For I received from the Lord that which I also delivered to you: that the Lord Jesus on the same night in which He was betrayed took bread; and when He had given thanks, He broke it and said, "Take, eat; this is My body which is broke for you; do this in remembrance of Me." In the same manner He also took the cup after supper, saying, "This cup is the new covenant in My blood. This do, as often as you drink it, in remembrance of Me."
For as often as you eat this bread and drink this cup, you proclaim the Lord's death till He comes.
I Cor. 11: 23-26
We can chart the path to the future clearly and wisely only when we know the path that has led to the present.
Adlai Stevenson
Perhaps nothing helps us understand God's relationship with humanity better than covenant theology.
History is divided into two major covenant relationships with God:
*the covenant of works;
*the covenant of grace.
This duel approach to the human/divine relationship is clearly taught in the Westminster Standards:
I. 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.
II. 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.
III. 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 eternal life his Holy Spirit, to make them willing, and able to believe.
IV. This covenant of grace is frequently set forth in Scripture by the name of a testament, in reference to the death of Jesus Christ the Testator, and to the everlasting inheritance, with all things belonging to it, therein bequeathed.
V. This covenant was differently administered in the time of the law, and in the time of the gospel: under the law, it was administered by promises, prophecies, sacrifices, circumcision, the paschal lamb, and other types and ordinances delivered to the people of the Jews, all foresignifying Christ to come; which were, for that time, sufficient and efficacious, through the operation of the Spirit, to instruct and build up the elect in faith in the promised Messiah, by whom they had full remission of sins, and eternal salvation; and is called the old testament.
Westminster Confession of Faith, 7. 1-5
I. God gave to Adam a law, as a covenant of works, by which he bound him and all his posterity to personal, entire, exact, and perpetual obedience, promised life upon the fulfilling, and threatened death upon the breach of it, and endued him with power and ability to keep it.
VI. Although true believers be not under the law, as a covenant of works, to be thereby justified, or condemned; yet is it of great use to them, as well as to others; in that, as a rule of life informing them of the will of God, and their duty, it directs and binds them to walk accordingly; discovering also the sinful pollutions of their nature, hearts, and lives; so as, examining themselves thereby, they may come to further conviction of, humiliation for, and hatred against sin, together with a clearer sight of the need they have of Christ, and the perfection of his obedience. It is likewise of use to the regenerate, to restrain their corruptions, in that it forbids sin: and the threatenings of it serve to show what even their sins deserve; and what afflictions, in this life, they may expect for them, although freed from the curse thereof threatened in the law. The promises of it, in like manner, show them God's approbation of obedience, and what blessings they may expect upon the performance thereof: although not as due to them by the law as a covenant of works. So as, a man's doing good, and refraining from evil, because the law encourageth to the one, and deterreth from the other, is no evidence of his being under the law; and, not under grace. Westminster Confession of Faith 19. 1, 6
Q. 31. With whom was the covenant of grace made?
A. The covenant of grace was made with Christ as the second Adam, and in him with all the elect as his seed.
Q. 32. How is the grace of God manifested in the second covenant?
A. The grace of God is manifested in the second covenant, in that he freely provideth and offereth to sinners a mediator, and life and salvation by him; and requiring faith as the condition to interest them in him, promiseth and giveth his Holy Spirit to all his elect, to work in them that faith, with all other saving graces; and to enable them unto all holy obedience, as the evidence of the truth of their faith and thankfulness to God, and as the way which he hath appointed them to salvation.
Q. 33. Was the covenant of grace always administered after one and the same manner?
A. The covenant of grace was not always administered after the same manner, but the administrations of it under the Old Testament were different from those under the New.
Q. 34. How was the covenant of grace administered under the Old Testament?
A. The covenant of grace was administered under the Old Testament, by promises, prophecies, sacrifices, circumcision, the passover, and other types and ordinances, which did all foresignify Christ then to come, and were for that time sufficient to build up the elect in faith in the promised messiah, by whom they then had full remission of sin, and eternal salvation.
Q. 35. How is the covenant of grace administered under the New Testament?
A. Under the New Testament, when Christ the substance was exhibited, the same covenant of grace was and still is to be administered in the preaching of the word, and the administration of the sacraments of baptism and the Lord's supper; in which grace and salvation are held forth in more fullness, evidence, and efficacy, to all nations.
Q. 36. Who is the mediator of the covenant of grace?
A. The only mediator of the covenant of grace is the Lord Jesus Christ, who, being the eternal Son of God, of one substance and equal with the Father, in the fullness of time became man, and so was and continues to be God and man, in two entire distinct natures, and one person, forever.
Q. 97. What special use is there of the moral law to the regenerate?
A. Although they that are regenerate, and believe in Christ, be delivered from the moral law as a covenant of works, so as thereby they are neither justified nor condemned; yet besides the general uses thereof common to them with all men, it is of special use, to show them how much they are bound to Christ for his fulfilling it, and enduring the curse thereof in their stead, and for their good; and thereby to provoke them to more thankfulness, and to express the same in their greater care to conform themselves thereunto as the rule of their obedience.
Westminster Larger Catechism, Questions 31-36,97
The Covenant of Works
This is the covenant God made with Adam before the Fall. In the covenant of works, God promised to bless Adam as long as he obeyed God's commands.
Then God said, "Let Us make man in Our image, according to Our likeness; let them have dominion over the fish of the sea, over the birds of the air, and over the cattle, over all the earth and over every creeping thing that creeps on the earth." So God created man in His own image; in the image of God He created him; male and female He created them. Then God blessed them, and God said to them, "Be fruitful and multiply; fill the earth and subdue it; have dominion over the fish of the sea, over the birds of the air, and over every living thing that moves on the earth."
Gen. 1: 26-28
Judgment would be the consequence of disobedience.
Then the LORD God took the man and put him in the garden of Eden to tend and keep it. And the LORD God commanded the man, saying, "Of every tree of the garden you may freely eat; but of the tree of the knowledge of good and evil you shall not eat, for in the day that you eat of it you shall surely die."
Gen. 2: 15-17
Adam's (in)fidelity was the determining factor in the covenant of works.
Like Adam, they have broken the covenant - they were unfaithful to Me there.
Hos. 6: 7
The Covenant of Grace
This covenant is with Christ, the last Adam. This arrangement is called the covenant of grace because it was made through Christ's death and resurrection.
He chose us in Him before the foundation of the world, that we should be holy and without blame before Him in love, having predestined us to adoption as sons by Jesus Christ to Himself, according to the good pleasure of His will . . .
Eph. 1: 4-5
The covenant of grace is the historical expression of God's unconditional election of a people for Christ.
All that the Father gives Me will come to Me, and the one who comes to Me I will by no means cast out.
John 6: 37
The covenant of grace is the practical manifestation of God's eternal plan for His children. It's first promise is found in Genesis:
And I will put enmity
Between you and the woman,
And between your seed and her Seed;
He shall bruise your head,
And you shall bruise His heel."
Gen. 3: 15
One day, the seed of the woman (Christ) would crush the head of the serpent (Satan). After this, the covenant of grace was revealed in five stages.
I
The covenant given to Noah
And God said: "This is the sign of the covenant which I make between Me and you, and every living creature that is with you, for perpetual generations: I set My rainbow in the cloud, and it shall be for the sign of the covenant between Me and the earth. 14It shall be, when I bring a cloud over the earth, that the rainbow shall be seen in the cloud; and I will remember My covenant which is between Me and you and every living creature of all flesh; the waters shall never again become a flood to destroy all flesh. The rainbow shall be in the cloud, and I will look on it to remember the everlasting covenant between God and every living creature of all flesh that is on the earth." And God said to Noah, "This is the sign of the covenant which I have established between Me and all flesh that is on the earth."
Gen. 9: 12-17
This covenant provides a stable natural order within which God's redemptive plan would unfold.
II
The covenant given to Abraham
When the sun had set and darkness had fallen, a smoking firepot with a blazing torch appeared and passed between the pieces. On that day the LORD made a covenant with Abram and said, "To your descendants I give this land. . .
Gen. 15: 17-18
This covenant begins several stages of covenants made with the nation of Israel as God's Chosen People. Abraham's descendents would receive great blessings and be God's instrument of blessing all the elect.
III
The covenant given to Moses
Then Moses went up to God, and the LORD called to him from the mountain and said, "This is what you are to say to the house of Jacob and what you are to tell the people of Israel: 'You yourselves have seen what I did to Egypt, and how I carried you on eagles' wings and brought you to myself. Now if you obey me fully and keep my covenant, then out of all nations you will be my treasured possession. Although the whole earth is mine, you will be for me a kingdom of priests and a holy nation.'
Exodus 19: 3-6
The covenant of the Law was given to guide the nation to greater blessings in the Promised Land.
IV
The covenant given to David
You said, "I have made a covenant with my chosen one, I have sworn to David my servant, 'I will establish your line forever and make your throne firm through all generations.' "
Psalm 89: 3-4
God made a royal covenant with David in which He promised that the King of His people would be of the seed of David.
V
The New Covenant established by Christ
"Behold, the days are coming, says the LORD, when I will make a new covenant with the house of Israel and with the house of Judah-- 32not according to the covenant that I made with their fathers in the day that I took them by the hand to lead them out of the land of Egypt, My covenant which they broke, though I was a husband to them,
says the LORD. But this is the covenant that I will make with the house of Israel after those days, says the LORD: I will put My law in their minds, and write it on their hearts; and I will be their God, and they shall be My people. No more shall every man teach his neighbor, and every man his brother, saying, "Know the LORD,' for they all shall know Me, from the least of them to the greatest of them, says the LORD. For I will forgive their iniquity, and their sin I will remember no more."
Jer. 31: 31-34
This covenant comes in three stages:
1. The first incarnation of the Christ;
2. The Church;
3. The Second Coming.
As the covenant of grace was progressively revealed to us, the various stages did not differ in substance, were not contradictory, but were one and the same under various dispensations. (WCF, 7.6)
The New Covenant: The Supreme Expression of God's one eternal covenant of grace
But Christ came as High Priest of the good things to come, with the greater and more perfect tabernacle not made with hands, that is, not of this creation. Not with the blood of goats and calves, but with His own blood He entered the Most Holy Place once for all, having obtained eternal redemption. For if the blood of bulls and goats and the ashes of a heifer, sprinkling the unclean, sanctifies for the purifying of the flesh, how much more shall the blood of Christ, who through the eternal Spirit offered Himself without spot to God, cleanse your conscience from dead works to serve the living God? And for this reason He is the Mediator of the new covenant, by means of death, for the redemption of the transgressions under the first covenant, that those who are called may receive the promise of the eternal inheritance.
Heb. 9: 11-15
The duel framework of the covenants of works and grace describe the whole of God's sovereign relationship with humanity. We are dead in sin. God unconditionally chooses to redeem us. Christ offered Himself as the substitutionary atonement for sinfulness. The Holy Spirit regenerates our sin-dead hearts and draws us to Christ. In Him we are eternally secure. This is how lost sinners become eternally secure saints.
Salvation comes to us because Christ fulfilled the requirements of the covenant of works through His perfect obedience. As a result, our salvation is covenant salvation: Justification and adoption, regeneration and sanctification are covenant mercies; election is God's choice of the members of His covenant community.
God is Sovereign
Whether it was with Noah, Abraham, Moses, or David, one thing is abundantly clear: The covenants were not negotiated. They were the unconditional, irresistible arrangements of our sovereign God made with a limited number of people chosen according to God's will. The free will of the recipients had nothing to do with the promises of God. That is true of the covenant of grace as well. God does not require our permission.
Jesus said to him, "I am the way, the truth, and the life. No one comes to the Father except through Me.
John 14: 6
Nor is there salvation in any other, for there is no other name under heaven given among men by which we must be saved.
Acts 4: 12
God has provided one way, and one way only, to Himself: Jesus Christ. It does not matter how much we may like our non-Christians friends, God's covenant of grace is only through Christ.
You did not choose Me, but I chose you and appointed you that you should go and bear fruit, and that your fruit should remain, that whatever you ask the Father in My name He may give you.
John 15: 16
The difference between Christianity and all other religions is this: God chose us; we did not choose God. God unconditionally chose to include us in His covenant of grace.
No one can come to Me unless the Father who sent Me draws him; and I will raise him up at the last day.
John 6: 44
We do not initiate the covenant relationship; God does.
Jesus answered them, "I told you, and you do not believe. The works that I do in My Father's name, they bear witness of Me. But you do not believe, because you are not of My sheep, as I said to you. My sheep hear My voice, and I know them, and they follow Me. And I give them eternal life, and they shall never perish; neither shall anyone snatch them out of My hand. My Father, who has given them to Me, is greater than all; and no one is able to snatch them out of My Father's hand. I and My Father are one."
John 10: 25-30
The covenant is not for everyone. But to those of us who have been drawn to Christ by the Holy Spirit, the promise is sure: I give them eternal life, and they shall never perish; neither shall anyone snatch them out of My hand.
Faith and Certainty
Now faith is the substance of things hoped for, the evidence of things not seen. For by it the elders obtained a good testimony. By faith we understand that the worlds were framed by the word of God, so that the things which are seen were not made of things which are visible.
Heb. 11: 1-3
Our Christian faith is an absolute certainty. It is not a matter of personal opinion; it is a matter of divinely revealed fact. What God has promised in His covenant of grace will be fulfilled in our lives. In the early days of the Church, a humble Christian was brought before a judge. He told the judge that nothing the state could do would shake his confidence in God's covenant of grace.
"Do you really think," asked the judge, "that the likes of you will go to God and His glory?"
"I do not think," the man said, "I know!"
Be diligent to present yourself approved to God, a worker who does not need to be ashamed, rightly dividing the word of truth.
II Tim. 2: 15
When Christians rightly understand the Word of God, we KNOW. Until Christians grasp the essential tenets taught in Scripture, they will not know the peace and comfort of their faith. They will not have the courage to be fruitful members of God's covenant community.
+Apart from Christ, everyone is dead in sin (Eph. 2: 1,5); that's total depravity.
+God unconditionally chooses those who will serve Him (Eph 1: 4; 2: 8-10); that's unconditional election.
+Christ died on the cross to pay the price for the sins of the chosen (Col.1: 21-22); that's limited atonement.
+The Holy Spirit draws all the chosen to Christ (John 6: 37,44); that's irresistible grace.
+All the chosen will go to Heaven (John 10: 28-29); that's perseverance of the saints.
All Scripture is given by inspiration of God, and is profitable for doctrine, for reproof, for correction, for instruction in righteousness, that the man of God may be complete, thoroughly equipped for every good work.
II Tim. 3: 16-17
Unless Christians are equipped with these eternal truths, we will not be responsible members of God's covenant community.
*We may bring our children to the Church for baptism, but we will not know how to bring them up in the care and nurture of the Lord.
*Our young people may become communicant members of the Church, but they will not know how to resist the temptations of the Evil One.
*We may bury our dead with a Christian service, yet not know the peace and comfort of our faith because all anyone ever taught us was that God is good and we should be, too. So, as we stare into the grave, we wonder: Was _____ good enough? Am I?
We can spell out ethical imperatives, but if we don't equip Christians with a clear, unequivocal understanding of how they move from being lost sinners to eternally secure saints, we are just sending them off on a guilt trip.
Christians who have not been equipped with the sound doctrines of TULIP will never know the peace and confidence which is ours as members of God's covenant community.
And the things that you have heard from me among many witnesses, commit these to faithful men who will be able to teach others also.
II Tim. 2: 2
We need Christian leaders who are able to teach sound doctrine to others. We don't need clever clichés and pious platitudes; nor do we need ungodly chatter which turns to gangrene in the body of Christ.
Garbage In, Garbage Out
Be diligent to present yourself approved to God, a worker who does not need to be ashamed, rightly dividing the word of truth. But shun profane and idle babblings, for they will increase to more ungodliness.
II Tim. 2: 15-16
I believe with all my heart that the Bible is the infallible rule of faith and life. But the key is rightly dividing the word of truth. The Bible is not a magic book; we can't just close our eyes, open it, put our finger down and expect to find the answers to our problems. We must understand what the Bible is teaching us from Genesis to Revelation. Lacking that understanding will inevitably lead to profane and idle babblings.
The doctrines of God's grace -- TULIP -- are not all that the Bible teaches, but without understanding them the rest is impossible to discern.
T is for total depravity. Humanity is not basically good, but dead in sin. If you read the Bible with an understanding that people are all basically good, you cannot help but be confused by what you read.
U is for unconditional election. We contribute nothing to our salvation. It is an unconditional gift from God. If you read the Bible with an understanding that people have a free will in choosing redemption, you cannot help but be confused by what you read.
L is for limited atonement. Christ did not die on the Cross to make salvation possible for all, but a surety for some. In other words, Christ's atonement is limited in scope, but not in power. If you read the Bible with an understanding that Christ to save everyone, you cannot help but be confused by what you read.
I is for irresistible grace. Everyone God unconditionally chose, and everyone Christ redeemed on the Cross, will be irresistibly drawn to Christ by the Holy Spirit through spiritual regeneration. If you read the Bible with an understanding that people are responsible for "saving souls," you cannot help but be confused by what you read.
P is for perseverance of the saints. No one chosen by God, redeemed by Christ, and regenerated by the Holy Spirit, can ever lose their salvation. If you read the Bible with an understanding that people must merit going to Heaven by their good works, you cannot help but be confused by what you read.
All Scripture is given by inspiration of God, and is profitable for doctrine, for reproof, for correction, for instruction in righteousness, that the man of God may be complete, thoroughly equipped for every good work.
II Tim. 3: 16-17
When a saint rightly understands the great message of the Bible, it will enable him to profit from the doctrine taught, the reproofs given, the corrections made, and the directions given for right living. Only then will we be equipped for every good work which God created us to do.
Avoid godless chatter, because those who indulge in it will become more and more ungodly. Their teaching will spread like gangrene.
II Tim. 2: 16-17
The Church is God's covenant community. It is not a day-care, a bridge club, a dating service, or a forum for pop psychology. A denomination which neglects the essential tenets of Scripture will soon find itself accommodating sexual immorality as an alternate lifestyle; killing the unborn as birth control; and ultimately, the denying the Lordship of Christ in the name of ecumenism.
How, then, can they call on the one they have not believed in? And how can they believe in the one of whom they have not heard? And how can they hear without someone preaching to them?
Romans 10: 14
Our mainline denominations will remain apostate until their clergy have the courage to preach God's unpopular truth:
*People are not basically good and decent. They are totally depraved sinners, deserving God's wrath, not His blessing.
*People don't have a free will to choose whether to be part of God's covenant community. God's election is unconditional.
*Christ died to redeem the elect, not to make salvation a possibility, should we choose to accept.
*God's grace is irresistible. God does not need our permission to love us.
*Saints persevere. The rest perish.
For the time will come when men will not put up with sound doctrine. Instead, to suit their own desires, they will gather around them a great number of teachers to say what their itching ears want to hear. They will turn their ears away from the truth and turn aside to myths.
II Tim. 4: 3-4
That time is here. We are too often choosing our clergy on the basis of their personal charisma, rather than on their ability to teach sound doctrine.
"This cup is the new covenant in My blood. This do, as often as you drink it, in remembrance of Me."
For as often as you eat this bread and drink this cup, you proclaim the Lord's death till He comes.
It is time for all of us to get back to being the covenant community He died for.
Q. 1. What is the chief and highest end of man?
A. Man's chief and highest end is to glorify God, and fully to enjoy him forever.
Westminster Larger Catechism
A young man worked very hard to save up enough money to take his first vacation, an ocean cruise. He carefully pack all his clothing, and toiletries. Then, because he would be gone for a week, he packed cheese and crackers for him to eat. When evening came on the first day of his big adventure, the young man noticed other passengers going in to the dining room and having a delicious dinner. He returned to his cabin and ate cheese and crackers. The next morning, he noticed people eating a wonderful breakfast in the dining room. He went back to his cabin and ate cheese and crackers. So it went until the last day of the cruise. By then, the cheese and crackers were quite stale, and the young man became desperate for a "decent meal." He went to the ship's steward and begged him, "Please, sir! I will do anything for one good meal before this cruise is finished!" The steward looked at the young man in astonishment. "Sir, are you not a passenger? Has your fare not been paid? You are entitled to eat any of the food offered abroad this ship. Everything we have to offer became yours when your ticket was purchased. All the young man could say was, "I didn't know."
How can we glorify God and enjoy Him forever if we do not fully understand the basis of our covenant relationship with Him. Before we entrust anyone to lead us in the 21st century, we had better be sure they are able to teach the truths revealed to us in the 1st century. Before we claim to be the people of the Word, we had better be sure we understand what the Word says.
Now may the God of peace who brought up our Lord Jesus from the dead, that great Shepherd of the sheep, through the blood of the everlasting covenant, make you complete in every good work to do His will, working in you what is well pleasing in His sight, through Jesus Christ, to whom be glory forever and ever. Amen.
Heb. 13: 20
We praise Thee, O God, our exceeding joy, who daily pourest Thy benefits upon us. Grant, we pray, that Jesus our Lord, the Hope of Glory, may be formed in us in all humility, patience, and absolute surrender of our souls and bodies to Thy holy will and pleasure. Instill in us the confidence which is ours as members of Thy covenant community so that we may be conducted safely through all changes of our condition here, in an unchangeable love to Thee and in holy tranquility of mind in Thy love toward us, till we come to dwell with Thee and rejoice in Thee forever. In Jesus' name we pray. Amen
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