4. This covenant of grace is frequently set forth in Scripture by the name of a testament, in reference to the death of Jesus Christ, the testator, and to the everlasting inheritance bequeathed by it, with all the things belonging to it.
(WCF 7.4)
For the past few weeks we have been looking at the nature of the covenants that God made with humanity. First there was “the covenant of works” that was set forth in Eden with our first parents. That was however broken through their sin in that they disregarded God’s commandment to not eat from the tree of good and evil. As we’ve seen, the curse of death was visited on them, making all who came from their union dead in trespass and sin, unable to live to the terms of that first covenant. We then saw that because humanity was incapacitated, God was glad to made a second covenant with us, something which the confession titles “the covenant of grace”. It is named so because grace is what stands behind the whole thing, as it has come by way of God’s underserved mercy and love - He made a covenant with sinners by His grace alone, hence the title.
The confession here starts to help define some terms for us, stating This covenant of grace is frequently set forth in Scripture by the name of a testament. Now why point this out? Well it’s because the Westminster theologians want us to grasp great biblical themes, understanding them through biblical language. To say that another way, though the language of ‘covenant’ is important, the bible tends to lean on the word ‘testament’ (especially in the KJV, the bible they used when putting the WCF together).
You might notice in our bibles that we have two sections - “the Old Testament” and “the New Testament”. Now the word “testament” is simply the Greek that sits behind the word, but Theologian Chad Van Dixhoorn seems to think there is more, saying, “the term ‘Testament’ … invokes the idea of a testator, in Jesus Christ, and of an everlasting inheritance with all things belonging to it.” In other words, even though the Westminster theologians understood their theology in terms of covenantal language (and covenant is certainly a biblical word - Heb 9:15 for example), they still wanted the idea of ‘will and testament’ to assist our thinking, and ‘testament’ is certainly a word that is employed by biblical writers, and for good reason.
That was certainly the preacher’s point about the death of Jesus in Hebrews 9 when he said, “In the case of a will, it is necessary to prove the death of the one who made it, because a will is in force only when somebody has died; it never takes effect while the one who made it is living.” His point? Jesus had to die for His ‘will and testament’ to come into effect. And so we might ask, what was it?
Before Jesus went to the cross, He gave it to His disciples, saying, “Do not let your hearts be troubled. You believe in God; believe also in me. My Father’s house has many rooms; if that were not so, would I have told you that I am going there to prepare a place for you? And if I go and prepare a place for you, I will come back and take you to be with me that you also may be where I am. You know the way to the place where I am going.” To which He ended by saying, “Peace I leave with you; my peace I give you. I do not give to you as the world gives. Do not let your hearts be troubled and do not be afraid.” (Jn 14:1-3,27).
God has made covenant, and covenant is ratified when the testator has shed their blood so that their will might come into effect. God’s will for us is that we might have peace - not any normal peace however, but everlasting peace with Him - and that came by way of Jesus’ death on the cross for all His people, which is how 7.4 ends, saying in reference to the death of Jesus Christ, the testator, [we are given] the everlasting inheritance bequeathed by it, with all the things belonging to it.