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Covenant Theology
and the Sacraments Given by the Messiah
© 2004-2005, Ehud M. Garcia
Diaspora Intercultural Academy
Lewiston, Idaho, USA
This short reflection deals with the important aspect of Covenant Theology and the Sacraments that our Lord Jesus has given us, His Church. They are two Sacraments: Baptism and the Lord's Supper. Two other branches of the Christian faith endorse five other sacraments, but they have been proven not biblical; instead, liturgical and institutional. This reflection sprung from an introduction to the Reformed View on Infant Baptism, which will be found elsewhere in this website. Thus, you will find some references to baptism and to the Lord's Supper. However, this essay does not deal with those Sacraments directly.
There are other concepts about baptism that are found in different denominations. The Roman Catholic Church thinks that infant baptism has the power of salvation in itself, which is not biblically true. If we read Mark 16:16, we will be assured that baptism has not such a salvific power. As we can see, if someone who does not believe is baptized, he or she is not necessarily saved. One can be baptized without any salvific relationship with Jesus Christ. The text in Mark attests that salvation, that is, non-condemnation, is a matter of faith, not a baptismal ceremony. Baptism is a sign and a seal of the Covenant that God has made with His children through His Son Jesus Christ.
This is also true from a different perspective. Other denominations do refuse to baptize infants because they assume that baptism is only for adults who believe in the Lord Jesus Christ. This is correct if we take for example to process of the advance of the Christian Faith from the beginning. Jesus Christ commanded his disciples to "make disciples of all nations, baptizing them in the name of the Father and of the Son and of the Holy Spirit" (Mat. 28:19). It was Lange, in his commentary on Matthew, who suggested that such adult baptism was necessary, mainly amongst the Gentiles. As the number of members in the Church grew over the years, infant baptism was also the norm. In fact, I think that even when the adult Gentile was baptized, their children were also baptized (should they have any), which was the case of the jailer in Philippi (Acts 16:29-34). The same principle also applies for the adult baptizers; baptism does not save, it is the Lord Jesus Christ who saves. If we go any further now, which is not the center of my reflection, the only one baptism is the spiritual one, given by Jesus Christ through the Holy Spirit, as we read in Paul's letter to the Corinthians, "For we are all baptized by one Spirit into one body—whether Jews or Greeks, slave or free—and we were all given the one Spirit to drink" (1 Cor. 12:13, NIV).
As well, many denominations take different approaches towards the form of baptism. Instead of using the form we use (I am writing from a Presbyterian Reformed perspective), they immerse the one to be baptized in the water, sometimes in rivers, lakes, pools, and the baptisteries in the Church. Immersionists do believe that this is the true figure of baptism found in Romans 6:4. I disagree, however, with this interpretation because this text is not referring to the "ritual" of baptism (i. e., its form), but it deals with its theological meaning: our union with Christ in his death and resurrection. This text is a theological affirmation, not a liturgical formula. I have to add, though, that I only find one passage in Scripture that would provide the immersionist with a liturgical meaning for baptizing by immersion. It is found in the Old Testament. It is the history of Naaman, the commander of the army of the king of Aram. He had leper and Elisha told him to "immerse" in the Jordan River in order to be cleansed of his disease.
I am introducing these concepts so that I can build up my approach to the subject of baptism
without the fear that I am ignoring them. Although this reflection deals with the concept of the
Covenant, I want you to bear in mind that my purpose is to discuss the relation of the Covenant and the Sacraments at this point. Yet I truly believe that baptism is a very important subject in our faith and we need to understand its implications for our lives today. It is not something to be taken lightly, without knowledge. Also it is not something to be compromised for the sake of our own way of "theologizing"; that is, of interpreting the Bible in a preconceived theological framework.
Baptism and the Lord's Supper are the only two sacraments that our Lord Jesus has given to
His Church. Therefore we need to understand them with humbleness and submission to the Word
of God, the Bible. I do not have much problem with the various forms of baptism as long as its
meaning is in accordance with the meaning provided in the Scripture.
The study of these sacraments is rooted in their institution by Jesus Christ Himself as we can find in the Gospel narrative. It is, therefore, imperative that we be aware of their relationship to God's people faith. As we are now trying to discuss the Christian baptism, we need to make clear that baptism is also linked to faith and commitment to Christ. It is indeed a complex subject as Paul K. Jewett points out so convincingly,
The question of whether the church should baptize infants is intrinsically
complex, for it is impossible to do justice to it without bringing into the discussion
the larger question of one's view of the sacraments in general. And one's view of the
sacraments, their nature and efficacy, involves one's view of the whole matter of
salvation, understood as God's gracious act of pardon and reconciliation mediated to
the sinner in and through the community of the redeemed, the Christian church.
To understand why the Presbyterian and Reformed churches baptize their children, we need to
be reminded of the implications of God's covenant of grace. It is one of the paramounts of the
Reformed theology. Without a clear understanding about the significance of this covenant, the
application of infant baptism proves useless, even meaningless. Without a real meaning of the
infant baptism, it will become just another dead ritual in a big institution.
God has provided in the Bible enough teaching that let us aware of the fact that He has a
covenant with His people and that through it He has a promise to for the descendants of His
covenantal people. As we will learn in the future, children are baptized not because they believe,
but because of their parents' covenant with God, expressed through their faith.
COVENANT: An Overview of God's Love
A covenant is better illustrated if we take the example of a marriage. It is an agreement
between two persons supposedly in love and willing to commit themselves to each other. There will
be a certain number of promises and vows in a marriage. One will promise to love the other, to care
for each other, to overcome the ups and downs of life together. They will promise before God, if the wedding is performed in a church, to keep that agreement until death will set them apart. If one of the parties die, that agreement will be automatically terminated. There is even a sign and a seal. The seal is the marriage certificate and the sign is the ring. In some cultures, this ring bears a special name. In Brazil, for instance, it is called "alliance." I think this name is a great illustration of covenant. William Hendriksen introduces an important definition of Covenant, which I think is very useful for this study.
It is that arrangement between the Triune God and his people whereby God
promises his friendship, hence full and free salvation, to his people, upon the basis of
the vicarious atonement of Christ, the Mediator of the covenant, and they, out of
gratitude, promise to live for him.
The covenant of God with his people is primarily an act of Grace because we are all lost in
our sins and then we have fallen short of his grace (Cf. Romans 3:22-23). God knows that we, human beings, are social and relational beings. We need some sort of fellowship, and in Adam we have lost our fellowship with Him. We became enemies of God because of our sinful lives. Paul says elsewhere that there is no one who will seek God in order to have fellowship with Him (Rom. 3:11-12). Also we will find Isaiah pointing to this very truth when he writes that we are like sheep who have gone astray (Is. 53:6). Since Adam's fall, we no longer look for God. Instead, we worship other gods, even ourselves, for instance. This is the major topic of Paul's description of the fallen human race; the sins that are consequences of this abandonment of God are also related. On the one hand, sin is singular, because it is the first one: rejection of God. On the other hand, the sins we commit are the fruits of that one and first sin, which was committed by Adam (Rom. 1:18-32).
Covenant with Abram
Abram was a man who had nothing that would make him different from us. He was a sinner to begin with. He did not worship God (Yahweh), but the gods of his folks back in Ur of the Chaldeans. In other words, he was a pagan in the same sense we call a native from Brazil, Papua New Guinea, or even a new-pagan from North America. He had a lot of things in his life that would be very hard for him to give up, such as his country, his own people, his father's household, and friends. He seemed to have had a great network of friends. Yet, he was a lonely man. He did not have any fellowship with God Almighty. He even did not know much about Him either. Perhaps he would be just as much informed about God as any European or American today. I make reference of this fact because his people were descendants of Noah and the name of Yahweh was still mentioned once in a while in Ur. The point that I want to make is that there was a guy called Abram, who was lost, wanting relationship with His Creator, and did not know exactly that he had such a need.
God appears to him and talks with him
God starts His fellowship with Abram because of His love and grace. He first called him to leave his country, his people and his father's household. Then God gave him some guidelines and promises: To go to the land that He would show him and that He would make him into a great nation. Through him, all the other nations of the world would be blessed (Gen. 12:1-3). This is the first introduction of God's covenant with Abram. It is the first move of God in history to bring the seed of Jesus Christ, the Jewish nation, for salvation was to come through the Jews. Later on God made clear that He wanted to make a covenant with Abram:"I will establish my covenant as an everlasting covenant between me and you and your descendants after you for the generations to come, to be your God and the God of your descendants after you."
This covenant is not separated from the promise of redemption that God foretold in Genesis,
when He promised that the Descendant of the woman would crush the head of the serpent.1 Here,
just after Adam and Eve fell, God was already showing His love and desire to reestablish
relationships with humankind. It is called the proto-gospel, i. e., the first-gospel that was ever
preached in the Bible. Abram was part of that plan, and here we see God doing something to
reestablish his friendship with his people.
What Kind of Covenant Is This?
One question that is often raised is if the covenant of grace is a one-sided covenant or a two-sided one. As we saw in our previous example of marriage, it is made possible only if two parties make mutual vows and promises. It is a two-sided deal. If one side is not doing his or her part, the other one will suffer and have the covenant of marriage broken.
Likewise, the covenant that God has with His people is a two-sided one. First, He promised
eternal happiness to Adam and Eve for as long as they obeyed Him. The same was done between
God and Abram. He had to do something in order to have God's promises: To believe and obey
Him. We find this written several times in the Bible. Believing is closely linked with obeying. In
the same way, when God made His promise to Abram, it was implied that the effectiveness of His
blessings would be made possible only if Abram and his descendants had faith. Let me illustrate
this with another passage in Abram's life. There he was. He was discouraged and waiting for the
promise of having descendants. God sent His word to him through a vision saying, "Do not be
afraid, Abram. I am your shield, your very great reward." It was then that God also told him that
the number of his descendants was going to be bigger than that of the stars. This required him faith and obedience. In the end of the story we read the words of promise from God, "On that day the LORD
made a covenant with Abram..."
New Covenant
God's covenant is in one sense a two-sided deal. We will see that through
the progression of God's salvific plan. He will demand obedience and faith as the requisites for the
effectiveness of His promises. When we read the Prophets, for instance, we will find out that very
clearly. Jeremiah is one who writes about the New Covenant, the New Testament, the New
Alliance, that God was going to make with his people. The reason why God was going to make a
new covenant is explained in the prophecy delivered by him as follows:
"The time is coming," declares the LORD, "when I will make a new
covenant with the house of Israel and with the house of Judah. It will not be like the
covenant I made with their forefathers when I took them by the hand to lead them
out of Egypt, because they broke my covenant, though I was a husband to them,"
declares the LORD (Jer. 31:31-32).
Here we clearly see that the covenant made with people of Israel was broken and the lack of
blessings was visible. They were made captives of the Assyrians (Israel in b.C. 722) and then of the
Babylonians (Judah in b.C. 586). Later, other peoples were ruling over them: the Greeks and the Romans, until they were scattered all over the world after the destruction of Jerusalem in A.D. 70. This happened because they disobeyed God and this is the core of the message of the prophets in the Old Testament. I find that "the terms of the Covenant the LORD commanded Moses to make with
the Israelites" are very clear in Deuteronomy 28. We read in that chapter about the blessings for obedience and the curses for disobedience, which is followed by the renewal of the Covenant.
Because the Covenant cannot be kept through human efforts, God had to make His
Covenant a one-sided deal as well. "It is God, alone, who, purely of grace, establishes his Covenant with man." Because God knew that we would not keep our side of the Covenant, He provided
Someone who would be able to keep it for us: JESUS CHRIST, His Son.
This leads us to another question, "How can a Holy God enter in covenantal relationship
with sinful people like us?" The only answer is found in the fact that Jesus Christ is the Mediator of this Covenant and He has never sinned. This is why God's eternal Covenant is also one-sided. We
are unable to keep our promises and our responsibilities. Therefore Jesus is our Mediator in this
Covenant. He is the High-Priest before the Father.
Extent of the Covenant
Before we discuss the extension of the Covenant, let me just mention that the old was
removed. Yes, the old gave place to the new. Although it is the same covenant, the ceremonial
commands of the covenant with Moses were abolished because Jesus Christ has fulfilled all of its
demands and ceremonial meanings. When Jesus said that the cup with wine was the cup of the New Testament, He was establishing a new form to "visualize" the significance, the deep meaning of His sacrifice, which was symbolized in the Old Testament (Old Covenant) by the many sacrifices that the children of God had to offer in the Temple. This is also clear when the Author of the Epistle to the Hebrews quotes the prophecy given by Jeremiah and explains it as the consummation of the New Covenant that the Lord was going to make with His chosen people, which was fulfilled in Jesus Christ. When the Apostle Paul is addressing the Colossians about our "freedom from human regulations
through life with Christ, "having showed that our circumcision is not in the flesh but in our hearts
(our sinful nature), he also mentions that Jesus Christ "forgave us all our sins, having canceled the written code, with its regulations, that was against us and that stood opposed to us." In other words, the Covenant of Grace is the same covenant made with our forefathers, beginning with
Abraham and extending to all his generations. Louis Berkhof points out that in no part of the Bible
will we find the Covenant in the plural form, it is always in the singular. This covenant had a
progressive revelation and its fulfillment in Jesus Christ, making it new according to the promise of God to His people. The Old gave room to the New, and now we enjoy its reality in His Son Jesus
Christ.
This covenant was made primarily with humankind in the very beginning. As soon as Adam
and Eve fell, God promised them salvation through the Descendant of the woman, who would crush
the head of the serpent (Gen. 3:15). When God called Abram, He promised him to be the father of many
nations by changing his name into Abraham. But before that, God's promise was that through him,
all the nations of the earth would be blessed, and here God is talking about Jesus Christ, the One to be born through the lineage of Abraham.
However, throughout the Scripture the Lord seems to be showing that His covenant is with
the elect only. It is a Covenant made with Abraham, Isaac (not with Ishmael, who was born first),
with Jacob (not with Esau). He makes his covenant known to those who fear him. He has made a
covenant with "my chosen," the covenant is the heritage of the servants of Yahweh. God promises
to be their God and they will be His people. Only if one is Christ's, will he or she be Abraham's seed, according to God's promise. This is one of the aspects of election that sometimes gives us some misconceptions about God's sense of justice and fairness. However, it is in accordance with His
sovereignty and grace. On the other hand, it is not difficult to realize that the Covenant is the
Gospel of Christ, and it is to be preached to all the world, without exception. Those who will
repent will be introduced into the Covenant. Those who will reject it won't, because they are already dead in their sins and consequently condemned by their own sins. It is interesting to observe that Jesus Christ came to His own people, that is, the people who were descendants of Abraham according to the flesh, but only those who believed in Him were saved. They were saved not by privilege, not by their own charisma and power, but by God. Hendriksen puts this issue in a very challenging way: "All this is so clear that it should be convincing. In a certain sense it is true that God established his covenant with the elect only. This is neither a dangerous doctrine nor does it lack scriptural support."
The Covenant of Grace is with Abraham's descendants throughout the generations. When
Peter delivered his first message at the Pentecost, he pointed out that the covenant was "for you and your children and for all who are far off (Acts 2:39). This means that the Covenant was not restricted to the people in that particular gathering, neither to the adults only. Also, as we may see in this verse, it was a promise to those who are far off. The Covenant with Abraham is for us today! All of us who come to God through faith in Jesus Christ. We are made one in Christ to fulfill the promise to Abraham. Through Jesus we have access to the Father by one Spirit, the Holy Spirit. It is by faith, with Abraham, because he is the man of faith. In Christ we have the inheritance of the Covenant, and it is available both to the Jew and to the Gentile.
Conclusion
The importance of the Covenant Theology is paramount for us to understand the Sacraments
of Jesus Christ: Baptism and the Lord's Supper. Without a clear understanding of it we will not
grasp the essence of God's blessings through them.
The Covenant of Grace was not formally (institutionally) established until God chose Abram
from Ur of the Chaldeans. Then, He established the circumcision as the sign and seal of that
alliance made with the faithful children of God. During the Covenant of Moses, the Lord
established another sign of His redeeming love, the Passover, which was substituted by the Lord's
Supper later in the New Testament.
Today the sign and seal of our faith, and consequently the sign of the promise to Abraham, is the Christian baptism. The celebration of our liberation from the empire of darkness into the
kingdom of light is the Lord's Supper. Through both we declare that God has made His Covenant
with His people and we belong to Him in Jesus. Both show the history behind the history, and prepare
us for the coming of the kingdom of Heaven in its completeness.
Mission Theology Index | Home Page
Generated: February 19, 2004.
Updated: January 1, 2005
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