Covenant Of Works

Article adapted from Chapter 7 of John Gill's Body of Divinity.

Summary of the Doctrine

Understanding the covenant God made with Adam is crucial theologically for understanding God's moral governance of creation. It provides a comprehensive legal and relational framework, uniting divine law with covenantal arrangement, and explaining the foundational principles upon which God deals with humanity.

This covenant was marked by four essential elements:

The breach of this covenant by Adam’s transgression had immediate and universal consequences. He plunged himself and all his progeny into a state of sin, bondage, and divine condemnation. The harmony of Eden was shattered, the image of God was marred, and humanity became alienated from its Creator. The just penalty for sin, as warned, was now hanging over Adam and all those whom he respresents.

Yet, it is precisely in the ruin of the first covenant that the necessity and glory of the second covenant, the new covenant (or covenant of grace), comes into view. What Adam failed to do, Christ fulfilled. As the second and last Adam, Jesus Christ came as the representative of a new humanity. He rendered perfect obedience, bore the curse of the broken law, and secured eternal life for all those united to Him by faith. His righteousness is not earned by works but imputed by grace through faith, apart from any merit of our own.

Thus, the distinction between the covenant of works and the covenant of grace is foundational to the entire structure of redemptive history and systematic theology. It delineates the difference between law and gospel, between human performance and divine promise, between condemnation in Adam and justification in Christ.

To rightly understand these two covenants is to grasp the heart of the biblical gospel: that salvation is by grace alone, through faith alone, in Christ alone, to the glory of God alone.

Moral Government

The Moral Governance of God

God exercises His governance over rational beings, both angels and humans, through the administration of law. This divine moral government serves as the framework within which all intelligent creatures are held accountable for their actions.

Evidence of this governance is found in the account of the angels. Scripture reveals that some angels adhered to the moral directives of God and were consequently confirmed in their state of righteousness. Others, however, transgressed the divine command and thereby fell into condemnation and ruin (cf. Jude 1:6; 2 Peter 2:4; 1 Timothy 5:21).

In the same manner, Adam, the first man, was placed under divinely instituted law, which served as the standard for his moral behavior.

Natural Law

The natural law, often referred to as the moral law or law of nature, was implanted within Adam at the very moment of his creation. This law was not external or foreign to him; it was written upon his heart, forming an intrinsic part of his moral constitution (cf. Romans 2:14–15).

As a rational and moral being made in the image of God, Adam was innately aware of the will of his Creator. The moral law directed him toward a life of love and holiness and was internally affirmed by his conscience. It is this same law whose remnants are still discernible in the moral intuitions of all humanity and are most fully rearticulated in the Decalogue.

The essence of this moral law is comprehensively summarized by Jesus in the New Testament: “You shall love the Lord your God with all your heart, and... you shall love your neighbor as yourself” (Matthew 22:37–40). These two commandments encapsulate the entirety of moral duty. They express universal moral obligations that transcend time, culture, and covenantal context.

Although later codified at Sinai, this law predated Moses and was already active in the human conscience from the beginning. The Decalogue merely gave formal expression to what was already embedded in human nature, apart from the ceremonial or judicial statutes specific to Israel.

The Positive Law

In addition to the natural moral law, Adam was also given a positive law, a command that did not arise from reason or moral intuition but was made known solely by divine revelation. This law was not self-evident but rested entirely on God’s sovereign will and authority.

The most prominent example of such a law is the command prohibiting Adam from eating from the tree of the knowledge of good and evil (Genesis 2:17). This directive was not grounded in any intrinsic immorality in the act itself or in the substance of the fruit, which was presumably good and nourishing. Rather, the moral weight of the command resided solely in the authority of the One who issued it.

The function of this positive command was to serve as a clear test of obedience. It distinguished Adam’s willing submission to God's authority from mere conformity to natural impulses. Obedience in this case was not about understanding the rationale behind the command but about trusting and honoring the sovereignty of God.

Importantly, disobedience was not sinful because of anything inherently evil in the act of eating. The act became sinful precisely because it violated the explicit will of God. Thus, the gravity of the transgression lay in its defiant character, not in the nature of the object, but in the moral posture of rebellion against divine authority.

Ground of the Law

The law given to Adam was not arbitrary or capricious. Rather, it was rooted in three foundational realities:

Law and Covenant

The Adamic Covenant

The law given to Adam in the Garden of Eden was not merely a moral command; it also possessed the structure and function of a covenant. This dual character can be seen implicitly in Genesis, explicity in Hosea, and by implication from the federal principle of Adam laid out by Paul in 1 Corinthians and Romans. Hosea 6:7 states, “But like Adam, they transgressed the covenant,” confirming that the arrangement with Adam was indeed covenantal in nature. Likewise, Romans 10:5 and other texts (e.g., Exodus 24:7; Deuteronomy 5:2–3) indicate that laws can simultaneously be part of a covenantal framework.

It is therefore theologically and exegetically important to recognize that God’s moral government of Adam in Eden was not only legal but covenantal. While all laws require obedience, a law that includes promises and penalties is covenantal. Thus, the law in Eden was more than a test; it was a binding covenantal arrangement.

Covenant as Sovereign and Gracious

The covenant with Adam was unilateral and imposed by divine sovereignty. It was not a mutual contract negotiated between two equal parties, but a sovereign act of condescension in which God graciously committed Himself to reward Adam’s obedience and to penalize his disobedience.

Though Adam was a creature who owed perfect obedience by nature, God freely chose to attach a promise of life to obedience and a penalty of death to disobedience. This arrangement was not due to any merit in Adam, but entirely the result of divine kindness. God was not obligated to reward obedience that was already due; thus, the promise was an expression of covenantal grace, not justice.

Traditional Theological Designations

Throughout the history of Christian theology, this Edenic covenant has been known by various designations, each highlighting a different aspect of its structure or significance:

To summarize, the legal framework of the covenant with Adam reveals that God’s rule over man is not merely legislative, but covenantal. His relationship with Adam involved both law and promise, judgment and blessing, obligation and benevolence.

Covenant Parties

The Divine Party

The first and initiating party of the covenant is God Himself, who stands as the supreme Legislator, Sovereign, and Creator. His right to establish a covenant with His creatures flows from His absolute lordship over all things. As the Author of life and the Sustainer of all existence, He has both the authority and the prerogative to determine the terms by which rational beings live before Him.

The establishment of a covenant with Adam was not due to any external necessity in God, but was a sovereign act of condescension and benevolence. Though He could have demanded obedience without offering any promise, He chose to enter into a relational arrangement that extended blessing upon the condition of obedience. This act reflects the consistent pattern of God throughout redemptive history, of God entering into covenants with mankind, as seen in His dealings with Noah (Gen. 9:9), Abraham (Gen. 17:4), and even with the natural world itself (Hos. 2:18).

The Human Party

The second party in the covenant was Adam, the first man and the natural and federal head of the human race. As the representative of all his descendants, Adam stood not only for himself but for the entirety of mankind. In this unique role, his actions would have consequences not just for his own soul but for the destiny of all his posterity.

Adam’s consent to the covenant was not the product of negotiation, but rather flowed from the very constitution of his being. Created in God’s image and endowed with knowledge, righteousness, and holiness, Adam was morally inclined toward God and fully capable of discerning the nature and righteousness of the command given to him. His consent to the covenant is implied in the structure of his created faculties and his immediate relational standing before God.

Adam was equipped with everything necessary to fulfill the demands of the covenant. He had no internal corruption, no bias toward sin, and was disposed to love God and submit to His will. He had the moral and intellectual capacity to carry out God’s commands. Scripture confirms that he was created “upright” (Ecclesiastes 7:29). Therefore, Adam stood as a fit and qualified covenantal representative. His failure, then, was not due to incapacity, but to a voluntary departure from the righteousness in which he was created.

To quote the Second London Baptist Confession 9.2, "Man, in his state of innocency, had freedom and power to will and to do that which was good and well-pleasing to God, but yet was unstable, so that he might fall from it" (cf. Ecclesiastes 7:29; Genesis 3:6).

The Obedience Required

Personal Obedience

The obedience demanded by the covenant had to be personally rendered by Adam himself. As the individual party in covenant with God and the federal representative of humanity, Adam could not delegate this responsibility to another. No proxy could fulfill the conditions on his behalf. His obligation to obey was rooted in his own moral agency and rational capacity.

While Christ would later fulfill the law vicariously for His people as the second Adam, the original covenant required that the first Adam perform obedience in his own person, as the progenitor of the human race.

Perfect Obedience

The standard of obedience was absolute perfection. Adam was to conform in every respect, in thought, word, and deed, to the revealed will of God. No deviation would be tolerated under the terms of this covenant. It demanded obedience in all its parts and to the fullest degree. Any failure, whether of omission or commission, constituted a breach of covenant and incurred its penal sanctions.

This concept of perfect obedience underscores the rigor of the covenant of works. Unlike fallen humanity’s subsequent inability to keep the law, Adam, in his original condition, had no internal impediment to holiness. His obligation, therefore, was not only just but entirely attainable.

Perpetual Obedience

The obedience required was also perpetual, not a one-time act, but a lifelong, uninterrupted fidelity to God's commands. The covenant did not stipulate a limited probationary period with automatic confirmation after a brief test; rather, Adam’s ongoing enjoyment of life, favor, and fellowship with God was conditioned on continued obedience.

Only when (and if) God chose to confirm him in righteousness, as He later did with the elect angels (cf. 1 Tim. 5:21), would his moral trial be considered complete. Until such confirmation, any lapse, at any point, would be sufficient to violate the covenant and invoke its curse.

Not Voluntary, but Obligatory

It is crucial to recognize that Adam’s obedience was not rendered within the context of a voluntary, negotiated contract, as modern social agreements might be. Rather, it was a matter of moral necessity and covenantal loyalty. Adam owed God perfect obedience by virtue of who God is and who Adam was created to be.

This distinguishes the covenant of works from human agreements, where both parties voluntarily enter into terms with the option to reject them. Adam, as a creature under divine moral governance, was bound by the very structure of creation and covenant to obey. That God condescended to offer promises alongside the command is evidence of grace, but the obedience itself was an obligation, not an elective gesture of goodwill.

Promise and Sanction

The Promise of the Covenant

The covenant made with Adam included a promise of life, contingent upon his obedience. This life is best understood as the continuation of natural life, along with unbroken enjoyment of Edenic blessedness and communion with God. So long as Adam maintained obedience to the covenantal command, he would remain in a state of harmony with his Creator, dwelling in the garden and enjoying the fruits of God’s provision and presence.

Some theologians have proposed that the covenant offered not only continued earthly life but also eternal life, if Adam had successfully passed his probation. However, this claim must be carefully qualified. If by "eternal life" one means unending natural existence, then it is plausible that such a condition was implied in the covenant. However, if by "eternal life" we mean the glorified, heavenly life promised in the Gospel, then such a promise exceeds the bounds of what the covenant with Adam offered.

There are several strong theological reasons to reject the notion that eternal, glorified life was promised in the covenant of works:

Thus, while Adam may have expected continued natural life and blessing through obedience, the eternal life promised in Christ is far greater than the original covenant’s design. It belongs solely to the redemptive plan inaugurated in the covenant of grace.

The Sanction of the Covenant

The most immediate and observable result of sin was the subjection of humanity to physical death. Adam, though formed from the dust, was sustained by God’s breath and offered the potential for enduring life, contingent upon obedience. Upon transgressing the command, the principle of decay was inaugurated. As God declared: “Dust you are, and to dust you shall return” (Genesis 3:19). This pronouncement marks the initiation of bodily degeneration and mortality, an embodied reminder that life apart from God cannot be sustained.

It is crucial to note that this physical death, though a temporal judgment, is not the ultimate penalty in itself, but rather the firstfruits of the more comprehensive and final death to come. Paul speaks of this inaugurated mortality as the inheritance of sin: “Therefore, just as sin came into the world through one man, and death through sin, and so death spread to all men” (Romans 5:12). In this way, physical death anticipates and foreshadows the eschatological death that awaits apart from redemption.

The true and ultimate penalty for covenantal breach is eternal death, not perpetual conscious suffering, but the final and irreversible extinguishment of life. Immortality is not an innate possession of the soul but a gift granted exclusively to the redeemed (cf. 1 Timothy 6:16; Romans 2:7). The sanction, therefore, is not the continuation of existence in torment, but the second death (Revelation 20:14), which entails permanent destruction of both body and soul (cf. Matthew 10:28).

Results of Sin

Although not constituting the judicial sanction per se, sin produced profound consequences in the human constitution and condition. These consequences include:

These aspects, while devastating, are not punitive in the strict legal sense but rather symptomatic of a broken creature departing from the Source of all life and order. They serve to underscore humanity’s inability to recover life on its own and its desperate need for divine redemption.

Adam as Federal Head

Federal Representation

A central feature of the covenant of works is the principle of federal headship, whereby Adam stood as the covenantal representative of all humanity. His role was not merely personal, but corporate: his obedience or disobedience would bear consequences not only for himself, but for all his natural descendants.

Although Eve was Adam’s equal in terms of shared human dignity and image-bearing, she was not appointed as a federal head. She was created from Adam and after him, and her inclusion in the covenant was derivative—rooted in her union with him. Federal representation is, by design, singular and headship-based.

This structure is mirrored and fulfilled in the person of Jesus Christ, whom the Apostle Paul explicitly identifies as the “second Adam” and the federal representative of the elect. In Christ, we see a new humanity established under a new covenant, wherein He succeeds where Adam failed (cf. Romans 5:14; 1 Corinthians 15:22).

Thus, federal headship is foundational to understanding both condemnation in Adam and redemption in Christ. Just as Adam represented mankind in the covenant of works, so Christ represents His people in the covenant of grace.

Adamic Headship

Romans 5:12–19 presents the clearest articulation of federal theology in Scripture. Paul draws a parallel between Adam and Christ, showing how sin, condemnation, and death entered the world through one man’s transgression, and how righteousness, justification, and life are granted through another Man’s obedience.

Key affirmations from this text:

The force of Paul’s argument depends entirely on the idea that Adam acted on behalf of all humanity, just as Christ acts on behalf of all who are in Him.

1 Corinthians 15:22, 45–49 expands the typological framework:

The contrast and comparison function to establish the solidarity of each group, humanity in Adam, the redeemed in Christ. The “two-Adams” theology is thus integral to understanding original sin and justification.

Precedents in Scripture

The principle of federal representation, though most clearly seen in Adam and Christ, is not a novel theological construct. It is embedded throughout the biblical narrative, where God consistently engages humanity through covenantal representatives. These figures mediate divine blessings, obligations, and judgments, reflecting a recurring pattern across successive covenantal administrations.

This representative dynamic is evident in God’s covenant with Noah. In Genesis 9:9, God affirms His covenant not only with Noah but also with his descendants, establishing Noah as a federal head whose relationship with God encompasses future generations. The covenant’s perpetuity, symbolized by the rainbow, underscores its transgenerational scope, extending divine favor to all post-flood humanity through a single representative.

The Abrahamic covenant further illustrates this principle. In Genesis 17:4–10, Abraham is called the “father of a multitude of nations,” and the covenant explicitly includes his offspring. The administration of circumcision to infants, regardless of personal faith, highlights the corporate and representative nature of the covenant. The New Testament continues this theme, with Paul identifying believers as Abraham’s spiritual heirs (Galatians 3:29), and Christ as the promised Seed who fulfills and embodies the covenant (Galatians 3:16).

Federal representation also shapes the Mosaic covenant. In Deuteronomy 29:14–15, Moses extends the covenant not only to those present but to future generations, reinforcing Israel’s corporate identity. This generational continuity reveals that covenantal obligations and blessings are transmitted through representative heads, forming the basis of Israel’s national and liturgical existence.

The Davidic covenant in 2 Samuel 7:12–16 provides another instance of representative headship. God’s promise to establish David’s dynasty and to maintain a father-son relationship with his heirs presents David as a dynastic mediator. This covenant ultimately finds fulfillment in Jesus Christ, the Son of David, who inherits the throne not merely by descent but as the eschatological King and federal head of God’s people (cf. Matthew 1:1; Luke 1:32–33).

In each of these examples, the biblical covenants function through federal representation. From Noah to David, each covenant involves a representative whose status carries transgenerational implications. This covenantal structure applies to the Adamic framework: Adam as the federal head of the old humanity under the covenant of works, and Christ as the head of the new humanity under the covenant of grace.

Implications of Adam’s Headship

The corruption of human nature is the natural and ontological consequence of Adam’s fall. As the propagator and biological originator of the human race, Adam transmitted to all his descendants a depraved nature, one that is alienated from God, inclined to evil, and incapable of spiritual good.

Just as a polluted fountain yields polluted streams, so Adam’s fallen nature is naturally communicated to all who descend from him by ordinary generation. Thus, all humans are born in a state of moral bondage, enslaved to sin (Romans 6:6) and unable to please God (Romans 8:7-8). This aspect of original sin is not imputed, but inherent; it is not a judicial reckoning, but a corruption of being. It renders humanity not only prone to sin, but positively inclined toward it. This is the state into which all are born.

In contrast, the inherent state of guilt and condemnation of fallen humanity arises from Adam’s role as federal head. In the covenant of works, Adam stood as humanities legal representative before God. Adam's transgression of the divine command meant that not only Adam but all those whom he represented would now stand under condemnation.

As Paul declares, “Through one trespass, judgment came to all men resulting in condemnation” (Romans 5:18) and “in Adam all die” (1 Corinthians 15:22). Here, death, in its judicial dimension, presupposes legal guilt. The condemnation described here does not result from individual sinful acts, but from solidarity with Adam in his representative role. His resulting guilty state is the same guilty state we are born into by virtue of our covenantal union with him.

This imputed guilt renders all humanity liable to divine judgment and wrath from the moment of conception. Guilt incurs the penalty of death; corruption fosters sin; sin compounds guilt; compounding guilt continues to store up the wrath to be revealed on judgment day (Romans 2:5). All are guilty and corrupt apart from Christ. In Christ, however, all are justified (dealing with guilt) and sanctified (dealing with corruption).

Is Representation Unjust?

One of the most frequently raised objections to the doctrine of Adam’s federal headship is that it appears unjust for all of mankind to suffer the judicial consequences for the sin of one man. Critics argue that it violates personal responsibility and undermines the moral autonomy of individual persons.

However, this objection is fundamentally misguided. God, as Creator and Sovereign, has the right to determine the manner in which He relates to His creatures. In the case of Adam, He appointed him to act not merely as an individual, but as the covenantal head of all his descendants.

It must also be recognized that had Adam succeeded in his obedience, the reward would not have been confined to himself alone. His righteousness and the blessings accompanying it, including continued life, communion with God, and dominion over creation, would likewise have been carried to his posterity. The covenantal structure works both ways: blessing for obedience and curse for disobedience.

Moreover, this covenental structure applies to the last Adam just as the first. Thus, any argument against the justice of imputed sin must also be an argument against the justice of imputation of righteousness, an implication that would undermine the very basis of salvation in Christ.

The Wisdom of God

Ultimately, the doctrine of Adamic headship must be understood in the context of the sovereign wisdom of God. God does not govern His universe according to human preferences or modern notions of fairness, but according to His own perfect will and unsearchable counsel.

God chose a good representative for mankind. Adam was not flawed, biased, or coerced. He was created in the image of God, “upright” and capable of full obedience (Ecclesiastes 7:29). As such, he was equipped to fulfill the demands of the covenant. That he failed was not due to any lack or defect in his nature, but to a free and willful act of disobedience.

Moreover, God’s choice of Adam as federal head was not made under necessity or external constraint, but from divine freedom and prerogative. He governs all things according to the counsel of His will (Ephesians 1:11), and no one can question His decisions. As the prophet Daniel declared, “He does according to His will in the army of heaven and among the inhabitants of the earth, and none can stay His hand or say to Him, ‘What doest Thou?’” (Daniel 4:35).

Federal representation is, therefore, not only a just arrangement but a manifestation of God’s sovereign wisdom in the moral government of the world. It sets the stage for the redemptive counterpart in Christ, the second Adam, whose obedience and righteousness are likewise imputed to those He represents. Thus, what was lost in Adam is restored and abundantly surpassed in Christ.