TIL- Reformed Covenant Theology part 2

Welcome to the truth in love podcast. Tonight is part two a reformed covenant theology. We're gonna be looking at the covenant works the covenant God made with Adam. Stick with us.

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How you doing, Dan? I'm I'm doing fantastic. I'm glad we got to hear a British person. So now I can make fun of British people.

Be now be easy. Easy. We may have some audience, you know, this is a world wide web. We may. We don't have audience. Well. At least after this. So, what's up with the Brits. Man, so they are.

They are struggling. They are going to hit a heat wave this coming week the next few days. They're going to reach all the way up to 26 degrees Celsius. Which for all of you? American flag waving. Eagle screeching.

Red white and blue in Americans. That is 78 degrees Fahrenheit.

What a heat wave. Brutal. No, they are worried about the humidity, right?

They are however, I Was always under the impression that 82 and a little breeze at the beach was perfect weather. However, they are looking for a for apocalyptic type type things going on so we will.

What you're saying? This is pretty serious.

They are they are also upstate. New York will be in the 90s the next few days. So if you could.

Um.

Remember us as we we don't have air conditioning in most places. Most houses, so I mean there's there is some potential for for some issues. Here in upstate, New York people live in elderly folks who live up in third floor apartments and Stuff like that where they can't get down them.

It can get a little dangerous, but.

Well, yeah, that's a concern wherever you are or yeah.

Thing we make fun of 78 because I don't. I grew up in Charlotte. So, you know 78 was my mom was barely what let me wear shorts at that point. But but yeah, there there are those who are weaker no health issues.

So we do want to. If you see something if you see something sketchy with somebody older or somebody who's hurting give him a hand. See what you. Bring him a room with a cold. Okay, bring him bring a British person that iced tea.

That's a good southern sweet tea, that's right. No, they'll they'll they'll love you for it or.

Start a new war. I really don't. They're not.

Sweetie it is funny to us because you know, we we live it every year, but. Yeah, it can be a concern for some folks. Yeah. Covenant theology. Reform covenant theology part two. We're looking at this book reform covenant theology Harrison Perkins and we're on chapter 2.

The covenant with Adam is the law and I was looking at dispensationalism and I brought this up last time because they're gonna have a different perspective new covenant theology gonna have a different perspective.

We're kind of Dan has already dug into this book a little bit. So he's he's also walking me through it. He's helping me learn From this book, but we're kind of coming at this from a baptistic reform baptistic perspective presbyterian perspective.

But we also want to mention that you know, there are these other perspectives as well. I was looking at the dispensational and where we are right now in this book. I Think they would call this will be the first dispensation Way in God the way God relates to man and he does it in dispensations.

This is the first one with with Adam and Eve and I think they called it the the dispensation of innocent. Of course, that's kind of self-explanatory.

Mm-hmm.

Adam and Eve were with were without sin prior to the fall, right?

This is kind of where you get the the whole idea of a dispensation being a period of time where there's a set of rules where there's a testing and we Prove ourselves on on Unworthy or I don't know if that's the way they put it or not.

Prove ourselves to be not not faithful in the way that we should. And then God changes things and glorifies himself in a different way by giving us a new Avenue of testing through a different time period.

So this is this is one of them where it's clearly laid out that there was there Was a time of testing that we were supposed to not eat of the tree of the knowledge of good and evil that we did. So they'll take that idea of a dispensation and and kind of Pull it out through all the rest of them.

The other three to nine depending on. I don't say it to be Dismissive, it's just that there's a variety of opinions. Most folks go with seven, but there could be I think some go Lowest three and some as high as I think nine or ten.

But that's kind of where they see the structure, yeah.

I'm curious to know and of course, I need to I need to dig into dispensationalism a Little bit more myself just just to be knowledgeable and to understand where where they're coming from. So I would like to know more about how how they see Adam relating to God as a dispensationalist.

I Appreciate how how Perkins here should I call him Perkins or yeah Perkins is his last name. Explains To us that that God created Adam to have relationship with with him with his maker. Oh, we have a comment.

I forgot to remind people the comment line is open.

You you know, you see Becky right now is at the Word of Life camp in Scroon Lake, New York. Her her and the and the kids Ran out there with in-laws for for a week and they're gonna have a great time.

Word of Life is Traditionally very dispensational and so they're at the camp. They've got no solid Bible teachers. But a lot of them come from a dispensational perspective. A lot of the folks who attend the camp come from a dispensational perspective.

So yeah, go ahead and just put us on the the loudspeaker. Let everybody know. I think the first night at that particular camp They have a softball game. Pipe us over the loudspeaker. Let them hear it at the softball game.

And you know, we'll just have fun with it. And now on third base Batting. And I would say that's that's not us. We're not throwing down we're not putting down other people. If it's if it's radical. We're not even gonna throw down The the person we're gonna throw down the the heresy, but but when it comes to dispensationalism, you know, we're talking about brothers.

We're talking about brothers and sisters in Christ. Yeah, generally speaking. It's a different point of view a different way of interpreting scripture a different way of understanding how God relates with man.

But the Perkins here says that that God formed Adam man with communion with his maker and and he says And he did that by covenant and he spends this chapter kind of Arguing his point or making making that point and he says he bases that covenant in love.

The Covenant of Works as a Covenant of Love

Yep.

Yeah, he brings up a point that there was a. There was basically two covenantal principles that that you could you could base a covenant on one being works and one being Grace, um, so the one of being based on on law and works.

Is.

Basically saying that there's a standard. That that's put in place a you know covenantal stipulations and then you have to live up to that standard in order to Be in right standing Covenantally, so so it's an expression of love to say, you know, we've come together said I'm gonna treat you like this.

And you're gonna treat me like that and this is how we're gonna act. So keeping that covenant is a means of expression of love.

So.

When when mankind fell into sin we're no longer capable of of treating of approaching God on that basis because we have sinned so we we have. Um, we cannot live up to the standard we can't express love through law keeping alone, which is why we we now are under a different principle of grace and promise that that God will make everything right and do so graciously through his son.

So.

When he specifically talking about Adam He gets to talking about.

How.

Adams relationship with God in the garden was one based on law. Not not that we would think where he was he was running afoul of the law, but God had placed it in his heart saying that you know, this is how I am no reflect my moral character back to me.

And and this is how we're going to show our love for each other that we will will live in in communion and an agreement on the way that things are supposed to be that I'm God and you are my creation and I'm in charge of things and you're gonna take care of the earth and be fruitful multiply it and Do all those other things.

It was an expression of love for him.

Yeah, this this chapter was really really helpful for me when he was making the distinction between between law and and love where the the list of God's expectations like you said the character nature of Who God is he he Created that with within Adam that that character nature that that knowledge of who God is and and so his ability to express that or live that out in that relationship with God was was based on love and not Not appeasement.

Right. Not not to not to try to please God but because he loved God and it made even more sense when when he he used the illustration of marriage and he talked about his wife and it just it made so much more sense with that illustration of marriage because we as a Christian Ivan and we have understood marriage as a covenant relationship and.

So I I do things for my spouse I do things for my wife. Not to try to please her but based on the covenant and the covenant promises that we you know, we made previously. You know, I do these things even if it's even if she gives me a list, you know, we we Make fun and we talk about well, I got a honeydew list but you know, but that honeydew list is is not a set of rules so that I can complete them and then To make sure that I'm pleasing her trying to win her favor.

No, it's based on that the covenant that we made in those covenant promise that we made and so therefore that list is now done based on love and Not law keeping to appease, you know your spouse, right?

Right? Yeah, we're in we're in proper relationship with our spouse.

So we want to do those things.

Adam.

Before the fall he had proper relationship with God.

So.

He wanted to do the things that he was created to do and that all remained the same until he fell and Took took us with him. No.

I'm just I'm trying to look over my underline sections here. Oh.

Yeah, so one thing that I found interesting is. You know, what what what was it that the guy expected Adam to do. I Mean, obviously he told him He don't eat of the tree of the knowledge of good and evil.

No, you know of all the other trees but not this one but The way the Adam was created. He was created as the image bearer of God that he would he would reflect God in his character. We know from later portions of scripture that that mankind has something within himself that that and Even nature itself that we're able to to look out at the world around us and know the difference between right and wrong it at least in at least enough to where the whole creation tells us that we have a God that we were responsible to and that we need to act right in front of.

So so Adam had a sort of He had an internal testimony because the way that he was created. No, this is the way that God is and how I should Respond to him. He had the testimony that God spoke to him out loud.

And he had the testimony of the whole creation was created very good. That was there telling him that uh that this is this is your God the one who's created you and this is how you should act in front of him.

Um, so he had he had a testimony coming in from three different directions. Telling him how no the law even though it wasn't written down in No book form or I should say tablets of stone form. It wasn't written down it was there and it was there from the very beginning because it was based upon.

The God's moral character is based upon who God was or is.

The Moral Law Written on the Heart

Yeah, and.

Yeah, yeah this chapter. Just going on What you were talking about there help me realize so many more things like. The relationship you between or of who we are understanding anthropology who we are. We're not just spiritual creatures, but we are so we're also physical creatures.

God God create us with a spirit and also a body and those things are intertwined. And so when we're when we're in a right relationship He like you said before Adam was in a proper relationship with God before the fall and and as image bear.

He was living that out in in his the physical world and and Perkins makes Makes the comment here. Life was promised to Adam and in him to his posterity upon condition of perfect and personal Obedience and and it caused me to think about you know those things.

We know that Adam was was told to do we know what he was told not to do. But what we were told what he was to be doing as well, you know. Fill the earth subdue the earth. Name the animals and name the animals.

So he was supposed to be doing these things in the physical realm but because he was in a proper relationship with relationship with God and properly reflecting God as it was an image break. His image had not yet been tarnished what he was doing physically Was being done in a proper way to correctly image God and so for What we do in in our tarnished state in our fallen state we what we do is tarnished.

But so what I'm what I'm thinking is if the fall hadn't happened. If they didn't need of the the tree of knowledge of good and evil and They would have continued to fulfill you know those things that God had told them to do fill the earth subdued name the animals and on and on He would have had success.

Yeah.

It would have been it would have been positive. It would have been done correctly, right? And and it would have imaged God correctly because of his proper spiritual relationship with God what he did on this earth would have Been done well.

Right. Yeah, you would have had What we're looking forward to the new heavens in the new earth Would have been grown organically through obedience of Adam and his growing filling multiplying Tending the garden growing the garden out into the wilderness places to where the full perfection of our full Completion of the the orders given to Adam would have been done.

We can't do that but it doesn't mean that our our Goal and job as humans is any different. We're still to the subdue the earth multiply it Tend to the garden that we don't have access to anymore Take care of the earth as part of it.

I mean not to sound all kooky and Political, but I mean we should be good stewards of what God's given to us Part of what we do and But we're not going to be able to accomplish because we've we brought sin into the world.

Rescue Is Not Reward

Yeah.

So which leads us to This next point that I want that I wanted to make in the the next section I made. I made this comment based on a sentence that he writes. He says On page 20 on the one hand truly salvation is God's gracious Rescue of sinners who are fallen condemned and in rebellion against God.

And so the note that I made is that Rescue is not a reward. Right, I Looked at how he I listened to how he worded that and he said God's gracious Rescue and that caused me to think, you know, his rescue is not reward.

It's gracious. Mm-hmm, because we did. We didn't earn it. We didn't deserve it. And so it's not a reward. It's God's graciousness to us. Yeah. Yeah, that's incredible because it's not the way that it was.

It's not the way it was set up but it is the way that that things are going now. Because you know, we We can't accomplish Faithfulness and right relationship through works. That was that was lost.

Got you. I've got two question marks here. This on the next page. He quotes the Westminster Confession 4 .2 good and so see if you can help me understand this statement a little bit better. He says after God had made all other creatures He created man male and female with and I underline reasonable and immortal souls Endued with knowledge righteousness and true holiness after his own image having the law of God written in their hearts And power to fulfill it and I underline law of God.

So.

From from your understanding. What what's the met the confession mean by? Man was created with a reasonable and immortal soul.

Reasonable it has to do with reasoning thinking. Okay, we were we were given the ability to reason and think. We weren't brute beast we're just controlled by our passions and and Desire desires and nature and stuff.

We have the ability to think and reason through stuff. We're I don't know that born with a body and a reasonable soul.

And.

Then we were given everything that we needed to in order to fulfill the covenant of works. So we're given the place the the the power the.

Creation.

Our own image Telling us the the the good the moral things of God what was was right and proper. And so we were given every opportunity to succeed. I think he At one point likens it to a teacher giving us a test.

He didn't give us a test. We didn't know the answer to. We have a we had a cheat sheet right there. The whole answer key was given to us. Here's how you you obey God you do this and we We we messed it up.

Anyway, yeah.

So that that next part and and we've kind of touched on it already, but I think it I think it deserves a little more explanation. This is the law was written on their on their hearts and they had the power to fulfill it.

And and I know I've heard People talk about the conversation before. You know if Adam and Eve didn't have the law of Moses. They didn't have the the Ten Commandments. They didn't have all the Levitical laws, they didn't have the ceremonial, you know, they didn't have all those things.

So, how were they held accountable? How do they know how to live. And and the confession says here it was written on their hearts.

Yeah, it's it's the same. It's really it's it's it's still true of us today. In fact Romans. Romans tells us that much. Romans 1. Let's see, there we go. Verse 18. For the wrath of God is revealed from heaven.

Against all ungodliness and unrighteousness of men who suppress the truth with unrighteousness of God's wrath is coming down on us breaking God's law. Taking the truth of God's law and suppressing it.

You can't suppress something that's not there already in them. Verse 19. Because that which is known about God the things that we know about God is evident within them. For God made it evident to them.

So he made it he wrote it in our hearts to where we would know. But there is a God. That he should be worshiped the way that he says to be worshiped and how we ought to act in front of him. It says a Verse -20 is it brings it back to creationist as for since the creation of the world his invisible attributes.

Both his eternal power and divine nature have been clearly seen. Being understood through what has been made so that they are without excuse. So we're without excuse because it and people who say well, it's not clear.

Hogwash it is clear God. God said it's clear. But it also says that we suppress the truth with our own unrighteousness, so we don't want to believe that it's true we want to believe. Anything else other than.

Then what God said verse 21 for even though they knew God that did not glorify him as God. Or give thanks they became futile and their thoughts so they use that reasonable Mind of theirs and their foolish heart was dark and they used learning for evil.

He used knowledge and thinking for evil. To try to figure out ways that they can concoct a world in which God just doesn't exist. But it's crazy because the whole of creation cries out that God does exist does exist.

It's within us. You know most people throughout history haven't been able to escape that fact at all most people throughout history haven't been atheists. That mean they haven't always accepted. I'm the true God of the Bible, but they believe in some sort of a God structure or system of gods and demigods or Different powers they knew something was there.

They knew that something was was going on.

And.

They you know came up with stories and lied to themselves and made up every Everything that they could to where that truth wasn't the the truth is revealed, but is the truth as they wanted to see it. Not all that came from from from the first sin where Adam did see everything Perfectly and purely and then broke that covenant with God where he said here is how you are in right?

Relationship with me and show your love for me, and he said no. Thank you and ate the fruit anyway.

The Fool Says There Is No God

Yeah.

That truth is so powerful Dan that The the existence of God is so undeniable. Then that men would create whole religions and whole religious systems Based on that undeniability that there's a God. Yeah, like you said like you said they didn't have the right understanding they didn't know who the or give credit or acknowledge the one true living God.

But it was so undeniable that entire religions and entire religious systems Were built and and I followed to this day because it's so undeniable.

Yeah, and you think about the power of sin that you hear from. Like say you're growing up in a in a household where you're being taught say say Hinduism.

And.

You're being taught it and Sin taking the opportunity with that that first commandment on which I have no other gods before me. That's written on our hearts. To know that God is and that we're responsible to him.

Sin takes the opportunity with that commandment and Says oh no. Here's an opportunity to believe something else and to break that commandment. And so we're tempted and fall into that sin. And it happens so naturally because we want to believe anything other than what God has told us.

And that's why it seems so reasonable and accurate that the Bible would say the fool says in his heart.

There's no God right. Because at that point you're looking at all the clear evidence That there is a God and saying No, I'm not gonna believe it. So I mean basically it boils down to. It's the equivalent of a little child who sticks her fingers in the air and says I'm not gonna listen to you.

Or I'm gonna go play hide-and-seek and if I close my eyes, you're not really there. Yeah, it I mean people have a lot more intellectual arguments in that their state their doubts more eloquently than that.

But.

But really it is. It is when you break it down to its simplest form. It's that we suppress the truth with our own unrighteousness. That's why they call calls it foolish to say that the fool says in his heart that there is no God.

Yeah, yeah, and of course men are going to be accountable for Denying that that God exists, but it's so it's so obvious that It seems like the the true accountability comes After that, I mean, it's it's so obvious that that God exists that the accountability of Things that I'm accountable for things.

I'm accountable for knowing happened beyond that or after that. Like Characteristics like creation general revelation speaks not just that he exists but that We we can know things about him because of the creation.

General Revelation and the Written Law

Yep, and it goes so far that it's not it's not just a Little individual personal thing. We're okay. I should believe there's a God I know that I should do nice I should do this or that but God judges whole nations based on a law that they never received in written form.

But you look at the book of Amos and it says enough for three Transgressions and even for four I'm coming after you and it goes through through nation after nation after nation. It says that you've done wrong.

You've broken God's law. You've broken This and it's not it's it's a bad situation for him. And then it comes down to Judah and says Judah and you had the law and you broke it. You're in the same boat as these other guys.

So and Romans also the whole argument at the beginning is that these who didn't have the written law. They're proving that they understand that the law is written on their heart when they try to do the things that are in In line with the law when they think of these things naturally that it spills over that hey, maybe I shouldn't steal.

Or maybe I shouldn't lie or murder because it's good for society or whatever else what others Self-preservation type thing you can think of. It's amazing the lengths that we will go to to say that that law.

Either doesn't exist or isn't clear to us that how could we possibly know if it's not written down and that's the matter as God says you do know it because it's on your heart and it's on our heart because we were created by a God who is The standard he is that that moral standard that the moral law is based upon God's character.

New Creation in Christ and the Image of the Creator

Yeah, and and other evidence that we see Experientially and in Scripture is that there's a there's a difference between The knowledge that we have apart from Christ and the knowledge that we have after Christ.

And I appreciate the the connection that Perkins makes. When he he looks at Ephesians chapter 4 and he looks at the Colossians chapter 3. From Ephesians 4 he Perkins is making a connection back to After Christ after we're born again.

He's making a connection that We're part of this new creation. Pointing back to what creation was originally intended to be so We are we are beginning to that that process of awakening and to what Adam Experienced.

What Adam truly knew is is what we are being awakened to in this in this new life. Ephesians says put on the new self created after the likeness of God in true righteousness and holiness. And then he quotes Colossians 3 10 Have put on the new man.

Which is being renewed in knowledge after the image of his creator and then Perkins is bearing God's image entails a certain knowledge righteousness and holiness. So after Christ, you know, we we can see from general revelation that God has these characters.

But then after Christ this awakening happens and I say, oh I should live in light of that. Mm-hmm. I should treat This is this is a character of God. I can see his kindness. I can see his creativity.

I Should put that into practice with my fellow man. Mm-hmm.

Yeah, so I guess I guess Um the Covenant of Works. Then we're gonna try to I'm gonna get a good a good overview a covenant the Covenant of Works was a Was an opportunity for us to live in fellowship with God based on our obedience to him and our keeping of his law.

It was a And it was a foul it was a it was not on the basis of how you can't do this. No, it wasn't some some vindictive God, you know sitting there Slapping us with our own hands saying quit hitting yourself.

It was it was a God who said here's everything you need to succeed. Live in proper relationship with me.

And I think that's why Perkins starts the chapter with love. Yeah, because we we have such a negative connotation with works That no even yeah, I'm well, there's nothing special about me, but I've. You know, I've had a hard time understanding Covenant of Works outside of that negative connotation that I have of works because and It's true.

You know, we learn a New Testament. We're not we're not saved by works. Right, we we cannot do enough works to please God to get ourselves out of the hole that we're in Salvation has nothing to do with any works that we could do.

Like I said Ship has sailed. That's right. Rescue was not reward. It was of grace. Yep, but.

If we don't mean that those works are wrong because those works.

Start from a place of love. We were created for good works, right. And Adam was created for good works. And if we understand the Covenant of Works Originally, it was a covenant of love.

Right. Right, which leads us further on down the line. It was that obedience that we failed to to to to have. It was it was the the covenant faithfulness that we failed to to keep That had to be purchased through Christ's active and passive obedience as he came to the earth as he was made into the second Adam I don't know made into is the right way to say it but as he was the second Adam and you know born in in flesh and and and became man so that we may.

Um.

Fulfill our purpose in creation, which is to glorify God and enjoy him forever. So God wasn't he wasn't about to just trash the whole thing. He deserved the glory that he was going to get from mankind.

And so he redeemed us graciously because he didn't have to but he wasn't. He was jealous for his own glory and saw fit to come and save us when we decided to Act a full one. Oh good. Allergy is definitely part of the fall.

So, so do you think we're following Perkins. Are we following scripture. Because it seems like Perkins is showing us that us as new creations.

Are Our.

God is making us into what he originally created. And so we're talking about you were you were quoting the Westminster. We are to glorify God and enjoy him forever that's our. What's the quote the exact quote our man's chief?

The chief end of man in a man is to glorify God and enjoy him forever, right? So the outworking of that. Would it would it be correct to say that we go back to the the creation mandate Fill the earth to do it and make that connection with Matthew 28 in the Great Commission.

Is there anything coming together?

Kind of. You're definitely in the right on the right track.

Okay.

I say yeah. Because that that's that's what is going to come about from the grace of God coming coming through Jesus Christ. Because that's what was promised. That was the the plan in The Covenant of Works that these things wouldn't happen and take place because of mankind's faithfulness and obedience.

Since that didn't happen. It's going to take place through principle grace and through the promise of God. So while we should jump on board.

We are.

It's not the first Adam who's going to accomplish it. It's going to be the second Adam who's going to accomplish those things. So while we should work to that end We also have to remember that it's not first Adam type efforts that are going to get the job done because sin is still in the world and.

It.

Needs to be done away with and that can't be done away with through us and through our own works and efforts. That's why it says that the anger of man doesn't produce the righteousness of God the righteousness of God only comes from God himself.

So so yeah, you're absolutely right that we should be thinking Great Commission is to get out there and work. We should be subduing the earth, but we're not doing it. Through the same sort of efforts as we were before our work now is by exalting Christ who has done those things on our behalf where we.

Didn't.

Or we didn't do it and can't can no longer but through Christ we can because all things are possible through him.

Does that make sense? It does and and I know that we don't have a Podcast you had or a list and and I don't mean to throw you curveballs or I'm I'm asking you some questions asking you some questions as.

But as they come to mind as as we're talking about this and things come to mind I enjoy throwing these things out there and And learning more about this. So I'm thinking about Abraham and how the New Testament describes Abraham as His righteousness was credit him as as faith.

And.

How this switch it?

Is.

Faith was credited to him as righteousness. There we go. There we go. I know what you were saying, you know, you know. And I make I'm thinking about that as we're talking about the Covenant of works with with Adam and.