Kuyper on Covenants (Works/Grace) Part II of III
Posted by Reformed Reader on November 5, 2007
Continuing on the theme of Kuyper and the CoG/CoW distinction, note the following, taken from the same context of the previous post (Part I) (The Work of the Holy Spirit [New York: Funk and Wagnalls, 1900], 49-50).
“…The Scripture and the Confession of our fathers emphasize the doctrine of the Covenants; for the difference between the Covenant of Works and of Grace shows the difference between two orders of spiritual things. They who teach that the new birth merely imparts a higher nature remain under the Covenant of Works. Theirs is the wearisome toil of rolling the Sisyphus stone up the mountain, even tho[ugh] it be with the greater energy of the higher life. The Scriptural doctrine of Grace ends this impossible Sisyphus task; it transfers the Covenant of Works from our shoulders to Christ’s, and opens unto us a new order in the Covenant of Grace in which there can be no more uncertainty or fear, loss or forfeit of the benefits of Christ….”
Again, it gets better. “The work of re-creation has this peculiarity, that it places the elect at once at the end of the road. They are not like the traveler still half way from home, but like one who has finished his journey; the long, dreary, and dangerous road is entirely behind him. Of course, he did not run that road; he could never have reached the goal. His Mediator and Daysman traveled it for him and in his stead. And by mystic union with his Savior it is as tho[ugh] he had traveled the whole distance; not as we reckon, but as God reckons.”
I believe Kuyper here sounds like Vos, Bavinck, and the last half of Heidelberg Catechism Q/A 60. If you’re not convinced, or if you want to hear more of Kuyper on the CoW/CoG distinction, stay tuned. There is going to be a part III of this post.
shane lems
sunnyside, wa
