Covenant theology is the Bible’s way of explaining and deepening our understanding of: (1) the atonement (the meaning of the death of Christ); (2) assurance (the basis of our confidence of communion with God and enjoyment of his promises);(3) the sacraments (signs and seals of God’s covenant promises—what they are and how they work); and (4) the continuity of redemptive history (the unified plan of God’s salvation). Covenant theology is also a hermeneutic, and approach to understanding the scriptures—an approach that attempts to biblically explain the unity of biblical revelation.

Covenant theology is a blending of both biblical and systematic theology. If biblical theology is the thematic survey of redemptive history, with an emphasis on the theological development—era to era—of whatever loci is being studied, then covenant theology could rightly be called “biblical, biblical theology.” That is, covenant theology recognizes that the Bible itself structures the progress of redemptive history through the succession of covenants.

Covenant theology is systematic theology in that it recognizes the covenants as a fundamental architectonic or organizing principle for the Bible’s theology. Thus it proceeds to integrate the biblical teaching about the federal headships of Adam and Christ, the covenantal nature of the incarnation and atonement, the continuities and discontinuities in the progress of redemptive history, the relation of the Jewish and Christian scriptures, law and gospel, into a coherent theological system.

Covenant theology is central, not peripheral, to the biblical story. When Jesus wanted to explain the significance of his death to his disciples, he went to the doctrine of the covenant (see Matt. 26; Mark 1; Luke 22; 1 Cor. 11). When God wanted to assure Abraham of the certainty of his word of promise, he went to the covenant (Gen. 12, 15, and 17). When God wanted to set apart his people; ingrain his work in their minds; tangibly reveal himself in love and mercy; and confirm their future Inheritance, he gave the covenant signs (Gen. 17; Exod. 12, 17, 31; Matt. 28; Acts 2; Luke 22). When Luke wanted to show early Christians that Jesus’ life and ministry were the fulfillment of God’s ancient promises for his chosen people, he went to the covenant of grace and quoted Zacharias’ prophecy, which proves that believers in the very earliest days of “the Jesus movement” understood Jesus and his messianic work as a fulfillment (not a “Plan B”) of God’s covenant with Abraham (Luke 1: 72–73). When thePsalmist and the author of Hebrews wanted to show how God’s redemptive plan is ordered and on what basis it unfolds in history, they went to the covenants (see Pss. 78; 89; Heb 6–10).

Covenant theology is not a response to Dispensationalism. It existed long before the rudiments of classical Dispensationalism were brought together in the nineteenth century. Covenant theology is not an excuse for baptizing children, nor merely a convention to justify a particular approach to the sacraments (modern paedocommunionism and baptismal regenerationism) Covenant theology is not sectarian. It is an ecumenical, Reformed approach to understanding the Bible, developed in the wake of the magisterial Reformation, but with roots stretching back to the earliest days of catholic Christianity and historically appreciated in all the various branches of the Reformed community (Baptist, Congregationalist, Independent, Presbyterian, Anglican, and Reformed). Covenant theology cannot be reduced to serving merely as justification for some particular view of children in the covenant (covenant secessionism) or for a certain kind of eschatology, or for a specific philosophy of education (whether it be homeschooling, Christian schools, or classical schools). Covenant theology is bigger and more important than that.

Ligon Duncan, “Recent Objections to Covenant Theology: A Description, Evaluation and Response,” in J. Ligon Duncan, ed., The Westminster Confession into The 21st Century: Essays in Remembrance of the 350th Anniversary of the Westminster Assembly, 3 vol. (Mentor, 2009), 3. 498–99.

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