The Path of Faith: A Biblical Theology of Covenant and Law (Essential Studies in Biblical Theology)

by Brandon D. Crowe

All people are obligated to obey their Creator. The God of the Bible is not simply the God of one people; he is the God of the whole world. He made from one man every nation on the face of the earth (Acts 17:26). It doesn’t matter a person’s background or origin; all people are obligated to the Creator of the world who has appointed one man to be the judge of the whole world (Acts 17:30-31). The proper response is faith and repentance. 2. God freely entered into a covenant with humanity to offer eternal life on the basis of perfect obedience. This was true with Adam and remains true today—eternal life requires perfect obedience. Further, every person relates to God either in Adam or in Christ. To be in Adam means to be characterized by the way of works that leads to death. To be in Christ means living by faith in the One whose perfect obedience leads to everlasting life. All who are in Christ are heirs of wonderfully rich covenantal promises. 3. Only Jesus can perfectly obey God’s law. There is nothing we can do to earn eternal life. If we are to inherit eternal life, we must place our faith in Christ whose obedience meets the requirement of perfect obedience for eternal life. 4. The law continues to show us how to obey God today. Though our obedience is always imperfect, even imperfect obedience brings great blessing for those in Christ. Though we cannot meet the requirements for eternal life, we are not exonerated from obedience. Love and obedience go hand in hand as we ...