Covenant Theology and the New Covenant

Updated on December 11, 2025

Many who reject Covenant Theology do so because they do not understand what it is. Dispensationalists are one such group. They hear the word "covenant" and think only in terms of their perspective. They automatically consider the covenants that God made with man (Adamic, Noahic, Mosaic, etc.). The Dispensationalist speak of covenants only as they relate to the Doctrine of Eschatology. From the Reformed Perspective, this is a categorical error. We are not talking about eschatology but rather using the term in relation to the Doctrine of Soteriology. This is not to say that the doctrines are not related. Indeed, all doctrines are related but eschatology and soteriology are two very different things.

Others who reject Covenant Theology assume that the scheme was concocted only to justify infant baptism. Again, this is a categorical error. The starting place for covenant theology is not ecclesiology (the Doctrine of the Church), but rather soteriology. This error is most often committed by those who hold to a reformed view in some areas but are reacting to infant baptism. What we believe about Covenant Theology will certainly affect our view of the church, but the church is not the starting place for the discussion

The Covenant of Redemption

Covenant Theology is the working out of God's plan in time. Covenant Theology does not start in the Garden of Eden. It starts in the Trinity. God the Father elects a people to redeem from fallen humanity. God the Son will pay the penalty for their sins and God the Holy Spirit will regenerate those people. This was the plan of God before time began.

"All who dwell on the earth will worship him, everyone whose name has not been written from the foundation of the world in the book of life of the Lamb who has been slain." Revelation 13:8

"Just as He chose us in Him before the foundation of the world, that we would be holy and blameless before Him." Ephesians 1:4

Before time, God decided to redeem a people for Himself. This is the Covenant of Redemption.

Covenant of Works and Covenant of Grace

When Adam sinned in the Garden, he broke the Law of God and he broke the covenant of God. Adam represented man to God. The reason why we suffer under the curse and with sin is that Adam was our representative. If he had not sinned, we would not be sinful and we would not die.

Historically, this has been called the Covenant of Works. It was by the actions of Adam that we were lost and it could have been by the obedience of Adam that we would have access to the Tree of Life. After Adam sinned, fellowship with God was severed and he was put out of the Garden.

Some might want to protest here and say that this cannot be called the Covenant of Works because we know that works cannot save. The statement is being misapplied. Adam is not lost. Prior to the Fall, Adam does not need to be saved. So the Covenant of Works is not to save people who are lost. Rather, by his actions of obedience, Adam is able to maintain a right standing with God for himself and for humanity.

Adam the Federal Head of Humanity

"Therefore, just as through one man sin entered into the world, and death through sin, and so death spread to all men because all sinned" Romans 5: 12

"For since by a man came death, by a man also came the resurrection of the dead For as in Adam all die, so also in Christ all will be made alive." 1 Corinthians 15:21-22

In Genesis chapter 3, we have the story of how Eve was deceived by the serpent and Adam disobeyed God. Later in this same chapter, God pronounces the curses on the Serpent, on Eve, and upon Adam. The curse pronounced upon Adam includes the entire creation, even those who would be born after Adam. God then throws Adam out of the Garden and makes it impossible for Adam to eat of the Tree of Life. We die because we are under this curse.

If we all die because Adam sinned, it stands to reason that if Adam had not sinned, we would not die. It further stands to reason that had Adam not eaten of the Tree of the Knowledge of Good and Evil, he would have been permitted to eat from the Tree of Life.

"You were dead in your trespasses and sins." Ephesians 2:1

We are born sinners. All Christians agree with this statement. And the Scripture is clear that we are born dying physically because we are under the curse. This is because of the acts of Adam. Out of those who were born in Adam, God had elected a people before the foundation of the world. If election occurred before creation, then God must have known that Adam would sin and bring a curse upon all humanity. Election and salvation in Christ were part of the plan and the Fall was also part of the plan.

Jesus the Federal Head of the Elect

"Nevertheless, death reigned from Adam until Moses, even over those who had not sinned in the likeness of the offense of Adam, who is a type of Him who was to come." Romans 5:14

Christ is the fulfillment of the type. Adam represented the human race before God. Adam sinned and the human race was cursed. Jesus represents His people before God. On the cross, Jesus takes the wrath of God for the people of God. He is the representative of the elect.

"Therefore He is able also to save forever those who draw near to God through Him, since He always lives to make intercession for them." Hebrews 7:25

What is the New Covenant?

Hebrews 8:8-13

For finding fault with them, He says, "Behold, days are coming, says the Lord, When I will effect a new covenant with the house of Israel and with the house of Judah; Not like the covenant which I made with their fathers on the day when I took them by the hand to lead them out of the land of Egypt; for they did not continue in My covenant, and I did not care for them, says the Lord. "For this is the covenant that I will make with the house of Israel After those days, says the Lord: I will put My laws into their minds, and I will write them on their hearts. and I will be their God, and they shall be My people. "And they shall not teach everyone his fellow citizen, and everyone his brother, saying, 'Know the Lord,' For all will know Me, From the least to the greatest of them. "For I will be merciful to their iniquities, and I will remember their sins no more." When He said, "A new covenant," He has made the first obsolete. But whatever is becoming obsolete and growing old is ready to disappear.

The Old Covenant

The Old Covenant was established by God with the nation of Israel (verse 9). It was not a permanent covenant but was a "copy and shadow." The sacrifices of the bulls, lambs, and goats could never permanently remove sin. The sacrifices were repeated over and over but the debt was never settled. These only served as a temporal covering and pointed to a greater reality. That greater fulfillment is found in the sacrifice of Christ, who paid for sins "once for all" (Romans 6:10).

The Old Covenant could not save because it was flawed (v.7). The flaw was not in the covenant but in the parties that were part of the covenant. The nation of Israel did not keep the conditions of the covenant. Time and time again they broke God's Laws. They made offerings to the pagan idols and depended on other nations to deliver them from their captivities. The Old Covenant never offered eternal life.

Even the Old Testament saints were saved by a forward-looking faith in the Messiah who would come. They were justified by this faith (Hebrews 11).

Jesus is Superior

The New Covenant has a better high priest. Jesus is seated at the right hand of the Father in the "true tabernacle." (Heb.8:1-2). Christ is contrasted with the Levitical priests whose offerings were according to the Law (v. 4) and who were only serving a "copy and shadow" of the reality. The blood of animals could never atone for sin. But Jesus, the Lamb of God, was sacrificed once and for all to forgive sins (Romans 6:10).

Jesus now lives as the Mediator of His people (Hebrews 7:25; 8:6). And those for whom He died, He will save them. They are secure in Him, their sins are forgiven, and they will receive eternal life.

The New Covenant

While the Old Covenant was made with the people of Israel, the New Covenant is between the Trinity with the elect people receiving the benefits. Israel was the type and shadow of the Church. The circumcision of the foreskin could not save. The ceremonial laws could not atone for sin. We see in the New Testament that those who try to go back to ceremonial laws have cut themselves off from Christ. The book of Hebrews, the book of Galatians, as well as other places in the New Testament, shows very plainly that those things have passed away. They are no more and they have been fulfilled in Christ. There is no more need for the circumcision of the foreskin, for the animal sacrifices, and there is even no more need for the temple in Jerusalem. These things were all pointing to a greater reality that we now have in Christ.

In the New Covenant, the people will have the Law of God in the minds and on their hearts. This is what it means to be "born again" and regenerated. When Adam sinned all die. The Bible says we are born dead in our trespasses and sins. Throughout the scripture, the description of the human soul apart from God is that it is dead, at war with God, and in the bondage to sin. The picture of being saved is that we are born again- given life. God removes a heart of stone and puts in a heart of flesh. With this new, living heart, we get new desires. Our desire now is to obey God. Yes, the Christian is still in a physical body that awaits to be freed from the curse of the Fall but he has a regenerate soul. His soul now desires to do good and delights in the law of the Lord.

The New Covenant was not like the Old Covenant. It cannot be broken because it is based upon a "better promise" (v.6). The promise was that the offspring of Abraham would be the Messiah who would be a blessing to the nations. He would be the sacrificial Lamb of God that would take away the sins of the world. The people of the New Covenant can never fall away permanently, like many of those in the Old Covenant did. They cannot fail away because they are held by Christ (John 10:28).

With the new birth comes adoption. The people who were once alienated from God are now the people of God. They do not simply know about God but they have a relationship with God. Through the work of the Son, the elect are reunited with God the Father. What Adam lost in the garden, those who have been born again have regained in Christ. We now are back in a relationship with our Father for eternity, and never to be separated again.