This is Part Three of my Covenant Theology Series. You can also read Part One – Covenant Theology Versus Dispensationalism: An Introduction and Part Two: The Basics of God’s Covenant Story.

Covenant Theology, Part Three: Tracing the Promise Through Scripture

Up to this point, we have talked about what Covenant Theology is and how it understands the Bible as one unfolding story centered on Christ. Now it is time to see whether this actually works when we open the Scriptures.

Does the Bible itself present redemption as one continuous promise, or are we forcing unity onto a text that is really divided?

The best way to answer that question is not by appealing to theological labels, but by tracing the storyline of Scripture as it unfolds.

The Promise Begins After the Fall

The Bible’s covenant story does not begin with Abraham or Moses. It begins in the aftermath of human failure.

After Adam’s disobedience, God does not abandon His creation. Instead, He speaks a promise. In Genesis 3:15, God declares that the offspring of the woman will crush the serpent’s head, even as He Himself is wounded in the process. This verse has often been called the first gospel, because it announces victory over sin and evil long before the means of that victory are revealed.

From this point forward, the Bible is driven by expectation. Who is this offspring? When will He come? How will God reverse the curse?

Everything that follows builds on this promise.

God Preserves the World for Redemption

The covenant with Noah is often misunderstood as merely a promise about rainbows and floodwaters. In reality, it serves a far larger purpose.

By promising to preserve the world and maintain the stability of creation, God ensures that the story of redemption can continue. Seedtime and harvest will endure. Human history will not reset again. The covenant with Noah is not the means of salvation, but it is the stage on which salvation will unfold.

Redemption requires history. God guarantees that history will continue.

The Promise Is Narrowed Through Abraham

With Abraham, the covenant promise takes a clearer shape.

God calls Abraham out of idolatry and promises to bless him, to give him offspring, and to bring blessing to all the families of the earth through him. Abraham believes God, and that faith is counted to him as righteousness. Long before Sinai, justification is already by faith.

This matters. The Bible does not present Abraham as an exception to a rule that will later change. Paul explicitly argues that Abraham is the model of how God justifies sinners. The promise comes before the law, and the law does not nullify the promise.

The covenant with Abraham teaches us that salvation has always rested on God’s grace received by faith.

Law Within Grace at Sinai

The covenant at Sinai often feels like a turning point where grace gives way to law. But Scripture itself does not allow that reading.

God redeems Israel from Egypt before giving the law. Grace precedes command. The law is given to a redeemed people, not as a ladder to salvation, but as instruction for living in fellowship with a holy God.

The law exposes sin, restrains evil, and points forward to the need for mediation and sacrifice. It does not introduce a new way of salvation. Paul is explicit that the law was added because of transgressions, until the promised offspring should come.

Seen covenantally, Sinai does not interrupt grace. It clarifies humanity’s need for it.

The Promise Takes a Royal Shape

With David, the covenant promise takes on a royal dimension.

God promises that David’s throne will be established forever. This does not mean every king will be faithful. In fact, the failure of David’s sons only heightens the expectation of a greater King to come.

The prophets repeatedly connect this promise to a future ruler who will reign in righteousness, bring peace, and restore God’s people. The covenant hope narrows again, this time focusing on a coming King whose reign will never end.

The storyline is becoming clearer.

The Prophets Look Ahead to Something Better

As Israel fails and exile looms, the prophets do not announce a new plan. They announce a renewed promise.

Jeremiah speaks of a New Covenant in which sins will be forgiven and God’s law will be written on the heart. Ezekiel speaks of new hearts, new spirits, and God dwelling with His people. These promises are not detached from what came before. They are the fulfillment of it.

The problem has never been God’s faithfulness. It has always been the human heart.

Christ Brings the Promise to Fulfillment

When Jesus comes, He does not present Himself as the founder of a new religion. He presents Himself as the fulfillment of the Scriptures.

He is the offspring promised in Genesis. He is the true son of Abraham. He obeys where Israel failed. He fulfills the law. He establishes the kingdom promised to David. He inaugurates the New Covenant with His blood.

Everything converges on Him.

The New Covenant does not discard what came before. It brings it to completion. What was promised, patterned, and anticipated now becomes reality.

One Story, One Savior

When we trace the covenant promise through Scripture, something becomes clear.

God has not been experimenting. He has been faithful.

The Bible is not divided into disconnected eras with different ways of salvation. It is one redemptive story, moving steadily toward Christ. The covenants do not compete with one another. They build on one another.

This is why the apostles read the Old Testament the way they did. They were not reinterpreting Scripture creatively. They were recognizing fulfillment.

In the next article, we will address one of the most pressing questions this raises: how Covenant Theology understands Israel, the Church, and the people of God without splitting Scripture into parallel tracks.

For now, the takeaway is simple. The promise God made in the beginning is the promise He keeps in the end. And Jesus Christ is the proof that God keeps covenant.