Christ's obedience as substitute is the foundation for the gracious restoration of covenant relations between God and man after the fall. Among the blessings he receives for his faithfulness is the redemption of his Church: "As my Father covenanted to me a kingdom, so I covenant to you to participate with me in the glory of the royal court." (1) Thus, Christ as Lord pledges to share his blessings with the church. It is on the basis of this gracious covenant alone-founded upon Christ's work alone-that sinners enter into a saving relationship with God. The history of this saving covenant stands at the forefront of the Scriptures, a single, unified pact administered in diverse arrangements from Genesis 3 to Revelation 22.
Among the three major covenants in the Bible, this covenant alone is informed by grace. (2) The distinctive characteristics of such grace are preeminently displayed at the foundation of this saving covenant in Genesis 3:15, where the Gospel is proclaimed for the first time in the midst of God's judgment upon the serpent. It is God alone who pledges future performance, namely, putting enmity between the serpent and the woman, and ultimately crushing the serpent's head. Though this "enmity" entails certain human participation, God promises to bring it about. The covenant is thus inviolable, with no "either/or" based on human performance. (3) Furthermore, this covenant is founded upon the work of a substitute, "the seed of the woman," who both suffers the bruise and claims the victory. This child of promise is the object of hope for all the saints of the Old Testament. Paul tells us explicitly that Christ was this substitute (Gal. 3:16). (4)
2 [ Back ] Grace here is precisely understood as "divine favor in the face of demerits," in contrast to any more ambiguous understanding of grace as God's goodness, faithfulness, etc. This is important, because though God is revealed as good, powerful, and even loving by his works of creation and preservation (Rom. 1:20), "grace" properly understood is only evident after the fall, in the face of man's demerits. This is manifested both savingly in gracious redemption and more generally in common grace (God's patience in delaying the full fury of his wrath against sin until the final judgment).
3 [ Back ] God therefore promises not only to offer salvation to man, but to actually apply it to a certain number, i.e., faith is a gift given by God (Eph. 2:8). The doctrine of election is thus a necessary component of the redemptive covenant of grace, and a denial of election necessarily introduces the component of works.
4 [ Back ] Note that even though this covenant entailed certain performance on man's part, i.e., putting his trust in the seed and forsaking the serpent, God promises the future performance of this duty. Election is inherent in a covenant of grace, for man's faith is itself a promised blessing received from God (Eph. 2:8). In this way alone can God promise the future enmity of his saints against the devil.
