Meet The Puritans

Grace in the CoW?

Posted on 30. Sep, 2009 by Mark Jones.

Was the covenant of works gracious in any way? Or should we talk about “divine favor” instead of grace?  I’ve heard some Klineans argue that if you reject a “strict justice” view of the covenant of works you inevitably end up doing irreperable harm to the doctrine of justification by faith.  Theologians in the Reformed tradition have never been shy of speaking of grace during the “Adamic administration” or what one person calls the “covenant of works” (do I have that backwards?)

Francis Roberts wrote the longest work on covenant theology in the seventeenth century and his thoughts on grace in the covenant of works are interesting.  He argues that God’s entering into the covenant of works with Adam was an “act of divine grace and favour, not of debt” (God’s Covenants, 23).

God could have dealt only in terms of “command”, requiring duty from Adam without a reward.  However, because he condescended to Adam and entered into a covenant with him, it was “meer grace” (Ibid).  Roberts insists that Adam could not merit any reward.  In fact, even if Adam had rendered perfect obedience he would still have “been an unprofitable servant, having done nothing but what was duty” (Ibid).  On account of Creation, Adam owed God obedience.  On account of God instituting a covenant at creation, Adam had to be “double dutiful” (Ibid).  In fact, Roberts suggests that if God’s dealings with Adam in the covenant of works was an “Act of Divine Grace”, then God’s covenant of grace was an act of “superabounding and transcendent grace” (Ibid).

What is interesting is that Thomas Goodwin takes a rather different approach than Roberts, which is yet more evidence of the diversity among theologians in the Reformed tradition.  Sure, the covenant of works became firmly entrenched in our confessional tradition, but the details of the covenant of works have never been fully agreed upon. [...]

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Ames’ Federal Theology

Posted on 23. Sep, 2009 by Mark Jones.

The big question over the relation of the ordo salutis to the historia salutis has been answered in various ways.  In the Puritan theologian William Ames we see something rather remarkable in terms of the connection he makes. [...]

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Adam-Christ Parallels (e.g. Holy Spirit)

Posted on 08. Sep, 2009 by Mark Jones.

The parallels between Adam and Christ provide an interesting starting-point for theological discussion, particularly in the area of Christology.  A question in connection with the parallels between Adam and Christ that seems to be rarely asked is whether Adam possessed the Holy Spirit.  Christ was the man of the Spirit par excellence (Isa. 41:1; 61:1-2; Lk. 4).

The Puritan, Thomas Goodwin, affirms that Adam possessed the Spirit in Eden.  Goodwin suggests that the Spirit “was in Adam’s heart to assist his graces, and cause them to flow and bring forth, and to move him to live according to those principles of life given him (6:54)”  There are, however, differences between his having the Spirit and ours!  The emphasis in our experience is, of course, Christological; we receive the risen exalted Spirit of Christ (Rom. 8:9) who dwells in our hearts by faith (Eph. 3:17), which happens to be the best way to discuss the ordo/historia salutis problem in my opinion. [...]

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