Chapter 14
The Covenant of Nature or of Works
424. In how many states may man be considered?
Four:
1. As formed at first
2. As lying in sin
3. As restored by grace
4. As perfected in glory
425. What was the original condition of man?
Happy and holy, thus bearing the image of his Creator, yet under His government and
endowed with liberty to act freely.
426. What was the nature of that liberty with which man was endowed?
It was not the liberty of independence, nor of perfect indifferency of will, but it consisted
in freedom from coaction [compulsion], from physical necessity, and from bondage,
either to sin or misery.
427. Is the liberty of man in a state of sin the same as that in the state of innocence?
No, not altogether, though it is essentially. The liberty of Adam consisted in [the] ability
not to sin; of man in a state of sin, in sinning freely. See Buck A. Will.35
35 [This source could not be identified.]
428. Did Adam before the fall possess the power of believing in Christ?36
The Arminians answer in the negative in order to support their doctrine that a sufficiency
of grace is given to every man37 to enable him to believe in Christ. For if Adam had not
this, then he never lost it; and therefore, God, before He could require this faith of all
men, must bestow the power of exercising it on all. But the arguments in [the] affirmative
are convincing:
1. Adam had strength of believing all God declared, therefore also the gospel.
2. He had the power of loving and obeying God and of perceiving truth, which is
all that is required to faith.
3. Holy angels knew by revelation of the promised Savior and rejoiced in Him
(see 1 Peter 1:11; Eph. 3:11).
429. Did God enter into covenant with Adam when he was created?
Yes. Because we find here all that is requisite for a covenant:
1. Parties
2. Conditions
3. A promise and penalty
God being Creator must be Governor and Legislator; man being a rational creature must
be subject to this government and law. And as there was a promise given on the part of
God in case of obedience on the part of man and a penalty threatened in case of
36 [The question ought to be clarified further: Adam could have had no power to believe in what was unknown to him or what was not offered to him in innocency. However, if Christ was offered to Adam in innocency (to establish him and his race in eternal life, immutably, forever), did Adam have the ability by nature, without a superadded dispensation of the grace of God, to believe in Christ? This is the question that Alexander answers.]
37 [Above and beyond what man has by nature.]
disobedience, a covenant was hereby entered into. This transaction is expressly called a
covenant (Gal. 4:24); the law given to Adam implies a covenant of which the tree of life
was the seal. See Witsius, Covenants, I, v, 3.38
430. What was the nature of this covenant?
It was a mutual agreement or stipulation in which God promised all good to man should
he prove obedient. It is called a legal covenant because its condition on the part of man
was the observance of the law. See App., p. 14.
431. How many covenants are there mentioned in sacred Scripture?
Two. The covenant of works and the covenant of grace, which was made with Christ as
the second Adam, and in Him with all the elect.
432. In what character did God transact with man in the covenant of nature?
As Creator and Legislator possessed of unlimited power and goodness.
433. What was the condition of this covenant?
Perfect obedience in man, and this was general, comprising the knowledge, love, and
worship of God with righteousness to all around him, and special, consisting in
abstaining from the forbidden fruit, in which all was epitomized.
434. What properties were required in the obedience of man?
38 [Timothy] Dwight, [Theology Explained and Defended,] vol. 1, p. 437; [Thomas] Boston on Covenant of Works [in Works, vol. 11. Boston (1676–1732) was an influential, evangelical Church of Scotland minister].
It was to have been sincere and universal; in degree, intense; in duration, perpetual.
435. What was the sanction of this covenant?
The promise of life and happiness everlasting; the threatening of death—temporal,
spiritual, and eternal—comprehending all manner of evil to which transgression might
lead.
436. How can it be proved that the covenant contained the promise of eternal life?
First, because eternal life was annexed to obedience to the law of works. Leviticus 18:5,
"Whosoever does these things shall live in them." Matthew 19:17, "If you will enter into
life keep the commandments."
Second, because Christ procures eternal life for us, and that by fulfilling the
righteousness of the law. Besides, Christ restores what Adam lost.
Third, Adam could not have died had he remained innocent, neither could he
continue always on the earth, for it would soon have become unable to contain his
posterity; therefore, there must have been some other life prepared for him.
437. How does it appear that eternal death was the penalty threatened?
Because man was immortal, and the loss of God's moral image being part of the penalty,
we have here two great constituents of eternal death: sin and immortality.
Besides, if mere temporal death were the penalty of the covenant of works, and
eternal death the penalty of the covenant of grace, then the mission of our Savior has
been an infinite evil to all who perish, changing their punishment from momentary to
everlasting. This opinion also represents the nature of sin as entirely different under the
different covenants.39
39 See Dr. E. Williams, Essay on the Equity + Gov., ch. 5, 13. [Edward Williams (1750–1813) was a Reformed Welsh nonconformist minister. The work referred to is probably An Essay on the Equity of Divine Government and the Sovereignty of Divine Grace (1809).]