At the annual meeting of our Synod 2021 it was agreed that, as a denomination, we should prayerfully and thoughtfully renew our covenant loyalty to Jesus Christ our covenant King at Synod 2022. Over the course of four articles, Professor Robert McCollum will outline what exactly this involves and why we should do it.

Introduction

Covenants, covenant renewal and covenant commitment were major aspects of the First (Sixteenth Century) and Second (Seventeenth Century) Scottish Reformations. In the early 1600s King Charles I put the Scottish church and its members under intense pressure to conform to episcopacy (church government by bishops with the king as the head of the church) and to a form of worship determined by the monarchy. The Scottish church had embraced Presbyterianism (the church governed by elders with Christ as the king and head) and a pattern of worship determined by Scripture. To yield to the will of the king and his enforcers would have meant disloyalty to Christ and disobedience to his Word. Instead, both the Scottish Church and State decided to renew their loyalty to King Jesus, publicly promising, come what may, to remain faithful to him and his Word. This resulted in the drawing up and signing of the National Covenant of 1638. Five years later, this pledge of loving loyalty was entered into by the three Kingdoms (England, Scotland and Ireland) in what was called the Solemn League and Covenant.

Biblical Basis

But where did our spiritual ancestors get this idea of covenanting? The concept begins with God before time began. In eternity God the Father, God the Son and God the Holy Spirit entered into a covenant to save a people (the elect) for God’s glory and for them to spend eternity with God (see for example Ephesians 1:4-11; Ephesians 3:11; 1 Peter 1:2). This covenant entered human history in Genesis 3:15 where, after the Fall, God announced that, through the seed of the woman (the Messiah), he would crush Satan and deliver his people. This commitment from God is commonly referred to as ‘the covenant of grace’, since in it God graciously extends mercy to fallen human beings who deserve nothing but punishment in Hell because of their rebellion against God.

Abraham the Covenanter

Throughout Biblical history we see God offering his covenant love and mercy to undeserving sinners, such as Abraham. No better than his peers, Abraham was guilty of gross idolatry (Joshua 24:14, 15). Yet God in his mercy reached out in covenant love (Genesis 15:18) and called Abraham to follow him in order to experience the blessing of relationship with God (Genesis 12:1-3).

Scripture sums up Abraham’s response to God’s covenant love in five words: “And he believed the Lord” (Genesis 15:5); Abraham followed God in faith. Countless millions since have responded in the same way to the same gospel (1 Thessalonians 1:10).

In response to God’s gracious love, Abraham was commanded: “… walk before me and be blameless” (Genesis 17:1). Abraham was not a perfect man, but he continually demonstrated faith in God’s promises and a willingness to obey him. Such was Abraham’s response to God’s grace that three times he is described in Scripture as “the friend of God” (2 Chronicles 20:7; Isaiah 41:8; James 2:23). In making such a definite response to God’s covenant call we can describe Abraham as a covenant keeper – or a “covenanter”!

Redeeming Love

Four hundred years later Abraham’s descendants were suffering intense persecution in Egypt. They cried out to the Lord, for God’s covenant had not been made with Abraham only but also with his descendants (Genesis 17:7). In Exodus 2:24 we read: “And God heard their groaning, and God remembered his covenant with Abraham, with Isaac, and with Jacob.” Through a deliverer (Moses) God would now carry out a mighty work of redemption, which involved the shedding of the blood of lambs sprinkled on the doorposts and the lintels of Israelite homes. This whole event – ‘The Exodus’ – points forward to the deliverance accomplished by Jesus Christ who, through the shedding of his blood on the cross, would save a people (the elect) from the bondage and tyranny of sin and Satan, and lead them to the promised land (Heaven).

Covenant Obedience

God’s redeemed people, saved from Egypt, were called to respond to God just as Abraham had done: with obedience. In Exodus 20:3-17 God gave them what we commonly call “The Ten Commandments” (or the “Decalogue”).

It’s important to notice the words that precede the Ten Commandments, Exodus 20:2: “I am the Lord your God, who brought you out of the land of Egypt, out of the house of slavery.” God first summarises his action in saving his people from tyranny. Only then does he spell out the response he requires: loving obedience to the Moral Law.

Notice how the Ten Commandments are referred to in Deuteronomy 4:13 - “And he declared to you his covenant, which he commanded you to perform, that is, the Ten Commandments…”  In Exodus 34:28 we read with reference to God: “… And he wrote on the tablets the words of the covenant, the Ten Commandments” (see also Deuteronomy 4:13).

What God looked for in his people delivered from Egypt approximately 3500 years ago, he also looks for in his covenant people in 2022. Any covenant renewal undertaken by the Church today is simply a restatement of our commitment to obeying the God who has shown us steadfast, redeeming love through the Lord Jesus Christ.

Jesus Our Covenant Head

Some object to the concept of covenanting since it seems to be based primarily on the Old Testament. That is to ignore the continuity between the Old and New Testaments: Jesus Christ is the “Serpent Crusher” of Genesis 3:15, the Seed of Abraham (Galatians 3:16), the Son of David (Matthew 21:9), the one “who loves us and has freed us from our sins by his blood” (Revelation 1:5).

In response to his so great salvation, we are to be covenant keepers. Jesus said to his followers: “If you love me, you will keep my commandments” (John 13:15). Another way of saying this is, “if you love me you will keep the covenant.”

Conclusion

Covenant renewal in the Twenty-First Century must find expression in a renewed commitment to walk in God’s ways – the Ten Commandments. In making such a commitment God will give us grace to keep the covenant and to resist the pressure to accommodate and accept the sins of our age.

This article was originally written for the Covenanter Witness, the official magazine of the Reformed Presbyterian Church of Ireland. Make sure you check out their magazine as it arrives in your churches every month for more great articles like this!