Beyond that particular point that they would have been beyond probation, and that would have been declared to them There would have been the word of approbation We're talking about justification and so on and that our I I afraid I have this feeling at least that even at our best discussions of justification They they don't have everything in them that they should have in them because they don't seem to have in them This thought of that approbation. They don't seem to get beyond pardon Or the recognition of some righteous nature or something that you have that you have actually accomplished the work that erases heaven for you That that seems to be missing
Acrobation then would have been that the first thing what what else would have happened to them immediately afterwards in order to be in heaven with sod forever You can't be in a condition such as Adam and Eve were in at the beginning of Possibly are able to sin not able to sin they would now you know God can't take you to heaven and guarantee Heaven to you forever if you're in a condition where you might become a devil and so before that can take place You have to be confirmed in righteousness Something has to happen the the Holy Spirit There's a glory spirit who creates you in the beginning now has to do a new work in you and he would have done it if they have passed the Prophession he would have done it he would have confirmed them so they could no longer sin Because no longer sin they would have been confirmed in spiritual Right, that's most of the things would have happened to them and within that context they would have fulfilled the commission of Extending the kingdom of God globally by populating the earth and subduing it and so forth until when until God said okay We've got enough Here's the here's the predestined playroom up This now now we can move beyond this first stage of conferral to the second stage now can move beyond spiritual confirmation to physical glorification and and that would have been the history That would have been the happy history of a probation that was passed It didn't work out that way happily however the second Adam does it right? It's all of these good things happened to us Eventually the accruciation to confirmation which is eternal life up
I could have this way that if he had passed the probation he would not yet be in the fully Escat logical state of going to being in heaven, but he would be in a sort of a semi-escat logical state all right Comparable to but not exactly what you and I are in We're sorry when a semi-escat law we're confirmed in in eternal life already, but we're not yet glorified But we are carrying on our lives within a history which does have all the effects of sin in the It didn't happen that way God knew God predestined What's going to happen that way? But it didn't mean the Satan was going to be the winner after all know it from eternity. God has arrangement and view a covenant in view Whereby it was going to happen that is original purpose To create a living temple of living human beings made in his image as a dwelling place as a temple for himself A community that could dwell in him as a temple. It works marvelously both ways We are the temple in which he dwells. He is the temple in which we dwell And then this was God's purpose from the beginning and it's not going to fail There was an elect company from eternity in and Christ who are going to achieve that in spite of the fall of Adam that's the gospel and there was a covenant made in eternity That has that Possession from the beginning. So there are covenants of creation and the first one is this one And it's been called by a variety of things in the history of covenant theology This eternal pact or so on this intra-trinitarian This this covenantal this this committing business that we're talking about Covenants divinely Sanctioned commitments the persons of the Trinity Making covenant with himself there that that's a covenant if there ever was one divinely sanctioned commitments But let's concentrate now although I think you you want to take a Of the of the spirit as well, but we can concentrate here on on the father and the son in this particular relationship And the father's covenant of works Works again. See there's another place where John Murray had a jettison the traditions of a covenant theology because he couldn't think in terms of a works arrangement of the father and
The son as a covenant so that with the son Now this one was the creators covenant of works with Adam as the representative of all mankind This covenant Is a covenant with the son Not as the representative of all mankind because we are not universalists if either the representative of all mankind everyone would be saved But with the son as the representative of the elect
Those they covenant to together the son undertakes to fulfill the mission and of course the mission is to do this But the first Adam failed to do it The son's mission is to enter into the world of the second Adam to undergo that probation to fulfill the particular probationary task Which was to fight the battle of Armageddon incidentally and overcome Satan will talk more about this that that's the probationary task That earns seven for you to win the battle of Armageddon over top Satan Christ is going to come into the world and he's going to do that And as a result of that the father promises a grant to him of the glory of the kingdom The people as his bride for when he's going to come and do all of this So it is a covenant of works very similar than to what was made with Adam you do this And this will be your reward Mary You earn it okay Now ask the son fulfills that covenant of works In mid history he comes into the world in the incarnation He fulfills the probation He receives the father's word of approbation which is expressed in his word of exaltation He's exalt the resurrection ascension to the right hand of the He's up in that seventh day that Sabbath rest and then the heavenly throne to the right hand of the majesty Hi in his exaltation And he's given authority named which is above every name he's given the Holy Spirit As the the promise of the father which in turn then he gives To his people on on earth in order to bring him to salvation and and through himself so What I'm saying then is that here is this eternal covenant and as a reward For carrying that out for fulfilling the probationary task as as a reward for that as part of his exaltation the son is made now To be the lord of the covenant of grace The son is as a result of his obedience as giving his life unto death He is given the position now of being the mediator of a covenant of grace whereby He is able then to share what he has earned by grace with his elect people And so that brings us then to recognition of this second covenant which we can call the lords covenant of grace with And here I'm going to use the word church and This is getting into some other things we want we want to Talk about I don't use the word elect at this point They use the word church covenant community because This this covenant of grace as it is actually administered in history Is administered to a community and we did say something about this sweet Which has to elect within it which has others and the elect within it It's the covenant community or in our day of the church and when you're talking about the covenant of grace the new covenant Let us say you are not just talking about the elect you're talking about all of those who are within the new covenant and And so that's the title for this one So it is as a reward for his fulfilling This covenant with the father That the son is given the status of being how the one
Grace Luke 22 I guess it's verses 29 and 30. I think are very helpful here where where Jesus says to his disciples even as the father Covenant it now the word there is the verb from which you get the d. I think a the word for covenant Translate instead of just a point translated covenant
Even as the father pointed on to me a kingdom same as the reward for what I'm doing Even so now I covenant unto you. So there are the two levels as the father
And in that covenant the son is the servant And the eternal covenant with the father is not to be just served for my faithful service so now in the position of lord of I Appoint unto you that you should share with me You said that should sit down and the blessings of the For some confused and some of our formulations of these two things in our own Catechisms and so on these two things together a big mistake because they're totally different the parties to the covenant are different here is the the father and the son and the elect And down here. It's includes others and the elect The role of the son is completely different there. He's the servant here. He's the lord And the principle of operation is completely different there the principle is works The son gets the reward not as an active favor of grace on God's part. He earns it the old-fashioned way, huh He earns it by his active and a passable obedience So works is the principle up there, but grace is the principle that characterizes this one because you and I get the reward that by our works But but not apart from works either, but the works are his he has done it for us, okay? He has done it for us and He gives it to us by by by grace and that covenant of grace then Although the legal basis for it is in the fullness of time when Christ has entered the world here in his incarnation And on the cross he has won the Battle of Armageddon And then he has exalted up to heaven and from there as lord of the covenant of grace he administers it But it isn't just the so from that point on we have covenant of grace Rather it's this situation that you know Adam could fail or he Couldn't fail that's a matter of fact he did feel But the son of God Could not fail it was so absolutely certain that he would fulfill that covenant and earn the blessings of the kingdom for his people So certain it was so that even before it happened the Benefits already repeating he stowed so here we come back to the Paul And Adam are then and so on and right from the beginning son of God By the Holy Spirit has been reading out the Holy Spirit is given yes a penny cost But not you know, it's just the Holy Spirit wasn't operating in the will the Holy Spirit wasn't operating They wouldn't have been regeneration The Holy Spirit is given before and therefore the covenant of grace
Has been operating even before Christ came and of course it continues to operate After he has come on into the new covenant stage of things And the Holy Spirit is given in a fresh way and so on append the cut But nevertheless This administration of the covenant of grace is something that the son has been doing right from the beginning All along the way that's the covenant of grace that whole long thing Which then you know as you read through your Bible you see some divide into a series of of covenants and so here's the new covenant And there was the most a covenant there with the old covenant And before that there was the Abrahamic covenant in fact the old and the new covenants are two stages in the fulfillment of that And before that there were the covenantal dealings that go all the way back to the set heights and so on And so it becomes a further question now for us to analyze all these covenants of grace all these sub administrations of the covenant of grace
Here let me just say this and this will be the closing thing of this is verbal then have to Get into a big discussion next week But when you come to Moses and the old covenant You encounter a new organization of things Where if I you have a ecstatic Organizing of the kingdom where if I the ultimate goal of heaven Get's intruded on the earth be seen not today in the kingdom of God is not out or the expressed anywhere And and before Moses came in the patriarchal period The covenant community didn't have the form of an external kingdom But it's in the mosaic period that you get a sort of a second layer Here is the covenant here is the principle of grace working for the salvation of individuals all the way through one principle of salvation From the fall to the conservation one principle Salvation by grace in Christ. That's the bottom there. That's the bottom there of the mosaic covenant to But there was here a second there There was a second there Where by the kingdom of God was typologically present so there's this typological kingdom And here's where it is very difficult very much debated thing is is going on What principle was operating at that Second level Always at that fall and the New Testament can say the law is not a fate
We'll be looking at all those passages and And well Jeremiah 31 for a prophecy and then Romans 10 and in Galatians 3 and in Galatians 4 and second Corinthians 3 and these other passages Where Paul emphatically insists that there's the gospel and there's the law and there's a big contrast between them And the law is not a fate that there was a worksprincipally insist there was a do this and you will live the witness 185 Paul says do this and you will live is what characterizes This this old covenant and it's the opposite of The the gospel he says there was a worksprincipal Operating there now that's Getting this straight and Working your way through the exegesis and seeing that the you just have to end at that conclusion But then also how to How to see how it is that Paul could say that although this was a prince a covenant of works It did not unknown the promise that came Those centuries before So Paul is able to say both things he's able to say this covenant Was a covenant of works is over against faith and yet it did a null The gospel of faith and grace and how could that be? I submit to you That the way I have come up with this of this to their concept is the only way you're going to do it Paul was not a disconceitious He believed in the continuity of the covenant of grace And so he would have held that there was a bottom line or as far as individuals getting to heaven or concern That was about a phrase but simultaneously he was affirming and there's no way of getting around he was affirming That as far as corporate Israel was concerned They were holding on to the land of Canaan only if they came through and and fulfilled the the the works of the covenant and And because they didn't That's why they were destroyed That's why that covenant went down the tubes and and some of the aad it wasn't consummated in glory was terminated in doom So in the aad the desolation of Jerusalem Rath of God is coming upon them for these other more the loss the loss of the national election You can't account for you if you say that you don't come into this with grace at both levels You the only way you can remain a Calvinist And and account for the loss of Israel's national election which they have lost is To recognize that that wasn't a matter of sovereign grace. That was a matter of works That's the kind of that's the kind of thing then that we have to mull over and talk through So this whole principle of works that as we encounter it in the old covenant and as we encounter it in the the covenant with Adam Is the one that will have to discuss and there's the whole school of thought associated with Dan for uh Full of seminary the books that he has written and those who are his followers like John Piper Uh, it's supposed to be a great Calvinistic preacher and and and so on and he hates the idea of the covenant He hates the idea of works and so he is destroying the gospel and in the stuff that he writes and whatever good things He's saying in some books that makes me cringe then when when his books are Are urged upon people to have to read because they mixed in with them and said this stuff which undercuts that of the gospel Saving grace because he has no room for the idea of works And that uses no room for the idea of Jesus. We're actually the the man is the meritorious crown of your salvation The risk of your loss and So there's this fuller and there's Piper and at Westminster seminary in Philadelphia There was Norman Shepard and so we plot that case. These are still fighting it from 1970 up to the present time and I'm on with Those who still advocate his position, so this is a very current thing and No more basic thing in your old theological I think you need to deal with this so Lord Lord Billy and we can work together on I'm going to give you some conclusions Plus I don't know why, but
You said coming at work, but down the lower letter was great The bottom Coming to grace all the way How individuals get to heaven? Okay, now Now we come to the Mosiah covenant and we get a more complicated situation where there's another layer There's another layer having to do with a kingdom What what principles govern the tenure of Israel within this this kingdom?
So it is a principle of works Principle of works that gets introduced into this arrangement And that leads Paul when he's speaking about the old covenant to talk You know what is really remarkable is the way Paul looks at that And he talks as if the whole thing for only the second there sometimes The law is not a pain And yet everything else that he's saying of course is telling us that he was quite aware and that the gospel He was preaching was continuous Everything that was in the prophets and in Moses and his mother said there's a bottom there and there as well
That does work Yes Yes Yeah It all involves the thought That the probation itself Is a specific involves a specific task It isn't just that In Adam's case that he would just continue sort of indefinitely refraining from the fruit of this tree It's something much more specific than that It's that that he is to encounter the enemy They in heaven and in the real army getting heights of heaven The hell has broken loose in Satan's rebellion against God and God knows and as arranged That this challenge of Satan against his reign and army getting will express itself there in Eden And God assigns to Adam the task of being heaven's warrior That he is to guard guard that's part of the Genesis 2 15 He is to guard the garden which is not to keep the weeds off It's to keep Satan out and and to challenge him and to damn him when when he appears on the scene To win the battle of army getting that that takes because that's what Satan is doing Satan is intruding into the holy sacred place of the presence of our God reigns As if you know that this was where he belonged and this was his mountain And Adam should repudiate that so there was a very specific task that And if he had accomplished it Then God would pronounce the words well done a good and faithful servant the word of approbation You have earned it now you have earned heaven and you're on your way
I think the question too is that how did that connect with the mention of our patient And what do you use with the conferral I think? Yeah, just a good Yeah, the conferral of all of the blessings see well whatever it in God's covenant in the terms of the covenant He has committed himself to from the beginning as expressed in the tree of life and in the Sabbath itself and and so Symbolically from the outset God had expressed what the reward would be He had verbalized what the penalty would be in the day you eat the rub you will die But he had symbolized what the what the reward would be in the form of tree of life And and included in all of that then was the idea of both of Of the the confirmation in the eternal life and the fiscal glorification I only I'm saying these two things would have folded in two stages For the reasons that I gave that the cultural mandate had to be pre glorified as they Make sense Yeah, and then then Jesus comes in and as says the second Adam and he does it he wins the battle of Armageddon at the cross and and he Seize thing from heaven and he himself is himself there and he proceeds to confer That the the the blessings now on his people and although as I said the conferral of the blessings starts already beforehand because He gives the Holy Spirit and lives in the Old Testament
The Hebrews would have to
Okay, so so here is here is the picture of heaven and and and if you are going to enjoy Occupying this prototype of heaven then as a matter then as a matter of fact You must maintain these works and the fact that Israel doesn't come to expression first of all in the exile to Babylon and Where see what it is a apostasy says and clearly You didn't have the absolute demands that you have for getting it to heaven Which would be soon as perfect enough But what you have here is that you have to keep the as I put it the The message legible what what's the message here's a picture of heaven who belongs through this realm of of prosperity Then the godly the pious right, so that's the picture the pious occupy heaven Israel is is completely failing in terms of the Side of piety by forsaking their service so Yahweh for the service of service of bail especially if their leaders are doing that Then the the picture that gods wants to present to the world or what heaven is like is no longer legible now it looks like the wicked and so There under that principle of works to maintain a proper level of Of covenant to vitalities and then they will continue in the land if they fail of that They they are cut off and they are cut off in the case of the Babylonian next or by an act of mercy god Which them back in the land but once again under Moses under the law therefore under works and Once again more tragically they they failed they killed the prophets now here's the son Let's kill him and get the inheritance for themselves and so they fail even more So 70 AD is the last word that there was returned from Babylon There is no return Theocratic order the type logical order is is past history time to go home