tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-18902745.post5796558548352702610..comments2024-03-24T15:19:06.377-04:00Comments on The Continuum: Grace and sacramentsFr. Robert Harthttp://www.blogger.com/profile/05892141425033196616noreply@blogger.comBlogger2125tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-18902745.post-3972069506391740492009-05-08T12:11:00.000-04:002009-05-08T12:11:00.000-04:00Reformed theologians differ as to how "sharp" the ...Reformed theologians differ as to how "sharp" the distinction is between the two "covenants." There are those who deny that there ever was such a thing as a "covenant of works." John Murray, whom you cite, did not like the term and preferred to speak of the "Adamic administration."<br /><br />The distinction is really the same as the common distinction between nature and grace. The various ways nature and grace are said to be related (nature preparing for grace, nature in conflict with grace, etc) are well known. Thomistic and Calvinist theology has been contrasted as "nature preparing for grace" and "grace perfecting nature." A very fine distinction, as far as I am concerned.<br /><br />As I understand the relationship of the two covenants, they actually interlock in the work of Christ. The covenant of works was broken by Adam. Christ, however, the second Adam, by His perfect obedience to the Law fulfills the covenant of works and flips the switch to the covenant of grace.<br /><br />Your reference to the sacrament of holy matrimony was apropos. Some have made the serious error of inferring from the fact that matrimony is a sacrament of the NT dispensation that it did not exist before the Incarnation. As the classic Anglican marriage liturgy states, matrimony "is an holy estate, instituted of God in the time of man's innocency." The 1549/1662 marriage office goes on to mention Abraham and Sarah, Isaac and Rebekah as examples of holy matrimony. Marriage as a sacrament stands at the intersection of nature and grace. Because God's grace is truly universal and not confined to the process of salvation, the grace of holy matrimony is available to Christians and non-Christians alike. I love the quote from Ste Therese of Lisieus, "grace is everywhere." And I love the Kuyperian doctrine of common grace, as the "rain which falls on the just and unjust."<br />Thanks for another good essay.<br />LKWAnonymousnoreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-18902745.post-50075426306249209662009-05-08T08:53:00.000-04:002009-05-08T08:53:00.000-04:00And so Ste. Thérèse of Lisieux said, "Everything i...And so Ste. Thérèse of Lisieux said, "Everything is grace!", repeated by the dying priest in a dramatic illumination at the end of Georges Bernanos's great novel, "Diary of a Country Priest."Millo Shawnoreply@blogger.com