By Ryan M. McGraw[1]
In hope of eternal life, which God, that cannot lie, promised before
the world began. — Titus 1:2
Some biblical truths
are not revealed explicitly in any single passage of Scripture. While we learn
some doctrines by discerning what lies virtually on the surface of the text of
the Bible, we learn others by looking at the “big picture” presented by the
book as a whole. To borrow an analogy from Jeremiah Burroughs (1600–1646), when
we stand too close to a great work of art, we cannot adequately appreciate the
beauty of the painting. It is only when we stand back and view the painting as
a whole that it appears to be a brilliant piece of artwork.[2]
This is true with respect to the eternal plan of redemption of the triune God.
The unfolding plan of redemption in the Bible is like a flower gradually coming
to bloom in spring. Genesis begins with a promise of global redemption from sin
in the bud (Gen. 3:15), the books of the Old Testament unfold this plan
gradually in stages, and then the New Testament sets forth this same gospel in
its full bloom and unveiled glory. However, when we step back and view the plan
of redemption that is set forth in the entire Bible, we must realize at once
that this plan carefully follows a divine and eternal blueprint. Redemption is
planned, promised, accomplished, and applied to sinners according to this
eternal blueprint.
In order to understand
the glory of God’s plan of redemption, we must begin with the glory of the
eternal Son of God and His place in the plan of the triune God. Most people who
reject the gospel of Jesus Christ have neither understood nor seen any glory in
God’s plan to save sinners. This is due to two simultaneous issues: The “god of
this world hath blinded the minds of them which believe not, lest the light of
the glorious gospel of Christ, who is the image of God, should shine unto them”
(2 Cor. 4:4), and they do not take the time to listen to what the Bible
actually says about God and the Lord Jesus Christ. Moreover, even genuine
believers have not often appreciated the full glory of the gospel and its
scope, purpose, and divine magnificence because they have neglected its eternal
roots. For these reasons, this chapter will describe how the glory of the
eternal Son of God and His place in the eternal plan of God are the foundation
of the gospel. I will demonstrate this by showing that God’s plan of redemption
is an eternal plan, a covenantal plan, a Trinitarian plan, and a plan that
determines history. The nature of this topic demands that instead of relying
upon one specific passage of Scripture alone, we must draw upon several texts
in order to paint the big picture of God’s eternal plan of redemption.
An Eternal Plan
Many passages of
Scripture indicate that the triune God planned redemption from all eternity.
Titus 1:2 states, “God, that cannot lie, promised [eternal life] before the
world began.” “Before the world began,” time did not yet exist. God is eternal,
and He has no beginning nor end nor length of days. He is eternal, and the phrase
“before the world began” refers to something that He did “before” the world
eternally.[3]
The question is, if God promised eternal life in eternity past, then to whom
did He make this promise? The doctrine of the Trinity alone can supply the
answer to this question. There is one God only (1 Cor. 8:5–6; Isa. 42:8). God
alone existed “before the world began.” The biblical assertion that this one
God exists in three persons is the only means by which we can speak
intelligently of God promising eternal life “before the world began.” God could
have made this promise only to an eternal person. Yet if this person were not
Himself God, then He could not be eternal. The doctrine woven into the fabric
of the New Testament that God is one in essence or being and three in persons
makes perfect sense of this promise.[4]
Paul teaches in Titus 1:2 that in eternity, one person in the Godhead made a
promise of eternal life to another person in the Godhead.
In verse 3, Paul adds
that the glory of New Testament preaching consists in proclaiming this eternal
plan and promise of God. Does this not add both weight and glory to the
preaching of the gospel? When the gospel is preached, we do not simply consider
wondrous historical events that occurred in Palestine many centuries ago, but
we look, as it were, through a window into the eternal counsel of God Himself!
The secret things belong to the Lord our God alone (Deut. 29:29), but when we
hear the gospel of Jesus Christ, God is unfolding to us His secret and eternal
counsel. Should we not bow in amazement every time we hear the gospel?
Moreover, Paul’s words imply that this plan and promise of redemption are
absolutely certain. The promise is eternal; therefore, it is everlasting. It is
God who made the promise, and it is impossible for God to lie (Heb. 6:18). If
this promise of eternal life is itself eternal, and it was made by one who
cannot lie, then it is unchangeable as well. What greater grounds could you
have for assurance in the security of God’s plan of redemption? Even before we
delve more deeply into the content of the gospel, you must remember that every
time you hear the gospel, you are getting a glimpse of that which was in the
heart of the triune God before time began! This teaching is not isolated to
Titus 1:2, but it is also found in Proverbs 8:22–31 (with John 17:5), Psalm 2,
Romans 16:25–26, Revelation 13:8, and many other passages.[5]
The apostle Paul’s favorite way of describing the eternal election of believers
is that the Father chose them in Christ before time began (for example, Eph.
1:4).
A Covenantal Plan
If the eternal promise
of eternal life was given from one person of the Godhead to another, then
several questions arise: What does this promise imply? Which persons in the
Godhead are involved? Are all three persons involved? And, if the promise of
eternal life was given to one of the persons of the Trinity, then how can it be
offered to me? I will answer these questions in the next two sections below.
This arrangement within
the eternal Trinity resembles what the Scriptures refer to as a covenant. A
covenant is defined in the children’s catechism as “an agreement between two or
more persons.” Covenants have been called contracts between two or more
parties, and they contain promises, threats, rewards, punishments, and
stipulations or terms that govern the entire relationship. Some have argued
that a promise is the primary element of a covenant.[6]
Others have asserted that a covenant between God and man is a bond in blood
that is sovereignly administered.[7]
For our purposes, it is sufficient to say that a covenant is an agreement
between two or more persons that revolves around promises and conditions that
bind both parties, and that includes sanctions for breaking the covenant and
promises upon fulfilling it. A covenant arrangement does not necessarily imply
that both parties are equal. In the case of God and man, the parties are not
equal. In the case of human beings, however, the parties may be equal. In the
case of divine persons, the parties are always equal as well. There are no
divisions in the Godhead, and no bartering or debating occurs in the counsel of
the triune God. All three persons agree perfectly and immutably. The promise of
eternal life in Titus 1:2 points to a covenant within the Godhead that shows
the place of the Son of God in our redemption. It reflects an eternal agreement
between two or more persons of the Trinity that includes promises and
conditions.
In the New Testament,
it is the Son of God rather than the Father or the Holy Spirit who accomplished
the redemption of His people. There is one God and there is one mediator
between God and man, the man Christ Jesus (1 Tim. 2:5). The Son of God is
Himself the true God and eternal life (1 John 5:20). This last phrase, combined
with Titus 1:2, indicates the Son received the promise of eternal life in
eternity past and that the Son is Himself eternal life. This is why the Son has
the ability to give eternal life to those whom He wills (John 5:26). It is
reasonable to assume that what is in view in Titus 1:2 is an eternal and
unchangeable covenant promise from the Father to the Son consisting in eternal
life for His people. Perhaps this is why the apostle Paul customarily greeted
the churches with grace and peace “from God the Father and the Lord Jesus
Christ” (Titus 1:4). Since the middle of the seventeenth century, this eternal
arrangement between the Father and the Son typically has been called the covenant
of redemption.
A Trinitarian Plan
Where is the Holy
Spirit in this arrangement? Is He excluded? Some have argued against an eternal
covenant within the Godhead because they think that it emphasizes two persons
of the Trinity at the expense of the third.[8] We
must remember, however, the ancient teaching that the works of the Godhead are
always undivided. This means that no divine person ever acts independently.
Denying the distinct operations of each person in the Godhead would deny the
reality of the three persons, but denying that all three persons act
simultaneously in every work of God would deny the deity of at least one if not
all three persons. When God acts, all three persons in the Godhead must act.
The Father who “so loved the world, that He gave His only begotten Son” (John
3:16); the Son (not the Father or the Spirit) became incarnate in the womb of
the Virgin Mary (Gal. 4:4); and the Spirit overshadowed her womb so that the
“holy thing” in her would be born of God (Luke 1:35). Therefore, even though
the covenant of redemption explicitly includes the Father and the Son, we
cannot assume that the Holy Spirit is excluded from it.[9]
The Puritan John Owen
is very helpful on this point. He taught that in the eternal covenant of
redemption, the Father promised eternal life to the Son as the surety for His
elect, the Son promised to become incarnate and to accomplish everything
necessary to redeem His people, and the Holy Spirit voluntarily agreed to be
sent from the Father and the Son in order to ensure that all of the Father’s
elect people should be saved.[10]
He is not a party in the covenant of redemption because He was not humiliated
like the Son, but He is actively involved in the covenant of redemption.[11]
The place of the Holy Spirit in the covenant of redemption reflects His eternal
relationship to the Father and the Son. He proceeds from the Father through the
Son in his work in human history (John 15:26) because He proceeds from the
Father through the Son eternally. Every action of God toward us is from the
Father, through the Son, and by the Holy Spirit. Every time a person approaches
God he does so by the Spirit, through the Son, and to the Father (see Eph.
2:18). God is never obligated to save you or anyone else in the world. When the
Father promised eternal life, His promise was voluntary. When the Son agreed to
become the mediator (or middle person) between God and man, this agreement was
voluntary. When the Spirit agreed to come in time from the Father and the Son,
He was under no other obligation to secure the redemption of the elect than the
voluntary agreement of His divine and sovereign will with the Father and the
Son. One divine person cannot act without the other two without ceasing to be
God. Are you not humbled that the triune God should freely choose to save
anyone? If the thought of God’s eternal and sovereign freedom in the covenant
of redemption does not humble you and cause you to bow your knee in worship
before Him, then what else possibly will?
A Plan That Determines History
Titus 1:2 hints at
God’s eternal plan, which He reveals in history through preaching (v. 3). This
plan is not only revealed in history, but it has also shaped and determined the
entire course of history. From Genesis 3:15 onward (see next chapter), the Lord
began to reveal to us how this plan of redemption would be accomplished in
time. However, in the New Testament, through passages such as the one we are
considering, the Lord drives us back to the eternal roots of His plan. When we
consider how the covenant of redemption determines God’s work in human history,
we can begin to answer the last question I posed: “If the promise of eternal
life was given to one of the persons of the Trinity, then how can it be offered
to me?” The answer is that Jesus Christ received the promise of eternal life in
the covenant of redemption so that we might receive it in union with Him
through the covenant of grace.
The covenant of grace
ordinarily refers to God’s covenant made in human history with the elect by
virtue of the person and work of Jesus Christ. How does this relate to the
eternal covenant of redemption? Some, such as Samuel Petto (1624–1711) and
Thomas Boston (1676–1732), have said that the covenant of grace includes the
covenant of redemption. In other words, there are not really two distinct
covenants, with one being made in eternity between the Father and the Son and
the other being made in time with those who receive and rest upon Christ alone
as He is offered to them in the gospel. This means that the covenant of grace
is made with Christ in eternity and only with Christians indirectly as they
trust in Jesus Christ. There is a lot to be said in favor of this position. On
the surface, it appears to reflect the teaching of Westminster Larger Catechism
31.[12]
However, Owen is once again a helpful guide. He argued that while the covenant
of redemption is the pattern for the covenant of grace, we must distinguish
between the two. The primary reason is that not everything that was promised to
Christ was promised to the elect.[13]
The Father promised Christ that if He fulfilled the terms of the broken
covenant of works made with Adam, then His obedience as well as His sacrifice
would be accepted in the place of His elect people. The Father also promised to
give those who are redeemed as a gift to His Son. Who would ever say that the
Father promises these things to the elect? We are saved because we are
delivered from the terms of the covenant of works through the Lord Jesus
Christ, who is our surety. Therefore, it is better to distinguish the covenant
of redemption from the covenant of grace. We are not simply considering an eternal
aspect versus a historical aspect of the same covenant; we are talking about an
eternal covenant that is the foundation and the pattern of a historical
covenant.
This means that
everything that God has ever done in human history has taken place according to
His eternal plan. When we make plans, we must say, “If the Lord will, we shall
live” (James 4:15). When the triune God makes a plan, He who sits above the
circle of the earth does all that He pleases (Ps. 115:3; 135:6). He works all
things according to the counsel of His holy will (Eph. 1:11), and His eternal
plan of redemption in Christ is the centerpiece of that plan around which all
other things revolve. The reason Christ could receive the promise of eternal
life before the world began and then offer eternal life to you in time is
because the Father promised that the Son would merit eternal life by His life,
obedience, death, and resurrection. The eternal Son brought this eternal
promise to fruition by fulfilling God’s plan in human history. In the covenant
of grace, He calls you to enter into a saving union with Him through faith. To
be in union with Christ means to receive all that Christ has merited and
received by fulfilling the covenant of redemption. When you hear the gospel
offered to you in preaching, the eternal Son promises to enter into covenant
with you personally. This is not only where the covenant of redemption and the
covenant of grace meet, but this is where the Holy Spirit comes into
prominence. The covenant of redemption is like the statement of intent to marry
at the beginning of a wedding ceremony. The covenant of grace is like the
actual vows taken in order to constitute the marriage relationship. In this
case, it is the Holy Spirit, as promised in the terms of the covenant, who
unites you to Jesus Christ in order to receive all of the benefits of
redemption.
In summary, the
covenant of redemption places the highest emphasis upon the electing love of
the Father. The covenant of grace highlights more fully the redemption
purchased by Christ and the personal work of the Holy Spirit in the lives of
believers.[14]
In the covenant of redemption we must see the glory of the eternal Son of God
as our eternal Redeemer!
Conclusions
We must draw several
conclusions from the eternal covenant of redemption. First, if God promised
eternal life in Christ before the world began, then God looked upon those whom
He would redeem as sinful and as needing redemption. There is no such thing as
redemption without sin, and there is no covenant of redemption without
eternally elect sinners to save. In order to lay hold of Christ and the
covenant, you must be convicted of your guilt before God.
Second, if God made the
covenant of redemption in order to save the elect, then Christ came to die on
behalf of the elect only. The Father did not send Christ to die for the elect
only for the Son to disagree with the Father and die for all men. The Son lay
down His life for His sheep (John 10:15). Moreover, the Spirit changes only the
hearts of those whom the Father elected. Saying that Christ died for all men
equally divides the holy Trinity. You know that Christ died for you only when
you, by the Spirit, come to the Father through the Son.
Third, the Trinity is
not a speculative doctrine that is part of a list of “essential doctrines” and
then set on a shelf for future reference if needed. We cannot understand the
glory of Christ or the glory of the gospel without a God who is triune. If
there is no Trinity, then there is no gospel and no Christianity.
Fourth, if the triune God planned
from eternity to save elect sinners, then His plan of redemption is sovereign,
voluntary, and gracious. The Lord is not obligated to save sinners. If Adam and
Eve had never fallen in the garden of Eden, then God would have been perfectly
just if He decided one day to fold up the world, causing it and its inhabitants
to cease to exist. God’s eternal and covenantal plan in and through His Son
ought to magnify the grace of God in our hearts. If you believe in Christ, then
you may be assured that God had you in mind in His eternal covenant of
redemption! If you have not believed in Christ, then why should you expect any
good thing from God? Who are you to demand anything from God? Who are you to
ignore God’s call to you in the gospel when He has unfolded His eternal plan
before you? Will you not marvel at God’s eternal plan and promise, and will you
not embrace Jesus Christ by faith so that you too may see your name in the
Lamb’s Book of Life written before the foundation of the world (Rev. 13:8)? As
we look at our names in that book through faith in Jesus Christ, let us stand
in awe of God’s eternal and glorious plan through His eternal and glorious Son!
[1]
This article is the first chapter of my recent book, Christ’s Glory, Your Good: Salvation Planned, Promised, Accomplished,
and Applied (Grand Rapids: Reformation Heritage Books, 2013). Order here.
[2]
Jeremiah Burroughs, Gospel Worship,
ed. Don Kistler (1648; repr., Morgan, Pa.: Soli Deo Gloria, 1990), 19.
[3] On
the decree as an eternal act of God, see Herman Bavinck, Reformed Dogmatics, ed. John Bolt, trans. John Vriend (Grand
Rapids: Baker Academic, 2004), 2:372–73.
[4]
Robert Letham makes the point that the apostles assumed the Trinity as the
backdrop of all that they wrote. See Robert Letham, The Holy Trinity: In Scripture, History, Theology, and Worship (Phillipsburg,
N.J.: P&R, 2004), 63, 69–71.
[5] In
Psalm 2:6, the Father establishes His Son upon His throne. In verse 7, the Son
declares the purpose that the Father decreed. In verses 8 and 9, the Father
calls the Son to ask Him to give the nations as His promised inheritance. The
psalm reflects a predetermined plan between the Father and the Son regarding
the fate of the nations. The New Testament passages cited above make it clear
that this was an eternal promise.
[6]
John Murray, The Covenant of Grace: A
Biblico-Theological Study (Phillipsburg, N.J.: P&R, 1988), 5–12.
[7] O.
Palmer Robertson, The Christ of the
Covenants (Phillipsburg, N.J.: P&R, 1980), 3–15.
[8]
Letham, Holy Trinity, 401.
[9]
Thomas Goodwin provides a very helpful treatment of the role of the Holy Spirit
in the covenant of redemption. For a summary and analysis of Goodwin’s views,
see Mark Jones, Why Heaven Kissed Earth:
The Christology of the Puritan Reformed Orthodox Theologian, Thomas Goodwin
(1600–1680) (Gottingen, Germany: Vandenhoeck and Ruprecht, 2010), 123–45.
[10]
John Owen, “The Strength of Faith,” in The
Works of John Owen, ed. William Goold (1850–1853; repr., Edinburgh: Banner
of Truth, 1998), 9:36.
[11]
The most helpful treatment that I have read on the role of the Spirit in the
covenant of redemption is Jonathan Edwards (1703–1758), “Economy of the Trinity
and the Covenant of Redemption,” in The
Works of Jonathan Edwards Online (New Haven: Yale University Press, 2005),
20:430–43. This resource is available at Edwards.yale.edu.
[12] “The covenant of grace was made
with Christ as the second Adam, and in him with all the elect as his seed.” In
reality, the Westminster divines most likely believed that both the covenant of
redemption and the covenant of grace were made first and foremost with Christ,
who represented His people. Even though they are two distinct covenants, Christ
is the element that ties them inseparably together.
[13]
John Owen, Vindiciae Evangelicae, in The Works of John Owen, ed. William
Goold (1850–1853; repr., Edinburgh: Banner of Truth, 1998), 12:497–507.
[14]
This relationship is like the relationship between the eternal decrees of God
and the providence of God. The decree determines what shall come to pass, and
providence marks the execution of the decree in time.
