# CT Definitions - Right Track?



## HisRobes4Mine (Jan 26, 2019)

My wife and I are studying CT and attempting to understand some basic level definitions. 

As I understand it, there have historically been 3 overarching covenants within Scripture: The Covenant of Redemption, the Covenant of Works, and the Covenant of Grace. It seems that these covenants are basically the framework of the gospel message. Are we on the right track as understanding these covenants as defined below?

Covenant of Redemption = Election? - God elects from before the creation of all things to redeem a people for himself. (Psalm 110; Isaiah 42:6; Ephesians 1; Philippians 2)

Covenant of Works = Law? - God graciously entered into a relationship with mankind through its federal head Adam calling him to obedience and offering him eternal life as the reward. Essentially God gave commands to Adam to obey which if he did would have gained him that eternal life. (Gen 2:15-17; Hos 6:7; Rom 5:12-14; Gal 3:10-12)

Covenant of Grace = Offer of the Gospel? - Because Adam failed to keep God's commands laid out in the CoW, in Gen 3 God made a second covenant with mankind offering the gift of eternal life because Christ kept the CoW. Faith is the requirement to enter into this covenant. (Gen 3:15; Gal 3:21)


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## greenbaggins (Jan 26, 2019)

Samuel, here is how I would define the three covenants. 

Covenant of redemption: the intra-Trinitarian agreement made among the three persons of the Trinity in eternity past concerning the heading up of all things in Christ Jesus. Integral to this covenant is what each of the three persons will do for the fulfillment of it. The Father plans it, the Son accomplishes, and the Spirit applies. Both the CoW and the CoG stem from this covenant of redemption. None of humanity is any kind of direct party to it. 

Covenant of works: the agreement God made with the first Adam as representative head of the entire human race: obey, and human obtains the eschatological body (a state far higher than the one in which he was created); disobey, and death enters the world. 

Covenant of grace: the agreement God made with the last Adam as representative of all those who are in Him. It is tightly connected to the CoW, because Jesus fulfills and fixes the terms of the CoW for all who are in him. Salvation comes to the people Jesus represents, while the representative himself fulfills and fixes the CoW. The CoW still exists and all those who are not in the CoG are in the CoW.

Reactions: Informative 2


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## Scott Bushey (Jan 26, 2019)

Hi Lane,
I have never heard it said that Christ ‘fixes’ the C o W’s. Can u elaborate?


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## greenbaggins (Jan 26, 2019)

Scott, all I mean by that is that Adam broke the CoW, and Jesus fixed what Adam broke. And, for further clarification, by the term "broke" I don't mean "annihilate" but simply "Adam didn't hold up his end of the bargain." Also, when I say that Jesus fixed what Adam broke, I don't mean that Jesus made the CoW fulfillable for us. Rather, he and he alone fulfilled all its terms, and obtained by it what Adam should have obtained.

Reactions: Like 1


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