pilgrim people

The Covenant of Redemption (con't)

If all covenants have oaths, conditions and sanctions, what were those of the Covenant of Redemption (CR)?

The Oath:

Ps 110.4: “Yahweh swore and will not change his mind, you are a priest forever according to the order of Mel.”

The most oft quoted psalm in the New Testament. Yes, David wrote the psalm, but the perfect tense of the word "swore" indicates that the oath was taken prior to David's time. So to whom was this referring? To Christ! The oath is from eternity past! (It's actually repeated 9x in the Book of Hebrews.)

The Conditions:

The Father required of the Son to be the Surety and Head of his people, those whom the Father gave to him. This included at least three major aspects:

First, it meant that the Son should assume human nature by being born of a woman, born under the law, though without sin: Gal 4.4,5: “But when the fullness of time had come, God sent forth his Son, born of a woman, born under the law, to redeem those who were under the law, so that we might receive adoption as sons.” (cf. Heb 2.10-11, 14-15; 4.15)

Secondly, the Son should place himself under the law in order to fulfill the law through his active obedience and merit everlasting life for the elect as their Federal Head and Second Adam:

Ps 40.8: “I desire to do your will, O my God; your law is within my heart”

Mt 5.17: “Do not think that I have come to abolish the Law or the Prophets; I have not come to abolish them but to fulfill them.”

Jn 5.30, 43: “I can do nothing on my own. As I hear, I judge, and my judgment is not my own will but the will of him who sent me…I have come in my Father’s name.”

Jn 6.37-40: “All that the Father gives me will come to me, and whoever comes to me I will never cast out. For I have come down from heaven, not to do my own will but the will of him who sent me. And this is the will of him who sent me, that I should lose nothing of all that he has given me.”

Jn 8.29: “And he who sent me is with me. He has not left me alone, for I always do the things that are pleasing to him.”

Jn 10.18: “No one takes [my life] form me, but I lay it down of my own accord. I have authority to lay it down, and I have authority to take it up again. This charge I have received from my Father.”

Jn 17: Jesus speaks of the work given to him by the Father and that he has ACCOMPLISHED that work for those whom the Father gave to him!

Heb 10.5-10: (interprets Psalm 40) “Behold I have come to do your will.”

Third, Christ's active and passive obedience would also include bearing the just penalty for the sins of those whom the Father gave to him in the CR:

Is 53 (especially the conclusion): This clearly teaches Christ's obedience to the Father’s will as the cause and basis for reward.

Phil 2.8-11: "And being found in human form, he humbled himself by becoming obedient to the point of death, even death on a cross." Notice the consequent reward for obedience in the following verses: "Therefore God has highly exalted him and bestowed on him the name that is above every name, so that at the name of Jesus every knee should bow, in heaven and on earth and under the earth, and every tongue should confess that J Xp is Lord, to the glory of God the Father.”

Heb 5.8: “Although he was a son, he learned obedience through what he suffered.”

In his active and passive obedience, Christ fulfills the conditions of the CR (Pactum Salutis) and fulfills the conditions of that covenant.

More to follow...