Monergism :: The Covenant of Works

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The Covenant of Works

"...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)

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Title	Notes
Covenant Theology Illustrated	Stephen M. Baugh - Romans 5 on the Federal Headship of Christ (Modern Reformation, 2000)
The Covenant of Works	Wayne Grudem
A View of the Covenant of Works	Thomas Boston
The Usefulness of the Covenant of Works	Melchior Leydekker
Abraham and Sinai Contrasted in Galatians 3:6-14 (.pdf)	T. David Gordon
Is there More Than One Way to God?	John Hendryx
Is Jesus really the only way?	John Hendryx - thoughts and ideas on sharing the gospel from a Reformed perspective
Covenant of Works	R.C. Sproul
The Covenant of Works	Excerpt from The Marrow of Modern Divinity by Edward Fisher
The Law is Not of Faith (MP3)	R. Scott Clark interviews J. V. Fesko, Bryan D. Estelle, and David VanDrunen
The Law Renders Us Inexcusable and Drives Us Into Despair	John Calvin
What's Really at Stake	Michael Horton - Law, Gospel and Covenants
Commentary on Romans Chapter 5:12-21	Charles Hodge
Calvin and Witsius on the Mosaic Covenant (.pdf)	J. V. Fesko
What Is the Difference between the “Active” and the “Passive” Obedience of Christ?	Justin Taylor
The Covenant of Works	Thomas Watson
Christ Rightly and Properly Said to Have Merited Grace & Salvation For Us	John Calvin
Covenant of Works	Arthur Allen
The Adamic Covenant	A.W. Pink
Works in the Mosaic Covenant: A Survey of Major Covenant Theologians	Lee Irons
Sinners Instated into the Covenant by Faith or Believing	Thomas Boston
Two Adams, Two Covenants of Works	Meredith G. Kline,(16 pp.) Caution: Reading this may rock your world! In-depth biblical-theological and covenantal analysis of Genesis 1-3. Like a massive medieval cathedral, this selection from Kingdom Prologue will lead you through the stately corridor
On the Mosaic Covenant and the Concept of Works	Mark Karlburg
The Covenant of Works	Dr. J. Faber
The Two Covenants, Grace and Works, delivered on Mount Sinai	Thomas Boston
The Covenant of Works: Adam	Dr. Michael Lawrence (audio)
The Case of Adam	A.W. Pink
How the Work of Christ Works Part I	Matt Perman
How the Work of Christ Works Part II	Matt Perman
Did all mankind Fall in Adam's First Transgression?	Fisher's Catechism
Lane Tipton Lectures on the Covenant of Works	2000 Reformation Weekend Series, Grace OPC, Sewickley PA (Audio) Tipton brings together Vosian and Klinean BT with Van Tilian apologetics and shows how on the basis of the covenant of works they are all correlated. Series of 3 lectures.
The Covenant of Works	Dr. J. Faber
Man’s Estate of Holiness and the Covenant of Works	R.L. Dabney
Do This and Live	John Hendryx
Bono & Covenant Theology	@Reformation Theology
Answering Objections to the Covenant of Works	Meredith G. Kline - A passage from Kingdom Prologue in which Kline develops in greater depth the arguments sketched in "
Covenant Theology Under Attack	Meredith G. Kline "Although there is some overlap, this is definitely worth reading (especially the section on the Mosaic economy).
Several Quick Arguments That the Covenant of Works Is Not Gracious	Bill Baldwin
How the Work of Christ "Works": Understanding the Covenant of Works Part I	Matt Perman
How the Work of Christ "Works": Understanding the Covenant of Works Part II	Matt Perman
The Covenant of Works in Dutch Reformed Orthodoxy	Shane Lems
Augustine on the Covenant of Works	from Creed or Chaos
The Importance of Jesus' Fulfilling All Righeousness For Us	John Hendryx
Covenant Theology: The Covenant of Works (pt. 1)	James E. Bordwine, Th.D.
Was There a Covenant of Works?	Justin Taylor
Is There a Biblical Basis for the Covenant of Works?	Q&A at Monergism
Of the Law of God	Westminster Confession of Faith on the Covenant of Works
The Federal Theology of Johannes Cocceius (1603-1669)	W. J. van Asselt, Raymond (Google Book)
Of God's Covenant with Man	Westminster Confession of Faith
On the Two Covenants	Thomas Reade, 1837
Christ in the Covenants	Bryan D. Estelle, Ph.D.
The Covenant of Works	Ligon Duncan
What is the difference between the Covenant of Works, the Covenant of Grace, and the Covenant of Redemption?	Nathan Pitchford
Owen on the Mosaic Covenant	"Now this is no other but the covenant of works revived." Works, XXII, p.78.
A Brief History of the Development of the Covenant of Works in the 16th-18th Centuries	Johannes Weslianus
“You Must Not Eat”	Dr. Kim Riddlebarger
Acceptable to God Through Keeping the Law?	Phil Ryken
The Federal Vision and the Covenant of Works (.pdf)	Dr. J. V. Fesko
The Subservient Covenant: A 17th Century Precursor of Kline's View of the Mosaic Covenant (.pdf)	Lee Irons
Redefining Merit: An Examination of Medieval Presuppositions in Covenant Theology (.pdf)	Lee Irons
The Importance of the Covenant of Works	Dr. Van Lees
What is "The commandment that Promised Life" in Romans 7:10?	Monergism.com
Romans 2:13 and the Covenant of Works	Joshua Martin
Do Believers “Receive Eternal Life According to Their Works”?	Jeff Hutchinson
The Covenant of Works and the Stability of Divine Law in Seventeenth-Century Reformed Orthodoxy: A Study in the Theology of Herman Witsius and Wilhelmus à Brakel (.pdf)	Richard Muller
The Covenant of Works and the Stability of Divine Law in Seventeenth Century Reformed Orthodoxy: A Study in the Theology of Herman Witsius and Wilhelmus à Brakel (.pdf)	Dr. Richard A. Muller
Saved by His Life	Joshua Martin
Of the First Covenant Made with Man	Hugh Binning
The Creation Covenant (MP3)	Dr. Rowland Ward
The Covenant with Adam—A Brief Historical Analysis	Rev. Angus Stewart
Basics of the Reformed Faith: The Covenant of Works	Kim Riddlebarger
Lectures on the Covenant of Works (RAM)	Lane Tipton
Why I Believe in the Covenant of Works	Justin Taylor
The Adamic Administration	John Murray
The Covenant of Works	R. C. Sproul
Covenant of Works	Charles Hodge
Whatever Happened to the Covenant of Works (MP3)	Sam E. Waldron
Recent Criticisms of the Covenant of Works in the Westminster Confession of Faith	Cornelis P. Venema
Man in the Covenant of Works	Louis Berkhof
Jonathan Edwards’ references to the Covenant of Works	WJE Online