The Eternal Subjugation of Christ to the Father.

[OldRegular]

Spurgeon and the Covenant of Grace

The Covenant of Grace as a Covenant Among The Persons of The Godhead [page 18, Dispensationalism and Covenant Theology by Richard Belcher]

It has already been stated above that many define the Covenant of Grace as an eternal covenant between the persons of the Godhead. Few are as eloquent as Charles H. Spurgeon as he pictures what took place in eternity past in the agreements of this covenant.

He writes as follows concerning the Father's part:

“I the Most High Jehovah, do hereby give unto my only begotten and well-beloved Son, a people countless beyond the number of the stars who shall be by Him washed from sin, by Him preserved, and kept, and led, and by Him, at last, presented before my throne, without spot, or wrinkle, or any such thing. I covenant by oath and sware by myself, because I can sware by no greater, that those whom I now give to Christ shall be forever the objects of my eternal love. Them will I forgive through the merit of the blood, to these will I give a perfect righteousness; these will I adopt and make my sons and daughters and these shall reign with me through Christ eternally.​

He continues as follows as he speaks of the part of the Son in the covenant of grace:

“My Father, on my part I covenant that in the fullness of time I will become man. I will take upon myself the form and nature of the fallen race. I will live in their wretched world, and for my people I will keep the law perfectly. I will work out a spotless righteousness, which shall be acceptable to the demands of Thy just and holy law. In due time I will bear the sins of all my people. Thou shalt exact their debts on me; the chastisement of their peace will I endure, and by my stripes they shall be healed. My Father, I covenant and promise that I will be obedient unto death, even the death of the Cross. I will magnify Thy law, and make it honorable. I will suffer all they ought to have suffered. I will endure the curse of Thy law, and all the vials of Thy wrath shall be emptied and spent upon my head. I will then rise again; I will ascend into heaven; I will intercede for them at Thy right hand; I will make myself responsible for every one of them, that not one of those whom Thou hast given me shall ever be lost, and I will bring all my sheep of whom, by Thy blood, Thou has constituted me the Shepherd - I will bring every one safe to Thee at last.”​

Concerning the Holy Spirit's part in the covenant, Spurgeon writes:

“I hereby covenant that all whom the Father giveth to the Son, I will in due time quicken. I will show them their need of redemption; I will cut off from them all groundless hope, and destroy their refuges of lies. I will bring them to the blood of sprinkling; I will give them faith whereby this blood can be applied to them; I will work in them every grace; I will keep their faith alive; I will cleanse them and drive out all depravity from them, and they shall be presented at last spotless and faultless.”​

One must understand that this was Spurgeon's view of the covenant. No covenant theologian would claim any authority for his words, but would only refer to his thoughts to picture what the Covenant of Grace might have said in light of what it is felt Scripture teaches.

 

[12strings]

You need to understand that I did not propose the Synthesis Principle - scriptura scripturam interpretatur, or ‘Scripture interprets Scripture - the Reformers did! You are jumping off the deep end by stating the following nonsense: I repeat: the passages that lead to the doctrine of the Trinity are not obscure, at least not to me.

Methinks you are either trying to throw a clod in the churn, are dubious about the revelation of the Triune Godhead, or do not understand the nature of the Covenant of Grace. Spurgeon had an interesting way of putting the covenant of Grace that might help you! I will present it in a subsequent post.

1. I'm simply saying that the problem with the way you are applying the synthesis principle is problematic, since you are not dealing with a text that seems to say something different than what you believe to be true. The phrase "at least not to me" reveals our difficulty...what if this 1 Cor. passage is not obscure to me, would that make a difference, I don't think it should...since ALL scripture is profitable for doctrine...

2. Thanks for the Spurgeoun notes on the covenant of Grace, I haven't seen those. They are interesting, though I'm not sure helpful to your case, since even there you have the Holy Spirit making covenant promises to the Father, but you don't have the Father or Son making covenant promises to the H.S. So it would seem the H.S's role is to magnify the Son & the Father...a role, that seems to continue for all eternity!

3. I don't know what a clod in a churn is, but I do believe That there is one God who exists eternally as three co-equal persons, each of which is not the other, but each of which is God. I happen to also believe, based on 1 Cor. 15, the ongoing intercessory ministry of Christ to the Father for us, the very fact that one person of the trinity is called the father of another person of the trinity, and several other scriptural truths, that the 3 persons of the trinity will continue to fulfill different roles for all eternity, even roles that relate to authority.

 

[Yeshua1]

Here is How I read 1 Corinthians 15:24-28 (My Notes underlined and bracketed):

Then comes the end, when he [Christ...see previous verses] delivers the kingdom to God the Father after destroying every rule and every authority and power. For he [Christ] must reign until he [Christ] has put all his [Christ's] enemies under his [Christ's] feet. The last enemy to be destroyed is death. For “God [the Father] has put all things in subjection under his [Christ's] feet.” But when it says, “all things are put in subjection,” it is plain that he [God the Father] is excepted who put all things in subjection under him [Christ]. When all things are subjected to him [not sure which one this refers to, but not sure it matters too much for this discussion], then the Son himself will also be subjected to him [God the Father] who put all things in subjection under him [Christ], that God [again, not sure, but probably refering to the Father again] may be all in all. (1 Corinthians 15:24-28)

So read this way...I see God the Son (Christ) being eternally in subjection to God the Father for all eternity. This is a subjection in role, not in levels of God-hood or in value as God.

1. Do you see any problems with reading the passage this way?

2. Do you see any practical lessons we can draw from this? I see this as helpful in discussing the role of women in the home and the church, because one can point to Jesus and see one who was equal with God the father in value and Godhood, but who willingly embraced his role as one who was "sent" by the father to accomplish what they both desired. Affirming that men and women does not deny women's equal standing as human beings; just as affirming that Christ submits to his heavenly Father does not deny his co-equal deity. It is God-like to rule over things, and it is God-like to submit to authorities God places in our lives (Bosses, parents, pastors, husbands, Governments).

(P.S. 1 - My wife would affirm everything I have written here)
(P.S. 2 - Any wise man will submit to his wife's wisdom at least 90% of the time)

God the father is the 'Boss", and the Son/Holy Spirit willingly delegaye ultimate authority unto Him!

For the Bible states that after end of the Age, jesus turns over his Kingdom to the father, and thus God is in all and with all!