Covenant of Circumcision

[JML]

Another question from the book "William the Baptist" that I am currently reading through.

In the book the author states that baptism replaced the "act" of circumcision but not the "covenant" of circumcision and that the covenant of circumcision is still in effect. The sign of the covenant has however changed from circumcision to baptism. For some reason, I am having a hard time understanding this. It was always my assumption that the covenant of circumcision is no longer in effect. I could understand if he was speaking of the covenant in a sense of inclusion into the church but to still used the term covenant of "circumcision" seems odd. Can some presbyterians please explain this to me. Is not baptism the sign of being in the covenant of grace instead of the covenant of circumcision?

P.S. Since I placed this in paedobaptist answers, I am assuming that those who answer believe that baptism has replaced circumcision.

 

[Notthemama1984]

covenant of circumcision=Abrahamic Covenant=Covenant of Grace

 

[JML]

But wasn't the covenant of grace prior to the covenant of circumcision? The covenant of grace began with Adam, correct?

 

[Contra_Mundum]

The covenant under discussion is simply the Covenant of Grace. By a metonymy, the sign of the thing is put for the thing itself; hence, "covenant of circumcision" or simply "circumcision." As Presbyterians, we do not think of a "covenant of circumcision" as some discrete arrangement with its own significance.

The things that change relative to the Covenant of Grace are various outward forms of administration. There has been a transition from B.C. to A.D.; from the era of Abraham and subsequent, pre-First-Advent engagements, to the present age of the covenant and the reign of Christ (not fully consummated). Hence, it is anachronistic to speak of the Covenant of Grace now as the covenant of circumcision, unless the purpose in such talk is to emphasize rhetorically the fact that the underlying promissory and gracious engagement is one and the same.

 

[Contra_Mundum]

But wasn't the covenant of grace prior to the covenant of circumcision? The covenant of grace began with Adam, correct?

There are certainly pointers as far back as Gen.3:15 to the institution of the Covenant of Grace. But there's a formality to God's call to Abraham, and a particular and exclusive and public quality to the act of covenanting God makes toward him, to the exclusion of all the other men and nations. And there is a specific sign of this administration that is given to him as well, viz. circumcision. The sign is "robust," and it does quite a bit of duty not only with respect to Abraham and his covenant-seed, but continues during the period of national-life as well.

What we can see is progression. 1) A promissory arrangement of some kind, a covenant "outline" or "shadow" is made from the very beginning. 2) That begins to take concrete form in the promises and explicit covenanting God makes with Abraham. The promises pre-date the giving of a sign, and that by even longer than the life of the one man, Abraham. But they take on bolder and more defined form with him, and the sign is given as a faith-strengthening reminder. The underlying covenant, however, has never changed. 3) Later still, the people of Israel enter into covenant in yet another exhibition, that is not unrelated to the original promise and its reiteration to Abraham. There are new aspects of the covenant, and the special circumstances of redemption (from Egypt/death) form a context for this covenanting--but beneath it all the Covenant of Grace continues to flow. 4) Inheritance in the land creates new conditions, as does the later introduction of monarchy. But the deepest currents receive the least adjustment.

And let us not forget what we confess in WLC.31:

Q31: With whom was the covenant of grace made?
A: The covenant of grace was made with Christ as the second Adam, and in him with all the elect as his seed.

Here we confess the origins of the Covenant of Grace are in eternity, in the Pactum Salutis or Covenant of Redemption, of which the Covenant of Grace is our (human/redemptive) point of integration.