Covenants, Are They Conditional?

God's Covenant with Man

1. The distance between God and the creature is so great, that although reasonable creatures do owe obedience unto him as their Creator, yet they could never have any fruition of him as their blessedness and reward, but by some voluntary condescension on God's part, which he hath been pleased to express by way of covenant.

2. The first covenant made with man was a covenant of works, wherein life was promised to Adam; and in him to his posterity, upon condition of perfect and personal obedience.

3. Man, by his fall, having made himself incapable of life by that covenant, the Lord was pleased to make a second, commonly called the covenant of grace; wherein he freely offereth unto sinners life and salvation by Jesus Christ; requiring of them faith in him, that they may be saved, and promising to give unto all those that are ordained unto eternal life his Holy Spirit, to make them willing, and able to believe.

4. This covenant of grace is frequently set forth in Scripture by the name of a testament, in reference to the death of Jesus Christ the Testator, and to the everlasting inheritance, with all things belonging to it, therein bequeathed.

5. This covenant was differently administered in the time of the law, and in the time of the gospel: under the law, it was administered by promises, prophecies, sacrifices, circumcision, the paschal lamb, and other types and ordinances delivered to the people of the Jews, all foresignifying Christ to come; which were, for that time, sufficient and efficacious, through the operation of the Spirit, to instruct and build up the elect in faith in the promised Messiah, by whom they had full remission of sins, and eternal salvation; and is called the old testament.

6. Under the gospel, when Christ, the substance, was exhibited, the ordinances in which this covenant is dispensed are the preaching of the Word, and the administration of the sacraments of baptism and the Lord's Supper: which, though fewer in number, and administered with more simplicity, and less outward glory, yet, in them, it is held forth in more fullness, evidence and spiritual efficacy, to all nations, both Jews and Gentiles; and is called the new testament. There are not therefore two covenants of grace, differing in substance, but one and the same, under various dispensations.

From The Westminster confessions Of Faith.

They got it right.

Sincerely,

Dan V.

 

God sovereignly chooses to "So love the World" and to "Draw ALL mankind unto Himself" John 12:32.

Man does not convince God to do it.

But God also chooses that man be enabled to choose or reject salvation - free will.

"He came unto His OWN but HIS OWN received him not" John 1.

in Christ,

Bob

 

It depends on the terms of the covenant.

 

A covenant is a solemn vow. A covenant is made by one person only. It is not the same as a contract.

A contract can be broken by either party. A covenant, since it is made by only one, cannot be broken by another.

In light of that truth, go back and read all the verses in the Word of God that speak of a covenant and enjoy feasting on some wonderful truths.

 

Hello All, its been a while, but I'm sick today and my family is at church. But I did want to respond a bit:

I do agree that in the case of God & man, yes God is the only person that sets the terms of the covenant. Jesus gave example of those who must give up everthing must to be His disciple and if they were not willing they could not be his disciple (Luke 14:31-33)

God done the same thing with Abraham Gen 17:
9 Then God said to Abraham, "As for you, you must keep my covenant, you and your descendants after you for the generations to come. 10 This is my covenant with you and your descendants after you, the covenant you are to keep: Every male among you shall be circumcised. 11 You are to undergo circumcision, and it will be the sign of the covenant between me and you. 12 For the generations to come every male among you who is eight days old must be circumcised, including those born in your household or bought with money from a foreigner—those who are not your offspring. 13 Whether born in your household or bought with your money, they must be circumcised. My covenant in your flesh is to be an everlasting covenant. 14 Any uncircumcised male, who has not been circumcised in the flesh, will be cut off from his people; he has broken my covenant."

Man also set covenants with eachother (Labon and Jacob Gen 31)

But in either case terms were set and must to be upheld by both parties. Now in God's case with man He will always hold up is part, but that doesn't mean we will. Though God provides us everything we need for righteousness there is one thing he has never done and that is remove our "freedom of choice".
So with that Said God while condeming some who broke the covenant between them and and Himself ultimately God upholds his covenant with Abraham by not completely destroying his decendants for their disobedience.

Also, I cannot at this time see why a convenant and a contract cannot mean the same thing?

• terms are set and agreed upon (regardless of who is involved)
• Once agreed upon (verbally and/or physically) should not be broken by either parties
• Can be broken by either party involved (the only given to this is that we Know God Never breaks first)
• If or when broken the one that broke the convenant first will be held responsible to the consequences associated with breaking the agreement as deemed necessary by the one that upheld their part.

 

Much appreciated. Thank you.:thumbs:

 

There are essentially three kinds of covenants in the Ancient Near East (ANE).

1. A Royal Grant or a Promissory covenant -- Unilateral and unconditional -- Someone makes a promise to someone else with no conditions attached. An example of this is the Abrahamic covenant, the Davidic covenant or the New covenant.

2. A suzerainty treaty -- a conditional treaty between a master and a servant. The master promises provision and protection in exchange for service and loyalty. The Mosaic covenant is a kind of this kind of covenant. If the servant fails his end of service and loyalty, the master is no longer obligated to provide and protect. He can, in fact, punish the servant or release him.

3. A parity treaty -- a conditional covenant between equals where both parties agree on something. An example is the covenant between Abraham and Abimelech, or Jacob and Abimelech.


There is no "covenant of works" or "covenant of grace" in the Bible. Those are theological constructions placed on Scripture by a theological system.

 

The covenant of works is not 'saved by works'. Adam was made upright, and God required of him perfect obedience. Had he passed the test, he would not have fallen and lived forever in blessed fellowship with God.

Christ, the 'second Adam' kept God's requriement of perfect obedience for us. This imputation of His rightousness to us, and our sin to Him, offered freely in the gospel, is the essence of the 'Covenant of Grace'.

Read it again:

2. The first covenant made with man was a covenant of works, wherein life was promised to Adam; and in him to his posterity, upon condition of perfect and personal obedience.

3. Man, by his fall, having made himself incapable of life by that covenant, the Lord was pleased to make a second, commonly called the covenant of grace; wherein he freely offereth unto sinners life and salvation by Jesus Christ; requiring of them faith in him, that they may be saved, and promising to give unto all those that are ordained unto eternal life his Holy Spirit, to make them willing, and able to believe.

Hope this helps,

Dan V.

 

All true -

The Gospel begins at the gates of Eden as Adam and Eve step out into the world with their newly evolved sinful natures.

in Christ,

Bob

 

The fact that there are none given, and the fact that at the confirmation of the covenant in Gen 17, only God walked between the animals. If you study ANE covenants you will understand the significance of that.

The AC is constantly referred to throughout the OT and there is never a condition placed on it.

 

I'm not too sure what you're getting at, but I can only take the information provided with common sense from Gen 17 as should anyone.

God initiated with Abraham of His own accord (Abraham did not do anything deserving of God approaching Him with such an awesome promise).

God initiated the covanant and set the terms of it's agreement. Terms are to be followed to enter the covanant and continue in the covanant. If terms are not met then Abraham and his decendants would not have entered or continued in it.

simple.

 

No, the covenant is not conditional. Participation in the covenant is. Remember, with the AC there are two issues: the covenant itself and the participation of generation in the covenant. God made clear that the covenant is unconditional, tied only to his own faithfulness. But a generation could forfeit their participation in the covenant through disobedience (cf. the Palestinian covenant in Deut 28-30, in which eviction and loss of covenant blessings is promised for disobedience, yet restoration is promised).

It was possible, through lack of circumcision, to break the covenant which meant forfeiting participation in it. That did not however, change the covenant itself.