Samuel Rutherford (1600 - 1661) was a Scotch Covenanter that wrote several classic works of Presbyterian polity many of which are available on-line or via your favorite online rare-bookseller. But One book that has curiously not made it back into print is The Covenant of Life Opened, Or, A Treatise of the Covenant of Grace, Edinburgh: Andre Anderson, 1654. This would be is a helpful book indeed to bring back into reprint either facsimile or re-typeset. The main parts are pictured in the pic on the left of this title page.

Addendum: You can find a copy here at Reformation Heritage Books! How silly of me … I should have checked with my publisher first … (Thanks Marty!!) Added to RHB’s catalog on Monday 07 August, 2006.

This is a fascinating piece as Rutherford walks closely through the nature of the Covenant of Works and the Covenant of Grace. I will be reading through this work over the next couple of weeks for fun (it’s only 200 pages) and as I bump something that strikes me as interesting I will be sure to post it here. In the meantime, here are points in the table of contents that caught my eye:

Part I

* Ch 3 - In “What is the intent and sense of threatnings?”  - How law threatnings to the Elect are Evangelick
* Ch 6 - sec. 1 - It was condiscension in th Lord to enter in Covenant with man. 
            - sec 6 - How faith Layes hold upon conditionall promises 
             - sec. 7 - Of the covenant of Nature

* Ch 7 - 1 - Its not written in the heart of man by nature, that God should promise life Eternall to man upon condition of obedience
           - 2 - No meriting of the creature
           - 9 - Promises make no strict justice between the Lord and us.
           - 12 - In every covenant there is some out goings of Grace

* Ch 8 - 5 - What life is promised in the Covenant of Works

* Ch 9 - 1 What life is promised in the Covenant of Works

* Ch 11 - The Law as propounded to Israel was the very Covenant of Grace and the Covenant in the Old one with that of the New Covenant, but difference in some accidents.

* Ch 13 - 1 Covenanting externall, visible, professed, conditionall, and Covenanting internall, invisible, reall, absolute, and how they differ
              - 8 - of federall holinesse
              - 11 - the formall ground of right to Baptisme
              - 14 - A conditionall Covenant is properly a Covenant, though it be not ever a fulfilled Covenant
              - 16 - Two diverse considerations of the Covenant, one in abstracto as a simple way of saving sinners, and so all in the Visible Church are in the Covenant; another in concreto, as is constains the Lords will of pleasure, and as it is acted upon the heart, and so the Elect are only in Covenant.

* Ch 14 - The place Gen. 17 opened
              - 1 - Circumcision and Baptism compared
              - 6 - Considerable difference between external and internal Covenanting
              - 8 -11 - By the holy Root cannot be meant the predestinate to Glory only. But visible professors, fathers and children. The Children are in Covenant not by birth but by such a birth. Covenant holinesse is not the compleat and adequt cause of reall ingrafting in Christ. 
              
Hate to be like a Batman episode, but stay tuned … more to follow … no more time now, but there are 2 parts. The first part has 28 chapters; second part has 12.  It looks like it could be extraordinarily helpful for the times we live in …

Table of Contents Continued …

Part I - Ch 15 - There is no universal grace subjective or objective given to all … nor power of believing given to all

Ch 19 - The Place of Evangelick Works in the Covenant  … We are not justified by Works … The place of declarative Justification by Works, Jam 2, discussed … How life is promised to our Works Evangelick

Ch 21 - Whether the Lord Mediator as Mediator command the same good Works in the covenant of Grace which commanded in the Covenant of Works … How the Reprobate are still under the Covenant of Works, how not.

Ch 24 - Whether faith as true or faith as continuing to the end be the condition of the Covenant of Grace

Chapter 26 - Of the perpetuity of the covenant of grace, and the considerable differences between it and the covenant of works

Part II

Chapter 1 - Christ’s room in both covenants, Of Christs active and passive obedience, how they concur as one satisfaction.

Chapter 2.4 - How Adams sinne and Christs righteousnesse are ours

Chapter 5 - The covenant of suretyship or of Redemption between God and the Mediator Christ … Christ is not a meer witnesse but the Author of the Covenant

Chapter 6 - That there is a Covenant of Suretyship between Jehovan and the Son is proven by 11 arguments

Ch 7 - The covenant of redemption is explained in 3 eternal acts - Designation of one, decree and destination, delectation in the work

Ch 8 - The diference between the Covenant of Suretyship made with Christ and the Covenant of Reconciliation made with sinners … the conjunction of the covenants …

Ch 10 - A necessary distinction of the Covenant as preached according to the approving will of God, and as acted upon the heart according to the decree of God.

Ch 11 - OF the promises made to Christ in the covenant of mediation

Ch 12 - The condition and properties of the covenant of redemption

This entry was posted on Thursday, February 7th, 2008 at 12:00 am and is filed under 17th Century, Reformed Scholasticism, Rutherford's Covenant of Life Opened, covenant theology. You can follow any responses to this entry through the RSS 2.0 feed. You can leave a response, or trackback from your own site.