Original righteousness and the covenant of works
The first point of doctrine in the TULIP mnemonic (though it's the third one articulated in the Canons of Dordt) speaks of the spiritual condition of fallen man. He is not only worthy of condemnation (i.e., under the guilt of sin). He is also “totally depraved” (i.e., under the power of sin). I had originally intended to talk about exactly what is entailed in "total depravity" in this post, but then it occurred to me that instead of starting with our sin and misery, I should start with a post about our original righteousness and the covenant of works.
Original righteousness
Reformed theology and the bible teaches that man was created good, with true knowledge of God, righteousness and holiness. God’s moral law was written on his heart, and thus his will was naturally inclined toward spontaneous obedience to God’s will. The divines of Dordt put it this way:
Man was originally created in the image of God and was furnished in his mind with a true and salutary knowledge of his Creator and things spiritual, in his will and heart with righteousness, and in all his emotions with purity; indeed, the whole man was holy.
As holy and righteous as Adam was in his original integrity however, he was not yet confirmed in his righteousness and holiness. That is, he was liable to fall. Reformed theology agrees in this with the great church father, Augustine of Hippo, who asserted that man as originally created was posse peccare, posse non peccare (“able to sin” and “able not to sin”). In other words, he had free will (more on this later). He had the power to obey God, and also the power to disobey God.
Probation and the heavenly inheritance
Scripture tells us that when Adam was created, he was placed in a beautiful garden paradise that was to serve as a type of the heavenly inheritance, and the arena for a trial of his faithfulness. As beautiful and overflowing with abundance as Eden was, it pointed to something far better. It was a holy sanctuary, but it was not heaven. Man had been created for eternal blessedness in union and communion with his Creator, a state in which he would be non posse peccare ("unable to sin") in the words of Augustine. But divine wisdom deemed it necessary that he first undergo a probationary trial of his obedience. After all, man had been created in the image of God, and just as the Creator had worked first and then entered His rest, so too the creature made in His image must work and then enter into the heavenly inheritance.
Therefore, in addition to the natural law written on his heart, Adam was given a commandment, a prohibition, by special revelation, which would serve as a test of his fidelity to his Creator and Lord. The question at issue was whether he would keep his covenant with the Creator, or instead succumb to the temptations of a satanic usurper, violate the holy covenant, and in its place form an unholy alliance with the tempter. Would he remain faithful to God and His word? Or would he despise the word of the Lord and prefer the lies of the serpent?
The covenant stipulated that if Adam remained faithful, then he would receive the eternal heavenly inheritance (sacramentally signified by the tree of life) as a justly earned reward. But if he broke the covenant, then he would receive the justly deserved eternal condemnation that comes as the wages of sin to those who transgress the Law imposed by an infinite Creator. Just as God Himself (the Archetype) had entered His rest only after His work had been pronounced “very good,” so Adam’s (ectypal) work must also be perfect in order for him to enter the heavenly rest. Hence, although Adam was created righteous, he had not yet been justified. And according to the terms of the creation covenant, he was to be justified by his works – that is to say, the principle involved was “do this and live.”
Federal representation and imputation
Scripture also reveals that the constitution of the creation covenant was such that Adam was not merely to undergo his probationary trial for himself; rather, he was to serve as the federal representative of all his descendants. If he succeeded, then his righteous standing before God would be imputed to all his posterity. But if he failed, then his unrighteous standing would be imputed to them. His triumph would be their triumph; his failure, their failure. That is, all humanity would stand or fall with him.
There is a helpful analogy to Adam's federal representation in the ancient custom of representative combat. When faced with the alternative of suffering severe casualties in all-out warfare, armies would sometimes instead choose to settle their hostilities by having each side select a champion to represent it. These two champions would then face off in mortal combat. The biblical example of this that springs most readily to mind perhaps is the representative combat between David and Goliath. Goliath's death at the hands of the young Israelite spelled the defeat of the entire Philistine army, which demonstrated this in its terrified flight from the field of battle.
It is very difficult for us modern individualists to see the justice in an arrangement such as this whereby one man's success or failure would determine our destiny as well. Our notions of justice, however, are warped by the fall, and our sinful hearts are prone to forget that it is we, not God, who are on the dock. We do not always understand God's ways, but ultimately we must bow before the justice of the Judge of all the earth.
But it is also important for us to see that humanity could not hope for a better representative than Adam, who by nature possessed perfect righteousness and holiness, and whose will was wholly inclined toward the love of God. If he had succeeded, and merited the heavenly inheritance for us, would we still complain that this arrangement is unjust?
And of course we haven't yet discussed the federal representation of Christ, the second Adam (a subject for a future post!). If you know the joy of being "under grace"--that is, if you have experienced the mercy of God displayed in the vicarious obedience and suffering of Christ on your behalf--then you also realize that this knife cuts both ways.
Reformed theologians refer to this covenant of man’s original creation as the “covenant of works” because man’s perfect obedience, that is, his works, would be the judicial ground of his inheritance of eternal life. By his works alone Adam would stand or fall, and so would we who are represented by him.
(To be continued in the next post ...)
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