21. Man being at the beginning created according to the image of God (which consisted especially in the wisdom of his mind and the true holiness of his free will), had the covenant of law engrafted in his heart, whereby God did . . . Continue reading →
Covenant of Works
Wollebius: Christ Merited Our Salvation By His Active Obedience As The Second Adam
I. Just as the passion of Christ it Is necessary for the expiation of sin, so his active obedience and righteousness are necessary for the gaining of eternal life. The reasons are: (1) The law binds us both to punishment and to . . . Continue reading →
Rutherford: Meritorious Works For Adam And Christ But Grace For Us
Christ gave perfect obedience as man to the Covenant of Works, and he did merit as man, by the law of works, life eternal, the way that Adam should have merited life eternal, so he had never fallen…. Continue reading →
Berkhof: Christ Met The Condition Of The Covenant Of Works
3. BASICALLY, THE COVENANT OF GRACE IS SIMPLY THE EXECUTION OF THE ORIGINAL AGREEMENT BY CHRIST AS OUR SURETY. He undertook freely to carry out the will of God. He placed Himself under the law, that He might redeem them that were . . . Continue reading →
A. A. Hodge: Adam Would Have Merited
As to the relation of good works to rewards, it may be observed—(1.) The word merit, in the strict sense of the term, means that common quality of all actions or services to which a reward is due in strict justice on . . . Continue reading →
Hodge On Adam, Christ, Conditions, And Merit
The condition of the covenant of grace, so far as adults are concerned, is faith in Christ. That is, in order to partake of the benefits of this covenant we must receive the Lord Jesus Christ as the Son of God in . . . Continue reading →
J. H. Heidegger: Christ Condignly Merited As The Second Adam
9.3 The Covenant Of Works The covenant of works is the pact of God initiated with the uncorrupted Adam, as head of the whole human race, in which He stipulated from man perfect obedience to the law, promised eternal, heavenly life for . . . Continue reading →
Witsius: Christ Condignly Merited A Reward By Fulfilling The Covenant Of Works
XXXIII. And the thing speaks for itself, For, as there is a covenant between the Father and the Son; “when thou shalt make his soul (if the soul of the Son shall devote himself) an offering for sin,” Is. 53:10, upon performing . . . Continue reading →
Witsius: Don’t Confuse The Covenant Of Works With The Covenant Of Grace
XXV. Such a perfect observance of the laws of the covenant, up to the period which God had fixed for probation, had given man a right to the reward. Not from any intrinsic proportion of the work to the reward, as the . . . Continue reading →
Johannes Braun: Adam Would Have Merited His Reward
If Adam had remained upright and done everything which God required of him, he would indeed have merited his reward, but not condignly, as if either his own person or his works were equal in value to the reward. For no creature, . . . Continue reading →
Turretin On Merit In The Covenant Of Works
V. The covenant of nature is that which God the Creator made with innocent man as his creature, concerning the giving of eternal happiness and life under the conditions of perfect and personal obedience. It is called “natural,” not from natural obligation . . . Continue reading →
Shepherdite Theology: Covenantal Arminianism
It is not proper, therefore, to set up a dichotomy whereby according to God’s secret will, election or justification cannot be lost, but according to our covenant perspective they may be lost. The statements cited show a tendency to use typically Calvinistic . . . Continue reading →
The Distinction Must Be Maintained
The two covenant scheme of the Westminster Standards has been absolutely essential in combatting the Neonomianism of both Norman Shepherd and the Federal Vision, not to mention Roman Catholicism. There are, of course, matters in which the two covenants are similar (they . . . Continue reading →
Sproul: Man’s Relationship To God Based On Works
Man’s relationship to God in creation was based on works. What Adam failed to achieve, Christ, the second Adam, succeeded in achieving. Ultimately the only way one can be justified is by works. —R. C. Sproul, Getting the Gospel Right (Grand Rapids: . . . Continue reading →
A Uniform Concept Of Covenant Faithfulness For Adam, Israel, & The New Covenant People
Mr. Shepherd rejects not only the term ‘covenant of works’ but the possibility of any merit or reward attaching to the obedience of Adam in the creation covenant. He holds that faithful obedience is the condition of all covenants in contrast to . . . Continue reading →
Rollock: Covenant Of Works Founded On Nature And Republished To Israel
For this cause he, when he was to repeat that covenant of works to the people of Israel, he gave the first law written in tables of stone; Then he made a covenant with his people, saying,”do these things and ye shall live.” Therefore the ground of the covenant of works was not Christ, nor the grace of God in Christ, but the nature of man in the first creation holy and perfect, endued also with the knowledge of the law. Continue reading →
Patrick Gillespie: Moses Was A Pedagogical Republication Of The Covenant Of Works
2.Then there could be no Covenant of Grace, in that Sinai covenant, for a covenant cannot be called subservient to itself; but it is abundantly proved and at great length by others, that the Sinai covenant was a covenant of grace, so . . . Continue reading →
William Cooper: There Is A Repetition Of The Covenant Of Works
OBJECTION. If any shall say, “By ‘first and old covenant’ was meant God’s covenant with Israel, and not with Adam; and so, by ‘covenant of works’ the same is meant; namely, that which the Lord made at Mount Sinai:” (Heb. 8:7–9:) ANSWER. . . . Continue reading →
Colquhoun: The Covenant Of Works Was Republished At Sinai
1. This contract between God and the first Adam, is in sacred writ, expressly styled a covenant. “These are the two covenants; the one from the mount Sinai, which gendereth to bondage, which is Agar.” Here are two covenants mentioned, the one . . . Continue reading →
Witsius: The Sinai Law Is Substantially The Law Of Nature
And there were several kinds of laws given them, of which there are principally three mentioned by divines. The moral, or the decalogue, the ceremonial, and the political, or forensic. The people of Israel may doubtless be considered three ways. 1st, As . . . Continue reading →