The covenant of grace has been defined as “that gracious agreement between the offended God and the offending but elect sinner, in which God promises salvation through faith in Christ, and the sinner accepts this believingly, promising a life of faith and obedience.”[1]
THE COVENANT OF GRACE vs. THE COVENANT OF WORKS
The covenant of works differs from the covenant of grace. The covenant of works is a covenant of obedience and works, whereas the covenant of grace is a covenant of grace and faith.
However, the covenant of redemption is closely related to the covenant of grace. A previous article on this blog states:
Many commentators consider these two covenants one. They are closely related but easily distinguished from each other: The covenant of redemption is the eternal prototype of the covenant of grace, which is temporal. The covenant of redemption is an agreement among the triune godhead, while the covenant of grace is a compact between God and the elect. The covenant of redemption is the foundation of the covenant of grace, and it provides the means for the covenant of grace.[2]
The covenant of works may be distinguished from the covenant of grace as follows:[3]
- In the covenant of works, God is Creator and Lord acting from His divine love and benevolence; in the covenant of grace, God as Redeemer and Father acting from His divine grace and mercy;
- In the covenant of works, human beings appear as God’s creatures; in the covenant of grace, human beings appear as sinners who have transgressed against God and who appear only in Christ, the unconditional Surety of the elect;
- The covenant of works was contingent on the uncertain obedience of Adam as head and representative of the human race, while the covenant of grace depends on the perfect obedience of Christ, the Mediator;
- The covenant of works was founded on obedience to the Law, while the covenant of grace is founded on faith in Jesus Christ. and
- The covenant of works was partly known since God had written the Law on the hearts of human beings, while the covenant of grace may only be known from the special revelation from God.
THE PARTIES
As in the covenant of works, God initiates the covenant of grace. God is merciful and compassionate (Dt. 4:31; Luke 1:50, 78; Rom. 9:15; Eph. 2:4; Titus 3:5; 1 Peter 1:3). When Adam sinned, God cursed all the human race with the guilt of that first sin. Consequently, all human beings were incapable of satisfying the covenant of works. So, God, in His benevolent grace and forgiveness, and with the Son as Surety, chose to pardon sin and forgive sinners to bring them back to communion with Him.
To know who the second party to the covenant of grace is, we must determine who these ‘sinners’ are. Are the sinners to be pardoned all the fallen human beings, or are they particular human beings? Scripture doesn’t speak to this until God makes His covenant with Abraham. In this covenant, God limits the covenant of grace to Abraham and his descendants.
This, though, doesn’t definitively establish who the second party is because we know that all descendants of Abraham did not receive salvation. Scripture teaches a distinction between Isaac and Ishmael among the descendants of Abraham (Gen. 21:12). As the apostle wrote, “For not all who are descended from Israel belong to Israel, and not all are children of Abraham because they are his offspring, but “Through Isaac shall your offspring be named.” This means that it is not the children of the flesh who are the children of God, but the children of the promise are counted as offspring” (Rom. 9:6b-8). So, who constitutes the second party?
Even among Reformed theologians, there is disagreement on this point. However, the majority opinion in Reformed theology is that the second party to the covenant of grace is the elect sinner in Christ. This is the correct understanding because God gave the Son specific elect individuals as their unconditional Surety to ensure their ultimate salvation. In the covenant of redemption, only God’s elect is in view, which is also true for the covenant of grace.
CHARACTERISTICS
The covenant of grace is a gracious covenant. God graciously selected the elect who were to be its beneficiaries. God provides the Son as Surety to fulfill God’s legal demands on behalf of the elect. And God provides the Holy Spirit to assist the elect in their responsibilities under the covenant.
Caveat: We say that the covenant of grace is a ‘gracious’ covenant because its condition is not based on merit. But God initiates all His covenants by grace, not because of the merit of the party He is covenanting with. So, all divine covenants are covenants of grace.
The triune God establishes and operates the covenant of grace, which has an inevitable outcome in the future eternity. Though it is related to the past eternity and the covenant of redemption, it is not of the past but looks to the future eternity for the elect believers.
Finally, the covenant of grace is the same under the Old and New Covenants. However, its administration was different. The fulfillment of the gospel of Christ of the New Covenant replaces the symbolism and foreshadowing of the Old Covenant. Nevertheless, the covenant in both is summarized by the phrase I will be their God, and they shall be my people (Jer. 31:33; Heb. 8:10). It contained a single gospel; believers were justified in the same way, through faith, and the mediator is the same, Jesus Christ (Heb. 13:8).
THE PROMISES
The promise of the covenant of grace is stated throughout Scripture as, “I will be their God, and they shall be my people” (Gen. 17:8; Ex. 6:7, 29:45; Lev, 26:12; Ps. 50:7; Jer. 7:23, 11:4, 30:22, 31:1, 33, 32:38; Ez. 11:20, 14:11, 34:31, 36:28, 37:23, 27; Zech. 8:8; 2 Cor. 6:16; Heb. 8:10; Rev. 21:23). This refers to the complete restoration of fellowship with God. Former alienation from God is eliminated; God is the LORD to all, and His people become objects of His favor. His people are justified and adopted as His own, receiving the guarantee and certain promise of their future inheritance and salvation (Eph. 1:11-14).
THE CONDITION
The condition of the covenant of grace is not one of meritorious consideration (i.e., in the legal sense of compensation or payment). In the case of the covenant of works, meritorious consideration was required of Adam to receive the promise. Perfect obedience to God was the condition required of Adam. This is in the sense of a payment for a debt. Jesus fulfilled the covenant of works by living a perfectly obedient life and earning perfect righteousness as a man before God. Likewise, the work of Christ under the covenant of redemption as Surety for the elect was the meritorious consideration of the covenant.
However, the condition of the covenant of grace is different. This condition is best described by the legal term sine qua non (Latin, “without which not”). The term means “without a particular ‘something’ (i.e., thing, condition, quality, belief, willingness, etc.), then some ‘other something’ is impossible.” Thus, in the covenant of grace, the regenerate believer is not required to perform meritorious works. Instead, the elect sinner must only willingly receive faith and believer to be justified. No work or merit is required.
CHRIST THE MEDIATOR
The Son was a party to the covenant of redemption. Furthermore, He is the Mediator of the covenant of grace, just as Moses was the mediator between the Israelites and God. But Christ was more than that. In the covenant of grace, Christ agreeing to be the Surety for God’s elect was the necessary ground for the establishment of the covenant of redemption, the foundation of the covenant of grace, and He was the unconditional Surety for the elect by guaranteeing the promises and conditions contained in the covenant of grace.
THE ADMINISTRATION OF THE COVENANT OF GRACE
God’s plan of salvation is effectuated through the covenant of grace. The plan is the same throughout the covenant, from the Fall of Adam until salvation is consummated at the Second Coming of Christ (e.g., Abraham justified by faith, Gen. 15:6). Though the substance of the covenant of grace is the same, its administration is different in its various regimes.
We assert that there are five different administrative periods during the covenant of grace, which extend from the Fall to the second coming of Christ. They are 1) The Fall to Noah, 2) Noah to Abraham, 3) Abraham to Moses, 4) Moses (through David) to Christ, and 5) The First Advent of Christ to the Second Coming of Christ (though some scholars divide the periods differently, e.g., Hodge).
God’s plan of salvation remains the same through these administrative periods. There is the same promise of deliverance from the depraved human spirit, the same Messiah who redeems the depraved sinners, the same condition for the regenerate believer, which is that the elect sinner must be willing to receive faith and believe to be justified, and the same inheritance of salvation and glorification in the new heaven and earth with God for eternity.
It is difficult to comprehend the extent of particular knowledge revealed by God to the redeemed in the various administrations. Hodge wrote, “What amount of supplementary instruction the people received from the prophets, or what degree of divine illumination was granted to them we cannot tell.”[4] Nevertheless, in the administrations before God’s special revelation of His sacred Word, we know that believers understood everything necessary for salvation.
CONCLUSION
Although it is true that, in one sense, God offers salvation to all humans who come to Christ by faith, the covenant of grace is between God and the elect, not all humans. Since no human can seek God and believe in Christ through faith by their own devices, God’s Holy Spirit must regenerate humans’ spirits before they can seek God and come to Christ. So, all humans are offered salvation conditioned on faith. Still, only those chosen by God in eternity and whom Christ became Surety for their salvation will ever be able to believe in Christ through saving faith because only the elect are parties to the covenant of grace, the fulfillment of the eternal covenant of redemption.
[1] Louis Berkhof, Systematic Theology (The Banner of Truth Trust, 2012), 277.
[2] The Covenant of Redemption, https://christianinquiry.com.
[3] Berkhof, 272.
[4] Charles Hodge, Systematic Theology, vol. 1, (Hendrickson 2016) 367.
