The Westminster Shorter Catechism
Q20. Did God leave all mankind to perish in the estate of
sin and misery?
A.
God having, out of his mere
good pleasure,—from all eternity,—elected some to
everlasting life,[1]—did
enter into a covenant of
grace, to deliver them out of the estate
of sin and misery, and to bring them into an estate of salvation by a
Redeemer.[2]
[1] Ephesians 1:4; [2] Romans 3:20–22; Galatians 3:21–22.
This question teaches us about God’s provision for the salvation of fallen men. Under the first covenant, eternal life was offered on the basis of personal, perfect and perpetual obedience to the Law of God, but the entrance of sin makes it impossible for the natural man to obey any of God’s Law perfectly.
It would appear that man was then destined to perish in their sin and misery,
except for the fact that as God did ordain the Fall, He also did elect some
that they should not perish but have everlasting life. Note that this election
is made out of God’s “mere good pleasure, from all eternity” or in other words,
unconditionally. The Arminian teaching that election is based on God’s
fore-knowing that a person will repent when the Gospel is preached has no basis
in the Scripture, makes a mockery of the meaning of election, and denies the
absolute sovereignty of God.
In order to effect the redemption of the elect, a second covenant, known in our
Confession as the Covenant of Grace, was effected between the Persons of the
Godhead, with Christ as the mediator of the Covenant and the representative of
the elect. (This covenant was made in eternity past, even before the Covenant
of Works was made with Adam; and it is frequently called the Covenant of
Redemption, though the phraseology is usually applied by those who are
supralapsarians and who would subsume the Covenant of Works under it.)
The first covenant was made with Adam, the second covenant was made with Christ
as the second Adam (1 Cor 15:22, 45). Under this covenant, God “freely offereth
unto sinners life and salvation by Jesus Christ; requiring of them faith in
Him, that they may be saved [Mk 16:15–16; Jn 3:16; Rom 10:6, 9; Gal 3:11], and
promising to give unto all those that are ordained unto eternal life His Holy
Spirit, to make them willing, and able to believe [Ezk 36:26–27; Jn 6:44–45]”
(WCF 7.3).
It should be noted that according to biblical chronology, the Covenant of Grace
begun to be implemented in Genesis 3:15 and is displayed both in the Old and
the New Testaments, though there were subordinate covenants that manifest the eternal
covenant, e.g., the Adamic Covenant (Gen 3:15); the Noahic (Gen 9); the
Abrahamic (Gen 12, 15, 17); the Mosaic (Ex 19–20); the Davidic (2 Sam 7:12–16);
and the New Covenant (Jer 31:31–34; Heb 8:10–12; 10:16–17; Mt 26:28, etc.). In
all these subordinate covenants the object of faith is always Christ (see Acts
4:12; Gal 3:17), and carries the same theme “You shall be my people, I shall be
your God.” (see Genesis 3:15; Genesis 9:9, 11; Genesis 17:7; Exodus 6:7; 2 Samuel 7:24;
Jeremiah 31:33; 2 Corinthians 6:16; Revelation 21:3). This means that believers, throughout
the ages, were saved by grace through faith in Christ Jesus. The Jews under the Mosaic economy
were not saved by obedience to the Law or by the sacrifices (as some old
Dispensationalists teach). The sacrificial system pointed to the Messiah, who
was the real object of faith to the Jews of old.