# Thomas Boston on the covenant of grace and limited atonement



## Reformed Covenanter (Oct 17, 2019)

Our Lord Jesus is the actual and eventual Saviour of the elect only, in whose room and stead only he died upon the cross, according to the eternal compact passed between him and the Father, in the covenant of grace, otherwise called the covenant of redemption ...

For more, see Thomas Boston on the covenant of grace and limited atonement.

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## Taylor (Oct 17, 2019)

Reformed Covenanter said:


> ...the covenant of grace, otherwise called the covenant of redemption.



Forgive my ignorance, but I don't think I've seen this before. Is he saying that the Covenant of Grace _is_ the Covenant of Redemption? I suppose this depends upon how many covenants one finds in Scripture (referring to the recent thread/poll on the subject)?


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## RJ Spencer (Oct 17, 2019)

Taylor Sexton said:


> Forgive my ignorance, but I don't think I've seen this before. Is he saying that the Covenant of Grace _is_ the Covenant of Redemption? I suppose this depends upon how many covenants one finds in Scripture (referring to the recent thread/poll on the subject)?



I agree. That threw me off a little when I first read it. I've always thought of the Covenant of Grace and the Covenant of Redemption as two separate covenants, or at least that the Covenant of Redemption explained the rationale behind the Covenant of Grace.


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## Contra_Mundum (Oct 17, 2019)

WLC 31:
Q. 31. With whom was the covenant of grace made?
A. The covenant of grace was made with Christ as the second Adam, and in him with all the elect as his seed.​

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## Stephen L Smith (Oct 17, 2019)

Taylor Sexton said:


> Forgive my ignorance, but I don't think I've seen this before. Is he saying that the Covenant of Grace _is_ the Covenant of Redemption?





RJ Spencer said:


> I agree. That threw me off a little when I first read it. I've always thought of the Covenant of Grace and the Covenant of Redemption as two separate covenants,


Jonathan Edwards disagreed with Boston on this point and argued that the Covenant of Redemption and Covenant of Grace are very similar, yet they must be distinguished. If you have read Carl Bogue's book "Jonathan Edwards and the Covenant of Grace" he is very helpful on this point. Ligonier Ministries has a helpful summary of Bogue's argument here. See also this.


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## RJ Spencer (Oct 17, 2019)

There is a discussion on this very topic ongoing on the puritan Board as we speak. https://puritanboard.com/threads/covenant-of-redemption.99689/

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## Reformed Covenanter (Oct 17, 2019)

Taylor Sexton said:


> Forgive my ignorance, but I don't think I've seen this before. Is he saying that the Covenant of Grace _is_ the Covenant of Redemption? I suppose this depends upon how many covenants one finds in Scripture (referring to the recent thread/poll on the subject)?



Yes, he is. Thomas Boston saw the CoR and the CoG as two ways of looking at the same covenant, rather than as two distinct covenants. Boston's position is that officially enshrined in the Westminster Catechism (as Bruce's quote attests) although they do not preclude one from holding a three covenant position.

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