Category: Theology 101
Doctrine of Man
Covenant of Works is the name given by some theologians to describe the relationship between God and man (Adam) in the Garden of Eden. It is called a covenant because, according to these theologians, the elements of a covenant exist in the Genesis narrative. It is a covenant of works because the terms placed upon Adam required his obedience to the command(s) of God.
Scholars admit that the term covenant is absent from the Edenic account. Furthermore, they admit that nowhere does the Scripture refer to God’s relation to Adam in terms of covenant (with the possible exception of Hosea 6:7, the meaning of which is debated even among covenant theologians). Nevertheless, like the doctrine of the Trinity, the absence of the label does not preclude the presence of the concept.
According to this view, the essentials of a covenant are present: two parties, a condition, a promise, and a penalty for disobedience. The two parties are, manifestly, God and Adam (the federal representative for the entire human race). The covenant of works was not between two equal parties; rather God was the initiator who established the terms of the agreement. The condition was perfect obedience to the law of God, in general, and to the prohibition from the forbidden tree, in particular. The promise was eternal life. This life was not simply status quo forever, but the highest degree of life possible for man. It was a life of utter felicity and glory. The penalty for disobedience was death. This death was not merely the dissolution of the body; it was the antithesis of the promised life. Therefore, it meant existence devoid of felicity and glory, a state of separation from God.
Like the covenant itself, the promise of eternal life is not stated in the text. But, like the covenant, it is implicit in what is stated, namely, the penalty. The warning: “in the day you eat of the tree, you will surely die,” implies the reward: “if you do not eat of the forbidden fruit, you will have eternal life.” At first glance, this seems to be a bit of a tautology, for if death is the penalty for disobedience, and there is no disobedience, then, obviously, there is no death. And if there is no death, then there is ongoing (eternal) life. But, as stated above, the reward for obedience is more than perpetual existence. It involves a graduation to a higher, more excellent experience. In order to explain this, theologians posit a period of testing for Adam as part of the covenant. Adam was placed on temporary probation, that is, his obedience was put to the test. The forbidden tree served as an examination to see whether Adam would obey God. If Adam had submitted to the commands of God, and maintained righteousness through the probation period, he would have received the reward—eternal life. However, Adam failed the test and brought the penalty of death upon himself and the entire human race.
This last point is significant in the doctrine of the covenant of works. Adam’s action did not affect him alone. As the federal representative for all mankind, his disobedience brought death to all mankind. We are all born into the world as violators of the covenant, because his sin is regarded as our sin also.
I am not persuaded by the arguments presented in support of the covenant of works because they are mostly bald assertions, systematic presuppositions and possible inferences, rather than necessary inferences. For example, nowhere in the Genesis account, or anywhere else, does the Scripture affirm that Adam lived in a period of probation. However, this testing time is necessary in order to maintain that the promise of eternal life was part of the covenant.
The argument goes as follows: God revealed to Adam that the penalty for eating the forbidden fruit would be death. The covenant theologian then assumes that this death included more than physical death. Next he asserts that if Adam had abstained from the tree, he would have been rewarded with the antithesis of the stated punishment, namely, eternal life in glory. But how could this be? In the event that Adam maintains innocence, he will live perpetually with no threat of death of any kind. So how do we get from this ongoing earthly life to heaven without any Scriptural information? It must be that the period in the garden was a testing ground. Ergo, Adam was on probation.
I admit that all of this is possible, but it is not the only option. Furthermore, since the Scripture does not teach these things, it is neither verifiable nor falsifiable. Certainly, it is possible that the death threatened by God involved more than physical death. But this conclusion is not the only possible meaning. And it is possible that God put Adam on probation and promised him eternal life if he passed the test. But this is not a necessary conclusion. It is entirely possible (and has the support of Scripture) that God did not promise anything to Adam other than death if he disobeyed. And there is no mention, explicit or implicit, that Adam would gain something by means of obedience. This has to be read into the text if it is to be found.