The Unconditional Covenant in Contemporary Debate
Prof. Engelsma defends the Reformed doctrine of justification by faith alone against contemporary denials that appeal to a conditional covenant theology. This pamphlet, originally presented at the Protestant Reformed Theological Seminary, argues that only an unconditional covenant of grace can adequately protect the doctrine of forensic justification and refutes the heresy of justification by faith and works by grounding salvation in God's sovereign, unconditional grace rather than human conditions.
Preface One of the gravest threats to the Reformed churches since the synod of Dordt is the contemporary denial of justification by faith alone within the reputedly conservative Reformed churches. This error is very old. Virtually all the Reformation confessions mention, expose, refute, and condemn it. What is new about the contemporary form of the ancient heresy is that it bases itself on the biblical doctrine of the covenant. The particular view of the covenant, however, that the...