IV. (2) Before the fall, he had the power to love God and obey him in all things; for love supposes faith, a part of obedience. For he who is commanded by law to love God and obey him is also commanded . . . Continue reading →
covenant of works
Turretin On The Covenant Of Nature (9)
IX. Although natural liberty agrees in essentials with the liberty of man constituted in other states, still it differs greatly in accidentals. For the liberty of glory in blessedness is not to be able to sin (non posse peccare). The liberty of . . . Continue reading →
Turretin On the Covenant Of Nature (10)
IV. (2) Before the fall, he had the power to love God and obey him in all things; for love supposes faith, a part of obedience. For he who is commanded by law to love God and obey him is also commanded . . . Continue reading →
Turretin On The Covenant Of Nature (11)
IX. Although faith in Christ is not prescribed specifically and expressly in the law (which does not know Christ), still it is contained in it generically and implicitly (inasmuch as the law commands us to believe every word of God and all . . . Continue reading →
Office Hours: Introducing Johannes Cocceius On Covenant Theology In English
For most of his long career, Johannes Cocceius (1603–69) taught Old Testament, biblical theology, theology, and philology in the Netherlands. He was arguably one of the most important and influential Reformed theologians of the 17th century and his influence continues to be . . . Continue reading →
Turretin On The Covenant Of Nature (12)
IV. This double covenant is proposed to us in Scripture: of nature and of grace; of works and of faith; legal and evangelical. The foundation of this distinction rests both on the different relation (σχέσει) of God contracting (who can be considered . . . Continue reading →
Believer, You Are Being Graciously Sanctified
An HB reader writes to ask “in what senses are we under the covenant of works?” I reply Christians are in no sense under the covenant of works for our standing with God or for our salvation. Our justification and our sanctification . . . Continue reading →
Our Secular Life Is A Covenant Of Works
It is vital for Christians to understand that, for their standing with God (justification) and their gracious and gradual conformity to Christ (sanctification), i.e., for their salvation from the wrath to come and their deliverance from the bondage of sin, they are . . . Continue reading →
One Of The Root Causes Of The Current Controversy Over Salvation Sola Fide
John Piper, Foreword to Daniel Fuller, Law and Gospel: Contrast or Continuum? (1980) (HT: Pat Abendroth)
Social Media Testifies To The Covenant Of Works
In Colossians 2:8 Paul warned the Colossians Christians not to be taken captive by unbelieving ways of thinking (philosophies) nor by “the stoicheia (στοιχεῖα) of the world.” The noun stoicheia is usually translated with something like “elemental principles” or the like. That . . . Continue reading →
The Doctrine Of The Covenant Of Works Comes From Scripture
It is often objected, in my experience, that the Reformed confession of the covenant of works, e.g., Westminster Confession 7.2, “II. The first covenant made with man was a covenant of works, wherein life was promised to Adam; and in him to . . . Continue reading →
Are Believers Under The Law As A Schoolmaster?
For confessing Protestants, there is no question whether believers are under the civil and normative uses of the law. To deny the normative use (the third use) is the definition of antinomianism, a scourge which Martin Luther opposed in the 1520s, against which the Lutherans confess in the Book of Concord (1580), and which the Reformed have always opposed. The Heidelberg Catechism (1563) organized the Christian faith under three headings: Guilt (Law), Grace (Gospel), and Gratitude (Sanctification). The third part of the catechism contains an exposition of the moral law of God, the decalogue (Ten Commandments). The Westminster Standards also affirm and explain the moral law and apply it to the Christian life not in order that we might be keep it and thereby be justified and saved but because we have been justified and saved by grace alone (sola gratia), through faith alone (sola fide) in Christ alone. Continue reading →
Owen On The Covenant Of Works And The Imputation Of Christ’s Active Obedience
There is yet something more required; it is not enough that we are not guilty, we must also be actually righteous,—not only all sin is to be answered for, but all righteousness is to be fulfilled. By taking away the guilt of . . . Continue reading →
Canons Of Dort (25): Perservance Is Not A Covenant Of Works
In the previous essay we saw that the Reformed Churches defended perseverance by grace alone (sola gratia) against the Remonstrant attempt to deny perseverance by making grace resistible and conditional rather than sovereign and free. To see that we looked at the . . . Continue reading →
Canons Of Dort (26): Perseverance Is Good News For Sinners
Under this head of doctrine we have considered the errors that Synod rejected—the Remonstrants turned the perseverance into a covenant of works—so now we turn to what Synod confessed positively about how Christ graciously preserves his people through their pilgrimage in this . . . Continue reading →
Canons Of Dort 33: The Grace Of Perseverance Is A Spiritual Doctrine
The Reformation gospel of salvation by grace alone (sola gratia), through faith alone (sola fide), as defined and confessed by the Reformed churches and as rejected by the Remonstrants (Arminians) was intended to produce and had the effect of giving comfort to . . . Continue reading →
Some Practical Consequences Of Reformed Covenant Theology
In Matthew 16:18 he promised to build “his church” and that the gates of hell would not prevail against his church. He gave the “keys of the kingdom” (16:19) to Peter as a Christ-confessor an anticipation of his office as apostle. In . . . Continue reading →
What Social Media Teaches Us About Law, Gospel, Forgiveness, And Grace
Carson King is a 23-year old Des Moines man who held up a sign at a televised college football game announcing, “Busch Lite supply needs replenished.” It was a joke but people began sending him money via the Venmo appl. When he . . . Continue reading →
New HB Resource: Articles, Books, Podcasts And More On The Covenant Of Works
We might say that the Reformed doctrine of the covenant of works, or better, adherence to the doctrine, is recovering from an illness. The doctrine itself is fine. It is what it has long been but from the early 20th century until . . . Continue reading →
Should We Talk About Breaking The Covenant Of Grace?
Introduction Two correspondents have written in recent days to ask about whether those who confess the Reformed confessions (e.g., the Heidelberg Catechism, the Belgic Confession, the Canons of Dort, and the Westminster Standards) and the Reformed confession, which is a broader category . . . Continue reading →