Covenant

Definition and Meaning

The Korean term for covenant, eonyak (言約), means "a promise made by word." In the Bible it refers to a promise that God makes with human beings and the relationship that arises from it. The term translates the Hebrew berit and the Greek diathēkē. Unlike an ordinary promise, a covenant entails obligations for both parties and is often accompanied by a sign, a visible token that confirms the covenant. The very names Old Testament and New Testament derive from "old covenant" and "new covenant."

Biblical and Historical Background

The Old Testament records several covenants.

• Noahic covenant: God's promise never again to destroy the earth by a flood, with the rainbow as its sign (Genesis 9).
• Abrahamic covenant: A promise concerning descendants and land, with circumcision as its sign (Genesis 15; 17).
• Sinaitic covenant: The covenant made through Moses with the giving of the Law (Exodus 19–24).
• Davidic covenant: The promise that David's throne would endure forever (2 Samuel 7).

Jeremiah 31:31–34 foretells a "new covenant." At the Last Supper, Jesus said, "This cup is the new testament in my blood" (Luke 22:20), and the New Testament regards this prophecy as fulfilled in Christ.

After the Reformation, the Reformed tradition developed the concept of covenant into a framework for reading the whole of Scripture, known as covenant theology. Chapter 7 of the Westminster Confession of Faith explains the covenants by distinguishing between the covenant of works and the covenant of grace. By contrast, dispensationalism, which emerged in the nineteenth century, distinguishes between Israel and the church and divides history into several eras, placing less emphasis on the continuity of the covenants.

Practice in Korean Churches

The word "covenant" is used across denominational lines, for example in the words of institution for Holy Communion and in the vows of a wedding service. Its theological weight and application, however, vary from denomination to denomination.

• Presbyterian churches: Following Reformed theology, they take covenant theology as their basic framework. They regard Old Testament circumcision and New Testament baptism as signs of the same covenant of grace and use this as the basis for infant baptism; they sometimes call the children of believers "children of the covenant."
• Baptist churches: They hold that baptism is to be received upon a person's own profession of faith and therefore do not administer it to infants. Even Reformed Baptists, who accept covenant theology, reach the same conclusion, holding that the members of the new covenant are those who believe. This difference is one of the central issues in the infant baptism debate.
• Methodist churches: Methodism has a tradition of the "Covenant Renewal Service," begun by John Wesley, and some Methodist churches in Korea are known to hold services modeled on it around the New Year.
• Churches and preachers influenced by dispensational eschatology interpret some of the Old Testament covenants as promises to Israel rather than to the church.