THE CHRIST OF THE COVENANTS

by

O. Palmer Robertson

PRESBYTERIAN AND REFORMED PUBLISHING CO.

PHILLIPSBURG, NEW JERSEY

Copyright 1980

O. Palmer Robertson

ISBN-10: 0-87552-418-4

ISBN-13: 978-0-87552-418-4

Scripture quotations are primarily from the author’s translation or the New American Standard Bible.

To Judy

my invaluable helpmate

and beloved fellow-heir

of the grace of covenant life

Contents

Preface

PART ONE: INTRODUCTION TO THE DIVINE COVENANTS

1. The Nature of the Divine Covenants

2. The Extent of the Divine Covenants

3. The Unity of the Divine Covenants

4. Diversity in the Divine Covenants

PART TWO:

5. The Covenant of Creation

PART THREE: THE COVENANT OF REDEMPTION

6. Adam: The Covenant of Commencement

7. Noah: The Covenant of Preservation

8. Abraham: The Covenant of Promise

9. The Seal of the Abrahamic Covenant

10. Moses: The Covenant of Law

11. Excursus: Which Structures Scripture—Covenants or Dispensations?

12. David: The Covenant of the Kingdom

13. Christ: The Covenant of Consummation

Scripture Index

Preface

This work focuses on two areas central to the concerns of biblical interpretation today: the significance of God’s covenants and the relation of the two testaments. By understanding correctly God’s initiatives in establishing covenants in history, a solid foundation will be laid for unravelling the complex question of the relation of the two testaments.

Virtually every school of biblical interpretation today has come to appreciate the significance of the covenants for the understanding of the distinctive message of the Scriptures. May the Lord of the covenant bless this ongoing discussion so that a fuller love of him who has made himself to be “a covenant for the peoples” will be kindled in the hearts of men of all nations.

O. Palmer Robertson

Covenant Theological Seminary

St. Louis, Missouri

September 1, 1980

PART ONE

INTRODUCTION TO THE DIVINE COVENANTS

1

The Nature of the Divine Covenants

What is a covenant?

Asking for a definition of “covenant” is something like asking for a definition of “mother.”

A mother may be defined as the person who brought you into the world. That definition may be correct formally. But who would be satisfied with such a definition?

Scripture clearly testifies to the significance of the divine covenants. God has entered repeatedly into covenantal relationships with particular men. Explicit references may be found to a divine covenant established with Noah (Gen. 6:18), Abraham (Gen. 15:18), Israel (Exod. 24:8), and David (Ps. 89:3). Israel’s prophets anticipated the coming of the days of the “new” covenant (Jer. 31:31), and Christ himself spoke of the last supper in covenantal language (Luke 22:20).

But what is a covenant?

Some would discourage any effort to present a single definition of “covenant” which would embrace all the varied usages of the term in Scripture. They would suggest that the many different contexts in which the word appears imply many different meanings.1

Clearly any definition ...