Covenant of Grace Dialogue Revisited: Referencing my Covenant of Grace post from about a week ago, a brother asked: “Please comment on the common phrase that is used, ‘In eternity past, the Son agreed to be the surety of a people….’ Is that acceptable language, or going too far? Or is it the basis and the ‘start’ of the eternal covenant of redemption?” The language, he mentioned, he had always presumed came from Judah volunteering to be a surety for Benjamin. Genesis 43:8-10.
Personally, I think the question itself is worth considering carefully, because it touches not merely upon doctrine, but upon the manner in which we speak about the hidden things of God. Over the years, many of us have heard expressions such as, “the Son agreed to become the Surety,” or “the Father proposed and the Son accepted,” repeated so often that they begin to sound almost as though they were direct quotations from Scripture itself. And yet, when we return to the testimony given to us, the Scriptures speak much more simply. Christ is indeed set forth as Surety. Hebrews 7:22. He is sent of the Father, comes into the world, lays down His life for the sheep, and accomplishes the work given Him to do. But the Scriptures do not plainly unfold these things in the form of an eternal negotiation, nor do they bring us into a scene of terms being discussed and agreed upon within the Godhead.
Now certainly, Scripture does speak beautifully of suretyship and substitution. Judah’s words concerning Benjamin provide a great picture of one standing in the place of another. And in that sense, it is not difficult to understand why many connect such language to Christ. But there is still a difference between Scripture presenting types and shadows that point to Christ, and our building detailed descriptions of eternal conversations and agreements within the Trinity itself. One may flow naturally from the text, while the other may move somewhat beyond the simplicity with which the Scriptures actually speak.
That does not mean brethren who use such language are seeking to diminish Christ or undermine the certainty of redemption. In most cases the opposite is true. The intention is generally to safeguard the eternal certainty of salvation, to emphasize that redemption was no afterthought, and to show that the salvation of God’s people stood sure in Christ before the foundation of the world. And in that desire, I gladly stand with them. Yet perhaps it is still worth asking whether, in attempting to explain these things, we sometimes move beyond the simplicity of Scripture into forms of expression shaped more by human patterns of arrangement and agreement.
For myself, I have simply become more cautious with expressions such as, “the Son agreed,” not because I question the eternal certainty of salvation, but because such wording can subtly give the impression of distinct wills coming to terms, almost as though redemption were structured after the manner of covenants between men. And while many speak very confidently about these eternal arrangements, I am no longer convinced that the Scriptures themselves speak with that same level of detail. Rather, what we continually find is this: the Father sends, the Son comes, and the work is finished in perfect unity of purpose and will. “I and my Father are one.” John 10:30.
Perhaps part of the difficulty is that, over time, men can begin speaking very confidently about things the Scriptures themselves speak of much more simply and reverently. There is a difference between receiving what God has revealed, and attempting to describe in detail what may have taken place within the hidden counsels of eternity. And while such language is generally intended to uphold the certainty of redemption, it can sometimes move beyond what the Bible itself sets forth, turning mystery into system, and speaking of eternal arrangements with a level of certainty that Scripture does not plainly give us. There may be wisdom, then, in remembering that the Word of God was not given to satisfy our curiosity concerning the secret things of eternity, but to reveal Christ unto us as the One sent of the Father, who came into the world and finished the work given Him to do. And so wisdom is needed in being careful not to go beyond what Scripture declares. For the great matter set before us in Scripture is not an eternal negotiation, but Christ crucified. MPJ