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In reformed covenant theology, you'll often hear people refer to the signs of the covenant. In the case of the Old Testament, the covenant sign was circumcision, whereas the sign of the New Covenant is baptism. What is the significance of these signs, and how do they relate to each other? Welcome to the Friday edition of Renewing Your Mind. Today we'll be wrapping up our study of covenant theology with a message from Dr.
J. V. Fesko on the signs of the covenant. In addition to this teaching series, Dr. Fesko also wrote an introduction to Reformed covenant theology, Signed, Sealed, Delivered.
For your donation today, you'll receive the ebook edition, so you can continue your study on this topic, and lifetime access to the digital messages with a digital study guide as well. You can give online at renewingyourmind.org or by calling us at 800-435-4343. Here's J.V. Fesco now with a message on the signs of the covenant. What God's word is to our ears, God's covenant signs are to our other senses—sight, touch, smell, and taste.
I think sometimes, understandably so, we can focus so much upon the word and listening to it. We might accidentally give the impression that the gospel is only exclusively for our minds. Remember, though, that God commands us in Deuteronomy six four to love Him with heart, soul, and mind, which is another way of saying to love Him with our entire beings. Remember, love and covenant go hand in hand.
So when God creates His covenants, He does so not only through His spoken words, but He also does them through deeds or actions. If you think about this, this is the way that God reveals His truth throughout all of pre-redemptive history, prior to the fall, and then in redemptive history, after the fall. Think, for example, back to the opening pages of Scripture, when God says, "Before anything exists, He says, 'Let there be light.'" And then what happens? He follows that with action, with a deed. He creates light, and then subsequent to that, he follows that action with his own subsequent interpretive word.
He saw that the light was good.
So you see God speaking, acting, and then speaking again to interpret and to explain the nature of his actions.
So that basically, we can say that in all of God's covenants, He gives accompanying signs, an incarnation, if you will, of His covenantal word. And so, what we want to do in this particular lecture is we want to explore God's covenantal signs, or what the Westminster Confession of Faith calls the sacraments of the covenant, the signs and seals of the covenant.
So, what we'll do first is we're going to survey the various signs of the covenant that we find throughout all of pre-redemptive and redemptive history. But then, secondly, we want to ask. A particular question, and it's a common question that I've often received over the years, and it concerns the transition of Old Testament signs to New Testament signs. To ask or to focus the question more specifically, we can ask the question this way: Why do we change from circumcision and then go to baptism? Why circumcision, and then why does it change to baptism?
So let's first go through a survey of the signs of the covenant.
Now I've said this in past lectures that when we go to the Garden of Eden prior to the fall, we see both the trees of knowledge and life. These two trees in the garden are the signs of the covenant of works. The tree of knowledge, I think, was a physical, visible sign of God's law. If you think, for example, as to how the psalmist describes the law in Psalm nineteen verses seven and eight, it's making wise the simple, and it even enlightens the eyes, is what the psalmist says. Listen to how the narrative here that Moses describes the Genesis fall in Genesis three six, when the woman looks at the tree of knowledge.
So the woman saw that the tree was good for food, Genesis three six, and that it was a delight to the eyes, and that the tree was desired to make one wise.
So here, the same description of the law; it enlightens the eyes, and it makes wise the simple. These are the same things that the Genesis narrative uses to describe the tree of knowledge, the tree of life. We can say conversely was again a physical, visible sign of God's promise of eternal life. I think the tree mostly disappears in the Bible. It appears a couple of times in Proverbs, but large in part, it appears at the beginning of the Scriptures in the creation account, and then it appears at the conclusion of the Bible in Revelation chapter 22, where John talks about the tree of life and that the people of God, those who are in Christ, have right to eat.
From this tree, so the trees of knowledge and life are the signs of the covenant of works. When we move out into the covenant of grace, as we surveyed in the last lecture, we can say that all of God's covenantal dealings with His people, though there are many different covenants, they're all a part of the one covenant of grace. In other words, how God is administering His promise of salvation that begins in Genesis three fifteen, and it goes all the way to the last words of Scripture, and in His Covenant with Noah, we know that God instituted that covenant with Noah, but He also gave it an attending sign. That sign, of course, comes in Genesis chapter nine, verses thirteen and fourteen, where he says, "This I have set my bow in the cloud, and it shall be the sign of the covenant between me and the earth. When I bring clouds over the earth and the bow is seen in the clouds, I will remember my covenant that it is between me and you and every living creature of all flesh." Now remember, while the Noachic covenant is certainly a part of the covenant of grace, its purpose is to preserve the whole of the creation.
So there is the stage that we spoke of—the stage upon which God unfolds the promise of salvation that comes to us in Christ—and the rainbow, even to this very day, is a reminder, a visible, physical reminder of that promise. I think what it ultimately conveys is that God, the warrior, has taken his bow by which he slung arrows at sinners in righteous judgment. He has taken that bow and he has hung it up upon the wall as a reminder that he has given his grace to allow the promises of salvation to unfold. But there is a sign there. The rainbow is that visible sign.
In the Abrahamic covenant, we of course know that circumcision is the sign of that covenant. God continued the covenant of grace with Abraham, and He gave him the sign of circumcision in Genesis 17. But unlike the rainbow, which he gave to the whole of the creation, God gave circumcision exclusively to Abraham and to the Israelites.
Now, momentarily, we'll look at circumcision in closer detail. But we at least at this point want to note that it is a sign of the Abrahamic covenant, which is a part of the larger covenant of grace. When we look at the Mosaic covenant. The covenant that God made with Israel at Sinai, He gave them a sign, and we read of this sign in Exodus thirty-one thirteen. Above all, you shall keep My Sabbaths, for this is a sign between Me and you throughout your generations, that you may know that I, the Lord, sanctify you.
Now, at first glance, we might think, "Well, how is it possible to make?" A time, a period of time, as a visible sign. But when we think about it, remember this is the sign that he gives to Moses and the people. He says to let them know that he was at work in their midst.
Well, how would this become manifest? Think about it. Each and every Sabbath day, people would cease from their labors. Those who were in proximity to the temple would go to the temple to worship, or perhaps more locally in the in the further regions of the nation, they would stop their work and that they would worship God. They would devote the whole day to rest in anticipation of the eternal rest to come.
That would be a visible. And physical reminder of God's covenant promises that He had given to the people. Moreover, they would be able to hear the word of God proclaimed on this day. They would be able to go to the temple or to the tabernacle, and they would be able to smell the burning flesh of the sacrifices. They would be able to touch, and even in some cases, to taste the flesh of the sacrifices.
So the Sabbath is the sign of the Mosaic Covenant.
Now, with the Davidic Covenant, there is no explicit sign mentioned, but I think that we can say is that implicitly, God's promise is manifest in the Davidic line itself. As long as there is a Davidic heir, the people of Israel would know God is keeping His promise because we can see this visible, physical person. Beyond this, when we get to the new covenant, which is a part of the covenant of grace. And it enfolds in the New Testament. We know that there are two signs to this covenant, and that is baptism and the Lord's Supper.
When Christ inaugurated the new covenant. The sacraments of the Old Testament, circumcision, Sabbath, the Davidic line—they found their fulfillment in Jesus. We can say in this way, with Paul in Second Corinthians one twenty, that Jesus, that Christ, is the "yea" and the "amen" of all of God's promises.
So they terminate because Christ has come, the one to whom they all pointed, and so these Old Testament signs give way to. His incarnation, and they open up the way we can say for the simplicity of the two signs of the new covenant, baptism, which Christ, of course, gives us the command in the Great Commission in Matthew twenty-eight, go into all the nations and baptize them. But then also we know of the Lord's Supper. Think of those familiar words that we hear each and every Lord's Day, with the administration of the Lord's Supper, Luke twenty-two verses nineteen and following. This is my body, which is given for you.
Do this in remembrance of me. And likewise, the cup. After they had eaten, saying, "This cup that is poured out for you is the new covenant in my blood." So this is just a quick reconnaissance. Of the various signs of the covenant, as we see them attending God's verbal administration of these covenant blessings, there comes the signs that point to God's covenantal activity, and that brings us to our second, and what ultimately is our final point, which is wanting to answer that question: Why do we transition from circumcision to baptism? You know, people say if the covenant of grace extends from Genesis three fifteen to Christ, why do the signs change?
And in particular, we can answer this question in a very generic sense. The Apostle Paul says this in Galatians two seventeen when he speaks of food or drink or a festival or a new moon or Sabbath. He says. These are a shadow of the things to come, but the substance belongs to Christ.
So again, because Christ has come, that's why these many different signs terminate upon Jesus.
Now we know, of course, the Noachic sign still persists. Every time we see the rainbow, we're reminded of that promise that God will preserve the creation for the sake of the gospel. But we can think through a more detailed answer to this question when we say why circumcision gives way to baptism is by breaking it up into two separate questions. In parliamentary procedure, there's a thing where you can say let's divide the question because that can bring some clarity to it. And so let's divide this question.
We can first ask the question why circumcision. And then, when we answer that question, then we can ask a second question: Why baptism?
So let's first ask and answer the question: Why circumcision? I think the simplest answer is that this was God's sign of His covenant with Abraham.
So let's think through this as we we. Flesh out, if you will, the nature of this sign. First, with respect to the individual male Israelite, the sign of circumcision was supposed to be indicative of a regenerate heart. Deuteronomy ten sixteen Moses commands them, circumcise therefore the foreskin of your heart and be no longer stubborn. Circumcision is not merely a sign of Jewishness.
Although it certainly distinguishes Jew from Gentile, rather it's supposed to be a sign of the Spirit's work in the heart of the Israelite. Romans two twenty eight and following, Paul says, "For no one is a Jew who is merely one outwardly, nor is circumcision outward and physical, but a Jew is one inwardly, and circumcision is a matter of the heart by the Spirit, not by the letter." So it's supposed to point to a regenerate heart, but second, circumcision relates to God's covenant promise that the seed of the woman would crush the head of the serpent, and that God progressively reveals throughout redemptive history that the seed of the woman is also the seed of Abraham. And this is why God has Abraham circumcise his reproductive member. The New Testament confirms this through the gospel genealogies that remind us that Jesus is, among other things, the seed of Abraham. And you see that in the opening verses of Matthew's gospel.
But more specifically, how does circumcision closely connect us to Christ?
Well, recall that God had Abraham cut the animals in half in Genesis fifteen, a sign that the covenant curse would fall upon God if he failed to keep His word. Because remember, Abraham was fast asleep, but then God. Cuts, and I use that word specifically. God cuts a covenant with Abraham. Listen to how He describes the administration of circumcision in Genesis seventeen fourteen.
Any uncircumcised male who is not circumcised in the flesh of his foreskin shall be cut off from his people. He has broken my covenant.
So circumcision is either indicative of a regenerate heart, the foreskin of the heart being cut off, or it's indicative of covenant curse. He's been cut off from the covenant. He's been cut off from the people.
Now listen to how Isaiah describes the work of the suffering servant. He says this in Isaiah fifty three verse eight: by oppression and judgment. He was taken away, and as for his generation, who considered that he was cut out of the land of the living, stricken for the transgression of my people? Circumcision, the bloody ritual and painful ritual that it was, points to Christ, the seed of the woman, the seed of Abraham, being. Cut off, bearing the curse of the covenant, which is why Paul, for example, says in Colossians two eleven and twelve, "In him you were circumcised with a circumcision made without hands, by putting off the body of flesh, by the circumcision of Christ." Paul is calling Christ's crucifixion his circumcision.
It's his. Being cut off, it is His bloody curse-bearing action that saves us. Having been buried with Him in baptism, in which you were also raised with Him through faith in the powerful working of God, who raised Him from the dead.
So we see the circumcision side, but notice here that Paul also mentions baptism. Because baptism is also a sign of covenant judgment, if we don't have faith in Christ, remember that Jesus in Mark ten thirty eight and thirty nine calls his own crucifixion a baptism.
So here, this paints the picture as to why circumcision. But now, as Paul introduces baptism, it sets us up to ask the next question.
Okay, why baptism? Baptism, we can say this, is an equally physical, visible sign, though it is neither bloody nor painful as circumcision. I think some people say, "Well, circumcision is fleshly, baptism is spiritual." We want to say no. They're both spiritual. They're both physical.
They're both visible. It's just one is obviously bloody and painful. The other is not. But if we want to answer this question, I think John the Baptist gives us an answer. Why baptism?
John the Baptist in the Gospels, especially in Matthew chapter three, says that he was going to baptize with water. But Jesus, who came after him, was going to baptize with the Holy Spirit and fire. And of course, the fulfillment of this, where Christ baptizes with the Holy Spirit and fire, comes at Pentecost. We read this in an earlier lecture, but Acts two thirty three, being therefore exalted at the right hand of God, and having received from the Father the promise of the Holy Spirit, He Jesus has poured out this that you yourselves are seeing and hearing.
So here, Jesus is pouring out the Spirit, but here's the big difference. When Peter, for example, in First Peter chapter three or later in Second Peter chapter three, speaks of baptism, he connects it to the Old Testament flood. In the Old Testament, God flooded the world with water. In the New Testament, in the wake of the ministry of Christ, He is flooding the world once again. But this time, it's with the Spirit.
This time, it's with the Holy Spirit. And fire. Second Peter three five and following, for they deliberately overlook this fact that the heavens existed long ago, and the earth was formed out of water and through water by the word of God, and that by means of these the world that then existed was deluged with water and perished. But by the same word, the heavens and earth that now exist are stored up for fire, being kept until the day of judgment and the destruction of the ungodly. Remember what John said: Jesus will baptize with the Holy Spirit and fire.
So here we baptize because it's a sign, a visible sign, that Christ has poured out the Spirit, not merely upon the church, but upon the whole creation, and He is presently flooding it with the Spirit.
So we can kind of bring this to a fine point, and we can make some concluding observations here. Why circumcision? To point. To the crucifixion of the seed of the woman, the bloody cutting off and curse-bearing work of Jesus, his suffering on the cross then unleashes the outpouring of the Spirit. Why baptism?
Because Christ has been cut off in his circumcision, and he's poured out the Holy Spirit. It goes from circumcision, the work of Christ on the cross, to baptism, which is the outpouring of the Holy Spirit. It's not so much that one sign replaces another, but rather both point to the person and work of Christ as accomplishing both. And the church testifies that we and our children. Like Noah and his household have passed through the flood of the Spirit unto salvation, rather than judgment.
Why and how so? Because we look to Christ by faith. And as such, the signs of the covenant are a means of grace, as the word of God brings the grace of salvation when combined with the sign. In this case, baptism or the Lord's supper, combined with the word, the sacraments, the signs of baptism and the Lord's supper are also ways that we receive God's grace. When joined with the preaching of the word, these signs—baptism and the Lord's supper—act as a seal and confirm God's covenant promises in Christ.
In the covenant of grace, therefore, we need the sacraments as much as we need the word of God, because God has given us both. The signs of the new covenant, baptism and the Lord's supper, are not incidental. They were given by God to communicate the reality of His grace to us in Christ. And just as we need to hear the regular preaching of God's word to grow in grace, we need the sacraments as well. Thanks for joining us today on Renewing Your Mind.
I hope you found this study on covenant theology helpful. And if you'd like to keep studying this topic, you can receive the e-book edition of Dr. Fesko's Sign, Sealed, Delivered today for your donation. You'll also receive a digital study guide as well. In addition to these two resources, we'll give you digital access to the messages so you can listen anytime with the Ligonier app.
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