We must be clear that God’s solution to this predicament is not a graciously structured covenant. God’s solution to this problem is the incarnation, death, and exaltation of his Son, and the outpouring of the Spirit of the risen Christ. The covenant of grace–in any and every one of its administrations–is only a covenant of grace because of the mediator of the covenant of grace.

I have read with profit Mark Jones’s recent posts on the covenant of works (see here and here), having benefited from his other writings on this topic as well. Such theological clarity and historical awareness are much to be appreciated when it comes to the relationship between the covenant of works, made with Adam in the Garden, and the Mosaic Covenant, made with Israel at Sinai. Indeed, in my opinion, properly locating the Mosaic Covenant within God’s unfolding covenantal economy presents the most difficult and complex challenge in covenant theology….

Though simplistic explanations of this topic are not desirable, there is a need, especially among those responsible for ministering the Word of God to the people of God on a weekly basis, to summarize complex issues in a simple, though not simplistic, way. With this in mind, I want to briefly sketch three points for thinking about the place of the Mosaic Covenant within God’s unfolding plan for his people. I suggest that, taken together, these three points provide an orientation to this complex topic that is biblically, theologically, and pastorally satisfying.

 (1)The Mosaic Covenant is an administration of the covenant of grace. I realize that folks on both sides of contemporary “republication” debates would affirm this point, so some qualification is in order. In saying that the Mosaic Covenant is an administration of the covenant of grace, I am affirming that the Mosaic administration, in form and structure, fits the pattern exhibited in other administrations of the covenant of grace (e.g., Abrahamic, Davidic, New covenants) and that, in form and structure,  it does not follow the pattern exhibited in the covenant of works.

The covenant between Yahweh and Israel at Sinai is a covenant between redeemer and redeemed. God’s gracious act of deliverance provides the redemptive foundation of the commands he issues to Israel and of the allegiance he requires from Israel (Exod 19.4; 20.2). Indeed, because the events of the exodus mark the fulfillment of God’s promise, made under self-maledictory oath in Genesis 15.7-21, we should understand Israel’s “pledge of allegiance” to Yahweh in Exodus 19.8 and 24.3, not as evidence that the Mosaic Covenant is a different type of covenant from the Abrahamic Covenant, but rather as evidence that the Mosaic Covenant is the realization of the Abrahamic Covenant. The one who promised to be God to Abraham and his descendants (Gen 17.7, 8) at last has brought “his people” into being (see Exod 1.7; 6.7): and as he has pledged to be their God, so they now pledge to be his people….

 (2) The Mosaic Covenant is a temporal administration of the covenant of grace in relation to Christ. While the Mosaic Covenant is the initial fulfillment of the Abrahamic Covenant, Israel’s “I do” in relation to Yahweh her husband, it is not the final fulfillment of the Abrahamic Covenant. The Mosaic Covenant was a temporary administration of the covenant of grace, destined to be made obsolete (Heb 8.13). The Law was one of God’s good gifts, but it was a gift destined for replacement by God’s greater gift in and through Jesus Christ (John 1.16-17), the gift of the New Covenant….

 (3) The Mosaic Covenant is a weak administration of the covenant of grace in relation to the flesh. The reason that the Mosaic Covenant was only a temporary administration of the covenant of grace is related to its status as a weak administration of the covenant of grace. Where does its “fault” lie (Heb 8.7-8)? Not in its structure and form, I contend (see above). The weakness of the Mosaic Covenant lies in one of its parties: the Mosaic Covenant was “weakened by the flesh” (Rom 8.3). Because the Mosaic Covenant was written on tablets of stone and not on hearts of flesh, it was ultimately only capable of exposing and condemning the treachery of God’s fallen human covenant partners. It was a ministry of death leading to death (see 2 Cor 3-4.…

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