Immanuel
Protestant Reformed Church
Lacombe, Alberta

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• The Idea of the Covenant
• The Terms for the Covenant
• Elements of the Covenant

• Covenant

• A Relation of
  Fellowship
• A Spiritual
  Seed
• Gathered in the
  Generations
• Unconditionally
  of Grace
• Realized and
  Perfected

• Believers And
  Their Seed
• The Idea of
  the Covenant
• An Exposition
  of the Doctrine
  of the Covenant
• Unconditional
  Covenant
• Keeping
  God's Covenant
• The Covenant
  Of Grace:
  An Organic
  Unity
• Predestination
  The Heart
  Of The Gospel

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The covenant stands at the heart of Reformed thought, the doctrines of grace and the heart of all true worship. As such it touches every aspect of the Christian faith and life, it is the unifying principle of the word of God. In that sense every item on the web site touches on the doctrine of the covenant, for God is a covenant God and Jesus Christ the mediator of the covenant of grace.

The Protestant Reformed view of the covenant is distinctive in today's Reformed church world. It is an organic view of the covenant. The organic concept stands over against a mechanical view of the covenant as a contract, pact, agreement, treaty, or the error of multiple covenants. There is one covenant, it is a living organic unity. The foundation of the covenant rests in God Himself who is a covenant God within His own triune covenant life. It is His covenant, which he establishes with us.

This organic view proceeds from an organic view of the original formation of man as a covenant creature and the human race as an organic unity, corrupted by the fall. It embraces the idea of the covenant in history and its realization in Christ. It shapes also the Christian life in the antithesis.

As the organic idea stands at conflict with our modern culture on the one hand in its individualism and sense of autonomy and on the other hand in its false imitation in collectivism and mechanical communalism, it is a concept that is difficult for one, who is new to it, to grasp. It is an important biblical idea.

The web site, therefore, includes a discussion of the idea of the covenant and the organic idea in its broadest sense by Rev. H. Danhof and a critique, in brief, of various views of the covenant, together with an explanation of the Protestant Reformed view by Rev. H. Hoeksema.

• The Idea of the Covenant - Danhof
• The Covenant, God's Tabernacle with Men - H. Hoeksema

The web site covers the idea of the covenant, doctrinally in detail in the book: Believers And Their Seed. For one new to the organic idea it is recommended that they start at chapter nine: The Organic Idea in Scripture, and then read from the beginning to the end.

• Believers And Their Seed
• The Organic Idea In Scripture, Chapter 9, Believers and Their Seed

The Covenant must be viewed also in the light of our relationship with God and the nature of the covenant. The following series: Our Covenant God, An Exposition Of The Doctrine of The Covenant From Scripture by Rev. H. Veldman, treats the idea of the covenat, that it is unilateral, unconditional, and efficacious. It treats also the nature of God's promises, their relation to faith and the work of God in the generations. Written in 1947-48 by Rev. Herman Veldman, it also was a response to K. Schilder and the Liberated Churches which would become the Canadian Reformed Churches. It addresses all the issues of the doctrine from scripture.

• Our Covenant God, An Expostion Of
  The Doctrine Of The Covenant From Scripture

To fully treat the matter it is necessary also to see it in the light of its implications for the Christian life, home and family. This requires an understanding of the Reformed world and life view from the organic point of view and the doctrine of the antithesis.

• The Organic Conception, the Antithesis, and Common Grace
• The Doctrine of the Antithesis
• The Thesis
• Antithesis, Synthesis, and Dualism

The following is also a series on the covenant as an introduction to the subject. The series treats both the doctrine and its application to the Christian life. It is taken from the Standard Bearer volume 60, 1984. It covers the scope of the subject in an introductory manner and deals with some important issues. The index to the articles is included on this page.

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The following is the summary of the special issue from the Standard Bearer by Prof. H.C. Hoeksema, Editor

This is the second of our special issues for the current volume-year. It is devoted to the truth of God's covenant. As you will discover in the process of reading, however, this issue is by no means simply doctrinal in its contents; but it includes articles of a so-called "practical" nature, that is, articles which deal with the implications of the truth of people in the midst of the world. There is another special feature of this issue. It includes an article written for and to our covenant children, We suggest that parents read this article with (or to) their children.

The staff 's sub-committee for special issues thanks all those who helped prepare this issue.

Standard Bearer Volume LX -(60) 1984

• Meditation - Everlasting and Perfect Covenant Bliss
  
  
• Fellowship with God
  
  
• The Realization of the Covenant.
  
  
• The Breaking of the Unbreakable Covenant.
  
  
• God's Covenant, a Family Covenant
  
  
• The Covenant and Christian Marriage
  
  
• The Covenant Training of Children
  
  
• A Covenant Home: What Is It Like?
  
  
• For Children - Why Are You Different?
  
  

• As To Conditions -Hoeksema
  
  
• The Covenant, God's Tabernacle with Men
  
  
• Children of the Promise
  
  
• The Covenant of God and the Children of Believers
  
  
• Unconditional Covenant
  
  
• God's Covenant with Creation
  
  
• Keeping God's Covenant