In the previous article, we faced the grim reality of the Fall. We saw humanity dead in sin, wholly defiled, and bound over to the wrath of God. If that were the end of the story, we would be without hope. But God, who is rich in mercy, did not leave us in that estate. How does a holy God relate to finite creatures, and how does He redeem fallen sinners? The answer provided by the Westminster Confession is one of the most beautiful and unifying themes in all of Scripture: Covenant. This chapter serves as the bridge between the tragedy of sin and the glory of Christ, explaining the legal and relational framework through which God deals with His people.
The Confession teaches that God relates to His reasonable creatures through voluntary covenants; that the first Covenant of Works with Adam failed due to sin; and that God has established a second Covenant of Grace, one in substance but diverse in administration, wherein He freely offers salvation to sinners through Jesus Christ.
The Necessity of Covenant (WCF 7.1)
The divines begin with a profound theological insight: even before sin entered the world, man had no inherent right to intimacy with God. “The distance between God and the creature is so great,” they write, that while we “owe obedience unto Him as their Creator,” we “could never have any fruition of Him as their blessedness and reward, but by some voluntary condescension on God’s part.”
Think about that. God is infinite; we are dust. A potter owes his clay nothing. Mere obedience might be our duty (Luke 17:10), but friendship is a gift. God bridged this infinite gap not by necessity, but by a “voluntary condescension,” which He was “pleased to express by way of covenant.” A covenant is a bond of blood and life, sovereignly administered by God, that secures a relationship between Himself and His people.
The Covenant of Works (WCF 7.2)
The first expression of this relationship was in the Garden. “The first covenant made with man was a covenant of works, wherein life was promised to Adam; and in him to his posterity.” The terms were simple and strict: “upon condition of perfect and personal obedience.”
This covenant, often called the Covenant of Life or Covenant of Creation, was the legal framework for Adam’s probation. If he obeyed the command regarding the tree (Gen. 2:17), he would have been confirmed in righteousness and granted eternal life for himself and his descendants (Rom. 10:5). It was a covenant based on works—do this and live.
The Covenant of Grace (WCF 7.3)
But as we saw in Chapter 6, Adam failed. “Man, by his fall, having made himself incapable of life by that covenant,” was now under the sentence of death. The door to life by works was shut forever (Gal. 3:21). Yet, in the darkness of that failure, “the Lord was pleased to make a second, commonly called the covenant of grace.”
This is the heart of the gospel. In this new covenant, God does not demand we earn life; instead, “He freely offereth unto sinners life and salvation by Jesus Christ.” The condition is no longer perfect personal obedience, but “requiring of them faith in Him, that they may be saved” (John 3:16). Furthermore, knowing we are dead in sin and unable to believe, God promises “to give unto all those that are ordained unto life His Holy Spirit, to make them willing, and able to believe” (Ezek. 36:26–27). In the Covenant of Works, God demanded obedience; in the Covenant of Grace, He provides what He demands.
A Testament of Inheritance (WCF 7.4)
The Confession adds a beautiful nuance here, noting that this covenant is “frequently set forth in Scripture by the name of a testament.” A testament is a will—a document that comes into force only upon the death of the maker. This reference points to “the death of Jesus Christ the Testator” and to the “everlasting inheritance… therein bequeathed” (Heb. 9:15–17). We are not just covenant partners; we are heirs mentioned in the Will, receiving an inheritance bought by the blood of Christ (Luke 22:20).
One Covenant, Two Administrations (WCF 7.5–7.6)
A common confusion in Bible reading is the relationship between the Old and New Testaments. Are they two different ways of being saved—one by works and one by grace? The Confession answers with a resounding no. “There are not therefore two covenants of grace, differing in substance, but one and the same, under various dispensations.”
Under the Law (Old Testament): The covenant was “administered by promises, prophecies, sacrifices, circumcision, the paschal lamb, and other types.” These were shadows pointing forward. Yet, they were “sufficient and efficacious, through the operation of the Spirit, to instruct and build up the elect in faith in the promised Messiah” (Heb. 11:13). Abraham was saved by grace through faith, just as we are (Rom. 4:11; Gal. 3:7–9). They looked forward to the Cross; we look backward to it.
Under the Gospel (New Testament): Now that “Christ, the substance, was exhibited,” the administration is different. We have fewer ordinances—”preaching of the Word, and the administration of the sacraments of Baptism and the Lord’s Supper”—administered with “more simplicity, and less outward glory.” Yet, in them, the grace of God is held forth in “more fulness, evidence, and spiritual efficacy,” extending not just to Jews, but “to all nations” (Matt. 28:19).
Conclusion
The doctrine of the Covenants is the key that unlocks the Bible. It shows us that history is not a disjointed series of events, but a unified plan of redemption. It humbles us by showing that we can never earn God’s favor through a Covenant of Works, for we have all failed in Adam. But it lifts us up by pointing us to the Second Adam, Jesus Christ, who fulfilled the Covenant of Works on our behalf and now offers us the Covenant of Grace. Whether we are reading Genesis or Galatians, we are reading the story of one God, one plan, and one Savior.
Key Terms/Concepts
- Voluntary Condescension: The act of God stooping down to relate to His creatures. Since God owes us nothing by nature, any relationship with Him is a result of His gracious choice to enter into a covenant with us.
- Covenant of Works: The agreement God made with Adam in the Garden, promising eternal life for perfect obedience and threatening death for disobedience. Adam stood as the federal head of humanity in this covenant.
- Covenant of Grace: The agreement God makes with sinners, in which He offers salvation through Christ. The condition is faith (which God Himself provides by His Spirit), and the basis is the finished work of Christ.
- Testament: A term emphasizing the unilateral nature of the covenant as an inheritance or will, which takes effect through the death of the testator (Christ).
- Substance vs. Administration: The distinction used to explain the unity of the Bible. The substance of the covenant (salvation by grace through faith in Christ) is the same in both Testaments, but the administration (the outward signs, ceremonies, and clarity) differs between the Old and New.