John Gill
“The covenant of grace made between God and Christ, and with the elect
in him, as their Head and Representative, is a proper covenant, consisting
of stipulation and restipulation; God the Father in it stipulates with his Son,
that he shall do such and such work and service, on condition of which he
promises to confer such and such honours and benefits on him, and on the
elect in him; and Christ the Son of God restipulates and agrees to do all
that is proposed and prescribed, and, upon performance, expects and
claims the fulfilment of the promises: in this compact there are mutual
engagements each party enters into, stipulate and restipulate about, which
make a proper formal covenant; see Isaiah 49:1-6; 53:10-12; Psalm
40:6-8; John 17:4,5.
…
“It is by some divines called, “the covenant of redemption”; and very
truly, because the redemption of God’s elect is a principal article in it: the
Father proposed to the Son, that he should raise up, restore, redeem Israel,
his chosen ones; the Son agreed to it, and hence he was declared and
promised, and expected as the Redeemer, long before he came into this
world to do this service; Job knew him as his living Redeemer, and all the
Old Testament saints waited for him as such, having had a promise of it,
which was founded on this covenant agreement; for as it was proposed to
him, and he agreed to it, to be the Redeemer, so it was promised him, that
upon the condition of giving himself, the redemption and ransom price for
the elect, they should be delivered from all their sins, and the effects of
them, and out of the hands of all their enemies; see Isaiah 49:5; 59:20;
Job 33:24. But then,
This covenant is the same with the covenant of grace; some divines,
indeed, make them distinct covenants; the covenant of redemption, they
say, was made with Christ in eternity; the covenant of grace with the elect,
or with believers, in time: but this is very wrongly said; there is but one
covenant of grace, and not two, in which the Head and Members, the
Redeemer and the persons to be redeemed, Christ and the elect, are
concerned; in which he is the Head and Representative of them, acts for
them, and on their behalf. What is called a covenant of redemption, is a
covenant of grace, arising from the grace of the Father, who proposed to
his Son to be the Redeemer, and from the grace of the Son, who agreed to
be so; and even the honours proposed to the Son in this covenant,
redounded to the advantage of the elect; and the sum and substance of the
everlasting covenant made with Christ, is the salvation and eternal
happiness of the chosen ones; all the blessings and grants of grace to them,
are secured in that eternal compact; for they were blessed with all spiritual
blessings in him, and had grace given them in him before the world was;
wherefore there can be no foundation for such a distinction between a
covenant of redemption in eternity, and a covenant of grace in time.
The contracting parties concerned in this covenant, are next to be
considered more particularly and distinctly. This covenant is commonly
represented as if it was only between the Father and the Son; but I see not
why the Holy Spirit should be excluded, since he is certainly promised in it
both to Head and members; and in consequence of it, is sent down into the
hearts of God’s covenant ones, to make application of the blessings,
promises, and grace of the covenant to them, and to work a work of grace
in them; all which must be by agreement, and with his consent; and I think
there are some traces, and some footsteps of all the three Persons, as
concerned in it, in the dispensation and manifestation of this covenant to
the people of Israel, Haggai 2:4,5.
…
“[T]here is the Father’s
distinct act of will notified in the covenant, that it is his will and pleasure
his Son should be the Saviour of the chosen ones; and there is the Son’s
distinct act of will notified in the same covenant, he presenting himself, and
declaring himself willing, and engaging himself to be the Saviour of them;
which distinct acts of the divine will thus notified, formally constituted a
covenant between them; and as the holy Spirit dispenses his gifts and
grace, the blessings of this covenant, “severally as he will”, 1 Corinthians 12:11 this is pursuant to an agreement, to a notification of his
will in covenant also” (Of The Everlasting Council Concerning The Salvation Of Men. Gill’s Body of Divinity, Vol 1. John Gill. Baker Book House, Grand Rapids, MI ,1978. Pages 306-314.).
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