Covenant of Promise vs. Covenant of Law vs. Covenant of Grace: An
Integrated Comparison
Galatians 3:8 And because the
Scripture foresaw that God would justify the Gentiles by faith, He also
foretold this to Abraham, saying, “Through you all nations shall be blessed.”
Hebrews 8:7 For if the first
covenant had been without fault, there would have been no need to seek the
second.
Hebrews 8:8 But when God found
fault with His people, He said, “Behold, the days are coming when the Lord
declares, ‘I will establish a new covenant with the house of Israel and the
house of Judah.’”
Galatians 4:24 These are
allegorical: the two women represent the two covenants. One was from Mount
Sinai, and she bore a son for slavery—Hagar.
Galatians 4:28 And you,
brothers, are children of the promise, like Isaac.
Galatians 4:29 But just as the one born of the flesh persecuted the one born of the Spirit, so it is now.
|
Item |
Covenant
of Promise |
Covenant
of Law |
Covenant
of Grace (New Covenant) |
|
Other names |
The covenant
with Abraham (Gen. 12:2-3; 15; 17); the “covenants of
promise” in Eph. 2:12 |
The old
covenant, the Sinai covenant, the Mosaic covenant (Exo. 19-24; Heb. 8:7, 13) |
The new
covenant (Jer. 31:31-34; Luke
22:20; Heb. 8:6-13) |
|
Symbolized by |
Sarah, the
freewoman (Gal. 4:22-23, 26, 31) |
Hagar, the
maidservant and concubine (Gal. 4:24-25) |
In one line
with the covenant of promise signified by Sarah, as its fulfillment (Gal. 3:14, 17-18) |
|
Maker / Mediator |
God Himself
promised to Abraham, and Christ is “the Seed” who receives it (Gal. 3:16) |
God gave it through Moses (John 1:17; Gal. 3:19) |
Christ is the
Mediator of a better covenant (Heb. 8:6; 9:15; 12:24) |
|
Time |
First, before
the law
(Gen. 12:2, 7; 13:15-17; 15:4-21) |
“Added” 430 years after the promise (Gal. 3:17, 19) |
Promised in
Abraham’s time, accomplished in Christ’s blood (Luke 22:20) |
|
Basis / nature |
God’s grace and promise, given freely |
God’s demand and man’s keeping: “he who does them shall live by them”
(Lev. 18:5; Gal. 3:12) |
God’s grace and reality (John 1:14, 17) |
|
Who fulfills it |
God alone, by
His grace
and power (Gen. 18:14) |
Depends on man’s fleshly effort, which man cannot
accomplish |
God in Christ, through the indwelling Spirit (Rom. 8:3-4) |
|
Place of man’s flesh |
The flesh is useless; God worked only after
Abraham was as good as dead and Sarah’s womb
was barren |
Relies on fleshly effort, like
Ishmael, who was rejected by God (Gen. 17:18;
21:10) |
Received by faith,
not
by man’s own strength (Gal. 3:2-3, 5) |
|
Children produced |
Born according
to the Spirit (Gal. 4:29), like Isaac |
Born according
to
the flesh (Gal. 4:23), like Ishmael, born into slavery
(Gal. 4:24) |
Regenerated
children of God who receive sonship in grace and freedom (Gal.
4:5-7, 31) |
|
Content |
Descendants,
the good land, blessing (Gen. 12:2-3, 7; Gal. 3:14, “the promise of the
Spirit”) |
Outward
letters, such
as commandments on tablets of stone (Exo. 31:18;
2 Cor. 3:3, 6) |
Forgiveness of sins, everyone knowing the Lord, God’s laws put into the mind and written on the heart (Heb. 8:10-12) |
|
Resulting position |
Freedom and the inheritance |
Slavery under the law’s custody, separated from grace (Gal. 4:24-25; 5:1-4) |
Freedom,
sonship, and
the right of inheritance (Gal. 4:7; Rom. 8:15-17) |
|
Relation to the good land |
Inherits the
good land, a type of the all-inclusive Christ |
No share: “the son of this maidservant shall not be heir with my son, with Isaac” (Gen. 21:10; Gal. 4:30) |
Enjoys the
all-inclusive Christ with all His riches (Col. 1:12; 2:6-7) |
|
Place in God’s economy |
God’s original
intention, prior to the law (Gal. 3:17-18) |
A temporary
addition, serving as a “guardian” and “child-conductor” to lead
people to Christ (Gal. 3:19, 23-24); it has no legal standing in God’s economy |
The fulfillment
of the promise, which also makes the old covenant obsolete (Heb. 8:13; 10:9) |
|
Final outcome |
God gains a
kingdom, a dwelling place, and glory |
Cast out,
unable to accomplish God’s purpose |
God’s purpose
is accomplished in Christ and consummated in the New Jerusalem |
How
the Three Relate
1.
The covenant of
promise and the covenant of
grace (the new covenant) form one line. The promise is the source, and
the new covenant is its fulfillment and
enlargement. Both rest on God’s grace and are
accomplished by God Himself. Galatians 3:14 says
the blessing of Abraham comes to the Gentiles so that we might receive the promised Spirit. That promise is
Christ and the Spirit.
2. The covenant of law stands in contrast to the other two. It has nothing to do with the new covenant. It was added because of man’s fleshly
effort (Gal. 3:19). It cannot annul the earlier
promise (Gal. 3:17), and it cannot impart life
(Gal. 3:21).
3.
Christ is the
focus of all three. Sarah and Isaac stand for grace and promise, birth
according to the Spirit. Hagar and Ishmael
stand for law and the flesh. The good land is
Christ. The law brings people to Christ, while the promise and grace bring people into Christ.
*Please refer to the 2026
Autumn Training for Elders and Responsible Brothers, General Topic: The God of
Abraham, Isaac, and Jacob, Part Three: The Allegory of the Two Women
沒有留言:
發佈留言