Podcast Summary: "The Covenant of Redemption"

Podcast: Renewing Your Mind
Host: Ligonier Ministries
Speaker: Dr. R.C. Sproul (with Nathan W. Bingham introducing)
Date: January 26, 2026

Episode Overview

This episode centers on the profound biblical concept known as the Covenant of Redemption. Dr. R.C. Sproul explores how God’s eternal promises are foundational to understanding redemptive history and the relationship between the Father, Son, and Holy Spirit in salvation. The teaching aims to clarify misunderstandings about covenants in Scripture and reveal the vital role of the Covenant of Redemption within the triune Godhead, establishing redemption as God’s eternal, unified purpose rather than an improvised reaction to human failure.

Key Discussion Points & Insights

1. The Centrality of Covenants in Scripture and Redemption

• Foundational Structure:
  • Biblical revelation is structured around covenants—God’s binding promises.
  • This structure is "integral, foundational, basic to the whole scope of divine revelation." (03:15)
• Progressive Revelation:
  • God reveals his plan progressively across redemptive history, not all at once.
  • It's additive, not corrective: “He augments or adds... as time passes.” (04:34)

2. What Is a Covenant?

• Definition and Cultural Illustrations:
  • Covenants involve agreements and pledges, reflected in social, industrial, political, and marital contracts.
  • Biblical covenants differ in that they have a “divine sanction”—initiated and guaranteed by God, not by equal parties. (08:30)
• Promise and Fulfillment Relationship:
  • The essence of biblical covenants is the linkage of God’s promise and its fulfillment.
  • Key quote: “We exist as a church, we exist as people, because God has made promises to his people and he has kept those promises.” (11:40)

3. Trustworthiness of God’s Covenant Promises

• God’s Faithfulness Versus Human Failure:
  • While humans often break promises, God is consistently faithful:
    • “Our God is a God who keeps covenant, where we are all covenant breakers. God never breaks his promise.” (11:45)
• Living by Faith:
  • The Christian life is defined by trust in God’s promises, not mere intellectual belief:
    • “It’s one thing to believe in God… but it’s quite another thing to believe God. Because what faith is… is trusting the promises of God.” (16:55)

4. The First Biblical Covenant: The Covenant of Redemption

• Eternal Origin:
  • The earliest and foundational covenant occurs within the Trinity, prior to creation.
    • “We talk in the first instance not about a covenant that God makes with us, but a covenant that takes place within the triune Godhead itself. And this we call... the covenant of redemption.” (19:21)
• Trinitarian Harmony:
  • Plan of redemption is not the Son persuading the Father, but a united, eternal agreement among Father, Son, and Holy Spirit.
    • “…the Father and the Son are one in their eternal purpose. And you could add to that also the Holy Spirit, who is also in complete agreement with the Father and the Son in God’s plan of redemption.” (22:09)
• Distinguishing Heresies:
  • Dr. Sproul rebuffs theological claims from history (e.g., Marcion) and modern scholarship that pit the Son’s mercy against the Father’s wrath, countering that “nothing... is more distorting of the biblical portrait of both God the Father and God the Son than that kind of understanding.” (21:23)

5. Outworking of the Covenant of Redemption

• Roles Within the Trinity:
  • The Father sends, the Son accomplishes, and the Spirit applies redemption.
    • “It is the Spirit who illumines the word of God for us...who regenerates us...brings us to the Son.” (23:20)
• Active and Passive Obedience of Christ:
  • Active obedience: Christ fulfills every command’s requirement, perfectly keeping the law as Second Adam.
    • Example: Jesus' baptism (“to fulfill all righteousness”) demonstrates his representative obedience. (25:30)
  • Passive obedience: Christ submits to the Father’s demands, suffering the penalty due for sin, most evident in Gethsemane and the cross.
    • “At that point, Christ is passive. He's receiving in himself the curse of the old covenant.” (27:10)

6. Redemption Is Triune and Pre-Creation

• Not Plan B:
  • Redemption is God’s eternal, shared purpose—not an afterthought or reaction.
    • “Before he even creates the world, he has an eternal purpose of redemption...in complete agreement among all three persons in the Godhead. And so that is where covenant is rooted and grounded in the character of God Himself.” (24:00)

Notable Quotes & Memorable Moments

• On God’s Faithfulness:
  • “God never breaks his promise. And his promises that he swears are without mutation. They are everlasting promises that God commits Himself to forever and ever and ever.” (12:05)
• On the Uniqueness of Covenants:
  • “Biblical covenants are established on the basis of a divine sanction...not made by equal parties, but...on the foundation of the divine promise of God.” (08:30)
• On Trusting God's Word:
  • “What faith is, what living faith is, is trusting the promises of God that even when everything around us seems to testify to the futility of our lives...we are people who live by trust in his promises.” (17:15)
• On the Eternal Plan of Redemption:
  • “The point of the covenant of redemption is that this idea of redemption is not an afterthought in the mind of God, a plan B...before he even creates the world, he has an eternal purpose of redeeming his people.” (24:00)
• On Christ’s Obedience:
  • “His meat and his drink is to do the will of the Father.” (26:16)

Timestamps for Important Segments

• [01:42] – Introduction to the importance of covenants in biblical theology
• [04:34] – Progressive revelation and its role in unfolding God’s plan
• [08:30] – Difference between biblical covenants and human contracts
• [11:40] – The unique faithfulness of God in keeping his promises
• [16:55] – The difference between believing ‘in’ God and believing God
• [19:21] – Introduction to the Covenant of Redemption
• [21:23] – Refutation of views that separate Christ from the Old Testament God
• [22:09] – Trinitarian unity in the plan of redemption
• [23:20] – Roles within the Trinity in redemption
• [25:30] – Explaining active and passive obedience of Christ
• [27:10] – Christ’s passive obedience in Gethsemane and at the cross
• [24:00] – Redemption as a pre-creation, Trinitarian plan

Conclusion

Dr. Sproul’s teaching makes clear that the Covenant of Redemption is the eternal, intra-Trinitarian promise and plan that undergirds all aspects of redemption. This prior covenant ensures that God is supremely trustworthy and that salvation is rooted in his unbreakable promises—a source of assurance for every believer.