R. C. Sproul is among those who believe in the continuous use of the term "covenant of works". I found two articles written by him about this doctrine. In the first article, he talks about five basic truths concerning the covenant of works. In the second article, he explains the importance of the covenant of works in relation to a serious theological crisis within evangelicalism.
The five basic truths are about the suitability of the term to describe the relationship between God and Adam as stated in Genesis 2:16-17, the fact that all men are under this covenant and are violators of it by virtue of natural relationship to Adam as the head or representative of humanity, that none is able to comply to its terms except Christ, and that the blessings of Jesus' obedience to this covenant can only be obtained by faith in Him.
In the second article, before explaining the importance of the covenant of works in relation to a serious soteriological crisis within evangelicalism, R. C. Sproul mentioned first a lesser theological crisis, which is dispensationalism. For Dr. Sproul, dispensationalism is mistaken in its idea of the basic structure of biblical revelation. He finds dispensationalism's diversified view of redemptive history problematic. He believes that the answer to this crisis is found in the unified view of redemptive history offered by covenant theology.
The second crisis is far more serious than dispensationalism for it touches not the history, but the content of redemption. This crisis reminds of the struggle between Roman Catholicism and Protestantism in the 16th century. This time it is a crisis within evangelicalism.
This theological crisis is about the place of Christ's imputation of his perfect obedience upon those who believe in him. In short, it is about the place of imputation in justification. And so this crisis therefore affects one's view of the gospel and salvation. And according to Dr. Sproul, the heart of this crisis is the rejection of the covenant of works.
Historic covenant theology maintains the distinction between the covenant of works and the covenant of grace. The covenant of works refers to Genesis 2:16-17 where we can read the elements of the covenant established by God in relating to Adam, the head or representative of humanity. The covenant of grace refers to Jesus' perfect obedience to the covenant of works and as a result, not only delivers His people from the punishment due to Adam's disobedience, but also inherits blessing to be imputed upon His people.
Theologically, Christ's perfect obedience is understood in two ways: passive and active. His obedience is described as passive by bearing the punishment of "those who violated not only the law of Moses, but also the law that was imposed in Paradise." These two laws are one and the same. The law in Paradise where theologians got the idea of the covenant of works was republished later in the law of Moses.
On the other hand, Jesus' active obedience is described as the gaining of the blessing of the covenant of works, which is perferct righteousness that he imputed upon His people. Dr. Sproul captures the important role of the covenant of works in salvation:
"If we take away the covenant of works, we take away the active obedience of Jesus. If we take away the active obedience of Jesus, we take away the imputation of His righteousness to us. If we take away the imputation of Christ’s righteousness to us, we take away justification by faith alone. If we take away justification by faith alone, we take away the Gospel, and we are left in our sins. We are left as the miserable sons of Adam, who can only look forward to feeling the full measure of God’s curse upon us for our own disobedience. It is the obedience of Christ that is the ground of our salvation, both in His passive obedience on the cross and His active obedience in His life. All of this is inseparably related to the biblical understanding of Jesus as the new Adam (Rom. 5:12–20), who succeeded where the original Adam failed, who prevailed where the original Adam lost. There is nothing less than our salvation at stake in this issue."
Guide Questions:
1. What are the five basic truths about the covenant of works?
2. What are the two theological crises within evangelicalism described by Dr. Sproul in his second article?
3. What is the basic mistake of dispensationalism? Distinguish dispensationalism from covenant theology in their views of redemptive history.
4. What is the nature of the second crisis?
5. Distinguish the covenant of works from the covenant of grace.
6. What are the two aspects of Christ's perfect obedience? Define each.
7. Cite the paragraph from Dr. Sproul that summarizes the important role of the covenant of works in salvation.
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