Covenant of Grace

Definition and Meaning

The covenant of grace is the covenant in which God promised to grant salvation freely, through Jesus Christ, to humanity fallen into sin. A "covenant" denotes a relationship of promise established between God and human beings. The covenant theology of the Reformed tradition explains this concept in contrast to the "covenant of works." The covenant of works is understood as the covenant made with Adam before the Fall, in which life was promised on the condition of obedience. The covenant of grace, given after the Fall, refers to the way by which people are declared righteous (justification) and come to salvation through faith rather than through their own works.

Biblical and Historical Background

Theologians who accept this concept regard Genesis 3:15, which promises the "seed of the woman," as the first proclamation of the covenant of grace. This verse is commonly called the protoevangelium (the "first gospel"). They explain that the one covenant of grace unfolds through the Abrahamic covenant (Genesis 17:7), the Sinaitic covenant, and the Davidic covenant, and reaches its fulfillment in the new covenant (Jeremiah 31:31–34). Although the manner of its administration differed from one era to another, it is in substance one and the same covenant.

The concept was systematized by Reformed theologians in the sixteenth and seventeenth centuries. Chapter 7 of the Westminster Confession of Faith, composed in the 1640s, is regarded as a representative statement of the covenant of works and the covenant of grace.

Practice in Korean Churches

• Presbyterian: Korea's Presbyterian denominations generally adopt the Westminster Confession of Faith as their doctrinal standard and teach the covenant of grace. They hold that the children of believers also belong to the covenant community and present this as the basis for infant baptism.
• Baptist: Baptists administer baptism only to those who have personally professed faith. Some Reformed-leaning Baptists accept covenant theology in accordance with the 1689 London Baptist Confession of Faith. Because they hold that membership in the new covenant is limited to regenerate believers, however, they do not recognize infant baptism.
• Methodist and Holiness: In the Wesleyan tradition, "covenant of grace" is seldom used as a central term. Instead, this tradition emphasizes the prevenient grace that is extended to all people beforehand and the faith that responds to it.
• Dispensationalist perspective: Dispensationalism divides biblical history into several eras (dispensations) and distinguishes between Israel and the church. It therefore differs from the interpretation that unites the whole of Scripture under a single covenant of grace.