The London Baptist Confession Of Faith Of 1689, Chapter 7, Paragraph 3.

kabuto1989 (25)in #life • 6 years ago

. 3. This covenant is revealed in the gospel; first of all to Adam in the promise of salvation by the seed of the woman, and afterwards by farther steps, until the full discovery thereof was completed in the New Testament; and it is founded in that eternal covenant transaction that was between the Father and the Son about the redemption of the elect; and it is alone by the grace of this covenant that all the posterity of fallen Adam that ever were saved did obtain life and blessed immortality, man being now utterly incapable of acceptance with God upon those terms on which Adam stood in his state of innocency. (Genesis 3:15; Hebrews 1:1; 2 Timothy 1:9; Titus 1:2; Hebrews 11;6, 13; Romans 4:1, 2, &c.; Acts 4:12; John 8:56 )
It will be helpful to look at the structure of this paragraph (using the exact words):

This covenant [covenant of grace] is revealed in the gospel;
A. first of all to Adam in the promise of salvation by the seed of the woman, and
B. afterwards by farther steps,
C. until the full discovery thereof was completed in the New Testament;
and it [covenant of grace] is founded in that eternal covenant transaction that was between the Father and the Son about the redemption of the elect;
and it is alone by the grace of this covenant [covenant of grace] that all the posterity of fallen Adam that ever were saved did obtain life and blessed immortality,
A. man being now utterly incapable of acceptance with God upon those terms on which Adam stood in his state of innocency.
The Confession begins this paragraph by stating: This covenant is revealed in the gospel. “This covenant” refers back to paragraph two which spoke about the covenant of grace. What does it mean that the covenant of grace (“this covenant”) is revealed in the gospel? It means that the covenant of grace is not separate from the gospel. As well, the sentence “this covenant is revealed in the gospel” is not a stand-alone sentence, rather it serves as a lead in to sections a to c (section I), thus it is saying that the covenant of grace which was revealed in the gospel was revealed first of all to Adam in the promise of salvation by the seed of the woman. We may notice as stated in paragraph two that it was only after the fall and the breaking of the covenant of works that the covenant of grace was revealed. It was revealed in the form of a promise of something to come: “I will put enmity between you and the woman, and between your offspring and her offspring; he shall bruise your head, and you shall bruise his heel” (Genesis 3:15 ESV). God is speaking to the serpent, ironically. It is a judgment upon the serpent, but for Adam and Eve it is a promise of salvation. So the covenant of grace is revealed, via the words to the serpent, to Adam by the promise that Eve’s offspring will bruise or crush the devil, which implies salvation from the sin that the serpent’s deceit brought into creation. The revealed covenant of grace is only completed (concluded or ratified) when the promised One actually fulfills the prophecy. We also notice that it was revealed, in part to Adam. What was said? 1) There would be hostility between Eve’s seed and Satan, and 2) Satan would bruise Eve’s offspring, and 3) Eve’s offspring would more severely bruise Satan’s head. Perhaps there are other implications, but from Adam’s perspective and Satan’s not much more detail is given. What is revealed is a promisewithout its fulfillment then and there.
The Confession continues: and afterward by farther steps. This means that after the revelation to Adam that was only partial continued after him. Not only did it continue afterward, but it was revealed by farther steps (i.e. increasing steps). While the promise of Genesis 3:15 was real, it was also hazy. Thus God graciously continued to progressively add light to this dim revelation. These further steps are found throughout the Old Testament in various ways and various times (1689 1:1).
The Confession now comes to the last of the three points: until the full discovery thereof was completed in the New Testament. The revealing started with Adam; the revelation continued after Adam, with farther steps, but it was fully revealed (i.e. full discovery) until it was completed (fulfilled) in the New Testament. The full discovery (i.e. the full and completed revelation) of the promised covenant of grace was only completed by and in Christ. When the fullness of time came, the mystery hidden was revealed; then we knew who Eve’s offspring was, how Satan bruised Jesus’ heal (Jesus’ death), and how Jesus destroyed the work of Satan. These details were given in shadows and types, and while the revelation given after Adam became more detailed as time went on, yet it was not until this revelation was completed in the New Testament (i.e. the canon of the New Covenant) that the revelation was complete. But it was not just that the revelation was complete, but that Christ’s work spoken of in Genesis 3:15 and throughout the Old Testament was completed. There are several New Testament passages about this completed revelation and work. “As a plan for the fullness of time, to unite all things in him, things in heaven and things on earth” (Eph. 1:10 ESV). And, “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” (Gal 4:4-5 ESV). And “In hope of eternal life, which God, who never lies, promised before the ages began and at the proper time manifested in his wordthrough the preaching with which I have been entrusted by the command of God our Savior” (Titus 1:2-3 ESV).
The section we just covered in paragraph two is a key section where Particular Baptists and Presbyterians disagree. In order to stay within the scope of this layman’s commentary, those details will not be covered, but there are some very good books that go into that important topic.[10] I will say that there is a marked contrast between the Particular Baptists and Presbyterian covenant theology, though there are areas of commonality. These differences are very relevant to the position of baptism by Particular Baptists (credo-baptism) and the Presbyterians (paedobaptism), and there are other important and relevant ramifications.
The Confession continues: and it is founded in that eternal covenant transaction that was between the Father and the Son about the redemption of the elect. “And it” refers to the covenant of grace. Before the covenant of grace there was another covenant made in eternity. The Confession refers to it as that “eternal covenant transaction” between the Father and Son. Theologians often term it the covenant of redemption, or the counsel of redemption. Berkhof defines this covenant transaction as “the agreement between the Father, giving the Son as Head and Redeemer of the elect, and the Son, voluntarily taking the place of those who whom the Father had given Him.”[11] The Confession includes four aspects of this covenant transaction: 1) It is the foundation to the covenant of grace. 2) It is a covenant made in eternity. 3) It is a transaction between the Father and the Son, and 4) It was an agreement about the redemption of the elect. Shedd makes an important point: “The covenant of grace and redemption are two modes or phases of the one evangelical covenant of mercy.”[12] The covenant of redemption logically comes before the covenant of grace, for it is the prior arrangement, but they both together accomplish the redemption of the elect. The covenant of redemption is between the Father and the Son, while the covenant of grace is between the Father and the elect. From Christ’s perspective the covenant of redemption was the voluntary transaction, arrangement or contract with the Father by which Christ would fulfill the terms of the covenant of works on behalf of the elect. The elect would then be credited Christ’s perfect obedience by and through the covenant of grace.
The 1689 Confession states: and it is alone by the grace of this covenant that all the posterity of fallen Adam that ever were saved did obtain life and blessed immortality. “This covenant” refers to the covenant of grace and not to the eternal covenant transaction. The point here is very strong. Adam and Eve and their posterity could not be saved by any other covenant. This brings us full circle for the reward of life was offered by the covenant of works, but since Adam failed to obtain the reward of life by that covenant, another was needed, and thus God freely and graciously provided another covenant—one that guaranteed Adam and the rest of the elect that reward of life (life and blessed immortality).
Why is it though that Adam and Eve could only be saved, given life and blessed immortality by the covenant of grace? Because man being now utterly incapable of acceptance with God upon those terms on which Adam stood in his state of innocency. The incapability is man’s inability to fulfill the terms of the covenant of works. After the fall, man was left in a pitiful state. Man lost his original righteousness (his state of innocency), and instead received an unrighteous nature. The Confession recognizes that we would be doomed if not for the covenant of grace. This leads us quite nicely to the next chapter—to the only hope for the sinner, Christ, the Mediator of a better covenant, the covenant of grace! Hebrews tells us: “But as it is, Christ has obtained a ministry that is as much more excellent than the old as the covenant he mediates is better, since it is enacted on better promises. For if that first covenant had been faultless, there would have been no occasion to look for a second.” Indeed, we look are grateful for the second covenant, the New Covenant, the completed covenant of grace revealed in the gospel.