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covenant of redemption and the covenant of grace, and even hesitated to speak of faith as the
condition of the covenant of grace. Walker tells us that some of the Scottish divines were
opposed to the distinction of two covenants, because they saw in it a “tendency . . . to
Neonomianism, or, as the covenant of reconciliation (i.e., the covenant of grace as
distinguished from that of redemption) was external in the visible Church, even a sort of bar to
immediate dealing with the Saviour, and entrance by an appropriating faith into living union
with Him.”[Scottish Theology and Theologians, pp. 77 f.]
4. All in all it would seem safe to say that Reformed theology contemplated the covenant, not
primarily as a means ministering to an end, but as an end in itself, a relation of friendship; not
first of all as representing and including a number of external privileges, a set of promises,
conditionally held out to man, a good merely offered unto him; but primarily as the expression
of blessings freely given, of privileges improved by the grace of God for spiritual ends, of
promises accepted by a faith which is the gift of God, and of a good realized, at least in
principle, through the operation of the Holy Spirit in the heart. And because in its estimation all
this was included in the covenant idea, and the blessings of the covenant are realized only in
those that are actually saved, it stressed the fact that the covenant of grace was established
between God and the elect. But in doing this it did not intend to deny that the covenant also
has a broader aspect.
Dr. Vos says with reference to this view: “Het behoeft nauwelijks herinnerd to worden, hoe met
dit alles geenszins bedoeld is, dat de verbondsbediening van de verkiezing uitgaat, noch ook dat
alle niet-uitverkorenen buiten iedere relatie tot deze verbonds-bediening staan. Het is
veelmeer zoo bedoeld, dat uit ‘t gesterkt verbonds-bewustzijn de zekerheid aangaande de
verkiezing zich ontwikkelen moet; dat door heel de verbonds-bediening heen, ook de
volstrekte, alomvattende beloften Gods, zooals zij uit de verkiezing voortvloeien moeten
worden in het oog gehouden, bij Woord en Sacrament beide; dat eindelijk het wezen des
verbonds, deszelfs volle realiseering slechts bij de ware kinderen Gods wordt aangetroffen, en
dus niet wijder is dan de uitverkiezing. Vooral op het tweede punt dient gelet te worden.
Behalve dat er overal, waar Gods verbond bediend wordt, eene verzegeling is van dezen
inhoud: In de vooronderstelling der aanwezigheid van geloof, wordt u het recht op alle
verbondsgoederen verzekerd — behalve dat, zeggen wij, is er steeds een plechtige betuiging en
verzegeling, dat God in alle uitverkorenen den geheelen omvang des verbonds will
verwerkelijken.”[That is, “It need hardly be said that with all this it is not meant that the
administration of the covenant originates from the election, nor that all who are not elect stand
outside of every relation to this administration of the covenant. It is far more intended thus,
that out of the strengthened covenant consciousness the certainty respecting the election must
develop itself; that through the entire administration of the covenant, also the absolute, all-