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Principal Articles of the Christian Religion: 29 - The First Covenant Between God & Man

By Jacobus Arminius


      DISPUTATION XXIX ON THE COVENANT INTO WHICH GOD ENTERED WITH OUR FIRST PARENTS

      Though, according to His right and power over man, whom he had created after his own image, God could prescribe obedience to him in all things for the performance of which he possessed suitable powers, or would, by the grace of God, have them in that state; yet, that he might elicit from man voluntary and free obedience, which, alone, is grateful to him, it was his will to enter into a contract and covenant with him, by which God required obedience, and, on the other hand, promised a reward, to which he added the denunciation of a punishment, that the transaction might not seem to be entirely one between equals, and as if man was not completely bound to God. II. On this account, the law of God is very often called a Covenant, because it consists of those two parts, that is, a work commanded, and a reward promised, to which is subjoined the denunciation of a punishment, to signify the right which God had over man and which he has not altogether surrendered, and to incite man to greater obedience. III. God prescribed this obedience, first, by a law placed in and imprinted on the mind of man, in which is contained his natural duty towards God and his neighbour, and, therefore, towards himself also; and it is that of love, with fear, honour and worship towards a superior. For, as true virtue consists in the government or right ordering of the affections, (of which the first, the chief, and that on which the rest depend, is Love,) the whole law is contained in the right ordering of love. And, as no obedience seems to be yielded in the case of a man who executes the whole of his own will without any, even the least resistance, therefore, to try his obedience, that thing was to be prescribed, to which, by a certain feeling, man had an abhorrence; and that was to be forbidden, towards which he was drawn by a certain inclination. Therefore the love of ourselves was to be regulated or rightly ordered, which is the first and proximate cause that man should live in society with his species, or according to humanity. IV. To this law, it was the pleasure of God to add another, which was a symbolical one. A symbolical law is one that prescribes or forbids some act, which, in itself, is neither agreeable nor disagreeable to God, that is, one that is indifferent; and it serves for this purpose that God may try whether man is willing to yield obedience to him, solely on this account, because it has been the pleasure of God to require such obedience, and though it were impossible to devise any other reason why God imposed that law. V. That symbolical law was, in this instance, prohibitive of some act, to which man was inclined by some natural propensity, (that is, to eat of the tree of the knowledge of good and of evil,) though "it was pleasant to the eyes and good for food." By the commanding of an indifferent act, it does not seem to have been possible to try the obedience of man with equal advantage. VI. This seems to be the difference between each [of these kinds of] obedience, that the first (Thesis I) is true obedience and, in itself, pleasing to God; and the man who performs it is said truly to live according to godliness; but that the latter (Theses 4 and 5) is not so much obedience, itself, as the external profession of willingly yielding obedience; and it is therefore an acknowledgment, or the token of an acknowledgment, by which man professes himself to be subject to God, and declares that he is willingly subject. Exactly in the same manner, a vassal yields obedience to his lord, for having fought against his enemies, which obedience he confesses that he cheerfully performs to him, by presenting him annually with a gift of small value. VII. From this comparison, it appears that the obedience which is yielded to a symbolical law is far inferior to that which is yielded to a natural law, but that the disobedience manifested to a symbolical law is not the less serious, or that it is even more grievous; because, by this very act, man professes that he is unwilling to submit himself, and indeed not to yield obedience in other matters, and those of greater importance, and of more difficult labour. VIII. The reward that corresponds with obedience to this chief law, the performance of which is, of itself, pleasing to God, (the analogy and difference which exist between God and man being faithfully observed,) is life eternal, the complete satisfying of the whole of our will and desire. But the reward which answers to the observance of the symbolical law, is the free enjoyment of the fruits of Paradise, and the power to eat of the tree of life, by the eating of which man was always restored to his pristine strength. But this tree of life was a symbol of eternal life, which man would have enjoyed, if, by abstaining from eating the fruit, he had professed obedience, and had truly performed such obedience to the moral law. IX. We are of opinion that, if our first parents had remained in their integrity by obedience performed to both these laws, God would have acted with their posterity by the same compact, that is, by their yielding obedience to the moral law inscribed on their hearts, and to some symbolical or ceremonial law; though we dare not specially make a similar affirmation, respecting the tree of the knowledge of good and evil. X. So, likewise, if they had persisted in their obedience to both laws, we think it very probable that, at certain periods, men would have been translated from this natural life, by the intermediate change of the natural, mortal and corruptible body, into a body spiritual, immortal, and incorruptible, to pass a life of immortality and bliss in heaven.

      COROLLARY

      We allow this to be made a subject of discussion: Did Eve receive this symbolical command about the tree of the knowledge of good and evil, immediately from God, or through Adam?

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See Also:
   1 - On Theology
   2 - How to Teach Theology
   3 - On Blessedness, The End of Theology
   4 - On Religion
   5 - Rule of Religion: The Word of God
   6 - Authority & Certainty of the Holy Scriptures
   7 - The Perfection of the Scriptures
   8 - The Perspicuity of the Scriptures
   9 - The Interpretation of the Holy Scriptures
   10 - The Efficacy of the Scriptures
   11 - On Religion in a Stricter Sense
   12 - The Christian Religion, Its Name and Relation
   13 - The Christian Religion in General
   14 - The Object of Christianity: God
   15 - The Nature of God
   16 - The Life of God
   17 - On the Understanding of God
   18 - The Will of God
   19 - Various Distinctions of the Will of God
   20 - God's Attributes: From the Viewpoint of His Will
   21 - God's Attributes: Relating to Moral Virtues
   22 - On the Power or Capability of God
   23 - The Perfection, Blessedness & Glory of God
   24 - Creation
   25 - Angels in General and in Particular
   26 - The Creation of Man After the Image of God
   27 - The Lordship or Dominion of God
   28 - The Providence of God
   29 - The First Covenant Between God & Man
   30 - Manner of Our 1st Parents in the 1st Covenant
   31 - On the Effects of the Sin of Our First Parents
   32 - On the Necessity of the Christian Religion
   33 - On the Restoration of Man
   34 - On the Person of Our Lord Jesus Christ
   35 - On the Priestly Office of Christ
   36 - On the Prophetical Office of Christ
   37 - On the Regal Office of Christ
   38 - Christ's Humiliation & Exaltation
   39 - God the Father & Christ's Will, & Command
   40 - The Predestination of Believers
   41 - The Predestination of the Means to the End
   42 - Relation of Sinful Men to Christ, & the Means of Salvation
   43 - True Repentance Towards God
   44 - On Faith in God and Christ
   45 - On the Union of Believers With Christ
   46 - The Communion of Believers With Christ Regarding His Death
   47 - The Communion of Believers With Christ Regarding His Life
   48 - Justification
   49 - The Sanctification of Man
   50 - The Church of God and of Christ
   51 - The Church of the Old Testament
   52 - The Church of the New Testament
   53 - The Head and the Marks of the Church
   54 - The Catholic Church, Her Parts and Relations
   55 - The Power of the Church in Delivering Doctrines
   56 - The Power of the Church in Enacting Laws
   57 - The Power of the Church in Administering Justice
   58 - On Councils
   59 - The Ecclesiastical Ministrations of the New Testament
   60 - On Sacraments in General
   61 - The Sacraments of the Old Testament
   62 - The Sacraments of the New Testament in General
   63 - On Baptism and Paedo-Baptism
   64 - On the Lord's Supper
   65 - On the Popish Mass
   66 - On the Five False Sacraments
   67 - On the Worship of God in General
   68 - On the Precepts of Divine Worship in General
   69 - On Obedience, Object of All Divine Precepts
   70 - Obedience to God's Commands in General
   71 - The Material Object of the Precepts of the Law
   72 - Love, Fear, Trust, and Honor Towards God
   73 - On Particular Acts of Obedience
   74 - On the First Command in the Decalogue
   75 - On the Second Command in the Decalogue
   76 - On the Third Precept of the Decalogue
   77 - On the Fourth Command in the Decalogue
   78 - On the Fifth Command in the Decalogue
   79 - On the Sixth Precept

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