The Covenant of Works

God created man in a "covenant of life with him." The Westminster Confession of faith expands the teaching of the catechism linking it with the phrase "covenant of works" (7:2). The covenant of works describes the relationship between God and Adam prior to the fall and has important implications for everyone following the fall.

The covenant of works is "God's commitment to give Adam, and his posterity in him, eternal life for obedience or eternal death for disobedience.

The phrase "covenant of works" is not found in Scripture. However, Scripture does speak of a covenant that Adam violated (Hos. 6:7) and all of the marks of a covenant that promised Adam life for obedience are present in Genesis 1–3. For these reasons church fathers like St. Augustine described the relationship in which Adam stood before God as a covenant.

The Three Forms of Unity do not use the phrase but the truth of a covenant of works is "materially embodied" in Belgic Confession articles 14–15, Heidelberg Catechism LD 3–4, and Canons of Dort III/IV.2.

Let's try to discover why Herman Bavinck wrote that "the doctrine of the covenant of works is based on Scripture and is eminently valuable.