Bavinck and the Covenants (Works/Grace)

 

“Prior to the fall, the state of humanity and of the earth as a whole was a provisional one that could not remain as it was.  It was such that it could be raised to a higher glory but in the event of human transgression could also be subjected to futility and decay” (Dogmatics III:182).   

“The covenant of grace differs from the covenant of works in method, not in its ultimate goal.  It [eternal blessedness] is the same treasure that was promised in the covenant of works and is granted in the covenant of grace” (Dogmatics III:577). 

“…The covenant of grace, insofar as it was made with Christ, was essentially a covenant of works” (Dogmatics III:227).

I’ve saved the best two for last:

“The covenant of works and the covenant of grace stand and fall together” (Dogmatics I: 579). 

“If there were no covenant of works, neither would there be a covenant of grace” (Dogmatics I:103)

Trust me: this is just the tip of the iceburg for Bavinck.  Bavinck would not be Bavinck without his clear distinction between the covenant of works and the covenant of grace.

shane

sunnyside, wa