X Sided Covenant
Thus the covenant of grace was made unilaterally by God; it is called a “one-sided covenant” (foedus monopleuron), given to fallen sinners apart from any consideration of their natural ability to respond or to fulfill the terms of the covenant. However, the covenant of grace is conditional in that it requires faith in Christ on man’s part, and so may be also called a “two-sided covenant” (foedus dipleuron).1
Notes
- 1
Thus, John Ball argues: “The Covenant of Grace is that free and gracious Covenant which God of his mere mercy in Jesus Christ made with man a miserable and wretched sinner, promising unto him pardon of sin and eternal happiness, if he will return from his iniquity, embrace mercy reached forth, by faith unfeigned, and walk before God in sincere, faithful and willing obedience, as becomes such a creature lifted up into such enjoyment, and partaker of such precious promises.” A Treatise of the Covenant of Grace … (London, 1645), 14-15.
Thus, John Ball argues: “The Covenant of Grace is that free and gracious Covenant which God of his mere mercy in Jesus Christ made with man a miserable and wretched sinner, promising unto him pardon of sin and eternal happiness, if he will return from his iniquity, embrace mercy reached forth, by faith unfeigned, and walk before God in sincere, faithful and willing obedience, as becomes such a creature lifted up into such enjoyment, and partaker of such precious promises.” A Treatise of the Covenant of Grace … (London, 1645), 14-15.
CloseJoel R. Beeke and Mark Jones, A Puritan Theology: Doctrine for Life (Grand Rapids, MI: Reformation Heritage Books, 2012), 260.