Was the covenant of grace always administered after one and the same manner?
The covenant of grace was not always administered after the same manner, but the administrations of it under the Old Testament were different from those under the New.
It’s important to understand that there is only ONE covenant of grace, as the Westminster Confession states: “There are not therefore two covenants of grace, differing in substance, but one and the same, under various dispensations.” Many Christians mistakenly view it as two separate covenants due to the different administrations.
Since subsequent questions will delve deeper into the distinctions between administrations, we’ll focus here on the fact that there is only ONE covenant of grace. This means grace existed in the Old Testament, with a foundation of grace present since the Fall. It might have looked different, but it was still a system of grace that God’s people walked under. Even when primarily under the law, God was teaching His people about the essential nature of grace. Paul explores this theme in his letter to the Galatians.
The clear distinction between the covenant of works and the covenant of grace helps clarify Scripture. Dispensational theology, with its numerous covenants, can create confusion. A unified understanding of the covenant of grace brings more consistency and continuity to the Word of God.
While shifting from dispensationalism can be challenging, untangling that system of thought can lead to greater clarity. Those who remain in dispensational theology are still considered true believers, albeit potentially more confused.
The one covenant of grace has been in effect since the promise in the garden, with Christ as its central focus. Grace comes solely from His work on the cross and resurrection. The Old Testament rests on the foundation of His timeless actions.
Paul contrasts the letter of the law, which kills, with the Spirit, which gives life. He highlights the glory of the new covenant in Christ, where the veil is removed and freedom is found through the Spirit.
Dr. Ridderbos’s insight into how Israel missed the gracious nature of the Old Testament is worth pondering. He explains that their reliance on the law for righteousness prevented them from attaining its true purpose, turning it into something reprehensible.
Zeal for the law, when detached from faith in God, can alienate from God and lead to sin. Boasting in the law ignores the grace of God and the electing character of His covenant, instead placing hope and trust in human effort.
“This must not be taken, however, as though the law stood in the way of their gaining the favor of God. It is rather so that the manner in which Israel made of the law a means of salvation and relied on it for its righteousness before God prevented Israel from attaining the real object of the law and thus made it reprehensible before God.
Zeal for the law can altogether alienate man from God, and has precisely the effect of making him a sinner. This occurs when faith is no longer the point of departure for the fulfilling of the law, but man addresses himself to what he takes for the work of the law. For the law then becomes detached from God, in the sense that man no longer trusts in God for his righteousness but in his works. And man in this way no longer arrives at the law, that is to say, no longer at the righteousness and at the life to which the law points him.
Boasting in the law is thus so fatal because it passes by the real character of Israel’s privilege, no longer relies on the grace of God himself and on the electing character of his covenant but on man’s own activity, so as to fix all hope and trust in it.”
– Ridderbos, Paul: An outline of his theology.
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