R.C. Sproul

We understand that a covenant involves some kind of agreement.

And just in church this past week, I was talking to our congregation about the way in which covenants are foundational to our very culture and to our very lives.

For example, we are a republic by way of the political structure and foundation of the United States, and the theory

The political theory that was implemented in the grand experiment in the New World relied heavily on John Locke's political philosophy, where he developed what was then called the social contract nature of government.

Rousseau also had developed

ideas along this line, and the concept there was that there was a relationship between the rulers and those who were ruled, between the government and the people, whereby the governors were selected or elected by the people and only were empowered to rule by the consent of the people.

And so there was an agreement.

A mutual pledge of fidelity between the people who pledged their allegiance to their government and the government officials who took their oaths of office to uphold the Constitution and so on.

And so there was a contract or a pact, an agreement binding these two sides to each other.

in addition to that we see commonly in our society what we call the industrial contract which comes in many forms when people go to work for a company they may sign a contract where the employer promises them certain remuneration and benefits and so on where the employee in turn promises to give so much of their time in working for the company we call that an industrial contract you see it in

labor agreements all the time with unions and so on but also on a more popular level every time we buy something with a credit card

Or on installment, we enter into a contract or an agreement to pay the full amount of the merchandise, which we may not pay in advance.

We may pay over time.

And when we do that, that's a commercial agreement, a commercial contract, where both parties are bound to deliver on their promises.

And, of course, most significantly, we see it in the marriage contract.

where the marriage contract is an agreement that involves oaths and vows, sanctions and promises between two people.

Now, all of these different covenants that I've just mentioned in our culture have elements of similarity to the biblical covenants, but they're not identical, though the biblical covenants have indeed elements of promise.

One thing makes them different from these other normal customary agreements that we're talking about, and that is that biblical covenants are established on the basis of a divine sanction.

That is, they are established on the foundation of a promise not made by equal parties.

but they're made on the foundation of the divine promise of God, and they are inherently religious.