Covenant theology reads the whole Bible as the unfolding of God's covenants: the covenant of works with Adam (perfect obedience for life) and, after the fall, the covenant of grace — one gracious plan administered across redemptive history through Noah, Abraham, Moses, David, and fulfilled in Christ's new covenant. It is the framework behind infant baptism, Sabbath continuity, and the unity of Old and New Testaments in Reformed confessions.
“It is not a new Church, but one and the same. It is the same olive-tree. (Rom. xi. 16, 17) It is founded on the same covenant, the covenant made with Abraham. It has, indeed, often been said that it is to belittle the truth to put the idea of a covenant between God and man in the place of a general...”
“Q. 10. What are the internal and spiritual miseries which men are liable unto in this life by the fall? A. Men by the fall are liable-- 1. To the thraldom of the devil, to be led about by him at his will. "And that they may recover themselves out of the snare of the devil, who are taken captive by h...”
“This was the fifth solemn establishment of the covenant of grace with the church after the fall. The covenant of grace was revealed and established all along. But there had been particular seasons, wherein God had in a very solemn manner renewed this covenant with his church, giving forth a new edit...”
“This was the fifth solemn establishment of the covenant of grace with the church after the fall. The covenant of grace was revealed and established all along. But there had been particular seasons, wherein God had in a very solemn manner renewed this covenant with his church, giving forth a new edit...”
“If he should allude to the circumcision, I would say that they are two distinct and different signs, and that the first has no relation whatever to the second; for these following reasons: Firstly, because all the signs, before and under the law, given to the patriarchs, as the coats of skins to Ada...”
The view that God relates to humanity through covenants — first works (obey and live), then, after Adam's fall, one covenant of grace running from Genesis 3:15 all the way to Christ.
How does covenant theology differ from dispensationalism?
Covenant theology sees one people of God and one plan of salvation across both Testaments; dispensationalism divides history into distinct dispensations with sharper Israel/church separation.