inir, composed of soul and body, includes the happy, holy, and im- mortal existence of his whole nature. (2.) The life of which the Scrij)tures everywhere speak as connected with obedience, is that which, as just stated, flows from the favour and fellowship of God, and includes glory, honour, and immortality, as the Apostle teaches us in Romans ii. 7. (3.) The life secured by Christ for his people was tlie life forfeited by sin. But the life which the behevet derives from Christ is spiritual and eternal life, the exaltation and complete blessedness of his whole nature, both soul and body.
§ 3. Condition of the Covenant.
The condition of the covenant made with Adam is said in the symbols of our church to be perfect obedience. That that state- ment is correct may be inferred (1.) From the nature of tiie case atid from the general principles clearly revealed in the word of God. Such is the nature of God, and such the relation which He sustains to his moral creatures, that sin, the transgression of the divine law, must involve the destruction of the fellowship between man and his Creator, and the manifestation of the divine displeas- ure. The Apostle therefore says, that he who offends in one point, wlio breaks one precept of the law of God, is guilty of the whole. (2.) It is everywhere assumed in the Bible, that the con- dition of acceptance under the law is perfect obedience. " Cursed is every one who continueth not in all tilings written in the book of the law to do them." This is not a peculiarity of the Mosaic economy, but a declaration of a principle which applies to all di- vine laws. (3.) The whole argument of the Apostle in his epistles to the Romans and to the Galatians, is founded on the assumption that the h\w demands perfect obedience. If that be not granted, his whole argument falls to the ground.
The specific command to Adam not to eat of a certain tree, was therefore not the only command he was required to obey. It was given simply to be the outward and visible test to determine whether he was willing to obey God in all things. Created holy, with all his affections pure, there was the more reason that the test of iiis obedience should be an outward and positive command ; something wrong simply because it was forbidden, and not evil in its own nature. It would thus be seen that Adam obeyed for the sake of obeying. His obedience was more directly to God, and not to his own reason.
The question whether perpetual, as well as perfect obedience was the condition of the covenant made with Adam, is probably to
120 PART n. Ch. VI. — the COVENANT OF WORKS.
be answered in the negative. It seems to be reasonable in itself and plainly implied in the Scriptures that all rational creatures have a definite period of probation. If faithful during that period they are confirnaed in their integrity, and no longer exposed to the danger of apostasy. Thus we read of the angels who kept not their first estate, and of those who did. Those who remained faithful have continued in holiness and in the favour of God. It is therefoi'e to be inferred that had Adam continued obedient during the period allotted to his probation, neither he nor any of his pos- terity would have been ever exposed to the danger of sinning.
§ 4. The Penalty.
The penalty attached to the covenant is expressed by the com- prehensive term death. " In the day that thou eatest thereof, thou shalt surely die." That this does not refer to the mere dissolution of the body, is plain. (1.) Because the word death, as used in Scrip- ture in reference to the consequences of transgression, includes all penal evil. The wages of sin is death. The soul that sinneth, it shall die. Any and every form of evil, therefore, which is inflicted as the punishment of sin, is comprehended under the word death. (2.) The death threatened was the opposite of the life promised. But the life promised, as we have seen, includes all that is involved in the happy, holy, and immortal existence of the soul and body ; and therefore death must include not only all the miseries of this life and the dissolution of the body, but also all that is meant by spirit- ual and eternal death. (3.) God is the life of the soul. His favour and fellowship with him, are essential to its holiness and happiness. If his favour be forfeited, the inevitable consequences are the death of the soul, i. e., its loss of spiritual life, and unending sinfulness and misery. (4.) The nature of the penalty threatened is learned from its infliction. The consequences of Adam's sin were the loss of the image and favour of God and all the evils which flowed from that loss. (5.) Finally, the death which was incurred by the sin of our first parents, is that from which we are redeemed by Christ. Christ, however, does not merely deliver the body from the grave, he saves the soul from spiritual and eternal death ; and therefore spiritual and eternal death, together with the dissolution of the body and all the miseries of this life, were included in the penalty originally attached to the covenant of works. In the day in which Adam ate the forbidden fruit he did die. The penalty threatened was not a momentar}' infliction but permanent subjec- tion to all the evils which flow from the righteous displeasure cf God.