Johannes Marck’s Marrow of Christian Theology, Didactic-Elenctic XVII
James Dodson
CHAPTER XVII
Of the Covenant of Grace, the Gospel, and Its Various Economy
I. In the state of grace God restores man by a new covenant, which is usually called the Covenant of Grace.
II. Covenant in Hebrew is called ברית; not so much from slain animals: Jer. 34:18–19, “who have not performed the words of the covenant which they made before Me, when they cut the calf in twain, and passed between the parts thereof,” etc.; according to the signification of כרת in Piel; as from the choosing of persons—
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—and conditions, according to the force of the verb ברה. Among the Hellenists it is called διαθήκη, a word which among other Greeks commonly denotes a testament. In the New Testament, however, it is taken in that sense only once, and perhaps a second time: Gal. 3:15, ὅμως ἀνθρώπου κεκυρωμένην διαθήκην οὐδεὶς ἀθετεῖ ἢ ἐπιδιατάσσεται [though it be but a man’s covenant, yet if it be confirmed, no man disannulleth or addeth thereto]; Heb. 9:16–17, ὅπου γὰρ διαθήκη, θάνατον ἀνάγκη φέρεσθαι τοῦ διαθεμένου· διαθήκη γὰρ ἐπὶ νεκροῖς βεβαία [for where a testament is, there must also of necessity be the death of the testator; for a testament is of force after men are dead]. Elsewhere here it designates covenant, since precepts, promises, blood, mediator, and surety of the διαθήκη are mentioned. Yet this covenant can, for various reasons, be called testamentary, and so also rightly comes under the name Testament. Here, furthermore, covenant does not denote a simple immutable statute, promise, precept, or seal of the covenant, but most properly a mutual agreement.
III. This covenant is called of grace because it was entered into from special grace, grace is here promised, and the same grace also works the condition of the covenant in man. It is also called evangelical, of faith, and new.
IV. It is defined as: the gracious agreement between God and elect sinful man, revealed in various ways and degrees from the beginning of the fall through the Gospel; by which, on account of the intervening mediation of Christ, all saving grace and glory are adjudged to believers and penitents, sealed by the use of the sacraments, and actually bestowed upon the church.
V. Although this covenant may be called μονόπλευρον [one-sided] because of the operation of divine grace in us, it is nevertheless also δίπλευρον [two-sided], insofar as it is entered into between God and the elect sinner, and He both promises grace and glory and stipulates faith and repentance: Gen. 17:1–2, “I am God Almighty; walk before Me, and be thou perfect, and I will—
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—give My covenant between Me and thee,” etc.; Matt. 11:28–29, δεῦτε πρός με πάντες οἱ κοπιῶντες καὶ πεφορτισμένοι, κἀγὼ ἀναπαύσω ὑμᾶς· ἄρατε τὸν ζυγόν μου ἐφ᾽ ὑμᾶς [come unto Me, all ye that labor and are heavy laden, and I will give you rest; take My yoke upon you], etc. Here, moreover, man accepts the stipulation and makes reciprocal engagement: Ps. 27:8, “for Thee my heart said, Seek ye My face; Thy face, Jehovah, will I seek”; Lam. 3:24, “Jehovah is my portion, saith my soul; therefore will I hope in Him.”
VI. The word by which this agreement is declared to man is not law, which rather describes personal obedience, but Gospel. Since these two are opposed in this matter: Rom. 3:21, 27, χωρὶς νόμου [without law]; τῶν ἔργων; οὐχί, ἀλλὰ διὰ νόμου πίστεως [of works? nay, but by the law of faith]; Rom. 6:14, “ye are not under law, but under grace”; Rom. 10:5–6, “Moses describeth the righteousness which is of the law: The man which doeth those things shall live by them; but the righteousness which is of faith speaketh on this wise,” etc. Therefore the formula itself of the Covenant of Grace must not be sought in the law; nor, on the other hand, may the Gospel be changed into a new and more perfect law.
VII. Gospel denotes, from its Greek origin, a good message; compare Isa. 52:7, “how beautiful upon the mountains are the feet of him that evangelizeth, that publisheth peace, that evangelizeth good, that publisheth salvation,” etc. And it is deservedly called the Gospel of God, of Christ, of the kingdom, of peace, of salvation, etc. Here it is not used strictly of the doctrine of Christ born, suffering, and raised—which is called the Gospel of fulfillment, from Rom. 1:1, ἀφορισμένος εἰς εὐαγγέλιον Θεοῦ ὃ προεπηγγείλατο διὰ τῶν προφητῶν [separated unto the Gospel of God, which He had promised afore by His prophets], etc.—but more broadly, so that it includes the Gospel of promise, or ἐπαγγελίας [promise], according to Heb. 4:2, καὶ γάρ ἐσμεν εὐηγγελισμένοι καθάπερ ἐκεῖνοι [for unto us was the Gospel preached, as well as unto them], etc.; so that—
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—here it is the whole doctrine of the Covenant of Grace.
VIII. This Gospel is revealed by God: Rom. 16:25–26, φανερωθέντος δὲ νῦν διὰ τε γραφῶν προφητικῶν κατ’ ἐπιταγὴν τοῦ αἰωνίου Θεοῦ [but now is made manifest, and by the Scriptures of the prophets, according to the commandment of the everlasting God], etc.; 1 Cor. 2:7–9, λαλοῦμεν σοφίαν Θεοῦ ἐν μυστηρίῳ, τὴν ἀποκεκρυμμένην, ἣν προώρισεν ὁ Θεὸς πρὸ τῶν αἰώνων εἰς δόξαν ἡμῶν [we speak the wisdom of God in a mystery, even the hidden wisdom, which God ordained before the world unto our glory], etc.; and indeed to fallen men, chiefly the elect, but secondarily also the reprobate—not all, but many: Matt. 22:14, “many are called, but few are chosen”; Heb. 4:2, ἀλλ᾽ οὐκ ὠφέλησεν ὁ λόγος τῆς ἀκοῆς ἐκείνους, μὴ συγκεκραμένος τῇ πίστει τοῖς ἀκούσασιν [but the word preached did not profit them, not being mixed with faith in them that heard it]; Acts 13:46, ὑμῖν ἦν ἀναγκαῖον πρῶτον λαληθῆναι τὸν λόγον τοῦ Θεοῦ· ἐπειδὴ δὲ ἀπωθεῖσθε αὐτόν [it was necessary that the word of God should first have been spoken to you: but seeing ye put it from you], etc. From this, however, you would wrongly infer in these men powers for embracing the covenant, since this external calling serves only for their greater conviction.
IX. The revelation of this covenant is not universal. Before Christ, under Moses, the Gentiles, apart from the Jews, were excluded from it: Ps. 147:19–20, “He showeth His word unto Jacob, His statutes and His judgments unto Israel. He hath not dealt so with any nation; and as for His judgments, they have not known them”; Acts 14:16, ὃς ἐν ταῖς παρωχημέναις γενεαῖς εἴασε πάντα τὰ ἔθνη πορεύεσθαι ταῖς ὁδοῖς αὐτῶν [who in times past suffered all nations to walk in their own ways]; Acts 17:30, τοὺς μὲν οὖν χρόνους τῆς ἀγνοίας ὑπεριδὼν ὁ Θεός [and the times of this ignorance God winked at], etc. And after Christ, once the distinction of the Gentiles was removed, according to Gen. 22:18, “in thy seed shall all the nations of the earth be blessed,” etc., the Gospel has still always not come to some: Matt. 10:5–6, εἰς ὁδὸν ἐθνῶν μὴ ἀπέλθητε, καὶ εἰς πόλιν Σαμαρειτῶν μὴ εἰσέλθητε· πορεύεσθε δὲ μᾶλλον πρὸς τὰ πρόβατα τὰ ἀπολωλότα οἴκου Ἰσραήλ [go not into the way of the Gentiles, and into any city of the Samaritans enter ye not; but go rather to the lost sheep of the house of Israel]; Matt. 15:24, “I am not sent but unto the lost—
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—sheep of the house of Israel”; Acts 16:6–7, “they were forbidden by the Holy Ghost to preach the word in Asia,” etc.; “they assayed to go into Bithynia, but the Spirit suffered them not,” etc. Nor does the covenant itself even extend to all, since its benefits belong to few.
X. Here the Universalists ought not to recur either to a common calling under the parents, since man in the Covenant of Grace is not represented in them as in those works-posterity of his; nor to the works of providence, which do not demonstrate the way of coming to God.
Objection 1. God’s goodness requires a sufficient manifestation of the way of salvation in all.
Reply: By no means, since man fell by his own fault, and the law itself was harmful to him.
Objection 2. Grace has superabounded over sin: Rom. 5:11.
Reply: With respect to mankind, not to individual men; and that under the New Testament.
Objection 3. Melchizedek, Job, and many others formerly knew saving grace.
Reply: These few do not prove much against the multitude; and either before Moses, or by fellowship with Israel, they had the use of it.
Objection 4. General sacrifice gave the Evangelical knowledge to mankind.
Reply: The true reason for sacrifices was ignorantly unknown to many; nor can any necessary satisfaction for sins, and consequently a sufficient one, be gathered from it to have been foreseen.
XI. The preaching of the Gospel began immediately after the fall, whence the same thing is often attributed to the time of the Old Testament: Gal. 3:8, “the Scripture, foreseeing that God would justify the heathen through faith, preached the Gospel beforehand unto Abraham”; Heb. 4:2, 6, καὶ γάρ ἐσμεν εὐηγγελισμένοι καθάπερ κἀκεῖνοι [for unto us was the Gospel preached, as well as unto them], etc.; καὶ οἱ πρότερον εὐαγγελισθέντες [and they to whom it was first preached], etc.; 1 Pet. 4:6, “for this cause was—
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—the Gospel was preached to the dead,” etc.; and the same Mediator is ascribed to the elect of that age, Acts 4:12: “There is salvation in no other; neither is there any other name under heaven given among men, whereby we must be saved.” 1 Tim. 2:5: “There is one God, and one Mediator of God and men, the man Christ Jesus,” etc.; according to the same benefits of grace and glory, Matt. 22:31: “But concerning the resurrection of the dead, have ye not read that which was spoken unto you by God, saying, I am the God of Abraham,” etc.; Acts 15:11, διὰ τῆς χάριτος κυρίου Ἰησοῦ Χριστοῦ πιστεύομεν σωθῆναι καθ’ ὃν τρόπον κἀκεῖνοι [through the grace of the Lord Jesus Christ we believe that we shall be saved, even as they]. Rom. 4:3, 9: “Abraham believed God,” etc.; the same offices of faith and repentance, John 8:56: “Abraham your father rejoiced to see my day, and he saw it, and was glad.” Heb. 11:8, 13, 24, etc.; the same kind of sacraments, Rom. 4:11: “And he received the sign of circumcision,” σφραγῖδα τῆς δικαιοσύνης τῆς πίστεως [a seal of the righteousness of faith]. 1 Cor. 10:2, 3, 4: “And all were baptized unto Moses,” etc.; “and did all eat the same spiritual meat, and did all drink the same spiritual drink,” etc. Indeed, we also find the Gospel in the writings of the Old Testament, clearly described from the paradisiacal promise, Gen. 3:15, and the fathers resting by faith upon it, Job 19:25: “I know that my Redeemer liveth,” etc.; 2 Sam. 23:5: “For all my salvation, and all my desire, although he make it not to grow,” etc.
XI. The Socinians especially oppose this, attributing carnal and legal things to all the fathers of the Old Testament,
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and denying to them the spiritual promises, the precept of faith, and the Mediator of this covenant.
Objection 1. The same Gospel is said to have been promised, Rom. 1:2, 3, and yet to have been hidden, Rom. 16:25, 26; and it is said to have begun to be preached more certainly in the New Testament, Heb. 2:3, etc.
Reply These things are true of the Gospel as accomplished, and of its clearest preaching, even among the nations.
Objection 2. Christ is called the Mediator of the New Testament, Heb. 8:6, “of a better testament,” Gal. 3:19.
Reply Christ, also because of the manifestation in the flesh, is referred to the New Testament; nevertheless, he was altogether also the Mediator of the faithful of the Old Testament. Moses, however, is so called externally and typically.
Objection 3. The promises of grace in the New Testament are richer, both in other psalms and in the prophetic predictions, coll. Heb. 7:22; 8:6.
Reply These promises belong to the Covenant of Grace in opposition to the Covenant of Works; and under the New Testament economy they are only more widely diffused, more clearly proposed, and increased in degree.
Objection 4. God formerly required his people’s own obedience, Lev. 18:2, 5; under the New Testament, the gift of faith in Christ, Gal. 3:23.
Reply The commandment of proper obedience served only for conviction; but faith in Christ was rightly preached formerly, no less than now.
XIII. From this Pelagian leaven it is that the Papists determine that before Christ the fathers were in the limbo of hell; and that others ascribe too much about the sacraments of the first covenant; while some, wishing also altogether to press the receptions from our side about the fathers of the Old Testament, almost carnify true remission, adoption, etc., and make all these benefits of the Covenant of Grace private goods of the New Testament.
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XIV. The economy of this Covenant of Grace may be called threefold:
α. Antelegal, namely, from the Fall to Moses, which many today call the economy of promise;
β. Legal, from Moses to Christ, which they call the Old Testament;
γ. Evangelical, or the New Testament, from Christ to the end of the ages. For there is indeed a great difference in the administration of grace before and after Moses, who gave the written Word, perfected the law, assumed one people before all others, etc.
XV. Yet this displeases us:
1. That this trichotomy is today urged by many, with contempt of the dichotomy, as plainly necessary; whereas Scripture does not altogether restrict the Old Testament to Moses, and attributes the promise to every time before Christ, Acts 13:32: “We preach to you the promise made unto the fathers, that God hath fulfilled the same unto us their children, in that he hath raised up Jesus.” Rom. 1:2, ἀφωρισμένος εἰς εὐαγγέλιον Θεοῦ, ὃ προεπηγγείλατο διὰ τῶν προφητῶν αὐτοῦ ἐν γραφαῖς ἁγίαις [separated unto the Gospel of God, which he had promised before by his prophets in the holy Scriptures].
2. That with this trichotomy various alien hypotheses are joined, concerning the origin and cause of the ceremonial law, and other things.
3. That in the exposition of the Testaments a plainly new and less-considered way is held by them, while:
α. they entirely distinguish a Testament from a Covenant;
β. besides the Old and New Testaments, they posit a third, which is the Eternal; whereas this name in Scripture belongs to the Covenant of Grace itself, or to its New Economy, Heb. 13:20: “The God of peace, who brought again from the dead that great Shepherd of the sheep, Jesus Christ,” ἐν αἵματι τῆς
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διαθήκης αἰωνίου [through the blood of the everlasting covenant], coll. Matt. 26:28: τὸ τῆς διαθήκης αἰωνίου [of the everlasting covenant]; “this is my blood of the new testament,” etc.
γ. They essentially distinguish the Old and New Testament: they define the former as God’s purpose concerning giving the land of Canaan to Israel, as a figure of a better and permanent inheritance; the latter as God’s purpose concerning giving to believing Israel the better land of heavenly Canaan, or the figure of a better and permanent inheritance. But theologians hitherto have understood from the Scriptures in these names one and the same Covenant and Testament of Grace, differing in accidental circumstances and administration.
XVI. Therefore we rather follow the common way, so that the first division of the economy of the Covenant of Grace is taken as twofold: one before Christ, and the other after Christ; as Scripture itself goes before us, Acts 13:32: “We preach to you the promise made unto the fathers; this God hath fulfilled unto us,” etc.; “the Gospel of God, which he had promised before by his prophets in the holy Scriptures concerning his Son, made of the seed of David,” etc. Heb. 1:1: πολυμερῶς καὶ πολυτρόπως πάλαι ὁ Θεὸς λαλήσας τοῖς πατράσιν ἐν τοῖς προφήταις, ἐπ’ ἐσχάτων τῶν ἡμερῶν τούτων ἐλάλησεν ἡμῖν ἐν υἱῷ [God, who at sundry times and in divers manners spake in time past unto the fathers by the prophets, hath in these last days spoken unto us by his Son], etc. This is that accurate general division, which ought not to set the members of a subdivision against one another. For if every distinction of time before Christ must enter into the first division, then not a threefold but a fourfold and fivefold economy would have to be established, since in the general concept all time before Christ truly agrees.
XVII. The economy before Christ, therefore, from the Proto-Gospel [Protoevangelium] onward, is called the Old Testament
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or Covenant, Paul going before us in Heb. 9:15, 16: “For this cause he is the Mediator of the New Covenant,” ὅπως θανάτου γενομένου εἰς ἀπολύτρωσιν τῶν ἐπὶ τῇ πρώτῃ διαθήκῃ παραβάσεων [that, death having taken place for the redemption of the transgressions under the first covenant], etc. And that whole dispensation also had to grow old; and circumcision, which was the sacrament of the Old Testament, obtained; besides sacrifices long before Abraham; nor does Scripture admit any other than a twofold Covenant of Salvation.
Objection 1. The Old Covenant was not entered into with the fathers, Deut. 5:2, 3.
Reply Not with them alone, nor in that manner.
Objection 2. The Old Covenant was erected with Israel in the wilderness, Jer. 31:31, 32; Gal. 4:24; Heb. 9:18, 20.
Reply Then it was solemnly consummated, renewed, and confirmed; just as the moral law itself was then delivered, though it had obtained before.
Objection 3. There is a great difference between the time before and after Moses.
Reply There is likewise a great difference before and after Abraham; and therefore the Old Testament economy ought to be subdivided into its beginning, from Adam to Abraham; its progress, from Abraham to Moses; and its completion, from Moses to Christ.
XVIII. The economy after Christ is called the New Covenant or Testament, and again has successive degrees, by which it began and the Old expired. Its first beginning is in the incarnation of Christ, Gal. 4:4: “When the fulness of the time was come, God sent forth his Son, made of a woman,” etc. Its progress is in his manifestation through the preaching of John the Baptist and his own preaching, Mark 1:1, 2: “The beginning of the Gospel of Jesus Christ, the Son of God,” etc. Its consummation was in the
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death and resurrection, Heb. 9:15, 16, 17: “For this cause he is the Mediator of the New Covenant, that by means of death, for the redemption of the transgressions that were under the first covenant,” etc.; ὅπου γὰρ διαθήκη, θάνατον ἀνάγκη φέρεσθαι τοῦ διαθεμένου· διαθήκη γὰρ ἐπὶ νεκροῖς βεβαία [for where a testament is, there must also of necessity be the death of the testator; for a testament is of force after men are dead], etc. But this economy will last even to the end of the world, while the external conditions of the Church often vary.
XIX. Thus this covenant, in both administrations, is one in the substance of doctrine, though it differs in many ways: namely, in beginning, duration, extent, facility, liberty, clarity, sweetness, perfection, etc.