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CLASSICAL COVENANT THEOLOGY
edited by and some translations by R. Scott Clark
On Law and Gospel
On the Covenant of
Redemption (pactum salutis)
On the Covenant of Works (foedus
operum)
On the Covenant of Grace (foedus
gratiae)
On Justification
On Union with Christ
On the Administration of the Covenant of Grace
On Assurance
On Law and Gospel
John Calvin (1509-64). Hence, also, we see the error of those who, in comparing the Law with the Gospel, represent it merely as a comparison between the merit of works, and the gratuitous imputation of righteousness. This is indeed a contrast not at all to be rejected. For Paul often means by the term "law" the rule of righteous living by which God requires of us what is his own, giving us no hope of life unless we completely obey him, and adding on the other hand a curse if we deviate even in the slightest degree. This Paul does when he contends that we pleasing to God through grace and accounted righteous through his pardon, because nowhere is found that observance of the law for which the reward has been promised. Paul therefore justly makes contraries of the righteousness of the law and that of the gospel (Institutes of the Christian Religion, 1559;2.9.4).
John Calvin. This is confirmed by the testimony of Paul, when he observes that the Gospel holds forth salvation to us, not under the harsh arduous, and impossible terms on which the Law treats with us, (namely, that those shall obtain it who fulfill all its demands,) but on terms easy, expeditious, and readily obtained (Institutes, 2.5.12).
John Calvin. But they observe not that in the antithesis between Legal and Gospel righteousness, which Paul elsewhere introduces, all kinds of works, with whatever name adorned, are excluded, (Galatians 3:11, 12. For he says that the righteousness of the Law consists in obtaining salvation by doing what the Law requires, but that the righteousness of faith consists in believing that Christ died and rose again, (Romans 10:5-9.) Moreover, we shall afterwards see, at the proper place, that the blessings of sanctification and justification, which we derive from Christ, are different. Hence it follows, that not even spiritual works are taken into account when the power of justifying is ascribed to faith (Institutes, 3.11.14).
John Calvin. The Law, he says, is different from faith. Why? Because to obtain justification by it, works are required; and hence it follows, that to obtain justification by the Gospel they are not required. From this statement, it appears that those who are justified by faith are justified independent of, nay, in the absence of the merit of works, because faith receives that righteousness which the Gospel bestows. But the Gospel differs from the Law in this, that it does not confine justification to works, but places it entirely in the mercy of God (Institutes, 3.11.18).
John Calvin. For the words of Paul always hold true, that the difference between the Law and the Gospel lies in this, that the latter does not like the former promise life under the condition of works, but from faith. What can be clearer than the antithesis — "The righteousness of the law is in this wise, The man who doeth these things shall live in them. But the righteousness which is of faith speaketh thus, Whoso believeth," etc. ( Romans 10:5.) To the same effect is this other passage, "If the inheritance were of the law, faith would be made void and the promise abolished. Therefore it is of faith that in respect of grace the promise might be sure to every one that believeth." ( Romans 4:14.) As to ecclesiastical laws, they must themselves see to them: we acknowledge one Legislator, to whom it belongs to deliver the rule of life, as from him we have life (Antidote to the Council of Trent, 1547).
John Calvin. I besides hold that it is without us, because we are righteous in Christ only. Let them produce evidence from Scripture, if they have any, to convince us of their doctrine. I, while I have the whole Scripture supporting me, will now be satisfied with this one reason, viz., that when mention is made of the righteousness of works, the law and the gospel place it in the perfect obedience of the law; and as that nowhere appears, they leave us no alternative but to flee to Christ alone, that we may be regarded as righteous in him, not being so in ourselves.
Will they produce to us one passage which declares that begun
newness of life is approved by God as righteousness either in
whole or in part? But if they are devoid of authority, why may
we not be permitted to repudiate the figment of partial justification
which they here obtrude? (Antidote to the Council of Trent,
1547).
John Calvin. Verily the law, though it could justify, by no means promises salvation to any one work, but makes justification to consist in the perfect observance of all the commandments. (Commentary on Psalm 106:31)
John Calvin. In reference to Galatians 3:13 “Paul assumes that these, even faith and law, are contrary, the one to the other; contrary as to the work of justifying. The law indeed agrees with the gospel; nay, it contains in itself the gospel. And Paul has solved this question in the first chapter of the Epistle to the Romans, by saying, that the law cannot assist us to attain righteousness, but that it is offered to us in the gospel, and that it receives a testimony from the law and the Prophets. Though then there is a complete concord between the law and the gospel, as God, who is not inconsistent with himself, is the author of both; yet as to justification, the law accords not with the gospel, any more than light with darkness: for the law promises life to those who serve God; and the promise is conditional, dependent on the merits of works. The gospel also does indeed promise righteousness under condition; but it has no respect to the merits of works. What then? It is only this, that they who are condemned and lost are to embrace the favor offered to them in Christ. (Commentary on Habakkuk 2:4)
John Calvin. If we are not righteous except according to the covenant of the law, then we are not righteous except through a full and perfect observance of the law. This is certain. (Commentary on Habakkuk 2:4)
John Calvin. Paul confirms this testimony that in the gospel salvation is not offered under that hard, harsh, and impossible condition laid down for us by the law — that only those who have fulfilled all the commandments will finally attain it — but under an easy, ready, and openly accessible condition. (in reference to Romans 10) (Institutes, 2.5.12).
John Calvin. If it is true that in the law we are taught the perfection of righteousness, this also follows: the complete observance of the law is perfect righteousness before God. By it man would evidently be deemed and reckoned righteous before the heavenly judgment seat. (Institutes, 2.7.3).
John Calvin. For since the teaching of the law is far above human capacity, a man may indeed view from afar the proffered promises, yet he cannot derive any benefit from them... so that we discern in the law only the most immediate death. (Institutes, 2.7.3).
John Calvin. But as soon as he begins to compare his powers with the difficulty of the law, he has something to diminish his bravado. For, however remarkable an opinion of his powers he formerly held, he soon feels that they are panting under so heavy a weight as to stagger and totter, and finally even to fall down and faint away. Thus man, schooled in the law, sloughs off the arrogance that previously blinded him. (Institutes, 2.7.6).
John Calvin. Thus it is clear that by our wickedness and depravity we are prevented from enjoying the blessed life set openly before us by the law. Thereby the grace of God, which nourishes us without the support of the law, becomes sweeter, and his mercy, which bestows that grace upon us, becomes more lovely. (Institutes, 2.7.7).
John Calvin. Not that the law no longer enjoins believers to do what is right, but only that it is not for them what it formerly was: it may no longer condemn and destroy their consciences by frightening and confounding them. (Institutes, 2.7.14).
John Calvin. For Paul often means by the term “law” the rule of righteous living by which God requires of us what is his own, giving us no hope of life unless we completely obey him, and adding on the other hand a curse if we deviate even in the slightest degree. This Paul does when he contends that we are pleasing to God through grace and are accounted righteous through his pardon, because nowhere is found that observance of the law for which the reward has been promised. Paul therefore justly makes contraries of the righteousness of the law and of that of the gospel [Romans 3:21 ff.; Galatians 3:10 ff.; etc.] (Institutes, 2.9.4).
John Calvin. the law contains here and there promises of mercy, but because they have been borrowed from elsewhere, they are not counted part of the law, when only the nature of the law is under discussion. They ascribe to it only this function: to enjoin what is right, to forbid what is wicked; to promise a reward to the keepers of righteousness, and threaten transgressors with punishment; but at the same time not to change or correct the depravity of heart that by nature inheres in all men. (Institutes, 2.11.7).
John Calvin. But when through the law the patriarchs felt themselves both oppressed by their enslaved condition, and wearied by anxiety of conscience, they fled for refuge to the gospel. (Institutes, 2.11.9).
John Calvin. First, God lays down for us through the law what we should do; if we then fail in ally part of it, that dreadful sentence of eternal death which it pronounces will rest upon us. Secondly, it is not only hard, but above our strength and beyond all our abilities, to fulfill the law to the letter; thus, if we look to ourselves only, and ponder what condition we deserve, no trace of good hope will remain; but cast away by God, we shall lie under eternal death. (Institutes, 3.2.1)
“for men cursed under the law there remains, in faith, one sole means of recovering salvation… (Institutes, 3.11.1).
John Calvin. For faith totters if it pays attention to works, since no one, even of the most holy, will find there anything on which to rely. (Institutes, 3.11.11)
John Calvin. In short, whoever wraps up two kinds of righteousness in order that miserable souls may not repose wholly in God’s mere mercy, crowns Christ in mockery with a wreath of thorns [Mark 15:17, etc.]. (Institutes, 3.11.12).
John Calvin. a man who wishes to obtain Christ’s righteousness must abandon his own righteousness. (Institutes, 3.11.13).
John Calvin. Do you see how he makes this the distinction between law and gospel: that the former attributes righteousness to works, the latter bestows free righteousness apart from the help of works? This is an important passage, and one that can extricate us from many difficulties if we understand that that righteousness which is given us through the gospel has been freed of all conditions of the law. (Calvin commenting on Romans 10:9) (Institutes, 3.11.17)
John Calvin. How would this argument be maintained otherwise than by agreeing that works do not enter the account of faith but must be utterly separated? The law, he says, is different from faith. Why? Because works are required for law righteousness. Therefore it follows that they are not required for faith righteousness. From this relation it is clear that those who are justified by faith are justified apart from the merit of works—in fact, without the merit of works. For faith receives that righteousness which the gospel bestows. Now the gospel differs from the law in that it does not link righteousness to works but lodges it solely in God’s mercy. (Institutes, 3.11.18).
John Calvin. “They [ed. the Papists] prate that the ceremonial works of the law are excluded, not the moral works… [but] let us hold as certain that when the ability to justify is denied to the law, these words refer to the whole law. (Institutes, 3.11.19)
John Calvin. For since no perfection can come to us so long as we are clothed in this flesh, and the law moreover announces death and judgment to all who do not maintain perfect righteousness in works, it will always have grounds for accusing and condemning us unless, on the contrary, God’s mercy counters it, and by continual forgiveness of sins repeatedly acquits us. (Institutes, 3.14.10)
John Calvin. works righteousness consists solely in perfect and complete observance of the law. From this it follows that no man is justified by works unless, having been raised to the highest peak of perfection, he cannot be accused even of the least transgression. (Institutes, 3.15.1).
John Calvin. The fact, then, remains that through the law the whole human race is proved subject to God’s curse and wrath, and in order to be freed from these, it is necessary to depart from the power of the law and, as it were, to be released from its bondage into freedom… it is spiritual freedom, which would comfort and raise up the stricken and prostrate conscience, showing it to be free from the curse and condemnation with which the law pressed it down, bound and fettered. (Institutes, 3.17.1)
John Calvin. With a clear voice we too proclaim that these commandments are to be kept if one seeks life in works. And Christians must know this doctrine, for how could they flee to Christ unless they recognized that they had plunged from the way of life over the brink of death? How could they realize how far they had wandered from the way of life unless they first understood what that way is like? Only, therefore, when they distinguish how great is the difference between their life and divine righteousness that consists in accepting the law are they made aware that, in order to recover salvation, their refuge is in Christ. To sum up, if we seek salvation in works, we must keep the commandments by which we are instructed unto perfect righteousness. But we must not stop here unless we wish to fail in mid-course, for none of us is capable of keeping the commandments. (Institutes, 3.18.9)
John Calvin. the consciences of believers, in seeking assurance of their justification before God, should rise above and advance beyond the law, forgetting all law righteousness. For since, as we have elsewhere shown, the law leaves no one righteous, either it excludes us from all hope of justification or we ought to be freed from it, and in such a way, indeed, that no account is taken of works… If consciences wish to attain any certainty in this matter, they ought to give no place to the law. (Institutes, 3.19.1)
John Calvin. The whole life of Christians ought to be an exercise of piety, since they are called to sanctification. It is the office of the law to remind them of their duty and thereby to excite them to the pursuit of holiness and integrity. But when their consciences are solicitous how God may be propitiated, what answer they shall make, and on what they shall rest their confidence, if called to his tribunal, there must then be no consideration of the requisitions of the law, but Christ alone must be proposed for righteousness, who exceeds all the perfection of the law. (Institutes, 3.19.2)
John Calvin. consciences observe the law, not as if constrained by the necessity of the law, but that freed from the law’s yoke they willingly obey God’s will. For since they dwell in perpetual dread so long as they remain under the sway of the law, they will never be disposed with eager readiness to obey God unless they have already been given this sort of freedom... For unless its rigor be mitigated, the law in requiring perfect love condemns all imperfection. Let him therefore ponder his own work, which he wished to be adjudged in part good, and by that very act he will find it, just because it is imperfect, to be a transgression of the law. (Institutes, 3.19.4)
John Calvin. no one can maintain in this life the perfect obedience to the law which God requires of us. (Institutes, 4.13.6)
John Calvin. A young man asks by what works he shall enter into eternal life [Matthew 19:16; cf. Luke 10:25]. Christ, because the question concerned works, refers him to the law [Matthew 19:17-19]. And rightly! For, considered in itself, it is the way of eternal life; and, except for our depravity, is capable of bringing salvation to us. By this reply Christ declared that he taught no other plan of life than what had been taught of old in the law of the Lord. So also he attested God’s law to be the doctrine of perfect righteousness, and at the same time confuted false reports so he might not seem by some new rule of life to incite the people to desert the law…. Our opponents vainly give a general interpretation to this particular instance, as if Christ established the perfection of man in renunciation of goods. Actually, he meant nothing else by this statement than to compel the young man, pleased with himself beyond measure, to feel his sore, that he might realize he was still far removed from the perfect obedience to the law which he was falsely claiming for himself. (Institutes, 4.13.13)
John Calvin. the law in itself contains perfect righteousness; and this appears from the fact that its observance is called the way of eternal salvation. (Institutes, 4.13.13).
Zacharias Ursinus (1534-83). Q.36 What distinguishes
law and gospel? A: The law contains a covenant of nature
begun by God with men in creation, that is, it is a natural sign
to men, and it requires of us perfect obedience toward God. It
promises eternal life to those keeping it, and threatens eternal
punishment to those not keeping it. In fact, the gospel contains
a covenant of grace, that is, one known not at all under nature.
This covenant declares to us fulfillment of its righteousness
in Christ, which the law requires, and our restoration through
Christ's Spirit. To those who believe in him, it freely promises
eternal life for Christ's sake (Larger Catechism, Q. 36).
Zacharias Ursinus (1534-83) on the organization of the
Heidelberg Catechism. The chief and most important parts of
the first principles of the doctrine of the church, as appears
from the passage just quoted from the Epistle to the Hebrews,
are repentance and faith in Christ, which we may regard as
synonymous with the law and gospel. Hence, the catechism in its
primary and most general sense, may be divided as the doctrine
of the church, into the law and gospel. It does not differ from
the doctrine of the church as it respects the subject and matter
of which it treats, but only in the form and manner in which
these things are presented, just as strong meat designed for
adults, to which the doctrine of the church may be compared,
does not differ in essence from the milk and meat prepared for
children, to which the catechism is compared by Paul in the
passage already referred to. These two parts are termed, by the
great mass of men, the Decalogue and the Apostles' creed;
because the Decalogue comprehends the substance of the law, and
the Apostles' creed that of the gospel. Another distinction made
by this same class of persons is that of the doctrine of faith
and works, or the doctrine of those things which are to be
believed and those which are to be done.
There are others who divide the catechism into these three
parts; considering, in the first place, the doctrine respecting
God, then the doctrine respecting his will, and lastly that
respecting his works, which they distinguish as the works of
creation, preservation, and redemption. But all these different
parts are treated of either in the law or the gospel, or in
both, so that this division may easily be reduced to the former.
There are others, again, who make the catechism consist of five
different parts; the Decalogue, the Apostles' Creed, Baptism,
the Lord's Supper, and Prayer; of which, the Decalogue was
delivered immediately by God himself, whilst the other parts
were delivered mediately, either through the manifestation of
the Son of God in the flesh, as is true of the Lord's Prayer,
Baptism, and the Eucharist, or through the ministry of the
apostles, as is true of the Apostles' Creed. But all these
different parts may also be reduced to the two general heads
noticed in the first division. The Decalogue contains the
substance of the law, the Apostles' Creed that of the gospel;
the sacraments are parts of the gospel, and may, therefore, be
embraced in it as far as they are seals of the grace which it
promises, but as far as they are testimonies of our obedience to
God, they have the nature of sacrifices and pertain to the law,
whilst prayer, in like manner, may be referred to the law, being
a part of the worship of God.
The catechism of which we shall speak in these lectures consists
of three parts. The first treats of the misery of man, the
second of his deliverance from this misery, and the third of
gratitude, which division does not, in reality, differ from the
above, because all the parts which are there specified are
embraced in these three general heads. The Decalogue belongs to
the first part, in as far as it is the mirror through which we
are brought to see ourselves, and thus led to a knowledge of our
sins and misery, and to the third part in as far as it is the
rule of true thankfulness and of a Christian life. The Apostles'
Creed is embraced in the second part inasmuch as it unfolds the
way of deliverance from sins. The sacraments, belonging to the
doctrine of faith and being the seals that are attached thereto,
belong in like manner to this second part of the catechism,
which treats of deliverance from the misery of man. And prayer,
being the chief part of spiritual worship and of thankfulness,
may, with great propriety, be referred to the third general
part.
Zacharias Ursinus. In What Does The Law Differ From
The Gospel? The exposition of this question is necessary for
a variety of considerations, and especially that we may have
a proper understanding of the law and the gospel, to which a
knowledge of that in which they differ greatly contributes. According
to the definition of the law, which says, that it promises rewards
to those who render perfect obedience; and that it promises them
freely, inasmuch as no obedience can be meritorious in the sight
of God, it would seem that it does not differ from the gospel,
which also promises eternal life freely. Yet notwithstanding
this seeming agreement, there is a great difference between the
law and the gospel. They differ, 1. As to the mode of revelation
peculiar to each. The law is known naturally: the gospel was
divinely revealed after the fall of man. 2. In matter or doctrine.
The law declares the justice of God separately considered: the
gospel declares it in connection with his mercy. The law teaches
what we ought to be in order that we may be saved: the gospel
teaches in addition to this, how we may become such as this law
requires, viz: by faith in Christ. 3. In their conditions or
promises. The law promises eternal life and all good things upon
the condition of our own and perfect righteousness, and of obedience
in us: the gospel promises the same blessings upon the condition
that we exercise faith in Christ, by which we embrace the obedience
which another, even Christ, has performed in our behalf; or the
gospel teaches that we are justified freely by faith in Christ.
With this faith is also connected, as by an indissoluble bond,
the condition of new obedience. 4. In their effects. The law
works wrath, and is the ministration of death: the gospel is
the ministration of life and of the Spirit (Rom. 4:15, 2 Cor.
3:7) (Commentary on the Heidelberg Catechism, Q. 92).
Caspar Olevian (1536-87). For this reason the distinction
between law and Gospel is retained. The law does not promise
freely, but under the condition that you keep it completely.
And if someone should transgress it once, the law or legal covenant
does not have the promise of the remission of sins. On the other
hand, the Gospel promises freely the remission of sins and life,
not if we keep the law, but for the sake of the Son of God, through
faith (Ad Romanos Notae, 148; Geneva, 1579).
Theodore Beza (1534-1605). We divide this Word
into two principal parts or kinds: the one is called the 'Law,'
the other the 'Gospel.' For all the rest can be gathered under
the one or other of these two headings...Ignorance of this distinction
between Law and Gospel is one of the principal sources of the
abuses which corrupted and still corrupt Christianity (The
Christian Faith, 1558)
William Perkins 1558-1602). The basic principle in
application is to know whether the passage is a statement of
the law or of the gospel. For when the Word is preached, the
law and the gospel operate differently. The law exposes the disease
of sin, and as a side-effect, stimulates and stirs it up. But
it provides no remedy for it. However the gospel not only teaches
us what is to be done, it also has the power of the Holy Spirit
joined to it....A statement of the law indicates the need for
a perfect inherent righteousness, of eternal life given through
the works of the law, of the sins which are contrary to the law
and of the curse that is due them.... By contrast, a statement
of the gospel speaks of Christ and his benefits, and of faith
being fruitful in good works (The Art of Prophesying,
1592, repr. Banner of Truth Trust,1996, 54-55).
Edward Fisher (c.1601-1655). Now, the law is a doctrine
partly known by nature, teaching us that there is a God, and
what God is, and what he requires us to do, binding all reasonable
creatures to perfect obedience, both internal and external, promising
the favour of God, and everlasting life to all those who yield
perfect obedience thereunto, and denouncing the curse of God
and everlasting damnation to all those who are not perfectly
correspondent thereunto. But the gospel is a doctrine revealed
from heaven by the Son of God, presently after the fall of mankind
into sin and death, and afterwards manifested more clearly and
fully to the patriarchs and prophets, to the evangelists and
apostles, and by them spread abroad to others; wherein freedom
from sin, from the curse of the law, the wrath of God, death,
and hell, is freely promised for Christ's sake unto all who truly
believe on his name (The Marrow of Modern Divinity; 1645,
repr. 1978, 337-38. NB: The author of the Marrow was designated
only as E.F. Therefore some scholars doubt whether Edward Fisher
was actually the author).
William Twisse (1578-1646). How many ways does the
Word of God teach us to come to the Kingdom of heaven? Two.
Which are they? The Law and the Gospel. What says the Law? Do
this and live. What says the Gospel? Believe in Jesus Christ
and you shall be saved. Can we come to the Kingdom of God by
the way of God's Law? No.Why so? Because we cannot do it. Why
can we not do it? Because we are all born in sin. What is it
to be none in sin? To be naturally prone to evil and ...that
that which is good. How did it come to pass that we are all borne
in sin? By reason of our first father Adam. Which way then do
you hope to come tot he Kingdom of Heaven? By the Gospel? What
is the Gospel? The glad tidings of salvation by Jesus Christ.
To whom is the glad tidings brought: to the righteousness? No.
Why so? For two reasons. What is the first? Because there is
none that is righteous and sin not. What is the other reason?
Because if we were righteous, i.e., without sin we should have
no need of Christ Jesus. To whom then is this glad tiding brought?
To sinners. What, to all sinners? To whom then? To such as believe
and repent. This is the first lesson, to know the right way to
the Kingdom of Heaven.: and this consists in knowing the difference
between the Law and the Gospel. What does the Law require? That
we should be without sin. What does the Gospel require? That
we should confess our sins, amend our lives, and then through
faith in Christ we shall be saved. The Law requires what? Perfect
obedience. The Gospel what? Faith and true repentance. (A
Brief Catechetical Exposition of Christian Doctrine, 1633).
J.C. Ryle (1816-1900). To be unable to see any difference
between law and gospel, truth an error, Protestantism and Popery,
the doctrine of Christ and the doctrine of man, is a sure proof
that we are yet dead in heart, and need conversion. (Expository
Thoughts on John, 2:198-199).
J. Gresham Machen (1881-1937). A new and more powerful
proclamation of law is perhaps the most pressing need of the
hour; men would have little difficulty with the gospel if they
had only learned the lesson of the law. As it is, they are turning
aside from the Christian pathway; they are turning to the village
of Morality, and to the house of Mr. Legality, who is reported
to be very skillful in relieving men of their burdens... 'Making
Christ Master' in the life, putting into practice 'the principles
of Christ' by one's own efforts-these are merely new ways of
earning salvation by one's obedience to God's commands (What
Is Faith?, 1925).
Louis Berkhof (1873-1957). The Churches of the Reformation
from the very beginning distinguished between the law and the
gospel as the two parts of the Word of God as a means of grace.
This distinction was not understood to be identical with that
between the Old and the New Testament, but was regarded as a
distinction that applies to both Testaments. There is law and
gospel in the Old Testament, and there is law and gospel in the
New. The law comprises everything in Scripture which is a revelation
of God's will in the form of command or prohibition, while the
gospel embraces everything, whether it be in the Old Testament
or in the New, that pertains to the work of reconciliation and
that proclaims the seeking and redeeming love o God in Christ
Jesus (Systematic Theology, [Grand Rapids, 4th edn. 1941],
612).
John Murray (1898-1975) ...the purity and integrity
of the gospel stands or falls with the absoluteness of the antithesis
between the function and potency of law, one the one hand, and
the function and potency of grace, on the other (Principles
of Conduct: Aspects of Biblical Ethics [Grand Rapids: Eerdmans,
1957], 186). On the Covenant of
Redemption John Calvin (1509-64). Since there is nothing substantial
in it (the OT shadows), until we look beyond it, the Apostle
contends that it behoved to be annulled and become antiquated,
(Heb. 7: 22,) to make room for Christ, the surety and mediator
of a better covenant, by whom the eternal sanctification of the
elect was once purchased, and the transgressions which remained
under the Law wiped away (Institutes, 2.11.4)
John Calvin. For the righteousness of Christ (as it
alone is perfect, so it alone can stand the scrutiny of God)
must be sisted for us, and as a surety represent us judicially
(Institutes, 3.14.12).
Belgic Confession (1561) Art. 26. ...But this Mediator,
whom the Father has appointed between himself and us, ought not
terrify us by his greatness, so that we have to look for another
one, according to our fancy. For neither in heaven nor among
the creatures on earth is there anyone who loves us more than
Jesus Christ does.
Caspar Olevian (1536-87). Q. 1: God is just and requires
that we either keep the law with a perfect love of God and neighbor
or be eternally punished. However, we have been so corrupted
by the fall of Adam that by nature we hate God and our neighbor
and daily increase our guilt. Therefore, unless we want to be
lost for eternity, we must look for a Surety who completely satisfies
the judgment of God for us. But where will we find such a Mediator
and Surety? A: ...First, since the angels are neither
guilty nor obligated to suffer on humanity's account, the justice
of God does not demand of them that they should pay what humanity
owes.... Second, since our surety and mediator had to bear and
overcome the infinite, eternal wrath of God, there is no doubt
that than an angel would have been too weak for that.... (Vester
Grund, 1567; trans. Lyle Bierma, in A Firm Foundation;
Grand Rapids, Baker: 1995).
Caspar Olevian. Q: 3 Why do you call Christ the only
way to salvation? A: Because he alone is the mediator
of the covenant [of grace] and the reconciliation by which humanity
is reunited with God the Lord.... (A Firm Foundation)
Caspar Olevian. Q: 4 Why is the redemption or reconciliation
of humanity with God presented to us in the form of a covenant,
indeed a covenant of grace? A: God compares the means
of our salvation to a covenant, indeed an eternal covenant, so
that we might be certain and assured that a lasting, eternal
peace and friendship between God and us has been made through
the sacrifice of His son. After a bitter quarrel, the disputants
have peace of mind first and foremost when they commit and bind
themselves to each other with a promise and sworn oath that on
such-and-such a matter they wont peace. God acts in the same
way toward us: in order that we might have rest and peace in
our consciences, God was willing our of His great goodness and
grace, to bind himself to us, His enemies, with His promise and
His oath. He promised that He would have his only begotten Son
become human and die for us, and that through the sacrifice of
his Son He would establish a lasting reconciliation and eternal
peace....He would be our God and bless us, that is, forgive our
sins and impart to us the Holy Spirit and eternal life -- and
all this without any merit on our part. All we would have to
do is accept the Son -- promised and sent -- by faith (A Firm
Foundation).
Caspar Olevian. Q. 5: But how did Jesus Christ make
the covenant between the Father and us? That is, how did he reconcile
us to the Father so that our sins are eternally forgotten and
the Holy Spirit and eternal life are bestowed on us? A:
By his sacrifice on the cross He completely reconciled us to
the Father with an eternal covenant. The Son himself cried out
on the cross that the covenant was completely ratified ("It
is finished!" [Jn 19:30] and the Holy Spirit says in Heb.
10[:14], "By one offering he has perfected forever those
who are being sanctified." (A Firm Foundation).
Caspar Olevian. The Son of God, having been appointed
by God as Mediator of the covenant, becomes the guarantor on
two counts: 1) He shall satisfy for the sins of all those whom
the Father has given him; 2) He shall also bring it to pass that
they, being planted in him, shall enjoy freedom in their consciences
and from day to day be renewed in the image of God (De substantia,
1585; 1.2.1).
Canons of Dort (1619). First Head: Article 7. Election
is the unchangeable purpose of God, whereby, before the foundation
of the world, He has out of mere grace,] according to the sovereign
good pleasure of His own will, chosen from the whole human race,
which had fallen through their own fault from the primitive state
of rectitude into sin and destruction, a certain number of persons
to redemption in Christ, whom He from eternity appointed the
Mediator and Head of the elect and the foundation of salvation.
This elect number, though by nature neither better nor more deserving
than others, but with them involved in one common misery, God
has decreed to give to Christ to be saved by Him, and effectually
to call an draw them to His communion by His Word and Spirit;
to bestow upon them true faith, justification, and sanctification;
and having powerfully preserved them in the fellowship of His
son, finally to glorify them for the demonstration of His mercy,
and for the praise of the riches of His glorious grace; as it
is written "For he chose us in him before the creation of
the world to be holy and blameless in his sight. In love he predestined
us to be adopted as his sons through Jesus Christ, in accordance
with his pleasure and will--to the praise of his glorious grace,
which he has freely given us in the One he loves." (Eph
1:4-6). And elsewhere: "And those he predestined, he also
called; those he called, he also justified; those he justified,
he also glorified." (Rom 8:30).
John Ball (1585-1640). This covenant being transacted
betwixt Christ and God, here, here lies the first and most firm
foundation of a Christian's comfort (A Treatise of the Covenant
of Grace. London, 1645, preface).
Westminster Confession of Faith (1647). Chapter 8: Of the
Mediator. 8:1. It pleased God, in his eternal purpose, to
choose and ordain the Lord Jesus, his only begotten Son, to be
the Mediator between God and men, the prophet, priest, and king;
the head and Savior of the Church, the heir or all things, and
judge of the world; unto whom he did, from all eternity, give
a people to be his seed, and to be by him in time redeemed, called,
justified, sanctified, and glorified. 8:2. The Son of
God, the second Person in the Trinity, being very and eternal
God, of one substance, and equal with the Father, did, when the
fullness of time was come, take upon him man's nature, with all
the essential properties and common infirmities thereof; yet
without sin: being conceived by he power of the Holy Ghost, in
the womb of the Virgin Mary, of her substance. So that two whole,
perfect, and distinct natures, the Godhead and the manhood, were
inseparably joined together in one person, without conversion,
composition, or confusion. Which person is very God and very
man, yet one Christ, the only Mediator between God and man.
The Sum of Saving Knowledge (1647). 2a) Albeit
man, having brought himself into this woeful condition, is neither
able to help himself, nor willing to be helped by God out of
it, but rather inclined to lie still, insensible of it, till
he perish; yet God, for the glory of his rich grace, has revealed
in his word a way to save sinners, that is, by faith in Jesus
Christ, the eternal Son of God, by virtue of, and according to
the tenor of the covenant of redemption, made and agreed upon
between God the Father and God the Son, in council of the Trinity,
before the world began. 2b) The sum of the covenant of
redemption is this: God having freely chosen to life a certain
number of lost mankind, for the glory of his rich grace, did
give them, before the world began, to God the Son, appointed
Redeemer, that, upon condition he would humble himself so far
as to assume the human nature, of a soul and a body, to personal
union with his divine nature, and submit himself to the law,
as surety for them, and satisfy justice for them, by giving obedience
in their name, even to the suffering of the cursed death of the
cross, he should ransom and redeem them all from sin and death,
and purchase to them righteousness and eternal life, with all
saving graces leading there to, to be effectually, by means of
his own appointment, applied in due time to every one of them.
This condition the Son of God (who is Jesus Christ our Lord)
did accept before the world began, and in the fulness of time
came into the world, was born of the Virgin Mary, subjected himself
to the law, and completely paid the ransom on the cross: But
by virtue of the foresaid bargain, made before the world began,
he is in all ages, since the fall of Adam, still upon the work
of applying actually the purchased benefits of the elect; and
that he does by way of entertaining a covenant of free grace
and reconciliation with them, through faith in himself; by which
covenant, he makes over to every believer a right and interest
to himself, and to all his blessings. 2c) For the accomplishment
of this covenant of redemption, and making the elect partakers
of the benefits of it in the covenant of grace, Christ Jesus
was clad with the threefold office of Prophet, Priest, and King:
made a Prophet, to reveal all saving knowledge to his people,
and persuade them to believe and obey the same; made a Priest,
to offer up himself a sacrifice once for them all, and to intercede
continually with the Father, for making their persons and services
acceptable to him; and made a King, to subdue them to himself,
to feed and rule them by his own appointed ordinances, and to
defend them from their enemies.
John Owen (1616-83).Q. 1. By what means did Jesus Christ
undertake the office of an eternal priest? A. By the decree,
ordination, and will of God his Father, whereunto he yielded
voluntary obedience; so that concerning this there was a compact
and covenant between them.. (The Greater Catechism (1645),
ch.12).
Johannes Cocceius (1603-69). The declaration of his
good pleasure is itself a promise, which is the the foundation
of the covenant of grace.... Which is a free disposition by by
God the Savior concerning his goods by his heir, to be possessed
in accordance with voluntary generation and nomination beyond
all danger of alienation (Rom 4.14).....[quotes Gal 3.15-18]
Behold in this institution the heir, the testament, the promise
and the ratification of the testament are through the promise
and the faith of Abraham. (Summa theologiae,
1648; 4.86).
Helvetic Consensus (1675). Canon XIII: As Christ was
elected from eternity the Head, the Leader and Lord of all who,
in time, are saved by his grace, so also, in time, he was made
Guarantor of the New Covenant only for those who, by the eternal
election, were given to him as his own people, his seed and inheritance.
For according to the determinate counsel of the Father and his
own intention, he encountered dreadful death instead of the elect
alone, and restored only these into the bosom of the Father's
grace, and these only he reconciled to God, the offended Father,
and delivered from the curse of the law. For our Jesus saves
his people from their sins (Matt 1:21), who gave his life a ransom
for many sheep (Matt 20:24, 28; John 10:15), his own, who hear
his voice (John 10:27-28), and he intercedes for these only,
as a divinely appointed Priest, arid not for the world (John
17:9). Accordingly in expiatory sacrifice, they are regarded
as having died with him and as being justified from sin (2 Cor
5:12): and thus, with the counsel of the Father who gave to Christ
none but the elect to be redeemed, and also with the working
of the Holy Spirit, who sanctifies and seals unto a living hope
of eternal life none but the elect. The will of Christ who died
so agrees and amicably conspires in perfect harmony, that the
sphere of the Father's election, the Son's redemption. And the
Spirit's sanctification are one and the same (The Formula
Consensus Helvetica [1675]).
Herman Witsius (1636-1708). In order the more thoroughly
to understand the nature of the covenant of grace, two things
are above all to be distinctly considered. 1st The covenant which
intervenes between God the Father and Christ the Mediator. 2ndly.
That testamentary disposition by which God bestows by an immutable
covenant, eternal salvation, and every thing relative thereto,
upon the elect. The former agreement is between god and the Mediator:
the latter between God and the elect. This last pre-supposes
the first, and is founded upon it (The Economy of the Covenants
Between God and Man).
Herman Witsius. When I speak of the compact between
the Father and the Son, I thereby understand the will of the
Father, giving the Son to be the Head and Redeemer of the elect;
and the will of the Son, presenting as a Sponsor or Surety for
them; in all which the nature of a compact and agreement consists.
The scriptures represent the Father, in the economy of our salvation,
as demanding the obedience of the Son even unto death; and upon
condition of that obedience, promising him in his turn that name
which is above every name, even that he should be the head of
the elect in glory: but the Son, as presenting himself to do
the will of the Father, acquiescing in that promise, and in fine,
requiring, by virtue of the compact, the kingdom and glory promised
to him. ...[I]t cannot, on any pretence, be denied that there
is a compact between the Father and the Son, which is the foundation
of our salvation (The Economy of the Covenants Between God
and Man).
J. H. Heidegger (1633-98). The covenant of God the
Father with the Son is a mutual agreement, by which God the Father
extracted from the Son perfect and obedience to the Law unto
death, which he must face on behalf of his chosen seed to be
given him (Marrow of Christian Theology [1696]).
Franz Burman (1632-79). It is a mutual pact between
Father and Son, by which the Father gives the Son as Redeemer
(lutrotes) and the head of foreknown people and the Son
in turn sets himself to complete that redemption (apolutosis)
(2.15.2).
Johannes Cocceius (1603-69). In consequence of this
covenant Christ is called the second Adam. As with the first
Adam God made a covenant of works concerned among other things
with the inheritance of the image of God which was to be transmitted
to his successors, should he maintain his stand (it actually
fell out the opposite way), so he made one with the Son as the
man to be concerned with the inheritance of righteousness and
life for his seed through obedience to the law (De foedere,
5.90).
Charles Hodge (1797-1878). Two Covenants to be Distinguished.
This confusion is avoided by distinguishing between the covenant
of redemption between the Father and the Son, and the covenant
of grace between God and his people. The latter supposes the
former, and is founded upon it. The two, however, ought not to
be confounded, as both are clearly revealed in Scripture, and
moreover they differ as to the parties, as to the promises, and
as to the conditions. 4. Covenant of Redemption. By this
is meant the covenant between the Father and the Son in reference
to the salvation of man. This is a subject which, from its nature,
is entirely beyond our comprehension. We must receive the teachings
of the Scriptures in relation to it without presuming to penetrate
the mystery which naturally belongs to it. There is only one
God, one divine Being, to whom all the attributes of divinity
belong. But in the Godhead there are three persons, the same
in substance, and equal in power and glory. It lies in the nature
of personality, that one person is objective to another. If,
therefore, the Father and the Son are distinct persons the one
may be the object of the acts of the other. The one may love,
address, and commune with the other. The Father may send the
Son, may give Him a work to do, and promise Him a recompense.
All this is indeed incomprehensible to us, but being clearly
taught in Scripture, it must enter into the Christian's faith.
In order to prove that there is a covenant between the Father
and the Son, formed in eternity, and revealed in time, it is
not necessary that we should adduce passages of the Scriptures
in which this truth is expressly asserted. There are indeed passages
which are equivalent to such direct assertions. This is implied
in the frequently recurring statements of the Scripture that
the plan of God respecting the salvation of men was of the nature
of a covenant, and was formed in eternity. Paul says that it
was hidden for ages in the divine mind; that it was before the
foundation of the world. Christ speaks of promises made to Him
before his advent; and that He came into the world in execution
of a commission which He had received from the Father. The parallel
so distinctly drawn between Adam and Christ is also a proof of
the point in question. As Adam was the head and representative
of his posterity, so Christ is the head and representative of
his people. And as God entered into covenant with Adam so He
entered into covenant with Christ. This, in Rom. v. 12-21, is
set forth as the fundamental idea of all God's dealings with
men, both in their fall and in their redemption. The proof of
the doctrine has, however, a much wider foundation. When one
person assigns a stipulated work to another person with the promise
of a reward upon the condition of the performance of that work,
there is a covenant. Nothing can be plainer than that all this
is true in relation to the Father and the Son. The Father gave
the Son a work to do; He sent Him into the world to perform it,
and promised Him a great reward when the work was accomplished.
Such is the constant representation of the Scriptures. We have,
therefore, the contracting parties, the promise, and the condition.
These are the essential elements. of a covenant. Such being the
representation of Scripture, such must be the truth to which
we are bound to adhere. It is not a mere figure, but a real transaction,
and should be regarded and treated as such if we would understand
aright the plan of salvation. In the fortieth Psalm, expounded
by the Apostle as referring to the Messiah, it is said, "Lo,
I come: in the volume of the book it is written of me, I delight
to do thy will," i. e., to execute thy purpose, to carry
out thy plan." By the which will," says the Apostle
(Heb. x. 10), '` we are sanctified (i. e., cleansed from the
guilt of sin), through the offering of the body of Jesus Christ
once for all." Christ came, therefore, in execution of a
purpose of God, to fulfil a work which had been assigned Him.
He, therefore, in John xvii. 4, says, `` I have finished the
work which thou gayest me to do." This was said at the close
of his earthly course. At its beginning, when yet a child, He
said to his parents, `' Wist ye not that I must be about my Father's
business?" (Luke ii. 49.) Our Lord speaks of Himself, and
is spoken of as sent into the world. He says that as the Father
had sent Him into the world, even so had He sent his disciples
into the world. (John xvii. 18.) '` When the fulness of the time
war. come, God sent forth his Son, made of a woman." (Gal.
iv. 4.) " God sent his only begotten Son into the world."
(1 John iv. 9.) God `' sent his Son to be the propitiation for
our sins." (Verse 10.) It is plain, therefore, that Christ
came to execute a work, that He was. sent of the Father to fulfil
a plan, or preconceived design. It is no less plain that special
promises were made by the Father to the Son, suspended upon the
accomplishment of the work assigned Him. This may appear as an
anthropological mode of representing a transaction between the
persons of the adorable Trinity. But it must be received as substantial
truth. The Father did give the Son a work to do, and He did promise
to Him a reward upon its accomplishment. The transaction was,
therefore, of the nature of a covenant. An obligation was assumed
by the Son to accomplish the work assigned Him; and an obligation
was assumed by the Father to grant Him the stipulated reward.
The infinitude of God does not prevent these things being possible.
Christ as Mediator of the Covenant. As Christ is a party
to the covenant of redemption, so He is constantly represented
as the mediator of the covenant of grace; not only in the sense
of an internuncius, as Moses was a mediator between God and the
people of Israel, but in the sense, that it was through his intervention,
and solely on the ground of what He had done, or promised to
do, that God entered into this new covenant with fallen men.
And, (2.) in the sense of a surety. He guarantees the fillfilment
of all the promises and conditions of the covenant. His blood
was the blood of the covenant. That is, his death had all the
effects of a federal sacrifice, it not only bound the parties
to the contract, but it also secured the fulfilment of all its
provisions. Hence He is called not only Mesites, but also Egguos
(Heb. vii. 22), a aponsor, or aurety. By fulfilling the conditions
on which the promises of the covenant of redemption were suspended,
the veracity and justice of God are pledged to secure the salvation
of his people; and this secures the fidelity of his people. So
that Christ answers both for God and man. His work renders certain
the gifts of God's grace, and the perseverance of his people
in faith and obedience. He is therefore, in every sense, our
salvation (Systematic Theology, vol. 2: Anthropology,
ch. 6).
G. Vos (1862-1949). If man stood in a covenant relation
to God before the fall, then it is to be expected that the covenant
idea will dominate in the work of redemption. ...It was merely
the other side of the doctrine of the covenant of works that
was seen when the task of the Mediator was also placed in this
light. A Pactum Salutis, a Counsel of Peace, a Covenant
of Redemption, could then be spoken of. There are two alternatives:
one must either deny the covenant arrangement as a general rule
for obtaining eternal life, or granting the latter, he must also
regard the gaining of eternal life by the Mediator as a covenant
arrangement and place the establishing of a covenant in back
of it. Thus it also becomes clear how a denial of the covenant
of works sometimes goes hand in hand with a lack of appreciation
for the counsel of peace ("The Doctrine of the Covenant
in Reformed Theology," Selected Shorter Writings, 245).
G. Vos. In the dogma of the counsel of peace, then,
the doctrine of the covenant has found its genuinely theological
rest point ("The Doctrine of the Covenant in Reformed Theology,"
Selected Shorter Writings, 247).
G. Vos. [I]t is apparent that the dogma of the covenant
of redemption is something other than a reworking of the doctrine
of election. It owes its existence not to a tendency to draw
the covenant back and take it up in the decree, but to concentrate
it in the Mediator and to demonstrate the unity between the accomplishment
and application of salvation in Him, on the one side, and the
various stages of the covenant, on the other. From this it follows
that that much less emphasis than one generally attributes to
the theologians is placed on its transcendent eternity still
has a different character than that of the decrees. It is eternal
insofar as it falls within the Trinity, within the divine being
that exists in eternity, but not eternal in the sense that it
was elevated above the reality of history ("The Doctrine
of the Covenant in Reformed Theology," Selected Shorter
Writings, 251).
Louis Berkhof (1873-1957). Basically, the covenant
of grace is simply the execution of the original agreement by
Christ as our surety (Systematic Theology, [Grand Rapids,
4th edn. 1941], 214).
Louis Berkhof. Though the covenant of redemption is
the eternal basis of the covenant of grace, and as far as sinners
are concerned, also its eternal prototype, it was for Christ
a covenant of works rather than a covenant of grace. For him
the law of the original covenant applied, namely, that eternal
life could only be obtained by meeting the demands of the law.
As the last Adam Christ obtains eternal life for sinners in faithful
obedience, and not at all as an unmerited gift of grace. And
what he has done as the Representative and Surety of all his
people, they are no more in duty bound to do. The work has been
done. The reward is merited, and believers are made partakers
of the fruits of Christ's accomplished work through grace (Systematic
Theology, 268).
William Hendriksen (1900-82). In a sense we must go
back even farther to trace the origin of the covenant of grace. It is
rooted in God himself! God is the God of the covenant, and this not only
because he established a covenant with man but also and especially
because from all eternity there exists between the persons of The Holy
Trinity a voluntarily assumed relation of love and friendship, each
working for the glory and honor of the other.... This covenant
relationship existing between the persons of the Trinity is the
foundation of the covenant of grace (The Covenant of Grace, rev.
edn. 1978; 17).
On the Covenant of
Works Martin Luther (1483-1546). Before Adams fall it was not
necessary for him to have Christ, because he was righteous and without
sin, just as the angels have no need of Christ. If Adam had not fallen,
it would not have been necessary for Christ to become our Redeemer.
...The argument is true that eternal life is in the given to him who
keeps the law without Christ, because whoever keeps the law is
righteous. Adam would have entered into the kingdom of heaven
without Christ, if he had not fallen. ...The conclusion is that Adam
alone kept the commandments of God before the Fall, but after the Fall
and no one has truly been found who has fulfilled the law (Disputatio
de iustificatione, 1536; Luther's Works, 26.185, 187)
John Calvin (1509-64). We must, therefore, look deeper
than sensual intemperance. The prohibition to touch the Tree
of Knowledge of good and evil was a trial of obedience (obedientiae
examen), that Adam, by observing it, might prove his willing
submission to the command of God (Institutes, 2.1.4)
John Calvin. The promise, which gave him hope of eternal
life as long as he should eat of the tree of life (arbore vitae),
and, on the other hand, the fearful denunciation of death the
moment he should taste of the Tree of Knowledge of of good and
evil, were meant to test and exercise his faith (Institutes,
2.1.4).
John Calvin. There is no obscurity in the words, "As
by one man's disobedience many were made sinners, so by the obedience
of one shall many be made righteous." (Institutes,
2.1.6).
Belgic Confession (1561) Art. 14: The Creation and Fall
of Man, And His Incapacity to Perform What is Truly Good.
We believe that God created man out of the dust of the earth,
and made and formed him after his own image and likeness, good,
righteous, and holy, capable in all things to will agreeably
to the will of God. But being in honor, he understood it not,
neither knew his excellency, but willfully subjected himself
to sin and consequently to death and the curse, giving ear to
the words of the devil. For the commandment of life, which he
had received, he transgressed; and by sin separated himself from
God, who was his true life; having corrupted his whole nature;
whereby he made himself liable to corporal and spiritual death.
And being thus become wicked, perverse, and corrupt in all his
ways, he has lost all his gifts which he had received from God,
and retained only small remains thereof, which, however, are
sufficient to leave man without excuse; for all the light which
is in us is changed unto darkness, as the Scriptures teach us,
saying: The light shines in darkness, and the darkness did not
apprehended it; where St. John calls men darkness.
Zacharias Ursinus (1534-83) What does the divine law
teach? The sort of covenant which God began with man, in creation;
by which man should have carried himself in serving God; and
what God would require from him after beginning with him a new
covenant of grace; that is, how and for what [end] man was created
by God; and to what state he might be restored; and by which
covenant one who has been reconciled to God ought to arrange
his life (Larger Catechism [1561] Q. 10)
Heidelberg Catechism (1563) Q. 6: Did God create man
thus wicked and perverse? A: No, but God created man good
and after His own image, that is, in righteousness and true holiness,
that he might rightly know God his Creator, heartily love Him,
and live with Him in eternal blessedness, to praise and glorify
Him.
Heidelberg Catechism, Q. 7: From where then comes this
depraved nature of man? A: From the fall and disobedience
of our first parents, Adam and Eve, in Paradise whereby our nature
became so corrupt that we are all conceived and born in sin (Heidelberg
Catechism, 1563).
Heidelberg Catechism, Q. 9: Does not God then do injustice
to man by requiring of him in His Law that which he cannot perform?
A: No, for God so made man that he could perform it, but
man, through the instigation of the devil, by willful disobedience
deprived himself and all his posterity of those divine gifts
(Heidelberg Catechism, 1563).
Zacharias Ursinus. What is this covenant? A covenant
in general is a mutual contract, or agreement between two parties,
in which the one party binds itself to the other to accomplish
something upon certain conditions, giving or receiving something,
which is accompanied with certain outward signs and symbols,
for the purpose of ratifying in the most solemn manner the contract
entered into, and for the sake of confirming it, that the engagement
may be kept inviolate (Commentary on the Heidelberg Catechism,
97).
Caspar Olevian (1536-87). This obedience of the Son
was superior to all the justice of the Law. For Adam also, if
he willed, could have remained in the righteousness of the Law.
And to the degree that the curse was owed for every sin of the
elect, to the same degree he had to fulfill all righteousness
without any complaint, not even all the Angels were able to do
this. Therefore, this obedience of the Son was not only regarding
the righteousness of the Law, such as Adam received in creation,
and such as the Law required of him, but also it exceeded the
righteousness of all the Angels (Ad Galatas Notae, 57;
Geneva, 1578).
Caspar Olevian. At the beginning of the human race
that old serpent led humanity away from the word of the law,
and thus from the covenant of creation by a false interpretation....The
summary of this law shining forth in the image of God was that
he love the Lord his God with all his heart...and as a testimony
of this love refrain from eating from the one tree (De substantia,
2.27; Geneva, 1585).
Heidelberg Catechism Q. 62. But why cannot our good
works be the whole or part of our righteousness before God?
Because the righteousness which can stand before the judgment-seat
of God, must be perfect throughout and wholly conformable to
the divine law;1 but even our best works in this life are all
imperfect and defiled with sin.
Robert Rollock (c.1555-99). The covenant of God...is
twofold; the first is the covenant of works; the second is the
covenant of grace (Select Works 1.33-34)
Robert Rollock. Man, after the fall, abides under the
covenant of works; and to this day, life is promised him under
condition of works done by strength and nature. But if he will
not do so well, death and the everlasting curse of God is denounced
against him, so long as he is without Christ and without the
gospel. And being freed from the covenant of works...he is admitted
to the covenant of grace.... Christ, therefore, our Mediator,
subjected himself to the covenant of works, and unto the law
for our sake, and did both fulfill the condition of the covenant
of works in his holy and good life...and also did undergo that
curse with which man was threatened in the covenant of works,
if that condition of good and holy works were not kept...Wherefore
we see Christ in two respects, to wit, in doing and suffering,
subject to the covenant of works, and in both respects he has
most perfectly fulfilled it, and that for our sake whose Mediator
he is become (Select Works, 1.52).
Canons of Dort (1619) 3/4.1 Man was originally formed
after the image of God. His understanding was adorned with a
true and saving knowledge of his Creator, and of spiritual things;
his heart and will were upright, all his affections pure, and
the whole man was holy. But, revolting from God by the instigation
of the devil and by his own free will, he forfeited these excellent
gifts; and an in the place thereof became involved in blindness
of mind, horrible darkness, vanity, and perverseness of judgment;
became wicked, rebellious, and obdurate in heart and will, and
impure in his affections.
Johannes Wollebius (1586-1629). I. God made a double
covenant with man, the one of works and the other of grace; the
former before, the latter after the fall. II. The covenant
of works was confirmed by a double sacrament, to wit, the Tree
of Life, and the tree of the knowledge of good and evil both
being planted in the midst of paradise. III. They had
a double use. 1. That man’s obedience might be tried, by
using of the one, and abstaining from the other. 2. That the
Tree of Life might ratify eternal happiness to those that should
obey, but the Tree of Knowledge should signify to the disobedient,
the loss of the greatest happiness and the possession of the
greatest mercy. IV. Therefore the Tree of Life was so
called, not from any innate faculty it had to give life, but
from a sacramental signification. V. Likewise the Tree
of Knowledge of good and evil, had this denomination from signifying
the chief good and evil and from the event. VI. The happiness
of man being yet in his integrity, consisted chiefly in the image
of God. XIV. Man even in respect of his body was immortal,
but not simply, as though his body being composed of the elements
could not be resolved into its principles, but by Divine Covenant;
not as thought it could not die, but because it had a possibility
not to die (posse non peccare). (Compendium of Christian Theology,
1626).
John Preston (1587-1628). It is said, "the promise
is made to the Seed," yet the promise is made to us, and
yet again the covenant is made with Abraham: How can all these
stand together? Answer: The promises that are made to the Seed,
that is to Christ himself are these: You shall sit on that throne;
you shall be a prince of peace, and the government shall be upon
your shoulders; likewise, you shall be a prophet to my people....These
are the promises that are made to the Seed. The promises that
are made to us, though they be of the same covenant, nevertheless
differ in this respect: the active part is committed to the Messiah,
to the Seed himself, but the passive part consists of the promises
made to us.... So the promise is made to us.....The meaning is
that they are derivative promises. They primary and original
promises were made to Jesus Christ (The New Covenant,
1639; 374-75).
John Ball (1585-1640). The Covenant of Works, wherein
God covenanted with man to give him eternal life upon condition
of perfect obedience in his own person. The Covenant of Grace,
which God made with man promising eternal life upon condition
of believing...This Covenant [of works] God made with man without
a Mediator for there needed no no middle person to bring man
into favor and friendship with God, because man did bear the
image of God, and had not offended: nor to procure acceptance
to man's service because it was pure and spotless. God did love
man being made after his Image and promised to accept of his
obedience performed freely, willingly, entirely, according to
his Commandment. (A Treatise of the Covenant of Grace.
London, 1645, 8,9).
James Ussher (1581-1656). Man being at the beginning
created according to the image of God...had the covenant of law
ingrafted in his heart; whereby God did promise unto him everlasting
life, upon the condition that he performed entire and perfect
obedience unto his Commandments (Irish Articles, 1615;
Art. 11).
Westminster Confession of Faith (1647). Chapter 7: Of God's
Covenant with Man. 7:1. The distance between God and the
creature is so great, that although reasonable creatures do owe
obedience unto him as their Creator, yet they could never have
any fruition of him, as their blessedness and reward, but by
some voluntary condescension on God's part, which he hath been
pleased to express by way of covenant. 7:2. The first
covenant made with man was a covenant of works, wherein life
was promised to Adam, and in him to his posterity, upon condition
of perfect and personal obedience.
Westminster Larger Catechism. Q.
20. What was the providence
of God toward man in the estate in which he was created? A.
The providence of God toward man in the estate in which he was
created, was the placing him in paradise, appointing him to dress
it, giving him liberty to eat of the fruit of the earth; putting
the creatures under his dominion, and ordaining marriage for
his help; affording him communion with himself; instituting the
sabbath; entering into a covenant of life with him, upon condition
of personal, perfect, and perpetual obedience, of which the tree
of life was a pledge; and forbidding to eat of the tree of knowledge
of good and evil, upon the pain of death.
Westminster Larger Catechism. Q. 21. A. Our first parents being left
to the freedom of their own will, through the temptation of Satan,
transgressed the commandment of God in eating the forbidden fruit;
and thereby fell from the estate of innocency wherein they were
created.
Westminster Larger Catechism. Q. 22. Did all mankind fall in that
first transgression? A. The covenant being made with Adam
as a public person, not for himself only, but for his posterity,
all mankind descending from him by ordinary generation, sinned
in him, and fell with him in that first transgression.
The Sum of Saving Knowledge (1647). 1b) God originally made everything from nothing,
perfect. He made our first parents, Adam and Eve, the root of
mankind, both upright and able to keep the law written in their
hearts. This law they were naturally bound to obey upon penalty
of death. God was not bound to reward their service, till he
entered into a covenant or contract with them, and their posterity
in them. He promised to give them eternal life, upon condition
of perfect personal obedience. If they failed they would die.
This is the covenant of works.
Johannes Cloppenburg (1592-1652). Here there arises
before us the twofold diatheke or dispensation of the
new covenant (covenant of grace) of which Christ speaks in Luke
22:29. 1) The one which Father covenantally ordains to the guarantor,
2) The one in which the Son as the Father's guarantor ordains
the promise of life and heavenly glory for our sake. As for the
first arrangement, the covenant is said to be previously ratified
by God in him, Gal. 3:17. Here the full covenant concept remains,
namely a two-sided agreement of mutual trust. As for the second
arrangement, the covenant is called a testament established for
us by the dying Testator, Heb. 9:14-17 (Opera Omnia 1.503).
Helvetic Consensus Formula (1675). Canon VII: As all
his works were known unto God from eternity, (Acts 15:18), so
in time, according to his infinite power, wisdom, and goodness,
he made man, the glory and end of his works, in his own image,
and, therefore, upright, wise, and just. Having created man in
this manner, he put him under the Covenant of Works, and in this
Covenant freely promised him communion with God, favor and life,
if indeed he acted in obedience to his will. Canon VIII:
Moreover that promise connected to the Covenant of Works was
not a continuation only of earthly life and happiness but the
possession especially of eternal and celestial life, a life namely,
of both body and soul in heaven, if indeed man ran the course
of perfect obedience, with unspeakable joy in communion with
God. For not only did the Tree of Life prefigured this very thing
unto Adam, but the power of the law, which, being fulfilled by
Christ, who went under it in our place, awards to us nothing
other than celestial life in Christ who kept the same righteousness
of the law. The power of the law also threatens man with both
temporal and eternal death. Canon IX: Wherefore we can
not agree with the opinion of those who deny that a reward of
heavenly bliss was offered to Adam on condition of obedience
to God. We also do not admit that the promise of the Covenant
of Works was any thing more than a promise of perpetual life
abounding in every kind of good that can be suited to the body
and soul of man in a state of perfect nature, and the enjoyment
thereof in an earthly Paradise. For this also is contrary to
the sound sense of the Divine Word, and weakens the power of
the law considered in itself. Canon X: God entered into
the Covenant of Works not only with Adam for himself, but also,
in him as the head and root with the whole human race. Man would,
by virtue of the blessing of the nature derived from Adam, inherit
also the same perfection, provided he continued in it. So Adam
by his sorrowful fall sinned and lost the benefits promised in
the Covenant not only for himself, but also for the whole human
race that would be born by the flesh. We hold, therefore, that
the sin of Adam is imputed by the mysterious and just judgment
of God to all his posterity. For the Apostle testifies that "in
Adam all sinned, by one man's disobedience many were made sinners"
(Rom 5:12,19) and "in Adam all die" (I Cor 15:21-22).
But there appears no way in which hereditary corruption could
fall, as a spiritual death, upon the whole human race by the
just judgment of God, unless some sin of that race preceded,
incurring the penalty of that death. For God, the most supreme
Judge of all the earth, punishes none but the guilty. Canon
XV: But by the obedience of his death Christ, in place of
the elect, so satisfied God the Father, that in the estimate
of his vicarious righteousness and of that obedience, all of
that which he rendered to the law, as its just servant, during
his entire life whether by doing or by suffering, ought to be
called obedience. For Christ's life, according to the Apostle's
testimony (Phil 1:8), was nothing but submission, humiliation
and a continuous emptying of self, descending step by step to
the lowest extreme even to the point of death on the Cross; and
the Spirit of God plainly declares that Christ in our stead satisfied
the law and divine justice by His most, holy life, and makes
that ransom with which God has redeemed us to consist not in
His sufferings only, but in his whole life conformed to the law.
The Spirit, however, ascribes our redemption to the death, or
the blood, of Christ, in no other sense than that it was consummated
by sufferings; and from that last definitive and no blest act
derives a name indeed, but not in such a way as to separate the
life preceding from his death.
Herman Witsius (1636-1708).. In the covenant of works
there was no mediator: in that of grace, there is the mediator,
Christ Jesus....In the covenant of works, the condition of perfect
obedience was required, to be performed by man himself, who had
consented to it. In that of grace, the same condition is proposed,
as to be, or as already performed by a mediator. And this substitution
of the person, consists the principal and essential difference
of the covenants (The Economy of the Covenants Between God
and Man, 1677, 2 vol;1.49).
John Owen (1616-83). Q. 3. Wherefore did God make man?
A.For his own glory in his servicef and obedience. Q. 4. Was
man able to yield the service and worship that God required of
him? A. Yea, to the uttermost, being created upright in the image
of God, in purity, innocence, righteousness, and holiness. Q.
5. What was the rule whereby man was at first to be directed
in his
obedience? A. The moral or eternal law of God, implanted in his
nature and written in his heart by creation, being the tenor
of the covenant between him, sacramentally typified by the tree
of knowledge good and evil. Q. 6. Do we stand in the same covenant
still, and have we the same power to yield obedience unto God?
A. No; the covenant was broken by the sin of Adam, with whom
it was made, our nature corrupted, and all power to do good utterly
lost. (The Greater Catechism (1645), ch.6).
Francis Turretin (1623-87). II. Although properly and
strictly speaking, there can be no covenant between God and man
because there is no room for a contract (which takes place between
equals), nor any obligation of God, but a spontaneous communication
of himself (as was proved in Part 1, Topic VIII, Question 3),
still God by singular grace willed to enter into a covenant with
man, in the sense of what lawyers call a"quasi-contract."
(Institutes of Elenctic Theology [1679-85] ed. J. T. Dennison
[Philipsburg: P&R Publishing, 1994]; 12.2.2 ).
Wilhelmus à Brakel (1635-1711). Acquaintance
with this covenant is of the greatest importance, for whoever
errs here or denies the existence of the covenant of works will
not understand the covenant of grace, and will readily err concerning
the mediatorship of the Lord Jesus. Such a person will very readily
deny that Christ by His active obedience has merited a right
to eternal life for the elect. This is to be observed with several
parties who, because they err concerning the covenant of grace,
also deny the covenant of works. Conversely, whoever denies the
covenant of works, must rightly be suspected to be in error concerning
the covenant of grace as well (The Christian's Reasonable
Service, 1700; 1.355).
Charles Hodge (1797-1878). God having created man after
his own image in knowledge, righteousness, and holiness, entered
into a covenant of life with him, upon condition of perfect obedience,
forbidding him to eat of the tree of knowledge of good and evil
upon the pain of death. According to this statement, God entered
into a covenant with Adam. (2.) The promise annexed to that covenant
was life. (3.) The condition was perfect obedience. (4.) Its
penalty was death. 1. God entered into Covenant with Adam.
This statement does not rest upon any express declaration of
the Scriptures. It is, however, a concise and correct mode of
asserting a plain Scriptural fact, namely, that God made to Adam
a promise suspended upon a condition, and attached to disobedience
a certain penalty. This is what in Scriptural language is meant
by a covenant, and this is all that is meant by the term as here
used. Although the word covenant is not used in Genesis, and
does not elsewhere, in any clear passage, occur in reference
to the transaction there recorded, yet inasmuch as the plan of
salvation is constantly represented as a New Covenant, new, not
merely in antithesis to that made at Sinai, but new in reference
to all legal covenants whatever, it is plain that the Bible does
represent the arrangement made with Adam as a truly federal transaction.
The Scriptures know nothing of any other than two methods of
attaining eternal life: the one that which demands perfect obedience,
and the other that which demands faith. If the latter is called
a covenant, the former is declared to be of the same nature.
It is of great importance that the Scriptural form of presenting
truth should be retained. Rationalism was introduced into the
Church under the guise of a philosophical statement of the truths
of the Bible free from the mere outward form in which the sacred
writers, trained in Judaism, had presented them. On this ground
the federal system, as it was called, was discarded. On the same
ground the prophetic, priestly, and kingly offices of Christ
were pronounced a cumbrous and unsatisfactory form under which
to set forth his work as our Redeemer. And then the sacrificial
character of his death, and all idea of atonement were rejected
as mere Jewish drapery. Thus, by the theory of accommodation,
every distinctive doctrine of the Scriptures was set aside, and
Christianity reduced to Deism. It is, therefore, far more than
a mere matter of method that is involved in adhering to the Scriptural
form of presenting Scriptural truths. God then did enter into
a covenant with Adam. That covenant is sometimes called a
covenant of life, because life was promised as the reward of
obedience. Sometimes it is called the covenant of works, because
works were the condition on which that promise was suspended,
and because it is thus distinguished from the new covenant which
promises life on condition of faith. 2. The Promise. The
reward promised to Adam on condition of his obedience, was life.
(1.) This is involved in the threatening: `'In the day that thou
eatest thereof, thou shalt surely die." It is plain that
this involved the assurance that he should not die, if he did
not eat. (2.) This is confirmed by innumerable passages and by
the general drift of Scripture, in which it is so plainly and
so variously taught, that life was, by the ordinance of God,
connected with obedience. `` This do and thou shalt live."
"The man that doeth them shall live by them." This
is the uniform mode in which the Bible speaks of that law or
covenant under which man by the constitution of his nature and
by the ordinance of God, was placed. (3.) As the Scriptures everywhere
present God as a judge or moral ruler, it follows of necessity
from that representation, that his rational creatures will be
dealt with according to the principles of justice. If there be
no transgression there will tee no punishment. And those who
continue holy thereby continue in the favor and fellowship of
him whose favour is life, and whose loving-kindness is better
than life. (4.) And finally, holiness, or as the Apostle expresses
it, to be spiritually minded, is life. There can therefore be
no doubt, that had Adam continued in holiness, he would have
enjoyed that life which flows from the favour of God. The life
thus promised included the happy, holy, and immortal existence
of the soul and body. This is plain. (1.) Because the life promised
was that suited to the being to whom the promise was made. But
the life suited to man as a moral and intelligent being, composed
of soul and body, includes the happy, holy, and immortal existence
of his whole nature. (2.) The life of which the Scriptures everywhere
speak as connected with obedience, is that which, as just stated,
flows from the favour and fellowship of God, and includes glory,
honour, and immortality, as the Apostle teaches us in Romans
ii. 7. (3.) The life secured by Christ for his people was the
life forfeited by sin. But the life which the believer derives
from Christ is spiritual and eternal life, the exaltation and
complete blessedness of his whole nature, both soul and body.
3. Condition of the Covenant. The condition of the covenant
made with Adam is said in the symbols of our church to be perfect
obedience. That that statement is correct may be inferred (1.)
From the nature of the case and from the general principles clearly
revealed in the word of God. Such is the nature of God, and such
the relation which He sustains to his moral creatures, that sin,
the transgression of the divine law, must involve the destruction
of the fellowship between man and his Creator, and the manifestation
of the divine displeasure. The Apostle therefore says, that he
who offends in one point, who breaks one precept of the law of
God, is guilty of the whole. (2.) It is everywhere assumed in
the Bible, that the condition of acceptance under the law is
perfect obedience. "cursed is every one who continueth not
in all things written in the book of the law to do them."
This is not a peculiarity of the Mosaic economy, but a declaration
of a principle which applies to all divine laws. (3.) The whole
argument of the Apostle in his epistles to the Romans and to
the Galatians, is founded on the assumption that the law demands
perfect obedience. If that be not granted, his whole argument
falls to the ground. The specific command to Adam not to eat
of a certain tree, was therefore not the only command he was
required to obey. It was given simply to be the outward and visible
test to determine whether he was willing to obey God in all things.
Created holy, with all his affections pure, there was the more
reason that the test of his obedience should be an outward and
positive command; something wrong simply because it was forbidden,
and not evil in its own nature. It would thus be seen that Adam
obeyed for the sake of obeying. His obedience was more directly
to God, and not to his own reason. The question whether perpetual,
as well as perfect obedience was the condition of the covenant
made with Adam, is probably to be answered in the negative. It
seems to be reasonable in itself and plainly implied in the Scriptures
that all rational creatures have a definite period of probation.
If faithful during that period they are confirmed in their integrity,
and no longer exposed to the danger of apostasy. Thus we read
of the angels who kept not their first estate, and of those who
did. Those who remained faithful have continued in holiness and
in the favour of God. It is therefore to be inferred that had
Adam continued obedient during the period allotted to his probation,
neither he nor any of his posterity would have been ever exposed
to the danger of sinning. 6. Perpetuity of the Covenant of
Works. If Adam acted pot only for himself but also for his
posterity, that fact determines the question, Whether the covenant
of works be still in force. In the obvious sense of the terms,
to say that men are still under that covenant, is to say that
they are still on probation; that the race did not fall when
Adam fell. But if Adam acted as the head of the whole race, then
all men stood their probation in him, and fell with him in his
first transgression. The Scriptures, therefore, teach that we
come into the world under condemnation. We are by nature, '.
e., as we were born, the children of wrath. This fact is assumed
in all the provisions of the gospel and in all the institutions
of our religion. Children are required to be baptized for the
remission of sin. But while the Pelagian doctrine is to be rejected,
which teaches that each man comes into the world free from sin
and free from condemnation, and stands his probation in his own
person, it is nevertheless true that where there is no sin there
is no condemnation. Hence our Lord said to the young man, "
This do and thou shalt live." And hence the Apostle in the
second chapter of his Epistle to the Romans, says that God will
reward every man according to his works. To those who are good,
He will give eternal life; to those who are evil, indignation
and wrath. This is only saying that the eternal principles of
justice are still in force. If any man can present himself before
the bar of God and prove that he is free from sin, either imputed
or personal, either original or actual, he will not be condemned.
But the fact is that the whole world lies in wickedness. Man
is an apostate race. Men are all involved in the penal and natural
consequences of Adam's transgression. They stood their probation
in him, and do not stand each man for himself (Systematic
Theology (1872-73) Vol. 2: Anthropology, Ch. 6).
Herman Bavinck (1854-1921). In the covenant of works
and the covenant of grace [there is] but one highest ideal for
man and that is eternal life. (Gereformeerde Dogmatiek,
4 vol. 1895-1901; II.526).
Herman Bavinck. The commandment given to Adam was essentially
a covenant, because, like God's covenant with Israel, it was
intended to grant eternal life to Adam in the way of obedience.
(Herman Bavinck, Gereformeerde Dogmatiek, II.526)
Herman Bavinck. Paul with his parallel between Adam
and Christ gave rise to thinking of the status integritatis [state
of integrity] as a covenant. In distinction from the foedus gratitae
[covenant of grace], then, this was named the foedus naturae
or operum [covenant of nature or works]. It was called the covenant
of nature not as if it sprung, of itself and naturally, from
God's nature or that of man. Rather, it was called that because
the foundation on which it rested, that is, the moral law, was
known by man in nature, and because it was established with man
in his original state and could be kept by man with the capacities
given to him by creation, without supernatural grace (Gereformeerde
Dogmatiek, II. 528-29)
Herman Bavinck. Our confessional documents do not make
mention of the covenant of works] in so many words. But it is
already included materially in articles 14 and 15 of the Belgic
Confession, where it is taught that through Adam's transgression
of the commandment of life human nature in its entirety corrupted,
in Sundays 3 and 4 of the Heidelberg Catechism, where man is
said to be created in God's image so that he might live with
God in eternal life, but is also called totally corrupt because
of Adam's fall, and in the Canons of Dort 3:2, where it is said
that the corruption of Adam is passed on to us "according
to God's righteous judgment. (Gereformeerde Dogmatiek,
II.529).
Herman Bavinck. But the doctrine of a covenant of works
rests on a scriptural foundation and is of surpassing value.
(Gereformeerde Dogmatiek, 529-30).
M. J. Bosma (1874-1912). Covenant of Works.
What was the covenant of works? A covenant is an agreement.
The covenant of works was an agreement between God and Adam,
wherein God promised eternal life to Adam and all his posterity,
upon condition of perfect obedience to the probationary command
not to eat of the tree of knowledge of good and evil, God threatening
that Adam would die in case he broke this command. The elements
of this covenant therefore were: 1. A condition expressed:
perfect obedience. 2. A promise implied: eternal life.
3. A penalty threatened: death. Adam stood in a two-fold relation
towards God: as creature and as covenant head. Adam as a creature
of God was naturally under obligation to love and serve his Maker,
but to this natural relation of Creator and creature God added
the covenant relation. As God's creature Adam had to obey his
Maker individually for himself, without any regard to his descendants.
As placed under the condition of the covenant of works by God
he acted not alone for himself, but was the representative of
the human race: if he was faithful to the trial command of God
he would have secured eternal life for all his posterity, if
he broke the trial command he would bring upon all his descendants
the penalty: "in the day thou eatest thereof thou shall
surely die." Adam was the covenant or federal head of the
human race. The covenant of which Adam was the head is carted
"covenant of works," because it was through work of
obedience that he was to gain eternal life, in contrast to the
covenant of grace, wherein eternal life is obtained as a free
gift of God's grace. Why do we believe this doctrine of the
covenant of works? 1. We must admit it is not systematically
taught in Scripture as we have explained it above, nor does the
name covenant of works occur in the Bible, yet we are justified
and necessitated for a clear apprehension of Adam's original
position and of his relation to us to use the term "covenant
of works" and to give to it the meaning above described,
since all the elements of a covenant are distinctly found in
the descriptions of Adam; all we do is to put the various elements
in systematic order and call the whole "the covenant of
works." We do not imply that an actual transaction of covenant
making occurred between God and Adam as between two equals, for
God and man are not equals, and so the original relation of Adam
towards God was not a compact entered into by. mutual consideration,
rather was the covenant of works a constitution imposed upon
man by God, to which man readily consented, since he was in fullest
harmony with God. The Sovereign 'Creator revealed the way to
life eternal, to this way Adam consented,-thus the covenant was
formed. 2. Hosea 6:7, (R. V.): "But they, like Adam.
Have transgressed the covenant." Here it is plainly stated
that Adam stood in covenant relation with God. 3. In Rom.
5:12-21, Paul draws a parallel between Adam and Christ. He declares
that sin and death have come to us from Adam as righteousness
and life come to us from Christ. Righteousness and life are secured
to us without any action of our own, are imputed and given to
us because of the work of Christ, so sin and death are our portion
because of what Adam has done, without any conscious effort or
work of our own, but as a result of covenant relationship. Adam
and Christ are both covenant heads, their acts are imputed and
charged to those they represent. To refuse to believe that Adam
was our covenant head would require refusal to believe that Christ's
merits could become ours." Rom. 5:12-21 ... 4. The
fundamental principle of one representing many underlies all
the religious institutions ever ordained by God for men. God
always deals with us according to this principle. Why did
God enter into covenant relation with Adam? Because he desired
the free and voluntary love and service of man. Man, as the angels,
was gifted with the power of reason and a free will, and nothing
less than a willing service of man could satisfy God. This would
be best understood and secured if man stood in covenant relation
to God. All other creatures God controlled without any choice
of their own, he influences their instinct or constrains them
to involuntarily do his will. With them he makes no agreement,
to them he makes no appeal and offers no reward. A covenant relation
with the animal and vegetable world is impossible. But man, made
in God's image, can understand God and agree or disagree to serve
him. That man might show whether he would freely serve his Maker,
God entered into a covenant with him, and tried him by the probationary
command not to eat of the forbidden tree. The special command
not to eat of the forbidden tree was given to be the outward
and visible test to determine whether Adam was willing to obey
God in all things. The eating of the tree was not wrong in its
own nature, but was wrong because God had forbidden it. By leaving
alone the fruit he would show that his whole life was subject
to God, and his eating would prove that his heart was contrary
to the holy will of his Creator. No fairer trial than the human
race thus had in Adam can be conceived of, since he was created
in full possession of all his faculties and in the image of God.
What did the promise of eternal life include? It included the
happy, holy and immortal existence of soul and body. Eternal
life flows from the favor and fellowship of God, and includes
glory, honor, and immortality; the exaltation and complete blessedness
of both soul and body. Thus privileged with life Adam would have
been prophet, priest and king on earth, and everything else would
have been subdued unto him in the service of God. This blessed
state will be the heritage of those saved by Christ, and they
will never lose it, because they, for the merits of their Redeemer's
sake, are kept by the power of God. Can we gain eternal life
at present through the covenant of works? No, for we can
never fulfill the condition of the covenant of works. If we could
be born without sin and should never thereafter sin, we might
gain eternal life as reward for obedience, but this is impossible.
The penalty of the covenant of works rests upon all, for all
are sinners. The covenant of works condemns us (Exposition
of the Reformed Doctrine [Grand Rapids, 1907]).
G. Vos (1862-1949). According to the Reformed view
the covenant of works is something more than the natural bond
which exists between God and man. The Westminster Confession
puts this in such a pointedly beautiful way (7.1) ...If we are
not mistaken, the instinctive aversion which some have to the
covenant of works springs from a lack of appreciation for this
wonderful truth [i.e., God's voluntary condescension]. ("The
Doctrine of the Covenant in Reformed Theology," 1891, Selected
Shorter Writings, 244).
Louis Berkhof (1873-1957). All the elements of covenant
[of works] are indicated in Scripture, and if the elements are
present, we are not only warranted but, in a systematic study
of the doctrine, also in duty bound to relate them to one another,
and to give the doctrine so construed an appropriate name (Systematic
Theology, [Grand Rapids, 4th edn. 1941], 213).
Louis Berkhof. There was [in the covenant of works]
a promise of eternal life....Now it is perfectly true that no
such promise is explicitly recorded, but it is clearly implied
in the alternative of death as the result of disobedience (Louis
Berkhof, Systematic Theology, [Grand Rapids, 4th edn.
1941], 214).
Meredith G. Kline. The active obedience of Jesus is
his fulfilling the demands of the covenant probation. By the
passive obedience of his atoning sacrifice he secures for us
the forgiveness of sins. But he does more than clear the slate
and reinstate us in Adams original condition, still facing probation
and able to fail. Jesus, the second Adam, accomplishes the probationary
assignment of overcoming the devil, and by performing this one
decisive act of righteousness he earns for us Gods promised reward.
By this achievement of active obedience he merits for us a position
beyond probation, secure forever in Gods love and the prospect
of God's eternal home. This grand truth is a fruit of covenant
theology. It grows out of the soil of the Reformed doctrine of
federal representation, which is based on the biblical teaching
about the two Adams whose responses under covenant probation
are imputed to those they represent. Thus, God imputes to those
whom Christ represents the righteousness of the victory of his
active obedience in his probationary battle against Satan. Here
was Machen's strong comfort in death. He knew that the meritorious
work performed by his Savior had been reckoned to his account
as if he had performed it. God must certainly bestow on him the
glorious heavenly reward, for Jesus had earned it for him and
God's name is just ("Covenant Theology Under Attack",
1994).
On the Covenant of
Grace John Calvin (1509-64). For Paul’s inquiry is not
so much whether the unbelief of men neutralizes the truth of
God, so that it should not in itself remain firm and constant,
but whether it hinders its effect and fulfillment as to men.
The meaning then is, “Since most of the Jews are covenant-breakers,
is God’s covenant so abrogated by their perfidiousness that
it brings forth no fruit among them? To this he answers, that
it cannot be that the truth of God should lose its stability
through man’s wickedness. Though then the greater part had
nullified and trodden under foot God’s covenant, it yet
retained its efficacy and manifested its power, not indeed as
to all, but with regard to a few of that nation: and it is then
efficacious when the grace or the blessing of the Lord avails
to eternal salvation. But this cannot be, except when the promise
is received by faith; for it is in this way that a mutual covenant
is on both sides confirmed. He then means that some ever remained
in that nation, who by continuing to believe in the promise,
had not fallen away from the privileges of the covenant (Commentary
on Romans 4.3, Strasbourg, 1539).
Zacharias Ursinus (1534-83). Q: 1 What firm comfort
do you have in life and in death? A: That I was created
by God in his image and for eternal life. After I, of my own
accord, lost this image in Adam, God out of his immense and gracious
mercy, received me into his covenant of grace, so that, on the
basis of the obedience and death of his Son, who was sent in
the flesh, he gave to me, a believer, righteousness and eternal
life. Moreover, He sealed his covenant in my heart through his
Spirit who renews me in God's image and who cries in me "Abba,
Father," and through his Word and the visible signs of his
covenant (Summa theologie, 1561).
Heidelberg Catechism (1563). Q: 19. From where do you
know this? A: From the Holy Gospel, which God Himself
revealed first in Paradise; afterwards proclaimed by the holy
Patriarchs and Prophets, and foreshadowed by the sacrifices and
other ceremonies of the law; and finally fulfilled by His well-beloved
Son.
Robert Rollock (c.1555-99). Whereas God offers the
righteousness and life under condition of faith, yet he does
not so much respect faith in us, which is also his own gift,
as he does the object of faith, which is Christ, and his own
free mercy in Christ, which must be apprehended by faith; for
it is not so much our faith apprehending, as Christ himself,
and God's mercy apprehended in him, that is the cause wherefore
God performs the promise of his covenant unto us, to our justification
and salvation (Select Works, 1.40).
Canons of Dort (1619). First Head: Article 17. Since
we are to judge of the will of God from His Word, which testifies
that the children of believers are holy, not by nature, but in
virtue of the covenant of grace, in which they together with
the parents are comprehended, godly parents ought not to doubt
the election and salvation of their children whom it pleases
God to call out of this life in their infancy (Gen 17:7; Acts
2:39; 1 Cor 7:14).
Canons of Dort (1619). Rejection of Errors Second Head:
Paragraph 2. [We reject those:] Who teach: That it
was not the purpose of the death of Christ that He should confirm
the new covenant of grace through His blood, but only that He
should acquire for the Father the mere right to establish with
man such a covenant as He might please, whether of grace or of
works. For this is repugnant to Scripture which teaches that
"Jesus has become the guarantee of a better covenant that
is a new covenant ..." and that "it never takes effect
while the one who made it is living. (Heb 7:22; 9:15, 17)."
Canons of Dort (1619). Fifth Head: Paragraph 1. Who
teach: That the perseverance of the true believers is not a fruit
of election, or a gift of God gained by the death of Christ,
but a condition of the new covenant which (as they declare) man
before his decisive election and justification must fulfill through
his free will. For the Holy Scripture testifies that this follows
out of election, and is given the elect in virtue of the death,
the resurrection, and the intercession of Christ: "What
Israel sought so earnestly it did not obtain, but the elect did.
The others were hardened (Rom 11:7)." Likewise: "He
who did not spare His own Son, but gave him up for us all--how
will he not also, along with him, graciously give us all things?
Who will bring any charge against those whom God has chosen?
It is God who justifies. Who is he that condemns? Christ Jesus,
who died--more than that, who was raised to life--is at the right
hand of God and is also interceding for us. Who shall separate
us from the love of Christ (Rom 8:32-35)?"
John Ball (1585-1640). The Covenant of Grace is that
free and gracious Covenant which God of his mere mercy in Jesus
Christ made with man a miserable and wretched sinner, promising
unto him pardon of sin and eternal happiness, if he will return
from his iniquity, embrace mercy reached forth, by faith unfeigned,
and walk before God in sincere, faithful and willing obedience,
as becomes such a creature lifted up unto such enjoyment, and
partaker of such precious promises. This covenant is opposite
to the former in kind, so that at one and the same time, man
cannot be under the Covenant of works and the Covenant of grace.
For he cannot hope to be justified by his perfect and exact obedience,
that acknowledging himself to be a miserable and lost sinner,
does expect pardon of the free mercy of God in Jesus Christ embraced
by faith. (A Treatise of the Covenant of Grace. London,
1645, 14-15).
Westminster Confession of Faith (1647). Chapter 7:3.
Man, by his Fall, having made himself incapable of life by that
covenant, the Lord was pleased to make a second, commonly called
the covenant of grace: wherein he freely offereth unto sinners
life and salvation by Jesus Christ, requiring of them faith in
him, that they may be saved, and promising to give unto all those
that are ordained unto life, his Holy Spirit, to make them willing
and able to believe. 7:4 |
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