What is a covenant? It is a word I struggled to find a definition for. Because of my familiarity with the work “contract” and the inability to clearly understand what a “covenant” is, I assumed that a covenant is fundamentally the same as a contract.

However, a covenant is very different to a contract. Let us try to draw out the differences and then finally get to a proposed definition.

What is exchanged?

• In a contract, the duties and obligations relate to the goods or services to be provided and the related payment for the goods and services. A contract therefore relates to the exchange of goods or services between persons.
• A covenant is a mutual giving of persons to each other. In a covenant, I give myself to the other person.
• A contract is not personal. It is purely business.
• A covenant is not business but personal. It establishes an interpersonal bond.
• A covenant is not “I will give you this and you will give me that in return”, it is “I am yours and you are mine”.

Limits of Giving

• A contract is limited. It limits obligations to the exchange of certain specified goods and services.
• A covenant is not limited – like a contract – to the exchange of specific goods or services. In fact, it does not even mention goods or services, because it is a commitment to a complete (not a partial) mutual giving of persons – and not goods or services – to each other.

Secular vs Sacred

• A contract is purely human and is therefore enforced by a court of law. It is also therefore amendable before a court of law.
• A covenant is not entered into before a court of law, but is entered into before God. In a covenant, I am not answerable to a court of law. I am answerable to God. Since the covenant is with (or before) God, it is therefore not amendable through human agreement or legal process.
• Marriage is not amendable by a court of law or by human authority. This is because you are marrying God’s son or daughter and are therefore answerable to God for your promises to Him regarding His son or His daughter.

Limits of Time

• A contract is limited to a certain period of time, whereas a covenant is not limited to a certain duration of time. A contract is temporary whereas a covenant is permanent.
• A covenant does not expire. A covenant between human persons only expires with physical death.
• A covenant establishes a personal and permanent relationship (or interpersonal bond). It binds people together permanently.

Conditional vs Unconditional

• A contract is a mutually conditional commitment. It’s continuity depends on the other party fulfilling their commitments.
• A covenant is a mutually unconditional commitment. It does not depend on the other party fulfilling their commitments.
• You can get out of a contract because the other person has not fulfilled their obligations or by compensating the other person.
• You cannot back out of a covenant, because a covenant is not conditional. A covenant is an unconditional gift of your very self, irrespective of the other person fulfilling their commitment to you.

Approaching a Definition

In summary (I am no expert on covenant, but propose this as a starting point to start to understand the idea of covenant):

A covenant is a permanent and unconditional commitment to God to give oneself completely and irrevocably to Him or to His children.