# God's sovereignty regarding the Covenant of Works and Grace



## ABondSlaveofChristJesus (Mar 28, 2005)

"If sovereignty is defined as freedom from external control, then for God to justify people based on their works, he must give up some of His control and convey it to mankind, thus he is no longer free from external control. If God is dependent on man before he can act He cannot be sovereign. He is like superman giving his ability to fly to someone else, or Hercules giving some of his strength away. If God gives up some of his control to man He may be in control of giving up control but after it is done He has given up his sovereignty and is now co-sovereign with man."

This is something I started writing out on my paper. Basically expanding on the concept that if God is dependent on mans action before he can act he woudln't be sovereign. However, how can I make sense of this and Adam and Eve in the covenant of works, where their actions were merit-dependent?


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## Puritan Sailor (Mar 28, 2005)

Read chapter 7 of the WCF. God condescended to Adam to make that covenant and it's conditions. And it didn't limit His sovereignty at all. It was God who set the paramters for Adam, and enabled him in the covenant to obtain the reward for obedience. So it's not really merit in the strictest sense. Apart from the covenant of works, man could not merit eternal life because he as God's upright creature owed perfect obedience no matter what. You must remember that God's sovereignty is consistent with His character. He created and designed man for that unique fellowship and interaction with Himself. We are not just pet rocks.


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## Me Died Blue (Mar 28, 2005)

I think the general concept of God's providence co-existing with human free agency in daily affairs through a "divine manipulation" of sorts applies to some extent, as explained by Proverbs 16:9 - "The heart of man plans his way, but the Lord establishes his steps." So I think that concept explains how the Covenant of Works can have a purely meritorious nature on the part of man even in light of God's providence.

Even so, that still leaves the unanswered question of the providence-free agency concept's relationship to the Fall, since that concept ultimately roots all events in God's sovereign ordination, and yet He is not the author of sin. I'm with R. C. Sproul on this particular issue as stated in his _Chosen By God_ in that it is a present mystery to us how those two truths (God sovereignly ordained the Fall and is not the author of sin) compatibly co-exist, although I imagine that Matt probably suggests other ways of dealing with it in _The Two Wills of God_.

(Hmm, Dr. Sproul, as an anti-Van Tillian, is that an _apparent_ contradiction to us in the present age that you're admitting to...a paradox? )


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## WrittenFromUtopia (Mar 28, 2005)

Well, in the Covenant of Grace we have an unconditional and conditional understanding of it. One of the basic tenets of the CoG is the premise "I will be your God, and you will be My people."

It is unconditional, as God gives man this very saving faith. (God initiates the covenant with "I will be Your God")

It is conditional, as man is required to have saving faith in Christ to be in a spiritual communion of life with God. (We respond in saving faith to God's initiation with "I will be counted among Your people")

The orthodox belief of compatiblism is at the very heart of understanding God's sovereignty and man's responsibility. It is, admittedly, a mystery. However, it is not beyond our basic understanding and requires our belief to properly understand who God is and who we are in comparison to His power, glory, and dominion.


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