In the eighth chapter we have depicted Adam in his eminent, holy, and glorious nature. We shall now speak of him as being in covenant with God—the covenant of works. Acquaintance with this covenant is of the greatest importance, for whoever errs here or denies the existence of the covenant of works, will not understand the covenant of grace, and will readily err concerning the mediatorship of the Lord Jesus. Such a person will very readily deny that Christ by His active obedience has merited a right to eternal life for the elect. This is to be observed with several parties who, because they err concerning the covenant of grace, also deny the covenant of works. Conversely, whoever denies the covenant of works, must rightly be suspected to be in error concerning the covenant of grace as well.
The Covenant of Works Defined and its Existence Verified
The covenant of works was an agreement between God and the human race as represented in Adam, in which God promised eternal salvation upon condition of obedience, and threatened eternal death upon disobedience. Adam accepted both this promise and this condition.
Question: Was such a covenant between God and the human race represented in Adam?
Answer: Our answer is an unequivocal “Yes!” In order to consider a matter in an orderly fashion, it is necessary first to determine whether the matter exists and then to consider its nature. In this situation, however, we need first to consider the nature of this covenant, since the truth of the existence of such a covenant must primarily be proven from its nature. In that way we must seek to arrive at a conclusion.
Proof #1: If God gave Adam a law which is identical in content to the ten commandments; promised him eternal life (the same which Christ merited for the elect in the covenant of grace); appointed the tree of the knowledge of good and evil for him as a means whereby he would be tested and the tree of life to be a sacrament of life to him; and Adam, having accepted both the promise and the condition, thus bound himself to God—then a covenant of works between God and Adam existed. Since all of this is true, it thus follows that such a covenant existed.
We shall first consider the one party and His engagement, and subsequently the other party and his engagement. The one party is God who, in this covenant, manifests Himself as follows:
(1) as being the foremost, eternal, supreme, and sovereign Lord, who has power over His creatures to prescribe, command, and promise as He pleases. He is the “one Lawgiver” (James 4:12).
(2) as being holy and righteous, not being able to be pleased with anything other than holiness in His rational creatures, and cannot allow unholiness to remain unpunished.
(3) as being infinitely good, having a desire to communicate His goodness to man. His participation in the covenant consists of the issuance of a law, the promise of felicity and the threat of damnation, and the appointment of a sacramental tree and a probationary tree.
The Covenant of Works and the Law of God
The first matter to be proved is that God gave a law to Adam, this being such a law which in content is identical to the ten commandments. The law is given of God to be a regulative principle for man as far as his inner man and actions are concerned. It declares what is good and evil, and by virtue of its divine authority obligates man to obedience.
Man’s rational intellect, be it ever so perfect and capable of a proper perception of the requirements of the law, is not a rule for good and evil. A matter is neither good nor evil merely because a proper perception determines it to be so. A proper perception does not obligate man to obedience; it is merely a means to know and acknowledge both the law and one’s obligation. The divine law and its divine authority are the rule for good and evil, and obligate to obedience.
As I previously remarked, God gave a law to man. It is only His prerogative to do so.
Question: Are the laws which God issues the expression of His nature or of His free will?
Answer: They proceed from His will in harmony with His nature. They do not arbitrarily proceed from the will of God, as if God were able to command that which is contrary to Himself: to hate God and our neighbor; or that wrath, envy, hatred, vengefulness, and other sins would be holy in nature—God being able to promise eternal felicity upon the commission of sin. All of this would be contradictory to God’s nature and thus also to His will. It would also be contradictory for Him to let a rational creature exist without a law.