Theme · theological
Covenant
The covenant theme begins with God's promise to Noah never to destroy the earth again, then narrows to Abraham's call — a chosen family through whom all nations will be blessed. At Sinai, God binds himself to Israel with law and blood, establishing the pattern of stipulation, oath, and sign. The Davidic covenant adds an eternal throne, and when Israel breaks faith, the prophets announce a coming New Covenant written on hearts rather than stone. Jesus inaugurates this covenant in his blood at the Last Supper, and the epistle to the Hebrews declares it the fulfillment toward which every prior covenant pointed.
Related doctrines
Passages expressing this theme
- 1Chr 16:15 — Be ye mindful always of his covenant; the word which he commanded to a thousand generations;
- 1Chr 28:9 — And thou, Solomon my son, know thou the God of thy father, and serve him with a perfect heart and with a willing mind: for the LORD searcheth all hearts, and understandeth all the imaginations of the
- 1Chr 29:10 — Wherefore David blessed the LORD before all the congregation: and David said, Blessed be thou, LORD God of Israel our father, for ever and ever.
- 1Cor 3:9 — For we are labourers together with God: ye are God’s husbandry, ye are God’s building.
- 1Cor 5:6 — Your glorying is not good. Know ye not that a little leaven leaveneth the whole lump?
- 1Cor 8:6 — But to us there is but one God, the Father, of whom are all things, and we in him; and one Lord Jesus Christ, by whom are all things, and we by him.
- 1Cor 11:25 — After the same manner also he took the cup, when he had supped, saying, This cup is the new testament in my blood: this do ye, as oft as ye drink it, in remembrance of me.
- 1John 3:24 — And he that keepeth his commandments dwelleth in him, and he in him. And hereby we know that he abideth in us, by the Spirit which he hath given us.
- 1John 4:15 — Whosoever shall confess that Jesus is the Son of God, God dwelleth in him, and he in God.
- 1John 4:16 — And we have known and believed the love that God hath to us. God is love; and he that dwelleth in love dwelleth in God, and God in him.
- 1Kgs 3:5 — In Gibeon the LORD appeared to Solomon in a dream by night: and God said, Ask what I shall give thee.
- 1Kgs 3:14 — And if thou wilt walk in my ways, to keep my statutes and my commandments, as thy father David did walk, then I will lengthen thy days.
- 1Kgs 9:3 — And the LORD said unto him, I have heard thy prayer and thy supplication, that thou hast made before me: I have hallowed this house, which thou hast built, to put my name there for ever; and mine eyes
- 1Kgs 9:4 — And if thou wilt walk before me, as David thy father walked, in integrity of heart, and in uprightness, to do according to all that I have commanded thee, and wilt keep my statutes and my judgments:
- 1Kgs 9:7 — Then will I cut off Israel out of the land which I have given them; and this house, which I have hallowed for my name, will I cast out of my sight; and Israel shall be a proverb and a byword among all
- 1Kgs 18:36 — And it came to pass at the time of the offering of the evening sacrifice, that Elijah the prophet came near, and said, LORD God of Abraham, Isaac, and of Israel, let it be known this day that thou art
- 1Sam 2:30 — Wherefore the LORD God of Israel saith, I said indeed that thy house, and the house of thy father, should walk before me for ever: but now the LORD saith, Be it far from me; for them that honour me I
- 1Sam 12:22 — For the LORD will not forsake his people for his great name’s sake: because it hath pleased the LORD to make you his people.
- 1Sam 16:1 — And the LORD said unto Samuel, How long wilt thou mourn for Saul, seeing I have rejected him from reigning over Israel? fill thine horn with oil, and go, I will send thee to Jesse the Bethlehemite: fo
- 1Sam 26:19 — Now therefore, I pray thee, let my lord the king hear the words of his servant. If the LORD have stirred thee up against me, let him accept an offering: but if they be the children of men, cursed be t
- 2Chr 15:2 — And he went out to meet Asa, and said unto him, Hear ye me, Asa, and all Judah and Benjamin; The LORD is with you, while ye be with him; and if ye seek him, he will be found of you; but if ye forsake
- 2Chr 20:17 — Ye shall not need to fight in this battle: set yourselves, stand ye still, and see the salvation of the LORD with you, O Judah and Jerusalem: fear not, nor be dismayed; to morrow go out against them:
- 2Chr 32:8 — With him is an arm of flesh; but with us is the LORD our God to help us, and to fight our battles. And the people rested themselves upon the words of Hezekiah king of Judah.
- 2Cor 1:20 — For all the promises of God in him are yea, and in him Amen, unto the glory of God by us.
- 2Cor 1:22 — Who hath also sealed us, and given the earnest of the Spirit in our hearts.
The Church Fathers on Covenant
When God makes covenants with us and we consent to them, we are blessed. But when we prostitute ourselves to the spirits of evil, then we turn the covenants of God into the land of Canaan, and we make a pact with her.
When the Lord handed over to you the land of the Canaanites, he said, "Take care, therefore, not to make a covenant with these inhabitants of the land that you are to enter; else they will immediately become a snare among you." Now we believe that by the grace of baptism all sins and offenses have been banished from…
"For this is the covenant." Which one? The New one. That is to say, "after those days." Which days? Some say, those of the Exodus, in which the Mosaic law was given; but it seems to me that it speaks of those days mentioned above: "Behold, the days are coming." After those days have passed, I will make such a…
One in which they trusted, namely, a covenant with idols; hence he places the covenant: we have entered into a league with death, that is, with the devil: will he make a covenant with you, and will you take him to be a servant for ever? (Job 40:23); and the fruit of the covenant: the overflowing scourge, that is,…
(Chapter 17—Verse 3 and following) And the Lord spoke to him, saying: Behold, my covenant is with you, and you shall be the father of a multitude of nations. It should be noted that wherever we read Testament in Greek, in the Hebrew language it is the word covenant or pact, that is, Berith ().
And My covenant shall be in your flesh for an everlasting covenant. By which covenant it is surely signified that I will clothe your flesh and soul together with perpetual renewal and immortality.