Of God's Covenant

Chapter 7 lays out the 1689’s distinctive covenant theology — sometimes called 1689 federalism. The distance between God and his creature is so great that no creature could enjoy him as their blessedness and reward but by some voluntary condescension on God’s part. This he has been pleased to express by way of covenant.

The covenant of works was made with Adam, and broken. The covenant of grace was revealed gradually across the Old Testament — to Adam, Noah, Abraham, Moses, David — but was not formally established until the death of Christ. The new covenant is the covenant of grace in its full and final form, made with believers in Christ alone.

This chapter is the engine of Reformed Baptist distinctiveness. It is why we read the Bible as one story, why we hold to the doctrines of grace, and why we baptize believers rather than infants. See our article: What is 1689 federalism?

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For the full text of this chapter with scripture proofs, see the1689confession.com or Founders Ministries.