Sect. 1. — The Nature of the Covenant of Works
CHAPTER I. OF THE LAW, OR COVENANT OF WORKS.
Sect. 1. — The Nature of the Covenant of Works
Evan. The Law of Works, as opposed to the Law of Faith (Rom. 3.27), holds forth as much as the Covenant of Works; for it is manifest, says Musculus, that the word which signifies covenant, or bargain, is put for law: so that you see the Law of Works is the same as the Covenant of Works. The Lord made this covenant with all mankind in Adam before his fall, the sum of which was this: “Do this, and you shall live,” Lev. 18.5; “and if you do not do it, you shall die the death,” Gen. 2.17. In this covenant was first contained a precept, “Do this;” secondly a promise joined to it, “If you do it, you shall live;” thirdly, a similar threatening, “If you do not do it, you shall die the death.” Imagine, says Musculus, that God had said to Adam, Look, with the intent that you may live, I have given you liberty to eat, and I have given you abundantly to eat: let all the fruits of paradise be in your power, except one tree; see that you do not touch it, for I keep it to my own authority: it is “the tree of knowledge of good and evil;” if you touch it, its food shall not be life, but death.
Nom. But, sir, you said, that the law of the Ten Commandments, or Moral Law, may be said to be the matter of the Law of Works; and you have also said, that the Law of Works is the same as the Covenant of Works, whereby it seems to me that you hold that the law of the Ten Commandments was the matter of the Covenant of Works, which God made with all mankind in Adam before his fall.
Evan. That is a truth agreed upon by all authors and interpreters that I know. And indeed, the Law of Works (as a learned author says) signifies the Moral Law; and the Moral Law, strictly and properly taken, signifies the Covenant of Works.
Nom. But, sir, what is the reason that you call it only the matter of the Covenant of Works?
Evan. The reason why I choose to call the law of the Ten Commandments the matter of the Covenant of Works, rather than the covenant itself, is because I conceive that the matter of it cannot properly be called the Covenant of Works, unless the form is put upon it; that is to say, unless the Lord requires it, and man undertakes to yield perfect obedience to it, on condition of eternal life and death.
And therefore, till then, it was not a Covenant of Works between God and all mankind in Adam. For example, you know that even though a servant has an ability to do a master’s work, and even though a master has wages to bestow on him for it, yet there is no covenant between them till they have agreed upon it. Even so, though man at first had power to yield perfect and perpetual obedience to all the Ten Commandments, and God had an eternal life to bestow on him; yet there was no covenant between them till they were agreed upon it.
Nom. But, sir, you know there is no mention made in the book of Genesis of this Covenant of Works, which you say was made with man at first.
Evan. Though we do not read the word “covenant” between God and man, yet we have recorded there what may amount to as much; for God provided and promised to Adam eternal happiness, and called for perfect obedience, which appears from God’s threatening in Gen. 2.17; for if man must die if he disobeyed, then it implies strongly that God’s covenant was with him for life if he obeyed.
Nom. But, sir, you know the word “covenant” signifies a mutual promise, bargain, and obligation between two parties. Now, though it is implied that God promised man to give him life if he obeyed, we do not read that man promised to be obedient.
Evan. I ask you to take notice that God does not always tie man to verbal expressions, but often contracts the covenant in real impressions in the heart and frame of the creature; and this was the manner of covenanting with man at first. For God had furnished his soul with an understanding mind whereby he might discern good from evil, and right from wrong: and not only this, but there was also in his will the greatest uprightness, Eccl. 7.29; and his instrumental parts were framed to obedience and order. The truth is, God engraved in man’s soul wisdom and knowledge of His will and works, and integrity in the whole soul, and such a fitness in all its powers, that the mind neither conceived, nor the heart desired, nor the body executed anything except what was acceptable to God; so that man, endued with these qualities, was able to serve God perfectly.
Nom. But, sir, how could the law of the Ten Commandments be the matter of this Covenant of Works, when they were not written, as you know, till the time of Moses?
Evan. Though they were not written in tablets of stone until the time of Moses, yet they were written in the tablets of man’s heart in the time of Adam: for we read that man was created in the image or likeness of God, Gen. 1.27. And the Ten Commandments are a doctrine agreeing with the eternal wisdom and justice that is in God; in this he has so painted out his own nature, that in a way it expresses the very image of God, Col. 3.10. And does not the apostle say (Eph. 4.24) that the image of God consists in knowledge, righteousness, and true holiness? And is not knowledge, righteousness, and true holiness, the perfection of both tablets of the law? And indeed, says Mr. Rollock, it could not well stand with the justice of God, to make a covenant with man, on condition of holy and good works and perfect obedience to his law, unless he had first created man holy and pure, and engraved his law in his heart, from which those good works should proceed.
Nom. Yet I cannot but marvel that God, in making the covenant with man, made mention of no other commandment than that of the forbidden fruit.
Evan. Do not marvel at it: for by that one species of sin, the whole genus or kind of sin is shown; just as the same law, being more clearly unfolded, expresses, Deu. 27.26; Gal. 3.10. And, indeed, in that one commandment consisted the whole worship of God, such as obedience, honour, love, confidence, and religious fear; together with outward abstinence from sin, and reverend respect for the voice of God. Indeed, in this also consists his love, and so his whole duty to his neighbour; so that, as a learned writer says, “Adam heard as much (of the law) in the garden, as Israel did at Sinai, only in fewer words, and without thunder.”
Nom. But, sir, should not man have yielded perfect obedience to God even though this covenant had not been made between them?
Evan. Yes, indeed; perfect and perpetual obedience was due from man to God, even though God had made no promise to man; for when God created man at first, he put forth an excellency from himself into man; and therefore it was the bond and tie that lay upon man to return that again to God; so that being God’s creature by the law of creation, man owed all obedience and subjection to God his Creator.
Nom. Why, then, was it necessary that the Lord make a covenant with him, by promising him life, and threatening him with death?
Evan. For the answer to this, in the first place, I ask you to understand that man was a reasonable creature; and so, out of judgment, discretion, and election, he was able to make a choice of his way; and therefore it was fitting that there should be such a covenant made with him that he might serve God in a reasonable manner, according to God’s appointment. Secondly, It was fitting that there should be such a covenant made with him to show that he was not such a prince on earth, that he did not have a sovereign Lord: therefore, God set a punishment upon the breach of his commandment, so that man might know his inferiority, and that things between him and God were not as between equals. Thirdly, It was fitting that there should be such a covenant made with him, to show that he had nothing by personal, immediate, and underived right, but it was all by gift and gentleness: so that you see it was an equal covenant, which God, out of his royal prerogative, made with mankind in Adam before his fall.
Nom. Well, sir, I do perceive that Adam and all mankind in him were created most holy.
Evan. Yes, and most happy, too: for God placed him in paradise in the midst of all delightful pleasures and contents, in which he enjoyed most near and sweet communion with his Creator, in whose presence is fulness of joy, and at whose right hand are pleasures evermore, Psalm 16.11. So that if Adam had received from the tree of life by taking and eating from it, while he stood in the state of innocence before his fall, then he would certainly have been established in a happy estate forever; and he could not have been seduced and supplanted by Satan, as some learned men think, and as God’s own words seem to imply, Gen. 3.22.