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As to me, seems to be more implied and based upon presumptions then actually described in there!
As to me, seems to be more implied and based upon presumptions then actually described in there!
Seems to me there is no such thing, salvation always being by Grace, and we have Jesus rebuking Nicodemus for not knowing salvation and regeneration is from above, and not via works or by man -- John 3:10ff.
Are you implying salvation was by works in the past?
NO!
rather that don't reformed bethren hold to Gos establishing and maintaining a relationship with Adam before the fall a Covenant based upon Adam freely keeping and doing works?
Hosea6:7 But like Adam they have transgressed the covenant; There they have dealt treacherously against Me.
Adam was under a covenant.
What have you actually read on this topic?
How would you describe Adam....before the fall?Just what reformed authors stated it was!
In an innocent/sinless state, related to God due to act of special Creation!
What was his condition?
What was his responsibility?
Was any covenant in place with anyone?To walk with the Lord, be in fellowship with him, and obey Him!
not one that I can see![?quote]
If God deals with mankind by way of covenant....what Covenant if any was in effect at creation? At Gen 1:31?
Not that I am aware of!
Was any Covenant in effect before creation?
None aware of!
What Covenants can you identify in scripture if any?
Noah, David, Moses. Agraham, and one with Jesus!Have you thought on these things...before you ask your question?
Answer each one if possible.yes!
done!
What have you actually read on this topic?
Quote:
Just what reformed authors stated it was!
Yes....what did they say? What are two or three of the main i?deas that they offered?
How do you define a Covenant?
Would there have to be a Covenant in place before the Fall?
reformed call one of works, what works did God require?
When we answer question 1 about what is essential to the meaning of the Biblical covenant.....These two questions will answer themselves quite easily.And where in the Bible is that Covenant between the father and Son mentioned?
Yeshua1
hello y1,
As a baptist I see and understand that God has dealt with mankind in terms of Covenant. because of this we have much in common with our Presbyterian brethren.
This is obviously a large area of study.I will offer up some ideas that will perhaps aid you in your study of this important subject. I asked you all these questions because these are the very minimum questions that must be considered if you want to get a serious understanding of covenants and how they relate to the bible.
Another reason for my questions back to you is I have noticed that you ask many questions....which is okay...however....You need to be careful not to form your understanding on all second hand information.
I read quite a bit and use the teachings of others..after I have looked up the topic and verses involved, then I start to form a biblically informed opinion...subject to change or modification.
This is essential to come to an informed understanding....so the questions i asked you were in my understanding quite necessary before proceeding.
The answer to this would be found in part here;
8 Unto me, who am less than the least of all saints, is this grace given, that I should preach among the Gentiles the unsearchable riches of Christ;
9 And to make all men see what is the fellowship of the mystery, which from the beginning of the world hath been hid in God, who created all things by Jesus Christ:
10 To the intent that now unto the principalities and powers in heavenly places might be known by the church the manifold wisdom of God,
11 According to the eternal purpose which he purposed in Christ Jesus our Lord:
In this section of scripture we do not see the word Covenant written...yet it is spoken of as I believe can be demonstrated.
I would first like for you to tell me.....what do you think is at the heart of the biblical use of the term Covenant.....
I am not asking for the technical language [which is also important]..like the words berith, or diatheke....
I am asking what is your understanding in simple terms...I think there are some verses that speak of it....if you can offer them it would help..if not I will in my next post.
When you answer my previous question about how you understand the term Covenant...then I will point to the solution here.
When we answer question 1 about what is essential to the meaning of the Biblical covenant.....These two questions will answer themselves quite easily.
i will return in about 3 hours....:wavey:
the way that I understand Covenant in the Biblical sense is that there is a spiritual relationship established between God and mankind, and that relationship is based upon certainn requirements God has established between the 2 parties in order for it to be carried out...
I see just Old and New Ones in the Bible, as see Abrahamiac, Noahic, davidic etc onesas more as how God ministered his grace towards us in different times, different dispensations in History!
:thumbsup:Therefore the covenant which would be kept by both parties would be made with the Son of God born of woman who had been taken from the man created in the image of God.
yes Adam failedThat would bring redemption for man who never kept the part of the covenant assigned him by God the maker of the covenant.
Not by works of righteousness which we have done.
The covenant of works was that the Son be obedient unto death even the death on the cross. Slain from the foundation of the world Rev 13:8 1Pet 1:19,20 Phil 2:8
The covenant of grace. In hope of eternal life, which God, that cannot lie, promised before the world began; Titus 1:2 1 Peter 1:21 Gal 1:1
[/QUOTE]The other covenants with man were to bring unto Christ.
"...Teacher, what good deed must I do to have eternal life?...If you would enter life, keep the commandments." Matthew 19:15-17
"For Moses writes about the righteousness that is based on the law, that the person who does the commandments shall live by them." Romans 10:5
"You shall therefore keep my statutes and my rules; if a person does them, he shall live by them: I am the LORD." Leviticus 18:5
"But like Adam they transgressed the covenant; there they dealt faithlessly with me." - Hosea 6:7
"For whoever keeps the whole law but fails in one point has become accountable for all of it." James 2:10
For all who rely on works of the law are under a curse; for it is written, "Cursed be everyone who does not abide by all things written in the Book of the Law, and do them." Now it is evident that no one is justified before God by the law, for "The righteous shall live by faith." But the law is not of faith, rather "The one who does them shall live by them." - Galatians 3:10-12 (quoting Deut 21:23, Deut 27:26, Hab 2:4, and Lev 18:5; also see Is 32:15, 44:3; Jer 11:3; Ezek 18:4; Joel 2:38; Matt 5:19; John 7:39; Acts 5:30; Gal 2:6, 4:5, 5:4; Rom 1:17, 4:9, 15-16, 10:5; Heb 10:38; 2 Peter 2:1; Rev 22:3)
"But when the fullness of time had come, God sent forth his Son, born of woman, born under the law, to redeem those who were under the law, so that we might receive adoption as sons." Galatians 4:4
"For God has done what the law, weakened by the flesh, could not do. By sending his own Son in the likeness of sinful flesh and for sin, he condemned sin in the flesh, in order that the righteous requirement of the law might be fulfilled in us..." Rom 8:3-4
"Do not think that I have come to abolish the Law or the Prophets; I have not come to abolish them but to fulfill them." Matthew 5:17 ... This means that although Jesus was ontologically perfect as God, he still needed to obey the law from our side in order to impute his perfect righteousness as a human to us. Otherwise we downplay the necessity of the incarnation.
"John would have prevented him, saying, 'I need to be baptized by you, and do you come to me?" But Jesus answered him, "Let it be so now, for thus it is fitting for us to fulfill all righteousness.'" Matthew 3:14-15
"In the days of his flesh, Jesus offered up prayers and supplications, with loud cries and tears, to him who was able to save him from death, and he was heard because of his reverence. Although he was a son, he learned obedience through what he suffered. And being made perfect, he became the source of eternal salvation to all who obey him, being designated by God a high priest after the order of Melchizedek." - Hebrews 5:7-9
"For as by the one man’s" disobedience [Adam] the many were made sinners, so by the one man’s obedience [Christ] the many will be made righteous." - Rom. 5:19
(Also see Deuteronomy ch. 30; Romans 5:12-19; 1 Cor. 15:22, 45-49; Luke 22:20; Hebrews 9:15)
from A.W.PINK;
III.
Before entering into detail upon the nature and terms of the compact which God made with Adam, it may be well to obviate an objection which some are likely to make against the whole subject; namely, that since the word covenant is not to be found in the historical account of Genesis, therefore to speak of the Adamic covenant is naught but a theological invention. There is a certain class of people, posing as ultraorthodox, who imagine they have a reverence and respect for Holy Writ as the final court of appeal which surpasses that of their fellows.
They say, Show me a passage which expressly states God made a covenant with Adam, and that will settle the matter; but until you can produce a verse with the exact term “Adamic covenant” in it, I shall believe no such thing.
Our reason for referring to this paltry quibble is because it illus*trates a very superficial approach to God’s Word which is becoming more and more prevalent in certain quarters, and which stands badly in need of being corrected. Words are only counters or signs after all (different writers use them with varying latitude, as is sometimes the case in Scripture itself); and to be unduly occupied with the shell often results in a failure to obtain the kernel within. Some Unitarians refuse to believe in the tri‑unity of God, merely because no verse can be found which categorically affirms there are “three Persons in the Godhead” or where the word Trinity is used. But what matters the absence of the mere word itself, when three distinct divine persons are clearly delineated in the Word of truth! For the same reason others repudiate the fact of the total depravity of fallen man, which is the height of absurdity when Scripture depicts him as corrupt in all the faculties of his being.
Surely I need not to be told that a certain person has been born again if all the evidences of regeneration are clearly discernible in his life; and if I am furnished with a full description of his immersion, the mere word baptism does not make it any more sure and definite to my mind. Our first search, then, in Genesis, is not for the term covenant, but to see whether or not we can trace the outlines of a solemn and definite pact between God and Adam. We say this not because the word itself is never associated with our first parents—for elsewhere it is—but because we are anxious that certain of our readers may be delivered from the evil mentioned above. To dismiss from our minds all thoughts of an Adamic covenant simply because the term itself occurs not in Genesis 1 to 5 is to read those chapters very superficially and miss much which lies only a little beneath their surface.
Let us now remind ourselves of the essential elements of a cove*nant. Briefly stated, any covenant is a mutual agreement entered into by two or more parties, whereby they stand solemnly bound to each other to perform the conditions contracted for.
Amplifying that definition, it may be pointed out that the terms of a covenant are (1) there is a stipulation of something to be done or given by that party proposing the covenant; (2) there is a re-stipulation by the other party of something to be done or given in consideration; (3) those stipula*tions must be lawful and right, for it can never be right to engage to do wrong; (4) there is a penalty included in the terms of agreement, some evil consequence to result to the party who may or shall violate his agreement—that penalty being added as a security.
A covenant then is a disposition of things, an arrangement concern*ing them, a mutual agreement about them. But again we would remind the reader that words are but arbitrary things; and we are never safe in trusting to a single term, as though from it alone we could collect the right knowledge of the thing. No, our inquiry is into the thing itself.
What are the matters of fact to which these terms are applied?
Was there any moral transaction between God and Adam wherein the above mentioned four principles were involved?
Was there any propo*sition made by God to man of something to be done by the latter? any stipulation of something to be given by the former? any agree*ment of both? any penal sanction? To such interrogations every accurate observer of the contents of Genesis 1 to 3 must answer affirmatively.
“But of the tree of the knowledge of good and evil, thou shalt not eat of it: for in the day that thou eatest thereof thou shalt surely die” (Gen. 2:17). Here are all the constituent elements of a covenant:
(1) there are the contracting parties, the Lord God and man;
(2) there is a stipulation enjoined, which man (as he was duty bound) engaged to perform;
(3) there was a penalty prescribed, which would be incurred in case of failure;
(4) there was by clear and necessary implication a reward promised, to which Adam would be entitled by his fulfillment of the condition;
(5) the “tree of life” was the divine seal or ratifica*tion of the covenant, as the rainbow was the seal of the covenant which God made with Noah. Later, we shall endeavor to furnish clear proof of each of these statements.
“We here have, in the beginning of the world, distinctly placed before us, as the parties to the covenant, the Creator and the creature, the Governor and the governed. In the covenant itself, brief as it is, we have concentrated all those primary, anterior, and eternal principles of truth, righteousness, and justice, which enter necessarily into the nature of the great God, and which must always pervade His govern*ment, under whatever dispensation; we have a full recognition of His authority to govern His intelligent creatures, according to these princi*ples, and we have a perfect acknowledgment on the part of man, that in all things he is subject, as a rational and accountable being, to the will and direction of the infinitely wise and benevolent Creator. No part of a covenant therefore, in its proper sense, is wanting” (R. B. Howell, The Covenant, 1855).