The doctrine of "the covenant of works" arose to prominence in the late sixteenth century and quickly became a regular feature in Reformed thought. Theologians believed that when God first created man he made a covenant with him: all Adam had to do was obey God's command to not eat from the tree of knowledge and obey God's command to be fruitful, multiply, and subdue the earth. The reward for Adam's obedience was profound: eternal life for him and his offspring. The consequences of his disobedience were dire: God would visit death upon Adam and his descendants. In the covenant of works, Adam was not merely an individual but served as a public person, the federal head of the human race. The Covenant of Works explores the origins of the doctrine of God's covenant with Adam and traces it back to the inter-testamental period, through the patristic and middle ages, and to the Reformation. The doctrine has an ancient pedigree and was not solely advocated by Reformed theologians. The book traces the doctrine's development in the seventeenth century and its reception in the eighteenth, nineteenth, and twentieth centuries. Fesko explores the reasons why the doctrine came to be rejected by some, even in the Reformed tradition, arguing that interpretive methods influenced by Enlightenment thought caused theologians to question the doctrine's scriptural legitimacy.

This work by master theologian Edmund Calamy is a work of the highest order on covenant theology. Calamy says that there are two covenants, following the received standards of the Westminster Confession. There is the Covenant of Works, where all men by nature lie under the pollution and guilt of Adam’s sin, and liable to all the curses and penalties due to them for breach of that covenant. And then, secondly, there is the Covenant of Grace which God the Father made with Jesus Christ from all eternity to save some of the posterity of Adam. Calamy carefully and methodically explains that the Covenant of Grace was prepared and readied against the fall of Adam to take place at the very moment of his fall; otherwise the justice of God would have immediately seized on all of creation under heaven, and consumed them to nothing. But Jesus Christ came with the covenant in his hand saying, “Be gracious unto him, and deliver him from going down to the pit, I have found a ransom,” (Job 33:24). Calamy proves that the Covenant of Grace was made with Jesus Christ, and this was the contract of God the Father with God the Son from all eternity as mediator for the salvation of the elect. This is not a scan or facsimile, has been updated in modern English for easy reading and has an active table of contents for electronic versions.

2nd book in 3-part Divine Covenants series

"The Mystery of Christ is well-written, displays ample knowledge of issues discussed concerning covenant theology by Baptists and paedobaptists, grounds its arguments in scriptural exegesis and theology, recovers old arguments for a new day, presents a cohesive map of the covenants of Scripture, and exalts our Lord Jesus Christ, the last Adam, throughout." -- from cover review by Richard C. Barcellos

This book first examines the formulation of the doctrine of the covenant of works in the Second London Confession of Faith of 1677/89 and then displays its scriptural basis.

James Ussher (1581-1656), one of the most important religious scholars and Protestant leaders of the seventeenth century, helped shape the Church of Ireland and solidify its national identity. In Catholicity and the Covenant of Works, Harrison Perkins addresses the development of Christian doctrine in the Reformed tradition, paying particular attention to the ways in which Ussher adopted various ideas from the broad Christian tradition to shape his doctrine of the covenant of works, which he utilized to explain how God related to humanity both before and after the fall into sin. Perkins highlights the ecumenical premises that underscored Reformed doctrine and the major role that Ussher played in codifying this doctrine, while also shedding light on the differing perspectives of the established churches of Ireland and England. Catholicity and the Covenant of Works considers how Ussher developed the doctrine of a covenant between God and Adam that was based on law, and illustrates how he related the covenant of works to the doctrines of predestination, Christology, and salvation.

Drawing from Genesis 1:1 and subsequent biblical revelation, Lane Tipton argues that before creating the visible world, the immutable triune God created a heavenly temple dwelling, filled that heavenly dwelling with the unchanging glory of his Spirit, and sanctified that heavenly dwelling as the realm of everlasting Sabbath Rest. Adam, as the created image of God and federal head of his posterity, could have advanced through perfect covenantal obedience beyond probation on the mountain of God in earthly Eden into the heavenly dwelling of God in Sabbath Rest. This God-centered and heaven-focused theological backdrop enriches our understanding of the person and work of Jesus Christ, as the second and last Adam in the covenant of grace, who in his humiliation and exaltation has opened the gates of heavenly paradise for his church.