The Covenant of Grace in the Old Testament – Martyn Lloyd-Jones [Part 1]

The sermon of this post is from the YouTube site, MLJTrust.

My purpose in posting it:

I did an eleven-part series a while back about this very topic, using various preachers and ministries to establish my points. Today, I am going to post two or more sermons by Martyn Lloyd-Jones that will establish the same points, such as:

• There has always been only one people of God (Dispensationalism says there are two people of God, Israel and the church, they err; their theories are founded on the words of men, not of God)
• The church began with Abram when God called him and established a covenant with him
• There has always been ONLY one way of salvation and that is by grace via faith in the Lord Jesus Christ
• MLJ divides the Bible as follows: Genesis 1:1 – 3:14, part 1; Genesis 3:15 to Revelation 22:21, part 2; he did so because part 1 is the covenant of works that God established with Adam and Adam failed to keep, ending that way of salvation; part 2, salvation by grace
• Based on the word of God in Ephesians 1, God knew before the foundation of the world that this would be what He would do in its time
• [To see my series: open the CATEGORY, Covenant Theology]

He was among the most doctrinally sound preachers of the twentieth century and many respect his insights. My hope is that those who were not persuaded against the doctrines of Dispensationalism by my last series, might be convinced against those erroneous man-made doctrines via the sermons of MLJ.

Sermon Description [From YouTube, MLJTrust]

What is a covenant? Generally it can be defined as an agreement or a pact that two parties enter into on the basis of prearranged conditions.

What must it mean that God has entered into a covenant with humanity? In this sermon titled “The Covenant of Grace in the Old Testament,” Dr. Martyn Lloyd-Jones gives a brief survey of God’s covenants with humanity throughout history, highlighting God’s covenant of grace as revealed in the Old Testament.

God has promised to be a God to people, and this is significant because all have sinned against God, yet He has made a way for them to declare that He is “my God.” God can be known through Jesus Christ, their mediator who is seen in the New Testament. Thus, the covenant of grace has been administered in two parts, the old and the new.

Here, Dr. Lloyd-Jones focuses on the covenant of grace administered in the Old Testament. God’s covenant of works with Adam, God’s covenant of common grace with Noah, God’s covenant of justification by faith with Abraham, and God’s covenant of law with His people at Sinai are different yet intertwined.

Ultimately, they all culminate in the person and work of Jesus Christ. If one looks for the gospel in the Old Testament, they will most certainly find it in what is known to be the covenant of grace.

Sermon Breakdown [from MLJTrust]:

• God made a covenant of works with Adam that he failed to keep, resulting in sin and the fall.

• God has since made one covenant of grace with humanity.

• The covenant of grace was first hinted at in Genesis 3:15, the “Protevangel.”

• This passage promises enmity between the serpent and humanity, the triumph of humanity over the serpent, and the ultimate triumph of the “seed of the woman,” Jesus Christ.

• God made a covenant with Noah promising not to destroy the earth with a flood again and establishing a degree of restraint over human violence and the forces of nature. This was a subsidiary covenant and did not replace the covenant of grace.

• God made an explicit covenant of grace with Abraham, promising to make him the father of many nations, to give his descendants the land of Canaan, and to bless all the nations of the earth through him. Abraham was justified by faith, not works.

• God made a subsidiary covenant with Moses and Israel at Sinai. This did not replace the covenant of grace but was meant to increase awareness of sin and point to humanity’s need for Christ. The law was a “schoolmaster” to lead us to Christ.

• The old covenant refers to how God administered the one covenant of grace in the Old Testament through covenants with Abraham, Moses, and Israel. The new covenant refers to how God has fulfilled and perfected the covenant of grace in Christ in the New Testament. * The covenant of grace is the one means of salvation in both the Old and New Testaments. The law was never meant as a means of salvation.

 

A sermon by Dr. Martyn Lloyd-Jones on grace ― Great Biblical Doctrines playlist:    • The Eternal Decrees of God (Remastered)  

Video-page link to MLJTrust:   https://www.youtube.com/@MLJTrust/videos

Playlist-page link:  https://www.youtube.com/@MLJTrust/playlists

THE COVENANT OF GRACE IN THE OLD TESTAMENT  – MARTYN LLOYD-JONES

HIGHLIGHTS OF THIS 40-MINUTE SERMON [bracketed statements, emboldening and underscoring are mine]:

• We are continuing in our consideration of the biblical doctrine of redemption, of salvation
• Last week we were reminded that men had fallen and had become the slave of Satan
• And that had he been left to himself, his condition would have been entirely hopeless
• God had pity on men and revealed to them His plan of redemption via a covenant, the covenant of redemption
• [During the initial 8 minutes of sermon, MLJ explained the differences between covenants: those between men and those between men and God]
• 8 Minute mark: God made a covenant of works with Adam and he failed to keep it
• 9M: MLJ began to discuss the covenant of grace [around 15M, he provides a clear definition of this covenant]
• God set conditions on this covenant of grace – it was by FAITH
• God would do something to enable men to keep this covenant
• The big promise of this covenant: God will be a God unto men. Even though Adam turned to Satan, God found a way by which He will again be a God to mankind
• A promise found often in the Bible: “I will be to them a God and they shall be to me a people”
• As seen in Jer 31, 32; Eze 34, 36; 2 Cor 6; Heb 8, 10; Rev 21:3
• Rev 21:3  And I heard a great voice out of heaven saying, Behold, the tabernacle of God is with men, and he will dwell with them, and they shall be his people, and God himself shall be with them, and be their God. [KJV}
• That means: that which was broken by the fall will be restored
• Furthermore, meaning: the ultimate blessing is that God is my God and that I have a right to say, “my God”
• The whole of salvation is included in that
• We tend to define salvation in other terms
• Also, God has promised temporal blessings and spiritual blessings, especially under the old dispensation
• Don’t forget, that temporal blessings are meant to be pictures of and to symbolize the spiritual blessings
• God has also promised a way of justification
• [Justification means to be made righteous]
• Justification is necessary: unless our sin is forgiven and removed; unless we are adopted and made children of God…
• All that is implicit in the promise “that God will be my God”
• The above includes the promise of life eternal, the giving of the Spirit and the full application and working out of redemption in us – sanctification and glorification
• So, the promises in the covenant of grace include everything
• Man is called to respond to them by faith, by the desire for all of this and by his faithfulness and obedience to God in these new conditions
• “An omnibus definition of the covenant of grace:”  [A brief definition? A definition in passing?]
• The covenant of grace is that arrangement between the triune God and His people whereby God carries out His eternal purpose and decree of redemption by promising His friendship; hence He promises full and free salvation to His people upon the basis of the vicarious atonement of the Lord Jesus Christ, who is the mediator of the covenant; His people accept this salvation by FAITH
• We can enter into intimate relationship with Him and know Him
• These things are possible via our mediator the Lord Jesus Christ
• We enter in by faith
• Today, we will spend time on the following:
• This great covenant of grace can be divided into two dispensations or two administrations
• That is, it has been administered in two different ways, as described in the Old and the New Testaments
• THERE IS ONLY ONE COVENANT OF GRACE, BY THE END OF THE NIGHT, I WILL PROVE THAT TO YOU
• Ways the covenant of grace was dispensed under the old dispensation
• Genesis 3:15 – protevangel: a foreshadowing of the whole gospel
• Gen 3:15  And I will put enmity between thee and the woman, and between thy seed and her seed; it shall bruise thy head, and thou shalt bruise his heel
• We divide the Bible via Old Testament and New Testament
• The real division is Gen 1:1 – Gen 3:14; Genesis 3:15 – Revelation 22:21
• Gen 1:1 – 3:14: Creation, God’s original covenant of works and how that failed because men broke it
• Genesis 3:15: the announcement of the gospel, covenant of grace; the WAY of salvation – to Revelation 22:21
• We want to emphasize the 2 ways in which this one covenant of grace have been administered
• In Gen 3:15, the whole of the gospel is there in cryptic form
• What does it tell us?
• God will put enmity between the woman and her seed
• There had previously been no enmity: the serpent had beguiled Eve; they were on friendly terms; she was under his dominion
• God broke that friendship; indicating that she was meant for friendship with Him not with the devil
• That was the first announcement of salvation: man cannot be saved when he is a friend of the devil and at enmity with God
• The second implication is that God is going to give men power and grace to fight the devil; God promises to be on men’s side
• That promise is also to the seed; it was not a temporary promise for Eden, but will continue
• People were therein divided into two groups: seed of the woman; seed of the devil
• A person is either the seed of Christ or seed of the devil
• One more thing found in Gen 3:15 is the certainty of the triumph of God and His way
• That is, the serpent’s head will be bruised
• The real seed of the woman is The Lord Jesus Christ
• The covenant mentioned in Gen 3:15 will later be made more explicit
• The covenant with Noah in Gen 9, after the flood
• God promised He will never again destroy the earth via flood
• There will be a succession of seed time and harvest…
• God would bridle the forces of nature and hold them in check
• The powers of evil were placed under greater restraint: man will be protected against man and beast
• Rainbow was the sign of this covenant
• This covenant fell under the covenant of grace of Gen 3:15
• Covenant with Abram Genesis 17
• Here, God firstly, explicitly and clearly states His purposes of redemption in the exact form of a covenant with Abram
• This is also the beginning of a kind of church: a separation of the people that belong to God and those that belong to the world
• There had been worship of God prior to this in family homes…
• Here, God’s promises were to Abram and his descendants and to no one else
• A separation and a formation of a unique body, a special people of God
• Emphasis was placed on Abram’s faith and his response
• By his faith, he entered into covenant with God [27 minute mark]
• Abram thereafter began to receive benefits and blessings
• More than the promise of Land [there is mention of interactions between God and Abram beginning in Gen 12, and in Gen 15, 17 and 22. Review those chapters for more clarity]
• There is a promise of a spiritual seed, all the nations of the world will be blessed via him
• See Romans 3-5; Galatians 3, to be quoted in a moment
• In Romans we’re told that Abram was justified [Gen 15:6] forgiven and adopted, becoming the “father of all who would believe”
• Abram received temporal blessing also
• This covenant God made with Abraham is referred to throughout the Bible
• God’s covenant via Moses at Sinai, see Exodus 19ff
• An emphasis is placed on this covenant of being national
• Here, the church and nation of Israel become one
• To belong to the nation of Israel was to belong to the church
• Great prominence regarding the giving of the law
• The giving of the law did not mean that God again established a covenant of works, with Israel this time; as God gave that covenant to Adam in paradise and he failed; why would anyone think man could keep such a covenant in a sinful world
• The law was given to regulate the life of the nation and for the following reasons
• [In Romans 3, Paul clearly states the purposes of the law: Rom 3:20  Therefore by the deeds of the law there shall no flesh be justified [earn righteousness / heaven] in his sight: for by the law is the knowledge of sin]]
• [MLJ uses other verses from Romans and Galatians to show that in a moment]
• The ceremonial offerings; appointment of a priesthood; promulgation of the covenant of grace via symbols and types… were to show the demands of God upon us and to remind us of promises of forgiveness and salvation
• Law as a rule of life: Moral law; Civil law and Ceremonial law
• Moral law provided fixed principles of morality
• Civil law was legislated for the life of the nation
• Ceremonial laws governed ceremonies and rituals
• This covenant given via Moses in no way interfered with the covenant of grace already given to Abram and that was hinted at in Gen 3:15
• Proof can be found in such scriptures as the following
• Romans 4:13  For the promise, that he should be the heir of the world, was not to Abraham, or to his seed, through the law, but through the righteousness of faith
• Gal 3:16  Now the promises were made to Abraham and to his offspring. It does not say, “And to offsprings,” referring to many, but referring to one, “And to your offspring,” who is Christ. 17  This is what I mean: the law, which came 430 years afterward, does not annul a covenant previously ratified by God, so as to make the promise void. 18  For if the inheritance comes by the law, it no longer comes by promise; but God gave it to Abraham by a promise
• Paul’s speaking of two covenants in Galatians 4 is to differentiate between natural and spiritual Israel, as they were guilty of believing that if a person belonged to the nation of Israel, they were spiritually okay with God by default – fatal error
• The covenant with Abraham made in Gen 17 was meant to do two things:
• One: to increase the consequences of sin
• Two: to convict the nation of the utter hopelessness of a man dealing with his own sinfulness
• [Trying to keep the law would demonstrate to him that he was a hopeless sinner who could never earn righteousness via keeping the law – see Romans 3]
• The following scriptures were mentioned as MLJ discussed the above:
• Rom 5:20  Now the law came in to increase the trespass, but where sin increased, grace abounded all the more,
• Rom 4:15  For the law brings wrath, but where there is no law there is no transgression
• Gal 3:17  This is what I mean: the law, which came 430 years afterward, does not annul a covenant previously ratified by God, so as to make the promise void
• Gal 3:24  So then, the law was our guardian until Christ came, in order that we might be justified by faith
• [The law is a schoolmaster because it teaches one who is striving to earn righteousness by law keeping that he is engaged in an impossible task, only one person ever kept the law, the Lord Jesus Christ, that merit is applied to us…; that is, we need a Savior…]
• The above is how the covenant of grace was administered and revealed to the people under the old dispensation
• Next week we will consider the new dispensation: the way that God has revealed, perfected, re-ratified, and fulfilled the promise and all that is contained in the covenant of grace in and through His Son, our Lord and Savior the Lord Jesus Christ
• Summary of tonight:
• God made man perfect, in His image; and gave him a covenant of works
• By obeying God’s law, Adam could have earned eternal life
• Adam fell into sin, breaking the covenant of works
• The degradation of men followed
• Thereafter, God made only ONE covenant with mankind, the covenant of grace
• He has revealed that great covenant of grace via the above, as laid down in the Old Testament
• Explicit revelation in His covenant with Abram
• Shown more fully via covenant with Moses
• The covenant with Moses did not alter the covenant of grace; it did demonstrate clearly man’s absolute need of the covenant of grace; the law of Moses was a schoolmaster demonstrating that
• There is only one way of salvation
• Proofs in the next lesson
• Aside: Christian people have often expressed their confusion as to why the Old Testament is included in the Bible; if anyone still thinks like that, then I have failed to show the unity of the Bible this evening
• The Bible is unified via God’s covenant of Grace [which is foundational to His plan of redemption that begins in Genesis 3:15 and ends in Revelation]
• Go to your Old Testament and look for the gospel message as you read through

I plan on posting the very next sermon in MLJ’s series on the covenant of grace, but if you would like to hear it now, then click the following link:

Sermon title:  Redemption: The Eternal Plan of God (Remastered)

Link: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Y_bAlURd6Tc&list=LL&index=5&t=212s