Covenant of Redemption ‑ Part II
“And we know that all things work together for good to them that love God, to them who are the called according to his purpose.” (Rom. 8:28) Rom. 8:28‑30 is commonly called the “Covenant of Redemption.” In our next essay we will consider the “all things” that “work together for good.” In this essay we will look at the “purpose” of God. Verse 28 above speaks of those who “love God” “who are the called according to his purpose.”
Chronologically, God purposed to call a people, then he called those he purposed to call, and then as a consequence of this calling they love God. No man loves God before he is called of God. According to 1 John 4:7, “everyone that loveth is born of God and knoweth God.” God’s calling is the “cause,” the new birth is the “effect,” and love of God is the “consequence.”
God is a God of purpose. He does not work his will based on chance or happenstance. He purposes to do something, then he does according to his purpose. The scriptures speak of the purpose of God thusly:
A. Isa. 46:11 ‑ “I have spoken it, I will also bring it to pass; I have purposed it, I will also do it.”
B. Eph. 3:11 ‑ “According to the eternal purpose which he purposed in Christ Jesus our Lord.”
C. Eph. 1:9 ‑ “Having made known unto us the mystery of his will, according to his good pleasure which he hath purposed in himself.”
D. Eph. 1;11 ‑ “In whom also we have obtained an inheritance, being predestinated according to the purpose of him who worketh all things after the council of his own will.”
E. II Tim. 1:9 ‑ “Who hath saved us and called us with an holy calling, not according to our works, but according to his own purpose and grace, which was given us in Christ Jesus before the world began.
F. Rom. 9:11 ‑ “For the children being not yet born, neither having done any good or evil, that the purpose of God according to election might stand, not of works, but of him that calleth…”
From the above we make the following observations about God’s purpose:
A. What God purposes to do, he does. According to Nebuchadnezzar in Dan. 4:35, “And all the inhabitants of the earth are reputed as nothing: and he doeth according to his will in the army of heaven, and among the inhabitants of the earth: and none can stay his hand, or say unto him, What doest thou?” No force in heaven and earth can stop or hinder God from doing what he has purposed to do. Once God purposes to do something, it WILL be done.
B. God had an eternal purpose which he purposed in Christ Jesus. Mortal time bound man has a difficult time understanding something that is eternal, i.e., has no beginning or no end. Yet what God has purposed in Christ Jesus has no beginning and has no end. It is infinitely old and will last an eternity. The Covenant of Redemption expresses God’s eternal purpose in Christ Jesus.
C. God’s purpose is his good pleasure. It pleased God to choose, save, call and glorify a people to be his.
D. God purposed our eternal inheritance.
E. In God’s purpose, he councils only with himself, he does not council with anyone else. Of course, when you have all wisdom and all knowledge there is no reason to council with anyone else!
F. God works all things after the council of his own will. God does not have to alter anything according to changed circumstances. The God who has all power and all knowledge can and does purpose according to his will and then executes his purpose without change or need of change.
G. Our salvation from sin and our holy calling is according to that which God purposed in Christ before the world began. God purposed to save us and God purposed to call us. Now, here in time he executes his purpose. He saves us and he calls us. Thus our salvation and calling are not by chance or happenstance, but by God’s eternal purpose which he purposed in Christ Jesus our Lord.
H. God purposed to choose a people to be his and according to Eph. 1:4 he chose them before the world began. His choice was not based on works but was by grace.
To be able to purpose something, then bring it about exactly as he purposed it, speaks of God’s wisdom, power, knowledge, and character. As one old testament verse states “I am God, I change not, therefore ye sons of Jacob are not consumed.” God purposes and never changes from that he purposes. He does according to his purpose and it comes to pass just exactly as He purposed it.
In the Covenant of Redemption God purposed to foreknow, predestinate, call, justify, and glorify a people. The end result is that they are chosen, predestinated, called justified, and glorified just as God purposed.
As a side note, we love God because he called us. The fact that we love God is evidence we are embraced in this Covenant of Redemption.