfills all righteousness (Matt. 3:15). Jesus has the authority to make all foods clean (Mark 7:19), indicating the ceremonial laws of the Old Covenant are not binding in the same way today. We must understand the law in the light of the coming of Christ.  Even so, we still must obey God’s moral law (Matt. 5:19).

Jesus’s kingship reaches new heights through his resurrection and ascension. Peter proclaims on the day of Pentecost that Jesus has been made both Lord and Christ (Acts 2:36); Jesus had ascended to heaven and rules at God’s right hand (see Psalm 110:1). By means of his resurrection Jesus rules forever over the house of David as king over the whole world.  

New Covenant in the NT Epistles

Paul’s letters speak of Jesus as the second Adam, the one whose work is the answer to the sin of Adam. Through Adam comes death; through Christ comes life (see Rom. 5:12–21; 1 Cor. 15:21–22, 44–49). The New Covenant is more glorious than the Mosaic covenant (2 Cor. 3:1–12). Jesus is the true Son of David who reigns from heaven (Rom. 1:3–4; Eph. 1:20–23). Paul also teaches that eternal life is wedded to the principle of perfect obedience (Lev. 18:5; Rom. 10:5; Gal. 3:10–12). No sinner can meet this demand, explaining why eternal life must come through faith in Christ, who has obeyed perfectly, so that the blessing of Abraham might come to the nations (Gal. 3:13–14; see also Rom. 10:6–10).

The New Testament letters have much to say about the obligations of the New Covenant. The coming of Christ does not bring freedom from moral obligation, but we are called to Christlike obedience in light of what Christ has done for us. Paul’s letters also manifest the indicative/imperative relationship noted earlier: we obey not to earn our salvation (which is impossible), but we can obey in freedom because of what God has done for us in Christ. For example, Ephesians 1–3 expounds the grace of God in the gospel of Jesus Christ—we are saved by grace through faith, and not by our works (Eph. 2:8–9). And yet Paul also tells us that we must obey God as those who are united to Christ by faith. We are created for good works (Eph. 2:10), and Ephesians 4–6 expands in detail on what Christian obedience entails. Paul even quotes from the Ten Commandments (see Eph. 6:1–3) because the moral obligations to the law of God continue in the New Covenant. 

Hebrews reflects at length on the importance of the New Covenant in Christ, emphasizing that no new sacrifices for sin are needed because Jesus brought the final sacrifice (see, e.g., Heb. 1:1–4; 10:12). Space is too short to list all that the other letters of the NT teach about obeying God in light of the New Covenant in Christ. One example will have to suffice. James has much to say about hypocrisy, warning against double-mindedness (Jas. 1:8; 4:8) and encouraging us, like Jesus himself, to love God and neighbor (Jas. 2:8, 19). And James teaches this in light of the glorious exaltation of Christ, the One who is coming again (Jas. 2:1; 5:7–9).

Conclusion and Consummation

The book of Revelation provides a fitting conclusion to the themes of covenant and law in Scripture. Jesus is presented as the risen King of kings—the one who rules over the kings of the earth (Rev. 1:5; also Rev. 17:14; 19:16). As the root of David (Rev. 5:5; 22:16) his dominion is worldwide. Revelation also speaks about the glorious inheritance for God’s people—who are a numerous, worldwide multitude—pointing to the fulfillment of the Abrahamic covenant (Rev. 5:9–10; 7:9; 15:3–4; cf. Gen. 12:1–3). And these themes are closely tied to the call for God’s covenant people to be obedient and persevere in the face of difficulty in this age (e.g., Rev. 12:17; 14:12). 

Just as Jesus marked the institution of the New Covenant with a meal, in Revelation we read of the Marriage Supper of the Lamb (Rev. 19:7–10), functioning as a covenantal meal of consummation that celebrates the marriage of the Lamb and his people (Rev. 21:9). Revelation thus presents us with an even better situation than Eden. For in Eden Adam was in a state of instability and probation, with the possibility of life or death before him depending on whether he passed the probationary test. Adam failed, and he was barred from eating from the Tree of Life. But in the New Jerusalem the Tree of Life returns, and the ability to eat from it has been secured for his people by the Lamb of God (see Rev. 2:7; 22:14; also 22:19). Among other emphases, the final chapter of the Bible includes the covenantal blessing for God’s people who keep his commandments (Rev. 22:7, 14), the exhortation to worship God (Rev. 22:9), and the affirmation that Jesus is coming soon (Rev. 22:20).