Heidelberg Catechism, Lord's Day 6 and the Mosaic economy

[Reformed Covenanter]

Lord's Day 6

Q. 16. Why must He be very man, and also perfectly righteous?
A. Because the justice of God requires that the same human nature which hath sinned should likewise make satisfaction for sin;1 and one who is himself a sinner cannot satisfy for others.

Q. 17. Why must He in one person be also very God?
A. That He might, by the power of His Godhead, sustain in His human nature the burden of God’s wrath; and might obtain for, and restore to us, righteousness and life.

Q. 18. Who then is that Mediator, who is in one person both very God and a real righteous man?
A. Our Lord Jesus Christ, who of God is made unto us wisdom, and righteousness, and sanctification, and redemption.

Q. 19. Whence knowest thou this?
A. From the holy gospel, which God Himself first revealed in Paradise; and afterwards published by the patriarchs and prophets, and represented by the sacrifices and other ceremonies of the law; and, lastly, has fulfilled it by His only begotten Son.

Would it be fair to conclude that the answer to question 19, especially the above-highlighted section, rules out the notion that the Mosaic covenant was not, in some sense, an administration of the covenant of grace?

 

[mvdm]

Would it be fair to conclude that the answer to question 19, especially the above-highlighted section, rules out the notion that the Mosaic covenant was not, in some sense, an administration of the covenant of grace?

I would say yes, and that it also rules out the Mosaic as a republished covenant of works.

 

[Charles Johnson]

It's certainly possible to view the sacrifices as symbolic without having a clear view of the unity of the covenants. The Greek fathers are an example of this, since they simultaneously taught that the sacrifices were typological and that the fathers entered into some kind of limbo upon their deaths.