5. This covenant was differently administered in the time of the Law and in the time of the Gospel. Under the Law, it was administered by promises, prophecies, sacrifices, circumcision, the Passover lamb, and other types and ordinances delivered to the Jewish people, all signifying in advance the Christ to come. These were sufficient and effective for that time, through the operation of the Spirit, to instruct and build up the elect in faith in the promised Messiah, by whom they had full remission of sins and eternal salvation. This is called the Old Testament.
6. Under the Gospel, when Christ, the substance, was exhibited, the ordinances in which this covenant is dispensed are the preaching of the Word and the administration of the sacraments of Baptism and the Lord’s Supper. Although these are fewer in number, and are administered with more simplicity and less outward glory, yet in them the covenant is shown forth in more fullness, evidence, and spiritual effectiveness to all nations, both Jews and Gentiles. It is called the New Testament. Therefore there are not two covenants of grace, differing in substance, but one and the same covenant, under different dispensations.
(WCF 7.5-6)
It is often asked, before Jesus came on the scene, how were people saved? Well this is what the last couple of points of the seventh chapter of the confession seeks to clarify. Spoiler alert however, there is only one covenant, and salvation has always been by grace alone, through faith alone, in Christ alone. Let me explain. As we have seen over the past few weeks, God made agreements with His creatures called covenants. A covenant is like a contract in which two parties are involved, but unlike a contract, this wasn’t an agreement between two equal parties. This was agreements between Almighty God and all-sinful humanity. And thus by its very nature, it was by grace alone that God ‘condescended’ to His creatures to do this (where we get the name ‘the covenant of grace’). God did this because He loves His people and wanted relationship with us through His Son Jesus Christ, but (as the confession states here) before Christ came on the scene, This covenant was differently administered in the time of the Law…
Now what is fascinating to witness about the covenant of grace in the old dispensation (what we call the Old Testament), is the progressive revelation of its nature and to where God was taking it all. After the fall God spoke to Noah about judgment on sin, to Abram about a seed and nation and the role of faith, to Moses about sacrifice, redemption and priesthood and to David about the role of the Messiah, in which the confession states, Under the Law, it (being the covenant of grace) was administered by promises, prophecies, sacrifices, circumcision, the Passover lamb, and other types and ordinances delivered to the Jewish people, all signifying in advance the Christ to come. To put that simply, before God the Son took flesh, God gave these ‘things in the dark’ to point His people to what Jesus was to do for them, and though these ‘types’ weren’t complete in and of themselves, they gave enough of Christ and were sufficient and effective for that time, through the operation of the Spirit, to instruct and build up the elect in faith in the promised Messiah, by whom they had full remission of sins and eternal salvation (see Heb 8-10).
We no longer live in the time of the old way of understanding the covenant of grace, but in the new, under the Gospel, when Christ, the substance, was exhibited, which means we don’t ‘feel our way around in the dark’ by ‘types’, but see clearly what God gave us in Jesus, and what He accomplished in His life, death, resurrection. Though, like in the old, we have things to nurture our faith, something called ordinances, in which … are the preaching of the Word…Baptism and the Lord’s Supper, which remind and apply the benefits of the gospel and build our trust in Christ when received by faith.
The Confession ends by admitting that though these are fewer in number, and are administered with more simplicity and less outward glory, yet in them the covenant is shown forth in more fullness, evidence, and spiritual effectiveness to all nations, both Jews and Gentiles. So though fewer in number, what we have is so much better as we (all peoples) now live in the light and hope of the gospel. What God promised and gave in the old, He achieved in Christ. We live in the new, awaiting and knowing that what our God promises - He has the power to fulfil.