God’s covenant is a bargain which God hath made with men, in which God promises to men some good, and requires of them again, that they perform those things which he commands. And that covenant is either eternal or temporal. The eternal . . . Continue reading →
Covenant Theology
The Covenant Of Works In Late-17th Century English Reformed Theology
QUESTION II. What ground we have to speak of “God’s covenant with Adam,” and to call it “a covenant;” there being no mention of it here in the text, nor elsewhere in scripture do we read of “God’s covenant with Adam.” ANSWER. . . . Continue reading →
Office Hours: The Trinity And The Covenant Of Redemption (Part 2)
There are passages in Scripture such as Psalm 110, Hebrews 7, and John chapter 17 that reflect something of the eternal relationship between the persons of the Trinity and especially between the Father and the Son. In the Reformation some of our . . . Continue reading →
With Calvinist Batman On Covenant Theology And Reformed Identity
There are a number of evangelical people who are questioning the broadly evangelical theology, piety, and practice (whether Dispensational or Pentecostal or both) they inherited. For them covenant is a new category and they are working through the implications of the history of redemption . . . Continue reading →
Calvin On The Substance Of The Covenant Of Works
Because what God so severely punished must have been no light sin but a detestable crime, we must consider what kind of sin there was in Adam’s desertion that enkindled God’s fearful vengeance against the whole of mankind. To regard Adam’s sin . . . Continue reading →
Questions And Answers About Baptism
Earlier this week Calvinist Batman and I discussed covenant theology, baptism, and Reformed identity. That led to a follow-up discussion with some listeners. For the sake of brevity and clarity I have re-worded and abbreviated some of the questions and I have . . . Continue reading →
Cartwright: The Covenant Of Grace Is Not A Covenant Of Works
Jer. chap. 31:31 Behold, the days come, says the Lord, that I will make a new covenant with the house of Israel, with the house of Judah, 32 Not according to the covenant that I made with their fathers, when I took . . . Continue reading →
Leigh: Paradise Was A Little Model Of Heaven
Paradise signifies a garden, the word being translated out of Greek into Latin, and so into French and English. In Hebrew it is called Heden, which signifies delights, a garden of all manner of delights, a place beset with all kind of . . . Continue reading →
Howe: The Law Was A Covenant Of Works And The Gospel A Covenant Of Grace
It therefore now appears, that as the law or dictates of pure nature, comprehended together with other fit additionals, became at first one entire constitution aptly suited to the government of man in his innocent state, unto which the title did well . . . Continue reading →
Boston: Galatians Proves Adam Was In A Covenant Of Works
1. I shall confirm this great truth, and evince the being of such a covenant. It is altogether denied by the Arminians that there was any such covenant, and amongst ourselves by Professor Simson, that it was a proper covenant. The weight . . . Continue reading →
Three Things Dispensational Apologists Should Stop Saying
There are varieties of Dispensationalism, e.g., classic (Darby, Scofield), modified (Chafer, Ryrie), and progressive (Bock, Blaising). To be sure there are varieties of covenant theology, e.g., classic e.g., that taught in the classical period that taught the covenant of redemption (pactum salutis), . . . Continue reading →
Berkhof Contra Dispensationalism On The Essential Unity Of Redemptive History
As was already said in the preceding, the distinction between the law and the gospel is not the same as that between the Old and the New Testament. Neither is it the same as that which present day Dispensationalists make between the . . . Continue reading →
Southern Presbyterian Church On Dispensationalism In 1944
1. Report of the Ad Interim Committee on Changes in the Confession of Faith and Catechisms THE QUESTION AS TO WHETHER THE TYPE OF BIBLE INTERPRETATION KNOWN AS DISPENSATIONALISM IS IN HARMONY WITH THE CONFESSION OF FAITH The Ad Interim Committee appointed . . . Continue reading →
Sibbes: Our Communion Was First Founded Upon A Covenant Of Works
This communion and fellowship of man with God, was first founded on a covenant of works made with Adam in paradise. If he did obey, and did not eat of the forbidden fruit, he should have life both for himself and his . . . Continue reading →
The Consensus Of The Divines, Legalism, And The Covenant Of Works
The charge of legalism against the covenant of works is one of those allegations that seems persuasive at first because we all know that legalism is bad and that grace is good. It is almost instinctive to react to the charge by asserting the graciousness of the covenant of works. That is a trap, however, into which we ought not step. Continue reading →
Tracing The Paradigm Shift: Two Ways Of Being In The Covenant Of Grace
In like manner, the participation (communio) of the covenant of grace is two-fold. The one includes merely symbolical and common benefits (beneficia), which have no certain connection with salvation, and to which infants are admitted by their relation to parents that are . . . Continue reading →
Berkhof: Hosea 6:7 Teaches A Covenant Of Works
…In Hos. 6:7 we read: “But they like Adam have transgressed the covenant.” Attempts have been made to discredit this reading. Some have suggested the reading “at Adam,” which would imply that some well-known transgression occurred at a place called Adam. But . . . Continue reading →
Muller On The History Of The Exegesis Of Hosea 6:7
Adam in Hosea 6:7: generic or specific? An example of a different order is the exegesis of Hosea 6:7, where the medieval tradition had rested unquestioningly on the Vulgate rendering, “ipsi autem sicut Adam transgressi sunt pactum.” The text indicated, as virtually . . . Continue reading →
Heidelcast 100: Recovering The Covenant Of Works (1)
In contemporary Reformed Christianity, even in confessional churches, i.e., those churches where they not only formally hold the historic confessions but where they still profess to believe and seek to practice what we confess, two of the most disposable doctrines seem to . . . Continue reading →
A. A. Hodge: Adam Was Clearly In A Covenant Of Works
As to his legal relations, the Scriptures clearly teach that, at his creation, he was put under the equitable Covenant of Works for a certain probationary period. This just constitution provided (a) everlasting well-being on condition of perfect obedience, and (b) everlasting . . . Continue reading →