Let me get everyone's attention. If you're in the Commons area, you can come on into Sunday School this morning. I just want to introduce the course for the next three weeks. And so just make your way on in. And for the next couple of weeks, our pastoral intern, Sam Frane, is going to be teaching a course on the covenants. And those of you who are here at Grace know that this is a little bit of a passion of mine. But we've talked together about how we see the Bible being put together. And so Sam is going to recommend some resources, I believe, throughout this course. But as we think in just three weeks about how the Lord has worked in the covenant of redemption and the covenant of works, the biblical covenants and then the covenant of grace or the new covenant. We're going to kind of walk through making points as we think about these various things. And then as it relates to the last week, one of the things that makes us as Reformed Baptists different from our brothers and sisters who are Reformed Presbyterians, at least confessionally, would be the difference in baptism. And I would argue that what we're going to talk about in this third week coming up, Lord willing, second Sunday in July, is about that difference. And so as we walk through this, I've been encouraged as our brother and I have sat down and kind of walked through it. So let's pray together and then look forward to the next three weeks as we study the covenants from scripture. Let's pray. Lord God Almighty, we give you thanks and praise for this class. We thank you for your word and the ability to see how it fits together. We thank you for men of old who have helped us to understand how to see the things in your scriptures that you intend for us to see, and we pray as we consider covenants that you would remind us of your covenant promise of grace to any who would come to you. We pray your blessing upon our brother as he teaches. We ask this in Jesus name. Amen brother. So as he said, we're going to be discussing these next few weeks on God's covenants from, well, before time began all the way until the new covenant in our Savior, the Lord Jesus Christ. So these next couple weeks will be emphasizing the covenant of redemption, the covenant of works, the old covenant, covenants of promise, and then of course the new covenant established through the death and resurrection of the Lord Jesus Christ. So that's kind of a framework. I've used a lot of words in that last sentence that maybe you're not familiar with. The covenant of redemption, the covenant of works, the covenants of promise. Maybe those words aren't familiar and hopefully over these next couple weeks, Lord willing, you'll have a better understanding of what the Covenant works is, what the Covenant of Redemption is. what the covenants of promise are. Now that way you can go away from this study, even if you just remember a sentence or two from each week, you'll at least have some type of idea of when we say we are a Baptist church that holds the covenant theology, you have an idea of what that means and the structure in which we see the scriptures. Because the scriptures are put together in a covenantal structure. They're set up in a way where you see the unfolding of God's plan in history through covenants. And so over these next couple weeks, Lord willing, we'll be able to better see and better understand what we mean that God works to save sinners through covenants. And so To start today, we're going to be talking about the Covenant of Redemption. And how I'm going to do it is I'll teach today on the Covenant of Redemption and the Covenant of Works, Lord willing. And after each one, I'll open up for questions if there's something that I was unclear about or something you want follow-up on. So as I'm talking, if you think about questions, you'll have an opportunity in between and then at the end to ask questions for clarification. The Covenant of Redemption in its most simple form is this. that the Godhead before the foundational world with one purpose and with one will chose to save sinners from all the nations. I'll say it again. The emphasis of the covenant of redemption is the Godhead before the foundational world with one purpose and one will chose to save sinners from all the nations. And so a text that's helpful to get us thinking in terms of the covenant of redemption. Not a proof text, but just something that shows us God's purposes of salvation. Psalm verse 3. Psalm 3. And Psalm 3 verse 8. Psalm 3 verse 8. And some of these I won't have you turn to, but this one I will. So if you just want to Turn there, because I have lots of verses, so we won't be able to turn all of them for time's sake, but this one I want you to see with your eyes. Psalm 3 verse 8 says, Salvation belongs to the Lord. Your blessing is upon your people. And that's not a proof text for the covenant of redemption, but it is to show us that salvation from start to finish is the work and the purpose of the Lord. belongs to the Lord. You don't have to turn to this one, but here's maybe a text that helps us. If the covenant of redemption is what I say it is, that the Godhead with one purpose and one will from before the foundational world choosing to save sinners from all the nations, a text that might be helpful is Titus 1, 1 and 2, it says, Paul, a bond servant of God and an apostle of Jesus Christ, according to the faith of God's elect and the acknowledgement of the truth, which accords with godliness. And here's the main emphasis on the covenant of redemption. In hope of eternal life, which God, who cannot lie, promised before time began. and then verse three, but has in due time manifest his word through preaching which was committed to me according to the commandment of God our Savior. So we see there in Titus chapter one that this grace that God was going to give to us, this hope of eternal life, was promised before time began. So there was a promise of eternal life before time even existed as we know it. So this is where we start to see at least from seed level, a reality that there was some type of promise that God made even before time began. Another one, a book right over 2 Timothy chapter one, 2 Timothy chapter one and verse eight and nine, 2 Timothy chapter one, verse eight and nine. Again, what I'm trying to establish from these verses, just so we're all following, is that the Godhead with one purpose and one will before time began, chose to save sinners from all the nations. That's what I'm trying to establish in the covenant of redemption and trying to show you texts that help us see that reality in the scriptures. 2 Timothy 1 verse 8. Therefore, do not be ashamed of the testimony of our Lord, nor of me as prisoner, but share with me in the sufferings for the gospel according to the power of God, who saved us and called us with a holy calling, not according to our works, but according to his own purpose and grace, which was given to us in Christ Jesus before time began. So we see there that this grace that was going to be manifested was given to us in Christ Jesus before time began. So we see from Titus 1, there's the God who cannot lie promised eternal life before time began. And then we see in this text that we were given this grace in Christ Jesus. God promised this grace in Christ Jesus before time began. So again, you're going to hear me say this sentence over and over again because I want to really get in your mind. What I'm trying to prove is the cover of redemption is the Godhead with one purpose and one will, choosing to save sinners from all the nations. Salvation belongs to the Lord, Psalm 3. So salvation is from start to finish of God. We see in Titus 1 that God promised before time began, the eternal life that he would give us in Christ. And then we see here that before time began, God also promised or gave us this grace in Christ Jesus. Another text, John 10. John 10, starting at verse 25. And maybe you're familiar with the phrase in the Gospels where our Lord Jesus Christ over and over and over again will say, all that the Father has given me, or those that the Father has given me, or the ones that God has given me, or the sheep that have been given to me. He says that all the time, particularly in the Gospel of John. And what I believe he's picking up on is before time began, God promised a particular people and gave them to the Son, all that the Father has given me. That's language of the Covenant of Redemption. Chapter 10, verse 25, Jesus answered them, I told you, and you do not believe. The works that I do in my Father's name, they bear witness of me. But you do not believe because you're not of my sheep, as I said to you. My sheep hear my voice, and I know them, and they follow me. And I give them eternal life, and they shall never perish. Neither shall anyone snatch them out of my hand. My Father who has, here it is, given them to me is greater than all, and no one is able to snatch them out of my Father's hand. I and my Father are one." There we see in the text that the Lord Jesus Christ talking about the sheep. This is a familiar text. John 10 when he says, I lay down my life for the sheep. We're probably familiar with that section. He's talking to the Pharisees about his purpose to lay down his life to die and be resurrected for the salvation of the sheep. And then in context of the sheep, he says, these are the ones who were given to me. These are the ones that the father gave me. And then he finishes this kind of section by saying, I and my father are one, which I believe what he's getting at is that the father and the son have the same purpose and same will to save the sheep. I and my father are one. We both have this same purpose. And what's that purpose according to John 10? That the sheep from all the nations, because he says in John 10.16, they're sheep of another fold that I must bring in, the sheep from all the nations. Me and my father have the same will to save. And then another text, John 6.37. I've said it, but you don't have to turn here. I'm not gonna turn here either, but it says, all that the Father has given me will come to me. And then it goes on to say, and whoever comes to me, I will no wise cast out. So we see that language in John's gospel of those in whom the Father gave him. So before the foundation of the world, before time began, The cover of redemption is the Godhead, Father, Son, and Holy Spirit, choosing with one will and one purpose to save sinners from all the nations. If you just get that one sentence, I will be happy. If you leave today, the cover of redemption is the Godhead, with one purpose and one will, choosing to save from all the nations His people. That's the emphasis of the Covenant of Redemption. That when we think about God giving his son of people, when we think about these texts where there was grace promised before time began, we have to do something with this language. And theologians, one who's been helpful to me is Herman Malvink. And if you know Ryan, you'd be pretty well aware that that would be one that would be helpful to me or one that would be recommended to me. Theologians are trying to come up with some type of theological category to make sense of this language of people given to Christ and grace promised before time began. They're trying to come up, because some people might say, well, there's no verse in the Bible that says covenant redemption. So Sam, why are you talking about the covenant redemption? There's no chapter and verse that says it. Show me a chapter and verse that says covenant redemption. I'll believe it. But if we do theology that way, we'll have problems in a lot of different areas. Because there's not a chapter and verse that says God is the Trinity. But what we try to do is say, this is the language of the scriptures. We see that there's one God. We see that this one God is three persons. And we see that all three of the persons are equal and co-eternal. So what do we do? We put a category or a word to define, namely, the Trinity. And it's the same thing for the covenant of redemption. We're saying there was people given to Christ before the foundation of the world. What we're saying is there was grace promised before time began. There was God giving us this grace in Christ before the foundation of the world. And what we try to do is say, well we have these categories, maybe a good word to put on it is the covenant of redemption. So that's what we're trying to do with a word like the Covenant of Redemption. We're not trying to invent something new, but we're trying to, in a succinct, clear, short way, instead of every time saying a whole sentence or a whole paragraph, use one phrase to get the point across to a whole big concept. And that's what the Covenant of Redemption is all about. And one thing that's important to remember as we think about the cover redemption or anything that God does in history is all the works of God cannot be separated. Why? Because God's a simple being. You can't separate God. God's simple. And so therefore, everything the Father does, the Son and the Spirit are also involved. You can't separate the works of God. Because God is a simple being, God works as Father, as Son, and as Holy Spirit in every work. There's distinction and role that we'll get into in a minute, but in terms of God's working, Father, Son, and Holy Spirit, you can't separate their works. So I've talked a lot about, I'm gonna say a big word and then define it, the ontological trinity. The ontological trinity is a big way of saying the essence of the Godhead. The nature of the Godhead is Father, Son, and Holy Spirit, one in purpose, one in will, and all these different things. But there's also what we call the economic trinity. Ontological is the essence of God as Father, Son, and Holy Spirit, one in purpose, one in will, can't separate their works, all working together for one purpose, one plan, for one glory. But the economic trinity is God's working in history to accomplish the cover of redemption. So an example there is in the economic trinity, the father sends the son, because it's God who so loved the world that he gave his son. It's the son who lives as a man, who dies as a sacrifice for sin, who rises from the dead. And it's the spirit who comes by the father through the son to indwell the hearts of God's people. And so even though all three persons of the trinity are involved, in our salvation, in the economic trinity, they take on specific roles. It's the Son of God who dies for sinners. The Father doesn't die, the Spirit doesn't die, it's the Son who dies. But at the same time, the Father and the Spirit are involved. Why? Think about a text, Hebrews 9.14. that Christ, through the eternal Spirit, offered himself once unto God. We see all three persons involved with the cross. The Spirit was involved because it was through the Spirit that he offered himself to God. Even though it was the Son who was the one who died, all three persons were even involved at the cross in the saving of sinners. So ontological, the essence of God. The economic trinity in terms of the reality of God's dealing in history. The Father sends, the Son redeems, and the Spirit seals. So, in summary, because I'm gonna move on to the covenant works, and then, well, I'll open it up for questions, but, is if all you get out of the covenant redemption, just, I want you to remember this. The covenant redemption, I probably said this sentence over and over again, purposely. Covenant of Redemption is the Godhead, before time began, choosing to save sinners with one purpose and one will from all the nations. And that, those words I'm using, one purpose and one will, are important. The Godhead has one will, has one purpose, has one will. And so they work together with one purpose and one will to save sinners from all the nations. So that's the Covenant of Redemption. The Godhead, before time began, choosing with one purpose and one will to save sinners. Are there any questions on the reality of the covenant redemption before I move on to covenant works? Is there anything that was confusing, follow up, anything that might be helpful as thinking through it? Okay. Yes. Yeah. No, that's a great question. Do you want to handle that, brother, or do you want me to? OK. OK. God is simple meaning you can't divide God. So in the sense that God isn't half holy, half just. God in his essence is holy. God in his essence is just. You can't split up God into little parts. So God is simple in his being, he's not divided. And so God isn't 50% holy, 50% just, 25% love. God is love in his whole being and you can't divide God in his essence and who he is. God is who he is. Yeah, no, that's a good question. I would say in the covenant of redemption, the essence is the covenant is God's promise. So when we think about a covenant, it's usually a promise from two parties. What we see in the Covenant of Redemption is God's promise within himself with one purpose and one will to save sinners. So it's that promise within himself, Father, Son, and Spirit with one purpose and one will to save. When we get into different covenants, particularly the Covenant of Works, there's this God-man covenant. But in terms of the Covenant of Redemption, the implication is we think about the covenants as being promises that God makes, but the Covenant of Redemption is the promise that God makes within himself. And we see that fleshed out in the scriptures that God who cannot lie promised before time began. So it's the covenant he makes within himself, this promise that God plans to do. Any other questions before I move on? Okay, covenant of works. So if the covenant of redemption is the Godhead choosing to save sinners with one purpose and one will, the covenant of works, we could say, is the first covenant within human history. The first covenant within the dealings of mankind. This is the covenant that God made with Adam in the garden. So the covenant where God wrote his moral law on Adam's heart, we see that in Romans 2, 14 and 15, that the Gentiles who don't have the written scriptures have the law written on their heart. Because as being made in the image of God, you have the law written on your heart by nature. But even more specifically, with the Covenant of Works, it's God giving what we call a positive law, and that's been a helpful word that a lot of people have been helped by Sam Renahan with that word, the word positive law. So there's moral law that's wrong at all times and in all places. And then there's positive law that God gives for a specific time and a specific place. And so think about it this way, if somehow I could get to the Garden of Eden today, just follow me for a second, I'm not saying I can, but this has been helpful, me and Pastor Ryan have been talking through it, he's used this example and it's been helpful for me to think through it. If I could somehow get to the Garden of Eden today and find the tree of the knowledge of good and evil, And this might sound interesting, but I believe it's true, is if I would eat the fruit, it wouldn't be sin. Why? Because that tree was only forbidden for a particular time and a particular place for a particular purpose. And once that covenant was broken by Adam, the stipulations are removed about the tree of the knowledge of good and evil. Maybe another one, we could think about circumcision. Circumcision would be a positive law where, for a particular time, for the Jewish people, God commanded them to circumcise. But now, because it was just a positive law and not a moral commandment binding all people at all times, it's not sinful not to receive the sign of circumcision as a religious right. That's what we call a positive law. And so God gave a positive law Adam, not to eat of the tree of the knowledge of good and evil. And if Adam would have kept that commandment, that law, he would have entered life and rest for him and all mankind descending from him. If he broke that covenant, it would be death and destruction for him and all mankind. So this is what we call federal headship. That's a big word. I'll define it. Federal headship meaning the one represents the many. The one represents the many. Think about it this way. For those who like sports like I do, basketball is a great way of thinking about the covenant of works. Wonderful way. Why? If I'm the point guard on a basketball team, someone comes down for a layup. If I foul them, that's what we call a personal foul. Maybe that's my second foul of the game. That's my personal foul. But it's also a team foul. I get a foul, but the whole team gets a foul with me. And that's exactly what it was in the Garden of Eden. I was on Adam's team. He committed a personal foul, but it counted as a team foul for his whole team. All that was in his posterity. So that's when we think, so when people think that wasn't fair, everything in life has to do with federal headship. Whether it's business, whether it's sports, whatever, whether it's politics, there's so many places in our culture where the one represents the many. And basketball is a great example for that. Even if someone's on the end of the bench, the foul still counts for them because they're on the team, whether they get in the game or not, because they're on the team. And God, by sovereign decree, put all of us on Adam's team. So if you turn to Genesis chapter two, Genesis chapter two, you see specifically the stipulations for the covenant of works. Genesis chapter 2, I'm going to start at verse 15. It says, then the Lord God took the man and put him in the garden of Eden to tend it and keep it. And the Lord God commanded the man, saying, of every tree of the garden you may freely eat, but of the tree of the knowledge of good and evil you shall not eat, for in the day that you eat of it, you shall surely die. So we see in the covenant of works that God gave Adam access to all the trees of the garden, save one or except one, the tree of the knowledge of good and evil, stipulating Adam not to eat from that one tree, but he had access to every other tree in the garden. This was God's covenant dealings with Adam. It was God promising something for obedience and also promising something for disobedience. It was God promising blessing for obedience, kind of this do this and live principle. If you do this, you'll have life. If you don't do this, you'll have death. That's kind of the principle in the Garden of Eden. A do this and live type principle. We see though that the blessing promise is life. And we know that he would be able to eat of the tree of life. if he would have accomplished what we call the probationary period, that time when he was under the stipulations of the Covenant of Works. But we also know it would bring, as we see very clearly in the text, if you eat of the tree, you shall surely die. That's what we see in this nature of the Covenant of Works. One book that's really helpful, and I want to shamelessly give a plug for this bookshelf out here. There are so many good books, and I don't know who, I can do this maybe a little bit more low key, because I don't even know who stocks it or who does it. But if you do, there's a lot of really good books in this bookshelf. And you don't even have to buy them. You just rent them. I've rented a couple since I've been here. I've been able to read these two books since I've been here, just from over here. And so I'm very thankful for the bookshelf. But this is a really helpful book in terms of the Covenant of Works. I recently read it not too long ago while I was here, Getting the Garden Right, Adam's Work and God's Rest in Light of Christ by Dr. Barcelos. And so it's a really helpful one if you want maybe more in depth about what the Covenant of Works is. Dr. Barcelos has been very helpful for me in thinking through the Covenant of Works and I'm very thankful that he put this book out. probably almost 30. It almost looked like it. So many recommendations at the beginning. It seemed like everybody was recommending this book. It's very, very good. Dr. Beeke, who was here a couple weeks ago, or a couple years ago for the conference, really recommends this book. It was very, very helpful for the Covenant of Works. And one thing that came to my attention through reading this book which was really unique. This is maybe something, something that I was new to and Dr. Barcelos really pointed out for me well is if Adam would have fulfilled the stipulations for the covenant of works, he would have entered into life. And some people think that what the Lord Jesus Christ did was just through his obedience and death and resurrection, got us back to where Adam failed. No. Christ fulfilled where Adam didn't. He went one step farther. So as if Christ didn't eat of the tree of the knowledge of good and evil and obeyed through that probationary period, through that time, he, for 33 years, kept the covenant of works for us and then entered into life where Adam failed. So it's not just he took us back to the garden. He took us one point farther than the garden. And so that's why I like to say, I think the new heaven and the new earth will be better than the garden, because of the nature of Christ's work. He didn't bring us back to the garden. He took us one step further. That's why I think Hebrews 4 picks up on, because of Christ's obedience and death, he entered into rest, where Adam failed. Where Adam didn't enter into rest, Christ did. So the text, therefore, there remains a Sabbath keeping for the people of God, for he who has entered his rest has also rested from his works as God did from his. What's that picking up on? That just as God rested from his creation work, Christ wrests it from his work of redemption, entering into the wraths that Adam failed to do. And that's the beauty of the work of Christ, that he goes one step farther than Adam in bringing in the obedience that was required for our salvation. And then a text to help you think through this covenant dealing. Hosea 6-7 in the English Standard Version reads like this. But like Adam, they transgressed the covenant. there they dealt faithfully with me. So we see in Hosea chapter 6 that there's a reality in which, talking to people of Israel, just like Adam broke the covenant, Israel broke the covenant. Just like Adam failed to meet the requirements of the covenant, so did Israel. So there's this reality in which In the covenant dealing with God, Adam broke it, just like Israel. We know Israel was under a covenant, namely the Old Covenant, and the writer of Hosea is picking up that just like Israel broke the covenant, so did Adam, to show that there was a covenant dealing within the garden. And some people, just like I said earlier about the covenant of redemption when I said, well, there's no chapter and verse that says this was the covenant of redemption and here it is. You're not going to find a chapter and verse that says, my dear friends, Adam had a covenant of works in the garden. But that's not how we should read the Bible. What we read is that we look for categories. We look for ideas and then seek. to put terms on things to make sense of what's happening. So we see God relating with Adam. We see God giving promises and stipulations. We see God giving threats and warnings and promises, whether obedience or disobedience. Well, that should scream to us, if we understand the nature of covenants, that there is a covenant dealing between Adam and God. There was promises. There was threats. There was blessings. There was curses. based on God's dealing with Adam in the garden. And I think all of us would agree that between Christ and his people, there was a covenant, what we call the New Covenant, Christus Mediae, we all call that a covenant. And in Romans chapter five, it picks up just how God had a covenant with Adam, the one for the many, God had a covenant with Jesus, the one for the many. So if you turn to Romans chapter five, Romans chapter 5 to see this principle. And while you're turning there, the one sentence for the covenant of works I want you to really get is, God writing his moral law in Adam's heart and giving him the positive law, promising blessing for obedience, and curses for disobedience. That's the covenant of works. God writing the moral law on Adam's heart and God giving him a positive law promising blessing for obedience and curses for disobedience. That's the nature of it. And one other thing I want to say on this too before we get to Romans 5 is Adam had the moral law written on his heart from creation. Romans chapter 2, the law written on the Gentiles heart because they're made in the image of God. And so, Adam not only broke the positive law, he also broke God's moral law. Because what is God's moral law summed up as? Love God and love neighbor. He didn't show love to God when he disobeyed the commandment, and he didn't love his neighbor, namely Eve. because he was not protecting and keeping her and keeping the garden safe. And so when Adam broke the covenant of works, he not only broke not to eat of the tree, but he also broke the principle of loving God and loving neighbor, which was written on his heart. How do we know the law was written on his heart? Because think about it. In Genesis 4, when Cain kills Abel, the assumption is that's wrong. The assumption is it's wrong, but that was way before the Ten Commandments. Way before the 10 commandments. But what happens there? Does the writer say, yeah, no, it's not wrong until many years later. Mount Sinai is when murder becomes wrong. Of course not. Murder is wrong from the beginning because that wall was written on man's heart. And so when you read the story of Cain and Abel, you don't see a reality of saying, well, it doesn't become sin until the law actually comes. What you see is, because God says in Romans 2, as Revelation picks up, that the law's always been written on the heart, therefore murder, theft, or bearing false witness, or all these different things have been wrong since the garden, because the law's been written on the heart. Now as we get to the reality of Adam and Christ, If you look at verse 18 of Romans 5, we see this principle. So the principle, the one for the many, the one for the many, that's the principle, the one for the many. Verse 18, therefore as through one man's offense, judgment came to all men, resulting in condemnation. Even so through one man's righteous act, the free gift came to all men, resulting in justification of life. And here's a key verse, verse 19. For as by the one man's disobedience, many were made sinners, so also by the one man's obedience, many will be made righteous. Well, who's the one man's disobedience? Adam is that one man. And who's the one man's obedience? Disobedience, Adam. Obedience, the Lord Jesus Christ. So what it's saying is, remember the personal fowl and the team fowl? Well, we could go the other way, saying if someone hits a three-pointer at the end of the game, whether I'm on the end of the bench or in the game, that shot counted for me because I was on the team. I had a jersey, I was on the roster, so I can celebrate just as much as I can because when he made the shot, I made the shot in him because I'm on his team. So whether it's a foul or a shot, and so when the Lord Jesus Christ, just follow the analogy, made the three-point shot, I made it in Him because I was in the Lord Jesus Christ. Because when He obeyed, I obeyed. When He rose, I rose. When He ascended, I ascended in Him. Why? Because when He made the shot, I made the shot. I need to stay away from preaching, but this just deserves to be preached. That when I made it, or when Christ made it, I made it in him. That's the wonder of the one for many. So this is why, my dear friends, this is why the Covenant of Works matters. Because if we lose the Covenant of Works, we are in dangerous territory of losing the imputation of the righteousness of our Savior. Imputation is a big way of saying the crediting of our, of his righteousness to us. Because the covenant of works is showing us the one for many principle. Which is now fulfilled in Jesus Christ, the one for many. And so that's why it's so important that we don't lose the covenant of works. Because we can easily drift in saying, well there was no covenant in the garden. And we can play fast and loose with them saying, well, there was no perfect righteousness that Jesus needed to acquire for us. And my dear friends, this isn't just theoretical. There are people out there who are saying this, that they deny. Listen, they deny the act of obedience of Christ. And if you deny the act of obedience of Christ, I hate to sound blunt, but I think we need to. You deny the gospel. The act of obedience is a non-negotiable. Forgiven people don't go to heaven. Righteous people go to heaven. If we were just forgiven, that would only be half the problem. Righteous people go to heaven, not forgiven people. And that's why we need not just the death of Christ, but the life of Christ on our behalf. So we might stand before God with a perfect righteousness as he fulfills what Adam failed to do, bringing in the perfect righteousness that we needed. the one for the many, the one for the many principle. That's what we see in the garden and in the incarnation, the one for the many. And so to sum up the reality of the covenant of works, it's God writing the moral law in Adam's heart and giving him a positive law of not eating the tree of the knowledge of good and evil, promising blessing upon the fulfilling and curses upon the disobeying. That's what we see in the Covenant of Works, this reality. And just to use the analogy again so it sticks, I hope when you think about the Covenant of Works, you'll think about basketball because it's helped me so much. I have to give credit where credit's due. That's from a Shilin song, his song Active Obedience, when talking about that reality. where the one for the many, but that you'll remember when Adam failed, we were on his team and therefore had a team foul. But when Christ obeyed, we were on his team by grace through the covenant of redemption. Because when did God put us on Christ's team? All that the Father has, remember, it's all coming together, has given me. God put us on Christ's team. And so when he obeyed, when he made the shot, we made the shot in him. And then Covenant of Redemption is one more time, is God the Father, or the Godhead, from before time began choosing to save sinners with one purpose and one will from all the nations. So are there any, we have a few more minutes, are there any questions or statements on the reality of the Covenant of Redemption? If you have anything that came to mind while I was talking about the Covenant of Works or the Covenant of Works. We've heard it was wrong to put it. The moral qualm was actually given. It was like you were saying, we're made in the image of God, and when we do things that are outside the nature of God, we're not correctly reflecting the nature of God, because we're His image, and we're so very disgraced, or shamed, or blasphemed in the name of God. We're not reflecting that correctly. The one thing I saw that I didn't really thought about before was, back as a student, God commands you Is there any significance to that? I think so because I think Adam was to be a prophet, a priest, and a king in the garden. He was to be a prophet to teach the word. He was to be a priest to represent his people before God. And he was to be a king executing judgment on, so Adam should have killed the snake right when he saw him. So in that sense, God gave the law to Adam. And as a prophet, he was to give it to his wife as the one who was to teach her the word of God. So I think that's probably how it was in the garden. God gave it to Adam. And then he was to protect the garden, protect his wife, and be the teacher of his wife, the word of God. But no, that's a great thought in terms of the reality of making them first and the implications. Are there any other comments or questions? Yes, ma'am. I would say so. I would say so. Because, like I said, the covenant of works has to do with the one for many principle. And if we don't have this one for many, one representing us and either giving us curses or blessing, And I think it very much can, because what better assurance that there is, is that in my place condemned he stood, and that he lived for me, procuring or giving me a perfect righteousness. So I don't come to God for my assurance ultimately, even though our obedience does matter. My ultimate assurance is that I'm in Jesus Christ, and he is righteous, so therefore I'm righteous in him. And so I think the covenant of works has a big dealing on how I relate to God. Because if I relate to God on my performance, I'm going to fluctuate. But if I relate to God on the finished, active, and passive obedience of the Lord Jesus Christ, no matter how my day is, I can have assurance that I'm accepted with God. I should confess my sin. I should repent and seek holiness. but I don't do it to somehow earn righteousness, I do it because I'm already righteous in Christ. So I think it has very strong dealings to assurance, for sure. I have another question. Is this something that teaching is that you lose yourself, you lose your salvation, you're not keeping the world? Is someone that's actually believing Well, I would maybe say inconsistently, possibly. I don't want to make a blanket statement in terms of all people in all denominations. But I think just in terms of generally, maybe not specific denominations, it's very important to realize that it's God who keeps us. Because as one person has put it, if you could lose your salvation, you would. And so I think it's very important, going back to your question, is it's very important for our assurance to realize because the one for many principle of the covenant works and in history with God's dealing in Christ with us has great dealings on our assurance and realizing that because Christ accomplished it, Christ isn't going to lose me because he's already done all that's necessary to keep me. Well, I might not take them first to the Covenant of Works, but I would just probably show them clear text. I might show them Romans 8 where it says, be conformed to the image of his son. And then it goes on to say, those whom he predestined, he called. Those whom he called, he justified. And those whom he justified, he glorified. So just clear texts that show, if you're justified, you will be glorified. And there's no way out of that group. Or maybe John 10, all that the Father has given me. And then he says, no one can snatch it out of my Father's hand. So probably just showing clear texts that show the nature of salvation and the nature of the promise of God's grace. Maybe one or two more questions, because we'll get ready to, maybe one more, if there is one. So one more time, so it sticks in your mind. Covenant of Redemption. It's the Godhead, with one purpose and one will, choosing to save sinners. Covenant of works, God writing moral law in Adam's heart, giving him positive law, promising blessing upon obedience and curses upon disobedience. Let's pray. Father, we thank you for this time. May you be glorified in it. We thank you that you are kind and gracious to us, and we thank you that in Christ we stand with a perfect righteousness. Where Adam failed, he accomplished. Where Adam faltered, he stood. And we thank you for the blessing of that truth. In Jesus' name, amen.