Knowing that our salvation was planned out by the triune God before the foundation of the world gives us unspeakable comfort. If you are a Christian, it is because the Father, Son, and Holy Spirit covenanted together in eternity to save you. You are not a Christian because you are better, smarter, or possess a softer heart than other people. You are a Christian because the Father chose you in the Son, the Son fulfilled the conditions for your salvation, and the Spirit applied to you the redemptive benefits of the Son’s work. When you are tempted to doubt your salvation, remember that Christ said, “It is finished,” and that the Father is satisfied with the work of his Son. Your salvation remains secure, not because of anything you do, but because Christ finished the work the Father gave him to accomplish and satisfied God’s justice. Consequently, the Father has highly exalted him. The obedience-reward pattern in the covenant of redemption causes us to look to Christ rather than ourselves for assurance of our salvation. pp. 37-38
Brown, Michael G. & Keele, Zach, Sacred Bond: Covenant Theology Explored; Reformed Fellowship, Inc. 2012, Grandville, MI
Lectures based upon this book are currently being delivered by Michael Brown and are available here: http://christurc.org/catechism_others.html
Michael Brown and Zach Keele,
Sacred Bond is an introduction to covenant theology geared to the lay reader. This book gives an introduction to the nature of a covenant and the various covenants in Scripture: the covenant of redemption, the covenant of works, the covenant of grace, the common grace (Noahic) covenant, the Abrahamic covenant, the Mosaic covenant, the Davidic covenant, and finally the new covenant. The authors explain how these covenants relate to each other and provide brief explanations of how these covenants relate to justification, sanctification, and the law/gospel distinction.
More about the book below. HT: Pilgrimage to Geneva
Authors Michael Brown and Zach Keele are both Alumni of Wesminster Seminary California.
Click Here to Order the Book
An excerpt from the introduction:
“What is a covenant? A covenant is a formal agreement that creates a relationship with legal aspects. By relationship, we do not mean merely those relationships of husband-wife, or government-citizen—though these are included—but also the relationship of giving your word to do something. If you tell your neighbors that you will feed their dogs while they are on vacation, this is a commitment or agreement. You have a relationship with your neighbor just by being her neighbor, but giving your word that you will feed the dogs is a commitment, a covenant of sorts. A covenant can be commitment, promise, or oath. In fact, in the Bible, promise and oath are often used as synonyms for covenant.”
“People often ask me for a basic or introductory book on covenant theology. Now we’ve got one—Sacred Bond. Brown and Keele explain covenant theology in basic and readable terms. Better yet, they do so without succumbing to the tendency to talk down to the reader or make the complicated too simplistic—a common problem with introductory texts. This book does many things well, but perhaps the most important thing it does is that it will help people to better understand their Bibles. That, it seems to me, is what makes this book so valuable. And that is why you should buy it, read it, and digest it. To understand covenant theology is to understand the Bible.”—Dr. Kim Riddlebarger, pastor of Christ Reformed Church (URCNA) in Anaheim, CA, and author of A Case for Amillennialism: Understanding the End Times
“Read, mark, learn, and inwardly digest this wonderful guide. In doing so, you will be much better equipped to know what you believe and why you believe it.”—From the foreword by Dr. Michael S. Horton, Professor of Theology and Apologetics at Westminster Seminary California
See more on Covenant Theology here: http://pilgrimagetogeneva.com/category/covenant-theology/
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