"The Everlasting Covenant"         

Hebrews 13:20

 

     There was a covenant of grace made between God the Father, God the Son and God the Holy Spirit before the world began. In and by that covenant the salvation of God's elect was made sure. Those for whom the covenant was made shall be saved. Were the blessings of that covenant conditioned upon our works, or upon God's work? Is the immutability of that covenant determined by man's free-will, or by God's sovereign will? Are repentance, faith, obedience and perseverance conditions of the covenant, or fruits of the covenant? What saith the Scriptures?

     "This is the covenant that I will make with them after those days,saith the Lord,I will put my laws into their hearts, and in their minds will I write them; and their sins and iniquities will I remember no more"(Heb. 10:16-17).God "hath saved us,and called us with an holy calling,not according to our works,but according to his own purpose and grace, which was given us in Christ Jesus before the world began(II Tim.1:9)."So then it is not of him that willeth,nor of him that runneth, but of God that showeth mercy"(Rom.9:16).Every blessing of the covenant comes to us according to the eternal purpose of God in election and predestination, by grace alone (Eph. 1:3-6). This covenant of grace was established in eternity, put into force at Calvary by the death of God's dear Son, and sealed to the hearts of God's elect by the Holy Spirit.It is read to sinners in the preach- ing of the gospel. Its blessings are received by faith. And that faith is itself a gift of covenant grace.

     What do we say with regard to God's covenant and all the blessings of it? Was the covenant established by the will of man or the will of God? The will of God! Was the covenant put into force by the work of Christ, or does it wait upon the work of man? The work of Christ! Does God's covenant recognize the worth of Christ, or the worth of man? The worth of Christ! Is God's covenant the result of man's free-will, or the result of God's free grace? God's free grace!

     When we think of the covenant, then, and all its blessings, let us sing with David, "Not unto us, O Lord, not unto us, but unto thy name give glory, for thy mercy, and for thy truth's sake!" The everlasting covenant, by which we are saved, is the work of God's everlasting, free and sovereign grace in Christ!

 

Don Fortner