Theological term
Council of Peace
2 sermons · All terms
The Covenantal Context of the Incarnation
The Incarnation of the Son of God was not an afterthought but the execution of an eternal, intra-Trinitarian covenant — the covenant of redemption — in which the Father gave the Son a definite number of elect people, and the Son willingly undertook to be their covenant surety and mediator. Drawing on Hebrews 10:5–10, John's Gospel, Isaiah 53, Romans 5, and Ephesians 1, this study presents three lines of biblical evidence: the relationship between the Father and the Son, the covenantal language applied to that relationship, and the pre-temporal foundation of the Son's redemptive work. The practical force is doxological and pastoral: believers are eternally secure because their salvation rests not on their own resolve but on a covenant sworn before creation, in which Christ bore a covenant of works on their behalf, obeying perfectly so that his righteousness might be imputed to them by faith alone.
2LCF Chapter 7 - Of God's Covenant, Part 3
The Covenant of Redemption (pactum salutis) is the pre-temporal, intra-Trinitarian agreement between the Father and the Son in which the Father gives a particular people to the Son and the Son willingly undertakes to be their mediator and surety. This teaching examines the definition, parties, stipulations, and promises of the pactum, traces its exegetical foundations across both Testaments, and shows how it grounds the Covenant of Grace and underwrites definite atonement. Understanding the Covenant of Redemption provides believers with firm assurance, because the immutable and impassible God has covenanted in eternity to save the elect in Christ, and that plan cannot fail.