Three Covenants and the Gospel of Salvation by Faith

An Article Printed Out By Willingdon School of the Bible.

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"Who then can be saved?"

Considering the discussion above, the conditional nature of the Mosaic Covenant, and the NT teaching "by the works of the law no human being will be justified", how could anyone in Israel hope to be saved?

"The rock was Christ"

In 1 Corinthians 10:4 we learn a remarkable thing about the children of Israel:

"and all drank the same spiritual drink. For they drank from the spiritual Rock that followed them, and the Rock was Christ." (1 Corinthians 10:4 ESV)

In other words, Moses may have been the visible leader of the nation as they left Egypt headed for the promised land, but the One who really lead them and sustained them was Christ. And just as water can only come from the a rock by a miraculous act of grace and mercy, even so in the midst of the Mosaic Covenant, God's elect could only be saved by grace and mercy. To understand how this is possible, we must consider once again the three major covenants of Scripture.

1.) The Covenant of Redemption: This is the covenant between the Father and the Son whereby the Son promises to undertake the redemption of God's elect by His incarnation, perfect obedience, sacrificial death, and resurrection. The Father promises to send His Son, to sustain Him, to enable Him to accomplish His work, and to reward Him with the salvation of the elect upon successful completion of His mission.

2.) The Covenants of Works: Initially this covenant was between God and all of mankind, represented by Adam. After the fall, it was between Yahweh and the nation of Israel. As we have discussed, this is the covenant which was made with Adam and repeated with Israel through the Mosaic law. This covenant is described by the phrase "Do this and live". In other words, the outcome of failure to keep any part of the covenant is death. Perfect obedience is required in all parts of the law. Finally, Jesus Christ, the true Israel, fulfilled all the conditions of the Covenant of Works, and he did so not on His own behalf, but on behalf of the elect.

3.) The Covenant of Grace: The covenant of grace is between the Father and His elect, is founded upon mercy, and depends entirely on the work of Christ for its success or failure. In fact, the Covenant of Grace is founded upon the Covenant of Redemption. If Christ fails, then all who are "in Christ" fail. If Christ succeeds, then all who are "in Christ" succeed. And who is "in Christ"? The elect - those "chosen before the foundation of the world" (Ephesians 1:3-10).

It is important to see how these three covenants relate to each other. First of all, all three covenants are eternal covenants. Christians sometimes have the idea that the covenant of works is ended in the New Testament, but that is quite wrong. The difference for those who, by faith, are "in Christ" is that Jesus Christ undertakes - through the Covenant of Redemption - to deliver all whom the Father has given Him from death, to lead a perfect life of obedience on their behalf, and to lead them to perfection through the new birth which will culimate in their resurrection unto life. It is important to note that, through Christ, all of the elect will be one day perfectly "conformed to the image of Christ".

We might ask, though, "What does this have to do with Israel under the Mosaic law?" The answer is that there is one major difference between Adam under the law and Israel under the law. Adam, before the fall, had no promise of redemption. Israel after the fall had such a promise. Even though Israel as a nation failed, nevertheless within the nation there were individuals like Moses who found favour with God, like their fathers Abraham, Isaac, and Jacob had before them. The Holy Spirit revealed to them that they might hope in the "promise of God" to redeem them from their sins, and that promise is personified in Jesus Christ. Those who made up the "true Israel" were saved like their father Abraham who "believed the LORD, and he counted to him as righteousness" (Genesis 15:6). There were many things about the Gospel of grace in Christ Jesus which they did not understand, but the Holy Spirit revealed to them that they might hope in God's deliverance through His promised deliverer.

After the fall, then, and the promise of Genesis 3:15 (the "proto-euangellion"), grace was always available to God's elect. It is important to understand that even during the administration of the Old Covenant, God's chosen were saved by placing their trust in Yahweh and in His promise of a deliverer.