What Christians Believe

In this episode of "What Christians Believe," capping off the Covenant Theology series, Derek Rishmawy is joined by fellow Southern California pastor Adriel Sanchez to explore how covenant theology shapes the Reformed understanding of the sacraments, especially baptism and infant baptism. Their conversation traces the biblical logic of covenant signs from Genesis through the New Covenant, works through the strongest objections to infant baptism, and reframes baptism as fundamentally God's promise and gift rather than a believer's own act of profession.

On this bonus episode of "What Christians Believe," host Derek Rishmawy and Kevin DeYoung look at how Covenant Theology shapes our understanding of the people of God, and how it differs from dispensationalism’s sharp line between Israel and the church. Rishmawy and DeYoung trace the biblical images of the olive tree, the temple and the “Israel of God” to show the church as Israel’s continuation and expansion in Christ rather than its replacement, and they consider what this means for Christians thinking about the modern Middle East.

On this episode of What Christians Believe, host Derek Rishmawy and Scott Swain tackle one of the most foundational and misunderstood pieces of covenant theology: The Covenant of Redemption. Rather than a covenant between God and humanity, this is the pre-temporal, intra-Trinitarian arrangement between the Father and the Son as the one to be incarnate, laying the eternal groundwork for everything the series has covered so far. The conversation traces its biblical basis, unpacks the Son's role as kinsman-Redeemer, works through the Trinitarian objections critics have raised, and ends on the doctrine's pastoral payoff: assurance.

On this episode of What Christians Believe, host Derek Rishmawy and David Strain explore the New Covenant, the promise that all of Scripture has been building toward. They trace how the New Covenant fulfills and completes the Old Covenant, unpack the meaning of "the law written on the heart," and discuss what it means to live in light of the incredible privileges believers now have in Christ.

On this episode of What Christians Believe, host Derek is joined by Ligon Duncan to discuss the Davidic Covenant. They walk through 2 Samuel 7, tracing how God's promise to build David a "house" concentrates the earlier covenant threads from Abraham and Moses into a single royal line, and how that promise, seemingly broken by the exile, finds its full and surprising fulfillment in the life, death, and resurrection of Jesus Christ.

On this episode of "What Christians Believe," host Derek is joined by Drew Martin to tackle the Mosaic Covenant, the covenant given at Sinai that most people think of when they hear "the law" or "the Old Covenant." Their conversation covers where the covenant is found in Scripture, how it forms Israel into a nation and a kingdom of priests, the perennial theological puzzle of law and grace within it, and how its story of failure sets up the need for Christ as the true and faithful Israel.

On this episode of What Christians Believe, host Derek Rishmawy is joined by Dr. Sean Michael Lucas to explore the Abrahamic Covenant, the pivotal promise of offspring, land, and blessing given to Abraham in Genesis. Together, they trace how God's promises to Abraham echo the earlier promise in Genesis 3, unfold through Abraham's story of faith and failure, and ultimately find their fulfillment in Jesus Christ.

On this episode of "What Christians Believe," host Derek Rishmawy is joined by Dr. Scott Redd to explore the covenant God makes with Noah. They discuss the slide from the fall into Genesis 6's world of violence and corruption, the flood as an act of both judgment and de-creation/re-creation, and the promises of Genesis 9, showing how the Noahic covenant stabilizes creation itself as the stage on which the rest of God's redemptive plan will unfold.

On this episode of “What Christians Believe,” host Derek Rishmawy is joined by Dr. Scott Swain to examine the Covenant of Works (also called the covenant of life or covenant of creation) between God and Adam. The episode covers why this covenant is recognized even though the word "covenant" doesn't appear in Genesis 2–3, what Adam's obedience would have earned, how his failure brought guilt and death to the whole human race, and how the Covenant of Works sets up the shape of Christ's obedience on our behalf.

Kicking off a new season of What Christians Believe, host Derek Rishmawy is joined by Dr. Ligon Duncan to introduce the subject of Covenant Theology. They discuss what a Covenant actually is, why it structures the whole of Scripture, and why it matters for how Christians understand their relationship with God. This conversation lays the foundation for the series to come, tracing Covenant Theology through redemptive history and unpacking why the Reformed tradition places such weight on it.