Covenant and Dispensationalism

Covenantal unity or Dispensational fracturing of Biblical History

by Rev. John Kroeze

There are two main ways of understanding the unity of Scripture among evangelical churches today: dispensational and covenantal.

According to the former, God’s dealings with this world are divided, generally, into seven consecutive historical dispensations: innocence, conscience, human government, promise, law, grace, and kingdom. The main dispute with dispensationalists lies with the rigid separation of Israel and the church. They insist that all promises made to national Israel must be literally fulfilled. Since they have not this must be done in a future millennium. Dispensationalists understand that the OT typology is fulfilled in the NT in a qualified sense, but they insist that it must also be literally fulfilled to national Israel. They call this approach literal or grammatical-historical exegesis, but it fractures Biblical history. The Covenantal approach call this approach literalistic exegesis. It forces the Bible into their procrustean exegetical bed.

The Covenantal approach works with the covenants God has made with mankind and sees the Lord Jesus Christ as their fulfilment. The only redemptive-historical event we expect is typified in the OT in the feast of harvest. It is the coming of the Lord Jesus Christ again at the end of time to gather His own. This approach understands the typology of the OT to be fulfilled in the NT. The NT era is then understood as the millennium, which is the rule of Christ from His ascension until His one and only return.

A covenant is a relationship that exists between two or more parties in which they agree to act in a certain way. They can be of various types, but Biblical covenants are unilateral in imposition and mostly bilateral in execution. They can be informal or formal, for sometimes there are no formalities associated with them, but they are later referred to as a covenant: e.g. the Davidic covenant. The covenantal system recognises two continuing covenants under which mankind lives: the covenants of works and of grace. It recognises five others that influence how mankind lives under them, the Noahic, Abrahamic, Davidic, Mosaic and the new covenant in Christ’s blood. It also recognises that the Mosaic has come to an end in the new covenant. These covenants regulate all of history. These covenants are there under every administration of them.

The covenant of works is an informal covenant as there is no formal implementation. Many refuse to call it a covenant as it is never specifically called that, although it is probably called that in Hos 6:7, and many prefer another name, but that there is a relationship established between God and man is indisputable. This relationship continues until the end of time. All mankind is bound to love and obey God their Creator and Provider (cf. Rom 2:4). This relationship also expects mankind to love each other (cf Is 24:5; Am 1:9). Adam as the one in whom the whole human race is included acted on our behalf and in Him we acted. We broke that covenant in Adam as Adam is and means mankind (Rom 5:12-14). The demand of the covenant continues and the penalty for breaking that covenant continues until the end. However, God in His grace came to mankind’s rescue and in His judgement on the Serpent promised that a Seed would be born of the Woman, the Church, who would crush the Serpent’s head, while the Serpent would crush His heel (Gen 3:15). This pointed forward to the Lord Jesus Christ born of a woman (Gal 4:5). and His death on the cross where both these prophecies were fulfilled. That His death was representative retrospectively for all who believed in God and for all who believe in Him is born out for the Lord spoke of His death as the judgement of this world and the casting out of the ruler of this world (Jh 12:31) and the Apostle Paul applied Genesis 3:15 to all who believe in God and Christ in Romans 16:20. The Lord Jesus Christ would fulfil the terms of the covenant of works on our behalf as the last Adam (1 Cor 15:45). All those in Him by faith share in His merits as we also shared in the demerits of the first Adam. This is the covenant of grace.

The covenant of grace was instituted at the fall (Gen 3:15). Again this is an informal covenant, but this time not established by God’s creation of man as head of creation, but by God’s implied promise. It is a unilateral promise as God would fulfil it by the incarnation of His own Son. Nothing would prevent God from achieving His goal, not even mankind’s sin. When God spoke of crushing the Serpent’s head by the Seed of the Woman He spoke of breaking the Serpent’s hold on mankind. When God spoke of placing enmity between the seed of the Serpent and the seed of the woman He established a division among mankind. In God’s judgement on Adam’s sin He left many of his descendants in sin and death, but in His mercy set aside some to save in and through the Lord Jesus Christ. The doctrine of election and reprobation determined in eternity was put into effect as a judgement by God on mankind’s sin.

The covenant of grace, however, is wider than election in its administration, for it was established with the believer and his seed in the generations. As such Seth and his descendants were in that covenant of grace as seed of the Woman, while Cain and his descendants fell outside of it as seed of the Serpent.

This covenant of grace is in effect until the end of this world under its various administrations, just as the covenant of works is.

The covenants with Noah, Abraham, Moses and in Christ serve and effect these two covenants.

Noah was the second Adam, the second head and representative of the human race. With him God made a covenant formally and confirmed it with the sign of the rainbow (Gen 8:20-9:17). The Noahic covenant guarantees the continued uninterrupted existence of this world until the consummation. God covenanted with Noah and all living creatures with Him that He would not destroy this world again while it remained so that life could develop and the salvific plan of God be carried out, the Christ be born and all the elect from every nation be saved. Noah and the ark both pointed forward to The Lord Jesus Christ for in Him, this world would be redeemed and cleansed of all sin by fire and a new world would come in which righteousness dwells, which would be under His authority, the last Adam, the First among mankind.

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The Abrahamic covenant was a formal covenant made in two parts. The first part in Genesis 15 was made unilaterally. In it God guaranteed the promises He had made to Abraham in Genesis 12:1-3. Whatever happened God would fulfil His word. The second part in Genesis 17 emphasised the human responsibility to walk in God’s ways (17:1,2,14; cf 18:19). Under the Abrahamic covenant God promised and created a new nation for Himself, which would not have existed except for His almighty power for Sarah was incapable of having children. God promised to be a God to him and to his descendants after him and that in him all nations would be blessed through his descendant, which is Christ (Gal 3:16). He also promised the land of Canaan to Abraham and his descendants, which promise later is expanded by the Apostle Paul to encompass all the earth for the rule of Christ would be over all (Rom 4:13) and all believers from all nations would be considered to be children of Abraham by God and so inherit the promises (Rom 4:11; Gal 3:7-9).

The Mosaic covenant is a formal covenant (Ex 20:1-24:11). The first mention of this covenant was made in Exodus 19:5. It was informally accepted in 19:8 and formally accepted by Israel in 24:1-8. It was confirmed by God in 24:9-11 with a covenant meal.

It was in some respects an interim covenant (Gal 3:17). The Abrahamic covenant continued, but this covenant was overlaid on it. Its function was to give the knowledge of sin (Rom 3:20; 7:7) It was given to govern Abraham’s descendants until the Christ would come to deal with sin once and for all.

God saved Israel from Egypt by His grace. This salvation was totally unmerited. As a response of love and thankfulness God required them to keep His laws. He governed His nation by His laws and, when they broke them, provided the means for reconciliation in the various washings and sacrifices He prescribed. When they hardened themselves in sin and broke that covenant God still remained faithful to them because the Abrahamic covenant secured their continued existence (Rom 11:28,29).

The Mosaic covenant contains both the covenant of works and the covenant of grace in a way that points forward to the Lord Jesus Christ as the means of fulfilment of both. The law reflects the covenant of works, stipulates what God’s will is and lays down the blessings for obedience and the curse for sin (Lev 18:5; Dt 27:26). It also reveals the covenant of grace in the revelation of God’s name (Ex 34:6-7). The washings and sacrifices He appointed in the law were their means for seeking His forgiveness and were effective because they pointed forward to the Lord Jesus Christ. It was also a communal covenant for the whole nation could be considered to be keeping the covenant or having broken it definitively as becomes obvious in the exile.

The Davidic covenant is an informal covenant for it was made through God’s promise via the prophet, Nathan and David’s response in the tabernacle. The promises God made to David in 2 Samuel 7 are, however called a covenant various times (e.g. Pss 89:28,34,39; Jer 33:21). This covenant promised David a descendant on the throne forever, which was realised in the incarnation of the Lord Jesus Christ (Lk 1:32; Rom 1:3; Rev 5:5; 22:16). He was promised eternal rule over the ends of the earth (Is 9:7). He was a king and priest after the order of Melchizedek and would live righteously and sacrifice Himself for His people to fulfil the terms of the covenant of works on their behalf so that the grace of God could flow freely to all who believed in Him. He fulfilled the law and paid for the sins committed under the law (Gal 4:5), but also for the sins of all Gentiles who would believe (Rom 2:10-16; 5:12-21). In Him, therefore, the covenant of grace was fulfilled as promised by God in Genesis 3:15.

The New Covenant is a formal covenant. It was foretold in Jeremiah 31:31-36 and constituted by the sacrifice of Christ and in the covenant meal He celebrated with His disciples on Passover, the Lord’s Supper. Christ’s blood removed the need for the blood sacraments, sacrifices and ritual washings for Christ had fulfilled all the shadows of the Law. The forgiveness of sin and eternal life was achieved for all who would qualify as children of God and Christ through faith. The world was secure until the last of the elect had been gathered from all nations according to the promises made to Abraham in Christ. The rule was eternal according to the promises made to David in Christ. The rule was according to the law of love for God and the neighbour spelled out in detail in the Mosaic covenant and formulated in short by the Lord Himself in Matthew 22:37-40, which was to be the response of God’s people in love and thankfulness for the salvation provided. All God’s covenants were fulfilled in Him. He is the prophet (Dt 18:15;) the priest (Ps 110:4) and the king (Ps 45:6,7) God promised and our only and complete Saviour (Ac 4:12).

The covenantal approach to the unity of Scripture is Scriptural and far simpler than the dispensational. It understands that the new covenant is the last redemptive phase. It understands that the so called rapture of believers will occur at Christ’s one and only return at the end of this world (1 Thess 4:17). The end of the world is determined by the end of the gospel mission (Mt 24:14) for then the last of the elect will have been gathered (1 Pet 3:9) and God’s plan complete.

The dispensational approach arises from the forcing of various texts. Matthew 23:39, but it promises no more than when Christ returns some will welcome Him gladly.

Romans 11:26,27 is a difficult text, for who is included in all Israel is a question as is the changing of the prophecies of Isaiah 59:20,21 and 27:9. As the text stands Israel can be understood to mean the Israel of God, which is the Church inclusive of Jewish believers (Gal 6:16). The salvation of the Jews can happen concurrently with the fullness of the Gentiles being gathered in. If all Israel refers to the Jews it must be understood according to Romans 9:6,7 which means all those Jews who are elect, who are born of the promise (Gal 4:26,28). It does not say that all national Israel will turn to the Lord after the fullness of the Gentiles has come in, although it does not exclude that either. The most these verses can support is the possibility of a mass turning to the Lord of the Jews before His return. They do not necessitate the premillennial view at all.

Dispensationalists find the only proof for a future millennium in which Christ returns to earth and governs from Jerusalem for one thousand years from the misinterpretation of the chronology of Revelation, and especially of chapter 20:1-10. The court which is constituted in these verses is clearly in heaven. It is a development of the heavenly court God showed Daniel in Daniel 7, now including the Lord Jesus Christ and humans, who reign from the time of the ascension until Christ’s return. There is no indication that it is here on earth. That humans do exist in heaven in bodily form is born out by Moses and Elijah’s appearance to Jesus on the Mount of Transfiguration (Mat 17:3).

There is no literalistic fulfilment of the OT prophecies regarding Israel and David’s Son to be expected. Israel is a type of the Church, of the new covenant people of God, and its symbolism is fulfilled in her. The Church includes all believers in Christ from Adam on. It is the seed born of the promise and will ultimately crush the Serpent’s head. (Rom 16:20).